With thanks to V/VM (Leyland Kirby) . . . Explanation later . . .
Tim Hecker - Love Streams
Hecker’s newest opus, Love Streams, takes as its cue from the avant-classical orchestration and extreme electronic processing of his previous full-length, 2013’s Virgins,
but shaped into more melancholic, ultraviolet hues. Its power accrues
as it unfolds. Inspired by notions of 15th century choral scores
transposed to an artificial intelligence-era language of digital
resonance and bright synths, the album was assembled gradually, with
layers of studio-tracked keyboards, choir and woodwinds being woven into
the mix, then molded and disfigured through complex programming. The
effect is similar to hearing some ancient strain of sacred music
corrupted by encryption. Hecker admits to thinking about ideas like “liturgical aesthetics after Yeezus” and the“transcendental voice in the age of auto-tune” during its creation.
MRS MILLS: Was one of the biggest music stars of the 60's and 70's
selling millions of her party albums. Her musical contributions horribly
written out of the history of British popular music. Known for her
music hall style she was always reworking contemporary hits of the day
on her piano, so she would be well up for this kind of shenanigans.
TIM HECKER: Is a serious musician and long time V/VM fan from Montreal
whose subtle use of distortions, emotions and pain makes him a perfect
fit for the 4AD label, smoke machines and the colour magenta.
V/VM: Pigs of the scene. They once helped Aphex Twin and got Chris De
Burgh a coveted single of the week in the NME. Releasing an endless slew
of serious works which were completely ignored or branded as some kind
of endless prank. Most famously they released a tribute to Guru Josh
which was voted worst record of the 20th Century by Paul Gambaccini.
THE PROCESS
Using the same process Tim Hecker employed when creating his 'Love
Streams' V/VM also used the Melodyne software to get midi-information
from his pagan creation.
This stolen midi-information was then fed into a modern software
sequencer and sent directly to the 'Mrs Mills Piano'. The actual
original piano craftily sampled by the Cinesamples team at the World
famous Abbey Road studios in London, where Mrs Mills was a resident
recording artiste.
This dry as a bone piano render was then placed by magical reverb
techniques first into eternity, before then relocating back on Earth in
an empty Wembley Stadium.
THE RESULT
How does it sound ?
Pretty challenging for even the most staunch of Mrs Mills fans. You can
get used to it though on repeat listens. The sound of the Mrs Mills
piano as played by rotten trotters.
Magically though when mixed together with Tim's album it works in a
mysterious way, the party drifting in and out of focus. In time
sometimes, out of time at others.
The seriousness of Tim's work along side the party-party spirit of
Gladys Mills. It's the dream combination we've all been waiting for.
Allowing what can be a solitary listening experience with Tim's work to become a group activity with friends.
- "Vienna is the home of Radian, Martin Brandlmayr (drums, electronics), John Norman (bass), and Martin Siewert (guitars, electronics), who have been influenced by and shaped the city’s vivid scene of electronica in the early 2000s. Vienna is currently a wide open creative home to many new music composers and innovators. Today, the members of Radian are pillars of that community.
The title of the album, On Dark Silent Off, is a nod to Ad Reinhardt, whose art and theory has been influential on the trio.
The juxtaposition of extremes (on/off) is present in Radian’s work: the contrast between light and darkness; and in musical terms, sound and silence and brightness/darkness of timbre. . . . ."
Martin Siewert, who joined Radian in 2011, is a guitarist with range. Besides working in bands like Trapist (with Brandlmayr and Joe Williamson), the trio Fake the Facts (with Mats Gustafsson, and dieb13), and with quartet The Peeled Eye (Steve Heather, Boris Hauf, and Christian Weber), he recently has been busy with playing a lot in New Music contexts, performing with the likes of Uli Fussenegger (Klangforum Wien), Ernesto Molinari, and Jorge Sanchez-Chiong, amongst others. In April 2016 he released a duo record with pianist and composer Katharina Klement (Hoverload), and in July 2016 will release Also, a duo with drummer Katharina Ernst.
Martin Brandlmayr works in the field between improvised music and composition. He has performed and recorded with Otomo Yoshihide, John Tilbury, Christian Fennesz, David Sylvian and many more. He has recently focused on composition and writing for various ensembles. He currently plays as a duo with ErikM called Ecotone and has performed with and released several albums as part of Polwechsel and Trapist (with Siewert and Joe Williamson).
John Norman was born and raised in Gothenburg, Sweden, and has lived in Northern Italy, Glasgow (Scotland) and Innsbruck (Austria) before moving to Vienna in the mid 90s. He played bass in metal, punk and indie rock bands before joining Radian. Currently, he is also playing guitar and singing in a shoegaze band called Snoww Crystal.
- "The newest record produced by the group of three – Ghedalia Tazartes, Paweł Romańczuk, and Andrzej Załęski
– is the result of only a few meet ups and a shared passion for music
that shapes their perspective. The long play was recorded at the Rogalów
Analogowy studio in the eastern part of Poland. It’s worth noting that
the space and surrounding countryside did not influence the sound itself
as the record drifts away from the traditions of chamber music. The
musicians, together as well as separately, avoid any mainstream
influences. Thus, the acoustic record is peaceful, spiritual and
presents a wide variety of notions and emotions. The diversified vocal
articulation and tone of Tazartes intertwines well with Zaleski’s
percussive play and Romańczuk’s multi-instrumental skills. The rhythmic
pulsation is constantly taking new directions, eventually turning into
noise at some point. The voice, somehow dramatic, traps the listeners
and sends them on a journey through non-existent quasi-stories. Here we
are, facing an elusive romantic magician personified by a carp-headed
cat."
- "French cult artist Ghédalia Tazartès
is an uncompromising character who defies categorization. He recorded
alone a dozen of albums, calling his way of working “Impromuz” for lack
of a better term. Before the years 2000s, his public appearances
remained exceptional events. Ghédalia Tazartès’ music has always been a
mystery. It switches from musique concrète to – existing or invented –
ethnic music, from poetry to noise, or from loops and collages to sad
and extremely beautiful tunes in a second, but it constantly is in flux
and coherent. . . . . ."
Paweł Romańczuk:
– musician, composer. Since 2006, he works within the field of unusual
sounds sources. Romańczuk is a founder of the Polish artistic group Małe
Instrumenty with whom he recorded 10 albums. He composed several film
soundtracks and collaborated with significant theatre houses. He’s also
famous for the various instruments, sound and audio installations he
builds on his own.
In 2010, he published the first study on the history of the instrument toy piano.
In
2013, he wrote the book “Domowe eksperymenty z instrumentami
muzycznymi” that was published together with his band’s album
“Samorobka”. The publication became a guide to the process of creating
hand-made and experimental musical instruments. He collaborated with
Pierre Bastien, Margaret Leng Tan, Piotr Kurek, Nao Nishihara, Księżyc
and Za Siódmą Górą, Cezary Duchnowski, Andrzej Bauer.
He conducts workshops, lectures and develops exhibitions on the role of
instruments and sound experiments. His music collaboration with Andrzej
Załęski and Ghedalia Tazartes started back in 2014; however, he was
familiar with their music for quite a time.
Andrzej Załęski:
– musician, filmmaker, curator. He collaborated with: Ghedalia Tazartes, Aspec(t), Joe Giardullo,
Eugene Chadbourne, Charles Hayward, John Hegre, Tatsuya Yoshida, Pavel
Fajt, Sylvie Courvoisier, Vinz Vonlanthen, Małe Instrumenty, Johannes
Bergmark, Ralf Wehowsky, Jerzy Mazzoll, Andrzej Przybielski, Komora A,
Jacek Staniszewski, Robert Niziński (Księżyc) among many others. He also
played in bands like: Multicide, Mitch and Mitch, 3 Metry, Za Siódmą
Górą.
Cofounder of the theater group Komuna Otwock, collaborated with the Gardzienice Theater and Akademia Ruchu Theater. . . . .
Wil Bolton's 'Maemi' takes its title from the Korean word for cicadas. Recorded live at Cafe OTO, London during the Home Normal label's Homenormalism festival on 3 August 2013, Wil weaves effected guitar drones, synthesizer, music box, effects pedals and environmental sounds creating a slow moving dronescape. The environmental sounds - timber mill machinery, traffic, and the buzz of cicadas - were recorded in Incheon, South Korea in August 2012, during an artist residency at the Incheon Art Platform.
- "On Seize The Means, each track is made of 100% live radio grabbed during a Radio Wonderland
performance. Radio Wonderland is Joshua Fried, performing live digital
processing controlled by old shoes hit with sticks (Fried is a lifelong
drummer), and a vintage Buick steering wheel (yes, he also plays a
steering wheel). Radio Wonderland pulverizes mass media into little
audio bits that dance.
In Radio Wonderland performances nothing is pre-recorded (except for
what comes up live on the air); anything picked up during the
performance–commercials, music, news–is fair game. All the processing is
live, programmed by Fried in MaxMSP software. Each gig starts with the
ritual of Fried walking on stage, sometimes entering through the crowd,
carrying a boombox playing FM radio LIVE. He plugs it into his system
and starts slicing, repeating and transposing bits of radio he selects
on the spot. He builds grooves, piece by piece, out of
still-recognizable bites of radio, sometimes winding them into pure
musical sound and later un-winding them back to the original source.
