CODES: - Drone Records

most listenable "ambient" music you've ever heard, while it's all
drenched in a singularly moody, haunted atmosphere that is Tor's real
trademark. We believe what Tor is doing is the best and most exciting
thing happening in the ambient electronic music world. File under:
"ghost ambient." For maximum listener enjoyment, the music of Tor
Lundvall is best taken together with Tor's phantasmagoric visuals (see
the online gallery at torlundvall.com), for a total aesthetic experience so
striking you'll never forget it.” [label description]
Tor Lundvall explains Empty City: "Empty City" was initially inspired by
several paintings, some of which appear on the album itself. I have
always been fascinated by cities in the Northeast and how they interact
with what was once a natural landscape. I used to take the train from
Newark, NJ to Washington D.C. in the late 80's. I would stare out the
window at abandoned factories and warehouses which were bathed in
the dull orange glow of streetlights at night. I wanted to crawl into that
hidden world.
My brother's apartment and mastering studio is located in Jersey City,
NJ. It's a rather dismal and industrial place, but strangely beautiful
especially in the evening. Several years ago during the mastering
session for "The Mist", I was captivated by the view from his apartment
window which overlooked the city skyline. The sun was slowly sinking
over the cold and lonely buildings below, casting brilliant orange and
crimson light across the room. I watched the luminous patterns change
shape and color as they drifted across the walls, like chapel windows in
the stillness of a monastery. As I listened to my music echoing down the
hallway from the mastering room, I knew I had to create an album which
captured this moment. What resulted was something slightly different
than what I had originally set out to do. "Empty City" is a collage of a
city's different personalities and settings, and my reaction to moments
I've experienced within them.” [Tor Lundvall January 14, 2006]
* MAATH – Nor survivors for the new world CD (Eibon Records
MAA054, 2005) € 13.00
Endlose Dröhn-Felder, einsam und verlassen; heller schimmernde
Zeitlupen-Pulsier-Nebel, die sanft klagen; MAATH steht für
melancholisch-traurigem dark ambient mit Anklängen an
APOPTOSE, RAISON D’ETRE, etc.. Debut-CD dieses italienischen
Projekts und für Freunde des Genres definitiv zu empfehlen.
“Based upon the concept of coma, sleep and suspended animation, "No
survivors for the new world" gently brings you through a dormant world,
where dreams flow freely around you, leaving a coloured trace in the
cold and dark void. Melodic dark ambient of the finest kind, and one of
the most impressive debuts I've heard in a long long while.” [label info]
* MC. NINCH, NATHAN – A brief audio history of agriculture CD
(Oral CD08, 2005) € 13.00
ORAL ist das Montrealer Experimental-Label von ERIC MATTSON, der
Organisator der MUTEK-Festivals. NATHAN MC. NINCH ist ein neuer
Name für uns, der mit “A brief audio history of agriculture” ein Werk
präsentiert, welches sich über die Verwendung von field recordings mit
dem Thema “Agrikultur” auseinandersetzt, um deren “Geschichte” mit
ihren ureigensten Sounds zu erzählen... so vernetzt er hier die Klänge
von landwirtschaftlichen Maschinen und der Alltags-Agrarwelt sehr
sanft und tagträumerisch, so dass eine adäquate Atmosphäre entsteht,
die in die nordamerikanischen Weiten entführt...
“a brief audio history of agriculture "This project began with an unlikely
source : a t-shirt, which read if you eat, you have an interest in
agriculture . From conversations about the ways in which agriculture
and farming practices have shaped our lives in North America derived
primal ideas on a language to represent agriculture. Early in the spring
of 2004, as the snow was just melting, I made some recordings of
myself "playing" a derelict rusty piece of farm machinery abandon in a
field. I was quite taken with the sounds I was able to record and with the
extent to which I was able to "play" the machinery as an instrument. It
was in these recordings that I discovered both the language and the
story of this CD : a history of agriculture told using sounds created with
the tools of agriculture. Initially the piece intended on developing using
some sort of timeline, starting with the most basic elements: seeds, soil,
water... and progressing to modern day mechanized tools. A
combination of the old and the new; the banging and scraping of
antique metal milk containers combined with the soft humming of a
contemporary milk tank coolant unit. More subtle aspects of the history
of agriculture, migration, drought, a recent move away from "the family
farm"... were brought in. And here it is: the brief audio history of
agriculture, all on one CD.
-First full-length solo work, not self-released. Unlike most of field
recording based pieces, composition is here the master key.
-A new release on ORA, the label directed by Eric Mattson, music
curator for MUTEK festival and independent producer for: MUTEK_rec.
-A "must" have for all lovers of experimental, subtle but intriguing
releases.
-Carefully mastered by John Sellekaers-METARC (Ant-Zen,
Klanggalerie, Noise Museum, Quatermass, Sub Rosa).” [label info]
* MECHA / ORGA – From a Piner CD (LabFor Electracoustic
Media Lab04, 2005) € 13.00
Neue Atmosphären aus Griechenland! 3 pieces of long drones, lang
anhaltende Entwicklungen, eine Ausdehnung ins Innere, vibrato- &
schnell schwingende Flächen, bewegt & spannungsaufbauend... mehr
davon !
“'The sounds that I use for 11:39 are feedback and a tone generator.
The track remains locked within itself without revealing any purpose or
destination... It was performed live only once at Small Music Theatre on
January 20, 2005.
For 20:40 I use field recordings and a tone generator. This time tension
is building up and noise is the key element for the chaotic crescendo.
The first performance of the piece took place at Freeteza in
Thessaloniki on November 20, 2004.
A small Am-Fm radio is used exclusively for producing all the sounds
for 08:13. The process was to transform radio noise into a simple
major7 chord. The track was performed at Small Music Theatre on
December 4, 2003.” [Mecha/Orga]
* MEGAPTERA – Disturbance Ritual CD (Vendlus VEND015,
2006) [lim. 200] € 15.00
Rare CD des kultigen schwedischen Death Industrial-Duos mit einer
Live-Aufnahme aus Norwegen vom 6. July 2005 !
”Megaptera - the Moby Dick of the industrial scene - rises again from
the murky depths where it was biding its time during last year's prolific
release campaign by its alter ego, Negru Voda. Like the legendary
white whale of the novel, Megaptera is a beast of mythical proportions,
a bastion within the Cold Meat Industry circles, but while 2006 marks its
15th anniversary it will also be the year when it finally lays down for the
eternal sleep. The mission is terminated - but what better way to honor
the memory of the departed than with a powerful live statement?
"Disturbance Ritual" has everything that 1998's "Live In Rostock"
lacked: a track listing that reads like a best-of collection, supreme
engineering and mastering qualities, and not least an edition that will
allow more than a chosen few to grab a copy. Those who never had the
chance to attend a Megaptera concert are here invited to share the
experience; to witness how the live version of the songs are enhanced
by additional film samples and improvised drum beats. Which was
always the very essence of Megaptera: a transcendental place were the
fictitious world of cinema and the drab monotony of industrialized life
blend together, if only for the duration of an album.” [label info]
* MELANCHOHOLICS – A Single Act of Carelessness CD
(Deafborn Records dbcd04 / Multi National Desaster MNDR2017,
2006) € 13.00
Zweites Album der dunklen Gitarren-Sphäriker - hier ausgefeilter &
experimenteller als beim Debut, mit Gitarren, Drones, Electronics,
stimmlichen Klangmaterial, Akkordeon & Cello werden angerauhte,
einsame melancholische Weiten geschaffen, wobei das
improvisatorische Element unüberhörbar ist…
Anklänge an z.B. DWELLING LACUNA und manchmal fast schon alte
STARS OF THE LID oder LABRADFORD….
“Without wanting to place Deafborn Records in one particular corner of
the musical spectrum, 'dark' and 'atmospheric' are certainly two keywords.
I never heard of Melanchoholics, which is a three piece group of
Benedikt on guitars, Philip on bass and Lutz on electronics. Their
previous interests lie in Death/Grind/Heavy metal and industrial and
noise, but none of these influences are shown on 'A Single Act Of
Carelessness', which is their second CD, after the self-titled, selfreleased
CD from 2003. In 2001 they got together, discussing 'dark and
solitudous sound atmospheres' and started jamming around. They
probably do that a lot, since this CD shows a mature sound. The
alienated, desolated soundscape of a post nuclear landscape is what is
unfolded before our very eyes. Empty industrial sites, dark clouds, a
thunder - the fine ingredients of a good nightmare or perhaps the
storyboard of a b-movie entitled 'the last man on earth and his
wanderings' (sorry that didn't sound very hollywood like). The guitar is
plucked, a dark wall of synths and feedback hoover in the background
and we hear the sound of highly polluted water running down the
drainpipes. The album doesn't very hopeful, nor any where near
melancholic. What would they long for? The cross-over between
ambient and industrial has been made before, by many (Illusion Of
Safety's during the late 80s period spring to mind here), but
Melanchoholics translate the sound pretty well to a new millennium.”
[FdW/ Vital Weekly]
* MENCHE, DANIEL – Wings on Fire CD (Tantric Harmonies
TANTRA X 33, 2005) [ed. of 555 copies] € 12.00
In MENCHE’s Musik scheinen archaische Urkräfte entfesselt zu
werden, die eine sehr direkte Wirkung auf den Körper haben,
denn immer hat die Musik etwas extrem physisches, fast
unausweichliches. Für WINGS ON FIRE scheint er perkussive