August 27, 2010
Skinwell in Vital Weekly
"All the way from the beautiful city of Montreal comes Skinwell, a duo of Christian Corvellec and Martin Dumais. They already had a release last year called ‘Tunnels’ (which we didn’t review). Seeing this being released by Gears Of sand, this may serve as a clue where we place the music. That is, I think, only partly true. The six pieces captured here display not just an ambient side of music, but in fact go a bit deeper. Obviously dark, obviously atmospheric, these pieces are heavily layered constructions in sound. The cover depicts a city by night, as seen from the air, and that goes extremely well with this music. It has a rough, big city edge, well, perhaps even an industrial edge, which gives this music a lot of internal tension. Somewhere in these black holes, things bump into eachother. Hard to say wether we are dealing here with a bunch of synthesizers, guitars or processed field recordings – no doubt a combination of them all – this is all quite mysterious music. And great it is. A highly successful combination of dark ambient and industrial music, albeit of a kinder brand. See, all is not lost yet when it comes to hoping for some great developments in ambient music. Skinwell shows us that, a fine set of ambient industrial music."
FdW, Vital Weekly #744
August 4, 2010
Preview: Over Pass by Skinwell
We're back! And in a big way with the soon to be released Over Pass by Montreal's Skinwell. Out of our 50+ releases (and for that mater any release on any other label that traffics in our world of cavernous sound cravings) this may be our favorite in the growing cadre of releases that blend industrial and floaty ambient bliss. Christian Corvellec & Martin Dumais follow-up to last year's Tunnels is a sound that breathes sunlight into the darkest spaces of urban decay: Skinwell turns the term industrial on its genre blown ears. Beyond incessant chatter of the obvious is an endless river of machines that float high above any one life world (never mind the beat, we're talking existential with a capital E). In fact, there is nothing familiar here at all: only six portals into a sound where time is forced to remember what static drone music invariably seems to always forget. A truly mesmeric listening experience that borders on the sublime; Over Pass demands the requisite tool and atmosphere of the serious audiophile e.g., headphones comfortably in place and lights turned low.
Hear sound samples from Over Pass
July 28, 2010
Fleury-Steiner, Fields, and Mikronesia Live at 1,000 Pulses
Mark your calendars for Saturday, August 7 at 8pm:
Ben Fleury-Steiner, William Fields, and Mikronesia will be playing at legendary music journalist and now live music curator Darren Bergstein's ONE THOUSAND PULSES (OTP). OTP is the northeast's premier electronic /experimental music home concert series.
More info on the series below and check links for connecting to the OTP official website.
One Thousand Pulses is a home concert series featuring artists operating throughout the spectrum of electronic and experimental music. From our base in northeast New Jersey, we provide a truly dynamic, connective, and resonant experience for both performer and audience, the foundation for a broad-based network of similar venues initiated on local, regional, and national levels.