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VITAL WEEKLY
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number 689
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week 31
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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
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* noted are in this week's podcast. We finally have a feed again. 1000x times to Maximillian for his endless patience & help. Its here: http://www.vitalweekly.net/podcast.xml
DARWINSBITCH - ORE (CD by Digitalis Industries)
*
CONCERN - TRUTH & DISTANCE (CD by Digitalis Industries) *
BLACK TO COMM - CHARLEMAGNE & PIPPIN (CD by Digitalis Industries)
*
FABIO ORSI & SEAWORTHY - NEAR AND FARAWAY (CD by Lowpoint)
*
MEM1 - +1 (CD by Interval Recordings) *
STEPHEN MOORE - TO BUILD A FIELD (CD by Deep Listening) *
ANDROMEDA MEGA EXPRESS ORCHESTRA - TAKE OFF (CD by Alien Transistor)
TORSTEN PAPENHEIM - SOME OF THE THINGS WE COULD BE (CD by Schraum)
FREDDY STUDER - VOICES (CD by Unit Records)
JAY CLOIDT & AMANDA MOODY - D,ARC- WOMAN ON FIRE (CD by Minimax)
MARC HANNAFORD - POLAR (CD by Extreme)
JOHN WIESE - ZOMBIE (LP by Presto Records)
RADIOACTIVE PROSTITUTE - KING MARIS DAY (LP by Radioactive Prostitute)
ANTOINE CHESSEX/ARNAUD RIVIERE (7" by Le Petit Mignon)
EARLY HOMINIDS - METATARSAL (CDR by Music Mundane) *
FOLDHEAD - DRUGS PAINT ALCOHOL (CDR by Music Mundane) *
JAMES WYNESS - FIGURE AND GROUND (CDR by Khora) *
DENIS KOLOKOL - ILY (CDR by Audiotong) *
KRAUSS - GOLDEN TREASURY (CDR, private) *
SUMMER SOLSTICE (CDR compilation by Twilight Luggage)
LARMOYANT - LIVE AT ROBOT (CDR by Twilight Luggage) *
DOC WOR MIRRAN & TESENDALO - MOMENTUM 2 (CDR by Mirran Threat)
DOC WOR MIRRAN - GUITARRED & FEATHERED (CDR by MissmanagemenT)
*
JEREMY BIBLE & JASON HENRY - MAGNET (CDR by Gruenrekorder)
*
KK/KK / POLDR (cassette by Razzle Dazzle)
DARWINSBITCH - ORE (CD by Digitalis Industries)
CONCERN - TRUTH & DISTANCE (CD by Digitalis Industries)
BLACK TO COMM - CHARLEMAGNE & PIPPIN (CD by Digitalis Industries)
Marielle Jakobsons is one half of Myrmyr (with Agnes Szelag) and
one half of Date Palms (with her partner Gregg Kowalsky), but
solo she works as Darwinsbitch, which in the year of Darwin seems
to be an appropriate name. I have no idea if she works longer
under this disguise, or if its something for the occasion of 2009.
Apparently she uses sine oscillators and violin, and, not mentioned
on the cover, no doubt an array of sound effects. The music she
creates is best lumped into the world of drone music, but there
is a bit more happening than just that. Jakobsons doesn't go for
a steady, minimal stream - one piece per half hour, but there
are two longer ones and five shorter pieces. Its this variation
in length that makes this a CD in which variation is important.
Jakobsons explores various territories per piece, and once fully
covered, she let's go. If a handful of minutes is enough, then
its enough. That's what makes this a great release. Drone music
that is to the point and not droning for the sake of it.
Also Gordon Ashworth, also known as Concern, is a new name for
me, who delivers three pieces on his 'Truth & Distance' release,
which are alike Darwinsbitch in the field of drone music. He uses
zither, lap harp, mbira, banjo, piano, clarinet, alto horn, trombone,
accordion and lots of reverb. His instruments are scanned with
vibrating objects in order to create overtones and it makes this
almost a modern classical release. Somewhere in between music
for an installation and Phill Niblock, I'd say. This is more the
territory where things are on endless sustain, but perhaps due
to the variety of sources and the relative shortness of the pieces
things don't leap into static, but are vibrating, changing throughout
its minimalist approach to keep things fascinating. Ashworth has
plenty of skills to deliver three fine pieces. Not a second too
long, not a minute too short. Very nice work.
Behind Black To Comm is Marc Richter, also the man behind the
excellent Dekorder label from Hamburg, plus Renate Nikolaus and
Ulf Schütte. They have a couple of releases before, which
I really liked, and this new one is no disappointment either.
I am not entirely sure what or who Pippin is, mentioned in the
title, but it seems to me that Charlemagne is Charlemagne Palestine.
Black To Comm are armed farfisa organ, tapeloops, metal percussion,
violin, toys, water, shruti box, whistle, feedback and more, but
it seems to me that the farfisa plays the leading part, and is
a tribute to Palestine. The drone is the backbone here, and over
that Palestine like drone they more or less improvise their way
about. Electronics, feedback, metallic rumble, they all find their
place under the drone sun. Not always as meditative as the previous
two releases on Digitalis Industries, I guess one could best start
with Black To Comm, for its fiercely packed drones are the heaviest
of the three. A fine but massive set. (FdW)
Address: http://www.digitalisindustries.com
FABIO ORSI & SEAWORTHY - NEAR AND FARAWAY
(CD by Lowpoint)
Both of these artists have delivered works that cross the boundaries
of ambient, field recordings and glitch, and their respective
discographies read like a who's who in label-land, Small Voices,
12K, Sound & Fury and Celebrate Psi Phenomenon. Here they
deliver a CD of three pieces, each a solo one, and one collaborative
(something which Low Point does quite a lot actually). Orsi's
piece is entirely built from heavily and heavenly layered guitar
sounds plus some bird calls. It floats nicely about in the best
Brian Eno tradition. This approach is continued in the collaborative,
title piece. Stretched out tones of gliding and endless sustaining
guitars. That perhaps is nice for the listener, but one could
also see this as too much of a continuation of the Orsi solo piece,
and wonder what Seaworthy does. The Seaworthy solo piece is more
sparsely orchestrated, bathing in empty and silent space, with
single tones on the guitar popping up at the end. That marked
indeed a difference. Both Orsi and Seaworthy are quite equal partners
in this particular musical field, which of course is fine enough,
but perhaps a somewhat sharper distinction between both would
have resulted in a somewhat more sharper collaborative effort.
Aside from that this is quite a great work, filled with ambience,
tranquility and spacious music. (FdW)
Address: http://www.low-point.com
MEM1 - +1 (CD by Interval Recordings)
I have no idea why I wrote in Vital Weekly 566 that Mem1 was from
Israel, because now it seems they are from Los Angeles. Or maybe
they have moved in the meantime? The duo is Mark and Laura Cetilia.
He on laptop and she on cello, and so far I reviews two their
works, and on both occasions I thought the processing of cello
sounds through means of laptop were quite nice, but somehow didn't
seem to fulfill its potential. I am not sure if they felt the
same way, but for '+1' they invited nine composers to work with
them. Names I recognized were Jan Jelinek, Frank Bretschneider,
Jen Boyd and Steve Roden. The press text and cover leaves us a
bit in the dark as to how these things were conceived. Did Mem1
deliver the sound, and the others composed with those? That, somehow,
doesn't seem to be the case. Did the nine deliver sounds to be
added? Perhaps it is the case. Its not easy to 'read' this release.
The music on most of the tracks is alike, and whatever differences
there are they are very small. Should one missed out on the story
of the nine other composers, then one could easily assume the
music is all made by the same band. Perhaps that is a good thing
as it makes quite a homogenous album, but on now its kinda hard
to see the added value of the nine extra composers for this. Some
of these pieces are a bit overlong for the mood they try to capture,
which was my problem with Mem1's music before. The moody atmosphere
of carefully processed stays a bit too much on the safe side of
things, and one hopes for an outburst, but that never seems to
come. Again for me it doesn't fulfill its potential, but its getting
a bit closer, I guess. (FdW)
Address: http://www.mem1.com
STEPHEN MOORE - TO BUILD A FIELD (CD by
Deep Listening)
The world of serious music and serious art is hardly touched in
these pages, perhaps because Vital Weekly thinks that the ground
they cover is serious enough. So I do know who Merce Cunningham
is, a choreographer, partner of the late of John Cage (and who
died last sunday so I read in this morning's newspaper), but that
Christian Wolff, Takehisa Kosugi and David Behrman are members
of his live band I don't know. Likewise Stephen Moore, also part
of his band, but also a composer of music for the younger generation
of choreographers, whose names don't mean much either to me. All
six pieces on this CD were composed for dance pieces. The title
refers to Moore's role in this: "designing and executing
sonic structures that define the emotional and rhythmic topography
of time". To that end he uses acoustic sound sources and
electronics, studio and live composition. This is something that
is on display here. 'Comae' is a pure computer piece of various
kinds of software running about, whereas for instance in 'Transmission'
computerized sounds which are somewhere halfway through being
guided by a beautiful choir like singing. In 'Escalation' rhythm
plays an important role, a sort of highly messed up techno sound
(I wouldn't be surprised if he would call this his 'techno piece',
but its also a bit long) which marks a contrast with the almost
ambience of 'Dream Tango (An Exit)'. This makes this release into
a varied bunch of music, and probably an excellent display for
the many sides Moore has. Nice work throughout. (FdW)
Address: http://www.deeplistening.org
ANDROMEDA MEGA EXPRESS ORCHESTRA - TAKE
OFF (CD by Alien Transistor)
An exceptional release, especially for the fact that a complete
orchestra of some 20 young musicians is involved. Just imagine
what a hell of job it is to synchronize agendas with so many people.
Well Daniel Glatzel - also very young (25) - did it. So he must
be a fantastic animator and very convinced of his musical projects.
In the recent past the orchestra worked with the rockband The
Notwist and with Herbert Grönemeyer. With "Take Off"
they stand on their feet. It is a suite of eight compositions
by Glatzel that impress above all because of their clever and
professional arrangements. But I really wished everything was
musically more interesting. In my ears it sounded all very conventional,
lacking personality and originality what the compositional side
concerns. He uses many melodic ingredients that sound very familiar
but that are not treated originally in order to compensate this
fact. He plays with idioms coming from film music, jazz, easy
listening, etc, in a very open-minded way. It results in an album
that is more about pleasing then about demanding. Nothing wrong
with this. But just listen to any album by Van Dyke Parks and
you get the point I want to make. In "Cotton Candy Nebula"
and at the end of "Asteroids" the music becomes a bit
experimental, cacaphonic and non-melodic, but still within borders.
The surprises we find in the arrangements and the breaks and twists
from time to time. But again, never over the top. This entertaining
album proves from beginning to the end that Daniel Glatzel is
a very capable composer and arranger. I hope he will show more
of his own face in the future and will develop a more personal
voice. The orchestra does a very good job. The pieces are performed
very enthusiastically with drive and much energy. And everything
is recorded nice and clear. A courageous undertaking from a promising
talent! (DM)
Address: http://www.alientransistor.de/
TORSTEN PAPENHEIM - SOME OF THE THINGS WE
COULD BE (CD by Schraum)
Papenheim is a guitarist and composer from Berlin. Besides his
solo work he performs mainly as a member of Rant with Merle Bennett
on drums. With "Some of the Things we could be" however
Papenheim takes another direction. He presents 12 new compositions
played by Dave Bennett (guitar, clarinet), Merle Bennett (drums),
Christian Biegai (altosax, bassclarinet), Axel Haller (bass),
Christian Marien (drums), Matthias Muller (trombone), Derek Shirley
(bass), Roland Spieth (trumpet), Michael Thieke (altosax), Clayton
Thomas (bass), Gerhard Uebele (piano) Ute Voelker (accordion)
and Torsten Papenheim (guitar, banjo, piano). The musicians recorded
in small subensembles. And they had no idea of the compositions
they were contributing to. Later the recordings were assembled
into complete pieces by Papenheim according to the ideas he had
in mind. Through this procedure Papenheim realized this project,
getting inspiration from very different corners: chambermusic,
jazz and improvised music, non-musical approaches, soundcollage,
etc. Dave Bennett is the right producer and partner Papenheim
needed for this avant garde project. All pieces have the same
charming simpleness and primitiveness that make up their identity.
The pieces are very open with sparse instrumentation. Many pieces
have an almost weird Residentslike strange atmosphere because
the musicians are not playing in tune with the compositions as
Papenheim had them in his mind, causing an alienating effect.
Also because some instruments are out of tune from time to time
(piano). All this is done deliberately by Papenheim. It seems
he seeks for a musicality by including disturbing and non-musical
elements. This makes "Some of the Things we could be"
an interesting and satisfying release. (DM)
Address: http://www.schraum.de/
FREDDY STUDER - VOICES (CD by Unit Records)
Freddy Studer is a self-taught drummers and percussionist from
Luzern, Switzerland. He started his career in the early 70s playing
with people like Christy Doran, Urs Leimgruber, Stephan Witwer.
Later also with many musicians from outside Switzerland. The duo-format,
especially with women, is what Studes seems to prefer. Between
1996 and 2004 he recorded six CDs with duets by Robyn Schulkowsky
(perc), Jin Hi Kim (komungo), Joelle Léandre (bass), Dorothea
Schürch (vocals), DJ M. Singe (turntables) and Ami Yoshida
(vocals). For his new project made up of duos, "Voices",
Studer invited three women to sing and improvise: Lauren Newton,
Saadet Türköz and Ami Yoshida.. Well maybe it is better
to replace 'sing', by 'screaming', 'yelling', etc, etc. The vocal
work from all three ladies has little to do with what we usually
call singing. The CD opens however with a solo piece by Studer
called 'Sound Intoxication', a richly textured improvisation.
The dialogues between Studer and Newton I found the most engaging
and appealing, like in "Axis" where Newton sings with
a jazzy phrasing. The improvisations with Saader are often softer
and more introspective, whereas the exercises with Yoshida move
on the other side of the spectrum. Yoshida like in "Nakae"
makes explores extreme use of her voice. Studer feels at home
with all three vocalists. And the duets with all three women show
his ability to co-create rich and strong interwoven improvisations
by voice and percussion, using many different techniques. (DM)
Address: http://www.unitrecords.com
JAY CLOIDT & AMANDA MOODY - D,ARC- WOMAN
ON FIRE (CD by Minimax)
The name of Jay Cloidt appeared earlier in Vital Weekly. We reviewed
an album be him called "Kole Kat Krush" released by
Starkland. On that album Cloidt profiled himself as a composer
with an interest in popular music. Not so strange as Cloidt started
as a blues and rock musician, before studying composition by David
Berhmann and Robert Ashley. Starkland now distributes this new
album by Cloidt and Amanda Moody, released through MiniMax a recordlabel
run by Paul Dresher. Again an album with strong ties to popular
music. 11 songs this time, with texts written and sung by Amanda
Moody. Moody is a multitalented writer, actress and singer who
gained success with her music theatre work ("Serial Murderess",
2001). For this project she reworked and updated the Joan d'Arc-legend.
Not so strange the music, written by Cloidt, evokes medieval atmospheres.
He creates effective musical environments for the different episodes
by electronic and acoustic means. Concerning the acoustic part
it is interesting to mention that we can enjoy the celloplaying
of Joan Jeanrenaud of the Kronos Quartet plus two other celloplayers
(Elaine Kreston and Danielle DeGruttola). Apart from piano (Jon
Herbst) and guitar (WillBernard) and cello everything else - mainly
electronics - is played by Cloidt himself. The vocals and text
are on the forefront in this narrative work. Moody is a very capable
and expressive singer and reminded sometimes of Diamanda Galas.
In "Born in Blood" she combines singing in a rockmanner
with opera. In "10.000 Silver Doves" she is inspired
by gospelmusic. With her impressive voice she puts a lot of drama
in the songs. And when we realize that the cello is coloring most
of the songs, you can imagine that we dwell around in dark and
emotional corners of the human soul. Not so strange when you revitalize
the Joan d'Arc legend. A very intense experience. (DM)
Address: http://www.dresherensemble.org/
MARC HANNAFORD - POLAR (CD by Extreme)
Hannaford is a big talent from Australia where he is an established
musician now. With his previous album on Extreme, "The Garden
of Forking Paths", Hannaford returns now with a solo piano-album.
Apart from the opening track "Canon Cancrizan at the Unison
in Inversion and Augmentation" written by John Rodgers, all
other pieces are composed/improvised by Hannaford. Hannaford says
about this album: "Polar is about exploration: the exploration
of space through sound" utilizing either improvisation or
composition". A statement that is not very specific about
what he is doing on this CD, and demonstrating it is not an easy
thing to translate what music is about into verbal language even
for the creator of the music in question. So let us start with
some objective remarks. Hannaford included six works on this release.
Four pieces are of a very short length (1 - 2 minutes), accompanied
by two extensive pieces: "Genius and Emptiness" (15:36)
and "No Further Correspondence" (20:14). All of them
were recorded on one day in the Yara Edge Theatre. So it could
be a live recording, although we hear no trace of an audience.
If you ask me if it is jazz, completely improvised, or an example
of modern composed music, all three of them could be the case.
It sounds like modern music as it moves on an abstract level,
but with the emotional content and tension we know from jazz and
improvised music. A very satisfying combination. Nothing from
what Hannaford is doing is easy to grab, but if you listen with
attention and let the music lead you where ever it goes, it is
a very rewarding experience. (DM)
Address: http://www.xtr.com/
JOHN WIESE - ZOMBIE (LP by Presto Records)
2 tracks using loops and a locked groove track: John Wiese is
well known and respected but this release perhaps not marking
so much as a departure as a different (& at depth radical)
step/trajectory- is both complex and yet simple. The idea of the
circle or loop is simple enough, children's songs are often simple
repetitions but hidden in this simplicity is the Ouroboros, the
eternal return of the same and the opposite to the Judeo/Christian
/Islamic faith on which the ideas of a teleological and understandable
evolutionary and scientific universe is predicated. Of even the
idea of artist as creator/originator (of course Barthes!) - there
is no origin to the locked groove. Not only that but the locked
groove has mythic and legendary narratives, from Sgt. Pepper through
to RRR. Wiese loops a favorite Drunks With Guns track for one
side the other consisting of a more
complex and indiscernible looping process to render some Sissy
Spacek material into a monolith. Added is a locked piano chord
to be played for 21.5 minutes and included is the score and sleeve
notes which render this LP's exegesis. To those of the Gerridae
family, Side A is cool but the simple repetition of the DWG is
both obvious yet not- it is terrific- in more senses. as is the
eternal return. Wiese is here doing something quite subtle, if
the incomprehensibility of noise marks the end of something -
that grand western metanarrative that begins with Moses leading
his people (us) out of the land of the yearly inundation of Hapy,
we are now beginning to hear the echoes and depths of this pre-history
in these loops. Yes an excellent and deep *disk*. Well John you
might have started something - but if The Demon in GS 341 is true
you haven't? eh? But what you present for yourself and us is (the
challenge of?) amor fati - "That which has been is that which
will be, And that which has been done is that which will be done.
So there is nothing new under the sun."- Waugh's Dust and
much more. even the impossibility of making a sleeve to fit the
record- squaring the circle was a failed greek project. (jliat)
Address: http://prestorecords.com/home.html
RADIOACTIVE PROSTITUTE - KING MARIS DAY
(LP by Radioactive Prostitute)
This is a basic rock band line up from a band which tours the
US far across a line from the other vinyl releases I've reviewed
elsewhere, improvising a fairly - now from a HWN point of view
coherent sound, from a musical point of view they do cite Nirvana
amongst others- they even admit that an uneasy sonic truth has
developed - which is IMO a pity as this kind of performance resembles
or used to resemble a war, and catechism, that's not to say I
don't like the performance and I suspect live they are entertaining,
but how many Peace films have been made compared to War films,
How many cop films in which no crime takes place, even (especially!)
in the world of popular music there is the need I suspect for
conflict. On what I'll call the B side against a rumble of background
noise is chatter which includes talk of ETI, screaming and feedback.
I suppose its vaguely Mothers of Invention - which makes it doubly
difficult - as apart from Hot Rats I wasn't a big fan - wasn't
there some MOI LP with prostitutes and fishing from a hotel? -
but I cant find any reference on Google - did I imagine this?
Its along time ago when this kind of student antics was fun, before
AIDs and student loans - I confess to not only buying a Hawkwind
LP but actually going to a concert! Oh and Gong - radio gnome
invisible - those crazy kids. (jliat)
Address: http://www.radiopros.org
ANTOINE CHESSEX/ARNAUD RIVIERE (7"
by Le Petit Mignon)
My one- and only- criticism of this release is that it's limited
to only 300 copies. (though I get to keep my promo) The artwork
is stunning - someone knows what they are doing! A coarse and
beautiful silkscreen sleeve which could have been a woodcut, the
disk itself clear, with "clever" labels identifying
the polish and pill sides respectively. You can check this out
on the website (and hear mp3 extracts which saves me detailed
description) - of Le Petit Mignon "a gallery and a music
label located in the mighty specialist of experimental and avant-garde
music record store Staalplaat" Which explains the quality?
Just in case you might think its all packaging - well no- the
two pieces complement each other and the whole production. Antoine
Chessex's sax sounds like an alarm until its swamped in HWN -
in which tide it rises and falls, Arnaud Rivière's electronics
are equally brilliant and harsh - though much more sporadic. I
should also name check designer, printer and regurgitater Mounir
Jatoum of La Commissure & mastering by Rashad Becker at Dubplates.
Vital does not give stars - so I'll say 5, and I'm just left wondering
how and why Frans let this one go. I could say much more regarding
the detail of both the sound and whole production but just end
by saying as clearly as I can if anyone is into noise or art or
just beautiful things - get this or weep. (jliat)
Address: http://www.lepetitmignon.de/
EARLY HOMINIDS - METATARSAL (CDR by Music
Mundane)
FOLDHEAD - DRUGS PAINT ALCOHOL (CDR by Music Mundane)
Paul Walsh was once half of Smell & Quim, and released music
as Swing Jugend. For whatever reason he doesn't tell us, he started
creating music for his own pleasure rather than for releases.
For another reason he doesn't share with us either, recently he
decided to release music again, and play live. Partly this has
to do with the encouragement of Neil Campbell, our man of Vibracathedral
Orchestra and Astral Social Club. Its on Neil's label Music Mundane
that the two release a CDR of joint music. As you can of course
expect this is noise music. I do seem to remember Smell &
Quim as a noise duo which weren't exactly the loudest in town,
but they used a nice combination of shaking metal, distortion
pedals and old fashioned tapeloops. Here Paul and Neil use mainly
analogue synthesizers, distortion pedals and old fashioned tapeloops.
Unlike some of Campbell's own work in this area, he opts to do
shorter pieces here with Walsh, and they are of course trademark
noise bits in what is now a classic Campbell fashion. Many dirty
but spacious synthesizers, sometimes feeding through distortion
pedals, but it never is that true type noise thing. Which makes
this actually quite a nice release, for those who love to have
their noise with a bit of extra.
True type of noise can be find in the last, long piece by Foldhead,
Walsh' new solo name. As said, I am not to keen of a lover of
that sort of thing, and I'd gladly leave would have left that
for Jliat, but its the two other tracks that are quite nice. In
the opening piece (all three untitled of course) things are quite
soft with stretched tones that have a nice creepy undercurrent.
In the second piece this creepy sense is continued, but things
are already a bit louder, but still on the right side. For me
that is. Its a pity that both of these nice tracks last about
the same length of the third piece. I don't mind noise, but it
could be shorter and perhaps the others could be longer and more
pieces alike that. I thought this was a pretty great come back
album, in fact two of them!
Address: <foldhead@hotmail.co.uk>
JAMES WYNESS - FIGURE AND GROUND (CDR by
Khora)
One James Wyness writes me that 'this is an advance copy of my
self-released CDR. I'll be releasing it as the first hard copy
release on my netlabel Khora in July'. What I hold in my hand
already looks like the 'real' release, with a great, printed cover,
so what 'advance' copy? And hard copy on a netlabel? That seems
to be case, well, perhaps not in this case actually, of Vital
no longer reviewing MP3s (as announced since three months and
still missed by many, so why not bring the subject on in a review,
and not in a header everyone seems to be skipping): this CDR (small
jewel case, full color one card as cover) is of course a CDR release
of a MP3, but then no doubt none of the CDR will be sold, and
its merely to fool yours truly around. Or is that a cynical thought?
As said, even when Wyness doesn't use the proper lingo for record
releases (and be honest: why should he?), his release looks at
least great in that professional printed cover. There is the artist
name, title ('Figure And Ground') and on the front it says 'field
recording and processes', but the booklet reveals a fair bit.
This music was made as part of a sound installation. I won't go
into all the details described in the booklet, but it seems Wyness
wants us to listen to this in some sort of mediative manner, a
zen way of hearing. One piece that lasts about forty two minutes,
at which basis lies a good sized bit of rain sound. That seems
to fit the Dutch Summer (actually there was a release of pure,
unprocessed rain sounds with Dutch Summer as its title), since
everyday there is rain - so why hear it on CD my mother would
say? Its a bit unclear what the process part of the music is about,
but sometimes it seems that the rain sounds leap over into white
static hiss. After about twenty-seven minutes it stops and on
comes a deep drone like thing. That works up again towards the
end of the piece into more seaside sounds. If anything, it seems
that Wyness is inspired by Francisco Lopez, both in approach to
field recordings and the dynamic way to process them. Quite a
nice release this one. Not entirely new or surprising, but quite
a consistent work of processed field recordings. (FdW)
Address: http://www.khora.co.uk
DENIS KOLOKOL - ILY (CDR by Audiotong)
Oh maybe this is the place where I should have something about
CDRs and MP3s, but then again, this cover looks OK. It could have
been a real thing. Or perhaps I like Audiotong as a label (no
bribes, I think). Or perhaps its the fact this label also does
real CDs. They enclosed a compilation they produced for The Wire
with the current state of affairs in Poland, which contains names
like Emiter, Robert Piotrowicz, Anna Zaradny, known from Vital
Weekly reviews. A nice bunch of electronic, avant-garde and improvised
music. But today we only deal with Dennis Kolokol, who deals with
serious electronic music, created with the means of a laptop.
One of the three pieces is recorded, 'Go Find Yourself In My Dream'
was recorded at the Studio For Electroacoustic Music in Krakow
and that can be heard. Maybe its the environment of such a studio,
but the opera like voices, and jumpy electronics smell like serious
academic music, but Kolokol does add a bit of spice to it, that
faint trace of industrial music. In the opening piece things are
much wilder and it almost seems the opposite thing: industrial,
almost noise based music with the ideas of musique concrete as
its starting point. In the closing piece 'Chasing 43', there is
apparently the guitar of Alexander Chikmakov, but it takes some
time before we hear it. A soft, non rhythmic click piece, with
the guitar, when it finally comes on, play a melancholic touch.
Three quite diverse pieces of music, that show a fine display
of quality. Serious but not so serious, humorful and above all
skilled. (FdW)
Address: http://www.audiotong.net
KRAUSS - GOLDEN TREASURY (CDR, private)
This is one of those things that leave me puzzled: is it a demo?
There is no label mentioned, not even an address. Just eleven
tracks, some vague credits. I think its from down-under somewhere,
but the mailer has been trashed already. Maybe these things would
be best if ignored, but while not all the tracks are great, some
of them are really quite nice. Likewise as there are no credits
mentioned, its hard to say what is what. But my best guess is
there is a guitar, an organ, drumcomputer and a rudimentary form
of sampling. In 'Dog On The Loose' this leads to some nice garage
like psychedelic music, but for the same matter things are off
the track in 'Hurtling Towards Doom'. Some pieces are too much
improvised and its hard to keep up attention, but then the nicer
thing is that all of the tracks are quite short. Perhaps all of
this is not really my cup of tea, both musicwise as well as the
presentation, but at least there is a couple of decent tracks
around here. (FdW)
Address: none given
SUMMER SOLSTICE (CDR compilation by Twilight
Luggage)
LARMOYANT - LIVE AT ROBOT (CDR by Twilight Luggage)
In our western world we don't need to care about old, pagan stuff
like solstices, as for the majority of us those things don't really
matter, disconnected as we are from nature. Sad as it is, perhaps.
So it eludes me somehow how and why one could record music for
the summer solstice, and perhaps my expectations were not that
high. Perhaps I anticipated another heavy type of noise compilation
here, seeing it on Twilight Luggage, who don't exclusively deal
with noise, but release a fair share of it. That turns out not
to be the case, as the music is actually quite pleasant here.
The two noise bits are indeed there, but they are conveniently
placed at the end of the disc. Moody of course (why of course?
oh, seasonal change of course), atmospheric, but never 'gothics'
singing about how magick the moment is. There is a nice ambient,
rhythm piece by Continental Fruit, an improv rock piece by Boe
which actually wasn't that well spend on me. The atmospheric pieces
are by Chuch, Andre Folsy, Eloine, John lithium, Torstein Wijik
and The Tobacconists. Cape Of Seaweed and Andreas Brandal are
in between all of these genres. Quite a nice compilation, with
or without a seasonal thematic approach.
Lamoryant is Jarle Nordvik on guitar, Andreas Brandal on guitar,
tapes, theremin and Hans Kristian Senneseth on electronics. Together
they recorded this piece live at Robotbutikken on August 18th
2007. I don't exactly see why this had to be released almost two
years later. Its a piece in which the guitar improvisations of
Nordvik and Brandal are at the centre, with some vague rumbling
on electronics to do what? Processing? Improvise likewise? Its
quite an uninspiring sixteen minutes of music. None of the improvised
parts could hold my attention for very long - and I tried a couple
of times (in case someone writes me stating that I probably didn't
listen close enough) but failed miserably to detect any beauty
in this. (FdW)
Address: http://www.twilightluggage.com
DOC WOR MIRRAN & TESENDALO - MOMENTUM
2 (CDR by Mirran Threat)
DOC WOR MIRRAN - GUITARRED & FEATHERED (CDR by MissmanagemenT)
Hardly recovered from Doc Wör Mirran's previous release,
a 10CDR set (see Vital Weekly 666), here are two more releases.
The first one can be seen as a sort of extension of that, or perhaps
as an extension of 'Momentum 1', which was reviewed back in Vital
Weekly 379. Back then it seemed to be influenced by Conrad Schnitzler's
analogue electronics, here its more along the lines of drone works.
Behind Tesendalo we find Peter Schuster, who has a fine string
of drone based releases throughout many years, and I was thinking
its no doubt his presence here that the six tracks have the heavy
stamp of drone all over them. Deeply atmospheric, with the analogue
synthesizers on endless sustain. Humming ad infinitum. Some bird
calls are mixed in, an occasional far away melody is faded in
and there is a minor threat in 'Momentum 6'. A very fine release
that not necessarily holds anything new under the drone sun, but
fits a great summer day of rain and clouds.
With all this drones being ambient one could easily forget that
Doc Wör Mirran is so much more. They started a new side label
of Empty (MT) records, being MissmanagemenT (MT again, get it?),
of which I don't understand much. It has something to do with
being independent (but that accounts for the majority of bands
in Vital Weekly), and free distribution of music. If you want
a release, you can get one - but it doesn't seem to be a revolutionary
thing. The cover looks nice, with a real cigarette, also a nice
treat. Doc Wör Mirran is here a band, with Joseph B. Raimond
on guitar, synth, bass and drum programming, with contributions
in the studio and by mail by Ralf Lexis, Adrian Gormley, Frank
Abendroth, Laurent Gabiot and Jeandra Raimond. Doc Wör Mirran
sound like a rock band here. Lots of guitars, bass and drum computers
are used here, with some spoken word material by Abendroth. Not
in a real heavy rock way, but gentle, floating, a bit post rock
like but played in naive manner. A bit Durutti Column like, but
perhaps that's because I don't know many guitarists. Sometimes
retro, seventies rock like, but also with a touch of experiment
in 'Shitkicker Industrial'. Doc Wör Mirran is a mighty diverse
band. I can't believe there is someone in the world, other than
Joseph B. Raimond himself I guess, who likes all the releases
by them, but its nevertheless always in for a good surprise. (FdW)
Address: http://www.empty.de
JEREMY BIBLE & JASON HENRY - MAGNET
(CDR by Gruenrekorder)
Apparently Gruenrekorder is happy with Jeremy Bible and Jason
Henry. Following their 'Marker' release (see Vital Weekly 646),
here is 'Magnet'. The two have had their releases on their own
Experimedia label, and all of the releases deal with instruments
being processed, found sound and mucho effects. Especially the
delay pedals are pushed through the floor. It seems to me that
the rhythmic aspect of 'Marker' is left behind, and that they
are now more or less improvising their way through a given set
of sound. I am not sure however if that is really a good idea.
The five pieces are quite long, but seem to be lacking variation
and depth. Editing should have been in place I guess, and not
the entire piece. I am not sure why they do what they do. My guess
would be that their intention is to create an atmospheric sound,
but perhaps also due to the relative low volume, this hardly comes
across. Things stay very remote and far away. That is a pity.
I sense there is a lot more in this music, which doesn't seem
to get out very much. Unless of course this is a deliberate thing,
which could very well be the case, I'd say there is lots of room
for improvement. (FdW)
Address: http://www.gruenrekorder.de
KK/KK / POLDR (cassette by Razzle Dazzle)
The world of cassette is even more than the world of CDR, the
place to experimental with sound. That was the case thirty years
ago, and still is the case today. Poldr's label Razzle Dazzle
released a whole bunch of them and here its a split with KK/KK,
which is one Chris Kalafatis who recorded two parts of 'He Had
LSB' in April of this year, using an EMS AKS, which seems to me
more pieces of improvised electronics - 'let's see what this bugger
does', which also harks back to thirty years ago, when people
freaked out for an hour and released the results on a cassette.
Its not bad this one, don't get me wrong.
Poldr, also known as Benjamin Laurent Aman has one twenty minute
piece of what also seems to be improvisations, but more in the
field of drone music of a more uptight character. A bit noisey,
but perhaps that's due to the fact that the recording is a bit
distorted. Guitar is at the basis, but everything is smeared together
through extensive use of effects. The piece is actually quite
alright if you like your drones to be somewhat louder and more
with a bite and could have been equally released on a limited
CDR. Why not, I wonder? (FdW)
Address: http://www.razzle-d.com