*2023 stock* "Stefan Römer performs quotations from cultural or musical theoreticians commenting on performances by two iconic musicians, Syd Barrett and Conrad Schnitzler. The quote functions as an instruction for the sound performance. Stefan Römer explicitly attempts to reach a similar psychedelic state of mind to that of the referenced artists, using an LSD substitute. The performative staging of textual citation, instrumentation comparable to the historical events, musical performance, and …
One step back on the timeline of half German, half American postmodern punks Teenage Panzerkorps. A collection of released, unreleased and compilation tracks recorded between 2003 and 2006, including some songs featured on the long out-of-print Nations Are Insane CD-R. Der TPK recall the kraut-rock of Can and Neu! with a cuttin-edge lo-fi allure influenced by Savage Republic and The Ex. The result is an exclusive blend of obscure sounds and confused German vocals buried under layers of guitars, …
Another chapter of the drone odissey by our Danish favorites releasing two side-long tracks of black magic. Side A was previuosly released on a limited tour-tape by their own label Into the Lunar Light and sounds like the musical score of a horror film sang by a gathering of hungy wolves in a windy cave. On side B the drone assoult ceases and is replaced by reverbing guitars, obsessive synth melodies and echoed vocals building a psychedelic atmosphere. Released in occasion of their Italian…
Swedish singer and composer Elin Piel returns to Mystery Circles after making a debut appearance on the Las Vegas-based ambient label back in 2020. Piel's sound deals in microscopic layers of textural detail slowly shifting around delicately embellished melodies - 'Tunnlar' is a perfect opening statement in this sense as glassy synth phrases pass through prismatic DSP and faint flickering interference skips around in the background.
Not that droney as often but circular, grainy, dreamy melodious doodles from Scotland's finest Fraser Burnett…. Might ring in your head just like a summer hit!
Nairobi-born Berlin-based sound artist Joseph Kamaru, aka KMRU, shares his new work Stupor on the new Helsinki-based label Other Power. Commissioned by the Helsinki curatorial and commissioning agency Publics, Stupor is comprised of three original long form tracks. The tracks on the album are speculative notes to social architectures and environments the artist has traversed.“A musical alchemist, KMRU places his listeners’ ear into a sonic-spatial matrix in which he transmutes his trans-local ex…
Islaja presents her new album ”Angel Tape”, the first release on the new Helsinki-based label Other Power. Drawing inspiration from childhood epiphanies while listening to an alleged recording of angels singing, Islaja has crafted an album that stands out as a major work in her expansive and celebrated catalogue, which includes previous releases on labels such as Ecstatic Peace!, Fonal and Svart. Islaja, aka Finnish artist Merja Kokkonen, describes her new album as a “counterwork” to her most re…
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…
*Limited edition of 200 copies.* A new work for the 'Like the Snow' project by Luca Mazzariol, a remarkable Italian artist who in three years has put out as many CDs of excellent music of difficult stylistic cataloguing, among whose textures - always strongly evocative and of great emotional impact - alternate dreamy and romantic atmospheres, passages with an epic and almost 'orchestral' pace, eclectic rhythmic digressions sometimes coloured by more distinctly electronic sounds, delicate ambient…
Aurinkovuosi brings together five cassette singles made by J. K., which were originally released in small editions (10 copies each) by Vuosi label during 2018–2022. These ten season-inspired minimal "audio vignettes" combine various electroacoustic sounds and techniques with field recordings. They are also experiments on short-form drone piece composing. The duration of the compositions were determined by the cassettes found at the flea markets on which the original recordings were released.
In …
CD edition Recorded during the heights of the pandemic and completed in February 2021, the majestic 8-track ethereal/botanical soundscape created by Kokubo and Esperti is available as a limited edition double LP, a digipack CD, as well as in digital format.
