ODG022 : They Call Me Mr. Fluff / Plastic People

                                                            Cover art by Lore Troch

ODG022 : They Call Me Mr. Fluff / Plastic People

'They Call Me Mr. Fluff' is a one-year-old instrumental trio with two guitars, drums, occasional synthezisers and samples.

With Londerzeel (situated between Brussels and Antwerp) as operating base, they tend to play some kind of kick-ass progressive violent electro-rock from outer space named zombie-beat, with an appetite for odd rhythms in unusual time signatures and complex but stunning harmonies. Nothing is unimaginable for these guys.

During the summer of 2013 they recorded their first EP 'Plastic People' at Pascal Snoeck's home studio in Ternat. The mixing and mastering was done by jedi master Pierre Vervloesem. The result makes us think of bands like 'Dub Trio' or 'Meshuggah', only differently.
Edger Van Rompaey : (bariton)guitar & synthesizers
Olivier Penu : drums & samples
Vitja Pauwels (also in Soldier Six, see OCD017 and  OCD030) : guitar & synthesizers 

One video:



Digital release only on the 31th of January 2014.

Track listing:

1) Rest Ur Dangerous You
2) Don't Tell Anyone
3) You Want It All
4) Moving Daylight
5) Hard Five
6) On a Sunny Day (She Left Me)
7) Cold-Eyed Death Stare

ODG021 : Roedelius & Christopher Chaplin / Live at Silencio - Paris

ODG021 : Roedelius & Christopher Chaplin / Live at Silencio - Paris

Third and final release of the Roedelius duets is the concert Roedelius (bio) and Christopher Chaplin, late son of Charlie Chaplin (here, bio, discogs) at Silencio in Paris on the 7th of December 2012.
The concert was part of the presentation of the sculpture-audio "Grateful Vanity" of designer/artists duo  Florence Deygas and Olivier Kuntzel with the music of Roedelius.

This concert was the following of a duet with Jean-Benoît Dunckel (from Air, see here) at Silencio in Paris on the 8th of September 2011 and another duet with Christoph H. Müller (from Gotan Project, see here) at The CDA in Enghien on February 15th 2012 They are to be released respectively on the 6th, 13th and 27th of January 2014.

This release sees also the last cover by Kiekebiche. He was the designer of all the covers and image of Off from the start till end 2013. Off wants to thank him again for all those beautiful images, involvement, time, creation and advices. Kiekebiche is going back to what he does best: painting! We will miss him and wish him all!

Track listing:

1) Live at Silencio - Paris ( 66 min)

                                                                      Christopher and Roedelius prior to the gig
                                                       

ODG020 : Roedelius & Christoph H. Müller / Live at the CDA - Enghien

ODG020 : Roedelius & Christoph H. Müller / Live at The CDA - Enghien

Second release from the Roedelius duets is the concert Roedelius (bio) and Christoph H. Müller from Gotan Project (here, Gotan, discogs) did in Enghien at The Cda on February 15th 2012.

The concert was part of the presentation of the sculpture-audio "Grateful Vanity" of designer/artists duo  Florence Deygas and Olivier Kuntzel with the music of Roedelius.

This concert was the following of a duet with Jean-Benoît Dunckel ( from Air see here) and was followed by another duet with Christopher James Chaplin ( late son from Charlie Chaplin) at The Silencio on December 7th 2012. They are to be released respectively on the 6th, 13th and 27th of January 2014.

Track listing:

1) Live at The CDA - Enghien ( 54,49 min)

                                                    Roedelius and Christoph H. Müller

and a nice teaser of Roedelius and Mueller:

ODG019 : Roedelius & Jean-Benoît Dunckel / Live at Silencio - Paris

ODG019 : Roedelius & Jean-Benoît Dunckel / Live at Silencio - Paris

First of the three Roedelius duets series to be digitally release is the fabulous concert Hans-Joachim Roedelius (here, bio, discogs) and Jean-Benoît Dunckel, half of world famous French band Air (bio, discogs) did at the select David Lynch Silencio club (here) in Paris on September 8th 2011.
The concert was part of the presentation of the sculpture-audio "Grateful Vanity" of designer/artists duo  Florence Deygas and Olivier Kuntzel with the music of Roedelius.

