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LP
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OFFEN 004LP
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Koncert SNP 1983 is another installment in the archive uncoverings of Rex Ilusivii, aka Mitar Subotić - a live concert from SNP (Srpsko narodno pozoriste/Serbian national theatre) in Novi Sad, Serbia. Again it's a sublime masterclass in layering and mixing from the much revered king of illusion. "To this day Rex Ilusivii remains an enigma of the global music culture, caught between late cold war electronic spheres, classic and the power of found sound. A musician from the Southeast European counterculture, whose art today seems to be the worldly intelligence of the modern age. Listening to the early music of Mitar Subotić sounds like catching the future even though you know here sounds the past. How can somebody be light years ahead of most of his contemporaries in terms of individuality and uncompromising vision, creating such musical narratives with a feeling for outer-national space? It must have been the signs of his time in Yugoslavia that lead him to compositions in which two or more antithetic forces fight each other for the cause of an unheard harmony that melts industrial, sample art, musique concrète and ambient. His Koncert SNP from 1983 demonstrates his ingeniousness to the core - about 38 minutes of experiment and appeal that move playful between demonstrative frankness and seductive sensuality. You hear pulsating synthesizer bliss, widescreen sample art full of Bosch-like images and elusively drama catchiness that absorbs deep. So deep that words can't express their meaning. Only notes can spell out the score. Listening to his live recording several times without a break reveals also a story arc of literary transcendence. And as transcendence is something beyond speech, the music of Rex Ilusivii can't be narrowed down in phrases. Only one thing must be recommended: surrender to it and it will surrender to you." -- Michael Leuffen, June 2016.
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2LP
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OFFEN 001LP
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What's the definition of a treasure? Perhaps something precious, hidden in a safe place by a king? Offen Music begins its journey... stunning stuff. Serbian electronic music pioneer Rex Illusivii (Latin for "The King of Illusions") left an extensive collection of never-heard-before musical gems in his mother's place, and other secluded corners of the world. They have been properly archived, years after his death in a studio fire in Brazil in 1999, on the evening of the promotion of his São Paulo Confessions (released as Suba). This archive, spanning 1980-1991, reflects both his cutting-edge creative spirit and his classical training. In the Moon Cage, which dates from 1988, has been selected from this archive as an invitation to take a peek into this unlocked treasure chest, filled with valuables of an undeniable intensity and sincerity, belonging to the multifaceted man behind the Rex Illusivii and Suba monikers: Mitar Subotić. On In the Moon Cage, Subotić treats us to Yugoslavian folk lullabies, rain songs, ancient incantations, combined with equally mesmerizing electronics. These works, circulating on tapes that Subotić sent out in person, were awarded the UNESCO International Fund for the Promotion of Culture, enabling him to start his influential career as a producer in Brazil. Still, In the Moon Cage and the rest of his early projects have remained mostly uncharted and unrecognized since their creation. Subotić was as comfortable producing for Yugoslavian new wave bands as for bossa nova singer Bebel Gilberto, proof of an exciting divergence in his likings and interests. The disclosure of his own more personal material leads to a renewed appreciation, crowning him as the rightful king of illusions that he was. Double LP with an etching on side D.
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