The work, entitled Procyon over Beinn Airigh Charr, is a piece almost 19 minutes in length, [...]]]> A new EP by our first label artist Richard Moult was released in a very limited subscription 3″ on the label Rural Colours, but it is now also available as a free download from archive.org.

The work, entitled Procyon over Beinn Airigh Charr, is a piece almost 19 minutes in length, combining ambient piano manipulations as heard on the album Ethe with the clear piano melodies as heard in most of his work thus far.

Please visit the release page on Rural Colours for more information and a download link.

'Viens avec Moi dans [...]]]> The latest Machinist record was released last month as the second release on the Betontoon roster. Entitled Viens avec Moi dans le Vide ['come with me into the void'], it is built around a reading of the poem by the same name written by Yves Klein [wiki].

'Viens avec Moi dans le Vide' album cover

The central track of the album contains a reading by Sven Schlijper of the poem, and indeed the whole of the album fits the theme; it is Machinist‘s most refined album to date, containing fascinating dark ambiances and drones, shimmering noises, minimal guitar melodies, and some abstract cello parts by Elleke Bosma.

'Le Vide' (1958) by Yves Klein

The album is presented with transparent artwork in a cloth bag, and available for preview and purchase from the Betontoon website.

Only recently, after reading his necrology for a local bookstore, we complimented him on the way he was able to fill such memorial texts with true poetry and touching words. “Yes,” he said, “but why does it always have to be necrologies?” Perhaps because we only realise what we’ve lost [...]]]>

Only recently, after reading his necrology for a local bookstore, we complimented him on the way he was able to fill such memorial texts with true poetry and touching words. “Yes,” he said, “but why does it always have to be necrologies?” Perhaps because we only realise what we’ve lost until it’s gone?

On Wednesday January 20th 2010 we heard the shocking news that Arjen Grolleman had passed away suddenly, having had a fatal accident at home. Arjen was a station manager and DJ at KinkFM, as well as a prolific voice-over for national Dutch television and other media. At KinkFM, he presented the programs Avondland and X-Rated, the latter of which was the show for experimental music on Dutch radio. Through X-Rated, together with co-presenter Bob Rusche, he expressed his love for alternative and experimental music in a way that was honest, remarkable, and memorable, as well as giving it a solid place in mainstream Dutch media, inspiring many listeners and supporting a great number of artists and labels. Poetry and the spoken word always had a firm place in his programs as well, with recordings of Dutch and foreign poets and other important writers featuring alongside marvellous underground music. Where else could one hear a track by Coil after a speech by Noam Chomsky and a poem by W.H. Auden?

In Arjen, we also lost a dear friend. We remember fondly the long evenings turning into early mornings, filled with deep conversation, laughter, and wine. Arjen was the perfect companion for a discussion about music, literature, culture, art, poetry, life, perfume… He was ever inspiring; after hearing him speak about his Rosicrucian tour through Paris, you can’t help but want to follow in his footsteps. And we can’t even remember how many records we’ve sought out after having heard them played on X-Rated.

His friends were always able to follow his daily adventures and travels on Twitter, a medium which he had utilised to perfection, with an excellent sense of timing and content. A lovely feeling in the morning: turning on your PC, and seeing a first-hand account of Arjen and his radio colleagues, rushing down the slope in front of the KinkFM studio in their desk chairs in the middle of the night.

Arjen was an exceptional person. Exceptionally driven, exceptional in his idealism, his interests, and his passions. He was able to put his spirit into all of his work and interests, turning it into something more. The way in which he made his job out of his passions is equally admirable and inspiring. He was also gentle, loving, and hospitable. We wish with all our hearts that we would have been able to spend more time with him, but it was not to be. We hope he has found a loving embrace in whatever awaited him in the hereafter… the warmth of the sun, floating on the æther, a drink with Jhonn Balance?

Our thoughts are with Arjen’s family, friends, and colleagues, all of whom we wish much strength in coping with this great loss.

-Oscar & Diane

The State-X New Forms festival for experimental music, based in The Hague, introduced its very own band and artist contest in 2009: X-Vektor. Two aspiring Dutch artists were the winners of the contest, and the reward was not only a performance on the festival itself, last December, but [...]]]>

Machinist & Mendel Kaelen side label

The State-X New Forms festival for experimental music, based in The Hague, introduced its very own band and artist contest in 2009: X-Vektor. Two aspiring Dutch artists were the winners of the contest, and the reward was not only a performance on the festival itself, last December, but also a side on a 10″ split that was released on the first day of the festival.

The winners were the drone/ambient duo of Machinist & Mendel Kaelen, and quirky rhythmic electro project Boom Boom du Terre. The result shows that it is indeed quite worthwhile to hold band battles like this, for it allows promising new acts to reach a wider audience.

Boom Boom du Terre side label

The A side holds the first collaborative studio recording by drone artist Machinist and Mendel Kaelen, resulting in a varied and highly sophisticated mix of field recordings, deep drones and pulses, and guitar wails that almost sound like brass instruments. Certainly the most advanced recording by Machinist yet.

Boom Boom du Terre delivers two shorter tracks of electro with a strong rhythmic emphasis, mixing straightforward beats, chiptune-like synth sounds, and sampling.

Vinyl lovers that are interested in hearing something new from the Dutch experimental music scene are recommended to give this 10″, limited to 500 copies, a chance. The Machinist website is the place to go if you’d like to buy a copy.

The clip is, of course, not as impressive as the previous complete video for “Kausienranta”, but [...]]]> The new album by Finnish progressive folk masters Tenhi is due to appear in summer 2010, according to the label, Prophecy Productions. A teaser for the album has been put online on YouTube recently:

The clip is, of course, not as impressive as the previous complete video for “Kausienranta”, but it’s nice to hear things are moving along for the new album. Just for the heck of it, here’s that older video as well:

Betontoon focuses on experimental music that explores the dynamics between sound [...]]]> The new Dutch experimental music label Betontoon was launched recently. It was first used as a label for the Cyclus I EP by Machinist in 2008, but with the release of 8pmcityscapes by Hystersis this fall, the label truly saw the light of day.

Betontoon focuses on experimental music that explores the dynamics between sound and space, music and information, and music in the urban context. Cyclus I did this with chilling ambient and drone pieces, and 8pmcityscapes does so with a mix of electronica, industrial, and metal elements.

Hystersis - 8pmcityscapes (CDr, 2009)

So, if you’re interested in experimental music inspired by the urban landscape, and with a firm conceptual backing, check out the official Betontoon website, the MySpace, or the blog.

It contains six tracks in a style that reminds me a bit of Dave’s earlier Australia-inspired works, with a bit of Holt thrown in as well. Summery feelings, a bit of the usual melancholia, and [...]]]> Irish label Rusted Rail have released a new Agitated Radio Pilot EP, entitled A Field Day.

It contains six tracks in a style that reminds me a bit of Dave’s earlier Australia-inspired works, with a bit of Holt thrown in as well. Summery feelings, a bit of the usual melancholia, and a nice instrumentation featuring, among others, Bean Dolan and Eddie Keenan of Resurrection Fern and The Driftwood Manor, respectively.

Check out the samples on the Rusted Rail page, and be sure to pick this one up if you enjoy Dave’s works.

On a side note, it’s interesting that this release shows such a different side of Agitated Radio Pilot than the EP which we hope to put out on Evening of Light ourselves somewhere during the coming winter. You might be in for a surprise!

detailed info: discogs.com

Ghosts is one of those albums I had been waiting for for quite some time. Tony Wakeford started this project with the MP3-only album The Turning Wheel on Woven Wheat Whispers in 2006, but has [...]]]> artist: The Triple Tree
release: Ghosts
format: CD
year of release: 2008
label: Cold Spring
duration: 58:01

detailed info: discogs.com

Ghosts is one of those albums I had been waiting for for quite some time. Tony Wakeford started this project with the MP3-only album The Turning Wheel on Woven Wheat Whispers in 2006, but has since been joined by Andrew King to take on this project together. Along with an impressive array of guest artists (Kris Force, Reeve Malka, and John Murphy, to name a few), these two men have tackeled the superb and prolific ghost stories of M.R. James on this interesting and original album.

Those who think that Wakeford has been stuck in playing straight-forward neofolk with the classic Sol Invictus should look again, for the good man has shown a fine taste for musical experiments in the past years. 2007 saw the release of his collaboration with Nick Grey and Kris Force, the beautiful and subtle Grey Force Wakeford album, and this latest one by The Triple Tree is no exception. Ghosts is made up of original compositions that incorporate elements from the neofolk background, surely, but also ambient, neo-classical, Wakeford’s own funky bass, and of course traditional song as championed by Andrew King. The result as a whole is quite diverse, yet very coherent in its atmosphere.

That is, of course, the aim of a concept album like this. Just as James’ stories display different flavours, their overall tone is always one of dread and mystery: a restrained counterpart to the splatter horror of today. Ghosts are of course the real protagonists in these tales of forbidden esoteric magic, tragedy, and horrid crime. So it is with the music on this album, which is at different times epic, subtle, mystic, unnerving, catchy, but always convincing.

This album is quite different from its predecessor, which focused more on dreamy ambient repetition, and is closer to the aforementioned Grey Force Wakeford in style, though with a distinctly more horrid atmosphere, and more folk influences in the music itself. Another link is of course English Heretic, who indeed are no strangers to the world of M.R. James. Their interpretation of “Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come to You” off the 2006 album Wyrd Tales was no less brilliant. Little surprise that The Triple Tree make grateful use of EH field recordings. Finally, Andrew King‘s collaboration with Les Sentiers Conflictuels comes to mind, which features a similar combination of spoken word and horror atmosphere.

There’s no use trying to describe this album any further. The key elements are sophisticated dark experimental music with a rewarding lyrical and narrative base in the classic ghost stories by James. It’s certainly not an accessible whole if you are expecting a certain established musical style, but I can’t do otherwise than recommend this album to anyone who feels up to the task of digesting this work of experimental musical horror.

Reviewed by O.S.

Tracklist:

1. Ghosts – Prologue (4:01)
2. Three Crowns (5:36)
3. The Stalls (3:45)
4. The Mezzotint (4:11)
5. Mrs. Mothersole (4:02)
6. The Ash Tree (4:40)
7. The Malice of Inanimate Objects (5:05)
8. There Was a Man Dwelt by a Churchyard (1:48)
9. Lost Hearts (5:25)
10. Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come to You (5:10)
11. Black Crusade (4:54)
12. Casting the Runes (5:34)
13. The Ghosts of England (3:50)

detailed info: discogs.com

Ma Chambre… is a concept album, based on a sound installation Mathias Delplanque made for an exhibition. The sounds are created in their entirety from recordings made in the [...]]]> artist: Mathias Delplanque
release: Ma Chambre Quand Je N’Y Suis Pas [Montréal]
format: CD
year of release: 2006
label: Mondes Elliptiques
duration: 45:14

detailed info: discogs.com

Ma Chambre… is a concept album, based on a sound installation Mathias Delplanque made for an exhibition. The sounds are created in their entirety from recordings made in the exhibition studio when it was empty and ‘quiet’. Using this method, the listeners focus is drawn towards the sounds that still remain when we believe a room to be quiet, which is of course a relative concept. These sounds are amplified and manipulated to a great degree, giving way to a detailed and layered ambient texture.

The 45-minute track resulting from this process is an interesting piece of ambient sound exploration. As will be expected by anyone who has an ear for unusual sounds and attentive listening, a ‘quiet’ room will show many interesting things to listen to, that normally would be hidden. On this work, the source of the sounds is not recognisable, which lends the whole a rather abstract character. This is enhanced by the geometrical drawing on the cover and the three double-sided insert cards, all by Dove Allouche.

There is an interesting mixture of low-frequency sounds (throbs and beats) and higher-frequency static, beeps and noise, which lends the track a rich level of detail. What I did find rather disappointing was that some of the sounds recur almost throughout the entire album, which suppresses any development that might be found in the sounds. There are some subtle differences on a lower level, but not strong enough to really keep this album interesting enough to attentively listen to for its whole duration.

I can sum this up as great concept, great presentation, great sound, but mediocre composition and structure. Certainly a very interesting album if you enjoy sound exploration, but it could have been more interesting musically as well. I always enjoy it when artists are able to combine the two elements in original ways. Nevertheless, this is still pretty interesting for the right people.

Reviewed by O.S.

Tracklist:

1. (45:14)