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Vague Imaginaires – "L'ile D'or" – [Not Not Fun]

cinder   10/21/2020   A Library, Cassette

Solo project of Frenchie, Denis Morin. Lush, dreamy, whimsical, chillout grooves from this release entitled L’ile D’or (Golden Island). That name perfectly encapsulates the sounds that drip like freshly warmed morning dew into my ears. Soothing and meditative, in a futuristic fantasy island way. Track titles like Floating Mountains, Sunken Volcanoes, and Up There On The Dune… you can almost envision the candy colored swans with crystal diamond eyes, floating in their pastel lagoons. This is an instant relaxer! Float with us.

Isabella, Jasper and Simon Fisher Turner – "Savage Songs of Brutality and Food. By The Extreme Angels of" – [Soleilmoon Recordings]

cinder   10/21/2020   A Library, CD

“A child’s imagination is the finest open canvas ever. No rules rule.”
London sound artist Simon, recorded his 2 kids talking, singing, playing, putting on plays, etc and compiled them into an experimental kids album. It’s mostly from their childhood up until they hit pre-teen. The sounds behind are the typical haunting and beautiful explorations you get from Soleilmoon Recordings, so lovely. Having a British accent makes the little children voices so much more enjoyable and cute, too.

Three Point Circle – "Layered Contingencies" – [Palace of Lights]

cinder   10/21/2020   A Library, CD

A collaboration between K. Leimer, Marc Barreca, and Steve Peters. Lovely, meditative soft sounds and drones. Ambient is the defining word. Wafting tendrils and slow movement. Ghostly tones fill the abandoned, fog filled streets at night. Definitely something you could use to sedate your senses and fall into a calm dream state. 

Karpenter, Al – "If We Can't Dream, They Won't Sleep!!" – [Ever / Never]

cinder   10/7/2020   12-inch, A Library

Bizarro, deconstructed, confused, experimental, angry, delirious, ASMR, damaged.Cast of characters include Spain experimenters (Mattin, Joxean Rivas, and María Seco), early Fushitsusha drummer Seijiro Murayama, Lucio Capece, and Chie Mukai.
Skittering electronics, sloshy cymbals, jangled guitar, sloppy garage rock spurts, quivering sax, drunk drums, repetitive words.  

Fossil Aerosol Mining Project – "Scaath Catfish" – [Afterdays Media]

cinder   9/23/2020   A Library, CD

A densely fog covered trip down the rivers of an ancient faux bayou. This is Fossil’s ode to the water, mud, muck and scum of the twisted veins of aqua throughout the lands. Post-industrial sound design, field recordings, found sounds, static tones, distant birds chirping….a collage of ambient distortions and harmonic strings. Alien creature sightings and fluttering drones.

Nghtcrwlr – "Let The Children Scream" – [Dero Arcade]

cinder   9/23/2020   12-inch, A Library

Solo project of Iranian chick Kris Esfandiari, who was the front woman for metal band King Woman for over 10 years. This is definitely nothing like that though! It’s got industrial beats, noise elements, 808s, sound clips, and a tough edge. She sings/screams/deadpans vox, which have a sometimes have distorted or echoed ghostly manner. She opened for Boy Harsher in 2019, and finally has made her music available on physical format. It’s haunting, sinister, twisted and nefarious… but slightly sweet. ‘Firestarter’ is a Prodigy cover (wooooo, ’90s!)

Pantha Du Prince – "Black Noise" – [Rough Trade]

cinder   9/18/2020   A Library, CD

Gorgeous third release from this German producer. Said to be born out of a period of musical exploration in the Swiss Alps, his sounds are often labeled as minimal techno. This is so full of sound though, very earthy and rich. Lush electronics, intriguing dance-able beats, organic instruments, field recordings, bells, tropical flairs. All instrumentals except track 4 which features vocals by Panda Bear (Noah Lennox of Animal Collective), and track 7 also has vocals but I’m not sure who, himself perhaps? It’s optimistic and beautiful!    

Vapourspace – "Themes From Vapourspace" – [Full Frequency]

cinder   9/11/2020   A Library, CD

Mark Gage is the man behind Vapourspace. He’s been recording since the ’80s, but his first release didn’t come out until the mid-90s. When he moved to NY, he called Plus 8 label-head Richie Hawtin (aka Plastikman) and eventually signed a contract, releasing his debut 10″ and eventually touring with Orbital, Moby and Aphex Twin in 1993. This album is his first full length release. Killer mid-90s techno, acid and dance (my personal favorite era for it). There’s some more mellow, abstract ambient alien spaceship trax in there as well, so pick your bpm and let’s gooooo!

De Sang Froid – "Vox Dei" – [Mannequin Records]

cinder   9/11/2020   12-inch, A Library

French minimal-industrial-electro tunes from A// aka Le Syndicat Electronique, French musician and performer. Minimal programmed synths sounds, rhythms and pulses with French vox and words. Cold, echoed and sharp. Issued on opaque raspberry vinyl!

Parisi, Alessandro – "Ascensione Progressiva" – [Medical Records]

cinder   9/11/2020   12-inch, A Library

Italiano producer, delivering some lush electro sounds. Has a soundtrack element to it, and veins of dark disco and electro-synth. Light airy female voices hover and suspend over the slower pounding beat, a perfect contrast. His bio includes: Influenced and enriched by mystical and esoteric experiences, has created a blend of retrofuture and dark-electro sound with references to past civilizations, harmonies and ancient sacred mysteries. You can definitely envision the UFO ideas this album projects.

Fort Lauderdale – “1001 Revolutions” – [Worm Interface]

cinder   2/3/2015   A Library, CD

A futuristic, downtempo, beat laden listen. Stylings of hip hop, funky jazz, 70s cinematic touches, horns, electro, and breakbeats. Dreamy strings mixed with afro bell bottomed, jive walkin’ gangs. Super groovy and killer. British duo! Sheer negligee wearing, lounge tunes. Shaken, not stirred.

Connect_icut – “Crows & Kittwakes Wheel & Come Again” – [Aagoo]

cinder   8/1/2014   A Library, CD

Hails from Vancouver, Canada, eh.
Moody and atmospheric electronics that seem to weave and glisten like fresh dew on a web.
Comparisons to Oval, slight glitch tendencies.
Melodies that trickle. Midnight Skyline drives in the midst of summer, top down.
Darkly lit, bellisimo!

Shock Frontier – “Mancuerda Confessions” – [Malignant Records]

cinder   3/14/2014   A Library, CD

Mancuerda is a form of torture where a tight cord was wrapped around the victims arm. The executioner would then throw his entire weight backwards, or the pressure would be exerted by a lever, and the cord would cut through the skin and muscle, right to the bone. This is a project from Robert Kozletski, along with Carney, formed in 2010. Dark industrial electronics, with haunting spacial tonalities. Glistening blades and rumbling lows. Ambiently dense atmospheric textures. Drones of the murky black night. Subtle torturous vibes. Ghostly voices, and spoken samples.

Bene Gesserit – “Multilingual Sad Songs, Weird Jokes and Experimental Stuff” – [Feeding Tube Records]

cinder   3/14/2014   12-inch, A Library

Kooky silly experimentalisms from Alain Neffe. Some from the mid 80s, the 90s and 2009. Quirky singing and words, mostly female, in french, and possibly other languages. Musical toy boxes, violin, organ, accordion, synthesizer, piano, etc…. all sorts of added fun to warp and widdle. Looping and echoing. Some are tripped out, some have a fun beat, some are just ear pleasures. Playful fun.
And… The Bene Gesserit are a female key social, religious, and political force in the Dune series.

Peter Peter & Peter Kyed – “Valhalla Rising” – [Milan Records]

cinder   2/28/2014   CD, Soundtrack

Dark and spooky sounds from triple Peter, with a Kyed tossed in. A film score that doesn’t have the cinematic feel, if you listened before knowing, you’d think it was a normal record. Low rumbles, and creeping fills. Guitars that sound like the beginning of an epic Godspeed song. Droned out organs that give the sense of desolate fog fueled mountains. Slow paced heart beats in pounding effect. Tension. And Mads!

Fungus of Terror [coll] – [El Suprimo]

cinder   2/19/2014   12-inch, A Library

Released in 2007. One original by Black Sash, and 3 remixes by the likes of Solar X, Tipsy, and Snakeoiler (Billawtm & Cotton Casino). Inspired by the 1963 Japanese film Matango! (Attack of the Mushroom People). This floats all over the place with ‘psychotropic tempos, murky hypnotic beats, distorted guitars, and cinematic atmospheres’. Black Sash has film dialogue layered over heavy drenched electronics and dub beats. Oozing with psychedelics. Solar X flips the table and presents super glitch. Tipsy of course brings the lounge exotica vibes, with the best use of film sampling. Snakeoiler bring it back to some dub, with an alien ambient wind trailing throughout that leads into some psych guitar. This is pretty killer!

Gilbert, Bruce and BAW – “Diluvial” – [Touch]

cinder   2/19/2014   A Library, CD

Sound explorations from Bruce (ex-Wire) and BAW (David Crawforth and Naomi Siderfin). They used rising sea levels as their theme, imaging the world before, during and after a great flood. Lots of aquatic hints… drips, running, gushing and sloshing in electronic tones. Ambient drones of melancholy. Cold shivering winds. Stormy and desolate. Dark and gloomy.

Burr, Ellen and Unruh, Michael – “Where Am I From, Where Am I Going” – [Pfmentum]

cinder   2/19/2014   CD, Jazz

Almost theatrical musical sounds from Ellen and Michael. Flute and bass clarinet argue, then sing, then quarrel, then celebrate in harmonious delight. Playful textures. Flute as duck, clarinet as goose. Animated visions of colorful 60s musical notes bouncy and rebounding, then splashing into each other to create a new monstrous tune. I’m not sure if these are all improvisations, or planned, could take a cue from either. Free and floating. Tickled woodwinds and reeds.

Fox, Terry – “Ataraxia” – [Plate Lunch]

cinder   2/19/2014   A Library, CD

Sound works from Terry, dating back to the late ’70s and early ’80s. Creative use of natural instruments. Each performance was entirely acoustic, no electronics were used, which is surprising given some of the sci-fi sounds that escape. Many of the tracks are of piano wires stretched entirely out and straight across a stage, or an attic, or a church… then either plucked, bowed, hit with chopsticks or played. He does the same with an aluminum rowboat inside a tunnel for ‘Culvert’. ‘Lunar Rambles’ has him playing two metal bowls, with a violin bowl. The resonating tunes that bounce back from the various locations are intriguing. Experimentalism.

Natural Snow Buildings – “Daughter of Darkness” – [Ba Da Bing]

cinder   12/20/2013   A Library, CD

Gorgeous, whimsy desert psych folk drones. Quivering mandolins, rustling strings, guitars, wordless female ghostly singing, various percussion… The whole thing is very continuous in sound (six discs!). This is the kind of music you’d want to take some hallucinogens to. Soft colors, slowly evolving migrations, whispy clouds. Has an earthly ambiance to it. Definitely has a tribal vibe, in a harmonious ritualistic sort of way. These recordings were originally released on cassette as well. NSB is a duo from France.