NEWS

3 February 2010
Quick update: Ondo / Lunar Miasma out now on Tuguska Label, Ondo - "Wave" CDr out on Idrone Park. Both releases available here. Very soon: Yrsel - "Requiem for the Three Kharites" CD out on Aurora Borealis. More info later.

October 1 2009
Very soon, APFs second album TIMBER AND MODERN WAYS will be available on Itunes, Spotify and a limited cd edition. Today though,  it's available in a digital edition via KNOPPARS web-shop. APF lives again!

August 31 2009
A Perfect Friend has been signed to Knoppar for their second full-length album TIMBER AND MODERN WAYS. The release is planned late this year on cdr, digital and on spotify. KNOPPAR also houses great stuff such as Hajen and Tvärvägen.

August 27 2009
Soon, A PERFECT FRIEND will have some good things to report about TIMBER AND MODERN WAYS, our the second album. Expect it to be available late 2009. Tracks include: 1) Inside The Walls 2) Onion 3) The Artificial Lung 4) Sail The Soil 5) Branch Fever 6) Pontoon 7) Maple 8) Timber And Modern Ways 9) Post Rock 10) Matro

APF is also playing at Zebra in Brussels Sat. Oct 24.

More info soon.

June 11 2009
Foxy Digitalis reviews Ondo - "Regression".
Note: The reviewer is writing about packaging.  The "Regression" package is black with black/white insert. No red/white edition exists! The Larsgarden/Rowenta CDr is  white/red (orange) but that's a different release! I guess he has those releases mixed up.

"Ondo is the work of Sweeden’s C-J Larsgarden. This latest release on Tuguska is CD-R in some pretty neat packaging (which, I believe, is either black with a black and white insert or red with red and black insert). The insert has a pretty neat overlay image of a sort of hooded figure over a sort of wooded background. It gets the gist of this album across. ‘Regression’ is typified by down-tempo drones and acoustics like from echoing caves—very blackened but not harsh, moody but not pathetically so. ‘Regression’, at its core, trys out various ways of getting this darkness across, which makes it both captivating and listless in one go. But Regression presents itself with a lot awesome directions in which future releases might go, all of which any fan of the dark and churning would certainly want to get their hands on.

The opener ‘Regret’ focuses itself pretty heavily on Ondo’s clear metal influences, it is (almost, and in a flattering way) like a chopped and screwed version of some first-wave black metal track, with the blast-beats removed of course. Deep subdued screeching drones with churning, de-tuned electric guitar synths, along with some piano and organs thrown in for good measure. The electronics and underlying noise is pretty cool, but I wish it were a bit more focused. As well, buried deep, are vocal-like noises that are really fucking cool.

Perhaps the best work on ‘Regression’ is the acoustic track ‘Recipe For Sadness’—some excellent, down-temp, folksy guitar work with a very subdued droning background that slowly overtakes the track and leads into some string-type instruments, etc. This is Ondo at his most focused—clear progression and attention to detail make ‘Recipe For Sadness’ winningly meditative. Lord knows if you’re a sucker for the foreboding, Ondo has some very satisfying stuff. ‘Lomsk’ even explores some interesting electronics, making good use of an Autechre influence, as it sounds as though some almost-dance-music was brutally mutilated and slowed down.

I suppose it all depends on what kind of (dark, blackened, et al.) drones your looking for. Ondo isn’t as bone-crushingly brutal as some other dark drone stuff out there, but I think that’s in some sense the point as the focus is on experimentation and multi-instrumentation, which certainly sets this outfit apart from perhaps some of the stuff that otherwise bleeds together in an ocean of slow-churning, burnt-out blackness. It’s a nice listen, and, for the record, I’d opt for the white with the red and black insert."

May 05 2009
Two new releases out!!!
Ondo - "Regression" (CDr, TGSK007) and Larsgarden/Rowenta - "Electromagnetic Spheres" (CDr, TGSK006). Available in the shop now!

April 27
Change of plans. The upcoming Ondo release will be out already in May. Its called "Regression" and it is a full length release. It will cost 8 euro (ppd) in Europe or 10 euro (ppd) in rest of the world. 105 copies will be manufactured.





April 23 2009
Larsgarden/Rowenta will release its full length "Electromagnetic Spheres" on Tuguska Label in May. If everything goes as planned it will be available from Tuguska in early May and it will cost 8 euro (ppd) in Europe or 10 euro (ppd) in rest of the world. 105 copies will be manufactured.





Ondo will do a new full length release on Tuguska as well. Probably out in june.

April 16 2009
The Machinist/Ondo split CDr sold out fast when it was released. Now it's available as a free download:
http://www.archive.org/details/MachinistVsOndo

February 17 2009
Now it's possible to pre-order the Pacta release “Hidden Hand” from Waterscape.  There will be 50 Copies that are specially made for this pre-order. They will come on a red cd-r with a different artwork (compared to the original release coming later in March) . Those Copies are hand numbered and just available for those who pre-order. Consume here: www.waterscape.de/


Pre-order version...

Regular version....

I will have copies for sale in March...

January 20 2009
Pacta is featured on scandinavian music website itsatrap.com

“Of all the various artists I've worked with through my netlabel, Pacta (nee Sunt Servanda) has been the sleeper. His "A trap it is" EP is a fantastic example of elegant ambient/experimental music and his more recent work continues solidly along the same path, whether or not you decide to pay attention. What I like best about it is that it's never noise for noise's sake -- there's always a faint melody or at least some sort of melodic component that gives the music weight and balance. And the ingredients are often simple, too, the layers don't go too deep as to overwhelm. "Sketch" from his latest 3" CD "Fragments" inherits the qualities of both titles: small bursts of sound are set upon the landscape and made to dance, flutter and spin. They overlap and swirl around, but never collide. Eventually a singsong tune emerges, but it's easy to miss if you don't follow as it gets passed from tone to tone, or from player to player in an orchestral sense. I can almost imagine it being performed on more traditional instruments actually - now that would be something to hear.”

January 8 2009
Ondo - "654 65 - 694 33" cassette on Peasant Magik in the tuguska shop... (only 4 euros ppd in Europe)

December 23 2008
Pacta - "Fragments" reviewed in Vital Weekly:

In the past I reviewed various releases by C-J Larsgarden, but never (I believe) hisside project Pacta. He also works as Ondo and has ongoing collaborations with FrankRowenta, with Julien Louvet (as Yrsel) and A Perfect Friend (with Thomas DenverJonsson). As Pacta he walks the melancholiac path, armed with a guitar and a laptop,filled with some field recordings. The seven pieces here are indeed 'fragments' asthe title implies. Larsgarden tinkles away, there are sustaining sounds, bits ofoutdoor recordings, which never seem to be traced back to anything, and there isthroughout a pleasant, atmospheric mood on this release. An easy, quick approach tomusic however its not a 'lazy' approach. What he does, he does with great care andstyle. Not a rushed job. Nice. (FdW)

December 19 2008
Ondo - “654 65 - 694 33” cassette is out now!
C42 Edition of 100.
“Obsessively composed guitarscapes. Industry stretched to the point of total collapse. Bleak and without redemption.”
www.peasantmagik.net
I will get some copies after the holidays that I will sell for 4 euros ppd within Europe. I will announce here when they are available from me.

Time to sum up the year. This year have been my most productive year so far. A lot of different releases have come out during 2008:
 
Ondo – “Shields” (3”CDr, Tuguska)
Ondo – “Mahavishnu” (CD, Paradigms)
Ondo – “Slow” (3”CDr, Tuguska)
Ondo/ Machinist (Split-CDr, DIY)
Ondo – “Alliansen” (CDr, 200mg)
Ondo –“Low” (CDr, Premature Burial)
Ondo – “654 65 – 694 33” (Cassette, Peasant Magik)
Pacta – “Fragments” (3”CDr, Tuguska)
Larsgarden / Rowenta – 3” (3”CDr, Tuguska)

On top on that I have recorded loads of stuff with A Perfect Friend and one full-length album with Yrsel (collaboration with Julien Louvet a.k.a The Austrasian Goat). Hopefully both Yrsel and APF will have releases out 2009. I will also continue with my co-op with Frank Rowenta.

I guess there will be some Ondo stuff coming out next year as well. Ondo and Australian black metal/drone artist Nekrasov will most likely release a split 12” in 2009.

Pacta have two releases planned for 2009. 200mg will make one and German label Waterscape will release a full-length album called “Hidden Hand”. More details about these later...

December 12 2008
Pacta - "Fragments" 3"-CDr out now on Tuguska. Flowing guitars meets laptop buzz. 7 songs. Limited to 50 copies. 6 euros ppd within Europe. Order here.


October 13 2008
Ondo - "Low" CDr on Canadian label Premature Burial is out now. Description from label site: "4 songs in 36 minutes of eerie slow drones and thick, shimmering layers of distorted sound and is nothing short of haunting, glacial beauty".

The record is available in the Tuguska mailorder. Order your copy here (7 euros ppd Europe). If you live in North America I advise you to order your copy direct from the label...



September 9 2008
A Perfect Friend has been very prosperous although we haven't been that visible on stage. We have finished our second album as reported, but also recorded most parts of a third one "Ant vs Ant Lion" which is a little more edgy and cinematic. We have a sample from these sessions, a song called The Artificial Lung, up on our myspace HERE . We hope to find an interested label to have any of those released or both.

Foxy Digitalis about Ondo release "Mahavishnu":

“Mahavishnu” is a dark and brooding ride. Though the eight songs vary in tone from drone to electronica to a bit of doom-y guitar, the overall feel is of relentless heaviness, but with an airy space beneath. The cinematic scale and length of the tracks allows a dream world in which it is possible for the listener to find some comfort.
The band relies on sustained power chords, electronic washes, the occasional vocal grumble. This is most effective on the title track and on “Second,” which manages to work to a peak of impressive dissonant power. Yet, often there is thin line between hypnotic and repetitive, and songs like “First” and “1920” seem like exercises in doom rather than inspired contributions to it.
Still, “Mahavisnhu” appeals because the band risks walking that thin line, and more often than not, Ondo deliver evocative drone with the right spice note of menace. These are dreamy tunes that will not linger long in your ear, but while they are boucing around in there they will sting and echo. 6/10 "


August 28 2008
Upcoming releases:

Ondo - "Low" (CDr, Premature Burial)
Ondo - "65465 69433" (Cassette, Peasant Magic)
Larsgarden / Rowenta - "Electromagnetic Spheres" (Reel-on-reel tape ( ! ) first, CD or CDr later)

Got some Tuguska news as well. I'm very pleased to announce that next release on Tuguska will be American experimental group Robe. Good stuff! 3"-CDr out in September / October

July 12 2008
Aquariusrecords.org about Ondo release "Mahavishnu":

"The second of two new releases on the always kick ass Paradigms label from the UK. The first being the reviewed-elsewhere- on-this-list latest release from 4AD ethereal drifters The Victims Shudder, the other, being this, the latest slab of crushing black ambience and deep dark dronemusic from Sweden's Ondo. Weirdly enough, we were already fans having dug heavily the cd-r released on 200mg a short while back, and were already pining for more, and voila. Whereas that cd-r was a single looooong song, this disc is split into distinct movements, each a bleak and caustic chunk of truly ominous ambience. Actually, there is so much stuff going on, and this is so dark and heavy, it's almost disingenuous to call it ambient music. This is cinematic abstract free noise drone music. Heavy enough to worm its way inside the ears of drone inclined metalheads, but dark and blissed out enough to keep the drone obsessed in downtuned druggy nirvana.
The label mentions early Earth, Raison D'Etre and Fennesz, and damn if all three of those don't definitely apply. Pretty melodies are buried under slabs of grinding buzz, chords are woven into undulating sheets of fuzzy sound, everything is hissy and glitchy, with a gauzy sheen. Imagine Earth 2 as reimagined by Christian Fennesz and you might be getting close. Chords and notes, churn and throb, blackened sounds pulse ominously enveloping crystalline shimmers and music box like melodies, voices and samples are chopped up and distorted, riffs are pulled apart into washed out smears of sound. Some of the tracks definitely border on serious doom territory, while others are blurred distorted dreamscapes, all skittery and smeared, dark pianos, radio distortion and amp buzz, distant melodic whir, all tangled into something creepy and beautiful, strings draped over crumbling industrial crunch, all woven around heaving heaviness, rendered in slow moving swells. Way recommended for fans of things slow and low, dark and doomy, murky and mysterious."

Ondo has some releases planned: One CDr on a newly started Canadian label runned by Noah (A Cry From The Crypt Print ) and one cassette on Peasant Magic. Stay tuned...

June 7 2008
Larsgarden/Rowenta 3"-CDr out now:

Listen to a sound sample here.
Buy your copy here (6 euro ppd within Europe)

May 17 2008
New Ondo 3"-CDr called "Slow" out now:


Listen to a sound sample here.
Buy your copy here (6 euro)

Next release on Tuguska Label:
Larsgarden/Rowenta (TGSK002). Out in June!!!

April 23 2008
The Machinist/Ondo CDr is now sold out!

April 9 2008
Vital Weekly reviews Ondo release "Mahavishnu"

"Recently (Vital Weekly 617) we were introduced to the music of C-J Larsgarden, also known as Ondo, through a 3"CDR called 'Shields', a piece for drone like guitars and a bit of drums. Now, on a real CD, released by Paradigms Recordings (not to be confused with Paradigm, I guess, UK's home of improvised music) eight new tracks, which Ondo describes as a fusion between 'Earth, Raison D'Etre and a touch of Fennesz', which is certainly nice found and also not much beside the point. Larsgarden's music is quite dark, with lots of deep, atmospheric sounds, running like undercurrents underneath (let's say the Earth influence), but on top there is always a small melody or small melodic touch to be found. Sometimes on piano, sometimes on guitar - that might be the Raison D'Etre influence (if anyone remembers this Cold Meat Industry band). Fennesz is a bit harder to spot but with a certain flair you find it through the some of the production, certainly when it starts to sound a bit more digital.

Quite a nice soundtrack to a horror film this one, to which I have one minor objection: the tracks sound a bit too similar at times. The heavy banging, the dark drone, the melodic touch, the built up of tracks and the noise bits - there is a bit too much uniformity in these pieces. But served in smaller portions: quite nice indeed. "

March 18 2008
Foxy digitalis reviews Ondo release "Shields"

"Opening with what sounds like "Loveless" played backwards accompanied by some sparse piano Playing, Ondo’s "Waiting For Shields" 3" CDR seems to be making a bit of a tongue in cheek reference to the mythic perfectionist. Moving through various textures of darkly reverberant and gauzy bliss with an underlying pulsating throb that builds to a wash of whiteness and further piano exploration, finally to end with another assumed My Bloody Valentine reference, this is a pretty well paced 16 minutes. I would definitely love to hear what this guy does over the course of a full length release since I am left feeling that there is a lot of exploration left undone with this release."

March 13 2008
The "Mahavishnu" album is now available in the Tuguska Label mailorder. Price 10 €. Go to the shop

March 12 2008
Aquariousrecords.com about Ondo release "Alliansen":

"This release, from an entity known simply as Ondo, comes to us from Sweden, and is one looooong 40 minute track, of deep metallic dronemusic, thick shimmering layers of distorted sound, reverberating buzz, and smeared streaks of electronics. The sound is creepy and ominous, very cinematic, it's not hard to imagine some long tracking shot of an old graveyard, huge black birds soaring overhead, a dilapidated old house, a rusted out car in the yard, a tire swing barely shifting in the afternoon breeze, the sort of sloooooow shot that builds the suspense, that readies you for whatever horror might lie in wait. That's what the music of Ondo sounds like. Long drawn out tones, deep resonant notes, thick crumbling corrosive rumbles, bits of feedback and snippets of voices, everything dripping in effects and oozing with menace. This is definitely dark ambient music, but it's not all that ambient, it's active, some strange lifeforce inhabits these sounds and propels it forward, along with the listener, drawing us ever closer to some inexorable doom. Awesome."

March 10 2008
It is now possible to order some Ondo releases via the Tuguska Label shop (Paypal). Order here.

Febuary 29 2008
It seems that all planed Ondo releases happened at once. 3 releases in one week....

"Mahavishnu" (CD, Paradigms Recordings)
Released February 26th 2008 (PARADIGMS022)

The labels description:
"The majestic debut full length album from Sweden's Ondo. Intricate, textured doomed drone, blackened ambience and lush nocturnal electronica, delicately crafted into a dark cinematic vision. A shadow dreamscape of overpowering density, akin to an intoxicating fusion of early Earth, Raison D'Etre and a touch of the shimmering haze of Fennesz, perhaps?"

Presented as a limited edition of 500 copies only, in dvd presentation box with full colour art.

http://www.paradigms-recordings.com/

"Alliansen" (CDr, 200mg Records)
CDr released by American label 200mg records. It consists of a 38 minutes long track called
“Alliansen”. The track combines long drone tones and some more structured guitar parts mixed with
various electronics and field recordings.

"Shields" (3"-CDr, Tuguska Label)
One-song-3"-CDr. The track "Waiting for Shields" was written and recorded in late 2007 and early 2008. The 16 minutes long track combines elements of drone, doom, post rock and other experimentalalism...

February 14 2008
The split with talented Dutch drone artist Machinist is out now. One song each, total playing time approx 50 minutes. Limited edition: 50 copies. €7 including shipping in Europe, 40 SEK post paid in Sweden. Send me an e-mail if you wanna buy...



February 6 2008
The second A Perfect Friend album, "Timber and Modern Ways", is now recorded and it will hopefully be released late 2008. In prior to that, we now launch a selfreleased limited cd-r called "Graduation Day" with three outtakes from the unreleased album plus one outtake from our debut album and parts of a jam session from one of their first gatherings. This CDR will be sold through the APF website and at shows only. Price: 40 SEK or 5 EURO. Interested parties can contact: info@aperfectfriend.com



Track listing:
01. Archipelago  (outtake from "Timber And Modern Ways")
02. Tundra  (outtake from "Timber And Modern Ways")
03. Graduation Day  (outtake from "Timber And Modern Ways")
04. Twenty Minutes  (session demo)
05. I Caught Your Eye On Tape (outtake from "A Perfect Friend")

November 27 2007
Im back from APF gig at Cimatics in Brussels. Loved every second, and we hope the audience liked it too. Photos can be seen here and here.
Jerome at STILLL caught some 90 seconds of the show here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnYI9BEdQuY

November 15 2007
Some Ondo news... Paradigms Recordings has scheduled the official release of the "Mahavishnu" album to January 2008. American label 200mg records will release the 38 minutes long song "Alliansen" on CDR further on.

Oktober 11 2007
A Perfect Friend is confirmed to play at Cimatics Festival 2007 in Brussels, Belgium. The date is November 24th.

August 25 2007
There is a new Pacta song on myspace called Bjorken.

June 29 2007.
I have a few copies of the Ondo/Austrasian Goat 3"CD for sale. Send me a mail if you want to buy a copy. 50 SEK postpaid. info(at)pactasuntservanda.se

June 28 2007.
Friday 17th August will be the date when A Perfect Friend make their stage debut. The venue is Koriander in Karlstad, Sweden.

21 June 2007.
There has been quite a lot going on in my musical sphere lately. The A Perfect Friend album has been released, in some parts of Europe, and will be available worldwide June/July.  We have already begun working on the next album – we have already recorded six new songs and we will continue to make some final recordings during the summer. Hopefully this will result in an album late this year or in the beginning of 2008.


A Perfect Friend CD...

The Ondo/Austrasian Goat spilt-3" is out now on French label Burning Emptiness. I contribute with a song called 1920. The Austrasian Goat track is great. Buy your copy here: Burning Emptiness


Ondo/Austrasian Goat split-3" CD

Ondo, my drone/doom alter-ego, has some releases coming up soon. I´m very pleased to announce the alliance between Ondo and superb label Paradigms Recordings. They will release Ondos first album later this year. I very excited by this since this is a label that has worked with many good artists such as Amber Asylum (!), Jarboe (from Swans!!) and my new favourite band The Angelic Process.