Tag: experimental

DECAYCAST Premieres : Mathieu St-Pierre ” These Elephants”

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DECAYCAST Premieres : Mathieu St-Pierre ” These Elephants”

Slow, bubbling, long-form settle yet creatively present aural shifts of ambient swells from Canadian visual and  audio artist Mathieu St-Pierre.Lush, warm  tones  slowly pulsate to give the listener an soft  and gentle tone poem, displacing place, space, and  sonic orientation. St-Pierre paints lush  portraits of barren Canadian landscapes losing the listener over and over and over into a foggy, shimmeringly vibrant yet thick sonic haze. Chirping arpeggios give breath to layers of buried, shimmering, textured  sound  explorations. Phase out and take a deep listen. Also don’s sleep on their  extensive array of expended glitch art here : http://www.mathieustpierre.com

“Mathieu St-Pierre is a Canadian experimental visual artist, specialized in the fields of video art and photography and more specifically in glitch art. His passion for experimentation within a multitude of video manipulations stemmed from a lifelong passion of cinema. Since, he has refined his passion for visual art to focus on the creative medium of digital glitches, generative art and net art”

‘This is the first album by visual artist Mathieu St-Pierre. In this musical venture he explores the relationship of ambient sounds with the medium of the internet. More specifically by incorporating Google Maps’ Street View to his musical vision and therefore creating a new interactive experience.’

DECAYCAST REVIEWS Petridisch – “A Fixed Point” CD/Cassette (I Heart Noise, 2017)

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DECAYCAST REVIEWS Petridisch – A Fixed Point” CD/Cassette (I Heart Noise, 2017)

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Petridisch”A Fixed Point” CD/Cassette are already sold out in physical form (both CD and  cassette) but you can get a free download over there at the  I Heart Noise Bandcamp Page , which is a label and multimedia platform hosting a rather active blog of the same name. Petridisch’s  vocal and  percussion forward offerings of multi-layered, slow  ambient sonic explosions and chants of densely layered synths, build a wide variety of complex timbral experiments and densely articulated specimens. On “A Fixed Point”, Petridisch begins with slow shimmering waves of  ambient, buzzing waves, decaying, cavernous claps  and slowly and  steadily builds  layers of washed over plumes of texture and memory while structures of rhythm and  percussion begin to take form. Synthesizers slowly and  craftily edge  their way in with soft, present  swells,  mid  tempo arpeggiated sines, and layers of  ambient noise sustaining bright,  shimmering, articulate sonic  events.

The voice is an important part of this record and it adds a beautiful cloak around the various  track elements and really does gel all of the different  elements together as a compositional superglue.  Four short, ambient explorations pull equally from The Cocteau Twins, Boards Of  Canada, early Eno and  so much more, and so much less in the best way  possible, as Petridisch truly has cast their own unique sound into the  ethos of the word of endless sonic discovery and invention.  For fans of ambient, drone, early Tangerine Dream,  Terry Riley, and early synthesizer music, Petridisch packs a huge arsenal of sonic weapons in a  release that  is barely twelve minutes long, Highly recommended.

 

Petridisch

DECAYCAST Reviews: Reverent – “Live Exorcism 2017” (American Damage, 2017)

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DECAYCAST Reviews: Reverent – “Live Exorcism 2017” (American Damage, 2017)

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Reverent is the  Chicago based project of  Jordan Reyes and, for the  duration at  least of this release,  focuses on strictly voice- based industrial / loop based  rhythmic works.  The sound of Reverent oscillates between traditional primitively rhythmic based  industrial, drone, and ritual music / chanting and experimental noise. This specific release is titled “Live Exorcism 2017”, and functions both sonically and conceptually very much in that realm. In one section the listener is being led on a more pronounced almost spoken word / beat section of the performance and then things begin to shift to a slower, more abstracted version of a similar piece. Reverent never stays in one lane too often throughout the piece, always  keeping the  dynamics and composition shifting in an interesting and unique way. Technically speaking, a rather full vocal range gives the artist the ability to construct full sounding works from just the voice, I’ve heard other vocal based acts which can come off as gimmicky or contrived in a way but Reverent is absolutely not that at all. Every bar, ever loop, every breath seems intentional and  carefully places, there’s never really a slip  up, we as the listener are presented with a polished, dense, articulate set of vocal explorations, which are no short of  songs unto themselves, but also they exist a much more; an exorcism, a nervous, manic cleansing of the performer.

