Alek Novak

Alek Novak
Pod Vodom
Sloow Tapes - CS 54

Serbian dystopian bedroom psychedelia from the one man band Alek Novak that fits these gnarly times very well. Poetic lyrics (so i've been told, I don't speak Serbian) over a psychedelic rock/noise sauce makes perfect listening while walking through shady corners of Belgrade, tasting the last drops of your bottle rakia. 70 copies.

sloowtapes · Alek Novak

Gintas K

Gintas K
Resonances
Sloow Tapes - CS 44

Gintas K, once part of the first Lithuanian industrial band Modus but since over two decades he dedicates himself to electronic music, more specific granular synths and live electronics where he takes fractions of notes and moulds the sounds through speeding/slowing down and other obscure alchemical processes into new abstract configurations of space debris with remnants of drones, hums and bleeps. 70 copies.

Resonances, the first of these, ‘was recorded live, using computer, midi keyboard & controller on Autumn 2021’ and has been released by Sloow Tapes in an edition of 70 copies. It spins slow-swirling vortices around hovering hums and low-humming drones over the course of its ten, comparatively short (only a couple extend beyond four minutes), ponderous tracks. It’s perhaps one of his more varied works, both sonically and atmospherically – and Resonances really does explore atmospheres and cavernous swampy echoes. (Aural Aggravation)


Gintas Kraptavičius was once a member of the industrial band Modus, and afterimages of their music can often be heard in the cold, metallic nature of his solo work. Resonances comes from a live session where he used a computer, a midi keyboard, and a controller. He modulates sounds, slows down and speeds up the layers, and sinks into sound waves and musical constellations. At the same time, he keeps an eye on structures – the compositions are relatively short, apart from two which reach eight minutes. Overpowering drones rumble from one side, a mass of noise and interweaving atmospheric layers from the other – an impressively constructed mesh of sonic sketches. (The Quietus)


Gintas K has been on these pages a lot of times. I must admit that, despite not knowing Sloow Tapes all too well, I am a bit surprised to see his work. I always think of him as a serious operator of laptop music, which seems not to be the home at Sloow Tapes. He creates ten pieces of music using his computer, midi keyboard and controller, but as this is a cassette (the label has no Bandcamp), I found it hard to tell where a track starts and stops. This cassette could very well contain one track per side. Oddly, perhaps, there is also an element of free play in Gintas K's music. Other than what I think is his stricter approach to composing, these pieces arrive in a free-flowing modus. Sounds drop in, quite uneventful, but are just 'there' and change in form, may grow, or reduce or simply, as unexpectedly disappear again. Yet there is never silence because there are many sounds, each fighting for our attention. It never becomes chaotic, as Gintas K manages to control the proceedings, which he does quite well. A certain psychedelic, ambient quality is part of this music, and I can see why Sloow Tapes found this to be an interesting addition to their catalogue. (Vital Weekly)


Prolific Lithuanian sound artist Gintas K adds to a full shelf of cassette releases with Resonances, a suite of pieces created with keys and a computer that alternate between being slurpy and bracing. The individual elements are quite abstract and have a creepy, dense feel with exotic cinematic overtones. Pretty sure I’d hate the movie they’d likely accompany, but as a stand-alone Resonances makes me no itchier than Goblin do. (Byron Coley, The Wire)

sloowtapes · Gintas K

Mike Hovancsek

Mike Hovancsek
Texture Studies
Sloow Tapes - CS 90

Late night atmospheric soundtracks for two short movies. 'Aea' is an acoustic improvisation with tons of illustrious instruments and contributions on shamisen and shakuhachi by Lydia Schneider and slide guitar by Mohonbeena Soumalaya Mukherjee. 'Antroposcene' is a meditation of floating electronics on our disastrous pollution of the world. Mike Hovancsek is a former member of Pointless Orchestra and collaborated with Egyptian composer Halim El-Dabh (who composed some of the earliest tape music in 1944). 70 copies.

He has releases on Pointless Music (and he was a member of the Pointless Orchestra) as early as 1991, and Infinite Number Of Sounds Recording Company, and yet this is his seventh release only. The four lengthy pieces receive some liner notes in which he mentions that he plays all the instruments but doesn't specify these. There are some guest players, such as Lydia Schneider on the shakuhachi and shamisen and Mohonbeena Soumalaya Mukherjee on slide guitar. The first side is all acoustic, and the second is electronic. What ties these sides together is Hovancsek's rather free approach to sound. On the electronic side, with two versions of a piece called 'Anthroposcene', the music is all about modular synthesizers, resembling all things living on this planet but under attack by humans. The sound changes constantly and sounds like a swarm of bees (or ants, but is that a swarm?) and a great piece. The two pieces, on the other side, are quite different. While also constructed freely, from many recordings stuck together, especially in the title piece, the music has a relatively reflective mood and the most in 'Aea - Espiral'. There is a raga-like drone machine, and on top, we hear what seems to be the processed sounds of the wind instruments. With the slide guitar, this free-style, hippie-like element gets more confirmation in the title piece. Maybe a bit too much on the incense side for my taste, but there is a fine touch of experimentalism to each piece, which saved it in the end. (Vital Weekly)

Based on the bits I’d heard from American artist Hovancsek, I was expecting something of a similar tenor. But this release is split into acoustic and electronic sides, the former featuring wood flutes, dreamy percussion and Indian slide guitar, giving it a bit of an acid folk heft in the vein of Daniel De Vore. The electronic suite is pretty spacy, with lots of oscillator-like bloops and the sort of Bading-esque squiggles you might hear in the background of a classic Star Trek episode. Which is, of course, cool by me. (Byron Coley, The Wire)

sloowtapes · Mike Hovancsek

Seirios Savvaidis

Seirios Savvaidis
Mesourania/Wendy's Wedding
Sloow Tapes CS 40

Compiling two EP's (Mesourania (2019) and Wendy's Wedding (2016) by Seirios Savvaidis (who also plays in The Dead Ends), one of Greece's best kept secrets. Some mind expanding songs that reflect deep knowledge of traditional Greek music by way of sixties and seventies pychedelia and cosmic folk troubadours. Savvaidis's relaxed Greek vocals make you float all the way up Mount Paggaio. Edition of 70 copies.


Seirios Savvaidis is a Greek musician whose work borrows liberally from psych rock of the 60s and 70s, complemented by the more cosmically written folk artists of the time. Compiling 2019's in 2016's Γάμος της Γουέντυ, Sloow Tapes gives a radiant look to his music with this double EP cassette. There are overt nods to traditional Greek music here. Gently surging acoustic ruminate comfortably alongside more muscular bits of personal introspection. Through the complex mechanism of these two EPs, we hear how multiple genres occupy the same space within songs. He even brings in some Laurel Canyon vibes to soften the transitions from sound to sound - he contains these living, breathing worlds, which seem to always exist. It's a definitive ride as we are carried on the backs of his inspirations and watch him interpolate their various lineages. (Beats Per Minute)

sloowtapes · Seirios Savvaidis

Wendingen 1918

Wendingen 1918
Recherche Dans Le Rêve
Sloowax 008

After a couple of limited art releases on Des Astres D’Or (now Astres d’Or) this is the first more widely available release of Wendingen 1918. Aural analogue surreal investigations by the trio of Raymond Dijkstra (Asra, bhaavitaaH bhuutasthaH, Santasede), Bart De Paepe (Ilta Hämärä, Innercity, Bombay Lunatic Asylum) and Frédérique Bruyas (Emmanuel Dilhac, La Poupée Vivante, Nivritti Marga). A hybrid mix of dynamic electronics, spatial sounds and poetry expressing a dazzling physical whole. Wendingen 1918 is dedicated to the early 20th century Dutch architectural magazine Wendingen that was associated with expressionistic architecture: it attempted to distort reality to express subjective, emotional experience. Edition of 300.

