A New Era Of Economical Growth And Prosperity And Safety And Power
Rekem Records and Fragment Factory are proud to present a solo album from veteran Swedish artist Leif Elggren. Skirting both the area of pure sound, as well as that of symbolism, the record is a powerful statement on the limits of social and political absurdity and corruption in our present time.
‘Das Baank’ is notable for the absence of its creator’s voice, as the sound of Elggren’s characteristic spoken word is nowhere to be found. Instead the music traverses between carefully paced dramatic musical passages, and sections of pure and often confrontational noise. Opener ‘DasB1’ features a haunting chorus of ghostly voices submerged within a quasi-orchestral movement, whereas each track that follows mostly goes deeper into industrial-sounding territories that provide an antithesis as well as an exhilarating liberation from the shackles of established normality and complacency. Elggren here takes on the issues of repression, violence, fear and power; the tracks are generically named but each is notable for its clarity and lucidness, and their focus on individual sound-worlds sees a direct correlation to the importance their author sees in each singular being against the greater absurdities we face. Its deeply philosophical stance makes this album an imperative appeal for our times.
Mastered by Henrik Rylander.
Leif Elggren is a Swedish artist who lives and works in Stockholm. Active since the late 1970s, he is a writer, visual artist, stage performer and composer. He has many sound-works to his credit, both solo and with the Sons of God (with Kent Tankred), on labels such as Ash International, Touch, Radium and Firework Edition Records (which he co-runs with Kent Tankred). His music usually presents carefully selected sound sources over a long stretch of time and can range from quiet electronics to harsh noise. His wide-ranging and prolific body of art often involves dreams and subtle absurdities, social hierarchies turned upside-down, hidden actions and events taking on the quality of icons.
Together with artist Carl Michael von Hausswolff, he is a founder of the Kingdoms of Elgaland-Vargaland (KREV) where he enjoys the title of king.
Rekem Records presents the latest release by label producer Kostis Kilymis. Living in London since 2012, Bethnal Greener perfectly documents life in the capital, "this Roman shell". The possibilities and the impossible, the dirt and the light, the highs and the lows.
'Bethnal Greener' showcases his most varied work to date, combing the delicacy and form of his lowercase improvised electronics with the full bodied sonic noise palette found on the 2012 Entr'acte release, More Noise Ahead. ‘Stepney Way’ features static clicks, almost forming a beat but not quite, with discrete sonic elements suggesting a rendering of the industrial buildings of Stepney as grooves on this record. The key to the album could be considered to be ‘The Ghost In The Typewriter (for Leif Elggren)’, encapsulating flickering panned buzzing, obnoxious then subtle sine waves, sculpted feedback, and what could well be the rumblings of a contact mic'd tower block, creating an 12-minute opus that the dedicatee would be proud of.
Mastered by Jacques Beloeil jacbeloeil.blogspot.co.uk
Kostis Kilymis is a Greek artist based in London. He employs electric and electronic material, capturing and manipulating sound, image and electroacoustic phenomena. Focusing on feedback systems, noise and immersive environments, his work attempts to unveil the nuances within the complex sensory experiences surrounding us. He has been an improviser, performer and collaborator – his encounters including Lucio Capece, Nikos Veliotis, Leif Elggren, Sarah Hughes, Stephen Cornford and Phil Julian amongst others. He curates the Organized Music from Thessaloniki label and is part of the Rekem Records collective. Recent work has been released on I Dischi Del Barone, Hideous Replica, Mazurka Editions and Entr’acte.
We've been great fans of 'The Duchess of Oysterville', the first outing from the duo of Chris Forsyth & Nate Wooley on cd some years ago on Creative Sources (with a follow-up later on Chocolate Monk), and had been looking for an opportunity to work with them if possible. Their duo is one of those cases that reveal different and unexpected qualities from the participants, and points to a third mind of shorts at play, a meeting that seems to open up the two towards an underexplored territory. With a palette consisting of guitar and trumpet, they make together music that often focuses on an ugly/beautiful scorched earth territory of hissing subtlety. 'Third' was recorded live in concert on March 16, 2013 in Philadelphia and mastered by Bhob Rainey.
Chris Forsyth is a lauded guitarist and composer whose work often assimilates art-rock textures with vernacular American influences. Long active in underground circles, he’s recently released a string of acclaimed records of widescreen guitar rock, including 2014's Intensity Ghost (No Quarter) that have brought his music to the attention of a wider audience. Forsyth first became active in the experimental scene in the 2000s as a founding member of the unclassifiable experimentalists Peeesseye (w/ Fritz Welch & Jaime Fennelly). He's also collaborated with Tetuzi Akiyama, Nate Wooley, Shawn Hansen, Koen Holtkamp, Chris Heenan, and choreographer Miguel Gutierrez. He is a recipient of a 2011 Pew Fellowship in the Arts and resides in Philadelphia.
New York based trumpeter Nate Wooley has performed on over 100 recordings. Increasingly acknowledged internationally, Wooley’s specific style is part of a burgeoning revolution in experimental trumpet technique with the likes of improvisers Evan Parker, John Zorn, Anthony Braxton, and Thurston Moore. His own compositions expand conceptions of linguistic based embouchure manipulation and utilize the trumpet to control amplified feedback.
'Katabasis' is the first solo album proper from Panos Alexiadis -an electronic musician based in Athens- following a series of cassette and cdr releases with various projects/aliases.
With a title that translates to 'descend', Katabasis is a concrète sound environment generated through real-time synthesis using modular electronics, acoustic instrument samples and location recordings. Aiming to create a distinct psychoacoustic experience, the music avoids any overt tonal structures, focusing instead on the construction of immersive acoustic spaces that display strong ties to classic electronic music as much as they reveal Alexiadis' unique voice.
The music was mastered by Giuseppe Ielasi, and is produced on an edition of 300 on vinyl. The first side of the LP houses the main piece itself, while the second provides space for an addendum which extends the possibilities of this music to a purely electronic piece. '15:21' mirrors the first track in its construction but drops the use of any pre-recorded elements from its palette, revealing the stark and raw beauty at the root of the artist's work.
As nicolas was heading for his roaring forties birthday, we were wondering whether we should issue a release to celebrate the occasion or should we throw a party or whatever. On the one hand lots of radical changes had taken place in the rekem HQ during the last year and found the four of us in a state of flux. On the other, a release idea to which you can always return and use as a sound diary, was bringing shivers from the absurd heyday and ultimately we couldn't resist the idea of doing one. Whom to invite for it? Without any second thought, the name of the Nihilist Spasm Band stuck to our minds. A band of friends who -for nearly half a century- hold regular Monday-night meetings/improvisations, their music has been a companion to our explorations in the world of obscure music, ever since our first encounter with it almost 23 years ago. And the recording and title the NSB suggested to us couldn't have fit any better, marking a crossroads in our lives with their free-as-the-wind sound that will now accompany new journeys.
A Selection of Electroacoustic Works 1964-1977 (Deluxe 2xCD & booklet) (rekem03/mafia02)
"Absolutely essential release of one of the most prominent personalities in the music world. Michael Adamis was recognised as a pioneering composer who created a contemporary musical genre upon the Greek tradition. He has managed to create an original electroacoustic soundscape, leaving a clear aesthetic mark among contemporary and Byzantine music. These works offer a remarkable example of his pioneering and diverse creative course, revealing a search for new means of expression. Tape, voice, distortion, concrete and electronic sounds, use of early synths. For the first time a Super Deluxe Double CD & Booklet edition is released with a selection of previously unreleased electroacoustic works from the 1964-1977 period."
Mai Pen Rai, μια έκδοση δύο σε ένα ή πως δυο τυχαίες ηχογραφήσεις ταξιδιωτικού ημερολογίου οχι μόνο κολλάνε μεταξύ τους αλλά μετά από περιπέτεια σχεδόν τεσσάρων χρόνων ενώνονται κι επιτέλους κυκλοφορούν.
Το πρώτο και το τρίτο κομμάτι αποτελούν αποτύπωση της εμπειρίας της Μάγιας Λάβδα στο Μπαλί το καλοκαίρι του 2008 όπου γυρνώντας με τη βιντεοκάμερα της αντιλαμβάνεται ήχους από βατράχια πίσω από μια πόρτα και τα ηχογραφεί μέσω της κάμερας της. Επιστρέφοντας από το ταξίδι της συνειδητοποιεί ότι έχει ένα υλικό που ταιριάζει για κυκλοφορία, ήχους που αρμόζουν σε ένα βινύλιο με lock grooves για ατελείωτη mantra !
Το δεύτερο κομμάτι προέρχεται από το ταξίδι της οριλα στην Ταϋλάνδη το καλοκαίρι του 2009. Ουσιαστικά αυτή η ηχογράφηση οφείλεται στην φάρσα ενός δυτικού, μόνιμου πλέον κατοίκου, όπου μετά από έντονη βραδινή μπόρα δηλώνει πως ο εν λόγω ήχος προέρχεται από νεροβούβαλους. Έτσι ξεκίνησε και η αναζήτηση της πηγής αυτού του αινιγματικού ήχου για να καταλήξει στην αποκάλυψη της αλήθειας σε ένα περιβάλλον μεγαλοπρεπούς φύσης και αρμονίας. Σε ανάμνηση του ταξιδιού αυτού προσθέσαμε ένα ασιατικό αερόστατο σε κάθε αντίτυπο του Mai Pen Rai.
Μια που το πάθος με τα βατράχια φούντωνε ολοένα στην οριλα αλλά και στη ρεκεμ, ενώσαμε τις ηχογραφήσεις και τις ιδέες που είχαμε για αυτές σε μία μορφή 7" χαραγμένου σε 12" πλάκα. Με τα βατράχια της Μάγιας κολλημένα και την ηχογράφηση της οριλα να θυμίζει όχι μόνο το ταξίδι της αλλά και την ιδέα γύρω από την οποία θα κινούνταν ένα κομμάτι της ζωής μας τα τελευταία τέσσερα χρόνια ζήσανε αυτοί καλά κι εμείς καλύτερα.
gamechangershow
titsay
germansingergirl
kianamaiart
snowghoul
discoholicmusic