number 1124
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week 12 ---------------------
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!!: NEXT VITAL is scheduled for Sunday March 25th, the one after that most likely April 3 (or April 4) ANDREW CHALK & DAISUKE SUZUKI – YAMA TO NASHI (CD by Siren) NEW OLD LUTEN QUINTET – LETZTER RABATZ (CD by Euphorium) NEW OLD LUTEN SEPTET – LETZTES REMMIDEMMI (CD by Euphorium) NEW OLD LUTEN TRIO – LETZTER RADAU (MINICD by Euphorium) PLY - RENDS TOI/CLUZEL (LP/CD by Warm Desk) * MODELBAU – XEROX (LP by Des Astres d’Or) * HOLZKOPF - HOUSE OF AUD (CDR, private) * THOMAS TILLY - CODEX AMPHIBIA (CDR by Glistening Examples) * ARIES MOND - COME ON LET’S WAIT (CDR by Eilean Records) * EMMANUEL WITZTHUM - SONGS OF LOVE AND LOSS (CDR by Eilean Records) * KATJA INSTITUTE/PETER WULLEN - SHAPES (CDR by Katja Institute) * LÄRMSCHUTZ - DRITTE TAFELMUSIK (cassette by Lurker Bias) * INCARNASCOPE - THE DISINTEGRATING MAN (cassette by Dinzu Artefacts) * ORPHAX - SUMMER’S END (cassette by Low Point) * CLAUS POULSEN - DELICATE MONSTERS (cassette by Know Your Enemy) STAR TURBINE - THE GREAT DISTORTION (cassette by Aphelion) * ANDREW CHALK & DAISUKE SUZUKI – YAMA TO NASHI (CD by Siren) This album is the result of the latest collaboration between musicians Andrew Chalk and Daisuke Suzuki. Both men previously worked together on their 2003 album ‘The Days After’, on 2008’s ‘The Shadows Go Their Own Way’ and 2009’s ‘In Faxfleet Clouds Uplifted Autumn Gave Passage To Kind Nature’. Suzuki is a Japanese composer, working with field recordings and experimental drones and also runs the ambient-drone-minimal music label Siren. Hailing from the UK, Chalk operates in like- wise quarters and is the master in armour at Faraway Press records headquarters. Both Suzuki and Chalk seldom appear in the press, giving the impression that they like to work in their own comfort zones, far away from the ‘maddening crowds’. As such, they give an extraordinary and very welcome attention and care to packaging, design and presentation. Releases on Siren and Faraway Press are often like little artworks – in many ways. If ever a Nobel Prize will be awarded for loving design and packaging, I would like to put forward both labels. Their latest album, ‘Yama To Nashi’, or in plain English, ‘Mountains And Pears’, has just been released on Siren records. The seven tracks on this album, 40+ minutes in total, breath a certain calm, featuring thin-lined melodies that would like to be melodies, but aren’t quite yet, submarined sounds, strings, an electric piano, a passing gull (or was that an actual gull flying by whilst I was listening? If so, its timing was perfect), there are sudden echoes of a street carnival and drums and then there is the amazing closing piece ‘Yama To Nashi’; a nearly 22 minute recording of what feels like a morning walk in a shimmering forest, reminding me much of the fragile, yet overwhelming atmosphere on Midori Takada’s stunning 1983 ‘Through The Looking Glass’ album. Which, incidentally, was rereleased last year (hint). Packed in a thick carton gatefold cover, ‘Yama To Nashi’ is probably the best album Andrew Chalk and Daisuke Suzuki have produced so far. This album, and in fact all releases on Siren of Faraway Press, are highly and lovingly recommended. (FK) ––– Address: http://farawaypress.info/ NEW OLD LUTEN QUINTET – LETZTER RABATZ (CD by Euphorium) NEW OLD LUTEN SEPTET – LETZTES REMMIDEMMI (CD by Euphorium) NEW OLD LUTEN TRIO – LETZTER RADAU (MINICD by Euphorium) With these three releases an exceptional trilogy is completed. A final release that in itself again is a trilogy. Numbers does not obsess me, so I won’t seek for some symbolic meaning. Numbers that count in this context are Petrowsky’s birthdays, as this initiative is centred around veteran Ernst-Ludwig Petrowsky, one of the founding fathers of the (East)-German jazz scene, who left traces on dozens and dozens of records. Supervised by Oliver Schwerdt (aka Elan Pauer) they managed to record remarkable sessions in three successive years, always around the birthday of Luten as he is often called. The 2013-sessions led to ‘Letzten Tumult’. The recordings of 2014 found their way to ‘Letzten Krawall’, and now finally the sessions of 2015, when Petrowsky celebrated his 82th birthday, are released as ‘Letzten Rabatz’. All three concerts are released on Schwerdt’s Euphorium label. Considering the age of Petrowsky – sorry to say so - it was not evident that they could do two follow ups. And I’m not sure this was intended from the beginning. Anyway it is a remarkable aspect of this series, but more important here is the high quality of the improvisations. As said the third chapter of this trilogy is in itself again a ‘trilogy’, released on three different cds. Not in a boxed set, but as three individual releases. ‘Letzter Rabatz’ comes in a jewel case, the other two in cardboard. All improvisations were recorded on December 13th, 2015. Line up of the quintet is identical with the ones of proceeding years: Ernst-Ludwig Petrowsky (alto sax, clarinet, Romanian flutes), Elan Pauer (grand piano, percussion, little instruments), John Edwards (double bass), Robert Landfermann (double bass) and Christian Lillinger (drums, cymbals, percussion). The ‘Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik’, a prestigious prize by the German music critics, awarded their ‘Letzter Rabatz’. Throughout the music surprises by its energy and dynamics combined with its richness of expression and vocabulary. Ranging from very intimate with melodic and lyrical touches to very loud, dynamic free improvisation crossing all borders. And above all, it is chapters of one and the same story, coherent and together. Petrowsky impresses with his very dedicated playing. Sometimes squeaking, sometimes howling, and all other expressive characteristics pass by in his playing. He is nothing holding back, but totally goes for it; vulnerable and exuberant. ‘Lutens letzter Radau!’ has Petrowsky in the company of two much younger talents Lillinger and Pauer. Lillinger, by the way, won the SWR Jazzpreis 2017. But there is no sign of a conflict between the generations here, instead very dynamic interactions, with many ideas passing by in a strongly intertwined session. Near the end Petrowsky changes his saxophone for a shepherds’ flute, which gives an altogether very different atmosphere. A very spirited and focused improvisation, which gives the opportunity to learn more of Lillinger and Pauer, who adds wit and humour in his playing. As a septet the quintet is extended with Axel Dörner (trumpet) and Urs Leimgruber(tenor and soprano saxes). Their improvisation, ‘Letztes Remmidemmi’, starts with nervous piano playing by Schwerdt over a long sound-oriented texture produced by the bass players. At the end of Schwerdt’s exercise, Dörner and other blowers take over in a swirling interplay, working towards a climax, entering – with some phantasy – a grooving phase. Halfway they find some rest, and begin to build up tension and complexity gradually working towards a next boiling point, with a nice solo by Dörner on the way. Completely engaging and not a dull moment. It hasn’t them all playing throughout, but in different combinations along the route. I have no overview of Petrowsky’s career, but I can imagine this trilogy is a crown on his career. Carrying out a project over three years with the same musicians involved who became closer and close with one other is exceptional. A monument. (DM) ––– Address: http://www.euphorium.de/ PLY - RENDS TOI/CLUZEL (LP/CD by Warm Desk) Back in Vital Weekly 1055 I reviewed Ply’s first release, ‘Sans Cesse’, now it’s time for a follow-up that is one LP and one mini CD (twenty-seven minutes, so perhaps not that mini?). The duo of Mathias Delplanque and Guillaume Ollendorff return with new pieces and various guests. Delplanque is responsible for most of the instruments, and Ollendorff for lyrics, voices, noises and editing (the latter in collaboration with Delplanque of course). According to Serge Gainsbourg ‘spoken word’ is one of the most effective ways to make French sound good (sayeth the information that came with the release actually), and true that is. If you are in France try and whisper the street names like Etant Donnes do their poetry and you’ll see it makes beautiful sense. As before the music by Ply is about text and it’s a beautiful language, but it’s a bit hard to understand what it is about if you have no idea what these texts means. For all I know it could be “Jesus Christ is our saviour”, “satan is a great guy” or “vital weekly is a rag”. Judging by the slow, jazzy beats, spacious guitar and sparse keyboards tell me that it’s probably none of that, but then what it is? I don’t know. It sounds like sitting in a cafe in Paris, in the mid 50s, a place filled with smoke, drink and jazz. And all is in black and white and throughout there is a mysterious atmosphere with some odd sounds appearing in this bar. Ollendorf’s voice is deep and has a great narrative quality, Delplanque’s music is equally like a story, sparse most of the time, but very much there, I should think. There is not much difference in approaches for the LP and the CD, I think, and perhaps it’s a bit that the CD is only this long. I would not have minded a few more. (FdW) ––– Address: http://www.warm-ed.fr MODELBAU – XEROX (LP by Des Astres d’Or) Granted, I am not too up to date with the musical output of Modelbau, one of Vital Weekly’s editor Frans de Waard’s projects. Having said that, I am familiar with Frans himself so when he offered me this album for purchase, and review as it turned out, I happily accepted. Every project that De Waard undertakes, say for instance Modelbau, features a certain something that other projects do not have. This could be a conceptual idea, a sound source or perhaps in collaboration with other musicians. Originally, Modelbau set out to use only low-fi sound sources such as Dictaphones, Walkmans, shortwave radios and the like. But after five years, the palette used by Modelbau has extended to sound effects, laptops and samples, retaining the original low-fi concept. All Modelbau releases are named after a letter in the Western alphabet and as you may have guessed by the album’s title, we are running close to the end. So ‘Xerox’ it is – and not Zerox as the word is sometimes spelled, which to me is a shame as I could have drawn a parallel with Adam and the Ants’ classic post-punk single Zerox. Modelbau’s ‘Xerox’ has been released on Raymond Dijkstra’s label ‘Des Astres d’Or’ on which Dijkstra releases ‘artists records’ in very limited quantities. ‘Xerox’ is no exception: only 25 copies were pressed on vinyl, so it is not a lathe cut, and if you want one, you should probably hurry. The album features three tracks of which all titles start with, you guessed it, an X: ‘Xylophone’, ‘X Marks’ and ‘Xelem’. Opening track ‘Xylophone’ does start with the sound of what could be a xylophone before the playing is sucked up in an immense cloud. At times bells ring and the sound of reversed tape recordings appear over static drones that continuously hover in your ears. This is ‘clouded’ music; thick and heavy, but also with a soothing quality. Like the storm you know is coming won’t hurt you. Side two starts off with ‘X Marks’, which sounds more like a more field recording, its thinner ambient sound and ‘composition’ reminding me of an early Hafler Trio recording. ‘Xelem’, a word which has me struggling for its possible meaning, closes the album with brief static like your speaker is giving up on life before plunging into more chaotic and noisier water and emerging again majestically as a one-chord faded church organ piece turning into a static phased fluttering hum. The album benefits from its brief length – ensuring the compositions remain fresh and do not outstay their welcome. Like much of De Waard’s recent work that I have heard, ‘Xerox’ is headphone music, made to be heard inside your mind and to immerse yourself into. All albums released on Des Astres d’Or feature individual handmade packaging; ‘Xerox’ comes with a carton sheet stamped with the name and title, a small painting on paper and on top of that a part of a plastic model kit. As said, they are all different so with a little luck you might end up with a soldier or a part of a tank or airplane stuck on top of the painting. It looks great with a certain Modelbau low-fi esthetique. Now I could go on about the moral and practical pros and cons of limited editions as limited as this one, but I won’t. In the end, it is the music that matters and I can only hope either De Waard or Dijkstra will make this album available in digital format as well for others, less intrigued or led by the limited editions-craze, to enjoy. Because this is a great album, which deserves to be heard. (FK) ––– Address: http://www.des-astres-dor.com/ HOLZKOPF - HOUSE OF AUD (CDR, private) It has been quite a while since I last heard something from Jacob Hardy, also known as Holzkopf, who is called now Jacob Audrey Tave (see for instance Vital Weekly 858, 786, 832) and back then it was all mucho distorted breakbeats, created with glitch electronics and surely weird but, who knows, also danceable? On this new release he takes the noise of Merzbow, the driving rock moments of Foetus and Ministry in combination with “production styles lifted from early digital punk acts like Cobra Killer, Lolita Storm and EC80R” and that results in a seven-piece blast that is just under thirty minutes. To me, and I admit it has been a while since I last heard his music, this sounds like Holzkopf has entered a new stage, up from the one he was on before. This time around he has real songs! No longer they are snippets of sounds, a bunch of glitches stitched together, but some very strong songs; loud and powerful beats, ear splitting guitars, crushing synths and with vocals. Those sound to these untrained ears in the world of digital punk alike that of Foetus, with whom Holzkopf shares a furious energy and aggression, as well, I should think similarities with the voice. These lyrics aren’t easy to follow (“post-industrial occult sensibilities to create a meditation on anxiety in the shadow of a drug overdose crisis, resistance to neural and gender normalcy and the crushing forces of gentrification and fascism” - that helps. Maybe). I am sure this music is not really to be labelled as ‘uplifting’, I should think but half way through a slow afternoon, doing bits of this and that, this is outburst of energy is something that is most welcome. It’s reinvigorating music; like drinking five cups of coffee or eating a chocolate bar and the world is yours again. It’s doom, it’s loud, it’s techno and it’s a great release. Even if the closing piece, a cover of Coil’s ‘Restless Day’, comes early (the album clocks in under thirty minutes), be sure to put it on repeat straight away. (FdW) ––– Address: http://holzkopf.bandcamp.com THOMAS TILLY - CODEX AMPHIBIA (CDR by Glistening Examples) This is subtitled “an interpretation of the explosive breeding phenomenon” and contains recordings made in French Guiana. The cover of this release will bring you to a PDF with ‘texts and informations’, but if French is not your language there is only photographs to watch, and they are beautiful close ups of frogs. So I copied some stuff of Bandcamp: “this project comes from a research field session realized with Antoine Fouquet, Research associate at The French National Center for Scientific Research; "Ecology, environment and interactions in Amazonian systems Lab" (LEEISA); and the "Evolution and Biological diversity Lab. [...] Comprised from unprocessed raw field recordings and interspersed sine wave structures by Thomas Tilly, 2017”, plus a bunch of supporting organisations for this field trip. Looking at some spring rain in dreary low lands I wouldn’t mind taping some frogs in a more exotic location. There are seven pieces here on this release, and after each track is says [phonography and interpretation] or [interpretation and phonography] or three times just [phonography]. So I think that the latter is a pure field recordings and they others a combination of field recordings and sine waves. Also I think the field recordings deal with copulating frogs, to avoid having to say ‘fucking frogs’, even when that sounds better. The exact how and why eludes me, I think. There is some however some great music on this release, if we just take that as it is. From all the releases that Vital Weekly discussed over the years that deal with jungle sounds we know that nature is a very loud place and this is not different. That is not to say this is a release of noise music; far from it. The sine waves Tilly produces are standing waves that infiltrate your space and very much in the best Alvin Lucier tradition it has to do with the way you move your head through space that alters the sounds. On top of that there these frogs sounds, probably in real time, but they could be looped as well. These pieces are somewhere in the middle ground of documentation and composition and the result is occasionally pretty radical. Not in terms of harsh noise wall, but Tilly certainly knows how to use some extreme frequencies, but in combination with the pure field recordings he knows how to establish a fine balance between the more extreme nature recordings and the quieter real life. In total quite an uncompromising release (FdW) ––– Address: https://glisteningexamples.bandcamp.com/ ARIES MOND - COME ON LET’S WAIT (CDR by Eilean Records) EMMANUEL WITZTHUM - SONGS OF LOVE AND LOSS (CDR by Eilean Records) There are two things that connect both of these new releases on Eilean Records, besides of course being on the same label. They are both quite short, 30 and 38 minutes, and both are heavily influenced by the world of classic music, but each of these composers works with it in a different way. First there is Boris Billier, who calls himself Aries Mond and he is from the Pyrenees Mountains in southern France. In the past he worked with environmental sound recordings (since 2002), toured with solo projects (none specified) and works with theatre. As Aries Mond his interest lies in working with piano sounds and “additional sounds”, which could be some sort of processed version of piano sounds or added electronics; somehow I think the first. ‘Come On Let’s Wait’ is his first album as Aries Mond and he started this in 2016 during a hot summer, which then turned in an endless autumn, turning into winter of 2017. It is the piano that adds that classical touch to the music, and surely somebody like Max Richter or Nils Frahm is an influence here, but what he does with those piano sounds is of a more radical nature than his influencers. Here it seems glitch electronics play an important role, and they can be crackling, high frequency like, but also the really low end, bass part is something that is well explored here. Playing this at a rather medium volume some of that will surely be lost on the listener, but if you turn up the volume quite a bit you can hear all of that in what could be called full-force. Then another world opens up, and we hear what I think is the mouth of the composers, sighing, whispering, vocalizing the music, guiding the music perhaps. The music is warm, dreamy, but also ovalesque, alien and somewhat strange. It is quite an interesting mixture that Aries Mond cooks up here and it works out wonderfully well. Keeping his pieces relatively short is fine as he has quite some ideas up his sleeve, and the only thing one could wish is that it last a bit longer than thirty minutes. From Israel hails Emmanuel Witzthum, who is a “musician, violist and composer, multidisciplinary artist, and lecturer”, and who studied at the Manhattan School of Music, NYC with Michael Tree of the Guarneri Quartet. He has worked with various orchestras around the world, but he also worked at IRCAM. ’Songs of Love And Loss’ is his second album, following his debut on Cotton Goods seven years ago, and various releases with Craig Tattersall (also known as Humble Bee) as E & I. There are four pieces on this new release, and each title is a haiku. Where Aries Mond uses the piano, Witzthum uses the violin and it’s hard to say if the composer samples these instruments, but I would think so. Playing along side of his own recording, adding viola upon viola he reaches out for more traditional chamber orchestral sound, and the electronics used are for sampling/layering and not a further alienating process of glitch, crackle and bop. In the third piece there is also a bit of singing. The music is moody and melancholic, yet also minimal and slow, and something for the perfect grey day. Sit back, contemplate, do nothing, relax or be sad for yourself, its all a possibility here. A bit too sad for my taste, I must admit. (FdW) ––– Address: https://www.eilean-records.com/ KATJA INSTITUTE/PETER WULLEN - SHAPES (CDR by Katja Institute) In the as always information-less design - just a slim line jewel case and image - comes another release by Katja Institute and again with Peter Wullen. The first time it was Peter Wullen In The Katja Institute, then it became Katja Institute vs Peter Wullen and now the two names are separated by a /. I am not sure if there is a deeper meaning in all of that, for instance how duties are divided between both the Institute in California and Wullen in Belgium. Seeing that this is their third collaboration they might consider using a proper band name for their efforts. Like with all of the releases I heard from Katja this is some heavily computer treatment of a field recording, and in this particular case I would think those field recordings are some sort of metallic object. I might very well be wrong of course. It is one piece, spanning fifty-five minutes (exactly) of the usual minimalist movements. It opens with a segment that is rather rhythmic, like music from Z’EV being sampled into a dark, pulse driven beat and quite loud and of course this is slowed down further and further until from twenty-five minutes it becomes soft and very slow. After forty minutes the rhythm is picked up again, but now sounds altered, less loud and phasing gently about. As always the movements are very minimal in terms of changes and developments, and perhaps sometimes it could have bit more changes I guess, but it is also the way especially Katja Institute operates (I am not sure about Wullen as I don’t know that much of his other work) and that is by now their trademark approach towards composing. This is another excellent release by them. (FdW) ––– Address: https://katjainstitute.bandcamp.com/ LÄRMSCHUTZ - DRITTE TAFELMUSIK (cassette by Lurker Bias) Perhaps Dutch trio Lärmschutz have the burning ambition to be on every cassette label in the world? Or maybe to be the next Merzbow, Machinefabriek or Muslimgauze, when it comes to amounts of releases? Or simply to be in a lot of issues of Vital Weekly? Whatever the case, here the trio of Rutger (trombone), Stef (guitar), Thanos (drums) return with a long cassette; five improvised pieces, each around eleven to fifteen minutes and each named with some classical sounding term, such as ‘Ave Maria’, ‘Intrada’, ‘Toccata’, ‘Dolce’ and ‘Tosto’. I have no idea why that is, as the music doesn’t seem to have to do a great deal with classical music forms. But somehow, somewhere in the music there is also some kind of collage/cut up of voices, orchestras and piano’s buried, so perhaps that additional layer counts for these classical titles? Hard to say, but Lärmschutz do what they do best and that is to play some excellent set of improvised pieces, keeping the sounds close together, hectic, nervous sometimes, long form but they never relax or space out. Everything is recorded in a very direct way, yet also with some extended compression so it comes across as very loud; acoustic sometimes, but loud. ‘Dolce’ is perhaps the only piece around that leaves some space for the listener to breath, with some crazy free jazz piano and guitar motifs. Also ‘Toccata’ is a very free jazzy piece and it’s nice to see them do this kind of improvisations as well. This is another fine addition to their already impressive list of recordings. (FdW) ––– Address: https://lurkerbias.bandcamp.com INCARNASCOPE - THE DISINTEGRATING MAN (cassette by Dinzu Artefacts) This may seem like a new name to you and it is, actually, the first release for a guy named Walker, and of whom we don’t know anything, not even another release and Nigel Samways, of whom we reviewed music before, including ‘Havenots Havenever’ (Vital Weekly 835), which I still regard as one of his best releases. In his work field recordings play an important role, but also curiously processed recordings of instruments, all finely collaged together. I am guessing that is what he brings to this table as well, just as much there is no sense in guessing what Walker does, but I could easily think something along similar lines, or maybe something a bit more laptop based. On this release they are inspired by the notion of ‘the last man on earth’, that science fiction starting point from the twilight zone. “No man but one left, and what will happen as he wonders through a post nuclear landscape or an abandoned city”, with as the musicians say “psychological trauma and the ecstatic freedom to reimagine his world”. It is all based on magnetic tape recordings and we hear a bit of piano, slowed down percussion and field recordings in some rather moody setting, with bits of poetry occasionally contributing to the overall drama. The music is quite obscure with sounds that aren’t identifiable as one thing or another, which adds certain mystique to the music, perhaps that lingering presence of danger, even when no man is left, but then: where do the these voices come from then? The musical instruments sometimes apparently appear out of nowhere, and it becomes a small melodic piece such as the piano piece somewhere on both the A and B-side. This is music, which should indeed go very well with a Twilight Zone episode with such a theme, or any other similar inspired mysterious time travel film or series to a parallel universe. Refined tape manipulations with some excellent musical touch when needed; nothing grainy or distorted. (FdW) ––– Address: https://dinzuartefacts.bandcamp.com/ ORPHAX - SUMMER’S END (cassette by Low Point) Ah the Dutch summer... it is apparently famous for being wet. Who remembers Mark Poysden’s ‘Dutch Summer’ CDR release from 2001, an hour of soft recordings of dripping rain (not reviewed by VW; I wonder why since the close alliance we had to this particular composer). No rain, drizzle or drip on Orphax’ latest release, but it taps out of the same inspiration, the dreary weather of this country he’s based in. The future will be worse, my friend. Short but heavy rainfall is the weather of the future for this part of earth. Both pieces are touched by melancholy, ’Summer’s End’ and ‘September Mourning’, of course if that isn’t a misprint for ‘morning’. For this release Orphax’ Sietse van Erve unearthed an ancient machine, the JP8000, and recorded his source material with, only hovering about the low end of the keyboard. As it were to emphasize the dark and greyish nature of the music. He writes that this was a great period of his life, and yet the skies were grey and rainy, but who cares about weather if life is good? With a release like this it is hard to avoid dropping some actual weather references, and while it’s just about the last days of winter, with spring coming up the time you read this, the weather was surprisingly mellow last week, and before that, on the first day of meteorological spring it was the coldest March 1st ever in The Netherlands. There is no climate change, surely, anyone? In both of these pieces the somewhat greyish weather mood is reflected in the music. With some omnipresent drone in the title piece, very much derived from the world of organ sounds and ending on a standing wave becoming quite annoying. So in that respect I think that piece is just a bit too long. I prefer the ‘September Mourning’ over the title piece, as Orphax stays on more pleasant drone level, of one long processed voice stretch (so it seems, but isn’t) of what could be prayer for summer’s ending on a cold September day. It is not loud but there is a raw quality in the music, which is not like the more refined pieces Orphax usually releases. (FdW) ––– Address: https://lowpoint.bandcamp.com/ CLAUS POULSEN - DELICATE MONSTERS (cassette by Know Your Enemy) STAR TURBINE - THE GREAT DISTORTION (cassette by Aphelion) Here we have two releases with music that involves Claus Poulsen from Denmark. I started off with his solo release, maybe because his recent release, ‘Starry Womb’ (see Vital Weekly 1017) was one that I rank among the best I ever heard from him. The music on this new release is along the lines he has been working in the last 18 months, using turntable, bowed cymbal (which he calls the “saxophonephone”), laptop, field recording and a few effects (“only distortion and delay”). The music is neither ambient nor noise, but perhaps be best classified as a bit of everything. A patchwork as Poulsen calls this and I can easily agree with that. What I liked about ‘Starry Womb’ was it’s delicate quality, the warmth of gentle noises in an endless stream. On this new cassette we find all sorts of pieces, and it’s good to hear a more or less complete overview of possibilities of what Poulsen can do with his equipment, but somehow, somewhere I would have preferred a more thematic approach here; do various noise bits on one release, more improvised on another and the ambient lot on the third, and make it all a bit coherent. Now we are bouncing between various interests, which are actually quite fine but out of balance. Some of the quieter moments I enjoyed very much, while some of the louder pieces were less spend on me. It is however a fine item if you want to hear all the possibilities of this set-up. Poulsen is someone who does quite a bit of work with others, mainly with regard to improvisation and electronics and with Sindre Bjerga (also someone who does a lot of this kind of work, with others) he has a duo they named Star Turbine. They have been going since 2011 and played over fifty concerts together. Many of these are recorded and recordings are used as material for releases they do, with or without some post-production afterwards. For this release it was as some of the recordings were a bit too distorted, as the title already implies. Bjerga plays “cassette, Dictaphone, percussion, microphone, circuit bend toy phone” and Poulsen plays “bowed cymbal, monotron, turntable, effects”. More than before I can hear Bjerga’s solo work shining through here and that is something that I didn’t remember from the few releases I heard of them before. I might be wrong and I surely didn’t hear all of them. The two recordings here, taped on different nights during their 2017 tour show how well they interact these days. On the first side it’s like a Sindre Bjerga plus guest playing electronic music, while on the other side they close together through their piece with covered up sounds, none of which breaks through a mighty barrier; there is no big crescendo, a sudden burst of noise, just a stream of the consciousness throwing about what sounds the duo seems fit. A bit of drones of a monotron, some Dictaphone sounds being leaked on the mix, and we are on a seemingly endless ride down stream. A gentle stream with no big waves but with no stopping either. (FdW) ––– Address: https://clauspoulsen.bandcamp.com/album/delicate-monsters ––– Address: https://aphelioneditions.bandcamp.com/ • |