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VITAL WEEKLY
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number 602
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week 47
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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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New broadcasts will be sent directly when uploaded.
* noted are in this week's podcast
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!
AL MARGOLIS/IF, BWANA - AN INNOCENT, ABROAD
(CD by Pogus Productions) *
CARL STONE - AL-NOOR (CD by Intone Music) *
UPSILON ACRUX - GALAPAGOS MOMENTUM (CD by Cuneiform)
LUKAS SIMONIS & TAKAYUKI KAWABATA - NEWS (CD by Z6) *
THE CLAUDIA QUINTET - FOR (CD by Cuneiform) AVOID AUDIO - THE
IDEA IS BEING KILLED BY ANOTHER THOUGHT (CD by Heils Kabaal Records)
SOUS HYPNOSE (CD by Ant-Zen)
TONIKOM - EPOCH (CD by Hymen Records)
GAVIN BRYARS/PHILIP JECK/ALTER EGO - THE SINKING OF THE TITANIC
(CD by Touch)
P. JØRGENSEN - LETS THE SUN DRAG ITSELF OUT (CD by Monotype
Records) *
JOHN CHIRSTOPHER SHILLOCK - INVISIBLE JAZZ (BOOK & CD by Musical
Comedy Editions)
KORA ET LE MECHANIX - EXCURSIN FORTE (CD by Nextera) *
NIELLERADE FALLIBILISTHORSTAR - SKRANKVERK (CD by Dystoniaek)
*
Y-TON-G/ASMUS TIETCHENS/KOUHEI MATSUNAGA - YAK (CD by Monochrome
Vision) *
MERZBOW - PEACE FOR ANIMALS (CD by Quasi Pop) *
MERZBOW - LIVE DESTRUCTION AT NO FUN 2007 (CD by No Fun Productions)
CLINE/GIFFONI/LICHT/RANALDO - NOTHING MAKES ANY SENSE (CD by No
Productions) *
EDWARD SOL - WRONG ACTION (3"CDR by Quasi Pop) *
BOB MARSH - VIOVOX (CD by Public Eyesore)
PHIL MINTO & YAGIHASHI TSUKASA & SATO YUKIE & HIGO
HIROSHI - NIPPARA-TOKYO (CD by Public Eyesore)
GIRAFFE - HEAR HERE (CDR by Eh?) *
MARINA HARDY - PINK VIOLIN (CDR by Eh?)
(D)YNAMIC (B)ROWN (H)IPS - WAVE THE OLD WAVE (CDR by Eh?)
SHELF LIFE - RHEUMA (CDR by Eh?) *
BENJAMIN BRUNN - PAUL AND RAYMOND (12" by Bine Music)
DITTRICH VON EULER-DONNERSPERG - DU FROHLICHE/TANNENBAUM DUB (7"
by Meeuw Muzak)
AS11 - PNEUMATIK (CDR by Echo Music) *
AL MARGOLIS/IF, BWANA - AN INNOCENT, ABROAD
(CD by Pogus Productions)
A few weeks ago we reviewed an almost ancient work by If, Bwana
and Al Margolis is still active as such, although he also uses
his own name these days. Besides managing his own Pogus Productions,
he does similar duties for labels as Deep Listening, XI Records
and Mutable Music, while still finding time to create his own
music. The work here is for vocals and one piece for vocals and
flutes. These flutes and sources provide the source as well their
own voices in the electronic work of If, Bwana. To say that a
lot of water has passed under the bridge would perhaps be an understatement.
Far, far away from the SK1 sampler and the industrial music, this
new CD is more in the areas of serious composed music. There are
two pieces here, one I liked and one I didn't. Unfortunately the
one I didn't like is about three times longer than the other one.
The title piece for vocals and flutes sounded very boring to me.
I can't help finding that dreadful word, but the quasi modern
classical meandering of flutes and vocals just didn't work at
all for me. Quite tedious, but I hasten to add that none of that
stuff is usually well spend on me. Of more interest was the second
piece, 'Issue', which had many layers of processed, partly pitched
up and down, making a quasi tribal chant, partly brass band like
sounds. Perhaps also not the best thing I ever heard from If,
Bwana (when is that Anckarstrom CD going to be re-released, Al?),
but much better than the first piece. (FdW)
Address: http://www.pogus.com
CARL STONE - AL-NOOR (CD by Intone Music)
Despite composing since 1972, the name Carl Stone might not be
that familiar with the audience of Vital Weekly, simply because
he doesn't release that much music on sound carriers or by labels
that don't serve the longest running source of experimental music
on the internet. His main interest lies in exploring max/msp software,
in which he no doubt builds his own patches. Stone's music here
is deceivingly simple. It seems that each track only explores
one loop, say a drum loop in 'Flint's' or voice and drums in 'Jitlada'.
This is fed through the software and from then on things start
bouncing around. Playing small portion from a loop, cutting it
together with larger sections of the same loop, he creates this
simple music. But deceiving, as the result is quite hallucinatory.
Taking the minimalism of say Reich and Glass into the world of
computers, these four 'songs' (lasting anywhere between nine and
twenty-four minutes) are all shifting phases and time measures
and create a hypnotic feel. In the title piece this might still
be a bit too much shifting up and down with voices, but in 'L'Os
A Moelle' the rock structure reminds us psychedelica, including
fuzzy guitar solos, keyboards that play baroque themes and a constant
stomping rhythm, but with bridges and fills. Quite a cosmic trip
these twenty-four minutes, which curiously never get tedious or
boring. Not quite a CD I expected from such a serious composer,
but surely one of the best I heard from him. (FdW)
Address: http://www.intonemusic.com
UPSILON ACRUX - GALAPAGOS MOMENTUM (CD by
Cuneiform)
Reading about this group in the past, I remember saying to myself:
'keep this name in mind. Could be very interesting'. And now I
can confirm this from my own experience. I,m impressed by this
very disciplined combo. Upsilon Acrux originated in the San Diego
area in 1997. In 1999 they were ready for their first album 'In
the Acrux of the Upsilon King', released by Accretions. Concerning
what they are trying to do, they are comparable to bands like
The Flying Luttenbachers and Ahleuchatistas: bands that try to
combine the energy and directness of punk with the compositional
complexity and technical ability that we find in progressive and
metal music. In their line up they limit themselves to the: two
guitars, played by Paul Lai and Braden Miller, bass (Eric Kiersnowski)
and Jess Appelhans (drums). With this conventional line up, and
because they play instrumental pieces only, they are also closely
linked to postrock guitarbands. 'Galapagos Momentum' is their
fifth album, being their first one for Cuneiform Records. This
will make them known to a wider international audience, I hope.
All 10 pieces on this CD are very speed-driven exercises and highly
complex compositions with many breaks and twists. Sometimes we
hear echoes of Beefheart, at other moments they recall the spirit
of King Crimson. Listening to this album it is impossible not
to be impressed by their discplined and athletic playing. With
incredible polyrhythmic structures, unison playing at moments,
etc., they play some very powerful music. A minor point: because
they are so disciplined, they are only disciplined. They lose
themselves in complexity and by consequence the music lacks emotion.
It has not the emotional impact like the music of Beefheart or
Présent. If they succeed in integrating this aspect as
well in their music, next time we will not only be impressed,
but changed also. (DM)
Address: http://www.cuneiformrecords.com/
LUKAS SIMONIS & TAKAYUKI KAWABATA -
NEWS (CD by Z6)
Guitarist and composer Lukas Simonis is known for his work with
groups like Dull Schicksal, Trespassers W, Morzelpronk, Liana
Flu Winks, AA Kismet, Vril and Coolhaven. All of them experimental
and crazy groups. On his solo cd 'Stots' he showed himself from
an even more experimental side. One wonders according to what
rules this work is composed, as it is a very weird experience.
But it really works. This is also the case for this new cd 'News',
that is a much quieter cd then 'Stots'. On 'News' we hear two
cello players: Nina Hitz and Kumi Kondo. Plus Miki Sugiura (voice)
and Simonis himself on guitar and effects. This project came about
from as an initiative from Kumi Kondo who asked Simonis for a
project on the japanese poet Takayuki Kawabata serving for her
final exams on the Rotterdam Conservatory in 2004. Afterwards
they extended and deepened the project into a cycle of eight 'songs',
around the poems of Takayuki Kawabata. Simonis wrote the songs
that were performed by the above mentioned musicians. Then Simonis
manipulated the recordings through a process of editing, etc.
and shaped the songs to its definite form. Concerning the poems
they are spoken in japanese, and besides maybe Simonis twisted
her words around. Who tells? We are left with the sound of the
japanese language and the beautiful voice of vocalist Miki Sugiura.
But also the soundenvironment Simonis created for these poems
make 'News' into an interesting listening experience. (DM)
Address: http://www.xs4all.nl/~lukas/
THE CLAUDIA QUINTET - FOR (CD by Cuneiform)
Since The Claudia Quintet started in 1997 it has reached a considerable
audience, and conquered its place within the spectrum of groups
making new, jazz-related music. The main force within this quintet
is John Hollenbeck, who gained acknowledgment from several other
projects as well. For example, personally I,m very fond of 'Joys
and Desires' that he performed with Jazz Bigband Graz and Theo
Bleckmann. With 'For' the Claudia Quintet presents its fourth
cd. Again with the same unusual line up as we know it from earlier
CDs, especially because of the presence and role of the accordion:
Drew Gress (acoustic bass), John Hollenbeck (drums, percussion,
electronic tape preparation), Matt Moran (vibrahone, vocals/lyrics),
Red Reichman (accordion) and Chris Speed (clarinet, alto sax).
Although the group is open for many musical influences, in the
end I would classify it as a jazz group. Allthough as you understand
it is far from straight jazz. All compositions are by John Hollenbeck,
and they often direct without really noticing to a climax. Allthough
the music is remarkably accessible, it isn't easy. And it needs
a open and dedicated ear before it reveals all its beauty. As
on earlier CDs they never sound angry, loud or frustrated, with
the exception of 'Rug Boy' that starts with a great duet by Hollenbeck,
exploding on drums and accordionplayer Ted Reichmann . But most
compositions on this cd breath a warm, harmonious and delicate
atmosphere. Also the music is full of subtleties, with cascading
parts that remind me of the minimal work of Reich and Glass, and
often with a grooving and hypnotizing pulse. 'For you' is the
most far out piece. Hollenbeck concentrates on looping electronics
and tape manipulation here, with Moran dropping simple words with
great intervals of silence and sparse contributions by the drums,
vibraphone and accordion. All in all a very nice album of rich
and full-grown, but 'unspectacular' music. But by a spectacular
group. (DM)
Address: http://www.cuneiform.com
AVOID AUDIO - THE IDEA IS BEING KILLED BY
ANOTHER THOUGHT (CD by Heils Kabaal Records)
Hosting two of the most distributed e-magazines of experimental
electronic music, Vital Weekly & Earlabs, and being the homeland
of legendary label Staalplaat, the Netherlands must be considered
as one of the pioneering countries within experimental electronic
music and sound art. Heil Kabaaal Records is a newborn Dutch label.
The focus of the label is ambient, noise, drone, audio collage
and field recordings. On present album compatriot composer Avoid
Audio is described as the most pop related yet released by label.
If that is so, there will probably not be any albums from the
label listed on U.S.'s Billboard Music Charts in the near future.
This very promising debut from Avoid Audio titled "The idea
is being killed by another thought" does by no means belong
to the conventional style of music. In fact it is quite a task
to pigeonhole the album. There are many moments of ambience on
the album without any interference of rhythms, giving way to some
very nice cinematic expressions based on field recordings, processed
concrete sounds and buzzing noise drones while discreet melodies
keeps a great sonic texture on the album. There are also plenty
of rhythms on the album circulating in-between expressions of
IDM and breakbeats of complexity. But overall the album is about
atmospheres and Avoid Audio certainly demonstrates that his ability
of creating sonic atmospheres is unquestionable. Very nice debut!
(NM)
Address: <http://www.heilskabaal.net>http://www.heilskabaal.net
VROMB - SOUS HYPNOSE (CD by Ant-Zen)
There has always been a ritualistic and trance-inducing feeling
in the music from Canadian composer Vromb. The brain behind the
project, Hugo Girrard, has a quite unique expression with oscillating,
minimalist frequencies, rotating sequences and bubbling technoid
sounds creating his quite unique repetitiveness. The ritual factor
is intact on this seventh full-length album titled "Sous
hypnose" released on German label Ant-Zen Recordings. With
a title that in English means "Under hypnosis" experienced
listeners of Vromb should know that the ritual style remains.
And it definitely does. Despite the intended titled, I doubt that
many hypno-therapists would dare to let their average customer
sink into this world of icy drones and cynic rhythm textures.
Unquestionably though it would be a quite interesting experience
for the patient. The nine tracks drift back and forth between
futuristic sci-fi ambient and rhythm textures that develop from
non-existing across subdued layers moving up to the front of the
sound picture. The great French spoken voice of Vromb does penetrate
occasionally sounding like the hypnotist himself. If you enjoy
the frostbitten sonic world of Vromb you will definitely appreciate
this latest sci-fi launch from the Canadian.
Address: http://<http://www.ant-zen.com>www.ant-zen.com
TONIKOM - EPOCH (CD by Hyman Records)
"Music that refuses to live on one planet". That was
the way Tonikom once expressed his latest album, the first Tonikom-album
released on German label Hymen Records. If planets were music
styles the aforementioned description hits bulls eye concerning
the expression of the album. From the trance-inspired "Salvo
infinitum"-track to the abstract IDM-based track titled "Locked
out", that could've been part of Warp Record's legendary
"Artificial intelligence"-compilation. Breakbeat textures
play an important role on the album from the Techstep/Darkside-based
track "Dark river" to the Jungle-based final track "Outro"
of tranquilizing atmospheres. Despite his stylish planetary interchanges
of expressions, the true power of Tonikom is the awesome atmospheres
that flourish on the album as a whole. Especially the opening
track "Running as fast as I can" is incredibly beautiful
and worth the price of the album in itself. (NM)
Address: <http://www.hymen-records.com>http://www.hymen-records.com
GAVIN BRYARS/PHILIP JECK/ALTER EGO - THE
SINKING OF THE TITANIC (CD by Touch)
In the Netherlands there is these days a lot of talk about 'canon',
things you should definitely know from science, history, film
or literature. It made me think about a canon for contemporary,
post World War Two music. I think you should have certainly lend
an ear to 'Gesang Der Junglinge', 'Symphonie Pour Un Homme Seul',
'433' (well, know what that is about) and on this small and very
incomplete list, I should certainly add 'The Sinking Of The Titanic'
by Gavin Bryars. The unfortunate biggest boat in the world, running
in an iceberg in 1912, while the orchestra down stairs kept on
playing. Bryars took that 'orchestra playing' as the starting
point for an ensemble piece by taking the piece that was played,
as told by survivors, the slow 'Autumn' and Bryars takes it apart,
or rather, in free sixties style, let the players decide what
to play and also there is voice material on tape, to have the
idea of the ship sending S.O.S. signals. This piece has an open
length and has been, as far as I know, been released twice. First
on LP in Eno's Obscure Records series in the seventies and in
the nineties on CD by Crepuscule, if I not mistaken. Here is a
version recorded last year with Bryars on double bass, Philip
Jeck on turntables and an Italian ensemble called Alter Ego. It's
a bit wrong to compare all three versions I think. For the occasion
I dug out both and the first one comes rather quickly to the point,
with 'Autumn' coming in quite fast and so did the voices. The
first CD version is more spun out and has a dramatic built up,
and nice choir like sounds. The new version here starts out and
ends with a long 'solo' by Jeck, and otherwise seems to follow
the original setting. Half way through there is a chirping insect
like sound, of which I have no idea who produces this (Jeck perhaps?),
but in all the cases that I heard this I couldn't help laughing.
The Titanic crushed into a iceberg in april 1912, surely not really
a place for insects. Maybe a wrong record chosen? It however makes
also clear that this is a live recording and mistakes happen -
not a failure of gigantic proportions but just something that
causes a minor ripple on the waves. I am not sure if one should
'have' this, unless it's your first experience of the work (then
it's a must have), since it doesn't seem to be adding that much
to the two previous versions, but for those who want to spot the
differences it's surely a welcome work. It definitely something
you should hear once in your life. (FdW)
Address: http://www.touchmusic.org.uk
P. JØRGENSEN - LETS THE SUN DRAG
ITSELF OUT (CD by Monotype Records)
Not much information on P. Jørgensen can be found on the
label's website, other than he works with 'heavily computerprocessed
acoustic instruments and field recordings'. The music was recorded
last year and seems to me one of those nice ambient guitar albums,
of which there is already a lot, but some people never can get
enough. Jørgensen feeds his guitar through an endless line
of effects and creates an ever-lasting sustain on his guitar.
Maybe I'm entirely wrong? Things move forward in a slow, solemn
manner. Nice enough, but there are one or two things to be said.
First of all that the genre of ambient (and it's various deviations)
doesn't change at all, and hasn't been doing since quite some
time. Also the six pieces on offer here by Jørgensen are
all pretty similar in approach. Things fade in, drone on, fade
out, without too much differentiation between the tracks. Only
the sixth track seems to have a slightly different approach. But
perhaps all of this is minor babbling: the album by itself is
a really luscious nice late evening music album. (FdW)
Address: http://www.monotyperecords.com
JOHN CHIRSTOPHER SHILLOCK - INVISIBLE JAZZ
(BOOK & CD by Musical Comedy Editions)
"Christopher Shillock is called the underground poet laureate
of downtown Minneapolis. He has a BA in Spanish and a MA in philosophy.
During the 1980,s he was active with various Communist and Anarchist
groups in the Twin Cities. In 2003 Shillock received a Verve grant
from SASE and the Jerome Foundation for his poetry/video book
'An Invitation to the Terrorists Ball'. Now that we know this,
what about 'Invisible Jazz'? It is a collection of poems by Shillock
that are inspired on ancient Greece and Rome, medieval Paris,
baseball, etc. Tabatha Predovich composed the songs, and both
sing and perform the poems.
I can't judge on the poems, but the compositions are very conventional
and without any originality. This means boring and completely
outdated. They sound as middle of the road 70s popmusic. I asked
myself how on earth it is possible that today this kind of music
that sounds as if it is directly transplanted from the 70s is
played by musicians in 2006. Strange for an anarchist to do so,
if you ask me. Of course they merely serve as a vehicle for the
poems and most of the poems deal with even more ancient times.
In that sense a coherent project (DM).
Address: http://www.shillock.com/
KORA ET LE MECHANIX - EXCURSIN FORTE (CD
by Nextera)
It's been a while since we reviewed 'Excursin' from Kora Et Le
Mechanix (Vital Weekly 522), so we have to hark back in our memory
to remember what it sounded like. These Czechs made some interesting
ambient music, which we remember to be a fine combination of Biosphere
meeting The Hafler Trio. A nice album, but somehow I didn't expect
that to be remixed, and if not mistaken by all Czech remixers.
It's that the liner notes come in the same language, otherwise
I could have told some more. A remix album is supposed to take
the original material into new territory and attract say techno
fans to the original - a remix album is merely a marketing trick
(sorry if this sounds harsh and you may never realized this before).
If The Orb does U2, it's because their record company wants to
sell music to Orb fans. Somehow that marketing trick doesn't work
for the likes of Kora Et Le Mechanix and their sixteen remixers.
I recognized a bunch of names such as Miou Miou, Selectone and
Hypnotix, but that's not even a quarter of the lot. It's as usual
with these things a mixed bag. There is techno based music, more
ambient, deeper ambient, drum 'n bass and even reggea/dub music.
I must admit I glanced at the CD box once, decided that I couldn't
read the liner notes, and not recognizing any of the names, so
I instead played the music and decided to enjoy myself, which
I did. A mixed bag of music, put in the right order to be surely
entertaining, which it was. (FdW)
Address: http://www.nextera.cz
NIELLERADE FALLIBILISTHORSTAR - SKRANKVERK
(CD by Dystoniaek)
Yes, that is quite a mouthful, hard to pronounce, even when entirely
sober. However we came across them before, when we reviewed their
'Halrum' release on SNSE Records (Vital Weekly 492), influenced
by Einsturzende Neubauten, New Blockaders and Metgumnerbone and
on 'Skrankverk' they continue that path. Despite being cut into
various tracks, it comes off as one long track. Lots and lots
metal rambling, not fast, but slow, maybe even intended to be
magickal, ritualistik, I don't know if that's the intention. However
they cleverly sometimes use tapeloops of electronic sounds, scratching
the barrel and such like which give the whole album a feel that
there is more to it than just metal rumbling. I have no idea where
these boys are from but me thinks they are from Germany, although
there is no evidence to substantiate that claim. There is perhaps
not even variation between the pieces nor with previous album,
which is too bad, I think. But fans of the more obscure semi-industrial
music, along the lines of Cold Meat Industry and Old Europa Cafe
know the drill: they have been alerted to get this. Me, I think
it's a fine album, but perhaps a bit too alienated. (FdW)
Address: http://www.dystoniaek.org
Y-TON-G/ASMUS TIETCHENS/KOUHEI MATSUNAGA
- YAK (CD by Monochrome Vision)
An infinite and sometimes not easy to grasp recycled process.
That's what Asmus Tietchens, at least to me, is known for. Here
he teams up with Kouhei Matsunaga from Japan (of whom we haven't
heard much lately, but he had a couple of nice releases on his
own Flying Swimming label) and an even more obscure Y-Ton-G, who
hails from Hamburg (just like Tietchens) and has been around since
the dawn of cassettes and still releases CDRs to this date. Each
of them supplied sound material to somebody else who then composed
a piece of music. Two of them have sound material by a duo (Y-Ton-G
and Kouhei and Asmus and Kouhei) - see, not easy to grasp these
processes. Not that it really matters when it comes to appreciating
this release. The eight tracks here make quite a coherent flow
of music. The starting point - say the rumble on the surface -
is processed through means unknown. That is: Asmus in his studio,
Y-Ton-G through tapeloops and sound effects and Kouhei through
laptop, things are altered, changed, deformed and sound like anything
else and the starting point as such can no longer recognized.
Through whatever means each of the composer uses here it still
sounds pretty coherent. It's hard to tell who does what here if
one is not looking at the cover. One could argue that the composers
are perhaps interchangeable, but I like to take an opposite view.
Through different working methods, arriving at similar results
one gets a great example of various ways in reaching goals in
modern musique concrete. Both Y-Ton-G and Kouhei Matsunaga show
great respect for the music of Asmus Tietchens and its an album
that surely will appeal to fans of Asmus. A very refined work.
(FdW)
Address: http://www.monochromevision.ru
MERZBOW - PEACE FOR ANIMALS (CD by Quasi
Pop)
MERZBOW - LIVE DESTRUCTION AT NO FUN 2007 (CD by No Fun Productions)
CLINE/GIFFONI/LICHT/RANALDO - NOTHING MAKES ANY SENSE (CD by No
Productions)
EDWARD SOL - WRONG ACTION (3"CDR by Quasi Pop)
A story I told before: I gave up on keeping my Merzbow collection
complete. Sad but true. I found myself without time of hearing
(and re-hearing) all the releases properly. Such is life. So whatever
new Merzbow I hear, is getting back to his music. I must admit
when I hear it I sometimes think it's a pity I gave up. Or perhaps
not. There is a certain constant factor running in his music that
makes him, no doubt about that, the king of noise. Variations
and innovations are sparse in his work and can probably only be
detected by the true fanr, of which I may I no longer call myself
one. 'Peace For Animals' sees a continuation of his works of recent
years, I think. Computerized noise, perhaps with the addition
of guitar effects that are still damaging your ears. However at
the same time it also seems that this album is less harsh, well
that is relative thing of course with mister Merzbow (an all acoustic
album is still in demand, I think), but some of the scraping sounds
reminded me of his 'Enclosure' and 'Ecobondage' times, but filled
with some more sound effects. Another powerful statement this
one. Maybe the urge for more Merzbow should be controlled and
played again what has already been accumulated over the years.
And with luck I just also got another Merzbow CD (which of course
the journalists with a less attention span would say: see this
guy is over productive, two CDs per week). Merzbow played at the
No Fun festival earlier this year and 'remixed' it at home into
a full on forty-one minute slab in the face. Away from the Quasi
Pop release, this is Merzbow full blast of noise. I saw Merzbow
a couple of times playing live, among which were his very first
concerts in Europe in 1989 when of course nobody came out to witness
it, and listening to this live recording brings back the great
memories of those concerts. Merzbow studio can be loud, but his
concerts are the real beasts. In one concentrated paint brush
he paints all the colors of the rainbow in bright as hell tones.
A mighty fine work. He should be in our area more often me thinks.
Also a live recording is four guitarist line up of Nels Cline,
Carlos Giffoni, Alan Licht and Lee Ranaldo, who teamed up on 0201-2007
at the Tonic to play together, following a review of an old Lou
Reed LP (printed on the cover): more is more, being the subject.
Bring in as many guitars, as many amplifiers and make noise. That
starting point leads to a fifty minute free jam in which the guitar
is as important as the amplifier, let alone all those nicely colored
boxes on the floor, and the four of them let things explode in
a true noise manner. Not to dissimilar to Merzbow me thinks, but
this quartet is less noisy than the boss on his own, and they
move through more phases unlike the monolithic mountain of Merzbow.
At times free jazz and endless prog solos lurk around the corner,
but let's assume they are merely tongue in cheek? Another nice
blast (excellently mixed by a fifth guitarist actually, James
Plotkin).
Music by Edward Sol has been released by Quasipop before and reviewed
here. Here he presents another four tracks on 3" format in
a nice little package. Apparently the theme is about 'This is
the tragic (and funny at the same time) story of Pop Diva working
and partying hard', although it's not sure which diva is meant
here. Maybe Kylie Minogue, as suggested by the track title 'Inside
Kylie'? Unlike some of his previous stuff, Sol goes out to old
fashioned tape collages, cutting, splicing and pasting of tapes
to create his music. At times he wanders out in the rich field
of noise, but stays in true spirit of the good ol' musique concrete.
It's at times loud and vicious, but the collage element of the
music prevails. Influenced by say Pierre Henry (voices are spliced
together) and Merzbow, makes this his most refined statement so
far. Not in every subtle, but created with great care. (FdW)
Address: http://www.quasipop.org
Address: http://www.nofunproductions.org
BOB MARSH - VIOVOX (CD by Public Eyesore)
PHIL MINTO & YAGIHASHI TSUKASA & SATO YUKIE & HIGO
HIROSHI - NIPPARA-TOKYO (CD by Public Eyesore)
GIRAFFE - HEAR HERE (CDR by Eh?)
MARINA HARDY - PINK VIOLIN (CDR by Eh?)
(D)YNAMIC (B)ROWN (H)IPS - WAVE THE OLD WAVE (CDR by Eh?)
SHELF LIFE - RHEUMA (CDR by Eh?)
USA's Public Eyesore started out as a CDR label, but has grown
into a 'real' CD label these days, but to make life more confusing
there is a subdivision dealing with CDRs. It's called Eh?, most
appropriate, since there is hardly any information on any of the
releases.
On Public Eyesore we first find one Bob Marsh, who says he recorded
'this collection of rantings, ravings, sermons, scenes, little
operas and whatever they might be, in the flat lands of Richmond
California', so I was kinda expecting some vocal poetry. But the
liner notes also mention he plays violin, cello and samples. That
may explain the title of this. The words he sings aren't always
words with a meaning, and he sings quite a few those. Unfocussed
is a word that springs to mind here. What does he want? It seems
that he improvises bits, feed them through his on the go sampler
and kaos pad, and that's a bit. Nice for a few pieces, but going
through all of fifteen is a bit much. There is simply not enough
variation in the approaches Marsh uses to create his music, so
it may seem that we are listening to the same track in variations.
I have no idea why this is a CD and not a CDR.
I can see however why the next release is on CD, as I assume Minton
has quite a following. This free voice improviser has a long,
outstanding career, which brought him around the world, as so
here he is in Japan, playing with three players, I never heard
of: Yagihashi Tsukasa on altsax, Sato Yukie on electric guitar
and Higo Hiroshi on electric bass. Maybe it's my free improvising
mind while playing this release, but somehow it seems to me that
these players have a somewhat jazz related background; at least
in some passages this seems to be the case. They venture out into
some more noise like territory, such as the opening of the (untitled)
third track. These players aren't the silent types, not like some
of their Japanese colleaugues. The four men play a highly controlled
improvisation set (well, two actually, divided in six tracks)
taking the listener on a ride through various moods and textures,
continuously listening to each other, acting when necessary or
silent when needed. A fine disc for the lovers of the genre of
improvised music.
On Eh? we find Giraffe, a duo of Joseph Jaros and Luke Polipnick,
and as said, no information. They are a noisy bunch of lads on
their 'Hear Here'. It's hard to say what sound sources are at
their disposal, but things are pretty loud and distorted. A certain
interesting low fidelity quality is to be detected in these recordings,
voices from radio, the same radio that is fed through a bunch
of distortion pedals. However for whatever odd reason I also think
they use a computer as a means of producing the noise. All of
the proceedings are delivered through methods of improvisation
and no editing, which is fashionable in these areas and which
is a pity, since not every moment is very strong, me thinks. With
some cut and paste it could have been a much more interesting
work.
No info, again, on one Marina Hardy, whose 'Pink Violin' gave
me a hard time. What does she play? A pink violin? Or a sampler?
Me thinks the latter and she operates in the good ol' Plunderphonic
style, going all over the place with world music fiddle music,
heavy metal guitar solo's (reminded me of Eddie van Halen, who
lived around here, actually), cheesy lounge music, jazz, rock
and oh there is a violin here and there, such as in the classical
'Ceisel' and the nice cover version of Gershwin's 'It Ain't Necessarily
So'. Ok, so I think she plays violin and samples. Usually the
multitude of styles work against what I like, but in a most curious
way things work out quite nicely here. Tracks are to the point
and like dialing the knobs on the radio, one goes from one end
of the musical spectrum to the other and that is sometimes nice
too.
Out in the field of total improvisation, with the total absence
of electronics is the release by (D)ynamic (B)rown (H)ips, which
are Justin Rhody on trumpet, Clare Hubbard on saxophone and Keith
Wright on percussion on the second and third tracks, plus on the
first track a whole bunch more on violin, trombone, recorder,
upright bass an such like. That is a very heavy, quite aggressive
piece, with high pitched acoustic tones and loud bursts of all
the instruments. Take away a few instruments and hope things get
a bit more quiet? Idle hope, since it seems even the trio of them
play louder and more aggression than the extended group. Certainly
not easy music and quite demanding; not something to play in one
go, I think.
The final release for today on Eh? is by Shelf Life, which we
happen to know is a project by Brian Day, the man behind both
labels here. Shelf Life is a quartet of improvising musicians
playing around in a more heavy rock type of improvisation. The
guitar is being tortured, whereas bass and drums play highly distorted
rumblings, rather than playing a coherent basis for the guitarists.
The whole thing is a kinda alienating, and the somewhat sketchy
recording quality doesn't help either. I must admit I thought
the previous release was better. (FdW)
Address: http://www.publiceyesore.com
BENJAMIN BRUNN - PAUL AND RAYMOND (12"
by Bine Music)
'This record is dedicated to Paul and Raymond whose zest for life
was with me six months long. I will keep it' it says somewhat
mysteriously on the press text. Benjamin Brunn is, along with
Scanner and Move D, a stalwart artist of Bine Music, but reviewing
this two track 12" is not an easy task. The rhythm driven
music will surely work well on the dance floor, but who am I to
tell? I am not a DJ, not even a regular visitor of the dance floor,
let alone known for moving my feet, so what can I do with in the
cosy place called home with it? I can play it, like it even, but
I realize that's hard for me to say wether this is great minimal
techno, or perhaps a faint copy of the real thing. The watershed
between me and the world of minimal techno is simply too big.
So, I didn't dance around, but sat down, thought the fat bass
was great, the light, dubby keyboards were nice and I thought
it was damn nice record. And oh, I thought, I should go out more
and dance more. (FdW)
Address: http://www.binemusic.de
DITTRICH VON EULER-DONNERSPERG - DU FROHLICHE/TANNENBAUM
DUB (7" by Meeuw Muzak)
And of course, the days are short, the nights are long and we
must celebrate the birth of our saviour again. Christmas was no
friend of mine. But there is one little bit of light in the dark
days of christmas: Meeuw Muzak releases another fine 7".
By now I can spend at least half boxing day listening to the crazy
christmas tunes of Meeuw. The latest addition is by Dittrich von
Euler-Donnersperg who has released some even more crazy music
on his own Walter Ulbricht label and Die Stadt, with partly reading
of texts and partly electronic music. Here he offers two soft
electronic music pieces, which are like snowflakes (of course
it never snows in Dutch christmas times). Almost kitchy and new
age like on a super cheesy keyboard with all the wrong (and thus
right) preset sounds, Dittrich is perhaps that great family man
that such tunes under his tannenbaum for a wealth of happy children,
who start unwrapping their presents as daddy finishes his tunes.
Great stuff, once again. I can't wait for christmas with my Meeuw
Muzak collection (isn't about time for a nice CD compilation,
mister Meeuw). (FdW)
Address: http://www.meeuw.net
AS11 - PNEUMATIK (CDR by Echo Music)
Music by Greek AS11 has been mostly released by Antifrost, but
for his latest release he headed out to another Greek label, Echo
Music. Three lengthy pieces, the first two are live pieces and
one studio piece. The live pieces were recorded in San Sebastian,
of which the second is a collaboration with Edorta Izarzugaza.
These are the facts. The little known facts as per usual AS11
like a bit of mystification. I am not sure how to perceive the
title of the release, but it seems if all three tracks use some
of drill or something pneumatic like that. All three piece are
highly minimal in approach with machine like sounds. Especially
the two live pieces have that quality. Changes happen, but are
rare. An amplified drill, with the addition of... well, of what
exactly? It's hard to tell. The third track, the studio piece
'Melutaso' feeds the mechanical machinery through computer effects,
to the same minimal extent as the live cuts, but as the piece
progresses things happen and there are major changes in the various
movements of the piece. I liked that track better than the two
more singleminded live pieces. They are mere documents of a live
action than thoroughly composed music, me thinks. (FdW)
Address: http://www.echomusic.gr
The correct website for Balloon and Needle (see last week) should be: http://www.balloonnneedle.com