// Spot On: Artist - Vladislav Delay (Finland)

Vladislav Delay is Finnish artist Sasu Ripatti. Born in 1976, Ripatti is a drummer and electronic pioneer who is known for his unique sound that blends the ambient, with elements of dub and arrhythmic structuring. He has gone on to write an iconic discography that includes Whistleblower (2007), Tummaa (2009) and Vantaa (2011).

Originally starting his musical life as an acoustic drummer for a band in his native Finland, Ripatti started to experiment with what could be done with samplers and effects. Through these experimentations, Ripatti found that he could no longer appease his own musical interest as part of the band he was in and decided to sell his drum kit and start experimenting further with electronic music.

His first performance as Vladislav Delay was captured on recording and was released as his first EP under this moniker, A Kind of Blue.

Sasu Ripatti has released many of his works on his own (now defunct) record label and has built studios all over the world including in Finland and Germany. His latest Vladislav Delay releases have been through raster-noton (yes, that label again) and more EP's are expected in the near future.

Ripatti has also written music under other monikers that have slightly different sounds from his Vladislav Delay project. These are, Sistol, Uusitalo and Luomo.

Visit Link 1: http://www.vladislavdelay.com/site/
Visit Link 2: http://www.discogs.com/artist/Vladislav+Delay
Visit Link 3: http://www.raster-noton.net/

// Spot On: Artist - Murcof (Mexico)

Murcof is the solo project of Mexican artist Fernando Corona. According to Corona, his interest in music came from his father's music, most notably Beatles and Classical records. As a child he can remember listening to this music, and as he grew into his early teen years his interest in electronics and recording came to the fore. It was when he realised that you could sample music and record your own sounds over the top that Fernando Corona realised that he could produce his own music.

As his musical interests grew he moved on to learn about becoming a technician in analysis and systems programming and how to DJ. In the 80's he admits to an interest in the Industrial and synth pop music scenes, but it is his early exposure to music by his father that has most influenced his musical style. Later, he became a member of Tijuanna's Nortec collective, a collective of artists that had the same artistic thoughts and creativity. As a member of the Nortec collective, Fernando Corona started to write music under his moniker Terrestre which blended his interest of electronic music with traditional Mexican instrumentation and musical ideas as well as sounds that he heard around him at the time.

While part of the Nortec collective, Fernando's need to experiment with different ideas and sounds drove him to playing around and manipulating works from Arvo Part etc. While manipulating these tracks he came up with his first track under his Murcof moniker, "MF Relay". Before long, he says, Corona had a group of tracks and he decided to release them as Murcof, thus, Martes his first release was born.

Corona, as Murcof has gone on to write a number of other albums taking a letter from his moniker as the inspiration for the name of the album. Martes (2002) was his first release, and this has been followed by Utopia (2004) which includes remixes of tracks from his Martes album, Remembranza (2005) and Cosmos (2007). As Murcof though, Corona has also done a collaboration EP with Erik Truffaz called Mexico (2008) as well as a specially commissioned album called The Versailles Sessions (2008) which was performed as part of the Les Grandes Eaux Nocturnes, an annual festival which takes place at Château de Versailles in France.

As well as a wide variety of albums, Corona has also written the soundtrack to a film called La Sangra Illuminada (2007) which consists of much shorter tracks than that we have become used to from Murcof but tracks that still carry on in the same vein.

Murcof fans around the world are currently awaiting his next album release Oceano which grew from another specially commissioned piece which was performed by himself (as Murcof) and BCN216 an instrumental group from Barcelona, Spain where Corona now lives.

Visit Link 1: http://www.murcof.com/main.html
Visit Link 2: http://www.themilkfactory.co.uk/interviews/murcofiw.htm
Visit Link 3: http://www.last.fm/music/Murcof

// Latest Release from Byetone (Germany)

Raster-Noton artist, Byetone is Olaf Bender's experimental electronic project. He has had a range of releases on the label most noticeable his Plastic Star release which has been remixed by some of the most notable artists on the Raster-Noton Label, including his good friend and label co-owner Carsten Nicolai.

Byetone's latest release Symeta has very strong rock influences but still retains his trademark sound and rhythms. The minimalist electronic glitch based beats are constantly battling with rock styled rhythms that drive you through the tracks but the heaving synths are ever powerful, tracking you through an industrial soundscape.

A music video for one of the tracks from the album can be found on youtube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j09AO2n9tnM.

Throughout the album, you are presented with the feeling of listening to an almost "unpolished" band in a rehearsal room, recording the sounds that emerge from an ever evolving live improvisation. It can be hard at times to believe that this is just a one man outfit writing music instead of a full band, but the album is a spectacular blend of rock and the experimental electronic music scenes.

