Birchville Cat Motel - The Frog Prince (Anthem Records, 2007)

1 The Frog Prince (5:05)

Riffs de guitare en boucle et choeurs de grenouilles....

It begins with a strange collection of vocalizations, duck calls, metallic shimmers, distant moans, alien rhythms, and what sounds like monkeys or maybe crickets, a dense tangle of sounds that swirl and intertwine before giving way to a propulsive metallic groove, a chugging guitar, plodding drums, but all beneath a mighty chorus of croaking frogs (hence the title?)! It sounds a bit like the main riff from Judas Priest's "You Got Another Thing Coming" looped over and over. And throw in the frogs and suddenly you've got some crazy mix of Circle's Andexelt and Sounds Of North American Frogs, and that is a very good thing indeed.
Aquarius Records


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Preslav Literary School - Beautiful Was The Time (Elephant & Castles, 2009)

1 John the Exarch
2 Ohrid Must Die
3 Cyrillic

Reçu un mail aujourd'hui d'Adam de Preslav Literary School, très bel album de drones mélodiques parfois un peu dérangeant, entièrement constitué d'enregistrements d'une centaine de cassettes réarrangés.
Il devrait se produire à Paris le 28 mars à 18:30 pour 6 euros à l'Espace en Cours 56 rue de la Réunion 75020 Paris avec :Take:, Aymeric Hainaux, Cawa Sorix, Le Lit (in bed with Schubert), Pali Meursault et Maité Arroita Jauregi....

Received a mail of Adam from Preslav Literary School today, very nice album so....
"At times disturbing, definitely inquisitive, this composition requires attention, rewards lurking behind the corner if one’s patient enough." Massimo Ricci, Paris Transatlantic Magazine
"Halfway music, halfway aural investigation... the approach of Preslav Literary School results in rich textures and a specific sound that makes his tracks unique and memorable." Phlow Magazine
"...a fine balance between deconstructing itself and creating an audio-environmental soundscape that is fascinating and diverting." Ampersand Etcetera

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visit Elephant & Castles myspace and Elephant & Castles website (work in progress)
premier album en téléchargement libre sur archive.org / 1st album available from archive.org

Machinefabriek - Ruis (self release, 2005)

1 Ruis (17:07)

Drone enregistré en live et tout en crescendo...

Rutger Zuydervelt shows us how to use the medium of CDR: 'Ruis' was recorded on june 27th and on july 4th, the promo of the released disc lands on this desk, and as usual with a nice cover. 'Ruis' was recorded live (I guess while reading the notes on the cover: a conversation between Rutger and someone who heard it) and is another leap forward. His previous concerts were noisy from second number one until the proceedings were over, but on 'Ruis' he builds things up in a carefully, starting in sheer inaudibility and then over the course of seventeen minutes things built up into a mighty crescendo. Way to go, I'd say.
Vital Weekly

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Dale Lloyd - Aionios The Fundament (Mystery Sea, 2004)

1 Saline Crystals Of Mother Solutions (20:03)
2 Adamite Effluvia (5:34)
3 A Degree More Corporeal Than Air (4:27)
4 A Degree Less Corporeal Than Water (8:34)
5 This Sea, Our Lodestone (9:15)

Drones composés de field recordings d'eau, retravaillés tout en en conservant l'essentiel, pour en faire des morceaux austères et subtils qui évoluent doucement et appellent à la méditation...

For those of you unfamiliar with the work of Dale Lloyd, let me take this review as an opportunity to introduce you to a wonderful artist. For the past three years, as owner of the and/OAR label, Lloyd has led a burgeoning community of interesting environmental and field recording artists. I suspect to be hearing and thus writing a lot about and/OAR artists for future editions of Wind and Wire. But first I turn to Lloyd's latest - a non-and/OAR release from Daniel Crokaert's wonderfully sublime Mystery Sea label - Aionios the Fundament. What is most fascinating about Aionios the Fundament is the way that each track expands sonically - that is, with little repetition - from one into the next. This is a work of very subtle detail that promises discovery with each listen. Beginning with the soft stuttering cadence and water-through-a-barrel hum of "Saline Crystals Born of Mother Solutions," Lloyd, in effect, splashes a blank canvas with a clear, watery and whispery alchemical mixture. This is indeed the "birth" of Lloyd's fundament - the barest structural details - from which this "aionic" embryo will grow. As the watery echo of swirls come closer into the audio field the track ends and, sure enough, track two, "Adamite Effluvia," takes on a kind of maturation from its predecessor - that is to say, it gains a thicker layer of pulsing flesh. It is remarkable that this recording was constructed entirely from field recordings obtained primarily from sound sculptor extraordinaire, K.M. Krebs. Lloyd's mixing of different sounds and his subtle volume adjustments create a truly rich and absorbing listening experience. "Adamite Effluvia" is a clear example of how Lloyd's creative use of panning in the recording process can utterly build on a sound's overall aesthetic - in this case, a slow and circular tumbling of cans bathed in a static effervescence that provides surprise with its sudden and abrupt ending. It is difficult to find a clear reference point when considering Aionios the Fundament. On the one hand, it exhibits all the wonderful mysteriousness of a master such as Asmus Tietchens or the provocative and multi-layered soundings of newer artists like Wilt or Heath Yonaites, but Lloyd is more inclined to a slower, more patient unfolding of sounds than most experimentalists. Tracks 3 and 4 explore the corporeality of air and liquid respectively. Once again Lloyd demonstrates his fascination with sounds at the audio interstices of white noise and ambience. Both tracks extend into open drone canvases - track 4, "A Degree Less Corporeal than Water," surges with even louder washes of breathy, shimmering rapids than its airy predecessor. Underscoring the flow of water, we hear additional layers of sporadic pops and pulses, as if hydrogen atoms are on the very cusp of becoming a liquid-one with lingering oxygen that is just out of reach. When we are finally taken into the actuality of the sea on "This Sea, Our Lodestone" the once embryonic mixture of saline crystals that began Aionios the Fundament is now a heavily reverberating curtain of thunderous drones. Highly recommended.
Wind & Wire

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Monos - Generators (Die Stadt, 2005)

1-1 Sleep (23:07)
1-2 Generators (21:50)
1-3 Slowly Fading (26:25)
2-1 The Black Sea (48:01)
3-1 Generating A Black Sea (45:50)

Monos voit collaborer Darren Tate et Colin Potter. Le premier disque est essentiellement basé sur des field recordings, le second sur des sons électroniques, le troisième inclut des composantes de chacun des deux précédents pour donner quelque chose un nouveau résultat....

Monos is the collaborative project by Colin Potter and Darren Tate. This double album consists of two different works recorded between 2002-2003 at IC studio. Disc one features 3 tracks that are loosely based on processed field recordings in the ‘classic’ Monos style, exploring internal spaces. Disc two has one long track of organic and electronic tones which combine to give a dense cloud of flowing sound. Additionally there will be a special mail order only edition includes an extra CDR, containing a track made up of components from both discs, which produces a completely different result.
Intuitive Music

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Aidan Baker - The Taste Of Summer On Your Skin (taâlem, 2004)

1 Part 1 (7:44)
2 Part 2 (7:37)
3 Part 3 (5:06)

Un enchevêtrement de longs cycles apaisants, comme une pulsation bénéfique qui laisse une large place au voyage intérieur. Une cassette de sophrologie qui atteindrait son but, parce qu'on ne s'ennuie pas ici. Aidan Baker nous rappelle que la musique c'est la combinaison harmonieuse de sons. La photo de Malika Uhien et l'artwork de Cyril Herry ainsi que le format peu coutumier du disque ne gâchent rien à l'affaire et semblent affirmer que le label taâlem entend tracer sa propre voie. Un monde étrange, mais pas étranger, s'ouvre à l'intérieur de l'auditeur et on est surpris, soudain, de toute la place qu'on a là à l'intérieur, bercé par l'extérieur. Il fait bon passer le temps avec the taste of summer on your skin.
DJ Duclock

A jumble of longs soothing cycles, like a beneficient pulse leaving a large place to an inner trip. A sophrology cassette that would achieve its purpose, because you won't get bored here. Aidan Baker reminds us that music is the harmonious combination of sounds. Malika Uhien's photo and Cyril Herry's artwork, as the unusual disc size, are in the mood and seem to say that taâlem label intends to make its own way. A strange world, but not foreigner, opens inside the listener and you are suddenly surprised of this huge place you have here inside, rocked by the outside. It is good to spend time with the taste of summer on your skin.
DJ Duclock

link removed by request, buy it !

Birchville Cat Motel - Blankangelspace (Celebrate Psi Phenomenon, 1999)

1 Untitled (18:18)
2 Untitled (39:46)

Deux documents en live...

Two live documents....

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Birchville Cat Motel & Reynols - Split (Reverse Recordings, 2004)

A1 Reynols Live In London In Paris (20:06)
B1 Birchville Cat Motel Mercy Shall Ride + These Darkening Orbits (20:14)

Drones lourds par les argentins Reynols et Birchville Cat Motel....

One side is featuring the outstanding now disbanded outrockers Reynols from Argentina, doing a 20 minute heavy drone session. The session was originally broadcast live on March 14th 2003 via Resonance FM from Paris to London. This is one of the more accessible Reynols recordings, but still unmistakable Reynols. The other side is featuring the equally outstanding Birchville Cat Motel from New Zealand doing a highly sensible and multilayered studio recording, that really shows the best sides of this great musician. Sloooww noise or ambient music without the sleaze element. Pauline Oliveros once described Reynols as deep heavy listening metal, a term that also seems to fit the drones of Birchville Cat Motel perfectly. In any case this is recording that will take dronefans to droneheaven. This release is limited to 208 copies pressed on 180 gram vinyl. Artworks by Reynols. Each record comes with an individual photograph.

Second Layer Records

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Birchville Cat Motel & Bruce Russell - Untitled (Celebrate Psi Phenomenon, 2000)

1 Aropax
2 Playing With Fire
3 Pylon Conquests
4 The Makrocosmical Adam
5 Sugar Grey Paper
6 Absinthe

Drones bruitistes par Birchville Cat Motel et Bruce Russell....

Noisy drones by Birchville Cat Motel and Bruce Russell...

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Entia Non - Inter Alia (U-Cover, 2007)

1 Dwell (6:51)
2 Skillion Resistance (6:06)
3 Existential Consent (7:47)
4 Anew (8:55)
5 Episteme (5:44)
6 Gossamer Crescent (5:45)
7 Woven Other (6:33)
8 Firmamental Swarf (5:24)
9 Reticent Feedback (6:52)

James McDougall crée avec tout ce qui lui tombe sous la main, mais essentiellement avec des field recordings et des manipulations électroniques une ambient sublime et profonde...

Autralian James McDougall aka Entia Non comes already with a second release on U-cover. After the just released 'Zero comma zero' on the U-cover minidisc label now he bring a nine track full lenght. Again he creates excellent ambient music by using samples, records, cds, tapes, shortwave radio, contact microphones, field recordings, vsti's plugs, toy instruments, a bass guitar, etc.... Entia Non delivers a high standard ambient release full of emotive and personal tracks. Don't miss this one!
U-Cover

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Koen Daigaku - Phosphorescence (U-Cover, 2008)

1 Untitled 1 (4:05)
2 Untitled 2 (3:30)
3 Untitled 3 (4:56)
4 Untitled 4 (4:30)
5 Untitled 5 (4:03)
6 Untitled 6 (3:31)
7 Untitled 7 (3:40)
8 Untitled 8 (3:29)
9 Untitled 9 (3:23)
10 Untitled 10 (2:54)
11 Phosphorescence Remix By Ontayso (11:11)

Shimizu Kei, sous le pseudonyme de Koen Daigaku, crée des drones sombres, spacieux et tout en profondeur à partir de samples de musique classique....

Koen Daigaku is Shimizu Kei from Japan and he creates a deep ambient sound that reminds us to the darkest moments of Gas. Rumbling basssounds under distorted and rework loops of classical music. Minimal experimental soundscapes from Tokyo's sub-culture including an epic remix by U-cover's home-act Ontayso.
U-Cover

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Omit - Quad (Corpus Hermeticum, 1992 (1997 reissue))

1-01 The Cross Fade
1-02 The Outcast
1-03 The Rut
1-04 Restraint
1-05 Recess
1-06 Release
1-07 Self Preparation Through Dislocation (State One)
1-08 Self Preparation Through Dislocation (State Two)
1-09 Release Of Dislocation (State Three)
1-10 Release Of Dislocation (Through Desperation)
1-11 The Turning Point
1-12 Towards The Centre
1-13 Birth Of Fade Out
1-14 Remission Of Self Separation Through Dislocation
1-15 Seclusion
1-16 Reclusion
1-17 Reference Outside
1-18 First Divider
2-01 The State Of Change
2-02 Second Divider
2-03 8.30 PM
2-04 The First Self Less Reflection
2-05 9.26 PM
2-06 The Second Self Less Reflection
2-07 Resectioned From Despair
2-08 The Third Self Less Reflection
2-09 End Dip (Mind Odyssey / State One)
2-10 The Act (Mind Odyssey / State Two)
3-01 Odyssey To Fade Out
3-02 The Fade Out
3-03 Gun Down
3-04 Sub Fadeback
3-05 The Lost State

Originellement réalisé sous forme de deux cassettes en 1992, réédité par Corpus Hermeticum en 1997 sous la forme d'un pack de trois CDs... Mine de sons: psych-rock, drone, ambient, improvisations, etc, etc...

A little bit of a cheat to "revisit" this monster, as it should still be ringing in the head of anyone who truly heard it at the time. Still, I haven't actually checked in with this in a few years, and once again the real thing way outdoes my head-ghosts. Originally birthed as 2 C-90 sets, Bruce Russell somehow mathed this into a Corpus Hermeticum triple CD, but it's hard to imagine how any physical object(s) can contain so many sounds and ideas. Windy drones, rattling noise, audio-verite atomspheres, psych-rock sound-scapes: really, what's not on here? Actually there's not much straight-up noise per se, but otherwise, everything interesting about the last 15 years of improv/noise/abstraction/whatever shows up. Yet everything is glued by the oddly chilly touch of Omit (a/k/a New Zealand recluse Clinton Williams), which I suppose makes Quad slightly serious/arch - there's definitely no fucking around here - but with noise this paralyzing, what difference does it make if you're smiling or straight-faced as long as your muscles are frozen? I was obsessed with this for a few months when it came out, but renavigating its mind-washing river, I realize I should've never filed it next to anything except my brain. I pathetically have yet to hear the, uh, comeback record, and D.Keenan claims it might be better than Quad, but even if that's true, I think I'll keep my illusions in tact for a little while longer.
Noiseweek

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Emeralds - Allegory Of Allergies (Gods of Tundra, 2007)

A1 Nereus (Spirits Over The Lake)
A2 Lawn Of Mirrors
A3 Vicious
A4 House Of Mirrors
A5 Mistakes
B1 Underwater Mountain
B2 Snores
B3 Arbol Del Tule
B4 Light Is Cool

Deux heures de drones en vagues entêtantes....

Using guitars, synths, tapes and who knows what else, the Ems drench the listener in languid waves of liquid drone. The sounds ebb and roll like audio mercury filling up your ear canals. Fuck ambient, this is audio Nyquil and a fist full of Xanax. And that's not to say you'll be put to sleep, just completely hammered by the tones. Every track's a winner and no filler in sight.
Plague Haus

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Seht - Dronemusic (Celebrate Psi Phenomenon, 2001)

1 Nil Music 1 2:02
2 The Dark Room 16:17
3 110 kV 3:11
4 Waste Water Drain 4:04
5 Nil Music 2 4:03
6 Jet Raga 4:08
7 Chimnon 2:41
8 Nil Music 3 1:56
9 All Quiet On Howth Now 4:28
10 Live At The Space 11:57
11 Bury Yr Dead 1:49

Onze drones variés évoluant de la free folk au minimalisme...

We at AQ have long been fans of Campbell Kneale and his project Birchville Cat Motel who along with the Dead C, Omit, Gate and a handful of others have helped to define one of the richest free-rock-noise-drone scenes in the world. For years Kneale has been releasing cds, lps and cassettes (most of them quite limited) of noisy electronic soundscapes and gorgeous organic drones. So when we discovered Kneale also ran a label, we figured it was definitely worth checking out. And how right we were. Not only is all of the music on Celebrate Psi Phenomena amazing, but the packaging is perfectly and stunningly designed as well (quite nice considering this is a cd-r label. See our crappy cd-r packaging rants in the last three or four lists) with each cd in a plastic sleeve nestled between two sheets of old fashioned textured wallpaper, printed, and sealed with a gold star.
Dronemusic indeed. Seht is one Steven Clover, who has released a handful of limited lathe cuts under different names. On 'Dronemusic' Clover crafts deep, rich sonorous drone music, seemingly simple but lush with harmonic overtones. As the record progresses, the drone becomes less and less obvious, from looped guitars and spastic rhythmic guitars to vaccuum cleaner drones and distorted woofer rumble to super austere almost Bernard Gunter-esque minimal dronescapes.
Aquarius Records

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Fabio Orsi - I'm EP Here (self release, 2006)

1 Untitled
2 Untitled
3 Untitled
4 Untitled
5 Untitled

No review. Limited to 30 copies....

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Natural Snow Buildings - Night Coercion Into The Company Of Witches (self release, 2008)

1.01 Kadja Bosou (17:59)
1.02 Night Coercion (21:05)
1.03 Brooms, Trapdoors, Keyholes (29:44)
2.01 Gorgons (30:30)
2.02 Mirror Shield (21:05)
3.01 The Great Bull God (57:47)

Plus de trois heures de drone aux mouvements lents et particulièrement denses... édition limitée à 22 copies...

It is odd, but pretty safe to say that you don’t have this album and that you never will. A triple disc aural monstrosity, Night Coercion Into the Company of Witches (will be referred to as Night Coercion from here on out) was self released last year as an edition of 22 hand painted copies. It is absolutely insane to me that Natural Snow Buildings would put so much effort to create such a grandiose musical mega-behemoth only to limit its physical remnants to the seemingly irrelevant total of 22 copies. Just for the record, I also do not own a copy of Night Coercion. I pirated the thing and you should too. It is simply too amazing to be limited to those physical copies. Many of you may not be familiar with Natural Snow Buildings. I myself am no real expert on the band, but the proportions of their releases coupled with the unbending standard of their sound is simply beyond epic. Add to that an innumerable, sometimes untraceable discography and you got yourself the foundations of a myth my friend. Yet, somehow, the mysterious band lives up to, if not exceeds, the mythic swirl that surrounds them. Natural Snow Buildings are simply the purest form of DIY artistry in music that I have ever seen. I just could go on saying ‘wow’ all day. But what’s the point? Well, if you can manage to forget everything that surrounds the actual music, Night Coercion is probably one of the best drone based albums on the planet. Ha, that sounds so dramatic. And I’m not positive it is true, but it is definitely good enough to have me considering such a statement. The music here is dense. Thick layers of audio forestry that give one the sense of being lost in an enchanted jungle. The movement of the album’s compositional shifts are slow - like, Disintegration Loops slow - but Natural Snow Buildings pull it off as well as Basinski, it’s just where Basinski’s works were decaying, Natural Snow Buildings’ work seems to be growing ever so slowly out of control. Night Coercion stretches two and one half hours in running time and yet manages to stay completely engrossing from the beginning of first CD to the end of the third. I don’t know how it’s done, but Natural Snow Buildings definitely have enchantment on their side. Utterly astounding stuff.
Forest Gospel

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Twinsistermoon - Rivers Of Blood Ending In The Sun (Digitalis, 2008)

1 Tarnek (2:34)
2 Harvester (1:59)
3 Sea Throne (4:31)
4 Marks Of Ashes (6:58)
5 Rivers Of Blood Ending In The Sun (5:16)
6 House Carpenter's Daughter (2:05)

Offert en pré commande avec l'album Levels and Crossings...

Only available as pre-order companion disc to Levels and Crossings...

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The Cosmic Mandoliners - The Gospel Diaries (Centre of Wood, 2008)

1 01/02/10 (2:10)
2 02/02/15 (2:15)
3 03/02/37 (2:37)
4 04/05/35 (5:35)
5 05/01/40 (1:40)
6 06/06/56 (6:56)

Groupe formé de Vincent Fribault et de Florian Tositti, drone folk français....

Drone folk from France....

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Christina Carter - Bastard Wing (Eclipse Records, 2004)

A1 Mixing Place
A2 In Current Grief
A3 School Song / Desire To Play And Play
B1 Quiet Love
B2 For All Death / Be, Come

Premiers enregistrements solos de Christina Carter au piano, au milieu des années 90, sortis par Eclipse en 2004...

"Christina's first solo piano recordings, begun in a rotting boathouse in the shadow of the Southwest freeway, Houston, 1995; and finished with guitar and vocal overdubs over the course of a half dozen or so years' of long Texas living room nights and a half dozen disintegrating master tapes (lovingly restored & remastered by Rob Vaughn). Inviting, quietly (and not so quietly) turbulent, and thick with inner mystery and self invention."
Tom Carter

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Christina Carter & Loren Mazzacane Connors - Meditations On The Ascension Of Blind Joe Death Vol. One (Ecstatic Yod, 2005)

A1 Smoke Pt. 1
A2 Smoke Pt. 2
A3 Smoke Pt. 3
A4 Smoke Pt. 4
A5 Smoke Pt. 5
A6 Smoke Pt. 6
A7 Smoke Pt. 7
B1 Mirrors Pt.1
B2 Mirrors Pt.2
B3 Mirrors Pt.3
B4 Mirrors Pt.4
B5 Mirrors Pt.5

Premier album d'une série conçue en hommage à John Fahey, entièrement élaboré par voie de mails avec Loren Mazzacane Connors à la guitare et Christina Carter au piano... superbe...

The first in a proposed series of collaborations in memory of John Fahey, this was a joint effort 'by mail' between the great Loren Mazzacane Connors and Christina Carter of Charalambides. The two apparently sent 4-track cassettes back and forth building tracks organically by layering their ideas, and the results are deeply moving and utterly entrancing. We're all paid up members of the Loren Connors fan club here, and his 'Sails' album from earlier this year totally destroyed us, so I'm hardly the hardest of reviewers when it comes to his material, but this LP is a devastating work. Comprised of Connors' deep and detailed guitar playing and piano parts from Carter it ends up sounding as meditative and involving as William Basinski's 'Melancholia' or 'Movements in Chrome Primative' and there is something similarly spiritual and moving about the arrangements. The tracks are a perfect testament to the memory of John Fahey, without ever seeming like the musicians are trying to simulate the great man's style. Loren Connors has proved to be one of the most consistently interesting guitarists of our generation, and while he might not attract the accolades of so many others, he is for our money an essential part of avant garde music history. So totally beautiful.
Boomkat

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