Seth Nehil & Jgrzinich - Stria (Erewhon, 2002)

1 Tome Gather 20:00
2 Arboreal 8:30
3 The Mirrored Corner 16:15

by request

Seth Nehil and John Grzinich have been sound collaborators since 1994 when they began the electroacoustic ensemble Alial Straa. In 1998 they initiated a process of recording and experimentation that would result in a pair of full-length cds. The seed of the project originated in Austin, Texas with location specific recordings of found objects played by groups of people.. In the end, it had expanded into a three-year, transcontinental exchange of intensive interaction, questioning and dialogue.

The exploratory focus of stria/confluence is the idea of resonance; the phenomenon of natural vibrations that give rise to intensified or stable structures within sound bodies and fields. In the production of these works, the composers' approached resonance in both the acoustic sound behavior and the social phenomenon in group interaction and/or participation within the context of sound generating activities. It was again applied to the studio in the use of massive multiplications and layerings, resulting in deeply transforming, evolutionary sound fields.

These records extend the perspective elaborated by both artists through their previous solo and collaborative work (as can be heard on Seth's releases on Kaon, Alluvial and 20 City, or John's duet with mnortham on Staalplaat and Orogenetics). These works further an interest in physical materials and natural acoustics which are consequently composed into imbedded, altered and engaging structures. Taking form with the integrity of a living organism, these pieces invite the listener to find his way through the reticulated and stratified development of a subtly unfolding, organic sound-body.
Erewhon

Belle musique de ces deux poètes du sonore qui vont faire résonner leurs drones organiques aux lisières d'un temps immobile. Les mouvements lents de ces sons, comme des coulées épaisses de matières offrent des paysages tendus et étrangement sereins, faits de grincements, de frottements, d'ondes vastes, de résonnances scintillantes, révélant majestueusement dans le temps leurs contours gracieux. On pénètre dans ces flots lourds comme un animal géant, prenant nos aises en se laissant porter par le courant, quittant une certaine pasanteur pour une autre, plus subtile. Le courant nous entraîne dans des cavités obscures, dans des cirques ouverts et gigantesques, d'autres échos apparaissent, habités de fantômes. Dense-musique de déplacement de masses titanesques, on s'y arrête timide et observateur, et au final on n'est pas déçu du voyage.
revue et corrigée

Stria - layers, the overplaced sounds that make up these compositions; strings, the connections and movements that work through them. In 'Tome gather' for example, both these aspects are heard as the piece elides from: burring tones, modulated tonal metals with longer tones and pulses in there as a hidden music; the burring becomes less pronounced, emergent long drones, dense and gorgeous with a percussive note; becoming more voicelike, edgy high tones; the drones start to diverge, becoming more pulsing and noisey; to an atonal conflict of purer tones that interfere-pulse, disturbed voices. There are no points of change on this journey, more gradual modulations, and layer lays on layer.

Building percussive clicks and clatter in 'Arboreal' are rhythmic, slow washes through, sounds separate and rejoin (stringed together), a rapid flowing, then fluttering to the end.

Finally 'The mirrored corner' is buzzing metallic with a clicky click, shimmering and pulsing; a resonant echo deep emerges and is a dark hollow voice that becomes more voice-like; the middle section simples-out, more clicks. A dominant tone develops, shimmering with a sine pulse and a sequence of melodic ringing tones ebb and flow before a brief climax and fade.

The line notes suggest Nehil and Grzinich take recordings of large groups (playing who knows what) in the first two tracks, and wire drones in the third, and then 'compose' them. Interestingly Nehil is the credited composer of the first two, Grzinich of the last (with additions by Nehil), and the pieces have taken a number of years to create. There are some liner notes that may help understand their process - there are hints in terms of 'unfocus' and an overseas collaboration - but it is very trendily obscure. Anyway, irrespective of their methods, the results are dramatic e(in)volving minimalist works.
Ampersand Etcetera

visit Seth Nehil, Jgrzinich & Erewhon
it seems copies are still for sale via Herbal Records so buy it

try

Lionel Marchetti - RISS (L'Avalanche) (Erewhon, 2002)

1 RISS (L'Avalanche) 15:30

Lionel Marchetti is a young and brilliant composer of musique concrete, with a growing body of work released on Metamkine, Selektion and, more recently, Ground Fault and Intransitive. He also dedicates himself to improvisation, in duo with Jérôme Noetinger (manipulating objects, microphones and loudpeakers), or within ensembles such as Le Cube and Archipel.

