News
July 16, 2008
CELESTIAL REFLECTIONS
• tube'|131 - Edoardo Romani Capello - Chrysopraze Spheres
«By reflecting light, 'Chrysopraze Spheres' brings celestial phenomena into the most dark corners of your surroundings. Each song is composed of fine crystals that change color constantly. 'Breathing Sea' elevates you like one of this particles to a 'Shining Blue' sky with 'Cold Clouds'. The enormous 'Shadows' of a 'Lost' 'Damp Cave' resonate from the bottom of the earth asking you to return. As a crystal, you float between the sky and the surface of the earth without belonging to any specific territory.
Most of 'Chrysopraze Spheres' is like experiencing a soothing, dream-filled slumber while awake, and even if some of the pieces have obscure or menacing qualities, the instants of unease are ephemerous, like a passing nightmare whose feeling lingers briefly upon waking but whose content is forgotten.»
- Sebastian Alvarez
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July 10, 2008
MAY-JUNE TOP DOWNLOADS
Back again with more download stats. Let's review the MAY-JUNE period, then:
MAY 4XT
#01 - tube123 - d'incise - Les Restes du Festin [1822 downloads]
#02 - tube078 - Quest.Room.Project - Fiducial Banality [631 downloads]
#03 - tube099 - Entia Non - Distal [453 downloads]
#04 - tube122 - Entia Non - Lilt [444 downloads]
#05 - tube120 - Gordon Tebo - Patina Turner [338 downloads]
#06 - tube125 - Uncle bart comes to have breakfast - Some... [299 downloads]
#07 - tube096 - Long Desert Cowboy - Western Spaghetti [293 downloads]
#08 - tube121 - Mother - Self Deprivation [289 downloads]
#09 - tube110 - Shelter - Sleepyhead falls off the edge of... [284 downloads]
#10 - tube124 - OCP - Stepping Stone [282 downloads]
d'incise going strong with his amazing album. Almost triple the downloads of the second most downloaded release, surprisingly, an old one, 'Room Number: Fiducial Banality'.
#03 and #04 belong to Australia's Entia Non - two of my favorite releases from the last months. A couple of older release and more recent ones complete the top ten. It's also nice to see Western Spaghetti again...
JUNE 4XT
#01 - tube113 - TrianguliZona - Flossy [726 downloads]
#02 - tube123 - d'incise - Les Restes du Festin [716 downloads]
#03 - tubemm001 - David Vélez - 20:51 [494 downloads]
#04 - tube128 - Dan Schreck - Grow in the Dark Watch [302 downloads]
#05 - tube126 - 900piesek - Lonesome Abyss [297 downloads]
#06 - tube124 - OCP - Stepping Stone [260 downloads]
#07 - tube120 - Gordon Tebo - Patina Turner [185 downloads]
#08 - tube127 - Jin Men Ju - 01122008 [181 downloads]
#09 - tube122 - Entia Non - Lilt [162 downloads]
#10 - tube089 - Clorofila Azul - Revisitado (sem voz) [101 downloads]
More interesting facts here; an older release gets the top #01. Actually, it's not that old... anyway... another amazing album, from Croatian jazz ensemble TrianguliZona. Completely deserved as a lot of people downloaded the album. d'incise is still close to the top with more than 700 downloads, and in #03 comes another surprise (or maybe not) with our first mixed media release from David Vélez, '20:51', getting almost 500 clicks. It's good to see that David still has a lot of fans and they didn't forget how great his music is. Go David! :D
The remaining top is pretty much normal with the most recent releases getting more downloads, except the #10 where we had another older, from Clorofila Azul. Nice.
Keep clicking, people. More awesome music coming up next!
Peace,
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July 07, 2008
DANCING IN SMALL DOSES
• tube'|130 - Ad.R - Short Dance Songs EP
«Polish kid Adrian Kowalczewski (cover photo, black suit) aka Ad.R sent us a nifty little EP a while ago called 'Short Dance Songs'. It took some time to get everything ready for the release but, alas, here it is!
This EP is a nice little surprise, as it covers a lot of electronica's ground in just over 23 minutes. Inside, you will find nicely crafted old school IDM, some breakbeat, some 8bit stuff, some experimental IDM and a little whim of Glitch. Although most people that were big fans of electronica back in the days won't stand IDM in regular doses anymore - so many good stuff to listen to, so little time... - this small dose of really good IDM will take them in a small trip into nostalgialand.
'Out Moon (Of)' sounds like it got taken right off M3rck's or Neo Ouija's catalogue. 'Short Movie Song' and 'Short Vocal Song (parts 1 + 2) would fit perfectly into some of the late 90's Squarepusher records. A really great listen for old school electronica fans.»
- Pedro Leitão
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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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tube'|131
Edoardo Romani Capello
Chrysopraze Spheres
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37'35''
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tube'|130
Ad.R
Short Dance Songs EP
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23'20''
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tube'|132
Morgan Jenks
Sound to Activate Space EP
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28'50''
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Current Mixed-Media release: |
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tube'|dvd002
v/a
test tube collected works
076 ~ 124
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34h51'38'' |
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