v.a. - "[Deep] Into The Abyss"

First off, just wanted to let you all know that I'm not dead and I haven't quite fallen off of (or into) the face of the Earth yet. By now, it's obvious that Subterrestrial is on some sort of hiatus that may continue for some time, so please bear with me.

It is however time to say goodbye to a dear friend, beloved Chase Records Netlabel. Here is a message and parting gift from label head Remi.

"After 9 years of dedication to free underground electronic music, I've reached to the decision that the time has come for Chase Records Netlabel to plunge into the depths of the Internet ocean, probably forever.

Yes, dear friends and listeners, you've guessed it, this means Chase Records will stops its activities with that 60th and LAST release.

But in any mean I could stop the label without putting all my efforts in trying to offer a last groundbreaking release. So, for this last session I've contacted various artists I love, from all around the world, to ask them to create / send a track they feel to be related with the theme of the abyss. I give them a white card to submit what could be their ideal soundtrack for a diving to the darkest depths of the ocean."

I had the pleasure of having Remi ask me to contribute a Subterrestrial track to this monumental release. Included is a dark ambient drum & bass number called "Dockside Scuffle", which appeared previously on Subterrestrial's soundcloud. The track needed some mix work, so I brought the drums much more forward. If you've heard it before, please check out this new mix, along with all the other great material on this compilation. Thanks to Remi for his years of service to creative commons music!

Download FLAC and 320 from Chase Records | Visit the website

Stellar review of SIGNALVOID compilation

Experimental music blog a closer listen recently posted a great review of the SIGNALVOID compilation in which Subterrestrial recently participated. If you haven't yet downloaded this free compilation, let the words of ACL convince you. “It’s pretty much four hours of deranged skullfuckery, which is why it’s an amazing listen. Don’t let either the concept or the running length put you off; SIGNALVOID is a classic in the making.” Read the review if you still need convincing and help support this great blogger!

v.a. - "Signal Void" USB version

Specially packaged USB memorystick version of the SIGNALVOID compilation ships Tuesday 14th August 2012 and is now available for pre-order for ₤8. According to the order page....

"Each package will be a large candy stripe bag containing the following:

- 1 x wooden USB memory stick, containing SIGNALVOID in both MP3 and FLAC, along with a selection of photographs taken by numerous contributors.
- 1 x standard size photograph of a random selection from the SIGNALVOID image submissions.
- 1 x SIGNALVOID sticker of five possible designs, selected from the SIGNALVOID image submissions.
- 1 x oil pastel doodle by myself, created while listening to SIGNALVOID. Each will be unique.
- Leaves and various bits from the area at which I took my own SIGNALVOID image submissions.
- 1 x SIGNALVOID flyer containing the list of contributors."

2012 Summer of Chill

Summer brings warm weather and when the heat is on, people get testy. There's also a lot of strife in the world right now. Due to the aforementioned factors, I hereby declare this summer 2012 to be the Summer of Chill. Be expecting some chilled downtempo vibes from Subterrestrial this summer, though we will be starting things off on a more ambient note. Next week we will kick off the Summer of Chill with "Night Music", some night-inspired longform ambient to keep your nights cool and relaxed.

I realize of course that it's only really summer here in the northern hemisphere but hopefully our friends in the southern hemisphere can enjoy the music and feel a summer-like vibe from it.

Let's all simmer down and enjoy summer!

SIGNALVOID

The UK-based SIGNALVOID project is a noise music compilation. Participants can submit up to three noise tracks, each of exactly a minute in length, with no silence or fades at either the beginning or end of each piece. The comp will be designed to be played on shuffle. They are looking for new and original material in 16-bit WAV format. Track filenames should be formatted as follows: [artistname] - [trackname].wav.

They want photos for use on the SIGNALVOID Tumblr and potentially in the physical package. Photos should be hi-res and should reflect the theme of "noise". Subterrestrial's "Cactus Garden" digital manipulation piece was featured on this blog (see thumbnail above).

Send all tracks and photos to signal.void@hotmail.co.uk

"Void Portal" by Vulture

void portal by *offermoord on deviantART

My pal the Dutch dark ambient genius Vulture created this mixed media illustration and dedicated it to Subterrestrial. The piece was done in colored pencils, white ink and coffee. If you think the above thumbnail is something check the full size, it's absolutely mesmerizing! Be sure and check out the many other treats at his deviantART page and explore his vast catalog of dark ambient and old school industrial music at his blogspot. Thank you Vulture!

Subterrestrial - "Lake Tahoe" now available on CD

Drawing influence from dark ambient, darkwave, ethereal and world music, Lake Tahoe conveys the profound, divine natural beauty of the region that inspired it. This 14-track album previously available only in high quality MP3, FLAC and other digital formats has been re-released by Mind Plug Records on a professionally reproduced CDr and packaged beautifully in a jewel case with full color 4pp booklet and rear inlay. Over one hour of music for $13. Also still available as a digital download from iTunes, Bandcamp, Amazon and other purveyors of fine downloadables.

Purchase download | Purchase CD | Visit Mind Plug Records

Portuguese fashonistas like Subterrestrial?

I just recently discovered three videos on Youtube (apparently recapping some Fashion show in Portugal) that feature The Polar Opening as Viewed from Space, Ueno Park After Dark, Into the Chasm, Tahoe Shimmer and The Key and the Eye from Subterrestrial's self-titled album. Pretty random, but interesting as well I may add.

Sirona-Records - [Siro071] to [Siro080]

From time to time, Sirona-Records releases album packs of ten consecutive albums from their rapidly growing catalog. The following pack contains roughly half a gigabyte of great music, including Subterrestrial's "Plasma Weapon". It's a great way to grab a whole bunch of wonderful creative commons music at once!



Download Album Pack [Siro071] to [Siro080] | Visit Sirona-Records

Jamendo Awards Contest

Jamendo is currently holding their first awards ceremony for creative commons artists and they are taking online nominations. If you are a Jamendo user or have considered signing up (it is free,) I humbly suggest you consider nominating Subterrestrial for the EXPERIMENTAL category. You may do so even if you have already nominated another artist for the experimental category (though you may only do so once per day.) Please consider nominating other artists as well for the experimental category, in addition to the other categories available. Contest details from Jamendo are as follows:

"From now until July 10th, nominate your favorite Jamendo artists in our seven categories. You can nominate once per day in each category.

After the nomination period, the top five artists in each category will move on to the final voting round.The voting round will run from July 11th-15th and each user will only be able to vote one time for each category.

The winning artist for each category will receive a $500 USD prize! Spread the word and support your favorite Jamendo artists!"

I'm not usually in the business of seeking monetary compensation for Subterrestrial's music, but a little extra income in these tough economic times is always welcome. Plus, who doesn't want fame and eternal glory? :) I thank you all for your consideration and support of Subterrestrial's music.

Vote in Jamendo Awards 2011 Contest | Sign on or register at Jamendo

Download mirrors and Soundcloud

As you may know, in addition to Internet Archive all Subterrestrial Netlabel releases are also available from our download mirrors on Jamendo and Sonic Squirrel.

Also, the Subterrestrial Soundcloud page is now open. This page features demo tracks and works currently in progress. Downloading is disabled (they are works in progress, after all) but you are free to listen to tracks as many times as you like. Feedback is always welcome!

Subterrestrial interview

Subterrestrial was recently interviewed by University of Oregon Journalism student Ian McKivor. The interview has been posted on his journalism classes' blog and I'd like to invite you all to give it a quick read. Thanks!

Read the Subterrestrial interview

"Editions of You" exhibition of special packaging releases

The Popular Music Research Unit at Oxford Brookes University in Oxford, UK has an ongoing project called Editions of You, whose aim is to celebrate and showcase self-publishing and self-releasing musicians and the handmade and unique editions and releases they create. They are holding a One-of-a-kind exhibition at the achingly chic O3 Gallery at Oxford Castle. The Exhibition is open from Saturday 26th March through Sunday 24th April 2011. The gallery is open 12 – 5 weekdays, 11 – 4 weekends, closed Mondays. They will be exhibiting, amongst other things Subterrestrial's "Map of the Interior World" floppy disc EP, which was released last summer by Diskette Etikette Rekords. They should also have a few copies on hand for purchase. If you are near the Oxford, UK area during this time feel free to drop by the exhibit and let me know what your impressions are (and send some photos please!)

Editions of You | 03 Gallery | Oxford Contemporary Music

"8th Circle Below" digital version now available as "name your price" release

"8th Circle Below," from Chimera Central features 8-bit dark ambient and noise from various artists around the world! Eleven original tracks that focus on the afterlife and range from peaceful moments to harsh, hellish oblivion. And for a limited time, the digital version of this compilation will be available as "name your price," meaning you can preview it for free and give whatever monetary compensation you feel is appropriate to the label! CD version also still available for purchase.

Download from Chimera Central

Sounds Behind the Corner

Sounds behind the corner is a new Italian language webzine focusing on dark ambient, industrial, drone, darkwave, neofolk, synthpop, EBM, ethereal and much more. They present insightful reviews, interviews and live reports. If you can't read Italian then Google Translate will be helpful (works for me!) Webmaster Nicola Tenani recently gave Subterrestrial's "Conspiracy Music" a stellar review. Send him your physical releases and download links for review!

http://www.soundsbehindthecorner.org

nicola@soundsbehindthecorner.org

Nicola Tenani
Via Bentivogli 46
40138 Bologna

"I was almost swallowed by the earth...."

True story. Earlier this evening, I avoided falling into a sinkhole by literally one second. On my breaks at work, I go walking. There are a lot of hills in the neighborhood and one particular alleyway runs up a very steep hill. I was coming down this alley for about the hundredth time this year when I heard a rumbling behind me, not terribly loud but sounding like something very large falling. I spun around to see most of the ground where I'd just stepped a moment ago collapse and go sliding sideways, under the fence into someone's backyard. They'd done some work in their yard recently and apparently had tried to level it out by removing all of the dirt along the fence between their yard and the alley. Obviously, they didn't think to install a retaining wall or anything because recent heavy rains have apparently washed out the dirt under the alley and now they have a huge slab of asphalt in their backyard. Sometimes I wonder if this subterranean thing isn't going to get the better of me?

NEWS: Subterrestrial's Bandcamp site will be shutting down soon

In an email this morning, the staff of Bandcamp.com announced that due to “a few outliers giving away hundreds of thousands of free downloads,” they were going to have to start limiting free downloads (unless you actually sell your own music, which I don't.) While new accounts are limited to 200, existing accounts such as Subterrestrial's are limited to 500. Bad news for the many artists who generously share their music for free with the general public. The good news for Subterrestrial is that our Bandcamp page is basically redundant anyway. Releases are always free for download from this page (thank you archive.org) and if you really want other formats, such as OGG there is always our jamendo.com site. Bandcamp was really only useful if you absolutely had to have it in FLAC, AAC or whatever (and if you really want our releases in those formats, all you have to do is email me and ask.) We did start to get a decent amount of traffic to that site, which I'm hoping I can redirect. If you know anybody who uses our Bandcamp site, please direct them towards http://subterrestrial.blogspot.com. Thank you!