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VITAL WEEKLY
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number 635
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week 28
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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
ERIC LA CASA & CEDRIC PEYRONNET - LA
CREUSE (CD by Herbal International)
MAJU - MAJU 5 (CD by Extreme)
CLAUDIO PARODI - A RITUAL WHICH IS INCOMPREHENSIBLE (TO THE SMILE
OF PAULINE OLIVEROS) (CD by Extreme) *
LEMKE GWILLIAM - FOURMILL PLUS AQUARTERINCH (CD by Nur Nicht Nur)
*
DALGLISH - IDEOM (CD by Record Label Records) *
SUDDEN INFANT - PSYCHOTIC EINZELKIND (CD by Blossoming Noise)
VRIL - THE OBSERVER (CD by Skullnoise Records)
HUGH DAVIES & ADAM BOHMAN/LEE PATTERSON/MARK WASTELL - FOR
HUGH DAVIES (CD by Another Timbre) *
HUGH DAVIES - PERFORMANCES 1969-1977 (CDR by Another Timbre)
MATT DAVIES & MATT MILTON & BECHIR SAADE - DUN (CD by
Another Timbre)
ESTEBAN ALGORA & ALESSANDRA ROMBOLA & INGAR ZACH - ...
DE LAS PIEDRAS (CD by Another Timbre)
BRANDON LABELLE - RADIO MEMORY (CD/Book by Errant Bodies Press)
*
BRANDON LABELLE - DIRTY EAR (CD by Errant Bodies Press)
ANNETTE KREBS & TOSHIMARU NAKAMURA - SIYU (CD by SOS Editions)
*
OLIVIA BLOCK & SANDRA GIBSON & LUIS RECODER - UNTITLED
(DVD by SOS Editions)
HUM OF THE DRUID - THE NEW WING BRAIDED INDUSTRY (LP by SNSE)
LE SCRAMBLED DEBUTATE & SURFACE HOAR & KENJI SIRATORI
(CDR by Galloping Foxely Recordings) *
SURFACE HOAR - TEASE AND TELL (CDR by Galloping Foxely Recordings)
JLIAT - NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL NOISE VOL. 15 (CDR by Larks Council
Of England)
MOUTHS - 3V1/3V2 (CDR by Absurd) *
TASOS STAMOU - ELECTROACOUSTIC IMPROVISATION #1 (CDR by Kukuruku
Recordings)
DEMERGO - WESTWATER MEADOWS (CDR by Ahasverus Records)
TRUE SOLACE - BANDONA (CDR by The Art Of Mystification Records)
*
INDUSTRIAL PASSAGE FT MELLE KRAMER - KARMA (CDR by The Art Of
Mystification Records)
EZRA JACOBS - DIFFUSIEDRANG (CDR by Etherkreet) *
RICHARD JONAS - STEKKERSPEL (CDR by Etherkreet)
BAS VAN HUIZEN - ANACHRONISTENMIST (CDR by Etherkreet)
FORDELL RESEARCH UNIT - REAL MEN DRINK HORSE MILK (CDR by Dead
Sea Liner)
EL HEATH - A (RATHER) DEAD SEA LINER (CDR by Dead Sea Liner) *
DEAD WOOD - HARMONIC SECTOR 1-10 (CDR by Dead Sea Liner)
ADRIAN SHENTON - THE MEASURING MOMENTS (CDR by Quiet World) *
IAN HOLLOWAY & DARREN TATE & BANKS BAILEY - SUMMERLAND
(CDR by Quiet World)
IAN HOLLOWAY - A LONELY PLACE (CDR by Quiet World)
THIS WINDOW (CDR, private)
THE STRIGGLES - EXPRESSIONISM (CDR by Noise Appeal Records)
SCISSOR SHOCK - SYNONYM FOR THE WORD DECAY (?)
LAWRENCE ENGLISH /JEPH JERMAN (3"CDR by Compost And Heigth)
MICHEAL JOHNSEN - UNTITLED (3"CDR, private) *
MICHEAL JOHNSEN - UNTITLED (3"CDR, private)
HAROLD NONO - THE DEATH OF BARRA (MP3 by Rack & Ruin Records)
SEGUE - A GLASS DARKLY (MP3 by Resting Bell)
ERIC LA CASA & CEDRIC PEYRONNET - LA
CREUSE (CD by Herbal International)
As far as I remember I've never been to the area where Cedric
Peyronnet (also better known as Toy Bizarre) and Eric La Casa
recorded their work, the Creuse department in central France -
maybe I saw it today when watching the Tour de France. However
there is a booklet with this CD with pictures of the area, and
in each picture there is a pair of microphones to be spotted.
This is as close as you can make field recordings visual I guess.
A pity that the booklet, a diary it seems, is all in French, with
some general English translation on the cover. The area was divided
into several specific sites which were recorded by one, and then
sent to the other to work on it, to interpret the place. And vice
versa of course. Each piece is started by one, finished by the
other. Its not easy to hear who did what, but I think that the
pieces finished by Peyronnet have a minimal subtle electronic
manipulations, and that La Casa's pieces are entirely made with
field recordings. I might be wrong however and no electronic processing
took place. We hear rain, wind, footsteps and sounds from water,
objects and other sonic events which are hard to be placed somewhere
in terms of what one could recognize. Even when this is divided
into nine pieces, it's best enjoyed as a complete picture: listen
from start until the end, sit back and transport yourself through
time and space - time is the length of the CD and the place is
La Creuse. This rural and forest area is pictured quite well before
your very eyes. A very refined work. (FdW)
Address: http://www.herbalinternational.tk
MAJU - MAJU 5 (CD by Extreme)
CLAUDIO PARODI - A RITUAL WHICH IS INCOMPREHENSIBLE (TO THE SMILE
OF PAULINE OLIVEROS) (CD by Extreme)
The last few releases by Australia's Extreme were more in the
areas of improvised music, but with these two the label is back
to its more original roots of experimental music. Maju, the duo
of Hosomi Sakana and Masaki Narita, return to Extreme with their
fifth album. The fourth volume was reviewed in Vital Weekly 547
(the previous three didn't make it to these pages) and this new
one sees a steady continuation of the lines set out on the previous
volume. Highly ambient music in a highly digital manner. If anything,
the name of Stephan Mathieu comes up again. Stretched fields of
hissing sounds, loops of grainy textures, hard discs working over
time. Like before it's not music that is in the new age area,
as 'Maju 5' also works in the experimental/electronic ambient
glitch alley. An alley that has been well explored before, and
as such 'Maju 5' doesn't necessarily add much new insight, even
when Hosomi Sakana plays four solo tracks out of the total of
seven. Solo or duo: it hardly makes a difference. Great late night
music, nothing new under the moon.
Also before on Extreme has been a release by Claudio Parodi, who
back then (Vital Weekly 553) paid homage to Alvin Lucier. Here
the bowing goes to Pauline Oliveros and her deep listening music.
Parodi plays turkish clarinet for that in a three part (the third
includes a coda) work. On this instrument he plays a few lines,
which are continuously repeated and layered, but he brings in
small variations to the scheme every now and then, like a variety
of loops being played. Below this he adds a most curious blend
of hard to define sounds - field recordings perhaps, scratching
the surface or highly reverbed spaces - its pretty far away in
the mix of the Turkish clarinet, so virtually not possible to
scan this out. It sounds quite nice as a background, and the solemnly
played instrument makes this almost like a requiem piece. Like
the Lucier homage this is also a consistent work. Very nice again.
(FdW)
Address: http://www.xtr.com
LEMKE GWILLIAM - FOURMILL PLUS AQUARTERINCH
(CD by Nur Nicht Nur)
Right across the border, Vital Weekly can almost see it from the
HQ, is the small German city of Kleve, and located there is a
small but active scene of improvising musicians, who gather around
the Nur Nicht Nur label and as such has been a force for many
years. One of their members is Helmut Lemke, who has 'presented
the process-based results of his investigations into site-specific
sound' for close to thirty years now. Here he teams up with the
much younger Ben Gwilliam, who does likewise work and is more
from the improvised music scene. In 2007 they spent time together,
using different formats of audiotape: pre-recorded, prepared and
unprepared. Together they collected a whole bunch of sounds on
various tapes (reel to reel, cassette, micro cassette and what
else, 8-track maybe?) which they collage together in quite densely
layered pieces of hiss like sounds and obscured sounds. Its not
easy to say what the sounds are that they recorded on those tapes,
save for some voice material being sped up and slowed down. Otherwise
its not easy to recognize much, but that obscurity adds a great
texture to the release, I think. It's a bit like music you could
find on cassettes in the 80s, but now with a much better recording
quality. Small amplified sounds along the lines of John Cage's
'Cartridge Music'. A fascinating, closed cloud of sound is what
they produce, with small elements coming in and out, which leaves
much to guess for the listener, who is sucked into this swamp.
A nice trip down! (FdW)
Address: http://www.nurnichtnur.com
DALGLISH - IDEOM (CD by Record Label Records)
Only recently we reviewed 'Waetka' by O.S.T., the long term project
of Chris Douglas and after quite a long hiatus, today we read
in the press text of Dalglish that Douglas is no longer using
O.S.T. as his band name but it's now Dalglish and also Rook Valard,
of which I didn't hear any music yet. I am not sure why this name
shift was necessary, but o.k. it's there. The first release as
Dalglish is a fact and it's a fine combination of all sorts of
influences past and present - the early techno/IDM inspired music,
ambient and noise. The main principle behind each track is to
present a bunch of loops and see how they work together. Sometimes
these loops do not match up together, they bump and collide and
just don't make any sense, such as in 'Thism', but it gets kind
of hypnotic because it doesn't work together - odd but true. And
sometimes things fall neatly into place and a more steady beat
holds the music together - a bit like techno, but this music isn't
something to move your feet too; rather to tap your feet to. Tracks
last around five minutes here which seems to me to be the right
kind of length. So far so good, I'd say. One complaint however
can be made: with fifteen tracks this album is also kinda long.
This is the moment when I regret music like this is no longer
released on a LP: with four of these tracks per side, this would
be a perfect album; now, with fifteen pieces, this is quite a
sit through and a certain similarity is moved in. Play one half
one day and the other the next day is my suggestion. (FdW)
Address: http://www.recordlabelrecords.org
SUDDEN INFANT - PSYCHOTIC EINZELKIND (CD
by Blossoming Noise)
Is or are Joke Lanz, who here is joined by Bill Kouligas and Christian
Weber, but has from the website collaborated with most of the
people in the known universe. And even here the last three tracks
are remixes by Z'EV, Lasse Marhaug and Thurston Moore. Given all
that and his support from Pro Helvetia? and the Swiss Arts Council
(resist third man quote!!!) I have to admit I didn't enjoy or
like (not the same thing) this release. I know its all my fault..
I've been listening to this over and over and it still reminds
me of French mime - no doubt both incredibly deep and at the same
time funny to the Gallic mind but to me - a WASP - I just don't
get it? Though I do understand the rules of cricket - 'I don't
like Reggie - I love it' to quote 10cc.. Well I suppose it has
bits of noise but I'm thinking Fluxus does eurovision - and that
might prove popular to some. What I would call clanky clank silly
rhythms - which naughty Thurston has just run tracks 1+? through
a distortion pedal, Lasse's a kind of coughourama.. or take track
11, its made from zipper noise to sound like small dogs barking.
(very funny? Oh how clever - in the accent the pigs use in shrek.)
elsewhere bits of guitar and electonica - I'm probably damming
my chances with the avant garde - but sorry guys - I don't get
it, maybe - just maybe the first name is a giveaway - emperors
new clothes - or maybe not? (Jliat)
Address: http://www.suddeninfant.com/
VRIL - THE OBSERVER (CD by Skullnoise Records)
"The Observer" es la "antimúsica",
la descomposición y el desorden donde la estructura musical
es el mismo caos. Intento romper con todas las normas y crear
unas texturas y atmósferas ruidistas e inquietantes en
algunos casos.." Well you can say that again - and they do
in English - "The Observer" is "anti-music",
the decomposition and disorder where musical structure is chaos.
I attempt to break with all norms and create noisy textures and
atmospheres, even disturbing in some cases. 58 minutes of pulsating
brutality where the tone generator and distortions merge in a
vortex of high voltage frequency." Yep - does what it says
on the can- as the Ronseal ad goes (I love that expression but
imagine others hate it. Especially the swiss) Its noise (jim -
but as we know it) slow - drawn out like things being fed through
some giant electric saw and slowly shredded into oblivion - well
into bits at least- and not on all the tracks - the persistence
and single minded stupidity of noise is I know at times hard to
maintain. Another point I'd make Paco (Rodríguez) is the
artwork is dull - I'm thinking. (ad man type voice.) princess
leia as the slave girl in SW5 perhaps? A thinly disguised rouse
to intellectualize pathetic sexism. By calling it ironic. oh come
on- 7 of 9 - searing indictment of post-modern cybernization of
humanity or what! (jliat)
Address: http://www.vrilnoise.com
HUGH DAVIES & ADAM BOHMAN/LEE PATTERSON/MARK
WASTELL - FOR HUGH DAVIES (CD by Another Timbre)
HUGH DAVIES - PERFORMANCES 1969-1977 (CDR by Another Timbre)
MATT DAVIES & MATT MILTON & BECHIR SAADE - DUN (CD by
Another Timbre)
ESTEBAN ALGORA & ALESSANDRA ROMBOLA & INGAR ZACH - ...
DE LAS PIEDRAS (CD by Another Timbre)
Of course I could make a joke about mafia money running out and
Another Timbre now also doing CDR releases (see Vital Weekly 619),
but the reason for releasing a CDR is probably more archival than
economical. Hugh Davies, a builder and inventor of sound devices,
died in 2005. He played his instruments since the sixties, and
belonged to the 'first wave' of improvisers (along with Derek
Bailey, Evan Parker) as well as playing music by Cage and Stockhausen.
On 'For Hugh Davies' there are a six solo improvisations from
1969 to 1977 which are played back to three players, Mark Wastell,
Adam Bohman and Lee Patterson (all of them influenced by Davies),
to which they added their own playing, as well as one homage to
Davies without Davies. A bit complex I'd say, and perhaps a bit
blasphemous. Wastell plays the cello, while Patterson and Bohman
use a table full of small, amplified objects. If you are aware
of say the works of Patterson or the Bohman Brothers, then you
might have an idea of what this is about. Lots of scraping, touching,
scratching etc of objects, in a hectic manner, or if Wastell plays
a bigger role, with some more emphasis on longer, sustaining exploration
of the instrument. Certainly not easy music, and certainly not
quiet music, but throughout a highly concentrated affair.
How it sounds without the players, the real solo thing as it were,
there is a CDR of the original Hugh Davies live recordings available
too. Maybe it's better to hear that first, to get the impression
of the original thing first, which of course I didn't, so maybe
my judgment is a bit clouded. On this CDR the live sound of Hugh
Davies is a more direct in your face sound. His self-built instruments
rattle in your face in a direct way, like when things are picked
up with a microphone close by. It was a bit hard to believe that
these recordings were the foundations of the release I just heard,
as at times this sounds much more loud and present. It's not the
easiest disc, since, with six tracks that span almost eighty minutes,
this is a bit too much. But it surely gives you a very fine impression
of how this great man sounded.
Also on Another Timbre are two trio discs. The first is by Matt
Davies (trumpet and field recordings), Matt Milton (violin) and
Bechir Saade (bass clarinet and flute). This is a live recording
from November last year. I never heard of Matt Milton, whereas
the other two already have a rising reputation in the world of
improvised music. Improvised music from the world of sound, rather
than from the world of instruments. The world in which silence,
or sheer near silence, is as important as producing a sound. Here
is where a sound is produced, left by itself and then the wait
starts for another sound: the three players watch eachother, in
full concentration and then a new event happens. Certainly not
music to put and leave on, and do something else, but very much
like the players to be listened with full concentration. No easy
listening here, but one that unfolds its beauty in a similar peaceful
way as it is produced.
A more unusual line up is on '... De Las Piedras' with Ingar Zach
(percussion), Esteban Algora (accordion) and Alessandra Rombola
(flutes and tiles installation). Here the improvisation is of
course, like all releases on this label, the starting point, but
the outcome is not like that of the previous three. Indeed careful
playing, silence plays a part, but throughout it seems to me that
these three are aiming at something else. It seems that things
are more planned around here, with Algora's accordion at the centre
playing Oliveros' like drone music, and the other two are more
in a free role. This trio stays more close to the original improvisation
but offers likewise strong, intense listening music. Certainly
it's not easy to play all four of the new Another Timbre releases
in a row - I certainly didn't - but each of them has their own
view on the subject of improvisation and proving the endless amount
of possibilities are available. (FdW)
Address: http://www.anothertimbre.com
BRANDON LABELLE - RADIO MEMORY (CD/Book
by Errant Bodies Press)
BRANDON LABELLE - DIRTY EAR (CD by Errant Bodies Press)
Perhaps I once stated that I have no radio. It's not entirely:
next to my bed I have radio, to wake me up in the morning with
the 8 o'clock news (days at Vital HQ start early), and then I
shut it down and get up. I don't know what else is on the radio
anymore. I don't mind either as through the door much music arrives.
As a young man, with no money, enough time on my hand (being a
student), I used to listen to radio in the evening. Several good
programs in The Netherlands ('Spleen', 'Radionome' anyone) gave
me my first steps in strange music. I did tape stuff from radio
back then, and in some cases it too me years to find a record
that I known for so long ('Nyrabagia' anyone?). I wonder if anyone
who downloaded a MP3 these days has that same feeling - but I
am getting old, I know. All of this rambling about radio is all
hardly of interest I guess, but it could have been part of the
installations that were conceived by Brandon LaBelle. A couple
of years he invited a whole bunch of people to write him about
their first memories on radio. That can be a song, or a situation
in which radio played some role. It's an interesting read, as
they are collected here in the book, which brings back other memories
of the same songs here or which made me curious to hear some of
the ones I don't know. Part of the book is devoted to the installations
that resulted from these memories, and is thus an art catalogue.
And of course there is a CD, in which LaBelle works with four
memories and builds a script around them, have them spoken by
some people and adds music to them. The result are four radio
plays about memories, dreams or nightmares about radio, locations
and people. A very strong and coherent work, even when you won't
be playing this on a daily basis.
At the same time there is also the release of 'Dirty Ear', which
has no book which seems to be a rare thing for LaBelle these days.
It uses 'dirty field recordings, found sounds, sound effects,
archives and sonorous dramas. Composed as a series of micro-narratives
each designed to intervene onto imagined settings or spatial locations,
as counter-sonorities'. Although that last bit is a bit of abacadabra
to me, the actual music is quite interesting. They are indeed
micro-narratives, on quite an abstract level it seems, or at least
most of the times. Hard to tell what those 'dirty' sound sources
are, but there is a certain muddy aspect to the music which makes
it actually quite nice. Good to hear LaBelle's doing a more regular
release again. (FdW)
Address: http://www.errantbodies.org
ANNETTE KREBS & TOSHIMARU NAKAMURA -
SIYU (CD by SOS Editions)
OLIVIA BLOCK & SANDRA GIBSON & LUIS RECODER - UNTITLED
(DVD by SOS Editions)
These two releases look beautiful, no doubt about that. The DVD
is a box which holds the release and the CD is a cut-out, pop-up,
fold out thing. That is amazing, and no doubt expensive to make.
But why oh why would you want to release such beauty and hardly
any information on either cover. I found out that the label is
called SOS Editions, and no information yet on their website about
these two new releases, which I culled from another site. The
CD is by Siyu, or perhaps the title is 'Siyu' and it's performed
by Annette Krebs and Toshimaru Nakamura. Krebs plays guitar, mixing
board, tapes and objects and Nakamura plays no-input mixing board.
As minimal as the cover is the music. Stretched out sine waves,
produced by the no-input mixer mingle together nicely with the
overtones produced the guitar, in which we sometimes recognize
the guitar and most of the time nothing at all. Contemplative
music - like staring at a white wall with sunlight on it (or perhaps
the white cover with it's geometric holes). A work of peace and
quiet, even when I can imagine this working on the nerves if you
are not initiated in this kind of music. But me thinks this is
quite nice indeed.
I said it before, and will say it today and probably many more
times: I have a big problem when it comes to reviewing video.
I am afraid I just don't know too much about it. To be honest:
I stuck this DVD on, and didn't look at it. The reason was perhaps
that the music is by Olivia Block, someone whose work I admire
a lot. She composed a 'site specific' which doesn't sound like
much I heard from here before. The forty some minute piece is
quite noise based with distorted sounds of unknown origins. In
the back there is the mighty drone, rolling about for what seems
to be the entire length, but on top there is all sorts of glitchy
sounds moving in distorted way, especially as the piece progressed.
Kinda like latter day Oval - and that's something that didn't
bother me much. I must say that this is the first Block work that
didn't work very much for me. The video footage, with its flickering
images however fitted the scene quite well I thought. In that
sense this worked well, even when I'm no specialist at all (I
might have said that already). (FdW)
Address: http://www.soseditions.com
HUM OF THE DRUID - THE NEW WING BRAIDED
INDUSTRY (LP by SNSE)
I'm having to fix my deck (yo man respect?) for this one so while
we wait just some words of warning to Eric (Stonefelt) that the
druids are in the UK a bit of a joke - though they pratt around
at Stonehenge the said circle predates them by hundreds if not
thousands of years, plus Ken Barlow of Coronation Street is a
famous! druid. Nuf said? - (not from the UK? then Wiki said Ken..)
OK - elsewhere a reviewer talks of the Bass on this - and its
there at first simply like the amplified rumble of the deck- but
then what appears as a rooftop flyover of a Hercules transport
- I say this from experience - you know - what the FCUK was that!
There is some processed "scary" vocal - but we will
let that go . What is *particularly* good about this release is
that given its on vinyl at times you cant help but think the stylus
is simply running over a slab of rusty metal, and that any artifacts
of the actual medium are instantly part of the piece. (That's
a good thing children, as it relates to McLuhan's dictum - I said
dictum!) Anyone who is into vinyl (resist slutty joke) should
check this out. OK vinyl and noise - got to be a sex thing here?
Ken certainly wouldn't like any of it. "Soooooo I'm thinking
noise.... vinyl..... ken.... & then Barbie! . and." oh
getoutahere - actually "Kenanbarbi" - got to be better
than H o t D - so - what do you think - kind of japanesse sounding..
no?.. sorry - anyway - nice release - nice (jliat)
Address: http://snse.net/
LE SCRAMBLED DEBUTATE & SURFACE HOAR
& KENJI SIRATORI (CDR by Galloping Foxely Recordings)
SURFACE HOAR - TEASE AND TELL (CDR by Galloping Foxely Recordings)
From the department of puzzles and riddles, comes
a release of six people working together. Only Kenji Siratori
is a name I know, but Sir Bear Trapper, Le Chat Du Noir, Sid Redlin,
Kensaku Nishizato and Matthew Amundsen are new names to me. Apparently
some work as Surface Hoar and some as Le Scrambled Debutante.
They thank Nigel Ayers (now him I'm know!) for samples. One piece,
forty five minutes, of processed voices (hard to say wether that
is singing, chanting or speaking), set against an old school industrial
rhythm backbone and some sounds that are hard to define, but all
of an electronic nature. I expected, perhaps for no good reason,
this to be quite noise based, but it's not. It has even some techno
inspired rhythms here and there, and lots of electronic sounds
to go along. The voice, I think Siratori's, is pitched up and
sounds like he took some helium, and perhaps pitched down too,
who knows, is a bit in the way of the music at times, but it also
hides the fact that the music is not always that varied, if not
too say a bit boring. But throughout this release was quite alright,
even when it's all a bit puzzling as to who did what around here.
On the same label, apparently without a website, also a new release
by Surface Hoar, in a nice recycled package. Surface Hoar is Matthew
Amundsen (the man behind the label actually) and this release
was made of electronic improvisations. I assume this is all computer/laptop
generated stuff (though I might be wrong of course) of loud mean
sustaining sounds and minimalist beats. Loops of all of these
fly about in eleven relatively short pieces. Surface Hoar seems,
at least seems to me, to like music which is carried by beats,
be it any beats. Click n cut like rhythms are employed quite a
lot around, with fuzzy electronics playing steady sine wave like
structures. Think a very rough version of early Pan Sonic, but
more generated through improvisation, rather than fixed compositions
- 'Scrapper 3' is a perfect example of this. Sometimes a bit too
stripped down for my taste but this music certainly has potential
to grow into something more structured. Once there, anything could
happen and the sky will be the limit. But me thinks it should
not be limited to improvisation and 'see what happens'. That we
know, now get the real thing. (FdW)
Address: http://www.myspace.com/lescrambleddebutante http://www.myspace.com/surfacehoar
http://www.kenjisiratori.com
JLIAT - NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL NOISE VOL.
15 (CDR by Larks Council Of England)
For a moment I thought of sending this to Jliat, the current reviewer
for Vital Weekly of all things loud noise concerned, and see what
he has to say about this consistent body of work. Number fifteen
in an ongoing series of 'sampled noise, guitar effects and distortion
pedals', with each track being three minutes and fifty-nine seconds
in duration, repeated eight times. There is, me thinks, not really
difference between these eight and the previous 112 tracks that
were released, and perhaps that's the whole conceptual idea. Maybe
there is a theory behind it, a notion that I am missing, but I
can play this once, write a few lines (or invent them) and then
move on. Maybe that is the whole idea behind it. I don't know.
That's why I should have mailed to this Jliat. (FdW)
Address: http://www.jliat.com
MOUTHS - 3V1/3V2 (CDR by Absurd)
Maybe I am wrong but the Mouths release I reviewed before was
perhaps the only thing I reviewed by this band, which was then
Jon Mueller (percussion, cassettes, vocals), Jim Schoenecker (analogue
synthesizer, shortwave radio, vocals) and Werner Moebius (computer,
devices). It seems now that Mueller is the constant factor of
Mouths, now that he presents another release, which is one track
with vocalist Carol Genetti and one with her voice material and
Jim Schoenecker. Both pieces were recorded live and use 'mouths'
- vibrations of air made using voice and which sets other instruments
in motion. In the duo piece with Genetti things start out in a
gentle manner, with long sustaining voice sounds, until everything
seems to have disappeared. That however doesn't really happen
because when things return they return for good: nervous hectic
voice sounds, the rattling of bows against cymbals. Its almost
like a New Blockaders piece. The piece with Genetti's voice on
tape is '3v2' (I am sure the titles work out in some chronological
way) and it seems to be, to me, the same voice material as from
the first track, but it's a much more quieter piece, starting
out low and slow and works some quicker to a peak. I think the
voice material is fed through Schoenecker's synth who creates
a fine, slightly distorted drone and Mueller's resonating drum
skins. I thought this was the better piece of the two, a bit more
concise and structured. (FdW)
Address: http://www.void.gr/absurd
TASOS STAMOU - ELECTROACOUSTIC IMPROVISATION
#1 (CDR by Kukuruku Recordings)
A new label from Greece is Kukuruku Recordings, which have as
their first release a CDR by Tasos Stamou, of whom we reviewed
'Infant' in Vital Weekly 581. Like the title implies these are
electro-acoustic pieces for sampled instruments and objects, like
bamboo flutes, kalimba, cymbal, singing bowl, souvenir whistle,
alcohol test-whistle and maraka, which are sampled and looped
around. Even Stamou takes the listener on multiple journeys, it's
cut as one twenty-four minute track. He feeds the playing - samples,
loops and real time playing through some delay pedals but unfortunately
the word 'improvisation' here is used to let things go without
too much structure and sort of try to create a semi/quasi piece
of atmospheric electronics, but the end result is a muddy affair
of flute like sounds, delays on end, and kalimba rattle. Leave
of the improvisation part I'd say and start composing. (FdW)
Address: <greekoolo@yahoo.com>
DEMERGO - WESTWATER MEADOWS (CDR by Ahasverus
Records)
Behind Demergo is one Patrik Muhr, who produced 'soundscapes'
for this release. It comes with a story, on the cover, not spoken
as text on the release but as text you can read while hearing
the music. Its a text about events in the future: a piece of science
fiction, in the year 2145. Of course our grand-grand children
will laugh at this story and at the music and 'how wrong we were
in those days' with our concept of the future. But we shouldn't
care about that at all, and enjoy what is on offer now. Muhr has
six pieces of digitally manipulated sounds, using time stretching,
plug ins to create deep end bass sound and high pitched peeps
and moves away from the microsound posse with something that owes
more to the world of industrial music - post industrial music.
Some of the ideas sound alright, and on other occasions things
sounds like worn out ideas. Sort of alright when you a shooting
a home made version of 'Metropolis' and want to use something
else than 'Forbidden Planet', if you catch my drift. (FdW)
Address: http://www.ahasverus.se
TRUE SOLACE - BANDONA (CDR by The Art Of
Mystification Records)
INDUSTRIAL PASSAGE FT MELLE KRAMER - KARMA (CDR by The Art Of
Mystification Records)
Always nice to see a new label from The Netherlands, even when
a blink on their myspace site things seem to be a bit too gothic
for my taste. The art of mystification Records was started in
2006 by one Ewell Juliana and we read that the label is "
self- release Ambient Drone Avant-garde music with a black dark
spiritual charisma and occult films. Music feels like entering
the Eden of disharmony and enlightenment, exploring both spiritual
and the unknown activities inside your deepest unwanted feelings."
The first release is by Ewell Juliana himself (herself perhaps,
as I never heard the name Ewell before) under the banner of True
Solace. Five lengthy pieces of music which are made with guitar,
spoken voices, hummings and lots and lots of effects at which
reverb is at the very centre of the chain. The guitar is strummed
and played with a bow, while the singing is more like chanting.
Quite ethereal - certainly for my taste. True Solace works in
atmospheres that aren't mine - too closed, too confined, too directive.
Things work best in those pieces in which the chanting is less
dominant or absent, such as 'Skuridat' or in 'Panorama'. Maybe
the music relies a bit too heavy on the use of reverb, but throughout
it's quite a nice work, if a bit too closed for me.
The other release features on Melle Kramer who plays drums and
percussion and a group called Industrial Passage who are responsible
for guitars and vocals. The 'theory of Karma is central on this
album. No time to think or analyze, doing is the main word of
this theory. By reunite these spiritual & musical friends
you will discover this kind of music with art structures' it says
on the website. The guitars are loud, slow and heavy, they sustain
and drone nicely along in bath of reverb and distortion. The drums
play a more free role in the music and seem to be recorded as
part of an improvisation. Heavy free improvisation rock with strong
drone like qualities, but because of the free role of the drums,
the two long pieces are also a bit like various loose ends stuck
together, and sometimes the power of the recordings get a bit
lost in a dark forest. One can hear what they are aiming at, yet
it's not always reached. A bit shorter next time and keep more
consistency in the drumming and it's a rocking formation to clean
those stuffed ears. (FdW)
Address: http://www.myspace.com/theartofmystificationrecords
EZRA JACOBS - DIFFUSIEDRANG (CDR by Etherkreet)
RICHARD JONAS - STEKKERSPEL (CDR by Etherkreet)
BAS VAN HUIZEN - ANACHRONISTENMIST (CDR by Etherkreet)
Another new label, hand delivered since they are from Nijmegen
is Etherkreet. Nijmegen isn't that big, but that doesn't mean
I know each and everyone playing music. The three names here don't
mean much to me, but who knows: if I see them, I may know them.
They might not be locally, since the label is based here and in
Amsterdam. The first release is by Ezra Jacobs, who uses 'manipulated
shortwave recordings' which were recorded during storm and heavy
rain, which I thought was a good starting point. I am clueless
as to what kind of manipulations is used in these six tracks,
but my best guess is lots of layering. Large chunks of radio sounds
are layered and stacked together of unequal lengths, so that there
is no apparent element of repetition. The one thing that put me
off a bit is the extreme variation in volumes. The first two pieces
are very soft, while the third one bursts out at one point. No
doubt intended as such, but it breaks the gentle flow of the first
two pieces and things could work better if the flow was more constant.
But this is a most enjoyable album of ambient sounds, atmospheric
in every sense of the word.
Richard Jonas recorded sound material in the analogue studio of
the Institute of Sonology and from these sounds built his own
work called 'Stekkerspel' (which is a funny word play as a 'stekker'
means plug and 'spel' is game or play), referring to the plugs
old analogue synthesizers have. He creates nine relatively short
tracks with this material, which takes him all over the place.
As easy going from serious 'Forbidden Planet' alike material,
he can suddenly create a beat or two or leap into music for sci-fi
computer games. As the pieces are short and joyful, this is a
very nice release to hear. Jonas keeps his material fresh by not
exploiting them to the hilt. A fine combination of styles mixed
into something that might not be entirely unique, but which is
refreshing to hear.
And finally there is one Bas van Huizen, with 'his processed guitar
and voice sounds'. Van Huizen may be regarded as the most musical
release of the three, using layered guitar sounds in which both
drones and shimmering melodies play a role. The drones provide
the mighty backdrop for the tracks, the guitar feeding through
endless delay pedals, with additional computer processing to top
things of. The voice I didn't recognize in this swirling mass
of sound. Bas van Huizen likes moody tunes of a darker kind. Elegantly
produced, perhaps a bit long here and there, but quite nice. (FdW)
Address: http://www.etherkreet.com
FORDELL RESEARCH UNIT - REAL MEN DRINK HORSE
MILK (CDR by Dead Sea Liner)
EL HEATH - A (RATHER) DEAD SEA LINER (CDR by Dead Sea Liner)
DEAD WOOD - HARMONIC SECTOR 1-10 (CDR by Dead Sea Liner)
Of these three new releases on Dead Sea Liner, I only recognized
the name Dead Wood. Behind Fordell Research Unit is "the
mighty Fraser of pjorn72 & linwood flats", whatever that
may mean to someone. He plays seven short tracks of distorted
drone music. Loud most of the times, using guitar (it seems),
but the tracks are way too short to say anything decent about
it. More a sketchbook than a well rounded CDR I'd say. Sometimes
its not necessary to release everything one does.
Of much more interest, I think, is the also quite short release
by Eric Heath. He plays also drone like music, but much more calm
and relaxing, be it that he is inspired by singer-songwriter material
by say the likes of Richard Youngs. Guitar plays an all important
role, the singing is reduced to humming and in the five pieces
he puts on a beautiful atmospheric sound. Sustaining sounds, fed
through a bunch of delay pedals create rich tapestries of sounds.
This could have been a bit longer to please my appetite.
Dead Wood's work has been mostly released by his own Dirty Demos
label, but various pieces of his 'Harmonic Sectors' ended up on
compilations but they are here compiled, along with six more,
unreleased pieces. Adam Baker, for it is he behind the controls
of Dead Wood, seems to have discovered Ableton Live and plays
around with a minimal set of sine wave like loops per track. They
loop around, in varying lengths. Highly minimal in approach, but
it works out pretty well. That is: most of the times. Named 'Harmonic
Sector 1', 'Harmonic Sector 2' and 'Harmonic Sector 3' etc, there
is a strong sense of homogeneity among the tracks, which makes
that sometimes one has the idea one is listening to a similar
track made from the same source material. That is a pity, since
it has some nice ambient glitch music throughout here, albeit
with some repetition among the tracks (FdW)
Address: http://www.deadsealiner.co.uk
ADRIAN SHENTON - THE MEASURING MOMENTS (CDR
by Quiet World)
IAN HOLLOWAY & DARREN TATE & BANKS BAILEY - SUMMERLAND
(CDR by Quiet World)
IAN HOLLOWAY - A LONELY PLACE (CDR by Quiet World)
Of the three new releases on Ian Holloway's Quiet World label,
two new names. The first one is Adrian Shenton, whose music on
'The Measuring Moments' isn't exactly quiet, even when he gathers
much of his inspiration from the world of drone and ambient music.
It seems to me that Shenton wants to create well rounded pieces
rather than a free flow, long term ambient piece. He plays ten
relatively short pieces, which owe, structure wise more to a 'song'
than to a bigger 'piece'. Shenton doesn't always succeed in what
he wants and some pieces are a bit too easily made. But on other
occasions he manages to play a nice piece of ambient music, mainly
using (software?) synthesizers, of a somewhat darker kind. I am
not sure if this is his first release, but (hope no insult is
made here) its a most promising start.
Labelowner Ian Holloway has two releases. The first one is a work
he created with Darren Tate (of Ora fame) playing guitar and one
Banks Bailey providing him with field recordings. They don't play
together as such but Holloway uses recordings of both to create
five pieces of ambient drone music, even when the opening piece
has a glitch like rhythm. Don't let this fool you, as this disc
is mostly made of ambient drones, duck recordings and, perhaps
a second surprise and one that fits the scope, a more improvised
guitar playing by Tate occasionally. Quite a nice release, with
some surprises and stepping away, even just a little bit, from
the world of 'just' drone music. That's something I always like.
On Holloway's solo release 'A Lonely Place' he continues his previous
releases of drone music, but here too a small shift can be noted.
Holloway plays guitar here and mixes them with manipulated sounds
thereof into a single piece of thirty-nine minutes of music. Here
too a certain element of improvisation seems to leap it, making
this is a little bit - but only marginally I'd say - different
than the other work that is available under the banner of 'ambient
drone' music, even when this comes closer to it than the release
with Tate and Banks. Certainly it seems to me that Holloway is
somebody who looks beyond the horizon and is eager to make small
but necessary changes in ambient drone music - and it's about
time, I'd say. (FdW)
Address: http://www.quietworld.co.uk
THIS WINDOW (CDR, private)
THE STRIGGLES - EXPRESSIONISM (CDR by Noise Appeal Records)
SCISSOR SHOCK - SYNONYM FOR THE WORD DECAY (?)
