Releases
Hardcopy releases:
Drowning In A Pool Of Trees (January, 2008) Self-Released. First edition of 44, second edition of 80.
3"cdr release with a 24 minutes long track recorded live in Augsburg, Germany at the Lab30 festival and reworked at home. This contains vocal drones, field recordings and ambient rumblings.
Read the Vital Weekly review here
Read the EARlabs review here
Listen to it one last.fm
Proof Of Conspiracy (May, 2007) on Cut Hands.
Limited to 40.
3"cdr release with one 20.50 minutes long track of ice cold drones and harsh noises.
Read the Vital Weekly review here
or here
Read the File Under review here
Listen to it on last.fm
Analog for architecture dvd compilation (November, 2006) on Highpoint Lowlife.
Limited to 100. SOLD OUT.
Compilation contains The Marcia Blaine School for Girls - Still
(Orphax Treatment) twice, once also named as remix.
Also available as mp3 on The Marcia Blaine School For Girls - Halfway Into the Woods (Remix EP).
Track 13 (October, 2006) on Gonzo Circus.
Came with Gonzo Circus Magazine Issue #77. It is only available through the website of the zine.
Compilation contains the track "A Day Of Sunshine" also available as mp3 on sæti.
Sand in boxes (January, 2005) on Suggestion Records/Verato Project. Limited to 60 in first edition.
Listen to it on last.fm
In a long night (May, 2004) Self-Released cdr limited to 100. SOLD OUT
Read the Vital Weekly review here
Read the Sonumu.net review here
Listen to it at last.fm
Running out of West a narrominded compilation (March, 2002) on Narrominded
This compilation contains 2 orphax songs, "Glass" and "Then".
Benthic realm (2000) Self-Released compilation with two friends Luka and Buur. 3 songs each. Limited to 50. SOLD OUT.
Take notice that none of the hardcopy releases can be sold as mp3's or in any other digital format without direct authorization by Sietse van Erve / Orphax. Selling the music digital without authorization is illegal. Downloading and sharing the releases as mp3 in file-sharing programs is allowed and is supported by me. Under the policy of “buy it if you like it”. Thanks for the understanding.
For free downloadable MP3 releases please click here.
News
16-04-2008
- It's been a while since the last update, but still enough things have been going on. First of all there is a new review online for Drowning In A Pool of Trees. The nice people of File Under found the time to write the following review in Dutch (here a rough translation):
Orphax – Drowning In A Pool Of Trees. Brrr, not really comfortable and cozy at Orphax his place. More cold as ice and haunting. That while Sietse van Erve is just living in The Netherlands. The High North, above the pole circle would be more imaginable. But, it’s good to know not only Norway has the right to fabletastic ambient, in The Netherlands they also know their deal; see machinefabriek. And orphax doesn’t stay behind on that: Drowning in a pool of trees is a nasty piece of droning ambient that makes the mind go crazy. At least as good as his previous 3” album Proof of Conspiracy, but more full and intense. When the high tones start to ring around it even becomes haunting, and fear crawls upon you as things occur in the Orphax-studio that normally only happen in psycholigic horrorfilms or series like Criminal Minds. The hiss at the end in this case does not even give relieve.
Amazing album.
Bas: March 23th, 2008
- I didn't mention this in the agenda, but on April 6th I did a DJ set together with Wouter van Veldhoven and Ellen Evers (The Puddle Parade) under the name of Gruizig & Prettig for the Eat This Eetcafé in Utrecht. I played records for 3 1/2 hours going from Cat Power and Vashti Bunyan to Fennesz and SND. It was a really nice evening.
- At this moment I am looking for a new label for "De tragedie van een liedjesschrijver zonder woorden". More info on this soon I hope.
29-02-2008
- A new review came online and it's a raving one. Larry Johnson at EARlabs.org wrote the piece. You can read it here.
Drowning In A Pool Of Trees is a private release from one of our own - EARLabs editor Sietse van Erve working under his Orphax alias. An edited version of a live 2007 performance at Lab30, this 24-minute piece of organic field recordings, melancholic atmospheres, and choral drones was constructed from voice samples, field recordings, and melodica.
Netherlands-based Sietse van Erve is a musician who makes experimental music of the ambient and drone variety. He also has other interests in psychedelic post, singing/songwriting, and post-rock. He has released music in both MP3 and CD-R formats, and his work has appeared on numerous compilations and mixes
Orphax is not a new name to me having run across his work uploaded to the Internet Archive although at the time I didn‘t know his real name. His As the stone falls it won't come up again EP (2002) is my first memory of this artist. A single 18-minute piece of glitchy, down-tempo beats, layered in dark drones, sweet melodies, and soft ambient sounds, there are moments on it that are hauntingly similar to this new CD-R release.
The soft, hazy, greenish-yellow hue of the streetlight depicted on the cover art gives a visual pointer as to overall sonic ambiance to be heard on Drowning In A Pool Of Trees. The initial one-minute segment of pristine field recordings (wind blowing leaves on trees, birds singing) doesn’t give much of a hint at the dark tones and deep ambient rumblings that will soon follow. Slightly dissonant melodica, the sputter of a contact microphone as it brushes against an object, and some distorted noise add ominous textures to the mix. About one-third of the way into the piece, a choral drone fades in, something akin to an Eastern mantra followed closely by a layer of wavering, swelling, synthetic tones, both of which add a stratum of tension to the already slowly building, worrying atmosphere. This tense, perturbing ambiance continues to develop and evolve during the course of about the next seven minutes until it gradually dissolves into a haze of static hiss, the rumblings of wind passing through a contact mic, and crunching noises before the unspoiled field recordings reappear once again bringing the composition to a placid close.
Whereas many recent drone works seem fall into the rut of merely offering the same old run-of-the-mill sound, Orphax manages to avoid that pitfall by skillfully juxtaposing different layers of complementary textures and sound. Drowning In A Pool Of Trees is a very deliberate, well-designed, and expertly executed composition showing Orphax in one of this finest moments. 10/10 Larry Johnson
- At the end of May I will be doing a live set in Maastricht, The Netherlands at some cultural happening. As soon as possible I will give some updates on this.
12-02-2008
- Drowning In A Pool of Trees got a review in Vital Weekly. It was a nice one:
OPRHAX - DROWNING IN A POOL OF TREES (3"CDR, private)
Releases by Sietse van Erve's project Orphax mainly found their way through MP3 releases, and a handful on CDR. 'Drowning In A Pool Of Trees' is his latest, private release and based on a concert recording he made in October 2007, which he later edited into this release. Apparently it uses field recordings, voice, electronics and a melodica sample. Orphax stretched the sample out to a twenty minute piece of ambient drones, however slightly distorted and on top there is the crackle of contact microphones scratching the surface. It's hard to tell where the voice comes in or goes out. Bird twitter is also there. It builds up to a climax and takes it down again, all done with elegance. Nothing spectacular, nothing innovative, but executed with style and eye for detail. Nice one. (FdW)
Address: http://www.orphax.com
- The second edition of Drowning in a pool of trees will be in an edition of 80 pieces. This because the first edition is going fast. The price remains the same, as does the whole cd and artwork.
- The live performance at Café Averechts was really nice. Had a good time. Too bad not so much people did actually turn up as I hoped. Better next time hopefully.
18-01-2008
- The artwork has arrived and the cd is now for sale. Drowning in a pool of trees is now for sale for only €6,-- incl. worldwide shipping.
14-01-2008
- Sadly enough I was sick at home when I had to do the live perfomance for the Musicmeter meeting. Really a shame, because it seemed like much of fun to do. Hopefully next time better.
- New cdr release is coming out next week. Drowing In A Pool Of Trees is a 24 minutes 3" release with vocal drones, field recordings and soft ambient rumblings. It was recorded during the live performance at Lab30 in Augsburg, Germany in October 2007. The first edition will be a batch of 50. If more people are interested I might make second one.
Here is the artwork:
- February 3th I will do the next live performance at Café Averechts, Utrecht, The Netherlands for the Eat This Media evening. Entrance will be free and it will start at 20:00. For those interested I can really recommend to come earlier and get some diner at the small café. They will make a vegetarian diner for less than 10 euro. Be sure to make a reservation (see their website how to).
- So far no new stuff on the "Tragedie van een liedjesschrijver zonder woorden" except that my friend Lonneke Groen is still working on the artwork. I hope and believe it will be something great. More info on this one next time.
- I have contacted some friends and àquanted musicians of mine to provide me with source material. From this I want to make one long musical piece. So far I got a few sounds in. This might become a really interesting thing.
17-12-2007
- Just some short notices.
- I will do a live performance at the InterZone Averechts evening February 3th.
- I will do a live performance for the Musicmeter.nl meeting on January 5th, though this will be for an enclosed happening, somehow.
- I have noticed that there are some websites that sell my music in mp3 format illegaly. I do not agree with this and I get nothing from this, so please do not buy these. If you want my music you can either buy the album, listen to it on last.fm, download it from archive.org (if it is on there) or download it through file-sharing programs like soulseek. So basically translated that means: buy a hardcopy or download mp3's for free.
04-12-2007
- It's been a while since last update. The two performances are a while ago again and still I haven't done anything with the recordings, while both were really good. Specially the recording of Lab30 is good. I might even release an edited version of it on 3" cd.
- Some really good news I have is that a label has shown interest in "De tragedie van een liedjesschrijver zonder woorden". As soon as more is known I will let you all know.
- Lonneke Groen, a friend of mine, is going to do the artwork for this release. The coming weeks she will be working on this.
- Erstlaub's "On Becoming An Island" has been released as so has the mp3 remix release. Both can be checked at Highpoint Lowlife. And of course both are also streamable at last.fm: mp3 remix or the album.
16-09-2007
- New player on the website, with some NEW music in it that has never been published before. Take a chance to listen to it right now.
- Glasgow was superb. The performance with The Village Orchestra was great. First I played about 20 to 25 minutes solo and he jumped in and we gigged almost an hour together. The recordings will soon be available through here.
- My live set for ZXZW is as good as finished. I will open up the Sunday afternoon at NS16 at 16:00 and will be followed by Niobe, Ignatz, MoHa! and Jacob Kirkegaard. I am looking forward to seeing all of those live, 'cause they all do amazing stuff. See the websites of ZXZW and NS16 for more info on the whole festival.
- Lab30 is also coming closer. I still want to try and make some video for that live performance, but I will have to find time. It's kind of busy at the moment.
- Other news is that my friend Dave Fyans is going to do a release for Highpoint Lowlife called "On becoming an island"as Erstlaub. With this release there will be a mp3 remix release and I have done one of the remixes. Keep an eye out for that one, both the album as the remix album are going to be amazing.
08-08-2007
- Just some short update: Next week I am going on a holiday to Scotland visiting my friends Dave Fyans and Ruaridh Law. At that holiday I will do one live performance together with Ruaridh (he is from the marcia blaine school for girls and the village orchestra) and also work on music with both Dave (Erstlaub) and Ruaridh. If all goes well I will report back on these recordings.
So far I do not know where this performance will be, but as soon as I know more I will post it here. One thing is sure though, it will be Sunday the 19th.
- Other news I have is that the Dutch magazine Gonzo Circus did a review on my release Proof Of Conspiracy and I can tell you it was a great one. I will translate it later for you all.
02-07-2007
- A short update. There is a new review of Proof of Conspiracy. Check here at File Under (only in Dutch). I tried to do a translation in English. This is the result:
If you are just a little bit known within the drone-world, names such as Jacob Kirkegaard, Daniel Menche, KTL, Machinefabriek, BJ Nilsen / Hazard and (of course) Biosphere are known to you.
Ghastly, oppressive stretched notes, desolate and cold moods, and lots of, really loads of undercrawling tension (threat). Beautiful and endlessly fascinating if you love those – and that’s what I do. That’s why I can get very happy with projects such as Orphax; after Machinefabriek again a Dutchman, who, through cozy 3” cds, tries to mislead the listener. Because, don’t make that mistake: such a 3” looks cute, but the music is highly serious and damned inaccessible. Which actually is only a pré is with this music.
See the names I mentioned up and believe me when I say that Orphax at no moment of his 20 minutes long drone is inferior to those bigger, or at least more well-known, brothers. A heavy dose of very low noises ensures a good base; over which the higher pitched sounds slide and shove each other aside to get the best place on the battlefields of a nuclear war. Such kind of sceneries does Orphax recall. No “cat piss” (easy listening task) but very well done.
Dennis Waterman
01-07-2007
- Proof of Conspiracy has been released now on Cut Hands and sales are going quite good from what I have heard.
- Vital Weekly wrote a review on Proof of Conspiracy and this can be read on both Vital Weekly and Earlabs.org.
- Other nice news is that I have been asked to play at two festivals. One in my old home town Tilburg at ZXZW. This performance will take place on September 23th. More info at http://www.zxzw.nl/.
- The other performance will be at Lab30 in Ausburg, Germany. On Thursday, October 25th I will open the festival. More info soon on www.lab30.de. Until that time I can tell that some of the other artists will be Svarte Greiner, Yagya, Kettel, Midaircondo and Andreas Tilliander.
- Also in the planning is a performance during my vacation in Scotland. My dear friend Ruaridh Law from The Marcia Blaine School for Girls and The Village Orchestra is trying to organize something in Glasgow for me. Hope this will work out, because it would be an amazing opportunity.
08-05-2007
- The new 3" release will be released this week on Cut Hands. The release is limited to 40 and will be availble through the shop of Cut Hands, so get yourself a copy over there. Soon some samples at the website over here, either way in the player or else as mp3.
- On May 15th there will be another live performance by me at Cul de Sac in Tilburg. This will be my first performance in my old home town. I will be looking forward to this. The evening will be together with the lovely musicians Wouter van Veldhoven, Soccer Committee, The Puddle Parade and more. And to make it an even more interesting evening there will also be some visual arts and some DJ'ing by the guys from InterZone. Else than stated on the website machinefabriek won't be playing and I won't be doing a DJ set, but a live set.
20-03-2007
- Some great news: Cut Hands will be releasing some new work I created. It will be a 3" release containing one track, named "Proof of conspiracy". The music will be quite harsh noise drones, not comparable to anything I have done before. People who have heard it already compared it with Daniel Menche vs. Thomas Köner. It should be released in a month or two or so. I will keep you all posted on this one.
- Other news is I am going to make a short track for a compilation tape on delirious riot | tapes about movies. I already have ideas for the song, but I am not going to tell them yet.
- Added some of the compilations I appeared on in the releases section.
- Added some old mp3 releases to the mp3 releases section (more to come soon).
18-01-2007
- New links added to some artists and to my own places on the web at discogs, last.fm and myspace. You can now easily find more information if you want to.
- I am also going to start a blog, though this is not yet running. This will mainly deal with albums I bought and my thoughts about them. But can also contain information that doesn't go up here.
- Soonish (coming weekend I hope) I will really update the releases pages with all available stuff. Too much work for me at this moment, now I just want to relax.
01-01-2007
- The new orphax website is finally online and you are now looking at it.
- For my friends of the marcia blaine school for girls I have done a remix. This remix has now been released on a DVD called Analog for Architecture and as an MP3 release Halfway Into The Woods (Remix EP)on Highpoint Lowlife Records. Keep an eye open for the forthcoming full-length release of these Scottish guys, it's gonna rock.
- Added lots of old stuff to archive.org that was not yet available. This will be added to the MP3 releases page soon. I will inform you all when this will happen.
- Soon I will also try to add a musicplayer to the site, where I will put some old, but also new music, that I have been working on.
- And of course a Happy New Year to you all.
For old news please click here
Orphax.com