The woman lying down sensually, dreamily, studiously too, on the cover of Slow is the perfect representation of Gintas K's music: research-basedmusic that can also seduce, music that allows your mind to focus and then wander away, to be attentive to the techniques being used and then drift off in the wake of melodic fragments. Gintas K(born Gintas Kraptavicius) comes from Lithuania's experimental music scene. He started in 1994 as a core member of the country's first industrial music group, Modus, before entering the world of sound art. Since then, he has created a large number of sound installations, live performances, and film music. He has released several albums, mostly on the Crónica label, but also on Retina Scan, Percepts, and skyndo. Slowis his first album for Baskaru.
On Slow,Gintas Kfocuses on microsounds, on deconstructing delicate sound sources, and on juxtaposing microgranulated textures and melodic elements. Eleven short pieces through which the artist pushes his techniques further while unveiling a seldom-heard melancholic side of his personality (a trait that puts this new album close to his 2009 Crónica release Lovely Banalities).
Slow is being released by the French independent label Baskaru. Baskaru publishes only a few carefully-selected releases each year. Its previous productions (including albums by Maurizio Bianchi, Mathias Delplanque, Francisco López, Yochio Machida,Emmanuel Mieville, Parallel41,Ethan Rose,and Frank Rothkamm) have already established high artistic and visual standards.
This fantastic musical journey, written by French composer David Fenech back in the year 2000, is entirely produced on 4-track cassette. Its title refers to the French word for "roller coaster" and "looping", as well as to the symbol of infinity. "Grand Huit" ("Big Eight") is a rare example of "cinema pour l'oreille" made of songs. The music already bears the strong handwriting of its creator: a unique mix of field recordings, outlandish singing (mostly in fantasy language) and expressive musical sketches. Bearing in mind the year of its origin, "Grand Huit" could also be seen as a soundtrack to another "carnival of souls", marking the
uncanny transition from the 20st to the 21st century while leaving all the old ghosts behind. Lonely souls and memories waving good-bye.
David Fenech's early work permanently alternates between rawness and tenderness. It offers a great cosmos of sounds ranging from downgraded samples, detuned organs and off-beat rhythms to environmental noises, toy piano, hurdy-gurdy, sine tones and Chinese theatre bells. The overall melancholic and narrative vibe of the music lets your mind drift away easily, so don't put milk on your oven while listening.
Gagarin Records is happy to present a re-mastered and slightely edited version of this masterwork for the first time on vinyl. The LP comes with a beautiful full colour poster and cover art by New York based visual artist Martha Colburn.
Biography:
David Fenech is a French musician living in Paris. Guitarist, singer and improvisor, he has played and recorded with musicians such as Jad Fair, Tom Cora, Shugo Tokumaru, Ergo Phizmiz, Andrea Parkins, Gino Robair, Ramona Cordova, Felix Kubin and many others. More recently, he released his second solo album ("Polochon Battle", on the inPolysons label, 2007), worked at IRCAM and INA GRM, recorded for theater and cinema, built small robots. He also recorded a live album with guests such as Rhys Chatham, Bérangère Maximin, Claude Parle, Sébastien Roux, Dominique Grimaud and an acclaimed trio with Jac Berrocal and Ghédalia Tazartès ("Superdisque", on Sub Rosa, 2011). He's currently touring with Jac Berrocal and Vincent Epplay and is recording his third solo album (a long instrumental piece).
ALEX GAMEZ is graduated with a degree in Optics and Optometry from UPC University. He has been involved with music as a dj, sound artist, sound designer and producer since 1995, and currently works under the moniker Asférico. Asférico is a proposal that emerges from an artist needing to create and experiment without loosing the groove.
In January of 2006, he founded Störung, focused on electronic and experimental music and visual arts. He is in charge of this project whose aim, in short, is to promote and support a variety of creative tendencies of the electronic music field, providing live performances, radio programs, and releases, to enable the audience to hear and enjoy these musical and artistic tendencies. After starting to collaborate with Kim Cascone in 2008, he became involved with Hydrophonia in 2010 as producer, and operates the Barcelona office. He is also the label manager of the Störung sub-label FlatMate Music.
About Sonidos del Subconsciente I
Asférico presents the first part of "Sonidos del Subconsciente" (Sounds of the Subconscious). A series of pieces based on the combination of massive manipulations of field recordings, captured around the world since 2007, and analog synthesizer sounds designed specifically for this project. "Sonidos del Subconsciente" is an imaginary soundtrack of a timeless, deep, dark, blurred and noisy world with millions of files and unknown connections and processes constantly running.
Ryuichi Sakamoto's comment on All is Silence: "Love his new album. I especially like the 'Lucent,' but all tracks are amazing. The part which played with the sound of water was also interesting. Such a slight surprise is nice."
Ametsub's previous album The Nothings of the North gets a big evaluation from wide listeners of the world. It was chosen as "the best disk in this year" of Ryuichi Sakamoto and built a firm unique position in the current scene. Ametsub which is active based in Tokyo.
He played a gig at Sonarsound Tokyo, M!RA Festival (Barcelona), FUJI ROCK Festival'12, ANY KEY MUSIC Festival(Ukraine), sense of wonder festival, summer sonic festival and many biggest good festival so far. He played a live at L.E.V. Festival in Spain with Apparat, Johann Johannson, Lorn, John Hopkins, Sbtrkt and others, it was called the best act live by a review magazine later and he left a large trace. Under activity across such borders, this album for the first time in three years is packed focusing on the musical piece played in his live, and an overpoweringly attractive stretch of his world exists compared with past work. A succession of feeling of floating drifting melodies that seems to remind an endless trip is finished in the strong sound-scape like a drawn spectacular nature, the solemn horizon, the silence of the evening, fluttering reminiscence in the old tape, magnificence red landscape like an album artwork. We can feel a gloom warmth in sense of isolation. He passes various music-style creatively, this album has a many melancholy melodies that are changed faintly by old tape-recorder. The field recordings around the world. Also a new flavor with the prepaid piano sounds are knit.
By the beat process closely and bold tone echoes sound, The one musicality that can be called the New field is beginning. All 12 tracks that an infinite view of the world of Ametsub which evolved steadily was expressed in to the next field without being stopped on one place. His enormous individuality and wide strong soundscape widen a fan all over the world In Japan, this album also got huge big reputation. In spite of a Japanese, it was ranked along with Sigur Ros, My Bloody Valentine, Norah Jones, Scissor Sisters and good name artists outside Japan. And while still a phenomenal and exceptional record sales.
Low Vertical, a Bruges/Ghent region 3 piece released their debutalbum “I saw a landscape once” early 2010 and got very good reactions at Belgian press and radio, calling them one of the new bands to keep an eye on…
So here is their second album “We are Giants”, recorded again by Wouter Vlaeminck (tomàn member and producer of Raketkanon, Renee, Kapitan Korsakov) at the GAM studios.
The Radiohead influenced indie guitar style and sound with already some original keyboard and electronica influences has progressed to a more electronic sound with the guitar filling in or creating extra vibe and climax (“Epic Slaughter”).
The band started working live as well with a drummer (Lode Vlaeminck from tomàn fame) who became a full member whilst writing and recording the new album, so some energetic livedrums can be heard fighting a battle with the crispy electronic rhythms (“Sensei”).