                                Pic of Florence, Olivier, Roedelius and the sculptures by Mohamed Khalil

Hans-Joachim Roedelius, born in Berlin in 1934, has long been regarded as a pioneer of ambient music. In the early 1970's his band Cluster made several recordings with Brian Eno. Since then, his extraordinarily prolific career has resulted in over 80 albums, many of them collaborations with musicians from all over the world. 

This is what Jean-Benoît said in an interview in "A certain view of life" on the fifth of October 2011:

Quelle expérience la plus forte avez-vous vécu cette année?

« Mon experience la plus forte a été musicale. J’ai fait un concert avec l’artiste Roedelius du groupe Cluster au Silencio et j’ai beaucoup aimé son détachement, sa facilité de jeu, sa façon d’approcher la musique . Liberté de faire sans nervosité ou appréhension, très détendu.

Finalement j’avais oublié que jouer de la musique doit être aussi un moment agréable, et que ce qu’on entend est le reflet de ce moment. J’ai acheté donc des coussins pour mon studio d’enregistrement. »

What was the strongest experience you have lived this year?

"My strongest experience was musical. I made a concert with the artist Roedelius (from the band Cluster) at Silencio and I liked a lot his detachment, his ease of play, the way he approaches music. Freedom to play without nervousness or apprehension, very relaxed.

Finally I had forgotten that to play music has to be also a pleasant moment and that we hear is the reflection of that moment. I thus bought pillows for my recording studio."

This concert was followed by a duet with Christoph H. Müller (from Gotan Project) at The CDA Enghien on February 15th 2012 and another duet with Christopher James Chaplin ( late son from Charlie Chaplin) at The Silencio again on December 7th 2012. They will be released respectively on the 6th, 13th and 27th of January 2014.

Track listing:

1) Silencio, Pt.1

2) Silencio, Pt.2
3) Silencio, Pt.3

4) Silencio, Pt.4

5) Silencio, Pt.5

6) Silencio, Pt.6 (after the track "The Shade" written by Eno, Moebius, Roedelius from the album "After the Heat")

7) Silencio, Pt.7 (after the track "By this River" written by Eno, Moebius, Roedelius from Eno's album "Before and after Science")

8) Silencio, Pt.8

9) Silencio, Pt.9

10) Silencio, Pt.10 (after the track " Wobbly Flu Twilight" written by Tim Story, Roedelius from the album "Lunz")

11) Silencio, Pt.11 (after the track "Murmering Mermaids" written by Tim Story, Roedelius from the album "Lunz")

12) Silencio, Pt.12

13) Silencio, Pt.13 (after the track "Clue" written by Tim Story, Roedelius from the album "Lunz")

14) Silencio, Pt.14

15) Silencio, Pt.15

A Xmas gift from Dorit Chrysler to all Off followers

OMX001 : Dorit Chrysler / AVERYWHITETHEREMINXMAS

For this 24th of December and all the coming merry Xmas, the queen of theremin Dorit Chrysler (here , here, and here!) is offering all the Off followers, friends and fans a marvelous gift: 3 versions of the famous Irving Berlin song!
Pick your favorite one, listen to it, share it, give it to a friend as a gift, download it for free... do whatever you want but do enjoy it and have a wonderful Xmas!

Performed & Produced by Dorit Chrysler 
Additional production by Allen Farmelo. Mixed and mastered by Allen Farmelo

ORT005-OUI023 : Arve Henriksen - Teun Verbruggen / Black Swan

                                                                       Cover art by Rob Musters & Peter Verbruggen

ORT005-OUI023 : Arve Henriksen - Teun Verbruggen / Black Swan

This release sees the return of magical Norvegian trumpeter Arve Henriksen ( bio, ORT002, ORT003 ) this time playing and singing over prepared drums and electronics by Teun Verbruggen ( bio ). It's a beauty like always with Monsieur Arve. It was mixed by Eric Honoré and mastered by Helge Sten.

