I receive a double blessing for this release. I have the privilege of pointing my readers to a wonderful boutique label out of Brazil called z0 who are producing quality experimental music, and I add to this the joy of introducing more music from Pete Swinton, whose work has really caught my attention (thanks, in part, to Jeff Gburek). There are two tracks on this album. The first, Blizzard In Antarctica, clocks in at 15 minutes, and is as cold and noisy as you would expect such a natural phenomenon to be. It’s noise in a sense, but sculpted and…
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Heejin Jang is a sound designer and composer from Seoul, South Korea who makes noise unlike other composers in the genre. The sounds are more subdued, sculpted, and in many ways, engaging listening. It’s not anti-music, but something abrasive, yet pleasing, to listen to. From her Bandcamp site: “The Korean producer’s new album features the most intricate and brutal tracks of her career. Here, she presents mosaics of sound that endlessly mutate and rearrange themselves in elegant ways. Jang’s ability to position harsher sections against moments of unnerving calmness provokes the listener into a variety of mental states, including panic,…
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I remember the Beijing lockups very well, as I lived in the city during the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis. Some residents in Beijing, including the trio of Li Jianhong, Wen Zhiyong and Deng Boyu, made incredibly good use of the time and recorded an album of music combining free improvisation, electronics and ancient instruments such as gudi (bone flute) and trumpet. A sonically stunning album. Respect to WV Sorcerer Productions (巫唱片), who continue to release quality Chinese new music.
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Harold Bertram, a sound designer out of Germany who works under the name 1414E08 collaborates with The Last American Poet, Shane Beck. Shane’s calming voice and choice of subject matter, the infamous American horror-meister H. P. Lovecraft are expertly couched by Bertram’s horror-drone soundtrack. Remarkable.
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Lost Tribe Sound delivers the goods again. This album comes to us from the band Arrowounds out of Athens, Ohio, and it sounds like something emanating from the most brutal part of the Rust Belt. It is fine listening for it, as the droning noise feels almost cinematic in scope.
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Our friend Sonologyst (Raffaele Pezzalla) has released his first project of 2023, and it’s a deep listen, taking the existence of electrons as its subject matter. From his Bandcamp site: “As the theory of the atom, quantum mechanics is perhaps the most successful theory in the history of science. It enables physicists, chemists, and technicians to calculate and predict the outcome of a vast number of experiments and to create new and advanced technology based on the insight into the behaviour of atomic objects. But it is also a theory that challenges our imagination. It seems to violate some fundamental…
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Two small ambient/orchestral pieces have been released by the composer ǽfv, of whom I know nothing except that she is an experimental composer and cellist whose short compositions left me wanting much more.
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We end 2022 and walk into 2023 with a shimmering, hopeful release. German composer Harald Bertram collaborates with the ‘Last American Poet’, Shane Beck in a collaboration of Berlin School-influenced electronics and poetry. A lovely release to end our year with.
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Again, a very Merry Christmas to friends and readers of this blog! We celebrate the day with the usual festive tunes, but add one extra courtesy of Robin Rimbaud (Scanner), who synths up a few seasonal classics.
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This release, by No Part Of It Records, is a fine label putting out quality discs, and this archival album combines Dan Burke of Illusion of Safety and Z’ev, two of America’s foremost Industrial musicians. From the label’s Bandcamp site: “What we have here is a potent cocktail of scrap metal, processed field recordings, modular synthesis, and plenty of aptly placed intermittent percussive clatter. The overall impression I’m left with is a very calculated sound collage that still feels like the sonic equivalent of a deep epiphany, or maybe a catalyst for one. What seems like a casual interweaving of…