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VITAL WEEKLY
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number 726
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week 14
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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
AVA MENDOZA - SHADOW STORIES (CD by Resipiscent)
LIZ ALLBEE - THESEUS VS. THE SHIP OF FOOLS (CD by Resipiscent)
*
MASAOKA/CHEN/GRUSEL/NAGAI (CD by Resipiscent) *
JANA WINDEREN - ENERGY FIELD (CD by Touch) *
KYRIAKIDES MOOR - FOLIA (CD by Unsounds) *
KYRIAKIDES MOOR - REBETIKA (CD by Unsounds)
AB BAARS & MEINRAD KNEER - WINDFALL (CD by Evil Rabbit)
DAWN OF MIDI - FIRST (CD by Accretions)
EDWIN LO - RABBIT TRAVELOGUE: CENTRAL REGION (CD by Rabbit Travelogue
Edition) *
DAKOTA DAYS (CD by Ponderosa)
PHANTOM DOG BENEATH THE MOON - THE TREES, THE SEA IN A LUNAR
STREAM (CD by Rusted Rail) *
ART GIRAFFEFUNGAL - BLACK PORRIDGE KALEIDOSCOPE (CD by Pointy
Bird)
PITCH WHITE STORM - FOUR LAYERS OF ABSTRACTION (CD, private)
CODE INCONNU- CODE INCONNU (CDR by Chmafu Records)
TRIKE - TRIKE & THE VIKINGS (CDR by Cheap Satanism) *
JONAS RUCHENHEVER/PETER STENBERG - TRAUMPHANTASIE/PLATEAU (CDR
by Industrial Culture)
HERFSTTONEN (CDR by Esc Rec)
I/D/ARA OPHIDIA (CDR, private)
KASPER VAN HOEK - FRANK 3 (CDR by Heilskabaal Records) *
HARUKI - THE LAND THAT LIES BEHIND US (3"CDR by Hibernate
Recordings) *
SUNSLIDE - FIELD PIANO (3"CDR by Field Muzick) *
ANDREW MARINO - REVISITING (cassette by Full Spectrum Records)
STIRNER - VRIJE GELUIDEN (cassette by Skum Rex)
SMUT / RIGHT NOW SPLIT (cassette by Friends and Relatives Records)
RUST WORSHIP - INFORMALITIES (cassette by Obsolete Units)
NONHORSE - NOXON (cassette by Obsolete Units)
FILTHY SMEAR - CONSTIPATED ALBION (cassette by Total Vermin)
FILTHY TURD - DEATH EJACULATIONS (cassette by Knife in the Toaster)
AVA MENDOZA - SHADOW STORIES (CD by Resipiscent)
LIZ ALLBEE - THESEUS VS. THE SHIP OF FOOLS (CD by Resipiscent)
MASAOKA/CHEN/GRUSEL/NAGAI (CD by Resipiscent)
As I write this I am not at home, not behind my desk, chewing
on music, but at a friends' house, watching over a sleeping baby
upstairs somewhere. I lie on their 'thing' on in the living room
(I am not good with the names of furniture, which I could avoid
by using the word couch), and outside its beautiful spring weather.
However I am listening to these three releases. The first one
is by guitarist Ava Mendoza, who played along the likes of Scott
Amendola, Carlo Bozulich, Marco Eneidi and Henry Kaiser (I recognized
one name) and its said that her debut album will 'enamor fans
of Sonny Sharrock, John Fahey, Marc Ribot, Nels Cline, James
Blood Ulmer, Keiji Haino, Fred Frith' and others. Here I recognized
some names indeed. I am still lying on this thing and think of
the nice weather conditions outside. Maybe its by now hotter
in the southern US states I wondered? Why is it that I connect
much of Mendoza's album with music from the Southern states of
USA? Swampy, bluesy music. Actually its quite nice, I thought,
while lying down. Its morning, but all of a sudden I thought
it would be nice, if it was a little more hot, and I could open
a stone cold beer. I think I liked this music, but I also think
its nothing for Vital Weekly.
As a women is Liz Allbee, who lives in Berlin and her instruments
are trumpet, electronics and voice. You might perhaps jump to
the conclusion that Allbee comes from the world of improvisation
and that's where she operates. That is only partially true. There
is a lot happening on this CD: perhaps somehow, somewhat based
in improvisation, but there is so much more, above all: its musical.
Sometimes one gets the impression that Allbee wants to play a
poptune. I have no idea what her electronics are about but no
doubt some form of loopdevice to create rhythms. Perhaps using
her voice, perhaps her trumpet, or perhaps there is some rudimentary
form of a drum computer. But I think she loops more than just
that: also her voice, also her trumpet and thus forms little
melodies around she improvises her work. Maybe that seems an
odd combination but its one that works surprisingly well. At
times a bit noisy, at other times more like serious avant-garde,
but always keen to add that (small) pop angle. The tracks are
short and to the point. A bit sketch-like perhaps, but due to
the variety of approach this is a highly enjoyable and well succeeded
hybrid of styles, with Allbee doing something that is surely
her own.
Then solely rooted in the world of improvised music we find a
CD which is based on the first meeting of guitarist Kenta Nagai,
vocalist/cellist Audrey Chen, koto player Miya Masaoka and the
modular synth operated by Hans Grusel. On September 11, 2009
they played for the first time at High Zero Festival in Baltimore,
in a derelict church (we are supposed to hear the water dripping,
but I didn't). They played one long piece which no doubt for
the sake of convenience is cut into separate pieces. Each of
the player has quite some experience in playing improvised music,
yet as a whole this CD is not always successful. The four players
stay in a territory which they probably feel save and know their
way. The improvisations here are pretty 'musical' and not like
so many others an exploration of what sound possibilities an
instrument has to offer. That of course is not a bad thing. But
one can hear too much their search for that next nice bit they
intend to play. Some more rigorous editing would have been in
place here, weeding out those bits that don't work well, and
perhaps would have resulted in a CD that would have been half
the length, but with stronger music. (FdW)
Address: http://www.resipiscent.com
JANA WINDEREN - ENERGY FIELD (CD by Touch)
This is my second encounter with the work of Jana Winderen, following
'Heated: Live In Japan' (see Vital Weekly 669), where she created
a piece of music with the use of various field recordings. A
very good piece of music, but nothing that leaped out of what
we already heard by others in the same field (sorry of that bad
line), like BJ Nilsen or Chris Watson, both of whom are also
on Touch actually. Here she presents a new work made in Barents
Sea (which can be found north of Norway and Russia), Greenland
and Norway, in cold sea, glaciers. Apparently we are supposed
to hear fish (cod, haddock, herring, pollock) hunting, calling
for a mate or just trying to find their way. I am not sure, and
bound to think its not, but it seems that Winderen has added
some electronic processing to the sounds she recorded. Or maybe
its just the drone of a trawler also picked up with her hydrophones.
Again I must say this is a beautiful work, which if you don't
know much about the fact that it is recorded below sea level,
most of the times, could pass on as a high and mighty work of
drone music. Like so many genres discussed in Vital Weekly (ambient,
noise, field recordings), its hard to stand out with a particular
work. Jana Winderen delivers once again a great work, which can
easily meet up with the best in her field. No wonder she is on
a high quality label like Touch. (FdW)
Address: http://www.touchmusic.org.uk
KYRIAKIDES MOOR - FOLIA (CD by Unsounds)
KYRIAKIDES MOOR - REBETIKA (CD by Unsounds)
The press text suggests that this the second and third CD release
from Yannis Kyriakides (computer) and Andy Moor (guitar), but
then somehow I missed out on the first one. The two have played
a whole bunch of concerts in 2009 and 'Folia' is a sort of studio
version of their endless improvisations. It's based on a "famous
tune from the 16th and 17th centuries called 'La Folia'"
and apparently is of some influence on the music. I must admit
I don't know that tune, so did I recognize it in here. On 'Rebetika',
which was previously available as a download from Seventhings
(but which has two extra tracks on the CD version), they 'lovingly
deconstruct and reassemble their favorite rebetika music'. Rebetika,
in case you don't know, is the blues music of the greek from
about a century ago. On that CD it seems to me that they use
original recordings, which Kyriakides samples on his computer,
feeds to the plugs, along which Moore improvises on his guitar.
In the nine pieces here things sound pretty coherent. The starting
point always are the melancholic melodies that lie at the heart
of the rebetika. Sometimes things go out more into an abstracter
field, even noisy, nervous hectic parts, but it makes sense.
'Folia' on the other hand is different. Its here that these boys
go out all the way and show off what they are all capable off
when it comes to improvising, and brings them all over the place.
From introspective playing to noise oriented
bits, or even bits that contain rhythms (without becoming dance
music of course). Their improvisations are not bound by any rules,
the great red book of improvisation, but instead they play whatever
comes to mind. Kyriakides picking up the guitar, processing it
on the spot, feeding it back and Moore responding to that. It
brings out seven great pieces that can be seen as a whole but
also as separate entities. Excellent. (FdW)
Address: http://www.unsounds.com
AB BAARS & MEINRAD KNEER - WINDFALL
(CD by Evil Rabbit)
Evil Rabbit is a label run by Dutch pianist Albert van Veenendaal
and German double bass player Meinrad Kneer. Started in 2006,
they concentrate on contemporary European jazz and improvised
music. Most releases concern Dutch-based projects of international
line ups. Now we focus on the work 'Windfall' by Ab Baars (tenor
sax, clarinet, shakuhachi, noh-kan) and Meinrad Kneer on double
bass. Kneer is a new name for me. Since 1995 he lives in Amsterdam,
and participates in numerous projects and groups that operate
on the borders of jazz, improvised, ethnic and contemporary music.
Ab Baars, a long time member of the famous Instant Composers
Pool Orchestra, needs no further introduction. On two occasions
in 2008 Baars and Kneer recorded the 11 improvisations that make
up this CD of 46 minutes. To be enjoyed here is a fine interplay
between two very skilled musicians. Their improvisations move
between very raw and very subtle ones full of nuances and contrasts.
Their dialogues are however also it dry and academic, which is
characteristic for some sections of Dutch improvised music. This
makes it is difficult to stay tuned from time to time. At the
same time it is clear we witness some beautiful and disciplined
poetry here! (DM)
Address: http://www.evilrabbitrecords.eu
DAWN OF MIDI - FIRST (CD by Accretions)
Dawn of Midi is Pakistani percussionist Qasim Naqvi, Indian contrabassist
Aakaash Israni and Moroccan pianist Amino Belyamani. A very international
- non-western - line up, but they live and work in Europe and
the States. Dawn of Midi is a traditional acoustic combo although
the name of the band made my thoughts fist go to electronic equipment.
This strong collective plays a very sensible kind of jazzmusic.
Because of the backgrounds of the musicians I expected non-western
influences, but I failed to notice them if there were any. The
improvisations are above all very intense and coherent, delivered
in a beautiful recording by engineer Steve Rusch. All timbres,
colors, little movements and sounds, received equal attention
from Rusch. Already from this perspective only, it is a joy to
listen to this album. But the music itself is also fantastic.
In most of the improvisations the music moves on very tranquil
and peacefully. Subtle and warm. But at the same time there is
a constant tension and concentration that binds all together.
The pianist has a minimalist approach , hammering the same cluster
of notes on and on, or just playing one note. The drummer is
the most busy one of the three, making lots of runs, figures
and crazy noises, circling around the more modest playing by
piano- and bass player. There improvisations are open and challenging,
and have great depth. They take you on a mysterious and hypnotizing
journey. A real beauty. (DM)
Address: http://www.accretions.com
EDWIN LO - RABBIT TRAVELOGUE: CENTRAL REGION
(CD by Rabbit Travelogue Edition)
The name Edwin Lo doesn't sound exactly Chinese, but he send
his CD from that country, where he recorded the field recordings
over a three year period in Sheung Wan and Central. The Rabbit
mentioned refers to a fictional character in this story, traveling
about. It starts out with a rather low end hum but soon enough
the field recordings come in which he is "trying to articulate
is to observe, correspond, questioning the central value by using
sound and its archival and creative practice". We hear street
sounds, the activity of people (at one point they seem to be
arguing, which is fascinating to hear), and even a sort of talk
is picked up, in English, about what seems to be a demonstration
- I might be wrong here. Maybe its a political edge to the work?
I am not sure. But throughout this is quite a fascinating work,
even if one (like me) has never visited the region. Lo rather
does a clever mix of sounds and atmospheres, which are all quite
evocative. Otherwise there is not much to say, other than this
work of field recordings is very nice. (FdW)
Address: http://rabbit-travelogue.com
DAKOTA DAYS (CD by Ponderosa)
Here I am in trouble. This is popmusic. Loaded with tons of references:
public Image LTD, Fleetwood Mac, new wave, John Lennon. The latter
had his Dakota Days, where he spend the last years of his life,
before caught in the rye. Dakota Days are Ronald Lippock (Tarwater,
To Roccoco Rot, White Tree) and Alberto Fabris (Pacifico, Masculine/Feminine),
who worked on this album from summer 2008 to early 2009. They
play a radical new version of 'Slow' by Kylie Minogue, or 'Love
Boat' theme (just using the lyrics). Lots of guitars, piano,
great vocals (which is rare with the popmusic that usually lands
on this desk), drums. Fresh popmusic, good popmusic. I actually
enjoyed this a lot. But then I always liked popmusic. Never as
something to write about, but simply to play it. I am better,
I hope, about weird music, then about such simple yet great music
as Dakota Days. One to keep in rotating for all those moments
I have no pressing Vital matters. Excellent. (FdW)
Address: http://www.ponderosa.it
PHANTOM DOG BENEATH THE MOON - THE TREES,
THE SEA IN A LUNAR STREAM (CD by Rusted Rail)
Once Phantom Dog Beneath The Moon were called Snowmachine, a
name I must admit I liked better. A duo from Ireland of Aaron
Hurley and Scott McLaughlin. As Snowmachine they had a release
on Deserted Village (see Vital Weekly 464), in which already
we heard the roots of Phantom Dog Beneath The Moon: lots of guitars
and vocals. I guess they liked it that much that its now continued.
Its music that is really not for Vital Weekly. Music that is
best described as folk music with an avant-garde edge. Hurley
has a falsetto voice, and the instruments, all played by McLaughlin,
include guitars, cello, piano, glockenspiel, bass, melodica,
harpsichord and electronics. The music, eight tracks, almost
all around five to seven minutes, is not bad, I guess, but I'm
missing out on points of reference myself. Not rooted here in
indie-rock, shoegaze or folk its hard to say wether this is great,
or a great copy, or bad, or a bad copy. Sometimes the music expands
into the world of drone, through over-use of reverb to get that
haunting atmosphere. Sometimes it sounds like mediaeval tunes.
Like said, I don't think its bad, but I guess its not something
I would play very often. Especially the voice is something I
have a problem with. So it goes, I guess. (FdW)
Address: http://www.rustedrail.com
ART GIRAFFEFUNGAL - BLACK PORRIDGE KALEIDOSCOPE
(CD by Pointy Bird)
Pointy Bird is a small label from the UK run by Andrea and Pete
Bradley. The second release of Art Giraffefungal at Pointy Bird
is a recording of a live free improvisation. The sounds are electronic
and the info-sheet tells that the sound generators and recordings
were all made on trains and boats. I cannot hear it, but that
makes no sense. The sounds are pure and with no overdub and not
multi-layered. That makes this album attractive and worth listening.
