Birds of Tin & Mechanism - Scapegrace (self release, 2000)

1-1 Untitled (42:40)
2-1 Untitled (50:07)

Ambient improvisée enregistrée en live sans post production...

Improvised discs. The first (I think) one, begins with a loop of a disc skipping at the end groove, with various low frequency grinds coming in, the texture thickening with whistle, gurgling and electronic rattles throughout this single-work side. I first was impressed by Birds of Tin in their split with Augur, Strange Seeds Come From Odd Flowers, still in print from Manifold (without the limited, deluxe, burlap packaging with two extra cassettes.) The second starts out with a type of electronic snoring slide with metallic percussion, as if Alberich were falling asleep at the forge. Brooke Oates, a/k/a Bird of Tin, wrote to me that "The Scapegrace CD was a collaborative project. Each CD was recorded live in my home studio. Both pieces were completely improvised and there was no post recording editing at all." Recommended to those who like the electronic and sound-texture part of improvisation, such as fans of Erstwhile and Intransitive releases. Oh, and great packaging: two CDrs facing each other with notes on a CD-shaped celluloid film and soft sandpaper between the discs, held together with a nut and both.
La Folia

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Rapoon & Birds Of Tin - Monomyth: Par Avion (Manifold Records, 2004)

Monomyth
1-01 Rapoon & Birds Of Tin Gravida (7:49)
1-02 Rapoon & Birds Of Tin Holla's Fountain (11:12)
1-03 Rapoon & Birds Of Tin A Frequent Returning (5:39)
1-04 Rapoon & Birds Of Tin Lost, Probably (6:52)
1-05 Rapoon & Birds Of Tin Fetch (15:10)
1-06 Rapoon & Birds Of Tin Multiform (4:40)
1-07 Rapoon & Birds Of Tin Cast The First Stone (16:50)

Raw Monomyth
2-01 Rapoon Untitled (7:12)
2-02 Rapoon Untitled (8:12)
2-03 Rapoon Untitled (6:52)
2-04 Rapoon Untitled (8:51)

Solo Tracks For Monomyth
3-01 Birds Of Tin Holla's Fountain (Original) (15:11)
3-02 Birds Of Tin Gravida II (8:57)
3-03 Birds Of Tin Fetch (Original) (5:46)
3-04 Birds Of Tin Cast The First Stone (7:57)
3-05 Birds Of Tin Multiform (Original) (2:39)
3-06 Birds Of Tin Quickening (Remix) (25:54)

Version limitée de la collaboration entre Birds of Tin et Rapoon de l'album Monomyth (qui est toujours en vente et ne sera donc pas posté ici), les deux CDr l'accompagnant rendent compte du travail de chacun des artistes...

Newly released from the Manifold Label to compliment the release of the 'Monomyth' collaboration by Rapoon and Birds of Tin. This is a limited edition set of 199 numbered copies, check for availability. Contains the 'Monomyth' mass-release disc, as well as Rapoon 'Raw Monomyth', a CDR of exclusive material, and the Birds of tin 'Solo Monomyth' CDR, unreleased material, remixes and raw material. Wrapped in a ancient-looking raw parcel work, with vintage Air Mail and Par Avion stickers, as well as stamps, wax and and other postage archetypes. Rough twine encircling the package holds an authentic letter or greeting card from the
40's through the 60's. We spent months gathering the antique parts to create this fascinating package. Not two are even close to being alike. Both of these discs are of the caliber you would expect from any other full-length release by either artist. Not simply raw material, oddities or so-so tracks but captivating, energized works. The Rapoon disc is interesting for it's almost minimal, spacious sound, as it was originally used as the basis for the collaboration and thus contains less ornamentation and density than a mass-release Rapoon record. The Birds Of Tin is remarkable because it manages to reveal a little about the artists method through the remixes and alternate tracks. But another part of the disc is the endless plain of dark, strange
ambient it shows, similar to the earliest Birds Of Tin work. The mass-release 'Monomyth' disc is always availablein the store, regardless of this items state.
Manifold Records

le CD1 est toujours en vente / 1st disc is still on sale
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Francisco López - La Selva (V2_Archief, 1998)

1 La Selva (70:49)

Enregistrements réalisés dans la forêt tropicale costa-ricaine...

Documenting the environmental sounds of a Costa Rican rainforest, Portuguese composer / ethnomusicologist Francisco Lopez has composed this continuous collage weaving the multitude of sounds from the forest: frogs, birds, rain, watrerfalls. The true feat of this album is the liner notes which features a lengthy taxonomy of the almost all of the species causing these sounds (i.e. at 29'09" there's the croak of Debdrobates pumulio - the Strawberry Dart-poison frog).
Aquarius Records

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Machinefabriek, Soccer Committee & Wouter van Veldhoven - Zeeg (Digitalis, 2007)

1 Zeeg (37:07)

Mariska Baars à la guitare, Wouter van Veldhoven au tape recorder et Rutger Zuydervelt aux drones pour un morceau épique....

Although Rutger Zuydervelt, a Dutchman better known to the world of crunchy electronic experimentation as Machinefabriek, really doesn't need much of an introduction, you might need a little info about his two gifted colleagues. Mariska Baars is a singer and guitarist who performs under the unusual moniker soccer Committee and treated us to the incredible 'sC' album earlier this year, while Wouter Van Veldhoven is a veritable master of the reel-to-reel tape machine with an album promised on Type Records in the new year - both have worked with Zuydervelt countless times before. Now the astute among you will have noticed that Miss Baars collaborated with Zuydervelt on the crucial 'Clay' 3" cd, but where that collaboration saw a distinct Machinefabriek manifesto including just a snatch of her ethereal vocals, 'Zeeg' is a fully fledged ensemble piece giving each member the focus they need to shine. A glorious forty-minute epic of a track, we begin with Baars' subtle fingerpicking which is slowly accompanied by the tape recorded clanks and taps of Wouter Van Veldhoven's buzzing reel-to-reel and a selection of growing ebow drones from Zuydervelt. As usual with anything bearing a connection to the Machinefabriek constellation, there is a dynamic and command of space that's just breathtaking, and for the first half of the record the chiming bells, plucked guitar and light drones could have tiptoed from the bowels of any more recent 12k release. The charming simplicity doesn't last too long, however, as it melts into gut-churning bass drones and a dense brick-wall of hissing, reverberating sound. All this is slowly piped through the tape machine again and again before the calmer elements start to wade through the fog and calm is restored. Shockingly, the disc was recorded live in the comfort of Wouter Van Veldhoven's home, but from the measured preciseness of the recording and the complete sonic narrative it seems like a carefully sequenced studio arrangement rather than something mixed on the hoof in a live environment. What I think might come as a surprise to Machinefabriek followers among you is how different this album is from most of his output, it's a separate, unique work and shows both an evolution of sound for the artists involved and for the excellent Digitalis label. Cracking work all round and housed in a gorgeous textured card digipak it's just simply an essential purchase. Highly Recommended.
Boomkat

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Machinefabriek, Leo Fabriek, Wouter van Veldhoven & Mariska Baars - Live Edits (Digitalis, 2008)

A Machinefabriek, Leo Fabriek, Wouter van Veldhoven & Mariska Baars 08•03•08 (15:21)
B Machinefabriek, Leo Fabriek & Wouter van Veldhoven 29•03•08 (12:56)

Cette cassette rassemble deux sessions différentes réalisées en mars 2008, de beaux drones utilisant une multitude d'instruments (harmonium, piano, guitare, voix, taperecorders, etc) mais qui restent simples, le tout dominé par les notes du piano...

