Arkhonia's "Trails/Traces" fulfils the much promised, but seldom delivered, remit of large portions of ambient music - "to take the listener on a journey". From the deep rumblings of the album's opener to the final decaying notes and crackles of its closing track, all manner of mood-shifting experimentation directs (and occasionally derails) the listener along a sonic path that is at times unnerving and, at others, warmly welcoming. Each piece leads neatly into the next and one would not suspect that this album was assembled from material produced over the span of the last decade - the production values on display in the oldest pieces are qualitatively indistinguishable from the most recent and all are invested with a luscious, finely honed depth of texture. Slow-burning drone constructions for fans of Andrew Chalk, Thomas Koner, Machinefabriek and Alva Noto.
UK 11£
Europe 12£
World 13£
QUANTITY
MACHINEFABRIEK - 'Colour Tones' CD (Fang Bomb)
Delving ever deeper in the science of his art, this is Machinefabriek's take on what might be the most common sensation of all - the colours around us. Originating from the exhibition "Colour Tales", held at the WM Gallery in Amsterdam in 2011, these tracks are based on ideas from a series of intriguingly visual and original short stories on the theme of colours, written by Latvian writer Imants Ziedonis. The result is an album of meticulously crafted drones with depth, details and a sense of adventure. Soundscapes for an audience of careful listeners. Close your eyes. Can you see the colour you are listening to? Digipak.
UK 11£
Europe 12£
World 13£
QUANTITY
MACHINEFABRIEK - 'Daas' CD (Cold Spring CSR128CD)
The tracks on "Daas" have been carefully picked to form a provoking, haunting journey. What the tracks have in common is a sense of nostalgic graininess. As with the music of Philip Jeck, The Caretaker or William Basinski, these tracks are full of degrading melodies and dusty ambience. 'Daas' is the previously unreleased opening track of the album, and features contributions by the great Richard Skelton. 'Flotter', 'Koploop' and 'Grom' were previously available on small run self released EPs, while 'Onkruid' was a track previously released on 'A Room Forever', as an expensive and extremely limited 12" boxset. All are now brought to a wider audience. Presented in a matt laminate digipak.
MACHINEFABRIEK - 'Duotoon' 3" Metallised CD (None)
A most refreshing, back-to-basics composition from Rutger Zuydervelt. 'Duotoon' is said to be inspired by the works of Alvin Lucier and Steinbruchel - an intriguing pairing of influences, but you can certainly hear their respective fingerprints all over this fine concoction. As Zuydervelt himself is keen to point out, there are "no dusty vinyl crackles, textural field recordings or grainy guitars here... just pure tones." A statement like that is itself music to the ears, implicitly acknowledging and shunning elements that are increasingly becoming platitudinous mainstays of the ambient/microsound genre. 'Duotoon' is all about nuanced harmonic interplay and layered micro-intervals, drawing the ear toward clever phasing effects and infinitesimal melodic development. On the surface it's all very simple, but it's within this economical, back-to-basics construction that the piece's great strength resides. Beautifully presented on a 3" metallised CD in a card sleeve.
UK 8£
Europe 9£
World 10£
QUANTITY
MACHINEFABRIEK - 'Huiswerk' 7" (Ketchup Cavern)
"...a gorgeously minimal guitar workout that reminds us of another aQ fave, Part Timer, with it's sleep guitar figures, wreathed in digital glitch, bits of crackle and streaks of hiss, every now and then a thick distorted guitar surfaces, only to drift off again, leaving lots of space for that lonely guitar to drift through. Stuttery, skipping, sudden moments of near silence, but all peppered throughout a slowly unfurling expanse of warbly woozy fractured folk, soft and pretty, spacious and minimal, the glitchiness mostly adding texture, rarely interrupting the song's dreamy drift" (Aquarius). Ltd x 381 on black vinyl.
