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VITAL WEEKLY
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number 700
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week 42
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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
BUNKUR - NULLIFY (CD by Displeased Records)
TROUM - SIGQAN (CD by Transgredient Records) *
ANOTHER ANOTHER GREEN WORLD (CD compilation by Narrominded)
KIM CASCONE - ANTI-MUSICAL CELESTIAL FORCES (CD by Störung)
*
ANTYE GREIE AKA AGF - EINZELKAMPFER (CD by AGF Produktion) *
YOKO HIGASHI & LIONEL MARCHETTI - OKURA 73N-42E (CD by Musica
Genera) *
BLACK FEELINGS (CD by Alien8 Recordings) *
THE BEAUTIFUL SCHIZOPHONIC - EROTIKON (CD by Cronica Electronica)
*
PIOTR KUREK - LECTURES (CD by Cronica Electronica) *
PTOSE/ERICKA IRGANON - PPPK 005 + PPPK 017 (CD by Infrastition)
*
LAURENT PERNICE - DETAILS (CD by Infrastition) *
UN DEPARTMENT - LES III VINYLS (CD by Infrastition) *
THE TOBACCONISTS - THE DARK SECRETS OF DOCTOR PERATI / PROMETHEUS
(7" by Plinkity Plonk) *
KALLABRIS - MUSIC FOR VERY SIMPLE OBJECTS (10" by Substantia
Innominata)
OLHON - LUCIFUGUS (10" by Substantia Innominata)
ASHBERRY - RESIN (CDR by Wounded Wolf) *
DOC WOR MIRRAN - A PORTRAIT OF YOUR DEATH (CDR by MissManagement)
*
TUNER+ - LIVE IN OBLOMOVA (CDR, private) *
PHIL MOULDYCLIFF & COLIN POTTER - TRAJECTORIES (CDR by ICR)
*
TAKU UNAMI - MALIGNITAT 2 (CDR by Free Software Series) *
XXXXX - IS-LAND (CDR by Free Software Series) *
SOIZIC LEBRAT & HEDDY BOUBAKER - ACCUMULATION D'ACARIATRES
ACARIENS (CDR by Petit Label)
GUILLAUME VILTARD - RUNNING AWAY (CDR by Un Reve Nu)
JOSH - I AM WAKING UP (3"CDR by Envizagae Records) *
New MP3 releases
Announcements
BUNKUR - NULLIFY (CD by Displeased Records)
Metal has not been my scene since going out when I was 18 with
friends to heavy metal bar, and only, on my part at least, since
the beer was cheap. About this time last year I saw in Tilburg
however a great band: Bunker, or Bunkur 13 as they are now called
on myspace: four men with naked tops, one drummer, two bass players,
a synthesizer player and vocalist playing metal. Just like 'our'
scene (?) is fractured in all sorts of sub genres, so is metal,
and perhaps I'm saying something utterly stupid, but Bunkur 13
play doom metal of the slowest kind. Since I know one of the bass
players since... well, since my hardrock pub days (without him
actually)... 1982... he gave me a copy of their second CD stating
I should only hear this in its entire form, uninterrupted. Phone's
off, so let's roll. Its one piece only, seventy-seven minutes
of some very slow but very loud music. Play with great care and
precision, in slow evolving bangs with lots and lots bass rumbling
underneath - the synth is a bass synth too. The drums bang slowly
and peacefully (?) with lots space in between, the singer sings
(??) with the lowest howl possible. Metal is still not my cup
of tea, but their concert last year I thought was impressive,
and this CD is likewise massive. One firm block of concrete that
weights a ton (or 2). I am pretty sure that this must be an odd-ball
in the metal scene (unsubstantiated thought there). Bang those
heads slowly (in). Great stuff. (FdW)
Address: http://www.displeasedrecords.com
TROUM - SIGQAN (CD by Transgredient Records)
In a way Troum are the masters of their scene - everything they
touch seems to turn into gold, and if not the first time around,
then perhaps a second time. 'Sigqan' was released in 2003 on Desolation
House Records, which was a sub-division of Relapse Records, and
has been out of print for a while. Now its being re-released again
by Transgredient Records, Troum's own label. That might say something
about what the band thought of this. The material on this CD was
based on a couple of live concerts they did in October 2001 with
Ultrasound. No doubt the true Troum heads have this already, but
for those who arrived a bit later, this is indeed Troum music
as Troum music should sound. It is one steady stream of sound
that, like good drugs, float immediately to one's head. Dark,
heavily atmospheric, but never a cliched form of ambient music.
Guitars play an important part in the second piece (well, perhaps
in all three, but I am not sure about that), which actually brings
some light to the scenery. One could argue wether all Troum releases
sound the same, which they don't, but its certainly not a band
to change their style a lot. And why should they? There is no
reasons for it, and I think their output is not that big, so its
easy for them to stick around in that same area. 'Sigqan' is a
nice one indeed. Good to have back in print. (FdW)
Address: http://www.dronerecords.de
ANOTHER ANOTHER GREEN WORLD (CD compilation
by Narrominded)
Before I could review this compilation, I had to go back to the
original. The idea is this: Narrominded invited a bunch of musicians
to cover Brian Eno's 'Another Green World' - the whole album,
each track by a different artist. They did such a scheme before
with 'Evol' by Sonic Youth. I know 'Another Green World', but
much to my regret I am not the biggest Eno-rock fan in the world.
I prefer his instrumental work over his more rock oriented work.
Now that I am hearing the original again, I think I should perhaps
re-consider that. It much nicer than I remember, and not as rock-based.
Eno here combines various styles, rock, ambient into a bunch of
nice songs. Narrominded invited a whole bunch of Dutch artists,
who mainly belong to the world of 'beats and synthesizers', to
avoid such terms as techno, but if you know Legowelt, Rude 66
or Hydrus, you may know better. These people take the gist of
a song and turn it into something else. And usually without vocals.
I bet that if you'd play say Nanko's version of 'Little Fishes'
a dedicated Eno fan might have a problem spotting this as a cover
thereof. In some cases one may be could. Its a nice compilation
however, wether or not you love Eno. Maybe it side tracks the
original too much here and there, or perhaps Eno's genius is hard
to passed by, but in all a nice one. (FdW)
Address: http://www.narrominded.com
KIM CASCONE - ANTI-MUSICAL CELESTIAL FORCES
(CD by Störung)
Its been a while since I last heard something from Kim Cascone.
I am sure he didn't give doing music, but what the hell he was
up to? Traveling most likely, roaming the earth with concerts.
And going places, means recording places. That is what this new
CD is about: field recordings, treated with computer generated
sounds, and Cascone's voice. Not that he started singing, but
he's doing a narration at the beginning. That, I think, is a bummer.
I am usually not fond of singing, but also talking is not so my
coffee. He mixes that with field recordings and the whole thing
lasts under twenty-eight minutes. Its not a bad release, but its
something that seems a bit too easy for me. A bunch of field recordings,
some long wave recordings, some computerized stuff and that's
it. Not bad, but not much tension either, no real power that one
could perhaps except from his long standing reputation. Easy listening
- in every sense of the word. (FdW)
Address: http://www.storung.com
ANTYE GREIE AKA AGF - EINZELKAMPFER (CD
by AGF Produktion)
Every now and then I receive a new CD by AGF aka Antye Greie (or
Antye Greie aka AGF as it says on this cover), but I'm not sure
if its then the follow-up to whatever thought was the previous,
in this case 'Words Are Missing' (see Vital Weekly 611), or perhaps
there have been other releases, which i missed on. So perhaps
'Einzelkämpfer' (sole warrior) is her fifth solo CD, and
it sees a continuation of her previous work: electronic music
and poetry, voices and language. Not always easy to understand
what these words are about, but I guess that is Greie's entire
point. She creates images in sound, through sound and through
words. I guess its like that with poetry: one can not always understand
what a poem is about, but grasp the feeling. Greie's music was
at one point perhaps seen as an alternative for dance floor music,
and perhaps there are still faint traces of that here, such as
perhaps in 'Her Beauty Kills Me', but throughout most this new
work, this is something you are better off listening on your own,
at home, in private. Sometimes frightenly, sometimes beautifully,
full of love, easy going or difficult. I am known not always like
the music that deals with a strong emphasis on vocals, or even
pure poetry stuff, but for the work of AGF I'd like to make an
exception. Her work is a great combination of electronic music
and spoken word/singing, which seem to be in an excellent balance
here. Again, maybe a bit long for an entire CD of an hour, but
a very fine work again. (FdW)
Address: http://www.poemproducer.com
YOKO HIGASHI & LIONEL MARCHETTI - OKURA
73N-42E (CD by Musica Genera)
With the letter M of Much Music, the M of Muslimgauze, Merzbow
and Machinefabriek is also the M of Marchetti, Lionel, who is
a very composer these days and with quite an amount of releases
under his belt. Here he teams up with his partner Yoko Higashi,
who is also an active composer of electronic music (with various
releases on Entr'acte). They each have a solo piece and one collaborative.
Marchetti uses sounds from the Stubnitz, the boat/venue from Rostock,
along with some sine wave like sound and radio voices. In Higashi's
piece field recordings from Mozambique play an important role,
along with various voices of different kinds and some electronic
(analogue) processing. At almost sixteen minutes this is the longest
piece on this CD. Curiously enough their collaborative piece is
called 'Petrole 42' (Marchetti's solo piece is 'Petrole 73'),
so its not difficult (or not to avoid) to see this piece as an
extension of his solo piece. That I thought was a pity. Although
the CD was quite nice, I also had the idea it was a bit of a filler
- not the best work of Marchetti, but rather the need of getting
one out. Still of a good quality, while not his best. (FdW)
Address: http://www.musicagenera.net
BLACK FEELINGS (CD by Alien8 Recordings)
Slowly Alien8 Recordings are transforming into a real pop/rock
label. At least that's what I think. Black Feelings is another
new name on their roster, to play rock music with a daring edge.
The label calls this 'the band has developed a unique hybrid of
the British post punk and experimental scenes that spawned the
likes of This Heat, Gang Of Four and the Pop Group with heavy
traces of psychedelic-goth and cold wave. Although perhaps this
is another unVital release, I must say I quite enjoyed it, and
perhaps its because I like the three bands mentioned in reference
(all of which I must admit I don't hear that well as an influence,
but I guess that's good). Bass, guitar/synth and drums/vocals
is what the line up is about and the music sounds pretty retro,
but in a sort of mash style of various genres. Heavy rock, sometimes
even a bit symphonic, swollen and pathetic, but at times also
with a bit of post-punk and indeed a bit of experiment (well,
within the realms of rock that is, not perhaps by Vital's standards).
Not every track is great, 'Aum Shinrikyo' for instance is a bit
too dark for me, and 'Gails' is a bit of slow bore, but the other
six I thought were pretty alright. A good anti-dote for the regular
Vital digest. (FdW)
Address: http://www.alien8recordings.com
THE BEAUTIFUL SCHIZOPHONIC - EROTIKON (CD
by Cronica Electronica)
PIOTR KUREK - LECTURES (CD by Cronica Electronica)
Jorge Mantas, the man behind The Beautiful Schizophonic, is a
romantic man - at least that's what I think, as I never met him.
For the press release he wrote a long text, dealing with erotics
- and thus he creates a dreamworld of his own. His music, through
the years he's been active, is also of a romantic nature. String
like computer sounds, a bit like Gas did, form the basis of all
his compositions. Here he gets help from Yui Onodera, Sleeping
Me and Christina Vantzou doing voices. Thus he carves out a fine
niche of his own. Nothing abstract, nothing 'nothing', no mystery
- just a plain guy (his own words) with a love for beautiful women
and beautiful textured music. Ambient? Sure. Microsound? Of course.
Something special? Mwah... no, not really. If you take the music
face value, what is left is a beautiful woven tapestry of sound,
very ambient, most suitable for long evenings near the fireplace.
Nothing special. What makes it special is the context in which
he brings us this music - that is a particular daring thing, to
be so open about it. Nice indeed.
The other new CD is an odd-ball, certainly for a label like Cronica
Electronica, who deal with laptop music and electronics. I have
no clue as to what Piotr Kurek does to generate his music. Sometimes
it seems like improvisations on acoustic percussion (such as in
'Part 1') but then something like 'Tripartite' could very well
be a duet between accordion and laptop. The title refers to lectures
given by Cornelius Cardew, who died in 1981, but whose son Walter
has from lectures, performances and rehearsals. He handed them
to Kurek, who used them in this work. An odd-ball, that brings
up some questions, like what the relation is between the spoken
word pieces by Cardew and the music by Kurek. Just inspired? Or
is the music from Kurek all so spontaneous as Cardew wanted? Why
not just add those as liner notes? In some cases music and talking
mixes, which is nice, such as in '1963', but when the talking
is 'solo', it turned me a bit off. However the music here is quite
nice. A most curious mixture of laptop music (I assume) and improvisation
makes this something that is not heard often. Great one. (FdW)
Address: http://www.cronicaelectronica.org
PTOSE/ERICKA IRGANON - PPPK 005 + PPPK 017
(CD by Infrastition)
LAURENT PERNICE - DETAILS (CD by Infrastition)
UN DEPARTMENT - LES III VINYLS (CD by Infrastition)
Although we review the occasional re-issue when it comes around,
there is ], out there, a whole market for labels that are just
doing re-issues of old works that somehow don't make it to these
pages. For instance Les Temps Modernes unearthing lots of music
from Factory Records and Les Disques Du Crepscule, and in France
there is the Infrastition label. They released, among others,
the works of Das Wesen, a band from Vital's hometown, which was
great - even if just for me.
From their catalogue they send me three albums,
which they thought might be of interest for our readers, and yes,
they are. The first release deals with two re-issues from the
Ptose label, by Ptose and Ericka Irganon. Ptose, a French group
from the early to mid 80s, which were always called the French
answer to The Residents, a connection that I somehow failed to
see. Sure, they share the same weirdness, but throughout I think
Ptose were more electronic and more pop, with a big twist. Sequencer
driven, with weird keyboard melodies, and odd vocals. On this
CD they have an early tape, 'Handmade Electronics' (from 1981).
Relatively short songs at work here, and in the live rendition
of 'Boule' (one of their best known songs), a guitar and drums
pop up. On 'Le Rat d'Hotel' by one Ericka Irganon the analogue
sound has moved on from the strict analogue synthesizer, to more
complex structures, better drum machine, electric piano. Updated
to the sound of those days I'd say, but it lost some of that rough
early edge (which people these days might like better, I assume),
but still brings out nice, even more dark pop tunes. I never figured
out, then and now, what the difference was between Ptose and Irganon,
but this is a great re-issue.
Nox member Laurent Pernice released his first LP 'Details' in
1989 on Permis de Construire, an album which I missed out upon
back then. Since then he has been quite active in music, although
just one work was reviewed in Vital Weekly, 'Humus - Musique Immobiles
5-15' in Vital Weekly 429. The three preceding parts of 'Musique
Immobiles', 1 to 3 are also on the re-issue of 'Details' (I have
no idea whatever happened to number 4). On his first album, I
think he uses sampling, which back then wasn't a very common place
for people to use. In the sampler goes various recordings of instruments,
such as percussion, guitar and violin or cello. Then he creates
pieces of music with that. Sometimes a bit crude, dark poptunes
like, such as in the strongly percussive 'Chanson D'Amour', including
sampled metal percussion. This is the kind of music from a transitional
period: musicians with a background in pop (however out of pop
they were) moving into a territory of composition with common
instruments and new techniques. This record is a nice souvenir
from that era.
Completely gone, I think, are the members of Un Department. They
released a cassette on Illusion Production, the label of DDAA,
but apparently also three pieces of vinyl. They are collected
on a CD here. One 12" single, one 7", one LP, a compilation
track (from 'Voices Notes Noise') and an unreleased piece from
1982. This is altogether a different thing. Un Department is a
trio of Phil gaz, Marcel Kanche and Bruno Tollard and their music
comes from a rock angle, albeit a more experimental and improvised
one. They have, I think, drums, guitar, bass and synthesizer at
their disposal and use voices. Its weirdness but not for the sake
of weirdness, but to do something different in rock music, coming
very much from post-punk and No New York, but without the aggression
or violence. They instead borrow elements from European folk music,
electronic music and mix it together with improvised rock elements.
Maybe a bit This Heat like, or such older English bands, but it
has a great style of its own. I never heard any of these records
back then, but this twenty song collection is a great gem from
the past. None of these three a big on liner notes, which is perhaps
the only downside of these otherwise most welcome re-issues. (FdW)
Address: http://www.infrastition.com
THE TOBACCONISTS - THE DARK SECRETS OF DOCTOR
PERATI / PROMETHEUS (7" by Plinkity Plonk)
The Tobacconists are no other than Frans de Waard (some of you
may have heard of him) and Scott Foust (some of you may have heard
of him as well), both of them notorious smokers and versatile
musicians. The first quality is aptly expressed in the design
based on Russia's cheapest pack of smokes, Belamor Kanal: very
nice indeed. The last quality is expressed aptly as well on this
7". The side called 'The dark secrets of doctor Perati' is
a kind of drony piece with long stretched synth sounds, but layered
in that are all kinds of acoustic elements, varying from squeaking
doors (?) to rhythmic pulses and with a great ending! The other
side, 'Prometheus', sounds more open and dynamic, almost like
a radioplay. The combination of both sides works well and offers
a good impression of what
these two smokers can achieve. Certainly just as good as their
3"! (MG)
Address: http://www.kormplastics.nl
KALLABRIS - MUSIC FOR VERY SIMPLE OBJECTS
(10" by Substantia Innominata)
OLHON - LUCIFUGUS (10" by Substantia Innominata)
The latest two releases in Drone Records' series Substantia Innominata
are by Olhon and Kallabris. Especially the latter is good news,
as over the years I have been liking their work more and more.
And the more I like it, the less I understand it, if in fact there
is something to understand at all. This 10" with some cryptic
text about the Unspeakable, The Unnameable, dealing with 'the
grey matter", "the dark continent' is a most puzzling
work. Small pieces, flowing into eachother, of field recordings,
bits of music, some weird indoor sounds, cracks and all such like
is brought to you in a collage form. No drone like sounds, but
rather a work of musique concrete. Like the RLW release before
in this series, maybe an odd-ball, but a rather nice odd-ball.
Simple objects? Perhaps. Great music they bring.
In more traditional Drone Records land is the release by Olhon,
which is a collaboration between Bad Sector and Where, who recorded
a bunch of sounds in an abandoned large metal water tank in Italy.
These recordings have been processed a bit (well, or to a large
extend), and sound like something we should expect on this series.
Metallic rumble, computerized overdrive moved all the way to the
background, some voices humming: creepy ambient industrial music.
The rattling of insects - or perhaps the death rattle of insects?
I haven't seen the water tank, but its size is made audible here,
that's for sure. Spooky stuff, but also with enough experiment
in them, which prevent the listener from getting sucked into this
maelstrom of sound. Not as good as the Kallabris one, but then
I might have an opinion that belongs a minority. (FdW)
Address: http://www.dronerecords.de
ASHBERRY - RESIN (CDR by Wounded Wolf)
Only twenty-five copies have been made of this: one could ask
why bother, or why not make more of them? Is the music not that
good that only two hands full should be out? The website reads
something about "handmade card-box in a bag of linen with
natural ephemera attached to it. Leaves , birch , pieces of corks
and such.", but no such thing with my copy. I do like to
see the real thing (www.vitalweekly.net.fga.html to see how to
submit promo's, which doesn't include sending an e-mail: can I
send a promo?, like so many seem to be doing). I hear some string
sounds, piano and natural events. Oddly I was reminded of an early
eighties group called New 7th Music, which no doubt not a lot
will remember, but who had the same tranquility and the same sense
of using acoustic instruments. Music that doesn't force itself
upon the listener, but rather sets the mood, an atmosphere is
created, and a very nice atmosphere it is. A free form Arvo Part,
totally uncomposed, but with the same melancholic stretch. A pity
that neither Ashberry nor Wounded Wolf seems to be interested
in a somewhat bigger audience. (FdW)
Address: http://woundedwolf.wordpress.com
DOC WOR MIRRAN - A PORTRAIT OF YOUR DEATH
(CDR by MissManagement)
Something I didn't know, or perhaps just didn't realize, is that
Doc Wor Mirran is an active band, a very active one, but all of
their work is studio work. In all of their twenty-five years of
existence they played three concerts, including this one recorded
on November 12th 2007 in Koln, Germany and the John Peel festival.
The line up consists of Ralf Lexis (guitar, samples), Joseph B.
Raimond (bass) and Adrian Gromley (alto sax, bass clarinet, clarinet,
RC-50 loop station). The samples Lexis uses here consist of the
many tapes people send to Doc Wor Mirran over the years, such
as Asmus Tietchens, Conrad Schnitzler, Rat Scabies, Paul Lemos
or Genesis P-Orridge. This forty minute concert is quite a pleasant
one, seeing Doc Wor Mirran going krautrock. The rhythm machine
ticks away time in a very linear fashion. Mechanical, motorik,
Neu like, while the three players play around that, in a sort
of endless jam fashion, while keeping things straight. Every now
and then voices from the tapes pop up, like the spoken word intro
of Frank Abendroth (which, I must admit, sounds a bit silly) or
communist choir music. Laidback but uptempo, this is music to
work by, as it has a great energy to it. Excellent production,
which hardly sounds 'live' at all. Excellent work, which made
me wonder: why don't they play out more concerts? (FdW)
Address: http://www.dwmirran.de
TUNER+ - LIVE IN OBLOMOVA (CDR, private)
Not much information to go by here. Two guys, Tonino Taiuti and
Maurizio Argenziano, both on electric guitar, three tracks, all
recorded live. The opening piece 'TM' is a heavy distorted guitar
cum feedback piece. Eleven minutes of mayhem, but its not well
spend on me. The other two tracks (eleven and sixteen minutes)
are of much more interest: quiet, intense improvisations, like
a case of suppressed noise, which towards the end of 'MVT' is
getting a bit of real noise, but somehow it never bursts out.
These two tracks are pretty good and solid, and it would have
been enough for me, and 'TM' could have been left off. Also on
the CDR is a video of this concert, which seems to me a fourth
piece, again, like 'TM" of full noise blast for the first
two minutes, but the true power lies in seeing them manipulate
their guitars and a strange act of a weightlifter. Curious. (FdW)
Address: <silenzifree@yahoo.it>
PHIL MOULDYCLIFF & COLIN POTTER - TRAJECTORIES
(CDR by ICR)
Not right on the list 'places I need to have seen', but Christmas
Island: yeah, if I'm around, why not (Easter Island is actually
on top of that list). One David Carson and Phil Mouldycliff have
been to the Christmas Island where they recorded a whole bunch
of sounds, all of which are carefully mentioned, per track, on
the cover: Frigate birds, Red footed Boobies, Cicadas, Emerald
Doves, White Eyes, Christmas Is. Trush, Abbots Boobies or the
Imperial Pigeon, well, among others, actually. Also locations
are described on the cover, and back home (I assume), Mouldycliff
composed pieces of music with these recordings, which Colin Potter
then 'processed and produced', which allows him the same front
cover credit, I guess. It makes it, on the other hand, not easy
to tell what is what here: what is Mouldycliff composition and
what is Potter's processing and production. There is lots more
mentioned on the cover, such in the 'Trajectories 1' there is
a 'time stretch voice Soloist', which I must say sounds a bit
like an easy trick. All four pieces use bird sounds, but the results
aren't always the same. The first 'Trajectories' use this time
stretched voice, whereas in the second there just bird and bell
sounds and things sound rather open. In this third part drones
return in a very peaceful fashion, along with the birds. With
twenty-four minutes the best part of the release. In the final
part there are also drones but of a much more darker nature. Four
quite different pieces of music, of which the first one was the
least appealing one, but the other three sounded great. Excellent
drone music with field recordings - or vice versa. (FdW)
Address: http://www.icrdistribution.com
TAKU UNAMI - MALIGNITAT 2 (CDR by Free Software
Series)
XXXXX - IS-LAND (CDR by Free Software Series)
Its been a while since we last heard from Mattin and his Free
Software Series, or perhaps we missed out on a few. The idea is
simple: there is free audio software out there to generate music,
and that's basically what these composers do. Taku Unami is perhaps
a bit known already for his work in the field of improvised music,
and he is quite a radical voice in that scene with a strong love
for extreme quietness. Here he uses 'Kluppe, PD, Ardour on Debian',
which I guess means a lot for the initiated, but not for me. His
thirty-six minute piece is an odd one. It has various lengthy
bits of silence and otherwise dwells on solo sounds. Dry sounds
of electronic origin. Clicks, hiss, static - that sort of thing,
but never working around using plug ins. Towards the end things
explode into a noise thing, which cuts out as abruptly as they
start. A radical work, I'd say, one that requires all your concentration.
A strange composition, but surely a captivating one.
The cover for XXXXX's 'Is-Land' lists 'GNU/Linux, GNU Emacs, GCC,
EVP, Audicity under Debian (testing)' and inside a lengthy text
on magic, ghostly voices and such like. Hard to figure what this
is all about. The music is pretty much based on static hiss, cable
hum and perhaps other sorts of interference picked up in an empty
room. The noise at work is quite nice, but in the three lengthy
pieces also a bit overlong. The six other pieces seem to have
the length they fit, somewhere between two and five minutes, which
is absolutely fine to get the idea across (ok, so I lie here:
its all a bit unclear to me what this release is about. But aside
of that, I must admit its the sort of noise I like: not too loud,
not always loud and maybe with some consideration. Download this
software and start toying around - I believe that's also a message
from this label. Do it yourself in the digital age. (FdW)
Address: http://www.freesoftwareseries.org
SOIZIC LEBRAT & HEDDY BOUBAKER - ACCUMULATION
D'ACARIATRES ACARIENS (CDR by Petit Label)
GUILLAUME VILTARD - RUNNING AWAY (CDR by Un Reve Nu)
Two CDRs of improvised music from France, both from relatively
young musicians. Heddy Boubaker is a musician from the south of
France. He started on electric guitar playing in rock bands, but
switched to alto and baritone sax doing improvised music and sound
research. Soizic Lebrat comes from Nantes. Both are new names
for me. But listening to their CDR one can only conclude that
they already have a history behind them. Very accomplished players
with an enormous vocabularies. Their improvisations are fantastic
duets, very fluid and subtle. Very rich and concentrated sound
improvisations, constantly moving and shifting, showing different
sides of their talent and musical vision. Improvised music at
its best. Chapeau! Only 100 were made of this live recording (april
2008 in Toulouse).
Petit Label has a very small catalogue. Un Rêve Nu is even
smaller, with 'Running Away' as the first and only release till
now. We find the CD slabbed between two parts of wood, that have
photos on the inside, and handmade paintings on the outside. Both
pieces of wood are held together by magnets. Nice work! The music
on this CD comes from Guillaume Viltard, another young french
improvisor. He played with Boubaker, Lebrat and many other improvisors.
He developed already at a young age a love for improvised music
(CecilTaylor). In 2003 he did his fist soloperformance. I'm not
sure, but I suppose 'Running Away' is his first solorecord of
doublebass improvisations. Some of the recordings were done in
the open air, in the woods of Bouconne to be more precise. The
other ones in some studio. Viltard proves himself as an improvisor
with many extended techniques to his disposal. His music is from
time to time very introspective, making it difficult to enjoy.
But there are also many fantastic eruptions of soundimprovisation
to be enjoyed here. The recordings that were done in the woods
leave much room for the birds and environment, although it goes
too far to speak of a dialogue with nature. On the other hand
in my mind these outside recordings created the phantasy that
the sounds produced by Viltard come from a horde of insects. (DM)
Address: http://www.petitlabel.com / http://unrevenu.free.fr
JOSH - I AM WAKING UP (3"CDR by Envizagae
Records)
There is no information to go by here. Just one Josh, who recorded
five tracks. Pieces of rhythm oriented music, with some synths,
voice samples and some sound effects. Not real techno based, but
maybe a bit at the weirdo end of IDM. I can't say it's good or
great by any standard, but somehow it all went a bit past by me.
Maybe its the brief character of such a release, but certainly
also has something to do with the music itself. Some experiment
(such as in 'Piano Truth'), a bit of melancholy, working around
with loops of sound and rhythm, but it all stayed a bit too much
in a common place, a bit face- as well as directionless. This
calls for some serious thinking and decision making. What does
he want, which direction? I don't know, its a decision I can't
make for him. Anything would be good, I guess, but it needs more
thinking for sure. (FdW)
Address: http://www.envizage.de
New MP3 releases:
1. From: Harco Rutgers <harco@escrec.com>
Transfolmer - Remixes
This release is a compilation of tracks Transfolmer has made together
with or inspired by artists he met online (mostly on myspace).
A collection of remixes if you will. And a fine collection at
that. Melancholy oozes out of every song (again). All new influences,
sounds and voices on this release enrich and replenish Transfolmer's
sound. Leaving you with a warm (and free) soundtrack for the fall.
More info and download here: <http://www.escrec.com/category/escrec24>