Dmytro Fedorenko (Kotra), Andrey Kiritchenko, Tobias Astrom and Jeff Surak (Violet) join forces to present this masterwork of muscial fragmentation. The new fab four of the electronica world. Check out myspace.com/critikally for audio samples...and become their friend while you're at it. Co-released with Kvitnu|Nexsound|Hwem. zero008. $10.00.

"The overall atmosphere changes from harsh and corrupted to dark and evil over the course of the record and I get sucked into a dystopian world that I last experienced this way when I listened to "black vomit" by Wolf Eyes with Anthony Braxton."
-Cracked

"...one is lost in its quagmire of unorthodox tunings and thrashing textures as though in a delirium, only a constant threat can be gleaned from its dark surface."
-Earlabs

Three masters of intelligent noise music present 3 compositions by each of the artists. Recorded live in various cities in Russia. zero006. $10.00

"Violet's track is a warm, mesmerizing ambient tune has been slightly distorted and lots of tiny crackles can be heard, larded with the fine-tuned sound of a stuck CD.
An excellent piece ending a just as good album. "
-Phosphor

"Organic and sensual, raw and bent."
-Igloo

"as close as underground / experimental / noise will ever get to a monsters of rock-like show"
-Cracked

"Magnifique composition ambient construite sur une nappe et parsemée de glitchs, apparemment produits par de vrais CD rayés et vieilles cassettes. C'est fin, expérimental mais touchant à la fois, soit une excellente conclusion."
-Etherreal

Mp3 excerpts:
Michael Gendreau - noceur 2.7MB
Alexei Borisov - Ex-Trakt 2.7MB
Violet - Demonstration of Decay 2.7MB

Cornucopia is the premiere sound art project to hail from the island of Puerto Rico. Claudio Chea and Jorge Castro have recorded numerous drone-a-thons on CDR which have been released by small labels from New York to Barcelona to Valencia, Le Mans and Mexico City. "C.works" is their first full length on the CD format, and to celebrate, they have asked for a little help from their friends. In all, fourteen other artists were asked (and some even asked in themselves!) to use Cornucopia's 37 minute track ".c." into their own composition. Two years later, this is the end result. Remixers included: Omei, Needle & Sony Mao, Lasse Marhaug, Black Sand Desert, RGV, Ultra Milkmaids, David Wells, TV Pow, duul_drv, Andrew Duke, Kim Cascone, Critikal, Zanstones, & Francisco López. Double CD set packaged in a DVD case. zero005. Co-released with Locus of the Assemblage and Sonora Disks.

Lets face it, most compilations suck, are filled with half-assed throw away tracks by name artists and filler by unknowns reinventing the wheel for the umpteenth time. This is were Dissolution Tapes differs. In order to maintain a stylistic consistency of music and challenge the contributors, musical themes recorded by Normal Music's secret alter ego, The MCE, were given to every participant. Its sort of a remix CD but beyond that in how attention was paid to the overall disk in terms of flow and composition creating a unified release of new and challenging music. Artists include: Cornucopia, Alexei Borisov, Anton Nikkila, Freiband, Ultra Milkmaids, Violet, Jacob Kirkegaard, Maja Ratkje, Kotra, Dead Letters, Andrey Kiritchenko, Das Torpedoes, Michael Gendreau, R.R. Habarc, Francisco Lopez, Rechord, Fe-Mail. zero004. $10.00.

"Dissolution Tapes requires effort but rewards accordingly. Still, it should not be approached as the companion disc to Disonancias y Repeticiones Ambiguas, unless you plan on seriously expanding your horizons."
- François Couture, All-Music Guide

"listen to this compilation whole in one breath, it's worth it." - Vital Weekly

mp3s:
"Pleasant and Useful Waves rmx" by Jacob Kirkegaard
"Malodorous Drains" by Maja Ratkje
"Yr03, Trck02 [Sgmnt B Rcnstrctd]" by Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words
"Untitled #144" by Francisco Lopez
"Gloomycoylyeightmonthvales" by Freiband

Five tracks by Andrey Kiritchenko, followed by remixes from Brian Lavelle, Marcus Maeder, Scanner, 833-45, Kotra, Violet, The Moglass, Kim Cascone, Cray, Freiband. zero003. $10.00.

"Kiritchenko's work is spacious and alluring without lapsing into blissed out blandness, the roughness of its surfaces complementing rather than compromising its soft centre." - Wire

"Kiritchenko has a unique, glitchy approach to electronic music that is quite peaceful and ambient, though far from commonly accessible. Elements of Fennesz, Farmers Manual, and the more experimental side of Pluramon all reside in his unique sound...Bees & Honey is a very satisfying experimental electronic release. Recommended."
- Indieville

"this disc is without doubt a very good collection of contemporary 'ambient glitch'. Kiritchenko fits into this category very well and has placed himself accordingly with this CD. " - Vital Weekly

"a compelling work" - Eld Rich Palmer

"The music has a tranquillising touch and timeless frame, slowly moving into a spaceless entity...(an) excellent compilation." - Phosphor Magazine

mp3s:
"Hive" excerpt by Andrey Kiritchenko
"Scannermx" excerpt by Scanner
"Colour" excerpt by Kotra

The ultra milkmaids from France meet v. from Washington DC and give birth to a mutant baby quite unlike either of its parents. Abstract, dense music that you can hum and that will swirl around in your head. zero001. $10.00.

"Each of the seven tracks featured here offers a unique and immensely engaging sound environment. ...it has proven to be a recording that reveals its secrets slowly and with careful listening. Recommended."
- Incursion

"Brilliant by many factors, the most important of which in my opinion, the difficulty of joining the more improvised nature of v w/ the more electronica evolution of the milkies."
- Absurd

"Summa summarum ein absolut untypisch Meisterwerk, das sich jeder weiteren Einordnung widersetzt und gehört und nicht besprochen werden will. Drone & Unease eben."
- Intro

mp3: objet melodie

Live recordings of Kotra at Soundbridges festival and improv jam session of Kotra and Violet in Vienna, March 2005. Analogue electronics+electro zither. Pro printed cdr. Released by Nexsound Live Reports (Ukraine) 2006. Limited Quantities! $7.00

Field recordings, drones and noise. This unbeatable mix from violet features the 12 minute version of violet's track that was featured on Wire magazine's Wiretapper CD series. (scarcelight.org) 2005. 3"CD. $6.00

"like beautiful rats hugging a sinking ship"
-Wire

"Another little disc of noise that manages to put down a flag on hitherto unchartered waters of the noise-landscape."
- Cracked

"If you came across this name before and didn't know what it was about, then time has come to find out."
-Vital Weekly
 

Part of the nine disk planetary series, Violet explores the rings of Saturn. "A direct, blunt, aural assault on the senses with his work on Saturn. By using a mixture of layered electronics & dense, almost concrete drones, he eschews all of the comfortable standards of ambient or drone music, there are no long introductions here, no pretty mastering. Tracks appear & end abruptly, barely leaving time to catch breath before the next."
Released by Dreamland Recordings (Australia) 2006. Limited Quantities! $6.00

Twenty-three depressing minute long drone meisterwerk by this dead legend from Sweden. zerom01. mp3+cover. 2007. $5.00

mp3: excerpt

Forty minutes from a sound installation created by Rinus in Eskilstuna, Sweden. Mysterious voices, mysterious footsteps. zerom02. mp3+cover. 2007. $5.00

mp3: excerpt

Arguably one of the highlights of 2007's Sonic Circuits festival was a rather amazing set by Sweden's Moljebka Pvlse, primarily the work of one Mathias Josefson but joined live by Karin Jacobson.

Both the standout live track and a studio version are included, and both are based around what sounds like a harmonium drone (my memory as to the sound sources is a little rusty at this point and unfortunately there are no liner notes here) that's gradually overtaken by a shuffling, creaking sound field and an increasingly ominous rumbling drone, with the odd disembodied voice or identifiable instrumental passage occasionally coming into focus. This is carefully constructed and well thought out beyond the usual "build up, drone for awhile, fade out" blueprint and will, as they say, reward repeated listening. Two shorter studio recordings feature somewhat more prominent field recordings and elusive bits of conversation layered on top of almost spectral drones. Fans of Mirror, Ora, Jonathan Coleclough, and the like should enjoy these two pieces in particular. If for no other reason, though, seek this out for those longer pieces, some of the finer drone moments of the year. zerom03. mp3+cover. 2007. $5.00

mp3: excerpt