last edited in April 2007             


 
:: ITALIAN VERSION  

Established in early 2003, Die Schachtel is a record label/publishing house specialising in electronic/concrete/avant-garde music, sound poetry and artists' records. The two founders, Bruno Stucchi and Fabio Carboni, joined their skills to give life to an independent and no-profit cultural enterprise: in fact, all the revenues from sales are re-invested in future projects. The name (from the title of a 1969 piece by Franco Evangelisti) is a metaphor of the conceptual and creative space occupied by both the composer and the publisher. It also refers to the production of sound artefacts and art multiples as "sonic boxes", full of surprising and unexpected musical discoveries. Aim of Die Schachtel is to publish both archival and unreleased material from the most interesting (and often unknown) names of both the electronic avant-garde music and the sound-art scene, of the period 1960-1980. A special attention is given to those artists who, although recognised as pioneers and masters of their own genre, seldom had the possibility to publish their music, and consequently never gained a wider recognition for their work. The ambitious task is "completing the map" of the sound territories occupied by experimental music (especially Italian), and thus create (or re-create) a relevant link with the new generation of experimental musicians, which very often (at least in Italy) have few or no awareness of the extraordinary musical and creative heritage left by great musicians like Pietro Grossi, Enore Zaffiri etc.

Each of the label's release, either on vinyl or compact disc, is produced with the highest possible sound quality (one should consider that many compositions were recorded on old Revox tapes or pre-digital equipment) and the greatest care for both the visual and informative aspect. Every item features a special design and packaging, and is complete with comprehensive information (in Italian and English) about the artist and the music, either in print or interactive format, as well as photographic documentation. All Die Schachtel releases are limited editions (300 to 500 copies max), and some are paired by numbered/signed "art-multiples" sub-series, every one a special project created and crafted with the artist's closeinvolvement e.g. Christina Kubisch's "On Air" vinyl multiple or the recent Franca Sacchi's EN. These special projects are composed by several parts produced with different materials (plastic, wood, gold foil, varnish, special papers, etc) and individually assembled: they are at the crossover between artistic practice, product design and mass production. They are not intended as fetishistic "collector's items", but rather as the necessary artistic compendium to the "commercial" release of the artist treated. The challenge is therefore to investigate new ways and methods of design and production of such limited media as the vinyl records or the CD.

Die Schachtel is also an independent and non-profit Art Gallery/Experimental Music Label, devoted to Sound as both an art form and a platform for critical discourse. We develop our exhibition projects in close collaboration with the artists, presenting in a multi-faceted program featuring performances, site-specific installations, and Art Multiples. Our art multiples are hand-crafted, esthetically challenging sound-art objects, as diverse as sonic aquariums, light/sound boxes or sound-text editions, created and manufactured under the supervision of the artist. Blurring the boundaries between visual art and sound culture, the multiples are conceived and designed to document the most advanced reasearch in sound-based contemporary art. We welcome your support to Die Schachtel, either purchasing from our catalogue or through any other form of financial help or sponsoring that would help us further expand the rather neglected Sound-related Art scene amongst a wider public, resulting in an effective support to the artists.

Since 2007 Die Schachtel has been collaborating with O', a non profit organization that broadly encourages new futures for contemporary art languages, founded in May 2001 by Sara Serighelli and Angelo Colombo with the name of O’artoteca (O’ since 2008). Based in the Isola district of Milano, its activity is developed through a spacious gallery along with a professional external studio, L.A.B.-LaboratorioArtiBovisa, for fine art photographs and prints.
O’ is an interdisciplinary art space that promotes residency programs, art exhibitions, lectures, performances and concerts. Projects are mainly site specific and originated by connections, visits, living and lasting relations.

Soundohm is a brand new specialized mailorder website that offers a large spectrum of experimental / electronic / concrete, avantgarde and even unclassifiable music. Our large selection of CD and LPs covers a really wide array of artist and labels, from the most obscure to the more established one. In addition it is also possible to find rare, out-of-print and sometime impossible-to-find editions of sound art and artists' records, or those weird records and CDs you have only read about but never seen. We are uploading thousands of new titles while we speak, so if you don't find what you are looking for, please come back again soon and you may find it immediately. If you still don't find the object of your desires, we can take orders and do researches for you. Don't forget to read about our news and updates, as there's something new every day.
The newly designed website is complete with photo and description of each item, it's easy to navigate, fully searchable and offers different methods of payments, for both domestic and international buyers.

We have limited resources when it comes to serving international media directly, anyway you can contact us to establish a relation regarding Die Schachtel