MINNY POPS – DRASTIC MEASURES, DRASTIC MOVEMENT (2CD by Factory Benelux) *
NEIL LEONARD – FOR KORNELLIS (CD by Gasp)
NEIL LEONARD – MIL MANERAS (CD by Gasp)
TRIPLE POINT – PHASE/TRANSITIONS (3CD by Pogus)
MASSIMO BERIZZI – (CD by Diplodisc)
ALESSANDRO MONTI – SPIRITDZOE (CD by Diplodisc)
DIPLOCOMP – A DIPLODISC SAMPLER (CD by Diplodisc)
MICHAEL VORFELD – SKIN (CD by NurNichtNur) *
HARRY MERRY – ORAMA A-DELIC PALOOZA O-MATIC (CD by Blowpipe) *
RHODRI DAVIES & JOHN BUTCHER – ROUTING LYNN (CD by Ftarri) *
ECOVILLAGE – ONE STEP ABOVE (CD by Plop) *
EISUKE 000KA – ROAD OF THE SUN (CD by Oversoul Sound Studio) *
AZIZY – CHELIDRON (CD by Kaico) *
FRANCISCO MEIRINO – BEYOND REPAIR (CD by Sincope) *
TOM JAMES SCOTT – TEAL (LP by Skire Records)
CAVERN OF ANTI-MATTER – TOTAL AVAILABILITY AND THE PRIVATE FUTURE/CLUSTER OF RAINBOWS (7″ by Peripheral Conserve)
JLIAT – DRONE SURVIVAL GUIDE (CDR by Jliat) *
D’INCISE – O ESPLENDOR NATURAL DAS COISAS E INFERNO (CDR by Moving Furniture Records) *
ME-W – TWO (cassette by Individual Lines)
LAYNEGARRETT – ASSEMBLAGES (cassette by Individual Lines)
MINNY POPS – DRASTIC MEASURES, DRASTIC MOVEMENT (2CD by Factory Benelux)
Two years ago, there was the short-lived revival of ‘Ultra’, the Dutch answer to ‘No New York’. What that was all about you can read in Vital Weekly 937, with a previous review of another Minny Pops release. But what is quite curious is that the revival of Ultra would also be the revival of the Minny Pops, ending in the final gig in April 2012. But ever since they have been playing live, mainly in the UK and even released a 7″ of new material (which I didn’t hear). So for all we know there is a new album in the works. The great thing about these recent concerts is that they, per concert, focus on one aspect of the Pops, say their ‘Sparks In A Dark Room’ (see Vital Weekly 937) or ‘Drastic Measures, Drastic Movement’, their debut from 1979, recently shrunk to sixteen minutes in concert (and the video of that gig is already online and definitely worth checking out. When ‘DMDM’ was released it was the weirdest album by a long stretch from a Dutch band ever. Full stop. Rhythm machines, synthesizers, weird guitar playing seemingly devoid of any structure or chords and on top Wally van Middendorp singing/speaking in his characteristic monotonous voice. And sometimes there was no voice, no song, just ‘noise’, such as in ‘Springtime 1 & 2’ or ‘Hologram’. Definitely not synth pop. The LP has been re-issued in 2002 including bonus pieces of the first 7″ and various quicktime movies of early concerts, but is now re-issued again by the revamped Factory Benelux with a bonus disc of live rendition of the first LP from the 2012 concerts. Different line-up of course but with Van Middendorp always present and the interesting thing is to note such instruments as banjo, ukulele, guitar, bass, piano, melodica, percussion: almost like they set out to do an acoustic version of what is largely known as an electronic album. I don’t always agree with that: I don’t think ‘DMDM’ is an electronic album per se; the guitar plays an important role. It’s now, thirty-five years later, no longer the exercise in madness it once was, but perhaps I played this a lot over the years, having had the record first, then the single CD version and studying it closely in 2012 for a Minny Pops related event. Some of this sounds still sturdy avant-garde like, like those noisier pieces, but some as synth pop as can be, like ‘Dolphin’s Spurt’, ‘Monica’ and ‘R.U. 21’. An excellent balance still. One can imagine how the more ‘poppy’ bits would sound like when played with more acoustic instruments, but ‘Springtime’ or ‘New Muzak’? Just as Zeitkratzer has shown us before how to interpret electronic pieces into something acoustic, this work combines actually both; in ‘Hologram’ the voice is electronically manipulated and the band rocks occasionally. But the whole re-interpretation works actually pretty well, as there is enough craziness in adding the banjo and ukulele to the music. Maybe it’s old hat to re-play that one LP from the highlight of your career, but at least Minny Pops give it a strong twist. I am sure if it sounded like this back then, the impact would not have been as great, but the material is versatile enough to bend it this way. In 2002/3 Minny Pops released three single CDs of which now two have been re-issued, so I’m curious to see what they will do with the third and final one from back. I am sure there is more interesting bonus material lurking in corners; It is either that, or waiting for something entirely new. (FdW)
Address: http://www.factorybenelux.com
NEIL LEONARD – FOR KORNELLIS (CD by Gasp)
NEIL LEONARD – MIL MANERAS (CD by Gasp)
Leonard is an American composer, saxophonist and interdisciplinary artist, who studied with Jaki Byard and George Russell. He is the Artistic Director of the Interdisciplinary Arts Institute at Berklee College of Music and co-founder of GASP Gallery in Boston. His collaborations are many: he worked with artists like Marshall Allen, Don Byron, Alvin Curran, Phill Niblock, Van Dyke Parks, Evan Ziporyn, and many others. These two cds are my first meeting with this composer and give an excellent opportunity to experience more about his musical universe. Both cds contain lengthy compositions for a limited instrumentation. However they a very different. ‘For Kornellis” has one giant piece carrying the same name, featuring Leonard on soprano sax and sound design, plus Alessia de Capua vocals. This project started with the recording of sounds from an instalment by Jannis Kornellis. This instalment comprises 23 large church bells that Leonard recorded at the environmental sculpture park, La Marrana di Montemarcello in Italy. The piece opens with samples of these bells to be followed respectively by sections that have vocals, sax, vocals and again sax on the forefront. The composition works as a very stretched out meditative exercise. I’m impressed by the sound quality of this work. Especially the section that concentrates on the church bells is fascinating. The nonverbal singing is done by a remarkable singer Alessia de Capua, from the area around the Vesuvius vulcano where Leonard performed this piece live. Because the music slowly meanders forward, it may be called spiritual music. The work has some similarities with the work of Deep Listening musicians like Pauline Oliveros. Lengthy, streaming pieces, of a meditative nature, with room for improvisation. ‘Mil Maneras’ is of another nature. This 21-minute cd contains three compositions for guitar and electronics: ‘Mil Maneras’, ‘Interiority’and ‘Vitrales’. Guitarist is Oren Fader. Leonard did the sound design. The title piece opens with the undefined cloud of sound with gradually other electronic sounds and rhythms fading in. The second piece is a poetic piece for classical guitar only, beautifully played by Fader. ‘Interiority’ consists of 5 parts, with again virtuoso playing by Fader on classical guitar, plus minor electronic additions by Leonard. At two moments Italian texts are recitated by native speakers. The closing composition ‘Vitrales’ is also a beauty of Spanish-cuban inspired, rhythmic complex guitar music. The recording of both albums is crystal clear and both are very worthwhile as a introduction to this composer who I’m find difficult to classify. (DM)
Address: http://www.neilleonard.com
TRIPLE POINT – PHASE/TRANSITIONS (3CD by Pogus)
Triple Point is Pauline Oliveros, Doug van Nort and Jonas Braasch. An improvising trio of soprano saxophone (Braasch), digital accordion synthesizer (Oliveros) and interactive electronics (Van Nort, GREIS system). “The musical interaction is centered around an interplay with proper acoustics, digitally modeled acoustics (from the Roland V-accordion) and electronics. Van Nort transforms the sound of the other players on-the-fly, Oliveros changes between timbres and explores the boundaries of a variety of virtual instruments, and Braasch explores extended technique including long circular-breathing tones and multiphonics”. Both Braasch and van Nort have a history in playing and doing research in collaboration with Pauline Oliveros. Also in this trio-format, improvisations are at the same time a research in live interactions by computers involved in improvised music. Offered are three cds that illustrate this research extensively filled with in total 39 improvisations. Most of them were recorded during a week-long residency at Experimental Media in august 2012. Other recordings date from other sessions in 2008-2009 and 2011. A few tracks have Chris Chafe as a guest playing celleto. Realizing that Oliveros is about 60 years working as a composer and performer, this is the first thing that makes this release impressive. The sax playing by Braasch is most of the time heard as played. The digital accordion of Oliveros is more interwoven with the digital sounds produced by Van Nort. Van Nort takes a key position in this interplay, as he transforms, etc the input delivered by Braasch and Oliveros. Their electroacoustic improvisations are multi-layered and much about timbre and colour. I feel attracted to experiments of these kind, where interaction between acoustical instruments and digital tools is explored. But musically satisfying from beginning to end they are often not. Also this one is not. But let us not forget the players see it as research. Several parts however I really enjoyed, others are just ‘interesting’ and a bit too much without form and focus for my tastes. For sure Triple Point is an interesting and relevant laboratory, but not necessarily three cds of their experiments are needed of it. (DM)
Address: http://www.pogus.com
MASSIMO BERIZZI – (CD by Diplodisc)
ALESSANDRO MONTI – SPIRITDZOE (CD by Diplodisc)
DIPLOCOMP – A DIPLODISC SAMPLER (CD by Diplodisc)
Three new releases from the small Venetian Diplodisc label, run by Alessandro Monti who operates under the name Unfolk. You may know him – and if not you should – from the marvellous album ‘Venetian Book of the Dead’, he produced with Kevin Hewick and crew. Previously he released also a solo-album (2006), that has been recently rereleased together with extra (live) material of the Venetian Book –project. With his long time mate Gigi Masin he produced the album ‘The Wind Collector’. For his new solo effort Monti plays a wide range of instruments: electronics, electric mandolin feedback, 12 string acoustic & 6 string electric guitars, bass, piano, mandolin, virtual oboe/bassoon, digital reverb, overdubbed percussion tracks: triangle, maracas, shekere, 3 different bells, cymbals, Nepalese gong, Chinese health balls, Tibetan chimes, African drums. Could alas not decipher the meaning behind the title ‘SpiritDzoe. But what is clear, Monti is a musician who takes his inspiration from folk, world music and ambient music. He is a capable builder of atmospheric, dreamy miniatures, coloured by a diversity of instruments. The album counts 8 pieces that together make up a suite. In the opening track he gives a prominent and effective role to feedback. Saying that I must add that he has a very recognizable sound especially when playing bass, mandolin or bassoon. His compositions are not complex or pretentious. I’m astonished by how little he needs to make a piece work and create some warm music. Like in ‘Part 3’ or the electronics-dominated ambient piece ‘Part 6’. Others pieces, like ‘Part 5’, have a nice melodic line, played here on oboe. The album closes with two tracks that are built from simple percussive patterns, played by different percussive instruments. Massimo Berizzi has a background in 70s rock, blues, and electric jazz, and became gradually influenced by electronic and experimental music. Like Monti he released one other solo album named ‘What Remains In A Breath’ (2009). And like Monti he is into ambient like music but more in connection with jazz and not folk as in the case of Monti. For his new solo album Monti assists on bass, African and jamaican percussion and keyboards, and Norvegian artist Oddrun Eikli adds some remarkable angelic vocals, in several pieces as for example ‘Norske Vidder’. Berizzi himself plays trumpet, keyboards, electric guitar, voice and electronics. His music inevitably brings Jon Hassell to mind, and also a trumpet player like Arve Henriksen. Sensitive, delicate music with fine combinations and arrangements of instruments and sounds. On albums like these uptempo and rhythm-based tracks are often missed by me to compensate the dominance of slowly progressing soundscapes. But happily there are some, like ‘Multi-Folklore’and ‘Norske Vidder’. Both Monti and Berizzi are also both present on the sampler album compiled by Monti with further contributions by many unknown Italian acts as well a few contributions from the UK and the States. Also Kevin Hewick is featured on this collection that consists solely of material that has not been released elsewhere. Very different artists, but a homogeneous album of ambient and folk rock related music. Some of the pieces are very romantic, like the beginning of ‘Storm’ by Biro before it turns into a stormy rhythm-based section. Mauro Martello impresses with a beautiful solo on duduk , playing an Armenian motive. Gianni Visnadi delivers a thrilling piece of dark ambient music. Monti contributes two pieces in collaboration with his mate Gigi Masin. The album is dedicated to folk heroes Bert Jansch, John Martyn, Dale Miller, a.o. No wonder guitarist Miller, who died in 2013, closes the album with an old Venetian tune in an inspired performance by Dale Miller. (DM)
Address: http://unfolkam.wordpress.com/
MICHAEL VORFELD – SKIN (CD by NurNichtNur)
Berlin based percussionist Michael Vorfeld bought a pair of bongos at the age of fourteen and still has them and apparently plays them everyday. It started his way into percussion and to this very day he plays the bongos every day, even when his work also involves self designed string instruments, site-specific installations and performances with light and sound, and works with photography and film. There are five pieces on this release, which last just under twenty-four minutes, but it’s long enough I think. Vorfeld plays the hand drum with great style and energy, and he does a great job at that. Each of these pieces is named after which is used here ‘Finger & Thenar’, ‘Skins & Finger’ and ‘Skins & Bones’, I assume, and it works very well. It’s hard to say anything about it; I like it. Five pieces is enough, great as these pieces are. It’s surely a much ‘different’ release than one would expect from an improviser like Vorfeld. (FdW)
Address: http://www.nurnichtnur.com
HARRY MERRY – ORAMA A-DELIC PALOOZA O-MATIC (CD by Blowpipe)
Some people hail Harry Merry, the man dressed as sailor, singing and playing the organ as a genius. Other people see him as weird and wonderful and I see him as an outsider who has a great act. Here Harry plays his rock opera about a group of Latinas visiting Europe, finding the trip enjoyable, until their pyjamas are stolen in Austria. The hotel owner gets them new cloths, the traditional Austrian men clothing, which the Latinas hate at first but then love until they buy their own cloths. Then they head out home. That’s the story of this rockopera – not exactly ‘Tommy’, I was thinking, but then: this is the world of Harry Merry. Don’t expect some bunch of Latino rhythms, but straightforward rock drums, bass, guitar and always Harry’s own organ (phillicordia, in case you want to know) and singing. Eleven songs in this opera, no dialogue, just in case you were expecting that, and it’s all pretty tiring. Harry’s songs are not verse, verse, refrain etc., but he continues on and on, and all of that is actually a bit tiring. The structure of each song is the same, and Harry Merry has a lot of words to sing, and is not always easy to follow – thankfully lyrics are enclosed. I find a bunch of these songs quite nice, but the whole forty minutes is a bit much. Towards the end I thought all of this became more and more of the same. The production of this is fuller than usual with his music, I think, with this band backing and that makes a nice change. Not entirely my cup of tea, but then I didn’t see his genius either before, so I am sure I miss out something. (FdW)
Address: http://www.blowpipe.org
RHODRI DAVIES & JOHN BUTCHER – ROUTING LYNN (CD by Ftarri)
Many of the releases on the Japanese label Ftarri are with Japanese musicians, but here’s one with musicians from the UK and recorded in at the AV festival at Sage Gateshead. That’s one notable difference; the other might be that we have two musicians playing with a sonic backdrop provided by someone else – music on tape as it were. A bit odd not to see that third person on the front cover, as it’s Chris Watson who recorded the environment of the Discovery Museum and a place called ‘Routing Lynn’ and also recordings of both players. The whole thing was played in a quadrophonic set-up but here, on CD, reduced to stereo. John Butcher plays acoustic and amplified feedback saxophone and Rhodri Davies plays pedal harp, electric harp and wind harps. This is a work of improvised music, but also how that blends in with pre-recorded field recordings. It’s a work that requires your undivided attention and if you listen carefully, you will notice lots and lots details, mainly in the department of field recordings. Odd sounds, bird sounds, and such like, all along while Butcher and Davies play their usual careful and less careful – these men know how to play a loud tune or two, not shying away from a piece of feedback here and there. Especially Butcher knows how to make his horn sound unlike any saxophone, but it sounds like mild walls of feedback, birds or sine waves and thanks to the spatial character of the music it has quite a spacious effect. Only towards the end it sounds like saxophone, when he plays Riley like figures. Davies on the other hand uses his harp(s) as objects, hits them, slams them, plucks the strings and uses a bow. They (all three of them) take the listener on a great journey, from carefully soft to hair-raising loudness. An excellent release of what must have been an amazing concert. (FdW)
Address: http://www.ftarri.com
ECOVILLAGE – ONE STEP ABOVE (CD by Plop)
EISUKE 000KA – ROAD OF THE SUN (CD by Oversoul Sound Studio)
AZIZY – CHELIDRON (CD by Kaico)
A trio of electronic releases from Japan, although not necessarily Japanese artists. First there is Ecovillage, a duo from Sweden: Emil Holmaström and Peter Wikström. They started out in 2006 and have released two albums so far, on Darla/Quince and Parallax Sounds. Plop describes this album as ‘cinematic electronic music’, which is possibly not far off the mark, although I couldn’t say what kind of movie would fit to this. There is a lot of this modern, textured ambient music used on the idiot box, in such series as ‘Orphan Black’, slightly sci-fi, but also taking place in the here and now. This is the soundtrack to modern day life, with ambient textures for long shots from the car window, becoming more rhythmic when the car enters the big city? The pieces here are apparently more abstract, the blurb tells me, and I haven’t heard their previous work, but to me it sounds like fine ambient music with a bit more rhythm than is usual. These rhythmic components are sombre and to the point; not always engaging to dance around. It’s perhaps the sound of those long, dark Swedish winter evenings that now occur? The music is all dark but smoothly produced and hold little surprise: all of this has been done before, I guess, but this sound well entertaining.
Eisuke Oooka uses field recordings, BCL radio (whatever that is), and acoustic instrument and creates experimental sound space, the label tells me. He has had a couple of albums, one of which was a top album with Tower Records Jazz, department ‘new age/healing’. Well, ermm, what’s that about, I thought? ‘Road Of The Sun’ is his third album and the guitar plays an important role. In some of these pieces there is also a bit of voice material, which I assume are lifted from the BCL radio. Top that with a dash of rhythm and smooth synthesizers and you have the music he creates. It’s quite pleasant music to hear, one that smoothly goes by. Luckily not of the variety of ‘new age/healing’ as far as I could judge. Some of this seemed a bit too dark for that, but the voices sound a bit like those of a healer, I thought. Some of this is indeed a bit kitschy and cliché, such as ‘Walking Along All The Way’. The album is at it’s best when the guitar sounds like a guitar and the rhythms have this slightly post-rock inspired sound, a bit jazzy, a bit rocky, such as in ‘Terminal Station’ or the retro rock guitars of ‘Times (U-Bahn Berlin)’. Again, quite entertaining.
From Israel’s hotspot Tel Aviv we have Azizy and apparently ‘Chelidron’ is the only album he made as such and it was recorded over a three year period, ‘which was a very special period for him as it was the time when he started music whete everything was fresh and pure’. Again the guitar and rhythm machines play an important role in this music but the main difference is that with Azizy the rhythm plays a bigger role than with Oooka. It’s more poppy as such even when he uses quite a bit of wavy, dreamy patterns and no vocals. It’s music to chill out by, but also to engage in such activities as running through the woods. Think Manuel Gottsching or Steve Hillage, but in perhaps an even more smooth mood. On ‘In Consignation’ seems a bit darker and the closing piece, ‘Space Medussa Meditation’ is a very contemplative piece, but the other five pieces are carefree pieces of easy going, fine bouncing textures. “No damage done”, there is no threat, no violence, just a pleasant dream. Of the three albums perhaps the easiest accessible, but for me because of that very reason the one that I least liked. Perhaps too easy going? (FdW)
Address: http://www.naturebliss.jp
FRANCISCO MEIRINO – BEYOND REPAIR (CD by Sincope)
Quite active when it comes to doing new music is Francisco Meirino, originally from Spain, but based in Switzerland for some time now. He’s getting more and more attention – and quite rightly so, I’d say – and his work is more released on CD than CDR these days. This one, probably one of the first CD releases by Sincope, comes in an edition of 200 copies. The eleven pieces are rather short, and the album lasts thirty-three minutes. The cover says that these are ‘short pieces for modular synth, homemade electronics and tape recorders. There are no breaks between the tracks and it sounds like a long piece, which changes in colour, quite radically most of the time, but once the change over took place, and a new piece started, it stays within the stasis of that piece. Unlike many of his other releases, the element of collage is not very present in the tracks themselves. Things burst and rattle around here and sound cold and distant mostly, like electronics that are indeed beyond repair, as the title indicates and for Meirino one of the primary building blocks in his music. But sometimes it also seems a bit more mellow, and warmer, like in the fourth piece. Everything seems a bit unstable, most of the times; like there isn’t enough electricity to record the music and it is on the brink of breaking down. This is also a bit of a different release for Meirino: a shorter time frame per piece, no quick changes inside the track and a more consistent use of sounds within a track. It’s an interesting development. This is a fine release, and surely one that will appeal to his fans, but it’s not the next masterpiece for him. It’s fine, it’s good, it’s solid and yes, it’s also a bit different. But perhaps it’s also a bit too minimal, and could perhaps benefit from some more changes? (FdW)
Address: http://sincoperec.altervista.org
TOM JAMES SCOTT – TEAL (LP by Skire Records)
