tube'|262
Off Land
Circadian

«Off Land was formed in 2004 by Tim Dwyer, an artist and musician from New England whose sound was originally shaped by "net" label culture's collaborative atmosphere of experimentation and peer feedback. His sound has been influenced by meditative music such as Javanese gamelan and minimal drone. Dwyer's music is sparse yet texturally intricate, lying in some sort of electro-acoustic limbo between Namlook's more dusty ambient collaborations, literal Phonography and contemporary classical experimentalism (from the artist's website.)

(...) Off Land's new EP is the first release from in a new series of works dealing with the theme of cycles. The result is an expression in repetition, time, rhythm, and flow...
01 Circadian - A twenty-four hour rhythmic cycle of the human body;
02 Records - Repetitive historical tracking of measurements;
03 Greywater - Recyclable water generated by domestic activities;
04 Cicadas - Insects, whose broods emerge in thirteen or seventeen year cycles.»
- test tube

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Spectrical
Silktremor

«This time we bring a new and very young but already very talented sound artist from Melbourne, Australia.
Timothy Allen a.k.a. Spectrical creates ambient and minimal soundscapes based on field recordings he sources from everyday objects found around his surroundings.

In his first release ever - since he started producing music back in 2009 -, which we are really proud to present here, 'Silktremor', Tim produced very personal yet very broad and universal ambient pieces.»
- test tube

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Bettinelli / Egea / Ortiz
21.01.2012

«Leo Bettinelli, Marc Egea and Carola Ortiz are music performers and got together earlier this year, in January, for an improvisation session outside the catalán city of Barcelona, in a museum called Museu de Pintura de Sant Pol de Mar.
Entitled '21.01.2012', this the piece that was recorded directly from the concert. This is pure improv music sounds, hope you like it!»
- test tube

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Experience in Goa
Slow Steps

«Alessio Giorgianni is a composer and sound designer, coming from Italy and active in the music scene since 2003. Experience in Goa is his nom de guerre when he works as a musician.

We present 'Slow Steps', his latest musical work. It is a mix of field recordings, acoustic sampling and electronic manipulation, inspired by the shamanic rituals. And it's a really really good release! Enjoy.»
- test tube

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Paolo Veneziani
204

«test tube proudly presents Paolo Veneziani, an italian sound composer and experimentalist and a well known name in the netaudio scene. He has been releasing royalty free music since 1996 (so far 16 years and going...).

'204' - Paolo's first release since 2008 - is a new collection of tracks where harsh and rhythmic sounds are predominant, but where ambient experimentalism and sinewave modulation also have some room to sprout and thrive.
This is not something for every ear out there, but if you let it grow properly, you will end up loving every second of it. 'Erratic steps' is a true gem.
One of our favorites releases for 2012.»
- test tube

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Thrystero
Chamber music

«Thrystero is actually Bo Vibe, born in the Year of the Boar in Northern Norway. After learning how to handle 6 strings in Los Angeles, wrestling post-structuralists in London and climbing cultural walls in Berlin, he now calls Barcelona home. Guitar, piano,voice and field recordings form the basis of Thrystero's "organic electronica". "Organic" alluding to both tools and methods as the project's goal is to explore the timbres of the surrounding environment (wood, metal, water, doors, railway, river, etc.) and the character of the instruments reacting within to it. Each piece grows from a dynamic relation between composition and improvisation and may follow set harmonic principles or stray completely from the "set", bound only by a certain flow emanating from a reaction between "the field" (city, river, room) and the tool. The "field" in the case of the tracks here is Berlin - from the intimacy of the creaking floorboards of Thrystero's loft to the majesty of the city streets.»
Thrystero

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Radosław Kurzeja
Lake or Sad War

«Test Tube netlabel has really some nice releases. This three track record of polish Radosław Kurzeja is one of them. Although the first track did not really break the ice with me at once, the two other ones did. Kurzeja uses loop layers to create a dreamy and dull atmosphere. Each of the pieces is rather long (17 - 22 minutes) and by this rather hypnotic.

Think of the last days of a teenage summer, when the woods were drenched in the golden light of a low shining sun. This music evokes a calm melancholia which is hard to not letting touch you.»
- fjricharts / September, 2012

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Rico Püstel
Marquee Straat part two

«Hello fellow listeners and followers. Our dear friend and contributor Rico Püstel is back with more awesome guitar synthesizing and drum looping galore!
This is the sequel to the original 'Marquee Strat' release, that test tube put out last year.

Rico has also made two videos which are sort of a 'Making of' of this work. You can find them here and here.

Perfect sounds and rhythms for this hot summer! Just sit back and enjoy.
- test tube

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Bristophe
Dismissed Frankenstein

«Bristophe is an improvised music duo comprising of Brice Catherin, and Cristophe Schweitzer. These 7 tracks have been managed in a way to take on barely audible chamber music filled in with more or less hirsute chords and some mellow storms in a teacup. It sounds somewhere in between Miles Davis´ intimate moments and Penguin Cafe Orchestra`s more restrained glimpses. Furthermore, it sounds like a soundtrack because it was produced like a soundtrack for a film called Frankenstein back in 2009. (8.8/10)»
- Borealiscape [Recent Music Heroes] / October 16, 2012

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Out Level
sx guitar #2 EP

(...) Deep echoes of drones add a heavy substance, entering slowly as we descend the depths, while also creating a smooth and soothing contrast to the shrill pitches under the influence of an endless delay. These deep reverberations may reflect the deep fathoms of both his sound, and the ocean off the Portuguese coastline. SX Guitar #2 propels the listener into the deep, and Antero’s sound remains focused, yet deep. The possibilities for Antero to continue in this vein are seemingly endless, and it will be with a great interest to see what experimental discoveries lay in front. As his notes speak a new language, Antero has created an immersive listen which acts as an effective hypnosis, until we awake from the depths and surface.
- James Catchpole [A closer listen] / June 18, 2012

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Lucida
~ 33

«'~ 33' (or 'approximately thirty-three') is the work of Richard Harvey, Matthew Taylor, Darragh Murnane and Nick Carter, a group of three science and history academics and one website designer, who gathered together for a weekly music session to vent their creative energies. This mini album is an edited mix of improvised music culled from live recordings of those sessions, taken during the Summer of 2011 in Stoke Newington, London.

Lucida have had many guises, including a previous release on netlabel TLHOTRA called “the unexamined life isn’t worth thinking about”.
Be sure to check everything out. They make really really good experimental music.»
- test tube

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Ieva
Insones

«This amazing work by Ieva came out in 2009 in a CD-R limited release from japanese label Meditations but has since been unavailable. Three years passed and many experimental music lovers expressed the desire for a re-release.

Samuel then decided he was going to put this album available again, but as a free digital release, and since we have collaborated before in the excellent 'Constellation', today we have the pleasure of offering 'Insones' for everyone's aural pleasure. Enjoy.»
test tube

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Fescal
Paralysis

«Fescal vuelve a Test Tube con esta pieza maravillosa de catorce minutos y medio de ambient profundo e hipnótico, además con ese toque de frecuencias semi distorsionadas leves y ruidos que le da una historia o contexto a cada minuto que transcurre en la obra. Una atmósfera va abriéndose paso muy lentamente sintiéndose cada vez mas limpia y nítida, despojándose de sonidos oscuros y ruidos experimentales. Muy Recomendable.»
- Triangular [Música Selection] / April 30, 2012

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Ivan Kapec
The path of love

«Acoustic guitar in reflexive mode, without words. For foggy mornings, lazy afternoons and quiet nights.»
- Netlabels Go Pop / April 06, 2012

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Mental Health Consumer
WYO

«Brian Ruskin Ph.D is back after 'Backyard Mysteries' with a brand new adventure. He went to the wild west (Wyoming), recorded a lot of field recordings and went back home with inspiration to tell new stories. So the stories about the places and people that Brian experienced fueled this new collection of songs.
'WYO' takes us all on this musical journey across a US state that is full of cowboys and indians, coyotes and rattlesnakes, boulders and trees, creeks and canyons, blazing days and stormy nights, rodeos and campings, and deserted landscapes.»
- test tube

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yara
Lucid Dream

«I’ve been following the music of YARA since his very first release on the wonderful Elpa #netlabel back in 2010. His style of electronic music is highly technoid and analytic, just like he’s searching for the very soul of machines to drag them into a dull sun and give them a voice.
His latest EP called ‘Lucid Dream’ presents a warmer side of his work. Combining field recordings, voice samples and Dub-esque chords and sounds, Yara opens the door to a very minimal and dark instrumentation. This is the sound of abandoned factories.»
- Thomas Raukamp / February 22, 2012

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Aitänna77
Night Loops

«Aitänna77 is far from being a stranger here at resurface and it’s lovely to once again encounter his musical output. This time around on the (by the look of things unstoppable) Portuguese Test Tube net label, currently racking up 247 something releases the past 8 years or so. ‘Night Loops’ is number 246 and it is an in all aspects excellent four track release; featuring the patented quirky little melodies, the varied instrumentation, the electronics and the skilfully treated lo-fi production. The tale-tell chimes in ‘Empty Pool, Summer Girl’ and you simply have to love the outrageous bass line and aggressive hand-clap featured in ‘Dreams Or Memories’. It is a delicate as it is excellent! Available at the Test Tube label site.»
- resurface / April 09, 2012

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mon0
Colliding Textures

«This album, called Colliding Textures (what a great name!), and released by Test Tube begins with some incredibly well done industrial drone sounds. Cathedral Of The Lost evolves slowly, introducing a sense of urgency, then of expectancy, or perhaps it is conveying a sense of discovery. Listening to this is great – I got the distinct feeling that the track was trying to convey searching for something and not being able to find it. It is also, in my mind, one of those pieces of music that manages to be light and dark at the same time. Brilliant! »
- Blood 1000 / January 31, 2012