The CD has 16 short tracks with the length of about 2:30 minutes.
Every composition has his own atmosphere from cold white noises
to calm repeating tones. The pure electronic sounds are well
composed in a straight way. I reminds me to old electronic experiments,
but Art Giraffefungal makes in a short period very intensive
compositions. He leads you through his sound-pallett of distorted
sounds and deep-dark tones. The track "Spaghetti Machine
Feedback Error" is full of echoes and beats that starts
like an experimental reggae-track and ends in more straight sounds.
The two tracks based on radio-sounds are nice generated, not
in a new or special manner, but it fits well in the concept and
the investigation of the pure sounds and that is what you can
find on this CD. (JKH)
Address: http://www.pointybirdrecords.co.uk
PITCH WHITE STORM - FOUR LAYERS OF ABSTRACTION
(CD, private)
Pitch White Storm started as an initiative by Jeroen Pek, Onno
Witte and Stormvogel in 2006. In 2008 they were ready for their
first work called 'The View & The Tales', described by themselves
as a 'jazzrock suite'. For 'Four Layers of Abstraction' the group
turned into a sextet with new members Mark Thur (laptop, soundscapes,
sampler, small percussion, bag or marbles),
Dave de Marez Oyens (bassguitar, filter modler, milk frother,
e-bow), Oene van Geel (violin). The original members: Stormvogel
(grand piano, beerglass, analog & digital synthesizer, voice),
Jeroen Pek (C flute, alto flute, bass flute, educci, breath FX,
voice), Onno Witte (drums, glockenspiel, Orff instruments, small
percussion, voice). For this project the band worked with sound
sculptor Mark Thur who was asked "to join in and jockey
the computer as a full fledged musical instruments. The result
was a bunch of spherical improvisations, live performed on acoustic
and analog instruments, but instantly sampled, transformed and
manipulated by electronic and digital machines. All layers were
recorded separately on different locations and dates by PWS members,
featuring Oene van Geel (violin). To preserve the magic of 'pure
psychic automatism', none of the musicians were allowed to prepare
before recording their layers."
The results of this procedure are difficult to categorize, this
being a first indication that this is a successful experiment.
All five pieces sound spaced out and trippy, but without a groove.
It is music of psychedelic and hallucinating proportions, heading
somewhere between pure sound art and music. The long opening
track "Corner Cube/Retro Reflecter" reminded me sometimes
of Miles Davis in his electric 70s phase. Thur plays a crucial
role. Depending on his electronic surgery the music moves away
from its acoustic starting point. Waves of music are layered,
resulting in open electroacoustic world music. At first hearing
it appeared to me without a sense of strong direction. But it
started to grow after repeated listenings, and gradually I became
impressed by the hidden inner logic of these excursions. (DM)
Address: http://www.myspace.com/pitchwhitestorm
CODE INCONNU - CODE INCONNU (CDR by Chmafu
Records)
I suppose it is no coincidence that this Austrian band carries
the same name as one of the films of Austrian director Michael
Haneke. Code Inconnu is Markus Sworcik (drums), Gottfried Krienzer
(guitar) and Christoph Uhlmann (synth). As a trio they started
in 2001, with Graz as their base. For their newest and third
release they are joined by Reas Klockl (bass) and Hannes Schauer
(vocals). So I deduce they changed direction considerably for
their new record. They compiled an album of composed song structures
that have strong roots in 80s new wave. Sometimes I had to think
of how Allen Ravenstine added electronics to the songs of Pere
Ubu, although Code Inconnu is a totally different band. Their
music often sounds like a very thick soup. All sound ingredients
together produce something very dense and unable to look through.
A massive wall of sounds and noise, especially because of the
use of heavy electronic tapestries. This is noise rock par excellence
and done very convincingly. It works well for me in tracks like
'Recollected'.
In quieter tracks like the first part of 'Point' the music looses
my interest. In their mixing of vocals and electronics the most
interesting things happen, like in 'Dub an ordinary woman' that
opens with great guitar work by Krienzer. But reviewing CDs of
rock music I always have the feeling that nothing changes in
rock music. Essentially it are always the same basic ingredients.
Also in the case of Code Inconnu I come to this conclusion. Although
they are able to put their own stamp in a very dynamic and fresh
way. They spread out much energy and power as we expect from
rock music, and that makes them appealing. But for me this does
not compensate the fact that it is in the end rock as we know
it so well. I wished they put more "inconnu codes"
into their music. With the closing track "Young Canadians"
they lost all my credit. It is full of the usual pop pathos that
just horrifies me. The vinyl version of this record is released
by Noise Appeal Records. As a CDR it is realized by Chmafu Nocords.
(DM)
Address: http://www.nocords.net http://www.noiseappeal.com
TRIKE - TRIKE & THE VIKINGS (CDR by
Cheap Satanism)
Apparently Trike from Canada has won $20.000 on a Canadian tv/radio
competition and a Yamaha Equipment Sponsorship, so it eludes
me why they want to release their music on a CDR? No track titles
on the cover, but mentioned on the press text. Odd. The music
is nothing for Vital Weekly actually, but I saw Trike live a
while ago and their sheer professionalism in playing quirky electro-pop
tunes was very, very nice. A duo of Xania Keane (voice, drum-programming,
violin, tap-dancing, percussion, spanking) and Stephen Paul Taylor
(voice, synth, programming, percussion, guitar, bass and trombone)
who recorded this album near some ancient Viking graves - hence
the title. Good double male/female vocals around here, great
melodies, excellent production and highly commercial (and speaking
about commercial: 'Smack Me Around' will be used by Tic Tac).
