Faust - Disconnected

Despite being a bit biased (first and foremost as a devoted Faust fan for more then 25 years but also due to the fact I mixed and mastered the bonus track on the "special edition") Me thinks this might be the best thing Faust released since their glory days in the early 70's and makes it a real cause for celebration.
All the special ingredients that make the Faust experience are here and a few new ones added. Pioneering the usage of the studio as a creative compositional tool. A mix of electronics, rock beats, extensive editing, acoustic instruments, musique concrete, and industrial atmospheres. There is a strong sense of tension and suspense running trough the cd. And despite the obvious huge amount of studio work obviously it took to make this it still feels organic and cohesive.
Here is a short audio sample of Lass Mich the first track.
In April I had the chance to actually see and enjoy the live Faust experience as they were headlining the RIO Festival in Carmeaux. While doing the sound for the Present 2 Pianos show I noticed a man sitting right next to the mixing desk watching the whole sound check. At the end he approached me and complimented on the sound and asked me were am I from I told him from Tel Aviv Israel and then asked him were he was from and he told me something like: "I'm originally French but living in Germany" and when I asked him what exactly he was doing there he told me he came to play with his band in the festival -it took me a second or 2 to realize I was talking to Jean Herve' Peron of Faust Wow ! Anyway we had a nice lunch together and I made him take off and give me his only 71 min T shirt (he is extremely nice to fanboys like me).
We stayed in touch and I sent him some of my mixing works -He especially liked the Fred Frith & Chris Cutler Live in Tel Aviv recordings I made in 2005 (god know when these will ever see the light of day...). That led to me mixing "Hard Rain" one of the songs from the live show at the RIO festival

...And the good news is that Faust will probably be coming to their first show here in the Holy Land (2 shows one in Tel Aviv and one in Jerusalem) later this year and I will be doing the sound (probably will record them too).

Anova Records-Rockfour,Anat Damon,Amit Erez

This week I worked on making the new master of Rockfour's latest cd :Memories Of The Never Happened. Rockfour are a veteran Israeli band that specializes in psychedelic rock and this is their 6th international release.I have known them for many many years having shared the same studios and through mutual friends (Izabo ,Tractor's Revenge) but this was my first opportunity to work with them and it seemed we hit it off quite well right from the start (these guys have loads of experience and know exactly what they want )
This album is extremely colorful and melodic with a healthy live playing vibe (unlike a lot of rock albums that are currently recorded) and loads of positive energy throughout .
They recently won a competition run by Dave Gilmour of covers for Pink Floyd's Arnold Lane the prize was to record at the legendary Abbey Road Studios and from hearing the tracks I must tell you it sounds fantastic.
The album is released by a new Israeli label Anova Records - this is a label run by music enthusiasts that make it a different species in the local music industry puddle . Their maiden issue weas to re-release was the wonderful debut by Anat Damon Falling a unique and charming Israeli singer/songwriter (I did the mastering for this cd a few years back).
Other artists in the pipeline Amit Erez another promising Israeli singer songwriter with whom I had the pleasure to work with on his former EP Black Light
Good luck Anova !