Out via Other Voices is the re-release of “Equator”, the 1995 album by the British post-industrial / ambient group O Yuki Conjugate. Originally released in 1995, it came four years after their “Peyote” release on Projekt.

The album comes in a ‘revisited expanded edition’ and features an additional 30 minutes of material, together with new artwork from artist and actor Frederick Schimmelschmidt. “Equator” was one of the first albums to be mixed with digital equipment, weaving together a blend of studio, live and location recordings to create their own soundscapes.

It was released on the Staalplaat label which ensured O Yuki Conjugate remained in total obscurity in their home country. Produced by Paul Schütze and O Yuki Conjugate, it should please fans of Muslimgauze, Paul Schutze, Zoviet★France and related acts.

Below is the original release:

About O Yuki Conjugate

O Yuki Conjugate (OYC) are an English post-industrial/ambient musical group founded in 1982 in Nottingham by Roger Horberry and Andrew Hulme and still – intermittently – active today. While their music has been variously described as ‘ambient’, ‘fourth world’, ‘ethnic’, ‘tribal’ and ‘dark wave’; the band prefer to call it ‘dirty ambient’.

They are currently in their fourth incarnation based around Horberry and Hulme. Previous members include Clare Elliot, Tim Horberry, Malcolm McGeorge, Dan Mudford, Pete Woodhead and Rob Jenkins, with Joe Gardiner contributing sax.

Originally inspired by the spirit and sound of post-punk, they soon started pioneering their own brand of ambient at a time (early 80s) when few people were interested in such a low-key approach. Their debut album “Scene In Mirage” (a mission 1984) perfectly encapsulated their position: one side was beat driven and electronic, the other side was organic and made up of ambient soundscapes. Today their approach to music-making is deliberately eclectic, combining high tech editing, low tech electronics and found instrumentation.

In May 2017, following a lengthy period of hibernation (a regular feature of the band’s career), OYC released a new album called “Tropic”, essentially two long pieces generated out of material recorded during the “Equator” sessions almost 20 years earlier.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Genre/Influences: Soundscape, ambient, experimental.

Background/Info: When Australian artist Paul Schütze released his debut album “Deus Ex Machine” in 1989 on Extreme no one probably thought that this musician should become a reference in experimental and ambient music. Schütze has released numerous productions and worked with some real noticeable artists –and I here especially remember his album together with Lisa Gerrard. Paul Schütze is now back on track and this after a hiatus of 8 years and even longer if it comes to his last solo-album.

Content: “The Sky Torn Apart” totally fits to the conceptual approach of the Italian label Glacial Movements. So the work becomes conceptual as well, a reflection about the world we’re living in and the nature around us. Sound-wise it sometimes makes me think of a space-walk created with surgical electronic noises. Field recordings and an impressive canvas of sounds have been used to bring the listener into a state of pure contemplation. From dreamy passages to definitely darker and even freaky parts, the work reveals only one single cut from nearly 60 minutes.

+ + + : Paul Schütze is a truly sound surgeon. His creation remains faithful to his experimental-ambient creation. He once again excels in the way he’s manipulating noises to become now evasive and then anguishing. I especially like the darker passages featuring crispy noises and dark-humming sound waves. It also remains a work with a strong visual appeal leaving the listener in his own inner world.

– – – : The minimalism and experimental approach of the musician aren’t always easy to seize and to listen to. It’s a very weird trip, which might become a little bit monotonous after a while.

Conclusion: The fans of Paul Schütze will be ravished to discover a new opus from this renowned artist while I also have to congratulate Glacial Movements to have released this album. Paul Schütze is composing again with the same creative mind as in the past.

Best songs: “The Sky Torn Apart”.

Rate: (7).

Artist: www.paulschutze.com /  www.facebook.com/pages/Paul–Schütze/113391962004577

Label: www.glacialmovements.com / www.facebook.com/glacialmovements

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

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