Artists: S.A.M. , Bonjour Bonsoir, IVVVO, Evano, Yoshihiro Hanno, Ñenado, ReBack, Kashawar, Placid Strait, Max Binski, Marc Lohr, The Marx Trukker, Rack, Marc Neyen, Social System, Diogo, Sinoda Invers, Tom Ellis, Ztrl, Anomali
Title: Thoughts on Sight and Sound Vol I / II Label:Pluie/Noir Catalogue#:PNEM01 Date:2014 Format:Cassette Country:Lisboa
Tracklist – Thoughts on Sight and Sound Vol I:
Tracklist – Thoughts on Sight and Sound Vol II:
Credits:
[PNEM01B] Various Artists
Thoughts on Sight and Sound Vol. II
Compilation (50copies, cassette only)
Mastered by Pheek
Artwork & Design by Vitrio
Duplicated at Duplication.Ca
Manufactured & Distributed by Pluie/Noir
Mixed and Compiled by Cleymoore
Pluie Noir Experimental Media
Est. Release Date: April 2014
Total creativity is something not many artists in the frame of electronic music or graphical art can claim to possess. Confined by what their gear can accomplish, the demand to keep developing new sonic formulas is often a thankless task. So what happens when the mind actually controls the machines (or digital mediums), rather than the reverse? The entire compilation was graphicaly translated with visual acuity by Vitrio in forms and shapes of limitless interpretations. Like any flexible, innovative mind, the cassette format provides an opportunity for the music to evolve with the listener, morphing with each listen. Like a new pair of jeans, the listener ‘wears’ this in, eventually absorbing something truly unique and personal, albeit ephemeral.
Includes immediate download of 10-track album in the high-quality format of your choice (MP3, FLAC, and more), plus unlimited mobile access using the free Bandcamp listening app
Thoughts on Sight and Sound Vol I:
The ten artists commissioned by Pluie/Noir to construct Volume 1 of ‘Thoughts on Sight and Sound’, the debut release of the label’s side-project Experimental Media, were faced with a complex but endlessly rewarding assignment: “Let us hear your thoughts”. These thoughts can be whatever you want them to mean, whether it’s in the heavy reverb of S.A.M’s ‘Feed Music’ or the shadowy post-rave-ish beat that emerges in IVVVO’s ‘All My Dreams’, this is sound architecture at its most intimate.
In the same way we as humans comprehend language on an unexplainable contingency of semantics, there is no necessary truth to the compositional components in Thoughts on Sight and Sound. Bonjour Bonsoir’s ‘Mr Braun’ plays with your mind in a long yet morphing loop, a game of tension and release that ends up just as rewarding as it is soul-lifting. Evano’s ‘Maqam’ is built solely on two layers of spectral paradoxes, leaving the listener stuck between the fragile harmonics of a traditional harp and the harsh randomness of analog modular beats. As we hear Yoshihiro Hanno’s ‘Pi...Ani+No’, it is at first gibberish. There is no symphonic organization, no tangible rhythm no matter how abstracted. It’s awkward and uncomfortable, but there comes a moment of epiphany… an epiphany where you are suddenly released from a prison of doubt.
Ñenado’s ‘Sarva’ and ReBack’s ‘Horto’ are both mid-orgasmic moments of peacefull bliss. They work together as aching and ethereal, indexical to nature and human experience, but they’re over before you feel they have started. The emotional plunge is cushioned by Kashawar’s insomniac ‘I’m so tired I can’t sleep’, an itchy tapestry of keys and kicks that recalls those endless nights spent wrestling with psychological exhaustion… and losing.
Placid Strait and Max Binski close the experience with two long and challenging compositions. A spectre of a beat (heavily delayed in ‘Snake Eyes’) differentiates them from much of the rest of the tape, but it’s a maze of futuristic zaps, microscopic-synthesizing and crunchy sampling that confuses as much as it captivates.
Thoughts on Sight and Sound Vol II: The ten artists commissioned by Pluie/Noir to construct Volume 2 of ‘Thoughts on Sight and Sound’, the second volume of the debut release of the label’s side-project Experimental Media, were faced with a complex but endlessly rewarding assignment: “Let us hear your thoughts”.
From in-house artists under secret alias to new guests, Vol. 2 follows the same path of sonic experimentalism with no strings attached.
Artists & Title: The Marx Trukker – Couldn’t See Too Clear For Edges Label:Pluie/Noir Catalogue#:PNR004 Date:2014 Format:2 x 12″ Vinyl Country:Lisboa
Tracklist:
Credits:
“Having delivered two outstanding EPs and a landmark triple compilation, Portugal’s Pluie/Noir now returns with its first full-length album.
Assigned with the enviable task is enigmatic German producer The Marx Trukker, who has thus far kept us on our toes with a string of high-quality EPs on a handful of respected independent imprints. With a natural affinity for experimental soundscapes that challenge dancefloors, Pluie/Noir offers the perfect platform for him to really express himself.
As much a palette of textures as it is a dance-focused collection of tracks, Couldn’t See Too Clear For Edges is a kaleidoscopic and utterly transfixing listen all the way through. The very first track, “Alongside ashortside” (A1) is infused with the sort of jazzy, impulsive flavours that are part of the album – and the label’s – DNA.
But the tempos ebb and flow, at times withdrawing all intensity (“The Gin Bay Hoss Ballad” (A2)), before cascading into tightly compressed microhouse rhythms (“A Kind Shaped Mind” (A3)) and other more expansive 4×4 examinations: “Couldn’t see too clear for edges (Second Movement)” (C1); “As Rivers Stand” (C2).
Regardless of the occasionally dramatic shifts, the album never once loses its focus. “Minor Belongings” (C3) is arguably the album’s finest creation in terms of a true artistic indulgence. Dreamy and deeply absorbing, it feeds into the album’s powerful finale, “Blaue Drift” (D1), which is one of the more aggressive works on show here.
As we’ve come to expect, Pluie/Noir again challenges what can be achieved within the parameters of dance music by empowering its carefully selected repertoire of artists. As standard, the album will come as a limited pressing with beautiful sleeve artwork, ensuring this is as collectible as it is listenable.”
Written & Produced by The Marx Trukker
Mastered by Stefan Betke at Scape Mastering, Berlin
Artwork by Jav Arshad
Design by Max Binski
Manufactured by Pallas Group.
Distributed by DD Distribution.
Limited pressings.
Artists & Title: Pluie/Noir – Year One Compilation Label:Pluie/Noir Catalogue#:PNR003 Date:2013 Format:3x 12″ Vinyl Country:Lisboa
Tracklist:
Credits: “There is certainly no shortage of independent record labels today, each promising to deliver their own unique brand dance music, but few truly stand out like Portugal’s Pluie/Noir. In a definitive first year it has released two exceptional EPs from Petre Inspirescu and Vlad Caia, endorsed numerous acclaimed Podcasts and served as the platform for various artistic endeavors. To commemorate this achievement, a hefty 12 track compilation spread across three 12”s will be released, showcasing the various sounds that personify the imprint.
The narrative to the compilation reflects Pluie/Noir’s minimalistic musical template. Each track is a concise exploration of house music’s skeleton, leaving nothing to waste but never feeling in slightest bit sterile. Neither is the compilation monotonous: at times it’s surprising and unpredictable, but in an organized, artistic manner. Three Angel’s ‘Hor-Ma’ (A1) progresses subtly, shaped by soft bumps and clicks. It’s welcoming, cleverly paving the way for the rest the compilation to interact. The now familiar Radiq follows with a typically eccentric addition, ‘Goodbye South Goodbye’ (A2). Characterised by its splintered hybridization microhouse and ambient techno, it’s certainly a head turner. Pluie/Noir founder Cleymoore contributes with ‘Starpauseflash’, a sleek and delicate number that uses looped keys and syncopated percussion to create something thought provoking. ‘New Way’ by Ztrl (B2) follows in this vein, the funky, tripped-out pattering of percussion and dreamy keynotes are spread out across a remarkably stripped-back rhythmic blueprint. Vlad Caia’s ‘Subject 238’ (C1) represents the taste of Romania that has been so inspirational to Pluie/Noir. It’s simple, clean and devastatingly effective. Diogo’s delightfully named ‘Insecuriosity’ (C1) is an impudent tapestry of sounds, rich with idiosyncratic sampling and impulsivity, reminiscent of early Perlon. This evocation is carried over to Dr. Nojoke’s alluring ‘Awrani’ (D1), which again exposes its very delicate compositional layers by draining everything from its low-end. It’s a divine afterhours groove that ripples and shakes in all the right places.
French-born, London-based Seuil changes gear with ‘Prelude’ (D2), which draws from the same diverse sonic palate as those before him on the compilation but works from a noticeably more solid 4/4 foundation. Albert Schwartz’s ‘11aa99’ (E1) introduces the compilation’s first use of vocals- the deep, soulful American lyrics work alchemically with the shuffling house beat. ‘An Apple Pie a Day’ by Andres Marcos (E2) is another percussive session, but the experimental Pluie/Noir touches keep the piece alive. The penultimate ‘White Steps’ by Levat (F1) is gorgeous slice of microhouse, lean and groovy, the vocal slivers adding a little Melchior to the mix, before the compilation closes with S.A.M’s ‘You’re Gonna Be Okay’ (F2), another outing of enigmatic, stripped-back house.
Elegantly presented in gatefold format, this highly collectable release reflects on a successful first year for Pluie/Noir while also signifying a very promising future. A canon of DJ delights on one hand, it’s also wonderfully applicable in the home setting, ensuring its practical longevity and status as a musical treasure for a long time to come.”
Credits: Pluie/Noir is finally back with a two-track EP from Vlad Caia.
Swan Lake shows with finesse his staggering skills to craft cinematographic atmospheres in danceable patterns, bending musical styles and constantly reminding us that club music can be so much more. Both sides share the same classical-inspired background while still being quite different in mood and lightness. Striking at 14 minutes each, the progression on these tracks remain sophisticated and visionary, messing with your head and heart in unexpected ways.
‘Swan Lake’ is a delicate yet striking piece, with a precise yet unusual drum-programming and intelligent classical-music sampling. The flip-side ‘Eternal Sunshine’ is a darker toned track, with slight-flashes of acid in it’s core bass-line and ever-lifting tense chords that unexpectedly rumble between the intense atmosphere and lift both your body and soul.
Artwork was handpainted by designer Max Binski, Pluie/Noir’s curator and art director.
Written & Produced by Vlad Caia.
Mastered by Gregor Zemljič at Earresistible Studios, Slovenia.
Artwork & Design by Max Binski, Pluie/Noir
Distributed by Intergroove Germany.
Limited pressings.
Credits: The 2nd episode in the Rejam series, 002 is mixed by Diogo Lacerda. This is a recording taken from a gig he did a short while a go. Enjoy :)
Check out Diogos sounds: https://www.facebook.com/D.I.E.MFanPage
Sun, 28 Dec 2003 19:15:11 written by Phil Cheeseman for DJ magazine
It’s been ten years since the first identifiably house tracks were put on to vinyl, ten years which have changed the technology behind the electronic music revolution beyond recognition but left the basic structure of house intact. It’s seven years since it was being said house couldn’t last, that it was just hi-NRG, a fast blast that would wither as quickly as it had started. But then the music reinvented itself, and then again and again until it gradually dawned on people that house wasn’t just another phase of club culture, it was club culture, the continuing future of dance music. The reason? It’s simple. People like to dance to house.
1989 By now the UK and its trend-hungry music press had become the local point of the dance music world. After acid had slumped into fatuousness with the adopted logo of acid, the smiley, appearing on t- shirts racked up in every high street and the mainstream press (including the ‘qualities’) scuttling after every whiff of a half-arsed drug story, they discovered new beat from Belgium. The trouble was that save for one or two genuinely good records like A Split Second‘s ‘Flesh‘, nearly everyone outside Belgium hated new beat, a sort of sluggish cross between acid, techno and heavy industrial Euro music and the media hype dissolved into a number of red faces. Then they discovered garage. ‘Garage‘ as a term had already long been in use on the house scene to differentiate the smooth, soulful songs flowing from New York and New Jersey from the more energetic, uplifting deep house out of Chicago. But the hype on this supposedly new music did allow a lot of very good acts a chance of exposure that otherwise they wouldn’t have had. The Americans were confused. To most New Yorkers and Jerseyites, garage was what was played at the Paradise’ Garage, which had closed two years earlier. What they were making was club music or dance music, and house was all that track stuff from Chicago. But they were happy that someone somewhere was getting off on their sound. Tony Humphries, who’d been on New York’s Kiss FM since 1981 and at the Zanzibar in New Jersey since 1982, was to become instrumental in exposing the Jersey sound. Though he was one of more open-minded DJ’s In the New York area, his was the style that married real r’n’b based dance to house.
Blaze were the forerunners of the new soul vision, followed by their protégés Phase II, who struck big with the optimism anthem ‘Reachin‘, and Hippie Torrales’ Turntable Orchestra with ‘You’re Gonna Miss Me‘. Then there were the girls – Vicky Martin with ‘Not Gonna Do It’ and of course, Adeva, behind whom was the talented Smack Productions team. ‘ In And Out 0f My Life‘ had already been released by Easy Street a year before, but when Cooltempo signed the Jersey wailer up on the basis of her cover of Aretha Franklin‘s ‘Respect‘, mainstream success was more than on the cards – it was a dead cert. ‘Respect’ entered the Top 40 in January and hung around for two months, by which time Chanelle‘s ‘One Man‘ and then her own collaboration with Paul Simpson, ‘Musical Freedom‘ had followed the example. It didn’t end there. Jomanda, who shared the billing with Tony Humphries at a massive event stage in Brixton’s Academy were next with ‘Make My Body Rock‘, and though they were to become successful in the States, their sound never crossed over in the UK.
New York was stepping up the pace in grand fashion and there was a lot more going on than just the Jersey sound. Following Todd Terry‘s success, the New York sample track was breaking out like wildfire, particularly with Frankie Bones, Tommy Musto and Lenny Dee at Fourth Floor, Breakln’ Bones and Nu Groove records. Nu Groove, built on the foundation of the Burrell twins who’d escaped from an abortive r’n’b career with Virgin Records, was fast becoming the hippest house label. Nu Groove had started the year before with records like Bas Noir‘s ‘My Love Is Magic‘ and Aphrodisiac‘s ‘Your Love‘ and by 1989 they were on a roll. Nu Groove never had a sound – with producers as disparate as the Burrells, Bobby Konders and Frankie Bones that wasn’t conceivable – and they never really had one big record, but the concept of the label went from strength to strength. Among their producers was Kenny ‘Dope’ Gonzalez, yet to hook up with Little Louie Vega, who was moving into house with his Freestyle Orchestra project. Nu Groove’s first competitor was to come in the form of Strictly Rhythm, who opened up in 1989, though their first breakthrough wasn’t to come until the following year. Two other New York producers who were also beginning to make a lot of noise were Clivilles and Cole with Seduction‘s ‘Seduction‘ and their excellent deep, dubby mix of Sandee‘s ‘Notice Me‘. Their break into the mainstream came with a mix of Natalie Cole‘s ‘Pink Cadillac‘. Another guy who was also beginning to make a name for himself as a house remixer was David Morales.
