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VITAL WEEKLY
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number 580
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week 23
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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
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* 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 FRUSTRATION - WELL, AND OURS.
JODI CAVE - FOR MYRIA (CD by 12K) *
POINTS OF FRICTION - AFTERLIFE DNA FINGER-PAINTING (CD by Melon
Expander) *
EDWARD KASPEL - DREAM LOGIK (CD by Beta lactam-ring records)
EDWARD KA-SPEL - MELANCHOLICUS ANONYMUS (CD by Beta lactam-ring
records)
THE SILVERMAN - STATE OF UNION (CD by Beta lactam-ring records)
ZONK'T - -TROPE (CD by Sound On Probation) *
MIMEO - SIGHT (CD by Cathnor) *
MOVE D - 10/11 LIVE AT JOHANNESKIRCHE (CD by Bine Music)
PAL ASLE PETTERSEN - KOMPROMISASJONER 7-13 (CD by Zang) *
MARSEN JULES - GOLDEN (CD by Genesungswerk)
TARKATAK - MORMOR (CD by Genesungswerk) *
EXTRACT (2CD + book by Non Visual Objects)
MATT WESTON - RASHAYA (CD by 7272 Music)
MATT WESTON - RESISTANT CRUISERS (CD by 7272 Music)
SPACEHEADS & MAX EASTLEY - A VERY LONG WAY FROM ANYWHERE ELSE
(CD by Bip Hop) *
LARYTTA - YA-YA-YA (12"EP by Creaked Records) *
NODOLBY - AXE MAGNITUDE/ALTERED BEAST (7" by Dokuro Records)
GREEN MINE - ULTRA RAINBOW (3"CDR by Dokuro Records) *
CIRCLE SIX - NIGHT IN KANSAS (CDR by Annuit Cîptis) *
JLIAT - NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL NOISE VOL. 4 (CDR by Larks Council
Of England) *
ORPHAX - PROOF OF CONSPIRACY (3" CDR by Cut Hands) *
SEWER GODDESS - ERIS SADISTICUM (3"CDR by Silken Tofu)
SKY BURIAL - SB IV (3"CDR by Silken Tofu) *
JODI CAVE - FOR MYRIA (CD by 12K)
12K's compilation 'Blueprints' (see Vital Weekly 550) was supposed
to be the stepping stone of a bunch of newly signed artists. Pjusk
was the first to do their debut (Vital Weekly 575) and now it's
time for Jodi Cave from the UK. Unlike Pjusk, Cave did leave an
impression on the compilation, with some musique concrete inspiration
composition. On 'For Myria' this is continued, but incorporated
in a more musical setting. Cave is capable of handling many instruments,
such as harmonium, clarinet and guitar, which he waves along side
field recordings, stones, scraps of metal, some of the recording
at close range: the musique concrete element. Seven pieces, somewhere
between nine and two minutes. The good news is that Cave plays
some mighty fine music. The combination of the music side with
the concrete sounds works fine. The downside is that there is
not much difference between this and so many others. It's almost
if there is a blueprint (pun intended) out there, follow these
seven steps to create this type of music. As such I really didn't
hear much new in the work of Jodi Cave. But as someone recently
asked me wether it's really necessary to have something new going
on all the time, or that it's my own person who wants that (perhaps
as a result of hearing so much of everything). That is a valid
question, I think, and one I can't answer too easily. Indeed it
might be the overkill of this (as well as other kinds of music,
say noise) kind of music that makes me a bit harsh on what is
released as such, but I realize one can't always be original.
Perhaps for some people, and maybe Jodi Cave is such a person,
it's good enough to make some music which is just nice to hear.
Cave certainly made such as CD. It's well made, sounds great,
but alas is not the most original one. (FdW)
Address: http://www.12k.com
POINTS OF FRICTION - AFTERLIFE DNA FINGER-PAINTING
(CD by Melon Expander)
Melon Expander's third release is by Points Of Friction, following
releases by Joseph Hammer and Solid Eye. Forthcoming releases
include other members of both Solid Eye and Points Of Friction.
I mention this to point out that it arrives from a lively scene:
Los Angeles. All of these people and bands have existed since
the late 70s when they were all loosely (or less loosely) associated
with the Los Angeles Free Music Society label. Points Of Friction
released two cassettes in the 80s, which were released on CD and
CDR in 2002 and 2004, by which time they gathered again and started
anew. Points Of Friction's line up is now Tim Alexander (prepared
zither, wooden bowl, electronics, birdcage, toys, spring-loaded
mechanisms), Damian Bisciglia (metal sculpture, psaltry, birdcage,
digital piano, sampler, electronics), Mitchell Brown (arp synth,
ring modulator, electronics, birdcage, tape loops), Joseph Hammer
(real time tape loop manipulations) and Kenny Ryman (turntables,
loops, zither, thumb piano, electronics). Perhaps needles to say,
but Points Of Friction play all improvised music and with such
as extended line up, this is quite massive. Massive in a sense
that silence is not apparently not allowed in this music. There
is always, so it seems, at least two things happening at the same
time. They like to feed their sounds through various delay lines,
which makes this sound altogether continuos affairs, sometimes
it's a bit too much, but at the same time it also makes very vibrant
music. The tape-loops bounce sound back and forth, sounds pop
in and out of the mix, electronic and acoustic alike, and there
is no instrument that takes on a lead. In a totally democratic
fashion everything that is possible, also happens. Two longer
and three shorter pieces of tape manipulation form the right sized
album of this kind of music, which, in the old days would have
made a great LP. In a way Points Of Friction sound like the old
LAFMS bands did, but they also upgraded their sound to the new
millennium. They play like children, but it's a great recording,
spliced together with great care and style. (FdW)
Address: http://www.melonexpander.com
EDWARD KASPEL - DREAM LOGIK (CD by Beta
lactam-ring records)
EDWARD KA-SPEL - MELANCHOLICUS ANONYMUS (CD by Beta lactam-ring
records)
THE SILVERMAN - STATE OF UNION (CD by Beta lactam-ring records)
BLRR is vastly becoming the purveyor of Edward Ka-Spel music.
Dream Logik Part 1 is his new studio solo album. True to the gorgeous
artwork (a very lavish thick book-like high-gloss full-cover cover)
the album starts off equally gorgeous with the Twin Peaks-like
spoken introduction Threshold. From that point on Dream Logik
is a rollercoaster of sounds and ideas. These mostly work out
great. Songs like Harvester with its slow rhythm and spoken word,
the beautiful yet harrowing songs Good Life and And The Stars
are among Ka-Spel's best. Unfortunately, this does not count for
The 9 O'Clock Train To Oblivion, which does not manage to hold
the interest like the previously mentioned songs. The same goes
for Revolution 834, which is like its more famous Beatle counterpart,
only, well, less fab. With these two exceptions, Dream Logik Part
1 is an intriguing addition to the Ka-Spel catalogue, and far
more impressive and interesting than the somewhat directionless
Fragments Of Illumina. Dream Logik part 1 is a bleak and highly
personal album, full of confusion. "I could not find the
doorway" Ka-Spel sings on the beautiful collage-like track
Laughing Gas. That is exactly how this album sounds.
In BLRR's very successful Black Series Melancholicus Anonymus
is a great addition. Here we get a series of previously released
tracks as well as the obligatory unreleased bonus track, all recorded
between 2000-2007. The CD begins with Clara Rockmore Dog, one
of my personal favorite tracks. Somewhere between a children's
nighttime story and a bizarre twisted tale, Ka-Spel's deep sonorous
voice tells the story of two dogs who both meet their fate to
a background of whizzing and whirling sounds. There is more spoken
word with added abstract background in the form of the 20 minute
The Evidence Of Absence from the LP of the same title. Clara Rockmore's
Dog b-side Stars On Some Days features some beautiful reverberated
piano. The CD also includes two tracks previously released on
10-inch gallery edition albums Meltdown and Complex, both of which
sell for quite a lot of money on the internet. Whereas Meltdown
features the ambient/abstract soundscape you've come to expect,
Complex is a beautiful short-spoken word wonder. The unreleased
track is Karis In The Spring, which is another ambient piece of
work with distorted keyboards. A treat therefore for the Ka-Spel
completist.
Although not as productive as his Pink Dot-compadre, The Silverman
aka Phil Knight has released some amazing albums. My personal
favorites remains State Of Union, which was previously released
as a CDR on the Dots private label. This re-release on BLRR features
all tracks from the original release including a, you guessed
it, a bonus track (not a leftover, but a beautiful full length
excursion). State Of Union contains beautiful ambient meditative
music, well played and well produced and, on the BLRR release,
with considerably less hiss than on the original release. Nothing
like the Dots' music, State Of Union is like a cosmic dreamscape,
at times like mid 70's synthesizer ambience and if you think that
sounds naf - you're wrong. This is a beautiful record that deserves
to be heard (again). All these come in gorgeous drawn covers by
Jesse Peper. An artist in his own right. (FdW)
Address: http://www.blrrecords.com
ZONK'T - -TROPE (CD by Sound On Probation)
In recent times the name Laurent Perrier pops up quite regularly:
either under his one name, or as Heal or Zonk't. Here it is the
Zonk't hat again, and once again he changes the parameters of
his sound. On his first (not reviewed in Vital Weekly) it was
in the trip hop/illbient fashion of DJ Spooky, on 'Purr' it was
the minimalism of Bretschneider and Pan Sonic but now on '-Trope'
he combines these along side a lot of other dance music influences,
such as techno, ambient house, hip hop, more dub, intelligent
dance music or glitchy clicks 'n cuts. All played on a blend of
analogue and digital instruments. One could all too easily think
that this mixture of styles would lead to a CD that is too scattered,
but its this variation that makes this a highly enjoyable CD -
for home listening, I must add. Somehow I don't see the mass on
the dance floor going crazy for one of these tracks or even a
live concert - there the varied palette of Zonk't would work against
it, but at home this hotchpotch of dance styles would make a fine
listen. (FdW)
Address: http://www.soundonprobation.com
MIMEO - SIGHT (CD by Cathnor)
Although I don't like to do big quotes, I must quote a large section
of what is written on the website about 'Sight' by Mimeo: "For
the sight project each of the eleven members of MIMEO spread across
Europe were asked to place approximately five minutes of sound
anywhere they chose onto a blank sixty minute CDR. This was done
independently of one another, with no communication between the
musicians about how or where the music should be distributed on
the disc. This process was only completed after the musicians
had spent considerable time considering the task at hand, trying
to understand what their colleagues may be doing. Finally in late
2006 the finished CDRs were sent to one group member, Marcus Schmickler,
who then compiled all eleven discs onto one single CDR, superimposing
the eleven pieces of music over each other to create a single
work. This task was completed without listening to the music at
any stage." So, did that then include just one CDR with a
contribution of each of the Mimeo members, or was this process
repeated a number of times, perhaps as many as there are members?
This latter is suggested by the fact that Marcus Schmickler 'superimposed'
it. Or perhaps he did a blind mix, just like Cy Twombly does occasionally
blindfold drawing? Mimeo is a large ensemble of improvisers of
which membership can run up to twenty-four members. Here however
it's limited to about half of them: Gert-Jan Prins, Thomas Lehn,
Kaffe Matthews, Peter Rehberg, Jerome Noetinger, Marcus Schmickler,
Christian Fennesz, Phil Durrant, Rafael Toral, Cor Fuhler and
Keith Rowe. Whatever sort of conceptual approach was used, it's
of course the music that matters here. Mimeo is, by being a large
ensemble, a well coordinated troupe of musicians. All of the members
have a long history in improvisation and this experience is brought
into Mimeo. Be quiet when necessary, make a sound when it fits
in. Of course in this case, the all random approach, it might
be a total miss (or a total hit), but I think it works out quite
well, for the most part. Mimeo is at times a noisy beast. when
things shake and burst around, but at other times it's really
quiet and only a few sounds can be heard or even enter lengthy
blocks of silence. Throughout it's hard to tell what it is that
they are doing and unless you know that say Gert-Jan Prins uses
radio and cables and Lehn a EMS synthi A or Rowe a guitar, then
it is possible, perhaps to trace back specific sounds to specific
people. Again, not that that is of real importance either. The
arbitrary nature of this recording seems pretty low and it could
in fact be the result of a composing, rather than just a random
ploy. This is an excellent CD! (FdW)
Address: http://www.cathnor.com
MOVE D - 10/11 LIVE AT JOHANNESKIRCHE (CD
by Bine Music)
David Moufang, also known as Move D, is one of the regular visitors
to the small catalogue of Bine Music. Here he comes with a superlong
CD of a recording made at the Johanneskirche on september 10th
of year unknown.
Move D is, to me at least, best known for his work on Fax Records,
and that's where I place him: ambient techno with jazzy touch.
Perhaps I invented the jazzy touch upon hearing this live recording.
Deep space synthesizers, jazzy keyboard lines, a jumpy rhythm
and an acid style bass line. The first time I played this was
early, very early morning at a considerable low volume, and then
the ambient character of this record came out quite well, but
later on when I turned up the volume a bit the rhythm part turned
out to change these pieces a little bit and made me quite cheery.
Best be heard in one go, I think, while lying down and relaxing
- no doubt like the audience did when they saw and heard the original
concert. Quite nice, but at the same time, also quite out of date
style wise, as there was a time when there was a lot of this kind
of ambient dance music. But Move D certainly is one of the better
players. (FdW)
Address: http://www.binemusic.de
PAL ASLE PETTERSEN - KOMPROMISASJONER 7-13
(CD by Zang)
Over the years we have come across the name Pal Asle Pettersen
a few irregular occasions. The last time was in Vital Weekly 512
with it's nerve wrecking 'Skjegg' release, with it's fifty-tracks
in twenty five minutes. He now writes that 'Skjegg' was an album
of 'improvisations of found sounds', whereas this new one is 'an
exploration of manipulation of sounds and new ways to use computers
to create sound and sound structures', but at the same time we
are also informed that this work is from 2001 to 2004. So perhaps
it was created prior to 'Skjegg'? I must say I like this work
better because in general the pieces are more worked out. Always
dealing acoustic sounds, but which we are never to find out what
they are about. Each and every one of them is treated inside the
computer, and could be of any kind. Pettersen's music is better
served with the longer length of a piece, as he proofs to have
a keen ear for variation and structure in his pieces. His work
stands firmly in the tradition of musique concrete, division microsound
(although entirely not really soft), but he has a certain playfulness
that is lacking in so many of his peers, which makes this CD quite
a nice. His best work to date. Serious and playful go hand in
hand in this very nice. This should have been on Empreintes Digitales,
me thinks. (FdW)
Address: http://www.kunst.no/paal.asle.html
MARSEN JULES - GOLDEN (CD by Genesungswerk)
TARKATAK - MORMOR (CD by Genesungswerk)
Strangely enough Vital Weekly did review a bunch of releases by
Marsen Jules before, but not his two albums on City Centre Offices,
and that's probably where most people know him from. Jules, or
Martin Juls as his real name is, hails from Dortmund and started
working as Krill Minima, having releases on Genesungswerk, Thinner
and Autoplate. His work is not easy to describe, but it's partly
rooted in ambient music, partly in electronic music. Jules likes
a melodic and dramatic touch. For his latest album "Golden"
he returns home, to Genesungswerk, and while it's not easy for
me to compare this with the two previous records he did, I must
say this is a pretty strong album. Jules plays guitar, piano and
electronics - and probably in this order. The electronics are
kept to a minimum - glitches in the background, rhythmic, supportive
and never asking for the lead in the music. That role is for guitar
and piano - both on an equal level. They play minimal melodic
touches - more like poetic thoughts and gestures than well rounded
compositions. Highly atmospheric music at work here. Defying the
notion of ambient (too much glitch) and microsound (too musical
by any standard), this is also a work of non-dance music, as one
could perhaps expect based on his City Centre Offices connection.
Folky, poppy, electronic, those are the keywords, but in a more
modern classical setting. The name Durutti Column popped up. Great
work.
Tarkatak is Lutz Pruditsch, who works under this name since 1994,
and who has released a whole bunch obscure CDRs, cassettes, 7"
and a LP. 'Mormor' is his first real CD, and it's about time it
happened. Since long he is ready to conquer the world of ambient
drone music. It's been a while since I last heard music by Tarkatak,
and I associated his music before with analogue synthesizers,
e-bow, guitars and effects. When a switch over was made I don't
know, but there definitely was one, since 'Mormor' sounds far
more digital than anything I heard from him. Tarkatak's music
is still highly atmospheric, but much more sparse these days.
Each of the four long pieces is built around just a few loops,
which Tarkatak plays around with, changing the color of them,
getting them out of sync and back in sync again, and such like,
and creates a wonderful textured sound. There are times when 'Mormor'
reminded me of Taylor Deupree, but then a bit more dark, but it
has the same relaxed feeling to it. But there is also the featuring
of rhythm, which is also an entirely aspect, certainly when it
comes down to stripped down techno rhythms. Quite a break with
the past, I think and quite a step forward. Including is a film
for one of the tracks, which depicts the sea and the sand, along
with a lonely man - the sort of film you'd expect with this lonesome
music. Great CD, and hopefully bringing him some more recognition.
(FdW)
Address: http://www.genesungswerk.de
EXTRACT (2CD + book by Non Visual Objects)
Its possible to start with saying I don't like to review compilations,
and 'Extract' is a real difficult one. Two CDs, twenty-two tracks,
by people that we may know from the world of microsound. That
is twenty-two pieces of deep bass hum, crackles, processed field
recordings and static hiss being filtered through Max or PD (depending
who's side you are on). It's not easy to spot the highlight in
this contest of 'I am more silent than you'. That is a possible
approach. But we should be better off approaching this from a
more positive view. The owners of Non Visual Objects have already
released a bunch of CDs and this book is a sort of introduction
to the world which they are present in. The hardcover book has
about 100 pages, and it's four pages per artist. 'Where are you
from and what do you do' is more or less the approach taken by
the curators of the book. Not a book about theory, but a gentle
introduction. Some people talk about their origins through the
form of interviews, others write themselves about their work,
which is not always about their music. It can be also about other
forms of art they occupy themselves with, such as photography,
installations or drawings. It adds a more human aspect to the
music, seeing the photo's of the artists and their personalized
stories, which work best if they leave the format of an interview,
and when they are really personal, like the ones of Steve Roden,
John Hudak and Roel Meelkop. With a fresh look at the book (with
excellent minimal design), we return to the CDs and listen with
different ears. Here we now notice small differences in the various
musics that are presented here. The sheer silence of Chartier,
I8U, Dean King and Meelkop, but also the street sounds of Gunter,
the radio looped minimalism of Hudak, the looped ambience of Taylor
Deupree (who has a true trademark sound by now), drone like material
from Dale Lloyd and Keith Berry, Jos Smolders' musique concrete
based on environmental sounds, or even a bit more noise based
as with Will Montgomery. It's the smaller variations perhaps to
the untrained ear, but major ones to people who are used to microsound.
Also included are Heribert Friedl, Richard Garet, Andy Graydon,
Tomas Philips, Steinbruchel, Nao Sugimoto, Asmus Tietchens, Toshiya
Tsunoda, Ubeboet and Micheal Vorfeld. One could wonder a bit over
the selection here, which seems a bit arbitrary. Why no Francisco
Lopez, Stephan Mathieu or Marc Behrens? But it's perhaps too much
of a personal selection, but at the same time it introduces us
to some lesser known people such as Andy Graydon, Richard Garet
and Micheal Vorfeld (who is better known in a different scene,
I guess, that of improvised music). This is an incomplete overview
but it may serve as an excellent introduction to the uninitiated
as well as shedding some light on some of the people we know so
well, but who don't get so much coverage in the real press. As
such the best book this year so far. (FdW)
Address: http://www.monvisualobjects.com
MATT WESTON - RASHAYA (CD by 7272 Music)
MATT WESTON - RESISTANT CRUISERS (CD by 7272 Music)
7272 Music is a new label for artists that are best presented
in small formats. So they plan to release eps and singles only.
The first two releases come from Matt Weston, a drummer and improvisor
from Chicago. He played with maestro Jack Wright, Ken Vandermark,
Jim O'Rourke and many others. But he seems above all to climb
the stage for solo performances as a drummer/percussionist. Besides
drums, he uses bells and a limited set of other other objects.
Also Weston plays electronics. Listening to both minicds is is
evident that a true innovator is at work here. Weston has an extensive
vocabulary, and weaves nice textures in a post-AMM style. His
improvisations have a strong drive and sound very fresh and to
the point. In contrast to his subtle drumming is his use of electronics.
Especially on 'Resistant Cruisers' we hear him play some primitive
and harsh noise. But effective and funny it is. Weston is a very
self-consciousness player who knows what he wants, as make these
crystal clear improvisations evident. Good stuff. (DM)
Address: http://www.7272music.com
SPACEHEADS & MAX EASTLEY - A VERY LONG
WAY FROM ANYWHERE ELSE (CD by Bip Hop)
The name of Max Eastley will be linked eternally for me with the
Obscure Records Series of Brain Eno. These records were an important
point of reference for me, when I started to discover 'other'
music. Eastley became a well-known sound-sculptor in this sector
of the arts.
Already in 2001 Eastley recorded an album with the Spaceheads,
called 'The Time of the Ancient Astronaut'. Then and also on this
new cd Max Eastley plays the arc, a self-built instrument of course,
to be more exact: a monochord of wood and wire, which is scraped,
bent and flexed into an orbit of amplified effects. Andy Diagram
- once member of the new wave band Diagram Brothers - plays trumpet,
using echo and other electronic gadgets to reach his fluid sound.
Together with Richard Harrison, who plays drums, both were once
members of that other new wave band named Dislocation Dance. All
this is history. As Spaceheads they continue their collaboration
since 1989. From this knowledge, and listening to this album,
I conclude that these guys must have really developed themselves
in quite a different field of music, that is more close to soundsculpting
and abstract improvisation. But all this is speculation, because
I don't know their earlier work. Recordings for this record came
partly from the Mimi-Festival, on an island south of Marseille.
The other tracks originated in an isolated village somewhere in
England. At moments I don't know what to think of record. The
music seems to move in any direction without much control by the
musicians. At other moments the music is very strong and concentrated,
like in 'The Dream that murdered sleep'. The title track falls
a bit apart from the rest, as it is the only track with a steady
beat going on, in a sort of Jon Hassel-like version of world tribal
music. It must be said that the combination of instruments goes
very well together and create an interesting blend of sounds,
and make it a coherent album. (DM)
Address: http://www.bip-hop.com
LARYTTA - YA-YA-YA (12"EP by Creaked
Records)
A new release on the eclectic Creaked Records and a new EP for
the dance floor industrialists Larytta, a duo of Christian Pahud
and Guy Meldem from Switzerland. I had a chance to play their
music in a local alternative club when people danced to it. Larytta's
music is a well balanced mixture of few styles or influences and
some of those are: squeaking electronic clicks and glitches, hip-hop,
pop, percussions, guitars, vocals, lyrics and twisted melodies...
But probably the most present atmosphere in their music is that
which comes from the industrial music, cleverly settled down in
the manners of pop music. On the new EP 'Ya-ya-ya' all of that
is specially well done in the last track 'Wonder vendor', which
of all four tracks has the most songwriting sense, which for me
is specially interesting in Larytta's music (reminding me of Safety
Scissors). I think that songwriting approach should be more explored
and applied by the duo perhaps on their next album release. Great
music and a nice EP. (BR)
Address: http://www.creakedrecords.com
NODOLBY - AXE MAGNITUDE/ALTERED BEAST (7"
by Dokuro Records)
GREEN MINE - ULTRA RAINBOW (3"CDR by Dokuro Records)
These are the first two releases on a new Italian label, called
Dokuro Records, which advertise themselves as 'for noise and others
misshapes electronics activities'. It seems, but not entirely
sure here, that the first releases deal with the band ENT, which
may or may not have split up. The first release is a 7" in
an edition of 166 copies (100 on black vinyl and 66 on marble-amethyst
colored vinyl) by Nodolby, the new name of Michele Scariot, one
half of ENT, whose 'Fuck Work' was reviewed in Vital Weekly 511.
Apparently Scariot has been recording music as Nodolby since 1998
but never released anything as such. On his two pieces on this
7" he goes in the all out noise area. There is someone playing
a trumpet on the b-side, but I don't think I discovered one as
such. High pitched feedback going through an endless amount of
distortion - the usual noise drill (pun intended) going on here.
Alright, but very worn out.
The second release is by Emanuele Bortoluzzi, also known as Kabu
and the other half of ENT. As Green Mine, Bortoluzzi focusses
on 'ambient-noise music made just with Suzuki Omnichord OM-27,
efx and laptop'. I must admit I thought this was more noise than
ambient. Bortoluzzi presses down a few buttons on his keyboards
and let's the sound go wild through his sound effects. It doesn't
have the same surprise as ENT did before as the five pieces sound
rather like a lo-fi version of someone who would want to play
ambient music, but in stead plays a bunch of noise versions thereof.
It's pretty o.k., but also there is enough room for development,
or even improvement. (FdW)
Address: http://www.dokuro.it
CIRCLE SIX - NIGHT IN KANSAS (CDR by Annuit
Cîptis)
The website by Circle Six shows a handful of releases, but what
they are about, is hard to say. 'Night In Kansas' is his latest
and looking the fourteen titles, they all deal with driving through
Kansas (according to his myspace site, this is the place Circle
Six is from), because we get songs like 'Driving Into Kansas',
'Night In Kansas', '70 MPH' to end with 'Now Leaving Kansas' (and
curiously not 'I Have A Feeling Where Not In Kansas Anymore'),
but wether these sounds used on the songs deal with Kansas, or
driving cars, is a bit unclear. Don't let the list of influences
distract you. The music has little or nothing to with The Cure,
Skinny Puppy, Future Sound Of London, Numb or Richard Devine (let
alone Kant, Nietzsche or Marx). Just what it is that Circle Six
is not entirely clear. There is, I think, electronics involved,
sampling and such like, of field recordings, which are knitted
in a somewhat obscure mass of sound, which is a bit amorphe. It
seems partly improvised, and partly worked out. Dwelling on old
industrial music, but in a richer and more atmospheric textured
environment. Not every moment on this almost seventy minute release
is of similar interest, but Circle Six creates some interesting
moody textures from the underbelly of the underworld - which might
be an apt description for Kansas (how would I know?) - and there
are only a handful copies available. That's too bad as it would
certainly appeal to more than thirty. (FdW)
Address: http://www.circlesixmusic.com>
JLIAT - NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL NOISE VOL.
