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Maurizio Bianchi. Efficient Refineries. MDT. Orfeon Gagarin. Kenji Siratori. Tetsuo Furudate.


ARTISTS



Maurizio Bianchi

Italian composer Maurizio Bianchi (1955) produced his first tapes of noise in the early 1980s, at the peak of the industrial scene, but his chaotic dissonant orgies harked back to the musique concrete of the 1950s, despite similarities with Nocturnal Emissions, Metabolist, Whitehouse, early Throbbing Gristle. He debuted under the moniker Sacher-Pelz with the home-made cassettes Cainus (1979), Venus (1980), Cease To Exist and Velours, later collected on Mutation For A Continuity (Ees'T). They were all-instrumental collages of electronic sounds. Mectpyo/Blut (1980) was the first cassette to be released under his own name. Under the moniker Leibstandarte, Bianchi released his first vinyl albums: Triumph of the Will (Come Organization, 1981), which recycled material already released on cassette, and Weltanschauung (1982). His most relevant works came out under his own name: Symphony For A Genocide (Sterile, 1981), possibly his most terrifying work, Nh/Hn (Grafika Airlines, 1981), Menses (Mecptyo Sounds, 1982), another classic of horror-shock musical reportage, divided in two lengthy suites (particularly Scent). There followed less powerful works, such as the film soundtrack Morder Unter Uns (Mectpyo Sounds, 1982), and two "softer" albums divided in two lengthy halves each, Regel (Mecptyo Sounds, 1982) and Mectpyo Bakterium (DYS, 1982), possibly his softest album of the decade. He quickly return to his usual standards with Endometrio (Mecptyo Sounds, 1983), his second artistic peak and the manifesto of his "bionic" aesthetics, the more accessible Carcinosi (Mecptyo Sounds, 1983), Das Testament (Mectpyo Sounds, 1983), announced as his last record and containing two of his most extreme suites, and the film soundtrack Armaghedon (Mecptyo Sounds, 1984), all of them comprised of lengthy free-form suites of noise. The one notable exception was The Plain Truth (Broken Flag, 1983), in the vein of German electronic music. Industrial Murder (Banned Production, 1992) and Aktivitat (Zabriskie Point, 1992) collect unreleased and rare material.

After a long hiatus, Bianchi returned to music with a metaphysical trilogy of sort, Colori (Ees'T, 1998), First Day Last Day (Ees'T,1999) and Dates (Ees'T,2001), in which religious and philosophical themes dominate, and the sound is much calmer and almost ambient, while Frammenti (Ees'T,2002) and Antarctic Mosaic (Ees'T,2003) seemed to hark back to his original style of the 1980s. These works, possibly influenced by new-age music, were much more relaxed and almost negated the expressionist power of his early experiments.

Chaotische Fraktale (2003) and Letzte Technologie (2004) are collaborations with Frequency In Cycles Per Second (Sandro Kaiser). Zehn Tage/Touka (Afe, 2004) and The House Of Mourning (Radiotarab, 2005) were collaborations with German duo Telepherique. Through these collaborations, Bianchi slowly returned to atonal industrial music. The hypnotic Cycles (Ees't, 2004) explored different kinds of loops and pauses. A M. B. Iehn Tale (Small Voices, 2004), a collection of "piano decompositions," (minimalist/ambient pieces for piano and electronic dissonances) and the double-CD Mind Us Trial (EEs't, 2005) continued his regression to darker moods. M. I. Nheem Alysm (Silentes, 2005) contains two lengthy piano suites a` la Cycles (Ees't, 2004). Blut und Nebel (Slaughter, 2005), that "remixes" the first ten LPs of the early 1980s, is an excellent demonstration of Bianchi's skills at dadaistic collage, free-form improvisation and abstract soundsculpting, as accrued over twenty years of electronic manipulation. Noise is employed like an electric guitar to produce solos of manic intensity. Junkyo (Noctovision) and Mectpyo Saisei (Para Disc) are collaborations with Aube. New collaborations include: Psychoneurose (Manifold, 2005) with Land Use, one of the best of this phase, Final Signal (2005) with Frequency In Cycles Per Second, Secluded Truths (Silentes, 2005) with NIMH. Bianchi's prolific career continued with Niddah Emmhna (Silentes, 2005), Neuro-munalp (Small Voices, 2005), Men's True Hated (Menstrualrecordings, 2005), The Testamentary Corridor (Staalplat, 2006). The Epidemic Symphony No 9 (Octpia, 2006) is actually a work mainly by Japanese soundsculptor Hitosji Kojo. Arkaeo Planum (Small Voices, 2007) is a collaboration with Italian sound artist TH26. Psalmodiam (Menstrual Recordings, 2007) was a collaboration with M.D.T that was based on Psalm 63 (Bianchi is a devout Jehovah's Witness). The 4-cd set Together's Symphony (Silentes, 2006) is a collaboration with NIMH (Italian composer Giuseppe Verticchio).

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Efficient Refineries


EFFICIENT REFINERIES founded in 1995 by Miguel A. Ruiz from Spain and Siegmar Fricke from Germany (both active in the electronic sector since the 80's) is the clear audio-definition of pharmacoustic industronics. After various private CD-releases the CD "EPINERVIO" involves the complete spectrum of their excessive electro-experiments within the last decade. Syncopated rhythm-constructions, medical filtered ambiences, clinical pulses, digital distortions and manipulations of analogue material characterize the neurolytic sound of meccano-clinical autorhythmatics. The audio-textures are electronically generated in Miguel's Gagarin Workshop (Spain) and SF's Pharmakustik-studio in Germany. Beside "EPINERVIO" Efficient Refineries published material from 2003 on the Polish label SIMPLE LOGIC as "Nitideath"-CD. Efficient Refineries are currently working on the album "Kronotrop" (on MOLOCHRECORDS in Poland), consisting of various tracks from the pre-pharmacoustic period 1995-1998 , restructered in highest mastering-quality. The release of this powerful industronic work is scheduled for September 2007.

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MDT ( Museo Della Tortura )


MDT is an Italian project born in September 2003. In the beginning MDT was orientated toward rithmic noise but then the sound evolved more and more into death industrial/ambient.
Behind MDT there is just one person : Davide (synths, effects, wave manipulation and rarely voice).
The project is still active though at the moment is on stand-by.

Selected discography:

- museo della tortura (2003) [virus4.it] rithmic noise
- sex & chainsaws (split with dnd) [self prod] cinematic noise
- power is nothing... (2004) [virus4.it] death industrial
- rumori di fondo/d pression (single split with dnd) (2004) [virus4.it]
- three faces of violence (2005) (split con dnd e toby dammit) [self prod] rithmic noise
- la fine (2005) [virus4.it] noise ritmico
- genologic technocide (collaboration con MB) (2006) [spatter - pagan moon]
- ossessioni di un provinciale (2006) [seven sermones ad mortuos] death industrial
- psalmodiam (collaboration con MB) (2007) [menstrualrecordings]
- night terror (2007) [virus4.it] death industrial...