"RISS", with its suggestive subtitle ("l'avalanche"), is a 15 minute piece of musique concrete produced in 1990, already asserting a very personal universe and a strong set of themes. A female character attempts to impose her brittle voice in a landscape of ice and distress which slowly turns out to be an extension of her own inner space. A particularly evocative imaginary sound world, a staggering dramatic tension succeed in making of "RISS" a powerful miniature, and definitely confirm the early talent of Lionel Marchetti among a new generation of composers reinventing musique concrete.
Erewhon

Courte pièce électroacoustique composée en 1990, Riss de Lionel Marchetti est une oeuvre de jeunesse mais témoigne d'une maîtrise époustouflante; le son, tantôt caressant, tantôt agressif et mordant, transperce l'auditeur à mesure que le froid envahit les membres d'une infortunée prisonnière d'un piège de glace aux contours indéfinis. Mais lorsque celle-ci décrit sa lente agonie, ajoutant ainsi à la tension dramatique, qui, de nous ou de la misérable victime, se retrouve finalement captif, enfermé dans ces masses aux frontières floues? Glacial mais magistral.
Octopus

Metamkine's Cinema Pour L'oreille series of Musique Concrete 3" releases has been one of those essential collections - the things that even the critics buy! Why start an Erewhon review this way? Well, Marchetti (as well as other work, including one in 2002_05) has had two disks on Metamkine, and this 1990 work would fit easily in the series (and indeed the internal layout seems to be an homage to the original Metamkine one).

Deceptively simple, it is based around a text (written and read) by Anne Decoret, that recurs through the piece between the sound interludes. My monolinguality frustrates me here - I am sure that the texts adds to the musical experience: the title and cover image suggests snow-related aspects and I think there is reference to an ice palace and tomb in the final stages. Anyway, Decoret has a delivery that suggests a meaningfullness and intensity, lightly manipulated and with a bed of simple and extended tones to support her.

The interludes, in contrast, are dense and dramatic: bird noises surrounded by big grinding tones, strings stretched to breaking, swirling around. Softer tense rumblings and breath-intakes, percussive, whispers and distant voices, shimmering coldness. Slowly spiralling tones down into the crinkling, sliding, uncertainty of the ice. Pops, crackling with tonal music within, pulsing. Birds throughout.

This is an exciting piece of music and I have no idea how it could have sat around since 1990. Whyever, it is great that it is now available, and provides an intense aural-visual experience.
Ampersand Etcetera

sold out visit Lionel Marchetti & Erewhon

try

New releases on Sonoris

Yannick Dauby - Overflows (Sonoris, 2010)
Yannick Dauby, originated from Mediterranean Alps and currently based in Taiwan. Sound and location, sound and community, sound and ecology, are the main topics of his projects.
Overflows is a composition based on field recordings in natural, industrial and urban environments dealing with the overwhelming of listening.
Fans of Francisco Lopez, Jean-François Laporte or Eric La Casa will be pleased.


Seth Nehil - Furl (Sonoris, 2010)
Furl is the sequel to Seth Nehil’s critically acclaimed 2009 release Flock & Tumble, also on Sonoris. Continuing his exploration of physically charged, acousmatic sound, these compositions whip, crash, swoop, glide and burble. Clusters of bell-like tones pierce hazy, corroded atmospheres. Animalistic yelps, distant pings, percussive bursts and glassy swells all merge in this unique sound-world. These five pieces are both rigorously-assembled and gracefully sparse. Furl will be a welcome addition to the expanding catalogue in Nehil’s futuristic organic paradox.

stream here

visit Yannick Dauby, Seth Nehil & Sonoris (and buy)

Endless Endless Endless - On Growth And Form (Tired Trails, 2010)

the duo of endless endless endless have captured our attention with their outer worldly jams. no doubt these two can take us there within a half a minute of their blossoming sounds. they sit & shine until your third eye opens with a pop. if you've never heard of synth mantras here is your chance. side a is the preamble to the drifting. . .the tape opens with 'weight,' a heavy & layered piece of blanket getting shredded apart by tiny bits of dust. the particles spread their wings across it & pull each thread separate to form something entirely new. the sounds form their own static & put pressure on your sternum, forcing the breath to morph into its own unique beast. 'headed' bounces in with a spring in its step,
silvery synths zinging around your cranium. a freak little head trip & a great one. 'groan' utilizes whispers and sssss sounds to bring you home to the groan. eee form a bottomless pit of space sounds & bounce you around there for a while. lots of lovely layers getting tangled in the free zone. side B: 'heat' hides your face for a while & replaces it with
a gentle beat & some gentle explosions, rising tides brought up to the surface then sunk again in the most brilliant of lights. then it all fades into the pondering feedback of 'never know me.' sounds unravel in a fireworks kind of display, some tones bounce & some slither sideways, some frolic in the foreground, some delight in the dark. electric guitar
shimmers happily while their voices sail the sea draft home. one take improvisations from the source. what more could you ask for?

black tapes come with full color art [by eee] printed on recycled paper & come housed in recycled felt. all tapes are dubbed real time. everything is put together mindfully & with joy. limited edition of 50, distros will have some soon. $6.

A1: weight A2: headed A3: groan
B1: heat B2: never know me

stream Heat here

visit Endless Endless Endless & Tired Trails (and buy)

Eliane Radigue - Adnos I-III (Table Of The Elements, 2002)

1 Adnos I 71:26
2 Adnos II 72:44
3 Adnos III 72:40


There is a lot to say about listening. If you pay close enough attention to any sounds, you can hear a lot of things that you would probably ignore otherwise. That goes for rock music, birds chirping, people talking and anything else that makes noise. Different noises suggest different ways of listening, but deep listening can easily be applied to any particular set of sounds.

Table of the Elements has recently released Eliane Radigue’s Adnos I-III in a very handsomely packaged triple compact disc set. Radigue created these three pieces between 1973 and 1981 by meticulously mixing together sounds from an ARP synthesizer on tape. Each piece took over a year to complete, necessitating immense precision in live mixing and planning. Radigue studied under Pierre Henry and exhibits remarkable skill in her techniques. Despite the impressive methods employed here, however, the process by which the pieces were created is really only important to the extent that it succeeds in its effects. Radigue’s music shouldn’t be interpreted as some sort of academic exercise in minimalism, but rather as simply the kind of music that she is innately compelled to make. That distinction applies pretty generally to art, considering technique and form as tools separate from distinction. The Adnos cycle, though, would be equally compelling as a solo vocal piece or any other medium aside from Radigue’s format.

Each piece is a little over 70 minutes in length and is based around gradually changing drones, generally happening separately in three distinct frequency ranges. The highest and lowest of these are at each end of the audible spectrum. The high end resembles tape hiss, barely perceptible at first listen, but sort of abrasive after a few minutes. The opposite end is a gently throbbing continuous booming sound that rattles your whole body, but gives a rather motherly feeling of warmth. In general, the music subtly becomes a part of your environment in such a way that you forget what it’s like without it, and pressing the pause button makes you perceive the relative silence much differently than before.

Across the cycle, an increasingly complex rhythmic element emerges. This begins in Adnos I with the low pulsing sound of sine waves slightly out of phase with each other. In the second piece, this becomes more elaborate, and a structured cadence emerges. Adnos III features rapidly syncopated tones somewhere between ticking and chiming that imply a much quicker tempo than the other elements of the piece. Throughout all three pieces, the sounds are very active. There’s a feeling of stasis to Radigue’s music, in which rapid motion exists, but without any clear direction.

The Adnos cycle offers ample opportunities for expanding one’s listening dexterity and bounteous rewards for those who are willing to engage the work. Like most drone-based music (or really any sound), there a deceptive amount of stuff going on that one might miss at first. Because of its minimalist nature, the listener is forced to tune into finer aspects of the sounds and continuously discover more minute characteristics. Most of the tones that Radigue employs are what some would refer to as pure. In some sense, they’re machine-like and artificial since she uses rather artificial methods to achieve them. Radigue succeeds immensely, however, in bringing out their fundamental character, making the pieces seem natural if abstract, and more than anything else, comfortable.

I don’t mean that her music is what one would call difficult listening. All of the noises that Radigue employs are both profoundly beautiful and immensely powerful. It’s pretty difficult for me to have much perspective on the way in which these would be perceived by a casual listener, but I don’t imagine that anyone would be able to dismiss them as unlistenable or displeasing. Patience is the only difficult challenge that the Adnos cycle poses. Change is inevitably very important to any way of listening; sounds are nothing but vibrating air. In these pieces, however, any changes are extremely gradual, making any attempt to directly perceive them virtually impossible. This forces one’s attention toward sonic qualities at a specific moment rather than change over time.

In the liner notes, Rhys Chatham provides an essay that is so illuminating that it makes saying any additional things about Radigue’s work a forbidding endeavor. He explains that “adnos” is a play on Latin words that can be taken to mean “to go towards unity.” This is quite an appropriate description of the way in which the pieces present themselves as whole entities. Since the changes that occur are slow and smooth to practically imperceptible, the listener is forced to take in each piece as a whole and listen to it as one long sound. Thinking about the sound at a certain point, it’s hard to tell where you are or how you got there. This causes the entire piece to become unified without clearly understandable causal relations between its parts. In fact, there are no clearly distinct parts. Each piece is meant to be heard in its entirety, and any smaller part lacks the force of the whole.

Meditation is strongly connected to the Adnos pieces, as is Radigue’s later work. Interestingly, she was inexperienced in meditation when she composed Adnos I. She became interested in Tibetan Buddhism after the piece was identified by some listeners as “meditation music,” dedicating three years to its study between the composition of Adnos I and Adnos II. Likewise, listening to the pieces draws you into a sort of meditative situation without any attempt on your part to get there. You need only to allow yourself to be receptive and pay attention to the sounds to find yourself becoming calmer and more aware of your surroundings. That might seem a little bit too trite or suggestive of mysticism, but regardless of your attitude toward meditation, it accurately connotes the manner in which the music affects you as a listener. You can interpret the works in variety of different ways, but there's a sensual effect common to any kind of listening to Eliane Radigue's music. The music gently influences your thoughts, becoming a natural part of your environment. It’s a good place to be.
Dusted Review

sold out visit Eliane Radigue (here or here) & Table Of The Elements

try disc 1
try disc 2
try disc 3

Olle Cornéer & Martin Lübcke - Harvest, performed by Alunda Church Choir, conducted by Cantor Jan Hällgren

Harvest by Alunda Kyrkokör (2009) from Olle Corneer on Vimeo.

Nous avions déjà fait un post sur cette création il y a quelques mois / We already spoke some months ago of this creation....

Harvest - and terrafon, the huge horn gramophone playing the earth - by Olle Cornéer and Martin Lübcke won an Honorary Mention in this years Prix Ars Electronica (Digital Musics & Sound Art)!

Read more here:
http://www.aec.at/prix_history_en.php?year=2010

This years jury consisted of David Toop (UK), Christina Kubisch (DE), Pamela Z (US), Susanna Niedermayr (AT) and Alain Thibault (CA).

Harvest (2009) is a new art piece for the new instrument terrafon, traditional ensemble and cropland - by Olle Cornéer and Martin Lübcke.

In the first performance Alunda Church Choir, conducted by Cantor Jan Hällgren, played the soil of northern Uppland (in Sweden) on terrafon. Terrafon is a large agricultural version of the horn gramophone, amplifying the sounds in the track it ploughs.

The artist-duo has before created the sound installation Bacterial Orchestra (www.bacterialorchestra.com) as well as an iPhone-generation of the same art piece, called Public Epidemic No 1. Olle Cornéer is also a electronic musician/producer/composer, while Martin Lübcke has a Ph.D. in theoretical physics (superstring theory).

Public Epidemic No 1 is also nominated for a prize in this years edition of File Prix Lux (Brazil).

visit Olle Cornéer and Olle Cornéer & Martin Lübcke

get in touch: olle@ollecorneer.com

Mirror - Nights (Three Poplars, 2001)

1 Untitled 2:11
2 Untitled 17:57

Sold Exclusively at the Chicago shows on March 30th & 31st, 2001.

sold out visit Andrew Chalk & Christoph Heemann

try

Christopher McFall - Lost At Sea And Seldom Found (Impulsive Habitat, 2010)

01 A black nightingale ascention (14:06)
02 Hallowedweenie (15:03)
03 As red as snow could be (16:14)
04 The persistence of breakable memory (08:38)
05 Track III (07:58)

When I started working on the Impulsive Habitat release, I first composed the track 'A Black Nightingale Ascension' which reflects some of my newest workings done with treated tape, vocal, field recordings, piano recordings and sampled material. There's a lot of twists and turns with this particular track and the routing of the composition seemed to imply an innate sense of journey. Some of the field recordings were composed from source material of birds here in the city, a favorite recording source for me for some time now. With all of this in mind, the title came into being. There are some engaging melodies that emerge out of the murky static and to me, the recordings convey a sense of broken nostalgia, of loss and recovery.

With the concept of broken nostalgia and of loss and recovery in mind, the idea of going back to the archives and work with lost and unfinished material seemed like an interesting way to give to "Lost at sea and seldom found" a substantial turn.

The track 'As Red As Snow Could Be' is an alternate version of a release I did for 'Self-Preservation Intact With Teeth.' Effectively, this work was reworked and remastered for the final composition. I rather enjoyed this version in particular and wanted to share it with everyone. It reflects a certain subtle interplay of sounds; a slow swoon into the abyss.

'Hallowedweenie' has remained unreleased to date and was composed from sounds from the local train yard as well as random field recordings. A funny story accompanies this piece, as I originally composed it for play in a haunted house at a Halloween party that this girl Beth had organized. The whole affair turned out to be a bust because when the party came around I was sick with the flu. I had this infatuation with Beth at the time and she was interested in my work, so there were a few other possibilities at play there, I suppose. On the day of the party she called asking that I bring the work to the haunted house but I was too sick to drive it there. She refused to send someone by to pick it up, so it just stayed on my computer until now. My friend Robert stopped by to check in on me that day and I was sort of down about how things had worked out with this one, as I had put some serious time and effort into composing this track. I was also a bit upset about Beth. Robert listened to the work and really enjoyed it. He also sympathized a bit with me about blowing things with Beth. As he left he said "Well, it is what it is. You should just call the track 'Hallowedweenie!' Hahaha! You win some and loose some." and so that's what it became. So, everyone please do me a favor and give it a play on Halloween, if you think of it.

'The Persistence of Breakable Memory' is a rework of some of the material I did for 'Grayscale Is Failing' and the result came out really well.

'Track III' is a variant of the release 'Friend of 12.' This version is shorter but the remastering really brought out certain aspects of the work that seemed to be missed in the original version of the release. After listening to the original version a few more times, I felt that some of the parts came off a bit 'murky' and there were parts that I wanted to rework, so this is the resulting track.
Christopher McFall

visit Christopher McFall & Impulsive Habitat

free download
(and everybody checks the back catalogue!)

Re-up

Xela / Ajilvsga - I Love Her Till I Die (Digitalis, 2008): here

Stephen Vitiello - The Light Of Falling Cars (JDK Productions, 1998)

1 Papercutter 7:33
2 A Little Buzz Of Something Electric 2:09
3 Guitar Solo Through Broken Speaker 2:15
4 Organ Ending 4:32
5 Slow Spy And Camel 3:24
6 Hahn + Tape 3:06
7 The Light Of Falling Cars 5:38
8 Not Spain 2:42
9 Trio 9:26
10 Duo 6:46
11 ... 1:38
12 Slow Drum 2:54
13 Not China 1:42

With The Light of Falling Cars, Stephen Vitiello delivered a strong and mature album of experimental music. The basis of the music comes from instruments: Vitiello's prepared electric guitar; Hahn Rowe's electric violin; Rebecca Moore's theremin, voice, and violin; Paul Geluso's double bass; and Pauline Oliveros' accordion, which can be heard on two tracks. These improvisations are overdubbed one over another, treated and recombined to form the pieces heard here. The longest track is under ten minutes and moods shift from one to the other. If anything, this CD is a tribute to Vitiello's chameleon-esque adaptability and his sense of cohesion because it all falls into place. "Papercutter" opens the album on an electro-acoustic note. "A Little Buzz of Something Electric" and "Guitar Solo Through Broken Speaker" (self-explanatory) dive into experimental sonorities. The listener hears a gradually reconstructed drum beat driving "Organ Ending." "Hahn + Tape" is a violin solo backed by an ethereal rhythmic loop. The more one progresses from one track to the next, the more the music abandons electro-acoustic treatments to concentrate on "real" instruments, with "Trio" and "Duo," both with Oliveros, constituting a beautiful highlight. Less cinematic than the EP Uitti/Vitiello, The Light of Falling Cars is nonetheless more substantial and allows the listener to really measure his talent.
All Music Guide

sold out visit Stephen Vitiello & JDK Productions

try

Damian Valles - In The Shadow Of The Occluding Body (Audio Gourmet, 2010)

1 Umbra (8:55)
2 Penumbra (Nearly There) (6:05)

Bien, samedi un-ami-qui-ne-veut-pas-être-remercié-ou-même-nommé-en-dépit-de-ses-excellentes-recommandations m'indiquait d'aller écouter les réalisations d'Audio Gourmet, dimanche je faisais un post et aujourd'hui, lundi, Audio Gourmet est de retour avec Damian Valles.... / Well, Saturday a-friend-who-does-not-want-to-be-thanked-or-even-named-in-spite-of-his-good-recommendations was telling me to go listen to Audio Gourmet releases, Sunday I did a post and today, Monday, Audio Gourmet is back with Damian Valles ....

For the next 15 minute E.P, we welcome Damian Valles to our catalog with a pair of gloomy electro-acoustic dronescapes.Damian has had releases out on Under The Spire, his own imprint Rural Route and more recently, the stunning 'Bow Echoes' which is available for free download on Resting Bell. Damian is a multi-instrumentalist from Canada and throughout his discography you will find that he is more than capable of producing various types of electro-acoustic/ambient music to a very high quality. A testament to this is the fact that 'Bow Echoes' has surpassed the 30,000 download count!

For his E.P on Audio Gourmet 'In The Shadows Of The Occluding Body', Valles has explored darker territory than in previous releases. Throughout this atmospheric 2 track journey, the overall listening experience is riddled with a sense of doom as Damian explores an array of carefully sculpted guitar-based drone textures.

This really is an excellent peice of work and we are extremely pleased to be able to bring it to your ears through Audio Gourmet. The fact that Damian Valles has released an E.P through the Audio Gourmet netlabel collection hints that we mean business as a label - long may we continue to present you work from artists of this calibre!
Audio Gourmet

visit Damian Valles & Audio Gourmet

free download

Telegraph Cabin - Backward Flight (self release, 2010)

Reçu un mail de Luca pour présenter la musique qu'il fait sous le pseudonyme de Telegraph Cabin / Received a mail from Luca to introduce the music he makes using Telegraph Cabin moniker....

Telegraph Cabin is the home recording project of Luca Cattaneo, a guy living somewhere in Northern Italy. It all started a year ago, when he plugged his guitar into a pedal and began working on soundscapes with the help of his computer. His main inspiration comes from amazing landscapes he's been lucky to see, tons of old books he read a hundred years ago, a few fading pictures of people he loved, forgotten folktales he heard when he was a child and, of course, all those weird sounds constantly ringing in his head.
Backward Flight, a digital EP containing four songs written and recorded during the last months, became available for free download on March 6.

visit Telegraph Cabin

free download

Marihiko Hara - For A Silent Space (Rimacona-Lab, 2005)

1 Untitled
2 A Gift
3 A Film / A Curtain Rail
4 Tsukikage
5 Before Fading
6 Landscape
7 Night

sold out visit Marihiko Hara & Rimacona-Lab

thanks to Salamantis for the rip
try (link fixed)

Darren Harper - Momentary (Audio Gourmet, 2010)

1 Fields and Glass (6:39)
2 Leaves and Piano (8:13)

For the second Audio Gourmet release, we welcome talented American ambient artist Darren Harper to our roster. Darren has had (3?) albums out on the Earth Mantra netlabel to date (http://www.earthmantra.com/) and another due out this month. He's also got work out on and collaborates with Jacob Newman under the guise Frequent Sync. To assist his forthcoming full album release on Earth Mantra, he has treated us to this exceptional E.P of top drawer ambient music.
First up, 'Fields and Glass' serves as the darker half of the E.P, fusing environmental field recordings from the far east with a complex and eerie drone. Darren used these open-source field recordings as part of an 'unconscious collaboration' with his unsuspecting studio partner to tap in to the recording environment, by adding his own atmospheric interpretation of the recorded events. There are a lot of open-source sounds available from around the world and it is fascinating to think that these recorded fragments of time can be used freely for artistic expression by artists that have never met the person behind the source.
The second track on the E.P is entitled 'Leaves and Piano' and features a delicate looped piano composition with restful drone accents. This piece is incredibly beautiful and its flowing, subtle repetition of the piano loop guides the mind to a lulling meditative state.

