January News. Click For Infos.
Bonjour et Hallo de Berlin.
Hasta luego & all the best,
ALEXANDR VATAGIN – Shards CD Valeot
ALVA NOTO – Xerrox Vol.2 CD raster-noton
aus – After All CD flau
DJ OLIVE – Triage CD room40
ETHAN ROSE – Oaks CD Baskaru
FRANCISCO LOPEZ & LAWRENCE ENGLISH – HB CD Baskaru
GILLES AUBRY – Berlin Backyards CD Crónica
GIUSEPPE IELASI – Aix CD 12k
JANA WINDEREN – Heated: Live In Japan CD Touch
KINIT HER – Glyms or Beame Of Radicall Truthes CD Hinterzimmer
LUCIO CAPECE & MIKA VAINIO – Trahnie CD Editions Mego
M. TEMPLETON & aA MUNSON – Acre Loss CD+DVD Anticipate
MAXIMILIAN FREUDENSCHUSS – Terror 7″ Angelika Köhlermann
MICHAEL PETERS – Impossible Music CD Hyperfunction
MIKHAIL – Morphica 3xCD-set Sub Rosa
PURE – Ification CD Crónica
SLOWCREAM – Wax On Wool Digital Nonine
STROTTER INST. – Minenhund CD Hinterzimmer/Public Guilt
SYMBIOSIS ORCHESTRA – Live Journeys CD Baskaru
SYNTHEME – Lasers’N’Shit 2LP/CD Planet Mu
ALEXANDR VATAGIN – Shards
CD Valeot 003
http://www.valeot.com
http://www.myspace.com/vatagin
shards is the second solo album by alexandr vatagin, following his debut valeot, which had been released on the swedish netlabel mirakelmusik in 2006.
after creating a mixture of ambient soundscapes and experimental instrumental tracks mostly using analogue instruments on his first album, on this second album shards, the basis of the tracks shifted towards digitally created soundscapes interwoven with field-recordings and (still) instruments such as cello, bass and vibraphone.
there are many musical elements which get mixed into uniquely sounding ambient, yet eventful and demanding music on this album. it’s the naturalness and unusual easiness with which those elements get combined to beautiful and pleasant yet experimental pieces which make this record a special one.
alexandr vatagin is a member of many bands related to valeot records: he plays bass in slon, cello with werner kitzmueller, both instruments in tupolev and electronics in port-royal.
ALVA NOTO – Xerrox Vol.2
CD raster-noton R-N 103
http://www.raster-noton.net
http://www.alvanoto.com
“xerrox vol. 2 undertakes an intense journey and affords the luxury to take its time.” while xerrox vol. 1 (r-n 78) referred to the ‘old world’ with its tradition deeply rooted in classical music, xerrox vol. 2 tries to access a ‘new world’. it works with samples that have been gathered and developed in the usa – the so-called ‘new world’ – where the album also has almost completely been recorded. the dramatic and dynamic approach of xerrox vol. 1 on vol. 2 has been replaced by a structural density. instead of working with individual musical entities the new album rather develops an overall, linear aesthetic that refers to musical strategies of film music. hence there are no implicitly singular pieces, but open musical structures – a journey without a predetermined target. the first four tracks of xerrox vol. 2 actually condense to one track, using samples of michael nyman and stephen o’malley. they kind of combine to a soundtrack as for a movie before fading away in a swell of reverb feedback. xerrox sora is a rudiment from the collaboration with ryuichi sakamoto, which originates from and has been performed as encore during the 2004 insen tour. continuing from xerrox monophaser 2, the album creates a dense and interweaved complexity, which only gradually unfolds its depth. while xerrox teion dissolves in the process of copying into another sample rate (xerrowed), xerrox teion acat again tends to re-condense its quality. xerrox vol. 2 seems to be more playful than vol. 1; following the approach of a live set it is not so much obligated to a theoretical concept. therefore it intends to break a static framework before it gets too restricted. the eleven tracks of xerrox vol. 2 serve as documents of an immediately experienced time or as attempts to unfold in an endless space. in this sense xerrox vol. 2 comes close to the idea of the aleph-1 project that tried to disappear rather than occupy an endless space. in the end one might ask where the journey will go. will the next albums in the series – xerrox vol. 3-5 – again commit to the idea of atomisation of sound or condense in monolithic structures? this only time can tell.
aus – After All
CD flau FLAU09
http://www.flau.jp
http://www.myspace.com/ausmusik
The Japanese electronic fame aus returns with a stunningly beautiful album featuring many guest artists; Sylvain Chauveau, Craig Tattersall(aka The remote viewer), Lindsay Anderson (l’altra), Glim, Cokiyu, mondii and more.
After the huge success of his previous albums “Lang” and “Curveland”, YASUHIKO FUKUZONO (aka aus) quickly became one of the top electronic artists in Japan. And “After All” is his 6th album from his own label flau, following the highly acclaimed “Curveland” which was released on Moteer in 2007. All the tracks are brand new based on the songs he made when he was a teenager.
The deep opening track produced by mondii (Spekk/Plop) with vocals by Sylvan Chauveau “Water Paintings” serves as a thick door to the following pleasant adventures of aus tracks featuring great guest artists from around the world such as Craig Tattersall (aka The Remote Viewer / The Boats), Lindsay Anderson (L’altra), Andreas Berger (glim), Cokiyu, Geskia and Yukiko Okamoto. What’s so special about this release among his others is that compared to his more electronic and instrumental based previous albums, most of the tracks in “After All” features vocals and the lyrics were also written by this artist which reveals his song writing skills. The album also includes 3 brilliant remixes by The World on Higher Downs (plop/merck), Motoro Faam (u-cover/preco) and Ametsub (progressive form).
aus biography
aus is a solo project by Yasuhiko Fukuzono residing in Tokyo, Japan. He started to make music for experimental films when he was still a teenager. He has released 5 albums so far and his “Lang” album (2005) became a huge hit throughout Japan. And the “Lang” remix album gathered many popular musicians like Ulrich Schnauss, Manual, Joshua Eustis (Telefon Tel Aviv), Kettel, Dosh, Bracken, Isan etc. Recently, he has done remixes for Tujiko Noriko, The Declining Winter (aka Hood) and Gutevolk also producing for foreign artists. He has gained attention worldwide through his skillful and delicate sound production, combining electronics with sounds from daily life so exquisitely. The music video of the track “With Rain” made by Takafumi Tsuchiya was nominated in the music video category at the world famous visual festival Aurora 2007 among BECK, Zero7and Subtle.
DJ OLIVE – Triage
CD ROOM40 RM429
http://www.room40.org
http://www.myspace.com/theaudiojanitor
Over the past two decades, DJ Olive has been a central figure in New York’s diverse sonic underground. As a member of WE(tm), DJ Olive created three stunning records that came to epitomize the Brooklyn Illbient explosion.
In the 00s, Olive turned his ears to a range of other projects – joining forces with members of Sonic Youth in a range of experimental outings, improvising with some of the leading figures in Jazz including Uri Caine and Dave Douglas and starting the ‘Roof Music’ label theAgriculture which released his solo projects of gritty dubby brooklyn beats “Bodega” and “Live in Tasmania”.
In 2001 he also commenced work on a series of ‘sleeping pills’ designed to create deep warm enveloping environmental textures which become soft company for those who have trouble sleeping.
The first of these editions published by Room40 was Buoy (2004), followed by the aptly titled ‘Sleep’ (2006, though composed in 2001). Triage is the third in the series – and involves a much more complex and analog approach using many musicians and obscure vintage gear as well as additional production from Christian Fennesz.
Triage was initially exhibited in installation form at the 2008 Whitney Biennial and this published edition represents the soundtrack of the installation.
Listen quietly.
ETHAN ROSE – Oaks
CD Baskaru karu:14
http://www.baskaru.com
http://www.ethanrosemusic.com
Antiquated Equates Elegant
Imagine, if you will, an old Wurlitzer Theater Organ that once accompanied silent films in Portland, before being moved to the Oaks Park Roller Rink, where it has been ever since. Imagine the artist, Ethan Rose from Portland, Oregon, helping out repairing that antique, before starting to explore its tones, textures, and colours from another era.
The result is Oaks, Rose’s third full-length CD (after two titles for Locust Music: Ceiling Songs and Spinning Pieces). Once again, the sound artist has succeeded in dragging a forgotten bit of our collective sonic past out of the shadows and reinterpreting it in a modern ambient electronica context. There is an elegant and crystalline quality to the eight pieces that make up this album. The music on Oaks evokes the meticulous sonic explorations of acousmatic composers like Francis Dhomont and Jonty Harrison, crossed with the dreamy and hazy soundworld of ambient experimentalists like Fennesz and Oren Ambarchi.
Ethan Rose’s work reflects his interests in old technologies, new sounds, and the restless exploration of musical form. Over the past ten years he has released recordings, scored films, performed internationally, created sound installations, and worked with a variety of collaborators. His music is also featured in Gus Van Sant’s latest film Paranoid Park. His sound environments merge the old with the new. Past works have included experiments with music boxes, player pianos, and carillons.
Oaks is being co-released by Baskaru in Europe, Holocene in the US, and Headz in Japan.
FRANCISCO LOPEZ & LAWRENCE ENGLISH – HB
CD Baskaru karu:13
http://www.baskaru.com
http://www.franciscolopez.net
http://www.lawrenceenglish.com
The Mystery of Sound
Francisco López – the most mysterious sound artist ever, the man who has elevated aural enigma and sonic displacement to artform status – joins forces with Lawrence English, a leading figure of the Australian experimental music scene, for a puzzling CD.
What is HB? “It’s two quite unusual found sound pieces and two musique concrète works based on each other’s works,” explains English. In other words, López and English each submitted to the other a field recording piece, then composed a new piece from the other guy’s field recording. The result is resolutely sombre going on obscurantist.: occulted birdsongs, unidentified tremors, delicate but disquieting sounds from a jungle that could be either of the wild or urban kind. This soundworld lies somewhere between mystery and mystification.
Francisco López is globally acknowledged as one of experimental music’s main creative forces. Relying on a deep listening of the world around us, his music translates into a physical experience of hearing and sound. Also an installation artist and theoretician, he performs all over the world. At his concerts, the audience is usually blindfolded.
Lawrence English is a sound and visual artist, composer, critic, festival organizer, record producer (Tujiko Noriko, Tenniscoats, The Rational Academy) and label head (Room40). He explores the limits of perception and the relationship between sound and structure. His recent CD Kiri No Oto (Touch, 2008) has garnered critical acclaim. HB is his second release on Baskaru, following For Varying Degrees of Winter in 2007.
GILLES AUBRY – Berlin Backyards
CD Crónica 036
http://www.cronicaelectronica.org
http://www.myspace.com/gilaubry
All recordings made during the winter of 2006 in Berlin.
Cover photos by Gilles Aubry.
Design by Gilles Aubry, Raphaël Cuomo and MCarvalhais.
Mastered by MCarvalhais.
Living in Berlin since 2002, Gilles Aubry spent the winter of 2006 recording backyards of the city, originally intending to explore the resonant frequencies of these spaces wich coloured the different sound sources as natural effects processors. He later became more aware of their function as spaces that stayed in between the public and the private sphere, spaces of neighbouring interaction and social control, a sort of negative architecture that hosted vital technical equipments to the buildings and the city itself – ventilation, trash and recycling containers, electric power stations, etc.
These almost organic functions of the city – breathing, digestion and excretion – the near invisibility of the inhabitants, the cycles and variations in lighting, sound, smell and mood over the day and the presence of wild life in the middle of the city, started modifying his perception of space and architecture. The houses were becoming bodies or machines, almost beings, each with its own presence and voice.
Berlin Backyards reconstructs these environmental recordings in eight movements of a musique concrète piece that presents a subjective view of these voices – der Gesang der Gebäude – and of Aubry’s experience in a composition that is much more than a mere acoustic representation of the spaces themselves.
GIUSEPPE IELASI – Aix
CD 12k 12k1051
http://www.12k.com
http://www.ielasi.com
Aix is the latest work from Italian artist Giuseppe Ielasi and the follow-up to 2007’s August (12k, 12k1044). WIth Aix we see Ielasi building his layered, atmospheric music around rhythmic grids. Most of the time these are quite irregular and the pulses are not neccessarily stable or clear. Where his previous work approached sound in a linear fashion Aix imposes a strong vertical development with the aforementioned grid and a production consisting of ons and offs, employing as much improvisation as Ielasi’s previous work, but in a different way.
Despite the self-imposed grid structure, Aix relies heavily on randomization. Not in the traditional sense of sound placement but instead of the spatialization of sounds, echoes, reverbs and the stereo image. As a result, Aix has an amazing sense and clarity of space as the small fragments of sound breathe and find their own place in the mix, thanks to Ielasi’s sublime skills as a mixer and engineer.
Ielasi relied heavily on numerous short samples and combining them in ways that fell into his groove; some found from others’ recordings and many more recorded during the past year. We hear fragments of percussive (acoustic) objects, drums, piano, trumpet, guitar, and, of course, synthetic textures. Although there is a distinct rhythmic pulse to Aix, Ielasi manages to mold it into something wonderfully languid and warm… and strangely inviting.
JANA WINDEREN – Heated: Live In Japan
CD Touch # Tone 36
http://www.touchmusic.org.uk
http://www.janawinderen.com
CD in full colour CD wallet
Artwork & Photography by Jon Wozencroft
Live performance at Super Deluxe, Tokyo, 24th October 2008. Source material recorded with 2 x 8011 DPA hydrophones, 2 x DolphinEAR/PRO hydrophones and 2 x 4060 DPA microphones on a Sound Devices 744T recorder in Greenland, Iceland and Norway.
Following Tetsuro Yasunaga’s spoken word introduction, here unfolds Jana Winderen’s blistering live set from her recent trip to Japan as part of ‘Norwegian Music Today’. Her first CD Heated follows her only other release to date, a 7″ vinyl limited edition, Surface Runoff, on Autofact [USA, 2008]. Improvising from recordings taken on field research trips, she forces the power of the hidden to the surface, making the unheard audible. It’s a strange world down there; a world of which we know little, replete with its own instrumentation and orchestras. Tapping into these, Jana’s vision encourages us to explore the fertility of the oceans…
An extract from the recording can be heard here: http://www.janawinderen.com/Heated/heated.wav
JANA WINDEREN researches the hidden depths of the sea with the latest technology; her work reveals the complexity and strangeness of the unseen world beneath. The audio topography of the oceans and the depth of glacier crevasses are brought to the surface. She is occupied with finding sound from its hidden source, like blind field recording. Her most recent sound works include “Submerge” (2008), for Färgfabriken Norr in Sweden, based on hydrophone recordings in the local lake, “freq_out 7” curated by CM von Hausswollf at the Happy New Ears festival in Belgium (2008), “Rainbow Audio Transformation” (2008) at Extra City in Antwerp, Belgium and the 6 channel sound installation “+4°C – from Folgefonna to the North Sea” (2007) at “Sleppet” during the centenary of Edvard Greig, “Greig07” in Norway. Jana’s recordings from Vatnajøkull and rivers in Iceland appear on Sigur Ros’ film Heima released in 2007.
Future projects include a studio album, released through Touch in 2009, based on hydrophone recordings from the Icefjord Kangia and Disco Bay by Ilulissat in Greenland, and an installation work “Voices from the Deep” in collaboration with Chris Watson. Recently BBC Radio 4 followed Jana on her recording trip to the Barents Sea for the radio series “World on the Move” [BBC, prod. Sarah Blunt, 2008].
She is a member of Spire, freq_out and Field.
KINIT HER – Glyms or Beame Of Radicall Truthes
CD Hinterzimmer Records Hint06
Streetdate: February 24
http://www.hinterzimmer-records.com
http://www.myspace.com/kinither
Kinit Her are triumvirate a realm of qliphotic vibrations. As Spring emerged from a snowfall record-setting Winter, these three Wisconsinites holed up in basements and bedrooms to create an opus of eastern-European folk melodies and black metal washes embroidered with witches croons and crystalline sonic manipulation. Having released the equivalent of their right-hand path with another recording project, The World On Higher Downs (Plop), Kinit Her turned to their nightside for Glyms. On songs like ’The Arc of Acuity’ and ’Crypt Cathedral Shrine’ mischievous string arrangements are brought to the fore, while tracks like ’Quadriga’ and ’Falling Aeroliths’ are massive guitar driven triumphs.
Glyms or Beame of Radicall Truthes pulls its magico-philosophical inspiration from a wide array of sources from the Purple Analects of Taoism, to the Western esoteric tradition, up to modern day conspiracy theories. Musically, the record is informed by the 80’s british underground experimental scene, 90’s Scandinavian black metal, and the timelessness of all folk currents.
Dip into Glyms and sense something of the mesh of fear and suffering and regimentation and bloody scarifices from which civilization has meant to escape. When the band began to roam about its twelve volumes, a condensation was announced and it seemed incredible that such richness could be brought within the compass of a single work. But by some magic of their own, Kinit Her brought about this condensation, in which brilliance will remain.
A few words from the label:
Kinit Her is three young musicians from Wisconsin. It rarely happens that it’s almost impossible to find band names to compare or genres to name while listening to a new record, but with Kinit Her it was the case for the staff at Hinterzimmer Records. GlymsŠ perhaps sounds a bit as if the The Residents had made an album of medieval music in the early 70’s, but on the other hand, it doesn’t sound old at all. Or like Sigur Ros and very early Ween would have come together to pay homage to The Incredible String Band and Comus, but then again their music only seems to remain on Folk Music and the comparison would leave out the strong influence of noise and post industrial artists. But let’s not wrack our brains, all those images fail to work anyway after a few minutes when the first doom metal-riff moves in. If you check their website, you will find names like Coil, Tiny Tim, La Monte Young, Burzum or Nico on their list of strongest influences. Then you certainly know what it’s all about: originality. About doing something that nobody has done before. GlymsŠ presents 12 new songs and is their official debut album after a couple of tape releases.
LUCIO CAPECE & MIKA VAINIO – Trahnie
CD Editions Mego eMEGO 098
Streetdate: March 2
http://www.editionsmego.com
http://www.luciocapece.blogspot.com
Lucio Capece: Soprano Saxophone, Bass Clarinet, Preparations, Mixer-Sax Feedback, Sruti Box
Mika Vainio: Electronics and Treatments, Electric Guitar, Cymbal
Recorded in Berlin 2006-2008
Artwork: Tina Frank
On first glance Lucio Capece and Mika Vainio seem unlikely partners. Two standard bearers at opposing poles of extremity, both sonically and geographically. Lucio from Argentina and rooted in a traditions of jazz and Improv, while Mika hailing from Finland sourced in early 90s electronic and Industrial scenes.
However, they both share an alarming attention to detail when it comes to their audio compositions, and neither are afraid of pushing boundaries of abstraction to the limit. With this in mind its with great pleasure that Editions Mego issues their first album as a duo. Recorded over a 2 year period in Berlin (their common chosen home), its as startling as it is visceral. Delicate as it is extreme.
Huge blasting slabs of concrete sax geometrically oppose sonic taps of electronic sound, which bring about a fascinating sound palette. The opening ‘Ujellus’ is both piercing and soothing; ‘Juurake’ combines pure sweat with cold emotion; tense environmental scrapes flesh out on ‘Ahuyenta Temores’. From the pounding machinist overdrive on ‘ Tolmavuo’ to the poignant melancholy of ‘Mañana’. It’s all here.
M. TEMPLETON + aA. MUNSON – Acre Loss
CD+DVD Anticipate 009
http://www.anticipaterecordings.com
http://www.myspace.com/marktempleton
Acre Loss is a collaborative project which brings together musician MARK TEMPLETON and filmmaker aARON MUNSON to create 10 musical compositions accompanied by 10 short films. Working together on all pieces of this project, the resulting blend of electro-acoustic orientation and cinematic warmth gives Acre Loss an unusual, yet familiar perspective into the impact of a fleeting sense of home.
Guitar, banjo, a host of both home and outdoors-based field recordings, and sounds derived from those ingredients, dominate the musical aspect of Acre Loss. Kitchen utensils in use and the atmosphere of being just outside that kitchen in a cold Canadian morning accompany the subtle processing of string instruments. Wrangling in softer elements with rough-around-the-edges distortion, these pieces clearly delineate melodies, while housing them at the center of waves of heavy ripples of effects, retaining Templeton’s sonic personality while clearly making space for his collaborator. Affective sound structures bring the visual component into focus, with the ability to act as specific sonic events or as soundtrack. Though the music stands alone as an album, it is more fully realized and understood in the short, hazy bursts of the intertwined visual material, contributing to the sense that together they are parts of a more complete object.
An unhurried pace characterizes both song and film in Acre Loss, as both find their identity in texture and tone. Languid passages portray a close proximity to both setting and character, even if there are no strict translations around either. The use of film rather than digital video along with the artists’ treatment of said film, transforms the pieces into layered explorations, just as the songs they are part of. They rest in a time and sense which is neither futuristic nor overly gazing backward, but more akin to memory realized within a current visual language; bridging ideas of dreamscapes and focused, every-day reality into a single statement. The overwhelming tendency is one which feels at once physical, of this immediate world and comforting, as well as distant and uneasy.
The strengths of this work lie in the knowledge and perspective brought to it by each collaborator, while allowing for the shift in perspective which comes from opening up the working process to another, who comes from a different set of skills, yet understands the complementary abilities and possibilities of the other’s medium of choice. Mark Templeton is best known for his critically acclaimed Standing on a Hummingbird album (Anticipate, 2007), though he has been active in the Edmonton, Alberta music scene for years (previous to his recent move to Montreal). aAron Munson is an Edmonton-based filmmaker whose work has taken the form of more than twenty short films, as well as several installations and performances with musical artists (including with Mark Templeton at MUTEK 2007). aAron uses Super 8 and 16mm film with overtly modern cinematic processes to find the best of different times and technologies. His work has been recognized and supported by the National Film Board of Canada and is being exhibited at film festivals around the world.
MAXIMILIAN FREUDENSCHUSS – Terror
Digital, 7″ Angelika Köhlermann AK032
Streetdate: March 3
http://angelika.koehlermann.at
Maximilian Freudenschuß veröffentlicht nach mehrjähriger Wartezeit seine erste Solo-Single: “Terror” ist ein luftig-melancholischer Popsong, der mit leichter Hand Gitarrenpop britischer Prägung in ein Technopopkorsett einbettet und dabei steinalt wie frischgeboren klingt: Freudenschuß gräbt tief in den Speichern der popmusikalischen Assoziationen und den Platten seiner Jugend, um Früh-90er-Rave mit den Smiths zu koppeln und damit zu relevanten Aussagen über seine Generation zu kommen – “Terror” spricht nur vermeintlich aus den Augen eines gestrandeten Selbstmordattentäters, sondern handelt vielmehr von der Unmöglichkeit, Ex-Liebespartner als Lebensmenschen in neue Beziehungen mitzunehmen. Musikalisch liegt dem Stück ein zerhacktes Sample der englischen Gruppe “Blueboy” zugrunde, die Mitte der 90er auf dem englischen Sarah Records-Label veröffentlichte und damals zu den Lieblingsbands des 20jährigen Freudenschuß gehörte. Insofern ist “Terror” auch als Hommage an den 2007 verstorbenen Sänger der Gruppe, Keith Girdler, gedacht.
Die B-Seite “Karrieren / Hey Musikus!” stammt aus den selben Aufnahmesessions mit Gerhard Potuznik im Sommer 2008 und spricht von den Myriaden abgehalfterter Musiker, die sich mit dem Aufkommen digitaler Downloads eine bequeme Ausrede geschaffen haben, warum das Interesse an ihrer Musik kaum (mehr) vorhanden ist – die nächtlichen Gespräche zwischen Musikmachenden, die für sich das Recht beanspruchen, von Ihrer Musik leben zu können, sind in ihrer Austauschbarkeit bereits Legende.
Das Cover für die Single wurde übrigens von Mark Robinson entworfen, dem Gründer des Teenbeat-Labels aus Washington DC und Mitglied von Bands wie Unrest und Air Miami. Es zeigt seinen Sohn, wie er “Terror” auf seinem iPod spielt – das bisher gelungenste Statement zum Ende der Musikdistribution wie wir sie bis dato kannten.
Das Label Angelika Köhlermann trägt dieser Entwicklung dahingehend Rechnung, dass “Terror” als erstes Release als limitierte 7″-Single und digitaler Download veröffentlicht wird.
Weitere Popsong-Veröffentlichungen von Maximilian Freudenschuß mit Gerhard Potuznik als Aufnahmeleiter, die nicht hinter den soundtechnologischen Errungenschaften wie pophistorischen Konnotationen der Jetztzeit zurückfallen, werden folgen.
MICHAEL PETERS – Impossible Music
CD Hyperfunction 001
Streetdate: March 6
http://www.hyperfunction.org
http://www.michaelpeters.de
The first release on hyperfunction is an exciting collection of abstract music. Hidden in the mathematical worlds of particle physics lies a world of complex strange attractors that look like alien underwater lifeforms when made visible – and when connected to digital instruments, sound not unlike the boldest of today’s avantgarde composers.
But these aren’t early Stockhausen piano etudes or Conlon Nancarrow experiments. This music was created by a computer which followed an algorithm – in this case, a Gumowski-Mira attractor – whose parameters were modified and improvised upon during the recording by a human, German composer Michael Peters, who also developed the software. Who would have expected such non-human music to be so beautiful – sometimes solemn, sometimes funny in a wild Zappaesque way, or (almost) danceable?
Impossible Music live
April 4th DE Köln, Loft
Michael Peters (computer) & Bernhard Wöstheinrich (sound)
MIKHAIL – Morphica
3xCD-set, Sub Rosa SR288
Streetdate: March 13
http://www.mikhailmusic.com
MORPHICA follows Mikhail Karikis’s enthusiastically received* debut album Orphica (2007) in a genre-bending audiovisual feast. MORPHICA re-imagines the music ‘remix’ and expands to the realms of visual art and creative writing. Described by Mikhail as a project about “common cause in uncommon ground”, MORPHICA explores the theme of transformation and politics of difference, having as its starting point the morphing of Orphica. MORPHICA features a triple album (cd1: Electronics, cd2: Voices, cd3: Strings) with studio and live concert recordings of unique collaborations with over 20 musicians from 5 continents and contrasting genres ranging from pioneering DJs to acclaimed early-music choirs, upcoming contemporary composers and performers. Contained in a hand-crafted box-set designed by Mikhail & Assembly, this innovative work is accompanied by 15 art prints by artists who respond to Orphica’s visuals. New poems of ‘remixed’ lyrics and a poster-book of contextual essays complete MORPHICA’s multi-sensory adventure.
The international lineup in Mikhail’s new album includes pioneer DJ Spooky, early-music choir Alamire (formed with members from the Hilliard Ensemble, the Sixteen, the Tallis Scholars and I Fagiolini), experimental composer Claudia Molitor, Paul Abbott, German electro-minimalist Telekaster, Lee Fraser, avant-jazz vocalist E:laine, Irish composer Conall Gleeson, pianist extraordinaire Leon Michener, Juice Vocal Ensemble, Belgian Rob(u)rang and Bobby Krlic; visual artists include celebrated British Afro-Caribbean artist Sonia Boyce (MBE), Uriel Orlow, Stephen Wilson, Oreet Ashery, Eva Weaver, Farina Alam, Ruth Maclennan, Romanian fashion designer Rozalb de Mura, Korean installation artist Ahn Sung Hee, Malaysian designer K.Y.Low and animators Paul Gittins and Paul Bloomfield; authors include Irish poet Cherry Smyth, Chris McCormack, cultural theorist Kersten Glandien and Sub Rosa’s co-director Guy-Marc Hinant.
MORPHICA is a limited edition box-set released on Sub Rosa records in March 2009. The music will also be available for electronic download.
“strangely compelling” F. Colborne, The Times
“spellbinding” S.D., Le Monde
“dramatic, fitful, exuberant” C.Smyth, Art Monthly
MIKAHIL interview
www.shift.jp.org/en/archives/2009/01/mikhail_karikis.html
PURE – Ification
CD Crónica 038
http://www.cronicaelectronica.org
http://pure.test.at
Guitar samples for 1: Christoph de Babalon.
Drums on 2 & 7: Martin Brandlmayr.
Screams on 5 & 7: Alexandra von Bolzn.
Bass guitar sample for 6: Anke Eckardt.
After more than ten CDs and several vinyls under different aliases, projects or collaborations that ranged a multitude of musical styles over the last 15 years, Pure’s newest release is now proudly presented by Crónica.
Three and a half years later than scheduled, and six years after his previous studio CD release “Noonbugs” on Mego, Pure returns with his fourth solo full-length album – “Ification” – the outcome of a long period of live work (documented in the first two volumes of the “Home Is Where My Harddisk is” series), residencies – in France, with Johnny Dekam, where the “Reqoil Displaced Peaceoff” DVD was produced – and collaborations – the “Heart Chamber Orchestra” with Erich Berger, an audio-visual performance based on the heart-beats of an orchestra of 12 musicians.
“Ification” presents a collection of seven highly diverse tracks that revolve around dense, filmic and eerie atmospheres, without ever drifting into obvious or simple harmonies. As in his previous work, Pure takes from music history whatever serves his narrative needs and appropriates it through his very own sound-mangling strategies. Complementing this approach, here, and for the first time in his work, there is a very tight integration of various instrumentalists, whose recordings – produced for this CD – are often the compositional base of the tracks.
The intro FIRE is a short statement based on a guitar recording of Christoph de Babalon (Digital Hardcore artist and owner of the label Cross Fade Enter Tainment) freed from all flesh with only the bare-bones left.
AFTER THE BOMB is a long, gentle, deep meditation on the nature of low-frequency sounds with tiny melodies and subtle percussion sliding in at the end.
With APPROXIMATION Pure enters new fields with a simultaneous minimal and bombastic track built around what reminds high string instruments, low horns, and sparse percussion giving the track a classical touch.
NIGHT FLIGHT is an epic, slow-changing drone piece that glides through time like a car by the night on an endlessly straight road.
SONOMATOPEIA melts a composition of isolationist sounds with vocal experiments of female metal singer Alexandra von Bolzn going from silent whispers to bursts of aggression that out-power power electronics’ voices.
END takes the longest time to develop. In almost 16 minutes it travels from an eerie space filled with echoes of percussions and cymbals through a tunnel of static distortions of bass played by sound artist Anke Eckardt.
Closing the album, METAL SKY introduces one more surprise. Built around drums played by Martin Brandlmayr (drummer of austrian band Radian who also provided the percussion on AFTER THE BOMB) like only he can play them and another appearance of Alexandra von Bolzn the last track starts off with held-back heaviness decreasing to a standstill and ends in a melancholic, noisy rock-like piece.
“Ification” was written, recorded and mixed by Pure, mastered by Martin Siewert at Motone Sound Services, in Vienna, and its cover art was specially created by Jan Rohlf.
SLOWCREAM – Wax On Wool
Digital album, Nonine non018
http://www.nonine.com
http://www.myspace.com/slowcream
the album ’wax on wool’ shows a distinct progression in the work of ME RAABENSTEIN. it is as if the multi-faceted somewhat intentional random nature of his previous works have made their way, subtlety, of course, into a cycle that retains its originality und unpredictability, yet exists as an entity in and unto itself, with several musical gestures tying the work together. this does not mean that one should listen idly by, expecting the mundane with no surprise. it is still a raabenstein work, after all, and, although the weaving of musical, percussive and spoken elements are done seamlessly, the boring norm this cd is not.
the work in its entirety reminds me of a young alban berg, having just learned the principles of twelve-tone music. in berg’s music of this period, one hears elements of the, at-the-time, mainstream romantic approach combined with tone rows, both elements beautifully intertwined. (a feat that other atonal purists never really achieved.) i like to attribute this to berg’s great sense of musicality and style. this is what i mean when i say that the second slowcream album contains elements of pure raabenstein, but with a new, fresh kind of artistic refinement that makes the work a joy to listen to. it is still in the experimental, electronic genre, but it has something new: a definite sense of style.
whereas the genre of modern electronic music within the context of popular culture has been content to pride itself with experimentation mounted upon experimentation, this work shows some natural progression – it is an amalgamation of many different genres, elements, and media, somewhat like a modern work of visual art, which does not shy away from using oils with textiles, or car parts with rubbish.
in the same manner which modern art has experimented with varying media, so has raabenstein experimented with sonic layering. ’wax on wool’ is full of three dimensional musical levels, mesmerizing the listener, piquing his interest, making him curious. this is why this album has a distinct forward motion; it is complete with rhythmic patterns, contemporary electronic minimalism at times, punctuated by tongue and cheek comedy, even taking time to breathe occasionally with haunting musical yearnings.
it is the mixture of both microcosmic strengths with those macrocosmic ones that makes the album specific and powerful. one may be able to listen to just the poco allegretto from brahms 3 and be satisfied, but knowing how the entire symphony sounds unadulterated, from its beginning to its end makes one never want to hear just one piece as an excerpt again. so is slowcream’s ’wax on wool’. once the work is listened to, one understands how it all fits together. when that happens, you won’t want to hear it any other way.
joshua farrier (dma)
me raabenstein lives and works in berlin, germany
the press on slowcream ‘live long and prosper’
a well-integrated fusion of classical samples and electronic elements. textura
rich overtones generally spring from moments of quiet insistence, ambient evocations of the stark majesty of the north, out of which swell sensual electronic sounds and mellow grooves, themselves counter-pointed by fluid piano semi-quavers, violin and cello passages of sedate pacing, and evanescent shivers that shift the digital space. max schaefer, cyclic defrost
in the end i suppose i just simply enjoy what raabenstein is doing. “live long and prosper” has enough going for it to keep you locked in for an hour, even if you’re experiencing crushing anxiety over a meaningless fear. john ganiard, foxy digitalis
well-done mixture of classical music and elektronica. – svs, rifraf
STROTTER INST. – Minenhund
CD Hinterzimmer Records/Public Guilt Hint05/PG017
Streetdate: February 24
http://www.hinterzimmer-records.com
http://www.strotter.org
“Minenhund” is the latest work from Switzerland’s Christoph Hess aka Strotter Inst.
Hess creates music through the use of old, modified, Lenco turntables which he modifies and manipulates in countless ways. Rubber bands are affixed to the rotating turntable and plucked by the stylus, records have tape affixed in patterns to create textural rhythms, electrical current is sent via live wires to the needle to create pulsing feedback. These sounds are then manipulated by Hess through effects pedals to create warm and dense sound structures, looping, rumbling rhythms and multilayered broken beats. The 14 tracks were created in the studio in a time-consuming, multi-tracking process
The music of Strotter Inst. has more in common with the anti-electronica of Pan Sonic or the early minimalism of Steve Reich, than to other experimental turntablists like eRikm, Philip Jeck or Christian Marclay. Hess’ roots are not in improvised music, but in industrial culture, the electronic avantgarde and electro-acoustic composition.
Christoph Hess is also a member of post-industrial band, Herpes Ö DeLuxe (since 1995) and the experimental doom-trio Sum Of R (since 2007). He has collaborated live with Sudden Infant, Maja Ratkje, and others. Strotter Inst. has performed throughout Europe, China, Russia, and Bolivia.
’Minenhund’ is a co-release of Swiss label ’Hinterzimmer Records’ and Baltimore’s ’Public Guilt’. Beautiful 100% recycled gatefold packaging printed by Stumptown printers, including poster insert.
Selected Discography:
’Anna/annA (7″ 2006, Implied Sound/Public Guilt, USA)
’Monstranz’ (CD 2004, everestrecords, CH)
’Schlepper’ (LP 2001, Tollerort, CH)
SYMBIOSIS ORCHESTRA – Live Journeys
CD Baskaru karu:12
http://www.baskaru.com
http://www.myspace.com/symbiosisorchestra
Symbiosis Orchestra: The Perfect Blend
Symbiosis Orchestra blends everything together, fuses everything, takes down genre and esthetic barriers to achieve a state of perfect symbiosis between electronic and acoustic music, computer-based and natural processes, composition and improvisation, beat and pulse, melody and texture, not to forget sound and image.
Created in 2005 by Italian sound artist Andrea Gabriele (Pirandèlo, Mou, Lips!) for a festival in Pescara, this size-shifting mixed-media ensemble has been carrying on with its journey in live performance settings enhanced by Claudio Sinatti’s stage designs and visuals. If that particular dimension of the project is conspicuously absent from Live Journeys, the project’s first full-length release, the cinematic universe of the group’s music gloriously unfolds.
Live Journeys offers a selection of live moments taken from various performances and featuring several permutations of the ensemble in trios, quartets and quintets. Gabriele (keyboards, computer, guitar & bass) is surrounded by an all-star line-up of sound designers and performers. From the electronic scene, there is Robin Rimbaud (aka Scanner), Mario Masullo (Defrag and DSP Recordings labels), and Iris Garrelfs, whose treated voice provides a bridge toward the realm of acoustic sounds, here represented by vibes player Stefano Tedesco (Strings of Consciousness), jazz flutist Geoff Warren, and instrumentalists Diego Conti (violin), Roberto di Egidio (trumpet) and Michele Scurti (piano).
Despite the highly developed artistic process behind Live Journeys, the music is surprisingly easy to listen to. This CD grabs your ears and strikes your imagination, thanks to its spectacular symbiosis between electronica, improvisation, and experimental ambient music.
SYNTHEME – Lasers’N’Shit
2LP/CD Planet Mu ZIQ213
http://www.planet-mu.com
http://www.myspace.com/syntheme
“Lasers ‘n’ Shit” marks the return of Syntheme back to Planet Mu. Following from the success of the Syntheme “Volume 1” (Planet µ), and “Lov3” on the Weme label, there has been much talk on various forums as to the identity of Syntheme; but one thing is sure, whomsoever it is, they sho’ know their acid etc.
Lasers ‘n’ Shit. Well, the title says what to expect, giving you line after line of funky 303 bass to the beat of thumping analogue drums. The opening track “Mimtro” sets the scene with dreamy female vocals reminiscent of the good old days when IDM was fresh and new. (And wasn’t called IDM -mike). By the time “Red” drops on track three you are into a full-blown Acid disco assault instantly making you feel like donning a Smiley T-shirt and pair of roller skates.
When it’s all over and time to go home you come to realise that this album has more catchy melodies than you can shake a stick at and more bounce than any hair care product can offer you.
alva noto with anne-james chaton and andy moor live in nantes
22nd-24th january 2009
collaboration project ‘decade’ live set @ festival hors-pistes
le lieu unique, nantes
http://www.lelieuunique.com/festivals/fest2.html
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raster-noton . rhythm_screen live in berlin, germany
28th january 2009
unitxt live set @ club transmediale 09
maria am ostbahnhof, berlin
http://www.clubtransmediale.de/festival-09/night-program/schedule/28/raster-notonrhythm-screen.html
http://www.raster-noton.net/
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alva noto live in catania/sicily
30th january 2009
xerrox live set @ audiovideo 1
zo centro culture contemporanee, catania/sicily
http://www.ame.ct.it/pag21.html
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preview:
alva noto + michael nyman . pretty talk for george brecht
sparkie the opera [1978 revisited]
2009 (WP)
26th march 2009, 10 pm
haus der berliner festspiele, berlin
carsten nicolai / michael nyman – performers
kika markham – speaker
in collaboration with the sage newcastle, klangraum minoritenkirche krems and november music’s-hertogenbosch
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THE EX & ILILTA BAND – March Europe Tour
12th Amsterdam (NL) OT301 (only Ililta Band)
13th Koln (D) Nozart Festival
14th Utrecht (NL) Rasa (only Ililta Band)
15th Tourcoing (F) Le Grand Mix
16th Feyzin (F) l’Epicerie moderne
17th Massa Carrera (I) Tago Mago
18th Rome (I) Sinister Noise
19th Firenze (I) Flog
20th Bologna (I) Locomotiv
21st Verona (I) Interzona
22nd Macon (F) La cave a musique
24th Paris (F) Café de la danse
25th Amsterdam (NL) Paradiso
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NEMETH [Thrill Jockey]
24.Jan IT Netmage Festival, Bologna
27.Jan DE Club Transmediale, Berlin
27.Feb BE Resonance Festival, Ghent
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Thanks for reading & best wishes
Dense Promotion
http://www.dense.de
http://www.myspace.com/densepr
