Month: June 2021

Categories
Avant Garde Jazz

Sun Ra – Languidity

Strut – Release: June 25th 2021

To be honest, trying to write something meaningful on a Sun Ra release is always going to be an exercise in humility. Having seen the Arkestra perform live a couple of times and owning a few Sun Ra LPs, I’d class myself as a fan. Although by no means have I even gently brushed the vast surface of the Sun Ra back catalogue (well over a hundred albums).

In this re-issue instance, Strut present the definitive edition of Sun Ra’s classic ‘Lanquidity’ album from 1978 with brand new 4LP box set and 2CD editions, featuring the widely distributed version of the album alongside alternative mixes by Bob Blank. originally released in limited quantities for a 1978 Arkestra gig at Georgia Tech. Both versions of the album are cut loud at 45 rpm over 2LPs each.

Recorded overnight at Bob Bank’s Blank Tapes on 17th July 1978 after the Arkestra had appeared on Saturday Night Live, the album is unique in the Ra catalogue. “Most critics felt that it was more of a fusion-inspired record,” explains Michael Ray. “As the name suggests, the album is liquid and languid.” Bob Blank continues, “Musically, it was very ad hoc and freeform. There were horn charts but most tracks came out of improvised jams. Sun Ra just did his thing.”

Categories
Electro Review

Francois Dillinger + Lloyd Stellar – Machine Men EP

LDI Records – Release: 15th June 2021

Consistently quality, LDI records deliver the goods once again. Solid electronics and concepts across six tracks. This time featuring label owner Lloyd Stellar and Detroit’s Francois Dillinger. Atmospheric as well as body moving.

Categories
Art Culture Electro-Acoustic Experimental Film

The Cabin

Experimental recordist alas23 presents a sonic exploration of a Soviet era bus cabin, using contact microphones and an electromagnetic field antenna. As well as making the occasional video on Vimeo, alas23 is a regular contributor on Radio Aporee, visit there if you want to hear more.

Categories
Electro Feature Premiere

PREMIERE: Plant43 – Hearts Beat In Silence

Future Massive: pre-orders – 17/07/2021

Prolific UK electro producer Plant43 (aka Emile Facey) brings the crispy clean beats to new label Future Massive, launched from the AI Records camp. Check our premiere of ‘Heart Beats In Silence’:

Flatland Frequencies · PREMIERE: Plant43 – Hearts Beat In Silence

For the announcement Future Massive have released a video created by label founder Steve Hyland for first single Hearts Beat in Silence. Drawing reference from the EP title, the unknown structure in question appears as an obelisk in multiple liminal spaces – unsettling and misplaced until it resolves into human form.

This humanoid avatar embodies a lonely alien force observing our culture from a stellar distance, reflecting upon our fragility through the falling petals whilst basking in the electro glow.  Watch the video for lead track Hearts Beat in Silence here: 

Pre-order the red vinyl here

Categories
Experimental Minimal Review

Kenneth Kirschner & Joseph Branciforte – ‘From the Machine: Volume 1’

GreyFade Records

Two collaborative compositions between Kenneth Kirschner & Joseph Branciforte, focusing on applying “software-based compositional techniques — including algorithmic processes, generative systems, and indeterminacy — to the creation of new music for acoustic instruments.”

The result being two long form, detailed and hypnotic acoustic recordings. Originally entirely composed and produced within the Max/MSP modular software environment, then painstakingly reverse engineered, scored and performed with double-bass, cello, viola, and violin.

Categories
Ambient Feature Premiere Synth

PREMIERE: Paul Oednom – Flux

Flatland Frequencies · PREMIERE: Paul Oednom – Flux (SEREIN)

Vital Contrast is a gorgeous release coming 25th June from Paul Oednom on the ever-reliable Serein label, operating out of Wales, UK. Check the player for an exclusive preview of ‘Flux’, the opening track from the EP. Guitar and synths ebb and flow as one, into a psychedelic tapestry of tones.

Categories
Electro Review

The Hacker Vs Commuter – Roentgen

Cultivated Electronics – Release: June 14th 2021

“The roentgen or röntgen (/ˈrɜːntɡən/; symbol R) is a legacy unit of measurement for the exposure of X-rays and gamma rays, and is defined as the electric charge freed by such radiation in a specified volume of air divided by the mass of that air (statcoulomb per kilogram). It is named after the German physicist Wilhelm Röntgen, who discovered X-rays.” – Wikipedia

Taking their inspiration from the HBO TV series, Chernobyl. The Hacker and Commuter create an imaginary soundtrack accompaniment for this outstanding EP on the super-strong Cultivated Electronics label.

Included are remixes by MMT-8, otherwise known as Ed Upton (DMX Krew) and label head Phil Bolland (Sync 24).

Pre-order via Clone

Categories
Electro-Acoustic Experimental Review

Gasparotti, Ciullini, Stancati – Portraits

Unexplained Sounds Group – Release: June 4th 2021

After the recent and rather excellent anthologies of experimental music from China and Peru, Unexplained Sounds Group introduces a new series called Portraits, focusing on electronic and electro-acoustic music composers.

This first volume is dedicated to three emerging experimental Italian musicians: Gabriele Gasparotti, Daniele Ciullini, and Mario Lino Stancati. With Ciullini having a long history of producing music in the post-industrial underground scene.

The general vibe works up from the opening dark and crunchy, saturated soundscapes of Gasparotti, to the lighter, guitar peppered airy drones from Stancati. The third section of the CD showcasing some really interesting patterns from Ciullini, who introduces abrupt tonal changes and wide ranging textures, that shift from long reaching deep ambience, to near field digital glitches and found sounds.

Categories
Ambient Beats House

Local T – Suffolk Palms

The second album by Local T is here and picks up exactly where his 2019 debut left off. Suffolk Palms is another portrait of life by the sea on the east coast of england, packing enough beach snacks and summer optimism for everyone. It’s all about having fun, no thoughts, nothing else! 

– – – – 

💬 Artist notes: 

Music made between March and May 2021 in Felixstowe, Suffolk. 

Recorded live with: 

– Sega Megadrive + genMDM w/ GENajam 
– Dx27 
– Kawai K1r 
– Korg Er1 
– Volca Kick 
– Various shitty guitar pedals 

Categories
Ambient Drone Experimental Minimal Musique Concrète Synth

Luke Sanger prepares new LP ‘Languid Gongue’ on Balmat

Balmat – Release: August 13th 2021

Balmat’s first release comes from Luke Sanger, a Norwich, UK-based artist whose two decades of electronic music-making have encompassed a range of tools and techniques, from MaxMSP to modular synthesis. Along the way he has built an extensive catalog encompassing ambient atmospheres, abstract soundscaping, and more. With Languid Gongue, he puts multiple approaches into play. Experiments in microtonal composition balance out pieces in standard tunings, while esoteric electronic machines merge with familiar acoustic treatments and microphone techniques. 

The result is a constellation of his signature sounds: freeform new-age fantasia; spring-loaded toytronic arpeggios; quartz-driven braindance clockworks. Drifting between consonant, almost lyrical compositions and shape-shifting textural sketches, the album drifts with the nonchalance of a sky-high cirrus cloud, and it glows as if illuminated from within. When we heard the material, we knew that it was the perfect choice to launch the label. To us, it sounds like a roadmap for points unknown.

Pre-order now via Balmat