&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
AMAZING SOUNDS No.116 / April 10, 2002
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

To UNSUBSCRIBE from the list, send a blank message to:
amaze-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

You can subscribe sending a blank message to:
amaze-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

More info here:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/amaze

====================
THE SOLO DISCOGRAPHY BY JOSEPH LOIBANT (FOUNDER OF THE BAND AT-
MOOSS), INITIATED WITH THE CD "SINE" (THE FIRST ONE IN THE
TRILOGY) IS AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE IN THE VIRTUAL SHOP OF AMAZING
SOUNDS

http://www.amazings.com/mailorder.html

AS WELL AS IN:

http://www.at-mooss.com

====================

CONTENTS:

NEWS

A MESSAGE FROM THE ELECTROSHOCK FESTIVAL ORGANIZERS

NEURONIUM RECORDS IS BORN. Michel Huygen (Neuronium) has just
established a label where, apart from his own albums, he will
release works by Constance Demby, Jonn Serrie, Pascal Languirand,
and other avantgarde artists.

====================

Note: If mail to you bounces. you will be automatically removed
from the list. If in doubt, re-subscribe. If you're already on the
list from the same email address the second subscription will be
rejected as a duplicate.

====================

Attention: Long links can work badly when trying to click on them
if they appear cut into two or more lines. In case you cannot use
them directly because of this or other reasons, we reccommend you
to copy the COMPLETE link (including each one of its fragments) at
the location window of your browser. The link must appear in its
entirety in a single line.

====================

NEWS

On April 18, 2002 (19:00), Artur Lason (live electronics), Jacek
Bak (acoustic guitar) and Guy Ferraton (harmonica) will give a
live performance at The Art Novum Gallery (30 / 36 Washington
Street), in Warsaw, Poland. The admission will be free.

On April 29, 2002, the band Mother Mallard Portable Masterpiece
Co. will give a live performance in New York City.

On June 1, 2002 (22:00), the famous Terry Riley and Stefano
Scodanibbio will give a live performance at the Espai, in
Barcelona, Spain.

=== A MESSAGE FROM THE ELECTROSHOCK FESTIVAL ORGANIZERS===

Dear ladies & gentlemen!

I want to inform You that we are preparing the greatest Event in
the history of International modern music. This is the "First
Russian International Festival of Electronic, Electroacoustic,
Experimental & Avant-garde Music-Electroshock". It will take place
at the end of July'02 in St. Petersburg and last for 10 days.

More than 300 composers and musicians will participate in this
historic Event. Manuel Gottsching, Hans-Joachim Roedelius, Dieter
Moebius, Rick Wakeman, Francis Dhomont, Jorge Antunes, Edward
Artemiev, "Art Zoyd", Iasos, Constance Demby, Michel Huygen, Steve
Roach, Vidna Obmana, Jeff Grienke, Dom F. Scab, "T-Bass" are among
them. We also planning to invite Vangelis, Isao Tomita, Brian Eno,
Kitaro and Robert Fripp.

More information about the Festival could be found in our website:

http://www.electroshock.ru
(section "Festival")

We invite all organizations and firms for co-operation. We are
opened for any proposal.

President of the Festival:
Artemiy Artemiev (E-mail: info@...)

General Director of the Festival:
Alexander Kozyrev (E-mail: alexss_us@...)

====================

NEURONIUM RECORDS IS BORN

Michel Huygen (Neuronium) has just established a label where,
apart from his own albums, he will release works by Constance
Demby, Jonn Serrie, Pascal Languirand, and other avantgarde
artists.

Michel Huygen had already registered Neuronium Records as a label
since the beginning of his musical career, in 1976. Even though in
these days he had nothing definite, and had even just signed a
contract with the label EMI, he certainly was thinking of founding
a label of his own some day, so as to release the works of artists
whose music was on his line. In the year 2001 he began to
seriously consider this project,and he gave the first steps to
this end. Now, on March, 2002, this project is definitely a fact.

With the establishment of Neuronium Records as an active label, we
converse with Michel Huygen.

One of the first things he tells us is his firm determination not
to pressure any of the artists in his label to make undesired
changes on their part, on their works, nor to have them change
their style on marketing grounds. "Respect for the artist is
important. If he is chosen for his music, this music must be left
intact. I will not do to any artist what EMI, and a number of oher
labels tried to do to me years ago. That's why I changed labels so
often."

Neuronium Records is not intended as a local label, but rather its
releases are aimed both at the European and the world market. It
is oriented towards a variety of musical genres with which Huygen
feels comfortable, for instance Melodic Space Music and New
Instrumental Music, among others. The label is intended to be
quite active in the number of releases, yet without implying
condescendence in the quality of the works to be released. In this
latter aspect, Michel states that in Neuronium Records there will
never appear the kind of products done with the minimum effort
that discredited the New Age. "My idea is that Neuronium Records
be a label synonym with diversity, and also quality."

Several releases shape the beginnings of this label.

Album number thirty of Michel Huygen, "Placebo", an album he signs
with his own name instead of Neuronium , his alter ego, is a
surprising, daring release. Showing that the artist is capable of
giving true surprises, in this occasion he breaks with the
transcendental space adventures , and offers us a work dominated
by rhythm, far from cosmic lanes, yet radically electronic. A
music brimming with dynamism and happiness, it injects vitality
into the listener, and is ideal to listen to, for instance, when
one needs to overcome laziness and apathy, and start doing things
with optimism. Michel also tells us that, although in other albums
he has carefully worked the stereo panorama, in this release he
has made a special extraordinary effort. His idea has been that of
giving solidity to the sounds, as if they were real objects that
flow around us. He explains, "This is an album that is completely
unlike anything I have done so far and I would find it difficult
to duplicate. I have succeeded in shaping what I had in mind,
despite the fact that it was truly complicated. This is not a
release that, in my view, could be labelled as strange, yet it
will certainly attract attention." With respect to the question of
whether an artist must always be loyal to a given personal style,
he replies, "I believe that nobody is the same every day of the
year. I was feeling like doing something very dynamic and I have
done it."

"In London - The Platinum Edition", is a completely remastered
version of the notorious album "In London", which gathers the
half-improvised sessions of Neuronium and Vangelis when they
played together in the legendary Nemo Studio. Michel Huygen
himself has taken care of the remastering, in 24 bits, which
confers the music a greater dynamism, so that its sonority turns
out to be far wider and clearer. This re-release is partly due to
the pressure of the fans of both musicians, as many of them could
not get a copy of the album when it was first released.

"Sanctum Sanctuorum" is the first album by Constance Demby in five
years since her "Aeterna" in 1997. This is a long time matured
work, brimming with mysticism and emotion, and surely is a
reflection of the very life of the composer in these five years,
Continuing with the same path of grand, powerful orchestrations,
as in her previous releases, although with a perhaps more
notorious use of samplers, this release will no doubt appeal the
followers of Space Music. Also, the re-release of "Set Free", with
a new remastering and a likewise new graphic design is scheduled
soon.

The new album by Pascal Languirand, the well known author of
"Living on Video" (Trans-X) is called "Renaissance". This is a
work of electronic music widely varied and wealthy, full of
surprises, where the artist has been working for a year and a
half. This is said to be his best album in these last years. No
doubt, it will appeal to those listeners that enjoyed"Gregorian
Waves". Some tracks are instrumental. Others include his voice,
modulated with unusual vocal techniques. With great mastery, he
weaves a baroque tapestry with elements of Synth-Pop, Space Music,
and even with a clear medieval air. In actual fact, there are
passages that are like open windows to the Middle Ages. Pascal
sings in Latin, Medieval French and present-day French. The album
also includes a new version, in French, of the theme "Sólo
pensando en tí", whose music was originally composed by Michel
Huygen. Michael believes that some of the tracks are this kind of
pieces that mark a before and an after in musical innovation.

Santi Picó also deserves the attention of Neuronium Records. His
first album here is a compilation, some sort of "The best of...",
that gathers his best themes, in a remastered format. Huygen
himself has created the cover, among other things.

Jonn Serrie also has a release with Neuronium Records. This is his
album "Lumia Nights". Huygen values Serrie's style a great deal,
and likewise, Serrie admires Michel's as well. This, together with
the fact that both styles, even if they are different, fit
perfectly well together, has led them to consider the project of
making an album together, an idea they have been caressing for
some time.

In the first batch of releases there also is the sampler "The
future of music... now. Vol. 1", where themes by the first
artists of this label appear. Lasting 71 minutes, this
sampler includes pieces with the most characteristic style of
each one of the artists featuring the album.

Attending the insistent demands of the fans, Michel Huygen will
also release material previously unreleased in vynil by Neuronium,
often having historical importance within electronic music itself,
as for instance a series of recordings of the late 1970's and
early 1980's, which marked the beginnings of Neuronium and created
a school.

Neuronium Records will also release music videos, through a
division especially established to this purpose. Betting for the
future, the support used will be DVD. Video tapes are no longer
considered. Among these videos we will be able to find not only
live performances, but also sophisticated audio visual creations
with a cosmic nature. Some of the first works have already been
decided on, as for instance the audio visual epic "Star
Chronicles" by Jonn Serrie, and the concert "Live in Tokyo" by
Constance Demby. Among the advantages of DVD seen by Michel in
front of the tape, mention must be made of the possibility of
projection on wide screens without the loss of quality of tapes,
and the conservation of quality after a continued use, a thing
this latter consideration, that is extremely important in a music
video, which is more often watched than a movie.

Michel Huygen wants to point out clearly that his friendship with
the early artists of his label has not influenced his decision to
release their music.Actually, if once he made friends with them,
it was because of the music they created.

Michel also tells us of an attractive project that he has had in
mind for some time. His interest in cosmetics, a field in which he
has technical knowledge, and the idea that aromas awaken
sensations, just like sounds do, has led him to endeavour to
create a perfume that somehow awakens the same global sensation
that his musical style causes. For this reason he has been very
interested in the initiative by Jonn Serrie, who shares this very
interest in cosmetics, and who has already presented a perfume
together with an album.

(By Jorge Munnshe)

Neuronium Records web:

http://www.neuronium.com/neurorec/

====================

We are preparing an international directory of record companies,
artists, festivals, radio shows, zines, webs, journalists,
associations, and other organizations & people working in the
field of electronic music, Ambient, New Instrumental,
Experimental, World Music, and so on. The inserts are free. The
persons or firms wishing to be included can send us a file of no
more than 600 words with the data they consider as being of
interest (contact addresses - snail mail, telephone number, fax,
email, URL... -) and an explanatory text on their activities in
English) to: amazings@...

We are also preparing an encyclopaedia of composers of electronic
music. The artists wishing to be included can send us a biography
(with a list of works and contact address if they wish to) of no
more than 900 words, in English, to amazings@.... Inserts
are free.

The persons or firms having a page in internet related in some way
to the alternative musics can communicate the URL, as well as a
brief description of its contents, to webmaster@..., and
we will set a link from our web to theirs (The insert of a link in
our web is free whenever it is corresponded with a similar link
from their web to our web)

====================

Our warmest greetings for our readers and until the next edition
of Amazing Sounds.

====================

For further information about this newsletter and back issues:

http://www.amazings.com/amaze.html

You can access all the contents in Amazing Sounds from the first
articles to the hottest news in our web organized as a directory,
in HTML format, with photos, and with hundreds of links:

http://www.amazings.com/ingles.html

Amazing Sounds is a professional electronic magazine free for the
readers. It is financed only by means of its sponsors. The firms
wishing to insert commercial advertisements in these pages can
contact us at:
advert@...

Recording companies, artists and other professionals of the
alternative musics wishing to send us their news can contact our
team of journalists at:
amazings@...

Our readers can send us their public comments to:
mail@...

All the texts are copyright of their authors, and their partial or
total reproduction by any means, or their re-distribution without
the prior permission of the publisher(amaze-owner@...)is
prohibited.

**********