|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
LP
|
|
OPAL 065LP
|
Lumisokea continue their exploration of rhythm technology and electroacoustic experiments while paying tribute to the pioneering spirit of the visionary inventors and composers from the early 20th century in the former Soviet Union. Transmissions from Revarsavr presents a meticulously balanced aural web of polyrhythmic constructions, clashing and chiming copper plates, sub-zero bass shudders, and glowing synths. Combining their fondness for electroacoustic experimentalism with traditional rhythm science from Southern India and Korea, Lumisokea create a music in which the pulsating rhythms wind and coil unto themselves like a snake biting its own tail while metallic clangs and howling drones float in and out of focus. The point of departure for Transmissions from Revarsavr was a recording Lumisokea made in early 2014 of Vladimir Popov's "Noise Instruments," remarkable mechanical contraptions designed in the 1920s to imitate the sounds of the coming industrial era. Mastered and cut by Rashad Becker at D&M. Artwork by Darren Brian Adcock.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
LP
|
|
ALT 023LP
|
Berlin-based Italian/Belgian duo Lumisokea present Mnemosyne, shedding the bass-heavy rollers found on 2014's Apophenia (OPAL 032LP), and welcoming space and tension into the fold. Most of the groundwork for the record was made during a week-long residency at the WORM studio in Rotterdam, which saw the duo make full use of the studio's collection of synthesizers from the '60s and '70s. The improvisations with these peculiar machines were subsequently edited and combined with heavily-processed recordings of gamelan bells, prepared piano, cello, and acoustic drums. A meticulous two-year period of reworking and reflection followed before Lumisokea finally arrived at Mnemosyne. An exploration of the gray area of sounds that vacillate between electronic and acoustic; an effort to show their coalescence and kinship, like shadows of forgotten sonic ancestors. Shards of oblique melody merge with slow-burning rhythms; sudden changes of scenery melt into fog-drenched sonic artifacts. In Lumisokea's own words, "The whole process felt like cultivating a garden of the imagination which is in no rush to be opened to the visitors. With this full-length album we explore the more nocturne, narrative and twilight-like angle of Lumisokea. When listening back to it, we had strong images evoking times in an unidentified or unactualized past, like places and events that could have existed, but then didn't. Hence our reference to Mnemosyne, the ancient Greek goddess of Memory."
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
LP
|
|
OPAL 032LP
|
The rich, dark sound of Lumisokea, the Belgian-Italian duo of Andrea Taeggi and Koenraad Ecker, annexes a dark, foreboding aura from an abundance of reference points -- codifying and making concrete the connections that which might otherwise have been elusive or intangible in the worlds of noise, dub, techno and musique concrète. Apophenia follows their Opal Tapes debut Contrapasso, and sees their sound continue to develop; growing in intensity and twisting into more complex, aggressive, and euphorically bent shapes. All seems abstract, not as "whoa, that's weird," but as though every element exists in direct opposition with nature and organic order. Industrial and technoid beats are rolled over sub-sonic, hyper-digital abrasions of noise and synthetic texture to reinforce and fortify the more extreme end of Opal's sonic interests. Synthetic stomp and precise, premeditated glissandi form sonic sculptures where the unreal is turned towards something frighteningly palpable.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
12"
|
|
EAT 027EP
|
Lumisokea present a 12" taster of their full album Automatons. The Belgian/Italian duo formed by Koenraad Ecker and Andrea Taeggi bring forward refined microworlds of exciting electronica and acoustics, building sonic landscapes that are minimalistic yet highly rich in texture. They have added a range of acoustics to their laptops and electronic hardware, including prepared piano, harmonium and live percussion, spanning ambient to noise and prepared piano to bass-heavy beats (at times reminding of Machinefabriek, Autechre or Fennesz). Includes a free download code of the full album.
|