Digital matter that matters.
Sleepland | Out of HueSpekk (CD/DL) This is Kengo Yonemura as Sleepland who has been creating delicate ambient works infused with drone since 2013. This new release in the perfectly curated and long-running series from Spekk, is a generous addition to their balanced roster of works that soothe, and stretch the imaginative world of intersections […]
Visions | TemplesCyclic Law (CD/DL) The latest from Frederic Arbour, here aka Visions, is his latest disc, Temples. It is an atmospheric, almost gothic drone that emits through the air like microscopic droplets. Traces, which leads the charge builds adroitly in a dappled haze. Said to be a “hymn to lost civilisations” it finds its […]
øjeRum | Without Blood The Sun Darkens Cyclic Law (CD/DL) Paw Grabowski presents an incredible limbed (wings and arms) analog collage to contemplate over the course of Without Blood the Sun Darkens, under his moniker øjeRum. The run time, just under an hour, provides a cryptic expanse within which to lose the outside world – […]
It’s that time of the year when everything seems at a snail’s pace, in slow-motion, allowance for the Sun to nourish and ravage the Earth. While this phenomenon continues to baffle scientists the world over, I intend on making my way through a handful of releases worthy of some cross-examination, and your ear. Though we […]
Michael Donnelly | Why So Mute, Fond Lover?Front & Follow (CD/CS/DL) The opening passage sort of lurks restlessly. This is the new release from Michael Donnelly on Manchester’s innovative Front & Follow. Within Motions Are Man there are seemingly sections to this five minute track that follow only Donnelly’s unscripted rules. The listener will appreciate […]
Bernhard Living | Digital Voices Sono Space (DL) Based on the spoken word comes Digital Voices, two extended pieces by minimalist composer Bernhard Living: ‘Composition 2011/03 (Ich Tanze Nicht)’ and ‘Composition 2015/07 (Ольгина история (Olga’s Story). I’m reminded of experiments from Meredith Monk, Jaap Blonk and the essence of Laurie Anderson as Ich Tanze Nicht […]
Golden Chorale | Midnightself-released (CS/DL) Hailing from out of Raleigh, NC is John Mitchell, here under the guise of Golden Chorale for the first time releasing the tape Midnight in a first-run edition of only fifty copies. The six tracks run at about a half-hour and consist of machines and strings melding together a droopy […]
Laura Luna Castillo | FolksonomiesCudighi Records (CS, DL) Strings and no-input in unison – the first track, ‘I See But Say Nothing’ of Folksonomies by Laura Luna Castillo takes the listener somewhere between a carnival and a forest cove. Tidal wafts of electronic sine waves and disguised dub are paired with soft strings – ticking […]
Llyn Y Cwn | Twll DuCold Spring (CD/DL) Aside from the monolithic legends posed by the title this is a 100% pure drone record worthy of your suspended attention. Benjamin Ian Powell’s (Llyn Y Cwn) sound and imagery are impeccably desolate, with this sensibility that a raging core is central and pulsating. This black hole […]
Lucas Norer | Dispositionself-released (BK/USB/DL) This latest recording from Austrian a/v artist Lucas Norer, Disposition, is a creative salute to the largest open-air instrument in the world: the Heroes’ organ (built in 1931) in Kufstein Fortress, Austria. Washes of hiss and synthetic ambient at the outset lead into splintered passages that are fairly chill. Orgelwind, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
SPUN ‘ROUND LIKE A RECORD: While things are are changing in the environment, and this is likely going to be one of the hottest years on record, we pause to take in the sounds of Summer. So, yes, even though we have abandoned social media altogether – we are glad you joined us here, our […]
Tag Cloud | Slow LightFuzzy Panda Recording Company (CS/DL) The latest from Chris Videll as Tag Cloud encapsulates four works that are at once a step out of time, and its quite peculiar to venture to guess which way they point. Slow Light verges on the psychedelic, something shadowed, something Moog. It’s a bit of […]
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 […]
Cyanching | Shadow of a ShadowBezirk Tapes (CS/DL) From London-based Taiwanese composer Cyanching comes an ear-catching debut. Her work, at least at first, comes off subtle with a shroud of harmony slowly emerging from a quiet space. Perhaps Shadow of a Shadow is the sonoric equivalent to mise en abîme, as it transmits what sound […]
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 […]
Left Limbs | HexesBuzzhowl Records (DL/Cassette) Available now for digital download and/or on black cassette compliments of Buzzhowl Records is ‘Hexes’ – the second release by the Austin, Texas duo ‘Left Limbs.’ Raul Buitrago’s and Jacob Saheb’s forces combine for the live recording from September 1st 2018. The pair performed two supporting shows for the […]
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 […]
Hüma Utku | GnosisKarlrecords (LP/DL) “Pilgrimage chronicles, transmuted into mesmerizing sounds” Hüma Utku is an electronic composer hailing from Istanbul, Turkey and currently based in Berlin, Germany. Her work involves exploring the possibilities of how sound textures and rhythm can be used to evoke a sense of ancient within abstract electronics. Having released material under […]
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 […]
Catherine Christer HennixThe Deontic Miracle – Selections from 100 Models of Hegikan RokuBlank Forms (2xLP/DL) This latest release is the first-ever surfacing of a work by Swedish composer Catherine Christer Hennix recorded in 1976 (at Moderna Museet), continuing a series that kickstarted last year by Blank Forms (Brooklyn, NY) with Selected Early Keyboard Works which […]
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 […]
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