From the small label Skire Records we reviewed a LP by Ian Middleton before (see Vital Weekly 932), now it’s Tom James Scott, label boss here and musician. ‘Teal’ was recorded in the summer of 2013 and previously released as a cassette in an edition of 35 copies only. Apparently Scott returned to his hometown on the Northwest coast of England after some time, and recorded this music. There is quite a bit of field recordings here, as well as piano (more so on the pieces on side B, than the other side, it seems) and some computer processing. There is a bit of help from Andrew Chalk (source sounds and electric piano) and Jean-Noëll Rebilly and throughout this is a fine record. With the cover being printed on the rough sided of the paper, the music very quiet and highly atmospheric, with bits of real instruments, mingling with field recordings and drones, and the support of Chalk, it’s not difficult to see the sources inspiring Scott: bands like Mirror, Ora or Monos, or Christoph Heeman and Andrew Chalk’s solo work, never seem far away. Maybe, but I might be entirely wrong of course, so it seemed to me, is Scott more interested in some more digital processing, using computers to alter his field recordings. Unlike the trio of Japanese releases elsewhere, this too is ambient, but rhythm of any kind is absent here. This is the full-on Brian Eno like approach to ambient music. It surrounds you, it immerses you and it’s simply great. It’s nothing you haven’t heard before, see the aforementioned names, add Stephan Mathieu’s earliest work to that, especially when you think it’s all a bit more computer minded such as in title piece, but do check out his music as it’s well made and deserves to be heard by anyone still grieving the fact there is no more new music by Mirror. (FdW)
Address: http://skire-music.blogspot.co.uk/
CAVERN OF ANTI-MATTER – TOTAL AVAILABILITY AND THE PRIVATE FUTURE/CLUSTER OF RAINBOWS (7″ by Peripheral Conserve)
Here we have a trio by the name of Cavern Of Anti-Matter: Joe Dilworth on drums and flange drums, Holger Zapf on synthesizers, drum machine and other electronics and Tim Gane on guitar and electronics. Gane is best known for his work with Stereolab and, which came as a surprise for me when I heard that, in the 80s as noise act Unkommunity. They have an album of Grautag records and some 12″ releases, while this 7″ is their fourth release, on Peripheral Conserve, ‘the bedroom label of filmmaker Peter Strickland’. I assume this needs to be played at 33 rpm? I might be wrong. The A-side is held together by a tight rhythm track but everything around it, the ornaments (guitar, synth, electronics), seem to be floating around it, and is all very loosely organised. This could have been cut from a much jam session for all we know. Something similar is to be found on the other side. The production of the music, and the mastering is all-great. But essentially they are two pieces cut from something bigger and hardly well rounded songs that would fit on a 7″ just perfectly. Maybe it’s old hat to think 7″s should be like that, one great song per side, but in cases like this I would opt for a 10″ and have the whole jam session. No doubt the name Tim Gane will gather some extra sales here, but I was only lukewarm about the results. (FdW)
Address: http://www.soniccatering.com
JLIAT – DRONE SURVIVAL GUIDE (CDR by Jliat)
As a kid I was never good at these ‘spot the ten differences’ drawings and ‘where’s Waldo’ would drive me mad. This more or less also seems to happen with this bundle of CDRs; three to be precise. It’s not uncommon that people send in two copies of the same thing – not uncommon but unnecessary. And yes, obviously I could ask Jliat for an explanation – communication lines are short here – but I don’t. I’d like to try and figure out. So, the packages look all very much the same: it’s theme of ‘war’ (again). You could think of the word ‘drone’ as in musical terms, but also in those things above heads, spying us, or bombing the enemy. They are depicted on the front. The backside has the same text as Terry Riley’s ‘A Rainbow In Curved Air’ on Columbia Records, about war and peace. Over the cover there is the text in spray paint HNW – harsh noise wall. The print on all CDRs looks the same. Then there is also music, which is a single piece of one hour, six minutes and eight seconds, on each of them. Maybe the idea is to play this together, at the same time? Start them all together, or perhaps with some interval and create your minimal/drone/noise/harsh noise wall work, just as Riley did with his saxophone pieces and maybe we should see it like that? The noise of Jliat here is more like white noise/dust on the needle of the record player and let’s about total distortion. I even enjoyed playing this at a lower level than is probably intended. I didn’t try all three to check for those minor differences. I think they are just the same anyway. Great release. (FdW)
Address: http://www.jliat.com
D’INCISE – O ESPLENDOR NATURAL DAS COISAS E INFERNO (CDR by Moving Furniture Records)
Swiss based D’Incise is rapidly expanding his list of published works and here add another one through the Dutch Moving Furniture Records. The cover says this was composed in 2013-2014 and it uses recordings of adhesive tape, cymbal & bass drum as resonators, melting ice, bowed sticks and synth tones. More and more I seem to enjoy his work better, as it seems to be gaining more and more depth. There is a single piece on this release and it lasts forty-eight minutes (which seems like a length D’Incise is comfortable with). The whole thing has a great collage like feel to it, broken up into ten smaller pieces, with a small separation between them to mark the beginning and end of each segment. The music is a delicate combination of sustaining tones – maybe whatever is resonating around here through the use of electronics – and the crackling of melting ice; at least that’s what I think it is that I am hearing here. It could be something frying in a pan too, for all we know. The sizzling aspect of that adds a bit of crackles to the whole procedures, which is quite nice. It moves away from the more usual drone music, and occasionally D’Incise goes a bit deeper in the sound spectrum and let’s the bass speakers shake and roll like thunder, but also can be finely low humming and just are very soft and silent. D’Incise created one great piece with all these elements, letting such different sound elements sit next to each other, let them develop within a segment and then die out. While owing to the world of drone music, I believe this us actually much more than that and more along the lines of musique concrete. One of his best works so far. (FdW)
Address: http://www.movingfurniturecords.com
ME-W – TWO (cassette by Individual Lines)
LAYNEGARRETT – ASSEMBLAGES (cassette by Individual Lines)
Two tapes on Individual Lines, who surely don’t like to give a lot of information. All we know from MW-E is that it stands for Morgan Ewans-Weiler is that he’s from Cambridge, MA and his tape uses violin and electronics. Laynegarrett says: “sounds stacked via cassettes and/or digital 8track. takoma park maryland 2014′, so there you go. Less is really less!
The MW-E cassette is quite interesting I think. The violin playing along with electronics, or perhaps vice versa (?), works quite well. It sounds indeed like a violin, upon superficial hearing, but if you listen closely one could also say this sounds like metal objects scraping on glass surfaces; it’s has an odd transparency this music. It seems to me these recordings are made in real-time and then combined together using some layering; not too many so it’s still transparent enough. In order pieces MW-E uses the violin as an object and electronics are more collage like, cutting the material up in an irregular fashion, while maintaining this multi-layered approach. I especially liked the crudeness of the music, along with the layered aspects, the minimalism of it all: an excellent release.
Laynegarrett, most possibly Layne Garrett, has perhaps a similar approach. In the first piece, ‘Is Every Day Going To Sound Like This’ (bandcamp offers titles for the individual pieces not found on the cover of the cassette), there is also the sound of a violin. In other pieces this is less apparent. It shares also the multi-layered approach. I could think that much of this is sound material placed on multi-track tape in no particular order or thinking whatever else is on other tracks of this multi-track tapes and then mixed together in a blind folded fashion. The results are not always chaotic, which is a surprise, but in ‘Vodka Cursewasher’ it leads to some more noise based textures and is perhaps the least interesting piece (also perhaps because it’s the longest). I preferred the other pieces more than that one, as they too had a crude stance, just as MW-E actually, but overall I liked the MW-E over this one, as it seemed more coherent and more thought out; even when both of these were quite randomized. Next time a bit more information on the tape itself, please. (FdW)
Address: http://individuallines.bandcamp.com/