artist / title
"Login"
Experimental / Avantgarde. Details coming soon... [more]
[to be released in October 2011]
"Ermos EP"
Electronica / IDM. 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]
100 copies
April 2011
"Somewhere Out There"
Electronica / IDM. 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]
April 2011
& FAUSTO BALBO
"Detrimental Dialogue"
Experimental / Avantgarde. 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]
October 2010
K11
"Waiting For the Darkness"
Experimental / Industrial / Noise. "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]
Pro-duplicated CD-R
100 copies
May 2010
MATHIEU RUHLMANN
"As a Leaf or a Stone"
Electroacoustic / Experimental / Musique concrète. 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]
Pro-duplicated CD-R
100 copies
May 2010
SCUM FROM THE SUN
"Scum From The Sun"
Doom-Metal / Experimental / Ambient. Scum From The Sun were born as a way to experiment with uncompromising electroacoustic music. It is an open collective that also declares its intentions through installations, videos and other art forms. The group was founded in 2003 by Cash (synth, sound manipulation) and Black Mikey (bass), both coming from different experiences but united by their common passion for unconventional and experimental music. During the years they have successfully performed in the underground circuit, especially in squatts. "Scum From The Sun", their official debut album, was recorded and mixed during 2008. Mastered by Giuseppe Ielasi, it was co-produced by Afe and finally released in June 2009. "The album focuses on those moments of life when losing oneself is necessary and unavoidable to reach mutation. Structured like an alchemical process, the CD consists of four tracks. Each of them represent a different level in the process which leads to the "Great Work", a metaphor of Man's spiritual elevation. "La caduta prima del distacco" (The Fall Before Separation) describes the sense of emptiness and bewilderment when falling free is the only form of resistance, the only way to give sense, denying it, to existence. Such a denial necessarily leads to a separation from matter, from all ties, and in full from the whole world that gets swallowed by the fall. "Caput Corvi", literally "Raven Head", just like the Nigredo symbol or "Black Work", represents all the troubles Man faces during his travel through the underworld, i.e. his own self. The separation which took place earlier is not so comfortable, and when Man reaches the bottom he is left alone, dragging himself in the darkness looking for something which can help him to climb up again..." [more]
Pro-duplicated CD-R
June 2009
La caduta prima del distacco [excerpt]
Il sorriso della Regina Bianca e il sonno del Re Rosso
MEERKAT
"Kapnos"
Electroacoustic / Experimental / Ambient. In 2003 Maurizio Bianchi and Matteo Uggeri / Hue met through Afe Records; three years later Maurizio asked Matteo for a musical collaboration, which grew up quickly under the design of a long term project called "Between the Elements", a sort of music transposition of concepts that lies in the empty spaces between the natural elements, which are over-abused terms in the New Age music scene. Two albums were published in 2008: one about the concept of "clouds" ("Nefelodhis", by MB and the post-rock band Sparkle in Grey) and one about the concept of "desert" ("Erimos", by MB with Hue and Luca Bergero / Fhievel). One year later, the third chapter entitled "Kapnos" – Greek for "smoke" - is finally available. The industrial master contributes to back notes and concept, but keeps his hands far from the musical matter, leaving it to the expertise of ten of the most interesting experimental musicians of the Italian scene, united under the cryptic name of Meerkat. The Meerkat ensemble is formed by a group of musicians working in the field of experimental music, drones, microsounds and field recordings: Adriano Zanni / Punck, Matteo Uggeri / Hue, Luca Sigurtà, Luca Bergero / Fhievel, Davide Valecchi / aal, Andrea Ferraris / Ics, Fabio Selvafiorita, Paolo Ippoliti (Logoplasm), Laura Lovreglio (Logoplasm) and Andrea Marutti / Amon / Never Known. The tracks on "Kapnos" present a surprising homogeneity in spite of the different attitudes of the artists, which mixed their experiences in each track creating new unforeseen connections, working in pairs or in threesome on each track... [more]
CD
June 2009
ANDREA MARUTTI / TOMMASO COSCO
"Turra"
Ambient / Dark Ambient / Drone Music. "In the house where I live, a fire-place continually warms my own intimacy during wintertime, while my wife spreads sweet gastronomical scents of real mediterranean nature as I capture the flights and rests of the birds in the garden with my eyes. In silence I listen to the beating of time that scans each and every of my emotions for all the smallest particles and instants of my perceptions. When I have the chance I go to Archiaro, a countryplace where memory and becoming merge in a present full of inspired consciousness. Gratitude lives in my existence and it keeps me in touch with the pulses of silences that pour inside my body where I keep the "Knots" of R.D. Laing, the "Moses and Aaron" of Jean-Marie Straub, the sounds of Morton Feldman, the movements of turtles and a trove where I hope to give shelter to all God's creations." [Tommaso Cosco]
"Turra" is meant to be a natural extension to "The Subliminal Relation Between Planets (Live in Archiaro)" CD released by well-known Czech label Nextera in January 2008... [more]
MiniCD-R 3"
October 2008
OLYVETTY
"Nostalgya Canaglya"
Noise. Olyvetty is a project of audio/visual environment started in Berlin in 2006 by musician Claudio Rocchetti and visual artist Riccardo Benassi. Olyvetty is the displacement of a symbol, the overcoming of language on content and of information on production. A systematic plumbing of noise dephts and of minimal-techno dérives that reaches new visionary landscapes. Claudio Rocchetti processes sounds by mixing turntablism's manipulatory techniques with concrete music. He is also part of 3/4 Had Been Eliminated and Hypnoflash. Riccardo Benassi has been working with sound experimentation for years and is a young artist of great promise in Italian contemporary art. In his work objects become the real protagonists and the audience is encouraged to interact, turning everyday noises into symphonies. The two artists met in Berlin and decided to start their collaboration. What they have in common is their actual research on sound, which means a direct interaction with the objects and their surfaces through the use of different supports, both during production and live processing. "Nostalgya Canaglya" is their latest micro-release coming in the form of a CD-R card. Edited in Berlin during Summer 2008, it collects five short fragments culled from studio improvisations. Olyvetty's digital wall of sound is going to keep all the noise freaks happy: sometimes harsh and sometimes rhythmic, always loud and hypnotizing... [more]
CD-R Card
80 copies
October 2008
FHIEVEL
"Pipe Smoking On a Balloon"
Minimal Ambient / Experimental. Luca Bergero was born in Italy in 1980. If his electronic engineering studies helped his meeting with algorhytmic composition, at the same time they gave way to his crisis for technologic music pushing him to the concrete sound. In 2003 his lowercase work "Vetri di carta" was produced by S’agita Recordings. In February 2005 the Portuguese label Creative Sources Recordings released "Pocket Progressive", a trio improvisation recorded along with Luca Sigurtà and Claudio Rocchetti. "Le baptême de la solitude" was released in late 2005 by Petite Sono], soon followed by the MiniCD-R 3" "Preghiera per una stella" (Prayer For a Star) on Afe in April 2006. His collaboration with Hue (of Sparkle in Grey fame) and Maurizio Bianchi entitled "Erimos" was published by Digitalis in the USA as part of the "Between the Elements" quadrilogy. "The Wheel", a masterpiece of field-recordings and audio archaeology by Fhievel and Luca Sigurtà was released on Creative Sources in early 2008. Here's a description of "Pipe Smoking On a Ballon" written by director Manuele Cecconello: This recent work by Luca Bergero seems to be innervated by a propositive and recapitulative intent. A grainy weaving, ancestral and earthy, subtlety converses with lunar swirls, aerial explorations, insisted neatness tied to an unyielding rationality that is never content with probing the penetralia of planet Mind. Fhievel spreads a sonic speech of rare stylistic dryness and expressive tenacity since a few years. His productions can be identified as chapters of a manual about the auditive experience of an interior dimension; reality becomes a large collision field between psychic masses of various nature: oniric hesitations, romantic gazings, adventurous exploration of the unconscious and, to supervise this perpetual vibration, an investigative push on emotions... [more]
CD-R
100 copies
October 2008
ALISTAIR CROSBIE
"Musicforshipwrecks"
Ambient / Drone Music. Alistair Crosbie is a Scottish musician primarily concerned with sound processing. He initially learned the guitar but began to pursue a more experimental line in 1993 when he and Brian Lavelle founded Inversion. In 2000, he began to work with rhythm programming and computers, creating the project d/compute and releasing an EP and a full-length album on Mouthmoth. Today, Crosbie's main instrument is still the guitar but he has also made several albums with other sound sources including "Map Dot Fingerprint" on Kovorox Sound which was made using only a shortwave radio and "The Study of Cycles" which contained only the sound of his voice. The majority of his recent work has been released through his own Lefthand Pressings imprint which he founded in 2006. He continues to work with Brian Lavelle, although they no longer use the name Inversion; the duo released a new album, "Disused" in 2007 and have begun work on an Inversion archive release. Crosbie also works extensively with Andrew Paine, Alec Cheer, Lea Cummings (as White Against This Sky) and Ruaraidh Sanachan (as Eye Shaking Kingdom). Here's a description of "Musicforshipwrecks" according to Alistair's own words: This is the third in an occasional series of albums, expanding on the previous volumes "Musicfordrowning" (Lefthand Pressings, 2006) and "Musicforlighthouses" (Quinquaginta, 2007). I wanted to really tell a story with this installment as this was something I hadn't done across a whole album previously. I also wanted to stick to conventional instrumentation - aside from a voice sample on the opening track, all the sounds are either guitar (tracks 2 and 3) or synthesiser (tracks 1 and 4). The album was recorded across the first three months of 2008 - during this period, I had to cross a river at least twice a day and the weather was mostly awful. This undoubtedly influenced the album's contents... [more]
CD-R
100 copies
October 2008
GYDJA
"Helchemy"
Dark Ambient / Experimental. Abby Helasdottir has been creating music since 1995 under the name Gydja (an Old Norse word for "priestess"). Initially, the aim of the project was to create music that could be used for magickal and shamanic purposes. The current style of Gydja differs from the initial intentions of the project, with music of both a mundane and magickal nature being created. Among her releases we remember "Liber Babalon" (2001), "Cold Seed" (2002), "Rivers…" (2002), "Corpus Callosum" (Kolorform Records, 2004 - a collaboration between Gydja and Aidan Baker), "Ma-mo Rbad Gtong" (Chmafu Records, 2005 - a collaboration with Austrian musician Marufura Fufunjiru), "Umbilicus Maris" (Mystery Sea, 2007) and "Machina Mundi" (Gears of Sand, 2008). Consisting of two long tracks and clocking at about fifty minutes, "Helchemy" is Gydja's latest full-lenght work at the time of writing, and we're happiest to release it as part of the Afe catalogue. The album title is a portmanteau combining the name of Hela, Germanic goddess of the dead, and the art of alchemy. As such, it considers the way in which imagery associated with alchemy can be related to Hela, particularly the motif of a venomous black toad that is found in many alchemical tracts. Beginning with synthesized soft atmospheres, the opening "The Spirit of the Earth With Venom Intoxicate" gains an aquatic feeling in its first movement. Pads are paired with ring-modulated effects and then the music evolves into a more mysterious cauldron filled with ritual percussions and bells. A gentle melody - resembling a plucked guitar or another string instrument - emerges for a while in the middle section before disappearing in synth bubbles. A flute theme is briefly introduced and then reappears later as the track is constantly transformed until reaching its final stage... [more]
CD-R
100 copies
October 2008
The Spirit of the Earth With Venom Intoxicate [excerpt]
The Black Sea, the Black Lune, the Black Soll [excerpt]
HORCHATA
"Acytota"
Minimal Ambient / Experimental / Glitch. Horchata is the name used by Michael Palace for his electronic music compositions. His music focuses on four major elements: complex beat music, dark ambient soundscapes, programmed compositional glitch music, and field recordings. Often a composition will include several of these elements. Palace has worked for a number of years as a research scientist at the University of New Hampshire's Complex System Research Center. His work there focuses on necromass or dead wood in Amazonia. During his numerous field visits to the rainforest, he has recorded sounds using various microphones and minidisk recorders. Modification of many computer simulations have yielded some interesting sound generating and compositional programs which are featured in newer recordings by Palace. Finally, video and images have begun to feature more in Palace's live performances. Afe released his "Coleoid" back in April 2007, now it's time for "Acytota". Here's a description of the album according to Michael's own words: "Acytota" involves the use of many different snippets of sounds from field recordings, synthesizer programs, computer code and effect patches made over the past few years. I viewed these as building blocks in development of a sound or idea of a song and only began to place them in a compositional context for the completion of this album. The idea of the album title and song titles can be viewed as how I viewed these elements of the song and sounds, i.e. they are pre-life aspects of sound and I approached the final versions of these songs a little differently than other Horchata releases... [more]
CD-R
100 copies
October 2008
UR + CRAIG HILTON
"I Will Be the Light"
Industrial. Ur were born in early 2005 as a collaboration between Federico Esposito, Mauro Sciaccaluga and Andrea Ferraris. They made their live debut at the Afe-Party in November 2005, recently they also opened for Eugene Chadbourne and Wolf Eyes during their italian tours. There is a strong dramatic feeling in their powerful sound, where everything seems to reproduce a sort of wedding between the modernity of the media and the primordial instincts of the performers. Following their self-released "Baptism & Birthday", "Triadic Memories" was released on Afe in April 2006. An Ur CD entitled "Trieb" was released in 2008 on Topheth Prophet in Israel. Craig Hilton was born in 1972, he has been playing the guitar since he was 10. His first experimentations in sound began as a teenager with a guitar and a 4 track tape recorder. His first release was a collaboration with Yannick Franck (Belgium) entitled "Amatra". A second collaboration happened with Maurizio Bianchi (Italy) entitled "PU94" which is being re-released in late 2008. A solo CD "The Smoking Mirror", released early 2008, incorporated much of what he wanted to achieve after the long and intensive collaborations with Yannick and MB. Here's a description of "I Will Be the Light" written by Ur themselves: We've never met Craig personally, we've come into each other thru the web and indirectly it happened cause one of us had just interviewed Maurizio Bianchi while Craig had just collaborated with him for the recording of "PU 94". In "The Path Beneath" and "Essential Salt" he gave a new shape to our materials and worked on dynamics and volume showing his great skill in the use of crescendos. In "I Will Be the Light" he joined us (sort of) by leaving the original intention of our track almost untouched, he virtually played with us and got sucked perfectly in the atmosphere of the song. The track and album title comes from an article on Timothy Leary's last moments, when asked what he wanted to do with his body, old Timothy said that he wanted to be cremated, and that he wanted to get his ashes into space... [more]
CD-R
100 copies
October 2008
"I Will Be the Light" [excerpt]
GENETIC TRANSMISSION
"Spiral"
Experimental / Industrial / Noise. Tomasz Twardawa is a living legend of the underground industrial scene in Poland. Since the mid eighties, he has taken part in pioneer projects as TKT, Godzilla and a few more, introducing noise and power industrial aesthetics into the numb, self-proclaimed 'avantgarde' crowd, stimulating its development with his uncompromised, radical approach. His main brain-child, Genetic Transmission, with numerous great releases under belt, proves that his flame still burns. After many albums on his own label Die Schöne Blumen Musik Werk, and more recently on Tochnit Aleph, Beast of Prey and War Office Propaganda, "Spiral" is his first release on Afe. Consisting of one long track - about 43 minutes - "Spiral" begins smoothly with a field-recording of wind blowing through a desert alley, but soon turns into a powerful industrial collage. Genetic Transmission has the ability to deform everyday sounds and submit them to his own laws, converting usual noises into a proper surrealistic and bruitiste language all of his own. Most of the sounds used in this composition are culled from recordings of different instruments, original acoustic installations - like sets of stone-sculptures, glass scoriae and metal agglomerates - and field recordings. Tomasz's equipment includes a wide spectrum of contact and dynamic microphones, old telephone headphones, vintage soviet devices and modern computer technology. "Spiral" is varied, claustrophobic and sharp. Nerve-wracking at times, with noises crawling up and down the invisible thread that unites them, the album has an oppressive and dense feeling from the beginning to the end... [more]
CD-R
100 copies
October 2008
MIRKO UHLIG
"Supper"