Raster-Noton's review of Symeta can be found via Link 1 and you can buy the album at Link 2.

Visit Link 1: http://www.raster-noton.net/main.php
Visit Link 2: https://shop.raster-noton.net/

// Spot On: Record Label - Raster-Noton (Germany)

Raster-Noton is a german record label which is run by Olaf Bender and Carsten Nicolai, created when the two labels, Rastermusic and Noton joined together in 1999. The two artists also release their own music on this label under their respective monikers, Byetone (Bender) and Alva Noto (Nicolai).

The label has a specific "brand" and style of music and art. The sound of many of the artist on the label is very similar to each other, although they perform and write in completely different manners. Glitch and drone music, with a vast array of effects is the sound you expect to hear from a label like Raster-Noton. And it isn't just the music that sets the brand of the label away from other similar labels.

When you flick through the album covers of the many releases that Raster -Noton has (the label houses some circa 58 artists), it becomes clear that the art direction of the label has a specific look and feel too. Minimalism and experimentation is the way that this label sells itself and this is carried through the art. Good examples can be found from Alva Noto (Unitxt, Univrs, Xerrox vol 1 & vol 2), Frank Bretschneider (Rhythm, EXP), Byetone (Death of a Typeographer, Symeta) and the labels latest in house EP Series Unun which has had a variety of artists such as NHK, AOKI Takamasa and Mika Vainio showcasing their music.

If you like experimental music and especially the glitch experimental electronica scene, add Raster-Noton to your browser bookmarks and make sure to keep checking back on a regular basis, I do.

Visit Link 1: http://www.raster-noton.net/

// Review: SaffronKeira "A New Life: New Life" Part 2

Listening to SaffronKeira's album, part 2 is quite a revelation after listening to the first part. After the dense layers of low-end drones that power through the first half of the double album, you are confronted with a different sounding landscape in the second. Whereas the first half is slow and dark, almost reflective in sound, the second half aims to move you in a new direction. It is as though you are listening to an audible representation of a new beginning.

Thoughts that come to mind when listening to these new tracks are, "A sense of Wonder", "Excitement" and "Uplifting". Yes the low drones are still present and it has an overall slow pace but there are moments of absolute magic. Just as you start to disappear under a blanket of darkness, like being swallowed by water, you emerge into a lightness that creates a sense of relief. With blasts of noise and immaculately soundscaped drones and electronic rhythms, you are led down a path of discovery. A path of self-discovery. But, where the first part was mostly electronic synth work with manipulated acoustic instrumentation towards the end of its 1 hour run, the second part adds beautiful, clean, acoustic piano and guitar and other instrumentation. It is in this half of the double album, that you can hear the likeness to Murcof's work. It is most noticeable in tracks such as First Denti and 190305 where piano is blended with low drone synths and glitchy electronic beats, but can also be found in other tracks such as Acceptance of Mental Disorder and Endless Agony of Being Sick.

Complete track list:

    A New Life: Old Life (Part 1)

1. Soliga (9'17")

2. Symbiosi (10'06")

3. Intrepidation (9'11")

4. Ethan (8'55")

5. Pregnancy (8'01")

6. 8th Months (8'44")

7. Last Days (9'59")

    A New Life: New Life (Part 2)

1. 111208 (13'37")

2. First Denti (8'43")

3. Psychologically Destroying (12'02")

4. 190305 (9'24")

5. Acceptance of Mental Disorder (16'53")

6. Endless Agony of Being Sick (12'50")

My personal highlights are on "190305", where the piano and guitar are met with high notes and glitch rhythms. A nice experiment with distortion effects adds a new layer of intrigue to the track. The other highlight being on "Endless Agony of Being Sick", where the voices and string sections (that have a feeling of being taken from the "Sunshine" movie soundtrack) guide you through the last parts of this strong debut double album. 


Oder your copy of SaffronKeira "A New Life" at Link 1 below.


Visit Link1: http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=SaffronKeira

// Review: SaffronKeira "A New Life: Old Life" Part 1

Having just listened to the first part of SaffronKeira's new album, A New Life I though I had better add my own review of it. On pressing play for the first time you are confronted by low drones that echo  the power of an organ at full power within a considerably small cathedral space. These slow drones then proceed to build and dissipate in a ballet of careful choreography that leads you into the overall feel of this first CD.

From then on, leading from track to track, you are audibly assaulted by immense layers of drones and minimal electronic beats that lead you by the hand through an old landscape. The general feeling is that of slow powerfulness, a journey that has come to an end, which seems odd considering this is the first part of the double album. But fear not. As we are led into the final track of the 1st part of the double album we are handed an absolute gift in the form of track 7, Last Days. Still keeping with the feel of the rest of the tracks, (the low drones and general slow pace are still there), this track is accompanied by a slow, moody piano melody. A piano melody that seems to suggest a life that has seen all., knows all and has passed on its wisdom to the next generation.