The wrong corner this is: Vital Weekly doesn't review demo's for
a start. The only reason why I mention This Window is that I remember
reviewing them in the days when Vital Weekly was a magazine and
that I used some kind words on it. But This Window is a rock band
and unfortunately Vital Weekly has drifted far away from music
like this. They will have two new CDs in the future, but this
is not the place to see a review of them, nor of the demo.
Then there is The Striggles, 'Expressionism' on Noise Appeal Records.
They don't play noise, even when perhaps they might think otherwise.
Captain Beefheart like 'madness', oops 'expressionist' music of
free form rock music. Also nothing for these pages.
On the Scissor Shock page there is a lot scribbled and if mister
reviewer is prepared to do a course in reading handwriting? No
he isn't. One Adam Cooley and Aaron Booe play twelve tracks of
improvised drum machine beating and adding weird sounds from guitars,
xylophone, marimba, trombone, double bass and such like, all in
a totally free mode. Actually this is 'Vital' music indeed, but
the presentation is so lame that it should be ignored, me thinks.
Release it properly and send me a new copy so I can check it.
I have not even clue wether this is a CDR or a MP3 release. I
think the latter. (FdW)
Address: http://www.m4tr.co.uk
Address: http://www.noiseappeal.com
Address: http://www.myspace.com/scissorshock
LAWRENCE ENGLISH /JEPH JERMAN (3"CDR
by Compost And Heigth)
A new label this Compost and Height, with a simple but effective
packaging. They kick off with a release by Lawrence English and
Jeph Jerman. English continues his explorations of the sea started
(?) on 'Study For Stradbroke' (see Vital Weekly 631) with another
piece for hydrophonic recordings, with a strong focus here on
the grain of the ocean. Water collides against the surface and
the microphones pick it up in a somewhat crude way, making this
less of a subtle piece of soundscaping but all the more interesting.
Jeph Jerman's piece is something different than his usual line
of work too. Normally he plays small objects without amplification,
but here he created a piece using recordings of meteorities, sferics
and radio emmissions from Saturn. Sounds from space set into a
piece of dark drone like material which could be a plane coming
over, along with crackle and rattle. Air and ground make a great
pair on this release. Seems like an appropriate start for a label
called Compost and Height. (FdW)
Address: http://www.compostandheight.blogspot.com
MICHEAL JOHNSEN - UNTITLED (3"CDR,
private)
MICHEAL JOHNSEN - UNTITLED (3"CDR, private)
From Pittsburgh is one Micheal Johnsen, who
privately released these two 3" CDR releases, which are kind
of hard to separate - just the cover and information on it, make
them different, but neither one has a title or even a proper artist
name on it - room for improvement there. The first one is 'live
electronic sound made by the tuning and spatial manipulation of
two closely spaced portable AM radios having loopstick antennae,
the resulting signal undergoing mild output processing, primarily
filtering and gating'. Even when the result is easily described
as 'mild noise', it's a little bit more than just that. The sound
reminded me of old David Tudor or Gordon Mumma - complex (or perhaps
simple) electronics set in motion and then tweaking and twichting
starts; like those electronic birds you can built from the do
it yourself electronic magazine.
The other one is just 'live electronic sound', a twenty-three
minute unedited recording, and sees a continuation of the other
one, but it's a little less in quality also. Squaking electronics,
wires being hit, feedback like sound, but the end result is a
little less focussed than the first one - or perhaps it's a bit
too much to swallow right after the first one? Could also be.
Both of them use improvisation and electronics as a starting point
in a modern classical, but very sixties sort of way and that's
quite nice, simply because it's rarely done these days. (FdW)
Address: <johnsenmm@yahoo.com>
HAROLD NONO - THE DEATH OF BARRA (MP3 by
Rack & Ruin Records)
Its easy to make jokes about the name, or say wether or not he
is inspired by Luigi (which he is not), but Harold Nono appears
here on a Dutch MP3 label called Rack & Ruin, which may suggest
noise, but it's not. Nono before had tracks on Bearsuit Records,
works together with Me Raabenstein and with Hidekazu Wakabayashi.
Four tracks here, an extended play that is, of tracks made electronics
and a sampler. Quite dramatic playing with sounds that come of
like film soundtrack, the silence before the killer strikes soundtrack
in 'Ham', sampled strings and such like. A bit swollen, this sound,
but it works well in a cinematic approach. Nice stuff, but perhaps
at four tracks its not easy to form a thorough opinion on his
music. But nice enough to want to investigate further. (FdW)
Address: http://www.rackandruinrecords.com
SEGUE - A GLASS DARKLY (MP3 by Resting Bell)
Jordan Sauer is behind the moniker Segue and he hails from Vancouver,
Canada. He plays a variety of instruments, such as 12-string guitar,
piano, violin, melodica, glockenspiel and percussive instruments.
His 'A Glass Darkly' is one twenty-two minute track, which seems
to be falling apart in various parts, sequenced into one track.
That is a nice thing, since it makes a continuos listening, but
it also gave me the impression that they were various pieces 'glued'
together as it were. Segue operates in a micro glitch ambient
style, that is represented by labels as 12K/Line, and as such
Segue offers not really much news, but his piece is well produced,
with the all the usual ingredients of hiss, drones, tinkling bells
and careful selected glitches. Nice enough indeed to stand on
its own. (FdW)
Address: http://www.restingbell.net