Week 52

COLE PETERS – A RECASTING OF INDICES (CD by Unfathomless)
STEVE MARSH – THIS (CD by Rural Isolation Project)
ABIGAIL UND HANSEL – LOVE SONGS AND ELECTRONIC DIRGES (CD by Rural Isolation Project)
MY EDUCATION, THETA NAUGHT, SOUND MASS – III: AMPERSAND (CDR by Rural Isolation Project)
THETA – BLEED INTO ME (CD by Rural Isolation Project)
EXECRATION FRAME – INTO THE ABYSS (CD by Rural Isolation Project)
MNE – MNE IS NOT NME (CD by Love Earth Music)
AYAMI SUZUKI – INVISIBLE GUEST (CD by Zappak)
SIMON ÖGGL – XENOTOPIA (LP by Col Legno)
LOS PANTEROS – 24 RIBS (cassette by Archipel Editions)
+FELLADOG+ – +FELLADOG+ (CDR by Love Earth Music)
MAGICAL – THE GIFT OF TODAY (CDR by Love Earth Music)
THE OVAL LANGUAGE/KOPSCHEMRZTABLETTE/DIC WÖR MIRRAN – OVAL ECLIPSE (CDR by Attenuation Circuit)
PAUL FLAHERTY MICHAEL LAROCCA DUO – COLD PORCUPINE (miniCD by No Sides Records)
MARTIN WEINREICH – WHITE FLARES (mini CD by Say Blind)
TAÂLEM ADVENT CALENDAR 2024 PART 4
18: AALFANG MIT PFERDEKOPF & EMERGE – FERMETURE FORCÉE (3″ CDR by Taâlem)
19: LAURENT PERNICE – PSL DRONES (3″ CDR by Taâlem)
20: LIQUID SPHERE + BRUNO VERNERET – HOPE, FEAR NAD RELAPSE (3″ CDR by Taâlem)
21: AIDAN BAKER – ADVENTDRONES PAROUSIA (3″ CDR by Taâlem)
22: JÉRÉMIE MATHES – PYRAMIDEN (3″ CDR by Taâlem)
23: BEWILDERNESS – DEAD LEAVES (3″ CDR by Taâlem)
24: ENRICO CONIGLIO – ADAGISSIMO VENEXIANO (3″ CDR by Taâlem)
MODELBAU – RIPPLES (cassette by Barreuh Records)
AALFANG MIT PFERDEKOPF & EMERGE – DIE KOSMISCHE ZYGOTE + PAUSENMUSIK (cassette by Gruebenwehr Freiburg)

COLE PETERS – A RECASTING OF INDICES (CD by Unfathomless)

As mentioned last week, here’s the other new release by Unfathomless, again by someone I had not heard of before. He’s from Manitoba, Canada; at least, that’s where he made his recordings at the Treaty One territory. In the promotional text, he recounts moving around a lot in the first 13 years of his life and its impact on his life. He returned to these locations to make recordings and create a piece of music. He also says, “Having sat with these pieces for several months as of this writing, they feel to me now very much like kōans — objects of meditation which reject analytical interpretation, yet are suffused with a sense of the fundamental and ineffable”. These locations aren’t mentioned, so it’s hard to say something sensible about the nature of these sounds. Some of these are steeped within nature, insects, wind, water, and birds, but sometimes the music is undoubtedly from more man-made surroundings, such as what seems to be harbour sounds in the second half of the first piece. Maybe it’s not essential to know the origins of these sounds, and it’s all about the two compositions created from quite a diverse pack of field recordings. Something similar I could say about the level of processing here. Is there any of that? It’s hard to say. Maybe it is, perhaps it isn’t. Some more underwater-like recordings indicate some processing; maybe Peters has some great hydrophones. The two pieces, together some 37 minutes, are the kind of thing Unfathomless is known for. Intelligent musical pieces, created using field recordings and Peters does a fine job, but not something too much out of the ordinary. In that respect, was last week’s release by Marcelo Cugliari a bigger surprise. (FdW)
––– Address: https://unfathomless.bandcamp.com/

STEVE MARSH – THIS (CD by Rural Isolation Project)
ABIGAIL UND HANSEL – LOVE SONGS AND ELECTRONIC DIRGES (CD by Rural Isolation Project)
MY EDUCATION, THETA NAUGHT, SOUND MASS – III: AMPERSAND (CDR by Rural Isolation Project)
THETA – BLEED INTO ME (CD by Rural Isolation Project)
EXECRATION FRAME – INTO THE ABYSS (CD by Rural Isolation Project)

