Formicatoin Audio

'Dr Umens'

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Stunning, otherworldly electronic noir from The Wire-tipped duo. Imagine a world where sound art and amp; glitch intertwine with the dark heart of human emotion. Released Sunday 26th April at The Centrifuge< a>.

Formication are a rare breed in electronic music: technically awesome, creatively breathtaking and aesthetically intriguing, this Nottingham-based duo have been perfecting their sound of deconstructed beats, dark soundscapes and concept studio work. They rarely perform live, but when they do sparks fly!
All manner of custombuilt and handmade instruments take to the stage, making it a feast for all the senses. Itâs no wonder that The Wire Magazine has championed them with a Formication track appearing on the covermounted CD The Wire Tapper in October 2008.

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10. Bonus Track: NeuTek - Buffer Zone

Tracks 1-9 mastered by Alex Wintermute.

Download from website: www.TheCentrifuge.co.uk
Press Contact: info@thecentrifuge.co.uk
Artist Website: http: www.theformicarium.com

Published by The Centrifuge using a Creative Commons License.

The Centrifuge: Experimental electronic events, netlabel and artist management.

http: www.TheCentrifuge.co.uk
http: www.myspace.com centrifugeuk
http: www.facebook.com group.php?gid=4077312718
http: www.last.fm label The+Centrifuge
http: www.discogs.com label The+Centrifuge

'Pinecone Moonshine Remix EP'

'Rust' by Formication (also featured on 'The Supreme Spirit of Decay') opens the Pinecone Moonshine One Year Anniversary Remix EP:

< div>One Year Anniversary Remix EP

Formication :: Fracture :: Indidjinous :: Takeshi Nakamura :: Sub[Coming May 09: Free 256kbps Download]

[Buy on Presale: 320kbps MP3 or WAV< a>]

[Stream Samples< a>]

'The Supreme Spirit of Decay'

Formication is pleased to announce that a 5 track remix EP for Pinecone Moonshine has just been released onto their website. These five tracks are all composed using elements from a track entitled 'Rusted Instruments for Broken Hands' and the EP is entitled 'The Supreme Spirit of Decay'.

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Please go there< A> for more details or see below.

Formication - 'The Supreme Sprit of Decay'

Remixes of Rusted Instruments for Broken Hands[Coming May 09: Free 256kbps Download]

[Buy on Presale: 320kbps MP3 or WAV< A>]

[Stream Samples< A>]

Ghosts (Omnia Exeunt in Mysterium)

'...the sonic equivalent to the torture apparatus in Kafka's �In the Penal Colony...' (Ron Schepper, Textura)< a>

'...imagine Coil�s Black Light District turned up to ten with intensity, with a side order of Autechre at their more unnevering, panic driven and nbsp;and mind effecting...' (Roger Batty, Musique Machine< a>) 

'...somewhat complicated for the listener...' (Grégory Dejaege, Judas Kiss< a>) 

Click to download .PDF press release.< a>

Click to download a .pdf preview of the Ghosts Book of Photography and amp; Field Notes.< a>

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On the 16th August 2008, Formication released 'Ghosts (Omnia Exeunt in Mysterium) as a DRM free, high quality MP3 download and a deluxe hardback book edition of 9 signed copies. The book edition sold out quickly but the MP3 version is obviously unlimited and can be purchased from our shop.

The book can be purchased separately here< a>, please see the preview above.

This edition does not come with a CD, is not signed and will not have an art print included. It is, however, a professionally printed and lavish 40 page hardcover book of photography that documents the processes used during the making of the album and features field notes by Formication.

More details can be found in the press release.

Reviews:

Thanks Oren ben Yosef of Heathen Harvest:< a>

There is an almost famous story, one of these tales that are on the verge of becoming an urban legend, with its origins lost somewhere in translation, about a troop of soldiers marching in perfect military unison, marching steadly in constant pace, a constant beat, until they reach a long bridge. They keep marching in the same beat on that bridge until suddenly, for no apparent reason, it collapses with them on it. Contrary to our quick thoughts about bombing that bridge or maybe the harsh apocalyptic weather, but no, the reason the bridge collapsed was simple. The constant beat of the marching was the exact frequency of the bridge's material, making it shatter with that steady wave of sound. This is something to think about when listening to Kingsley Ravenscroft and Alec Bowman's \"Ghosts\", with the powerful sounds that are produced throughout the 12 tracks. A notice on the papers I got with the album reassures of this feeling, saying that the harsh bass and treble are intentional, and not a problem of my speakers, who are about to explode through the vibrations. Throughout the first track, \"Gathering the storm\", who indeed sounds like a brilliant and tribal work of witchcraft that might call a storm, hopefully to the dry winter around where I live, The harsh drumming that are pounding my head like an old wooden bridge, I am reminded of the two wonderful characters in the book \"Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid\" , who are arguing wether a certain vinyl can be played by a grammophone and produce a certain vibration that will destroy that grammophone. Even after conjuring this harsh storm, the people of formication are not trying to destroy your speakers or anything, but they certainly manage to produce a monumental presence outside of these speakers and around the listener with the twelve powerful ghosts. 
\"Ghosts\". Take track number four, \"Rotten skull\", for example. A droning wailing that sounds like an almost autistic mumbling that circles my room, while random screams of horror that end almost before they appear. On top of that, broken samples of what seems to be incomprehensible talkings. A good picture of a ghost by all means. This track points out another quality of this dark duo. While the description sounds like yet another digital cut and amp;paste work, formication stays warm and organic throughout the entire album, and versatile as well. While \"Gathering the storm\" is rythmic to the extreme, \"Rotten skull\" is much more atmospheric and the next track, \"Back outside\", is layered with harsh drones. This reminding me of playing, more than several times, the album \"dead cities\" of future sound of london, with \"white 2\" of Sunn 0))) (Do it!). The constant shifting between rythm, ambient and tidal soundwaves is a focal point in this album as well, and it is done really really well. \"All hell and amp; despair\" is a good example of putting highly distorted sounds with a warm and touching ambient layers of music, before this track goes into an experimental extravaganza and becomes what its title suggests.
The brilliantly named track \"The mountains are machines\" is a good example for powerful rythmic industrial track, not unlike what Imminent (Starvation) would make, for instance, only the sounds are again, much warmer and organic, a fact that works perfectly for formication (and the opposite works real well for imminent, of course). This powerful tribal attack leads to an almost zen-like answer from the short \"Stay inside and sleep\", who's second part is the last track, \"The end of things\", that serves as a hybrid between all of the elements that were encountered earlier. A highly contrasted piece that provides a battle field between peaceful and slow music, and harsh breaks and sampled loops. A proper farewell from the ghosts that Ravenscroft and Bowman have summoned. Like one last taste of the old experiences that are locked within this album. Because soon, different experiences will come, if you judge from the number of albums these guys have released in the last few years. And trust me, we can't complain about that.
Fabian of Gothtronic:< a>
What I have here is the CDr edition of this album by Formication. In the online press release notes I read that there is also a version of this album which includes a hardcover book, of which 9 copies are signed and have an original print. You can get one of those 9 for $75,-. The book can also be bought separately.

This is a good example of creating an interesting industrial ambient work, full of interesting and deep sounds. Understanding the press release correctly, besides the very limited cd version with the book, as I mentioned earlier, it is only in mp3 format. So that means that most people will be listening to this in mp3 format, which is a shame, since mp3�s can never fulfill the task of giving you the best in sound. I do hope they also release it as a normal album, because the quality of the music demands it!
The music on this album is a combination of rhythmic industrial (though it is not powernoise), deep drones, sound experiments and some cinematic music. A lot of times it�s really trance-inducing like for example the lengthy track 6, �All Hell and amp; Despair�. Also the second track, �More Joy Than You Could Possibly Know�, uses repetitive sounds to a trance-like effect. The fifth track, �Black Outside�, is pretty dark and scary. It feels as if the world around us is becoming a black void with hidden creatures in it. Then with the seventh track, �Underearth�, we arrive in a sacred and dark place. There are some drones to be heard and some humming chants. A very introvert song, akin to something like Lustmord mixed with Raison d�Être. The tenth track �The Mountains Are Machines�, is a real heavy industrial song, at least for this release, with very rhythmic percussion.

