Monday 27 April 2020

OUW011 : Blaine L. Reininger / Mantras


Cover art by A.L.



OUW011 : Blaine L. Reininger / Mantras


Mantra and Me
"The mantra Om Mani Pädme Hum is easy to say yet quite powerful, because it contains the essence of the entire teaching. When you say the first syllable Om it is blessed to help you achieve perfection in the practice of generosity, Ma helps perfect the practice of pure ethics, and Ni helps achieve perfection in the practice of tolerance and patience. Pä, the fourth syllable, helps to achieve perfection of perseverance, Me helps achieve perfection in the practice of concentration, and the final sixth syllable Hum helps achieve perfection in the practice of wisdom.
"So in this way recitation of the mantra helps achieve perfection in the six practices from generosity to wisdom. The path of these six perfections is the path walked by all the Buddhas of the three times. What could then be more meaningful than to say the mantra and accomplish the six perfections?"
— Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Heart Treasure of the Enlightened Ones[33]

"I have had this mantra with me for many years. I first became aware of it through the channel of Ram Dass, when I was about 18. It has stayed with me, an ever-cycling theme of my awareness, meditating, sleeping, cycling, on the bus, at the dentist.
It had been difficult to find musical renditions of this mantra which were more in keeping with Western musical taste, not annoyingly clangy and syrupy Asian pop, so I decided to make some of my own for people to use in their lives. The fact that the music would appear on CD’s and spin around like a 21st Century prayer wheel was also appealing. 
So, I hand them over to you to use as you see fit."
Om Mani Padme Hum
Blaine L. Reininger
Athens, 2020
Blaine - Athens 2020

" I've had those mantras on my computers for a few years now and listen time to time to them when doing exercices or under stress when finishing an urgent job... I thought that in those uncertain times, it was a good opportunity to share them to the rest of the world, hoping that they could be of some inspiration for some or healing for others. I thank Blaine for letting me put them on line on the Off Bandcamp" Alain Lefebvre

Bandcamp only digital release on the 27th of April 2020.

Track listing:

1: Tubten
2: Veil of Thoughts
3: Maha mantra
4: Om Mani Spring
5: Rimpoche
6: Om Mani Padme Hum 1
7: Om Mani Padme Hum 2

Bandcamp:

Friday 24 April 2020

OMT009 : Savage Kings / Days Before the Blue Print


Cover art by DJeromebosch from a Zuhlume sigwabe pic




OMT009 : Savage Kings / Days Before the Blue Print

Savages Kings are a crew of 6: 4 musicians and 2 managers who take care of all but music. 

They are from South Africa, Eastern Cape, King Williams town. 
They all grew up together and feel like a family more than friends. 
They started doing music in 2015 and didn't know they could rap/sing until when only fooling around with beats and decided to record a track to see how it would sound. Little did they know people were going to love it which pushed them to record more tunes and start playing live. 
This is their first EP named 'Days Before The Blue Print'. Each of those tracks says or spreads out a different message. Working first on the music and beats before adding their words, they hope to bring something fresh and new to their favorite type of music! Enjoy!



Crew members :
Olu bhe is Proteej 
Lwandile Geya is Slavin
Khanyisa Zenzile is Kay
Zuhlume sigwabe is Kein

Digital release on the 24th of April 2020.

Track listing:

1: Intro (Days Before The Blue Print) 
2: Lumberjack
3: Dancin'
4: Outro (The Blue Print)



And on Bandcamp:


Friday 17 April 2020

ODG121 : Albert / OK.




ODG121 : Albert / OK.


This new work by Albert entitled “OK.” is an album of simple songs in fuzzy spaces, with glitching microphones, blown-out vocals, off-kilter rhythms, and lush electronics. 
It features a wide range of both acoustic and electronic instruments, from clean to buzzy, and uses production techniques from both lo-fi and hi-fi worlds. 

The album was written, performed, recorded, and produced by Albert in his home studio. 
Albert was inspired by the glitches and imperfections of sounds from different instruments, genres, and mediums. So much energy is often spent trying to tame the mishaps, misinformation and degradation in recorded music that we are often denied a whole range of sounds. To Albert, it is this area where so much beauty lies and he wanted to explore some of those places on “OK.”


Albert

Reminding at times The Beach Boys, The Beatles and some 60ties pop band or the modernity of Broadcast, Albert writes instant pop-rock catchy songs that stay on your mind for days.