One of Fried’s algorithms, the Re-Esser (studio nerds will recognize
this as a play on the word de-esser), isolates sibilance, so he can
compose on the spot using “S”, “T”, “K”, “Sh” and other sounds like
samples in a drum machine. The Re-Esser is featured on “Radio Family”,
the opening track of Seize The Means. After grabbing the phrase “no
family conspiracy to hack,” Fried loops the words “family conspiracy”.
The Re-Esser isolates “F…” “C…” “Sp…” and “Cy…” as Fried controls the
process to make the transformation clear. The four percussive bits then
become part of the groove (also made of radio of course). . . . . ."
'Sensory Memory' is an unconscious excursion through Kane Ikin’s music library. Hints of post-punk, dub and industrial glance across the shadows of science fiction sound tracks and synthetic ambient explorations. Equal parts narcotic and kinetic, each track takes on a life of it’s own, not painting from the same palette each time; Offering a portal to the artist’s sonic range, from immersive electronic noir environments to dynamic percussive cacophonies.
- "Fogh Depot continues its quest for the fifth element, experimenting at
the confluence of jazz, modern classical, and electronic music. Two
years after their first S/T release, the Moscow-based trio presents a
new album - Turmalinturm.
Like the previous recording, this is a
unique blend of ostensibly incompatible elements. A traditional academic
approach fuses with lo-fi spontaneity. The raw and vivid texture of the
bass springs forward from a modular sterility. At times the mixture is
explosive. No wonder the studio where the album was created burned down a
month after it was completed.
This album imparts a new,
architectural dimension to Fogh Depot's music. A fortress named
'Turmalinturm' rises from a solid foundation of jazz, neoclassical
minimalism, and experimental electronica. But the sophistication of the
fortress' towers makes one suspect that each had its own architect.
'Quicksilver Spoon' is virtually flawless in geometric form. 'Who The
Last Says No' is so fragile and delicate that it is a miracle it does
not collapse. 'Oscar' is perhaps the most complex and substantial tower
of the ensemble. 'Alice, Bob & Cypher' has a secret of its own in
the old vaulted underground crypt. One of the structures is topped with a
Gorgoneion, a stone head of Medusa. Another houses a bell tower
borrowed straight from Rachmaninoff's Suite No. 1.
Tourmaline is a
stone that appears to change its color depending on the angle of view.
Turmalinturm's listeners get to choose how to approach the fortress.
Some will discover the same pensive melancholy sounds that Fogh Depot
started with. Others will find lighter, brighter, occasionally even
euphoric motifs."
Fogh Depot is a trio from Moscow, Russia, who makes music that
incorporates elements of nu jazz, hip-hop, doom jazz and
live-electronic. Baritone sax, double bass, drums, samplers and a whole
lot of stomp boxes and effects.
- "Morphine presents Water Above Sky Below Now from pioneering American
composer Pauline Oliveros and Ione. An experimental musician and
educator, Oliveros is the creator of the deep listening practice -highly
attentive full body audition-. She is joined on the album by author,
improviser of spoken word and sonic vocals Ione, artistic director of
the former Deep Listening Institute founded by Oliveros.
The three-part improvisation was produced using Oliveros’ Expanded
Instrument System (EIS), an electronic sound-processing environment that
allows improvising musicians to transform their own acoustic input in
real time. Here, her specially tuned digital accordion —accompanied by
Ione’s vocals and spoken word— is converted via EIS , manipulated, and
diffused through multiple channels. “The EIS imperative (and
improvisation imperative),” Oliveros writes, “is to listen and respond:
spatial relationships and progressions are as important as the
traditional parameters of music.” The release of Water Above… is the latest movement in Oliveros’
six-decade-long career, which began at the San Francisco Tape Music
Center in the ’60s and was distinguished with the William Schuman Award
for lifetime achievement in 2009. It is Morphine’s third full release of
the year, following from Charles Cohen’s Brother I Prove You Wrong. “Go
Deep and Listen,” from that LP, is a silent dedication to Oliveros from
Cohen, who participated in her workshops."
Vergers is Davachi's third full-length release following Barons Court
(2015, Students of Decay) and Dominions (2016, JAZ Records), and her
second appearance with Important Records following 2014's August Harp
cassette on the Cassauna imprint.
In this work, she meditates on a single electronic instrument, the
EMS Synthi 100 synthesizer, while also weaving sparse acoustic elements –
her own voice and violin – into a series of three long-form, muted
gestures.
Elements of distance and alienation are certainly at play in the
textural quality of these compositions, a feeling that is further
defined by track titles that reference the spirit world and an album
title that calls to mind the solitary tasks of the church orderly.
The record opens with the aptly titled, Gentle So Gentle, a side-long
movement that harkens the glacial character of Davachi's previous
efforts. Ghosts And All and In Staying suggest a more disjointed path,
with the latter culminating in a subtly dissonant dirge that leaves
little absolve between the organic, the artificial, and the impermanent.
