B.F.E.59 – LAUGHING HANDS “Dog Photos” LP
Laughing Hands worked in the experimental music scene in Melbourne in the very early 1980s. They were an improvisation group using tapes, synthesisers, guitar and hand percussion much of which was then treated through the synthesisers, producing their soft, insistent and rhythmic sound. “Dog Photos” was originally releasedin 1981 by band´s own label Adhesive records.
The sounds in these 11 pieces are a combination of direct to tape & cassette to tape recordings, a perfect mix of electronic tape explorations, spectral synths shadings and foreground rhythm abstractions.
For fans of Chris & Cosey, Dome, Cabaret Voltaire, Coil…
Engineered by David Chesworth. Remastered at Plataforma Continental by José Guerrero. Released under exclusively license by B.F.E records 2020
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ABST015 RAPOON – Vernal Crossing 2LP
Vernal Crossing is Rapoon´s fourth album, originally released in 1993 by Staalplaat. One of the most interesting records released by Robin Storey (founding member of the pioneering industrial group :zoviet*france) on vinyl now for the first time.
A magic balance between percussion and electronics, creating mind-bending tapestries of minimalistic patterns and quasi-melodic drones fused with occasional doses of well-placed white noise. An approach much in debt to his 12 year stint with *zoviet-france*. It paints a gossamer diaphanous drifting veil of mood over the top. Other than some moody loops and psychoacoustic dimensions, it sounds authentic – hardly a trace of crude electronics or sampling. The drumming – in soft tones rather than hard hitting ones – does nothing to intrude on the passive mood. The overall atmosphere does not really change throughout the recording making it a cool, pacifying atmosphere while having the madcap tempo which would be very easy to dance to.
This edition includes a new track called Total Crossing, edited/constructed by Colin Potter, who has been in charge of the remastering of the record. A deep drone trance/meditation edit that blew Robin´s own mind (and also ours!). The successful experiment explained by Colin: “I imported all the masters to my DAW to make a mock-up of the LP & initially they were all together at the beginning of the multitrack, before I spaced them out in the record’s running order. And I thought…. what would it sound like with them all playing at once? Well, it was actually suprisingly interesting, so I did a mixdown”.
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