Being thankful for an earful.
Brand new music by Marie Davidson, Niecy Blues (feat. Joy Guidry), CEL, Marisa Anderson and Luke Schneider, Stina Stjern, Carmen Villain, Murcof, A Lily, and Far Golden Pavilions, with music from the vaults by Tomaga, Ozzobia, Jan Jelinek.
Sushi photo by Lindsay.
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Dressed in black, as ever, this Prurient lathe sits more easily alongside his recent Load release Pleasure Ground than his circuit board slaughter. This track leans a little less on the ripping-out-throats-with-teeth style and more on a knife edge tension tip. This is more like slow insidious mental torture than someone merzbowing your face into a pulp.
There are noticeable, albeit brief, rhythms in the avalanche alongside tower levelling greater bass pulses. Several ominous silences don’t make this any less scalding, the spew creeping like brittle ossification. The weight of this lathe comes in speedily rising increments of needle under fingernails pain. Prurient's rage sounds all the more rotted and dark with the focus of the lyrics here.
It's difficult to make out all the words in Prurient's full verse, the vocal fx and the crushed salvo of rolls obliterating some of it. His spoken word soliloquy comes somewhere between Slint's Brian McMahan and something on the darker side of the now fallen Rollins. Although with Prurient we are safe in the knowledge that he won’t be appearing in any shitty commercial movies anytime soon.
samples:
The world is shockingly louder after hearing Andrew Chalk's work. This is true of many of his pieces, but seems most applicable to the reissue of East of the Sun. Originally released in 1994 on cassette by OR (Ora's label), the album is as quiet and reserved as they come, teeming with invisible life that always seems just beyond the reach of the human ear. There's plenty going on in these washes of sound, but everything seems consciously subliminal from the second the album begins.
Faraway Press
Chalk's records always feel like something special, his Faraway Press releases are especially unique and memorable because they're so carefully assembled. East of the Sun comes in a heavy duty gatefold case with elegant and simple artwork. The inside contains only the most pertinent information and a single photograph, presumably of Chalk. As heavy as the packaging may be, the music is perhaps the most delicate Chalk has ever assembled. There are no monumental drones to speak of or massive washes of sound that swim out of the music. Everything is a gentle, microscopic whisper. Even with the volume turned up to its fullest, both "Winter Arc" and "High Water" seem dark and distant, glimmering only faintly, suggesting some distant signs of life.
When the music does uncover itself most blatantly, the resonance and power of the sounds involved is undeniable. The simplicity of both compositions remind me of taking a long walk and being lost in thought or, perhaps more strongly, the sudden realization that there's something going on around you that was not or had not been immediately evident. There are no big surprises on this album: everything comes naturally, but the way Chalk's various sounds work their way in and out of the mix demands repeated listens. I found myself asking where certain sounds came from and how they managed to sneak into the mix without me noticing them earlier.
In the right environment this is a splendid aspect of the album: it commands a quiet place and causes the ears to listen harder, be more attentive. If a quiet place is impossible to find, then this record is difficult to hear and gets subsumed into other noises. I was washing my clothes in the basement while listening to this album upstairs and it slowly fused with the whirl of the washing machine. There's nothing inherently wrong with a quiet album, but unless combining music with household appliances sounds like fun, this album is perhaps best suited for the quietest of times or for a pair of good headphones.
samples:
in progess
in progress
Samples:
Rob
Orchestre Poly-Rythmo
Released in conjunction with a concert on the 11. November 2006 at the »Lagerhaus« Bremen the CD feat. exclusive tracks by Industrial Music legend Z'EV and New York based percussionist and multi media artist DAVID LINTON who has worked with among others Lee Ranaldo, Glenn Branca, Rhys Chatham, Diamanda Galas, Christian Marclay and Elliot Sharp. Each artist is featured with a solo track plus a remix of the other artist.
Z'EV: www.rhythmajik.de David Linton: www.unitygain.org
Track listing:
1. Z'EV »Soliloquy #1« 11'11
2. Z'EV (LINTON) »Not Nil« 19'58
3. DAVID LINTON »Emerald Portal Excerpt — Part 1« 22'27
4. DAVID LINTON (Z'EV) »7/11elective-RE:mix_Z'EV« 7'00
Total playing time: 60:36 min.
