An organic, poetically bucolic and hazy modern ambient release.
I firstly discovered this relatively young Italian label a couple of years ago with releases from Matteo Uggeri and his team (Sparkle in Grey). Rapidly Old Bicycle Records grown up to reach a key position in the world of home-made, craft based ambient, experimental or adventurous post-rock music. According to me this label offers the same standards, similar passionate musical devotion to labels such as Home Assembly music, Hibernate Editions and are delivered in all possible formats (K7, CD, CDr), always designed with a touch of originality.
Tape Crash #12 is their latest release to date. It is a collaborative work between Stefan Christoff and Post Mortem. The object is delivered as limited K7 edition of 100 copies. Stefan Christoff is a well known multi-directional artist and social activist based in Montréal. This release offers a ravishing and moodily introspective corpus of droning post-rock mantras where can be heard reversed ambient dreaminess built upon guitar sections, minimal-inflected electronic patterns. There is a 70’s proggy retro-cosmic flavor (implicit references to Klaus Schulze’s early works in Cyborg / Irrlicht, to F.G experimental laboratory or to Deuter in D) in a few tracks such as in the hypnotic and religious “Organ rhytms under the Rain” or “Silver Organ.” Some parts (“Piano In the Atmosphere”) reveal beautiful pastoral, detached piano touches with hints of aleatoric experiments and modern classical music. An almost Popol Vuh reminiscence (in Spirit of Peace, Agape-agape albums) is floating in the air.
A stormy collection of field recordings punctuated by ghostly piano notes in the distance closes the album. An organic, poetically bucolic and hazy modern ambient release. Easily recommended.
Tape Crash #12 is available on Old Bicycle.
