Adventurous releases from Belgium and Holland (2015)
Machinefabriek – The Measures Taken
The ever so prolific Machinefabriek has been composing more film music – see above clip – and dance scores as of lately. The Measure Taken was written for a dance performance by choreographer Alexander Whitley and visual artists Marshmallow Laser Feast.
Bas van Huizen is a Dutch artist based in Xi’an, China. He mainly uses guitar, voice, found objects and computer to record work that ranges from beat based electronic music under the moniker Basi Goreng to more abstract works under his own name. In 2013 he added another pseudonym to his discography with an experimental noise album by Shoganai. ?In addition to music and sound art Bas van Huizen is also active as a video artist creating animation, music videos, live visuals, and video installations.
Jos Smolders – Modular Works 2015
I composed these works during the first months of 2015. They are clearly defined constructions, built in a modernistic fashion. The sounds have a character of their own (objets musicales) but I force my will onto them and thus create a composition. In the months before this production I had been restoring and mastering 10 albums of the music of Pierre Henry. That, as always, had a great influence on my state of mind as a composer. The theatrical approach of Henry is clearly audible in these works. I started with a certain mood in my head and worked from there. First collecting the initial sounds (objets sonores), reworking and editing them and in the mean time placing them in a timeline. Three of the works are dedicated to Robert Hampson, because I admire his electro acoustic works very much and because he can be such an inspiring conversationalist on the subject of Musique Concrete. — Jos Smolders, Tilburg, July 2015
Multicast Dynamics – Scandinavia
Samuel van Dijk is an electronic music producer, sound designer and media artist from the Netherlands, having released electronic music under a variety of projects, namely, Mohlao and VC-118A. With his current project Multicast Dynamics he creates ever-evolving sound textures culminating in intriguing soundscapes while preserving a tranquil cinematic atmosphere. Drawing inspiration from nature, technology, film and fiction, his music productions, live sets and audiovisual work presents a carefully arranged, recorded and processed body of work, using a vast amount of layered sound textures, field recordings and live improvisation. In May 2015, Denovali Records released the first two albums of a four part series by Multicast Dynamics, conceptually linked by our undeniable connection with nature and its wide range of landscapes, colors and movement.
Zeno van den Broek – Divergence
“Divergence” explores the tension between space and sound induced by their manipulated representation: sounds alter, calibrate and form space while simultaneously the sound is formed and manipulated by the space it is placed in. The album is based on pure sound sources such as sine waves and white noise. These sounds are physically manipulated and destroyed by the use of tape in order to form pulses, interferences and new wave forms. These manipulations create a divergence between the perception of sound and space: real and digital space interacting with pure and altered sound sources. The result is an intense sensory reaction and heightened spatial awareness through four movements.
Michel Banabila and Oene van Geel – Music for viola and electronics II
On Music for viola and electronics II, Banabila and Van Geel explore further into their neo classical mix of viola improvisations, ambient textures, minimal compositions, and modular experiments. After their collabs on ‘Music for viola and electronics’, (2014) Michel Banabila and Oene van Geel decided to continue their recording sessions, again combining viola with electronics. This time they invited Eric Vloeimans on trumpet, Keimpe de Jong on contrabas clarinet, Joost Kroon on drums, Emile Visser on cello and Radboud Mens for Ableton programming.
V/A – The New Wave of Dutch Heavy Jazz
The Netherlands, a tiny country in Europe mostly known for its windmills and tulips but there’s more. During the last couple of years quite some bands -heavily into crossing over improv, noise rock and free jazz- emerged from the polders to wreak sonic havoc. Since the Netherlands is pretty small it didn’t take long before they met each other, started doing shows together and borrowed players from each other for bigger improv ensembles and new bands. With a scene this strong the time felt right to make a nice (but incomplete) document of it, resulting in the ‘The New Wave Of Dutch Heavy Jazz’ compilation.
Fantoom is free improvisation quartet from Belgium and The Netherlands comprised of Dirk Serries, Martina Verhoeven, Otto Kokke, René Aquarius
Onrust is Dutch for unrest, turmoil, agitation, disquiet. Wendy Mulder, the sole member of onrust has been succesfully exploring the wondrous world of analogue synths, drum machines, strange pedals and cable spaghetti for a while now. She describes her music as spherical electronic industrial but that just doesn’t do her work justice. Think of a hypnotic yet minimal and old-school sounding mixture of Orphx, Esplendor Geometrico and Pan Sonic instead, combining cold industrial beats with a distinct feminine sublety and attention for detail.
