London Snow
By  Robert Bridges 

When men were all asleep the snow came flying, 
In large white flakes falling on the city brown, 
Stealthily and perpetually settling and loosely lying, 
Hushing the latest traffic of the drowsy town; 
Deadening, muffling, stifling its murmurs failing; 
Lazily and incessantly floating down and down: 
Silently sifting and veiling road, roof and railing; 
Hiding difference, making unevenness even, 
Into angles and crevices softly drifting and sailing. 
All night it fell, and when full inches seven 
It lay in the depth of its uncompacted lightness, 
The clouds blew off from a high and frosty heaven; 
And all woke earlier for the unaccustomed brightness 
Of the winter dawning, the strange unheavenly glare: 
The eye marvelled—marvelled at the dazzling whiteness; 
The ear hearkened to the stillness of the solemn air; 
No sound of wheel rumbling nor of foot falling, 
And the busy morning cries came thin and spare. 
Then boys I heard, as they went to school, calling, 
They gathered up the crystal manna to freeze 
Their tongues with tasting, their hands with snowballing; 
Or rioted in a drift, plunging up to the knees; 
Or peering up from under the white-mossed wonder, 
‘O look at the trees!’ they cried, ‘O look at the trees!’ 
With lessened load a few carts creak and blunder, 
Following along the white deserted way, 
A country company long dispersed asunder: 
When now already the sun, in pale display 
Standing by Paul’s high dome, spread forth below 
His sparkling beams, and awoke the stir of the day. 
For now doors open, and war is waged with the snow; 
And trains of sombre men, past tale of number, 
Tread long brown paths, as toward their toil they go: 
But even for them awhile no cares encumber 
Their minds diverted; the daily word is unspoken, 
The daily thoughts of labour and sorrow slumber 
At the sight of the beauty that greets them, for the charm they have broken.

Read by Tom O'Bedlam (http://www.youtube.com/user/SpokenVerse)

London Snow; poem by Robert Bridges

BLIZZARD

DASH

from 'TOTE WINKEL' [CD|LP|DIGITAL]
Denovali Records · den387
available on all formats at http://denovali.com/sanktotten  


In spring 2022, Sankt Otten released their album “Symmetrie und Wahnsinn”, and now the next record is ready to enlighten our maltreated minds. “Tote Winkel” (Blind spots) is once again part of an album series with a geometric context, both creatively and musically.

Stephan Otten and Oliver Klemm made productive use of 2021, which has been decelerated to the maximum by Corona. For the first time, an external studio was booked (Mühle der Freundschaft, Bad Iburg) and the pool of analog synthesizers and other sound generators there was dusted off. Sankt Otten came up with the master plan to first free the spirit of 50 years of German electronic music trapped in the antiquated keyboards and oscillator housings, then to dismantle it, turn it inside out and reinterpret it. Echoes of music from Düssel- dorf are joined by sounds familiar from the Weserbergland, or mystical, sublime arcs of sound and, of course, the sequences typical of the Berlin School - whether side by side or interwoven. In a departure from the usual way of working, the majority of the tracks were created in the studio and in part from improvisations, which makes “Tote Winkel “ the most organic material we have heard from Sankt Otten to date.

New York-based Rafael Anton Irisarri mastered “Tote Winkel”, as he has done on productions by Biosphere, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Tycho, Terry Riley, Fennesz and many more. As part of the series of graphic covers, this extraordinary die-cut artwork was also designed by Daniel Castrejon. The vinyl version comes in a die-cut cover and colored vinyl, the CD in an elegant cardboard slipcase.

The Osnabrück duo Sankt Otten, founded in 1999, have been releasing on DENOVALI since 2009. “Tote Winkel” is their 14th album of timeless (instrumental) music. The band has dedicated itself to the holy trinity of Krautrock, Ambient and contemporary Elecronics.

Tote Winkel

Sankt Otten - Goodbye, Düsseldorf

10 SNIPPET prod. 5kjordn1

son zinzin pas fini mais attendez dvoir au nom

'Pentatonic Ruins' [CD|LP|DIGITAL]
Denovali Records · den385
available on all formats at http://denovali.com/mansur

"Pentatonic Ruins" is MANSUR’s 5th release on Denovali - it follows the 2022 "Oscuras Flores" album. "Pentatonic Ruins" is more of a song adaptation album than a new material album. It highlights the vocals of Martina Horvath and presents a collection of Mansur songs in a more hypnotic and trance like manner. This album can be seen as songs for transcendental rituals.

London Snow; poem by Robert Bridges

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