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VITAL WEEKLY
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number 694
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week 36
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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. We finally have a feed again. 1000x times to Maximillian for his endless patience & help. Its here: http://www.vitalweekly.net/podcast.xm
Editorial news: we have decided to stop reviewing MP3 releases. Please do not send any discs with MP3 releases. Just send me an e-mail with a link and a short description, so people can download it. The amount of releases pile up every week and I can no longer devote time to MP3s. Whatever you see coming in the next few weeks are the last ones. Please do not send anymore. Also: releases that do not contain the original artwork will most likely be no longer reviewed. The real thing is necessary for a real judgment. If you wish to send us not the real thing, please contact us first. <vital@vitalweekly.net>
OLIVIER GIROUARD - LA NUIT NOUS DECONSTRUIT
PAR COEUR (CD by Ekumen) *
ROGER KLEIER - THE NIGHT HAS MANY HOURS (CD by Innova) *
COLLAPSAR - BEYOND THE EVENT HORIZON (CD by Malignant) *
HYIOS - CONSUETUDINES (CD by Malignant) *
MOURMANSK150 NO VOLUNTEER 4 THIS SOCIETY (CD by Topheth Prophet)
KADAVER AUTOMATIC AUTOPSY (CD by Topheth Prophet)
LOREN DENT - ANTHROPOLOGY VOL. 1 (CD by Infraction Records) *
LOREN DENT - ANTHROPOLOGY EXTRAS (USD by Infraction Records) *
DRAFTED BY MINOTAURS - AVERSION THERAPY (LP by Infraction Records)
*
NAKABAN - DER METEOR (DVD by Noble)
NERNES/SKAGEN - AD UNDAS (2LP by Fysisk/Format)
O.R.D.U.C. - AUTO (7" by Motok)
SMOKERS PLEASE - FLENSING/GREY CHRISTMAS (7" by Yoko Ono
Tribute Weekend)
RICHARD FRANCIS & CLINTON WATKINS/ADAM WILLETTS (7" by
Dungeon Taxis)
BLUE SAUSAGE INFANT - SCALPELS FOR THE ANIMAL GOD (CDR by Intangible
Arts Media Alert) *
new MP3 releases
announcements
OLIVIER GIROUARD - LA NUIT NOUS DECONSTRUIT
PAR COEUR (CD by Ekumen)
The Ekumen collective is a group of musicians from Montreal who
play microsounding ambient (a mere generalization on my behalf,
I know, but just for the lack of a better word). Olivier Girouard
joined last year and 'La Nuit Nous Deconstruit Par Coeur' is his
first, albeit, short album. It contains five pieces he recorded
for choreographer Kate Hilliard, who create a piece for Marie
Uguay, a poet from Quebec who died at the age of 26 of cancer.
Obviously I must admit I never read her poetry, but judging by
this music it must be very intimate. Girouard's main instrument
of choice is the guitar, which in the first two pieces sound almost
unprocessed. Naked and delicate. In 'Ne Me Laisse Pas Ici', the
computer starts playing a role in likewise delicate processed
sound. Delicate and intimate are just the two phrases that spring
to mind when hearing these pieces. Objectively speaking, this
music is hardly 'new' or 'surprising', but somehow I don't think
its Girouard's intention to do anything such like. He wants to
create a beautiful piece of music in loving memory of someone
he loved, and he succeeded wonderfully well. (FdW)
Address: http://www.ekumen.com
ROGER KLEIER - THE NIGHT HAS MANY HOURS
(CD by Innova)
The starting point for this CD, as well as the two that have already
been released as part of this trilogy is that guitarist Roger
Kleier is inspired by the notion of recurring characters in novels
(such as in those by writers he likes as Raymond Chandler, Walter
Moseley and William Gibson). He sees his musical pieces as a character
who 'shows up repeatedly in a myriad of musical situations, with
each variation somehow related to the last one'. An interesting
starting point to make a CD. He plays all instruments here, except
for cello (by Joan Jeanrenaud) and organ (by Annie Gosfeld). Kleier
has played with the likes of Carl Stone, Marc Ribot, Elliot Sharp,
Fred Frith, Chris Cutler but also Stan Ridgway (a personal favorite
here, but hardly Vital related), which might give you some clue
as to where to find this music. I am not sure wether these eleven
pieces were all composed or partly improvised, but for some reason
I assume the latter. The CD starts pretty strong with some great
drone like sound material, over which the guitar and cello move
freely with interesting melodies, but there are some 'stories'
here which I didn't like that much such as 'Knuckleduster' with
its driving rhythm and disjointed organ sounds, or the computer
processing of guitar sounds on 'Deluge: Devil Take The Most' (placed
after eachother) and 'Anyway', which seems a combination of both.
If these are stories about the same character, which is actually
something I can hear in the music, then I'd say that most of the
stories are great, but not all. That happens. In novels and in
music. But throughout I thought this was a most enjoyable release.
(FdW)
Address: http://www.innova.mu
COLLAPSAR - BEYOND THE EVENT HORIZON (CD
by Malignant)
HYIOS - CONSUETUDINES (CD by Malignant)
US label Malignant has been going for quite a number of years
now, but they are not always releasing that much, or, perhaps
I do miss out on releases every now and then. Here however they
introduce us to the work of Collapsar, from France. In case you
don't know know what kind of music Malignant deals with, I would
think that Collapsar is very example. They loosely refer to this
kind of music as 'dark ambient', but that doesn't entirely satisfy
me. Perhaps if one would play this kind of music at a medium volume,
it would indeed be ambient and somewhat dark, but once turns up
the volume, this music has a strong bit to it, that industrial
edge that comes with the releases on Malignant (the ones I heard
that is). Hermetically closed music, of crashing synthesizers
and sound effects - lots of those around, especially the use of
reverb is extensive with Collapser - as in fact with the whole
dark ambient scene. That reverb provides that nice overall, dense,
multi-layered sound. Maybe the pieces are a bit one dimensional
when it comes to choosing sound and methods of composing, but
on the other hand it puts down a great atmosphere throughout the
entire disc.
To point out the finer differences between Collapser and Hyios
(from Leipzig, Germany) is not easy, but one difference is for
sure that Hyios doesn't smear the sound together into an endless
mass. Details are a bit clearer to be spotted, the picked-up rumble
of metal sheets feeding through that unmistakably present line
of reverb. It seems to me that both bands play that fine ambient
drone music, but that Hyios is somehow more concerned with a compositional
built up in a piece - be it very slow and precise. But the pieces
built up, grow in intensity, die out, a circle of life, a living
organism, unless the somewhat motionless Collapser. Maybe it has
also to do with the use of a variety of sound sources, including
the aforementioned metal sheets, electronics and synthesizers.
Hyios seems to me a bit more ritual music based, however in a
big ambient context. Both of these releases may just a bit too
dark and ritualistic based for me, but especially Collapser I
enjoyed very much. (FdW)
Address: http://www.malignantrecords.com
MOURMANSK150 NO VOLUNTEER 4 THIS SOCIETY
(CD by Topheth Prophet)
KADAVER AUTOMATIC AUTOPSY (CD by Topheth Prophet)
"Mourmansk150 is a honest, uncensored & unrestrained
expression of my deep
hostility towards the inequities, corruption, abuse, ignorance
& perversion of our civilizations, our species & the machinations
of mans predominantly revolting existence. You, you, you, you,
you, you are responsible for my current neurosis, my mental impediment,
my fucking psychosis You and your legions of CRIME are responsible
for my daily strain, my hate, my despair, my frustration, my apoplexy,
my malevolence, my PAIN!! ." .." Kadaver is Michael
Zolotov. A project I started back in 2003 in order to vomit out
and to drain the pus from what I feel inside. Because the meaning
of Kadaver is to create an atmosphere, a mirror to inner sickness,
sadness, depression, pain and grief and not to create "art"
- there is no specific genre that can be attached to Kadaver.
The sounds shifts from twisted dark ambient through industrial
till harsh noise and power electronics." There is a lot of
shouting on the Mourmansk150 and pictures of the duo in face masks
bare chested white males. the Kadaver release is a more *musical*
mix of noises - see above - industrial sounds. Significantly for
me as you can also see above, both are using sound as a form of
self expression, not yet taken to its limit of ritualization and
into religion but that is where I guess it might (sadly) end.
Not that I disapprove of these releases at all, they make a point
- but fail my test that noise is or should be "data without
meaning" - and again who am I to make this anything other
than a piece of text. However, and I suppose both exasperating
and annoying those who simply want to make shit - be it angst
ridden or not I would like to make the point that such nihilism
- self inflicted pain- or inflicted on others is no different
to the very phenomena they seek to deal with. To say briefly they
are in danger of becoming Zarathustra's ape. "O Zarathustra,
here is the great city: here hast thou nothing to seek and everything
to lose. Why wouldst thou wade through this mire? Have pity upon
thy foot! Spit rather on the gate of the city, and--turn back!
Here is the hell for anchorites'
thoughts: here are great thoughts seethed alive and boiled small."
My advice/critique to these is the same as Zarathustra's.. "Bite"..
"And verily, what I saw, the like had I never seen. A young
shepherd did I see, writhing, choking, quivering, with distorted
countenance, and with a heavy black serpent hanging out of his
mouth. Had I ever seen so much loathing and pale horror on one
countenance? He had perhaps gone to sleep? Then had the serpent
crawled into his throat--there had it bitten itself fast. My hand
pulled at the serpent, and pulled:--in vain! I failed to pull
the serpent out of his throat. Then there cried out of me: "Bite!
Bite!" (jliat)
Address: http://www.topheth.org
LOREN DENT - ANTHROPOLOGY VOL. 1 (CD by
Infraction Records)
LOREN DENT - ANTHROPOLOGY EXTRAS (USD by Infraction Records)
DRAFTED BY MINOTAURS - AVERSION THERAPY (LP by Infraction Records)
Infraction Records, it has been pointed out before, is by now
an established force in the world of ambient music. A bit like
Malignant (see elsewhere), but there are differences. Malignant's
ambient is dark, very dark and has ritualist undercurrents, whereas
Infraction is more concerned with ambient in both dark and light
shades and are more nature based in approach, both through the
use of field recordings as part of the music, as well in the nature
photography on the cover. I am not sure if I ever heard of Loren
Dent but seventy-two minutes on the CD as well as a USB drive
with another four hours of 'outtakes' is well enough. I was listening
to the CD with some distance. Not noting the CD, so I couldn't
tell when a track started and when it stopped. So I was kinda
surprised, when returning to the CD player, that this CD had thirteen
tracks - it seemed a bit less. Dent uses samples of choral and
orchestral music, along with guitar and some computerized stuff.
That results in a pretty dark mass of sound, without any industrial
undercurrent of, say, 'Collapser'. Beautiful music that perhaps
is a bit long in the end, although, no doubt, the idea might be
to bring the listener in a trance like mood. Perhaps to that end
the USB diskdrive serves this purpose even better. Four hours
is a bit long of course, but stick this on and let it run. The
music here is much less complex than on the CD, more then one
or two sounds approach with a bit of sound effects. As said less
complex but perhaps therefore a bit easier to digest in its longitude.
Both of them are nice excursions in a territory that is already
well-known.
A duo is Drafted By Minotaurs, being guitarist Ryan Wilson and
trumpet and glockenspiel (an unlikely combination me thinks) Ian
Fulcher, whose 'Aversion Therapy' is their first LP. A great package
with a gate fold sleeve - no costs are spared here. Their ambient
is much more open and gentle then say Dent, and miles and miles
away from the music of Malignant Records. The guitar is clearly
to be recognized, even with some folk strumming in 'Sault Locks'.
Whatever glockenspiel and trumpet are doing is however a bit unclear.
My best guess would be is that are looped through a variety of
sound devices and which form the ambient backdrop in which the
guitar seems to move so freely. Side A has three tracks, under
which the aforementioned 'Sault Locks', which is quite short,
which are nice, but the best piece is the side long b-side 'Sunday's
Morning Ghost', in which the trumpet plays a more dominant role
(or at least can be recognized more), in long sustaining tones,
meandering together, merging gently with the guitar sounds, which
now are close to the trumpet. The glockenspiel? It plays its own
spiel somewhere, like shimmering metallic sounds pushed towards
the end of the spectrum, but they haven't disappeared altogether.
Great cinematic beauty. Top class ambient album. (FdW)
Address: http://www.infractionrecords.com
NAKABAN - DER METEOR (DVD by Noble)
Even though I would like to present myself as a snob who never
watches TV (or film), I of course do so. But tonight the cable
is down, and I am contemplating what to do. I want to watch something
and then there is this, a DVD by Nakaban, a Japanese painter and
picture book artist/illustrator. 'Der Meteor' (comet in English,
I never know why Japanese people are so much into the German language)
is the DVD release on DVD and is an animation film. Luckily not
in the slick Hollywood sense of the word, but rather in a naive
manner, almost like an old eastern Europe one (Czech Republic):
child like, naive, with objects being filmed in front of a painted
background, with small pieces of wire from the ceiling about (spoiler
coming up) a man in blue searching for a comet. It looks great,
and the music, under supervision by Takeo Toyama fits the film
very well. Just acoustic instruments, such as piano, marimba,
organ and cello, played by various people (names not included
with my promo copy). It sounds like Debussy at the beginning,
a bit of Satie, easy listening, Pascal Comelade and Penguin Cafe
Orchestra. Intimate music, like a small ensemble playing to a
small film. No fancy digital techniques all around, just a very
intimate film with an excellent piece of music. A film with a
story, beautifully made. One wishes there would be more so TV
could be switched off always. A snob speaking. (FdW)
Address: http://www.noble-label.net
NERNES/SKAGEN - AD UNDAS (2LP by Fysisk/Format)
This is one of those things that land on my desk, and the big
questionmark can be spotted miles ahead: what is this? From the
design I'd say some sort of doom metal band, but its not. Well,
not entirely. Nernes/Skagen is a 'hybrid duo', whatever that might
be, from Oslo. Nernes is one half and he plays guitar, while Skagen
plays synthesis, analogue, filters and advanced sound constructions
(more questionmarks please). Together they merge influences such
as Glenn Branca, earth, Pauline Oliveros, Ryoji Ikeda - now we
are talking (exclamation mark please). This is a record to be
played loud, because its only then when the complete dynamics
of what is on offer can be heard. When the guitars rock, minimal
of course, in the best Branca tradition, they rock hard. Banging
chords with breaks. But that's only one side of the story. Nernes/Skagen
also deal with lots of silence in their music. Here the loud volume
comes handy. We hear the electronics sizzling beneath the surface.
It makes quite a powerful statement. Quite a blast - remember:
noise works best when it deals with extreme dynamics. Not just
extreme loudness but also extreme quietness and Nernes/Skagen
play that game extremely well. Maybe whatever undercurrent, conceptually
speaking, is part of this is not that well-spend on me - the cover
for instance would not engage me in picking this up from the shelve
- but once heard: hats off. (FdW)
Address: http://www.fysiskformat.no
O.R.D.U.C. - AUTO (7" by Motok)
Hot on the heels of the LP release by E.M.M., from the same house
now comes a 7" by O.R.D.U.C. - the One-0-Seventh-Royal-Dutch-Underground-Company.
The band which launched the career of Nico Selen, also known as
E.M.M., No-notes, Ilo Istatov, The Bearcage and who knows what
else. His career started in 1980 and with various hiatus continues
until this day. 'Auto' is a track that will also be released on
'107', a LP which will be out in November. For his various names,
Selen has different types of music, although all of them are in
the field of electronic music. There is minimalism, ambient and
popmusic. Perhaps the most undefined project is O.R.D.U.C., since
it seems to combine his various interests. Selen calls this minimal
wave, separated in minimal pop, minimal synthesizer and minimal
(it all seems a bit semantic to me). 'Auto (edit)' is on the a-side
of which the lyrics seem to be a bunch of names mentioned used
by Selen, set against a nice slow back-drop. Not entirely pop
I'd say, but surely a minimal song. This is followed by 'EU (edit)'
brings indeed the synthesizer much to the foreground in a nice
and moody textured piece. Rhythm play again a big role. The 'Less
Is More' version of 'Auto' is largely an instrumental song of
slow drums, and tinkling synthesizers, with a nice drum fill.
Not entirely 'Autobahn' like either, but I can imagine a superlong
version for car stereo and this to be a driving song (if only
I could drive a car, that is). Nice 7", which makes me altogether
more curious about the forthcoming LP. (FdW)
Address: http://www.motok.org
SMOKERS PLEASE - FLENSING/GREY CHRISTMAS
(7" by Yoko Ono Tribute Weekend)
We may assume that the Ben Spiers who is behind Smokers Please
is the same Ben Spiers we reviewed back in Vital Weekly 634, with
his CDR for Transient Recordings. He moved (perhaps temporarily)
to the UK from a land down under and now calls himself Smokers
Please (please what? smokers please don't smoke please? or smokers
please come over?). Spiers still plays guitar, viola and stylophone,
which in 'Flensing' results in a vicious, loud and dirty drone,
whereas 'Grey Christmas' starts out with simple strumming which
continues throughout the entire piece, but with a guitar wailing
through a fuzz/distortion box underneath. Both pieces seem to
me the result of improvisation, as before. But opposed to his
previous CDR release 'And Then', Ben keeps things well under control
here. The 7" format is perhaps not the best to get a good
impression of what a musician can do, and for the music of the
likes of Spiers its perhaps too concise, but in this very case
it works well. Two slabs of around five or so minutes gives the
listener a solid idea of what Spiers can do. The sound quality
is what one can expect from the lands down under: not great, but
raw and noisy. (FdW)
Address: http://www.yokoonotributeweekend.com
RICHARD FRANCIS & CLINTON WATKINS/ADAM
WILLETTS (7" by Dungeon Taxis)
Following releases by John Pilcher & Martin McKelvey and La
Lakers, here on Dungeon Taxis, a split 7". One side has a
collaborative piece by Eso Steel's/CMR boss Richard Francis with
Clinton Watkins (from Whitebass) and on the other side a solo
track by Adam Willetts (Saturn). I don't think I ever heard of
Whitebass or Saturn. The collaborative piece on the first side
is a short heavy beast. Deep end rumble with piercing feedback
like sound. A Whitehouse instrumental if you can picture that.
Short, merely a few minutes (it seems), blasting away, ending
just as abruptly as it started. Adam Willetts side deals also
with noise, in an even more monotonous manner. Hard to say what
he does here, but it seems to me dealing with some form of computerized
noise. Whereas the other side is right to the point, this side
seems a bit long to me. Just a bit, not overlong, but it could
have gained more power if it would have been a bit more concise.
Great hard cover for this small edition of 150 copies. (FdW)
http://www.dungeontaxis.blogspot.com/
BLUE SAUSAGE INFANT - SCALPELS FOR THE ANIMAL
GOD (CDR by Intangible Arts Media Alert)
Chester Hawkins, from Washington DC, records since 1986 as Blue
Sausage Infant, and despite his collaborations with Violet, New
Carrolton and Stolen Government Binder Clip (whom I know), I never
heard of him before. At least, I think, but a somewhat silly name
like Blue Sausage Infant I would have surely remembered. Maybe
its the seven year hiatus in recording that made me forget the
name? The three long tracks on 'Scalpels For The Animal God' are
all recorded live, two in concert (one at the excellent Sonic
Circuit festival in DC, which runs, well, now, more or less) and
one in studio. The CDR opens with his Sonic Circuits set from
last year (he also performs this year), with lots of synth and
guitar and voices that loop around through some effects. Especially
the voices is a bit of a let down I think, but when things collapse
towards the end, and it becomes a bit more quiet, its rather interesting.
The twenty minute epos 'Tactile', live at home, is however a great
piece. Some sort meditation speak is sampled and set against loops
of flute and a slow bouncing rhythm. The sort of raw ambient house
of so many years ago - say the missing link between Horizon 222
and zoviet*france. This good spirit is followed by 'Scalpels',
which is also a great piece of drone music. A sampled choir, many
loops, endless sustain on the guitar and wailing synth sound underneath.
Not as delicate as the previous piece, perhaps a bit of a cliche
even, but the end result is certainly very nice. So if you decide
to get a copy of this release, and there is no reason why not,
then may I suggest to program the running order two, three and
one? Or perhaps a re-issue of just the second and third track?
With the lengths used by Blue Sausage Infant, that might well
be enough. (FdW)
Address: http://www.myspace.com/iabluesausageinfant
new MP3 releases:
From: me raabenstein <me@nonine.com>
where would we be without our hands? while there is still controversy over whether we are the brainiest animals on the planet, it is abundantly clear that we are the handiest. this manipulative ability is our greatest strength and our most terrible flaw. without hands we would have no louvre but also no guns. our access to far greater means to achieve our ends gives us a greater hunger for meaning. we long to use our hands to satisfy our needs, whether spiritual or down-to-earth. this creation of meaning from nothing may be our greatest achievement. the hand is more than a metaphor of humanness. it is a focal point in the fulfillment of life, in our cognitive architecture, representing our chance to put our stamp on the world.
slowcream's third album ,and' is a five part oevre, appreciating this organ of manipulation and sensation, a forty minutes reflection on our digits. the fingertips possess the highest concentration of receptors among all areas of the human skin, making them extremely sensitive to pressure, temperature, vibration, moisture, and texture. basically started as a commission for a modern dance project, ,and' processes a vivid digression of drama and relief, a sensuous clash of our hands' daily climax. coming more from a club than a classical music background me raabenstein aka slowcream touches distinct terrain, fusing symphonic motives with condensed minimal electronica and the passionate live improvisations of cellist greg haines.
http://www.nonine.com