When a label sends a parcel with multiple releases to review, I usually quickly scan to see what I will do and what should go to others. It turns out all five new Rural Isolation Project releases have similarities, and that’s one of the reasons I lump these together. These similarities are within the music and in the presentation of the releases. Black is the prevailing colour of the cover and I start with the one least black, Steve Marsh’ ‘This’ release. I had not heard from him; that’s a line I will use for other new releases from this label. Discogs says he’s an “Austin, Texas guitarist, studied art and works as a stage designer, video artist and experimental artist/photographer”. He sometimes uses the alias Radarcave and is in groups (also new names for me) such as Evil Triplet, Kill Normal, Miracle Room, Terminal Mind, and Wisdom Tooth. Like with many of the other new releases, there isn’t much information on the cover, no instruments mentioned, the music is dark and atmospheric, much reverb and some noise. I learned The Netherlands had an unprecedented ten or so days with no sunshine, and I am looking at the grey cloud and rain outside, happy to be inside and listening to a bundle of soundtracks fitting ten days of no sunshine. Marsh uses electronics, mutated guitars and crackling static (says Bandcamp), and he does an excellent job. Reverb: yes, overload: no. He keeps his noise well under control but simultaneously spikes up the ambient side of his music with shards of feedback. Too industrial to be ambient industrial, if you get my drift, and it’s more isolationist music from its most dystopian angle. Music born out of isolation for some highly individual listening.
The name Abigail Und Hansel may suggest a duo. Yet, it’s a six-piece group from Cedar Creek, Texas, with band members Hansel K. Johnson, Abigail B. Johnson, Arthur R. Crutcher, Leonard Zen Smith, Bob Bechtol and Julia Hungerford, which may not be their real names. They are called a psychedelic band, which shows in the 21 music pieces on ‘Love Songs And Electronic Dirges’. I am unaware of which electronic instruments are used as I mostly hear guitars—lots of those. Strumming, picking, bowing and with quite a few effects. Drums are used very sparsely, and as such, they sometimes break the carefully constructed mood of the album. With 21 tracks and 71 minutes, this is quite a long CD, and I admit it doesn’t work for the whole album. Using them all is unnecessary because a CD can contain so many minutes. Some shorter pieces are too much of a pencil sketch and could benefit from rethinking and creating something complex. If the idea was to churn out an album of ideas and songs in the spirit of chopped-up psychedelic jam sessions, then this works quite well. And I add, this kind of psychedelic music isn’t perhaps my strongest love, so what do I know?
Staying with guitar music, I focus on a collaboration between three groups: Sound Mass, Theta Naught and My Education. I only heard the latter, albeit a long time ago, and I knew it was from the post-rock world—lots of guitars, three drummers, two times bass guitar, a cello and a viola. Post-rock is also the operative word for this release. There was a time when I was very much into the whole genre, from the orchestral Godspeed to the more ambient Ultrasound and Stars Of The Lid, and down the timeline, I kept an interest in the latter and much less in the first. I admit, from time to time, that I play something by Godspeed or Tortoise, but much less so than I would play Stars Of The Lid. Three groups on this CDR are in the first vein: drums, guitars and atmosphere. They don’t use the dramatic, climactic crescendos of Godspeed but rather meander about, drifting over endless open plains, wide open vistas of that empty country that we call America. It is spacious music but not cosmic; spacious as in earth-bound. Or, come to think of it, space rock but without the distortion pedal in heavy use; that is not to say the music isn’t heavy, as it sometimes gets quite heavy. As stated, this too might not be my strongest musical love surviving from the past, but it brought back many good memories, and it is a fantastic flashback and timely reminder to play something like this more often.
The only non-American musician in this lot (as far as I know) is Theta from the Greek original, now Norway-based Themistoklis Altintzoglou, which should be spelt as Θ. I reviewed two of his previously released albums (VItal Weekly 1284 and 1239). His previous albums seemed to use guitars, but I am not convinced there are many on ‘Bleed Into Me’, but as it says on Discogs, he uses “any type of media that can lead to sound experiments that even though planned always allow for probabilistic surprises that the planned system itself may impose”, so there you go. Maybe the level of transformation is on such a scale we no longer recognise the guitar. The music is heavy-weight ambient music. Lots of reverb on just about everything in the mix, from a massive solitary bang to low-meandering passages such as the lengthy parts on ‘Let Me Overthink This’. The highly dynamic sound brings out a lot of tension. When things go relatively quiet, lingering on for a while, you know there might be some incoming crash. Violence is waiting to happen, explosions to come, and all that. I often refer to music as dystopian, partly because I love works of a dystopian nature (not just music) and because of that, I may hear it (see, read) in many things. Theta’s music is one fine shining black star of an example. There’s nothing pleasant about it and that’s where the fun comes in, even when that sounds like a contradiction. It’s still raining, and the dark day has turned into a dark night and Theta performs the perfect soundtrack. There’s nothing apocalyptic about December in Nijmegen (I think), and the music sounds like it’s made for this area.
The shortest album may be a mini CD with a 22-minute playing time. It’s the debut release of Execration Frame; no name, no instruments and no track titles. Bandcamp says, “decaying tape loops, rusty metal klank, skulls”, so that’s what we know. The music is, at times, the loudest of this quintet of new releases but only goes over the top in a few instances. There is much contact microphone abuse, some crude electronic processing, and the chosen form is the collage approach, via some lengthy fades from one section to the next. Heavy-weight music and a delicate ear cleanser, should we need it. And, of course, darkness galore here too. It was a short and powerful release that should have been longer. (FdW)
––– Address: https://ruralisolationproject.bandcamp.com/

MNE – MNE IS NOT NME (CD by Love Earth Music)

It’s the best cover I have seen in some time. The musicians are T. Mikawa (electronics), Jun Numata (guitar and electronics) and Martin Escalante (saxophone), so it spells MNE, which sounds like NME, the New Musical Express, one of the leading British musical magazines from a long time ago. The cover is a perfect spoof of an old cove and also very much up to date with the slogan: “Goodbye brat summer! Hello noise fall!’). This trio recorded their music in December last year in Tokyo. I don’t know Numata and Escalante, but Mikawa has a long history in Japanese noise, including Hijokaidan and Incapacitants. Here, he operates in a more traditional noise improvisation role, even when all three are loud. This is the kind of noise and chaos rather than the static noise. The three scratch, peep like there is no tomorrow and have a great freak out. Maybe this is too much noise-free jazz for the more conservative-minded noise lovers, which include me, even when I am not much conservative-minded noise lover anyway. I like how the saxophone is buried inside the music, with all three players on equal levels and not one player being too dominant. Coupled with the excellent energy of the music, this is something to play very loud and your best attempt to drive out any unsolicited Christmas songs from your neighbours. (FdW)
––– Address: http://www.loveearthmusic.com/

AYAMI SUZUKI – INVISIBLE GUEST (CD by Zappak)

I have already reviewed various works by Ayami Suzuki, a voice artist from Japan who studied folk music in Ireland and the UK, but in her work there isn’t much of a folk element. About her new CD, she writes that it is “a rare work in which the subjectivity and artificiality of my voice is suppressed. The sounds you hear here are not intentionally or consciously constructed but have a unique texture that makes them seem like they are just there or approaching you from afar”. She also mentions a story-like element, running through the four pieces on this CD, but I’m afraid that’s not something I heard. I hear a similarity in the composition approach, in which Suzuki works with sustaining sounds looped voice material of long and smaller short waves. That’s not to say the voice is very present in her music, as she effectively melted it down to a set of drones. Only if you listen closely will you realise it’s voice material. The music sometimes resembles sea waves, hence me already using the word ‘waves’. Maybe it’s somewhere in between a siren and sea shanty? The sea/oceanic aspect is also within the spaciousness. Overall, the music isn’t necessarily too quiet, as inevitable unrest is part of all this. If you get my drift, the unquiet quietness, and here, too, I am thinking of sea waves, dead calm or stormy. Maybe that’s the over arching theme of the album, if not intended by Suzuki, then certainly thought of by me. It stirs away from heavenly chanting, angelic choirs and such, and only in the final piece, ‘Clairvoyance’, there is some of it. The most musical piece on this CD and maybe the most siren-like, singing ships into the harbour. Another one that fits the December darkness. (FdW)
––– Address: https://zappak.bandcamp.com/

SIMON ÖGGL – XENOTOPIA (LP by Col Legno)
LOS PANTEROS – 24 RIBS (cassette by Archipel Editions)

I know the Austrian Col Legno label as people who like contemporary music. If you look at the cover and instruments such as trumpet, flute, soprano, trombone, countertenor and cello mentioned, the thought one might have this is another one in the same musical field is easily made. And maybe it is. I had never heard of Simon Öggl, whose “Unique sound language results from the recontextualisation of acoustic and electronic compositional techniques and sounds. By continuously questioning the nature of sound, the distinction between traditional and innovative sound production becomes obsolete.” The Italian composer is responsible for programming, percussion, synthesiser, piano and vocals. It still could go any way, and that’s what the music does. Early on, I thought Öggl wanted to produce some progressive rock with quick changes and weird time signatures. There are also moments of reflective music, a bit of drum ‘n bass patterns here and there and probably contemporary classic music. It’s not too tricky or dissonant, in case that’s what springs to mind when you hear such words, but rather melodic. And yet also quite complex. It is music that is not my thing, nor something for Vital Weekly, and that’s mainly due to its prog-rock leaning, if I could call it such. You see, none of this is my field of expertise.
Something very similar I can say about the release by Los Panteros, a duo of composer/bassist Tony Elieh and songwriter/vocalist Aya Metwalli. They played together at the Irtijal Music Festival in Berlin. I had not heard of either musician before. Elieh “is essentially a rhythm beast who in his early career cofounded Scrambled Eggs, one of the most prominent punk bands in Lebanon,” and “Metwalli is essentially a melodist who grew up listening to and being trained to sing a vast repertoire of classical Egyptian music. When she bloomed and expanded her sound palette, she started deviating from the correct notes and exploring the in-betweens of the microtones of Arabic scales and modes, ever so flirting between consonance and dissonance” (unsure why the label uses the word essential twice). The bass is sometimes heavily processed and becomes hard to recognise. With no knowledge, I would say some of the melodic content is Middle Eastern, both the bass and the vocals, and some is very abstract. It may be no surprise if the latter suits my taste, as I feel a bit lost with something that sounds more traditional to my ears, but again, what do I know? This release is a headscratcher for different reasons, and I couldn’t figure out if this is something for Vital Weekly. I enjoyed the music more than I did with Öggl’s album. (FdW)
––– Address: https://collegnomusic.bandcamp.com/
––– Address: https://archipeleditions.bandcamp.com/album/24-ribs

+FELLADOG+ – +FELLADOG+ (CDR by Love Earth Music)

I can’t even start to count the releases Steve Davis from Love Earth Music put out this year. I had no idea he was so productive with his label and creating his music. Ever since I started writing for Vital Weekly, I am always looking forward to a new package because there is always something that triggers the happy knob inside my mind. And this time, it’s this one: A collaboration between Jim Szudy, a.k.a Fellahaen from Cleveland. I honestly hadn’t heard of him before, but he did/does projects with, amongst others, Merzbow and Steve Makita (Lockweld), with whom he forms Apartment 213 and now Steve Davis of +DOG+ fame.
In the past years, I got to know Steve a bit (Hey Steve!), so I’m curious what this collaboration will bring. Even though I will be left entirely in the dark as to who did what and who collaborated with who, does it matter? Fellahaen is said to be “a subterranean industrial noise project revelling in decay and collapse. Harsh noise, low droning, metal scraping, and ear gouging is prevalent throughout his work.” And +DOG+ has so many different styles under his belt that the outcome is probably loud, in your face and well thought of sound wise. The self-titled album has 14 tracks and lasts for almost an hour. The longest track is nine minutes, shorter just under 90 seconds. The artwork does fit perfectly with the description of Fellaheen’s music when it comes to ‘industrial, decay and collapse’. It has a great atmosphere visually. So, let’s get into this!
The opening track, “Simplicity”, ruins your ears to begin with. When playing music and the first track is a ‘slow opener’ I usually choke on the volume setting, having to put it down at later, louder tracks. Here, it’s easy. Start loud, set the volume to your wishes and enjoy the ride. THAT is simplicity for you. It’s a promising opener for the remainder.
It’s an hour later, and I forgot to write individual notes on the tracks. How is this possible? The album is indeed as loud as I thought, but the patterns are hypnotising, to say the least. Some tracks are a bit more droney than loud (“Furniture of my Mind”, “Restore”, “Mechanical Dream”), others are entirely erratic and have sudden movements in sound that should wake you up if it was done by others (“Complexit”, “Our Friends”). But here, it’s all fitting somehow. There are moments of harsh noise, sound design, and a few beautiful moments where it’s more experimental. I hope there will be more of this duo in due time. (BW)
––– Address: http://www.loveearthmusic.com/

MAGICAL – THE GIFT OF TODAY (CDR by Love Earth Music)

A somewhat ‘mellow’ (sorry for not being able to find a better word) cover with water paintings of fields with flowers. It holds the midst between pointillism and impressionism and the paintings are by Magical. And the contrast between the paintings and the music couldn’t be any more significant. In under 17 minutes, eleven tracks are force-fed to you like crazy: Ultra high-speed synthetic drums with layers of noise and vocals either extremely aggressive and distorted or eerie like when in a horror flic the evil guy sings the babies to sleep … Uncomfortable, that’s the proper word that fits the “Sleeping” track.
Some rhythms seem recurrent/reused, but I can be wrong. I probably am because it goes so damn fast that you can only find out with a sound program and then compare sound waves. I don’t know what this is … “Far” is now playing, and the 42 seconds are messing with my mind. I want to replay it to find out what I’ve heard.
This is a noise variant of grindcore, I suppose. But “Four Years” is almost like a drone, so what does it make that … A grind drone? Drone core?
My tip is to listen to the podcast this week. We will include the final track of this album, which is the only track above 3 minutes. Because, in general, the podcast each week features 3 minutes per artist or reviewed album. “New Beginnings” has loads of erratic drum patterns, sudden noises of unknown origin, probably the use of vocals which are well disguised and a filthy layer of phased noise. If you like it, the best is to point your browsers to the website of Love Earth Music and place an order there. Feel free to look for other nice releases to get to. The label deserves it for experimenting with releasing stuff like this. (BW)
––– Address: http://www.loveearthmusic.com/

THE OVAL LANGUAGE/KOPSCHEMRZTABLETTE/DIC WÖR MIRRAN – OVAL ECLIPSE (CDR by Attenuation Circuit)

This is a bit of an oddball. I know Doc Wör Mirran as a group with fluid membership around the nucleus Joseph B. Raimon. One of the regular members is Michael Würzer, who has his musical endeavour, Kopfschmerztablette, yet it is mentioned as such on the cover of a Doc Wör Mirran release. But here it is, along with Klaus-Peter John, whom we know (though I haven’t heard much of his music recently) as The Oval Language. Maybe a reason to list the three projects lies in the music because while we know Doc Wör Mirran as a musically very diverse company, there is something that each player brings to the table pointing to their work. In the case of The Oval Language, it is the use of improvised voice material, animalistic and strange, using various effects but still recognisable voice material. As Kopfschmerztablette, Würzer adds to the noise side of the release, and noise is not weird for Doc Wör Mirran (though not occurring much in the catalogue), the two pieces here are noisier than expected. Of course, this isn’t the noise of much feedback and distortion, but the second part is undoubtedly quite abrasive. In the first part, there is a lovely synth melody woven into the fabric, which I’d like to think is Doc Wör Mirran’s krautrock contribution, giving the piece a lovely weird character of three different planets in a constellation orbiting around each other in perfect harmony—a fantastic collaborative work.
Of note is ‘Dream More Terrible Than Your Fears – Travel Poems Vol. 1’, a small booklet of poetry by Joseph B. Raimond, including some of his drawings. Even when I read it all with interest, I am not a poetry man, but you know you can look for it. (FdW)
––– Address: https://www.dwmirran.de/dwm.htm

PAUL FLAHERTY MICHAEL LAROCCA DUO – COLD PORCUPINE (miniCD by No Sides Records)

It’s the year 1967. John Coltrane and Rashid Ali record Interstellar space on February 22. At the end of that same year – Coltrane had left this earthly plane in July – Willem Breuker and Han Bennink recorded two sessions, in November and December, that were to be the first release on the Instant Composers Pool label in that same year: New Acoustic Swing Duo. For the nitpickers among our readers: yes, Willem played tenor and alto and soprano saxophone and E flat and bass clarinet on that record. And since then there’s a long list of sax-drum recordings. And this is the latest addition to that list. Well, maybe not the latest, but last month’s addition. Paul Flaherty (1948) has long been an underground free jazz improviser. Michael Larocca (1998) is a drummer, electronics artist, and member of Foxtails, a screamo group from Connecticut. On this 3-inch CD we have two pieces. One is three minutes long, and the other one lasts sixteen minutes. This is excellent music, but not as out there as expected. It’s a wild ride, with subtleties and room for melodic content. And boy (girl), they can play. Hopefully, they get to record (and release) more! (MDS)
––– Address: https://nosidesrecords.bandcamp.com/

MARTIN WEINREICH – WHITE FLARES (mini CD by Say Blind)

