Out now:

Sparkle in Grey
Leeza "Somewhere Out There"
Leeza "Ermos EP"
Andrea Marutti & Fausto Balbo
A.A.V.V. - Total Blackout
Pietro Riparbelli - K11
Mathieu Ruhlmann
    

Coming soon:

Andrea Marutti
Bad Sector
Fausto Balbo
Sil Muir
    

[Out Now]

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AFE124CD

Artist: Sparkle in Grey
Title: Mexico
Format: CD in three-panel digisleeve
Tracks: 7
Playing time: 47:21
Release date: November 2011
File under: Post-Rock / Electronic / Experimental
Description: "Now we need to record the bagpipe tracks". These words were pronounced by Sparkle in Grey while recording their album "Mexico", on the second day of a week-end session with Cristiano Santini, leaving him flabbergasted. lt was April 2008, quite a while back; in that same year their previous record, "A Quiet Place", had been released with Disasters By Choice. The latter, critically acclaimed, has been compared to the work of the most disparate artists: Labradford, King Crimson, Massive Attack, Sol lnvictus, Piano Magic and Tuxedomoon were frequent references. lt's hard to say whether those who have listened to that record have actually grasped what really influenced the band members during the making of that record, but things have got even more weird with "Mexico", where a greater number of instruments stratify... It is, therefore, hard to define the true nature of "Mexico", with its dark hues, but possibly not as melancholy as the previous works. The title speaks of escape, of shelter, a place anything but quiet, a land of contrast where desperate violence is generated by the economic gap. The multi-coloured graphics and naif artwork of the band suggest a glimmer of hope, possibly as a means to deceive the audience... [more]
Mp3: Boys Vomit / From the Air / Dimissioni

AFE128CD

Artist: Leeza
Title: Somewhere Out There
Format: CD in standard jewel box with transparent tray
Tracks: 11
Playing time: 46:54
Release date: April 2011
File under: Electronica / IDM
Note: First 100 copies also contain afe129mcd
Description: Luca Di Mattei is one of the Afe resident artists since the early days of the label. During the years he had several releases under four different aliases: Leeza, Hendy Van Morris, Jabba and Bill Catez. Leeza is his most well-known and prolific incarnation. Generated using laptop computer technology, Leeza's music has its main roots in what was once called Intelligent Techno, and is clearly inspired by the great records published during the '90s by labels such as Warp, Rephlex, Skam, etc. After the successful "Living In a Pixel", Afe and Moonfear are proud to present Leeza's latest CD release entitled "Somewhere Out There". The album starts with the aptly entitled "Rejoice", a composition that showcases one of Leeza's trademark melodies laid upon tinkles and percussive effects. The atmosphere changes with "Legox" a darker number built on distorted and slightly drilled drums covered with sad pads. The shorter "Soa" brings visions of a distant planet inhabited by robot-builders combing a desert wasteland, a truly miniature sci-fi soundtrack! We're back to Earth with "Eupepsik", a faster acid episode helped by drum'n'bass ghosts and bubbling sequences. Placed as track five, "Mip_hurta" can be considered the fulcrum of the album: a warm and fascinating melody that could last forever, backed by frantic drums and quiet pads. One of our favourite Leeza tracks ever! [more]
Mp3: Soa / Mip_hurta / Ghost (Zero/Otto) / Somewhere Out There

AFE129MCD

Artist: Leeza
Title: Ermos EP
Format: Pro-duplicated coloured MiniCD-R 3" ltd. to 100 copies (50 blue / 50 orange)
Tracks: 5
Playing time: 21:36
Release date: April 2011
File under: Electronica / IDM
Description: Included in the first 100 copies of Leeza's "Somewhere Out There" purchased from the Afe mail order - or directly from the artist - the "Ermos EP" comes as a pro-duplicated coloured MiniCD-R 3", orange or blue at your own choice while stocks last... [more]
Mp3: Startup / Ermos

AFE127CD

Artist: Andrea Marutti & Fausto Balbo
Title: Detrimental Dialogue
Format: CD in gatefold cardboard sleeve with poster
Tracks: 4
Playing time: 48:16
Release date: October 2010
File under: Experimental / Avantgarde
Description: Andrea Marutti and Fausto Balbo have met in 2005 at Lab12 in Vigevano; both active in music making since more than fifteen years, their friendship has grown over the years on the fertile ground of the interest that they share about electronic experimentation and their wide and open-minded listening habits. "Detrimental Dialogue", their very first collaboration, deeply explores various types of analogue and digital synthesis (additive, subtractive, Physical Modeling, FM, Phase Distortion, Granular, etc.) and live electronics elements. Recorded together in the authors' studios and then worked out in seclusion between 2007 and 2009, the tracks on "Detrimental Dialogue" were subsequently redefined during a one-week long collective mixing session rigorously made with analogue equipment and precious outboard effects at Fausto Balbo's studio. The album presents four experimental electronic pieces whose exact classification eludes us since their musical contents are rich of the most disparate suggestions. In a formula full of its own natural-born personality, we find elements that recall prominent experimental forms - sometimes pseudo-abstract - rich of fragments, loops and "clusters" of sounds that bear a pronounced and exhibited synthetic matrix. "Atmospheric", dilated and generally quiet sequences are alternated with more structured, dramatic and progressive moments that shake the listeners and emotionally involve them with a more orthodox path, without giving way to conventional or stereotyped solutions... [more]
Mp3: Indulge Me / Troubled Elephant

AFE072

Artist: A.A.V.V.
Title: Total Blackout
Format: Tape ltd. to 47 numbered copies in pro-printed cardboard box
Tracks: 17
Playing time: 61:56
Release date: October 2010
File under: Experimental / Field-Recordings / Musique concrète
Description: Born from an original concept by Paolo Ippoliti of Logoplasm, this compilation is a collection of seventeen randomized and "unplugged" tracks by aal, Andrea Marutti, Carlo Giordani, Crashcars For The Ravers, Fhievel & Luca Sigurtà, Madame P, Rinus Van Alebeek and Vale. All the artists were asked to create their contributes without using any electrically-powered source/instrument, just like they were experiencing a real blackout situation. Only battery-operated small devices (walkmans, minidisc recorders, etc.) were allowed in the process. All the individually numbered tapes in this small edition were recorded one by one in random/shuffle mode; each tape has a different running order, therefore no tracklist is available... [more]
Mp3: Total Blackout 1 / Total Blackout 2

AFE126LCD

Artist: Pietro Riparbelli - K11
Title: Waiting For the Darkness
Format: Pro-duplicated CD-R ltd. to 100 copies in pro-printed cardboard sleeve
Tracks: 5 + 1
Playing time: 48:50 + 13:42
Release date: May 2010
File under: Experimental / Industrial / Noise
Description: "K11 is a project that deals with the world of radio signals, the trans-communication and other invisible phenomena, to create a dimension where the only sound sources are signals from shortwave radio receivers. In this project I use only sounds coming from the atmosphere and from invisible places." Many music works created by Pietro Riparbelli were released by Radical Matters in Italy during the recent years. His "Voices From Thelema" was published by Aurora Borealis in the United Kingdom during early 2009. "Waiting For the Darkness" is K11's first release on Afe, here's a short introduction to the album written by the author: "Waiting For the Darkness" is the documentation of an action of instrumental transcommunication performed in a forest in 2007. It consists of a video, recorded during the last hours of the day and of five audio tracks composed with short wave radio signals recorded during the action itself. This work wishes to investigate the dimension of fear and continues the research of Pietro Riparbelli about Instrumental Transcommunication started off with the first action performed within the Abbey of Thelema and documented on the "Voices From Thelema" CD. "Waiting For the Darkness" was born as an audio-video installation which has been hosted by "PX Piombino Experimenta 04" international sound art festival in collaboration with Influx..." [more]
Mp3: 30 KHz - 9.00 p.m. [excerpt] / 29 MHz - 01.00 a.m.

AFE123LCD

Artist: Mathieu Ruhlmann
Title: As a Leaf or a Stone
Format: Pro-duplicated CD-R ltd. to 100 copies in pro-printed cardboard sleeve
Tracks: 6
Playing time: 34:41
Release date: May 2010
File under: Electroacoustic / Experimental / Musique concrète
Description: Mathieu Ruhlmann is a visual and sound artist. He first began composing soundworks to accompany his visual art based on found material. He has created works for various labels worldwide - including S'agita Recordings, Mystery Sea, Spekk, Unfathomless, Taâlem and Gears of Sand - as well as contributed to several compilations. He has also produced sound installations and held performances throughout North America. He currently resides in Vancouver, British Columbia. Here's a description of "As a Leaf or a Stone" written by Will Long of Celer: "With every beginning, raw objects come into place, and within these objects are found the essence of meaning, and inspiration. "As a Leaf or a Stone", the new album by Mathieu Ruhlmann on Afe Records, is a thriving example of the individuality of natural materials, and the sculpture of character. Using an assemblage of instruments and raw objects, such as a coffee grinder, e-bow, denture cleaner, egg beater, ukelin, turkey baster, frying pan, shruti box (and many more), "As a Leaf or a Stone" stands as a work of creative ingenuity, finding beauty in the combination of raw materials that are characteristically regarded as mundane or lacking in spirit, and transforming them into a work that is both visually conjuring, and comfortingly familiar..." [more]
Mp3: Aanden / The Intoxication of a Ball of Opera

[Coming Soon]

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AFE099LCD

Artist: Andrea Marutti
Title: Rest Your Eyes On Verdant Soil
Format: CD-R
Tracks: 4
Playing time: --:--
Release date: t.b.a.
File under: Ambient / Drone Music
Description: Details coming soon. [more]
Mp3: -

AFE125CD

Artist: Bad Sector
Title: Retrovirus
Format: CD
Tracks: -
Playing time: --:--
Release date: t.b.a.
File under: Infected Ambient / Experimental
Description: Details coming soon. [more]
Mp3: -

AFE130CD

Artist: Fausto Balbo
Title: Login
Format: CD in standard jewel box with transparent tray
Tracks: 9
Playing time: 54:20
Release date: t.b.a.
File under: Experimental / Avantgarde
Description: Details coming soon. [more]
Mp3: Login / Hardmysticmeeting / Walkin' With Klaus

AFE131CD

Artist: Sil Muir
Title: In the Depths of Winter I Finally Learned There Was In Me an Invincible Summer
Format: CD
Tracks: 3
Playing time: --:--
Release date: t.b.a.
File under: Drone / Ambient / Experimental
Description: Details coming soon. [more]
Mp3: -