Introducing… the Either/Or netlabel

Michael Henaghan — who has written for Opus in the past, and currently writes for AngryApe — just let me know that he and some friends have started their own netlabel. Entitled Either/Or (MySpace), it’s a small, non-profit community interested in the promotion of unique and experimental sounds.

Their first release is the aptly-titled Reflecting (Ambient & Loop Tracks Autumn 2006) by EL Heath. Recorded using a martenot and 20-year old tape recorder, the five short tracks (all are about four minutes or less) are steeped in nostalgia and decay.

Like so much music of this type, the emphasis is on creating music that sounds as if it’s in the process of disintegration. The various loops, samples, and drones — all of which sound like they were recorded about fifty years ago and have only now been unearthed and dusted off — stutter, fizzle, and crackle away, and each listen of a track like “Shadows On The Carpet” or “Dragons Chasing Their Tails” seemingly sloughs off yet another threadbare layer from the piece.

Reflecting (Ambient & Loop Tracks Autumn 2006) is available as a free download.