ODG118 : Ensamble Desmembrado / Cuarenta y Ocho Azotes

Cover art by Gustavo Madrid

ODG118 : Ensamble Desmembrado / Cuarenta y Ocho Azotes 

Static tribal mantra of deafening delicacy and tearing mercy 

On this new project, Gustavo Madrid decided to mutate one more time and use a new disguise. 

Once it was Mutantes Melancólicos (see the mysterious and powerful ODG034), then NO:ID., after that Madrid Solo and now it is Ensamble Desmembrado. 

Even if he created the whole album by himself, alone in his studio with no collaborators at all, this piece of music could have been a collective creation for its complexity and duration. Contrary to the principles used on previous projects, he decided to use the maxim “more is further more”. This can be appreciated not only on the quantity of the piece`s arrangements but also on the variety of instruments and sounds that are unfolded throughout the 48 minutes of this work`s length. 

He started to work on this conceptual album in 2015 using a guitar arpeggio as starting point. He added sound passages taken off improvisations and layered them on top of diverse sound samples and loops giving shape to the cinematic feel of this new piece of music. In-between extended instrumental parts he included a song that he`d written in his Sherbrooke Est apartment in Ville-Marie, Montréal, Québec, Canada, sometime during 2004. 

For the period of the 4 years that lasted the conception of the piece, Madrid`s interests and influences took diverse and new paths allowing unexpected variations and fruitful sources of inspiration to give place to the coexistence and marriage of ambient passages à la William Basinski and the neo-psychedelia of the Legendary Pink Dots, of “field recordings” 

and Jacques Brel`s chanson, of Black Heart Procession`s gloom and Jon Hassell`s “Fourth World”, to ally minimalism and “World Music” adding electronic manipulation to certain sound elements looking forward to creating a new kind of noise expression. 

Gustavo

Composed, performed, edited, produced and recorded at El Rosario from 2015 to 2018 by Gustavo Madrid. 

Digital release on the 31st of January 2020.

Track listing:

1: Cuarenta y Ocho Azotes - Intro

2: Cuarenta y Ocho Azotes - Outro

3: Azote - Song

And on Bandcamp:

OUW004 - OJP041 : Evoke / No Directions

Cover art by Masahito Hiranuma - Pic by Yukiko Hiranuma

OUW004 - OJP041 : Evoke / No Directions

'Evoke': Poetry reading, so to say, or poetry accompanied by music? 
No, this album is a rich flow of beauty, an atmosphere of words and voice and music and sound, as a whole. 
The electro ambience, noise/silence, the crisp and sophistication of sound effects are created by Wataru Iwata.
Yukiko Hiranuma generates her scenes of poetry, her voice full of life and charm, sometimes like a monologue, or a spirit in speech.
The emotion and spirit of each poem co-exist and fuse with the futuristic electro ambience where one can even notice some melodies of classical taste. 
Deep somewhat dark but lighthearted, pure and cruel ...and touching, is this album of 8 pieces “no direction”.

Wataru Iwata (see also OJP038 and OJP039) :
He grew up and learned music in the field of free jazz in New-York. Plays in duos, trios etc. as a pianist but his activities are in various fields, from classical music to electro ambient, composing, playing and producing, painting, creating video artworks. Now planning and launching some Trans disciplinary art projects.

Wataru

Yukiko Hiranuma :
I read, I write. I read aloud.
I turn my thoughts, my joy and sorrow, my spirit into poetry. I love to put my words into syllables, into dialogues, into scenes by my voice.
They come deep down from my heart.

Yukiko

Both musicians have extended YouTube channels that give an excellent idea of them in various bands and actions : Yukiko's one and Wataru here and here.

Digital release on the 24th of January 2020.

Track listing:

1: Rayure d'or

2: The Warm Winter Rain (feat. DJ Kou)

3: No North, No South

4: Alpha et omega (feat. Kiyohito Yamada)

5: Lullaby

6: Walk with Me: Fulfilling Moon

7: Current 2016

8: Ambient Noiz (feat. Kiyohito Yamada)

And on Bandcamp:

ORT023 : Leap/detach / Singer Featherweight

ORT023 : Leap/detach / Singer Featherweight

This album is a result of a two-year research project called “Artificial Extensions of Acoustics” at the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp. 
Vitja (see his beautiful solo album ORT022), Hendrik & Casper wanted to explore the richness of their instruments in terms of timbre, time and form, regardless of any means and in interaction with each other. 

The ensemble Leap/Detach became the playground of the project that they literally consider as ‘leap in the dark’ with their custom made electronic instruments and preparations, in which new-made sounds arise that exist ‘detached’ from their origin. They like to think of it as painting together on a large canvas, sharing colours or stating opposites.

The music is a direct outcome of the tools they created and learned to control in relation to each other. Acoustic and electronic elements blend together in symbiosis, sometimes in abstract context, sometimes in more lyrical ways. For some tracks the threesome worked with specific guidelines or limitations while others had a totally free approach. All tracks are improvised except for Myrte which was composed by Vitja.

This production is a collaboration between the research department of AP Hogeschool (Koninklijk Conservatorium Antwerpen), Koninklijke Academie voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen and Werkplaats Walter (which will distribute the Lp as Walter005).
Recorded and mixed by Dries Van Ende at Zennestudio, Anderlecht (Brussels)
Mastered by Gert Van Hoof, Cochlea Mastering

Vitja Pauwels – acoustic and electric guitars, pedal steel, live sampling, hard- & software processing

Hendrik Lasure – piano, live sampling, hard- & software processing

Casper Van De Velde – drums, objects, computer processing

Leap/detach - Jewelry video:

she was terrific to hold hands with video:

The album is out on Rat records and Walter Label and digitally released on Off on the 17th of January 2020.

Track listing:

1: partir
2: jewelry
3: buy me
4: prairie trot
5: klein insectenboek
6: magic hour
7: myrte
8: kapla
9: amber
10: crocodile tears
11: kalk
12: tevergeefs 
13: migraine
14: she was terrific to hold hands with
15: vijvermuziek




And on Bandcamp:

OUC023 : Peer Baierlein / Me² + 1

Cover art by Carmelo Cicero

OUC023 : Peer Baierlein / Me² + 1

Peer Baierlein started his professional studies at the early age of 16 at the Musikhochschule Köln in Germany. 

There, he studied with Prof. Malte Burba to become an orchestra musician and at the same time he took lessons with Arno Lange at the 'Deutsche Oper' in Berlin. In 1996, he moved to Leuven in Belgium to study with his favourite jazz-trumpet player Bert Joris at the Lemmensinstituut. Upon completion of his studies, he moved for a year to New York City in 2000, to take lessons form John McNeil and to play his instrument abroad. He then came back to Belgium, where he finished his studies for jazz trumpet and -after that- specialised as ‘lead-trumpet’, also at the Lemmensinstituut. Between 2005 and 2007, Peer Baierlein has been studying classical composition with Piet Swerts. He continued his studies from 2008 - 2011 and followed a special education for composing film music and classical orchestration with a.o. Denis Pousseur, Victor Kissine and Jean-Luc Fafchamps at the 'Conservatoire Royal de Mons'. From 2011 - 2013 he has been a student for 'new media' at the 'Hochschule für Musik und Theater' in Hamburg.

Peer

Peer about his album:

" 'me² + 1' is a contemporary music project and the title indicates the line-up - duo as well as some trio pieces are part of this recording, with me playing the piano on all tunes.

I recorded soundscapes with the prepared piano and tried to keep a certain color for each canvas, which resulted in 7 different tracks.

Then I invited 4 extraordinary musicians:

Nora Krahl (cello)

Gregor Dierck (violin)

Christian Gerber (bandoneon)

Rosemary Hardy (vocals)

Each of them improvised over these 7 footprints.

So I came out of this recording session with another 21 tracks.

Then the real work began. I combined different instruments and started to create

compositions out of the layers.

As for the booklet, latin letters didn’t fit aesthetically for the titles and I wanted the listener to use his own imagination and find his own titles.

On the quest for something else, I found the ancient Persian language. Dear Mr. P.

Oktor Skjaervo of the Harvard University translated the words for me.

People who understand the music will understand the titles.

The quality of the mixing and mastering and the design of the booklet is also of great importance to me.

So every production will be the result of a collaboration with other artists, who will enrich the process with their own taste and creativity.

Carmelo Cicero immediately agreed to design the booklet. His artworks fit perfectly

with the music.

Finally, Matthias Schwarz-Tkotz, whom I met in 2014 and have adored ever since, was

responsible for the mastering."

outside of the triple digipak cd

The old Persian language titles

inside of the triple digipak cd

Digital release on the 10th of January 2020.

Track listing:

1: Dawn

2: Metamorphose

3: Interlude 1

4: Peace

5: Interlude 2

6: Indian Chant

7: Interlude 3

8: Birth & Death

Beautiful limited edition 3 pages digipak cd available here:

Price

World shipping €15,00 EUR

And on Bandcamp:

OJP040 : Itachi Mode / Daily Life

Cover art by Hajime Maruyama

OJP040 : Itachi Mode / Daily Life

Before starting to record at home, Agito Maruyama aka Itachi Mode (see also his another album OJP037) collected lots of daily life sounds as he considers them to be the music created by nature.

His work is a fusion of  "digital sound" (inorganic) and "sounds of nature" (organic). 
It is also a fusion of reproducible and non-reproducible sounds combining elements of nature and entertainment music: various daily life scenes along with daily life sounds.

The idea behind his songs, from 'Artificial Nature' to 'Exit' is to show his town Tokyo becoming urbanised and convenient while nature being destroyed giving you the feeling that you want to get away from your daily life trough an emergency exit.

Field recordings, electro, minimal house and J pop at its best! Enjoy and dance! Yoyo Toshi o!

A joyful 'Changed My Life' song in an almost empty Tokyo:

Itachi Mode

Digital release on the 3rd of January 2020.

Track listing:

1: Artificial Nature

2: Daily Life (feat. Shokora)

3: Don't Be Swayed By (feat. Sergey Yarochevsky, Yona Marie)

4: Maze

5: Changed My Life (feat. Kana)

6: Exit

And on Bandcamp: