resonant strata

2010-06-30

diamondsonmydamnchain:

dietofworms:

The above diagram arranges eighteen objects in two vertical columns and then determines he number of arrangements in which they can be combined. By the same method the diagram further estimates that fifty objects may be arranged in 1,273,726,838,815,420,339,851,343,083,767,005,515,293,749,454,795,408,000,000,000,000 combinations. From this it will be evident that infinite diversity is possible, for the countless parts of the universe may be related to each other in an incalculable number of ways; and through the various combinations of these limitless subdivisions of being, infinite individuality and infinite variety must inevitably result. Thus it is further evident that life can never become monotonous or exhaust the possibilities of variety.

dietofworms:

The above diagram arranges eighteen objects in two vertical columns and then determines he number of arrangements in which they can be combined. By the same method the diagram further estimates that fifty objects may be arranged in 1,273,726,838,815,420,339,851,343,083,767,005,515,293,749,454,795,408,000,000,000,000 combinations. From this it will be evident that infinite diversity is possible, for the countless parts of the universe may be related to each other in an incalculable number of ways; and through the various combinations of these limitless subdivisions of being, infinite individuality and infinite variety must inevitably result. Thus it is further evident that life can never become monotonous or exhaust the possibilities of variety.

Ennio Mazzon’s Ripples Recordings label has been releasing some quality ambient and experimental music over the last couple of years now. Mostly exploring a more abstract territory, the releases combine minimal instrumental works with fieldrecordings and improvisations. Ripples’ latest release is no exception to this rule.
Nõ + Ics’ “M Type Alpha” is a single track venturing on the edges of silence, improvised noise and industrial like sound-loops. Oscillating between abrasive noise moments, hollow drones and meditative rhythms, M Type Alpha works as much as a background soundtrack as it works as an immersive headphone journey. Although the record is by no means on the beautiful side of experimental music, but still manages to capture the beauty of the more noisy spectrum. Unfortunately “M Type Alpha” could have been a little more powerful and harsh at times to add a little more dynamic progression – there are parts where it seems to flow a little bit too much on the pretty side of the spectrum. In the end this just boils down to personal preference and Nõ + Ics’ “M Type Alpha” is a beautifully crafted and well executed journey nonetheless.

Ripples Recordings
Nõ + Ics

2010-05-10

Pascal Savy – The Silent Watcher

The bird like sounds in the beginning set the right pace. Pascal Savy’s “The Silent Watcher” is an open and welcoming work: Airy textures shimmering gleefully through crispy fieldrecordings and distant synth-echos. Savy explores a field of ambient recordings that has become quite popular in the last couple of years: beautiful and soothing harmonics with moving overtones; slowly evolving ambient pads – a floating atmosphere reminiscing of clear blue skies on a bright spring morning. At times the album ventures a little too much on the safe side with its mellow reverbish drones and its beautiful bell sounds. The only exception is Asleep, which explores a darker, more beat driven territory making room for a track that reminds more of the The Orb.
The Silent Watcher is a good listen and a skillfully executed album within the more airy corner of ambient music. Although sometimes – a change into darker timbres would have added a little more depth and sonic variety.

Audiomoves
Pascal Savy

2010-04-29

Ametsub – Nothings of the North

I’m not quite sure, what to think of resurrecting Mille Plateaux (again). Especially since Achim Szepanski, who was responsible for the philosophical/theoretical guideline and direction of the label, is not with Mille Plateaux anymore. It seems, what’s left of Mille Plateaux, the label that had such a great impact on contemporary electronic and experimental music, is just the name, which leaves a somewhat bitter taste making the re-launch appear more like a marketing stunt than anything else.
From the couple of already cued up releases, one record really steps out. It’s Ametsub’s “The Nothings of the North”. Unfortunately it is just a licensed re-release for europe, because the album was already released in Japan on progressive form, the outstanding label from tokyo, which released great artists such as AOKI Takamasa, Yoshihiro Hanno or yours truly, NQ.
The Nothings of the North starts a lot warmer than expected. Piano fragments dance like fireflies on a beautiful summer night – warm and inviting. The abstract beats oscillate gorgeously between the tiny fragmented sounds.
The Nothings of the North feels a lot like those late 90s/early 2000 clicks’n’cuts electronica tracks but with a sound that is commonly more associated with music produced on a MPC: choppy beats, J-Dilla-esque swing and a crunchy sound. All of them add a lot depth to an approach that can quite easily sound dated and cliché. Amtesub’s album in fact does not.
The Nothings is of the North is a promising re-launch of Mille Plateaux. But there is still a lot of work to do to convince me that this is more than just a well thought out plan to make some money with this famous name.

Mille Plateaux
Ametsub

2010-04-20

R.I.P. Guru. You’ll be missed.

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Digital Re-Release: NQ – Balconies and Backyards

A couple of years ago I released a vinyl mini-lp called “Balconies and Backyards” on a small and upcoming label. Unfortunately the guy running the label lost interest shortly after the release. So there are probably a couple of hundred records collecting dust in his basement.
As I like the record quite a lot, I decided to release it again – only this time digitally.

Expect sine wave landscapes, clicky fragments, disjointed beats and granular textures.

Download the release at my bandcamp page at:

http://nqmusic.bandcamp.com/

2010-04-13

Billy Gomberg – Comme

It took me a bit to get into Billy Gomberg’s “Comme”, although i can’t really say why. The album starts off beautifully: a resonating ambience opening a clear and warm space, crackling fragments dancing with clicky tones, somebody’s breathing and humming, distant guitar tones echoing in the background. Everything one could ask for in a great record, but maybe this was just a tad too beautiful, a little too cute in its effort to draw in the listener. But as “Comme” progresses the initial pace becomes a little slower, a little more sparse. Combined with the sweetness that was already present in the first minutes of this recording, the album falls into a beautiful state between wake and sleep. Rays of slowly moving guitar tones, fragments of somnambulant melodies – more than often this feels like standing on somebody’s rooftop after a long night watching the dawn break over the city skyline and not quite realizing if this is real or just a dream. The last track just fits perfectly into that exact mood with its sine-wave like guitar-drone, its hushed clicks and crackles leaving a nearly zen-like state.

“Comme” is definitively not your average experimental ambient album. With its clicky fragments and shifting tones it offers a more pointillistic flow than the common regular run of the mill wash of distortion run into a reverb and a filter. It is a beautiful piece of work that just needs a bit more time to develop its soothing magic. Although already a couple of months old this is a great album for the blooming spring with its airy tone and ambience.

mOAR
Billy Gomberg

2010-03-20

Blessure Grave – Open or Shut

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Blessure Grave – Judged by Twelve Carried by Six

Sound plays a major role for me when it comes to music. More than often it is the way a record or a track sounds that attracts me and not its structure or melody making sound probably the deciding factor. I could easily bear a record with weak song structures or not so elaborate harmonies as long as it sounds great, but when the sound doesn’t appeal to me, chances are, i won’t listen to it that much.

It’s important to emphasize that a good sound doesn’t genuinely mean that it has to be well produced. Quite often this could mean the opposite. The sound has to fit the aesthetic of the tracks. Give me some details buried somewhere in the mix that can i discover myself, give me rawness, dynamics, some imperfection and i’ll be probably happy with it. If this means it has to be recorded on a boom-box in some basement, so be it and I will wholeheartedly embrace it.

Blessure Grave’s “Judged by Twelve Carried by Six” is such a record. It’s the sound that won me over within seconds: Slightly overdriven vocals, with a tad too much reverb, hollow drum sound and thin guitar recordings that resemble the early post-punk sound à la Joy Division, The Cure, Southern Death Cult or Killing Joke. We’ve seen a couple of bands in the last years trying to emulate that style. Whether it is was The Editors, Interpol or The XX – all failed miserably with their watered down version of this formula. Everything was just too perfect, too polished. There were not enough edges to grab the attention deep enough to maintain interest. It’s the imperfection that creates beauty.

And yes – Blessure Graves “Judged by Twelve Carried by Six” has its weak spots – quite a few actually. Their songwriting leaves room to hope for more, their melodies sometimes not really deliver all the impact they could. But those are exactly the reasons, why this records amazes me so much. It’s its imperfection, its shortcomings that make the record so enjoyable. And yet the album has its brilliant moments: Melodies that could haunt you for days, a desolate and cold atmosphere that creeps in slowly. And of course a sound, that simply just fits with its gritty, stiff numbness.This is a great record that has a lot to offer for anybody into early 80s goth rock, post punk and early wave.

The CD also features Blessure Grave’s first 12”, which offers an even more raw approach in sound and song writing.

Blessure Grave
Alien8 Recordings