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VITAL WEEKLY
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number 705
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week 46
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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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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.xml
THOMAS WATKISS - ANCESTOR PHASE 2: MACHINE
(CD by The Seventh Media) *
CLUSTER - QUA (CD by Klangbad) *
SISTER IODINE - FLAME DESASTRE (CD by Editions Mego)
NOVI_SAD - MORT AUX VACHES (CD by Staalplaat) *
QUARTET OFFENSIVE - CARNIVORE (CD by Morphius Records)
THE TONY WILSON SEXTET - THE PEOPLE LOOK LIKE FLOWERS AT LAST
(CD by Drip Audio)
VIVIANE HOULE - TREIZE (CD by Drip Audio)
FACET - CONSCIOUS MENTAL FIELD RECORDINGS (CD by Satelita)
BIRDS OF TIN - ALTERWISE (CD by Diophantine Discs) *
BORAH BERGMAN & STEFANO PASTOR - LIVE AT TORTONA (CD by Mutable
Music)
JB FLOYD & THOMAS BUCKNER & GEORGE MARSH - IN CROSSING
THE BUSY STREET (CD by Mutable Music)
DREKKA - COLLECTED WORKS VOLUME ONE (2CD by Morc Records) *
NIKASAYA - ONE SUMMERHEIM (CD by Someone Good) *
AKIRA KOSEMURA - POLEROID PIANO (CD by Someone Good) *
GARCON TAUPE/LEGOWELT (split LP by Narrominded) *
SAVVAS YSATIS & TAYLOR DEUPREE - HOURGLASS (12" by 12K)
CHARLES BASCOMB VS ROBOT BRAIN (CDR By Stront)
DOODLEINAKAKOON + SHITTING WHORE + ODAL LIVE ON RADIO STRONT (CDR
by Stront)
L.S.D. MOSSEL - 9-2-08 LIVE (CDR By Stront)
DASHA BI (CDR By Stront)
ODAL - NOISE (CDR By Stront)
ODIVSEMBOEL - VOMIT SUCKING CUNT LIPS (CDR By Stront)
EGODEATH (CDR By Stront)
STIRNER (CDR By Stront)
BARTHEL GADAU KOPP ROTHER WEIBEL - RADIO STUDENT (CDR by Hymns)
*
CHEFKIRK & IRONING - NOTORIOUS (CDR by Hymns) *
D'INCISE - SECHERESSE PLANTEE EN PLEIN CIEL (CDR by Gruenrekorder)
*
ISCHIO ROMANTICO - FROM THE HIP (CDR by Shadazz) *
JAN-KEES HELMS - SUMMER (CDR by Q-Tone) *
AKUMU - TAPETEN (DVD-R by Spider Records)
HOTEL GROMADA - AMAZONIAN ROVERS (CDR by Elephant And Castles)
PRESLAV LITERARY SCHOOL - BEAUTIFUL WAS THE TIME (CDR by Elephant
And Castles)
CAWA SORIX - PIPISTRELLO (3"CDR by Elephant And Castles)
TOY BIZARRE - KDI DCTB 216 [DATA #5] (3"CDR by Ingeos) *
MARK CETILIA - ANEMOI (3"CDR by Quiet Design) *
SRMEIXNER - I AM YOUR PALLBEARER (MP3)
+ new MP3 releases and annopuncements
THOMAS WATKISS - ANCESTOR PHASE 2: MACHINE
(CD by The Seventh Media)
As announced back in Vital Weekly 623, Thomas Watkiss is busy
to release a trilogy. 'Silence' was the opening, now its time
for 'Machine', which comes in the form of a double CD. One CD
has phase two, the other has a live recording from Norway from
Autumn of 2008. The new album moves away from the dark ambient
music of 'Silence' and the machines are set in motion. The landscape
he depicts is that of an empty industrial site - at night of course.
Hit perhaps by a nuclear blast a few days ago, smoke everywhere.
Or maybe after an invasion of bugs. Its certainly not a pleasant
world - but perhaps its our modern world indeed. Maybe the reality
is not so pleasant? More than before, but this is merely an assumption,
it seems to me that he is using synthesizers, sound effects and
computer manipulation, rather than guitars, or bass like on the
previous. Well, perhaps he does play them, but then its less obvious.
In the live version, spanning two long pieces, in which things
are a bit more stretched out then in his studio work, taking more
time to develop his music. Here he seems to be combining the dark
ambient of 'Silence', with bits of the more bleak industrial nightmares
of 'Machine' - a combination that works wonderfully well. It made
me curious to hear the third part by now. (FdW)
Address: http://www.thomaswatkiss.net
CLUSTER - QUA (CD by Klangbad)
In Germany they make a distinction between E music (from 'ernste',
serious music) and U (from 'underhaltung', entertainment). No
doubt something the two gentleman behind Cluster are aware of.
But I wonder where they see themselves in this division? E or
U? I'd say that their oldest (and still best) records were Kluster
one and two, spelled with a K, and they were definitely serious
music. I still give them a spin, once a year. I didn't keep up
with the Cluster releases, far and many, or their solo works,
from the last forty years, but occasionally I hear a bit, here
and there. 'Qua' is the latest addition to their expanded universe.
A beat is set forward, synthesizers are added. For a good seventeen
tracks, nearly fifty-five minutes of music. I ate some crackers
with cheese, a few more pages from my book, checked e-mail and
all along I said to myself: 'this is jolly good, funny entertainment'.
The music never forces itself upon the listener, but in stead
flows by, like an endless stream of sounds, ideas, images (if
you care to take a look), sketches and notes. Good or bad seem
irrelevant here. Its impossible to hate this, but likewise its
difficult to embrace it whole heartedly. It seems to be too normal,
like a nutritious meal which tastes good, but isn't special either.
Good U music though, very good. (FdW)
Address: http://www.klangbad.de
SISTER IODINE - FLAME DESASTRE (CD by Editions
Mego)
This was originally released as a vinyl - the French "band"
which consists of drummer and two guitarists- Lionel Fernandez
(fr, Paris) Erik Minkkinen (usa, Paris), Nicolas Sakamoto-Mazet
(fr-usa, New York) have in the past played with the likes of Sonic
Youth, Faust, US Mapple, Circle X, Keiji Haino, Flaming Demonics,
Bästard, Krackhouse, Melt Banana, Tone Rec. and have just
completed an extensive European tour. On this release the sound
is not that recognizably guitar/drums - but electronics - noise
- but carefully choreographed, the sounds appear, and disappear
although the semiotics is strange the underlying picture is sonically
total and representational. They form part of a tendency to re-musicalize
noise and backed by a certain "successful" neo-clique
will probably succeed. Illusions of child pornography and carefully
structured pieces which are rational and describable - certainly
bodies with organs - a movement to re territorialize not just
noise but culture itself. More (! as in Thurston?:-) specters
of Mussorgsky than Marx, but the same generality of some line
of flight- wire music - the doctors have re-taken the asylum,
at best/worst it's the pink floyd at their best/worst, and more
an embroidery than a bricolage of abstraction rather than the
psychic commitment of the insane and out of luck, money, ideas,
talent, future .. of authentic noise, its just too good, too well
done. (for me/or to be really silly - for the thing in itself)
Maybe I'm wrong here- maybe its an ironic careful photo realistically
plastic representation of noise - as if you can - and you can
- copy its texture as flat surface, it reminds me of art language's
paintings by mouth, a physical talent used to subjugate or avoid
the confrontation with the "concept", "idea"
and problematics of ideality. Whether deliberate or not its Noisesac
as in the Sgnt Pepperist penultimate track of 7.51 half of which
is silent (the latter) should have been 8.66 and then we would
all be laughing. (jliat)
Address: http://www.editionsmego.com
NOVI_SAD - MORT AUX VACHES (CD by Staalplaat)
From the somewhat forty-five minutes this new
discs last, about eight minutes are totally silent. Since putting
an excerpt of this in the Vital Weekly podcast, I have to transfer
it to my computer and normalized (meaning make it zero DB) and
noticed there is also actually music in there. Odd, why should
it be so incredibly silent? If you would turn up your volume all
the way up in those parts (three minutes at the beginning and
five at the end) it would mean ripping your speakers apart in
the middle part, when things become so much louder. A Lopezian
take on dynamics, perhaps? Since this was recorded for a radio
broadcast I am pretty sure these minutes were not broadcasted.
Novi_sad from Greece is the youngest 'star' on the scene of microsonic,
field recording and laptop artists, with a considerable profile,
playing for instance the Gaudemus music week here in The Netherlands
(who hardly invite would invite a like minded Dutch artist I'd
say) and works for Touch. And quite rightly so: what Novi_sad
does, might not be entirely new (but then: who does?), but what
he does he does with some excellence. Following his silent intro,
there is an outburst of sea wave like noise sound for a while,
which forms the absolute counterpoint of the silent intro. The
middle part - of the part that actually can be heard - is a sort
of organ like drone piece and in the closing part, the organ and
the seaside meet up and make a brutal return of cascading sound.
Before we leap into silence again, the organ makes the final fade
out. Its microsonic in that respect that the changes in this piece
are as minimal as they come, whereas the sound has a maximum output
- when there is something to be heard of course. In that respect
Novi_sad is not microsound at all: the music is loud and abrasive.
