XCD-052 Various Artists – Serpentine

In the year of the snake, Serpentine arrives; a collection of music from new and current artists on Extreme. The tracks are both previously unreleased and from albums already available.

This album is a statement about the music of Extreme and how, as a label, it continues to seek out the new and innovative music of the world, with Maju, Kiefer and Ether. It is also a sign of the continuing support Extreme has for artists such as Soma, Social Interiors and Pablo’s Eye.

Extreme has always been a label hard to define in its musical style and this continues. Roger Richards, director of Extreme explains this simply in the statement; “The voice of the artist takes many forms”.

From the melodious ambience of Maju to the roaring percussive rock music of Ether, it is always music that slips between the cracks of the mainstream that appears on Extreme. Soma deliver their filmic dub noir and Pablo’s Eye charm with their beautiful eloquence. Social Interiors provide an otherworldly soundscape and the folk western songs of Christian Kiefer are further testament to the challenging diversity of the label.

What Extreme is not about is hard listening for the sake of hard listening, weird for the sake of weird or noise for the sake of noise. This is something that can be confusing with so many releases on Extreme from acclaimed noise musician Merzbow but Merzbow is unique as are the other artists on Extreme.

So let Serpentine take you on a journey of discovery of the music of Extreme. It’s an intriguing experience.

Liner Notes

1. Soma – The Winged Measurer 4’19”

Musik Data by Pieter Bourke & David Thrussell. Previously unreleased.

2. Pablo’s Eye – Opina 4’56”

Pablo’s Eye recorded in Brussels, Belgium. From the album “You Love Chinese Food” (XCD-031)

3. Soma – The Golden Dawn 5’58”

Musik Data by Pieter Bourke & David Thrussell. From the album “The Inner Cinema” (XCD-038)

4. Maju – Sending A Signalling Glance 3’49”

Written and performed by Sakana Hosomi. From the album “Maju-1″ (XCD-047)

5. Maju – Once Again I Revert To That Perspective 6’00”

Written and performed by Sakana Hosomi & Hikaru Sekine. From the album “Maju-2″ (XCD-049)

6. Christian Kiefer – Erendira 4’04”

Written by Christian Kiefer. Produced by Christian Kiefer and Michael Madden. From the album “Welcome to Hard Times” (XCD-048)

7. Christian Keifer – Story 9 (Ave Maria) 5’27”

Written, performed, and produced by Christian Keifer. Administered by BMI.

Previously unreleased. (Meditation – Ave Maria by Charles Gounod and J.S. Bach).

8. Pablo’s Eye – A.M. (Piece pour violon et avion qui passe, pour Patrick Robyn) 3’32”

Composed by Pablo’s Eye (2000) Produced by Axel Libeert & Erwin Autrique.

Pablo’s Eye is Patrick Hanappier, Axel Libeert, Marie Mandi and Royo. Previously unreleased.

9. Maju – Uncarved 4’40”

Written and performed by Sakana Hosomi. From the album “Maju-3″ (XCD-051)

10. Social Interiors – Under_tones 5’00”

Composed by Shane Fahey and Julian Knowles. Previously unreleased.

11. Ether – 21o 03 N 105o 52 E 8’44”

All music by ether. Produced by ether. From the album “Music for Air Raids” (XCD-050)

c & p EXTREME 2001.

Image by Doriana Corda

Digital Processing by Richard De Silva

Production coordinator and track arrangement by Nicholas Pateman