★Stroom
Aporia
Sissi Rada's humble manifestations of the miracle of life, the troubles of love, the thoughts that span through a human mind while performing simple tasks, educated by her love and natural inclination to poetry, read like small vignettes, or marginalia notes on a diary that is of constant flux. Recorded, mixed and produced by Sissi alone, in her Athens’ home, using a spartan but powerful instrumentation of harp, a Prophet synthesizer, and first and foremost her intimate and enchanting voice, ‘Ap…
Planet Inc
"Recorded and produced during late night sessions from 2019-2022 while re-watching archive episodes of the German TV show Space Night from the late 90s."
Mons Clepsydra
Scott Monteith comes out from behind his Deadbeat moniker for the first time in 20 years to inaugurate a new project with Italian singer Letizia Trussi under the name Ark Welders Guild. Their first salvo, Mons Clepsydra, is a 1 hour durational ambient piece in four parts. Peaceful and severe, contemplative and grave, the track takes its inspiration from the mountain element and reflects on the relativity of our time - rock and hourglass; it delves into the concept of the sublime, intended in its…
If Paul K.'s Life Was A Movie, This Would Be The Soundtrack Of His Death
Patrick Stas arrived on planet Earth on January 25th, 1954, in Ixelles, Brussels. Here he would spend his early years, until the moment his parents bid their Brussels catering career farewell. By his own admission, music was of no interest to the young Patrick. His parents’ record collection left him cold. Bands like Les Compagnons de la Chanson, much-loved by Patricks parents, got on his nerves. Just one record managed to charm him: a soul record by Sam & Dave. Not coincidentally a record his m…
Fake Sleep
Words as mirrors in a framework of clatter shape the arches to Voice Actor’s pavilion. Surrounded by offerings of flowers, a construction is shown. The unusual compact scale conforms to tiny standards for intimate listening. All is half-height, so the visitor has to enter on hands and knees. From the verandah a crumbling, overgrown statue can be glimpsed, pointing at the pond nearby. The water is framed by a soundfence of endless space nobody can leap, a tree branch repetitively dips into it fro…
Naktės
*2022 stock.* The 3th album by Merope (2018) with arrangements of Lithuanian folk songs and own compositions. A unique trio sound with a blend of acoustic instruments, voice, el. guitar and electronics. Naktes presents a world full of wonder, inspired by the atmosphere of the night. After the release of Merope 'Salos' (STRLP-051 / gran21) we decided to repress Merope's previous album Naktes too. A collaboration with Stroom & granvat.
I.I tired out my feettramping dew's golden ore.I leaned on a w…
The Third Summer of Love
*300 copies limited edition* I turned on the radio and it was tuned to five hundred twenty eight Hz. Love hurts, said the DJ. He was a bit of a dick but I lingered with it. Experts have confirmed that the love frequency can increase cell viability by twenty per cent, he said. Experts have confirmed that it can decrease the toxic effects of ethanol by a percentage that may be unfathomable. To this I raised a glass of ethanol. Five two eight is the key to all mythologies, said the DJ. It’s the rea…
Freundliche Kreisel
"Emerging from Lower Franconia's hidden reverse, Johannes Schebler, known as ambient-poltergeist "Baldruin" and surreal folklorists Christian Schoppik & Katie Rich of "Brannten Schnüre"-fame have puzzled and amazed outernational audiences from the stranger end of the avant/lo-fi spectrum in recent years. The trio is now collectively dreaming as "Freundliche Kreisel", reaching for terra incognita rather than common ground on their most bewildering and accessible outing to date. Arch-pontifices of…
Creak-whoosh (Estonian, Ingrian and Votian song re-imagined in Australia by Olev Muska and Mihkel Tartu) (LP)
This is so singular. "Creak-whoosh" is a brilliantly unusual Aussie re-imagining of Estonian choral music sung by the children of Estonian refugees and juxtaposed with off-world synthesizer drones and chunky '80s beatbox rhythms. Released in 1988, it sounds like Arvo Pärt, Ryuichi Sakamoto/YMO and Visible Cloaks playing concurrently = a complete one-off. We've never heard anything quite like this before. Sydney-based musicians Olev Muska and Mihkel Tartu wanted to find a way to rework Finno-Ugr…
Salos
Haunting Lithuanian folk songs and choral works from Merope, latest lambs to the Stroom flock shepherded by Ziggy Devriendt aka Nosedrip, a big big tip to fans of Kara-Lis Coverdale. Immediately calling to mind strains of the Fonal label circa the mid ‘00s (Islaja, Paavoharju, et al), and likewise lilting, worldly traces of the label’s NSRD/Hardijs Lediņš releases; ’Salos’ is a very non-Sadian suite of pastoralism from the top shelf of Lithuanian music. It’s an effortlessly enchanting listen th…
Passed Beyond
Kevin Eden’s story is a familiar one of an artist whose work sadly didn’t received acclaim in their own time, but scratch a little deeper and it soon becomes apparent that his personalised, overlooked oeuvre braids various, vital strands of punk and ambient history since the late ‘70s. ‘Passed Beyond’ offers a perfect portal into his personalised soundworld, spanning beautifully eerie post-punk as 41 Degrees, thru to his liminal experiments with synths, tape and textured percussion as KS Eden. I…
The Workshop For The Restoration Of Unfelt Feelings
Another peach from the STROOM〰 label, this selection of avant-garde pop by NSRD catches the ace Belgian label looking beyond The Lowlands to one of Latvia’s most important, multi-disciplinary groups of the 1980s, sounding out a style somewhere between the slyvan, drizzly post punk of Vazz and the poetic art-pop of Lena Platonos, but with a chilly Baltic air all of its own. Circling core members Juris Boiko (1954-2002) and Hardijs Lediņš (1955-2004), NSRD or The Workshop for the Restoration of Un…
Funny Bells / Sloopy
* Limited 7" for Christmas 2020 * Stroom presents Funny Bells by Betty Arden and Sloopy by Saskia. Two 7" released together on December 2020 for Xmas celebration.