A really great work, which brings a lot of delight here. Loud,
soft, silence, noise, its all there and all brought with elegance
and style. Excellent package also. (FdW)
Address: http://www.staalplaat.com
QUARTET OFFENSIVE - CARNIVORE (CD by Morphius
Records)
This one was lost for a few weeks. It strangely disappeared after
a nightly ride. But happily it surfaced yesterday, and I can complete
my review of this one at last. "Carnivore" is the debut
release of a group from Baltimore: John Dierker (reeds), Eric
Trudel (sax), Matt Frazao (guitar), Adam Hopkins (bass) and Nathan
Ellman-Bell (drums). So a quintet rather dan a quartet. They are
around since 2007 and already shared bills with Tim Berne, Jack
Wright and others. The recording was done live and no overdubs
or editing took place. This exemplifies how they work. Each performance
is unique, performing a show twice is not what they are interested
in. They play written as well as improvised stuff, making an original
mix jazz and rock. They are residing in the same in-between-land
as groups like Claudia Quintet. To call it avant garde goes a
bit too far. But they are original and refreshing in their approach.
However not engaging and convincing from beginning to end. Sometimes
the power an togetherness is gone, and at other moments I,m not
sure in what direction they are moving. But at many other moments
they show they are capable of effectively structuring their music,
and building up pieces gradually towards a climax. Also they demonstrate
that they don't feel afraid to move from very slow and patient
passages to very loud and rocky interludes. Easily they switch
from almost easy listening atmospheres like in the beginning of
"Goodbye, Cavendish", to straight rock like in "O.D"
or the opening track. They also feel at home in abstract improvisations
leaving many conventions behind them. Frazao attracts attention
with his electronically processed guitarsolo in "Heavy-Light".
He is responsible for some convincing solowork also in "O.D",
whereas the reedplaying in this track lacks this same selfconciousness.
I like them best in cacaphonic passages like in the closing track
"The MSB". All together a promising debut from a band
that can tab from many sources (DM)
Address: http://www.morphius.com/
THE TONY WILSON SEXTET - THE PEOPLE LOOK
LIKE FLOWERS AT LAST (CD by Drip Audio)
VIVIANE HOULE - TREIZE (CD by Drip Audio)
Two new releases from Drip Audio. "Treize" is the debut
album of singer Viviane Houle. Houle is a an extremely capable
vocal artist with many techniques to her disposal. Assisted by
13 musicians she spent three days in the studio, mid-2008, for
free improvisations sets in a duo-format. The results are amazing.
The instruments that accompany her are: cello, piano, sax, drums,
guitar, analog keyboards, violin, trombone, bas and laptop. Not
only the instrumentation differs from piece to piece, but also
the atmospheres, etc. she builds with her musical partners, all
of them musicians with whom she plays regularly. Because of this
procedure Houle meets very different proposals, styles, personalities,
etc. This makes that we hear Houle explore her almost endless
vocal possibilities in very different directions. In the few pieces
where she sings a text, her voice is most close to jazz phrasing.
In most of the pieces however Houle hums, scribbles, squeals,
grumbles, screams, always in an intense performance. All these
improvisations move at the same extreme abstract level. Sometimes
very introvert, like in "Paperthin" with Coat Cooke
on saxophone. In other pieces very extravert like in "Au
Revas", where Houle shows a very theatrical face. "Song
not for you" with Brent Belke on electric guitar, comes close
a rock esthetics. In contrast it is followed by the closing piece
"Curve". This one consists of one long drone. A nice
ambient piece. Because of the wide range of dramatic settings,
this is not just another album by a vocal improvisor. It is a
very original, multifaced and fulfilling statement.
"The People Look At Flowers At Last" is the name of
the CD of the sextet of Tony Wilson. The crew are all established
musicians from the Vancouver scene who all have their projects
going on: Kevin Elaschuk (flugelhorn, trumpet), Dave Say (saxes,
flute), Peggy Lee (cello), Paul Blaney (double bass), Dylan van
der Schyff (drums) and Tony Wilson himself on guitar and harmonica.
The history of this sextet goes back to 1990. The line up is stabile
since 1995. 2001 saw their debut on Spool. At last their second
one is out now. The first nine pieces on this album offer rearrangments
of parts from Benjamin Brittens composition "Lachrymae",
a work originally written for piano and viola. Wilson adapts this
classical composition into the context of jazz. I don't know the
original work by Britten. Listening to the adaptations by Wilson,
I just find myself very excited by this jazzmusic from this fantastic
ensemble. The album closes with four works by Wilson, one of them
is the titletrack, "The People Look Like Flowers At Last",
derived from a poem by Charles Bukowski. Tony Wilson, who by way
studied with acclaimed jazz musicians like Dave Holland, John
Abercrombie, Steve Coleman, a.o.., offers some very dynamic, and
engaging jazz. Free music not allergic of melodic components.
(DM)
Address: http://www.dripaudio.com/
FACET - CONSCIOUS MENTAL FIELD RECORDINGS
(CD by Satelita)
A (new?) trio of improvisers under the banner of Facet: Maciej
Sledziecki on guitar, Joris Rühl on clarinets and Adrian
Myhr on double-bass. They say they are inspired by northern minimalism,
no wave music and electronic sound collages. The latter I can
vouch for, but the other two influences are a bit harder to see.
Although minimal is certainly the right word for their work. These
boys don't play a lot of different notes and tones. They keep
things to a minimum. Their improvisations are usually of a more
traditional kind: the instruments sound like they are supposed
to. Quite intense playing at that actually, held backed, controlled,
with each player receiving the space they need. As said this is
quite a conventional disc of improvising, which is not a bad thing.
