ARMENIA
Aliases: L Sabatto Armenia concept was originally created in 1995 by L Sabatto on Bizarre Audio Arts,his independent noise-experimental oriented label. He has worked in several noise bands,zines,organizations and projects since 1986. Has played live in Ecuador (where he is from originally), Colombia and United States. He has produced around 250 releases on various formats.(cds,tapes,MD,vynil)
http://noiseweb.com/bizarreaudioarts/ http://users.cjb.net/bizzarreaudioarts/ http://www.noisemp3.com/artists/armenia http://www.discogs.com/artist/Armenia http://www.myspace.com/armenia http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwE97kx0QV0&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPkZlPIW-LQ&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jU7pYvQzlCg&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ici5QeD-pqo&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7lRhqegBsM&feature=related
review Armenia + Cornucopia - Un Infierno Total (Sonora, RA-08, 2007)
Este trabajo conjunto entre dos de las más legendarias bandas de noise latinoamericano, el proyecto ecuatoriano Armenia y el dueto portorriqueño Cornucopia, se deja ver como parte del esfuerzo conjunto que ambos proyectos realizan en aras de mantener un sentido de unidad en la aún diminuta comunidad latina de noise. Ambos grupos ya son estandartes en la escena; Sabatto de Armenia ha venido trabajando en su proyecto desde principios de los noventas, siendo la primera banda latina en editar con RRR. Asimismo, la historia de Cornucopia, ya más familiar para los lectores de este blog, ha sido consistente al grado de haberles hecho acreedores de una impecable reputación como banda de importancia capital en el rubro del ruido internacional. Para esta colaboración, ambas partes se concentraron en la creación de intensos cuadros de ruido improvisado, astringente y corrosivo, las cuales fueron analizadas y operadas por Sabatto. Éste, a su vez, trabajó a sus anchas cortándolas, bifurcándolas, seleccionándolas y uniéndolas en una colosal pieza de setenta y cinco minutos, con subidas y declives de tensión, flujo y potencia que forjan una aleación sónica constantemente mutante en un dinamismo extremo. En "Un Infierno Total" no hay tierra firme. A diferencia de lo que ocurre en la mayor parte de los discos de harsh noise, aquí no hay un rasgo inamovible, un eje estático que sirva de ancla; el correr del ruido blanco es tan constante y veloz que deja al escucha fatalmente desprovisto de cualquier tipo de asidura. No hay más opción que la inmersión total en sus furiosas mareas. (S.S.)
Emil Beaulieau / Armenia - Split Artist: Emil Beaulieau / Armenia Release: Split Label: Bizarre Audio Arts Year: 2003 Format: CDr Tracks: 2 TRT: 70:44
Bizarre Audio Arts and Armenia himself are known for split releases. Armenia has released splits with artists such as Government Alpha, Stimbox, and Pain Jerk, to name a few. This split release with Emil Beaulieau is perhaps one of the best. There are only two tracks to the disc; Armenia's long 33 minute piece and Rons 37 minute live take consisting of three compositions. For general notes, Emil Beaulieau's live take was recorded by Andy Panicsville.
Emil Beaulieau's track, basically untitled, is a perfect example of how I imagine one of his live shows should sound like. I never, and probably will never get to see Ron play live, but this track takes me back three years in Chicago watching Ron dance with his machines, tickle the crowds ears, and gyrate his hips with the rotating sounds of his soft metal sounding loops. Throughout the live performance there are a lot of explosive crashes with scraping loops hiding in the background, sometimes the crashes are so loud that the PA cuts out, as noted by Ron himself. The only thing bad about this recording is the one "fan" that seems to be right next to the recording mic. After one of Ron's compositions is over it sounds as if the guy is sitting right next to you. "Yaaaaaaa-hoooooooooooooooo!"
Armenia's track, Los Ojos del Lobo, starts out right away tearing your eardrums and pulling veins out of your skull. Blistering scratches are rippled in high pitch frequencies and low bass rumbles are prevalent. This is only the first bit though. The track then switches to a very tactical click play of tweaks and hits, and then it starts with the vocal tone of Armenia, Armenia, Armenia, Armenia, that repeats over the first 15 minutes on the track. There are a few long breaks from this voice but there is always gashing sounds throughout. When the voice does appear it speeds up, slows down, pitches high and low and is done very effectively, like a techno beat almost. It doesn't take anything away from the track and is great as just good background filler. The last 15 minutes of this track are awesome with this one loop that carries a lot of bass to hit. I don't even get the feeling that this track is this long, and that's a good thing.
The artwork is a simple cardboard sleeve with a picture of a couple that looks like it straight out of an LP print from Grease. The CDr is blank with no print, not even text from a black marker indicating what release this is, so don't separate the two. Armenia's track is defiantly more heavy hitting than Ron's is, but I think Ron had more fun
