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VITAL WEEKLY
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number 612
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week 5
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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
before submitting material please read this
carefully: http://www.vitalweekly.net/fga.html
Submitting material means you read this and approve of this.
* noted are in this week's podcast
D_RRADIO (CD by Cabin Boy/Distraction Records)
MOIRA STEWART - SWEETNESS, YES! (CD by Cabin Boy/Distraction Records)
*
COLD READING TRIO - LIFE OF GHOST (CD by Form Function Records)
SUITE CRUDE REVUE - SPACE AGE GUTBUCKET AFRODELIC JAZZPLOITATION
(CD by Cosmoelliptic)
SET IN SAND - NOTHING AGAINST THE OCEAN (CD by Abandon Building)
*
BRAN(...)POS - COIN-OP KHEPRI (CD by C.I.P.) *
LJUDBILDEN & PILOTEN - ONE HUNDRED FIFTY-FIVE (CD by Nosordo)
*
BIRCHVILLE CAT MOTEL - GUNPOWDER TEMPLE OF HEAVEN (CD by Pica
Disk) *
HLEUCHATISTAS - EVEN IN THE MIDST ... (CD by Cuneiform)
FAVOURITE PLACES (CD by Audiobulb Records)
TITMACHINE (7" by Meeuw Muzak)
AHASVERUS - FOUNDATION (CDR by Ahasverus Records) *
PUIN + HOOP - HEADPHONE SESSIONS (CDR, private)
JOSH RUSSELL - SINK (CDR/MP3 by Quiet Design) *
ROBERT CURGENVEN/CHRIS HOWDEN - ALICE SPRINGS, CENTRAL AUSTRALIA
(CDR by Recorded Fields) *
LINDENBERG MUNROE & LAMARQ BARROS & THELMO CRISTOVAM &
HENDERSON RODRIGUES - ALPENDRE (CDR by Tib Prod)
LEONARDO BARZABAL/ADRIAN JUAREZ - SPLIT SERIES #5 (CDR by Tib
Prod)
LECANORA - IMMUNITY (CD by Kokeshidisk) *
JGRZINICH - FERRIC (3"CDR by Taalem)
HUM - CALDRON OF WINDS (3"CDR by Taalem)
BEN FLEURY-STEINER - HE DREAMS IN RIVERS (3"CDR by Taalem)
JUTE GYTE - APIDYA (CDR by Jeshimoth Entertainment)
JUTE GYTE - WHERE WE GO WHEN WE (3"CDR by Jeshimoth Entertainment)
JUTE GYTE - ARAKAN (CDR by Jeshimoth Entertainment)
GRIZ+ZLOR & JUTE GYTE - COLOSSUS OF WHITE TAR (3"CDR
by Jeshimoth Entertainment)
PUMPKIN BUZZARD - UNDERNEATH ROTTING (CDR by Jeshimoth Entertainment)
PUMPKIN BUZZARD - MANTIS ANTLER (CDR by Jeshimoth Entertainment)
*
OPRHAX - DROWNING IN A POOL OF TREES (3"CDR, private) *
COLOSSUS - THRONE (Cassette by Heavy Nature Tapes)
SUBURBIA MELTING/MOTHKULT (Cassette by Heavy Nature Tapes)
MYSTIFIED - UNCANNY (Cassette by Heavy Nature Tapes)
MYO - LIGHT (MP3 by Zeromoon) *
ASHER - STUDY FOR AUTUMN (MP3 by Con-V) *
D_RRADIO (CD by Cabin Boy/Distraction Records)
MOIRA STEWART - SWEETNESS, YES! (CD by Cabin Boy/Distraction Records)
Of course I have no idea how the young people these days feel
about a 7", but when grand daddy - me - was young, money
was sparse and you couldn't always afford to buy all you wanted,
so 7"s were the preferred format. One great song, if you
were lucky the b-side was also great. This you had to play until
more money arrived to buy another one. Maybe that's why I still
like 7"s. D_rradio surprised me with three 7"s on Distraction
Records (Vital Weekly 510, 524, 546) and they have worked for
three years on their debut CD, and guess what? Like in the old
days, when you saved up from washing daddy's car, and you could
finally afford to buy that LP by that beloved artist, it was not
always the same genius as was the 7"s. That's what happened
here. What sounds great as one pair of tracks, may sound dull
when bundled up in a pair of ten. In itself they might be great
tunes, filled melancholica, dry humor, nice moves and such like,
but perhaps it's the fact that they come in series of ten, instead
of two, the uniform sound, the absence of vocals that made me
less enthusiastic about this debut album. Maybe follow Joe Jackson's
'I'm The Man' and release a boxset of five 7" records?
But things can be entirely opposite too. My first encounter with
Moira Stewart, for their debut album, is a straight shot of joy.
But it would also lead to a small confession. Well, maybe I coughed
up before: I like New Order. And straight from the opening lines
of their first track (no titles here), synths, drum machines,
ah-ha choir, thin lead vocals and guitars, I feel at home. Except
that I am really at home instead of listening to my favorite New
Order on my Ipod in the train. It has great hooks, rock-dance
inspired songs, funny samples, multi-vocals. In all great pop
tunes, and this time I mean pop tunes. I am no record industry
mogul, nor will I ever see big cash rolling in but if Moira Stewart
won't be big with their uptempo, quirky electro-rock pop tunes
who will? For the ten tracks, thirty-four minutes (how more classic
pop-length do you want it), this has put one big smile on my face.
(FdW)
Address: http://www.distractionrecords.com
COLD READING TRIO - LIFE OF GHOST (CD by
Form Function Records)
Form Function Records focuses on experimenting with electro-acoustic
improvisation. The CD by the Cold Reading Trio is a clear example
of this interest. This trio comes from New York, and is made up
by Christian Pincock (laptop computer, valve trombone), John O'Brien
(drums, percussion) and Evan Mazunik (accordion, keyboards). John
O'Brien studied symphonic music and also jazz drumming with Gerry
Hemingway among his teachers. He drummed in many different contexts:
afro-cuban music, jazz, orchestral music, etc. With the trio he
tries to expand the "sonic possibilities of the traditional
drumkit". Evan Mazunik is an accordionplayer who recently
got involved with Soundpainting, "a sign language for live
composition", that is by developed by Pinnock a.o. From early
childhood Christian Pinnock was interested in all kinds of soundmanipulation
and that led him into the world or electro-acoustic music. He
directs the Brooklyn Soundpainting Orchestra. With the Cold Reading
Trio he aims at "capturing material from other players during
an improvisation and recombining and modifying that material to
create his contribution to the group". You get the picture?
Improvisors are in dialogue with what returns from their playing
through the live processing by Pinnock, that also comes into being
through improvisation. For my ears it is not always traceable
what comes from the musicians and is what is echoed by the samplers.
And I,m not a listener who is interested in how they did things,
but in the music that is created in whatever way. Their improvisations
are very open and transparent. They sound more like an ensemble
of new music then as jazz trio. The music is very well recorded.
They keep a good balance between the acoustic instruments and
the electro-acoustic means. All this makes listening to this cd
a great pleasure where there is room for every detail. In 'Raven
steats the Sun' the drumming by O'Brien is in the forefront. In
other pieces like 'The Sybert Commission' or 'Rub-a-dub' the music
is centered around the accordion. Improvisations vary in coloring
and structure. They don't lose themselves in meaningless technocratic
escapades. Far from it. All of them are very disciplined players,
and there is definitively beating a heart in this very advanced
music. (DM)
Address: http://www.formfunctionrecords.com/
SUITE CRUDE REVUE - SPACE AGE GUTBUCKET
AFRODELIC JAZZPLOITATION
(CD by Cosmoelliptic)
I'm not sure what we have here. Its a very hybrid and mixed up
cocktail. The genius behind it is Daniel Zelonky, who has some
CDs out as Low Res, Crank, a.o. With several members of the Sun
Ra Arkestra he gave a live performance of obscure Sun Ra compositions.
That is about all I know about him. But listening to this crazy
album I learned another thing, it is clear that Zelonky loves
the orchestral sound of old latin albums by Perez Prado, etc.
Also I had to think of old James Bond-like filmmusic and lots
of other exotica from the 60s and 70s. In most of the 11 exotic
pieces it is as if a complete orchestra is at work. But probably
we are dealing here with cleverly sampled or otherwise 'imagined'
orchestras. The grooving compositions he constructed from these
old records don't differ very much, I suppose, from the ones on
these records and are therefore not extremely original. He didn't
transform the original music into some completely new, but he
stays close to the original musical idioms. In most pieces Zelonky
adds his sax-sounding keyboardplaying. All is done very clever.
He successfully assembled his pieces into music that has great
unity. The track 'Chalky' is also in a live performance on this
disc, played by a 36-piece orchestra, showing convincingly that
Zelonky can create his hybrid jazz-funk-latin also on stage. The
cd closes with an 'unreleased; Sun Ra composition 'Intergalactic
Research'. Considering the amount of records that are out by Sun
Ra, it is hard to believe we are dealing here with an unreleased
composition as the liner notes tell us. But what does it matter?
For it is a funny and very enjoyable cd. (DM)
Address: http://www.cosmoelliptic.com/
SET IN SAND - NOTHING AGAINST THE OCEAN
(CD by Abandon Building)
High hopes for Set In Sand, as this release on Abandon Building
is totally fresh and new and already licensed to another label,
Hue Records in Japan. They come from the US midwest and combine
IDM, hip hop with say Steve Reich in their early days, but now
take things a bit further. Rhythms are broken and chopped up,
guitars are added, and more importantly samples of all sort of
weird origins an vocals. Though the latter are not present in
every track, they sound very much like my personal heroes of Sparks,
with whom Set In Sound share more than just the vocals. The weird
angles from which things are approached (jazz? rock? symphonic
rock?), sudden weird moves and of course the falsetto voice, with
sings along with itself. It doesn't have the complexity, nor the
rock of the latest Sparks albums, and throughout Set In Sound
is less complex per track, but they have potential to be more
a pop band than a strict electronic band. Personally I prefer
the vocal tracks more than the instrumental ones, and I think
that should be an area that they should explore more. It's not
difficult to see the potential that these clever label bosses
also see with this band. Very witty and clever made. (FdW)
Address: http://www.abandonbuilding.com
BRAN(...)POS - COIN-OP KHEPRI (CD by C.I.P.)
The label compares the oddly named bran(...)pos with 70s Residents,
Stockhausen, Dick Hyman, Runzelstirn & Gurgelstock, Gert Wilden,
Emerson Lake & Palmer with the compositional complexity of
Ennio Morricone and Beethoven. Phew. Behind bran(...)pos is one
Jake Rodriguez, who works as such since 1995. I have no idea what
else he has released over the years. I'm likewise not entirely
sure if I can follow what he wants with his music. Some of his
'influences' I can surely detect in here. The collage like approach
of say Runzelstirn & Gurgelstock, cheesy film music ala Wilden,
sure. But it has also techno inspired music, such as in 'Archival
Rodeo', which I thought wasn't that interesting at all. As such,
this is a bit of the problem with this release: maybe Rodriguez
wants things to be too clever, too many influences, too much genre
bending that it numbs the result. A mixed feeling is what I have
here. Part of it is certainly quite nice, but certainly towards
the end of the disk, some of the pieces are a bit too long for
the amount of information it has. One has the idea that not everything
has been fully explored, and some decisions need to be made. But
in the future that may grow, no doubt, but its not entirely here
yet. (FdW)
Address: http://www.cipsite.net
LJUDBILDEN & PILOTEN - ONE HUNDRED FIFTY-FIVE
(CD by Nosordo)
Kristofer Ström (great name, if you know it means electricity
in german) is man behind Ljudbilden & Piloten and hails from
Malmö. He already a split CD before with Osso Bucco (see
Vital Weekly 416), but it took him some time to create his real
first full length. In the meantime he has recorded music for theatre,
dance-theatre, films and toured with David Balula, Domotic, O.Lamm
and Dead Texan and made animation films himself. A busy bee. Although
he uses a variety of instruments and objects, his main instrument
is the guitar. He tinkles nice away, with in the background rhythms
compiled from all sorts of sources as glass, an egg slicer and
handclap. The ornament comes from the piano and a trumpet every
now and then. All of this is created inside the fine, warm place
of the computer, making foremost busy music. Even when things
are supposed to be mellow and easy, it's music that is really
filling up space. Everything is used and Ström uses many
layers. Combined with the fact that certainly towards the end
of the CD a certain similarity arises in the pieces makes that
I think that this CD is a bit too long for what it is. It should
have been ten instead of fifteen tracks (which doesn't mean that
the last five should be cut off, just a best ten actually) and
it would have gained strength. Now it's all a bit too much. Program
your CD player and create your favorite list and it'll be a great
CD. Nice extensive collage booklet also. (FdW)
Address: http://www.nosordo.com
BIRCHVILLE CAT MOTEL - GUNPOWDER TEMPLE
OF HEAVEN (CD by Pica Disk)
Music by Birchville Cat Motel, a.k.a. Campbell Kneale only reaches
me very occasionally, so the list of releases mentioned in this
booklet certainly impressed me. If ever I want to collect it,
I sure have a lot to catch up with, but it might be a worthwhile
thing to do. Or so my thoughts were when hearing this release.
Like I said, I don't always catch up with Kneale's output, but
this new one certainly filled me with pleasure. To make things
easy: Birchville Cat Motel plays drone music of a louder kind.
One piece here, forty minutes in length. At it's core lies organ
drones, that sound like a church organ, carefully layered to create
miniature variation. That is the firm foundation of the piece.
Somewhere a bass slab sound comes in, and somewhere later, the
organ plays a three note melody, all of this while the fundament
lies firm. Hold on, there is a cymbal played mechanically too.
Or isn't? Such is the music of Birchville Cat Motel. Deceiving.
Deceivingly simple from the surface, but complex if you listen
carefully. Things aren't what they are, elements are picked out
and evolved, altered and put back in the mix. Not 'loud' as in
the word 'noise' but forcefully present - the music is 'there',
loud and clear. A very refined work of drone meets noise. Play
loud and be immersed. (FdW)
Address: http://www.picadisk.com
HLEUCHATISTAS - EVEN IN THE MIDST ... (CD
by Cuneiform)
The fourth album from this post-punk trio from North Carolina,
and their second one for Cuneiform. With three earlier records
out they have already have an development behind them. But I can't
say anything about it, as this is my first meeting with these
guys. What is their music about? Surely they raise the question:
how complex can you get, using guitar, bass and drums only. And
this trio gives you an impressive answer. Starting from an punk
attitude they underwent undeniably the influence of Captain Beefheart.
This places them in the tradition of earlier punk orientated bands
who made efforts to incorporate Beefheart's madness. Think of
bands like Minutemen, Big Flame or Stump. But we are in 2008 now
and Ahleuchatistas is their name. An instrumental trio of Derek
Poteat (bass), Shane Perlowin (guitar) and Sean Dail (drums).
Very dedicated, they maintain the same high level of concentration
and intensity from start to the end, also in their slower songs.
All three turn out to be virtuoso musicians, but their craftmanship
functions as a means to an end, and not as a goal in itself .
They don't trade in acrobatics, these musicians have something
to tell us. From the artwork one could conclude that their are
politically interested. Back to the music. One could ask what
is interesting rockmusic nowadays? To be honest, I don't know.
Is it dead, or is it above all a silly question? You tell me.
The great days of rockmusic where somewhere in the previous century.
But with Ahleuchatistas and related bands we have something really
interesting going on. As said they keep a punk mentality, but
it is not forbidden to be capable to play an instrument now. Also
it is allowed now that one piece differs considerably from the
other. Also it not forbidden to have musical ideas, and put as
many of them as you can in one song. All this is the case for
Ahleuchatistas in their down to earth way, using no unnecessary
make up. I have the feeling that the way they sound on this cd
comes close to their live sound. What you hear is what get. Just
a few overdubs and some other manipulations, like the backwards
playing of tapes in the last track. But that's it. Some of the
compositions are very convincing, others however are not that
interesting. This is the weak spot of this trio I think. But that
is all in the game when you are seeking for new territory as this
band is doing. "Swimming Underwater with a Cat on Your Back"
is an overwhelming and very rich piece. With very tight playing.
Changing of rhythms and color. In a piece like the intimate "The
Bears of Cantabria Shall Sleep No More" they try improvise
a ballad like piece. The twangy guitarplaying we hear in most
of the songs sets them apart from their colder math rock-brothers.
They love changes. Changes in dynamics, rhythm, mood, etc. Making
it an adventurous listening experience. Definitively a band to
watch! (DM)
Address: http://www.cuneiformrecords.com/
FAVOURITE PLACES (CD by Audiobulb Records)
No doubt everybody must have a place that they call their own.
A place which you cherish and go back. Like a forest, the bath,
a museum or an alley. These are just four of the examples on this
CD of ten pieces of artists' favorite places which they were asked
to record and then treat those recordings into a music piece -
both source and composition are inside one track. The whole project
comes with photos and coordinates. All neat and carefully planned.
The end result is certainly as great. From forest walk by Taylor
Deupree to the lighthouse of Biosphere, from the bath of Dot Tape
Dot and the studio of Leafcutter John - it all sounds intimate
and the music they play as a result of these intimate recordings
is of a likewise intimate nature. Drones, glockenspiel, acoustic
guitar and rhythms make up eerie music. It moves away from the
previous compilations by this label that the artists are better
known, musicwise it moves more towards ambient and less to techno
music (in all it's guises) and the thematic approach. Topped off
with an elaborate packaging (both print work and jewel case) this
is the best effort on Audiobulb so far. Also included are Claudia,
John Kannenberg, RF, Aaron Ximm, Build and Nomad Palace. Very
lush. (FdW)
Address: http://www.audiobulb.com
TITMACHINE (7" by Meeuw Muzak)
The very essence of anything punk and beyond is the very urgency
to do something. Learning the skills to play an instrument is
absolutely the last thing you could or should loose time on. I
think. Three chords of punk is way too much. Titmachine started
out in the periphery of The Hitmachine, and have by now nine tracks
under their belts and played a handful of gigs to a bemused and
bewildered audience. It's Jana on keyboard/voc, Djamilla on guitar,
Jodee on bass/voc and Pascale on drums. A classic line up for
non classic music. Maybe Meeuw Muzak, who just released their
first 7", didn't know any titles, or perhaps Titmachine themselves
are waiting to think up themselves, but one side has a piece that
is about playing faster all the time, when the introductionairy
talking about the very early days of the band is over, that is.
The other side has 'I Wanna Be Your Dog', the classic piece of
which I am told every starting (startling? sparkling?) band plays
in their early days of their careers - but since I never mastered
any chords, it's very unlikely you'd see me rock out to this classic
song. Titmachine wear their instruments well and have a firm no
wave at-tit-ude. The start of something beautiful. Perhaps. Unless
the ladies end up in drug habit of cola flavored chocolate or
an immense cat fight (both of them unlikely) (FdW)
Address: http://www.meeuw.net
AHASVERUS - FOUNDATION (CDR by Ahasverus
Records)
It's been a while since the previous release by Ahasverus, also
known as Henrik Summanen on the label with the same name as the
band. Henrik Summanen also runs Elektron, but Ahasverus is his
hobby project. He records his music at home and at the EMS studios,
which may shed some serious light on his music, but ever since
he discovered dark wave/industrial/dark ambient he is converted
to that music. Since 'Ten Is The Number' (see Vital Weekly 525),
nothing much has changed in his modus operandi: deep washes of
synths, the tickle of bells through massive walls of reverb create
music that is strongly linked to the likes of Lustmord, Old Europa
Cafe and Cold Meat Industry. I was thinking it all sounds a bit
too mechanically produced. You take the blue print of one type
of music, make a close study and apply your own music to it, but
without putting your hearth in it. Music made according to a matrix,
without their own soul. (FdW)
Address: http://www.ahasverus.se
PUIN + HOOP - HEADPHONE SESSIONS (CDR, private)
Wether Puin + Hoop is a duo of solo project, it's hard to tell.
They refer to themselves as 'we', 'us', 'musicians'. The Headphone
sessions do not refer to the way you should hear them, but rather
how the music was made: 'the musicians were not able to hear each
other. They could only heart their own sounds through a headphone.
The separate parts were recorded simultaneously on a multitrack
device. Nothing but a base note was determined before hand'. The
four tracks in which this results are remarkable coherent. A sort
of lo-fi electronic music that is occassionally noise based, but
never goes over the top. It could be a bunch of guitars, lots
of devices of which the delay seems to be the most important one,
slowly developing and changing color. Of course the notion of
this being recorded to multitrack leads to the whole thing being
mixed out after that, perhaps adding more effects to the proceedings
and balancing between the various input. But of course that is
no problem at all, as it's the end-result that counts and these
Dutch boys may borrow a bit of the New Zealand style figures (noise,
rock, drone), they have something of that is certainly of their
own imagination. Quite nice and nicely spray painted cover. (FdW)
Address: http://www.myspace.com/puingeefthoop
JOSH RUSSELL - SINK (CDR/MP3 by Quiet Design)
Sometimes things are not what they seem to be. And sometimes they
are. When I popped in this new release by Josh Russell, I thought
we were dealing with the same person who presented microsound
compilations on his own Bremstrahlung label but the sound coming
out of my speakers weren't certainly microsounding at all. Loud,
skipping, almost earthly sounds. Damaged speakers? Damaging speakers?
Can't be the same, right? But yes, it's the same person. I checked
the press message, and yes, it's him. He has a background in biochemistry
and microscopy research, and 'Sink', while loud, may represent
a bit of that background. It sounds like a chemistry lab, with
obscure fluids being boiled, amplified and brought alive. Or looking
through the looking glass and see lots of similar bacteria crawling
about - it's them singing on this release. Russell puts on quite
an amount of amplification to let you hear them. His loudest record
to date, it says. Is he deliberately trying to break out of the
microsound world? I hope so, since this sounds great. It has all
the trade marks of microsound (minimal, glitch, plug ins, hey
maybe even field recordings), but it's so much louder. In the
dead end alley that microsound has become it's good to see someone
trying to change things and Russell does a really fine job on
'Sink'. Excellently produced with a finer sense of detail in the
entire sound range, moving about and varied. Rather one piece
divided in ten steps than ten different pieces. The future of
microsound has started. (FdW)
Address: http://www.quietdesign.us
ROBERT CURGENVEN/CHRIS HOWDEN - ALICE SPRINGS,
CENTRAL AUSTRALIA (CDR by Recorded Fields)
I am not entirely sure what this release is about. "The first
volume in its (Recorded Fields - the label) Sound Atlas Series.
[...] the sound atlas comprises field recordings made over eight
days in twenty-two locations through the township and surrounding
MacDonell Ranges, creating stunning sonic vistas from the unique
arid land environment". So, what we hear is culled as mix
of field recordings from twenty-two locations. Then I am impressed,
as it sounds like an open microphone recording made in one place.
Birds, insects, somebody walking - the usual ingredients of untreated
field recordings. Not exactly strong stuff, I must say. It's nicely
recorded, perhaps a bit soft, and it sounds alright, but somehow
I have the idea something is missing here. Perhaps an unique edge,
something that makes it more their own thing, rather than some
building blocks of what could have been music made from field
recordings. More work in progress than finished work, I thought.
(FdW)
Address: http://www.recordedfields.net
LINDENBERG MUNROE & LAMARQ BARROS &
THELMO CRISTOVAM & HENDERSON RODRIGUES - ALPENDRE (CDR by
Tib Prod)
LEONARDO BARZABAL/ADRIAN JUAREZ - SPLIT SERIES #5 (CDR by Tib
Prod)
From the four players of this disk, I only heard
of Thelmo Cristovam before. Here he plays 'c-melody sax'. The
other players are Lindenberg Munroe (Didjeridoo, Pianica, Recorders,
Whistles), Lamarque de Queiroz Barros (Pianica, Recorders, Whistles)
and Henderson Rodrigues (Pianica, Recorders, Whistles). That is
a lot of wind instruments. In 2005 they teamed up together to
play for sixty minutes, three seconds and a little bit. An endless
stream of sound is what the produce. Not in continuos in the drone
sense of the word, but blowing wildly aloud and apart. Oddly minimal
in a way, with each player getting on with his own part. It's
a long sit this release, and certainly could have been thirty
minutes shorter to have the same power, but perhaps the long and
windy road is something that needed to be explored from beginning
to end. For lovers of true improvised music on wind instruments
this is certainly an interesting disc. For myself I was mildly
enthusiastic about it.
Also the next two names are new one for me, and I have no idea
where 'split series 1 to 4' may have appeared. No information
on the Tib Prod website for this. Adrian Juarez opens up with
a piece for improvised percussion. Carefully he plays his music,
with an emphasis on the cymbals and the overtones it can create.
It's a nice piece. It's a bit harder to tell what Leonardo Barzabal
uses for instrument. It could be a stringed instrument or strings
playing percussion. Also his piece is nice, intensely playing,
scraping and touching his instrument. Both pieces clock at around
twelve minutes and a fine examples of what they can do. (FdW)
Address: http://www.tibprod.com
LECANORA - IMMUNITY (CD by Kokeshidisk)
JGRZINICH - FERRIC (3"CDR by Taalem)
HUM - CALDRON OF WINDS (3"CDR by Taalem)
BEN FLEURY-STEINER - HE DREAMS IN RIVERS (3"CDR by Taalem)
Kokeshidisk is mainly concerned with releasing golden oldies and
perhaps Lecanora is one such goldie from yesteryear, but I don't
believe I heard of them. Maybe I did - it's not always easy to
keep up. It's a solo project from the label boss at hand here,
Cyril Herry, who was also a member of Exotoendo, a trio who recorded
their music is abandoned tanks. All of this material, released
as well as unreleased became the prime source for Herry's solo
project. The sounds are re-treated - more reverb in a lot of instances,
some delay, layered on top of each other or cut short to make
small loops. Bell like sounds, the noise of debris falling on
the floor and other spooky detailed music. Maybe a bit too uniform
in approach for my taste as many of the pieces do have a tendency
to sound alike, but for those who love Lustmord, Rapoon or even
Troum (in a more rhythm induced moment), may find this a pleasure
to hear.
The vastly growing empire of Taalem: an endless line of 3"
CDR, a bit like the other endless line of 7"s on Drone, and
covering many similar names and music. The first new one is by
Jgrzinich, who has been active in the field of recordings for
more than a decade now. These days he is in southeast Estonia,
where collects his field recordings, along with rusty metal wires,
a wind harp and such like. 'Ferric' is one piece of alternating
drone music and back in the shack rusty metal shields, carefully
swung together. Highly atmospheric, slowly in decay towards the
end.
More field recordings can be found on the release by Hum, also
known as Dmitry Christov from Russia, or perhaps his other aliases,
such Sphogha, Maw, Mikosterion or Small Town Zombie, all of which
I never heard. Hum had releases on Mysery Sea and Drone. There
you are. Here he has three untitled piece of slow enveloping ambient/drone
music. A bit of field recordings is set against some obscure electronics,
which are hard to pin down. Synths? Computer process? Can't tell
really. It's a nice lo-fi affair this one, not high and mighty
on the recording side, but full of raw intent.
Ben Fleury-steiner is best known for the releases he produced
on his own Gears Of Sand label, sometimes as Paradin or Light
Of Shipwreck. He too evolves dabbles around with drones and field
recordings, more the first than the latter. Unlike Hum, Fleury-steiner
operates with synths of processed ambient guitars, which are layered
on top of eachother, and make rather spatial forms. More open
than the somewhat claustrophobic Hum. A pity that both pieces
are too similar however, the second is an extended remixed version
of the first. (FdW)
Address: http://kokeshidisk.free.fr
Address: http://www.taalem.com
JUTE GYTE - APIDYA (CDR by Jeshimoth Entertainment)
JUTE GYTE - WHERE WE GO WHEN WE (3"CDR by Jeshimoth Entertainment)
JUTE GYTE - ARAKAN (CDR by Jeshimoth Entertainment)
GRIZ+ZLOR & JUTE GYTE - COLOSSUS OF WHITE TAR (3"CDR
by Jeshimoth Entertainment)
PUMPKIN BUZZARD - UNDERNEATH ROTTING (CDR by Jeshimoth Entertainment)
PUMPKIN BUZZARD - MANTIS ANTLER (CDR by Jeshimoth Entertainment)
The whole notion of no more than three releases and nothing older
than six months was entirely lost of Jeshimoth Entertainment and
the owner Jute Gyte (the previous released and reviewed Chefkirk
'The Word Veganism' was in Vital Weekly 606). So in stead of an
indepth (?) review a small survey of the releases at hand. Gyte,
whose real name is Adam Kalmbach, has released various of his
works. He has been playing music since 2002 in various genres
'including ambient, black metal, harsh noise, IDM and various
others'. His 2006 release 'Apidya' shows his love for more ambient
industrial music in the first piece, with a loud outburst of noise
somewhere in between. The other two tracks are more interesting.
'Empty Rooms' is built around a slow rhythm and the title piece
around the sound of rain and computer processing. Here too there
is an element of noise, but Gyte keeps it under control. Both
tracks would have been stronger if somewhat shorter.
Then he released a 3" CDR (I am going by catalogue numbers
here) called cryptically 'Where We Go When We', with just one
twenty-three minute piece. 'Bass drones, esoteric vocal manipulation
and destroyed guitar' are the three ingredients for a loud, noisy
beast of feast. Flowing like waves on a stormy ocean, this cascade
of noise is not my thing, although it's not the worst in its kind.
Here too the length is the problem. Why use twenty-three minutes
when ten would be fine too?
With twelve tracks at seventy-eight minutes, 'Arakan' has more
tracks which are a bit shorter. It also moves in an entirely different
territory of music. Rhythm plays an important role, spiced up
IDM rhythms that is, with lots of keyboards and distorted guitars.
Heavy beat music, with some more subdued electronic music parts,
part field recordings, nervous organ playing and such like. Strange
music this is, but it surely has some nice moments and with some
more variation then the other two, this is the best of the trio.
But again, too long!
With Griz+Zlor (being one Paul Dever), Jute Gyte made a collaborative
release of two ten minute tracks of unrelentness noise. Here it's
cut down to ten minutes, but both pieces work rather single minded,
so three would have been fine too. The least release of this lot.
Too much Merzbow on a off-day.
Actually all of the Jeshimoth releases are long, easily clocking
in between sixty-five and seventy-eight minutes. Pumpkin Buzzard's
two releases is in total well over two hours, so you can imagine
that it's quite long to hear all at once. Forty-eight in total.
They are announced as a 'highly experimental pop music collective',
'they draw from industrial, funk, extreme metal, pop and psychedelica,
which indeed is very much true. Lots of rhythm, samples, rap,
vocals, collage sounds, weirdness, hip hop, film music and many
more all pass by with great ease. If there are any major differences
between both releases, then I'd say that on 'Mantis Antler' the
songs are more 'songs' and on 'Underneath Rotting' there is more
sketch like piece and less coherent/more chaotic true out. As
said it's a bit much, but over time, I am sure a few favorites
will distill from it. (FdW)
Address: http://www.jeshimoth.com
OPRHAX - DROWNING IN A POOL OF TREES (3"CDR,
private)
Releases by Sietse van Erve's project Orphax mainly found their
way through MP3 releases, and a handful on CDR. 'Drowning In A
Pool Of Trees' is his latest, private release and based on a concert
recording he made in October 2007, which he later edited into
this release. Apparently it uses field recordings, voice, electronics
and a melodica sample. Orphax stretched the sample out to a twenty
minute piece of ambient drones, however slightly distorted and
on top there is the crackle of contact microphones scratching
the surface. It's hard to tell where the voice comes in or goes
out. Bird twitter is also there. It builds up to a climax and
takes it down again, all done with elegance. Nothing spectacular,
nothing innovative, but executed with style and eye for detail.
Nice one. (FdW)
Address: http://www.orphax.com
COLOSSUS - THRONE (Cassette by Heavy Nature
Tapes)
SUBURBIA MELTING/MOTHKULT (Cassette by Heavy Nature Tapes)
MYSTIFIED - UNCANNY (Cassette by Heavy Nature Tapes)
It's always good to see that there are still people keep releasing
cassettes. Ages ago my preferred format, and perhaps still something
I like. Heavy Nature Tapes first releases are all American bands.
Colossus is one Ryan Laliberty who recorded five pieces on his
'Throne' release. Music from the deep end of ambient low bass
crossing in the world of noise. It's hard to tell which sound
sources are at use here. Maybe a bass, some voice, some electronics
and lots of EQ going down. There is a nice lo-fi rumble going
on here, which is unclear if it comes from the recording or the
medium it is reproduced on.
Suburbia Melting is Andrew Quitter from Portland, Oregon and he
puts on some heavy noise. Feedback and distortion tucked in a
bed of drones that seem to be recorded of an engine. Not so much
my thingy. On the other side we find Ryan Laliberty again, here
in disguise as Mothkult. It's easy to see why he choose a new
name, since Mothkult deals more with the noise end of things,
although his deep bass rumble is still present. Better than Suburbia
Melting I thought, since it had more variation, but his Colossus
tape sounded better.
Mystified is a name that popped up before in these pages with
their curious mix of low resolution samples and electronics. Sometimes
they play a more rhythmic card - although not enough in my opinion
- and sometimes moody textured music. Here the latter plays the
main role. The tracks are alright, nothing new here for Mystified,
although a bit more variation would have been nice. (FdW)
Address: http://www.heavynature.vze.com
MYO - LIGHT (MP3 by Zeromoon)
Music by Cory O'Brien, going by the name of Myo, has been reviewed
before: 'Process' was a CDR release by MT6 Records. Here he offers
a free download release, of two live pieces and three studio pieces,
although I must admit there is not much difference in studio and
live for him. O'Brien uses various pieces of free software along
with field recordings of power hum, other static electricity,
plexiglass and dry ice to record his own brand of noise meeting
microsound. Unlike the Russell release (see elsewhere), O'Brien's
music is more from the world of noise than from the microsound,
an influence that seems to be almost gone here. The end result
is certainly nice. Quite loud and noise based, but also more thought
out and constructed than the average noise musician. The dry ice
sounds nice, placed under pressure of feedback and transformed
using various pieces of software. Things work best for me when
he keep things under control, as in the first three pieces - when
he walks the finer line between silence and loudness. The final
two pieces dwell more on the loud part and were less interesting,
but throughout this is the noise that I like. (FdW)
Address: http://www.archive.org/details/zero088
ASHER - STUDY FOR AUTUMN (MP3 by Con-V)
The works of Asher (Thal-nir) find their way mostly through MP3
releases and some CDR releases. Maybe time has come to release
a proper CD. At least I may have written that in the recent past
about his work, but today I was in doubt again. 'Study For Autumn',
recorded in fall 2006, is announced as one his more melodic works,
but I can't help to think it more like in terms of repeating his
self. Lots and lots of hiss, sparse piano tones and some 'brass
bells' make up this twenty-two minute piece. It seems to me like
a 'heard that-been there' recording for him, and not his finest
moment at that. Static hiss, minimal movements on the piano, some
extra sounds and bob's your uncle. Maybe it's because it's an
older work and has Asher already progressed? I think he can do
much, much better. (FdW)
Address: http://www.archive.org/details/cnv46
correction to Vital Weekly 607: Tape Rape is not Kenji Siratori but Kjetil Hanssen