New music on disc.
Escape From Warsaw | MateriaSanta Maria / Karol Su/Ka | Czas SnuZoharum (2xCD/DL) Since way back in the latter 80’s Polish sound artist Karol Suka has gone by a few different monikers, two of which occupy one of two separate discs as both Escape from Warsaw as well as Karol Su/ka w/Santa Maria (Marta Olszewska) […]
Luís Fernandes | DemoraRoom40 (CD/DL) This is my first exposure to the work of Portugese sound artist Luís Fernandes. His sound is a dappled, abstract-static ambient with a side of electronica that comes unexpectedly between the frazzled Rising Edge and the flighty Fractured Harmony With Pulse. It’s a fascinating twofer that couldn’t be more opposed […]
A conversation with The Corrupting Sea (aka Jason Lamoreaux), also labelrunner for Somewherecold Records, about his new Trilogy I series. TJ Norris/Toneshift: Hey, afternoon Jason, how are you doing and what’s up with you lately? Jason Lamoreaux/The Corrupting Sea/Somewherecold Records: Well, mostly spending my days recording, working on the record label, and getting things moving […]
Jakob Rehlinger | PowehiArachnidiscs (CD/DL) The title is derived from the Hawaiian phrase for the name given to the first black hole to be photographed, here as interpreted by Quill Hardy’s near embryonic coverart. Jakob Rehlinger‘s Powehi are a half dozen tracks with an un/familiar flash to the past and the future of a dialed-in […]
Inner Vision Laboratory | ContinuumZoharum (CD/DL) Karol Skrzypiec‘s vision starts with a narrative about the psychological challenges in the purpose of life, but goes outside the realm with futuristic themes in A Perception Redefined. This is a synthesis of sci-fi soundtracks, a new age twist and open-ended ambient. It’s hazy in this embryonic stasis of […]
Seth Nehil | Skew / FlumeV A N I L L A (CD/DL) This release comprises two EPs: Skew (2014) and Flume (2017) from multimedia artist Seth Nehil. Having worked with Nehil over the years (as presented, as observer, as collaborator) I’ve realized that what really makes him stand-out as a singular artist is his […]
loscil | EquivalentsKranky (2xLP/CD/DL) One of my most important role models growing up was none other than Alfred Stieglitz. Not only was he an incredible photographer, but also a curator, and for many years I too, as a photographic artist dabbled in the medium (of curation). The man laid so much groundwork for conceptual photography […]
Massimo Toniutti | Cava xi.xi.86Ferns (CD/DL) These refurbished sounds originally recorded in-between 1986-87 are from Italian experimenter Massimo Toniutti (we covered his Il Museo Selvatico here last year). His use of metallic objects and everyday instruments, fused in mysterious ways, is one of multilayered distinctions. A special thanks to Ferns and to other curatorial imprints […]
Line Spectrum | BrumaGlacial Movements (CD/DL) Line Spectrum is the moniker of Ukrainian artist Oleg Puzan, someone who is new to me, but I’m excited to have made the discovery with this new release on the Glacial Movements label. Constructed from meticulously manipulated field recordings, the five tracks making up Bruma are impressive soundscapes from […]
Reynols | Minecxio Emanations 1993-2018 Pica Disk (6xCD & DVD/DL) “Outstanding and far-out experimental exaggeration” Retrospective box sets are informative think-tanks! Lovely introductions or remembrance collections, bearing the task of showcasing the whereabouts of an artist, in an enlarged manner. Reynols, an Argentinian experimental band, hailing from Buenos Aires, formed in 1993 as Burt Reynols […]
Andrey Kiritchenko | OvertSpekk (CD/DL) Alright, so I am breaking one of my own rules here, though with good reason. This album was released back in 2017 but I’ve not had it in my hands and ears until recently, so I wanted to pontificate a little, so please indulge me as this is one of […]
Ranter’s Groove |俳句 Kaczynski Editions (CD/DL) “A low profile minimalism, adequate to express in full” Haiku (俳句) is a very short form of Japanese poetry in three phrases, typically characterized by three qualities. The essence of haiku is cutting (kiru). This is often represented by the juxtaposition of two images or ideas and a kireji […]
Asmus Tietchens & Frans de Waard | OordeelAufabwegen (CD/DL) The pairing of two important figures in the world of experimental sound doesn’t come any more interesting than these two prolific gentlemen meeting in collaboration. From the very first note herein the listener is hooked by the pared down minimalistic approach to electronic music at its […]
Toshimaru Nakamura, Dafydd Roberts, Angharad Davies, Rhodri Davies & Andrew Leslie HookerExemption From Meaning | Listen to the Voice of Fire (CD/DL) Dafydd Roberts has been the instigator of live performances in Aberystwyth in Wales under the symposium name of Listen To the Voice Of Fire. The desk recording issued on this particular CD involved […]
Yann Novak | Stillness901 Editions (CD/DL) As the sonic component of an audio visual exhibition, Stillness finds the LA-based artist expanding on his long running investigation into widescreen ambience that is the aural equivalent of a Hiroshi Sugimoto seascape. The album is divided into coastal-related themes: Subtropical and Oceanic, each representing the two climates that […]
