the sound of a distant highway/ cell phone glitches/ theta brain-wave states/ thunder in the distance/ radio frequency cosmic radiation/ stratospheric jet planes/ freight trains/ hydraulic systems/ the human voice...
also Squarepusher, Aphex Twin, DJ Spooky, WE (dj olive, lloop, once11), Meat Beat Manifesto, Tim Hecker, Scorn, Autechre, Massive Attack, FSoL, Skinny Puppy, Sub Dub, Mad Professor, not breathing, My Bloody Valentine, Burial, Vex'd, Coil
also
Philip K. Dick
Robert Anton Wilson
Buddha
J.G. Ballard
Irvine Welsh
Jorge Luis Borges
H.P. Lovecraft
Sun Tzu
John Ralston Saul
Ursula K. LeGuin
Terrence McKenna
Bruce Sterling
William Gibson
William S. Burroughs
Walter Jon Williams
Madeleine L'Engle
John Varley
Neal Stephenson
Umberto Eco
Neil Gaiman
Hunter S. Thompson
Frank Miller (even though i disagree with his worldview)
Alan Moore
Michael Moorcock
Anna Held Audette: scrap metal
Christopher Nolan
Ridley Scott
Stanley Kubrick
Stephen Hendee
Antony Gormley
Peter Watts (do yourself a favor - read Blindsight NOW)
Benthic Level Recordings is proud to bring you our 5th offering - "Semotus Universitas" by The Dream Surgeons. The 2nd release from Savannah, GA based artist David E. Flick, Semotus Universitas is an ambient/drone piece meant to let you escape into your own imagination. Download it at benthiclevel.com!
Benthic Level Recordings is proud to present "Topeka", a split single featuring atsense (atsense myspace) and subterrene. Post-apocalyptic ambient distilled in an mp3-format download!
910 Noise Compilation v3 out now... available at Gravity Records!! Also check my friends at http://www.myspace.com/910noise .
"Wherever we are, what we hear is mostly noise. When we ignore it, it disturbs us. When we listen to it, we find it fascinating. The sound of a truck at 50 m.p.h. Static between the stations. Rain. We want to capture and control these sounds, to use them, not as sound effects, but as musical instruments."
John Cage on the future of music - from a lecture given in 1937
marumari - carnivorous temptations pt 1
not breathing - meloncholie battlecat
dykehouse - last track
marumari - war of the wolves
boards of canada - hi scores
marumari - transport sequence: earth
l'usine - ask you
joseph scott - 100miles
coil - triple sun
the black dog - raxmus
scanner vs tonne - sound polaroids (tokyo mix)
singe & verb - hover dub
VARIOUS ARTISTS - 910 Noise: Volume One CD (910 Noise)
This is the first release for this noise label, and it's a damn good one at that, providing an aural outlet for many unknowns in the 910 area code (North Carolina). The tracks range from simple ambient to harsher elements of power electronics and even avant / cut-up method acts. The CD disc (which looks like a record, complete with grooves) opens with one track from Mr. Stonecipher, which is a mix of power electronics and an almost IDM sound similar to Aphex Twin - very good stuff. Uva Tena provide a double dose of ambient synths and humming drones, while Barefoot Machete follow them up with two almost danceable numbers. Next up is a single track from Double Suicide (Mike B) and his depressingly delightful guitar-driven almost-shoegazer sound. A shame only one song, as his work is one of the highlights of this disc. Puke on Mike deliver two tracks of an industrial-meets-noise cut-up, and Subterrene (another highlight) bring to mind an eerier sound of what you might find played at a rave's 'chill room'. Vanishing Cream play two near-child-like keyboard frenzies just before Lath comes in with two industrial-meets-noise numbers in the vein of early SPK. Carl Kruger tinkers with knobs as tweeters screech the highest of pitches, all as bass hits its lowest levels. The awesome Mindcrosser begins the wrap-up with two looped soundscapes that bring to mind a cold wasteland of hopelessness. Authorless provides the disc's outro with a lo-fi distortion of field recordings and found sounds. I hear there's already a Volume Two in the preparation stages, and by what's in Volume One, I can hardly wait to hear what keeps coming out of the 910 area code.
(reviewed at feastofhateandfear.com May 5, 2007)
The Sound of Art: Subterrene brings intrigue to the soundscape
By: Erin Perkins Encore Magazine
Music is described as the art of arranging vocal or instrumental sounds in time, as to produce a continuous, unified melody, harmony or rhythm, according to dictionary.com. However, there is a difference between sound and music. Sound is vibrations transmitted with frequencies capable of being detected by hearing. Some may say they're one in the same.
Subterrene's Grant Stewart is not one of those people. Stewart may not fit into the definition of unified melody, harmony or rhythm, but he does offer sensational sound patterns that stimulate hearing.
The Wilmington native is a sound experimentalist of sorts. Examining various tones and samples as a visual artist would use color and textures, Subterrene paints the aural soundscape with a dubby paintbrush, creating a world which can be both minimally subdued and striking in complexity. Entrancing and slightly perplexing, Subterrence takes the ordinary, simplistic and overlooked sounds of the world and uses them as musical instruments.
Originally a rocker, Stewart branched out to electronic forms. "I am a nerd about electronic gear, I use different ingredients in the mix of turntabalism," he explains.
The outcome is unusual instrumentals that are hard to define, but mostly consist of the "electromagnetism of instruments." Simple tools, such as a turntable, are used to morph sounds with digital effects and juxtapose against drumbeats. When the computer-generated audio is finalized, the result is a soundscape of curious patterns. Although the music appears borderline creepy and faintly disturbing, Stewart describes it as "strange and relaxing."
Stewart's interest music began at early age, when the synchronizer on his Merlin electronic game caught his attention.
"You played notes, and it would play it back," he reminisces. "I was fascinated."
A thinker outside the box, Stewart was not impressed by popular musicians. "I was led in a different direction," he shares. "I am not a fan of pop, and I am not interested in the mainstream. I like art for arts sake."
His interpretation of music can be summed up as just that, a form of art. "I dont want people to be turned off," he urges. "I just want them to be excited and take away something they've never heard before."
Hear of what he speaks and take away a new brand of art-rock, musical noise or whatever you choose to call it. If you attend Stewart's debut performance, youll hear Subterrene's experimental noise and progressive dub, free of charge, at Bottega Art and Wine Gallery, a perfect setting for someone thinking outside the box. Be there Saturday, August 19th at 9pm. You can also check out music samples at www.myspace.com/subterrene.
WOW MAN Your track The Empty Quarter off of the Topeka album is great!! Reminds me a lot of Coil's Winter Solsctice you captured something really cold and deep. Great stuff man!!!!
Video documentation of a performance piece by my friend Nate Kassel who rode around on his bike slapping high-fives to people who were attempting to hail taxi cabs in the streets of NYC. Enjoy!
CARL KRUGER "THE STATE IS VIOLENCE" 3"CDr, Quagga Curious Sounds, 2009 "Mind you nothing quite prepares you for the all out blitzkrieg of the sonic warring undertaken by Carl Kruger, culled from his ultra limited ‘the state is violence’ set which is apparently based on the book ‘Anarchism is American‘ (note: it's actually a documentary film from the early 80's called Anarchism in America) - Kruger hits you square in the face with his attrition based aural contortions, a menacing spectacle of grating mayhem and butchered ad hoc time signatures jettisoned at speed and revealing itself all at once as a cacophonous carnage of circuit bending cruelty to which admirers of Hijokaidan will do well to seek at your earliest inconvenience."
We Say go for it! Initially we were going to do more ambient spacey stuff but we've ended up doing some bass heavy dubstep stuff, 3 massive dub tracks and 2 more ambient pieces with guitar, so we will end up starting the set with a more atmospheric piece then get into the beat heavy stuff and then end with a spacey piece. We are excited!! I'll call you later on..
It's getting close and we had a laptop die on us which has pushed up back two weeks!! We have it now fixed and tomorrow is another rehearsal. We are explosive...
