micromelancolié Mixtape

September 19, 2012 0

Polish drone and noise artist micromelancolié has prepared a mixtape that repurposes repetitive structures to great effect:

international tapes mix by micromelancoliÈ is about drone’ing and singing.

more info about my sounds & videos:

www.coughserenades.blogspot.com

www.vvhscvlt.blogspot.com

Tags: ambient, drone, micromelancoliÈ, mixtape, poland

The Exhalers: “~player~”

May 3, 2012 1

After releasing in rapid-fire succession the last few months under the names Mediafired, JCCG, and Sofa Pits, and establishing his own Exo Tapes as one of young tape labels to watch, the Portuguese chill out maester known as João/Johnny has launched a new project titled The Exhalers. While rigid song structures haven’t loomed large in his recent body of work, this new material sheds its pop allusions and sets about effortlessly hybridizing drone and ambient conventions, as well as digital and analog elements: the recordings were done on an old Fostex X28H multitrack cassette machine and prominently features the notoriously bright tones of a Casio CTK-495 . Throw in an army of web art dolphins, courtesy of Whatever™, and you have yourself an aesthetic. The cooing oscillations and digitized cracklings of “~player~” comprise the B side of Wave Reader II.O, which is the second (the others being I.O and III.O) in a series of three tapes. The semi-binaural pulsations are extremely relaxing, so we suggest you put on the good headphones and dive into this seriously blissful stuff. Look, even Putin is smiling.

The Exhalers: “~player~”

The Wave Reader I.O, II.O, and III.O tapes are available from Exo Tapes and you can hear more on Soundcloud. The artwork from the Wave Reader series will also be available in a limited of printed cards

Written by Luke Carrell

Tags: ambient, chill out, drone, Europe, JCCG, Mediafired, portugal, Reviews, Sofa Pits, the exhalers

Magic Towers: “N. 4 Sides A & B”

May 1, 2012 0

Magic Towers are an experimental ambient/drone duo from the Northern Italian city of Vittorio Veneto. Their new release N. 4 comes to us via NO=FI Recordings. The two sides of the cassette each present fifteen minutes of droning synths and heady atmospherics. Dissonant, remote, and often disturbing, the composition was quite fittingly recorded during All Soul’s Day of last year in Milan. The tape’s palate is stark but broad, ranging from quiet whirrs to thunderous percussion, all haunted with varying degrees of dread and decay. Side A is the less combative of the two pieces, with a simmering midsection that gives way to sustained high-frequency undulations, while side B begins with atramental tape hiss that shifts toward grating synths that are frankly pretty hard to take even at low decibels.  As an exercise that aims to explore the role sound plays in perception, N. 4 succeeds, but it may leave you feeling as physically drained as mentally stimulated.

Magic Towers / N.4 / Side A by magictowers

Magic Towers / N.4 / Side B by magictowers

“N. 4” is out now on NO=FI

Written by Nathan Reese

Tags: all soul's day, ambiant, drone, Italy, magic towers, no fi, noise