The real beauty lies in the improvising densities they create
with their music. Nice one indeed. (FdW)
Address: http://www.satelita.de
BIRDS OF TIN - ALTERWISE (CD by Diophantine
Discs)
Did we by now acquire more insight in the works of Birds Of Tin?
Not really. He has been around for a long time now, and releases
mostly CDRs of his work. Here however on CD. Two pieces, both
recorded already in 2004, and for whatever reason only now released.
Or perhaps re-released? Or perhaps it has to with the fact that
no music was recorded after 2004 by Brooke Oates? I read some
of my older reviews of Birds Of Tin and in all those years, the
one major things that connects all of his releases, is the endless,
continuous sound that is so very much part of his work. Sounds
of bells, analogue synthesizers are fed through that endless line
of delay pedals and produce a sound that is not far from the original
zoviet*france work. Music that was once described as ambient meets
industrial and that still holds the tune in balance. Like the
previous release, 'Rinpoche', this is another long release. Two
pieces, almost seventy-seven minutes in length, and also like
before not every moment of is equally strong. As such I wonder
for whom this is made. Maybe there are persons who like to use
this as part of a ritualistic event? To be stoned out of their
heads? I am not sure about that. It might be something like that.
Sipping coffee and thoroughly getting through to this is not an
easy thing. Editing is again needed. (FdW)
Address: http://discs.diophantine.net
BORAH BERGMAN & STEFANO PASTOR - LIVE
AT TORTONA (CD by Mutable Music)
JB FLOYD & THOMAS BUCKNER & GEORGE MARSH - IN CROSSING
THE BUSY STREET (CD by Mutable Music)
"In Crossing the Busy Street" is a 22-minute song cycle
composed by J.B. Floyd. Floyd is a pianist, composer and improvisor
with very diverse experience: classical recitals, solos with orchestra,
jazz improvisations, new music, etc. I don't know any of his earlier
work. In the backcatalogue of Mutable Music we find a solo album
by Floyd, "Transporting Transmittance", plus a trio
work with David Rosenboom and Trichy Sankaran ("Suitable
for Framing").
He frequently collaborated with singer Thomas Buckner, which is
also the case on this new recording. Floyd used a poem by Daniel
Abdal-Hayy Moore that is sung by Thomas Buckner with Floyd himself
accompanying Buckner on piano. With his characteristic baritone
voice Buckner defines the grace and elegance that surround these
songs. The compositions of the songs make the impression of an
ageless form of chambermusic.
This changes on the second part of this CD where the songcycle
is followed by 5 improvisations that are inspired on songs from
this cycle. Here Floyd demonstrates his improvisation abilities
together with George Marsh on drums. The first improvisation "He's
The Echo Inside The Echo', starts more or less in the same way
as the song. Other improvisations however move further away from
the songs they are inspired on. The pieces are very close to jazz.
Floyd seeks depth and originality staying within well-known musical
forms. Musically not spectacular if you expect experimental new
music, but new it is from the point that Floyd is a thorough artist
working on solid ground as a composer and improvisor.
With the CD by Behrman and Pastor we stay in comparable atmospheres.
Again a work with piano as the central instrument. This time it
is played by Borah Bergman. Also for Bergman this not the first
release on Mutable Music. With Lol Coxhill and Paul Hession, he
released "Acts of Love".
In the first part of the opening track "Spirit Song"
I had to think of Randy Newman. The same kind of melancholy and
piano music deeply rooted in traditional american music. But from
the moment the playing of Bergman becomes very jumpy, it is clear
we have to deal here with a pianist who is at home in jazz and
improvised music. Monk and Taylor seem points of reference. His
playing has much soul and is very warm. Inspired and intense playing
throughout. Fully in control, he expresses the musical form he
has in mind. Italian improvisor Stefano Pastor is is his partner
in this concert and he attracts attention for another reason.
He plays the violin, albeit a strange one. Pastor rebuilt his
instrument using the strings of electric guitar. This results
in a heavy sound that works out fine in this context. Pastor plays
jazz and improvised music only in recent years, but earlier his
interests went in many directions (Picchio dal Pozzo, etc,). The
recordings of this duet by Bergman and Pastor were done during
a small festival in Tortona, Italy. By accident these recordings
prove Italy still is a very catholic country. At several moments
we hear churchbells in the background. It was the first concert
of both gentlemen at the start of a tour through Italy in 2007.
Must have been a blessed tour. (DM)
Address: http://www.mutablemusic.com/
DREKKA - COLLECTED WORKS VOLUME ONE (2CD
by Morc Records)
Someone sent last week's issue as a reply back to me, saying he
never heard of any of the artists featured. Which I guess is good.
Download the podcast and find out, I'd say. It also proofs there
is some much music out there that deserves to be heard and that
I never heard of. Drekka for instance, the project of one Micheal
Anderson, has been around 1986 (though since 1996 as DRekka) and
now gets a collected works release, which are basically his first
two cassettes and some assorted other work from his earliest days
as Drekka. Morc Records says that if you like folk, shoegaze,
drones and/or minimal songwriting this is thre right place. Actually
I do like some of that, to some extent or another. And seeing
that this is my first introduction to his music, from his earliest
days, a good place to start. Although two discs is a lot of music
to take on at once, I must say I m quite pleased with the music.
Drone like is the best word to describe this, but played in a
lo-fi manner, with a nice emphasis on the guitar and field recordings.
Quite raw at times, but never noise based. Maybe its all a bit
much with twenty-two tracks, of which some are quite lengthy,
but the counterpoint lies in using occasional vocals here and
there. Not in all tracks, and not always throughout. Those pieces
are not always what I like, say the 'minimal song writing' thing,
but here it works quite well. It prevents the CD from being too
much of the same thing, which is always good thing. Nice moody,
textured music, with nice rough edges to it. Lo-fi drone noise
music. Great introduction. (FdW)
Address: http://www.morctapes.com
NIKASAYA - ONE SUMMERHEIM (CD by Someone
Good)
AKIRA KOSEMURA - POLEROID PIANO (CD by Someone Good)
When playing the disc by Nikasaya I was contemplating - not that
the music invites you to, but about the music on offer here. Nikasaya
is Nikaido Kazumi from Hiroshima and Saya of Tenniscoats' fame.
They meet up at the Guggenheim house in Shioya, overlooking the
bay of Kansai, they sit down and write songs. Voices and guitars
principally, using the architecture of the building for some natural
reverb. The music sounds very Japanese, a very particular kind
of Japanese music of course. Not the noise thing, but the dreamy
pop of Tujiko Noriko, well, or perhaps Tenniscoats, and various
others whose names elude me right now. They elude me for the reason
that I find lots of this music not particular interesting or engaging
to listen to. Its not because I don't understand the words (to
which, I must admit, I never really listen anyway), but perhaps
its all a bit sweet for me. I can listen to say Carpenters on
a rainy sunday afternoon, but that's about it for that. I must
say though that the singing on this particular CD by Nikasaya
is very good. Great close harmony, almost in a medieval style
at times.
While not a bad CD by Nikasaya, I found much more pleasure in
the release by Akira Kosemura, who plays the piano here. Just
like the poleroid mentioned in the title, this CD captures moments,
and it colors them, just like a poleroid. He plays ten of these
pieces in a room of small noises. Or perhaps they were added later
on, I am not sure, but they play an important role here too. Where
in other recordings of plain piano music they are kept out, they
are deliberately in here: the foot on the pedal is obviously the
best reference (that is if you know what it takes to play a piano).
Music along the lines of Debussy and Satie, careful, melodic,
silent. One that could have easily fitted on Brian Eno's Obscure
label. Not really pop like, which you may except on a label like
Someone Good, but then also way to 'normal' to be on Room40. A
sort of record that is beyond any categorization. Whatever you
think - pop, classic, experimental - this is damn fine record.
(FdW)
Address: http://www.someonegood.org
GARCON TAUPE/LEGOWELT (split LP by Narrominded)
The fourth issue on Narrominded split LP series sees two Dutch
bands from the world of electronic dance music. Legowelt is already
well-known, perhaps from their releases on Bunker Records an Garcon
Taupe have been on previous Narrominded compilations. They open
up on side A, with five tracks, deep, very deep on the low end
of the bass spectrum, and a dirty old fashioned 80s drum computer
with some great analogue synthesizers. They play rudimentary electro
poptunes, that are actually quite nice. Catchy tunes is what they
call this I guess. It mixes good ol' fashioned 80s synthi-pop
with 90s techno, but in a very playful manner. Legowelt, in their
four pieces, play altogether a somewhat darker tune. Darker, more
mysterious tune. More straight forward techno music, with less
earth shaking bass to it. Nice tracks too, but not on par with
Garcon Taupe, I'd say. I wish this would have been an all Gracon
Taupe album, and then perhaps a nice LP by Legowelt in black/white
cover later on. (FdW)
Address: http://www.narrominded.com
SAVVAS YSATIS & TAYLOR DEUPREE - HOURGLASS
(12" by 12K)
There you go: last week I muttered about the 12" as the forgotten
format for music not being techno, here is the second release
to proof me wrong. Four tracks (ain't that classic or what?) of
music recorded by Savvas Ysatis and Taylor Deupree over the course
of one week in Deupree's country studio. They continue what they
started on 'The Sleeping Morning' (see Vital Weekly 597). Folktronic.
And yes, by now, we are perhaps used to this idea this being on
12K. Deupree and Ysatis play two instrumental pieces, of warm
acoustic and electric guitars, some spacious synthesizers and
those psychedelic vocals on Ysatis in the other two tracks. His
voice still sounds like that of Peter van Vliet from The Use Of
Ashes: heldback and dreamy, and fits the music just perfectly
(it would not be my cup of tea very much if this was spaced out
rock music). An excellent work, once again, and while the impact
of such a change isn't as big as it was before, I must say this
is yet another fine record. I am not sure if a full length is
something I would want of this, but served in such a small dosis
is just great. (FdW)
Address: http://www.12k.com
CHARLES BASCOMB VS ROBOT BRAIN (CDR By Stront)
DOODLEINAKAKOON + SHITTING WHORE + ODAL LIVE ON RADIO STRONT (CDR
by Stront)
L.S.D. MOSSEL - 9-2-08 LIVE (CDR By Stront)
DASHA BI (CDR By Stront)
ODAL - NOISE (CDR By Stront)
ODIVSEMBOEL - VOMIT SUCKING CUNT LIPS (CDR By Stront)
EGODEATH (CDR By Stront)
STIRNER (CDR By Stront)
Arguments rage over the origins of & nature of noise (its
ontology and its epistemology) & these 9 Stront releases (a
lofi-cheap graphics Dutch label)
offers an exposition of the current diversity found under the
"label" - with perhaps one notable exception. In evolutionary
terms noise arrived out of a multiplicity of sources but arrived
at its epistemological stance by virtue of the over-inscribing
of whatever was its original ontological history. This dialectic
which culminated in the over-inscription of data - typically of
Japanese artists can now in turn be approached from the other
direction in what is called HNW (Harsh Noise Wall). (Here it's
the Charles Bascomb vs Robot Brain piece) As a kind of reversal
of the originating dialectic- the method is very simple- what
is difficult is tolerating such an approach ideologically. A simple
demonstration - download http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ - from
the menu "Generate" -> White Noise - > set length
and go. Next Edit -> Select -> Select All. and ->
Effect -> Bass Boost - you now have some parameters to play
with - keep the boost high and alter the frequency- you can now
produce variations of HWN Synthetically. This HWN (e.g. Charles
Bascomb vs Robot Brain et.al.) is epistemologically opaque- but
from its synthetic origin and not from its methodology. The philosophic,
cultural, ideological ramifications are vast, and cannot be covered
here in any detail, but the simplicity of the process as an instance
reverses the creative ideologies certainly of the enlightenment
but at a deeper level the meta-narrative of evolution itself.
No one as yet fully explored this - its almost like a machine
for making philosophy, perhaps its defies rational analysis itself-
pushes further the Deleuzean idea - perhaps it is a body without
organs, something he thought impossible- has evolved - or un-evolved,
HWN has no parts. The remnants of this evolution can be heard
in the 8 other releases - Odivsemboel Vomit Sucking Cunt Lips
- L.S.D. Mossel 9-2-08 Live - Heavy Metal Guitar Screaming Vocal
and (at times) mad drumming- some deconstruction of Thrash Metal?
Via a Punk aesthetic? Other evolutionary sources which did not
evolve from the "Rock Band" include Music Concrete (Egodeath
and Odal Noise) slabs of (looped?) sound objects - through to
the more Merz (not Mezbow!) collage of found sounds and vocal
noises, from the extreme and fabulously operatic Doodleinakakoon(sp?)
+ Hitting Whore + Odal Live on Radio through the less so Dasha
Bi and the more homogeneous Stirner which all tip the hat at Fluxus
- as many do. The exception missing here being those works which
are over loaded with signifiers to the extent of appearing molar
though not - and those which mimic these, if at times ironically,
or better as cybernetic simulations. But the irony of the truth
is another matter. (jliat)
Address http://www.myspace.com/odalnoise
BARTHEL GADAU KOPP ROTHER WEIBEL - RADIO
STUDENT (CDR by Hymns)
CHEFKIRK & IRONING - NOTORIOUS (CDR by Hymns)
Andrew Chadwick's Hymns label has two new releases. One is credited
to Barthel Gadau Kopp Rother Weibel and apparently is a collaboration
recorded in 2003 by The Nautical Deconstruction, CFS and Dobra
Minus. The first short piece is a sort of spoken word thing, perhaps
an introduction, followed by a twenty-one minute onslaught of
noise based electronics. More voices here, lots of delay delay
delay and throughout an improvised sound. I must say I didn't
like this very much. Very unfocussed. Let's go and see what happens
seems to be motto here. Creating music is great, but not all needs
to be heard by others.
In the past I haven't been the biggest fan of Roger Smith's Chefkirk
project - that should hardly be a secret. His over production
in noise wasn't always favored by me. In June 2008 he teamed up
with Andrew Chadwick, armed with microcassette, transcriber, record
player and handheld microcassette player and Smith's no-input
mixer and sampler, the result is noise, of course. But it is certainly
appealing to me. Not just a wall of feedback and distortion, but
it is brought in the form of a sound collage. One part has Chefkirk's
noise, which works fine with Chadwick's blend of microcassette
sounds of people talking, object clutter and such like. Tracks
are, here and there, a bit long. Some more editing could have
been in place I think and it would have made a particular strong
3"CDR, in stead of a somewhat mediocre forty minutes release.
But surely one of the more interesting things I heard from Chefkirk.
(FdW)
Address: http://hymnslabel.blogspot.com
D'INCISE - SECHERESSE PLANTEE EN PLEIN CIEL
(CDR by Gruenrekorder)
Back in Vital Weekly 686 we first lent an ear to D'Incise, a project
from Geneva, Switzerland. Here he returns with an album for Gruenrekorder,
and for the label, its that much needed change: to incorporate
field recordings - in this case made in the Czech Republic and
Poland - with music. D'Incise, it is noted before, is the man
armed with a sampler. Rhythms play a role in his work, and stretched
out flows of sound - ambient in other words - are also important.
To this he adds his field recordings - children playing, ventilation,
means of transport. He bends and pitches his material around,
like before. One of the things that also stayed, a bit unfortunately,
is that his pieces are throughout a bit overlong. Six, seven minutes
is the rule here, and that is, I think a bit long. The music is
not always that good or that varied to hold the attention for
the entire length of a track. That is a pity. The music would
certainly gain power if things would have been shorter and more
to the point. The great potential is certainly there but too stretched
out and leaps into mediocre pieces. (FdW)
Address: http://www.gruenrekorder.de
ISCHIO ROMANTICO - FROM THE HIP (CDR by
Shadazz)
If the release is packed the way I received it, then there is
not much joy. A drawing by Jussi Brightmore, and it says 'Ischio
Romantico' and 'From The Hip' as the title. This is exactly one
of the reasons why I'd like to see the original and not a copy.
Or perhaps this is the original (not good, in my opinion). Ischio
Romantico is a quartet of Adam and Jonathan Bohman (a.k.a. The
Bohman Brothers) with Leonard Aspen and Roger Boulding (both of
whom worked with Xentos Jones and Lepke B of Die Trip Computer
Die). A mixture of turntables, electronics and amplified objects
- latter courtesy of The Bohman Brothers, but it seems to be blown
away, most of the times, by the electronic interventions of the
others. A work of improvised music, but then with a lot of drive
and energy. Never a silent moment, never a dull moment. It takes
the listener on a trip, a fairground ride, with lots of odd things
happening. Quite nice. A wacked journey of improvised music meeting
up electro-acoustic music in the fastest acceleration possible,
the energy of punk, I'd say, but without sounding like punk. (FdW)
Address: http://www.myspace.com/shadazzrecords
JAN-KEES HELMS - SUMMER (CDR by Q-Tone)
Earlier this year Jan-Kees Helms returned to creating music again,
after a hiatus of some years, following his Little Seed cassette
project in the late 80s, early 90s. Since his return it seems
as if he is active as before. This particular release is not on
his own Lor Teeps, but on Germany's Q-Tone and consists of three
pieces based on field recordings of a naturist camping in Soest
and on the island of Texel, both in the Netherlands. The pieces
are based on what Helms thought to be remarkable sounds of those
locations. I have not been to naturist camping so I don't know
what could be remarkable in those locations, but no doubt its
not different from any ordinary camping site. Hard to tell here
what they are, but the weather didn't seem very good: some rain
fall. The Texel sounds are split into two pieces and all three
pieces are quite nice excersises in processed field recordings.
Not always easy to spot, save for the rain, birds and a boat,
they are dense, but also open in approach. Its already a major
step from his two previous 3"CDRs, with compositions being
more structured and worked out, spaced out in longer sequences,
this is surely the right path to follow. Nice one indeed. (FdW)
Address: http://www.q-tone.com
AKUMU - TAPETEN (DVD-R by Spider Records)
Perhaps I should be flattered to get all sorts of media to review,
but as I noted before I am not the multi-reviewer. I don't have
knowledge of novels, poetry, sculptures and, in this case, video
art. As a musician Akumu popped in Vital Weekly 538 when his split
CDR with Andrew Duke was reviewed, but apparently Deane Hughes
is also a film maker and this DVD-R shows us an anthology of films
made between 2005 and 2008. The music remained pretty much the
same throughout these years: ambient music with a strong love
for small click rhythms, deep bass bumps. As such nothing much
has changed. Still nothing new under that particular click 'n
cut sun. The images look nice: planets, fractals, operation gear,
skulls and bones, in odd lights (say lots of blue, or lots of
red, or lots of green). Quite a technological approach, but then
'technology is an extension of the body', as the Cronenberg quote
reads on the cover. Nice enough, I guess, although I have no idea
where to place this in tradition (or outside). The nicest thing
perhaps is that all twelve films are mixed sound and image wise
as one long piece. Though it changes throughout, the constant
flow of sound and image makes a nice environment. (FdW)
Address: http://www.spiderrecords.com
HOTEL GROMADA - AMAZONIAN ROVERS (CDR by
Elephant And Castles)
PRESLAV LITERARY SCHOOL - BEAUTIFUL WAS THE TIME (CDR by Elephant
And Castles)
CAWA SORIX - PIPISTRELLO (3"CDR by Elephant And Castles)
Elephant And Castles is an 'almost' brand new label from Paris.
