T.O.P. Interview: Abyss X (Halcyon Veil, Danse Noire)

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She first enchanted us with her Mouthed EP on Halcyon Veil, released in 2016. Now the Greek dark artist/performer comes back  with a forthcoming emotive album on the Swiss Danse Noire. A lyrical journey full of emotions and abyssal, chaotic  waves. Her Lyrical Waxing is something like a manifestation of archetypes and deep rooted human expressions. An exploration of the  psyche. This is an interview with Abyss X for Tales of Psychofonia.

T.O.P. : Why Abyss?

Abyss X: Abyss is like a vacuum and a doorway at the same time. I believe there’s also a lack of Abyss as a Goddess in ancient Greek mythology, a fact that proves its fierce nature.

T.O.P.: How would you describe your journey into the music?

Abyss X: It feels like an accidental encounter.

 T.O.P.: What are these elements that most influence your work? Is there anything particular that fires your creativity and imagination?

Cyclothymia, intense emotional states, beauty and nature.

T.O.P.: Who is your favourite artist for this period?

Abyss X: My favourite artists have been the same ever since I remember exploring the vast sea of music. I would say Velvet Acid Christ really expanded my sonic perception ever since I was in my early teens.

T.O.P.: What’s the story behind the “Lyrical Waxing album and the Danse Noire collaboration?

Abyss X: The label initially reached out to inquire for a remix for one of their artists’ forthcoming release. As I don’t really do remixes, they suggested we collaborated on a release. I so happened to have the material so we initiated the process right away.

T.O.P.: Do you have any plans for the near future?

Abyss X: I’d like to bring back my performance, theatre and dance work so I will try to focus a bit more on developping projects of this nature.

T.O.P.: Which record/tune would you recommend as a tale of psychofonia, a tale to heal the mind?

Abyss X: I think my EP ‘Mouthed’ is very much about that.

photography: Kostis Fokas and NSFW 

More on Abyss X:

 

 

 

 

 

Discos Paradiso: A vinyl Paradise in Barcelona

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It is been a long time since I wanted to write a post about one of my TOP favourite record stores. What can one say about this legendary record store? A place of people rubbing together, producing endless waves. At Discos Paradiso you will find the crème de la crème of all kinds of music. Artists from all over the world have visited this avant-garde record store in Barrio Gotico between Raval and Plaza Catalunya, right in the heart of the beautiful city. Friendly atmosphere, always with good vibes and you never know how your day will end up by visiting this place. One thing is for sure; you will definitely pick at least one mind-melting record.

Whilst I am writing these words I bring to mind those days when I lived in Spain and I started visiting Discos Paradiso every week. I spent endless hours in there and the guys always happy to help, to offer some beers and that was all… all you needed to feel like home, feel like being in Paradise! At that fantastic place, I met some of the best DJs and artists of the city and I made friends. A territory of exchanging ideas and music. A place where you can be musically educated. Discos Paradisos it is far more than a record store, it is about promoting new ways of existing. It is a lifestyle.

This is what makes Discos Paradiso the best record store in Barcelona and one of the best ones in the world, in our own humble opinion.

As electronica is our soft spot, there you will find an exquisite collection of all subgenres from Acid Techno to Detroit, Industrial, Deep House, Dub Techno, Bass, Noise and Experimental. Needless to say, you will also find a great selection of other genres such as Disco, Funk, Soul, Hip-Hop, Indie, Rock, Folk, Synth-Pop. Remember to dig deeper and check all the offers as the hidden gems are waiting for you.

DISCOS PARAD

Photo taken by Vilma,2014

Live gigs and events that took place at this friendly space had marked my taste and certainly opened my musical horizons.

That is a quite different and emotional post but I think this is the real way to support, through pure love and personal experience.

Miss you guys. Warm and musical greetings from Bristol!

Location Ferlandina 39, Barcelona
Discogs Page

 

T.O.P. Interview: ​Kaltès & Nene H. on their forthcoming release PROTEST EP on Eomac’s Eotrax.

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Our first 2018 post will be dedicated to the jaw-dropping Protest EP which is the fruit of the collaboration between Kaltès and Nene H., two of the most exquisite artists of Berlin´s techno scene. The EP is released on the 16th of February on Eomac´s label Eotrax and it is its fourth release. The result is like a powerful explosive manifesto which marks new paths of expression. A spelling game PERSIST –RESIST which plays, on and off, as an existential conflict in our minds. Protest sounds like a hidden message, ready to be decoded by those who are able to feel it. It is like a deep scream of an unravelled mystery, of a suppressed ego. When powerful and creative women come together then the music has indeed something to say and the outcome is more than successful. It is a robust statement.

A revolutionary sound which is supported by the mind-blowing remix of artist Christina Sealy (Orphx). Christina´s remix turns Persist into an industrial hymn, a modern shamanistic prayer.  On the other hand, LAIR aka Laura Kilty is soothing the mind with her remix of Resist converting it into an ambient landscape with spacey interferences, which gradually hypnotise the most RESISTant listeners.

Tales of Psychofonia asked both Nene H. and Káltes few questions on this astonishing collaboration.

T.O.P.:  Two powerful artists with dynamic appearances and great solo careers come together and give us a high-class product. The collaboration is enriched by two remixes by LAIR  and Christina Sealy. What is the story behind this high fidelity project?

Kaltès: The way things got together on this one is quite fantastic. Like it was meant to be. I discovered Nene’s music and was immediately in awe. The next day, totally out of the blue, I got a message from her, telling me that she really loved my work. We had never talked to each other nor met before. It was such a weird coincidence. We started to chat and in less than a day, decided to work together. It was so spontaneous. Instinctive. We literally met each through the process of music making. We completed the EP quite quickly, everything so perfectly flowing. Once we were done with that part we decided to choose 5 labels each. Without consulting each other, we ended up both having Eotrax as the number one on our respective lists. Another coincidence. We sent the EP to Eomac. No one else.  And the rest is history.

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T.O.P.: The title and the spelling game with the words Persist Resist give the impression that there is a special message behind the release. Why Protest? What is the statement behind it?

Kaltès: “Protest” is the expression of our struggles and political stand as musicians in this world. A reflection of our time. A time for women’s voices to be heard. To be Loud. And Louder!

T.O.P.:  Shall we wait for more common projects in the near future?

Nene H.: We both love to work with various artists. Since we are personal and emotional people, we search for connection and bond in our work. We believe it is more honest to do it this way. So it is likely that we’ll work together again but in what concept we don’t know yet. We will see.

T.O.P.: What do you persist in? 

Nene H.: I persist in being honest and open. I persist in kindness. I persist in learning.

T.O.P.: Why resist?

Nene H.: Systems that are built until now didn’t lead us here where we are. What led us here is the resistance that came with it. We need contrasts to improve, collisions to build out of.

Kaltès: nothing to add.

T.O.P.: Thank you both for this amazing sharing!

“When I received the tracks from Kaltès and Nene H. it took me about 30 seconds to decide I was going to release it! I loved the rawness and intensity of the music and I was drawn to the vocal scream used in both tracks. Also the intention behind it. This is music that has a voice and is really saying something. I am happy to give music like that a home on Eotrax”. Eomac

Support the artists: https://eotrax.bandcamp.com/album/protest-ep

 

 

 

T.O.P. five charts of 2017

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Tales of Psychofonia asks 5 artists about their top 5 favourite records of 2017 and the result is quality. We wish you Happy New Year!

1.

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Dimette (Thrènes, CH)  has a particularly special approach to her blend of electronic music. As a music collector, she has always been passionate about analog warmth and great fidelity sounds, which she contributes to not only as a performer but also as a record label co-founder with Threnes records. Dimette’s music bridges the gaps between various underground currents, including techno, dark, abstract, experimental techno and more. The result is a lush, organic and textural blend of atmospheres and beats with a rhythmic melancholic feel. Her top 5 beauties for 2017 are:

  1. Belief Defect- Decadent Yet Depraved- Raster
  2. Restive Plaggona- Silently Hopelessly- Thrènes
  3. Pact Infernal-Infernality- Horo
  4. Kangding Ray-Hyper Opal Mantis- Stroboscopic Artefacts
  5. Tzusing-東方不敗- L.I.E.S

 

 

https://www.threnes.com/

2.

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Mora/Beyond/ (Urban Legend, ES) is an artist from Seville with a long career as a DJ and producer, with a special presence in the Barcelona, London and Berlin underground scenes. By 2012, he started his personal project under his new AKA /beyond/, which consolidates after his debut “Now I See There’s Light /beyond / Darkness”, a vinyl 12 “ EP released by his own label Urban Legend Record Label. Mora shares with us his 5-star records for this year:

  1. Rainbow Mirror/ Prurient- Profound Lore Records
  2. Bastet/ LCC-Editions Mego
  3. Hungry For Candy/ Florian Kupfer- Valcrond Video
  4. Weightless/ Jasss-iDeal Recordings
  5. Wakati/ Unknown Cultures- Urban Legend

 

 

http://www.urbanlegendrl.com/beyond

3.

Fonemi

Fonemi ( Blackwater, IT) is Vito Santoro, an Italian writer, novelist and producer. Santoro juxtaposes the passion for crime stories with electronic music, thinking his music as a soundtrack for his novels. His style blends ambient music, experimentalism and ethnic suggestions. Earlier in the year, T.O.P. had published a wicked mix by him which shows the quality of his music and selection. Fonemi’s favourite records for 2017 are:

  1. Gas – Narkopop- Kompakt
  2. Caterina Barbieri – Patterns of Consciousness- Important Records
  3. Shackleton & Vengeance Tenfold – Sferic Ghost Transmits- Honest Jon’s Records
  4. Ryuichi Sakamoto – Async- Milan
  5. Forest Swords – Compassion-ZEN

 

https://www.facebook.com/Fonemi/

4.

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Catoune (DE) is the collaboration between Cathy Daniëls and Andrea Cichecki. Cathy and Andrea have been soul sisters for many years and shared the same dedication to music. Catoune consists of performing DJ sets as a duo, always responding to and embracing each other’s music and vibe while playing B2B. This drives their performance to very energetic and diverse heights, never shying away from the very depths of their record bags. And this collaboration is only the start of more goodness to come.
As 2018 will see the birth of a new connoisseur’s record label… so stay tuned. They picked up for us their top 5 records for 2017, in no specific order:

  1. Jan Jelinek – Loop-Finding-Jazz-Records -Faitiche
  2. Various artist – Thoughts from Chicago Volume 4. -Eargasmic
  3. FP-Oner – Arigato- Mule music
  4. Vakula – B – Bandura
  5. Galsher Lustwerk – Tape 22- White Material repress

 

https://www.facebook.com/Catounemusic/

https://www.residentadvisor.net/dj/catoune

Next Event: 2 february PROZAC at ://about blank, Berlin https://www.residentadvisor.net/events/1052494

5.

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Helena Markos (Tales of Psychofonia, UK) is the woman behind Tales of Psychofonia, our Bristol based music web. More about Helena on talesofpsychofonia.com. For this year she highlighted:

  1. Ashtrejinkins – Fruit In Failure EP (APRON34)
  2. Reeko- La Mala Educacion- Avian
  3. Midori Takada-Through the Looking Glass- We Release Whatever The Fuck We Want Records
  4.  Fonemi- Cosmopolis – Blackwater
  5. Addremove- Clean Slate- Thrènes

 

 

 

T.O.P. Interview: NWRMNTC (UK)

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Her music breathes and evolves as a sentient being. Organic heavy beats, explorative melodies which show that Ana has great potential and a bright future in the scene. She takes the risk and she wins. Ana Quiroga through her  NWRMNTC  project challenges the established electronic sound and dares to go beyond.

Ana is also half of the female electronic duo LCC, who have several releases on Editions Mego and play live at international events including Sonar Barcelona, Berlin Atonal and Barbican Centre. Following a residency in Iceland at Heima Art Residency during summer 2017, Ana is developing music, sound design and soundtracks for audiovisual and multimedia projects. Besides, she has been a special guest at NTS Radio (Fractal Meat) and Netil Radio.

Today we are very happy to host Ana’s interview on Tales of Psychofonia,  just a couple of months before her performance at London’s Corsica Studios alongside Silent Servant, Kangding Ray and Broken English Club. Ana’s music is coming to mesmerize you, to tickle both your senses and mind, to drag you to the deepest levels of her unique world.

 

T.O.P.: What defines NWRMNTC? Does it express a specific style or is it a multifaceted project? 

NWRMNTC: NWRMNTC started as a project to explore music as a solo, parallel to my work as half of LCC. In the beginning, I started making sessions and live mixes, seeking new electronic soundscapes evoking cinema scenes and future worlds. The project is really open to navigate among different styles around the main topic that is storytelling through emotional landscapes. Currently, I’m working on my new album or ep which is at the beginning of the creative process after spending two months in Iceland making an artistic residency in collaboration with Estela Oliva.

T.O.P.: What are your influences and how did your journey into the electronic sound start?

NWRMNTC: My musical influences come more from alternative rock and pop music. Especially, bands which mixed it with electronics and using a lot of synths, like NIN, Depeche Mode, New Order, The Cure, Air… Slowly, post-teenager I started to discover electronic music beyond dance and mainstream. Electroclash, ambient, industrial, dub techno… And the trip started until today!

T.O.P.: How do you perceive the contemporary music and especially in the UK where you are based?

NWRMNTC: Totally fascinating! I’m so happy to be here. Every day, I discover something new. I love the huge natural mix of styles you can find in UK, especially in London. There are so many people making amazing new things, clubs, parties, radio programs, talks… I’m trying to absorb and enjoy everything, even things a priori I wouldn’t say are my type and then I discover then super positive to continue learning and growing.

T.O.P.:  What are your top five records this year?

NWRMNTC:

Arca – Arca (XL Recordings)
Pan Daijing – Lack (PAN)
Machine Woman – When Lobster Comes Home (Technicolour)
Akkord – RCVR / XMTR (Houndstooth)
The Trascendence Orchestra – Modern Methods For Ancient Rituals (Editions Mego)

T.O.P.:  Apart from your solo project, you are the other half of the female duo  LCC. You also produce music and you turn it into an audiovisual experience. Are there any new projects or upcoming collaborations?

NWRMNTC: Yes, apart of NWRMTNC and LCC, I’m also working in sound design with Clon Studio. We’ve launched reacently a concept film and now we’re working in a VR experience which we will present at Nocturnal City, next 27th of January at Somerset House Studios, London.

T.O.P.: Ana, you have a wicked upcoming gig alongside magnificent artists such as Kangding Ray and Silent Servant at Corsica Studios. How does it feel being part of this unique event at one of the top clubs in London?

NWRMNTC: I  feel glad and happy to be part of this amazing night. I want to say thanks to Billy Allen who invited me and always has been supporting my work. Getting ready to play different soundscapes from dark ambient to techno in a 3h set!

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T.O.P.: Is there any dream you have regarding your art/music and you want to share with us? (We might bring you good luck)

NWRMNTC: One of the biggest dreams I’ve done it already and I feel so lucky! I always dreamed to have a band or a musical project and play around the world. I really enjoy to play live, makes me feel alive and excited. I feel really proud what we’ve done with LCC. We started from nothing, we didn’t have musical studies and we are from Spain, a not particullary easy country for this kind of music. We have played in some venues and festivals we really admire as Berlin Atonal and Sónar and released in Editions Mego, a label we really respetc and we feel grateful to have had this opportunity. Now I dream to be able to continue this adventure also with NWRMTNC and enjoying life and music.

T.O.P.: Finally, what is the deepest favourite record of yours, one that you think it could heal the mind?

NWRMNTC: No doubts which one is one of my favourites, an essential but not too sure if it could heal the mind of everybody because it’s a bit tricky but for me it’s an amazing trip to different states of mind: Nine Inch Nails – The Downward Spiral.

 

More about Ana on: www.anaquiroga.net

T.O.P. Podcast series: Funkia (ES)

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Funkia is Borja Diaz from Spain. He has worked on the radio and organized small events. and he also spent eight years specialising in the electronic music press. Even though he loves all kind of genres his big passions are  electronic and jazz.

Suffice it to say, Funkia is a great record collector and his sets are both eclectic and unpredictable. Tales of Psychofonia chooses him for its 37th podcast, in which you will encounter with ambient, trancey and hypnotic rhythms, styles he has been lately developing and experimenting with.

Playlist:

Mr Zu – Retaw

Tdel – Phased TransitionInanitas – Tuesday Evening

subLOGIC – Maneuvers

Pjusk & Porya Hatami – Haras

Moon Wheel – Four Formless Absorptions

Mechanist – Ley Lines

Martin Nonstatic – Outermost Structure

Silvania – Puerto 3 (Dj Galax Mix)

Coppice Halifax – Atmo

Crotaphytus – Acanthosaura

Scuba Death – Cracks In The Shield

Rie Lambdoll / Relapxych.0 – In The Maze

Hydrangea – Winter Sleep

Aes Dana – The Meeting Point