in what must be one of my most belated announcements, it is a great joy to announce four fabulous absurd related editions (well, three that you can actually get, but four in total)

first of all some crunching saxophone and non-saxophone sounds from absurd favorite antoine chessex, approximating the variety and energy levels of his solo shows this is one record you won’t really appreciate from a measly image on the net. 1-sided 12″ + a hidden 7″ on the back, in a beautiful fold-out sleeve. then there’s the live document of a meeting between al margolis & dan burke. if the names if,bwana & illusion of safety mean anything to you, then you probably already have this. if on the other hand they don’t mean anything to you, then you have some serious studying to do… third in a row is a private-press nugget, absurd released 25 copies of a 7″ by antony milton. featuring lo-fi strummings and mesmerising atmosphere (caution: the last antony milton 7″ is not available for purchase)

and for an encore we have a disc by an amazing young greek musician, operating under the moniker larry gus. larry gus is very much in the spotlight these days in the greek indie community and rightly so because he’s a tireless guy with immense prospects ahead of him. a year ago he played a birthday party in the city of xanthi, but the disc is not a direct documentation of that party since the recording was faulty in parts. instead he reconstructed the whole thing adding new sounds and layers, while using sections from the original music along the way, and ended up with an even better disc than we could have had with a straight document. get it now & don’t be afraid of your inner child.

‘iasmos’ was released by a new label called “oko” in the family of hrysalida, lalia and other small names like that

Tags: absurd, eclipsis/hrysalida & family

hhhmm… like the good ol’ days… every week a new release…
at least that’s how it worked the last 2-3 weeks over here. below’s the info on the new ones. including an antoine chessex 1sided LP, an al margolis / dan burke cdr on absurd and on little orion’s ‘okko’ records a cdr of larry gus.

upcoming there’s still plenty of stuff… next week in berlin for the 20th sudden infant anniversary (www.suddeninfant.com for infos) will come out a vinyl reissue of the rudolv eb.er / joke lanz ‘akustiche aktion’. a limited lp issued by pan records (www.pan-act.com) and absurd’s ‘all noises swell together in landscapes’ blog.

may / june sees an incredible nokalypse LP co-released with entracte (www.entracte.co.uk).

more’s in the pipeline too (of course)… a cdr by none is also in mind / works but gotta meet mr. 1000+1 (www.tiltrecordings.org)  tilt first to get the master that ashley handed him a couple of months ago… keeping in mind that i should hand jason also a design for a noise-below.org t-shirt guess that we’ll meet for those 2 specific releases and we’ll end discussing for more…

also keep an eye on nikos veliotis’s ‘cello powder’ limited edition cd. document of his instal performance. for more infos pls visit here www.cellopowder.com. should you wish a promo copy feel free to email me, ‘ve got a handful of promo sleeves rotting on my room’s floor…

last but not least as i chanced yesterday at a live set @ kinky kong (http://kinkykong.blogspot.com) and saw a great sax / electronics pal performing keep an eye on his work  http://www.ilanmanouach.com/. he’s having a cdr on triple bath (www.triplebath.gr) in a week or two.

ahhhh if you find the time too check also http://excretemusic.blogspot.com mostly uploading stuff i like. guess i shoulda upload all my fave violent onsen geisha stuff too as is thanks to the master’s same titled cd the blog named after.

no more no less

love & noise

nicolas

(ed - releases info below, to be added in the absurd page in the coming days)
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Tags: absurd

in case you missed the mention, there is now a blog cataloguing past activities of absurd & related entities (nicolas’s pre-absurd tape imprint, etc). in it you can find high-quality mp3 uploads of oop releases, as well as odds-and-ends that haven’t seen the light of day before (like live shows, raw material & private releases). quite different from the regular absurd catalogue found in this page

you can find the blog at:
http://allnoisesswelltogetherinlandscapes.blogspot.com/

another new blog, this time focusing on obscure greek underground releases (though might only be one of possible directions this blog will take):
http://excretemusic.blogspot.com/

last but not least is a blog set up by costis drygianakis. most known in these circles from his duo with nikos veliotis that absurd put out back in the early days, his ‘edo’ label put out the first ‘cranc’ cd, but his activities as a musician & music writer have mostly been known inside greece.

in this blog he’s set up (in greek) he’s focusing so far on local folk (& beyond) recordings, offering single tracks from recordings that usually fly below the radar & coupling them with detailed and valuable historical and musicological information.

a very pleasant surprise:
http://drygianakis.blogspot.com/

Tags: absurd, sites/blogs

quite a short note mostly with news around latest releases, etc…

the actual editions_zero version of the ‘ashtray navigations / family battle snake / stellar om source’ LP is out and sells out fast.

out as well is the nmperign / skeletons out split 7″

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Tags: absurd

absurd & editions_zero have some new offerings for all you patient souls out there, including a healthy dose of good-old vinyl.

first of all a 12″ that’s been out for some time now, co-published with entr’acte in the uk, there is blanco estira nuestro (+), hermana Hélice – Cylindre./.oeur (S+C) by socrates martinis (also known from other projects as nixilx.nijilx and Hélice Pied)

then there is rinus van alebeek’s ‘musik fur mitte’, a field recording based work, using sounds from berlin’s centre area

and finally, without further delay, an LP featuring the talents of ashtray navigations, family battle snake and stellar om source

look for them in a mailbox near you, or check the releases page for details and a link to the absurd page

Tags: absurd

absurd has set up a mailing list in order to keep interested parties informed on its activities. you can add yourself to it using a simple form found here. since they have established themselves as one of the most prolific -as well as erratic in their schedule- entities, there is enough reason to think that a list like this will be of service to some…

Tags: absurd

the song remains the same… at least this led zep title strucks in mind each time i say to myself that is high time for some ‘relax’ and at the same time a hell of releases are spewn out of nowhere though new ones are added to the list… anyway.. c’est la vie… & what can’t be cured must be endured (hhmm no matter the english proverb the way written reminds of more eastern greek fatalism tradition).. absurd’s mk3 ended (at last) w/ the release of the extremely delayed (sorry werner) ‘remnants from paradise’ of werner durand.. those who fancied his ‘buzzin” cd a few years ago wil love that, is in a more ‘calm’ mood but still unique in its sounds… frankly together w/ the if,bwana ‘gruntle’ and the mprime/max eastley ‘hudrophony..’ cds form a part of ‘trilogy’ in absurd’s saga!!! www.myspace.com/wernerdurand for more infos on his work! various other releases saw daylight such as the co-production between editions_zero (amphissa) & echomusic (www.echomusic.gr – athens) of the ‘anastenaria‘ a field recording of the ritual and fire walking of may 20-21st 1979. you can get more infos on them here www.anagnosis.gr/index.php?la=eng&pageID=143 no matter is not THE ‘in_depth” review of the custom but at least is cool to get an idea around it.

of course the a la new blockaders sound of the alfredo costa monteiro & pascal battus ‘ductile’ on a question of re_entry and organized music from thessaloniki that am dying for and the just released ‘vivo’ by earzumba that is the mix of his last december’s tour using extracts from the sets from flue (wien), m.am.b.a. (buenos aires) & the folk museum (xanthi). the 1st edition of hrysallida (or the name under which members of pa.ke.thra & editions_zero work together for live sets, etc in the city of xanthi) and reminds us of the memorable live set of earzumba @ the museum last december and then the surprise birthday party we did for a friend in the bar ‘kokori’ intoxicated by the sounds of our beloved dj amigo, chirstos carras!

more lunacy to follow of course… last week larry gus, manipulated the sounds we produced at the party of little orion to celebrate his 2nd birthday.. haven’t heard yet the recordings of it but it’ll be stellar the resulted cd, trust me! chanced upon the velvet magazine’s bus tour also in xanthi where once more had the chance to fancy the post punk / new wave sounds of victory collapse, who play the music they like in a very lively and fresh way.. check out their mcd too. it was of the very few times that seriously if i had my tape recorders and tapes w/ me i would have joined them for a little cacophony as is music that you feel like adding some tapes in the background when seeing it live or at least my burned mind says so… keep an eye also on me of curse and his dissilussioned world.. haven’t checked much of his work but i won’t be surprised if i suddenly saw an editions_zero release of his work…

more news..hot on the heels of editions_zero… as july sees the 10th anniversary of our accidental 1st meeting of july 98 in various places of phokis at random days and a little part of it was documented in the ‘research center for the definition of happiness’ cdr a few years ago (the one that was meant to be out in 98 and saw daylight in 2003) we’re working on a couple of releases to coincide w/ the birthday.. so in the pipeline are a cdr w/ a field recording of the custom of the ‘ghost‘ that takes place during the carnival, a split 7″ between skeletons out & nmperign which trust me kicks asses! plus a ltd lp of a mesmerizing collaboration between family battle snake & ashtray navigations.. this one is of those that have made us nuts with and can’t see the time to see it out not only regarding the music but also the artwork we’re to use! so keep an eye on all of them!

speaking of skeletons out.. make sure you check their ‘in remembrance of me’ cd on students of decay (www.studentsofdecay.com) for those who fancy the old classic us nihilistic noise/electroacoustic tape network like pbk, hands to, haters, agog, yeast culture, etc this motherfucker will be a punch in the stomach! it fuckin’ rocks!!! got it 4 days ago and i can’t stop playing it on my deck! sets absurd’s hq’s on fire!!!!

also due for release are more yummies! like the ‘cylindre /.oeur(s+c)’ 12″ that is due for release in may between entr’acte & absurd.. 2 works of blanco estira nuestro + hermana helice (aka the same person that used to be nixilx.nijilx) that was initially to be a one sided 12″ on entr’acte and later a 7″ on absurd but as they both create a complete work, socrated thought it better that we can fit 2 into 1 (& save cash to release more shit too!).. so keep an eye on it as is a really beautiful electroacoustic thing!
of course also to mention the forthcoming raionbashi 12″ that is due to release between ignivomus and absurd between may/june (or later?)…

hhhm.. guess that’s all… uh, no.. there’s also a maverlous mouths cdr on the way too!!!!!

mios dios! also is a matter of days that amei drops a line to say that the copies of the placenta poppey / reverse mouth 7″ are ready to be posted… a 3 way split between tanzprocesz, phase & absurd…

that’s all for now..those lines were jotted under the enthusiasm of the skeletons out cd (no kiding at all!!! noise bless howie stelzer & jay sullivan!!!!) so this update is dedicated to them!!!

if you chance in athens this week make sure you came by kinky kong on holy thursday the 24th around 21.30 to say ‘hi’ and attend the mayhem of carlos giffoni / family battle snake / novasak & nokalypse…

……………………………….

also last but not least… regarding children’s parties that we’ll keep on doing in north and north eastern greece… as the live set thing and mixing sounds we produce w/ toy instruments / the ambience of the place w/ the sounds produced by the friend we invite has reached a point that we feel like all that has to be done w/ it is done and we seek even more creative and interacting ways of how to continue them (be it a performance where the children that are inthe party participate, a kind of puppet theatre, an installation, or whatever that includes this kind of motion, interaction, learning, etc.. we seek people whose work does not only has to do solely w/ music/sound but also includes video, installation, motion, etc… any ideas or proposals are always accepted… for sure accomodation, food, tickets are provided.. be flexible w/ a fee and also can seek about possibilities for a live set or whatever in th cities of xanthi, thessaloniki, or even athens… interested parties feel free to drop a line, you are welcome!!!

love & noise
nicolas

Tags: absurd

well… to be honest the last 2-3 months have been busy enough, weird enough as well… as life is as usual full of surprises….

absurd has (thanks to magnus schaefer, jos smolders & earlabs) an interview online @ http://www.earlabs.org/text/label.asp?labelID=16

had a great time & fun doing it & is kinda a joint effort w/ magnus scaefer… i provided the raw material which was later mixed and served as a game of silence out of which various sounds are born… starting it from scratch while spending some trully intense moments travelling during daytime and working till late at night then in my home in phokis (www.kaloskopi.gr – the village where my home / absurd central lies) is an ascend/descend to a manipulated field recordings/noisy (or not) intense electroacoustics or seen from another view a trip through bizarre & spontaneous free musics soundscapes. well visit, download and decide whether it was an intense collaboration (as i see it) or not…

regarding other news… just out is the jeff gburek cdr ‘virtuous circles’, a kinda field recordings set using subtle improvised electronics to create his documentation or better say his own view/approach to the cultural pastiche (allow me to use this term) of our times… blasting it as an idea from the area he lives, kreuzberg, berlin and expand it. starting point his remarkable set in small music theatre, in athens a couple of years ago (seeing greece also as the point where east meets west) and goes further to it…

in the pipeline are the long delayed matthew sansom/rhodri davis cdr (mid november) and jacob smigel cdr. plus the extremely delayed cd of werner durand. guess these 2 will be out around mid december / early january 08.

details to follow. also don’t miss the sonic catering band / bohman brothers split/collab. cdr. i know it was meant to be a joint lathe-cut 10″ w/ gold soundz back in 2004. shelved for long as both sindre and i had been busy enough but finally here comes a tiny handmade maxi-cdr version of it. still lovely!

plus keep an eye for more surprises that might follow in mid/late november. and also in the ‘toys in the room’ cdr that is due for release on editions_zero sometime in november/december. one of the most bizarre and totally ‘out’ lo-fi recordings from my friend dimitris in amphissa (where also the editions_zero central lies in the province of phokis) and friends. a recording not only to bring in mind some of the most intense & insane moments of last summer spent mostly on motherland (www.fokida.gr) but also a slight idea of meetings in dimitris’s loft or further sporadic collective meetings in phokis or other places around greece.

love & noise
nicolas

Tags: absurd

guess is long since i dropped a line.. lotsa happening the last year here. time for a quick update on news while listening to the tasos stamou CD on editions_zero that sets the office on fire! plus dropping violent onsen geisha & early masonna tunes in between…

most vital is a weekly column in the greek e-zine ‘tranzistor’ (www.tranzistor.gr) under the name ‘multiple personality disorder’ writing ’bout new & old releases occasionally as part of a diary documenting our daily life here. tranzistor has turned one of the most beautiful things i’ve been involved in athens since the days of ‘genital grinder’ zine or the short lived period of the ‘genital necrosis’ zine (genital grinder + meganecrosy – the zine ‘rotting christ’ & ‘varathron’ were doing back then)!!! great time w/ great pals!!!

plus the frequent releases insanity… the collective thing w/ editions_zero also takes lots of time turning it more to the ‘outsider’ moniker we were dreaming of…

lotsa forthcomings as well such as…

- absurd #66 tetuzi akiyama / michel henritzi : destruct guitar cdr
(limited to 66 copies. a stellar live recording at alchemy music store, osaka back in march 07)

- absurd #67 haptic 7″
(if you fancied the mouths/haptic 12″ on entr’acte, then here’s the chance to get more drone dopes of serious and devastating electroacoustics!!!! in conjuction w/ entr’acte!!!!! www.entracte.co.uk )

- absurd #62 imca cd
(at last the reissue of one of my beloved LPs on korm plastics.. includes the LP which was an electroacoustic/concrete collab between ios smolders, frans de waard and das synthetische mischgwebe and was issued in early 90′s in a print run of 77 copies and then vanished into obscurity plus bonus pieces of the imca tape including collabs w/ john hudak. reissue artwork by mr. meeuw! www.meeuw.net) couldn’t be a better gift for frans’s & mine birthday in august!!!

- editions_zero #14 jacob smigel “band nerd love” cdr
as title suggests…found sound tape of a totally in love pal recording audioletters to his love. intended or not to be ‘posted’ includes some trully stellar moments!!! one of jacob’s favest as well!!! (www.jacobsmigel.com) w/ arrtwork by marina & tasos of dynasty zine (www.myspace.com/dynastyzine)

- a question of re_entry #6 sansomdavies cdr
long delayed but super duper drones from the duo of matthew sansom and rhodri davies!!!! artwork by marina & tasos of dynasty zine (www.myspace.com/dynastyzine)

- a question of re_entry #7 jeff gburek : virtuous circles cdr
a lo-fi live set of lovely field recordings and processed electronics.(guess its babis of the ‘sunshine lsd’ label that i have to thank him for that. he has a 7 minutes of nausea 7″ coming out this month as well…)

seems it’ll be a busy summer… autumn & on the saga continues…. blasting it w/ a stellar, werner durand cd!!!!

nicolas

Tags: absurd

ok.. the francisco lópez / ilios tour came and went. i caught the two solo sets in thessaloniki (sadly no duo set there). that date was sandwiched between the multiple efforts in athens and the field trip to xanthi. there are rumours that this tour is to receive an extensive review treatment elsewhere but if any of you kind souls out there has taken a decent picture from these shows & would like to share it, please send it my way so i can post something up here. the pictures i took couldn’t have been any more black (none more black that is..).

also, i’ve been silently updating this page with new releases as they come and will continue this practice so keep your eyes open. those who feel attached to nicolas’ absurdities might want to check out the fine site at http://www.tranzistor.gr (provided your greek is up to it) as he has been channeling some of his efforts in record-review-bloging there. siltblog and others might be paving the way but it is nicolas’ various personalities that are educating the young and thirsty for knowledge.

lest i forget, the main reason why i’m here. long-rumored, three years in the making (or strategically delayed, take your pick), now available, the double impact of an emil beaulieau / jason lescaleet split 7″. available in a good mailorder near you.

flashy ain’t it? my copy, get yours..

Tags: absurd

ok ok ok... it's been a while since the site of anet's being down & i've been too lazy to upload a new one. soonish i hope that the old site will be uploaded in a server run by some cool pals. and here's the new effort...'noise, a few decks below'. the site you'll navigate at the bloody moment looks most like a hybrid rathen the actual one... just a test let's say and not the permanent thing or the entity absurd has in mind to create. more changes are bound to happen from mid/late august & on.
for a long time now i had the wish to return back to the early absurd days, probably cos i was bored of absurdities and the sole review thing. not that it'll stop, but wanna focus also on reports, interviews,etc. won't say more at the moment, i'll let it flow and see what happens when the actual zine's site will start functioning.

at the moment, just a few links 'bout greece, a couple of reviews of which 'self portrait' i consider it the best as it was the performance that made me see things more clear at a certain confused point i was engulfed. like the early days of absurd's 'zero trilogy' striked me, it is an one take text, w/ just a little editing that i did after... since this performance i feel like words are sounds again! or to paraphrase 'two shot sons''s lp title 'in sound my memory is stored'..

also later this year a new zine is bound to start, 'lost transmissions from planet zero' kinda an entity of absurd's 2nd part of the 'zero trilogy'. uh, in greek.
plus finally the final part of the 'zero trilogy' (absurd #7 'bye bye butterfly') is bound to come as a supplement to overdub zine, influenced from the topic of sound as energy & the energy of sound... more details on it to follow later too.

plus more releases are bound to see daylight in the ongoing absurd's audio diary... check the releases page for more.

love & noise
nicolas

Tags: absurd, sites/blogs