| June 2008 news
June 30, 2008
CLEANSING DRONES
• tube'|129 - Artik - Shaman Tones
«'Shaman Tones' starts with a Hedningarna cover, unsuspiciously titled, yeah, 'Hedningarna', and with it Polish artist Artur Antonian sets the tone for what will come ahead: Drones, repeated patterns, pagan rhythms and world grooves. This is a long album and Artur tries with some success to cover diferent styles and feelings. 'Flamenco' grabs a set of spanish guitar chords and deconstructs them throughout; 'Elves' goes cyber futuristic with it's blade runner-esque pads and beats; 'Polka' goes... ahem... polka style; 'Shaman Tones' sounds like a cleansing ritual and has someone speaking a strange language at times. And there's some more for you to discover.
Most of the time 'Shaman Tones' feels like a sonic travel through a handful of cultures, states of mind and consciousness, moods or whatever. Breathe deep and come inside.» - Pedro Leitão
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June 19, 2008
NEW VÉLEZ REVIEWED
Our friend Sean Monaghan today wrote a very nice shortie for David's latest work '20:51', a mixed-media piece you should download right away if you haven't so yet. Here's the quote:
«This is a delicious immersion into wonderful darkened depths. So well sculpted and taking you in directions you'd never expect - just at the moment that you're thinking that the drones and watery sounds will keeps shimmering and subtly changing, the piece will take a sudden turn. About two thirds through a chord sound leaps out at you, bringing your attention back to the music, and then that sound and variations are explored with more movement and power until the end. And the set of photos make a nice complement to the sounds - stark, evocative images. Overall a slick piece of work.»
This short review was posted on EARLAbs today. You can write your own too!
Peace,
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June 18, 2008
TIME TO GROW INSIDE
• tube'|128 - Dan Schreck - Grow in the Dark Watch
«Dan Schreck is a north-american musician who studies sound at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. In his spare time he also does some credited work with production and stuff and meanwhile, he also manages to get some time for his own experiments with music and sound. 'Grow in the Dark Watch' is another one of these audio experiments where Dan works sound as a medium to achieve particular moods or feelings.
The mood that goes throughout most of this small EP is perhaps close to fear, suspense, or even terror. The first four tracks are kind of creepy in their own way, thanks to the type of sounds Dan choosed to work. Tracks five and six are a bit different and they seem more like experiments on hypnotic drones and loops than anything else. After a while listening to 'Grow in the Dark Watch' - mind you, it's not an easy listening by any chance - you can go two ways: either your brain starts to get into the loops and you feel yourself being pulled into a caleidoscopic journey; or you start to feel uncomfortable with the sharp and pointy sounds and want to terminate your listening right away. I've felt both ways in separate listening incursions and I can tell you this much: 'Grow in the Dark Watch' needs some time and dedication to grow itself into you. Enjoy!»
- Pedro Leitão
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June 12, 2008
QUIA PULVIS ES...
• tube'|mm001 - David Vélez - 20:51
«'20:51' is the first release in a new series here at test tube. David challenged me several months ago in doing some kind of book release, and then I though to myself: 'why not starting a new mixed-media series of work?'. The idea started to materialize slowly and now we proudly present this new work from David Vélez.
In the future, expect a different kind of mixed-media works: text and audio, video and text, audio and video, audio and photo, etc. We want that artists feel completely free in aesthetics and form. This is their naked canvas here at test tube.» - Pedro Leitão
«'20:51' is a publication composed of 1) a series of photographs I took and put together as a PDF publication, and 2) a sound piece titled 'Polvo'. This is the first sound work I finish and publish in almost 9 months, a period where I looked around for inspiration and slowed down.
The word 'Polvo' in spanish means 'Dust' but also refers to the sexual act of reproduction: the origin of this meaning is unclear.
Celebrities like Woddy Allen, God, John Lennon, David Bowie and even Pablo Picasso have used the word 'Polvo'/'Dust' on their creations and/or on their quotes and titles.
"...quia pulvis es, et in pulverem reverteris... ".
("...for dust you are, and to dust shall you return...").
...is a quote taken from Genesis 3:19 in the Bible. Some intellectuals claim that this Bible quote is the origin of the use of the word 'Polvo' to refer to the sexual act.
The cyclic and finite/infinite notion that are found on the use of the word 'Polvo' are quite inspiring and probably influenced the way the piece sounds and feels, since the title 'Polvo' was assigned to the piece before I composed it.
Dust was here before us, dust will remain here after us. That fact makes everything else simple, ephemeral and harmless.
There is not a manifest connection between the piece and the photos.»
- David Vélez
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June 10, 2008
ULTRA-MINIMAL FOLK
• tube'|127 - Jin Men Ju - 01122008
«Hailing from Forth Worth, USA comes Jin Men Ju - real name Terry Horn - with the weirdest and minimalist acoustic based folk we've listened in years. Terry uses a power tour guitar toy, a nintendo ds with jam sessions and a ibook g4 to create hypnotic layers of strings repeated through infinite loops.
You'll need a good stomach and a mind wide open enough to enjoy Terry's compositions, and if you do, you'll achieve levels of satisfaction you never thought possible. '01122008' is reckless and adventurous minimal music, and it will crosswire your brain for good. Enjoy!»
- Pedro Leitão
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June 03, 2008
DIGITAL TERRITORIES
If you get our newsletter you already know that tomorrow we fly to Sevilla to participate in Territorios Digitales, a free admission section of the bigger festival TERRITORIOS SEVILLA, held in the beautiful Andaluzian city.
Monocromatica/test tube will participate with a DJ Set (by yours truly) and a live concert by Platform of improvised electronics. We play on friday starting at noon (12h00 CEST). Opening the section tomorrow will be Deadbeat, which is one my favorite electronic acts and I already had the occasion of booking him to a local concert almost three years ago. It will be nice to meet Scott again.
Alongside the concerts and showcases, Territorios Digitales will host several conferences about digital creation, digital music and all things digital in the new millennium. There will be workshops as well and demonstrations from some of the brands present at the stands (where we will be present too).
I'm sure this will be a rewarding experience for everybody. Saturday I'll return with some news about the event, and next monday we will have a new release. See you!
Peace,
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June 02, 2008
THE DEEP
• tube'|126 - 900piesek - Lonesome Abyss
«Matúš Mikula is from Slovakia, one of the youngest members of the European Community, and as 900piesek he brings us a soothing sci-fi ambient release, packed with nostalgia and warmth. 'Lonesome Abyss' is Matús' third album already, and it can be somewhat defined as a dark ambient work, although it's a bit bright in the end. In Matús own words, this album is about the «death of the astro navigators», whatever that means... metaphorically speaking, it's about one's journey from the ocean shore to the abyssal deep. The plunge, the descent, reaching for the thin line between life and death. Just you... and the darkness around. Enjoy...» - Pedro Leitão
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