But one of the biggest records on the burgeoning UK rave scene was a record that made very little impact in its native New York – the 2 In A Room LP on Cutting Records, a follow-up to 2 In A Room‘s ‘Somebody In The House Say Yeah‘ that included a clutch of firing sample tracks from Todd Terry, Louie Vega, George Morel and a few other producers known only on the Latin freestyle scene in New York.
By Summer 89 the acid house scene had grown into the rave scene which was becoming so big that promoters came up with the idea of putting on huge events in the countryside outside London – events that could not only hold thousands of people but which could go on all night. Although the scene was later to degenerate with an increasingly narrow musical policy, ludicrously numerous DJ line-ups and suffer from gangster style promoters who saw how much money could be made, at the time it was incredibly broad. Alongside the regular house movers, records like Corporation Of One‘s ‘Real Life‘, Karlya’s ‘Let Me Love You For Tonight’ and 808 State‘s ‘Pacific‘ became the open air anthems.
Several of those anthems came from a label that had started up in Canada the year before. Toronto’s Big Shot Records was the brainchild of producers Andrew Komis and Nick Fiorucci, and they were startled when Amy Jackson‘s ‘Let It Loose’, Index‘s ‘Give Me A Sign‘, Jillian Mendez‘s ‘Get Up‘ and Dionne‘s ‘Come Get My Lovin‘ became huge club records in the UK.
“I was dumbfounded about England. To me it was soccer players and the Queen, but if it wasn’t for the dance stores in London and Record Mirror I’d probably be working in a hardware store.” Andrew Komis. Again, the scene was largely fueled by radio. Though the original pirates had come off the air in an attempt to gain licenses (Kiss eventually managed it in 1990) and the penalties had been sharply increased, a new generation of pirates were on the air – Sunrise, Center force, Fantasy, Dance and countless others. Young, loud and incredibly unprofessional, they pumped out an endless diet of underground house music round the clock and shamelessly promoted all the raves.
Another set of incredibly successful records came from a country only marginally more likely than Canada. House records from the Continent were becoming more and more common, though most of them were sub-standard covers of US and UK records, and when Italy’s Cappella crashed the charts with ‘Helyom Halib‘ it was really only because it was based on a huge club record from Chicago which had never managed to crossover – LNR‘s ‘Work It To The Bone‘. Then came Starlight with ‘Numero Uno‘ and Black Box with ‘Ride On Time‘, both the work of production team Groove Groove Melody. ‘Ride On Time’ was a brilliant concept, taking the vocals from Loleatta Holloway‘s ‘Love Sensation‘ and putting them to a sizzling piano anthem. There was no holding it back. As the record flew up the charts on its way to becoming the first house Number 1 since ‘Jack Your Body’, the floodgates opened. Italo-house was a happy, uplifting lightweight sound nurtured in the hedonistic clubs of the Adriatic resorts Rimini and Riccione, and it gatecrashed everything from the large raves to the hippest clubs. Those that argued that there was no substance behind it (a lot of the records WERE extremely corny) were foiled when a more mature sound emerged with Sueno Latino‘s ‘Sueno Latino‘ and Soft House Company‘s ‘What You Need.’ Despite their initial insistence that ‘Ride On Time’ wasn’t all sampled, Black Box managed to record a very good album, though they promptly pulled a similar stunt on Martha Wash, who wasn’t at all amused. The Italians would go on to become an integral part of house music, with one of the most consistent labels, Irma, proving acceptance in New York by opening up shop there.