MACHINEFABRIEK - 'Loops For Voerman' 3" Metallised CD (None)
With this remarkable MCD containing the most intensely affecting Machinefabriek recording since last year's career-defining 'Dauw'. 'Loops For Voerman' was recorded as part of an art installation/sculpture by Rob Voerman but doesn't rely on any visual association for its unique, almost harrowing quality. Bowed strings take on a metallic, razor-like identity, with vocal shards and found sounds arranging themselves throughout the looped cycle of the track, each time re-positioning themselves with an almost imperceptible shift of emphasis. Originally performed on a three-way speaker system, one can only imagine the impact on the listener with all that extra movement of sound, intensifying an already overpowering aural experience and delivering one of the most valuable artefacts yet in the already mightily impressive Machinefabriek canon. Very highly recommended. Second edition, beautifully presented on a 3" metallised CD in a gold printed card sleeve and including a free bonus download (Live For Voerman).
UK 8£
Europe 9£
World 10£
QUANTITY
MACHINEFABRIEK - 'Sol Sketches' CD & Eraser (None)
Wonderful self-released album from one of the brightest stars of the Ambient scene. 21 piano 'sketches' which form the score for a documentary by Chris Teerink about American artist Sol LeWitt. The piano takes centre stage for the majority of the set, embedded against subtle electro-acoustic rendering and diffusions to create a gently swirling sense of space. One of Rutger's more restrained projects, making for a highly refined and engrossing listen. Comes in a shrinkwrapped card slip with a specially printed Sol Sketches eraser.
UK 12£
Europe 13£
World 14£
QUANTITY
MACHINEFABRIEK - 'Veldwerk' CD (Cold Spring CSR156CD)
Sublime drone music and field recordings by Rutger Zuydervelt. 'Slovensko I & II' are best seen as a travel diary, recorded in Slovakia. RZ made 'sound snapshots' with a small digital recorder. A major influence both while recording and assembling the tracks was Chinese sound artist Yan Jun. 'Rusland' is a sound collage comprising field recordings and sections of live performances made in Russia. An incredible adventure and culture shock with long train journeys, bizarre venues and amazing people. 'The Breaking Water' can be heard as a sonic portrait of Rotterdam's famous Erasmus bridge. It includes recordings taken from both on and beneath the bridge, along with further sounds from the river that it crosses, the Nieuwe Maas. 'Floor & Radio' is a contrast to the outdoor pieces recorded for the the installation 'Licthung' in Radolfzell, Germany. Contrasted against the outdoor silence was the squeaking floor in the guest house and the distorted signal and static from the radio. Sometimes there's music in everything. Makino Takashi asked RZ to perform a score for his film 'In Your Star'. After a screening in Tokyo, a studio version was recorded. The result is 'Apollo', a sonic journey to space and beyond. Digipak.
MACHINEFABRIEK - 'Vloed' CD (Cold Spring CSR138CD)
'Vloed' is a collection of (slightly edited) live performances, recorded between 2006 and 2008 in Amsterdam and Den Haag. "All performances find Machinefabriek in fine form, offering up thick billows of warm guitar shimmer, fluttery staticky ambience, and at one point some uncharacteristically heavy super distorted metallic guitar, but here, it's not so much metal as simply a mighty drone, thick and throbbing and super intense. There are long stretches of near silence and super minimal high end drone, glimmering slow building crescendos, squalls of distorted choral buzz, warm whirring metallic reverberations, shimmery and dense black dronemusik, all the stuff we love about Machinefabriek" (Aquarius). Beautifully remastered with a 20-minute bonus track, 'Vloed' captures the immersive live experience of a Machinefabriek concert. Presented in a stunning matt digipak with modified artwork.
"This is a collection of recordings culled from 3" CD releases from Dutch musician Rutger Zuydervelt, yet arranged and sequenced in a way that makes it a perfectly flowing listening experience. The warm ambience definitely harks back to some ground level krautworks, but almost every instrument blurs into placid soundscapes that are constantly shifting and evolving, electronic crackles rise out of dark lakes of guitar drone; the sounds are very intimate, immediate, not overwhelmingly dark but definitely indicating Zuydervelt's past as a guitarist in a doom band. With both live instruments and assorted programming, the sheer human emotion injected into a machinated music form is stunning, and the variety of places these tracks go to are timed perfectly to hold the listeners' attention and reveal a seemingly limitless bank of ideas that I can't recall being utilised since the golden days of Seefeel's Polyfusia record. Very grand" (WMFU).
UK 13.50£
Europe 14.50£
World 15.50£
QUANTITY
ROCK-A-ROLLA Issue #30 Magazine
Rock-A-Rolla 30 features Seattle Doom-Droners Earth. There are also interviews with Machinefabriek, Six Organs Of Admittance, Tim Hecker, OvO, The Skull Defekts, The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble, Mugstar, Iroha and Igorrr. This month's Label Focus is on Riot Season. Also included is the usual vast selection of news, music, DVD and live reviews from the avant-rock, metal, noise and experimental scenes. Highly recommended!
UK 5.00£
Europe 7.50£
World 10.00£
QUANTITY
SOCCER COMMITTEE & MACHINEFABRIEK - 'Redrawn' CD (None)
Soccer Committee and Machinefabriek's "Drawn" (2008), remixed and covered by Andrea Belfi, Annelies Monseré, Francisco López, Gary Smith, Holden Goldmund, Kenneth Kirschner, Lawrence English, Mark Templeton, Nate Wooley, Németh, Peter Broderick, Squares On Both Sides, Stefano Pilia, Steinbrüchel, Taylor Deupree, The Fun Years, The North Sea, The Puddle Parade, Tori & Reiko & Namio Kudo and Xela. Although there's a lot of different approaches on this disc, it feels like a homogeneous whole. There's intimate singer-songwriter-style tracks, as well as thick layered digital drones and raw guitar explorations... and everything in between. But there's no question that everything has a delicate touch to it, making this compilation a beautiful and exciting trip. Card slipcase with inner sleeve.
UK 11£
Europe 12£
World 13£
QUANTITY
VA - 'Escaping From Color - Rapoon Recomposed & Remixed' CD (Quasi Pop)
The conception, the idea, realisation and sound sources of this CD are all based on original sound material (loops and sounds) from Rapoon's “Tribal Sci Fi” release. Not the entire original Rapoon's tracks have been re-mixed or re-composed, but the general “sound” (or the sound aesthetic of Rapoon's music) instead. All the artists have provided their own original compositions, more or less based on the audio-sources from Rapoon: Aidan Baker, Anla Courtis, Cisfinitum & Rapoon, Family Underground, Francisco Lopez, Gert-Jan Prins, Heimir Bjorgulfsson, Jorge Castro, Machinefabriek, Mike Shiflet, Paulo Raposo, Ronnie Sundin, Steve Roden, Troum and TV Pow. Ltd x 500 copies in a very nice digifile.
UK 11£
Europe 12£
World 13£
QUANTITY
VA - 'That It Stays Winter Forever' CD (White Box)
A limited edition three-way split CD album from Machinefabriek, Jan Kleefstra / Chris Bakker / Romke Kleefstra and Liondialer. The project came together when after playing several shows together in and around Europe, these ‘Masters of the Dark Arts’, decided it was time to collectively hit the Far East. This is the accompanying Japan-only tour CD for these three incredible acts, which is nothing short of absolute perfection from all three. Drone / Improv / Acoustic / Ambient / Experimental music. Ltd x 300 copies with obi strip. RARE - ACT FAST!
UK 16£
Europe 17£
World 18£
QUANTITY
VA - 'The Year 25 / 25 Years Korm Plastics' Cassette (Korm Plastics)
Korm Plastics release this compilation to commemorate 25 years of the label. 25 exclusive tracks by 25 artists, each lasting 2:50mins: Asmus Tietchens, Ben Gwilliam, Big City Orchestra, Edward Ka-spel, Francisco Lopez, Freiband, Howard Stelzer, Idea Fire Company, Illusion Of Safety, Jason Zeh, Jos Smolders, KK Null, Machinefabriek, Mirko Uhlig, Peter Duimelinks, Pick-up , Radboud Mens, Raymond Dijkstra, Richard Francis, Roel Meelkop, Silverman, Stephan Mathieu, The Haters, The Tobacconists and Z'EV. A fine mixture of microsound, noise, experimental and pop music. Ltd x 250 pro-duplicated cassettes with cover by Meeuw.