4 (CDR by Larks Council Of England)
bince Jliat board of the review oh for a popnois posse, we feel
a bit relieved. Noiseenre is mea dead end, even when I play a
bit of noise and n eabif eeky: many are follwer ad few are chosen
as trendsetters. Which is no big d, it's like real life. Whe Jliat
as a mus badly an fits i? Tht is nil England he relases with a
rip off cod it on. It soe of te oder Merbow work, a bit more in
lo-fi territory Not ebut hin totxt of noise. ueight tracks of
exactly three minutes anse is thirty nine secoweekhve peard volme
one of tto th ones) and things explode, eight times. And augmentof
volume two, it doesn't iffer from volume one very. (FdW)
Address: http://www.jliat.com
ORPHAX - PROOF OF CONSPIRACY (3" CDR
by Cut Hands)
It's been a while since we last heard from Orphax from The Netherlands,
'Sand In Boxes' was reviewed in Vital Weekly 464. Since then things
have been busy for Sietse van Erve on non-musical matters as well
that he did a small tour in The Netherlands as part of Instant
Music. 'Proof Of Conspiracy' was recorded this year and it's one,
twenty minute piece of music. The input, sound wise, and if I
am not mistaken is a bunch of white noise sounds. Or perhaps even
one kind of white noise. But once arrived inside the computer
it starts a whole new life of its own. It takes on various shapes
and once they have that the color changes and it goes into mutation,
a bit of rhythm even. Like a fast forwarding glacier mass this
comes rolling of a mountain. It moves from the relatively soft
beginning via the path of noise to a more quiet ending, but it
has arrived in a totally different area. Not a surprising work,
but quite a nice one. (FdW)
Address: http://www.cuthands.net
SEWER GODDESS - ERIS SADISTICUM (3"CDR
by Silken Tofu)
SKY BURIAL - SB IV (3"CDR by Silken Tofu)
On the lovely little label Silken Tofu from Belgium two new releases,
and the label expands their horizon across the ocean with two
bands/projects from the USA. Sewer Goddess is new to me and he
hails from New Hampshire. Among his instruments he lists "Boss
RC-20 / Boss ME-50 / Eurorack MX 802A / Korg Electribe Em-l /
FX 55c pedal / FX 86b pedal / Line6 pedal / ANALOG Tascam Ports02mk11
/ Contact mic / Mic", which, me no gear freak, seems like
a simple line up to produce some effective noise, judging from
the musical content of this twenty minute release. Much reverb
is used for a set of crude tones, barbaric drones with a gothic
undertone. Especially the use of reverb put me off I must admit,
since it's something that one should use with care, and not to
create an artificial depth or tension that was not in the music
in the first place. It's alright but it sounds a bit too much
like a copy of music on Old Europa Cafe to me.
Micheal Page's Sky Burial project is a busy off-shoot of his likewise
busy Fire In The Head project and as such he has produced a bunch
of releases, some of which made into Vital Weekly. His musical
development is going quick, and the eighteen minute piece covered
here is a true beauty of dark, atmospherical music. Build around
samples of an obscure nature, perhaps field recordings or collapsing
sheets of metal, he depicts a dark world or maybe an occult ritual
taking place. Horror film soundtrack would be an option if he
ever wants to make serious bucks from his music. Still heavily
in depth with the likes of early Lustmord, a much louder version
of Zoviet France or a much softer early Controlled Bleeding, the
choice to put on one lengthy piece is a good decision. It gives
his music the opportunity to develop beyond the song format and
grow into the heavy beast it's now. It works quite well and it's
definitely a road to explore further. (FdW)
Address: http://www.silkentofu.org
correction: the Unit 21 on Lagunamuch reviewed last week is not called 'Dislocation' but 'November'.
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