// New Release: Asférico LIVE at Eventual Music

A new release from Asférico is now available as a "name-your-price" download from the link below. If you have never been able to hear what Alex Gamez does LIVE or never been bale to get to LIVE event, be sure to download this for a good price.

Visit Link 1: http://vibedeck.com/asferico/live-at-eventual-music

// 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/

// 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

// Latest Release from Retina.IT (Italy)

Descending Into Crevasse, the latest release from Italian duo Retina. IT (Lino Monaco & Nicola Buono) released in May of this year is described on the duo's website as:
""Descending Into Crevasse" is a sort of metaphor. An ipotetic journey between the gorges of eternal ices, such as a travel inside ourself researching reassures corners. A flux of muffled and confused memories, frosted in a waves moving like an algorithm."


Retina.IT, helped to "trail-blaze" the electronic scene in Italy during the 90's after the two first met through the DJing scene. As the two found they had a similar musical creativeness the two embarked together on a musical journey. They changed their name from Qmen to Retina.IT and as the latter have released inspirational albums such as: Randomicon, Semeion, S/T and Immediate Action.

The album released before "Descending", Randomicon, was released on Flatmate music in 2011, and blends glitchy beats with incredible soundscapes created through live synthesis. As an easily accessible album to listen to, I would personally recommend this album to anyone who has never heard the works of Retina.IT before embarking on the deep, soul searching soundtrack of Descending Into Crevasse.

Visit Link 1: http://www.retinait.com/
Visit Link 2: http://www.last.fm/music/Retina.It
Visit Link 3: http://www.flatmatemusic.com/