Even in 1989, when house music had become the property of the world, Chicago still had a few tricks up its sleeve. Led by people like Steve Poindexter and Armando, the new underground of the city was returning to its roots with a new, minimalist style even rougher and rawer than the original drum tracks, a sound that was to join acid and techno in forming the roots of the hardcore scene. Another producer who’d led the way with crazy tracks like ‘War Games‘ and ‘Video Clash‘ was Lil Louis. While his spinning partner DJ Pierre became entangled in a fruitless contract with Jive Records (a fate that also befell Liz Torres), who’d opened up in Chicago, Louis’ time came in 1989 with a track that slowed down to a complete halt and had as a vocal only a senes a female love moans – ‘French Kiss‘. ‘French Kiss’ was a huge club record and eventually it climbed to Number 2 in the charts and landed Louis an album deal with Epic in the States and ffrr in the UK. Though the style had started three years earlier with Jackmaster Dick‘s ‘Sensuous Woman Goes Disco‘ and Raze‘s ‘Break 4 Love‘ the previous year, ‘French Kiss’ began a sex track phenomenon that was to last a long time.
Another group that broke out of Chicago was Da Posse, formed by Hula, K Fingers, Martell and Maurice. Their early tracks like ‘In The Life’ were mostly based on old Rhythm Is Rhythm records, but ‘Searchin Hard‘, a deep house song on Dance Mania records led them to a deal with Dave Lee’s Republic Records, for whom they eventually recorded an excellent album. Later they formed their own label, Clubhouse Records.
Two other house originals also teamed up in 1989 – Frankie Knuckles and Robert Owens, who recorded ‘Tears‘ with Japanese keyboardist Satoshi Tomiie. ‘Tears’ was a great record but mystifyingly, even in the year of house hits, it failed to make the charts. Though Kevin Saunderson, Derrick May and Juan Atkins had become very popular with the majors as remixers, Detroit had become very quiet, and the only club that supported techno, the Music Institute, had closed down. But a resurgence was on the horizon with new producers like Carl Craig and a young protégé of Saunderson who had just made his first record for KMS – Marc Kinchen.
Despite the studied apathy of the American music business and repeated attempts to replace house in Britain with just about anything – Soul II Soul and their numerous imitators proved more of a hiccup than anything else the 4/4 bass kick entered the new decade stronger than ever, underground dance scenes developing in new cities and new countries with every month that passed. Even Spain underwent its own acid house craze in 89, and threw up the talented Barcelona producer Raul Orellana, who created a style all of his own by merging flamenco with house. A comment made in 1988 by Robert Owens on the UK TV documentary ‘Club Culture‘ was proving truer and truer.
“It’s not just boom boom boom. They’re telling me something here. Something I can dance to and learn from. I can see house music becoming universal one day. It’ll just take time for people to receive it.”
Petre Inspirescu – Un Livret De Duminica (Collector’s Edition: ‘Clear Vinyl’ + A2 Poster) Label: Pluie/Noir Recordings Catalog#: PNR001 Format: 12″ Vinyl, Clear, Collector Edition 75 copies Country: Portugal Released: 27 Jun 2012 Site: Pluie/Noir
Tracklist:
A. Un Livret De Duminica B. Synth Society
Credits:
Limited to 75 copies. Only available from Pluie/Noir Recordings website. Includes A2 tall poster with original artwork.
Note to all our supporters: If you are somehow wealthy in this age of economical crisis and you want to support our project and work, you are free to offer us any value you want for this special edition (minimum is still 25€). To everyone who offers us some extra support, we’ll make sure we send you over an extra surprise in the package! Thank you.
Artists: S.A.M. , Bonjour Bonsoir, IVVVO, Evano, Yoshihiro Hanno, Ñenado, ReBack, Kashawar, Placid Strait, Max Binski, Marc Lohr, The Marx Trukker, Rack, Marc Neyen, Social System, Diogo, Sinoda Invers, Tom Ellis, Ztrl, Anomali
Artists & Title: The Marx Trukker – Couldn’t See Too Clear For Edges
Platform: 
Artists & Title: Vlad Caia – Swan Lake
Platform: 
Credits:
320KB Music 