Texture.Vitra is a composition based on processed field recordings captured in 2007 at Weil Am Rhein [Germany] with a pair of micro omnidirectional microphones inside and outside the Tadao Ando project "Vitra Seminar House".
limited edition of 100 hand-numbered minicdr.

Luigi Turra (b. 1975) is a italian sound/installation artist and graphic designer.
His main interest is in the aural textures created by a reprocessed-field recordings and concrete sourges captured around a word.
With this method it creates a harmonic equilibrium between sound and silence, tactile perception, within "environmental" aesthetics and references to japanese culture.
Luigi released his first cd "enso" in 2007

White_Line :
In sharp contrast to his recent "Enso" release, Luigi Turra explores a more restrained pallete of sounds. Texture Vita is essentially a tone-work, a thought-provoking, deeply meditative piece opening with a shifting, tonal bass layer, that sounds like the lower notes of a piano, caught in a timeless loop, topped off with a slender, granular skrim. The whole piece is an interpretative field recording, gleaned from two omni-directional microphones, inside and outside architect Tadao Ando's project, Vitra Seminar House. This is a hugely atmospheric condensation of elements of the immediate area, where scrapings and creakings billow with muscular reverb, slowly descending into darker, and virtually inaudible realms, with a characteristic "barely there" aesthetic. Something drum-like here is being gently rolled around, engendering deeply resonant tonalities, whilst high above, and in the more treble sound register, there are various metallic movements, encapsulated within a rotating bass layer. Texture Vitra is a masterful slab of evocative minimalism, and once again, Koyuki Sound have firmly established themselves as a minimalist label of considerable stature. A full length release beckons? [BGN]

1. ALPHA
2. BETA
3. GAMMA
composed January - March 2008.
headphones recommended.
limited edition of 100 hand-numbered minicdr

Josh Russell's audio work lies in the gully between academic electro-acoustic and ambient. Inspired by the soft incidental noises that one normally filters out he distills these sounds down and composes with them. By manipulating previously recorded sounds live as well as amplifying miniature sound environments he tries to create recordings and give performances that keep the listener engaged and present in the moment.
Josh works have been published on CON-V, Stasisfield and Quiet Design among others.
In 2000 he founded bremsstrahlung recordings and in 2005 founded trans>parent radiation it's net-audio/CDR sub-label.

White_Line :
Josh Russell takes up the ultra-minimalist aesthetic as laid down by the genre's master, Bernhard Gunter in his Monochrome/Polychrome series recently revisited by the USA's L-NE label. Three short-form tracks, neatly labelled APHA, BETA, and GAMMA , after their putative radioactive source material , contain a sustained and rotary heterodyne ticking, clicking and pulsing, that traverses the particulate, and almost inaudible. Opening piece, ALPHA is almost a definitive interpretation of Gunther's Monochrome White piece, as it hovers between fine, granular synthesis, exquisitely formed, and technically precise. Beta is a more defined piece, bringing the clicking into sharp relief, more monotone, and less layered, creating a distinct textural fabric, not unlike a telephone left unhooked, or the indiscriminate 55Hz hum of mains electricity. Gamma is perhaps the sum of the conjoining of the previous two tracks, a more densely packed, layered tonal piece that uses shifts and swells of EQ to create interest, with almost sub-bass presences juxtaposing with the main theme. This is an intense, intelligent, and beautifully rendered piece of audio art of the very finest order, from a small label that is rapidly establishing itself for its precision of presentation, and with a roster of artists that deserve wider attention. Highly recommended. [BGN]

Between his reputation as swift shifting improviser, concréte composer and turntable deconstructionist, Marseilles based artist ERIKM has earned himself an enviable position in the European music community. With Stéme, his most ambitious and fully realised compositional work to date, he devolves and recontextualises the boundaries between sound source and sound media.

In essence, Stème originates from a selection of ten one minute long sound pieces burned on a CD which was deliberately damaged. These media (music on modified media or field recording) formed the basis of multiple improvised session including multiple stages of construction and destruction of these acoustic matters using my different electronic real time live music systems (3k-pad system & MD or CD-dj and electronics).

The resulting sounds are truly distinctive – filigree like sonic details are brought into sharp focus, tuning the ears with their paced spatial movements. Occasional grabs of the source sound material appear and are erased equally as quickly. A genuinely powerful statement of compositional intent.

Six years after the release of "Hypernatural #2", Yoshio Machida is rounding up his magnificent trilogy of electroacoustic collages with "Hypernatural #3". A unique and highly personal work, the Hypernatural series has made of Machida a world-class sound artist. Assemblages of field recordings and treated instrumental sounds, the music on "Hypernatural #3" evokes simultaneously the universal and the intimate, Mankind and Nature.