Darren Harper is a highly talented artist and a name to watch out for. His work continues to better itself with each release; Audio Gourmet is delighted to include this magnificent E.P to its catalog of releases. Enjoy...
Audio Gourmet

visit Darren Harper & Audio Gourmet

free download

Spheruleus - Rust (Audio Gourmet, 2010)

1 Rusting (6:08)
2 Stalling (3:54)
3 Brittle (4:56)

"The first release on the Audio Gourmet netlabel is from label owner Harry Towell under his Spheruleus guise. As Spheruleus, Harry has recently had a limited-run CD album released on Under The Spire (http://www.underthespire.co.uk/) and has another forthcoming on Hibernate (http://www.hibernate-recs.co.uk) fifteen minute E.P showcases his typical production approach and sits somewhere in between the different styles of sound design to be heard on these two CD label releases. For the Rust E.P, Harry has fused treated instrument takes of zither, vibraphone, guitar, trumpet and harmonica with drones and field recordings. The mood of the E.P is light and mellow; designed as an audio representation of the rust process. It would have been all too easy to portray this with a much darker approach to sound art, but instead the pieces sound as if content to 'rust' away slowly as time elapses. The process of rusting is a slow and subtle degradation of a building, vehicle or object as it gradually head towards uselessness. This ageing process sits in line with the ephemoral existence of the physical human being and in many ways, our metallic creations reflect our own temporary lifespan. The very nature of ephemorality can be a saddening and daunting fact but when accepted, the mere simplicity of existence can be truly savoured for what it is.Don't be bogged down with the unnecessary clutter that we humans weigh ourselves down with and enjoy one of life's most basic yet vital requirements - to draw breath and exist."
Audio Gourmet

visit Spheruleus & Audio Gourmet

free download

Oöphoi - Time Fragments Vol. 6 - Between Nothingness And Eternity (Umbra, 2005)

1 Meeting Rama 23:47
2 A Pale Reflection Of God 29:33
3 Le Monde Inanimé 8:57

sold out visit Oöphoi

try

Oöphoi - Time Fragments Vol. 5 - Wastelands (Umbra, 2005)

1 The Deaf Birds Of Alpha Aleph 11:48
2 I Canti Di Babele 10:03
3 Mandala Glass 14:19
4 Praying Gurkas 11:55
5 Endless Rain On Altair IV 15:33

sold out visit Oöphoi

try

Oöphoi - Time Fragments Vol. 4 - Garden Of Earthly Delights (Umbra, 2005)

1 Oniria 15:02
2 Cygnus Planante 22:13
3 The Somnific Dance Of Inanna 20:10
4 Harvest Moon 9:51

sold out visit Oöphoi

try

Oöphoi - Time Fragments 3 (Skean Dhu, 2004)

*** sorry, no cover art ***

1 Clouds Over Mars
2 The Forest Dreams Of God
3 Dissolving In The Void
4 Approaching The Island Of The Sirens

sold out visit Oöphoi

try

Oöphoi - Time Fragments 2 (Skean Dhu, 2003)

1 Voices In Ether 9:09
2 The Last Farewell 8:13
3 The Changeling 13:33
4 Mah (Alternate Version) 11:31
5 Requiem For A Green Planet 18:12
6 Borealis 10:48

sold out visit Oöphoi

try

Oöphoi - Time Fragments 1 (Skean Dhu, 2002)

1 Childhood Memories 10:59
2 Ancient Ruins 7:11
3 A Gathering Of Pygmy Gods 22:58
4 A Call To Prayer 12:01
5 Til The End Of The World 7:03
6 Lost Lake 5:08

Oöphoi bubbled up out of nowhere for me, an unknown artist creating spacious, beautiful droneworks in obscurity somewhere in Italy. Since I heard about this artist, releases by him have appeared on very fine ambient labels like Hic Sunt Leones, Amplexus, Electroshock, and Hypnos. Even with all of the "official" releases, Gianluigi Gasparetti--the man behind Oöphoi--also self-produces special, limited CDR projects for his prodigious output. These "unofficial" releases often number in the best of his large catalog.

In 2001, Gasparetti released volume one of the Time Fragments series of CDRs, "a collection of lost pieces, waves and drones" from his archives. This, the first in a three part series, proves to be a fascinating addition to a strong discography--not a collection of quickly done throwaway tracks. In fact, volume one operates very well as a full length album of stately, dark, quiet soundscapes.