Colin Andrew Sheffield & James Eck Rippie | Exploded ViewElevator Bath (CD/DL) Out of one of our Texan sister cities, Austin, comes the latest from Colin Andrew Sheffield & James Eck Rippie. Exploded View runs just shy of twenty minutes, but for a short EP packs a gentle wallop. Imbued with trickling micro-sounds that whir […]
Simon Balestrazzi & Nicola Quiriconi | LicheniAzoth (CD/DL) An incredibly intimate record from its initial moments, the two composers have created a minimal world of textural improvisations that are amplified like that of a macrolens. And that’s what you would need, exactly, to explore the world left behind by lichen, the algae/bacteria found on surfaces, […]
180º | SubmentalSplitrec (CD/DL) The Australian trio 180º has released Submental its debut album on the Splinter Orchestra’s label. Vocals and horns and tinny percussion all blend well in the contorted concrete music that is Equilateral. Along the way it twitches, slides and sizzles with obtuse noises. It’s a collaged form of minimal modern jazz […]
Akio Suzuki | Resonant Spaces901 Editions (CD) Akio Suzuki is known for being one of the most interesting sound performing artists to date. His approach to site specific performance and careful study of space acoustics based on experience and perception turns every concert into a unique experience which is, of course, hard to document and […]
Dividenthal & Aumgn | The In Sound From Way Out!Carpe Sonum Novum (CD/DL) Nacht Plank and Ishq (aka Lee Norris, Matt Hillier) combine their collective talents on this ambient project under the moniker Dividenthal & Aumgn. released in a limited edition of 200 discs by Carpe Sonum Record’s sublabel Carpe Sonum Novum (since 2015). This […]
Moloch Conspiracy | BaclouEighth Tower Records (CD/DL) Recorded on a trip to French Guiana this is Moloch Conspiracy‘s follow-up to last year’s The Cave of Metaphysical Darkness & Lights – also on Eighth Tower Records, which we covered almost to the day in 2018. Here he is veering through swampy jungles and combining the engaging […]
Monte Espina | y culebraMarginal Frequency (CD) After spending decades surrounded by innumerable species of investigational sonority, I am still pretty ashamed with myself when tackling the work of artists I had literally never heard of before. By looking at the press release for y culebra, not only the names of Venezuelan Ernesto Montiel and […]
Melaine Dalibert | CheminantElsewhere (CD/DL) The Elsewhere label continues in its pursuit of issuing minimal and experimental music, covering composition and improvisation. The three most recent releases reviewed here all share a specific aesthetic, namely the piano. Returning to Elsewhere for a second release, the French composer Melaine Dalibert delivers five exquisitely sparse pieces, four […]
Philippe Petit | Descent into the MaelstromOpa-Loka (CD/DL) Inspired by the work of Edgar Allan Poe, Descent into the Maelstrom is the latest in a long line of often stimulating and off-center recordings by Philippe Petit. And surprise, this is a whole new ball of wax that is more than slightly off the rails. From […]
Daniel W J Mackenzie & Richard A Ingram | Half Death Midira Records (CD/DL) Half Death is at its most impressive when it’s at its quietest. The album feels to be an exploration of the quieter side of melodic composition, with pianos and synths and fizzing arpeggios accompanying the sort of reverberant scapes that seems […]
E Millar | no instrument machine, airMystery & Wonder Records (CD/DL) A groaning din–heavy bass undulating tone-field sets the mood for what ensues as a horrific animus industrialite in-dwelling that is Montreal-based Elizabeth Millar’s no instrument machine, air. Within seconds of its twenty-two minutes the listener must confront how to approach what they are experiencing. […]
Kontakt Der Jünglinge | Makrophonie 1Die Stadt (CD) MMXIV – The year was 2014: And this is a random surfacing of a collaboration by German master sound artists Asmus Tietchens and Thomas Köner that somehow slipped through my radar. Was it the obfuscation of the gray on black Greek cover text (μακροφωvή I)? Likely not. […]
Kloob | Unpredictable SignsWinter-Light (CD/DL) Unpredictable Signs is the fourth full-length release from from Spanish sound-artist Kloob (Daniel Ferreira) and his second on Winter-Light. Here we have a murky drone-ambient work mastered by Raffaele Pezzella (aka Sonologyst). Unreachable Realms is a haunting opener with breathy synths that seem perforated, seeping energy and elapsing time. This […]
Aythar | Cosmic ResonancesCarpe Sonum Records (CD/DL) Carpe Sonum Records overlapped and picked up from where Pete Namlook (Kuhlmann) left off with his phenomenal Fax +49-69/450464 around the time of his untimely passing in 2012 as they were originally the North American distributor’s for Namlook’s imprint. Now going on a half dozen years they have […]
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 […]
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