Dominions is the second full-length release from Canadian
electroacoustic composer Sarah Davachi, following 2015’s Barons Court. A
slightly more demure approach is at work here, shifting from the
brooding textures of her previous work to softer tones and more delicate
movements in structure, as in side openers ‘feeler’ and ‘ordinal’.
Recorded primarily at her home base in Vancouver, Davachi returns with
her typical assembly of electronic equipment, mostly consisting of
vintage synthesizers as well as the Orchestron, a rare optical sampler
known for its low fidelity charms. The five compositions on this release
breathe new life into these obsolete machines, pausing only for the
stringed cacophony of the album’s closer. Melodics emerge almost as an
after thought, suggesting something farther and more distant, echoed in
the disjointed imagery of local artist, Daniel Presnell.
Two tracks that never made it to the album "Sval". Why? Well, we are not entirely sure. "Ad Undas" is a collaborative track together with the very talented artist Strië.
"I often view my favorite music as a means to be mentally transported to an elusive, ethereal place for a period of time in a world that makes it increasingly difficult to do so. Early on during the recording process, I decided that I wanted this album to provide the feeling of floating on gentle and welcoming waters rather than a being a refuge to hide away in. The reverberant guitar chords and occasional lulling rhythms are all meant to contribute to the sense of calmly drifting away. The album art, courtesy of the of the ever stunning "ambient dream photography" of Brian Young is the perfect visual accompaniment- rolling waves giving way to hazy peaks, all bathed in a wash of monochromatic blue. It should come as no surprise that the title Harbor is an homage to the Cocteau Twins' Echoes in a Shallow Bay". - Michael Cottone
by
Soundwalk Collective with Jesse Paris Smith feat. Patti Smith
A shimmering ambient tone, an electronic underlay to the lulling chatter of crickets, makes way for the unmistakable voice of Patti Smith, quietly intoning, ominously, “The killer road is waiting for you / like a finger, pointing in the night.”
Behind the music and concept of Killer Road is international trio Soundwalk Collective – Stephan Crasneanscki, Simone Merli, and Kamran Sadeghi (aka. Son of Rose)– who, alongside Patti Smith's daughter, Jesse Paris, conceived an immersive exploration of the tragic death of Christa Päffgen. Better known as Nico, the Velvet Underground chanteuse and solo pioneer, Päffgen died while riding her bike on the island of Ibiza in the summer of 1988. Killer Road is an ambient soundscape and spoken word tribute to Nico – eight interpretations of her lyrics, predominantly taken from classic albums such as Desertshore and Drama of Exile, arranged by fellow poet and kindred spirit Patti Smith. Originally executed as a live performance piece with Jesse Paris Smith and Soundwalk Collective, Killer Road sees the light of day in album format for the first time.
- "Erik K Skodvin returns with a focused new album under his Svarte Greiner
moniker by releasing two side-long cinematic compositions, continuing
where he left off three years ago with the album Black Tie.
The Marble patiently sets the tone with a slow moving wall
of strings underlaid by a warped bass line. A feeling of weightlessness
covers the ground while empty space surrounds you in an embracing yet
uneasy way. It’s a gloomy territory with an unexpected extent of grace
to encounter. Time gradually illuminates several stages of light and
dark before revealing a desolate wasteland filled with electric
organisms.
Garden strikes heavily with rattling string hits and low
bass waves quivering through your skull, transforming the scenery into a
fallow that is staring right back at you. This could easily be the
soundtrack to a nightmarish sleeplessness if it wasn’t for carefully
scattered comfort zones to be found in unknown territory: What appears
to be violent at first soon reveals sheer reflective beauty. However, it
is patience and repeated listening that liberate the aspired altered
state of consciousness. Originally composed for Marit Følstad´s
installation art, Moss Garden more than ever consolidates Erik Skodvin’s
individual idea of soundscape. You can interpret his approach as an
embodiment of the word Terrific’s amelioration: Developing from
Terrifying over Intense to its modern understanding in a little more
than two centuries. Svarte Greiner reenacts this metamorphosis within a
single recording."
- "Possibly the thing in the world that you never expected to happen, but
luckily you were wrong: Klanggalerie are proud to present you the brand
new album by Renaldo & The Loaf. 30 years after "The Elbow is
Taboo", Renaldo & Ted The Loaf have created another fabulous record.
13 songs in classic RATL style with an incredible cover by the
wonderful Poxodd. All the RATL trademark sounds are there, but of course
technology has not passed unnoticed, so there is a 2016 approach to the
music, too. This is what the band say: "Olleh! Hard to believe almost
30 years have passed since Elbow Is Taboo but finally we have decided
it’s about time for a brand new album. So... (surprise!).... Gurdy
Hurding is soon to be released by Klanggalerie . With a wonderful cover
design and artwork by Poxodd, the collection of 13 tracks is scheduled
to be released on October 25th. Renaldo & Ted". British avantgarde
at its purest by who was often called The English Residents."
- "The style of Renaldo and the Loaf is
immediately recognizable, with goofy voices and exaggerated accents,
bizarre lyrics involving topics like garden gnome bedmates or a hatred
of soap, non-obvious chords and melodies, acoustic instruments played
abnormally and extreme sound manipulation to make everything sound
unnatural. On Gurdy Hurding, the duo’s original bizarre vigor is still
strong, although there are some technological enhancements. (...) Gurdy
Hurding is a true statement of the duo’s fun yet uneasy spirit with an
emphasis on creating interesting sounds and a relentless devotion to
manipulate each one until it’s sufficiently peculiar."
The band was convened after a chance encounter in 2010, at Jean-Herve
Peron’s Avant Garde Festival in Hamburg (3 days of Utopia™) and has
popped up here and there ever since. This is their first official
release, recorded over 2 days at the University of East London, then
edited and tweaked into shape over the next half year. Hard to pin down
– some of it is obviously written, some obviously improvised – and then
there are a lot of grey areas; it’s a law unto itself really.
- "The
Artaud Beats (Geoff Leigh: sax, fl, vo, electronics, Yumi Hara: p, vo,
Chris Cutler: dr, John Greaves: b, vo) came together in a chance
encounter at Jean-Hervé Péron's Avantgarde Festival in Schiphorst,
2009. Geoff Leigh and Yumi Hara were there as a duo, Chris Cutler and
John Greaves with Peter Blegvad and Dagmar Krause. It was Geoff who
proposed the quartet and Jean-Hervé enthusiastically supported the idea -
since Geoff, Chris, and John had all been in Henry Cow together when
they toured with Faust; and Yumi seemed the perfect companion. The
concert was fine, the public happy and a Norwegian promoter from Bodo,
who happened to be in the audience, immediately invited us to his next
festival. So our casual meeting metamorphosed into a band. We gave
ourselves a name: The Artaud Beats, and made ourselves available. Two
tours of Japan and a box-set later, we're back - still with no
programme and no songs, and still engaged in the hazardous but
honourable art of conjuring music out of empty air."
- "EVENT HORIZON is an experimental audio/visual work by France Jobin
(audio) and Cédrick Eymenier (visual) developed in the summer of
2009.The title of the piece was drawn from the physics term “event
horizon” which is a bizarre boundary in space time which gives a black
hole it’s name. It is the proximity point in which no matter or
radiation (ex.light) can escape and thereby affect an outside observer.
It is the black holes effects on its surroundings and the light that
doesn’t pass the event horizon that gives physicists their awareness
that the black hole exists.
This project involves the observation of a cityscape after nightfall.
The minimal light observed over the city at night masks the flurry of
activity that is obscured by buildings and darkness.
EVENT HORIZON explores the solitary observations of events transmitted
via minimal stimuli and the understanding of the existence of
incomprehensibly massive amounts of activity that cannot affect the
outside observer other than the knowledge that it exists and it is
obscured.
In short, it explores the interaction of the subject with the city and
the emotions that come with various sensory stimuli and the
contemplation of what the darkness obscures.
France Jobin | Cédrick Eymenier" http://www.francejobin.com/?p= 4515
Not just Pjusk - Pjust with Loscil!!! Pjusk with Porya Hatami!!!! Yaaay!
This collaborative EP is a celebration of friendship. Music is a universal language and we are fortunate to have friends all over the world willing to share their musical talents with us. From Canada, Kurdistan, China - and Norway - this is Syklus.
Minneapolis based composer and live electronics performer Scott Miller
teams up with Estonian guitarist Mart Soo as "Three Free Radicals" for
this collection of free improvisations. The collaboration was the result
of Miller's Fulbright sponsored six month stay in Tallinn where he
discovered a fertile avant garde improvisation scene.
Twin Cities based composer Scott Miller recently released a full
length recording of his electro-acoustic music in collaboration with St.
Paul based Zeitgeist Ensemble (FCR161 Tipping Point).
This newest digital only release on the Panoramic Recordings imprint
showcases Miller's equally inventive activities as a live electronics
performer. In this collaboration with Estonian guitarist Mart Soo (under
the ensemble name "Three Free Radicals". Miller brings the depth of his
sonic vocabulary that he has developed in his through-composed works to
his arsenal as an improviser, resulting in a fascinating journey
through off-kilter grooves, glitchy mechanical textures, and demonic
soundscapes. Miller manipulates pre-composed textural material as well
as live processing of Soo's stylistically omnivorous guitar, giving him a
series of variables to adjust during a performance.
- " REFLECTION is the most recent of my Ambient experiments and
represents the most sophisticated of them so far. My original intention
with Ambient music was to make endless music, music that would be there
as long as you wanted it to be. I wanted also that this music would
unfold differently all the time–“like sitting by a river”: it’s always
the same river, but it’s always changing. But recordings–whether vinyl,
cassette or CD–are limited in length, and replay identically each time
you listen to them. So in the past I was limited to making the systems
which make the music, but then recording 30 minutes or an hour and
releasing that. REFLECTION in its album form–on vinyl or CD–is like this. But the app by which REFLECTION is produced is not restricted: it creates an endless and endlessly changing version of the piece of music.
The creation of a piece of music like this falls into three stages:
the first is the selection of sonic materials and a musical mode–a
constellation of musical relationships. These are then patterned and
explored by a system of algorithms which vary and permutate the initial
elements I feed into them, resulting in a constantly morphing stream (or
river) of music. The third stage is listening. Once I have the system
up and running I spend a long time–many days and weeks in fact–seeing
what it does and fine-tuning the materials and sets of rules that run
the algorithms. It’s a lot like gardening: you plant the seeds and then
you keep tending to them until you get a garden you like."
First reissue of the 1981 classic masterpiece album by the legendary Hastings of Malawi featuring a founder member of Nurse with Wound and Pat Simmons:
- "They recorded the album in one night in 1981 with no plan and no idea of what they were doing.
They played drums, clarinet, synthesiser and piano but also made use of things that they found lying around the studio - old records, cookery books, telephone directories and a telephone.
The recordings were played down the phone to randomly dialled numbers and the reactions added to the recording.
All
three had been involved in the recording of the first Nurse with Wound
album Chance Meeting On A Dissecting Table Of A Sewing Machine And An
Umbrella and had contributed metal scrapings, piano, effects, clarinet
and guitar during the session.
The album was released in 1981 as
Vibrant Stapler Obscures Characteristic Growth by Hastings of Malawi on
the Papal Products label."
The star of the record is Pat Simmons who was the voice of the UK speaking clock between 1963 and 1984.
In
his book Lipstick Traces writer Greil Marcus seeks to draw a line from
Dada through the Situationist International to punk rock. If this line
exists then this record sits on the end of it.
The only review that the album received was from Steve Stapelton who suggested that "nobody should miss this vinyl disaster."
Good or bad are not concepts that can be applied to this recording.
The
record stands firmly in opposition to the now all pervading concepts of
commercialisation, celebrity culture and the commodification of
creative activity.
- "Australian-raised, currently UK-based field
recordist and sound artist Kate Carr creates sound worlds based on field
recording with an intellectually daring approach, focusing on sound as a
sculptural matter and opening a conscious space for listeners where to
discover unexpected gateways of significance. As twentieth release of
the Galaverna catalogue, “endings” is an album that brings together ten
pieces made in the last four years, which came to symbolise a finishing
of some sort, combining different tones and moods, some quite humorous,
other more serious.
It draws on an imaginative sound
manipulation and collage process that combines a wide range of sonic
materials collected in various places and situations, as an ending year
tribute full of acoustic memories of imagined and real worlds, as she
states. “Given it is an end of year release, and also how much of a
difficult year 2016 has been in many ways and for many different
peoples, I thought this was a nice theme to bring everything together.”
In its multilayered soundscape,
“endings” appears as a journey in which we can cross places and
memories, experiencing them while listening as emotional geographies not
only to inhabit but also to shape as a continuous resonant space."
Note from the artist:
This album marks
multiple and multifaceted endings, cleavages, stoppages and breaks. My
life over the past three years has been shaped by constant travel, a
feeling of drift, of being unmoored. One aspect of such a nomadic
existence which is not often dwelt on is that in constantly arriving at
new places, I have also been constantly leaving, and this album is
centred on investigating the endings that leaving entails. The peaceful
farewells, the relieved escape, the shocking cleavages, the connections
cut short and left hanging, the resolved, and the unresolvable, the
comical and the surreal. It brings together many pieces I've made from
2013 to 2016 which in someway mark an endpoint, and which together in
this release have somehow found a home together. At the end of 2016, a
year which for me, like so many others I know, has been by turns
difficult, shocking and very sad both personally and politically, this
is as hopeful an arrangement as I can manage.
"Black light from twisted spiral galaxies laughs and transfers into an
inner vortex. Concentrated sound rays are coming inside, focused in
clusters, shiver, explode and constantly mutate. Glowing reconstruction
lava moves with heavy and raw fire clots burning everything out to dust.
Melting, converting, dissolving, transforming."
- "Zavoloka is Vienna based Ukrainian experimental music composer, sound artist and graphic
designer.