Yoshio Machida has been working on this series since 1997. The first volume was self-released in 1999 and had for theme memory in Eastern Asia ; Volume 2, released by Softl Music in 2001, focused on transparency, unconsciousness and invisible existence. "Hypernatural #3", the last instalment in this triptych, is about oblivion. Machida explains: "Oblivion is characteristic of the correlation between matter and time. Oblivion has a positive aspect: it appears as a natural phenomenon in the passage of time and becomes a factor in creating new worlds. Nature consists of a myriad of different memory-oblivion cycles".

silk | mp3

'in november' is the belated debut solo release from us-born, wismar germany-based composer john r. carslon. the trained ballet dancer turned to music (and moved to east germany) in the early nineties and never looked back. his hitherto scant discography belies a wealth of composition for theatre, tv and radio - to date over 70 productions, as well as countless concerts throughout central europe, russia and beyond. however for 'in november' (no guesses as to when this was recorded!) john returns to his first love, solo piano improvisation.

recorded live with no editing, across five tracks of varying lengths, 'in november' shows a truly original talent at work in a music area that likes often to fall back too easily on certain names - keith jarrettt, george winston, harold budd, maybe more recently max richter or goldmund - as points of reference. the melodic lines could be described as instant compositions. unfolding trains of thought detach themselves from the tradition theme and variation forms of improvised jazz. rigorously recorded without breaks or second tries, each track has its own mood and musical intention. moving from almost classical clarity to minimal density, the tracks document journeys into the sub-consciousness of the player and his search for truth and authenticity in the moment of creation. sometimes a child-like simplicity emerges, infusing the music with an uncanny approachability oft lacking in music of this genre.

john placed great importance on the genuine sound of the recordings and shunned modern techniques of sound manipulation and mastering. the improvisations were played on john´s own bechstein C grand piano, built 1903. the quirks and sonic artefacts are vital ingredients to the improvised experience.

john always hesitated in making recordings of his work, believing that the essence of improvised music was greater than the mere sonic signals left on tape or CD. but, through this process of naked honesty and almost scientific 'objectivity', he found a way to capture something of this illusive essence without sacrificing any artistic integrity.

samples

duncan o ceallaigh first came to note through his debut release 'distant voices, still lives' in november 2007 on the renowned belgian U-Cover label. whereas that release had a broad palette of styles incorporating elements of ambient, microsound, guitar drone and folkatronica, the 'esr' EP concentrates more on the former two directions with a unified theme - the paradox between stasis and movement, whether in space or time, 'always now' versus 'the only constant is change' as it were.

taking martin luther's motto for the protestant reformation 'the church in constant reform' as its inspiration, the title track appears at first static - in both senses of the word. however as it progresses there occurs an ever-changing collision between a series of simple melodic tones and pulses of unequal length, all unfolding without ever superficially altering form. 'perpetuum mobile', as its title suggests, continues this conceit, based on a drone (tense? relaxing?) interrupted by occasional artefacts and melodies. the intervening two sketches act as 'palette cleansers', drawing the listener back into 'real time' by exploring how 'artificial' (computer generated or manipulated) sounds react in real spaces.

despite its conceptual premise, the 'esr' EP is a truly ambient recording - one that can be enjoyed in superficial and deep listening modes alike, thus tending perhaps more to the 12k school of electronic music than say the more purely intellectual approach of raster-noton. nevertheless, no previous knowledge of the genre or concept is required to enjoy the release.

duncan o ceallaigh, of scots-irish descent but based on the baltic sea coast of germany, played in dublin during the nineties with various indie bands. he has spent the last few years in germany, initially in the west and since 2003 in the east, developing several projects spanning an experimental singer songwriter / post-rock project, theatre music and electronic music, as well as producing local artists. in addition, he works as a graphic designer, and has published a book of his landscape photography, subsequently exhibiting it.

"Wild Flowers Under The Sofa" is the third and new album of the italian duo-project formed by Gianluca Becuzzi and Fabio Orsi. Gianluca Becuzzi is an electronic/electroacoustic composer and sound artist active since the 80's. He released many albums and performed live around Europe during the last decades under various names. Fabio Orsi is a young talent recently come out thanks to a series of excellent releases welcomed by international critic and audience.

"Wild Flowers Under The Sofa" is an intense and fascinating album made of guitars, old keyboards, field recordings and sound objects. Three long compositions between Avant-garde and Folk traditions where everything plays with big emotion: visionary soundscapes, deep drones and sudden noises. This work is particular for its sound sources extracted from previous duo productions with brand new sounds and structures making in this way an unreleased brilliant mix."