Genre/Influences: Cinematic, Experimental, Industrial, Tribal, Techno.

Format: Digital, Vinyl.

Background/Info: “Fire Pulsations” released by the collaborative duo Gwenn Trémorin (Flint Glass, Tzolk’in) – Anatoly ‘Tokee’ Grinberg comes as an addition to the remarkable debut album “Singularity Spectrum”. The EP features two new tracks plus three remixes.

Content: Both new cuts remain diversified but sound rather down-tempo compared to the album. Slow, broken, beats have been mixed with deep, vibrating, sound treatments. Both new songs have been remixed respectively by Zeller and Eks.Center while the song “Purple Vibrations” (originally released on the album) has been remixed by Stendeck.

+ + + : I definitely prefer the album to the EP although both new cuts are worthy of examination. It however sounds like the remixes -and especially the one by Zeller, have been more inspiring. Zeller injected an intelligent Techno touch to “Tempus Pulsations”. Another noticeable cut is the refined remix of Stendeck.

– – – : This work sounds a bit different to the album and is as mentioned above simply an addition.

Conclusion: There clearly is a sort of chemistry between both artists but I especially recommend listening to the album first.

Best songs: “Tempus Pulsations – Zeller Remix”, “Purple Vibrations – Stendeck Remix”, “Tempus Pulsations. 

Rate: 7½. 

Artists: www.facebook.com/gwenn.tremorin / www.facebook.com/TokeePaindonor

Label: www.ant-zen.com / www.facebook.com/antzen.official

About Gwenn Trémorin & Anatoly Grinberg

Gwenn Trémorin, also known for Flint Glass and Tzolk’in, and Anatoly “Tokee” Grinberg formed this collaborative project and released their debut album, “Singularity Spectrum”, on Ant-Zen. “Fire Pulsations” followed as an EP on the same label, catalog number Ant-Zen dig083, pairing two new tracks with remixes by Stendeck, Zeller and Eks.Center.

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.

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: IDM, Cinematographic, Electro-Ambient.

Format: Digital, CD, Double 12” Vinyl.

Background/Info: After a hiatus of six years,
Alessandro Zampieri aka Stendeck strikes back with the sixth official album of his music project. After having released albums on Geska Records and Tympanik Audio, “Carnage” is the first work released by Hymen Records. The album features vocals by Kristi Lyn Scaccia and the voices of Les Voix Obscures Choir. The album seems to be inspired by fake news. 

Content: Stendeck remains mainly driven by the sound of IDM; an intelligent Electronic creation driven by broken rhythms, evasive atmospheres and sensual female vocals. Some passages are more into mystic moods while other cuts are pure cinematographic music. This album is without a shadow of a doubt the most versatile work of the artist.

+ + + : Stendeck holds on to its good-old influences, remaining impacted by IDM, but this work is also much more cinematographic than ever before. I however prefer the IDM cuts, which also have something pretty sensual –especially when driven by a slow tempo and the sexy timbre of the voice of Kristi Lyn Scaccia. There are numerous great songs featured on this album, but “New Dark Age” and “Eyeless Creatures Gently Stifle The Ivy Lady” both definitely are outstanding (quite curiously these tracks are instrumental edits).

– – – : I expected a bit more out of the song featuring Les Voix Obscures Choir.

Conclusion: It’s good to see Stendeck releasing a new, visionary album, which clearly stands for the most creative and intelligent side of Electro-Underground music.

Best songs: “New Dark Age”, “Eyeless Creatures Gently Stifle The Ivy Lady”, “Red Neon”, “Queen Of Beauty Tragic Obsession”, “Thirteen Wolves Mass Conspiracy”.

Rate: 8½.

Artist: www.stendeck.com / www.facebook.com/stendeckmusic

Label: www.hymen-records.com / www.facebook.com/hymenrecords Read the news on ‘Carnage’.

About Stendeck

Stendeck is the solo project of Alessandro Zampieri, an artist based in Lugano, Switzerland. Zampieri is a classically trained pianist and formed the project in 1999 as his interest in electronic music grew.

