German-Icelandic electro-acoustic trio Minua’s new EP Simulacra explores just tuning systems and alternate temperaments. Utilising various instruments like woodwinds, a modular synthesizer, a Bavarian zither or electric bass, the trio stretch barely song-like structures to their limits; the four pieces here move with glacial grandeur, their movement barely perceptible. 

The first half of the record revolves around the element of air. The opening “Order of Instants” utilises layered woodwind instruments to create a harmonic space inspired by an 18th century temperament often used by organ tuners. “Final Service” is an ode to overtones and noise, fusing bass clarinets with modular synthesizer and processed electric bass to calming, slowly modulating effect. 

The second half of the record shifts the trio’s focus to plucked instruments, but the pieces retain their slow-moving, monolithic character. “Sixfold Wilted Rose” features a Bavarian zither, unravelling its shimmering beauty on the bedrock of drone sounds like a rose blooming in parched soil, while the closing “Ascension Point” continues in a similar mood, a droning calmness underpinning the gentle electric guitar plucks. 

Inspired by traditional musics, elements of jazz and contemporary drone, Minua have created a body of work that draws parallels between musical worlds. Simulacra is beautiful, patient music.

Released by Warm Winters Ltd. as WW012 

Fabian Willmann – woodwinds 
Kristinn Kristinsson – guitar, electronics 
Luka Aron – guitar, zither, modular synthesizer 

Tracks 1-3 written by Luka Aron 
Track 4 written by Kristinn Kristinsson 

Recorded by Daniel Nentwig at Butterama Recording Center 
Mixed by Luca Aaron and Kristinn Kristinsson 
Mastered by Rashad Becker at Clunk 
Cover artwork by Nat Marcus

Simulacra

Minua - Final Service

Patrícia Bizzotto, Fogo/Fôlego

"Uroboros" is an original, three-part composition by Paweł Szamburski, his commentary on essential rituals and rites of passage in the life of man. Drawing from traditional folk music, the composer is also inspired by the gnostic symbol of a snake biting its tail. Uroboros expresses spiritual and physical oneness of all things and symbolizes the infinite cycle of destruction and rebirth. It is both the point of departure and arrival in Szamburski's musical journey. „Birth”, „Life” and „Death” gain folk music forms of a lullaby, a wedding tune and a funeral dirge. Clarinets, loops, a mother's ticking clock and the „infinite” mode on the Alexander Sky-Fi pedal all contribute to this tale of meaning, simplicity and beauty.
credits
releases August 22, 2021 

All music composed, produced and recorded by Paweł Szamburski 
Mixed by Igor Nikiforow 
Mastered by Marcin Bociński 
Cover art by Stachu Szumski 
Layout by Paweł Ryżko 
Original recordings: Józefa Albiniak (track 1) from the record "Wokół dziecka" (1988 Janów Lubelski) and "Jarzębina" z Kodzudzy (track 2, 3) from Remek Hanaj collection. 
Special thanks to RCKL.

"Śmierć" last part of "Uroboros", second solo album by Szamburski

End o f Nunch

Musician and composer Sahba Sizdahkhani serves as a unique crossroad of East meets West. Influenced heavily by both 1960’s spiritual free-jazz and Persian Classical Music, he channels the fire-energy and longing for connectivity these two stormy histories represent. At age 12, his self-proclaimed “aha moment” occurred while listening to The John Coltrane Quartet for the very first time. He was hooked and immediately began studies on jazz drum set and classical snare drum.
     As the years passed, however, his ferocious love of jazz and improvisation would open pathways and pointers to his native roots of Persian Classical Music, and eventually, he would begin formal studies on the Iranian santur with master santur player Faraz Minooei.
     Sahba has completed two separate Bachelor of Arts degrees: one at Berklee College of Music, in Jazz performance, and the other at The University of Maryland, in Art History & Archeology. He worked in Paris for several years in textile design but ultimately moved back to New York city to further pursue jazz drumming.
He has composed film scores for Chelsea Winstanley (JoJo Rabbit), Whalerock Industries, maverick avant filmmaker Paul Clipson, as well as a live score performance for the Cinema 16 series in the legendary tunnel underneath the Manhattan Bridge.
Additionally, Sahba has recently recorded with Michael Morley(Dead C) and currently has running musical collaborations with Derek Monypeny, Rob Magill, and Zachary James Watkins + Ross Peacock.
He has shared live bills with a vastly diverse class of artists including Laraaji, C spencer Yeh, Susan Alcorn, Henry Kaiser, Rova Saxophone Quartet, Sunwatchers, Wizard Apprentice, Talibam!, Plankton Wat, Peter Brötzmann, and Don Dietrich (Barbetomagus). He has performed at The White House, Park Avenue Armory, Kennedy Center for the Arts, Basilica Hudson’s 24 Hour Drone Festival, WFMU live performance, “Fire Over Heaven” at Outpost Artist Resources, The Embassy of France, VOA studios, and Garden of Memory Festival at The Chapel of the Chimes.
Sahba’s hazy, atmospheric solo performances with 104-string santour and drums have been described as “a dispatch from antiquity.” And WIRE magazine recently stated “Sahba Sizdahkhani starts playing [his] instrument as if  he's pleading for his life. His playing is breathtaking. . .”
     This particular work, “GANJ,” which translates to “treasure” in Farsi, documents the magical first meeting between a musician and a new instrument. It is the first ever raw, unrefined recording of Sahba on solo santur as opposed to drum set. It was recorded in solitude during the Winter Solstice of 2019 without any prior training or study whatsoever on the mystical 102-stringed trapezoid dulcimer. The consequent emphasis due to lack of any technical skill,  was pure sonics, overtones, resonances, and an homage to minimalist composers such as Terry Riley, La Monte Young, and early Miles Davis. Days after completing this work, Sahba rushed to seek out formal studies of the Persian Classical Radif with his current teacher, Faraz Minooei.

Sahba Sizdahkhani- Ganj Pt. 4 - from Ganj tape on Cassauna

Atsuko Hatano is a contemporay classical Viola player who works with electronics to add textures and layers to her sound. Located in Tokyo, Japan, she is a commanding instrumentalist and composer who constructs innovative compositions with strings and layered electronics.

Cells #5 is an orchestral collection and sequel to her previous album Cells #2 which will also be released on cassette via Imprec’s Cassauna label. Cells #5 required three years to complete and the work features the artist’s signature methodology where the instrumental performances are gradually enveloped by multiple layers of a string orchestration. 

When not playing solo Atsuko is extremely active recording, collaborating and playing live with Jim O’ Rourke, Eiko Ishibashi, Mocky and many more acts.  


Atsuko Hatano: Violin, Viola, Cello, Contrabass, Piano (track 1), Xylophone, Oscillator and Chorus
Guest Musicians: 
Eiko Ishibashi: Piano, Marimba, Vibraphone
Yuko Ikoma: Accordion 
Natsumi Kudo: Horn and flugelhorn
Icchie: Trumpet, Flugelhorn, Piccolo Trumpet
Tatsuhisa Yamamoto: Snare Drum
Composed and Mixed by Atsuko Hatano
Mastered by Jim O’Rourke 
Cover by Saskia Griepink

Atsuko Hatano  - Tidal Currents - from Cells #5 cassette

Midori Hirano / @midorihirano

Sonmi451 - Seven Signals In The Sky
Claire Rousay - preston ave
Grey Frequency - Telekinetic
Gesellschaft Zur Emanzipation Des Samples - GonnaDieWithMyHammerInMyHand
FRKTL - Fire Upon The Deep
HÜMA UTKU - Truth From The Deepest Source
james K - I Can Not Remember
SABIWA - Enigma
Svetlana Maraš - Opening
Natalie Beridze - Be Airborn
MARTINA BERTONI - Distant Tropics

Midori Hirano ~ Correspondence Nº32

The scars soften - the silver knife melts. 
Sad-sack and cracked hearts, forever reaching the distorted harmony, 
never ceasing, beyond sight - sentimental, coarse reverie eats into euphony.

Each and all, we believe in our deities; although we may not tell, we worship in fear and in inspiration; although we may not feel it, we have our sacred places; although we may not see our idols, they are true in our dreams. Even as our prayer falls silent, these words of Voltaire will be, for us, forever true: if there were no God, it would be necessary to invent Him.

'Hedonistic Idols' is an album of six works by Volunteer Coroner, the avant-garde noise-and-ambient fusing project of artist and composer Preston Weippert. Through contrasts of harshness and fragility, the album explores truth in faith, and hope in decay.

Hedonistic Idols

Volunteer Coroner - Acts of Devotion

TR193 - Alya Al-Sultani & Mariam Rezaei - 'SISTER' [excerpt]

Pre-order date: 10th March 2022
Release date: 18th March 2022
Format: CD, Digital

Each track was inspired by the experience of the landscapes connecting the body and displacing it into a sound. 

Track1: La Paz (Bolivia)
Track2: Eduardo Avarua Andean National Reserve (Bolivia)
Track3: Machu Picchu (Peru)
Track4: Buenos Aires (Argentina) 
Track5: Atacama Desert (Chile)
Track6: São Paulo (Brazil) 

Tatsuro Murakami is a guitarist and composer, based in Tokyo and São Paulo. Since 2014 he has been studying the roots of Brazilian popular music from Choro and 7-string classic guitar. Besides ambient music, he works with soundtracks for movies, art installations, and his own creations on sound art. 
(tatsuromurakami.com) 

Music by Tatsuro Murakami 
Vocal on track 2 and original photography by Anais-karenin 
(https://anaiskarenin.com)
Mastered by Taylor Deupree

Copyright © 2022 ROHS! RECORDS, All Rights Reserved

The Sound of Living Things

Info release

previews. Tatsuro Murakami - The Sound Of Living Things (Album) | Lᴏɴᴛᴀɴᴏ Series

an improvised, live-in-the-studio track recorded 9.10.17 and uploaded immediately upon completion.

Fossil Outtakes

and perhaps believed (9-10-17)

Songs, artifacts, and debris from an artificial past. Over 30 years of fake resurrection.

and perhaps believed (9-10-17)

Fossil Aerosol Mining Project