Osaka based mastering engineer Kentaro Hayashi debuts on Opal Tapes with this 2 x 12” recorded alongside Yasuyuki Nakamura, with additional remix duties from Merzbow and Jim O’Rourke. After opening with a nine-minute concrete style piece, Hayashi channels the addition/subtraction strategies of Vainqueur’s Chain Reaction outings on ‘Vakuum’, inciting laments for bass-heavy soundsystems and grotty live music venues. It works wonders in covid-era isolation too however, setting up nicely for the shuffling techno paranoia of ‘Peculiar’ and the brooding, understated cut ‘Odyssey’. Building on the original CD release, Kentaro and Stephen Bishop draw for two extra cuts, notably ‘Arrowhead’, a ridiculously compelling mutant DnB/jungle spin-off that blends walls of noise, crow squawks, sub-aquatic FX and sharp breaks.

From this writer’s perspective, the general atmosphere is one that seems to incorporate varying strands of UK club culture across the past three decades, taking elements from the hardcore continuum and the starker moments of early dubstep and fusing them with a brutalist approach to sound design that fits in line with the heyday of Japanese noise. Whilst raw and chaotic, the tracks fit together to convey an extremely acute sense of purpose, Hayashi seemingly aware of how each piece of the album holds together. O’Rourke deconstructs ‘Vakuum’, twisting stems of the original into glitch-laden vortex, whilst Merzbow brings us back to the opening cut, doubling up on the intensity and bringing proceedings to a close. Hayashi has been quietly working away behind the scenes at Slowdown (スローダウンRECORDS) over the past year, responsible for technical assistance on a slew of Merzbow CDs and a blink and you’ll miss it Vanity records demo compilation. In late 2020 he released Peculiar as a small-run CD for the Remodel label, a drop in the ocean of the ever-expansive Japanese noise scene. The album seemed grounded in the shadows of its home country with no proper distribution - globally impenetrable by less than a select few in the know fans. With its finger on the pulse, Opal Tapes now welcomes these microworlds of dark and beautiful sound structures to the fold with worldwide distribution on the vinyl edition. Some heavy, heavy frequencies on this one!

- Fergus Clark

2x12" / Digital

Kentaro Hayashi - Vakuum (Jim O'Rourke Remix)

The first full-length collaboration between Burning Pyre and Canadian Rifles, “The Snipe & The Clam” encapsulates a shared sensibility and vision. Initially seen together on the Vienna Press/Vaagner compilation “A Declaration” in 2019, which was followed up with a second piece last year on Burning Pyre’s Opal Tapes debut, “United Angels”, the two artists cultivate a unique aural world with a singular voice.

Taking a contemporary yet deeply romantic approach to ambient music, “The Snipe & The Clam” showcases a blend of luscious synth melodies and harmonics, set against a heavily organic dynamic backbone. An apt representation of both artists’ methods and modus operandi, opulent glimmering drones flow with a sense of narrative, contributing a magical watercolour-like quality to the album’s eight instrumental pieces. As if lightness met the restraint of a disciplined wrist - every sharp note a pensive flap of wings across its airy background.

“The Snipe & The Clam” often feels like an emotional exercise on the stoppage of time, gliding between loving gestures and precise crescendos, delivering both a flourish of exposition and a reflection on intimate moments. A definitive summit in each respective artists’ discographies until this point, “The Snipe & The Clam” is an elegy to tenderness and finding beauty in minute details.

A golden archway - come spring.

EN20

Recorded by Christopher Macarthur and Rui Andrade between Newcastle upon Tyne and Porto, 2020-2021

Mastered by John Hannon
Photo by Elisa Azevedo

The Snipe & The Clam

Burning Pyre & Canadian Rifles - Monza

Worst is about to unveil 'Mental & Physical' debut-EP from JONNNAH, planned for June 18: The Lyon-based producer explores the misty and nebulous limbo of atmospheric electronics trough five dense, multi-layered tracks.
Mainly gloomy and tumultuous, JONNNAH's music yet finds peace in the 'Too Many Colors In The Wood' serene sanctuary.

To be released in digital and vinyl on June 18:
https://worst-records.bandcamp.com/album/mental-physical

------
FEEL THE SPIRIT
Bandcamp: bambooshows.bandcamp.com/​
SoundCloud: soundcloud.com/bambooshows/​
Facebook: facebook.com/bambooshows/​
Instagram: instagram.com/erevan_bamboo/​
YouTube: bit.ly/YouTubeBambooShows
Spotify: bit.ly/SpotifyBambooShows
Web: www.bambooshows.com​
Discogs: bit.ly/DiscogsBambooShows
Mixcloud: mixcloud.com/bambooshows/​
Contact: bambooastruth@bambooshows.com

℘ཞɛɱıɛཞɛ ≈ JONNNAH - Too Many Colors In The Wood [Worst Records]

Taken from SBKT027: Gooooose - Rusted Silicon

Rusted Silicon is a new album from Gooooose. 7 original tracks with remixes from Samuel Kerridge and Nahash, plus an electro-acoustic rework by Sote featuring traditional Persian instrumentalists Arash Bolouri (Santour) and Pouya Damadi (Tar)

Artwork by Fang Yang
Mastered by Raphael Valensi

Rusted Silicon

Gooooose - Integer / Along the Synthetic River I (Samuel Kerridge Remix)

All tracks written and produced by Xozgk between 2018 and 2020.

Additional production and mixdown by anabasine at Autoland.

Mastered by Pierre Guerineau.

Artwork by Bruno Lauzon Tanzi in collaboration with artist Marilou Lyonnais Archambault.

CC ↻ 2020

Xozgk - hsk_nvn

Support the compilation on Bandcamp! All profits go towards The Lebanese Red Cross and The Beirut Musicians' Fund

Hiro Kone - Between Breath And Rage

@Evitceles once again indulges into his signature genre-bending approach on 'Нелюбовʼ.

More: https://ins-rt.net/audio/evitceles-percolating-crawl

Article

Premiere: Evitceles - Percolating Crawl

Clips from 'Boötes Void' the new release from Metal Preyers (strictly vinyl only release)  220 Copies one sided Vinyl.  

Buy Link: https://bit.ly/2ELolrL

Matching the oneiric dramaturgy and machine drum-noise aesthetics of their recent, internationally praised debut record, Metal Preyers re-emerge into their disorienting, dread-inducing soundscape and condense it into this 20 minute, beautifully composed work. Soaked in atmosphere, and genuinely unsettling, Bootes Void lures us into a world of hypnogogical hallucinations and disturbing instrument lacerations. Crafted with fragments of abrasive guitars, otherworldly piano tones and machinesque doom synth-lines, the record follows a deliberate progression and cinematic narration, elements of musique concrète can be picked up. The opening wooden drums create a frightening tension that is intensified by the decaying loops against a backdrop of misty harmonic dissonance, blood-curdling screams and eerie chanting. When it dissipates it can only shift into a more ghostly surrealism. A discomforting desolation echoing void.

Releases October 1st, 2020

Preview: Metal Preyers 'Boötes Void'

Taken from I Stumble And Then I Fall, the first release in a new series of Intimations by A Colourful Storm. Out now on digital formats and December 30, 2020 on cassette.

Purchase: https://acolourfulstorm.bandcamp.com/album/i-stumble-and-then-i-fall

I Stumble And Then I Fall

Princess Diana of Wales - Cut

Originally composed for livestreaming events during the ongoing lockdown of 2020, Felisha Ledesma presents two extended pieces as a debut album, “Sweet Hour”. Ledesma’s first full length release arrives after much experience in creating collaborative works with artists such as Isabella and Angelo Harmsworth, site-specific installations, and high-profile festival performances.

Both pieces were realized using a new software synthesizer, called “AMQR”, which Ledesma built for personal use in collaboration with Ess Mattisson. Contrary to many digitally-based compositions, a distinctly warm and organic palette pervades these recordings. An almost playful leisurely pace is employed, engaging the listener to listen deeper; the pieces gracefully evolve with special attention to subtle shifts in stereo field and sonic coloration.

The time-of-day titles illustrate the two distinct moods conveyed: "7:00 AM" integrates field recordings and a hardware modular synthesizer, taking the listener through a psycho-acoustic journey exploring various nooks and crannies of subdued auditory rivulets: perhaps a hidden woodland brook, a sunny glen, a crunchy gravel walkway. "2:00 AM" harkens to the memories of nightclubs, opening with a synthesized arpeggio which could lead into a dancefloor-ready stomper. But instead, Ledesma steps back, allowing the arpeggio to develop into an encompassing ASMR-like timbral massage. The two compositions are united in a slightly melancholic grasping for connection; are they unfolding or are they unraveling? Ledesma does not answer the question outright, but instead finds joy in superposition and sublimation - while creating a space for the listener to inhabit, to live in, and to re-connect. 
credits
releases January 29, 2021

Sweet Hour

ENXPL04 - FELISHA LEDESMA - 2 AM (SIDE B)

Full stream of Philanthropist's "Necromancer," taken from his upcoming EP on Sadan Records, out March 12.

More: www.orbmag.com/music/

@sadan_rec
@philanxy

Kentaro Hayashi - Vakuum (Jim O'Rourke Remix)

Opal Tapes

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