He made a first demo album, “A crash into another world”, in 2002. The album “Can you hear my call” followed on Geska Records in 2005, in a mastering by Mike Wells of Gridlock. “Faces” appeared on the same label in 2007, after which Stendeck moved to Tympanik Audio for “Sonnambula” in 2009, “Scintilla” in 2011 and “Folgor” in 2015. The project then went quiet for six years.

“Carnage”, the album reviewed here, is the sixth Stendeck album and the first for Hymen Records. It was issued on CD and as a double 12-inch vinyl limited to 200 copies.

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.

www.side-line.com

Out in a few days is “Carnage”, the all new album by Stendeck, an artist based in Lugano, Switzerland. Stendeck ala Alessandro Zampieri released a number of albums on Geska Records and Tympanik Audio but the project didn’t release anything new since 2015.

Zampieri is a classically trained pianist and formed Stendeck in 1999 as part of a growing interest in electronic music. In 2002 he made his first demo album, “A crash into another world” which was followed by the 2005 album “Can you hear my call” on Geska Records in a mastering by Mike Wells of Gridlock. After the release of “Faces” in 2007, also on Geska Records, Stendeck switched to Tympanik Audio for his next album, “Sonnambula” (2009). Two more releases followed, “Scintilla” (2011) and “Folgor” (2015), after which the project hibernated.

Featured on this all new album are vocals of Kristi Lyn Scaccia and the voices of the ‘Les Voix Obscures’ choir. The album is out as a double vinyl (in a limited edition of just 200 copies) and on CD.

Here’s the video for the excellent track “Somewhere nobody knows”. Read the review of ‘Carnage’.

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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Loyal Side-Line readers will remember that we always have had a soft spot for the now defunct idm, electro label Tympanik Audio which launched in September 2007. The Chicago-based electronic music label closed in March of 2016 and as a result its back catalogue ceased being distributed… until now!

The fine people from Storming The Base have taken over the complete back catalogue stocks and are selling it now at rock bottom prices (US,98 per CD album) via this hidden link.

Attention: For the US-readers, keep in mind that Storming The Base is offering free shipping from US$100 on, so you might want to take advantage of this by filling your basket with plenty of goodies. The same goes for overseas fans as the shipping diminishes a lot per item once you buy in bulk.

Tympanik Audio’s artist roster includes: Totakeke, Displacer, Ad·ver·sary, Stendeck, ESA, Unterm Rad, Pneumatic Detach, Broken Fabiola, Integral, Atiq & EnK, Geomatic, Flint Glass, Haujobb, Erode, Tangent, Normotone, Disharmony, Anklebiter, Comaduster, Tineidae, Known Rebel, C.H.District, MultiColor, Subheim, [Haven], Fractional, c.db.sn, EyeScream, Zentriert ins Antlitz, SE, Black Lung, Worms Of The Earth, r.roo, Access To Arasaka, Ex_tension, Candle Nine, Tapage, Zinovia, Meander, Dirk Geiger, Endif, Zeller, Lucidstatic, Undermathic, Autoclav1.1, Opposite Exhale, Pandora’s Black Book, Famine, and Aphorism.

Recommended!

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!

side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Electro-ambient, IDM, experimental.

Background/Info: Peter Rybar commonly known as ‘Ryby’ not only is involved into great electronic bands like Disharmony and Oxyd, but he also runs Aliens Productions. The label based in the Czech Republic has often familiarized us with the most intelligent and sophisticated forms of electronic music. It has often been a pleasure to discover new and talented bands dealing with genres like IDM, down-tempo electronics, experimental electronics and related genres. This new sampler reveals 16 bands dealing with progressive electronic music. The first 50 copies feature an extra CDR with 4 bonus songs, which are also available in the digital format.

Bands: Disharmony, Headdreamer, Stendeck, Polygon, Seneptika, The Opposer Divine, Conjecture, Xsodect, LPF12 ao.

Content: “Hypotaxia” mainly features bands from the label roster, but the common element between all selected bands for sure appears to be their fine and intelligent taste for progressive electronic compositions. It always sounds a bit in the experimental fields, but rapidly moves into more accessible formats like IDM, ambient-electro and intelligent exposures of EBM.

The sampler is characterized by genius artists in search of unique sound treatments. That brings a few tracks on the edge of experimentalism and glitch, but it all remains accessible and just fascinating. From dreamy ambient passages towards icy sequences to broken rhythms and a few bands dealing with vocals on top “Hypotaxia” stands for electronic modernism.

+ + + : There’s a nice twist between different sources of inspiration, but first of all an impressive number of great songs. Label bands Polygon and Seneptika will definitely go for the award of ‘best band’, but I also have to mention the bombast and refinement of Disharmony and the subtle approach of ISH. One of the most promising bands and for me a real discovery is Zetatech while I’ll also keep an eye on 3,14.

– – – : You definitely have to be into this kind of music and get familiar with the label, but on the other side it also is an opportunity to discover a great label and some genius bands. Aliens Productions is a label deserving much more recognition!

Conclusion: I can’t remember to have been ever disappointed by an Aliens Productions release. “Hypotaxia” only confirms the fine taste of this label!

Best bands: Polygon, Seneptika, Disharmony, ISH, LPF12, Conjecture, Zetatech.

Rate: (8).

Label: www.label.aliens.sk / www.facebook.com/pages/Aliens–production–label/200028820052578

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.

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: IDM, cinematographic, electro-ambient.

Content: Alessandro Zampieri, better known as the brain behind Stendeck, strikes back with his first full length album in 4 years. I’ve always enjoyed the sound of this artist for his creative electronic exposure and the intelligence of the global production.

“Folgor” doesn’t sound that different and once again leads the listener into an exploration of a great sound canvas carried by a slow rhythm. There’s an interesting and very noticeable contrast between bombastic passages and ultra refined arrangements. Some of the tracks move into dreamy cinematographic passages, while the different influences running through this work also melt together at a few cuts. “Folgor” is a quite diversified piece of work, maybe revealing the most eclectic composition of the band.

I personally prefer the more into tempo sounding cuts, which clearly result from a complex writing procedure based upon a quest to create unique sound treatments. This is the kind of work that requires time and attention. All the passion and the patience of the composer comes through on several tracks. Those cuts are illuminating “Folgor” with pure artistic beauty and grace.

From the dreamy-like “Tonight Is Forever” to the more dynamic “Violently Exciting And Extremely Loud (Folgor)” to the deeply cinematographic “At The Gate Of Impossible Things” this album has a lot to offer and often delivers a few great surprises.

“Trying To Hold Every Little Second That Flies Away” brings us back into a ‘harder’ rhythm and a divine exposure of magic sound treatments, but there also is a trance flavor running through this great song. A somewhat similar creation is “Nobody Lives Here Anymore” excelling in sound beauty, but still featuring a more sensitive and dark touch. Stendeck also composes more sensual rhythms, which are carrying the danceable “Momentary Pleasure”.

The final part of the opus moves on alternating heavier and sometimes pretty bombastic passages (cf. “In Deep Waters We Feel Apart”) and pure soundtrack-orientated compositions (cf. “Nothing Will Be The Same Again”).

Conclusion: Stendeck definitely belongs to those selected list of genius composers deserving more recognition for their visionary approach in electronics. “Folgor” is one more great exposure of this project.

Best songs: “Violently Exciting And Extremely Loud (Folgor)”, “Trying To Hold Every Little Second That Flies Away”, “Nobody Lives Here Anymore”, “Momentary Pleasure”.

Rate: (DP:8)DP.

Band: www.stendeck.com / www.facebook.com/stendeckmusic

Label: www.tympanikaudio.com / www.facebook.com/tympanikaudio

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.

www.side-line.com