Part 9 of the ongoing re-release series of all early Tietchens albums from 1980—1991 on CD. This combines two seperate releases from 1987 (»Zwingburgen des Hedonismus«) and 1988 (»Mysterien des Hafens« on »FACE TO FACE, VOL. 1«). »Zwingburgen des Hedonismus« was originally released as a one-sided LP on swedish label Multimood and features a singles 21 min. long track composed on a Fairlight CMI. »Mysterien des Hafens« was part of a split LP (the other side feat. DIE FORM) originally released on french label Odd Size and feat. recordings made by Tietchens using under-water microphones. The Bonus track »Faircomp 1K« on this CD is a different version of the first track and previously unreleased.
First edition of 600 copies in jewel case with full cover artwork and poster booklet also feat. the original album covers.
Track listing:
1. »Zwingburgen des Hedonismus« 21'07
2. »Faircomp 1K« (Bonus track) 16'55
3. »Bubendey Notturno/Ritual auf der Halde« (Mysterien des Hafens) 18'39
Total playing time: 56:41 min.
Up until today I only undertook the effort to compose music with the help of a special composing programme twice. One of these two resulting pieces is »Studie uber B-A-C-H« (originally titled »Faircomp 1C«) which appeared on FORMEN LETZTER HAUSMUSIK in 1984. The matrix which was developed for the music computer Fairlight CMI, could be altered in structure, length and also instrumentation according to the needs of the composer. The first version (»Faircomp 1A«) was recorded in 1982, the last one (»Faircomp 1N«) in 1986. ZWINGBURGEN DES HEDONISMUS (originally titled »Faircomp 1J«) is still the soundwise richest of all these versions despite its overall meagreness. The second version included here (the bonus track »Faircomp 1K«) already borders on the edge of mannerism with its instrumental and dynamical one-dimensionality. Actually the whole Faircomp series was — to use the words of Max Bense — a »precise pleasure«, which basically consisted of transforming kybernetic possibilities into something audible. Nevertheless ZWINGBURGEN DES HEDONISMUS (originally »Faircomp 1J«) saw a release as a one-sided LP in the end because of the braveness of the swedish label Multimood and also because of the fact that the work displayed a relative richness. I also wrote the matrix for a »Faircomp 2« series, but it was never fed into the Fairlight CMI. This computer was abandoned and replaced by the DX 7 and up-to-date samplers and computers in 1987. It seems that time has passed the »Faircomp 2« by. But who knows...?
ASMUS TIETCHENS »MYSTERIEN DES HAFENS« (Odd Size OS04) 1988
Both tracks were already recorded in 1986 and are outtakes from the GEBOREN, UM ZU DIENEN album on EG. They didn't make it onto this album though,because I felt that they differed from the other tracks not only in content, but also musically. I therefore put them aside as an option for a possible second LP on the EG label, but in the end that was not the case. The label »Odd Size« made an enquiry if I'd like to contribute one side to the split LP »Face to Face, Vol.1«, and I immediately offered them MYSTERIEN DES HAFENS, because the two tracks — blended into each other — made much more sense in this isolated format. They refer to two specific places in the harbour of Hamburg. Both places have been transformed beyond recognition during the last 20 years though. Only a few photos that I took and the music are still wittness of what has already become history. Sic transit gloria mundi — and not without some regret. Stylistically MYSTERIEN was close to Industrial Music although it was released kinda late for that. But back then we didn't waste a thought, that the glorious years could already be over, also because the taking over by the enemy couldn't be forseen by anyone then. So empty bunkers and dumps still remained the favourite playgrounds of post-nuclear campfire rituals. But these fires would be dead soon.
Asmus Tietchens, 2006
Celebrating the 25th anniversary of the very first Z'EV studio album which originally came out on Backlash in 1981, DIE STADT is proud to announce the re-release of »Production and Decay of spacial Relations« for the first time on CD. It features the original seven tracks from the vinyl plus six »recodings« entitled »Reproduction and Decay of spatial Relations« made by Z'EV in May/June 2005.
Back in the day Z'EV used to bring boxes over from Holland when he would come back to New York City which he would sell to Bleeker Bob (a famous Record Shop situated in the East Village of NY) who told him: »this is the best industrial record ever and I sell it to every japanese buyer who comes into the store«.
The CD is housed in a reproduction of the original LP (!) cover and comes with a special handmade insert. First edition of 500 copies.
Track listing:
1. »VUUR UUR 1« 4'31
2. »OP ZOOM 1« 3'44
3. »OP ZOOM 2« 3'59
4. »VUUR UUR 2« 4'48
5. »ZUID/ZUID OOST« 4'12
6. »VERS LICHT« 4'48
7. »OOK UIT« 7'43
8. »Recoding of Track 1+4« 5'19
9. »Recoding of Track 2« 4'32
10. »Recoding of Track 3« 5'56
11. »Recoding of Track 5« 5'03
12. »Recoding of Track 6« 7'21
13. »Recoding of Track 7« 8'02
Total playing time: 79:57 min.
The first edition of 500 copies also includes a bonus CD with never before released archive material all recorded in 1982 entitled »That was the year that was what it was«. It features the following tracks:
1. Z'EV »The sound of the light of metal for Jackson Mac Low« (18'11)
Cassette recording by Lynn Holst of a »wild-style« Z'EV performance in Martinson Hall at the Public Theater NCY 6 Dec 1982 (as part of the language / noise series produced by Ms. Holst. »I was invited to perform and choose 2 others, choosing poet Jacson Mac Low and text/sound artist Peter van Riper)«
2. UNS »Past todays« (18'38)
Cassette Recording by Merle Steir Live in Martinson Hall at the Public Theater NYC 24 may 1982. Vocals: The Sha'ul Z'EV persona. Sound by UNS: 2 VU matic turntables with 3 tone arms - modified for controlled skipping - each turntable held 2 records: »aside + beside« 12" by TO; Will Jackson + S. Weisser (2 copies) + »Wipe Out« 7" by Z'EV (2 copies) (Performance came after a group reading organized by Barbara Ess by a variety of artists of excerpts from the article by Paul Crutzen and J. Birks entitled »Nuclear Winter« that appeared in Ambio)
3. Z'EV »Element/L« (10'28)
From a cassette master. Source: Rough mixes recorded on cassette from the »Wipe Out« sessions recorded at Sorcerer Sound NYC June 1982. Rendering: July 1982 at Studio Od, Eindhoven. Tools: Sony TCD5M cassette deck, Revox 2 track. Overdubbing with splicing tape over erase head, splicing tape and block , single edged razorblades.
NOTE: At this time in history, cassette was THE ubiquitous storage medium, and while perhaps in this digital age some may feel the quality of the recordings seem to leave something to be desired, the performances here documented still deserve to be heard.
Total playing time: 47:16 min.
The second installment of a short series begun with the »Sanctus« album issued by Robot Records (RR-35) in January of 2006. »Amen«, »Unto the Aeon of Aeons«, is a work of two parts using: grand piano, Hammond organ, tower bell, gong and voices.
The CD is pressed in a first edition of 600 copies in digipack.
Track listing:
1. »Amen 1« 20'04
2. »Amen 2« 20'04
Playing time: 40:08 min.
NOVEMBER
(AND ALSO THE TREES / YOUNG GODS)
Announcing the debut of a new collaboration
NOVEMBER is an extraordinary collaboration between film soundtrack composer and 'The Young God's' drummer Bernard Trontin and Simon Huw Jones, singer/lyricist of 'And Also The Trees'.
Their blend of music, that unites deep, electronic sound-waves, low- fi loops, glitches and rhythmic pulses with a vocal that drifts from subtle melody to poetic narrative is unique and will interest fans of Nick Cave and Stuart Staples as well as anyone into dark-ambient music such as Biosphere, Boards of Canada and Coil.
NOVEMBER is a unique experience and a masterpiece of electro-acoustic. This is Shayo 010 coming as a deluxe digipack, with booklet, mastering by Denis Blackham (Biosphere, In Gowan Ring, ...).
You can have a brief taste of the evocative music they've come up with here:
November at Strange Fortune
NOVEMBER is a Shayo release distributed in North America by Strange Fortune. Expected ship date in North America will be December 7th.
Strange Fortune
www.strangefortune.com
The source for strange & exquisite sounds
Strange Fortune / PO Box 440383 / Somerville MA 02144 USA
artist: Vanishing Voice
title:Nordic Visions
catalog #: IMPREC132
format: cd
upc: 793447513225
release date: February 27, 2007
Nordic Visions was originaly released in a tiny vinyl edition of 525 copies which sold out immediately. Here it is by demand, resurrected as a digital tiki for the original vinyl release.
While Wooden Wand and Satya Sai jammed with the Sky High Band in beautiful California, the Vanishing Voice dug in deep in the frozen northeast. Snowed in with utopian texts and mounting paranoia, Steven The Harvester, Heidi White Diamond Diehl, and Pete Wolfy Nolan joined Nonhorse in an abandoned textile factory, boiling out these ballads of suspended disbelief and hope for the better world.
