Elisha Morningstar/Lorenzo Abattoir, Titled

Razen is the collective consciousness of core members Brecht Ameel and Kim Delcour, who since 2010 have realized themselves through virtuoistic and highly expressive improvisations with lesser-heard instruments. Experimenting with repetition of tones through controlled breathing and phrasing, Razen arrive at a synesthetic playground of auditory textures and colorful imagery.

The ensemble is carefully orchestrated for every occasion with the intent and desire to escape to environments unbeknownst to them, taking shelter in the fleeting ego-dissolving moments that arise, whether divine or disturbing.
While the formula of instrumentation and like-minded peers may appear mundane on paper, it’s Brecht and Kim’s outlook and imagination beyond musical references that’s the immeasurable catalyst to their peculiar pursuits. Conversations about paintings, books, or films ultimately manifest themselves into live performances or album recordings - with the philosophy of embracing playfulness and exploration through the lens of a child’s eye.

Only six collaborators have been invited to their inner circle to date. This is mainly attributed to the rarity of finding spiritual counterparts that are seeking freedom outside the confines of written musical scores. Trading notes and rhythms for strokes and color, the band embodies emotive and meditative drones that demand a deep listening state. Joined by Will Guthrie and Paul Garriau, Razen venture into their vision of Arcadia through Regression, proudly presented by Marionette. On this album, Brecht Ameel turns to his trusty prepared harmonium and celesta, while Kim Delcour controls air and breath on various wind and reed instruments. Featuring Will Guthrie on tuned and melodic percussion (timpani, glockenspiel, marimba, vibraphone), the recordings have a distinct flow and fluid movement when compared to some of Razen’s previous works where rhythm is taking a backseat. Hurdy-gurdy specialist, Paul Garriau, plays accompanying melodies and drones on Moon, Aether and Nebula.

The album's earthly elements deal with survival, timelessness, and simplicity; such as the life affirming rewards of finding refuge and the wonders of observing the interstellar. The unearthly elements pitch this narrative into the realm of mythology and superstition, in the hopes of trying to understand our primeval universe and thrive in the unknown. Regression also addresses Razen’s fascination with inhospitable places and how to adapt to the sorrows that come with this sort of brutalism. The resulting destination is a mind and time bending zone - one that can be reached by riding sound waves that transcend the past, future, and present.

Razen on this occasion is:

Brecht Ameel: harmonium, celesta
Kim Delcour: winds, reeds
Will Guthrie: percussion
Paul Garriau: hurdy-gurdy on Moon, Aether, and Nebula

Mastered and cut by Noel Summerville
Artwork by Scott Daniel Ellison

Recorded July 2020 in two days at two locations

Wood, River, Trout, and Sleep: recorded by Christophe Albertijn
Moon, Aether, and Nebula: recorded by Niels Latomme

Regression

Razen - Regression (Preview)

from KR101:  KAMMERFLIMMER KOLLEKTIEF - Schemen (LP / CD / DL) out on april 28th

Schemen

KAMMERFLIMMER KOLLEKTIEF - Sechstes Kapitel [herausgewunden]

Glåsbird’s travelogue of sound advances further, with this seventh edition in the series heading to warmer, more exotic climes. The A Sonic Expedition series is this anonymous artist’s armchair exploration of the world around us and it has to date put down roots in Greenland, Svalbard, Norway, Novaya Zemlya, Siberia and the Himalayas. With this latest excursion, the snowy, treacherous peaks of Everest are traded for the tropically vast Pacific Ocean.

As fans of the artist will already be aware, Glåsbird researches each geographic location with great intrigue and fascination, scouring Google Earth satellite imagery, watching documentaries, reviewing vintage maps and reading articles about its history and culture. Whilst the enormity of this ocean was obvious from looking at the globe, what became apparent was the scale of diversity across the thousands of islands in the region, whether it be the landscapes, culture or even the rare species of bird. Studying history revealed some dark tales, of challenging sea voyages, crocodiles and even cannibalism. As always, it also gave the artist opportunity to make new discoveries, such as how atolls are formed from ancient volcanoes and theories on how the Moai of Easter Island were moved across the landscape.

Glåsbird felt that their now signature modern classical style needed to change for this record, as these ambient portraits of the Pacific offer surely the most adventurous sound to date from this artist. Percussive rhythms were carved out of cheap percussion instruments, exotic polyrhythms glisten alongside sounds of rolling ocean waves and the thriving nature scenes. Sun bleached tape decays atop warm, ebbing bass and synth tones.

In Pacifica, Glåsbird traces a set route from one island to the next, marked by each track on the album. It begins with a view of La Perouse Pinnacle from inside the French Frigate Shoals. This pillar of rock has been known to cause shipwrecks and general confusion amongst seafarers who’d mistaken it for a ship when seen from distance. The journey continues many miles of sea south, to the triangular shaped Kingman Reef before heading off to explore the lake in the middle of Washington Island, also known as Teraina. The journey heads a long way across the ocean in an easterly direction, to the Galápagos Islands and then onto the remote Easter Island, home of the Moai stones. The next leg of the journey returns in a westerly direction, arriving at Mangareva which is the main part of the Gambier Islands. The French Polynesian paradise island of Bora Bora follows, before a stop at the small wooded island of Tafahi in Tonga. Inyeug, the most northerly island of Vanuatu is the next destination, famed for Queen Elizabeth II’s visit back in 1974. The tempo of the percussive loops notches up a little, as the next track represents the Solomon Islands and then this tour ends on the island of Yap, with echoes of Yapese rituals and lapping ocean waves closing the final piece which is called Rumung.

Credits:
Written and produced by Glåsbird
Mastered by James Edward Armstrong
Art and design by Andrew Heath

Cover photography by Garth Rogers in 1969, licensed under the
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International
license.

pacifica

wlr131 Glåsbird - Pacifica

CD available directly from Imprec.com

Highly recommended to fans of Alessandro Cortini, Caterina
Barbieri, Shasta Cults

"A slow building beauty of electronic soundscapes." The Vinyl District

Alina Kalancea is a sonic alchemist who can warp and weave electronic
signals into complex tapestries of synthesized analog timbre. These
transportive environments were recorded using the artist's personal
collection of historic Buchla electronic music instruments including
Allen Strange's expanded Music Easel.
Letters Never Sent, Alina Kalancea's second full length for Imprec
follows 2021's double LP titled Impedance and is being released at the
same time as a new cassette titled Alchemy.
Kalancea's music has the ability to evoke both emotion and image;
feeling and landscape; passion and place. She described recording
Letters Never Sent as being like collecting images that are born in
your mind. Shades of sound, tone, color and feeling shape the
experience of listening to Kalancea's work.
Kalancea's work is made of malleable sonic material that never looks
or sounds the same way twice. Part of the magic of the music, and her
work is similar to ELEH in this way, is that her work leaves room for
the conscious and unconscious emotions of the listener. How you react
is partially a result of how you feel at the time.
Alchemy, Alina Kalancea's subsequent cassette being released
simultaneously, is a limited edition appendix to the album Letters
Never Sent.

Alina Kalancea - Letters Never Sent - Album Mix - CD June 23, 2023

Movements like molten lava, an open portal to a different speed of time and width of space 

˚｡.

produced and composed by Martina Bertoni
July 2023

Closer (Portal)

Mascara Snake
Mountain Diary
Sloow Tapes - CS 25

Not to be confused with the sometimes Captain Beefheart clarinetist of the same name, this particular Mascara Snake makes instrumental and atmospheric sound collages, influenced especially by Moondog, Penguin Cafe Orchestra and Luc Ferrari. As the snake sheds its skin Pacôme Genty reveals himself, who you might remember from the just as enigmatic La Non-pareille  lp he released last year with his duo Des édens (together with Antoine Cortes). Edition of 60 copies.

Mascara Snake

Road to home

A Warmer Welcome// a digital benefit in support of syrian refugee welfare // 110 Tracks // DL - 2016
https://www.discogs.com/Various-A-Warmer-Welcome/release/8140284

:Zoviet*France: - The White Sea

Quitratue

Terrace dweller

floating
∞ ੈ‧₊˚
Upcoming Live
26.04.2024 > West Germany, Berlin - Halldorophone Studies Première
28.07.2024  > Kiezsalon, Berlin - Hypnagogia live


https://linktr.ee/martinabertoni

Closer (Portal)

Martina Bertoni

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