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VITAL WEEKLY
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number 608
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week 1
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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
there are some problems with the feed, so go here to get the podcast: http://www.vitalweekly.net/podcast.html
* noted are in this week's podcast
ORGANUM - OMEGA (CD by Die Stadt) *
NERVE NET NOISE - DARK GARDEN (CD by Intransitive Recordings)
LIONEL MARCHETTI & SEIJIRO MURAYAMA - HATALI ATSALEI (L'EXCHANGE
DES YEUX) (CD by Instransitive Recordings) *
HOWARD STELZER - BOND INLETS (CD by Intransitive Recordings)
ORIGAMI BONDEPRAKTIKA & ORIGAMI SUBTROPIKA & ORIGAMI SYNERGIKA
-
COLLABORATIVE FAN-CDR (CDr by Cipher Productions)
TADM & TIMISOARA - 'I AM NOT DYING IN A NIGHTMARE' (split
CDR + 3"CDR by
Cipher Productions)
SEWER ELECTION & TRERIKSRÖSET - KILLING SESSIONS (CD
by Troniks & Chondritic Sound )
TRERIKSRÖSET - SEXREGLER (CD by Troniks & Chondritic
Sound) *
PAPER & PLASTIC (2CD by Suitcase)
UUSITALO - KARHUNAINEN (CD by Huume Recordings)
QUIO - PHIU (CD by Agf Producktion)
NETHERWORLD - KALL, THE ABYSS WHERE DREAMS FALL (CD by Mondes
Elliptiques)
CINEPLEXX - RESTAR (CD by Testing Ground)
QEBO - WROLN (CD by Low Impedance Recordings) *
ZOMBIE BATTLE AXE - ... NOW YOU ARE DEAD (CD by Slut Factory Records)
*
EVAN BARTHOLOMEW - CAVERNS OF TIME (CD by Somnia) *
YUI ONODERA - SUBSTRATE (CDR by Mystery Sea) *
AKKORD I ON - PPP-FFF (CDR by Replica) *
TEN SECOND COMPILATION (CDR by Kif Recordings)
DEAD TREVELLER - NEVER A DULL MOMENT (CDR by Phase!)
ZONDERLAND - OIDIPUS: MOTHERFUCKER (CDR, private) *
THELMO CRISTOVAM & FERNANDO S. TORRES (CDR by Dim Records)
*
MACHINEFABRIEK - MUSIC FOR INTERMITTENT MOVEMENTS (CDR by Machinefabriek)
*
MATTIN - BROKEN SUBJECT (CDR by Free SS)
JULIEN SKROBEK - LE PALAIS TRANSPARANT (CDR by Free SS)
IRIS OLLSCHEWSKI - SOUND-DESTILLATION (3"CDR, private release)
*
YOSHIMI! - II AKA THE CHESHIRE RAT (MP3 by Esc Rec)
TOXIC CHICKEN - MAKE MY DAY (MP3 by Esc Rec)
SLO-FI - 'S LOOT (MP3 by Esc Rec)
ORGANUM - OMEGA (CD by Die Stadt)
Collecting music for the sake of collecting is not something I
am very keen. Music hearing for the sake of hearing music, that
is what I like. There are a few artists whose new works I usually
try to get, and Organum is one of them. Although I must admit,
I sometimes (or perhaps more often than not) am clueless what
it is about. If it's about something at all. The music by Organum
is a mystery that comes in clusters. The cover of 'Omega' looks
like 'Sanctus' and 'Amen', so no doubt there is a relation in
the music, which comes to form in the use of a church organ like
sound, some highly processed chime like sound and a deep drone
of rusty metal in the background. Just as on 'Sanctus' and 'Amen'
- and much true to the form of Organum mystery, there are three
pieces here, which all sound quite similar - or perhaps they are
similar? You can't tell, and that's probably the whole point.
After some fifteen minutes, another track of fifteen minutes that
sound similar, is that then also similar? It's a question Organum
asks himself, or rather, just raises for us to find an answer
too. I am afraid I have no answer myself. I sit back and listen
and wondering what this means, 'Omega', 'Sanctus' and 'Amen' -
a holy trilogy? Better would be, perhaps, not to ponder too much
about this and just enjoy that crazy genius Organum. I am long
converted to his belief. (FdW)
Address: http://www.diestadtmusik.de
NERVE NET NOISE - DARK GARDEN (CD by Intransitive
Recordings)
LIONEL MARCHETTI & SEIJIRO MURAYAMA - HATALI ATSALEI (L'EXCHANGE
DES YEUX) (CD by Instransitive Recordings)
HOWARD STELZER - BOND INLETS (CD by Intransitive Recordings)
To this very day I am writing this I landed in America and Howard
Stelzer picked me up at the airport and proudly showed his latest
releases on his Intransitive Recordings label (see Vital Weekly
559). Now, exactly one year later, he releases a three new CDs.
