Collaboration between Uwe Zahn (Arovane), Porya Hatami and Darren McClure. New on Eilean Rec.
"Melodic piano parts rise above swirling layers of granular textures and processed field recordings to create widescreen ambience. The project put an emphasis on abstract sound design merged with more emotive, tonal elements to conjure an album that reflected three sonic viewpoints as a whole. "
- "This noise accident comes from Tom Carter (of Charalambides, a group founded with fellow guitar ‘n’ voice experimentalist Christina Carter) and Pat Murano (of the legendary but also rather disorientating No Neck Blues Band).
Together for just two pieces of improvisational murk, they lock in and
out of non-solos that gulp, tremble, disappear and oscillate, in no
particular order towards no particular atmosphere. At times it sounds
something like one of Godspeed’s
desolate wasteland moments playing with a higher reverence for
discordance; at others there’s a noisy, splintering sparsity you might
imagine Loren Connors
to make if he was even remotely evil; thirteen minutes into the first
suite, they even lock into a rhythm of sorts, a Krauty, hypnotic groove
among a buffet of squalor.
The second suite builds from little guitar pulsations that make for a
mechanical ambience, doubling up with thrummed notes that rival the
abstract and minimalist math rock of Storm & Stress.
Considering they’re making improvisational noise, it sounds rather
serene, the duo plucking a nice scene out of nowhere. Eventually some
guttural reverberations come and fuck everything up, but isn’t fucking
everything up the bedrock upon which improv was founded?"
- "Opening a sonic space that leads into delicate subconscious spheres, Ivan Pavlov aka COH has created his most sophisticated work up to date.
MUSIC VOL. is a piece of gentle acoustic excitement. Evolving around concepts of silence and sound in a profound sense, each track reveals to the listener a different emotional chamber. The intimacy provoked is deriving from the fact that VOL. is meant literally here. Similar to classical music, Pavlov is putting variations of volume and soft progressions of sound to the fore. It is these gentle, silent tones that force us to pay attention to the inner qualities of each sound, its colour and vibration, while simultaneously revealing its tactile and corporeal qualities.
At the same time, COH is creating atmospheric settings that invite us into complete immersion. A condition, close to meditation is provoked, making us intuitively aware of slight alterations.
Subtle sensations arise from the exquisite affective dramaturgy that is operating here. Reminiscent of minimalistic film scores, COH is elaborating a very sparse sounddesign, creating a painstakingly continuous arc of suspense, never to be dissolved."
CoH is the performing name of Ivan Pavlov. The word is Russian, means "sleep," and should be pronounced like the English word "son." Active since the late ‘90s, CoH ranks among the most interesting laptop artists of the experimental electronica underground. His music -- often made of digital glitches and clicks -- leaves room for a sense of humor and a certain lyricism. He has released albums on Raster-Noton, Mego, and SouRce Research Recordings
There is little known about Pavlov, a man who remains very discreet. He was born in Russia, moved to Sweden in 1996, and works as an acoustic engineer. He made his first appearances on the experimental electronica scene through a series of releases on Carsten Nicolai's label Rastermusic and performance showcases with Noto, Ryoji Ikeda, and the rest of the label's roster. In 1997 he recorded his first album Mask of Birth (released only three years later). Resolutely post-techno, it referenced both the disco culture and the ‘80s underground dance music. Enter Tinnitus, his proper debut, came out on Raster-Noton in 1998, followed by his contribution to the label's turn-of-the millennium series 20' to 2000, which featured appearances from members of Coil. The relationship carried on to 2001's Love Uncut (released by Coil's Eskaton imprint), a tribute of sorts to the alternative ‘80s and CoH's danciest material since Mask of Birth. Between these two EPs he released Iron (on Raster-Noton), a whimsical album dedicated to heavy metal fans. 2002 brought Netmörk on SouRce Research, his most serious work to date, as well as CoH's contribution to the Mort Aux Vaches series. A tense, minimal EP on Mego titled Electric Electric followed in 2003.
In 2004, Pavlov contributed to Coil's three-CD/DVD box set release ANS, recorded on the world's only ANS Synthesizer, located at Moscow State University. During the same year, Mutek released the debut recording by Chessmachine, Pavlov's collaboration with Richard Chartier. The self-titled album consisted of solo recordings made by the two artists between 2001 and 2003, which were exchanged as digital sound files. The two performed together in Los Angeles in early 2005, and Chartier's Line label released a recording of the concert later in the year. CoH returned in 2005 with 0397 Post-Pop, a double-CD issued by Mego. The release included one disc of newer material as well as the very first CoH recording, produced in 1997 and only given to a few friends at the time. In 2006, CoH's Above Air was the final release on Eskaton. The album was dedicated to Coil's John Balance, who passed away in 2004.
CoH returned to Raster-Noton in 2006 with the rhythmic Patherns EP, followed by the abstract electro-acoustic double-CD Strings in 2007. The artist also issued a limited CD-R titled Super Suprematism that year. Also in 2007, Pavlov and Coil's Peter Christopherson formed a new project called Soisong. The duo issued a few extremely limited CDs through their website and played a handful of concerts in Asia and Europe. In 2008, CoH collaborated with Christopherson's former Throbbing Gristle bandmate Cosey Fanni Tutti for an album titled CoH Plays Cosey, which was issued by Raster-Noton. Dzerzhinsk-9, a 12" EP of a 1996 session recorded with Dao, followed in 2009, released by American label Tourette Records.
In 2010, Rotorelief released Z-Rated, an album consisting of rare and previously unreleased CoH tracks dating back to the '90s. CoH also collaborated with Hidenobu Ito for an album titled 3 Girls Mixed Up, issued by Japanese label Elegant Disc. He also released Yellow, a 7" with Little Annie on Tourette Records. CoH's debut release on Editions Mego (the successor to the defunct Mego label) was 2011's Iiron, a sequel to his 2000 metal-influenced Iron album. In 2012, he released a limited shaped CD titled Soisong of piano-driven ambient compositions intended to be released as a split EP with Christopherson, who died in 2010. CoH's abstract yet upbeat album Retro-2038 appeared on Editions Mego in 2013, followed by To Beat in 2014 (a vinyl-only edition titled To Beat or Not to Beat included a second disc with remixes by Matmos, Ryuichi Sakamoto, J.G. Thirlwell, and others). CoH then appeared on a split 7" with Dada 999, released in 2015 by Nouvelle Nicotine. In 2016, CoH toured the United States for the first time and released an EP on Ge-Stell titled Return to Mechanics, as well as another album on Editions Mego, Music Vol.
- "Twelve years have passed since Editions Mego boss Peter Rehberg released his last full length release ‘Get Off’ on the Hapna label. In the interim, along with running the label, Rehberg has embarked on a series of soundtracks for the French artist and choreographer Gisele Vienne. Out of this collaboration the seeds were planted for the prolific KTL, guitar/computer duo with Stephen O Malley.
After a surprise return to live performance in 2015 we are now presented with Pita’s new full length document under the banner of Get In.
Get In extends the perennial Pita sound into a paradox of intimidation and beauty. 20150609 teases the juncture between the human and the tool, the improvised and composed and the analogue and digital. Aahn inhabits a field of electronic nebula, simultaneously inviting and alien. Line Angel could be a new form of minimalism for the post internet crowd. S200729 harks to an acid most splintered whilst Mfbk completes proceedings as an ambient drift underscored with classical overtones.
Get in is a beautiful, engaging and unsettling listen. A multi-headed hydra presented as the ultimate dystopian sonic journey."
- "B. 1968 in London, author and performer of electronic audio works. He also runs the Editions Mego label.
He has given live performances throughout Europe, North and South America, Japan and Australasia.
Collaborations with: General Magic, Jim O'Rourke, Christian Fennesz,
Tina Frank, Tujiko Noriko, Kevin Drumm, Stephen O'Malley, Matmos, Marcus
Schmickler, Michaela Schwentner [aka jade],
Russell Haswell, Florian Hecker, Carlos Giffoni, Gert-Jan Prins, Mika
Vainio, Zbigniew Karkowski, Z'EV, Rosy Parlane, Keith Rowe, Dennis
Cooper, Gisele Vienne, SUNNO))) as well as being a member of MIMEO.
Collaborated with choreographers Gisele Vienne [DACM], Meg Stuart, Gyula
Berger, Chris Haring. He took part in the 2nd Göteborg Art Biennale
[Against All Evens] curated by CM von Hausswolff.
He has contributed commissioned works for Austrian Broadcasting Corporation and Bavarian Broadcasting Corporation.
1999 he received Prix Ars Electronica Distinction Award for Digital Musics, alongside Christian Fennesz
Audio works by Rehberg have been published on the following labels:
Mego, Häpna, Mosz, Asphodel, Tochnit Aleph, Alku, Digital Narcis,
Ritornell, Moikai, Ash International, Source, Touch, Raft,
Absurd, as well as compilation appearances."
BORIS SAVOLDELLI: all vocals, vocal noises and electronics
RAFFAELE CASARANO: saxes and electronics
MARCO BARDOSCIA: double bass and electronics
- "There’s an old joke among instrumentalists: What do you call someone who hangs around with musicians? Answer: A singer.
