============
VITAL WEEKLY
============
number 566
---------------------
week 10
---------------------
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
PLEASE DON'T IGNORE READING THIS: SINCE WE ANNOUNCED WE WILL NO LONGER REVIEW MATERIAL OLDER THAN SIX MONTHS, MORE AND MORE PEOPLE SEND US OLDER MATERIAL THAN SIX MONTHS. DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY. WE WILL NOT REVIEW IT, BUT SELL THE MATERIAL TO A SECOND MAILORDER OUTLET. ALSO: DON'T SEND MORE THAN 3 (THREE) RELEASES AT ONCE. WE SIMPLY CAN'T HANDLE EVERYTHING ANYMORE. SAVE YOUR FRUSTATION - WELL, AND OURS.
CONRAD SCHNITZLER - KLAVIERHELM (CD by Important
Records)
CONRAD SCHNITZLER - TRIGGER TRILOGY (3CD by Important Records)
*
TETUZI AKIYAMA & GREG MALCOLM - BROMBRON 12: SIX STRINGS (CD
by Korm Plastics)
JON MUELLER & MARTIJN TELLINGA - BROMBRON 13: BOWL, HELICOPTER
(mCD by Korm Plastics)
ROBERTO OPALIO - THE LAST NIGHT OF THE ANGEL OF GLASS, VOL. 1
& 2 (CD by A Silent Place)
MAURIZIO BIANCHI & TH26 - ARKAEO PLANUM (CD by Small Voices)
JENNIFER GENTLE - A NEW ASTRONOMY (CD by Small Voices)
ON - SECOND SOUFFLE (CD by Brocoli) *
ANDREAS BERTILSSON - PARAMOUNT (CD by Komplott) *
TIBETAN RED - FOUTA DJALON (CD by Gracia Territori) *
KOZO INADA - J[] (CD by Sonoris) *
MEM1 - ALEXIPHARMACA (CD by Interval Recordings)
OID - SYSTEMS OF MERCY (CD by Lagunamuch) *
OLOOLO - PAVILOSTA (CD by Lagunamuch)
ALEXEI BORISOV & ANTON NIKKILA - WHERE ARE THEY NOW (CD by
NB Research
Digest) *
TWOCSINAC & DJ SARAH WILSON - PRESENT 'JESUS IS A BRACE LITTLE
TOASTER' VOL.1 (CD by Wrong Music)
LISI - DAMN IT! (CD by Public Eyesore)
KEIICHIRO SHIBUYA - FILMACHINE (CD by Atak)
EVALA - INITIAL (CD by Port)
PORT DOC.1-5 (CD compilation by Port)
OTOMO YOSHIHIDE - PRISONER (CD by Headz)
GRAHAM HALLIWELL & TOMAS KORBER - THE LARGE GLASS (CD by Cathnor
Recordings)
JEFRE CANTU-LEDESMA - THE GARDEN OF FORKING PATHS (CD by Spekk)
SVYATOSLAV LUNYOV - PARA PACEM-PARA BELLUM (CD by Quasi Pop Records)
NAOKI ISHIDA - TONE REDUST (CD by Quasipop Records)
LASSE MARHAUG - IT'S NOT THE END OF THE WORLD (CD by Quasipop
Records)
SILK SAW - 8 REPORTS (CD by Ant-Zen Recordings)
ORATORY OF DIVINE LOVE - PURGATORIO (CD by Waystyx Records) *
SUKORA - SNOW DROP (CD by Waystyx Records)
SINCABEZA - EDIT SUR PASSAGE AVANT FIN OU MONTÉE D, INSTRUMENT
(CD by Distile Records)
SWIMS - Swims (CD by Distile Records)
FRANK ROTHKAMM - MOERS WORKS (CD by Monochrome Vision)
DAS SYNTHETISCHE MISCHGEWEBE - COLLABORATIONS (2CD by Monochrome
Vision)
LT. CARAMEL - EARLY TAPE WORKS (2CD by Monochrome Vision)
MAURIZIO BIANCHI & SIEGMAR FRICKE - STROMA-KONKRET (CD by
Monochrome Vision)
DAVID KRISTIAN - GHOST STOREYS (CD/DVD by Cocosolidciti)
LIMMAT - MUNICIPAL 44 (CD/DVD by Cocosolidciti)
JONATHAN COLECLOUGH & ANDREW LILES - TORCH SONGS (2LP/CD on
Die Stadt)
JOHN WATERMANN - CALCUTTA GAS CHAMBER (LP by Die Stadt)
ELECTRIC WEST - DRAWIN PLANS FO DELICATE EVASION (CDR by Boltfish
Recordings) *
JASPER LEYLAND - FIELDSTONE (CDR by Benbecula Records) *
Y-TON-G - ROSTFRESSER (CDR by Terminal Tape Production)
Y-TON-G - RAUEISEN (CDR by Terminal Tape Production)
Y-TON-G - WEITERE KLANGALCHYMISTISCHE EXPERIMENTE (CDR by Terminal
Tape Production)
CROATAN ENSEMBLE (CDR by 1000+1 Tilt Recordings)
PS STAMPS BACK - OF LOSS AND THE SPIRALS OF TIME (CDR by 1000+1
Tilt Recordings)
GREG DAVIS & JEPH JERMAN & ALBERT CASAIS - 6X20 (2CDR
by Winds Measure Recordings)
TING TING JAHE - 18 (16) (2CDR by Winds Measure Recordings)
MACHINEFABRIEK - ZINK (3" CDR by Cut Hands)
PLAINS - UNDERGROUND (3"CDR by CLaudia)
ANLA COURTIS - H-PUNA (3"CDR by Generator Sound Art) *
SHINKEI - BINAURAL BEATS (3"CD by Shin)
HENNING LUNDKVIST - DOKUMENTATION01NOV06 (MP3 by Inaktiv)
LISBETH OG BENT/JENS ROBOT (Mp3 by Noisejihad Live)
WALDCHENGARTEN/RESPIRATOR (MP3 by Noisejihad Live)
NOISEJIHAD FESTIVAL (MP3 by Noisejihad Live)
ZBIGNIEW KARKOWSKI & DANNY KREUTZFELDT (MP3 by Noisejihad
Live)
DANNY KREUTZFELDT - ABRUPTION (3"CDR by Tib Prod)
RUMFORSKNING - LIVSTEGN (CDR by Dataobscura)
CONRAD SCHNITZLER - KLAVIERHELM (CD by Important
Records)
CONRAD SCHNITZLER - TRIGGER TRILOGY (3CD by Important Records)
Ever since I first found about Conrad Schnitzler and his music,
I am a fan. But on a different level than a strict music fan.
It's a bit like my appreciation for the work of John Cage: great
ideas about music (among many others), but I hardly play a Cage
piece. I do play Conrad Schnizler's music however. For those who
do not know. Schnitzler was a student of Joseph Beuys, before
starting to play music with Tangerine Dream with whom made their
debut album and later Cluster (their first two Lps are played
at least once a year), before starting his solo career in synthesizer
music. Unlike his contemporary Klaus Schulze and Tangerine Dream
the
experiment was always more important. Playing concerts for 16
or so hours a day, which were released on cassettes, each with
differentportion of thirty minutes, releasing many highly rare
Lps. Schnitzler hardly uses the keyboard of a synthesizer, but
twiddles around with the knobs. Currently I believe he is in early
seventies but still creating music, as a complete outsider to
the world of electronic music. He's not part of German cosmic
music, nor microsound, but strictly goes his own way. Conrad Schnitzler
produced an incredible amount of music, of which the likes of
Merzbow and Muslimgauze could have ever dream off.
The piano is an instrument that he has been using before on a
CD by Art Gallery years and years go, but here it is again. On
his 'Klavierhelm' he returns the piano, but in a totally different
fashion. He bangs the 88 keys in a totally free version. No introspection
alike Satie nor the minimalism of Reich. Perhaps as free as say
Cecil Taylor would play, but Schnitzler plays it really dry, almost
without emotion. I could even believe he uses a computer program
to create this music and have it play like Nancarrow's player
piano. It took me some time to get into this, but as the disc
progressed, seemingly without much change or progress throughout
the CD, but in the end it was quite captivating as a total, homogenous
work.
The 'Trigger Trilogy' deals with his electronic work and is divided
in three different aspects thereof - one per CD. On disc one these
are 'the solo pieces', in which he uses mainly one set of rhythm
per piece with a few lines on the synthesizer, but usually all
in a random mode. Sometimes it's the synthesizer which makes the
rhythm, and some a drum computer. It's a highly stripped down
version of electronic music that perhaps is only vaguely related
to techno music, but it's not danceable at all. It's cold and
mechanic, but has certainly something highly attractive to it.
On CD two we find the 'free mix solo's'. As we will see with disc
three, in the past Schnitzler played concerts by using an amount
of pre-recorded cassettes of synthesizer, now of course using
CDRs. These are very different but on the 'free mix solo's', he
uses equal or parallel sounds per track. Perhaps it's only a minor
difference but it's an important one. The music on disc two is
divided in more than one track, but it sounds very much like one
ongoing piece of music, that is alive and present, still in a
clinical and mechanical mood, but slowly changing with the minimalism
of disc one. Much more complex with more layers of slightly similar
material, that move along eachother like plate tectonics. As said
on the third a 'con-cert'. Schnitzler uses for his concert Cdrs
with all sorts of raw materials which he uses to create a live
mix. Parts of the first and second Cds in this trilogy are used
here, but also other portions of sounds from the past. Again,
this is a more complex than disc one, but also more varied than
the somewhat singleminded disc two. Complexity here stretches
out over the use of rhythm and sound color, with moody textures
and uplifting rhythmic passages. If the work of Schnitzler is
unknown to you, this three CD might be good introduction to his
sound world, whereas the piano disc may appeal to lovers of free
jazz and those with an acquired Schnitzler taste. The work of
Schnitzler doesn't always appeal to me, but it's always worth
investigating and, in these two instances, one could say: the
man is both outsider and genius. (FdW)
Address: http://www.importantrecords.com
TETUZI AKIYAMA & GREG MALCOLM - BROMBRON
12: SIX STRINGS (CD by Korm Plastics)
JON MUELLER & MARTIJN TELLINGA - BROMBRON 13: BOWL, HELICOPTER
(mCD by Korm Plastics)
Since 2000 the Brombron project offers small groups of musicians
the opportunity to become artists in residence in Extrapool, an
arts initiative in Nijmegen/The Netherlands, and realize a joint-project
there. The 12th and 13th installment from the series come from
Tetuzi Akiyama and Greg Malcolm and Jon Mueller and Martijn Tellinga
respectively.
Akiyama and Malcolm go without any electronics, improvising on
their guitars and almost literally weaving subtle acoustic meshes.
Taking given as well as own themes and tunes as a basis, the duo
creates music of a highly introspective character, utterly calm
and filled with remarkable warmth and intimacy. They pluck their
strings delicately, at times almost hesitatingly, gently entwining
the individual notes, which seem to caress each other. According
to its improvised nature, the music doesn't follow a linear logic,
but its focus is rather smoothly shifting back and forth from
melodic and repetitive patterns to free playing with occasional
far away blues-reminiscences woven in. Along with the warm, full
sound of their guitars, the balance that Malcolm and Akiyama achieve
between these various aspects of their music is the most fascinating
point about this release. Without ever fully entering into the
territories of structured songs or free-form improvisation, they
interlace melody, repetition and fragmentation and arrive at a
rich and intense result, with a low key, laid-back character,
yet fully absorbing.
Percussionist Jon Mueller and electro-acoustic composer and sound
artist Martijn Tellinga (aka Boca Raton), explore a set-up that
consists of live-sampling and processing of Mueller's playing,
on top of a layer of pre-recorded material from a previous session.
The triggering and processing of the pre-recorded samples is caused
by the percussive input, which is at the same time providing new
material. Tellinga manipulates these events in real-time, but
can also bypass the triggering and play the computer as a stand-alone
instrument, using the same set of sound material. This results
in a stream of concise acoustic marks, arranged in a sort of non-hierarchic
way, in which repetition is absent and structure appears only
on a micro-level, thus putting a strong emphasis on the individual
sounds or small groups of sounds. At times these sounds seem to
stand erratically next to each other, while in other passages
they engage in small 'dialogues' or form porous accumulations.
The two distinct 'voices' remain present and clearly distinguishable
throughout, with the percussive work ranging from familiar figures,
like, say, a short drum roll, to nearly-electronic sounding abstractions
and the electro-acoustic counterpart consisting of a palette of
sharp and precise clicks, clatters and whirls. It was probably
a very good choice to release this as a mini CD, since this format
seems very appropriate for such an austere work, while it might
have been difficult to sustain its quality over the length of
a full CD. At three tracks and a playing time of about twenty
minutes however, the controlled playing and the atmosphere of
extreme concentration work well and are utterly convincing. (MSS)
Address: http://www.kormplastics.nl
ROBERTO OPALIO - THE LAST NIGHT OF THE ANGEL
OF GLASS, VOL. 1 & 2 (CD by A Silent Place)
MAURIZIO BIANCHI & TH26 - ARKAEO PLANUM (CD by Small Voices)
JENNIFER GENTLE - A NEW ASTRONOMY (CD by Small Voices)
This is my first encounter with the music of Roberto Opalio from
Italy. I have no idea about this man. Volume 1 of this 2CD set
was released on a CDR by Foxglove before. He plays vocals, electric
astral guitar, space toys and alientronics - yes, this man is
into the world outside earth. His vocals are processed to such
an extend that it creates an angelic choir. To that he adds his
likewise sampled to death guitar and toys. It creates a sense
of space music, but it couldn't quite capture me. A piece of similar
length, around forty-five minutes can be found on the second CD.
That hoovers around similar ingredients, but the somewhat improvised
playing of the guitar sort of saves the piece. Still it's not
the best music I ever heard, but it's better than what I found
on disc one.
The current activities of Maurizio Bianchi aren't easy to keep
up, but it's not always clear what he does. In some cases he just
delivers some sounds and still gets the full credit. Does marketing
still work like that, me wonders? The tracks on the CD he just
made with TH26 (or perhaps TH26 made with MB) sound like a genuine
Maurizio Bianchi work, but perhaps that is part of the input.
I have no clue who TH26 is, and the Small Voices could use some
updates in that area. My best guess is that Maurizio Bianchi delivered
some his more abstract synthesizer playing to which TH26 may have
added more percussive elements, and mixed the whole thing together.
It's work that doesn't have the same quality as the recent collaboration
between Bianchi and Sigmar Fricke (see Vital Weekly 562). There
is a certain uneasiness in this work that doesn't seem to be fitting
together very well. It's alien, sub-urban and highly abstract,
it's also something that may have had more potential than what
now came out on this release.
The final new release by Small Voices is also a re-issue, of a
CDR in an edition of 100 copies, originally on Sub Pop in 2005.
Gentle's work is dedicated to Giovanni Paneroni (1871-1950) who
made his own astronomy, based on the fact that the earth is flat
and planets don't move: the official astronomy is a big lie. Gentle
plays the guitar, and she made the recordings onto a four track
in a bedroom, which I must say can be heard. Things sound pretty
raw here, with lots of minimal strumming, but feeding off through
the distortion pedals. Quite raw and intense this music, and even
when not every moment is great, it's the best of these three new
releases on Small Voices. A bit drone related, heavy wall to wall
post rock, but without the drums. Not really new but indeed a
work that deserves to be heard by more people than just 100. (FdW)
Address: http://www.smallvoices.it
ON - SECOND SOUFFLE (CD by Brocoli)
The story behind 'Second Souffle' starts in July 2003 when drummer/percussion
player Steven Hess recorded a session with guitarist and piano
player Sylvain Chauveau. The recordings were mixed by Helge Sten
of Deathprod, and released as 'Your Naked Ghost Comes Back At
Night' by Les Disques Du Soleil Et De L'acier. Story closed? No,
the same recordings are subject of 'Second Souffle', but are now
entirely taken apart by Pierre-Yves Mace, whom we know from his
release on Sub Rosa. Its a pity that I didn't hear the first release
by On, because know I have to go by the Mace mix and there is
nothing to compare. Not really a big deal, since what we find
here is some excellent rock glitch - if that term doesn't exist,
someone should invent it. There are influences of Pluramon, certainly
when the drums bang a little bit more than usual, and there are
many layers of crackling electronics, sine wave like guitar sounds,
introspective xylophone sounds and there is a digital post rock
cum microsound atmosphere around this album. Its excellent, well-crafted,
well-thought out. It's of course a bit hard for me to tell what
amount of post production was done by Mace, but he produced a
really excellent album. Both highly musical as well with the right
amount of experimentalism in it. Perhaps the highlight of this
week. (FdW)
Address: http://www.brocoli.org
ANDREAS BERTILSSON - PARAMOUNT (CD by Komplott)
The name Andreas Bertilsson didn't set off any alarm bells here
right away, but it turned out I know pretty much everything of
his music. Before he was active under the name of Son Of Clay
and as such produced three Cds. For whatever reason his fourth
Cd is now released under his own name, and the work was started
in 2005 'with the objective of describing society and the present
while still trying to anchor it to something timeless and continuous
that could be linked to any one period in time'. Too this end
he made a list of events to record and went to a small house in
the Swedish country side to finish it. But the house seemed haunted,
with doors slamming, voices from ghosts and footsteps. It seemed
to be a cursed album. In Malmoe, where he lives, he finished the
album with no problem. Three tracks are to be found here, in total
thirty minutes, of a strange but fascinating mixture of highly
processed field recordings, including the aforementioned doors
slamming, but also an acoustic bass and the result is far from
being the usual careful glitch/microsound, as at times Bertilsson
knows how to rock and things happen in a full blast. Of course
the story about the haunted house is one that I have a hard time
believing, but surely there is something frightening over this
music. Some danger lurking around the corner, especially in the
final track, when thing rock out, and the listener is still waiting
something worse to happen. Maybe it's the title, but it's all
quite cinematographic . (FdW)
Address: http://www.komplott.com
TIBETAN RED - FOUTA DJALON (CD by Gracia
Territori)
The name Tibetan Red has been around since the mid eighties. I
believe my first encounter with it was on a compilation LP by
Freedom In A Vacuum. However almost twenty years later releases
are still very few. But I do know a little bit more about the
project. It's one Salvador Franesch (born in 1945) from Catalan
origin, who lived for some time in Canada, but now in the Pyrenees.
He is also a painter. Much of his work deals with Gurdjieff, Sufism,
Shamanism, Kabala and such like. This interest can clearly be
heard on this release. It continues the sound as found on his
'complete' works release from 2000: Tibetan Red creates many loops
of sound and let this 'go', until he starts playing around with
them. On 'Fouta Djalon' the sources are ethnic recordings, people
chanting, percussive sounds and such like. There are however a
whole of bunch, so that there is a densely layered pattern of
these sounds. The ethnic element can still be traced to single
sources, but the overall sounds more electronic than ethnic. I
kept wondering wether electronic treatments had been used here,
but my best guess it's not, although the highly reworked 'Fire
Pilgrimage' might have some. The previous work of Tibetan Red
dealt with more single minded electronic/short wave sounds, but
this new direction is certainly as interesting. A great CD and
I am told that the next one will be out quicker. (FdW)
Address: http://www.salvadorfrancesch.com
KOZO INADA - J[] (CD by Sonoris)
My sympathy and love for the work of Kozo Inada didn't came straight
away. His first few releases on Staalplaat were alright, but I
didn't think brilliant. Coins dropped at a concert I saw by him
in Barcelona. It contained the same sounds, but played at this
immense volume, the listener gets sucked in it, and when the sound
is gone, very fine particles remain and tease the listener further,
until the next wave comes. Coming back I listened to his music
with totally different ears. For reasons I don't know (it seems
his private website needs updating) we don't hear much of him
in the recent years, which is a great pity. 'J[]' is a new (?)
work, or at least just released (on a totally different I'd like
to add that Sonoris just also re-released David Maranha's 'Piano
Suspenso', which we reviewed in Vital Weekly 175, so read that
please). Moving away from the field recordings which Inada used
in his previous releases, for this release he concentrates solely
on classical music samples and loops. At first that sounded a
bit cheap to me, clearly since they are not too difficult to recognize.
Inada produces perfect loops that don't skip or anything, but
make a sustaining wave of sound. In each of the five pieces things
move slowly but steadily and Inada continues his working methods:
from soft to loud, although it seems to me this time on a less
radical level than before. It's again quite a powerful work, and
opening up new worlds to explore for Inada. It would be great
to see more of his work being available. (FdW)
Address: http://www.sonoris.org
MEM1 - ALEXIPHARMACA (CD by Interval Recordings)
From Israel comes Mem1, which is a collaboration
between cello player Laura Thomas-Merino and laptop artist M.
Cera. They don't operate as two individual units, but the laptop
solely treats the sounds coming from the cello. The title of this,
their second CD, comes from a set of poems written by Nicander
of Colophon from Greece, who wrote about plants and animal poisons
and their antidotes. For Mem1 the relationship is clear: they
want their music to be richly textured but with a certain menace.
As such I may say they succeeded quite nicely. The cello is bowed,
plucked and strummed, while the laptop gently weeps and sweeps
the sound. Indeed richly textured, even when it's played in a
rather improvised fashion, it seems like there is a cloud hanging
over these musics. Perhaps a cloud of plug ins waiting to rain
down? Or perhaps it's covered with earth? In any case, it's a
bit muffled but that adds to the drone like character of the songs.
It's all quite, but as with so many releases, for the limit amount
of ideas put into this, it all sounds a bit too similar and things
could have been shorter. (FdW)
Address: http://www.interval-recordings.com
OID - SYSTEMS OF MERCY (CD by Lagunamuch)
OLOOLO - PAVILOSTA (CD by Lagunamuch)
Between these two CDs there is some similarity, that of the cosmic,
analogue synthesizer music. The Lagunamuch label is a community
of bands existing since 2004 in Moscow, which has bands such Alexandroid,
Lazyfish, Mewark, In A Nutshell, Selffish, Flexkiks and Oid. The
latter is one Andrey Antonets, who is a member of Alexandroid,
but solo creates his own ambient music. I think it's played on
analogue synthesizers, and it's not the tapestry sounds of Hypnos
but more the stripped down version of ambient house music. Things
move a little bit, there is arpeggio's on the piano, and even
a bit of percussion. However the highlight of the CD is the fourth
track, which started out with a voice going through a vocoder,
later on forming a duet of voices and brings it close to space
age popmusic. That is absolutely a great piece. Even with such
a title for the CD things can't go wrong.
Which can also be said of the album of Oloolo, who are from Riga,
Latvia. This is a duo of Kriipis Tulo and Rodion Zolotarew, who
play their music on a whole bunch of analogue synthesizers from
the Soviet area, such as a Polyvox, Yunost, Formanta and such
like). They do play ambient music that is partly based in ambient
house and partly in german cosmic music of the seventies. They
don't vocals, not even through vocoders, which makes the music
perhaps a bit more single minded, but both albums are good headtrip
music. Overall, it seemed that Oloolo was a bit more joyful than
Oid, but both albums, although containing nothing new on the front
of development of music, are certainly great late night music
to relax albums. (FdW)
Address: http://www.lagunamuch.com
ALEXEI BORISOV & ANTON NIKKILA - WHERE
ARE THEY NOW (CD by NB Research
Digest)
In 1993 Alexei Borisov, a long term experimental musician from
Russia was interviewed for TV in Finland by one Anton Nikkila,
who was starting out as a musician then. They liked each other
and started to work on music together a year later and since 1998
they also play live. Might not be easy to record this, but they
meet up in Helsinki to do their recordings or meet on the road.
From the eleven tracks on this new CD, three are recorded live
(among which was the ever so nice Garage festival in Strahslsund).
Borisov and Nikkila play whatever is in their hands, but it's
mainly synthesizers, drumcomputers, but also guitars. Voices play
a big role. It's the voice of Borisov and he recites his texts
rather than singing them. The texts deal with the life in the
former Soviet Union in its various aspects. The stutter beats
play a big role, and it doesn't serve the album very well I think.
Most of the times the tracks sound very chaotic and alienated,
also with the voice of Borisov who recites rather emotionless
and without much color. Musicwise the album is somewhat crude
and rude, perhaps a bit like old and somewhat bad music that was
produced on cassettes fifteen years ago. Some of the pieces are
ok in approach, but throughout the album could not really bother
me very much. Too crude, too sketchy and perhaps a bit too hastily
made. Some more effort in post-production could have surely saved
something but now misses a point. (FdW)
Address: http://www.nbresearchdigest.com
TWOCSINAC & DJ SARAH WILSON - PRESENT
'JESUS IS A BRACE LITTLE TOASTER' VOL.1 (CD by Wrong Music)
Everything can be re-invented at what ever time, I think. I have
no clue who Twocsinac and DJ Sarah Wilson are, nor can I read
the 'text' on the cover, not even with glasses, but they just
re-invented plunderphonics. Sampling by now almost sixty years
of popmusic, adding the impossible to read lyrics and the mashes
this up with some beats, some acoustic guitars or more plundered
sounds from obscure sources. Like People Like Us or Negativland
never existed, even when Twocsinac and DJ Sarah Wilson are much
more in the area of lo-fidelity and 'perhaps' (I must say this
with some caution) played a bit more themselves. I kept thinking:
why am I hearing this? What is the point? (FdW)
Address: http://www.wrongmusic.co.uk
LISI - DAMN IT! (CD by Public Eyesore)
'Have you ever fucked in an elavator' boom boom 'have you fucked
in your ass' boom boom. I had to check this twice, but it's by
Lisi, not Peaches. She had a release before on Public Eyesore,
together with Onid (see Vital Weekly 443), but now has a six track
album of her. Rather simple keyboard/sequencer lines and naughty
lyrics. Oh dear. Maybe I miss out on the radical feminist tag
here, and perhaps live it's all great, but it sounded quite boring
on CD. (FdW)
http://www.publiceyesore.com
KEIICHIRO SHIBUYA - FILMACHINE (CD by Atak)
EVALA - INITIAL (CD by Port)
PORT DOC.1-5 (CD compilation by Port)
My Japanese is still not up to speed to read any of the liner
notes on this CD, but in conversation I picked up some of the
ideas behind. 'Filmachine' is an installation piece for 24 speakers
that surround the listener and on this CD there is the soundtrack
to this. Of course it's not easy to capture something that is
played on twenty four speakers and reduce that to two speakers,
but when played on headphones you can get a sense of the spatial
work. Shibuya uses field recordings which are heavily processed
through max/msp patches and creates partly a dense layered sound
scape, with something that sounds like airplanes and partly a
more rhythm based piece (although the latter only on a small level).
On these headphones those parts work best in terms of spatial
division. On speakers however the more grainy 'airplane' sound
work quite nice. When released now as a CD, it is cut off from
the installation, and we have to enjoy it from the perspective
of a CD release, and no longer as a 24 speaker installation. As
this is perhaps a bit short, but it's altogether a very fine release.
Along similar lines is the release by Japanese musician Evala.
He plays deep bass bumps, along with processed like sine wave
sounds. In each of the ten tracks he presents a different view
on the material, from disjointed beats to more straight forward
ones and with different shapes and colors of the sine waves. The
influence of Ryoji Ikeda seems clear to me and 'Initial' can easily
meet up with Ikeda's 'Dataplex' release. Quite powerful material.
On Evala's Port label there is also a compilation with just Japanese
artists such as, obviously, Evala himself, but also Kozo Inada,
PsysEx, Numb, Slipped Disk (which has Keiichiro Shibuya as one
of the members), Com.a, Aoki Takamasa, Taeji Sawai and others.
It offers a fine overview of the clicks and cuts and beats material
that now sweeps the Japanese hard drives. None of these pieces
stand out, but they all operate on an equally good level. (FdW)
Address: http://www.atak.jp
Address: http://port-label.jp
OTOMO YOSHIHIDE - PRISONER (CD by Headz)
Over here Otomo Yoshihide is mostly known because of Ground-Zero
and his guitar/turntable work both solo and with many collaborators,
but in Japan he has also scored loads of films over the years,
this one being the most recent. I don't know anything about the
film itself, which probably is a Japanese affair and won't reach
these cinematic shores, but the cast of musical characters he
has invited is pretty impressive: Jim O'Rourke, Tetuzi Akiyama,
Sachiko M, Yasunao Tone, the master himself and various other
musicians. The film must be a seriously diverse happening because
these tracks go all over the Otomian spectrum, ranging from lush
acoustic guitar picking (courtesy of O'Rourke) to full-on noise
assault. Occasionally samples from the film come up, but they
sound like just another sound source and are not used to decode
any possible parallel affinities to the visuals. Also, where most
soundtracks follow repeating threads and paths shown in the film,
here it makes me wonder what sort of film 'Prisoner' is, as the
music here seems to follow no internal structure or narrative,
apart from instruments resurfacing. Where most of Yoshihide's
soundtracks are only interesting for the die-hard fans or to people
acquainted with the movies, this one certainly is the exception,
and is up there with his best work. (RM)
Address: http://www.faderbyheadz.com
GRAHAM HALLIWELL & TOMAS KORBER - THE
LARGE GLASS (CD by Cathnor Recordings)
Although I can't find it on the CD or in the press text, I wonder
what Marcel Duchamp's The Large Glass piece has to do with this.
Perhaps nothing. In the hot summer of last year, Tomas Korber,
along with his guitar, electronics and prerecorded material to
the Norfolk countryside to record with Graham Halliwell, who sat
there with his prepared saxophone feedback, samples and loops.
The three tracks now released on 'The Large Glass' were captured
in a day. It's foremost an album of silent music, with apparently,
on a superficial level with not much happening. Crackles, hiss,
static sound: it all happens on soft level, careful, as not to
make too much of a big wave. It's peaceful music if the right
volume is used. If you play this at a more present volume, small
details will unfold and the feedback saxophone can be real menace.
There is a lot happening on this CD but still it is peaceful.
Concentration is required. It fits the vast catalogue of especially
Korber quite well. Nice, very nice. (FdW)
Address: http://www.cathnor.com
JEFRE CANTU-LEDESMA - THE GARDEN OF FORKING
PATHS (CD by Spekk)
To be honest: I lost Tarantel a bit out of sight in recent years,
after some years which I followed their work. Perhaps the last
thing I heard by them is their En/Of LP which saw them moving
into the world of computer processing their post-rock sound. So
losing touch, also meant that I didn't hear the solo work by Jefre
Cantu-Ledesma, so 'The Garden Of Forking Paths' is my first introduction.
Cantu-Ledesma plays guitars, gong, harmonium, singing bowl, sound
booster, ride cymbal but also 'cassette, microcassette, reel to
reel tape machine', but nowhere a computer is mentioned. The opening
piece sounds indeed like it could have been recorded on cassette,
as it has that pleasant lo-fi sound. But for the other pieces
I'm not sure. Cantu-Ledesma plays twelve highly atmospheric tracks
which seem to go beyond any categorization. Perhaps one could
link it to post rock, but without any use of drums or rhythms,
ambient textures or even microsound, but the lo-fi quality is
a bit in the way. That gives the album certainly a color of itself,
but the only problem is that many tracks sound a bit alike and
there could have been a little bit more variation in it, or perhaps
a bit shorter. But throughout it was a most enjoyable, moody and
atmospheric album. (FdW)
Address: http://www.spekk.net
SVYATOSLAV LUNYOV - PARA PACEM-PARA BELLUM
(CD by Quasi Pop Records)
NAOKI ISHIDA - TONE REDUST (CD by Quasipop Records)
LASSE MARHAUG - IT'S NOT THE END OF THE WORLD (CD by Quasipop
Records)
Three diverse releases on the Ukrainian Quasi Pop label. I never
heard of Svyatoslav Lunyov, but he studied composition in Kiev
and composed works for orchestras but also smaller ensembles and
single instruments. 'Para Pacem - Para Bellum' however is partly
an electronic work, and partly a work for piano, organ, violin,
viola and cello. These are merged together in a work that seems
to me a call for peace, but also about death and sorrow. The work
is divided into sixteen parts, but belong to eachother. I must
admit I wasn't blown away by it. There are introspective, textured
pieces which work quite well, such as 'Anno Domini', but some
of the electronics sounded a bit muddy. The overall sound is,
perhaps by purpose, not very clear. Then there are some stomping
rhythm pieces which seem to be out of place. It sounds like Lunyov
couldn't make up his mind with what he wanted to do. It has its
moments, but also it failures.
From Japan comes Naoki Ishida. From 2000 to 2003
he played in a rock band, after which he started to play at home
on his acoustic guitar, adding a blend of field recordings and
minimal electronics. 'Tone Redust' is his debut album. Although
Quasipop rave about 'own unique music style', I must disagree.
Ishida fits the current wave of 'melodic pop/microsound' very
well, a trend that is very popular in Japan, where we find such
releases on labels as Noble and Spekk, or in Europe with the likes
of Flim and in the USA the recent Moskitoo CD on 12K. Not a problem,
as Ishida surely plays a fine tune. His guitar playing is rather
'free': not strumming chords or strict finger picking, but playing
whatever is necessary. The field recordings are cars passing or
the sound of lighter. Unlike some of the mentioned counter parts,
Ishida doesn't play 'songs', a fixed composition, but rather improvises
his way through moody textures. He does a nice job at that, and
that surely places him outside the rest, although it's the form
and not so much the content. Perhaps some of the pieces are bit
too long and the field recordings could have used a bit more variety,
throughout it's a charming disc.
From Japan to Norway is a long flight, but if you
arrive at Lasse Marhaug, but what Merzbow is to the land of rising
sun, is Marhaug to the land of fjords. He doesn't disappoint the
listener with his usual blend of noise. Although it must be said
that it seems to me that Marhaug this time works more with field
recordings, nicely covered up inside a barrage of noise elements.
Not always easy to recognize, but if one pays close attention
there is the sound of streets, airports and such like: noisy places
to make more noisy music. Feedback and distortion are as always
loud and clear present, but in the hands of Marhaug it makes good
company. Merzbow is king, Marhaug is the heir to his throne. (FdW)
Address: http://www.quasipop.org
SILK SAW - 8 REPORTS (CD by Ant-Zen Recordings)
11th shot from this Belgian project called Silk Saw, is a pretty
unusual work, - and a very fascinating work indeed! Silk Saw,
consisting of the two composers Marc Medea and Gabriel Severin,
has been active as Silk Saw since 1996. On this latest album,
the sound equipment counts synthesizers, drum-computers and six-string
guitars. This combination ends up with a result that is best described
as spacey jazz meeting weird breakbeats and subtle noises reminding
of a mixture between the intelligent breakbeat-textures of breakbeat-specialist
Squarepusher and some freaked-out psychedelia expressions memorizing
the golden days of krautrocking Faust. The eight works is very
exaggerating mixtures of subtle noise layers operating underneath
nocturnal sounds of guitar-artistry, sometimes deep drones of
the strings other times melancholic jazzy riffs added some waving
organ sounds and complex rhythm textures. Imagine how an avantgarde
jazz band of space invaders gigging in some smoky Jazz club on
planet Mars would sound like. Does that sound strange? It certainly
is strange and highly original! (NMP)
Address: http://www.ant-zen.com
ORATORY OF DIVINE LOVE - PURGATORIO (CD
by Waystyx Records)
SUKORA - SNOW DROP (CD by Waystyx Records)
Much what comes out of Russia are bootlegs with shaby covers.
It's a good thing to report that Waystyx Records aren't bootleggers,
but they have a great way of presenting their releases. Small
editions (somewhere between 100-250 copies) but they are all real
CDs, not CDRs. We got a whole bunch and only review the most recent
ones, but worth mentioning are also the re-issue of PBK 'Retro',
a former 3LP set on RRRecords and now as a four CD box, in a nice
handmade (although it's hard to tell) black box with a black print.
The fourth CD has no music. Also worth mentioning are a double
CD with re-releases of Brume's old tapes and a 2004 CD by Christian
Renou, formerly known as Brume, but in his new, more drone oriented
style. Dutch veterans Vance Orchestra found their last release
before dissolving on Waystyx too.
The most recent release is by Oratory Of Divine Love, which is
a side project of Kirchenkampf's John Gore. I remember from the
previous release (see Vital Weekly 439) that all tracks were recorded
in real time to DAT using radio as it's source. I am not sure
if that is also the case with this new one, but if so, Gore must
have a mighty big set up to feed these radio sounds into. Perhaps
he uses some analogue synthesizers to trigger the sounds, and
then feeds them also through a whole bunch of sound effects. 'Purgatorio'
(perhaps to celebrate the fact that the vatican no longer believes
in it's existence?) is one long piece of true deep drone music
of a highly atmospherical kind. Very controlled, very dark. Not
really cinematographic, this is more to played in the very dark
and let your darkest thoughts come out. In terms of musical innovation
nothing new under the sun, but it's surely a great work, perhaps
even the best that came out of the Gore residency.
Perhaps an odd ball in the catalogue of Waystyx, who in general
deal with the more darker and noisier side of things, is the release
by Sukora. This highly obscure sound project has released some
very silent things in the past, such as a CD on Meme, and here
present 'Snowdrop'. As with all good things conceptual, my mind
immediately goes out and thinks: ok, so Sukora recorded the falling
of snow. In real time, edited, slowed down or sped up? Well, that
is of course something we don't know. As the information is of
course nil as usual. I cranked up the volume all the way up and
heard a highly obscure field recording. That might be the falling
of snow indeed - at least if I remember that from years past when
winter was a cold season. Twenty-six minutes of fascinating emptiness.
Certainly not to be put away as easy listening. Conceptual art
in optima forma and even enjoyable, although not something one
puts on for random pleasure. (FdW)
Address: http://www.waystyx.com/releases.html
SINCABEZA - EDIT SUR PASSAGE AVANT FIN OU
MONTÉE D, INSTRUMENT (CD by Distile Records)
SWIMS - Swims (CD by Distile Records)
Distile Records is an obscure french label, specialized in post-rock
if these two releases are representative for their catalogue.
Sincabeza is a trio of Eric Camara (bass), David Loquier (drums)
and Philippe Ney (guitars). They have their roots in Bordeaux
and got together around 2002. After their first CD released in
2005, they are now ready for their second one. Sincabeza is an
all instrumental indie rock band closely related to the postrock-idiom.
I have to admit that the postrock fever never really catched me.
It brings nightmares of endlessly long instrumental tracks to
my mind. Music that is always surrounded by some dullness and
the same minor chords. Sincabeza is however an positive exception.
I must say they sound very fresh and convincing. They concentrate
their ideas in short and compact tracks, that are intelligently
structured and full of surprises. Melodious and fluid music that
is played with great finesse. To conclude in french: chapeau!
Swims is an american duo by Paul Slack (bass) and Mark Rocha (drums)
from Sacramento. Since 2004 they climb the stage and are developing
themselves into an energetic live act. So as a duo they do not
chose the easy way, as it is quite a job to create something really
musically interesting and fulfilling with bass and drum only.
I guess they do not completely succeed in this on their 6 track
ep. Although the musicianship is respectable - especially the
bassplayer is very capable - in the end it their music is not
a satisfying experience, lacking more bandmembers and interesting
material. (DM)
Address: http://www.distilerecords.com/
FRANK ROTHKAMM - MOERS WORKS (CD by Monochrome
Vision)
DAS SYNTHETISCHE MISCHGEWEBE - COLLABORATIONS (2CD by Monochrome
Vision)
LT. CARAMEL - EARLY TAPE WORKS (2CD by Monochrome Vision)
MAURIZIO BIANCHI & SIEGMAR FRICKE - STROMA-KONKRET (CD by
Monochrome Vision)
More from Russia on the Monochrome Vision label, who is specialized
in bringing old masters from the 80s and 90s experimental music.
Sometimes new work by them, but also old work. Frank Rothkamm
is these days known for his synth based popmusic, but he started
working with a reel to reel tape machine, radio, a phaser an EQ
and started with overdubbing, looping, tape delay and thus created
his first compositions at the age of sixteen. These are now to
be found on 'Moers Works', named after the German city where he
was then living. Known elements from classical and pop music leak
through these collages of sound, giving it a highly plunderphonic
feel. Despite his limit methods of sound production this sound
remarkable good. Short and witty pieces of music, which made the
'Rauschmittel' remix from 1997, the longest track but also the
one with his later synthesizer sounds, a bit superfluous. Very
nice CD from somebody who I wouldn't have thought of thinking
about the past.
Somebody who has never bee away is G.do Hübner, who works
since 1982 (or there about) as Das Synthetische Mischgewebe. Doing
performance related works in the 80s and these is purely concerned
with composing with sound. The musical collaboration is a really
80s thing, when people traded back and forth cassettes and others
would rework them. However the collaborations on this double disc
aren't from the 80s but from the last decade and some of them
were made 'face to face'. Here the likeminded are people like
ERG, Jörg Thomasius, Artificial Memory Trace, The Oval Language
and TBC (a.k.a Thomas Beck). Throughout the years the music of
Das Synthetische Mischgewebe evolved from industrial (although
never really totally harsh) to sound collage along the lines of
the serious musique concrete composers. 'Merzbow meets Pierre
Henry' was once said, and that may sort of cover the ground for
the work. Pretty stark sound collages is what is being produced
here, although listening to this in one go is perhaps a bit much.
Also Lt. Caramel has been around for a long time, but I sincerely
do not recall when we last saw a release by them. Them I say,
although Lt. Caramel is the work of one person, Philippe Blanchard.
He uses a lot of voices so it's valid to state Lt. Caramel is
a band. The music of Lt. Caramel are best described as 'movies
for the ears'. The microphone tells us a story. Blanchard uses
the techniques of musique concrete - manipulation of tape through
looping, slowing down, speed up, backwards playing - but on the
works captured on 'Early Tape Works' things are much more crude
and raw than it would be later when much of the work was done
in 'real' studios. Some of the voices reminded me of Nurse With
Wound with Crystal Belle Scrodd, and throughout there is a strong
element of Nurse With Wound, HNAS or Brume to be noted. Like said,
this doesn't have the same subtleness of the works that would
come later, but it surely still has its charm. Not a collection
to play in one go, but surely a fine overview of the early works.
The last new release on Monochrome Vision is indeed a new release.
It's the second work by Maurizio Bianchi and Siegmar Fricke, following
'Muitnelis' (see Vital Weekly 562. Here Fricke gets the full credit.
The work here is dedicated to Pierre Schaeffer, the founder of
musique concrete, but it's a bit hard to understand why. Fricke
and Bianchi use many electronic sounds, although in the subtitles
things are mentioned such as 'sensotisches Klavier' and 'piano
edematosa', which both probably (!) refer to the piano. They use
loops of all kinds of electronic sounds, set against a longer
wash of synthesizer sounds. It is not as collage like as some
of the Schaeffer works, but also it seems to me a bit unfocussed.
Things carry on a bit too long, without much sense of direction.
Vaguely ambient, but it doesn't lull the listener to sleep. Things
keep uptight and desolate. It's ok, but not really great. (FdW)
Address: http://www.monochromevision.ru
DAVID KRISTIAN - GHOST STOREYS (CD/DVD by
Cocosolidciti)
LIMMAT - MUNICIPAL 44 (CD/DVD by Cocosolidciti)
On the Cocosolidciti label two new combinations of film and music,
spread out of a CD and a DVD. The first is by David Kristian,
who as of now will only do soundtracks for films (a nice introduction
card this release), who is responsible for the music and Ryosuke
Aoike who did the DVD part. Kristian is perhaps best known for
his more beat oriented music, but also some more deeper ambient
outings. 'Ghost Storeys' clearly falls music wise in this latter
category, perhaps no doubt with such a title. Many deep ambient
washes, and highly obscured objects falling to the floor and other
deep end bass thumps, this is indeed highly creepy music. I'd
use the word ambient with some caution, since it's not music to
put the listener in a nice, relaxed state, but this is indeed
soundtrack music that works well by just itself. But the animations
made by Aoike surely fit the music quite well. Girls in hospitals,
buildings with bats or animals, and other creep filled desolation.
Haunting stuff, both in visual and in audio content.
Unlike Kristian and Aoike, Limmat are the musician and the filmmaker
working together. The musician is Ian Heywood and the filmmaker
is Graham Clayton-Chance. This is more straight forward stuff
than the previous Kristian release. Heywood plays intelligent
techno music, and Clayton-Chance produce exactly the kind of image
that would fit such music. Abstract patterns, dealing with architecture
mostly, but to me, the uninitiated, it all looked a bit too regular.
The music was also ok, but Limmat didn't have the same impact
as Kristian. (FdW)
Address: http://www.cocosolidciti.com
JONATHAN COLECLOUGH & ANDREW LILES -
TORCH SONGS (2LP/CD on Die Stadt)
JOHN WATERMANN - CALCUTTA GAS CHAMBER (LP by Die Stadt)
Silence, please: drone meisters at work. Not the most unknown,
or maybe even the superstars of the lot. Jonathan Coleclough has
built a fine oeuvre of work, in which the collaborations with
others plays an important role. Andrew Liles is these days a member
of Nurse With Wound and travels around now that the Nurses are
a live act. Still he finds time to create many, many solo works,
such as a twelve CD series for Beta Lactam-ring. And to work with
Jonathan Coleclough. The cover suggests that the works were recorded
in concert, but perhaps not. Liles' characteristic synthesizer
and reverb are present, and Coleclough brings in the use of contact
microphones, field recordings and computer manipulation. Careful
drone material, that doesn't just swell on a bunch of deep end
bass drones (listening to the sea again, as a friend of mine once
called this), but there is more happening than just that. Water
sounds, clay pots and such like are being used, which especially
on side D gives a surprising piece. It was perhaps only last week
when I wrote: "drone, where to now?" and perhaps as
such this is not the way out, but it's surely a great work. And
like with so many of Die Stadt releases, the first few copies
come with a CD, here a solo one by Coleclough. It starts out not
unlike the collaboration with a few isolated sounds, which feed
of eventually through some sounds effects or computer programming.
A bit more austere and less dense than the 2LP set, but certainly
a great concert. Clocking at twenty-six minutes, this also has
the perfect length for a good concert.
It may seem a bit odd to review 'Calcutta Gas Chamber' again,
as it was already reviewed by Niels Mark in issue 559, which was
already a re-issue of a CD from 1993. The sheer fact that this
is the picture disc edition of the Cold Spring CD may serve a
short review from my part. Watermann, who passed away in 2002,
at the age of 67, didn't produce a large body of work during his
lifetime, but was always keen to explore new methods. Sampling
was his big love, either rhythmically in his early work or densely
layered in his later work (although the work he had planned when
he died showed an interest in rhythm again). The unsettling nature
of 'Calcutta Gas Chamber', which uses field recordings made from
gas chambers in Calcutta, which were active until the 1980s, makes
this work a particular standout in his oeuvre. It's not a surprise
that it is now re-issued on CD and vinyl. There is no much to
add to the previous review, as I very much agree with the opinion
that this is a highly black and bleak ambience record that depicts
the horrors of the site. Beautiful cruelty on a picture disc.
(FdW)
Address: http://www.diestadt.de
ELECTRIC WEST - DRAWIN PLANS FO DELICATE
EVASION (CDR by Boltfish Recordings)
The man behind Electric West is one Pat Benolkin from Idaho, USA.
He has been playing music since 1997, first as a DJ and since
2001 as a musician. As Eluder he plays 'lush, melodic ambient
music', but I must say that Electric West already sounds pretty
ambient to me. A hotbed of synthesizers lay down a carpet of thick
warm sounds, and on top the rhythm ticks away in loneliness the
bars. Between those two ends, there is a likewise lonely bass
that thumps and stumps, but everything goes in a very laidback
mode. Hurry doesn't exactly exist in the Electric West. His music
is like driving to a large but empty town, late at night, with
lights flickering everywhere but all of this at a very slow speed.
Still no hurry to get anywhere. Even when it's all relaxing, Electric
West doesn't put the listener to sleep, he puts the listener in
a trance like state - one of never wanting to sleep or wake up
again. It's very nice music, but at the same it's of course not
something that has been entirely new or fresh. But it's quite
alright, altogether. (FdW)
Address: http://www.boltfish.co.uk
JASPER LEYLAND - FIELDSTONE (CDR by Benbecula
Records)
'Fieldstone' is the second release by Jonathan Brewster, who choose
the name Jasper Leyland to go by. Just as on 'Margin' (see Vital
Weekly 529) Leyland plays zither, acoustic guitar, melodica, field
recordings all of which go straight into the computer where he
transforms them into the finished pieces that he releases. To
perhaps a bit lesser extent than before he uses now more real
acoustic elements and less glitch elements, but otherwise it's
not easy to state the difference between 'Fieldstone' and 'Margin'.
Throughout it's still warm, gentle music that doesn't have any
sudden changes or surprise elements, but stays on one level. Glitch
ambient in optima forma. Like one can find on labels such as 12K
and Apestaartje and tons of weblabels. Leyland may not do something
drastically new but he delivers another fine work. (FdW)
Address: http://www.benbecula.com/
Y-TON-G - ROSTFRESSER (CDR by Terminal Tape
Production)
Y-TON-G - RAUEISEN (CDR by Terminal Tape Production)
Y-TON-G - WEITERE KLANGALCHYMISTISCHE EXPERIMENTE (CDR by Terminal
Tape Production)
Over the years, the name Y-Yon-G, named after a blend of concrete,
popped up in Vital Weekly but on a very irregular schedule. Some
ten or so years he seemed to make the leap towards 'real' CDs,
but it didn't really happen. I have may have an idea why. Pieces
by Y-Ton-G are long, very long. On the three CDRs here, none of
the pieces clock in under twenty minutes and since much of the
material is generated through improvisation, it's not always strong.
In some ways Y-Ton-G is alike Kapotte Muziek: scraping the dirt
to generate sound and pick them up with contact microphones, but
whereas Kapotte Muziek by now switched off all electronic devices
to further process, they play a big role in the music of Y-Ton-G.
Delay and reverb are his favorites. Since it's usually the work
of one man, with two hands, it might be a necessary thing to do.
But since he can't touch many more objects that is about it. Metal
on metal, stones, wood and such like are being carefully scraped
and played. There are small differences between these CDRs. The
most complete Y-Ton-G sound can be found on 'Rostfresser', which
is alike a complete concert by him, with scraping and rotating
sounds. 'Raueisen' is more fragmented and scattering through the
pieces. 'Weitere Klangalchymistische Experimente' seems to be
including field recordings of a highly obscure kind, alongside
the contact microphone stuff. This last one is certainly the most
quiet sounding, but all three aren't really loud.
Worth mentioning also is the activities as Noise Factory, in which
Y-Ton-G invites a whole bunch of musicians to stay for a week
in a farm and create music together. It's a yearly activity somewhere
around Hamburg. A pity though that the documentation arrives late
(I just received the one from 2002!). (FdW)
Address: http://www.y-ton-g.de
CROATAN ENSEMBLE (CDR by 1000+1 Tilt Recordings)
PS STAMPS BACK - OF LOSS AND THE SPIRALS OF TIME (CDR by 1000+1
Tilt Recordings)
Behind the Croatan Ensemble with find Bill Kouligas of Family
Battle Snake and Iason of PS Stamps Back. They sat down far a
day to record this, which was later edited into the five tracks
now on the release. Its a kind of work which have heard by Ianos
before, with others or solo. Playing around with computer technology
he sorts of hits upon something that is a very nice cross over
between noise, microsound and even vaguely bits of minimal rhythm
music. However things never get out of hand in the noise field,
and never drops below -20 db in the microsound section nor does
it get danceable. The appearance of Kouligas makes this at times
a bit more noisy, but throughout the pieces develop in a strict
linear way, and the pieces can hold the attention throughout.
Quite nice.
Before rushing out on a new tour through Europe, Iason recorded
another solo CDR to be sold on the road (and afterwards of course),
using his beloved audio mulch software, as well as guitar, bass,
contact microphones and such like. It has become a lengthy release,
and to be honest perhaps a little too rushed to be good. Pieces
are highly psychedelic, thunder ahead, but do not always have
enough variation to hold the attention throughout. A pair of scissors
to edit the material would have been handy. Much of the material
is along the work he records with Cities In Desolation - ambient
industrial sound fields of a more desolate kind. Nice, but it
could have been better. (FdW)
Address: http://www.titlrecordings.org
GREG DAVIS & JEPH JERMAN & ALBERT
CASAIS - 6X20 (2CDR by Winds Measure Recordings)
TING TING JAHE - 18 (16) (2CDR by Winds Measure Recordings)
Just as before, the covers are again great for these Winds Measure
Recordings (see Vital Weekly 559), and in one case we get a recurring
cast, but now expanded. Jeph Jerman and Albert Casaid (formerly
the latter worked as Omnid) here present a new work of six pieces
of twenty minutes. In each piece on disc one one specific sound
source is used. There is water, leaves and bamboo. On second disc
each of the players choses their own sound sources and and none
knew what the other did, until it was mixed. Jeph and Albert worked
together, and send their tapes to Greg who added his parts. If
one is aware of the work by Jerman in the last ten or so years,
you know you are treated with silent music. Rubbing, pushing and
scraping his objects, he never makes big waves, but rather wants
the listener to listen. In concerts he uses no amplification and
can only play for a small group of people. In these trio recordings
the same thing is done: careful and silent music, of touching
the sound sources delicately. It's hard to believe that some parts
were not recorded together, since it all sounds very united, a
homogenous thing, almost like a direct live recording of an event.
Perhaps not be played in one go, these two hours, but it's certainly
a great CD.
The name Ting Ting Jahe is new to me, and I have absolutely no
idea what he does on his release. There are eight tracks, lasting
just over half an hour. It could be that he plays a wind instrument
in a true onkyo style, but then I also think there are either
shortwave sounds or field recordings. It's all a bit difficult
to tell. It's not silent per se. Some of the pieces are quite
loud, but of course not really noise like. It's a strange release,
defying categories, but it's surely a fascinating disc, one that
leaves room for interpretation. What is it that he does? Does
he improvise? Does he play an electro-acoustic composition? A
strange but captivating release. (FdW)
Address: http://www.windsmeasurerecordings.net
MACHINEFABRIEK - ZINK (3" CDR by Cut
Hands)
More and more Machinefabriek music. The cover is of course out
of sink and it's something a bit new for Machinefabriek. Until
now his releases were either studio recordings or live recordings,
but 'Zink' is 'based on a live performance [...] edited and processed
at home. It's also the first CDR release by him on another label
than his own (well, in his vast amount, I think so!). The music
is a common place by now for Machinefabriek: slowly building up
this piece with the extensive use of the guitar and effects, creating
a dense patterns of sound. Highly moody in approach, but that
is these days the thing for Machinefabriek. And now it sort of
breaks to release so many works: there is a tendency that they
all sound the same a little bit. The differences between the last
five or so releases by Machinefabriek are only marginal. Which
is a pity. Maybe Machinefabriek should be a little more critical
as to how and what is released. But with a nice cover, that is
true. (FdW)
Address: http://www.freewebs.com/cuthands
PLAINS - UNDERGROUND (3"CDR by CLaudia)
The big band is popular: Mimeo or Freq_out are well-known and
much bigger than New Zealand's Plains, which is band with Tim
Coster (field recordings, computer), Richard Francis (computer),
Rosy Parlane (computer), Mark Sadgrove (feedback, linux csound),
Clinton Watkins (samples) and Paul Winstanley (feedback). As far
as I know, they come together to play live music, and 'Underground'
is such a concert, from june last year. It's a highly atmospheric
piece of music. One could all too easily think things would be
rather noise related, but these gentleman know how to be in control
of their sounds. Things hiss and crack, and float by, even when
two are created with feedback it's still an achievement to be
so quiet and controlled. Somehow I don't think they will be on
tour pretty soon, which is a pity, since I wouldn't mind seeing
this live once. (FdW)
Address: http://www.halftheory.com/claudia/
ANLA COURTIS - H-PUNA (3"CDR by Generator
Sound Art)
Not really the most recent recorded work, this three part suite
by Anla Courtis. It was recorded in 1998 and 'processed and mixed'
in 1998-1999, but only just released by Generator Sound Art. The
solo work of Courtis is heavy, not exactly in the noise sense
of the word, but just heavy. What it is that he does, the cover
doesn't give any information, could perhaps just be something
very simple, like recording a dish washed and process that sound.
Or stick a microphone outside a driving car, and record the wind.
That sort of heaviness. A strong but highly minimal sound. Moving
slowly. Hard to say wether the changes are accidents or incidents.
But surely fascinating enough. It's short and powerful, not a
second too long or too short. Very nice. (FdW)
Address: http://www.generatorsoundart.org
SHINKEI - BINAURAL BEATS (3"CD by Shin)
Shin is a new label, connected to the Italian mailorder Microsuoni.
Shinkei is their first artist and for 'Binaural Beats' he downloaded
brainwave software from the net. 'Such signals are said to obtain
brainwave synchronization, to connect one's brainwaves to a desired
frequency by means of a periodic stimulus. The stimulus can be
aural as in the case of binaural beats, or visual (dreamachines)'.
In these compositions beta and alpha frequencies were used, 'commonly
associated with cerebral states of active concentration, alertness
and superlearning'. I am not sure why this is all so terribly
soft. Is that something that is also connected to this whole brainwave
thing? Or is Shinkei afraid of speaker damage? If you turn up
the volume all the way, a very low bass unfolds and very high
end peeps. It is quite nice, but it is required a lot of attention.
Not just because it's not 'easy' to hear, but also due to its
softness. However I think the pieces were a bit unfocussed, like
they were part of a learning/trying out process. (FdW)
Address: http://www.microsuoni.com
HENNING LUNDKVIST - DOKUMENTATION01NOV06
(MP3 by Inaktiv)
Hailing from Sweden, Henning Lundkvist is a text sound artist.
Although there is a lot of text on his website, it's a bit hard
to tell what it is that he does. Perhaps this has to do with the
fact that the CDR release (which is now sold out but it can be
downloaded from the website below) which is a bit of an odd affair.
It was recorded in Malmö, Cluji, Dublin and Gotheburg and
contains large portions of street sounds and other field recordings
(which were not always recorded too well). But also there is a
funny text about vacuum cleaners. In the second half there could
be something that sounds like vacuum cleaners. But I thought it
was not easy to know what the relationship is between all these
sounds. Is there one? Is there no connection. Should it be seen
as separate pieces or is there an overall story? It's nice to
have something to puzzle, but it leaves a big questionmark here.
(FdW)
Address: http://www.inaktiv.net/
LISBETH OG BENT/JENS ROBOT (Mp3 by Noisejihad
Live)
WALDCHENGARTEN/RESPIRATOR (MP3 by Noisejihad Live)
NOISEJIHAD FESTIVAL (MP3 by Noisejihad Live)
ZBIGNIEW KARKOWSKI & DANNY KREUTZFELDT (MP3 by Noisejihad
Live)
DANNY KREUTZFELDT - ABRUPTION (3"CDR by Tib Prod)
RUMFORSKNING - LIVSTEGN (CDR by Dataobscura)
Music by Danny Kreutzfeldt has been reviewed before, mainly his
various releases through Data Obscura and Databloem. He is also
an active member of Noisejihad from Denmark, a community of musicians
who put on concerts, not just by themselves but also others. Since
2005 they also release recordings of these concerts on their website
under the banner of Noisejihad Live. This bunch is just a selection.
There is the music by Lisbeth Og Bent (whereas 'og' means 'and')
who played on the night of the 4th of October a set of heavy breakcore
beats. Thunderous loud drum & bass rolling on the floor. They
are on the same label as Jens Robot, being Illphabetik, and Robot
plays similar music to that of Lisbeth Og Bent.
Similarly loud and heavy, although he uses a bit more samples
from voices. In a totally different corner, and perhaps a bit
more interesting was the night of September 23rd when Waldchengarten
played. They have been featured in Vital Weekly before and now
they are a laptop duo playing some of their 'Distractions' album
live. That is pretty strong dark and moody ambient, which is not
unlike their very fine Cds. Also here is a short, and again a
bit a similar to the other, piece by Respirator, for 'laptop,
trumpet and mineral water'. This is a more worked out live event
than the previous one.
In November 2006 there was another evening of which only some
was recorded, with some parts only filmed (check out the website,
I'd say), but one Christian S. (feat Tone) played a nice, very
relaxingly calm concert. Ambient glitch with lots of static crackles
and gliding, vague sound tapestries. Quite a relief after some
of the violence, which is being picked up again by Eske Norholm
on his laptop, but unfortunately not of the better kind. That
night there was also the first solo concert by Dennis H, one half
of Waldchengarten, with a subtle and quiet piece for guitar, pedals
and laptop. Also Interzone were quite nice that night.
Another night, a month before that Zbigniew Karkowski rocked his
laptop together with Danny Kreutzfeldt, and in the first piece
it certainly rocks, although it makes nice bumps here and there.
According to Danny in the second piece 'the laptop generating
sound on its own' and much to my surprise that was a rather mellow
piece for Karkowski standards.
Danny still has to time to create music at home, and 'Abruption'
is the third part in a series and finds him in rather harsh territories,
with a twenty minute howl of wall to wall noise. But it was a
rather good blast, with enough variation and odd changes to make
an eyebrow raise (or perhaps it was the thunder). Nothing new
under the noise sun, but done rather o.k.
Lastly there is Rumforskning, an ongoing collaboration between
Kreutzfeldt and Mads Weitling. No noise here, but atmospheric
ambient from the world of digital music. Software synthesizers,
mechanical banging and perhaps at times too much reverb to be
good, this is a sort of Werkbund going digital and with much shorter
tracks. It's o.k, though not really great. (FdW)
Address: http://www.noisejihad.dk
Address: http://www.tibprod.com
Address: http://www.databloem.com
Correction: The Korber/Schurer release on Balloon & Needle reviewed last week, is not the first release on that label. In fact it's number 17, and the first 16 always contain musicians from Korea.