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Reverent is truly a unique project, sound and concept wise, as I cannot really compare it to anything else. Stylistically, it could exist in similar realms of drone / percussion pioneer Z’EV, NURSE  WITH WOUND, COIL, but could also operate in a  more contemporary  undiscovered space/zone as well,  blending dense layers of  vocal processing to an almost fever-dream style of symphonic production. The sound of Reverent is nervous, trance-like and for  lack of a better tern, darkly triumphant. Reyes really does craft all of the parts of a traditional “song” with just the human voice, bass lines, poly-rhyhms, leads, and more  traditional vocal layers; an entire band is born from the esophagus;  come alive. Even if you are dead,  you will be reanimated by the  ritualistic chanting drones and  oscillations of Reverent.

 

Reverent is about to  embark on a short  tour and here is the information below. Make sure to catch one of these live rituals if possible; if so much  can be gained from just a live mic  recording of these works, imagine what they must present like in the flesh and in the ear; NOT TO BE MISSED.

 

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DECAYCAST: MATMOS INTERVIEW (Nerfbau Interviews Matmos, remastered)

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DECATCAST_MATMOS

This interview was conducted as the first official interview by Decaycast aka NERFBAU jsun Adrian McCarty and Michael Daddona interview experimental music underground stalworts M.C. Schmidt and Drew Daniels of Matmos, in their then SF Mission District Studio/apartment.

We did this a long time ago, but i think many of the questions and content holds up really well and also it’s nice to hear Jsun’s voice as a distant snarky beckoning to the past and future Matmos was a rather big influence and Jsun and my early work as Nerfbau and later as Styrofoam Sanchxz and Coral Remains and were without a doubt monumental in the formation of Ratskin so I thought it would be nice and fitting to re present this. We stayed up all night the night before, myself on speed and dope and Jsun chain smoking cigarettes to prepare for this, arguing over
questions, prepping cassette decks withpre recorded hidden questions on time travel and the sound of dreams, we ended up hiding several cassette recorders throughout Martin and Drew’s studio oinged with questions which interrupted the normal interview. In our early morning franticness and nervousness (we approached the interview more like a performance / collaboration than a traditional interview ) we even managed to spill coffee into a tape machine which housed some really important master audio tapes containing interviews with Drew’s mother before she had passed We told that story for years, how if it was our studio and some high kids came in to interview us and nearly ruined a priceless historical document we would’ve kicked them out and dragged to no end, but they didn’t do that, we were welcomed, as peers, collaborators and family. One of the most fun interviews I’ve ever done. Enjoy.
-MD for Nerfbau, 2018

follow matmos at :
http://vague-terrain.com/

Decaycast Reviews: MARLO EGGPLANT “head​/​rush​(​ed)” (Vaux Flores, 2018)

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Decaycast Reviews: MARLO EGGPLANT “head​/​rush​(​ed)” (Vaux Flores, 2018)

by Dr. Decaycast

 

Momentus sound artist, label head of  Corpus Callosum Distro, longtime noise queen, and curator and  founder of the  legendary Ladyz In Noyz compilation series,  UK based  Marlo Eggplant offers her  newest work via Travis Johns VAUX FLORES imprint (who also happen to make some  fantastic pedals and homemade  electronic instruments). Eggplant’s newest offering, titled  “head​/​rush​(​ed)”  enacts a wide array of  sonic offerings through short but powerful tracks.

From minimalistic, low keyed crawlings of static plumes, plucks  and voice breaths, such as highlighted  in tracks such as  “one1one“,to  spacious, prickly, washed out hills of dark reverb swells of  distorted, orchestral style string drones to  harsher, more rhythmic and  industrial leaning works such as my personal favorite on this release, “Premeditated”; Eggplant covers a wide but cohesive range of  experimental styles.

The album’s standout, “Premeditated” blends  droning sawtooth synthesizers,  high frequency, high tension noise walls of static fuzz, and  screaching, crawling voice  stabs spike out  from out of the darkness of confusion.  This track could easily hold a torch to early Kevin Drumm, Chelsea Wolfe, or even Diamanda Galas without even a  sonic flinch of  disorientation, but offers yet again so much more for contemplation through it’s own aural and compositional strategies.  Nothing on “head​/​rush​(​ed)” come off as flat or static works however, they are short intentioned sonic offerings of  sacrifice of self, weight, brevity, and sonic deconstruction. Eggplant has never  strayed too far away from the  harsh side of noise, however these pieces, while harsh, hold a cinematic and even musical  character to them without  losing a single percentage of intensity, and abstraction; a line that is  rarely toted this  successfully  by any contemporary artist, and this album is no exception. Eggplant has clearly mastered the high tension model of  dynamic composition and uses this to her favor  with no end in sight. These tracks could easily be scenes to a yet imagined film and yet hold so much narrative within themselves that the listener is almost forced to imaging the physical and etherial  spaces that Eggplant sonically articulates throughout “head​/​rush​(​ed)”.  The record crescendos with an equally intense, albeit more musically and slightly less noisy and possibly deeper and more personal offering titled “onmyown ” which features a vocal and  chord forward morose and sad ballad in the vein of Tara Cross or an early more subdued Daniel Johnson,  which focuses on the erasure and heartbreak of  not being seen. A beautiful and humble ending to a strong, sharp and intentional offering from Eggplant, always honest, present and esoteric, Eggplant remains one of the most  interesting and unique unsung  heroes of contemporary noise.

 

 

DECAYCAST Reviews: Katatonic Silentio / Tremco / Neurosplit / Oromë (Biodiversità Records, 2018)

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DECAYCAST Reviews: Katatonic Silentio / Tremco / Neurosplit / Oromë (Biodiversità Records, 2018)

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This collaboration shifts  honestly between many many different  sonic spaces; in the least contrived blending of  beat oriented synthesis and, well plants.  Riffing off a  theme of the releasing label, Biodiversità Records, Katatonic Silentio / Tremco / Neurosplit / Oromë create a dense, special world of  sonic possibilities in a structurally rhythmic call and response ping pong of tense, delicate, and complicated sonic events.  Oscillating between dissonant beat oriented electronic music which the  artists admit could be  considered “techno” but the  four to the floor mindless speed comedown hooks are  left  by the wayside for a more atonal, arrhythmic, deconstruction of traditional “techno”, “dubstep” or whatever step” you take away from these quaint but pungent sonic exercises.  “Pteris Variata” unduates  between slower, cold, tense pulsing rhythms, occasionally backed by more straightforward  percussive  voices, however the  ambient  swells and  tense array of  noises never  allows this to become too much of  a  unique sound; the tracks and  sections move  swiftly and  articulate their space and move on, nothing forces the listener into a corner relentlessly, rather  creates a dark and interesting space for the listener to crawl into if they choose and explore a lush, dark, cinematic sound.

Background  swells of anciently articulated sawtooth waves  swell and wobble under a filter noose and offer an ambience which the percussion rhythms can dance around without dominating the mix.  Overall the  vibe is minimalist, tense, cinematic, ambient. Clickity, tapping, bass drums drive the  rhythm exercises through a  full workout of  sonic possibilities ending with perhaps the  EP’s strongest track, ” Oromë – Athyrium cantem” which speaks to  early Phaedra era Tangerine Dream, Wendy Carlos and  even references current producers such as Cloudland Canyon or Peaking Lights.

Will be  digging more through this  Italian based label’s catalog and seeing what other dark, pulsing treats we can find hiding in the brush.

