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In every scene you can find some people who work exceptionally hard to promote and release amazing music. Raffaele Pezzella is one of them. He runs Eight Tower Records and The Unexplained Sounds Group. Every Sunday evening Raffaele presents some of the finest new tunes on his Mixlr broadcast.
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In this edition of Brieviews Label Special, we take a look at some of the things Raffaele has been releasing. Time does not permit us to write fully details about every single release so we picked a nice selection of experimental ambient tunes. However, I still recommend browsing through the bandcamp pages and see what fits you. There is definitely something for everyone in there, except maybe for die-hard dubstep fans...
Fonemi - Atene
ambient
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Italian solo ambient act Fonemi delivers a nine track album inspired by ancient Greece, the gloomy regions and parts of ancient Greece so it seems. The music on this album can best be described as lingering ambient, calmy driving forward. It is mainly based on electronic soundscapes, drones and subtle hints of rhythm. Sometimes they are deep and immersive, sometimes they take on a harsher, rougher approach. 'Nei vicoli di Cesme' is my favorite track here but I'm sure that every ambient fan can easily appreciate these tunes. If people like Philip Jeck, BJ Nilsen or Rapoon are in your collection, Fonemi deserves a spot too.
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2018 Balkan experimental survey - Post industrial culture series
various
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One of the most impressive things Raffaele does, is scour the underground for beautiful music. For this release, he found no less that thirty-two acts, coming from Greece, Romania, Turkey, Serbia, Bulgaria, Albania, Slovenia and Macedonia. The result is a massively varied album, exploring post-industrial music in all its forms. From deep droning soundscapes of Conjecture and Kaosmos over the immersive rhythms of MyTrip and Meczup, the gentle ambient of Cyberian to the harsh noise of Ontervjabbit and the strange experimental music of Wolf Wrams, this album certainly got something for everybody.
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Ocean of Sound - The 3rd Annual Report
various
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Another one of those massive compilations is the 'Ocean Of Sound - The Annual Report' series. In these Raffaele picks his favorite tracks from each year of post industrial underground digging. The 3rd Annual Report, split into two vast compilation contains no less than a whopping 229 tracks, coming from over 200 artists. You can find gems from Interface Type Seven, Ashtoreth, Urs Wild, DunJin and many, many, many more. Hell, even my own project, Misantronics, is featured.
Now you might think that this is sheer overload but Raffaele refuses to focus solely on quantity. For him, the quality of music seems to be just as important. All the tracks here belong to the best that these featured acts had to offer at the time. Although calm, soothing ambient seems to be the main subgenre, these two compilations are obviously tremendously varied. The aforementioned acts belong to my personal favorites among the 229 tracks but I just just as easily pick out ten-twelve other favs.
Gardener for example, and his highly immersive rhythmic participation, or Vanderlamp's beautiful ambient tune. For noise fans, there is Tryptaphonics or Flutwacht and Nakatomi Blast, among others. There is the mystic ambient of Xerxes The Dark and Naadam. There are the rough soundscapes of Sonologyst and weirdness of Kraft and the eerie voices of Kiki Ka. Again, definitely something for everyone to be found on this vast compilation.
Now you might think that this is sheer overload but Raffaele refuses to focus solely on quantity. For him, the quality of music seems to be just as important. All the tracks here belong to the best that these featured acts had to offer at the time. Although calm, soothing ambient seems to be the main subgenre, these two compilations are obviously tremendously varied. The aforementioned acts belong to my personal favorites among the 229 tracks but I just just as easily pick out ten-twelve other favs.
Gardener for example, and his highly immersive rhythmic participation, or Vanderlamp's beautiful ambient tune. For noise fans, there is Tryptaphonics or Flutwacht and Nakatomi Blast, among others. There is the mystic ambient of Xerxes The Dark and Naadam. There are the rough soundscapes of Sonologyst and weirdness of Kraft and the eerie voices of Kiki Ka. Again, definitely something for everyone to be found on this vast compilation.
DŪR UNTASH - Visions of Darkness
various
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Raffaele's neverending search leads them to some of the most unexpected places on this globe. On 'Visions Of Darkness', he compiled twenty one tracks from artists from Iran. It follows the 'Persian Experimental 016 Survey' and delivers a rare insight into the Iranian underground. Perhaps needless to say, but 'Visions Of Darkness' is a well varied album, one that somehow also manages to sound coherent and thematic. You can find deep droning tracks from Xerxes The Dark and Nyctalllz, beautiful downtempo electronics from S.S.M.P. and sweet ambient from Alphaxone. At the end, there is the gloomy avant garde of Mehdi Behbudi & Vahide Sistaani, finishing off a breathtaking compilation.
'Dür Untash' sees five acts return for an update on the current state of Iranian post industrial music. Reza Solatipour, Nyctalllz, Self Industry, Alphaxone and PooYar delivered three tracks each and once again, each of them perfectly hit the spot. The opener by Reza Solatipour remains my favorite track here but I am extremely positive that most ambient aficionados can easily appreciate this compilation.
'Dür Untash' sees five acts return for an update on the current state of Iranian post industrial music. Reza Solatipour, Nyctalllz, Self Industry, Alphaxone and PooYar delivered three tracks each and once again, each of them perfectly hit the spot. The opener by Reza Solatipour remains my favorite track here but I am extremely positive that most ambient aficionados can easily appreciate this compilation.
New Frontiers Of Electronic Music
various
Acts from Sweden, US, Canada, Italy, France, Japan, Belgium, Scotland and Germany come together on a compilation that claims to search for the very edges of electronic music and surpass those boundaries. The result is a collection of fifteen tracks, many of them perfect examples of how unique musical can actually be. Take 'Temple' by Fissures for example, a weird and somewhat unsettling ambient-noise tune, the eerie track by Stefan Schmidt or the uneasy strangeness of JS Horseman. This album goes beyond calm, soothing ambient and into a realm of futuristic avant garde music. Not that I mind. This is an interesting insight into the electronic underground.
Michael Bonaventure - Works 2008 - 2017
experimental
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Born in 1962, Michael Bonaventure is a classical composer, organist and keyboard player. Raffaele was allowed to compile a number of his works for this insightful anthology. The music feels like a cross over between avant garde modern classical music, experimental ambient and electro acoustic noises. It is definitely not an easy-digestible album but nonetheless an interesting and varied one, one that effortlessly manages to maintain the listener's attention. 'Doxology' is my favorite track here but I'm sure many fans of the odd and unusual will find something to their liking.
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Various - Heresy
various
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The word "Heresy" comes from the Greek "hairesis", which means choice. It was merely a technical term for a philosophical school or the doctrines of a religion. With that in mind, Raffaele selected thirteen tracks, based on that concept. Here we see some well known names appear, including Vladimir Hirsch, Xerxes the Dark, Ruairi O'Baoighill and Taphephobia. The result is a stunning trip into the darkest regions of ambient and experimental music, one that every fan of the genre should check out. In all 'Heresy' is a superb collection of dark and haunting tunes, just the way we like it...
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Aseptic Void - Ideazione di Contrasto
dark ambient
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Since 2009 Aseptic Void is the alias of composer and painter Davide Terreni. His music can best be described as dark ambient, inspired by ancient rituals and the occult. In that atmosphere, this album certainly is a must-listen. Although minimal, all six tracks are dark, haunting pieces of music, consisting of soundscapes and eerie noises. I think the plan is to play this loud and enjoy the gloomy and somewhat psychedelic trip, especially the long and fascinating track 'Ideazione di Contrasto'. For dark ambient fans, this is certainly a recommended piece of work. Then again, pretty much everything here is...
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The Old Alchemist
various
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A nice dark ambient album, featuring both familiar names and new acts, with the Theory and Practice of Alchemy. New Risen Throne opens this compilation with a mesmerizing ambient track. From then on, the compilation gracefully continues, highlighting plenty of times. My personal favorites include the contributions of Urs Wild and Monocube, but once again that is a tough decision to make. The best way to enjoy this is in total darkness, loud and in its entirety. But beware, strange hallucinations might appear, nothing to really worry about but the might be frightening. Then again, life can be frightening too, right?
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Sonologyst - Apocalypse
ambient / experimental
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We end this special edition of Brieviews with Raffaele's own ambient act Sonologyst. The album is a gloomy and somewhat sorrowful musical journey through post-apocalyptic landscapes. It balances on the edge between ambient, dark ambient and experimental music in nine eerie chapters. I absolutely love the concept of this whole thing, with each title predicting an impending future with its abandoned cities, its ever growing deserts and toxic rain. This surely is not a jolly album to listen to but it still is a perfect musical rendition of our uncertain future. Highly recommended.
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Serge