Thanks to Lucas Jordan of The Silent Ballet:< a>
Harold Budd famously opined that he disliked new age music because "there isn't any evil in it." So it's a bit ironic to me that quite a bit of what's labeled "dark ambient" frequently comes off as evil new age, as if Vangelis found himself inspired after an afternoon staring at Giger paintings. And that isn't necessarily a bad thing - genre keystone Lustmord is just about the best haunted-house music a boy could ask for - but, you know, spades being spades and all that, I think a genre dedicated to the possibilities of sonic neurosis can be seen as the flip-side of sonic transcendentalism.
Formication is a self-described "dark electronica" duo from ye olde United Kingdom, and they fall a bit closer to the industrial side of the spectrum, along with the occasional stabs into glitchy IDM. This is both a good thing and a not-good thing. It invests Ghosts (Omnia Exeunt in Mysterium) with a mechanical menace; quite a bit of this sounds like evil Autechre, as if Booth and Brown were expressing the thoughts of Skynet rather than of spreadsheets and databases. On the other hand, it often leads the pair to mistake annoying for threatening, and results in lots of seizure-inducing noise ruining perfectly nice textures, as in "It Will Be As If You Never Existed." This track is a textbook for what much of the album does, so I'll elaborate. The music is nine-tenths fantastic, dripping with menace and possessed of that sort of space-filling breadth so important to ambient music of any ilk, but over top of it is this obnoxious, mutating, mechanically grating sound that can't be ignored. As the song goes on, this sound becomes more and more integrated into the composition, and it works, which is impressive - but for the first four or five minutes, it's just irritating. "Rotten Skull" follows suit, except here the annoying sound is a tortured and mutilated vocal sample. I could see this being somebody's cup of tea, especially if that somebody is into stuff like Merzbow, but I'm not that somebody. The intrusions prevent the music from ever creating the atmosphere it aspires to.
But, it's not all like that. Opening suite "Gathering the Storm" "More Joy than You Could Possibly Know" is a compelling piece of "dark techno" (meaning you can dance to it), and the album's centerpiece - the 17-minute "All Hell and Despair" - is flat-out fantastic, pulling off exactly the balance of unsettling and calm required to earn its running time. I listened to it during a 1 a.m. car-ride through fog and rain the other evening, and it made me uncomfortable and nostalgic all at once. It's so good that it calls attention to how great the other tracks could be, were they not so focused on being harsh at the expense of being expansive. Some other tracks do follow suit, notably "The Unsound Light", while "The Mountains are Machines" is an effective stab at the sort of pulsating, menacing weirdness Richard D. James conjured up on Selected Ambient Works Vol. II but the annoying, jittery samples are never far off, marring closer "The End of Things" beyond all possibility of enjoyment.
And I can appreciate the idea. There are a million dark-ambient acts being spooky and remote out there, Formication is trying to do something to set themselves apart. In its annoying moments, Ghosts does sound like a fitting soundtrack to the meaning behind the band's name: the psychological condition of feeling imaginary insects crawling on one's skin. But gents, if you're reading this, take it from me, you do the spooky remoteness far better than most, and it's the best part about this album. More "Hell and Despair" next time, please.
-Lucas Kane

Thank you Roger:< a>

Ghosts (Omnia Exeunt in Mysterium) is the second full length from British Dark electroncia Duo Formicarium,and it really sees them and nbsp; and nbsp;kicking into high gear to create some of their most and nbsp; psyche and head effecting tracks so far. 
At it�s best and most effective Ghosts (Omnia Exeunt in Mysterium) and nbsp; pulls you deep into and nbsp;a paranoia and nbsp; soacked and dark and nbsp;place that seems to threaten to enveloping and melt ones sanity and even the world around you. I don�t know quite how they�ve done it, but it�s almost like they�ve imbedded the music with some unruly and shapeshiting demons trails. and nbsp;The tracks pace are often and nbsp; more and nbsp; suffocation, more noisy and dense and nbsp;than their work before- imagine Coil�s Black Light District turned up to ten with intensity, with a side order of Autechre at their more unnevering, panic driven and nbsp;and mind effecting. The tracks are mainly ultra dense layered up with drill and hallucinogenic synths and beat fodder, weird vocal trails, juddering harmonies and other unnevering sound trails, with and nbsp;even the slower more ambient tracks having a string in their tails. Things are only let down slightly by the tone been brighten and made less intense towards the end of the album- but I guess this is an attempt to return the listeners mind to normality.
A turely dark and paranoid head fuck of an electronica album that should really come with some sort of health warning. Trust me and nbsp; I wouldn�t operate heavy machinery, drive and certainly never attempt any kind of drugs with this, as I�m sure it�s possible it could drill boar holes into your grey matter with it�s malevolent and dark spirit.Roger Batty< a>

Thanks to Textura:< a>
As they're occasionally wont to do, Kingsley Ravenscroft and Alec Bowman leave the charred womb of their Formicarium to infect listeners with another set of viral mutations. The duo describes Ghosts (Omnia Exeunt in Mysterium) as �a crackling electrical storm of an affair recorded at the foot of Helvellyn in the Lake District earlier this year�; we call it a seventy-six-minute journey through quarantined zones where lepers reign and cannibals feast. Using electronics, piano, vocals, treble recorder, and baritone guitar, Ravenscroft and Bowman give birth to �music� that's like the sonic equivalent to the torture apparatus in Kafka's �In the Penal Colony.� Formicarium's realm is ghoulish indeed, especially when the brutalizing crawl of �Rotten Skull� suggests a failed trepanning experiment distilled into aural form. 
The album opens with four minutes of heavily distorted, bass-heavy garble (�Gathering the Storm�) that pours into a rhythmically feverish swamp of toxic oil (�More Joy Than You Could Possibly Know�) within which a blinded colossus writhes uncontrollably as it struggles to stay upright. In the seventeen-minute centerpiece �All Hell and amp; Despair,� guitar fragments flicker like fireflies against a slowly undulating mass and voices slowly rise from some blackened pit before disappearing into the ambient undertow of �Underearth.� �The Mountains Are Machines� serenades with relentless tribal pounding, after which �The End of Things� caps the album by waylaying a gentle piano part with scattered noises and shredded voices. One never knows exactly what's ahead in the Formication world, though one knows it'll be disturbed and disturbing. Why Formication hasn't yet been tapped to provide the soundtrack to a Saw installment boggles the mind. 
Thanks to Fabrice Allard and amp; EtherREAL:< a>

"Hyper productifs, les deux anglais de Formication nous reviennent déjà avec un nouvel album sorti une nouvelle fois en partenariat entre le netlabel Dark Winter et le label Harmful Records géré par les deux artistes. Le netlabel semble surtout servir à la promotion, proposant deux titres en libre téléchargement quelques jours avant la sortie officielle. L�album complet est (ou plutôt était) quant à lui disponible dans une version luxe, encarté dans un recueil de photos, signé, et limité à 9 exemplaires ( and nbsp;!!) à un tarif adapté (ce qui est rare est cher...). Heureusement, l�album est également disponible au format numérique pour 1,99$ quand la plupart des plateformes de téléchargement proposent les albums à 9,99$ et le recueil est également disponible indépendamment de la musique. Au delà des expérimentations musicales, Formication semble également expérimenter de nouveaux modes de distribution and nbsp;! 
Nous avions adoré l�album Icons for a New Religion, nous étions un peu plus réservé sur Agnosia. Qu�en est-il de cette nouvelle livraison and nbsp;? Pas de doute, on est plus proche de l�album, le duo mettant un peu en retrait ses tentatives rythmiques concrètes et se concentrant sur ce qu�il fait de mieux, à savoir une ambient sombre, mystérieuse et habitée. L�album s�ouvre sur quelques titres très sombres, marqués par de fortes influences industrielles. Vrombissements, saturations (Gathering the Storm), machines créant des rythmiques mécaniques (More Joy Than You Could Possibly Know) et boucles hypnotiques, ou jets bruitistes sur une base franchement ambient (It Will Be As If You Had Never Existed). Chaque pièce semble composée comme une accumulation de boucles et sonorités hétérogènes à l�origine même de l�aspect mystérieux de cette musique. Assemblages incongrus de voix traitées, sonorités électroniques, acoustique et enregistrements traités, et parfois une mélodie qui se dégage, comme le premier rayon de soleil après un orage (Back Outside).
Justement après l�orage on aborde une deuxième moitié d�album nettement plus apaisée, abandonnant un peu la composante industrielle au profit d�une musique plus ouvertement ambient, plus lumineuse et aérée à l�image des 16 minutes du magnifique All Hell and amp; Despair ou encore Underearth, à peine ponctué de sourds coups métalliques. Les derniers titres sont un bon compromis entre expérimentations bruitistes et mélodies chaotiques avec notes flottantes, piano qui dégringole, syncopes et bruitages.
Plus industriel que and nbsp;:Zoviet*France and nbsp;:, moins mystique que Coil, mais digne héritier de ces deux formations, Formication continue de frayer son chemin sur un parcours chaotique." Fabrice Allard 

(English Translation, thanks Fabrice)

Hyper productive, two English of Formication returns to us already
with a new album left once again in partnership between the netlabel
Dark Winter and the label Harmful Records managed by the two artists.
The netlabel especially seems to be used for promotion, proposing two
titles for free download a few days before the official release date.
The complete album is (or rather was) as for him available in a
version luxates, inserted in a book of photographs, signed, and
limited to 9 pieces (!!) with an adapted price (what is rare is
expensive�). Fortunately, the album is also available to the digital
format for 1,99$ when the majority of download platforms propose the
albums at 9,99$ and the book is also available independently of the
music. Beyond the musical experiments, Formication also seems to try
out novel modes of distribution!

We had adored the album Icons for a New Religion, we were more
reserved on Agnosia. What is it of this new delivery? No doubt, this
one is closer to the album, the duet putting a little in withdrawal
its concrete rhythmic attempts and concentrating on what they do
better, namely one ambient sinks, mysterious and inhabited. The album
opens on some very dark titles, marked by strong industrial
influences. Hummings, saturations (Gathering the Storm), machines
creating of rhythmic mechanics (More Joy Than You Could Possibly Know)
and hypnotic loops, or bruitists jets on a basis frankly ambient (It
Will Be Ace Yew You Had Never Existed). Each part seems made up like
an accumulation of loops and heterogeneous sonorities in the beginning
even of the mysterious aspect of this music. Incongruous assemblies of
processed voices, electronic sonorities, acoustics and processed
recordings, and sometimes a melody which emerges, like the first sun
ray after a storm (Back Outside).
Precisely after the storm one approaches a second half of album more
alleviated definitely, giving up a little the industrial component
with the profit of a music more openly ambient, more luminous and
ventilated with the 16 minutes image of splendid All Hell and amp; Despair or
Underearth, hardly punctuated of metal deaf persons blows. The last
titles are a good compromise between bruitists experimentations and
chaotic melodies with floating notes, piano which tumbles down,
syncopes and sound effects.

More industrial than: Zoviet*France: , less mystic that Coil, but
worthy heir to these two formations, Formication continues to cut
through its path on a chaotic course.
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Thanks to < a>Grégory Dejaeger of Judas Kiss:< a>

A bit of a strange beast, this. Kingsley Ravenscroft and Alec Bowman, the main composers behind Formication (a somewhat unusual sensation closely resembling the feeling of insects crawling under one�s skin, Wiki tells me), don�t seem the kind to sit around on their lazy arses waiting for fame and money � which is just as well considering the music genre they have decided to work in. 
Over the course of the last three years since the release of their first CDr back in 2005, they have managed to produce a singularly impressive body of work. Well, quantity-wise at least, since I must admit that this is my first encounter with the duo from Farnsfield. and nbsp;
What�s strange, though, is not so much the rather proactive history of the group (Peter Andersson and Henrik �Nordvargr� Björkk could teach them a lesson or two) but the manner in which this, their new album hit the shelves. Or didn�t, since it actually comes in two different formats, one as a high quality MP3-only release which you can purchase for less than two dollars � even less in quids or euros - and the other as a deluxe hardback picture book complete with a good ol� CD, which will set you back 75 dollars - still expensive in quids or euros. and nbsp;
At least you can find solace in the fact that you�ll be one of only nine punters to own said object. Come to think of it, I won�t elaborate too much on the latter (a pdf version of the book is available on the band�s website if you�re interested) seeing how it might well be sold out for all I know. and nbsp; and nbsp;
To the music, then. Starting off the proceedings with some trance-y, lightweight power electronics that could as well have graced a Folkstorm album, Ghosts (Omnia Exeunt in Mysterium) � meaning �they all leave mysteriously� according to my now retired Latin teacher � then continues into somewhat murkier territory that, while not distinctly dark ambient-sounding (no ringing bells, ominous sound waves or assorted niceties here), still manages to conjure up the kind of atmosphere you would expect walking at night in the woods� or on top of a mountain, rather, seeing how the info sheet informs us that the album was actually recorded at the foot of mount Helvellyn (the third highest peak in England, for all you geographers out there) earlier this year. The rest of the album pretty much follows the above pattern, switching as it does between mostly introspective tracks (All Hell and amp; Despair, at sixteen minutes the longest track on offer on an album otherwise made of rather shorter tracks) and occasionally more rhythmic experimentations (The Mountains Are Machines), which as you can imagine makes it somewhat complicated for the listener to completely immerse themselves in a given atmosphere. Or maybe that was the desired effect, I am not sure.
and nbsp;Of course, it�s difficult to come up with a concept like this without coming across as über-artsy at times and the group doesn�t disappoint. As a matter of fact, I could do without half of the tracks on offer, the uplifting ones or the gloomy ones, depending on the mood I�m in at that particular point in time, kind of like having two albums being played almost simultaneously. Or, to take another example, like eating tuna and raspberry jam at the same time. Which is a shame, really, as you can tell the guys seem to know exactly what they�re doing and they�re actually doing it fairly well. 
An acquired taste, most certainly. and nbsp; 
Thanks to Synergy Magazine (Australia):< a>

"This is a startling work, original, edgy, incisive and textured. It gets under your skin very quickly and creates a dark even menacing mood. The tracks range from dark electronica with a driving beat which hammer directly into your skull to slow creeping tracks which ooze nightmares into your dreams.

This is a superb audio experience, a soundscape to experience the darkest of nights and one which needs to be regularly played so as to allow its atmosphere to envelop you. It is ambient at its very best, exploring new territory and creating new moods and sounds.

Absolutely riveting!

Dark Winter has made available various tracks for advance listneing so go online and check it out, preferably late at night, alone...."

Thanks to Ikecht and amp; songoverruins:< a>

"The Lords of Formication are no unfamiliar names on this blog. "Ghosts (Omnia Exeunt In Mysterium)" is by now the fifth album to be reviewed here. This time it was published by the band itself and it can be obtained as a digital download, for a mere two dollars, or bought as an extremely limited de luxe edition of only nine copies. For 75 dollars you will then get the CD with a book containing photos by the band. Unsurprisingly this limited edition sold out very quickly, but the book can still be ordered. The digital download contains a PDF version of the book by the way.

"Ghosts" is again a nice slab of experimental music that floats somewhere between IDM, glitch and ambient. It seems the album can be divided into two halves. The first half an hour and five tracks are a dense and complex whole. "Gathering The Storm" brings us dark, stuttering polyphonic rhythms that stumble over each other, with something that sounds like deformed windshield wipers being mixed in. This morphs into the more beat-oriented "More Joy Than You Could Possibly Know". Everything falls apart again for a rather noisy ambient piece after that. Really infectious is "Rotten Skull", where a mechanical heartbeat is mixed with complex rhythms and fragmented vocals and the whole really starts sounding like glitch, with pieces of conversation alternating and being mixed up with one another. Sounds odd? It is at first instance but it does work fantastically. If you don't mind experimental music in the vein of Venetian Snares or Aphex Twin, you will have a lot to enjoy here. and nbsp; and nbsp;

The turnabout comes with the sixth track which sits smack-dab in the middle with its seventeen minutes. It starts qutie chaotic again but then turns into a nice piece of ambient music that, I feel, contains elements that go back to "Pieces For A Condemned Piano", mostly because of the sounds of strings being plucked. Again I was waiting for these sounds to remain stuck and start looping, thus being a repetition of that fantastic third track of said album. No, the tension is there, but it doesn't happen. The remainder of the album is mostly dark and calm, excluding for a moment "The Mountains Are Machines", but it is also over soon. A string of tracks each lasting less than two-and-a-half minutes, once even less than thirty seconds, brings us to probably the best piece on the whole album, as far as I'm concerned. "The End Of Things" is where all elements come together; the glitch-like vocals, the complicated rhythmic patterns and the fragile piano sounds. These contrasts work really well, provide tension and make for a track that I will listen to again and again. Goosebumps.

With "Ghosts" Formication gives us a complex album that is not directly accessible. The first few times I didn't quite get it. A lot of opposing elements are put together and the album wanders quite a bit. Personally I think it works and it doesn't bother me. If this kind of experimental electronics is up your alley and you don't mind atypical rhythmic structures (read: Venetian Snares), this album has a lot to offer. And for just two dollar you can't really go wrong with this one. After giving it a few spins I have been converted and enjoy the album a lot. Yet again a masterful album by Formication and it makes me wonder: "When are these guys going to be discovered by a larger label?"

The included book with pictures is really worth the effort, by the way, and proves them to be gifted photographers as well."

Frans De Waard wrote this at Vital Weekly (So many questions...):< a>

A bit of puzzle this release. It is available as a MP3, or perhaps a few tracks, and there is some 'deluxe hardback book' and CD in an edition of 9. It was released on August 7th and perhaps I should wonder why the hell I am reviewing this? Is it still available, guys? Perhaps a more important question would be this: if you are releasing something in an edition of 9 copies only, how much effort will you put into the music? Formication, a duo of Kingsley Ravenscroft and Alex Bowman have had releases before, which were received with mixed feelings and this new one is also received with lukewarm response. The two use a variety of instruments of an electronic nature and once a rhythm or sound is set in motion the ball keeps rolling and effects are set in motion to keep this ball rolling but I'm afraid the results are most of the times a bit long and not always as engaging as they could have been when the tracks would be under control and have been saved by some form of editing. I'm afraid that now the tracks drag on on end and that the industrialized beats and sounds are simply not my cup of tea. (FdW)

Thanks to Rainer Holz for listing us in his 2008 End of Year Best Music Chart:< a>

01 and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; Carl Craig and amp; Moritz Von Oswald "Recomposed By"
02 and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; Justus Köhncke "Safe And Sound"
03 and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; Bonnie "Prince" Billy "Lie Down In The Light"
04 and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; Misophone "Where Has It Gone, All The Beautiful Music Of Our Grandparents?"
05 and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; The Last Shadow Puppets "The Age Of The Understatement"
06 and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; John Zorn "The Dreamers"
07 and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; Secret Chiefs 3 "Xaphan: Book Of Angels Vol. 9"
08 and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; 2562 "Aerial"
09 and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; Nick Cave and amp; The Bad Seeds "Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!"
10 and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; Atlas Sound "Let The Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel"
11 and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; Our Sleepless Forrest "Our Sleepless Forrest"
12 and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; Joan As Policewoman "To Survive"
13 and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; Diverse "Messthetics 105: D.I.Y. 77-81 Scotland 1"
14 and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; Barry Adamson "Back To The Cat"
15 and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; Tony Allen "Lagos Shake. A Tony Allen Chop Up"
16 and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; Formication "Ghosts"
17 and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; Lindstrøm "Where You Go I Go Too"
18 and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; Miss Kittin "Batbox"
19 and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; Jacaszek "Treny"
20 and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; and nbsp; Cloudland Canyon "Lie In The Light"
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'The Condemned Piano (Memory)'

In the autumn of 2005 we composed a meditative eulogy for a musical instrument we happened upon one evening whose condition filled us with sadness. A once treasured friend had been cast out to die and then set upon by elementals which were to destroy it utterly. We took what we could; a couple of delaminated keys, one felt hammer and 13 field recordings. These recordings became 'Pieces for a Condemned Piano' which we released as a free download, our debut on the Dark Winter net label in December that year.

Two years later while scouring through old files in a vain effort to tidy up a tired hard drive I decided to play a couple of innocuous untitled tracks I'd stumbled upon. I was surprised to discover two completely finished arrangements from the 'Pieces for a Condemned Piano' samples gathered almost exactly two years previously. I played them to Alec he was as surprised as I that neither of us could remember them. 
(Ten days ago we revisited the spot where the piano once lay and in the dirt beneath a fence we found one white laminate from one of the piano keys. We left it there as a mark of respect.) Here then are those tracks, presented as 'The Condemned Piano (Memory)'. We thought we had heard all the piano had to give but this appeared to us as the melancholic ghost of a familiar distant echo - one last meditation on a life discarded sung to us from the past; a beautiful but final goodbye.

KJBR

Listen Download< a>

Thanks to Leon Vlieger and amp; Ikecht for this review:< a>

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'Formication - 'The Condemned Piano (Memory)'

Apart from some albums on the .net label Dark Winter the British formation Formication also has a few albums on their own webpage. Or technically, on the website Virb, one of the many social networking sites on the internet today.

My introduction to Formication was their "Pieces For A Condemned Piano", which I liked very much. So, I was positively surprised to come across a "part two" on their website. The story goes that while cleaning out a hard drive these gentlemen came across two completely finished, and completely forgotten, compositions, which dated back to the recording session of abovementioned album. These have now been released as "The Condemned Piano (Memory)" and can be found on Formication's Virb page.

Soundwise these two pieces are close to the hypnotic last track of the original album. Again we hear repetitive and unrecognisably warped samples of a piano. As Formication would have it, the instrument is speaking to us one more time through the veils of time. Admittedly, there is indeed something to the sound that suggests this, a sort of delayed echo, which grants a particular quality to the music. With just 25 minutes it's a short final chord. But, as far as I'm concerned, these are more than just leftovers from the cutting table. Recommended for all those who enjoyed the first album!

Originally written in Dutch for the weblog of IkEcht (http: ikecht.web-log.nl), English translation by the author.'
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'Agnosia'
On the 28th October 2007 Formication released 'Agnosia' simultaneously as a free high quality MP3 download available at Dark Winter< a> and lavishly made but cheaply priced CD.


For further details see PDF PRESS RELEASE< a>
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Thanks to Petcord for listing 'Agnosia' in their top five releases of 2007:< a>
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Arciv ev Noise - Maitenant< li>
David Velez - Data Transfer II< li>
e:c4 - Technical Unwanted Signals Vol. 1< li>
Formication - Agnosia< li>
Nodepet - En Fin Terrible< li>< ul>

R e v i e w s

thanks to Robert Black @ Synergy for this:< a>

Formication are at the edge of exploration of dark ambient landscapes and Agnosia is another impressive offering. It offers a powerful evocation of mood and emotion and really needs to be experienced through headphones or very late at night without distraction. There is so much in every track and each listening turns up something more..

The albums introduction opens with some rather infernal electronic percussion with the added textured sound of synthesizers adding a great atmosphere, add to this distant voices and strange pulsing and clicking sounds and you know you are in for another superb journey.

The second track has a wailing sound that resonates through layers of twisted percussion which certainly create a paranoid and claustrophobic mood, which is then relieved through the floating and soft waves of the following track.

The fourth track, my favourite, is intense and powerful. It is unnerving and nbsp; with its strange noises and use of clicks and voices to create a disorientating and passionate piece. Completing this exploration at the edges of dark music is a moody track which seems to mix all the different themes Formication like to explore.

This is an EP of around 32 minutes but certainly is a fascinating and powerful album. It takes us on a journey through unconcious territories, hovering between dreams and nightmares and is certainly worth exploring."

thank you Dr Richard (nothingatall.net):< a>

"Tricky one to write about this, 5 tracks of organically evolving electronica that is a black as anything and unlike so much else out there at the moment. This Nottingham based duo have made something not so far away from Aphex Twin's ambient work series.... but the doom and darkness enveloping this work is pretty stunning to say the least, and that's what so annoying about this (for me at least)... I have no idea how to describe or write how they sound and how they feel and what they evoke and what they want. It's almost like a fucked up merging of Autechre's early work and AFX's pop sensibilities whilst at the same time secretly plotting to want to be more like Justin K Broadrick. Its impossible to describe for me this, which must mean something. Either way I'm pretty impressed and looking forward to hearing more..."

Thanks to Chain D.L.K< a> and amp; Andrea Vercesi:

Released on Dark Winter both on cd and for free download � Agnosia is the new ep by Formication and features a twist in their style but mantains a top notch ritualistic and enigmatic blend of ambient. With "Agnosia" they take distance from coil-influenced electronics ( last year's "Icons for a New Religion " ) to dive deeper into an hard-edged isolationism, the obsessions and compulsions here are similar to those found on the first album by Final. As in their previous album "Redux" there are tracks on this ep with titles but without the precise order � this continuity slows down your mental processes in order to reach a trance-like state. Formication's sound undergoes several permutations and surely requires open ears. As for their previous release,i have the feeling that they are getting close to a masterpiece of dark electronics.

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Thanks again to EtherREAL and amp; Fabrice for this (babelfish translation):< a>

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After the album, one connects immediately with this new production of the duet Formication, left less than six months after splendid Icons for has New Religion. It is also the occasion for us to see whether the duet of Nottingham confirms its first test. With his 5 titles for large a half hour, one will rather regard Agnosia as a mini album with in point of organ a title of almost 13 minutes, pointing out the opening of Icons for has New Religion. To tell the truth, one is déboussolé a little with the listening of disc. If environments remain same quality, dark, worrying, the form is somewhat different, to start with the sound density, the experiments, and of the melodies less present, less effective. The first title rests for example on a rhythmic loop which seems made up of concrete between-shocks on which some cavernous breaths are posed. When the sound is clearer, it is as well purified more with floating and rhythmic tablecloths of cans. Hesitating, chaotic. The third track is only made up of a melody of guitar, felted, hardly treated, coming very close to lullaby melancholic person. The things are done a little more interesting thereafter. The sound remains clear, but the various elements are scattered and seem to be answered: resonant minimal melody with far, infra-low humming, whistles grésillants, time then seems suspended, and more still on the last track, of composition perhaps more traditional: buckle metal cords and tablecloths in flow and backward flow, a texture of power saw sometimes, an analogical loop of keyboard very 70s, a murmured robot-like voice way Darth Vader, some effects of syncope on the end as if the machines were enraillaient before a return to a state of calm. Certainly more difficult of access than Icons for has New Religion, Agnosia is more abstract but also more frankly ambient, of the same tonality when the album alternated environments. Agnosia remains a completely honest album, and in particular less marked by the influences previously quoted (Coil and:Zoviet*France: at the head). It should be noted that this production is a collaboration between Harmful (structure managed by Formication) and Dark Winter (netlabel American dedicated to the musics dark-ambient), and is thus available to the traditional format CD (limited to 500 specimens) and in free remote loading on the netlabel.
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Thanks to Tobias Fischer of Tokafi for this review:< a>

It is with mixed emotions that we present this album as part of our first �Dark Ambient Special�. Not because of the quality of the music at hand here. Quite on the contrary, it deserves to be heard by anyone with an internet connection decent enough to allow him to download this work from the pages of the Dark Winter website for free or with enough spare cash to support the band by ordering it at the decidedly friendly price of $7.99. 

What instead turns this into a difficult case is that it seems anything but fair to put any kind of stamp on this UK-based duo, which has by now developped a style both demanding and appropachable and which is made up of as many dark passages as it is of amicably experimental ones. For Formication, it has almost always been like this. �Pieces for a comdemned Piano� called for comparisons with John Cage, while �Redux� explored the possibilities of reworking tracks in a live environment, using certain parameters as starting points and taking them to wherever the moment seemed to dictate.

Quite a lot of the music on �Agnosia� seems to be based on a similar approach. What is most striking about this concise effort is its combination of tracks, which connect through ideas and shared context, rather than mood or texture. The details of these ideas remain undisclosed, however, and left to the listener to interpret. Consequently, objects which would otherwhise never meet are placed side-by-side, pieces develop according to rules outside of our immediate recognition, development can equal decomposition, tribal percussion takes on lead functionality and melody turns to rhythm.

In the three short pieces, which open �Agnosia�, this approach is most obvious. The otherworldy character of the music is offset by its scenic compactness, its morbid undertones softened by the whimsically stuttering, sympathetically broken grooves, which seem to walk through shardes of broken glass while holding a candle to disperse the growing darkness. As the album progresses, however, the claustrophobia intensifies, even as the dreamlike poetry of some moments increases.

It takes until the fourth track, in which gargantuan bass drones pressurise whatever�s left of the air around you, trampled triphop loops try climbing from their traumatised graves, shimmering synthesizer pads colour the sky in phantasmagoric timbres and an electronic bass guitar places black spots on a bleak canvas, that the album draws its audience in completely. After this horrific tour de force, the twelve minutes of the closing Berlin School of Electronic hommage soar off into the eternity of the cosmos on wings of muffled sequencer patterns and warm string sighs.

Formication are not allowing genre-definitions to interfere with this consciously unconscious approach. �Agnosia� remains sealed off from the putside world through highly personal filters. �Why the fuck aren't they headlining the festivals all over the planet?� much-respected Retinascan label founder Burkhard Kelin once asked with reference to Formication, but the answer is just as obvious: Because their music still seems to have been composed on a different planet and within the hermetic atmosphere of their livingroom at midnight. It is this complete disregard of formulistic demands, which makes them hard to categorise � but a true treasure for any Dark Ambient fan with a desire to try out something different for a change."
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Thanks to ZG of Heathen Harvest for the attention:< a>
'Two guys from the UK - Kingsley John Buckland Ravenscroft and Alec D Bowman - come up again with a new masterpiece Agnosia, Formication�s seventh act. And again even by the outlook this album has something to tell about itself. This time their album is not only issued on CD limited to 500 copies, but is available as a net free release via Dark Winter, a label focused on dark ambient, atmospheric sound from all around the world.
Agnosia is a disease, a loss of ability to recognize objects, persons, sounds, shapes, or smells while the specific sense is not defective nor is there any significant memory loss. And maybe the cover that is usually a part and parcel of the concept within each of Formication�s CD this time also a reflection of the main idea. The object on the picture in the middle of the cover is quite difficult to determine. Sure, you can say that it is a shape of the man that is looking down. But some pay perceive it just as a spot..or a number of spots. You see, it is like a test at a psychiatrist�s � your perception depends on how much your mind is out of order..or how luxuriant one�s imagination is. So, as Agnosia come together with some difficulties in recognising the shapes and objects, the choice of the front cover is very appropriate in my opinion. This conception continues on the album, when you cannot be sure what is written on the CD, what you�re hearing and what is the origination of this or that sound, you cannot be sure about the track you�re listening to, because the exact names of the track are known only by the band members or even they might not know which track has which title of those mentioned on the back of the envelope. Yes, small cute envelope in black and white just to hold a CD and nothing else. Well, the artwork of the envelope and CD say it pretty all.
The CD contains only five track, but it is not quantity that counts, isn�t it? It is once again a fine piece of ritualistic ambient that makes you address yourself to the mysterious ancient times and then come back to contemporary world. Or is it a journey to the dreams or better to say nightmares? Pictures of day and night changing each other fast, grey and black clouds running accross the sky, sun rising and setting as if centuries are passing by while you�re just standing and watching. Or it may be you, changing seasons and making the sun set as an ancient shaman, insightful and powerful. These are the first two tracks � a calm atmospheric layer sometimes accompanied with remote haunting sound with rhythmic ornaments built of anxious sounds that remind ritualistic, sometimes shifting shaman drumming. If those two first tracks can be somehow called dark and anxious, then the third track is full of tranquility, which is created with teh help of transparent crystal sounds travelling from ear to ear and eventually slowly moving away so that the beginning of a new track comes as a slight shock. It is not a return to the first two tracks. It is viscous, unclear, very thick. As if you didn�t have any place to move and had to move together with something that moves near, as if the waves of something unknown and unseen moved you, some power you cannot resist. Guitar sound appear as an image of light in the end of a tunnel, a picture of something bright, embodiment of hope, which suddenly disappears to appear again after some time, when viscous, thick sound comes back. This time it is deeper and more atmospheric, this bass makes you feel the space and then fades away to give the way to the last track � Agnosia (the title is not stated on the cover, however), which gives rise to diverse feeling � on one hand it is very calm and even full of light and transparency, but on the other hand it has these sounds in background that doesn�t allow you to relax and calm down, they make you stay attentive and wait for something to happen. Well, something�s indeed happened: this band again pleased my ears and my imagination with their highly atmospheric and professional sound design. Will be waiting for the next album, just as ever!'< div>
Thanks to D.H. of Gridface for this review:< a>
'I had the misfortune of choosing to first listen to this mini-album by the UK duo known as Formication at about one o�clock in the morning, with powerful winds of 70km h whirling at my window in the blackness. The ambience was creepy enough without the music, and when the first sounds of Agnosia began to fade in I feared it would be too much, but I listened, paralyzed.
Shifting, crunchy signals and a looping whistle-like sound immediately make it known that this will be a claustrophobic ambient album of the creepiest quality, something Coil and Elph would be proud of. Howling electronic winds are blowing a rusty gate while inaudible voices try to tempt me in strange tongues.
Just before I feel the need to end the madness, the next track floats in on airy pads and clattering found sounds. I feel calmer now, but still uneasy as the clattering seemingly picks up a rhythm but almost immediately drops it in favor of a new one.
Just as my mind starts to wonder in a paranoid manner what could be next, a soothing bell-like synth loops gorgeously. The tones sound safe and I can relax. Or can I?
A blast of dissonance, sub-bass and what sounds like schizophrenic crickets surround me. A submerged minor-key melody starts to play through all the chaos, but abruptly stops in favor of static. The melody reenters with only the crickets to compete with and a few random bursts of bass.
Maybe the nightmare is over, I think to myself as delayed melodies start to float above me. These sounds are friendly; they will guide me to light. Just then I start getting queasy� the sounds have turned on me, they are closing in on me, the voices are back, they�ve found me. They are getting closer, but I can�t move, they are whispering in my ear. The environment starts to fade away, revealing my room. Was it all just a dream, a nightmare, or maybe both?'< div>
this review from Foxy Digitalis:< a>
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Dark Winter< a>< div>
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'Formication make dark ambient with emphasis on dark. By adding metallic drone and an industrial menace to these five pieces, they have created an ominous and rich EP with more bite than many a similar release.

The highlights for me are the third and fourth tracks. The third track is a somber, rhythmic piece, one that looks within its drone for that rhythm and finds it. The fourth, is an otherworldy, 
echoing, gothic piece, with occasional bursts of static, disturbing bass-heavy howls, and unearthly minor chords, the sound of quiet, probably fetid water dripping.

Most ambient records these days seem to like to end with a long track, and the fifth tune here is a Kraftwerk-esque dream piece running over 12 minutes. Slowly the buildup to an industrial pulse provides a fitting uncoiling of many of the EP�s motifs. This duo knows its electronica history as well as having a bag full of their own ideas. That combination makes for a formidable and creepy entry into the soundscape wars.' 7 10 -- Mike Wood< a> (8 January, 2008)
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Thanks to Paul Lloyd of Side-Line for this:< a>

'Masters of dark ritual ambient Alec Bowman and Kingsley Ravenscroft from Nottingham in the UK present �Agnosia�, a 32 minute album available for free download from net label Dark Winter (www.darkwinter.com) or as a limited edition of 500 CDs. The album, which takes its name from a condition that causes an inability to identify people or things, consists of just five tracks of typically disturbing content. �Night-time in the Forest of Sticks� and �The Skeleton in Your Head� are harrowing dark ritual nightmares hinting at unseen foreboding in the dark woods. �A Sad Story of Not Having� however is surprisingly minimal, serene and gentle, perhaps lulling us into a false sense of security before the haunting spectral voices, deep rumbling tones, fuzzy distortion and ominous scrapes introduce new demons to troubled minds. Cunningly mixing some of the sinister qualities of the opening brace of tracks with the minimal ambience of the third, the duo illustrate their ability to take their already dark electronic music to nightmarish levels. At just under 13 minutes, album closer �Agnosia� continues the journey deeper into the darkness, adding a distorted spectral voice for even more supernatural effect. A very dark album but wonderfully executed and absorbing � just don�t listen to it on your own�or in the dark!' (PL:8) PL
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Huge thanks to Anthony Locke of Norman Records and amp; Brainwashed for this great review:< a> (here is the brainwashed link)< a>

'Formication are the Nottingham based duo of Alec Bowman and Kingsley Ravenscroft who have recorded for Lumberton Trading Company (Thighpaulsandra, Experimental audio Research). My previous experience of their music tells me the ideal way to submerge myself in their latest mini-album 'Agnosia' is through headphones, by candle light with an ice cold Guinness in hand. So here goes...

The albums intro begins with some sinister electronic percussion while some dark ambient atmospheric synths create an unsettling feeling. Distant voices that sound like they're speaking in tongues suggest a nightmarish paranoia... The second track has a wailing sound that resonates through the off kilter percussion while layers of glitches permeate the sound of broken machines, like the technology is dying, taking its final breath as it malfunctions. Then the third track has a warm, lush beauty. Minimal melodic keys and chimes that sound familiar, like coming out of a bad trip with a sense of hope. Simple in its execution yet astounding in its beauty. There are lots of subtle intricate pulses in the background that you can tune into. Deep listening for sure. Not quite the nightmare suggested by the albums opener...
So where next on this journey through abstract sonic worlds?...So you wake up from the nightmare and realize it was just a dream, you take comfort in the knowing and return to your state of sleep but the relief is temporary. You're back in that dark place, the most distant recesses of your subconscious. Artificial crackles and fizzes disorientate you, meanwhile the sounds of insect wings fluttering at a hundred miles an hour puncture the brooding sub bass that weaves in and out of bubbling liquids, deeply rich textures, bleak soundscapes and synthetic audio sculptures. All the while a sense of melancholy permeates. It's a new world but you feel like you've been here before. You can see a million shades of black and each one is more intriguing than the last. 'Agnosia' closes with a cinematic, haunting piece that evolves into a hybrid techno track with eerie vocals and a futuristic vibe that's full of lurking tension and passionate intensity. It eventually becomes totally claustraphobic but as soon as it all becomes too much and I need to turn the lights on I'm relieved with white light as the album fades away like the ghost of a distant memory. A set of tracks that are interesting on every level from their glacial surface through to each subtle detail in the production. At a running time of just over 32 minutes it doesn't overstay its welcome and therefore is ideal for some late night solo escapism during the impending winter.

Although the music is electronic in its construction it retains an organic, human feel throughout. Here are a duo who have truly mastered the art of black electronics. Like Darth Vader and Aleister Crowley on powerbooks after completing a PHD in sound design. Genuinely original sounding material that fans of Coil, Rapoon, Deathprod, and recent Dopplereffekt should investigate. Out on Harmful Records Dark Winter. Recommended.'

Review by Oli Marlow appears in issue 12 of Rock-A-Rolla magazine:< a>

'Agnosia' is the loss of the basic ability to recognise objects and people; a misfortune that conjures visions of darkness and panic, with a little self-torture thrown in for bad measure. The so titled new mini album from Nottingham noise duo Formication would soundtrack an exploration into such a mind bending funk perfectly without question and also happens to be their first project on Harmful Records Dark Winter. Evolving from high-paced texture riddles, through simple ambience and on into delayed piano dalliances, the first three tracks cover all manner of Formication, pushing your listening through loops and after effects until you crave for more when the atmosphere swells into a cold syllable-less silence. Kingsley John Buckland Ravenscroft and Alec D Bowman are adept to handling the sheer and the grating, morphing their sonics together with feedback and purpose, extending and maximising the reach of their abstractions. It's only on the sparse 12 minute closer that you get to see that they are a dab hand at minimalism too, as they merge aspects of repetitive percussion into the synthesized wash.'

This review from Remco of Gothtronic:< a>


'Dragging through the dark melting muddy grounds of an spacious landscape with a glassy yellow moon shining in the dark oily earth. Tribal rhythms echoing through the thick intoxicated air. Sulphur breathing creatures coming closer as you see their steaming breath filling the air.
On Agnosia Formication brings you Moon Musick with a deep unearthly sound and wide character. Their dark electrified music is mesmerizing and will bring you into an altered state of mind filled with dark blooming flowers of unknown origin.
Coil surely is a keyword to this release for they are travelling the same route through eclectic and bizarre landscapes with shifting formations and deep pulsations.

Alec Bowman and Kingsley Ravencroft created a technologic journey through a nightmarish countryside.
�Symptom of a Mind Disorder� starts rhythmically with nervous electronic pulses and distant sounds of animals coming crackling through timber. �A Sad Story of Not Having� will bring you into higher atmospheres with flowing sounds entwined with a squeaking and crackling loops like a broken machine.� The Skeleton in Your Head� is particularly peaceful with distant woolly piano chords drowning in reverb. �Night-time in the Forest< placetype> of Sticks< placename>< place>� takes you back to hallucinatory landscapes with the mesmerizing sound of strange animals. This track comes to you like a feverish delirious dream. A slow evolving melody and deep bass chords widen up the atmosphere for you to enter this surrealistic land with watery grounds. �Agnosia� is the last track on this, with only 32 Minutes, a bit short CD. This again takes you in liquid textures of anomalistic landscapes of bubbling and pulsations. Incantations are whispered and the earth is brooding its new breed. The pale sky is enlightened by spaceships releasing their high pitched sounds while moving through the air.

Agnosia feels like a claustrophobic soundtrack of an delirious nightmare. This technoid record sounds organic with haunted atmospheres and dark pictures of an unearthly surface. Agnosia is not an original album but is of rather good quality and comes pretty close to Coil�s Music to Play in the Dark.'

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This from Frans De Waard at Vital Weekly:< a>

'Following a string of releases on CDR and MP3, Formication made their move into 'real' CDs with 'Icons For A New Religion' (see Vital Weekly 579), and now return with 'Agnosia' for Harmful Records, which is their own label. Still a duo of Alec Bowman and Kingsley Ravenscroft, and still taking their influences from the last forty years of alternative music (from Conrad Schnitzler to Pete Namlook, from Throbbing Gristle to Porter Ricks). Highly atmospheric music, playing the mood card rather than the well structured composed card. Playing around with musical instruments, mainly samplers and synthesizers me thinks, this moves away from the previous release, which was a bit too 'magickal' and 'ritualistik' for my taste. This new one seems to be more open, has more air in it. Especially the final track (couldn't figure out the track titles) build around a pulsating rhythm is quite nice, highly psychedelic, but also having their marks inside ambient through dreamy synthesizers and a slightly distorted voice. A bit like Zoviet*France, this entire release, except that this is a bit short, clocking at some thirty-two minutes. Nice move this one. (FdW)'


Thanks to Leon Vlieger and amp; IkEcht for the following reviews:< a>

The English Formication has been reviewed here before with "Pieces For A Condemned Piano". Agnosia is their new outing (quickly following up on their previous release "Icons For A New Religion") and is a novelty for the .net label Dark Winter in that it is their first release which is also offered for sale as a limited CD.

Where the previous "Pieces For A Condemned Piano" impressed me outright, this album shows a very different side of the artists. Partly this is due to the dissonant character of the sounds used. It is not so much that the used sounds are harsh (as the palette is actually rather warm), but that the manipulations used on many of the sounds, a sort of delayed echo, gives them a rather stuttering character. The short span of the album (five tracks in 32 minutes) in combination with a bit of an incoherent character overall left me rather perplexed the first few times; exactly WHAT was it I have just been listening to? Subsequent listening sessions improved this picture though. The first two tracks still do not quite captivate me, but the second half of the album delivers a warmer sound which is not altogether unpleasant. Especially the fourth track sounds like a condensed version of the masterful 45-minute fourth track of Jean Michel Jarre's "Waiting For Cousteau". I would recommend this album to lovers of ambient and other electronic oddities. But do not be surprised if this album does not reveal itself to you immediately.' - Songsoverruins

Thanks to Roger Batty of Musique Machine for this review:< a>

'This new ep from dark electrionca duo Formication really shows them making thier sound denser, deepen and more unnerving. It also finds them removing a lot of the clichéd and amp; straight forward beat patterns that littered their last full length and amp; replace them with more complex and deviant ones. 
Though you can still hear hints of others work it seems to be getting less and less with their own dark and hallucinogenic electronic identity coming to the fore. The tracks often feel like look into darkly deranged and macabre magic eye pictures, the closer you listener the more unnerving and down right creep elements appear to ones ear. I guess if you were to make comparison you'd could say Coil around black light district album, or the sinister audio texturing of Boards of Canada�s Geogaddi, but there�s enough dark and malignant musically personality here to let it stand sinister in the Connor on it�s own
A consistent and effective excise in dark and dense beat making that really slows this project is starting to swim more and more in their own dark waters.'
Thanks to Simon Lewis of the fine Terrascope Online for this:< a>
Released on the suitably named Dark Winter Records, �Agnosia� the latest release from Formication, is a powerful piece of dark electronica that inhabits the space between waking and dreaming. Over 32 minutes and 5 tracks the album crackles with glitchy percussion slow moving drones and lysergic soundscapes that alter the very room. Comparable with Future Sound Of London or early Tangerine Dream, lovers of electronic music should not hesitate from diving headlong into the dark ambience.
Thanks to Matt Howarth and amp; Sonic Curiosity for this:< a>
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'This release from 2007 offers 32 minutes of industrial ilbience.
Abrasive electronics are harnessed to generate five tracks straight out of the pitch black twilight of a nuclear winter.
Abstract cybernetic rhythms assail the senses in the first track, while shrill pitches wail and eerie sounds lurch about in the hazy distance.
The second piece is brief and allows contentious beats to duel for domination. Some tonalities try to act as referee between these tempos but they are utterly outweighed by the conflict.
The next piece utilizes bell-like keyboards to achieve a choppy melody that ends up chasing its own tail in a dreamy loop. Ultimately, this cyclic riff sinks into a pool of minimal chitterings.
The music reverts to pure ilbience with the next piece, as glitchy sounds swarm amid sparkling bleeps and machines issuing bestial growlings. In the distance, a harmony strives to be heard, but is repeatedly beaten down by the harsher burblings of monsters best not viewed too closely.
The final track clocks in at 12 minutes and offers the most structured arrangement. Elements from previous tracks (shrill pitches, glitchy beats, wavery tones) conspire to produce an almost melodic sequence that delivers the listener from apocalypse through a dreamy realm of perilous substance. Passage from the darkness is littered with spooky mutterings and celestial tonalities. Deliverance is actually quite dubious, for the tune's taint could remain buried deep in the audience's battered psyche.
These compositions are stridently sparse, yet dense with haunting elements scurrying about an environment punctuated by gritty e-perc. The mood is dark and hostile, even when the tunes adopt restraint in their assault. A decidedly artsy compression of ilbience and ambience.'
Thanks to Jaap Kamminga of Ikecht for this review:< a>

For a long time Formication to me was just "Pieces For A Condemned Piano", though they had allready done quite a bit more than that. Now they come with "Agnosia" a work that brings in some new things for them, but especially something new for the label "Dark Winter". This is their first ever release that will not only be a .net release but is also available as a limited cd-r.

The album has five tracks and five track-titles. But there isn't a one on one binding between track and title. They call it a constant flux. Well let it be so.. it doesn't do it for me, but I'll just talk about track 1 to 5 then in the order they appear on the cd-r.

Track 1 then is a very minimalistic piece. Listening on a normal volume-level you hear close to nothing at all. Track 2 is the longest track on the album with around 13 minutes, and also the most varied. Samples meet distortion and all kind of different effects to create a track that slowly takes over control over me. The vague voices somewhere in the back of the sound, the controlling buzz, the continuing squeaky sounds in the background that you can't escape. And then out of nothing, still deformed, but recognisable.. there is "Freedom", but what do they mean with that word? It is especially in this track that I'm reminded of Coil and Throbbing Gristle. Just as surprising, just as beautifull and yes, I dare say, just as good.

Track 3 has a bit more melody and is more creepy then track 2. Strange field-recordings (?) are deformed in such a way you can almost dance to them. Alas, this starts to be a bit too much of the same after about 90 seconds, and the track is not yet finished then. Yes there are changes, but not enough to keep my attention focused on the track.
Track 4 again is bit more on the ambient side, with a strange deformed bass-loop. Special and original for sure. Good? Well I don't know. It keeps on attracting my attention for sure. With the strange sounds on the foreground and the bass that starts to hamper after all. Leaving a world that contains more light, but still is every bit as obsessed as it was at start.
Track 5 then is another track where ambient meets rhythm. And this time it is done in such a way that you can't help but enjoy. This is very good and you want your headphones to close over your ears even better, you hope you won't miss a sound.

The two Brits behind Formication have again given us a very nice piece of work. A work with which they show ambient doesn't allways have to sound the same at the same time proving industrial is not dead. It isn't a masterpiece, but I can for sure advice this one. For those who like coil, but also for fans of Jarl and Troum. '

Thanks to Petcord for this review:< a>

Darkness. Cold machinery. Walking down a steamy hall, indifferently, precise and predictable mechanic rhythms creating new values. All of that and more could be the introduction to Formication< a>�s Agnosia, released on the Dark Winter< a> netlabel, notorious for its rather gloomy music selection. Formication�s line of music is remotely derived from IDM< a>, in that there are fixed rhythms and repetitive analogue synth sequences that go through some serious filter manipulation. But there are also references to what is commonly identified as industrial and dark ambient: hovering synth tones, the obligatory vault sound and an artwork strongly reminiscent of the Goth scene< a>�s black celebration standards. Add to it some zombified phone-line voices, nervously stuttering sequences and you are nearly there. 
Perhaps the sound is not that groundbreaking if you look at it from the angle of innovation, but then again this is a rather moot point as this shortcoming is overcompensated with intelligent arrangements and well adjusted antennas for creating a cinematic atmosphere loaded with tension. The pale, synewave tortured staggering rythm of the second track is a class of its own, how it mercilessly proceeds with sinister harshness in a hostile, post-atomic war environment. Then the sky lightens up with a faint synth motif, although it is too distant and soft to be a real comfort and is too quickly pushed aside by a subsonic wavering bassline that tosses up metallic splinters in a steamy vault filled with the slurping sound of digesting aliens. At times a melancholic minor sequence echoes a final desperate thought, reflections slowly dripping from the walls like tears shed in vain.
The bizarre scenery culminates in the final track that courageously expands to an impressive range of almost 13 minutes and succeeds where many other artists fail miserably. It picks up the lighter intermission theme from track three, this time pushed into the virtual foreground and slowly drowning in dubmatic echoes, soon to be interfered by noisy feedback hysterically screaming in a shattered state of anxiety. Slowly a analogue synth bassline is fading in and terribly mutilated overflanged zombie voices announcing their final state of insanity. No doubt, these are great moments of dramaturgy and well supported by a decent production quality. To me this is one of the top releases of the year and probably one of the best ever heard from Dark Winter, thus I strongly recommend my readers to download this release, pick up some high quality earphones and enjoy the mind movie.'
Thanks to Textura for this:< a>
Agnosia (definition: �inability to recognize objects by use of the senses�) presents the five latest macabre mini-soundtracks from the black forest by Nottingham-based alchemists Alec Bowman and Kingsley Ravenscroft aka Formication. At thirty-two minutes, the plunge into dark ambient is shorter this time around yet the material is as ritualistic and mind-melting as anything the duo's unleashed before.
The EP's disturbing mood is immediately established when monstrous groans in �Symptoms of a Nervous Disorder� suggest a dying soul being dragged towards a forest burial pit filled with scurrying insects scurrying and distant wails (�A Sad Story of Not Having�). After a brief interlude of uncharacteristic calm (the peaceful �The Skeleton in Your Head�), the plunge into the dark underbelly continues (�Night-Time in the Forest of Sticks �) where shadowy behemoths and swarms of chattering insects are encountered. The title piece finally arrives to lift the veil of blackness and instill some modest degree of hope to arise for at least one more day. However, the restrained dub-like intro gives way to disease that spreads throughout the decaying body, prompting hallucinations of croaking voices, sour tones, and burbling electronic patterns. Formication's music offers the crowning aural complement to to an evening spent ingesting peyote and absinthe while reading Edgar Allen Poe and H.P. Lovecraft. < div>< div>

'Lost Icons'

'Lost Icons' features rare and unreleased works from the �Icons for a New Religion� sessions.

This release is full of atmosphere, well worth getting onto your hard-drive and available right now at the Formication VIRB page (which is linked to at the top of this page)< a>
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'Catastrophe in Blue'
Go to Subvert Central< a> where 'Catastrophe in Blue' is now available for your listening pleasure on 3*12" vinyl. This recording takes the form of doomed excursion through the stratosphere; there are no human survivors�

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