ODG102 : Earl Van Scandal / The Ballad of Joe Wuss

Covert art by Silas Plum

ODG102 : Earl Van Scandal : The Ballad of Joe Wuss

Earl Van Scandal lived for a few nocturnal years in the early 2000's. 

Each piece intentionally resists resolution, withholding that satisfaction in an attempt to unsettle.

"The Ballad of Joe Wuss" is the instrumental story of a fearful man, unwilling or unable to move past his point of comfort. It is claustrophobic, with occasional glimpses of the glorious outside world. Every song expresses a distinct feeling, known or unknown, but even lacking labels should identifiable by the human heart. 

Mr. Van Scandal has since passed from this place, but these remain. 

26 pieces of electronica, minimal techno, contemporary unclassical, experimental disco and more make the soundtrack of this ballad. Enjoy.

Zach Witt aka Earl Van Scandal

Zach Witt tend to make art and music under pseudonyms. His main job is as a visual artist, which is where all the paintings and album art comes from under the Silas Plum name. Zach lives a simple life in a small town in Virginia.  Born and raised there, moved away for a while, came back. Art and music are most of what he cares about. He writes as well, short stories mostly, some long form. Not big on personal details, really. He likes to create biographies for his musical counterparts. The truth behind Earl Van Scandal is he was spending a lot of time alone, getting over a serious relationship and whenever an emotion got too intense, he would work on something. It helped greatly and the songs from ‘The Ballad of Joe Wuss’ are the result of that.

Digital release on the 26th of April 2019.

Track listing:

1: 1 / 3 Piano

2: 4:30

3: Antlers

4: Bronchus

5: Cancelled

6: Demons

7: Donne

8: Drumless

9: Exploding Arms

10: Goose

11: Headphones

12: Iron Matches

13: Kettle

14: La Boca Esta Serrado

15: Maze

16: Mineshaft

17: Monkey Face

18: Monkfish

19: Newt Life

20: Orangutan

21: Pigmeat Markham

22: Red Rudolph

23: Saint Nick the 20th

24: Silky Matches

25: Ten Gremlin Shuffle

26: Windy

And on Bandcamp:

OUC018 : Whalt Thisney / Thiscore

Cover art by Whalt Thisney

OUC018 : Whalt Thisney / Thiscore

The music of WHΛLT THISИEY  is a solitary soundtrack to nowhere, a non-tourist map into the unknown; music and images to create new, fully immersive environments, an intriguing aural pilgrimage with no destination in time and space, nuances and labyrinths.

WHΛLT THISИEY selects and mixes music for the mind and body in the same quantities that emerges from encounters between the past and the present, drawing beauty of the commonplace, wiping, polishing it, giving it life again, so to produce the same effect of the original freshness and spontaneity, a mirror that transforms it absorbs and reflects.

 WHΛLT THISИEY mixes impressionist piano atmospheres, spoken wordcore, drone, experimental, library, hypnotic escapism music and this is exactly what the album 'Thiscore' delivers: subtil (un)classical music to dream on.

WHΛLT THISИEY aka Fernando Cerqueira is the founder member of Thisco record label, publisher of Antibothis anthologies and the founder member of the late 80's SPH tape / record label.

WHΛLT THISИEY has several works released through Symbiose, Thisco, Illuminated Paths, Blocsonic, La Nostalgie de la Boue, Grain of Sound, HNM Rec. Grado,Klappstuhl, EE tapes, Vuz Rec. Tape Safe, Spettro Rec., DigitalDizzy, Floppy Kick, Kitsh Magik, Placenta Recordings, Attenuation Circuit, Petroglyph, Post Global rec., Drone Works International, Naviar, Pilot 11, Sea ov Clouds, Attenuation Circuit, Petroglyph, Urubu among others and recorded several tracks with Jarboe, Von Magnet, Emil Beaulieau, Merzbow, Smell&Quim, Wild shores, irr.app.(ext.) Antonym, Shhh, Amantra, Harsh Noise Movement, Lolipoop, among others.

Extensive discography via his Bandcamp

Digital release on the 19th of April 2019.

Track listing:

1: Darkspace

2: Fossil

3: Lost Station

4: Magnethism

5: Moon Spell

And in Bandcamp:

OJP036 / OUC020 : TRIOLA / Chiral

Cover art by Saskia Griepink

OJP036 / OUC020 : TRIOLA / Chiral

Chiral is the brand new album from Japanese duo TRIOLA and took 2 years to prepare, compose and finally record.

The project TRIOLA was reborn in 2016 with the introduction of a new violinist: Anzu Suhara. 
Base member Atsuko Hatano (see also OJP031 and OJP035) provides all the compositions and the band still fonctions as a duo violin / viola plus the guests when playing live or on recordings.

Though Atsuko regards her compositions as simple ones, one can directly hear the complexity of the arrangements and the always search for special sounds and layers.

Anzu Suhara (violin - Japan) is interested in experimental music and has collaborated and recorded with various orchestra such as ASA-C HANG & pilgrimage, NHK dynasty gong and Hikaru Utada as "Anzu Suhara  strings » and many other acts.

Atsuko Hatano (viola and composition - Japan) is a viola player using her instrument with a lot of electronics to add textures and layers to her sound. Definitely contemporary classical but with a very electronic approach.  She made a conceptual, avant-garde and organic album in 2018 called ‘Cells #2’ which sounds like a full strings orchestra tough it’s entirely played by herself adding layers with her string viola in form of ‘Cells’.    When not playing solo, Atsuko is extremely active recording, collaborating and playing live with Jim O.Rourke, Eiko Ishibashi, Mocky and many more acts.   

 Anzu & Atsuko

'Phantom Waltz' video directed by Atsushi Harata:




Chiral:
Anzu Suhara (violin, chorus)
Atsuko Hatano (viola, cello, contrabass, chorus, piano etc)

Eiko Ishibashi (drums on 1,2,6)
Joe Talia (percussion on 3)
Jim O'Rourke (bass on 1)

All composed by Atsuko Hatano 
Recorded by Joe Talia, Atsuko Hatano 
Mixed, Mastered by Joe Talia
Recorded at Hoshi To Niji studio, studio Microbe
Designed by Yosuke Watanabe
Cover : Saskia Griepink "Masdevallia" 2018

Digital release on the 12th of April 2019.

Track listing:

1: Chiral 11
2: Phantom Waltz
3: Runaway Mirrorball
4: Halo
5: Twin Spirals
6: 13HZ Cipher
7: Back Fire
8: Masdevallia

And on Bandcamp: 

ODG101 : Von Stroheim / Love? Who Gets Love?

Cover art by David Crunelle

ODG101 : Von Stroheim / Love? Who Gets Love?

Von Stroheim, described as some variation of a "doom band", fulfills that promise in ways very possibly unintended by those claiming either (or both) doom and bands: they've made a record that's a soundtrack for the doomed. Which is almost totally different. With a nod to Austrian director Erich von Stroheim, the record 'Love? Who Gets Love?' is a biting treatise on love soured where all of the femmes fatales are fatal and as voiced by singer and theremin player Dominique Van Cappellen-Waldock (see also OCD018, OCD021, OCD024 and OCD033) with guest appearances by Pete Simonelli from Enablers and Caroline Blanchet (ex-Choo Choo Shoe Shoot), set in stone in a darkening world view successfully evinced by the guitar and synth work of producer Raphaël Rastelli.

Eight songs, violins by Franz Krostopovic (Pale in Grey), guest vocalists, artwork by David Crunelle, and surprises galore make this sleeper release of 2019 totally unlikely to let you sleep. 

The trio has been described a cinematic doom, compared to PJ Harvey singing with Black Sabbath, Neurosis featuring Jarboe, OM, Hexvessel, and even “Amon Duul II in salsa stoner”.

Line up

Dominique Van Cappellen-Waldock: voice/film samples/theremin 

Raphaël Rastelli: guitars/synths/theremin
Yannïck Daïf: drums

Reviews:

"Mesmerizing, heavy & foreboding."

The Big Takeover (USA)

"Eight delightfully cruel tracks including 'Moth', 'Pulp', 'Cigarette Smoke' (our favorite), and 'Blood Institute'. Recommended."

Babysue.com (USA)

"La production est dingue, les compositions sont folles, il y a une ambiance melvinienne, neurosienne, swanesque et pourtant, c'est von Stroheim tout simplement." Kfuel

"Een streel staaltje avant-garde donkere muziek zonder moeilijk doenerij. Straf." Gonzo (Circus)

"In den ruhigeren Phasen ähneln VON STROHEIM dem kanadischen Trio BIG BRAVE, die Doom-Metal mit radikalem Anspruch kompositorisch skelettieren. Auch das gigantische Erbe von SWANS scheint hin und wieder durch („Red Raw“). Einige Stücke sind von Filmzitaten aus den Fünfziger und Sechziger Jahren unterlegt, die „Love? Who Gets Love?“ bereichern und dem vollumfänglich gelungenen Album ein dezentes Mehr an Stimmung verleihen."

Henrik Beeke - OX

"Chant aigu puis plus grave, sonorités haut perchées, paysages sonores puissants et avenants; tout y est, von Stroheim prouve sans attendre qu’il détient les clés d’un univers singulier." Muzzart.fr

"C’est bizarrement aérien et lumineux, angoissant, souvent sombrement beau et envoûtant, une affaire d’ambiances construites patiemment, subtilement, avec des coups de butoirs idéalement placés sur Spit ou Red Raw aux rythmes plus accentués et riffs plus charnus."

Perte et Fracas

"La voix de Dominique est hallucinante. Un peu théâtrale, pas mal habitée, elle nous transporte vers des sentiers où il est conseillé d’être accompagnés, tant son chant reflète des intonations mystérieuses. Derrière, la musique est répétitive, emportée, avec des riffs assassins qui sont justement « cinématiques » pour nous porter dans une ambiance qui nous ouvre l’esprit (vers l’au-delà ?). Quelque part dans les styles/profondeurs de Swans/Jarboe, Lydia Lunch, Godflesh, Melvins, Rowland S. Howard, Goblin, PJ Harvey, la musique sombre et lumineuse de Von Stroheim possède une force qui nous envoute. Pas d’inquiétude, c’est tellement bon, qu’on adore ça !"

Foutraque.com

"Love? Who Gets Love? le confirme, von Stroheim est l'un des groupes les plus intéressants de la scène indie from Brussels." Concert Monkey

"…een uitstekende debuutplaat van een band die het binnen het doomgenre net even anders doet, risico durft te nemen en met zijn emotievolle muziek volstrekt geloofwaardig overkomt." Opduvel.com

"De hoge stem van Dominique Van Cappellen stootte ons wat af maar gelukkig heeft ze ook andere timbres in de aanbieding. Soms in één en hetzelfde nummer. In For A Beautiful Girl, gaat ze lager en vertellender, begeleid door een zware gitaar. Het is zowat de formule van Von Stroheim doorheen de plaat. Traag en heel sferisch binnenkomen, ietwat mysterieus gezang of parlando en daarna barst altijd een bom (luister bvb. eens naar single Cigarette Smoke). De gitaren neigen dan steevast veel naar metal maar passen wel in het plaatje. (…) Red Raw en afsluiter Blood Institute zijn hier de beste voorbeelden van én hun beste songs. Een goede film noir werkt ook altijd naar een hoogtepunt toe en zo is het hier niet anders." Luminousdash.be

"Dunkle Doom-Kulissen und elegische Aggressivität vermischen sich bei den Belgiern VON STROHEIM mit psychotischem ThereminRock und einer bedrohlichen SynthGitarrenAtmo. "Love? Who Gets Love?"(Uproar for Veneration) lebt va. von der Kraft und der Manie der Sängerin. 4" Westzeit - Quicksilver Reviews

"Dès l'ouverture avec Moth lorsque ce bourdonnement se mêle au chant presqu'enfantin, nos sens s'éveillent et s'alertent. Love ? Who Gets Love ? ne rate pas son entrée et von STROHEIM va tenir la distance jusqu’aux dernières notes de Blood Institute.

Avec cet ADN poétique, cinématographique et bruitiste, von STROHEIM assure cette filiation entre JUCIFER et ENABLERS." Fred Brichau - Shoot Me Again

CD available here.

Raphaël, Dominique and Yannïck

And a bonus track in video only:

This track was supposed to appear on von Stroheim's debut album Love? Who Gets Love? but they didn't get the rights due to Pete Shelley's untimely death.

Digital release on the 5th of April 2019.

Track listing:

1. Moth

2. For a Beautiful Girl

3. Pulp

4. Spit

5. Cigarette Smoke

6. Wire

7. Red Raw

8. Blood Institute

And on Bandcamp:

OPV014 : Pierre Vervloesem / Artiste Belge

Pic by Pierre Vervloesem 

OPV014 : Pierre Vervloesem / Artiste Belge

52nd album from Pierre Vervloesem ( Flat Eart Society, Orchestra Exotica, X-Legged-Sally…) and his 23rd solo in 28 years!!! (see all his albums on Off here and here!).

