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VITAL WEEKLY
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number 708
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week 49
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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
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>
JEAN-MICHIEL RIVET - A FLEUR DE QUAI (CD
by Sonoris) *
PETER WRIGHT - AN ANGEL FELL WHERE THE KESTRELS HOVER (CD by Spekk)
*
TETUZI AKIYAMA & TOSHIMARU NAKAMURA - SEMI-IMPRESSION (CD
by Spekk) *
DIRAC - EMPHASIS (CD by Spekk) *
SHIELD YOUR EYES - SHIELD EM (CD by Gravid Hands)
MARK BEAZLEY - STATELESS (CD by Trace Recordings) *
BURKHARDD STANGL & KAI FAGSCHINSKI - MUSIK - EIN PORTRAT IN
SEHNSUCHT (CD by Erstwhile Records) *
ASPECTEE - MORBED (CD by First Fallen Star) *
INFALLEN - THREE DAYS OF DARKNESS (CD by First Fallen Star) *
KASRTEN HAMRE - THROUGH THE EYES OF A STRANGER (CD & DVD by
First Fallen Star) *
DENSE VISION SHRINE - TIME LOST IN OBLIVION (CD & DVD by First
Fallen Star) *
ACRE - ISOLATIONIST (CD by Isounderscore)
GANESH ANANDAN & HANS REICHEL - SELF MADE (CD by Ambiances
Magnetiques)
IGNAZ SCHICK & MARTIN TETREAULT - LIVE - 33 - 45 - 78 (CD
by Ambiances Magnetiques)
RAINER WIENS - SHADOWS OF FORGOTTEN ANCESTORS (CD by Ambiances
Magnetiques)
FRANS DE WAARD - KLANKSCHAP 1999-2005 (CD by :Zang) *
EDWARD KASPEL - TRAPPED IN AMBER (LP by Plinkity Plonk) *
MIRKO UHLIG - VIVMMI (LP by Plinkity Plonk) *
GLÖGGERNE & MARTIN KLAPPER - WITH SOUND! (10" by
Tonometer)
IAN HOLLOWAY & BANKS BAILEY - A BRIEF SOJOURN (CDR by Quiet
World) *
VARIATIONS IN WHITE PART 1 (CDR by White Line Edition)
MUBLES - BILBOCENTRISMO (CDR by Hamaika) *
STROM NOIR - SEN SIMNEJ NOCI (CDR by Hibernate) *
HAKOBUNE - ISOHEL (3"CDR by Hibernate) *
HONG CHULKI - AMPLIFIED WC (3"CDR by Ghost & Son) *
NICK HOFFMAN - ANCIENT TAPE MACHINE VOL. 2 (cassette by Pilgrim
Talk)
CHIHEI HATAKEYAMA - WHITE SUN (3"CDR by Taalem) *
POLLYPRAHA - JULE (3"CDR by Taalem) *
NATURE OF DISLOCATION - ELEMENTS (3"CDR by Taalem) *
SAITO KOJI - PRAYER (3"CDR by Taalem) *
JUSTIN BENNETT - THE CITY AMPLIFIED (book by Stroom)
OLIVES - TREMBLE (cassette by Moon Glyph)
MP3 releases
Announcements
JEAN-MICHIEL RIVET - A FLEUR DE QUAI (CD
by Sonoris)
Following Donzel-Gargand two weeks ago, and last week's Zanesi,
there is now a third composer from France who I heard off, but
in fact don't know much music of, Jean-Michel Rivet. He studied
composition at the GMEB in the late 70s and at the Xenakis' Cenamu
in 1982. His music is mainly for theatre, radio and exhibition.
The liner notes are in French (pardon my) but I understand that
each of the seven tracks uses a particular set of sounds culled
from daily life. It opens with railway sounds, taken at a station,
also there is a piece of voices, a demonstration and a game hall.
The first piece, with the train station, is great, with the train
entering and leaving in the stereo panning of the piece. Haunting
are the police dogs in 'Vah Ma Awalo', with a voice speaking in
despair (it seems). Rivet applies all the techniques from musique
concrete and such like Donzel-Gargand and Zanesi in his own way,
avoiding too strict rules from the book of composition. This music
has some great qualities as radio plays or soundtracks. Scary
effects dropping in at various times, reversing the sound to give
it that extra force. Planes, cars, trains pass by, warning signals
flash around. Especially if you play this is a darkened room,
at night and pretty loud, it could easily bring on serious trouble.
Beautiful trouble at that. Scary beautiful trouble. Great music,
and especially 'Pique-Nique Au Bord De La Route' is great with
all its car and motorway sounds. Even better than Donzel-Gargand
and on par with Zanesi. (FdW)
Address: http://www.sonoris.org
PETER WRIGHT - AN ANGEL FELL WHERE THE KESTRELS
HOVER (CD by Spekk)
TETUZI AKIYAMA & TOSHIMARU NAKAMURA - SEMI-IMPRESSION (CD
by Spekk)
DIRAC - EMPHASIS (CD by Spekk)
Somewhere in my (virtual) book of labels, I think Spekk is filed
under 'laptop - subsection microsound', but when I heard Peter
Wright's 'An Angel Fell Where The Kestrels Hover' I may have to
revise that. Wright is best known, I guess, for his guitar music.