Albert is a multi-instrumentalist, producer from New York currently living in Sofia, Bulgaria and working on his next album.




Digital release on the 17th of April 2020.

Track listing:

1: OK.
2: Happy Prawns (Lunch Special)
3: Can't Say
4: Willow
5: (Good To) Love Again
6: The Counting Song
7: Fistfuls of Toblerone, Unboxed
8: Leave the Light On
9: Might Be Right
10: Eye
11: 7 Days Gone
12: Before You Left



And on Bandcamp:

Friday 10 April 2020

OCD045 : Morgen Wurde / Für immer (Originals + Remixes)


Originals - pic by Lawrence English



OCD045 : Morgen Wurde / Für immer - Originals

Morgen Wurde and his musical allies move on to score the unfathomable wonder of the Dasein. "Für Immer" is a further breakthrough to the core, emanating sounds which let dissolve all conceivable questions of man about life and death. Sounds that let all questions appear negligibly.

The immersive finds are channelled as hybrids of ambient/ space/ drone/ doom music with neoclassical and jazz noir elements... sometimes crossing paths with other messengers of transcendental sounds like Abul Mogard, bvdub, Fennesz, Gas, Rafael Anton Irisarri or Tim Hecker.

The elevating experience happens in Morgen Wurde's electroacoustic spaces, hosting singular virtuoso instrumentalists. Creating the "Morgen Wurde" form of lyricism and haunting soundscapes, this collaborative exploration takes space music to new highs.

There are the stoically undulating sound masses, like the ambivalence of the awe-inspiring mysterious forces of nature, sometimes majestic, sometimes threatening. And there are the soloists, wandering through these sonic landscapes as masters of their art:

Doug Perry on the vibraphone and Tetsuroh Konishi on the trumpet embody subtle sublimeness. The violinists bring in widely differing styles: David Strother skipping ardently on top of the seething sound masses, Georges-Emmanuel Schneider forming a mystic amalgam with the underlying soundscapes. Maria Estrella's time-stretched vocals nestling in solemn spheres mark the epic finale.

This is the third album in the series of Morgen Wurde's electroacoustic sound processing based albums, following “Brach Auf” (2016) and “Assassinous Act” (2017) which were released on Time Released Sound, Alameda. Besides, there are two albums “Letzten Endes” (2015, see OCD027) and “Als je zuvor” (2018, see OCD040) (both on Off Rec.) which were composed classically on the piano and then clothed with electronic sounds.

A great review in Dutch in De Subjectivisten :
"All this results in an incomparable listening journey, which sometimes takes on almost stunningly overwhelming forms. Most of it is instrumental, but in the sublime final song "Schien Immer", those heavenly vocal sounds by Maria are added. It is all so incredibly beautiful. This music can be located between Nils Petter Molvaer, Giulio Aldinucci, Markus GuentnerRichard SkeltonJon Hassell, A Winged Victory For The Sullen and Nick Cave & @Warren Ellis. A masterful album."

Physical (2xcds with Remixes) and digital release as a separate album on the 10th of April 2020.

Track listing:

I Glühte aus 
II Über Nacht 
III Sah voraus 
IV Flammt auf 
V Vergessen würde 
VI Glüht aus 
VII Überdauert 
VIII Schwelt ewig 
IX Schien immer 

Concocted and produced by J. Wolfgang Röttger 
Doug Perry (vibraphone) I, VI 
Tetsuroh Konishi (trumpet) I, II, V, VI 
Georges-Emmanuel Schneider (violin, electronics) III, VII 
David Strother (electric violin) IV, VIII 
Maria Estrella Aggabao (vocals) IX 



And on Bandcamp:



Nice review in the German "Beat" magazine:
"Wolfgang Röttger seems to be a true creative source. Two years after his last album, he presents a densely packed new 20 track album titled "Für immer".
Part one is the regular album, which bridges the gap between ambient and drone music on the one hand and film music, jazz and electroacoustic classical music on the other side. Intensive instrumental music which creates a great vastness and surprises with new elements again and again. Like the virtuoso violin playing of David Strother, who has already worked with David Lynch, or guest contributions by Doug Perry (vibraphone) and Tetsuroh Konishi(trumpet).
Part two then leads us into the worlds of techno, house and IDM with remixes by Roman Ridder, Martin Schulte, Altone, and others. This approach is no less convincing, albeit with clubby rather than ethereal sounds. Often the original pieces are hardly recognizable."