While this stereotype
is overgeneralized to the point of being offensive, it is sadly too
often the case that vocalists, particularly in the realm of mainstream
commercial music, lack the deep musical knowledge of their instrumental
counterparts. But one vocalist who emphatically puts the lie to this
questionable cliché is the protean Boris Savoldelli, whose latest album,
The Great Jazz Gig in the Sk,y of his trio Savoldelli - Casarano -
Bardoscia stunningly demonstrates that he is at least the equal of any
instrumentalist - nay, any group of instrumentalists.
Naturally, Boris
didn’t take an easy path in choosing to reimagine one of the most sacred
albums of all time, Pink Floyd’s monumental "Dark Side of the Moon." It
surely didn’t help that it’s also one of the most frequently covered
works of progressive music, from symphonic treatments to chamber
arrangements to legions of Floyd tribute bands. But Boris always
disdains the easy path, and unlike the many sterile, note-for-note
versions of Dark Side proffered by lesser talents, his rendition truly
distinguishes itself by taking a strikingly imaginative and boldly
creative new approach to the familiar material - in this case, a wholly
absorbing interpretation that reflects his lifelong love of jazz and
improvisation.
Boris pulls out all
the stops with his vast arsenal of unparalleled vocal techniques,
augmented by his provocative electronic treatments. But The Great Jazz
Gig is much more than just a vocal showcase, highlighting the formidable
creative gifts of his partners, saxophonist extraordinaire Raffaele
Casarano and bassist supreme Marco Bardoscia, plus a roster of
distinguished guest musicians. The result is a kaleidoscopic marvel of
sounds and emotions, delivered with élan, humor, impeccable
musicianship, and above all a deep, abiding love for his inspirations.
In a tour-de-force album that, we’re sure all lunatics will agree, truly
deserves the superlative "great," open-eared listeners have been gifted
with a truly magnificent milestone from the fertile mind of the
singular Boris Savoldelli."
Dennis Young is best known as the percussionist of the New York band LIQUID LIQUID, which is known for their piece "Cavern" from 1983, which in turn became very well known because Grandmaster Flash sampled it and used it as the basis for their hit "White Lines". But Young was not only a band member. In parallel he produced much of his own material, including three cassettes in the years 1985 to 1988, which are of particular interest for us. They are his tribute to the pioneers of electronic music. Those who don't know otherwise might guess that this music originated in the seventies.
But let's allow Dennis Young to tell his story himself:
»My love for electronic music goes back to the late 70’s when I decided to buy my first synthesizer, a rare used vintage Davolisint made in Italy, after seeing Keith Emerson perform live with ELP. This lead to my discovery of more electronic music artists using synthesizers such as Klaus Schulze, Tim Blake, Larry Fast, Edgar Froese, Brian Eno, and Cluster just to name a few. My musical challenge was then to create my own electronic music using this instrument. After experimenting in the early 80’s with live recordings using a reel to reel tape machine I purchased my first multi-track recording system in 1984. When Liquid Liquid was on hiatus I was able to devote full time to this music and do professional recordings at my home studio in Edison, New Jersey. I added more synthesizers to include a Korg Mono/Poly, a Korg Poly Six, a Moog Rogue, and later the Korg M1. Every track was put through various delay and reverb units and I added vocal parts and along with guitar where I felt it was needed. The music resulted in three now out of print cassette only recordings entitled “Concepts” (1985), Reflections” (1987), and “Quest” (1988). They were all mixed at Gabriel Farm studios in Princeton, New Jersey, with the help of Andrew Gomory who owned the studio and who himself was a keyboardist. Thanks to Bureau B I have been able to go back in time to put together what I feel are the best songs from that era for you the listener to enjoy.«
New album from "the liveband that ends all livebands" - A set of incridible strong songs with the band and singer/crooner Stuart A. Staples as intense and passionate as they always have been . . .
- "a milestone not just numerically (their 10th), but musically and
creatively. Their first studio album since 2012’s critically acclaimed
‘The Something Rain' (9/10 DiS, 8.1 pitchfork, 8/10 the Quietus, 8/10
DIY, 4/5 Guardian, 4/5 Independent on Sunday, 4/5 Uncut, 4/5 Q, 4/5
Observer) is the most ambitious, diverse and elaborate album you’ll have
heard from Tindersticks in recent years. Two decades into their musical
voyage Tindersticks, established masters of restraint and poetic human
emotion, are a band now confidently creating the best songs of their
career.
‘The Waiting Room' breathes gravity and features guest appearances by
Jehnny Beth of Savages and a particularly poignant duet with dear lost
friend of Stuart Staples, Lhasa De Sela. Its brass arrangements are by
the great Julian Siegel and it comes dressed in a sleeve by legendary
french photographer Richard Dumas.
