• Music

    Gadi Sassoon – Multiverse

    June 8, 2021 - By 

    Gadi Sassoon is an Italian sound designer and composer whose latest release comes from the venerable Los Angeles-based record label A Strangely Isolated Place.  I had only heard one track of his work before, this coming from ASIP’s 2020 Compilation.  Though impressive, it didn’t prepare me for one of the bleakest experiences I’ve had listening to ambient music I’ve had since, perhaps, mid-period Lustmord.  If you listen to this album on headphones, be forewarned: the sounds will reverberate in your bones for a while afterward, and I say this as a compliment.  The tracks swell and disperse in a way…

  • Music

    Orphan Sound System – Layered Seed Water

    April 4, 2021 - By 

    My (Western) Easter listening happens to be an avant-garde recording put together in the mid-nineties in Italy and just now being released.  Imagine works being recorded nearly a quarter-century ago still sounding fresh and relevant.  This is the sound of Orphan Sound System.  The project features the talents of Jeff Gburek, John El Manahi and John Palumbo.  I find it difficult to compare it to an artist of that particular time period, though perhaps I can hear a corollary with groups like AMM, the scores of incredibly talented cassette culture artists who worked with lo-fi conditions to make incredible art,…

  • Music

    Bolduchin – Shellac

    January 23, 2021 - By 

    It’s impressive to hear when those who work outside of music under normal circumstances bring their talents into music, especially of a dark ambient variety.  Giacomo Triglia, who works under the name Bolduchin, provides a bleak, yet very lively soundtracks to the horrible dreams we all have now and then.  Actually, this would make a perfect soundscape for walls closing in on you.  Labels like Cold Meat Industry and Cryo Chamber would find this very familiar sonic territory.

  • Music

    Cernichov – The Mold Legacy

    January 14, 2021 - By 

    Today’s choice, Cernichov, bear cover art on their album, The Mold Legacy, which would fool one into thinking that this was some sort of black-metal release.  Far from it.  It’s actually a very well-balance pairing of noise and ambient music.  It’s as if a post-punk band were working with the noise and ambient aesthetic, so this sounds far more musical and stable than many of the amateur bands who sound like they’re simply flipping on the vacuum switch.  Quite nice.

  • Music

    Nihil Impvlse – Stasis

    January 4, 2021 - By 

    Though I am not sure exactly where Nihil Impvlse hail from in Italy, I can rest assured that Raffaele Pezzella of Eighth Tower Records and his own project Sonologyst will ensure the quality of such music. Nihil Impvlse are quite a pleasant surprise for noise or drone music. This sounds more sculpted, more relaxed and focused, in comparison to other projects of a similar bent. For an album release which is so bleak, it seems almost gentle to the ears, eminently listenable. Not quite what I was expecting, but so much the better for it.