She explores digital and analog synthesis and combines them with recorded herself Ukrainian ancient folk songs and instruments.
Zavoloka
frequently collaborates with Kotra, Laetitia Morais visual artist,
Feldermelder, Seefeel's Mark Clifford and supported Aphex Twin's live
shows"
- "Here's the long awaited 2nd volume of soundtrack
works by German Pop and Avantgarde Futurist Felix Kubin on the Dekorder
label, following 2008's "Music for Theatre and Radio Play".
Some of Kubin's
most adventurous and far-reaching music stems from his commissioned
works for films, theatre and radio plays. Freed from conventional song
formats and genre stereotypes he effortlessly combines Musique Concrète
noises, splashes of haunted virtual orchestras, Gameboy music minuets
and voice collage interspersed with tons of suspense and gloomy
industrial atmospheres.
"Music for Film
and Theatre" compiles 11 tracks from Polish director Robert Florczak's
"Makbet Remix" (based on William Shakespeare's "Macbeth"), a waltz from
Schorsch Kamerun's "Des Kaisers neue Kleider" (by Hans Christian
Andersen) and the complete soundtrack (including the actual sound
design) for Anke Feuchtenberger's animation short "Somnambule".
- "Felix Kubin is a renowned composer and producer of radio plays based in
Hamburg. In recent years he has released futuristic Pop Music on the
legendary Zick Zack label, weirdo Big Band Jazz with Mitch & Mitch
as well as the more experimental ode to the compact cassette
"Chromdioxidgedächtnis". Over the past 10 years he has composed several
major works for modern classical ensembles: "Echohaus" with ensemble
Intégrales (released on Dekorder) "Falling Still" for Ensemble Resonanz
and a boys' choir, premiered this year at Hamburg's Laiszhalle Symphony
Hall and "Lunatyk" for Milosz Pekala. His radio play "Orphée Mécanique"
was awarded "Radio Play of the Year" in 2012 and "Best Audio Book 2014".
Kubin's first recordings date back to his teenage years in the early
1980's (reissued in 2012 on the Minimal Wave label), followed by his
electroacoustic noise duo Klangkrieg and the dada-communist Liedertafel
Margot Honecker."
- "Of Grog Vim is a cinematic take on the epic life of visionary legend Grog Vim. This is the 15th album from Italian cult band, Larsen, who represent a meeting point between sound art and avante-rock.
After
two albums deeply marked by the smoky voice of singer Little Annie, Of
Grog Vim is the first fully instrumental album to be released by the
band since they started 20 years ago and features special guest
multi-instrumentalist Thor Harris (Swans) on trombone on two pieces."
-- "is a mysterious experimental rock band from Torino, Italy. In and
around 2000, the quartet began wheedling artist, label head, and
producer Michael Gira by sending him a series of bizarrely packaged CDRs on the 1st and 21st of each month. After the packages stopped arriving, Gira received a letter informing him of his mission: Told to arrive in Torino on the first of the following month, Gira
was to spend 21 days producing the band and would return home on the
22nd. Enclosed with the letter was a round-trip flight to Italy and an
advance payment. Interested due to the unique circumstances, as well as
the recordings he had been sent, Gira obliged. For three weeks, Gira produced Larsen
without actually seeing them -- the group played behind a screen and
did not communicate directly with him. Instead, the group's assistants
aided Gira
and provided language translation. The producer would spend hours
hearing the band play, watching their shadows, and occasionally would
hear the members argue violently. When the time was right, Gira
would be told to record. After the recording was completed, roughly ten
hours of material were edited down with the screen again separating the
producer and an engineer from the group, as assistants provided
translation back and forth. Rever wound up being the end result, and Gira released the record on his Young God label in early 2002."
Something random I found in the jazz new releases on Bandcamp. It's not jazz, and based on the fact that I can find absolutely nothing about the musicians or the music on the internet, including their Bandcamp page (which is the only google result I can get for them, which in and of itself is a pretty impressive achievement), I can't even vouch that the music is new.
But it's quite beautiful in a rustic way. A sort of ambient folk something. I dunno. But I'm enjoying it and if I don't mention it here, it will disappear in the murks of the internet never to be seen again...
The fictive French girls released two high-regarded albums of ambience and found sound at the dawn of the 1980s, Silence & Wisdom and Double Happiness. Since then Simon Fisher Turner has become a prolific soundtrack composer (Caravagio, Blue, The Epic of Everest),
as well as finding cult pop success as The King of Luxemburg. Alongside
a string of eclectic solo releases, Colin Lloyd-Tucker's vocal and
production credits include work with Kate Bush, The The and Sweet
Dreamer.