Pierre spent 2 months, 7/7 and almost 16/24 editing, mixing, playing a lot of guitars and basses, keys and noises, spices and magic for what he calls ‘ His best ever played and produced ‘ album.

The album is a follow up of his ‘ Not Even Close’ one, only this time he plays a lot of guitars and not only synths.

The results is the album ‘Artiste Belge’ which is a versatile mix of Vervloesemesque guitars, basses, funky keyboards, heavy programmed drums and crazy percussions, experimental avant pop and even re recordings of his first ever solo track ‘Phillip!

Take your time to listen as there are so many little variations in each songs that you’ll need at least ten hearings before enjoying those 13 amazing compositions and the monstrous work in mixing the album! Enjoy!

The album itself has 13 tracks while the digital version comes with 5 extra bonuses!

The racks on the digital version are also slightly different mixes from the cd album.

Lee Henderson in Big Beautiful Noise magazine:

"On Vervloesem's planet, there is always space for growth, new germination of experimental seeds, and permission to invent as one sees fit. THAT HE DOES!  This new solo is packed with all sorts of technical goodies, and a mindset far above the clouds. 13 tracks of anything can happen. The album is all instrumental, as fans might expect, but remember no one can predict until it is released. 

With hermetic mind control, Vervloesem played, recorded, mixed, and mastered this imaginative hurtle of libertine document. All in a selfless act, so his true fans could partake of more brilliance by the one of a kind inventor. If you think I am laying it on heavy, just buy the album and take a listen, but pay close attention, and keep a focus on what is going on at all times. This is music from a sordid think tank of checkered bickering between melody lines, prickly notes across a set of measures, often invading the sanity of the norm (and normal), finally throwing pale hands up in the air with surrender, in the acknowledgement that Mr V. will have his way, no matter what. RECOMMENDED."

enjoy 2 videos, directed and edited by Pierre himself!

Olé Hop!:

Fet:

Physical and digital release on the 29th of March 2019.

Track listing:

1: A Great Composition

2: Olé Hop!

3: Tango Tango

4: Fet

5: Onze à Table

6: Le Mulet

7: Fish Eye

8: Statut de Point Artis

9: Über-Mensch Tango

10: Stravinsky & Hutch

11: Phillip

12: Oui mais…, Non

13: Another Reich

Digital bonuses:

14: Almost Chinese

15: Angor De Prinzmetal

16: Canicule mon cul

17: Removal

18: The Void

CD is a 200 copies limited edition!

Price

World shipping €14,00 EUR

And in Bandcamp:

A new Spotify playlist for you to enjoy: Jazz on Off!

Cover art by Al.

Here it is for you to enjoy this week-end and all the moments you will feel like it!

Some of the best Jazz tunes from the Off catalogue! 28 titles for a bit more than 2 hours of music!
Just click on the player and enjoy!

ODG100 : Ghost Cities / Joyhunter

Cover art by Regina Zhelezniakova

ODG100 : Ghost Cities / Joyhunter


Debut album of Mykola Lebed for his solo-project Ghost Cities. 

Mykola is a part of the no-jazz trio H.Soror (see the exciting ODG064), performs with the Ukrainian Improvisers Orchestra and collaborates with a wide range of bands, making him a well known figure in the local Ukrainian scene.

His debut live album "Joyhunter" is a musical journey through layers of personality, through disorders and polarity of mind. 
Always using his powerful sax playing but this time adding a lot of effects and electronics. This gives us a mix of jazz, noise, drones, kraut and ambient.

"Taking the full improvisation as a language, and public performance as one-way ticket to the depth of myself - I've got this piece of sound that truly represents me. However, it was recorded at the very start of my "delirium" and it took more than a year to understand all the things I was trying to tell through music at that moment."
All music was recorded during a live performance at the Mezzanine Club in Kyiv and was spontaneous improvisations.

Mykola in action!

Mykola Lebed - sax, electronics 
Ing Var - live mixing and effects
Sasha Galianov - mastering 
Dmitriy Kachan - editing

Art by Regina Zhelezniakova

Digital release on the 8th of March 2019.

Track listing:

1: Eyes Open
2: Deeper, Deeper
3: Taming the Beast
4: Shoot the Sun
5: Concrete Heartbeat