Apart from creating his own fascinating music (like the beautiful ‘Poor Henriette Marie’ EP, released on Hibernate), Nigel Samways also runs the Ephre Imprint label, releasing electro-acoustic drone, ambient and experimental music.
“Underwater Noises“ is Ephre Imprint‘s latest compilation, a joint release with the Lost Children netlabel:
“The theme running through all tracks of this work is ‘water’ (and its numerous concerns risen around the globe). Each artist was prompted to submit a track inspired somehow by the notion of water, according to their individual angle. The upshot is a multilayered work, giving voice to the umpteen facets of a theme which has always created a particularly deep and serious attraction for musicians working in the drone/ambient scene.”
At the first glance on the tracklist of this compilation I knew that there was a complete new world for me to discover, since all of the artists included were unknown to me…!
The album features works by Enrico Coniglio (Touch Records, Cronica, Psychonavigation), Francesco Giannico (Porter Records), Gigi Masin (Sub Rosa), Ennio Mazzon (Resting Bell) and others, all working with electroacoustics, microsounds, emotional drive and drowned sounds, all in a free experimentation zone.
Though your actual preferences may depend on your personal taste, the underwater theme links the music of the different artists in such a way that it could also have been an album of one single artist.
Like a good compilation should, the album is an invitation to further check out the music of the artists included. It feels like a whole new world suddenly opens – in this case a world of mainly Italian composers. (The Lost Children netlabel has also released some beautiful overviews of the music of Italian composers on their Silent Ballet compilations).
It is, in fact, hard to mention favourite compositions on this compilation. The music presented is as diverse as the water it thematically represents: it can be soft,flowing, but also hard and cold as ice – with colors bright blue as well as a dark threatening black.
“Underwater Noises“ proves that there’s always new places to be discovered…always new sounds to be revealed.
Allessio Ballerini – Half Water