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VITAL WEEKLY
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number 564
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week 7
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Vital Weekly, the webcast: we offering a
weekly webcast, freely to download. This can be regarded as the
audio-supplement to Vital Weekly. Presented as a radioprogramm
with excerpts of just some of the CDs (no vinyl or MP3) reviewed.
It will remain on the site for a limited period (most likely 2-4
weeks). Download the file to your MP3 player and enjoy!
complete tracklist here: http://www.vitalweekly.net/podcast.html
you can subscribe to the weekly broadcast using the following
rss feed:
http://www.harmlog.nl/vitalfeed.asp
New broadcasts will be sent directly when uploaded
* noted are in this week's podcast
NOTE: there will be no Vital Weekly in week 8. In week 9 we'll return but somewhat later in the week, probably Thursday March 1st.
JASON KAHN - FIELDS (CD by Cut) *
GÜNTER MÜLLER - REFRAMED (CD by Cut)
KOJI ASANO - TRIO SUITES NO.1-NO.3 (CD by Solstice) *
MICHEAL EVANS & JEFF ARNAL - MEJA (CD by C3R Records)
JESSE STEWART - MUSIC FOR FOUND OBJECTS (CD by C3R Records)
TAIJI POLE - TAIJI POLE (CD by High Mayhem)
OUT OF CONTEXT - WENOMADMEN (CD by High Mayhem)
GRILLY BIGGS - NEW ORLEANS-KATRINA = SANTA FE + CHICAGO (CD by
High Mayhem)
HIGH MAYHEM FESTIVAL 2005 (CD by High Mayhem)
MECHA/ORGA - 56:24 (CD by Absurd) *
SUDDEN INFANT/BILL KOULIGAS (CDR by Absurd) *
CHRISTOF MIGONE - TROU (Book + DVD by Galerie De l"Uqam)
RUNZELSTIRN & GURGELSTOCK/MLEHST (LP by Belief Recordings)
MLEHST - I AM, I WAS, I WILL ALWAYS BE (LP by Belief Recordings)
HAL RAMMEL - LIKE WATER TIGHTLY WOUND (10" by Crouton)
ANDREW HOCKEY - THERE IS A MOUNTAIN/BUNNY BOILER BLUES (7"
by Static Caravan)
PIPELINE ALPHA - EVOCATION OF SETH (CDR by Triage Industries)
*
JOE FRAWLEY - WILHELMINA'S DREAM (CDR, private) *
L. DAILLEAU & KASPER T. TOEPLITZ - TOPOGRAPHIE DES TERRORS
(CDR by Tiramizu) *
MUTANT APE - A FINE MEMENTO (CDR by Krakilsk)
SKY BURIAL - OF THE FIRST LIGHT (CDR by Audio Immolation industries)
*
PATCHWORK CONNECT - DEADWOOD TRACKS REMIXED (CDR by Dirty Demos)
RED NEEDLED SEA - SIGNAL TRANSMISSION (3"CDR by Dirty Demos)
*
MACHINEFABRIEK - CELLO RECYCLING (3" CDR by Machinefabriek)
*
BAI+IAN - ANTI-SOUND (MP3 by AudioTong)
EMITER.ARSZYN - 07.11.05 (MP3 by AudioTong)
KOILON DUO - ELEMENTARE (MP3 by Rudimentale)
CHANCE:RISIKO - QUALTS ART/TEEX DELEO! (MP3 by Rudimentale)
LE GABRE - MANUALE AUDIOFONICO SULL'ASSENZA DI SENNO (MP3 by Rudimentale)
ST.RIDE - CARNE AL FUOCO (MP3 by Rudimentale)
NONO - LA RIPETIZIONE DE LA POINTE (MP3 by Rudimentale)
IL DUO AZURE (MP3 by Rudimentale)
JASON KAHN - FIELDS (CD by Cut)
GÜNTER MÜLLER - REFRAMED (CD by Cut)
These two busy bees from Switzerland are best known from their
work inside improvisation, but both present here a solo disc of
their own work, which in Müller's case is an even rarer thing
than in Kahn's work. Kahn presents seven compositions that were
created for analogue synthesizer, percussion, short wave radio
and field recordings from Croatia, Egypt, Japan, Lebanon and Switzerland.
In much of his work, solo and improvisation wise, Kahn loves the
stretched fields of sound: long blocks of drone like sounds that
only evolve minimally over the course of a piece. On 'Fields'
this is no different, but throughout it seems as if he uses many
layers, as opposed to just a few. All the sounds start at once
and then through clever mixing and filtering changes are made.
Subtle changes in the work of Kahn, but nevertheless a trademark
of his work, a very fine disc.
Günter Müller is well-known as a drummer, although he
has been known to play 'electronics, mini disc and ipod' for some
time too alongside his own system of making live transformations
of his drum sound. Like said, solo recordings are quite sparse
for him. On 'Reframed' he has five pieces which he made of processing
bowed cymbals. That probably leads the reader to the world of
subtle drone music, and so does the music. Deep sounding of faint
traces of endlessly sustaining sounds of cymbals. It's a bit unclear
how he did it, which I believe is not really of big importance
anyway, but it seems to me various layers of the same sound, which
have been subtly treated accordingly. The all sound at the same
time, but very carefully Müller changes the mix between the
various layers and builds not a very intense piece of music, but
rather a highly atmospherical mix of layers. A great disc, and
a big surprise. It marks a difference between his solo work and
that of Müller as an improviser and should easily appeal
to those who love Mirror, Ora and such like. (FdW)
Address: http://cut.fm
KOJI ASANO - TRIO SUITES NO.1-NO.3 (CD by
Solstice)
The music by Koji Asano never ceases to surprise me. That would
be the classic opening line for a review of his music, hadn't
he been already releasing a couple of classically composed albums
by now. So his first trio suite CD, with 'No. 1', 'No. 2' and
'No. 3' is not a surprise, but a nightmare to review, again. Like
his previous classical CDs, I have no clue what to say. The trio
here is piano, oboe and cello and two of the pieces last ten minutes
and one fifteen. My point of reference (and most likely that of
my fellow writers) is zero. It's not that I don't like classical
music as such, although rarely played here, but to 'judge' it
is something wholly different. To me it sounds a bit baroque rather
than romantic, but hey, who am I? I surely liked it when I played
it. I read the newspaper, drank coffee, looked outside and thought:
well, it's kind of alright. But will I play it again? Not very
likely, as this simply operates too far out of what I usually
like and would play for fun. (FdW)
Address: http://www.kojiasano.com
MICHEAL EVANS & JEFF ARNAL - MEJA (CD
by C3R Records)
JESSE STEWART - MUSIC FOR FOUND OBJECTS (CD by C3R Records)
Two albums of improvisation and two albums of percussive sounds.
And all three are new names for me. Micheal Evans and Jeff Arnal
hail from New York where they make their marks on the improvisation
scene. They both play conventional drum kits and they play it
in a rather conventional manner. I must admit I do like improvised
music on compact disc, even when it's usually better live, but
I have a problem with this one. It starts out vivid and wild,
but in this endless stream of percussion sounds it needs a point
of quietness, but they keep rolling on. Half the tracks would
have had the same impact, or perhaps even a bigger one, as far
as I'm concerned.
Of more interest I think is the disc by Jesse Stewart (who is
from Canada) who plays percussive music on a bunch of found objects,
such as metal, stone and objects in water. Moving away from the
conventional percussive music, Stewart plays nine short, and highly
diverse pieces of music. Carefully strumming the objects, finding
sounds and exploring them. Ringing and sustaining by repetitive
playing, this is a great work. The works are placed not in three
blocks but mixed together, so that the diversity is maintained
throughout this work. Not quite onkyo as Stewart doesn't too much
silence or plays the real drum kit in a different way, but Stewart
has his own way of approaching the percussion at hand, and in
doing so, he is spot on. Great CD! (FdW)
Address: http://www.c3r.ca
TAIJI POLE - TAIJI POLE (CD by High Mayhem)
OUT OF CONTEXT - WENOMADMEN (CD by High Mayhem)
GRILLY BIGGS - NEW ORLEANS-KATRINA = SANTA FE + CHICAGO (CD by
High Mayhem)
HIGH MAYHEM FESTIVAL 2005 (CD by High Mayhem)
A new nice bunch of cds from High Mayhem. High Mayhem is a yearly
festival for new and adventurous music in Santa Fe. The label
by the same name documents these concerts and offers recordings
from groups that circle around this festival. The 'High Mayhem
Festival 2005' -cd may serve as an introduction to this scene.
Five musicians that played at this festival were asked to make
a mix using all the recordings or the fourth edition of this festival.
For earlier editions of this festival labelboss Carlos Santistevan
choose for the cd-rom format, covering all the musical acts as
mp3-files. Great documents, and I wished more festivals were doing
this. Now however they took the opposite direction and summarize
the festival in 5 collages.
The ensemble Out of Context is one of ensembles that played at
this festival, and with their cd "Wenomadmen" they present
the most interesting release of these four. Out of Context is
a big ensemble of ten musicians. Leader and conductor Dino J.A.Deane
successfully keeps together this group already for several years.
"Wenomadman" is music for a theater production. The
piece starts starts with a climaxing drumsolo, that opens the
door for deep resonating sound improvisations. The music progresses
slowly, waves of sound come and go. Then with a flute as the dominant
instrument, at other moments the bassoon or trumpet. At times
it is as if you are finding yourself amidst of the jungle, listening
to a cacophony sounds of the most exotic birds. Great! Don't expect
drastic manoeuvres, or unexpected twists in this kind of improvisation.
These guys have lots of time and patience, and allow the music
to develop and expand. The ensemble is conducted effectively by
Deane in a Butch Morris style, so that the ensemble is not lost
in space and time, but remains focussed and concentrated. In the
second part Sam Rhodes sings in a tuvan throat singing style,
that gives the music a very meditative feel. It was a surprise
to find Joseph Sabella (vibes, percussion) in this ensemble. It
must be one of the oldest mates of Deane, as they were both in
the 'new wave' group Indoor Life, somewhere in the early eighties.
Taiji Pole is like a stripped down version of Out of Context.
It is a new trio with the curious line up of J.A.Deane (vertical
flute), Carlos Santistevan (vertical bass), and Matt Deason (horizontal
bass), all of them members of Out of Context. We hear the same
kind of improvisations: sonic textures that are built with great
care and with a good sense for development and time. A difference
with Out of Context: this trio plays in a much darker mood. The
music is noisy and loud. In two spacy and very lengthy improvisations,
sometimes with the allure of early german cosmic music, they tell
their story. Another very satisfying cd!
Concerning Grilly Biggs, I have to say that it didn't sparkle
between us. Grilly Biggs is a quartet: Matthew Golombisky (electric
bass, electronics), Matthew McClimon (vibes, organics), Milton
Villarrubia III (drumset, electronics) and Quin Kirchner (drumset,
electronics). They mix improvisation, electronic sound excursions
with jazzy sections of drum'n'bass like music. So they absolutely
try to create something new. But the concept and musicians are
not very convincing. Especially you have to like vibraphone, as
this instrument is constantly taking part. Alas the player of
it, is the weak spot in this combo. (DM)
Address: http://www.highmayhem.org
MECHA/ORGA - 56:24 (CD by Absurd)
SUDDEN INFANT/BILL KOULIGAS (CDR by Absurd)
The name Mecha/orga keeps popping up in Vital Weekly and though
not entirely a household name, it should be one, at least some
day. His new CD could be of great help to achieve this. Mecha/orga
is the name chosen by Yiorgis Sakellariou from Greece, who works
since time under this guise (and plays regular music as well under
various other guises and in various other capacities). The work,
indicated by it's length, was created one afternoon in february
last year, and played live there after a couple of time. No bullshitting
about. The length becomes the title, and the listener can come
up with his or her own story. Mecha/orga plays drone music. On
a laptop. How much more simple can it get? Or rather does it have
to be complex? No it doesn't. Over the course of the fifty-six
minutes and twenty-four seconds Yiorgis Sakellariou plays a slowly
unfolding piece of drone music, which seems to be growing in intensity
throughout. When you think nothing more can be added, he adds
another layer. And another. And another. Most suitable to play
in the dark, at night and ghostly activities will surely occur.
Or during the day, outside and watching plants grow. Multi-purpose
music, I'd say. Great stuff. Powerful music.
On the same label a split CDR release by Sudden Infant and Bill
Kouligas. I never heard of the latter, but apparently he is the
new partner in Joke Lanz' Sudden Infant project and also a member
of the Greek duo Family Battle Snake. Sudden Infant has been running
for close to twenty years now, but in recent years I haven't been
keeping up with his recorded output. The five pieces captured
here were recorded live in 2004 in London. Sudden Infant combines
noise and performance, and captured on a disc, it leaves us with
noise. It's hard to tell what he does, but it seems to me a handful
of analogue sound effects and a bunch of toys, microphones and
perhaps a turntable. Not uninteresting, but it sounded a bit like
I thought it would. And pretty much the same goes for the five
pieces by Kouligas, but it's slightly more boring, or perhaps
less imaginative. A barrage of noise, feeding of through echo
and reverb units and some clattering of objects. (FdW)
Address: http://www.void.gr/absurd
CHRISTOF MIGONE - TROU (Book + DVD by Galerie
De l"Uqam)
The work of Christof Migone has been reviewed before in Vital
Weekly, but it dealt always with one aspect of that work: the
music, released on the compact disc that was reviewed. Migone
however is also a visual artist, and much of his work is shown
in his home town Montreal, so its likely that you or me didn't
see that work. Until now that is. With 'Trou' we don't get the
real thing, but it gives the idea. 'Trou' is compiled by Nicole
Gringas and is an exhibition of various Migone multimedia works,
such as films, installations and sound work. I could try to explain
what his work is about, but it would mean I would have to retype
Gringas book. In short, many of the works by Migone deal with
body, with sound and with language. The body farts, makes the
sound of cracking bones (both of these were used to make music),
but also produced the installation 'Spit', which is a bottle of
collected spit. Conceptual work, but it has a great visual and
audio power. To make things more complete this hardcover book
has DVD of various works. Of these all of them, except 'P' and
'Surround (360 objects)' deal with the human body. In 'Poker'
we see two faces at the time and they are being 'touched' ('poked')
for sound, which is kinda poetic. In 'Snow Storm' dandruff produces
the title and in 'Evasion' we are confronted with the human tongue,
but no doubt the small screen at home works less effective than
the full screen in the gallery space. The films are quite short
(ranging from less than a minute to twelve minutes), and open
up the fascinating world of Christof Migone. Still not the real
thing, as the exhibition is the real thing, but it's a fine substitute.
(FdW)
Address: http://www.galerie.uqam.ca
RUNZELSTIRN & GURGELSTOCK/MLEHST (LP
by Belief Recordings)
MLEHST - I AM, I WAS, I WILL ALWAYS BE (LP by Belief Recordings)
Mlehst is back and we should take notice. Two pieces of 12"
vinyl, filled with three sides of Mlehst and one with Runzelstirn
& Gurgelstock - another legend. To start with the latter.
'Sex' is the theme here, but luckily it's not the usual cut up
of porn movies. Sound wise this is an unusual Runzelstirn &
Gurgelstock record. Some elements are still in there, like the
extensive use of voices and shouting, but the hasty cut-up/collage
work is not really present here. Instead they use samples of an
orchestral nature and sounds go on instead of being fractured
and scattered. It departures from their previous work, but still
maintains a high quality. On the other side there is Mlehst with
a highly interesting piece of musique concrete type of collage.
Electronic sounds fly about while there is also cut-ups of acoustic
sounds. It seems, but I may be wrong, that Mlehst returned to
using reel-to-reel machines to chop up, speed up those sounds.
Quite a vibrant piece of music.
On 'I Am, I Was, I Will Always Be' Mlehst takes things into another
direction. The title track is the source of all the music on this
album. A layered drone of synthesizer sounds, quite simple. It
is the starting point of the ten tracks that follow. Each is treated
in a different way. Sometimes working the higher regions and sometimes
only the lower regions, which are the first four steps taken on
side a. On side B things are expanded. A rhythm occurs, basically
a simple loop, or becoming more noise related. Less vibrant than
the piece of the split LP, each of these pieces is a monochrome
composition in itself. Though not entirely a new idea at work
here, Mlehst does a fine job. Certainly the second side has to
offer some interesting pieces. Crude, rough but it stays on the
more interesting side of noise. (FdW)
Address: http://www.freewebs.com/mlehst
HAL RAMMEL - LIKE WATER TIGHTLY WOUND (10"
by Crouton)
Musician and visual artist Hal Rammel has been involved in art,
and I know he has released a CD or two in the past, but somehow
they didn't stick in my mind. Rammel is the inventor of the Sound
Palette. This is a construction made of wood and metal which he
plays in an improvising manner. He has built several ones in various
shapes and sizes. A strange sort of hectic sound occurs when these
are strummed or stroked, but even more odd is that there is a
calm and relaxing texture to these recordings. Minimal but in
a non-repetitive way. Perhaps the closest thing to say, is that
there is something ethnic about these recordings, a bit like gamelan,
but then in a more random, chaotic way. The b-side '
is more about rubbing the sticks and is even more chaotic. A nice
record, but I wonder if a whole CD could be of similar interest.
Perhaps seeing it live would be the real thing. (FdW)
Address: http://www.croutonmusic.com
ANDREW HOCKEY - THERE IS A MOUNTAIN/BUNNY
BOILER BLUES (7" by Static Caravan)
Ah the simple but so effective popsong. A guy with a guitar and
nothing else. Oh there is bird twitter and a marimba on the a-side.
Andrew Hockey is such a guy. I know nothing about him, except
that he released two 10" records, called "Songs from
the Dandelion Clock, Vols 1 & 2" and that he is from
Cornwall. I am never good at reviewing music like this, since
my references towards popmusic are really sparse, but it all sounds
highly folk like to me and also very sixties, for reasons that
I can't explain myself. Both tracks have an early summer feel
to them. The a-side should be a big underground hit, but it probably
won't. The b-side is indeed a blues piece. Singer-songwriter stuff
in optima forma and for once one I really like. He can sing, unlike
many others in this area. Music to make you happy. It did to me.
(FdW)
Address: http://www.staticcaravan.org
PIPELINE ALPHA - EVOCATION OF SETH (CDR
by Triage Industries)
Housed in a really nice and professional package, comes Pipeline
Alpha, the third release on Triage Industries. The first was 'hardcore
roots reggae', the second 'ambient electro drone doom metal' and
Pipeline Alpha is 'sophisticated psychedelic drones'. Whoever
Pipeline Alpha is we don't get to know, but he works with voices,
primitive synthesizers and analogue effect machines. This implies
a kind of lo-fi recording, and perhaps that is what it is. Pipeline
Alpha's pieces are cut outs of bigger live sessions; the more
interesting bits, or what he defines as such, are cut from them
and presented as finished pieces. It's a bit hard to make up my
mind on this. Some of the pieces were alright, some were too dark,
ritualistik, almost gothic like. Sometimes it lacked structure,
but some were alright. And definitely too long for what it brings.
But I would still give him the benefit of doubt. Let's see where
it grows into. (FdW)
Address: http://www.triage-industries.de
JOE FRAWLEY - WILHELMINA'S DREAM (CDR, private)
Behind the work 'Wilhelmina's Dream' is one Joe Frawley from Norwich,
Connecticut, who is both a composer and a visual artist. This
is my first encounter with his music. Frawley plays piano and
electronics on this release, but that's only half the story. Frawley
is also an expert of stealing interesting sounds from others.
Much of the material we hear on this release is lifted from classical
sources, such as Maurice Ravel, Sergeij Prokofiev and some Meredith
Monk. Frawley blends these sources together in quite a beautiful
way. Plunderphonics is never my thing very much, but Frawley does
a fine job. He loops around small specific parts, intercepts them
with taped voices and his own piano playing, as well as his own
careful blend of electronics and field recordings. Soft and not
very outspoken, Frawley plays a nice play of mood music. I was
reminded of some more of the spooky recordings of Nurse With Wound,
but Frawley keeps things on a more quiet level. The fact that
he lifted a few sound sources here and there doesn't bother me
at all, as they are all cleverly intervowen into the overall music.
Mood music of a highly original kind. (FdW)
Address: http://www.joefrawleymusic.info
L. DAILLEAU & KASPER T. TOEPLITZ - TOPOGRAPHIE
DES TERRORS (CDR by Tiramizu)
By major exception a somewhat older release by Laurent Dailleau
and Kasper T. Toeplitz. Both are known as composers of electronic
music by way of computer techniques. In this hour long work, they
pay hommage to the Velvet Underground's piece 'The Gift', in which
John Cale recites the text on one channel and on the other the
band plays. That is exactly what Dailleau and Toeplitz do, except
that they both make music, no words here and that they cross channels.
Who starts left, ends right and vice versa. Without hearing each
others work it was put together by the label, which if one hears
the end result is a bit hard to believe. It's a powerful work
of static computer drones, with some extreme filtering going on,
moving on all dynamic levels of the piece. A work that has a menacing
sound and that is probably best played in the dark to get the
full haunted experience. Maybe a bit long, clocking at sixty minutes,
whereas perhaps forty-five would have been suited as well, but
it's a fine work in which the concept doesn't stand in the way
of the listen-ability of the piece. (FdW)
Address: http://www.tiramizu.net
MUTANT APE - A FINE MEMENTO (CDR by Krakilsk)
"These banal objects, technological objects, virtual objects,
are the new strange attractors , the new objects beyond aesthetics,
transaesthetic, these fetish- objects with no signification, no
illusion, no aura, no value that are the mirror of our radical
disillusionment of the world. There lies the pataphysical irony
of the situation. All metaphysics is brushed aside by this reversal
of the situation where the process no longer originates with the
subject .. the object refracts the subject and subtly, using all
our technologies, imposes its presence and its aleatory form.."
this is such bad academic practice but I was almost tempted to
pass of the above without reference to its subject - Jean Baudrillard
- as it precisely elucidates the problematic regarding 'noise'.
It removes the problematic completely - and reverses the process
- noise represents the fetishisation of music. Its tones and themes
and technologies both sexual and technological fetishes / bondage
et al. arises from the object - of the post modern world and locates
itself - creates the subject - in vast quantities - via typically
the CDR - (Mutant Apes over 100 already). The review therefore
must start and end in my opinion in the fetishisation of the object
- brilliantly realized by Merzbow - but brilliantly realized here
again. (jliat)
Address: http://www.mutant-ape.co.uk
SKY BURIAL - OF THE FIRST LIGHT (CDR by
Audio Immolation industries)
Among his influences as Sky Burial, another project by Micheal
Page (whom we usually find under his Fire In The Head guise in
Vital Weekly and Irukandji, which was never reviewed), he cites
Skullflower, Lustmord, Controlled Bleeding, Zoviet France, Nocturnal
Emissions and Final, but not Throbbing Gristle, which is odd,
since that's where he got the idea for the artwork from for this
cover and CDR print. Perhaps just graphically influenced? It seems
to me The Gristles could have been a musical influence as well.
The title of the release refers to the Wampanoag tribe, who lived
in Cape Cod (where Sky Burial is from) originally and where one
can see the sunrise first in the USA. It has been noted before,
but Sky Burial's work might be 'softer' than Fire In The Head,
it's still a furious loud beast. His guitar howl about through
a long line of sound effects, set against a dark dirge of samples
and synthesizers (as opposed to Fire In The Head, where is a wall
of feedback). Unlike some of his influences, Sky Burial's tracks
are short and to the point. Sometimes I think perhaps a bit too
short, as this music needs the right amount of time to develop
beyond what it is. I have the impression that inside Sky Burial's
music there is more hidden, which is not entirely revealed, due
to the shortness of the compositions. Again, a very fine disc,
and again surely one that should go down well with the lovers
of Old Europa Cafe and Cold Meat Industry. (FdW)
Address: http://www.collectivexxiii.com/sky
PATCHWORK CONNECT - DEADWOOD TRACKS REMIXED
(CDR by Dirty Demos)
RED NEEDLED SEA - SIGNAL TRANSMISSION (3"CDR by Dirty Demos)
My first encounter with Deadwood dates from not so long ago, but
it turns out that it exists since quite some time, in fact since
2003 and that a remix album is already in place. In a world were
exchange of sound material and composing of sound is dead easy
through the internet, these things happen quick. Today you start
and tomorrow there are nineteen people with a remix of your work.
The usual suspects that usually find their place on labels such
as Tib Prod are also present here, such as Swamps Up Nostrils,
Sound_00, Sindre Bjerga, Iversen, Every Kid On Speed and Bjerga/Iversen
- yes, I do realize that is the same guy more than once. Especially
the beginning of this release is quite relaxed, in a sort of ambient
glitch manner, with some extra spices. In the second half things
are a bit more noise related, but it nowhere gets loud or harsh.
Of course you get no clue as to how Deadwood sounded back then
(the day before yesterday), but altogether it makes quite a nice
compilation, even without knowing it's a remix.
The second release by Panos Alexiades, also known as Red Needled
Sea (see also Vital Weekly 555) and this time it seems to be without
the guitar. The title seem to hint to the use of radio signals
being transmitted, or at least transformed. Going through a bunch
of sound effects, such as echo and reverb, this piece takes a
lot of time to get started. By the ten minute mark, things are
finally altered into a pure digital glitch noise. When things
that finally go crescendo it would have made a nice ending, but
Red Needled Sea takes up matters again and the final three minutes
seem to me a bit superfluous. With some more strict editing, this
could be a great say eight minute piece, now it's a bit too long
with not enough exciting events. (FdW)
Address: http://www.dirtydemos.co.uk
MACHINEFABRIEK - CELLO RECYCLING (3"
CDR by Machinefabriek)
For those who are not in the direct area of the Dutch Breda and
therefor missing out on Machinefabriek's 'luisterpost' music,
there is this little CD. I have no idea what 'Luisterpost' is,
but I assume it's some nice environment where a specially composed
piece of music is heard. Curated by Martijn Homan, Machinefabriek
is the first in 2007 to do one. He takes the cello, as played
by Aaron Martin, and feeds it through his array of electronics
and create a dense, layered piece of electronics in a deep, atmospheric
mood. Slightly distorted, so that it doesn't entirely hit the
ambient wall, this is a sturdy Machinefabriek piece. The original
sound pieces by Martin are also present on this disc, although
I'm not sure why. Perhaps a 'do-it-yourself' intention? Or perhaps
a show-off: see what I can do with the original? Let's say, the
first option, to stay on the positive side. There is some mighty
transformation done on the original. And if in Breda hop by the
gallery to see what it sounds like (see announcement section).
(FdW)
Address: http://www.machinefabriek.nu
BAI+IAN - ANTI-SOUND (MP3 by AudioTong)
EMITER.ARSZYN - 07.11.05 (MP3 by AudioTong)
Bai+ian is a young sound artist from Chengdu/China and although
he has already participated in various events (among others an
exhibition in London) this EP is his debut release. The main ingredients
here are sine waves and processed field recordings, and obviously
this positions Bai+ian's work in territories that have been explored
in depth by others before. But this is not necessarily bound to
be a bad thing, on the contrary. Bai+ian cleverly juxtaposes contemplative
moments and harsher passages, mixing city sounds like birds, cars
and children with bleeps and abstract textures and keeping the
material minimal, yet in steady motion. The EP reaches its best
moments in the last two tracks, when it gets all quiet, with flowing
sine waves, subdued field recordings and a gentle humming drone
setting in later. Clocking in at about 20 minutes in total, this
is a nice and fully coherent introduction to a new artist from
a country that is still a little known area on the map of experimental
music.
The release by Emiter.Arszyn documents a concert the Polish duo
played in Prague in 2005. Although both of them have a background
in more 'traditional' music (as a guitarist and a drummer), their
music is of an abstract, highly electronic nature here. Rhythm,
in the form of a constant pulse, plays the main role, and at times
the music is vaguely reminiscent of SND's static funk or a less
bleak and less minimal version of Pan Sonic. However, these mentioned
names are just loose associations, since Emiter.Arszyn succeed
very well in developing their own position. Going from the delicate
to (almost) full-range noise, the duo uses a rich and well-balanced
palette of electronic sounds, from which they craft three warm,
pulsating and ever-evolving pieces. The harsh moments come in
about halfway through the disc, disrupting the overall mellow
flow, yet still blending perfectly in the composition. Only towards
the very end the music tends loose its focus, but this is not
really a problem, since all the rest is high quality material.
(MSS)
Address: http://www.audiotong.net/
KOILON DUO - ELEMENTARE (MP3 by Rudimentale)
CHANCE:RISIKO - QUALTS ART/TEEX DELEO! (MP3 by Rudimentale)
LE GABRE - MANUALE AUDIOFONICO SULL'ASSENZA DI SENNO (MP3 by Rudimentale)
ST.RIDE - CARNE AL FUOCO (MP3 by Rudimentale)
NONO - LA RIPETIZIONE DE LA POINTE (MP3 by Rudimentale)
IL DUO AZURE (MP3 by Rudimentale)
As promised last week, here's a quick look at the various MP3
releases by Rudimentale, the Italian net label.
Koilon Duo is not a duo, but a trio: S. Sciarratta on "contrabbasso,
looper, elettronica, concrete sounds', F. Branciamore on drum
set and M. Carlentini on 'basi elettroniche'. Their release 'Elementare'
has one track, recorded live. It's a work of improvisation, based
around a set of loose end sounds that flow freely around. In the
end it doesn't give the piece much structure, but rather a random
set of sound segments that go into each other. It's o.k. I guess,
but not really great.
Chance:Risiko is a duo from Bologna, who improvised work falls
in the categories 'wild electronic' and 'wild plunderphonic',
sampling rock music, classical music and sauce them up with electronics.
Quite alright this, and quite wild.
Behind Le Glabre we find Luca Sciaratta of L'Addimmuru (see last
week's issue), who plays solo guitar, which he built himself,
through a bunch of sound effects, or even, perhaps, a computer.
A furious style, which sound alright on the part of electronics,
but the guitar part is not always to my liking. Too regular sounding
even when fed through the possible distortion.
Nono is Giuseppe Cordaro who originally plays guitar, but as Nono
he plays the piano. On 'Manuale Audiofonico Sull'assenza Di Senno'
four melancholic pieces of slow piano notes and field recordings.
Budd/Eno like, certainly in the first two pieces, and a bit more
experimental in the other two, this is actually quite nice, after
the improvised mayhem of the others.
St.ride have been reviewed before, and here continue their explorations
of plunderphonics of CDs, microphones and computers, but they
never give away their sources. It's all highly abstract, once
again.
Less abstract is the work of Il Duo Azure who play their own wild
version of folk music, using their own voice, electric guitars
and electronics. Improvised folk music with something wild going
on. Short as in punk rock, and probably as wild and quite nice
indeed. (FdW)
Address: http://www.rudimentale.com
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