PREVIOUS RELEASES ON CRUDITES TAPES
CRU001: V/A "Tartare de subconscient infini" (CS
60)
First release of sdz's new imprint "Crudites Tapes". Llimited edition (150 copies) tape compilation with 18 tracks from 18 different bands. This includes current or past side-projects from bands like Bosom Divine, Pierre & Bastien, Cheveu or Les Hulks. Mastering by El Mofo. Artwork by Pierre.
We truly hope you'll have as much fun listening and reading this as we had preparing the whole thing!
"No less than 18
projects from France and possibly elsewhere are crammed into a
C60, with discovery and awareness for you, the listener, in
mind. This is about as various as Various Artists gets, though
acceptable Francophone punk/undergrowth parameters are adhered
to, so you’ll find noise and tape/splice manip jobs up against
parping new wave/synth romps, lots of garage, weird punk,
tensed-up bedroom thrash, overdriven drum machine stomp, and the
like – the obsession with early rock/roll and rhythm/blues comes
to the fore, as is expected, though I was duly impressed by the
2050s’ passionate read of “I Stand Accused,” tearing a few
chapters from the Reigning Sound playbook. Would take more
listens than I’ve got the time for to suss out any further
standouts, but once you get through most of the xpr tangle of
side one, those of you who dig activities from the Les Disques
Steak/Born Bad/SDZ triangle (these are probably a bunch of side
projects of their artists) will find yourselves enjoying the
spiel, as the sounds are familiar, and the names are intriguing.
Who knows when you’ll encounter Saigon Automat or Free Kaxti
again?!? Numbered edition of 150." - Doug Mosurock /
Still Single - Dusted
Magazine
You can listen to the whole comp right here // Ecoutez toute
la compilation par ici:
Available for download on our Bandcamp
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CRU 002: V/A "Marécages Restauration" (CS 60)
A new
20-songs, 20-bands tape compilation (60mn) on SDZ's sub label
Crudites
Tapes. Limited edition of 100, tape's color is "rustic
orange".
Featuring Tretetam, Lahundoj, Ilth, Flowerman, Les Choeurs de
la mer noire, Opéra Mort, Mulan Serrico, Tette Chèvre and many
more!
"With a cover depicting a gator’s head on a child’s body, you can’t help but be a bit worried that the sounds won’t quite live up to the sights, but this French compilation is packed with enough sonic goodness to do a picture of the pope in a rhinestone suit justice. It’s a bit lengthy (twenty tracks clocking in at an hour), but the affair never grows dull thanks to the sheer variety of sounds scattered throughout. Windswept soundscapes and manipulated samples of speakers discussing schizophrenia saddle up beside uneasy folk and good ol’ guitar-driven rock. Electronics run the gamut from dying machine to fast-motion dream. The vocals are playful just as often as they are downright creepy, and the songs are sung in English almost as frequently as they are in French. There’s even a cover of “Strychnine” thrown into the mix, because why not throw a cover of “Strychnine” into the mix. Definitely worth trekking on over to Bandcamp to try/buy" - Cassette Gods
"Tout ce qu’il nous faut. Objectif jouissance. Jusqu’à plus soif." - Message to our folks
You can listen to the whole comp right here // Ecoutez toute la compilation par ici:
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CRU 003 : Ilth Zongz "The Demolition Of A Ghost" (CS 30)
Incroyables
collages reel-to-reel de notre homme à Chicago,
Christopher Ilth (Functional Blackouts, Daily Void). 9
morceaux de sombres manipulations analogiques qui ont de
grande chance de vous faire tourner la tête dans tous les sens
comme la B.O. d’un vieux film d’horreur.
Reel-to-reel collages from our man in Chicago, Christopher
Ilth (Functional Blackouts, Daily Void). 9 tracks of dark
analog manipulations very likely to make your head spin like
the soundtrack of an obscure old-school horror flick.
"Ilth Zongz's The demolition of a ghost is like listening to a noir-industrial soundtrack. Ilth Zongz is Chicagoan Christopher Ilth (Functional Blackouts, Daily Void) and the album was made with reel-to-reel collages according to the label. I'm impressed. This sounds way more digital and as each track is simply titled "Song 1-9" we as listeners are encouraged to draw our own conclusions. Both tapes add a great deal to the musical dialog of our times." - Cassette Gods
"Ith Zongz is a project by Chicago analogue manipulator Chris IIth (Daily Void, Functional Blackouts). 'The Demolition of a Ghost' is a new release from Crudites Tapes comprised of nine brooding instrumentals delivering cold static you might expect from an Industrial band touched by electronic experimentalism. This recording is super minimal so the smallest of shifts feel all the more gnarly for it, stark digital tones tweak and twitch whilst coalescing together with undercurrents of murky fuzz. The spooked collage of noises 'The Demolition of a Ghost' offers up is a great addition to the Crudites Tapes cannon and I'm really excited to see what else this label has in store for 2013." - Gilded Gutter
You can listen to the album right here // Ecoutez l'album ici:
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CRU 004 : The Spectrometers "Off" "Off" (CS 30)
Projet parisien minimal electronics / old
school indus, combinant sonorités
analogiques vintage, guitares post-punk et
drum-machines à l’ancienne. Un minimalisme authentique, froid
et mystérieux qui place The Spectrometers
quelque part entre Delia Derbyshire, Young Marble Giants,
Cabaret Voltaire et Suicide. “Off” fait suite à deux
disques formidables: “Dead Soul Music” LP
(Decasin, 2008) et “1/2 Mechanism 1/2 Organism” 10” (Autoproduit,
2010).