Not only an album, an ambitious collaborative film project also -
each track is accompanied by a short film, a visual interpretation by
its own director, featuring Christoph Girardet, Pierre Vinour, Claire
Denis, Rosie Pedlow and Joe King, Gregorio Graziosi, Richard Dumas and
Gabriel Sanna."
- "It took 4 years to create, what seemed like, a
huge pile of ideas and then sift though them to find the nuggets that
form this album. An album essentially made from a collection of first or
second takes of shared moments, gently edited down and embellished into
the songs here.
After 2102’s ‘the something rain’ tindersticks
needed some time to figure out this rebuilt, reinvigorated band we had
become. Time needed for it take its own shape. There were welcome
diversions – the electronic soundtrack to Claire Denis’ ‘Les Salauds’,
the orchestral soundscapes for the Ypres WW1 museum, the ‘Singing skies’
art project and book. And also celebrating our 20th anniversary with a
live in the studio album and European tour… moments of coming to terms
with our past, being released from it.
From the dissolution of the original line up in
2006 (David Boulter, Neil Fraser and Stuart A. Staples remaining) to the
addition of Dan Mckinna (2007) and Earl Harvin (2009). This new
incarnation has gradually been finding its own way of approaching ideas
within their studio environment of ‘Le chien chanceux’. This was felt
keenly with the writing and recording of ‘Help Yourself’ – The first
song to be realized for this album – which raised a lot of questions,
not least: How do we make an album that this song sits happily in the
centre of?
Gradually the other songs began to surface and
show themselves. From abstract ideas (‘Were we once lovers?’, ‘How he
entered’) to more traditional structures (‘Second chance man’, ‘The
waiting room’), and finally to the song we needed to begin the album – A
cover version of ‘Follow me’, Bronislau Kaper’s theme from the 1962
version of ‘Mutiny on the bounty’.
Although the recording, production and
arrangements were taken care of in-house, the album also benefits hugely
from the brass arrangements of Julian Siegel and the singing of Jehnny
Beth from Savages on ‘We are dreamers!’.
And a last song with Lhasa.
Lhasa de Sela was a great artist and singer but,
more importantly, a close friend and creative ally. Before her death in
2010, when she was fit and well, we recorded the singing for the song
‘Hey Lucinda’ together. It has taken a long time for me to be able to
return this recording and, hopefully, to do justice to the song we both
wanted it to be" - Stuart A. Staples.
Extremely quiet and violently loud, slowly rising only to moments later bear down on the listener with a wall of distorted sounds. This is the essence of ‘elephant’, the new album by Swedish composer and musician Dag Rosenqvist. ‘elephant’ consists of six tracks, all connected to each other in one way or another. Shards of tracks re-appear in other tracks. Structures, sounds, chord progressions and melodies are revisited and rearranged. Repetition as a means of holding on to something that is already lost. ‘elephant’ is an album built on contrasts. It is an album filled with noise and fury, with distant echoes and subtle vibrations. It is a blind force that can both crush you and embrace you with its fragility.
- Released by BBC Records in 1979 and rereleased by Silva Screen Records in april:
- "In 1958 the BBC Radiophonic Workshop opened
with the aim to enhance in the main, drama output on the Third Programme
(now Radio 3) following the development of new electronic music
techniques emanating from Europe. Their work expanded across the BBC to
take in TV drama (especially sci-fi), schools programmes and themes.
The latter being their most celebrated and well known work, Delia
Derbyshire's treatment of Ron Grainer's theme for Doctor Who. This
collection, originally released by BBC Records in 1979 to celebrate 21 years of the workshop appears for the first time in its full original form on CD.
From The Goons (Bloodnocks Stomach) to the Interval Signal to Doctor
Who and Great Zoos Of The World this is a fascinating chronicle of some
of the most innovative music ever made. These ground-breaking
compositions providing a major influence on music from The Beatles and
Pink Floyd and onwards into the contemporary world of Aphex Twin,
Orbital and The Chemical Brothers. "The Radiophonic Workshop, I loved
all that, it fascinated me, and still does”.
New on 12k. I liked Solo Andata's first album, loved their second, really did not care for the third. This sounds like a return to form in terms of my ears.
A four-track album imagining the sound of British summertime as heard by one of the most important members of the animal kingdom – the bee. A hypnotic conceptualisation of the life, work and living environment of the bee, One is a truly transcendental record – think Spacemen 3 recording a series of 21st century outdoor ragas for Touch Records and you’re somewhere in the right direction.
One is the soundtrack to artist Wolfgang Buttress’ multiple award winning UK Pavilion at the 2015 Milan Expo – an installation that highlighted the plight of the honeybee, focusing on the importance of pollination. The music on the record is a constantly changing and evolving symphony – the sound of a dialogue between bee and human.
The album was recorded by musicians Kev Bales and Tony Foster – a duo known for working with Spritualized, Julian Cope, Dave Gahan and Mark Lanegan, amongst many others. Other musicians featured on the record include Jason Pierce, Youth, cellist Deidre Bencsik, vocalist Camille Buttress and Amiina (the string section regularly used by Sigur Ros). The recording sessions saw musicians improvising in the key of C along to a live audio feed of beehive sounds. Piano, Mellotron and lap steel were overdubbed later. The result is a unique piece of truly meditative music.
Out on Tristan Perich' Physical Editions label in April and absolutely brilliant . . .
- "On Hedera a beat, generated by a defective tape
deck, mangy as it is, is the golden loom on which she warps her voice
with exquisite control and detail, replicating it and interweaving it
with its own weft."
- "Only squinting very closely in good light reveals that the almost black-on-black cover art of Lesley Flanigan‘s new album depicts a bed of ivy in the gloom—hedera, to use its proper name.
Tampa-born, Sarasota and NY-educated New York City resident Flanigan
is a graceful wrestler with the physicality of sound, some of whose
previous work (crafted from found speakers, wood, and amplifying
circuits) can be heard on collections like Amplifications and Glacier. On Hedera a
beat, generated by a defective tape deck, mangy as it is, is the golden
loom on which she warps her voice with exquisite control and detail,
replicating it and interweaving it with its own weft.
The twenty-minute title piece is ritualistic, if we grant the term
amiable elasticity. Like all rhythmic, repetitive singing—say Tuvan or
Inuit throat-singing—wordlessness is a force of both nature and
artifice. With no discernible crimping or distortion, but constant
layering, she starts low to the earth, ground-creeping like her ivy. A
sweet voice drifts upward, becomes several, which become more insistent,
bellowing like a trumpet, merging into a choir. The listening ear gets
fooled, the impacted body reacts reflexively.
A brief coda entitled “Can Barely Feel My Feet,” cobbled out of
Flanigan’s home made speaker system, is a feedback flecked but
benign bring down after the powerful experience of “Hedera.”
Fantastic news from Unsounds label, featuring the "rather unusual" french vocalist Anne-James Chaton
ANNE-JAMES CHATON voice, guitar, electronics
THURSTON MOORE voice, guitar
ANDY MOOR guitar, electronics, voice
‘Heretics’ is a series of portraits of radical heretical figures found throughout the history of schismatic thinking.
Heretics like Caravaggio, William Burroughs, Jose Mujica, Marquis de
Sade and Johnny Rotten, fascinated the artists. These influential
figures are presented here in the form of poetic texts and catchy
melodies combined with experimental noise.
With the addition of ex-Sonic Youth guitarist, singer and songwriter
Thurston Moore – Anne-James Chaton and Andy Moor’s more than a decade
long collaboration becomes an exciting trio. They researched and created
the material for Heretics during a residency in the French port of St
Nazaire, in July 2014. They used voice, guitars and electronics in solo,
duo or trio, to collaboratively explore their ideas and co-write texts
and music.
Moore and Moor both emerged from the punk/post-punk scene – albeit on
different continents. This familiarity with each other’s background and
music meant they were able to work at an intuitive fast pace during the
making of these pieces, and subsequent recordings. Chaton’s powerful
delivery and hypnotic style holds it’s own amidst the two guitarists
building a rich wall of sound, melody and noise around him. Chaton and
Moore’s contrasting voices and choice of words ring out in the tradition
of non-conformist poetry. Shaped by jagged distorted guitars and
penetrating chords, the trio’s combination of guitar and poetry evokes a
new genre.
Anne-James Chaton
Anne-James Chaton has published
several books published by Al Dante and joined the
German label Raster-Noton in 2011 with Evénements
09 and Décade published
in 2012. He has given many performances in France and abroad. He has
worked with the group of Dutch post-rock band The Ex
and released an album, Le journaliste (2008),
with the English guitarist Andy Moor, with whom he
develops since 2011 Tansfer series of four 7”
project whose album was released in 2013 on the Dutch label Unsounds.
He worked on the albums Unitxt (2008) and Univrs
(2011) by German artist Carsten Nicolai aka Alva
Noto. In January 2009, he created the trio Décade,
with Andy Moor and Alva Noto. He also
created Napoli, Napoli with Benoît
Bradel, Black Monodie with Philippe
Menard for the 64th edition of the Festival d'Avignon, and
Le cas Gage, ou les aventures de Phineas en Amérique
with choreographer Sylvain Prunenec, part that will
be created during the edition 2013 Dance festival Uzes in Uzes.
