Composer Teiji Ito is one of the most unique voices of the 20th century musical avant garde. Born in Tokyo, his family emigrated to New York where he would remain for the rest of his musical career. Growing up in the big apple from the age of 6, he soon became part of the NYC underground (later known as the Downtown scene), where he worked with some of the most legendary artists on the planet in music, film, dance and theatre.

His early work can be heard in the films of Maya Deren, whose films Ito would begin scoring at the age of 17. As the story goes, it was here that he acquired an appreciation for ceremonial and secular drumming techniques from traveling to Haiti, where he would later pass away in 1982.

A little background to this album: Ito grew up in a working theatrical family, and this influence is clear in his music. There are hints of Kibuki theatre, borrowing rhythms from here as well as taiko drumming. He works primarily from the pentatonic tonal system, but draws from all sources to add an almost sound design-y element to his music. Its wild in context, causing the spaces to shift unexpectedly time and again through the course of the album. The sound is somehow always fresh and light, despite the various terrains traversed through its course.

Watermill, denoting name of this album as well as the ensemble, was written by Ito in 1972. The instruments alone are a formidable presence. To name a few: shakuhachi, calimba, sho, voice, koto, bamboo sticks, ocarina, wratchets, flutes, gongs, the list goes on. As mentioned above, also flown in are sound effects like dogs barking, jet planes, and unidentified noise. Nevertheless, it's cohesive throughout.

At times meditative and at others nightmarish, Watermill covers a wide variety of spaces and places. Impeccable and virtuosic performances by the Watermill ensemble make this one of the most definitive performances that might ever come available. And what makes this version worth owning is the connections to Ito and the piece itself performer- Mara Purl was in the original ensemble that premiered this work. Teiji's daughter also performs on the piece, which (it would seem) provides some legitimacy and endorsement to such a timeless endeavor by this underappreciated composer. Either way, this disc deserves a standing ovation.

Watermill is a truly authentic presence in itself. Highly recommended.

Formerly of Japan, Berlin's Tetsuya Hori catches my ears and eyes because of his use of everyday objects from which to generate music. This 3 track release features source material derived from beer bottles, water, and flute, respectively. As Tetsuya demonstrates across the album, each one contains a new world of sonic possibility going beyond the source's mere existence. It's quite easy to forget what you are actually hearing, as I found myself losing focus on the origins of the material often. That's great.
According to his liner notes, his approach to composition is with 'no concept'. I imagine he's emphasizing sound just for the sake of developing sound, which intimates a sense of well considered development and exploration across each work. Piece 1, for beer bottle and laptop features slowly morphing forms of metallic and wind-like tones, as well as glass-like emergences of pitch and timbre. Piece 2 for glass of water and laptop features plopping, bubbling, and emerging sounds of water in a wide stereo space, almost like you are actually inside of the glass of water. The highs are high, and the lows are felt in your core. The piece later lands on an underwater sound stage with an orchestra of aquatic life. I enjoyed this one most, as it was a new soundworld to my ears.
And piece 3 is for flute and laptop, played by flutist Ryoko Sakurai. Following a minimal soundworld, we are thrown back to planet earth with vocalisms reminiscent of Takemitsu's Vocalism AI. This piece is also the most effects-heavy, with endless reverbs and heavily digitized blankets of sound being pulled across your ears.

In all, Hori's use of space through is intriguing, taking care to illuminate tones in the distance as well as in the forefront at most every moment. Through the album, there is a clear sense of spontaneity and improvisation which will keep this a fresh listen into the future.

It should be noted that since this release he has also produced an album with Soon Kim called Non-transposed sense. If it's anything like his self titled album on Naivsuper, its surely a release to be consumed as well.

Second full-length album release for this talented German fellow again signed to Tympanik Audio. SE aka Sebastian Ehmke continues his path to explore the depths of an outer-space sound environment by producing a quality outfit of a modern IDM/Ambient-Electronica album, just like you would expect it from Tympanik Audio. Somehow Sebastian's music can draw relations to SUBHEIM, but he also allows a slight acoustic impact produced through some guitar loops to take place. However ' and not because I prefer to be a purist ' the only electronic sounding tracks receive my vote as being the more interesting produced ones. The opener 'Chrono' ' already discovered on the latest 'Emergency Organisms 3' compilation - is such an example, which focuses to produce foggy synthesizer moods, combined with raw and experimental-minded drum patterns. Also 'Mimikry' impresses with an outstanding synth layer arrangement and its clear structures - as this can be generally noticed, that Sebastian's sound arrangements aren't overfilled with too much different floating Synth layers. The concentration on clearance and subtle produced structures is a winning point in Sebastian's work and makes this album easily consumable also for untrained IDM-/Electronica listeners. Also 'Weit' earns a 'thumbs up' rating for its straight monotonous, but also addictive produced Industrial percussion work. Sebastian has hammered out a fine IDM/Electronica album, which fits pretty much with the expectations someone would relate with Tympanik Audio. A German music project not to underestimate asides the bigger and better known names of this label like TOTAKEKE, ESA, ACCESS TO ARASAKA or ZENTRIERT INS ANTLITZ.