French minimal electronics / old school industrial
band, combining vintage analogue sounds, post-punk
guitars and old-fashioned drum-machines. Authentic,
cold, haunting
minimalism somewhere between Delia Derbyshire, Young
Marble Giants, Cabaret Voltaire and Suicide. “Off”
follows two fantastic records: “Dead Soul Music” LP
(Decasin, 2008) and “1/2 Mechanism 1/2 Organism” 10”
(Self-produced, 2010).
"Spectrometers’ latest release, Off, is
extremely minimal music that makes intense and
unexpected uses of the few pieces of sound that it
allows itself. Pointedly machine beats collide and
spark with less rhythmically inclined loops to create
a harsh light that illuminates
what seems like the angular edges of what must be a
much larger structure. It’s music to stare into a
microscope by, while standing in between two
malfunctioning cloning tanks, oblivious to the strange
party that is happening inside them. It’s real life,
scary industrial hissing off your tape deck." -
International Tapes
"Industrial in parts, electronic
blippity-boppity here and there, and warm all over,
The Spectrometers album Off is a thumper of
listen. The group is clearly indebted to bands like
Cabaret Voltaire and Suicide, which isn't a bad thing
necessarily, yet they concoct a set of pieces that
combine elements of stuff we've all heard before into
a satisfying new whole. The title composition frames
the album in mystery static as it is also the finale,
but in between is good, quality music. I'd like to
seek out more works by The Spectrometers" - Cassette
Gods
"...la cassette
de Spectrometers séduit par ses aspects compacts :
peu d’informations, une pochette tout en gris et
une musique du même alliage, faisant un tour
d’horizon depuis le minimalisme électronique
jusqu’à la no-wave lo-fi, le tout fabriqué en
chambre. Un artisanat séduisant (...) sa cassette
est un tube chez nous" - Joseph
Ghosn
CRU 005 : V/A "Réviviscence Ectoplasmique" (CS 60)
A new compilation
from SDZ's sub label Crudités Tapes: 16 bands from
all over the world. From Charentes to Melbourne,
from Montréal to Bruxelles, from London to Belarus
with stops in Saint-Ouen and Varennes-sous-Dun,
"Réviviscence Ectoplasmique" is the revenge of the
ghosts. Like the legend of the phenix, the truth is
hidden somewhere in Sermaize-les-Bains in a room
full of sugar. You are not a dentist, you want music
and here's what you get: raw vegetables and no
smiles. Dig!
Nouvelle compilation de Crudités Tapes: 16
groupes du monde entier. Des Charentes à
Melbourne, de Montréal à Bruxelles, de Londres à
la Biélarussie en passant par Saint-Ouen ou
Varennes-sous-Dun, "Réviviscence Ectoplasmique"
est la revanche des fantômes. Comme la légende du
phénix, la vérité est cachée quelque part à
Sermaize-les-Bains dans une pièce pleine de sucre.
Tu n'es pas dentiste, tu veux de la musique et
voilà ce que tu obtiens: des crudités et pas de
sourire. Kiffe!.
"I've put off
reviewing this fantastic compilation of
forward thinking noise, rock and pop artists
from what I believe is a French Cassette
label, Crudites Tapes, because it's a
daunting challenge to really review a
compilation that gives the release justice.
All the songs don't necessarily correspond
to the one before as various acts have very
varying styles of approaching music. To put
it simply, there's a lot going on here. So
I'm just going to wing it, who cares? If you
desire sonic variety in your cassettes, look
no further. This cassette offers a great
range of flavors for those who don't mind
their music super noisy or psychedelically
loungey. From challenging foreign vocal
scream fests to surf reverb distortion
doo-wop...it can be skuzzy and cool, as
harsh as a microphone crushing a half stack
- and as psychedelic as minimal hip hop beat
accompanied by dark phoenix feedback and LSD
handclaps. It's not without acoustic
guitars, vocal harmonies and brass
arrangements as well! There's songs in here
that can meet the needs of a young
dark-synth fanatic to a cool grandparent in
a beach resort nursing home. There's also
just strange foreign reinterpretations of
classic rock/ballad structures, garage rock
in different languages that I don't even
know, you know ...if you like obscure, cool
music from lands far away, ... wow, hey,
what more do you want? Also, the cover
artwork by Pierre Tatin is FANTASTIC! I
wonder how big it is in real life? Kind of
reminds me of the ghosts from and the color
pallette of "Princess Mononoke". So yeah ...
blast it for new and neat surprises ... ! I
recommend highly." -
Cassette Gods
Listen and download over here // Eoute et téléchargement disponible via Bandcamp
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CRU 006: Red Math "Submarine" (CS 60)
From the bowels of the deepest depths locked in a submarine, Lance Dibblee as Red Math (a Nashville-based producer with previous releases on labels like Digitalis or Further) delivers a harrowing journey of electronics at the brink. The album follows a submarine and the sonar acoustics that come with it detailing evasion, pursuit, attack, victory and return home. At times it sounds as if water is leaking in and the electronics are going haywire barely kept running by the frantic crew trying to survive the torpedo attacks and the tremendous pressure on the haul due to evasion depths.
