Week 19

SAWN HALF – FAULTS (CD by Tribe Tapes)
HOWARD STELZER – FIVE THOUSAND PRETENDERS WHO PASSED THE TEST BY LUCK ALONE (CD by Rural Isolation Project)
MIRIAM – SING-A-BEAST (CD by Dissipatio)
GAYLE YOUNG & JAMES HARLEY – LITHOPHONICA (2CD by Farpoint Recordings)
ZAVOLOKA – ISTYNA (CD by I Shall Sing Until My Land Is Free)
JEANNINE WAGAR – INTO THE NIGHT (CD by Neuma)
ANDREW OSTLER – THE BLIND SUBLIME (CD by Cold Spring)
FALLEN SUN & SACHER PELZ & THOMAS BEY WILLIAM BAILEY – ACOUSMATOMISATION (CD by Attenuation Circuit/Grubenwehr Freiburg)
[ÓWT KRÌ] – ABANDONED WASTELAND (CDR by Attenuation Circuit)
NLC – SUUN (CDR by Attenuation Circuit)
O YUKI CONJUGATE – 1983 UNEARTHED (LP by Final Image)
THE BERLIN WALL – WAR – DEMO RECORDINGS 1982-1983 (LP by Supreme Tools Supply)
PICK-UP – EINDER (12″ Lathe by licht-ung)
ILLUSION OF SAFETY – A BRAINDEAD COMPANION (8″ lathe cut, private)
SOUNDOFERROR – LIVE AT PATCHWERKS (cassette, private)
TWILIGHT FURNITURE – JUST A MOMENT (cassette, private)
NORN – ENDLING (cassette by Cloister Recordings)
KATARIIN RASKA & VILLEM JAHU – ÕHUNE (cassette, private)
GIULIO FONTANA – AUXTRAVAGANZA (cassette by Neus-318)
KAZUYA ISHIGAMI – FROZEN MEMORIES (cassette by Neus-318)
HALI PALOMBO – MOTHER’S DAY (cassette, private)

SAWN HALF – FAULTS (CD by Tribe Tapes)

Tribe Tapes also does CD’s, yes. And some excellent ones, too, for that matter. The last time I wrote about the label was concerning several Slaughter Tapes re-releases, which I still listen to quite often. But Max Eastman, the guy behind the label, also knows where to find fresh blood. And the CD “Faults” by relative newcomer Sawn Half is a perfect example. Sawn Half has released two full CD’s so far, this one and a previous one on Flag Day Recordings. Next to that, a split/collab short tape with Confounder and a limited tape on French Market Press (sounds like a cool name for a coffee brand, too).
I’m reviewing the CD from the Bandcamp page, as the CD arrived at the main office, and there’s not much info to find there. You know how I love a little bit of background info, but being honest, this release doesn’t need it. According to Discogs, Sawn Half is Joe Hassick, and he has released music since 2024. So a newcomer with few releases behind his name and “Faults” tells you why. It’s simply because this is very well thought out, high-quality noise. For harsh noise, this is really a very good production. It’s clear, there is a lot of dynamics, it’s distorted where it should be distorted, and for example, the feedback, which can go all ways if you’re not in control as an artist, is there where it’s supposed to be.
But then the actual music. There are eight tracks, of which “Loss” is the longest. Total playing time is around 30 minutes, which is short, but the quality makes up for it. There is a lot of contact mic noise and metal and pedal structures, but I also suspect using a looping device or a sampler. There is a lot of repetition in layers where you wouldn’t expect it, but it adds to the flow of the track, which becomes way more emotional. It’s a structure, and with a relatively similar sound palette, Joe adds to the depth of the sounds. Result: An exciting composition where, as a listener, you can choose what layer to follow and still go with the flow of the other layers. So you won’t be ‘done listening’ after one time. And that is what makes harsh noise interesting in my humble opinion. (BW)
––– Address: https://tribetapes.bandcamp.com/

HOWARD STELZER – FIVE THOUSAND PRETENDERS WHO PASSED THE TEST BY LUCK ALONE (CD by Rural Isolation Project)

Like with Frans de Waard, telling something about Howard Stelzer is unnecessary. His name is mentioned so often that it’s almost like a ‘Frans and Howard Weekly’. Just kidding, of course, but I do have your attention now. And that is needed because this release is an absolute joy to listen to. It is a one-track album, it plays for just over 50 minutes, and there is a lot to explore
Howard is a math tutor by profession, and it might be me, but the title of this release might indicate that the subject of the week was calculus of probabilities. So with the little bit of background that I have in reflection on this release, I immediately start thinking if this is an album where the sounds are created with algorithms or if it’s an aleatoric composition. “Five Thousand Pretenders Who Passed the Test By Luck Alone”. Reread it and let your mind flow wherever it goes. What is the meaning behind it … Is there a meaning …
The composition starts with quite a loud sound and some horn sound, which brings me to the caves of Lustmord’s ‘Paradise Disowned’—followed by more concrete sounds of unknown origin. We’re joining Howard in drinking a beer in silence near a pond where we can hear the cicadas, and after that moment of relaxation, we’re on a real journey. It’s noisy on one side, while the saturated basses create beautiful layers of drones. There are harmonic structures to enjoy, but dissonance never seems too far away. Drones topped with concrete sounds and field recordings, where the field recordings take control, and at other moments the drones are a bit noisier.
I’m still puzzled by the title, and playing it again. Who are the pretenders? Does it have something to do with the cicadas? Various stages they go through? Or is there absolutely no link between the title and the sound? What if the field recordings aren’t field recordings, but the outcome of an algorithm which includes cicades … Why isn’t it 55 minutes and 1 second long … I need more coffee and I’ll listen again … Thank you Howard, for yet another sleepless night <3 (BW)
––– Address: https://ruralisolationproject.com/

MIRIAM – SING-A-BEAST (CD by Dissipatio)

Behind Miriam, we find Mariella Modonese, and it’s her first solo album, following various collaborations with Italian musicians. She “conceptualised, composed, and performed” the ten songs on this album, which was produced by her son, Fabrizio Modonese Palumbo, whom you may know from such musical projects as Larsen, ( r ), and Blind Cave Salamander. He also contributed guitar, electric viola, glockenspiel, keyboards, bass, synth, field recordings, tongue drum, and vocals. At the same time, Mariella plays nagado daiko, theremin, keyboards, guitar, whistles, kick drum, shruti box, melodica, percussion, and vocals. A few guest musicians also contribute vocals, flute, and drums. Two pieces are covers, one by Alexey Pluzhnikov and ‘Barracuda’ by Heart – I don’t think Heart would recognise this cover. The label describes this as “a sort of bizarre bestiary containing short spurts and long elaborate musical suites’. The music isn’t easily defined as one thing or another. If anything, the music is quite personal, touched by a bit of the rockist agenda, ritual music, post-rock, introspective playing, outsider-like and highly personal music. But does that make any sense? Could you sell what this sounds like? Probably not. I attribute this also to my lack of knowledge of such bands as Larsen, or the whole alternative music scene dealing with guitars, ritualistic leanings, or some far away outsider pop, and such like. While I like what I hear, I admit feeling lost, because it’s too much outside my field of knowledge, so the best advice I can give you is to check this out. (FdW)
––– Address: https://dissipatio.bandcamp.com/

GAYLE YOUNG & JAMES HARLEY – LITHOPHONICA (2CD by Farpoint Recordings)

Here are two Canadian musicians. First, Gayle Young designs and builds sound installations, creating music with unique instruments that sometimes include found objects. Here, she plays stringed instruments with stones, sticks, and bells. Computer musician James Harley picks up on the results, “expanding their resonance, shaping sounds through granulation, layering, transposition, delays, and spatialisation.” This is a very straightforward idea, and the combination of a computer transforming sounds of whatever nature isn’t new. Two discs, with a total of 35 tracks, spanning two hours of music, are a bit much, especially since they sound the same. Some tracks are called ‘Sticks’, some ‘Stones’ and some ‘Stones-Strings’. That suggests change, but playing these CDS and not looking at the cover always makes it hard to tell what the stones and the sticks are. The processing is quite gentle and a sort of improvised ambient album. A bit percussive at times, with some gentle glissandi, gentle granulation and surely nice enough, but it is too much. If the second CD had sounded different, noisier, more acoustic, all digital, I don’t know anything but the same, I would understand, but now, I don’t. Maybe there’s a point I’m missing here. (FdW)
––– Address: https://www.farpointrecordings.com/

ZAVOLOKA – ISTYNA (CD by I Shall Sing Until My Land Is Free)

It has been a while since I last heard a solo release by (Kateryna) Zavoloka; most likely that was ‘Promeni’, reviewed in Vital Weekly 1152. Together with Dmytro Fedorenko, she is part of Cluster Lizard. Her music is synthesiser and rhythm-based, and I don’t know if these are analogue or digital. By now, Zavoloka has quite an impressive discography, with varying degrees of harshness in the rhythmic department. This new release seems less harsh than some of her previous work, with more complex rhythms and synth parts. According to the label, this is her most personal record, with the title to be translated as ‘truth’ or ‘verity’, and a connection to her homeland, Ukraine, is made; the label’s name is a reference to the ongoing war in that country. Also mentioned are recordings of traditional Ukrainian instruments, such as the kobza and kolianka, which I have no idea what these are or sound like, so I will take their word for it. The word ‘poly’ occurs a lot in the press information, and that’s something I can see. Both in her use of rhythm and melody, Zavoloka is very poly and complex. Pleasant stuff, if I am honest, her beats don’t clash and collide, nor punch you in the face. Uptempo stuff, with an occasional atmospheric tune, this is a great album. The political idea of resistance may be a bit lost in these pieces (perhaps in the titles, but lost in translation), but maybe it encompasses liberty and joy, a never-surrender type of thing and as such, this works really well. I think this is one of the best works I’ve heard from Zavoloka! (FdW)
––– Address: https://ishallsinguntilmylandisfree.bandcamp.com/

JEANNINE WAGAR – INTO THE NIGHT (CD by Neuma)
ANDREW OSTLER – THE BLIND SUBLIME (CD by Cold Spring)

Although I don’t like to lump releases together, I feel these two have a few similarities, so it’s easier to discuss them. The common thread is modern classical music, or, at least, in my perception. Not of the plink-plonk variety but smooth, orchestral, and soundtrack-like. First, there’s a release by “celebrated orchestra director” Jeannine Wagar, who “began composing in her 70s”. She composed and performed all music on ‘Into The Night’; the tags are “electronic, darkambient, soundtrack, postclassical”. The “virtual orchestra” is at her disposal, meaning samplers, plug-ins and such, so she’s free from rehearsals and acoustic space. The night is the inspiration. Calling this dark ambient is a bit far-fetched, a long way from ‘Paradise Disowned’, or other classic Lustmord releases, but who am I to police the terminology? It’s a label that works in many situations, and Wagar’s music is dark. It is also very orchestral and very smooth. She understands the workings of music, and she plays nine fine tunes. There are a bit of field recordings, such as the wintery sounds in ‘Over There’, but throughout it lacks the rough edge I love in music—that element of granular decay, the rusty loop or the off-beat tone. Everything sounds like the soundtrack of a quality movie, any movie with a scene that depicts some kind of drama, and, of course, there’s nothing wrong with that. While playing this, I was tucked away in a book and found this a pleasant soundtrack for such activity. But maybe it’s not the kind of thing I’d play often again.
I reviewed an LP by Andrew Ostler before, in Vital Weekly 1308, which was very much in the tradition of the old Berlin school of cosmic music. I missed his other releases on his Expert Sleepers label, including an LP called ‘The Blind Sublime’, which is now reissued by Cold Spring on CD. It’s an entirely different sort of release. Cold Spring says the music is in the realms of “Jóhann Jóhannsson, Arvo Pärt or Stars Of The Lid”, which I find easier to see for the first and not the last one. The first three pieces, the original first side of the vinyl, are choral pieces. I see no mention of a choir on the cover, so maybe there is some virtual choir at work. Here, the music is very modern classical, almost a religious experience, but I admit it’s not what I like. I lack the spirituality required for this kind of music. The long piece, ‘Meditation’, worked best for me. Suppose Stars Of The Lid are to be referenced. In that case, I’d say this is mainly for this piece, with its minimalist drones from strings, Ostler’s modular synth, wind instruments and the choir not disappearing but tucked away in the composition and only (it seems) in one part of the piece. Here’s a bit of graininess, sound traversing an open space, and with rising tones, this too has an orchestral feeling, but that’s something we also found in the latter work of the Lid. Half of this release I thought was great, and the other half was not my coffee. (FdW)
––– Address: https://jeanninewagar.bandcamp.com/

FALLEN SUN & SACHER PELZ & THOMAS BEY WILLIAM BAILEY – ACOUSMATOMISATION (CD by Attenuation Circuit/Grubenwehr Freiburg)
[ÓWT KRÌ] – ABANDONED WASTELAND (CDR by Attenuation Circuit)
NLC – SUUN (CDR by Attenuation Circuit)

It’s a no-brainer to start with the collaboration, which comes as quite a surprise: Maurizio Bianchi, for once working as Sacher Pelz, a name he used in the very early days of his career, in the late 1970s), Malaysia’s Fallen Sun and from the USA, we greet Thomas Bey William Bailey. As usual, there isn’t a single person to do the mix, and credit goes to all. The six pieces got their titles from physics, and I am no expert, so I couldn’t say if what we hear resembles what they are called. The sceptic in me says ‘Great idea, so why bother to check this?” I think all three are expert handlers of all sonic matters working with digital technology, so I imagine this to be no different. They reference Bernard Parmegian and Dopplereffekt/Arpanet. I may not be too familiar with the latter, but I did hear music by the first, and I can see the connection with the classic musique concrète and the development into acousmatic music; the title of this album is, after all, a clever wordplay on that, combined with physics. The 62 minutes, totalling six tracks, is quite a tour de force to listen to. This is no easy listening. That’s not to say it is a noise album, one hour is distorted electronics; actually, far from it. The music is loud, fierce, and full of varied noises, processes and quieter fragments, perhaps making the album difficult. It’s filled with sounds, from top to bottom, like a Hollywood blockbuster. The listener rarely gets time to breathe, as even in quiet moments, something is happening, and your full and undivided attention is required. While much of the album uses digital means, there’s an odd piece, ‘Concrete Absorption’, which sounds like old-fashioned industrial music, with rusty tape loops and many stomp boxes. That’s an interesting material diversification, but it fits right in, mainly because it’s followed by the Merzbowian approach of ‘Particle Deterioration’. Maybe this album has more analogue power than I anticipated? Maybe great plug-ins to simulate that kind of thing? I don’t know, but, well-exhausted, I think this is a great album.
Even when the name [ówt krì] sounded very familiar, I only reviewed one previously released CD, ‘Pilgrimage,’ in Vital Weekly 1033, and JKH did one in Vital Weekly 889. Maybe it is the unusual name that stuck. The musician behind this name is Kenneth Kovasin, and the cover lists no further information, nothing about instruments used, for instance. That means I must guess; my best guess is the guitar and many effects. Musically, we are dealing with ambient from a post-rock perspective, but the whole ‘rock’ notion of that word is lost here. Strings are bowed and fed through a line of pedals, of which the reverb is essential, so there’s a guaranteed atmospheric effect. While the press text pushes the dystopian agenda for this music, one could just as much argue that this is some very dark, atmospheric music that is pleasant enough to use for relaxation or meditation. At least, I know I could (and did accidentally fall asleep to yesterday), but then, I live on a staple diet of dark and isolationist music most of the time. In the fifth piece, ‘Fire Lights Up The Prairie’ (hardly a dystopian view!), he plays chords, more rock-like indeed, and mild distortion. It all sounded not bad at all, but at the same time failed to grab my attention that much. Maybe, so I thought, it was all a bit ‘heard it all before’, and the diet of too many isolationist tunes finally became too much? Maybe I should fasten and return later on?
There’s also a new album by Julien ASH and Aloïs L, collectively known as NLC, along with a rotating cast of members. Although active for many years, there has been an outburst of material recently, and I reviewed various of these releases. As I listen to this new one, I try to remember what I wrote before, rather than looking up and the word ‘soundtrack’ comes to mind. I must have used that one before, when describing NLC’s music. Then I thought, why is NLC bothering with small-scale releases on an independent label? Shouldn’t they be trying to score soundtracks for Hollywood blockbusters (hey, twice in one long review), and get the sort of recognition they deserve? The music is synthesiser, sequencer and sampler heavy, with Aloïs L adding violin in many pieces, but there are also people playing bass, guitar, flute, and vocals. I admit two things, quite readily: excellent music, executed with great care, played with great skills, fine, orchestral-based pop music, complex, filmic and all that. Secondly, this is not my kind of music, because it’s orchestral-based pop music, too smooth, too normal, or perhaps too much out of the reference field I choose to write about, or would privately listen to. Let that not stop you from investigating this, as I am sure it is music appealing to a broad audience. One that is much larger than the limited reach of Vital Weekly has. (FdW)
––– Address: https://emerge.bandcamp.com/ https://grubenwehrfreiburg.bandcamp.com/

