Bells & Voices

After having misspent his youth heading 4ad avant pop combo ULTRA VIVID SCENE, KURT RALSKE now returns with his first european release in quite some time. ralske has been busy doing production work and conducting his own research into electronic music, influenced by the work of oval and microstoria amongst others. the latter has already resulted in the self-released and highly acclaimed 'amorpheus' album which amongst others earned ralske a rave review in the wire magazine. most recently ralske has been involved in developing audio/visual software which has prompted him to start doing real time visual manipulation during live sets of fellow artists such as kit clayton, kid 606 or hrvatski. 'early bells + voices' is a collection of eleven tracks. the sampled and heavily manipulated choir and bell sounds that make up most of these tracks manage to provoke an estranged and strongly emotional sense of isolationism. listening to 'early bells + voices' from start to finish is a highly affecting experience. 'solace' for instance is a moment of ultimate sadness captured in some of the purest music you're likely to encounter. in terms of sheer emotional impact and minimalism cathars could have its counterparts in acts such as seefeel, oval or labradford, but none of these manage to use these seemingly familiar sound sources so well and in such a highly estranging context. 'early bells + voices' is some of the most beautiful and at the same time fascinating music you're likely to hear this year. Strictly limited to 500 copies.