13

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.

"VETROPACO" is a brainchild of Gianluca Favaron and Andrea Bellucci (a.k.a. Red Sector A). Favaron's de-compositions join Bellucci's rhythms structures creating a work where aseptic sounds are combined with patterns borrowed from Techno, with Breakcore and IDM digressions. "VETROPACO" represents a further step forward in the musical research of the two artists, and is aimed at fans of innovative electronic sounds

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

CD, 6-panel digisleeve, ltd. 200 copies
Richard B. Lewis
Involving electric drone music; static backgrounds surrounded by occasional field recordings, distortions, hums, metallic sounds, gongs, Tibetan bowls with subliminal oriental suggestions. Compositions that are sometimes coloured or guided by short, deep, hypnotic melodic phrasings of electric guitar, hints of slide guitar, pounding piano notes, or violated by sudden modulations of sibilant electronic waves alternating with bombastic electric pulsations; chaotic mechanical noises enhanced by deep reverberations and spatial delays... And more whispered voices accompanying more melodic and structured passages, dark atmospheres, progressions with solemn and dramatic elements... A long and unpredictable journey led in an original and creative way by the eclectic electric guitar of Richard B. Lewis.

"Below/Light" by Filer Coleman is a selection of ambient works by Jim Filer Coleman. It represents an antidote, or perhaps a counterpart, to the more aggressive music that he may be more known for such as Cop Shoot Cop and Human Impact.
These tracks were recorded over a span of a few years, slowly evolving and seeking definition. Electrocoustic in nature, the approach was always exploratory and playful, searching for balance and connection with the natural world.

Jim Coleman was an instrumental member of Cop Shoot Cop, who played keyboards and created samples for this band. After this experience he worked in other groups with more electronics - like Baby Zizanie along with J.G. Thirlwell, and Here with Teho Teardo - and recorded a solo album as Phylr. He also released an ambient album entitled "Trees" under his name.
Additionally, Coleman has scored a good number of indie films, like "Exposed" by Beth B and "Stay Then Go" by Shelli Ainsworth, and TV series. He has also worked with directors such as Todd Phillips, Hal Hartley, Richard Kern and Danny Leitner.

CADE is Bruno Dorella and Giovanni Lami. We come from different backgrounds and trainings, but we found a common ground in our open view to different disciplines, and our curiosity towards unorthodox approaches to music. "CADE" is our first ever album to be released, part of a wide archive of sessions that we recorded in 2019-2020, with no kinds of pressure. Dorella plays some traditional instruments such as guitar and percussions, while Lami processes them with different electronic instruments, including a reel-to-reel recorder and granular synthesizers. For the moment we have decided to keep CADE out of social media.
 

A captivating electronic symphony in five movements recorded live, which begins almost like a Pastorale. Bucolic atmospheres that, albeit through completely different sonorities, seem to link Fabio Orsi back to the origins of his music at the beginning of the millennium, when the inspiration drawn from his home territory and popular tradition was strong. The instruments then paint a sort of medieval dance, veering further into quiet, purely ambient atmospheres, among whose threads of interlocking electronic sequences and soft rhythmic patterns emerge. Then the music takes flight... It abandons the earth to embark on a stellar journey, trailed by sequencers, wandering through unknown spatial microcosms and distant galaxies, closing in a poignant and epic finale. In 40 minutes the 'summary' of twenty years of music by an artist who has never ceased to renew and explore.

Eight 'watercolours' of 'classic' ambient music with nuanced and delicate hues...
Eight touching instrumental 'landscapes' painted through soft and sober sonorities, barely whispered melodies, an ever-changing play of light and shadow with a flavour as hypnotic as it is relaxing.
A continuous observation of the surrounding landscape through swaying leaves and windswept tree foliage, catching and capturing in the apparent stillness every little movement, every element around, here skilfully translated into evocative and exciting sound vibrations.
With "Il ritorno degli inverni freddi" (The Return of Cold Winters) and this "Germinal" project, Federico Franzin, already active in a different and much more extreme musical context for his works under the moniker "Androphilia", signs a dreamy album of pure ambient music out of time for endless listening, more dedicated for deep listening, or as a pleasant background sound.

Fabio Orsi is that imaginative weaver of atmospheres for great horizons that each time takes the mind and intellect far away. The new "DUST AT NIGHT", a 3-stage journey into the aural interspaces of the most immersive and alienating mantric-minimalist diction, is no exception. It is impossible to homologate the Italian composer's musical figure except perhaps to connect it by emotional induction to the astral radiations of Brian Eno in his ambient music years, with the enigmatic and deep drone voices echoing the harmony of the spheres, while the dilated beats of the rhythmic progressions seem to evaporate through circles of the infinite universe. Yet another sonic enchantment signed by Fabio Orsi.
 

Italian musician and producer Bruno Dorella guides us to "Paradiso", his new solo album, with the music for the homonymous choreographic project of gruppo nanou, to be released on CD and digital on November 25th, 2022 by the independent label 13 / Silentes.
"Paradiso" was born for the choreography of the new show by gruppo nanou, a contemporary dance and performing arts company, founded by Marco Valerio Amico, Rhuena Bracci and Roberto Rettura. The collaboration between Dorella and the company has started almost a decade ago and over time has also involved Ronin and OvO, the main bands of the Ravenna-based musician - OvO were on stage in 2021 for Canto Primo: Miasma | Arsura, an encounter between sounds and infernal images, with Dante's recurring reference.

Describing his ideas behind "F(OUR) WARD", EdleyODowd notices that the combination of sound and visuals were “essential to delivering a message”- points out Edley talking about his foray into new territory.
“I wanted to create something of nightmares and bliss” explains EdleyODowd when asked to discuss the combination of visuals and sound presented on his latest solo release "F(OUR) WARD".

ODowd, a long-time veteran of various musical scenes, has collaborated and performed with many musical luminaries (Genesis P-Orridge, Deborah Harry, LeneLovich, Tony Conrad, Shilpa Ray), as well as being a member of Toilet Boys, Psychic TV, Kylesa and his brand-new death rock band Scorpion Tea.

Initially released as an ultra-limited cassette release via Flesh Prison/DeathBed Tapes, "F(OUR) WARD" is coming out in the rest of the world via 13, as an extended version featuring three bonus tracks and expanded artwork by ODowd. “I am proud to present what I consider to be the complete version of this art and music”, stresses Edley, talking about the unity of two inseparable components of his creativity. “The video clips that accompany these songs are designed to be trance-induced launchpads for the audio and vice-versa” – admits ODowd: “A world within our own, in which we can see and hear new and exciting things”. The videos accompanying the release of "F(OUR) WARD" were shot on various locations in Mexico and Colombia, ODowd’s goal was to present a visual environment one could listen to the music within.

    If during the early years of his long and prolific artistic activity, Fabio Orsi made extensive use of acoustic and concrete sound sources in his music, often painting very 'earthly' environmental realms, more recently he has definitively 'taken off', abandoning the earth to search for scenarios made of a purely synthetic matrix, building a myriad of dense electronic textures and pulsations, projected into the infinite and unexplored spaces of the universe.

This double CD collects a series of "sonic notes" in the form of electronic sequences, alternating dynamic and evocative cosmic excursions with various tapestries of a quieter and more ambient nature, yet always deeply imbued with his incredibly warm electronic vein, which is strong enough to lead, even beyond the intrinsic enthralling and superb sound quality.

An astonishing new double album that gives us the best of what the multifaceted Italian artist has been able to put together in this long interstellar journey, aboard his spaceship with its perpetually flashing multicoloured control panel

Five years ago, back in September 2016, Stefano Gentile published a photographic book entitled IL SILENZIO DEI TUOI PASSI (The Silence of Your Steps), which collected a series of 56 pictures, both in b/w and colour, dedicated to the nights in Venice. The book was a journey through the most remote "calli" and "campi" (streets, alleys and squares, as they're called in Venice) in search of the true 'breath' of the city, far away from the hordes of tourists who 'attack' it every day during daylight hours.
On such occasion, renowned musician Gigi Masin composed a 30 minutes epic ambient track entitled VENEZIA 2016 which was the perfect soundtrack to the images included in the book. The track was published on CD and released bounded with the book itself in a limited edition of 480 copies only, and has been unavailable for years now.
In 2021 Gigi Masin returned to that great piece of music and to its timeless sounds. Finally, Silentes can now offer PLAYS VENEZIA, Masin's latest work contanining a re-edited version of that 'pearl', accompanied by two unreleased tracks composed and recorded in the same period.
Once again inspired by the city, Masin created an enduring and wonderful ambient masterpiece, a sort of return to the origins, to his home. Adding to the intrinsic quality of the originals, the tracks were beautifully mastered by Brandenburg Mastering in Amsterdam.
PLAYS VENEZIA is simply an unmissable release and one of Masin's greatest accomplishment in a long carrier that never ceases to amaze us.