#Mego Records

[musicollage]

Oren Ambarchi ‎– Quixotism. 2014 : Mego.

! enjoy the album ★ buy me a coffee !

[trevlad]

Tuesday 11 July 2023 4:30 pm Mixtape 336 “Fragile Facade”

2023-07-11

Ambient drone instrumental sleep

Wednesdays, Fridays & Sundays. Support the artists and labels. Don't forget to tip so future shows can bloom.

Ardala-The Terraformers-00:00

Binaural Space-RTWSF Suite Movement 9-04:09

Cognition Delay-Victoria's Chair-05:39

Bjorn Rohde-Forest of Forgotten Hearts-11:25

Wave Temples-Old Bones-17:14

Surkid-This Fragile-18:38

Bibio-The Clothesline And The Silver Birch-22:08

Synkro-Overture-24:01

Cosmic Ground-Randomize User 0-27:13

Voices from The Lake-Max-35:07

Bart Hawkins-An Ancient Lullaby-41:26

HOLOVR-Mind Movement - Original Mix-48:14

KORB-Temples of Mars-57:10

The Metamorph-The Frozen Facade (For I.M Pei)-59:27

[zef-zef]

Cindytalk - In Dust to Delight from: Cindytalk - Hold Everything Dear (Mego, 2011)

Written & recorded by Gordon Sharp and Matt Kinnison

BANDCAMP

cindytalk -- in dust to delight

[everydaym0nstrosity]

145 Of The Best Avantgarde/Experimental Record Labels Of All Time

  4iB Records

  905 Tapes

  Abandonment

 Abhorrent A.D.

 Aguirre Records

Alchemy Records

American Tapes

Angst

Ant-Zen

Arbor

Artoffact Records

ASRAR

At War With False Noise

Audial Decimation Records

Bacteria Field

Basement Tapes

Beast 666 Tapes

Bizarre Audio Arts

Blackest Ever Black

BloodLust!

Breathing Problem Productions

Broken Flag

Cabin Floor Esoterica

Callow God

((Cave)) Recordings

Chondritic Sound

Cloud Valley

Cloister Recordings

Cold Meat Industry

Cold Spring

Come Organisation

Crucial Blast

Cryo Chamber

Dada Drumming

Dark Vinyl Records

Deadline Recordings

Deathbed Tapes

Depressive Illusions Records

Diseased Audio

Dom/Dom America

Downwards

Drakkar Productions

Drone Records

Editions Mego

Eibon Records

End All Life Productions

Excite Bike

Extreme/Zero Cabal

Fag Tapes

Filth And Violence

Finders Keepers Records

Forced Exposure

Freak Animal Records

Fusty Cunt

Gods Of Tundra

G.R.O.S.S.

Hanson Records

Harbinger Sound

Harsh Head Rituals

Harshnoise

Hooker Vision

Hospital Productions

Housecraft Recordings

Hydra Head Records

iDEAL Recordings

Ipecac Recordings

Infinite Fog Productions

Järtecknet

Less Than Zero

Living Tapes

Loud!

Maggot Valley

Mannequin

Malignant Records

Menstrualrecordings

Monorail Trespassing

Moon Mist Music

Mother Savage Noise Productions

Murder Release

Musica Maxima Magnetica

Mutual Aid Records

Narcolepsia

Nefarious Activities

Night People

No Fun Productions

No Kings

Not Not Fun Records

Nurse Etiquette

Old Europa Cafe

Oxidation

Phantasma Disques

Posh Isolation

Primitive Propaganda

Prophecy Productions

Release The Bats Records

Relapse Records/Release Entertainment

RRRecords

Rotifer Cassettes

Rotorelief

Sacred Bones Records

Satanic Skinhead Propaganda

Segerhuva

Self Abuse Records

Shock

Side Effects

Skam

Skeleton Dust Records

Sky Burial

Slaughter Productions

Sloow Tapes

Smell The Stench

Soffitta Macabre

Sound Of Pig

Southern Lord

Space Slave Editions

Spite

Staalplaat/Nekrophile Rekords

Steinklang Industries

Sterile Records

Susan Lawly

Swampland

Sweat Lodge Guru

Terror

Tesco Organisation

Third Man Records

Thorax Harsh Cassettes

Torso

Total Black

Tranquility Tapes

Trapdoor Tapes

Trash Ritual

Tribe Tapes

Troniks

True Force/Pain Electronics

Turgid Animal

Tzadik

Urashima

Utmarken

Vis A Vis Audio Arts

Wagon

Wax Trax! Records

White Centipede Noise

Weird Input Records

We Release Whatever The Fuck We Want Records

ZSF Produkt/Lowest Music & Arts

[cultfriends]

the hold these two records have had on me these past few weeks….

[zef-zef]

Klara Lewis - Too (Editions Mego, 2016)

Klara Lewis - Too

(2016, full album)

[Dark Ambient, Ambient, Field Recording, Ambient Techno]

[nnjzz]

SECLUDED BRONTE + RYOJI IKEA + LA SPHYNGE

SECLUDED BRONTE uk RYOJI IKEA fr / jp / swe LA SPHYNGE / fr Le Petit Café 14 bd de Strasbourg 75010 M° Strasbourg St-Denis / Château d'Eau... EARLY SHOW !! 19:30 portes 20:00 aktion 22:12 fin P.A.F.  6€ SECLUDED BRONTE uk  "  ... trans-acoustic miniature lodge from London that propagates  Music Theatre from Hell. The trio - the infamous Bohman Brothers and radiologic composer Richard Thomas - revel in Psychedelic No Wave Go Go OuLiPo Disco Lipogrammatic Fantasy Rhythm and Poetry ( Felix Kubin ) Entre Ivor Cutler, Eugene Chadbourne, The Shadow Ring, mon cul sur la commode, ta mère devant la piscine,The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, The Temperance Seven, Fluxus, le GRM ( Parallèle - what else ), Lol Coxhill, ceci, voire cela & what have you .  Une fois n'est pas coutume * : il y aura de la CHANSON ( sic ) mais surtout PAS QUE. Formé il y a une bonne vingtaine d'années, il s'agit d'un super ( super ) groupe, " minimaliste et brutaliste " qui opère en secrétant des structures hybrides, sous forme des pop-songs parfois,lorgnant vers la tradition du music-hall bien british mais contaminées par une certaine forme d'entropie galopante (ou :  bien discrète), brassant ( et bruissant ) large à l'aide d'objets amplifiés, guitare, piano, limericks, monologues impromptus, gags, chorégraphies, et ... autres formes de procès ( ou processus). " ( toujours à ) creuser un sillon idiosyncrasique au cœur de ce que l’on pourrait appeler l’art-music.Selon leurs propres dires, ils ne sont pas tant un rayon dans un magasin de disques que le magasin de disques lui-même. Drôle de record shop où l’on retrouverait dans le même bac : du Rock ‘n’ Roll, du bric-à-brac, des sons de grenouille taureau, de la noise abstraite, du hardcore, de la musique concrète, des bandes originales de films, de la poésie, des chansons et mêmes des sketchs ! Ne pas s’y tromper : Secluded Bronte improvise rarement, mais leurs compositions se construisent sur les débordements incessants.Ils adoptent principalement une approche conceptuelle de la musique. " ( Instants Ch. )   Les frères Bohman opèrent dans les marges de l’underground londonien depuis des décennies.Ensemble ou séparément, dans Morphogenesis, The Bohman Brothers, The London Improvisers Orchestra... .. Il leur arrive de collaborer fréquemment avec le cinéaste Peter Strickland - il a publié un 7" d'eux sur son label Peripheral Conserve et ils incarnent le temps d'un caméo des bruiteurs de cinéma dans son BERBERIAN SOUND STUDIO. Richard Thomas est multi-instrumentiste, inclassable, écrivain, comédien... The Bohman Brothers are known for their unique live performances mixing theatre, speech and sounds made from a Heath-Robinson-style array of found objects connected to microphones and laptops.” “It’s hard to describe the raw, explosive audio art they perpetrate. Everyday objects and sounds are worked on until they become saturated with lurid suggestion, resulting in a bizarre, hysterical immediacy … in the traditions of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, the Bohman Brothers kitchen-sink realism laughs at the grand claims of lofty art. They will show you fear in a sponge from a drainer.” (Ben Watson in The Wire).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7c6vahmDcy8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRaf9rhmybw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zpg5E-72Gc

https://soundcloud.com/secluded-bronte

https://thebohmanbrothers.bandcamp.com/

https://fforddallan.bandcamp.com/music

https://fortevilfruit.bandcamp.com/album/in-their-70s

https://www.richardthomascreative.com/

RYOJI IKEA fr / jp / swe " Armé d'un ordinateur portable, d'une poignée de patches bricolés avec MAX/MSP et d'une collection de samples piochés chez Olivier Messiaen, Eric Dolphy ou Les Nuls, Ryoji Ikea s'évertue depuis 2019 à réaliser une synhtèse de l'esthétique Mego ( " de la grande époque " ) et du plunderphonic éhonté par des collages publiés sporadiquement au plus grand étonnement de Web surfers ayant fait une faute de frappe dans la barre de recherche de leur navigateur. " https://ryojiikea.bandcamp.com/ LA SPHYNGE / fr / jp New band in town. Juliette Bineau ( Minitel... ) & Saada Abe ( They Lived, entre autres... ). AVANT-PREMIERE MONDIALE. Pas de lien, pas de problème. Expect the unexpected. Fly - Jo L'Indien

[mostlysignssomeportents]

This day in history

Tomorrow (May 5), I’ll be at the Books, Inc in Mountain View with Mitch Kapor for my novel Red Team Blues; and this weekend (May 6/7), I’ll be in Berkeley at the Bay Area Bookfest.

#15yrsago Nelson Mandela and the ANC are on the US terrorist watchlist and need waivers to enter the country https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-04-30-watchlist_N.htm

#15yrsago HOWTO make a chili mister https://web.archive.org/web/20130317135539/https://www.instructables.com/id/Spice-Mister/http:/www.instructables.com/id/Spice-Mister/

#15yrsago Homeland Security charter school will train tomorrow’s prison guards https://www.delawareonline.com/story/entertainment/local/2008/06/11/charter-high-school-to-specialize/63954173007/

#10yrsago Ben Laurie on Bitcoin https://www.links.org/files/decentralised-currencies.pdf

#10yrsago Defense Distributed claims working 3D printed handgun https://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2013/05/03/this-is-the-worlds-first-entirely-3d-printed-gun-photos/

#5yrsago NSA report discloses that the agency tripled its surveillance of Americans in 2017 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-cyber-surveillance/nsa-collected-500-million-u-s-call-records-in-2017-a-sharp-rise-official-report-idUSKBN1I52FR

#5yrsago Britain’s Great Firewall blocks access to official Disney sites, internet safety guides, VPNs, and coding sites for kids https://torrentfreak.com/uk-internet-filters-block-disney-sites-internet-safety-tips-and-more-180505/

#5yrsago UK local elections: Conservative party forgets to alter placeholder text before distributing campaign literature https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/conservatives-local-election-2018-leaflet-tory-mistake-error-ilford-redbridge-a8333331.html

#1yrago A New York law to end to Wall Street’s pension ripoff https://pluralistic.net/2022/05/05/mego/#A09948

Catch me on tour with Red Team Blues in Mountain View, Berkeley, Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, DC, Gaithersburg, Oxford, Hay, Manchester, Nottingham, London, and Berlin!

[smn-artistagency]

OKKRE

Uge Pañeda aka Okkre is an electronic music composer and sound designer. In her music converge techno, dark and ambient but also references to opera and contemporary classical music. She has been working in the last years putting music to performances and scenic proposals.

She has been present three times at the She Makes Noise festival. In 2015 as part of the music duo LCC presenting the album D/evolution, Mego, 2014. In 2018 with the Madrid premiere of Arkhé, her solo debut after the breakup of LCC and in 2020 at the pandemic edition of the festival with a b2b DJ set with Tutu.

She’s musician and psychologist, two professional facets that have made of her link with sound a constant exploration through human perception. How this stimulus is capable of altering our moods and consciousness, is one of the main ones, with minimal scenic resources, the artist invites viewers to enjoy a deep listening, in an exercise of austerity with respect to the visual information to which we are exposed on a daily basis.

Her work has been presented in international festivals like L.E.V Gijón. Sónar Barcelona. Atonal Berlin. MUTEK México and She Makes Noise festival.

PROJECTS

Noisea - Live. Okkre presents Noisea in a live set, a work inspired by the therapeutic impact that the noise frequencies generated by urban beaches have on the inhabitants of these cities. A piece articulated through field recordings, multiple layers of noise and sound modulations that will immerse the audience in those seas.

Arkhé - Live. Okkre presents Arkhé a very special proposal, with a deep classical inspiration, where the artist combines two of her passions, classical music and opera, with the theories of the philosopher Heraclitus and field recordings made in an old abandoned mine in her homeland, Asturias, then digitally processed. The final result is immersive and polyhedral, coexisting all these references until reaching a dark and ambient techno that will take us to an unforgettable journey.

Okkre :: Web :: Soundcloud :: IG ::

Press kit and stills :: download here ::

Photos by Elena de la Puente and Sara Navarro

[phinnweb]

[Extended version of this text.]

There’s Bonus Beats, a new compilation from Cold Blow Records that brings up quite an onslaught of memories for me.

Namely, of those times when we had our own Club Telex at Tampere’s Yo-Talo (Student Union House), and also hanging out at the electro parties in Helsinki (remember Helsinki Turbo?) and Turku, with those lovely freaks of Rikos Records (the defunct cult label from Jyväskylä, also represented on Bonus Beats), Op:l Bastards, Imatran Voima (with the late lamented Perttu Häkkinen), Mr Velcro Fastener (who specifically informed me that “Mr” in their name is spelled without the full stop), Nu Science (the unofficial “house band” of Club Telex -- now there’s one act who would deserve their own retrospective compilation), Mono Junk, Jori Hulkkonen too, the ever-present Erkko (who curated this compilation), and so on.

The first Club Telex, with Nu Science and Op:l Bastards performing, took place on the 27th of March, 1999, at Yo-Talo, Tampere’s traditional Student Union House. I remember our concept of having electronic live acts was somehow inspired by a club named Osasto in Helsinki. What we added there was that we also showed short films early in the evening, making it a sort of – for a lack of better expression – multimedia event.

“Electronic Avantgarde Excursions” was the tagline of Club Telex, even though in the end there was less experimental music as the average member of local audience – usually consisting of students, indie hipsters and perhaps an odd raver -- was craving for something to dance to rather than to listen some weirdness while scratching one's chin and nodding one's head knowingly.

"Perkeleenmoinen groove" (loosely translates as "hell of a groove") was another expression that was favoured in our plugs to specifically promote the event. 

There was also DJ music, usually by the resident disc jockeys Mikko “mini” Niemelä and yours truly but sometimes also guest DJs spinning records. Alongside mini and me, organising the club were Antti Vuorio (R.I.P.) and Olli Sotamaa, both familiar from the academic circles in Tampere, Vuorio also representing the Monroe film club where he then worked as a president. Monroe was an important collaborator for Club Telex, specifically providing us with the short films. As was also the Student Union of Tampere University, who would assist us in booking the nights at Yo-Talo.

The name “Telex” was inspired by the Belgian synthpop act of the same name, having also a nice retrofuturistic ring to it in an era when e-mails and the Internet were already replacing the old telex and telefax machines as a primary means of rapid global communication.

Some Finnish artists who performed at Club Telex:

Acidroot Soundsystem, Ektroverde, Ever Had, Helsinki Bass Machine, Imatran Voima, Jimi Tenor, Kemialliset Ystävät, Kukka, Anton Nikkilä, M.A. Numminen, Mono Junk, Mr Velcro Fastener, Nemesis, Nu Science, Op:l Bastards, O Samuli A, Ovuca, Pan sonic, Pink Twins, Planet Lander, Spektor vs. Nukleon, Tero, Unidentified Sound Objects, Ural 13 Diktators, Virtalähde, and Ylikulju.

And the international artists who performed at Club Telex:

Alexei Borisov (RU), Chicks on Speed (AU/DE/US), Fennesz (AT) (who played as a duo with the late Mika Vainio), Hecker (AT), I-f (DJ set/NL), Jeans Team (DE), Peaches (US), Nicole Willis (US), Pluxus (SE), and Skot (AT).

Some of these artists we had in collaboration with Avanto Festival and Helsinki Turbo, who arranged for them a gig also in Helsinki (for some of these people, there might have been some live action in Turku, too). There were also some events in collaboration with Kaukana Väijyy Ystäviä and Mindtrek festivals. Fennesz, Hecker and Skot were courtesy of Austria's Mego label.

As guest DJs for Club Telex nights we had, among all, such people as DCom, 6M4 (a.k.a. Gamma), Indigo, Kauko Lampi, Kuuro Kädetön Paisti, Marko Laine, Mike Not, Randy B., and Stimulus Progression.

As for the films shown during our nights, we had at least Futuro and Thank You for the Music by Mika Taanila, then the world premiere of Routemaster by Ilppo Pohjola. The director himself would have liked to show it with a 35 mm film projector, but dragging such heavy and expensive equipment to the club premises of Yo-Talo, which originally served as a bank in the early 20th century, would have been sheer impossibility, so we had to compromise, and another video projection it was to be. Also the legendary Eino Ruutsalo’s experimental 1960s shorts and episodes of such classic Finnish children’s animation series, from the 1960s and 70s, as Kössi Kenguru and Käytöskukka were often seen.

Jyrki, at that time perhaps the most watched pop music TV show in Finland, visited the Commodore 64 theme night of Club Telex in January 2001. Interviewed here are Mikko "mini" Niemelä (known for Polytron, later also as the promoter for Ruisrock festival), Tero (Mäyränen, who released 8-bit type of electro for Rikos Records) and Nu Science, with Mikko Ojanen (who later wrote his doctorate thesis on Erkki Kurenniemi) and Henri Tani talking at Yo-Talo's legendary backroom while the third member, Aku Raski (later known for Huoratron), smiles contentedly.

From 1997, when I witnessed I-f’s (playing as Ferenc) set at Jyväskylä’s festival and instantly became converted, to perhaps 2005-06 when I quit DJing, it was electro (or to be more precise, its second or third wave, if we take into account its Stateside originators in the 80s) that ruled supreme, with some other related genres also squirming into our sets, such as IDM, EBM, synthpop/futu, Italodisco, Hi-NRG, even a bit of dub & hip hop, and yeah, some good old 4/4 techno, with also some occasional, erm, electroclash (once a hip genre cursed among all "real" electro fans) – yes, it can be confessed now since there isn't any personal “street cred” to hold on to anymore (if there ever was).

Alongside Club Telex, there were also some events dedicated purely to electro. In February 2001 we had as electronic live acts from Holland, representing the legendary Bunker Records, both Legowelt and Orgue Electronique.

Was the electro journey worth taking? Sure, there were a lot of things that, in retrospect, should have been left undone, should have been left unsaid. Maybe there’s still someone out there who harbours resentment. Apologies accepted or not, call it a learning process. But despite any personal blunders there might have been, the music was good, and that’s the only real thing worth remembering.

Musical fashions change rapidly. For a couple of years in the late 1990s and the first years of the Noughties, electro was "hip", then something else came along. Since the millennium we've had EDM, trap, vaporwave, synthwave, and loads of other new genres born almost every year that it's totally impossible to keep up with them anymore. Also techno has been revived for the Berghain generation. Classic Italodisco of the 1980s seems to hold its cultish popularity among the club hipsters, year after year. As for electro, probably there will be another full-fledged revival one day, as it seems any type of electronic music will eventually create its own "trad" following, in the way of "classic rock", as can also be witnessed from the ever-rising popularity of analogue instruments.

But enough with the ranting, get this compilation if you want to get a little taste of what it was all about. It's full of lost gems, such as Imatran Voima's 'It's Time to Testify' from their first EP (Kostamus Records, 2000).

[Extended version of this text.]

[musicollage]

KMRU – Peel. 2020 : Editions Mego.

[rastronomicals]

7:36 PM EDT September 22, 2024:

Table - "Mego" WNUR, 5/23/1992 (Recorded April 23, 1992)

Last song scrobbled from iTunes at Last.fm

WNUR is the campus radio station for Northwestern University in Evanston, IL

[experimentik]

Experimentik #70 / January 17. 2024 / Lucio Capece / Claudia Risch + Francis Heery + Jung-Jae Kim

January 17. 2024 / 20:30- (doors 20:00)

Solo:

Lucio Capece - 8 voices Sampler Isla 2400, recorded cello and bass clarinet, sine-sawtooth tones and pulses

---------

Trio:

Claudia Risch - bass clarinet

Francis Heery - electronics

Jung-Jae Kim - saxophone

FB event: https://fb.me/e/3Ywj3sQuL

----------------

Lucio Capece

Argentinian musician based in Europe since 2002, specifically in Berlin since 2004. Since 2010 he dedicates to offer works focused in the Perception experience, that he performs mainly in solo and in the context of occasional collaborations based in the same interest. He composes his own pieces that may include improvisation and different ways of writing. He uses tools like Flying Speakers hanging from Helium Balloons moved by propellers, Speakers as Pendulums, Analog synthesiser, Sine Waves and Noise Generators, Drum Machines, Ultra- Violet Lights, Sensors as much as the instruments that he has played for 25 years: Bass Clarinet and Soprano and Slide Saxophone. Beyond instrumentation and tools, the main intention is to focus in the physical-social-spatial human experience. Between the late 90 ́s and 2010 he offered music in the context of Electro Acoustic Improvisation, focused in quietness, attentive listening and granular material. Capece has been very active in the Reductionist Improvised Music scene in Berlin, and in the radical minimal scene related with the collective Wandelweiser collaborating mainly as member of the collective Konzert Minimal (2008- 2018) and, since 2006 with Radu Malfatti. In a parallel way Capece developed a 10 years collaboration with legendary Finnish musician Mika Vainio from Pan Sonic, working and releasing radical abstract and beats oriented music as a duo and two different quartets. Capece has performed his own sound interventions in spaces like Kraftwerk Berlin ( The Long Now - Maerz Musik), Hau Berlin (CTM festival), The Cathedral of Bern (Zoom In Festival) The Mambo Museum in Bologna (Live Arts week ),the German Pavilion built by Mies Van der Rohe in Barcelona (Sonar +D Festival), the Halle d ‘Expositions built by Alexandre Gustave Eiffel in Evreux, France (ĹÁtelie series) the Bauhaus Archive in Berlin (directing a piece in which together with musicians Axel Dörner and Robin Hayward played a piece with the kinetic sculpture called “Licht-Raum Modulator” built by Lászlò Moholy-Nagy) , and the Colón Theatre in Buenos Aires where he offered an interactive installation for children. Since 2020 he plays mainly in the context of small Ensembles where he composes the music, or collaborates with others performers-composers like Rahma Quartet, From Scratch New Discantus Quintet, Lost Jockey and Phase to Phase. His goal in this context is to re consider Music making in a Phenomenological way, re- searching in the basic elements that make Music be. He offers currently a Sampler solo set based in a personal research in Just Intonation Ratios, folding and unfolding sounds from Pitch to Pulse and vice versa. He has performed as a musician in recognised experimental music festivals and venues in Europe, USA, Japan, Mexico and Argentina. He has released around 35 Cds and Lps, including 9 solo releases, in labels like Mego Editions, B-Boim (Austria), Pan (Germany), Ftarri (Japan) Another Timbre, Entr ́acte ( UK), Potlatch, (France), Erstwhile Intonema (Russia), etc.

photo © Susi Maresca

----------------

Claudia Risch has developed special playing techniques on the Bassclarinet, which is acoustic of it´s nature and works without additive external resorces. She focusses on the extended sound-material of her instruments like micro-intervals, multi-phonics, sound of breath. Within this variety of elaborated technical possibilities Risch combines, applies and modifies her material to create a refined, nuanced and multilayerd sound. The co-operation with composers (e.g. Thomas Gerwin, Francis Heery), electronics and dancers is an important component in her work.

https://www.instagram.com/claudiarisch07/

photo © Matthias Förster

---------------

Francis Heery (b.1980) is a composer and sound artist. His music is inspired by science-fiction, occultism and animal aesthetics. He is an accomplished improvisor and performs with a setup integrating Max/MSP with acoustic instruments and modular synths. He specializes in long-form, site-specific performances in public spaces. His instrumental works have been performed by the RTE Symphony Orchestra, the Crash Ensemble, the Quiet Music Ensemble, the Talujon Percussion Ensemble and by soloists including Carin Levine, Pascal Galois and Izumi Kimura. He has received funding awards from the Arts Council of Ireland as well as commissions from Galway County and City Councils, the Music Current Festival, the Berlin Natural History Museum, and the Berlin International Sound Art Festival. He produces experimental electronica under the name The Cube of Unknowing, with albums released on Fort Evil Fruit and Eiderdown Records.

----------------

Jung-Jae Kim is a South Korean saxophonist, composer, and improviser based in Berlin free/avant-garde & experimental music scene. He pushes the boundaries of sonic aesthetics and sound definitions, taking a transdisciplinary approach to explore new possibilities and delve into human senses and communication through free improvisation.

photo © Morvarid K

------------------

Experimentik 2024 is supported by inm

[adsmusiconstellations]

Jim O'Rourke - Shutting Down Here (2020)

http://editionsmego.com/releases/portraits-grm 

[musicforprogramming]

Well by KMRU from the album Peel (2020) on Editons Mego.

KMRU is the moniker of Joseph Kamaru, a sound artist, and producer who has become one of the leading exponents of the exploding experimental music scene in Nairobi, Kenya. A field recordings and electronics, Peel is his first release for Editions Mego.

Check our #Spotify playlist for more: https://bit.ly/music-4-programming

[goodbysunball]

Quarantine rock, pt. III

Another long overdue update from the indoors. Hope you and yours are hanging in there - if nothing else, there’s no shortage of great music to keep you company. Here’s my take on some recent favorites.

C. Lavender, Myth of Equilibrium (Editions Mego)

Admittedly had not heard of C. Lavender until her collaborative cassette with Aaron Dilloway dropped earlier this year, but it’s safe to say that the tape was strong enough to blindly buy her new LP on Editions Mego. Myth of Equilibrium has been one of the best surprises from this year, drone at its core but opening up to something much more soothing over repeated listens, despite the jagged edges and tendency to embrace caustic noise. It came as no surprise to find out that C. Lavender embraces sound as a healing medium, as Myth of Equilibrium takes a deep, buzzing bass tone and twists and stretches it until individual packets of sound are weightless and ethereal. “Remedy Potion Extraction” is the most obvious example of this dark-to-light transformation C. Lavender excels at, but mostly the tracks present a satisfying puree of sound over shorter durations (”Engulf the Mystery,” “Dimly Lit Exit”). The brevity is a strength, and in that way C. Lavender reminds me of French duo Femme or even some of Tim Hecker’s work, but without the startling track-to-track transitions of the former or the diaphanous shroud of the latter. The bass keeps Myth of Equilibrium tangible and firmly grounded, and the rest of the sounds conjured by C. Lavender weave a very heady, very rich tapestry. The best respite from 2020 money can buy; soak it in. The LP is sold out from Editions Mego but those in the US can order it direct from C. Lavender for a very fair price.

Kobra, Confusione (Iron Lung)

Alright, I’m admittedly not a huge fan of the cover art for this record, but it’s an easy enough barrier to jump over when the music rips this hard. Kobra is from Italy, and they traffic in a mid-paced, pounding strain of punk that is right up my alley. Sounds like Una Bèstia Incontrolable meets Mecht Mensch to these ears: like the title track, which starts out like “Zombie” and then flips into a UBI-level groove, sax bleating and moaning on top of it all. This is punk through and through, the blown-out drums always there to remind you that this is presented by Iron Lung Records, but there’s a definite early post-punk/art-rock vibe present, too - check the groggy “Fogna” that opens up side B, which kinda sounds like Kobra doing their best impression of the Circle Jerks in Repo Man. The guitars don’t riff as much as they slash and chop, fragmented stabs landing among the onslaught of drums. The vocalist uses a menacing speak-scream (most effectively on ”Sogni Illusioni” and closer “C.P.D.M.”), and if I could speak or read Italian, I’m sure the lyrics would be intelligible amongst the din. Confusione is loaded with hits, but when the band clicks and all the parts come together, Kobra whips up a maelstrom; hard to deny the power of “Dentro Agli Schermi” (my favorite track) or “C.P.D.M.,” and though both of those tracks feature the saxophone, I’m glad the band wields that weapon sparingly for maximum effect. One of the most memorable and exciting punk releases of 2020, for sure, a formidable, brawny brew that’ll flex your pencil neck and have you involuntarily pogoing in no time. Highest recommendation! Confusione is sold out direct from Iron Lung, but Sorry State, Feel It, Grave Mistake, etc. all have it in stock.

Oily Boys, Cro Memory Grin (Cool Death)

The best musical news this year, hands-down: NEW OILY BOYS. Not only was an Oily Boys LP drop completely unexpected, I am completely steamrolled by this record every single time I drop the needle, from the opening “UGH!” on “Given” to the nearly nine minutes of caustic self-loathing on “GTrance.” There’s a definite metallic edge to the way Oily Boys approach punk, from the riffing to Drew Bennett’s brutally intense vocal performance, but while most punkers approach metal as a gimmick and end up sounding pretty tame, Oily Boys just sound absolutely mad - the 1-2 of “C.B.D.” into “My Sex Life,” especially the wild guitar theatrics on the latter, carry an intense, teeth-clenching physicality. If that was all Oily Boys did on this LP, it’d be a success, but the band throws curveballs and mid-tempo fits across Cro Memory Grin’s 13 tracks. “Heat Harmony” was the most jarring inclusion at first, relatively tuneful dark punk that could’ve been lifted from drummer Yuta Matsumura’s other band Orion. It definitely works, and the slightly softened approach of the band thankfully has no effect on Drew Bennett’s vocals. “Lizard Scheme” is another detour, swelling noise and Bennett’s barking (”Stupid is as stupid does, jazz boy!” is a choice lyric), reminiscent of Gutter Gods’ dizzying “Allan.” Probably the two most pummeling tracks here slow the tempos significantly and close out each side: “Stick Him,” my favorite track, and “GTrance,” the exhaustive closer. “Stick Him” is absolutely ferocious, the band emphasizing the quiet-loud dynamic with saxophone, the loud parts lurching into place like heavy machinery turning on, Bennett screaming the title with a violent ferocity. Where “Stick Him” is feral, the screed unleashed on “GTrance” by Bennett feels therapeutic, expelling every bit of toxic bile into the song without a break, and even if there is no resolution, the end result is a momentary peace, the same kind afforded by pushing to the full extent of one’s mental or physical abilities. That kinda seems like the point of Oily Boys, from the self-effacing name to the poisonous lyrical content to the absolutely ferocious performance: know your enemies, push back against the lowering boot of the world, fuck the rest. 2020′s best punk record, no contest, and maybe even the best record/soundtrack to the perfect storm of this year. Sick artwork/inserts on this LP, a nice job as usual from Cool Death. Cro Memory Grin is still available direct from them, and Goner still has it domestically.

Subdued, Over the Hills and Far Away (Roachleg)

With last year’s Bad Breeding LP still fresh and prescient as ever, and the political climate seemingly spiraling into reality TV while people mercilessly struggle and suffer all over, it seemed like scoping this new LP from the UK’s Subdued was more than appropriate. It’s reductive and maybe a little offensive to mention UK compatriots Bad Breeding in the first line of this review, but the similarities are hard to ignore: both bands create fiery politically-charged punk that flirts with metal and noise, delivered in screamed vocals with a heavy British accent. Subdued don’t fly off the rails as much as Bad Breeding; there’s more of a Crass/Rudimentary Peni vibe, with the emphasis on vocal delivery and riffs rather than conjuring a visceral tornado of noise. Sometimes the riffs can be a little clunky (particularly the end of “The Joke,” even though “Is hope the joke?” is a pretty powerful lyric), and for how much room the vocals are given, the lyrics can tread into oft-used clichés. Doesn’t make the message any less true, and I think the longer I spend with Over the Hills and Far Away, the more I come under its spell. “Problem of Evil” is probably the best song here, a near-perfect blend of deathrock, stomping riffs and barked vocals, and when it turns into the sprint of “No More,” Subdued are an undeniable force. Not sure if it just takes me until those two songs to warm up to Over the Hills, but the B-side of the LP seems to be more memorable - like the world-beating metallic riffs of the title track, or the frenetic guitar solo that finishes off “Call to Suffer.” There’s more than enough at play on Over the Hills to keep me coming back, and overall it’s a strong debut LP, and a great reason to check in with what Roachleg Records is bringing to the US punk scene. Cop the LP direct from Roachleg, and if you’re lucky you might have a chance at one of the limited-to-100 hand-screened covers. La Vida Es Un Mus put out the LP for the rest of the world, another solid co-sign for Subdued.

Aviador Dro, Nuclear, Sí 7″ (La Vida Es Un Mus) // Algara, Enamorados Del Control Total 7″ (La Vida Es Un Mus)

I don’t think these two 7″s have much in common other than the fact that they’re both put out by La Vida Es Un Mus, they’re both sung in Spanish and they’ve both been ruling my turntable this year. The Aviador Dro record is a reissue, one that came out last year, and it’s a gem: sci-fi keyboard punk from the '80s, the titular track one of the best songs I’ve ever heard, a slinking, funky beat driving the song into your brain forevermore. The B-side feels more edgy than the A-side but it’s all undeniably great; Paco did us all a favor by repressing this record, and continuing to keep it in print. Fast forward to 2020 for Algara’s 7″, their debut, which came out way back in pre-pandemic January. The cover art caught my eye, and the spindly, groovy drum-machine post-punk within is immediately addictive. The label says Crisis and Joy Division are in Algara’s musical DNA, and that sounds about right; the sound is spare, you can kinda dance to it, the bass lines carry the weight and the wiry guitars smear into each other (”Miedo a Perder”) or stitch single golden threads into the tapestry (”Dopamina y Producción”). Algara’s a 4-piece now, and they’ve got an LP coming soon on LVEUM, so 2021′s lookin’ bright. Both 7″s are mandatory, widely available from distros and direct from La Vida Es Un Mus. Scope the feature that Lulu’s wrote on Algara while you’re at it.

Saskia, Eeuwig Op Reis 7″ (Stroom)

The record collector sweat starts when you read about a 7″ reissued from a “highly intimate cassette” limited to ten or so copies in 1983, circulated only amongst friends and family. My eyes typically roll at such uncovered “gems” or whatever, but these two songs definitely deserve a wider audience. “My Lips Get Hot” splits the difference between the foggy late night atmosphere conjured by Chromatics and a breezy Balearic vibe, topped by sensual, high-pitched vocals that really drive the whole woozy, lovesick message home. The flip has the instrumental “You Left Your Soul Behind,” wherein said Balearic vibe is now at the forefront. It’s a strong track on its own, but kinda just serves as the comedown from “My Lips Get Hot” in this presentation. Stroom continues to unearth overlooked records with unnerving ease, and this Saskia 7″ might be the one that makes the label a more common name. One copy of this record is left at Stroom’s Bandcamp as of this writing - move quick.

Glen Schenau, “Jhumble” b/w “Jearnest” (self-released)

Glen Schenau is at the forefront of Brisbane’s experimental musical scene; he’s done time in Kitchen’s Floor, Bent and has even self-released a few things under his own name. The solo stuff I’ve checked by him was restless, frantic guitar and bass lines seemingly swimming against the current of his Bryan Ferry crooning. While there’s no denying that it was singular, it never really coalesced for me in the same way that this new 7″ does. That same restlessness is still at play here, obvious from the beginning strumming of “Jhumble,” and Schenau seems to still relish the vocal stylings of Ferry, though his vocals also remind me of some of the alterna-rock radio I was subjected to while working in a warehouse during summers between school. Normally that sort of vocal homage would send me running to the hills, but it really works here: the busy guitar line and the drums lock into an undeniable groove on “Jhumble,” and whatever Glen is singing, the melody is stuck in my head for days. “Jearnest” is my pick, the more difficult foil to “Jhumble”’s pop leanings. The sprightly guitar at the beginning is submerged into this rubbery goo, which eventually takes over the song while a whistle floats in to carry a melody over the tarry pit. Can’t say I’ve ever heard anything like it, but it doesn’t just float along on that claim; this is a highly potent brew served up on both sides of this single. Glen self-released this record and it’s limited to 150 copies; mine came with a hand-written note and drawing, which was a nice touch. High marks all around. I’ve got to echo Matt K.’s sentiments when he reviewed this record: “Seems like every Australian band gets their own album without much delay, so I have to ask: where the hell is Glen Schenau’s?!”