Orion Music Workshop - Mâlemort
(OMNISON02 / March 2023)


25€ - 200 copies (SOLD OUT)

"We left our hero in his previous adventures embarking on a journey to the edges, where the music of a fantasized desert was playing in an outsider art gallery. Percussions of death, flutes leading to a weird ceremony, the new chapter hits hard. We sail in a canoe on a flow of organic sounds, this second volume follows the quest for a cosmic Grail where the dancefloor makes primitive rhyme with pleasurable. A fruitful novelty, the machine invites itself into the ancestral cave, a metronomic pulse plays the spinal column of an exciting and wonky groove. Result, a record taking his source in an after punk under the Bazooka standard. Kind of Throbbing Gristle in the forest of Brocéliande, La Perversita and Neu wandering off in the Atlas… A sonic restlessness which certainly evokes a venerable sensibility. Caught between two stools but the choice of not choosing will be the chosen option. Here and there, today and tomorrow, this music of the future and past is mesmerizing to the highest degree." (Maximilien Douche / Oedipe Purple)

Electronics, flutes, voice, zither, kalimba, glass, percussions (darbuka, hand percussion, balafon) by Tom Val
Recorded and mixed at Bâtiment 8 between October 2022 and December 2022

"Seemingly active since 2021, Orion Music Workshop has been steadily (and quietly) creating and manufacturing their own music on their own terms on the outskirts of Paris.  It’s fringe music to the core - hermetic, inward-looking, claustrophobic and full of intrigue.  We spend a lot of time looking for music with these qualities.  The billowing flute skirts around the edges of free jazz, yet the metronomic 4/4 drive of the drum machine acts as a ground and structural core.  It’s a combination that evokes Elliott Sharp and Bachir Attar’s incredible ‘In New York’ collaboration, but the textural and cultural sound-clash here evokes something more eerie and unsettling inside.  Backwards tape loops, elliptical percussion and distant calls make for a deeply psychedelic, hyper-sensory experience - oddly ritualistic, cosmic and irresistible.  The handy press references the anarchic spirit of La Peversita / Bazooka as inspiration, which is apt - we’ll happily throw in the likes of Leven Signs, Flaming Tunes and the Förlag För Fri Musik aesthetic (namely Oroskällan) for good measure.  Real uncompromising outsider music." (All Night Flight)

"Une rythmique « automatique » qui semble tourner à vide rencontre les vibrations d’un instrumentiste dans une nuit noire et épaisse, les brumes collent aux arbres, les loups rappliquent. Une flûte semble hululer, brièvement. Toujours cette rythmique rachitique, troublée par une myriade de flûteries encerclantes, des voix à l’envers, comme un Bob de sous-bois. Les cordes sont prêtes. Elles font leur entrée, usées, chancelantes, tournoyant autour des désespoirs, soufflant leurs formules mentales avec la mystériosité du folklore. Le cornet reprend des kicks, on a envie de bramer dans les oreilles de porteurs de sonotone mais c’est finalement 9 minutes et 37 secondes de surplace, la tête dans les vapes. Trackstand involontaire, sentiers non balisés, Bob rôde toujours. Mais soudain, proche de la scierie, dans cette odeur de copeaux si réconfortante, un portail s’ouvre, une dimension inconnue et il y’a vraiment de quoi foncer tête baissée" (Redlight Sanatorium)

"I'm currently very excited about the recently released LP by the Orion Music Workshop. This is a solo project by Tom Val which, for the sake of rough categorization, would most likely be assigned to the genre of electronic music. However natural sound generators such as flutes, zither, kalimba, percussion instruments and voices are also involved. Already at the first listening it is noticeable that a very special music was realized here. The interplay of the electronic elements, which often form the basis, carpet or texture of the pieces, creates a vibrant tension due to the antagonistic effect with the other instruments and effects. The resulting mysterious mood captivates the listener. But only with repeated listening it is possible to explore the different layers and levels, to discover new interactions e.g. between background noise, rhythm machine and reverb effects, to discover the multitude of reminiscences, quotations and influences. As a matter of course, dejá vu-like scenes bead into our consciousness, giving rise to associations of Throbbing Gristle, Suicide and early Cabaret Voltaire. However, one should not be tempted by these definitely existing genes to reduce this work to a mere industrial remake. There is so much more to be found in the depths of the tracks if the listener, in the spirit of an archaeologist, uncovers trace elements of free jazz, space age, psychedelic or krautrock. In short, a great record whose only downer will be its limited existence. The numbered 200 copies coming with handmade, tampon-printed sleeve will find their lovers quite quickly." (Hausmüller Und Das Jazz)