Organiczność spotyka się z elektroniką w zderzeniu dwóch diametralnie różnych projektów muzycznych. Połączone siły angielskiego Sieben i polskiej Job Karmy, zaowocowały powstaniem nowego, oryginalnego projektu – 7JK. Po wielu latach spotkań i wspólnych koncertów w końcu doszło do tej niezwykłej dźwiękowej kolaboracji – neoklasyczny, opierający się głównie na wykorzystaniu akustycznego instrumentarium projekt Sieben i elektroniczna, postindustrialna Job Karma razem stworzyli nowy materiał muzyczny, będący wypadkową doświadczeń wszystkich zaangażowanych w niego muzyków. Matt Howden, Maciej Frett i Aureliusz Pisarzewski wykreowali dźwiękowe uniwersum, wypełnione przesterowanym dźwiękiem skrzypiec, rytmicznym brzmieniem syntezatorów i generatorów, tworząc ścieżkę dźwiękową jak do wyimaginowanego filmu, łączącego w sobie wiele estetyk i gatunków. Neofolk zderza się z industrialem, elektronika z krautrockiem, ambient z muzyką klasyczną.
Album projektu – "Anthems Flesh" – ukaże się 25 maja 2012 roku nakładem Redroom Records. Pierwszy koncert formacji 7JK miał miejsce podczas pierwszego dnia dziesiątej edycji Wrocław Industrial Festival. Sprawdźcie sami – na oficjalnych profilach portali społecznościowych Sieben i Job Karmy – można posłuchać dźwiękowych próbek z nadchodzącej płyty!
Requiem Records skupia się na dokumentowaniu nagrań polskich zespołów działających na przełomie lat 70-tych, 80-tych i 90-tych. Grup dziś zapomnianych, których muzyka nadal ma ogromny potencjał. Ta muzyka jest ponadczasowa i warto byś się o tym przekonał...
Gorąco polecamy!
LEGENDARNE ZĄBKI "1984–1986"
CD '2012 [Requiem]
Legendarne Ząbki to zapis sesji nagraniowych efemerycznych formacji, które w połowie lat 80-tych tworzyli Jacek Alka (udzielał się zespole Praffdata w latach gdy członkowie byli uczniami Szkolnego Ośrodka Socjoterapii (SOS), Bolesław Błaszczyk (członek Kabaretu Grupy MoCarta, twórca multimedialnej
Grupy MM oraz postindustrialnej formacji 997, współpracuje z wydawnictwem Bołt Records przy Serii Polish Radio Experimental Studio), Ryszard Wojciul (grał później w Różach Europy i Sztywnym Palu Azji, obecnie prowadzi audycje jazzowe w soboty w Radiu TOK FM i jest producentem muzycznym) i Robert Wyszyński i ich goście na warszawskiej Pradze i podwarszawskich Ząbkach. Jako adepci szkół muzycznych, przeczuwając czające się sidła rutyny, ocalili to, co było ich wewnętrznym ogniem – grupową improwizację.
Publicznie wystąpili tylko raz - na dyplomowym recitalu Roberta w klasie perkusji w szkole muzycznej na Bednarskiej. Uszkodzony, poćwiartowany jazz, erupcje czystej energii free, cytaty z muzycznego renesansu, odniesienia do współczesnej klasyki, parodie, to efekty twórczego transu wkraczających wówczas w pełnoletność muzyków. Muzyka LZ nie jest ani trudna, ani niezrozumiała, stanowi wielobarwną mozaikę, zagraną odważnie i bez fałszywego zadęcia.
Na materię brzmieniową formacji składają się m.in.: perkusja (także automatyczna – radziecka), ksylofon, instrumenty dęte, wiolonczela, gitara basowa, polskie organy elektryczne, zabawki, sporadyczne taśmowe podkłady i spontaniczne akcje wokalne. Przed włączeniem zapisu muzycy niemal niczego nie ustalają,
ale grając przeważnie dbają o zwartą formę i wyrazistość brzmienia. Starają się przy tym uwiecznić swe działania w możliwie profesjonalny sposób. Wykreowane dźwiękowe historie wytrzymały próbę czasu i radykalnie odcinają się na tle tego co najczęściej opatruje się pojęciem jazzowej czy rockowej ekstremy.
Damaged, cut up jazz, free clean energy eruptions, quotations from music Renaissance, references to contemporary classics, parodies. Effects of creative trance of a group led by Alka (Praffdata), Blaszczyk (MoCart Cabaret Group, Murdered Cheesecake Soon Illegal, MM Group) and Wojciula (Roses of Europe, Rigid Asia Stake).
Absolutny mus dla wszystkich fanów muzyki industrialnej. Płyta prezentująca trzy grupy skupione wokół włocławskiego wydawnictwa WAT. Np.WAT – teatr muzyczny w duchu The Residents. Marchlevski – prekursorzy polskiego industrialu, z którego narodził się Kinsky. 27-29 – transowy postindustrial, którego bazą były rowki kończące płyty winylowe, ich zapętlenia i manipulacje. Wydawnictwo w formie 60 stronicowej książki.
An absolute must for all fans of industrial music. CD presents three groups gathered around WAT publishing from Wloclawek. Np.WAT – music theater in a spirit of The Residents. Marchlewski - Polish industrial precursor, from which Kinsky was created. 27-29 - trance postindustrial, based on grooves terminating vinyl records, their loopings and manipulations. Published in a form of 60-pages book.
KAFEL "1982–1992"
CD '2012 [Requiem]
Przekrojowa płyta tej bardzo ciekawej grupy, prowadzonej przez Dariusza Krzywańskiego, z którym swoją karierę rozpoczynała Katarzyna Nosowska. Część pierwsza (1982–1986) prezentuje nagrania z prapoczątków działalności. Zdecydowany ukłon w kierunku eksperymentów bliskim Throbbing Gristle. Nie jest to jednak muzyka agresywna, kąsająca, czy hałaśliwa. Artysta poszukujący, który zadbał o melodie, smaczki aranżacyjne i tradycyjną kompozycję. Mnogość pomysłów, jak na nagrania sprzed prawie 30 lat. Płyta druga (1989–1992) to wyznaczony już szlak. Zimnofalowa atmosfera miesza się z ciężkim rytmem automatów perkusyjnych. Mocny bas współgra tu z ambientem, który oscyluje pomiędzy sekwencyjną elektroniką i industrialem. Liryczność i forma wypowiedzi w tekstach nadaje całości specyficznego charakteru. To pozycja obowiązkowa dla każdego szanującego się miłośnika poszukującej muzyki, zaprawionej szczyptą najlepszych dokonań sceny gotyckiej przełomu lat 80/90.
Cross-sectional record of this very interesting group, led by Dariusz Krzywański , with whom Katarzyna Nosowska began her career. Part One (1982-1986) presents the great beginnings of recording activity. Definitely a greeting to a direction of experiments close to Throbbing Gristle. Yet, this is not an aggressive, biting or noisy music. The artist in a continuous search, took care of melody, arrangement tastes and traditional composition. A multitude of ideas as in recordings from 30 years ago. Second record (1989-1992) is already a designated trail. Cool-wave atmosphere mixed with a heavy rhythm of drum machines. Powerful bass interacts here with ambient, which oscillates between sequential electronics and industrial. Lyricism and form of expression in texts gives a specific character to the whole. This is a must for every self-respecting music in search lover, mixed with a pinch of the best achievements of the late gothic scene of 80/90.
MIRT "Artificial Field Recordings"
CD '2011 [cat|sun]
"Artificial Field Recordings" to już szósty album wydany przez Mirta solo. Powraca na nim fascynacja nagraniami terenowymi, ale rozumianymi nie jako tło dla muzycznych eksploracji, czy środowisko, w którym są one osadzone. Samych field recordings na tej płycie słychać stosunkowo niewiele zastępuje je muzyka złożona z elektronicznych i akustycznych dźwięków na wzór repetytywnych, stłumionych pomruków miejskich aglomeracji i chaotycznie pulsujących dzikich krajobrazów stopionych w jednolitą całość. Jak zwykle jest to zupełnie fikcyjny obraz, tkany jedynie ze strzępów rzeczywistości. Elektroniczne drony i preparacje mieszają się z dźwiękami gitary, trąbki i drobnych perkusjonaliów.
"Zawsze zależało mi na wykreowaniu choć niewielkiej przestrzeni oderwanej od rzeczywistości, lecz posklejanej z jej strzępów. Artificial Field Recordings to najbardziej abstrakcyjna z tych prób, pozbawiona głównych bohaterów, stworzona tak by każdy mógł ją zaludnić według własnego uznania / Mirt ".
X-NAVI:ET "Soundtracks for the Dying Moments"
LP '2012 [Instant Classic]
14 lutego 2012 r. miała swą premierę płyta X-NAVI:ET "Soundtracks for the Dying Moments". Autorski album Rafała Iwańskiego (znanego m.in. z grupy HATI), zawiera osiem elektroakustycznych kompozycji i został wydany na płycie winylowej w limitowanym nakładzie 250 sztuk przez wytwórnię Instant Classic. Dystrybucja cyfrowa: Alrealon Musique. Obszerna rozmowa z Rafałem Iwańskim, między innymi na temat tego wydawnictwa, ukazała się w pierwszym numerze pisma TRANS/WIZJE.
"Pierwszy pełen album Rafała Iwańskiego, znanego przede wszystkim z Hati, przynosi 47 minut muzyki. I właściwie w tym miejscu powinienem zakończyć tę recenzję, gdyż słowa nie są w stanie oddać tego, jak
miło drażni moje receptory ten krążek. Nie wiem czy będę w stanie do końca oddać zarówno specyfikę, jak i jakość muzyki na nim zawartej. 8 utworów to krótkie impresje dżwiękowe budowane z jednej
strony na bazie dronów, z drugiej zaś na silnych rytmicznych motywach i, co stanowi spore novum w twórczości Iwańskiego, na mocno zaznaczonych, choć subtelnych melodiach. Tak wygląda współczesna
twarz elektroakustyki. Kompozycje falują, mamią słuchacza, szybko przyciągają do siebie, żeby w pewnym momencie równie szybko zgasnąć. Klimat jest dość posępny, ale umiejętnie budowany oplata słuchacza
powoli niczym suchy lód. Nie ma żadnych słabych chwil, cały czas "Soundtracks" trzyma w napięciu. Kandydatka do płyty roku 2012? Banał, ale tak." /Michał Porwet, HARD ART, 01/2012/
Teledysk jest zapowiedzią albumu nagranego w sierpniu 2011 w Mózgu w Bydgoszczy w składzie: Radek Dziubek, Rafał Iwański, Wojtek Jachna, Rafał Kołacki, Artur Maćkowiak, Tomek Popowski, Kuba Ziołek.
Projekty, z którymi byli lub są związani członkowie Innercity Ensemble: Alameda Trio, BLIMP, Contemporary Noise Sextet, ED WOOD, George Dorn Screams, Grobbing Thristle, HATI, Jachna/Buhl, Pawlicki/Maćkowiak, Pot One Tea, Potty Umbrella, Sing Sing Penelope, Something Like Elvis, Stagnation Is Death, Tin Pan Alley, Turnip Farm, X-NaVi:et.
TOR LUNDVALL "The Shipyard"
LP '2012 [Dais Records]
"Tor Lundvall has graced Dais with yet another remarkable album to ring the early weeks of 2012. Previously, Lundvall had introduced himself to Dais with his masterpiece album Sleeping & Hiding and struck lightning twice with the resilient The Seasons Unfold box set and now we are humbled to be crafting the strings with the curation of his most recent effort. The Shipyard was recorded during the full season change-over of '09/'10, during which time Lundvall was immersing himself in portrait studies of local maritime themes and nautical life at the docks. This instrumental collection of songs composed the soundtrack to the final renderings of these conceptional themes put side by side, for which semblance he is most know for. Limited to 500 hand numbered copies with artwork by Tor Lundvall".
"This is an album of vast emotional temperature. Cold, hard, cynical. Searing hot and impassioned. This new work from Matt Howden delivers everything you want from that Sieben sound. And more. There’s a new edginess to No Less Than All. It has the raw anger of Hellfires, the ritual-hypnotic beauty of Ogham Inside The Night, but it is fiercely new. Truly, that passion and intensity of a live Sieben show come across more than ever here. A future classic that will propel Sieben into new territories".
K. "There’s a Devil Waiting Outside Your Door"
CD '2012 [UR006]
"Z przyjemnością prezentujemy nowy i wielce ekscytujący tytuł w katalogu Ur Muzik. Jeśli słyszeliście już utwory enigmatycznego K. rozrzucone tu i tam po rozmaitych kompilacjach, nie trzeba będzie was przekonywać do sięgnięcia po debiut tego niezwykle obiecującego artysty z Polski. Tytuł płyty nie bez powodu nawiązuje do twórczości Mistrza. W zadymionej muzyce K. znajdziecie jednak więcej składowych: dekadencja, spleen, czarno-białe kino, egzystencjalizm, jazz noir, estetyka pulp. Polska odpowiedź na twórczość Bohren und der Club of Gore oraz Heroin and your Veins, mająca jednak swój wyraźny charakter i sięgająca po własne środki wyrazu. Płyta limitowana do 300 sztuk. Wydanie digifile. W sprzedaży od końca stycznia 2012".
"Some of you may have already stumbled on K. – the enigmatic artist from Poland released several tracks on different V/A compilations and issued a mini CD back in 2007. It is with great pleasure that we present the actual debut album by K. titled "There’s a Devil Waiting Outside your Door". The obvious reference to Nick Cave is no accident here, but the music of K. has as well similarities to such groups as Bohren und der Club of Gore or Heroin and Your Veins. Having its own twist and character, the sound of K. takes you deep into smoky dens where spleen, existentialism, black and white cinema, jazz noir and pulp aesthetics meet in a decadent unison. The CD comes limited to 300 pieces in a digifile".
"Ludola - "Przedwiośnie" to 8 żołniersko-ludowych piosenek prosto z brzozowego lasu, które zabierają wszystkich rozgoryczonych nędzą współczesnego świata nonkomformistów do minionej, lepszej epoki... i podsycają tęsknotę za nią. To ckliwa podróż w przeszłość i zarazem bagnet wymierzony we współczesność, we wszystkich jej aspektach. Na albumie wykorzystane zostały wiersze takich poetów jak m.in. T. Lenartowicz czy K. K. Baczyński. Odi profanum vulgus et arceo! Niesamowity debiut! Ludola to jak dotąd jedyny Polski projekt grający neofolk! Nakład limitowany do 239 kopii, profesjonalny druk.
Ludola - "Early Spring" consists of 8 military-folk songs straight from the birch forest that will take all those noncomformists dissapointed with the modern world into long gone but better age... and will sow even more longing for that times. It is a sentimental journey into the past and a bayonet pointed at the modernity, in all its facets. On this records, the band have used poems of such poets as T. Lenartowicz and K. K. Baczynski. Odi profanum vulgus et arceo! Powerful Polish neofolk music!
Limited to 239 copies, professional print. Great debut!"
TEATRO SATANICO "Gold in Blei"
7" LP '2011 (tut018)
(limit do +/- 300 kopii)
"Treue um Treue is very proud indeed to present the latest alchemical endeavour of Teatro Satanico, the cult Italian project whose devilish wit and magick electronics have been the talk of the post-industrial scene for the last 20 years. On "Gold in Blei", they chose to invoke two of the most infamous female figures of Germany’s recent past, two parallel destinies, two deep wounds of the German psyche: Ulrike Meinhof the fallen angel and Ilse Koch the uprising demon. Staged with all the flavour and cruel humour of a morbid nursery rhyme, this unseemly yin yang put to a post-revivalist technoid beat shows TS as unpredictable and irreverent as ever. So, who is Kasper and who the Devil? Don’t expect them to tell you. The choice is yours between an EBM party at the Stammhein prison and a 6 AM ecstasy overdose at the Lagerkommandantur! Deutsch-Italienische Freundschaft or hermetic Electro Bunker Musick at its best".
DEATH IN JUNE "Peaceful Snow / The Maverick Chamber (Totenpop Versions)"
7" LP '2011 [Extremocidente]
(limit do 888 kopii)
"We proudly announce the release of the Totenpop acoustic versions of "Peaceful Snow / The Maverick Chamber" in 7" format. Meant to coincide with the second leg of the 30th anniversary tour this is the way both songs will be witnessed live and the way these songs were originally written. Maybe the full circle for these two compositions on a wheel that will never cease to spin? Here is a toast for the forthcoming 30 years, feel the warmth of the snow, feel the caress of the past". Heilige!
MACIEK SZYMCZUK & SLOWTION "Ways"
CD '2011 [ZOHAR 024-2]
Najnowszy album Macka Szymczuka, przygotowany został w duecie z artystą brytyjskiego pochodzenia o pseudonimie Slowtion. "Ways" to muzyczna wędrówka w głąb siebie, pamiętnik podróży duchowej w poszukiwaniu odpowiedzi o sens ludzkiej egzystencji, gdzie wśród meandrów i ślepych dróg człowiek odnajduje wreszcie cząstkę sacrum, kontakt z Absolutem. Muzycznie "Ways" ukazuje nieco
inny charakter twórczości Maćka Szymczuka, być może wpływ na ostateczny jego ostateczny kształt miał Slowtion, który za sprawą swojego instrumentu nadał nieco innego rytu, a być może uczynił to delikatny, efemeryczny głos przywodzi Joanny, który wielu z Was może wywołać skojarzenia z muzyką na pograniczu
trip-hopu i brzmień rodem z Bristolu.
The latest Maciek Szymczuk album was prepared together with a British artist hidden under the moniker Slowtion. "Ways" is a musical journey into the depth of your own persona, the diary from spiritual journey in search of the answer on the meaning of the human existence where, among the complexities and blind alleys, one can find an element of sacrum, the contact with the Absolute. Musicwise, "Ways" show slightly different traits of Maciek Szymczuk's work. It may have happened this way because of the collaborative nature of the project and Slowtion's involvement in it. Also, it may have been the character of Joanna's voice-delicate, ethereal that resembles Bristol sounds a bit.
HYBRYDS "Soundtrack for the Antwerp Zoo Aquarium"
CD '2011 [ZOHAR 022-2]
Reedycja od dawna już niedostępnego albumu belgijskiej formacji. Album "Soundtrack..." to dość niezwykłe nawet jak na projekt Hybryds wydawnictwo. Płyta powstała przy okazji 150 rocznicy Antwerpskiego Zoo. Muzyka skomponowana przez Sandiego i projekt Ah-Cama Sotz została wpleciona pomiędzy głosy delfinów, orek i szumu podwodnego świata. Jak w słowie wstępnym napisał dyrektor Zoo: "Soundtrack for Antwerp Zoo Aquarium" to muzyczna podróż na miarę 20 000 mil podmorskiej żeglugi Juliusza Verne'a - niechaj to zdanie będzie najlepszą rekomendacją dla tych, którzy nie mieli wcześniej okazji zapoznać się z jedną z najlepszych i najciekawszych płyt w dyskografii Hybryds.
The reissue of a long-deleted classic album by this legendary Belgian project. "Soundtrack for the Antwerp Zoo Aquarium" is an unusual album, even in comparison with other Hybryds works. It was created especially for the 150th anniversary of the Antwerp Zoo. Music composed by Sandy and Hermann (of Ah-Cama Sotz) was woven in between the sounds of dolphins, killer whales and the noise of the underwater world.The Zoo director wrote the following in the preface: "Soundtrack for the Antwerp Zoo Aquarium" is a musical journey of the similar stature as "20 000 Leagues Under the Sea" by Julius Verne. Let it be the best recommendation for those who haven't had a chance to get to know to one of the best and most interesting albums in the Hybryds discography.
HOARFROST "Puppets of the Divine Coroner"
CD '2011 [ZOHAR 025-2]
Kim jest dziś człowiek? Trybem w maszynie, którą sam zbudował? Więźniem korporacji - współczesnych obozów pracy? Zakładnikiem rozwoju, który musi postępować szybciej, szybciej i szybciej? Niewolnikiem pieniądza? Ofiarą własnych ambicji? Rozbitkiem w mieście ludzkich zombie? Mieszkańcem wielkiego
cmentarza, na którym pogrzebał wolną wolę? Marionetką? Ale w czyich rękach? "Puppets of the divine coroner" to zaduma nad człowiekiem, który chcąc zapanować nad światem, wpadł w pułapkę, stając się więźniem stworzonej przez siebie rzeczywistości. Czy z punktu, w który doszedł, jest jeszcze
ucieczka? A warstwa dźwiękowa albumu? Ci, którzy mieli okazję poznać poprzednie płyty Hoarfrost wiedzą, czego należy się spodziewać po muzyce tego projektu. Ciekawostką jest gościnny udział w nagraniu Hekte Zaren - sopranistki na stałe mieszkającej w Niemczech, której głos roztoczył niezwykłą atmosferę nad muzyką zawartą na "Puppets of the Divine Coroner".