Best of 2021 (Soundohm)

This LP is the third LP by Wendingen 1918. Band member Raymond Dijkstra released the two previous LPs were released on his Des Astres d'Or. As with many of the releases on that particular enterprise, these are highly limited (25-40 copies) and usually don't make it to these pages. Of this new LP, 300 were made, so my first introduction to their music; may also be the case for more people. The other two members are Bart de Paepe and Frederique Bruyas. The latter is a regular collaborator of Dijkstra, and I must admit I don't know too much about De Paepe, other than he worked with Timo van Luijk as Ilta Hämärä (see Vital Weekly 1137). Wendingen 1918 refers to a Dutch magazine for architects and designers, and the first issue is from 1918. [wiki:] "Wendingen initially was an important platform for Dutch expressionism, also known as the Amsterdam School, and later endorsed the New Objectivity." As with much of the music I heard from Dijkstra (solo and others), this is another improvisation work. The four pieces are quite different. 'Je M'abandonne à la Fièvre Des Rêves' opens up here and a play of strings and percussion, rambling and rattling, and it comes with a bunch of delay and reverb, so it has a bit of a distant sound. 'Recherche Dans Le Rêve' (at seventeen minutes the most extended piece; this side of the record is over twenty-four minutes) reminded me of Nurse With Wound, with similar studio improvisations. Lots of drums rolling about, lots of cymbals, Bruyas' voice and the studio used as an additional instrument. It cuts random bits of sound in and out of the mix. The shortest piece is 'My Days Have Been a Dream' is also the quietest piece here, with slow violin moves, doubling and drifting away. This piece could have been a solo piece. Following the quietest is the loudest piece, 'Façons D'éveillé', which is a Korg Monotron synthesizer manifestation. The first few minutes are subtle, with some piano notes, but it's there alright when it starts. The piano and, later, string instruments stay there as well, but the biting sine waves of the synthesizer leave a strong imprint. Do not expect the sort of noise that Jliat would review, but it is louder than the three previous pieces. I must say it is also not the sort of improvisation that I thought was that great. Everything that happened in the background sounded of more interest to me but was too distant to reach. Despite that, I thought this was a very good record, full of exciting improvisations. (Vital Weekly)

sloowtapes · Wendingen 1918

Keiko Higuchi x Manuel Knapp

Keiko Higuchi x Manuel Knapp
Summoning Ancient Spirits
Sloow Tapes – CS 72

Sprawling sublime archaic noise electronics from visual artist Manuel Knapp (C.C.C.C, Tim Blechmann, Government Alpha) and vocal acrobatics by Keiko Highuchi (Albedo Fantastica (with Sachiko)and lots of others). Floating somewhere beyond harsh and hazy psychedelic dreams into the blackness of a Japanese night. Edition of 70 copies.

sloowtapes · Keiko Higuchi x Manuel Knapp

Vibration of Words

Vibration of Words
Jazz Poetry from Hungary
Sloow Tapes – CS 50

Classic recording of Hungarian-American poet/translator Gabor G. Gyukics together with Hungarian improvisers Béla Ágoston, Viktor Bori and Csaba Pengő, exhaling words and sounds in surreal late night jazz clouds of instant composition. Gabor G. Gyukics is a minimalist nature poet with a philosophical beat outlook. He translated Attila József, Endre Kukorelly and Attila Balogh in English, and Ira Cohen in Hungarian. Edition of 70.

sloowtapes · Vibration of Words

Piero Heliczer

 