Trike have everything to be famous, front cover of teenie pop
magazines. 'For Fans Of Jarvis Cocker, The Cars, Pet Shop Boys,
Lady Gaga' - I should get my daughter (11) for an in-depth review
and not a grumpy old man, who actually liked it too. Very un-Vital.
Very unlikely once they reach true fame, they will be again featured
here. (FdW)
Address: http://www.cheapsatanism.com
JONAS RUCHENHEVER/PETER STENBERG - TRAUMPHANTASIE/PLATEAU
(CDR by Industrial Culture)
For a label whose name is Industrial Culture one doesn't perhaps
the kind of music as presented by Jonas Ruchenhever and Peter
Stenberg. I don't think I heard of them before (although I might
be wrong). They each have a piece here on this split release,
although each piece must be seen as various pieces. Both artists
use the same musical material: field recordings, guitars and
electronics. Its not easy to point out the differences between
the two. Stenberg seems to me the one who uses longer curves
in his music. His piece has three parts, whereas Ruchenhever
comes to eight. But both of the artists perform an interesting
combination of improvised music on guitar that, due to the use
of sound effects, grow and grow into some kind of drone music.
But its not the kind of drone music that is pure drone, but a
bit more daring, a bit different than what is usually labeled
as such. Its more like a collage of sounds, some chopped up,
some sustaining, some with crackles and hiss, and with what could
be computer processing, which results in pretty good music, that
works beyond boundaries of improvisation, drone and microsound/ambient
glitch. Not much difference between the two, whom I expect to
know eachother, although one is from Sweden and the other from
Belgium, makes also that I have no preference for one or the
other, but throughout a pretty strong album. (FdW)
Address: http://www.industrialculture.org
HERFSTTONEN (CDR by Esc Rec)
Somewhere in The Netherlands there is a place called Okkenbroek,
of which I never heard. The have a festival called 'Landtonen'
(tones of the land) and asked Esc.Rec to invite a bunch of musicians
to come up with a piece of music especially for this festival,
keeping in mind the rural aspect of the village. Paul de Jong,
the cello player of whom we haven't heard much lately, but was
once in the mighty The Books, has a melancholic piece of music,
with a soaring piece of music on the cello, spoken word and computer
manipulations. Carefully constructed and actually very beautiful.
It moved some in the audience to tears, which is understandable.
Mia Mia, of whom I never heard, created a video and we get the
soundtrack here for it. Also a mellow piece of music, but more
gentle, more musical. Floating like a leaf in the wind, with
some vibraphone like tones, dark strings in the background, like
autumn clouds on an otherwise sunny day. Far, far away influenced
by dance music I guess, with very gentle beats lurking in the
background. Gluid, being Bram van den Oever, has a real vibraphone
player and a real cello player, while playing himself samples
of field recordings (birds of course and more local talk). Here
is where we get the closest to real dance music. Perhaps intended
to be a bit folk dance like, in which the whole village cheerfully
attends. Three lengthy pieces, three times spot on. Okkenbroek
can be proud of the achievement! (FdW)
Address: http://www.escrec.com
I/D/ARA OPHIDIA (CDR, private)
A split release between two bands of which I never heard before.
They are both from Singapore. Its send by I/D who give some information:
"an improvising noise-rock collective sharing a common love
of progressive rock, jazz fushion, harsh noise, psychedelic vibes,
black & doom metal, post-punk and disco dancing sounds. They
don't give a damn about what is or isn't 'tasteful'; they just
want to rock 'n disco you hard". The release however starts
with Ara Ophidia, who play music that is highly atmospheric and
probably find their life in all things 'ritual' or 'magick'.
Lots of reverb on sound sources unknown, which makes the whole
thing sound a bit 'far away'. I think lots of guitars are used
here, along with said sound effect and delays. Its actually not
bad, this ambient doom metal, a bit like early Main. The pieces
sound open for some further rework to be fully satisfying. I/D
has the most space here, in one track that last twenty-four minutes.
Its easy to say what it is not: disco dancing for a start. Jazz
fushion? Hardly. Free improvisation through a rock context? Yes.
Harsh noise? Surely. The saxophone plays the main instrument,
along with drums and guitars. I don't like saxophone playing
this, blearing away on end, even within this noise setting, which
may remind us of Borbetomagus. Too long, too unstructured. I'm
sure they don't mind, but I do. (FdW)
Address: <hseah@yahoo.com>
KASPER VAN HOEK - FRANK 3 (CDR by Heilskabaal
Records)
The third release by Kasper van Hoek from his time at the Frank
Mohr Institute in Groningen. Four tracks of which little is revealed.
