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VITAL WEEKLY
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number 610
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week 3
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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
ANGEL - KALMUKIA (CD by Editions Mego) *
M.B. - E.D.A. - REGOLELETTRONICHE (CD by Baskaru) *
THE STORY OF MODERN FARMING - SOMEONE NEW - (CD by D'Autres Cordes)
MATHIAS DELPLANQUE - LA PLINTHE (CD by Optical Sound) *
KAPITAL BAND 1 - PLAYING BY NUMBERS (CD by Mosz) *
MERZBOW - HIGANBANA (CD by Vivo Records) *
KK NULL - BARYO GENESIS (CD by Vivo Records) *
DE RAASKAL BOM FUKKERZ - VENNOTEN IN DE SCHADUW (CD by Toztizok)
MICO NONET - THE MARMALADE BALLOON (CD by Mico Nonet Records)
*
MICO NONET - MALOJA PASS/HAMMOCK (7" by Mico Nonet Records)
CRITIKAL - GRAPHORRHEA (CD by Kvitnu) *
KRAKEN - DRIFT (CD by Spectre Records) *
SKINCAGE - THINGS FALL APART (CD by Spectre Records)
THE [LAW-RAH] COLLECTIVE - ...AS IT IS... (double 3"CD by
Spectre Records)
ASMUS TIETCHENS - TEILS TEILS (LP by Swill Radio)
FEAR FALLS BURNING - FIRST BY A WHISPER, THEN BY A STORM (LP by
Tonefloat)
FEAR FALLS BURNING - WHEN MYSTERY PREVADES WELL, THE PROMISE SETS
FIRE (LP by Tone Float)
STAPLERFAHRER - TREETOPS (LP by Heilskabaal Records)
KASPER VAN HOEK - NP3 (businesscard CDR, private)
LOGOPLASM & PUNCK - DRUNK UPON THY HOLY MOUNTAIN (CDR by Setola
Di Maiale Records) *
Z-ARC - ACCUMULATIVE EFFECT (CDR by Boltfish Recordings) *
KIRAMEKI (CDR by Bearsuit Records)
SPIT - LITTLE KING ANNUAL (CDR by CLaudia) *
PLAYING SOUND (3"CDR compilation by CLaudia)
HEARING MUSIC (3"CDR compilation by CLaudia)
METEK & JLIAT - PINGUU++BONDAGE (3"CDR by Jliat) *
IN THE EYE OF VISION (tape by Dreamtime Taped Sounds)
GAS SHPEHERDS (tape by Dreamtime Taped Sounds)
FRICARA PACCHU - KLEINSTEIN & CO (tape by Dreamtime Taped
Sounds)
HENRY KUNTZ - SPEED OF CULTURE LIGHT (4 tapes by Dreamtime Taped
Sounds)
ANGEL - KALMUKIA (CD by Editions Mego)
The word 'hobby project' is a word I don't particularly like.
It sounds like something is not serious or for plain fun, without
too much effort. With various releases as Angel, it's probably
safe to say that Angel is no longer the hobby project of Ilpo
Vaisanen (from Pan Sonic), Dirk Dresselhaus (Schneider TM) and
since their last CD also Hildur Gudnadottir (Lost In Hildurness,
she also plays on the latest Pan Sonic release) - it's as much
a real thing as their 'main' occupations. Four lengthy cuts here
of guitar, cello and loads of electronics - loads as in many,
but they are not used all the time and to the same extent. The
pieces are rather empty, like a dessert can be empty, yet full
of sand, if you look at the detail. 'Kalmukia' seems like a concept
album, with the four pieces linked together. It moves away from
the previous, much louder and fuller releases. More is less it
seems. The empty music is not always bright, or rather: hardly
bright. This is not black but grey music - an area in between
the sun doing down, or autumn changing for winter. In between
space music. The music howls about like cold wind over the tundra
- perhaps a better reference than a hot dessert. Cello and guitar
strum about, while the electronics shiver in the background. A
bit of raw and a bit quiet. Very nice, this grey and cold winter
music. (FdW)
Address: http://www.editionsmego.com
M.B. - E.D.A. - REGOLELETTRONICHE (CD by
Baskaru)
Twenty years of silence is made up in a few years via an endless
stream of releases from our beloved Maurizio Bianchi, also known
as M.B. who teams up here with his twenty year colleague Emanuela
de Angelis, who was the lead singer and guitarist of Joyce Whore
Not and who founded later Mou, Lips!. Since 2004 she works solo.
Like with a lot of collaborations that Bianchi undertook in recent
times, it's pretty unclear how things were made, who did what.
Bianchi gets credit for 'rulelectronics', loops and waves and
De Angelis for drones, re-echoings and also 'rulelectronics'.
'Electronic rules for reflecting disciples' it says on the cover.
The four pieces are pretty minimal affairs of shifting layers
of drones of similar yet detailed differences. The whole things
hums, vibrates and shakes on all sides. Ambient industrial at
it's very best, steady moving, slowly changing. Very cleverly
things get stretched throughout a piece, to make more space, which
works best in the opening piece 'Earthly Principle'. This is a
pretty strong collaborative disc, of highly unsettling ambient
drone music. (FdW)
Address: http://www.baskaru.com
THE STORY OF MODERN FARMING - SOMEONE NEW
- (CD by D'Autres Cordes)
This obscure french label is new to me. It is, in their own words,
a "post-radiophonic, avant-jazz, electronic, pop rock label.
So be it. Their small catalogue concentrates on french musicians,
but with The Story of Modern Farming this is not the case. It
is a duo of two young female talents.
From Denmark comes Loise Dam Eckardt Jensen,
playing alto-saxophone, xylophone a.o., Jessica Sligter is from
Holland (but living and working in Oslo). We hear her on keyboards,
electronics, guitar, and above all vocals. On their debut they
present a collection of 10 songs, most of them built around the
vocals of Sligter. Most compositions were composed, improvised
together. Sligter wrote the vocals. It is obvious she listened
a lot to jazz and soul vocalists, and in a way she stays close
to this tradition. The difference however is that her singing
is not accompanied by a swinging jazz band. In stead electronics
dominate, together with the subtile saxplaying by Jensen. They
create an minimalistic and ambient-like background, with, from
time to time, loud eruptions produced by the free-jazz playing
Jensen, or freaky playing on the keyboards. Altogether it is strange
slow music, open and poetic in nature, evoking dreamy atmospheres,
meditating on themes that come from daily life. 'Kenny Gsus' is
the exception, and has a nice instrumental battle between the
ladies. Throughout the album Sligter and Jensen give an emotional
and inspired interpretation of their songs. An unusual and interesting
release it is. (DM)
Address: http://www.myspace.com/dautrescordes
MATHIAS DELPLANQUE - LA PLINTHE (CD by Optical
Sound)
Like many other musicians, Mathias Delplanque works under different
guises to present different kinds of music. As Lena he plays dub
like music, and under his own name things are more microsound.
I wasn't blown away by his previous 'Le Pavillon Temoin', but
this new one, 'La Plinthe' (meaning The Baseboard) is better.
Although, I readily admit that the differences aren't that big.
Again, Delplanque seems to be using various acoustic instruments
(such as guitar, piano, drums etc.) but treats them to such an
extent that that can be no longer traced back to the original
source, so I must admit I am guessing here. It's a bit hard to
say why I like this album better than the previous. Maybe it's
because there are lesser attempts to create small melodies and
overall it seems that album is more abstract, working more along
the lines of say Richard Chartier or Roel Meelkop. The pieces
are more worked out, and have tension throughout, which grabs
the listener more than before. Throughout 'La Plinthe' is a pretty
strong album. Maybe not in its genre per se, but quite a leap
forward. (FdW)
Address: http://www.optical-sound.com
KAPITAL BAND 1 - PLAYING BY NUMBERS (CD
by Mosz)
It's been a while since we heard first about Kapital Band 1 (Vital
Weekly 404), but no doubt Micolas Bussmann and Martin Brandlmayr
have not been lazy in the past five years. There seems to have
a second album, which I missed out upon. On this new album, the
two extend beyond their usual instruments (bass and drum) and
add cello, guitar, vibraphone, marimba, voice and flute, all but
the latter played by them. Their background in other bands, such
as Beige Oscillator, Ich Schwitze Nie, Radian and Trapist can
be heard in their playing. The partly improvised music has, certainly
in the title track, a strong jazzy feel to it, mainly through
the use of drums and the cello. The long 'Playing The Night In
Vienna' is based on a street recording to which they add sparse
instrumentation, but which give a very nice environmental nocturnal
feel to it. That feel is continued 'Counting The Waves' which
has more 'musical' information, including a voice reciting the
title. Highly comfortable, easy music, with strong melodic music
that works best sipping a glass of red wine in the evening. (FdW)
Address: http://www.mosz.org
MERZBOW - HIGANBANA (CD by Vivo Records)
KK NULL - BARYO GENESIS (CD by Vivo Records)
One undisputed king of noise, and one that could be king if there
wasn't one already. Merzbow, the unstoppable, is the undisputed
king of noise. This is release number 'I long forgot' and harks
back to so many of his recent computerized noise releases. Playing
'noise, computer and EMS synthi A' this is all known territory.
At times it seems like there is no progress in Merzbow's sound,
and this one is one of those 'more of the same'. Its great of
course, and I really like it. I have been collecting Merzbow for
twenty years until a few years ago, when I found myself playing
a lot of them only once, which I believe should not be the point
of collection music. Collecting music by a certain artist means
you have to play it. If you can't find the time anymore to hear
things more than once, one should stop collecting. Since then
I only hear new Merzbow when it lands on my doorstep and all the
others are missed out upon. No problem, because since then the
occasional Merzbow is much better than the one time only Merzbow.
'Higanbana' is fine disc, but a stand still. i don't believe the
fans would care about that.
KK Null would have been king of noise if Merzbow wouldn't be on
the throne. Ever since his work with ANP and Zeni Geva he loves
to work with the raw end of music and sound, which has become
increasingly more abstract and less rock based than say in his
Zeni Geva days. Unlike Merzbow there is a stronger rhythmic component
in his music which forms the backbone of his music. It's however
not a rhythm of stomping kind, techno like or any such like, but
more the repeated action of highly splintered sound fragments,
which are looped. On top KK Null plays a brand of harsher noise
textures of freaked out psychedelic electronics. Other than Merzbow
- again - KK Null's sound is much more detailed and clearer, even
in the endless stream of information that his music is. Four strong
heavy blasts of noise, and the tracks are pretty long, but in
order to get this music working right, it only seems natural to
give it such a length. Here too we can wonder about the progress
of the music, since it's certainly not Null's first CD, but with
a discography that is considerable smaller than Merzbow's that
is hardly a problem. (FdW)
Address: http://www.vivo.pl
DE RAASKAL BOM FUKKERZ - VENNOTEN IN DE
SCHADUW (CD by Toztizok)
"Hi Frans, hey man cool that you gave me that CD. Is it because
I'm 20 that you want my opinion, or because you know I like rap
music? Or perhaps both? Well, these are cool dudes playing rap
music with wacked out Dutch lyrics - a bit like De Jeugd Van Tegenwoordig,
but more heavy and strange. It's not the usual shit I hear, because
they sound a bit heavy on the music bit - you know a bit like
that crazy junk you always play when I am around. Well, of course
not as extreme, but this lot is not like the regular TMF stuff.
No doubt, the people that read your thingy Vital something that
you do, will like this, but if you print these words, I can keep
the CD, because you have a review, right? Love - A"
Address: http://www.toztozok.nl
MICO NONET - THE MARMALADE BALLOON (CD by
Mico Nonet Records)
MICO NONET - MALOJA PASS/HAMMOCK (7" by Mico Nonet Records)
Always I believed that a nonet is an ensemble of nine people,
and Mico Nonet has five, so that should have been quintet? Or
perhaps I am all wrong - and I didn't pay attention when my father
tried to teach me classical music terms. The five musicians at
work here all have day jobs with symphony orchestra's, all over
the world: from Berlin, Richmond, Baltimore to Philadelphia. Only
their leader, one Joshua Lee Kramer (who is a member of Matt Pond
PA) is not, and he's also the only one who plays synthesizer.
He describes Mico Nonet as 'ambient chamber music' and quite right
it seems to me. French horn, oboe, cello and viola are the other
instruments and they play quiet chamber music that you could easily
define as ambient. 'The Marmalade Balloon' is their debut album
with thirteen relatively short pieces that glide by like a cold
winter, sun-covered day. It's cold outside, warm inside, and this
music is the perfect soundtrack for such a day. Sustained tones,
glissando and pianissimo with the synthesizer very much pushed
to the background, producing an overall color, rather than adding
sound. Highly atmospheric music that could come straight out of
the Cold Blue Music catalogue. Peaceful music, without being a
cliche or new age.
It's a bit unclear why they also release two tracks from the album
on transparent 7" vinyl, as the charts seem far away, but
played separate from the album, this proofs that a single song
the music works well too. 'Maljola Pass' is a sad song while 'Hammock'
is a bit more 'experimental' and free flow. Nice indeed, but as
a whole I prefer the album. (FdW)
Address: http://www.micononet.com
CRITIKAL - GRAPHORRHEA (CD by Kvitnu)
The internet is a community - well, that is to say, some people
like to believe that. It works for small groups but not for the
big mass, all the facebook and myspace and what have you is not
a community at all. You may disagree. Critikal is a group of people
who may meet up every now and then, because the music of Vital
Weekly is also about tourism, but not doubt they meet more in
the digital area. It started out with Jeff Surak, Andrey Kiritchenko
and Jonas Lindgren; the latter left and now it's also with Dmytro
Fedorenko and Tobias Astrom. Each of them plays a variety of sound
sources, usually ending with a laptop. Kotra's Fedorenko is the
main creator of the music on 'Graphorrhea', 'transforming' the
sounds supplied by the others. It would be nice to hear what those
sounds were, so we could 'check' as it were what Fedorenko transformed,
or perhaps even try our own hands on the material. Fedorenko created
thirteen short pieces of what might be called 'laptop doodling'.
As Kotra he likes things to have some volume, and for this work
it's not different. Short explosions of distorted sound, with
his own bass at times dominant present, this doesn't always leave
a good impression. It seems to me that some of the tracks have
more potential than what is offered here, and some tracks have
no head or tail. They just happen, as a block of noise, for the
sake of noise. That's too bad, since, as said, the full potential
has not been explored here. A more balanced product could have
been the result. (FdW)
Address: http://kvitnu.com
KRAKEN - DRIFT (CD by Spectre Records)
SKINCAGE - THINGS FALL APART (CD by Spectre Records)
THE [LAW-RAH] COLLECTIVE - ...AS IT IS... (double 3"CD by
Spectre Records)
Releases by Belgium's Spectre label always look great - a sort
of cross-over between Staalplaat and Ant-Zen, and also the music
they release may be found in similar areas. Kraken is a stall
artist for Spectre Records, but I don't have much further information
about who, what and why. Judging by the various titles of the
pieces it's more or less a concept album about fish and how their
caught. Sushi is murder is one of the tracks (well, a translation
of the title that is). It seems to me that this album has a highly
political meaning - the advocate of vegetarian life style, and
to that end they use on one hand synthesizer, sound effects and
voices and on the other hand what seems to me field recordings
recorded on board of ships. The end result however sounds less
political - rather than a pamphlet its more a poetic rant against
the inhuman action of fishing. Dark ambient is stamped all over
this. Deep drone like, drenched in a lot of reverb, screaming
sounds of seagulls and other underbelly underworld rumble. An
unsettling work that however has more power than say Merzbow's
actions for animals. Darker than dark this hörspiel.
I don't think I ever came across the music of Skincage's Jon Ray.
His debut CD is from six years ago, so maybe I have forgotten
about it. His music is created with 'broken or somehow manipulated
selfmade instruments', which he seems to have sampled together.
Music wise is a bit atonal, with nasty high end sounds, lo-fi
samples, percussive elements, strange drone intersections. You
guessed it: I thought this album was not very good. Despite working
on it for six years, it sounds like created in a couple of days,
with half ideas and not much thought to make his pieces interesting
or create an overall atmosphere. It's all rather unsurprising
and dull. The sort of thing which you can make yourself and better
at that.
The [Law-rah] Collective did pop up in Vital Weekly before, but
usually for events they organize in Utrecht. Events that deal
with ambient music, and their own music is never far away. Their
previous release, '1953' (also on Spectre) was a conceptual, narrative
piece on the flood of the same year that hit the Netherlands.
This new work, divided over two 3"CDs seems to have less
of a conceptual edge to it, or at least less obvious. The first
CD is has one piece called 'Water Torture' and the second has
two pieces 'Heaven' and 'Hell'. Important for the The [Law-rah]
Collective is the use of voices, especially female. Not singing,
but reciting text, poetry or words. What they are about is not
really important I think, since they are embedded strongly in
the music. The music itself is created through analogue synthesizers
and sound effects and have quite a strong ambient industrial character.
Not 'easy' background wallpaper ambient music, but one of a more
unsettling kind. Very nice. Packed in a 7" sleeve with die
cut. No doubt the owner of Spectre Records has good connection
to a fine printer. (FdW)
Address: http://www.spectre.be
ASMUS TIETCHENS - TEILS TEILS (LP by Swill
Radio)
Now that Die Stadt is half way through re-releasing all the LPs
by Asmus Tietchens on CD, which I believe is a format that fits
his music much better, the anti-naturals of Swill Radio come with
a new LP by him. Although it seems, we are not entirely certain
here, Asmus' music works in a sort of digital environment these
days, which makes it more delicate than before, this LP is crisp
and clear. Still derived from his 'Menge' series, resulting in
a whole bunch of CDs and some off shoot to vinyl (called 'Teilmenge'),
here are three more examples, plus a piece that is called 'Ein
Weiteres Leben Geht Zu Ende', which refers to a title on 'Notturno'
if I'm not mistaken. 'Teilmenge 20' is on the entire first side,
and has a crackle rhythm throughout, and underneath there are
various blocks of sound which are moved around, softly. It's like
objects being pushed around through the room and it makes a pretty
unsettling atmosphere. Quite mathematical in a way, but it has
great warmth. On the other side there are three tracks of which
are two more pieces of 'Teilmenge', which have the same high pitched
sound as we know from the other pieces, the ring modulator working
over time. In the middle there is the 'Ein Weiteres Leben Geht
Zu Ende' which could be a heavily treated piano piece (if it is
at all linked to 'Notturno'), slow and peaceful. Excellent pressing
this record, great minimal cover, fine music. What more do you
want? Something special. And be sure to turn up the volume for
this LP! (FdW)
Address: http://www.anti-naturals.org
FEAR FALLS BURNING - FIRST BY A WHISPER,
THEN BY A STORM (LP by Tonefloat)
FEAR FALLS BURNING - WHEN MYSTERY PREVADES WELL, THE PROMISE SETS
FIRE (LP by Tone Float)
March the 1st 2005 was a historical day: for the first time Fear
Falls Burning is mentioned in Vital Weekly (in 463), with his
first release 'First By A Whisper, Then By A Storm'. That was
a self-released CD which he sold on a tour which kick started
his career. Recently he found some more copies of that CD along
with the very first recordings he made as Fear Falls Burning,
which are now sold together. For a review of the CD go back to
Vital Weekly 463, but the LP is pressed in a very limited edition.
There is of course nothing amateur about these recordings, as
Vidna Obmana came out of Vidna Obmana, which had be Dirk Serries'
main project for twenty years, but with hindsight one can see
that these are the first sketches. Things are alright, but not
yet as refined as his later stuff. Dirk here tries to play in
real-time longer pieces, while applying all these effects to create
an interesting piece of music. This works best with the second
piece on the second side with its shifting pitches. Quite one
for the fans I think, but they are plenty by now.
Today, in Vital Weekly 610 it's the twenty-fourth time Fear Falls
Burning is mentioned and no doubt it's mostly about new releases.
So let's say twenty or so releases in three years - you could
do worse. 'When Mystery Prevades Well, The Promise Sets Fire'
is a beautiful gate-fold sleeve LP with two pieces, one per side.
Glacier like music in which it seems that the effects have a bigger
role than the guitar. It's quite hard to recognize the guitar
in this music, with moves in a minimal way. More Eno)) than Sunno))
I'd say, although there is a creepy undercurrent in Fear Falls
Burning's music. This record sees Dirk moving away from the signature
sound from before: the endless crescendo wall of sound building
up, suddenly collapsing and stays more on the ambient side of
things. Maybe a bit more Vidna Obmana than Fear Falls Burning
- but I'm sure that would not be his intention. Very nice! (FdW)
Address: http://www.tonefloat.com
STAPLERFAHRER - TREETOPS (LP by Heilskabaal
Records)
KASPER VAN HOEK - NP3 (businesscard CDR, private)
One of Eno's 'Oblique Strategies' is 'to honor thy mistake'. I
had to think of that when listening to the very first LP by Steffan
de Turck's Staplerfahrer project. So far he came from the crude
noise to more sophisticated microsound, but due to some mistake
in mastering this LP isn't cut too well, which distorts in various
places. So it has become a different record than what he had in
mind, I think. What was supposed to be a record of more microsound
like structures, became a more noise related item. On side A there
is long 'Soundtrack to Treetops For The New Millennium' a film
by Mahatma LeRoi, which has nice parts of seagulls, musicboxes
and distorted low and high end passages. It's of course hard to
tell how this is related to the film. On the other side there
is 'Lover's Breath', which starts out in a softer tone too, but
when things reach their peak it's loud and uncontrollable. I think
this album displays well the possibilities of Staplerfahrer to
generate music that is interesting, even given the technical problems
surrounding this record and surely cries for more like this in
the future, but then exactly as intended.
Labelboss Kasper van Hoek released a business card CDR, for whatever
unclear reasons not on his own Heilskabaal label, but as a private
thing. Three pieces which were made as part of an exhibition in
NP3, where he found all the sound. Kasper's music so far has not
been the most quiet, but it was never as noisy as it is here.
Loud distorted, chopped to pieces, with feedback and scratching
the surface. The brief character of this makes this a lovely little
item. Not a second too long, or too short. (FdW)
Address: http://www.heilskabaal.net
LOGOPLASM & PUNCK - DRUNK UPON THY HOLY
MOUNTAIN (CDR by Setola Di Maiale Records)
Two active members of Italy's microsound scene, each with a long
discography to their names, mainly in the areas of MP3 and CDR.
Logoplasm is the duo of Laura Lovreglio and Paolo Ippoliti and
Punck is Adriano Zanni and the three of them love to record the
field and feed it to their laptops. Here things are processed,
treated, mixed and constructed into one long track, which falls
apart in various distinct different sections. The drones they
built something reminded me of The Hafler Trio in the early nineties,
while they use extended techniques to change the field recordings:
cow bells, rain, voices, sea gulls and such like. Together that
makes a lot of sense and they created a most interesting piece
of music, compelling and intense as well as relaxing at times.
Perhaps not the most innovative things around, but surely their
most refined work to date. It's about time for a real CD or real
piece of vinyl. (FdW)
Address: http://www.setoladimaiale.net
Z-ARC - ACCUMULATIVE EFFECT (CDR by Boltfish
Recordings)
Boltfish Recordings seems to have an endless stream of musicians
that from the outside - my side that is - are interchangeable,
but no doubt in the language of Boltfish are all highly unique.
Z-arc is one Kris Derry, who has releases on October Man and Clickclickdrone
since 2005, but before played with 'pop-rock' groups and has been
DJing with a 'battered old MC303', but these days he is an advocate
of 'virtual studio technology' - meaning, I think, he uses lots
of software to create his music. This software imitates analogue
synthesizers and rhythm machines to create that fine IDM styled
music. His inspiration comes from novels by Asimov and popular
science concerned with universal atomic expansion. I'm quoting
the press text here, since I wouldn't have guessed by just listening
to the music. That could be, as far as I'm concerned be about
anything - from a science fiction movie soundtrack ('Transbeam'
would be a good one for that) to travel music when crossing the
Orinoco. Which means that like much of the artists, also the music
they present is a bit interchangeable. I hear only minor differences
between this and other artists on Boltfish. It's surely nice,
entertaining and sometimes that is all that is required. Not bad
at all, but also something you might forget when done with it.
(FdW)
Address: http://www.boltfish.co.uk
KIRAMEKI (CDR by Bearsuit Records)
Two Japanese musicians, Harold Nono and one that goes by the symbol
of _ form the duo Kirameki. I have no idea when and how this CDR
will be released by Bearsuit Records, as it all seems rather sketchy,
but perhaps this sketchy-ness fits the music quite well. Sketchy
and vague. A bit of breakcore at times, sampled together bits
of pop and bits of computer processing. It makes that this release
is a bit all over the place, but somehow never in the right place.
Sometimes it's alright, but it seems that they don't know what
they want. Breakcore, disco, plunderphonics or macrosound? I think
it would have been better to find a direction first, then create
some songs and then release a work. Sometimes things do need their
time. (FdW)
Address: <bearsuitrecords@hotmail.com>
SPIT - LITTLE KING ANNUAL (CDR by CLaudia)
PLAYING SOUND (3"CDR compilation by CLaudia)
HEARING MUSIC (3"CDR compilation by CLaudia)
Three new releases on CLaudia, one of New Zealand's finer CDR
labels. The big one is by Spit, also known as Ryan Cockburn, who
moved from Dunedin to Melbourne, where he recorded this album.
Cockburn has been turntable and was a member of EYE, but for this
album he picks up a wide variety of instruments. On the CLaudia
website you can find detailed notes on all instruments used, which
include anything from cheap toy guitars, mixers, microphones and
computer. The result is, despite the use of a computer, a pretty
lo-fi affair, but also a pretty varied affair. From strumming
the guitar, feeding the boxes on the floor, to pieces that include
drums, such as the rock like opening 'Etude Pour Un Derive'. The
pieces are pretty long and one could wonder if they aren't too
long at times. It could have been better if Spit would have trimmed
things down a bit. But when he bumps in some variety inside a
track, like in 'Cheesegrater For The Knuckles' things are pretty
nice. One geographically very well defined product.
The other two releases by CLaudia are compilations. 'Playing Sound'
has four pieces of each five minutes of guitar music. That is
to say: music that is made with guitars but do not necessarily
sound like guitars. Un Ciego, Ben Spiers, CJA & Jani Hellen
and Pumice do the job well. There is the wall of noise approach
by Un Ciego in a deep down mood, while with Spiers the guitar
still sounds like a guitar, albeit on fire with the blues. Something
similar, a guitar to be recognized, is the piece by CJA and Jani
Hellen, but with a lot more effects to create a semi-psychedelic
mood. Pumice's guitar is highly distorted through use of some
very crude computer processing. Four approaches with four times
a fine result.
The other compilation deals with field recordings and is a re-issue
of four individually released business card CDRs, compiled here
so 'all the better to collect their similarities and compare their
differences'. It starts out with Jane Austen playing the piano
in a room with sleepy animals (or so it seems), but it's not the
best piece around. C. Cotrell has five short pieces (here as one
piece) of field recordings and computer processing, which is quite
nice. Yek-Koo also has field recordings, which he recorded "onto
home-made audio loopers. Then performed and mixed live with the
addition of two digital effects pedals." Automated music
that works nicely in a raw but ambient music way. Mark Sadgrove
has 'Supoutso No Koe', a.k.a. sport songs, recorded in the tennis
court. Pretty much unprocessed, this is not exactly music to sweat
by, but provides a nice ambience and some Japanese intensity.
Nice compilations! (FdW)
Address: http://www.halftheory.com/claudia
METEK & JLIAT - PINGUU++BONDAGE (3"CDR
by Jliat)
Our man of noise, busy with many volumes of 'Now That's What I
Call Noise' teams up with the for me unknown Metek and 'the process
of exchange on 3inch and 12inch vinyl', here only arrives in the
form of a 3" CDR. Twelve minutes of loud and vicious noise.
My brother once asked me wether I was recording the brushing of
my teeth, when I was playing noise. The sound produced by Metek
and Jliat sort of reminded me of brushing teeth - but then with
a microphone, amplifier and a distortion box. For this release
Jliat processed fourteen one minute tracks by Metek, who reprocessed
this later again, while Jliat edited the whole thing. Pretty straight
forward as one piece; that whole process information is a bit
lost in this endless stream of noise. For the amount of musical
information - twelve minutes in total - it's perhaps even not
necessary to know all of this. Long enough to hold the attention,
even for those who only mildly love noise. (FdW)
Address: http://www.myspace.com/jliat
IN THE EYE OF VISION (tape by Dreamtime
Taped Sounds)
GAS SHPEHERDS (tape by Dreamtime Taped Sounds)
FRICARA PACCHU - KLEINSTEIN & CO (tape by Dreamtime Taped
Sounds)
HENRY KUNTZ - SPEED OF CULTURE LIGHT (4 tapes by Dreamtime Taped
Sounds)
Belgium's Dreamtime Taped Sounds loves the sort of mystery that
I don't love. Of these four (!, no seven!) tapes two of them come
with a printed cover that has absolutely no information on it.
No artist name, no titles, no label. Why that is so great simply
eludes me. In The Eye Of Vision is one of them (I got a letter
saying which artist belong to which cover, and the rest is on
the website), which is a 'collection of edited jams between 1/2
ZIM ZIM ZIM and 1/1 DOLPHINS INTO THE FUTURE', whoever they might
be. For thirty minutes they dabble around with electronics in
a sort of lo-fi manner. Perhaps lo-fi is not the right word: no
fidelity can be found here. Perhaps it was fun to create this,
but why share it?
Also no information whatsoever on the cover of Gas Shepherds,
but again according to the website they are 'two Birmingham druids
that speak their language with an odd dialect' and classified
as "english autodidacts and "musique concrète"
- whatever all of that may mean. Tape loops in the old meaning
of the word of instruments, some feedback, and perhaps some 'concrete
sounds' - that's about what I could detect through the hiss that
seems to be the main instrument of this release. Better than 'In
The Eye Of Vision', but also one that deserves better attention
when it comes to recording and mixing. One feels the ideas buried
in there, but not fully explored in the release.
More 'information' is on Fricara Pacchu's 'Kleinstein & Co'.
It's recorded in Turku, Finland. One Kevin Regan is behind it,
and he is a member of Avarus and Maniacs Dream and the label Lallallal
- none of which ever washed upon this shore. Much better recorded,
much better music - maybe that's what prompted Dreamtime Taped
Sounds in spending more time on the cover? Wildly improvised music
at work here. It's hard to tell wether this is the work of a band
or just a crazy guy and a computer, but things rock out for sure.
Space rock like, but with healthy, firm dose of noise thrown in.
Very nice. This should have been on CDR - at least!
The best bit we have saved until the end. Liner notes! In Vital
Weekly 579 we reviewed for the first time music by Henri Kuntz,
but he has been around for a long time. That previous CD showed
his interest in saxophones an wayang puppets, this new release
spans his career from the last thirty years and has a lot more
to tell. Kuntz is foremost an improviser, the saxophone is main
instrument, but over the years he has also played violin, ethnic
instruments, vocals, solo and in duo, trio or larger groups with
others, such as with his band Opeye (which takes up the second
tape in this box). This boxset lasts four hours and is best listened
in one go, uninterrupted. The whole picture will then unfold for
you. It will no doubt leave you very tired behind, certainly when
listened with full attention, and this is music with lots and
lots of sonic information, but fans of regular improvisation will
certainly want to investigate this. If I had to choose one of
the four as my favorite - they are all divided in various categories
- then it'll be number four which extends from his previous reviewed
CD, solo saxophone and gamelan. (FdW)
Address: http://www.breadandanimals.com