Reviews

contactlight: Roswell Radio Cult – The Fucked Up Beat

The Fucked Up Beat, a project of Eddie Palmer and Brett Zehner of New York and San Diego respectively has applied the label Experimental Schizo Noir Trip Hop, which barely covers half of it. Their latest release, Roswell Radio Cult, out now on HAZE, is a defiantly obscure soup of sounds, encompassing repeated string sweeps, samba-esque guitar and drum lines and repetitive voice samples. It is undeniably experimental, appreciably schizo, noirish as monochrome coffee and, through its downtempo fusion of nocturnal styles, unimpeachably trip hop.
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A Coat of Red Paint In Hell: The Fucked Up Beat release Roswell Radio Cult

Via HAZE label, hyper-literate and prolific pan-continental experimental found sound collective, The Fucked Up Beat released their latest sonic document, Roswell Radio Cult. The album is a panacea for the caffeine fueled rat race proletariat. The songs are comprised of melodies supplied by multi-instrumentalist Eddie Palmer of New York, NY with found sounds and beats by drummer/writer Brett Zehner of San Diego, CA.
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Jazz-квадрат: Knyaz Mishkin – Усялякае

Альбом с лукаво-ироничным названием «Усялякае» («Всякое») появился на белорусском сетевом лейбле HAZE в 2012 году. По контенту он является логическим продолжением Pasiarod, другого сетевого проекта группы интуитивной импровизации «Князь Мышкин». Это тоже сборник из трех, в разное время сделанных концертных записей, и охватывает он период 2010 – 2011 годов.
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NetMusic life: The Fucked Up Beat – “Roswell Radio Cult” (Haze 194)

Sono convinto che The Fucked Up Beat siano una delle realtà più originali ed intriganti del panorama Creative Commons odierno. Prolifici (sono giunti alla loro undicesima release in poco più di un anno) e impegnati. Dalle loro pagine social spesso si possono leggere critiche al sistema politico ed economico mondiale che il più delle volte condivido pienamente.
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Canili d’Adda: Kritchev vs. Ban “Working Title”

Non si pensi ad uno split, a causa di quel “vs” nel nome. Sì, sono in due, ma se avessimo ancora il duale sarebbe uno di quei casi in cui si utilizzerebbe con amio margine di ragione. E non si pensi nemmeno ad una compilation. Sono sempre loro due. Sempre dalla Bielorussia e sempre dai primi anni novanta (o prima?). Un duo che si pone come non musicisti che fanno non musica. Maniera di porsi altezzosa?

Acts of Silence: This Was Not The Album I Thought It Was

A few days ago, I wrote about the importance of album covers in netlabel releases. Kritchev vs. Ban’s Working Title is not one of these. The cover is very 1980s fanzine, but given that this was another release from the ever interesting Belarusian netlabel Haze, I was going to be listening to it. Oh, and another quick note, this is not a split album, Kritchev vs. Ban is the name of the duo who pride themselves in being non musicians, “No Music No Instruments”.
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Albert E. Trapezoid: Raw n^d

Raw N^D is an experimental electronic music artist from Minsk, Belarus. His “Untitled” album on the HAZE Netlabel (released in August 2012) is a really varied and absorbing mix of electronic pieces. Lots of the electronic music I hear can lapse into pretty boring basic techno beats. This collection is refreshing; it has more accessible pieces (like “Elementary Waves” with its almost pop rhythm and melody, overlain with some slightly distorted sounds) mixed with the more abstract (like “Log 1.0.4,” a sound collage with a beat). Overall it’s a nicely textured and paced album. There is a lot of interesting stuff going on here.

INDEPENDENT REVIEW: KAFKA-ESQUE!!!

Those of you who are familiar with the work of the brilliant early 20th century author, Franz Kafka will appreciate this new release from the netlabel, HAZE. Various experimental artists have contributed to this effort deserving of the label “Kafka-esque”. In all there are 23 songs on this album – electronic mish-mashes, ambient, atmospheric trance-inducing drones, all put together in a delightful way as a perfect soundtrack for reading any of his many dysphoric tales of personal, inner mental terror, such as Kafka’s iconic novel, The Trial or his short story/novella, Metamorphosis.
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IGLOO MAGAZINE: Diving Bell :: Diving Bell

Having said all that though, it is important that people are committed to breaking free from established idioms and expectations. How else will music really move forward without people ready to go right to the front and edge it out a little? I have complete respect for this project and their willingness not to pamper to the limits and expectations that cocoon much of today’s music. An entire universe away from the mainstay of non-thinking background pop which the populace are force fed until they puke sequined S&M cat-suits.