We begin with "Childhood Memories," a soft, billowing cloudbank of synths cradling a nostalgic childhood time. This is a restful place, whose sounds mirror soft intakes of breath. This track gently drifts along into "Ancient Ruins" which recalls the early cassette work by Vidna Obmana. You can almost imagine the spires of a stone structure slowly being pulled down to dust by inexorable gravity. The slightly symphonic synths give way to a ghostly, industrial drone-choir ... clearly, the spirits of this old, old place have not quite vacated. From silence, the next, crowning, track is "A Gathering of Pygmy Gods." This is the CD's longest track, clocking in at almost twenty-three minutes. It begins with a quiet drone, softly wavering with breathy, echoed noises. There is a whisper of windswept trees, and a hint of percussion, but like any ritual you aren't sure if the sounds are a product of your own imagination or the world swirling hallucinogenically around you. Gradually the sounds build, giving way to a harmonic shakuhachi, similar to work by Tuu or Robert Rich. The ritual continues with trance flutes, soft water sound, and the mysterious swelling of storms above. Eventually the track quiets into a space drift of low bass rumbles--the ritual is over, the clouds roiling as they recede into the distance.

We are then transported into a ritual of a different sort with "A Call to Prayer." A beautiful middle-eastern chanting is joined with spirit drones and tinkling crystals similar in sound to Klaus Wiese's Ceremony. The drone seems a bit out of place with the low volumed chant, which is clearly the highlight of the track ... a slight misstep in an otherwise excellent album. The final two short tracks recall the first piece of the album with all-encompassing mists of synth, which rise and fall in soft harmonies sounding rather like Tibetan singing bowls.

All in all this is a fantastic showcase of the different ambient modes Oöphoi works within. While Gasparetti's soundpath may have been trailblazed by others, his work is solidly created, intense, and worthwhile. This is an extremely listenable collection of mildly dark ambient tracks, well suited to those who find themselves repeatedly returning to Rich's Sunyata, or Alio Die's Under an Holy Ritual. Fine work.
The Ambient Review

sold out visit Oöphoi

try

Re-up

Sylvain Chauveau & Ensemble Nocturne - Down To The Bone (Les Disques du Soleil et de l'Acier, 2005): here

Jonathan Coleclough & Andrew Chalk - Sumac (ICR, 1997 (1999 reissue))

1 Sumac 71:06

Released a few years back as a one-sided piece of vinyl, Jonathan Coleclough and Andrew Chalk's "Sumac" has been one of those hidden gems within the deep listening realms of music that has continuously amazing us. Fortunately, "Sumac" has re-emerged from obscurity with this lengthy 70 minute cd version. Andrew Chalk is a veteran of the noise / drone scene who has recorded with Organum, Ora, and Feral Confine. Working with upstart dronologist Jonathan Coleclough, Chalk has conjured a breathtaking memser of bowed metal wires, cymbals, and other pieces of metal with shifting chunks of backward masked slow aerated sound. "Sumac," shrouded in a glistening darkness, is one of the all-time great drone records.
Aquarius Records

sold out visit Jonathan Coleclough, Andrew Chalk & ICR

try

Alasdair Roberts - Ayrtime.org EP (Ayrtime, 2010)

Un petit interlude folk dans nos programmes, reçu un mail de Chris Dooks qui a produit un EP pour Alasdair Roberts / A little folk interlude in our programs, received a mail from Chris Dooks who just produced an EP for Alasdair Roberts....

Recorded on the 2nd of April 2010 in Alloway, close to Burn's Cottage, produced by Chris Dooks. Thanks to The University of The West of Scotland, Eleanor Dooks and Bar Libertine.

If you weren't at this gig then you missed a real treat. Alasdair gave us a cracking hour and twenty of his ghostly ballads, middle-age tunings and communication with the ancestors. It was completely beautiful. And not only that, Alasdair and Ayrtime recorded this wonderful EXCLUSIVE four track digital EP especially for us! This EP features an unreleased track and also a preview of Roberts new album 2010's 'Too Long In This Condition'. The Man was on the cover of The Wire magazine for goodness sakes!

The E.P. is free for all Ayrtime punters and beyond.
Ayrtime

visit Alasdair Roberts & Ayrtime

free download

Darren Tate - Black Beauty (The Locus Of Assemblage, 2007)

1 Only Whispers 11:18
2 Black Beauty 7:00

What looks to be the last of the Locus of mini-Assemblage series for a while at least sees the addition of the ever reliable Darren Tate to the roster of featured artists. Throughout it's run this series has produced many gems and so it's fitting that it ends with an absolute corker. This is Tate at his most mesmeric, creating multi-layered harmonies from pure tones. Recently Tate has been exploring the more psychedelic reaches of his oeuvre and with each release he pushes further into the stratosphere.
Wonderful Wooden Reasons

sold out visit Darren Tate

try