I’ve followed netlabel CONV since it first went online. CONV is one of just a handful of netlabels having extensive discographies for which I can say that I’ve listened to and downloaded every virtual release, in addition to having purchased six of the ten limited edition cdr releases, many of which have sold out. Concerning physical releases versus virtual albums, Miguel says that ‘the format is not important, just the music.” On CONV there’s not a clear line separating the two and as Miguel puts it “I’m always trying to delete the fine line between both.” CONV’s general focus is experimental sound art which encompasses such specific styles as experimental electronics, electroacoustic, lowercase/microsound, improvision, noise, processed field recordings, and phonography. All of the virtual releases come with artwork and are freely downloadable under the Creative Commons Licenses. CONV’s goal “is to promote independent releases by artists from all over the world who are creating and processing sound in unconventional ways.” A brief chronological summary of CONV’s rich history follows (for more detailed comments about the CONV virtual albums, check out the CONV collection housed at the Internet Archive, where I've posted reviews about many of the online releases):
Inspired by Thomas Ekelund's now defunct netlabel Fukkgod along with other active labels such as Komplott, EARLabs, Zeromoon and Autoplate, Miguel Tolosa brought netlabel CONV into existence on February 19, 2004 when he released a virtual album composed by Argentinean sound artist Federico Monti. Monti‘s “Brujula” (a previously self-released cd-r) is a beautiful example of the lowercase and microsound aesthetics and set the stage for nine more releases during 2004. “Brujula” was followed by two more online releases in March 2004: Mark Allan’s “T.A.F. Series One” EP which showcased six gently evolving ambient pieces based on generative algorithms and caught the attention of Sebastian Redenz (curator of Thinner/Autoplate) and Elín Anna Steinarsdóttir‘s “One Winter's Night” EP - a single extended track of concentrated electroacoustic music. April 2004 saw the arrival of Scott Taylor’s “Winter Sunday” EP which consisted of five tracks of saturated ambience derived from field recordings and phonography and received well deserved recognition by Frans de Waard (Vital Weekly). This was followed in May by New York sound artist Kenneth Kirschner’s “January 2, 1999 et al.” in which we find Kirschner composing ambient sounds via the interplay of randomness and purposeful editing and, again, receiving positive reviews by Frans de Waard and Sebastian Redenz. June saw CONV’s first foray into the noisier side of experimental music with the release of “Constelación” by Pablo Reche where manipulated sounds create an intense atmosphere described as “both ambient and industrial“ (FdW). With the arrival of “Trees in Movement” EP by Mnoki (aka Johan Gustavsson) in August, CONV returned to the lower case aesthetics of “calm digital manipulations” (Sebastian Redenz). In September, Henrik Olsson and Anders Dahl delivered five relaxing experimental-electroacoustic improvisions with their album “Splendor”. October brought the glitch-tinged “Mu” album by the Australian artist Tobias Kazumichi Grime which is in the “atmospheric ambient style” (FdW). The release of Heribert Friedl’s single track EP “Converge” in November saw CONV’s 2004 releases come to a delicate end in a whisper of fragile microsounds. November also marked the beginning of a new era for CONV with its first limited cdr release “Textures and Mobiles” by EARLabs founder Jos Smolders - nine introspective sine waves based compositions. The year 2004 also found CONV being featured in a special Resonance FM Down With the Chariman broadcast (London, Episode 26) and having tracks aired on Radio Circulo (Madrid). CONV received further recognition of its efforts by appearing in the end of year favorites list published by the and/OAR and Sirr labels.
The year 2005 proved to be an even a more productive year for CONV with sixteen new online releases and five more limited edition cdr albums along with favorable reviews in such magazines as Dusted, Phosphor, and Igloo as well as appearing again on several favorites lists. The first two releases of 2005, Julie Rousse's "Des Restes Humains" and Fabrice Planquette's "Musique pour Dans la solitude des champs du coton" started the year with some electroacoustic brilliance and the second cdr release Scott Taylor’s “Castaway” made its appearance and was recognized as “a marvelous collection of sound pieces and collage which show off Taylor's penchant for processing field recordings and environmental sound and turning it into very listenable textural work (Smallfish, Mike Oliver)”. These were followed in February and March by Meri von Kleinsmid's rather dark abstract experimental EP "Untitled" and the decontructed guitar, drones, and noise of Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words (Thomas Ekelund) "Don't Need More Songs to Cry To" EP. A release by Arturas Bumsteinas in April in complete to contrast to Ekelund's release was next with a lengthy composition of contemporary electronic chamber music the "This Uniform" EP . Accompanying this was the third cdr release “No Words” in which Thomas Ekelund working as Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words produced sixteen short tracks of coarse ambient and musique concrete. May found Thanos Chrysakis delivering three tracks of lowercase microscopic ambience on his album "Inscapes". Violet (Jeff Surak) opened the second half of 2005 with a noisy extended track of lightly processed field recordings on the “Okraina” EP in June. Eric Bollman’s self-titled album followed in July with eight ambient experiments in contrasts as processed field recordings intermingled with delicate microtones. August saw Brian Lavelle’s album “The Houses of the Russians “ placed online which delved into abstract improvision using manipulated field recordings along with the fourth cdr release “Amalgam” in which Dale Lloyd (and/Oar) collected and edited contributions from eleven other artists. With this cdr release, one reviewer commented that “Con-v label is gradually building a reputation as one of the finest purveyors of sound as art (Dusted, Steven Grady).” September brought forth three releases - two single track drone albums - Erstlaub’s “Blown” and the Anla Courtis/Pablo Reche EP collaboration “Transistores de Aire ” along with three sonic explorations by Asher Thal-Nir intertwining field recordings, microsounds in “And Invariably the Blue”. Mattin’s “Abuse Divisions” EP brought October to a close with one nearly seventeen minute track of silence versus digital noise. November opened with Christian Toonk’s album “Unison” - three beautiful tracks of blissful ambient microtones and sinusoidal drones, and Christopher McFall’s “A Starved-Strafe Lancing Machine” followed with three abstract tracks of manipulated field recordings that are at times “engineered beyond recognition”. The fifth cdr album, Josh Russell’s “For LP” was also released in November. The year 2005 ended with the live improvision EP “Casa Precario” with Bruce Russell and Sakada showcasing a single and rather chaotic and bizarre electroacoustic track, and John Hudak’s “Sotto Voce” cdr was made available, the sixth such release, featuring five tracks of what might be described as minimal avant-garde chamber music.
The first nine months of 2006 have seen seven online releases along with four cdr albums. In January, K.M. Krebs brought us two wonderful electroacoustic compositions in his “Rein a Voir 15” EP. Also released in January was Asher Thal-Nir‘s “Graceful Degradation“ cdr in which the decay and degradation of tape recordings serve as a metaphor for the blurring of our memories over time. In February an improvision collaboration, “Sable” EP, between Ernesto Rodrigues and Christine and Sharif Sehnaoui went online. March’s release “More Than Everything” an EP by Mark McLaren (Sijis) left me a little shaken not only due to its rather surreal use of manipulated founds sounds and field recordings but also because of its rather unsettling album cover, and an alliance of Dan Warburton and Tu m’ saw the eighth cdr release born - “Missing in Africa”. Cheapmachines covered about every aspect of the noise possible with their “Latitude” EP in April from gentle, transparent tones to a dense wall of white noise. The month of May lacked a virtual album but did produce the ninth physical release and the first dvd-r in “Quien ere Aquella…” by artists Akira Rabelais and Stephan Mathieu. A joint effort between Ilios and Jason Kahn led to the 16-track full length microsound tinged release “Steloj” in June. Four cold, digital manipulations from Omnid cooled down a warm July in his “Camo” EP while the tenth cdr album simply titled “untitled” by Kneale/Mattin was born. August was a milestone for CONV as it released its first compilation appropriately titled “Con-vpilation” - an eclectic set of tracks from eleven international artists.
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