Aujx-2 Amalgamated s/t CD
Since 2010, Amalgamated has had a handful of highly regarded releases on their own Intangible Cat label, ((Cave)) Recordings, and Denmark’s Metaphysical Circuits label. A new full-length heaping of Amalgamated’s electronic / organic meshing of aesthetics takes place over about 55 minutes on the present CD, and is continued in the 20 minute download-only bonus track. This self-titled album collects 9 (counting the 20 minute download-only bonus track) specially selected pieces from the heap of material they recorded between 2004 and 2007. As per their standard procedure thus far, these tracks have been sculpted from their original improvised form into more delicate and intensely textural states. Strongly informed by 80’s industrial / cassette culture artists and creation methods, they mingle the sensibilities of home-tapers with their love for more current electronic artists and technologies. Noisy, dreamy lo-fi psychedelic elements are placed against carefully sculpted hi-fi electronics. The memebers of the group have worked on other projects; Gushing Cloud (Cory Bengtsen), Homogenized Terrestrials (Phillip Klampe), Headless Ballerinas Underwater (Bob Newell), Dog Hallucination (D. Petri), & Rebekahs’ Tape (Cory Bengtsen & Mike Richards). Traces of these projects are evident in Amalgamated’s work throughout the album. This recording is a further selection of standout segments in the group’s improvisation oeuvre, and represents a near-purging of their 2004-2007 back-stash, setting them free to unleash materials from their recent (2013 & ongoingly periodic) cache of recordings. ltd. 250 copies
Aujx-4 Amalgamated – ‘Solve et Coagula’ C60
An unusually abrasive multimedia emission from Amalgamated discussing the state of Earth and human society. The anxiety and hopelessness of the current state of things is acknowledged as fact but not accepted as inevitable or irreversible. A sort of power-electronics palette of various splintering signal overloads and textural agitations predominates. Differing perspectives are injected periodically, noting the presence of revelatory possibilities and potentials. The booklet and the audio are a unit. Various abstract digital images created by Bob Newel. Fractals, ‘sacred’ geometric forms, circuitry, rivers, veins, and roots are all transporters. Naturalistic photos taken by Phillip Klampe & D. Petri. ltd. 35 copies.
Aujx-5 Noosphertilizer III – ‘STRNGLV/Pelktopia’ split C60
The 3rd Noosphertilizer split release. This time three artists are featured: STRNGLV (New Jersey, US) and Pelktopia (Tokyo, Japan), and artwork D. Petri.
STRNGLV was discovered via the excellent Fabrica Records’ release of Psychotropia some 4 years ago. Also a visual artist near to the collage & street art mindset, Sean Keane’s vision comes across potently regardless of medium. Within STRNGLV’s audio category, trashed sounds and rhythms gurgle and permutate. Older-school electronic sound making equipment is funneled through and/or blended with manipulatory powers of software. Gritty and weird home-cooked urban psychedelia is here. Pelktopia was discovered via the excellent Ashtray Navigations / Pelktopia split LP put out some 2 years ago by Yogoh Record in Japan. Pelktopia is active within the Tokyo underground improv scene, and curious/interested parties would likely be pleased to check out the live-captured performance videos posted at their online home. Beautiful, intimate and dreamy guitar sketching against intuitively tuned-in textural backdrops. Design, assembly, art booklet photographs & hyper-glyphs by D. Petri. ltd. 35 copies.
Aujx-6 Homogenized Terrestrials – ‘Shadows Think Twice’ CD
Shadows Think Twice is the follow up album to The Contaminist (Intangible Cat 2012). Once again there are eerie dreamy atmospheres and surreal explorations of unrecognized places and events. 16 tracks of strange other worldly sounds allow the listener to shift away from the present into a place where both familiar and unusual details blend together to form the unexpected.
Photographs & design by Phil Klampe. ltd. 250.
Aujx-7 Dog Hallucination – ‘Mitzi’ C77
The music on this album was created mostly between 2004 and 2007, with a few pieces created between 2007 and 2011. Between 2011 and 2015 the music was edited, sequenced & mastered. Introspective emotional energy is the primary characteristic of the album and its companion booklet. The unshakable urge toward curiosity and the desire for understanding is slathered in feelings of awe and wonder. Aspirations for higher levels of experience are pushed forward by dog-like unrelenting enthusiasm. Raw, intimate personal experiences are juxtaposed with surreal & hopeful dreamworld imaginings, aiming toward a meeting place comfortably in the middle between the two. The organic is the experienced, the psychedelic is the imagined – and vice-versa. ltd. 25 copies