============
VITAL WEEKLY
============
number 591
---------------------
week 35
---------------------
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.
PLEASE READ THIS. WE WILL NOT REVIEW MATERIAL OLDER THAN SIX MONTHS, SO PLEASE DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY. NOT ONLY WILL WE NOT REVIEW IT, BUT WE WILL SELL THE MATERIAL TO A SECOND MAIL ORDER OUTLET. ALSO, DON'T SEND MORE THAN 3 (THREE) RELEASES AT ONCE. WE SIMPLY CAN'T HANDLE EVERYTHING ANYMORE. SAVE YOURSELVES THE FRUSTRATION... AND US!
Next Vital Weekly is most likely wednesday september 5th. Week 37 will not see a Vital Weekly and we return on wednesday 19th.
GIUSEPPE IELASI - AUGUST (CD by 12K) *
GIUSEPPE IELASI & NICOLA RATTI - BELLOWS (CD by Kning Disk)
SWOD - SEKUNDEN (CD by City Centre Offices) *
MATT WESTON - HOLLER/DO YOU HEAR ME? (CD by 7272MUSIC)
TIMELESS PULSE QUINTET (CD by Mutable Music)
@C & VITOR JOAQUIM - DE-TOUR (CD by Feld Records) *
SZELY - PROCESSING OTHER PERSPECTIVES (CD by Mosz) *
OÖPHOI - UPUAUT (CD by Nextera)
KLAUS WIESE - BARAKA (CD by Nextera) *
GJÖLL - NOT TO LEAD NOT TO FOLLOW (CD by Ant-Zen)
GJÖLL - NOT TO LEAD NOR TO FOLLOW (CD by Ant-Zen)
CONTAGIOUS ORGASM - RIPPLE (CD by Ant-Zen)
BIPOL - RITUAL (CD by Ant-Zen)
AARON SPECTRE - LOST TRACKS (CD by Ad Noiseam)
ZEITKRATZER & LOU REED - METAL MACHINE MUSIC (CD/DVD by Asphodel)
REINHOLD FRIEDL - XENAKIS [A]LIVE! (CD/DVD by Asphodel)
C.C.C.C. - EARLY WORKS (4CD by No Fun Productions) *
ART SIMON - MORE OF THE SAME + (CD/CDR by Cohort Records)
MARK WASTELL - COME CRIMSON RAYS (CD by Kning Disk)
JAMES BLACKSHAW - WAKING INTO SLEEP (CD by Kning Disk)
NINA DE HENEY - ARCHIPELAGO (CD by Kning Disk)
ERIK ENOCKSOON - FARVÄL FALKENBERG (CD by Kning Disk)
JERRY JOHANSSON - NEXT DOOR CONVERSATION (CD by Kning Disk) *
M.B. - SYMPHONY FOR A GENOCIDE (CD by W.M.o/r)
MATTHIEU SALADIN - STOCK EXCHANGE PIECE (CDR by W.M.o/r) *
5 MODULES - III (CDR by Manual)
K.M. KREBS - ALCHYMY (CDR by Con-V)
THE DOMESTIC FRONT - THE PERFECT SWARM (CDR by 8K Mob) *
SYMBIOSIS (CDR by Zimogen/12rec)
TIM COSTER - STAR MILL (CDR by Claudi) *
MOUTFUL OF CHERRIES - GOALKEEPER WANTED (CDR by Void Of Oval)
D.B.P.I.T - JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF NOISE (CDR by Deserted Factory)
*
ESE - THE SHROOM EXPERIENCE (CDR by Databloem) *
THE S.U.N.C.D. PROJECT - THE SUN CD (CDR by Kraklisk)
N.STRAHL.N - HEIMWERK//////ODER HACKSTÜCKE (CDR by Kraklisk)
*
CHEFKIRK - ANALYSIS OF ANXIETIES (CDR by Kraklisk)
KASPER VAN HOEK - A/B (3"CDR by Heilskabaal Records)
FABIO ORSI - BIRDS ARE SMART, BUT THEY CANNOT SPEAK (3"CDR
by The Locus Of)
TOMOROH HIDARI - TODTNAUBERG (MP3 by Indiestore)
HIS NAMELESSNESS IS LEGION - ...THAT NIGHT SHE EMITTED A DIFFERENT
SILENCE (MP3 by Mahorka)
GIUSEPPE IELASI - AUGUST (CD by 12K)
GIUSEPPE IELASI & NICOLA RATTI - BELLOWS (CD by Kning Disk)
A big smile of excitement and surprise turned upon my face when
I opened the 12K parcel (when they arrive they get opened and
played first): Giuseppe Ielasi on 12K. Now that's a surprise.
I can't say why exactly, maybe it was always coming, but after
the recent bunch of new talent, it's perhaps the surprise of seeing
an arrived musician at 12K. Ielasi's tracks still clock in at
somewhere between six and eight minutes, but unlike his previous
releases, he has five instead of four. I kinda suspect Ielasi
to like the good old vinyl album length approach. Ielasi plays
his favorite instruments again: the guitar of course, piano, hammond
organ, dobro, synthesizers and shortwave and he's out to teach
us lesson. The lesson being that you don't need a laptop only
to make warm glitchy music. His guitar playing is anything but
a guitar, but in stead he plays long form drones. On the other
instruments he also creates a large humming and droning stream
of sounds, which is densely layered together, with phase shifting
patterns. Slow, but always on the move. Where there is room, Ielasi
throws in some delay. Yet there is never a muddy sound, and everything
remains crystal clear. Following his previous solo releases on
Sedimental and Häpna, this is another fine addition to his
catalogue.
As a solo artist Ielasi is also different than many other improvisers.
On his solo CDs Ielasi manifests himself as a composer, and not
the explorer of a single instrument. But never forget that Ielasi's
main body of work lies inside improvisation. Well, that is: he
has more works available created with others than solo work. I
never heard of Nicola Ratti, nor do I know how the division, but
Ratti and Ielasi are both credited with guitars, percussion, turntables,
electronics. This is a different aspect of Ielasi, a much more
free man, playing his guitar and electronics, while Ratti, I assume
at least, plays drums and turntables. Great pieces, of which especially
the first two should be noted as powerful statements of glitch
meeting popmusic. Whispering guitar and distorted, almost vocal
like sounds. Other pieces they are more in 'regular' areas of
improvised, with at times even a more noise outing, but throughout
this is a high and mighty fine disc, that showcases Ielasi's talents
quite well. (FdW)
Address: http://www.12k.com
Address: http://www.kningdisk.com
SWOD - SEKUNDEN (CD by City Centre Offices)
It's been a while since we last reviewed something by City Centre
Offices, so how (and if) this music saw any development, I might
not be able to tell. Swod stands for Stephan Wöhrmann, who
plays guitar, bass and electronics and Olivier Doerell, who plays
drums and piano. The latter being the most important instrument
on this CD. Ah more piano. More and more piano. I suggest you
go back to last week's issue and re-read the review of Mikronesia,
and see what I said about the piano. (pause). Fine, the difference
now with Sekunden is that the other instruments may play a minor
role, the role is there however. The guitar, the few field recordings,
bass and drums fill in the rest. Compositions are started on the
piano, which appears here to be untreated, and the rest is added
later on. More folk electronic than techno-related, so in that
sense the music released by City Centre Office has progressed.
But it doesn't mean I am throughout in favor of Swod. The nine
tracks are quite similar in approach, the way they are built up
and how the develop, which sounded throughout quite single minded.
It could be the same piece throughout, with minor variations.
That is a pity. Now they are nine, but they could have been four
or twenty also. But four would have been an amount that I would
have preferred. Nice, great music even, but a bit too much of
the same. (FdW)
Address: http://www.city-centre-offices.de
MATT WESTON - HOLLER/DO YOU HEAR ME? (CD
by 7272MUSIC)
Several weeks ago I introduced the new 7272Music label, with two
inspiring cd singles by Matt Weston, a drummer and composer from
Chicago. Now I have a third cdsingle in my hand that I like even
more. Again with Matt Weston playing percussion and electronics.
Or should I say electronics and percussion? Both pieces 'Holler'
and 'Do you hear me?', are the product by a very imaginative and
creative musician. 'Holler' is a like a little symphony, with
great variation in dynamics and volume. Pre-recorded improvisations
on drums are mixed up with electronics sounds and manipulated
in a way that reminds me of good old tape music, Dockstader, Tietchens
anbd Arcane Device. It's aA very successful combination of improvised
drumming and manipulation afterwards, resulting in a carefully
built composition.
'Do you hear me?', is a completely different structured piece.
The music moves linear towards its end, keeping up a constant
stream strange sounds. The sounds seem to come from scratching
over the surface of percussive objects. And it gives the effect
of some strange choir singing. In both pieces the music has a
archaic and primitive feel. Very physical and human. Weston is
a musician with a vision. Not sure where this music touches on,
but I can tell you, this music really goes deep. Very disturbing
and moving music from artist to watch. (DM)
Address: http://www.7272music.com
TIMELESS PULSE QUINTET (CD by Mutable Music)
A quintet, so five names to introduce to you: Thomas Buckner (voice),
George Marsh (percussion), Pauline Oliveros (accordion), David
Wessel (live-electronics), Jennifer Wilsey (percussion). Musicians
from very different backgrounds: classic, improvisation, jazz
and electronic music. Pauline Oliveros, a pioneer in american
music needs no further introduction. Most of the others have in
common that they are connected as teachers to Universities. They
came together in 1993 and have at least one earlier cd around,
called 'Live at CNMAT 2002' on Deep Listenings (without vocalist
Thomas Buckner). On this new cd they perform 5 compositions from
2005. Most of them are lengthy works, that take time to breath
and develop. Percussion, accordion and voice go very well together
with the live electronics. The ensemble sounds very well-balanced,
each one equally contributing to the whole. Maybe it is however
vocalist Buckner who takes the lead in these improvisations. Their
music is like 'timeless' organic soundscaping. No over-active
improvisations, but quietly rolling waves of sound that bring
you in meditative state of being. Oliveros states it as follows:
"Leaning into the moments ofsounding I rest in the music
of my friends and enjoy being". A nice and concentrated work.
(DM)
Address: http://www.mutablemusic.com/
@C & VITOR JOAQUIM - DE-TOUR (CD by
Feld Records)
People create music out of various reasons, and one is a fascination
for sound. @C are such people. This duo, of Miguel Carvalhais
and Pedro Tudela, play their music in a rather improvised way,
at home or in concert. They like to play with other people, and
everything is recorded. The recordings are never released as is,
but act as new building blocks for new compositions. Their 'De-Tour'
('de' as in German) saw them play in various German cities, along
with Vitor Joaquim (who joins them in Portugal too), but also
Harald 'Sack' Ziegler on his horn, Pure on the laptop, Fried Dähn
on the electric cello. Everything was recorded and the CD that
now lies in front of us, is the culmination of editing and recomposing.
They do a fine job of cracking sounds, the laptop's working overtime
here, but this is not just purely microsound of pure glitch: @C
& Vitor Joaquim never loose the musical component out of sight
here. It's rhythmic on all sides, voices are used, a bass line
is never far away, but it's also built of glitches, hiss and noise.
Through their years of existence, @C have matured their playing
and are confident improvisers on the laptop. When Sack's waldhorn
comes in, things are just great. Very musical. Very nice work.
(FdW)
Address: http://www.feld-records.com
SZELY - PROCESSING OTHER PERSPECTIVES (CD
by Mosz)
It's been a long while since 'Welcome To My World' by Szely (see
Vital Weekly 432), but here is his second release, for which Szely
asked his friends to send him some musical material. People such
as Ulrich Troyer, Martin Siewert, Nik Hummer, Melita Jurisic:
people from the Austrian scene. The result is a true expansion
of themes explored on the first release. Szely likes his music
to be pop, but also complex. There is a lot of stuff happening
on all levels of the music - from the techno rhythms, all the
synthesizer fill ups, extra sounds, bass lines, samples and vocals.
Somewhere he finds time to play his guitar and throughout this
album suffers from the same problem as the previous album. It's
all a bit too much. A moment of rest, a turning point, an one
bar loop with two tones: I don't know, but something like that
would have been nice. Since so much is happening, the music is
quite tiring and exhausting for the listener. Throughout it has
some great ideas, but it's the trick to know when to stop. (FdW)
Address: http://www.mosz.org
OÖPHOI - UPUAUT (CD by Nextera)
KLAUS WIESE - BARAKA (CD by Nextera)
Both these releases are re-issues, in the case of Wiese a cassette
from the 80s and in Oöphoi's case it was a private concert
recording that has been bootlegged since it's recording in 1999.
The Oöphoi CD deals with the secret room of the Pyramid of
Cheops which one Rudolf Gantenbrink tried to discover by a small
robot by the name of Upuaut. The music is a 'symbolic journey
from Darkness to Light', Oöphoi says. He gets help from Amir
Baghiri and Matthias Grassow in the last fifteen minutes of this
journey. Of course I am doing this all wrong. Outside the sun
is shining, at last, it's fully mid day when I am listening to
music that no doubt works better at evening, in a darkened room,
with headphones. Oöphoi plays synthesizers and Grassow adds
voice, tibetan bowls and bells, whereas Baghiri does the treatments.
It's a work that is of deep sonic richness, ambient music with
the big A, although it also bends towards new age, in all it's
serenity. But things stay on the good side of things and its a
highly atmospherical piece of music. Even the clouds coming seem
to agree.
The Klaus Wiese release was originally released on a cassette
in the early 80s and 'became a kind of 'cult-music', especially
in therapeutic circles', it says on the cover. The music was made
with tamburas, asian harps, voices, bells and wind. 'Baraka' means
'blessing from above' and it's quite a natural piece of music.
Perhaps if I didn't know how things were made, I would have guessed
electronic means, but now that I know, I can appreciate it even
better. It's very slow, textural music with, just as the Oöphoi
a bit of a new age touch, but here too things stay luckily on
the safe side. Nothing new or earth shaking radical new points
of view in the world of ambient music, but a good relaxing piece
(actually two) of music. Very nice, very smooth. (FdW)
Address: http://www.nextera.eu
GJÖLL - NOT TO LEAD NOT TO FOLLOW (CD
by Ant-Zen)
GJÖLL - NOT TO LEAD NOR TO FOLLOW (CD by Ant-Zen)
CONTAGIOUS ORGASM - RIPPLE (CD by Ant-Zen)
Two outer limit-albums from legendary German label Ant-Zen Recordings.
Last year I had the honor of reviewing the debut album of Icelandic
project Gjöll. It was an interesting conceptual album that
described a man's mental balance or rather: The lack of it. Now
the two artists behind the project, Jóhann Eiriksson and
Sigurdur Hardarson, have returned with their explorations into
dark and disturbing sound expressions. Musically Gjöll crosses
musical territories from early power electronics (Whitehouse etc.)
to post-Industrial reminiscent of early Godflesh and Saw Throat
(formerly Sore Throat). Characterizing the style of Gjöll
is the rather dreamy and hypnotizing effects of the drone productions.
Changing between expressive and harsh drones (though never in
the full throttle noise-style) to more introvert and drowsy subtle
buzz-drones. Vocals on the album change between furious and whispering.
Too harsh to be termed ambient and too subtle to be termed noise,
the style of Gjöll lies somewhere in between. Indescribable
and quite unique second album from the Icelandic extremists! Three
years ago I had the great honor of reviewing the first album on
Ant-Zen Recordings by legendary Japanese sound artist Contagious
Orgasm. Since I had always connected Hiroshi Hashimoto ( a.k.a.
Contagious Orgasm) with the Noise scene, thanks to his contribution
to various Noise compilations, among others Relapse/Release Entertainment's
"Japanese/American Noise Treaty", I was quite surprised
to listen his "Dessert Addicts Will Return To This"
(Ant-Zen, 2004). This latest album continues the strange landscapes
of numerous musical styles. Dealing with everything from drone-based
as well as collaged noise, across clicks'n'cuts to almost danceable
electro-inspired techno and eerie soundscapes of beautiful ambient,
it is an impossible task to finish this album only within a few
listens. It is a complex musical voyage, that atmospherically
varies from icy minimalism reminiscent of Pan(a)Sonic to militant
electro of Kraftwerk until towards the end where the album turns
more dreamy and dramatic with a mixture between experimental ambience
and gentle acoustic post-rock reminiscent of Tortoise. "Ripple"
is a continuation of the style of "Dessert Addicts Will Return
To This", and the result is even more intense and clever
than the aforementioned. Turn off the light and let yourself fall
into the psychedelic tones of Contagious Orgasm. Excellent! (NM)
Address: http://www.ant-zen.com/
BIPOL - RITUAL (CD by Ant-Zen)
This is Industrial simplicity in its purest form. Debut album
from German artist Bipol finds legendary label Ant Zen Recordings
back in the great tradition of harsh rhythmic Industrial. Even
though Bipol doesn't belong to the harshest spectre of the Industrial-scene,
there is still plenty of rumbling noises drifting in the sub-levels
to keep listeners of abrasive electronics fully entertained. The
rhythm textures are the main ingredient on the album, quite often
with touches of early EBM-expressions transformed into 21st century
Industrial attack. Hence the title "Ritual", Bipol focuses
on repetitive expressions on the album resulting in an excellent
trippy style. With a mixture of distorted beats and dark atmospheric
soundscapes, Andreas Brinkert a.k.a. Bipol has created twelve
floor-filling no-holds-barred club tracks. Despite the album's
screaming for some physical performance of the consumer, "Ritual"
also works well in the state of more passive listening. A very
promising debut indeed! (NM)
Address: http://www.ant-zen.com/
AARON SPECTRE - LOST TRACKS (CD by Ad Noiseam)
It wouldn't be too much to describe American composer Aaron Spectre
as a multi-facetted sound artist. Breakcore-fanatics will know
him for his harsh project Drumcorps; a project that stand as a
sharp contrast to the more downbeat expressions under the name
"Aaron Spectre". This new album of lost gems from Aaron
Spectre floats in-between spaces of ambient, singer songwriter
and guitar-based rock. Opening with a heartfelt guitar-play that
could have been created for Brian Eno's ambient-opus "Apollo",
Aaron Spectre will glue the listener to the album already from
the very first moment. There is a nice Americana/country-like
approach on the album, with lots of beautiful moments thanks to
the nice combinations of catchy melodies, great vocals and instrumentation
counting a number of string instruments such as guitar, cello
etc. It quite often happens that B-side-tracks and unreleased
materials from artists should've been left to rest, rather than
being published, though this is definitely not the case in this
case. "Lost tracks" is an album of shining beauty. Thanks
to Aaron Spectre for showing us these almost forgotten pieces
of sonic art. (NM)
Address: http://www.adnoiseam.net/
ZEITKRATZER & LOU REED - METAL MACHINE
MUSIC (CD/DVD by Asphodel)
REINHOLD FRIEDL - XENAKIS [A]LIVE! (CD/DVD by Asphodel)
It is amazing when you realize that someone with a career like
Lou Reed, basically released only two truly essential solo albums.
Harsh perhaps, but true. One, of course, is Berlin and the other
one is Metal Machine Music. Both couldn't be more apart. Whereas
Berlin is full of lushly orchestrated, beautiful yet stark songs
about the break-up of a drugs-inflicted relation, Metal Machine
Music is, well, all about noise. Four sides of cacophonic guitar
feedback noise fed through effects and modulators, which outraged
Reed fans at the time. In 1975 the album was returned to the stores
by hordes of his fans. RCA, Reed's record company at the time,
threatened to drop Reed from their label if he didn't supply them
with a radio-friendly album (which became Coney Island Baby, most
certainly more mainstream than Metal Machine Music and featuring
the beautiful title track). Even the recent CD remaster (created
by Reed himself) of Metal Machine Music sold poorly. This Zeitkratzer
CD however, offers a third life for the album that has turned
out to be the most hated album by any major artist ever. In 2002
Zeitkratzer recorded a live version of the music in Berlin (sic!)
with a full orchestra incorporating violins, cello as well as
the master himself on guitar. Zeitkratzer director Reinhold Friedl
leads the orchestra with firm hand through the blistering atonal
music, which remains remarkably close to the original. The original
album played 16 minutes per side (with a locked groove at side
4 for real masochists). Unfortunately this edition is less conceptually
timed. The three long tracks on this version are a harsh listen,
but Vital readers will find them strangely comforting after a
while. There's plenty of high pitched ringing of strings, which
- and that is the true beauty of this release - sound nothing
like an orchestra playing. The master himself joins the orchestra
in the final 5 minutes of the performance. When Reed plays his
guitar and the drums (!) set in, it almost sounds like the Velvet
Underground circa 1966. The accompanying DVD features the full
live show filmed in a slightly static way. There is also an interview
with Reed tagged at the end, where Reed spills the beans on Metal
Machine Music. The interviewer is blatantly annoying with questions
lasting up to 5 minutes. Reed stays polite throughout and even
cracks a few subtle jokes. Now recognized as a classic in the
field of avant-garde freeform music, Metal Machine Music certainly
deserved to be heard and this live version is a wonderful opportunity
to get (re) acquainted with one of most adventurous pieces ever
composed by a major rock musician. As Reed stated on the original
album "my week beats your year".
The same ensemble, but with different credits, performs a work
by Reinhold Friedl, called 'Xenakis [A]Live', which is not strictly
a performance of a Xenakis work, but Friedl own interpretation
the work of Xenakis. I may not call myself to have the knowledge
at all on the late Greek master, having never got much further
than the excellent 'Persepolis' work, but it seems to me a good
starting point to enjoy this work. The stapling of sounds, the
metal sheets cracking and other musical motives to envisage a
city in decay, are exactly the elements that Friedl seems to enjoy.
He orders his ensemble to reproduce these elements on their acoustic
instruments and succeeds wonderfully well in capturing the same
mood as Xenakis did in his work, be in 'Persepolis' or other,
electronic works. Great powerful music. The video that comes here
is not a registration of Zeitkratzer playing this live, but an
animation by Lilevan, which looks nice, but doesn't necesarily
add much to the music, and I could easily do without. (FK/FdW)
Address: http://www.asphodel.com
C.C.C.C. - EARLY WORKS (4CD by No Fun Productions)
This week's four CD box with retrospective material comes from
C.C.C.C., the Japanese four some noise band, which stopped ten
or so year ago. I must admit I didn't know this. Alas, you can't
know it all. The band had three people playing noise on synthesizers,
electronics, metal sheets and vocals plus the fourth member playing
bass - that is a rather unusual combination. The vocals were done
by Mayuko Hino, who added a performance aspect to the music, by
dripping hot candle wax on her naked body, which made me think
a nice DVD retrospective could be in place too. As much of what
C.C.C.C. did was made through improvisation, so it's hardly a
surprise that seven of the eight pieces are live recordings. All
tracks are around the thirty minute mark, except the first track
on disc four which is forty-seven minutes. Usually C.C.C.C. play
a barrage of noise in which sounds keep on colliding to eachother,
and from every collision, something new arises. A process that
is repeated through each of these pieces. There is however something
psychedelic about this music. Once you dive in, you get sucked
into this endless stream of sounds, which continue to develop,
rather than the usual noise, which is more about the noise itself,
and not so much about the development. I must admit that back
in the day I kinda ignored C.C.C.C. thinking it was just another
Japnoise band, but this set proofs me wrong. There is something
uniqiue about them. A reunion is not likely to happen, I read
in the extensive liner notes (great!!), but this set fills a few
holes in history. (FdW)
Address: http://www.nofunproductions.com
ART SIMON - MORE OF THE SAME + (CD/CDR by
Cohort Records)
The name Art Simon ringes far, far away a bell, but I don't know
how and where. Or perhaps it's a contraction of Paul Simon and
Art Garfunkel, going weird? What also puzzles me is this: why
is one of the CD a 'real' pressed CD and the other one a CDR,
whereas it doesn't say anywhere that this is a bonus of any kind.
Simon plays guitar, computer programming and midi theremin. Five
long tracks on the first disc, of computer drum programming, that
plays a heavy rhythm, but sounds like coming right out of a can,
and it seems to be played manually. On top Art Simon smears his
guitar solo's in a true prog rock fashion. I must admit that I
thought the music was badly produced and didn't have many ideas,
others than a long self-indulgent look at his guitar. The CDR
had more and shorter tracks, and also a bit more synthesizer and
throughout I thought that the better pieces were found on the
CDR and not on the CD, even when as such I wasn't too pleased
with the material on the CDR either. (FdW)
Address: http://cohortrecords.0catch.com
MARK WASTELL - COME CRIMSON RAYS (CD by
Kning Disk)
JAMES BLACKSHAW - WAKING INTO SLEEP (CD by Kning Disk)
NINA DE HENEY - ARCHIPELAGO (CD by Kning Disk)
ERIK ENOCKSOON - FARVÄL FALKENBERG (CD by Kning Disk)
JERRY JOHANSSON - NEXT DOOR CONVERSATION (CD by Kning Disk)
By now the name Mark Wastell should be known to the readers, certainly
those who love improvised music. Wastell has already released
two CDRs with his solo tam tam recordings, one on w.m/r and on
Longbox Recordings, and 'Come Crimson Rays' is the third and final
installment in this trilogy. For this part he uses a 32 inch Paiste
tam tam, and he concentrates on the bass region. Slow and low
music. A bang and then wait until the sustain dies out. Music
of a long shot. It seems as if nothing happens, and that's wrong:
there are a lot of things happening in this recording and the
three pieces have a strong sense of continuity. Great release.
Also on the solo side of things, is the release by James Blackshaw,
of whom I never heard. He plays solo 12 string acoustic guitar,
and on this CD he presents four pieces, all recorded live. He
plays the instrument graciously. Fingerpicking in a fast style,
so that the sound sustains while adding new tones. A bit medieval
like, opening music for the knights tournament to start. OK, I
thought four tracks was a bit much, because it seemed in the end
a bit tiresome, but it's surely a concert I would have attended.
Double bass is the instrument of Nina de Heney, who sees her instrument
as a volcanic body, just like archipelagoes. Eleven tracks here,
and I can be short about it. She plays the instrument as it should
be: we recognize the sound of a double bass. She improvises on
it, plucking away. Might be nice to take a sample here and there,
but throughout I couldn't be bothered with it too much.
If you wouldn't know that 'Farväl Falkenberg' is the soundtrack
to a movie than I think it's clear enough when you play it. Erik
Enocksson plays guitar, bells and organ and it has country stamped
all over it. Some of the pieces were recorded while the film was
made (the actual contents of the film is something I don't know),
which was in the country side. Of all the CDs reviewed here, this
seems to be the most worked out release, in terms of it not being
a concert recording, and not focussed on a single instrument.
Folk tronics in optima forma at work here in this absolutely great
release. It made me realize that folktronics is a genre that is
already well explored too, but Enocksson plays some damn fine
tunes. The best release on Kning disk of this week.
Although it says Jerry Johansson, his 'Next Door Conversation'
is not a solo work. Johansson is a guitar player and composer,
but after hearing George Harrison on the sitar, he was hooked
to that instrument. His latest CD is a work for sitar, santour,
tambura and string quartet. I am sure to tell you I am not at
all qualified to write about this CD at all, since I have a black
hole when it comes to classical non-western music. I think. Perhaps
this bears no relation with traditional Indian music? I don't
know. Two long pieces of swirling notes in a sort of middle eastern
style, with plucking on the sitar and santour. Actually I quite
like it for what it is. Kitsch perhaps? High art? I am not able
to tell, and luckily I don't care that much either. I like to
take things face value. Do I like this? Yes I do. Fine. (FdW)
Address: http://www.kningdisk.com
M.B. - SYMPHONY FOR A GENOCIDE (CD by W.M.o/r)
MATTHIEU SALADIN - STOCK EXCHANGE PIECE (CDR by W.M.o/r)
5 MODULES - III (CDR by Manual)
All three of these releases came from the house of Mattin, who
acts here as labelboss and musician. I frankly don't understand
why 'Symphony For A Genocide' by Maurizio Bianchi is re-issued
again. Originally, in 1981, as a LP on Sterile Records and it
was part of the first MB boxset 'Archeo MB'. I am not sure if
that one is entirely sold out, but Mattin W.M./or label does an
exact reprint of that CD, including the same three bonus tracks.
I admit right away that this is a classic M.B. recording: loud,
heavy, shocking and a landmark in the industrial culture. If you
don't want to own everything by M.B. but a true highlight than
this could be that highlight.
The good thing about not having money, is that one doesn't have
to worry how to make more money. I am not sure if Saladin has
money, or shares, but the stock market is the starting point for
his 'Stock Exchange Piece'. He took the rates of oil and gold
over a fifty day period, and 'translated' the fluctuations into
sine waves. So if the rate is 61.43 dollar for a barrel of oil
today, then he will pick that as frequency in sinewaves and with
the gold it's dollars per ounce (oil becomes low frequencies and
gold higher frequencies). Each day, one minute. There is a bit
which I don't understand about the 'moving averages' (MA50), but
alas I can't be economic about that. That's about it. The result,
one might ask, any good? Yes it is. The fluctuations don't jump
around a lot, but it moves up and down, and slow as it is, the
piece moves up and down in a slow. A great slow, heavy drone piece.
Certainly a difficult release on offer is the one by 5 Modules,
a collaborative effort by Rya Hankil (one clockwork and contact
mic), Jin Sangtea (laptop, radio), Taku Unami (laptop) and Mattin
(laptop). They question 'time' here. When are you silent and when
do you play? That sort of thing. There is, in good Japanese tradition,
a lot of silence on this release, and only short blocks of sound,
or rather noise that is. Two extreme opposites that sometime make
sense, a little bit. If you don't pay enough attention, than you
are completely lost in this. Lots of silence, occasional loud
noise: two things to drive the unaware listener up the wall. (FdW)
Address: http://www.matting.org
Address: http://www.themanual.co.kr
K.M. KREBS - ALCHYMY (CDR by Con-V)
Since the arrival of this release by K.M. Krebs I have been playing
this already a couple of times, but I find it very hard to get
into this release. As perhaps known, Krebs is one of the microsound
artists. Working with field recordings and computer processing,
to create his music. Nine pieces are to be found on 'Alchymy',
of water sounds, drones, and other more obscured sound sources,
but none of the material really grabbed me. Is it my tiredness
of the genre that gave me a hard time here. Objectively speaking
this is nicely produced, minimal, but with enough variation in
approach, but somewhere lacked the tension for me. Too much of
the same, I think. (FdW)
Address: http://www.con-v.org
THE DOMESTIC FRONT - THE PERFECT SWARM (CDR
by 8K Mob)
So far I have been enjoying the releases by The Domestic Front,
a.k.a. Thomas Transparant. A good noise project, with care of
detail and a great sense of collage. Here things are a bit more
electronic than on the previous releases (or so it seems). The
central theme here in the four pieces is the big city. 'Over 1/2
of humanity now resides in urban areas - this CD is for you' (quite
a sales potential there). Like before this is apparently all made
on a laptop plus some guitar. Transparant depicts a busy world,
filled with sound. The nerve and hecticness of the cities depicted
(tokyo, chicago, Al Burj and Bangalore) is shown excellent through
the abstract noise of the music, with rapid changes against static
hiss. This release seems a bit more electronic than before and
also a bit more noisy, but it's altogether a pretty strong release
anyway. Although perhaps not as great as his previous release,
it moves away from the Nurse With Wound influence, this easily
passes as another fine work. (FdW)
Address: http://www.8kmob.dustopper.dk
SYMBIOSIS (CDR by Zimogen/12rec)
To be really honest then: when I first played this release, I
was caught up in other things to do. That happens. One has to
do various things and music can/should fit various occasions,
such as close listening, vacuum cleaning or reading. So I wasn't
paying too close of attention to this release, but after a while
I looked up and thought, 'which band made this nice CD', and when
I picked up the cover, I realized this was a compilation. Ouch.
