December 24, 2003

S'agita gifts for your holidays
Our good friends at S'agita Recordings have prepared a very big present for us all: six hours and 33 minutes of mp3s, featuring past, present and future S'agita artists, seven previously unavailable full lenght works and the re-release of a sold out item from the catalogue:

- the return of aal (matching the release on Afe of a double CD-R, recollecting his "Disc 1" and "Inherited and Partially Transmitted" early masterworks) either in solo form, with "Il mio disco quasi automatico", a dazzling collection of unedited field recordings, and together with Paolo Ippoliti and Laura Lovreglio, the two S'agita founders, in "A Lifetime in a Blink", a work previously released and subsequently sold-out on the S'agita sublabel A la verticale de l'étè;

- the public debut of Carlo Giordani, field recordist and digital mangler from the north of Italy, presenting a selection from the huge apparatus of his works;

- a charming and scary dj-set from Clarissa Jennés, one of the two girlz behind the recent Fainting and Hell-o! release on Ctrl+Alt+Canc, offering an oblique selections of surreal and droning tunes, recorded in jet-lag mode on a flying Boeing, aptly named "DJ Kicks 2003";

- the world premiere of mesmeric Scottish artist Daisy Saint, with his mysterious "If I Can Just Get Myself off the Ground" piece, hopefully beginning the disclosure of his work to the world;

- the fourth full lenght release of Fabio Selvafiorita, formerly a private edition now going public, titled "In Vitro". Fabio is a man who will surely amaze the world in years to come;

- a collection of live recordings from Luca Sigurtà, whose next studio work will be out very soon on Afe and S'agita alltogether;

- and last but not least, a full lenght live set from Never Known, also known as The Afeman himself.

So, what are you doing here still? Rush to the S'agita Recordings website and find your way to the new year special page!


December 22, 2003

Raffaele Serra "Le Spectre De La Rose" is out now
We're glad to annouce the latest CD-R album by our favourite resident musician: exactly one year after the release of the acclaimed "Europe Endless", Raffaele Serra returns on Afe with a new work partly inpired by Fleur Jaeggy's "I Beati Anni del Castigo / Sweet Days of Discipline": "Le Spectre De La Rose". Raffaele's usual references appear each now and then all over the disc: the santur on Fog and Dark Interlude, the Kraftwerk-inspired sequencer lines on She Who Laughs, the mantric melodies on Dreaming Escape and the long final Night Flight. Four tracks from the album are available for download, as usual, in the mp3 section of this site.

aal "Disc 1 + Inherited and Partially Transmitted" is out now
aal's double CD-R is out now... We can't think about a better way to celebrate Afe catalogue number 050. "Disc 1" and "Inherited and Partially Trasmitted" were recorded in 2001 and were both previously released in few copies as private editions by the artist himself. Both the album were remastered and given a new artwork on purpose of this re-release. Four long excerpts from these Deep Space / Inner Space Soundtracks are available for download in the mp3 section of this site. Have a listen, you won't regret.


December 15, 2003

Telepherique + Maurizio Bianchi "Zehn Tage (Touka)" is coming soon
A few months ago we announced a very special collaborative CD by two well-known and respected artists, so it's time to unveil the secret now: in early 2004 Afe will have the greatest pleasure to release "Zehn Tage (Touka)", a collaboration between Telepherique and Maurizio Bianchi. More information and mp3 previews from the album will be available very soon.


December 12, 2003

Fainting and Hell-o! "Two Girlz and Them Hitz" mp3 EP is out now on ctrl+alt+canc
It's that time of the year again: snow is falling down, cold winds engulf the streets; we all are going to have a little holiday soon, possibly some days off work... Well, our friends at Ctrl+Alt+Canc have been thinking about us a lot last weeks, and they packaged some huge and sweet present for your Christmas: three wonderful hours of music, freely available to download!

So, let me introduce you the wonderful debut EP by the all-girls brazilian duo Fainting and Hell-o!, the aptly titled "Two Girlz and Them Hitz": a powerbook running pro-tools and lloop! versus an old intel box running Dos trackers, a whole bucketfull of Top of the Pops hits, many obscure italian experimentalists tunes and some glitchy heavy metal for the sake of it to mangle and patch back!!

Our fave girls have teared to pieces original hits by famous artists like Pink Floyd, Michael Jackson, Santana, Radiohead, Isaac Hayes, Kraftwerk, Fatboy Slim, Dire Straits, Eminem, Belinda Carlisle, The Prodigy, etc. and mixed them with experimental tracks created by Logoplasm, Punck, Luca Sigurtà, Fhievel, aal, (etre), Fabio Selvafiorita, Hue and, of course, your favourite Afeman...

Due to its nature, this work will be on-line for a limited time, so hurry up or you'll miss one of the most amazing releases ever. You've been warned, this wouldn't be gentler than a tornado trashing your speakers: please get ready to run and follow the link to your christmas present!!!


November 10, 2003

The Afeman's blog
A new section appeared in the menu on your left: The Afeman's Blog. There's no apparent reason for its existence, nobody felt the need for it, but suddendly the blog started living a life of his own, reclaimed his rights and The Afeman was entrapped... No escape for him.
So, the blog is going to stay with us, probably for a long long time, meaning nothing except to itself, read by few and filled with its own nothingness most of the times. It's here and it's now, forever and ever: long live the blog!

The Day of the Drum Machines (Second Edition)
Do you remember The Day of the Drum Machines in last May? It's time for the second edition now! On November 15th in Montelupo, near Cattolica (RN), Italy, your favourite Afeman will join this Drum Machine Contest along with Bugo, WJmeatball, Vortex, Bruno Stronzo al Mais, Scherzo Telefonico alle 3 di Notte MC, Dama, Drim, Meticcio, Mirko Pratik, Sir Julian, Parassit and many, many more.For further information please have a look at the official site.


October 20, 2003

Gerstein "Here Comes Sickness" is out
As we're approaching Gerstein's 20th anniversary, please welcome "Here Comes Sickness", a collection of mostly unreleased and rare tracks. This is a very particular work, not only because it sums up many years of music, but also because it showcases most of the different music styles that Gerstein has been wandering through during his lifetime. Don't forget to check our mp3 page for the usual samples.

Mort Douce "From the Summer Sky" is out
Mort Douce's "From the Summer Sky" is also out now as a free downloadable mp3-album. The album is based on long drones and pleasantly reasonant textures, and it also includes contributes by Dronæment and Lloyd Barrett of Diaspora. Download the album here.

Frog Pocket is a star
Didn't we already tell you that Frog Pocket is a star? He had a 7" out on Mu-Ziq's Planet Mu a few months ago, and a 12"/CD EP is going to be released on Benbecula in a few weeks. Do you want more? OK: Frog Pocket will also appear on the 2xCD compilation "Children of Mu", out on Planet Mu in early 2004.


September 19, 2003

Different Sensations / Afe DJ set by The Afeman
Good news folks! The 15th edition of the Different Sensations festival will take place in Biella (I) at the ex-Lanificio Boglietti headquarters starting from 25th September 2003.
On October the 5th, during the closing night, Logoplasm, Fhievel and Luca Sigurtà will be on stage to perform live.
All concerts will be matched by videos created by Manuele Cecconello, Horiko and Mr. "YesIcanDoEverything" Luca Sigurtà. When concerts are over The Afeman himself will play a DJ set feeding the crowd with the best tunes taken from the most frantic Afe releases and more... Doors open at 9:00 pm, you shouldn't miss this!

Teddy Bear remix mania never ends... (2)
Will it EVER end? Three more gorgeous exclusive mp3 remixes by Florian Filsinger, BL4CKLITE and Last Secret of Nimh were created during Summer and now are available for your listening pleasure: please visit the Teddy Bear news page and download them now!

Le Spectre De La Rose
"Le Spectre de la Rose", the latest Raffaele Serra CD-R album is finished at last and ready for release... We're taking care about the graphics right now. Some mp3 previews from the album are already available for download in the mp3 section of this website.


September 05, 2003

Back in town
Well, Summer's almost gone, I had a great time and enjoyed my holidays a lot. Now I'm back in town and I'd like to thank and send my best wishes to all my friends and allies I met during my travels!

Forthcoming releases
As someone noticed, there were not so many Afe CD-Rs in the last months... Anyway, we're going to spread a lot of new releases in late September / early October. The first disc in the pipeline is Gerstein's "Here Comes Sickness". This is going to be out in a very few weeks.
We'll also have the chance to release a very special collaborative CD (...yes, CD!) created by two well-known estabilished artists who are active in the experimental scene since the late 70s/80s. This secret is going to be unveiled in the next months...
The Afeman rides again! (8-)


August 02, 2003

Happy Birthday Teddy Bear!
Last July 21st 2003 was our beloved Teddy Bear's first birthday! Believe it or not, it was also The Afeman's thirty-third birthday... What a coincidence, isn't it?!
To celebrate such pregnant events (...) the John Pelushi Bear Band has created a new oustanding, mostly acappella, exclusive remix which is now finally available for download.
Please have a look at the Teddy Bear Remix Project official page for more information and stuff. It's time for holidays now, see you in September!


July 06, 2003

The very first Afe CD
Yes, yes, yes... The very first Afe CD is out at last! True Colour Of Blood's "(Absence)" was released in early July with the unvaluable help and experience of Eibon Records.
About two years ago Afe already had the pleasure to release "The Significance Of Secrecy", True Colour Of Blood's debut CD-R album. We truly believe that Eric Kesner is one of the most talented guitarist around, and althought we are extremely fond of the CD-R media, we're happiest to present his music on an "official" format.
Thanks again to the beloved Eibon Records crew for making this possible. There are going to be more Afe / Eibon joint releases in the future, including an Amon double CD towards the end of the year, enjoy "(Absence)" in the meantime.

Teddy Bear remix mania never ends...
As we're approaching the first Teddy Bear Remix Project anniversary, three new exclusive mp3 remixes by Captain Stéphanie, Ian Breno and Kilroy are now available: please visit the Teddy Bear news page to download them.
All the older exclusive mp3 remixes are still available for download and more remixes by Norm and Luca Sigurtà are also coming soon... stay tuned!
Oh, and did you see the latest addictions to the Happy Bear People page?!?

June 13, 2003

iXem @ Superfici Sonore #3
The iXem collective will give life to the third edition of the Superfici Sonore festival which will happen in Florence from25th to 27th June 2003.
Many of the iXem members will play live and the concerts list will include performances by Luca Sigurtà (...one the most recent Afe signings...), Andrea Marutti (...better know as The Afeman himself...) and some of the best italian electronic musicians like Domenico Sciajno, Giuseppe Ielasi, Fhievel, Logoplasm, Punck and many many more.
For more information please have a look at the iXem web site.


June 06, 2003

"Nona" on Amplexus
Amon's "Nona" is finally available to the public and we're currently distributing copies through our mail order service. The Amon / Never Known web site will be updated soon with more notes about it. In the meantime here's an excerpt from the official press release:
<<The long time delayed new Amon work is here with us at last. After the release of "The Legacy" on Eibon and "Mer" on "Blade" in 1999-2000 there wasn't any significant output from this project except a few compilation tracks.
"Nona" takes inspiration from a case of xenoglossy (the ability to speak in an unlearned and unheard foreign language, often associated with past-life recall, states of trance or hypnosis and mediumship) discovered in Great Britain around the early Thirties when a woman in state of trance expressed herself in a language which was recognized as ancient egyptian. This voice from the past was called "Nona" or "The One Without a Name".
The music has obviously much in common with Amon's previous releases, but according to the need of a change expressed by the author, it introduces new elements and could be easily filed both under Dark Ambient and Avantgarde. The Amon sounds palette was never so rich in the past. Despite this fact the final result appears like it was stripped down to the essential
but surprisingly retains its thickness.
"Nona" is available in two different versions: a CD-EP and a 300 copies limited edition 10" vinyl. The CD-EP contains one 21 minutes long track while the 10" vinyl has about 14 minutes of music on each side. Both the formats include exclusive material and slighlty different versions of certain tracks.>>


May 31, 2003

Two new releases out now!
We were forced to slow down our activities recently... that's the reason why our late April releases are being distributed with such a big delay. Anyway, here they are:
Moan "Between / Associated" [afe044lcd]
Shöpfung "Röllend In Schumenden [éco002cd]
Next releases in the pipeline for mid/late June are Gerstein's "Here Comes Sickness" and True Colour Of Blood's "(Absence)". The latter will be our very first CD and will be released in collaboration with Eibon Records.

Le Spectre De La Rose
"Le Spectre de la Rose", the latest Raffaele Serra CD-R album is being mastered right now. This delicate and experimental album inspired by Fleur Jaeggy's "Sweet Days of Discipline" should be released by Afe sometimes in Summer, mp3 previews will be available very soon.

The Day of the Drum Machines
On May 25th your favourite Afeman had the chance to take part to the Drum Machine Contest organized by the Megaplomb fellows... Read the whole story and have a look at the pictures in the galleries section.I'll be coming back with more news soon.


April 30, 2003

The Afeman Interview
Slovakian webzine Audionet has published a long and detailed interview with your favourite label owner... If you're used to slovakian language here's the direct link to the interview, if you aren't here is the link to the original english version.

More from Agnostic...
One track taken from Agnostic's recently released Anti-War EP is going to be featured soon on a new CD-R compilation issued by Fiend Recordings. Have a look at their website for the latest news.


April 27, 2003

New Galleries
Many photographs and detailed notes about the "Spectrum Xperimental Night @ ElettroSound 2003" are now available in the galleries section. This included laptop sets by Luca Sigurtà, Fhievel and Punck and live sets by Purusha and Corckzal. Some pictures taken at the recent Krisma concert in Milan are also available. Go and see them now.


April 25, 2003

The Anti-War EP
We were recently approached by our good friend Agnostic who proposed us his Anti-War EP. We are glad to make it available as our first mp3-only release and we are also glad that he gave us the chance to make such a statement.
Agnostic "Anti-War EP" [afe053mp3]


April 10, 2003

Raffaele Serra / Blow Up
The April issue of Blow Up, the best selling italian alternative music magazine, features a nice article / interview about Raffaele Serra. It looks like our beloved electronic shaman is finally getting some recognition from the press. We truly hope this is just a new beginning for him...
At the moment Raffaele is still working on "Le Spectre de la Rose", his latest delicate and experimental album inspired by Fleur Jaeggy's "Sweet Days of Discipline". This new CD-R will be released by Afe sometimes in Summer, mp3 previews will be available as soon as possible.

New MP3s
More mp3 files from some of the forthcoming Afe releases are on-line now, please check the mp3 page and download, download, download...


April 01, 2003

Four new releases out now!
Ehi, this is no April's Fool, four new Afe releases are being distributed right now:
Mindmap "Plochy" [afe047lcd]
Spiral "Une Spiral de Violence [afe50009]
Rensek "Rensek EP" [afe50008]
Elephant Zyclus "Tripod" [afe027mcd]
Needless to say that there will be more very soon. The mp3 page is going to be massively updated with some previews from the forthcoming releases in a few days...

A new Amon CD / 10"
At last it looks like "Nona", the incredibly delayed new Amon CD / 10", will be out very soon on Amplexus... We won't bore you with the details about why it took so long, we would just like to announce that both the formats are being pressed right now and will be available in a few weeks. The CD contains one 21 minutes long track while the 10" vinyl has about 14 minutes of music on each side.
Both the formats include exclusive material and slighlty different versions of certain tracks. We are currently taking pre-orders for the 300 copies limited edition vinyl. If you want to reserve one, please drop us a line.


March 18, 2003

The new website credits
Well, well, well... Everybody seem to like the new website, needless to say that we are happiest about it. So, it's time for the credits now: the new layout / interface was designed by Hue who also recently impressed us with his Normality / Edge's "Inner Photographs" box-set... A man for all seasons, isn't he?

We are also very thankful to Miss Madoka Okada, her programming skills were relevant in the making of this site and we can't help to mention her kindness. "Who did all the hard work?" you dare to ask... C'mon, you know.

New and forthcoming releases
In the beginning of the new year we were so busy working on the new website that we had to keep most of our other activities in the background... Anyway, our very first 2003 release took shape in late February with Bestia Centauri's "The Antediluvian Earth", a dynamic and disorienting avantgarde / experimental work inspired by Lovecraftian literature. Please visit our mp3 page and discover what it is all about.

The pipeline is still crowded with many releases... In a few weeks we'll bring to your attention the "Rensek EP" 3" MiniCD-R created by True Colour Of Blood's side project Rensek with its minimal explorations and "Plochy", the first official studio album of Mindmap from Slovakia, an intriguing Ambient-Electronica / Downtempo mixture. We're pleased to announce that this is our favourite Afe release ever: day after day it's spinning in repeat mode for hours in our player and still we can't get enough of it...

"Tripod", another very special 3" MiniCD-R single by Elephant Zyclus, will also be released. It will include remixes by DJ Lips, a034 and Spiral. Last but not least Spiral will also return with a new work entitled "Une Spiral De Violence" created using only sounds taken from some of the TV broadcasts recorded during the infamous days of the G8 meeting held in Genova, Italy, in July 2001.

And then...
In April / May we'll focus on another four releases lot: the incredibly delayed "No Abiding Places" Dark-Ambient compilation (...with tracks by Amon, Bad Sector, Bestia Centauri, Canaan, Drift, Etere-o, Moan, Never Known, Non Ethos, Ornament, Subterranean Source and True Colour Of Blood...) will be out along with "Between / Associated", an intense Moan performance recorded in 2002 during the opening of Magdalena Sikora's paintings exhibition in Poland.
Then we'll welcome the return of Gerstein with "Here Comes Sickness", a collection of mostly unreleased tracks taken from his 1990-2001 archives and other rare tracks released on some obscure compilations during the early '90s.
We'll celebrate the 50th number in our main catalogue with a double disc re-issue of aal's "Disc 1" + "Inherited and Partially Transmitted". Both albums were already published as private releases by the author and were recently remastered on purpose of this new edition on Afe. This is Space / Dark Ambient music at its best, you're warned...

Later on... (and we mean LATER ON...)
We confirm that the very first Afe regular CD will be released in collaboration with Eibon Records in June. It will be the third full-lenght amazing Dark Ambient album of Eric Kesner's guitar-based project True Colour Of Blood entitled "(Absence)".

More and more releases are planned for 2003 including new CD-R albums by Raffaele Serra, Dronæment, Ovum (to be co-released with Blade Records), De Fabriek, Sparkle In Grey, Amon (double regular CD to be released in collaboration with Eibon Records), Gerstein / Kluster Cold (split release), Never Known, Shöpfung, Sam & Valley... OK, let's stop here.

More news from the Afe Planet
Didn't we tell you that Frog Pocket is a star? It looks like he's going to shine more and more in 2003: a Frog Pocket 7" is scheduled for release on May the 5th on Mu-Ziq's Planet Mu and there are also rumours about a forthcoming EP on Benbecula which may include a few tracks taken from "Caric Kils".

Our electronic hero Kabal is one of the proud winners of the contest held by the We Are The Music Makers web site: 255 tracks were submitted by 107 artists from almost every country across the globe and 17 of them, including Kabal's "Freebong [Cyhexatin Mix]", were voted and selected for a CD release. Point your browser here to learn more about this topic and pre-order your copy.

Amon's "Nona" is finally scheduled for release on Amplexus sometime in April. It will be available in two different versions: a 21 minutes long standard CD-EP and a 300 individually numbered copies limited edition 10" vinyl that will have about 14 minutes of music on each side. Both the formats will come in a big 25x25 cm cover, they will include exclusive material and slighlty different versions of certain tracks.

A very interesting Moan mp3-only release entitled "Works 1999-2002" is downloadable from the Enough Records website, we strongly encourage you to let Rafal's music fill your hard-disk.

We didn't hear from The Impossible Flower for a long time now... We loved his "Digital Butter" demo and were supposed to listen more of his music... Andy, where are you?!?


March 08, 2003

New website
The new Afe website is here at last!
More news about the latest and forthcoming releases will be posted very soon...


February 01, 2003

New mp3s available
A new exclusive "mp3-only" remix of "Teddy Bear" by Sparkle In A Voice is now available for download in the mp3 section of this web site along with four tracks from the forthcoming debut CD-R album of Mindmap that will be out in a few weeks. Their beautiful Ambient-Electronica / Downtempo mixture will amaze you.

Work in progress
Raffaele Serra is currently working on his latest CD-R album that will be released by Afe around Springtime. The theme of his new compositions is the innermost thought, hopes and fears of 12 y.o. girl. We had the chance to listen to some of the unfinished tracks and that is enough to make us say that this is going to be one of Raffaele's most delicate and best works.


January 07, 2003

New Year's news
All December releases are being distributed now... After all the strenght we put into the glorious "Teddy Bear Remix Project", another limited edition box set was born on Christmas day in the ever-growing Afe family. Normality / Edge's "Inner Photographs" box-set consists of five discs and collects all the tracks produced by this project during its existence between 1996-1999. The 6th disc to complete the "Inner Photographs" box-set will also be available "on demand" from late January 2003 to all those who will send back the replying coupon included in the box. Please have a look here for more details.

Telepherique's "Hörspiele" and Raffaele Serra's new album entitled "Europe Endless"are ready too and pretty good. Don't forget to check our mp3 page for the usual samples. We are currently showcasing "Europe Endless"with five downloadable tracks for your listening pleasure!

Wolkspurz & Ramirez's "Teddy Bear Remix Project" is still getting enthusiast feedback all over the solar system, more and more people are being captured in teddy-bear-style by the camera, go and see them now... Exclusive mp3-only remixes by Norm, Sparkle In A Voice and Captain Stéphanie (...of Autistre and Peter Percept fame...) will be available soon. Hurry up and check the mail order page if you don't want to miss the very last copies of the magic box!

Frog Pocket's "Caric Kils" is included in the current chart section of the Planet Mu web site, yup! John, you are a star!!! Mouthmoth has just released the new Frog Pocket CD-R album entitled "Baral Orgen": a wealth of magical splatterbeat folk electronica. Great stuff ! Mouthmoth has also recently released Captain Stéphanie debut album...

We are currently working on our late January releases... we'll soon bring to your attention the debut 3" EP of True Colour Of Blood's side project Rensek with its minimal explorations and the first official studio album of Mindmap from Slovakia with their intriguing Ambient-Electronica / Downtempo mixture. A special 3" Elephant Zyclus single will also be released, this will include remixes by DJ Lips and a034. Last but not least we'll welcome the return of Spiral with a new work entitled "Une Spiral De Violence" inspired by the infamous days of the G8 meeting held in Genova, Italy, in July 2001.

At least we have received all the contributes for the "No Abiding Places" Dark-Ambient compilation. We are still working on the master and the disc should hopefully be released in February / March 2003. Artist included will be Amon, Bad Sector, Bestia Centauri, Canaan, Drift, Etere-o, Moan, Never Known, Non Ethos, Ornament, Subterranean Source and True Colour Of Blood

We finally got in touch again with Moan: his "Between / Associated" new CD-R album will be released in February / March along with other nice works by Bestia Centauri and Gerstein. More on this matter soon...

In a few months we'll also have the pleasure to release music by Dronæment, De Fabriek, Ornament, aal and many more... Stay tuned for more news.

True Colour Of Blood has finished working on his new album. The disc is still untitled at the moment and there is a strong chance that it will be released as our very first CD in collaboration with Eibon Records sometimes in 2003.

In late 2003 the Eibon Records / Afe Records joint venture will also bring to light (...) a double-CD set containing Amon's first untitled album (originally published by Murder Release back in 1996) + a repressing of the "Mer" CD-R released in 2000 by Blade Records. The discs will contain bonus tracks, new graphics and package.

Probably due to the small feature about Afe that appeared on the December issue of Blow Up Magazine our mailbox was filled with an incredible quantity of demos... If we were to release all the stuff we enjoyed I guess we wouldn't have some kind of a private life anymore... Sorry guys if we're delaying our replies... Anyway, on the demos side we're still impressed by "Digital Butter" by The Impossible Flower, we hope to listen more from him soon. We've been recently approached by the mysterious Bubar the Cook who recently collaborated on Peter Percept's "Pilgrimini", don't forget to visit Bubar's web site and download some of his music: it's pretty cool. Nicola Ratti, member of the jazzcore trio Pin Pin Sugar has also given us a taste of his beautiful and delicate acoustic guitar experiments: is he going to be our Vincent Gallo?

As usual we are a bit late with the launch of the new Afe web site. Hue and I are working hard on it... it will be launched very soon and, as promised, you'll be amazed... Oh, Hue is also working on his latest Sparkle In Grey tracks, we can't wait to listen to them!