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www.lona-records.com

HK Magazine #628 - Interview

Sound Of The City
HK Issue 628
By Alexandra Carroll and Adam White. Photos by Debby Hung.

Loud and Loving It

We talk to artists inspired by the sounds of our city. Of course, not everyone thinks the city is too noisy. In fact, there are many people who revel in the soundscape of Hong Kong. Sebastian Seidel is the Artistic Administrator of Videotage, a new-media art collective operating out of the Cattle Depot in To Kwa Wan. Videotage supports new-media artists (film makers, digital animators and sound artists) by hosting exhibitions and performances. Its informal Friday night gatherings, The Rec Room series, have this month been focusing on sound artists and electronic musicians. With everything from the psychotic synthetic pop of Rainbowtron to improvisational performances by sound artists such as Magdalen Wong, Videotage has been loud and proud about Hong Kong noisemakers. Does Hong Kong make better sound artists because we have, well, so much more sound? “I guess it’s because we’re over-saturated,” says Seidel. “This place is so heavy with sounds and sights – people are used to having a multi-sensory experience.”
Alok Leung runs independent music label, Lona Records. Leung defines himself as a “real musician who just wanted to do something more experimental.” His last album, “Stalemate,” is a composition of quotidian sounds Leung recorded around his house (the hum of the air-conditioner, the sound of the fridge door opening) and mixed into tracks. Leung was inspired by the experimental music scene of Hong Kong in the 80s and early 90s when legends like Dickson Dee (who now runs the SoundAsia music label) and PNF were just getting started; “PNF were great – doing analogue stuff on their computers and then things like drilling into cans, hammering metal – all this really noisy stuff,” says Leung. “The didn’t worry about needing an audience. They just went out and made their music.” Leung’s three-year-old record label has already released nine CDs and has attracted experimental artists from the US, UK and Italy. Vince Li is one of the artists attached to Lona Records. Li does droning – holding notes together for a sustained period of time so that you can hear the harmonics. “When it lasts for a long time it gets you into this really weird headspace,” says Li. “You don’t need to take drugs because it’s a drug itself with its own energy and everything.” Li admits he found the noise of Hong Kong a bit overwhelming when he returned last year,
“It’s weird because you are overloaded with noise and it’s hard to distinguish different sounds,” says Li. “That’s the sound I’ve been trying to make with my droning– no matter where you are, the city throws back this drone sound at you.”
Sound artist and founder of experimental label Moneme, Cedric Maridet, won an award at last year’s Hong Kong Art Biennial for his sound and video installation, “Huangpu.” Consequently, he’s been asked by the Visual Arts Centre to run an open workshop starting in July, teaching students to become critical listeners as well as contributors to Hong Kong’s soundscape. Participants will go on soundwalks, a guided listening activity, and in the end, they’ll all make their own podcasts of their individual “acoustic ecologies” – their world in sound. “You can actually train your ear to listen better,” says Maridet. “Just go outside, focus on individual sounds, and you’ll hear things you’ve never noticed before.” While doing just that experiment with a friend in deep Wan Chai, Maridet was surprised to hear a church bell peeling above the hum of Johnston Road, “It’s more of an attitude of listening that you have to develop.” For the really brave and experimental, Videotage’s Seidel suggests a more dangerous but certainly more effective method: “I’m sure that if you close your eyes, you could find your way through this city just by listening – by acoustic orientation.” Give it a go. A few near-fatal accidents should sharpen your senses pretty quickly.

http://www.asia-city.com

7th, 8th and 9th of the 3"cdr singles series

Release date : 24 April 2006

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Locd11r - Alok - Stalemate (limited 50 cdr)
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Bio:

- Alok was a self-taught guitarist and bassist who formed his first band Pillow early in 1996. After they disbanded in mid 98, he formed Slow Tech Riddim with Kim, when they started combining electronic music with live instruments. Together they had published two albums--Greatest Hits Vol.6 and On/Off under PMPS, contributed in numerous compilation releases. Since 2001, Alok appeared as a solo artist. He published the first 3" mini album OK Karaoke with The Pancakes in 2001. From the end of 2002 to 2005, he released 3 albums: Wahoo!, 31 Minutes to Midnight and 29 Minutes from the End.
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The most experimental work ever of Alok's, Stalemate is his 2nd release in this 3"cdr series.
File Under : Electronic, Clicks n' cuts, Avant Garde
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TRACKLISTING :

01. Stalemate re-configured (5:35)

02. Hard reset (6:42)

03. Discarding your White Napkin Records (0:43)

04. Digital dweller (2:02)

05. Now is as good a time as any to listen again (3:26)

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Locd10r - Torturing Nurse - S.A.R.S. (limited 50 cdr)

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Bio:
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A noise group dedicated to noise art and performance, Torturing Nurse was founded by Isuzu and Junky (both from the Shanghai No Wave/noise band Junkyard) in April 2004, the group's current line-up includes: Youki, Misuzu, Miriam & Junky.
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TRACKLISTING :

01. S.A.R.S. (18:00)
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Their other releases :
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Junkyisuzu cdr shasha china 2004

Rock Torturing Miriam cdr shasha china 2004

Do Not Put In Direct Sunlight For A Prolonged Period mini cdr shasha china 2005

split w/PNF - Splittail cdr shasha china 2005

split w/BSOD - Swing Strigent Brain mini cdr shasha china 2005

V.A. - A Tribute Koji Tano web steinklang europe 2005

NanaNanaNanaNanaNanaNana cdr obscurica usa 2005

split w//Coco and Fiend Friend - Unrechtmelodien 1 mini cdr turgid animal uk 2005

split w/Stimbox - Cowfish Plus Vermilion cdr shasha china 2005

Hai Shangnurse cdr harshnoise usa 2005

split w/Armenia cdr bizarre audio arts usa 2005

V.A. - Emotions:From Somewhere To Nowhere doufu china 2005

split w/English,Stimbox,Redglare - 4x3"CDR Comp (5" edition) Vol. II cdr obscurica usa 2005

split w/ YelloWhore cdr barfing dagger re-recordings usa 2005

Nontacky cdr ultra eczema belgium 2005

V.A. - La vita e meravigliosa biz card cdr turgid animal uk 2005

AB c20 stentorian tapes usa 2005

Three's A Crowd cdr seven sermones ad mortuos italy 2006

V.A, - NOIShanghai I cdr shasha china 2006

V.A. - NOIShanghai II - Moral Attack cdr shasha china 2006

split w/Directbrainstimulation - DirecTorture Split Ep c20 si records usa 2006

split w/Sparkle Girl cdr soccer mon ebonics usa 2006

Does utmost cdr roilnoise usa 2006

update:2006.03.27

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Locd09r - Fourth Culture + The Lovesong - Collusion (limited 50 cdr)

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Bio :

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These 5 songs are a collaboration between 2 of Hong Kong’s artists: the electronic beat-based indie of FOURTH CULTURE, and the guitar-driven spoken rock of THE LOVESONG. FOURTH CULTURE was formed in 2005, and THE LOVESONG was formed in 1999.
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About this release:
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Like a journey through changing and evolving attitudes, textures, responses, and genres, these 5 songs explore different styles but convey a sense of familiarity and freedom often found in true independent music.-
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Members :
FOURTH CULTURE is Jo Tat

THE LOVESONG is Ben, Nic, Ephraim, Suhail

All songs were written, performed, and recorded by FOURTH CULTURE and THE LOVESONG between 2005 and 2006.
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Tracks 1 – 5 recorded at TOUCH STUDIO.

Track 6 recorded at TOUCH STUDIO and SHANGHAI-306.
THE LOVESONG appears courtesy of BOAT TRIP RECORDS.

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TRACKLISTING :

01. evenings and fades

02. the kids have yet to learn

03. loop full of waves

04. springs from this side of dawn

05. panda’s dream

06. irina
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http://band.thelovesong.org/main
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Demo Submissions
http://lona-records.blogspot.com/2006/01/demo-submissions.html

Review on Monitors' Buller on STNT (Sans Tambour Ni Trompette) from France

Les Monitors… je n’ai pas trouvé de jeu de mots intelligent pour introduire ces américains. Du coup, comment m’y prendre ? Sans doute ferais-je mieux de parler directement de Buller, quatre titres sorti sur un petit label de Hong Kong – in media res ! Sauf que ce détour géographique symbolise assez bien la démarche de ce mini – il réussit le tour de force (en quatre titres, je l’ai déjà dit, non ?) de faire voyager l’auditeur, de le mener de surprise en surprise. Ca commence par un titre rock, noise rock teinté de math rock pour se risquer à l’exercice périlleux de la classification (Note : n’étant pas une grande biologiste, je ne garantis pas mes classifications). Un titre péchu, efficace, avec des voix maîtrisées (je veux dire : matures, et qui apportent quelque chose, un côté décalé, punk, jamais prétentieux), qui me rappelle un peu Jesus Lizard. Avec le deuxième morceau, on passe à quelque chose de plus directement math rock : toujours des guitares noise, mais aussi pas mal de mesures « boiteuses », nombreux breaks, dissonances, et plus de voix. D’ailleurs, c’est fini, il n’y a plus de voix jusqu’à la fin du disque. Conduction, le troisième morceau constitue une sorte de transition avec le bien nommé Improvisation. En presque dix minutes, on passe de diverses formes de musiques contemporaines (musique concrète par exemple ; impossible de ne pas penser à John Cage, à Franck Zappa) à des bribes de rock, le tout animé par le tourbillon d’une improvisation parfaite. Les Monitors brouillent les pistes à merveille. Et si Buller n’est pour eux qu’un exercice de style(s), ils excellent dans tous ces styles qu’ils abordent. Apparemment, ils n’existent que depuis 2004… l’apogée n’est certainement pas encore atteinte (ils ont le potentiel de forger un nouveau style), et le meilleur est à attendre !

- gaelle (20/03/06)

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English version (coming soon)

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here is the link :

http://www.stnt.org/UneChroniqueDeDisque.php3?i=1085

L W T V and Dive on Canada CJSF radio chart!!

CJSF Top 53 for the week ending Feb 27 2006
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01 *Various---le pop 3---Groove Attack Produktions
02 Cat Power---the greatest---Matador
03 Buttless Chaps, The---where night holds light---Mint
04 Dears, The---22: the death of all the romance---Bella Union
05 Go! Team, The---bottle rocket---Memphis Industries
06 Pink Mountaintops, The---the ones I love/erected---Jagjaguwar
07 Wild Billy Childish & The Medway Singers---heavens journey e.p.---Damaged Goods
08 Brotherhood Of Electricty, The---invisible +2---Super Secret Records
09 Heartwarmongering---Heartwarmongering---Indy
10 Existential Angst Party---Existential Angst Party---Indy
11 L W T V---put on the headphone and turn to 10---Lona Records
12 Battles, The---tomorrow's eager hands---Soft Abuse
13 *Various---congotronics 2 buzz'n'rumble from the urb'n'jungle---Crammed Discs
14 Young and Sexy---panic when you find it---Mint
15 Watermelon Slim & The Workers---Watermelon Slim & The Workers---NorthernBlues Music Inc.
16 Karl Blau---beneath waves---K Records
17 Caiman Fu---les charmes du quotidiem---Voxtone Records
18 *Various---dear johnny… a tribute to cash---HairBall 8 Records
19 Loscil---stases drones 2001-2005---One
20 Albatross Note---the art of lodge tapes---Evil Evil
21 *Various---all tomorrow's parties 3.1---ATP
22 Acid Mothers Temple & The Cosmic Inferno---starless and bible black sabbath---Alien8 Recordings
23 Of Montreal---deflated chime, foals slightly flower sibylline responses---Polyvinyl
24 Secret Mommy---very rec---Ache
25 Old Man Luedecke---hinterland---Black Hen Music
26 Arctic Monkeys---whatever people say I am, that's what I'm not---Domino Recordings Co. Ltd.
27 Paper Moon---broken hearts break faster every day---Endearing
28 Numbers/Adult---Numbers + Adult = this seven inch---Kill Rock Stars
29 Miracle Men, The---let me love you +3---Kuriosa Records
30 Orcustus---wrathrash +1---Southern Lord Recordings
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CJSF Top 49 for the week ending Feb 20 2006
Top 5 Ads!
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01 Casiotone For The Painfully Alone---young shields---Tomlab
02 Brotherhood of Electricity, The---invisible +2---Super Secret!
03 Chicago Underground Duo---in praise of shadows---Thrill Jockey
04 Dive---deconstructed piano---Lona Records
05 Sword, The---age of winters---Kemado Records
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http://www.cjsf.bc.ca/musicdept/index.php?serendipity%5Baction%5D=search&serendipity%5BsearchTerm%5D=lona

6th of the 3"cdr singles series

Locd08r - Monitors - Buller (limited 50 cdr)

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Bio :
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Monitors hail from the forests and fields of the rural Midwest. Drawing cues from Messiaen's utilization of bird songs, Sun Ra's theories on collective improvisation, US Maple's control of time and space, and Ex Models' fundustrialism, they seek to create compositions that evolve from a process much akin to the way in which primitive ritual dramas developed in prehistoric tribal cultures. Monitors formed in the spring of 2004 as a reactionary response to their disappointing local music scene. They self-released Geology in 2005 and will release Buller in 2006 on Lona Records as part of their 3" CDR series.
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About this release :
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Buller explodes with the intensity of a billion somersaulting shards of noise rock shrapnel fired from the cracked barrel of a double-loaded, short-fused black powder cannon that targets the very center of your being with a crosshair made from the jawbones of racehorses. It never misses and the blast pattern from the shot engraves your inner ear with your new mantra: "MONITORS + YOU = TRULUV4EVA." Joe whoops and pounds his guitar as though his animal spirit has just been baptized inside the curl of a tsunami wave and is psychically speed-dialing you to communicate the revelation of its experience through caterwauled chirps, howls, and other modes of forest speech. Kevin discovers fire on guitar for the first time again and teaches it new tricks. Paul's bass playing is more beautiful than a mushroom cloud on the horizon seen in the reflection of a bathroom mirror while shaving in a dream from which you can't wake unless it's already happened. Andrew only uses drumheads made from the hides of woolly mammoths felled by his own hands and booms with the force of giant lazer hammers launched out of deep space by alien warships from the future. Highly recommended.
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Members :Joseph Post - Guitar, Piano

Kevin Foresman - Guitar

Paul Joyner - Bass

Andrew Chitwood - Drums, Vibraphone

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Recorded live at CMSU studios on December 22, 2005.

Recorded and mixed by Joseph Post

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TRACKLISTING :

01. Exploding Racehorses

02. Theme From Tremors

03. Conduction

04. Improvisation

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askmonitors.com
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Demo Submissions

http://lona-records.blogspot.com/2006/01/demo-submissions.html

4th & 5th of the 3"cdr singles series

Locd07r - Sin:Ned - Uroborus: A Study on No-Input Device (limited 50 cdr)
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Bio / Description :
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Sin:Ned, an idiosyncratic writer and a sonic junkie from Hong Kong, hacks and twists anything he can put his hands on. While not writing as a pseudo-music journalist elaborating his esoteric worldview, in the same idiosyncratic fashion, he spends much of his time hacking and sculpting sonic materials with his laptop and various electronic gears. Used to be a member of the internet-based music collective Tapegerm, and had also performed as a sonic improviser in the Media Jam of 03 HK Sound And Vision Festival, while some of his other sound works can be found in various compilations such as “mondisk”, “MCB200” and Alok's “29 minutes from the end”.

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Uroborus (also known as Ouroboros) literally means "tail swallower" in Greek. It is an ancient alchemical symbol depicting a snake or dragon swallowing its own tail, forming a circle and constantly creating/re-creating itself. In Alchemy, it represents the spirit of Mercury (the substance that permeates all matter), and symbolizes continuous renewal, the cycle of life and death, and the interplay/interdependence of the opposites. It also represents eternal return, and the cyclical nature of all things that begin anew as soon as they end. One might also consider Uroborus as a symbolic representation of Nietzsche's Eternal Return and Jung's Enatiodromia.

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“Uroborus” is a sonic exploration created within such symbolic framework. On the other hand, it is also inspired by Toshimaru Nakamura’s “No-input Mixing Board” and Sachiko M's “No-sample Sampler”. Ross Bencina's AudioMulch is being used as a self-contained apparatus without the use of any audio input or signal generator (i.e. no samples, synthesizers, instruments…etc), to create a slow evolving mass of sonic textures that endlessly unfolds over time.
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The result is this almost transpersonal-like, self-referencing sonic life form.

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Sin:Ned，有人稱為樂評人，亦有人形容為音樂文字工作者。實質上，是一位文字痴及聲響迷徒。曾是香港另類音樂雜誌MCB (音樂殖民地) 之主力寫手之一，擅長以艱深險要之手法扭曲樂評，把所謂樂評帶進自身神秘詭異的理論深淵。同時間，又沉迷電腦軟體及另類電子工具的聲響創作，曾一度是網上創作共同體Tapegerm之成員。其聲響作品，散見於"mondisk"、"MCB200"及Alok的"29 minutes from the end"等專輯。此外，亦曾參與03香港視野音樂節中Media Jam項目之現場演出。
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第一次接觸Uroborus (或Ouroboros)是從Carl Jung有關鍊金術的學說。其後又得知，德國化學家Kekule夢見Uroborus的意像而想通了有關苯的化學結構。那時想，很利害的一個精神原型。蛇自吞其尾而蜷圈成一個永恆地輪迴死滅重生的自我迴路。這樣自我指向、自我毀滅、自我轉化衍生的精神系統，實在非理性所能拆解馭駕。
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尼釆的Eternal Return。Carl Jung的Enatiodromia。張系國於長篇三部曲小說”城”所暗藏的非直線歷史觀。藏傳佛學的生命之輪。
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第一次嘗試從無聲中發聲是三年前的事。當時聽到Toshimaru Nakamura以無音源之混音器作為演奏工具，感覺驚為天人。還有Sachiko M那無樣本的取樣器演奏，同樣不可思議。兩者演奏技法當中所蘊含的禪宗佛學意念，給予人強大的關於音樂色相根源之衝擊。於是，自己便開始以Ross Bencina的音樂軟體AudioMulch，套以那種無音源之演奏技法進行實驗。剛巧當時正參與03 香港視野音樂節的Media Jam項目，部份實驗品於是便拿進去試煉。然而，因當時所製造出的聲像音響隨機性太高，感覺難以馭駕，於是其後便丟低了。
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不久前，突然想起Uroborus，於是又再重拾這未完實驗。很奇怪地，是次很快便重新找到與這些奇詭聲像共存的觀視角度。突然間，一切都變得理所當然。看著Laptop螢幕上那堆以虛擬線路自我纏繞回輸的軟體組件，心想，這根本就是一個Uroborus。
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先前不以為意的種種，都豁然連接起來。

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結果，就是這首命名為"Uroborus: A Study on No-input Device"的漫長樂章。
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TRACKLISTING :
01. Uroborus: A Study on No-Input Device (20:00)-All audio perceived and sonic-fied by Sin:Ned (www.maitreyana.com)

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Locd06r - Wilson Tsang - Night Suite : Music for the Tales (limited 50 cdr)

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Bio:

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I first learned music in my early childhood from my mother. Influence started from early 80's pop sound including rock, electronic and Jazz. Later by chance I was exposed to the more alternative world of music including John Zorn, Tom Waits as well as the disbanded local group The Box, that opened up my ear to a greater music language. For the last 10 years I had been more inclined in exploring sound for media such as theatres and video art until early 2003, with the help of a friend, I released my first solo CD "Stuck in Traffic" and since then I became more focused on making songs and music that I could "play on stage". The 2nd album "Little Cold Red", released with Harbour Records, was a more in-depth collection of such effort. Recently I start shifting my focus back to theatre music to discover the possiblities and roles of music, particularly as a minimalistic expession as well as story-teller.

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About this release :

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This is a mini-collection resulted from various projects with friends from other media including theatre and animation art over the past year. The presence of the music here is in a different role yet it's not taking a back seat. It manifests a wider, wilder, more abstract and unseen world underneath it. Part of the idea begins from my intention to extend the coldness left behind in my last album and I hope it can go further down like an undying echoes. In some case I try to capture the unspeakable loneliness or rapture that felt only through sheer simplistic notes rather than lyrics or words. In other, music is transformed and distorted like an ongoing torment of extreme and chaotic mental reflections: madness, fear, sense of danger and death, until it falls back into a realm of silent awareness. This is music that depicts many dark and sleepless nights and only belongs to the night.

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TRACKLISTING :

01. Prelude

02. Asleep & awaited

03. Ghost town

04. There's no moon in hell

05. Jungle

06. Memory of body

07. Midnight sun
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Demo Submissions

http://lona-records.blogspot.com/2006/01/demo-submissions.html