Name: Scale by Toko Yasuda
Duration: 4 min 35 s
Description: https://www.discogs.com/Kotokoto-Institute/release/13773136

Rivet’s new album for Editions Mego is an uplifting and joyous affair coming in the wake of tragedy and disenchantment. It is yet another rebirth from an artist willing to take a step back and reprise the current situation he is in. Mika Hallbäck has a long credible history in the Swedish underground. First recognised for his industrial techno works under the Grovskopa moniker he worked privately on more experimental works that eventually came out as On Feather and Wire, an album released on Editions Mego in 2020. After much acclaim for this bold new direction that blended electronic abstraction, pop and industrial forms into a heavy synthetic trip two tragedies struck. One was the passing of label boss Peter Rehberg and then the passing of his dog Lilo, who was as close as a companion one could have. These events led to the release of the more unsettling follow up L+P-2 (Lilo and Pita minus two) on Midnight Shift Records in 2023. Peck Glamour sees Rivet return to the reawakened Editions Mego with an album of optimism inspired by reconciliation with loss and further explorations of new mental/sonic realms.

Hallbäck defines his approach as not being married to any particular machine, instrument, process or genre. However he holds a particular affinity to sampling, of which, he says, provides the dirt and grit amongst what would otherwise be pristine, generic machine music. The contemporary crate digging method of scouring obscure download music bogs for unique sounds was his preferred research practice.

Peck Glamour is an album full of tracks brimming with the excitement of exploration. It's the results of a mind informed by punk, industrial, techno, dancefloor, disappointment, trauma and rebirth. Here the synthetic and authentic is viewed simply as the same means of human rationale and expression.

The opening, ‘Catch Up to Light’, sets the scene with ecstatic and odd fluorescent vocals sliding amongst crystalline likembe whilst synths swirl amongst the external festivities. ‘Orbiting Empty Cocoon’ is somewhat a homage to the alien sound worlds of The Orb, one which takes the listener deeper into a mind melting array of teased potential as visual elements are executed in a mask of audio wizardry and euphoric staccato rhythms, the later being a nod to Singeli music. ‘Patitur Butcher’ is more dance frontal utilising the Ghatam drum and a YouTube rip of a Chinese language lesson. ‘Plastic Bag Putain’ was made during the beginning of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and should be clear of its intent. ‘All that Heaven Allows’ is a marimba cover of an imaginary Love Parade anthem. 'Kyrie Geire’ potentially briefly fills the void left by the demise of Coil. The entire trip of Peck Glamour is sewn up with ‘We left before we came’ whereby extraneous recordings of double bass player Gregory Vartian-Foss (tuning/strumming/moving the bass) are superimposed with local field recordings to create a gorgeous bed of sounds acting as an exciting exit music to this sharp collection of cinematic ear excursions.

Peck Glamour

All That Heaven Allows

Rivet 'All That Heaven Allows' (EMEGO317)

Hüma Utku returns to Editions Mego with her new album. 'Dracones’. The title Dracones makes reference to the mediaeval latin term "Hic sunt dracones" (Here be dragons), marking the unexplored, dangerous places on world maps, expressing the fear of chaos, the unexpected and the unknown.

This new work by the Istanbul sound artist is a sonic journal of an expedition into uncharted territory, one which occupies self and domesticity. Inspired by Utku’s experience of matrescence, Dracones explores the themes of familial demonology, metamorphosis and homecoming as well as human relationship to the experience of love woven layers of euphoria, alienation and consumption.

Musically, Dracones traverses a wide array of sonic tools whereby industrial sounds are imbedded with certain psychological angles, this is an album where, all matter meshes into a sly snapshot of the human experience with a tension and release exposure occurring frequently with dark corners opening up to bright layers of electronic experimentation.

The haunting opening track ‘A World Between Worlds’ tackles pregnancy, of which Utku was experiencing when making this record. The emotional, physical, spiritual and mental experience of this journey is all documented here.. This track features the ‘Lyraei’, an electromagnetic string instrument and modern interpretation of the ancient lyre, that was built and played by Mihalis Shammas. ‘Comfort of The Shadows’ moves from within to without, what was once hidden is now exposed. Utku’s ability to conjure the visual in the sonic is at the forefront as howling electronics give a distinct impression of movement. ‘A Familial Curse’ presents a desire to break the cycle of generational trauma with a creeping sense of dread that rolls into an industrial rhythm prior to landing in a beautiful place represented with shimmering guitar tones. ‘Here be Dragons’ is a rich and dark evocation, a spooked surrender to the themes of the record whereby Utku’s wildly distorted voice beckons all manner of phantasmagoria over cello and recordings of her ultrasound. ‘Care in Consume’ engages in further sonic exploration as a means of conjuring ‘matriphagy’, with its unique psychic energy coursing through electronic veins. ‘A House within a House’ could also be read as a body within a body as the pulse of ultrasound audio rattle amongst a cage of thudding rhythms and swirling electronics, one also ending in optimism as an exquisite melody is born from the prior fire. The striking journey ends with the more soothing ‘Ayaz’a’, a track embracing love and all the hardships that a period of fundamental metamorphosis brings, this is a heartfelt dedication to her son and concludes an album draped in life, experience, joy and pain.

Dracones is a deeply visual journey through inner and outer worlds, a space where symbolic evocation is supreme and passive listening is not an option.

All tracks composed,performed and recorded by Hüma Utku  
Buchla 100, vocals, cello, electric guitar performed by Hüma Utku  
‘’A World Between Worlds’’ features the ‘Lyraei’ built, played and recorded by Mihalis Shammas  
Buchla 100 recorded in EMS Stockholm 2022-2023

Mixed by Enyang Urbiks  
Mastered by Heba Kadry, NYC  
Cover Artwork by Marco Ciceri  
Design by Tina Frank

Dracones

Hüma Utku 'Comfort Of The Shadows' (EMEGO318)

Editions Mego reissue the 2001 release Asuma by Finnish artist Ilpo Väisänen. Originally released on CD this is the first ever vinyl issue, remastered by Rashad Becker. 2001 is a landmark year for the artist following a wave of success from the notable outfit Väisänen formed alongside Mika Vanio, Pan Sonic (as they were now known then). Following a string of highly acclaimed and influential releases such as “Vakio”, “Kulma”, “A’ and “Aaltopiiri” Pan Sonic had toured the globe extensively leaving a trail of blown expectations and rumours of all manner of objects in venues cracking or falling apart due to the immense sound the duo concocted with their unique instruments.

Taking a break from the ecstatic cacophony of Pan Sonic, Väisänen retreated to work on a solo release which conjured the spirits of the former outfit whilst simultaneously carving out a more personal take on these new electronic forms.

Asuma is a precise study of drones, rhythms, clicks, ambience and gentle confusion. Whilst inhabiting a zone of abstraction the results also move in a natural field as Väisänen’s native Finland permeates these recordings as much as the idea of experimentation itself.

Autioitu 1 opens the album as delicate pinball rhythms bounce across the spectrum as a hairy drone hovers underneath. The mood is both intriguing and unsettling. Tukahduttaja is a delightfully disorientating sound sculpture that is hard to pinpoint what it actually is. Klikki is comparable to a microscopic version of Pink Floyd’s “Several Species Of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together In A Cave And Grooving With A Pict”. Asumaton is a foreboding miniature acting like a segway to Vallitseva which embraces the icy clicks that punctuates much of the Pan Sonic output. Arvioimaton Ongelma is an audio riddle whilst Jaettu jitters around a dancefloor crawl. Autioitu closes proceedings as a gentle ambient thumper. Asuma is awash with contradiction and mystery. This is time wrapped in twisted turns and rewards a neat payoff for those interested in the absolute fringes of electronic ‘dance’ music.

Ilpo Väisänen 'Autioitu 1 [2025 Remaster]' (EMEGO037)

Do Do Do Do (demo) 24_44.1k

In 1978, at the University of London, the Physicist David T. Kemp made an unusual discovery. Kemp noticed that faint sounds, known as Otoacoustic emissions (OAEs), revealed the existence of the cochlear amplifier, a mechanism responsible for sound sensitivity and frequency resolution. This discovery proved that the ear is an active rather than passive organ. 

Following this discovery the experimental music world embraced these findings by incorporating them into sound works. Maryanne Amacher was a notable early pioneer of this technique resulting in large scale sound works, the likes of which audiences had never encountered prior. Since these early explorations the use of OAEs has spread more widely in the experimental music landscape, notably by Editions Mego artists Florian Hecker and Marcus Schmickler.

“I believe the kick of techno can be an agent to shapeshift sounds and infiltrate settings” - Jung An Tagen 

Stefan Juster aka Jung An Tagen is known for conceptual works and has a large back catalogue of intriguing ideas and sounds. Revenge of the Speaker People is another adventurous release, one which takes the Otoacoustic discoveries of David T. Kemp and applies them to a techno framework. OAEs are fragile and can collapse quickly when combined with other elements. Jung An Tagen’s success in combining OAEs with beats is therefore quite an achievement, without precedent. 

The first CD comprises the  results of Juster’s experiments, resulting in some of the strangest techno committed to digital since the initial burst of the Mego label. A series of head spinning, ear tickling extreme electronic miniatures bleed in a continuous form. This adventurous and playful music would likely have many a raver run to the bathroom. There is a tangible subversive delight in mixing in such sounds to what is ostensibly ‘club music’.

Because the record had this clear divide of beat + otoacoustics the idea came to see how the material would lend itself to a series of remixes. The second CD has remix contributions from a selection of artists from the Editions Mego stable alongside Juster’s own ETAT imprint along with DJ Nervoso from the Príncipe crew. The results are a headspinning variety of Otoacoustic mayhem as the likes of Evol, Thomas Brinkmann, Ellen Phan, Nik Colk Void and others fold these initial bizarre sounds into even more twisted shapes. Revenge of the Speaker People is a daring, playful and audacious release. One that will baffle your ears, neighbours and dancefloor clients.

Revenge of the Speaker People

Revenge of the Speaker People [Collage] (EMEGO321)

Widely regarded as one of the most uncompromising works in experimental noise, Kevin Drumm’s Sheer Hellish Miasma is once again available on vinyl. First released on CD in 2002 on the original Mego label, the album remains a landmark in extreme electronic sound and is an essential and ferocious document of Drumm at his most inventive.

The history of Drumm’s Sheer Hellish Miasma is one of resilience to the twists of underground trends that have come and gone since its initial release. Using guitar, tape manipulation, microphones, pedals, analog synthesizers, and subtle computer processing, Sheer Hellish Miasma is an overwhelming experience: a sonic onslaught of storming feedback, fractured textures and  an unrelenting energy. At once brutal and meticulously composed, the album offers a singular vision at the outermost edges of sound art.

For seasoned noise veterans, Sheer Hellish Miasma offers a bracing soundscape filled with exquisitely abrasive textures and more than enough hidden detail to warrant repeated listening – a distinct voice in the increasingly same-sounding world of abstract electronic noise. For everyone else, Drumm’s journey through the noisy underworld is likely to inspire fear or, in an optimistic case, fearful admiration. 

Drumm’s Sheer Hellish Miasma is an abstract noise classic with this 2LP reissue being an artefact of eternal power.

Scale

Toko Yasuda

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