New video from Kurtisz : Too Far!

Another hit from the marvelous Wired album (see OCD034) by Kurtisz: Too Far!
This time a live version recorded at Rubens Studio in Brussels.

OJP018 : Silentwave / Live Seasons (feat. Yoshinori Noguchi)

Cover art by A.L.

OJP018 : Silentwave / Live Seasons (feat. Yoshinori Noguchi)

After releasing the beautiful album 'The Deap Sea - Noisebeat' (see OJP010), Silentwave aka Yoshinori Noguchi, one of the most respected and prolific Japanese electronic artist, returns with a live album.

Most of his work consists in very long (between 15 to 40 minutes) ambient pieces that are either prepared or improvised during his live shows. 

The 'Live Seasons'  three tracks album is a perfect example of the mood he creates during his live performances. They were all recorded in 2016 in Tokyo.

Yoshinori Noguchi

Digital release on the 24th of February 2017.

Track listing:

1: Saravah

2: Four Seasons, part.1

3: Four Seasons, part.2

And on Bandcamp:

OVD018 : Les Boucles Absurdes / Un nouveau pied pour Noël (feat. Pierre Vervloesem)

Covert art by A.L.

OVD018 : Les Boucles Absurdes / Un nouveau pied pour Noël (feat. Pierre Vervloesem)

After the fabulous OPV007, OPV010 and OVD003, this is another gift from Les Boucles Absurdes! 

Broken Leg features Seesayle on vocals. The rest of the album is again absurd loops put together by J-P Jonckheere and magistrally mixed by wizard Pierre Vervloesem.

Like always with Les Boucles, you know where a track starts but you never know where it goes and ends! 

Bizarre for some, genius for others! I tend to say: genius!

From United Mutations blog:

"Last week, I received a small wooden box. The box had "Les Boucles Absurdes" written on top of it and it presented a USB stick. Never afraid to put a memory stick in my pc, I plugged it in to find "Un Nouveau Pied Pour Noël", the brand-new album by Les Boucles Absurdes.

Les Boucles Absurdes is Jean-Pierre Jonckheere and Pierre Vervloesem.

"Un Nouveau Pied Pour Noël" (A New Foot For Christmas) is their fourth release and it's superb.

The album presents six tracks. Every track is some sort of loop. (Les Boucles Absurdes = Crazy Loops).

Floating guitar tones, extraterrestrial voices, sampled synthesizer tones, the crackling of a vinyl album, contemporary classical percussive sounds and sirens, pulsing bass lines, a Gregorian choir, ...

"Un Nouveau Pied Pour Noël" will take you on an amazing journey.

I love it. I'm hearing new things all the time."  - Peter Vanlaarhoven
German review in Babyblaue here.

Digital release on the 20th of February 2017.

Track listing:

1: Broken Leg (feat. Seesayle)

2: C'est la mousson, pt. 1

3: C'est la mousson, pt. 2

4: Kenavo

5: Lays

6: Un nouveau pied pour Noël

And in Bandcamp:

ODG065 : Ben Bertrand / Era - Area

ODG065 : Ben Bertrand / Era - Area

Ben Bertrand is a Brussels-based bass clarinetist who evolved in the Belgian contemporary/classical scene. 

He imagined a device that enables him to transform the natural sound of his instrument into electronic ones, allowing him to create loops and orchestrations for solo performance. 

For his first EP, Era/Area, he arranged a collection of themes drawn from a wide range of places and ages – from a pygmy song to an ancient crusaders' melody dedicated to the lost Jerusalem passing by a Gavin Bryars's piece – merging them into a subtle, fascinating and hypnotic musical object.

Ben Bertrand

Pygmy song video:

digital release on the 15th of February 2017.

Track listing:

1) Pygmy song (Anonymous)

2) Partial Truths (Page one) (Evan Ziporyn, 1999) 

3) Planctus for Jerusalem (Anonymous, 1245)

4) Lauda for bass clarinet and drone (Gavin Bryars, 2009)

ODG064 : H.Soror / Live in Kyiv at Mezzanine Club

ODG064 : H.Soror / Live in Kyiv at Mezzanine Club

H.Soror is an instrumental trio formed in 2014 and based in Kyiv. 

This unusual trio, consisting of one guy on sax and two girls on the rhythm section, is widely influenced by their very large musical tastes: from folk and early jazz, through psychedelic 60-70s to doom and electronic music... which finally sounds a bit like a proto post no wave band.

After playing a few live sets and recording 2 EPs, H.Soror was described as one of the most interesting formation in the Ukrainian underground scene. 

"Live in Kyiv" was recorded in the summer of 2015 in  the Mezzanine Club while splitting the night with the Gamardah Fungus band. 

To record those five tracks live was a good way to have a good sounds, plus it represents so well what they are and with what power they play! The songs are a ‘catch-the-moment’ ideas.

2 girls - Natasha Pirogova on drums (also in Krobak) + Natasha Steel on bass for a dark raw powerful rhythmic parts and Mykola Lebed on sax (also in Selma)to add a subtle Morphine kind of textures to the songs.

Not to be missed if they play live near your place.

 Mykola, Natasha and natasha

Digital release on the 10th of February 2017.

Track listing:

1: Tyburn Tree
2: Molotova
3: Green Jam
4: My Anchor
5: Kangaroo Seeds




And in Bandcamp:

ODG063 : John Franek / La Mer dans le ciel

Cover art by A.L.

ODG063 : John Franek / La mer dans le ciel

John Franek is a pianist and composer who continuously searches for and creates new sonic expressions within the acoustic and electronic worlds.

Though classically trained from a very young age and mostly composing now modern classical pieces for piano solo, string quartet or full orchestra, John Franek has been since a long time a fan of electronic music. He has composed 4 electronic concerto and many small electronic pieces, going from pure drone music to pure ambient tracks. 

John premiered his Concerto for Keyboard & Strings with the Baroque Orchestra of New Jersey on July 10th, 2016 with Maestro Robert Butts conducting and with John as the soloist.  Since then he has also performed in the baroque orchestra’s summer chamber music series as a soloist, performing works across genres; including his own works as well as Mozart’s piano sonata no.8. John has performed across New Jersey and has had premieres across the east coast as well as Europe. John has released three albums, two under the pseudonym Exordium and one with his piano duet Helix 2. 

In an exclusive interview with Rider news about his work and accomplishments, John stated that, “There’s that invisible string that connects all of us”, and he still strives in his music to shape sound in a way that will similarly shape the listener’s, broadening their understanding and appreciation of the sound world.

“One of the great pleasures of conducting is discovering great young artists. Working with John Franek has been one of those great pleasures. Musically, he breathes with the music, bringing it to life and interpreting the very heart of the work. His compositions are rewarding to me on several levels – most notably they are emotionally very moving and satisfying…They are works one wants to hear – and in my case conduct – over and over." 

     Maestro Robert W. Butts, Conductor- Baroque Orchestra of New Jersey

La Mer dans le Ciel is a completely ambient album in the Eno tradition. The best way to enjoy it is to play it quietly like it is a part of the place where you stand.

John Franek

You can visit his site here.

Digital release on the 3rd of February 2017.

Track listing:

1: Coquillage nuage

2: Bisou d'eau

3: Parapluie

4: Sillage

5: La fille polaire

6: Serein

7: Plutôt pluvieux

And in Bandcamp: