number 1066
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week 3 ---------------------
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DAVE PHILLIPS - SELECTIVE MEMORY/PERCEPTION (CD by Noise Below) * DAVE PHILLIPS - SOUTH AFRICA REDORDINGS (2CD, private) * DAVE PHILLIPS - RISE (LP by Ideal Recordings) FOND OF TIGERS - UNINHABIT (CD by Drip Audio) SOME SOME UNICORN – UNICORNUCOPIA (CD by Clutter Music) BAKERS OF THE LOST FUTURE – I BELONG TO THE BAND (2CD by Inexhaustible Editions) TECH RIDERS - IN THE SKY (CD by Gold Soundz / attenuation circuit / Korm Plastics) * ANNA ERIKSSON – GHOST INSIDE GHOST (CD by Lamour Records) IM WALD – ORION (CD by Wide Ear Records) TOC & THE COMPULSIVE BRASS – AIR BUMP (CD by Circum Disc) MURDER CORPORATION - RULE OF DESTRUCTION (CD by Menstrual Recordings) * GEIR SUNDSTOL – LANGEN R6 (CD by Hubro Music) CHRISTIAN WALLUMROD ENSEMBLE (CD by Hubro Music) ASMUS TIETCHENS - SOIREE FANTASTIQUE (miniCD by Auf Abwegen) * GILLES AUBRY - AND WHO SEES THE MYSTERY (LP by Corvo Records) MURMER - SONGS FOR FORGETTING (LP by Gruenrekorder) JOACHIM NORDWALL - THE IDEAL BLACK (LP by Ideal Recordings) IDEALISM VOLUME II (LP compilation by Ideal Recordings) MARTIJN COMES & ORPHAX (CDR, private) * LASZLO KOVACKS/FREIBAND (cassette by Powdered Hearts) * DAVE PHILLIPS - SELECTIVE MEMORY/PERCEPTION (CD by Noise Below) DAVE PHILLIPS - SOUTH AFRICA REDORDINGS (2CD, private) DAVE PHILLIPS - RISE (LP by Ideal Recordings) On the cover of the first new release by Dave Phillips I find some text which has my complete agreement: "selective perception is the tendency to not notice and more quickly forget stimuli that cause emotional discomfort and contradict our prior beliefs. selective perception is the process by which individuals perceive what they want to in media messages while ignoring opposing viewpoints. it is a broad term to identify the behaviour all people exhibit to tend to "see things" based on their particular frame of reference. it also describes how we categorise and interpret sensory information in a way that favours one category or interpretation over another. in other words selective perception is a form of bias because we interpret information in a way that is congruent with our existing values and beliefs. human judgment and decision making is distorted by an array of cognitive, perceptual and motivational biases, and people tend not to recognise their own bias, though they tend to easily recognise (and overestimate) the operation of bias in human judgment by others." There is more, but this is supposed to be a review, not an endless quote. Phillips says what I have been seeing around me for a while now and that is too many people looking for the confirmation of what they think, and not the opposite of what they think. I am more of what Karl Popper calls falsification; 'is what I believe correct, or can it be refuted', and one should look for what refutes what you believe and adjust accordingely. These days many people believe to see much that is 'false', 'post-truth' or 'propaganda' (the latter of course state controlled obviously, in connection with mainstream media, another conspirator in that regard), but hardly try to find out if what they believe is actually verifiable. I am not sure how Phillips sees all of this, but recently I was engaged in an e-mail discussion with him, because once too often I called him a vegan, fighting blind for animal rights. I didn't investigate enough, I guess, although as easily one could also say that in the world of art, interpretation of art with a political view is not always easy. On this new release Phillips presents one long piece, almost an hour long, and it's not easy to see a relation between his text on the cover and the actual music; maybe my perception gets blurry from time to time? Or perhaps it is that I find it hard to see 'meaning' in music, other than what comes next to the music, like cover texts. This is a piece of music that has all the trademarks of Dave Phillips. Most of the time the music is very loud, but it's not really noisy per-se. Phillips like his sounds to be loud. As for sound input he uses piano, drums, field recordings (frogs, for instance, I believe to hear in the first half of the disc), as well as a bunch of very vibrant electronic sounds, which crawl around the slow majestic and very sparse instrumentation. Sometimes the whole construction breaks down and moves into an entirely different direction. This happens around twenty-two minutes for instance, when the forceful dark mood is broken down and instead it becomes softer yet also creepier. It builds up towards a crescendo, including a desolate push on a drum until that that collapses as well. This sort of collage technique is nothing odd for Phillips, and yet somehow he seems to do things even better than before. I am sure a word like 'refinement' may not mean much in the world of noise, but what Phillips does here is very refined. Then a day later another new Dave Phillips release arrives and it seems like he released this privately himself. It's a double CD, spanning almost 160 minutes of music and a 16 page booklet of sounds he recorded in South Africa; I assume on one of those organised field recording trips that are a bit beyond my budget (seeing 'thanks to Pro Helvetia Johannesburg' perhaps also a bit beyond Phillips' budget). You get what it says on the package, and that is 'raw field recordings' made in the Mmabolela game reserve, Kgalagadi transfrontier national park, Marioth nature reserve, Oribi Gorge nature reserve, Amatigulu nature reserve and Isimangaliso wetland park. There has been some equalisation used on these recordings, as well as panning but otherwise no 'audio treatments, effects or manipulations have been applied; many tracks are single recordings, some are layered'. All of which has noted on the cover of the release. Now this being a selection of wildlife sounds by Phillips, and if one knows his music, and I do, it is hardly a surprise that this is some very loud music; Phillips likes extreme sounds and nature provides us with as such ('Nature Is Noise Enough' was a piece from a long time ago. And it should therefor be no surprise that he recommends the listener to play this loud. If one has ever been to a country with lots of nature and wildlife animals, one can imagine that some of the frequencies from nature are quite ear piercing. I am not sure if Phillips emphasises some of those through equalisation but most of this is truly extreme (and I admit I played this a bit louder, as per the instruction). Lots of animal sounds, frogs, cicadas, hyenas, fruit bats and many more, along with more general sounds from water, ponds and wind sounds. It is all massive in approach and yet there is however also room for more gentle pieces, such as the twenty-two minute at the end of the first, an 'after sunset soundscape and Harris weir', with animals and water sounds. Hardly extreme and almost ambient music. Obviously, since this is a release by Phillips there is (not on the package, but on the press release) how much longer this will all exist, in times of global warming, pollution, erosion and whatever tricks mankind is up to. It would be a bad thing if we said 'oh well, at least we have the recordings for future generations'; let's hope the real thing will be there for others to hear; so that we are able to hear the same thing as Phillips did; maybe to verify his claim that this is beautiful and that there have been no touching up of sounds. And then, the next day, and another Dave Phillips release lands on my desk. This surely must be coincidence, even for someone who produces a lot. The LP comes with the most text, a heartfelt essay about the current state of our environment and men's continuous efforts to destroy that as fast as possible; some our current leaders even stating that global warming is a hoax and fossil resources are endless, so alternatives are not necessary. I do see however a bit of contradiction here, and surely I am wrong, and that is that for the production of a LP also fossil resources are needed, a paper is used to manufacture the cover and the two inserts. Wouldn't a download be a better idea? Oh, perhaps, taking in account the cheap labour to produce computers and all the electricity needed to keep the Internet going is another burden on the environment. That said however I think Phillips message should be taken seriously and again this is not easily reflected in the music. There are seven pieces on this record, even when it is not easy to see when one stops and the other starts. That has to do with the start/stop editing that Phillips applies throughout his music; of the three releases so far this is one that has the most musical pieces. There is rhythm, through loops of noises, multi-layered voices, punches delivered by Rudolf Eb.er (Phillips is a member of Schimpfluchgruppe) and there is even hints at melodies, and I have no idea how these were generated. It is heavy music, just like the first CD heard today/yesterday, but not as heavy as that. There is surely a somewhat lighter atmosphere in these pieces; perhaps that is the musical undercurrent of all of this? This too is a great record; a bit different than the other two, which are also not very much like each other, and all three show that Phillips is a most remarkable composer of noise music, and that it is very well possible to work this out into three quite different directions, and yet each of these has a distinct Phillips signature; and that is not only because of the political manifestoes that each of these is granted with. (FdW) ––– Address: http://noise-below-diminished.tumblr.com/ ––– Address: http://www.davephillips.ch ––– Address: http://idealrecordings.tumblr.com/ FOND OF TIGERS - UNINHABIT (CD by Drip Audio) With ‘Uninhabit’ this Vancouver-based unit of seven players release their fourth album. Participants are: Stephen Lyons (guitar, voice, percussion, electronics), Morgan McDonald (keyboards), JP Carter (trumpet, electronics), Dan Gaucher (drums), Skye Brooks (drums), Shanto Acharia (bass), Jesse Zubot (violin, electronics, mixing). They deal in melody-oriented avant rock. Progrock references are also traceable, for example in the title-track. The five tracks on this cd are all composed and illustrate that structure is a theme for these guys. The music is instrumental with the exception of ‘Wonder what we’re whispering for’ that is sung by bandleader Lyons. ‘Cause B’ shows them from their most aggressive and – therefore - most satisfying side. The closing track ‘Everything Moves’ ends in an exalting mood. Their music is solid and entertaining, and pleasantly out of tune with what is going on in the world of rock music as far as I can perceive. A group that persistently follows its own path. And that’s a quality. (DM) ––– Address: http://www.dripaudio.com SOME SOME UNICORN – UNICORNUCOPIA (CD by Clutter Music) Some Some Unicorn is a project led by Shaun Blezard, an English composer and improviser with a special interest for digital technology. Some Some Unicorn started as an online collective project of improvisers and other artists. In 2014 they debuted with ‘Some Some Unicorn and The Golden Periphery’ on Clutter Music, Blezard’s own label. This first release came into being by collaboration via the Internet. After this first release the project became a live event of 8 up to 14 musicians, focused on free improvisation and ambient drones. ‘Unicornucopia’, the second release, counts ten improvisations played by over fifty musicians, recorded on four occasions in different line ups. No wonder a wide variety of instruments is used here, making the music very colourful. Afterwards Blezard mixed everything. No idea how intensive this mixing was, co-creating what we hear on the cd. Yes, it is difficult to grasp what is happening. Sections of improvised music feel like slightly moving entities, drifting in the air. Music that moves like a smell that fills the air. A kind of jazz that evidently is influenced by ambient textures and drones. To use another metaphor, the music is like a tapestry full of nuances and details, somehow making up a coherent whole. Fascinating stuff! Music with a message too: “That’s how communities work best. Mutual respect and listening to each other. Working together.” (DM) ––– Address: http://somesomeunicorn.co.uk BAKERS OF THE LOST FUTURE – I BELONG TO THE BAND (2CD by Inexhaustible Editions) It was in 2010 that film director Peter Strickland invited Jean-Michel van Schouwburg and Adam Bohrman to Budapest for work on his ‘Berberian Sound Studio’ movie. To make the trip more worthwhile Strickland arranged a concert of both with Zsolt Sőrés and Budapest-based English musician Oliver Mayne. This turned out to be a successful combination. So we have following line up on this extensive release: Zsolt Sőrés (viola, toy synthesizers, circuit bent toys, dictaphone tapes, lo-fi sound sources, contact microphones, effects, objects), Oliver Mayne (vibraphone, synthesizers, contact microphones, effects, objects), Jean-Michel Van Schouwburg (voice) and Adam Bohman (acoustic & amplified objects). With guest vocals by Hungarian poet and performance actress Katalin Ladik on ‘Poets Of The Absurd On Chalk’. ‘Elephant Pastry Dream’ and ‘Gastric Samba Honkers’, both pieces lasting about 25 minutes, were recorded in 2010 on their first meeting. ‘Poets Of The Absurd On Chalk’, lasting about 20 minutes and the one hour- long ‘Intergalactic Gulash Vs Sneezawee Gaspacho’ were recorded in 2013. On ‘Intergalactic Gulash...’, but the other tracks as well, the abstract vocal work by van Schouwburg impressed me. He is a bit of an obscure artist for me. He is from Brussels and worked for years as a member of the Collectif Inaudible since about 1984. On ‘Poets of the Absurd on Chalk’ we witness an intense duet between the vocals of van Schouwburg and Ladik. But there is more to enjoy in these improvisations. These are very open and spatial sound- and noise oriented improvisations for voice, viola and vibraphone accompanied by a whole battery of objects and effects. Fine textures and not a dull moment if you take time to plunge into their sonic world. The recordings differ in quality but are well balanced. A release by the London-based Inexhaustible Editions. (DM) ––– Address: http://www.inexhaustible-editions.com TECH RIDERS - IN THE SKY (CD by Gold Soundz / attenuation circuit / Korm Plastics) On a rainy and quite freezing evening in March 2016 Sindre Bjerga and Frans de Waard found themselves in a garage like space in Amsterdam Noord. Artist's space De Ruimte was to be the closing gig of a short European tour the pair had absolved in the past weeks. Which, by their own admission was fuelled not only by willing warm crowds, but also by quite hefty doses of alcohol. Neither cold nor booze prevented Bjerga nor De Waard to produce mesmerizing solo sets that night. Bjerga worked his kitchen sink psychedelics verging on noise drones from home made tinkering with springs and assorted goodies. De Waard played a Modelbau-show experimentally probing the droning properties of pre-recorded found sounds through an assortment of portable cassette players. Following these two sets, Bjerga & De Waard joined forces as Tech Riders. Seeming on the fly, but surprisingly attuned to each other’s work and modus operandi, the signature sounds of both acts merged into a rustling and bustling symphony of drones and noises – Luigi Russolo would have been proud. "In the Sky" preserves this little tour with a selection of eight pieces, recorded not only at De Ruimte, but also at Eindhoven's TAC, Atelierhaus23 in Hamburg and Cologne's Baustelle Kalk. A jarring blast of white-hot rasping noise opens the proceedings, taken from the Amsterdam- gig. Low waves of resonance drones helicopter below high pitched sweeps while agited percussion- like plodding brings to mind the revolving blades of the aircraft. In the Sky indeed. Take off for what flows into more mellow territories; spacy-age synth glimmer like chrome cast metal hulls in pale moonlight. Meanwhile on planet earth, bagpipish sounds carry a tech-folk torch for the sullen, wandering with eyes wide open, gazing at the stars above. Amazingly, this sounds huge; technicolour large like the stretched void landscapes in Urs Amann's painting adorning the LP's of Klaus Schulze. Mellow ambient featuring stretches of manipulated field recordings is juxtaposed with a cute beat that makes the head nod, accompanied by a choir of bleeps, squeaks and jibberish straight from Kubin. Massive swells of Jarre going kraut collide with concrète cut-up improv 'poetry'; seemingly with the greatest of eases – just like that. Just before the bitstream runs out, the Tech Riders, again, fill the torn space between stellar and earhtbound as the closing track slowly builds to a fortissimo finale where layering is presented with the L writ large; Las Vegas style large in bright neon lettering. When masters join forces like Tech Riders records like In the Sky are treasure troves listening upon listening, with new discoveries of layers at your disposal, to peel slowly and hear. (SSK) ––– Address: http://hifiallergy.wordpress.com ––– Address: http://www.attenuationcircuit.de ––– Address: http://www.kormplastics.nl ANNA ERIKSSON – GHOST INSIDE GHOST (CD by Lamour Records) Lamour Records is based in Gävle, Sweden with a catalogue of experimental and electronic music. This release however is neither electronic, nor experimental. It is an album of chamber music. ‘Ghost Inside Ghost’ is also the name of ensemble of composer Anna Erikson: My Hellgren (cello), Asa Nordgren (soprano), Sara Sjödahl (prepared piano, accordion) and Anna Svensdotter (flute). Erikson is a composer from Gothenburg and wrote for a variety of ensembles and soloists. She debuted on cd in 2009 with ‘Moose Imitating Moose’ with works for cello and guitar. This new recording counts ten short compositions of an accessible nature. Contemporary music but not avant-garde. The composer works from a tonal vision. With music that is harmonic and melodious. The title track is a composition in three parts inspired on a few bars of Beethoven’s Piano Trio in D major. It starts with a fresh and up-tempo theme that is reworked and treated in the second and third part. ‘Ba’ is a percussive piano piece, with a rhythm-driven pulse. This also counts for the minimalistic piece ‘Sutra (part 1)’, where a Buddhist sutra is recited. ‘Sutra (part II)’, in contrast, is a melodic song. Other compositions breathe a romantic and lyrical atmosphere, like ‘Psalm’. So, a collection of short compositions that is very different, showing that Eriksson is capable of composing in different styles. However the works are interconnected as Erikson explains: “some bars or ideas are often transported from one piece into another. Sometimes I compare my compositional technique with my grandmother's cuisine: her dinners were made of yesterday's leftovers, which in turn were made on the leftovers from the day before. In a way, the same goes for my music”. (DM) ––– Address: http://www.lamour.se/ IM WALD – ORION (CD by Wide Ear Records) After the wonderful release ‘Ich Als Du’ by Dalia Donadio and Linda Vogel as Schwalbe & Elephant, a new and rather short release by the Swiss Wide Ear Records. This time it concerns Im Wald, a project led by Tobias Meier. A young musician from Zürich who started Im Wald as collaboration between Swiss and French musicians: Matthias Spillmann (trumpet), Frantz Loriot (viola), Nicola Romanò (cello), Raffaele Bossard (bass) and Tobias Meier (sax and composition). From what I know Meier debuted with ‘Philippe & Paul’ in a duo with pianist Marc Méan also on Wide Ear Records. On ‘Orion’ Meier profiles himself above all as a composer of chamber music with a minor role as a player. The CD contains three works: The short piece ‘Flächen’, ‘Nebulae’ and ‘Orion’. Meier composes music of a reflective nature’ leaving room for decisions by the interpreters. The music moves slowly forward and is built from long-extended notes and patterns. Built from delicate and poetic sound blocks of a static nature. It is more about space than it is about time. Music that is atmospheric and quiet, but also demanding. (DM) ––– Address: http://www.wideearrecords.net TOC & THE COMPULSIVE BRASS – AIR BUMP (CD by Circum Disc) Fifth album by this trio from Lille that is around since 2009, and exponent of the active and innovative Circum-Disc scene. Jérémie Ternoy (Fender Rhodes), Ivann Cruz (guitar), Peter Orins(drums) are assisted by following brass players: with Christian Pruvost (trumpet), Sakina Abdou (sax), Jean-Baptiste Rubin (sax) and Maxime Morel (tuba, trombone). Each release documents a certain project. This time New Orleans is the source of inspiration. At first glance obvious references to ragtime, marching bands, professor Longhair, New Orleans funk are missing. But the way the horn blowers choose their own directions, and coproduce a pleasant wilderness I can relate to the behaviour of horn players in marching bands. Especially in the closing track ‘Kat Kid’. But the blowers are embedded in strange, circular patterns by guitar and drums. The music is like a constant stream of strongly interconnected playing by the trio, drone-based, with hypnotic effects and sometimes leading up to an explosive climax. All four tracks are the result of collective improvisation. Another fascinating and captivating album by this obstinate trio from Lille, in an inspiring coproduction with Compulsive Brass. (DM) ––– Address: http://www.circum-disc.com MURDER CORPORATION - RULE OF DESTRUCTION (CD by Menstrual Recordings) With the cover of Nazi imagery and Hitler speaking on the first track, this would have been entirely out of date in the mid nineties when it was released on a cassette in an edition of thirty copies. All of those things were then old hat, relics of the 80s, Whitehouse, Come Organisation, Iphar, Broken Flag and more of these industrial/power electronics artists and labels. But maybe, with the change of times, 2017 being as grim as 1980 at the height of cold war, deserves another wake-up call? But is it a wake-up call to include some swastika's and Hitler speeches? Is it confrontation, shock value, genuine dedication to the Reich? It is always hard to say, but since the alt.right choose pathetic clichéd synth-wave music as their official music ('the whitest music') and not power electronics (as opposed to what Come Org wrote in the first Force Mental), I'm sure even the alt.right have no idea what to make of the true ideology behind bands as Murder Corporation. All the other elements of power electronics are checked off; there is screaming, there is feedback, there is distortion, and damaged records of more Nazi speeches and singing. Although there are index points, this runs like fifty-six minutes of radio drama about life and death in the third Reich, with sounds of destruction, as plain as it can be, through the damaged needles playing scratched records and the horrific sound of distortion. Maybe it's an alternative soundtrack to 'Triumph Des Willens'? It is either that or the pleasure through pain, which is also something that runs deep in this neck of the wood. Not entirely my cup of tea; and there is always the neighbours to watch out for; what they hell is that weird guy playing now? Hitler? WTF? (FdW) ––– Address: http://www.menstrualrecordings.org GEIR SUNDSTOL – LANGEN R6 (CD by Hubro Music) CHRISTIAN WALLUMROD ENSEMBLE (CD by Hubro Music) Guitarist Geir Sundstol has an impressive career as a session player and left his marks on more than 260 recordings. In 2015 he debuted with the solo album ‘Furulund’. This one received a good press, and probably motivated Sundstol for this next step. He wrote all the material that is on this new release, except for the traditional folk tune ‘Gråtarslaget’, and ‘Tony’s Theme’ that was written by Giorgo Moroder. As on ‘Furulund’, Sundstoll is assisted by David Wallumrod, who plays a variety of keyboards and synthesizers, as well some other musicians. Sundstoll himself plays above all diversity of guitars, but above all pedal guitar. Recordings took place within a few days in St.James- church in Oslo, known for its excellent acoustics. Of the eight tracks on this album two are performed by Sundstoll solo. One of them, ‘Røk’, with Sundstol just on pedal guitar satisfied me most of all the tracks. As a composer Sundstol takes inspiration from folk, jazz and traditions of world music. They miss however on original touch, and don’t tell anything new. But it is fine vehicles for Sundstol showing his mastership as a performer on pedal guitar. So let’s say, of interest for everybody who is in search for something beyond Ry Cooder. This is accessible instrumental music, but nothing earth shaking. Perfect for soundtrack-use I guess. Wallumrod is an established composer from Norway. There are three earlier release of him available on Hubro Music. A solo album, ‘Pianokammer’, a duo work Brutter and the collaboration with Trondheim Jazz Orchestra, called ‘Untitled Arpeggios and Pulses’. But with his ensemble that is present on his newest release he made already five albums for ECM between 2001 and 2012. We hear Eivind Lønning (trumpet), Espen Reinertsen (saxophone), Tove Törngren (cello), Per Oddvar Johansen (drums and vibraphone) and Christian Wallumrød himself on piano and harmonium. The opening track ‘Haksong’ is the most conventional of the seven tracks on this album. It is an innocent, catchy song. But then things change. No more songs, but unconventional, stripped down often static structures. Minimalistic, using slightly dissonant clusters. Music that pleasantly drips into your ears, like on ‘Arpsam. ‘Phoniks’ is an fascinating stream of intermingled sounds and instruments. ’Klafferas’ is an intriguing sequence of unheard cascades. Funny too. Nice meeting you, mister Wallumrod! (DM) ––– Address: http://www.hubromusic.com ASMUS TIETCHENS - SOIREE FANTASTIQUE (miniCD by Auf Abwegen) Just like the 10" the miniCD is a format of doom. Not a lot of music to be a full length, too much to be a single. But at least this miniCD looks like a full length CD, with the outer ring being all- transparent, and only the twenty-two minutes of music with a silver layer; it's been a while since I last saw one of these. They were more popular a decade ago, but somehow I doubt whether Asmus Tietchens (or his label) cares much about popularity, and what to do or don't in that respect. He does what he does, and it's a matter of take it or leave it. Over the years we have seen a seemingly endless reduction in much of Tietchens music (although not exclusively), creating a very rich sound with the most minimal sounds. Even when I know the music of Tietchens very well, and on a few occasions engaged in a conversation with him, I have very little knowledge of how he works. I believe to some extent he uses computer technology, and somehow I have this fantasy in which Asmus creates a fully formed piece on his computer and then has some plug ins that effectively take out certain frequency ranges and then takes what's left and feeds that into an entirely different plug ins, reducing some more, or perhaps emphasizing a few other frequencies and he repeats that a few times. Then he takes all the processed pieces, overlays them on each other, super-imposing them, and then creates a gentle mix out of these residue sounds. It's a technique that works really well, and can, in principle applied to all sorts of sounds, but also entire finished pieces, even by others. Yet, I am not sure if this is what Tietchens does; somehow he seems not to be the plunderphonics kind-a guy. The three pieces on this new release are all along these lines, and they all sound wonderful; wonderful again, I should add. But then I am a big fan of the man's music and there is very little that he does that I don't like. I could say he's perhaps exhausted the 'reduction' by now, but secretly I hoped this would have contained two or three more pieces like this. To have some change is fine but not always necessary; this is a fan boy speaking, so I am sure not everyone agrees with me there. (FdW) ––– Address: http://www.aufabwegen.com GILLES AUBRY - AND WHO SEES THE MYSTERY (LP by Corvo Records) Over the years I reviewed some of the work by Gilles Aubry, mainly in collaboration with others, such as with Nicolas Field (in the duo The Same Girl), as a member of Monno, or in more ad hoc groups of improvisation, very rarely, so it seems, a solo work by the man himself. He is from Switzerland and lives in Berlin. Aubry calls himself a sound artist and researcher, using voices, field recordings, music and sound archives. On this new album, (so, perhaps the first one I hear from him that is solo) it is 'based on sound check situations recorded in Morocco between 2013 and 2014', and he explores Berber-Amazigh instruments and adding field recordings from the same locations, in order to built two sides of sound collages. This is some fascinating stuff, I must say. This is not your usual layering of some water/rain/sea/forest sounds, but a rather intense trip in which Aubry manages to create a delicate balance between field recordings, which seems mostly voices from local people (but also animal sounds), along with instruments, assumed to be play by Aubry (wind and percussion mainly) along with some heavy electronic altering of all the sounds. That adds a whole sort of 'electronic blanket' on top of whatever else is happening. It also makes this perhaps a bit more alien than your usual field-recording album. At least that's what it did for me. It makes up for some truly odd layers in this music; sometimes it seems as if the sounds don't fit, with animal sounds, looped rattles and feedback/overtone textures, but at the same time it works wonderfully well; while not moving at a fast speed, it is not easy to keep up thinking what you hear, processing the experience. Rather than thinking about it, I would think that the best thing is dive deep into this and simply enjoy the experience. This is headspace music and while it may sometimes a randomly stapled collection of sounds, one will no doubt 'get' the music one way or another, when played a couple of times. For me it certainly worked that way. (FdW) ––– Address: http://www.corvorecords.de MURMER - SONGS FOR FORGETTING (LP by Gruenrekorder) Patrick Tubin McGinley works, as Murmer, since many years is not someone who releases a lot of music. In fifteen years, 'Songs For Forgetting' is his eleventh album and deals, as much of his other work, with field recordings, but on this album McGinley explores also musical instruments. Zither like such as in the title piece but he doesn't always conventional instruments, such as an old radio antenna. The goal of each of the four pieces is to mix up field recordings (although these can also be spaces in which the music is performed) and these instruments and come up with a more musical context than what is usually the case with this kind of music. Four lengthy pieces, of which the title piece is a fine string piece, mildly plucked and 'Another Song For Forgetting' works with overtones and the rattling of objects; maybe the overtones are created with the use of feedback, but it nicely wanders around. In 'The Third Song Of Forgetting' we hear, and perhaps for the first time (and we are already on the second side), clearly the sound of sea waves, which seems to be a first in the field recordings department. In the previous two pieces there might have been some field recordings, but not a lot, or perhaps treated in some way that we no longer recognize them. Once these waves have washed away, there is some beautiful overtone music left. I suspect these to come from using a bow on a zither, maybe with a little bit of amplification. The fourth piece, another variation on the title of the album, is the most chaotic piece. Here we have the sound of fireworks, and a bunch of people (includes label boss Lasse-Marc Riek) plucking a bunch of stringed instruments; I would think this recording is made outside, during those fireworks, and maybe the playing reflects the chaos of fireworks, and perhaps such a piece makes sense after three rather delicate pieces of careful bending sounds and colouring tones, to get something entirely different but it also breaks down the carefully constructed mood and as such it didn't work out for me too well. I rather would have another one of those more careful build sonic constructions, but with 3/4 of the record being absolutely great, who am I to complain? (FdW) ––– Address: http://www.gruenrekorder.de JOACHIM NORDWALL - THE IDEAL BLACK (LP by Ideal Recordings) IDEALISM VOLUME II (LP compilation by Ideal Recordings) Label boss Joachim Nordwall is also a busy bee when it comes to playing music, solo but also with The Skull Defekts and Saturn And The Sun, and with Ideal Recordings he produces quite a lot of releases. I have no idea what his 'ideal black' is, but the cover of his LP is surely quite black and yet there is a lot to see. The front cover shows the composer behind a table, which is covered with a lot of instruments of an electronic origin. Nordwall is a man who loves drones played with electronics, and the five pieces on this record show this very well. 'Black' is also the colour of the music, should one think about such notions. This is music to be played very loud, to feel all resonances bouncing around; anything softer will cut out the true power of the music. Nordwall here doesn't play out the pure drone card, as in each of these pieces there is a sense of rhythm. Slow rhythm, pounding like a sledgehammer. Around the rhythm there is a network of sounds, crawling like maggots over the electrical connections made, interfering the buzz, or perhaps changing the buzz. It works damn well, but as said, only when you play this very loud. Movements within pieces are kept to a minimum, and throughout there is very light in the music. Everything is pitched down, perhaps to what Nordwall sees as the ideal blackness in sound. It is quite depressing music, but looking at the grim, cold January day, and/or the state of the world, this is perhaps the perfect soundtrack to such times. Or maybe this is the uplifting soundtrack for times like this? I prefer to think of that. I missed out on 'Idealism Volume 1', a four artists LP compilation by Ideal Recordings, but here's volume two, with one piece each by Sewer Election, Copley Medal and Varg and two by Alexandra Atnif. I assume a shared love for sonic extremes is what ties these four together. The album opens up with Sewer Election, whom I heard before and whose noise I enjoyed very much (Vital Weekly 819 and 655), just the sort of lo-fi approach I enjoy, with sounds captured on cassettes and played back and recorded on similar old cassettes. That approach is also applied here and Sewer Election delivers a highly obscure piece of… yeah, what exactly? Hard to tell, but it could be some sort of instrumental jam captured from the next room on a Dictaphone. Alexandra Atnif has two pieces, also continuing earlier work (see Vital Weekly 1010) and that is rooted in overdrive mode of rhythm and noise. The rhythm is going to an array of modules and forms a massive block of extreme industrial rhythm; the needles almost left the grooves here. Copley Medal is the opener on the other side and like with Varg, I never heard of this project before. There is quite some difference between both pieces. Varg is the noisy beast, starting out with the sound of the monotrons but quickly expands to a wider field of noise. Copley Medal however is someone who keeps things on a mellow side with mainly through the use of estranged percussive sounds and moody synthesizer tones. The point of (un-?) rest is found in this piece, and after that the storm of Varg arrives. Effectively four different approaches to 'noise' in its broadest terms and it works all rather well. (FdW) ––– Address: http://idealrecordings.tumblr.com/ MARTIJN COMES & ORPHAX (CDR, private) Last week tout underground of The Netherlands gathered in the famous venue Paradiso to celebrate their status of being underground (or to fill a quiet night in a slow post New Year time?) and if you weren't there, you weren't underground (enough or too much). With limited timeslots everybody could play about twenty-five minutes and sometimes people teamed up to form new alliances, and that of course is entirely underground. Sietse van Erve's Orphax teamed up with Martijn Comes, who did not find himself a lot in these pages (just in Vital Weekly 928, written by someone else), but who had also releases on Clinical Archives, Panospria, The Silent Howl and Bastakiya Tapes. His work is inside the world of drones and ambient, whereas Orphax (of whom perhaps everything that was released got a review in these pieces) is more from the world of drone music. Very few of works by Orphax are recorded in collaboration with others, and in preparation for their gig last Saturday, the two man sat together and a long session together, which was edited and mixed by Orphax, right on time to have some merchandise. I am not sure how much of the session ended upon the cutting room floor, as with seventy-three minutes this is quite a lengthy release. It is great to hear Orphax doing something out of the ordinary, even when I am not entirely sure who does what here. In the second half more than in the first half the almighty drone of Orphax is played more, but even then it is all a bit more playful. It doesn't always work out too well; especially in the first half it seems a bit chaotic, with sounds and atmospheres, which do not match up, too well, I think. Sometimes it seems to me a bit too much of a search for the right spot, and I would think this album could surely have benefitted from a bit more editing, perhaps even when a reduction of fifty per cent. There is some fine potential in this music, but in these first steps it is a bit buried among bits that are maybe haphazardly pulled together from drone sources, rhythm patches of glitches and unnecessary doodling of sound effects, running freely over the sounds. Keep it tight, make choices what the uniqueness of the collaboration should be and explore that; that would my advise be and I think this collaboration could hit it off. (FdW) ––– Address: http://orphax.bandcamp.com LASZLO KOVACKS/FREIBAND (cassette by Powdered Hearts) Freiband – the digital scratching project of Frans de Waard – presents a new rework on a cassette single no less. Well, that short lived format didn't really carry any weight into this century, but judging by these two tracks, it wouldn't be the worst of ideas to resurrect the good old 2 track tape. Lazlo Kovacs delivers a bright and breeze beat driven quite summery synth pop ditty full of melodic shine. Popomatic a go-go; cut short by the tape ending, but this could go on for ages – times without a worry in the world; fit for festivals where you'd also find Palmbomen or Betonkust. Clever that is, with a bit of tongue in cheek and a filled dance floor with no objective to catch any sleep. If the a-side is smiles and rainbows and trim bodies with roaming hormones, then the flip side features a surprising elementary dissemination thereof; limbs only, fragments of a melody, even less of a beat. It's not really darkness descending, but more the sonic equivalent of exploded cinema. As in: go beyond the screen or in this case: the speakers. Go further into the matter at hand and work with the room, the acoustics, the vibe, the energy and start to twist and turn that. Inside out and upside down might have been options, but De Waard explodes the view on the original track totally. His side showcases a table of the elements and only by repeated listening one gets some clues as to where a certain part (as tiny as it is) might fit into Kovacks' whole – like the mother track hit the fan and was strewn across the dance floor, the venue, the ceiling and the crowd still went nuts, so clammy, so cramped, so hot and sweaty. So: why make a cassette single, a five-minute tape? Why not? Live life, listen and learn. Have some fun. Ok? Mental note: recharge the batteries and first... find my Walkman! (SSK) ––– Address: https://powderedheartsrecords.bandcamp.com/ • |