Album Review:

To some, this might seem like an unlikely collaboration. Throughout much of his recent career, whether solo or as a member of Supersilent, Norwegian trumpeter Arve Henriksen has explored expansive, deeply atmospheric territory. He has recorded not only for Rune Grammofon, but also for ECM, and his austere, breathy tone inspired by the Japanese shakuhachi is entirely in keeping with the latter label's Scandinavian cool, even when Henriksen is displaying his abstractly explorative side. Belgian drummer Teun Verbruggen would seem to embrace experimentalism of a somewhat different stripe, seated on the drum stool for Peter Vermeersch's oddball big band Flat Earth Society for a decade, collaborating with creative jazz pianists, and recently firing up noisy jazztronica improvs with his groups Othin Spake and the Bureau of Atomic Tourism, documented on his Rat Records label. But here they are on the 2012-2013 Rat album Black Swan, although not exactly together, since Verbruggen recorded drums and electronics in Belgium during September 2010 and sent digital files to Henriksen, who added trumpets, vocals, Hardanger fiddle, keyboards, snare drum, samples, and treatments from his home in Norway during February 2011. Knowing the back-story behind the creation of these 11 sonic vignettes makes the results that much more impressive, particularly in how Henriksen found evocative ways to build upon Verbruggen's foundation of abstract, even arrhythmic percussive and electronic sounds (although the listener sometimes can't discern with absolute confidence which musician produced which sounds on the album).

In fact, "Fridge Detective B." sounds primarily like a Henriksen creation, a calming, drifting foray with subtle overlapping rhythmic pulses and sequenced tones, random plucks and droplets, falsetto vocals, and trumpet harmonies stretching out luxuriously — the percussives seem muted and drowned. Henriksen fans should delight in it. With its own ghostly atmospheres, "Sweet Marrowbone" is a fine trumpet showcase, with lingering windy and cavernous drones, Verbruggen's cymbal washes, and sequenced repetitions providing subtle seasoning for Henriksen's entry, retreat, and reentry, which give the track a semblance of structure. The one-two punch of the title track and "Bryggen" are at the other end of the spectrum: the former with squelchy deep throbs and a sustained, multi-layered electro-acoustic percussive attack; the latter continuing with more treated percussives, repetitive clicks and pops, electro bursts and throbs, gated noise, and undefinable implements escalating into a mechanistic cacophony. Somewhere between the extremes of these tracks lie "Boxgrove Home Page," in which Henriksen's exploration of Middle Eastern phrasing ascends into near abrasion against Verbruggen's stop-start pound and clatter, and "Baby Flock N," in which Henriksen explores a deeper yet similar mode against a more flowing, rolling backdrop of percussion, electronics, and tones. Almost a straight-up drums and trumpet improv over empty space, "Orange" is a nice palate-cleanser, although it is a mere precursor to the concluding "Mystery," in which Verbruggen's crisp punctuations make room for Henriksen's trumpet to enter beautifully against a distant chordal sweep, encapsulating all that the simple one-word title could possibly evoke.

Already relesed on Rat Records as RAT017 HERE.
Original digital Release on Off on the 20th of December 2013, now in Bandcamp.

Track listing:
1. AHOB 1
2. Fridge Detective B.
3. Site Q1/B
4. Boxgrove Home Page
5. Fresh Air Inspector
6. Black Swan (for Allowin)
7. Bryggen
8. Sweet Marrowbone
9. Babyflock N.
10. Orange
11. Mystery 

In Bandcamp:

ORT004-OUI086 : The Bureau Of Atomic Tourism / Second Law Of Thermodynamics

Cover art by Vincent Glowinski

ORT004-OUI086: The Bureau Of Atomic Tourism / Second Law Of Thermodynamics  

Continuing to explore the Off association with Rat records (see here), this new release is by The Bureau Of Atomic Tourism - aka BOAT-, a fabulous sexet of stars composed by Andrew d'Angelo (bio) on sax, Nate Wooley (bio) on trumpet, Marc Ducret (bio) on Guitar, Trevor Dunn (bio) on bass, Teun Verbruggen (bio) on drums and Jozef Dumoulin (bio) on fender rhodes.
This is a live recording of a fabulous gig played at The Paradox in Tilburg-Holland on the 16th of November 2011 captured by Dieter Claeys, then mixed and mastered by Richard Comte in January 2013.