Experimental / Minimal Ambient / Drone Music. Mirko Uhlig is a German musician and producer in the contemporary field of drone and minimal ambient music, and co-founder of Ex Ovo Records. He first appeared with surreal sound collages and musique concrète-techniques under the moniker Aalfang Mit Pferdekopf (catching eels with a horse's head) around 2004. After releasing four albums and some EPs (on Aal, Einzeleinheit, Taâlem, Mystery Sea and Drone Records) Uhlig decided to release his now much more minimalistic and serene works under a less delusive name. Uhlig's music is inspired by pioneers of drone and minimalistic music such as La Monte Young, early Tangerine Dream, Brian Eno, David Lynch, William Basinski and current Hafler Trio; echoing the blurred distance of a late Turner painting. Here is a description of "Supper" according to his own words: Horizon's old clouds! This is what I call a conceptual reference album. Not that it puts up any standards in some sort or being a reference for whatever or whoever, no - it simply deals with references of my listening past/present. "Supper" can be seen (and maybe heard) as a tribute to a wonderful album that inspired me when I was ten/eleven and still does - especially the last track. When you have a closer look at the booklet, I think the traces are obvious enough - you'll know what record I'm talking about. So it fits perfectly that Andrea releases my music on Afe Records. Without his fellow countrymen the young Mirko wouldn't have had a glimpse of a chance of doing the lover's leap at all. So a very big "Thank You!" to him and his enthusiasm... [more]
CD-R
100 copies
October 2008
My Child Goes To the Surf (1st)
ASCANIO BORGA
"Xenomorphic"
Experimental / Ambient. Ascanio Borga is an italian guitarist, electronic musician and independent composer. After years of piano lessons attended during his childhood, he decided to leave formal musical studies to become a self-taught guitarist. Later he began to create electronic suites for synthesizers and treated instruments, introducing more personal elements in his compositions. In 2001 he started to publish his music in the form of self-released CD-R albums credited to his own name. As an audio technician, besides mixing and mastering his own music, he did mastering work for several other musical productions, and also produced sound effects for various stage plays. Ascanio Borga is also an occasional writer and his personal website includes various movie, music, art reviews and essay about science and philosophy. Among his recently self-released albums we'd like to mention "Inner Geometry" (2001), "Liquid Symmetries" (2002), "Bad Ground" (2006) and "Peripheral Vision" (2007). "Xenomorphic", Ascanio's latest offering on Afe, literally evokes something "with a strange form", something unfamiliar that appears alien to us, defying our logic comprehension, and therefore generating tension, disquietude and even anguish in us, but it represents something terribly vital and dynamic at the same time, something whose possibilities are still unknown. With its feet in Ambient territory, the album features a wide range of musical solutions, showcasing the author's will to create a work where appearently distant elements converge and experimentation is put into a more accessible form.... [more]
CD-R
150 copies
October 2008
Apnea (The Hollow Mind) [excerpt]
CISFINITUM
"Nevmenosis"
Dark Ambient / Experimental. Cisfinitum is a prominent post-industrial project from Moscow, Russia. It was started in the late 90s by composer and musician Eugene Voronovsky, and since then has drawn significant attention as one of the most uncommon and distinctive acts of the national experimental scene. Cisfinitum has a very specific emotional style lying within the boundaries of drone ambient and noise. Eugene Voronovsky has graduated from the Moscow State Conservatory as a professional violinist. In his music he uses classical instruments such as violin, piano and percussions, along with sounds traditionally considered "non-musical". All sources are subjected to processing, both Soviet analog tools and modern digital technologies are used. "Cisfinitum is the sound of eternity. I've always wanted to create the music of Russian cosmos, music capable of expressing information about Russia that is impossible to reveal by means of words. They call this 'drone' overseas, but I prefer to define it 'metaphysical ambient'", claims Eugene. "Nevmenosis" is a collection of tracks composed by Eugene Voronovsky between 2001 and 2007 which were remastered by Andrea Marutti of Afe Records on purpose of this release. Some of them ("Dissolutio", "Moscow 30", "Galene" and "Oskolok") already appeared on compilations published by Ewers Tonkunst, Monochrome Vision and EE Tapes. Artwork for the album is based on pictures taken by Russian photographer/artist Vespa_crabro and is a fine addition to the music... [more]
CD-R
150 copies
October 2008
TIZIANO MILANI
"Im Innersten"
Electroacoustic / Experimental. Tiziano Milani, acoustic architect, approached experimental music in the second half of the '90. His passion for the "collected" sounds led him to devote his work to this particular kind of music. Milani's music was released on CD-R by Setola di Maiale ("Chamber Music For Screeching and Artificial Insects" and "Music As a Second Language") and as freely downloadable Mp3s by the Chew'z net-label ("SuoniOggettiRisonanti"). "Nothing in the sounds I pick up is affirmed with will and enterprise, but rather whispered or murmured almost by chance, just like a conversation unintentionally heard on a subway train, or accidentally eavesdropped through the wall of an hotel room. The approach to sounds must not be simplified because every single sound is nothing but a small part of a whole which should be considerated in its own theoretic - and then mechanic - execution. Several different stages of work are stratified in every single piece (contemporary or not). In some cases sounds are generated by touching, beating and breaking contact-miked objects. In other cases, they are the results of manipulated fluxes. In the audio tracks everything is deposited like in a melting-pot than receives and mixes alchemies...". "Im Innersten" is conceived as a continuous flux where "all events coming from a different origin interact with each other so that each of them contains all the others in itself". Intervention is focused on the sound/space relation. The research operated inside a reverberating room is an important experience in this relation: rebuilding sonic objects starting from electronic and acoustic improvisations through the properties of "differently musical" objects that have "sensible" distinctive sound features. Part of the sounds of "Im Innersten" were obtained in such a way... [more]
CD-R
100 copies
October 2008
From Order To Border (Resonating) [excerpt]
SUBINTERIOR
"Mesmerize"
Dark Ambient. Subinterior is the dark-ambient oriented project of Andrea Freschi from Milan, Italy. It is born from the urge to create tracks using only excerpts taken from the usual noises and sounds that normally surround us. The equipment he uses to create his compositions consists of a mini-disc recorder that is mainly used to capture atmospheres created by millers, lapping wheel, lathes, industrial refrigeration plants, safety doors and other unusual "instruments". "Mesmerize" is Subinterior's fifth full-lenght work. Once again it was created with almost no samples and keyboards as most of the sounds included consists of field-recordings manipulated by computer technology and softwares. The result falls into the dark ambient / experimental musical territory, althought the overall effect is aurally dynamic, as usually happens with Subinterior's releases. "Mesmerize" basically follows on from the previous Subinterior release, "The Chrysalis Secret", showcasing his ability at creating deep and obscure atmospheres without falling into cheap clichés. The album spreads over five tracks and has a dense start with "The White Space", which becomes more minimal and then is filled with mysterious noises resembling an haunted aviary. "The Dominant Colour" is built on layers of windy and metallic drones from which a disturbing voice suddendly emerges."Azuria"'s undercurrents follow on with their subliminal microevents and effected metallic chimes, before turning into a shifting simple melody which ends up in mild distortion."Instant Forever" continues the journey with a sort of percussive loop that fades into a sustained drone later filled with distorted sonic scoriae of undefined nature... [more]
CD-R
150 copies
October 2008
DANIELE BRUSASCHETTO & BENNY BRAATEN
"Db9"
Experimental / Industrial / Noise. Daniele Brusaschetto started to play as a solo artist since the mid 90s. His first 7" vinyl EP "Paturnie" was published in 1996. The next year he gave life to ZZZ Productions, the label released his debut CD album "Bellies/Pance". American label RRR co-produced "Bellies/Pance" and the following CD "Mamma fottimi" (1999). His third album entitled "Bluviola" (2001) was also released in the USA by Radon Studio. His fourth solo CD entitled "Poesia totale dei muscoli" (Total Poetry of Muscles) was released by his newest label Bosco Rec in collaboration with Bar La Muerte and Radon Studio. "Mezza luna piena" (Half full-moon) was released during summer 2005 by Bosco Rec and Bar La Muerte. Bosco Rec has also released his latest CD album "Circonvoluzioni" in winter 2007, while Blossoming Noise has recently published a stunning collection of brutal remixes he did for OvO. Benny Braaten is better known as B9 and Origami Galaktika. This project saw the light during Christmas 1994 when Benny recorded what was to become the first LP "Stjernevandring" in cooperation with his younger brother Kjell Øyvind. Origami Galaktika is one of the more prolific underground ambient acts to rise out of Norway, alongside names like Deathprod and Biosphere. Famed for utilizing sound sources from obscure places like Estlandic caves and Norwegian glaciers, B9's music is as unclassifiable as it is unique, yet it has a strong identity of its own. Origami Galaktika's music was released on labels such as Black Orchid Productions, Speeding Across My Hemisphere, Staalplaat, Jester Records, Vendlus, Purple Soil and many others. "Db9" is a collaborative album between Daniele and Benny delving in noise territory, here's a few words about it by Daniele brusaschetto himself: "In October 2004 Benny was in Italy to play gigs as Origami Galaktika, he stayed at my place for a few days and on such occasion we recorded "Db9"..." [more]
CD-R
100 copies
October 2008
BRIAN LAVELLE
"Ustrina"
Experimental / Ambient. Brian Lavelle is a Scottish musician who has been active for more than fifteen years creating music with a variety of electronic devices. His compositions showcase resonant and textural layers of digital material, drones and processed field recordings. Among his works we remember the "Radios" series, composed along with Richard Youngs, and we can't help mentioning his wonderful "How To Construct a Time Machine" guitar suite released by Staalplaat's subsidiary Bake Records and "fault/r", released on Microwave Records back in 2000. Brian was a member of Inversion along with Alistair Crosbie and together with him and Murray Johnston he was also involved in No Input, a one-off improvising trio. Between 2000 and 2003 he curated the techNOH online mp3 label. "Ustrina" follows a surge of increased activity over the last two years with highly regarded releases such as "Just a Song at Twilight" (Dust, Unsettled, 2006), "Fallen Are the Domes of Green Amber" (Diophantine Discs, 2007) and "Supernaturalist" (EE Tapes, 2008). "Ustrina" consists of a single long-form work entitled "Pyre Nullity", which is a set of dense, shifting cloudscapes, perhaps a little darker in focus than Lavelle's last few releases and certainly his longest single composition to date. Its layers of ghostly, distant voices, subterranean drones and processed field recordings evoke forgotten realms, but this is not dark ambient music. Its compositional approach, subject matter and photographic imagery all point to hidden places, memories from a Golden Age cast on the fire, but not necessarily the darker side of existence. Indeed the cover suggests a possible modus operandi: cross the bridge, open the gate, move within... [more]
CD-R
100 copies
October 2008
MAURIZIO BIANCHI / M.B. & MAOR APPELBAUM
"Innervation"
Industrial / Noise. Maurizio Bianchi is probably the most well-known and respected italian experimental composer; at the end of the 70s, at the peak of the Industrial scene, he released several tapes of noise music under the Sacher-Pelz and M.B. Symphony for a Genocide was his first vinyl record, soon followed by other cult albums such as Menses, Neuro Habitat, Regel, Mectpyo Bakterium, Das Testament, Endometrio, Carcinosi and The Plain Truth. In 1984, "Armaghedon" was announced as his last record. In 1998-2000 the whole M.B. vinyl catalogue was officially re-released on CD by Ees't Records. At the same time, after a 14 years of meditative pause, Maurizio Bianchi returned to create music. Plenty of solo albums and collaborations were released since then, showcasing Bianchi's different approaches at experimental music. Maor Appelbaum has been part of the Israel music scene for many years. He is involved in many experimental projects such as Sleepless, Vultures, I.W.R and Thy Mesmerized, as well as being the sole creator of Vectorscope, Lunisolar and Screening. His musical ventures expand to more metallic bands such as the doom infested Moonskin. He has done various musical collaborations with Maurizio Bianchi, Kenji Siratori, Clint Listing, The Hollowing and Tom Davidov. Coming after "Environmental Meditations" (Topheth Prophet, 2006) and "Electrostatic Deflection" (Silentes, 2007), "Innervation" is Maurizio Bianchi & Maor Appelbaum's third collaborative effort. The six tracks on the album have a strong impact, treating us with stabs of intense noise generated by analog synthesizers and effects... [more]
CD-R
300 copies
October 2008
NEVER KNOWN
"Live at the Cosmic Egg, 10.06.2000"
Ambient. Never Known is the earliest music project of Andrea Marutti, best known as Amon and as Afe label owner. Andrea began his experiments with music in the early '90s using tapes and concrete elements. A few years later he also began to use synthesizers, samplers and other electronic devices, and founded the Lips Vago Digital Studio. Several releases of Ambient / Dark Ambient music were published by labels such as Eibon Records, Amplexus, Drone Records, Taâlem, etc. on CD and other medias. The first edition of Never Known's "Live at the Cosmic Egg, 10.06.2000" was originally published by Centiens, a division of Anaemic Waves Factory, in October 2000 and is sold-out since long time. For this new edition, all tracks were remastered - and sometimes slightly reworked - from the original Dat recording by the author in March 2007 at Lips Vago Digital Studio. The concert was performed at the Cosmic Egg Floatation Center opening party on June the 10th 2000, just a few weeks after "On the Edge of Forever", Never Known's fourth full-lenght album, was released by Eibon Records... [more]
CD-R
April 2007
MARK HAMN
"Je déchire l'ongle aux criminels"
Post-Everything / Electroacoustic / Glitch. Francesco Giannico, best known as Mark Hamn, originates from Carosino a small town near Taranto, in the southern part of Italy. He's graduated in "Musicology and Musical Heritage" at the University of Lecce with a thesis on "History of film music". Musically he was born as an indie-guitarist, but an unexpected convergence with experimental electronic music some ten years ago changed his musical orientation, driving him into a different direction. During the recent years several of his works were published on the Internet in the form of free downloadable albums by popular net labels, including the italian Sine3pm. His musical approach is better described as a cinematic journey which pushes the boundaries of digital media even further by incorporating smooth melodies and gentle textures. More canonical instruments such as guitar and piano are constantly present into Mark's music, within interrupted structures or long and dreaming sonorous carpets. "Je déchire l'ongle aux criminels" is his first physical release and it is published as a friendly co-production between Afe and Bar La Muerte... [more]
CD-R
150 copies
April 2007
À partir est d'ici la seule solution
Le vent fait un tour en dehors à la notification de moi
JOHN HUDAK
"Miss Dove, Mr. Dove"
Experimental / Avantgarde. John Hudak has been interested in sound and music from the age of four when he began to play a variety of instruments. At the University of Delaware (BA, English 1981) and Naropa Institute for the Arts (1979), he studied video, photography, creative writing and dance. He then began to create taped soundtracks for his solo performance-art/dance pieces that later developed into sound-only pieces. In recent years, he has concentrated solely on sound, particularly natural sounds. His work has been published by labels such as Alluvial Recordings, and/OAR, Korm Plastics, Aesova, Intransitive Recordings, Digital Narcis, Presto!? and many others. "Miss Dove, Mr. Dove" was especially created by John Hudak for a release on Afe. Here's a description of the album inception in his own words: "During the late spring of 2007, my family spent some time visiting relatives in the Czech Republic,in a small village outside of Prague called Pelhřimov. One morning there, I woke to the sound of many doves. The building we stayed in was directly across from another similar building, and the space between the two created a wide echo. The birds sat on the adjacent building, making their plaintive sounds, at the crack of dawn; their sound mixing with the sounds of people talking as they left for work, and the sounds of trucks idling while making their morning deliveries..." [more]
CD-R
100 copies
October 2008
AMON vs. MORTAR
"Amon vs. Mortar"
Dark Ambient. Amon is one of the earliest music projects of Andrea Marutti from Italy, also active under his own name and the Never Known alias, and also Afe Records label owner. He is also responsible of many other projects dealing with different styles of electronic music (Lips Vago, Wolkspurz & Ramirez, The Afeman, etc. and he is part of Hall of Mirrors along with Giuseppe Verticchio (Nimh), of Sil Muir with Andrea "Ics" Ferraris (Ur, Airchamber3) and of Molnija Aura with Davide Del Col (Ornament, Echran). Mortar was a side-project of Moreno Daldosso, mainly active in the Power-Electronics area as Murder Corporation. Owner of the now defunct Murder Release label - mostly specialized in Power-Electronics / Noise cassette releases - he also released music under the Metastatic and Spiral aliases. Mortar's trademark lo-fi sound can be easily filed under the Death-Ambient genre, we'd like to remember his ability to create horrifing soundscapes using low-resolution and time-stretched samples of classic music. "Emperor's Return", the first Mortar CD album, was published by Fuoco (a joint effort between Eibon Records and Amplexus) in 1998, while a limited LP vinyl album entitled "From the Grave" was released by Oktagön Records in 2000. This LP is now made available again by Afe Records in the form of an unlimited CD-R release aptly re-entitled "Amon vs. Mortar" that also includes two extra-tracks - consisting of about 30 minutes of music - which were recorded during the same sessions but were not part of the original release on Oktagön Records... [more]
CD-R
October 2008