Transient Places
Music in the here and now. An event in an everyday situation. A connecting link between actual occurrences and the deepest depths of one's inner world. A balancing act between total control and the inexplicable. An acoustic journey through the present. It is with his ears that Luigi Archetti journeys into the guitar's pick-up, to the limits of the audible. He hears, listens and gathers until he has a whole depot of sounds at his disposal, which he then processes by structured planning or b…
Niederländische Sprichwörter
Luigi Archetti und Michael Heisch spent over two years experimenting in the studio. The result is the album the "Netherlandish Proverbs" – a musical approach to the painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1525 – 1569). Conceived by a process of random selection, the album presents the listener with freshly perceptible, kaleidoscopic-like audio experiences."The Netherlandish Proverbs" is one of Pieter Bruegel the Elder's best known paintings. It contains over 100 sayings and idioms illustrating hum…
Silent Surface
In a world in which the accoustic signs of the times ever more point to storm, in which we are constantly subjected to wild gesticulation and loud pounding for instant attention, together with bogus packages full of meaningless self-expression – in such times it is no small pleasure to be offered an opportunity to hold hand to ear and just listen. «Silent Surface» – 'surface' does not carry the meaning of 'superficial' – by and with Luigi Archetti (guitar, electronics) and Jan Schlegel (base, el…
The Crackle Of My Soul
'Written and recorded by Gordon Sharp at Belmont Shore (ca), mid-levels (hk) & kobe (japan) 2001-2009. Mastered at Piethopraxis, july 2009. Dedicated to Matt Kinnison (1965-2008). Cindytalk have been active since 1982, which we won't go into here (a quick Google search will satisfy that need). During The 80s and 90s Their sound was defined by broken down rock structures and abstract piano ambience. A third side to Their coin emerged at The dawn Of The 21st Century with a turn towards obscure com…
Pétrole
A musique concrète composition, produced between 2007 and 2009. Pétrole features contributions from Dominique Repecaud (electric guitars) and Axel Dörner (trumpet) alongside the esoteric talents of Bertrand Sinapi (the whistler), Rocco Calaudi (Harley Davidson conductor), Kinuko HIGASHI (whip) and Yuko HIGASHI (Citroen CX 2000) amongst others. With thanks to Akin Fernandez, Daido Moriyama and Hisako Motoo.
Timelines Los Angeles
'Computer (Laptop), guitar: Mark Trayle. Percussion, Synthesizer (Analog), Composed By (Graphical Score) : Jason Kahn. Piano (Prepared): Olivia Block. Saxophone (Alto, Sopranino), electronics (Live-electronics): Ulrich Krieger. Recorded by Clay Chaplin April 25, 2008 in Los Angeles at the Cal Arts Center for Experiments in Art, Information and Technology Festival.'
The Conjurer
This new long player finds the duo finally documenting something that is a bit closer to their very heavy live sets, w/ expanding peaks of white light distortion & enormous valleys of bottom end. Each side opens w/ a brief funeral dirge to set the mood, a precession of bare bones drum beats & bell like guitar statements that bridge the gap to the wider open spaces of the almost side long "Across The Desert Of Ash" & "Ancient Of Days."
The Long Afternoon Of Earth
The latest Preservation release hails from the USA's Midwest, featuring a double helping of songs from multi-instrumentalist and lo-fi folkster Clare Adrienne Cameron Hubbard. Although each CD is only an EP's length, the two sets of songs have been divided to denote the stylistic differences between sets, even though Hubbard's songwriting tone remains steady throughout. On the first disc Caethua evokes the raw intimacy of Diane Cluck, occasionally augmenting her spindly acoustic guitar accompani…
Raiders
Robedoor have acquired a "drummer/modular synth dealer" since last we heard from them, and with this new LP - their first since last year's Endlessly Blazing - they let fly with their newly enhanced line-up, stirring up smudged-out psych nightmares that sound like they're being performed from somewhere deep within a cave system. In fact, if the blind flesh-eating monsters from The Descent had a house band, 'Indo Shadow' might be the outcome. The album's second half is especially good, with the f…
Almanac
Dragon Turtle Almanac is a heavy trip; a document of transformation, entropy, and causality. Dragon Turtle evokes Morricone landscapes as if painted by Glenn Branca, where dream atmospheres meet brutal realities of nature and relationships. These forces are both beautiful ("Causality", "Belt of Venus") and destructive ("Moon Fallout", "Burn the Leaves"). The textures and layers move with a sense of urgency and purpose ("Hometime", "Hourglass"). The duality of Tom Asselin and Brian Lightbody's mu…
Peace Conference