The soundsources were recorded between 2005 and 2010 and mixed
2009-2010. That's all. The press text reveals some more info:
all of these pieces use some kind of stringed objects, maybe
a guitar, maybe some kind of device with strings that Van Hoek
build himself, which he feeds through max/msp patches. Sometimes
it involves old live recordings, but its not always clear, what
kind of mixing took place; some of this material sound like it
was recorded live and nothing more. Although the four pieces
aren't bad, there seems to be something missing in them. Its
hard to say what it is. Maybe the problem lies with me, but I
found it a bit hard to get into this. The material didn't quite
get to me. It sounds a bit too unfinished for me. (FdW)
Address: http://www.heilskabaal.net
HARUKI - THE LAND THAT LIES BEHIND US (3"CDR
by Hibernate Recordings)
Boris Snauwaert is Haruki. His first release, 'Haphazardly, While
Sitting' (see Vital Weekly 652) I didn't like very much, but
his second 'To Humble A Nest' (see Vital Weekly 687) I did. They
sounded quite different from eachother. The first one was quite
improvised on a metal string instrument, whereas the second was
a collection of pieces that had field recordings, electronics,
analogue and digital and that rusty saw again. It seems now,
with this new release that this is a combination that suits him
quite well. All the elements of 'To Humble A Nest' are here again.
Haruki plays drone like music, but from within a musical context.
The melodies are a bit angular and at times even a bit piercing,
especially when using a bow on the saw. But the addition of say
a piano takes off the sharp edge and adds a great texture to
the music. Quite a nice release, short and to the point. Haruki
is maturing and this new release is quite a step forward. (FdW)
Address: http://hibernate-recs.co.uk
SUNSLIDE - FIELD PIANO (3"CDR by Field
Muzick)
Nigel Simpson is the man behind Sunslide, and as such he has
been experimenting with acoustic and electric sounds. Most curious
thing mentioned on his CV is a meeting with Phil Manzanera in
a coffeeshop which resulted in playing on two of his solo records.
He lived in London but has moved to Suffolk, where he can finally
play the piano again. He set up the 88 keys outside and played
these improvisations, keeping in mind the music of Chopin, Schumann,
Bill Evans, Arve Henriksen and also Brian Eno's 'Discreet Music'.
Long sustaining sounds, carefully playing and of course country-side
sounds. Its where the label name truly lives I'd say. There is
some sparse electronic processing, but what it does is not exactly
clear - that kind of sparseness. In the third piece there is
something of mild distortion going on and a lot on the seventh
and final piece, which I also didn't like: it broke up the gentleness
of the previous six. Quite hissy at times. I was reminded the
old great Harold Budd track on 'From Brussels With Love', but
then played outside. Apart from that seventh track a lovely moody
little item. (FdW)
Address: http://fieldmuzick.net
ANDREW MARINO - REVISITING (cassette by
Full Spectrum Records)
A man who creates music, design and who is into photography,
beekeeping and homebrewing of beer is surely a man of many interests.
He also plays guitar and that's what he does on this twenty minute
cassette. The press text talks about various homes and studios
where this was recorded, but it surely doesn't sound like a work
of many layers, but two improvised pieces on the guitar, with
lots of sound effects being used to create an eerie ambient-like
texture of atmospheric music. Working fine in the world of long
sustaining sounds and overtones, its hard to recognize a guitar
at all. In that respect he sounds a bit like the older Oren Ambarchi,
especially on some of the pieces on his early LP releases. Quite
a nice cassette which I think should have been a CDR with a somewhat
better sound quality. (FdW)
Address: http://www.fullspectrumrecords.com
STIRNER - VRIJE GELUIDEN (cassette by Skum
Rex)
This is yet another example of how harsh noise marries well to
the cassette medium in that it can interact with the medium's
"defects" to create a new synthesis of "affect"
by which Dolby (S) et. al. is rendered musicologically as opposed
to technologically pointless. I.e. one labours electronics in
with a fog of tape residue, including vocals in places, a long
work. by which the difference between materials, thought and
production disappear, and so much like the name suggests, rejects
all political, economic, philosophic, psychological, thought
& production, from religiosity through radicalism at its
most atheistic and nihilistic. "Look at Stirner, look at
him, the peaceful enemy of all constraint. For the moment, he
is still drinking beer, Soon he will be drinking blood as though
it were water." (jliat)
Address: c/o Tony Mulder Hoornbladstraat 194 7601 SR, Almelo
The Netherlands
SMUT / RIGHT NOW SPLIT (cassette by Friends
and Relatives Records)
This is another of a few examples of being honest to the medium
of the audio cassette in its thrown togetherness - its accidentally
which is quite Heideggerean throwness of Dasein - to be overly
pretentious in an ontological way, but this kind of thing is
more ontic than ontological- "what da ya mean?" Ontic
in that it represents a particular thing, i.e. this tape with
its actuality, makes it a science of music, or subject of scientific
investigation of things, i.e. "this!" one listens to
a *particular* performance, which is not the same as the ontological
idea of being "at all", the philosophical ramifications
that was once high art but now can be found in HN / HNW. This
Ontic stance which has become general through the "performances"
of work across the music cultural plane, partly I suspect via
Frank Zappa, but now even in the gesturing of Simon Rattle, as
opposed to the expositions of the ontological nature of sound
as noise. There is much on this tape which some might think similar
to that I critiqued elsewhere, but here it only serves to underline
the nature of its factivity, there is no aesthetic to intervene.
