http://auralconduct.bandcamp.com
http://auralconduct.info

aural conduct releases

Listen / purchase via http://auralconduct.bandcamp.com

—

The first release on aural conduct comes from Nijhof & Toonk. Growing up together in the nineties, their vibrant friendship has been marked by a mutual drive to create. Since they both primarily work in visual and interdisciplinary arts, their music has only occasionally been shared with others. 

This record is the culmination of their multi-year, synchronous work. One can hear clever electronics fuelled by post-rock and dub-laden styles, breathing improvisationalist technique as much as studied precision and composition. Their lingering music draws us into a sonic zone, where our consecutive emotions are quickly eclipsed while time proceeds in an altered fashion. Listen attentively.

—

All music by Nijhof & Toonk, 2014–2021. Recorded at home, Studio Texel, Bunker Rotsoord and atelier Jutfaseweg. Recorded and mixed by Christian Toonk. Mastered by Jasper Boogaard. Cover and insert artwork by Ronald Nijhof. Pressed and printed at Deepgrooves Leeuwarden. Insert printed at PRINT workshop HKU. 

aural conduct, 2022. Label concept and lead by Luke Cohlen. Identity design by Marianne Noordzij. 

—

12'' vinyl album, comes with a fully printed cover, 10'' artwork- and credit-filled insert plus a leaflet with liner notes, all wrapped in a PVC sleeve featuring a riso-printed logo sticker. 

Wholesale import through Rush Hour Distribution.

Nijhof & Toonk

aural conduct 01 — Nijhof & Toonk

Listen / purchase via auralconduct.bandcamp.com

—

Salutingrome graces the second chapter of aural conduct. On ‘Washing Hands’ a few of the artist’s finest crafts and outtakes are assembled, intuitive lyrical music that appeared shrouded in mystery on the internet in recent years. 

The moniker came to life as the aperture for the characteristic experiments written by Zamity Mitelembe. Echoing his activity in theatre, these modernistic tracks express solitude and transgression. Swindling stairwells and winter nights – immerse yourself in an ode to the season of ice and distance.

—

All music by Salutingrome (Zamity Mitelembe), 2019–2022. Additional production by Victor Keyser (4) and Max van Westerop (5). Additional instruments (guitar and cello) by Hidde Boogaard and Fien Bierman (2). Additional vocals by Femke Tijseling (3). Recorded and mixed by BUG & Mannes Kocken (3), Victor Keyser (4), Max van Westerop (5) and Zamity Mitelembe (1, 2 & 6). Mastered by Jasper Boogaard. 

Cover photo by Zamity Mitelembe. Design by Marianne Noordzij. Cassette (dubbing) by Luca van Grinsven (Off Center). J-card printed at Werkplaats Typografie. 

aural conduct, 2023. Label concept and lead by Luke Cohlen. Identity design by Marianne Noordzij.

—

Cassette album, dubbed onto smokey brown near-translucent tape, comes with a 3-panel J-card that includes artwork, typographic poetry and credits, all packed in a transparent case featuring a logo sticker.

Wholesale import through Rush Hour Distribution.

Washing Hands

aural conduct 02 — Salutingrome - Washing Hands

Listen / purchase via auralconduct.bandcamp.com

—

Invert Dance is a club-oriented compilation aligned by its underlying tension and paradoxical sound. Some tracks were made specifically for this release; the others are recontextualised SoundCloud uploads.

—

All music, recordings, and mixes by the artists, 2018–2023. Compiled by Luke Cohlen. Designed by Marianne Noordzij. Mastered by Kamilė Rimkutė. Pressed at Monotype Pressing.

aural conduct, 2023

—

CD compilation, pressed onto a plain silver disc, comes with a fold-out poster including artwork, titles, liner notes, and credits, all packed in a hand-cut cover containing an inverted logo print.

Invert Dance

aural conduct 03 — V/A - Invert Dance

Listen / purchase via auralconduct.bandcamp.com

All digital album sales are donated to Haven for Artists, a feminist arts initiative from Beirut that is currently helping displaced families in Lebanon. The proceeds from the vinyl album cover the production costs and support the artist.

—

Beirut Birds (طيور بيروت) is a sonic memory capsule honoring (inter)personal stories of migration, displacement, and the cyclical turbulent circumstances in Lebanon. Transforming her multi-year project, multidisciplinary artist and composer Nour Sokhon crystallizes the performance Beirut Birds (طيور بيروت) into her long-awaited debut album. When presented and performed live, it is accompanied by juxtaposed images of the Lebanese capital’s city life and avian migration across the Mediterranean Sea, representing themes strongly woven into the music.

In her variegated artistic process, Nour has undertaken and recorded interviews with diasporas and repatriates to commemorate, share, heal, and envision. These source materials become the album’s core elements that loop, narrate, and return throughout time, with Nour responding with both instruments and her voice. Chanting in dialogue with the interviewees, crafting near-mantras, Nour further congregates these materially-rooted soundscapes by including field recordings that she gleaned during 2018–2021 in Lebanon and her subsequent move to Berlin.

Embedded within the composition are manipulated sounds from objects that symbolize migration, such as office bells, a luggage wheel, car parts, and bureaucratic paperwork. Musically, the songs are enriched by Nour’s improvisations on classical piano, electronics, synthesizers, violin, and various percussion instruments. As time is sculpted and the layers blur, words become specters, while an entropic orchestra of drums and melody rises, giving shape to an in-between space for those who have left, and stayed.

—

Music and artistic research by Nour Sokhon, 2018–2024. Recording, editing, and mixing by Rabih Beaini at Morphine Raum, Berlin. Mastered by Rashad Becker at Clunk. Cover artwork and typographic design by Farah Fayyad. Photography by Nour Sokhon. Label coordination by Luke Cohlen. Pressed and printed at Monotype Pressing. 

"I would like to extend my gratitude to Tania Kammoun for contributing a field recording used on the album; Gabriel Haddad for providing visuals for my live show; Omar Adel for his work on studio video documentation and production; and most importantly, the interviewees who shared their voices and stories: Mahmoud Dabdoub, Asmabug, Kareen Nahas, and Anonymous." – Nour

aural conduct, 2024. This album was published with the support of the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture – AFAC. Residency and financial support by LABgamerz in partnership with GMEM. 

—

12'' vinyl album, comes with a fully printed cover including typographic art, photography, and credits plus a leaflet with liner notes, all wrapped in a bioplastic sleeve featuring a logo sticker.

Beirut Birds

aural conduct 04 — Nour Sokhon - Beirut Birds / طيور بيروت

https://auralconduct.info ⟲ https://auralconduct.bandcamp.com 
lukecohlen (at) gmail (dot) com