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Orfeon Gagarin


Miguel Angel Ruiz, from Madrid, is one of the main reference names of the Spanish experimental electronic music. He created in 1986 his own label of cassettes called Toracic Tapes. Since then, in this and other, European and American labels, he has published an extensive catalogue of recordings using different pseudonyms depending on each project: Orfeón Gagarin (the most famous), Ventral Metaphor, Funeral Souvenir, besides the many works edited under his own name or as Exhaustor from the advanced 90s. M.A. Ruiz started in 1982 to record in his house musical pieces, centred in the abstract and pseudocosmic electronic music with his new Korg MS-20. In 1986 he inaugurates the catalogue of Toracic Tapes with the legendary first cassette of Orfeón Gagarin, an eclectic combination that presents from environmental sounds to industrial noise, including cut-up exercises and some ethnic contrast. From there, Miguel A. Ruiz's production is non-stop, editing between 1986 and 1992 more than a dozen cassette recordings either signing as Orfeón Gagarin or with his real name or with the alias Funeral Souvenir or Ventral Metaphor. Works such as "KEDR" (Orfeón Gagarin; Toracic Tapes, 1987), "Batan Bruits" (Orfeón Gagarin, shared with Francisco López; I.E.P., 1987), "La Noche del Anhídrido" (Funeral Souvenir; Toracic Tapes, 1987), "El Niño Carburador" (Miguel A. Ruiz; Línea Alternativa, 1989), "Biscuit Circuit" (Ventral Metaphor; Bestattungsinstitut, 1991) or "Vasarely" (Miguel A. Ruiz; Hyades Arts, 1991) are today considered worthy of worship by the Spanish electronic experimentation panorama. In 1991 a tape sent to Asmus Tietchens will finally give place to what will be his first and magnificent LP "Encuentros en la Tercera Edad" (Miguel A. Ruiz; published by Hamburger Musikgesellschaft, Tietchens' label), recorded in Hamburg with Tietchens and Okko Bekker. Already in 1994 appears "Contestación Capilar", Orfeón Gagarin's compilation CD published by Línea Alternativa / Hyades Arts and two years later, in 1996, with the name Exhaustor, he presents a new sonorous facet orientated towards the most rhythmic and ruthless techno, whose presentation was "Coaxial" (CD, Línea Alternativa, 1996). Miguel A. Ruiz has collaborated actively with other artists such as Luis Mesa (creator of the cassettes label I.E.P.), with whom he will edit three tapes in between 1986 and 1989 under the name Técnica Material. Also with the German Siegmar Fricke (Efficient Refineries, with several CD-Rs published from 1995 to 2003), Francisco López, Dieter Mauson, etc. Next to Héctor Hernández he published in 1989 the cassette "Han llegado los robots" (I.E.P.), born as a hypothetic soundtrack and whose source of reference was the book by Rolf Strehl "Die Roboter sind unter uns", from the end of the 50s. "Han llegado los robots" is nowadays back again due to its recent and really cared-after remastered reedition.

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Kenji Siratori

Kenji Siratori: a Japanese cyberpunk writer who is currently bombarding the internet with wave upon wave of highly experimental, uncompromising, progressive, intense prose. His is a writing style that not only breaks with tradition, it severs all cords, and can only really be compared to the kind of experimental writing techniques employed by the Surrealists, William Burroughs and Antonin Artaud. Embracing the image mayhem of the digital age, his relentless prose is nonsensical and extreme, avant-garde and confused, with precedence given to twisted imagery, pace and experimentation over linear narrative and character development. With unparalleled stylistic terrorism, he unleashes his literary attack. An unprovoked assault on the senses. Blood Electric (Creation Books) was acclaimed by David Bowie.

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Tetsuo Furudate

Tetsuo Furudate (born in Tokyo) started his career in experimental firm and video art in 1981. From the middle of 80's, he gradually turned toward music through performing art, contributing to the development of the Japanese noise music in its early period with other pioneers such as Merzbow. He has spread his activities throughout Europe since 1998, with many concerts and CD releases, collaborating with Zbigniew Karkowski, Kasper T. Toeplitz and Leif Elggren. He achieved the premier show of his newest experimental noise opera,"Othello", at Podwil in Berlin in 2001. He stayed in Berlin as a artist residence of Podewil in 2003. During this time he held premieres of "Wozzeck" at Podewil in Berlin and "Auditory Sence of Mr.Roderick Usher" at Dresdner Zentrums für zeditgenössische Musik (DZzM) in Dresden. "Auditory Senced...."won the BLAUE BRÜCKE prize 2003. He has collaboration works with Achim Wollscheid, Lillevän, Akemi Takeya, Sigrid Schnückel and many more.

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