(Jliat)
Address: www.freindsandrelativesrecords.com
RUST WORSHIP - INFORMALITIES (cassette
by Obsolete Units)
NONHORSE - NOXON (cassette by Obsolete Units)
Informalities is supposedly three live recordings, however the
extreme stereo panning and lo-vol scraping and feedback hums-
the kind of thing you hear amateur rock bands going through when
setting up, gives the work a studio feel as its here all beautifully
presented and controlled. What springs to mind is a show by some
art lecturer of slides, those that you get marking the end of
the film, with colored bands where light has got in on the last
un-rewound bit of 35mm. He - the lecturer, enthused about these
but the general feeling was - "Well.. And..." I wont
quote all the blurb but it describes this in almost an apologetic
way - "An apt representation of Rust Worship's current state-of-affairs."
Well yes - i.e. "lost" as it says "flow between
something like"." forgotten miscellany" - why
the cassette format here when its low fi quality is ignored and
by using commercial tape gives inappropriate lengths for the
live works- i.e. many minutes of unused silent tape? Nonhorse
- Noxon, I read with a falling heart "Noxon is an unending
hour-and-a-half plus expression of Crane's particular mastery
of his art, a sonic canvas of half-remembered daydreams, ambiguous
episodes of astral projection, and floating remnants of lost
AM radio transmissions. A future classic of fever-dreamed ambiance."
Well yes, it's the kind of thing bored kids (and me) do in ethic
shops where there is that machine which plays excerpts from the
ethnic whale/American Indian/pan pipes and meditation music stuff.
Some might like this music. We get these (machines) in garden
centers in the UK these days, but I prefer to wander over and
watch the fish. Being serious and trying to be constructive,
there are too many ingredients here both sonic and not, effects
and illusions to nonsense, insufficient contemplation of the
silence which is the perfect chora, one does not "master"
this, (or subject it to electronics), but listens to it, even
in its banality. (And) the reason things are "lost",
"ambiguous", "half-remembered" is either
that they were/are unimportant or represent the conscious tip
of a very very unpleasant repressed reality "It is the dark,
inaccessible part of our personality, what little we know of
it we have learnt from our study of the dream-work and of the
construction of neurotic symptoms, and most of this is of a negative
character and can be described only as a contrast to the ego.
We all approach the id with analogies: we call it a chaos, a
cauldron full of seething excitations... It is filled with energy
reaching it from the instincts, but it has no organization, produces
no collective will, but only a striving to bring about the satisfaction
of the instinctual needs subject to the observance of the pleasure
principle." [Freud, New Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis
(1933)] (Jliat)
Address: http://www.myspace.com/obsoleteunits
FILTHY SMEAR - CONSTIPATED ALBION (cassette
by Total Vermin)
"traffic noise, trumpet noise, bashing and crooning. Artwork
by Ms Susan Fitzpatrick" Lofi production - Voice noise which
sounds like vomiting, short snippets layered with noise, movie
clips, ambient noise and discernible vocals ranting on about
shit. rhythmic noise bursts, this fits more into the industrial/fluxus
category than noise as in HN and HNW where such thematic devices
are abandoned, or Obfuscated. The second side opens with a semi
tune like thing - before entering another vocal mish mash. Some
may like the texture of this work, as it weaves its abstract
bricolage like a walk along the shoreline at low tide, ultimately
romantic which is the problem with all such work which postures
the idea of creativity and comment. A piquant Gilbert and George
kind of piece of work. (Jliat)
Address: http://totalvermin.blogspot.com/
FILTHY TURD - DEATH EJACULATIONS (cassette
by Knife in the Toaster)
There has been in noise quite a loud group (ha ha) of proponents
of the cassette as THE medium of choice, it being cheap and noisy,
having almost the aesthetic of a packet of cigarettes. As a non
smoking pro smoker who misses the other worldly atmospheres of
the great British pub now like the French café in sad
decline since our elders and betters told us off and stopped
us smoking in public. I digress from my digression, there is
something about the packet of cigarettes, is it size, the wrapper,
the flip lid or the softer America or Gauloises packet - paquet
- which is shared by The Compact Cassette (correct term) which
has now perhaps via its cult status in noise become a more general
indie phenomenon- marketing ploy - see http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/mar/29/audio-cassette-comeback
- regardless (insert musings on comodification/exploitation referencing
Marx et al.) and finally getting round to this tape - sorry Compact
Cassette- this - is harsh noise - continuous in its saturation
of the tape certainly harsh noise - a harsh Wall in its continuum
of Cantoresque infinities. For the sake of a quote to help the
label- "This tape represents one of the many apogees, capstones,
climaxes, culminations, heights, high points, highest points,
meridians, optimums, peaks, summits, tops, ultimatums, vertexes,
zeniths of Harsh Noise Wall, highly recommended" - to anyone
- especially those who smoke Capstan full strength cigarettes.
i.e. NFP (not for pussies) "The brand became less popular
when the health effects of Tobacco became more widely known,
few shops now sell them. In 1971 the UK government published
a table of the tar and nicotine contents of cigarettes available
in the UK market, and Capstan Full Strength contained, by some
margin, the highest tar and nicotine contents of any brand."