The Summoner comes 4 years since the last Kreng album Grimoire and 3 years since the massive retrospective box set Works for Abattoir Férme 2007-2011. A lot has happened in between, and this new recording can be seen as quite the departure from the aformentioned. His most personal album to date, The Summoner is based around the 5 stages of mourning and is made after a year of losing several close friends. Hard enough material to work on, he decided to add a 6th stage, entitled The Summoning to be able to arrive at the finalé, Acceptance.
Koenraad Ecker – Notes from the Panopticon
Second release from 2015 after the excellent Sleepwalkers in a Circle on Richard Chartier’s Line.
These 6 tracks were originally part of Ecology Tapes “Vol. 2”, a split release with the Berlin-based quartet “The Pitch”, released in november 2015 on limited edition cassette.
It collects 6 tracks of electro-acoustic works, combining cello, double bass, microtonal guitar, close-up materials, tape treatments and electronics.
Composed & recorded in Berlin, Brussels and Göteborg, 2013-2015. Mixed and mastered by Koenraad Ecker.
Bruital Orgasme – Experiment In Functional Background Music
The first full album on vinyl for Belgium’s favourite experimental/noise couple Fil & Nat Cavaleri.
Using frequencies & sounds recorded during their many concerts and tours, home made sounds generators, modified devices, lost and found sounds from many sources (as old vinyls, turntables without records, radios, tapes…), they manage to create an atmosphere that was described by the pressing plant’s manager as ‘very Stanley Kubrick’… which can obviously only be taken a compliment.
From pure electro-acoustic sounds over field recordings and sampled old records to blistering noise, this album is far from ‘functional background music’ but an interesting whirlwind of sound and an engaging listen.
All Shadows And Deliverance – Partus
All Shadows And Deliverance is the drone/noise project of Fré Decruyenaere. As label head of Usain Bolt Records and co-organizer of the infamous NOISEFEST festival in Kortrijk, he’s been on the forefront of the Belgian noise-scene for quite some time now.
Razen, is the duo of multi-instrumentalists Kim Delcour and Brecht Ameel. After a split-lp with Sheldon Siegel and the debut-cd Rope House Temper (both on Kraak), a number of tapes and the album Reed Bombus LFO (Deep Distance), the duo retreated to various chapels and churches in the countryside around Brussels to produce their opus Remote Hologram. They started exploring the practices of deep listening and acoustic research during a series of recording sessions. Using largely forgotten or ignored instruments such as shawm, church organ, Ondes Martenot, bombus and baroque flute, Razen forged and refined their sound into a form of contemporary minimalist classicism, albeit one that completely bastardises Early Music traditions.
Sequences – A Spehere of Silver a Disc of Gold
Sequences is Niels Geybels a musician and visual artist based in Antwerp.
Silk Saw – Imaginary Landscapes
After 9 years of silence, here’s the 11th album from the unclassifiable Brussels-based duo. With their usual tamping drums (just mention the two parts of “The Decision to Exist” or “Same Area”, led by a ferocious 808), a regular bass guitar hammering, some bare minimum poor voices, threatened violins, skinbound flute and oboe here and there, a distorted furious piano everywhere and finally some tiny cautious optimism (the extra-human guitar in “Enough Slaps”), the whole is carefully assembled in order to obtain an accurate picture of life on Earth. “Pain” and “Pleasure” are different aspects of the same mental construction.
+1 Forthcoming release out on the 22nd of January 2016
Yves De Mey – Drawn With Shadow Pens
“Drawn With Shadow Pens” is the new album by Antwerp based synthesist and sound-sculptor Yves De Mey. With previous outings on a slew of renowned labels such as Modal Analysis, Semantica, Opal Tapes, his own Archives Intérieures imprint with Sendai partner Peter Van Hoesen, and the now defunct Sandwell District, “Drawn With Shadow Pens” is the next offering in the Y.D.M. codex.