Dimension Set

The space-spider overlords of the star known as Mizar (which is both the cosmic home and the extraterrestrial point of origin of Mauve Zone Recordings) have issued to our terrestrial outpost here on Earth the discovery of the so-called "Dimension Set" (or, as a variation, "Dimension Seth"). This dimension, which in some manner is identical to what Kenneth Grant refers to as "The Mauve Zone", is a source of great occult power and also a fountainhead for the so-called Typhonian (or Necronomicon) Gnosis. A good idea of its visual appearance can be provided by consulting a certain stage in the Nintendo DS game known as "Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin" (the stage in question being "The Forgotten City"), a screenshot of which can be found below:



At the moment our established colleague, Frater Tsalal, is projecting himself into Dimension Set and, thus observing the alien sigils, is translating them into human language afterwards. The end result will be a curious document known simply as "Grimoire." This book will contain the secrets of the Sodality of the Holy Shadow and Mauve Zone Recordings, masquerading under the subtle masque of "weird fiction."

Due to this new project (and the fact that Frater Tsalal's human avatar, James Champagne, is planning on getting back to work on his second novel in 2009), Mauve Zone Recordings will be going on temporary hiatus. However, we are always on the lookout for new artists, and of course this blog will be updated with news on a regular basis. And, needless to say, one can still download all the current albums released on the label thus far off our page on the Internet Archive.

We thank you for your interest,

Arthur Limbo

Dark Tentacle RIP

The Dark Tentacle website is no more. With all of the computer problems I had, the original files I had for the pages I had up already were lost, thus making it impossible to edit (even though the site remained online). Even more galling, I lost the original HTML NTS pages, so almost all of the documents I had related to the NTS are gone (with the exception of some of the artwork and a few text documents). So I cancelled the site today. Probably for the best, really... trying to run 4 "secret" socities had become kind of a pain in the ass, to be honest. I still want to have an MZR website up one day, but it seems that now is not the time. I'm trying to simplify my life as it is right now. And it kind of makes sense to bring The Dark Tentacle to an end around the same time that the Black Glove storyline on Batman comes to an end.

MZR on temporary hiatus

Due to catastrophic computer problems as of late, Mauve Zone Recordings (and all other organizations linked with The Dark Tentacle) will be going on a temporary hiatus, until I can get a new computer (the crippled one I have now is currently unable to even play sounds). In a way this is almost a blessing as MZR has been eating up much of my time lately, and I've been neglecting my writing, which I hope to get back to now. Hopefully by 2009 MZR will be operational again. In the meantime, the label's blog, webpage, and Internet Archive page are still operational.


-Arthur LImbo

Dark Tentacle Website

www.thedarktentacle.com

Just in time for Halloween, at last, the official Dark Tentacle website (which also includes the official Mauve Zone Recordings website). It is still in a larval stage at the moment, so please excuse the raw look it has at this point. A work in progress, it will be ever mutating over the coming weeks, so keep watch everyday for new content. More details coming soon...

Oh yes, and Happy Halloween!

Dark Tentacle Website News + MZR Political Endorsement

The official Dark Tentacle website is set to be unveiled to the public this Halloween. As The Dark Tentacle is an umbrella organization, the website will be a portal of sorts, also housing the following organizations:

Organization Name/Head of Organization/Purpose of Organization
==============================================================

Mauve Zone Recordings: Arthur Limbo (Music)
Necronomicon Transhumanist Society: Administrator Zlaxalah (Philosophy)
The Sodality of the Holy Shadow: Sister Zillah Champagne (Religion)
Dark Tentacle Publishing: VACANT FOR NOW (Literature)

Generally speaking, we here at MZR generally do not discuss politics all that often. Then again, the Surrealists were never one to shy away from the issue, so, with that in mind (and needless to say the stance of the heads of MZR does not in any way reflect the political viewpoints of all the artists on our label), I would like to say here that Mauve Zone Recordings supports Barack Obama in his bid for Presidency of the United States.

We Have A Special Plan For This World

Everything you've heard about Mauve Zone Recordings is true.

We are operators at the highest level.

And now, dear listener, the Dark Tentacle is pointing at you.

Come, take your place for the Danse Macabre!


Here at MZR, we want to party like it's 1899.

Masked balls and opium orgies, green tea and the recital of Baudelaire poetry, seances and haunted ouija tables.

The Name of the Party: "A Dream as White as the Death of a Seagull"

Where: The Mauve Zone.

When: now, within the adumbration of some future nameless Aeon.

This season's theme: 19th-century style French Decadence.

Special guests in attendance:

J.K. Huysmans, Jean Lorrain, Remy de Gourmont, Rachilde, Octave Mirbeau, H.P. Lovecraft, the Abbe Boullan, Dr. Johannes, Canon Docre, Durtal, Maldoror, Antichrist, St. Moravagine, St. Teresa of Avila, The Black Glove, Dr. Simon Hurt, The Joker, Set, Kenneth Grant, Michael Bertiaux, LAM, William S. Burroughs, Jean Genet, Arthur Rimbaud, August Strindberg, Bruno Schulz, Leonora Carrington, Andy Warhol, Richard Marsh, Sax Rohmer, The Fabulous Mr. Meaningless, The Crying Spider, Lord Cthulhu, Patrick Bateman, Choronzon, The Kliphotic King of the Larvae of the Dead, and the Booda Carrot himself.

Portraits of guests being provided by Odilon Redon.



This event is being sponsored in collaboration with Mauve Zone Recordings, The Necronomicon Transhumanist Society, The Sodality of the Holy Shadow, The Ghooric Order of the Shoggothian Nuns, The Final Church of the Zumb Zumb Apocalypse, The Cultus of the Locusts, and, of course, The Dark Tentacle itself.



All guests will be receiving a special party favor, which is the soundtrack to this event:



This album, the very first compilation album from Mauve Zone Recordings, features tracks from every artist who has contributed to our label up to this point in space-time. It also features guest appearances from other interesting parties (such as To Repel Ghosts), to say nothing of artists whose work will be showcased in greater detail in the future (in particular, Serapeum and Orchestra 23). This album also marks the worldwide debut of Moya Sestra, who we are very happy to unleash on the populance. In addition to all of this, the album comes with a short story named Mauve Movies, a Neo-Goth Narrative that illustrates the sort of ultradimensional perichoresis we strive for. A big thank you to every artist who has contributed to not only this album but also to MZR thus far, and also we would like to thank those of you who have listened to our albums.

This album was channeled to Earth from a nameless Aeon of the future. To be more precise, March 15, 2337, a date highly significant in that it marks not only the 400 year anniversary of the death of H.P. Lovecraft, but also the discovery of the Ghooric Zone on one of the moons of Yuggoth by a group of space-traveling sex-crazed cyborgs.

Finally, we would like to dedicate this album to Fire Hydrant 451 and One Hundred Years of Salad Two.

Running time: 60 minutes

Track listing:

1. Orchestra 23: Intro (4:29)
2. The Cat Band: Goods in the Hood (3:12)
3. Sypha Nadon: The Wish Wish Song (4:22)
4. The People's Tongue: Staunch (2:14)
5. To Repel Ghosts: Blow (4:43)
6. Serapeum: Fansystem (4:39)
7. Zyklon Vagina: The Creeping Sickness (2:42)
8. Orchestra 23: Intermission (1:38)
9. Bryce Clayton Eiman: Sex in Heaven (4:22)
10. Thomas Moronic: Boulder Dash (5:12)
11. Moya Sestra: Spider Joe (5:40)
12. Boy Destroyer: Wild Boys Remix (3:20)
13. Sypha Nadon: The Mauve Zone (7:33)
14. Orchestra 23: Outro (2:56)
15. James Champagne: The Lord's Prayer (2:38)

album front cover artwork by Erik Visser.

You may download your party favor for free (as always) here:

http://www.archive.org/details/MZR014

Questions and concerns may be directed either to one of our gargoyle staff members or sent to mzr777@gmail.com.

MZR 014 update

MZR 014, A Dream as White as the Death of a Seagull, is set to be released the week of October 12. Due to various circumstances the tracklisting has been enlarged. More details to come.

Perichoresis

2009 will see the release of a new Sypha Nadon album. This album, which originally was to have been a self-titled release, will now be called Perichoresis. In addition to new music, it will also come with a special short story written specifically for the album. More details in the coming months.

The Dark Tentacle

We would like to tell our dedicated listeners that recently Mauve Zone Recordings was purchased by the Dark Tentacle. This will not change our present direction or ambitions.

Mauve Zone Recordings is now the musical branch of the Dark Tentacle, just as the Necronomicon Transhumanist Society is the philosophical branch, and the Sodality of the Holy Shadow is the religious branch (more on this later). Coming soon will be Dark Tentacle Publishing, our literature and publications branch, whose purpose will be the distribution of Neo-Goth Narratives.

We would also like to welcome aboard our Insect Trust a new member: Dr. Gargoyle. A mastermind at sound experimentation, Neuro-Linguistic Programming, and Induction Trigger Phrases, he'll be hard at work on the ultra-secret Project Noir, which will be released to the public next year. More details to come.

The Insect Trust:

H.P. Lovecraft: Our Spiritual Founder
Arthur Limbo: MZR founder and owner
James Champagne: Art, Production, Text, Promotion
Sypha Nadon: Mauvian Symphonist
Dr. Gargoyle: Science, Sound Experimentation
The Fabulous Mr. Meaningless: Dada Muse
The Booda Carrot: Our Godhead

MZR compilation album update

The upcoming release of the first MZR compilation album will be slightly delayed to the influx of new material we have coming in. Rest assured that this new material will only serve to enhance the listening experience.

Also, in addition to the extensive liner notes, a short story written by James Champagne will accompany the album. This story, called "Mauve Movies: A Neo-Goth Narrative", will be around 20 pages long, and is his first new short story since "Kali Yuga" (which was written in 2006). It is hoped that this fictional work will compliment the sounds on the album itself. At the moment James is only 7 pages into the story, so he is almost half done it. Which also accounts for the delay of the compilation.

Future MZR albums may also be enhanced with prose artifacts and other various objets d'art noir. On this subject, however, we cannot elaborate at the moment.

The art book "Leonora Carrington: Surrealism, Alchemy And Art" is highly recommended, despite its hefty price tag (well, it is an art book, after all). The lover of Max Ernst, Carrington is an accomplished surrealist artist in her own right, and also a novelist. Her art perfectly captures a certain atmosphere that we find evocative and delightful. One of her works ("The Ancestor") can be seen adorning the top of this press release.

MZR PRESS RELEASE

Coming September 2008:

A Dream as White as the Death of a Seagull [MZR014]

We are pleased to announce the imminent arrival of the first compilation album from Mauve Zone Recordings, featuring nearly 50 minutes of new music from all the artists who have thus far appeared on the label (along with a few extra special guests)!

Tracklisting (may change before the final release):

Orchestra 23: "Intro"
The Cat Band: "Goods in the Hood"
Sypha Nadon: "The Wish Wish Song"
The People's Tongue: "Staunch"
Zyklon Vagina: "The Creeping Sickness"
Bryce Clayton Eiman: "Sex in Heaven"
Orchestra 23: "Intermission"
Thomas Moronic: "Boulder Dash"
[Special Mystery Guest]: "Spider Joe"
Boy Destroyer: "Wild Boys Remix"
Sypha Nadon: "The Mauve Zone"
Orchestra 23: "Outro"

[Running time: 46 minutes]

With special cover art by Erik Visser, based on a concept of Arthur Limbo:



This stimulating and arousing digital miasma will derange the senses of humans and NON-humans alike!

Mauve Zone Recordings: We curse all gold and silver.

MZR recommendations #1: Artists

Mauve Zone Recordings recommends the following artists:

Andy Warhol
Odilon Redon
Max Ernst
Edward Gorey
Salvador Dali
Austin Osman Spare
Paul Laffoley
Yves Tanguy
Dorothea Tanning
Louis Wain
Francis Bacon
Damien Hirst
Steffi Grant
H.R. Giger
Gilbert & George
Jenny Saville
Erik Visser
Hans Bellmer
Leonora Carrington
Gahan Wilson
Grant Cook
Trevor Brown
Luca Signorelli
Math Tinder
Kier Mcgregor
David Tibet
Babs Santini
Man Ray
Egon Schiele
Camille Rose Garcia
Hieronymus Bosch
Pieter Bruegel the Elder
Jean Theodor Toorop

Coming at midnight: exciting new information about the upcoming MZR compilation!

Press Release

Also coming soon from MZR: official recommendations!

Nocturne

Be assured.

Mauve Zone Recordings is a seal of absolute quality and esoteric satisfaction.

Mauve Zone Recordings aims to deliver a deluxe service high stake's audio experience at the very highest levels of the international game.

Tonight, for your delication, a song to revive your jaded senses: we offer you a new track by Sypha Nadon, named "The Mauve Zone." It is one of two new Sypha Nadon tracks, which will appear next month on the MZR album "A Dream as White as the Death of a Seagull" [MZR014]. "The Mauve Zone" is like no other Sypha Nadon song. Juxtaposing the atmosphere of a Kenneth Grant poem of the same name with new and exciting musical and recording techniques, it marks the second coming of the Sypha Nadon sound, a nocturnal symphony that evokes the miasma of a nightside dream. In fact, it could very well be the official anthem of Mauve Zone Recordings. Inspired by the sublunary literature of the Mauve Zone and also H.P. Lovecraft's "At the Mountains of Madness", it is bound to excite the phantom flowers which grow in the deepest soil of your soul. The new song may be heard at the Sypha Nadon MySpace page, here:

http://www.myspace.com/syphanadon

Also coming soon from MZR: a new album by Sypha Nadon, plus two new albums from Bryce Clayton Eiman (one in 2008, the other in 2009).

This news has been brought to you by the Dark Tentacle in league with the Final Church of the Zumb Zumb Apocalypse.

Mauve Zone Recordings: providing moving arias for a vanishing style of mind.


(SYPHA NADON POSTER)

SURFACES

MZR (and the Final Church of the Zumb Zumb Apocalypse) would like to draw attention to the fact that noted musician/writer Thomas Moore (also known as Thomas Moronic) has just put out his first collection of poetry, named "Surfaces". Published by Broken Blood Press and distributed via Lulu, it may be purchased at the following link (I just bought a copy myself a few minutes ago):

http://www.lulu.com/content/2054435

Also coming soon from Thomas Moore is his first collection of short stories, "People Are Not Like Trees". He's also at work on a novel, excerpts of which he's been posting on his blog here:

http://thomasmoronic.blogspot.com/

Coming soon from MZR...

New review for "Sonny Bono's Favorites"

mike-floyd recently posted a review of The People's Tongue album "Sonny Bono's Favorites" at the homemade lofi psych blog yesterday. The full review may be read at the following link:

http://homemade-lofi-psychedelic.blogspot.com/2008/03/peoples-tongue-presents-sonny-bonos.html

New Album: Sypha Nadon: "The Black Omen" soundtrack [MZR012]

MZR is pleased as always to announce the release of a new item. Today, it is Sypha Nadon's "The Black Omen," which is the soundtrack to a non-existant computer game. This is the first full album of Sypha Nadon material since 2006's "Threnody for Zumb Zumb" (which was released on the This Plague of Dreaming netlabel).

From the liner notes:

"In the summer of 1995, I was contacted by a man named Alex Gibson, founder and CEO of Young Gods Studios, a tiny software development company that had formed earlier that year. Though they had yet to release a game, they had many ideas that were innovative and cutting-edge. In particular, they were inspired by another small software development company called Looking Glass Studios, who of course are well known for the Thief and System Shock series. In fact, Young Gods Studios was even based in the same building as Looking Glass Studios. At the time, Young Gods was working on a first person POV Sci-Fi horror/survival game known as “The Black Omen.” It was very much influenced by System Shock, which had come out the previous year to great critical acclaim. However, the Black Omen was to have had a more accessible UI, better graphics, and more action-packed gameplay. They wanted the complexity, atmosphere, and brains of System Shock along with the muscular brawn of Doom. The game was also influenced by films like the Alien series and the Evil Dead series, along with Stephen R. Donaldson’s Gap Cycle novels, along with a dollop of H.P. Lovecraft. I was hired to create the game’s soundtrack. They gave me a list of all the songs they needed for the game, including a main theme, a song for the opening cinema, a game over song, an end credits song, and music for the game itself, the songs that would be heard during the missions. Many of these songs were meant to be background music that was supposed to be looped repeatedly until the player completed the level. Which is why some of them are kind of bare bones. At the time, the music for many games was done using MIDI, so that’s what I used for the Black Omen soundtrack. Every single sound on the soundtrack came via MIDI; no samples of any sorts were used. The music I created was influenced by a lot of things, including Bobby Prince’s music for Doom (which was also all MIDI, with the exception of the game’s sound effects), industrial dance music that was popular in the 90’s (such as Front Line Assembly, Nine Inch Nails, and so on), stuff like that. Sadly, funding for the game ran out at a very late period in the game’s development and it was never officially released. However, bootlegs have been cropping up over the years, being sold at very high prices, mainly on eBay. Too bad, it was a great game; it could have sold well, even though it was very derivative of System Shock."

The album, as always, may be downloaded for free from the MZR page at the Internet Archive, here:

http://www.archive.org/details/MZR012

Thank you for your consideration.

2000 download milestone

Congratulations to The People's Tongue for being the first band on MZR to hit the 2000 download mark (with their album "Sonny Bono's Favorites").