On side 2 the HNW auto destructs into a mission impossible of
white noise and disconnection. (Jliat - cough-)
Address: http://knifeinthetoaster.tripod.com/index.html
announcements
1. From: itah <itah@o2.pl>
:::III CoCArt Music Festival:::
April 16-17, Centre of Contemporary Art
in Torun, Poland
16.04 (Friday), 8.00 PM:
Antoine Chessex (CH)
ZE BIF (D)
Jens Brand (D)
Marcelo Aguirre/SPASTIC DEMENTIA (D)
LUXATED TRIO (PL)
17.04 (Saturday), 7.00 PM:
Asmus Tietchens (D)
Raymond Salvatore Harmon (USA) & Philippe Petit (F)
Dave Phillips (CH)
PAS (USA)
WEREJU (IRL)
CoCArt Music Festival is organized by the
Centre of Contemporary Art "Znaki Czasu" in Torun,
Poland, in cooperation with members of group HATI - Rafal Iwanski
& Rafal Kolacki. The main idea of the Festival is presentation
of new trends in contemporary music.
CoCArt Music Festival on internet:
http://www.csw.torun.pl/cocart
http://www.myspace.com/cocartmusicfestival
2. From: Lee Kwang Goh <goh.leekwang@gmail.com>
i will visit Europe by end of this month
and playing some concerts there:
30 Apr (Fri) Dock18, Zürich, Switzerland. (Presentation,
concert & video)
1 May (Sat) Miss Hecker, Berlin, Germany. (as PM, with Olaf Hochherz)
2 May (Sun) Raum18, Berlin, Germany.
4 May (Tue) Antje Oeklesund, Berlin, Germany. (as PM, with Olaf
Hochherz, Laptop)
7 May (Fri) Kulturzentrum am EuroBahnhof e.V., Saarbrücken,
Germany.
8 May (Sat) Kulturzentrum am EuroBahnhof e.V., Saarbrücken,
Germany.
12 May (Wed) Hörbar, Hamburg, Germany.
13 May (Thu) H7, Hamburg, Germany. With Christoph Schiller -
spinet,
Gregory Büttner - electr., objects, Birgit Ulher - tp, radio
mutes,
speaker, Heiner Metzger - soundtable
14 May (Fri) Subterrarium, Vienna, Austria. (Concert & video)
15 May (Sat) Amann Studio, Vienna, Austria.
16 May (Sun) CÖKXPôN CafÉ Theather, Budapest,
Hungary.
18 May (Tue) Ljubljana, Slovenia.
21 May (Fri) Instants Chavires, Montreuil, France. With Jason
Kahn,
Analog Synthesizer
23 May (Sun) Cave 12, Geneva, Switzerland. With Jason Kahn, Analog
Synthesizer
25 May (Tue) Werkstatt Improvisierte Musik (WIM), Zürich,
Switzerland.
With Jason Kahn, Analog Synthesizer
* and a sound installation at the Staalplaat
Records store in Berlin
from 4th May onward.
3. From: informatie@le-souffleur.nl
Dekorder Label Night
Asra (Raymond Dijkstra/Timo van Luijk)
(nl/be)
Black To Comm (de)
Iibiis Rooge (Astral Social Club/High Wolf) (uk/fr)
Machinefabriek (nl)
Voks (dk)
Dj's obscuriosa + klaui
@ Vrijhaven/Maakhaven
Saturday 17 april 20:30
Calandkade 157 Den Haag
http://home.wanadoo.nl/w.out/dekorder.htm
4. From: "incite@gmx.de" <incite@gmx.de>
microphonics
(Dirk Serries/ Fear Falls Burning/ Vidna Obmana)
live @ Hörbar Hamburg
Wednesday, April 21st
19:30
(showtime 20:15)
5¤ cover
http://www.myspace.com/mymicrophonics
http://www.audiounit.fragmentedmedia.org/
5. From: incite@gmx.de
incite/ live in Minsk - greyscale audiovisual
electronics
InTouch Festival 2010
Saturday April 24th
Gallery of Modern Arts, Minsk, Belarus
Also performing:
Plaster
Pleq
Buben feat Nasta Labada
http://intouch-fest.h-a-z-e.org/
http://www.goethe.de/ins/ru/lp/prj/kum/kpr/int/deindex.htm
--
Vital Weekly is published by Frans de Waard
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is welcome <vital@vitalweekly.net>. Forward to your allies.
Snail mail: Vital Weekly/Frans de Waard - Acaciastraat 11 - 6521
NE Nijmegen - The Netherlands
All written by Frans de Waard (FdW), Dolf Mulder (DM) <dolf.mulder@hetnet.nl>,
Robert Meijer (RM), Niels Mark (NM), Jeff Surak (JS), Craig N
(CN), Jliat (Jliat), Freek Kinkelaar (FK), Michael Tau (MT),
Jan-Kees Helms (JKH) and others on a less regular basis.
This is copyright free publication, except where indicated, in
which case permission has to be obtained from the respective
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Announcements can be shortened by the editor. Please do NOT send
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so sending us something new means probably the first review you
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able to maintain this. Please do not send any thing that is older
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Lastly we have decided to remove the announcement section of
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five weeks. Since they 95% deal with concerts that have been,
it's gentle to remove the announcement and more important the
e-mail addresses coming with that.
the complete archive of Vital Weekly including
search possibilities:
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