Remixes - pic by Lawrence English


OCD045 : Morgen Wurde / Für immer - Remixes

The rich material called for addressing also the body. Artists from around the world answered this call:

Altone (Japan) initiates the rite with a free-floating version of his transcendently drifting remix, incorporating sounds from different album tracks. Roman Ridder (Germany) then sparks the dance with a deep dub techno ride. Liuos (Finland) irresistibly animates the body further into a trance, before Cie (Germany) breaks loose the passionate fire of rave. Lostlojic (Ukraine) upholds the energy of peaktime techno, before Dmitriy Zakat (Russia) navigates through an absorbing IDM intermezzo, followed by a sweeping post-dubstep adventure from Sébastien Job (France). Martin Schulte (Russia) pursues the explorative mission driven by minimal tech breaks. Thereupon Johnnyx Guitar (Germany) deepens the tempting occult spirit of the venture. Duckem (Greece) leaves the traveller with moody trip hop in a Blade Runner style bar, before we've come full circle with the beat version of Altone's remix, reaching out to eternity.

Like all the best remixing work, this material is not intended as alternate versions of the originals. Rather the remixes can be considered originals of the respective artists who drew sounds and vibes from the "Für Immer" originals.

Physical (2xcds with Originals) and digital release as a separate album on the 10th of April 2020.

Track listing:


I Für immer (Altone beatless Reshape) 
II Sah voraus (Roman Ridder Remix) 
III Sah voraus (Liuos Remix) 
IV Flammt auf (Cie Remix) 
V Schwelt ewig (Lostlojic Retech) 
VI Sah voraus (Dmitriy Zakat Remix) 
VII Sah voraus (Sébastien Job Rework) 
VIII Glühte aus (Martin Schulte Moonlight Version) 
IX Über Nacht (Johnnyx Guitar Remix) 
X Schwelt ewig (Duckem Remix) 
XI Für immer (Altone Reshape) 
+ Bandcamp only bonus track:
XII Schien immer (Synthese Remix)




And on Bandcamp:



Price

Tuesday 7 April 2020

OVD034 : Les Boucles Absurdes / Life Is Chaos


Cover art by A.L., image by Jean-Pierre Jonckheere



OVD034 : Les Boucles Absurdes / Life Is Chaos

After 3 albums and 1 EP in collaboration with Pierre Vervloesem (see OPV007OPV010,   OVD003, OVD018 ) Jean-Pierre Jonckheere goes solo for this new album. 

The name of the band has never been so close of his definition as Jean-Pierre works until the ultimate result with various loops and brings them to avant garde experimental electronic music for the 21st century! 

In those strange times of Covid 19 'Life is Chaos' has never been so close of reality!
It is a powerful and intense album that will move you to the last nerve of your body! 
Get up and move!


Jean-Pierre

Life Is Chaos video:




Digital release on the 3rd of April 2020.

Track listing:

1: Vivant
2: Apnée du soleil
3: Life Is Chaos
4: Date limite
5: Atelier
6: Seul
7: Mumbai
8: Palettes
9: Strings



And on Bandcamp:

Friday 3 April 2020

OVD033 : Pierre Vervloesem / Africa (The Art of Going Somewhere)


Cover art by A.L.



OVD033 : Pierre Vervloesem / Africa (The Art of Going Somewhere)

Another masterpiece from Belgian wizard Pierre Vervloesem. 

7 tracks of African coupé collé influences which remind a bit some of Brian Eno and David Byrne works only in a more modern sounding and typically Pierre. 

Travelling from Ethiopia to Tanzania with stops in more countries, the album is built around recordings from various predicators and religious radio hosts (and for those who speak French, a great orator in Congo Kinshasa)!

From Pierre words:
"I wanted to record radio stations from big African cities but there was either crappy music like everywhere or crazy people from various sects. Considering my love for religion, here is an overview of the lower right quarter (I am no longer very sure) of this great continent".

It's quite a journey to enjoy in 7 intense, danceable at times, fun at others, amazingly enjoyable 45 minutes parts !

Digital release on the 3rd of April 2020.

Track listing:

1: Bujumbura
2: Kampala
3: Iringa
4: Dar Es Salaam
5: Adis abeba
6: Lusaka
7: Kinshasa



And on Bandcamp: