MOTOR – HEXEN (CD)
RICHARD YOUNGS – HOUSE MUSIC (CD by Meme)
SASHA FRERE JONES/LOREN MAZZACANE CONNORS – STANDING UPRIGHT ON A CURVE (CD by Sub Rosa)
PIERRE BOUCHET – SALE TIMBALE (CD by Suicide Commercial)
VARIOUS ARTISTS -BERETTA 70 (CD on Crippled Disc/Hot Wax)
MOTOR – HEXEN (CD)
What you read in this header is all you can read on the CD – not much. For those who are aware, Motor (from Moscow) previously released a 12″ on the newly found Audio.NL label with Chain Reaction inspired 4 to the floor beats. Here over 70 minutes of very inspired techno music is played, and added are short, strange enviornment soundscapes, thus giving an unusual character for this kind of music. This could easily be licenced to KK Records, Silver Records or even Warp for it’s danceable and ‘intelligent’ beats. And the main question is: how on earth will you get this CD – I have no clue.
Address: ????
RICHARD YOUNGS – HOUSE MUSIC (CD by Meme)
Meme continue their ‘aggressive’ release schedule, just as probably Richard Yougs does. Richard is a young composer who has ties into improvised music, minimal music and guitar (although, now I come to think of it, I don’t know why). He’s got an impressive discography of solo recordings and duo recordings with Simon Wickham Smith. No wonder he has a CD on the beautiful Meme label, who are proudly representing a series of artists which are one way or the other tied into minimal music.
Of course the title is a pun – no beats, synth and floorfillers. All sounds were recorded around the house – bowed oven tray, clock chimes, drain pipe, fire etc. There are four tracks. The opening ‘Hilary’ is an 18 minute long epos of a clock ticking and bowing of metal objects (which sound like flutes slowed down) – very austere and intense slow building of the piece. The second piece ‘Fire Realm’ he’s blowing down a wine bottle along with noise I can’t define (let’s say this is ‘room feed’, which is also listed along the instruments). ‘Regent’ seems to be the accompany to ‘Hilary’ with more bowing sounds (or maybe these are the wine glasses?). There is a very low end sound to this piece – if you play this loud, you’ll notice many things happening on many levels – the character of minimal music, I’d say. In ‘Frigid Air’ there is much stumbling going round and more blowing into pipes and pans.
A very strange this CD, but certainly one to cherish. An unique enterprise in musique concrete, electro-acoustic and minimal music. (FdW)
Address: <meme-@msh.biglobe.ne.jp>
SASHA FRERE JONES/LOREN MAZZACANE CONNORS – STANDING UPRIGHT ON A CURVE (CD by Sub Rosa)
In Sub Rosa’s ongoing series of guitar duet CD’s (with shamefull long intervals), here’s one that is devoted to improvised music. Frere Jones, one third of Ui, performs three tracks of layered guitar improvisations. ‘Stutter’ opens in a nice minimalist tone, but towards the end the tension drifts away. But in general quite o.k. improv stuff, that places care upon the changes and colours possible.
Mazzacane Connors gets more and more known, and his guitar playing is of a different nature. It seems like one guitar being fed through effect boxes (distortion), and his short sketchy pieces are like small soundtracks. Images of dark clouds, heavy sunbursts and endless desserts could go very well together with his desolate playing. Hauntingly beautiful. (FdW)
Address: http://www.subrosa.net/
PIERRE BOUCHET – SALE TIMBALE
Once I’d managed to unfold this intricate and ambitious (and somewhat distracting) packaging, I discovered that Pierre Bouchet, is really a name adopted by a group of artists who here present a talking book in four languages; German, Greek, English and French. The chaotic multi-faceted cover (which is itself a clue to the heavily processed audio content) is dotted with information, none of which really clarifies what this release is actually about. Each of the four compositions certainly have their own character and I was prompted to recall the unsurpassable ‘Foret Profonde’ by electroacoustic ubermeister Francis Dhomont (released on Empreintes Digitalis), and the works of Jim Denley, who collaborates mostly with Rik Rue it seems, and whose 1997 release ‘Sonic Hieroglyphs’ (on Split Records) contained some of the most adventurous compositions I heard last year. ‘Sale Timbale’ falls somewhere between these two – it does not have the pristine clarity of Dhomont’s work and it manages to avoid the swirling unpredictability of Denley’s work which is created mostly by a pair of randomised MiniDisc players.
It reeks of long hours spent behind a computer cutting and splicing audio files, with occasional references to environmental sound effects. Each of the four tracks maintains consistency for their duration (read: just the right length) and are varied enough in character and shape to ensure that this CD, while not being everyday listening material, will remain an interesting experience. (MP)
VARIOUS ARTISTS -BERETTA 70 (CD on Crippled Disc/Hot Wax)
Subtitled ‘Roaring themes from thrilling Italian policefilms 1971-80’, this collection of thumpingly excellent discofunkfreakout by some of the best Italian film/TV composers of the time is the next in a superb series of reissues by the increasingly more popular German label which has admirably dedicated itself to unearthing and digitising some of the best neglected film and TV music from the 70’s and 80’s. The now-legendary Vampyros Lesbos, Schulmadchen Report, and Cinecitta soundtracks are just a few of their priceless products.
This CD opens with an all-too short instrumental track by Goblin (who are regaining popularity it seems, with a load of their movie soundtracks coming out all over the place) and surges forward with unbridled tenacity into pieces (with singing and stuff) by the De Angelis brothers, Franco Micalizzi, Stelvio Cipriani and a long last track with full trance potential by three blokes Bixio-Frizzi-Tempera. Fat whammy-bar guitars and bulging Moog synthesis. The booklet is filled with wonderful artwork of posters and film stills, and there are two detailed essays about this particular film genre (which is not really something I’ve been into until now… perhaps the Dicks are going to follow this CD up with a video or two – as they did with Vampyros Lesbos and Necronomicon. Hope so.)
A must for just about every groovy cat… and kitten ! (MP)