Friday 27 March 2020

OUC027 : Synapses / Introduction


Covert art by Mathilde Viot



OUC027 : Synapses / Introduction

Synapses is a Brussel based motley duo focusing on instant composition. 
By means of a sound sculpture, flute, imaginary language and electronics, they create a spontaneous music where classic, noise and ambient coexist to create an hypnotic language.
The musical sculpture of Christophe brings the element of force and noise while the flute of Line adds some lightness and melodies and her lyrics and spasms add the mystery and beauty for an intriguing and beautiful result.

A intriguing video for Seveneï Taïs:



And them performing live:






Christophe Grout: sound sculpture, revox, electronics
Line Daenen: flute, voice, electronics
Cédric Plisnier: Mix and mastering
Rudy Romanowsky: music sculpture designer - builder


 Christophe and Line



Digital release on the 27th of March 2020.

Track listing:

1: Introduction
2: Seveneï Taïs
3: Breathless
4: Extension
5: Intro a Gabrielu
6: Gabrielu




And on Bandcamp:

Friday 20 March 2020

OVD032 : Pierre Vervloesem / Stardom


Cover art by A.L., pic by Pierre Vervloesem



OVD032 : Pierre Vervloesem / Stardom

This is the first album created over a few days in his new studio Fiasco III since he moved out of the city of Brussels to live in the country. 
The house is completely isolated from the people and social life and lies in the fields. 
Those first few weeks in this new location are probably what influenced Pierre's music for this album. 
From pure improvisations to builded rhythms and melodies, sounding at times like a lost country album from a tired cowboy or like the sky ending close by, Stardom is definitively an album of huge perspectives of the world around him and of huge prospectives for a bright future full of new music!
3 tracks, each made of one long solo guitar recorded in one take...that's all folks!

Digital release on the 20th of March 2020.

Track listing:

1: Stardom 1 - 17,55 min.
2: Stardom 2 - 16,42 min.
3: Stardom 3 -   8,10 min.


And on Bandcamp:


Friday 13 March 2020

OUC025 : Kostas Boukouvalas / Memories from a Sea View


Cover art by Kostas Boukouvalas


OUC025 : Kostas Boukouvalas / Memories from a Sea View

Kostas Boukouvalas is a Greek composer and pianist based in Athens.
Amateur theatre performances, short films, commercials, as well as school plays have been accompanied by his music. He has also been a member of art and electronic music groups from time to time.

In December 2011 he released his first personal recording “Few notes are enough to change the world”.
In 2016 he founded the ensemble “The Last of the Romantics”, with which he presents his music in various art venues in Athens.
In 2018 he composed the music for the “YOYO” Erasmus+ European Project (Educational Yoga for the YOLO Generation).

Memories From a Sea View” was composed during his one year stay in Crete. 
The savage and mystical environment of this beautiful Greek island exerted a big influence on him and inspired him to compose music significantly different from anything he had composed until then. “Memories” are 12 minimal-neoclassical-ambient pieces originally written for solo piano. He made the arrangements a few years later back in Athens with the purpose to capture and retain the unique mood that this magic place created for him.  

Kostas

All compositions and arrangements by Kostas Boukouvalas 
Kostas Boukouvalas: piano, synth, various samples, electronics, field recordings.
Stathis Apostolopoulos: acoustic and electric guitars
Matthew Dakoutros: violin

Memory Waves:



Digital release on the 13th of March 2020.

Track listing:

1: Star Dance
2: Imprisoned in a Dream
3: Sand Paintings
4: Listening to Bach on the Beach
5: Memory Waves
6: A Little Cancer Attacks
7: Sea & Sky Mating
8: Far Away but Still Here
9: Beach Party Echoes
10: Zorba's Gaze
11: Requiem for a Moment
12: The Irreversibility of Time



And on Bandcamp:

Friday 6 March 2020

ODG120 : Baby Fire / Searching For Grace


Cover art by Alice Smith



ODG120 : Baby Fire / Searching For Grace

When the band takes to the stage you know what to expect. Because in terms of judicious collaborations these ladies are uncompromising (see also OCD018OCD033 and ODG070).

Such is the case with « Searching for Grace ». 
Among the guests are Joe Goldring (Enablers, ex-Swans…), Eve Libertine from the legendary punk collective Crass, as well as multi-instrumentalist Mathias Bressan. 
The EP comes with a colouring/lyric book designed by British artist Alice Smith.
In the past, Baby Fire has worked with ex-Buzzcocks member Tony Barber, who produced their second studio recording. The band has also collaborated with Eve Libertine and Penny Rimbaud (Crass), Eugene Robinson (Oxbow) and Dana Schechter (Insect Ark, Swans…).
Baby Fire’s third studio album was produced by Pierre Vervloesem (dEUS, Madensuyu…).
The trio has played shows in France, America, Germany and the Netherlands and has supported Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Laetitia Sheriff, USA Nails, Lydia Lunch & Gallon Drunk, And Also the Trees, Mike Watt, Part Chimp, Bardo Pond.

« Searching for Grace » is comprised of four intense tracks. Intense as though a feline had ripped them from inside to let through rays of light.
Served by subdued lyrics and carried by the voice of a vocalist with English roots, « Searching for Grace » seduces with its naked beauty and haunted grace. The Post-Punk that emerges through the dryness of the guitar is a mere detail. Because you can’t tell whether it’s night or day, dark or light, or rather the fragile moment when it shifts from one to the other, in pursuit of grace.
Dominique Van Cappellen-Waldock (voice, guitar, loops) and Cécile Gonay (drums, violin, backing vocals) have been joined by Lucile Beauvais on keyboards, guitar and backing vocals.


The video for 'I'll Take the Sun':



Digital release on the 6th of March 2020.

Track listing:

1: I'll Take the Sun
2: Perhaps the Hardest Lesson
3: Glowing Heat
4: Breath



And on Bandcamp: