VARIOUS GROUPS

LUNE ATROCE / SOLEIL AMER : 4-WAY SPLIT 7” |  - out now 5 euro

One year after the ‘Meet the Philly elite’ 7” we finally release a fresh 4-way split. This time Köhn and Alien Radio are trancing deep into the history of synthesizer classics while Peaking Lights and Ducktails have a take on their own pop music.

KÖHN is Jürgen De Blonde. He has been called ‘the godfather of Belgian electronica’. After the double-cd ‘Koen’ from 2002, he started to focus on music for dance and theatre. Last year he made his comeback on wax with ‘We need more space in the cosmos’, an lp full of epic space age compositions. ‘U C I M’ builds on the same vibes: trancy and neo-cosmic. Ulf Schütte plays in Datashock and Phantom Horse, but his musical climaxes are definitely at home when he fools around with his modular synths. ALIEN RADIO’s music follows the tradition of Conny Planck, Delia Derbyshire, Dick Raaijmakers and Ursula Bogner. ‘Gedanke und Ahnung’ is bleepsynthronica sounding like a sketch of a derailed sonic research project. PEAKING LIGHTS are the duo of Indra Dunis (ex-Numbers) and Aaron Coynes. ‘Creatures of day creatures at night’ is pure summer pop. The usual synths and drumloops made place for fuzzy calypso riffing. Dunis’ vocal romanticism sounds sweet as a Brian Wilson song. Sc-fi soft pop! Real Estate, Alex Bleeker & the Freaks, Predator Vision, Parasails… All bands Matt Mondanile is involved in. In the last three years his music went around the world rather quickly, mainly under his DUCKTAILS moniker. His neo-tropic pop music is often linked to a movement that also houses the likes of James Feraro, Dolphins into the Future and a great deal of the Not Not Fun related bands. ‘Sprinter’ is a repetitive melancholic pop song, and about the most ‘indie’ track we heard from Ducktails so far… [K062]
reviews (4)

Razen / Sheldon Siegel | LP - out now 12EUR

Razen and Sheldon Siegel split LP.
Limited to 300 copies!!


Sheldon Siegel
There are young, arrogant artists who think they will conquer the world from their studios in Belgium with their neo-realistic paintings and their hipster indie rock bands and matching uniforms. There are also other kinds of artists who translate the contemporary nihilistic climate to sharp pastiche and absurdist drawings. In that scene old patron saints are violated shamelessly by means of free improv. Gino Coomans (cello, music box), Erik Heestermans (drums, percussion) and Gerard Herman (sax, vocals, tapes) got together in the suburbs of Antwerp. With a shared love for free jazz and an aversion for taboos the trio explores the possibilities of combined action. They avoid the easy trap of maximum instrument volumes, and instead they reticently seek for a universe in which each musician can take their part at any point, or leave it to another. It is because of that particular attitude that Sheldon Siegel comes to amazingly honest instant compositions. Probably one of the most adventurous Belgian improv groups of the new decennium.
Razen
For a couple of years now Brecht Ameel (santoor, bouzouki, keys) and Bart Reekmans (percussion, brass) have been working on a repertoire in which etnic music and improvisation are the central concepts. Tired of the traditional guitar-bass-drums combination they decided to both choose an instrument they couldn’t play at all. They ended up with a heavily detuned santoor and some metal plates that served as a drum kit. In a deserted basement Razen make unusual instruments confront until they derail and make for a filmic sound trip in which Bohren & Der Club of Gore and Moondog meet. In Brussels the Balkans, the Scottish highlands and the Ethiopian savannah are only a stones throw away from each other. For this debut the duo asked Kim Delcour (bagpipe, chalumeau, sopranino, bass recorder) and Wouter Haest (duduk, shenai) to join in. The result is a Lynchian ecstasy in four episodes in which the spiritual sixties tradition, contemporary psychedelic fusion and historical ‘source music’ are the different approaches that subsequently merge into a ritualistic dream story. [K061]
reviews (4)

This Place Is Dreaming | cd - 7.9€

This CD is produced in association with This Place is Dreaming ,Rethinking and Transfiguring the Sites and Sounds of Brussels, a project for interdisciplinary creations curated by Ive Stevenheydens and presented at a variety of locations between October 15th and 23th, during the argosfestival 2004. The project brought installations, performances, concerts, lectures and interactive \'actions\' by Belgian and worldwide (sound) artists, all focused on the city of Brussels. Eighteen of these are included on this CD. This Place is Dreaming is inherently bound to the sonority of the Belgian capital. Heimir Björgulfsson, Yannis Kyriakides, Stilluppsteypa and Olivier Capparos, for example, delved into the interview archives of Brussel behoort ons toe / Bruxelles nous appartient. These \'remixes\' from stories of the inhabitants of Brussels, telling about their city, urbanization and their relationships with the architecture, the streets and with each other, guarantee a wide range of musical standpoints. Under the title, Brussels Sonic Matter, and together with TMRX, Martiens Go Home, Johan Vandermaelen and Building Transmissions, Francisco Lopez set up a collective sound pool of field recordings from Brussels. For a concert performance, each of the five, according to their own idiosyncratic techniques, used sound material collected by the others. Although some of the Brussels Sonic Matter tracks are based on the sound pool and others are solo works, all of the sounds derive from the sonority of Brussels. aMute has also created a track based on the sounds of everyday life in Brussels. The compilation also offers a view of the working processes of the artists taking part in the project. This is very literally the case with the contributions of Justin Bennett, Angelo Vermeulen, Emilio Lopez-Menchero and Maria Blondeel: their tracks are the result of their studies for their installations and actions for the argosfestival 2004. Finally, This Place is Dreaming comprises not only mutations from the sounds of Brussels. With sounds from other cities and countries, artists Hildegard Westerkamp (India), Mark Bain (Amsterdam), Aki Onda (Paris) and Yuko Nexus6 (Japan and Italy) create a bridge to other atmospheres and cultures.

with: Emilio Lopez-Menchero, Mark Bain, Heimir Björgulfsson, Yannis Kyriakides, Olivier Capparos, Stilluppsteypa, Justin Bennett, aMute, Yuko Nexus6, Hildegard Westerkamp, Johan Vandermaelen, Francisco Lopez, Martiens Go Home, TMRX, Building Transmissions, Maria Blondeel, Angelo Vermeulen, Aki Onda [K047]
reviews (5)

Festsampler 2003 | cd - 5.5€

Ltd edition from the 2003 fest. Exclusive/rare tracks from all bands playing being: Numbers, Hellfire, Tuk, Tony Conrad, Hangedup, Denzel und Huhn, Christophe Bailleau, Kiila, Un Caddie Renversé dans L\\\\\\\'herbe, Blutch, Lowfish, Greg Weeks, sunroof! and Joe Cocksucker.

[K042]
reviews (0)

Kidnapping Europe | cd - 8.5€

w/ James Merle Thomas, Wio, David Grubbs, Jürgen Heckel, Giradini di Miro, Christof Kurzmann, David Sheppard, Künnecke & Smukal,...

\"Overall, a musical journey that takes little persuading to pick you up but drops you off a long, long way from where you started out.\" DS The Wire / April 2004 [K040]
reviews (0)

Festsampler 2002 | cd - soldout

Ltd edition from the (K-RAA-K)3 festival 2002 with exclusive or rare tracks from Oren Ambarchi, Ekkehard Ehlers + Joseph Suchy, Toss, Wio, Benjamin Franklin, Twine, John David V, Alog, Main, Vibracathedral Orchestra, It & My Computer and David Grubbs. Specially priced and not going to last very long. Music style ranging from electro, to improvisation, to pop/postrock, glitch, contemporary classical and anything in between. Place your bets now

[K034]
reviews (1)

Festsampler 2001 | cd - soldout

with Vote Robot (CAN), Köhn (B), Hans Olo (B), Richard Youngs (UK), Kid 606 (USA), Ovil Bianca (B), Alastair Gallbraith (AUS),…

[K029]
reviews (0)

Labelsampler | cd - 3.6€

Cheapo compilation presenting (K-RAA-K)3 in his almost complete vue. Exclusive tracks from present and future labelfriends including: Janek Schaefer (uk), Köhn (b), Ovil bianca (b), Shifts (Nl), Adlib (Ger), Pimmon (Aus), Wio (b), Géographique (b), Portables (b), Es (Fin), 1M54 (b), Vote Robot (Can), Toss (b). 58 minutes of claustrofobian adventures through guitars, turntables, computers, piano’s and anything linking all of this. Specially introduction price

[K027]
reviews (0)

Scenes Of Ringing Isle | dbcd - soldout

This double cd compilation has been in the works for months... It doesn\'t only include a cooperation between 8 (eight!) labels, namely (K-RAA-K)3, Ecstatic Peace, BWCD, Swill Radio, Polyamony, Freedom From... But more importantly gives an overview of innovating music coming from the improvisation-guitar-noise scene. Track-lenghts vary from 8 to 24 minutes which makes this different to other compilations. If you\'re talking about guitar-improvisation you can\'t deny the New Zealand influence... So we thought Flies Inside The Sun (Kranky, Metonymic) and Surface of the Earth (Corpus Hermeticum, Fusetron)might go ahead with their mindblowing feedbacking drones, free drumstyles and total expressions. Also present is Sunroof, Mr. Matthew Bower. Previously he released several hard hitting noise-anthems as Total but keeps the noiselevel down in favour of more quite winterevenings. Those who loved his output on VHF will certainly love this... Another British band is Ashtray Navigations (Siltbreeze, Selfabuse, Diskono etc..).: probably one of the most neglected talents around. His guitar-treatments and field recordings can be recognized from thousands. Another step forward for Mr. Todd. Bradley/Campbell and John Godbert (both Giardia) are responsible for very far-out experiences... This is much complementary to their previous outputs and those who read our personal highlights know these are some of our favourite artists. In the same vein is Dr. Gretchen\'s Musical Weightlifting Program: An American project destined to deconstruct all academics about a string quartet. The closing track is from K Salvatore: humming amplifiers with a piano creeping in midway... falling through a ceiling back to some loopy drones. He might be the least known but this certainly puts him on the map of the greatest. It might be wise to know that is the (K-RAA-K)3 edition which shall have a total different package to the other labels. It\'s ultra limited and will be a onetime pressing. All tracks are unreleased and unavailable elsewhere.

[K016]
reviews (0)

Toothache 2/2 | tape - soldout

Follow up of 1/2. Maybe it\'s a bit more accessible : more melodies, lesser noise. But above all we\'ve done our best to make it again a chaotic styleclash. Contributions by : Omit (New Zealand), Pluxus(Sweden), de Portables (B), Köhn (B), 70 Gwen Party (GB), Task (Canada), Tree Sini (Finland), Lethisalofamily (Finland), Kirvasto (Finland), De Fabriek (The Netherlands), Raumerkündung (Germany), Kibri (B)...

[K009]
reviews (0)

Toothache 1/2 | tape - soldout

First part of an international experimental compilation featuring a experimental approach to \"sound\". It contains twelve bands, each with an exclusive track. The music is difficult to describe as it was the purpose to break the existing genre barriers. But maybe we can give it a try : Neville, Crotty & Sparling (band from Seattle making something like poetry), Hex Minora (two people with opposite vieuws and ideas, hence their own style clash, UK), Piume E Sangue (experimental trio from Italy), Delphium (noisy guitar-beats-project, UK), Cosmic Blender (guitar soundscapes, Belguim), Pil & Flippy dosk (distorted jungle, Belgium), Billy? (new Japanese noise talents), Massimiliano Gatti (experimental ambient from Italy), E.H.E. (Noise project from Germany), Limpid (computer wizard making crazy electronic music), Moral Codex (industrial ambient combined with new sounds). Give it a try, our neighbours danced on E.H.E already... [K004]
reviews (0)

DISCOGRAPHY

On (K-RAA-K)³:
K062 - LUNE ATROCE / SOLEIL AMER : 4-WAY SPLIT 7”
K061 - Razen / Sheldon Siegel LP
K047 - This Place Is Dreaming cd
K042 - Festsampler 2003 cd
K040 - Kidnapping Europe cd
K034 - Festsampler 2002 cd
K029 - Festsampler 2001 cd
K027 - Labelsampler cd
K016 - Scenes Of Ringing Isle dbcd
K009 - Toothache 2/2 tape
K004 - Toothache 1/2 tape

DOWNLOADS

Razen - Zand (2010)
Sheldon Siegel - Drie mannen stappen aan boord van een goederentrein (2010)

Dolphins into the Future lp

Upcoming, release date 6 september 2010
More

RAZEN / SHELDON SIEGEL lp

Limited to 300 copies!!
More

LUNE ATROCE / SOLEIL AMER 7inch

with Köhn, Peaking Lights, Alien Radio and Ducktails
More

HI-TECH

SUPPORT

With the Support of the Flemish Government, Stad Gent and Provincie Oost-Vlaanderen

CONTACT

KRAAK vzw
Molenaarsstraat 111 bus 66
9000 GENT
BELGIUM
info@kraak.net