Ascion of Repitch Recordings delivers a spacious selection of pieces from various movements in the last 5 decades, ranging from kraut to ambient (listen/download now)

Ascion is the alias of Pasquale Ascione, an Italian-born Berlin-based producer, who also releases music as CSA - his industrial-leaning alter ego. Together with friends and frequent collaborators, Shapednoise and D. Carbone, he also curates Repitch Recordings, 3TH Records and Cosmo Rhythmatic labels. Ascion’s own production embodies and merges several different elements of techno music - fast paced rhythmics at times almost reaching the hardcore intensity, free-floating melodies reminding the early IDM pioneers and the vitality and groove of acid techno. On his most recent Channel #9 EP Pasquale balances between profound, drifting tunes and heavyweight rhythmic patterns, merging to create a uniform atmosphere that reminds the vast landscapes of Frank Herbert. Meanwhile Joy Dexon Club, Ascion’s 2016 LP, is a playful voyage to the heavier fringes of rave’s golden age continuum. It bursts with wild BPM levels and dense textures. Whether alone or together with his colleagues, Pasquale’s adventurous approach and true underground attitude are treasures in the scene. He nicely sums it up in the interview for Self-Titled magazine: “My music is characterized by a certain energetic atmosphere and distortion, regardless the genre. I like Power for the right mind-body-journey”.

Secret Thirteen Mix 210 is an exploration of Pasquale’s influences that have informed the atmospheric sensibilities of his music. The tracks are slightly detached from their original contexts and masterfully weaved into a subjective narrative. Track choices are unexpected in the sense that a lot of them are “the odd one out” in the context of the artist’s work. Pasquale’s background in multimedia design and experience with Pure Data software might also account for the mix’s structural nature. The sharp and spacious analogue drones of classic 70’s Cluster material set the tone from the very start. It is therefore no wonder that German kraut heritage has a strong presence throughout the mix, with Tangerine Dream’s ethereal masterpiece “Zeit”, Cluster’s lush-natured “Mit Simaen” or Eno to name just a few. There is also a large number of ambient gems from notable electronic music explorers, including the nostalgic space fantasia of Biosphere’s “Startoucher”, the urban melancholia of LFO’s “Goodnight Vienna” or the haunted psychedelia of Meat Beat Manifesto’s “Pot Sounds”. These examples illustrate the breadth of a selection that invites us to travel throughout these internal/external, real/imaginary spaces evoked by the sounds. Even if the sonic terrain usually has darker undertones here, glimpses of light occasionally illuminate the landscape (take for example the graceful Reload track or the aforementioned dreamy sequence from Biosphere). Thus in the end we have a diverse journey with a vast spectrum of sonic shades.

Ascion’s mix reminds of Friedrich Vordemberge-Gildewart's abstract work "Composition No. 212". The fundamental idea of this style states that the result should be non-referential insofar as its components should not refer to, or allude to, the entities normally encountered in the natural, visible world. Ascion mix is a product of similar sensibilities. The smoothly mutating forms of enigmatic atmospheres, unusual experimentations with melodies and sound effects elicit similarly unreal images somewhere deep inside the subconscious. This means leaving a lot of space to think or to build your own understanding of what is happening on this outstanding musical canvas. This mix definitely requires patience, concentration, a bit of musical knowledge and imagination.

Tracklisting

01 Cluster - Plas (Brain Metronome, 1972)
02 Tangerine Dream - Zeit (Ohr, 1972)
03 Throbbing Gristle - Cornets (Industrial Records, 1980)
04 CSA - Inside The Silver Corp (3TH Records, 2016)
05 Atom™ - Cold Memories Part 1 (Sähkö Recordings, 2012)
06 Cluster & Brian Eno - Mit Simaen (Sky Records, 1977)
07 Biosphere - Startoucher (Apollo, 1994)
08 Gaja - 04B3 (Unreleased, 2017)
09 Giacinto Scelsi & Robert Black - Kashara (Mode, 2007)
10 LFO - Goodnight Vienna (Warp Records, 1996)
11 Reload - The Enlightenment (Infonet, 1993)
12 Meat Beat Manifesto - Pot Sounds (Mute, 1992)
13 The Cosmic Jokers - The Electronic Scene (Kosmische Musik, 1974)
14 Hochenkeit - Too Many Oceans (Unreleased, Unknown)
15 CAN - Aumgn (United Artist Records, 1971)
16 The Residents - Skratz (Ralph Records, 1974)
17 The Future Sound of London - Bird Wings (Virgin, 1994)
18 Pan Sonic - Graf (Blast First, 1995)
19 Ø - Unien Holvit (Sähkö Recordings, 2008)
20 Muslimgauze - Azzazin (Staalplaat, 1996)
21 Faust - Me Lack Space (Polydor, 1972)
22 Faust ‎– The Faust Tapes (Virgin, 1973)
23 Don Cherry & Krzysztof Penderecki - Actions (Philips, 1971)
24 Toru Takemitsu - Cassiopea III (HMV Classics, 2000)
25 Stakker - Eurotechno (Part 21) (Pioneer, 1989)
26 Conrad Schnitzler - Symphonia Mecanica (Artgallery, 1995)
27 Ascion - Anhatolia (Deep Sound Channel, 2016)
28 Boyd Rice and Friends - Disney Land Can Wait (New European Recordings, 1990)

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