Bureau of Atomic Tourism / Recyclart Brussels / November 2011_1 from teun verbruggen on Vimeo.

Album review:

The musicians of the Bureau of Atomic Tourism — aka BOAT — were assembled by Belgian drummer Teun Verbruggen for Antwerp's Follow the Sound Festival in November 2011. Several days after the festival gig, BOAT recorded their 2013 debut album, Second Law of Thermodynamics, at a club show in Tilburg in The Netherlands, and by then they were truly firing on all cylinders. Verbruggen (Flat Earth Society, Jef Neve Trio, Too Noisy Fish) certainly surrounded himself with a top international lineup: bassist Trevor Dunn, reedman Andrew D'Angelo, and trumpeter Nate Wooley from the Brooklyn avant scene in the U.S.; and guitarist Marc Ducret and (Belgian-born) keyboardist Jozef Dumoulin from France. The music played by this transatlantic sextet is uncompromising, heavy on improvisation and with noisy electronics scattered about, and even some noisy electronics-type sounds created without electronics — thanks primarily to Wooley. Free improvisational opening track "Corollaries of the Decay Laws" finds D'Angelo (on bass clarinet) and Ducret screamingly intense; Dunn and Verbruggen maintain tumbling momentum while Dumoulin and Wooley, the latter playing long Miles-ish lines, chart out a middle ground — until D'Angelo's high-energy squeals push the trumpeter to move beyond tonality into pure static.

Verbruggen is ostensibly the bandleader but — at least for the set documented here — D'Angelo brought all the scores. His "BooBeeBooBeeBee" takes nearly four minutes to assemble itself into a messed-up pound-and-retreat theme — the midsection is a fine feature for the Ducret-Dunn-Verbruggen trio in halting escalation to an abrupt stop. D'Angelo also penned the two-part "Marthana," initially pairing the composer's woozy alto and Wooley's trumpet over a subdued dark ambient backing; Ducret's snaky guitar is soon surrounded by repetitive clicks, ticks, and pops that sound like a relatively gentle but deliberate pummeling is being delivered directly to the surface of your eardrums with the world's tiniest jackhammers. "Marthana, Pt. 2" builds into a fearsomely energetic and then fragmented jam after a Dumoulin keyboard feature, ultimately sputtering out before the reins are handed to Wooley, who again pushes beyond notes into sound and noise. A tumultuous improvisation with a physics formula title that translates as "The Average Defining the Generalized Force" stops on a dime and is immediately followed by D'Angelo's "Meg Nem Sa" (from Icelandic guitarist Hilmar Jensson's Tyft album of the same name), in which Verbruggen and Dunn lock into a tight but quick-shifting groove as Ducret, D'Angelo, and Wooley shoot fireworks across the top. The members of BOAT might be split between countries and even by an ocean, but on this souvenir from Tilburg they draw from a common improvisational language, seeming like they've played together for years. Perhaps the title Second Law of Thermodynamics is meant to convey that these sonic scientists don't comprise an isolated system as they channel and disperse their roiling energy. In any case, this album provides a jolt suggesting anything but a slow and steady decay into thermodynamic equilibrium.

Another one here from Neural magazine.

The album (Rat 020) is already released and on sale on the Rat records website HERE

Original digital release on the 16th of December 2013, now in Bandcamp.

Tracklisting:

1. Corollaries of the decay laws
2. BooBeeBooBeeBee
3. Morthana part 1
4. Morthana Part 2
5. -1/ (Ω (E)) ∑y Y Ωy(E)
6. Meg Nem Sa 
7. Law of Entropy

And in Bandcamp: