Whiter than white
The title Whiter than white sounds like an advert for soap. Adverts and soap are precisely what Les Belles Noïseuses blame. Or even more precisely what they represent: consumption, conformity, economic liberalism. However, don't expect to get a speech from Les Belles Noïseuses. Only feelings, emotions, dreams and nightmares are conveyed through their refined musical structure. The doom-jazz double-bass reminds the best from Mick Karn. The minimalist guitar scrapes melody to the bone, to the aton…
Deconstructing hank
I wanted to share Hank with a world that was unfamiliar with him and unable to grasp the despair, hurt and loneliness that he lived, unable to absorb the words or the sentiment, unable to hear the words, “Like a piece of driftwood on the sea, may you never be alone like me”. I asked Derek Rush if he would be interested in doing Hank Williams songs with me, he put them in a minor key and arranged them while I re-interpreted the melody and sang the words of Hank Williams, adding my g…
When the May Rain Comes
cover of a track by Sand, whose work has had a profound affect on Tibet’s work, first appeared on Current 93’s influential album Thunder Perfect Mind. Also appearing on this 12'' is an alternate version of the same track from a CD single which accompanied the first 1,000 copies of Tibet and Stapleton’s release of material by Sand, Ultrasonic Seraphim. This 12'' is part of a series of releases from rotorelief comprised of new albums from Sand,…
Zweifarbige Gesten
Beautiful debut full-length album for Jennifer Veillerobe, a french-german musician, co-curator of senufo editions and one half of ‘eselsohr ’. The CD is centered around a minimal sequence of sonic events, alternating between modular synthesizer patterns / textures and simple acoustic gestures captured with a portable digital recorder. realised without any processing or overdubbing; the cd is an attempt to define a narrative using nothing but sharp edits and careful sequencing of non-homogeneous…
Handcut
bellows is the duo of giuseppe ielasi and nicola ratti and ‘handcut’ is their second project. originally released on lp on alga marghen / planam, this cd reissue is expanded with 23 minutes of unreleased material recorded one year after the first sessions. for ‘handcut’, bellows used a simple technique of cutting / destroying and amplifying vinyl records with contact microphones, creating new grooves and physical loops while capturing the sounds on a revox tape machine with long tap…
Schtyx
All his life, my father played the trombone and sang; just before he died, he became a music critic. He said "Chords, yes Alvin, but it needs more melody." SCHTYX was the answer. It opens with a dotted quarter at 50. From the start, implications appear and never cease. They remain open for business like a river. The melody, first thought terminal, is recycled on a child's buzz saw, but then reappears as a mensch. Ten minutes later, it turns up a 5/4 Waltz scrutinized by a group of unemployed har…
A young persons guide
2CD collects some of this EMERALDS member's best work, previously-released on a number of ltd edition CD-Rs & tape releases over the last 4 years. Electric & acoustic guitar, vocals, tapes, & guitar-synthesizer performed & recorded by Mark McGuire 2007-2010. Although, only 24 years of age McGuire has racked up an impressive canon which most artists twice his age would have problems delivering. With his expert use of loops and layers, as well a superb ear for killer melody hooks makes AYPGTMM…
Reality bridge
Second full length LP from Scotland / New York weirdo Ruaraidh Sanachan who also is the guitar shredder in Moon Unit and runs on of the best tape labels in the UK, Sick Head. Reality Bridge's four tracks of psyche-out futuristic electric haze are a step up from Sanachan's previous full length LP, 'Quantum Odyssey' we released almost two years ago. 'Reality Bridge' is one hell of a record, pulling together kosmische synth, guitar wailing, sci-fi insanity and b-movie bliss outs. The record is hous…
PopeWaffen
“The work is settled between weird pop, avanttrash, improvised music, mediterranian folklore and noise drones. As the artists are coming from different social and musical backgrounds, the recording is not just a mix of sounds and names but a creation of unique and exciting experiences.” A custom silkscreen-cardboard cover emphasizes the haptic visual aspect of this audio production. The handnumbered edition of 500 copies is an object-like production with visual and audio qualities. …
Anthology Of Dutch Electronic Tape Music (1999-2010)
'This double-cd, Anthology of Dutch Electronic Music 1999-2010, displays the diversity of the more recent Dutch electronic music: sharpening, statics, dramatic, loud, subtle, detailed... 26 tracks represent different to approach tape music, concert music for accoustical instruments en electronics, live-electronics, sound installations and environmentals, electronic music theatre, composition and improvisation. 6 tracks in total; The CD features recordings by Thomas Ankersmit, Justin Bennett, Jan…
Come ho imparato a volare
'Ezramo: voice, piano, prepared zither, bells. For this project Ezramo recorded the sounds of larvae (sarchophaga carnaria) during their transformation into flies. Through rough sub-real field-recordings, she explores, interprets and lyrically re-invents the concept of metamorphosis. Gatefold sleeve, offset printing on paper. Limited to 300 copies, handnumbered.
Big shadow Montana
"After producing their frozen trilogy of intoxicated dronemuzik for the Agency, these Scandinavian gentlemen have ventured into more absurdist territories through fictionalized soundtracks for imagined Mondo films and science fiction serials. It is in this context that BJ Nilsen & Stilluppsteypa present the apparitional Big Shadow Montana, an album of slow-motion delirium manifested in occluded smears, nocturnal gasps, and arcane tones from a variety of analogue synthesizers. Amidst the n…
This Way / The Shivering Man
Special vinyl set collecting the first two incredible solo albums from Bruce Gilbert - not to be missed* In 1979, after completing their third and final group masterpiece, 154, Wire dissolved, leaving Bruce Gilbert and fellow traveller Graham Lewis free to explore their interests in minimalist electronics across a series of solo and collaborative projects. Originally released on Mute in 1984, 'This Way' was Gilbert's first solo album and was primarily made up of work commissioned by choreographe…
As a Leaf or a Stone
For this release Mathieu Ruhlmann uses a lot of sound sources and per track he lists them. We see listed a coffee grinder, ukelin, e-bow, moss, denture cleaner, bubble wrap, dried plant, cactus, speaker and gate (and that's just the opening track!)... The gain is very much alive here, so there is occasionally some feedback leaking through here. That adds a strange component to the highly acoustic music. Ruhlmann plays his stuff with great care. His music is open, spacious, but also intimate. The…
Woo Lae Oak
Stunning drone work, rescued from oblivion, and an absolute minimalism classic. "First-ever CD of Carl Stone's debut album, originally released on Joan La Barbara's Wizard Records in 1983. Woo Lae Oak is a 54-minute tape piece based around minimal samples of strings and wind which layer, deconstruct and reform into an expansive, shimmering whole. Remastered for CD, with complete original artwork and new accompanying notes by Phill Niblock."
Joy Flashings
A joyful product of mutual understanding between these two outstanding composers, described by Manuel Zurria in the booklet with the following words: "Philip Corner gave me the key to enter a secret and wonderful room, full of fabulous things and made me discover a part of me I did not know." Much more than a journey through sound, this work is a reflection on our modern world and the role played by music and soundscapes. It's a journey through traditional instruments and modern technique…
Neurochemie
'Neurochemie' is one of the most intriguing albums we've found on France's excellent Rotorelief label. It counts as part of ongoing research by Siegmar Fricke, a long-standing fixture of the European tape music scene who has collaborated with the likes of Maurizio Bianchi and Giancarlo Toniutti since 1985 (Siegmar Fricke started in 1981 making musique-concrete-experiments with magnetophones and shortwave-radio signals, recorded on various cassettes, followed by intense activities in th…
Z-Rated
Uncompromising sound artist Ivan Pavlov, aka CoH, releases his latest body of work in a special edition for France's Rotorelief label, housed in a stunning and unique pop-out digicase CD design. While relating to the release of Takahashi Miike's 'Zebraman 2' - a low budget Japanese superhero farce - 'Z-Rated' also doubles as a compilation of rare and previously unreleased early material dating from 1992 right up to 2009. If you've followed CoH's records over those years, you might know to …
Beyond The 4th Door
On their Thrill Jockey debut Eternal Tapestry have delivered an album not unlike their epic live shows. Beyond the 4th Door contains long stretches of melodic guitar improvisations, dark brooding songs that slowly build and expand to allow in layers of light. The album was recorded in their home studio and was created by recording more that two hours of material, mostly live, and hand picking what you hold in your hands. There is a free and open nature to their structure creating for the listene…
Slaughter In A Tiny Place
Pseudocode was a Belgian electronic improvised music band, active from 1980 to 1982, featuring Xavier S (Thrills), Guy-Marc Hinant (Sub Rosa co-founder) and Alain Neffe (Insane Music, Bene Geserit). While Xavier S contributed most of the lyrics and vocals, it was Guy-Marc Hinant who often played the core melody on his Pianet electric piano. Neffe's contributions are particularly noteworthy throughout, as he weaves together the bulk of the sonic cloth through overdubbing and mixing. None of …