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VITAL WEEKLY
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number 663
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week 5
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Vital Weekly, the webcast: we offering a
weekly webcast, freely to download. This can be regarded as the
audio-supplement to Vital Weekly. Presented as a radioprogramm
with excerpts of just some of the CDs (no vinyl or MP3) reviewed.
It will remain on the site for a limited period (most likely 2-4
weeks). Download the file to your MP3 player and enjoy!
complete tracklist here: http://www.vitalweekly.net/podcast.html
before submitting material please read this
carefully: http://www.vitalweekly.net/fga.html
Submitting material means you read this and approve of this.
* noted are in this week's podcast
ALVA NOTO - XERROX VOL. 2 (CD by Raster
Noton) *
ATOM TM - LIEDGUT (CD by Raster Noton)
CHAS SMITH - NAKADAI (CD by Cold Blue Music) *
DANIEL LENTZ - POINT CONCEPTION (CD by Cold Blue Music)
CHRISTOPHER ROBERTS - TRIOS FOR DEEP VOICES (CD by Cold Blue Music)
LARS MYVROLL - THE ISLAND (CD by Safe As Milk Records) *
LUCA MAURI - BETWEEN LOVE AND HATE (CD by Creative Sources Recordings)
*
FERRAN FAGES - AI VOLTANT D'UNPARA/LEL (CD by Etude Records) *
FABRIKSAMPLER V2 (Compilation CD by Pharmafabrik)
LARVAE - LOSS LEADER (CD by Ad Noiseam)
LEGENDARY PINK DOTS - ALCHEMICAL PLAYSCHOOL (CD by Caciocavello)
CUSTODIAN - I (CD by Syzmic Records)
METACONQUEROR - OF STEEL, BONE AND FIRE (CD by Syzmic Records)
JAMES RUSHFORD - VELLUS (CD by Cajid Media)
EUGENE CHADBOURNE - CHADBOURNE VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT AND RESCUE
SQUAD (CD by Rossbin)
MALE - ALL ARE WELCOME (CD by Other Electricities)
BAJA - AETHER OBELISK (CD by Other Electricities) *
ANNA ZARADNY - MAUVE CYCLES (CD by Musica Genera) *
THE RISK OF BURNS EXIST (CD by Rhiz)
THOMAS BEL - THE BIRDS ARE STILL THE MONARCHS (CD by Annexia)
*
F (Compilation CD by Zelphabet)
EVAPORI - REHEARSALS FOR OBJECTS (CD by 1000Füssler) *
APPLEYARD COLLEGE - LOOK AT ME (CD by Cold Current Production)
GIANLUCA BECUZZI & FABIO ORSI - SOUNDPOSTCARDS (CD by Cold
Current Production) *
MAURIZIO BIANCHI & SPARKLE IN GREY - NEFELODHIS (CD by Cold
Current Production)
GRAINS - CRANES (CDR by Centre Of Wood)
AALTO (CDR by Centre Of Wood)
FAMILY BATTLE SNAKE/WE WAIT FOR THE SNOW (CDR by Centre Of Wood)
CHRISTOPH MIGONE - RIMMED RECORD (LP by Squint Fucker Press)
JACOB CHELKOWSKI - BABUSHKA! BABUSHKA!... OOOOH (2CD by Squint
Fucker Press)
SIMON BROWN/DYLAN CRICHTON - 99 FINGERS: RECORDINGS 1997-2007
(CD by Squint Fucker Press) *
UNDO - DES TOURNAGES (miniCD by squint Fucker Press) *
RED STARS OVER TOKYO - I NEVER GAVE UP (BECAUSE I NEVER STARTED)
(LP by Hot Hair)
KAPOTTE MUZIEK / RICHARD RAMIREZ - MUZIEK-MIX-MEMORY (CDR by Licht-ung)
*
MERZBOW - DEAD LEAVES (CD by Licht-ung)
MARINOS KOUTSOMICHALIS - CHROMA (CDR by Echo Music)
GRAPHICAL SOUND - SHAPES (CDR by Synesthesia Recordings) *
U.S.O. PROJECT/SELFISH - INHARMONICITY (DVD by Synesthesia Recordings)
THE WANDERING RHIZOME (CDR by Why Not Ltd)
PM - LIVE ACTIONS - BERLIN (CDR by Why Not Ltd) *
JAMES WHITEHEAD (JLIAT) - STILL LIFE 4-33 (CDR by Jliat) *
UBIK - LOOP FINDING... (CDR by Recycling Records)
ANTN HRKWK - MUTUALLY ASSURED (CDR by Recycling Records) *
PHILIP HALKE - THE TWO EDGES (3"CDR, private) *
PHILIP HALKE - ABOVE THE DIN (3"CDR, private)
FILTHY TURD - DEATH RAY ORGASM / NO SEXUAL HYGIENE (Cassette by
Space 07)
FILTHY TURD - THE TURD MASTER (Cassette by Hanson Records)
MUTANT TURD - OOZING EARL OF DENMARK (A6 Booklet)
MEM1 - STATIONARY DRIFT (MP3 by Resting Bell)
ALVA NOTO - XERROX VOL. 2 (CD by Raster
Noton)
ATOM TM - LIEDGUT (CD by Raster Noton)
It was never easy to keep up with the work of Atom Heart and Alva
Noto, in whatever guises they choose to appear. I like the vast
body of work, but only when its easy to access, as I will not
actively search for it. This goes for both. Alva Noto's first
volume of Xerrox wasn't reviewed in Vital Weekly, and apparently
the press text takes for granted that we know what it was about.
But we read on the Raster-Noton website it is about 'reproduction
of muzak, advertising, soundtracks and entertainment programs'
which Alva Noto samples and plays into music. I remember hearing
'Vol. 1' at a friend's house and thinking 'well, nice ambient
music, hardly Alva Noto like, but also not very engaging. What
would Raster-Noton do if somebody would have come with such a
demo?'. For the first volume Alva Noto uses sounds from Narita
Airport, a hotel in Paris, Forma in London and others, and for
the second volume he uses sounds from the USA - the new world.
I must admit no matter how much I like Alva Noto and think he's
one of the best composers around, the 'Xerrox' series is not for
me. Deep ambient sounds, a bit of digital processing on top, it
all sounds excellently produced but at the same time it also stays
a bit flat - a bit like, indeed, muzak itself. You can stick this
on, play it, even enjoy it, but then in the end it just didn't
stick around very well. Perhaps that's the whole idea of it, its
hard to tell. Nice enough, but it could have been so much more
I think.
The package is missing from the promo here, so its a bit sketchy,
the release by Atom TM. It started as a search for his own roots,
and he found himself in the Austro-German time, finding inspiration
in Nietzsche, Helmholtz and Franz Schubert - between science and
irrationality. As basis of the music lies 'white noise', which
Atom TM processes into music. Feeding through a vocoder, along
with his voice, makes this a very odd album, but also very enjoyable.
An analogue album, but also a very digital one. Slow modulations,
spoken word which is hard to understand and sometimes its broken
up into small rhythmic blocks of sound, but yet it never forms
a real (say techno) like rhythm. The biggest surprise of the album
is the hidden track, a spoken word piece by Kraftwerk's Florian
Schneider (who said he was a recloose?) which serves as an epilogue
at the end. Quite a strange album, but nevertheless a great one.
One that won't disappoint the fans of Atom TM and will perhaps
drag some Kraftwerk fans into it. (FdW)
Address: http://www.raster-noton.net
CHAS SMITH - NAKADAI (CD by Cold Blue Music)
DANIEL LENTZ - POINT CONCEPTION (CD by Cold Blue Music)
CHRISTOPHER ROBERTS - TRIOS FOR DEEP VOICES (CD by Cold Blue Music)
From the gentle west coast minimal music scene
comes the outstanding label Cold Blue, of whom we reviewed many
CDs before. They have been around for many years, starting out
with vinyl. My first encounter, if I recall well, was the Chas
Smith album 'Nakadai', which is now re-issued. I must admit I
haven't heard the LP for some years now, but playing this CD version,
I am still amazed by its beauty. Smith plays here pedal steel
guitar, solo and multitracked in in the first two and last two
pieces and with a small ensemble on the two pieces in the middle.
The first piece is a multitracked one and it works so beautiful
with the overtones created on steel guitar, but when played solo
Smith creates an equal finely pattern of overtones. When vibraphone,
marimba, hammered dulcimer, bowed rods, microtonal chimes and
small metal objects are added, things get a slightly more metallic
sound to it, but it maintains a strong warmth in it. Drone like
music, organic, and simply gorgeous music. Two 'bonus' pieces
are added, the dark and spooky 'Ghosts On The Window', an entirely
new piece from 2008 and from 1991 'Joaquin Murphey' for solo steel
guitar. This is a great and most welcome re-issue.
Back then I didn't hear Daniel Lentz's 'Point Conception'. Well,
at least I think so. The title piece is for nine piano's, played
by Arlene Dunlap and no doubt not all at once, this is the sort
of pleasant minimal music that Cold Blue is so famous for. They
are overdubbed and use octaves in a harmonic and melodic way.
Things seem to jump over eachother and have minimal changes throughout.
Sometimes it seems to slow down and then speeds up again. It keeps
on playing this game with speed and makes it quite in a whirlwind
release. As a bonus we get here 'Nightbreaker' a piece from 1990,
for four pianos. This piece is less based on the principles of
minimal music, but finds it roots in late 19th century-early 20th
century classical music, the romantic area. Nice, but I'm afraid
a bit lost on me.
The new release is by Christopher Roberts and contains five trios
for double basses. Its a 'musical evocation of the sounds and
life of Roberts experienced in the jungles of the Star Mountains
region of Papua New Guinea, where he lived in the early 1980s.
This is perhaps the most modern classical release of the three
releases here and perhaps also the one that causes me some difficulty
to review, simply because I lack the experience and knowledge
to review music like this. It seems that the pieces flow in eachother,
like the two slow pieces 'Around The Hearth' and 'Kon Burunemo',
making these contemplative pieces, whereas in the other pieces
things are more uptempo. As much as some of the popmusic that
lands here is unVital, this is also unVital music too, but from
an entirely different perspective. I quite enjoy this, but its
hard to tell why. (FdW)
Address: http://www.coldbluemusic.com
LARS MYVROLL - THE ISLAND (CD by Safe As
Milk Records)
LUCA MAURI - BETWEEN LOVE AND HATE (CD by Creative Sources Recordings)
FERRAN FAGES - AI VOLTANT D'UNPARA/LEL (CD by Etude Records)
A trilogy in which the guitar plays the all important role. Things
have been quiet for Safe As Milk Records for a while, but they
are revived now with the release of this 'un-pretentious concept
album' by one Lars Myrvoll. he was a member of rock trio Fatuhiva
and 'improvised anti-music' in Brotthast Pany, but played also
improvised music with people like Rafael Toral, David Stackenäs,
Axel Dörner and a whole bunch of others. The concept of the
album, un-pretentious or not, lies in the fact that all the pieces
were recorded in his bedroom between 2002-2008, so perhaps the
'concept' lies a bit in the some what crude recording technique
of his otherwise nicely played instrumentals on the guitar. Short,
sweet melodies, a bit blues like, touched by experimentalism and
pop like tunes. Quite nice. But also without too much variation.
Twelve tracks at thirty-seven or so minutes isn't that long, but
it doesn't have that much variation in them. One could wish for
more tracks like 'The Gleaming Water (Monaca)' with a vague shimmering
violin and horn section, that has a nice tropical feel to it.
Sun and surf. It moves away from just a guitar piece and that
is something that the majority of the pieces are made of. More
that, less of just one type of playing. Keep up with the great
booklet though.
More on solo guitar is one Luca Mauri, who plays 'guitar, ride,
snare, crash, editing', which means he plays guitar and drums.
Oh, and I think one of those loops devices, which makes every
men an orchestra. Luca played drums in Kokoro Mayikibo, and bass/guitar/drums
in a duo called Two Dead Bodies, 'devoted to tribal/noise improvisations',
as well as various improvisational gigs. I must say his CD isn't
great. 'Choke' is all about distorted guitars but adds nothing
to the idiom of guitar noise. 'All That Remains' is an ambient
epilogue. 'A Quiet Storm' has just too much looped guitars, which
perhaps can also be said of 'Decline Of A Beautiful Face'. 'Pulse/Loop'
explains itself. Its not all bad, but it sounds too much like
other things that have been better. This could have been a nice
CDR somewhere, but need not be on CD per se.
The final hero of the six strings is Spanish Ferran Fages, who
plays electric guitar and nothing else. It is also the one that
is furthest moved from the other two. Where Myrvoll tends to play
(pop-)music, goes Mauri a bit more towards improvised music, but
Fages goes all the way. I'm not that saying that it is because
of that, that this is good, but his solo guitar (no effects, just
amplification) has a great solitude character to it, a feel of
isolation, desolation perhaps. He succeeds where Mauri fails:
there is audible tension in the music - this marks the difference
between good improvisation and 'doing some music' I think. If
you like Loren Connors, then this Fages CD is right up that alley.
Hauntingly beautiful. (FdW)
Address: http://www.safe-as-milk.org
Address: http://www.creativesourcesrec.com
Address: http://www.etuderecords.com
FABRIKSAMPLER V2 (Compilation CD by Pharmafabrik)
Listening to this compilation is like drifting through a dream.
Pharmafabrik is a Slovenian label that has been on the stage for
almost 15 years. Despite its long existence the label has only
a limited back catalogue of releases behind, but on the contrary
there is a number of interesting releases covering various styles
of electronic music. The same can be said about the first sampler
from the label that was released in 2006, covering a wide specter
of styles from noise across trip hop to IDM. As the 19th release
from Pharmafabrik now comes the second sampler titled "Fabriksampler
V2". Opposite the first sampler that had a great span of
electronic styles, this second compilation has a strong focus
on ambient expression or subtle downbeat at the most. As written
in the opening of this text, there is a dreamlike quality hidden
in this 53 minutes long journey. One thing is the way the each
of the eleven tracks has been interwoven into its neighbor tracks.
Another thing is the choice of expression from the included artists.
The list of contributors counts big shots such as Lull aka Mick
Harris (ex-Napalm Death / Defecation etc.), Final aka Justin Broadrick
(ex-Godflesh) but also more unknown, never the less very interesting
acts counting Swedish artist Henrik Nordvargr Björk and Slovenian
artist Pureh, that took part in the sampler "Elektrotehnika
Slavenika" released by The Wire Magazine. There are many
great moments on this lengthy journey of ambience. Climaxes occurs
with the appearance of Pureh and his guitarbased ambient-track
of dark and beautiful soundscapes spiced by ghouls and strange
voices titled "Kogel" and with the otherworldly weird
work "Mu" from the artist Go Tsushima built on subtle
rhythm textures and spacey sounds bouncing in and out. Other great
moments comes with the deep space from The Cherry Blues Project
including buzzing hypnodrones and industrial noises crackling
from behind together with abstract sub-rhythms. One of the most
noisy moments is presented by Dodecahedragraph, with an alluring
piece of buzzing noises accompanied by long sheets of lush melodic
soundscapes - beautiful. A very impressive sampler of experimental
ambient from Pharmafabrik. Highly recommended! (NM)
Address: http://www.pharmafabrik.com
LARVAE - LOSS LEADER (CD by Ad Noiseam)
Larvae are the alias of Matt Jeanes. Since the beginning in 2000,
Larvae has had quite a few releases on German label Ad Noiseam
+ a few on Sub:Marine and Creative Space Records. Present album
is the third full-length issue from Larvae. Where the last full-length
from Larvae, "Dead weight" (Ad Noiseam, 2006) included
some quite upfront moments of breakbeats and grime + had some
vocal elements, this present album titled "Loss leader"
is a pure instrumental work with warmer and more melancholic expressions.
But once again Larvae emphasize his ability of controlling various
genres of music, with an album that roughly could be described
as a crossover between post-rock and IDM. The main part of the
album remains downbeat and introvert with the expression based
on acoustic music instruments stylishly connected to the post
rock-scene. In some moments the music floats in melancholic post
rock-spheres of weeping guitars and slow-rhythm drumming and in
other moments the guitar work turns noisier with drones of guitar-riffs
creating a dramatic change in atmosphere. With the changes between
repetitive guitar work creating a gently hypnotic atmosphere and
the harsh moments of noise rock, there are associations towards
Scottish post-rock quintet in Mogwai. Other parts of the album
circulate in pure electronic sound spheres with elements of a
nocturnal IDM-based electronica. A pleasant album that will satisfy
a wide span of listeners!
Address: http://www.adnoiseam.net
LEGENDARY PINK DOTS - ALCHEMICAL PLAYSCHOOL
(CD by Caciocavello)
The phrase "Legendary" in their name must be understood
literally after all these years. In almost three decades the Dutch/British
project Legendary Pink Dots has been exploring sound worlds of
both acoustic and digital background. As the name of the band
suggests, the expression of the band is quite unique and almost
as far from mainstream style as possible. With a back catalogue
of 40+ albums the band has come across a great number of stylish
expressions from neo-psychedelia to electronic avantgarde. Present
album was originally released on the sub-label of Soleilmoon Recordings,
Caciocavallo in a limited edition of 400 editions packaged in
a cloth bag inside a soap stone box with trident symbol etched
into the stone. As it was sold out in only a few weeks, the label
has now re-issued the album in softpack edition. An important
source to the album is field recordings from India. The authentic
sounds of the great country has been derived and integrated in
the psychedelic spheres of Legendary Pink Dots. There is a great
dreamlike atmosphere on the album titled "Alchemical playschool"
and compared to other recordings of the Pink Dots, the album sticks
to a ritual atmosphere built on a mixture between eastern music
instruments and electronic ambience. Divided into four intersections
each tracks develops into a great number of expressions with the
mixture of field recordings and acoustic as well as electronic
equipment always with respect to the sounds of Indian culture.
A few moments recalls the early days of Pink Floyd's Ummagumma-days
thanks to the organ-like sound that penetrates. The use of Indian
instruments such as tables and sitars adds to the psychedelic
input on the album, meanwhile the use of found sounds of street
life, ringing telephones and falling rain adds some interesting
sounds to the wide specter of noises on the album. Despite the
domination of instrumental moments on the album, the album also
includes some spoken word from Edward Ka-Spel. In its heavy utility
of eastern sounds "Chemical playschool" is both an unusual
and outstanding work from the Pink Dots. If you get the chance,
go see them live! (NM)
Address: http://www.soleilmoon.com
CUSTODIAN - I (CD by Syzmic Records)
METACONQUEROR - OF STEEL, BONE AND FIRE (CD by Syzmic Records)
Syzmic Records is a brand new Wisconsin based US-label that focuses
on music of the dark side counting harsh noise, power electronics,
industrial and dark ambient. The very first album of label comes
from a composer calling himself Custodian. Judged by the title
"I" present album is the first album and it would be
unfair to accuse it for being expressionally modest: Less than
thirty of full throttle noise divided into eight smaller chunks
of sonic brutality. Not extremely innovating, on the contrary
this is an album to be remembered for its lack of sonic mercy.
Second album from the label is by an artists calling himself Metaconqueror.
Compared to the aforementioned full throttle aggression, the album
titled "Of steel, Bone and Fire" is an album that more
points towards the ambient-scene. With ten pieces of sheer darkness
and no happy tones the album lies somewhere between dark ambient
and power electronics thanks to some quite abrasive interventions
once in a while. Like the distorted growling voice on the work
"Beasts of oblivion". Peak on the album comes with the
atmospheric and quite melodic piece titled "Barrier of the
gods". A quite beautiful moment on an album that first of
calls for the darkness of electronic sound. (NM)
Address: http://www.syzmicrecords.com
JAMES RUSHFORD - VELLUS (CD by Cajid Media)
This one brings us to Australia. Cajid media is a small label
dedicated to experimental music and sound art by Australian artists
and musicians, like Thembi Soddell, Lawrence English, Natasha
Anderson, a.o. This ninth release presents work by James Rushford,
a young Melbourne-based composer and performer, interested in
a diverse range of contemporary music. 'Vellus' brings together
six compositions. It is hard to imagine that these works are composed
by a 23-year old person. Rushford is in most compositions also
one of the performers, mostly playing electronics. The unconventional
combinations of instruments is what strikes me first. The CD opens
with 'Lucas Stumbles', a work in three parts, for speak-percussion
and electronics. The first two parts are very calm. In the third
part however we witness an explosion of percussive sounds. This
play with dynamics is one the characteristics of his style. In
'La Madre' we hear the voices of two sopranos, plus cello and
electronics. This piece satisfied me most of all, because of the
expressive vocal work by Deborah Kayser and Jessica Aszodi. 'Tractus'
is written for a diversity of string instruments plus tam-tam.
It is a very dynamic work, played with verve by the musicians.
Clarinet and electronics do an interesting noisy research on sound
and textures in 'Holdmegentlytightly'. In 'Respite in the Woodland'
clarinets and chamber organ are combined. The CD closes with 'Borders'
a work for solo double bass. Rushford proves himself a very disciplined
composer. He is both not afraid of silence and noise. In each
composition he works with a limited set of sounds and musical
ideas. This way he creates interesting works that didn't bore
me one moment. Although this is modern composed music, there is
a certain roughness and power in the music that make it very charming.
So all in all a satisfying debut from Rushford, a composer with
considerable potential. (DM)
Address: http://cajid.com
EUGENE CHADBOURNE - CHADBOURNE VOLUNTEER
FIRE DEPARTMENT AND RESCUE SQUAD (CD by Rossbin)
Since Chadbourne made his first appearances on the Parachute label,
run by him and Zorn, Chadbourne has released many, many records
on a great diversity of recordlabels. Now it is the turn for Rossbin
to release one. This label has a very mixed catalogue with releases
by Scott Fields Ensemble, Mike Cooper, Hafler Trio, Alessandro
Bosetti, a.o. I must admit that is a long time ago since I last
listened to mister Chadbourne. I keep good memories to the Shockablliy-concert
somewhere in the mid-80s, which was my first encounter with his
genius. Later I often saw him on stage with Jon Rose and others.
But in the last few years, he disappeared out of my sight. So
it is nice to have a new CD here by him. The CD contains recordings
made between 2002 and 2006. They have in common that all of them
are country and protest songs. Some of them composed by Chadbourne
himself, others by Merle Haggard, Nick Drake, a.o. Some are solo
banjo-tunes, like the great opening track 'Shape of Things'. It
has all the characteristics of how Chadbourne treats, interprets
songs. Sometimes speeding up, sometimes drifting way from the
song through moments of very free improvisation, but always returning
to the melody of the song. Other pieces are in duo-, trio- or
quartet-format. For a few tracks Chadbourne is assisted by ex-Violent
Femmes musicians Brian Ritchie and Victor de Lorenzo. In another
track Frank Pahl (Only a Mother, etc.) is participating, playing
a pump organ in the background. With the harmonica of Walter Daniels,
and pianoplaying by Earl Poole Ball, Chadbourne plays a nice blues
in 'One More Road to Cross'. Together with some other line ups
in other tracks, this makes a nice mixed bag.
'Sestina for Religion' is the exception on this CD. Chadbourne
plays with turntables and speaks of his anti-religious feelings.
Most songs on this CD however are very loosely played country-
and protest songs. The low-fi recording fits well with the atmosphere
of these songs. Some of them recorded live, others in the studio.
It is nice to hear that Chadbourne still continues on his path.
But if you already walked along this path for a while this CD
will not offer many surprises. (DM)
Address: http://www.rossbin.com
MALE - ALL ARE WELCOME (CD by Other Electricities)
BAJA - AETHER OBELISK (CD by Other Electricities)
Two quite different releases here on Other Electricities. From
the a rock and improvisation end comes Male, a duo of Jonathan
Krohn (keyboards) and Ben Mjolsness (guitar), who have been together
for five years. In their hometown Chicago they met a lot of musicians,
from rock to improvisation an they were asked to do a recording
session with them. If I understood well, Krohn and Mjolsness first
laid down the first tracks and then each musician added his (no
girls as far as I can see among their friends) part to the whole,
one by one, without hearing what the others did. Quite a nice
idea. In the post production stage only 'incidentals' were cut
out. Their friends included Steven Hess (percussion), Mike Reed
(percussion), Josh Berman (cornet), Jason Adasiewicz (vibraphone),
Todd Mattei (guitar) and Nick Butcher on tape. Four pieces on
this thirty minute CD of which the opening 'Wrangler For Higher'
is a bit of a messy rock song, but 'I'll Be Standing Soon' is
quite a nice drone like piece with nicely shifting percussive
sounds and the core piece of the CD. 'Dark Advances' is short
and seems to be guitars only, more like a bridge to 'Used To be
Guy', in which the tapes by Butcher are used from outside, the
street sounds and more shimmering percussion sounds. Quite a nice
CD, fine concept and worked out in a great way. Maybe a bit short?
A year ago, in Vital Weekly 611, we reviewed 'Wolfhour', third
album by Daniel Vujanic, and now its time for the fourth 'Aether
Obelisk' and it doesn't much change the routine of before. Its
still that crazy odd mixture of jazz, pop, rock and free improvisation,
all thrown into a sampler, with bits of real instruments on top,
organ, drums, guitar and voices. The real surprise of last year
has worn out here I must admit, but it still works very neatly.
Still funny, still feel good music, still packed with lots of
crazy witty sounds. A particular strong voice of his own here.
Very nice again. (FdW)
Address: http://www.other-electricities.com
ANNA ZARADNY - MAUVE CYCLES (CD by Musica
Genera)
In Poland women play a marginal role in experimental music, Musica
Genera tells us. I never heard of Anna Zaradny, who was in 1977
already on a compilation called 'Women In Electronic Music'. She
played with Burkhard Stangl, Cor Fuhler, Zbigniew Karkowski, but
also composed music for theatres, sound installations and collaboration
with visual artists. Yet she never made her own CD, which 'Mauve
Cycles' now is. Her first solo CD. And I must say: what a great
CD! Two pieces, 'Mauve 1' and 'Mauve 2', which are pieces of electronic
music. Drone based, but loud, deep, and never noisy. Towards the
end of 'Mauve 1' the material starts to modulate and vibrate,
in a Pan Sonic/ø like manner. Think Eliane Radigue but
then just a little bit louder and more forcefully present and
with more rhythm aspects to it. Highly minimal but with those
slight variations at all the right moments that make this a damn
fine release. I am not sure how the music was generated, but it
wouldn't be a surprise if this was made on a bunch of analogue
synthesizers (but I might be wrong). I was blown away, literary,
but this one. Great, massive work. (FdW)
Address: http://www.musicagenera.net
THE RISK OF BURNS EXIST (CD by Rhiz)
To celebrate ten years of the Viennese venue and bar Rhiz, the
label of the same name released a very nice small box, which holds
print work, pictures, a badge, a booklet and a small plastic bag.
Inside the booklet you see with every track also such a bag, filled
with something and dated on the day the concert was of which they
used a track. Very cute. Musicwise there are some interesting
things to be noted. I have no idea how big Rhiz is, but there
is some interest in rock oriented music from Blurt, Volcano The
Bear or Bulbul & Maja Osojnik, where we would have expected
only the presence of laptop boys as Pita, Fennesz, Bernhard Fleischmann
or Sluta Leta. They may form the majority on this compilation,
the 'others' form the interesting counterpart of these. It makes
this a pretty varied compilation of live pieces, from the jazz
of Blurt to the techno of Wipeout, the singer songwriting of Gustav
or Bruckmayr and and the laidback electronics of Schlammpeitziger.
A nice souvenir. (FdW)
Address: http://rhiz.org
THOMAS BEL - THE BIRDS ARE STILL THE MONARCHS
(CD by Annexia)
Every day, almost, a new name can be added to the musical history.
Here is one Thomas Bel from Toulouse, France, who uses purely
acoustic sources such as guitar, cello, field recordings and digital
ones, like 'processing, drones, 'clics'', along some vocal recitation
of poetry. Perhaps its only the latter that sets him somewhat,
but not completely apart from the usual world of microsound, ambient
glitch and processed field recordings. I am not sure, but somehow
I don't think these voices are there to be fully understood, but
they merely add an extra layer to the sound. In his sound, I must
admit, I didn't hear much news. Everything you know from these
musical areas are repacked here, and Bel does a fine job for sure,
in producing these nine pieces and it surely makes a nice spin,
but, apart from sounding like so many other things, its also a
bit flat. None of the pieces leap out, nor is the voice used to
an extent that it could be a difference from the others, so I'd
say: go on, but try and find more a voice - literary - of his
own in this crowded world. (FdW)
Address: http://www.annexia-net.com
F (Compilation CD by Zelphabet)
Zelphabet is an L.A.-based label that focuses on noise music.
Over the next four to five years, the label will release a series
of 26 noise CD compilations, which is exactly the number of letters
in the English alphabet. Thus there will a compilation for every
letter in the alphabet. Up until now there has been contributions
from legends such as Achim Wollscheid, Arcane Device, Asmus Tietchens,
Daniel Menche, Dave Phillips and Charlemagne Palestine etc. +
a number of lesser known artists. On issue #6 in the series we
have come to the letter F and the installment features contributions
from Failing Lights, Fin, Francisco Lopez and Frans De Waard.
The compilation opens with the two lesser known acts, first the
artist Failing Lights and his 20 minutes work "The submarine
twilight" of guitar-based ambient/noise followed by the collaged
noise work "Works for magnetic tape" from Fin. After
these two comes two well-known of the sound art/noise-scene: First
Francisco Lopez and his untitled work #210, a work that draws
associations back to the field recordings milestone "La Selva"
(V2, 1998). The work is based on animals as sound sources, where
the barking of dogs is an important part. Final and most interesting
piece comes from Frans De Waard and just like the contribution
from Lopez, the work from Frans De Waard is built on recordings
of concrete sounds, first of all from the public space i.e. human
crowds and distant industrial sound drones. As the piece develops
the collage of found sounds slowly transforms into an abstract
soup of thick drones of abrasive noise. Thus an interesting noise
compilation and a very interesting conceptual idea from the Zelphabet
label. (NM)
Address: http://www.zelphabet.com
EVAPORI - REHEARSALS FOR OBJECTS (CD by
1000Füssler)
Oliver Peters, the man behind the AIC label and the musical project
Evapori, likes his sounds to be free of computer plug ins. Take
an object, place a microphone and record the object. The placing
of the microphone is essential as it alters the sound. Take a
whole bunch of objects, record them and then make a CD out of
these recordings. The computer is merely a recording device, where,
in good musique concrete tradition, cuts can be made, stereo adjustment
and balancing the various sounds. That is most commendable, I
think, as most computer plug ins do tend to sound too similar.
What Peters does here, is not done a lot. Using natural space
to create reverb, he carefully touches his objects and makes a
very intense sound collage out of it. One that requires full attention.
At times I was reminded of the live sound of Kapotte Muziek, but
then multi-layered and with more concentration - but then of course
the computer here can cut out all the unwanted sounds, which live
is more difficult. By adding machine hum towards the end of 'Rehearsal
1', he manages to sound like drone music too. I think this is
a great CD, but there is one thing I don't understand: why call
this rehearsals? Rehearsal for what? It gives the impression that
this is unfinished business, unless Peters wants us to cut further
in this material, but somehow I don't think that this the case
here. Why not go full on and state that these are 'compositions'?
(FdW)
Address: http://www.1000fussler.com
APPLEYARD COLLEGE - LOOK AT ME (CD by Cold
Current Production)
GIANLUCA BECUZZI & FABIO ORSI - SOUNDPOSTCARDS (CD by Cold
Current Production)
MAURIZIO BIANCHI & SPARKLE IN GREY - NEFELODHIS (CD by Cold
Current Production)
GRAINS - CRANES (CDR by Centre Of Wood)
AALTO (CDR by Centre Of Wood)
FAMILY BATTLE SNAKE/WE WAIT FOR THE SNOW (CDR by Centre Of Wood)
A small trick is to split up your label in various sub-divisions
and then send three releases of each label, and think you can
get away. Well, no, to me its just six releases, even its three
CDs on Cold Current Production and three CDRs on Centre Of Wood..
Also I think in this bunch some are much older than six months,
like the release by Appleyard College. He's inspired by men with
beards and guitars, by Nick Drake, Neil Young, A Silver Mountain
Zion, Current 93, and throws in a bit of experimental sounds to
make it a bit more interesting (to me?), but its the songs that
count here and to which Luigi Porto has devoted his hearth to.
Its nice songs, melancholiac popmusic, but far away from the Vital
world.
Much more interesting, at least to me, is the release by Gianluca
Becuzzi and Fabio Orsi. The two have been producing music together
since 2004, but their individual histories in music go back quite
some time. 'Soundpostcards' was already released in two parts
in 2004 as mp3s but are here together, reworked and with a bonus
tracks. Guitars play an important role in this music, playing
melancholiac tunes and ambient tapestries, nice, safe drone music.
Ambient with the big A. Sweet music that needs a lot of time to
tell its story. I must admit, I thought it was all bit much. After
a while I thought it was enough. An hour is very long. But perhaps
this is more nighttime music and not bright sunlight covered sunday
afternoon music.
Back in Vital Weekly 604 we reviewed 'Erimos', an album of collaborative
effort by Maurizio Bianchi, Hue and Fhievel. The latter also goes
by the name Sparkle In Grey and as such this album is the sister
(brother?) album of 'Erimos' - with strong similarities in design
(I mistook it for 'Erimos' at first glance). 'Erimos' means 'desert'
in Greek, 'Nefelodhis' means 'cloudiness' in Greek. Like before,
too (!), the cover says 'inspiration and concept by MB', but here
all tracks by MB/Maurizio Bianchi and Sparkle In Grey. Its unclear
what they use, soundwise, but I believe to hear various string
instruments, such as guitar and violins, sometimes covered with
the dust of sound effects. Like the previous 'Erimos' this is
a work of ambient music, but less electronic based and more organic
flowing from instruments. Unlike the Becuzzi/Orsi release, this
is less refined and a bit more rough in a strange way. Not as
clean ambient drones as the other one, but more improvised within
the ambient field, and that makes it for me it the best CD out
of three.
On CDR, on the subdivision Centre Of Wood, comes Grains. I have
no idea who or what Grains is, but there are thirteen tracks on
'Cranes', played by Rob Williams, on 'vocals, guitars, keyboards,
percussion, nintendo DS, wahooji, cigarette lighter, smoking'
and last almost eighty minutes. On end this doodling last. Williams
strums his guitar per track way too long, without much sense of
direction. I think, perhaps, you could each track in half, and
leave half the tracks, of and you'd still have a pretty good idea
of what this is all about. Not for me, this one.
Aalto is a band from Finland, although they do not sound like
nordic musicians (whatever that may mean). They seem to draw their
inspiration from ethnic music, played on ethnic instruments, like
sitar, didgeridoo, tabla's but also clarinet, banjo, acoustic
guitar and female voice. It sounds very folky, very ethnic, very
nice and all very unVital like to me. I had solid pleasure in
hearing this curious mixture of instruments which don't seem to
match up, but played on the Global Village square of course it
does.
The final release is a split release by Family Battle Snake, also
known as Bill Kouligas, and We Wait For The Snow. Kouligas has
played with a lot of people, from Ashtray Navigations to Sudden
Infant, worked solo as Beyond Repair, Blackest Rainbow and shared
stages with the best: Faust, Carlos Giffoni, Wolf Eyes, Black
Dice, Prurient, Corsano and Psychic TV. Here he has two piece
for 'solo strings and tape loops', inspired by the Gunter Brus
video "Impudenz Im Grunewald". Apparently Kouligas started
Family Battle Snake as pure harsh noise project, yet these two
pieces show something else. A love of louder, meaner drone music
is what comes to mind, shrieking, chilling. Think Paul Panhuysen
or Ellen Fullman without the refinement, but with some anger and
aggression. Nice pieces of not so subtle music. Behind We Wait
For The Snow is Andrea Penso, head of these labels, and he is
inspired by 'Walden', the famous book of David Thoreau's ideal
world. He gets credit for 'all instruments/field recording'. Here
too drones are play, but they are of a more conventional nature,
but quite good. Not as chilling as Family Battle Snake, but deeper
and more atmospheric. Now that after a day of hearing all of this
(written in order of playing actually), the sun is down and soon
it will be dark with this being the perfect soundtrack to end
such a day of much mood music. (FdW)
Address: http://www.centreofwood.com
CHRISTOPH MIGONE - RIMMED RECORD (LP by
Squint Fucker Press)
JACOB CHELKOWSKI - BABUSHKA! BABUSHKA!... OOOOH (2CD by Squint
Fucker Press)
SIMON BROWN/DYLAN CRICHTON - 99 FINGERS: RECORDINGS 1997-2007
UNDO - DES TOURNAGES (miniCD by squint Fucker Press)
A is for Art here (not ambient). The sticker on the package said
'1 vinyl, 3 CDs', but was super light. Not strange if the 'Rimmed
Record' by Christoph Migone is 'physically reduced to just the
outer rim [...] playable at your own risk', which looks great,
along with a silkscreened recycled (?) record cover. If ever you
are invited to a party where you asked to bring a record, take
this one. Everybody will be jealous and you'll be able to talk
normally instead of shout. As I said A is for Art.
There for its also hard to judge the Chelkowski release, since
I got the cheapo promo version and not the 'multiples, beet seeds
and rosemary... all housed in hand made wooden box', in an edition
of 25. Otherwise no information - go figure. I never heard of
Chelkowski and is that box still available, and if not why would
I bother? Its dedicated to one Sergei Parajanov and contains mostly
pieces of sampled ethnic music, mixed with ethnic records. The
second CD has a fifty minute piece called 'Franck And The Sun'
and seems more a documentary or radio play. This A is for Art
is too obscure for me. I don't consider myself an art critique
and therefore discharge me of the job at hand.
Less arty, unless you count the rather cryptic liner notes, is
the CD by one Simon Brown and Dylan Crichton (there is a small
card in the package that says 'In Memorium Dylan Crichton 1978-2008),
who offer no less than 99 tracks, although I don't see the word
'random' mentioned. The press text makes hardly any sense - maybe
the art is in there - and so do the 99 tracks, which are apparently
recorded over a decade. Short pieces, of around one minute plus,
of electronic music, some singing, answer phone machines, weirdness.
Outsider anyone? Maybe the dictionary of disrupt minds? You never
know with these things I guess. There are nice pieces in here
for sure, but the shortlived character makes it very hard to focus
on just that one - The Residents 'Commercial Album' should be
a text book for people like these.
The most interesting one, musically, while still having the right
looks (microphone scratched the surface of the jewel case), is
a 'fan CD' (mini CD in a transparent bigger one) by Undo, the
ongoing duo collaboration of Christof Migone and Alexandre St-Onge,
who recorded this work already in 2002. The text is also not very
clear about this, as it skips between english and french in one
line, without, I think the translation, but the actual music is
very nice. A bit microsound, picked up whatever kind of microphone
scratching the surface. Rotating crackling sound of sources unknown,
like long wave sounds, star dust or sandpaper upon a turntable.
A strange piece, but one I like very much. The obscure character
of the sounds, which seem to turning and turning with irregular
cracklings on top and some vague low micro sounds at the moment,
the dynamics of the mix, makes this a great piece. (FdW)
Address: http://www.squintfuckerpressdotcom.com
RED STARS OVER TOKYO - I NEVER GAVE UP (BECAUSE
I NEVER STARTED) (LP by Hot Hair)
"Probably this is not expr/improv/weird/drone enough for
the vital list", the label writes me, but I don't think we
are exclusively about those things. Read more closely. Red Stars
Over Tokyo are perhaps from Belgium, find their inspiration in
early 4AD, Factory Records and Himalaya Records (if anyone is
old enough to remember that?) or even Brian Eno. Red Stars Over
Tokyo is a band (?) armed with a bunch of synthesizers, a rhythm
machine, some sound effects. 'Sonic watercolors' is what they
call it, and indeed that's very nicely put for the nineteen tracks
here, in somewhere thirty-six minutes. Short, sketch like synthesizer
doodling, piano riffs (which reminded me a bit of some of Les
Disques Du Crepuscule artists), but then also a banging rhythm
machine, which doesn't sound very good and also out of place.
I believe only track has vocals on it - those typical minimal
synth vocals we know from the 80s. This is a nice record, and
certainly experimental enough to pass the test. I don't think
the true cosmic music lovers would dig this very much: the pieces
are too short and too 'strange' to fill their cosmic heads (hats?).
As said more Les Disques Du Crepuscule than early 4AD or Factory
I think, but hey, that's not bad either. A pity my copy is quite
scratched on one side though, when it is played 'quietly at night',
as suggested on the cover. (FdW)
Address: http://www.myspace.com/RedStarsOverTokyo
KAPOTTE MUZIEK / RICHARD RAMIREZ - MUZIEK-MIX-MEMORY
(CDR by Licht-ung)
MERZBOW - DEAD LEAVES (CD by Licht-ung)
Lichtung is a German label specializing in what they describe
as "Punk kein rock". Browsing through their back catalogue
you realize that the focus of the label is noise oriented music
with releases from heavy weights like Merzbow, AUBE, Kapotte Muziek,
Zbigniew Karkowski etc etc. Latest albums from the label includes
the first two mentioned artists. First album is titled "Muziek-Mix-Memory"
and is a "versus"-album between Kapotte Muziek and Richard
Ramirez. First track is the legendary trio of Kapotte Muziek,
Frans De Waard, Peter Duimelinks and Roel Meelkop manupulating
the source materials of composer Richard Ramirez. The intense
work opens fairly quiet with crackling sounds and field recordings
of water. Bursts of noises attack the relative quietness of the
opening, but as the track develops the noise washes in and after
twelve minutes the work transforms into hordes of harsh noise
until the final moments where the tracks dwells back into peace.
Second track is Richard Ramirez' take on Kapotte Muziek. In contrary
to the radical change in expression of Kapotte Muziek's contribution,
Radical Ramirez constantly keeps the mass of noise on a quite
high sound levels resulting in an almost 20 minutes piece of harsh
noise/power electronics. During the work there are moments of
slightly easier levels but overall Mr. Ramirez creates a hard
time for the receiving ears. Next album comes from an artist who
is one of the true legends of abrasive sounds. The work titled
"Dead leaves" from Merzbow consists of three lengthy
pieces titled I - III. From zero the listener approximately gets
twenty seconds of adjustment before the first attack of apocalyptic
symphony drills its way into the brain. Overall the album offers
full throttle noise during the three intersections of the album.
Where the first two works are kept on an almost earaching noise-level
the final work is slightly easier listening to with its low frequency
sound levels and the subdued tones pumping from the ground into
the work. Two interesting albums from the Licht-Ung that will
first of all satisfy listeners of sonic extremity. (NM)
Address: http://www.licht-ung.de
MARINOS KOUTSOMICHALIS - CHROMA (CDR by
Echo Music)
Maybe the cover says it all: 'Chro(m)a deals with static music,
sustained sounds, immobility and non causality. No editing or
other kind of 'compositional' treatment takes place, other than
the choice of recording equipment and the final 'selection' of
what will be released'. Two pieces of twenty five minutes of various
pieces of machinery recorded with contact microphones. Nothing
happens in these highly static pieces of sound. Sound is a great
phenomena, and surely you can record a bit, and then say it's
a composition, but perhaps its even nicer then to go into your
kitchen and listen to your fridge yourself. Nice thing to upset
unsuspecting visitors. (FdW)
Address: http://www.echomusic.gr
GRAPHICAL SOUND - SHAPES (CDR by Synesthesia
Recordings)
U.S.O. PROJECT/SELFISH - INHARMONICITY (DVD by Synesthesia Recordings)
Behind Graphical Sound is Matteo Milani, whom we recently heard
for the first time in Vital Weekly 644 as one half of the U.S.O.
Project. Milani started at the end of the 80s, splicing tape at
radio stations. These days its all about the computer, 'blending
synthetic and organic sound material, sharing the Pierre Schaeffer
'audio vision' of musique concrete'. The four pieces on this release
are nice, but hardly musique concrete, unless of course the sounds
have been altered to such an extent that we don't recognize the
original input - that might very well be possible. Only in 'Water
Emotions' we do recognize the water sounds and it seems that Milani
here tries to play a cover of 'Blanket Level Approach' by The
Hafler Trio. Its more ambient music of a highly digital kind,
time stretched sounds, filtered with tons of granulating sound
effects. Flowing like the best Hypnos release, but less based
on analogue synthesizers and more computers. A minor difference,
and probably not a very important one. Milani plays his music
with great skill and this is a very nice ambient work.
The U.S.O. Project themselves released a DVD together with Giovanni
Antignano, who works as Selfish with live video performances.
Milani is U.S.O. Project together with Federico Placidi. My knowledge
on the subject of video-art is very low, and its hard for me to
comment on the quality of the visual side of 'Inharmonicity'.
Vague images of an unidentified nature of what could stains, chemicals,
blurred images, sometimes almost black, sometimes colored (although
it never seems to bright). Its nice. The music side of this has
been discussed when U.S.O Project released this on CD (see Vital
Weekly 644): " U.S.O. stands for Unidentified Sound Object
and very much like flying objects, their music moves about, seemingly
off course. Whatever they do, it mainly sounds electronically.
There is hardly an acoustic device in sight with these boys, or
perhaps there were, but then there are well hidden in the electronic
mass of sound that is cooked up here. In 'Invisible Worlds' the
radio waves make up the sound sources. The long '... From The
Past... Out of The Future...' is forty
minutes long and the most 'silent' piece here. I think this piece
sums up what this project stands for: long meandering sounds,
which come from nowhere and which don't seem to go anywhere. Just
a stream of silent sounds. Like with Concrete Cookie & The
Maggot Farmer release reviewed elsewhere, this is not about carefully
composing music, but playing moods and textures, albeit of a somewhat
lighter side of the moon. A refined late night listening session."
I have no idea why this was released separate on CD and DVD -
that seems a bit much. (FdW)
Address: http://www.synesthesiarecordings.com
THE WANDERING RHIZOME (CDR by Why Not Ltd)
PM - LIVE ACTIONS - BERLIN (CDR by Why Not Ltd)
From the world of improvised electro-acoustic
music. I don't think I ever heard of The Wandering Rhizome, which
is one Patrick Farmer. He plays here bass drum, large bamboo stem,
four acoustic guitar pickups, microphone and milk frother. Quite
a curious piece of electro acoustic sound emerges from the speakers,
with occasional rattling sounds and what seems to be lots of lo-fi
hiss sound. Lots of silence is built in this piece. But then sound
gets sometimes picked up again, and the volume increases substantially.
It hoovers that fine balance between almost silence and almost
noise. Quite a nice piece of what I believe live action music
for a few objects.
Behind PM are Goh Lee Kwang (mixer feedback) and Olaf Hochberg
(piezo). I remember reviewing a rather obscure 3"CDR by them,
but this one is actually quite nice. Four pieces, recorded in
three different places in Berlin, with only few days in between
(so you can tour a city!) of an endless stream of feedback like
sounds and small crackles and big noise. It emerges on the borders
of improvised music, electro-acoustic, microsound as well as noise.
I know this sounds like a strange mixture, but it works well here.
A great work, a strong leap forward. (FdW)
Address: http://www.herbalinternational.tk
JAMES WHITEHEAD (JLIAT) - STILL LIFE 4-33
(CDR by Jliat)
To be honest I forgot what Jliat's 'Still Life' series was all
about, but it was some conceptual thing about silence being translated
to audio and/or midi. The series is now picked up again with this
'cover', 'interpretation' of the famous silent piece by John Cage.
Originally performed on a piano by David Tudor, by not playing
any notes, Whitehead chooses here to play the piano on the first
piece and field recordings on the second, which was 'processed
via software and played as a midi file'. Its a bit unclear as
to what it is that he wants here, or perhaps I am too ignorant
(or stupid) to see what the relation is to the Cage piece. I must
say I like it for what it is, and that the puzzling aspect is
kinda amusing. Jliat knows how to surprise me. In music as much
as in writing. Thought for food stuff. (FdW)
Address: http://www.jameswhitehead.org
UBIK - LOOP FINDING... (CDR by Recycling
Records)
ANTN HRKWK - MUTUALLY ASSURED (CDR by Recycling Records)
Two very professional looking CDR releases: full color artwork,
full color print on the labels. That is really the way to do these
things, I think. I don't believe I heard other work by both artists.
Ubik is from Poland and this is his third release and (seems)
to be dealing again with plunderphonics. 'The idea was to find
and sample short loops from the tracks that have not much to do
with the mentioned stylistics and to try built completely new
composition based on every one of them'. Fancy talk me thinks
for making just another fine album of glitchy ambient tunes, which
is what this is. Heavily, perhaps too heavily, based on short
samples, running for some time, in various speed changes, which
in the first six tracks is all a bit too long for what it has
to offer. The next eight tracks were previously released as a
MP3 and is called 'Cut With The Blade' and consist of deconstructions
of the clarinet and saxophone playing of Mikolaj Trzaska (from
Kammerflimmer Kollectief). Here the tracks are much shorter, between
two and four minutes and have more to it. Here less is truly more.
Ubik transforms the sound, but always allows the original to be
part of it. That makes quite a nice interplay of electronic processed
sounds and acoustic playing. Maybe it would good to revise the
first six in such a manner too?
Also no information on Antn Hrkwk, who operates from a similar
territory. Sample sounds, plunderphonics and electronics, but
with one important difference: he likes popmusic. The sort of
pop music played by Oval. Skipping CDs are at the basis of the
music, but never for too long, as Antn Hrkwk cleverly puts them
into real songs. Lots of beat stuff happening, more the world
of techno than Oval's I must admit, but it works well. I think
'Milk Mile' was sampled from 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight' by Tight
Fit and Britney appears in 'Sectarian Violins'. That may give
an idea to the extent which Antn Hrkwk is interested in sampling
the hell out of. At one point the bouncing beats and skipping
noises may become a bit much and one wished for a counterpoint,
a silent piece for instance, since the method of working doesn't
change throughout this CD. That is the downside of the album,
which however might put a smile on a few faces if you decide to
play this as a DJ. The idea is good, Hrkwk works out things quite
well, but is too single minded to keep the full forty minutes
of attention. (FdW)
Address: http://www.recyclingrecords.com
PHILIP HALKE - THE TWO EDGES (3"CDR,
private)
PHILIP HALKE - ABOVE THE DIN (3"CDR, private)
A long time, in Vital Weekly 484, we reviewed 'Fucking Hospital'
by Sunday Noise 'Peace', which seemed to be inspired by Ikeda,
Pan Sonic and Goem. After that we heard nothing, but now we learned
that behind the project is one Philip Halke, who lives in Greece.
He now returns with two mini CDRs, self released, but with a good
quality printed cover. The music has certainly changed. Minimalism
stayed, but Halke joins the microsound crowd with this release.
On 'The Two Edges' there are two pieces. 'A Place That I Said
Goodbye To' has field recordings from Corfu, and is both an elegant
and dense piece of music, with strong emphasis on the deep end
of the sound spectrum. 'Beyond Movement An Animal, Beyond An Animal
The Sound' was created for a dance piece, where, if I am right,
the dancer controlled the sounds. Water, insects, churchbells
and processed sounds thereof make a likewise intense piece.
'Above The Din' has only one piece of music, which starts out
for some time being very quiet. If I understand right this deals
with sounds from 'civilization of machines and contemporary societies',
so slowly this piece adds environmental sound upon environmental
sound, with more and more city sounds dropping in and out of the
mix. A bit of a more dirtier piece than the two on the other 3"CDR
but also quite menacing. Like waiting for a big bang to happen.
Excellent soundtrack material to a short horror movie. Both releases
are excellent, very much like Behrens or Meelkop, Halke can easily
match with the best in this field. (FdW)
Address: <philiphalke@ymail.com>
FILTHY TURD - DEATH RAY ORGASM / NO SEXUAL
HYGIENE (Cassette by Space 07)
FILTHY TURD - THE TURD MASTER (Cassette by Hanson Records)
MUTANT TURD - OOZING EARL OF DENMARK (A6 Booklet)
George Proctor's Various noise projects and collaborations involve
an extremely opaque collection of materials, represented here
by the resurgence of the cassette in the noise scene and the production
of a booklet which revolves around badly Xeroxed and grafitted
pornographic images riven with poetics around sex and baader-meinhof
musings. A grouping of either Burroughs' children or the parasitic
remnants of the naked lunch. Proctor & Co at any rate deserve
far greater attention despite or because of their material resembling
the floor of a public house toilet late on a Saturday night. Not
*all* of human life is there but a reality shorn of the hypocrisy
of the news of the world the day after and strictly come dancing
from earlier in the evening. As for the cassettes the idea of
quality or any indication of a Dolby setting would of course be
facile, TM consists of a track of obliterated sound, maybe distinguishable
voice somewhere as if - and it might be the case - it was over
recorded with the erase head
missing, it reminded me of a blocked drain- the reverse side is
more discernible singing- speech- guitar and looping. Though again
the prominence of tape wow-and flutter *makes* the piece, and
DRO/NSH follows a similar format this time the more incoherent
side gives screaming, as opposed to the more coherent side which
is wall of noise and feedback - but the actuality of the recording
is of course the logos of the piece. - I found all of this very
enjoyable - why? simply put because of its realism- though I had
the benefit of the booklet as well as the tapes which presented
a multi-media experience akin to throwing up in someone's lap,
so please GP could future releases each have a booklet? Which
hopefully might raise the status of this underrated collective.
(jliat)
Address: http://mutant-ape.blogspot.com/
Address: http://www.hansonrecords.net
MEM1 - STATIONARY DRIFT (MP3 by Resting
Bell)
Mark and Laura Cetilia hail from Israel and call themselves Mem1
and they have released a CD 'Alexpharmaca', which we reviewed
back in Vital Weekly 566. Their main instrument is the cello,
which gets transformed all around, the least in 'Hanging Valley'
and then more and more until the fourth piece 'Stationary Drift',
where things have become a dense clouded tapestry. More than before
there is to a certain degree some menace in these pieces, which
I thought was lacking on the CD before. Nice drone like music,
with the addition of sound effects on cello and perhaps even a
bit of field recording. Quite nice, this one. Not great, not original,
but not bad either. (FdW)
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