Zymogen is an Italian net label, who present with Symbiosis a
compilation of their bands. Twelve tracks by twelve artists, and
none of which I heard before, except Marsen Jules. Although the
label describes it as a 'range of electronic music, from experimental
to acoustic, from glitchy structured rhythm to field recording',
this is all quite close related to eachother. The differences
are small between this lot, which is a drag if you think of it
as a compilation, but it makes on the other hand also quite a
coherent album. Most of the pieces are warm, glitchy ambient pieces,
with sometimes field recordings, sometimes guitar, piano or xylophone,
and make a great late night listening affair. Plus it comes with
a great, neatly printed cover. (FdW)
Address: http://www.zymogen.net
TIM COSTER - STAR MILL (CDR by Claudi)
The name Tim Coster has popped up before in these virtual pages.
He is from those islands down under that are so isolated that
if they want to hear experimental music, it's easier to make it
themselves than buying import records. So everyone seems to be
making music down there. A lot of people from New Zealand play
in bands, but there is also a bunch of people who create music
through laptops, such as Richard Francis, Mark Sadgrove and Tim
Coster. 'Star Mill' is one, thirty-seven minute, piece (in what
I believe to be three parts) of music that starts out with some
rain like sounds, and from there on things grow with great intensity,
building, adding, building, adding. Layer upon layer, until a
thick and heavy thunder cloud arises out of which sparks and thunder
are discharged. Heavy duty drone music at work. To quite an extent
in the field of digital processing, this one, and also more topheavy
than some of the other drone workers. Which sets Coster quite
nicely apart from the rest of the lot, which is great. (FdW)
Address: http://www.halftheory.com/claudia/
MOUTFUL OF CHERRIES - GOALKEEPER WANTED
(CDR by Void Of Oval)
Not much information is found on Goalkeeper Wanted, with their
'Mouthful Of CheRries' - in fact besides that: nothing. Hold on,
perhaps it's this: not much information is found on Mouthful Of
CherRies, with their 'Goalkeeper Wanted'. A scribbled note reads
the following 'void of ovals is a bristol, uk based record label
founded in 2005 by cunningham moss. we release genre shattering
music and would love you to review these bad boyz'. ouch. But
why? If there is no website, physical address, e-mail or information.
There is one track, fifteen minutes long of improvised music,
quite loud, of a band, playing guitar, drums, bass, and maybe
a laptop which seems to be recorded as live and as straight as
possible. Actually it's quite nice. Pretty direct in y'r face,
postpunk like instrumental improvisation. It's a pity that it's
so poor in information, you could think they don't want to sell
it. (FdW)
Address: none given
D.B.P.I.T - JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF NOISE
(CDR by Deserted Factory)
Me personally I don't like street musicians very much, just as
I don't see the point in having music in a store (well, one that
isn't a music store of course). So I don't know what I would think
of Der Bekannte Post-Industrielle Trompeter (as that's what D.B.P.I.T
stands for), whoever he is. It seems that he is a trumpet player,
traveling the world, playing on the streets but with one difference
from a regular busking artist: he records his music on the street,
along with whatever is happening, or just field recordings, on
mini disc, video an photo camera or even a mobile phone. These
sounds are brought back home and processed. Along his way he gets
help from people from Ain Soph, Circus Joy, Kenji Siratori and
others. Now that is a concept I like. The trumpet thing should
be taken literally here. There many instances of trumpet in the
tunnel sounds, to add that natural reverb effect that street musicians
like, but which I don't like. The best things on this release
is when the trumpet is all silent or pushed to the background,
and the field recordings are crudely processed into small looping
particles. This isn't 'big' music, not thoroughly composed, but
it sounds rather hastily put together, and more would have been
possible in some way. One of those things which has good intentions,
but suffers from the execution. (FdW)
Address: http://www.desertedfactory.com
ESE - THE SHROOM EXPERIENCE (CDR by Databloem)
Not much information came with this release, which can be found
on myspace. ESE stands for Entheogenic Sound Explorers from Milan,
Italy and has two core players, Piero Marchesi & Stefano Contini.
Their instruments are listed on the cover and includes a whole
bunch of synthesizers and drumcomputers. They came together in
1999 in a mutual love for ethnological and ethnobotanical studies.
They describe their music as ambient, dub and electronics. Ese
did their own field recordings, mainly in Mexico. Things start
out in a nice way, bringing back the memories of The Orb, with
a nice ambient dub piece. When Ese bring in voices things are
quite nice, and they set themselves apart from the usual ambient
music around, but it's not something that always happens. On other
occasions they are just another good (let's not forget that) ambient
band with enough sense of rhythm to prevent the listener from
falling asleep. Good, but nothing new. Actually come to think
of it, also the pieces which sound like The Orb aren't too new
either, but like said, the music sounds well produced and is mostly
both entertaining and relaxing. (FdW)
Address: http://www.databloem.com
THE S.U.N.C.D. PROJECT - THE SUN CD (CDR
by Kraklisk)
N.STRAHL.N - HEIMWERK//////ODER HACKSTÜCKE (CDR by Kraklisk)
CHEFKIRK - ANALYSIS OF ANXIETIES (CDR by Kraklisk)
A collaboration between Swamp Up Nostrils (a.k.a. Arnfirn Killingtveit)
and Cadmium Dunkel (Roar Borge) leads to the S.U.N.C.D. Project
and 'The Sun CD'. Both are known players in the field of experimental
electronics, having both released a whole bunch of CDRs under
a plethora of names and styles. They keep their stuff together
here, and here present nine tracks of cosmic music, played on
analogue and digital synthesizers that bubble around in a nice
and pleasant way. It's however quite a long release, which could
have been a greater collection when kept to forty or so minutes.
Now it's at times too much a repetition of ideas.
Mario Löhr, also known as N.Strahl.N has also had various
releases before, in a variety of styles and qualities, but all
under one banner. Here however he presents something that is quite
interesting. He uses synthesizer, field recordings, analog and
digital manipulations, amplified household objects and tape manipulations.
The material here was made as a preparation for a concert he did
in Cologne, earlier this year. N.Strahl.n plays dark music, quite
loaded with black images, with heavily processed cutlery falling
on the floor, although we are not known to recognize this, and
the combination with more experimental electronics is quite nice.
Easily the best and most interesting release I heard from him
so far.
Roger H Smith, Chefkirk, we know him all too well, from his trillion
releases under this name. For the first time he tells us about
his method of work: 'all tracks are untitled, recorded straight
to hard disc. no-input mixer/sp-202'. Although it's chopped up
in many separate files, this is more a continuous work of heavy
duty feedback music. Sometimes rhythmic, but always noise based.
Not a single moment of silence spotted anywhere. It fits the catalogue
of Chefkirk, and no doubt he gets more pleasure out of this, than
other people hearing it. (FdW)
Address: http://www.kraklisk.org
KASPER VAN HOEK - A/B (3"CDR by Heilskabaal
Records)
This release comes in two forms: fifteen copies on a 3" CDR
and one copy on a 10" - if this isn't art, what is? Kasper
van Hoek loves his instruments to be originating from the thrift
store - old turntables, old cassette players, reel to reel machines
and old vinyl and tapes. The first piece deals with the sound
of two skipping turntables with nails as needles. He asks us to
guess what's playing. Could be anything, as far as I'm concerned.
Boyd Rice's Non springs to mind. Crude, minimal sounds with a
great sense of looping, obviously I'd say with the turntable being
the instrument. The second piece (might that be 'B'?) is a reworking
of a live piece from early 2006, and it's a much more interesting
piece of electronics and objects. Things hiss, sizzle, crack in
an interesting, intense way, with keeps the tension in this piece
alive. It will be part of a larger release by Van Hoek, and rightly
so, I think. (FdW)
Address: http://www.kaspervanhoek.net
FABIO ORSI - BIRDS ARE SMART, BUT THEY CANNOT
SPEAK (3"CDR by The Locus Of)
From the previous releases by Fabio Orsi which we
learned to love him as a true meister of drones from the digital
end of the telescope, influenced by say Stars Of The Lid and William
Basinski. Here he present a new work, with a bit of a silly title,
but I am sure he means well. More drones at the start, but once
the work is on the road, Orsi adds some open ended strumming to
the table and then slowly thickens the work with more heavy duty
drones. Quite nice, and remembering me a bit of the recent work
by Machinefabriek, which have that some post-rock-in-combination-with-electronics,
moving away from the strict drone work, but also stays a bit away
from the space rock (less the drums) of post rock. Nice piece
throughout. (FdW)
Address: http://www.assemblage.freeuk.com
TOMOROH HIDARI - TODTNAUBERG (MP3 by Indiestore)
HIS NAMELESSNESS IS LEGION - ...THAT NIGHT SHE EMITTED A DIFFERENT
SILENCE (MP3 by Mahorka)
Todtnauberg is a small German village where Heidegger wrote his
famous work 'Sein Und Zeit', but that's about the only connection
to the release by Tomoroh Hidari, but the ever changing 'excretive
winds of King Ubu' are the inspirations. Tomoroh Hidari has released
music on labels as Isolate Records, Lee, Mekobira and others -
even when I never heard of those three. All other information
is kept secret, but I believe one Oliver Stummer is behind this.
The four tracks presented here rhythmic and dark. Forceful beats
that are hardly to dance along too, because the musical background
is dark and creepy. The whole thing is a bit too synthetic and
remote for me. Chaos rules in these beats, but I pass.
The same Stummer recorded also as His Namelessness Is Legion a
MP3 release called '... That Night She Emitted A Different Silence',
which I thought was of much more interest. No rhythm on the foreground,
but lots of guitars, treated on the computer. Microsound bumps
into ambient and industrial music. Densely layered, at times noise
based heaviness, digital clicks and droney. The odd thing is however
at the end, with '...And The Quick Kill The Dead', with has vocals
(sounding a bit like Edward Ka-spel), and could almost pass on
as a popsong. Very nice release. (FdW)
Address: http://www.indiestore.com/tomoroh
Address: http://www.archive.org/details/mhrk054