Who is the man nowadays? A cogwheel in a machine, which he built by himself? A prisoner of a corporation - a modern labor camp? A hostage of a development, which has to proceed faster, faster and faster? A slave of money? A victim of his own ambitions? A castaway in a city of human zombies? A resident of a big cemetery, where he entombed his free will? A puppet? But in whose hands? "Puppets of the divine coroner" is a reverie about the man, who wanted to control the world but he fell into the trap and became a prisoner of the reality, created by himself. Is there a chance for an escape from the
point he reach?
W wyłącznej dystrybucji Zoharum:
ZENIAL "Live in Krakow"
DVD-R '2011
Zapis video koncertu z Galerii Sztuki "Bunkier" w Krakowie. Wydanie specjalnie przygotowane na rynek Japoński. Limit do 50 sztuk.
BIRDS OF PASSAGE "Winter Lady"
LP/CD '2011 [Denovali Records]
"A masterwork of minimalism, "Winter Lady" - Alicia Merz's sophomore solo effort as BIRDS OF PASSAGE sees a return to the desolate and melancholic soundcscapes of her highly acclaimed debut, "Without The World". With "Winter Lady", Alicia presents us with an endearing invitation into her fragile world, a captivating journey through the landscapes of her emotional euphoria and agony, a further commitment to musical experimentation, a worthy addition to the oeuvre of BIRDS OF PASSAGE. The cold minimalist-drones, distorted field recordings, and sparse instrumentation, illustrate an icy, desolate and dark world. It's as if we are listening to the sound of winter itself; an audio exposure to the unforgiving elements of winter. With allusions to dark-pop and classic broken-folk, the reverb drenched instrumentation, metaphorical fairytale lyrics, and anti-climactic compositions remind us that Alicia Merz is a singer songwriter for people who don't like singer songwriters. With "Winter Lady", Alicia re-establishes herself as a true musical maverick - who is able to capture the imaginations of audiences as diverse as those of SIGUR ROS, GROUPER and ZOLA JESUS. In short, BIRDS OF PASSAGE's "Winter Lady" is an album of authentic experimentation, masterful minimalism, immense tragedy, and glacial beauty. It is not surprising that already after the first album artists including AIDAN BAKER and NILS FRAHM belonged to the fanbase of BIRDS OF PASSAGE".
DALE COOPER QUARTET & THE DICTAPHONES "Métamanoir"
2LP/CD '2011 [Denovali Records]
"The bizarre Dark Jazz cabaret has opened again. Finally, after years of waiting, the 2nd full length of the sophisticated experimental collective from France will be released. It features vocals of Gaëlle Kerrien (YANN TIERSEN) and all lovers of DAVID LYNCH movies, artists like KILIMANJARO DARKJAZZ ENSEMBLE or BOHREN UND DER CLUB OF GORE and blue cigarette smoke in dark bars will exult again...".
THE MAGIC CARPATHIANS PROJECT "Sonic Suicide / Ethnoise # 1"
CD '2011 [World Flag Records]
"Czas pędzi i tysiące koncertów, nagrań, płyt i filmików pokrywa wszystko co było... Bywa, że przyjmujemy to z ulgą, ale są też i takie obszary czasu przeszłego, że warto je przypominać i celebrować. Do takich żywych obszarów, które się działy gdzieś / kiedyś... zaliczam gęsty przekaz z płyty "Sonic Suicide". Płytę wydała nieodżałowana oficyna VIVO Records i w naszej dyskografii jest ona ważną cezurą: koniec epoki ethnocore i początek ethnoise. Płyta była recenzowana i fragment z niej był elementem promocyjnym (jednym z wielu, ale jednak) Industrial Fest. we Wrocławiu. Na płycie wykorzystaliśmy nagrania z Monastyru Rilskiego w górach Bułgarii, ale też z placu Tiennamen i Himalajów. O ile pamiętam to także płyta, na której pierwszy raz grałem na generatorze Badoog... jeszcze w pierwszej wersji (więcej Badooga były chyba tylko na pobocznej sesji Queen of Snow), a materiał nagrany na płycie był także programem naszego koncertu na legendarnym festiwalu Terrastock w USA i trasie z 2006 roku. Kilka naszych patentów z tej płyty rozgrzało wiele głów i niekoniecznie było to dla nas z korzyścią. Może warto posłuchać jak graliśmy w 2004 roku... Dla sympatyków, historyków, młodych i tych co się w tamtych latach nie zdecydowali, opracowaliśmy ekonomiczną reedycję z pełną aprobatą Janusza z VIVO Rec."
THE MAGIC CARPATHIANS & LECHISTAN'S ELECTRIC CHAIR "Mirrors"
CD '2011 [World Flag Records]
"Wielu ma pełne gęby mądrości o remiksach, loopach, field recordings i soundwalkach, ale jakoś poza trzy programy z MAC-a (w najlepszym razie!) nie wychodzą i jedyne co pamiętają z tej roboty to "bajosfir"... Podczas trasy koncertowej w USA (2006) gdzie graliśmy we dwójkę materiał z Sonic Suicide od NYC przez Kalifornię do Seattle i Chicago i znowu NYC, cały ten czas nagrywaliśmy nową płytę, której nadaliśmy potem nazwę: Mirrors. Także nazwa "urodziła" się w drodze i w rozmowie z niezwykłym artystą Richardem Tracy, co jest udokumentowane na płycie. Materiał jest zapisem podróży, kodem, kluczem do kilku następnych naszych muzycznych przedsięwzięć... jak się okazało w latach jego wydania, zbyt trudnym dla naszych odbiorców. Jak kilka innych, tak i ta płyta przepadła w naszej budyniowej sonosferze... a szkoda, bo jest tam kilka spraw z pierwszej ręki. Reedycja wydaje się potrzebna i dzięki wsparciu WFR przez Tomka Rolnika Czermińskiego i zasobom archiwalnym Bogdana Kiwaka udało się raz jeszcze zobaczyć Lustra!"
"Somewhere between the melodic folk-inflected charm of Italian 60’s songwriters and the cabaret swoon of French chansonniers, Roma Amor’s new album is instinctively romantic and sophisticated. This album will seduce you with its summer-evening mellowness before breaking your heart with its beautifully sensual croon. Wonderful ballads and torch songs about love inspired by the epic, fatalistic rugged grandeur of Aznavour, Brel, Piaf, and 60’s Italian songwriters, though in a much quieter and more delicate setting.
The album is sung in Italian with some French touches and the songs are from Roma Amor’s own harvest.
The result isn't experimental or innovative, but an acoustic and intimate album for fans of well-crafted singer-songwriting. Retro chic pale-blue digipak packaging with all lyrics included".
"Carreteras ("Roads" for English) is the last trip of Ô Paradis through secondary roads leading to the unknown. The hardships of fleeing of the wild animal that devours the speech of men. With a sound more electronic than usual for Demian's project, this work invites us to drive without fear to the horizons of our deepest longing".
V/A "John Barleycorn Reborn: Rebirth"
CD '2011 [Cold Spring]
"The double-edged nature of the harvest season can be both a blessing and a burden; a vision of superabundant excess than can’t possibly be consumed before it rots. Our pre-industrial forebears expended considerable time and energy on conserving some of autumn’s bounty against the scarcity of winter… yet somehow, people would survive to till their fields again the following spring. The compilers of the first "John Barleycorn Reborn" compilation, released in 2007, faced a similar embarrassment of riches - a testament both to English folk heritage and the health of the contemporary folk music scene. So here we have the second crop from that original sowing. Originally released for download only, now finally available as a stunning double CD, with every track completely remastered to the highest quality. 33 tracks from the cream of current dark British Folk music".
NECROPHORUS "Underneath the Spirit of Tranquility"
CD '2011 [WRT014]
NECROPHORUS "Underneath the Spirit of Tranquility" (redux version) - dzieło Petera Anderssona z Raison d'etre – to malownicze przedstawienie innego, nieosiągalnego, astralnego świata. W ezoterycznej atmosferze można poczuć uniesienie, w którym wręcz oddycha się niematerialnym spokojem. Aby zapewnić jeszcze lepszy odbiór materiał "Underneath the Spirit of Tranquility" (pierwotnie wydany w 1996 roku) został starannie zremiksowany i przyprawiony dwoma dodatkowymi utworami. Całości dopełniają prace Elinros Henriksdotter. Wydawnictwo w formie okładki z 6 dodatkowymi pocztówkami. Ścisły limit do 500 kopii.
"Underneath the Spirit of Tranquility" (redux version) by NECROPHORUS (Peter Andersson from Raison d'etre) is a painted story canvas for the otherwise unreachable astral world. Adorned with esoteric ambiences, one feels as though embarking on a path of inner ascension while breathing the immaterial tranquilities. This redux version of "Underneath the Spirit of Tranquility" (originally released 1996) has been carefully re-mixed for enhanced experience and spiced with two additional tracks. The artwork consists of drawings by Elinros Henriksdotter. Comes in a folding cover with 6 extra charts.
NIEDOWIERZANIE "Attendre"
LP '2011 (rur021)
(limit do 198 kopii)
"Finally the second album by the Berlin-based French multi-instrumentalist. Three years and many live gigs after the self-titled debut, Niedowierzanie’s music has lost nothing of his maestria and exotic flavour. The complex compositions using a variety of acoustic instruments and digital effects still tell us of faraway places, conjuring vivid pictures of south-American landscapes, Mediterranean balconies and eastern harbours. But it has also become more accessible, leaving behind the long experimental pieces and turning instead to shorter, more rhythmic, even danceable songs full of Bohemian romanticism and Mediterranean flair. Dreamy, lazily swaying ballads alternate with somber pieces like funeral marches in the heat and dust of a summer evening, revealing sudden pangs of unease and anguish behind the flowing southern nonchalance. With "Attendre", Niedowierzanie delivers a masterpiece of Post-Mediterranea worthy of such legends as Novy Svet or Mushroom’s Patience".
BEX "Rosegger"
LP '2011 (rur022)
(limit do 200 kopii)
"Reue um Reue is very proud to present "Rosegger", the third opus by Berlin-based one-man project Bex. Originally from France, Bex has released two CDs on the French label "Le Dernier Cri" and played a great many concerts throughout Europe since his first live gig back in 2006. "Rosegger" is his first vinyl appearance, his most luminous and most intense work to date. As if emerging through some hermetic transformation from the harshness and anger of the previous albums, "Rosegger" is ablaze with a radiant, almost ecstatic mixture of joy and grief, drenched in light even in its darkest moments. Melodic guitarscapes and distant shoegaze vocals between lament and incantations pour over the listener, filling every pore, vein and cell with a warm, brittle, spellbinding emotion, taking him adrift on luminous waters which progressively darken on side B, finally drowning the incandescence into deep pools of doom drones like a glorious, achingly beautiful sunset".
DOULEURFANTOME / NATURE MORTE "When Trees Fall Down"
C40 '2011 (rur023)
(limit do 151 kopii)
"When Trees Fall Down" is the sonic encounter of Douleurfantome and Nature Morte. Two projects, two styles, but the same raw and dark emotions, the same need to express and transcend sadness, anger, frustration and the darkness around. For Douleurfantome, it is through the steady power and fragile violence of subtle noise-drones compositions, using feedback distortions and distant metallic melodies hazed in loads of digital filters, hanging in the air like electricity before a storm. At first glance, Nature Morte’s approach seems softer, more organic, but the omen of violence is there too, beneath the surface, in the gloom and mystery of the dark slo-mo, almost orchestral ambient, only a step away from the gaping chasm. On this release, each alone on the same journey, their paths cross, collide, diverge and cross again, and on two tracks they meet, in the middle of a wood of falling trees, where the forest of human emotions is at its darkest".
:OF THE WAND & THE MOON: "The Lone Descent"
CD/2LP '2011 [Heidrunar]
"No More Happy Songs! - The long awaited and anticipated 5th album from Denmark's :Of The Wand & The Moon:. Again Kim Larsen takes another road than the previous albums. 60's influenced, where the love for Lee Hazlewood and Serge Gainsbourg shines through. Still keeping the dark neofolk roots though, "The Lone Descent" is without doubt the most bleak and melancholic album from :Of The Wand & The Moon:, and clearly shows Larsen's brilliant talent as a singer/songwriter. Featuring among others ; Lorenzo Woodrose from Danish psychedelic rock act "Baby Woodrose", Aron from Danish Psych/folk rock act "Aron", danish Cellist Soma Allpass (Mew, Martin Hall, etc.), trumpet player Bo Rande (The William Blakes, Mew, Blue Foundation), John Murphy (Death In June, Knifeladder, Nico, SPK), John van der Lieth (Sonne Hagal) Anne Eltard (known for various Danish acts and Kim Larsens Solanaceae, OTWATM) and :Of The Wand & The Moon: engineer Louise Nipper "Alouise". CD comes in glossy spotvarnished slipcase and 24 pages booklet. 2LP comes in glossy spotvarnished gatefold and black double vinyl ltd.500. The vinyl edition also comes with an extra exclusive version of "A Pyre Of Black Sunflowers". Both releases features the artwork of Alex Rose".
DER BLUTHARSCH & THE INFINITE CHURCH OF THE LEADING HAND
"The story about the digging of the hole and the hearing of the sounds from hell"
LP/CD '2011 [WKN40]
"After reforming under the new/extended name and releasing the stunning collaboration with Aluk Todolo finally DER BLUTHARSCH & THE INFINITE CHURCH OF THE LEADING HAND presents ist new album. Dark, dirty, dangerous! - It`s maybe a preconception, but if you are stoned and/or drunk this music develops a dangerous independent existence: But more, even without weed or beer you get intoxicated: Thats something, and not little! - (Legacy 74). Featuring among others: Niko Potocnjak (7 that spells), Lina Baby Doll (Deutsch Nepal), Matt Howden (Sieben), Sándor Rády (Scivias), Rummelsnuff Dave W. (White Hills)".
CULT OF YOUTH "The Devil's Coals"
7" LP '2011 [Blind Prophet Records]
"Blind Prophet Records is proud to present a 7" of all new material from Cult Of Youth. "The Devil's Coals" is a stark and passionate battle cry against the sins of the world and the desire to take the easy way out. Lush, dark, and invigorating, it marks the triumph of the individualist human spirit over the landfill called culture that grows all around us. It is arguably the best thing that Cult Of Youth has put to wax and continues to push things forward into a new territory that owes as much to Code Of Honor as it does to Current 93. The B side, Sidestreets, shows an entirely different side of the band. It is a cover of a song by fellow Brooklyn musician Martial Canterel rearranged and performed entirely without synths of any kind. A dancefloor hit, perhaps, but also a sign of friendship and admiration for ones peers. "The Devil's Coals" is limited to 500 copies (400 black and 100 blue)".
Z'EV & HATI "Heart of a Wolf"
CD '2011 [ZOHAR 023-2]
To jedna z najciekawszych i najbardziej obiecujących premier tego roku! Wobec tego albumu nie można przejść obojętnie. Rytualne dźwięki, mistyczna atmosfera, która udzielała się podczas koncertów w Gdańsku i Toruniu, została doskonale uchwycona i przeniesiona na "Heart of a Wolf".
"Heart of a Wolf" to drugi po HATI vs. Z'EV #1 (2006, Ars Benevola Mater) album sygnowany wspólnie przez legendę industrialu i toruński duet HATI, jednak pierwszy zawierający nagrania dokonane w bezpośredniej interakcji muzyków na scenie - podczas trzeciej trasy HATI i Z'EV-a po Polsce w maju 2011 roku. Trasa z 2011 roku była kontynuacją i rozwinięciem nowego projektu muzycznego, który zainicjowany został wspólnym koncertem Z'EV-a i HATI na Unsound Festival New York Labs w kwietniu 2011 roku.
Album dostępny jest w trzech wariantach:
- Wydanie podstawowe, zawierające wyłącznie jeden CD z zapisem koncertu z Torunia.
- Wydanie limitowane do 423 szt. zawierające 2CD (dodatkowo CD z zapisem koncertu w Gdańsku).
- Wydanie w ścisły limicie do 23 szt. zawierający oprócz 2CD również koszulkę Z’EV & HATI – "Heart of a Wolf"
IN SCISSORS "Mnemosyne & The Structure Of Time"
CD '2011 [ZOHAR 021-2]
"Mnemosyne & The Structure Of Time" to kontynuacja i rozwinięcie tematu, który pojawił się na poprzednim albumie "Orbis Terrarum Requiem". Muzyka zawarta na tym krążku nie odbiega stylistycznie od poprzedniego wydawnictwa i utrzymana jest w podobnej konwencji, określanej przez Vincenta, jako "Cinematic Ambient", gdzie Mnemosyne, antyczna bogini, matka dziewięciu muz, opiekunka sztuki – uosobienie pamięci, wyłania się poprzez budowanie z języka dźwięku właściwego nastroju, odpowiedniego klimatu, struktur czasu, które prowadzą słuchacza wprost nad mityczne jezioro Hadesu, aby tam spożył nektar pamięci, przywołujący wspomnienia…
Trzeci pełnometrażowy album In Scissors to nowa wędrówka w głąb świata muzycznego, kreowanego przez Vincenta Andelmoth i Jasona Andelmoth, przy gościnnym udziale Angel W – wokalistki, uosabiającej swym głosem pierwiastek Hekate. Jak w przypadku poprzednich publikacji, szata graficzna stanowi dopełnienie koncepcji albumu. Tym razem autorem pięknej grafiki jest popularny artysta i fotograf John Santerineross (znany m.in. ze współpracy z Attrittion), który doskonale oddał atmosferę płyty i przełożył język muzyki na własne obrazy... Najnowsze CD to 10 zupełnie nowych kompozycji, które z pewnością przypadną do gustu zarówno tym, którzy mieli okazję obcować z muzyką InScissors, jak i tym, którzy uwielbiają muzykę spod znaku cinematic ambient.
INNER VISION LABORATORY "Future Chaos"
CD '2011 [ZOHAR IYHHH 004-2]
IV część serii wydawniczej IYHHH. Tym razem przedstawia archiwalny materiał projektu Inner Vision Laboratory, który powstał ponad cztery lata temu i do tej pory nie został opublikowany w żadnej formie; to zbiór nagrań zarejestrowanych na przełomie 2006-2007.
Mimo upływu lat, chociaż muzyka projektu ewoluowała w nieco innym kierunku, materiał brzmi świeżo i ciekawie. "Future Chaos" – prezentuje nieco bardziej dynamiczne i chropowate oblicze muzyczne Karola Skrzypca. Ten album to dark ambientowy pasaż w świecie plemiennych i postindustrialnych elementów. Impulsem do jego nagrania były różne współczesne, postmodernistyczne i futurystyczne formy sztuki, takie jak literatura sci-fi, filmy, minimalistyczna i industrialna podziemna scena muzyczna i wiele innych. Główną inspiracją do powstania tego materiału był codziennie zmieniający się świat. W głowie twórcy pojawiła się taka refleksja: "nagła katastrofa może doprowadzić rodzaj ludzki prosto z technologicznego rozwoju w ciemny i brutalny świat mrocznej przyszłości, w chaos zawarty w niej. Kilka lat po krytycznym momencie ludzie być może zaczną opuszczać swoje wyizolowane i rozproszone enklawy by zajmować ponownie zniszczone postapokaliptyczne miejsca. Świat gdzie starożytne rytuały i neoprymitywizm szerzą się pośród ruin nierozważnej przeszłości. Moja płyta jest muzyczną ilustracją świata po nagłym upadku ludzkości i cywilizacji 21 wieku".
BLOOD AXIS "Ultimacy (1991-2011)"
CD '2011 [Storm/Tesco Distribution]
"Ultimacy (1991–2011)" brings together on one CD the definitive versions of all the singles and compilation tracks released by Blood Axis during the first two decades since the project was founded. Packaged in an elegant digifile case designed by Davide Maspero and Max Ribaric of the Italian underground journal Occidental Congress, and expertly re-mastered by Blood Axis member and renowned studio engineer Robert Ferbrache, "Ultimacy" presents these rare tracks in their ideal form, exactly as the band itself has always heard and envisioned them. The songs appear in a reverse chronological order, beginning with more recent work and moving back through time to the distant past. Blood Axis has never been bound to a particular style of music, and this is amply demonstrated here with material that spans from aggressive folk rock to atmospheric ritual pieces, all the way to menacing electronica. The topical themes of these songs encompass European folklore; early 20th-century German occultism; Norse and Perso-Roman mythology; fatalism, militarism, and Nietzschean romanticism. In addition to the three core Blood Axis members - Michael Moynihan, Robert Ferbrache, and Annabel Lee - the songs on Ultimacy also feature a number of notable guest contributors including Stephen Flowers (Edred Thorsson), Boyd Rice (Non), Thomas Thorn (Slave State / My Life with the Thrill Kill Kill Kult / Electric Hellfire Club), and Markus Wolff (Waldteufel). Blood Axis has always elicited strong, polarized reactions and a fair dose of controversy that still lingers to the present day. Ultimacy provides a unique opportunity for both the initiated and the uninitiated to explore the history of an influential an uncompromising musical project that refuses to be categorized or contained, and which always operates according to its own rules".
Nowa płyta!
BLOOD AXIS "Born Again"
2LP '2011 [Storm/Tesco Distribution]
(limit do 300 kopii - red vinyl, 700 kopii - black vinyl)
"To celebrate 10 years of this incredible and impossible adventure, we release this gorgious Box cd feat a best of all releases from Runes and Men, Hauruck!SPQR to SPQR label. Old and new friends contributes also with exclusive and unreleased tracks, 13 songs feat: Ain Soph, Mushroom's Patience, Egida Aurea, The Green Man, Ballo delle Castagne, Ignis Vrbis Mithrae, Der Feuerkreiner, Hautville, Calle Della Morte, Spectre, Kannonau, Recondita Stirpe, Claudedi E Nemici. The Box CD will be available only via SPQR label and Tesco Organisation distribution. Thank you very much to all people and bands supporting us across these 10 years. You know who you are and you know what you did!"
MUSHROOM'S PATIENCE "Dither Oath's / Eve and the Plastic Apple"
CD '2011 [Klanggalerie]
"Dicer's Oath" was MP's first album, recorded and released in 1991, ten years before the second album and even longer before they got signed to Albin Julius' Hau Ruck label. In these early days, the guys around mastermind Raffaele Cerroni played a kind of Italian psychedelic rock music, comparable to Battiato's masterpieces "Fetus" and "Pollution". "Eve and the Plastic Apple" is an album that was never released, and for this edition we have put together both these wonderful records onto one CD. Plus, as if this weren't yet enough, there's an acoustic version of "Saponetti Friabili" from our "Danze de la Vida" compilation as another bonus".
VON THRONSTAHL / SPREU & WEIZEN "Pan-European Christian Freedom Movement"
LP '2011 [Fronte Nordico]
"Another Von Thronstahl release on Fronte Nordico, this time it's a split with a young German martial industrial band called Spreu & Weizen with overall topic "Pan-European Christian Freedom Movements". Unlike previous Von Throstahl's reissues this LP contains only original exclusive tracks and versions never released before. While Von Thronstahl's style and sound would rather need no introduction, Spreu & Weizen music could be described as true martial at its best, with orchestral samples, military drums, angry guitars and lyric themes typical to the genre. Being a keeper of traditions, at the same time S&W offers a new fresh look on the style, having an ability being as enthusiastic and hitmaking as it's really necessary to do the great martial record. The band h a s already released two full-length CDs, and the second one called "Gott vergelt's" (Lichterklang, 2011) which includes a few different mixes of the tracks from this LP, has already gained a big interest from the audience. The LP contains 8 tracks, 32 mins in total".
ARNICA "Mascaradas"
7" LP '2011 [Fronte Nordico]
"Second in the 7" series on Fronte Nordico. Arnica is a folk project from Catalunya known for their brilliant album on Percht/Steinklang as well as a few minor releases and compilation tracks released mostly on another Steinklang offshoot Ahnstern. Using a lot of handmade instruments from the different areas of Europe, first of all from its Southern regions, they create an authentic sound atmosphere of ancient folk rites, some of which are still alive in different rural and mountain settlements. Their versions of two such Spanish carnivals are presented here on this 7" – "La Vijanera" from Cantabria and "Trangas" from Aragon. Original samples of sound recordings made on these fiestas are mixed with Arnica's own vocal and instrumental parts, recreating the dark and mysterious feel of these gloomy winter masquerades. On top of this, the release includes good quality full colour pics from both carnivals to make the effect of presence complete".
DEATH IN JUNE "Nada Plus!"
2LP/2CD/DVD/USB '2011 [Pylon Records]
"In part celebration of the 30th Anniversary of DEATH IN JUNE (1981-2011) one of the classic albums "Nada!" is now reissued as a special limited edition "Nada Plus!" 2 x CD + DVD/Double LP and USB. Besides containing the original album songs and nearly all the other recorded material from 1984-85 the CDs are presented in a foil blocked, 8 panel, full colour DIJipak and also contain the songs from the "93 Dead Sunwheels" album of rarities and re-recordings (1989) as well as 4 stripped back unreleased re-recordings (2005). The accompanying DVD contains the 20th Anniversary performance in 2005 of most of the "Nada!" album plus extra Death In June material. Some of the CD/DVDs (250 copies to be exact) will also come in a special Blue/Black metallic outer bag. Total run of the CD + DVD is 1,500 copies. The Double LP (limited to 1,000 copies) comes in a foil blocked gatefold sleeve in different coloured vinyl (250 Blue vinyl in a special silver metallic outer bag and 750 Gold vinyl) and contains all the songs from the original album plus all other material officially recorded and released between 1984-85. Each LP contains a special postcard. The wooden USB which comes in a limited edition (130 only) tin case contains everything featured on the CD + DVD and Double LP as well as the "Night And Fog" reclaimed bootleg live album recorded in 1984 plus a large exclusive photo gallery showing many rare and unseen photos from the period. All artwork for the CDs/LPS has been reinvented and all recordings DIJitally re-mastered".
SOL INVICTUS "The Cruellest Month"
CD '2011 [Auerbach Tontrager/Prophecy]
"Sol Invictus are the godfathers of classic Apocalyptic Folk. With "The Cruellest Month" they release their first album for six years and make their long-awaited debut for Auerbach Tonträger / Prophecy Productions. To Tony Wakeford, his 17th studio album under the moniker Sol Invictus is significant not only because of that: "The Cruellest Month" is an important recording to me as I had thought that "The Devil's Steed" (2005) would be my last studio album under the name of Sol Invictus. A few years ago, I had to cut wood that was rotten, but "The Cruellest Month" is a vindication that I had made the right decision. Still, the question is: is it the end of something old or the start of something new?". This question, however, seems minor in view of the album's qualities. "The Cruellest Month" has turned out to be a typical Sol Invictus album in every regard. Music-wise, it's angular, combative, painful, with pessimistic and cynical lyrics (Wakeford: "It's a meditation on ageing and decline as individuals, empires and states. It deals with the question if the cruelty of life is simply a reflection of the cruelty of god or if we are simply cruel for cruelty's sake. It is a utopia-free zone."). As well as songs poison-penned by Tony Wakeford, the album contains a number of traditional songs, including Andrew King's rendition of mass-murder ballad, "Cruel Lincoln," and Tony Wakeford's version of class war anthem, "The Blackleg Miner"."
"The Letter" is the first album by Liberez, a group formed by recording engineer John Hannon and Pete Wilkins in Southend. The project began life exploring a deconstruction of the traditional “band” form before expanding to a quartet with the addition of vocalist Nina Bosnic, and multi-instrumentalist Tom James Scott (Bo Weavil Recordings). Musically rooted in improvisation, the band sought a progression from the loosely described "noise rock" sound at their inception into wider areas of sonic exploration. The tracks were recorded as a mixture of sessions at Hannon’s studio and external locations where fleeting incidents were captured on crude equipment such as mobile phones, and portable cassette recorders. It was a piece of text written by Bosnic that gave birth to the initial concepts that formed the backbone of “The Letter”, and new ideas with regards to incorporating her voice were then created within the group. Bosnic's vocals on this record bear little resemblance to traditional singing or melody but instead use the inflection and cadence of speech to play with syntax. The repeated phrases and deconstructed sentences give the record an unusual and disconcerting atmosphere, acting as a sinister bedfellow to the sharp and broken sound of the guitar and heavily treated drums. Whilst these instruments may represent rock’n’roll, Liberez are content to take influence from the likes of Robert Ashley rather than Chuck Berry. "The Letter" is a bold first statement from a group who are taking full advantage of what they have at their disposal, and proudly displays the vast frequency bandwidth that they now work within".
CONTAGIOUS ORGASM + KADAVER "A tragedy without a border line"
CD '2011 [WRT012]
"Współpraca pomiędzy Hiroshi Hashimoto z legendarnego już Contagious Orgasm oraz Michaela Zolotova z izraelskiego Kadaver grającego noise i power electronics. "A tragedy without a border line" to mieszanka ambientu, PE i noisowych dźwięków. Składa się z 3 długich kompozycji, w których brak muzycznych granic... Bulgoczące drony, samplowane głosy, trzaski i szumy. Całość zapakowana w 6-panelowy digipack, zaprojektowany przez Michaela, z dość kontrowersyjnym zdjęciem wewnątrz (przynajmniej niektórzy będą tak sądzić)".
"Collaboration between Hiroshi Hashimoto from already legendary Contagious Orgasm and Michael Zolotov from Israeli power electronics and noise project Kadaver.
"A tragedy without a border line" is a mixture of ambient, PE and noisy sounds. Consists of 3 long pieces of musick without frontiers... Bubbling drones, sampled voices, crashes and hums.
All packed in a 6 panel digipack - designed by Michael - with rather controvensial photo inside (at least some will think so)".
COLUMN ONE "EARLY TAPES 1992 - 1994"
CD '2011 [N 020]
W całości materiał z poszukiwanego dziś LP "Dreambox Experience" (nowy mastering, poprawiona jakość dźwięku) + kilka dodatkowych utworów, w tym 2 zrealizowane wspólnie z Za Siódmą Górą. Niepublikowane dotąd, alternatywne wersje kawałków Column One! Całość zremasterowana i na nowo zmiksowana.
Eleganckie wydanie w klasycznym dla Nefrytu formacie A5. Dodatkowo zawiera 6 specjalnych kart z reprodukcjami okładek wydawnictw Column One oraz kolażami Rene Lamp'a. "Early Apes 1993-1995" został wydany w nakładzie 500 egz, z czego 110 stało się częscią specjalnego boxu zatytuowanego "No One", wydanego przez Column One.
COLUMN ONE "EARLY TAPES 1993 - 1995"
CD '2011 [N 021]
NURSE WITH WOUND "Who Can I Turn to Stereo etc"
2CD '2011 [Jnana]
"United Jnana are pleased to release a newly remastered and expanded version of the classic CD by NURSE WITH WOUND "Who Can I Turn to Stereo". Originally released in 1996, the original album has been expanded to include the complete Stereo Wastelands CD, which was a very limited release and is now out of print. Also included is the single edit of Yagga Blues and the previously unreleased track Eternity. The double digipak features newly designed artwork by Steven Stapleton!".
"Torino 012010" is the second release of a series documenting the collaboration between
Jochen Arbeit (guitar player of Die Haut and Einstuerzende Neubauten) Paul Beauchamp and Fabrizio Modonese Palumbo (the duo known as Blind Cave Salamander). This collaboration started as part of Arbeit's “Soundscapes” improvisation live project. The focus being on the moment of the spontaneous meeting of different systems of soundscaping, the task and challenge of exchanging the results of individual sound research in a public space. The Torino 012010 double cd release on Tourette Records follows the vinyl only live album Halle 27022010 (released by the German label Behind s.r.b.) and presents two different sessions recorded by the trio in January 2010 in Torino Italy: a studio session at O.F.F. studios reecorded, mixed and edited by producer and sound engineer Marco Milanesio and a recording of a live performance in the historical chapel of the San Pietro In Vincoli ex-cemetery as recorded by Larsen's Paolo Dellapiana and edited by Jochen Arbeit. Even though this collaboration is an integral part of Blind Cave Salamander's activity and discography the musicians have decided to release these albums under their individual names to emphasize the project's collaborative nature based on improvisation and composing as a real time emotional and musical reaction to each other's inputs/outputs".
NURSE WITH WOUND / ARANOS "Acts of Senseless Beauty"
2LP '2011 [Tourette]
"As hinted on a cover artwork, original CD documented sketchily research into humanisation of fish in rivers and bodies of water surrounded by large clots of humans - Thames - London, Hudson - New York, LIffy - Dublin, Vltava - Prague and so forth an on and on and over and out. It also constituted the first publicly documented collaboration of the aforementioned grouping of psycho-acoustic researchers. To fill the side d of the double LP with vibrations appropriate to the occasion, NWW/a revisited underwater lay-line tangents and discovered, not altogether to their surprise, that humanised fish has evolved in the intervening time gap and x-bread with squirrel fearing krustations, thus acquiring a defense mechanism against cosmic fluons constantly passing through their minds causing formation of irritating ideas. As these highly evolved creatures resent being photographed and punish transgressors by their sharp mind teeth, we present an artist impression on the front page of the gatefold. These creatures constantly shape shift as they move between dimensions 6 and 7, so other artist impressions will be presented in the art series of this release. Music/noise on the track describes in some details conversations and revelations of these Piscus Sapiens Emoticus. Revelations important to humankind and their pets. Plants of various species and specialities benefit too, some normously, some enormously, mostly succulently, spinally, thornily or smoothly greening".
W te letnie upalne (i deszczowe) wakacyjne wieczory polecamy!
MIRT "Handmade Man"
CD '2010 [cat|sun]
"Impulsem do stworzenia albumu była idea homunculusa i pytania z nią związane, które mnie nurtowały. Jak taka istota postrzegałaby świat? Z czym utożsamiałaby bezpieczeńswo? Jak często w przypadku moich nagrań duże znaczenie miał stan zawieszenia, pasywności. "Handmade Man", mimo iż nagrany jako koncept album, pozbawiony jest dosłowności i daje się interpretować na różne sposoby. Może więc być o szukaniu schronienia wśród lasów lub o ludzkiej głupocie i fanatyzmie. Limitowana edycja 250 sztuk, w tym edycja specjalna 50 sztuk zawierająca dodatkowo dwie przypinki i zamknięta w drewnianej szkatułce, którą można podłączyć do wzmacniacza i traktować jako instrument".
THE GREAT PARK "Make A Dead One Of It"
2011 [Woodland]
New single from The Great Park featuring Johny from Thirty Pounds Of Bone on the cornet and a new song from the forthcoming album available to listen to and download right here: www.thegreatpark.bandcamp.com/album/make-a-dead-one-of-it
THE HARE AND THE MOON (5th Edition)
CD '2011 [Reverb Worship]
"THE HARE AND THE MOON are an Anglo-Scots pairing, taking traditional ballads of murder, revenge, madness and the occasional talking raven and accompany these with a darkly psychedelic folk music. Mandolins meet pounding drums and distorted guitars alongside a classic English folk vocal".
UNITED BIBLE STUDIES & JOZEF VAN WISSEM "Downland"
LP '2011 [Incunabulum/Deserted Village]
"Dutch Lutenist Jozef Van Wissem is renowned for his experimental approach to Renaissance and Baroque forms of lute music. By cutting-and-pasting classical pieces, constructing palindromic melodies, or adding electronics and processed field recordings, he manages to seamlessly bridge the musical languages of 17th and 21st centuries. If this approach seems coldly academic on paper, the results are anything but: his music is uncluttered and direct, with a viscerally hypnotic and emotional impact, and delivered with an ascetic intensity reflected both in his Biblical titles and his No Wave influences. He has collaborated with James Blackshaw, Smegma, Keiji Haino and Jim Jarmusch among others. The album title "Downland" is a play both on van Wissem's Lowlands home, and the Renaissance Lute composer John Dowland, rumoured to have been born in Ireland. The seeds of this collaboration were sown in late 2007, when United Bible Studies were part of the bill for van Wissem's first Irish concert. Van Wissem began recording tracks for United Bible Studies to overdub and a postal collaboration began in earnest in 2009. The Bible Students were given a free hand, and different band members were drawn to contribute to different pieces".
"Amygdala is the latest album of the Swedish industrial music guru Der General. After listening to this album, one finds it difficult to decide whether it is a masterpiece of hypnotic music, the hallucinations of delirium tremens or perhaps the sign announcing the approaching apocalypse? Magnificent, gloomy and profound tracks create the atmosphere reminding the last days of the last member of the royal family or the celebration of the collapse of its era by a majestic empire. But that is only the general mood of the album. The tracks are very different from each other. Some of them frightful, some majestic, while the rest are calm and deep like dreams. And yet the subject matter of all lyrics is in one or another way related to death and the secret lurking behind it. Actually, Der General conveys it with remarkable subtlety. The album contains a number of crescendos, at least three hits and yet none of them reveal the secret fully. Der General music mesmerises with its slow and massive rhythms inherent most probably only to the Scandinavian electronics, and icy ambient flow inborn to the Northern men. Amygdala is the undisclosed secret. In various shapes it occurs throughout the album tracks where Der General to Heaven travels to meet Jesus and the holy family and investigate the nature of the supernatural ecstasy. Something bothers him and he leaves Heaven. In other tracks he states that we have to be reborn and continue living, later he takes part in the mystic funeral train burying and then resurging dead dogs. Upon their revival, the dogs attack the participants of the train and spread panic. Amygdala is a very colourful kaleidoscope of psychedelic visions. Der General concludes the album by letting us know that it is all clear to him and that the atmosphere is absolutely rotten. Perhaps it is a result of the empty bottle, or much more serious reasons…".
DER BLUTHARSCH & DEUTSCH NEPAL "Apöcalyptic Climäx 2"
CD '2011 [WKN/Eternal Pride]
"In 1999 "Apöcalyptic Climäx 2" was the result of mutual collaboration of the leading martial\industrial\ambient formations DER BLUTHARSCH & DEUTSCH NEPAL. The state of despair and hopelessness is the main leitmotif of this music. Death floating in the uncertainty, death as the basic obsession standing behind all your thoughts and feelings-the monotonous and cold language and fixed scenes. Albin Sunlight Julius & Lina Baby Doll stand here for the chroniclers of Europe, its dramatic historical way which gave rise to the bloody outbreaks & mystical spiritual revelations-war as the phenomenon of the human nature which is constantly testing itself for strength. Apocalyptic despair is the leitmotif of the whole album which was released as limited edition 10'' in 1999, and which is still available on CD as release WKN5 in the format of Digi CD by the exclusive distribution of Eternal Pride Productions".
"First ever vinyl reissue of the legendary Australian neofolk outfit Beastianity’s first album “Root”. Passionate and driving, wild and untamed – honestly one of the most moving and intense recordings of the genre. Beastianity have survived close to two decades as a rogue unit of individuals dedicated to the upkeep of the sub-underground sound. Always pushing their vision with the aid of two-track cassettes and pamphlet drops on public transport and host media in the days prior to the web. The sonic confrontation of their show was, and is still, a baptism of fire. Only those who could laugh through the excrutiating feedback, tape loops, screaming, potential off stage violence and gunpowder stench would stick around to see the pack develop a sound that remains uniquely Australian. Originally released over a decade ago in 1999, Dais has rediscovered and remastered the album to vinyl with the help of Beastianity’s own Praise Dog Publishing to give it a proper limited edition release of only 300 hand-numbered copies".
"Naevus' fifth album, "Silent Life", will be released by Hau Ruck! in May 2007. This, the band's first album as a full four-piece, sees Lloyd (voice, acoustic guitar, keyboards) and Joanne (bass, accordion, keyboards) joined on all tracks by Greg Ferrari (Womb, Bedsit Injury) on electric guitar and John Murphy (Knifeladder, Shining Vril, SPK, The Associates, etc.) on drums and percussion. On four tracks, the band is joined by RoseMcDowall (Strawberry Switchblade, Sorrow, Coil, etc); two tracks include voice and/or keyboards by David E. Williams (the inimitable American singer/songwriter); and two tracks feature violin by Matt Howden (Sieben, Sol Invictus, Rain Dogs, etc.). Digipak includes16 page lyric booklet and photographs".
SPREU & WEIZEN "Gott vergelt's"
CD '2011 [Lichterklang]
"Gott vergelt’s", the second full-length album of Munich's SPREU & WEIZEN is a conceptual album concerned with the fall and second rise of the Roman Empire. The album's title is an allusion to a Southern German expression for "thank you", but is to be understood, as was the case with the first album's title "Gott erhalt's", as a play on words calling on God to retaliate against the decline of the Roman Empire. SPREU & WEIZEN's "Gott vergelt’s" features collaborations with Von Thronstahl, Art Abscons, Rose Rovine E Amanti and Karma Marata. As opposed to the aspiring Bavarians' first album, this CD can no longer be classified as purely neoclassical, which is mainly due to two new members who have had a strong impact on the project's sound. Apart from powerful slogans and fiery guitars, we are presented with an enticing melange of melancholic neoclassicism and gloomy Christian folk that has a decent Italian touch. The neoclassical project SPREU & WEIZEN was founded in 2009. In the beginning, the group consisted of two members, Sig P. and Hagalaz. After a slight change in style, embodying, amongst others, black metal and psychedelic elements, first concert plans were made, and guitarist Chris T. as well as flutist Iduna T. joined the group in the following year. Especially a collaboration with German poet Uwe Lammla and German martial industrial project Von Thronstahl, which was based on Lammla's poem "Deutsche Passion", was received with great enthusiasm".