Tympanik Audio storms into the next year of existence, and how can this label find a better entrance, by releasing a once again valuable compilation DCD set, which allows the listener to hash one or another upcoming new talents signed to this highly prolific label? The predecessors made this compilation series that unique, because Tympanik watches and listens carefully without envy and restrictions over the own stable to discover new and fresh ideas. The intention to present a diverse and musically demanding compilation can not suffer under own declared label policies, although the roster of Tympanik grows meanwhile in a breathtaking speed. However, also 'Emerging Organisms Vol. 3' holds again participants of labels like Hymen/Ant-Zen (S:CAGE, AB OVO, MILIPEDE, or KLANGSTABIL), Ad Nauseam (Raoul Sinier), Bugscrawlingoutofpeople (FAMINE ' now newly signed to Tympanik!), Funkwelten (O.T.X.), or Brume Records (FRACTIONAL ' new album called 'Blood' is now available in collaboration between Brume and Tympanik!). Asides a respectful number of undiscovered newcomer acts like IP NEVA or SKYTREE, Tympanik's own roster mostly presents new and unreleased stuff, which even more adds appreciation for this beloved compilation set. SE ('Chrono'), ACCESS TO ARASAKA ('Kill Recorder'), TAPAGE & MEANDER, or APHORISM ('Arc Towards') offer finest stuff in their respectively style, while I would rate both tunes of the newcomer CANDLE NINE and AUTOCLAV1.1 as being the best of the best on here. While Tony Young and his AUTOCLAV1.1 project continues his path to present a linear, and nowadays non-expected catchy track with supported acoustic instruments, the Michigan-based, mysterious CANDLE NINE project impresses with detailed, but icy-cold synth layers combined with abrasive rhythm patterns. Even if this third chapter turns more and more out to be an ideal promotion tool for Tympanik's own label roster, here's still so much good stuff to discover. A must-have investment for fans of the modern IDM/Electronica music genre.

Disc One:
01 - SE: Chrono
02 - Access To Arasaka: Kill Recorder
03 - Klangstabil: Beziehungsohr (Subheim remix)
04 - Lucidstatic: Coal Cage (Access To Arasaka remix)
05 - Aphorism: Arc Towards
06 - Candle Nine: Penumbra
07 - S:cage: Seven Endings (Departure)
08 - Ab Ovo: Bees
09 - Displacer: Sun_Phase (Nightfall mix)
10 - Empusae: Hard Boiled Wonderland (Detritus remix)
11 - Loss: 071123
12 - Terminal Sound System: We Eat The Sun
13 - Opposite Exhale: Clear Green
14 - If: I Only Miss You When You're Here (remix)

Disc Two:
01 - IP Neva: Calm Before The Storm
02 - Millipede: Cell Division
03 - Liar's Rosebush: You Are Here
04 - Famine: Sig/Int
05 - Fractional: Blood
06 - Michael Fakesch: Rand VA
07 - Metaform: OCD
08 - Autoclav1.1: Let Me Sleep
09 - Raoul Sinier: Untitled 1.0
10 - Undermathic: Bodhi
11 - Keef Baker: Trion
12 - Tapage & Meander: Jelly Battleship
13 - Skytree: Stomata Spirit
14 - Poordream: Immense Present
15 - OTX: Anna

I remember reviewing a CD called "Eurasia" by the talented Italian wind instrumentalist and ex Thelema member Gregorio Bardini a long long time ago but that was the last time I had heard of him until my colleague and fellow Chain D.L.K. founder Maurizio Pustianaz mentioned him to me again. For those who don't know it, Pustianaz has been musically active as Gerstein since the mid eighties and has been sporadically releasing new music under different labels since. After his most recent collaboration with Cold Cluster, which dates back to 2005, he's been quietly working with Bardini on something that eventually turned into "Arise of the Bleeding Rose", released by the Israeli label The Eastern Front.
It's hard to categorize or describe this. It is first and foremost an electronic music record but it is very minimal and in a way a bit retro-sounding. The electro sound is very martial (check out the opener "Von Guten Maechten" and the title-track for example) and there are defined rhythmical structures made of big slamming timpani-like drums, rolling military snare drums and fast-paced hi hats... However all of that is counteracted by long synthetic pads which might echo Vangelis, Tangerine Dream, Emerson, Jarre or Goblin... Maurizio's tense sequences and syncopated beats create an atmosphere of anxiety and a certain aura of darkness. Of course Bardini's flutes and the uniqueness of such sounds in this context deliver some kind of relaxation to the tension. His interventions add a sort of world music layer on top of the existing programming, and on pieces like "Il Male" the conjunction of all elements really create beautiful and, at times, even very asian sounding soundscapes.
After having heard the Gerstein/Cold Cluster collaboration I was aware that Gerstein was moving into a much more electronic and much more rhythmic place, but it would seem that this album marks a return to the darker vein that characterized his earlier productions. One thing that is certainly new to me I think, is that on this album Gerstein even sings in german (along with Bardini as well), which enhances the martial and teutonic aspect of it even more. I would even go as far as saying that (and maybe the german singing contributed to that) there is a certain EBM aesthetics, but it's nothing like the EBM clones you hear out there these days. That influence is more deeply rooted and much less obvious
The whole record is also interleaved with samples from english, italian and german movies.
If you think you are up for some original martial minimal-electro world music I would definitely recommend giving this a spin, after all if you have been reading Chain D.L.K. you have trusted the man's words about music for so long, why wouldn't you trust the man's music too?