THE KVB - THE KVB, ~taqueOT 2011

Another new release from amazing Ukrainian label!

KVB - KVB Business Card CD

This work consists of three tracks and each one uses different approaches and different aesthetics. The first one is a classic example of post punk. Shaded electronics, striated drums, incisive bass and faded vocals create a good dancy play welcoming zoot-suited souls. Second track is simply a drone journey. One's shadow gets lost in long high-ceilinged corridors where sound is very concentrated and all-permeating. The final track is a rock song. Lucid acoustic drums, shaky guitars and chorused vocals sounding from a far. Pleasant listening.
Buy this record directly from ~taqueOT.  

Nearone Cassette, WYLD WYZRDZ LP - Inner Islands 2011

Many thanks to Braden for sending me these amazing cassettes recently released on Inner Islands.

Nearone - Presents CASSETTE

Pure glee. Pure happiness. Extraordinary meditative work. Each sound seems to be alive. We're diving into walkarounds of synthesized chimeras. We shoot out our arms and slowly forge through the firm vapour scenting of herbs and spice. Rare dreams appear as tremulous palpitation. Three field rec tracks with sounds of bees, flies, and wind make this tape kind of a recluse's sound diary. What we can read in it is a collection of depictions/renditions of nature's features. Very sunny and intelligent work!
Highly recommended.

WYLD WYZRDZ - Free Magick LP

This LP supplies 3 long tracks. The first one is the longest and possesses very nebulous tonality. Scintillant synth jewels and consistent percussion on  the second track give us an idea of how tight the connection and interaction between a man and the nature are. In general, this record is built up on some really fairy radix. A listener deals with ancient myth and the final track is a good proof of the latter. Here we enter a 'Dragon's Garden'. We see strange plants, tall violet trees, see-thru fruits. We hear frogs, flies and wind. Where is the dragon? He's hiding in a place where one can believe in his presence. Lo-fi percussion, tropical synth, clear bass lead us to that place.
Highly recommended!

Buy both records from Inner Islands.  
     

Spare Death Icon - Survival, Cassette, Gift Tapes 2011

Spare Death Icon - Survival CASSETTE

This 9-track tape deals with pretty dark electronics. A listener is forced to watch fluorescent dances in the darkness. Phosphoric lines and objects flummox making gauche and a bit robotic moves, as if trying to escape energetic sound falls. Boosting drum machine drizzles coalescing synth waves with dank powerful beats. Very dark and at times new age cassette.
Spare death icon is a musician from Seattle.
Buy this tape directly from Gift Tapes or from distributors. 

Misner Space, Sundrips - Hooker Vision 2011

Misner Space - Bent Reality Cassette

I really dig this cassette. It delivers some very innermost truths. The sound is pastoral and ascetic. Electronic signals travel in ravaged caves which used to be a refuge for recluses and ascetics hundreds of years ago. Wrenching drones fly as shadows of saints on the sooted walls. Tumult fulfills the desert. This tape is a mixture of sap and clod. Absolutely splendid!
Misner Space is a nice group from Canada.
Highly recommended.


Sundrips - Guide Cassette

This tape is a thorny one. As for me, it's about growth and dying. Things occur without any proper purpose and leave without any regrets. The beauty of thoughtless circulation appears on this fascinating cassette. Translunary tunes lingeringly fall from the serene sky. Spatial spheres full of aculeate vibes rise from the earth and slowly go up like giant balloons. All sounds approach to one point. There is not the ghost of chaos in any of the 5 tracks, only rigorous and vigorous will to get to the centre of something we're used to call 'everything'.
Sundrips is a duo based in Canada.
You can still buy these tapes directly from Hooker Vision.     

DDb Interview Series (1003) - Grant and Rachel Evans

One more interview in DDb series!
This time I want to thank Grant and Rachel Evans for their time and interesting expatiative answers.
Grant and Rachel run small cassette/CD-r label. They both have their own music projects and also make sounds under the moniker 'Quiet Evenings' as a duo.


1.Wow guys! You’re doing so many things! Tell a bit about your solo-projects MSOTT and NSA. How did you think out these long names?

Rachel: MSOTT is my solo project. Grant actually suggested the phrase “motion sickness of time travel” when I was trying to come up with names for my new solo project. He took it from The Soft Machine by William S. Burroughs. I was attached to that phrase right away. It’s infectious... the kind of phrase I wanted my music to sound like.

Grant: Nova Scotian Arms is something that had been floating around in my head from my younger, drug-taking days. It takes on different meanings for me as time goes on. The “arms” part being especially ambiguous...

2. What about Quiet Evenings. How does this project differ from your solo ones?

R: For Quiet Evenings we each take a different approach to recording than we do with our solo projects. I’m a lot more melodic with my solo work. With QE I take on another role entirely. I try to step back from the melodic tendencies I have and just build up the sound floor. QE is much more minimal. I hold down the drone more with QE. It’s almost like Grant and I switch roles when we record QE stuff...

G: Quiet Evenings is about a specific feeling. A particular environment or atmosphere... It’s nighttime and trees and crickets and maybe a small fire or something nice like that. It’s incense and heavy eye lids. It’s an aural postcard from our perpetual honeymoon. Solo works tend to be more broad in scope.

3.You’re also running a great and very busy (which is nice) tape/cd-r label Hooker Vision. When and how did it start?G: Hooker Vision started, in its first incarnation, in 2008. It was just something to write on the CD-Rs that we were making at the time; a kind of umbrella.

R: I didn’t really have a part in the start up of Hooker Vision. It wasn’t until about a year or so ago that I became as involved as I am now. It was all Grant’s thing in the beginning; it’s always been his child.

4. Sorry, I can’t escape myself thinking about this question. Do you have any kind of division of labor in terms of carrying out label-related things?

R: Recently we’ve both been doing artwork for the releases. We both talk to people about releasing their music and communicate with the artists we work with. When we do home-dubbings, and in the early days everything was done at home, Grant does all of that. I do lots of assembling of the tapes... like folding the J-cards, and cutting inserts if we’re doing that. If we do tape bags or little pouches for releases, I sew those all by hand myself. Grant really controls the image of the label, it’s aesthetic. He also handles the art for our art editions we do occasionally.

G: I also do all the boring internet stuff.

5. It may be too personal but how did you meet each other?

R: We first met through a friend when I was a freshman in college, in 2006. I was a young music major, and Grant went to a different college in town at that time. He was studying video then... Before we ever started dating we were collaborating on videos, and eventually music. I guess our collaborations are what really started our relationship. We’ll be married three years now this summer!

G: I asked Rachel to be in one of my short films. She also did the score for it as well and we ended up spending a lot of time together on the project.

6. How did you enter the independent/whatever music world? Tell about your musical background.

G: I grew up listening to a lot of different types of music... I don’t really know anything about playing music though. I got a guitar when I was 12 but I was just learning cover songs and not really exploring the instrument at all. I took lessons for a little while but never learned much of anything other than “Stairway to Heaven” and old Black Sabbath songs. I started getting pedals about the same time I started smoking pot and that’s really when things began to change...

R: Grant was basically my introduction to all of the music I’m into now. He was the one who introduced me to all the cassette and independent record labels I’m aware of now. I guess my musical background goes back to age 5 when I first started taking piano lessons. I took piano lessons up until I was 17. I also picked up various instruments along the way... I played cello in my 3rd and 4th grade orchestra; bought a drum set and bass guitar in middle school, and eventually got a guitar about the time I started high school. High school was also when I got into synthesizers, and got my first keyboard workstation, and started recording music on the home computer. I also took voice lessons for a few years in high school on and off. When I graduated I moved south to LaGrange for college. I started off as just a music major, then halfway through my junior year I double-majored in art. Art and music for me have been inseparable ever since.

7. Next question I will ask to every person in DDb interview series.
What have changed in independent music world with the developing and spreading of the Web?
Any positive improvements? Any negative repercussions?

G: I can’t see any negative repercussions of the internet as far as independent music is concerned. The internet is helping to kill the major recording industry and I am in total favor of that.

R: I don’t really see any negative repercussions either. The web has helped us out tremendously; it’s made it possible for us to share our music and still live in the middle of nowhere.

8. When and where do enjoy listening to music most?

G: Everywhere! In my car, at school, when working in the darkroom or painting, at home with a good beer...

R: Yeah, everywhere... In the car especially, sometimes while working at the library, and music is almost constantly playing at home (unless we’re recording).


9. Grant, you have an upcoming vinyl debut LP on Digitalis. What will it be like? Will the sound change?

G: I think the sound always kind of changes from release to release. I don’t really want to give much away about the LP just yet but it’ll definitely still be Nova Scotian Arms.

10. What puts you off about format/package/cover art?

R: Typically (not in all cases, but definitely most) I don’t like words on cover art. It’s best if there are no words on the art at all... Of course that’s not always possible.

G: Barcodes.

11. What materials do you use constructing your sounds?

G: Electric and acoustic guitars, effects pedals, synthesizer, tape loops, field recordings, etc...

R: Mostly my synthesizers... recently it’s been my Space-Synth, Mopho, Micro Korg, and Mini Kaossilator. Hopefully my synth collection will build... I also use my voice and my laptop, and with QE a boss delay pedal for my vocals. It’s all really basic. I’ve used acoustic guitar in recordings before, but that’s rare...

12. Name some recent tapes/books you enjoyed enormously.

R: Really loving Hobo Cubes recent “E-Motions” tape, and Afterlife’s recent tape on Stunned was just amazing. Most of my recent reading has been for library school classes... it’s been a while since I’ve enjoyed a book that wasn’t assigned to me. The last books I read all the way through would have to be Alan Moore’s graphic novel series “Promethea”, which I highly, highly recommend!

G: The new Xiphiidae tape on Rotifer is perfect for lazy spring afternoons. Geoffey Sexton’s last tape on No Kings has been a nighttime staple recently. The new batch of Tranquility Tapes has been getting a lot of play too, especially the Christopher Merrit/Reedbeds split. The last book I read was the Principia Discordia. Hail Eris!

13. What’s more important for you: the label or solo-projects?

 G: I’d say they’re both pretty equal at this point. I’ve definitely been able to focus on the label side of things more easily during the regular school year... Summer is when I get more recording done.

R: I think they have equal importance for me. One isn’t more important than the other... they’re just important in different ways. They’re also the same thing in a way... the same reason we want to contribute to the music community is often the same reason we want to share other people’s music with the same communities.

14. The list of forthcoming stuff on Hooker Vision impresses so I won’t ask you about what one should wait for. But what about your solo work future plans? Shed some light on your sacred dreams regarding it.

G: I’ve got a split tape with Scott Johnson’s (Thoughts on Air) new project, Permanent Bedhead, coming out on Sacred Phrases soon. Rachel and I have a split LP coming out sometime this year on Aguirre Records out of Belgium. We’re really excited about that. Quiet Evenings has an LP coming soon on Hooker Vision and a split tape with Donato Epiro in the works.

R: I’m looking forward to my second Digitalis LP release later this year, “Luminaries and Synastry”. And currently I’m working on new material for an LP for Spectrum Spools, titled “Gold Heat”. In between I’ve got a lot of tapes lined up, including a full length cassette on the wonderful Hobo Cult Records, among others.







Thanks for the interview!

ethereal doom cosmonaut / bleak tails - mr. and ms. erotic america, Ace of Tapezzz 2011

Many thanks to Izaak for providing me with this great release.

ethereal doom cosmonaut / bleak tails - mr. and ms. erotic america CASSETTE

Five tracks hidden on this tape are definitely a contribution to experimental music. Each of them is a self-sufficient play which is constructed carefully and masterfully. The colouring is always lo-fi. Animalistic eddies propragate and accumulate acute unpolished swells. Jelly-like sound swarmers remify spontaneously stumbling across abstract impulses and bedroom vocals. Glassy drone pieces fall out of cosmic mould box in rearing. In general the tape deals with very pliant structures showing a wide spectrum of approaches. Everything somehow steals away and what one can possess is only a hint of a feeling, right?

You can buy this great cassette from Ace of Tapezzz.

Lunar Miasma - Arrival Cassette, Field Studies 2011

Here's the recent work from Lunar Miasma released on Field Studies label.

Lunar Miasma - Arrival Cassette

There are two 10-minute tracks on this tape. The first one deals with very physical and very bodily sound schemes. Nerves, tendons, wrists, knuckles, fingers are ripped apart and create slow-motioned collages which nevertheless sound not maimed but mad inflammatory. The coils of synth smoke float around tingling and producing massive drone scum. Second track is more minimal. It's all about sculpturesque and a bit callow sound substances which throng into psychic swirls soaring high above the earth and retailing kosmische gossips.
Lunar Miasma is Panos Alexiadis, sound magician based in Athens.
You can still by this amazing tape directly from Field Studies.

DDb Interview Series (1002) - Izaak Schlossman

Here's another interview in DDb series!
Izaak is a talented musician based ih Phili. He also runs fascinating cassette-label Ace of Tapezzz.
I want to thank Izaak for his time and interesting, thoughtful answers.

1.
Where are you based? What music/environment pushed you to become an artist making experimental sounds and create AOT label?
right now ace of tapes is from philadelphia, because i'm taking care of everything, tho if i end up moving around again someone else might take over for a bit and it'll be based somewhere else. when we started a bunch of us were living in santa cruz, and making a label was a good (tho arbitrary) way to coax my friends into releasing music they were working on.

2.
Why cassettes? What expects the cassette format rebirth in the future from your point of view?
tapes are great because they are analog and cheap and a nice trinket. i'm not sure if there will be a rebirth outside of a few subcultures but it's a cool thing right now, just finding music specifically because it is on tapes.

3.
Next question I will ask to every person in DDb interview series.
What have changed in independent music world with the developing and spreading of the Web?
Any positive improvements? Any negative repercussions?
as someone trying to hear something & get my mind blown it's incredible to have that kind of access. as someone who makes music it's all about just diligently adding to the shitpile and not freaking out.

4.
Tell about your solo-project starcircleanatomy. How would you describe its aesthetics?
it's more of a long-term attempt to explain an aesthetic confusion than something with an aesthetic of its own. it's been so many things since i started, and people have helped and stopped helping, you know. tho i think it's consistent in a way i can't see cos i'm me.

5.
Do you enjoy traveling? Name some places you’d be excited to visit.
yeah, i dig the aimless wandering type of traveling. i'd like to do some more of that. the whole u.s., canada, ghana, china, southeast asia, shit. everywhere. i hope that eventually i can go on some kind of low key world tour, just travel around with some gear and play wherever, meet people.

6.
What is the true essence of music? Share your philosophic views on the basics of sound art.
i've been trying to think really simply about the phenomenological parts of music, i mean less as a cultural thing and more about how it interacts with someone's perception, what shapes it can make. obvs everyone's got a different take on things and that's why music's still interesting. 

7.
What is the best job in the world?
physical work, and work where you learn things, and work where the power dynamic is good.

8.
Any plans for starcircleanatomy future releases/gigs?
yeah, this label called further out of seattle is going to release a cassette of mine called "always forgetting, receiving" pretty soon, which is a bunch of manual electronic jams. i am working on the art for another release called "debloom and die" for ace of tapes which is like an electric guitar singing drone record, and i'm making new things that more directly reference dance music in general that i plan to release this year too. i've been playing on the east coast here and there but i hope that i can go on a little tour this summer.

9.
Do you feel some presence of a kind of experimental/independent/whatever music community in US/world? Or it’s rather just a sporadic collection of insular projects, families, etc.?
everyone's got friends in other places and practically speaking it's easy enough to connect with people all over. i notice that more since i've moved out here to philly, and just the longer i live and the more "oh you know this person, that's nuts" type shit happens. also there's the internet, making that even easier. if all the weirdo music people lived in one city everyone would probably already know each other someway.

10.
Austrian poet R. R. Rilke used to say: “The beauty is the part of the ugliness”. Is it true?
beauty can be gnar sometimes, yeah.

11.
What about forthcoming stuff from AOT? Any releases you’re keeping in mind?
stuff from me for sure, probably more things from sean gkfoes vjgoaf, my genius friend alex lowell, perl third eye of sauron or whatever he's gonna call himself, hopefully other friends that are working to complete things.

12.
Day or night? Light or dark?
i like those construction lights they use to work on the roads at night, the day-at-night vibe is really cool.

Trust - Candy Walls 7", Sacred Bones 2011

A few days ago I received this amazing 2-track 7inch from Sacred Bones.

Trust - Candy Walss 7"

This record sounds like a reissue of one of the best examples of 80's disco-techno music.
Slinky electronic beats steadily pave the way for the low embracing vocals. Large and convex synth drops glisten under the pale orb hinged to the lilaceous sky. The sound in general is not eerie, though it is vigilant and sometimes even emotionless, which strangely makes a listener to give an emotive response.
Trust is a duo based in Canada.
Buy this record from Sacred bones or from distributors.   
 

Kevin Greenspon - Common Objects LP, Family Time records, Dec 2010

Many thanks to Kevin for providing this.

Kevin Greenspon - Common Objects LP

This 6-track LP is about missing something/someone. Infectious guitar noises are silk and soft as leaves on a sapling. Big pale bubbles full of uncontrolled electrons slowly fly around the sprigs without touching each other and never getting high into the sky.
Actually this record is a mix of unfettered noise waves and soulful, penetrant ambient. The sound drastically but slowly brims the space which keenly eyes a lonely listener.
A painful beauty of a dismal look.
Kevin Greenspon is a musician based in LA. He also runs Bridgetown records.
Buy this gem from Family Time records.

Vibrant New Age - Psychic Reality LP, Not Not Fun 2011

At long last I received this one!

Vibrant New Age - Psychic Reality LP

There are six awesome songs on this record.
Six beautiful songs full of sadness, friendly smiles, mezmerising vocals and roving signals. High-pitched lo-fi beats notch tender synth lines emitting over the crevasses. The whole thing is not bogged down but clear and melodic. Dappled electronics perfectly fit both illusive tropical jams and dramatic awe of adrifting vocals.
Masterful record!
Buy from Not Not Fun.

Wozzeck - Act III: Comics, Intonema 2011

Here's the very first release from newly born Intonema label.
Many thanks to Ilia and Misha for sending this.

Wozzeck - Act III: Comics 

The record consists of two tracks. First one is divided into 47 short pieces and resembles a sound swamp full of clear-cut abstract noises. Curt nods of acoustic hitches and flounces interlace with sound scrimmage inebriated with its own freakness. This track somehow reminded me of another Belorukov's work - D-И + B-C (split with Darius Ciuta) released on ~taqueOT earlier this year.    
Second 10-minute track is a remix by Kurek & Bumšteinas and is actually a flimsy and sheer coverlet sewed from crackles and subliminal images. Opaque waves and chiseled noisy tones are low and everlasting.
Utterly exposed record!
Wozzeck is a duo based in Saint-Petersburg.
Comics enclosed with the CD is designed by Victor Melamed.
Buy this CD from Intonema. 

Giant Claw - Midnight Murder, Orange Milk 2011

Keith kindly sent me one of the latest cassettes released on Orange Milk label.
Here it is:

Giant Claw - Midnight Murder, Cassette

This 7-track album is something very special. Here are all three kinds of music I love: synth/electronic journeys, dancy compositions built on mouthwatering beats, and psychedelic (and a bit tropical) soundscapes.
The sound on this tape is almost always well-calibrated. Classical synth constructions suddenly fall from the skies and show a real earthy drama. Each track is full of climactic points instantaneously mollified by the nimble and clear tones. Nevertheless, rad and hard-hitting jar and jarring lap up tranquil electronics, which fondly peep from between the theurgic sound curtains and make us dance twitchy summer dances!
This is a smart, masterful and at the same time absolutely bright, summerish record. 
My favorites: dramatic drums in the second half of the second track and mysterious vibes of 'Aqua bats'.
You can watch a video on 'Big Crush' by Moduli TV here.

Giant Claw is a project led by Keith Rankin. He also co-runs Orange Milk and edits Tiny Mix Tapes.
Buy this tape from the label.

LAFIDKI, MPALA GAROO, ARABIAN HORSES & SNOWL - Moscow - 22 April 2011

Don't miss this amazing concert which will take place in Aktovy Zal on 22 of April.

Arabian horses is a duo from Moscow. Check out their latest release on Full of Nothing label here!
Mpala Garoo is another guy from Moscow who also plays in a duo Kon Tiki Gemini. Each of his projects has a release on Sweat Lodge Guru. Check those awesome cassettes here
Lafidki is a moniker of a musician, graphic designer from France, who also runs steak au zoo label.
Snowl. All I know is that this is a one-man project created by a guy whose name's Denis. And I think he's somehow connected with  Twilight Owls.
 
Address.

Edward Sol - Provocative Manner, Quasi Pop records, 2011

Check out one of the latest cassettes from Kiev-based Quasi Pop records.
Many thanks to Ed Sol for sending this!

Edward Sol - Provocative Manner, Cassette

This is a solo-work by Ed, who actually runs the label.
'Provocative manner' is done in a provocative manner!  I am surprised that all cassettes are OK and not damaged by the sound hidden inside. And I tell this not because it's a noise record, though it is, but because the sound has an extremely physical shape. It's not harsh at all, it's ... provocative!
The first 25-minute track delivers lots of noise schemes enreached with some electronic loops and sometimes even ambient sounds. Second track is quieter and uses more abstract approaches. The sound is changing all the time; it easily spawns new dimensions and travels from one to another creating an intelligent multi-tiered structure.
Highly experimental - highly provocative - highly recommended!
Buy this one directly from Quasi Pop records.
     

Riasni Drova – RRRSOTFROWE, ~taqueOT 2011

Here's a new release from ~taqueOT!
Thanks to Artem for providing this material.

Riasni Drova – RRRSOTFROWE

There are three tracks on this CD. The first one is an abstract piece full of flexuous strings composed in John Rose's style and accompanied by rare contorted voices. Next two tracks continue the same line but in a more freenoise manner. Deranged acoustic guitars get riled up in spooky sound tunnels. Unleashed improvisation is resolute and invites us to discover ruins of a medieval monastery. This tape is crammed with shadows!
Lusterless, meditative composition.
Riasni Drova is a duo from Lviv.
Buy the record from ~taqueOT.  

Hobo Cubes - Blaze Factor, Aerial Nocturnes - NNA Tapes, Digitalis, 2011

Two recent tapes by Hobo Cubes! Thanks F. for sending this!

Hobo Cubes - Aerial Nocturnes, Cassette - Digitalis

This tape recently released on Digitalis somehow differs from other HC's works. Actually the strangest thing in this tape is an odd mix of shyness and fury which can be felt on each track. This adds a smack of the craziness to the whole thing. The beats awkwardly protrude from the 5th track only (a fidgeting and aggressive one). The rest of the time HC deploy a limited number of synth lines which thrive and thrive trying to get a shape of incantation. Deep vibrating sound is moving like a hunter stalking an animal. Synth kneading thrusts into slinky minimal vibes.
A dystopian, giddy and sometimes abrupt tape.

Hobo Cubes - Blaze factor, Cassette - NNA tapes

This one is more positive. Here Frank Ouellette places us (and leaves the next moment) on a glass space ship approaching through the void of space. Time disappears and its very notion looses any sense. We're passing by glimmering objects, heaps of unsettled planets and dizzying comets' traces, which look like huge cosmic eels trussing each other. Alki we steep in an abode of zephyrian drones and dispersed synth-falls.
A spiffing tape which made me to linger on it for a couple of hours.
Hobo Cubes is Frank Ouellette. He lives in Montreal, makes tunes and runs cool Hobo Cult records.

You can get these cassettes from Digitalis and from NNA tapes.  

DDb Interview Series (1001) - Lee Noble

I am very excited to announce the launch of DDb Interview Series.
I want to thank Lee Noble for his time and readiness to make this interview!
As you may know, Lee is a great music composer and performer. He resides in LA and makes synth, weird, experimental sounds. Additionally he is running a very interesting tape label No Kings. You can read some silly stories about two latest cassettes from No Kings on this blog - just scroll down a bit!


1.
How would you describe your music?
Slow, boring.

2.
Just curiosity. Is Lee Noble your real name?
It is!

3.
You run an amazing tape label ‘No Kings’. How did you find the name for it? When and how did you decide to start the label?
My friend Steve Molyneux and I initially conceived the label in 2006 as a name to put on the recordings we released ourselves. We put out a few CDrs and quit. Then restarted last year, taking it a bit more seriously, and releasing only cassettes so far. The name came from some big iron letters that we found lying next to a construction site. they were in a pile and we rearranged them to spell out "NO KINGS". We left them on a hillside in Franklin, TN. Also it has obvious anti-authoritarian connotations, which is nice.

4.
What is beauty?
aesthetic appeal + sadness / emotional response

5.
Next question I will ask to every person in DDb interview series.
What have changed in independent music world with the developing and spreading of the Web?
Any positive improvements? Any negative repercussions?
exponential access. which is good. my entire musical operation / existence is based online, talking to other musicians from around the world and arranging releases, etc. i see no negative repercussions aside from the decline of print publication, it would be cool if there were more good magazines around.

6.
Do you have a favorite record in your discography? What’s your best gem up to date?
i think the most cohesive example of my stuff is my latest release "no becoming" on sweat lodge guru. i have not always been very careful about finishing pieces and releasing them, i have some old stuff that i really don't like. trying to be more considerate. i did a couple single tracks recently, one for a series of 3" cds on Hobo Cult records, and one for a split tape with Sparkling Wide Pressure on Bathetic that I really like. There's an album called "Loaded Image" that was released on 25 cassettes, I don't think many people heard that one. It used a lot of tape recordings of the piano at my mom's house.

7.
Do you have any special time for recording? Maybe you prefer to make sounds at night or whatever? Is it always random?
it's usually at night, but really only because i work during the weekdays. it's fairly random. whenever i have the energy to wade through the mess of cables and equipment. i'm trying to make it easier for myself to set up. a schedule would be ideal, i often go for long periods without recording. occasionally i'm very productive on a saturday morning.

8.
Speaking about No Kings, why cassettes? What do you feel about tape format?
The physicality of this medium is its primary strength. With proper presentation tapes are easily turned into collectible art objects. I think it's important for albums to have a physical presence in reality. They are affordable without being disposable.

9.
Can you name some artist/people you do admire? Maybe you have a person in mind who you’d name as a teacher? 
I think i've learned the most important lessons about making music from musician friends of mine. Aforementioned Steve Molyneux who is in Gigantic Blonde Boy, also Frank Baugh from Sparkling Wide Pressure, others like Dust from 1000 yrs, etc.

10.
Is there a kind of Lee Noble’s standard kit of musical equipment or you always use new materials? 
It seems like harmonium is the base for most of my recordings. Moog Source, Korg MS-10. Casio Sk-1. Omnichord. A tape machine that has speed control. Odds and ends, scraps of things on tape. I always use this stuff.

11.
Is improvisation important for you?
Yes, I write as I record, it's my main technique.

12.
What is the best place in the world to live in?
I wish it was LA, but I'm not sure if it is.

13.
Share your plans for the future. What places one should check to get some new stuff from Lee Noble? 
I have just completed recordings for a vinyl LP on Bathetic Records, and I just started working on a tape for Bridgetown Records also. These will be out sometime this year! And there are many items in the works on No Kings. Releases from Airsign, Wether, Andreas Brandal, Je Suis Le Petit Chevalier, Haunted Houses, Hobbledeions / Sugar Skulls, Twin Polygamists, etc.

Thanks for the interview, Lee!

Get back soon for more interviews with Cloudland Ballroom, Ruralfaune/Synth series label, Sangoplasmo and ~taqueOT. 

Clearing, Stephen Molyneux - No Kings, 2011

Two new tapes out at No Kings! Thanks L. for the material.

Clearing - Keepsake cassette 

 

 

Here we have two series of dreams.

Serie 1

At first we meet a stranger. He tells us his bitter story and shows the hidden door. We open that door and enter deep, massive waters full of lambent microorganisms. They make a liquid and plain noise. Then we pass by crippled buildings of the ancient city which has obviously been buried underwater from the bygone times. We suddenly find ourselves outside the school dance club for a moment but inexorably fall back into the deep ocean next second…

Serie 2

Firstly we’re watching old fishers carrying the tackle. Rapidly we get into another place. This place looks familiar but all the things we've known are put in unfamiliar places. After awhile we turn into the giant bird hovering over the mountains’ tops. It lasts for some time right until we’re forcedly sucked back into the deep waters from the first dream. But this time we can see nothing. We listen and the last sounds possibly hide the emptiness…

Very unclear, very experimental and truly abstract work!

Extremely-highly recommended.

Clearing is Joseph Volmer based in Murfreesboro.

 

Stephen Molyneux - Cambodian Field Recordings cassette

 

The title says everything. On this tape one can stumble across sounds from Cambodian cities. Street music, rare voices and talks, naked soundscapes of day-to-day city life are mixed on two 12-minute tracks. A fairly good example of sound-journalism. Stephen plays in Gigantic blonde boy and makes some interesting solo-works from time to time. He also co-runs No Kings with Lee Noble. 

Be fast to get a copy from No Kings. 

Ken Seeno - Open Window, Watercolor Records, 2011

Here's one more tape by Ken Seeno:

Ken Seeno - Open Window CS

This time it's more about warm tropical psycho folk (not so psycho as you might have imagined but still slightly psycho, oghh..). Tepid guitars profusely spill unfazed rhythms over a quivering and a bit slimy synth tissue. Limpid sounds revel and make spring rituals. The sound infects one with a marvelous glee.
This is absolutely a music for walking in a sunny day.
You can still buy it or download directly from Wtrclr.

THETLVMTH, Charlatan, Ghostrider – Hobo Cult, 2011

Here are some tapes from Hobo Cult Records. Thanx Frank! 

THETLVMTH - Nastri Da Trasmettere CS 2010

This tape contains four tracks. Each one has a strange code as a title and is probably an attempt to decipher that code. What we can hear on the first, the third and final tracks resembles a hard machines’ work. Cylinders move, liquid streams, steal and plastic pieces create genius mosaic. The sound on 9_57 (the easiest title) is very computerized, while the first and the last are more abstract and can offer a wide range of electronic vibes and noises. Track 2 is different. Firstly we have to delve in the fog standing on an insular synth heath trying to find the beginning of the sound line. Then in the middle of the track we found ourselves surrounded my massive and markedly violent electronics. Sound becomes more and more aggressive and finally the story ends with a shimmering outburst.

Good stuff. Recorded in Pigneto, Roma 

  

Charlatan – Meridians CS

Here we have five tracks and each one differs from another to a large extent. Though the tape begins with psychedelic chaos of drones with a healthy dollop of noisy mayhem, the second track comes to earth showing naked synth lines, which thoroughly explore contours of sound chasms. Third track is a good classic cosmic ballad about how far one can get with closed eyes. Forth one is more minimal. It deals with apparitional movements layed with quiet recurring electronics. Final track is a mad enrobed candy! Narcotic atmosphere will eagerly churn your brains as a pillow! No prudence.

Spot on, dank, unadorned tape. 

There's no need to tell about who Brad Rose is, right? 

Ghostrider – Demons CS

This four-track cassette is very minimal and ambient. The tonality is low and calm. Sound approaches carefully as if being afraid of missing its path. Penetrant phonic tides roam as a light wind over the endless sand. Sometimes lost, sometimes contemplative, sometimes alert feeling makes this tape quite nostalgic.
Ghostrider is a project by Jens Pauly from Cologne. 

For more info visit Hobo Cult Records. 

Food Pyramid - I, II, III - Moon Gylph

These tapes seem to be parts of a trilogy and absolutely separate works at the same time.
Oh, whatever...

The first tape is the most peremptory one. Wrenching drums and lo-fi electronics drown out the thawing vocals. Mechanized atmosphere elliptically winces and regurgitates rigid drones on a glazed surface. Robots dance visceral dances in a bobbling synth ocean. Dramatic and jammy stuff.

The second tape deals more with electronics, while beats are somehow concealed. The sound line does not tend to swerve, though it angularly dithers impelling the geometric drones to change form and color. Everything moves in one direction. Some moments are pretty noisy, especially 'Borbangnatyr' with its opulent synth tremor. A rebellious tape!

Part III is the calmest of the three. The main effort here has been done to improve and strengthen melodic features without leaving a traditional field of synth freakness. And results are great! Six very melodic and dub tracks are hidden in the cassette. The beat line returns and sounds very clean and impeccable, while the bass adds some dancy freshness to the spreading synth waves. Tunes do not quash each other and even frittered abstract cues look very righteous.
Funky music for diabolic dancing.










Food Pyramid is C. Hontona, C. Farstak, M. Weather from Minneapolis.
You can buy these tapes from Moon Gylph or distributors.

Endless Endless Endless, Derek Rogers - Ruralfaune/Synth series

Bruno from Ruralfaune label sent me two recent CDs. So take a look! 

Endless Endless Endless – Endless Endless Endless, CD Ruralfaune

This album consists of two pieces. The first track can be described as IDM and synth meditation with a smack of industrial. Quite interesting, right? Naked beat serves as a pillar which is being gradually sprouted by electric pulses, synth waves and at the end of the track – meditative vocals. Second track is stricter in terms of the style. We have here a tranquil psycho folk story, which deals with drawling synth roulades, faded guitar and arrhythmia. The sound engages a listener into its misterious games. And these games are beautiful games of the beautiful mind.

Compelling work!

Endless Endless Endless is a duo of experimentalists (Brett Renfer and James Tichenor) from New York.

Derek Rogers – Triagonals, CD Synth Series

This is what I do love about music. A linear and thorough research of the sound substance! The title of the record actually blurts the secret… Be prepared to be drowning in the ocean of cosmic signals and what they deliver. Vibrating drones smoothly and deliberately mantle consciousness. The sound is ambient and minimal. Cascades of geometric figures made of sound magma slowly approach through the vacuum. Almost physically palpable oscillations. Amazing. One more gem in Synth Series collection.

Derek Rogers is an electronic composer based in Austin.


You can buy these records from Ruralfaune or from distributors. 

Darius Ciuta & Ilia Belorukov - D-И + B-C split, ~taqueOT, 2011

Many thanks to Artem from ~taqueOT for sending me this newly released material.

Darius Ciuta & Ilia Belorukov - D-И + B-C 4-CD box

This is a real monolith! A whole world has been created here by two talented musicians. 4 CDs, one hour-long track per each side. This work somehow reminds me of Tore Honore Boe's sounds. Just imagine a mix of his 'Suave siesta' and 'solvstoy' 7inch and you'll get something similar to what Belorukov and Ciuta have done on their tracks. Each CD is a collage made of field recording, spontaneous abstract objects and computer sounds. The world of very quiet noises and pulses opens up with all its uncontrolled beauty. A listener is inexorably put in position of powerless happenstance witness. As a result, the work seems to be strictly monologic. Sound is pure, natural and sometimes jerky. No veneer. It moves, changes and spreads very slowly. If you find a way into the very heart of this record, it will probably show you how the world had begun.
Highly recommended!
Ilia Belorukov is a saxophonist and experimentalist from Saint-Petersburg. Check out his recently launched label - Intonema.
Darius Ciuta  is an architect and sound artist based in Kaunas.
You can buy this treasure from ~taqueOT

  

Sean McCann - The Capital, Aguirre, 2011

Sean McCann - The Capital LP 

I don’t know how Sean McCann had thought out this record but for me it’s all about water, about watching water, touching it, smelling it, depicting its features.

On the first track we sit on a shore and watch the calm water surface. We catch reflections, specks and gleams it produces. Tender but persistent guitar drones wrap ferment synth waves.

The second track is a boat trip along the fast but still calm river. We feel that the boat is only a part of the water. We feel that we are a part of the boat. Every sound on this track shows the synergetic power of the world.

On the third track we go deep. We see beautiful fishes, giant and slow whales, magic electric rays and unknown monsters. They talk to each other with signals, which we can’t understand.

We resurface on the fourth track and see the sky, which seems to be closer then ever. We’re in the middle of the ocean. Waves are soft and pushy. They lead us. Cosmic voices are mixed with massive but melodic drones and pulsating vibes.

The fifth track is the most acoustic one. Awkward piano, quiet guitar and thin arrows of strings guide us through the masses of warm water. It rains (I am not sure about this but I definitely saw the rain when I listened to the track first time).

The last track shows us the unknown powers of water. We see that it can be aggressive and mercy, fun and even freak. We see that it’s alive. We can find more abstract sounds on this track, which add some incompleteness to the whole story.

Absolutely splendid work! One of the best albums in 2011 up to date.

You can still buy a copy from Aguirre.

Aranos - In Snow On Ice Cabbage Dances, Sangoplasmo, 2011

Lubomir kindly sent me the tracks from the very first release on his newly established label Sangoplasmo.
So here it is:

Aranos - In Snow On Ice Cabbage Dances

The sound pokes into its most abstract abilities on this tape. It concists of two 30-minute tracks.
On the first track (Overborne continents) the sound fidgets and touches its own parts trying to understand the holy nature of each sonic move. Lucid and dramatic percussion appears as an onlooker constantly checking the time as if waiting for something. Slow and quiet guitar passes by and leaves deliquescing trace behind. The latter is immediately filling out with amorphous, sibilat substance and eternal vibes. This is an image of an empty city.
The second track (Therefore autumn therefore) shows the same approach but from a different angle. The 'kinoeye' is chained to the only sight. What we hear is a rendition of that sight. More and more details appear in the depiction. Convulsive sounds of bells are trying to remove us from the fixed point and at the end of 8th minute they do manage to do that. We enter a massive, cold and windy sound environment rarely interrupted by quiet ritual beats and far guitar drones. At the end melodic and unusually warm strings appear as the last tempting but then we find ourselves in the cold desert again. Very strong, masterful story.
Highly recommended!
Aranos is an artist based in Czech Republic (he had several collaborations with 'Nurse with wound' and Current 93)
You can by this tape directly from the label - Sangoplasmo. 

Golden Cup - Sogno Elettrico, Blackest Rainbow, 2011, LP

At long last, I hold this record in my hands. Thanks L.

Golden Cup - Sogno Elettrico, LP

On this record we're dealing with slow-motioned photography. Electronic loops and vibes run and pulsate as alarmed animals trying to escape invisible predator. It's all about trails and nostrils. Guitar sounds create a beautiful and hypnotizing cobweb of  rings in the water. And everything happens in a slow-motion. No beats, no strict lines. The absolute chaos of choices. One movement falls into pieces which soon turn into one swirl again. We're put in a solid, integral environment where sounds do not change the structure but do change the direction. Pretty meditative.
This is the latest release on Blackest Rainbow  and the very first LP by Golden Cup. The record consists of two tracks, one per each side.
Golden Cup is a duo from Portugal: Maurizio Abate and Luca Massolin (he is also running 8mm records).
You can get this vinyl here - Blackest Rainbow.

black hippies - wicker house, prairie fire, 2011

6 news cassettes on Prairie fire!
Here's one of them:

Black Hippies - Wicker house, cassette 

This tape is totally mad. It contains 7 tracks that present absolutely darkest side of free acoustic noise. Harsh cacophony constructed of chaotic percussions and guitar screams bring the Wicker house directly to your door. Rudderless and blatant shadows from the dark world seem to be blind. They inevitably have to move slowly and gropingly, tripping over their own feet and shouldering each other. This looks like a strange, scary but somehow very attractive dance. A morbidly mesmerizing game of mind.
I think 'Wicker house' could be a great soundtrack for Jan Svankmajer's films.
Black Hippies is a dou from Minnesota.
Limited to 60. Look and grab.

Gretel, Pententacles - Full of Nothing, 2011

Full of Nothing label has 5 new releases in its stock-list. Check Them out here.
I was lucky enough to grab two of them.
So here they are:
Gretel "Casket" cassette

This tape reminds me of one almost drown in oblivion artist Gertie with amazing cassette 'Overdoses of Roses', released in far 80s. Gretel seems to use pretty much the same approach in her tape, though the sound is a little bit more aggressive and lacks vocals (which are just great when they rarely erupt through the guitar freakness). The record is quite melodic and sometimes even pop (lo-fi of course). Simple percussion looms quite disdainfully and eschews to add any strength to the main line. On the contrary, it's flailing around without any proper intention.
Gretel is a solo project of Ekaterina who sings and plays guitar in her noise-rock band Madlene.
16 tracks. Extremely limited edition.  

Pententacles - "Pententacles" cassette

 

This tape is more abstract, much quieter and much scarier! The sounds are lost in a labyrinth. They move in the darkness waiting for something to show up and to carry the away. This effect is made with two guitars only. The atmosphere is hazy, anxious and a bit depressive. The tape contains two tracks - one on each side.
Pententacles are a Moscow-based duo.
Another extremely limited edition.
You can buy the tapes (if they won't be sold out during the Love Cult's European tour) at Full of Nothing.

Shameless Barbarians «Pinkmilk», Quasi Pop, 2011

Ed Sol kindly shared with me this record recently released on his label Quasi pop.
Shameless Barbarians «Pinkmilk»

Sounds for this tape were recorded in 2008 by a trio from Ukraine. Each side contains a different version of two stories - Birdmilk and Pinkmilk. Both present a singular movement towards the kosmische tradition. The massive sounds of organ collide with fast and serpentine arrows of vocoder pieces. The latter try to quibble but are inevitably caught and tightly sprouted by the army of scrappy tape loops and echoes. One gets nowhere but revolves about one's axis hovering as a bird on the wind above the unquiet ocean. Though the tape is more or less ambient, it seems to possess a kind of drama common to diverse instrumental music.
Highly recommended.
Buy this awesome cassette from Quasi pop.

Cloudland Ballroom - Illusion Circles, Aguirre, 2011

Here's one more tape from Aguirre:
Cloudland Ballroom - Illusion Circles

This is a drone adventure. Cold and at times even shy tunes occupy the tape. Rare cracks periodically get the sound back from sky to earth. Nordic calmness is connected with disproportionated mix of lo-fi needles. 12 tracks of highly replete atmosphere can be played without pauses. The tape is very integral. Classic synth conjures up pulsating and ephemeral visions. The theme is always the same - approaching as deep as possible.
A very linear, brittle and ambient work.
Cloudland Ballroom is James R. Moore who lives and experiments with tunes in UK.
You can still buy the cassette from Aguirre or from the artist directly.
Limited to 100.
Alternatively you can listen to it on Soundcloud.
Watch the video on title track by Moduli TV:

Ssaliva - Thought Has Wings, Leaving Records, 2011

Something very special from Leaving records:
Ssaliva - Thought Has Wings

The name of this tape tells the whole thing. 9 tracks by Ssaliva seem to be pulled out from a time-hole leading to a bit contorted 80s. One can find on this record: juicy beats, disco melodies, lo-fi approaches, dancing monuments of the lost epoch, sunny vibes and beautifully sporadic parade of the first spring petals.
My favorites: the bass line on 'Crayloa' is a mouthwatering masterpiece and when you listen to the final track you understand how rock-n-roll can be tu(r)ned to the future.
 At times lo-fi pop, at times psychedelic, at times dance record. Pure joy.
Ssaliva is François Boulanger from Belgium (God, I love Belgium).
You can buy this record from Leaving records.