upcoming:
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[iso_16] infinite body
[iso_15] concern lp
[iso_13] maleficia 7"
[iso_12] basshaters 7"
[iso_11] ata ebtekar 7"
[iso_10] rale lp
[iso_09] brandon nickell "and if you set this mind of mine afire, then on my bloodstream i yet will carry you" cd
available: all prices include shipping for u.s. orders; for international orders, please add $12 for vinyl item and $3 for a cd. $2 for each additional vinyl or cd.
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isounderscore releases are available through the following distributors, stores and mailorder:
for submissions, booking, or if you're interested in contacting one of the artists e/mail: info@isounderscore.com
to subscribe to our infrequent mailout e/mail: info@isounderscore.com with subject line "subscribe"
current news:
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february 08, 2010: infinite body will be performing at 21 grand tomorrow in oakland with death sentence: panda!, chris thayer, pompoir and slaughtering dolphins.
show starts at 8. west coast dates to support his new album on post present medium, "carve out the face of my god" are listed on his myspace page.
there will be infinite body release on isounderscore later on. details will be posted when available.
february 04, 2010: happy belated 2010, new isounderscore releases on the horizon from rale, concern, brandon nickell, basshaters, ata ebtekar, and infinite body.
round-up of acre "isolationist" press:
from the soundcheck section of the wire (issue #311 jan 2010): "isolationist, the debut album proper by portland's premier drone-monger acre, contains three weighty chunks of obdurate minimalism. using only a few eq pedals and a mixer, acre (aka aaron davis) sculpts feedback tones into enormous monoliths of sound. these are not polite yoga studio meditation drones. they just sit there in a room, hard-edged and immovable, like richard serra sculptures. following dozens of limited edition cassettes and cd-rs, isolationist is davis's mission statement. the album collects two tracks from the "painless" cd-r with one new composition, and the three pieces delineate the boundaries of acre's aesthetic. the sonic palette is severely limited throughout: it consists entirely of layered square waves that pulse and pan across the stereo spectrum, evolving slowly and purposefully with a subliminal logic. his sound is an unrelenting, aggressive buzz, spare, yet inexplicably expansive. it's as if davis has stripped away 90 percent of the layers from a phil niblock composition, while sacrificing none of the scale or power. its easy to overlook davis's instrumental virtuosity when listening to the album. given a synthesizer and excessive post production editing, these tracks may have been rather simple to produce, but its clear that davis performed these compositions live, recording to tape in one pass. his control of internal electronic feedback rivals that of toshimaru nakamura, yet some of the most exciting moments on "isolationist" appear when the delicate nature of the instrument unexpectedly influences the direction of the music. during the first untitled track, for instance, the left channel drops out and is nearly silent for several minutes. quirks like these remind the listener just how difficult it is to create this deceptively simple music."
cyclic defrost: "having previously disseminated work on limited vinyl, cd-r, and cassette releases, portland's aaron davis here grants his long-evolving acre project its widest exposure yet. existing in 500 copies and tucked into an eye-popping neon orange sleeve, isolationist is also accurately titled: it's the sound of one person honing in on a single idea with undistracted precision. that idea is a sustained minimalist drone--presumably from an analogue synthesizer--that modulates slowly enough that it can seem to not change at all if close attention isn't paid. in fact, it's an understatement to say that the more the listener invests in acre, the greater the rewards. these three untitled tracks range in length from 12:43 to 21:58. if that seems like a long haul for such delicate, often subliminal changes in tone, it drifts along with an contagious calm. that's not to say it's entirely placid; the third track first rumbles in the distance by way of setting the stage, and when the odd hiccup or burp emerges, it's an instinctual thrill. the cd sleeve's legend "innovate don't imitate" recalls the missives printed on flying saucer attack albums, and there's a shared spirit of horizon-chasing bliss to acre. but there's also something voluminous about the drone, begging repeated exposure and increases in volume. it's not a plane of sound, then; it's a sphere."
anti-gravity bunny: "i've had this for wayyyyy too long, and while i can make excuses for not having written about it yet (like i moved and couldn't find my copy to scan for the artwork, or i've been too busy, or i couldn't think of anything to say because it's so fucking brilliant) they're all pretty much irrelevant. Reason being: acre's Isolationist is unbelievably amazing drone. let's face it. winter's coming (southern hemisphere excluded). and like a bear fattening up on salmon and squirrels for the long hibernation, you too should be gathering as much cold weather appropriate tunes for the forthcoming blizzards. isolationist is a necessity for your stockpile. acre's drone is the fucking best. super long form, like wada or niblock except with the lushness of somebody like white rainbow or eluvium. it's so thick and dense and warm (key word here). it's like a golden blanket from the gods sewn with threads of magic from the fabric of clouds to keep you blissfully cozy no matter what hardships you must endure. this is the kind of drone that's maximized at full volume. you need this shit to envelope every atom of your being. let it hug your bones. it'll keep you warmer than that quilt grandma made for you last christmas. and the image up there looks nothing like the actual cd. the artwork is neon orange and there's a geometric pattern that isn't so much a color difference than it is a textural one. totally awesome. you need to see it irl."
the one true dead angel: "even without the blinding orange cover (so blinding that it takes a while to realize there's a subtle honeycomb motif stamped on it), the title alone--referencing one of my favorite genres of music--would have been enough to get my immediate attention. acre is actually aaron davis, who has released a fair number of extremely limited-edition releases on cassette, vinyl, and cd; two of the three tracks here, in fact, are taken from the 2008 painless cd-r, issued on on students of decay in a run of 75 copies. (the first track is new, recorded in the summer of 2009.) like most Isounderscore releases, this one is limited to 500 copies, so while it's not quite as destined for obscurity as the earlier, ultra-limited releases, it's not exactly a mass-market product, either. which makes sense, because this is far too hardcore for most listeners--this takes the concept of isolationism to its most natural extreme, with tracks so minimal and boasting such subtle variations in drone that it would drive mainstream listeners mad with fury. take the first track, for instance; it's fifteen minutes of pure oscillating synth drone that takes its own sweet time in gradually modulating from one pure tone to another, a drone so powerful yet so incremental in its tonal movement that it appears nearly static for the first ten minutes, and even then the change in sound is mostly achieved through panning across the stereo field more than any shift in pitch. the other two tracks--one just under thirteen minutes long, the other an epic 22 minutes--are similar in aesthetics but somewhat different in execution. the second track opens with another monolithic and slowly wavering drone that is eventually augmented by chiming bell-like tones that become louder and more persistent over time; the third track's drone is fuzzier and more bass-heavy. and this time the sonic counterpoint arrives in the form of a distant, high-pitched shimmering drone that hovers over the bass throb like fog on the horizon, and as time goes on, the high-end wail takes on a cathedral vibe at times while the bass drone undergoes subtle warping. the bass modulation becomes considerably more pronounced around the ten-minute mark, and at some point the high-end drone evaporates as the bass drone begins to ripple, only to return to a more slow-moving, monochromatic drone in the last few minutes. this is manna from heaven for the pure-tone drone fanatic. don't sleep on this; work of this quality, in such a limited run, won't be around forever."
the sound projector: "remarkably loud and forceful minimalist electronic tones from acre on his isolationist (isounderscore [iso_14]) cd. aaron davis from portland regards this as his most ambitious work, produced after a few years spent issuing very limited releases for cdr and tape labels; indeed a couple of tracks here were issued last year by the label students of decay. work your ears beyond the initially foreboding countenance of this semi-blank release, and a rich world of microtones, shifting variances, rippling soundwaves and rotating blocks of analogue power will await you in these careful compositions. brandon nickell did the striking modernist orange artwork with its varnish overprinting of a geometric grid."
other reviews for "isolationist" can be found in vital weekly, textura, and a few others that escape us at the moment.
december 03, 2009: new basshaters cd-r out on young girls. label press release:
"basshaters is a duo utilizing double bass, drum set, and electronics to integrate acoustic free improv and electronic noise, two genres thriving in the san francisco bay area. they use extended techniques to activate their large resonant instruments. striving to match the fluidity of their acoustic music, electronics expand the timbral and dynamic options to new extremes. the duo seeks directness and intensity in execution; subtleties emerge from the bold statement of simple ideas. in addition to basshaters, dryer & heule have released an album on creative sources with clarinetist jacob lindsay. they have a trio cd with saxophonist jack wright, and have performed live with diverse musicians such as michel doneda, c spencer yeh, gino robair, and damon smith. dryer has toured with the flying luttenbachers and usurp synapse; heule remains active with his brutal improv duo ettrick."
october 28, 2009:
october 25, 2009: four isounderscore artists, touring three continents: acre, brandon nickell, basshaters, concern.
acre & brandon nickell fall 2009 us west coast tour:
oct 29 san francisco, ca @ sutro bath ruins w/ maleficia, al qaeda
oct 30 san francisco, ca @ the lab w/ pedestrian deposit, work/death, infinite body
oct 31 los angeles, ca @ the smell (no brandon nickell) w/ oneohtrix point never, pedestrian deposit, work/death, rale
nov 01 oakland, ca @ totally intense fractal mind gaze hut w/ burmese, deathroes, orhima
nov 03 seattle, wa @ the barnhouse w/ cathartech, red squirrels, impacttestdummy
nov 04 olympia, wa @ northern w/ street without joy
nov 05 portland, or @ artistery w / daniel menche
basshaters & skasm fall 2009 european tour:
oct 20 prague @ brick bar music klub
oct 22 vienna @ kellerstiege
oct 23 mestre @ laboratorio villa franchin
oct 24 bologna @ farm
oct 25 ravenna @ csa spartaco
oct 26 rome @ mads
oct 27 frosione @ cantina mediterraneo
oct 28 senigallia @ tba
oct 29 parma @ veronika club
oct 30 genoa @ milk club
oct 31 zurich @ tba
nov 01 liege @ tba
nov 02 amsterdam @ occii w/ hair police
nov 03 rotterdam @ worm w/ hair police
nov 04 tba
nov 05 antwerp @ tba
nov 06 den haag @ vrijhaven
nov 07 tba
nov 08 berlin @ miss hecker
nov 11 berlin @ wendel (allbee/majkowski/dryer/heule)
nov 13 berlin @ die remise (basshaters)
nov 28 oslo @ open form festival: open form ensemble performs pauline oliveros
concern & casiotone for the painfully alone fall 2009 australia & new zealand tour:
nov 05 northcote, victoria @ northcote social club w/ oturo
nov 06 wombarra, new south wales @ wombarra bowls vlub w/ oturo
nov 07 batemans bay, new south wales @ north st cafe & bar w/ oturo
nov 08 marrickville, new south wales @ the cad factory (all ages early show) w/ oturo
nov 12 adelaide, south astralia @ jive w/ oturo, clue to kalo
nov 13 hobart, tasmania @ the venue w/ oturo
nov 17 dunedin, new zealand @ chicks hotel
nov 19 christchurch, new zealand @ al's bar
nov 20 auckland, new zealand @ cassette #9
nov 21 wellington, new zealand @ sfbh
jace clayton (dj rupture) interviews ata ebtekar in the uae's the national, "the art of noise".
keith fullerton whitman over at mimaroglu music reviews the acre "isolationist" cd:
"october 2009 release ; nice to finally see a mass-market cd release by aaron "acre" davis, as the set of his subtle, yet extremely loud tone creep i caught a few years back at mass art was one of that year's highlights, yet he's remained oddly quiet in the interim...enter brandon nickell's isounderscore, with this nicely laid-out edition (as you can see to your left - the spot varnish is invisible to the scanner's eye ; yet when photographed at an oblique angle - as below - you can clearly see the patternage appear before your very eyes) consisting of three extended pieces ; first a squared off, slowly mutating major third, then a straight pulse-width modulator, then a long suite for stroboscopic octave-parallels (listen to the sound-sample), each executed with the sort of subliminal progress i'd normally attribute to damion romero & damion alone...highly recommended!!!"
anti-gravity bunny reviews on the dimmer and ata ebtekar double-long vinyl players:
review for ata ebtekar and the iranian orchestra for new music's "ornamental": here
october 6th, 2009: acre "isolationist" cd out now:
"after years of painfully limited cassette and cd-r releases, aaron davis has created his most definitive and ambitious work as acre to date. "isolationist" is the first official full-length from one of portland's most enigmatic and respected figures of the northwest's fervent experimental music underground. the album features a new track recorded during the summer of 2009, exhibiting the slow yet subtle and highly-detailed electronic undulations that has largely characterized davis' work as acre. alongside this new piece are two completely remastered tracks from the original "painless" cd-r released on the students of decay label in a criminally limited edition of 75 copies in 2008. a record which unequivocally celebrates davis' years of painstaking effort mastering the minimalism of room crushing frequencies, this album represents the most essential and first widely available acre release. recorded by aaron davis in portland, oregon, mastered by thomas dimuzio at gench studios in august 2009. graphic design and artwork by brandon nickell. printed on spot-varnish fluorescent orange matte jackets; limited edition of 500 copies on compact disc."
august 15th, 2009: basshaters @ watermelon sugar (238 missouri street, san francisco, ca) with windowpain industries, & s.e.p.
recent basshaters performance at heco's in oakland:
also the acre "isolationist" full-length cd is currently being mastered and will be released in october.
"dimmer is the collaborative project of thomas dimuzio and joseph hammer, and this brooding double-lp is their second release (the first, the shining path, was released in 2007 on melon expander). what you get here are four side-long pieces, ranging from approximately thirteen to fifteen minutes each, all recorded live in various locations from 2006 to 2007. dimuzio handles the live sampling, processing, feedback, and looping; hammer provides tape manipulation and more processing. "sky wire" is up first, recorded at norcal noisefest in sacramento on october 15, 2006; buoyed by vaporous drone and mild, burbling electronics, it's a beautiful exercise in gradually expanding drones that slowly but surely increase in volume and intensity. driven mainly by feedback, at its most intense the tone has a sinister edge, but mostly it sounds very much like the wire music of alan lamb or alvin lucier -- mellow and carried by the wind, otherworldly without being oppressive. after reaching a peak of loudness and intensity, it ends in a muted swirl of electronics and mild hovering drone that rises and falls before fading away entirely. "sun dog," recorded at the luggage store gallery in san francisco on march 30, 2006, offers drones in a more mechanical vein, with a sound whose droning, muted feedback is augmented by minimal, hissing electronics. at some points the electronic element rises to the forefront with brief bursts of grinding, cheeping hiss, occasionally with enough violence to nearly overwhelm the omnipresent drone. about halfway through the piece the drone and the hiss converge in a nice harmonic sound, only to drift away again into separate audio components. over the rest of the piece, the electronic element becomes more subdued and the drone more pronounced, slowly decreasing in volume until there's nothing left... at which a buzzing hum fades up briefly, only to recede again as the almighty drone takes hold one more time over a muted sample, with everything ending in a wash of broken noise and washed-out squealing noises that fade slowly into the background before dying out altogether. "gases that emit light," recorded at the smell in los angeles on august 26, 2006, opens with shrill feedback and rumbling noises that grow louder and thicker, until the sound resembles a mildly distorted pipe organ or analog synthesizer accompanied by subsonic rumbling. this titanic sound eventually segues into a field of deep floating drones and a noise akin to a foghorn or sonic beacon. the tail end of this piece, which sounds at times more like a processed field recording of waves lapping in the ocean amid the slow movement of ships, is one of the strongest examples of the duo's ability to create processed sound with an organic core. the cathedral-like vibe returns at the end, along with drones that sound like violins. the final piece, "giant eagle," is the longest one at 15:29, and the most sonically varied. recorded at noise pancakes in san francisco on april 8, 2007, it opens with chopped-up electronic noises in addition to peals of wavering drone, and drifts through several movements of different directions in electronic sound. the segues from one movement to the next are natural, not forced, with an effect like oscilloscopes drifting into different ranges of tonal variety over time as the powerful drone action surges forward and recedes; the sound is not violent, but far less static than some of the other pieces, with new sound patterns and tones being introduced on a regular basis. here the drone is subservient to the electronic experimentation. the drone never completely disappears, but it is far less important than the ever-changing wheel of sound provided by the electronic gadgets and processing. the muted, low-key ending -- a near-imperceptible and wavelike drone seasoned with a sprinkling of electronic noise -- is one of the most subtle moments of the entire double-album, and a fitting conclusion. As with everything else on isounderscore, this is a high-quality avant listening experience, and comes on heavy-grade vinyl with sharp packaging. it's also limited to 500 copies."
still single review of ata ebtekar's "ornamental" 2xlp here. excerpt:
"this music is dense and full of the kind of overtures that might skip past the ear, yet filtered through the electroacoustic process capture the difficulty of the title ("ornamental") of the album. is the process merely accentuating the original or is it the structure itself? the academy might have an answer, but for the trained ear this double album is a window into a rich music culture and heritage in tehran. graciously, there are shorter works like "Little Tales 1-4" that dip in and out of piano tones, and these briefer passages help break up the totality of the project. there is certainly something at play on this recording where the listener is asked to absorb tones and stride for an aural trajectory which both accepting and moving beyond tradition. there is a challenge at stake that does not appear to require demanding participation from the listener, but maybe instead a curious repartee asking for approval but ultimately not needing it." (steven j. knezevich)
june 13, 2009: rale will be supporting john krausbauer (tecumseh/trees) on tour at terminal this evening:
aquarius records is calling dimmer's remissions some of the best work from each artist's respective 20+ year careers:
"not to be confused with the dimmer that was born from nz's straightjacket fits, this dimmer brings together two stalwarts of the california experimental community: thomas dimuzio and joseph hammer. the former skirts the boundaries between electro-acoustic technologies and improvisational abstraction, having collaborated with the likes of chris cutler, matmos, wobbly, scott arford, illusion of safety and countless others. mr. hammer is one of the prominent members of the willfully oblique los angeles free music society, having participated in such projects as solid eye, points of friction, and steaming coils. hammer's instrument of choice is the reel-to-reel tape deck, through which he can muster an uncanny palette of sound, noise, and drone. the two have worked together off and on for a good part of the last decade, with a handful of performances throughout california and a couple of releases - remissions being their second and collecting some of the best moments from those live gigs.
"Sky Wire" builds insectoid buzzes and creepily harmonic drones out of the interplay between hammer's rough-hewn tape manipulation and dimuzio's deftly rendered swells, somewhere between machinefabriek and christoph heemann. "Sun Dog" grafts blackened noise onto an electrocutioner's hum, with hammer's start 'n' stop tapes popping into view like a detached burroughs cut-up. both "gases that emit light" and "giant eagle" continue along these same strategies with eerie clouds of drones that fold and collapse between harmonic resonance and dissonance with unsettled bursts of soft focus noise. this is really exceptional stuff, and certainly some of the best that we've encountered from either artists individually."
eric hardiman from foxy digitalis offers up a well-researched and impressive review of ata ebtekar's "ornamental" 2xlp (excerpt):
"ata ebtekar (who has previously recorded as sote) is an increasingly visible composer with feet firmly planted in the electronic and sound art music worlds. growing up in iran and then germany, he has a unique perspective on iranian/persian music. his most recent widespread exposure was through sub rosa's two-disc set "persian electronic music - yesterday and today". a stunningly effective and well-presented project, it allowed ebtekar the chance to compile historical electronic compositions from alireza mashayekhi on the first disc, and then to showcase his own music on the second. on that second disc, we were presented with a fascinatingly rich and compelling blend of abstract, electronic, musique concrete, and classical persian music. that 2007 compilation remains highly relevant today, and still deserves a wider audience. it also set the stage for this release, a gorgeous double vinyl set from the bay area isounderscore label. taking his own interest in persian music and electroacoustic techniques, it seemlessly integrates ebtekar's work with that of mashayekhi. their collaboration for over three years in tehran has resulted in a partnership that paves the way for what musical and artistic collaboration might be in the future. it's so successful that determining where ebtekar and mashayekhi have contributed becomes a pointless quest. instead, one should focus on the phenomenal sounds that emerge from these two platters. ebtekar has taken the compositions of mashayekhi, using both studio and live recordings, and used them as primary sound sources for his own electronic modifications. what results is a mysterious and unique blend of musical traditions, styles, and aesthetics that goes far beyond the simple cut and paste or layering techniques of most collaborative efforts. ebtekar is able to channel the very essence of mashayekhi by using the core dna of his musical ideas to inform his own creations. the listener is reminded of both classical and electronic music traditions, but before being pulled too far in either direction, is able to absorb the new music as something wholly other. harmonic and melodic elements, microtonal passages, silence, and digital noise all offer signposts, but this is essentially new aural territory greater than the sum of its parts. ebtekar also deftly straddles the line between digital and analog, with cellos and violins allowed equal spaces with synthetic tone clusters and mini-bursts of noise that would certainly appeal to xenakis listeners. on repeated listens, the music reveals itself to be full of life and suggestive of multiple strands of the cultural and social history of iran."
also an interview with jacob felix heule from basshaters in foxy digitalis here.
also, acre will be releasing a new full-length cd later this year called "isolationist". more details will follow.
may 28, 2009:
may 21, 2009: out now: dimmer "remissions" 2xlp. ordering & distribution information at the top of this page.
dimmer's "remissions" is the second full-length album from longtime sonic architects of interactive feedback circuits, thomas dimuzio and joseph hammer. this 2xlp effectively represents four side-long pieces from their live shows throughout california taken place between 2006 and 2007. essentially a follow-up to their 2007 album on los angeles' melon expander, "remissions" expands upon the immense recursive tape looping and resampling that is found inherent in their work but achieves a weight and time displacement that greatly overshadows their dark preceding full-lengh. all four pieces were recorded at: norcal noisefest in sacramento (2006, "sky wire"), the luggage store gallery in san francisco (2006, "sun dog"), the smell in los angeles (2006, "gases that emit light"), and artsf's noise pancakes series (2007, "giant eagle"). live sampling, processing, feedback, looping by thomas dimuzio. tape manipulation and processing by joseph hammer. design and layout by thomas dimuzio, joseph hammer and brandon nickell. limited to 500 copies on full-color sleeves with cover photography by john dalton.
basshaters are going on a late spring tour with peninsula project (oslo, norway).
2009 may 23, oakland,ca @ composers decomposed w/ peninsula project, deflag haemorrhage/haien kontra, pigs in the ground, r. jencks
2009 may 26, san diego,ca @ soda bar w/ peninsula project, & swanwelder
2009 may 27, los angeles,ca @ echo curio w/ peninsula project, compression of the chest cavity miracle, & north america
2009 may 28, tempe,az @ bike saviours w/ peninsula project, pigeon religion, higher love, & no-one
2009 may 29, tucson,az @ solar culture w/ peninsula project
2009 may 30, albuquerque,nm @ 1kind studio w/ peninsula project, alan george ledergerber, & dirty//birdies
2009 may 31, santa fe,nm
2009 june 1, denver,co @ rhinoceropolis w/ peninsula project, & carnivores
2009 june 2, salt lake city,ut @ baxters cafe w/ peninsula project
2009 june 3, boise,id
2009 june 4, eugene,or @ epic space w/ peninsula project
2009 june 5, portland,or @ the wail w/ peninsula project, & aures
2009 june 6, seattle,wa @ the josephine w/ peninsula project, & aures
2009 june 7, ashland,or @ tba w/ peninsula project
they'll also be embarking on a fall european tour, for booking contact jfheule [at] gmail [dot] com.
a late basshaters 2008 performance @ terminal on youtube here.
a more recent performance @ the pharoh's den here.
the maleficia lp gets a write-up in the may issue of paris transatlantic here. review:
"recorded in late 2007 in oakland california, this debut lp by vocalist / violist ilysea viles sunderman and electronician andy way, aka maleficia, consists of two spacious sidelong -- but not too long, 16 and 17 minutes respectively -- tracks entitled "making" and "remaking". very impressive they are too, with Sunderman's eerie heavily-reverbed vocals floating above way's distant cataclysm like an abandoned weather balloon drifting over the ruins of hiroshima on august 7th 1945. greg wilkinson's recording, beautifully mastered by thomas dimuzio at the end of last year, is spacious and subtle, highlighting the precarious balance between the fragility of the human voice and the dangerous forces lurking in the background that could, one senses, engulf it at any moment (but which, thankfully, never do). unfortunately, i suspect this will get tagged as "dark ambient" and end up buried in the racks along with hundreds of other post new weird psych drone doom outings; a shame, because while i'll go along with "dark" to a point, "ambient" it is not -- siren-like, sunderman and way know how to lure even casual listeners on to their particular island, and keep them there once they've arrived." (dan warburton)
april 4, 2009: the dimmer remissions 2xlp has been approved for pressing, we expect to have this available at the end of the month or early may.
the fine folks at textura.org offer up an impressive review of the ebtekar 2xlp here as well as the maleficia lp here.
rfk from the one true dead angel on the aemae & arastoo "ostrakon" record: here.
march 17, 2009: a review on ata ebtekar & the iranian orcehstra for new music performing works of alireza mashayekhi "ornamental" is in the april 2009 issue of the wire (with sunn O))) on the cover). also a great feature on one of our favorite artists, sudden infant:
(note: correction this is _not_ a remix record) "following 2007's sub rosa release persian electronic music: yesterday and today 1966-2006, ornamental presents ten more electronic reworkings by iranian-american sound artist ata ebtekar, aka sote, of original instrumental compositions by alireza mashayekhi, 32 years his senior, performed by mashayekhi's iranian orchestra for new music. it's a remix project in line with mashayekhi's meta-x, a hymnen-like embrace of cultural and stylistic multiplicity -- backed up on his website by a critique of philosophers including plato, hegel and adorno -- and perfectly natural for a composer steeped in iranian classical music who also studied with one of the high priests of darmstadt modernism, gottfried michael koenig. the glistening synthesis of the title track and xenakis-like swoops of pearly gates are certainly impressive, but it's the shorter little tales pieces that we catch the clearest glimpse of mashayekhi himself. one wonders, though, whether his music, with its deft mix of microtonality and rich harmony (the late works of claude vivier would be the closest western equivalent), carefully scored to showcase the subtle colours of traditional persian instruments like the tar, setar, ney, kamancheh, ghanoon, tombak and daf, wouldnt shine more brightly if it weren't half-buried under ebtekar's layers of electronic moss. the digital tarring and feathering is particularly galling with sanam gharacheh's cello in meta xy, the double album's most substantial offering. it's as if ebtekar had set out to literally create mashayekhi's 'fuzzy border that separates truth from untruth.' the fact that the dates of the original acoustic compositions are nowhere to be found on the disc -- for the record, they were written between 1993 and 2006 -- is probably significant." (dan warburton, april 2009 [soundcheck p.53 - the wire])
3.11, portland @ backspace w/ thicket, & acre
3.12, olympia @ le voyeur w/ hobby hobby, & number bear
3.13, astoria @ astoria visual arts center w/ paul hoskin
3.14, vancouver @ vinegar factory
3.16, seattle @ monstersorri house
3.17, portland @ sorority house w/ why i must be careful
3.19, hollywood @ resbox (steve allen theater) w/ soriah, dept. of real estate, & vj fader
3.20, los angeles @ the wulf w/ compression of the chest cavity miracle
3.21, riverside @ hms studios/the pharoah's den
thomas dimuzio (dimmer) is doing a quick run of dates as ice cream time in europe.
this group consists of thomas dimuzio, nick didkovsky and the arte saxophone quartett
3.05, munster,germany @ cuba 8pm
3.07, forli,italy @ area sismica 10:30pm
3.08, lugano, switzerland @ conservatori della wvizzera italiano, oggi musica
"this is not maleficia's first release -- that would be an untitled cd-r on breaking wheel that came out in 2006 and was limited to 120 copies -- but it's probably the first release of theirs that anybody outside of oakland, ca will hear, even though it's not a significantly bigger press run (400 copies). maleficia is actually the collaboration between ilysea viles sunderman (viola and vocals) and andy way (electronics), and the heavy-duty vinyl release consists of two side-long tracks, "making" and "remaking." the first track opens with reverb clanking that is gradually overtaken by droning viola, processed in such a fashion that it sounds more like wind gusting through desolate canyons. as the viola continues to drone, with trembling lines that rise and fall, the clanking electronic noise in the background becomes thicker and more elaborate, until it resembles the sound of machinery at work in the distance. the tonal color of the drones changes in gradual fashion as the noise of the background begins to creep into the foreground, challenging the drones for supremacy in the mix. the depth and texture of the noise changes as well over the duration of the piece, slowly and inexorably, until the balance has shifted from being drone-heavy to noise-heavy. the track eventually ends as it began, with nothing but the clanking noises drenched in reverb. the track on the flip side of the album is similar in intent but marginally different in execution, dwelling more on the droning viola and less on the cracked electronics. a few minutes into the track, the rumbling of the electronics becomes more prominent, sweeping through the drone and adding texture to the ethereal sound. the album's cumulative aesthetic is a mysterious and powerful one, featuring a nuanced balance between drone and noise, with more depth and emotional intensity than one might expect for something so firmly minimalist. dark and beautiful without being overly heavy or morose, the album is ultimately a monument to the mystery of ambient drone and processed sound."
rfk's take on the ebtekar/mashayekhi/iranian orcehstra for new music 2xlp:
"ebtekar's name may not be familiar, but chances are you have heard him (or heard of him, anyway) on recordings under the name sote. born in germany to iranian parents and a long-time resident of the bay area in california, ebtekar recently spent three years in iran working with composer alireza mashayekhi. this double-album is the culmination of that working arrangement, recorded in iran with mashayekhi's iranian orchestra for new music in tehran, featuring fifty minutes worth of collaborative sound in ten compositions. the sounds presented here are a startling, at times even otherworldly, juxtaposition of traditional eastern music and western avant-garde sound. the original tracks were recorded by an iranian orchestra led by mashayekhi and then rearranged, altered, and processed by ebtekar, taking the (presumably) traditional pieces into new and futuristic directions. passages of silence and heavily modified experiments in sound are the major motifs that occur again and again throughout the pieces, along with an affinity for gritty and textured noise as counterpoint elements within the compositions. the overall effect is a re-imaging of traditional eastern sound, an updating of ancient structures and melodies for a new, postmodern world ruled by noise, distortion, and electronic sound processing. the meticulous nature of the recordings and post-studio diddling is reflected in the ambitious packaging; the fifty minutes of music here have been tracked across four sides of heavy, premium-grade vinyl for maximum fidelity, then mastered with admirable clarity by thomas dimuzio. the cover art and design are excellent as well. limited to 500 copies, this should be of intense interest to those already hep to sote's previous work and those interested in the inherent possibilities of a creative collision between the worlds of postmodern electronic and classical music of the eastern world."
aquarius records on ata ebtekar & the iranian orcehstra for new music performing works of alireza mashayekhi "ornamental":
"we first heard from ata ebtekar under his pseudonym sote, with a flurry of releases for warp, then dielectric, and a sound that definitely hit the spot, a deft amalgamation of fractured jungle, old school rave music, downtempo beatscapes, and shimmery dronemusic. more recently he helped compile a double disc compilation called persian electronic music: yesterday and today (1966-2006), still to be reviewed, which collected the work of legendary iranian new music composer alireza mashayekhi on one disc, and ebtekar's more modern compositions on the other, drawing a sort of sonic timeline between persian new music past and present, which leads directly to this double lp. a long in the works 'collaboration' between ebtekar and mashayekhi. for these extended sonic explorations, ebtekar took pieces composed by mashayekhi, and performed by the iranian orchestra for new music, and then applied various techniques to the sounds, taking live recordings, studio tracks, and then processing them, rearranging them, adding effects and samples, synthesizers, adding original sounds, harmonies and melodies, for a unique sort of modern classical persian musique concrete. the original sounds are definitely present, this is most certainly not a case of the sample being rendered unrecognizable, those original sounds are as important to these pieces as anything ebtekar had to add. flurries of piano, moaning cellos, pizzicato plucks, soaring strings, subtle percussion, all surface here and there, and often, they are wreathed in fuzzy drones, or chopped into strangely percussive loops, or jumbled up into something much more chaotic, but just as often, ebtekar's machinations are much more subtle, playing along as if he were not a remixer per se, but another player in the orchestra, only armed with a computer and effects instead of a flute or violin. the sounds are varied and wondrous, from fantastical flurries of wild freaked out electronic flecked free form soft noise, to delicate tinklings and hushed moonlit drift, spacey metallic shimmers to haunting alien music box like lullabyes, eastern sounding folk fragments drifting in soft swirls of rumble and hiss, long stretches of barely there melody and wispy streaks of distant rumble. really quite mysterious and beautiful, whether you're into modern classical, electronic music, abstract dronemusic, or all of the above. especially all of the above. beautiful screened sleeves, with a printed insert, detailing the project, as well as the various performers and composers."
aquarius records also provides an excellently written review on maleficia's debut lp:
"maleficia is the bay area duo of andy way (n.f. orchest, french radio, carrion, etc.) and ilysea viles sunderman, who crafted this desolate, post-industrial smear of voice, violin, and electronics for the always impressive isounderscore label. with the titles of the two side long pieces being "making" and "remaking," maleficia offers a crucible of elemental sounds being obliterated into a charred dust and rebuilt into ashen constructions of misery and disgust. sunderman's voice is sparsely employed emitting mournful wails that are not unlike those of christina carter, but detached from a freak-folk context and applied to this blackened, post-apocalyptic miasma. the industrialized loops that way wraps around the voice and violin come across like a slow-motion maurizio bianchi on par with the downer records he did with land use or the grim power electronic phase in the early '80s. nocturnal clatter and plumes of black smoke shroud the murkier, noisier side on "making," while funereal strings ground the nightmarish "remaking." certainly for fans of amber asylum, early lustmord, and the dark ambient aspects of broken flag."
the always excellent mimaroglu music sales had this to offer up about the isounderscore releases:
ata ebtekar & the iranian orcehstra for new music performing works of alireza mashayekhi "ornamental":
"january 2009 release; striking double-lp set, covering a collaboration between venerable iranian electro-acoustic composer alireza mashayekhi & his iranian orchestra for new music and younger computer musician ata "sote" ebtekar (the two were previously paired-up on sub rosa's excellent "persian electronic music: yesterday and today 1966-2006" set)...and by striking, i'm referring both to ata's transformations of the acoustic sound-materials, and the cover's intense aperiodic geometric tessellations. echoing much of the "live electronic" work that dots the 60s / 70s compositional landscape, the raw acoustic timbres of mashayekhi's writing are rarely heard herein; ebtekar's unfettered electronic processes (including much use of classic modes such as ring modulation, along with contemporary granular & spectral reductions) render the sparse writing a constantly mutating stew of gained squawks and fizzing, gauzy drones...it's rare to hear such a project come from anything other than the academic label-system these days; even rarer that we're treated to such a deluxe double-lp edition ... highly recommended!!!"
mimaroglu on maleficia's debut lp:
"january 2009 release; trance-inducing pair of vocal / viola / electronic threnodies from ilysea viles sunderman and andy way..."
some words on aemae "maw":
"january 2007 release; second album from bay-area composer brandon nickell...right off the bat, this one hits much harder than "the helical word," embracing the sort(s) of fully-rectified wave-shapes mapped out by florian hecker (then, again, by john wiese)..."
some words on the rest of the isounderscore catalogue can be found here: mimaroglu music sales
january 17, 2009:
maleficia soundcheck @ the compound 10/25/08. andy way (left) and sound engineer jacob felix heule (right).
january 12, 2009: [iso_07] ata ebtekar & the iranian orchestra for new music performing works
of alireza mashayekhi "ornamental" 2xlp:
[iso_06] maleficia s/t lp:
january 09, 2009: kicking off 2009, the maleficia and ata ebtekar records are now finally available.
