Vanessa Van Basten (2009) Psygnosis EP

A un discreto lasso di tempo da “La Stanza Di Svedenborg”, i Vanessa Van Basten, band genovese capitanata da Morgan Bellini, tornano con un Ep di due tracce, “Psygnosis”. Maggiormente ricercato in cura del suono e composizione, il loro capolavoro si fregia prima di tutto di un significativo apporto di gruppo, che ora comprende anche i musicisti live (Roby alla batteria, Matthias Pandora all’elettronica e Claudio Parodi agli effetti, oltre al fido Stefano Parodi a basso e synth e alla chitarra e ai sampler del leader).

“Tuttoavantiall’indietro” è un’orgia free-form di 9 minuti che ritmicamente si contrae fino al thrash-speed e si espande fino al death e al super-doom, e armonicamente incrocia frustate industriali degne dei Godflesh, miasmi electro, immani cappe shoegaze e sterminate volte celestiali.
La title track (14 minuti) è un poema zelante di folk progressivo concepito su un’idea di saltarello gotico e quindi trascinato a furia di rigurgiti distorti e rincorse massicce. Attraverso interferenze cosmiche, il suo epos perviene infine a una visione classicheggiante eterea, dapprima oscura quindi rilucente.

I referenti spaziano, al solito, dai tardi King Crimson, ai Neurosis, ai GYBE, ma paradossalmente “Psygnosis” pone la band più vicina che mai ai Soft Machine della maturità, nello spirito e nella sostanza. Morgan Bellini sta stringendo accordi con il rock totale, o ne ha fatto comunque piena conoscenza.

Recensione di Michele Saran

Artist: Vanessa Van Basten
Title: Psygnosis EP
Label: Consouling Sounds - SOUL0003
Format: CD, EP, Limited Edition
Country: Italy, GE
Released: 15 Jan 2009
Genre: Rock
Style: Post Rock

Songs:
1 Tutto avanti all'indietro [9:00]
2 Psygnosis [13:37]

Credits:
Morgan Bellini - Guitar, Synthesizer, Sampler, Mastered
Stefano Parodi - Bass
Roberto Della Rocca - Drums
Morgan Bellini - Artwork
Sidney Sime - Illustration
Vanessa Van Basten - Music
Mathias Pandora - Band Photo

Notes:
Recorded by Bernardo Russo at Studio K, Genoa, Spring 2008.
Comes in a 13 by 15 cm folded cover, which shields the actual CD inside a protective plastic sleeve with regular 16page CD booklet with illustrations and info.
Limited edition of 500 copies.

Vanessa Van Basten (2009) Psygnosis EP

Bardoseneticcube (2005) Blood of Green Colour

Bardoseneticcube was formed in summer 1998. The most precise definition of their music is surrealism: "pure psychic automatism willing to express the real functioning of the reflection either orally or written, or in any other form. Dictation of mind without any control from the intellect, outside of any aesthetic of moral considerations". During it's lifetime the project has released more than 20 albums in Russia and abroad, took part in various compilations and festivals. Bardoseneticcube was involved in several sound installations. The project's live shows are usually supported by video which is considered the integral part of the performance. This is always improvisation in which both listeners and acoustic characteristics of the space are involved. The live sound stylistically varies from techno-shamanic trance to the baffling harsh-noise and electro-acoustic experiments. Application of the original sonic "system" and psychoacoustic apparatus allows the band to achieve the unbelievably wide frequency range, from infralow to ultrahigh. The project members professionally and with dilettantish persistence extract sounds from everything that can sound: computers and contact mics, ethnic instruments and electronic processing, water and field recordings, all this happens during conducting pseudo-magickal rituals and materializes in surreal sonic pictures which don't have any relation to music, both in ordinary and "not ordinary" meaning of this term. Or maybe they are just pulling your legs...

Artist: Bardoseneticcube
Title: Blood Of Green Colour
Label: Blade Records - wmda065
Format: CDr, Album, Limited Edition
Country: Russia
Released: Nov 2005
Genre: Electronic
Style: Dark Ambient, Experimental, Industrial

Songs:
1 Untitled [5:54]
2 Untitled [8:42]
3 Untitled [5:41]
4 Untitled [10:25]
5 Untitled [9:06]
6 Untitled [6:14]
7 Untitled [21:44]
8 Untitled [2:35]

Band:
Igor Potsukailo (soundconstructor)
Sergey Matveev (keyboards)
Vladimir Manevtsov (sampling)
Igor V. Petrov (ghost voice on track 3)

Notes:
Limited to 150 hand-numbered copies in a fold-over sleeve.
Recorded using: Korg Poly-800, Altair-231, Polyvox, Akai S2000, Atari 1040FT, Rubikon 03C-1, Lel CZ, Profi-503 Distortion.
Track 7 from this album was re-released on the album "Illness Of Green Colour" along with a track from "Disease".