An all-star line-up of dutch artists convene to make this very special, infuriatingly limited cassette for Digitalis. Rutger Zuydervelt, Wouter Van Veldhoven, Mariska Baars and Leo Fabriek are the players in question, between them representing Machinefabriek, Soccer Committee and Julie Mittens. The cassette draws together two distinct live sessions recorded separately in March 2008, each edited into side-spanning drone pieces assembled from guitar, harmonium, tape machines and voices. The end result is predictably epic in scope, sounding like some distant orchestra tuning up across the vast, droning A-side, while once flipped over the cassette reveals a more overtly detailed, more conventionally musical persona, with hazy remnants of piano melody taking form, establishing a corroded melodic sensibility augmented by fractious electronic elements. Despite the abundance of contributors there's never any real sense of clutter, and the outcome of these edited sessions is a music that sounds supremely patient and somehow unassuming in its minimalist tactics, yet listen carefully and you'll hear a body of work whose clarity and sophistication goes far beyond the usual parameters of the conventionally murky world of cassette music.
Boomkat

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MNortham - :coyot: (Erewhon, 2001)

1 Observation Of Wind At Molecular States Of Evolution (21:49)
2 Effects Of Atmospheric Pressure On Air-Born Particles Of Solids And Liquids (17:23)
3 The Copulation And Subsequent Conception Of Vacuums Between Wires And Winds (22:05)

En juillet 1998, Michael Mnortham installe sept harpes éoliennes près d'un ancien bunker sur l'île de Suomenlinna, en Finlande, il les enregistre, les amplifie dans le bunker et y mêle des field recordings faits sur place, le tout donne une impression de calme et d'immobilité...

in september 1998, i assembled the sound installation "filtering the current" for the AMORPH98! festival, held on suomenlinna island off the coast of finland. with the help of students from the sibelius academy in helsinki and organizers of the festival, i installed seven aeolian harps on the sod roof of an old and heavily fortified gunpowder bunker named "kaponieeri coyet." each aeolian harp consisted of a wire strung between two planks of wood that focused the wind across the wires, inducing harmonics that were picked up by contact microphones and subsequently mixed and amplified in the interior chamber of the bunker.

over the course of the weekend exhibition, i spent many hours adjusting the sounds and the wires, working late into the night within the massive stonewalls and on the roof. i was listening into the darkness of the sea through the wind that was courting my wires. the bunker was located on a peninsula at the southern extreme of the island, facing the gulf of finland; during the day, i explored the peninsula and made recordings of the rocky coast, the resonant interiors of great cannon barrels, a kite flying in heavy wind, and the grass of quiet little nooks between rolling granite forms that made up the body of the island.

more than a year later, the transmuted sounds and memories of suomenlinna island have evolved into :coyot: -- a sound journey through mnemonic debris blown by winds from a distant place.

mnortham, july 2000

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Milieu - Suntanned Melodies (Milieu Music, 2009)

1 Base Map (6:33)
2 Summer Friends (Mrs Jynx Remix) (5:28)
3 Shade Loop (0:58)
4 Nicepollen (4:34)
5 Color The Waves (Remodelled) (3:00)
6 Jacket Holograph (Ten And Tracer Remix) (4:43)
7 Blue White Nights (4:08)
8 Holograph Dub (4:50)
9 Fortyfive Loop (1:04)
10 Boulevard Haze (Remodelled) (5:55)
11 Cropduster (Obfusc Remix) (4:39)
12 Jacket Holograph (Smoking Neon Mix) (4:30)
13 Cropduster (Drifting Air Version By Forrest) (5:49)

Limited to 25 copies. Included as an exclusive bonus disc with the first pre-orders of Milieu's Colortone album.

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Oöphoi & Klaus Wiese - Wouivre (Aurora, 1999)

1 Nemeton (The Celestial Clearing) (0:25)
2 Llyr (The Dark Stream) (17:40)
3 Taran (The Thunder) (9:03)
4 Llia'g (The Wizard) (6:51)
5 Dheeog Bhair (Hallucinations) (7:17)
6 Guth Ather (Invocation) (18:39)
7 Cruith Ire (The Primordial Harp) (13:40)

Collaboration entre Gianluigi Gasparetti (Oöphoi) et Klaus Wiese qui créent une ambient profonde, subtile et sombre...

Let us begin with something drawn from the inside of the special cover booklet wrapped around the plastic protection sleeve containing the disc. "Stormy winds will fight against each other, and their Sound will reach God's ear" - Merlin. "In Celtic mythology Wouivres the Divine Spirit: like a snake crawling along the ground, the Wouivre runs deep beneath the earth, bringing Life and Fertility. There are places where this hidden and sacred Stream reaches the surface, creating a link between Sky and Earth: on such a place the Templar Knights built the Cathedral of Chartres." A positively enthralling, heady, concept for sacred reverie through headphone listening beckoned at my first reading of these lines. This is where the visions take their shape and the journey begins.

"Nemeton - The Celestial Clearing" is a 0:25 second embarkation piece that opens an inner window to a dimension of startling depth and an immense, all encompassing, voluminous soundscape. The size of the soundstage presented by this piece is alarmingly large and unsettlingly real. This first glimpse of the stage set by the minds eye is incredibly adroit in presenting the spatial concept for what is to follow and hopefully what will come to pass from within the depths of Wouivre.

"Llyr - The Dark Stream" is Oöphoi's solo homage to, and naming of the Wouivre, employing water, Tibetan singing bowls, stones, gongs, and birds. "Llyr" is a definitive study of the world of spacious reverb tails and the endlessly expanding notion of liquidity in sound. Employing dark suggestion "Llyr" is nevertheless a relaxing piece in the purest sense. Readily inducing the contemplation of the myths and mystery that the Earth's elements employ to surround and entertain the inquisitive soul.

Klaus Wiese enters the mix with an upright cello, a bowchime and the monochord as his chosen voice for "Taran - The Thunder". A third voice, that of Rick Rummler, engages the periphery of the soundscape on the bowchime while Oöphoi weaves a spell on electronics, a flute, looping and processing. An extremely organic sounding track that had me casting sidelong glances about the room searching for cues to the impending release of the anticipated peal of thunder. The anticipation was much akin to that which accompanies the sensory overload of a soundtrack that underpins the moment when you as the listener would rather not have anyone open that door or walk in to the open expanse of the waiting glen.

And thus enters the clangorous realm of "Llia'g - The Wizard". A shorter piece in the context of the other tracks but one which is packed with potent visions of being in the presence of one that commands you maintain an unerring eye and keep a watchful vigil lest you be swept away following your bewitched grasp of reality. Track four attempts to focus light on the face of darkness but only magnifies the mysteries cloaked in the unknown by revealing deeper recesses of blackness. "Llia'g" employs the same instrumentation and artists as the previous track minus the monochord yet morphs their sonic identity enough to present a dynamic realm of unearthly voicing.

"Dheoog Bhair - Hallucinations" retains the undercurrent of tension introduced through "Llia'g" with an added dimension of what can only be described as an altered state. Reminiscent of the metallic yet gauze swathed manipulations of sound created by the fever induced hallucinations from the Hong Kong Flu, which I contracted in my youth during an East Coast vacation. The surreal quality created adds another level of tension that is at the same time relaxing and meditative, opening and closing alternative paths to understanding, and also engages ones thoughts in a confusing yet appealing interruption and re-direction of the stream of conscious thought.

"Guth Ather - Invocation" is exactly as the title states. An 18:39 epic wherein I was presented with the possibility of direct contact with, and the inner peace attainable through, the entity of the Divine Spirit.

The closing concept of "Wouivre" is "Guth Ire - The Primordial Harp", also a dedication to Oöphoi's father who is now floating in the "Wouivre". Pastoral and ethereal in its nature "Guth Ire" conjured a corporeal understanding of that which lies within the dimensional planes one usually only postulate's the existence thereof. A voyage beyond yet deep within oneself that was as engaging as it was entertaining. "Wouivre" was an outstanding ride that I plan on returning to again and again. Look not over one's shoulder nor listen to what you cannot hear unless you are ready to reconcile that it quite possibly may be yourself that you encounter within the "Wouivre".
Ambient Visions

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Birds Of Tin : Ene - .Key Ray. (Mystery Sea, 2001)

1 Key Nell (5:07)
2 Open Doors (6:41)
3 Paper Lock (12:43)
4 Clear Passage Through (11:16)
5 Thin Walls (0:14)
6 Entry (7:24)
7 Endless Empty (10:07)
8 Key Ray (11:24)

Pour sa première réalisation Mystery Sea fait collaborer Birds of tin (Brooke Oates) et Ene (Scott Hudgins).... Long flot de sons évoluant et muant lentement....

For its first release, the new belgian dark ambient label Mystery Sea has chosen to present eight track composed together by two american projects, Birds of Tin and Ene.
"Key Ray" is a nice album of flowing drones, very surprising for people who, like me, were expecting something far more rhythmic, considering what Ene's "Cost vs Consciousness" album sounds like.
No beats here, but long soundscapes of dreamy tones,
slightly distorted background ("Open doors") and looped basses.
With its relentless droning of distant tunes and very bleak arrangements, this album sounds like a muffled storm, with a lot of bass and heavy elements gathering in the background, while the front sounds, lighter, are flowing nicely.
The CD is instrumental, with the exception of a long sampled ranting in "Paper lock" and "Clear passage through", which made me think a lot of the kind of things Godspeed You Black Emperor! like to sample (think of "Slow riot for new zero Kanada").
Sometimes getting a bit more in a noisy direction ("Paper lock", "Entry"), sometimes silence-like (the short "Thin walls"),
"Key Ray" is an unexpectedly experimental album that combines both very nice atmospheres and a thicker, somewhat heavier side on which the emphasis is more put on the effects applied to a very distant wall of noise than on the calm tones that dominate some of the tracks (like the melodic beginning of "Endless empty", before it gets full of saturated sounds).
Heavy in its atmospheric part and light in the noise, this album is a weird mixture that stays calm but never gets really relaxing, making the listener uncomfortable about wether a storm is going to break out of the dense elements layered on the tracks.
Not as twisted as Wilt, and darker and more disturbing than Liquid Morphine, this is a nice CD for Mystery Sea to present itself, and something that use bleak tones and drones in a personal way (which is all the more surprising when you consider that two differents acts are responsible for this sound).
A very ambient sea indeed, but that is deep and whose waters are not so calm.
Recycle Your Ears

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Mirror - Live In Bern (Three Poplars, 2003)

1 Live In Bern (47:13)

no need for a review...

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Mirror - Pedestrian / Nocturne (Three Poplars, 2000)

A Pedestrian (4:41)
B Nocturne (6:21)

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Mirror - Islands (bonus 7") (Die Stadt, 2001)

1 Untitled
2 Untitled

the album is here

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Aidan Baker - Same River Twice (Drone Records, 2004)

A Same River Twice (7:49)
B Some Of My Best Friends Are ¾ Water (7:50)

Boucles de guitare sur la première face, un côté plus tribal sur la seconde avec les percussion et l'utilisation de flûtes...

We never find enough artists where the phenomena of being writers as well musicians intersect but the Canadian AIDAN BAKER is one of them. Since he began to release music (solo or with his band-project ARC) he has shown poetic sensibility and many emotional levels while creating this elegant & beautiful guitarish-drone-harmonics. The two pieces here on his very first vinyl-release are thus inspired by literature titles plunged us into the sound-waves of some of the most mysterious shimmering daydreaming episodes. Dare diving in these warm-colourful travelling fluids... Each cover comes with an handwritten piece of poetry by the artist.
Drone Records

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Vibracathedral Orchestra - Vibracathedral String Band / Vibracathedral Drum Troupe (Freedom From, 2000)

A1 Vibracathedral String Band (4:33)
B1 Vibracathedral Drum Troupe (4:33)

Une face drone, une face percu en liberté...

Two fragments from the full orchestra step out alone. One side is droney string-bow action, while the other is a full-throttle drum/bell/shaker shakedown.

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Vibracathedral Orchestra - Øyenstikker Utbrudd (self release, 2005)

1 Live At The Brudenell Social Club, Leeds On 21 October 2003 (37:01)
2 Live At The Non-Political Club, Sheffield On 26 March 2004 (40:29)

Two live performances... Limited to 50 copies for distribution only in Oslo and Bergen...

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Another Kind Of Language: Dedicated To Andrei Tarkovsky (and/OAR, 2003)

1-01 MNortham When Inaccessible (15:20)
1-02 Jon Tulchin Mnemonic Cartography (7:25)
1-03 Yannick Dauby Bruissements (7:13)
1-04 Dale Lloyd Smoldering Ardor (7:05)
1-05 John Hudak In The Dream (21:17)
1-06 Kiyoshi Mizutani Nicholai (8:30)
2-01 Rsundin Spegeln (7:18)
2-02 V.V. We Were Young (6:11)
2-03 Magali Babin At The End Of The Rope (6:41)
2-04 Duul_drv Staring Into The Field, Waiting, Travelling, Listening (4:52)
2-05 Josh Russell Objects (18:22)
2-06 Phillip Pietruschka Recondite Geometry (6:44)
2-07 Sawako Mirror (5:50)
2-08 Logoplasm Sacrifice (10:57)

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Eco E Narciso. Presenze Sonore (Wire Magazine, 2006)

1 Bruno Dorella,Marco Milanesio & Fabrizio Modonese Palumbo Canale Cavour (15:09)
2 John Duncan & Valerio Tricoli The Garden (Excerpt) (9:59)
3 Jacob Kirkegaard Ravine (11:00)
4 Stephan Mathieu Die Sonne Toent Nach Alter Weise (Excerpt From A Shortwave Radio Landscape) (13:00)
5 Steve Roden 22 Letters And The Resonance Of A Three Pointed Star (12:58)

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John Hudak - Brooklyn Bridge (Shirocoal Recordings, 1998)

1 Untitled (17:03)
2 Untitled (15:17)
3 Untitled (11:00)
4 Untitled (16:33)

John Hudak inspiré par le trfic sur le pont de Brooklyn...

John Hudak inspired by the traffic crossing Brooklyn Bridge....

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Id Battery - Inferno From An Occult Diary (Siwa, 1999)

A1 Untitled
A2 Untitled
A3 Untitled
A4 Untitled
B1 Untitled

L'alchimie du duo Brandon LaBelle - Loren Chasse fonctionne à plein pour créer des drones lo-fi paisibles....

Recorded almost two years ago, "Inferno From An Occult Diary" is the fourth album from the lo-fi dronologist outfit Id Battery. Here, Loren Chasse and Brandon La Belle present their alchemical duets crafted around field recordings, slow rumbling bells, creeping organ drones, and the lo-fi errors of cable buzz. Between the seemingly placid aquatic sounds of rain tumbling onto sheet metal and the sounds of electricity, an ominous realization occurs that these sounds - however tranquil - are also charged with a certain life threatening danger. Recommended as with the rest of Id Battery catalogue!
Aquarius Records

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Id Battery - Last Blue Before Black (Unique Ancient Tavern, 1998)

1 Untitled (5:46)
2 Untitled (18:48)
3 Untitled (5:06)
4 Untitled (17:42)
5 Untitled (9:49)

Drones subtils, bruit mininal pour impact maximal...

Architectural ruins, industrial detritus, trodden footpaths are turned into sonorous landscapes, and combined with minimal electronics, we get the latest environmental/ambient journey from this increasingly well-known duo of sonic investigators. ID BATTERY's instrument consists of nothing more than their ears and a belief in the moment.
Unique Ancient Tavern

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