In 2013 he began a collaboration with singer and composer Nosfell
around project Icons. The same year he formed
the trio HERETICS with Andy Moor
and Thurston Moore, guitarist and singer of American
band Sonic Youth.
Christian Fennesz & Jim O'Rourke - It's Hard For Me To Say I'm Sorry
- "Despite decades of activity and having crossed paths in various collaborations Editions Mego is honoured to release the first ever duo recording from two of the most highly regarded citizens of planet experimental electronic. Individually, Jim O’Rourke and Christian Fennesz have been responsible for numerous legendary works which merge the traditional avant-garde with contemporary sensibilities. On It’s Hard For Me To Say I’m Sorry these giants of experimental electronic practice come together for an immensely powerful sonic experience.
The signature of both O’Rourke and Fennesz cohabit this new release with O’Rourke’s gurgling harmonies swimming amongst the shimmering frequencies and strummed melodies produced by Fennesz. Two side long tracks situate themselves as a warm electronic adventure. Simultaneously radical and comforting these works shift from gentle sonorities to fully distorted explosions all of which reside within a template of tension between musical and non-music matter.
Timeless in execution and presentation It’s Hard For Me To Say I’m Sorry is a deeply rewarding sonic experience from two of the most romantic gentlemen active in experimental music today.
Many Thanks for this. Sonic Pieces looks like a great label (some connection to Morr Music which makes sense) 19 albums available. Where has it been all my life etc. etc.
“Unclassifiable by any standard...The Claudia Quintet has explored the
permeable boundaries between genres with single-minded dedication.” –
Point Of Departure
John Hollenbeck – drums and percussion
Red Wierenga – accordion
Matt Moran – vibraphone
Drew Gress – acoustic bass
Chris Speed – clarinet and tenor sax
"Short doesn’t necessarily mean simple. Drummer-composer John Hollenbeck
acrobatically explores the dichotomy between brevity and complexity on Super Petite, the eighth release by the critically-acclaimed, proudly eccentric Claudia Quintet.
The oxymoronic title of the new album, captures the essence of its ten
new compositions, which pack all of the wit and virtuosity that
listeners have come to expect from the Claudia Quintet into a shorter
time-frame.
Hollenbeck’s uncategorizable music – which bridges the worlds
of modern jazz and new music in surprising and inventive ways -
is realized by Claudia’s longstanding line-up. Over the course of 19
years and 8 albums, the band has forged an astounding chemistry and
become expert at juggling mind-boggling dexterity with inviting emotion
and spirit.
The concept of shorter works was both a personal challenge
for Hollenbeck as a composer always dealing with a wealth of ideas, but
also a reaction to a tendency in modern music toward the epic. “I’m
feeling things in the opposite direction,” the composer explains. “When
tunes are longer, there tend to be moments when not a whole lot is
happening. If you have a really short tune, the whole thing has to be
compelling.”
Equally compelling, the release comes with a fat, 20 page color booklet, designed by KarlssonWilker, who have done all of the artwork for Claudia's releases, which is filled with unusual and attractive art."
- "Formed by composer / drummer / arranger John Hollenbeck in 1997, this
NYC ensemble’s sound explores the edge without alienating the
mainstream, proving that genre-defying music can be for everyone. Over
the past decade, the group has released CDs that are critically
acclaimed world wide and whose appeal extends well beyond, as well as
including traditional jazz audiences. The Claudia Quintet has amazed
audiences from Alabama to the Amazon. Their unique sound has inspired
dancing hippie girls at a New Mexico noise festival, the avant-garde
cognoscenti in the concert halls of Vienna and Sao Paolo, and a
generation of young musicians worldwide. In the course of the thousands
of miles they have traveled together and hundreds of concerts they’ve
played, the Claudia Quintet has evolved and grown, developing a dynamic
live sound based on trust and spontaneity. They bring this powerful
energy into the studio, where they record the old-fashioned way, live,
playing as a band."
Paul Jebanasam returns with his second full-length record, released on Subtext, the label he co-runs. Continuum
has lofty aims, considering the growth of organic life throughout the
universe through the medium of shimmering ambient electroacoustics. 3
lengthy tracks, with impressive sciencey track titles.
- "Continuum emerges as a crystallised vision deploying sound to explore
the spectrum of life, power and energy present in the universe. Creating
a speculative soundtrack to a timeline stretching from the primordial
emergence of organic life through to the unknowable trajectory of the
universe, it explores the magnitude of science’s reach and the
precarious role of humanity within this vast evolving system. The
compositions adopt the central premise of mirroring of celestial events,
algorithmic action and cellular behaviour, fusing these with a defiant
tonal grandeur and an ever-present sense of chaos.
