Other sounds

28-page 8" Book + CD, ltd. 250 handnumbered copies

Stefano Gentile and Dirk Serries met almost thirty years ago when Stefano’s Amplexus label released Vidna Obmana’s seminal classic "The Transcending Quest" on a limited 3” CD. Fast forward twenty years later, after the ending of Dirk Serries’ critically acclaimed Vidna Obmana project, Stefano and Dirk, under his own name, regathered with another gem "The Devastation Chant", a limited 8” lathe cut and a 10” vinyl on Gentile’s new label Silentes/13 that featured Stefano’s own impressive collage artwork. Now again, after four years, Dirk Serries, fully operational under his own name as a free (jazz) improviser, frequently returns to his trademark ambient music while continuing to push himself as an artist and sound sculptor. THE DISINTEGRATION OF SILENCE is Dirk’s new album that, partially inspired by the melancholic collage artwork of Stefano Gentile, plays with the sounds he has been recognized and appreciated worlwide for almost four decades, while - so typical for Dirk’s ongoing knack for adventure - expanding the comfort of his ambience with alienating analog and real-time treatments. An album that has been performed solely on electric guitar in conjunction with plenty of pedal effects and absolutely no computers. Enjoy this breathtaking work of melancholy and introspection, marking it another milestone in the collaboration between Stefano Gentile and Dirk Serries

"Patterns and Mechanisms", Eraldo Bernocchi and Merzbow's first album together, was written and recorded during the lockdown. Both artists exchanged audio files and ideas fascinated by the phenomenon of urban wildlife where wild animals decide to relocate, or establish home in our cities, the album is just two long pieces.

Despite being dense and noisy, "Patterns and Mechanisms" has a 'melodic' approach to composition, with Merzbow's noise assault conjugating with Bernocchi's music.

The outcome is a sonic journey across concrete horizons, dystopian landscapes, and new species, all while being amazed by how nature reclaims her domain for good thorough a slow and persistent displacement of biological living organisms.

Published by the renowned Silentes in a special packaging conceived by Petulia Mattioli, it is limited to 300 copies.

On "Vetropaco"'s second album, we see once again Gianluca Favaron (Zbeen, Ab'SHE, etc.) and Andrea Bellucci (Red Sector A, Nerva, Dioide, etc.) joining their forces. The target of this new work is to further expand the concepts and themes touched upon in the first album, making this collaboration as homogeneous as possible. In "Subvoid", Favaron's sounds act like the main binding force on all the tracks and appear to be more in the foreground compared to the previous album. The project is enriched by new solutions where digital and analogue sounds melt together, searching for a form of expression that is both pleasant and engaging, and never taken for granted. Rhythm tracks take shape from Favaron's palette, whose sounds are bended and elaborated exactly to form a unique blend with Bellucci's textures, where they get lost and come to light again.

On "Vetropaco"'s second album, we see once again Gianluca Favaron (Zbeen, Ab'SHE, etc.) and Andrea Bellucci (Red Sector A, Nerva, Dio<X>ide, etc.) joining their forces. The target of this new work is to further expand the concepts and themes touched upon in the first album, making this collaboration as homogeneous as possible. In "Subvoid", Favaron's sounds act like the main binding force on all the tracks and appear to be more in the foreground compared to the previous album. The project is enriched by new solutions where digital and analogue sounds melt together, searching for a form of expression that is both pleasant and engaging, and never taken for granted. Rhythm tracks take shape from Favaron's palette, whose sounds are bended and elaborated exactly to form a unique blend with Bellucci's textures, where they get lost and come to light again.

Following his collaborations with Fabio Orsi and Luigi Turra published in 2012-2013, it’s time for another Gianluca Becuzzi solo album on Silentes. This electronic / electro-acoustic composer and sound-artist boast an enviable curriculum: active since the first half of the ‘80s as founder of the historic Darkwave / Industrial project Limbo, since 1999 his artistic production is characterized by a strong experimental imprint and by a clear tendency toward abstract aesthetic forms and micro/macro noises/sounds. Among his other recent artistic production - in addition to what he has published under his own name - we should at least remember his projects Kinetix, Noise Trade Company and Grey History, and his many collaborations in duo with the already mentioned Fabio Orsi. “(B)Haunted” collects materials recorded in 2010-2011 that were previously released on cassette/CD-R in two extremely limited editions, entitled “Haunted” and “B”, respectively by Cérebro Morto in Portugal and Silentes Tapestry in Italy. Although composed for two different projects, the eight numbers on the album show some cohesiveness as the listener is treated with a tracklist that cleverly interchanges the tracks from both of them instead than offering the two complete works separately. Most of the music on “(B)Haunted” has an Industrial feel and seems to originate from live sessions that were enriched with electronic sounds and treatments at a later date. During the listening we confront ourselves with various sounds of a metallic nature and indistinct percussions, found sounds and gear, mechanisms and bells, scraped material and drones. Everything contributes to the creation of a soundscape that is always fascinating and arouse a lot of curiosity and attention on the evolution and direction that the music will take. Coming in a beautiful black’n’white artwork that aptly describes the industriousness of the author and the continuous musical metamorphosis herein contained, this is a very interesting album that will please fans of the old Industrial school and those devoted to sound-art and experimentation.

Quinto Sol was the brainchild of Faith & Disease keyboardist, the late Joaquin Tavares (d. 2006). Joaquin and co-founder Alfredo Feregrino sculpted a very brilliant "pre-Hispanic" ritual project that incorporated complex Mayan and Ancient symbolism woven into a percussive, dirge-like soundscapes. Tracks are culled from the studio and a "Day Of The Dead" live performance at the Seattle Art Museum. "Ollintonatiuh" also includes performances from F&D's Dara Rosenwasser, Eric Cooley and Joshua Furman while members of Quinto Sol. Bonus tracks include an alternate mix of the Tavares composition "Wallow" from F&D's CD Fortune His Sleep

Gathering its most vivid elements, and drawing inspiration from the most emotionally touching mixtures of electronic synthesizers, driving rhythms - always 'clever' and sober - and melodic para-ambient offshoots, Like the Snow creates an album with almost 'epic' connotations, for its ability to involve and for the intensity of the emotions it is able to convey. At times sweetly melancholic and introspective, at times 'charged' with irresistible dynamic energy, but always 'measured' and refined in its form, sound and solutions, this new release by Like the Snow goes far 'beyond' the previous album published in 2020, touching heights that rarely musical projects of a similar genre have been able to reach.
 

    After "THE DISINTEGRATION OF SILENCE", marked as a continuation of the work between visual artist Stefano Gentile and Belgian ambient musician Dirk Serries, Dirk returns to Stefano's Silentes/13 label with a new album, entitled "DEFIANCE OF SELF". In the wake of its predecessor, Dirk worked on this album in January 2024 using his motherboard of pedals and an electric guitar to create this slightly darker and experimental album. Once again performed and recorded entirely in real-time, and embracing the willful character of some of his outboard pedal effects, Dirk allows them to lead direction of each piece. "DEFIANCE OF SELF" is alienating, expansive, utterly eerie and inventive, as the author continues to consolidate a new creative path that's clearly his own. Let yourself be absorbed in this dark realm of thematic soundscapes, accentuated by the somber and melancholic '80s style of Stefano Gentile's photography.

The idea behind "Methexis" is to take some of the foundational concepts of jazz such as interplay, timbral research and improvisation, and render them in a predominantly electronic context. The compositions were sketches, for example various modes of interactions and three modal macro-areas were indicated on the piece "Methexis", while "On Silent Haunches" is an improvisation for solo electric piano structured on the final four chords of the "Ladybird" standard, and so on, the pieces were constructed leaving each musician with endless possibilities for interpreting the music. Interaction was one of the underlying principles of the project and occurred on two levels: the first saw the musicians interpret the compositions, the second saw Borda edit, process and manipulate the recorded material depending on what each musician had played.

Black bile, in ancient Greek medicine, is one of the four humors that make up the human body and affect its existence. Specifically, black bile is the mood responsible for melancholy, anxiety and depression. “Atrabile” is aan album about depression in its different stages, from despair (“Koma”) to suffocation (“Atlas”), via total discouragement (“Achlýs”), anxiogenic obsession (“Knōsós”) and deviant perception of time (“Kairos”). The work is intended to be an aural representation of one of the greatest evils that has always plagued humanity.

Gathering its most vivid elements, and drawing inspiration from the most emotionally touching mixtures of electronic synthesizers, driving rhythms - always 'clever' and sober - and melodic para-ambient offshoots, Like the Snow creates an album with almost 'epic' connotations, for its ability to involve and for the intensity of the emotions it is able to convey. At times sweetly melancholic and introspective, at times 'charged' with irresistible dynamic energy, but always 'measured' and refined in its form, sound and solutions, this new release by Like the Snow goes far 'beyond' the previous album published in 2020, touching heights that rarely musical projects of a similar genre have been able to reach.
 

The continuous accumulation, a society driven towards destruction, an increasingly extremist religiosity, a reality distorted by information. Misleading information, right and wrong words, non-communication between people except with false hatred or hypocritical love, the return to parochialism between states, false prophets and new dictators: the technological Middle Ages have arrived.
 

CD, 6-panel digisleeve, ltd. 200 copies