ODG137 : Bone and the Changing Orchestra / Tropicalisation

 

Cover art by A.L. - Emanuele Bonini

ODG137 : Bone and the Changing Orchestra / Tropicalisation

‘Tropicalisation’ music looks at the gypsy music, mostly free, improvised, fast and colourful, clumsy and dirty, recorded all together one afternoon in a three-by-four-meter room near Modena.  From modern lounge, to jazz, to brazen moods, the music is a vibrant moment of joy in the futur. Contamination and pollution without rules! Freedom for the players, freedom for the listeners!

Drums: Gioele Merli - Nicolò Bertoni - Francesco Russo
Percussions: Nathan Toselli - Giovanni Molinari
Bass: Alex Ascione - Matteo Pellegrini
Keyboards: Gian Marco Vecchi - Lucio Cavallari
Sax: Alex Ascione
Electric guitar: Emanuele Bonini
Clean guitar: Bone
Other percussions: Bone
Sound design: Bone - Lucio Cavallari on Santé

Recorded October 20th, 2019 at Mushroom Studios
Produced by Bone at Enzo Studios in Modena

Digital release on the 19th of January 2021.

Track listing and musicians:

1: Freshman: Nicolò Bertoni - Drums / Nathan Toselli - Cajon / Giovanni Molinari - Congas / Alex Ascione - Bass / Gian Marco Vecchi - Keyboards / Emanuele Bonini - Electric guitar / Bone - Sound design - Ocean drums - Cymbals - Rain stick - Clean guitar

2: Helen lives in the Ocean: Gioele Merli - Drums / Nathan Toselli - Cajon / Giovanni Molinari - Congas / Alex Ascione - Bass / Gian Marco Vecchi - Keyboards / Emanuele Bonini - Electric guitar / Bone - Sound design - Ocean drums - Cymbals - Rain stick - Clean guitar

3: Mushhrooms for breakfast: Gioele Merli - Drums / Nathan Toselli - Cajon / Giovanni Molinari - Congas / Alex Ascione - Bass - Sax / Matteo Pellegrini / Gian Marco Vecchi - Keyboards / Emanuele Bonini - Electric guitar / Bone - Sound design - Ocean drums - Cymbals - Rain stick - Clean guitar

4: Hecox: Francesco Russo - Drums / Matteo Pellegrini - Bass / Gian Marco Vecchi - Keyboards / Emanuele Bonini - Electric guitar / Bone - Sound design - Clean guitar

5: Sally in Downtown: Gioele Merli - Drums / Nathan Toselli - Cajon / Giovanni Molinari - Congas - Cowbell / Alex Ascione - Bass / Gian Marco Vecchi - Keyboards / Emanuele Bonini - Electric guitar / Bone - Sound design - Flute - Ocean drums - Cymbals - Rain stick - Clean guitar

6: Santè: Alex Ascione - Sax / Matteo Pellegrini - Bass / Gian Marco Vecchi - Keyboards - Emanuele Bonini - Electric guitar / Bone - Sound design - Rain stick - Clean guitar / Lucio Cavallari - ambient synth/sound designer

7: Little fisherman: Nicolò Bertoni - Drums / Nathan Toselli - Cajon / Giovanni Molinari - Congas / Alex Ascione - Bass / Gian Marco Vecchi - Keyboards / Emanuele Bonini - Electric guitar / Bone - Sound design - Ocean drums - Cymbals - Rain stick - Clean guitar

 

And on Bandcamp:

ODG136 : Ben Sluijs Quartet / Candy Century

 

ODG136 : Ben Sluijs Quartet / Candy Century

Another re-release by the fantastic Ben Sluijs Quartet (see also Ben in solo, duo or quartet on OCD039, ODG086, ODG095, ODG096, ODG098, ODG103 and ODG117).

What was written at the time:

"Barely 33 years old, saxophonist Ben Sluijs shows an astonishing maturity in the way he manages his musical career. Heir, like many current young talents, of a certain Coltranian tradition but also of Lee Konitz and cool jazz in general, Sluijs shows no desire to let himself be locked in any drawer with a label. He wants his music to be free and somewhat inaccessible, the product of an interior necessity somewhere halfway between a poetic reverie and perfect harmony. A state of grace that can only be reached when freed from physical and material contingencies. Suddenly, Ben Sluijs does not scatter and takes his time. Professional musician since the 90ties (he has played notably with Philip Catherine, Toots Thielemans, Michel Herr, Joe Lovano and Billy Hart), he recorded his first real compact (Food For Free) in May 1997. To do this, he placed himself at the head of a quartet of which he carefully chose the components above all for their capacity to understand, to integrate, to extend his music. By surrounding himself with Erik Vermeulen on piano, Piet Verbist on bass and Eric Thielemans on drums, the saxophonist has created a formidable springboard for the expression of his own ideas.

Two years later, he recorded this Candy Century again with the same team. And we are simply amazed at the beauty of the themes, the harmonies, the solos, which emerges from this music. While the album must have been meticulously crafted to be listened to in one piece, I can't help but give my preference to ballads, a genre in which Ben Sluijs particularly excels: After All Things Been Said, Every Now An Then and Pour Jacques, dedicated to the memory of Jacques Pelzer, are operations of lyrical seduction. More removed, Candy Century and Out Of The Garden are conducive to stunning variations, demonstrating the incredible path traveled by the leader in a few years. And to be convinced, just listen to the first part of New Life performed on saxophone solo: its inventive phrasing, its science of rhythm and its correct conception of space are exemplary. As for Zinaïda, a superb ballad with oriental accents reminiscent of Rabih Abou-Khalil's quartet, Ben Sluijs finds the flute there, an instrument already used with happiness on the title Daydreaming of the previous album. In total, this is music that is both intense and lovely, a perfect balance that evokes happiness and awakens hope for other beautiful works to come."

In the magazine Cadence, New York 12/2000

"Tenderness and muscularity are sublimely balanced in the form of a Belgian Quartet ostensibly fronted by Sluijs.The music quickly dispels the need for leadership distinction as these four men opperate as a fully integrated and egalitarian unit.... Sluijs and company has crafted an invigorating set imbued with a strong sense of artistry and direction and as a result it's easy to recommend their work."

Ben Sluijs: saxophone, flute

Erik Vermeulen: piano

Piet Verbist: bass

Eric Thielemans: drums

Originally released on the W.E.R.F. label as WERF019 in 2000.

Digital release on the 15th of January 2021.

1: After All Things Been Said
2: Candy Century
3: New Life 1
4: New Life 2 & 3
5: Out Of The Garden
6: Zinaïda
7: Every Now And Then
8: Pour Jacques

And on Bandcamp:

ODG134 : WHALTHISNEY / Bodthisdharma - Sex, Sake & Zen - Haunted Songs About the Ghost of Ikkyu Sojun

 

Cover art by WALTHISNEY

ODG134 : WHALTHISNEY / Bodthisdharma - Sex, Sake & Zen - Haunted Songs About the Ghost of Ikkyu Sojun

WHALTHISNEY (see also OUC018) is back with ghost piano pieces entered around Ikkyū (一休宗純, Ikkyū Sōjun, 1394–1481) who was an eccentric, iconoclastic Japanese Zen Buddhist monk and poet. He had a great impact on the infusion of Japanese art and literature with Zen attitudes and ideals. Ikkyu Sojun decided to be true to himself and that meant regular trips to brothels. Ikkyu decided to challenge the established practices of Zen by doing the opposite.

Ikkyū Sōjun

The music here depicts different moments of his life in an haunting manner, meaning the general sound of the tracks are based on buffered piano sounds and electronics, like the music was coming from far away but in the same time being like behind your back... Refreshing and intriguing at the same time!

Digital release on the 8th of January 2021.

Track listing:

1: Crazy Cloud
2: Dharmapunk
3: Drunken Taoist
4: Edhge
5: Fhield
6: Furyu
7: I Hate Incense
8: Mhass
9: Sohil

And on Bandcamp:

OUW013 : Myroslava Kuts / Sleep Disorders

Cover art by Florian Tripoteau

OUW013 : Myroslava Kuts / Sleep Disorders

Myroslava Kuts (UA/FR) is a Sound Designer and a Sociologist.

She holds a MA in Sociology, specialized in sociological research and human subject

experiment. Her main experience stands in the creation of artistic projects which combine art, science and technology.

