Works 1987-1993
Both of these projects hardly need an introduction. Merzbow is since the late '70s the project of Masami Akita working in the field of noise music, having released a few hundred CDs/LPs/cassettes by now. In 1987 Kapotte Muziek was then the solo project of Frans de Waard, after Christian Nijs left the group early '87. De Waard concentrated on working with other musicians, and started trading tapes with a few musicians he was already in contact with, and one of them was Merzbow. The first release …
Palais Schaumburg
The influential German post-punk electronic pop band Palais Schaumburg has reunited in the classic line-up. Since its release in 1981, their debut album has remained in a league of its own: fleet-footed and peculiar, abstract and pop, amateurish and savvy, it showed real alternatives to the then-pervasive crude search for identity found in the "new German wave." The band, which consisted entirely of divergent personalities, has reunited in this formation to rediscover their common ground, …
Rainbow Mask
"Rainbow Mask" is a 12" record which contains a long piece on each side. The sound was originally taken from our first session in Geneva in Autumn 2006.Hitoshi processed Carole's viola and voice thorough various effectors in realtime. And we kept playing until the studio space was totally filled with our harmony and noises.Although the sound was quite rough, the experience in the space was strong enough to impress ourselves.("Lunastus" in "Sporing Promenade" is also taken from a part of the sess…
Ezo
Hitoshi Kojo. The title of the pieces of this record "Hiruko" and "Ebisu" are the two names of one mythical being in Japanese mythology. "Hiruko" is a firstborn child of the god, who was deserted in the sea, because he could not stand up by three years old. He drifted ashore to the land of human beings, and was cherished by the people. Then he was brought up as a god, and was worshipped by the people as "Ebisu".Somehow I was haunted by the story all the time during the working period. Therefore …
Evestrum
Spiracle" has flown to the stratosphere in "Ananta" and has swallowed the milky way in "Lumen". Now it opens the gate to the parallel worlds through the astral body.Side A: Evestrum is formed by membranous layers of drones, which slowly shift by the interference between glass harps and moderate electronic sounds.It is a sonographical report of the process: a subtle spiritual existence merges into a physical body and becomes tangible through the senses.Side B: Exusiai is formed by the resonance o…
Lux Ova
Lux Ova" is a compilation of Hitoshi Kojo's recordings from the middle 90's, before he started releasing the work as Spiracle. Under Spiracle name, he has released long durational drone recordings that were often compared to the works of Organum, La Monte Young, or Iancu Dumitrescu. Through ten years, the style crystalized to more minimal and subtle direction, as it appears in Ananta (from Heren Scarsdale Agency) and the last release Evestrum (from Drone Records).This compilation already shows t…
High Tide Mirror
Inner resonance of planets... harmonies made from the distances between planets... melodies generated by their circular dances...Our bodies can become a receiver of cosmic music when we connect our roots to certain places on earth. However the electromagnetic field on the surface of the earth is unduly interfered nowadays. So our sympathetic ability is heavily oppressed by the violent moiré.First, shall we let ourselves synchronize with the flow of the earth’s fundamental magnetic field, immerse…
Sporing Promenade
Our first album "Sporing Promenade" was mostly produced in Canada during our stay in the second half part of 2007. While strolling in the vast forest, we made a lot of recordings in the environmental sound by handy instruments, such as kalimba, flute, pitch pipe, also various objects such as nuts, stones that we found on the way, as well as our voice. Then we made 'spontaneous compositions' with instruments such as viola, zither, melodica and effect pedals at home, along with the impression…
Omnimoment
Gorgeously packaged, gorgeous dronemusik! Hitoshi Kojo is a Japanese sound artist and drone-centric expressionist who has recorded in the past under the moniker Spiracle and performs in the jubilantly psychedelic but still quite droned-out project Juupala Kaapio. Omnimoment is a collection of edits from Kojo's sound installations and site-specific work dating from 2006 - 2009, all of which extract and manipulate elemental forces of wind, fire, water, metal, wood, sand, etc. into blossomin…
Rewound groves
Krampus used to be busy with St. Nicholas during December. But soon after St. Nicholas began to wear shiny red and white costume, he was no longer needed.He took long time to figure out why it happened, why he was abandoned. On the other hand, he could spend more time playing with old fellows in the mountains, and noticed what is most pleasant in his life.This album is released on 5th December - the day of Krampus. This edition is limited to 123 copies, wrapped in fur pocket (brunet or blond) an…
Zokuhen
This is the extension and second installment of Bokoboko (NON 033CD/LP) from earlier in 2012. Double vinyl-only release in a picture sleeve; it will not be available as a CD or digital download. With its non-placed devices and hard-to-pin-down aesthetic falling between electronic and psychedelic music and the warm-hued sounds of traditional acoustic instruments, Burnt Friedman's Zokuhen (trans. "second edition"), produced exclusively for vinyl, may be considered an extension (or second inst…
Con 3
This album saw Conrad Schnitzler head further in the direction of pop music. Like Consequenz, Con 3 (1981) is a collaborative effort with Wolfgang Seidel, alias Sequenza. Con 3 is a really odd mixture of numerous ingredients which Schnitzler was capable of combining with dexterity and taste. His musical handwriting is immediately apparent in the foreground. Effervescent electronic sequences can be heard on all nine pieces, coming from somewhere and appearing to go wherever -- this is Schnit…
Consequenz
Commercial Schnitzler? How quickly, how prematurely are opinions and judgements bandied about when an artist suddenly changes the form of his work. Conrad Schnitzler fell under such a cloud when, after 1978, his songs, for a time at least, did not exceed the catchy compactness of pop songs, while their harmonies and rhythms seemed to be drifting towards pop. Produced by Peter Baumann (Tangerine Dream) the Con (1978) album and the Auf dem schwarzen Kanal 12" EP (1980) ushered in this phase, …
Produkt der Deutsch-Amerikanischen Freundschaft
Bureau B reissues the first Deutsch-Amerikanische Freundschaft album, originally released in 1979. True D.A.F. connoisseurs will, of course, be aware of the early phase of the Düsseldorf-Wuppertal combo. But most fans of the subsequently world-famous duo may well be taken aback when confronted with their debut album: forceful synth bass sounds, snappy rhythms, Gabi Delgado and leather all conspicuously absent. In their place, pure instrumental, unstructured noise-rock, played by long-haire…
Heygate / Looking For Narratives On Small Islands
**Limited, hand-numbered edition of 250 on white vinyl. Housed in 352gsm stock cover with white ink letterpress print, obi strip & insert** Engrossing field recording and electro-acoustic compositions from two compatibly disciplined sound artists. Informed by a particular interest in the built environment, Will Montgomery's 'Heygate' is made from sounds sourced in and around the desolate and soon-to-be demolished Heygate estate in the Elephant & Castle area of South London in 2010. Using process…
Musique Electronique (1975-1983)
"This lovingly produced and gorgeously packaged LP contains seven previously unreleased electronic pieces that Gagnon realized at McGill University’s Electronic Music Studio. Leading off the proceedings is “Gwendoline Descendue!,” an electronics/tape piece crafted from snippets of Moog modular tones and a variety of instruments created by Hugh Le Caine. It’s a dramatic sample of sci-fi movie elements and jarring bursts of sound that heighten the tension. “Sea Lunch” was created with the not-quit…
Forty-Nine Views In Rhapsodies - Wave Serene
Brand new Andrew Chalk release packaged in an elaborate handmade slipcase with a Japanese language obi strip. Exactly the same style as the recent ‘Violin By Night’ LP, ie. super thick sturdy slipcase/box with a dowelling spine and a full colour inner sleeve. All copies handmade by Andrew Chalk."Forty-Nine Views In Rhapsodies Wave Serene features as many tracks, tiny sound worlds ;impressionistic views of landscape and indistinct memories, compiled into a musical suite lasting 54 minutes." - Far…
The Swifter
Introducing The Swifter - a new trio featuring Andrea Belfi (drums and percussion), BJNilsen (electronics) and Simon James Phillips (piano). Their debut album documents the first encounter of the three musicians. Recorded live in the Grunewald Church, Berlin, careful attention was given to capturing the unique resonant acoustic offered by the airy, stone building, exhibiting the broad palate of aesthetic qualities the group are able to create. Subtly evolving sound worlds that evoke, at times, t…
Untitled
This was the 10 PM set on 9/11/11, and makes for a perfect pair with the Rowe solo - two very different extremes. Where the Rowe set is in your face visceral, Unami and Malfatti created a gentle atmosphere within the pitch-black room (lit solely by Unami's visuals) and an overarching cumulative feeling in the listener. The too-perfect-to-be-scripted intro and outro frame a set that's almost not there, a radical recording even by ultra-minimal standards
September
This was the much anticipated final set of Keith Rowe's week in NYC, following five duo sets with various collaborators. It took place on the 10th anniversary of 9/11, and the Manhattan atmosphere was uniquely charged. As he almost always does, Rowe rose to the challenge of the occasion, creating a moving, dense, and virtuosic set in the lineage of his 2004 set with Burkhard Beins in Berlin (ErstLive 001) and his 2008 solo set in Tokyo (ErstLive 007). The recording quality is remarkable, b…