Fathom Distribution is privileged to offer the surpassing ambience of Celer, which is a French for “to Hide” or “conceal”. Celer is the stuff of film soundtracks, the nether-space between dream and conscious states, and the echoes of deep introspection. Prolific husband and wife duo, Will Long and Danielle Baquet-Long bring you their shimmering musical reflections and gorgeous abstract expressions of love and longing. Visit the Celer section for a heady taste.
One of the FAX +49-69/450464 sub labels. The purpose: Reissue their own older out of print material due to heavy demand. Visit the Ambient World section for the finest in ambient/ambient-techno, ever.
This is one of the best examples of timeless music on FAX. Environmental ambience with slow intense beats and liquid melodies including a lot of “Berliner Schule” sequencing is the best way to describe this rich music. The only exception to this is the track “Aura” that sends you into slow meandering dreamscapes with its Tetsu-typical pure, positive, floating sound of ambience.
FAX +49-69/450464, known simply as Fax Label, is a German record label that releases ambient music and other kinds of electronic music. It was started in 1992 by Peter Kuhlmann (alias Pete Namlook) and has since released hundreds of titles, with artists as notable as Klaus Schulze, Atom Heart, Bill Laswell, Geir Jenssen (alias Biosphere), Tetsu Inoue, Mixmaster Morris, Richie Hawtin, Jochem Paap (aka Speedy J), and numerous others. Visit the Fax section for our exciting new Fax releases. Many releases include a CD and 5.1 digital surround sound DVD. Gorgeous music by world-class talent at ideal resolutions. The best way to listen to ambient/electronic/prog music, guaranteed!
Fax +49-69/450464 is the full name of the record label. It was originally named that so people who wanted to fax it could figure out the number easily.
Fathom Distribution is proud to offer one of the first Muslimgauze CD’s, in reissue. Three long tracks that culminate in one of the finest Muslimgauze releases in the catalog. Layers of acoustic, ethno-traditional, and electronic drums along with vocal accents and haunting reverb make for an intense listening experience. As always, the political context of the times whence this music came is ever-important and informs the sound. For this reissue the CD packaging has been completely redesigned. The new package is printed entirely on high quality heavyweight papers, and is a work of art in its own right, rivaling the music recorded on the CD it’s designed to hold. A sturdy slipcover pocket holds a black-and-white four-page booklet together with a CD slipcase made with scented, metallic gold paper. It is truly an art object to cherish and treasure.
Reformed Faction did not set out to record a triple album, but that is exactly what they have done. Reformed Faction do not talk about making music. They make music. They assemble and record and use improvised material to stimulate the development of composed pieces. The music was assembled in the same way that the CD package was: through active collaboration. “What folks probably don’t realize is that we have always embraced technology. We use technology, we aren’t governed by it. We have to learn how to use equipment in our own way, which means that instruction manuals are never referred to. We make music. We try not to theorise, and we avoid interpretation or analysis of our music like the plague.” This is an homage of sorts, to the last 40 years of music making. Robin began as a guitarist, Mark as a drummer. Throughout their careers they have neither deliberately nor consciously eschewed the use of conventional instruments or traditional compositional techniques. They do not regard themselves as an “experimental” band, preferring to leave the laboratory safe in the hands of physicists and technicians. A long time ago :zoviet-france: declared that they could, if they wished, create the perfect pop record or the archetypal country record. Both Mark and Robin were profoundly influenced by the music of rock bands in the seventies while boldly assimilating ideas from world music in the belief that all musical sources exist to be appropriated. In the same way, over the years, they have embraced technology. This is “anti-restictivist” music. “We realized a long time ago that as soon as we left :zoviet-france: our cover was blown. We could no longer hide under the false mantle of anonymity.” For Reformed Faction, each album is an attempt to develop ideas. The three CDs that comprise “I Am the Source of Light, I am Not a Mirror” are collages, each intended to be listened to in their entirety. The contributions of various friends have been assimilated into the recordings. The East German band Scatology and the American band Not Breathing both contributed to the process. Tommy Grenas of the Los Angeles band Anubian Lights, who Mark met through Damo Suzuki, came to stay with the band and also joined in the recording sessions. The recordings took on a life of their own. Picture the backdrop: the rainy landscape of northern England, the collection of classic seventies albums from the likes of Faust and Can, and the band’s preoccupation with the cultural and political legacy left by the dissolution of the eastern block countries. Reformed Faction spent time in the city of Dresden, where they met the artist Ira Tannheuser, who supplied the images used in the booklet accompanying the CD.
Alice In Wonderland, by Los Angeles, California composer and musician Randy Greif, is a gripping and imaginative telling of Lewis Carroll’s classic story. Using electronics and altered acoustic sounds, along with more traditional instruments, Greif creates a dark and beguiling atmosphere that captures the listener’s imagination. The spoken text is deconstructed into indecipherable phonemes, or laid into rhythmic, musical structures roughly approximating songs. At times, the sonic backdrop is used in a cinematic style behind electronically manipulated voices. Running about six hours, the work was created to move within the real-time cycles of a psychedelic experience. Although the original story has many layers of meaning, Greif intends this interpretation to include some that may be beyond the scope of the original, such as a little girl’s shift from childhood to adolescence, and our species’ evolution into technological beings. This is not your father’s audiobook. Unless your father was Timothy Leary. Come with 5 discs, booklet and Alice in Wonderland trading cards. Visit the Soleilmoon section for more audio samples.
