REVIEW WHITE_LINE :
"This delightful little mini CD release dropped through my letterbox whilst on holiday. The medium of the 3" CD /CDR is giving an opportunity for artists and labels to present short and exploratory works in a convenient and cost effective format. Here we find two CD's in elegantly designed translucent packaging, the black CD being source material by Shinkei, and the red CD , a re-processed version by Philip Lemieux, in a small edition of 100. Binaural beats have been used both as a technique for "brain training" (by the likes of the Monroe Foundation), and also by a host of creative artists, most notably The Hafler Trio, and The Anti Group, way back in their early, exploratory stages. It remains a source of great fascination for creators, due to its efficacy as sonic balm, and a method of stimulating and evoking certain mood states with a phenomenon known as the "frequency following response" , whereby both hemispheres of the brain are entrained to certain frequency ranges, inducing states of relaxation, creativity, excitement, etc. Shinkei (black CD) operate in the deep relaxation spectrum using binaurals to evoke beta-alpha states, that putatively stimulate alertness, concentration and "superlearning". The substance of the black CD consists of graduations of tones that slide in and out of focus, and speed. The overall sound is a highly reduced atmospehric exploration. Listened to under a capable set of headphones, and in a suitably calm environment would be an ideal condition for engaging with this work in order to achieve the desired effect. Lemieux (red CD), takes the binaural and uses it as a site for compositional focus, utilising minute shavings of the original material, eviscerating it to create something more akin to one of Richard Chartier's early "near silent" works, a subtle and evocative series of shifting tones, blips, and condensed atmospheres. Being the first release for a new label, I can only highly recommend that you give this a listen..a highly encouraging debut."
[BGN]

NEURAL
Uscita a piccola tiratura (limitata a sole 100 copie) di un doppio mini CD, acuta e concettuale escursione nei meandri più astratti e silenti dell'estetica minimalista. Progetto estremamente 'stimolante', proprio per la natura dei file sonori, costruiti con l'ausilio di un 'brainwave software' atto a sincronizzare pulsazioni mentali umane e precise frequenze. Stimolazione auditiva ed anche visiva (per mezzo di Dreamachines) in un connubio, appunto, di 'Binaural Beats', divisi nel cd black in quattro tracce poi riprocessate nell'altro cd (red) da Philippe Lemieux. I gradienti tonali, i droni e le micro-texture ottenute utilizzando le ben conosciute tecniche di 'frequency following response' al di la' dell'indiscutibile valore 'estetico' ancora una volta ci riportano (nella linea profonda tracciata dalle avanguardie storiche) ad un idea di produzione musicale innervata dalla sperimentazione d'operatività inconsuete. Un approccio analitico che esplora zone 'aleatorie', territori di pratica, adesso, anche negli ambiti audio-art.
Aurelio Cianciotta