"Over the past twenty years Mike Tamburo’s prolific musical output has covered a range that includes everything from yoga and meditation music (as Brother Ong, and with Crown of Eternity), to psychedelic post-rock (with Psychic Frost, Arco Flute Foundation, Meisha, and others), to various types of experimental electro-acoustic sound. In spite of such diversity, fans of any of those branches are likely to be initially surprised by World of Sound. To be sure, there’s plenty of continuity with Tamburo’s previous work; however, here its characteristic looping layers and sonic textures are arranged into more identifiably song-based forms, and draw on a musical palette that incorporates such reference points as 1970s kosmische musik and film soundtracks, 1990s electronica, and contemporary space rock – buzzing guitars, galactic synths, minimalist pulsations, electro rhythms, blissed-out melodic vocal chants, and something called a “vibrational accumulator” (of course). Hypnotic, spacy, and uplifting (dare I call it “groovy”?), enthused yet serene waves of positive musical energy designed to put a smile on just about any type of head." - Kevin Moist

Experience deep pulsations and shimmering tones as Crown Of Eternity deliver you through a dynamic listening experience. 'Universal Hum’ is a tapestry of slow paced rhythms, drones and tones carefully blended and orchestrated into pulsating fields of sound using 11 gongs and more than 60 tuned metal instruments.

‘Universal Hum’ was recorded while Mike and Gallina were immersing themselves daily in sensory deprivation tanks. With ears blocked and no external stimuli, the duo entered into the richness of their inner spaces and the internal sounds that began to reveal themselves became the inspiration for this album.

With ‘Universal Hum’, Crown of Eternity continue to evolve their take on Conscious Sound by exploring different tunings, tonalities and instruments and moving further into the realms of Sound Art and drone based minimalism.

Expansive inner-journeys into world-opening passages as told by Mike Tamburo through hammered dulcimer, drones and tones, and other instrumentation

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Mike Tamburo, also known as Brother Ong and one part of Crown of Eternity, has returned to his renowned practice of hammered dulcimer in his latest release composed between 2010 and 2015, The Way to Be Free. Travelled upon, dissipated, and re-worked through multi-layered wanderings, Tamburo’s The Way to Be Free treads old practices and phases through the complicated inter-workings of his most expansive string works to date. The Way to Be Free is a comprehensive exploration of an artist’s massive perceptual shifts as told through compositions
that travel memories of past performance, the stripped bare return to disappeared collaborations, and the complexities found in the relationship between musician and instrument.

Culling informative listenings of Dorothy Carter, Alice Coltrane, Shivkumar Sharma, Robbie Basho, Sandy Bull and John Fahey, Mike Tamburo’s explorations of hammered dulcimer are positioned in deep wanderings to understand American identity through folk music. As a veteran of the DIY avant-
garde and improvisation circuit, as well as his more recent work with meditation music and formless sound, Tamburo’s extensive touring has culminated in a multiplicative approach to the engagements experienced through his road-traversed interpretations of anywhere USA. How
this manifests in Tamburo’s work is applicable in the sounds of The Way to Be Free: the music evokes a sense of experienced external travel defiant of a permanent destination, allowing the listener to act as a dislocated traveler repeatedly embarking on the recording’s voyages for contemplative discovery.

Tamburo’s The Way to Be Free offers the listener an intricate sincerity evoked in the album’s most tender renderings. As a companion to soft considerations, Tamburo doesn’t hesitate to present the listener with challenging confrontations. The most intimate moments meander into
controlled manias, hard-tinged hammered dulcimer drumbeat regions, and controlled corridor-like repetition. Ascent comes at a cost in The Way to Be Free, and it is reflective of Tamburo’s journeys and exploratory phasing(s) necessary for artists to expand and grow beyond their
foundations.

- Ed Steck

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Sounds Eternal 11
releases 30 March 2015

Cassettes are Available from https://www.innerislands.com

Mike Tamburo - Zither, Vibrational Accumulator, effects, Loops

'Presence Like a Beacon' Parts 1-6 (tracks 1 - 3) was recorded live at Crown of Eternity during a Kundalini Yoga class. on 8/26/12. The meditation this music accompanied is caled Tattva Siddhi Meditation for Presence Like Beacon.

'When We Met I Was A Guitarist And When You Left I Was A Man' was recorded live at Garfield Artworks on 9/3/12

mastered by Ben Wentz

"Oops I did it again!

I have a new release called Emperor and Penguin available today on the new label run by my friends Ryan and Mch called White Reeves Productions. It is available as a limited edition cassette and download.

I composed this during the coldest days of the winter of 2015. I had been rummaging through field recordings I had made the previous summer around my yard, at Point State Park, at the Aviary and around Highland Park in Pittsburgh. The sounds were such a vast contrast to my wintery environment. I dozed off listening to the summer sounds and I awoke with the concept of Emperor and Penguin.

This is the story of a young penguin who wakes after a long sleep. As the world comes back into focus everything seems new to him. He has almost forgotten that today is the day he will be begin his journey to be coronated as Emperor of the Penguins. His father reminds him of the responsibility that he is about to take on. He feels nervous and scared. The young penguin talks to his father about his doubts that he will make a good Emperor. His father reassures him that his kindness and honesty are what the penguins need in a leader and that he must be strong for his journey ahead.

The coronation ceremony requires our young penguin to journey to the highest glacier in their kingdom so that he can see all of the land that he is meant to rule. It is said that the experiences he has on the expedition will transform and mold him into his new role as Emperor. It is a difficult journey that requires him to travel through and beyond the land of humans before he makes the difficult trek up the glacier and then back to his kingdom. He has many adventures along the way. The journey teaches him many lessons. He arrives at the apex of the glacier transformed. He is the Emperor. This is the soundtrack of his journey." --- Mike Tamburo

Mike Tamburo delivers a new EP of joyful pulses and meditative electronics played on dozens of instruments that loop and build into an ecstatic dance.

From The Horses Mouth...

I have a new release called Electric Guggulu. The digital version is available now on bandcamp. I will be making a limited number of cassettes and cds that will start shipping at the end of the month.

I started writing this as a continuation of Emperor and Penguin (Released in April, 2015). I was hoping to create something joyfully hypnotic.

I play about 20 instruments here - everything from a Korg Kronos to a Bass Vl to a Pentatonic Bao gong set all into 2 sync'd Boss RC 505 loopers. Everything was recorded between the hours of 12am - 3am.

Enjoy!

Mike Tamburo - 6 string Guitar

Recorded Live 5/22/06 On WNUR By Mike Corsa
Special Thanks To Mike Corsa and Nick Schillace


Recorded live at WNUR back in 2006, we find Tamburo in full tour mode as a finger picking guitarist. "I was touring with the amazing guitarist Nick Schillace and I thought it would be great to do the tour with just my 6 string - a little brotherhood if you will. I left all of the other instruments, effects, and amplifiers at home and went out for a few weeks with just the guitar. Playing on the same bill as Nick, meant that my picking had to be sharp and focused. He really pushed me and these songs into some new realms. I pulled into WNUR studios in Chicago the day after I dropped Nick off in Detroit. I was feeling tight and ready and was happy to capture these takes - warts and all!!!" Originally slated for release in 2006, these recordings were shelved and alternate takes were buried in Tamburo's Language of the Birds and Other Fantasies Boxset. They are now available in their original intention.