Inspired by thoughts of deep space and the limitless ocean, Dark Terrain marks a turn outward and downward for Abstract Audio Systems. Elements of ambient and drone adorn all the tracks here, seeking to open your inner headspaces. Look out into the stars and down into the depths.
A continuous mix of Abstract Audio Systems tunes. This was a gift to a friend's daughter on the advent of her 1st birthday. The object was to create a lulling mix that would put the little tyke to bed softly. We hope it does the same for you.
Once again, a mixed bag of beats from Puzleboy. Here you will find downtempo tracks, upbeat dance tunes, some hardcore (just for fun), and a soundscape to boot. Predictably all over the place, Puzleboy delivers another fun filled disc of musical diversity.
Soot black atmospheres, shuddering noise, and dark, dark places. A study in experimental noise. Deep, dark drones hover beneath creeping background clicks and scratches. Black, echoing soundscapes scrape across your ears. This is cavernous music, opening spaces hidden inside your head. A dark turn inward and downward.
Averauschen is a one-off project involving Bonechurch and Princess Coldheart.
Bonechurch returns with another epic expedition into the dark music. "(Swing Wide) Hell's Iron Gate" is a 17+ minute blueprint of drone, its growling synthlines drifting off into nothingness. "Echoing Dust" begins in much the same way, yet in the subsequent 24+ minutes it spirals into the rattle and clatter of bastardized neo-dub and anti-rhythmic experimentation. Truly a rewarding experience for those with an adventurous ear.
The human mind is a fascinating thing. We are capable of imagining a boundless universe, infinite in size as well as its opposite, the infinitesimal domain of the atom. While not as all encompassing as this, Poems For Innogen attempts to present a similar idea. Heavily electronic tracks like “Circumstellar” and “Full Of Stars” look out into the vastness of space, while acoustic pieces like “Flower and Vine” and “Dulcinea” present a more intimate, individual experience. Some of the tracks, particularly “The Dandelion Clock”, attempt to incorporate both ideas, embellishing a warm, muted piano line with distant drones. You will find elements of ambient and drone in these compositions, as well as acoustic and improvisational work. While simultaneously outward and inward looking, it is the hope of Abstract Audio Systems that the music presented herein will somehow strike a balance between the two.
The first in a series of free releases from Machine Tribe Recordings. You can download it here.
Breaks The Blank Day returns with another EP of delicate, introspective tracks. Intimate washes and distant drones cover all your inner spaces. Soft and inviting, but sometimes with an underlying bite.
The second in a series of free releases from Machine Tribe Recordings. You can download it here.
The second EP release from Breaks The Blank Day continues in the same vein as their self-titled, freshman release. A feast of sinewave sounds and glitchy twists; all improvisation, all the time, and always bittersweet.
The first in a series of free releases from Machine Tribe Recordings. You can download it here.
"We lie with night's crushed velvet blossom spread above, dew drop stars illuminating us. Gazing heavenward, arm beneath you. Small and joined, having stumbled in the dark too long. We listen. We learn. We hope." The self-titled debut from Breaks The Blank Day is the soundtrack to this scene. Delicate melodies, intimate sounds culled from several improvised sessions of ambient glitch. Also includes Puzleboy's dub-inspired remix of "far and away".
A mini-review from the Kikapu netlabel: "Six songs of hypnotic wonder and beauty, they're a perfect relaxant for the cool nights of the ensuing summer."
The digital and the organic are fascinating. The former captures every tiny aspect of sound, ignoring nothing. This complexity affords a musician enormous power over the music they create. The latter is the result of direct contact between the instrument and the musician. Each touch returns a tone. This simplicity affords a musician the opportunity to create in the rawest sense of the word.
But what happens when the digital and the organic meet?
This is the concept behind these recordings. AAS wanted to explore what effect a primitive digital recorder would have on purely organic sounds. What colors and overtones would be added? What would be lost? The contents of this CD were recorded using a Dell Axim handheld computer placed above the keyboard of a baby grand piano. None of these songs were planned or pre-composed. All the melodies you will hear were completely improvised. These sessions were subsequently downloaded off the Axim and manipulated in the studio.
It is the hope of AAS that the results are an intriguing example of the marriage between simple digital recording and organic sound.
Another trip down the icy, misty tracks of the Undersound. Some heavy beats, some bleak ambiences, World's End once again illustrates Bonechurch's passion for all things dark and sinister. The glitchy beat freakout of "Evil Dirt"; the distant emptiness of "Music Box Sinks"; the cacophonous orchestrations of "Sulfurous Dub"; all display a dark, yet diverse palette of sound. Neo-nightmare music.
This CD is a collaborative effort between Abstract Audio Systems and ambient composers Austere. The raw sound materials for this release were provided by Austere and subsequently manipulated and sequenced by AAS. The result is an ambient work inspired by the ideas of space and distance. These cold reaches can be heard in "Exo-bio", while "Blu" and "Atul" speak of the ocean's depths and the wildness of the unexplored. "Blackfilm" and "Unquiet" are much more claustrophobic, each mapping some secret, inner space that we ourselves are sometimes afraid to explore. The title track returns us to the light and reminds us of the comfortable spaces we build around ourselves.
A mini review from the Hypnos forums: "Throbbing, bass-heavy synth drones, wrapped around lighter, meandering passages... a very unique sound, I think. Some of these tracks seem as lonely and deep as the cover-art suggests. A tough nut to crack — very complex musically and emotionally, but once it hits you, you're hooked."
Delicate melodies wafting through the summer air. This collection of tracks brings to mind those peaceful days of warmth and security. Simple and hypnotic at times, but compelling and complex at others, this release from Abstract Audio Systems incorporates both electronic and acoustic elements. Lightness and beauty.
Soot black atmospherics and distant drones are at the core of this release. From the icy melancholy of "Priorities" (made just after 9/11 in a fit of bitterness at corporate America's reaction to the attack), the isolation of "Lost On The Ice", and the booming spaces of "Carfax Abbey", this CD continues Bonechurch's tradition of dark recordings.
The further adventures of Puzleboy. Elements of glitch have continued to sneak their way into the compositions, which range from light, upbeats tunes to more mellow, introspective pieces. And, in typical fashion, there are bits like "Gabbermensch", a 6-minute, gabber-inflected bit of beat madness. Also featured is a rare vocal track, "Need Machine", which is perhaps Puzleboy's darkest track to date. In all, this multifaceted release will have a bit of something for every listener to enjoy.
Fusing elements of dark ambient, noise, and beat, Bonechurch's fifth release sends the listener spiralling down into a world of twisted sound and shattered vision. Bleak soundscapes and vast black spaces fill this CD with an aching sense of loneliness. Not for the weak of heart.
Puzleboy continues his eclectic ways with this collection of tracks. The feel is lighter at times that his freshman release, Target Light, with the emphasis more on laid back groove than uptempo dance. Tunes like "Falling Softly" drift along, experiments in relaxation and repose. However, never one to settle for just one vibe, Puzleboy throws in several curves, including the title track and the clicking "Archiemedes Insight". This release is yet another example of this artist's continuing musical curiosity.
In our constant quest to find new and interesting sound, Machine Tribe Recordings turned to the mighty Ocosi. Several tracks were submitted to this darkhop mastermind for him to twist and reanimate in his own, inimitable style. The results? Five monstrous mixes, each brimming with just the right amount of rhythm and evil. Hear Ocosi sink his teeth into Bonechurch's "Grindspace", manipulating it into a festival of static and ghosts. Puzleboy's "Hidden Sun" goes under the knife and exits the operating theater remade, a minimalist's dream of its former self. "Pebbles" likewise is reborn into a towering juggernaut of beat and beauty. "Melancholy Smile" rounds out Ocosi's abuse of Puzleboy's work, transformed from its blue funk original to a ride on some terrible amusement ride from hell. Bonechurch's "Low Hills, High Mountains" finishes off this 50-minute excursion into the dark mind of Ocosi in a flurry of glitchy rhythm and beautiful, distant tones, the end of a fascinating and frightening journey.
Nebenstation is a thirty minute descent into darkness. Inspired by photos of an abandoned factory, this extended sound piece echoes with the distant clang of machinery and a ghostly wind that blows through the ruins. One imagines the phantoms of the workers lurking in and amongst the rusted hulks, awaiting the return of the fierce fires that will never burn again.
A blank, white room. A tiny crack in the wall. Push through into the emptiness. Bonechurch takes you on another trip into the in between sounds. From the cavernous booms of "Clock Of Fate" to the glacial spaces of "Twilight At The End Of Time", Within Empty Spaces is a palate of abstractions. A snippet of melody flies by only to be replaced by an icy drone. Voices crackle just beyond earshot. This is a soundtrack for ghosts.
Bonechurch's second release is a further turn towards the darker sides of music. This collection of eight pieces in nearly beatless, concentrating instead on thick, yet atmospheric experiments with black ambient and soundscape manipulation. "Colder (A Sound Sliver)" announces the arrival of something altogether different than the sludgy beats of Bonechurch's freshman release, BlackStatic. From the claustrophobic buzzes of "Asphyxia" to the 22+ minute noisescape "Nessus", this CD drags the listener down the unlit halls beneath the beats where the sunlight never reaches.
This is a 36-minute breath of heaven, swirling drones supporting distant notes that spiral upward into the beautiful nothing. Headphones are recommended for this release from Abstract Audio Systems, as this single track CD is specifically designed for trips into your inner headspaces. Ride upon the waves of sound and sink into the depths of the music.
This EP release from Abstract Audio Systems ventures further into the realm of drone. Hollow, distant tones float across empty spaces. This is the sound of the deep, the unexplored regions of the world, the haunted places. Darker than any of their previous releases, Abstract Audio Systems turns away from the light and travels down a more murky path.
A mini-review from the members of Austere: "...rather quiet and somber, dark in ominous-sounding timbres. Rather stark and sparse in places. Very well done, highly recommended if you enjoy this style of music. Obligatory relative subjective comparisons: Lustmord (w/ & w/o Robert Reich) & the darker material by Lull."
"Truth tends to reveal its highest wisdom in the guise of simplicity." Neitzche's sentiments are echoed solidly on the second release from Abstract Audio Systems. From the opening melodies of "Lucid Dream" to the final breath of "Aedon", this CD is full of floating, soothing textures and soundscapes. Interspersed are some darker tunes as well. The glitchy, dub-esque bass tones of "Nanomein" and the swirling static of "Othela" serve as counterpoints to the more blissful moments here, yet do not interupt the overall flow of the CD. Abstract Audio Systems continues to experiment with the manipulation of sound and the exploration of its affects on feeling and emotion and this release serves as a continuing blueprint for that approach.
Bonechurch's first solo release is filled to the brim with his signature sound. Dark, brooding beats and ethereal, floating atmospherics circle and threaten. Headphones are a must for this release. Bonechurch has sighted Scorn and Massive Attack as two of his biggest influences, but don't expect an homage to either band. Not exactly dark-hop; not exactly trip-hop. Ambient industrial? Perhaps; perhaps not. But as the first tenet of Machine Tribe Recordings goes: Genres are a waste of time; the music is what matters.
A mini-review from Opi8.com: "You can tell Bonechurch has been listening to Scorn -- but I can also hear the angry churn of early Cabaret Voltaire (on "Depopulator" and "View from the Chair" especially) and the mind-bending noise freakouts of Coil. High-strung and querulous one moment, hypnotic and devastating the next, Bonechurch's debut leaves big caterpillar tread-marks on genre boundaries instead of shattering them, pulverizes influences instead of paying homage."
Drum and bass? Downtempo? Vocals? Instrumentals? Puzleboy weaves a little bit of a lot of different styles and influences into his first full release on Machine Tribe Recordings, Target Light. From the laid back beats and flutes of "Pebbles" to the soothing synths of "Sunlight", this album dips and sways like a bird in flight. Bright one moment, dark the next, Target Light reinenforces Puzleboy's reputation as an all around music lover. Why restrict yourself to one genre when so much aural beauty exists in the world? So pop the CD in your player and let it take you somewhere.
Experimental electronic music is always a favorite here at Machine Tribe Recordings and this freshman release by Abstract Audio Systems more than hits the mark in that respect. From the flute like noodlings of "fiark" to the growling synths of "morpheus kiss", SomeNothing is a musical adventure into the abstract. Most of the tracks were done in one take with little post production. Abstract Audio Systems continues to shy away from conventional song structure, although arppegiated songs like "arp" and "secher" reveal a melody conscious undercurrent in all the tracks. Challenging at times, engaging all the time. This release also contains Puzleboy's beat-heavy, acid-drenched remix of "morpheus kiss".
