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During the last three weeks we have received new arrivals from the German post-industrial label Attenuation Circuit, ambient / drone / groove releases of the Dutch family of Databloem / Practicing Nature / Bluebox, souvenirs from the Japanese noisician Government Alpha and his label Xerxes, new CDs from Russian labels Alone At Last, Monochrome Vision and Shadowplay Records. If you're interested in Russian scene, check out the new albums by Theodor Bastard and Bardoseneticcube, together with a series of author's archive reissues by Kirill Stoukalin (Reductio Ad Absurdum, Organomehanizm).
We'll have a short brake soon, being offline from October 18th till 30th.
Have a good time,
M.M.
13.10.2014
I. Reviews
Some reviews of our releases:
"Kurutta Ippeiji" (soundtrack by Vetrophonia) DVD:
II. Forthcoming Events
18.10.2014
WOLVSERPENT, OTZEPENEVSHIYE + VIR'
Moscow, "Chocolate Factory". More info...
18.10.2014
STYRIOTH, TROPA, UHUSHUHU, WHISTLER
St. Petersburg, Experimental Sound Gallery (ESG-21). More info...
24.10.2014 - Rumble of Depths
RITUALNAYA BIOINGENERIA, SVETLO, UTROVORTU, OGNI VIDENIY
St. Petersburg, Experimental Sound Gallery (ESG-21). More info...
25.10.2014
COLD CAVE, AUTOMELODI, PHASE FATALE
St. Petersburg, da:da: club. More info...
26.10.2014
COLD CAVE, AUTOMELODI, PHASE FATALE
Moscow, "Theater" club. More info...
01.11.2014
LIHOLESYE, DOM VDOVY, MIRA DREVO, KSHATRIY
St. Petersburg, Experimental Sound Gallery (ESG-21). More info...
02.11.2014
LIHOLESYE, DOM VDOVY, MIRA DREVO, BARDOSENETICCUBE
St. Petersburg, da:da: club. More info...
07.11.2014
NATURAL ASSEMBLY, CREMATION LILLY
St. Petersburg, da:da: club. More info...
08.11.2014
NATURAL ASSEMBLY, CREMATION LILLY
Moscow, Dewar's Powerhouse. More info...
15.11.2014
BRIGHTER DEATH NOW, DEUTSCH NEPAL, RAISON D’ETRE, TREPANERINGSRITUALEN
Moscow, "Chocolate Factory". More info...
21.11.2014
BAD SECTOR, REUTOFF
St. Petersburg, da:da: club. More info...
21-22.11.2014 - Electro-Mechanica
CLOCK DVA, Ben Frost, LEGOWELT, CANDIE HANK, Mika Vainio, EISENTANZ, YOUNG FATHERS, BIT-TUNER, SUFFIX VJs, LEM, Anton Maskeliade, LOVE CULT, UHUSHUHU, KRYPTOGEN RUNDFUNK, AZ, DELICATE FEATURES, etc.
St. Petersburg, Sergey Kuryokhin's Contemporary Art Center. More info...
23.11.2014 - Terminus
CLOCK DVA, Ben Frost, BLACK RAIN, BAD SECTOR, KRYPTOGEN RUNDFUNK
Moscow, "PIPL" club. More info...
III. New items in mailorder catalogue
CDs & CD-Rs
Abbildung & Kenji Siratori -- "The Meaning Of Word Is Sound" -- CD -- €10
2014 Essentia Mundi, EM021
The CD contains 54 minutes of dark ambient, noisy drones & field recordings. Altered spoken words by Kenji Siratori. This is Cyberpunk Dark Ambient greatness! This is the sound that fulfills an artistic expression of a gestalt - through the interdisciplinary approach towards defining the I - by the way of the vibrating sound in all its meaningful forms, by the collaboration with the avant-garde writer Kenji Siratori. "The meaning of a word is its use in the language." (L. Wittgenstein) but further, beyond Quine's "eternal sentence", the release's word decontextualization process provides the ultimate meaning of a Word: the Sound. [label info]
[youtube]
Animal Machine & Exedo -- "Alice In Rottenland" -- CD-R -- €5
2013 Attenuation Circuit, ACE 1004, (ltd. 20)
Many albums in the Attenuation Circuit Eco Series are split releases aiming to present the wide range of possibilities of contemporary sonic art in a user-friendly format. This album contains four noise compositions jointly created by Animal Machine and EXEDO. Both artists bring their distinctive noise styles to the collaboration. Animal Machine supplies frantically rhythmic structures, while Exedo uses that same material to create extremely time-stretched swathes of hiss and drone that add a threatening monochrome backdrop to the hectic foreground activity. You can run all you like, this music seems to say, something dark is going to get you anyway. But while you’re at it, try and have fun by playing with the mess, perhaps all that’s rotten is not so bad after all. Remember: the wonderland that Alice tripped into was not really all that wonderful either, but actually rather weird. [label info]
[bandcamp]
Architects Office -- "Soundtracks" -- CD -- €10
2014 Monochrome Vision, mv49, (ltd. 500)
The debut CD album of the american project existing since the early eighties, but still one of the most unusual musical units in electronic music underground. Beyond any styles and trends, these abstract collages and avantgarde pieces deserve more attention of wide audience. Architects Office is a volunteer electro-acoustical intuitive aleatoric music-making performance & project group begun in the spring of 1983 during the sudden renaissance of cassette self-publishing in the international correspondence music network. Emphasis is on live performance (over 100) with technique and aesthetic of rendition aimed at manifestation of “musical adventure” often in unusual locations — a former enormous Woolco store location, outdoor band shells, roofs, and over the telephone, having taken place in Colorado, New York City, San Francisco, San Diego, Lawrence Kansas, Albuquerque New Mexico and elsewhere. Membership has always been in flux, with the only one core member - Joel Haertling. Instrumentation has included Crumar DS-2 and other synthesizers, French Horn, Hunting Horn, Plant Communicator, found audiocassette recordings, Tabla, Esraj, Contrabassoon, and other instruments over 30 years. Architects Office releases include 6 self-published cassettes, full-length cassettes published by Flowmotion (UK), audiophile Tapes (US), Subelecktrik Institute (US), ADN (I), Realization (US) as well as 73 appearances on compilations on cassette, LP record and CD. Extensive film and sound collaboration with Stan Brakhage began in 1986 and continued until his death including several 16mm films and the play Caswallon the Headhunter by Jane Brakhage with music by Architects Office published on LP record by Silent Records in 1986. Other film collaborations include those with Paul Lundahl and Joel Haertling. Parallel activities included the self-publication of the Zamizdat Trade Journal magazine about cassette underground (13 volumes) including a co-published with Flowmotion (Leeds UK) and 3 extensive tape compilations featuring 65 groups from 10 countries. This release is comprised on music from the 1980s. Several of the tracks featured on this release were prepared for major fizzled projects with Third Mind, Recloose Organization, Auxilio de Cientos, Silent Records, Subelectrik Institute, Azteco Records, and others which were never released or rejected by the label. Previously published tracks are included as bonus. AO personnel 1983-1987: Joel Haertling, Rick Corrigan, Charlie Verrette, Douglas Stickler, Trevor Haertling, Lynn Ablondi, Claude Martz, David Lichtenberg, Evan Cantor. [press-release]
[mp3] [mp3] [mp3] [mp3] [mp3]
Ataraxia -- "Llyr" -- CD -- €10
2010/2011 Shadowplay Records, SPR 100
Three years after the last studio album Kremasta Nera, Ataraxia is back with a marvellous new album! Llyr (Lyra) is the name of the instrument of the Bards and the Greek lyrical poets; a sacred musical instrument visually inspired by the grace and nobleness of the swans. Ataraxia, in this voyage, played the following instruments: classical, folk and 12 strings guitars, chitarra battente, keyboards, flutes, sitar, gamelan, daf, frame drums, santoor, tablas, zard and bells. Female vocals are sometimes accompanied by male vocals.
This new album is a new story inspired by pagan myths, feminine celebrations Of Mother Nature, celtic traditions… Ataraxia and her charismatic singer Francesca Nicoli have now create their uncommon genre of music: a cosmogonic dark folk praying for Beauty. [Prikosnovenie] Russain edition comes with a bonus track and an slipcase.
[mp3]
Ataraxia -- "Sous Le Blanc Rosier" -- 2 CD -- €10
2007 Shadowplay Records, SPR 040
Special Russian 'Best Of' from the Italian Medieval / Ethereal legends! This 2CD set also includes: TWO new and exclusive songs recorded in 2007; a previously unreleased, older track; plus a re-recorded, new version of "Hovering", from one of Ataraxia's best release ever: the limited and long sold out EP "Des Paroles Blanches"; and even two songs from the rarity "Orlando" - an EP released on the Prikosnovenie label almost 10 years ago! 22 tracks in total. [Cold Spring]
Ataraxia -- "Strange Lights" -- CD -- €10
2005/2009 Shadowplay Records, SPR 099
Russian reissue of Ataraxia album, previously published in 2005 as a double-CD with another Italian band Autunna et sa Rose - "Odos Eis Ouranon - La Via Verso il Cielo" (Equilibrium Music). "Borrowing an ancient Wiepking and Co. piano, Ataraxia rearranged a collection of their finest tracks that would fit an entirely acoustic format, revisiting them in a warmer and more intimate form. This selection covers not only tracks from most of their releases, but also titles from the sold-out EPs "Orlando" and "Des Paroles Blanches", as well as material never before issued on CD." [Equilibrium Music]
Baghiri, Amir -- "Dreamresources" -- CD-R -- €8
2002/2007 Bluebox, BB005
2007 re-release of Baghiri's classic album. If your own resources are lacking, Amir Baghiri is here to provide potent fodder for dreams of any type... day or night, Dreamresources emits lustrous ambiance of the highest calib. The Dreamgate swings open into a primitive, beat-pummeled land where encroaching mists set the sky alight and... dogs bark? That particularly beaty realm is abandoned in favor of steamier abstractions, like the boiling gleams and shadows of A secret place; stunningly vague atmospheres swirl in varying viscosities. Equally as lovely (and intriguingly formless) are the vaporous currents of Lucid phantom ... and pretty much each of the remaining pieces! As its title implies, Any colour you wish gives your imagination plenty of options; go wherever you want on these silken streams... is it like slow-motion cloudsurfing? Swimming through luminous jello? Uphill skiing on some otherworldly slope? Going fetal in warm embryonic fluids? Compelling Distant darkland hints at roughness, as faint rumbles scrape the otherwise-preternaturally-serene environments. See the above descriptions and stretch them into a longer piece; the eighth track, The fifth key (16:12), unlocks even more-expansive soundscenes where barely-tangible drones whisper in longform sky-tidal passages, occasionally accented with starshine sparkles. The final flows (and ebbs) of Horama (3:57) are awash with luxurious pacing and incomprehensible beauty... so fine! With synthesizers and restrained usage of a host of other (hardly recognizable) instruments, Amir Baghiri (with help from family and friends) spins near-nothingess into amazing amounts of wondrously oblique ephemera. Clocking in at over 77 minutes, Dreamresources makes for must-experience listening. [press-release]
[cd baby]
Baghiri, Amir -- "Orbital Repose" -- CD-R -- €8
2006 Bluebox, BB002
"Did you ever wake up from a dream and wondered: where was that, who were those people? I often see these places and people when i fall into sleep while composing and performing music. Orbital repose is an attempt to "translate" the emotions and complex dimensions i experience during these dreams, into music. With the release of Orbital repose I hope to share my dreams with you... " [Amir Baghiri]
[cd baby]
Baghiri, Amir -- "Private Archive" -- 5 CD-R BOX -- €55
2014 Attenuation Circuit, ACL 1009b, (ltd. 15)
Archive recordings of various years collected in one wooden box with hand-painting, limited to just 15 copies! Containing albums: "Night Visions" (1988), "Silent Red Planet" (1987), "This Earth" (2005), "Live Archive Selected 2004-2005" and "Atmospheric Currents 1" (2014).
Baghiri, Amir -- "Time" -- CD-R -- €8
1998/2007 Bluebox, BB004
2007 re-release of Baghiri's classic album previously released by Arya label of Amplexus family. Gradually drifts from light sequencer pieces to quieter, ambient sound-worlds. A mixture of Roach / Rich tribalisms and gorgeous shapelessness. [label info]
[cd baby]
Bardoseneticcube -- "The Dark Mathematics" -- CD-R -- €8
2014 self-released, (ltd. 50)
The sight over the space of formula, nascent from the dark. The irresistible form of the Universe, manifested in numbers. The iconic project BARDOSENETICCUBE’ new release comprises five tracks of the thrilling noise-ambient, created with use of the Soviet analog electronics, low-frequency Tesla generator, digital electronics, distorted field recordings and sound artefacts. Limited edition – 50 numbered CDR copies with exclusive hand-made wrapping. [from the author]
[bandcamp]
Crosbie, Alistair -- "White Closed Eyes" -- CD-R -- €9
2006 Lefthand Pressings, LHP-02
Alistair Crosbie is a Scottish musician also known for his project Inversion - a duo with Brian Lavelle. Compositions from this album were recorded in 1996-1997 and represent minimalistic sound flow, sharpened in timbre and rich in overtones, created with the use of feedback, tape and effect processors.
Cymphonic -- "Dimensionata" -- CD -- €10
2013 Databloem, DB046-2012
Cymphonic (Stanley Swinkels) is back with another masterpiece of ambience. Stanley's traditional (Biosphere, Namlook) yet typical sound mingles synth pads and sequences beautifully with whispering voices, environmental field recordings and occasional fractal beats to create a range of sonic states and moods. The soft distortion from one dark area yields to the bright tone paintings of another in this wonderfully varied ambient landscape. Dimensionata is fascinating mix of ambient styles expertly woven into one totally engaging "Cymphonic" journey. Dimensionata: Love is Light, Light is Color and Color gives Dimension to Life. Cymphonic strives to sonically express a feeling and ambience that is both Harmonious and full of Tension. Peaceful and Spacious, with Lightness and Darkness, yet all in balance. With his 4th album ‘Dimensionata’ one can drift away along soothing dreamcape-drones with gentle rhythms. Next to that - like reality - there are senses arousing and more darkish cinematic pieces. This album tells a coherent story and is a total ambient experience in itself. Music is an expression of our inner life and much has been written about it. In the album ‘Dimensionata’ this is consciously and audibly accessible but there are layers that remain in the subconsciousness. It is mainly due to carefull listening (at ease) that you are capable of getting closer to these concealed realms of sonic expression. One thing is clear: Dimensionata is full of dimensions indeed. [press-release]
[CD Baby]
Deconstruction Disco -- "Construction 01.B.13" -- CD-R -- €5
2013 Attenuation Circuit, ACDD 1002
'Electronic music' means a lot of different things to different people: Dance music to many, avantgarde music with special instruments to others. The project DECONSTRUCTION DISCO is determined to prove that these aspects are not contradictory. In live improvisations, electronic beats meet instruments from the long history of electronic music, such as the theremin. The tools of dance music DJs and electronic composers alike, such as records, mixers, and synthesizers, are processed, sampled, and hacked to create new sounds... Daniel Fibrile: turntables, elektrojudas: live loops + sampling, CnZsMr: theremin, hacked hardware + bended circuits, EMERGE: treated and natural samples of recording media. [label info]
Diskrepant -- "A Captive Of Oxygen" -- 3"CD-R -- €5
2013 Attenuation Circuit, ACM 1014
This 20-minute piece is the second part in a triptych of 3” CD-Rs on Attenuation Circuit that Diskrepant started with the release of “Through the Odious Framework” in 2012. After the more drone-oriented first part, this is a composition created almost entirely from amplified objects and reverberated field recordings. Working at a very quiet sound level, Diskrepant invites his audience to listen as closely as possible, which offers the possibility of finding unexpected beauty “inside” the sounds... Swedish sound artist Per Еhlund started to experiment with sounds as Diskrepant in 1997. He started exploring the possibilities of feedback, voice and effects and from there it went. He now works mostly with his computer, combining sounds from analog modular systems, acoustic, concrete sounds, field recordings and effects. Live he uses contact microphones, vibrators, gadgets and effect modules to form gloomy soundscapes and noisy, abstract sound environments. [press-release]
[youtube]
Dodovski, Dimitar -- "Rivers" -- CD -- €10
2013 Databloem, DB047-2013
After releasing with Lee Norris as Moss Garden, Dimitar Dodovski from Macedonia makes his solo debut on Databloem under his own name. Dimitar uses emulated vintage synthesizer and environmental sounds to flavour and add extra beauty to the bottom layer of drones. Contemporary Ambient music for the mind, body and soul. “Rivers” follows the Brian Eno's concept of gardening instead of architecture. Working on a "seed" and watching it grow in a whole track, making space for the producer to sit back and enjoy the result without involving too much in the "organic" processes occurring in the tracks. On a more personal level it is made entirely in a period of life when the experiences of inner peace and need to visit nature became more frequent so these 5 tracks are a kind of translation in the language of sound of all that happened. [label info]
[soundcloud]
Emerge feat. Don Vomp -- "Retention" -- CD-R -- €7
2014 Attenuation Circuit, ACC 1014, (ltd. 30)
The first ever collaboration of drone artist EMERGE and experimental violinist Don Vomp, recorded in 2009 at the lab.30 festival in Augsburg, is a hauntingly intense performance. Evolving from dronescapes into intricate interplay between live and processed violin into the icy caverns of reverbed small sounds, this 45-minute set shows a very good sense of economy and timing. Effectively a live improvisation, “retention” clearly shows that the artists collaborated closely in preparing their live set. All the sounds created and played by EMERGE are based on the ‘natural’ sound of Don Vomp’s violin. The beauty of the resulting piece is that the soundscape evolves from clearly recognisable (if somewhat layered and pitched, kind of Niblock-style) violin-y timbres to totally alien sounds, alien in the sense of “from outer space.” And as the listener travels along in EMERGE’s spaceship, Vomp’s live violin playing in the first 13 minutes, even if he hardly uses any effects, starts to sound more and more unfamiliar. Making us hear a totally traditional instrument like the violin in an unexpected new way – isn’t that among the best things that experimental music can achieve? [press-release]
[bandcamp]
Entheogenic Sound Explorers -- "Quarto" -- CD -- €10
2013 Databloem, DB044-2012
Entheogenic Sound Explorers fourth and most consistent album so far, offering an hour worth of adventurous dubby, hypnotic ambient. With "Quarto" Stefano Contini & Piero Marchesi have made another step in pushing their composing and production skills to a higher level. The albums seems to tell a story, travelling through psychedelic landscapes with a sense of hope and being. Put on repeat and you will discover new paths with each listen. [label info]
[soundcloud] [soundcloud]
FaLX cerebRi -- "Trials Textures Errors" -- CD -- €10
2014 Monochrome Vision, mv15, (ltd. 500)
Almost 7 years in making, finally this milestone of pioneering & legendary german noise outfit is released - more than 25 years after the last recorded FaLX cerebRi track, compiles several contributions to compilations, as well as outtakes, erratic experiments, live cuts and unreleased tracks. The name FaLX cerebRi was chosen for the new music and art project by Graf Haufen early in 1983, as he felt it was a complete departure from his previous minimal synth endeavours. The name suited the project as it describes the borderline between the brain hemispheres. On one side the rational and analytical part of the brain, on the other the intuitive and creative part. The music of FaLX cerebRi was never meant to be consistent. Errors were embraced. Confusion was intended. Hence also the strange way of spelling. The project always remained open for all sorts of experimentation – ranging from noise to ritualistic drone ambience, from cut up collage work to hardcore electronics, from conceptual static surface noise to rhythmic evocations of the demon beasts. Always somewhere in the grey areas between conceptual work and – in its own strange way – regular "song" structure. The first release was unleashed in June 1983 on a limited edition promo cassette called «Pyogenic Organism», that came packaged with a real human blood sample and covered in sheep's brains. The promo opened the doors for FaLX cerebRi, as its tracks appeared on several cassette compilations in 1983 and 1984. Newer, exclusive tracks appeared furthermore on labels such as Schrei Records, Gut Level Music, Illuminated 666, Fraction Studio, Broken Flag, ZSF Product, Al Khemi, Selbstmord Organisacio'n, Requiem Productions, Cthulhu Records, Illusion Production, Zamizdat Trade Journal, Necronomicon, De'viation Culturelle, Insane Music, Alien Artists, Korm Plastics, Bog-Art, Club Moral, Les Ballets Me'chaniques and Dill Prod. A year later in June 1984 the first and up to now only album of FaLX cerebRi was released simultaneously on 7 labels: «Rite 64», a C60 cassette, was published on Graf Haufen Tapes in Germany, Korm Plastics in Holland, Gut Level Music in the USA, Fraction Studio in France, Requiem Productions in Norway, Servile Ghost in Australia, Calypso Now in Switzerland and Auxilio De Cientos in Spain in a print run of 500 copies. A remastered CDr with bonus live cuts was released by Korm Plastics in 1999. The following contributions to cassette and vinyl compilations saw a shift in musical directions – on one hand towards drone ambient or simply voice based melancholic echo-loop compositions, on the other hand very conceptual outer edge works like surface scannings with a variety of microphones or field recordings to replace composed music. FaLX cerebRi performed a couple of ritualistic live shows in 1985 in Berlin, Budapest and Bordeaux, worked on soundscapes for installations and exhibitions, as well as conceptual sound installations and photo performances for international art exhibitions. A second album was planned in 1985 but never fully realized apart from a rough mix that didn't work properly, partially due to technical factors, but also because of the variety of compositions and conceptual works. Instead Graf Haufen published a limited edition 7" EP on this new imprint Artcore Editions with scannings and a rather rhythmic «Nature Is Noise Enough» field recording. FaLX cerebRi only recorded seldomly after that – a few tracks appeared on compilations and some long, static drone compositions remain unpublished and were shelved away. [press-release]
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Government Alpha -- "Sporadic Spectra" -- CD -- €10
1999 Ground Fault Recordings, GF004
Extremely harsh noise that changes enormously from track to track, and also changes within each track, into several different experiences. Reminiscent of a combination of Merzbow, with his rumbling, crushing noises that cycle, and KK Nulls penchant for high pitched, piercing scree via guitar. A satisfying, punishing listen, quality extreme noise for those who know the difference and need the real stuff. Government Alpha delivers, and this is some of the best. [Manifold Records]
[youtube]
Government Alpha / Linekraft -- "Gloomy Rust" -- CD -- €10
2010 Xerxes, ESCD:0012, (ltd. 500)
Linekraft - solo project of Masahiko Okubo, Japanese musician and owner of Three Plugs label, member of Mothra project. This split-album consists of 4 tracks by Linekraft and 5 tracks by Government Alpha, recorded in late 2010. Two tracks are collaborative, first Linekraft processes Government Alpha source material, then vice versa. Both project share same style - ultra sharp, chaotic and harsh noise collage leaving no illusions and bringing the aesthetics of destruction to the maximum limit. Limited edition in fold-out hard paper cover, artwork by Yasutoshi Yoshida. [Monochrome Vision]
Government Alpha / Torturing Nurse -- "Countercurrent" -- CD -- €10
2009 Xerxes, ESCD:0011, (ltd. 500)
Torturing Nurse - noise project from Shanghai existing since 2004. In 5 years they have put out more than 150 releases in limited editions, the duo has collaborated with Zbigniew Karkowski, Kommissar Hjuler und Frau, Kylie Minoise, Astro, Black Leather Jesus, Kenji Siratori, Stimbox and many others. Now the turn has come for a joint work with Goverment Alpha - also quite prolofic Japanese project. One solo track from each artist and two collaborations. Limited edition in sleeve, 500 copies. [Monochrome Vision]
Grassow, Mathias -- "The Fragrance Of Eternal Roses" -- CD-R -- €8
2000/2010 Practising Nature, PN10034
Re-mastered reissue of the classic album released in 2000. The Fragrance of Eternal Roses is one of Mathias Grassow's finest releases up to date. It is a deeply personal statement from the ambient drone king. Grassow has perfected his minimalist technique to the point where it almost seems translucent, and that is the point of minimalism. This album gives the impression that there is nothing there, but focused listening reveals an extremely psychoactive soundscape. Grassow's drones enter the brainwaves and neurons and the receptors jump and snap as the synapses come alive. The brain activity allows for clarity of thought and peace of mind. Grassow's expert skills in sound design make this an essential minimalist masterpiece and no serious collector has a complete library without it. [press-release]
[CD Baby]
Hedoromeruhen -- "s/t" -- CD -- €10
2013 Hedorodata, HD:01
Experimental Folk Noise Project by Daisuke Ichiba and Yasutoshi Yoshida (Government Alpha). Quite special understanding of folk as you can imagine...
[bandcamp]
Kerby, Antony Paul & Tomas Weiss -- "Revelation" -- CD -- €10
2013 Databloem, DB048-2013
As with their previous two collaborations, Revelation is a masterpiece of complex and lush ambient soundscapes. Deep Grassow-like drones are expertly overlaid and entwined with a myriad details, subtle melodies, and inventive flourishes. Both majestic and yet deeply intimate, this is music that you can return to again and again. [label info]
[soundcloud] [youtube]
Kleistwahr -- "This World Is Not My Home" -- CD -- €10
2014 Fourth Dimension Records, FDCD91, (ltd. 300)
The latest album from Gary Mundy (Ramleh), who has been using this moniker since the early ‘80s to further furrow the worlds of intense electronics, harrowing psychedelia and violent or claustrophobic atmospherics he is already known for. Less prolific than Ramleh, Kleistwahr began with several cassette releases on Gary’s own much revered Broken Flag imprint and has subsequently been afforded more releases by labels such as Noise War, Noiseville and Harbinger Sound. This World Is Not My Home collects seven pieces recorded between 2013 and 2014 of mostly instrumental sprawling guitar & electronic works. Released in an edition of 300 in a Broken Flag-type sleeve. [press-release]
Light Collapse / Pulsating Veins / Radiostalking -- "Mystic Radionoise Tales" -- CD-R -- €6
2014 Down Elcovka Records, CD-R DER 019, (ltd. 33)
Radionoise split from three projects from the Urals, Belarus and Leningrad. Three legends, three mystic acts hidden below the gritty flows of radiowaves waiting for the experienced psychonauts to find them. CDR with printed surface, packed in a half-dvd box. [label info]
Merzouga -- "Live At Fluc" -- CD-R -- €7
2014 Attenuation Circuit, ACC 1013
Over the last few years, German-based duo Merzouga have made a reputation with their radiophonic compositions, two of which became known internationally thanks to CD releases on the Gruenrekorder label. But for more than a decade, Eva Pöpplein (computer) and Janko Hanushevsky (prepared bass guitar) have been at large as a free improvising duo. This complete 40 minute concert “Live at Fluc,” which took place on 21 March 2012 in the Klub Moozak series of the Viennese live club, documents this side of their work on disc for the first time ever... What is special about Merzouga’s live sets is the enormous variety of sounds that the duo create in a very short time without out ever running the risk of overdoing it. Eva Pöpplein uses field recordings as well as abstract glitch sounds to create both atmospheres and rhythmic accents; no sound is ever forced to follow a predetermined function, it is allowed to develop. This philosophy, perhaps the most important idea in free improvisation, also inspires Janko Hanushevsky’s bass guitar playing. Time and time again the listener is surprised by the wide range of sounds he gets out of the instrument thanks to various preparations and extended playing techniques which, in addition to various brushes and wire wool, can also include golf balls at times. When the bass, played in the highest registers, gives out a metallic chirping, and sampled crickets from the computer creep into your ear, the two sound sources fuse almost completely – an achievement not uncommon in Merzouga’s music, and one that is enhanced by listening to the CD instead of the live show. Therefore, this album also goes to show that live improvisation can also work well as a recording. [press-release]
Ministry Of Truth -- "Animal Farm" -- CD -- €5
2011 Shadowplay Records, SPR 098
Ministry Of Truth's new album is an ambitious and impressive attempt at creating a musical version of the 'Animal Farm', a cult novel by George Orwell which is universally known to have numerous cinematic versions. According to MOT, this anti-utopian story about the animals defeating men and yet remaining vulnerable to their own destructive passions and social illusions is a sublime and extremely expressive gothic suite, if not a dark opera, which definitely stands out for its unhuman (no wonder!) intensity of emotions, a powerful sound and the spirit of totalitaristic art, with impressive contributions from the band's all four vocalists. It's necessary to mention Moon Far Away mastermind Count Ash's guest appearance on vocals, too. In the end of the day, Ministry Of Truth has come up with an integral and conceptual work where all the parts are real hits. In musical terms, MOT continues exploring their unique stylistics, i. e. a very special dark wave with a touch of neoclassic and even art rock. [press-release]
MNNSK -- "Mythochondrr" -- CD -- €10
2012 Databloem, DB040-2012
Mnnsk is Christophe Périat from Switzerland and Mythochondrr is his debut release. Never before we released such a dynamic and energetic album, covering the whole electronic spectrum. Grainy atmospheres, powerful sequences, urban soundscapes and fractal beats flow together like a story is told... just how we like it. The production is amazing, mastered by Vincent Villuis from the beloved Ultimae studios. For Databloem this is what contemporary ambient electronic music is all about. [label info]
[soundcloud]
Mystified & Martyn Schmidt -- "An Effort Of Memory" -- CD-R -- €7
2013 Attenuation Circuit, ACE 1002
Many albums in the Attenuation Circuit Eco Series are split releases, but this hour-long composition is a true collaboration with 50 percent input from both US-based drone artist Mystified and German poet and sound artist Martyn Schmidt. Starting with a poem, Schmidt’s voice morphs into pure vocal improvisation and breathing, both processed to amalgamate with Mystified’s acoustic drones. The result sounds at times like La Monte Young meeting Morton Feldman or like Norwegian jazz singer Sidsel Endresen imitating deep bass strings with her voice. Using feedback loops, the sound of whale bones played as percussion instruments on a Danish island, and jackhammers from local building sites, Schmidt „encoded, stored and retrieved“ (as the back cover says) lots of samples along with the music by Mystified he was reacting to - encoding, storing, retrieving being the three steps of memory as conceptualised by psychology. Connecting psychoacoustics back to his poetic roots, Schmidt also quotes the poem “Gedächtnis” (Memory, or Remembrance) by Hölderlin. Memorising, forgetting, and recreating sounds and words turn out to be different sides of the artistic process, and the drone as a music that forever seems to dissolve and congeal, to ebb and flow, to move and stand still, seems a perfect sonic metaphor for this. [press-release]
[bandcamp]
Necro Stellar -- "The Expanding Universe 1988-2008" -- CD -- €10
2009 Shadowplay Records, SPR 107
The next album of the pioneers of Russian industrial music, of the living legend of progressive underground – "The Expanding Universe 1988-2008". As follows from the name – the album includes Russian-speaking songs composed during the period with 1988 for 2008. Plural style presence, courageous experiments, great number of instruments, saturated arrangement and their legendary sound, - from the first chords give us clear picture of, who stands up for this bright work. The concept we can notice here – is the transcendental anarchism and Russian metaphysical terror of direct action. In the conceptual plan we notice here transcendental anarchism and Russian metaphysical terror of direct action. We only need to ascertain with what masterly steepness NECRO STELLAR punishes the fucked up world of glamour and business, cremates biological madness of expanding logic of a survival and pleasures agonizing the Babylon consciousness of inhabitants. [press-release]
Necro Stellar -- "The Primary Aspiration" -- 2 CD -- €10
2012 Shadowplay Records, SPR 133
This is the anniversary album of NECRO STELLAR, consisting mainly of restored and rewritten material of 90’s. Having looked back with smile, I see all our ups, jumps and downs, dark days of emptiness, stale bread and phantom pain of the gone and dead epoch. I pay my last hasty and unabashed tribute to the bitter and dissolute time. To the time that was won and missed, buried without honors, pity and commemoration. The time that is finally ended. And therefore, our album – is naturally on the Limit of Transition. By the fact of its existence it, in the sense, modestly finishes the mean epoch of decomposition of 90's- 2000's. And the New Songs look far in a light distance. The Songs of the New Time – for incarnate Streams of the Flame, for punishing old and building the new world, for all those who «has come to release the Sun»... Love and peace – in everyone's heart. [Yuri Zvezdniy]
Necro Stellar -- "Red Beast" -- CD -- €10
2009 Shadowplay Records, SPR 088
The "Red BEast" album contains songs created in different periods of time. This work presents the study of the nature of the Red Beast in realms of non-commercial electro music. With this disc Necro Stellar finish their experiments with non-Russian lyrics and contemporary compositional forms typical for electronic music. The disc features band's trademark rich arrangements counting from 150 to 200 tracks in each song. The combination of multiple tricks, effects and styles creates a familiar flavour from the very first seconds of the recognizable sound... In addition to the composer Yuri Zvezdniy and singer Anastasiya Podnebesnaya the recordings feature the violinist Evgeniy Voronovskiy from the project CISFINITUM. Bonus tracks contain remixes by HUMAN DECAY (Ger), MIND: STATE (Sw), MOKTAN (Ger), DJ SECT (Rus) and a rare remix of the Australian band ANGEL THEORY made by Necro Stellar in 2006. Stylistical references: Electro, Dark Wave, Industrial, Tribal, Ambient, Noise, Ballads, Ritual, Retro Pop, Progressive. [press-release]
[youtube]
Noises Of Russia -- "Live in Volgograd 31.08.2013" -- CD-R -- €6
2014 ElektroIndustria, 14EIСDr
Live recording of the Noises Of Russia gig at "Meeting at Volga - 2" festival (date and place featuring in the release title). In addition to the permanent band members Gosha Solnzev and MC Prorock, they were joined by the musicians (also the owners of the significant Russian industrial labels) M.M., author of "Kryptogen Rundfunk" and owner of "Zhelezobeton", and Ivan from "kultFRONT", and also Anton Walewski ("MXY7 Ohka"). Listening to this recording albeit at a considerable temporal and spatial distance from the scene, I can only state that in that evening in the lap of nature many minds were most probably blown away, and many were fixed after preliminary complete formatting - that's the feeling one has after listening to this gig, after which it's necessary to stay a while in silence and simply have a smoke efen for those lacking this bad habit... [maeror3.livejournal.com]
[bandcamp]
Oophoi -- "The Dreaming Of Shells" -- CD-R -- €8
2003/2009 Practising Nature, PN09031
Re-mastered reissue of Oophoi's classic album. Considered by many as one of Oophoi's finest albums. Oophoi's The Dreaming of Shells is a breathtaking descent straight to an unknown chasm where small clouds of fine luminescent dust drift away, splitting obscure cold waters, swaying to the sound of cavernous tones... This is a submarine hidden chorus, an ode of sirens' voices singing ageless chants... a rain of fragmented glittering particles brushing submerged walls, while golden refractions sleep buried in the fissures... The dreams of shells is a meeting with a resonating radiant world of its own, a long dive in apnea scattered with amazements. Oophoi plays synthesizer, electronics, flute (bamboo), percussion, performer (monochord, crystals), voice, singing bowls. [label info]
[cd baby]
Oophoi -- "I Hear The Wind Singing" -- CD-R -- €8
2013 Practising Nature, PN13055
Not long before his passing Oophoi gave us the recordings of two, previously unreleased parts from the "I Hear" trilogy. Part one "I Hear The Water Dreaming" was a collaboration with Louisa John-Krol and released in 2005. The other parts "I Hear The Wind Singing" and "I Hear The Woods Whispering" were initially meant for further collaboration but for some reason this never came off the ground. On Gigi's request we edited and released the basic tracks, with artwork from his beloved wife Alessandra. Both albums showcase, in retrospect, Oophoi's talents for creating aural paintings of nature in a pure and soothing way. [label info]
[cd baby]
Oophoi -- "I Hear The Woods Whispering" -- CD-R -- €8
2013 Practising Nature, PN13054
Not long before his passing Oophoi gave us the recordings of two, previously unreleased parts from the "I Hear" trilogy. Part one "I Hear The Water Dreaming" was a collaboration with Louisa John-Krol and released in 2005. The other parts "I Hear The Wind Singing" and "I Hear The Woods Whispering" were initially meant for further collaboration but for some reason this never came off the ground. On Gigi's request we edited and released the basic tracks, with artwork from his beloved wife Alessandra. Both albums showcase, in retrospect, Oophoi's talents for creating aural paintings of nature in a pure and soothing way. [label info]
[cd baby]
Oophoi -- "Night Currents" -- CD-R -- €8
1998/2011 Practising Nature, PN12048
Re-mastered reissue of Oophoi's classic recording from 1998 on which Oophoi played synths, samples, flutes and percussion. Night Currents is a long-form and is divided into five subtitles or movements. This recording is a visit to the darkside of life. Using synths, samples and flutes, he builds wide-opena tmospheres and contemplative soundworlds. This soundscape is for looking at some of the darker aspects of life. Curiously, it is not an uncomfortable experience. This dark organic soundscape has plenty of warmth and charm to contrast the dark passages. While those qualities seem to be mutually exclusive, the concept works here. This is one of the ultimate paradoxes - dark and cozy minimalism. Thus, it is an essential release. [label info]
[cd baby]
Oophoi -- "Signals From The Great Beyond 2" -- CD-R -- €8
2005/2011 Practising Nature, PN11045
Re-mastered reissue of the second part of Oophoi's classic Signals of the Great Beyond triology. Oophoi plays synthesizer, gong, singing bowls, percussion, (bass) flute and electronics. [label info]
[cd baby]
Oophoi -- "Signals From The Great Beyond 3" -- CD-R -- €8
2005/2011 Practising Nature, PN11046
Re-mastered reissue of the final part of Oophoi's classic Signals of the Great Beyond triology. Oophoi plays synthesizer, gong, singing bowls, percussion, (bass) flute and electronics. [label info]
[cd baby]
Oophoi -- "Time Fragments Vol. 1: Lost Memories" -- CD-R -- €8
2001/2011 Practising Nature, PN11038
The six part "Time Fragments" series is a collection of lost and forgotten pieces from Oophoi's rich archives. Tracks from Vol. 1 "Lost Memories" were originally recorded in the Kiva between 1995 and 1997 on which Oophoi played synths, drones, loops, flutes, voice, whirl tubes, frame drums, stones and crystals. [label info]
[cd baby]
Oophoi -- "Time Fragments Vol. 2: Hidden Visions" -- CD-R -- €8
2001/2011 Practising Nature, PN11039
The six part "Time Fragments" series is a collection of lost and forgotten pieces from Oophoi's rich archives. Tracks from Vol. 2 "Hidden Visions" were originally recorded in the Kiva between 1998 and 1999 on which Oophoi played synths, drones, loops, flutes, voice, whirl tubes, percussions, gongs, tibetan singing bowls and tamboura. [label info]
[cd baby]
Oophoi -- "Time Fragments Vol. 3: Tales From Mythological Lands" -- CD-R -- €8
2001/2011 Practising Nature, PN11040
The six part "Time Fragments" series is a collection of lost and forgotten pieces from Oophoi's rich archives. Tracks from Vol. 3 "Tales From Mythological Lands" were originally recorded in the Kiva between 1999 and 2000 on which Oophoi played synths, flutes, percussions, tibetan singing bowls, gongs, virtual cellos, bells, monochord, voice and whirl tubes. [label info]
[cd baby]
Oophoi -- "Time Fragments Vol. 4: Garden Of Earthly Delights" -- CD-R -- €8
2005/2011 Practising Nature, PN11041
The six part "Time Fragments" series is a collection of lost and forgotten pieces from Oophoi's rich archives. Tracks from Vol.4 "Garden of Earthly Delights" were originally recorded in the Kiva between 2002 and 2004 on which Oophoi played synths, voice, woodchimes, metalchimes, percussions, glasses, Theremin and nature sounds. [label info]
[cd baby]
Oophoi -- "Time Fragments Vol. 5: Wastelands" -- CD-R -- €8
2005/2011 Practising Nature, PN11042
The six part "Time Fragments" series is a collection of lost and forgotten pieces from Oophoi's rich archives. Tracks from Vol.5 "Wastelands" were originally recorded in the Kiva in 2005 on which Oophoi played Synths, percussions, stones, singing bowls and Monks voices. [label info]
[cd baby]
Oophoi -- "Time Fragments Vol. 6: Between Nothingness And Eternity" -- CD-R -- €8
2005/2011 Practising Nature, PN11043
The six part "Time Fragments" series is a collection of lost and forgotten pieces from Oophoi's rich archives. Tracks from Vol.6 "Between Nothingness And Eternity" were originally recorded in the Kiva in 2005 on which Oophoi played synths, flute, shells, percussions, vocoder, stones and voice. [label info]
[cd baby]
Oophoi -- "Whispers From The Noisy Void" -- CD-R -- €8
2007/2009 Practising Nature, PN09032
Re-mastered reissue of Oophoi's classic album. Compilation with tracks from Cryosphere, Lightnoise and World of Shadows on which Oophoi plays synths, samples, sampled voices, percussion, lap steel guitar and electronics. [label info]
[cd baby]
Oophoi & Tau Ceti -- "Archaic Oceans" -- CD-R -- €8
2004/2012 Practising Nature, PN12051
Part one of the re-mastered reissue of Oophoi and Tau Ceti's classic double album from 2004. Oophoi: synths, electronics, loops, bells, vocoder, percussions, shells. Tau Ceti: synths. [label info]
[cd baby]
Oophoi & Tau Ceti -- "Archaic Oceans 2" -- CD-R -- €8
2004/2012 Practising Nature, PN12052
Part two of the re-mastered reissue of Oophoi and Tau Ceti's classic double album from 2004. Oophoi: synths, electronics, loops, bells, vocoder, percussions, shells. Tau Ceti: synths. [label info]
[cd baby]
Oophoi & Tau Ceti -- "Celestial Geometries 2" -- CD-R -- €8
2001/2012 Practising Nature, PN12050
Part two of the re-mastered reissue of Oophoi and Tau Ceti's classic double album from 2006. An enigmatic and deep work of slow dynamics, ceremonial intensity and methodical pacing. Synth pads grow, thicken and gentley shift, a creature calls from the distance through a mist of reverb and echo, harmonics alternately become dense then fall away to a shiny smooth ribbon of sound... [label info]
[cd baby]
Organomehanizm -- "s/t" -- CD-R -- €10
2000/2014 self-released, (ltd. 39)
Reissue of a cassette release from 2000, solo debute by Kirill Stoukaline (member of Reductio Ad Absurdum) under the new moniker Organomehanizm. The title was taken from an epic speech by Boris Yeltsin dedicated to fight against terrorism. No manipulations with the original tape, just quality-made digital copy, no removal if parasite noises, clicks and corrugations. Recorded in 1998-2000. [Kirill Stoukaline]
Organomehanizm -- "Milking the Swamp Cattle / Filter Guy" -- CD-R -- €10
2014 self-released, (ltd. 39)
Recorded in 2007-2009. "Milking the Swamp Cattle" ("Dojka Bolotnyh Gadov") was initially recorded for the Ufa Muzak label compilation "Last Call of Gjallarhorn", but wasn't finished in time and didn't fit the concept. "Filter Guy" was recorded as a separate piece approximately in the same period. Dedicated to the filter guy. Both tracks put to digital format in 2009. [Kirill Stoukaline]
Pacific 231 & Bardoseneticcube -- "The Traditions Of Changes" -- CD -- €11
2014 Silken Tofu, stx.25, (ltd. 300)
PACIFIC 231 is the brainchild of French multimedia artist Pierre Jolivet, currently residing in Dublin, Ireland. While Pacific 231 has its roots in the 1980’s industrial noise underground, Pierre Jolivet has since then consistently sought out and found new sounds and new compositional themes, venturing into unfamiliar aesthetics but always maintaining the rare quality of a steady evolutionary path. BARDOSENETICCUBE was formed by Russian artist Igor Potsukaylo in 1998. In his work, surrealism is key: “pure psychic automatism willing to express the real functioning of the reflection orally, written or in any other form. Dictation of mind without any control from the intellect, outside of any aesthetic of moral considerations.” (Andre Breton) One of Russia’s leading experimental drone acts, Bardoseneticcube has a quite extensive discography, having released on labels such as Drone Records, Aquarellist and Monochrome Vision. This collaborative composition consists of 6 movements, leading the listener through a utopian sonic maelstrom in a modern re-interpretation of some sections of ‘New Atlantis’ (Francis Bacon, 1624-27). Psychedelica, field recordings and abstract electronics create a ‘New Language’ with a slippering affect from quietness and by dint of colliding utter chaos. NOTE: Preferably listened to in total for coherence and surreal storytelling projection. Limited to 300 copies. Packaged in a 6-panel A5 folder with soft-touch finishing and UV spot varnish. [press-release]
[soundcloud]
Prinzip Nemesis -- "My Name Is Assumption" -- CD-R -- €7
2014 Attenuation Circuit, ACLE 1008, (ltd. 25)
A trip through India, captured through field recordings, poetry, and songs – this is what this album is about. Instead of relying on the so-called ‘pure’ soundscape of an exotic country like so many practitioners of ‘phonography,’ Prinzip Nemesis recreate their impressions and the moods they experienced on their trip in compositions that carefully interweave the field recordings and ‘found music’ by street musicians with music for electric guitars, pianos, and synthesizers. This is a great acoustic travelogue that is second to none but the best works in the genre, for example by Luc Ferrari. Prinzip Nemesis are wise enough to know that sounds do not always speak for themselves, so to tell a story with sounds, you still need words - and music, in this case a kind of goth-rock/electro-pop/ambient hybrid style that is always in the service of the overall atmosphere of the whole album, which really feels like one long piece. Prinzip Nemesis manage no small feat: They have created a piece of acoustic art that transcends the boundaries of phonography, poetry, and music in a way usually only found in the most sophisticated radio art compositions while remaining totally accessible and entertaining to all sorts of listeners. [label info]
[bandcamp]
Rapoon & Pacific 231 -- "Tour De Force" -- CD -- €14
2014 Alone At Last, AAL[6], (ltd. 500)
The first meeting of Robin Storey (Rapoon) and Pierre Jolivet (Pacific 231) took place back in 2007, when Old Europa Cafe released their split album "Palestine", dedicated to the memory of Bryn Jones (Muslimgauze). This time they team-up for a fulltime real collaboration, presenting their unique musical visions. The album is quite different from both artists' traditional styles, showing up the kind of synergetic effect embraced in sound. The long form, contemplative and mind expanding tracks are sequenced in time eliminating journey. Limited edition of 500 copies in special packaging - custom made of metallic coated ruby color paper with white ink silkscreen print, assembled by hand. Comes with the set of 6 postcards with oxide textures photos and ancient style drawing over them. [label info]
Reductio Ad Absurdum -- "Fecalophagia" -- CD-R -- €10
1997/2014 self-released, (ltd. 39)
Reissue of a cassette release made in 1997 by Plodovitaya Suka label (PS04). Digitized master-tape without removing any clicks and noises. In 1997 this master-tape was used to make the cassette release which was dubbed on a not-so-good cassette deck to not-so-good cassettes. The reason for this was complete absence of money for making a good quality release. The sound quality of this CDR is much better than the original cassettes from 1997. [Kirill Stoukaline]
Reductio Ad Absurdum -- "Live in Youth Theatre on Fontanka 13.03.98" -- CD-R -- €10
1998/2014 self-released, (ltd. 39)
The recording of the first of only two live gigs by an old Russian noise act Reductio Ad Absurdum, digitized from the cassette release by Ultra label, complete and authentic copy from R.A.A. leader - Kirill Stoukaline.
Six Dead Bulgarians -- "Archangelsk Region Faces" -- CD -- €10
2010 Shadowplay Records, SPR 110
The cult project SIX DEAD BULGARIANS coming from the myth-steeped Northern Russian city of Archangelsk has always lived up to its title of one of the most mysterious and unpredictable musical formations of the country. These tough guys from the White Sea have already released a dozen of albums where they easily and naturally juggle with such seemingly different genres as ritual industrial, dark ambient, IDM and electronic neo-folk, while remaining true to themselves, their trademark charm and quite special cynical sense of humour. The newest album of SIX DEAD BULGARIANS just released on Shadowplay Records, features more than brave combination of the latest achievements in modern audio technology with the sound of many live instruments and also Northern folklore singing, both in Russian and Nenets. "Archangelsk Region Faces" is a manifesto of the modern ethno-industrial resistance, and every part of it is full with new discoveries and surprises. The album was recorded, among other guests, together with a folk singer Ekaterina Zorina from Archangelsk, and Count Ash from MOON FAR AWAY, the legendary fellow countryman of SIX DEAD BULGARIANS. So we can say this release partially continues the line of "electronic neo-folk" started by the previous collaboration album by SIX DEAD BULGARIANS and MMON FAR AWAY "Matitsa". [press-release]
Six Dead Bulgarians -- "Silence 29-39" -- CD -- €10
2011 Shadowplay Records, SPR 126
New work by Six Dead Bulgarians tells a story about hard relationship between Northern root folklore and contemporary electronic music. This kind of mixture was seriously spoiled by some major pop projects, so this idea was initially doomed to commercial failure... But what 6dB have done this time is much more deep and honest as the main goal for this album was the idea of a creative experiment, rather then a desire to create a successful commercial project for regular club gigs. Those who have previously heard the recordings by 6dB should know the term "electronic music" is not that simple with them, as it includes a lot: noise, industrial, ambient, eastern meditations... Convincingly put it together with a crystal clear Northern folklore performed by the People's Choir of Kenozero National Park - is quite an unusual task. I'd like to underline the word "convincingly" as the album goes in one breath, it impresses with its integrity, thoughtfullness and wonderful sound. [press-release]
Solipsism & Nacht Plank -- "The Cerenarian Sea" -- CD -- €10
2014 Databloem, DB049-2013
The sound of The Cerenerian Sea is drone-based but with an emphasis on melody and the imaginative use of noise, glitches, and samples to create and enhance the atmosphere. An atmosphere that isn't quite dark but isn't quite light either... more a mysterious otherworldly twilight ambience. Solipsism is Craig Murphy, an experimental musician and recording artist from Glasgow in Scotland. His eclectic style and unorthodox methods has seen Murphy release on a variety of labels over the years in several genres and his music has been featured on major radio stations such as BBC Radio 1. Nacht Plank is Lee Norris, the man also behind acclaimed projects Metamatics, Autumn of Communion and Norken. Nacht Plank is where Norris allows himself to experiment the most, abandoning carefully designed beats in favour of long sections and dusty soundscapes, as showcased on this intriguing and challenging CD album. [press-release]
[youtube]
Spuntic -- "Broadcast" -- CD -- €10
2014 Databloem, DB051-2014
Spuntic is Mehdi Saleh from Iran and with Broadcast he delivers a brilliant 12 piece set of spacious drones, surrounded by cinematic textures and environmental sounds. A hidden treasure yet to be opened by any serious fan of atmospheric music. [label info]
[soundcloud]
Stoukaline, Kirill -- "Programma 2" -- CD-R -- €10
2000/2014 self-released, (ltd. 39)
Reissue of a cassette release from 2000 in better quality than it was possible in those days. Authentic copy from the original master-tape, no filters, cleaning or digital remastering. The recording was made with radionoises, Tesla frequency generator, recordings of various radio programs, including the program "Parts of Body" presented by "Super Radio" in St. Petersburg in 1998-99. This program had educational and entertaining purpose, anyone could call in the studio and tell about one's sexual fantasies, experience and feelings. The program was completely made of such phone calls and advertising of night clubs and condoms. Both this program and the radio station went out of air in 2000 or around this time. [Kirill Stoukaline]
Theodor Bastard -- "Music For The Empty Spaces" -- CD -- €12
2014 Fulldozer Records, FDCD 35, (ltd. 500)
Fulldozer Records presents a new CD by the outstanding Russian ethno-electronics band Theodor Bastard. The album "Music For The Empty Spaces" unites compositions written for documentaries by Brazilian filmmaker Gustavo Santos; for "Secrets Of Ourselves" - a film by Viktor Fokeev and for a fashion show by the avant-garde Japanese designer Yushi Kuroda. Other tracks can be characterized as "unissued soundtracks to movies that never existed". Music balances between ethno-electronics, ambient and dub; it shows some of the more experimental edges of contemporary Theodor Bastard's art. As for the graphics - it uses conceptual works by the French artist Nathalie Nowak. The Collector's edition of the album includes 3 extra tracks that have never been issued before. The edition is limited to 500 copies in a 4-panel digipak enclosed in deluxe slipcase. The 12-page booklet that is also included in this release features a fairy tale that Fedor Svolotch wrote for this specific edition. [press-release]
[mp3] [mp3] [mp3] [mp3] [mp3]
Yamaoka -- "Time To Time" -- CD -- €10
2013 Databloem, DB050-2013
Yamaoka was originally formed by Japanese Kenichi Oka and Yoshinori Yamazaki. Yoshinori withdrew from Yamaoka in 2007 and from there Kenichi continued Yamaoka as his solo project. Inspired by Kraftwerk and Y.M.O, he creates unique loop based tracks made in real time, without use of computers. Controlled by the Roland MC50 sequencer, Kenichi adds a human touch and “life” feel to the tracks, reminding us of early Schulze, which is probably why we love this album so much. [label info]
[soundcloud]
Youngs, Richard -- "Primary Concrete Attack" -- CD -- €10
2014 Fourth Dimension Records, FDCD90, (ltd. 300)
Whilst in Krakow for his appearance at the re:source festival I co-organised, in December 2013, Richard Youngs started telling me how he would rise to the challenge of any music idea put to him. Accordingly, I asked if he would try his hand at a dub album and, after pointing out how much he hated reggae, he agreed. A month or two later, he told me he’d commenced recording this, too, with the help of some equipment loaned to him by (I think) Luke Fowler. Now completed, the results form this album, which (naturally) sounds little like dub and more like Richard Youngs simply playing around with the effects one might hear on such recordings. Far from easy listening, the eight pieces here pull one’s insides out as they venture towards a black hole where sonic debris assumes new shapes. [press-release]
V/A -- "Frequency Of Decomposition Vol. 1" -- CD -- €10
2009 Xerxes, FOCD:0001
A compilation of Xerxes label: Jazkamer, Kakerlak, Astro / Hiroshi Hasegawa, Kazuma Kubota, Linekraft, Azoikum, PCRV, Thirdorgan, Defektro, Venus In Vergo, Government Alpha, S.Isabella, pheromonsterDISK. Comes in a 7"-cover along with the "Frequency Of Decomposition Vol.1" fanzine (all in Japanes language).
V/A -- "Monochrome Visions 2004-2014" -- 3 CD -- €20
2014 Monochrome Vision, mv50, (ltd. 500)
In 2014, Monochrome Vision label turns 10 years old, for this event we conceived the special project, which is this compilation with contributions of all artists ever produced. This triple CD set contains 48 exclusive tracks, total duration is almost four hours of music: Laurent Pernice, Cisfinitum, Miguel Ruiz, HHTP, Rafael Flores, Kinetix, Maurizio Bianchi + Siegmar Fricke, Lieutenant Caramel, Das Synthetische Mischgewebe, Frank Rothkamm, If, Bwana, Asmus Tietchen, Y-Ton-G, Kouhei Matsunaga, Batchas, FaLX cerebRi, Vox Populi!, Pacific 231, Gen Ken Montgomery, Arcane Device, Freiband, Nikita Golyshev, Trance, PBK, Bardoseneticcube,Francisco Lopez, Tomas Phillips, Kuwayama / Shimada / Mizutani, Richard Francis & Jason Kahn, Bernard Donzel-Gargand, Le Syndicat MMX, @c, Karl Bosmann, The Oval Language, Simon Whetham, factor X, Artificial Memory Trace, Mystery Hearsay, Thanos Chrysakis, TBC, Watercoloured Well, Mecha/Orga & Roel Meelkop, Yannick Franck, THU20, Julien Ottavi, Umpio, Sigillum S, Architects Office. [label info]
[mp3] [mp3] [mp3]
V/A -- "Zelphabet, Vol. G" -- CD -- €10
2009 Zelphabet
Letter "G" in the series of noise music "Zelphabet" curated by GX Jupitter-Larsen (The Haters). Exclusive tracks by Giancarlo Toniutti, Government Alpha, G*Park, Gregory Whitehead, GX Jupitter-Larsen.
Vinyl
Government Alpha -- "Altar Of Precogs" -- 7" -- €7
2012 Amethyst Sunset, AS-015, (ltd. 300)
Hard electronics & psychedelic noise from Yasutoshi Yoshida. 45 rpm.
Government Alpha / Evil Moisture -- split -- 7" -- €10
2010 Le Petit Mignon, LPM02, (ltd. 300)
Petrol drilling machine driver Yasutoshi Yoshida (aka Government Alpha) leaves his off-shore extraction platform on the Gabonese territory for 4'50 min of furious steamroller for gap-toothed old ladies on the Bomb! side, wrecking on his way the last dwarf mongooses' community who survived the Bulgaro-Christian deforestation in 62 before Judas-Christ. Mr Clean's nephew Evil Moisture (aka Andy Bolus) fills up his bento box on the Skull side with decomposing Halal meat, contaminated blood dressing and varicose veins. Hand-stamped and numbered innersleeve, 5-panel silkscreened cover designed and masticated in South Tyrol by crippaXXXalmqvist with the help of Anna Lilia Konishchev, printed at La Commissure in Paris. Mastering by Rashad Becker at Dubplates, Berlin. [press-release]
Cassettes
Government Alpha -- "DGTL Salvation" -- C-32 -- €5
2013 Fluxus Montana, fm7
Fluxus Montana is proud to release new works by Gov't Alpha. GA is one of the best in the Japanese Noise scene and Noise scene period. Yasutoshi has created some of the harshest and most technical noise out there. Here we see him continue his onslaught but with a different approach. Setting aside his usual arsenal of analog effects pedals, we see GA using a synth and computer programing to explore his voice. A bit more subdued then previous release but still the quality of sound we've all come to love. 32 minutes of great noise only GA can make. [label info]
Government Alpha -- "Transparent Species" -- C-30 -- €5
2008 Blago Bung Records, (ltd. 100)
One of the latest albums by Government Alpha released by the new French label - typical collage made of sharp, loud unidentified sounds. 30 minutes, released on a pink cassette, artwork by Serigraphie @ Le Dernier Cri. [Monochrome Vision]
Frea market
Extnddntwrk - Just Tracks - 2 CD - M/G - €2.0Don't forget to check the full list of rare & used items with all details, it's here.
IV. Back in stock
Ataraxia -- "Kremasta Nera" -- CD -- €10
2007 Shadowplay Records, SPR 053
There was a time in which the olympic and monotheistic religions were not flourishing yet, there was a far time in which a primordial cult, inspired by the White Goddess's power, was practised and felt. In the island of Samothrace, the triple Goddess devoted to the earth, the night and the everflowing cycle of nature was reigning. In order to be initiated into her mysteries, men and women, Greeks and foreigners, free people and slaves had to submit to nine rituals called creation, dominion, love, birth, sacrifice, ablution, memory and crowning. The last ritual had no name, the ninth ritual couldn't be revealed. Fascinated by the mistery surrounding the island and feeling the urge to portray in music an age and a place where the balance between the feminine and manly powers and their deep link with the nature voice and rhythms were as natural as life itself, we started the adventurous creation of this album. The music draws archaic mantras, ritual movements and lunar elegies, whispers magic spells and eastern litanies, forge tribal rhythms and dark ceremonies inspired by Samothrace's full of energies sites. "Kremasta Nera" is a thirty metres high cascade falling in the sea from a sheer cliff; "Axieros" is the name of the inscrutableGoddess; "Gria Vathra" is an enchanted glade where the sound of rivers, sources and the caresses of the wind on the leaves create a magic natural simphony; "Kaviria" were the priests in charge of the initiation rites, "Fengari" is the highest mountain in the island, the mount of the moon; "Therma" is a place rich of powerful curative springs; "Klethra" is a divinatory spell linked to the soul of the forest; "Migratio Animae", the trasmigration of the souls, is a long voyage from a form into another, a painful progression, a spiritual evolution... This album is inspired by the lights and shadows of an extinguished civilization, a lost world which eclipsed with its secrets. A mix of acoustic sounds, strings, electronic and eastern percussions and a deep evocative singing become the door to enter the purple reign of the Goddess. [press-release]
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Attrition -- "Dante's Kitchen" -- CD -- €10
2004/2006 Shadowplay Records, SPR 023
Electronic music pioneers Attrition have broken their four-year silence with the release of the sinister Dante's Kitchen. They have never fully been appreciated, as their music is difficult to neatly categorize. It combines elements of electronic, gothic, industrial, avant garde and classical- all arriving as a concentrated but seamless energy. An Attrition song has always been a dense, impressive wonder of overlapping vocals and samples, supported by electronic rhythms and atmospherics. No new ground has been broken with Dante's Kitchen, and in fact it is something of a throwback to their Hidden Agenda era, having recently done stints with modern classical and heavier electronic releases. Dante's Kitchen is as much goth/ industrial as it is dance/ electronic, and serves to put the band back on the map on the late-night goth club dance floors. The range on the disc is notable, drifting from near classical/ atmospheric ponderings of Two Gods, brooding dub/ sample-heavy selections like The Ladder, through the denser club-worthy tracks as The Head Of Gabriel... [Joe del Tufo, studiomlive.com] Russian edition with four bonus tracks.
[youtube]
b°tong & BoUm -- "Augenaufschlag" -- CD-R -- €7
2012 Attenuation Circuit, ACR 1023
After the experiments with voices on “Un_B°tong,” the dark ambient composer goes completely vocal on this album (his fourth release on Attenuation Circuit) with his soundscapes providing an atmospheric soundtrack to the prose recited by Swiss writer BoUm. The contrast between the matter-of-fact, evenly paced vocal delivery of the texts and the subtle unease created by the music makes for a suspenseful journey even for listeners unfamiliar with the German language, in which the texts are written. Less bass-heavy and reverbed than previous releases by the artist, getting maximum effect out of small sounds, B°tong’s music on this disc is rather subdued, always aiming to provide a sparse but emotionally engaging vehicle for the images created in the mind of the listener by the speaking voice. As the title “Augenaufschlag” (“blink of an eye”) suggests, BoUm takes his audience through a non-linear series of somewhat surreal scenes and landscapes. Echoes of nightmares, Kafka’s “In the Penal Colony,” and HR Giger paintings combine in strange yet fascinating tableaux. [press-release]
[soundcloud]
Baghiri, Amir -- "Exosphere" -- CD -- €10
2005 Bluebox, BB001
A mixture of masterful, spooky alien soundscapes and fluid textures by one of ambient music premier electro-tribal sound designers. "Exophere" offers ten tracks making up 68 minutes of music continuing the fine tradition of space & tribal ambient which Baghiri is known for. The album starts off quiet but after a few minutes a slow and later on accelerating and prominent sequence shows up which is reminiscent of the extended track "In the Heat of Venus" on Steve Roach’s album "Western Spaces". [label info]
[CD Baby]
Baghiri, Amir -- "Light Textures" -- CD-R -- €7
2013 Attenuation Circuit, ACLE 1002, (ltd. 55)
With his second album on Attenuation Circuit, internationally renowned ambient music composer Amir Baghiri pays homage to Persian polymath, philosopher, mathematician, astronomer and poet master Omar Khayyam. Both the music and the cover image by Kati Astraeir pick up on the theme of (inner and outer) space implied by Khayyam's interests in astronomy and philosophy. Amir Baghiri’s work encompasses many flavours of ambient music. Compared to his first release on Attenuation Circuit, “Prayers for the Earth” (ACLE 1001), this album is more “ritual”, with occasional percussion thrown in for good effect, while the overall feel is more sombre and cooler than that of its predecessor – perhaps reflecting the uncharted depths of the universe and “the mysteries of eternity” that Khayyam refers to in the quote on the back cover. Sampled footage about space travel connects the story told by the music to the actual history of space exploration. Anyone who has ever relaxed watching “Space Night” is going to love this, and for fans of Amir Baghiri’s work this limited edition album with its beautiful “origami-style” packaging and great artwork is a must anyway. [press-release]
Baghiri, Amir -- "Prayers for the Earth" -- CD-R -- €7
2013 Attenuation Circuit, ACLE 1001, (ltd. 120)
Amir Baghiri is among the most prolific composers of ambient music. His work, both solo and in collaborations, encompasses diverse varieties of music for immersive listening (abstract, noise, minimal experimental, dark, tribal, etc). This new album, completely without beats yet slowly pulsating like breath or the waves of the sea, evokes both the geological slowness of tectonic shifts and cosmic travel: music that makes the listener take time to create their own imaginary spaces. Born in Iran and now based in Germany, musician and painter Amir Baghiri has been composing music since 1980. During his time at school and university Amir was the founder and keyboard player of a band called Red Fly, later he played keyboards and percussion in the award-winning free jazz band The Pygmies. This band performed at several well known places and festivals across Asia. Amir also composes for many different media, with his work including orchestral soundtracks and sonic transformations for feature films, commercials, and documentaries. [press-release]
Baker, Aidan -- "Live At Lab.30" -- CD-R -- €7
2013 Attenuation Circuit, ACLAB 1004, (ltd. 50)
Canadian Aidan Baker is one of those guitarists who, like Fennesz, have been redefining the electric guitar as an electronic instrument in the last 15 years by extending it with all sorts of digital equipment. This beautifully minimalist 20-minute piece is an in-a-nutshell introduction to his vast body of work. Baker starts with a reduced guitar figure, loops it and then keeps layering other loops on top of it, all in a live improvisation. This sounds deceptively simple, because the process tends to quickly become very complex, with the player reacting to an ever-changing sonic evolution which he set in motion, but which he does not totally control. However, the music never becomes noisy or messy but instead keeps growing denser and more intense. Perhaps this is what John Cage had in mind when he defined experimental music as music that imitates nature in its mode of operation? The way Aidan Baker’s music creates a complex organism out of a simple core seems to closely resemble the process of cell division. [press-release]
[bandcamp]
Bastard Noise / Government Alpha -- "Resurrection" -- CD -- €10
2006 Thumbprint Press
Government Alpha & The Bastard Noise celebrate forms of partial and total rebirth of body and spirit. YOSHIDA (Government Alpha, Tokyo), NELSON & WOOD (The Bastard Noise, Los Angeles) "resurrected" past foundational ideas of flesh, bone, metal, electronics and workshops with cuts composed at Xerxes studio Tokyo and John Muir studio San Pedro; G.A. attacks relentlessly with true precision and purpose while B.N. loom slow and ominous as purple-black storm clouds and distant thunder on a darkening horizon. Astonishing illustrations by YOSHIDA reproduced on custom inked triple fold synthetic paper package printed by the Thumbprint Press, as well as 2 color commemorative sticker; All parts enclosed in a heavy gauge / archival vinyl "hydraulic" poly sleeve. Best thing since the plastic grass and chocolate bunnies! [press-release]
Brown, Hannis -- "Severe Insomnia" -- CD -- €10
2011 Lumberton Trading Company, LUMB015, (ltd. 500)
The second album by this NYC-based composer/songwriter/improviser/electro-acoustic artist, whose eleven pieces here not only absorb the free jazz of his beloved Charles Mingus but also the micro-tonal orchestral work of Ligeti and Penderecki, and Edgar Varese's forays into spatial electro-acoustic soundworlds of a highly personal and some might argue traumatic disposition. As with the debut, Oh Ee Ah, Hannis Brown's music winds itself around those contours impossible to pin down to any one thing beyond that line between insanity and genius. [press-release]
Cymphonic & Vintage H -- "Post Mortem Investigations" -- CD -- €10
2010 Databloem, DB033-2010
Three years after the highly acclaimed Strataradialis album Cymphonic (Stanley Swinkels from The Netherlands) is back with a special album, created together with his father. In this unique project two generations work together with heart and mind to convert sound into an audiomovie experience, which covers the whole spectrum of atmospheric ambient music. Their story is told through spacious drones, surrounded by flocks of cinematic textures and heavenly voices. The first soundtrack, Post Mortem Investigations, guides you through possible stages of a Near Death Experience. The second titled Notturno, invites you to a synaesthetic panorama of the night. Depending on the state of ones attention, the listener can actively search and explore the music or take a more introvert position in receiving it. What will this album induce in you? [press-release]
[CD Baby]
Deep -- "Live At Lab.30" -- CD-R -- €7
2013 Attenuation Circuit, ACLAB 1001
Deep play ambient post-rock on two electric bass guitars. An unusual line-up for a festival dominated by digital music, but a truly experimental approach to this instrument. The music of Deep explores spaces, both acoustic and mental, something that is clearly audible on this recording. Without using a PA mixer, the duo set up their speakers and themselves amidst the audience and allow the room acoustics to interact with their music. Furthermore, the effects they use also create different “sound spaces”, from harmonic flanged chords travelling through large echo chambers to distorted walls of sound closing in on the listener. [press-release]
[bandcamp]
Emerge -- "Angle" -- 3"CD-R -- €5
2011 Attenuation Circuit, ACM 1003
This 17-minute composition contrasts metallic, bell-like sounds reminiscent of classic electronic music of the 1950s and 1960s with deep, grinding bass frequencies with a certain dark-ambient flavour. EMERGE stays true to his compositional principle of not creating synthetic sounds but using only extremely manipulated field recordings from one single source per piece. In this case, recorded sounds of breathing provided the source material. Throughout the piece, melodic developments struggle to emerge while time and again being contrasted with fragments of small noises. Pauses of almost complete silence also serve a structural role that keeps the sonic process in constant suspense. While the first half of the piece sounds very crisp and transparent, the second half layers more and more bass-heavy sound masses on top of each other, thus invoking the echo of huge rooms and creating the type of brooding atmosphere characteristic of earlier EMERGE releases. But sounds of an increasingly percussive, rhythmic character start to build up a further structural level on top of the bass foundation, so that between the beginning and end of the composition, the roles of the bass and treble sounds are more or less reversed. [press-release]
[bandcamp]
Endraum -- "In Flimmernder Nacht" -- CD -- €10
1993/2006 Shadowplay Records, SPR 029
"In Flimmernder Nacht" was originally released by Danse Macabre in the year 1993 (KROK 122). This is a Russian reissue with bonus tracks.
[youtube]
Endraum -- "Innerlichkeit" -- CD -- €10
1996/2006 Shadowplay Records, SPR 027
German darkwave band. Russian reissue with bonus tracks.
[youtube]
Endraum -- "Zeitenlicht" -- CD -- €10
1992/2006 Shadowplay Records, SPR 028
"Zeitenlicht" was originally released by Danse Macabre in the year 1992 (KROK 69). This is a Russian reissue with bonus tracks.
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Entheogenic Sound Explorers -- "Magic Garden" -- CD -- €10
2011 Databloem, DB034-2011
Entheogenic Sound Explorers are Stefano Contini and Piero Marchesi and Magic Garden is their third album on Databloem. Over the years the band have taken several musical influences and channeled them into something that is truly their own. But if comparisons must be made it could be with The Orb or Future Sound Of London. Expect a masterful blend of analog and digital sounds, which will carry you away on a psychedelic journey through the gardens of dubby, hypnotic ambient. [press-release]
[soundcloud]
Government Alpha / PBK -- "Auditory Hallucination Of Drowsy Afternoon" -- CD -- €10
2007 Xerxes, ESCD:0010
Collaboration album with basic material recorded in PBK / Government Alpha US tour in 2004 and later reconstructed by Yasutoshi Yoshida in 2006.
Grassow, Mathias & Tomas Weiss -- "Electric Angels" -- CD -- €10
2010 Databloem, DB031-2010
Grassow & Weiss join up for another spacious adventure, showcasing an hour of high quality Ambient with an amazing array of subtle and intricate detail. Although the music evolves slowly and deliberately, it's probably one of their most varied albums up to date. Ranging from dynamic and engaging dronescapes to razor-sharp produced textures, flavored with a touch of early Space Music. Electric angels is a fusion of heart and mind. Leaving the industrial age of the 19th century and the information age of the 20th century behind, the 21st century opens the door to the age of consciousness. Electric angels is a musical representation of this passage from the old era into a new one. Limited CD in special two panel digi file. [press-release]
[CD Baby]
Hex On -- "In Slow Motion" -- CD -- €10
2008 Shadowplay Records, SPR 077
The compilation of "extravagant" music "Extravaganza!" (http://www.monopolyrecords.com/extravaganza/index.html) released in 2007 by Monopoly Records in cooperation with Stereo & Video magazine, unleashed the debut of this mysterious Russian-American project... It is known that all creative activities concerning the album "In Slow Motion" were performed only during the night, and were supported by strong hallucinogenic and psychoactive drugs, through which the musicians sought to contact the dead stars of American pin-up and vintage erotica. Which certainly has had its effect on the music! The album is packed with dark eroticism, the inseparable whispers making it an ideal soundtrack for succuba and incubi's nightly routs... This highly unconventional style formally belongs somewhere between dark trip-hop and post rock, but in fact it's absolutely unique... Reminiscent of: Recoil, Massive Attack, Portishead... It's worth pointing out the design and the lush booklet containing highly artistic drawings and calligraphy. [press-release]
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If, Bwana / Sustained Development / Elektrojudas / Emerge -- "Crossgrained" -- 2 CD-R -- €10
2013 Attenuation Circuit, ACC 1009
The three solo tracks performed by If, Bwana on this live recording are based on sounds played on the bassoon, flute and guitar and make a wonderful introduction to his work with layered, pitch-shifted acoustic instruments. This stuff is among the best you can get in contemporary drone music - rich in texture, sensuous, emotional, and still abstract enough to "clear the mind". On another two tracks If, Bwana is joined by his local support group at this July 2012 gig in Germany for an unlikely but happy marriage of his layered sound textures, 50 Hz hum, and lots of electroacoustic sound gadgetry. Supporting If, Bwana at his concert in Augsburg, Germany on 4 July 2012, local artists Sustained Development, elektrojudas, and EMERGE teamed up for a free improvised set using sampled bass guitars, miked-up wave drums and induction coils, monotrons, and smartphone apps, also documented on this 2 CD set. Another two tracks resulted from the trio joining If, Bwana for a demonstration of the possibilities of experimental music, which are endless provided they are approached in an open-minded way. In this case, two very distinct idioms – calm, contemplative drones and fidgety, highly interactive glitch/noise improvisation – fuse perfectly thanks to the alertness of the players. [press-release]
[bandcamp]
In My Rosary -- "15" -- CD -- €10
2008 Shadowplay Records, SPR 068
"An unexpected and highly welcome return by legendary Dark folk act In My Rosary. "15" comes swelled with dreamy melancholic melodies carried by deep and melancholic vocals". Russian reissue with 3 bonus tracks.
[youtube]
In The Nursery -- "Cause + Effect" -- CD -- €10
2002/2007 Shadowplay Records, SPR 042
"We are never aware of a cause in the creative process until it becomes an effect." A unique collection of specially commissioned and exclusive remixes of material from throughout In The Nursery's 20 year back catalogue. Contributing artists include - Faith & The Muse, Attrition, Assemblage 23, And Also The Trees, Chandeen, Haujobb, Electronium, Flesh Field, Ivan Iusco & Seize. 'Cause + Effect' is intended to highlight the interactive, inspirational and motivating nature of music. IN THE NURSERY include their own special interpretation of the classic Joy Division track 'Love Will Tear Us Apart'. [press-release]
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In The Nursery -- "Era" -- CD -- €10
2007 Shadowplay Records, SPR 041
Prolific creators of sensuous soundscapes, IN THE NURSERY have returned with 'Era', an album exploring the themes of architecture, urban decay, and regeneration. But such is twins Klive and Nigel Humberstone's emphatic feel for their subject matter, this seems like it is less about buildings than something more vital. A picture of the city as a living organism - growing, dying, being reborn. The story of civilisation. A full, almost bombastic, sound driven by trademark militaristic drumming and strings pull against gothically spectral vocals to serve as a vision of strength beset by war, weakness and fate. With Massive Attack's Sarah Jay Hawley singing on three tracks, including the pathos-dripping 'Tempered Wings', 'Era' is fragile yet beautiful and strong yet sweet. [Rock Sound]
Kreutzfeldt, Danny -- "Counterperipheral" -- CD -- €10
2004 Databloem, DBCD 007
Brooding industrial atmospheres, and deep dubby beats. Very thoughtful and highly addictive. If one needs a soundtrack to impending fall that works excellent on the headphones as well, there's plenty of reasons to get acquainted with Danny Kreutzfeldt. [label info]
[CD Baby]
Le Syndicat MMX -- "Chaos Superior" -- CD-R -- €7
2012 Attenuation Circuit, ACC 1012
Le Syndicat MMX is the live faction of Le Syndicat, the French project whose energetic approach to noise(s) and random sound collage has been a tremendous influence on the European experimental music scene since the early 80s. The 7 original tracks on this hour-long album are extracted from intense live sessions in which the trio of Ruelgo, Popsonne, and Scramble System use everything from laptops and noise generators, home-made and toy instruments to a didgeridoo and screams to create noisy, but always surprising free-style improvisations. The self-declared “bruitisme” of Le Syndicat has always followed the original intuition they found, at a very early stage of their lives, in Russolo’s “Art of Noise”: That there can be a sonic art beyond the music vocabulary if one takes the noises seriously enough to sculpt them until they take an artistic shape. What sets Le Syndicat and Le Syndicat MMX apart from many other less intelligent practitioners of noisy and machine-like sound is the fact that they have never relied on ideological or visual shock tactics to make their music appear “taboo-breaking” or “provocative” – their approach is more akin to abstract expressionism in painting or perhaps free jazz in music, using their material (action painting with sound, throwing it around to see/hear what will unfold) to create interactions, structures, and intensities instead of symbols or slogans. The artists themselves define their goal as follows: “Use of accidents as constructive elements and finally, pleasure to manipulate the sound material outside of any cultural formating and systematism of musical styles. Just looking forward to the next trance act, and the absolute freedom of creation via live manipulation of sound.” This new album, hilarious and refreshing as it is, proves that this concept is still very much alive and successful and, thanks to its variety of sound sources, still yields great results while many other machine-music approaches conceived at the same time have by now coagulated into reactionary posturing. [press-release]
[soundcloud]
Lopez, Francisco -- "Untitled (2010)" -- 2 CD -- €16
2012 Alone At Last, AAL[1], (ltd. 500)
The next part of the ongoing series of annual reports, consisting of various untitled pieces made in 2010. Different in approach and composition techniques, the tracks of this double album presents the current showcase of one of the most important composers on the underground spanish scene. Using raw source materials from David Newman, 30-second original "seed" recordings collectively mutated into a myriad sound materials (by David Longa, Ryan Beppel, Daniel Puig, Colin Wambsgans, Martin Sadowski, Mauricio Meza, Clemens Beier, and Francisco Lo'pez himself), created from original enviornmental sound matter recorded in the Murcia region in Spain and at locations in the Groene Woud region in South Holland, and also using original recordings made at buddhist monasteries in Hi Tain, Nyaungshwe, Sagaing and Bagan (Myanmar/Burma). Limited edition of 500 copies in special packaging - custom made of textured paper, assembled by hand. Comes with the set of 3 photos of exotic food. [label info]
The Moon And The Nightspirit -- "Rego Rejtem" -- CD -- €10
2007 Shadowplay Records, SPR 052
Second album by the Hungarian Ethereal/Pagan Folk duo, complete with an extensive booklet featuring artwork created exclusively for this release by the band's singer Agnes Toth... The Moon and the Nightspirit was formed in 2003 by Agnes and Mihaly. It is a mystical journey into the amaranthine realm of dreams and beauty, long-forgotten by modern man. A journey inspired by pagan fables, ancient Hungarian folk music and nature itself... "Rego rejtem" is a line from ancient Hungarian minstrel songs, which means "I conjure with magic", or, in words even closer to Shamanism, "I am ecstatic in a trance", a vision that suits perfectly the mood on the duo's songs. This time they have traveled further into times bygone, rekindling the flames of the Taltos (Hungarian shaman) and reawakening the spirits of the Elders. The music has acquired a more varied and colorful tone through the use of varied ethnic instrumentation (such as kaval, tapan, jew's harp or zither), and has also become significantly more energetic and vibrant, without sacrificing the unique ambiance that the band had found on their debut album... "Rego Rejtem" also finds the duo leaving behind the English language, and using only Hungarian lyrics this time. They come in the form of poems - chants dedicated to Mother Earth, the spiritual world and the ancient wisdom, and have also served, together with the music, as inspiration for several superb paintings that Agnes has produced to illustrate the album. These three elements (music, lyrics and illustrations) form a strong unity, and only with the existence of these three does "Rego Rejtem" become a whole... Russian issue comes with artwork which is a bit different from original Equilibrium release. [press-release]
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Moon Far Away -- "Minnesang" -- CD -- €10
2010 Shadowplay Records, SPR 118
Brand new album from cult Russian Neofolk act Moon Far Away! "Minnesang" is an album of 21st century ritual music encased in a unique fusion of the most diverse and zeitgeist-capturing musical styles, from neofolk, dark folk and post punk to practically future pop. The theme of the album, the deep-rooted feminine archetypes in contemporary art, is embodied in the title, which identifies a genre of medieval knight lyrics. At the same time, most of the original Russian lyrics on the album are drenched with the trademark Pomor flavours, emphasising the pride that the band has always taken in its cultural roots that extend deep into the epic traditions of the Russian North. "Minnesang" is a new milestone achieved by a cult group who already gave contemporary art scene a number of discoveries and revelations. This Ahnstern version has partly different artwork to the Russian edition and the last song is completely different to the Russian version. 61 minutes of music in a digipak. [Cold Spring] Russian edition on Shadowplay Records.
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Moon Far Away -- "New Hymn of Russia" -- CD -- €10
2008 Shadowplay Records, SPR 064
Enhanced CD, contains one brand new track "Mama Rus' (Mother Russia)" + 6 exclusive remixes by REQUIEM FOR FM, TITLO, SIX DEAD BULGARIANS, SEVERE ILLUSION, ASTRALASIA, E-SEX-T, plus multimedia section incl. "Zhito Zhala" videoclip, movie "Ty Vzoydi Krasno Solnyshko" feat MFA music, MFA photo gallery. [label info]
Moon Far Away -- "Sator" -- CD -- €10
2000/2006 Shadowplay Records, SPR 030
Moon Far Away is the band whose debut album "Lado World" was with the single heart recognized as the first true gothic release in Russia. In 11 years of they existence this Arkhangelsk ritual darkwave \ neo-folk project became the cult one on a Russian dark scene and became very popular abroad. The tracks of the band were presented both in Russian and foreign compilations of the dark scene. The musical press gives excellent reviews on all Moon Far Away creations. You can find picture of the band as the centerfold in German magazine Zillo. Japanese director Susei Nisi made a film that is devoted to the Moon Far Away... "...«SATOR», being the second full-scale release of this cultic lineup, expands the boundaries of its sound image even more, going deeper into the ethno-esoteric genre and using symbols of the early Christianity. The experiments with folk instruments and with the structure of the musical pieces, and the unprecedented atmosphere and ritual orientation of the rhythm structures make «SATOR» a complete musical pattern dedicated to the mystery of eternal return lived through over and over again. MOON FAR AWAY sings of the harmony of man’s material outer space - and the unexplored spiritual inner space…" (from Brudenia Records press-release).
Necro Stellar -- "Pulsing Zero" -- CD -- €10
2006 Shadowplay Records, SPR 024
Veterans of Russian dark wave, quite often shocking with their extravagance, occultists NECRO STELLAR for a long time do not require any more representation to domestic public. However, and not only for domestic: the previous album of this collective - " Saturating Cemetery " - has subdued hearts not only of Russian listeners, but also has been warmly met by the European and American audience. In the 30 of the best releases of 2005 in opinion of the biographer of Goth Mick Mercer "Saturating Cemetery " appeared in the first (!) 10, and such influential foreign editions as ZILLO, ORKUS and GOTHIC BEAUTY gave this creation the extremely positive estimations. Tracks of NECRO STELLAR appear in play-lists of the western broadcasts devoted to schwarze scene, and disks of this band now can be found practically in any parts of the globe, starting from Japan and stopping by Brazil and Argentina. The matter is the unique sound of this collective. The leader of the project Yuri Zvezdniy is known as the brilliant master and the expert in work with an analog sound. Together with his colleagues of band he puts horror into listeners, generating chilling up to depth of the soul, or forcing blood to begin to boil a mix from EBM, dark electro and ambient... The basic musical direction based on sound of the old analog synthesizers, tape processing, physical modeling, guitar drive, magnificent programming, generously seasoned with naturalistic noise and sounds, a different sort of anxious rustles, vinyl effects, industrial Low Fi loops, iron sheets, ominous jingling of scythe and tribal-percussion of human bones, put listener in a mysterious atmosphere of a dark wood of the human consciousness... The variety of vocal components gives the sounding of an album the unique, bright, expressive, sharp-sensual painting. Here are cutting-through ears vocoder chorals replaced by quiet open pathetic singing of the soloist, and gentle, sometimes ethereal motives - wild growling of Anastasia Podnebesnaya... Considering an unanimous opinion of the western critics, it is possible to say, that unique style of performance and the own style of this band which are out of habitual frameworks of the modern electro music, allows to tell about creativity of NECRO STELLAR as of the most interesting phenomenon which has arisen on the ground of their country's schwarze stage. The style of this collective some conditionally name "VooDoo Electro", actually represents difficultly giving in to the description symbiosis of kraut, old school electro and modern electro, some moments seems like trance and experimental... The band have co-operated with many known Russian electronicians. Some of them, in particular Moscow violinist Evgeny Voronovsky from CISFINITUM, took part in record of "Pulsing Zero"... Besides the unique material represented by the band, essential interest for the listeners is the results of teamwork of NECRO STELLAR with pioneers of British electronics ATTRITION, Australians ANGEL THEORY and gifted American divine UNWOMAN. You will find all this on the new album of NECRO STELLAR - Pulsing Zero". [press-release]
Necro Stellar -- "Saturating Cemetery / Dissaturating Stellar Space" -- 2 CD -- €10
2005/2008 Shadowplay Records, SPR 066
The double disk is the re-release of “Saturating Cemetery” album containing “Tachyon Spiral” graphic video in its bonus section. The second disk “DISSATURATING STELLAR SPACE” consists of remixes and cover versions by the most interesting bands from all over the world. "Saturating Cemetery" is, in a sense, some kind of rarity and experiment in which wide spectrum of different instruments is presented, from Soviet synthesizers to percussions made of human bones. The stylistics varies from dark ambient and psychedelic rock to electro and cyber dark space. The mild synthetic beat that moves to dance rhythm, the classical contrast between low male vocal and ethereal female one. The occult mystic atmosphere gives the special dark mood to the album. This release will be very interested to the fans of dark wave, synth-goth, dark electro and EBM. [press-release]
Necro Stellar -- "White Tranquility. Russian Album" -- CD -- €10
2007 Shadowplay Records, SPR 045
NECRO STELLAR devotes this album to the all dead within the Second World War. The feat of our ancestors, the memory of them and the new revival of their immortal spirit in ourselves - are inseparably connected. Respect for ancestors strengthens the invisible connection of generations, opening ways in the world. Our ancestors, their acts, their victories and defeats are personification of us. In this sense The White Tranquility represents an obelisk of memory and direct way in essence of our patrimonial ring, in the core of our sort filled with clemency and the inexpressible contents of spirit of the left ancestors... Current degenerative tendencies of the western ideology try to cancel unprecedented universal heroism and a feat of brotherly Slavic people within the Second World War, trying to impose alien to our people pseudo-cultural and pseudo-cultural wealth. The one who, having despised tombs of the ancestors, sates the body and soul with a substitute of a masscult, - loses connection of generations, tramples on the spirit and becomes an essence without kith or kin... Our ancestors say: «leaving each moment - I remain forever. Remaining forever - I have stiffened in motionless movement». We shall remember that we are the great nation living on the great land... We are to create the future. [press-release]
[youtube]
Nocturnal Emissions -- "Compost" -- CD-R -- €7
2012 Attenuation Circuit, ACC 1007
Nocturnal Emissions have been exploring the uncharted no man’s land between experimental sound performance, pop music, and spoken word poetry for over 30 years. This live recording of a Nocturnal Emissions show in November 2011 is proof of the fact that they’re still constantly evolving. Deceptively bucolic ambient soundscapes give way to darker undercurrents in the bass. The 45-minute set is characterised by subtle, almost imperceptible transformations, when a subdued pulsing that began as a flanged synthesizer chord suddenly turns out to be an actual beat that one could - well, not dance, possibly, but tap one’s foot to. “Compost” manages the feat that the music appears to be rather calm, never aggressive in any way, but leaves you with a mounting sense of tension that you cannot quite put your finger on. As if there is something going on in darker corners of the music, your brain, or whatever – exciting to listen to. „Compost“ was recorded on 17 November, 2011 at Die Ganze Bäckerei in Augsburg, Germany. Organised by Attenuation Circuit, the concert featured a performance by Nigel Ayers, the remaining founding member of Nocturnal Emissions. While most of Nocturnal Emissions’ previous releases can be found on www.earthlydelights.co.uk, this album offers a glimpse of the current state of Nigel’s work as an electronic composer and solo performer. [press-release]
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Oophoi -- "Il Silenzio Di Dio" -- CD -- €10
2011 Databloem, DB035-2011
The long awaited release of Oophoi's performance in the Calabrian village of Archiaro in 2008. A melancholic and psychedelic minimalistic ambient journey. Oophoi plays synthesizers, piano, waterphone percussions, singing bowls, voice and unfolds the journey with chasmal drones entitled "Bisbigli Di Angeli Tra Cielo E Terra Part 1" and spiced by distant cavernous voices while later singing bowls sneak into the drifts. Deep, mysterious and immersive, Oophoi droning at its finest! After transfering unnoticed into the next part of "Bisbigli Di Angeli Tra Cielo E Terra", the texture gets slightly more active, deeply transcendent meditative mind journey! "Lux Aeterna" belongs to more peaceful and tranquil compositions. "Le Acque Del Plenilunio" marks the return to abysmal territories, yet sounding quite organic and peppered by heartbeats on the background and rotating lively parts with various sound insertions and emerging ocassional angelic choir-like sounds. Magnificently effective 16-minute opus!!! Oophoi again at the very top of his craft painting mysteriously beautiful sceneries. To me, most likely one of the best pieces Gigi has ever made, grandiуso!!! "Sognando La Grande Madre" moves to more driving and industrialized level with assorted echoed metallic sounds, singing bowls, with intense droning buzz and sonics reminiscent of chirping sounds of cicadas. This strange palette of colors easily reaches a kind of transcendental sonic experience! "Il Tempo Della Fine" floates on spatial waves with ethereal romantic piano tunes. Hauntingly warm and silent and quite relieving piece of music creating natural state of harmony. Title composition "Il Silenzio Di Dio" remains on the essential route with spiraling and echoed drifts, a closer filled with serenity and majesty! "Il Silenzio Di Dio" album is magnificently colorful sonic vision of this Italian drone virtuoso, but all pieces seem to bridge masterfully together into one incredible journey. As usual for latest Databloem releases, "Il Silenzio Di Dio" CD comes in nicely designed digi file packaging. [press-release]
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Orluk, Krzysztof -- "Blurred Reflection" -- CD-R -- €8
2009 Databloem, DBCD09025
Incredibly rich, minimal ambient/glitch in the vein of Off The Sky, Blamstrain, Biosphere, Shuttle358. Krzysztof Orluk is a musician born in Poland and this album is one of the rare pearls Databloem is always looking for. Krzysztof's sound is a compromise between digital machines and field recordings. Apart from this he uses orchestral sounds, opera recordings, different pianos and synthesizers, bells, old vinyl's and artificial cracks and noises. [press release]
[CD Baby]
Re-Drum -- "Eclipse" -- CD-R -- €7
2013 Attenuation Circuit, ACR 1030
Re-Drum aka Russian artist Pavel Aleshin claims that his music sounds like “a broken AM radio in the heart of a ghost city,” and this album goes a long way to substantiating this claim. The sound quality is not at all broken, but very clear. Yet the slow drift of long, sustained electronic sounds reverberating in what could be imagined as empty passageways, certainly invokes a deserted nocturnal cityscape or, as one title claims, “night in a dead Lunapark.” Contrary to what might be expected from these statements and also from Re-Drum’s earlier releases of deep drone/noise soundscapes, the music on “eclipse” does not have a particularly scary edge. It may convey a certain sense of yearning and melancholy, but the overall feel is one of warmth and calm contemplation. And there is indeed quite a lot to contemplate in these four compositions, all about 10 to 15 minutes long. While the music makes full use of the psychedelic potential of repetitive microtonal drones, in other layers of the composition there is also a lot of interplay going on between sampled acoustic instruments and undecipherable ambient noises. Great music for a state of wide-awake trance. [press-release]
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Rothkamm, Frank -- "Moers Works (1982-1984)" -- CD -- €10
2006 Monochrome Vision, (mv10), (ltd. 500)
Frank Rothkamm is the one of most interesting musicians of today, contemporary of industrial culture. He is a true underground figure, the fighter of invisible front, who realized a number of projects, produced great records for his own Flux Records label. Being a professionally trained musician, he was shifting freely from tape collages in his teens, and going through different forms including chamber music and pop arrangements. "Moers Works" is his first experiment, discovered and unearthed by me incidentally. Archive materials recorded back in 1982-84 and released after quarter of century! All tracks on this CD were recorded with this completely analog "sampling" system which incorporated a borrowed Korg MS-20 synthesizer in Tracks 2 and 10. In Track 7, the base samples of guitar, piano, and strings were recorded at the studio of the local Castle Theatre, where he trained as an actor. Rothkamm perceived his compositional technique to be very "digital"; informed by both Punk Rock with its sudden shifts and hard cuts, and by the mathematics of permutation. All Moers Works were composed to be used in live performance, and it was in these works where he developed his first piece that took place in an unusual locations. Track 3 was recorded during a 1 week experiment where he would live and work at night and sleep during the day. Track 7 was commissioned by the theatre and forms the overture to the Heiner Mueller play of the same name, commencing with a stone thrown through a window. Tracks 4 through 6 were part of his ambitious "Fisch II" series, first performed in 1984 in the 25- seat Pulverhaus, a 16th century ammunition powder storage building located in the park. This brought him publicity that he has never regained since. [label info]
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Sgnl_fltr -- "Chrono" -- CD -- €10
2006 Databloem, DBCD 015
SGNL_FLTR, Danny Kreuzfeldt's minimal techno project, finally comes with a new album as the follow up to SGNL-FLTR's great debut album Vebra. Chrono even goes a step beyond Vebra. The rhythms can be called minimal, but then enriched with soundscapes, clicks + noises. For those who find minimal too boring and prefer more adventurous rhythmic excursions Danny is a hero. [label info]
Sigillum S -- "Studs And Divinity" -- CD -- €10
1989/2013 Monochrome Vision, mv47, (ltd. 500)
Formed in Milan on 23 December 1985 by Paolo Bandera, Eraldo Bernocchi, and Luca Di Giorgio, Sigillum S has been developing their own special brand of a post-industrial audio project of many different natures, where concepts have led the effort and employed sound as a tool for the exploration of the forbidden areas of the subconscious... the result has been a endless paradigm of alien electronic mutations, merging concrete noise research with acoustic transmigration, while visuals and many other forms of media have been also adopted, in order to achieve maximum interaction intensity. Their unique sound is derived from the use of a variety of instruments, ranging from samplers to ethnic instruments, and guitar synths to shortwave generators. In addition to their extensive musical output, Sigillum S also works in the areas of videoart and text... In 80s, Sigillum S collaborated with other italian post-industrial acts like Gerstein and Ain Soph, produced the range of private edition tapes and released some remarkable albums on labels like ADN, Minus Habens and Broken Flag. Getting more attention from the worldwide underground music network, they performed live in Italy, Germany, France, Canada and published more exceptional, influental music on CDs and LPs - "Cybertantrick Quantum Leaps" (Artware), "Dispersion: Sliced Carrions and Pixel Handcuffs" (Minus Habens), "Tidal Surface Tension" (Old Europa Cafe), "Bardo Thos-Grol" (Unclean) etc., to name a few. In 1993, they launched their own Verba Corrige label and kick off many solo/side-projects like Ashes, SSHE Retina Stimulants, Somma, Komplet, Charged, SIMM, Sidra and so on. Re-issued some old recordings like "Simulacra" and "Klimax Axis" on vinyl through Old Europa Cafe, "Private 8788" on special edition CDR through Blade Records, they recorded the "Abstraction" CD for Dirk Ivens' Daft Records in 1999 and went to hiatus for almost a decade. Returning in 2007 with new album "23/20" released by Verba Corrige, more live shows and preparing the whole archive of their music for reissue campaign and digital distribution, Sigillum S are back for the full activity. "Studs And Divinity" was their 1989 album, originally released by Minus Habens only on tapes, now it's fully remastered and expanded with some bonus tracks from the same time, pushing themselves through the challenge of reconfiguration without external reference. [press-release]
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Star Turbine -- "Inner Space / Outer Space" -- CD-R -- €7
2013 Attenuation Circuit, ACR 1011
Pulsing machine samples, spaced-out waves of electronic sounds, far-away music from a half-muted radio, metal being beaten by a guitar or the other way round. The music of Star Turbine, the duo of Sindre Bjerga from Norway and Claus Poulsen from Denmark, is built on such seeming opposites that they both work to collapse in their live performances with electronics and prepared amplified objects. The two takes on this live album were recorded on two subsequent dates of Star Turbine’s “Inner Space / Outer Space” tour in Hamburg and Aalborg (Denmark) in April 2012. They navigate the wide open space between mechanical objects and electrical mains hum, creating imaginary galaxies from mundane materials. “Like all the output of Tangerine Dream squished up into a 1 second sample then dragged out again on a low res JPEG,” is how Star Turbine describe their sound, but the music here sounds much more hand-made and visceral than this suggests, and you can feel that, although everything here has to do with electroacoustics, there are no presets used and everything is played by hand, intuitive and improvised. The amplified object may not be the new folk guitar (yet), but this music sure proves that the prejudice against electroacoustic music being “all computers with no room for human action” is utter nonsense. [press-release]
[bandcamp]
Thighpaulsandra -- "Chamber Music" -- CD -- €10
2005 Lumberton Trading Company, LUMB002
When asked to describe Thighpaulsandra's work to somebody recently, it was difficult to find the rightwords to serve any justice. Perhaps the best thing to therefore do is simply respond by illustrating this highly accomplished and visionary musician has been known for his assistance with groups and artists as diverse as Coil, Spiritualized and Julian Cope as much as his own albums during recent enough memory. The album he has recorded for LTCo, 'Chamber Music', certainly compounds matters, too. Combining musiqueconcrete, quasi-dimensional electronics, ravaged hums, atmospheric tones and allmanner of different instruments nodding into focus, it's his most cohesive work todate. To simply declare it the result of an active imagination would still fall far short of giving it enough credit. Active imaginations have, after all, been known to deliver much less than a solitary Thighpaulsandra track. [label info]
West State -- "Sideways" -- CD -- €10
2008 Shadowplay Records, SPR 074
West State is a side project of the well-known Russian band Cyclotimia. In contrast to the main project's cold, sharply conceptual and monumental style, West State's music rather reminds of movie soundtracks that combine sci-fi with action, drama and a little romance. Both the lovers of atmospheric IDM/ambient and unusual electronics in general, will love this unique musical "trip"... Reminiscent of: Biosphere, Orbital, Download, Black Lung, early Delerium, Vangelis, J.M.Jarre... Here's what the musicians say: "We created West State to develop the ideas that appealed to us but did not fit in the framework of Cyclotimia, our core project. This explains why our work has been spontaneous and sporadic, and some of the tracks remained unfinished for years on end. Besides, West State embraces some of the tracks that were originally meant for Cyclotimia. Despite the seemingly eclectic content and its being created at different times and on different equipment, the result is a complete and self-contained album, not a compilation". [press-release]
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