1.     On 12th May the Bulgarian label and booking collective Amek will celebrate its 10th anniversary, with big event at club Mixtape 5 and four new releases. The event will be hosted in the club's two rooms, featuring 10 live acts - starting with ate's guitar drones, OOHS!' cool kraut-pop, Trysth's sludge metal (last live performance for the band!), 2 collaborations - Valance Drakes (UK) & Ivan Shopov and Leaver & Tim Holehause (UK); also live performances from LATE, Evitceles, Mytrip, Cyberian and Conjecture (GR). The night will continue with an afterparty in the B-side, where the guys from Бетон crew, Climaxim (NL) and Ghost 303 will take care of your perceptions. Tickets on a regular price can still be found following this link, otherwise 20 BGN at the doors. The fe(a)st starts at 6PM. You can attend on FB here. 
        Amek is celebrating in the best way a label can - releasing 4 new albums, 2 of them collaborations and 2 solo recordings.
      The first one of them is by the Bulgarian artist Cyberian (Stefan Bachvarov), who is also behind the WTF is swag label. 'Limerance' is his most personal record so far, unfolding in its own pace, providing an 'exhausting exploration of feelings and inner conflicts, which results in evolving sonic nuances and varying approaches to electronic sound.' The album is released on April 30, 2018, digitally and on a limited edition cassette. Listen and score from Amek's bandcamp:



       The second release is a collaboration between Bulgarian acts Mytrip (Angel Simitchiev) and Evitceles (Etien Slavchev). Beside two independent tracks by each artist, the EP features two collaborative tracks, under the moniker Protective - 'Seclusion' and 'Unwilling To Restrain'. They compile significant elements for both artists' musical approach in a smooth way, we're eager to hear more from that magic. Released on May 12, digitally and on a limited edition 12'' vinyl.



      The third release is another collaboration, this time between the UK sonic master Valance Drakes and Bulgarian musician, producer and fine artist Ivan Shopov. With 'Unearthing Buried Chapters' they have decided not to follow their individual formulas, but to go beyond them. This debut collaborative is not a more musical creation, it's the actual process of shaping and structuring worlds through sounds. The album was as much created impulsively, as it was crafted with an almost maniacal attention to detail. Released on May 12, digitally and on a limited edition 12'' vinyl.



      The fourth release is by Bulgarian/ living in Poland guitarist Petar Petkov, a.k.a ate. 'Secondary Drowning' is his second release on Amek, the first one 'MCCV' already sold out. His chamber drone music collides both classical composition and modern day guitar-based ambient and shoegaze.
    The four pieces are melancholic and drifting, but not as fragile as ate's earlier work. This is also due to the more thicker production, handled by Bucharest's Studio 148's mixing and mastering, who gave it the specific heavy, in the same time atmospheric and experimental sound. Released on May 12, digitally and on a limited edition cassette.



      You will be able to find all the releases at the merch stand on 12th May, this Saturday, at the event at Mixtape 5. If you can't attend personally, you can always visit the label's profile on Bandcamp or BigCartel.


    Poster by Georgi Sharov


    Posted by Unknown
    Labels: Amek ate bandcamp Climaxim Conjecture Cyberian Evitceles Ghost 303 Ivan Shopov LATE Leaver Mixtape5 Oohs! Tim Holehouse Trysth Valance Drakes Бетон
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  2.        1st of March will give the start of numerous events, connected with the Bulgarian label Amek Collective's 10th anniversary. The label has curated an impressive lineup, consisting of Canadian drone doom duo Nadja, Bulgarian sad droners Leaver and Bulgarian-born experimental/ dark ambient project Shrine.

         Nadja formed in 2003 by multiinstrumentalist Aidan Baker and bassist Leah Buckareff. Their music has been described as ambient doom, dreamsludge, metalgaze, combining the textures of shoegaze and ambient music with the heaviness and volume of metal and noise. Nadja have released recordings for labels as Alien8 Recordings, Hydrahead Records, Important Records, Essence Music and their own Broken Spine Productions. In addition, Mr. Baker is active as a solo musician, writer and with different group projects. The band now resides in Berlin, Germany.
      

         Leaver are drone duo from Sofia, with members Angel Simitchiev and Daniel Donchov. They describe their music as 'piano and guitar based minimalism meets voices and drone'. Influenced by poetry and voice, they like to drown their sound into delay, reverb and overdrive effects. Leaver have toured UK in 2016, which resulted in a collaboration EP with the blues-bard Tim Holehouse, named  'Before The Fire'. Their debut album, 'Head Home', was released in 2016 to critical acclaim.

     
        Shrine is the project of Hristo Gospodinov, born of his interest in esoteric music and the desire to express his understandings in life in non-verbal way. Starting in 2003 and heavy influenced by the dark ambient scene, today Shrine has no strict genre limits. His interests lie in mixing nature sounds with machine sounds and other artificial things into processed ambient sound. The album 'Ordeal 26.04.86' is dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster.

     
       The gig, again, will happen on 1st March (Thursday) at club Live & Loud , Sofia - tickets can still be purchased here. 




    Poster by Alexandru Das

    Posted by Unknown
    Labels: Aidan Baker Amek dark ambient doom drone experimental Leaver Nadja Shrine
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  3.      This Saturday, 25th November, from 7PM Fabrika Avtonomia will host 'an industrial congress' under the moto 'We Live. You Sleep', featuring three artists from Sofia's underground scene. 
             The main suspects or 'congressmen' are S.B.R., Adonai Atrophia and Cogwheel Crack. 

        S.B.R. is one of the many projects by N.M. (Abandonment Label) - we have already presented him here as |14|, when he supported Dave Phillips at the Czech Center.


        Adonai Atrophia is a post-industrual project by Veluvian, in a search for the invisible miracles, defining The Universum. In this search he uses selected sounds and drone elements, describing the secret fields in the unconsciousness, the hidden Dark Side of the Moon in every one of us. This year he has physically released 'Metahistory', together with Abandonment.
       His last album 'Sceneries, Manifestations of Absolutism', consisting of five conceptual pieces is released digitally on Bandcamp:


      
       Cogwheel Crack is an extreme/ industrial noise project, existing for more than 10 years on the scene. He has released three albums and one EP, all of them available on Bandcamp. Cogwheel Crack is about to play for a last time live, considering he has already stated his ideas - another reason to come to this gig!



    Posted by Unknown
    Labels: Abandonment Adonai Atrophia Cogwheel Crack Fabrika Avtonomia industrial noise S.B.R. sofia
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  4.       Last week Sofia has been the goal of visitation for London's fabulous Ola's Kool Kitchen. It couldn't get better, when Ola asked me if she can do a DJ set here, so that's how the 'Ola's Kool Kitchen Sofia Invasion' night at the Atelieto bar happened. But let's introduce her first a little bit. 
       She has been hosting an international radio show since 2007, which is currently on KCLA 99.3 FM in Los Angeles, 107.5 andhow.FM, Rock Velvet Radio, Maximum Threshold Radio, Rock Radio UK, Sword Radio UK, 365 Radio Network, Firebrand Radio and Bombshell Radio. It's and eclectic ride through time and space not limited by genre, era or location. Ola created the show because 'mainstream radio sucks' and good music has no boundaries. She frequently plays psych, freakbeat, dream pop, garage and shoegaze and also has nifty guests like her most recent - Zia McCabe from The Dandy Warhols. You can hear Zia talking about the band being challenged to take their clothes off at a gig; about the infamous documentary 'Dig!', which reflects on the connection between The Dandys and The Brian Jonestown Massacre - 'I would love to get my hands on that footage, 'cause there is so much more... what's not in the movie - we're friends'; and about her work as member of the board of  'Rock Camp For Girls' - a non-profit organisation, which 'builds girls' self-esteem through music creation and performance' - listen to that great interview below:  

    Zia McCabe sometimes plays rockin tunes, under the DJ Rescue moniker. 

    Ola's Kool Kitchen is on Mixcloud and Soundcloud. 




     
    Photographs by Ola's Kool Kitchen// Stephen Bland
    Posted by Unknown
    Labels: interview London Mixcloud Olas Kool Kitchen podcast Portland psychedelic shoegaze sofia The Brian Jonestown Massacre The Dandy Warhols Zia McCabe
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  5.          Our fourth Guest Playlist is a result of the collaboration between the art collective behind the 'A Decorated Room With Invaded Ideas' project and Pavel Naydenov - musician & artist, currently residing in Vienna, Austria.
       The long-term project consists of Eline Tsvetkova, Anastasija Pandilovska and Jacob Ehlrich, who met while studying fine arts at Rietveld Academy, Amsterdam. Their intentions are to develop an intercultural dialogue between Eastern and Western Europe on the notion of 'Belonging' and 'Heimat'. One of the curiosities lies in how mentalities can be read from the way people arrange objects in a domestic space and whether the intentions of creating a home is that different from country to country. There's a certain longing for a 'stable' indentity, however, we find ourselves unable to belong unconditionally to one landscape and idea.
       The project is a series of V Phases, as Phase I starts with the residency at the Art Space Æther in Sofia. It will continue in Skopje, Vienna, Zurich and Amsterdam.  
       The first collaboration in the space was with the Bulgarian artist Pavel Naydenov, titled 'From the Private to the Communal and from the Communal to the Private'. It was an interior experiment, as the goal was to create a temporal living room with objects, brought by people and Pavel's personal collection of objects, defining his sense of home. People also have shared the stories behind every object and what makes it special to them. They also have shared a song, connected to the object/ or which they would play in their living room, and that's how the playlist you'll hear below was created. 



        The second event's idea was to create a temporary non-place. Coming out of Marc Augè's book 'Non Places: an introduction to Supermodernity' and asking questions like "What makes space a place? How does space become a non-place? Is there a contemporary utopia and if so how does it look like?" it turned into a grid of black tape, crossing all the walls and the ceiling. The Sofia based musician Anna Bo was invited to create the sound ambience for the performance. 
        The third and final phase will take place today, 4th September, starting from 7PM and it will present artists' own work together with the first draft of the catalogue, which contains collected material they have gathered while working on the project. When asked what are their impressions from Sofians and the homes they have been to, the collective mentions the more practical oriented and focused on 'owning' stuff patterns. A reflection of the city's diversity but also the Balkans' multi-culture. Another thing is westernization of places like shops, bakeries, cafes, and the contrast with the old-style ones - sometimes very abruptive. "It feels like what happened in the west, has happened here in a very short time" - I guess that can summarize it all. 
       All the events took part in The Art Space Æther in Sofia, Bulgaria. 

       The project was made possible by the support of the Federal Chancellery of Austria and the Austrian Embassy Sofia. 

    pics by ADRWII


    Posted by Unknown
    Labels: Aether architecture art design guest playlist Marc Augè sofia
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  6.       In the last day of August (and maybe the Summer) Sofia's music lovers will be able to hear the British 
    blues/ folk artist Tim Holehouse and the Bulgarian drone duo Leaver playing together live at Fabrika Avtonomia, supported by the lo-fi lullabies of  Maxim Mokdad. 
       The gig will be also a release date for Mr. Holehouse & Leaver's new EP 'Before The Fire', coming out on a tape via Amek Collective. 
       Back in May, 2016 Tim Holehouse & Leaver have only one day free in the schedule of their common tour, and they spent it in Unit 9 Rehearsals Studio, where they manage to record two tracks. The vocals are added later in 2017,  recorded in London and Sofia. Tim works on the mixing himself, the mastering is done by Marius Costache (Studio 148) in Bucharest, Romania, who has been working with other Bulgarian bands as Expectations, Them Frequencies, King Of Sorrow. The result is mesmerizing music, filled with cloudy droning guitars and a voice, crisp and dry as the wind in burned out fields, before the autumn. Before the fire. 



       Tim Holehouse' shamanic music is not unknown to the Bulgarian audience - he has played in Sofia in 2013 and in 2015, also in Plovdiv and Pleven.

        Leaver are Angel Simitchiev (Mytrip, King Of Sorrow) and Daniel Donchov (Expectations), who play together since around 2013. Their debut album 'Head Home' was released to a critical acclaim, including ours.

       Maxim Mokdad is an indie musician, living in Sofia, Bulgaria, who's debut EP 'Tropic Of Cancel' will be soon released on cassette via Amek Collective - listen to the pilot track 'Supersonic Satellite':


        The concert will take place at Fabrika Avtonomia. The start is 8PM, the entry is a free donation, as all the donations will go for the musicians, so that they can continue their work.



    Poster by Amek
    Posted by Unknown
    Labels: Amek drone Expectations Fabrika Avtonomia King Of Sorrow Leaver Maxim Mokdad Them Frequencies Tim Holehouse
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  7.       Summer is going pretty well for the listeners of experimental/ noise music in Sofia - recently we watched the Japanese composer/ visual artist Tatsuru Arai, and now the favorite event Noisy Sunday is returning with its 7th edition on 30th July in Fabrika Avtonomia.
         The concert will start with ate - a project of the Bulgarian classical guitarist Petar Petkov, who is exploring instrumental drone ambient through loop layering, building warm and introvert soundscapes. His debut album 'MCCV', released via Amek is already sold out and it can be found only in digital format on Bandcamp:



           NuR is a mysterious sound project from Switzerland, working mostly with field recordings, transforming and re-imagining them into an overwhelming result.



        The third guest we will be able to hear on Noisy Sunday is Tzii - a Belgian music composer and filmmaker, who has played hundreds of shows all over the world - through touring from Eastern and Western Europe to Australia, passing by USA, Canada, Japan, Indonesia and Africa. His main aim is to reach transcendance through sound trance, layering and looping into another dimension. The one thing always remaining constant in his works is they don't fit into any box.
        Tzii has collaborated with many artists and is also part of several other projects like Solar Skeletons, MS30, Viril, Aerobiconoise; works for dance companies, living performances, movie soundtracks and any other mediums with sound inside. His vast discography includes over 15 albums, 7 EP's, many splits/ collaborations, remixes and compilations.