Takashi Kokubo, environmental music figure, celebrated sound designer, and founder of Studio Ion, has released over 20 albums, including the genre-defining and highly sought-after Ion Series. He's also played a major role in the sonic identi…
"The work of Amby Downs, aka Murri/European artist Tahlia Palmer, occupies an intensely personal and unique space in the Australian music landscape. It is a project that speaks as much to trauma, as it does to aspiration or hope. It is work that recognises the complexities of intergenerational exchange; emotionally, socially, politically and culturally. For the past half decade, Tahlia has been seeking to trace unspoken, and in some cases deeply fragmented histories, and thread a linage that is …
**Limited Edition of 199 copies.** Akifumi Nakajima was probably best known for his work under the name Aube, which was one of the more prolific and most interesting noise acts from Japan. He had an impeccable and marvelous sense of design and appreciation for the materials, taking packaging beyond just using regular old paper with his wonderful and unique label G.R.O.S.S., dedicated to releasing experimental music and noise, in addition to his own recordings as Aube. Hiroshi Hasegawa formed the…
False Walls releases a solo album from Glasgow-born and London-based guitarist Kevin Daniel Cahill. Consisting of two long tracks, the album traces a steady progression as it moves through different environments — initially ambient and isolationist in tone, the work ultimately reaches a form of transcendence. Rooted in Kevin’s guitar-playing, though not immediately identifiable as such due to the deployment of tape loops and effects, the album foregrounds feeling and atmosphere, and its duration…
Dàa Lünte is Daniele Virgilio's first solo album, a single composition dedicated to his father, Fabio (La Spezia, 1922-1990), an architect and ceramic sculptor of great artistic sensitivity, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of his birth. "Da lontano" (this, in the La Spezia vernacular, is the meaning of the title, extrapolated precisely from a poem written by his father in 1983) is a long, intense, evocative track of about half an hour, in which the various paths of Daniele Virgilio's so…
Further explorations into the dark past by Tholos Gateway. After the their first Aegean trip documented in their debut album, the trio formed by Colin Marston, Àlex Reviriego and Vasco Trilla returns with the second volume of the Tholos Gateway saga. The dark and ominous atmosphere of the previous album is still here, soaking the ritualistic bells, savage bass drones and dreamy synths in a mysterious fog.This time they count with the collaboration of Yoshiko Ohara (Bloody Panda) and Mick Barr (K…
Tip! *200 copies lmited edition* Tom James Scott holds a unique position in experimental music. With a soft brush approach Scott, who currently lives on the North-West coast of England, has explored delicacy in music with a variety of sublime releases on a variety of labels. Predominantly known for gentle investigations of guitar and piano, Scott has shifted to incorporating different technology and tactics over time. All of this, either in performance or recording, is embedded with a spirit tha…
Tip! *200 copies limited edition* Debut full length release from the UK/Italian duo of Ecka Mordecai and Valerio Tricoli, working together as Mordecoli. Individually these two travellers have carved out a path of ghostly musique concrete (Tricoli) and textural cello wandering (Mordecai). Alter is proud to present the album Château Mordécoly, a result of two musicians (and friends) coming together to explore the middle ground of their individual investigations. The results of a red wine induced r…
*2023 stock* 15/15 was commissioned for the 32-speaker system Soundpiece, which is installed under the floor of the square. With the sound source being invisible for the listener, playing music on this system has something quite magical, as if the sounds are just floating in the air. Instead of ignoring or (to the contrary) overpowering the existing sounds, I decided to make it more like a dialogue. I wanted to keep space in the music, and to have the environment play a part in it. The sounds I’…
*Limited edition of 100 copies.* “Vowel” was recorded live by Jeton Hoxha at Braka Miladinov culture center of Struga, Macedonia, in June 2018. Previously published as only digital release on Eighth Tower Records, it was remastered and it's now available on cd. This recording is now part of the ZeroK black programs facility.
Mega tip! * Limited edition of 80 handnumbered copies * Nestled within this finely-crafted wooden box lies a collection of four vinyl records:
- Raison d'être - Apres Nous Le Deluge LP: As you gently slide the lid of the box, you'll uncover the enigmatic world of Raison d'être;
- Megaptera - Near Death LP: The second vinyl reveals the haunting compositions of Megaptera;
- Morthond - Death Time LP: The third vinyl invites you to explore the realm of Morthond's soundscapes;
- Crematorius LP: The …
*125 copies limited edition* Recording of Pavel Milyakov’s live performance for the closing night of Cyprien Gaillard’s Dumpty exhibition at Lafayette Anticipations in Paris on January 8th 2023. The automaton sculpture, Le Défenseur du Temps was being activated live during the performance. Its mechanical movements can be heard on the recording. All profits go to Livyj Bereh — volunteer group based in Kyїv and working in regions affected by the war.
*300 copies limited release* A fortunate and successful meeting “between the romantic and the analytical, the sentimental and the Pragmatic”. This double soul lives inside the ambient-electronics contained in ‘Rote Um’, the debut album by the artistic partnership between TeZ (Maurizio Martinucci, member of Clock DVA since 2010) and Saverio Rosi (aka ‘Leastupperbound’ and member of the band ‘Open to the Sea’ with Enrico Coniglio and Matteo UIggeri). Both Italian composers based in Amsterdam, TeZ …
Platform 23 again explores to the dense voids, this time with a touch of the funk, with a reissue of Dutch experimentalists De Fabriek and two tracks from their "Music For" cassette series, this time calling all Hippies. Featuring both original and reinterpretations from modern-day heads, Dunkeltier and Khidja, this double-pack is something of an oddity, showcasing the bands' expansive range, moving away from the noise, drone and industrial soundscape releases they had become known for and craft…
*200 copies limited release* Imposter Syndrome is the new album on Artificial Owl Recordings from Michigan based musician and artist, Orbital Patterns (Abdul Allum). The third installment on our record label is a magnificent sound journey, full of emotions, created by a modular synth workflow that describes Abdul’s signature sound and vision. "A psychological phenomenon where a person doubts their own abilities, internalizing a deep fear of being revealed as fraudulent"
As an artist, one of the …
*300 copies limited release* "After being featured on BBC 6 Radio and the Ambient Focus show, Artificial Owl Recordings is excited to announce the 4th release and the return of One Of Them ( Niko Dalagelis ) and his new work Excogitation. Two extended ethereal and atmospheric ambient works created in the winter of 2023 aiming to provoke thought and spark imagination by exploring various sonic textures and tonalities. The use of a randomized sequence triggering a SH-01A and a Digitone are the mai…
Loose Trax presents Roots of Empathy, the debut album from London-based artist Henry Cyer. Roots of Empathy is a collection of songs written between 2019 and 2022 about fear. Conceived as an act of purging, the album explores empathy and fear through the perspective of different people. Roots of Empathy manifests itself as an album of songs, a collection of photographs and a series of videos.
