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VITAL WEEKLY
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number 661
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week 3
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Vital Weekly, the webcast: we offering a
weekly webcast, freely to download. This can be regarded as the
audio-supplement to Vital Weekly. Presented as a radioprogramm
with excerpts of just some of the CDs (no vinyl or MP3) reviewed.
It will remain on the site for a limited period (most likely 2-4
weeks). Download the file to your MP3 player and enjoy!
complete tracklist here: http://www.vitalweekly.net/podcast.html
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 podcastd
LOREN CONNORS & JIM O'ROURKE - TWO NICE
CATHOLIC BOYS (CD by Family Vineyard) *
RACHEL SHEARER - FAKERIE (DVD by Family Vineyard)
ULNA - FRCTURE (CD by Karl Records) *
REVENANT - TOPOLO (CD by Prele Records)
TEKNOIST - ... LIKE A HURRICANE MADE OF ZOMBIES (Cd by Ad Noiseam)
SICKBOY - TIME TO PLAY (Cd by Ad Noiseam)
VROMB - LE PECHEUR DE NOYES (CD by Nautilus)
WERNER DAFELDECKER - LONG DEAD MACHINES - I-IX (CD by Presto!?)
*
MONOTON - EIGHT LOST TRACKS (CD by Oral) *
THE KILIMANJARO DARKJAZZ ENSEMBLE - MUTATIONS EP (CD by Ad Noiseam)
PHROQ - CONNECTIONS, OPPURTUNITIES FOR MISTAKES (CD by Shiver
Sounds) *
STORMHAT - ADDICTED TO DISASTER (CD by Diophantine Discs) *
THE ORATORY OF DIVINE LOVE - MEDITATIO (CD by Diophantine Discs)
LOCRIAN - GREYFIELD SHRINES (LP by Diophantine Discs)
ULTRE - THE NEST AND THE SKULL (CD by Audiobulb) *
THE HATERS - FURTHER (CD by Transparancy)
EMERALDS - WHAT HAPPENED (CD by No Fun Productions)
BLACK CARGOES - GLASS (CD by Saiko Records)
HILARY PEACH - SUITCASE LOCAL (CD, private)
CLINKER - ON THE OTHER SIDE... (FOR L. COHEN) (CDR by Dragon's
Eye Recordings) *
ANDREA ROMEO & ICS & ALESSANDRO BUZZI - LONIUS (CDR by
Setola Di Maiale) *
TIMER - YET HERE WE STAND (CDR by Counsouling Sounds)
PAUL MAY & PLATFORM - BROKEN HULK DISPLAY (CDR by Minimal
Resource Manipulation) *
MIXTURIZER/FLAT AFFECT (CDR by Smell the Stench)
EGO DEATH/MIXTURIZER (CDR by Sewer Records)
KENJI SIRATORI - BLOODY BRAIN (CDR by r.o.n.f. Records)
KATCHMARE - GROOM LAKE (CDR by Scissor Death) *
NAPALMED - NOISAX JAZZOSTRIAL FRACTAMENTAL (CDR by Guerilla Records)
PARANOIA BIRTHDAY - IL NE RESTERA (CDR by FFHHH)
DEMETAN MESLIER - PROPRIETAIRE (CDR by FFHHH)
XAVIER DUBOIS & NOIR (CDR by FFHHH) *
JLIAT - NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL NOISE VOLUME 20 (CDR by Larks Council
England)
JLIAT - NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL NOISE VOLUME 21 (CDR by Larks Council
England)
JLIAT - ARE WE LIVING IN A COMPUTER SIMULATION? (CDR by Larks
Council England)
LOREN CONNORS & JIM O'ROURKE - TWO NICE
CATHOLIC BOYS (CD by Family Vineyard)
RACHEL SHEARER - FAKERIE (DVD by Family Vineyard)
Following last week's 'Sacral Symphony' compilation, now it's
time for 'Two Nice Catholic Boys', and the boys being Loren Connors
and Jim O'Rourke. I am not sure if they are still catholic, but
I sure like to believe they are nice. While Connors was never
'gone', Jim O'Rourke had a break from music for a while, following
his departure from Sonic Youth and settling in Tokyo. The good
news is that he's back, even when this CD contains recordings
made in 1997 when the two nice boys toured Europe. Both armed
with an electric guitar, an amplifier, and seemingly no sound
effects. Three pieces, but something here says it was recorded
on more nights and then spliced together. It doesn't matter of
course, but the end result is what matters. A strange affair of
howling guitars, on the point of feedback, on the point of pain,
on the verge of collapse. But also at ease, quiet, introspective,
a melody, a few notes being strummed, silence. Blues? Yes, blues
music, but then away from the usual schematics and into the hearth-broken
world of loneliness. Great desolate music. Didn't loose one bit
or byte after a decade.
Music from New Zealand is always lo-fi drone music? Wrong assumption
of course, although perhaps an easy mistake. Rachel Shearer worked
as Lovely Midget, with releases on Siltbreeze, Xpressway, Flying
Nun, Corpus Hermeticum and Ecstatic Peace, both as her solo moniker
and with bands as Queen Meanie Puss and Angelhead. I have that
Corpus Hermeticum release somewhere, but its covered with dust
- such is the tragedy of reviewing music - but once I am done
with this DVD I will dig that out and check it again, as 'Fakerie'
is true beauty. A single twenty-two minute piece of music and
visuals. The image part consists of five white lights flashing
on and off, like stars. In the beginning in sync with the music
but as the music progresses, this seems no longer be the case.
There is no mentioning of an instruments, so we have to guess
here. At the start I thought it was a small ensemble playing,
percussion, guitar, playing a small cluster of sound and then
letting them die out into sustain, not entirely and then returning
with another bang. Then slowly the piece transforms into a more
abstract, micro glitch territory. It goes almost unnoticed, until
its transformation is complete and it seems like a totally new
piece. An excellent piece of true beauty, that works well with
but also without the film. A pity I don't have a home cinema with
a big screen, as this would be perfect to watch at night in complete
darkness. The year is young, highlight number one is noted down.
(FdW)
Address: http://www.family-vineyard.com
ULNA - FRCTURE (CD by Karl Records)
It must have been years and years ago since I last heard from
Valerio Zucca Paul, whom I used to know as Abstract Q in a different
setting. I do remember it was nice electronic music, perhaps not
the best around, but nice enough (I should dig out his Bake Records
release which should be somewhere). Then, following lots of silence,
he returns as Ulna, together with Andrea Ferraris, who is mainly
a writer for such as sites as Chain DLK, Sands-zine and Sodapop
and worked with a whole bunch of other Italian musicians on music,
such as Maurizio Bianchi, Claudio Parodi, Cria Cuervos, Andrea
Marutti. As Ulna they explore the world of rhythm, and in Paul's
case more than he did as Abstract Q (what I can remember). The
CD starts pretty strong with three loud banging pieces which reminded
me of an old Japanese band Sympathy Nervous or some latter day
Esplendor Geometrico or Dive. Like a steam engine this music marches
on. Unfortunately this doesn't hold up for the entire CD. The
long intro of 'Smll Prts Recollected' takes a bit too much time.
'Lndn LVS N' is a just a big too digital (read: too much Ableton
Live), but I must say that throughout I thought this was a very
nice disc. Entertaining rhythmic music, at times a bit danceable
(tapping feet here), at times a bit dark, a bit techno inspired,
with some particular strong brothers that drag along some weaker.
A strong come-back disc. (FdW)
Address: http://www.karlrecords.net
REVENANT - TOPOLO (CD by Prele Records)
On the back cover of this release we read: "'Revenant' is
an ongoing project with open membership that focuses on site-specific
acoustic actions, or activated environments. Each action is a
document of a specific moment in time in a specific location."
For an action held in 2006 in Topolo, near the Slovenien border,
present were Yannick Dauby, Olivier Feraud, John Grzinich, Hitoshi
Kojo and Patrick McGinley. The five of them went out into the
forest and 'all sounds [...] originated from materials found in-situ,
or from the space itself. No overdubbing or editing was done in
order to document this specific action and location in time'.
There is an interesting booklet that goes with this with interesting
texts, also with photos of the five artists in the forest. It
is not told how this was recorded but we hear lots of trees, branches,
leaves being rubbed, cracked, hit and touched upon. Maybe this
was recorded by each individual player and then pieced together,
or perhaps a great microphone was set up and then it was recorded.
If ever did a walk in the forest, then the sounds used by Revenant
may sound familiar (and if you didn't, I suggest you go out do
a forest trip right away), but in the opening piece it also sounds
like a violin, or two, being scraped. I can't imagine that was
in-situ, but perhaps some rubbing of leaves could be similar.
I thought this was quite a fascinating release of familiar sounds,
but oddly enough also the absence of sounds, such a birds. A fine
work of field recordings mixed with acoustic action, or rather
an action outside using natural elements. A work that by passes
the usual routine of both field recordings and electro-acoustic
music, and such opens new roads. (FdW)
Address: http://www.prelerecords.net
TEKNOIST - ... LIKE A HURRICANE MADE OF
ZOMBIES (Cd by Ad Noiseam)
SICKBOY - TIME TO PLAY (Cd by Ad Noiseam)
A poster from Lucio Fulci's legendary gore-flick "Zombie"
decorates the myspace-site of British composer and producer Teknoist
- one of the most hyped breakcore-acts from the present underground.
Just like Lucio Fulci was the director of some of the most brutal
and extreme zombie-flicks in the heydays of the 1980's, Teknoist
composes some of the most aggressive breakcore released for a
while. For the same reason, the title of his debut-album, "...
like a hurricane made of zombies" is the perfect for this
work. The brain behind Teknoist, is the Manchunian based artist
Mike Hayward, who already has a number of 12" and other minor
releases on labels such as Deathchant, Planet Mu and Cock Rock
Disco. On his debut Teknoist only gives the listener a few seconds
of preparation with a gentle opening of industrial ambient before
hell breaks loose with an hour long journey into hostile grounds
of infernal breakcore. Teknoist combines hyperfast breakbeat textures
with deep buzzing basslines of techstep/darkside, furious thrash
metal-based guitar-riffs and samples from horror flicks i.e. George
Romero's "Day of the dead". Despite the infernal expression
of sonic extremity the album has quite a few moments of grandiose
atmospheres based on ethereal soundscapes and acoustic samples
of among others a piano. Stylishly Teknoist reminds of label-mate
Enduser in his ability of keeping the balance between sonic terror
and atmospheric beauty. Excellent debut. Next album comes from
another sicko of the present breakbeat-scene. In contrary to aforementioned
Teknoist, Sickboy has a number of releases in his back catalogue
ever since he began his journey into the breakcore-scene back
in 2002. Present album titled "Time to play" is the
first album on the Ad Noiseam-label from the Belgian composer
Jurgen Desmet a.k.a. Sickboy. Despite its almost explosive amount
of energy, the album is a more club-friendly work compared to
the far more aggressive shot from Teknoist. Sickboy combines furious
breakbeats with elements of old school rave and other clubbish
elements, among others minimal house-techno. The result is a humorous
mash-up work with among others a jolly interpretation of A-HA's
monsterhit of the 80's "Take on me". Two hyper-explosive
albums, proving that Ad Noiseam is a major label for everyone
searching for contemporary breakcore. (NM)
Address: http://www.adnoiseam.net
VROMB - LE PECHEUR DE NOYES (CD by Nautilus)
If you're looking for hypnotic sound sculptures, you have come
to the right spot. Since the birth of his project Vromb, Canadian
composer Hugo Girard has brought the listeners into icy landscapes
of trance-inducing electronics with his exclusive utilisation
of analogue synthesizers. My personal meeting with the world of
Vromb was with his second shot from 1996, the album titled "Le
facteur humain" released on Ant-Zen Recordings, an album
where the electronic icescapes were combined with the French spoken
voice of Hugo Girard himself in a very interesting combination.
The voice of the composer has been part of the musical ground
throughout the main part of the albums released since the beginning
of Vromb, 15 years ago. On this latest album titled "Le pecheur
de noyes", the voice-part has been excluded giving more space
to the psychedelic electronics of Vromb. The album is released
on a sub-label to Belgium label Spectre. The sublabel Nautilus
release sound works that focus on nautical and aquatic themes,
and this is also the case with this 10th shot from Nautilus. Being
an ode to his father Roger Girard, the album is probably the most
personal release from Hugo Girard. The English translation of
the title is "The fisher of drowned ones", and the title
neatly presents the work of father Girard, who as a scuba-diver
searched for drowned people. Thus the Canadian sound artist delivers
an intense work describing the world underneath the watery surface.
Expressively the work includes the hypnotic drones of Vromb this
time combined with water bubbles as they come from oxygen masks
and a human cry for help that sadly enough wasn't heard in time
for survival. In all aspects a deep work from the interesting
Canadian composer. (NM)
Address: http://www.spectre.be/
WERNER DAFELDECKER - LONG DEAD MACHINES
- I-IX (CD by Presto!?)
This CD may last just under twenty-nine minutes, it something
to play a few times in a row. Werner Dafeldecker's music is not
easy, and requires a few repeated listening before it gives away
its beauty. You may know as an improvising music, the owner of
Durian but here he plays solo. His first solo double bass release.
No electronic processing, just the sound of the double bass. He
plays it not in a very regular way, but as a large resonating
box, which happens to have strings on it. He fits it, strum it,
plucks it and all in a rhythmical but highly minimal way. The
longest piece here is a simple, repeated bang to the instrument,
which shows a slow development, and that's it. Sometimes I had
the idea that Dafeldecker uses multi layers of sound, but then
it might very well be not the case. A deceivingly 'simple' release,
but I don't think that justifies the music. What Dafeldecker does,
requires a lot of concentration from both the listener and the
player. Every time you play it something new seems to be happening
and in all its stillness a lot of small beauty is kept. A refined
work of improvisation. (FdW)
Address: http://www.prestorecords.com
MONOTON - EIGHT LOST TRACKS (CD by Oral)
Canada's Oral label can be quite proud: they dug up all the works
by Austria's Monoton, the baby of Konrad Becker and released them
before on CD. Monoton's music was its time ahead: minimalist pulses
based on analogue synthesizers, thus predating techno, glitch,
clicks & cuts, and what's better: it still sounds good. The
two previous releases were officially released back then, but
the eight pieces were never released, save for two on an EP and
a compilation. The pieces were recorded between 1981 and 1983
and are easily trademark Monoton pieces. A simple sequence is
set forward, some synths hum along and sometimes there is the
monotonos voice of Becker. Like I said when I reviewed 'Blau -
Monotonprodukt 02' (Vital Weekly 534), I still like the sequencer
based pieces over the rhythm machine, but they are all great.
A lot of things come together in this music: minimal electronic
music, Neue Deutsche Welle, techno, clicks & cuts. Think D.A.F.
meeting Pan Sonic (now that would be a great idea too, come to
think of it). With all the interest in everything 'old' - and
in a lot of cases, not very relevant - Monoton still stands the
test of time. Eight no longer lost pieces of great electronic
music. (FdW)
Address: http://www.oral.qc.ca
THE KILIMANJARO DARKJAZZ ENSEMBLE - MUTATIONS
EP (CD by Ad Noiseam)
You don't have to be a jazz freak to enjoy the company with latest
album from The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble. Brains behind the
project, is first of all the two artists Gideon Kiers (a.k.a.
Telcosystems + curator of the Sonic Acts Festival) and Jason Köhnen,
the latter also known for his hyperactive breakcore-project Bong-Ra.
As Bong-Ra, Mr. Köhnen has explored a number of musical genres
of the more abrasive kinds, counting extreme metal and noise,
with great success considering among others his sessions in the
legendary "John Peel Show" on BBC's Radio 1. Mildly
spoken, the style of Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble represents
an extreme contrast to the style of aforementioned Bong-Ra. Present
album is the second shot from the band after the selftitled debut
on Planet Mu released approx. three years ago. In-between the
two albums, Gideon Kiers and Jason Köhnen released an album
under another alias, the stylistic close related project The Mount
Fuji Doomjazz Corporation in 2007. According to the press release,
present album titled "Mutations ep" is meant as a bridge
between the debut and the forthcoming album scheduled to be released
later in 2009. Never the less the album presents eight tracks
clocking 38 minutes with a musical quality in a height, that deserves
to be considered as an independent work of art. Apart from Jason
Köhnen and Gideon Kiers, the band consists of Hillary Jeffery,
Eelco Bosman, Charlotte Cegarra and Nina Hitz. The sound spheres
of the album is developed on the background of electronic equipments
in close company with acoustic instruments counting drums, trombone,
flute, xylophone, cello, bass and guitars. Compared to the aforementioned
release from the side-project Mount Fuji Doomjazz Corporation
that presented an alluring mixture of avant-garde jazz and dark
drone ambient, "Mutations Ep" is a more musical accessible
album. The combination of nocturnal jazz and drone-based ambient
still plays an important role, but expressively the album has
some remarkable directions towards the melodic parts of the postrock-scene
not too far away from Tortoise and The For Carnation adding a
tranquilizing touch upon the album, further intensified by the
beautiful subtle vocals of Charlotte Cegarra. One of the best
moments on the album is the work "Symmetry of 6's" where
grandiose electronic soundscapes swirls alongside atmospheric
shoegaze-guitar passages drawing associations towards the collaboration
between ambient-maestro Harold Budd and Robin Guthrie (of Cocteau
Twins) on their masterful soundtrack to the dark coming-of-age
flick "Mysterious skin". "Mutations Ep" is
a deep emotional work, demonstrating how the meeting of acoustic
and electronic sounds in the best moments can end up in atmospheres
of otherwordly beauty. (NM)
Address: http://www.adnoiseam.net
PHROQ - CONNECTIONS, OPPURTUNITIES FOR MISTAKES
(CD by Shiver Sounds)
Francisco Meirino has been around for quite some time, as Phroq
and has produced a bulk of releases on a variety of labels, such
as Ground Fault, Banned, Even Stilte, Entr'acte, Solipsism, Gameboy,
Carbon and others. Shiver Sounds is his own label. Failure is
one of the things that interests him. Wether by accident - something
breaks - or by his own fault, Meirino is interested in continuing
the creative process. For 'Connections, Oppurtunities For Mistakes'
he uses minidisc failures, the death of a PA system, electro-static
background noises, broken cassette recorder and more. Phroq's
music is based on the recordings of these failures, which he then
puts together as music. This he does here with some refined class,
I must say. It would be too easy to say that Phroq uses the idiom
of microsound and that he has put in some extra loud noise elements,
but it comes down to just that. Electro magnetic charges running
up and down, and then a loud bang of something breaking. Some
of these sounds get looped around and further processed. Thus
the failure becomes the basis of a creation. Every sound can be
used in whatever way, and that's exactly Phroq's point. He does
a great job here, with some highly intelligent music. Its dynamic
range for one is a fine thing. Ranging from the superloud to the
super quiet, makes this an intense and tense release. Clever compositions
of electrical sounds made into electronic music. Music with a
dramatic content. Of course there are others who worked in this
field, Möslang/Guhl's cracked everyday electronic comes to
mind or Joe Colley, but Phroq seems, at least to me, to take things
into the world of composition, and that's a great thing. A very
fine disc, the best thing I heard from him so far. (FdW)
Address: http://www.phroq.com
STORMHAT - ADDICTED TO DISASTER (CD by Diophantine
Discs)
THE ORATORY OF DIVINE LOVE - MEDITATIO (CD by Diophantine Discs)
LOCRIAN - GREYFIELD SHRINES (LP by Diophantine Discs)
Somehow Niels Mark managed to slip in a review, Advance CDR it
says, in Vital Weekly 626 which ended with the words, "the
"Addicted to disaster"-album will be available on US-label
Diophantine Discs soon", which took almost 7 months. That's
not something we ought to be doing, I guess. Stormhat is the Danish
word for one of the European continent's most poisonous plants;
a few grams consumption of the Stormhat-plant marks the end of
a human life. Its also the name chosen by Peter Bach Nicolaisen
to work around with sound and music that entirely is based on
processed field recordings. That may sound like old news to anyone,
but I must say that if you expect some microsound, ambient glitch
than 'Addicted To Disaster' will be a small disappointment, and
that's exactly what I like it. No disappointment here for me.
This is a pretty strong disc of multiple layered field recordings
that never slip under the threshold of hearing, but owe much more
to world of 'noise' and 'industrial', even when it has as such
nothing to do with that world. This music is there, it's present
and a truly great pleasure to hear. Its hard to say what these
field recordings originally were, except for the occasional thunder
storm passing and some crackle of leaves, but otherwise things
are too abstract to be recognized. This breaks away from the traditional
field recordings cum microsound ground and moves into something
different. That's a great thing and Stormhat delivered a fine
CD.
John Gore, the man behind Cohort Records who presents us every
now and then with a fine split release (see last week for instance)
is also a musician and as such he works as Kirchenkampf and The
Oratory Of Divine Love. There are differences between both projects
but as far as I'm concerned they are too small to be noted. Both
projects have had a couple of releases, mainly on limited CDR
and vinyl, but also on CD. Maybe the difference in the projects
lie in the fact that everything by The Oratory Of Divine Love
is recorded in real time, 'straight to DAT with no overdubs' as
it says here on the cover and which is the only information presented.
Nothing about sound sources. And hearing the work, it's not easy
to guess either. Whatever is used, is being clouded by the use
of sound effects, mainly a strong love of reverb. Perhaps there
have been synthesizers used, or radio (which is one source he
used in the past), but they are drowned out in reverb. Maybe not
entirely electronically. But then maybe I'm thinking this up,
by looking at the cover of the CD, which depicts a cathedral.
Maybe the work is played inside a cathedral, and we are dealing
here with natural reverb - however there are reverb units for
sale that have a preset called 'cathedral'. Difficult thing. Difficult
because such an extensive use of reverb is also a cheap drug.
Its quite easy to use a snippet of sound, feed to the reverb unit,
freezing the sound and let it continue on end. Having said that
I must say that this fifty minute is actually quite nice, despite
my objections against the over-use of reverb. The piece is, like
the title suggests, a meditation in sound. Flowing on end, chilling
to the bone (a bit more bass end wouldn't harm the piece), making
one long ebb and flow of sound, in a very subtle way. Nice one
indeed.
Jliat wasn't too pleased with Locrian's Bloodlust CD last week,
so I keep this new piece of vinyl under my guard here. It was
recorded in November 2007 at some radio station in Chicago. Locrian
is a duo of A. Foisy and T. Hannum and at their controls are guitars
and sound effects. What bothered Jliat doesn't bother me, the
gritty lo-fi textures of this music just fits the plan it seems
to me. Not everything has to be ones and zeroes, and the cassette
seems to be love object of this year, so why not the howling noise
of guitars, feedback and effects pressed into grey vinyl? One
side shows their filthy side and one side their introspective
mood. I must say I like that side better. Perhaps I heard both
sides done by others, sometimes better, so I have to go for a
more subjective judgment of this record. What do I like, not thinking
of what could be done in terms of being 'new'? Then their soft
side is more appreciated. There is a great tension lurking underneath
the surface, like a giant outburst to come. Guitars tinkle like
bells, while a great beast slumbers on the speakers. That is the
way to go. The noise end is... is well, just the noise end of
things. A bit too easy and simple for my taste. More drone ambient
noise please. (FdW)
Address: http://www.discs.diophantine.net
ULTRE - THE NEST AND THE SKULL (CD by Audiobulb)
Finn McNicholas is the man behind Ultre, whom we met in Vital
Weekly 550, when we reviewed his 'All The Darkness Has Gone To
Details', which I believe was his debut as Ultre. Now he returns
with 'The Nest And The Skull' and again he returns to the piano
and the guitar to start his electronic songs in which beats play
an all important role. Not as a dominant feature, banging away,
but they are the cement that hold these pieces together. Broken
up, torn down, but always rhythmic, in the way of IDM, of Expanding
Records or Highpoint Lowlife, but what makes Ultre different and
thus quite nice is what he does on top of those beats. His guitar
playing is quite nice. Creating odd combinations, real time playing
versus chopped up collage like sounds, such as exemplified in
'Peace Corpse' (at least I think that what it says on the cover).
I think this album is quite a step forward from its predecessor,
because its more balanced with the beats and the real time instruments.
Apparently this was recorded mostly live with a 'homemade' microphone
and wether that is true I don't know, but the whole album indeed
has a nice somewhat raw character. Maybe all thirteen tracks are
a bit much and the lack of variation starts to notice, but at
forty-three minutes it makes a nice pop length album. Fine one.
(FdW)
Address: http://www.audiobulb.com
THE HATERS - FURTHER (CD by Transparancy)
Last saturday I witnessed some noise acts, and I was wondering
about what they do. The performance element is still a strong
focal point, but the sight of half naked men and women, vomiting
over a microphone is hardly shocking, unless of course the history
of performance art is a serious lack in your knowledge. Music
wise there isn't much new either under the sun. Feedback, shouting,
toys and electronic toys. Sometimes I think the more effort is
put into the performance, the less is done with the music, and
vice versa. Mentally unstable youngsters for whom a bunch of noise
is awesome, but what does it bring us then? Then on the same day
I received a new CD by The Haters, and that exemplifies for me
what noise should be, both in terms of music as well as performance
art. One long piece of loud noise, and one shorter piece of loud
noise. Loud indeed, but the musical aspect is never lost, nor
the variation to make an interesting piece. Loops run around in
circles, fading in and out, small variations in the frequencies
make this a true delight to hear. There is lots of sonic detail,
audio richness in this. Performance wise The Haters also do interesting
piece, music on tape, and an action that is far beyond the usual
spit and shit. That's how these things should be done. I am not
lost for the world of noise, but I do have strong reservations
against repeated aktionist kunst under the pre-text of art and
music. The Haters are one of those rare places where true and
original noise can be heard. (FdW)
Address: http://www.jupitter-larsen.com
EMERALDS - WHAT HAPPENED (CD by No Fun Productions)
Back in Vital Weekly 633 I was pleasantly surprised by 'Solar
Bridge', a CD by a trio named Emeralds. They have their background
with CDR releases for noise labels, but what they play is hardly
noise based. Armed with analogue synthesizers, guitars and sound
effects they create music that owes more to cosmic music from
the Germanic seventies than the 00's noise of USA. More Hypnos
perhaps than No Fun, but maybe that's a bridge too far. Emeralds
offer more tracks than on 'Solar Bridge', about an hour worth
of music, and its totally in line with their previous CD. Cosmic
synthesizer music, with lots of sound effects, a bit of guitar.
There is also some vague notion of vocals (oooh's and aaah's)
and somewhere there should be field recordings. Tangerine Dream
without the arpeggio's but with a rougher edge that the original
lacks. Emeralds do most certainly not play very original music,
but their cosmic synths with a small dose drone noise (especially
in 'Damaged Kids') is certainly highly enjoyable. (FdW)
Address: http://www.nofunproductions.com
BLACK CARGOES - GLASS (CD by Saiko Records)
HILARY PEACH - SUITCASE LOCAL (CD, private)
Excellent cover here: silkscreened in black and white on a jewel
case with some in reverse printing so it can be read on the inside.
Clever work. Black Cargoes are a quartet, with voice, guitar,
laptop, synthesizer, beats, noise, bass, drums. I think they are
from Switzerland. They play music that is far, far away from the
usual world of Vital, this is unVital music. Heavy rock music
with occasional electronic influences. A bit like an even more
leather version of Depeche Mode. Not bad at all, I must say. I
quite enjoyed it for what it is, even when the voice of Frederic
Oberholzer works on my nerves after some time, but that is my
usual problem with any singer from almost any rock music background.
Not bad at all, but just nothing for us to ponder about. One to
play in the car, if only I had one.
Also nothing for Vital is the CD by Hilary Peach, who does spoken
word accompanied by Alex Varty (on guitar) and Andreas Kahre (percussion).
The stories about power plants and working as a welder. I guess
its alright, the stories, the way the are told and the bluesy
music, but its so far away from what we usually write about and
what I could listen to privatly, that its really way way out,
but the wrong way out, I guess.(FdW)
Address: http://www.saikorecords.com
Address: http://www.hilarypeach.com
CLINKER - ON THE OTHER SIDE... (FOR L. COHEN)
(CDR by Dragon's Eye Recordings)
Apparently there is such a thing as a Leonard Cohen International
Festival in Edmonton for which this work was commissioned as a
live cinema work. Behind Clinker is Gary james Joynes, 'a dedicated
audio and visual artist, composer/musician/vocalist, and sound
designer' and has done various visual works in combination with
sound (or vice versa of course). On 'On The Other Side... (for
L. Cohen)' he concentrates on the bass tone of Cohen's voice,
which he stretches out into a forty-two minute piece of music.
I must admit I have no idea wether Cohen or his fans are really
heavily into microsound, but this ambient work was no doubt an
odd-ball at the festival. The stretched out, dark humming sounds
pass with great majestical movements. I must also admit that if
I hadn't known the story behind the piece, I would have never
guessed any connection with Leonard Cohen. I think I would have
said that this is a fine work of ambient, drone and warm glitches,
that makes a great late night listening. Spooky, haunting, dark.
Also music that is nothing new under the ambient, drone and warm
glitch sun, but Clinker produced a fine work. The two questions
that remain: what did the visual side of things look like, and
how was this work received? The audio part was received well here.
(FdW)
Address: http://www.dragonseyerecordings.com
ANDREA ROMEO & ICS & ALESSANDRO
BUZZI - LONIUS (CDR by Setola Di Maiale)
'This is a live studio recording' performed by Andrea Romeo (alto
sax), Ics (contact microphones, cheap electronics, samples, cymbals,
sticks) and Alessandro Buzzi (rimshot, cymbals, amplified marble
table, sticks, brush, objects). Divided into six pieces, this
is, as you might have guessed, a work of improvisation. The saxophone
plays the important role, or so it seems, and the instrument is
played in a rather ordinary fashion: it sounds like a saxophone,
and I am not a lover for that per se. The electro-acoustic component
of the other two players are a bit lost in the saxophone sounds,
which is a great pity. I have the feeling there is a lot of interesting
things going on there, which I would like to hear better than
muffled away in the background. That is a bit of a pity. The overall
quality of the recording is quite nice, but the balance between
the three players seems to me a bit wrong. Too much sax, and not
enough 'the rest'. Here is one of those instances where you think
more would have been possible, but it doesn't show now. (FdW)
Address: http://www.setoladimaiale.net
TIMER - YET HERE WE STAND (CDR by Counsouling
Sounds)
Sludge metal is not exactly the daily news in Vital Weekly, though
never the less this is the most precise stylistic description
of the musical containment on this debut-release from Dutch quintet
calling itself Timer. The band is quite young with an establishment
in 2007 in Antwerpen. What makes this band interesting is the
members' different musical approaches resulting in an album that
points in many directions though always with the starting point
in mellow and dark metal/rock. The expression on the album titled
"Yet here we stand" is brutal and harsh meanwhile also
deeply emotional and sensitive especially thanks to some great
guitarwork reminiscent of Australian band The Church meanwhile
the excellent vocals from Matthijs Vanstaen varies from emotional
to guttural screams. In the most brutal parts, the band stylishly
approaches grindcore only to return back to the fragile moments
of sorrow of a sometimes dreamlike character. "Yet here we
stand" is a very promising debut album. Highly recommended
to listeners of alternative rock in general. (NM)
Address: http://www.consouling.be/
PAUL MAY & PLATFORM - BROKEN HULK DISPLAY
(CDR by Minimal Resource Manipulation)
Matthew Atkins, also known as Platform, has released a couple
of CDRs in a relatively short time span, teams up here with a
drummer, Paul May. May has half of Ladywoodsman, and has played
on albums by Alexander Tucker, Duke Garwood, Carolyn Hume and
Barkingside. He's an improvisation drummer. They know eachother
for fifteen years, but this is the first time they worked together.
May has supplied a tape of his percussive work to Atkins who has
transformed the material. Atkins stays close to original rhythm
tapes, adding sparsely electronics, and occasionally creating
loops of the drums. This all makes great sense as the four pieces
on this CDR (lasting almost twenty-one minutes) have a great vibrant
feeling. Electro-acoustic manipulation meets up with the improvised
playing that has a slight jazzy touch to it. From all the discs
I received from Platform in the past months, I think this is the
best release. Playful, skilled manipulation of the material, reminding
me of the Steven Hess/Robert Hampson (Main) collaboration. Maybe
Platform should seek the collaboration more? (FdW)
Address: http://www.minimalresourcemanipulation.co.uk
MIXTURIZER/FLAT AFFECT (CDR by Smell the
Stench)
EGO DEATH/MIXTURIZER (CDR by Sewer Records)
Mixturizer (=Manuel M. Cubas from the Canary Islands). First track
is fairly
continuous harsh noise, followed by something a little more rhythmic,
track three = more "live" feedback and IMO the most
"upfront" of the three- Flat Affect (= Shaun Phelps
of Panama City, FL) Noise 'n' industrial hum and across which
has a sample of vinyl lp scratch- across this first and into the
second track which begins with lo-fi industrial and merges into
some girl talking about who knows what to be followed by lo-fi
echo rumble and electronic twittering which continues into the
last track where the vinylclick re-appears. Maybe FA is attempting
something conceptual, maybe Mixturizer is attempting anti-conceptual
noise based around live manipulation of feedback - as is also
found on the three tracks on the second split, but once again
like FA Ego Death (noise (maybe dark ambient, soundscape or soundtrack
at times) one-man-project from Athens, Hellas (Greece)) lives
up or down to the idea of "maybe". Maybe there is nothing
wrong with eclecticism, but I cant help feel that two of the artists
here are wandering around a little too much - maybe rather than
listen to and consolidate, though a work in progress might be
interesting to some- the vagueness "maybe" will not
help move to the position of Mixturizer who I think is definitely
in the process of forming a coherent musical or soundbased project,
now others may not wish to do so, the outcome of Mixturizer's
development may well be something akin to (heaven forbid) art.
(jliat)
Address: http://www.smellthestench.net
Address: http://www.myspace.com/sewer_records
KENJI SIRATORI - BLOODY BRAIN (CDR by r.o.n.f.
Records)
"Deep Noise from the Japanese Noise creator Kenji Siratori.
Dark, debarrier. (jliatpressive, static, deep from the mind and
unspoken. Kenji Siratori presents a brain bleeding of experimental
pure Harsh Noise attack." I'm sorry to say if I had paid
for this I would want my money back under the trade descriptions
act, fairly quiet noise which in track two almost has some tubular
bell sounds, its neither deep, harsh, or brain bleeding - actually
brains can't bleed as I think there is something called the blood
brain barrier. (jliat)
Address: http://www.ronfrecords.com/
KATCHMARE - GROOM LAKE (CDR by Scissor Death)
Nick Hoffman is an active man. He has three labels under his belt,
Pilgrim Talk, Ghost & Son and Scissor Death. I don't know
the difference between the three, but its on the latter that he
releases the bulk of his own musical work under the name of Katchmare.
Last year he received his BA in music, and I can't say I heard
that quality in this music, but I would let him graduate too,
based on this work. Here he plays guitar and computer in twelve
small compositions of what could best be described as 'ambient'
music: gliding and sustaining tones which operate mostly, but
not always, on the higher end of the musical spectrum, that however
never works in terms of flat, worn out ambient music. Hoffman
knows how to kick the material around and give it a somewhat more
sharp edge, a rough angle. Still on the experimental side of things,
but also 'flowing' enough to lull you into a pleasant nightmare.
Very nice work, perhaps even his most refined work to date, and
again it comes with a booklet with drawings. (FdW)
Address: http://www.scissordeath.com
NAPALMED - NOISAX JAZZOSTRIAL FRACTAMENTAL
(CDR by Guerilla Records)
"Profile: The band started in the mid `94. Planned to create
"noise", but play kind of noisy-noise-core w/ a drum
section, two basses and voice. Stopped to use the instruments
they started to play only/mainly many different materials, equipments,
garbage, junks and things, people didn't need (as like metals,
woods, glass, plastics, papers), prepared electronix, various
microphones, tape deck, pedal effectors, drum module, mini disc,
samples, turntable, etc... " Yep- I'd go along with this
- only use the find and replace and give- Profile:The band started
in the mid `94. Planned to create "noodling, strumming, inconsequential
mix mash ", but play kind of noisy-noodling, strumming, inconsequential
mix mash -core w/ a drum section, two basses and voice. Stopped
to use the instruments they started to play only/mainly many different
materials, equipments, garbage, junks and things, people didn't
need (as like metals, woods, glass, plastics, papers), prepared
electronix, various microphones, tape deck, pedal effectors, drum
module, mini disc, samples, turntable, etc..." Something
that the dying acts of the fluxus movement might have produced,
this is what could be summed up in the word "silly"-
which might be OK? (jliat)
Address: http://www.napalmed.cz/
PARANOIA BIRTHDAY - IL NE RESTERA (CDR by
FFHHH)
DEMETAN MESLIER - PROPRIETAIRE (CDR by FFHHH)
XAVIER DUBOIS & NOIR (CDR by FFHHH)
It's probably the strength of CDR releases that one can do so
many in such a short period. Belgium's FFHHH label started in
2006 and the three releases I'm reviewing here have catalogue
numbers 86, 88 and 90 (yes, Factory Records learned us not every
catalogue number is a music release, but in this case it is).
That's a pretty vast catalogue in a short time span. Also, another
strength of the CDR world, none of the names I ever heard before.
'Paranoia Birthday is one of the solo project of the father of
Young Girls Records', it says as info for the release 'Il Ne Restera',
which is a companion release to 'Hesta' (which I didn't get).
Two pieces, of which 'Ni L'Amour' is a drone piece which starts
out nice, but over the course moves into violent, loud shape,
and then gets broken down into a more refined piece. An organ
in loop form. Nice, but perhaps a bit normal. The second piece
is must shorter and starts out violently, but towards the end
goes into lo-fi noise guitar & vocals, which seems like a
left-over from the tape it was recorded on. Strange. Not bad,
not great.
Gregory Duby is the man behind the label and also the musician
behind Demetan Meslier. Armed with an acoustic guitar and some
sound effects, he created 'Proprietaire', which is basically a
disc of improvised music. The sound is fed through the effects,
usually a sample/hold pedal and then on top Duby improvises a
bit further. Again not bad, but maybe a bit too free form for
me. Not in the sense of free improvisation, but rather in a way
that it seems to be done without too much effort. I easily thought:
"yeah, well, so what?". What's the point of this? Just
a bit of guitar doodling, some electronic effects and that's it.
But it has its moment, such as in the final (of course untitled
piece).
Xavier Dubois is the guitarist of Yermo and Ultraphallus and here
he teams up with a band called Noir: Giel Bils (guitar, percussion,
programming), Tim Marshall (synthesizer, noise) and Pol Vanlaer
(percussion). Of the three releases this is the most interesting
one. Also improvised, this lo-fi rock quartet reminded me of the
many bands from down under New Zealand, Surface Of The Earth,
K Group, A Handful Of Dust and such like. Shimmering guitar sounds,
vague percussive bangs and rattling bass and noise lurking underneath.
Recording quality is adapted to fit the lo-fi style. This is exactly
how it could have sounded coming from New Zealand. It seems that
FFHHH will branch out into releasing LPs as well, so I would like
to suggest to get Dubois & Noir jamming same more of lo-fi
rock noise and put that on LP, whilst the other two should safely
develop some more on CDR. (FdW)
Address: http://www.ffhhh.be
JLIAT - NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL NOISE VOLUME
20 (CDR by Larks Council England)
JLIAT - NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL NOISE VOLUME 21 (CDR by Larks Council
England)
JLIAT - ARE WE LIVING IN A COMPUTER SIMULATION? (CDR by Larks
Council England)
A confession has to be made. I did play all of Jliat's 'Now That's
What I Call Noise' volumes in the past and did so with these two.
Another sixteen tracks times four minutes. The confession is that
I never them again. I feel there is no need for it, as there is
always a new one coming. That I think is part of the whole release
game Jliat plays. Perhaps they can interchanged with eachother,
perhaps not. I must admit I very seldom play a Merzbow more than
twice either, with a few exceptions. So Jliat is in good companion
ship there. An unrelentness massive noise attack, like before
and like they will come afterwards, no doubt. Noise is a conservative
kind of music, with not much new happening, and Jliat proofs this
once again and once more. Great to play loud on a pair of headphones
though.
'Are We Living In A Computer Simulation' is an entirely different
work, than the massive set of 'That's What I Call Noise' - even
when its not easy listening either. To read and understand the
liner notes takes more time than listening to the audio content.
Jliat goes back here to his previous where he investigates silence,
the world of bits and bytes, zeroes and ones. 'The PI and Prime
tracks were mae by loading the numerical data saved in text into
an audio editor which accepts data as text files. This data is
used to plot the PCM audio waves'. Plus a lot more on the subject
of numbers and data. On the music side of things we find five
tracks, four of them being very short, static rumble and feedback,
whilst the fifth is very long, close to twenty minutes, and is
called 'the First Ten Million Prime Numbers'. Highly food for
thought this one. The perfect come down music and text following
'That's What I Like About Noise'. (FdW)
Address: http://www.jliat.com