As I recently said, you don’t see many minimax CDs anymore. They are 20-minute mini CDs, and the rest of the 5-inch disc is transparent plastic. But here’s another one by German composer Martin Weinrich, of whom I also reviewed an earlier work, ‘Points Of Entry 1989-1995’ in Vital Weekly 1329. Back then, he mentioned a whole listen of ‘enablers’, which, frankly, didn’t make much sense to me. Sampling is still his primary thing, and on the transparent cover, he mentions his sources; “air escaping from a New York City subway ventilation shaft” or “tape. coolant leaks. escape hatches”, but also more obscure words such as “blood poisoning done right” or “awful poetry. a thing you don’t want to catch”. Listening to the music doesn’t provide you with more clues, as the way this sampled music works makes it all very abstract. I repeat what I wrote before; “There are drones, rhythm machines, cut-ups, montage techniques, voice cut-ups, traces of industrial music, noise, musique concrète, yet it never is fully one thing or another.” It is quite a heavy album, despite the 22 minutes playing time, which some speaker crushing low-end bass sound. This time, Weireich also mentions the sampling approach of the late 1980s and early 1990s hip-hop productions. I admit that was when I was outside anything remotely conventional and knew no one with access to a sampler, and hip-hop wasn’t on the menu (and still isn’t; my bad, no doubt). I immensely enjoyed this little album, except some pieces are too brief. There is in some of these the promise of a more significant piece, and Weinreich sadly cuts it short. The presentation is, very much like the previous release, very nice. Next time, another full-length, please. (FdW)
––– Address: https://martinweinreich.bandcamp.com/

TAÂLEM ADVENT CALENDAR 2024 PART 4

18: AALFANG MIT PFERDEKOPF & EMERGE – FERMETURE FORCÉE (3″ CDR by Taâlem)

Let’s assume EMERGE needs no introduction; Sascha Stadlmeier’s musical project has been featured extensively in these pages. He teams up with Mirko Uhlig’s Aalfang Mit Pferdekopf, who started producing music again after some hiatus. There are no liner notes with any of these releases (as far as I know), so there is a lot I don’t know about here. The 20-minute piece is clearly in two parts, with a break of around seven minutes. Up to that point, some acceptable drones hoover about and a conversation in German; it’s hard to make out what the conversation is about, maybe an argument of some kind. Following the break, the music slowly builds from field recordings into drones again, maybe from some type of processed voice material, but also, in this section, more spoken word and, again, hard to follow. These spoken words are buried in the mix, giving the material a spooky, horror-like atmosphere (enhanced by the drones) and a radio play. It all sounds more like Aalfang Mit Pferdekopf than EMERGE, which makde me all the more curious about the production details behind this release. Excellent stuff, and hopefully, there will be more where this came from. (FdW)

19: LAURENT PERNICE – PSL DRONES (3″ CDR by Taâlem)

I didn’t know Laurent Pernice until I met Laurent Perrier about 10/15 years ago, and it turned out both Laurents were members of the group Nox, which I had known for 20 years longer than that. It was all a bit of ‘it’s a small world after all’ feeling and the 2011 collar between the Laurents was a surprise at the moment itself, but it felt all natural later. The track “PSL Drones” is an excellent work of partially field recordings and partially acoustic instruments and I suspect a few synthesised sounds – though I am not sure about that last part. The field recordings are very clearly not recorded in winter, and the bird sounds are more ‘summery’ in nature and without kidding, the track gains in warmth because of it. The cheerful birds, looking for a partner to celebrate spring in combination with the processed instruments – whatever they may be – and the heavy reverb/resonance make this track a great way to scare away those cold, wet wintery days. And the fact a full album is planned for spring … (BW)

20: LIQUID SPHERE + BRUNO VERNERET – HOPE, FEAR NAD RELAPSE (3″ CDR by Taâlem)

And here we have yet another Laurent, this time Laurent Guerrier, better known under his project name Liquid Sphere – and in collaboration with clarinettist Bruno Verneret. The first time I heard of Liquid Sphere was through Cordell Klier, who handed me an album he released of him in 2001. The minimalism there was very inspiring, so I can honestly say that I still play it. But I didn’t follow him that much in the meantime, and I don’t know why. Because here we have precisely what I like in drones and ambience. The clarinet part held me a bit off because I love wind instruments (cough cough), but I did not recognise it anywhere! Bruno is a master wizard !!! It’s minimal, it’s evolving, it’s abstract, and it has slowly added harmonic parts. It’s deep, and unsettling, yet there is an ambience of positivity also. They did more work together and well, it’s about time I fill the gap between that doctsect album and this. It might as well include getting used to wind instruments. Lovely atmosphere strong composition. (BW)

