pedro magina - nineteen hundred and eighty-five

pedro magina
nineteen hundred and eighty-five
not not fun (nnf219-cs)
tape
limited edition c40


image:©japanese forms


Seems like I'm really out of the loop as far as a lot of new releases and labels go -and don't even talk to me about "mainstream" releases. I've mostly lost interest in a lot of "new" music and even trying to catch up on it, or listen to it. A lot of the bands that the music press (internet included) have been touting or championing for the past few years have passed me by but I imagine that, as far as I'm concerned, it's no great loss to me. Things that I do listen to nowadays tends to be confined to releases on labels such as raster-noton; Warp; 12k; Ghost Box as well as the odd album I read about in The Wire and feel that it would be a good buy; like the recent releases by Motion Sickness of Time Travel. Nonetheless, I still do discover some music that I've tended to overlook -this time the Not Not Fun label which was featured in The Wire last month. I was aware, and had heard some stuff by Pocahaunted but the the rest of the label's roster was unknown to me so, after reading the long article in The Wire I decided to seek out some of the music via the web. Fortunately I came across the wonderful Pontone blog which offers some amazing label mixtapes for download and the one featured this month just happened to be a Not Not Fun one. Among the featured tracks, which caught my attention, were tracks by Sand Circles and by Portuguese musician Pedro Magina and I immediately set out to buy a copy. Needless to say, this (cassette only) limited edition album was sold out so, for the moment,* I have to make do with a download copy. Never heard Magina before but I liked this right off -sort of sounds like an 70s version of Tangerine Dream+Harmonia meets Vangelis... in a way. Recommended. one2zero.

* I've ordered a copy from a German distributor which I hope to get soon.
My copy arrived yesterday (June 3rd).

Buy this tape as a download @ Boomkat

motion sickness of time travel - a disembodied voice in the darkness

motion sickness of time travel
a disembodied voice in the darkness
cassette (c34)
teosinte

Back after being offline for a long time due to my computer crashing. Haven't been able to do any posting at one2zero but I'll catch up soon. In the meantime check out a track from the latest release by Motion Sickness of Time Travel. Another electronic-drone masterpiece by the sound of it. Might well even be better than the wonderful Seeping Through the Veil of Unconciousness released a few months back. Anyhow, once again, I was unable to get a tape copy of this recording; hopefully it'll appear, like it's predecessor, on another format sometime in the near future. Hauntingly ethereal with lots of voice effects; much like most of MSOTT' s recordings, this is another gem from the very prolific Rachel Evans -who also releases some stuff under the guise of Quiet Evenings alongside her husband Grant Evans. Highly recommended. one2zero

Available on a red, green, or grey c34 tape and housed in an orange, blue, or pink home-sewn bag with hand-written insert. Artwork by Grant Evans. Limited edition of 47.

motion sickness of time travel
digitalis ltd.
bandcamp

machinefabriek - apollo

machinefabriek
apollo
3" cd-r
(limited edition of 100)

machinefabriek

image: ©japanese forms


Rutger Zuydervelt (a.k.a. Machinefabriek) begins the year as busy as ever with a reissue of Vloed and a brand new 3-inch cd-r entitled Apollo. This new cd-r is apparently an alternate edit of the soundtrack for Makino Takashi's experimental film 'In Your Star' -Takashi I don't know much about except that he has collaborated on several projects with Jim O'Rourke- as for Apollo, it's, according to Rutger himself; "22 minutes of abstract soundscaping, combining field recordings, NASA Apollo flight-recordings and electronic weirdness." You can check it out for yourselelves at Soundcloud where you can listen two excerpts from it. Really quite good all in all. As per usual from Rutger the artwork and packaging are quite exceptional. 'Apollo' is a beautifully packaged, limited edition of 100 numbered copies and comes in an oversized heavy paper sleeve. one2zero

motion sickness of time travel - seeping through the veil of unconscious

motion sickness of time travel
seeping through the veil of unconscious
cassette (c60 tape limited edition of 80)
digitalis ltd. - ltd#154


motion sickness of time travel
digitalis ltd.
bandcamp

Well I'm certainly starting of the New Year with more cassette fun and with the discovery of a whole new bunch of musicians that, I must had admit, was not aware of until I had a look at this week's Boomkat newsletter. Intrigued by the name: "Motion Sickness of Time Travel," I decided to have a quick search around the web to see (hear) what it was all about. Frankly I'm glad I checked MSoTT out because it's led me to some incredible sounds. MSoTT is the solo moniker of LaGrange, Georgia's Rachel Evans (also a member of Quiet Evenings and Aerial Jungle), partner of Grant Evans (Nova Scotian Arms - see previous post). Her music, which can be described as delicate, drone, electronic pop, is really quite sublime. Does it fall into the "hauntology" category? I'm not quite sure but the music does have that "haunted," je ne sais quoi feel to it. The whole considerably enhanced by Evans' ethereal vocals. As MSoTT, Rachel has already released a considerable amount of recordings; almost all of which have been very limited tapes on various small cassette-only labels, so I'll be checking her other releases and will undoubtedly be posting more on her output at a later date. In the meantime I'd advise anyone who's already heard MSoTT, and everyone else who hasn't, to try and get their hands on either a tape or vinyl copy of this album (both formats are sold out). If you can't, try to make-do with download copy. Very highly recommended. one2zero

bj nilsen & stilluppsteypa - space finale (tape)

bj nilsen & stilluppsteypa
space finale
demego 011
editions mego
c90 cassette tape
limited to 200 copies


image:©franz graf

Well I'm starting the New Year with something I completely missed out last year and that is the amazing BJ Nilsen & Stilluppsteypa - Space Finale album. Originally released as a (very) limited edition cassette tape it's since been made available as a 2LP on Mego. Unfortunately, both editions have long sold out and people like myself, who've just discovered this gem, will have to do with a download copy. This is so good that it would have (if I'd done one) made my list of the best albums of 2010... The perfect companion piece to accompany the dreadful weather, as well as the whisky-fuelled stupor of the night before, that we've woken up to this morning... Though, I must make this quite clear, Nilsen and Stilluppsteypa's drone-along is anything but dreadful; the recording being quite sublime and much more interesting than anything else drone-wise that I've encountered in a while. Not to mention that this tape, all things considered, is almost worth having for the beautiful Franz Graf artwork alone. As Boomkat says "An absolute treasure." Very highly recommended. one2zero

A track from BJNilsen & Stillupsteypa's 'Space Finale' features on the soundtrack to Gaspar Noë's 'Enter The Void.' This film received a 5 star review in The Guardian.

............................................................................

"Fantastic collaboration between two masters of immersive drone music and location recordings. [...] Originally released on cassette earlier on this year. Divided into four lengthy pieces, the album has the feel of a classic piece of analogue experimentation, populated by obliterated field recordings, vintage synth timbres, archaic, blipping tones and above all, acre after acre of sustaining, continuous sound. [...] It's listed that the principal 'instrument' used in the making of this record was a Revox 2-channel tape machine, and the fact that the release was originally consigned to cassette means that the warm, magnetic character of the music is seen through right to the end. [...] Very few modern, digital drone records manage to achieve such an unshakable air of foggy enigma, and at its intangible best 'Space Finale' evokes a fantasy meeting between Delia Derbyshire and The Hafler Trio. Strictly limited copies - an absolute treasure." ©boomkat

Buy this recording @ Editions Mego / @ boomkat

Download @ boomkat

leyland kirby - sadly, the future is no longer what it was

on my turntable

leyland kirby
sadly, the future is no longer what it was
haftw001

Buy: boomkat
Download : boomkat


image: ©japanese forms

Triple-CD modern classical, ambient masterpiece from the artist formally known as The Caretaker and V/VM. Reminds me a bit of some of William Basinski's hauntingly beautiful recordings; with that eerie background of tape-loops recorded from old vinyl. Spread over three albums it consists of almost four hours of of ambient, hauntologic, modern classical wonders. Utterly fabulous. one2zero

... there's echoes of Eno, Koner, Deathprod, Debussy, Badalamenti and Lynch executed with a dark yet emotional determination encapsulating the spirit of a Berlin or Manchester nightscape... © boomkat

Web:
history always favours the winners myspace

harmonia & eno '76 - tracks and traces

on my turntable

harmonia & eno '76
tracks and traces
cdgron102

image: ©japanese forms

One of those reissues you just can't miss out on is this remastered edition of these legendary 1976 recordings. Eno; who was on his way to Montreux to work on Low with Bowie, met up with Harmonia at their studio in the rural hamlet of Forst in Germany’s Weserbergland where they laid down the tracks on this album. Not intended to be released commercially the album was initially released in 1997 and featured clips from the the original recordings; this version includes the full remastered-by-Roedelius sessions.

"...33 years after these recordings were created, we finally have an all-around satisfying version of a long believed lost treasure of the krautrock era.
(© grönland records)

grönland records hans-joachim roedelius dieter moebius michael rother brian eno

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