Bardoseneticcube (2005) Blood of Green Colour

Phurpa (2009) Mu Ye [CDr, EP]

Phurpa is a Russian musical collective and performance group, recording and playing authentic ritual music of Bon, the oldest Buddhist tradition from Tibet, using ritual instruments and special tantric singing technique.

Alexei Tegin, a founding member and leader of the group, started exploring and experimenting with traditional and ritual music in the middle of the 1990s, at a legendary Cardinal Art Factory (Фабрика Кардинального искусства) in Moscow, led by Vladimir Epifantsev, controversial actor, director and propagator of trash-culture. Of crucial importance was his introduction to the spiritual tradition of Bon and Dzogchen and his meeting with singing masters of Gyumay and Gyuto tantric colleges.

Phurpa was formed in 2003, and the project is named after Phurpa Drugse Chempa (phur pa 'brug gsas chem pa), one of the five tutelary deities of the Father Tantra in Bon tradition (this unique deity has a lower part of his body shaped in a form of phurpa, or kīla, three-edged peg/knife, widely used in tantric Buddhist rituals).

Phurpa line-up includes Alexei Tegin, Dmitry Globa, Eduard Utukin, Anastasia Tomskaya, Pavel Selchukov. Band members are constantly studying ancient Tibetan liturgical practices and ceremonies of Bon tradition, both theoretically and practically.

The trademark style of the band is based on a special type of tantric overtone singing/chanting, called gyukye (rgyud skad), from Tibetan words 'rgyud' (tantra) and 'skad' (sound of the voice). This singing is based on the principle of practitioner's transmogrification during chanting meditation. This technique is achieved through an extensive training, including both meditation and physical, breathing and vocal exercises. Special training includes standing on your head while rehearsing (in the inverted position, lungs and vocal cords works more efficiently) and also drinking black tea with chili pepper and cream – hot pepper is irritating your vocal cords, so they are swelling up a little, while cream (or any other kind of grease or oil) acts as a lubricant.

Phurpa uses ritual Tibetan instruments to perform their music, which includes dungkar (horn made out of huge seashell), dungchen (three-metre-long horn/trumpet), silnuyen (flat cymbals), nga (double-sided drum), damaru (drum, made out of human skulls), kangling (human thighbone trumpet), shang (bon tambourine), rolmo (other type of cymbals), etc.

Artist: Phurpa
Title: Mu Ye
Label: S und S Records - SS-2009-009-01
Format: CDr, Mini, Limited Edition
Country: Russia
Released: 2009
Genre: Non-Music, Folk, World, & Country
Style: Tribal, Religious

Song:
1 Mu Ye [20:47]

Notes:
Limited to 50 copies.
Recorded live at GazGallery, Moscow, Autumn 2008.

Contains a note:
Внимание! Диск предназначен для прослушивания на PC, на других приводах возможно некорректное звучание. Приятного прослушивания!

This disc is intended for a playback on PC, other CD-drives may produce an incorrect sound).

Attenzione! Il disco è stato progettato per l'ascolto sul PC, sulle altre unità può sembrare non corretto. Buon ascolto!

Phurpa (2009) Mu Ye [CDr, EP]

Fire! with Jim O'Rourke (2011) Released! [10", EP]

Artist: Fire! with Jim O'Rourke
Title: Released!
Label: Rune Grammofon - REP 2120
Format: Vinyl, 10", 33 RPM, EP, Numbered, Limited Edition
Country: Norway
Released: 09 November 2011
Genre: Electronic, Jazz, Rock
Style: Free Jazz, Noise, Psychedelic Rock

Songs:
A1 Certainly Those Older And Released... [6:27]
B1 Particular, Local And Plastic Wrapped [5:07]

Fire!:
Mats Gustafsson - Baritone Saxophone, Electric Piano [Fender Rhodes], Electronics [Live Electronics]
Andreas Werliin - Drums, Percussion
Johan Berthling - Electric Bass
with
Jim O'Rourke - Electric Guitar, Synthesizer, Harmonica

Mixed and Mastered by Hakan Åkesson
Music by Fire! and Jim O'Rourke

Notes:
Recorded at SuperDeluxe, Tokyo, 12th and 13th September 2010.
Mixing and mastering at Nutidstudio, winter 2011.

Impossible without: Mark Rappaport, Danielle Oosterop, Andreas Berthling, Mikael Werliin, ass, Mike Bubeck at SuperDeluxe, Conny C. Lindström, Max-Måns Wikman.

Limited edition of 500 numbered copies.

Fire! with Jim O'Rourke (2011) Released! [10", EP]