Tip! * clear vinyl version * "Nothing is fixed, nothing is permanent, nothing holds for anyone, any time or anything.
As stable as we might choose to think it is, this planet is anything but that. A paper thin crust, the zone in which we find ourselves, and mostly concern ourselves with, exists as a modest veil cloaking a dynamic seismic turbulence that is as powerful as it is unknowable.
There are moments though where ruptures occur. The pressure from within carves its way to, and through, the …
*150 copies limited edition* For their first collaboration as a duo, rather than succumb to the devastating fury that is the hallmark of so-called 'noise' music, Michael Morley (electric guitar) and Michel Henritzi (lapsteel) have opted for the open sea, and the interior landscapes with the ghostly strangeness that is usually associated with them. The emergence of embryonic melodies under their fingers never frightens them. On the contrary, it allows them to delve deeply into the contemplative a…
*300 copies limited edition* edition Have you ever looked up into the sky at night, and it seemed that you could see beyond the stars? How many times have you looked up, but how few do you actually remember? I remember two times:
The sky seemed to roll, the stars flickering in the humidity of the late-August evening. It makes your throat feel dry and your body strained. Staring up, “We can’t see stars like this at home”, we said to each other. Lying on the concrete slab behind the garage, and at…
*200 copies limited edition* It dawns slowly here in Appalachia, summer's persistent pulse, that seething solidity of buzzing insects, flowers bursting into wilt, animals waking and returning in preparation to leave and sleep again. It's the peak and the decline, the sun's summit and sinking, the heat blast of day and the cool pall of night. There never seems to be quite enough time. Summer begs us to hold onto it, to be asked to stay, even in its heat and the incessant light, to allow it to con…
Zach Rowden's new album, titled "No Middle Without The Beginning", radiates the current musical concrete. Two pieces, each spanning a single side of the LP. Distinct & comprehensive as a whole. Letting Such Evil Occur samples and resamples acoustic instrumentation with minimal effects, allowing the artifacts of the source to seep into the composition. Grainy and slowly groaning along. A singular loop respirating upon each hit, holding itself to its core, living all its own. It's The Light That M…
Javier Hernando's musical journey began in 1979 with his first band, Xeerox. In 1981, he embarked on his first fully electronic project, Melodinamika Sensor, which continued until 1985. During that year, three tracks by M.S. were featured on a compilation LP titled Grupos de Barcelona, released by Discos Esplendor Geométrico. This compilation showcased four bands from the thriving Barcelona underground scene. From 1985 to the early nineties, Hernando co-directed the cassette label Ortega y Casse…
A much more ominous creature than they, or you, ever expected, Westholm and Hielm had no option but to let Claim have its way with both of them. Now it’s coming for you.
*43 copies limited edition* Virus2020 ( فيروس ٢٠٢٠ ) creates soundscapes that transcend divisions, where you can’t identify a specific culture, where boundaries dissolve. His approach combines elements of both tradition and modernity, blending acoustic and electronic textures seamlessly and incorporating, alongside a range of analogue and digital machines, handcrafted wind instruments inspired by North African rituals. Virus2020 is the solo project of Rami Harrabi, a Tunisian artist born in 1989…
Donato Dozzy and Stefano Di Trapani plumb the kosmische void on 'The Black Sphere', an hour long session using turntables, electronics and brainwave generators for a deep dive into psychedelic, Cluster-inspired drone workouts and tripped-out Techno ballistics.
Massimo Pupillo is a composer and multi-instrumentalist, mostly known for being a founding members of Zu, with whom he released 18 albums and played more than 2000 shows around the world.He has also kept a very open and multidisciplinary approach that led him to work with some of the most acclaimed figures in today's world of arts: Romeo Castellucci, Chiara Guidi (of legendary avantgarde theatre group Societas Raffaello Sanzio), american choreographer Meg Stuart, french opera star Marie-Agnes Gi…
200 copies. September 2022 I had a short tour in the UK with a couple of performances. One of them was at the beautiful venue Cube Cinema in Bristol during the Echoic Memory evening with Scanner. For this performance, I composed a new work, in which I further explore the perception of time. It follows much in the line of my previous works Embraced Imperfections and Less Is More. Not only because of the live performance, but also in atmosphere and mood. Yet, at the same time is even more dreamy, …