Entia Non – Sub Routine

Entia Non - sub Routine

I can’t remember how I found the Resting Bell netlabel website – must have been on someone else’s weblog. The website layout looked promising enough, so I downloaded some of the albums available.
Starting, of course, with the latest release: Entia Non’s Sub routine.
The quality of the music of this album is impressive. Created by Australian artist James McDougall, it bears many references yet still maintains a completely personal sound.
It’s Entia Non’s first release on Resting Bell, after releasing other titles on U-Cover and Test Tube.

Stars of the Lid concert

Stars of the Lid 

One of the most anticipated concerts of this year coming up friday, 21: Stars of the Lid will be performing in Utrecht (my hometown).

There’s an extensive European tour proceeding, so quite a few people may have already seen the show by now.

The Young Person’s Guide to Generative Music

Dark Symphony

Koan, the music software that can be credited for creating a musical form that was neither “recorded” nor “live” (see previous post here ) did generate a lot of interesting musical projects.
Brian Eno’s diskette-release “Generative Music 1” may have been the most noticeable release, but certainly it wasn’t the only one that was interesting.

Wouter van Veldhoven – Ruststukken

RustStukken

Wouter van Veldhoven ‘s Ruststukken is recently released on the new Belgian label ‘Slaapwel’.

Slaapwel means Sleep well.; Label owner Wim Maesschalck tells us:
“I set out, looking for people that would be good at making mind-soothing songs. I ask them to write a sleep-inducing record, I listen to it, and when I fail to reach the end because I fell asleep, I release it as a musical record with whatever means are available to me.”
Well that’s a heart-warming concept to me!

Neither Speak Nor Remain Silent

Bloom. Huge. Allure. The Explanation. The Discussion. An Answer.
This is quite a special case (literally!).

Carefully scheduled in the last three years, Fovea Hex released three EP’s, each containing three songs, with a bonus cd containing remixes/reworks by The Hafler Trio (H30) for every initial release.
Concluding this series, in 2007, a beautiful box is released (as could be expected) containing all 3 EP’s and, if you want it all, also including the bonus cd’s.

"Computer says No"

C272

I recently upgraded my audio system with the NAD C272 power amplifier. I was not quite happy with the standard (stereo) sound performance of the Cambridge Audio 540R surround receiver. A good surround receiver, but a bit flat in the standard stereo performance (though lot of people think otherwise, that’s why I chose this particular one). Reverting to a stereo system was no option for me, because I really enjoy surround music when playing movies or electronic multi-channel music.
By adding the C272 for extra power, the performance in playing ‘normal’ 2-channel music (which I still play 90% of the time) strongly enhanced, so I get ‘the best of two worlds".

The NAD power amplifier is stored out of reach, and has a convenient "Sleep/Wake" feature that activates the amplifier when receiving signal and makes it go into sleep mode when there’s no signal for 5 minutes.

But there’s a downside.

Robert Fripp & Brian Eno – Beyond Even (1992 – 2006)

Fripp & Eno

There have been quite a few mediocre (‘fans only’) releases by Brian Eno in the last couple of years. The 2004 collaboration with Robert Fripp was a remarkable exception, and so is their collaboration sketches overview “Beyond Even (1996 – 2006)”.
I call this a ‘sketches overview’ because  it feels like that: a collection of works that sound like good yet unfinished ideas. Which does not mean they sound like second hand outtakes that should not have been released. Most of these tracks are very beautiful indeed, and do deserve a life on their own. However some of this tracks still feel a bit outdated, even a bit mushy sometimes.