Touch Records introduced many experimental and post-industrial music fans to some of the most crucial artists of the past 40 years or so. This compilation originally came as 28 single tracks which were available via subscription only, but since that option was shut down, the label thankfully compiled these tracks into one album.
Dutch composer Jos Smolders, a friend of this site, has a new release out on Portugal’s Crónica Electronica Records. This is a sample of the text associated with the album, which you can read in full here. “Each Textuur project is built up in a similar fashion. There are two groups of sound. First there are the collections which consist of samples of the original material. The other group consists of various permutations. The samples from the collections are torn apart into threads of various widths and subsequently rewoven into a new synthetic fabric. Sound is thus stripped from its…
Mykel Boyd is one of the leading lights in experimental music and drone, and has done so much to promote the genre that it is (pleasantly) hard to keep track of his releases. He is paired with Brume (the working name of French composer and long-time contact Christian Renou) who is, frankly, a legend in the cassette culture scene. The album is a fine take on electroacoustic music with an ominous vibe floating throughout these pieces. Perfect to get lost in thought with.
Prepare yourselves for January 19, ten days from now! The legendary Scanner (Robin Rimbaud in real life) has a new album out, “…a tribute to the early 1960s library music culture, applying crude techniques of electronic composition, using a mix of hardware and software. It explores a kind of musique concrète, electroacoustic character, in an otherworldly cinematic fashion.” This will be a departure from his more experimental work, and should be a joy to listen to. It will be released on Alltagsmusik, “a new label to release Scanner albums.”
No wishes, no hopes for the year, just a pleasant way to gently slide into 2024. We launch with Jeff Gburek’s latest release, of which he provides notes on his Bandcamp site: “Still Life with a Question Mark came together as an album rather quickly after I discovered loops unused from an older project fit very well with the latest work I’d done in seclusion at Dom Sztuk, Kęszyca. Captures of VLF radio (ionospheric geomagnetic crackling impulses), hydrophone recordings from Solacz pond, frame drums, zither played with ebow, looped guitar and string passages, synthesizer, shortwave radio, textures of leaves, wood,…
Valerio Cosi is an Italian composer I’ve had the pleasure of following for many years online, but this is the first time in a while that I have seen his work commercially available. It is a fine example of musique concrète, and is active enough to keep you engaged throughout it’s 30 minutes in length.
Jeff Gburek’s latest album is not a departure from his carefully crafter work, but a continuation of his honing sounds together, weaving them in a way that the early musique-concrète composers could not have imagined. Drones, pulses and the sounds of Burgas, Bulgaria, are blended to produce an immersive soundscape. Yet another fine work.
Friends and readers, thank you for indulging your scribe a well-needed rest after 1,000 days of activity. We relaunch with one of the most gorgeous electroacoustic recordings I’ve come across in a while. María Cristina Kasem is a composer and violinist from Argentina who has an extensive body of work in academic experimental music. These three works are eerie, but so incredibly engaging that the sounds managed to soothe my ears. A very pleasant find.
This is perhaps one of the most beautifully stunning acousmatic works I’ve ever heard. Every percussive strike of the piano had me transfixed while listening, so much so that I wasn’t able to do my normal routine of working while listening to music. Our dear friend Benjamin Aït-Ali took a bit of time away from composer serious music, but has come back to it with a vengeance. It’s a gripping work, this.
empreintes DIGITALes are the finest record label in Canada specializing in electroacoustic music, acousmatics and musique concrète. It pleased me to see that they are putting up their albums on Bandcamp, and I ended up being doubly rewarded by finding a composer who is new to me. Léa Boudreau describes herself, rightly, as, “…(a) circuit maker, sound crafter, immersive environments builder.” This particular album is lively and energetic for an experimental music album. I have to say it’s a difficult one to describe, so do click on the Bandcamp link and enjoy the sounds.