The album sits at a meeting point of fiction, composition and
philosophy, considering how the past, present and an unknown future
could be consolidated and perceived on both human and non- human terms.
Examining whether the conditions that support life and the digital and
atomic mechanisms that surround it can continue to work together as
one ecology in the face of dynamic and unpredictable change."
. . . " Continuum is at
least 2/3 of an absolutely perfect album and the remaining third is
delivered with such force and virtuosity that any flaws are almost
beside the point. I realize that it is only February, but I can
guarantee that this album will be on a hell of a lot of "best of" lists
at the end of the year."
- "The final chapter in our Renaldo & The Loaf re-issue series!
Breadcrumbs collects all pieces that somehow didn't fit onto the other
deluxe CDs. The first section, tracks 1 to 5, gathers up the extra songs
from Struve & Sneff '84 and gives them their own space. After an
interlude (a new instrumental), the second section is mainly unreleased
music. Only "Gone To Gondwana" has been released before as this version
on "Olleh Olleh Rotcod". The track "Is This Tradition?" is a song
Renaldo recorded with a visitor in 1984. After a second interlude
(another new instrumental) the third section is the 1984 mixes of Struve
& Sneff reconstructed in the original track order. The music has
been carefully remastered by the band in 2016. New artwork was provided
by Renaldo M."
Lichen is a warm and crackly short record that sees Wil depart from his usual use of field recordings and these are replaced with sampled classical and exotica vinyl which plays out as a fuzzy, romantic listen. The vinyl loops were processed with granular and spectral laptop effects with additional effects-laden sounds of electric piano and Fender Bass VI. The overall sound sees Wil search for a slight departure in his approach to sound - with the work retaining Ambient feel but adopting the use of overdrive and distortion throughout adding a little light grit to the tracks. This was added with pedals, amp buzz, digital noise and vinyl crackle and threatens to disintegrate the acoustic and electronic tones on which they ride. These almost become a part of the wall of melody itself, as lichen would set into and become part of the branches of a tree.
New Porya Hatami album!!!!!! Due out in September on Audiobulb.
I was invited by Audiobulb to look back and select music including unreleased tracks that illustrated my evolution as an artist. Phone to Logos retraces my creative process to date. Each track illustrates distinct sound palettes and aesthetics at play during different periods of writing. It has been a reflective process, assembling my journey through sound, steeped in memory, emotion and learning. The first two tracks were written around the time of my first album's period; Dawn with Tomotsugu is an unused track from our ongoing collaboration; Parachute and QM_Interrupted are from "Unstable" sessions; Color Bars and ‘81 are from "Arrivals and Departures" and One-Way and Inexistence are from last year. _After is a new short track I made for this collection – a place I arrived at only to keep moving. The two tracks with Arovane are unused tracks from our ongoing collaboration, which the first part of it released on the Eter Lab label as the album, "Resonance". Finally, "Sketch" is a part of my upcoming collaboration with Artificial Memory Trace, coming out at the end of the year.
This is the ensemble of friends that includes Nils Frahm. Their debut album released in February, here's the follow up. Stream at bandcamp. According to the blurb there, they had too many songs so made two albums and flipped a coin as to which to release. When the first went well they put out the other one too.
'Oddments of the Gamble' is a continuation of the unique, analogue concoctions that formed the first album - very much like a ‘part two’ in many ways. Although it inevitably draws on a similar formula to the previous LP - pensive loops and melodies, sweeping arpeggios, post-rock jams, and rolling jazz breaks - Oddments of the Gamble still stands alone as another statement from the trio despite originating from the same recording session.
This is too remarkable to leave it to possible listening thread oblivion:
- "Wowsie wow, Delia Derbyshire's longest known recording, made with artist
Elsa Stansfield. Never released until right here right now. This is an
electronic score with ambient environmental sounds, birdsong, sound
design, all from a killer art house movie made about Pamela Bone's
amazing photographic glass slides. Derbyshire fans will be quick to
notice her classic "lampshade" vibes. This is the clear vinyl edition,
you can also buy the digital version here to."
- "This
film without words is composed of Pamela Bone's unique photograhic
transparencies. Her talent has been said to 'push photography beyond
its own limits, liberating it to the status of an entirely creative art
form.` Inspired by nature, and being more responsive to feeling than to
thought, Miss Bone has sought to express the mystery and beauty of the
inner vision through photographic means alone: landscape has the
quality of a dream; children on the sea-shore have a sense of their own
enchantment, trees are forboding and strange when night moves in their
arms. It took Miss Bone twenty years to find the right technique and so
overcome the limitations that photography would impose."
