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VITAL WEEKLY
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number 665
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week 7
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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
BJ NILSEN & STILLUPSTEYPA - MAN FROM
DEEP RIVER (CD by Editions Mego) *
GERT-JAN PRINS - CAVITY (CD by Cavity) *
MICHEAL PETERS - IMPOSSIBLE MUSIC (CD by Hyperfunction) *
JASON KAHN & TAKEFUMI NAOSHIMA - IN A ROOM (CD by Winds Measure
Recordings) *
SHINKEI/LUIGI TURRA - YU (CD by Non Visual Objects) *
PHILIP SAMARTZIS & MICHEAL VORFELD - SCHECKENROCK (CD by Non
Visual Objects) *
BLACK MOTOR - VAARAT VASTUKSET (CD by Dreamsheep)
HEXLOVE - PIJA Z BOGIEM (2CD by Dreamsheep)
AJILVSGA - MEDICINE BULL (CD by Dreamsheep)
APSE - ERAS (LP by Equation)
MORSANEK/VINKEPEEZER (LP by Kazemat)
RUSSIAN TSARLAG / BLUE SHIFT - THANK YOU FOR THE PLASTIC SURGERY
YOU'VE GIVEN ME / THE BURROW (LP by Rare Youth)
NMPERIGN/SKELETONS OUT - MARVIN/LIVE 1978 (7" by Editions
Zero)
BOB MARSH - EIGHT (CDR by Setola Di Maiale)
NICK HENNIES - PATHS (CDR by Thor's Rubber Hammer Productions)
*
BORED WITCH - WEIR EYEZ WIERD IS (CDR by More Mars)
FIESTA ANIMAL - LA FORMULA SECRETA DE LA COCA-COLA (CDR by More
Mars) *
GI GASPARIN - 24 SOLI (CDR by Lunhare/Lethargy)
GI GASPARIN & JACOPO ANDREINI - IL GIRO DEL MONDO IN 80 PEZZI
(CDR by Lunhare/Lethargy) *
GI GASPARIN & FELICE PESAVENTO - CAJA ANTELICE (CDR by Lunhare/Lethargy)
PIUME E SANGUE - ABBANDONO DELLA PATRIA NIPPONICA (CDR by Lunhare/Lethargy)
SPIRAL - THE DIGITAL VAPOR GLITCH-NOISE FUSION ACCORDING TO SPIRAL
(CDR by Lunhare/Lethargy) *
JEPH JERMAN - NAAU/TRUNK SPACE (CDR by Lunhare/Lethargy) *
OLEKRANON - GAITAN (CDR by Inam Records) *
SUJO (3"CDR by Inam Records) *
PEASANT GRAVES / FENCES - COLLABORATIVE SPLIT (3" CDR by
Small Doses)
IDEA FIRE COMPANY - CANDLE & FOG (cassette by Attic Cassettes)
MORTEN RIIS - DIGITAL SOUND DRAWINGS (download by Cronica Electronica)
Obituary: Jorge Reyes
BJ NILSEN & STILLUPSTEYPA - MAN FROM
DEEP RIVER (CD by Editions Mego)
If I'm not mistaken, though I usually am, this is the fourth collaborative
work between BJ Nilsen, H. Thorsson and S. Berg Sigmarsson, the
latter two known as Stillupsteypa, and by now mostly, or perhaps
even solely, known from their collaboration with BJ Nilsen - I
never heard much from them. The good news is: this is another
great disc. The bad news, if one chooses it to call it so: there
is nothing new under the previous suns that were produced by the
trio of releases on The Helen Scarsdale Agency: deep drone stuff,
based on heavily processed field recordings. There are, perhaps
good news again, small differences with the previous release and
the most important is that the three boys now allow small bits
of melody in their music. Three long pieces of static, drone objects
but with small melodic ornaments - not all the time, not on top
of events. This is a heavy work of heavy drones. Dark clouds with
a small bit of blue light - a pitch black river but with some
branches in it - that sort of thing. They once again proof to
be the sons of The Hafler Trio, later issue, with floating sound
scapes, washing field recordings ashore and some melody. At one
point they even painted a cosmic dream on analogue synths, and
then they become the grandsons of Ash Ra Temple. This minor changes
makes that I think this is a damn fine work once again. Its these
changes that make me curious about a fifth release (or sixth)
and see where they would eventually lead up to. Right on time
for a small switch. Great CD. (FdW)
Address: http://www.editionsmego.com
GERT-JAN PRINS - CAVITY (CD by Cavity)
Over the years Gert-Jan Prins has become of the more interesting
composers of 'noise' music, having played with lots of people
in various improvisation groups, such as The Flirts and Mimeo,
as well as solo. Yet he hasn't released that much and what he
releases is usually not that long. For 'Cavity', which he released
himself in a small edition of 250 copies with handmade cover,
he goes back to his first solo release 'Noise Capture', where
he worked with self-built electronic instruments, which he now
uses again, in combination with vacuumtubes and timpani. Its perhaps
a pity that this isn't a DVD, as its always great to see Prins
in action and perhaps also for a better understanding what he
does. Presented as dry as it is on this CD might be a bit more
difficult to understand, and we are thrown back to appreciating
what we hear. Which is hardly a problem for me. Seven pieces which
are quite unbalanced. Three last pretty long and four a quite
short. Prins deals with air sucking through vacuum tubes and produces
a sound that is forcefully present - lots of deep bass end and
minimalist sounds of objects flickering around. 'Ncrshrtm' is
the longest piece, almost half the length of the entire CD and
is a bit too long for what it has to offer. Gone are the shorter
breaking up collages that Prins did on 'Break Before Make', but
things moved on a bit and it makes a more 'mellow' sound - in
as far as this is possible of course in the universe of Prins.
Another fine addition to a small discography, which shows no weak
brothers. (FdW)
Address: http://www.gjp.info
MICHEAL PETERS - IMPOSSIBLE MUSIC (CD by
Hyperfunction)
Perhaps you may think its pretentious to call your CD 'Impossible
Music', but of course you hear it, so what is it impossible then?
The 'impossible' aspect lies here along the lines of Conlon Nancarrow's
player piano pieces, which have so many notes that a normal piano
can't handle it and also Peters (a German composer of whom I never
heard, I think) is influenced by the very difficult piano pieces
by Stockhausen. 'This music was created by a computer which followed
an algorithm - in this case a Gumowski-Mira attractor - whose
parameters were modified and improvised upon during the recording
by a human', which is Peters himself. I played this CD quite a
lot this past week. Not because I liked it that much or disliked
it actually, but because it seems so hard to form an opinion about
it. It's surely nice music, very modern classical sounding, with
the piano always being present and correct, and playing perhaps
'impossible music', but it sounds to me, the untrained piano player,
like very regular modern music and perhaps that's a bit of the
problem I have with this release: it is too normal. Every time
I play this I want to find out if there is a point that I am missing,
but I don't think there is more than what it is. It is a nice
work for sure, but perhaps I am just no particular lover of the
modern genre! (FdW)
Address: http://www.hyperfunction.org
JASON KAHN & TAKEFUMI NAOSHIMA - IN
A ROOM (CD by Winds Measure Recordings)
Its been quiet at the Winds Measure Recordings front, but perhaps
they were saving up their pennies to release this, their first
real CD. Still with the great packaging as before, but then in
a bigger edition (300) and something that may live longer than
a CDR. Takefumi Naoshima is a new name for me, and he plays mixing
board, while Jason Kahn gets credit for percussion. The title
could have been '60 minutes in a room', as this CD lasts one hour,
which is no doubt the exact time they were in a room to record
it. The recording level was set very low to avoid sudden peaks
in the recording, and then later it was boosted in volume. Thus
the whole hiss of the recording becomes a live factor in this
piece. Its more a curious piece than a good piece. One can imagine
these two men sitting in this room, knowing that every move will
be recorded, with some percussion at hand, which Kahn only seems
to be moving half way through the piece, cars passing outside,
line hum, a fridge switching on - leading Kahn to play along the
motor on some metal sheet. What it is that Naoshima does is even
more unclear, I think. It seems to me more a conceptual piece
than a musical piece, a sort of exemplification of Cage's '4'33',
silence does not exist. There is surely something captivating
about this piece: what is it, what are they doing, but at the
same time you wonder if you could do the same thing by just opening
your ears more. Which is then a good thing of course. (FdW)
Address: http://www.windsmeasurerecordings.net
SHINKEI/LUIGI TURRA - YU (CD by Non Visual
Objects)
PHILIP SAMARTZIS & MICHEAL VORFELD - SCHECKENROCK (CD by Non
Visual Objects)
There isn't much information with these releases. A press release
that merely states that these releases are available, which track
titles there and whatever else we can also find on the cover,
is a bit of a waste of paper, I think. 'What are you complaining
about, you can always search the internet' - but who says whatever
I find there is 'true'?
No information on Shinkei and Luigi Turra, who produced a CD together,
with additional CC (whatever they might be) recordings courtesy
of Koura, Jean Francois Cavro, Gezortenplotz, Laura Smith 'Gravier
Street Blues' (1924) and Lizzie Miles 'I Hate A Man Like You'
(1929). Not that this information means anything I guess, at least
it didn't for me. Maybe information is over rated anyway, and
we should concentrate on the music? Perhaps that's their idea.
The first thing that struck me about this CD is that the volume
has to be turned up quite a bit before hearing at all. Ah, we
have landed in microland. Lots of crackles again, lots of hiss
going on, highly processed field recordings and all those usual
microsound ingredients. It makes me a bit... well, a bit... what
should I say? Apart from the fact that the mastering is quite
soft, which put me off, I thought the music was rather pleasant
and interesting to hear. I was reading a book yesterday evening
and thinking 'yeah nice', but then now, sitting down, volume open
a bit more, its a bit of a disappointment. Its still not bad,
but perhaps a bit too common with all those common ingredients
that are part of this music that you can find in so much other
work too. Its just not a thing that is of their own, which is
a pity. But as said, by itself, its not bad at all.
Luckily for one release we are dealing with people of whom we
have heard before. Philip Samartzis has had various releases on
Dorobo, before expanding his career as one of the more interesting
masters of microsound, whose expertise lies in the extended use
of crackles. Michael Vorfeld lives in Germany, though I believe
not far away from the Vital HQ and is part of the Nur Nicht Nur
group, improvising musicians and composers around the Heinrich
Mucken Saalorchester. Samartzis and Vorfeld recorded their work
in March 2007 in Berlin. When I saw the CD, without hearing it,
I thought this is an odd combination. Perhaps a surprising one,
since it seems the meeting of two ends. Perhaps not, as they both
use in their own way improvisation. I must say that this meeting
didn't disappoint me at all. Played on the same volume as the
previous release on Non Visual Objects, this one literally blows
from the speakers. Vorfeld plays percussion and stringed instrument
and I guess especially the latter makes a high end sound. This
in combination with Samartzis sine waves and high pitched crackles
makes a true cosmic interference storm. In 'Wams', the second
piece, things work more on low to mid level of the sound, with
curious and odd objects falling to the floor, motorized objects,
while in the second half things go into the higher end again.
In 'Schaube' it seems that they all meet up and makes up a piece
that goes from quiet until loud, from high to low and makes a
very fine balance between composition and improvisation. This
too may be in the land of microsound, but the combination of real
instruments and the improvised aspect of the music, makes this
a very nice release. (FdW)
Address: http://www.nonvisualobjects.com
BLACK MOTOR - VAARAT VASTUKSET (CD by Dreamsheep)
HEXLOVE - PIJA Z BOGIEM (2CD by Dreamsheep)
AJILVSGA - MEDICINE BULL (CD by Dreamsheep)
Dreamsheep is a new italian label run by Valerio Cosi. His name
might ring a bell. Recently I reviewed a CD by him released on
Porter Records. Cosi is a musician himself and he has several
CDRs and CDs out. But that is not enough for him. Besides he feels
the urge to start a recordlabel. With these three releases Cosi
illustrates that he is seeking for new talent in many different
corners: freejazz, dark-ambient, 'pop;. Considering the quality
of these releases, we can say Cosi did a successful job. But let's
have a closer look and start with Black Motor, a freejazz trio
from Tampere, Finland, comprised of Sami Sippola (saxophones,
voice), Ville Rauhala (double bass/electric bass, voice) and Simo
Laihonen (drums, bells, flutes, voice). On another italian label
(Qbico) they released last year their first album. Free jazz of
the 60s and 70-s is their point of reference. With my limited
knowledge of this music I can trace influences of the Art Ensemble
as well as Sun Ra, but Pharaoh Sanders and Dewey Redman seem to
be more important sources of inspiration. The album opens with
a Art Ensemble of Chicago-like piece 'Yksi Sinulta Puuttuu'. Tribal,
ritualistic sounding jazz, with bells and non-jazz drumming and
busy improvising by the sax. The closing piece 'Vainila' is comparable
to the first. It walks along in a Sun Ra-like manner, with flute
and sax in a nice duet. Exceptional is their typical voice work
here, as if they invited some tibetan monks. In between we find
improvisations that are more close to the classic freejazz, deprived
of afro- or other ethnic references. In all their improvisations
drums and bass lay down an effective rhythm-section for the saxplayer.
His playing is on all tracks on the forefront, which is no problem,
as he is a capable and charming improvisor with a nice tone. At
several moments they reach a high level of concentration and intensity,
and the music really takes of, like in 'Aamen' and 'Vaarat Vastukset'.
The strong thing of this trio is that they use no make up. Very
straight. Very OK.
Ajilvsga is a duo from Oklahoma: Brad Rose, co-founder of Foxy
Digitalis and Nathan Young who also writes for it. Under the name
of Ajilvsga they released numerous CDR's and cassettes since 2005.
Their newest one, 'Medicine Bull', is a work of timeless dark
ambient. Recorded in 2007, it contains 5 tracks most of them between
10 and 20 minutes, plus one short track of about 3 minutes. All
pieces are built of thick layers of noise and distorted sounds,
with sometimes archaic and short melodic lines on top of it, like
in 'Tired Eyes'. This slow stream of magma has similarities with
early Kluster from the early 70s and with the industrial music
from the 80s. It seems each decennium produces its evocations
of these nightmares that emerge from dark corners in the subconsciousness.
Rose and Young do their job with conviction and skill. They brew
a pleasant thick soup of noise, amorph but focused. The ideal
soundtrack for your dark moments.
With Hexlove we have to deal with another state of mind. Hexlove
is Zac Nelson who lives in Portland, Oregon. He fits perfectly
in the tradition of lonesome lunatics like Wild Man Fischer, Dimthings,
Residents, etc. His double CD is full drums- and vocal-orientated
madness on one side, and fine ambient on the other. An unusual
combination. Crowded with many ideas the music on this CD sounds
very fresh and engaging, but at times ideas remain sketchy and
deserved to be worked out better. But that is besides the point
here, because Hexlove is an original. For sure Hexlove is an interesting
artist with a talent for structuring and arranging popsongs in
an unorthodox way, but remaining accessible at the same time.
Demented songs like 'Voomers' with characteristic high yelling
and explosive drumming are illustrative for this side of his art.
At the same time Hexlove has the talent for creating truly nice
ambientmusic that we find especially on the second CD, like in
'Mocking Bird Totem'. A piece like 'Tropical Boom Five' is neither
ambient nor pop, but something uncategorizable in between. His
musical universe spans a wide musical range, filled with many
original ideas and unconventional playing and manipulations. Interesting
and enjoyable. (DM)
Address: http://www.myspace.com/dreamsheeprecordings
APSE - ERAS (LP by Equation)
A while ago I received a copy of the follow up to Apse's debut
album Spirit (Acuarela Discos 2006, now available on All Tomorrow's
Parties records). Apse were an unknown name to me. Hailing from
New England and formed in 1999 by mainman Robert Toher, this album
certainly looks appealing. Packed in heavy gatefold sleeve with
landscape photos not unlike Jon Wozencroft's images for Touch
records and with a definite "Twin Peaks"-feel, the album
is pressed on heavy vinyl and limited to 425 copies. Compared
to Liars, Faust and Nine Inch Nails in the press copy, I was not
sure if this would be my cup of tea, but Apse have surprise me
in a positive sense. Even though you do get the heavy "get
down and post-rock till you drop" material, there is more
to this album. The band shine on their more experimental material
such as Dawn and Lilian, which, devoid of guitars, and spiked
with backwards looping are good ambient tracks. There is more
dark ambient on Deathless. The Twin Peaks-theme is continued on
The Gloom. A track like Up in the Eaves sounds more like an undated
Neu. Combined with the "standard" (to these ears) rock
out tunes you could argue that Apse have found themselves a niche
in the already overcrowded post-rock genre. On the other hand,
you could feel this album is not sure what it wants to be. The
choice is to the listener. Personally speaking I quite like the
combination as presented on Eras. As an aside, Equation records
are planning more vinyl in the near future, including an Aidan
Baker double album. Well worth watching out for. (FK)
Address: http://www.chronoglide.com/equation.html
MORSANEK/VINKEPEEZER (LP by Kazemat)
After the second world war brought a lot of English words into
the Dutch language, and it may hardly be no surprise that German
words didn't make it. There is one exception, which is the now
fully accepted German word bunker. Before World War Two they were
called 'Kazemat', which is a beautiful word, I think. Praise to
Rob Vugs and Ivo Bol who just started a label with the same name,
and more praise to him for this daring move: a bit of heavy vinyl,
gatefold, full color sleeve, in an edition of 500 copies. Let's
hope this may last longer than just one release. Ivo Bol was once
a member of Wrikken, who released a 7" on Mixer (see Vital
Weekly 334), but since time works solo as Vinkepeezer, creating
music by using game controllers and acoustic instruments. Much
of his work is created for film, theatre and dance. In the first
two pieces it seems that Bol loves his Oval, through a jumpy myriad
of bouncing sounds. Closely out of phase they make a densely shaped
total. Its however not a glitch based as Oval, or many of their
followers. Bol creates his own strong world, plus he knows how
to cut back in sound and make a quieter moment. Nothing earth
shaking new, but executed with great care. Morsanek is an Amsterdam
based guitarist, DJ and sound editor, who for his own piece, which
spans one side of this record, he uses his guitar, effects and
sound editing. Its a bit hard to say how much of this was guitar
or 'live', as I hear many different layers, which seems to be
hard for one person to deal with and there are some sounds which
seem like 'real' percussion. Whereas Vinkepeezer stays on the
safe side of things, Morsanek goes for the adventure of sound,
offering a wider range of sounds and moods, and makes a more surprising
piece of music. But both sides are quite nice, so this is a most
promising start for this new label. (FdW)
Address: http://www.kazemat.com
RUSSIAN TSARLAG / BLUE SHIFT - THANK YOU
FOR THE PLASTIC SURGERY YOU'VE GIVEN ME / THE BURROW (LP by Rare
Youth)
Russian Tsarlag and Blue Shift are both from Providence (RI),
USA. Driving force behind Russian Tsarlag is one Carlos Gonzales
and when I play the first track of his side on the LP, he immediately
reminds me of The Tinklers. The same kind of dingly dangly instrument
control and the naïve kind of songwriting and off beat, somewhat
slow, singing. I guess that, with The Tinklers in mind, there
are some references to the genre "outsider music" and
perhaps not coincidentally, the Rare Youth website refers to him
as a weirdo - so there you have it. I imagine that in a live setting
this music might be enjoyed best in candle lit basements (or in
equally dark living rooms, when spinning the LP). Not that it
is creepy or disturbing, but rather magical (and well okay, there
is slight maniacal vibe in his singing). Included is also a haunting
version of The Beach Boys' "Don't Worry Baby". If you
enjoy The Tinklers like I do, then you should definitely give
this one a try. Not to hear a copy of aforementioned reference,
but an original artist on its own.
Blue Shift is Cybéle Collins, also member of free rock
outfits Bone Rattle and (now disbanded) Dreamhouse. Blue Shift
is Cybéle's solo outing in which she plays the violin,
but not in the vein of say Vanessa Mae - far from it actually.
Here the violin is played in a hectic and frantic frenzy, not
in a full on noise blast but everything is placed rather delicately.
This side of the LP "reads" like a novel: traveling
from one story to the other. Mainly told by the violin, but with
some added tape-manipulations, wordless vocals etc. A nicely composed
work. (SDT)
Address: http://www.rareyouth.org/
NMPERIGN/SKELETONS OUT - MARVIN/LIVE 1978
(7" by Editions Zero)
A rather nicely lo-fi packed 7" of two of the more intelligent
noise projects around. On side Greg Kelley and Bhob Rainey, otherwise
known as Nmperign team up for one of their great pieces of improvised
wind instrument mayhems. Mayhem as in silence meeting noise, but
not the usual noise you may expect from someone like Merzbow.
The controlled blowing of the two make a great fine interplay.
The instruments as instrument and as objects. A fine piece.
Skeletons Out are more a noise rock piece band, or so it seems.
Howard Stelzer on cassettes and Jay Sullivan on turntable create
a more straight forward piece of noise music that rocks the house.
It sound like a rock band with dark rumbling noise underneath
and cracklings on top, all in true fierce noise mood. Much more
heavy and linear than the other side, but great noise altogether.
(FdW)
Address: http://www.noise-below.org
BOB MARSH - EIGHT (CDR by Setola Di Maiale)
Bob Marsh is a composer and improvisor from San Francisco. You
may known him from his work with The Emergency String Quartet,
Jack Wright and with The Abstractions. For his newest project
he composed a piece of 8 minutes consisting of field recordings,
voice and electronics. This track, which is enclosed on this cd
(the last track), was sent by Marsh to 12 fellow improvisors in
the States and Europe. They were invited in whatever way to transform
this material into a short piece of music. The results meet on
this CD. It's a procedure we know from other artists like Frans
de Waard as well. Most of the inivted guests I'm not familair
with: Grant Strombeck (Chicago), Bellerophone (Athens), Massimo
Falascone (Milano), Boris Hauf (Berlin), Marina Hardy (Omaha),
Earzumba (Barcelona), Renato Ciunfrini (Roma), Bryan Eubanks (New
York), Candy Covered Clown (Riga), Bryan Day (Omaha), Zz Brr (Paris),
Arg (Roma). The piece by Marsh is not just a bag with soundmaterial
put together at random. It is a piece of music in itself, accompanied
by mutated versions of itself. A release like this triggers always
many puzzling questions in my mind. Meaningfull questions I don,t
know.All tracks start from the same eight minutes of soundmaterial
provided by Bob Marsh. In all freedom the artists worked with
this material in order to create their piece of music. Listening
two the twelve results, we hear very different works. More then
limiting, the material opens the way for very different treatments.Would
it be possible to transform a piece back to the original version
of Marsh, or into any of the other pieces of this album? They
are all made of the same stuff.
Marsh invited to use the material. But is it possible to say that
the material of Marsh is interpreted with intentions of staying
close to the original or to take opposite positions? For how many
percent can one one really become free from all qualities of the
original material and at the same time using it? From what I understand
Marsh did not include some focus or question, or whatever. It
was just the soundmaterial with a open invitation to use it as
a starting point for a piece of music. Of course all cooperators
used different procedures and techniques in structuring their
own piece.Most pieces are shorter then the material supplied by
Marsh. The pieces on this CDR make up a coherent whole, which
is (not) due to the fact that they all used the same 8 minutes
that Marsh defined. At the same the CDR is surprisingly diverse
and of an overall considerable quality. An interesting one. (DM)
Address: http://www.setoladimaiale.net/
NICK HENNIES - PATHS (CDR by Thor's Rubber Hammer Productions)
Its a surprise to read that 'Paths' is recorded by one Nick Hennies,
who is a drummer for a band Weird Weeds (and at one point also
the drummer of Jandek), since it doesn't deal at all with drums.
Hennies plays the no input mixer here and perhaps that may sound
as tired as say 'microsound', Hennies does however a great job.
Apparently he has a background in the world of improvised music,
which works well when touching the mixer and the feedback that
comes from it. 'Paths' is a work for long form sustained sounds
and that makes him right on the spot with the others who play
the no input mixer (Marko Cicilliani is still one of the few does
these things entirely different), but the elegant flow between
the soft and the loud(er) parts make this a very subtle work.
Rather one to play at a softer volume, so it will have room to
breath in the space you are playing this in, and let the subtleness
become alive. When you play this too loud it will be annoying
and things will be lost. But I think its a great work, low in
volume, high in quality. (FdW)
Address: http://thorsrubberhammer.com/
BORED WITCH - WEIR EYEZ WIERD IS (CDR by
More Mars)
FIESTA ANIMAL - LA FORMULA SECRETA DE LA COCA-COLA (CDR by More
Mars)
Bored witch is a rock band: killer drums, wretch guitar, silly
voice, mourning bass. and there are five tracks on their CDR which
could have the title 'Weird Eyez Wierd-is', but maybe I am not
looking right, but then maybe I didn't care that much to read
the fuzzy liner notes. This is just a normal loud rock band, nothing
for Vital. Good or bad: I don't know as I never cared for normal
loud rock bands. I have no idea why people send this to Vital.
But perhaps because there was space in the same parcel as they
also send me a release by Fiesta Animal, which according to the
cover is an extended band from what seems to be Spain. This is
definitely more up the alley of Vital Weekly, be it that it sounds
like an early 80s recording of music. In those good old days of
cassettes, it wasn't all noise and mayhem, but also bands like
Fiesta Animal. A free play of instruments, within the idioms of
rock music. Musicians that couldn't play their instruments right,
but did it anyway, moving away from the three chord schematics
of punk rock. No New York or the Ultra movement of 1981 in The
Netherlands. Lydia Lunch meets Plus Instruments, if that means
anything to anyone these days. Post punk music with an electronic
edge, but then recorded recently with the attempt to record it
like it sounded from those days. Very nice, very retro. (FdW)
Address: http://www.moremars.org
GI GASPARIN - 24 SOLI (CDR by Lunhare/Lethargy)
GI GASPARIN & JACOPO ANDREINI - IL GIRO DEL MONDO IN 80 PEZZI
(CDR by Lunhare/Lethargy)
GI GASPARIN & FELICE PESAVENTO - CAJA ANTELICE (CDR by Lunhare/Lethargy)
PIUME E SANGUE - ABBANDONO DELLA PATRIA NIPPONICA (CDR by Lunhare/Lethargy)
SPIRAL - THE DIGITAL VAPOR GLITCH-NOISE FUSION ACCORDING TO SPIRAL
(CDR by Lunhare/Lethargy)
JEPH JERMAN - NAAU/TRUNK SPACE (CDR by Lunhare/Lethargy)
Spare time is something that is not around here a lot, but somehow
I found myself with this bunch of CDR releases on the Lethargy
subdivision from Italy's Lunhare. After sending off a bunch to
others, these were left for me. Gi Gasparin is a member of Piume
E Sangue, Pangolinorchestrà, Gi-Napajo but somehow found
spare time (too!) to record twenty-four pieces on guitar, a keyboard
and something that is called a "horizontal rantola".
Seventy-two minutes is this solo outing and many of these pieces
seem to recorded on the spot. Somewhere between one minute plus
and some eight minutes last these pieces, and some of it is nice,
but not more than that. I think I liked the keyboard pieces best,
whereas the guitar pieces were a bit 'freaky' for my taste. However
a somehow more critical look at what Gi does would suit the man,
this is listening to sketch book of half baked ideas, good attempts
and false starts.
Even longer is the 'Il Giro Del Mondo In 80 Pezzi', which is 'around
the world in 80 tracks'. That's right, 80 tracks here, in seventy-seven
minutes. All around a minute or less. A bit of worn out idea if
you'd ask me, but to present this like a audio version of Jules
Verne, is perhaps nice. Gasparin gets help from one Jacopo Andreini,
with whom he has been active in the world of improvised since
the early 90s. Together they a whole bunch of instruments, guitars,
voices, percussion, saxophone, oud, keyboards and such like. Very
much like the Gasparin solo release this is a sketch book on paper,
but with the important difference that all of these pieces are
short and to the point. Not always particular strong, but due
to the brief character of the music and the changing atmospheres
of the small pieces, this can be indeed a trip around the world.
An oh more Gasparin on a collaborative disc with one Felice Pesavento,
of whom I never heard. He gets credit for sampler here, whereas
Gasparin plays tape, guitar, casiotone and turntable. Musicwise
this is the most interesting of three works Gasparin is involved
in recently. The music ranges from ambient and industrial, to
free improvised sampling and more experimental sounds and even
a bit of noise. Its however a bit unbalanced, still, and could
certainly use a lot more editing and a somewhat more detailed
production. But there are pieces (all untitled) around here that
are certainly quite nice, or even could pass on as structured
compositions, such as the longest drone piece, track twelve. Also
long, and perhaps the whole thing could be cut down to say half
the length, it still has pretty decent moment.
Piume E Sangue is also with Gi Gasparin, here with Paolo Dal Balcon,
but its, I believe, something from the past. The music here at
least is from 1993. The band is something I remember from the
past, but off hand I couldn't tell who or what they were. The
music here, all dealing with the vague notion of Japan (the country,
not the band), was recorded with keyboards and guitar, but as
far as I'm concerned it hasn't aged very well. Its all very sketchy,
but long and sounds somehow something of not 1993, but 1987, when
cheap sampler keyboards came on the market, to which add not much
sound effects, so it stays all a bit flat. I don't recall what
I thought of them back them, and I'm afraid I will not in fifteen
years. For now, its quite alright, not too good, not too bad either.
Its spare time music I guess.
Somehow I expected something else from Andrea Marutti, whom we
learned to know and love for his projects Amon and Never Known,
but then perhaps the title is the program around here. This is
Marutti's noise, working with whatever went wrong in the process
of recording this. Its not always super loud, super distorted,
but never close to the drones and ambient we heard before. A track
like 'Fractal [III]' comes close though. There is an almost twenty
minute cover 'I Am The Walrus', but it takes no expert to tell
you it sounds like something else, most likely a computer running
amok. Its interesting to see him doing 'other' stuff too, and
some of it is actually quite good but not throughout.
The only non Italian artist in the lot that was for me, is Jeph
Jerman, in another time Hands To, City Of Worms, Blowhole and
part of the Animist Orchestra and already for a lifetime of his
own, working under his own name. Here we have two performances
from 2007, and ones that show what he does best: working with
natural objects (pictured on the cover: stones, shells, feathers,
wood, cacti etc), he produces music that is entirely stripped
from electricity, computers, plug ins etc, but only needs a microphone
and a recording device. There are also no field recordings, save
from whatever comes passing the performance space, like a car
in 'Trunk Space'. The differences between these two performances
are small, which makes this not very easy to play at once. The
rubbing of objects on a variety surfaces is a delicate business
and requires all your attention to unveil its beauty. Listening
to two, each around twenty-seven minutes, might be a bit much
to take at once, but both are absolute great pieces. Its a pity
that he hasn't been to Europe, as far as I know. All releases
have absolutely great professional pro-printed covers, which makes
this a truly great label to pass your spare time with. (FdW)
Address: http://www.lunhare.net
OLEKRANON - GAITAN (CDR by Inam Records)
SUJO (3"CDR by Inam Records)
Ryan Huber is back, following 'Cohesion' (see Vital Weekly 630),
now with 'Gaitan', another ten tracks of many drum computers and
many guitars. In the time that has passed here, nothing much 'new'
happened. Still things are in full noise swing mode, although
don't expect some techno music here. Guitars howl away over a
fine, endless blast of drum computer beats. Feedback, distortion.
If something has changed, I'd say it seems that things have become
more forceful, more 'louder', if that was possible. Less Pthalho
influenced, and more Skullflower, even when it reaches out for
a quiet moment such as in 'Black Sands' or 'Bundles', one the
album's more introspective moments and also one of the finer moments.
Not that the rest is bad, but after all the blasts you could do
with a quieter moment. There is little progress made here, and
this is quite an entertaining album, improving from the previous.
On a smaller size, three tracks by Sujo, whoever he is, although
I wouldn't be surprised if it was Ryan Huber in a different guise.
Or perhaps a close friend using his equipment, or, last guess,
Huber with a real drummer. Like Olekranon this is heavy music
- wall of sound guitar approach with the drums banging heavily
underneath. Three top heavy pieces of music, a orgasmic storm
of music. Fourteen minutes, but quite a blast. It seems short,
but this is exactly the right length for a thunder storm like
this. (FdW)
Address: <inamrecs@yahoo.com>
PEASANT GRAVES / FENCES - COLLABORATIVE
SPLIT (3" CDR by Small Doses)
Both Peasant Graves and Fences are projects that originate from
the USA. Both display a strong affection for drones. The thick
and heavy ones that is with lots of bass. Peasant Graves starts
off this four track mini album with a distant throbbing and rhythmic
pulse, layered with airy and droney soundscapes. It has a bit
of that contemplative dark feel to it. The one that sucks you
right in along the way. But just when it is starting to develop...
it abruptly stops and leaves you a bit dissatisfied. Guess we're
already dealing with time issues on this 3"?
Tracks 2 and 3 are the collaborative ones: both started by the
one and finished by the other (during a mail project). Peasant
Graves' part is recognizable in nature from the first track (guitar
layers, e-bow?) and I guess a bit more edge is delivered by Fences'
part. These two tracks already seem more complete to me; more
eye for a finished composition. "Joined in Despair"
and "Nightfalls" might come on a bit depressive in terms
of track titles, but their actual sound make it turn out satisfactory.
Fences ends this album with a solo track: abrasive guitar hammering
that slowly moves on with added layers of delayed and in other
ways processed guitar sound. It ends with some more distorted
melodic guitar picking, before fading away. Nice one and maybe
the stand out track here. (SDT)
Address: http://www.small-doses.com
IDEA FIRE COMPANY - CANDLE & FOG (cassette
by Attic Cassettes)
Ah, cassettes. If there is one band who don't play noise, but
who are still comited to cassettes it must be, I think, Idea Fire
Company, who present themselves as a trio here: Karla Borecky
on guitar, Scott Foust on bass and Matt Krefting on synth. There
are two parts to 'Candle & Fog' of spacious rock music, slow
and meandering about, sparse and effective use of effects and
synthesizer sounds. Music that could be recorded years ago, on
cassette. Two thematic approach to the same angle. Twenty minutes
only, but as far as I'm concerned it could have lasted much longer.
A pity that much of the rest of side one and the whole of side
two is blank. Maybe the label ran out of c20 cassettes? That's
the only downside to this great release. (FdW)
Address: Attic Tapes - 11 1f3 perth street - Edinburgh eh3 5dw
scotland - united kingdom
MORTEN RIIS - DIGITAL SOUND DRAWINGS (download
by Cronica Electronica)
Perhaps many of you have seen sound at one point. Maybe your computer
comes with software to work with sound, or perhaps a program that
shows sound files when added to home movies. Depending on what
kind of screen and resolution you know this can look great, much
alike a very rhythm 12" does. Morten Riis had this fascination
too, but worked the other way round. By making drawings on the
computer and then translating them to audio, he created these
six 'digital sound drawings'. I opened one of them and to me it
still looks like a sound file and hardly like a drawing. The music
is offered as .aiff files rather than MP3, which of course is
a good thing, since it sounds much better. The music didn't do
much to me, except for the first heavy noise track, but the other
five where digital ticks, clicks and some hiss, that didn't seem
to make much sense as music. The idea is nice, but I doubt wether
consistently worked out and thus it failed, at least for me. (FdW)
Address: http://www.cronicaelectronica.org
Obituary: Jorge Reyes
R.I.P. Jorge Reyes
On Saturday 7 February, multi-instrumentalist Jorge Reyes has passed away as a result of heart failure, at the age of 56, while he was asleep in his studio in Mexico City. Reyes was mostly known for inventing 'prehispanic' music. He made collages and songs directly inspired on the rich and partly unknown past of the old indian civilizations in Mexico (Maya, Aztecs, Huicholes). In his traveling years as a youngster, he studied flute in India and jazz in Germany. Back in Mexico City he started the progrockband Chac Mool. In the late eighties he continued as a solo artist and started processing the sound of old stones, wood, claypots and his own body into ambiental and psychedelic soundscapes with an evil Mexican edge, combining this with intense flute playing and singing. He toured in Europe many times (mainly in the nineties) and released over 25 albums, such as the outstanding Comala, Nierika, Bajo el Sol Jaguar, Mort aux Vaches and El Costumbre. Reyes did interesting collaborations with Deep Forest, Suso Saiz, Steve Roach and Dutch artist Piet Jan Blauw. After 2000, he wrote a few scores for film, theatre and documentaries. In Mexico, he was becoming more and more famous, also for his huge spectacular shows on magic locations, including 'crazy Aztec dancers'. Jorge Reyes Valencia leaves a wife (the actress Ariane Pellicer) and three kids.
Buen viaje en el espacio, amigo.
Rick Treffers (Reyes' former European tour manager)