News
30-11-2009
- Turn Loose The Goose is now almost sold-out so if you still want a copy be quick. Of course you can always buy it in digital format through the bandcamp site.
- If you want to buy Turn Loose The Goose together with Drowning In A Pool of Trees that is now also possible for a special discount price of 10 euro including world wide shipping. The discount is until the end of the year. To make use of this discount send an email to orphax@orphax.com before 23:59 CET on 31-12-2009 and I will tell you how to fullfill the payment.
Of course if Turn Loose the Goose is sold-out before the deal is off.
03-09-2009
- In a long night is now available as digital download from bandcamp. More music will be added soon.
- I have removed the old mp3 player and added players from bandcamp and links for those who want to buy the releases in digital format.
- Turn Loose The Goose got some reviews lately which were really nice, you can read them at EARLabs, Foxy Digitalis and Vital Weekly.
14-04-2009
- Wow, been so silent here. Didn't say anything about the new release that it was coming up and nothing about a live performance I did in the mean time. It's been busy I guess. Anyhow, I got a new release out right now called Turn Loose The Goose. Again it's a 3" cdr based on a live recordings, but this time only small parts from the live performance were used. The sources for the release are the live set from December 6th in Tilburg, field recordings from Amsterdam, Goirle, the Netherlands and Kisbajom, Hungary. All sounds come from live input and these field recordings. No sound was generated with the computer, only processed. Instruments I used are a bowed thumb piano, a bowed plastic cup, a razor and my voice.
The result is one massive psychedelic mind trip.
The EP is limited to 50 copies and available world wide for only 6 euro incl. shipping. You can listen to the album or buy a digital version at Bandcamp for 1,88 Euro (2,50 USD) - The album Sand in Boxes released on the Verato Project got a second edition release of only 25 copies. If you want one I myself have four of them available for 8 euro incl. shipping world wide or else you can get it at the label Suggestion Records. Mail me if you want one from me at orphax@orphax.com.
- Not so long ago I made a bandcamp account which you can check out at http://orphax.bandcamp.com/. On this site you can stream some of my music and buy it in a digital format. In the future I will extend this collection with older sold-out releases and mp3 releases. So if you don't like to buy physical cd's you can now support me by buying my music digital in various formats (both lossless and lossy).
25-11-2008
- I have changed the website design slightly, because it wasn't what I wanted anymore. Seems better to me now.
- New live performance coming up on December 6th. I will be playing in Tilburg at Kunstpodium T together with Family Battle Snake and Weirding Module. It's an evening organized by the people of Vatican Analog. Doors open at 20:30 and entrance is 3 euro. More info at: http://www.last.fm/event/839719
- And here is a picture from my live set at De Kargadoor:
04-11-2008
- It's been a while since last update, too long actually because some things have been going on.
- Last friday (October 31st) I did a live show at De Kargadoor in Utrecht which was good fun. The live set went well and I recorded it. I might upload it soon to somewhere on the net, so keep your eyes open.
- That's it again for now. More news soon I hope.
10-08-2008
- Next Thursday, August 15th, I will do a performance at the festival Zomeravonden in Maastricht in the evening. It will be a festival in and around the AINSI Theater. Other performing at the festival are: Wouter van Veldhoven, Beequeen, Swerve, Staplerfahrer, Zonderland and more.
- Last week I did a radio interview for the local radio station of the city of Venlo, Omroep Venlo. In the program Majjem we talked a bit about my solo music, the music we do with Zonderland and the upcoming festival Zomeravonden. It was good fun. You can download the show with interview from here
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.