a most unusual release in our 10" series by this newly formed German duo (one member is a main actor in the cryptic Netflix series 'DARK', the other a prof. percussionist playing in diverse orchestras), moving beyond / between / inside various genres (improvisation & composition, collage and jazz noir ambience), well-shaped from various sessions with Berlin's ENSEMBLE ADAPTER => a kind of "acoustic theatre" or "surrealistc soundpoem" that will leave you simply astonished... lim. 300 / RELEASE DATE early August 2021 !


full description: ""in pieces - volume one" - taumel meets ensemble adapter

in winter 2016, 'taumel' and the 'ensemble adapter' met for several improvisational sessions to develop an evening of music in which the contrasts and boundaries between composition and improvisation, freedom and determination, chaos and structure were to blur or collide. the sessions focused on the development of a specific, sound-gestural musical language. in a way, each musician developed kind of a character on his instrument and its own specific sound-gesture. we recorded these sessions and used them as a basis for "in pieces. "in pieces" consists of the remixes of these sessions, as well as additional studio material produced by taumel.

"in pieces" can be understood as a sureal sound poem, an abstract sound story that wanders through the most different states - from greatest happiness to frenzy and madness. in the 2 mutating sound fields, the associative story revolves around the theme of linguistic inalienability and thus also around the theme of 'chaos and order'. this ambiguity, the attempt at beauty and its overturning into destruction and failure. attempts at writing, attempts at speaking, stammering, stuttering, screaming, constriction, drifting away, humming... in the mutation of states, heterogeneous sound events meet or are mixed to a new kind of soundmash between song, voices, melody, harmony, instruments, noise, beats, riffs, words, electronics and alienation. the action of the instrumentalists (the instrument playing) is on the same level as any other sound producing action or vocal expression as well as any electronic sound production and is always meant gesturally, performatively, as action, as acoustic dance.

"volume one" is the first part of a musical context planned as a two-part work ("in pieces - volume two). in two sound parts (side a, side b) "in pieces - volume one" is not a song cycle like our other series, e.g. TRAUM, but rather a musical 2-act, later altogether 4-act. here the overall form of the musical series is not divided into albums and songs, but into albums and their a+b sides, like act 1, 2, 3 and 4. perhaps, therefore, "in pieces" can also be heard as an acoustic theater, or as a radio play without words, or as a soundtrack without a film, or as a film without a picture, or simply as an order of changing sound events.

"off the record"
in "off the record" taumel meets other musicians and develops albums in collaboration. here different forms of musical interaction can be tried out. in this case of "in pieces" the collaboration with the "ensemble adapter" consisted in these sessions, which form the basic framework and skeleton for the whole album.

order from Drone Records HERE:
https://www.dronerecords.de/album.view.html?album=20419

TAUMEL - In Pieces Vol. One  (A-Side)

released on "Drone-Mind //Mind-Drone Vol. 8 " LP, 11/2021

https://www.dronerecords.de/album.view.html?album=20711

finally the new DRONE-MIND compilation with an exquisite selection of experimental / "advanced" drone highlights: AUME (U.S.A.), KAZUYA ISHIGAMI (Japan), HIROSHIMABEND (Austria), and BALDRUIN (Germany); cover-art by puppy38, using two paintings by British artist PETE GREENING; edition of 400 copies on TURQUOISE coloured VINYL. Mastering & Artwork: puppy38.

BALDRUIN - Verstecken

released on "Drone-Mind //Mind-Drone Vol. 8 " LP, 11/2021

order: https://www.dronerecords.de/album.view.html?album=20711

finally the new DRONE-MIND compilation with an exquisite selection of experimental / "advanced" drone highlights: AUME (U.S.A.), KAZUYA ISHIGAMI (Japan), HIROSHIMABEND (Austria), and BALDRUIN (Germany); cover-art by puppy38, using two paintings by British artist PETE GREENING; edition of 400 copies on TURQUOISE coloured VINYL. Mastering & Artwork: puppy38.

HIROSHIMABEND -  Syllabarimau

released on "Drone-Mind //Mind-Drone Vol. 8 " LP, 11/2021

order: https://www.dronerecords.de/album.view.html?album=20711


finally the new DRONE-MIND compilation with an exquisite selection of experimental / "advanced" drone highlights: AUME (U.S.A.), KAZUYA ISHIGAMI (Japan), HIROSHIMABEND (Austria), and BALDRUIN (Germany); cover-art by puppy38, using two paintings by British artist PETE GREENING; edition of 400 copies on TURQUOISE coloured VINYL. Mastering & Artwork: puppy38.

AUME - Between Mirage and History

Kazuya ISHIGAMI - Clean2020

Drone Records launches a new CD series named "SYM" which could be understood as a place holder for different notions and inner processes (such as Symmetrization, Symbiosis, Symbolization), forming an epistemological circle of inter-relations (associated with the act of perceiving and understanding sound on a substantial level)... 

The first release is OUT NOW:
SYM : 01: JARL - Misophonia Colours 
Swedish hypno-droner JARL starts the series with a longform, trance-inducing  drone/ambient piece, shaping audio ornaments like visual forms, playing a game with your head...  a 60 min. one-tracker. 
This is an extract from the middle part.

Mastering: PETER ANDERSSON (raison d'etre) / Artwork: TILMANN BENNINGHAUS

buy CD: 
https://www.dronerecords.de/album.view.html?album=20792

JARL - Misophonia Colours (extract)

One track from the second release in the new SYM CD-series!
ILLUSION OF SAFETY - New Rules, Same Game, Less Instruction

buy: https://www.dronerecords.de/album.view.html?album=20793

info: Chicago's post- / ambient industrial legend is back with a work that combines electronic sounds and field recordings: microscopic audio events, loops, heavily processed material of all kinds form seven multi-layered collages that seem to be full of electro-magnetic static, morphing and transforming like a hallucinogenic object in every second and in all possible directions...in all it's subtleness this is far away from the shock treatment noises of the early IOS times. 
'New Rules, Same Game, Less Instruction' is the first release of new IOS compositions since 'Surrender' in 2015. Featuring extensive synthesizer source material as well as other now familiar electro-acoustic techniques, it is conceived as a follow up to the 1995 3” CD release of 'Rules Of The Game', alluding to the social, political, and psychological games humans engage in for validation, survival, or dominance. New Rules, same game, less instruction, harsher penalty. Illusion Of Safety now more than ever.

Mastering: THOMAS DIMUZIO / Artwork: DAN BURKE

Editions of 250 copies / 6 panel digipak with special b/w reverse board printing for the IOS

ILLUSION OF SAFETY - Malicious Intent

One track from the third release in the new SYM CD-series!
THORSTEN SOLTAU - Gewächse im Zwielicht
https://www.dronerecords.de/album.view.html?album=21322

This Friesian multi media artist with two works on one CD: his compositions combine drone-ambient and electro-acoustic elements in a wonderful (sometimes bizarre, sometimes melancholic) way, various instrumental and electronic sources are building a hypnotic web, very complex and with many unexpected twists and surprises in the mix..  this CD is like a little wonder!

"MUSIC.ART.MORPHOSIS.
A reflection.
I call myself a listening person – I am constantly listening to and into environments. This has lead to a refined sense able to picking up things that may slip the attention of others. My ears are trained to scan the places I visit – crowded metropoles, remote spots in nature or even familiar surroundings of office or home. My way of listening can be divided in two modes: the perception of sound on an unconscious level or the deliberate focus on sonics.

Becoming a sort of scanning antenna had a profound effect how I compose. The experience of my listening is reflected in my sound works. As an example several compositions feature barely noticeable overdubs. They can only be heard with specific settings of loudness and spatial room (and are therefore easy to recognize with headphones) or equalizer settings. Another example is the creation of dense clusters of sound resembling information streams or (over-)crowded places.

My goal is the creation of rich sounds with layers only reachable by multiple listening. Each work exposes itself over time with each consciously made playback / perception:
Repetition becomes a reward for the listener.

On sounds.

My compositions are either electronic or electroacoustic. A commonly used sound is the human voice or excerpts of complex synthesis. As a composer I choose my source material wisely. The starting elements have to inhabit the desired mood and intensity later formulated into full compositions. Nevertheless I am open for developments by surprise or error during sound design.

One important factor is randomness. Sounds or sound manipulating factors are mapped to random forces which allows for unexpected results. Some of my composing techniques are deliberately executed against their primary intention as well. This allows for an ever-morphing character of my works until the final touch is added.

On sonic morphosis.

My compositional ethic has strong ties to morphosis. To reflect different degrees of sonic shifting / transformation / transitions I apply several techniques and methods. As explained above the use of complex treatments and randomness allows for a sound that constantly shapes into an liquid and organic sculpture. The sonics I create are further exposed to imperfections and errors – like body and mind aging or perishing over time.

Errors are integral and welcome. Most of them occur as a glitch in the analogue or digital domain during sessions or setup changes. They give a further layer to the music resembling small failures made by the composer – adding a human touch despite their virtual origin.

On concepts.

My solo work has always been underlined by concepts. My canon includes albums with apparent or less apparent concepts. Often works can be seen as cornerstones of things I research at that time of their genesis. Several compositions reflect situations from personal life. Thus all works can be seen as intimate and highly personal sonic artifacts. Conception can be seen as the base of each work without outweighing the listeners experience. Each of my pieces can be explicitly heard as a sole composition as well."
https://thorstensoltau.de

THORSTEN SOLTAU - Das Begehren

Extract from the CD with Cat. Nr. SYM:04: 
For the first time both long active veterans of the experimental / post industrial / field recording scene have collaborated, and created a mesmerizing one-tracker (56+ min.) with many breathtaking moments from the very beginning... an incredible new virtual sonic reality, taking you on a journey to the microworlds of the "more than human" lifeforms.. a "Phloem" is the part of plants that transports organic compounds = photosynthates. 

order:
https://www.dronerecords.de/album.view.html?album=21323

FRANCISCO LOPEZ & DANIEL MENCHE - Sacrificed Phloem (Zannec Line)

One track from the new RLW CD "Satanic Inventions", distributed by Drone Records: This album is the result of Ralf Wehowsky’s (aka rlw) critical examination of COVID-19 as a cultural phenomenon and a comparison to the black plague of the Middle Ages: "Denial of reality, conspiracy theories, searching for scapegoats, etc." = a true festival or irrationalism, telling us more about the human mental state than about the pandemic. Condensed by rlw into 15 tracks, a challenging journey of heavy de-constructions, trans-morphed drones, and treated source sounds = surrealistic musique concrete! 
Lim. 200 copies, order a single copy:
https://www.dronerecords.de/album.view.html?album=21254

RLW-Normality Lost #3

extract from the A-Side of the JOE COLLEY 10inch "Acting As If" released in the Substantia Innominata series in December 2022. 
order it here:   https://www.dronerecords.de/album.view.html?album=21114

press release: 
MECHANICAL RITUALS: 23 years after his EP for Drone Records (DR-28, as CRAWL UNIT) we are proud to release another / new work of conceptual / minimal / object drone artist JOE COLLEY from California.   
We think JOE COLLEY (*1972) is a master of using mechanical object sounds and electronic static, but also strange low fi found found sources and field recordings, creating alienating, surrealistic effects, similar to the likes of SMALL CRUEL PARTY, JIM HAYNES, DAS SYNTHETISCHE MISCHGEWEBE or even the more experimental side of ZOVIET FRANCE...  
His newer compositions seem always to be filled with electro-magnetic hummings, strange hissing and the pourings of metallic objects as a basis, but you never find the use real instruments, synths, or masses of effect procession. Thus a very own scent of mystery appears, as all of these radiations are not really from this planet, without any "cosmic" connotations..
For the creator, these sounds are connected with unreal emotions of "Being Lost", a mistrust in what may be called reality, and a general feeling of alienation... - you can only wonder how this can result in such beautiful droning expanses.. 
Presented here are over 30 minutes of very best new COLLEY material (entitled   "Limit / Limit"  und "Always I / Always II") => through these drones of strangeness the mind is thrown inside an unrecognizable and confusing realm of broken electricity and something like audible-made atmospheric pressure.. 
Lim. 300 copies with artwork by dutch designer and micro label hero MEEUW, using a special silver print (on reverse board), BLACK vinyl. glossy black inner sleeves.

REVIEW:  "When Joe Colley speaks about his work and even about his life, he shrugs in an awkward attempt to stave off an existential frustration that not only his work addresses but also seems to consume his identity. There are numerous metaphors through his titles that allude to endless failures and a nihilism full of contempt, but Colley also implores a desperate urgency to express these poetics no matter how painful they may be. For three decades now, Colley has been a central and persistent figure in the California noise community. First recording under the moniker Crawl Unit and running the short-lived Povertech label, Colley presented a preternaturally strong acumen of electro-acoustic techniques and abstraction through a vast language of blistered textures, atonal noise, and gnarled drone. By 2000, he dropped the Crawl Unit moniker in favor of his own name with an ongoing discography of damaged yet exploratory electronics. 

Colley returns to Drone Records for this 10" on the Substantia Innominata series, many years after his Crawl Unit "Tuscon Mon Amour" 7." In describing "Acting As If," Colley offers a vague series of descriptors: unheimlich, terror of the familiar, and no faith in what is "real." Within the sustained movements of scrabbling textures, motorized abrasions, and uncomfortable harmonics, such conditions are made manifest and Colley amplifies them into something eeriely sublime. 
All of that held within a self-contained logic that works within and against his deep knowledge of drone-on minimalism, musique concrete dynamics, and the explosiveness of noise culture. His swarming masses, throttled rumbling, and smoldering tension are all encircling and folding in on themselves. Rhizomes of sound that speak poison. Drink up, if it doesn't kill you, it will only make you stronger. "- Jim Haynes / Northern California, 2023

JOE COLLEY - Limit (edit)

The central track of CONTRASTATE's brilliant new album "Life without Agriculture", CD out on Drone Records 02.2024 in the SYM series (SYM_05)

An album "re-imagining" some of the dadaist, futurist, and surrealist clubs of the 20th century, from Moscow 1918 over Tehran 1966 to Münster 1997; a wonderfully surprising and experimental work by the British post-industrial and ambient performance trio.
CONTRASTATE have created an amazing new work that is inspired by some historical, but also newer places (cafes, clubs, cabarets - including fantasised venues that could / should have existed), relating to the glorious times of the 'true' avantgarde.
"The arc that links them all is the experimentation, the exchange of ideas, and the platform to perform free from the “social norms” of the time." [Stephen Meixner of Contrastate]
The dreamy first half of the album establishes a very sombre and melancholic mood, but when the central pieces "London 1912" and "Zurich 1916" enter it leads to more collagenous and experimental areas, using guitar and bass harmonics, pulsing analogue electronics, spoken words, and all kinds of samples and weird processed sounds. The versatility especially of the second half allows for a fully immersive listening experience, with a vast array of details and twists.  "Imagination is subversive, because it puts the possible against the real. "That's why you should always use your wildest imagination. Imagination is the biggest gift humanity has received. Imagination makes people human, not work..." [Jan Švankmajer, "Decalogue", Touch Movements, 2017].
CONTRASTATE, formed in 1987, are a trio from London that have operated on the edge of experimental ambient, dark post-industrial, and performative art areas, often using spoken word lyrics with a strong political, anti-imperialistic approach/agitation. Their early 7" for Drone Records "English Embers" (DR-05) became one of the highlights in the series.

watch promo video trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACZmOWEB8Eo


Order : https://www.dronerecords.de/album.view.html?album=22013

CONTRASTATE - Zurich 1916

Extract from the longform piece of MOLJEBKA PVLSE's new album "Topography of Frequency and Time" , out on Drone Records 02.2024 in the SYM series (SYM_06)

The term "Topography" means the study of the forms and features of land surfaces., the physical appearance of natural attributes in a certain area... MATHIAS JOSEFSON aka MOLJEBKA PVLSE has adopted this notion to characterize this long form multiple-layer drone ambient expanse, a continuous flow of sound that can lead you into different aural regions...like the recent "Sacrificed Phloem (Zannec Line)" by LOPEZ/MENCHE (SYM:04) this one-tracker (exactly 70 minutes long) guides through you various stages.. after a massive beginning there's a very mellow / harmonic middle part, the aural topography of sound changes again towards the ending...a continuous "transfer" into non-ordinary states of mood & consciousness...
Mathias Josefson shares his thoughts on the album: " 'Topography of Frequency and Time' is an expedition through expansive sonic landscapes that stretch beyond our daily awareness. It serves as an open invitation to transcend the visual confines of physical space, encouraging a deep dive into the unexplored realms of sound and time. This album seeks to chart the uncharted territories of our auditory experience, intricately mapping the intersections of three-dimensional space within the frequency and time domains."
MOLJEKBA PVLSE, based in Stockholm and Hamburg, has accompanied Drone Records for a long time, with releases on 7" and 10" vinyl. Active since 1999, the project has evolved from more minimal droning soundscapes on to complex multi-layered atmospheric conglomerations of acoustic and electronic sounds, field recordings and found sounds, feat. various guest musicians.

retail order:  https://www.dronerecords.de/album.view.html?album=22014

MoljebkaPvlse - TopographyOfFrequencyAndTime (excerpt)

This is the BONUS track from MONOCUBE which you can download for free with the purchase of the next DRONE MIND // MIND DRONE LP (#5). 

Monocube - Alessandro

A-side from the 10" on Substantia Innominata (SUB-28), released in July 2020:

Italy's Cristiano DEISON enriches the experimental sound and noise
art community with his releases and various collaborations (lately
with JOHN DUNCAN, GIANLUCA BECUZZI and K.K.NULL) for
more than 20 years, but seems to be still undiscovered by too many
listeners. "Substrata" collects three extremely crystalline and
immersive drone pieces based on prepared tapes, metals, strings,
wires and electronics... imagine a forest glade in moon-light with
cold white sonic radiations, half-frozen calyx are clanging at each
other, liquid metallic forms appear and disappear, hypnotic slow
motion pulses suck you into.. "something"... these are incredible
strong, deep and complex drone compositions, drones with the spirit
of the "Noise Culture" - using "fragmentation, collage, arrangement
and layers", as Germano-Chinese philosoph Lutz Schridde puts it.
Sounds of elementary transformations, metamorphosis, and
overcoming the usual sense of time:
"..where sounds are conceived as they are “excavated” from the earth beneath our feet “Terra Firma”
(erosion) and then taking to the light (awakening); it describes its interior solid surface (“Prima Materia”), the primitive formless base of all matter similar to chaos, the quintessence or aether." [Cristiano Deison]
ed. of 300 copies pressed on transparent green vinyl, artwork Cristiano Deison, 32. min playtime.

Please use this link for checking & ordering:
https://www.dronerecords.de/search.html?text=Substantia+Innominata&x=0&y=0

DEISON - Substrata - SIDE A

DRONE RECORDS is a label-project and mailorder-service for mainly atmospheric & experimental music, based in Bremen, Germany.

DRONE RECORDS as a (vinyl-only) LABEL started in 1993 with a very idealistic, uncommercial attitude & philosophy, influenced by the independent cassette-culture scene from the 80’s.

The 7"-label series was active from 1993 to 2010 with 100 released "drones" (7" EPs), presenting mainly newcomers from the international experimental "drone"-scene.

In the meantime, late 2005 a second series / sub-label has started, this time on 10"-vinyls, named SUBSTANTIA INNOMINATA. This series with a special concept embracing the "Unknown" could be seen as an interface between experimental music & cultural science, psychoanalysis and philosophy. See www.substantia-innominata.de for details.

Now, at the end of the year 2011, we have started a new LP-series called "DRONE-MIND//MIND-DRONE" - dedicated to the drones of the world - and the drones of our minds. Presenting 4 artists for each volume, this is a continuation of the drone 7" concept, the new era of drones ! 



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