Silvia Kastel - Air Lows (2017)
Silvia Kastel - Air Lows (2018)
Electronic, Avant-garde, Experimental | 36:08 min | WEB FLAC (tracks) | 171 MB
Label: Blackest Ever Black
Electronic, Avant-garde, Experimental | 36:08 min | WEB FLAC (tracks) | 171 MB
Label: Blackest Ever Black
Excellent album of plasmic ambient dub pop, neatly balanced between weightless yearn and meatier industrial leanings, perhaps best grasped as some dream meeting between Suzanne Ciani, Teresa Winter and CoH?
“Air Lows is the debut solo album by Silvia Kastel. The Italian artist has been a fixture of the underground since her precocious teens, clocking up many miles in Control Unit with Ninni Morgia (“It’s like Catherine Deneuve dumped two cases of post-Repulsion psychiatric notes over Pere Ubu’s Dub Housing, lit the fuse and, ahem, stood well back" – Julian Cope), including collaborations with the likes of Smegma, Factrix, Gary Smith, Aki Onda and Gate (Michael Morley of The Dead C).
Both solo and in her work with others, Kastel has explored the outer limits and inner workings of no wave, industrial, dub, extreme electronics, free rock and improvisation. Air Lows is both her fullest and most refined offering to date, a work of vivid, isolationist electronics which draws deeply on her past experience but assuredly breaks new ground. Prompted by a late-flowering interest in techno and club music, Kastel sought to create something which combines a steady rhythmic pulse with the otherworldly sonorities of musique concrete, and avant-garde synth sounds inspired by Japanese minimalism and techno-pop (Haruomi Hosono’s Philharmony being a particular favourite).
The formal artifice of muzak / elevator music, the intros and outros of generic popular songs, the extreme light-heavy contrasts of jungle, the creative sampling of hardcore, and the very “human” synths in the jazz of Herbie Hancock’s Sextant and Sun Ra: all were touchstones for Air Lows’ conception and composition, and all strains of music addressing - or complicating - the relationship between the human and the technological.
By extension, visual inspirations also proved important: anime, and the avant-garde fashion of Rei Kawakubo. What does that shirt or dress sound like? Though used sparingly, Kastel’s voice remains her key instrument, whether subject to dissociative digital manipulations as on ‘Bruell’, delivering matter-of-fact spoken monologues, or providing splashes of pure tonal colour.
Recorded between her expansive Italy studio and a more compact, ersatz set-up in Berlin, Air Lows gradually takes on some of the character of the German capital: you can hear the wide streets and uninhabited spaces, the seepage of never-ending nightlife, the loneliness.
Air Lows is The Wizard of Oz in reverse: the glorious technicolour J-pop deconstructions of its first half leading inexorably to the icy noir of ‘Spiderwebs’ and ‘Concrete Void’. These later tracks are reminiscent of 2015’s magnificent 39 12”, Kastel in the role of numbed, nihilistic chanteuse stalking dank, murky tunnels of reverb and sub-bass. But in fact there is contradiction and emotional ambiguity to Air Lows from the outset, and throughout - a sense of both infinite space and acute claustrophobia; energy and inertia; fluency and restraint.”
Tracklist:
01. Silvia Kastel - Target
02. Silvia Kastel - Bruell
03. Silvia Kastel - Air Glow
04. Silvia Kastel - Air Mob
05. Silvia Kastel - Heart 2 Tape
06. Silvia Kastel - Spiderwebs
07. Silvia Kastel - Concrete Void
08. Silvia Kastel - The Closer The Stranger
fooCDtect - foobar2000 + auCDtect, baralgin.
auCDtect: CD records authenticity detector, version 0.8.2
Copyright © 2004 Oleg Berngardt. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2004 Alexander Djourik. All rights reserved.
mode: 0
===========================================
Track: 01. Silvia Kastel - Target
Processing file: [01. Silvia Kastel - Target.aucdtect]
Detected average hi-boundary frequency: 2.017351e+004 Hz
Detected average lo-boundary frequency: 1.275236e+004 Hz
Detected average hi-cut frequency: 2.185066e+004 Hz
Detected average lo-cut frequency: 1.050347e+004 Hz
Maximum probablis boundary frequency: 2.189100e+004 Hz
Coefficient of nonlinearity of a phase: 3.103319e-001
First order smothness: 3.769968e-001
Second order smothness: 6.954207e-001
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
This track looks like CDDA with probability 100%
===========================================
Track: 04. Silvia Kastel - Air Mob
Processing file: [04. Silvia Kastel - Air Mob.aucdtect]
Detected average hi-boundary frequency: 2.011959e+004 Hz
Detected average lo-boundary frequency: 1.156451e+004 Hz
Detected average hi-cut frequency: 2.121003e+004 Hz
Detected average lo-cut frequency: 1.519817e+004 Hz
Maximum probablis boundary frequency: 2.140100e+004 Hz
Coefficient of nonlinearity of a phase: 1.997976e-001
First order smothness: 4.128302e-001
Second order smothness: 8.143396e-001
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
This track looks like CDDA with probability 100%
===========================================
Track: 02. Silvia Kastel - Bruell
Processing file: [02. Silvia Kastel - Bruell.aucdtect]
Detected average hi-boundary frequency: 2.060566e+004 Hz
Detected average lo-boundary frequency: 1.475677e+004 Hz
Detected average hi-cut frequency: 2.184315e+004 Hz
Detected average lo-cut frequency: 1.480904e+004 Hz
Maximum probablis boundary frequency: 2.189100e+004 Hz
Coefficient of nonlinearity of a phase: 1.184665e-001
First order smothness: 5.222975e-001
Second order smothness: 7.660518e-001
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
This track looks like CDDA with probability 100%
===========================================
Track: 03. Silvia Kastel - Air Glow
Processing file: [03. Silvia Kastel - Air Glow.aucdtect]
Detected average hi-boundary frequency: 2.151179e+004 Hz
Detected average lo-boundary frequency: 1.339014e+004 Hz
Detected average hi-cut frequency: 2.181893e+004 Hz
Detected average lo-cut frequency: 2.112357e+004 Hz
Maximum probablis boundary frequency: 2.189100e+004 Hz
Coefficient of nonlinearity of a phase: 1.099692e+000
First order smothness: 7.896373e-001
Second order smothness: 9.440415e-001
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
This track looks like MPEG with probability 100%
===========================================
Track: 05. Silvia Kastel - Heart 2 Tape
Processing file: [05. Silvia Kastel - Heart 2 Tape.aucdtect]
Detected average hi-boundary frequency: 2.103990e+004 Hz
Detected average lo-boundary frequency: 1.351521e+004 Hz
Detected average hi-cut frequency: 2.185923e+004 Hz
Detected average lo-cut frequency: 1.783983e+004 Hz
Maximum probablis boundary frequency: 2.189100e+004 Hz
Coefficient of nonlinearity of a phase: 2.860637e-001
First order smothness: 5.481396e-001
Second order smothness: 8.561565e-001
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
This track looks like CDDA with probability 92%
===========================================
Track: 06. Silvia Kastel - Spiderwebs
Processing file: [06. Silvia Kastel - Spiderwebs.aucdtect]
Detected average hi-boundary frequency: 2.024364e+004 Hz
Detected average lo-boundary frequency: 1.247879e+004 Hz
Detected average hi-cut frequency: 2.180811e+004 Hz
Detected average lo-cut frequency: 1.005552e+004 Hz
Maximum probablis boundary frequency: 2.189100e+004 Hz
Coefficient of nonlinearity of a phase: 2.303877e-001
First order smothness: 4.145325e-001
Second order smothness: 7.519357e-001
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
This track looks like CDDA with probability 100%
===========================================
Track: 07. Silvia Kastel - Concrete Void
Processing file: [07. Silvia Kastel - Concrete Void.aucdtect]
Detected average hi-boundary frequency: 2.032380e+004 Hz
Detected average lo-boundary frequency: 1.311380e+004 Hz
Detected average hi-cut frequency: 2.172250e+004 Hz
Detected average lo-cut frequency: 1.672035e+004 Hz
Maximum probablis boundary frequency: 2.189100e+004 Hz
Coefficient of nonlinearity of a phase: 2.507964e-002
First order smothness: 5.614875e-001
Second order smothness: 8.092784e-001
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
This track looks like CDDA with probability 100%
===========================================
Track: 08. Silvia Kastel - The Closer The Stranger
Processing file: [08. Silvia Kastel - The Closer The Stranger.aucdtect]
Detected average hi-boundary frequency: 2.056111e+004 Hz
Detected average lo-boundary frequency: 1.405261e+004 Hz
Detected average hi-cut frequency: 2.158037e+004 Hz
Detected average lo-cut frequency: 1.496614e+004 Hz
Maximum probablis boundary frequency: 2.189100e+004 Hz
Coefficient of nonlinearity of a phase: 3.420580e-001
First order smothness: 4.795174e-001
Second order smothness: 7.547699e-001
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
This track looks like CDDA with probability 100%
===========================================
auCDtect: CD records authenticity detector, version 0.8.2
Copyright © 2004 Oleg Berngardt. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2004 Alexander Djourik. All rights reserved.
mode: 0
===========================================
Track: 01. Silvia Kastel - Target
Processing file: [01. Silvia Kastel - Target.aucdtect]
Detected average hi-boundary frequency: 2.017351e+004 Hz
Detected average lo-boundary frequency: 1.275236e+004 Hz
Detected average hi-cut frequency: 2.185066e+004 Hz
Detected average lo-cut frequency: 1.050347e+004 Hz
Maximum probablis boundary frequency: 2.189100e+004 Hz
Coefficient of nonlinearity of a phase: 3.103319e-001
First order smothness: 3.769968e-001
Second order smothness: 6.954207e-001
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
This track looks like CDDA with probability 100%
===========================================
Track: 04. Silvia Kastel - Air Mob
Processing file: [04. Silvia Kastel - Air Mob.aucdtect]
Detected average hi-boundary frequency: 2.011959e+004 Hz
Detected average lo-boundary frequency: 1.156451e+004 Hz
Detected average hi-cut frequency: 2.121003e+004 Hz
Detected average lo-cut frequency: 1.519817e+004 Hz
Maximum probablis boundary frequency: 2.140100e+004 Hz
Coefficient of nonlinearity of a phase: 1.997976e-001
First order smothness: 4.128302e-001
Second order smothness: 8.143396e-001
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
This track looks like CDDA with probability 100%
===========================================
Track: 02. Silvia Kastel - Bruell
Processing file: [02. Silvia Kastel - Bruell.aucdtect]
Detected average hi-boundary frequency: 2.060566e+004 Hz
Detected average lo-boundary frequency: 1.475677e+004 Hz
Detected average hi-cut frequency: 2.184315e+004 Hz
Detected average lo-cut frequency: 1.480904e+004 Hz
Maximum probablis boundary frequency: 2.189100e+004 Hz
Coefficient of nonlinearity of a phase: 1.184665e-001
First order smothness: 5.222975e-001
Second order smothness: 7.660518e-001
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
This track looks like CDDA with probability 100%
===========================================
Track: 03. Silvia Kastel - Air Glow
Processing file: [03. Silvia Kastel - Air Glow.aucdtect]
Detected average hi-boundary frequency: 2.151179e+004 Hz
Detected average lo-boundary frequency: 1.339014e+004 Hz
Detected average hi-cut frequency: 2.181893e+004 Hz
Detected average lo-cut frequency: 2.112357e+004 Hz
Maximum probablis boundary frequency: 2.189100e+004 Hz
Coefficient of nonlinearity of a phase: 1.099692e+000
First order smothness: 7.896373e-001
Second order smothness: 9.440415e-001
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
This track looks like MPEG with probability 100%
===========================================
Track: 05. Silvia Kastel - Heart 2 Tape
Processing file: [05. Silvia Kastel - Heart 2 Tape.aucdtect]
Detected average hi-boundary frequency: 2.103990e+004 Hz
Detected average lo-boundary frequency: 1.351521e+004 Hz
Detected average hi-cut frequency: 2.185923e+004 Hz
Detected average lo-cut frequency: 1.783983e+004 Hz
Maximum probablis boundary frequency: 2.189100e+004 Hz
Coefficient of nonlinearity of a phase: 2.860637e-001
First order smothness: 5.481396e-001
Second order smothness: 8.561565e-001
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
This track looks like CDDA with probability 92%
===========================================
Track: 06. Silvia Kastel - Spiderwebs
Processing file: [06. Silvia Kastel - Spiderwebs.aucdtect]
Detected average hi-boundary frequency: 2.024364e+004 Hz
Detected average lo-boundary frequency: 1.247879e+004 Hz
Detected average hi-cut frequency: 2.180811e+004 Hz
Detected average lo-cut frequency: 1.005552e+004 Hz
Maximum probablis boundary frequency: 2.189100e+004 Hz
Coefficient of nonlinearity of a phase: 2.303877e-001
First order smothness: 4.145325e-001
Second order smothness: 7.519357e-001
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
This track looks like CDDA with probability 100%
===========================================
Track: 07. Silvia Kastel - Concrete Void
Processing file: [07. Silvia Kastel - Concrete Void.aucdtect]
Detected average hi-boundary frequency: 2.032380e+004 Hz
Detected average lo-boundary frequency: 1.311380e+004 Hz
Detected average hi-cut frequency: 2.172250e+004 Hz
Detected average lo-cut frequency: 1.672035e+004 Hz
Maximum probablis boundary frequency: 2.189100e+004 Hz
Coefficient of nonlinearity of a phase: 2.507964e-002
First order smothness: 5.614875e-001
Second order smothness: 8.092784e-001
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
This track looks like CDDA with probability 100%
===========================================
Track: 08. Silvia Kastel - The Closer The Stranger
Processing file: [08. Silvia Kastel - The Closer The Stranger.aucdtect]
Detected average hi-boundary frequency: 2.056111e+004 Hz
Detected average lo-boundary frequency: 1.405261e+004 Hz
Detected average hi-cut frequency: 2.158037e+004 Hz
Detected average lo-cut frequency: 1.496614e+004 Hz
Maximum probablis boundary frequency: 2.189100e+004 Hz
Coefficient of nonlinearity of a phase: 3.420580e-001
First order smothness: 4.795174e-001
Second order smothness: 7.547699e-001
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
This track looks like CDDA with probability 100%
===========================================