Tag: Noise

Coming soon… Andy Cartwright – Below the Noise

Here’s the first of two physical releases set to drop in June; ‘Below the Noise‘ by Andy Cartwright, who some may recall records as Seabuckthorn. This album is a more electronic-leaning record, than you may have come to expect from Andy, recorded under his own name. It features layered field recordings, synth drones and side-chained noise tracks, which result in a ghostly bed of crackly microsound. It will be available officially in a run of 100 CDrs in our signature gatefold vinyl-effect sleeves. The album will be out officially on Saturday the 10th of June after a pre-order on the 3rd of June. If you follow us on Bandcamp (Click HERE) we’ll make sure you’re the first to hear.

press release
“Andy Cartwright is an artist originally from Oxfordshire, UK who currently resides in the French Alps. Alongside his other projects Seabuckthorn and Mt Went, Andy’s work has been released through labels including Bookmaker Records, Lost Tribe Sound, Eilean, IIKKI, Fluid Audio, A Quiet Room Recording and, LAAPS. Andy’s taste in music flits between guitar-based bands and electronica; these sources of inspiration led to him creating electronic music under his own name since 2021 alongside the more acoustic-leaning work.

In this album, Andy departed from the more traditional song-writing style, in which he would normally play riffs and chords on a guitar before developing the composition. Instead, he headed straight for the computer. ‘Below the Noise’ is a series of microsound collages, built upon layered field recordings, synth drones and noises. Field recordings were captured on his phone, loaded into Ableton and then processed with lo-fi effects. Additional synth sounds were added and side-chained to a heavy noise track, which was muted. This reduced the track down almost into a microsound, which left lots of air and ghost fragments in the mix.

Andy was intrigued by the idea of filtering out all the harsh noise, as a mix technique to thin out the sounds. From here, the process led to the album’s name and overall concept. Traces of the original sound source can only be imagined, as it sits below the noise. The reduction method leaves us with this collection of dusty ambient drones, imbued with satisfying static and crackly ASMR textures.“

credits

Written and produced by Andy Cartwright
Mastered by James Edward Armstrong
Photography by Andy Cartwright
Art and design by Andrew Heath

eRecord018 Philipp Bückle & Martijn Pieck – A Storm Is Any Disturbed State Of An Environment

Today we have a new edition in our digital-only series, eRecords!
‘A Storm Is Any Disturbed State Of An Environment’ is a collaborative album by Philipp Bückle and Martijn Pieck, a noise and minimalist influenced Ambient album.

eRecords is a digital record series created by Whitelabrecs, to run alongside our physical releases. These editions aim to transform the digital format into something that can be experienced in a similar way to a listener’s interaction with a real, white label vinyl record. Each edition includes a special PDF scrapbook including polaroids and liner notes.

We do not publish details about the concepts or production methods of a release so that the liner notes and content in each scrapbook will reveal the background of each edition in the series.

catalog: eR018
artist: Philipp Bückle & Martijn Pieck
release title: A Storm Is Any Disturbed State Of An Environment
release type: Album
location: Dortmund, Germany / Utrecht, Netherlands

released april 22, 2023

Written, produced and mastered by Matteo Cantaluppi

Written, produced and mastered by Philipp Bückle & Martijn Pieck
Artwork by Martijn Pieck
Design by Harry Towell

You can find out more information about eRecords in our landing page link, below:

https://whitelabrecs.com/erecord-series/

Coming soon…Sea Trials – Sea Trials

We’re back from a holiday by the sea and raring to go with more limited edition releases. So fittingly, we welcome Sea Trials, an artist from Hungary (originally Cork, Ireland) called Ian W. McCarthy. This one’s a fascinating record using the decaying, dilapidated sounds of dying loops from cassette tapes that had been left out in the rain, submerged in salt-water and even burnt. This record certainly has its refreshing Ambient moments as old fragments of music float to the surface but this is experimental in nature as the synths and instrument sounds glean occasionally on a bed of noise and murk. This should appeal to those who enjoy sounds by Maps and Diagrams (or his work as Atlantis), Billy Gomberg or Skjølbrot. You can listen to a preview of the album by using the Soundcloud player below or keep a check on our Facebook page to preview the packaging when we share it.

Whitelabrecs low-run releases will be made available suddenly without official release dates, meaning they’re likely to sell out fast. The best way to keep informed is to join our mailing list which can be located through our website menu.

press release
“The self-titled Sea Trials album is the debut from Irish born, Hungary based artist Ian McCarthy who has previously released in the Techno field under monikers Romart and Wilhelm on labels such as Flux Recordings, Nice Try Records and I Had An Accident Records. Sea Trials was spawned in 2015 as the foundations for Ian’s idea began with him creating a pool of material to draw from as he planned a number of recordings and we’re pleased to present his eponymous debut album to serve as the perfect introduction to this sound.

The 9 tracks were created from source material recorded to old or damaged cassette tapes which were treated by either being left outside exposed to the elements, by being burnt or submerged in salt-water for long periods. Inevitably, the deterioration of sound and medium became a crucial part of the process and became the concept: decay and rebirth.
Ian found himself unexpectedly longing for the sea as he was land-locked in North Eastern Hungary and so maritime references are aplenty along with a sweeping nostalgia that creates feelings of loss and longing.

Originally, Ian had set out to create almost orchestral styled pieces by using various instruments and synthesisers as his starting point for loops however, the methods of tape erosion played a part in warping this sound into dilapidated memories of the original works which occasionally resurface and reimagine as sections are spared the decay of the sea bed. Other sections of the source material did not survive the process so well and somewhere on this record, you will hear a tape machine dying an uncomfortable death.”

Catalog number WLR024
Written, produced and mastered by Ian W. McCarthy
Photo by Ian W. McCarthy
Artwork by Harry Towell

Out now! WLR021 Various Artists – Whitelabsounds

This is a proud day for us at Whitelabrecs HQ – we’ve been working hard behind the scenes for a while on our very first compilation album and for this, our packaging/design takes a slight turn. This release continues along the lines of vinyl-effect CDrs of course but this time, we’ve splashed out on creating a small scale fine-art vinyl imitation CDr, which is presented exactly as a professional vinyl LP would, only smaller!

The album sees us make good use of the full space on the disc as we’ve approached our own artists, label friends and established artists alike. The final product sees well-known producers such as Offthesky, Darkroom and The Green Kingdom line up alongside our very own David Kolhne, Jose Soberanes and Ondrej Zajac. We couldn’t be happier with the packaging and the quality of the tones contained on the disc and we hope you will be too.

As you can imagine, most of the 100 copies have been gobbled up by our subscribers however, at the time of writing copies of this album are still available – to find out more or grab a copy, you can click the link below or on the image above to listen. To avoid missing out on future releases, you can join our mailing list HERE

https://whitelabrecs.bandcamp.com/album/whitelabsounds

Whitelabrecs low-run releases will be made available suddenly without official release dates, meaning they’re likely to sell out fast. The best way to keep informed is to join our mailing list which can be located through our website menu.

press release
“Since we began running Whitelabrecs in January 2016 we’ve managed to put out 20 albums covering the varied ground of the Ambient scene and featuring artists both new and established. Usually by the time that this many releases have amassed, most labels will have created at least one compilation or sampler but rest assured, we’ve been working behind the scenes for several months on our very own ‘Whitelabsounds’.

Our very first compilation album features a CDr full of top drawer Ambient and Experimental music featuring well known artists in the scene such as Offthesky, Maps and Diagrams, The Green Kingdom, Wil Bolton and Darkroom as well as contributors to our discography and other friends.
The album is presented as a small-scale fine-art vinyl LP imitation package, with a printed outer photographic/graphic sleeve, white card inner sleeve and a printed vinyl-effect CDr. There’s not a rubber stamp or white label in sight, as we wanted to present something truly special and hopefully, the start of a series.

The sounds contained within the disk are to be seen as a mood board of the various shades of modern Ambient music, with darker drones concocted from electronics and light noise sitting alongside beautiful electro-acoustic pieces, framed as a sort of mosaic. Every tile tells a story as each artist’s environment, experience and influence helps shape their sound. Somehow, the whole body of work becomes greater than the sum of its parts and that brings us to the artwork, a photograph of tessellating mosaic tiles taken in Pompeii, Italy.
Some tiles are worn and disintegrated whereas some are smooth and clear, perfectly reflecting the tones that can be heard on this inaugural Whitelabsounds compilation.”

Catalog number WLR021
Mastered by Tim Diagram
Photography by Bethany Towell
Artwork by Harry Towell

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Coming soon…Various Artists | Whitelabsounds

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This is a proud day for us at Whitelabrecs HQ – we’ve been working hard behind the scenes for a while on our very first compilation album and for this, our packaging/design takes a slight turn. This release continues along the lines of vinyl-effect CDrs of course but this time, we’ve splashed out on creating a small scale fine-art vinyl imitation CDr, which is presented exactly as a professional vinyl LP would, only smaller!

The album sees us make good use of the full space on the disc as we’ve approached our own artists, label friends and established artists alike. The final product sees well-known producers such as Offthesky, Darkroom and The Green Kingdom line up alongside our very own David Kolhne, Jose Soberanes and Ondrej Zajac. We couldn’t be happier with the packaging and the quality of the tones contained on the disc and we hope you will be too.

This will be released to our subscribers first, so to avoid missing out be sure to sign up to our mailing list so you hear about it first!

Please note, this is a CDr, not a vinyl record!

Whitelabrecs low-run releases will be made available suddenly without official release dates, meaning they’re likely to sell out fast. The best way to keep informed is to join our mailing list which can be located through our website menu.

press release
“Since we began running Whitelabrecs in January 2016 we’ve managed to put out 20 albums covering the varied ground of the Ambient scene and featuring artists both new and established. Usually by the time that this many releases have amassed, most labels will have created at least one compilation or sampler but rest assured, we’ve been working behind the scenes for several months on our very own ‘Whitelabsounds’.

Our very first compilation album features a CDr full of top drawer Ambient and Experimental music featuring well known artists in the scene such as Offthesky, Maps and Diagrams, The Green Kingdom, Wil Bolton and Darkroom as well as contributors to our discography and other friends.
The album is presented as a small-scale fine-art vinyl LP imitation package, with a printed outer photographic/graphic sleeve, white card inner sleeve and a printed vinyl-effect CDr. There’s not a rubber stamp or white label in sight, as we wanted to present something truly special and hopefully, the start of a series.

The sounds contained within the disk are to be seen as a mood board of the various shades of modern Ambient music, with darker drones concocted from electronics and light noise sitting alongside beautiful electro-acoustic pieces, framed as a sort of mosaic. Every tile tells a story as each artist’s environment, experience and influence helps shape their sound. Somehow, the whole body of work becomes greater than the sum of its parts and that brings us to the artwork, a photograph of tessellating mosaic tiles taken in Pompeii, Italy.
Some tiles are worn and disintegrated whereas some are smooth and clear, perfectly reflecting the tones that can be heard on this inaugural Whitelabsounds compilation.”

Catalog number WLR021
Mastered by Tim Diagram
Photography by Bethany Towell
Artwork by Harry Towell

Coming soon…La Petite Vague | Remous

We’ve still got another couple of releases lined up before 2016 is out. Next is an album by Italian artists La Petite Vague who have previously released an EP with our sister netlabel Audio Gourmet. Their debut album ‘Remous‘ sees Nicola Fornasari and Diego Balconi mix and arrange hours worth of material into 7 murky tracks, themed around water, the ocean and backwater. Their sound straddles the lines between ambient, drone, electro-acoustic, dark ambient and light noise – this one may appeal to those who enjoy Ben Fleury-Steiner, Marcus Fischer or Marsen Jules. The striking artwork was provided by Cesare Camardo. You can listen to a preview of the album by using the Soundcloud player below or keep a check on our Facebook page to preview the packaging when we share it.

Whitelabrecs low-run releases will be made available suddenly without official release dates, meaning they’re likely to sell out fast. The best way to keep informed is to join our mailing list which can be located through our website menu.

press release
“La Petite Vague are recording artists Nicola Fornasari and Diego Balconi who are lifelong friends originally from Cremona, Italy. Nicola also records as Xu and Xu(e) and has seen material surface on labels such as Eilean, Cathedral Transmissions and Thirsty Leaves Music. To date, the duo have just one record out as La Petite Vague: ‘Treize’ which is a free 15 minute netlabel EP on Audio Gourmet, released back in 2014.
Nicola began his work with sound back in 1995 in a hardcore band called Entropia, playing in more than 100 gigs around Europe. Due to a busy professional life, Diego struggles to find time to devote completely to a musical project however he has spent many years managing and co-operating with stage sets and sound engineering at local events. Diego also builds electronics and piezo-amplified noise makers and it’s from here that he began working with Nicola on La Petite Vague in 2012.

La Petite Vague are completely devoted to improvisation and they set out their performance with no plan, as they loop various sounds and objects into hours of material. The best moments are selected and mixed down through processing techniques, layering and EQ.
In ‘Remous’ they have created a uliginous atmosphere through seven tracks that incorporate elements of toy psaltery, guitar, melodica, Tibetan bowls, rammerdrum, tuning forks, synth and other objects, fed through various live loopers and effects. The work opens with the longest piece, ‘Vague #9’ which takes its time to set the scene, before the album delves through six shorter pieces that traverse murky, detailed environments. Remous is a humble and personal celebration of the water element, particularly the sea or the ocean and this is depicted by Cesare Camardo’s artwork which is entitled Mo’ In A Mountain Getaway, a dedication to Werner Herzog.”

Written and Produced by Nicola Fornasari and Diego Balconi
Mastered by Andrea Poli
Artwork by Cesare Camardo: cesarecamardo.wordpress.com/

www.substance.it/
lapetitevague.bandcamp.com/

Out now! WLR007 Tsone – Dovetail

Today marks the official release date of the next highly limited record in our catalog. Next up is Phoenix, Arizona (USA) based artist Tsone whom you may recognise from his previous work on labels such as Home Normal and Audiotalaia to name but a few. Tony Obr, the man behind the project has put together a stunning 10 track album for us in the form of ‘Dovetail‘ which traverses glitched-out electronic tones, mild noise texture and tonal Ambience. For those unfamiliar, this will likely appeal to fans of Maps and Diagrams (who mastered the album), Autistici or Fieldhead.

The album went live to our mailing list last weekend and physical copies have practically sold out already. A few are still available at the time of writing and you can grab one of these by clicking HERE or on the Bandcamp player above. Once it’s all sold out, you’ll still be able to purchase a digital version – to avoid missing out in the future, why not join our mailing list?

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Press release
“Tsone is Phoenix, Arizona based electronic musician Tony Obr, who has released material on labels such as Home Normal, txt Recordings, Dark Era Tapes and Myrdal Soundlab since the project began around 10 years ago. Tony comes from a background of playing woodwind in school bands and Jazz ensembles and although this experience is far removed from his work in electronic music today, he likes to think that it has carried some influence into his current work. After high school he studied visual art but before long, he had a desire to work with sound again and began experimenting with electronic music.

Tony will usually start a new track through what he calls ‘mad fits of inspiration’ where he’ll frequently get a flash of an idea, working as fast as possible to realise it. The ideas are typically in the form of experimentation and whilst some eventually fall flat, others will begin to take shape and eventually become a song. The speed in which Tony works is largely down to his experience: not only does he teach electronic music, but he regularly performs live, with artists such as Andrew Weathers, Jeph Jerman and Erik Schoster (hecanjog).

‘Dovetail’ is a record in keeping with much of the Tsone discography, in that it is free from a concept or any pre-mapped themes except for the track titling and the sounds contained within. This will allow you the listener to unravel this layered set of organic yet multi-faceted tones and noises and decode them as you see fit. Another of Tony’s creative outlets is his ability to build his own electronic instruments. Much of the modern ‘Ambient’ music scene at the moment draws on acoustic instruments as a sound source – whereas Dovetail was mostly crafted using software, around 80% of which was custom built. To round off this package, we have photography provided by Milan Očenáš who is becoming a regular collaborator with Whitelabrecs.”

credits
Catalog number: WLR007
Written and produced by Tony Obr
Mastered by Tim Diagram
Artwork by Milan Očenáš

Coming soon…Tsone | Dovetail

We’re motoring on with our stacked catalog of demos that we’re organising behind the scenes. Next sees our global cross section of the modern ambient scene head to Phoenix, Arizona, USA as we welcome Tsone to our roster. Many will already be familiar with his work, with him working with the likes of Home Normal and Audiotalaia to name but a few – not to mention the prolific output on his Bandcamp page. Tony Obr, the man behind the Tsone pseudonym has put together a stunning 10 track album for us in the form of ‘Dovetail‘ which traverses glitched out electronic tones, mild noise texture and tonal Ambience. For those unfamiliar, this will likely appeal to fans of Maps and Diagrams (who mastered the album), Autistici or Fieldhead. You can listen to a preview of the album using the Soundcloud player below or keep tabs on our Facebook page to preview the packaging when we decide to share it.

Whitelabrecs low-run releases will be made available suddenly without official release dates, meaning they’re likely to sell out fast. The best way to keep informed is to join our mailing list which can be located through our website menu.

press release
“Tsone is Phoenix, Arizona based electronic musician Tony Obr, who has released material on labels such as Home Normal, txt Recordings, Dark Era Tapes and Myrdal Soundlab since the project began around 10 years ago. Tony comes from a background of playing woodwind in school bands and Jazz ensembles and although this experience is far removed from his work in electronic music today, he likes to think that it has carried some influence into his current work. After high school he studied visual art but before long, he had a desire to work with sound again and began experimenting with electronic music.

Tony will usually start a new track through what he calls ‘mad fits of inspiration’ where he’ll frequently get a flash of an idea, working as fast as possible to realise it. The ideas are typically in the form of experimentation and whilst some eventually fall flat, others will begin to take shape and eventually become a song. The speed in which Tony works is largely down to his experience: not only does he teach electronic music, but he regularly performs live, with artists such as Andrew Weathers, Jeph Jerman and Erik Schoster (hecanjog).

‘Dovetail’ is a record in keeping with much of the Tsone discography, in that it is free from a concept or any pre-mapped themes except for the track titling and the sounds contained within. This will allow you the listener to unravel this layered set of organic yet multi-faceted tones and noises and decode them as you see fit. Another of Tony’s creative outlets is his ability to build his own electronic instruments. Much of the modern ‘Ambient’ music scene at the moment draws on acoustic instruments as a sound source – whereas Dovetail was mostly crafted using software, around 80% of which was custom built. To round off this package, we have photography provided by Milan Očenáš who is becoming a regular collaborator with Whitelabrecs.”

Out now! WLR005 Ondrej Zajac – Monolith

We’re now up to our fifth release with approved demos mounting. Whitelabrecs has already covered a lot of musical ground and we’re pleased to push this further with this excellent debut from Ondrej Zajac. ‘Monolith‘ is a record that is born out of several year’s worth of experimenting from this Slovakian artist and will appeal to fans of lulling post-rock guitar textures, with a little light noise and electronics.
The album went live to our mailing list last weekend and we’ve already shifted most of these copies. There are still a few available and you can grab one of these by clicking HERE or the player above. Once it’s all sold out, you’ll still be able to purchase a digital version – to avoid missing out in the future, why not join our mailing list?

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Press release
Ondrej has been writing guitar music for many years and feels there is a strong difference between someone who plays guitar and someone who makes music. He has discovered far more from striving to create a sound that is his own as opposed to playing other people’s music. This begins of course with the guitar as a starting point and the journey started when he began composing folk sketches during his teens. These were built upon, developed and twisted over the years and many of the sounds and ideas from these early sketches have found their way into his first album ‘Monolith’, in some form. In terms of influences, Ondrej is keen to stay free from defined genre-based music and prefers to allow a wide variety of sonic, literary and importantly, architectural influences shape his work.

The result of these influences and some patient 8 years spent refining the smallest of detail combine into ‘Monolith’, a record of faintness, emptiness and sadness. During this time, Ondrej poured himself into the creative process and immersed himself in the sum of his improvisations. For around three months, he practically lived and breathed his work and endured countless nights when the music got stuck into his head, filtering into his dreams. He’d wake up feeling completely exhausted, only to repeat the process over and over through the coming weeks. Something compelled him to push for the finish line and arrive upon his very first album, in which he has selected not necessarily the best, but the most honest moments of his hard work. It struck him one Saturday; his work was at last complete.

Time had helped him stray as far away from those early folk songs as possible, only to gradually return to them as he strived to identify his own sound, possibilities and his limits. The return journey is one that saw him embrace his older material in searching for the innocence of the early days when he was just a ‘student’. In a pursuit of his younger self, Ondrej has closed some parts of his musical life within this album, with the sounds and details combining as one consistent piece of music; a monolithic milestone. For this reason, his last 8 years of substance is entitled Monolith.”

credits
Catalog number: WLR005
Written and produced by Ondrej Zajac
Mastered at Gargle & Expel by Tom Karasek
Artwork by Barbora Girmanová