Dense Promotion News

Some of you may have noticed already that the label Notenuf has vanished. Fortunately, the two albums by A Sunny Day in Glasgow and The Battle Of Land and Sea will be available through the new label MisOjos-Discos.com.

All the best

DUNCAN Ò CEALLAIGH – Ecclesia Semper Reformanda 3″CD Parvoart

FOLKLABOR – The Slider In Advance CD Angelika Köhlermann

GETATCHEW MEKURYA & THE EX – 11 Ethio-Punk Songs DVD Buda Musique

GILLES GOBEIL – Trois songes DVD-A empreintes DIGITAles

JOHN R. CARLSON – In November 3″CD Parvoart

JUSTIN BENNETT – Wildlife CD Spore

KIKO C. ESSEIVA – Sous les étoiles CD Hinterzimmer

LOUIS DUFORT – Matériaux composés DVD-A empreintes DIGITALes

MEAT BEAT MANIFESTO – Autoimmune 2LP/CD Planet Mu

MENACE RUINE – Cult Of Ruins CD Alien8

METALYCEE – s/t 12″ EP Interstellar

PITA – Get Out CD Editions Mego

POPOL VUH – Vainio/Haswell & Hecker Rmxs 12″ Editions Mego

PURE SOUND – Acts Of New Noise CD Euphonium

RLW & TITO – Mahlzeit CD Hinterzimmer

V.A./DAVID MOSS – Blood, Muscle & Air: The Intimate Voice CD Sonic Arts

YOSHIO MACHIDA – Hypernatural #3 CD Baskaru

Z’EV – Outwaard CD Korm Plastics

DUNCAN Ò CEALLAIGH – Ecclesia Semper Reformanda

3″CD Parvoart Recordings parvo 001

duncan ó ceallaigh first came to note through his debut release ‘distant voices, still lives’  in november 2007 on the renowned belgian U-Cover label. whereas that release had a broad palette of styles incorporating elements of ambient, microsound, guitar drone and folkatronica, the ‘esr’ EP concentrates more on the former two directions with a unified theme – the paradox between stasis and movement, whether in space or time, ‘always now’ versus ‘the only constant is change’ as it were.

taking martin luther’s motto for the protestant reformation ‘the church in constant reform’ as its inspiration, the title track appears at first static – in both senses of the word. however as it progresses  there occurs an ever-changing collision between a series of simple melodic tones and pulses of unequal length, all unfolding without ever superficially altering form. ‘perpetuum mobile’, as its title suggests, continues this conceit, based on a drone (tense? relaxing?) interrupted by occasional artefacts and melodies. the intervening two sketches act as ‘palette cleansers’, drawing the listener back into ‘real time’ by exploring how ‘artificial’ (computer generated or manipulated) sounds react in real spaces.

despite its conceptual premise, the ‘esr’ EP is a truly ambient recording – one that can be enjoyed in superficial and deep listening modes alike, thus tending perhaps more to the 12k school of electronic music than say the more purely intellectual approach of raster-noton. nevertheless, no previous knowledge of the genre or concept is required to enjoy the release.

duncan ó ceallaigh, of scots-irish descent but based on the baltic sea coast of germany, played in dublin during the nineties with various indie bands. he has spent the last few years in germany, initially in the west and since 2003 in the east, developing several projects spanning an experimental singer songwriter / post-rock project, theatre music and electronic music, as well as producing local artists. in addition, he works as a graphic designer, and has published a book of his landscape photography, subsequently exhibiting it.

FOLKLABOR – The Slider In Advance
CD Angelika Köhlermann AK029

Streetdate: April 11

http://angelika.koehlermann.at

http://www.folklabor.at

Springtime, warmth, sunrays throug the morning mist in an austrian forest – pictures like that came to my mind while listening to the first takes of this album.

PHILIPP MOLD, a young software programmer and soundfreak (Cirque de Delay) plays all instruments and sings along with classical trained vocalist MARIA AUGUSTIN, who also plays an airy and sometimes improvised flute.

Listening closer, I found many hidden treasures. At a first look, it seemed to be a sunny and friendly, very accoustic-guitar drenched piece of quiet music, but hearing the songs again and again, I realised that there are some very unusual elements and electronic structures in a so called for a “folk” record. Some beats sneak in now and then, some bleeps from ancient synthesizers swirl through space, a vocoder takes over the lead vocals from time to time. The songs also build up in a way a techno track does. it’s not a familiar verse/chorus scheme, choruses are repeated over long parts, little verses appear and fade away again, sounds start changing, growing and pulsating into outer fields of dub, polyrhythms, improv and even r’n’b!

Leaning back, i noticed that I haven’t heard music like that before. This record definitely takes the genre “Folkmusik” to another dimension. Word!

The final shining light comes from the pure analouge sound aesthetics, I could physically feel the warm breath of the music creeping out from my speakers, clouding the room with sweet smelling and mind blowing essences… Addictive, but not dangerous to your health.

Darcy F. Slater (York)

GETATCHEW MEKURYA & THE EX – 11 Ethio-Punk Songs

DVD Buda Musique 860161 Collection Ethiosonic

http://www.budamusique.com

http://www.theex.nl

The meeting of the mythical Dutch punk-rock band THE EX and the legendary Ethiopian saxophonist GETACHEW MEKURYA has given rise to a CD (Terp Records) as well as many performances to enthusiastic audiences in various venues and festivals, among them the closing concert of the Banlieues Bleues Festival.

This film by STEPHANE JOURDAIN goes back and forth between the concentration of studio rehearsals and the energy of the stage performance. Most compositions come from the Ethiopian repertoire. While The Ex do not speak Amharic and Getatchew understands only a few words of English, communication flows between them, in the sensitive way they find musical solutions, the energy they put in and the instant pleasure of playing together.

ETHIOSONIC : Today’s Ethiopian groove, wherever it comes from and whatever shape it takes…

GILLES GOBEIL – Trois songes
DVD-A empreintes DIGITAles IMED 0892
http://www.empreintesdigitales.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilles_Gobeil

The pieces included on this disc are related in at least three ways.

First, they were all realized at the same location: the Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie (ZKM) in Karlsruhe (Germany), where I had the opportunity to complete four residencies  (for a total of almost 11 months) between January 2005 and August 2007.

Second, they all share the same musical intention. These three pieces could be classified as ‘program music,’ since they are all based on a literary argument. Ombres, espaces, silencesŠ came from Jacques Lacarrière’s 1975 book Men Possessed by God, which I read with fascination almost 30 years ago. This book tells, with detachment and ethnographic flair, of the quest for the absolute of the first monks of the Christian era. Entre les deux rives du printemps is an attempt at setting to music my impressions while reading Part Three of Dante’s great poem The Divine Comedy. As for Le miroir triste, it is kind of a ‘cinema for the ear,’ based on an unshot scenario by Andrey Tarkovsky entitled Hoffmanniana (1975), from which I have tried to evoke a few scenes.

Their third connection is found in their sound materials. I found inspiration in (and taken liberties with) the marvelous heritage of past music, an extraordinary source of colours that allowed me to borrow from the strong and still fresh poetry of various pieces, some of them ancient. Also, all three works contain materials generated by René Lussier on his stunning and rather frightening daxophone.

I would like to express my gratitude to the manager of the Institut für Musik & Akustik of the ZKM, Ludger Brümmer, and the whole technical and administrative crew, for their quality services and unfailing support during my stays at the ZKM. This album is also partly theirs. Thanks also go to René Lussier, François Gauthier, Mario Rodrigue, and Dominique Bassal.

Gilles Gobeil, Montréal [English translation: François Couture, x-07]

JOHN R. CARLSON – In November

3″CD Parvoart Recordings parvo 002

http://www.parvoart.org

‘in november’ is the belated debut solo release from us-born, wismar germany-based composer john r. carslon. the trained ballet dancer turned to music (and moved to east germany) in the early nineties and never looked back. his hitherto scant discography belies a wealth of composition for theatre, tv and radio – to date over 70 productions, as well as countless concerts throughout central europe, russia and beyond. however for ‘in november’ (no guesses as to when this was recorded!) john returns to his first love, solo piano improvisation.

recorded live with no editing, across five tracks of varying lengths, ‘in november’ shows a truly original talent at work in a music area that likes often to fall back too easily on certain names – keith jarrettt, george winston, harold budd, maybe more recently max richter or goldmund – as points of reference. the melodic lines could be described as instant compositions. unfolding trains of thought detach themselves from the tradition theme and variation forms of improvised Jazz. rigorously recorded without breaks or second tries, each track has its own mood and musical intention. moving from almost classical clarity to minimal density, the tracks document journeys into the sub-consciousness of the player and his search for truth and authenticity in the moment of creation. sometimes a child-like simplicity emerges, infusing the music with an uncanny approachability oft lacking in music of this genre.

john placed great importance on the genuine sound of the recordings and shunned modern techniques of sound manipulation and mastering. the improvisations were played on john´s own bechstein C grand piano, built 1903. the quirks and sonic artefacts are vital ingredients to the improvised experience.

john always hesitated in making recordings of his work, believing that the essence of improvised music was greater than the mere sonic signals left on tape or CD. but, through this process of naked honesty and almost scientific ‘objectivity’, he found a way to capture something of this illusive essence without sacrificing any artistic integrity.

JUSTIN BENNETT – Wildlife

CD Spore 007

http://this.is/justin

http://spore.soundscaper.com

Limited Edition: 300 copies
16 audio tracks, total time 40 minutes.
In a transparent plastic sleeve with a fold-out A2 black-and-white poster, 8 small photographs on one side, one large photograph on the other.

Wildlife began as the score for Natürtro, a dance piece by Eva-Cecilie Richardsen commissioned by Carte Blanche, Norway. Bennett recorded the sounds in zoos, botanic gardens and other places ‘on the edge between nature and culture’. The accompanying photographs were made at some of the recording locations.

After Natürtro, Bennett re-worked the materials during a series of live performances and in the studio. Some of the sounds are left just as they were recorded: We hear a duet between a fly and a drilling machine, children pretending to be monkeys, or a bird singing along with a bad trumpet player. Some recordings though, are woven into pieces which dissolve the border between “natural” and electronic sounds and structures. Above all, the pieces are hybrid, artificial spaces for the listener to inhabit.

JUSTIN BENNETT, born 1964 in the UK, is an artist working with sound and visual media. He lives and works in The Netherlands. The everyday sound of our urban surroundings at every level of detail is the focus of his work where he develops the reciprocity of music and architecture, and sound and image. A founding member of the performance group BMB con, he has played percussion and electronics in many music projects and has produced permanent installations, sound walks, CD-releases and live performances. His recent work includes “The Well” a new CD and installation produced for the 10th Istanbul Biennial, (2007), “Oracle” a work in public space for Luxembourg 2007. “Noise Map“, a solo exhibition at the GEM museum of contemporary art, Den Haag (2005), “Shelters“, a public art commission for Sonic Arts Network, Scarborough, UK (2005).

KIKO C. ESSEIVA – Sous Les Etoiles

CD Hinterzimmer Records HINT04

http://www.hinterzimmer-records.com

Kiko C. Esseiva is a young composer with Swiss and Spanish roots who lives in Lausanne, Switzerland. He creates electroacoustic sound pieces that are, not unlike those of the French master of the genre Luc Ferrari, warm, non-academic and colourful, spreading a humanity and richness that is far away from the sterility of a lot of today’s electronic compositions. He creates very diversified atmospheres which combine acoustic instruments, noise, human voices, field recordings and static sheets of sound with a stunning freshness and musicality that also brings to mind the very narrative nature of some older Nurse With Wound works.

According to the title of his first album ’Musiques pour haut-parleurs‘ (Music For Loudspeakers) his live shows are adventurous installations of speakers in different sizes and qualities, that are all separately controlled by Esseiva at the mixing desk, making his compositions even more transparent, vital and expanded.

Hinterzimmer Records releases – four years after his debut longplayer on Canadian imprint Manufracture – his second album ’Sous Les Etoiles‘, which goes a step further than ’Musiques pour haut-parleurs‘: the tracks are audibly held together by leitmotifs, making it one big opus instead of being just a collection of tracks.

The CD is packed in a great looking brown 4-panel chipboard sleeve

LOUIS DUFORT – Matériaux composés

DVD-A empreintes DIGITALes IMED 0893

http://www.electrocd.com

http://www.myspace.com/louisdufort

1. Grain de sable (2004-05)
Commission: Réseaux des arts médiatiques
Premiere: January 22, 2005, Akousma (1), Réseaux, Studio Hydro-Québec – Monument-National (Montréal, Québec)
“The sudden catastrophe caused by the tsunami in Phuket (Thailand), in December 2004, happened while this work was under way and, as such, influenced the work. Every day at lunch I always watched the news and, for several days, the news mostly showed footage from Phuket. These images inspired sonic allegories in me and, little by little, a theme arose: drowning. Since I didn’t want to slide into pathos with this theme, which can be perceived  at first as morbid, I chose to approach it more dreamily, to evoke the state of ultimate being that comes right before you lose consciousness, according to drowning survivors.”

Hence, this piece is at first putting emphasis on the development of a raw morphology in which there is a clear articulation around thematic variations on construction/deconstruction. New sound materials are introduced later, based on attack/resonance and density/thinness articulations. Then comes the voice, the sole clue to the tragedy, simultaneously evocative, dreamy, and bearer of the Siren archetype, the Princess of Deep Waters.

[English translation: François Couture, viii-07] Grain de sable (A Grain of Sand) was realized in 2004-2005 at the composer’s studio in Montréal. The first version, then titled Ephem, was performed on February 12, 2004 during the Rien à voir (15) Festival presented by Réseaux at Espace GO in Montréal. A second version bearing the final title was performed on December 2, 2004 at Maison de la culture Côte-des-Neiges in Montréal, as part of a concert presented by Codes d’Accès. The final version was premiered on January 22, 2005 at the Monument-national’s Hydro-Québec Studio in Montréal, as part of the Akousma series presented by Réseaux.

2. Matério_* (2006)
Commission: Francisco López, Quartier Éphémère
Premiere: February 24, 2007, «Spatio Lumino», Montréal / Nouvelles musiques, Société des arts technologique (SAT) (Montréal, Québec)
This is the first installment in a cycle of three pieces: Matério_*, Matério_** et Matério_***. This cycle experiments with “sound” matter (as part of the collective Montreal Sound Matter: Aimé Dontigny, Louis Dufort, Chantal Dumas, Steve Heimbecker, Mathieu Lévesque,  Francisco López, Tomas Phillips, Hélène Prévost), approaching sound matter from its organicity. Musically, these pieces experiment with tone, of course, but also with harmony, rhythm, and movement. The harmonic aspect reaches its peak in the third installment, after being foretold at the end of the second one, where acoustic instrumental bodies go through the same manipulations as the sound matter, thus ensuring both dichotomy and symbiosis (even more striking in version 5.1).
In a concert setting, these pieces can be presented separately.
[English translation: François Couture,  viii-07] Matério_* was realized in 2006 in the composer’s studio in Montréal and premiered on February 24, 2007 as part of “Spatio Lumino,” the opening concert of the Montréal/Nouvelles musiques Festival at SAT in Montréal.

3. Enfant d’obus (2007)
Enfant d’obus (Bomb Child) was realized in 2007 at the composer’s studio in Montréal. The piece is taken from a section for voice and tape from the opera L’archange (2005).

4. Matério_** (2006)
Commission: Francisco López, Quartier Éphémère

Premiere: July 27, 2006, «Montréal Sound Matter», Fonderie Darling (Montréal, Québec)
Matério_** was realized in 2006 at the composer’s studio in Montréal. It was premiered on July 27, 2006 as part of a concert presented for the sound installation exhibit Montréal Sound Matter, at Fonderie Darling in Montréal.

5. Gen_3 (2007)
Premiere: December 1, 2007, «Binary Cities Event: Montréal, Canada – Avignon, France», Recombinant Media Labs (San Francisco, California, USA)

To Francis Dhomont
“I have always liked Francis Dhomont’s sound palette; his sounds talk to me. So I was bound to steal one from him at some point. I have opted for a very “Dhomonesque” sound from his Novars. Interestingly, Novars contains one sample from Pierre Schaeffer and another from Guillaume de Machaut. I am also using these samples, to carry the ‘cycle’ for a third generation. Not a homage work per se, Gen_3 is still inhabited by these composers. The piece presents the intimate view I share with this medium or even this music, all the while paying tribute to Francis, Pierre, Guillaume, and its ultimate creator Orphée.”

[English translation: François Couture, viii-07] Gen_3 was realized in 2007 at the composer’s studio in Montréal. It was premiered on December 1st, 2007, as part of the concert “Binary Cities Event: Montréal, Canada –  Avignon, France” presented by Nexmap at Recombinant Media Labs in San Francisco (USA).

6. Matério_*** (2007)
Commission: Francisco López
Matério_*** was realized in 2007 at the composer’s studio in Montréal. It was premiered on May 19, 2007, as part of the concert “Victoriaville matière sonore,” during the Festival international de musique actuelle de Victoriaville (FIMAV) in Victoriaville (Quebec).

7. Hi_Res (2005)
Commission: ZKM
Premiere: May 14, 2005, Elektra, Usine C (Montréal, Québec)
Hi_Res investigates a technology fetish, the kind often featured in B-series science-fiction movies. At the basis of Hi_Res is a text – a short excerpt from the user manual for the Motor Mix MIDI controller – read by Canadian composer Darren Copeland. In a sense, this assumed awkwardness highlights the absurd importance technology has taken in art. So I admit it: there is a kitsch side to this piece, and it is peppered with irony.

[English translation: François Couture, viii-07]

Hi_Res was realized at the studios of the Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie (ZKM) in  Karlsruhe (Germany). A first version was premiered on February 11, 2005 during the trans_canada Festival at the ZKM’s Medientheater. The final version was premiered on May 14, 2005, under the provisional title Hi_Res.1, during the Elektra Festival at Usine C in Montréal. The piece was commissioned by the ZKM.

MEAT BEAT MANIFESTO – Autoimmune

2LP/CD Planet Mu Records ZIQ202

http://www.planet-mu.com

New full length from seminal electronic band MEAT BEAT MANIFESTO (aka MBM). Autoimmune is released on Planet Mu in the UK on April 7th and in the US on April 8th. Led by sound sculptor and producer extraordinaire JACK DANGERS, MBM is continually evolving. It’s tenth album pushes musical boundaries further than it has before, creating a masterpiece of dubstep and electronica. “I feel closest to the Dubstep trend,” says Jack. “I feel like Dub has always been part of my sound”.

Guest vocalist Daddy Sandy features on “I Hold the Mic!”, and the techno-tinged “Spanish Vocoder” touches on his his early techno roots. “Every record is different,” Jack explains, “and in this record I focused on what I like to do versus what other people like me to do: beats, bass and distortion.”

Meat Beat Manifesto’s constantly evolving musical invention has generated a long string of influential futuristic classics, including such tracks as “God O.D.”,”Psyche Out”, “Helter Skelter”, “Radio Babylon”, “Edge of No Control” and “It’s The Music”. The single, “Prime Audio Soup”(from the album Actual Sounds and Voices) was featured in the sci-fi fantasy blockbuster The Matrix and on its platinum-selling soundtrack.

MENACE RUINE – Cult Of Ruins

CD Alien8Recordings ALIEN75

http://www.alien8recordings.com

http://www.myspace.com/menaceruine

Hailing from the frozen north of the province of Québec comes the duo cloaked in mystery, simply known as Menace Ruine. Since the release of their blazing self-produced demo, In Vulva Infernum, they have allowed themselves to perform live and over the course of the last year have quickly risen to the top of the food chain in Montreal.

At Alien8 Recordings we have flirted with the outer circles of metal through our three releases from Nadja and now, with Montreal’s Menace Ruine, we dive further into its darkened depths.

On Cult of Ruins one is subjected to a blend of super-intense sound layered with horrific howls and relentless blast beats, only to then be confronted with a melodic and haunting ambient approach that still retains immense power. In this respect Menace Ruine bare some resemblance to the mysterious French post-black metal horde Deathspell Omega who have become famous for juxtaposing ambient music with absolutely crushing metal.

Standout cuts on Cult of Ruins include Dove Instinct, which opens up with a beautifully haunting intro constructed with the use of controlled feedback that would not appear out of place on a recording from fellow Canadians Nadja. Eventually the noise subsides and gives way to a wave of ambient brutality that is both ear rattling and pretty at the same time. The album’s second song, Sky as a Reversed Abyss, opens on the ambient tip and moves at a much slower pace than much of the recording, serving mainly to build on the band’s mystical feel before dissolving into the breakneck pace of Kill the Egregore.  Bonded By Wyrd is an absolute standout track that is spearheaded by an incredibly catchy riff, backed with droning melodic vocals. An occult vibe runs through most of the album but it is particularly felt on this cut. This song is the band’s current live hit and for good reason, as it seems to empower the listener.

Coinciding with our own release, Menace Ruine will also be reissuing their debut, In Vulva Infernum, as a cassette.

Cult of Ruins is guided by the mastering hand of the esteemed James Plotkin (member of Khlyst, former member of Khanate and OLD) and handsomely packaged in a digipak.

METALYCEE – s/t

12″ EP Interstellar Records INT 016

http://www.interstellarrecords.at

http://www.myspace.com/metalycee

This 12″ EP is the debut release of METALYCEE since they stocked up and now count 5 heads in total. To deliver an unusual approach to metal by means of electronics meets hell-of-a rythm section plus spoken-word like vocals that may positively give you the heebie-jeebies is more than you might dare to ask for – METALYCEE got’em all.

“phenomenal … eerie … intimidating … a solid chunk of industrial, sound art and metal, both fascinating and dumbfounding, even after repeated listening … an embodiment one would not have the guts to pass by … long player to follow … please don’t wait too long” (SKUG)

Line-up:

Bernhard Breuer (dr)

Nik Hummer (trautonium, synth)

Melita Jurisic (voc)

Matija Schellander (bass)

Armin Steiner (synth)

“Vier Jahre ist es nun her, dass die Wiener Metalycee ein Album veröffentlicht haben. “Another White Album” bot schon damals einen wilden Stilmix, an dem vor allem Anhänger von härteren Klängen ihren gefallen gefunden haben dürften. Daran hat sich nicht sehr viel verändert. Immer noch dominieren harte Gitarrensamples und eine menge Drive. Man mag sogar soweit gehen die Musik als eine Art elektronischen Heavy Metal zu bezeichnen. Deutlich sind die Anleihen von den frühen Godflesh und Melvins zu vernehmen. Gekrönt wird der überwiegend positive Gesamteindruck vom wirklich experimentellen und sehr schräg klingenden Gesang von Melita Jurisic. Auch die übrigen MusikerInnen sind in der heimischen Szene keine Unbekannten mehr. So sorgen Nik Hummer und Armin Steiner von Thilges3 für die elektronischen Versatzstücke, Bernhard Breuer von Tumido rührt das Schlagzeug und der eigentlich aus der Impro-Szene stammende Matija Schellander ist für den Bass zuständig. Wer also hören will wie moderner Metal klingen könnte sollte sich diese Möglichkeit nicht entgehen lassen. Szely dagegen lassen es deutlich ruhiger angehen. Schon alleine die Besetzung der Combo lässt einiges erwarten. Die altbekannten Größen Martin Siewert, Nik Hummer, Bernhard Loibner, Ulrich Troyer und die Sängerin Melita Juristic kommen in diesem Projekt zusammen und erschaffen ihr ganz eigenes Klanguniversum, in welchem jede/r einzelne/r seinen Platz findet. So vermischen sich in dem Stücken interessant klingende Percussions, Slide-Guitar Klänge mit minimalistischer Elektronik zu einem leise und sanften Ganzen.”

[MICA.AT mt]

PITA – Get Out

CD Editions Mego eMEGO 029

Streetdate: May 12

http://www.editionsmego.com

http://www.peterrehberg.com

Made by Pita 1998/99 using an Apple Powerbook 1400cs/133
Initial file management at Random Studio, Wien, July 1999
Remastered at Piethopraxis, Köln, July 2007
Artwork by Tina Frank
Re-issue consultantancy by Russell Haswell
Liner notes by David Keenan

‘Get Out’ was the second full length album release by Pita (aka Peter Rehberg). The folllow up to the award winning ‘Seven Tons For Free’. Its harsh use of available computing devices made it popular both in and outside electronic music circles of the time, especially the 11 minute anthem like 3rd track.
David Keenan in his liner notes states that ‘Get Out’ “…stands as the first major musical laptop statement in the same way that Jimi Hendrix’s Are You Experienced album spoke for the most extended instrument-specific modes of the electric guitar three decades earlier.”

Out of print for over half a decade, this new edition is remastered and packaged in a 6 panel digipack. Extra content for this edition comes in the form of the 3 tracks which appeared on the the split 12″ with Kevin Drumm released by BOXmedia in 2000.

“Sit Still. Stop Thinking. Shut Up. Get Out.” – Aleister Crowley, Eight Lectures On Yoga.

Get Out, recorded by Peter Rehberg aka Pita and originally released by Mego in 1999, stands as the first major musical laptop statement in the same way that Jimi Hendrix’s Are You Experienced album spoke for the most extended instrument-specific modes of the electric guitar three decades earlier. Right from the title, Get Out simultaneously flags-up the intensely erotic and overloaded nature of the music while hinting at the potential expansion of sensual Experience offered up by newly synthesized realities. And in much the same way that Hendrix mainlined and connected tributaries from all sorts of seemingly irreconcilable deltas, Get Out hotwires a host of mutually exclusive modern modes. There are the dancefloor euphorics of European techno and Detroit house, the miasmic Industrial drones of Maurizio Bianchi and the Italian power electronics crew, the immolating noise of Keiji Haino and Masami Akita, the monolithic electro-acoustic constructs of Iannis Xenakis… and then there’s the Mego aesthetic itself, a combination of anti-intellectual beer boy-isms, rigorous avant garde conceptualism, an almost masochistic love of volume, an affinity for late-night DJ culture and a hard-man art stance that seemed to have been directly inherited from the whole Peter Brötzmann/Free Musik Produktion circle. As such, Get Out remains the quintessential Mego artefact. There are no track titles on the album, indeed there are barely any identifiable tracks at all, with all of the music seeming to build towards the same phantom notion of ‘there’ in peaks of tone that are so supernaturally overdriven that it feels as if the melodic aspect of the music is set to crack under the gravity of the noise. There isn’t a single sound that isn’t immediately exploded or disarticulated in some way and in the noise of their destruction, in the overcoming of handed-down technology and creative paradigms through sheer bloody mindedness and human brain cells, there is so much joy and sex and insurrection. Unlike so many dull laptop artists then and now and forever, Pita uses technology in an amalgamating and extending way, as a means of expanding the reach of cells and therefore of cellular experience of itself. As such, Get Out is the sound of technology usurped by desire, of lucid pandrogynous codes, combining arcs of almost classical melody and lush orchestration with vicious flashes of steel and blunt thunder. Yet it still feels like a solitary effort. In the wake of Get Out there hasn’t been a laptop record that has fully taken up the challenge of advancing the basic vocabulary set down here. But then where is the follow-up to Are You Experienced? Perhaps rather than initiating some kind of new wave of sound, recordings like Are You Experienced and Get Out are singular creations that work as lightning rods for their times, devouring all of the energy in the air and translating it into articulate future-primitive forms that exist more as paradigms than potentially-replicable styles. And as such they don’t invite dialogue. They say things like shut up and watch the sunrise from the bottom of the sea and get out. And you know that it’s the only direction left.

David Keenan, Glasgow, February 2008

POPOL VUH – Mika Vainio / Haswell & Hecker Remixes
12″ vinyl Editions Mego eMEGO 090

Streetdate: March 31

http://www.editionsmego.com

2 tracks:
Nachts: Schnee | MIKA VAINIO Remix
Aguirre I | HASWELL & HECKER Remix

Cut by Rashad Becker @ Dubplates & Mastering, Berlin December 2007.

Popol Vuh’s soundtrack work for the films of Werner Herzog in 1970’s and 1980’s are some of the most stunning in the field.

Editions Mego is pleased to present 2 re-workings of classic Vuh tracks.

MIKA VAINIO Vainio takes ‘Nachts: Schnee’ from the 1987 soundtrack ‘Cobra Verde’, and delivers a skillfully constructed ambient piece of beauty, which shifts and turns over 10 minutes.

HASWELL & HECKER turn the majestic ‘Aguirre I’ from the 1972 soundtrack ‘Aguirre – The Wrath Of God’ into possibly the first track to be played at the last rave on Earth. Unlike recent H&H releases on Warner Classics and Warp this does NOT utilize the UPIC system but vintage digital delays and freeze effect units, in conjunction with digital compositional tools.

This release is pressed on red vinyl and packaged in a plastic sleeve with a golden sticker.

RLW & TITO – Mahlzeit

CD Hinterzimmer Records HINT03

http://www.hinterzimmer-records.com

http://www.paristransatlantic.com/magazine/interviews/wehowsky.html

Hinterzimmer Records’ RETO MÄDER and German sound artist RALF WEHOWSKY (RLW) have been in contact for many years, resulting in the collaborative CD ’Pirouetten‘ (2006) on north American label Crouton. Wehowsky, creator of highly influential Industrial Improv-group P16.D4 and labelmanager of Selektion, released solo and collaborative albums on various international labels (Table Of The Elements, Beta-Lactam Ring, Streamline, Trente Oiseaux, Anomalous…) since the early nineties.

For his new ambitious project ’Mahlzeit‘ (German for ’meal’) he worked together with Transindustrial Toy Orchestra (TITO), a loose collective of people from Hamburg and Amsterdam, working in music and other art forms. Current members PETER KASTNER, INE OPHOF and JAN VAN WISSEN created their part of the conceptual work with a vast collection of toys and kitchen tools, using electronic devices to transform them into bizarre acoustic situations while Wehowsky contributes another strange mix of electronics, instruments, voice and body functions. All in all ’Mahlzeit‘ is a collaborative release, but in a special way as some tracks were created by Ralf Wehowsky using sounds by TITO and vice versa, but some were just done by one part of the project, assimilalting suggestions from the other part. It mixes electroacoustic composition, early electronic music and bizarre Kraut-era avantgarde. The heterogeneous but totally coherent and self-contained ’Mahlzeit‘ is not just a great experience and expansion of the musical activity of all involved artists, but also an album of fine music that is not easy to label.

The CD is packed in a great looking brown 4-panel chipboard sleeve.

V.A. / DAVID MOSS- Blood, Muscle & Air: The Intimate Voice
CD+book Sonic Arts Network
http://www.sonicartsnetwork.org

Home

Curator: DAVID MOSS
Limited Edition: 1000

Sonic Arts Network is proud to present the eleventh instalment of its critically acclaimed CD series, Blood, Muscle & Air curated by David Moss.

Blood, Muscle & Air: The Intimate Voice brings together 14 vocalists from around the globe to explore the power and intimacy of the human voice. Each artist brings to the publication a unique, personal and eccentric voice, rooted and connected to the listener and each other by the blood, muscle and air we all possess. Curated by David Moss-widely considered one of the most innovative singers and percussionists in contemporary music.

The CD collects work from the world’s leading singers and vocal artists including JAAP BLONK, MAJA RATKJE, MAGDALENA BERNARDES, MARTYN JAQUES (of The Tigerlillies), PHIL MINTON, YUMIKO TANAKA, FATIMA MIRANDA, MEDERIC COLLIGNON, MELISSA MADDEN GRAY, TRAN QUANG HAI, GUNNLAUG THORVALDSDOTTIR, KOICHI MAKIGAMI and CHRIS MANN.

