FRANCISCO LÓPEZ: Untitled (2009) (Baskaru)

themilkman on Mar 6th 2012 12:38 am

Francisco López: Untitled (2009)

FRANCISCO LÓPEZ
Untitled (2009)
KARU20
Baskaru 2011
14 Tracks. 121mins24secs

Amazon UK: CD | DLD US: CD | DLD Boomkat: DLD iTunes: DLD Spotify: STRM

There are few stranger ways to open a double album of sonic experimentations than by a display of hearty snores, but it is exactly the approach adopted by Francisco López for his latest album, Untitled (2009), with opening piece Untitled #220. Furthermore, he emphasises the effect later on with Untitled #239, during which he plays with his sound source to give it even more prominence. As always with López though, whether these are indeed snores surreptitiously captured, processed field recordings or playful electronics is left to the listener’s imagination.

Over the years, Spanish born Francisco López has built a considerable catalogue of material, released on numerous labels, and he has produced a number of sound installations which have allowed him to expand on his sonic experimentations further and interact with his audience in a more proactive way. Continue Reading »

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LUGANO FELL: Slice Repair (Baskaru)

themilkman on Aug 27th 2010 01:41 am

Lugano Fell: Slice Repair

LUGANO FELL
Slice Repair
KARU16
Baskaru 2010
10 Tracks. 47mins21secs

Amazon UK: CD | DLD US: CD | DLD iTunes: DLD

Lugano Fell is the side project of James Taylor, best known as one half of Swayzak, but this is when the connection ends. While the duo have been dispensing dance floor-friendly tunes for the most part of the last decade and a half, his concern here is entirely different. Three years in the making, Slice Repair, Taylor’s debut solo following a handful of CDR releases, is a record all in clair-obscure undertones and delicate touches where electronics and processed acoustics cross paths to form evocative little sonic ambient tales which, apart for the epic closing piece, often last barely long enough to flourish fully.

In just under fifty minutes, Taylor assembles a rather varied soundtrack here, from the sombre grainy soundscapes of album opener Bleaker, Slope or Hofnah and the contrasted expanses of Caniculaire, Vallory or 47 Easy 47 to the sliced up folk of Preform Naple or Two Hundred Clocks And A Metre. Continue Reading »

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LAURA GIBSON & ETHAN ROSE: Bridge Carols (Baskaru)

themilkman on May 22nd 2010 12:20 am

Laura Gibson & Ethan Rose: Bridge Carols

LAURA GIBSON & ETHAN ROSE
Bridge Carols
KARU17
Bakaru 2010
09 Tracks. 34mins49secs

Amazon UK: CD | DLD US: CD | DLD Boomkat: CD iTunes: DLD

Coming from very different horizons, Laura Gibson and Ethan Rose meet on Bridge Carols to combine their personal worlds into something entirely new. Both hailing from Portland, Oregon, the pair began working together following a chance encounter, experimenting with the dynamic that started to take shape as they got more familiar with each other. Gibson, a folk singer and guitarist (she plays on a nylon string guitar we are repeatedly told), first appeared with an EP released on Hush Records in 2003, but it took another four years before she published her first album, If You Come To Greet Me. Her second, Beasts Of Season, came out last year and received praises from the press and public alike. Rose’s work is largely based on his keen interest for old technologies and how he can use them to create something contemporary and fresh. He has released a number of albums, his latest, Oaks, last year, already on Baskaru, and has also worked on a number of sound installations and film scores.

This collaboration has grown organically as Gibson and Rose got accustomed to the creative space they occupied together. Continue Reading »

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@C: Music For Empty Spaces (Baskaru)

themilkman on May 18th 2010 01:01 am

@C: Music For Empty Spaces

@C
Music For Empty Spaces
KARU18
Baskaru 2010
07 Tracks. 54mins27secs

Amazon UK: CD | DLD Amazon US: CD | DLD Norman Records: CD iTunes: DLD

Listening to Music For Empty Spaces is like stepping into an alien world, where microscopic sounds are magnified to the point of appearing grotesquely oversized and intimidating. Static crackles and interferences are akin to violent storms, surface noises and frictions become sharp shards of noise, environmental field recordings are overexposed and pressed into stark soundscapes, at times ground to tiny particles, at others surprisingly preserved intact, fossil remains of a life that once was trapped in thick layers of soil.

Curating this extra-sensory approach is Portuguese duo @c, a collaborative project between sound artists Pedro Tudela and Miguel Carvalhais, which also occasionally includes visual artist Lia. Continue Reading »

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ROTHKAMM: Alt (Baskaru)

themilkman on Mar 5th 2010 12:29 am

Rothkamm: Alt

ROTHKAMM
Alt
KARU15
Baskaru 2009
10 Tracks. 39mins35secs

Amazon UK: CD | DLD US: CD | DLD iTunes: DLD

Despite a body of work that spans over twenty solo releases, spread over twenty five years, German-born musician and conceptual artist Frank Rothkamm has remained a fairly enigmatic figure for most. Beside his own music, Rothkamm, who currently lives in Los Angeles, has provided music and sound design for big international corporations (Levi Strauss, Philips, Hewlett-Packard, Ford, Warner Bros…), and has worked with a wide range of artists, including the likes of Lesa Carlson, Wolfgang Muthspiel or DJ Spooky.

Released on the excellent Baskaru, ALT sequences ten fairly minimal pieces, all named using seemingly random collections of three letters, some ordered in familiar patterns (SUN, RED, LOW, CON, GUI) others in more mysterious strings (AAA, RND, OOO, DEC). The music appears to focus on the introspective experimentations of granular electronic sounds and tones, often taking the appearance of slow evolutive drones and textures, which are not without evoking some of Tangerine Dream’s early experiments. Continue Reading »

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ETHAN ROSE: Oaks (Baskaru)

themilkman on Jul 14th 2009 12:45 am

Ethan Rose: Oaks

ETHAN ROSE
Oaks
KARU14
Baskaru 2009
08 Tracks. 37mins51secs

Icon: arrow Buy: CD | MP3 | iTunes

Hailing from Portland, OR, Ethan Rose works with unusual sound sources which he processes and collates into delicate atmospheric pieces to create wonderfully textural records. His debut album, Ceiling Songs, released in 2006 on Locust Music, documented his work with automated instruments (music boxes, taped up player piano rolls), which, combined with acoustic instruments and electronics, created a fragile and ephemeral world where textures were layered into gossamer formations. His follow up record, Spinning Pieces, published in 2007, once again on Locust, collected three tracks which had previously been released in extremely small quantity, and continued to showcase his work with automated instruments.

For his third album, Oaks, released on Baskaru in Europe, Holocene in the US and Headz in Japan, Rose has sourced all his sounds from a Wurlitzer theatre organ dating back from the mid-1920s, which was originally used to accompany silent films. Continue Reading »

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SYMBIOSIS ORCHESTRA: Live Journeys (Baskaru)

themilkman on Feb 24th 2009 01:06 am

Symbiosis Orchestra: Live Journeys

SYMBIOSIS ORCHESTRA
Live Journeys
KARU12
Baskaru 2009
11 Tracks. 38mins23secs

Icon: arrow Buy: CD | MP3 | iTunes

Encompassing everything from modern composition to experimental jazz to electronica, Symbiosis Orchestra is actually quite difficult to place. Originally the idea of Italian sound artist Andrea Gabriele, known as one half of electronic duos Pirandelo and Mou, Lips!, the formation, which includes musicians as diverse as Scanner’s Robin Rimbaud, Iris Garrelfs, Mario Masullo, all three known for their involvement with electronic music, as well as vibes player Stefano Tedesco, flutist Geoff Warren, violonist Diego, trumpetist Robereto di Egidio and pianist Michele Scurti, plus multi media artist Claudio Sinatti, blends in electronic and acoustic into surprisingly spacious and versatile compositions. Continue Reading »

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MICHAEL SANTOS: The Happy Error (Baskaru)

themilkman on Jan 28th 2009 01:51 am

Michael Santos: The Happy Error

MICHAEL SANTOS
The Happy Error
KARU11
Baskaru 2008
11 Tracks. 52mins04secs

London-based musician and sound artist Michael Santos has already been featured on a handful of compilations, and a first collection of compositions was released as part of Benbecula’s Mineral Series of CDRs in 2006, followed by another CDR release for U-Cover. The Happy Error, brought to you by the rather excellent Baskaru imprint is, however, is first proper release.

Working from a classic set up of processed guitars and sine waves, Santos creates evocative little atmospheric pieces. Continue Reading »

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YOSHIO MACHIDA: Hypernatural #3 (Baskaru)

themilkman on Oct 14th 2008 12:34 am

Yoshio Machida: Hypernatural #3

YOSHIO MACHIDA
Hypernatural #3
KARU10
Baskaru 2008
08 Tracks. 53mins42secs

Yoshio Machida began working on his Hypernatural series in 1997. The first volume in the series was self-released two years later, and the second came out in 2001, on German label Softl Music. Since the Tokyo-based artist has been busy with other experimental projects and has released a handful of records on his own imprint, Amorfon, but this year sees the third and final part of the series.

The first Hypernatural release focused on memory in Eastern Asia, while the second investigated the concepts of transparency, unconsciousness and invisible existence. With Hypernatural #3, Machida turns his attention to oblivion as a one of the many processes of life. Creating sonic pieces from field recordings, electronics and acoustic instruments, Machida presents a captivating journey through tightly held organic sound formations which incorporate essentially natural elements, which, although heavily processed, retain some elements of their original aspect. Continue Reading »

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INTERVIEW: MAURIZIO BIANCHI & EMANUELA DE ANGELIS Natural Cycles

Robert Rowlands on Aug 11th 2008 08:58 pm

INTERVIEW: Maurizio Bianchi & Emanuela De Angelis

Maurizio Bianchi is one of the leader of the Italian noise and experimental scene. He first appeared in 1979, and in the first five years of his career, he released a considerable amount of work on a variety of labels before retiring from the music scene completely. For the next thirteen years, he remained silent, but he resumed his relentless work pace. His latest project is a collaboration with Emanuela De Angelis Twenty years his junior, De Angelis has nevertheless an already impressive body of work behind her, as a member of various formations and, in recent years, as a solo artist. As MD+EDA, the pair have, for a moment, left behind their respective noise remit to investigate a much quieter realm, developed over the whole length of their first album together. Robert Rowlands caught up with the pair to discuss age difference, the pros and cons of working on a collaborative project and how their calm soundscapes are much noisier than it seems. Continue Reading »

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M.B. + E.D.A.: Regolelettroniche (Baskaru)

themilkman on Jul 11th 2008 12:07 am

M.B. + E.D.A.: Regolelettroniche

M.B. + E.D.A.
Regolelettroniche
KARU8
Baskaru 2008
04 Tracks. 47mins24secs

Born in 1955, Maurizio Bianchi is a long-standing member of the Italian experimental music scene. He debuted in 1979, and, until 1984, he released a considerable amount of work, but then withdrew from the music business completely as he entered a deeply religious and spiritual part of his life. He came out of retirement in 1997 and has since resumed a very productive work pace, with a mix of new releases and re-issues being made available. Twenty years Bianchi’s junior, Emanuela De Angelis first emerged as lead singer and guitarist with noise formation Joyce Whore Not in the early nineties and later founded Mou, Lips!, an experimental electronic project, with Andrea Gabriele, and has been working as a solo artist for over four years.

For their first collaboration, Bianchi and De Angelis create long and expensive drone-like forms, developed over the four tracks and nearly fifty minutes of Regolelettroniche, which vaguely translates into ‘electronic rules’, and which informs the record and sets its the boundaries. Continue Reading »

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