PIERO HELICZER – I MUST BE MORE LIKE AN ANT THAN A CIGALE BECAUSE I LIKE TO SING IN WINTER

Counter Culture Chronicles and Casioli Press from The Hague have joined forces with Bart De Paepe’s Sloow Tapes from Stekene, Belgium to publish a lovely edition dedicated to Piero Heliczer. The book, designed by Lula Valletta and risographed by Stencilwerck, is “a tribute to Heliczer’s creative mind and to the man himself by friends, admirers and people Heliczer worked with”, according to CCC’s René van der Voort. Memories of Heliczer, eyewitness reports, investigations into lost works and actions and writings from obscure Dutch magazines by Heliczer himself have been compiled in this edition, which also contains photographs by Harry Hoogstraten, a letter to the Dutch queen by Heliczer and a couple of other extras. Other contributors than René van der Voort and Harry Hoogstraten to this Heliczer tribute are Eddie Woods, Harry Ruhé, Hans Plomp and Alain Diaz. This book is a valuable addition to the existing works and biographies dedicated to Piero Heliczer as well as a collectible book in itself.

Poet, publisher, actor and filmmaker Piero Heliczer was born to a German mother and a Polish father in Rome in 1937. After his father, who was active in the resistance, had been murdered by the Gestapo, Piero and his mother emigrated to the US in the 1940s, where he enrolled at Harvard in 1955 only to drop out two years later. Heliczer moved to Europe, where he co-founded the seminal Dead Language Press with his high school friend, poet and composer Angus MacLise. After having relocated to London in 1960, Heliczer returned to the US in 1962. There he worked with Jack Smith, Andy Warhol and The Velvet Underground and produced some 25 experimental 8mm films. After having lived hand to mouth in Amsterdam and New York in the 1970s and 1980s, Heliczer moved to Normandy in 1984, where worked in a secondhand bookstore until his death in a road accident in 1993.

Kris Vanderstraeten & Frederik Leroux

Kris Vanderstraeten & Frederik Leroux
Live at The Audioplant
Sloow Tapes – CS 70

Abstract duo of two grand masters: Kris Vanderstaeten (percussion, objects) and Frederik Leroux (guitar). Both explore the endless possibilities of their instruments in terms of dynamics, texture and space. A surreal mix of instant composing, free improvisation and minimalism. Edition of 70 copies.

Percussionist Kris Vanderstraeten, bringing his long experience in free improvisation, and relatively young guitarist Frederik Leroux teamed up in November 2016 for a concert at De Audioplant, Antwerpen, where they were recorded by Simon Beeckaert. During the recorded session each musician skillfully explores his instrument and together they get involved in a shuffle of gentlemen-pugilists. Sloow Tapes did well to publish this disruptive continuum of small amplified movements and sounds. (Sea Urchin)

Malcolm Ritchie

Malcolm Ritchie
Encounter with the Great Mother. Ayahuasca in the Andes
Sloow Tapes – Book

Malcolm Ritchie was born in London, in 1940. He spent his childhood in Scotland and later on moved to Cornwall where he attended art school. Since then he has traveled widely and has lived in Wales, London, California, New York, and for nearly 10 years in Japan. He now lives in Scotland again, on the Isle of Arran. His books include The Shamanic Healer and Village Japan. Limited to 50 copies.

My Cat Is An Alien

My Cat Is An Alien & Nad Spiro
La Casa Encendida
Sloow Tapes – CS 60

Live collaboration by My Cat Is An Alien and Nad Spiro with an introductory note by Mk Ibañez. Unfolding galaxies of shooting stars slowed down to my speed. Another blast from the alien void. 100 copies.

Bart De Paepe

Bart De Paepe
mellow my mind: a sloow tapes discography
Sloow Tapes/Kraak

Chronicling the first 10 years of Sloow Tapes, mellow my mind gives an overview of all the tapes, broadsides, lp’s and booklets published so far. From Keijo's desolate avant/acid folk moves to Fursaxa's spiked organ drones with a short detour by way of Ira Cohen's Akashic Records. Fully annotated with detailed information about the tapes, promo texts, reviews and a few texts written especially for this publication by Bart De Paepe, Matthew Parry and Louise Landes Levi. Full color. A co-producton with Kraak. 300 copies.