A Casa and Gouffre

Sometime ago I wrote about Ensync… this was the second release in the “Synesthetic Alchemy” series by 213 Records from Metz, France. The first release was by A Casa… which is equally interesting as the Ensync record…

The A Casa album is a psychedelic record with on the A-side music with a sort of indie feeling and mood… a drum computer with a steady but light rhythm and on top of this playful sounds and dreamy vocals… a sort of stretch version of Kim Ki O maybe… the B-side is less friendly so to speak… the piece starts with a high pitched tone… which keeps going on quite long and gets more intense along the way… and more annoying (in a good way!)… this evolves into a dark and ritual sounding soundscape with noises and screams… a rather occult listening experience for sure… you can listen to the A-side here…

Out most recently in this series is the Gouffre album… a band from the hometown of the label… like A Casa the A and B sides differ… but not as strongly… on the A-side you get a band sounding like The Velvet Underground with John Cale on cello instead of on violin playing totally on dope and freaked out… imagine this and you might get an idea where Gouffre is coming from… whatever way you like to describe the music on this record the result is absolute amazing stuff… ritualistic and occult sounding but never dull or cliché… this could also fit for music while watching “Carnivale”…

The B-side is a band maybe more related to Sonic Youth as The Velvet Underground… but a Sonic Youth armed with cello instead of electric guitars and sounding a bit more archaic maybe… it also calls to mind France with its hurdy gurdy and drums… they produce the same psychedelic drone-like noise… here you can listen to the A-side…

This “Synesthetic Alchemy” series has become one of my favourite labels/series to follow… and a fourth release is coming soon… I cannot wait for that one… It is all simply excellent  stuff until now!

In case you are curious I have a few copies of the Gouffre for sale in the webshop… and I think I have also some Ensync copies left…

 

 

 

Some (big) tips…

Recently quite some records found its way to me I am enjoying a lot… and I do not want to keep these to myself… like I do sometimes…

First of all the Huren split 12″ EP released by Noiztank is a true must have for fans of industrial and (harsh) techno alike… the other side is by Kareem… nice too but not as mind blowing as the Huren tracks… a perfect blending of industrial and techno… and even though this is a trend nowadays these tracks stands out in between the bunch of releases in this style… well here is one of the two tracks… what else can I say… you better listen for yourself…

Then there was this nice surprise by Group A… they released their vinyl debut on Mecanica… known for their shop in Mexico City but since some time also a label from Poland… this record triggered me as in a way it fits in with the still going on minimal synth trend but it is different… more adventurous… rougher… edgy… more industrial… here is the stand out track from the album… dancefloor orientated minimal synth with a raw side to it…

More poppy is Kim Ki O… a band I do not need to introduce here… I hope… with several collaborations on Enfant Terrible this Turkish duo is not a new name around… what is new is the re-release of both their first self released cd-r’s from 2007 and 2008… and these are now released on tape by Sea State… the quite new label run by Antlers Mulm… these old tracks by Kim Ki O have lost nothing of their charm and quality… you simply got to love these lo-fi electronic post-punk/new wave tunes… here is the band performing one of these older pieces live…

Then today arrived the debut 7 inch by Anesthetic… super nice synth/elektro-pop tunes released by Kernkrach and already among my favourite synth pop records from this year… the two tracks on the 7 inch are real catchy and could go for demo takes by Ladytron… and I mean this in the most positive way possible… really cool! Too bad I cannot find a full track yet on the internet…

All of these releases are available in small numbers in my webshop… for the real freaks and fans and lovers…