David Moss notes, “When singing and speaking, the blood, muscles and air inside the body (modulated by your mind) generate sound-waves (vibrations in the air around you) that come out of the mouth, propagate INVISIBLY through the air and then invisibly TOUCH someone else… We can touch other people, emotionally, intellectually and PHYSICALLY with our voices. “From blood to muscle to air to mouth to air to ear to brain to blood to muscle to air to ear again, in a symphony of feedback and synchronisation that can deliver us to ecstasy, meditation, aggression or exultation.”

Moss contacted all the singers in this project, asking all the artists to imagine themselves singing directly into the ear of the listener. Almost all of them created totally new pieces especially for the publication.

David Moss is considered one of the most innovative singers and percussionists in contemporary music. He has performed his solo and theatre work all over the world, and organises festivals and performance projects internationally. In 1991 he received a Guggenheim Fellowship and in 1992 a DAAD Fellowship (Berlin). Moss is the co-founder / artistic director of the Institute for Living Voice. He recently premiered “David Lunaire” (“Pierrot Lunaire” revisited) with the Alter Ego ensemble.

Moss has sung with the Berlin Philharmonic under Sir Simon Rattle, made his Carnegie Hall debut with the American Composers Orchestra and sings regularly with the Ensemble Modern. He was a featured soloist at the Salzburg Festival in Luciano Berio’s “Cronaca del Luogo” in 1999 and in “Die Fledermaus” in 2001. Moss sings in Heiner Goebbels’ orchestra work “Surrogate Cities”.

Blood, Muscle & Air is part of the critically acclaimed Sonic Arts Network guest-curated CD series; a collection of themes and ideas that explore the edges of music and sound. All the CDs are available online at: www.sonicartsnetwork.org

YOSHIO MACHIDA – Hypernatural #3

CD Baskaru karu:10

http://www.baskaru.com
http://www.myspace.com/yoshiomachida

Finally, the conclusion of the Hypernatural electroacoustic trilogy

Six years after the release of Hypernatural #2, Yoshio Machida is rounding up his magnificent trilogy of electroacoustic collages with Hypernatural #3. A unique and highly personal work, the Hypernatural series has made of Machida a world-class sound artist. Assemblages of field recordings and treated instrumental sounds, the music on Hypernatural #3 evokes simultaneously the universal and the intimate, Mankind and Nature.

Yoshio Machida has been working on this series since 1997. The first volume was self-released in 1999 and had for theme memory in Eastern Asia ; Volume 2, released by Softl Music in 2001, focused on transparency, unconsciousness and invisible existence. Hypernatural #3, the last instalment in this triptych, is about oblivion. Machida explains: “Oblivion is characteristic of the correlation between matter and time. Oblivion has a positive aspect: it appears as a natural phenomenon in the passage of time and becomes a factor in creating new worlds. Nature consists of a myriad of different memory-oblivion cycles.”

Born in 1967, Japanese artist Yoshio Machida studied minimalist art. While working for international cooperation, he had the opportunity to travel and make field recordings. Since then, he has been using these field recordings, combining them to the treated sounds of real instruments, including gongs and steel drums (the latter instrument playing a non-negligeable role on Hypernatural #3). Machida has performed at music festivals, including ISEA2004 and Maerz Musik. David Toop has introduced his music in his book Haunted Weather, and a track from Hypernatural #2 was featured in a commercial on French television. He also runs his own Amorfon label.

Hypernatural #3 is being released by the French label Baskaru. Baskaru’s previous releases (by Lawrence English, Maurizio Bianchi, GoGooo, ENT, (etre), and Urkuma) have established uncanny artistic and visual standards, by which this new opus fully abides.

Z’EV – Outwaard

CD Korm Plastics KP 3031

http://www.kormplastics.nl

Limited edition of 300 copies

For close to forty years z’ev has been at the absolute fore front of new musics. Playing his unique brand of percussive music he gained a lot of attention, but in more recent years he returned to working with electro-acoustic manipulations.

Since 2003 he has also begun a wide ranging series of collaborations, working with Francisco Lopez, Stephen O’Malley, David Jackman/Organum and Oren Ambarchi among others. One such ongoing collaboration is with Frans de Waard, with whom he released ‘Forwaard’ in April  2007 and ‘Outwaard’ is the next installment. Whereas the sound sources used on ‘Forwaard’ where of a varying nature, on ‘Outwaard’ they were all made at a petting zoo in Kleve, Germany. These recordings which are ‘recoded’ by z’ev into a forty minute, densely layered pattern of musique concrete. Many of the animal call like sounds disappear in the ‘recoded’ version and makes a particular strong work, but occasionally one returns and leaves a no less  than haunting listening experience.

The cover contains field photography Frans de Waard and was designed by Meeuw Muzak. It comes in the 15×15 cm cover that Korm Plastics has used before.

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Thanks for reading & best wishes

Dense Promotion
http://www.dense.de
http://www.myspace.com/densepr