IN THE NUMBERS: It’s 03/03, double digits as it were. So why not celebrate, for no reason. For the first time we are leading with not one, but three simultaneous podcasts, over three hours of new music from multiple continents! The moods may sway, but if you keep your ears open you will be transported […]
We have just finalized our selections for the entire 2020 Toneshift Label Spotlight monthly series. We featured Mikroton last month, Carpe Sonum drops this week and rounding out the roster includes the following dozen international imprints, each with two full one-hour long podcast volumes: JAN: Mikroton (Russia)FEB: Carpe Sonum (USA)MAR: Drone Records (Germany)APR: Touch Music […]
This week our Guestmix comes from a talented gentleman from stateside here in the US. Not only has he produced a sophisticated discography of his own compositions and nuanced work, Rafael Anton Irisarri has also worked with countless fellow artists in the process of mastering some of the most outstanding releases this side of Y2K. […]
SIMPLY THE BEST: It’s always an extremely challenging process to recollect your favorite spins of any given year. Sure you can use analytics and other methods, but we always prefer a more personally curated choice at Toneshift. Last year we presented a Top Three of 2018, this year we say goodbye to a decade with […]
Rafael Toral | Constellation In Still TimeRoom40 (CD/DL) In nearly seventy-three minutes this new Constellation In Still Time by Rafael Toral openly unravels, paced like a prolonged short story (AER 7 G was originally written in 1992). With an ambient aura Toral rolls out melodic wave tones that sound like sonic strings and chime-like vibes […]
Del Lumanta | PreparationsA Guide To Saints/Room40 (CS/DL) Sydney’s so-called ‘bubble artist’ (an indigenous paradigm) is DJ and teacher Del Lumanta who has just put a strangely striking new recording out on tape via Room40’s sister label A Guide To Saints. These thirty six minutes are comprised of four parts: Preparations I-III and the seventeen […]
Ian Wellman | BioaccumulationRoom 40 (CD/DL) The composer and field recordist, Ian Wellman comes back on Room 40 to present Bioaccumulation: his new work inspired by his latest biological studies. In science the term bioaccumulation is used to indicate the phenomenon of accumulation of substances in an organism that absorbs them faster than it loses them. Wellman […]
John Chantler | Tomorrow Is Too LateRoom40 (LP/CD/DL) Since Y2K Australian artist John Chantler (b. Sweden) has been dialating quizzical microtonal sounds into shaped utopias. On Tomorrow Is Too Late he’s found a sweet spot, though it’s more in the realm of post-classical in these two lengthy compositions than ever before. His is an industrious […]
What do we have here? In fact, more than a handful of strange gems that glisten in their own particular light. These selections are all out this month, and some are quite outstanding, a few others are sonically charged, still the remainder may offer a double-take…. Bella‘s Hadron (Pan Y Rosas Discos) leads this list […]
Todd Anderson-Kunert | ConjecturesRoom40 (LP/DL) Starting from its very title, the previous album by Todd Anderson-Kunert I had a chance to scrutinize – 2017’s When There Is Nothing Left To Say (Nonlinear) – already expressed the Australian’s prompt perception of what should be obvious to any authentically conscious being: the human language is a frustratingly […]
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 […]
Kevin Richard Martin | SirensRoom40 (LP/DL) This is the first album to be released by Kevin Martin under his given name, after years of monikers and groups, most notably The Bug and King Midas Sound. Where these previous musical incarnations have been sonic assaults of bass-heavy dub and dancehall, Sirens finds the prolific producer delve […]
Rafael Anton Irisarri | Solastalgia Room40 (LP/CS/DL) Rafael Anton Irisarri‘s new work Solastalgia couldn’t come at a more crucial time in our environmental history. In fact, it would seem that artists across the world should take a stand, in their own way, to combat any powers that be that would deny the negative impact of […]
In an email exchange, Lawrence English shares with us some very deep insights about the poetics and politics of listening, and expands upon his collaborations. GP: Dear Lawrence, thank you for accepting my invitation for this interview. Let’s talk about an interest we definitely have in common: Listening. How do you listen? LE: With intent. GP: […]
Photo Credit: Ashkan Noroozkhani In an little over 7 years, Siavash Amini has managed to cement himself as one of the most articulate experimental composers of his generation. Releasing music on revered labels such as Hallow Ground, Opal Tapes, and Room40, his particular take on granular synthesis and post-classical composition has resulted in what […]
Alexandra Spence | Waking, She Heard The Fluttering Room40 (CD/DL) Begin, the intro here is based on a simple bent in frequency that flows right into Bodies in Place. Flowing watery sounds, breathy vocal treatments, and intricately elusive field recordings all meld organically together like a gorgeous soup. This hums with tiny actions and broken […]
Yann Novak | Scalar Fields Room40 (DL) Scalar Fields, available on March 8th is the latest from LA-based sound artist Yann Novak which consists of two 20-minute long pieces begun in 2013 as an exploration of extrapolating video output at its barest bones. As he explains: “I wanted to explore slowing down video to the […]
THE TONESHIFT TOP THREE: Though we managed to crank out more than four-hundred reviews in 2018, there were certain releases that broke the highest of expectations, or came in from left field here at Toneshift headquarters. Instead of another boring Top 10 list we decided to be extremely shrewd in our curation and pare down […]
Merzbow | MONOAkuma Room40 (CD/DL) MONOAkuma documents a live performance from 2012. It’s a recording of Merzbow’s ferocious attack on the ears of the audience attending the Institute of Modern Art in Brisbane of that year, and celebrates the full-on immersion of his live shows. Masami Akita has had an unbelievably prolific career as the […]
Tomasz Bednarczyk | Illustrations For Those Who Room40 (CD/DL) His third album on the Room40 label, Tomasz Bednarczyk’s new release is absolutely essential listening for fans of deep, moving ambience. It’s been a decade since he last issued something under his own name, the 2000s seeing him release a handful of acclaimed albums on the […]
Akio Suzuki & Aki Onda | KE I TE KI Room40 (CD/DL) Review by Giuseppe Pisano When we talk about music we often tend to talk about time. The way a composer manages and builds structures over time. But sound is as much depending on space as it is related to time, everything from room […]
Geneva Skeen | A Parallel Array of Horses Room40 (DL) I first encountered LA-based Geneva Skeen’s music in 2016 when she released Dark Speech on Dragon’s Eye Recordings. It was a departure from that label’s output, one that usually focuses on lowercase sounds, as Skeen’s was heavier, more industrial at times and utilized dramatic gestures. […]
M. Geddes Gengras | Light Pipe Room40 (2xCD/DL) M. Geddes Gengras latest, Light Pipe, is an extremely long affair. Clocking in at over two and a half hours, you would be forgiven for thinking this is some sort of durational piece, however, the album consists of 10 tracks that though cohesive, are nonetheless largely distinct […]
Scanner | Mass Observation (Expanded) Room40 (CD/DL) Scanner (Robin Rimbaud), one of the world’s most prolific and unique artists is one of those stalwart electronic composers who has been recording since the early 90’s, always reinventing himself. This is a look back at a work originally released in 1994 on Ash International with a much […]
Julia Reidy | Beholder A Guide To Saints/Room40 (CS/DL) Berlin-based Australian guitarist Julia Reidy (who plays with Splitter Orchester) dedicates Beholder, her third full-length recording, to fellow guitarist, Melbourne’s Phil Houghton who passed last Fall. The tape includes four tracks (ranging from five to nearly 15 minutes each) begun on the island of Syros, during […]
Olivia Block | 132 Ranks Room40 (CD/DL) I first heard of composer Olivia Block in the early 00’s when she was collaborating with Seth Nehil on the risk-taking Sedimental imprint. In the ensuing years, this here is her thirteenth record on Room40, either solo or collaborative, and her sound has only become more robust than […]
Vanessa Tomlinson | The Inside Space Room40 (CS/DL) Lauded Australian percussionist Vanessa Tomlinson has often been a collaborator in various ensembles and with other artists, but this may only be her second solo record thanks to the good folk over at Room40. Her new tape The Inside Space runs just over a half hour and […]
This is a Recognition Test of the Mixlr broadcasting system, this is only a test. Tune into the experimental Italian radio program Unexplained Sounds today, July 1st (2-4PM Central Standard Time) as Toneshift.net‘s TJ Norris Guest DJ’s the final half hour! This is our first collaboration, and if you love sounds from the deepest reaches, […]
Toshimaru Nakamura Re-Verbed (No-Input Mixing Board 9) – Room40; LP/DL ABOVE BOARD: Out on July the 6th is the latest from Tokyo’s no-input mixing board player, Toshimaru Nakamura. The record is Re-Verbed (No-Input Mixing Board 9) and it’s his tenth solo album. The eight tracks locked in here are sequential, NIMB 51 through NIMB 58. […]
Swans guitarist Norman Westberg breaks out on his own again on After Vacation, which is officially released on July 13 via Australia’s Room40 (LP/Digital). Since 2012 he’s been releasing various solo efforts, and though I fancied his previous effort, MRI on the same said label, this seems the most well-rounded in construct to date. When […]
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