Hello,
I have been operating an experimental/DIY label Artsy Records for a couple of years now. It started off as an archival outlet for Finnish free form band Avarus but has quickly grown into a broader entity.
The latest release is a musique concrete-inspired 7" by Stockholm-based MÄLGRUPP. Some other back catalogue items are also still available, more info below. Do check out if interested!
https://artsyrecords.bandcamp.com/*************************************
MÅLGRUPP: Rotera 7" 8eListening to everything and recording. Ears like umbrellas. Silence. Relay the sounds live on tape, fumble with the mechanism, accidents happen, learn to love them.Målgrupp's modus operandi is live reel-to-reel tape recorder sound experimenting. Their collages consist of field recordings and pre-recorded sounds that are relayed and manipulated into rhythms and soundscapes heard from the inside of the wallpaper, dancing down the hallway or balancing on the tension of a bridge. Objects and instruments can be heard in a distant echo of punk music, stripping off everything but the silence, soberly listening to every vibration expressing itself in an unlimited space. All through Målgrupp's music, one can hear the handicraft behind it, their masterful tape manipulating process could be described as electronic sound sculpturing. On "Rotera" they have made the compositions more minimalistic by working with only two sound sources at a time.
Målgrupp started out in 2008 as a collective with rotating members playing free form industrial punk, inspired by Cabaret Voltaire and Throbbing Gristle. Since 2016, Julian Murray has been playing solo and their sound has gradually started to include elements of for example art brut and ethnographic recordings, operating in the same musical area as sound explorers like Red Brut, Marja Ahti, Dolphins Into The Future and Beyt Al Tapes.
Murray's other bands include Diskodrift, Munnen and TV dinner Education. They have also made music scores for film makers Kevin Luna and Peter Larsson.
Edition of 200, riso printed covers
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RAUHAN ORKESTERI: Tampere Biennale 2018 CS (ART-14) 6eThe legendary free jazz group Rauhan Orkesteri returned from their hiatus to perform at the Tampere Biennale 2018. They appeared as part of the "Biennale Goes Mental"-program curated by Mental Alaska. This time their organic free sounds were augmented by a MIDI horn and the results were pure bliss! The tape recently got a nice review in The Wire by Byron Coley (link attached).
SEMMOSTA: The Zealots CS (ART-10) 5eHyperprolific Lauri Väinölä has been active in the experimental music field since 2006. He has released music under the aliases Huumesilmät, Saksa, Kospel Zeithorn and Ester Poland among others. He started Semmosta in 2020 and "The Zealots" is already the seventh release by this project. Väinölä also runs his own record label Wooden Sherpa. "The Zealots" consists of one long, meticulously crafted piece, "UMK 2021". The relentlessly bubbling and wobbling music reveals loads of delightful sonic details.
AVARUS: Lepakkomiehessä CD (ART-6) 8eThe Finnish free music group AVARUS has been a key operator in the Finnish experimental music scene, also sometimes referred to as forest folk, for almost 20 years now. Throughout the years they have included people also known from for example Kemialliset Ystävät, Lau Nau, Kuupuu, Kiila and many others. This live recording from 2017 is part of their ongoing mission to create joyful improvised music. Their sound has evolved into a constantly morphing, effortlessly bubbling jungle of gurgles, sound effects and pulses. Also reviewed in The Wire (link attached).
RENE KITA: Rheingold CS (ART-16) 6eAn improvised rendition for voice and squeaky toys of the libretto to Rheingold by Richard Wagner. Cassette edition of 70 copies.
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coming up sooner or later:
ART-15 Bromp Treb: Bald Eagle Over Food City LP
ART-18 Sirpa Jokinen CS
ART-19 Kobeuk: Highway Room CS
ART-20 Tomutonttu 7"
ART-21 Sara Milazzo CS
ART-22 Mik Quantius CS
