Mike Jedlicka and Cloudburst share Optic Echo’s return to vinyl with this ambient, field recording laden 12”.  Copies are hand numbered in a limited edition of 160, and silkscreened on recycled cardboard sleeves.  Art by Marcus Fisher, mastered by Taylor Deupree at 12k.  You can purchase this 12” below with the paypal button below, or at Experimedia.  International orders can go through Stashed Goods (Fluid Radio). 

Vinyl and digital copies are available at our bandcamp site.

                                                                      

Reviews:

Resting Bell: “... Mike Jedlicka’s work “tabor” is a very dynamic ambient-drone piece combining vocals, bowed bass, piano-works and electronics. With the vocals the piece gets a classical touch but for me it sounds even more like classical indian music at some points. These wonderful vibrating and oscillating sounds. It is a piece with many textures and I find something new every time I listen to it.

cloudburst’s piece “nw passage” has a focus on field recording which evolve to a noisy combination between the original source-material and very minimal electronic-sounds. Especially with headphones this piece offers you an enormous world of sound ...”

Foxy Digitalis: “... “Tabor” is a beautiful, atmospheric piece that sounds almost like a disjointed bit of overheard opera music seeping in from another space.  This operatic quality is largely derived from the female vocal trills, which are suspended over a base of fractured piano, electronics, and bowed bass.  Cloudburst’s version stretches the original seven-minute piece to just over twelve minutes and amplifies the empty spaces inherent in the original.  To Cloudburst’s credit, he manages to render Jedlicka’s piece as something that resembles its source material while still putting his own stamp on it.

Whereas “Tabor” dealt in instrumental drones and ambiance, Cloudburst’s “NW Passage” brings field recordings to the forefront, with electronic chords forming a steady undercurrent.  The predominant element of the track is the sound of screeching train wheels.  As the piece unfolds, the backing instrumental drone rises up to meet the volume of the train noise.  Mike Jedlicka’s remix of the song focuses largely on the instrumentals that were buried in the original, turning the piece into a powerful, pulsating drone.  Jedlicka further turns things around by having the train sounds inhabit a new role as the subdued element of his piece.

Admittedly, I’m not usually a fan of remixes, but when it’s done like this, I am totally on board.  Each rearranged piece stands out, not only from its source, but also appears to be an extension of the aesthetics showcased by both artists in their original works.  If you can successfully re-imagine someone else’s work in a way that highlights your own creativity, you must be doing something right.  Finally, I should note that you can listen to the entire EP over at the label website, so there’s really no excuse not to check this one out ... 8/10”

Textura: “... Jedlicka opens the EP with “Tabor,” a crepuscular ambient drone whose exotic touches and mournful vocalizing (by Sara Stejskal) nudge the material, respectively, into Indian and classical vocal music territories. Slowed to a near crawl, the piece exudes a time-suspended feel—all the better for allowing Stejskal's voice and Walter Maenhout's bowed bass to extricate themselves out of the ambient mass. Jedlicka's “edit” of cloudburst's “NW Passage,”  a thick, multi-textured industrial churn of muffled field recordings, follows. Turn the disc over and Cloudburst's original, “NW Passage,” wraps the grinding screech and rhythmic clatter of a field-recorded train in a wavering blanket of muted electronic sounds. While the squeals aren't easy on the ears, the piece nevetheless needs to be played loud (or heard through headphones) in order for the melding of natural and electronic sounds to be fully appreciated. “Tabor” is a standout, but Westcott's “edit” of “Tabor” follows close behind. It also emphasizes the real-world qualities of Jedlicka's original, with the focus initially shifting from a human voice to rain splatter and steely oscillations. Westcott takes his time, however, and gradually lets the vocal elements seep back into the picture. A larger number of ghosts seem to rise from the disc's grooves during this closing piece, even more, perhaps, than during Jedlicka's own version. Aromatic drones seem to waft gently throughout the room, though that might purely be the opiated effect the material has on the receptive listener ...”

Boomkat: #7 on Erik K Skodvin’s (Svarte Greiner/Deaf Center/Miasmah boss) top albums of 2010