Craters are the signature of some great event. The earth breaks open. Something falls from the sky. After the flash and the fury fade, people congregate to revisit the scene of the spectacle. A live recording is a similar pilgrimage to the source. Proceed, a c74 release by the improvising live ensemble Crater, documents two expansive and incendiary sets of groove-driven invention and interplay from Crater's central core of jhno (laptop) and Scott Amendola (drums, electronics, and percussion) and their companions-guitarists Nels Cline and Dave Mac Nab and bassists Devin Hoff and Todd Sickafoose. Their resultant interplay is a rich blend of emergent order that Greg Burke of the LA Weekly describes as "...certain moments from Miles Davis' 70's, adding elements of modern dread and substituting wonder for pain. It feels like now... There are no styles any more, only music." Cover photo by Rick Chapman.
“Uwe Zahn (Arovane) and Porya Hatami’s latest collaborative project finds the pair concentrating their sound sources and focusing on a specific instrument: the piano. Hatami is known for the piano work that appears throughout his previous material, but with this release, it takes center stage. For his contributions, Zahn delved into the sonic possibilities of Native Instruments’ new Una Corda, a modern virtual synth that captures the sound of a custom made contemporary piano. The idea originated when Hatami sent a single piano recording to Zahn, who in turn responded with a piano piece in return. Thus began a new project between the two artists. Having previously worked together, they intuitively merged their piano skills, being careful not to stray too far from the original concept. By stripping down the elements surrounding the main instrument, they have recorded an album that subtly resonates within a framework of restraint. Ghostly shimmers follow plaintive piano melodies, as reverberations haunt the spaces between notes. Dusty loops and textural ambience tie the threads that weave this work together, creating something that could be the soundtrack to an old black and white film noir.” Darren McClure
Comments
Veerian by Zahn | Hatami | McClure
Collaboration between Uwe Zahn (Arovane), Porya Hatami and Darren McClure. New on Eilean Rec.
Tom Carter & Pat Murano
- Norman Records - Emusic
M. Ostermeier - Tiny Birds
For those who like quiet, slow piano with gentle electronics.
Review.
COH - MUSIC VOL.
- Editions Mego
- All Music- Editions Mego - Bandcamp
- Mosz
How to Pull Off a Six-Hour Grateful Dead Tribute Album "Our intent was really to shine a light on the songwriting," says the National's Aaron Dessner, who helped spearhead the new 'Day of the Dead' project.
Officially released 5/20, well worth a listen if you are into the Dead or any of the bands doing the covers.
The Angling Loser consits of Lee Anthony Norris, Sir Cliff, Porya Hatami, Wil Bolton, Shintaro Aoki and Martin Hirsch.
From ...txt recordings.
Now at emusic.
MARCO BARDOSCIA: double bass and electronics
MoonJune Records - Emusic
Bureau B - Soundcloud
- A set of incridible strong songs with the band and singer/crooner Stuart A. Staples as intense and passionate as they always have been . . .
City Slang - Emusic
elephant
by Dag Rosenqvist
on Dronarivm.
- A truely fascinating collection !Solo Andata - In the Lens
New on 12k. I liked Solo Andata's first album, loved their second, really did not care for the third. This sounds like a return to form in terms of my ears.
Be - One
- Rivertones - Soundcloud
- Igloo Magazine - Emusic
Tim Berne's Snakeoil - Anguis 0leum
Tim Berne - Alto Saxophone
Oscar Noriega - Clarinet, Bass Clarinet
Matt Mitchell - Piano
Ches Smith - Drums, Percussion
- Screwgun
THURSTON MOORE voice, guitar
ANDY MOOR guitar, electronics, voice
Christian Fennesz & Jim O'Rourke - It's Hard For Me To Say I'm Sorry
- Editions Mego - Bandcamp - SoundcloudRecent release on Sonic Pieces.
Red Wierenga – accordion
Matt Moran – vibraphone
Drew Gress – acoustic bass
Chris Speed – clarinet and tenor sax
Cuneiform Records - Emusic
- Norman Records
Paul Jebanasam - Continuum
- Brainwashed
New on Audio Gourmet, Free/NYOP.
New Porya Hatami album!!!!!! Due out in September on Audiobulb.
Oddments of the Gamble by Nonkeen
This is the ensemble of friends that includes Nils Frahm. Their debut album released in February, here's the follow up. Stream at bandcamp. According to the blurb there, they had too many songs so made two albums and flipped a coin as to which to release. When the first went well they put out the other one too.
Circle of Light - The Photography Of Pamela Bone
jhno - laptop
Scott Amendola - drums, electronics, percussion
Nels Cline - electric guitars, effects
Dave Mac Nab - electric guitar (2)
Devin Hoff - electric bass (1)
Todd Sickafoose - electric bass (2)
- Amazon
Soundcloud
Label