Noel Akchoté - "Perpetual Joseph"

Guitarist Akchote's effort stands out, though, because of his active involvement in the process. Lots of drone-based music is worked out in advance, and has the sterility of the laboratory about it (this is true even of legendary drone artists such as LaMonte Young.) You set up your apparatus, you turn it on, you tune it...and then you walk away. But Akchote's drones maintain an interesting tension between permanence and mutability.

This CD is the third in an ambient solo guitar series (following Alike Joseph and Simple Joseph), and for the most part, each of the four long tracks on the CD consists of a single note - or rather, chord -- which Akchote alters over the course of time by adding or subtracting harmonics, dampening, pitch-shifting and making minute adjustments to volume. Akchote also exercises more obvious physical control at times, either audibly flipping switches to cut or attenuate a tone, or tapping on the amplified guitar strings.

The four tracks seem to be arranged loosely in terms of increasing dynamics, with the first offering almost imperceptible changes, while the fourth is the most blatant (and generous) in its use of distortion, harmonics and pitch-shifting. The third and fourth tracks also introduce regular rhythms through the use of string tapping (track three) or a recurring harmonic pulse (track four), which gives them a somewhat livelier ambience.

Throughout, there's something quite meditative about Akchote's approach to his material. He doesn't seem to be playing for an audience as much as conducting some sort of personal investigation into the psychological and spiritual properties of sound. The result is not going to be to everyone's tastes, but it has integrity, depth and a kind of austere beauty.

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Claudio Rocchetti - "Another Piece Of Teenage Wildlife"

Taking plaintive tones of drone music and early electronic and tape experiments, 3/4hadbeeneliminated former member Claudio Rocchetti has absolutely defined a sound, building a subtle, majestic landscape. Using awide variety of instruments (synth, tone generators, organs, guitar, tape machines) he creates an absorbing sound that is mainly layers of loopsfading in and over each other, ethereal vocals, repetition, melody, noise. An emotional resonance with a tinge of melancholia that permeates every moment
and creates a sense of longing and nostalgia.

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Merzbow - "Music for Bondage Performance"

Music for Bondage Performance brings together all of the elements of Akita's involvement with music and performance. His association with RIGHT BRAIN caused him to form RIGHT BRAIN AUDILE, the sonic counterpart to the RIGHT BRAIN videos. This has opened another dimension to the music of MERZBOW, being more subtle in its aural expression of the visual imagery presented by the performance.

Bondage in Japan, in fact bondage per se, is a much misunderstood art form. It has been a part of the Japanese culture for many centuries. The beauty and nuances, indeed the contrast with the western perception of beauty, that are inherent in the act are often overlooked by the general populace and sensationalised to be brutal, violent or pornographic.

Music for Bondage Performance is the most complete presentation of the music and visual forms of Japan's MERZBOW. Prepared over a number of years, it brings an insight into a culture not often understood yet discussed and often much maligned. It is hoped that knowledge brings understanding.

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Toshiya Tsunoda - "Extract from field recording archive#3 Solid vibration"

Toshiya Tsunoda (角田俊也) is a Japanese sound artist best known for his detailed field recordings. His work is concerned with the relation between sound space and cognition space, and often investigates stationary waves formed by fixed conditions in closed systems. Toshiya Tsunoda is a founding member of the influential WrK collective and has previously released CDs on the WrK, Selektion, Sirr, Korm Plastics, Lucky Kitchen and Hibari labels. He also works with sound installations.

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Giuseppe Ielasi - "15 Tapes"

“15tapes” is a suite of 15 short pieces, very different in character and dynamics, edited from improvisations on various tape machines. the music was recorded during the year 2009, and then edited, recomposed and mastered in tübingen, april 2010. total lenght 20 minutes. artwork by alessandro brivio, beautifully letterpressed by ben owen / middle press.

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Michael Mantra / Rod Modell - "Radio Fore"

The long awawited reissue of this classic album originally released by AMPLEXUS in 2003. Sold out for years, finally you have the choice to hear these fabolous "suspended-sounds" from two masters of ambient music. Published in jewel box with totally restored artwork. A must!!!

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Alessandro Bosetti / Antje Vowinckel - "Charlemagne, la vue attachée sur son lac de Constance, amoureux de l'âbime caché"

Two electro acoustic compositions from Alessandro Bosetti from 2000 and 2002 and a recent text sound composition of Antje Vowinckel. It is very fine composed abstract music that starting from microscopic sound details develops organic and highly dynamic although very reduced structures. All the pieces make an extended use of silence, space and very small, carefully shaped, sound particles creating a feeling of natural “breath” and flow. Although this music shares some techniques with the “musique concrete” it goes much beyond in giving new musical life to sounds and suggesting new approaches in listening perception. For those who know Alessandro Bosetti for his activities as improvising saxophonist in the new minimal scene with Phosphor, Annette Krebs and others and for his text sound compositions won’t be difficult to recognize his very personal way in organizing sounds whatever he operate in electro acoustic music, improvisation or acoustic and radio arts contexts. Also hearing the piece of Antje Vowinckel, could be a surprise for those who know her as one of the more significative and granted author of new experimental radio plays in Germany.

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