Laurisilva by Laura Agnusdei and Mare di Dirac’s Ophite Diagram were both recently released. This pair of Italo acoustic-electronic releases offer strategic sound art which incorporates wind instruments, mixed with electronic processing. Agnusdei collaborates with several contributing artists who play traditional instruments. Mare di Dirac employs the use of handmade instruments. While the theme of […]
Still und Dunkel | AbandonedHallow Ground (LP/CD/DL) From the opening seconds of searing harsh noise rasp like a contact mic applied to a sheet of metal unto cat-claw-on-a-chalkboard effect, through electronic swells and resting in a spell of quick-clicking, Abandoned (English, ‘quiet and dark’) by Still und Dunkel rips through dynamic (d)evolutionary spaces. I should […]
A duo of November releases show the strong and distinct presence by two interesting women who bring something new to the international experimental music circuit. The contributions herein addressed a diverse range from white-noise to trance-ambient and favor longer form tracks. Their spectrum runs from linear to repetitious in noteworthy serenity; electronic and highly processed […]
Here are two space-oriented experimental electro-ambient albums released in October. One follows in November. While each graft rhythmic beats and melodic undulations, the three conceptualize space very differently. Nonlin by Steve Hauschildt (released October 25) conveys a vacuum-effect at odds with nature’s patterned regenerations. Released October 13th, Collecting Space by QST (Frans de Waard) presents […]
Just as the temperatures begin to cool some, the ears begin to warm to what’s coming next. Four phenomenal experimental electronic albums from around the globe all release on Friday October 25th, 2019, oh – that’s today! Giulio Aldinucci | No Eye Has an Equal99 Chants (CS/DL) No Eye Has an Equal by Giolio […]
Aki Onda & Paul Clipson | Make Visible The Ghosts audioMER. (LP) *TAKATAKATAKAKTAKATAKA* Shadow rakes across the pavement starts in medias res, unexpectedly, without any introduction and we are violently thrown into a hectic sonic situation where pulsing sounds, and deep dark drones manifest their presence in a sinister way. We are immediately acquainted with […]
Telefon Tel Aviv | Dreams Are Not EnoughGhostly International (DL/LP/CD) ‘Defiantly spaced-out post-wave…’ ‘Gravelly loops/samples.’ ‘Hydra; downtempo aesthetic.’ ‘Velvety and ghastly vox…’ etc. are some of my notes in reflection from listening to Dreams Are Not Enough. Even prior to the full-length release, the leader single track a younger version of myself has 22K+ streams […]
Keiji Haino, Jim O’Rourke, Oren AmbarchiIn the past only geniuses were capable of staging the perfect crime (also known as a revolution) Today anybody can accomplish their aims with the push of the button | Black Truffle (2 LP + CD) Haino, O’Rourke, Ambarchi is definitely a one-of-a-kind trio by many means: for those who […]
Fahmi Mursyid | One Instrument SessionsOne Instrument (LP/DL) From Java, via the One Instrument record label, heralds the deep sensual organic compositions of the Fahmi Mursyid sessions. Save for the press release, a listener may not comprehend that each of these six arrangements consist of one instrument each (all traditional Sundanese) – a strict guideline […]
David Rosenboom | Brainwave Music Black Truffle (LP) Derived from his 1970’s experiments in biofeedback, Brainwave Music is both an academic exploration of a compositional system, and somewhat of a novelty. The last few years has seen a renewed interest in biofeedback and its utility in synthesis, so it is perhaps fitting that Black Truffle have […]
Koeosaeme | ObanikeshiOrange Milk Recordings (LP/DL) Obanikeshi is the second album by the Japanese artist Ryu Yoshizawa (AKA Koeosaeme) released by Orange Milk Records. Thirteen short tracks featuring light speed electronic patchworks, glossy synthetic sounds and plastic pastel-neon, transparent noises. Like a digital machine gun, track after track, the artist fires out laser grains, bits […]
Alessandro Adriani | Morphic Dreams Stroboscopic Artefacts (LP/CD/DL) Returning to the Stroboscopic Artefacts label with his sophomore LP, Alessandro Adriani offers a thoroughly enjoyable mix of mid-paced techno, EBM and beat-less excursions into ambient territory. It’s an album that is full of analogue warmth and catchy arpeggios, borrowing from dance music’s history but served up […]
Dots | Dots Astral Industries (2xLP/DL) It’s been twenty-two years since its initial release (on Rather Interesting), but this ’94 classic self-titled work by Dots (Noel Summerville, Uwe Schmidt) gets a classy remastered double vinyl treatment by Astral Industries, and this is the first time this appears on wax (due July 15). This is as […]
Rutger Hauser | The Swim Adaadat / Tutl (LP) The latest work from Rutger Hauser (and company) appear on his second solo album since 2015, The Swim. Opening with Fjallavatn which seems caught somewhere between rock, jazz and classical – coming off like a sassy abstract cabaret record at first. These six players do incredible […]
