Cut A Lonely Figure | In Sea, In Circles, In Concretepan y rosas discos (DL) The simplicity of chorus-effected guitar in the fading-in ripple that commences In Sea, In Circles, In Concrete by Cut A Lonely Figure after several measures is readily joined by a stereo-panning noise loop. The four note walk-down and pop of […]
loscil | lifelikeFrond (CD/DL) Full of tenderly keyed minimalist melodies, the softly phrased tracks that fill Lifelike by Loscil explore flora, fauna, humanity and earthen structures. The similes evoke various contemplations, primarily of material subjects. From the onset, sweeping synths wash out understated electronic rhythms. There’s just enough beat to hinge the ambiences with subdued […]
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 […]
Grisha Shakhnes | Being ThereUnfathomless (CD/DL) Recorded in Tel Aviv-Jaffa, Israel the new recording from Grisha Shakhnes is uniquely set apart from other field recordings in that it is that of both indoor and outdoor sounds, contained and free. These sounds penetrate through personal space and were sometimes incidental. Shakhnes explains his making of Being […]
mHz | FormKasuga Records (SD/DL) NZ-based Iranian sound/installation artist Mo H. Zareei, here as mHz, brings a new album (via SD card) with Form. To prepare for this I warmed with an opening act of some of Chic’s greatest funk jams. Now that I am loose, it’s time to tune in wide and focused. Of […]
Coatic Sequence | Coatic PlatesFractal Meat (CS/DL) Coatic Sequence, a Manchester-based collaborative a/v duo of Darren Adcock and Tasha Whittle has just released Coatic Plates on the experimental imprint Fractal Meat. To create their tape the two built their own modular synthesizer that they lovingly refer to as Glen. Somehow the way in which they […]
Six Microphones (Robert Gerard Pietrusko) | Six MicrophonesLine/Counter Audition (DL/2xLP) Six Microphones is being co-released on Line (download) and on double milky white vinyl via Counter Audition. Massachusetts-based landscape architecture professor and composer Robert Gerard Pietrusko has created something of an anomaly of feedback for installation and it’s quite unique in terms of its minimalist […]
Benjamin Nelson | MiniaturesSenufo Editions (CD) It’s great to have the opportunity to hear the latest out on Senufo Editions, and Benjamin Nelson‘s Miniatures is all about what’s missing. Mind you, there’s plenty of surface noise, though what I hear and see on it’s ghostly coverart are a unique form of reduction through erasure. The […]
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 – […]
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 […]
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 […]
Ato Vari | StelePerfect Aesthetics (CS/DL) There’s an eerie chill in the air on Stele by Ato Vari (Mads Gravers Nielsen). This is his third tape in each consecutive year since 2017 under this moniker, all on a different imprint (Holy Geometry, Posh Isolation, and Perfect Aesthetics here). The wandering ambient texture breathes the finest […]
OTSO | AAVE Elli Records (DL) Finnish composer Otso Lähdeoja (aka OTSO) is about to release his third solo record, AAVE (Finnish for ghost) on French imprint Elli. The whispy-ness at first certainly gives off all the feels of an apparition or something that goes bump in the night. By utilizing glitchy edits and aeration […]
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 […]
minim | Construct Kasuga Records (SD Card/DL) This is the debut by Romanian minimalist Diana Dulgheru known here simply as minim. Over eight numbered tracks she delivers a pulse-infused celebration of microsound that picks up the mantle in the wake of Chain Reaction and the more recent Rater-Noton split. Construct is pure electronics that tickle […]
Coppice | Head Turning Songs futurevessel (DL) A year ago to the month I reviewed Coppice‘s Green Flame which was quite and exciting record. Noé Cuéllar & Joseph Kramer are back with their latest, Head Turning Songs, and I hope for that exact result. We open with a minimal setting on Dense Day Cooling, a […]
Karen Willems & Jean D.L. | Twee Lindebomen Aurora Borealis Recordings (CD/DL) “Top-notch dialogues, in a very sincere experimental language” It is afternoon and quite hot outside. Initial summer scorching is evident from the tiny island from where I am writing these lines. Quiet afternoons are a perfect match for what I am about to […]
Niklas Adam | Undulate Sofa (CD/DL) Oslo-based multimedia artist Niklas Adam‘s new Undulate is a bit of a head-turner. The ultra-minimal Gestures, Percussion Solo, Jungle reminds me of incidental sounds you might encounter in a instrument or toy factory. With umpteen stops and starts this pops and flails in seconds, then turns to hard silence, […]
Aros E-V | Return Journey self-released (CS/DL) A unique, short tape of electronic sounds made up of two tracks of tape loops, field recordings, and digital processing – running at just about twenty minutes. It’s got a chill vibe, fairly warm tones and lots of crackle and hiss, referencing the source. This Minnesotan, now based […]
©B.Ellison Experimental sound artist Francisco López has been long developing and delivering what he calls sonogenic composition, since 1980. He has an extensive discography and has presented his work in some of the world’s most prestigious institutions and has long maintained indulgences in cerebral minimalism. I’ve been fortunate to have witnessed his live performances […]
Chris H. Lynn | Configurations with Clouds and Sea Air Verz (CS/DL) Maryland-based sound artist Chris H. Lynn‘s collection of field recordings were captured on the US east coast. In these three pieces he explores the solitude of open air space and his interaction with it. On Clouds in May what sounds like a sheet of […]
France Jobin | Solitude Silent (DL) Honestly I sit here and wonder how much solitude this lady is getting these days, after spying on social media, what looked as though an all-encompassing trip around the world to down under, only to return to wintery Montreal where she is labouring in her spare time on water […]
Claire Rousay | Several Erasures Already Dead Tapes and Records (CS/DL) Several Erasures is the new tape (already sold out, save for the dl) from Texan percussionist Claire Rousay with a run-time of about thirty-six minutes over four tracks. About the recording, Rousay says it “explores queerness, human relationships, and self perception through the use […]
Zeno Van Den Broek | BreachMoving Furniture Records (LP/CD/DL) The resonance of Zeno Van Den Broek’s work has grown exponentially in the past few years. His multiple releases on different prestigious labels such as The Tapeworm and Moving Furniture has proven him to be not only prolific but also to ensure an outstanding quality standard […]
Anne-F Jacques / Ryoko Akama / Takamitsu Ohta | The Magic City Hasana Editions (CS/DL) The trio of Anne-F Jacques, Ryoko Akama and Takamitsu Ohta bring something special this month, two lengthy compositions of pure minimal concrete music on location at The Magic City (Todmorden, UK), from the Bandung, Indonesia-based imprint Hasana Editions. They describe […]
Rubén D’Hers | Bolero Transparente Vertical Music (CS/DL) Off the new Milan-based label comes the first of an interesting, fresh tape series. This is Rubén D’Hers‘ Bolero Transparente (recorded in Berlin). In three tracks this sound-sculpting builder of installation-based musical settings offers a pensive, chord-driven work. Romantic Chord Puzzle glows in elongated and warped reverb. […]
Nicolas Bernier | frequencies (a/archives) 901 Editions (CD/DL) frequencies (a/archives) will be the final release in a series by Nicolas Bernier for which he earned the Prix Ars Electronica Golden Nica, a swan song to the tuning fork (which he subsequently gave away his collection as part of a successful Kickstarter campaign that launched this). […]
Ken Ikeda + Rie Nakajima + Makoto Oshiro | Floating Weeds 901 Editions (CD/DL) One disc, three recordings, just over one hour. These are Ken Ikeda‘s new collaborations with Rie Nakajima and Makoto Oshiro, taken from live presentations and a Resonance FM broadcast in which they incorporate: “motors, sound objects, automated gestures, mixed materials as […]
Jay-Dea Lopez | Pulse Hemisphäreの空虚 (CS/DL) Oh, yes. The sweet, sweet sound of the cosmos, well beyond our understanding, in the far reaches of the universe, here lies the latest by Jay-Dea Lopez and his enigmatic Pulse. These ten short pieces, numbered I through X are coil pick up recordings captured last year on Canberra, […]
Bruno Duplant | Chants de Mémoire Hemisphäreの空虚 (CS/DL) With one twenty-minute ‘chant’ per side Bruno Duplant combines field recordings, electronics and analog treatments on his latest tape, Chants de Mémoire. This comes from an ongoing series which will also include something upcoming on Archive Officielle Publications. The artist shared with me that some inspiration came […]
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