Insect Factory – Nature (Chocolate Monk) – Another encounter with Insect Factory, an encounter with Insect Factory (AKA Jeff Barsky) is always rewarding. We’re talking that gentle art of noise thing again, that composed sound art thing, a glowing kind of musical composition that sounds painterly in a improvised kind of way – although I suspect this is not really improvised as much as it is very carefully layered and constructed. We’re talking organic electrical hum, gently glowing fuzz, were talking rich colour, warm golden darkness, hints of birdsong and “Guitar and tape maestro Jeff Barsky wants you to talk to the trees. Talk to yourself when you’re around the trees. Let the sun devour you and bake your skin. Lie under the stars and let the constellations cool you down. Know that you belong to them….”

Nature is kind of like lying under the stars, it feels like lying under the stars in the quiet of a city but that’s probably just me and where I am in the world, it is all rather soothing, beautifully detailed, never too cluttered, all rather smooth without ever being too smooth, it fees right. Music for pleasure, the mechanics of nature and just when you think you know them another instrument starts to gently throb or hum in a slightly different way and adds just a little extra to it all without ever being obvious.   

Another of Mr Barsky’s albums that apparently “has been a few years in the making”, Nature is a warm set of beautiful almost meditative pieces of glowing warmth, no not meditative, something more than just that. Machine instruments, guitar effects (I guess?) field recordings I assume?), a hum of keyboard macine, a button or two pressed at the right moment alongside tape texture that almost feels spiritual. Howard Stelzer “contributes his ferric finery to a couple of tracks for added whumpf” so we’re told.

Nature feels very considered. reverential, quietly alive, knowing, the pieces are warm, inviting, welcoming, Nature feels good for you, the pieces are beautifully coloured and were gliding around the architecture rather than dancing around it as we try and find the right words but you don’t need the words, just go press the play button and enjoy it all without our clutter… 

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Meanwhile…

Look To The North – A Shadow Homeland (Cruel Nature Records) – A rather warm, rather quiet piano and sound texture thing, a combination of David Colohan (Agitated Radio Pilot, United Bible Studies) and Zachary Corsa (Nonconnah, Lost Trail, Yearlings), and as somone else said, “this is less of a release and more of a ritual”. Mostly a rather haunting instrumental whisper, spoken word vocals now and then, words about hollow promises and a turning sun detailed by radio samples, foundsound, field noise synth noises, acoustic instruments and almost fragile drones that all come together in a rather quietly beautiful way.

Nite Hive has announced the label’s second release by Paris-based Australian-born vocalist and musician, Karen Vogt. Waterlog is a 7-track album written and recorded in three improvisational sessions just after her beloved cat, Luis, died. Waterlog is a delicate tone journal about pet grief, tears, and floods of emotions. Vogt explains, “I cried so much during that time. I felt frustrated by my grief, and by how emotional I am when I give myself space to feel. I literally felt like I was waterlogged and weighed down with tears.” 

https://youtube.com/watch?v=NsktzBaBLKw%3Fsi%3DRKcDD_V9bbpT4LWe

“Karen Vogt is an Australian artist who uses her voice primarily to create atmospheric compositions. Known for her ethereal, shimmering vocals with Australian dream-pop band Heligoland, the Robin Guthrie produced band she co-founded in 1999, Vogt is now based in Paris, France and composes experimental and ambient solo works based around improvisation, often manipulating her vocals to add layers of emotional depth to her works.”

Karen Vogt’s Waterlog is out on cassette and digitally via Nite Hive on 16 February 2024

Bandcamp / Other