Des entrailles abyssales d'un sous-marin en pleine activité, Lance Dibblee alias Red Math (musicien américain originaire de Nashville dont les précédentes productions sont sorties sur des labels comme Digitalis ou Further) nous embarque dans un voyage qui va mettre l'électronique de l'appareil à rude épreuve. L'album propose de suivre ce sous-marin et l'acoustique de son sonar lors de séquences d'évasion, de poursuite, d'attaque, de victoire et de retour à la base. Parfois l'eau coule sur les équipements et l'électronique devient folle malgré les efforts frénétiques de l'équipage qui tente de survivre à la fois aux torpilles et à l'éprouvante pression des grands fonds marins. Embarquement immédiat!
You can listen to the record right here // Ecoutez le disque ici:
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CRU 007: Armure (CS
45)
Armure is a Toulouse-based solo project by Tibo Padlock (Space Padlocks, Asphalt). Written and recorded over a few days during summer 2013 on a 8 track tape recorder, the eleven songs of this first album are not minimalist and lo-fi enough to hide a real songwriting talent. Cleverly mixing traditional instruments (bass, guitars, 12-strings, folk, melodica, tambourine...) with cheap synths and drum machines, Armure subtly find his way in a kaleidoscopic environment where one can meet The Seeds or C.Q-era Outsiders as well as Suicide, Cabaret Voltaire, The Glove and Joy Division. A stunning album with delicate night-time melodies that might end up being your new accomplices.
Armure est un projet du toulousain Tibo Padlock (Space Padlocks, Asphalt). Composé et enregistré sur quelques jours pendant l’été 2013 sur un 8 pistes à K7, les onze morceaux de ce premier album, aussi minimalistes et lo-fi qu'ils puissent être, permettent de découvrir les talents d'un vrai songwriter. Mélangeant habilement instruments traditionnels (basse et guitares mais aussi à l'occasion 12-cordes, folk, mélodica, tambourin, etc.) aux claviers et boîtes à rythme cheap, Armure se fraye subtilement un chemin dans un paysage kaléidoscopique où l'on croise autant les Seeds et les Outsiders (période C.Q) que Suicide, Cabaret Voltaire, The Glove et Joy Division. Un album étonnant dont les fines mélodies nocturnes deviendront peut-être vos complices.
"Voilà un disque bien étrange qui nous arrive de Toulouse. Derrière Armure on retrouve Tibo Padlock des Space Padlocks qui avaient sorti un très bon EP chez Close Up Records en 2012. Pour ce projet solo, le sieur Tibo offre un disque intrigant où se côtoie post punk minimaliste, rythmiques garage noyés dans des tonnes d'effets en tous genres et cold wave pour onze titres en mode lo-fi. Difficile de définir en quelques mots le cocktail improbable que nous sert Armure, le mieux est encore de l'écouter. Et croyez nous dans le genre c'est excellent !" - Raw Power Magazine
"On le sait bien, l'été c'est chiant! Il fait chaud, y'a des cons de touristes dans les rues...Mieux vaut s'enfermer et faire de la musique! C'est assurément ce que s'est dit Tibo Padlock (Space Padlocks, Asphalt, Dividers...) quand il a commencé à cogiter sur ce plan post-punk electro ambiant...Armure! Boîtes à rythme cheap, synthé, 12 cordes, percus, basse, il a tout concocté à la maison avec talent et savoir-faire, mélangeant allègrement les ingrédients issus du garage psyché américain, de la pop anglaise en passant par Joy Division, Chrome, le shoegaze ou White Fence (et y'en a d'autres). Frais, surprenant, inédit...Continue comme ça mon pote! " - Dig It!
"Armure. Oui, Armure. Le projet absolument génial, et je pèse mes mots, d’un homonyme, Tibo Padlock, déjà à l’œuvre au sein du groupe garage psyché The Space Padlocks et responsable en avril dernier d’une cassette éponyme sur SDZ Records. Seul, il s’émancipe d’un ferraillage en règle pour dépeindre une morosité blême, plus répandue dans les villes anglaises empilant les bâtiments aux briques rouges crasseuses que dans celle, au pied des Pyrénées, arborant fièrement ses découpes soigneuses de grès rose. Intemporel et blafard, enregistré sur un huit pistes rudimentaire, et faisant se côtoyer synthétiseurs, boîtes à rythmes et guitares tantôt graciles, tantôt souillées, on croit déceler, au loin, dans la brume de ces quelques morceaux aux relents grisâtres, les fantômes d’un Joy Division ayant viré Terry Mason ou d’un Suicide plus mélancolique que cheap. Mais finalement, ce ne sont pas ces réminiscences qui prédominent et donnent le la : le lyrisme brinquebalant d’Armure met impitoyablement Dirty Beaches à l’amende, chacun boxant dans cette même catégorie des crooners lo-fi, dressant un pont entre la rugosité de Dan Melchior - que l’on a pu croiser sur Sdz Records – et la subtilité mélodique des célestes Life of Angels de Gerald O’Connell (...) on recommande la triade Old Stories, We Can’t Stay et Red Sea comme on glisse un vieux disque entre les mains d’un ami, avec la certitude de ne pas se gaufrer. " - Hartzine
"New wave, dark wave, post punk, folk, psych, lofi, bedroom pop. There's about a million genres I could throw out there to describe this album, but it's the truly great songwriting capabilities of Tibo Padlock, aka Armure, that will truly catch your attention. Recorded over just a few days in Toulouse, France during the summer of 2013 via 8-track tape recorder, this is an extremely rewarding album that will warrant repeated listens " - Ongakubaka
You can listen to the record right here // Ecoutez le disque ici:
Download available // Téléchargement disponible via Bandcamp
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Premier album solo du guitariste des regrettés floridiens d'Electric Bunnies (groupe particulièrement caméléon avec un album sur Florida's Dying et des singles sur Sacred Bones, Columbus Discount et Die Stasi). Basé à Los Angeles, Space Blue (possible référence à une chanson de Suicide) est de dominante électronique mais poursuit aussi le psychédélisme tordu et intriguant d'Electric Bunnies. Neuf morceaux comme autant de galaxies ou de jardins tropicaux, dont les ambiances acides se dévoilent doucement mais sûrement. Un album artisanal mais minutieusement construit, notamment les textures, les voix et les enchaînements. Space Blue prend le temps de vous surprendre et les sensations qu'il procure n'ont rien d'évanescentes.
"Entre
post-proto-post-techno, proto-post-post techno
et post-rock (ironique), cet ancien membre des
Electric Bunnies prolonge en quelque sorte une
oeuvre qu'on désespérait d'entendre prolongée
quelque part en 2015 - celle de Black Dice et
de son petit génie de
leader Eric Copeland - et ça, c'est pas rien."
- The
Drone
"Membre fondateur du groupe
psyché The Electric Bunnies, responsable notamment
de l’album Through The Magical Door en 2009 sur
Floridas Dying, le néo-Californien Space Blue
ouvre avec la longue
Awareness, pétrie d’une monotonie électronique
absolument captivante, son premier LP cassette sur
SDZ Records. Parsemé de quelques bribes de voix,
et parcheminé d’un beat s’arrachant
progressivement des décombres d’un orgue
carillonnant, ledit morceau plante non innocemment
le décor pour les huit suivants (...) entre effet
lysergique des boucles rythmiques, acidité des
paysages sonores et minutie des arrangements."
-
Hartzine
"Loin des fulgurances
psyché-punk de son groupe The Electric Bunnies, la
californien Space Blue nous fait plonger avec son
premier album solo au titre éponyme, dans un
univers aux volutes experimentales ambient
captivantes. Dès le track d’ouverture Awareness,
les boucles aux sonorités vaguement indus
tournoient dans l’espace, pour se muter en une
mélodie cristalline appuyée par une rythmique à la
cadence langoureuse, montant progressivement vers
des cieux traversés de pertubations électriques.
Space Blue fige le temps dans un immobilisme
mobile, élaborant des compositions au minimalisme
rêche, enrobées de déflagrations à la retenue
sous-jacente. Proche d’artistes comme Demdike
Stare, Huerco S. ou Patricia, l’américain propose
une oeuvre squelettique au système nerveux
traversé de ramifications incandescentes,
faisceaux drones mouvants aux saveurs
tumultueuses, nous plongeant avec malice d’un
titre à l’autre vers des contrées imaginaires au
pouvoir catalyseur, changeant constamment de
direction sans jamais nous perdre dans son dédale
de sensations et d’émotions. Une oeuvre
cathartique aux battements cinétiques. Très
fortement recommandé."
-
Silenceandsound
"Space Blue, a solo electronic offshoot of Florida’s Electric Bunnies, gets me, I think. His new tape is a deep, dark look at the cosmos, that part of space that you see looking out of the window of a craft (like New Horizons maybe! If it were built to carry people, I guess). It’s dark, your field of vision isn’t overcrowded with romantic sci-fi imagery, and the only way you’ll get to see anything remotely up close is if you perform some severely advanced mathematical equation to get there. Space is freaking big, you guys – if you ever went out in it, you’d probably get that. So “Awareness,” then, drops you right in the middle of nothing, its barely-there beat glitching along, making you wait for any payoff. The song glides along on this for a while before adding a heavier bottom end, but even then it just propels itself forward, making you think for yourself instead of telling you how to feel. Are you awake in your spaceship? You’ve got a lot of time on your hands. You’ve got eleven minutes of this song. Maybe this song is the soundtrack to your own awareness. “Venus of” doubles down on the intensity of the rhythm and mood, and lumbers through its machinations in only seven minutes, but those seven minutes are among the most bracing you’ll ever experience while in deep space. I’m not sensing any danger in the track, so just enjoy it, knowing that you’re puny, and human, and you’re at the mercy of something other than yourself. Space Blue says, you’re not in control, sucker! Listen to my awesomeness. “I Remember Something You Told Me While We Were in the Singularity,” great title aside, feels like time stops, especially after the great one-two opening punch. “A La Luna” has a similar feel to “Venus of,” but way more industrial, and it’s a fun, scrappy mood switch after “Singularity.” There’s another version of the song, later, dubbed “(Mix Ambiente),” and it teases out a much more gauzy, ethereal center than its predecessor. The two tracks work nicely as juxtapositions of each other. “Green Eyes” almost sounds like a tossed-off Animal Collective track, and it even has vocals! An unlikely but welcome surprise, throwing just a large enough spanner into the works to cause your CPU to hiccup then resume. “Relax” ends the album on a beautiful ambient note, with chimes and a female voice whispering unintelligible words in your ear. Perhaps in your hibernation tank aboard your vessel? Who knows, what am I, Isaac Asimov? Go finish your lunch. This is a wildly promising debut from Space Blue, and something I could listen to over and over again on headphones. I mean, seriously, that one-two opening punch of “Awareness” and “Venus of” takes me to all the right places. I’m gonna have to keep my eye on this fella…" - Critical Masses
"Space Blue, if that is his
real name, is a straight-up banger, wetting his
beak in several styles and never shrinking from
the challenges presented by creating electronic
music in a crowded field of competitors. “Lonely
L.A.” is just one of the impressive
compositions afoot, but its wiry frame and
fascinating underbelly aptly represent why this
tape is so unique: Its contents ever-so-patiently
form a cocoon for the ear, fluffy and cushioned by
all manner of digital distraction. “A La Luna”
also tweaks the ear with a lofi
drum-machine beat and strange flora/fauna that
seem to bark at the listener. Quite the trip,
quite the intrigue; Space Blue cracks enough codes
to deserve a spot on your tape shelf, at the very
least." -
Consequence of sound
Découvert via le groupe tourangeau Toddi Wellman
(“Tano” sur la compilation “Flottante tension d'éclipse”)
- groupe avec lequel il partage quelques accointances -
The Dictaphone s'illustre depuis plus de cinq ans sur une
demi-douzaine d'albums aussi mystérieux que passionnants,
publiés sur des labels comme Kill Shaman, Tolmie Terrapin
Press, Sweet Rot ou Cocktail Pueblo. Des bizarreries en
chambre des débuts au kraut-wave cosmique d'aujourd'hui,
il n'y a qu'un pas. The Dictaphone multiplie les
expérimentations punk, pousse à l'occasion des envies
psychédéliques à leur paroxysme et flirte régulièrement
avec la minimal wave, le kraut, le garage ou la surf avec
une frénésie minutieuse. Tour à tour sombre, sinueux,
inquiétant, dansant ou allumé, The Dictaphone est
imprévisible et inclassable. Crudités Tapes est fier de
vous présenter le nouvel album “Tp Hss” qui sort presque
simultanément avec un autre album, “Hazmat” (sur le label
autrichien Totally Wired), enième preuve d'une créativité
aussi débordante qu'enthousiasmante.
Discovered through Toddi Wellman’s “Tano” (on the “Flottante tension d'eclipse” compilation) on which he was drumming, The Dictaphone started as a one-man-wonder and released more than 6 albums in just five years on labels like Kill Shaman, Tolmie Terrapin Press, Sweet Rot or Cocktail Pueblo. Pushing punk experimentations to the fullest, The Dictaphone is now a full band and a total explosion of sounds: from extreme psychedelics to robotic minimal wave, from intriguing kraut-wave to savage garage-surf. There is simply no boundaries that can’t be trespassed by this band. Dark, frenetic, lit, tangled, The Dictaphone is quite unpredictable. Crudites Tapes is proud to present their new album “Tp Hss”, released almost simultaneously with the “Hazmat” LP (on Totally Wired).
"une avalanche de morceaux aussi géniaux que bancals" - Hartzine
"Did you hear me? Endlessly relistenable. I’m not lying." - Critical Masses
"Genuinely a great
composition and worth infinite listens"
-
Lost in a sea of sound
"Suicide, A-Frames, Joy
Division, all make appearances as spectral
inspirations for The Dictaphone. The band churns
out nihilistic anthems in a workmanlike fashion,
but ropes you in to the proceedings with a
sinister catchiness that’s impossible to ignore."
-
Cassette Gods
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CRU010:
V/A
"Tendres Ténèbres" LP
WFMU #NewRekkid o'Day: V/A TENDRES TENEBRES: French-based compilation of surrealist lullabye interpretations https://t.co/4mZtygJQXN
— WFMU (@WFMU) 8 août 2016
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CRU011:
Mulan
Serrico
"Discret" LP
Artwork by Lili
Reynaud Dewar
"Le coup de trique
ténu, minimaliste, d’une boîte à rythmes
de l’âge de pierre. Un séquenceur dévide
ses boucles lancinantes, tandis qu’une
voix brouillée susurre des sérénades
douce-amères. Crooner sans pare-chocs,
Mulan Serrico a le blues qui colle aux
basques, la mélancolie des grands espaces
corrélée au repli sur soi. Le regard droit
et la gorge haute, la prestance d’un roi
face au Rien. Le grenoblois Nicolas Murer,
dont Mulan Serrico n’est rien d’autre que
l’anagramme, est un artiste qui n’a rien à
vendre et rien à perdre. Il fut jadis Ton
Ami (2005-2008), mais a mille autres
projets solo sous le coude sur son label
Stochastic Releases: Macon, Maurer ou Spor
Tranquil selon l’humeur, quand il ne lâche
pas les clébards avec son duo Gueule
Ouverte, hymnes punk-rock aux poches
trouées. Il a également à son actif un
opéra-performance en duo avec l’artiste
contemporaine Lili Reynaud-Dewar, qui a
été montrée à la Biennale de Venise en
2015.
Mulan Serrico, c’est un peu la synthèse de
tout ça. Ses chansons électro low-fi
prennent racine le long d’un plissement de
terrain, la besace de Paul Celan sanglée
au garrot de Chris & Cosey.
Agoraphobie envahissante, croupissure
électronique. Complainte solitaire,
isolationnisme proustien. Une musique des
non-dits et des chuchotements inavouables,
des « vérités pleines d’alcool ». Horizon
de l’absence, acid house capitonnée.
Labeur toujours, amour jamais. Anesthésie
des sentiments en direction assistée. New
beat des âmes damnées, techno sculptée
dans le granit. Un lavis d’acide qui dilue
les souffrances dans l’euphorie de
l’instant. La suffisance monomaniaque qui
confine à l’auto-dénigrement, l’hilarité
sans rire des désespérés. Poésie décharnée
sur un dancefloor décimé, la prose de
Mulan Serrico s’acharne à faire
obstruction au marasme en attendant les
lendemains qui chantent."
- Julien Bécourt.
"A rhythm box from the Stone Age, as
thin as a rake, pops up all of a sudden. A
sequencer spits its throbbing loops while a
blurred voice whispers a bitter-sweet
serenade. Crooner without a shield, Mulan
Serrico's got the blues under his skin, but
his melancholic tendencies, deeply linked to
the great outdoors, may reach the point of
autistic withdrawal. Looking straight and
standing tall, he possesses the presence of a
king conquering the nothingness. An inhabitant
of Grenoble, Mulan Serrico - which is the
anagram of his full name, Nicolas Murer - is
an artist who’s got nothing to sell and
nothing to lose. He used to be Ton Ami
(2005-2008), but has plenty of other projects
under his Stochastic Releases belt, such as
Macon, Murer or Spor Tranquil, depending on
his mood. When anger takes over, he might as
well break loose with his mighty Gueule
Ouverte duet, which performs stone-broke
punk-rock anthems. Last but not least, he’s
behind a long-lasting collaboration with the
contemporary French artist Lili Reynaud-Dewar,
including an intimate opera that was performed
at the Venice Biennale in 2015.
Well, his first EP is pretty much a summary of
everything mentioned above. His low-fi electro
songs are rooted in a landslide, Paul Celan’s
burden hanging at the withers of Chris &
Cosey. Invasive agoraphobia, electronic
stagnation. Solitary lament, Proustian
isolationism. A music born from cryptic
thoughts and shameful whispers, in order to
blurt out "truths full of alcohol". Horizon of
the absence, Acid House for padded cells.
Labour still, love never. Anesthesia of the
feelings to the power steering system. New
Beat for hypochondriacs, techno carved in
granite. An acid wash which dilutes the
sufferings in the euphoria of the moment. The
haggard gaze and the blank expression of a
monomaniac who borders on the
self-belittlement, the hilarity without
laughter of the most desperate cases.
Emaciated poetry on a decimated dancefloor,
Mulan Serrico’s prose persists in thwarting
apathy while waiting for a brighter future."
- Julien Becourt
"Après
quelques minutes
d’adaptation, cette
mixture se métamorphose
en un organisme musical
tout simplement addictif
et entrainant" -
R/ve
"Une
litanie de complaintes
comme dépouillées de
leur spleen, un chant
qui couine plus qu'il ne
croone, et qui croule
sous les coups de butoir
d'une minimal wave
technoïde : vous l'aurez
compris, on est
effectivement pour les
bienfaits de
"l'autodénigrement et de
l'autorédemption" -
The
Drone
"A la simplicité apparente du matériel utilisé et au minimalisme assumé des productions, le grenoblois Mulan Serrico répond par une myriade de petits coups de génie et une voix manipulatrice. Son "Discret" sorti début Juin chez Crudités en est la consécration" - Kiblind
"Un
LP aux allures de
moyen-métrage arty, aux
images sales et
éclaboussées de débris
de chairs pendantes,
flagellation des idées
de soi et de grisonnante
intelligentsia dépravée
et oubliée du commun des
mortels, poésie
romantique en mode Les
voluptés de
l’autodénigrement et de
l’autorédemption, track
aux volutes hypnotiques
et aux descentes
absinthesques. Très
fortement recommandé." -
Silenceandsound
"With
a hint of wackiness on
par with, say, a much,
much, much tamer Les
Georges Leningrad, and
the ability to put asses
in the seats and feet on
the dancefloor, Serrico
carves out an ambitious
path on Discret that
could branch out in any
direction from here, as
this guy most likely
grows to the size of his
cage like an Osker.
Looking forward/hoping
to hear more, that’s for
sure." -
Tiny
Mix Tapes
"I’m strongly reminded of the simplistic synth-wave sleaze of fellow Frenchmen Scorpion Violente, although Mulan Serrico is mercifully free of lecherous imagery. Discret plays out somewhere between early Chris & Cosey and the Excitebike soundtrack, with basic acid movements and throwback melodies not far from the first Veiled album, much of which is joined by sonically-affected male vocals.(...) if you’re throwing a dungeon dance-party and the bar is only serving red wine, you might be wishing you had a copy of Discret nearby." - Yellow Green Red
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CRU012:
Mattin
"Songbook #6"
LP
Co-production
Crudités
/ Munster
/
Insulin
Addicted
“Butthole Surfers meets Run The
Jewels”, this is how Dean Roberts described
the record.
Yes, there is rock, but it’s so deformed
that not even No-Wave could help you make
sense out of it. Imagine if a bunch of
viruses filled with fake news and
contemporary nastiness would go straight to
the core of No-Wave, Punk and Rock’s
integrity: authenticity. Not to say that the
Buttholes Surfers were the most authentic
band in the world or that this record
matches the production of El-P, but instead
here you have some of the most exciting
musicians in Berlin coming together for the
first time; interpreting some lyrics from
Mattin, dealing with our fucked up times and
the search for overcoming them.
To say that there is no authenticity is not
to fall into the postmodern relativism that
has been a debilitating force in the
struggle against the new wave of neo
fascism. In fact, the latter also claim
their own authenticity: race-realism. Nor
surprisingly, authenticity was also at the
core of Heidegger which somehow connects
National Socialism and its French
deconstructionist critics. Even if this
record for some might sound like
deconstructed rock through electronic noise
and improv, it is also doing something else
like building a Frankenstein monster in the
form of rock-as-zombie-avatar: as if
Lou Reed would haunt us from the other side
connecting the motherboards of our devices
to our brains giving us all electroshocks
for not being able to stop this
fascism-as-the-new-punk regime, while he
shout at us: they got the traction on danger
and you need to take it back!
featuring Farahnaz Hatam, Pan Daijing, Colin
Hacklander, Werner Dafeldecker and Dean
Roberts
Recorded on the 6th of June, 2016
by Jeremy Nothman at Golden Retriever
Studios, Kreuzberg, Berlin
Mastered by Rashad Becker
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CRU13:
C.I.A
Debutante "We
Will play for
spirits" CS45
x 2
Recorded
May 1st 2017
at the Auber
Mansion by
Benoit
Villeneuve/Doucement
Art by Eden
Spetsnaz
Editions and
some Bapt
Windrunner
Dope Database
Special thanks
to Michel
Wisniewski
C.I.A
Debutante est
un duo formé
par Paul
Bonnet
(Disposition
Matrix, The
Nightclub
Toilet) et
Nathan Roche
(Le Villejuif
Underground).
Créé l'an
dernier, le
groupe a déjà
à son actif
une demi-
douzaine de
cassettes sur
des labels
comme
Officine,
Tanzprocesz ou
Royal Sperm.
"We will play
for spirits",
leur nouveau
double album
sur Crudités
Tapes/SDZ va
vous
transporter à
10 000 au
dessus des
océans, dans
un radeau de
fortune
malmené par
les vents, à
moins que ce
ne soit tout
simplement le
mauvais oeil.
Librement
inspiré d'un
crash aérien,
ces 18
morceaux
cryptiques
forment une
mixture
incongrue
entre
l'électronique
vintage d'un
pilote
autodidacte,
possiblement
kamikaze, et
le spoken
word d'un
enquêteur un
peu déviant
aux théories
houblonneuses.
Géomètre des chemtrails,
passionné des
carrousels à
bagages et des
signaux
lumineux qui
ne mènent pas
à une issue de
secours, C.I.A
Debutante se
fraye un
chemin dans
les
interlignes
des rapports
officiels et
actionne ses
visions en
plein ciel
comme le long
de longues
plages
abandonnées
où, en courant
un peu vite au
bon endroit,
il y a
toujours moyen
de trouver des
débris
d'avions. Dans
les sous-sols
d'un large
bâtiment du
tout puissant
complexe
militaro-industriel
on écoute déjà
cette
double-cassette
avec une
attention
fébrile.
C.I.A
Debutante is a
duo formed by
Paul Bonnet
(Disposition
Matrix, The
Nightclub
Toilet) and
Nathan Roche
(Le Villejuif
Underground).
Created last
year, the band
has already
released half
a dozen tapes
on labels such
as Officine,
Tanzprocesz or
Royal Sperm.
"We will play
for spirits",
their new
double album
on Crudités
Tapes/SDZ will
transport you
to 10 000 ft
over the
oceans, in a
raft of
fortune mauled
by the winds,
unless it is
simply the
evil eye.
Loosely
inspired by an
air crash,
these 18
cryptic tracks
form an
incongruous
mixture
between the
vintage
electronics of
a self-taught
pilot,
possibly a
kamikaze, and
the spoken
word of a
little deviant
investigator,
kean on
hop-flavored
theories.
Chemtrails
geometricians,
luggages
carousel
enthusiasts
and fond of
light signals
that do not
lead to an
emergency
exit, C.I.A
Debutante
makes its way
through the
lines of
official
reports and
operate its
own visions
both in the
sky and along
abandoned
beaches where,
by running a
little fast in
the right
direction
there is
always a plane
debris waiting
for you. In
the basement
of a large
building owned
by the
military-industrial
complex,
experts are
already
listening to
this
double-cassette
with a febrile
attention.
Interview dans Gonzai
"C'est enveloppant, planant et inquiétant, on sent le grain de la K7 qui dilue le bain sonore. 18 morceaux enchaînés en formats courts ou très longs, une volonté affichée d'épuiser l'auditeur pour le surprendre encore davantage" - Abus Dangereux
"Formé
par Paul
Bonnet
(Disposition
Matrix, The
Nightclub
Toilet) et
Nathan Roche
(Le Villejuif
Underground)
C.I.A.
Debutante
offre un
premier album
étrange et
envoutant,
construit
autour de
sonorités
spatiales et
de
bidouillages
en tous
genres.
We
Will Play For
Spirits est
un aller sans
retour vers
une planète
interdite, de
laquelle on
n’échappe pas
forcément
vivant, à
moins de
savoir
naviguer entre
les
interférences
et les vocaux
parlers
qui parasitent
l’ensemble
constamment.
Les 18 titres
qui composent
l’album, ne
sont pas sans
évoquer
certains
travaux de
Martin Rev
(moitié de
Suicide),
Cabaret
Voltaire ou
Throbbing
Gristle entre
plongées
expérimentales
et éléments
post-rock
recouverts de
poussière
radio-active,
électronique
déglinguée et
dérapages
cryptaux.
Le duo se
délecte à
créer des
atmosphères
tendues, où
les rythmiques
forment un
tapis sur
lequel glisse
les éléments
autour. Le
psychédélisme
est aussi de
la partie, de
par cette
volonté
farouche
de distordre
les sons et
les exploser
en
kaléidoscopes
vibrants,
bâtis à coups
de machines
usées et de
synthés
épuisés
jusqu’à la
moelle. Le
plus étonnant
reste la
faculté de
C.I.A.
Debutante de
ne
jamais
agresser nos
tympans, tant
leur musique
déploie un
arsenal de
mélodies sous
jacentes à la
douceur
ambient
flottant dans
un espace à
l’énergie
électrique
vibrante. Très
fortement
recommandé." - Silenceandsound
"Part
modular
ambient/industrial/noise-loops
soundtrack,
part
spoken-word
socio-political
critique, part
esoteric
conspiratorial
psycho-drama,
“We Will Play
For Spirits”
delivers like
an abandoned
warehouse
filled to the
brim with the
very same
greasy, hollow
orbs one might
find in a
drainage ditch
just outside a
McDonald’s;
i.e. it is a
fucking mess.
But, when
taken in, in
the right
mindset, it is
revelatory.
And messy.
Really, really
fucking messy.
Imagine
McGuyver
deftly
crafting a
transistor
radio out of
two Ouija
boards, a
demonically
possessed
Teddy Ruxpin
(who just so
happens to be
excessively
invested in
e-stalking*
Dwayne
Goettel),
three stolen
9V batteries,
and a rather
rusty bouquet
of contact
mics. The very
same
experimental
mood could
conceivably be
achieved from
this
FrankenBeaRadio,
but CIA
Debutante’s
arrangements
here are
nothing short
of
premeditated
and
calculated,
boasting an
obvious labor
of love over
the expert
tailoring of
vocals-and-noise
interplay that
feed and
amplify and
feed, loop,
feed, and
amplify off
one another,
over and over
again, this
all creating
an
ever-evolving
beast of a
tale to
blurrily
chase.
So. What might
this
relatively
sound like
that has been
done before?
Not fucking
much. Maybe
think early
Skinny Puppy’s
synth-heavy
instrumental
vignettes, but
with vocals
added by a
fuzzy/static/blown
out,
forced-baritone
vocal-fry’d
robot
proposing some
pretty-party-poetic
far-the-fuck-out-there
shit.
&when
there aren’t
words
meandering
about, there’s
an equally
chaotic
texture of
modular synth
and/or
doctor’d
guitar
freakoutery
snaking its
way through
this
constantly
shifting
in-and-out-in-and-out-of-key
confusion.
With or
without
headphones,
these tapes
just keeps
getting better
&better
with each
listen. Too
bad the
physical
release is
already sold
out. Look for
more CIAD in
the future
and/or
download from
bandcamp!
*as in
e-ternally" -
Cassette
Gods
"will
likely scratch
the inch for
those with an
interest in,
say, early
industrial
music, library
music, The
Shadow Ring,
and spy films.
A solid
release." - FreeFormFreakout
"Like
painting over
a canvas so
many times
that the paint
peels and
cracks in
places, while
retaining a
shadow of the
original image
beneath, ‘We
will play for
spirits’ is
densely
layered and
mysterious. On
‘Phonetapping’
and
‘Forty-eight
dollars a
night neon’,
delicate
synths and
miniature drum
machine
cymbals are
penetrated by
crushing
vocals and
screaming
frequencies
swathed in
distortion.
Loosely
inspired by an
“air crash,”
each song
seems guided
by the harmony
of alien
lifeforms. A
harmony
disturbed by
an unfamiliar
relic - a
muffled human
voice captured
on chewed up
tape-loop. One
could listen
for eternity
and never
unravel the
code.." - Critic