Nerve Net Noise is a duo of Hiroshi Kumakiri (original synthesizer,
Sherman filterbank, sound create) and TAGOMAGO (mix, effects,
treatments). Over the years they have released a bunch of interesting,
yet never easy, music on labels as Hronir and Intransitive. At
times more conceptual based than music based, and it seems that
'Dark Garden' might be a bit more musical than conceptual. It
sounds very analogue in approach, very dry. Clicky rhythms, deep
bass sounds, that sort of thing, and in some pieces indeed inspired
by the dance rhythms of techno, but this is hardly music to dance
to. Head nod music at it's best for some of the pieces, but at
other times even stranger than nodding your head and a bit unnerving.
A bit of very raw Pan Sonic or Goem with whom they share a love
of all things analogue. Strong production - very clear, very loud
and bass heavy. I think because it's more musical than much of
their previous work, this is their best release so far.
French composer Lionel Marchetti "returns to his favorite
subject: the modern musique concrete composer as shaman",
the label informs us. Inspired by 'Hatali Atseli', an ancient
Greek ritual of the exchange of eyes. Marchetti uses fire, water,
wind instruments and percussion along with the voice of Seijiro
Murayama, the percussion of ANP. It's a work that is not like
many around in the fields of musique concrete. Usually it's a
strictly composed piece of music from daily sounds and field recording,
heavily processed, but Marchetti and Murayama take it into a theatrical
field and makes things very visual by using sound only. The crackling
of fire, the far away drum sound, the splashes of water and the
voice make you feel almost part of the ritual, but you remain
an outsider. It's hard to tell what the ritual is about, but you
can watch/listen with full fascination. It's a work that grows
in the listener. It's brief at thirty-three minutes, but as soon
as it was over, I played it again and it started to grow on me
further. It's highly captivating visual music, very much along
the lines of Etant Donnes' 'Bleu' CD - and that's possibly the
only thing I can compared it with. A true beauty, fascinating
and captivating.
Label boss Howard Stelzer started Intransitive Recordings ten
years ago, by releasing his first CD 'Stone Blind', and while
he has released many more works on a smaller scale (CDRs and cassettes),
'Bond Inlets' is his second major work. Stelzer is a man who plays
cassettes in all sorts of crazy ways; a bit like a turntablist,
but then with cassettes. Speeding them up, slowing them down,
placed on metal and other crazy techniques. He's fun to watch
to see him do this sort of thing live (alone or with others as
he loves to play improvised music with others). In the earlier
days, the work of Stelzer sounded like playing cassettes, in a
free form collage like manner, but Stelzer too learned the tricks
of the computer, but he doesn't use this as a tool of transformation.
If anything it's a tool to staple your sounds, which is exactly
(and only) what he does. On his tapes he has found sound - residue
of the old music - but also his own sounds, field recordings.
Inside the computer this is layered quite densely into a heavy
piece of music. Stelzer knows and likes his noise, that much seems
to be clear, but unlike so many noise makers around, his main
effect is not the pure wall of noise, but rather a full wall of
sound, with small events happening on all levels. A great work
this one that shows a much more mature composer and one that has
been constant refining his work over the last decade to cook up
this master piece. (FdW)
Address: http://www.intransitiverecordings.com
ORIGAMI BONDEPRAKTIKA & ORIGAMI SUBTROPIKA
& ORIGAMI SYNERGIKA -
COLLABORATIVE FAN-CDR (CDr by Cipher Productions)
TADM & TIMISOARA - 'I AM NOT DYING IN A NIGHTMARE' (split
CDR + 3"CDR by
Cipher Productions)
Collaborative fan-CDR is packed in a plank - two squares of 4
mil ply with 4 bolts and inside a full size CDr - only silvered
out to 3inches both bearing the image of an Ouroboros.. (look
it up then!) is on a Tasmanian label hosted by those sulky Californian
guys at iheartnoise. (So don't be my friend then Phil!) Obviously
part of the Norwegian instigated world wide collective - here
Karl Midholm of Swedish Ovum, Jorge Castro of Puerto Rican Cornucopia
and The Great Lasse Marhaug. collaborate (obviously) on three
tracks of neo-experimentalism - first track someone typing, second
improv with cans and rubber bands, third pure sine waves .. &.
bit of noise rhythm etc. TADM (a Canadian guy? Who has collaborated
with the likes of Incapacitants) harsh noise and Timisoara - (Keiko
Morita ) guitar and electronics - a strange mix - the packaging
for one- of a full size CDr and a 3inch - both repeatedly fall
off their little plastic nipples in the card sleeve. But Timisoara's
drone/industrial that's nothing like the extreme harshness of
TADM, so the question why? Lets ignore for a moment - TADM s contribution
on the 3inch is a singularity - though by the CDrs fourth track
is beginning to experiment with structure - soon we may see the
nazi leader and the schematics for a worm hole machine - its dangerous
when the meaninglessness of any noise takes on form, as the Origami's
neo-experimentalism certainly follows its cyclic logos, ' I am
not dying in a night mare' still needs refinement into that which
is art and experimentalism or to *actually* consume itself and
so open a horizon in communication which is the essential dissemination
of non-ironic noise- aka the pornography of the cum-shot. (jliat)
Address: www. http://www.iheartnoise.com/cipherproductions/
SEWER ELECTION & TRERIKSRÖSET -
KILLING SESSIONS (CD by Troniks & Chondritic Sound )
TRERIKSRÖSET - SEXREGLER (CD by Troniks & Chondritic
Sound)
Both are protracted noise works within the first three shifts
in dynamics from a rocket-noise & feedback continuum in the
second it is as if the sample rate has been reduced to virtual
disappearance - but you can these days hear this yourself*, my
description is redundant, as is with the aid of discogs.com any
historicism - the significance I find here then is that these
are two re-releases of pieces originally on cassette in 2004 and
2002 respectively, the latter re-mastered by (The Great) Lasse
Marhaug. I will then question the archiving and the move from
analogue to increasinglyparticular forms of digitalization - PCM,
MP3, MP4, ATRAC RSS feeds etc - and this increasing virtualization
to the point of it be un-playable- missing the right codec, disappearing
in a matter of microseconds- delete all y/n. Already the cassette
is becoming obsolete and the digital archiving (such as above)
might be proof of some deep psychological panic about the erasure
of history and so ones identity. Perhaps it doesn't matter as
regards noise whose technology unlike the violin is comparatively
simple touse, and so repeatable- but that brings into question
these releases -
doesn't it? Isn't the significance of noise partly its un-importance?
The preservation of the Mona Lisa demonstrates the ridiculousness
of modernity in putting the painting behind bullet proof glass
and having six million people look at it for 15 seconds whereas
the perfect device for playing noise would be an analogue tape
whose takeup reel is replaced with a shredder? (jliat)
Address: http://www.iheartnoise.com/
Address: http://www.chondriticsound.com/
PAPER & PLASTIC (2CD by Suitcase)
Although some may find it absolutely unnecessary, a nice package
is better than nothing. A handmade packaging can be such drag
- the Vital Weekly HQ has some prime samples to show to people.
Somebody who is known, at least to some of the older readers that
is for creating the most bizarre handmade packages is a man named
Abo. His label/band Yeast Culture didn't release much (a 10"
and Lp by himself, a Kapotte Muziek LP, a Hands To LP and a double
7" compilation, as far as I can remember), but they all had
a great combination of handmade work and silkscreens. But Abo
seemed to have disappeared, just as did a small cassette label
from Atlanta called Suitcase Recordings. I am talking late 80s,
early 90s here. Not a big deal. People come, people go. Loose
their interest, their money, their idealism. Perhaps a pity for
those who were promised a release, but they might have put it
on something else later on. When opening today's mail, it was
like going into a time machine. The box that came out of it, looked
like Abo's work. Sticky tape, small objects, envelopes - a little
box of Pandora. It turns out to be the result of a compilation
that was supposed to be released a decade (or more?) ago, but
despite a launch party in 1998, it was never for sale. Now it's
released in a truly unique box. As easily you can spend the whole
time listening and watching the various ingredients of this box
- papers, objects, photo's. The line up reads as a who's who in
experimental and noise music of a decade ago (I do realize some
are still active as such): Inzekt, Sudden Infant, Wash Your Brains,
Runzelstirn And Gurgelstock (these four represent the Schimpfluch
label, who is probably on par with Abo when it came to crazy packaging),
Small Cruel Party, Yeast Culture, Agog, Chop Shop, A4 (the man
behind the label), Ios Smolders, Das Synthetische Mischgewebe,
Merzbow, Das Synthetische Mischgewebe, Emil Beaulieu but also
more forgotten names as TAC, Native X, z.B.u.a., Appi. Achim Wollscheid
provides some of his more crazy conceptual approaches on the CD
called 'Plastic'. Now I come to think of it, a lot of these are
still active in experimental music (some less noise oriented),
so Suitcase did a good selection. Some of the tape/collage/experiments
may be naff and dull, but throughout it was a strong statement.
By the end of every year, I always get sentimental, play old music
(though not always of the likes of this) and reminiscine about
the past. In that respect this box does wonders (limited wonders
that is, as there are only seventy of these. A separate edition
of 300 will be different, and the remainder of the edition will
be in regular jewel cases). (FdW)
Address: http://www.a4suitcase.com
UUSITALO - KARHUNAINEN (CD by Huume Recordings)
Uusitalo is Sasu Ripatti, who is probably better known as Vladislav
Delay and Luomo, and 'Karhunainen' is my first encounter with
the music of the Uusitalo alias. The atmosphere on the album is
coherent, except the first short intro track and the last one
that sound like ambient music, all the other tracks are rhythmic
and more or less upfront with their beats, forming a collage of
few electronic dance music styles and creating diverse electro-techno-house
atmospheres. With it's delicate production and execution, this
album can be compared with Monolake's 'Polygon cities' or with
The Orb's 'Okie dokie'. Uusitalo makes the tracks that are layered
and also quite often improvises with the rhythms, which is probably
not a surprise, because it's known that Sasu comes into the electronic
music from a jazz background and improvisations are some of the
main features in jazz music. I think the pieces on this album
that are with more shifting rhythms and layers of sounds are more
interesting and they make 'Karhunainen' to sound as a new direction
or a new definition of something that can be called the ambient-techno
of today, if The Orb were the ambient-house in the early '90-ties
and later. The atmosphere on the album is dreamy and very suitable
for listening at home and it's obvious that this Finnish producer
has created another album that opens to the listener with it's
layered sounds and an album that sounds best when Uusitalo improvises
with the rhythmic and sound patterns in a Vladislav Delay way.
(BR)
Address: http://www.huumerecordings.com
QUIO - PHIU (CD by Agf Producktion)
'Phiu' is the second album for Quio, who is one of the few female
MCs in Germany that collaborates and performs with more various
artists and sings over different styles of music, like drum'n'bass,
garage and dubstep. In this case, on the album 'Phiu', she performs
with her vocal over the music made by the German electronic music
producer Agf. Since Agf is known for her experimental approaches
in her own music, it's expected the hip-hop rhythms on this album
to be more chopped than they are in the more common hip-hop or
rap music. Knowing that the mastering is by Vladislav Delay and
the album is released on Agf's label Agf Producktion, it's expected
the production to be on a high level. There are many other people
that Quio collaborates with in the 12 tracks and they all contribute
to the vibe in the music, that is varied from louder to calmer
tracks like 'Mole', or even a bit spiced up with a distant jazzy
mood, as it's presented in 'Come closer'. The singing by Quio,
to fit the various moods, changes from one track to another and
in 'Better mood' it even reminds a little bit of Bjork. There's
a specific atmosphere and a mood that are characteristic about
this album, and that is a mixture of a kind of chopped out hip-hop
beats and various MC performances by Quio, that altogether make
this record layered, witty and delicate in it's execution, as
the modern hip-hop music should be. (BR)
Address: http://www.agfproducktion.com
NETHERWORLD - KALL, THE ABYSS WHERE DREAMS
FALL (CD by Mondes Elliptiques)
Netherworld is Alessandro Tedeschi and on the album 'Kall - the
abyss where dreams fall' he shows his interest in cool ambient
and drone related kind of music, that slowly and patiently unfolds
in the space. The music is presented in four tracks that are called
'Kall', from part one to part four. What's most present in the
14 minutes of the first piece is the pulsating drone atmosphere,
that sounds very gentle and is put in the front, while from time
to time there are other sounds too that are appearing in the background
and are adding a specific and slightly tribal sounding sense to
the track. The sense of tribal ambient music is even more present
in the second piece, while in the third longer piece of 21 minutes,
there are motives similar to those in the first track - slowly
unfolding layers of sounds that are coming from the cooler corners
of the ambient spectrum, a kind of atmosphere that is present
through the whole album. 'Kall - part 4' is no exception in the
sounds that Netherworld uses in the music on this album. The fourth
part is as smooth ambient music as the previous parts, it is the
smoothest track, with almost 8 minutes of few slowly shifting
layers of a kind of sustained, unusual, calm and sometimes linear
sounding and spreading ambient music, a kind of aesthetic and
approach to the music that is mostly present on the whole album,
that is not a typical ambient aesthetic, but it crossovers the
border-lines between the ambient and drone kinds of music. (BR)
Address: http://www.angle-rec.net/mondes
CINEPLEXX - RESTAR (CD by Testing Ground)
My understanding of the spanish language is poor, but I can understand
what Cineplexx aka Sebastian Litmanovich likes to say in the first
track on this album, that is titled 'Buenas noches' and the vocal
samples saying 'buenas noches' are repeating through the track.
That would be 'good evening' in english, so Cineplexx welcomes
the listener into the intimate atmosphere of the evening when
this album should be played, or maybe it is 'good night', so then
Cineplexx opens a path for the listener to visit the cosy dreams
that are following in the next tracks. I say tracks and not songs,
because the music on this album sounds as dance music but it's
not at all for the dance floors, it's only for intimate home listening.
There are no vocals, singing or voice samples (except in the first
track) and most of the tracks are rhythmic in a very linear way,
sometimes as in house music, but as I said, this music is not
at all for the clubs. So, the kind of techno inspired rhythms,
that sound very gentle and sometimes even a bit fragile, are the
basic rhythmic forms of the tracks that are build in various directions,
with adding more layers of sounds that are slowly appearing from
the background and often they're forming a specific dreamy ambiental
aura around the tracks. Besides Sebastian Litmanovich, who is
using various electronics and a sampler, there are few guests
with electric guitars, that also sound very dreamy and may put
the listener in a state of lucid dreaming. Using musical patterns,
motives and approaches from dance-techno music, to make a personal
music with it's own distinctive sensibility (which is not techno
at all), it's something I haven't heard often and on this album
Cineplexx is doing that in a very nice way, making a kind of 'good
night' music to sleep by. Music that is not connected to any concrete
genre or style, but still it has elements of some of them, like
ambient, idm or even a special kind of, let's name it, 'lucid
dreaming techno music'. A fusion of more musical styles or approaches
might bring in more diversity in the tracks on the album, but
maybe that's how the next album will sound. (BR)
Address: http://www.testinground.com
QEBO - WROLN (CD by Low Impedance Recordings)
Last night I went out, simply because I like going to places and
hear some loud popmusic. Before I did I played this release by
Qebo, apparently a long time after his previous release, which
I didn't hear. Qebo hardly plays the sort of popmusic I heard
later in the evening, but I had to think of Qebo when being there.
Should I play music by Qebo at an equally loud volume (taking
the risk of a fight with the neighbors), because maybe I like
it better then. Qebo make crazy music, totally over the top fast
beats, with lots of glitchy sounds that go along all in a nervous
an hectic manner. Seven tracks in total, with a length of some
thirty-six minutes. That doesn't seem much but it left me utterly
exhausted (might of course also the hangover from last night)
after hearing the CD. There is a lot of information in this disc,
which makes it not easy to grasp. I think it's all a bit too much
of hyper nervous going on here. Maybe I am missing a/the point
of it, and would it be better to listen on much more volume and
even possibly try to move my feet. At home this seems lost. (FdW)
Address: http://www.lowimpendance.net
ZOMBIE BATTLE AXE - ... NOW YOU ARE DEAD
(CD by Slut Factory Records)
'The Soundtrack to a fictitious b-movie zombie attack', is how
Zombie Battle Axe (highest entry in the silly name contest, along
with the name of their 'record company') describe their CD. It
comes with hardly any information on the cover, which is something
that I hardly understand, but alas such might be the world of
Zombie Battle Axe. I am for one hardly a lover of zombie movies
and thus hardly 'in the know' of their soundtracks, but ask me
any day how I imagine it could sound, I may describe something
like Zombie Battle Axe. That is, one track of the five, and I
wouldn't state that all five sound alike, since that's what happens
here. Fat organ sound, feeding through some effects (oh reverb,
spooky!) and BBC's sound effect library number 13 to 15 (church
bells, doors) in full effect thrown at random through the music.
As much (or as less) I can take zombie movies any serious, the
music for their fictitious counterparts is as equally non-serious.
I had a good laugh about the music, and shouted 'hurrah for Slut
Factory Records' and forgot all about it. (FdW)
Address: http://www.slutfactoryrecords.com
EVAN BARTHOLOMEW - CAVERNS OF TIME (CD by
Somnia)
YUI ONODERA - SUBSTRATE (CDR by Mystery Sea)
Normally I don't like to lump in releases together, but with these
two there are pretty similarities that's almost natural to tie
them together. Both deal with ambient music, with the big A and
both were conceived in the world of zeroes and ones: the computer.
I have no idea who Evan Bartholomew is, but it seems to me that
he is the man behind Somnia ('music for the spaces in between'),
since the first two releases are made by him, in an edition of
777 copies (there is meaning there, I assume) of a nice package
- textured, handmade paper, sewn together, that kind of thing.
Bartholomew opens with a heavy long spacious piece of what could
be vocalized textures of sound. The second and third track are
alike, so I began to think this might be for all six tracks and
which would have been a bit too much. But with 'Elusive And Effevescent
Is Our Destination' a simple but effective beat pops in, in what
seems to be a piece of hiss like sounds. 'Descending Deeper In
Search Of The Timeless' opens strong but harks back to the tradition
of Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze, early seventies cosmic music,
while 'Reborn, We Fluctuate And Fade' cools the place down. Maybe
a different order of the pieces would have been better, but throughout
it's a pretty strong release for those who like the forementioned
German cosmonauts, Eno and everything Ambient that came after
that.
Yui Onodera is a bit better known for he has releases on his own
Critical Path label, but also on Drone Records and And/OAR. Here
he appears on Mystery Sea, but his telescope is not pointed towards
the sea but to the sky, to the various stratospheres above us.
In eight pieces Onodera takes us sky high where oxygen doesn't
exist, everything is pitch black and weightless. His compositions
are highly ambient in approach too and represent the 'one stroke
of paint' approach: one sound, set forward with not much change
or movement. It lasts a few minutes and then the next track appears.
Quite a minimal approach, but seeing all tracks are called 'Substrate',
its perhaps better to think of this one track in eight parts then
eight separate tracks. It's a work that has no water references,
which is kinda odd for this label, but musicwise it fits well
among his fellow sailors. If there is one major difference between
Onodera and Bartholomew, then it's the volume: the first is much
softer than the latter. (FdW)
Address: http://www.mysterysea.net
AKKORD I ON - PPP-FFF (CDR by Replica)
Slowly Vital Weekly conquers the world - or rather the world conquers
Vital Weekly. Akkord I On are from Almaty, Kazakhstan - the very
first time I receive something from that part of the world, of
which I know nothing (but I never go the cinema either). The label
Replica was launched during a festival of the same name, the very
first (again!) in that country. Akkord I On is a duo of Roman
Bliznetsov and Konstantin Timoshenko, who released an EP before
and now come with 'ppp-fff', which classical music phrase for
'pianissimo-fortissimo' - very strong silence that is. Timoshenko
plays laptop, field recordings and electronics, while Bliznetsov
plays accordion (hence the band name), small horns and objects.
Just as we recently saw with the release by Zavoloko, this seems
to be a new wave of artists merging music from their own country
along with microsound, techno or more experimental music. Akkord
I On does it mainly with techno like music. Pieces are held together
with a 4/4 rhythm, over which they freely (and more experimentally)
freak out with their sounds. Not every moment succeeds well, such
as 'Grace' which is way too long, and muddles in dub effects,
but the opening 'F Birds' is very nice, with clear field recordings,
melancholy on the accordion and a strong beat. Also 'Shoegazetta'
is quite alright (and the titles shows their humor, 'L'Amourmansk'
is another fine example). This is release may have needed a bit
more editing, but as debut it's quite alright. (FdW)
Address: http://www.replicafest.org
TEN SECOND COMPILATION (CDR by Kif Recordings)
Seventy-one tracks in twenty-five minutes. That is, if I'm not
mistaken ten seconds per track. Kif Recordings asked, through
internet, people to send in music that lasted ten seconds - one
of those internet projects. You can play it, and before you read
from the insert band name and track title, the next one is already
almost over. Is there a point to all of this, I wonder? I could
spend more time thinking about that than actually listening to
this and still don't work out a proper answer. So maybe it's better
to glance the various names and marvel at all the new names, silly
names and silly titles and funny music. It's not all noise that
shines here, but it prevails, in all its variations and deviations.
Rather than trying to point out the point in all of this, I must
admit it's all much more interesting that one would expect. A
pity that some are only very short and one wish to hear more,
in some cases ten seconds is still quite long. (FdW)
Address: http://www.myspace.com/kifrecording
DEAD TREVELLER - NEVER A DULL MOMENT (CDR
by Phase!)
For as long as I know Nicolas Malevitsis, and that is a long time,
I very rarely see him release any of his own music, but I know
he creates some. Here he teams up with Giannis Karabeilas, who
gets credit for 'live video mix', while Malevitsis plays tapes.
It's a recording from 2005 of a pretty rough nature, both the
music and the somewhat crude way of recording it. Sounds battle
together in a free manner, fed through all sorts of electronic
and have a nice, old fashioned noise feel to it. If one had told
me it was the re-issue of a cassette from the mid 80s I would
also have believed that. It's a pretty decent affair this one,
which makes it's title come true. (FdW)
Address: http://www.phaseweb.tk
ZONDERLAND - OIDIPUS: MOTHERFUCKER (CDR,
private)
A new band, but with one person who we met before: Orphax' own
Sietse is part of Zonderland, together with one Bart and Michel.
There are no credits towards the instruments, but we hear drums,
guitars and electronics (Orphax is known to play laptop, but who
knows what else he has mastered?), but perhaps it's all pre-programmed
on laptops? Who can tell in the digital age? A two hour session
was recorded in a studio in Utrecht which was edited down to this
one hour release in three lengthy pieces of music. There is an
element of improvisation to be detected in this music - obviously,
I should add - which could have perhaps needed a bit further trimming,
but I must say hats off for this. Post rock may be well over its
height but that should not stop people from creating music like
that. Themselves give references to Godspeed, Subarachnoid Space,
Tarentel and Arvo Part - who am I to add more names to that list.
They took their references very well and play music that is very
much alike that. Pieces are built up slowly and over the course
of many minutes it grows and grows, like a cascading wave (the
Godspeed approach I would call this), but then it breaks down
as such as things started only to built new theme upon new theme.
Head space music, post space rock, gravel noise or such things
like. Dark, of course, but taken with all the right substances
(more smoke than alcohol) you could easily be lost in this trip.
I think Zonderland holds many promises and are perhaps unprecedented
in The Netherlands. They should shop around for a real CD release
and start touring: they can be big. (FdW)
Address: http://www.zonderland.org
THELMO CRISTOVAM & FERNANDO S. TORRES
(CDR by Dim Records)
Improvised music from South America came to us before from the
Thelmo Cristovam, who here teams up with Fernando S. Torres. Together
they played two pieces of improvised - or rather 'real time composition'
as they call it - music using trumpet, c-melody sax, concert flute,
piezos, air-duster and processed feedback. In the first piece
the wind instruments are pretty dominant and fed to the echo unit,
which I must admit didn't do much for me, so for some parts. But
at almost twenty-four minutes I thought it was rather long. The
second piece is even longer, twenty-six minutes, but is much better.
The wind instruments are played more in onkyo style, but heavily
treated through all sorts of effects, which makes this hardly
microsound, but makes a fine, densely layered pattern of sound,
that occasionally sounds like wind/storm sound. Intense piece
that one, and works really well. To release just that would have
been a much better idea, rather than being complete, I think.
Release your best works, not your complete doodling. Their previous
release on Menthe De Chat is also included as MP3s on the same
disc, and is an another mix of the same session - speaking about
completists! (FdW)
Address: http://www.myspace.com/dimrec
MACHINEFABRIEK - MUSIC FOR INTERMITTENT
MOVEMENTS (CDR by Machinefabriek)
Perhaps a bit premature, but Machinefabriek will play at the Rotterdam
Film Festival, later this month. He has been commissioned to write
music for films by John Price. Price's website describes the films
and even offers previews but somehow there is no workable link.
From what I can tell he makes silent films, shot on super 8 or
16 mm, and sometimes his describitions are short. On 'Camp Series
1' he writes "The first of the camp series was shot during
a fathers' day fishing trip to a remote corner of Newfoundland".
I can sort of think what it looks like, and it sounds to me that
he learned a few tricks from Stan Brakhage - but of course I might
be entirely wrong. Machinefabriek offers the perfect soundtrack
to go with these films, I think. Although working from a different
angle as Machinefabriek works with the computer extensively these
days, his 'silent' music (he has really settled himself for this
kind of music after some soul searching in other styles) fits
well, but somehow it doesn't entirely convince me. Maybe it's
the lack of seeing the films? I don't know, but it seems to me
that these five pieces (well, four for film and one interlude)
aren't as worked out as his previous releases. Maybe he worked
too fast on them? Or is his workload killing him? It sounds a
bit like loose ends tied together that haven't been really, truly
captured as a composition. No doubt the many fans of Machinefabriek
will love it, but for me its not his strongest work to date. (FdW)
Address: http://www.machinefabriek.nu
MATTIN - BROKEN SUBJECT (CDR by Free SS)
JULIEN SKROBEK - LE PALAIS TRANSPARANT (CDR by Free SS)
Two new releases in Mattin's new 'Free Software Series' 'for the
promotion of works realized using free software' and Mattin himself
adds one to the series too. His work is about noise, no doubt
about that (even when he ventured into singing/songwriting before)
and usually I turn the volume a bit down, but for this new release
the volume is better a bit up. In the ten pieces ('created with
PC, PD, Jamin') Mattin delivers blocks of heavy computer treated
sounds, which he cleverly mixes with blocks of silence. Maybe
something he picked up some 'silence is a noise too' when collaborating
with various Japanese musicians, but it works well. The loud bits
are loud, but good. I have no idea whether he treats acoustic
recordings, or let the software feedback internally with the computer,
but the result is a must hear. Mattin actually starts composing
with his sounds, rather than let them freely play around to create
full ear damage. It's by far the best solo Mattin release I heard.
'Audicity under Debian' is what is said on the cover of the release
by one Julien Skrobek. Into 'Audicity under Debian' he feeds the
sound of guitars and sine waves. Here too there is a clever interplay
of sound and silence, although it doesn't work like a competition
as with Mattin. It's not either very loud or total quietness with
Skrobek. The plays loose notes on the guitar, followed by lengthy
chunks of silence. As soon as the sound of the guitar sounds,
there is also the sine wave hissing and peeping about. The sounds
aren't as loud as with Mattin. Certainly no easy work here going
on. There is lots of silence, with very occasional and irregular
intervals of sound, which makes this a highly sort of Japanese
styled release. Full attention is required for this one, otherwise
you might be easily lost. But it's certainly a very fine work
too. Both of these make the series quite interesting. (FdW)
Address: http://www.freesoftwareseries.org
IRIS OLLSCHEWSKI - SOUND-DESTILLATION (3"CDR,
private release)
Destillaat is a yearly exhibition of young artists at Extrapool,
taking the form of video, installation, painting, printing and
in some cases music. To distill the new talent from the various
art schools in The Netherlands. One of this years participants
was German's Iris Ollschewski, who asked a whole bunch of people
that at one point or another played at Extrapool to send in some
sounds from which she would distill a composition that was played
on four speakers in a small room. Thirteen people responded positively
and Iris composed a six minute piece out of that. It's hard to
believe that it comes from such diverse sources, even when Iris
applies collage like methods to create the piece. The various
sources flow quite naturally into eachother and form a coherent
music composition of little over six minutes, also when 'reduced'
to a stereo mix. Comes with a nice cover and limited to a few
handful copies. Completists for the works of say Roel Meelkop,
Harald Sack Ziegler or Machinefabriek should pay notice! (FdW)
Address: http://www.missesfree.com
YOSHIMI! - II AKA THE CHESHIRE RAT (MP3
by Esc Rec)
TOXIC CHICKEN - MAKE MY DAY (MP3 by Esc Rec)
SLO-FI - 'S LOOT (MP3 by Esc Rec)
Deventer's (that is in The Netherlands) Esc Rec closes the year,
or perhaps starts up with three free MP3 releases, two of which
are by artists whom we know from before and a new one. Yoshimi!
is one Niek Hilkmann, who is only 18 years old, and who plays
the cello (along with other instruments he claims to be qualified
for, such as 'Conga, Guitar, Synth, Bass, Bongo, Tarbuka, Rababa,
Harmonium, Trumpet, Accordeon, Euphonium, Drums, Ukulele and some
other small things") , but for his electronic music he turns
on the computer. He samples his own playing and makes popmusic
out of it. Electronic music with quite some speed, until 'A Building',
which is a more of a slow piece. The instruments that he claims
to play all drop by at one point or another, and make an utter
varied work that is quite funny and mature, despite his age. A
promising start, and certainly somebody who is going to be picked
by more mainstream alternative music.
Quite hot on the heels of 'Lo Fi' (see Vital Weekly 593), Toxic
Chicken now arrives with 'Make My Day', which is hardly a break
of styles. Short tracks with the raw and untamed energy of anarchy.
A bit electro, a bit punk, still the sort of music to be used
while engaged in various activities, like cleaning the house,
doing shopping (MP3!) - anything but reading basically. It's hard
to concentrate while this is squirting away from the speakers.
The final MP3 by Esc Rec (for the moment), is by slo-fi, the techno
project of one Roel Meelkop, who is another life is known as Roel
Meelkop, the serious composer of microsound, silence and such
like. But rhythmical always had a strong interest to him. See
his involvement with Goem, with Zebra and solo as slo-fi. The
project that is probably the easiest to access is also the project
that brought him the least fame. He has two old 12" releases
on Audio.NL, one of Antenne Records and some CDR release, and
here four tracks that could have been a great 12". But it
hasn't been. If that is a great pity is not for me to tell: I
am not a DJ of any kind, so the medium in which things take shape
is always of least interest to me. But I can imagine that this
would sound really fine on 12", when cut right, and that
a fine DJ would spin this in front of a dancing crowd. That would
in a world of justice, but there is no such world. I think slo-fi
makes great dance music, even for those who hardly move their
feet, like me. It's a pity that this side of Meelkop's career
never took off and he is not ranked as important as he is in that
area. Shame shame. But now you can take it for free and see what
you missed. (FdW)
Address: http://www.escrec.com