Their releases are on CDR and also available as MP3 for whatever
price you wish to give. Labelbosses Nicolas Perret and Cedric
Anglaret are behind Hotel Gromada, since 2008. They operate with
guitars, field recordings and electronics. Through improvisation
they compose their material, until they find a structure to built
a piece from. Eight pieces here on 'Amazonian Rovers' which however
seem to be more or less a continuous piece (no track list with
my copy). Emphasis lies heavily on field recordings, not pure
and clean, but they compose their music using these recordings
in order to create a bigger picture. Occasionally they stumble
upon music, played by themselves I assume, such as in the fifth
piece. A pretty interesting release with a most refined combination
of lots of nice field recordings mixed with a bit of music.
Behind Preslav Literat School is one Adam Thomas, and 'Beautiful
Was The Time' is his second 'studio' release. He is a writer and
musician and for his second release he collected one hundred cassettes
and microcassettes, which he was given or he bought, and used
found sound from those cassettes in this work, using equalization
and organization of those sounds, adding along his own sounds.
The end result is three pieces of highly drone music from the
lower end of hi-fi spectrum. Things rumble and rattle in a very
low grade manner, like in the good ol' days when people released
cassettes and nothing else. Also quite a nice work. Perhaps not
as good as Hotel Gromada but as a lo-fi drone project not bad.
Tito Gascuel from Grenoble is behind Cawa Sorix and his 3"
is sold as his 'second album'. He is also a poet and does drawings.
The fact that he is a poet is shown in his music. He takes pieces
from spoken word, in French, and cuts these up, loops them, lifts
them from vinyl, adds a bit of electronics to it, and offers no
less than fifteen of these pieces here. Many of these are of course
very short, which adds to the fun. The longer the pieces the less
interesting they are, it seems. Maybe there is humor, satire or
parody included here, but then I fail to see it. Not bad, but
not entirely to my liking either. (FdW)
Address: http://www.elephantandcastles.com
TOY BIZARRE - KDI DCTB 216 [DATA #5] (3"CDR
by Ingeos)
Its been only two weeks that I reviewed the previous installment
of this series and I noted that "to keep this series interesting
and be a bit more different, change is necessary, I think."
Maybe Toy Bizarre is psychic? The fifth one is different. It opens
with a looped voice that says 'sun', phased along Steve Reich's
'Come Out' and then spoken word. It turns out that this fifth
work is all about the human voice. I am sure there is some sort
of connection to the weather being here, the word 'sun' in the
opening piece is of course the best example, but also in the two
other parts I seem to detect some connection to the weather. This
piece is divided in three clearly distinctive parts, all dealing
with looped voices and sparse electronic processing thereof. The
phasing of the voice material is not unique but Toy Bizarre uses
it in a highly effective manner. This is the big chance in style
I was hoping for. Imaginative, strange, sound poetry alike, this
is a great piece. Now I am even more curious as to what the rest
will bring us. (FdW)
Address: http://www.ingeos.org
MARK CETILIA - ANEMOI (3"CDR by Quiet
Design)
Maybe the name Mark Cetilia doesn't ring an immediate bell, but
he is a member of Mem1, part of Redux, curator of Ctrl+Alt+Repeat
festival and travels the world to do residencies. 'Anemoi' can
be seen as a sort of conceptual work. Cetilia created a square
loop antenna 'capable of detecting any changes in the electro
magnetic field with 10 miles: lightning, atmospheric conditions'.
Shortly after he created this antenna, power was cut because of
a tropical storm flying over. In his piece he tries to recreate
that experience, picking up all those signals, and avoiding any
radio sounds. The first ten minutes sound like long wave crackles
and then dies out. In the second half a more drone like sound
builds slowly up and then dies out again. Quite a nice atmospheric
(pun intended) release. If you wouldn't know any better, you could
all too easily think this is some laptop musician doodling around
with plug in stuff, but after you read the story on the cover
you know better. Great piece of a nice concept turned into a nice
piece of music. That's something more people should do. (FdW)
Address: http://www.quietdesign.us
SRMEIXNER - I AM YOUR PALLBEARER (MP3)
Why was I talked into reviewing this? Oh yes, its a 'teaser' for
a forthcoming album on spaghetti western music and this 'teaser'
is a download you need to buy. I wonder who would do that? SRMeixner,
once of Contrastate, offers the piece 'I Am Your Pallbearer' which
lasts five minutes and eight seconds, and it starts out with some
drone like bits, and half way through the Morricone like harmonica's
come in. Its where the abstract meets up real life music. Not
a bad track, but it just seems like regular ordinary piece of
music. I am not sure why especially this track had to go out as
a 'teaser' for a forthcoming compilation. But perhaps time will
tell us. (FdW)
Address: http://www.fatghost.com/Singles.html