Space & Time sees Deux Filles reunited after 33 (and a
third) years of silence, recorded on a musical Grand Tour which took in
France, England, Scotland, Nicaragua and Japan. Now, as then, fellow
travellers include Matt Johnson (The The), Anni Hogan (Marc Almond),
Paddy Bush, and The Elysian Quartet.
Giulio Aldinucci, offthesky, Aaron Martin, Dag Rosenqvist, Elegi, Wil Bolton, Christopher Bissonnette, Maps and Diagrams, The Green Kingdom, Autistici, and many others. 28 tracks.
Free, no email needed.
The 19 tracks on “Organism”, the duo’s first release on KARLRECORDS, brings together the best of the two musicians: sophisticated electronic music of timeless beauty with experimental twists.
Comments
Tim Hecker - Love Streams
- 4AD
What can I say ? . . . this is Hecker at his very best ! ! !Tim Hecker 'Love Streams' album reverse engineered.
**History Always Favours The Winners**
THE PLAYERS:
THE PROCESS
THE RESULT
Radian - On Dark Silent Off
- And an ATT. to @confused , you'll love this !
Andrzej Załęski:
- MonotypeRec. - Emusic
Maemi
by Wil Bolton
(Ten hard copies left after I bought mine)
- Clang - Emusic - Radio Wonderland at Emusers
ETA:
Kane Ikin - Sensory Memory
Bandcamp
Soundcloud
Seductive brooding jazz with an electronic twist
Fogh Depot is a trio from Moscow, Russia, who makes music that incorporates elements of nu jazz, hip-hop, doom jazz and live-electronic. Baritone sax, double bass, drums, samplers and a whole lot of stomp boxes and effects.
- Under the circumstances new enough to be mentioned here and certainly notable.
Pauline Oliveros And Ione – Water Above Sky Below Now
Sarah Davachi - Vergers
- Important Records
And from earlier this year, on Jaz Records:
Sarah Davachi – Dominions
A new free/NYOP release from Pjusk!
Bandcamp
Out on Sacred Bones september the 2nd.:
by Soundwalk Collective with Jesse Paris Smith feat. Patti Smith
A shimmering ambient tone, an electronic underlay to the lulling chatter of crickets, makes way for the unmistakable voice of Patti Smith, quietly intoning, ominously, “The killer road is waiting for you / like a finger, pointing in the night.”
Behind the music and concept of Killer Road is international trio Soundwalk Collective – Stephan Crasneanscki, Simone Merli, and Kamran Sadeghi (aka. Son of Rose)– who, alongside Patti Smith's daughter, Jesse Paris, conceived an immersive exploration of the tragic death of Christa Päffgen. Better known as Nico, the Velvet Underground chanteuse and solo pioneer, Päffgen died while riding her bike on the island of Ibiza in the summer of 1988. Killer Road is an ambient soundscape and spoken word tribute to Nico – eight interpretations of her lyrics, predominantly taken from classic albums such as Desertshore and Drama of Exile, arranged by fellow poet and kindred spirit Patti Smith. Originally executed as a live performance piece with Jesse Paris Smith and Soundwalk Collective, Killer Road sees the light of day in album format for the first time.
https://soundcloud.com/soundwalk-collective
Totally awesome . . . !
Svarte Greiner - Moss Garden
Pjusk - Syklus
Not just Pjusk - Pjust with Loscil!!! Pjusk with Porya Hatami!!!!
Yaaay!
- Brian EnoBrian Eno - ‘Reflection’
- Sub Rosa
Note from the artist:Kate Carr - Endings
- Free download at: http://www.galaverna.org/?p=3404#.WG_-DX365bo
https://acloserlisten.com/2017/01/06/kate-carr-endings/
"Black light from twisted spiral galaxies laughs and transfers into an inner vortex. Concentrated sound rays are coming inside, focused in clusters, shiver, explode and constantly mutate. Glowing reconstruction lava moves with heavy and raw fire clots burning everything out to dust. Melting, converting, dissolving, transforming."
Not bad, but you'd think they could come up with a better title given all that time.
Larsen - of Grog Vim
- Important Records
http://younggodrecords.com/pages/larsen
But it's quite beautiful in a rustic way. A sort of ambient folk something. I dunno. But I'm enjoying it and if I don't mention it here, it will disappear in the murks of the internet never to be seen again...
The Great Turtle - "Deer"
Music from the Boise, Idaho scene.
On Bandcamp - https://greatturtle.bandcamp.com/album/deer
(Not available in Denmark, for some reason)
More Deux Filles at Emusers
Illuminations (The New Year 2017 free compilation) by Various Artists
Dronarivum
Giulio Aldinucci, offthesky, Aaron Martin, Dag Rosenqvist, Elegi, Wil Bolton, Christopher Bissonnette, Maps and Diagrams, The Green Kingdom, Autistici, and many others. 28 tracks. Free, no email needed.