Zahn / Hatami / McClure | Ypsilon N5MD (LP/DL) One curious aspect of collaborative efforts is the degree to which the potentially diverse styles and approaches of those involved can lend themselves to a unified outcome or, as is often the case, instead proffer an award juxtaposition of incongruous voices. By prioritising their existence as […]
Distant Animals | WeavesHallow Ground (LP/DL) Distant Animals returns to the Hallow Ground label for his second album of modular synth explorations. On this LP, the project of Daniel Alexander Hignell investigates a spacial and often quasi-rhythmic approach to sound making. Where his debut album for the label, “Lines” traded in low frequency drones (case […]
Biosphere | The Senja Recordings Biophon Records (2xLP/CD/DL) Geir Jenssen is one of those rare artists who sets the modern standard for chill ambient electronic music. This work is an elegy to Knut Fjørtoft (1960-2017), a Norwegian artist who passed away in his prime, and who had created beautiful artwork for past Biosphere recordings. At […]
There Is A Flaw In My Iris (12″/DL) KrysaliSound Don’t Worry Mother, Everything Is Going To Be Okay (CD/CS/DL) Shimmering Moods Records Despite the ecological hiccup I was taken aback back this new title, not because of the music, or the stunning visuals, but the title itself. As a gardener this is the second year […]
Tapage & Gareth Davis | STATESMoving Furniture Records (LP/DL) Tapage (Tijs Ham) is a composer and researcher from Holland, based in Bergen (Norway). During his long activity he has built a strong aesthetic identity and has been working with the exploitation of chaotic elements in algorithmic composition, to develop responsive and generative systems with a […]
To kick off my first reviews of June, here is a triple set of compilations that have come across the radar at Toneshift. First is on a new label, Subject To Restrictions Discs. The “Kampf Der Welten EP” is a sampler of sorts, a mission statement to showcase this fresh imprint that deals with synth-led […]
Conjecture | V Amek Collective (12″/DL) V arrived in a gorgeous marbled gray wax, the latest from Vasilis Angelopoulos and his project Conjecture. From the start we are immersed in a dark, lush set of drone, recessed and amid explosive contortions. With each tiny eruption on Ύπνος (Sleep) the listener may take pause as this […]
Edgar Valcárcel | Electronic Compositions for the Andes (1967-2006) Buh Records (12″/DL) Edgar Valcárcel (1932-2010) was one of those rare Peruvian orchestral and chamber music composers from an era that also saw fellow avant garde craftsmen like César Bolaños, Leopoldo La Rosa, and Francisco Pulgar Vidal. Electronic Compositions for the Andes (1967-2006) is like a […]
The Brussels-based duo present their new LP on the KrysaliSound label, and it’s a perfect home for their fusion of guitar drones, field recordings and hushed vocals. Since 2011 Tropic of Coldness have pursued a blissed-out take on harmonic ambience that folds ethereal elements into their compositions. There are rarely any sharp edges on their […]
?Alos & Xabier Iriondo | Coscienza di sé Sangue Disken/Cheap Satanism Records (LP/DL) On their latest EP, Coscienza di sé, Italian guitarist Xabier Iriondo (Afterhours) and singer/musician ?Alos (Stefania Pedretti of OvO) take Emma Goldman‘s feminist text/lyrics and run the necessary miles. This is a follow-up to a 7″ released way back in 2011, and it’s […]
Robert Heel | In Between Seldom Seen (12″/DL) The concept of taking two tracks and then sandwiching them together as a final product, and showing the process of the two parts is near and dear to my creative heart. And that’s exactly what Berlin artist Robert Heel does on In Between, which is released on […]
Good Fuck | S/TJoyful Noise Recordings (LP/CD/DL) Who said that work and feelings shouldn’t be mixed together? The music world is actually packed with couples who compose and produce together. The White Stripes, Essaie Pas, John Lennon with Yoko Ono, Albano & Romina, ABBA, just to name a few… Still, only a few of those […]
My Disco | Environment Downwards Records (LP/DL) The Australian trio My Disco (Rohan Rebeiro, Benjamin Andrews, and Liam Andrews) begin their new record with An Intimate Conflict, pretty much as it says, in the form of a continuous soft revving motor. It’s a bit unnerving, and a bit suspect, but serves as an industrial overture […]
Curt Cress | Dschung Tek Music From Memory (12″/DL) A portion of this new EP release was originally issued circa 1991/92 by German drummer Curt Cress (who worked with house fave, Nina Hagen) under the moniker of simply C.C. It also contains three deep cuts from his 1983 solo record Avanti. So since this is […]
Annabelle Playe | Geyser DAC Records (12″/DL) Geyser is from French multidisciplinary sound artist Annabelle Playe and is her third full-length effort — it’s one to keep an ear out for. It offers something solitary, about infinitesimal fragments slowly expanding toward the far corners of the horizonline. It’s a balance of soft and hard […]
These four new releases represent some distinctively innovative directions in electronic music at the moment. From delicate sound design to nu-dub to multi-layered and restrained techno oscillation, each with its own distinct take on the medium. Belief Defect | Remixed 01 [ Raster – 12″/DL ] Efdemin | New Atlantis [ Ostgut Ton – LP/CD/DL […]
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