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Named after the mythological flower that grows along the banks of the River Styx in Hades, Asphodel has evolved into one of the most influential and artistically creative record labels. Seminal in the inception of new and challenging music, the San Francisco based label's existence exceeds 16 years. Within that time, genres including Turntablism, ambient, illbient, electroacoustic, trip hop, spoken word, noise, techno, lounge, and multiple aspects of experimental have thrived in Asphodel's extremely diverse catalog.
Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music may be the most misunderstood work ever created by a popular musician. Today, it has become accepted by the avant-garde and highly regarded for its contribution to the 'noise' movement in popular culture. The 11-member zeitkratzer ensemble from Berlin gave Reed's album a thorough listen and Ulrich Kreiger, the group's saxophonist transcribed the sounds to create an acoustic music score to play live. Lou Reed and zeitkratzer performed Metal Machine Music at the Berlin Opera House on March 17, 2002. The new acoustic score explores the work's sonic possibilities.
Both a career overview and a glimpse into renown Polish sound artist Zbigniew Karkowski's promising future, the compositions on this hybrid release sample and re-interpret the entirety of the Tokyo resident's rich catalogue of work. A master sound manipulator, Karkowski employs a variety of tools to process and rework original acoustic instrument recordings. The pieces presented on 'Continuity' demonstrate Karkowski's relentless attention to detail, and provide more than ample explanation for repeated invitations to perform at prestigious galleries, museums, and venues around the globe.
Ann Magnuson is an actress, singer, writer, and performance artist with a feral imagination unfettered by convention or decorum. Pretty Songs & Ugly Stories combines Magnuson's formidable musical, theatrical and lyrical instincts with the compositional and production muscle of Kristian Hoffman (Rufus Wainwright, Klaus Nomi, Mumps). Her vocals are never less than compelling, her voice is rich with arch humor and able to dip into a simmering lower register or jump to a jubilant cry of girlish delight. Each song tumbles out in a luxuriant cornucopia of pop melodies, surrealistic spoken word and psycho-sexual drama.
On 'The Multiple Otomo Project', Otomo Yoshihide presents 18 pieces that illustrate the entire range of his solo work from pieces constructed entirely of feedback, static and randomly generated radio noise, to sine wave experiments that bring to mind the humming of the solar wind as it wafts through intergalactic space. There are also rhythmic bursts of feedback and percussion that are almost danceable and subtle Zen like meditations full of slow sustained notes that fill the air with otherworldly overtones. The 'Multiple Otomo' DVD provides a dizzying compliment to Otomo's music, full of jittery images both real and manipulated, flashes of visual white noise, strobe-like quick cuts, multiple split screens and extreme close ups that put the instruments Otomo is using into a new visual context.
On this, his second full length release for Asphodel, Badawi travels the distance from dub to jazz, tabla to drone, and manifests his nomadic shifts from Jerusalem to New York. Spires of piano, flute, violin, and chello rise up over Saharan expanses of percussion to create a vibrant and emotionally charged soundscape. Culturally informed analog and digital distortions from the divinities to the avant garde yield this beautifully crafted call to the intimate sanctuary of sound. 'Safe' continues Badawi's renowned sound clash style, layering the desolation of the desert with the comfort of a captivating beat.
'Our Lady of the Skies' , antimatter's second album, is aggressive and at the same time pastoral. Bass heavy and repetitive, antimatter creates an album sounding not unlike Tangerine Dream, Michigan space/psych legends f/i and the better side of Bristol's mid-90's space rock scene. The album was created using old tone generators, broken telephones, re-modded analog synths and something called a guitar. It's production is huge sounding, epic in scope; an intense, crushing blow followed by the warm fuzzies and sparkling lights that aren't really there.
