Coming soon and now preorderable here: a remastered 2LP retrospective, featuring new edits of fave Bee Mask trax 2003-2010!
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Forthcoming:
May 28: Misery Beat at Whelans, Dublin, Ireland. With Eyvind Kang, Jessika Kenney.
May 29: Triskal Arts Centre, Cork, Ireland.
May 31: Arnolfini, Bristol, UK. With Mika Vainio, Sensate Focus.
June 1: BleeD at Cafe Oto, London, UK.
June 3: Dæpth at O, Milan, Italy.
June 5: Cave12, Geneva, Switzerland.
June 7: Optimo at Sub Club, Glasgow, UK.
June 19: Casa del Popolo, Montreal, QC. With Mist.
Bee Mask - Elegy For Beach Friday - Editions Mego
“Much more interesting to my ears is the Bee Mask material. I was recently treated to a “performance” of Xenakis’ electroacoustic tape piece La légende d’Eer as part of the London Sinfonietta’s recent Xenakis season at Southbank Centre. It was a 50 minute piece of constantly evolving textures which pushed several audience members past their comfort zones, but was an invigorating listening experience for me, not least because it was particularly illuminating to see the parallels between his work and a lot of current synth music. Canzoni dal Laboratorio del Silenzio Cosmico is much in the same vein as this kind of electroacoustic experimentation, combining radiophonic tones with what are, I presume field recordings or found sounds. Split into two sides, the first side is the more overtly experimental of the two pieces, concentrating mainly on textures, while Side B is more mood based, combining the roughness of Side A with melodies and synths that recall Italian horror movie soundtracks, 50’s sci-fi B-movie themes, and even Italo disco towards its conclusion. It feels like a musical curiosity that has been liberated from someone’s attic, and is highly recommended.”
— Urlaubshits » Blog » Blogdrone #1: Spectrum Spools, Harald Grosskopf, Snoretex, Hatchback
“Bee Mask is an alter ego of Philadelphia, PA citizen Chris Madak (previously Cleveland, OH). Over a few years, Madak’s music has evolved from the cold, static, skeletal endless drones to a much smoother (and more diverse stylistically) entity. With an incredibly long and playfully unwieldy name “From a Will-Less Gigolo…” offers a travel through many different zones of experimental electronics, ranging from melodic suites to abstract acids in the style of Morton Subotnick. Side A begins with a majestic synth miniature, a synthetic symphony topped with a dreamy lead, which sounds like a sci-fi guitar soundtrack. Then the styles change at an almost kaleidoscopic pace, even though each side clocks at a little bit more over 10 minutes, it leaves a feeling of being much longer - each section is atmospheric enough to fully immerse the listener. The wall of chimes, a quiet, introspective melody slowly turns into cold, minimalist drone in the style of Bee Mask’s earlier releases like “Elusive Lunar Bow”. Once it dissolves into nothing but a slab of somewhat muted white noise, a sequenced bliss begins to emerge, only to fade again as the side ends.
The beginning of side B (both sides are untitled) is eerily similar to the beginning of side A and is a straight continuation of the synth workout at the very end of side A: a short kosmische sequencer-driven introduction gives way to an abstract soundscape with speech samples sped up beyond recognition, distant synth squeals and what appears to be echoed, sparse Roland TR-808 drum samples. This abstract painting of sound gradually changes into a chilling chime melody slowly fading into trademark early Bee Mask glacier drone ornamented by occasional analog bleeps and bloops. The tape comes to an end with a hazy organ suite propelled by short, needle-like sequenced notes. “From a Will-Less Gigolo of a Divinity to the Gore-Spattered Lion on His Own Hearth, Odysseus Becomes “Odysseus”” is a great step in Chris Madak’s progress- the number of different moods and style he can touch is damn near unbelievable and I feel in my bones that he can create something truly breathtaking in the near future.”
Nodcasted. Thanks Sonic Router and Olive Music!
“Fans of minimalist music and cosmic beaten hollow synthesizers of all countries, unite! The offshoot of the Australian Megolabel, called Spectrum Spools, could well be an important source for such psychedelic jams - Emeralds “John Elliott, one of the standard bearers of the genre, there is curator. The label releases earlier cassette releases on vinyl to the man, usually in a limited edition of five hundred pieces,but that is is not alien to the genre .
With Canzoni valley Laboratorio del Silenzio Cosmico Bee Spools Spectrum Mask shall they should aim high. Bee Mask is the solo project of Chris Madak, which he makes use of oscillators, synthesizers, guitar and electronics. Divided into Parts I and II Bee Mask spread over both sides vinyl spun out of jams that many aspects of the cosmic synth universe to explore. Easy listening, manic synths, psychedelic krautrock synth minimalism and come together on this groundbreaking journey, while the references to Iasos, Tony Conrad, La Monte Young and Ash Ra Temple in the air.
That you Canzoni valley Laboratorio del Silenzio Cosmico nicely structured songs do not expect will now be clear. But when ye be interested in jam sessions that bulky psychedelia, minimalism and synth-mania united, Bee Mask, then you have the right address. The fresh look of Bee Mask ensures that the experiments immeres enough irons in the genre as the chaff from the wheat can be distinguished.”
— Bee Mask - Canzoni dal Laboratorio del Silenzio Cosmico : albumrecensie op KindaMuzik (English translation by Google)
“Originally released as a C30 cassette a year ago, the splendidly titled Canzoni Dal Laboratorio Del Silenzio Cosmico is a magnificent exercise in progressive kosmische, brushed with occasional hints of music concrète. The album is split into two tracks of pretty much equal length, each charting slightly different terrains. Canzoni Dal Laboratorio Del Silenzio Cosmico I opens with what very much sounds like bowed bells upon which come crashing strange coughing noises and waves of bubbling electronics until, three and a half minutes in, one of these soundwaves overwhelms everything and flickers for a while until it progressively retreats to reveal a much barer, more organic plateau. Madak continuously alternates between overtly electronic squiggles and squelches on one side and more poised moments on the other, at times letting rudimentary melody or reflective moments to briefly take shape. Canzoni Dal Laboratorio Del Silenzio Cosmico II is a more contrasted piece, with a far less linear progression. Tense clusters of noise are followed by various electronic arpeggios, which are in turn overpowered by more crushing noise formations. This continuous re-configuration never occurs twice with the same intensity or follow the same logic. Such randomness makes for a rich listening experience, which owes as much to the pioneering electronic experimentation of Pierre Schaeffer and Pierre Henry as to the expensive electronic epics of early Tangerine Dream.”
Early warning: I’m jamming this. First Bee Mask gig in Philly in almost a year / first OPN gig in Philly ever. Killer PA, too. Gonna be sick!
Quick shouts:
Wire “Office Ambience” 4/11. ”Canzoni” in stock at VT. Our God is Speed situates an old Bee Mask performance vid in some pretty heavy company. Thanks everyone!
Italian Market snack grip, Philly, Spring 2011. Mid-shopping for 2LP artwork supplies. Photo by Kate McGuire.
“Swooping alien insectoid pulses and rich soundscapes conjure up all manner of pretty abstract shapes. Sure this is heavily inspired by classic German stuff but it also has something to say which is entirely its own. Both this and the Fabric record on the label are really hitting the spot for me so go check them out. Quality electronic music.”
— 4*: Canzoni dal Laboratorio del Silenzio Cosmico by Bee Mask « Norman Records weblog thing
Detail of A Moon of Saturn Resting on a Doric Foundation (2007), by Daniel G. Baird, who’s doing the visual design for the forthcoming Bee Mask/Envenomist split 12” on A Sounddesign. Check more of Daniel’s work at danielgbaird.com.
“Bee Mask’s mind-melting ‘Canzoni Dal Laboratorio Del Silenzio Cosmico’, meanwhile, was released in 2010 on a c30 cassette and has become one of the most sought after artefacts of the neu-Kosmische movement. This is the first time it’s been available on vinyl, faithfully remastered by Rashad Becker - so to say we’re excited by this release is an understatement. Chris Madak aka Bee Mask’s music exists in a continuum of musique concrète and tape experiments stretching back to the earliest emissions of Pierre Henry through to the more recent hypnagogic/synth noise of Emeralds, Rene Hell or Oneohtrix Point Never. The album has been meticulously sculpted from Synthesizers, percussion, piano, tape, and voice - recorded, mixed, and edited between 2006-2010 in Cleveland and Philadelphia. The result is an often breathtaking confluence of contrasting sounds arranged with a magnetic mystery and a cryptic logic which will reveal itself in due course. Bee Mask already counts the likes of Autre Ne Veut (who included a large chunk of this LP in his Altered Zones mix) and Will Bankhead (who released ‘Frozen Versioning (Hyperborean Return)’ on his The Trilogy Tapes label) as big fans, and no doubt your good selves, soon enough.”
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via Boomkat’s Something Special Newsletter
Thanks William Hutson for a fantastic review of Canzoni in the April 2011 issue of The Wire! Grip it here, at your local record heap, or digi via Exact Editions.