DECAYCAST #034 “FARM TO TAPE 03 MIX” by Diego Aguilar-Canabatd

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AmdallakokkswalaDECAYCAST #034 “FARM TO TAPE 03 MIX” by Diego Aguilar-Canabal

a little bit of everything

1. Tyler Holmes – I Can’t Forget 2 (excerpt)

2. Fred Bigot – Stereo

3. Jeich Ould Badu & Ahmedou Ahmed Lewla – El Wehcha

4. Hailu Mergia – Lala Belu

5. Ondatropica – Cumbia Bucanero

6. Tower of Power – Knock Yourself Out

7. rRHEXIS – Daily Dabs Acid Jam

8. Jarboe & Father Murphy – Truth or Consequences

9. Je Suis Le Petit Chevalier – Call It A Castle

10. Abdel Aziz El Mubarak – Ya A’Asal

DECAYCAST #040-1: ARVO ZYLO “An Itch for Nature” Mix

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DECAYCAST040
MIX BY ARVO ZYLO

crimson steele

DECAYCAST #040-1: ARVO ZYLO “An Itch for Nature” mix

Peggy Lee – Sea Fever (for Edgar)

Michel Delpech – Pour Un Flirt
Takeshi Terauchi & The Bunnys – Sado Okake
“Klua Duang” sung by Phloen Phromdaen
The Beachles – Don’t Talk (Get Better)
Le Forte Four – Aye Mama (I’m Amok)/ Meanwhile Back at the Tulip Boat, Stinky
Walls of Genius – Porcelain God
Foetus (Live in Chicago ’96, Thanks to *KP) – Goin’ Blind (KISS)
Dave Phillips (field recording) – Muay Drums
Regosphere – Nature Knows
Skinny Puppy – Nature’s Revenge
Jandek – Can I See Your Clock
Edward Ka-Spel – Where The Highways Form A Spiral
Sergey Khismatov – Symphony for Industrial Horns (excerpt)
Fhtagn – Live 1-21-18 (excerpt)
Rudi Schneider – Trance Breathing (1933)
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“Arvo Zylo is a recording artist and radio person who has been active since 2000. He spent 7 years with “The Delirious Insomniac Freeform Radio Show” on WLUW (also syndicated on KLFM in Split, Croatia), as well as well over 100 appearances on WZRD since 2005, and dozens of live DJ appearances in various contexts. He also spent 4 years co-hosting a soul/funk radio show called “Two Slaps Radio”. For several years, he booked weekly experimental showcases and wild parties, often in decrepit old buildings. He has written on various aspects of sound art and noise for Special Interests, Heathen Harvest, Roctober, NewCity Chicago, and others. His collaborative project / collective Blood Rhythms, released its first LP, “Assembly” in 2015, and his private label “NO PART OF IT”, kicked off in 2008, with a collection of locked grooves featuring Nurse with Wound, Crash Worship, Helios Creed, Sudden Infant, and others.”

Follow  ARVO ZYLO At :

DECAYCAST#033 DECAYCAST Premieres: BEAST NEST “Pluto” Video

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BEAST NEST “Pluto” Video Premiere :

(video directed by : malocculsion)

The efforts of  Bay Area  artist, musician, healer, promoter and educator  Sharmi Basu are seemingly endless and  so far reaching  that  before  one has the opportunity  to grasp  and contextualize  one action in the  greater realm of experimental music, they are onto the next.

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production still from “Pluto” video