LARRNAKH "Like the Silken Shrouds of Loneliness"
CD '2011 [Epidemie]
"Larrnakh was founded in 2005. I wanted to incarnate a musical entity that is based on my own ideas and conceptions alone. This is dictatorship. I am in control, I make all the important decision. Of course there are friends, who help me out. They provide their instrument skills or technical support, and sometimes ideas too, under my guidance. I expressed my musical ideas in a certain militant, heroic way from the start, making them complete with a little lyric harmony. Mostly industrial, neofolk and noise influences dominate, with various other tiny elements and ideas, keeping all in continuous formation.
After long preparations, the recordings of the „Now will you believe?“ album started in 2009. The album was released in 2010 by the Austrian label Steinklang. The reputation of the 40 minute long album was really good among both professionals and the audiance too, so the band filled with self confidence and fresh energy has started the next album. In May 2011 the second album titled „Like the silken shrouds of loneliness“ was released. As previously, the disc contains neofolk rich in emotions and vivid industrial elements. The dark ambient influences are less dominant, making the music of LARRNAKH more explicit".
CAFÉ DE L'ENFER "Marchant a quatre pattes au-devant de la rédemption"
CD '2011 [Steinklang]
"CAFÉ DE L'ENFER is one of the most promising new projects under the unconquerable sun of pure martial / neoclassical music. Although the band is now located in Austria, their roots are manifested in the early 20th century of French underground society. Their music amazingly reflects the age of pre-Industrialisation and pure decadence. Best to compare with DERNIÉRE VOLONTÉ, ORDO ROSARIUS EQUILIBRIO, ELEND and a slight touch of LES JOYAUX DE LA PRINCESSE".
ARDITI "Leading The Iron Resistance"
LP/CD '2011 [Equilibrium Music]
"Faithful to their path, ARDITI return with "Leading the Iron Resistance". After the more orchestral approach found in their previous album "Omne Ensis Impera" [EQM020] and the use of folk elements that characterized the "Statues of God" EP [EQM027], on their fifth full-length recording the Swedish duo partially emphasize the Industrial side of their music, with the extensive use of loops and recurring themes adding a semi-obsessive tone to the Classical-themed militaristic sound-sculpturing. "Leading the Iron Resistance" is a work that raises a warning flag against the false freedom of our age, and which seeks to inspire new ways of resistance through Unity. A work that documents values and virtues that now seem lost, echoing through muddy recordings filled with blaring horns and somber narrations from days past. A work that beckons a call to arms, set to the pace of martial percussions, stirring orchestrations and powerful choirs. A work that instills the forging a new Man, under the leadership of ARDITI! "Leading the Iron Resistance" is released on matt-coated Digipak CD with silver hot-foil finishing on front, and in 12" 180gr. vinyl, available both on black or marbled vinyl, with matching covers, each limited to 250 copies".
"Period Tapes has just released my cassette EP entitled "Field Trip". This curious artifact is limited to 46 copies, so get one while you can. I have a very limited amount of copies in stock, so please contact: inquiries@torlundvall.com if you would like to order one directly from me. The artist Louis Caldarola designs all of the beautiful covers for Period Tapes. I sent Lou an old sketch of some windmills and he used it as a point of departure for a stunning design that compliments the music perfectly. The silk screening process makes each cover unique. The tape consists of three previously unreleased abstract audio experiments from the "Insect Wings" era: "36.vf Avüs" is the culmination of a series of recordings based on imaginary radio frequencies. "Blinding Sun" is a radical ambient reworking of my track "Ghost Years". "Yellow-Green" was recorded at a favorite childhood park with ambient treatments added back home in the studio".
BIRCH BOOK "Birch Book"
7" LP + CD '2011 [Les Disques Du 7eme Ciel]
"Aware of B'ee's interest in French language and culture, Les Disques du 7eme Ciel suggested that they collaborate on the release of a record based on French song. This EP contains six tracks – a reworking of "Life's Lace", which originally appeared on his album "A Hand Full Of Days", and five new ones. Limited edition with just 500 hand-numbered copies worldwide. The vinyl is packaged in a deluxe 400gsm grey cardstock gatefold sleeve and comes with two large art inserts on uncoated 300gsm white paperboard and a full CD version of the EP housed in a printed 400gsm grey cardstock sleeve. It is all hand-made from 100% recycled raw paper. The package also includes a unique 100% embroidered Birch Book patch exclusive to the release. The record is only available for purchase from Les Disques Du 7eme Ciel".
V/A "Thanateros - Visions of Love and Death"
2CD '2011 [Ikonen]
"This compilation is dedicated to the morbid erotic photo art of Helmut Wolech, one of the true Viennese underground icons. His work was extensively featured in the German magazine :Ikonen:, on artwork by BELPHEGOR and ALLERSEELEN. The bands selected for this project share either a strong connection with Helmut's artistic topics – namely the mingling of love and death (thus "Thanateros" – thanatos meets eros) or are related to the artist or the magazine in a friendly manner.
Disc 1 ("Love") features the melodic and folky songs, whilst Disc 2 ("Death") focuses on the more nasty and bleak stuff. Both sides are present in Helmut's work, playful yet dark and haunting. The 16-page booklet features examples of Helmut Wolech's unique vision. Featuring 30 exclusive tracks or mixes by the likes of TONY WAKEFORD, COPH NIA, APATHEIA, SONNE HAGAL, SIEBEN, DERNIERE VOLONTÉ, NAEVUS (their last song ever!), JERA NAUTHIZ (ex-PILORI), STOLEN FLOWERS (debut track), AETERNA, SUB LUNA, WHILE ANGELS WATCH, :GOLGATHA:, WERKRAUM (featuring NICHOLAS TESLUK), ANDREW KING, VORTEX, DAWN & DUSK ENTWINED, NEGRU VODA vs PLAGUE MACHINERY, ISOMER, [BLEED], KRISTOFFER NYSTRÖMS ORKESTER, MINK M. RA (the first official track after two download-only albums), THE TRAIL (debut track), ARKANE, SATORI, F*CKHEAD, 53 and VERNEY 1826"."
"Over the last few years the German group :GOLGATHA:, who were founded in 2004 as a dark ambient band, have succeeded in cultivating their own unique style via a series of ambitious concept albums and live appearances. They describe this style as "ritual folk": their highly original fusion of percussive world music elements with ethereal female vocals and earthy folk songs conjures up the spirits of DEAD CAN DANCE, IN THE NURSERY and JOCELYN POOK as well as those of LEONARD COHEN, SOL INVICTUS and CURRENT 93. Sounds of enraptured beauty come up against dark ecstacies and pessimistic visions. "The Horns of Joy" is dedicated to the nihilistic tendencies of the early 20th century – and their necessary overcoming.
"The Horns of Joy" follows their successful last album, "Tales of Transgression & Sacrifice" (2007) and the neoclassical symbiosis with French collaborators DAWN & DUSK ENTWINED upon "Sang Graal" (2008) and denotes a new chapter, a next stage in the development of :GOLGATHA:. "The Horns of Joy" is serious and mature, ambivalent and profound and amounts to more than just aestheticised gloom. After early creative collaborations with SIXTH COMM, TONY WAKEFORD and HERBST9, for "The Horns of Joy" they got the vocalists from DAWN & DUSK ENTWINED und WHILE ANGELS WATCH on board and have created inimitable hymns about the great calamities of the 20th century: "This is the sound of war – what has it all been good for?" Trancelike rhythms slowly build up, making way for songs of guilt and pain, but also of hope and joy. With "The Horns of Joy", :GOLGATHA: have exceeded the sum of their work to date and have developed their distinct ritual folk sound in crystalline clarity over a cycle of 13 elaborate songs. In a captivating manner they demonstrate their special position in the landscape of European alternative music".
FIRST HUMAN FERRO feat. ALBIREON "Prosa Profana"
CD '2011 [Nitkie]
"Prosa Profana" is a follow-up to "Guernica Macrocosmica" and the 2nd post mortem dedication by Olegh Kolyada collaborating with Albireon neo-folkers this time. A low-key unison of dissonant ex-Soviet schlager melodies and forefront Italian vocals in a tender naive manner offer a unique nostalghic experience. The release comes in a beautiful digipak with a 12-page booklet. "Prosa Profana" unveils a humane feeling of nostalghia as that of sorrow towards present lack of integrity, commonness, and harmony. Homesickness and melancholy, grief and yearning, but also hope and belief nostalghia is a deep relation one cannot relinquish or renounce since it is the purest sacrificial nature of a man. Sacrifice as a consequence of nostalghia is a verdict to overwhelmingly materialized time, its impiety and de-spiritualization. Nostalghia is a confession, humble declaration of love as generally the highest art manifestation ever possible. Prosa Profana is our verdict to ourselves.
MAJDANEK WALTZ / SAL SOLARIS "Tenebrae"
CD '2011 [Shadowplay/Zhelezobeton]
"A collaboration album by two prominent Russian post-industrial projects Majdanek Waltz and Sal Solaris. The conceptual core of the record is the poetry of Paul Celan, one of the major German-language poets of the post-World War II era. His cryptic fractured lyrics spoken in a specific estranged way by Pavel Blumkin is enchased by a weird fusion of avant-garde neoclassic and dark ambient music. This record will seem unusual even for those who are already familiar with the works of both projects. Here you won't find neither soulful neofolk songs, nor strong power ambient - instead the decadent sounds of violin, cello, clarinet, piano and bayan from Majdanek Waltz blend with shimmering electronic drones and uneasy soundscapes of Sal Solaris in paradoxical unity making your heart throb painfully. The last track features the haunting voice of Rada Anchevskaya (Rada & Ternovnik). It won't be so easy to fall in love with this album from the first spin. It's like an eerie irrational dream able to frighten and cause a desire to wake up somewhat quicker. But the depth of this dream lures and makes you return and experience it again and again.
"This is time's eye: it squints out from under a seven-hued eyebrow. Its lid is washed clean by fires; its tear is hot stream. Towards it the blind star flies and melts at the eyelash that's hotter; it's growing warm in the world and the dead burgeon and flower".
MAA t-shirts are now available for pre-order. Featuring the design shown here, the shirts are black and available in all the usual sizes. Price: 15€ + postage. Send pre-orders to: info@animaarctica.fi
"An original film score by Matt Howden (Sieben, HaWthorn, Duo Noir). "Robot World" is a non-verbal documentary by German film director Martin Hans Schmitt. The soundtrack is best described as Neoclassical in style; it is music to sink into and drift away with. The music is scored with strings, loops, piano, and bass. Just over 50 minutes of music in total here. Shrinkwrapped card slip".
"Nine years in the planning and recording! Andrew King’s (The Triple Tree, Duo Noir, Sol Invictus) magnum opus and first true solo album since The Amfortas Wound. A dark and complex selection of traditional, medieval and own compositions. Tracks include the 13th Century Ballad "Judas", for which a new edition was prepared from the only known manuscript, the murder ballads "Edward" & "Sir Hugh", Oswald von Wolkenstein’s May song "Fröleichen So Well Wir" and "Sic Mea Fata Canendo Solor" from the Carmina Burana. Features John Murphy (KnifeLadder, Scorpion Wind, DIJ, C93), Hunter Barr (Knifeladder), Maria Vellanz (Leisur Hive), and (on two tracks) the Choir of Saint Stephen’s Church, Gloucester Road".
"Considered by many as the best "beginner's guide to Death In June", this 2 CD collection of 33 songs from 1981-1997 compiled personally by Douglas P. in 1997 has been reissued with a fresh look and expanded 12 page full colour booklet containing rare photos from the period. Several versions of the songs are exclusive to this compilation and most of the tracks are from now deleted or hard to find albums and singles. The 2 CDs come in a Lime Green foil-blocked slipcase".
"The first new album after four long years of waiting! The all new BACKWORLD eleven-track release explores the liminal regions between "Life" and "Afterlife" through songs and minimalist classical compositions ranging from dark to ecstatic. Featuring Noah Hoffeld, with Micki Pellerano and Christiana Key from CULT OF YOUTH".
CULT OF YOUTH "Cult of Youth"
LP/CD '2011 [Sacred Bones Records]
"Born out of a love for the post-industrial music and culture that had inspired him ever since he had first discovered music as a teenager, Cult of Youth began as a series of home recordings by founder Sean Ragon. Ragon’s solo Cult of Youth project released a 7-inch and then one full length on then fledgling Dais Records (also responsible for introducing the world to Cold Cave and releasing Genesis P-Orridge’s pre-Throbbing Gristle recordings for the first time). The early recordings seemed to strike a chord with many people who felt alienated by the cultural irony and lo-fi slacker mentality that was ever present in independent music at the time. Adding three permanent members to the line-up: performance artist/director/painter/occult scholar Micki Pellerano on bass, machinist drummer Glenn Maryanski, and the violin virtuoso/goddess Christiana Key. (Key’s brilliant string arrangements were recently featured on new Zola Jesus single “Poor Animal.”)
This is their first album as a proper band, produced by Chris Coady and mixed by Swans producer Kevin McMahon; it’s an ideal realization of the amazing potential this new full band line-up. It is a neo-folk masterpiece, perhaps the first of its kind from an American band. Although still rooted in the acoustic guitar driven Teutonic chants of the early material, the focus has changed and the scope is broader. Cult of Youth shifts from delicate pagan folk music reminiscent of Paul Giovanni’s landmark soundtrack to The Wicker Man, to hazy Turkish psychedelic passages, and even to the rugged Americana of traditional country music. This debut is an unapologetic and unabashed search for a spiritual identity in an increasingly homogenized world. It serves as a clear and thorough introduction for all the burgeoning dark punks out there who wanna go a bit deeper but haven’t yet figured out where to start".
"Syriusz – psia planeta – najjaśniejsza gwiazda nocnego nieba, położona w gwiazdozbiorze Wielkiego Psa. Znana od starożytności. W wielu kulturach odcisnęła szczególne piętno na kształtowanie światopoglądu, wierzeń, tworzenie ośrodków religijnych. Już starożytni Egipcjanie czcili Syriusza jako bóstwo, stworzyli własny kalendarz w oparciu o jego cykl, związany ściśle z wylewami Nilu przed przesileniem letnim. Dlatego też budowali własne świątynie tak, aby światło gwiazdy było widoczne z ołtarza. W XX wieku zainteresowanie magicznym aspektem Syriusza nie osłabło. Za sprawą grupy Dyskordian z R.A. Wilsonem i T. Learym na czele mit wciąż ożywa…
Kompilacja „From Earth to Sirius”, dedykowana R. A. Wilsonowi – jednemu z największych naukowych filozofów przełomu wieku – mądremu, przenikliwemu, pełnemu poczucia humoru i optymizmu człowiekowi, to próba reinterpretacji mitu znanego człowiekowi od tysiącleci. Każdy z występujących na kompilacji projektów prezentuje nieco inny charakter i styl muzyczny, a jednocześnie przedstawia inny aspekt kosmicznej tematyki, jej silnego związku z cyklem ziemskim i życiem człowieka. Muzyka zawarta na albumie oscyluje od psychotycznego drone, dark ambientu, po tribal i downtempo. Niektóre z projektów podchodzą do tematu w sposób właściwy muzyce rytualnej, inne realizują się poprzez kosmiczne dźwięki i brzmienie głębokiej mrocznej przestrzeni. Nie brakuje również elementów humorystycznych, znamiennych dla R.A. Wilona. Szeroki wachlarz stylistyczno-tematyczny ukazuje jedynie słuchaczowi, jak szerokim i wielowarstwowym pojęciem jest kosmos, jego znaczenie i jaki wpływ ma on na ludzkie życie.
"From Earth to Sirius" to forma komunikacji, sygnału wysyłanego z Ziemi do najjaśniejszej z gwiazd. Na dwóch płytach znalazły się specjalnie przygotowane na tę publikację utwory w wykonaniu 20 projektów: Ah Cama-Sotz, Apocalyptic Visions, Atomine Elektrine, Christblood, Different State, Electric Uranus, Emme Ya, Expo '70, Hybryds, Kallee, Kia Karma, Nordvargr, Ouroboros, Phelios, Rapoon, S.E.T.I, Therion Trismegistos, Unknown Caller, X-naVI:et.
156=Musick=Babalon=Kaos -
Orryelle & The Hermaphroditic ChaOrder of the Silver DUSK
CD '2011 [ZOHAR 019-2]
Projekt "156=Musick=Babalon=Kaos" to eksperyment na polu magicznej muzyki nagranej przez członków The HermAphroditic ChAOrder of the SILVER DUSK, zwykle wykorzystywanej przez nich w kontekście rytuału lub inwokacji, która następnie zostaje rozwinięta w dalszym procesie twórczym przez innych artystów pochodzących z różnych miejsc na globie. Styl muzyczny zawarty na niniejszym albumie rozciąga się od neoklasycznego dark ambientu opartego na brzmieniach elektronicznych, eksperymentów z użyciem zróżnicowanego instrumentarium do prostych dźwięków, odwołujących się do pierwotnych rytuałów Hekate, bazujących na brzmieniach dzwonków, bębnów itp.
Na album składają się pojedyncze improwizacje z różnych występów członków The HermAphroditic ChAOrder of the SILVER DUSK zarejestrowanych podczas przedstawień "She shall Ride He" w Melbourne i zsynchronizowanych z innymi działaniami członków grupy w Stanach Zjednoczonych, Europie i Korei... Orryelle przedstawiając koncept albumu powołuje się na tradycję Thelemy. Nadając albumowi tytuł 156=Musick Babalon Kaos odwołuje się do poematu składającego się ze 156 słów autorstwa A. Crowleya oraz do sanskrypcji słowa Magick (Magija) wydobywając z niego erotyczny aspekt magii seksualnej Fr. Perturabo. Gra liczb i słów jest nie bez znaczenia: 418 – Wielkie Dzieło realizowane poprzez dźwięk w kontekście 156 – Babalon, która była wielką inspiracją członków The HermAphroditic ChAOrder of the SILVER DUSK, a której to inwokowane są w większości utwory znajdujące się na albumie, stanowią nawiązanie do eleuzyjskich misteriów... Wydanie w eleganckim digipacku + 6 kart, zawierających grafiki artystów związanych z projektem "156=Musick=Babalon=Kaos" oraz teksty do poszczególnych utworów.
"Po pierwszym albumie, wydanym w ścisłym limicie przez Sonderübertragung!, Sunday Strain powraca pełen świeżej energii i pomysłów. Założony w 2005 roku, jako projekt poboczny Llovespell, Sunday Strain jest dziś dojrzałym zespołem, który nadal eksperymentuje, tym razem wykorzystując również bass i perkusję, którym towarzyszy silny i czysty głos Dorain W. "Destiny.Done" to ponad 45 minut wyszukanej elektroniki z domieszką popu i mrocznego klimatu. Album zmasterowany przez Andreasa Wahnmanna (First Law), wydany został w eleganckim, 6-panelowym digipacku projektu Hansa Johma (Antlers Mulm)".
"After a strictly limited debut album on Sonderübertragung! Sunday Strain is back with new energy and ideas. Formed in 2005 as a side project of Llovespell it is now a full-grown band still experimenting but this time also using bass and drums instruments accompanied by clear and strong vocals of Dorain W. "Destiny.Done" brings over 45 minutes of sophisticated electronic music with admixture of pop elements and dark atmosphere. Mastered by Andreas Wahnmann (First Law) comes in an elegant 6 panel digipack designed by Hans Johm (Antlers Mulm)".
CONTAGIOUS ORGASM + KADAVER "A tragedy without a border line"
CD '2011 [WRT012]
"Współpraca pomiędzy Hiroshi Hashimoto z legendarnego już Contagious Orgasm oraz Michaela Zolotova z izraelskiego Kadaver grającego noise i power electronics. "A tragedy without a border line" to mieszanka ambientu, PE i noisowych dźwięków. Składa się z 3 długich kompozycji, w których brak muzycznych granic... Bulgoczące drony, samplowane głosy, trzaski i szumy. Całość zapakowana w 6-panelowy digipack, zaprojektowany przez Michaela, z dość kontrowersyjnym zdjęciem wewnątrz (przynajmniej niektórzy będą tak sądzić)".
"Collaboration between Hiroshi Hashimoto from already legendary Contagious Orgasm and Michael Zolotov from Israeli power electronics and noise project Kadaver.
"A tragedy without a border line" is a mixture of ambient, PE and noisy sounds. Consists of 3 long pieces of musick without frontiers... Bubbling drones, sampled voices, crashes and hums.
All packed in a 6 panel digipack - designed by Michael - with rather controvensial photo inside (at least some will think so)".
SILENT LOVE OF DEATH "Donde habite el olvido"
CD + DVD '2011 [Gradual Hate]
"The new work of SILENT LOVE OF DEATH unearths the surrealist exquisite corpse to dissect their black depths, on a trip accompanied by melodies with echoes of Apocalypse, spectral dialogues with the darker side of our unconscious and love songs immersed in the depths of madness. "Donde habite el olvido", dedicated to the poet Luis Cernuda. Special edition that contains an audio CD and a DVD containing nine videos, one for each poem, work that is doomed to become a cult classic".
"Ferran Fages - improviser and composer. He plays guitar, amplifiers, radios, resonant objects, acoustic turntable and electronics: "feedback mixing board", pick-ups and oscillators. He was member of the collective IBA col.lectiu d'improvisació from 1999 to 2006. He is also member of duo Cremaster (with Alfredo Costa Monteiro) Besides his projects, he is collaborating with various musicians, among them with Christopher Williams, Martin Küchen, Will Guthrie, Jean-Philippe Gross and Pascal Battus.
The compositions specially made for this release are a novel and undocumented experience for this interesting sound artist. As source of sound he used radio receivers exclusively. It may seem that using various unconventional devices, often extremely amplified and processed, has become a staple of contemporary experimental music language. "*Pel Nord*", however, seems very fresh and certainly makes a new, intriguing chapter in the career of this composer. The dynamics of the record doesn't rely on a traditional patter of a quiet start, increasing drone and reverberating finale. Unhurriedly, it accustoms the listener to the changes in minute details so that the original source of sound soon becomes obscure and one forgets the playing time as well. Minimal and extended, these static compositions of unusual beauty based on vibrations and radio reverberations are obviously a result of physical properties of the untypical instrument, modulated by Ferran Fages with great care and precision, one might even say, virtuosity".
ROBIN FOX "More Impossible Futures"
7" LP '2011 [Bocian Records]
"Melbourne based artist Robin Fox has developed a unique vision since he threw away the bottle and dreamt of an outdoor concert shooting lasers onto clouds. Throughout his 15 year artistic practice he has regularly experimented with Anthony Pateras, Oscilloscopes, Lasers, Nyquist Variations and various Australian Dance Companies. He has dodged customs agents in a post 9/11 world (a laser + a beard not being the optimal baggage for border hopping) and is currently building a giant outdoor Theremin for the City of Melbourne. "More Impossible Futures" is Robin's second solo recording, the first being the full length LP/Cassette 'A Handful of Automation' released on Editions Mego in 2010. "More Impossible Futures" 7" builds upon this previous release with two shimmering audio diamonds perfectly suited to the 7" format. Two sharp succinct statements tackling each side of the electronic coin. 'More Impossible Futures' is a digital work that teases a jittering melody out of a flickering environment whilst "Drift Compression" takes the listener into a decidedly delicious audio abyss. An otherworldly analogue work made on a EMS VCS 3 (the 'Doctor Who' machine). Two Sides. Two worlds. One Man".
SEAN BAXTER "Metal / Flesh"
7" LP '2011 [Bocian Records]
"These pieces by Australian avant garde percussionist, Sean Baxter, exemplify a long-standing preoccupation with extended technique and acoustically generated noise applied to the conventional drumkit in a freely improvised context. Alongside compatriots like Robbie Avenaim, Tony Buck, Steve Heather, Joe Talia and Will Guthrie, Baxter has been at the forefront of percussive exploration in Australia since the 90s, pushing the bounds of the acoustic drumkit's sonic potential in a wide range of collaborative and solo settings, not least of which includes his acclaimed group with Anthony Pateras and Dave Brown. It is fitting, then, that these recordings are dedicated to those musicians, given the gestation of Baxter's approaches represented on this record in that innovative trio.
The works featured on this Bocian release hail from an expansive session destined for a full release in the future. Recorded by lauded engineer Christopher Lawson in the Melbourne studios of Australia's national broadcaster (the ABC) with innovative audio-visual artist and frequent collaborator, Robin Fox in attendance, the intent of the session was to capture Baxter's novel approach to percussive sound generation in high detail. In a series of concise improvisations, each focusing on the use of unconventional implements to extract unusual timbres from the drumkit itself, the recordings emphasize the possibility of creating a vast and dense sonic world without the use of overdubs or processing. With allusions to avant garde electronic music, Modernist chamber music in the style of Xenakis and Lachenmann, extreme noise and the maximalist spectrum of post-AMM free improv, Baxter's work here illustrates the fluidity and complexity of acoustical percussive frequencies and timbres.
On "Metal", the piercing and jarring sounds of untuned aluminium windchimes (normally a ubiquitous and gentle soundtrack to the Australian rural homestead), flailing against the rims and membranes of the kit in a chaotic flurry, create a barrage of stochastic rhythms and accidental harmonies, exploiting the high frequency ranges of metallic sound. "Flesh", in complete contrast, employs the exclusive use of the body; fingers, hands, fists and elbows strike, coddle and pummel the various components of the drumkit, coercing and coaxing more rounded, but equally uncompromising and slightly uncomfortable bottom-end sounds from the instrument. Together, these pieces are representative of a peculiarly Australian approach avant garde improvisation. Whilst sonically detailed and meticulously recorded, there remains an edginess, and intentional 'dirtiness' to the sound as a whole.
Niezależna wytwórnia płytowa założona w 2004 roku w Warszawie. Stylistycznie koncentruje się na szeroko pojętej awangardzie muzycznej, od noise'u, drone, muzyki konkretnej i poszukującej elektroakustyki po minimal music, free-jazz, czy EAI. W tej chwili jest jednym z najbardziej aktywnych eksperymentalnych, europejskich labeli. W jej katalogu znajduje się ponad 40 pozycji (płyty CD, płyty winylowe, DVD). Od 2009 MonotypeRec. wydaje własny magazyn (nieregularnik) - "m|i". MonotypeRec. pracujem na kolejnymi wydawnictwami, na których usłyszeć będzie można: John Butcher/Toshimaru Nakamura, Michel Doneda, ErikM, Alfredo Costa Monteiro, To Live And Shave in LA, STRIKE (Clayton Thomas/Jon Rose/Mike Majkowski), Dan Warburton/If, Bwana, LHZ+H (Thomas Lehn/Carl Ludwig Hubsch/Philip Zoubek/Franz Hautzinger), Tetuzi Akiyama/Tom Carter/Christian Kiefer, LOOPER, Axel Dorner/Werner Dafeldecker/Sven Ake Johansson, Eugene Chadbourne, Mia Zabelka i wielu wielu innych.
Nowe płyty!
TROPHIES (Alessandro Bosetti/Tony Buck/Kenta Nagai)
"Become Objects of Daily Use"
CD '2011 [mono037]
SCANNER + DAVID ROTHENBERG "You Can't Get There from Here"
CD '2011 [mono038]
KIM CASCONE "The Knotted Constellation"
CD '2011 [mono039]
EUGENE S. ROBINSON + PHILIPPE PETIT "The Crying of Lot 69"
CD '2011 [mono040]
ELECTRIC URANUS / X-NAVI:ET "Voices of the Cosmos"
CD '2011 [bop 7.5]
"Projekt "VOICES OF THE COSMOS" stanowi edukacyjno-artystyczną inicjatywę stworzoną przez dwóch muzyków z Województwa Kujawsko-Pomorskiego: Rafała Iwańskiego (X-NAVI:ET) i Wojciecha Ziębę (ELECTRIC URANUS). Obaj muzycy mają duże doświadczenie w dziedzinie muzyki eksperymentalnej i elektroakustycznej. W nagraniach zamieszczonych na płycie cd wykorzystano oryginalne sygnały i dźwięki pochodzenia pozaziemskiego pozyskane za pośrednictwem urządzeń radioteleskopowych (pulsary), nagrania archiwalne pochodzące z kilku misji kosmicznych i dźwięki przestrzeni kosmicznej. Każdy z muzyków przygotował indywidualnie 3 utwory, które składają się na 40 minutowy album. Ścieżki instrumentalne zagrane i dograne pod rytmy i tony "dźwięków z kosmosu" są bogate sonorystycznie i stworzone całkowicie rękami ludzkimi przy użyciu instrumentów elektronicznych i akustycznych z wykorzystaniem interesującego instrumentarium. Wszystko to sprawia, że projekt ten jest wyjątkowy. Jest to jedyna taka inicjatywa muzyczna w Polsce, w której wykorzystuje się oryginalne zapisy przestrzeni kosmicznej. Projekt uzyskał uznanie w środowisku naukowym i cieszy się dużym zainteresowaniem oraz poparciem. Zawartość płyty "VOICES OF THE COSMOS" to elektro-akustyczne dźwięki w klimatach dark ambientowych (chociaż nie powinno się określać tej płyty mianem gatunku), to muzyka którą w 100% oddaje sam tytuł: GŁOSY KOSMOSU. Patrzymy w niebo, oglądamy gwiazdy, znamy wiele fotografii przedstawiających różne ciała niebieskie, galaktyki czy zjawiska występujące w przestrzeni. To wszystko nas fascynuje, jest piękne, kolorowe i efektowne. Ale to wcale nie są przyjazne dla nas środowiska, to bardzo przerażające miejsca, lodowate lub przeraźliwie gorące. Ta płyta taka właśnie jest. Można przy niej odlecieć w przysłowiowy kosmos, ale również potrafi przerażać tymi wszystkimi dźwiękami. Na krążku dodatkowo znajdują się dwa kawałki w wersji video. Specjalnie na to wydawnictwo i do wybranych utworów stworzone zostały dwa obrazy video-art., za które odpowiedzialny jest Chris Konky. Płyta "VOICES OF THE COSMOS" jest wydana wspólnie przez Beast Of Prey i Eter Records w pięknym trzypanelowym digipacku".
VOMIR / VILGOĆ / I AM A SLUT "Walls of Annihilation"
CDr '2011 [bop 7.3]
"Kolekcjonerska pozycja. Francusko-polski split trzech przedstawicieli Harsh Noise Wall. Płyta wydana niekonwencjonalnie z pasa drukowanej tektury. W środku wklejone trzy grafiki, całość dodatkowo owinięta płócienną opaską z czerwonym krzyżem. Nakład limitowany, ręcznie numerowany do 55 sztuk".
FEAR KONSTRUKTOR "Oktophony"
CD'r '2011 [NN VIII]
(metal box, limit do 40 kopii)
"With a vast array of releases under its belt, Fear Konstructor shows no sign of artistic exhaustion, and continues to evolve in pursuit of creative completion. From the very beginning, we have been inspired by Nikita's enthusiastic and vibrant personality as FK reminds us what the underground art spirit is really about. Therefore, we are proud to spread the sound that takes the listener back to the days when the term 'industrial music' was taken literally. Machinery's sheer vitality brings the dead mass and weight into complex activity of a truly living organism, perfectly set within its natural environment —like an octopus that coils and writhes in unrestrained paroxysms. Pretentious captions aside, this album contemplates the interfering frequencies, oscilations, and fluctuations of accumulated power, relentlessly throbbing in continuous cycles. Employing a wide range of pedals, FX units and synth modules, the artist achieves his vision in a soothing, perfectly paced, yet radically intense musical form. Let us join him. The luxurious steel box with an artwork transferred directly onto metal surface with three extra insert cards enclosed, each disc has been numbered by hand. Only 40 copies have been manufactured, secure yours before somebody else does.
Fear Konstruktor is a brave new sound from Russia, inspired by brightness and vibrance of modern world. However it contains retro-futuristic touch as seen through the prism of ultramodern devices. All that chik-chik and wao-wao are just words of the significant phrase... Listening to Fear Konstruktor is being inside yourself and outside our universe at the same time. Because those billions of living sounds are caught for you by daring one".
GERECHTIGKEITS LIGA "Dystopia"
12" LP '2011 [Zyklus Records]
"GERECHTIGKEITS LIGA had been working on their new album, Dystopia, on and off since 2006. It’s the project’s first studio album in 25 years and it delivers eight dark, post-industrial tribal songs with stylistic elements of ritual, dark ambient, noise and martial industrial. The album is a head-on sonic collision of altered loops, high- and low-tech percussive elements, haunting voices, the enlightening sounds of ritual instruments, powerful drums and metal percussion, all put together in a big, dense, full and professional sounding studio production. The lyrics of Dystopia deal with the dawning of Armageddon, different kinds of repressive social control systems, a lack or total absence of individual freedom and expression, and a state of constant anxiety. The album has been recorded with the help of guest musician and friend John Murphy (Shining Vril, Knifeladder, Last Dominion Lost and SPK, to name but a few)".
"JOANNA MAKABRESKU to zimnofalowy warszawski zespół powstały w 1986 roku, kapela regularnie koncertowała do 1990 roku, kilkukrotnie pojawiła się na scenie także w latach późniejszych. JOANNA MAKABRESKU ma na swoim koncie wydanych kilka kaset, które ukazały się w limitowanym nakładzie, w tym "Piątą Prostytucję". Muzyka JOANNA MAKABRESKU to rasowy przedstawiciel polskiej zimnej fali. Członkowie kapeli tworzyli przez lata art-zine'a "Linie". Zespół reaktywował się w 2009 roku, nie trzeba było ich długo namawiać, żeby wydać "Piąta Prostytucję" na winylu. Wydanie: gatefold (czyli wydanie albumowe, rozkładane), wewnątrz okładki teksty i zdjęcia, wkładka-plakat z historią zespołu. Limit 250 sztuk".
"W 1982 roku startowali totalnie zapatrzeni w The Birthday Party. Z biegiem czasu coraz bardziej fascynowało ich rockabilly i garażowe brzmienie spod znaku Linka Wraya, The Cramps i The Gun Club. Byli bliscy scenie gotycko-punkowej, rockabillowej, noise’owej. Nagrali 4 albumy, kilka epek i zagrali ponad 200 koncertów. Rozwiązali się w 1988 roku, a reaktywowali w 2007 w znakomitej formie. "Death Message Blues" to ich pierwszy materiał po reaktywacji. Nakład po 250 sztuk".
HEKATE "Die Welt der dunklen Gärten"
CD '2011 [Auerbach Tontrager/Prophecy]
"It's been quiet for Hekate in recent years, but these pioneers of the German Neofolk scene ("Hambach 1848" was released back in 1998) are still active. Nearly seven years after "Goddess," the ensemble from Koblenz now release their fifth studio album "Die Welt der dunklen Gärten" ("The World of Dark/Cryptic Gardens") in order to prove that they have lost nothing of their expressive and artistic powers. Music-wise, "Die Welt ..." forges a bridge from Classical elements and Oriental rhythms to melancholic Folk. Once more outstanding are the varied percussion arrangements so typical of Hekate as well as the alternating vocals by Susanne Grosche and Axel Menz. The brilliant production courtesy of Patrick Damiani (Rome) lends a flair of simple beauty to this album. The selection of lyrics is remarkable as well: apart from the band's own words, you will find adaptations of classic poetry by Lord Byron ("Byronic Hero"), Joseph von Eichendorff ("Opportunity of Time"), and Hermann Löns ("Die Blaue Blume"). On their new release, Hekate have left nothing to chance, and that is also true of the artwork. The gardens referred to in the album's title do not only – as a metaphor of diversity and discrepancies – take up on the multi-faceted character of the music, but also on the point of intersection between man/culture and nature, a topic that has always been important in the works of Hekate. The layout, finally, pays homage to the painter Karl Wilhelm Diefenbach, whose painting "Per Aspera ad Astra" ("Through hardships to the stars") mirrors the album's basic statement. "Die Welt der dunklen Gärten" sees Hekate return to Neofolk's first division with the possibly strongest album of their career thus far".
OUTOFSIGHT / HOTEL DE PRUSSE "Forgotten Taste of the Province"
CD '2011 [Rage In Eden]
"Wydawnictwo, jakie mam przyjemność firmować nazwą Rage in Eden to płyta o polskiej prowincji, może trochę o dekadencji, to też krótka rozprawka na temat przeszłości i o usychających więziach pomiędzy tym, co jest teraz a tym, co przeminęło. O zerwanych relacjach z kolegami i koleżankami, którzy nieoczekiwanie ponownie zjawiają się w naszym życiu. Wszystkich nas łączy jedno, to skąd jesteśmy".
MILITIA "Power, Propaganda, Production!"
CD '2011 [Neuropa Records]
"Power, Propaganda, Production!" is the new MILITIA album and it's a bull's eye! The six famous muscle workers from Belgium have not only unleashed a new production following their 2005 album "Everything Is One" on the new defunct Tactical but have also set a new milestone in their long-running industrial career. The album contains eleven new studio tracks dealing with the very topics MILITIA has always been pointing at during their provocative career. MILITIA is a Belgian industrial-percussion band, founded in 1989 by multi instrumentalists Frank Gorissen and Jo Billen. Most of our percussion instruments are made out of oil barrels and old metal parts from cars and machines. They combine these self made instruments with conventional drums, toms and cymbals. The band members also play a variety of self-made wind instruments and tools. "Power, Propaganda, Production!" comes in a deluxe cardboard box with an 8-page booklet and a magnificent MILITIA politburo mini-poster, all designed by Metastazis from France. The six percussion players are lined up in front of the new flag, fists clenched, shoulder to shoulder, stronger than ever, armed with their huge metal and skin percussion installations to crash the corrupt systems under their boots!"
Minimalna elektroakustyka. Urokliwie, leniwie i wielce stylowo.
M. OSTERMEIER "The Rules of Another Small World"
CD '2011 [Tench]
"With The Rules of Another Small World, M. Ostermeier has arrived at an elegant voice – otherworldly and strangely beautiful, much like the desolate Taiwanese San-Zhr Pod Village gracing the album cover. While elements of electroacoustic, modern classical, jazz, glitch, drone, ambient, and even lounge weave in and out of the record’s eleven compositions, The Rules of Another Small World is the converse of an eclectic collection of songs. Instead, a cohesive album springs forth from the subtle commonalities in texture and structure etched into every song. These commonalities derive in part from the “rules” of the album title, a reference to M. Ostermeier's self-imposed limitations adopted during the composition of these pieces. Despite its minimalistic leanings, The Rules of Another Small World paints a melodic, freeform world full of detail. Slow melodic fragments dance in and out of focus, while small sounds both tinker about in the foreground and percolate curiously in the aural architecture underneath. The striking superposition of unadorned piano melodies and unpredictable sonic microorganisms lifts the melancholic darkness M. Ostermeier explored on Lakefront (Hibernate, 2010) revealing a tone that is more optimistic – even playful (think Cluster, Benjamin Lew, Carpet Musics, Pawn, or Opitope). Towards that end, most compositions are constructed in the three-minute pop-song format, blossoming with lives lasting only long enough to explore their environment before they metamorphoses into something new".
CISFINITUM & THE [LAW-RAH] COLLECTIVE "[ANS]werk"
CD '2011 [Fario]
"Russian one-man outfit Cisfinitum and Dutch duo The [Law-Rah] Collective are both dark ambient masters. They dedicated this split and common work to one of the very first synthesizers in the world, the ANS. The ANS, created by Russian engineer E. Murzin from 1937 to 1957, is an incredible response to the synesthesia theories (the letters ANS stand for Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin who linked tones to colours). The ANS synthesizer (only one copy exists and is kept in Moscow) generates special frequencies from drawings ("it plays what you have drawn") and in the opposite it can also create a visible image of a sound frequency. Artists such as Coil, Edward Artemiev (for Tarkovsky's Solaris soundtrack) and Alfred Schnittke used the ANS in their compositions. For this album, The [Law-Rah] Collective and Cisfinitum based their music on original sounds from the ANS as well as additional recordings of various analog synths, fractal and granular synthesis, voice, violin, field recordings. They give birth to an intense cold and grey music upon which fly ghosts of melodies, archaic or yet to come".
BAD SECTOR "Chronoland"
CD '2011 [Power & Steel/Loki Foundation]
"This new album of Massimo Magrini is the soundscape for a mind movie and another masterpiece that picks up where the previous work CMASA left off. Twelve beautifully crafted chapters of music segueing between morphing layers of thick drones, haunting melodies and crackling vocal transmissions. Chronoland unfolds a fascinating and cineastic atmosphere of frightening ambient melodica with dark soundwaves deeply imbedded in the music and bursts of electro-acoustic effects. This release is another step forward into the sound cosmos of Massimo Magrini with new directions but always in the unique way of BAD SECTOR".
BLOOD BOX "Funeral In An Empty Room"
CD '2011 [Power & Steel/Loki Foundation]
"Seven years after the highly acclaimed Iron Dream CD (Eibon) and 14 years after the CD debut, A World of Hurt (Malignant/Katyn), Blood Box finally returns with a new album, Funeral In An Empty Room. As one part of revered dark ambient project Yen Pox, Michael JV Hensley is certainly no stranger to creating epic and immersive soundscapes, and with Funeral In An Empty Room, he has yet again meticulously crafted another highly detailed, intensely atmospheric work. Awash in slow, dreamlike waves of morphing textures, and blissfully unfurling cosmic drift, this is nothing less than an aural vision down the hypnotic path to the unknown; serene yet gloomy, with multiple layers of swelling tones, subdued melodies, and ominous, spacey effects".
RASALHAGUE "Rage Inside the Window"
CD '2011 [Malignant]
"Following the self released 3inch CDr from a few years back, Rage Inside the Window is the astounding formal debut of Indiana based dark ambient artist Rasalhague, offering some of the most haunting, dread filled, and yet dynamic atmospheres we've come across in some time. Inspired by the true events of a young girl neglectfully imprisoned in filth and squalor by her thoughtless and uncaring mother. Rage Inside the Window takes the listener into the mind of a savagely depraved soul. Don't expect ambient of the spaced out, blissful, and softly textured variety. This is dirty and impenetrably dark, with an intertwining mass of demonic squalls, intense probing, highly ominous tonal drones, distant monolithic pulsations, and bleak isolationism. 6 lengthy tracks of pure psychological horror are presented here, with each piece segueing into each other in transforming waves, progressively getting darker, brooding, and more menacing as it goes. Finally, with the final track, some semblance of solace is achieved. Reference points can be made to Atrium Carceri, recent Raison d'Etre, and the like, but ultimately, Rasalhague operates within its own realm".
YEN POX "Universal Emptiness"
10" LP '2011 [Substantia Innominata]
"Finally new material (two side-long tracks named ABOVE & BELOW) by this cult project from the US, working with deep e-bass sounds to create a really isolationistic mass of darkest cosmic ambience, a kind of "black hole" ur-drone; when you put this on you are immediately touched by the cold breath of an amorph "otherness" - this sound is so monumental and complex that it seems to suspend not only the mind but also the physis, and you experience intensely that both are the same anyway... there's something in this music that lets you really shiver and feel levitated at the same time... gloriously, the self is dissolving... filed under: DARK OCEANIC! Artwork by the great artist & photographer EYELYFT (eyelyft.blogspot.com) feat. gloss spot printing parts. Lim. edition 500 copies, comes on BLACK vinyl in order to have the best possible sound quality, over 30 minutes of playtime!"
Warto zwrócić szczególną uwagę na nową płytę z obozu KARPATY MAGICZNE:
CYBER TOTEM "Core Version"
CD '2011 [World Flag Records]
"Od kilku tygodni jest dostępna reedycja płyty projektu Marka Styczyńskiego - Cyber Totem. "Core Version" jest mocno zmieniona: zawiera wybór najważniejszych dla tego projektu utworów, w innej kolejności i w nieco innej wersji plus remix muzyki Karpat Magicznych opracowany dla nas wiele lat temu przez Paula Wirkusa. Okładkę przygotowaliśmy z Bogdanem wg. mojego starego pomysłu i niezwykłej fotografii jaką udało mi się zrobić nad starorzeczem Popradu w okolicach Wierchomli. Ciekawe kto rozpozna co jest na fotografii, dodam, że fotografii nie obrabianej w studiu! Tak działała w tym momencie tafla spokojnej wody... jak lustro".
PAS & HATI "P.H.A.S.T.I. "The Stages of Sleep - A Metaphor For Toruń"
CD '2011 [PAS Records/Alrealon Musique]
"In April of 2010 PAS, Brooklyn based audio/video project traveled to Torun, Poland to play on the 3rd CoCArt Music Festival organized by musicians of HATI in cooperation with Centre of Contemporary Art Znaki Czasu. On April 10th 2010, just before PAS embarked on their journey a terrible plane crash happened killing 96 people including Poland's former President Lech Kaczynski. The CoCArt Festival was canceled but PAS still traveled to Poland. During this time two bands improvised together in a studio and recorded these 9 tracks and a wonderful friendship developed between PAS and HATI. These special recordings are now offered in a limited cd and digital formats but the friendship will last forever in time".
BRIGHTER DEATH NOW "Breaking Down Nihil - Live"
2CD '2011 [Der Angriff/Indiestate]
"Der Angriff and Indiestate Distribution proudly present a very special 2CD release of one of the most influential and famous power electronics projects in the world, a favourite child of Cold Meat Industry mastermind Roger Karmanik - Brighter Death Now. Recorded live during short Russian tour made in September 2009, it is unique since the lineup was made of Russian artists and only Roger himself was a part of the common European live incarnation of BDN. The persons behind Anthesteria and LamiaVox have joined him in Moscow while the guys from Bardoseneticube and 414 were together with him on stage in St.Petersburg. The basic parts of the tracks have been sent to them all in advance, so they have prepared their own vision of this material, thus it was nothing like a spontaneous improvisation or jam-session, but pure conceived and well-organized collaboration. Both shows have been recorded on a multi-channel devices, then carefully mixed and mastered, so the final quality is close to the studio one without losing any bit of the raw energy of live performance. The result is a very fresh and unexpected look on the well-known BDN compositions such as "Innerwar", "PayDay" and "Testing" which should be interested not only for devoted followers of the project but for the wider audience of power electronics / death industrial fans. The real gem in our roster, not to be missed! The release is limited to 450 copies and comes in a special embossed foldout envelope with cardboard inner sleeves".
CLAUSTHOME "Radiophare II (Les ondes radio)"
CD '2010 [Indiestate Distribution]
"The Latvian radionoise gurus Clausthome are back! With its new work "radiophare [les ondes radio]" they offer a new trip into the world of the radio waves. The route is a bit different than in the previous work "radiophare [lampe d´ambiance]" (Indiestate, 2005) - now it is closer to the actual radio waves and leads through darker spaces. Sometimes you will be left alone in the beauty of the invisible electromagnetic choir that surrounds us all. Sometimes there will be mere documental fragments thrown into your ear. At some point, it is sounding like a story about life - a look at life through radio waves. The sound here is made using carefully selected and processed scans and recordings of the radio waves, served by Clausthome´s usual attitude to the radionoise aesthetics. The release is limited to 500 copies and comes in a monochrome silkscreened digisleeve, recommended to the fans of Bad Sector, John Duncan and other radionoise and radiodrone projects".
"Code666 will soon re-release the long time sold out album "Awaken" from Nordvargr in a new, revamped edition, strictly limited to 500 copies. Commented Mr. Nordvargr: "Right now I am finishing the mixing of the re-issue of the "Nordvargr debut album" Awaken. This is a very important album to me, not only because it was the first solorecordings I did under my own namne, but also because I recorded them during very hard personal times. It was recorded during the summer of 2002, and I was recording this music at night instead of sleeping. I recently realised that I did not use a lot of the materials I recorded before I started to actually compose the album. Many weeks were spent doing fieldrecordings, and many hours of DAT tapes were recorded… but never used. So now I have used these old recordings again to create new soundscapes in the same vein as the original album. I have also remastered and re-edited the old masters to sound better than before – I have always disliked the final mix of Awaken, but no more… it is now finally coming together as it was intended. Add some 20+ minutes of new material made from the same sources as the original recordings and you have an album that is sure to disturb your sleep. Again".
"Folkstorm returns to follow up the successful 2009 album "Ortodox" with another crushing assault on your senses. This time Nordvargr pushes the sound even further and adds a more classic songstructure and vocals to the album - hence the title. While still maintaining a harsh old-school industrial vibe, these recordings takes Folkstorm to a whole new level. Welcome to explore the wrath of a man gone seriously pissed off with everyone and everything. Don't loose the chance to taste the new Folkstorm Combat Folk-Pop(?)!"
"Ultra collector's boxset containing all 5 albums in the MZ. 412 reissue series: "In Nomine Dei Nostri Satanas Luciferi Excelsi", "Burning The Temple Of God", "Nordik Battle Signs", "Domine Rex Inferum" and "Infernal Affairs". The inventors of "Black Industrial" blur the boundaries between Black Metal, Ritual Industrial, Dark Ambient and Power Noise. True Swedish Black Industrial! 5 x digipak albums, along with exclusive pin-badge, tie, artcards and other surprises! Housed in a black wooden boxset with silver print and clasp".
"After 1 year of recording and production, one improvised gig at the Genocide Organ concert in Leipzig 2010 and finally the 1st offical live display at Mannheim 16.10.2010. Tesco can offer the 1st fullenght release of this new group with known individuals. B.Moloch and W.Herich, both active in Genocide Organ and Anenzephalia, joined new forces and started working on a more personal concept. The result is a dark oppressive sound stretching their personal limits - working with what surrounds them. A display of a worldview that only seems to see hope in escapism or cynism. Musically old school industrial music in its full range from power electronics to dark ambient tracks".
GENOCIDE ORGAN "UNDER-KONTRAKT"
LP/CD '2011 [Tesco Organisation]
"The latest new Genocide Organ album dates back to 2005 - now in 2011 the world is challenged by wellknown old and antic patterns and presumed economic reasons. That of military contractors - whether it have been the cretian archers, the celtic cavlery, the germanic body guards, the swiss guards - muslim or christian motivated soldiers, spartans and greeks - european or asian - UN - Forces or private contractors - those people always seeked more than money - the record here deals with the overall topic of mercenary or more. Like always Genocide Organ´s music is straight forward - expanding all genres and categories. A powerful assault and aggressive undertone interchanges with a dense depressive mood - all tracks are new but have been partly played live during their last live appearance. The record is an experience".
DER BLUTHARSCH & THE INFINITE CHURCH OF THE LEADING HAND + ALUK TODOLO
12'' LP '2011 [WKN41]
"This CD is a collaboration between French masters of psychedelic doom, Aluk Todolo, and Austria's, Der Blutharsch & The Infinite Church Of The Leading Hand, reincarnated from the ashes of the infamous band Der Blutharsch. Following the same concept as Der Blutharsch's 7 inch collaboration with NYC`s psychedelic force, White Hills, both bands provided each other, this time with two, basic tracks to work on. The result is a heavy mix of both bands unique styles, creating a strange and dark new universe of gloom and brightness. A journey into a strange underworld of music, a trip into the most "far out" and hidden corners of your mind, a dangerous joyride on a ketamine flavoured breeze of lysergic bliss".
PHALLUS DEI "Will You Come Now"
12" LP '2011 [WKN42]
"Remixes of the PHALLUS DEI song "Will You Come Now" by: BOHREN UND DER CLUB OF GORE, DER BLUTHARSCH & THE INFINITE CHURCH OF THE LEADING HAND, BLACKHOUSE feat John Walker (1943-2011) on vocals".
ART ABSCONs "Der verborgene Gott"
CD '2011 [HR!101]
"Art Abscon is a mysterious individual lurking in the twilight of his mask. Not much is known of him, except that he sometimes refers to himself as "Grandmaster Abscon" or even "The Hidden God", who, it seems, is worshipped by the so-called "Ordre Secret d'Abscon". From his poetical work one may derive that he is deeply indebted to Early German Romanticism and the Symbolist Movement, but his music - which is an inspiring and innovative melange of traditional neofolk, darkfolk and classic industrial - catapults the splendour of his poetry into realms unknown. There is undeniably a certain sensuousness in his voice that some might even describe as sex appeal, but he can turn into a hissing demon from one moment to the next...".
BLACK LIGHT ASCENSION "Ashes"
CD '2011 [HR!102]
"BLACK LIGHT ASCENSION is the new project of Andrew Trail from Knifeladder. In a radical move away from the more experimental Knifeladder, BLA is a song based electro project. Using minimal drum machine/sequences, hand played samples and analogue synth, the result is moody pop songs with a paranoid noir story telling style. The debut album, "Ashes", is out now on HauRuck and brings ten stunning retro but same time also refreshing modern tracks. Extremly catchy from the first second till the end. In more than one way a real surprise and Tesco Distribution is more than proud to have BLACK LIGHT ASCENSION on the Rooster..."
VAL DENHAM & Ô PARADIS "Transform Thyself"
CD '2011 [HR!99]
"Transform Thyself" is the new album of intensely beautiful and heartfelt diamond tracks from the artist and musician Val Denham of Yorkshire, England, in collaboration with Barcelona's very own O Paradis. The result is nothing short of astounding. O Paradis and Val Denham have both released their own musical adventures on various releases over the years, but this is something else. "Transform Thyself" could well be considered a classic for years to come. This time, Val Denham drops the experimental "Sound as Art" stance and instead opts for something far subtler, genuine and dare I say it, mature. In her own words, "We wanted to make an album of real songs that would contaminate the listeners mind". Very true, every track sticks in the subconscious. Catchy is an inadequate word here. Comparisons are hard to discern, Val Denham's vocals being neither male nor female. The title of the album itself "Transform Thyself" may well be a metaphor for Val's own transgender experience. The opening track "She's a Witch" being especially revealing with the line "Don't you know that a witch has a dick!" driven along by an infectious rhythm and hellish horns on the chorus. What an opener! Each subsequent song seems to add more to the general mood of strange longing. Every word is real here. Nothing faked by Val Denham and O Paradis. Poignant and relevant to today's angst ridden times. A lot to think about. Strange moments do occasionally emerge perhaps simply to nod to the experiments of yesterday, but they do work within the context of the over all concept of the work. "My Blackest Flowers" is wondrous example of this principle. A dizzying array of instrumentation from O Paradis that at times borders on the painfully beautiful, Just one example being the wistful Satiesque piano on "Thinking of My Girl", which is nothing short of haunting. This is an album of 16 tracks that shine very bright about the fragility of the human condition. "I watch the shadows fade away" Should we call it a masterpiece? Comes in a nice Digipak".
MIT FESTER HAND "Allerseelenlieder"
CD '2011 [Ahnstern/Steinklang]
"Compilation with coverversions of personal friends of Gerhard Hallstatt (Allerseelen), featuring:
ARNICA, BLOOD AXIS and SANGRE CAVALLUM, CAWATANA, DER ARBEITER, DER FEUERKREINER, DIE WEISSE ROSE, ERNTE, FANES, FRÄKMÜNDT, SVARROGH, HABERFELD, HREFNESHOLT, TYR-KREIS, KLAMMHEIM, LARRNAKH, O PARADIS, SAGITTARIUS, SCIVIAS, STURMPERCHT and ALLERSEELEN".
Nakładem chińskiej wytwórni Midnight-Productions ukazał się box:
BELBORN "All Is One"
5xCD '2011 [MN032]
"It will be the last release of German Neo-Folk band Belborn's. This 5CD-Box is a complete collection of Belborn's albums, EPs, all Belborn tracks from the compilations they participated in and a large quantity of precious unrelease tracks. It's a limited of 450 sets worldwide! 14 x 14cm hardboard box + 5 card-sleeve CDs + 64-page booklet with portraits and lyrics in both English and German + 13cm x 13cm double sided cards".
NOVY SVET "Into Your Skies"
LP '2011 (rur019)
(limit do +/- 500 kopii)
"First record to emerge from the exploration of the Novy Svet archives, "Into Your Skies" gathers 22 previously unreleased tracks from the years 2001-2003. Most of them were originally composed and recorded for an English Folk album which never came into being – until today. Passionate, vindictive and oh so emotional, those stripped-down songs of love and hate, death and despair hit the bull’s eye with their bitterness, misanthropy and gut honesty. If the English-only lyrics come as a surprise, in style and mood this lost and found opus is pure, quintessential Novy Svet… the ultimate "combat-folk" album!"
LLOVESPELL "Audioemotional Retreat"
CD '2011 [sue38cd]
"10 years from the beginning of SUE to now. Llovespell are back with their latest songs to celebrate this memorable point in time: a step forward again for the worldwide operating Leipzig based ATMOSPHERIC SPINE POP scene around SUE. You will identify the 8 tracks as a statement on the band’s own remarkable universe in sound, rhythm and the use of lyrics. Welcome to your new construction set of self-knowledge and sensory completition. Pre-orders for the very limited MC edition are recommended (comes as a C90 with booklet and additional live recordings)".
DAWN & DUSK ENTWINED "Recollection 1994-1999"
CD '2011 [Twilight]
"Recollection 1994-1999 is a compilation gathering the best of the two first albums that had been at the time released on the now deceased British cult label World Serpent. All tracks have been remastered or remixed from the original tapes and give now the best overlook of what Dawn & Dusk Entwined was like in its beginning stages, now 15 years ago. Some influences are obvious, like In the Nursery or Blood Axis, and prepares for what was to come after with albums like "Remergence" in particuliar.Discover the roots of a now affirmed and respected act!
KARJALAN SISSIT "Miserere - 10th Anniversary Edition"
LP '2011 [ES LP04]
(limit do 399 kopii)
"Originally released as a limited digipak CD on Cold Meat Industry in August 2002, "Miserere" is a real masterpiece of neo-classical music! Brought up in the degenerated town of Eskilstuna in Sweden, Markus Pesonen's Finnish roots here are ridiculously obvious. Society freak-out and bitterness - hate, humour and disintegration really have established themselves as Finnish essentials. Believe it or not, musically this stuck-up monster promptly jerks itself down in between In Slaughter Natives and Sophia. Well, this may not be too strange as Peter Pettersson is the producer of this cacophony, and also involved in the songstructures. More uptempo than Sophia and less infernal than ISN, the screeching choirs and the Karjala-connected heartbeat drums pushes the listener in sharing authentic despair and frustration. Classical musicsamples here are surprisingly upfront, teasing your taste buds. Grandeur, abandon all ye hopes, for here lies a history revealed".
7" vinyl przygotowany przez Ur Muzik / NATO Tesco USA
DAVID E. WILLIAMS ENSEMBLE EXPERIENCE PROJECT
7" LP '2010 [UR004/NATO003]
"Nearly a quarter-century into a staggering solo career, DAVID E. WILLIAMS has decided to join a band. Granted, the DAVID E. WILLIAMS ENSEMBLE EXPERIENCE PROJECT is a band that bears his name, but it still signifies the first time our favorite noir singer-songwriter has collaborated so freely on new songs with other musicians. He wrote these tunes as he normally does - at the piano, in the kitchen, under heavy sorrow (of course!) - but the final arrangements represent the creative contribution of five people working together like... well, a rock band. Man.
Don't be afraid. We know that the transition from dark cult music to classic rock has failed for many others. Many, many others. But here, the result is a DAVID E. WILLIAMS release where his trademark absurdity ad profundum is equally matched by organic breadth, pop majesty and catchy subversion. We dare you not to sing along! The suitcase is full of quarters. And love escapes like butterflies from a carcass. And a third of an omelet, indeed, makes an egg".
BOYD RICE AND FRIENDS "Music, Martinis, And Misanthropy 21st Anniversary Edition"
12" LP '2011 [Extremocidente]
"21st Anniversary edition of this classic release! Kind of like a uber-group of the "Apocalyptic Folk" set, the musicians included besides Boyd Rice (NON), Michael Moynihan (Blood Axis) and Douglas P. (Death In June) are Tony Wakeford (Sol Invictus), Rose McDowall (Strawberry Switchblade) and Robert Ferbrache (Blood Axis). "Some records do not need an introduction. Some records define a genre and refine a chain of thought. They give you a pat in the back and let you know they've been there forever. They let you know you're right. Music Martinis & Misanthropy came out 21 years ago. There is no need for an age of consent to unwrap all its gifts but it feels damn nice to be 21 and this is a gift, from us to you: 2 tracks from the original release, one from the CD reissue and two new. Pressed in mint green vinyl and limited to 666 numbered copies, housed in a UV spot varnished cover and with six postcards and a lyrics inner... Life feels great.". Limited edition of 666 copies, with insert (handnumbered) and 6 postcards. First 130 inserts are signed by Douglas P. and Boyd Rice".
"Soleilmoon Recordings is proud to announce “Apes of a Cold God”, the debut release by Swedish folk/industrial band Lovac. Lovac is a new band with old roots, having already released a full-length CD of Death in June covers on Douglas P.'s NERUS label under the name Down in June. With a distinctive "totenpop" vision they re-invented the songs to the delight of both Death In June fans and music journalists who discovered the treasure of Douglas P. songs anew. Lovac’s music evokes a night-of-the-world mood that deftly calls down the nostalgia of romanticism and overlays it with a war machine blowing a cold breeze of death into the dawn. Lovac is part of a larger movement of modern European pop music that draws inspiration from traditional folk music and brings it to new life in a fertile clash with the contemporary minimalistic industrial scene. Analogue synthesizers are layered over electric guitars, supplemented with a variety of acoustic instruments, including military drums and the band’s ever-present Persian santoor, creating the unique music that defines Lovac. Combining this music with text fragments from Karl Marx, Antonin Artaud and Percy Bysshe Shelley, the album “Apes of a Cold God” invites the listener to take a deep look into the abysmal underside of civilization. Soleilmoon’s high standards in packaging are found in abundance with this CD, which is presented in a lavishly printed mini-LP style sleeve with gold foil blocking and an eight page booklet. Lovac is based in Malmö. The bands four members live in Malmö, Berlin, Stockholm and Beirut".
"Australijski songwriter, wokalista, gitarzysta i producent powraca w wytwórni Gusstaff Rec. z nowym albumem. Powiedzieć, że Hugo Race jest bardzo płodnym artystą, to zdecydowanie za mało, na świecie święci triumfy właśnie wydana przez Glitterhouse płyta „BKO“ jego projektu Dirtmusic, założonego razem z Chrisem Eckmanem i Chrisem Brokawem, rok temu ukazała się solowa, elektro-akustyczna, instrumentalna płyta Hugo Race'a w Gusstaff Rec. („Between Hemispheres“), wziął również udział w nagraniu nowego albumu formacji Lilium (muzycy z 16 Horsepower). Nowy album „Fatalists“ jest surowy, nastrojowy i bardzo liryczny. Nagrany we Włoszech, z gitarzystą Antonio Gramentierim (Sea of Cortez, Delavega), perkusistą Diego Sapignoli (Delavega), pochodzącą z Arizony skrzypaczką Vicky Brown i holenderskim kontrabasistą Erikiem Van Loo (Willard Grant Conspiracy) stworzył akustyczne i melodyjne brzmienie ukazujące piosenki i głos Hugo w zupełnie nowym świetle.
Tak sam Hugo opowiada o powstaniu tej płyty: "We all met up in an old villa in rural Italy on a cold autumn day. I’d just finished a month on tour with the True Spirit and in the tour’s closing stages had come down with pneumonia. Because most of the songs I had for Fatalists were about death, this seemed a fitting background, and for the duration of the recording sessions I was laid-up with a fever in a room adjacent to the studio. I could hear the band tracking my songs but couldn’t participate. So the sessions were really produced by Antonio and the other Fatalists, and they gave the songs a different slant. Having self-produced my recordings for a very long time I thought that here was a chance to step back and let a whole new album materialize, if I could just trust in the process. Cal and Andy mixed the album at the Mill studio on a hill overlooking the Southern Ocean where the wind blows in off the grey water with a cold metallic edge. There are few neighbours, and like the Cosabeat studio in the Romagna, a sense of nature and desolation and human insignificance predominates. I never planned to make this record, it just kind of happened – hence the title Fatalists – because often fate has other plans for us...”.
RAUELSSON With PETER BRODERICK "Réplica"
LP/CD '2011 [Hush/Borne]
"Re´plica" is a new Rauelsson record. Spanish-born, Portland OR-based Rau´l Pastor Medall and multi-instrumentalist Peter Broderick recorded and co-produced "Re´plica" collaboratively. The album comprises of two pieces of music, most of which revolve around layered guitars, reverberating pianos, strings, and haunting, atmospheric vocals. In appreciation to the renaissance of the vinyl era, the two pieces of music were born to be side -a- (14:29 min) and side -b- (21:56 min) of a record. After some preliminary work sending tracks back and forth via electronic correspondence for more than half a year, Rau´l and Peter finally got together in Oregon in July 09, and spent an entire week finishing the album; recording pianos in a pre- elementary school class, opening windows in a house in SE Portland for the chance sounds to be a part of their recordings, placing a field recorder on a tire swing that was hanging from an old oak tree, recording themselves running in circles around such oak tree, using bushes and stepping onto rocks as percussion, retreating for a couple of days to finish the album on a barn near Carlton, OR, where Peter’s dad lives..., they just let their imagination go free with not other principle than enjoying music and their time together.
"Re´plica" is a sonic fountainhead, a journey of sounds and words. Rich in texture and structure, even epic and quite experimental on some passages, the record also presents the most introspective and bare folk songs Raul’s has written to date. Beyond his role as co-producer and player of a wide-range collection of instruments, Peter’s main contribution in ‘Re´plica’ is a series of interludes and improvisations created to interconnect Rau´l’s songs within each piece. Some of these improvisations were recorded over foggy soundscapes created by multi-talented music/visual artist Chad Crouch. Peter’s sorrowful violins rise and fall delightfully, opening and closing spaces, and he clearly shows here that he has found a lucid place in his vocal performance that is plastic enough to be used without limitations. Peter’s sister, Heather Woods Broderick, also participates on the record; she played flute, sang, and helped arrange cello parts for the record, which are grand though their character is often so unobtrusive that music breathes simple in their nature. Not afraid of its ambiances, sparse or epic moments John Askew (Tracker) classily mixed the album in his Scenic Burrows studio, in Portland OR. The record has been mastered on magnetic tape by pianist/sound maestro Nils Frahm in Berlin, Germany".
ADVENTURES IN COUNTER-CULTURE: POLITICS, MUSIC, FILM AND LITERATURE
"Including key interviews with important political figures like Robert Steuckers, Martin Schwarz and Jonathan Bowden, as well as interesting musicians such as Richard Leviathan (Ostara), Christopher Walton (Endura), Puissance and Turbund Sturmwerk, Troy Southgate's ten-year foray into the political and musical underground has managed to yield some very interesting results. This 368-page book also includes numerous reviews centred on concerts and releases by a remarkable variety of Industrial, Metal, Gothic, Neofolk and Experimental projects, and includes much in-depth analysis based around the world of film and literature".
Premiera nowej płyty Death In June "Peaceful Snow" już za nami. Na osobną uwagę zasługuje jednak historia tego, jak doszło do powstania płyty i poznania Miro Snejdra, którego to grę na fortepianie słychać na albumie. Zapraszamy do przeczytania wywiadu z Douglasem P., który pojawił się na łamach magazynu The End Of Being: -> tutaj <-
TOR LUNDVALL "The Seasons Unfold"
4CD box '2011 [DAIS 019]
"The box contains Tor Lundvall’s three epic original Winter, Spring, and Summer albums "Ice", "The Mist", and "Under the Shadows of Trees" remastered, repackaged, and with 10 unheard bonus tracks across all three. Also included is the new Autumn collection, "Turning" – which features the ambient tracks from "Autumn Calls" plus six unreleased pieces and alternate mixes recorded between 1992 and 1993. (For full details on the bonus material see our homepage posting from Tor!). Matte finish box with gloss-overlaid artwork, containing art booklet and 4 CDs with 83 tracks in total".
Brasil and The Gallowbrothers Band "In the Rain, in the Noise"
CD '2010 [cat4]
Nowy album Brasil and the Gallowbrothers Band zbiera nagrania z dwóch koncertów, niemniej nie jest typowym albumem koncertowym. Jak większość płyt grupy, to raczej improwizowany concept album. Wszystkie nagrania to zupełnie nowe utwory. "In the Rain in The Noise" tym którzy dotychczas znali zespół jedynie z nagrań studyjnych ukaże zupełnie nowe jego oblicze. Bardziej ambientowe, eksperymentalne, bardziej swobodne i psychedeliczne. Nagrań dokonano w 2010 r. w Poznaniu i Antoninie.
Mekanik Kommando "Shadow of a Rose"
CD '2010 [cat6]
"Shadow of a Rose" to czwarta, wydana w 1985 r. płyta holenderskiej nowofalowej grupy Mekanik Kommando, która właśnie na tym albumie postanowiła porzucić elektroniczny post-punk na rzecz psychedelicznego folku. W efekcie powstała cudowna hybryda łącząca brzmienia akustycznych instrumentów ze zgrzebną analogową elektroniką. Niezwykle oryginalna i bezprecedensowa mieszanka. Reedycja dostępna jest wersji podstawowej - CD i limitowanej w postaci drewnianego pudełka, które prócz płyty zawiera przypinkę i podkoszulkę.
Litewska wytwórnia Dangus od wielu lat jest firmą wyjątkową i niepowtarzalną.
Warto się za jej płytami rozejrzeć i sprawdzić.
Nowa płyta!
LIBERTE "Jau aušt aušruže..."
CD '2010 [Dangus]
"Lithuanian post-folklore collective creates impressive interpretations for many years, though this is their first official album so far. Music of Liberte presents Baltic ethnic music in a new robe - filled with love, delicate melodies and very bright, dreamlike flow. Songs shine with minimalism, some are more driving, adding careful bass and percussion to beautiful harmonies of violins, flutes, kankles, accordion, piano, other classic and traditional instruments. Amazing spiritual voice of group's founder Anna Babuškina sounds like a morning dew on forest meadow... This is an outstanding, different album in a whole Lithuanian post-folk/world scene, - so let it suprise You! CD presents 10 original songs and a professional video".
BIONULOR "Sacred Mushroom Chant"
CD '2010 [WRT011]
"Inspirowany twórczością takich artystów jak Aube, czy William Basinski, Bionulor ponownie grzebie w przeszłości poszukując, niczym alchemik, najodpowiedniejszego materiału do swej pracy. „Sacred Mushroom Chant” to płyta stworzona tylko i wyłącznie na bazie obróbki ludzkiego głosu, bez użycia dodatkowych dźwięków czy instrumentów. Każdy spośród pięciu utworów powstał w oparciu o jeden oddzielny fragment dźwiękowego materiału źródłowego. Podstawę stanowią tu zatem: archiwalne nagranie szamańskiej pieśni związanej z ceremonią zażywania halucynogennych grzybów, japońska tradycyjna pieśń pozyskana z kolekcji starych winylowych płyt, słynne zdanie Neila Armstronga stąpającego po powierzchni Księżyca, fragment wywiadu z Marcelem Duchampem opowiadającym o swoim pierwszym ready-made, w końcu głos samego artysty wypowiadającego zdanie przypisywane Hassanowi ibn Sabbah. Ponad 50 minut muzyki ze wszech miar eksperymentalnej (łączącej minimal, ambient i nawet te bardziej hałaśliwe dźwięki), tworzonej w oparciu o własną, autorską metodę twórczą nazwaną „100% sound recycling”. Będziecie naprawdę pod wrażeniem jeżeli zdacie sobie sprawę, że utwory te powstały jedynie ze skrawków sampli. Całości dopełnia grafika Moniki Machnik, masteringu dokonał Peter Andersson. Wydanie w 4-panelowym digipacku".
Na naszej stronie już dawno nie było informacji o Malignant Records, która cieszy się jak najbardziej zasłużoną estymą wśród fanów nurtów dark ambient i industrial. Najwyższy czas, by nadrobić to niedopatrzenie. Poniżej kilka wybranych wydawnictw, które gorąco polecamy miłośnikom wysokiej jakości buczeń i pomruków.
FALSE MIRROR "Derelict World"
CD '2010 [Malignant]
"In the beginning it looked like an ordinary storm... After three years of intense work, Dark Ambient disciple False Mirror returns with his third full-length journey, aptly entitled "Derelict World". With the timeless drones of his debut "Chronostatic Scenes" and the icy soundscapes on his highly acclaimed sophomore masterpiece "North" still resonating through space, solo artist Tobias Hornberger delivers "Derelict World", his most massive and epic undertaking so far. As its two brooding predecessors, also his third work of masterfully crafted Ambient has become a monumental alliance of dark drones, frostbitten soundscapes and warm vibrating tones from the deep bowels of the earth.Famous for his skilled use of field recordings from an extrem ely diversified range (some of the recordings stem from an old monastery, the medieval city of Ulm or the Arabian sea) and for his ability to cloak the superior forces of nature into menacing, yet beautifully devised sounds, "Derelict World" also offers a truly apocalyptic concept that blends perfectly with the dense wall of sound on this mysterious Ambient challenge: Nothing less than the end of humanity, brought upon this world by the relentless forces of nature forms the basis on which the resonating and thundering tracks develop into chimaeras of terrible momentum, ever-changing and ever-increasing their dramatic potential".
CONTROL "Deadly Sins"
CD '2010 [Malignant]
"11 years after making his debut on Malignant side label, Black Plague, the legendary Control returns home to roost, with another pulverizing display of power. 7 tracks, thematically centered around the 7 deadly sins (with each track clocking in at the 7 minute), originally released as lmtd CDr for the Elektroanschlag 11 festival. There is no atonement here, nor redemption offered. Just cold, jarring currents of massively built power electronics and horror filled death industrial, full of clamoring factory debris, razor sharp sheets of sonic violence, and grisly metallic grind, rounded out with Garrison's trademark vocal devastation. In 4 panel digipak, designed by John Balistreri of Slogun".
WOLFSKIN feat. LAST INDUSTRIAL ESTATE "Stonegates of Silence"
CD '2010 [Malignant]
"And so the journey formally ends for Wolfskin, 15 years from whence it began with the release of the Hidden Fortress cassette back in 1995. The essence of Wolfskin has transformed and mutated throughout the years, reaching on "The Stonegates of Silence" it's simpler form….one of desolation, solitude, insanity and death, the final frontiers of human existence. As he did with The Hidden Fortress: A Revisitation CD, Wolfskin once again pairs up with Anders Peterson of Objekt 4 fame, now operating under the name of Last Industrial Estate for the purposes of this recording. This is Wolfskin at its bleakest and most restrained, offering 5 tracks of enveloping ambience built around foggy, ambiguous textures and an endless flow of drifting isolationism, shapeless horrors, and oppressive subterranean heaviness. In the case of Stonegates, Wolfskin goes out not with a bang, but with a slow, evolutionary creep into the shadows, forever etched in the lexicon of dark ambient music. In 4 panel digipak".
PHAENON "His Master's Voice"
CD '2010 [Malignant]
"After the well received debut Submerged, Phaenon follows things up with an even deeper immersion into a world of bleak, isolationist sounds. Whereas Submerged was one long and infinitely expansive drone piece, His Master’s Voice is broken up into four separate, but flowing tracks of sprawling and spacious ambient drift, laced with interstellar disturbances, probing, alien tones and icy shards of celestial debris…a whirling specter of darkness and void-ic space, thematically based upon the 1968 novel of the same name by Stanislaw Lem, which is centered around the efforts by scientists to decode, translate and understand a series of extraterrestrial transmissions. As a whole, His Master’s Voice represents a logical progression in Phaenon’s sound and is the ultimate in headphone listening. In gorgeous 6 panel digipak".
"Przemysł to piąty żywioł. Tak, jak pozostałe domaga się ofiar. O nich - i ich duchach, snujących się po ruinach zniszczonych fabryk - opowiada nowa płyta HOARFROST. Maszynowe struktury, miażdżone przemysłowym jazgotem, przeplatają ambientowe pasaże. Gdzieś w tle przedziera się głos - ostatni dowód ludzkiego istnienia. Materiał zarejestrowany na żywo podczas koncertu w Oaks Studio w Enniskillen. Wydawnictwo niekonwencjonalne. 3" płyta CDr pakowana w 3 panelowy karnet. Całość zafoliowana. Nakład limitowany do 200 ręcznie numerowanych sztuk. Wersja exclusive pakowana w specjalne w etui z materiału z nadrukiem zawiera dodatkowo płytę DVD z zapisem koncertu z 2010 roku".
"An industry is a fifth element. Just like the others, it demands victims. The new HOARFROST's album tells about them - and their ghosts, maundering through the ruins of destroyed factories. Mechanical structures, smashed by an industrial clatter, are interlaced by ambient passages. Somewhere in the background the voice forces - it is the last proof of human existence. The material was recorded during the concert in Oaks Studio, in Enniskillen. The unconventional release. 3'' CDr, packed in a 3-panel booklet. Whole foiled. The edition limited to 200 hand numbered copies. The exclusive version packed in a special fabric case with an inscription, contains additional DVD with a recording of the concert from 2010".
Kompilacja zawiera utwory wykonawców, którzy wystąpili na festiwalu INTERMEDIALE w latach 2001-2010: Job Karma, Tabor Radosti, Schloss Tegal, Christblood, Nemezis, Bisclaveret, Head58m, Vladimir Hirsch, Suture Navigator, Jeff Gburek, Benicewicz, Inire, ARP, Cotton Ferox, Human Greed, Fragile Pitches, Anemone Tube, iNsCissorS
MAEROR TRI "The A.V.E. - Tapes / Live in Nevers"
CD '2010 [Zhelezobeton]
"The German band Maeror Tri existed from early 1988 to the end of 1996. Over these nine years they have made a serious contribution to the development of the European post-industrial scene and had significant influence on many young musicians. Much of this was also achieved by their own record label Drone Records which has discovered a lot of talented artists. Even now, after the break-up of Maeror Tri, the band members continue to excite fans with recordings of their new projects Troum and 1000schoen. Unlike many industrial and noise musicians exploiting the themes of violence, politics and social problems in their creativity, Maeror Tri turned attention to the transcendental quality of sound, to its ability to expand consciousness and to awaken timeless and non-personal spiritual experiences. They recorded their music, which can be formally called industrial drone ambient, with the use of guitars, percussion, tape loops, various objects and effects, turning everything in a coherent flux of unconscious drones. This compact disk contains the last previously unreleased recordings by Maeror Tri. Four tracks are fragments of the band's 12-hour concert at the "Audio-Visual-Experimental" festival in Arnhem, The Netherlands, on November 11th, 1995; the fifth track is a part of their performance at the "Musique Ultimes" festival in Nevers, France, on May 14th, 1995. The material was thoroughly remastered by Sergey Uak-Kib (Kshatriy) and the artwork was prepared by Sergey Ilchuk (Vresnit & Vetvei Art)".
MERZBOW & Z'EV "Spiral Right / Spiral Left"
CD '2010 [Cold Spring]
"In the planning (and many faxes, emails and discussions in person) for 20 years, finally this stunning collaborative release for Cold Spring from Japanese Noise king Merzbow and legendary elemental sound artist Z'EV is here. The tracks were created in London and Tokyo, with each artist remixing the other's original sounds. Two tracks weighing in at 22 minutes apiece! Dark Ambient Noise in a special textured card digisleeve".
THE MAGIC CARPATHIANS "Enjoy Trees!"
CD '2010 [Greenpeace Polska]
"Jest już najnowsza pozycja w katalogu World Flag Records! Płyta nagrana na zaproszenie Greenpeace, w ramach kampanii na rzecz Puszczy Białowieskiej. Na płycie znajdziecie 7 utworów (łącznie 40 minut) nagranych w studiu w listopadzie i grudniu 2010 roku. W nagraniach wzięli udział: Anna Nacher – głos, gitary elektryczne, teksty, nagrania terenowe, muzyka / Marek Styczyński – fujara detwiańska, trąbita huculska, tenorowy flet prosty, burdonowe urządzenia elektroniczne Radel, trąbka sygnałowa, trąba modrzewiowa, instr. perkusyjne, muzyka / Ula Stosio – gitara elektryczna / Andrzej Widota – sampler, syntezator, manipulacje soniczne, dzwonki, muzyka. W nagraniach wykorzystaliśmy terenowe rejestracje dźwięków rysia, wilków i żubra dokonane przez Jana Walencika oraz głosy pardwy mszarnej i siewki złotej (gatunki ptaków, które w Polsce wymarły) zarejestrowane przez Annę Nacher. Płyta jest wydawnictwem bezpłatnym, dystrybucją zajmuje się Greenpeace Polska. Wydawnictwo zostało zapakowane w ecopack ze specjalnego papieru i zawiera opis, przesłanie Greenpeace Polska i fotografie (M.Styczyński, B. Kiwak) oraz fragment muralu Darka Paczkowskiego pt. Krąg. Po wyczerpaniu nakładu, cała płyta będzie udostępniona bezpłatnie w plikach mp3".
M. OSTERMEIER "Chance Reconstruction"
CD '2010 [Tench]
"M.Ostermeier already has two CDs this year - both in mini-album form. "Percolate" ([ parvo art ] 2010) featured his acoustic and Rhodes piano mixed with Labradford-esque guitars over minimal electronic beats. On Lakefront (Hibernate, 2010) the beats had evaporated and the infusion of electronic textures and field recordings yielded something more organic, more haunting. Throughout, the fragmented piano established a melancholic and reflective mood but more through style than through melody. Here on "Chance Reconstruction", his first full-length release, both mood and melody come into focus. The acoustic piano provides a warmth and familiarity that offsets the abstract electronics and field recordings that decorate the periphery. Unlike the thick melancholy that filled every corner of Lakefront, Chance Reconstruction at times displays a wistful playfulness and at others a peaceful contentment that comes from accepting and enjoying the world as it is. But even as the form shifts from meandering tone poems to miniature Goldmund-esque piano pieces, there is no doubt that the operating word still is "melancholy". The hesitant piano melodies take on an almost conversational form, but from someone repeating and rephrasing his thoughts as he talks to himself, imagining different outcomes of some unfortunate event. This inward reflective stillness permeates this debut digipak release for Tench".
DIFFERENT STATE "Yield (Capicity of production)"
CD '2011 [ZOHAR 015-2]
"Zoharum & Wyrm Records prezentują najnowszy album DIFFERENT STATE "Yield (Capicity of production)".
Publikacja zawiera zremasterowane wersje utworów, które po raz pierwszy zostały wydane na kasecie "Yield" w 1995 roku przez I&E SPM oraz bonus w postaci dwóch utworów z wydawnictwa "Cardinal Mosaic". Gdy ponad 15 lat temu pojawił się ten materiał na naszej scenie, ktoś powiedział: "Amerykanie mają Ministry, Anglicy mają Godflesh, a Polacy Different State". To najlepsze podsumowanie tego, co znajduje się na tym krążku. Te słowa najlepiej oddają klimat tej płyty. "Yield" to najbardziej metalowy wśród industrialnych, czy też najbardziej industrialny wśród metalowych produkcji Different State album. Starych fanów formacji nie trzeba przekonywać, natomiast ci, którzy nie słyszeli tego krążka, a cenią sobie zespoły pokroju projektów Broadricka i s-ki będą zachwyceni. Materiał szczególnie polecamy tym, którzy lubią brzmienia spod znaku: Pitchshifter, Sonic Violence i wczesnego Ministry. Wydanie w eleganckim "miętowym" 3-panelowym digipacku. Dla pierwszych 20 osób przypinka gratis!".
HOROLOGIUM "Złoto Dla Zuchwałych"
MC '2010 [Old Europa Cafe]
(limit do 77 kopii)
"Tape is alive! What better time than now for Horologium to present their new output on a cassette?
"Złoto Dla Zuchwałych" (in Polish "Gold is for the brave") consists of three brand new tracks on side A, and three previously unreleased live recordings on side B. This is a special release for special tape devotees and old school maniacs. Cassette comes housed in a special golden box. May fire walk with you all!".
DAWN & DUSK ENTWINED "Fin De Siecle - Paris"
CDr '2010 [Aube & Crépuscule]
"Fin de siecle" by Dawn & Dusk Entwined is a series of three mini-albums released on Aube & Crépuscule, each of them through the spectrum of a different European capital at a time when the European civilization was at its high. Paris - London - Wien is a living picture of an era, covering the last decades of the XIXth century, with various aspects in arts, society, politics… End of a century, short before the "belle époque" and World War I, and its loss of illusions. Six brand new songs and 23 minutes of decadent, neo-classical and gloomy atmospheres, released on a printed CD-r in an elegant A5 edition, strictly limited and hand-numbered to 150 copies".
LARRNAKH "Now Will You Believe?"
CD '2010 [Steinklang]
"Great NeoFolk album featuring (ex)members of CAWATANA, STURMAST and SCIVIAS! "Now will you believe?" is a brilliant mix of classical guitar-based NeoFolk with electronic elements, varied and assembled with droning Ritual/Dark-Ambient tracks. The mix of two completely different styles in music makes this album to a outstanding new milestone of "crossovers". Dark and sometimes frightening soundscapes with samples, trumpets and haunting drums are compiled with beautiful harps, piano, violin and narrating vocals, rounded by fine NeoClassical elements".
V/A "Manifest Destiny"
CD '2010 [Triskele Recordings]
"Triskele Recordings is proud to offer this ambitious compilation which spotlights American artists working within the dominantly European Post-Industrial, Experimental, and Neofolk fields... (Luftwaffe, David E. Williams, Cult Of Youth, Valence, In Ruin, Awen, Gnomonclast, Verdandi, C.O.T.A., Steel Hook Prostheses...). Each artist has worked within their own relentless vision to produce individual works of remarkable will and quality. Comprised of many exclusive tracks from established artists and newcomers alike, this American document is the first of its kind in the genre. A new sound from the New World!".
DUO NOIR (Tony Wakeford & Andrew King) "Sintra"
CD '2010 [Tursa]
"Hard-edged and experimental Neo-Folk. A dramatic, memorable and unique document of Tony Wakeford's and Andrew King's concert at the Casa de Teatro de Sintra, Portugal, on the 14th November 2009. A stripped down set of Sol Invictus and traditional compositions, utilising guitar, percussion and backing loops. Vocal honours being equally balanced between the two performers. Highlights include two dramatic but lesser known compositions from Tony's back catalogue: Night Forever, and Death's Head, as well as Andrew's Black Crusade, from the M. R. James inspired album Ghosts. Rare performances by Tony of his Death In June songs "Holy Water" and "All Alone In Her Nirvana" are also included, as well as three of Andrew's arrangements of Kipling settings: "Have You News Of My Boy Jack" (performed unaccompanied), Gethsemane and Recessional in which he was joined by arcano.zero in reciting the names of those men from Sintra who gave their lives in the Great War. 20 tracks, 72 minutes. All in all it is a unique release of a memorable event and more than just a live album. Produced by Lloyd James (Naevus) & Andrew King".
ANDREW KING & BROWN SIERRA "Thalassocracy"
CD '2008 [Epiphany]
"Thalassocracy" consists of songs Andrew King usually performs unaccompanied, mainly of a nautical theme. They were initially recorded as unaccompanied performances in late 2006, after which the Art group Brown Sierra constructed suitable arrangements for each song, from which they and King, in close collaboration, devised final arrangements over the subsequent 18 months. This is an unashamedly "difficult" album, an experiment that includes field recordings, Musique concrete, and home made tone generators, the 70 minutes of which (consisting of four instrumentals, six arranged songs and one unaccompanied song) add up to what is probably the most left-field album of traditional songs in existence! Nonetheless, it was not the artists’ intention that this release should simply be an exercise in experimentation for experimentations sake, but rather that its should be an exercise in seeing what could be produced by the happy combination of two conceptual artists – who have a knowledge and understanding of vernacular culture – working in close collaboration with an expert in traditional song, who has a knowledge of, background in, and understanding of experimentation. As such it is a release that avoids such glib categorisations as experimental, improv., traditional, folk, or neofolk".
ANDREW KING & BROWN SIERRA "The Kraken"
7'' LP '2010 [Dais]
"Andrew King, along with collaborators Brown Sierra, send forth a follow-up EP to last year’s folk diamond “Thalassocracy”. "The Kraken" sounds like a traditional maritime shanty ripped from history's pages, laced with experimental beauty, electronic hisses, and static. Andrew’s own background as one of the primary members of Sol Invictus (along side Tony Wakeford) & The Triple Tree mixed with his studies of ancient English folklore forged with Brown Sierra’s epic electronic noise instrumentation make this release one to be anticipated and easily one of the most remembered folk recordings of the past year. Limited to 500 hand-numbered copies".
Ukazała się składanka "Winter Solstice Compilation" na blogu: VITA IGNIS : CORPUS LIGNUM. Występują: NATURE MORTE & WERMUT, DBPIT & XXENA, 3MUSIC, ADGER BACID, A MINORITY OF ONE, AN EXQUISITE CORPSE, ARCHÉTYPO 120, BARBAROSSA UMTRUNK, BURGEON, CINKRILLIAN WEIGHT, CRITICAL THEATRE, CULT OF ZIR, ELLI RIEHL, HAMRAMR, IGNIIS, IN MEDIAS RES, LACEDON, NEZZY IDY, NOVEMTHREE, PAINTINGS FOR ANIMALS, PREMORTEM RIGORMORTIS, PSYCHOTIGEN, RIQIS, RMS, UNDER THE SAME SHADOW, UNITED GODS, VILFOS. Więcej informacji o płycie: -> tutaj <-
Polecamy!
EGIDA AUREA "La Mia Piccola Guerra"
CD '2010 [HR!/SPQR]
"The long awaited first release of this great band from Genoa is finally out! The Italian folk music is here higly expressed with soft melody and pop tunes. Including special guests from Green Man, Ballo delle Castagne, Hidden Place and Runes Order. Tales of ordinary urban guerilla (and not) drive the listener from the 70s to our days. It is certainly NOT only Miltary Pop!".
"Jest! Najnowsze dzieło A.A.Destroyer’a powstało. "Evil Angel" to płyta poruszająca najgłębsze uczucia w człowieku, wrażliwa, delikatna i niespokojna. Projekt PARANOIA INDUCTA zyskał duże uznanie za swoje poprzednie albumy i jest jednym z cenniejszych projektów na polskiej scenie mrocznych dźwięków. Płytą ”Evil Angel” udowadnia że ma dużo do powiedzenia, jest to najbardziej osobista płyta twórcy PARANOIA INDUCTA i zarazem jedna z najwrażliwszych płyt jakie zostały wydane w Beat Of Prey. Z wielką dumą i przyjemnością wypuszczamy tą produkcje na świat! Na krążku "Evil Angel" mamy spokojne i idealnie wyważone dark ambientowe przestrzenie, delikatnie wyłaniające się głosy, szepty... - i znikające jak by ginęły w oddali. Duża dawka niesamowitych industrialnych dźwięków, odgłosów dogorywających maszyn które tak charakterystycznie odzwierciedlają muzykę PARANOIA INDUCTA. I ta doskonała jakość poszczególnych dźwięków... piękna płyta!".
"Third album for Tzolk'in, the collaboration between Flint Glass and Empusae, this new CD sees the duo come up with more orchestral and lushier tracks than on its predecessors. Less ambient, but also considerably less industrial, "Tonatiuh" sounds to me as a more crafted and detailled album, with stronger instrumentations and percussions which, even though they still carry the industrial / electronica touch of both projects, are less on the foreground and leave more space for the rest of the music to breathe. A strong album all throughout".
"Long awaited Donis' album, emphasising Lithuanian historical war folklore to a new level, presenting ancient songs with impressive new musical creation. Bright and sad lyrical melodies are together with marching beats and militant spirit - monumental and stoic, subtle and profound, with every note taken care. Donis style is unique and beautiful with the composer's precise hand on every note, sound and harmony. Singer Rasa Serra and her tremendous voice is on the top here, so strong and dramatic, especially when she sings a capela. Sounding of "Kas tave šaukia..." (Who is calling you...) was recorded by several musicians, playing violins, Baltic bagpipe, dulcimer, keyboards, various folk instruments), accordion, piano, wind bells. Classic, electric guitar improvisations and lute are masterfully laid by talented G.Balčiunas 'Jumbo', adding touch of popular sounding and folk-pop genre. The album is dedicated to 600 years anniversary of the Great Žalgiris (Grunwald 1410) battle. 12 tracks in an exquisite 4-panel digipack".
VILKDUJA "Nezinau"
CD '2010 [Dangus]
"Charming and haunting Lithuanian musique noveau - a second Vilkduja ensemble starlit box dripping with magical honey. Original sound of the artist is even more unvealed, though even harder to name - post-industrial neo-cabareth with strong poetry and nostalgic pop melody...? Maybe. "Nežinau" (Don't know) songs are gentle like cat and at the same time dirty as punk rock under fullmoon. The giddy bass groove, hidden melodic waves, nice beats, ambiental backgrounds and noisy stings make playing this album a real party! It's spellbounding dark romance in a very own way, - one of the best original music Lithuanian scene has to present. 11 tracks in a cut-out digipack".
WERMUT wzbogacił się o nową pozycję w katalogu. Jest nią longplay "Ether".
O samej wytwórni TuT/RuR więcej wkrótce na łamach magazynu.
WERMUT "Ether"
DLP '2010 (rur015)
(limit do +/- 300 kopii)
"After four years of intense cosmic labour, here comes full-length number five from the prog-electro duo, now turned trio with multi-instrumentalist NIEDOWIERZANIE joining forces, and assisted by guest drummer FALKO GRAU. The four long trance inducing Berlin-school influenced psychedelic pieces will take you on an 85 minutes long journey to the fountain of life. This new opus is without a doubt the band’s most traditionalist work to date, reflecting on the quintessence, the doctrine of the five elements, the cycles, the holy mountain, the world tree and what has been the bands most recurring symbolic interest: the heart of the world. Some "Tomhetian" melodies here, a hint of Southern Rock a la EARTH and Post-Rock a la GYBE there, a soupcon of 80s minimal wave romanticism and a bit of Cascadian feeling combined with loads of pulsating analogue sequencing in the style of ASH RA TEMPEL, TANGERINE DREAM and TIM BLAKE, "Ether" is the logical continuation of works like "Anna" and "Les Nuits Dalmates", moving further away from the new wave of the 80s and investigating the more obscure psychedelics of the 70s… Enter the realm of metaphysical Post-Kraut-Rock!".
Wermut 2010 (Leo, Falko, Laszlo, Sofia & Die Bekannten Post-Industriellen Urpferde)
Nowa płyta!
TROUM "Mare Idiophonika"
CD '2010 [tourette 019]
"Tourette Records is very proud to present the new full-length album by Troum, the first part of the "Power Romantic" series. This is the studio version of Troum's live-programme from 2007, performed in several European cities, together with NADJA, ASIA NOVA and VOICE OF EYE. A new ending has been added later. Limited to 500 copies".
"Sub Luna is a Swedish duo formed by Mikael Lindblom (also a live collaborator for Karjalan Sissit) and Fredrik Sooberg. After four years of silence they return with their new album Awake! Their sound has definitely been refined and expands the framework established with their previous album, the double CD “"In The Shade of time". On this second album Sub Luna are merging the more traditional elements of the dark folk genre with influences from the world of pop and rock and thus avoid falling into trappings of the genre. Awake! Also symbolically marks the ending of one era and the beginning of another. These are songs of love and hate, nostalgia and progression, magic and loss... songs of protest from the age of nihilism. With a guest vocal appearance by Ann-Mari Thim (Arcana) and Mastering done by Peter Bjargo. Mesmerizing quality Folk Noir brought to you through Cyclic Law's new "Eclipse Series".
WOODLAND CHOIR "Serenity Rise"
CD '2010 [Epidemie Records]
"Woodland Choir is neo-folk project of a brilliant Hungarian musician Attila Bakos (you may know him from the last THY CATAFALQUE album where he sang all clear vocals). The album Serenity Rise brings you 9 fragile pure acoustic melancholic neo-folk songs in English language. Essential for fans of acoustic melancholic music and projects as Tenhi, Liholesie, Nest, October Falls, Neun Welten. Limited edition of 500 pieces in four-panels digipack with eight-pages booklet".
ORCHESTRA NOIR "What If ..."
CD '2010 [Neuropa Records]
"This is the first full-length album from Tony Wakeford's new-look Orchestra Noir since its resurrection as a London based project. With a move away from the martial towards musicians and compositions more based on chamber, and early music. In 2006 a collaboration started with Current 93 collaborator Richard Moult and acclaimed oboist Mark Baigent based initially on the words and music of Tony Wakeford but which soon flourished as a collaboration between the three and later with the acclaimed early-music violinists and viola players, Ben Sansom and Alexandria Lawrence. With the addition of Sol Invictus percussionist M and flutist Guy Harries, a synthesis of experimental and traditional took place with unhealthy dollops of Edwardian dark whimsy, humor and satire. Aided by the folki voice of Autumn Grieve and the Jazz improvisation of Jessica Constable, an intriguing new direction had begun".
"Przedwiośnie oprócz topniejącego śniegu niesie nam energetyczne wsparcie w postaci nowego albumu wrocławskiej JOB KARMY. Ci dzielni i niestrudzeni propagatorzy tradycji post-industrialnej wykuwają dla Was 8 wielce zgrabnych i przewrotnie melodyjnych "filmowych" kawałków, które zdają się tworzyć idealną ścieżkę dźwiękową do apokaliptycznego tasiemca który po trochu dziamoli nas wszystkich. Ucieczka z ..., ale dokąd? W gigantycznych bebechach mechanicznego Lewiatana wszędzie jest tak samo. Kosmos serwuje coraz więcej mrocznych skwarków z przerażająco odległych, galaktycznych weków, powiększa się czarna dziura. Ale nie załamujmy się. Krztusząc się i plwając własnym ogromem, Machina do Mielenia i Niewolenia Umysłów (straszliwe MMNU) zacina się i psuje coraz częściej. Gdzieś w trzewiach Systemu rodzi się nowy Snake Plissken. Walka trwa. Jak zawsze. A ja polecam najbardziej sensacyjny album tej wiosny. / Wojcek Czern 8.03.2010".
SIEBEN "Star Wood Brick Firmament"
CD '2010 [Redroom]
Nakładem Redroom Rec. ukazał się nowy album SIEBEN, zatytułowany "Star Wood Brick Firmament". Matt Howden - multiinstrumentalista, wokalista i wirtuoz skrzypiec, penetrujący mroczne obszary apokaliptycznego folku. Wszelkie rekomendacje są zbyteczne, kto choć raz widział SIEBEN na żywo;) Płyta dostępna w distro Beast of Prey.
"Idąc w ślady znakomitego debiutu “Reflejos del Sol” (Divine Comedy Records, 2004), Der Arbeiter powraca ze swoją drugą płytą. “Holzwege” to dziesięć utworów zainspirowanych dziełem Chilijskiego pisarza Miguela Serrano i jego koncepcją Minne – miłości jednocześnie uwznioślającej i potępianej, pełnej pasji i samodyscypliny, budzącej pokorę ale i wywyższającej, ludzkiej i wykraczającej „poza”. Muzyka zawarta na „Holzwege” to alchemiczna mikstura elektro i folku o wyraźnie śródziemnomorskim zapachu, unikatowa strawa dla fanów Allerseelen ale też O Paradis, która wykracza daleko poza utarte (leśne?) ścieżki sceny neofolk-martial. Tę oryginalną i inspirującą muzykę nagrano w Chile, pośród ruin... Edycja 500 płyt w digipacku".
"Coming in a super deluxe & stunning foilblocked 3panel ecopak with 24 page booklet. There will be at least one resurrection on Easter Sunday, 2010, when Blood Axis unveils its latest work, "Born Again". The second full-length studio album in the group's twenty-year history, "Born Again" signals startling developments and a radical maturation. Old vines have been cut back and carefully tended in order to bear strange new fruit. Over the course of the twelve tracks that comprise "Born Again", Blood Axis explores an epic yet human universe in which gods are summoned, kingdoms rise, riddles are unlocked, love is lost, and worlds crumble. This is psychedelia in the literal sense: a "mind-manifesting" journey through the collective psyche of its creators. "Born Again" weaves a web of potent pleasures. Whereas the earliest Blood Axis music was marked by keyboards and samples, Blood Axis in 2010 is stripped down to an essential core of natural instrumentation, but with force and bombast fully intact. The sonic ingredients on "Born Again" include electric and acoustic strings (guitar, violin, bass, bouzouki, banjo), melodeon, piano, highland bagpipes and Galician gaita, marching percussion, the mysterious Annabel-a-tron, and Bobby BeauSoleil's growling, prison-vintage guitar eruptions circa 1976. Underpinning the album and propelling much of the music is the traditional Irish drum the bodhr? recorded here with unprecedented power. Moynihan's ominous voice is well matched by Annabel Lee's elfin intonations, just as her violin finds a perfect counterpoint in Robert Ferbrache's protean guitar parts. A selective cabal of guest musicians from Europe and the USA add tasteful embellishments to these deceptively simple arrangements. Shot through by myth and romance, the expressive lyrics on Born Again have their roots in ancient and modern poetry, archaic invocations, and tragic laments. Alongside modern English and German, songs are sung in medieval 10th-century Old English and 13th-century Middle High German. The end result is both unclassifiable and unforgettable: neither folk nor rock, traditional nor avant-garde, modern nor archaic. It is simply Blood Axis. Born Again was recorded over a span of many years in remote locations ranging from rural Vermont to the catacombs of Absinthe Studios in Denver, Colorado. Engineered and produced by founding Blood Axis member Ferbrache, the dense sonic tapestry of "Born Again" is simultaneously raw and refined, synergistically more than the sum of its primal parts. Packaged in a beautiful gatefold cover, "Born Again" includes a 24-page booklet with complete lyrics and translations, striking portraits of the band members, and solemn photographic images from France, Germany, Austria, Portugal, and the USA. To everything there is season. For those who are cursed, a time to die and to be forgotten. And for the blessed, a time to be born again: to live on, beyond death, in the minds of men. Now is the time for Blood Axis to be Born Again".
BLOOD AXIS/ANDREW KING "The Dream/Fröleichen so well wir"
7" 2010 (Storm/Tesco)
"The first new track by Blood Axis after many years, here sharing a 7" with the English ballad singer and radical traditionalist Andrew King. The unifying theme of this release is the poetry of the German Middle Ages. Blood Axis interprets a startlingly modern existential lament by the Minnesinger Walther von der Vogelweide (12th-13th century), who is considered to be the most important German-speaking poet of the period. Andrew King interprets a tortured love song by the Austrian figure Oswald von Wolkenstein (14th-15th century). Both lyricists can be seen as examples of a distinctive and long-enduring southern Germanic courtly poetic tradition. Unique to each track is the fact that the modern artists are presenting songs in the original "Mittelhochdeutsch," or Middle High German, the language spoken during the time of the Hohenstaufen emperors and an ancestor of modern German. It is fascinating to hear how well both interpreters are able to pronounce this difficult old language, and how closely their own music suits these painfully romantic lyrics from other times and places. An outstanding release that shows how it is possible to work with tradition in a way that is both illuminating and entertaining. The cover features the famous medieval portraits of the poets Walther and Oswald, and a detailed insert sheet provides the original lyrics along with faithful translations into modern English by Michael Moynihan".