             The concert will take place at Fabrika Avtonomia this Sunday, 30th July, starting at 8 PM. 
          The entry is free donation - please consider supporting the artists, so they can continue their tour. 



       poster by Amek
    Posted by Unknown
    Labels: ambient Amek ate drone experimental Fabrika Avtonomia noise Noisy Sunday NuR Tzii
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  8.    Summer won't be boring for the fans of avant-garde electronic music in Sofia with the next concert, organized by Alarma Punk Jazz Fest and Amek - on 12th July at the Czech Center they will be delighted to hear the Japanese musician and composer Tatsuru Arai, supported by the Bulgarian duo 'Trohi'.
       Tatsuru Arai has studied composition and multimedia art in Tokyo and Berlin. His main artistic theme is to integrate from classical compositions to new technology and to present the fundamental physical nature of the universe in the form of perceptional experiences, that could say aesthetics or 'geometric structure'. Creating a way to experience even a part of the nature of the universe through sound. In Sofia Arai will present his work 'Akhitek-ton' - created by new algorithm system, called 'Hyper Serial Music' - an innovation from classical Serial music to new music technology. 


        The local underground scene will be presented by 'Trohi' - consisting of Peter Parmakov and Yoana Robova, this 'sound duo from the forgotten land of Bulgaria' makes music, emerging from generations of audio experiments.
       They love cats, who break MIDI controllers, misshapen bass guitars and old Russian synths.
       We would simply describe them as 'weird samples & broken beats':


     
       If you're in Sofia tomorrow, 12th July, you shouldn't miss this concert - it starts at 9 PM (doors 8:30), at the Czech Center. Tickets on pre-sale price still can be bought from here.



    poster by Amek 


    Posted by Unknown
    Labels: Alarma Punk Jazz Amek avant-garde electronic japanese sofia Tatsuru Arai Trohi
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  9.        This Friday, 9th June, get ready for a psychedelic experience in Mixtape 5, promised by the Finnish experimental-electronic band K-X-P and the Bulgarian psych-gazers Comasummer - thanks to the organizers from Indioteque. 
         K-X-P describe themselves as an 'anti-band', as it's hard to put them into genre limitations: according to Pitchfork they play 'dark paranoid disco', or 'heavy cosmic psychedelia' (The Quietus). Reviews from the likes of Mojo and Clash Magazine also define the sound as having a strong Krautrock element. The band consists of Timo Kaukolampi (vocals, synths), Tuomo Puranen (bass), Anssi Nykanen (drums) and Tomi Leppanen (drums). Worth to mention here, that the leader Timo Kaukolampi is also a big fan of Bulgarian folklore music. 


       Their debut, self-titled album is released by Smalltown Supersound in 2010, followed by II (Melodic Records) in 2013. 'The History Of Techno' (2014), 'III, Part One' (2015), and 'III, Part Two' (2016) are released by Svart. 
    You can listen to all of them on K-X-P's Bandcamp: 



       Comasummer started as a project in 2014, but formed as a band in 2015, relying on the psych, garage, desert rock and shoegaze aesthetics. Their debut EP 'Out Of The Sun' was released by the american label 'Custom Made Music' to critical acclaim and support from the music press and psychedelic scene fans.

     
       The band has toured successfully the Balkans and Europe. Comasummer will also present material from a future long play at the gig. Watch their latest acoustic performance of 'Man In The Sand' for 'Urban Tapes':


         Like what you hear? So, come this Friday, 9th June at Mixtape 5 (B-side), the gig starts at 8:30 PM.   
           Tickets from 20 lv still can be found via Ticketlogic, at the doors their prise will be 30 lv. 


    Poster design by Dobrin Stoyanov
    Posted by Unknown
    Labels: Comasummer Custom Made Music electronic experimental Indioteque K-X-P live psychedelic shoegaze Smalltown Supersound
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  10.     Drone Day celebrates drone, experimental and ambient music annually in May. These celebrations are independently organized by volunteers all over the world, and for a second time Sofia will make no exception thanks to Amek and Abandonment labels. This year's event will take place at Fabrika Avtonomia on 27th May, Saturday. 
       We'll be able to hear live-sets by the following artists:

    ~ Cyberian [modular/ post-swag/ ambient] ~



      ~ Maxim Mokdad [lo-fi lullabies] ~



    ~ Adonai Atrophia [dark ambient/ post-industrial] ~



       Adonai Atrophia will present live his debut album 'Metahistory', released by Abandonment label - a physical copy of it could be bought at the gig.


       The place for a first time is Fabrika Avtonomia, the entry - free donation. The concert will start at 7 PM and it will end whenever we will be able to out-dro(w)n.


    Poster by Amek
    Photo by Abandonment 
    Posted by Unknown
    Labels: Abandonment Adonai Atrophia Amek Cyberian dark ambient drone experimental Maxim Mokdad sofia
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