Guitars plus sound effects. He has done so on his seven albums
so far. This new album deals also with the seasonal changes, just
like the previous 'Snow Blind' (not reviewed in Vital Weekly),
which dealt with autumn and winter. This new one is more about
spring and summer, and has a 'generally sunnier disposition',
Wright says. For him, as an antipode that might, but when I am
outside the start of winter is very much present. Meaning that
I don't hear this to be a very light record, or even a bit lighter.
This is all highly moody music, still, with guitars meandering
freely all along the line of sound effects used. Effective atmospheric
music, no laptops in sight, no microsound, but some damn drone
like ambient music. Nothing new under that sun, but its fine as
it is.
The word 'semi' in the title by Tetuzi Akiyama and Toshimaru Nakamura
was intended to be 'zen', as their music was often referred to
as zen music (not that the two advertise like that themselves),
but then the person who made the calligraphy wrote 'semi', which
can of course refer to the semi, the Japanese word for cicadas,
which can be so present and loud in Japanese summertime. And perhaps
that is a fine word too to use for this music. Not that it is
loud music, even when Nakamura can make some mean noises. Nevertheless
it seems that, as a duo, they know how to play some great music
that dwells on silence, like Japan can also be, with the occasional
outbursts like the cicadas can do. Three live recordings here,
two from Sweden and one from Austria. No doubt the Sweden ones
where made at the same time as they did their recording which
was reviewed a fortnight ago in Vital Weekly. Akiyama plays his
acoustic guitar with great concentration, although there is always
sound coming from it. Nakamura is perhaps a bit more silent when
it comes to the general picture, but when he produces something
it can surely be loud as hell. Together that makes some great
music, meditative, even zen like perhaps.
The name Dirac popped up on a compilation before, but they also
have a CD out with the same name, and 'Emphasis' is their second
CD, recorded in a basement in Salzburg, Austria, using drums,
guitars and field recordings. All recorded directly onto two tracks
and then later edited together. Recorded in isolation, this is
music far away from the hectic life in big cities (not that Salzburg
is that big), bringing out the silence proportions of music. The
drums and guitar sound like guitar and drums (or vibraphone, or
whatever piece of percussion used), playing slow, peaceful music.
The field recordings complete this silent approach. If there is
a connection to be made then I'd say it resembles the music of
Tape. The same kind of 'slow' playing, placing great emphasis
(yes) on each, individual sound, making gentle gestures with them.
x 'rock' like, but a fine quality of its own, defying any category.
None of these three deal with laptops or microsound, so perhaps
I was all wrong about Spekk. Great releases. (FdW)
Address: http://www.spekk.net
SHIELD YOUR EYES - SHIELD EM (CD by Gravid
Hands)
'Shield Em' is the second release by this London-based trio of
Stef Ketteringham (guitar, vocals, lyrics), Henri Grimes (drums)
and Toby Hayes (bass). Toby and Stef come from Strobe 45, a hardcore
band from around Guilford. After the split Toby continued with
another hardcore band, and Stef started playing violent blues
(Guns or Knives). Both influences meet in their new band Shield
with Henri Grimes on drums. Since 2008 they climb the stage. Things
change quick: Toby Hayes is replaced recently by Nick Bavin. Although
this one is recorded in the studio it sounds like a live recording,
which is to be preferred for this kind of music. But alas it sounds
like a very mediocre live-recording. A better production would
have helped. Now this more then 50 minute journey becomes a bit
tiring and the music becomes very uniform in the end. As such
the music is however more then okay. Well-constructed songs with
unusual turns. Most of them are bluesy, beefheartesque guitar-dominated
songs. The well-crafted and inventive playing from Ketteringham,
is what makes this one special. But also because of the convincing
performance by this trio. Loud and noisy from start to finish.
Rough and edgy, instrumental or with loud screaming and singing
by again Ketteringham. Next time I hope they will free their multidimensional
and fresh music from a flat recording as happened to 'Shield Em'.
(DM)
Address: http://www.gravidhands.com
MARK BEAZLEY - STATELESS (CD by Trace Recordings)
Never judge a CD by its cover. Here we have a simple cover, with
some water color painting, lots of white, and titles that read
'Three Twenty Five', 'Three Thirty Five', which turn out to be
lengths of the tracks. Maybe this is an album of microsound, glitchy
electronics? Mark Beazley was a member of Rothko, who released
on Lo Recordings a decade ago with heavy bass laden music, but
with the help of a trunk load of people recorded 'Stateless' at
home from April to September 2009. Nothing microsound here. This
is modern classical music. Lots of strings, violin and cello,
some piano, all cut down to the average length of three minutes
- the perfect popsong, but then housed in a classical form. I
have no idea what to think of this, but perhaps thats due to the
fact that I don't know much about modern classical music - the
melodic variation at least thereof. Sometimes I like the melodies
quite a bit, but isn't all a bit too sweet I wondered? Maybe this
is music for adverts? But then also I liked some of its charming
bits, the whole nice melodic aspects of the music. Perhaps its
a like sugary cake: very tasty at the beginning, but to eat it
the entire thing its a bit too much? For now, I must say I quite
enjoyed its elegance. (FdW)
Address: http://www.tracerecordings.com
BURKHARDD STANGL & KAI FAGSCHINSKI -
MUSIK - EIN PORTRAT IN SEHNSUCHT (CD by Erstwhile Records)
Two veterans from the Viennese musiclife, that's Burkhard Stangl
(guitars, electric devices, piano and vibraphone) and Kai Fagaschinski
(clarinet, piano, acoustic guitar). They worked with almost everybody,
and been to every place to play their fine brand of improvised
music. They first met in 2002, and in 2007 they recorded two sessions
at the Amman studios, which were mixed last year and then took
another year to see the light. Of course it has been well worth
to wait. Its quite an interesting record, because it has a great
variety in approaches. It opens with a sparse duet of acoustic
guitar and clarinet, but that's not the way the entire sounds
like. 'Last Night I Had Visions' is a long piece that involves
sine wave like sounds produced by e-bows and clarinet and almost
sounds like an Alvin Lucier piece. 'Sexy M.F.' is then a short
piece of highly improvised matter. In other pieces they sound
folk again, such as in 'Weisst Du Noch Unser Lied?'. Sometimes
there are bits of field recording, provided by friends such as
Klaus Filip and Dieb 13. A highly personal record, very delicate
in approach and just overall an excellent record. (FdW)
Address: http://www.erstwhilerecords.com
ASPECTEE - MORBED (CD by First Fallen Star)
INFALLEN - THREE DAYS OF DARKNESS (CD by First Fallen Star)
KASRTEN HAMRE - THROUGH THE EYES OF A STRANGER (CD & DVD by
First Fallen Star)
DENSE VISION SHRINE - TIME LOST IN OBLIVION (CD & DVD by First
Fallen Star)
A somewhat risky affair here. Its sunday afternoon, very grey
and rainy outside. Inside its warm, there is coffee, a fine book
and a pile of releases of the First Fallen Star label. Their appearance
looks like like 'gothic' label - a term I always use for anything
that looks grey, black, dark with those semi-handwritten fonts,
the real gothic writing. well, perhaps that is not the case in
the CD by Aspectee, a side project of Evoke Scurvee, with its
more clear fonts. The music however is perhaps all what you would
expect from the world of dark ambient music. The (grand-) sons
of the later Lustmord. Nine tracks of deep, low ambient rumble
of atmospheric electronics, a bit of field recordings here and
there. Nine excellent soundscapes. I have no idea how this was
made - synthesizers, pure computerized sound syntheses or otherwise
- but its quite nice. 'Unwic', the final episode on the album
sheds a bit of light in the work. Otherwise the painted picture
is of utter gloom and doom, but without any religious undercurrents,
which makes this quite a pleasant dark trip.
The label design for Innfallen shows a horse and a woman on a
bed - a romantic picture, and everything is in the gothic font.
Infallen is the veteran (?) Doyle Finley (of Invercauld) and Kevin
Scala and this release is 'their vision of the Catholic prophecy
of 'Three Days Of Darkness', although as a (only baptized) catholic
I have no idea what that is (us catholics are known not to read
the bible). Whatever those three days of darkness are, no doubt
something to do with Armageddon (armageddon out of here!), and
its surely no fun. Demons descend to earth, fires all around,
and hardly anyone survives (would you want to survive such a disaster,
I always wonder; I don't think I would). Innfallen do a great
job to provide the necessary soundtrack to such an endgame. Just
like Aspectee this is an utter dark ambient ride, again without
any sight of a possible instrument, but perhaps its just an endless
line of electronics connected to eachother as the sound moves
between various parameters - the various shades of black. Even
if you don't want to grasp the grim nature of what lies behind
it - like me - and you want to disconnect the actual music from
its surrounding theme, then this is a great journey. Afternoon
fades early and its getting darker and darker.
Time to switch on the light. The next two releases are both a
CD and a DVD and are both by Karsten Hamre, whom you could know
from his work as Arcane Art, Penitent and Defraktor. Seven tracks
are to be found on 'Through The Eyes Of A Stranger', but if you
decide to watch the DVD then they run into eachother and make
a nice whole unified thing. I can be short about the film. Its
not a film, it a series of great black and white photographs that
flow into eachother. Churches, landscapes, old factories, the
graveyard (of course), stars at night - that sort of thing. Not
something you watch all along but you glance at every now and
then , I don't think it tells a specific story. The music is that
of dark ambient, but it seems a bit more 'mellow' than on Infallen,
a bit toned down and also more musical. There are bits that have
some sort of vague percussion bits, strings and swirling electronics.
Dark music of course here too, black and white music for black
and white images. I could do without those images, I must admit,
but its fine music.
Apparently there has been already an album by Dense Vision Shrine
called 'Time Lost In Oblivion', but we are guaranteed that this
is a new album. The music is quite different than on Hamre's disc
under his own name, and hence he uses the name Dense Vision Shrine.
The images here are in the same vein: photos that flow into eachother,
except that they are now sometimes in color. More landscapes and
graveyards. The music starts out in quite a melodic fashion, with
sampled orchestral sounds, but as the work progresses the same
dark ambient leaps in, though it seems to me largely based in
samples of violins, cellos and other instruments from the orchestra.
This too is best described as the darkest of the darkest, but
with a touch of difference with the Hamre release. The differences
might be thin, but they are surely there. Nightfall has set in,
lights are dimmed and its time to rest the head. (FdW)
Address: http://www.firstfallenstar.com
ACRE - ISOLATIONIST (CD by Isounderscore)
Acre's stunning 'Isolationist' is an expert foray into expansive,
deep drone. Its first track is new-to-release, while the two others
both saw the light of day on 'Painless,' a hyper-limited CDR edition
on Cincinnati imprint Students of Decay. Despite the fractured
origins of these compositions, however, this comes off as a remarkably
cohesive album. Each track makes use of Aaron Davis' distinct,
buzzing drone - an electric texture that seems to emulate the
sound encountered when standing below power lines. On the first
composition, Davis' approach is highly gradual, and even glacial;
the foreground is a crushing wall of high-voltage sound, and below
its dense oppressiveness one hears subtle textures at play. The
second track is more dynamic, populated with fluid, electric ebbs
which are positively trance-inducing. The final piece is a return
to more slow, dense drone but this time the sound is more grisly,
pitching an ethereal ambient hum atop a bed of crumbly feedback.
Eventually the hum evolves into a rapid, pulsing scissor, growing
in intensity until the climax trails into a gradual resolution.
Recalling the collapse of a supernova or some other colossal,
nihilistic event, 'Isolationist' is a valuable peek into Aaron
Davis' distinct approach to sound. (MT)
Address: http://www.isounderscore.com
GANESH ANANDAN & HANS REICHEL - SELF
MADE (CD by Ambiances Magnetiques)
IGNAZ SCHICK & MARTIN TETREAULT - LIVE - 33 - 45 - 78 (CD
by Ambiances Magnetiques)
RAINER WIENS - SHADOWS OF FORGOTTEN ANCESTORS (CD by Ambiances
Magnetiques)
Three new releases from Ambiances Magnetiques, all of them with
a german connection. We met guitarist Rainer Wiens, from Germany
but now living in Montréal, earlier on trio recordings
with Malcom Goldstein and John Heward, and another one with Ganesh
Anandan and Malcolm Goldstein. 'Shadow of Forgotten Ancestors'
is in fact his first solo album where we learn more about Wiens
as a composer, and as a player of the kalimba. Over the years
Wiens composed several pieces that we now find on this CD. The
title track of this CD, 'Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors', as well
as title 'The Taste Pomegranate' indicate that filmmaker Sergei
Paradjanov was a special source for inspiration for Wiens. The
CD opens with 'The Valley of Green Ghosts' with Wiens solo on
kalimba, creating inevitably an african climate. Most pieces however
are duets that have not Wiens, but Jean Derome (flute), Malcolm
Goldstein (violin), Frank Lozano (saxophone), Jean Rene (alto)
and Joshua Zubot (violin) as performers. In the title track flute
and violin play - almost and almost continuously - uni sono. 'Shh...
Whisper to the Wind' is a delicate between violin and breathing
sounds. 'Bird of Jade' with Derome on flute, and 'If a Bird sings
in the Forest'(sax), as well as other pieces seem to be inspired
on the whistling of birds. All pieces are mature and thoughtfully
composed moving between traditional (african) musical forms and
new composed music. And all players play very inspired and dedicated.
The result is a very strong and convincing album, where everything
is on its place. The cover of 'Self Made' has a nice photo of
Reichel and Anandan portrayed as two proud 'self made' men. Even
more the title refers to both artists as designers and builders
of their instruments. Hans Reichel, guitarist from origin, is
known for his daxophone. Anandan built the shruti stick and a
metallophone. The 'daxophone' is a single wooden blade fixed in
a block containing a contact microphone, which is played mostly
with a bow. Reichel draws many colourful sounds from this instrument
- sometimes sounding like birdcalls, animal sounds, flutes, human
voice and breath, etc. Very impressive and absolutely an amazing
instrument. The shruti stick is a 12-string cither. Anandan presented
it on another duo-cd, 'Shruti Project', which he worked with John
Gzowski who played self-designed micro_tonal guitars. For 'Self
Made' Reichel and Anandan concentrate on creating sounds and textures.
Structure is not their main interest. Although Anandan often lays
down complex rhythmic patterns, and Reichel plays his solos over
it, it is not always clear where they want to go. They create
nice atmospheres, and specially the daxophone sounds very direct
and very near to the human (language of) body and voice. Several
of their improvisations are very worthwhile like 'Drunkeness'.
It is very subtile, virtuoso and soulful. Others however don't
bring me anywhere. The playing of Anandan I enjoyed most in the
solo piece 'In the Stillness' that develops like an indonesian
gamelan-like piece of music. Pure beauty! For this and other qualities
these improvisations deserve your attention.
'Live' by Berlin-based Ignaz Schick and Martin Tetreault is the
most far out of these three CDs . Two avant garde turntable-masters
who collaborate since 2004. "Our music is made with raw materials
that have nothing to do with the passive uses of the turntable.
We quickly and sharply use our set of home-made sonic tools to
produce dialogues of varying speed, volume level, and duration.
Recorded live, our music offers lively exchanges where tone arms
are playing a sonic sport! These exchanges will get you ears moving..."
Within the parameters of their musical games they make truly fascinating
music using concrete sounds only. Records are abandoned, instead
they use various objects and manipulations to produce their micro
soundworld. The CD contains two series of seven pieces listening
to poetic names like '1-p45 un' and 'cave12part1'.The music itself
has more effect on my phantasy. It sounds like the recording of
some never-heard-of primitive life-form deep down in the ocean
or earth. (DM)
Address: http://www.actuellecd.com
FRANS DE WAARD - KLANKSCHAP 1999-2005 (CD
by :Zang)
A little while ago I played a gig in Krakow, and a couple of guys
were shouting and heckling me for a short while before they left.
Apparently they were disappointed because the music wasn't "entertaining".
They had repeatedly asked the organizer - who also manned the
door - if it was entertaining music, and he had repeatedly answered
"no". Neither is this CD from Frans de Waard. This is
definitely not entertainment music or background music, but instead
listening music of a rather intriguing, evocative, and - for some
(most definitely for these hecklers in Poland!) - provocative
music. Not because it's really radical, but because it demands
close attention to detail. What can one say about Frans de Waard
that hasn't been said (or at least thought of) before? One of
the pillars of the European fringe music community, writer, publicist,
tobacconist, conceptualist and a guy who's heard more music than
most, this is actually only his second proper full-length CD under
his own name. Yep, I also found it hard to believe.
This disc consists of 6 pieces, all realized between 2002 and
2005, despite the title. It's bookended by 2 short pieces called
"Werkplaats #1" and "Werkplaats #2", both
derived from older Kapotte Muziek workshops. Both of these splurts
out some manipulated machine sounds and odd electronic treatments
and work well as intro and outro. The second piece is entitled
"Klankschap #9" and in this piece we're literally exposed
to the elements. The 20 minute piece is based around field recordings
of running water, which I guess is a waterfall or a river, and
howling wind crashing against the microphone. It's a tricky business
to capture sounds from a specific environment and release them
in a new sonic terrain. The sounds are "recontextualized",
ultimately transformed into new sonic values, but there's always
the danger that the link between what it once meant and its new
life is missing. The other approach to this "problem",
is of course, as we all know, to just "set the sounds free".
As music concrete, this piece doesn't quite do it for me. And
sticking to the first approach, I seem to somehow be missing that
link here. However, "Epitaph", based on recordings by
the late John Waterman is great. Somewhat threatening drone sounds,
like they are coming from inside a floatation tank or some kind
of a pressure chamber are combined with bursts of static. "Klankschap
#2" is based on recordings from a shop in Tokyo, and later
revised in 2007. Crunching and thumping sounds, like a piece of
sandpaper is played on a turntable, are followed by high-pitched
electronics that becomes quite unpleasant. The static that comes
in halfway through has the effect of highly needed summer rain
on dry stinking asphalt. The piece ebbs and flows with some treated
field recordings combined with what sounds like manipulated turntables.
Great piece. Equally great is "Ramp" from 2002, constructed
from pieces of recordings from the US by de Waard, Peter Duimelinks,
Roel Meelkop, Jason Talbot and Howard Stelzer, the latter one
of which de Waard definitely shares a similar sonic aesthetics.
Expertly mixed, this piece is crackling away, like electronic
insects hovering in the humid air in a rainforest jungle on an
alien planet.
De Waards second proper CD release is certainly intriguing, the
pieces are fresh sounding and balanced, dynamic and expertly mixed.
Somehow the second piece that is largely based on rather pure
field recordings fails to engage me. Still highly recommended
to anyone interested in fresh sounding electronic compositions
from the world of "klankscapes" rather than "klangfarben".
(Review by Sindre Bjerga)
Address: http://www.zang.no
EDWARD KASPEL - TRAPPED IN AMBER (LP by
Plinkity Plonk)
MIRKO UHLIG - VIVMMI (LP by Plinkity Plonk)
The Penny Black postage stamp that graces this new Kaspel album
is something quite special; it was introduced on 6 May 1840 as
the first-ever stamp in history. It marked a revolution in the
world of the postal delivery; before its introduction the mail
had to be paid for by the receiver, which obviously created a
few problems, when more and more receivers simply refused to pay
for their mail. In the new system it was the sender who had to
buy the one Penny stamp beforehand, which made sure the post received
their money and, with a little luck, the receiver the letter.
Being the first stamp ever, the Penny Black is quite a desirable
item in the world of philatology. Parallels can be drawn between
the stamp and the music on this album. First of all, there is
an Englishness about the music of Kaspel that is equal to that
of the Penny Black. And, in a sense, this album also sounds like
the start of something new for Kaspel. Trapped in Amber is a reference
to fossils that are trapped in amber, like a time-capsule. Fascinatingly
enough, this album sounds a bit like a time-capsule itself. Like
the music is frozen into time. Trapped in Amber sounds like a
natural follow-up to Painted Rivers of Regret, which is one of
the best Kaspel solo records in years, and is, like its predecessor,
fully instrumental. Trapped in Amber does not disappoint. In fact,
it shines and shimmers throughout the two side-long tracks. Side
one, the title track, opens with a brief operatic female voice,
that leads into a gorgeous shimmering piano theme with added gated
reverbed sounds. The music has a gentle quality, sounding at times
so hesitant it feels the music could break down any second. The
side ends with more operatic female voices. A true beauty. The
second side Christmas On The Moon surprisingly starts with a bright
keyboard sequence/rhythm that instantly flashed my mind back to
the Sand LP by Ragnar Grippe, which, accidentally, is a brilliant
album well worth listening to. To this sequence various sounds
and environmental recordings are sparsely added. A melody line
is introduced. That may sound like a simple concept, but it takes
a lot of talent to make this work. Kaspel pulls it off beautifully.
Even though this pressing is limited to 350 copies, it remains
to be seen of course if this album becomes as collectable as the
stamp. It is however, just as brilliant.
'VIVMMI' by Mirko Uhlig was already reviewed in Vital Weekly 525.
Back then Frans de Waard wrote "What was already present
in the music by Aalfang Mit Pferdekopf (or perhaps the others,
but I don't know them) is the element of drone music, here again
playing an important role. There is also the extended use of field
recordings, especially bird calls, the slowed down piano and guitar
sounds and the more obscured sounds of objects falling to the
ground or a door squeaking. The work is recorded at a very low
volume, which is a pity since one has to crank the volume all
the way up to hear something and that seems unnecessary to me.
Mirko Uhlig plays a form of drone music that is highly refreshing,
touched by influences of some of the work of Nurse With Wound,
but with enough of it's own. It's drone related, has field recordings
and processed instruments, all the common elements so to say,
but he creates something that is beyond the ordinary. It is about
time that he went out to produce his first real CD." That
is yet to happen, but De Waard has put his money where his mouth
is, and re-released the highly limited CDR (65 were made) onto
LP, and Uhlig did a fine job at remastering, making the whole
thing a louder and a bit more present, without losing that great
touch of sensitivity. Packed in a similar grey cardboard cover
like the likewise fine LP by pick-up on Plinkity Plonk last year,
this is yet again a small edition (130), but a lovely item to
cherish. (FK)
Address: http://www.kormplastics.nl
GLÖGGERNE & MARTIN KLAPPER - WITH
SOUND! (10" by Tonometer)
Tricksters, these two. On the sleeve, 'With Sound!' advertises
itself as a 45 r.p.m. record, while on the vinyl itself it indicates
33 r.p.m. This being an experimental release, an adventurous listener
is free to try both speeds on for size, though the slower of the
two appears to be the correct rate of rotation. Musically speaking,
Klapper and Glöggerne (Mikkel Ring and Christian Skjødt)
perform jerky, quixotic improvisations which range from sparse
to chaotic. In addition to electronics and guitar, the trio also
employs inventively-utilized detritus - toys and "amplified
objects" - to populate their spasmodic performances, lending
an unpredictable "junk-noise" effect to the proceedings.
Though it ebbs and flows, Side A is at times positively volatile;
played at loud volume, the artists' impulsive sonic zaniness becomes
almost oppressive in its hectic exuberance - it's the type of
composition that grabs you by the shoulders and shakes you about.
Critical to the trio's sound is a sense of tomfoolery - as this
music reaches its manic climaxes, a sense of jovial goofiness
is impressed upon the listener; ultimately, these three musicians
are just having a whale of a time. Even at its more docile moments,
the sound is pretty topsy-turvy - the prickly clicking and electric
jack manipulation during the mid-section of side A, for example.
Then there's the more pensive side B, which begins with restraint,
agglomerates into a caterwaul of bells and blonks, and eventually
to comes back down again in a whirl of cartoonish ephemera, organ
schmaltz, and, eventually, dark, odious ambiance. All in all,
an unpredictable whale of a record. (MT)
Address: http://www.tonometermusic.com
IAN HOLLOWAY & BANKS BAILEY - A BRIEF
SOJOURN (CDR by Quiet World)
The first time Banks Bailey and Ian Holloway worked together was
when they had a third man on board, Darren Tate, on 'Summerland'
(see Vital Weekly 635), and now just the two of them. Holloway,
the labelboss here, is someone who has relatively simple means
to create drone music. First as Psychic Space Invasion and now
under his own name. An organ, a few sound effects, it's all he
needs, or so it seems. His music is not the most original around,
but its very consistent in approach. He sometimes adds his own
field recordings to it but he feels he's not always satisfied
with what comes out of it, so that were Banks Bailey comes in.
Bailey has been recording fields since 2003, being influenced
by Monos as a matter of fact, and produced a disc for Quiet World
before. His work here fits the drones of Holloway perfectly, or,
perhaps, its the other way around: maybe the organ sounds of Holloway
fits the fields. It starts out with an organ, which over the course
of the thirty some minutes, seems to be either totally disappearing
or gets altered in such a way that we no longer recognize it as
such. Water, birds, insects find their place in this piece, which
is actually quite a nice, if not, perhaps, a bit too loosely organized.
Towards the end I thought it the several elements (various field
recordings and various drone bits), seemed to be stuck together
rather than finely woven. But the first twenty minutes or so minutes
this was great stuff. (FdW)
Address: http://www.quietworld.co.uk
VARIATIONS IN WHITE PART 1 (CDR by White
Line Edition)
MUBLES - BILBOCENTRISMO (CDR by Hamaika)
These two releases were send to me by Miguel A Garcia, who has
a track on one of them, and takes part in the other. The first
one is a compilation in which the artists were 'commissioned to
sonically interpret the color white', and has four tracks of each
around 10 minutes. The package resembles the 12K esthetic when
it comes to design, and the music is also from that some micro-scene.