Overall this first part of the album can be gloomy and sad, but at the same part leaves you with a feeling of accomplishment, of a person coming to terms with oneself and ready to journey on. A powerful first part to a debut by an exciting new artist. A definite addition for connoisseurs of experimental electronica.

SaffronKeira Review Part 2: "A New Life: New Life" Coming soon.

// Spot On: Artist - SaffronKeira (Italy)

SaffronKeira is the performance name of Eugenio Caria from the island of Sardinia. He has produced a stunning debut album, A New Life, which is a split double album. Part 1 is called A New Life: Old Life and Part 2 is called A New Life: New Life. The two parts are pointed towards different parts of  the journey of life, the old part describing the wisdom that comes with old age and in the new life, how we are in the beginning, fragile and a blank canvas, ever learning about our new environment. Often beautiful, sometimes dark and moody, A New Life is a spectacular audible journey and an incredible way for SaffronKeira to step out of the darkness. A debut that is this strong is where all aspiring artists strive for.

A must buy for fans of Murcof, Max Richter, Fennesz and Arvo Part etc.

Visit Link 1: http://saffronkeira.tumblr.com/
Visit Link 2: http://denovali.com/saffronkeira/
Visit Link 3: http://denovali.com/shop/product_info.php?products_id=6598
Visit Link 4: http://www.amazon.co.uk/A-New-Life-Saffronkeira/dp/B0088MJOEA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1343826443&sr=8-1

A further review will be available in a future post.

// New Release: Willits + Sakamoto "Ancient Future"

Ancient Future is the new release from Christopher Willits and Ryuichi Sakamoto, and is another mix of pure piano genius (Sakamoto) and the sometimes chaotic electronic world (Willits). Unlike the collaborations with Alva Noto, this work by Sakamoto doesn't revolve around rhythmic symmetry but rather strays into the ambient and uncomfortable. A sometimes hard to access mix between soft melodies from the piano, feedback and static loops, this can be at times unsettling, but with a name like Ancient Future, the contradictions were always going to take centre stage. The stories from each track could have been individually tailored to each listener, and describe a struggle through life from its delicate beginnings to becoming one with yourself.

A definite addition to any collector of Sakamoto's music, and a great way to introduce yourself to the works of Christopher Willits, Ancient Future should be examined by everyone interested in the mix of classical and the electronic.

Ancient Future is available now from Ghostly Records and can be found at Link 1.

Link 2 is a youtube video of Williits' track Or with the Tea from his album Folding and the Tea.
Link 3 is a youtube video of Sakamoto playing his Energy Flow track.

Visit Link 1: http://www.theghostlystore.com/collections/music/products/willits-sakamoto-ancient-future
Visit Link 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjOOY_wUb00
Visit Link 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btyhpyJTyXg

First Post // New Release from Matter

This is my first post on my first ever blog so, first of all, its great to be here! As this is my first time blogging, it may take some time to get used to all this stuff but i am hoping to keep up to date with some of the interesting releases within the experimental/minimalist/glitch genre music from around the world.

I have personally met artists such as Mise_En_Scene (Israel), Heidseck (Italy), Vainqueur , Francisco Lopez (Spain) and Retina.IT (Italy) and thus have some connections to this world and the music scene.


Now to business. My first post to FIRST-STAGE is a new release from Matter.

Fabrizio Matrone, is an electronic producer of experimental music from Italy. He has written music under the pseudonyms of Matter and Heidseck, and has released many albums under these. Some of the most notable releases as Matter have been: Scanning Memory, I Want This, Blackleg and [Vacuum].

His latest release, Solid State, has been released via kvitnu, the same label that has released such artists as Plaster and Dunaewsky69. Listening to this work can be an intriguing sonic journey through reverberation and harsh, staccato glitch electronica.

Release notes from kvitnu:
"Solid State is a daily alienation experienced as an escape in search of identity. Constant urban noise makes a bits' cacophony of the metropolis, that intersects the electricity of sound. Cement and steel buildings in right corners are deep down the underground in an asynchronous alternating geometry and they penetrate mind's distortions that are inevitably directed towards the point of no return."


Take a listen to the tracks on "link 1" below, and put your own personal views on this latest release and take a trip into the vivid mind of one of the most iconic experimental electronica producers around.

Visit link 1: http://kvitnu.com/releases/kvitnu24.html
Visit link 2: http://www.last.fm/music/Matter