Acts of Silence: The Distraction of Beats

I’ve been shying away from beats lately, but it’s works like Raw N^D’s Untitled (Haze) which makes me yearn for them. The inclusion of Untitled in this blog is a bit odd given that it’s origins are unabashedly techno. But where Raw N^D hooks me in is their exploration of techno with distortion, noise and other twisted sounds.
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Acts of Silence: Old in the New

At Acts of Silence, we always enjoy albums that exemplify the partnership of standard instruments and new ones such as laptops and various electronics. With Jerod Sommerfeldt on laptop and David McDonnell on saxophone and electronics, the duo known as Diving Bell have done just that. On their eponymous album, Sommerfeldt and McDonnell have put out an excellent album of improvisations of saxophone and laptop that uses their inherent dichotomy to work together rather than display their opposition.
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HIS Voice: Diving Bell: Diving Bell

Hra na akustický nástroj spojená s live-processingem není v současnosti věc nijak ojedinělá, výsledky ale takovéto kooperace mohou přinášet různé. V případě dua Jeroda Sommerfeldta (laptop) a Davida McDonnella (saxofon, elektronika) jsou jejich společné kreace rozhodně hodné pozornosti. V dnešní době nás nemají šanci uchvátit svou technologickou neotřelostí, o to více nás může zaujmout všestrannost umělecké komunikace spontánního hráče na saxofon s kolegou, který si umí přesně počkat na správný moment, aby z přijímaného signálu vytvořil osobité elektronické struktury.

Far from Moscow: From Minsk to Moscow: The Haze Netlabel Dedication to Pussy Riot

The Haze netlabel, based in Minsk, has just published a challenging compilation in honor of the Russian activist band and performance group Pussy Riot. Three female members of that outfit – Maria Alekhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Ekaterina Samusevich – are currently under arrest in Moscow for protesting against the government in ways deemed grossly disrespectful by local authorities. Several months ago, to be more specific, Pussy Riot staged an extremely swift and scandalous show – a la Riot Grrrl – within Moscow’s Christ the Savior Cathedral. Having rushed the building, the women pranced around for less than a minute, before security guards and staff began to wade in. The ethical, religious, and political backlash following that epatage has meant all three women are now looking at the real possibility of lengthy prison terms. Amnesty International has been quick to declare the musicians “prisoners of conscience,” while opponents in Moscow denounce these same individuals for irresponsible, if not sacrilegious behavior.
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Far from Moscow: Rattle Symptom: The Noise of Stagnation

Troubled times create interesting music; perhaps as a consequence, the Belarusian capital of Minsk is proving an increasingly fruitful location for experimental electronica. On this occasion, we’d like to draw your attention to Rattle Symptom (Simptom Pogremushki).
The Russian word “pogremushka” has a slightly less appealing ring than any English equivalent. It contains two disconcerting elements. The first is an echo of the word for thunder: “grom.” This shift from childish noise to elemental din is furthered when we consider how close the term is to our own “death rattle.” In rare cases, the phrase “pogremushki” pops up in Russian medical dictionaries, but for English speakers, the band’s name is unnerving, to say the least.
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Far from Moscow: Dissonant Field Recordings: Raw N^D, Aortha, Koin Nockio, and Roomdark

The city of Tiumen’ in southern Siberia is located more than 1,300 miles from the Russian capital. It is also, on a less celebrated level, home to the youthful glitch-hop practitioner known as Koin Nockio. In other related venues, he sometimes adopts the equally mysterious identity of “Konstantin Chyo” (his real surname, however, appears to be Bolotnikov). Partially responsible for the workings of a Siberian dubstep label, Nockio has been authoring his own music for the last three years. In his own words, “my first efforts were a real experimental mishmash, but they at least were an initial, important step en route to further developments.”
Whatever that evolution may bring, though, he remains committed to a lo-fi sound. As we’ll see below, there’s a good reason why any such progress would – or should – remain shackled to understatement and slight distortion.
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