"Stupid Love or Smart Laugh"
Unsuitable Rock / Electro-Pop. Well, we guess that "Stupid Love or Smart Laugh" is one of those releases that will quite surprise our Afecionados who only know us for our most extreme and experimental output. Believe it or not, we have been enthusiast about Sam & Valley since their early days and we already had the great pleasure to collaborate with them at the time of the glorious "Teddy Bear Remix Project" back in 2002, when they provided two of the best remixes of the original Wolkspurz & Ramirez title track (...and Sam also made a lovely drawing for the TBRP box!). Sam & Valley were born in 1995 when Alex de K, who was active in The Kazuyuchy, a japanese punk band, met Special and Max in Tokyo. They recorded many songs mixing their own extremely different tastes, defined their style as Unsuitable Rock and choose the Sam & Valley moniker to present their work to the world. Four Sam & Valley albums were published between 1997 and 2000: "My Favorite Clinic", their debut, was notably released on Aphex Twin's Rephlex label, "Unsuitable Japanese" and "A Miracle Is Simple" were released on Angelika Koehlermann in Europe, while "Torso" was published by the canadian label Awhisp. The project quit in 2003 leaving a lot of unreleased tracks behind them... Luckily The Afeman was granted access to part of their archive, so he picked up some favourites and compiled "Stupid Love or Smart Laugh" with them, hopefully bringing their music to the attention of old and new fans... [more]
200 copies
April 2007
"Plochy Remixed"
Ambient-Electronica / IDM / Downtempo. Purveyors of delightful Ambient-Electronica / Downtempo, Emil Mat'ko and Igor Iliaš both originate from Banska Bystrica, Slovakia. As a common ambition of two young people involved in alternative music, one as a fan of Dark Ambient / Noise and former guitar player in a Rock band, the other interested in listening and programming a wide range of Electronica, in year 2000 they decided to get together and produce Ambient tracks with the mindMap project. After a few meetings they started working on "Faces", their first demo, with the unvaluable support of Peter G. Hawkens. Due to the positive reactions that "Faces" received in the Slovak and Czech electronic scene they had the chance to present their music in a live situation. One of their first gigs was recorded and later released as a second demo entitled "Live:Subterra" on Emil's own label, Black Orchid. This release showcased in full their approach to the electronic sound and the shape of things to come. Searching for a way to enrich their live-act, mindMap found precious collaboration in vocalist Dana Mazalová, formerly a folk singer. Her arrival was very important in the economy of mindMap's music, and as the band was getting more and more experienced with new music software and hardware, new stunning tracks were recorded. Here at Afe we got incredibly impressed by their music and decided to release their first official CD-R album, in March 2003. "Plochy" was one of our favorite releases ever and we thought it deserved a remix treament. Six years later "Plochy Remixed" is now available as a free mp3 album, it includes remixes by a034, Abuse, Eau de Toilette, Florian Filsinger, Leeza, ReturnSixteen, Skycode 11 and Riga. [download]
April 2009
"Different Trouble Experiences of Twilight"
Ambient / Dark Ambient. Ninth Desert is the latest solo project of Cyril Herry from France, also known before as Ashes To Ashes, Sechres Mound (a duo in collaboration with Toy Bizarre), Lecanora and Exotoendo. During the years his music has been released by many international labels including Athanor, Old Europa Cafe, Harmonie, Verato Project, Taâlem / Kokeshidisk and Mystery Sea. After taking part to our 10th year celebrative on-line compilation in late 2005, Cyril proposed us a full-lenght release. We're therefore happiest to bring "Different Trouble Experiences of Twilight" to your attention. As the title aptly suggests, the album was recorded using many different kinds of manipulated, stretched, treated and stripped down sound sources. All the tracks on "Different Trouble Experiences of Twilight" were created mostly at night during Summer 2005 and Summer 2006; they represent different mentalscapes where all elements are forced to coexist in the same time and space by a complex internal memory system... [more]
100 copies
April 2007
Combinations From a Persistent Night
"Total Blackout"
Experimental / Field-Recordings / Musique concrète. 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]
47 copies
October 2010
"Gravescapes"
Experimental. We are happiest to bring you this collaboration between Anofele (Adriano Scerna, better known as one half of the italian experimental duo Kar) and Logoplasm (Paolo Ippoliti and Laura Lovreglio from Ariccia, Rome). "Gravescapes" is a very particular release whose origins starts back in 2003 during a week-end in springtime, when Adriano, Paolo and Laura got almost lost in the woods of Central Italy, after a visit to a local theravada buddist monastery. As they were walking around the monastery, at some point the trees disclosed the ruins of what instantly appeared like an abandoned graveyard bearing the signs of an awful lot of time and almost completely overgrown with weeds. Underneath the graveyard they soon discovered a short subterranean tunnel. The tunnel was slightly illuminated by the piercing sunlight and their curiosity won over unrational fears, so they decided to explore it... [more]
April 2006
"Foundation"
Experimental. "Foundation" is an Eibon Records / Afe co-production that features most of the tracks originally contained on the first untitled Amon album which was out on Murder Release in 1996, the whole "Mer" limited edition CD-R released by Blade Records in 2000, and a few unreleased/rare bonus tracks. Popular demand for a "Mer" second edition has always been high, and five years later from its original release it's time to make it available to the public again along with an improved version of the untitled Amon debut CD... [more]
April 2005
"Live @ Diuna Club 16.02.2005"
Experimental. Mort Douce is the project of a young polish student known as Stalker Sascha inspired by ex-USSR sci-fi movies and stories, Coil's music, time machines, ambient sounds, industrial environments, etc. His first official release entitled "From the Summer Sky” was made available by Afe in October 2003 as a free downloadable mp3 album. This new mp3 release, dedicated to Jhonn Balance, was recorded during a live performance at Diuna Club, Warszawa, Poland... [download]
March 2005
"The Chrysalis Secret"
Dark Ambient. "The Chrysalis Secret" is Andrea Freschi's fourth work and comes after the self-released "Outfall" and "Insomnie" (both recently re-issued as a full-lenght disc by Silentes), and "Obstacles", which was released in Japan by Deserted Factory. The album clearly showcases Subinterior's skills at creating good dark atmospheres and it's another step forward in his music career. It's impressive that, as usual, almost no synthesizers and samples were used during the creative process: the equipment used to create "The Chrysalis Secret" simply consists of a mini-disc recorder that was mainly used to capture sounds and noises created by millers, lapping wheel, lathes, industrial refrigeration plants, safety doors and other unusual "instruments". These recordings were massively processed and assembled using computer technology and softwares, and turned into the finished work... [more]
100 copies
April 2006
[sold-out]
"Surface Studies #1-#2"
Acousmatic / Avantgarde. "Surface Studies" are a series of works focused on the study of surfaces. In "Sand" rich textures are extracted from sea sounds recorded on a small island located in the Grado lagoon. In "Streams" sounds of water and pebbles, recorded beneath the river Torre, are tranformed, distorted and mixed in real time with the sounds of the river Torre which are decomposed and pitch shifted using a sort of granular treatment. The sound objects thus generated are used to fill a sort of sound canvas so that the inner architecture of sounds, with its intimate time structures, becomes the controlling metaphor of the works... [more]
100 copies
April 2005
[sold out]
Surface Study #1 - Sand [excerpt]
Surface Study #2 - Stream [excerpt]
"Unicorn Lullaby"
Industrial Ambient. "Unicorn Lullaby" showcases the author's visionary attitude. This is probably Ornament's best attempt at Dark Ambient music contaminated with Industrial elements. Some kind of reference to other Afe releases may be found in Never Known's "Dawn of an Era", but the album has of course a personality of his own. According to his author, "Unicorn Lullaby" is an oniric / visionary concept in sounds, a travel to and back from an imaginary collapsing world. The distinctive overall sound of the album is subtly achieved with a rich shady substratum of distant sounds that are intentionally and elegantly kept in the background and are fully appreciable at a mid volume level... [more]
100 copies
April 2005
"All Done By John"
IDM / Weird Electronica. More than five years passed since we had the chance to release Happy Sad, Snotra's debut EP and after all this time we're now happiest to bring you "All Done By John", his latest work at the time of writing. "All Done By John" was already released in Japan some time ago as number four in the "Electric Avenue" MiniCD-R 3" series by Tokyo based label Duotone Records, and we're glad to made it available again in a fully remastered version. There are very significative differences between the old tracks contained on "Happy Sad" and the relatively new ones of "All Done By John". Althought being of the same weird and unsettling nature, they showcase a much more mature approach to music. Or better, that would be the case if "mature" was a word that can be easily applied to Snotra, uhm... [more]
100 copies
April 2006
"Anthophobia"
IDM / Drill'n'Bass. "Anthophobia" was supposed to be released one year earlier along with "Roots and Fruits" to showcase the other side of The Impossible Flower. Unfortunately we had to pospone this release until... now! In the meantime, The Impossible Flower has gained more and more a cult status due to a collection of previously self-released material that was compiled and published by Benbecula Records in their monthly Mineral Series. Just like "Roots & Fruits", all the tracks that appear on "Anthophobia" were recorded some time ago, when The Impossible Flower was still a solo project by Andrew David Daly. Clocking in at about 50 minutes, "Anthophobia" (...an abnormal and persistent fear or flowers...) consists of nine great carefully produced IDM tracks that compete with themselves to conquer the listeners' favour. A very difficult match since all of them stand out one way or the other... "Anthophobia" comes with a beautiful artwork designed by our friend Jing Zhang and is one of the most anticipated - and delayed - Afe releases. After listening to it, you won't help but agree with us that it was really worth the wait... [more]
100 copies
April 2007
Electro Mummykins
Flip Flop
Girl on Mount Florida
"Roots and Fruits"
Post-Everything. Simplicity is probably the key to Andrew David Daly's longly prepared and awaited debut on Afe. Basically recorded a few years ago, when The Impossible Flower was still a solo project (Gareth Dickson have joined forces with him in the meantime, to maximise the potential of their organically based sound), "Roots and Fruits" is simply brilliant. Consisting of seven tracks clocking in at about forty minutes, created mostly using guitar, piano, sampler and electronics, the album opens with the lovely bowed strings of "Bees and Honey". The track proceeds introducing reversed guitar lines, sampled finger exercises, arpeggios and chords that perfectly summarize The Impossible Flower approach to electronically influenced guitar music... [more]
100 copies
April 2006
Bees and Honey
If We Sing (.....then Let's Sing Together)
The Jig [excerpt]
"Nowhere Campfire Tapes"
Avantgarde. "Nowhere Campfire Tapes" is Punck's full-lenght debut CD and is released as a Ctrl+Alt+Canc / Afe joint venture. "Almost Anything" is pervaded with disturbing frequencies, distant metal noises and ticking rain. "Adriatico Lisergico" starts with the treated recording of sea waves breaking against the shore, while abstract electronic soundscapes and cutted-up voices appear along the way. "Tsunami Notes" features the reciting voice of Paolo Ippoliti from Logoplasm along with sub-bass drones and high-pitched sounds. "Almost Nothing" closes the album merging most of the elements found in the previous tracks in a perfect fusion of found-sounds, field-recordings, drones and digital/electronic frequencies... [more]
April 2005
"Peak Experience"
Experimental. Maeror Tri are widely known as real masters of guitar-based droning soundscapes. "Peak Experience" is the re-release of one of their earliest tapes. All material was originally recorded in 1988/1989. Tracks 1 to 5 (the "A" side of the original cassette) showcase the harsher and raw industrial roots of the band, while tracks 6 to 11 (the "B" side of the original cassette) point towards more dark ambient areas. The track "Boundary to Insanity" was a live improvised harsh noise opera that existed in different versions. This re-release of "Peak Experience" contains the relatively short fifth version and is another Blade Records / Afe Records co-production... [more]
150 copies
April 2005
[sold out]
"The Echoes of Thiiings / Fadiiing Echoes"
Ambient-Electronica / Experimental. Following his works created using the Normality / Edge moniker, whose opera omnia was released on Afe as a 5+1 discs box-set in 2002, "The Echoes of Thiiings" was recorded by Hue in 2001. Compared to the harsh and obsessive noise-driven compositions of Normality Edge, "The Echoes of Thiiings" sounds like a gentle spring breeze coming through your window. "Fadiiing Echoes" is "The Echoes of Thiiings" twin disc, it contains the same tracks, in the same running order, remixed by aal, Hubert Mensh, Talk Show Host, Pierpaolo Leo, Ether, Luca Sigurtà and Marco Aureggi, Nicola Ratti, The Impossible Flower, Telepherique, S.Talker Inc, Norm, Never Known and Meta:Led, and a special extra track created by Crashcars For The Ravers... [more]
100 copies
April 2005
There Was a Party [The Morning After by TALK SHOW HOST]
When I'll Be Child [Ether Child Mix]
Undepressed [Self-Love Reconstruction by NEVER KNOWN]
TELEPHERIQUE + MAURIZIO BIANCHI
"Zehn Tage (Touka)"
Experimental. "Zehn Tage (Touka)" is a very special work born from the great friendship of two well-known estabilshed artists. The album concept is focused on the uselessness of time calculation compared to the precision of time itself. The disc title ("Ten Days", in english) refers and is dedicated to those forgotten days of History that were arbitrariously severed off in October 1582 during the Pope Gregorius XIII's Western Calendar Reformation. "Zehn Tage (Touka)" could be described best as a good mixture of Ambient and Concrete music: as in the best Afe record's tradition, it's not afraid of breaking down those genre boundaries, sliding further into psychedelic-tinged rhytmical territories. This is the very first collaboration in Maurizio Bianchi's rather long musical career and also the first Afe CD release... [more]
June 2004
Donnerstag 10 Oktober 5607 A.M.
"Quatro-Erogenic-Occupy Theme's Part II" [jewel case edition]
Alien Therapy Music. The core members of De Fabriek created the main tracks for this album and provided tons of samples to Hue (...of Sparkle In Grey and Normality / Edge fame...) who integrated them with the music, created a few new tracks, reworked the lot adding more and more layers of his own sounds and did a magnificent mix which was later finalised for production by The Afeman himself. The main theme and inspiration for "Quatro-Erogenic-Occupy Theme's Part II" comes from close encounters, otherworldy lifeforms, contactism and the whole space/alien cover-up, myth or truth in general. The whole disc has obviously a space taste and showcases beautiful Kraut-Rock oriented ballads, weird voices and vocal oddities, mantrically mysterious acoustic instruments and percussions, space-guitars, old fashioned synthesizers and electronics... [more]
103 copies
January 2006
"Quatro-Erogenic-Occupy Theme's Part II"
Alien Therapy Music. The core members of De Fabriek created the main tracks for this album and provided tons of samples to Hue (...of Sparkle In Grey and Normality / Edge fame...) who integrated them with the music, created a few new tracks, reworked the lot adding more and more layers of his own sounds and did a magnificent mix which was later finalised for production by The Afeman himself. The main theme and inspiration for "Quatro-Erogenic-Occupy Theme's Part II" comes from close encounters, otherworldy lifeforms, contactism and the whole space/alien cover-up, myth or truth in general. The whole disc has obviously a space taste and showcases beautiful Kraut-Rock oriented ballads, weird voices and vocal oddities, mantrically mysterious acoustic instruments and percussions, space-guitars, old fashioned synthesizers and electronics... [more]
144 copies
June 2004
[deleted, 247 copies were planned but 103 of them were accidentally destroyed]
"From the Summer Sky"
Ambient / Dark Ambient. "From the Summer Sky" is the debut mp3-album of Mort Douce, a new experimental project created by young polish student Stalker Sascha. Most of the tracks are based on long drones and pleasantly reasonant textures. "Summer Storm" also features beautiful field recordings and additional sounds provided by Marcus Obst / Dronæment, "Warm Rays of the Sun" features additional microsounds by Lloyd Barrett of Diaspora... [download]
October 2003
"La Vera Macchina D'Argento"
Avantgarde. "La Vera Macchina D'Argento" was composed and recorded in 2003 using many different sources/instruments such as broken/faulty discs, environmental/field-recordings, guitars, percussions, various objects and self-built devices. To enhance the intimate feeling of the music, according to the author's fascination with low volume levels, and the nature of the recordings themselves, the disc was mastered at -3dB and is better experienced when listened in relax mode with or without headphones at a low volume. The disc is co-released as a friendly joint-venture between Afe Records and S'agita Recordings... [more]
150 copies
June 2004
La Vera Macchina D'Argento [excerpt]
"Eld"
Dark Ambient / Experimental. Ovum is the main project of Karl Midholm from Sweden, his style may be best described as a mixture of Industrial-Ambient and Drone Music. "Eld" was created in 1999 using recordings of fire as the only sound source. Such recordings were subsequently run through filter banks and effect units, resulting in one fifty minutes long track of evolving beautiful drones. The album was originally intended as part of a various artists set dealing with the four elements that unfortunately was never released. After five years from its creation, it finally see the light of day as another Blade Records / Afe Records co-production... [more]
150 copies
December 2004
[sold-out]
"Le Spectre De La Rose"
Avantgarde. Raffaele Serra returns on Afe with a very beautiful, delicate and experimental new work. "Le Spectre De La Rose" tells the imaginary story of a thirteen years old girl, her vision of the world, her many dreams and nightmares, hope and fears. The music has obviously a cinematic quality, as it often happened in other Raffaele Serra's works. His 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... [more]
December 2003
"Anti-War EP"
Weird Electronica. Our good friend Agnostic recently approached us and proposed us his Anti-War EP. We are glad to make it available to the public as our first mp3-only release and we are also glad that he gave us the chance to make such a statement... [download]
April 2003
"(Absence)"
Dark Ambient. When we think about "guitar players", we are misled by the very traditional concept of the "rock" guitarist playing riffs and solos... There is a parallel universe where talented musicians like Eric Kesner, a.k.a. True Colour Of Blood, use guitars (and nothing else...) to build dense and flowing streams of sound. This is the very first Afe regular CD and is released in collaboration with Eibon Records... [more]
July 2003
"Allein... Unter Menschen"
Ornamental Drones / Ezoteric Noisescapes. Please welcome the return of Dronæment on Afe Records after the huge success of the "Yr" experimental masterpiece in 2002. Dronaement is active since 1997 and is the main musical project of Marcus Obst who lives in the South area of what once was East Germany. "Allein... Unter Menshen" is the fully remastered re-version of the tape originally released on Nauze [Muzick] back in 1999.Dronæment is clearly one of the most talented drone-based music project around and "Allein... Unter Menschen" is a nice rediscover of one of his earliest releases... [more]
CD-R
150 copies
December 2004