Lots of deep, low bass rumble, a few mid-range sounds and even
fewer high end sounds. Andy Graydon wins the contest for the lowest
rumble, trying to shred the speakers. No doubt all of these tracks
are the result of heavy processing of field recordings but there
are minor differences. Lawrence English plays a rather musical
piece of drones, Shinkei never hides his field recordings, whereas
Garcia uses the sounds of motors, and Graydon as found the deepest
cave around. Nice music, although hardly without surprise.
It seemed like yesterday or so that I reviewed Mubles, but it
was in Vital Weekly 644. Its a free improvisation group of 'the
worst improvisers' in Bilbao, Al Karpenter, Loty Negarti, Kakofunk,
Carlos Valverde and Miguel A. Gracia, which is a somewhat different
line-up as on the previous release. I have no idea why Gracia
calls this the 'worst' improvisers. Maybe that notion of being
the worst improvisers, is to make some sort of statement about
improvising - 'any can do it' - or perhaps they hope for a review
which says this is great and they laugh their heads of. Well,
this release isn't bad, but it isn't great either. Unlike the
previous CDR, which was a mixture of noise and improvisation,
this new one doesn't deal with noise as such. Its a total free
play of drums, guitar, toys, maybe even a bit of electronics here
and there, and some of the pieces are actually quite nice. But
then its all way too long, and we have to wade through long fragments
of disjointed sounds that don't connect very much. Even when it
says 'edited by Miguel A. Garcia & Loty Negarti', I think
it should have much more concise than this. (FdW)
Address: http://fourm.wordpress.com
Address: http://www.gatza.org/hamaika13.html
STROM NOIR - SEN SIMNEJ NOCI (CDR by Hibernate)
HAKOBUNE - ISOHEL (3"CDR by Hibernate)
From time to time we receive music by Strom Noir,
from the Czech Republic if I am not mistaken, and its always like
a time machine, a stopped clock. A bunch of tracks, nine in the
case of 'Sen Zimnej Noci' of highly ambient music. It seems as
if there no development in the music of Strom Noir. I was thinking,
does it matter? Perhaps to a reviewer it does, and perhaps it
doesn't to the fans. Excellent ambient music made with guitars
and a bit of field recordings, peacefully humming their way into
the living room. Right down from the Brian Eno book of ambient
music, this is great drone music, that indeed holds absolutely
no surprises but its a damn fine disc for a grey afternoon.
Ambient music is also at stack on the release by Takahiro Yorifuji,
who already released on Symbolic Interaction (see Vital Weekly
658), U-Cover, Install, Tobira and Waterscape. Its however a bit
different than the music of Strom Noir. 'Late Autumn' is built
around somewhat louder drone material, which seems to finds its
origin in some more fierce organ like sounds. A more uptight version
of drone music at work here. 'Late Spring' also has some darker
undercurrents, but throughout has a somewhat lighter charm to
it. Quite elegant dark ambient music. (FdW)
Address: http://hibernate-recs.com
HONG CHULKI - AMPLIFIED WC (3"CDR by
Ghost & Son)
NICK HOFFMAN - ANCIENT TAPE MACHINE VOL. 2 (cassette by Pilgrim
Talk)
I received both of these together, but I am not sure how they
are related. Hong Chulki we came across before, and belongs to
the current scene of improvisers from Korea. He does however also
music for film and installation. 'Amplified WC' is an installation
piece at the Nam June Paik Art Center in 2009, where Paik presented
'Prepared WC' in 1963. I could rewrite the whole press text, but
basically it deals with feedback loops, contact microphones on
the ventilation duct and tin foil. It would be nice to see this,
rather than just hear it. Although its an interesting piece, not
static at all actually, but moving with an increasing and decreasing
feedback, its also quite noise based and perhaps a bit long for
the twenty minutes captured here. If you don't know the story,
you'd probably put this down as improvised noise. Not a bad release,
but a bit long.
Also on the improvisation scheme is Nick Hoffman, mostly known
as Katchmere and mostly for his electronic music, but under his
own name improvises with percussion - at least on this release.
Value for money this release! On side A we have a recording from
Boone (Iowa) on the left channel, and Fukuoka (Japan) on the right
channel, while on side B various field recordings from Seoul are
on separate channels, while on the center (stereo) channel we
have a live recording from Chicago. An obscure release, I must
say. Things are very low on percussion side, slow, sometimes with
a bit of feedback or no input mixer stuff. The fact that's separated
is actually quite nice. On both sides it works out well. I have
no idea whether there has been any sort of edit or if we are listening
straight to concert recordings cut from the beginning, but there
is a great sense of minimalism to this material. Peaceful and
experimental. Very nice. (FdW)
Address: http://www.ghostandson.com
Address: http://www.pilgrimtalk.com
CHIHEI HATAKEYAMA - WHITE SUN (3"CDR
by Taalem)
POLLYPRAHA - JULE (3"CDR by Taalem)
NATURE OF DISLOCATION - ELEMENTS (3"CDR by Taalem)
SAITO KOJI - PRAYER (3"CDR by Taalem)
Four new releases in the ever expanding horizon of Taalem, and
curious enough all four are by Japanese musicians. The first one
is by an artist who already had some releases on Kranky, Spekk,
Room40 and recently on Hibernate (see Vital Weekly 699). One piece
here, almost twenty-four minutes. The sine wave drone like opening
quickly expands into some sort of processed instruments, most
likely to be a guitar and some granular synthesis. In the past
I wasn't blown away by Hatakeyama works, but I thought this one
was quite nice. Not highly original, maybe a bit long, but nevertheless
a piece that works well in the warm microsound ambient glitch
sun.
I never heard of any of the other three artists/bands. Pollypraha
I know nothing about. Its not easy to say if what he does is the
result of bending strings along sound effects or some sort of
elaborate processing through computerized means. It seems so on
'Jule 0', the opening tracks. A great piece. In 'Jule #', he plays
around with field recordings, but in a less exciting way. In 'Jule
1' the strings return, albeit a bit darker and subdued, but a
great piece it is again. A fine release of two excellent drone
pieces and one fine piece of field recordings.
Three pieces can also be found on 'Elements' by Nature Of Dislocation.
This is a collective of artists who work in multimedia. The music
side is created by Hiroki Sasajima and Takahisa Hirao. Their three
pieces are all the closest these four get to 'regular' ambient
music. Long waving, sustained sounds generated through digital
versions of analogue synthesizers. Hardly a big surprise this
release, but it works well. Deeply atmospheric and organic music.
No surprise, executed with great care.
Saito Koji already released on Gears Of Sand and Resting Bell.
He too plays guitar and sound effects and fits Nature Of Dislocation
perfectly. One piece though here that sounds like a choir of angels
(appropriate for the time of the year I'd say) and also heavily
based in ambient land. Another damn fine piece, executed with
great care, but also one that is perhaps a bit too much based
in tradition. Not bad as such though. It carries on the tradition,
I'd say. (FdW)
Address: http://www.taalem.com
JUSTIN BENNETT - THE CITY AMPLIFIED (book
by Stroom)
By now, Justin Bennett, in his mid forties, is recognized as a
serious, prize winning artist. Recently he was awarded the Ouborg
prize, which is a prize for a groundbreaking artist from the city
of Den Haag, where Bennett lives since leaving Sheffield. Part
of that prize is having a publication out, and surprisingly its
not a CD or a piece of vinyl, but a book. Two pieces on his work,
that largely deals with Bennett's interest in sounds from the
city, more than from the rural life. Then there is a bunch of
drawings that deal with the city and an a leparello of great photos
of BMB con, a trio that involves with performance on specific
sounds and in which are curiously, according to the photos sometimes
to be found in the country side. Informative book, a delight to
watch. A pity there is no CD I thought, but you can choose from
a wide collection of works already out there. (FdW)
Address: http://wwww.stroom.nl
OLIVES - TREMBLE (cassette by Moon Glyph)
'Tremble' marks the third release from Minneapolis' Olives, aka
Ross Nervig and Moon Glyph big boss Steve Rosborough. On this
well-designed C-32 the two have designed what they dub a "subversion
of traditional spiritual song structures and lyrical tropes,"
an approach which translates to a sort of ritualistic, vaguely
psychedelic, and firmly strange sonic exploration. As the press
release asserts, the tape is a challenging yet listenable affair
- an apt description which applies to all but grating "Onan
Revisited," which places cacophonous vocals samples atop
an electronic haze and a repeated, airy piano phrase. The rest
of the cassette is a strange and eclectic beast, ramped with a
ceremonial, mystical atmosphere which suggests spiritual overtones.
Case in point: "Were You There," which pairs distorted
guitar and tribal percussion in a manner reminiscent of Godspeed
You! Black Emperor climaxes, eventually bringing in chanted vocals
to complete some sort of primal religious rite. Then there's the
eighties synth line and new-age atmospherics of "St. Sebastian,"
and the longing, post-rock guitar tremble on, yes, "Tremble."
On a somewhat different note, "Michael 'Dracula' Goldberg"
and "Glass Olives" both employ vocals which nod to Ian
Curtis, the former in a post-punk meets no-wave vein, the latter
as some sort of pagan ceremony excursion.
Zany stuff. (MT)
Address: http://moonglyph.asymm.net
MP3 releases
From: "LtR@web" <leonrosado@gmail.com>
This is the second release of FeedbackLoop Label, this time around is a compilation called MANIFESTO, which is intended to showcase some of the music and musicians that embody the spirit of this label.
In that sense, FeedbackLoop label proudly presents its MANIFESTO not with words but with music, and its available for free download. The artists in this compilation all share a passion for experimental and emotional feelings, delivering a collection of ambiances and moods that hopefully you'll enjoy.
AVAILABLE here: http://feedbacklooplabel.blogspot.com/ & http://www.myspace.com/feedbacklooplabel
There is no restriction to genres only a passion for timeless music. I tried to gift listeners with some of the best music out there in the world, and I hope that after you listen to this countless times you will get back to the artists and get to know them better and support them.
If you like this music and if possible promote it among your contacts and friends, and check the first release Subterminal - Bitstreams.