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1.
2.
M 16:35
3.
4.
Malstrom 09:18
5.
Adil'iu 05:50
6.
Tenebrae 06:22
7.

about

Violin [Electric Violin], Voice, Electronics [Contact Microphones, Live Electronics] – Mia Zabelka
Graphic Design – Manasteriotti∞Marić
Artwork - Mia Makela
Mastering and mixing – Christoph Amann
Photography – Ulrike Sulzenbacher
Producer – Zahra Mani
Label - Monotype Records

credits

released October 30, 2011

2012 - babysue magazine -USA
Wonderfully mesmerizing and hypnotic stuff from Austria’s Mia Zabelka…a lady whose music that can take you to a higher consciousness if you choose to let it. If you’re not into the idea of sound as music then M is an album that will probably seem confusing. Zabelka is a young lady who is taking plenty of risks. According to the liner notes her music “…is a continuous exploration of sound and music as physical phenomena, constantly pushing back the boundaries in radical and sometimes provocative performances and compositions.” That is an accurate way of summing up what’s going on here. Mia uses lots of effects to see how far she can go using the electric violin and voice…and the results are rather far out and spectacular. Zabelka’s universe is a curious one in which she seems compelled to push the limits of sound. Some of these pieces are trippy, others spooky, and others downright surreal. These seven compositions are extremely heady and involved…and are only recommended for fans of serious experimental stuff. Cool bizarre cuts include “Korperklangmaschine,” “Opus M,” “Tenebrae,” and “Roter Halbmond.” TOP PICK.

2012 - Le Son du grisli - France
N’éprouvant pas de goût particulier pour le violon électrique (il en est ainsi), la passion avec laquelle Mia Zabelka « l’enfourche » sur la couverture de son nouveau CD m’a fait craindre le pire. Ca, c’était avant que la première plage ne me rassure : la musique de Zabelka s’y diffuse goutte après goutte, sous delay, dans une belle épreuve minimaliste que la voix de la dame vient couronner.
C’est d’ailleurs la voix de Zabelka qui impressionne le plus ici, qu’elle se promène sur un drone vaporeux (sur Opus M) ou soit multipliée par la force du re-recording pour donner la parole à une réunion de sorcières (sur Adil’iu). Pour ce qui est du violon, lui aussi passe au re-recording (excessif dans l’expérimentation ou le mélodrame, il alourdit lquelques fois le propos de Zabelka). On retiendra de la chanteuse et violoniste un amour pour la multiplication des voix et un autre pour la réverbération : bien assemblés, c’est la musique de Zabelka qui gagne en mystère.

2012 - The SoundProjector - Ed Pinsent - UK
Highly inventive work from the Austrian performer Mia Zabelka on her M (MONOTYPE RECORDSMONO 045 CD). She’ s got an electric violin and uses contact mics, live electronics, and her own vocals to supplement her playing – plus I understand there’ s a more physical performance-art component to the act in the way her body moves and also helps with …the playing. (Keiji Haino for one was determined that only through learning avant-garde dance could he train his body to play the guitar in a completely new way). Zabelka’ s full of variations and ideas on this album – the very precise playing of ordered notes on ‘ Korperklangmaschine’ is enhanced by digital delay to transform her into a violinist equivalent of Terry Riley, while the lengthy ‘ Opus M’ is far more drifty and uncertain, a wander around melancholic terrains expressed through a very full and rich (through heavily processed) sound. On ‘ Mind Scratching’ , her unintelligible and half-mad vocal mutterings are layered together in a whispering melange that’ s akin to a Henri Chopin extravaganza. There’ s also more dramatic speech work plus music on ‘ Adil’ Iu’ , and powerful mad-gypsy styled quaverings a-plenty on the complex and shattered tones of ‘ Tenebrae’ . Zabelka’ s unusual techniques are exciting and innovative, it’ s very likely she’ d be pretty unforgettable in a live performance. Endorsed by Pauline Oliveros as a “mighty mistress of the contemporary violin.

2011- Themilkman – UK
It couldn’t be simpler: one letter, one performer, one instrument, and a battery of effects and electronics. Yet, M is anything but a simple and straightforward record.

Published on the decidedly excellent Monotype Records, M was entirely composed and performed by Zabelka. Using the electric violin as her sole instrument, she builds incredibly intricate sonic landscapes from loops, upon which she adds textures, some sourced from her instrument, others from her body, and occasional vocal components to create a particularly dense and absorbing soundtrack. The treatment applied onto her instrument varies greatly, from moments where the violin is left pretty much untouched to sequences where Zabelka layers distorted or saturated sounds into extremely complex sound structures.

On the opening piece, Koerperklangmaschine, Zabelka loops a series of plucked sounds into delicate melodic structures which, at first, appear extremely stripped down and simple, but as more loops and delays are applied, become more complex and enigmatic, until she swaps plucked for bowed strings toward the end. At the other end of the record, Roter Halbmond forms from repetitive stabs of strummed strings which serve as the basis for textural components and progressive bowed components to develop, until these eventually disintegrate in a clatter of noises.

This layering process is applied in quite a very different way on the rather more sombre Malstrom or Adil’ Iu later on. On the former, Zabelka slowly builds up a dense drone-like formation from bowed strings until its outer appearance becomes less defined. The process is hazier on the latter as fragments of melodies try to pierce the wall of sound which floats in the back as Zabelka places all sorts of vocal scraps in the foreground, some vaguely resembling human language, others sounding much more animal and primal.

Zabelka’s approach to the human voice is at times reminiscent of Sisdel Endresen or Maja Ratkje, as she uses it more as an instrument from which a wide range of weird and wonderful sounds can be extracted, rather than as a simple mean of communication. Mind Scratching is a striking example of this as she abandons the violin entirely to assemble a rather intriguing piece during which her voice is applied in so many tones and functions that it ends up sounding like multiple alien conversations.

Elsewhere, the violin is tortured, distorted and dissected into myriads of sonic components as the intense electro-acoustic exercise on Tenebrae veers off away from melody entirely. Earlier though, it is a completely opposite approach which informs the haunting Opus M as Zabelka dispenses sparse fragments of melody which, whilst incomplete, develop into particularly touching sequences.

With M, Mia Zabelka not only pushes into particularly exquisite sonic experimentation with her violin, but her use of her body, her instrument as an object, and her voice give this record a totally different dimension. At times dreamy, at others disturbing, M is above all a particularly vibrant masterpiece of experimental music.

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Mia Zabelka Vienna, Austria

Mia Zabelka is a musician and composer known for her experimental use of the violin and electronic music. She has performed at various festivals and venues around the world. Zabelka is known for her innovative and boundary-pushing approach to music, incorporating elements of noise, drone and improvisation into her work. She has played with a variety of artists, including John Zorn and Zeitkratzer. ... more

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