"Goodmorning. I wish you, a merry merry christmas. As you sit by the fire. I see your sadness on your face. You hear the funny bells inside your head. And I do look into your pretty eyes. So gray. The Funny Bells. You are my friend. Today." - AU
Spoki
**2020 repress** Spoki (Ghosts) is the sound of an artist putting their private world to tape. Of exploring and pushing the limits of themselves and technology to realise the music in their head. As Ingus Baušķenieks himself explains: “My own world differs a little from my friends tastes. And - as my father said - the collective art is not art at all.” Arranged and produced by Ingus Baušķenieks. Female vocals on A2, A3 & B3: Edīte Baušķeniece. All instruments and male vocals: Ingus Baušķenieks.
Towers of Silence
Stroom hold a light to the delicious Belgy dirge “pop” of Adult Fantasies, sifting Nico-meets-Coil and Jonnine-esque gems from their run of late ‘80s/early ‘90s LPs for Antler and Sub Rosa. This label is all nostalgia for shit we never knew existed but which we feel like we’ve known intimately before - same thing we always say - a kind of unheimlich fuckry that's pretty much a genre all of its own by this point. If that’s too vague, give this a listen if you’ve ever found yourself bawling to Mar…
Eigen Boezem
Tucked away in the Dutch underground of the early 80’s a young Hessel Veldman created his own music world in the small industrial sea town of IJmuiden. It was a world recorded on tapes and reels. A world where things happened according to personal logic based on sonic exploration, electronic sounds and improvisation. The approach was intimate, at times light-hearted, but often following deep inner contemplation and total immersion in the creative process. Above all, music was made according to t…
Manes
"There is an endless abundance of variations that the clarinet can use in changing the colour of a single note. As a privileged listener - and - experiencer, Ben Bertrand through his favourite instrument shared the musical blueprints with me, which resulted in this album. His music has become a vivid part of my almost daily thoughts - allowing what I hear to clash and sing with the patterns and rhythms already established in my mind. A voluntary trip, an absorbing experience in our Brussels vibr…
19 Years Before the Beginning
**600 copies** “Sometimes our own creations surprised us,” says Inguna Rubene, flute player, guitarist, bassoonist and songwriter for 19 Gadi Pirms Sākuma (19 Years Before the Beginning). Created with the idea of lasting for a single performance, 19 Gadi Pirms Sākuma developed into one of the most delicate, intriguing groups in Latvia’s 1980s and early 1990s music scene. Formed in 1988, the band arrived at a time when the Soviet Union was showing the first signs of unravelling. Latvia remained a…
KSUN Encounter
**300 copies** As far as we can knowl, TRjj stems from TRIIMusik, “a loose group based in Germany since 1998”. It is practiced collectively with interchanging names and roles, so the full control about disguised authorship would be guaranteed. Everyone involved was set to meet half way. TRjj is a filter for the kinship of many. It's the freedom attained, once you have gotten rid of yourself. This heteronomic practice would be ideal to advocate against reasons which are claimed, biographies that …
Verboden Dromen
Shakti , a three-man formation around “Praga Khan”. With this first mini-lp Praga once more proves his capability to drill into new rhythmic territories. Demonic Forces is a dance record. Western discotheque rhythmics mixed with Eastern influences. A unique creation that certainly can be called astonishing. The use of original Eastern instruments gives the whole an extra mystik dimension. With the help of some friends amongst whom a.o. Naburak Pran, Shakti succeeds in attaining an unparalleled a…