She explores above all the sleeping process and brain-related topics from the neuroscientific and the cognitive science perspectives. Her primar question is how to recreate the atmosphere of sleep operating at the nexus of sound, neuroscience and design. 

To create soundscapes Myroslava relays on the brain data (collected directly for the project or gathered from the research) and reproduces it into audio pieces by using multiple levels of ambience structures, static noises, high frequencies, recordings of voices and environments.

As a sociologist she is attracted to the subject of perception and routine process and she uses methods of sociological research to study it.

About the album:

While sleep itself is a top priority function for an organism, sleep disorder is a mistake in the brain performance. And this error can be described in two ways. It can be documented and measured scientifically using electroencephalography and other neuroscientific tools in order to get objective and reliable, thus ‘real’, information. 

The other way comes from mythology, religion and perception, the truth of oneself, the impression of a witness, an unprovable personal experience, a ‘sensation’.

Soundscapes consist of the sound and narrative, and bring up both the feeling/atmosphere of the sleep disorder along with its proven/verified neuroscientific description. 

The sound texture tends to repeat the malfunctioning brain activity. While the narrative usually emphasises the behavioral or perceptual aspect.

Each instrument is created separately out of the narrative pieces, field recordings, modulated feedback loops.

A video for SLEEPWALKING made in collaboration with Nimova Projekct (site):

Please visit her site for more info HERE.

Myroslava

Bandcamp only digital release on the 5th of January 2021.

Track listing:

1. INSOMNIA

2. SLEEPWALKING

3. NIGHT TERROR

4. SLEEP PARALYSIS

5. NARCOLEPSY

Bandcamp:

ODG135 : THEATH / Pleasant Skeletons

 

Cover art by THEATH

ODG135 : THEATH / Pleasant Skeletons

THEATH has always been attracted to the styles of Neofolk and Electroacoustic but early recordings drew comparisons to Smog and Swans combined with noisier outfits like Einsturzende Neubauten. After a prolonged break in recording, 2020 saw a shift to an instrumental-only approach pulling inspiration from 1970s Krautrock and old favorites like Merzbow, Coil, and Nurse With Wound.

The original versions of the first 12 songs on Pleasant Skeletons can be found scattered among the limited releases from early in 2020 but were completely re-recorded/remixed for this project in late summer 2020. The final three songs are new and exclusive to this album and are meant to compliment the reimagined versions of earlier material - this is not a compilation.

THEATH has been releasing extremely limited, handmade cassettes and CDs for 20 years.

THEATH is also a member of the group Red Weather Tigers and currently lives on the altiplano of Bolivia.

To date, discography counts are as such:

1 - 7" single

7 - Cassettes

25 - CDs

10 - Compilation appearances

Bandcamp

THEATH

Two optional covers he designed for the album:

Digital release on the 1st of January 2021.

Track Listing:

1: Untitled 3
2: Sorrow More Distant Than a Star
3: Incense
4: Let's Pick up Where We Left Off
5: The Ghost Has Returned
6: Dropped to the Bottom
7: The Red Witch Laments
8: The Day the Sky Exploded
9: The Tragic Tale of Broken English
10: This Has Gone Far Enough
11: I Left It up There in the Sky
12: I'm Sorry
13: Medianoche II
14: Trouble at the Grave
15: Forget About Them for Now

And on Bandcamp:

Happy 2021!

 

OJP046 : Kazunori Okuno / Reconstruction

 

Cover art by Nobuhiko Akaba / design by Haruka Akaba

OJP046 : Kazunori Okuno / Reconstruction

Kazunori Okuno is a well known producer and composer in the Osaka area (see also his experimental 1 hour album 'Lotus' OJP015). 

Teaching and playing live a lot, he uses a lot of different techniques and plays a lot of different genres, from J-pop, to rock, to avant garde compositions and twisted electronics. 

This album is like a soundtrack of an imagining journey, close your eyes and let you travel in the various places and sounds from Okuno San!

A trailer:

Digital release on the 25th of December 2020. Merry X-Mas!

Track listing:

1: Nine

2: Patchwork

3: RHM

4: Blessing

5: Collapse

6: Recollection

7: Keitai Girl Marching (vocal by Noriko Yamaguchi)

And on Bandcamp: