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VITAL WEEKLY
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number 634
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week 27
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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
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Submitting material means you read this and approve of this.
* noted are in this week's podcast
NURSE WITH WOUND - IMAGES/ZERO MIX (2CD/Book
by Beta-lactam Ring Records)
DINO FELIPE - NO FUN DEMO (CD by No Fun Productions)
PRISM QUARTET - PITCH BLACK BY JAKOB TV (CD by Innova)
ENOMISSOSSAB - L 'OMBRA DI MEZZOGIORNO (CD by Ants)
KENNETH GABURO - LINGUA II: MALEDETTO / ANTIPHONY VIII (CD by
Pogus)
RJF - GREATER SUCCESS IN APPREHENSION & CONVICTIONS (CD by
Segerhuva)
FRACTIONAL - COME MIERDA (CD by Brume Records)
BAD SECTOR - STORAGE DISK 2 (CD by Waystyx)
THE SILVERMAN - BLANK FOR YOUR OWN MESSAGE (CD by Beta-lactam
Ring Records)
ARIEL KALMA - LE TEMPS DES MOISSONS (CD by Beta-lactam Ring Records)
KEPLERS ODD - STRENA SEU DE NIVE SEXANGULA (CD by Fractured Spaces
Records)
UW HYPOTHEEKADVIES - NATURE OR NURTURE (CD by Beta-lactam Ring
Records)
LES FRAGMENTS DE LA NUIT - MUSIQUE DE CREPUSCULE (CD by Equilibirium
Music)
PROYECTO MIRAGE - TURN IT ON (CD by Ant-Zen)
LUIGI ARCHETTI - FRAGMENTS ON SPEED, SLOWLESS AND TEDIUM (CD by
Domizil)
JAMKA - Z OKNA UCHA (LP by Urbsounds Collective)
IRM - INDICATIONS OF NIGREDO (12" by Segerhuva)
GUILLAUME GARGAUD - LE LIEU (CDR by Dirty Demos)
DROUIN & NOVAK - AUDITORIUM MUTEK (CDR by Infrequency)
NIGEL WRIGHT & TIM COSTER - CATHEDRALS (CDR by Claudia)
ROBERT CURGENVEN - SILENT LANDSCAPES (CDR by Recorded Fields)
BUILD BUILDINGS - CEILING LIGHTS FROM STREET (CDR, private)
MICHEL HENRITZI - NOTHING (CDR by Dyin' Ghost Records)
SHIN'ICHI ISOHATA & MICHEL HENRITZI & XAVIER CHARLES (CDR
by O-Musubi)
BEN SPIERS - AND THEN (CDR by Transient Recordings)
BLACK WINDOW - GUNWALES (3"CDR by Transient Recordings)
TIM COSTER & MARK SADGROVE - UNTITLED (CDR by Transient Recordings)
JOSH RUSSELL - MUSIC FOR GEIGERCOUNTERS (3"CDR by Koyuki)
XIIORA - HORIBUNOPUYAR (3"CDR by Inqb8r)
PICK-UP - FROM HERE TO ANYWHERE (3" CDR by Moll)
FRANS DE WAARD - UNTITLED (LE POEME D'UNE VIE BIEN REMPLIE) (3"
CDR by Moll)
BASS COMMUNION & FREIBAND (3" CDR by Moll)
A VIBRANT STRUGGLE - CRYSTAL SKULL MEDITATION (cassette by Dim
Records)
JEFF REHNLUND - RECYCLED (Cassette by RRR)
THE AND GROUP (MP3)
NURSE WITH WOUND - IMAGES/ZERO MIX (2CD/Book
by Beta-lactam Ring Records)
Luxury comes to town with the new NWW-release: a sturdy black
box containing two CD's and a book, numbered and hand-signed by
Steve Stapleton. A few years ago Stapleton put a lot of time and
energy in his Angry Electric Finger project. Original NWW-recordings
were remixed and reworked by Irr. App. Ext, Cyclobe and Jim O'Rourke
and released on three vinyl albums. I remember the Jim O'Rourke
LP being particularly effective. This boxset celebrates the original
AEF-music as created by NWW. The book features images of the 100
discs that were handpainted by Stapleton for the AEF-project.
They were put on display at the Burren School of Art in November
2004 and later auctioned off. The small-sized book is brilliant
in its gorgeous colors and deluxe paper quality. The Zero Mix
is a NWW-album featuring three tracks that make up its 40+ minutes
of music. Zero Mix features stereophonic rattles, strings being
wound up and down, saxophones and various other sounds all treated
with effects. Stapleton is here aided by Colin Potter. Ranging
from dynamic to more drone-like, this is the kind of album that
NWW-fans will love. Requiem For Ladies Day (also with Potter),
is the bonus album (another 40+ minutes of music, here divided
into two tracks). This is more in the tradition of the slow and
brooding ambient albums Salt Marie Celeste and Soliloqui For Lilith
(though, admittedly, not as brilliant). For those with smaller
pockets, BLRR have got a cheaper edition available, but as this
lacks the luxurious box, the signed certificate and the bonus
CD, it might be worth to invest in one of the 400 deluxe copies.
(FK)
Address: http://www.blrrecords.com
DINO FELIPE - NO FUN DEMO (CD by No Fun
Productions)
This record is a bit of a black sheep in an otherwise rather noisy
label catalogue. Dino Felipe is of Cuban origin and lives in Miami,
just like Carlos Giffoni (No Fun head) once did, where they also
played in bands together, such as Old Bombs. His career is scattered
all over the place, releasing noise tapes along electronic endeavors
on 90s US-IDM labels such as Schematic. "No Fun Demo"
is supposed to be a pop album in the style of early Beck and also
Ariel Pink, which for me is not such a warrant for quality, and
unfortunately the comparison is not so far off. This is relatively
straightforward, and quite schmaltzy, pop music, which I suppose
got its special flavoring through the recording method, which
is lo-fi in the sort of forced way that doesn't make it any better.
Much songs are a simple beatbox background, some intentionally
bad psychedelic guitar/bass playing, covered in vocals that seem
to come from 20 different personas. I guess he recorded "6
Feet Under" when he was 6 years old, the voice still one
of a child. It's actually much clearer sounding then press release
and some reviews have made me believe, it just teases with the
idea of bad taste or messy recording methods, but these sort of
records have to work through a strong set of songs and that is
just not the case for me on this one. Or maybe I'm just don't
getting it. I kinda hope I'm not. (RM)
Address: http://www.nofunproductions.com/
PRISM QUARTET - PITCH BLACK BY JAKOB TV
(CD by Innova)
Founded in 1984, the PRISM Quartet has premiered over 100 works,
most of them by american composers. For their new CD they concentrate
on a european composer, but an america-orientated one, namely
the dutch composer Jacob ter Veldhuis (Jacob TV).
The saxophone quartet performs six different compositions from
this composer.
In five of them a ghettoblaster plays a role. Let's go into the
first composition to illustrate how this works. Ter Veldhuis used
the last interview given by Chet Baker. We hear short fragments
of this interview, chosen for the melodic qualities that are hidden
in Baker's speaking. These 'melodies' Ter Veldhuis uses as a base
for his composition. 'Billie' is constructed in a similar way.
Here Ter Veldhuis choose parts of an interview with Billie Holliday.
Again he creates music around a voice, using musical qualities
that are hidden in that voice. 'Postnuclear Winterscenario no.10'
has no voice and that is no coincidence. After the Gulf Ware broke
out, Ter Veldhuis found himself speechless. Later on he decided
to express this feeling in a composition using very simple musical
material. During the years he rearranged this work for choir,
two electric guitars, etc, and now for saxophone quartet.
Although it deals with war, the music sounds very peaceful and
restful. Next pieces like 'Grab it' work again with vocal samples.
Again Ter Veldhuis works with consequence and discipline from
the same concept. Personally I don't need five works following
this same procedure. The repetitious use of vocal samples, work
on my nerves in the end. The human voice sounds enchained by the
technical and musical decisions made by the composer. But apart
from this minor point - in my view - this is very pleasant and
accessible chamber music played by an excellent quartet. (DM)
Address: http://www.innova.com
ENOMISSOSSAB - L 'OMBRA DI MEZZOGIORNO (CD
by Ants)
With Enomissossab we are in Italy. It is a project by Simone Basso
who composed all the titles on this CD. The human voice is the
central instrument here, but not always the most impressive. The
first track 'L'Elefantessa e la Leonessa Matta' is an all-vocal
absurd bluesy piece, bringing the dutch singer Han Buhrs to my
mind. In 'El Mantra' Basso sings with a deep voice and an over
the top dramatic expression that you find in some sections of
rock and pop music. Vocal exercises of a very irritating kind
if you ask me. We have to deal with them in most pieces on this
cd. Basso strongly leans on a certain rock-esthetic that is very
outdated to my standards. It would help if the compositions had
something of interest to offer. But the pieces are not excitingly
experimental or original. With his bluesy approach it seems Basso
seeks the company of singers like Nick Cave, Tom Waits of Diamanda
Galas. But singing in a bluesy manner does not mean one has the
blues. The CD carries two versions of '4 e 33', both taking exactly
4:33 and an obvious reference to John Cage. In a modified and
treated way we again meet bluesy vocals in a context of environmental
sounds. In between we find 'Propaganda Due', another example of
how they try to enrich pop/rock/blues themes with extended vocal
techniques. From a rock point of view it sounds all very pretensions
and superfluous. From the avant garde point of view this marriage
of extended vocal techniques and pop culture does not bring moments
of wonder. Hope Basso finds his true voice in the future. (DM)
Address: http://www.enomissossab.com
KENNETH GABURO - LINGUA II: MALEDETTO /
ANTIPHONY VIII (CD by Pogus)
Gaburo (1926-1993) is one of those many pioneering US-composers
like Cowell, Cage, Nancarrow, Partch, etc. But he is one of lesser
known ones. With this cd Pogus makes two works by him available.
The first one 'Lingua II: Maledetto' (composition for 7 Virtuoso
Speakers), composed in 1967-68, was first released on CRI in 1974.
The liner notes Gaburo wrote for this release are reprinted here.
The recording of this composition however is another one then
released by CRI, but dating from the same period. June 10th, 1973
to be exact. The track opens with high pitched non-verbal throat
sounds. After a few minutes the narrator starts reading a text
about the all the connotations and meanings of the word 'screw'.
Then two other voices join, reciting also texts concerning this
word, etc., etc. Later on to be followed by a quartet. Sometimes
the voices speak simultaneously, sometimes one after another.
Sometimes several voices speak the same text. At other times not.
Sometimes there is a out of phase reading of the same text by
several speakers. It sounds very theatrical. No wonder as Gaburo
composed this work as a part of a massive 6-hour theater work
Called LINGUA. In 'Maladetto' Gaburo experiments with language
and meaning, trying to create a dramatic and theatrical situation.
I'm not completely sure but I think this is a live recording,
using no overdubs and editing. The second composition 'Antiphony
VIII' is written for tape and percussion in 1982-83. The percussion
is played by Steven Schick. The recording dates from 1984. Alas
the voices on the tape sound very muffled, and one cannot always
hear what they say. The percussion playing becomes more and more
intense during the piece, becoming increasingly involved in what
the voice speaks about (nuclear war). So also in this piece theatrical
aspects are present. Because of this quality it may be that both
works on this cd still sound very much alive. (DM)
Address: http://www.pogus.com
RJF - GREATER SUCCESS IN APPREHENSION &
CONVICTIONS (CD by Segerhuva)
When you think about the early Industrial-related experimental-scene,
the first thing that crosses the mind is probably the British
scene around Throbbing Gristle, Cabaret Voltaire and the pioneers
of power electronics, Whitehouse. Apparently Sweden had some interesting
things going on in the same period. The music of RJF (shortage
of "Rein Judische Fett") is based on menacing and mechanical
noises and grating rhythms meanwhile voices of the two artists,
Tryggve Persson and Leif Thurreson, operate in the background
behind the layers of icy industrial sounds. Screeching high-frequency
noise sounds occurring in the sound picture reminds of the early
power electronics of Whitehouse. Not a coincidence since RJF is
regarded as being the forefront of the Swedish power electronics
movement. There are also associations towards Australian Industrial
pioneers of SPK and early Lustmord (project of SPK-member Brian
Williams). The atmosphere of the music suits well to the brutal
cover sleeve packaged in a 12-page booklet, containing liner notes
and original art by Leif Thurreson. Measured in sonic extremities,
the album titled "Greater success in apprehension & Convictions"
might stand the test of time competing with the ultra-brutal power
electronics from later compatriot project Brighter Death Now as
well as the brutal expressions of Noise-scene of the presence.
Never the less this is an interesting introduction to an important
act of the Swedish industrial/power electronics scene long time
before the birth of main swedish acts such as aforementioned Brighter
Death Now, Deutsch Nepal and the entire Cold Meat Industry label.
(NM)
Address: http://www.segerhuva.se
FRACTIONAL - COME MIERDA (CD by Brume Records)
If the monsters in the classic arcade video game of the 70's "Space
Invaders" had created music it would probably sound like
this. Take the soundtrack of Ed Wood's "Plan 9 from outer
space" and blend it with futuristic electronic experiments,
add a few doses of horrific choirs' atmospheres from eastern fright
flicks and you might have an idea what to expect on this interesting
album Pierre Remy titled "Come Mierda". Under the project
name Fractional, Pierre Remy creates a fascinating blend of semi-melodic
IDM, upfront industrial and furious breakbeats once in a while
approaching the harsh level of breakcore other times resting in
tranquilizing downbeat IDM-moments reminiscent of early Warp Records.
Fractional manage to combine emotional ambient-like expressions
with dramatic semi-harsh breakbeat electronics. And it definitely
works well! (NM)
Address: http://www.brumerecords.com
BAD SECTOR - STORAGE DISK 2 (CD by Waystyx)
On the inner sleeve of Bad Sector's latest effort beautifully
wrapped in cardboard art design, there is a detailed description
of the development of computers in the Soviet Union from the period
early 50's to late 70's. The link between that story and the music
from the Italian sound artist must be the Russian label behind
the release, Waystyx from Moscow. The Waystyx label focuses on
Industrial based music, drones and field recordings. Behind the
Bad Sector-project you find the Tuscanny-born artist Massimo Maggrini
who has been active under the Bad Sector flag since 1994 with
the debut cassette release "Ze" on the Slaughter Productions
label followed by the CD-release "Ampos" on Dutch label
God Factory in 1995. Since then it has resulted in an extensive
number of releases on various labels with quite a few on the Waystyx
label. Present album titled "Storage disk 2" is a compilation
of later materials of Bad Sector from the period 2002-2005. The
overall expression is quite dramatic combining industrial sound
spheres with more downbeat ambient. Despite the downbeat expression
approaching the tranquilizing sound of melancholic ambient, there
are masses of industrial elements combined with interesting noisy
and state of the art electronics added elements of manipulated
guitars and processed human voices. The music of Bad Sector is
intense and very atmospheric. Thus a pleasant overview of earlier
materials from a talented Italian artist calling himself Bad Sector.
Intense! (NM)
Address: http://www.waystyx.com
THE SILVERMAN - BLANK FOR YOUR OWN MESSAGE
(CD by Beta-lactam Ring Records)
The Silverman aka Phil Knight is one of my favorite musicians
in the experimental ambient/drone scene. Over the past decennium
he has been responsible for some of the most beautiful ambient/meditative
music I've ever heard. His previous LP/CD for BLRR Nature Of Illusion
is one of the best albums in this genre I have heard in many-a-year.
The Silverman's solo albums have always been slightly overshadowed
by his work for the Legendary Pink Dots. This is a shame, as his
solo work deserves a place of its own. Perhaps this new CD Blank
For Your Own Message will do the trick. Starting off life as a
"zen-opera" in seven parts, the music here is more varied
than Nature Of Illusion. BLRR drops the term "bio-melodics".
For once I have to agree. This actually fits the music and the
world of The Silverman. Although the music has seven parts, the
43 minutes that make up this album are programmed into one track.
It is hard to tell the origin of some of the sounds; there are
traffic tapes and acoustic sounds (percussion, cow bells) of a
more ethnical nature, all mixed up with synthetic sounds. These
combined make up a very strong album. Packed in one of those typical
BLRR deluxe hard-carton sleeves, this is a great addition to the
already great discography of The Silverman. (FK)
Address: http://www.blrrecords.com
ARIEL KALMA - LE TEMPS DES MOISSONS (CD
by Beta-lactam Ring Records)
The name Ariel Kalma may not ring a bell in modernists ears, but
then again this is not a new recording. This album was recorded
in 1975 and originally released in an edition of 1000 copies,
which now sell for silly money. Good to see BLRR have made this
available again. In the early 70s saxophone player Kalma travelled
to India to learn modal music and singing. Upon his return he
recorded this album using his primary instrument; the saxophone.
When I received this CD, I was slightly suspicious. To be honest,
I have never been that fond of Alphonse Sax's invention and I
hate wailing sax solo's. But much to my (pleasant) surprise, Le
Temps Des Moissons starts off quite good with the title track
being probably the best one on offer here. 16+ minutes of tone
scales with an Eastern feel to it. Here the saxophone still sounds
like one, but not too obtrusive. In fact, the track features certain
drone-like elements (not to mention extensive use of a wah-wah
pedal). Quite a beautiful track. On the second track, Bakafrica,
the ethnical instruments (plucked and blown, and -most likely-
of African origin) take over. The third track Voyage Eternelle
is where the music is treated with electronic filters, which is
a welcome change. Also a drum sets in. The very brief 5th track
Fast Road To Nowhere features a mouthharp and flutes and is well
done. The final track Reternell features multi-tracked/multi-looped
saxophones. However, by this time the formula has worn a bit thin.
I mean, there is only so much saxophone one can take (I can take).
Even Kalma himself advices to adjust the EQ for the frequencies
if it all becomes a bit too much. Probably best to stick to the
first track, which is still worth the purchase alone. (FK)
Address: http://www.blrrecords.com
KEPLERS ODD - STRENA SEU DE NIVE SEXANGULA
(CD by Fractured Spaces Records)
A trio from Sweden is Keplers Odd: Daniel Jansson, Magnus Moilala
and Kristina Persson. There are no instruments listed on the cover,
but judging by the music, they all play guitar and a big bunch
of sound effects. The title of their third album translates as
'a new year's gift of hexagonal snow' and is best described in
terms of ambient drones meet noise drones. Imagine a guitar on
fire and the sound being fed through some distortion pedals. But
keep in mind this is not over the top noise, but highly dense
and utter minimal patterns of deep drone sound, just a little
louder than many other riders on this storm. Mean music rather
than music that lulls you to sleep. Maybe the tracks are a bit
long, and maybe a bit too many (clocking in just under a hour),
but throughout this dark trip is a nice one. A long dark road.
(FdW)
Address: http://www.myspace.com/fracturedspacesrecords
UW HYPOTHEEKADVIES - NATURE OR NURTURE (CD
by Beta-lactam Ring Records)
Behind this confusing name hides a trio from Nijmegen, Netherlands.
With just bass, drums and guitar they produce some interesting
noisy free rock. Its a surprisingly good demo with recordings
made in september-october 2004, offering a very dynamic answer
of an old philosophical question. The CD opens with a very loud
piece. Fast and furious. Followed by a track where they make effective
use of some undefinable cut-up treatment, playing tapes backwards,
and things like that. Beefheartesque moments prevail in track
'(D.Turpin/B.Rogers)'. 'De Kandidaten' is an exercise in postrock
noisy soundscaping. 'Helmut Wagner' opens with a long and slowly
developing intro of soundscaping culminating gradually in a very
hectic noisy hell with some real hot boiling moments. If you want
a ballad go to track 'Rennen Ruud'. It shows Uw Hypotheekadvies
from their most friendly and pleasing side. When listening to
it for the first time I was constantly waiting for the moment
it would derange in some cacophony, but it didn't. We catch them
here in a serious romantic mood. The short piece '8 Doublures
(part one)' impresses because so much happens in 1:44 minute.
The track is composed with the help of some nice tape treatments
afterwards. And so they chose for a different angle in each piece.
To conclude, Dries (drums), Rob (bass) and Martin (guitar) make
instrumental noise rock of a considerable level. They make good
use of their technical skills and make a coherent and thoroughly
constructed rock with a total involvement of all three players.
Whether their qualities are innate (nature) or acquired through
intense learning (nurture) makes no difference to me. What counts
is that this is an adventurous and varied cd! I really had fun
with this one! (DM)
Address: http://www.blrrecords.com
LES FRAGMENTS DE LA NUIT - MUSIQUE DE CREPUSCULE
(CD by Equilibirium Music)
There was a time when I played the music by Wim Mertens a lot,
especially the early works when he was called Soft Verdict. In
recent years this has become a lot less, for no particular reason
I guess. I was reminded of Soft Verdict when I played 'Musique
de Crepuscule' by Les Fragments de la Nuit. Not just because of
the word 'crepuscule', which happens to be also the name of the
label that Mertens founded and released his first works on, but
of course the music itself. Les Fragments de la Nuit is an ensemble
of five people, Ombeline, Cendrine, Aurore, Ian-Ellfin and Michel.
Michel (piano) and Chendrine (violin) are the composers of the
music, played on four string instruments and piano (the absence
of wind instruments is a big difference with the music of Mertens).
Much of this music has been composed for soundtracks, independent
cinema, animation and documentaries. I must say I quite enjoyed
the music, even when I thought some of the pieces were a bit too
brief - more sketch like than entirely worked out, but such might
be the limitations of the assignment. But the sometimes joyful
and sometimes sad tunes are nice, owing as much to modern classical
music (the instruments) than to popmusic (the length of the pieces).
A pleasant sunday afternoon disc. (FdW)
Address: http://www.equilibriummusic.com
PROYECTO MIRAGE - TURN IT ON (CD by Ant-Zen)
Proyecte Mirage is one of the true legends on the power noise-related
Industrial-scene. The Spanish project was founded back in 1990
by Alicia Willen and Francisco Planellas in Madrid. Originally
with much focus on the electropop-scene but throughout the years
the noisier parts of the electronic scene has been integrated
ending up with six releases on Hands Productions and now their
first release on Ant-Zen Recordings. The music on this new release
titled "Turn it on" varies between instrumental and
vocal tracks consisting of voice contributions of Alicia Willen
as well as Francisco Planellas. Overall the expression on the
album is upbeat with pounding beat-structures and noisy sound
layers on the ground. And it does work well indeed. Great moments
especially occur on the "Welcome to life"-track that
sounds like an uptempo club version of Aphex Twins' first part
in the "Selected ambient works"-series. Extremely tight
and catchy. Another excellent club-track comes with the penetration
of the track with the almost ironic title "Piano song",
- no sweet piano melody on this one! Hurricanes of blasting beats
swirl along trippy electronic experimentation only overtaken by
the hyperfast "We are stupid"-track. A great up-tempo
work by Proyecto Mirage, screaming for some physical performance.
(NM)
Address: http://www.ant-zen.com
LUIGI ARCHETTI - FRAGMENTS ON SPEED, SLOWLESS
AND TEDIUM (CD by Domizil)
Very vaguely, somewhere in the back of my mind, the bottom of
my memory I remember the name Luigi Archetti, yet it's only two
years ago since I reviewed his two releases for Unit Records.
Archetti plays guitar, solo and in improvisation mode with others
and not always did his work convince me. I am afraid that this
new one won't change it either. Here the source material are improvisations
with the electric guitar. 'In a process of cutting, re-arranging
and transforming, on which he has worked for several years, Luigi
Archetti explores the possibilities and limitations of reduction
and the states of transformation of recorded musical material',
Domizil informs us. I don't know why we are told that it has been
a process of several years, as the things at hand sound on the
contrary very easily made. Partly there is the real time guitar,
strummed, hit, played with a bow, layered and solo. All of which
is nice enough, but it's also a bit too common and a bit too much.
Archetti plays no less than nineteen pieces, and after a while
one, at least I did, thinks, well, all is fair but half of it
is also fine. It stays in places which are well-known and offer
nothing new on the idea of "improvised guitar, edited on
the computer" (FdW)
Address: http://www.domizil.ch/
JAMKA - Z OKNA UCHA (LP by Urbsounds Collective)
From Slovakia, not exactly the first place that
springs to mind when thinking of electronic music, hails Jamka,
a duo of Monika Subrtova and Daniel Kordik. They list a whole
bunch of electronic devices, like a Roland TR 505, Yamaha RM1x,
Korg MS 2000br and more such analogue and digital gear and what
they produce could perhaps, perhaps, be classified as dance music,
but that's perhaps they use similar gear and the fact that they
use beats. The outcome however is not really music to dance to.
Based heavily on rhythm, feeding to all sorts of synthesizers,
it has too many difficult hooks to move your feet properly too.
More industrial than techno. I found this music very hard to relate
to. It just failed to make any impression on me, save perhaps
for some intro that hinted towards minimal techno, but which was
muffled away in the somewhat low recording mode. (FdW)
Address: http://urbsounds.sk
IRM - INDICATIONS OF NIGREDO (12" by
Segerhuva)
Twelfth release from IRM could in the first seconds mistakenly
be heard as another effort from the Chemikal Underground-label
thanks to the opening gentle guitar strums lulling the listener
towards sleep state, but that's just where the nightmare begins...
Let's make it clear: Swedish project IRM is certainly not for
the squeamish! Mixing drones of buzzing ambient-noise with crushing
power electronics of the most destructive kind and distorted voices
of desperation, the trio makes sure that the listener will not
leave this mini-album titled "Indications of nigredo"
unattended. Divided into two intersections titled "Indicator:
1" and "Indicator: 2", the two 10+ minutes long
works steadily build from mellow downbeat to satanic heights of
sonic extremity. What fascinates with IRM's approach to power
electronics is the intelligent construction of the works. Apparently
it is not the question of shocking the listener with the sounds
of collapsing electronics. More likely the trio invites you into
dark territories of electronic sound, - territories that in the
first moments seems harmless, but soon after turns out to be a
true noise monster. A noise monster, where the emotional impact
remains and thus makes the storm of crushing electronics even
more overwhelming as they attack the listener. A true masterpiece
of apocalyptic art. (NM)
Address: http://www.segerhuva.se
GUILLAUME GARGAUD - LE LIEU (CDR by Dirty
Demos)
Upon first glance it seems that Guillaume Gargaud is a new name
to me, but I vaguely remembered seeing his name before. He's one
half of Aarde, who already had a CDR on Dirty Demos before (see
Vital Weekly 601). That release I thought was pretty good, in
terms of 12K like music and solo Gargaud is not far away either.
According to the cover he plays prepared guitar and computer.
In this music he stays close by the original ideas of microsound.
Glitchy patterns, click-i-click rhythms hidden in background and
occasionally the 'real' thing pops out of the mass of computerized
drones. Like Aarde, Gargaud does a pretty decent job here. One
never has the idea that one is listening to something unique or
original, but Gargaud does a fine job at creating some nice moody
textured music. Sit back and relax, it's worth it. (FdW)
Address: http://www.dirtydemos.co.uk
DROUIN & NOVAK - AUDITORIUM MUTEK (CDR
by Infrequency)
The Canadian festival Mutek was once a highly promising marriage
of experimental music and dance music, but these days is more
interested in programming floor filling techno music, with just
a bit of experiment on the side. One of the spaces they use is
the Societe des Arts Technologiques, a.k.a. SAT and it was in
this space where Yann Novak and Jamie Drouin made their recordings
for an eight channel sound installation. That is to say when SAT
was empty. That is what we are told, and no doubt it's true. But
nothing in this piece reminds us of empty spaces. For all we know
this could be anything: field recordings from Mars, software synthesizers,
or guitars being pushed around: the original sources have entirely
disappeared from the scene and have been transformed into something
that is ultimately, perhaps, more interesting to hear. In about
forty-five minutes they move through various stages, from quiet
ambient drones to more present and louder material, that comes
across somewhat distorted. What seems to be less present, much
to my surprise is the microsound component of the music. Nowhere
things get very quiet, with a few plug ins. Contrary: most of
the time this piece stays alive and moving. That is quite a nice
step. I wonder how it would have sounded on more than a stereo
playback, but this reduced version is quite nice. Not always the
biggest surprise, but nevertheless quite alright. (FdW)
Address: http://www.frequency.org
NIGEL WRIGHT & TIM COSTER - CATHEDRALS
(CDR by Claudia)
From the islands down under hail Tim Coster and
Nigel Wright, both of whom have been active in the areas of field
recordings and computer processing. The two pieces on 'Cathedrals'
were recorded between July 2007 and May 2008 and showcase what
these boys can do best: lengthy exercises of drone sounds, slow
developments, minimal changes, all based on field recordings (perhaps
in cathedrals?) which are processed to an extent that they are
no longer recognizable. They do a very fine job, be it that there
is hardly a surprise in this music. In that respect the music
is stuck firmly in a well-fenced territory, which hardly allows
anything odd or surprising to happen. Besides that, which is mere
nagging on my part I guess, this is some wonderful dark atmospheric
drone music. (FdW)
Address: http://www.halftheory.com/claudia/
ROBERT CURGENVEN - SILENT LANDSCAPES (CDR
by Recorded Fields)
Back in Vital Weekly 612 we were first properly introduced to
the work of Robert Curgenven. He works solely with field recordings.
With this second release I got a lengthy explanation on each of
the four pieces. Where the sounds were recorded, during which
time of the year, climate conditions etc. It would have been nice,
I thought, if the actual release would have all of this information.
Essentially all the field recordings Curgenven makes are transferred
to CDR and then live mixed with five CD players and a 12 channel
mixing desk. Much like his previous release I found that hard
to believe, since all of these pieces sound like they were recorded
in real time, rather than the result of five different recordings
being mixed together. Only in 'Silent Landscapes 1' there seems
to be some electronic altering of the material, but it might very
well be some sort of line hum or distortion from the recording.
The rapid crescendo and loud, abrupt break reminded me of the
work of Francisco Lopez, but here's in the middle of a piece.
In terms of field recordings and it's history, Curgenven doesn't
offer much news but the pieces he created are done with great
care and style. (FdW)
Address: http://www.recordedfields.net
BUILD BUILDINGS - CEILING LIGHTS FROM STREET
(CDR, private)
It's been a while since I reviewed 'There Is A Problem With My
Tape Recorder' by Ben Tweel's project Build Buildings (see Vital
Weekly 509). My remark about his music sounding 'english' still
stands, even when it seems that he reduced his rhythms more than
before. Tweel likes the sounds in between sounds, it seems, the
glitches that are not supposed to be part of the music. He clusters
these glitches together and creates warm, ambient like music with
it. These are held together by playing them in loops, which form
the rhythmical component of the music. His influences are as before:
Fennesz and Oval meet the more intelligent dance beats of Highpoint
Lowlife and Expanding Records. Again twelve tracks, as before,
with a little less variety among them, but making it altogether
a more homogenous record, which in return tends to be a bit long.
But as a backdrop this is certainly very nice music to have on,
while doing the work. (FdW)
Address: http://www.buildbuildings.com
MICHEL HENRITZI - NOTHING (CDR by Dyin'
Ghost Records)
SHIN'ICHI ISOHATA & MICHEL HENRITZI & XAVIER CHARLES (CDR
by O-Musubi)
Even when Michel Henritzi doesn't sing, his music is true blues
music. Music of pain, loneliness, anxiety. He plays guitar, lapsteel
and amplifier. Nothing more is required by him to play his tunes.
Twelve pieces of lonesome cowboy music. He plays his pieces with
great pace, beautiful style and seemingly with great ease. Music
that showcases empty deserts, lonely roads, wind and storm over
spacious grass fields. 'Nothing' is a more than appropriate title
for such a release. Long, empty pieces. Not something you 'just'
put on. But something to be totally immersed by, rather than easily
play as a background tune. Even when its 'nothing' its totally
demanding music. Music that requires one's full attention and
music that won't make you 'happy'. You probably feel 'empty' afterwards.
To feel 'nothing' is impossible. Long one, but a great release,
and one that requires such a length.
Henritzi also shows up on a disc of two duo recordings. Both involve
Shin'ichi Isohata on acoustic guitar and in one Henritzi on the
electric guitar and Xavier Charles on the clarinet. With latter
the longest piece is recorded - taking about three quarters of
the entire disc space. Both of these pieces are fine examples
of improvisation old and a new. Charles plays his clarinet they
one would expect it to sound, while Isohata plays either overtone
like sounds or isolated sound events. In his duet with Henritzi
it seems that Isohata has picked the guitar up and plays like
a blues duo here. Both pieces are very refined examples of great
improvised music. The second could have be a bit longer. (FdW)
Address: http://o-musubi.com/
BEN SPIERS - AND THEN (CDR by Transient
Recordings)
BLACK WINDOW - GUNWALES (3"CDR by Transient Recordings)
TIM COSTER & MARK SADGROVE - UNTITLED (CDR by Transient Recordings)
I don't think I ever heard music by Ben Spiers properly, save
for one or two compilations. But 'And Then' makes up for this,
loud and very clear. Spiers plays guitar, violin and amplifier
and does so in nine different tracks. Lengthy tracks at that,
which makes this not a very easy release to listen to. His improvisation
are too widely spun but have not enough interesting moves to keep
things interesting throughout the length of a piece. When they
clock at somewhere between three and thirteen minutes, you may
understand that I thought this release was way too long. Just
a couple of these, shorter in length would have been nice, but
now it's all a bit too much.
Together with Andrew Weeks, a US citizen in New Zealand, on the
guitar, Spiers (also on guitar) teams up as Black Window. Their
'Gunwales' is a twenty-two minute opus of a battle of guitars
and noise. Feedback flies about, kept low in tone. A loud work,
very opposed to the Spiers solo work, which seemed to be about
an instrument and its amplification, but here they go all the
way out, with some loud noise piece. The brief character however
makes that things are well digestible. Nice and long enough.
Music by Tim Coster is usually released on his own CLaudia label
(see also elsewhere) and here he teams up with his more usual
compadre Mark Sadgrove. They play acoustic and electric guitar,
computer and mixer feedback. On 'Untitled', which was recorded
already in 2006, they play two pieces of highly controlled feedback,
probably derived from both a no-input channel and resonant qualities
of the guitars, feeding, transforming the signals through the
computer. Certainly not 'easy' music when you play this with quite
some volume, but at a little bit lower volume this is absolutely
a gorgeous release. Sine wave like tones will fill your space
with gentle, subtle ease. Of these three releases, the most accomplished,
refined one. (FdW)
Address: http://www.darcy.co.nz/transient
JOSH RUSSELL - MUSIC FOR GEIGERCOUNTERS
(3"CDR by Koyuki)
Earlier this year I was quite surprised by 'Sink' by Josh Russell
(see Vital Weekly 612), who played music that gave new way to
the ideas of microsound. Loud, glitchy, perhaps even field recordings,
but all much louder than what is common in this music field. I
expressed the hope that he would continue to do this, but sadly
on 'Music For Geigercounters' this is not the case. Russell moves
back into the 'soft' field of microsound with three pieces of
glitchy, hectic sounds of the geigercounters, layered so that
an almost static field arrives. Things are quite not there - textbook
microsound I'd say - but in all these pieces are quite nice, if
highly unsurprising. I'd say pick up with 'Sink' and explore that.
(FdW)
Address: http://www.koyuki-sound.org
XIIORA - HORIBUNOPUYAR (3"CDR by Inqb8r)
Now here's a highly puzzling release. Xiiora is one Oswals Gee,
the famous author of 'Encyclopedia Of Harsh', born in Eastern
Island, killed later on. How it relates to this music I don't
know. Or who made it. Even more curious is that the release contains
only two very short tracks, so that the whole thing is about five
minutes. Both pieces are held together by a stomping, mechanical
rhythm machine. In the first piece there is some sighing while
the second seems to be just the straight forward machine. Highly
conceptual, but it's all a bit beyond me. Hard to understand.
(FdW)
Address: http://www.inqb8r.net
PICK-UP - FROM HERE TO ANYWHERE (3"
CDR by Moll)
FRANS DE WAARD - UNTITLED (LE POEME D'UNE VIE BIEN REMPLIE) (3"
CDR by Moll)
BASS COMMUNION & FREIBAND (3" CDR by Moll)
This week, no less than three new releases from Frans de Waard's
"My Own Little Label". Reaching number 22, this little
label already presented us with a big and diverse palette of De
Waard's various projects and connections (and that in little more
than a year time).
Pick-Up is a collaboration between Frans de Waard and Martin Luiten
and came forth out of the "Oahu" album/project the two
did with Machinefabriek. The Oahu is an acoustic lapsteel guitar,
named after one of the Islands of Hawaii. Martin Luiten owns one
and can play it. After finishing the album, Luiten and De Waard
continued to work on more new music: real time guitar playing
mixed with real time laptop. Hawaii is something you surely don't
hear on this album. Death Valley is what actually comes to mind:
dry and dusty guitar picking scored with eerie and desolate soundscapes.
An alternative soundtrack to scenes of Wenders' "Paris, Texas".
Because it has that motion picture soundtrack feel to it. Nice
and unexpected.
"Untitled", presented here as a Frans de Waard work,
is a registration of a concert in Leeuwarden on invitation by
Machinefabriek, who asked De Waard "If he could incorporate
some text". The obligatory text is presented here by Monochrome
Vision's label boss Dmitry Vasiljev (who released Freiband's "Replicas"
- reviewed in Vital 633) and he, on his turn, recites a text by
Russian poet Vladimir Mayakovsky. So far for the namedropping.
High frequency transitions is what this piece starts off with;
very pierce. When it abruptly stops we here Dmitry for the first
time, which quickly transforms in voice mutations and added street
life fieldrecordings (with more oscillating frequencies slowly
rising to the surface). Eventually Dmitry returns to the scene
and claims his spotlight position. A whirlwind of more megahertz-es
eventually moves into pieces towards another movement, where there's
also a time and place for silence. When we here 2 plops it is
finished. A picturesque piece.
Bass Communion is Steven Wilson's experimental ambient project
and somehow a new name to me. Apparently he's a member of Porcupine
Tree and an active collaborator with the likes of Dirk Serries,
Robert Fripp and Andrew Liles a.o. Never too old to learn I guess.
Here he teams up (for the first time?) with Freiband. Haze Shrapnel
is a well hazy slab of ambient made using guitar and laptop. The
kind of soundscaping you just undergo while staring into oblivion.
I don't mean that in a bad way, but in the way that it switches
off your mind for a while. Freiband's remix of the track starts
in a similar way, but seems to remain more static, i.e. not flowing
in an organic nature like the original piece. But on closer listen
some subtle shifts are to be heard. It sounds like the new flesh.
(SDT)
Address: http://www.kormplastics.nl/moll.html
A VIBRANT STRUGGLE - CRYSTAL SKULL MEDITATION
(cassette by Dim Records)
Three boys locked inside a cottage somewhere in the Norwegian
outback, armed with their musical toys. The boys are Bjerga and
Iversen and Staplerfahrer and they did this for a weekend last
september. No doubt no sleep and no doubt many releases to come.
These are the sort of people to release almost everything they
produce. The first results to be made available is this cassette
release on Staplerfahrer's Dim Records. Its a twenty minute piece
of drone music operating at the louder end of the soundspectrum.
Dense and distorted, totally loaded with sound effects and with,
as expected, free structure. These are not the sort of boys to
care about a great composition - its the action that counts for
them. Not a brilliant piece, but one that fits their sound concept
pretty well. A fine start of no doubt something big. (FdW)
Address: http://www.myspace.com/dimrec
JEFF REHNLUND - RECYCLED (Cassette by RRR)
"so today this guy came to my shop and dumped his cassette
collection, the usual 80's rock + metal, hundreds upon hundreds
of the damned things - I got
no use for them except for recycling.......YAY!!!! ..today is
the day I need new masters........ who wants to put out a Recycled
Music tape on RRR?? if you are reading this, then consider yourself
invited - all I need from you is a cassette master (preferably
a C-46 or a C-60) oh yeah, I just want noise and its various subdivisions
- please NO TECHNO/IDM/BEATS/etc - I normally don't reject masters
for the Recycled series but stuff like that is going straight
into the dumpster. also I need no artwork, its always the same
design BEST - Ron" Which is how it all began- the "design"
is duck tape and felt pen. and no more- this current series is
over- so here we have one example. Rehnlund's contribution is
a strange eclectic mix of harsh noise snippets, 'field recordings'
both from the US and elsewhere - electronically processed - acoustic
type low fi improv- in diverse sections- processed 'found' sound
pieces - the whole lacks coherence as a monolithic work - or even
identifiable tracks - but that's OK as it underlines rather well
the general idea of recycling of what could be regarded as the
detritus of existence - though I doubt if its any good news for
all our polar bear readers - unless they are collecting Ron's
recycled series.... (Jliat)
Address: http://www.rrrecords.com /http://www.myspace.com/jeffRehnlund
THE AND GROUP (MP3)
You could say The And Group is a real group, a real pop group.
There is Howard on computer, bass, guitar, David on guitar and
vocals) an Annie who delivers some vocals too. Even when half
the songs are instrumental, the tunes The And Group play are borrowed
from the world of pop, but they stretch them out, play them during
a longer course. So an intro may take some time in their world.
The middle part a long time. But no doubt they set out to play
a poptune, inspired by the world of folk music, post rock and
electronics. Maybe they stretch out things a bit too far in 'Dwarfed'
(almost fifteen minutes) or 'Rooms' (almost eighteen), but then
an element of psychedelica or electronic krautrock slips in, which
adds again a nice element from the history of popular music. Someone
should give them a record deal. (FdW)
Address: http://www.theandgroup.org