Between constantly touring, and  releasing last years  “Taste Of India” cassette (Ratskin), a new  Tour  EP  for  her  recently completed  European tour,  running  The Mara Performance Collective,  which self describes as “a performance and improvisation group that is centered on shared politics and identity.  The MPC is focused on radical people of color, that is non-white folks, and is emphasizing those who identify as queer, trans, and/or womyn of color.”, and it’s offshoot, Brown Noise  , have become staples for many new  and  experienced artists to gain and refine their “chops” so to speak outside of the  white male patriarchy which has historically taken up so much space in noise and  underground communities.  Most recently, Basu was  a  part of The Universe Is Lit:  the bay area’s  first ever Black and  Brown Punk Festival with  fellow curators Shawna Shawnte, Jade Ariana and Titania Kumeh, and recently opening for electronic music’s den mother Suzanne Ciani at the  San Francisco Electronic Music Festival,  Through all of this, Basu has both ears, a dog and a mic to the ground in the  forefront of  experimental music, politics, and community building.  She  even contributed a track to the recently released  “Rogue Pulse /  Gravity Collapse” compilation (Ratskin)  which spawns twelve hours of music in direct support of  Black Lives Matter,  St James Infirmary, and The Oakland  Immediate Relief Fund, which  consisted of  Basu and  several other femme organizers who took  and  distributed donations after last year’s Ghostship tragedy which claimed the lives of thirty six souls of the  Oakland and  bay area

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BEAST NEST . Photo:  Gabby Gamboa.

creative community, many of whom were  close to Basu.   Despite all of this  loss, chaos, and  uncertainty with these  violent, chaotic, shaking and bleeding times,  Basu marches forward  and  continues to help  pave the way for the  decolonization of  experimental, underground, music and  art. A  necessary, radical  action, like many aspects of confronting white supremacy,  which is long overdue.

Today, Basu releases a video for  “Pluto”  which is  from the B side of the “Taste of  India”  cassette, released in an edition of  100  cassettes on Ratskin in fall of last year, which can be viewed above.  The video blends analog and  video  synthesis, feedback, found  footage and  digital  video processing. Make sure to  click the  HD option in the  youtube window for  maximum definition, as the  video is  visually dense. Please make sure to    Follow her Bandcamp,  or   Soundcloud  orrrrrrr  main website for more information and  current shows. She also has a Patreon which has some amazing  incentives!

 

 

DECAYCAST REVIEWS: HEY EXIT “Else” Cassette/Digital (2015)

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“Else”  was  recorded by HEY  EXIT, in Brooklyn NY in 2015, but  you’d  never  really be able to tell as  it comes off  as this  sort of  timeless  drone recording.  “Else”  starts with a low, slow, cloudy  drone and  slowly builds and  destroys  subtlety across the  entire album. The  first sounds that  emerge  are  delicate.  spacious, tone  poems of  humming synths? guitars? who knows?  but the  source a1533371763_16isn’t  really that important and the sounds  create a sonic  space  that exists  somewhat outside of  codified instrumentation, structure,  rhythm. The  sonic palette of HEY EXIT is  largely of a similar toolset, at least on Else, and the cassette is broken up into five tracks, however they all function as  one  breadth, decaying and  gently bleeding into each other. “What Role, If  Any”  is  probably the track that feels   most complete on its  own in terms of a moving composition within itself and  offers arguably the most  sonic  density and  variety on this EP.

The sounds themselves  are a  plush mesh of drones,  blissed  out  and  stretched  out  orchestral swells, slow attack  guitar  swells,  strategically placed crunches of  rumbling  distortion, and  wind. The  tempo of  Else is  made up of slow, delicately offered  pulses, as  if  someone was  breathing  out the notes, blowing ou

t the  tempo on a single  flickering candle,  but  not  through a wind  instrument, the  attack is gone, the breath has  transformed into a slow,  churning, crawling, beautiful sound.  The slow, crawling , glossy pillars of  sounds ,  at times  almost seemed to  sync up with my breath as i was  sitting in the dark listen

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ing to the  cassette on repeat. This is  excellent  “meditation” music, or at least music that  begs of  slow action, slow  thought,  slow body movements, and slow listening. There  are moments  that  get “noisy” in the traditional sense, but they never  obliterate or  destroy the  more  quiet, subtle  tones  that dance and  breathe  as he main life  source of the  piece.  “Else”  is  a delicately crafted ambient  drone offering for  fans of  slow, delicate, breathing music to  listen to  on a foggy, crawling  confusing day. Highly enjoyable.

 

You can   check this release and more  from HEY  EXIT,  here