| February 2006 news
February 27, 2006
NETLABELS A-PLENTY
New round-up of Netlabels that we found out to be our cup-of-tea.
Put your bookmarks to good use:
~ 12rec [link]
~ Hellven [link]
~ SIlence Is Not Empty [link]
~ Dark Winter [link]
~ Oblast [link]
~ Insubordinations [link]
~ Standard Klik Music [link]
~ Hippocamp [link]
~ Natural Media [link]
~ Arterija [link]
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February 19, 2006
BITTERSWEET SYMPHONIES
• tube'|036 - Barcos - Lyonteque
«I was asked to review this release by Pedro and didn't get any info on the artist, which obvioulsy I would get later... anyway I will review it only after hearing their music.
The first track "It's Beer" is quite drunk, sweet and harsh at the same time, with extremely groovy beats and basslines, and some background f/x reminding me of the semiconscious state of full drunkeness. This tune is really phat and gets me in a dark twisted groove.
"Kebuok", the second track, is rather sweet like a light hangover on a beautiful day with some nice feminine companion making you coffee and making you feel better all around. Very nice melodic progressions, the songs evolves in such a natural and beautiful way that you can do nothing but love it. Kebuok is very uplifting and fills your soul with joy and bliss: towards the end, the song takes an interesting turn that only enforces what the song already did over the first 3 quartets.
"(Fuck The, We Want)" is a short piece that momentarely puts you inna very scary and dark place.
"Toothless" is a groovy tune, with some harsh sounds and some really phat basslines and beats. Towards the end it gets a bit wilder and chaotic - which I love - and makes me wanna jump and go crazy all over.
"Dois Velhos" is an atmospheric piece, very uplifting and touching, which transports you somewhere else, where time runs slow and thoughts fade into contemplation. The song seems to keep reaching for a zenith and reaches it as it just gets creepy and harsh. Lovely soundscapes lead this song to and end.
"Tolos" is pure bad ass hi tech hip hop, love the sounds and the bass is simply dope. Really nocturnal and agressive tune, with some abstract backgrounds. Later it just gets ill, very ill at the point it will mess with you. Awesome piece really really sick.
"Pombos Perfeitos" is very overwhelming and epic, and turns from sublime to chaotic and stressful, and later finds a balance full of joy and intensity. Towards the final, it gets really interesting with an aftermath feeling to it. So sinister and beautiful. Great track.
"Poker" has also a southern hip hop-like beats but way iller and minimal. Some abstract background sounds give the tune some structure and progression. At one point song's totally losses it, diving into a sea of madness. Extremely great sound design, very dark. This song is a trip through twistedness and desolation.
After I reviewed his album, I learned that Barcos is Vítor Lopes, who also records with the trio Frango. Well, Vítor's 'Lyonteque' is a great record with a bittersweet flavor, that sometimes has a sky-blue tonality and sometimes is dark as a dungeon.» - David Velez
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February 17, 2006
TEST TUBE INTERVIEWED
Test Tube was interviewd for Otites blog recently. If you want to know us a little better, go ahead and read it. This is only for portuguese readers, though...
Thanks for the opportunity.
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February 09, 2006
MIDNIGHT SUNS
• tube'|035 - Motionfield - Northern Lights
«Swedish born Petter Friberg is a veteran when it comes to electronic dance music. He started producing underground techno back in the late 80's and issued a couple of twelve inches. After that, with partner Martin Frick under the alias Superstereo, he released three EPs of groovy danceable tunes, but after a few years he got into Eno and The Orb and began working in the ambient electronica field. As Motionfield, he has two excellent works published - one on Stadtgruen and another on Autoplate, Thinner's sublabel for ambient grooves. So, it's no less than an honour for test tube to feature his latest and third work, "Northern Lights".
Shorter than an album but a bit longer than an EP - kind of a mini-LP - "Northern Lights" is inspired by the long and bright summers in Scandinavia, the 'midnight sun', which never goes down in that time of year. Naturally, 'Nordic Lights' is a blissful start for this release, shifting between two different layers of ambient, closely reminding of 90's ambient electronica and also of more recent Boards of Canada material. But nature also plays a role in this release: 'Enter the Polar Circle' recycles early Biosphere ice-scapes into a post-millennium Vangelis, Blade Runner era; 'Sounds from a lonely forest', grows from a cold cavern-shaped musical score into a sweet little drone, ripped out from - again - Boards of Canada's best interludes. There are truly promising works here. Other tracks like 'Turning the plate' or 'Depend on me' play more into dark ambient territory, scandinavian flavored. And others yet, are perfect old-school ambient tracks, carrying us fifteen years back. All in all, a perfect release for the nostalgic 90's adolescent inside us all.» - Pedro Leitão
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