21: AIDAN BAKER – ADVENTDRONES PAROUSIA (3″ CDR by Taâlem)

On the shortest day of the year, we have Aidan Baker, the Canadian master of drones who currently resides in Germany. I reviewed his collaboration with Dead Neanderthals earlier this and the mistake I made there makes me extra careful writing this one. Why? Because, simply said Aidan can do things with sounds you never thought possible. Hence, the ‘master of drones’ in the opening sentence, but it might as well read ‘master of sounds, designer of drones’. So, THAT Aidan is here with a piece where he covers several styles flawlessly integrated into a piece titled “Parousia” (meaning The Second Coming of Jesus). It starts with a beautiful ambience and drone atmosphere, like the sky in the picture on the CD. Then a melody is added, and from there, this becomes a piece with a certain complexity even I find difficult to follow. The guitar sounds are erratic but still follow a structure, and even after five listens in a row, I can’t wrap my head around it. Finally, the track ends in a more ‘sacral yet chaotic’ atmosphere. You don’t understand what I’ve just written? Then you have to listen to this track for sure. I suppose this is next-level stuff (as is the Second Coming of Jesus). (BW)

22: JÉRÉMIE MATHES – PYRAMIDEN (3″ CDR by Taâlem)

Throughout the years, all post-2000, I reviewed various works by French musician Jérémie Mathes, much of which deals with drones created using field recordings and bells from Buddhist temples. Maybe he is still based in Cambodja? As said, liner notes aren’t much (or not yet available at the time of writing). Judging by the music, I assume nothing changed, and he still uses those temple bells extensively. As with many of his previous works, the structure is similar. The early parts of the piece have fewer sounds than in the later part of the composition. What starts as a relatively abstract mass of droning sounds slowly expands into something with a broader spectrum and more detail to the various sounds used. First, some bells and, later on, sustaining sounds played on the gong. Likely, all drone material is somehow generated from these instruments, and the first thing we hear the drones forecast the untreated instruments we hear later. It’s a solid piece by Mathes, just as we expect him to do. (FdW)

23: BEWILDERNESS – DEAD LEAVES (3″ CDR by Taâlem)

All I know about Bewilderness is it is a duo of Jeff Stonehouse and Sanja Ivkov, with the latter being a new name. Stonehouse previously had a release by Taâlem (Vital Weekly 977) and some duo releases, such as Le Mors with Will Bolton (Vital Weekly 919), Listening Mirror with Kate Tustain (Vital Weekly 822) and Snoqualmie Falls with Alicia Merz (Vital Weekly 930). In Bewilderness, there is room for guitar and electronics, maybe some kind of transformation of the guitar via electronics or as two standalone players. Or, also very likely, both playing a guitar and electronics. But, according to the information, the project is also to showcase female vocalists. The music is atmospheric and heavy on the darkness, with sounds swelling and disappearing steadily, never hurried, never too slow. The guitar (again, if it indeed is a guitar) shimmers in the back in ‘Three Promises’ but tinkles more in the open on ‘Gentle Flycatcher’, with heavy amplification and some reverb. The first one is an instrumental, but the second contains the voice of Heid Harris. I don’t hear it, for I know this is also guitar music with some eerie tones. The drones sometimes have a machine-like hum, which sounds a bit oppressive, like they will crush the guitars at any point soon. These pieces have an eerie, spooky atmosphere, fitting the darkness of the season very well. (FdW)

24: ENRICO CONIGLIO – ADAGISSIMO VENEXIANO (3″ CDR by Taâlem)

The last box to open in this advent calendar contains music by Italian composer Enrico Coniglio. I reviewed many of his works over the years and know him as a diverse ambient music player. We end the 24 mini CDRs with two gentle pieces of relatively spacious and melodic ambient from a slightly lighter side of the musical spectrum. If Christmas is a festival of light, the changing of the season, or whatever you believe, Taâlem did a great job selecting this one as the final one. This brings light to darkness. Darkness, we had enough of many of the previous 3″CDRs, and I hasten to add: with much pleasure. The sustaining chords/pads, or what you want to call these, played with higher chord sequences, isn’t exactly new age, but another kind of ambient music, bringing closure to a massive and wonderful project. (FdW)
––– Address: https://taalem.bandcamp.com/

MODELBAU – RIPPLES (cassette by Barreuh Records)

Barreuh Records is a small DIY label from Eindhoven that doesn’t release anything they don’t like. It is as simple as that. So, if you get a bit into what Barreuh likes and your minds are synced, you get to know an interesting small label, to say the least. Furthermore, they like specials and aren’t too afraid to dive into things. But let’s concentrate on Modelbau about Barreuh. This is Modelbau’s fourth release on this label; Three of them solo, the last one a split cassette between him and Antoine Panaché (the alter ego of Lilia Scheerder, whose photos grace the silkscreened cover). “Often” was also a cassette packed inside a T-shirt, and “Unrequited” might be the most illustrious. This download code was printed on a T-shirt in a limited edition of 25. So yes, 25 single shirts were made, and the music was on the shirt. I only ever saw one person wearing this. Talk about limited editions. But: Barreuh likes Modelbau. That’s the message here.
“Ripples” is a C50 cassette. Ripples A and Ripples B are two long tracks, each covering one side of the cassette. Nothing weird or interesting is there, but you must listen to the music. The basics of these tracks are formed by a session Frans had at EMS in Stockholm. During that session, he dedicated his time to the Buchla machines there. So, every sound on “Ripples” originates from the EMS Buchla system. But as the saying goes: ‘It’s not what you have, it’s what you do with it’. Some people these days make techno out of their Buchla systems, while others stick as close as possible to the sounds generated by the machines. But thankfully, we have Modelbau, who fucked the original sounds up severely with granular synthesis and a whole complexity of tape loops. And the result is two mesmerising soundscapes/drones where a lot is happening.
Side A is more complex in its simplicity. I thought that the first part might as well have been released as a tribute to Eliane Radigue. It is beautiful in its minimalism, and I can’t wait to get the tape (reviewing from a digital source) to hear if the medium tape will add something extra, like that extra bit of tape compression. The reverse side is a bit more complex, and much more is happening there. It’s more of a story being told, but I have yet to find out the story. Some of the synthetic sounds of the Buchla are so heavily treated that they start to sound organic. And the pulsating sounds have some great interpolation patterns which I can’t wait to listen to on the living room tubes. Those crunchy sounds with the careful melody in the end leave you mesmerised.
Modelbau came up with a beautiful release here. If you know and appreciate Modelbau, this is another one for your collection. If you don’t remember Modelbau, this might be one step too far for you to start your journey, but if you want to find out what Modelbau is capable of, this is a release that shows the many faces of the artist, yet a product is solid/uniform in its quality. (BW)
––– Address: https://barreuhrecords.bandcamp.com/
––– Address: http://toekomstmuziek.nu/barreuh/

AALFANG MIT PFERDEKOPF & EMERGE – DIE KOSMISCHE ZYGOTE + PAUSENMUSIK (cassette by Gruebenwehr Freiburg)

You couldn’t plan these things if you wanted to. In the same week, I heard the Aalfang Mit Pferdekopf and EMERGE 3″CDR in the Taâlem box, and this cassette, which connects to Taâlem also as the first piece here, is a re-issue of a 2006 3″CDR for that label. I wrote in Vital Weekly 535, “The next one is by Aalfang Mit Pferdelopf and Emerge. The latter is the more obscure one. It’s one Sascha Stadlmeier who had a release on Verato. The release they made together was made in three steps. First, Mirko Uhlig, aka Aalfang Mit Pferdekopf created a sound sculpture with a spring drum, melodica and kalimba. In the next step Emerge made a remix, adding his brand of dark ambient and then a final mix was made by Mirko. The piece starts with the separate rumblings of the original sound sculpture sounds, but throughout the pieces a lot of electronic sounds are dropped, either dark washes of feedback sounds, reverb and such. In the end, this is a highly vibrating piece of music that bounces in all directions until it reaches its climax and dies out slowly.”
The other three pieces are all new, and ‘Pausenmusik I’, filling up the rest of the first side, is a beautiful piece of misty electronics; I fell asleep twice, mainly as it seemed to segue into ‘Hinaphapi’, which only after halfway through changed its course, and only then the music made some different turns, but walking along similar ambient and drone paths. ‘Pausenmusik II’ is akin to the first, making 3/4 of the album much of the same but most enjoyable. This music has a beautiful seasonal darkness, which makes perfect sense. Excellent release. (FdW)
––– Address: https://grubenwehrfreiburg.bandcamp.com