"Mountain Ocean Sun is a project fronted by His Name Is Alive main man Warren Defever, who collaborates with three like-minded drone artists for an hour-long recording of shruti box, harmonium, bells, gongs and violin. The group's first performance was at a 500 year old Buddhist temple in Osaka, and that pretty much sets the tone for the quartet's quasi-mystical approach to soundscaping. Defever himself continues to mythologise, describing the recording as having been made "on a mountain, in the…
Psychic Mud Shrine
You'll probably know Evan Caminiti as one half of the brilliant avant-metal band Barn Owl, but here he's forging a path as a solo artist for Digitalis, devising four towering guitar pieces that move beyond the pursuit of drone and sludge and take on a more slippery, mystical quality. Protracted sustains are still snaking all over this album, but there's a carefully chiselled-out textural quality here that transcends any preconceptions you might have about this being an exercise in Earth-aping st…
Nemcatacoa
Achingly beautiful album fusing elements of everything from Earth to Windy & Carl, Stephen O'Malley, My Bloody Valentine, Fennesz, Keith Fullerton Whitman and Emeralds - miss out at your peril!!! Elm is the solo project of Jon Porras, one half of the deeply revered San Francisco drone lords, Barn Owl. Only his third release in solo mode, 'Nemcatacoa' has strong ties to his other project, but revolves around a lonelier and more personal agenda, with eight incredible tracks of widescreen Americana…
Boris at Last:Feedbacker
Boris's meteoric rise to superstardom doesn't seem to be stopping any time soon, only today I heard that the band had signed their last album (the absolutely stunning 'Rainbow' from a few weeks back) to US mega-label Drag City - what next eh, how long before EMI and Atlantic start getting interested? How about Sunn O))) on Geffen then? It could happen. Still we're back on our ongoing mission to seek out every Boris record we can, and this 2003 release is one of those absolute gems that keep step…
Kappe
Limited Edition of 400 copies, already out of print: Erik Skodvin, the crown prince of nefarious Nordic doomscapes, returns with another incredible dark ambient grimoire for the Type label. Kappe finds the Deaf Center member peering yet deeper into the sonic abyss, concentrating his efforts on four lengthy compositions, each one following its own distinct subterranean tributary. 'Tunnel Of Love' opens the set with a blurry swell of dense tones and funereal howling before eventually throwing in a…
Curiosum
LP version with color inner sleeve and liner notes by Asmus Tietchens. Originally released on Sky Records in 1981, Bureau B reissues Cluster's Curiosum -- the sixth duo collaboration between Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius. Curiosum was to mark a departure to pastures new. Little did they know that this would be their last release for the next nine years. Curiosum was launched into an atmosphere of musical turbulence. Electronic sounds had become commonplace in pop music and the voice …
An Angel Fell Where the Kestrels Hover
Third full length release for 2009, coming hard on the heels of Bright Failing Star and Snow Blind. Recorded in tandem with Snow Blind in London during July 2007, covering themes based on seasonal changes and mood swings. Where Snow Blind was harsh, unrelenting and a little pissed off, An Angel Fell Where The Kestrels Hover shows a more reflective and melancholic approach. Comes in a beautiful book-sized wallet designed by mondii featuring photography by PW. Full details and interview here.
Navigare
Once a member of early nineties daydream shoegazers Slowdive, for whom his manned the drums for four years, Simon Scott has since worked on a variety of projects, including, in recent years, atmospheric pop/electronic outfit Televise, and, more recently, Seavault, a collaboration with ISAN’s Antony Ryan. He is also at the helm of experimental imprint Keshhhhhh Recordings, which he runs from his native Cambridge. For his first release under his own name, Scott couldn’t have found a label more ada…
Untertanz
Mauro Pawlowski is best known for playing skronky guitarriffs in various Belgian bands such as dEUS, Othin Spake, Evil Superstars, Club Moral and others… On his own he is notorious for being an unpredictable master of puppets who simultaneously oozes freshly demented nursery rhymes and weird avant-rock from his trousers. Untertanz is a collection of live performances that capture his free jazz take on madman rock 'n roll. Ranging from abstract spooky blues to musique concrète made for stampeding…
All Things Are From Him, Through Him And In Him
Brethren Of The Free Spirit combines the considerable 12-string guitar talents of James Blackshaw with the lute skills of Dutch instrumentalist Josef Van Wissem. Those of you who picked up the excellent Blackshaw-curated Garden Of Forking Paths compilation on Important a couple of weeks back will already be familiar with Van Wissem's abilities, dexterously coaxing his baroque instrument into the modern age. The two musicians compliment each other beautifully - there's no treading on toes here, b…