O YUKI CONJUGATE – 1983 UNEARTHED (LP by Final Image)
THE BERLIN WALL – WAR – DEMO RECORDINGS 1982-1983 (LP by Supreme Tools Supply)

One of my favourite Sunday pastimes is to take one of the few boxes I have from the Vinyl On Demand label and play all the records in one listening session; Sema, Ian Boddy, and O Yuki Conjugate are favourites in that respect. The latter one, I assumed to have cleaned out the archives of the band, so imagine my pleasant surprise at the release of ‘1983 Unearthed’, which contains recordings from before their debut album. The band members were around 19 years old at the time, working with primitive electronica, and finding their way into music. The LP is quite a mixed bag of ambient music, such as the long flute loop piece, ‘Transcontinental Levitation’, forecasting the group’s later ambient music, next to more up-tempo electronic pieces, with rhythm machine, bass, some synth and found voice footage. Some of these pieces are mere sketches, such as ‘Lazarus’, somewhat unfinished, but very music of its time. The music has a charming quality of naivety. Twiddling those delay pedals, songs that are a bit too long but without enough ideas, such as ‘Plagiarism’. All the things that go with finding your feet as a band. A bit of post-punk mixed with ambient; think Dif Juz, Durutti Column and other atmospherics of those years, but also with a motorik drive of say New Order in ‘Londn Unreal’; I would love to have a peek at what was in their record collections. Quite lovely stuff, and I say that as someone growing up in those years on a diet of this kind of music. Is this then the ultimate lost collection, or is there more? I hope the latter, of course; next Sunday it’s time for the OYC box set on Vinyl On Demand, and ‘1983 Unearthed’ will get a spin too.
I didn’t plan this to be a double review, but sometimes these things happen like they do, and both albums arrived in the same week. From all the people I know in music, the one I have been in contact with the longest is Sjak van Bussel. Already in late 1982, or early 1983, we corresponded about his cassette label, A Tapes, which later became Midas Music, when his attention turned to more experimental music. We played concerts together in the 1980s as Death Pact, and since 2007, we’re both members of THU20; Sjak being a founding member in 1986. There is also another side to Van Bussel, playing bass in such groups as Lewd, Bunkur, Kuttekop and The Berlin Wall. The latter was his first band, a four-piece punk/post-punk band that started on 1 July 1981, and their farewell concert was on 1 July 1983. The band members were 14 to 16 years old. In January 1983, Corneil Nies (an electronic musician) recorded the group in Deurne, as a demo, presumably to get gigs, which is now released on vinyl. I bet none of the four members would have imagined seeing an LP, not at the time, nor when they were almost 60. By 1983, I was out of punk music and slowly turning my head towards noise, but I still had my punk records, which were 99% Dutch independent ones, which fetch a lot of money these days. I still see the charming naivety of the music, and also the directness of the music. The Berlin Wall had already evolved out of that punk naivety and sound, with beginnings of a post-punk band, with some different structures and not always as straightforward. And when they do, they sound like a punk band. They offer an excellent mix of both in their songs. I am not enough of a musician to tell you how accomplished they were at this young age, but they sound great. The latter no doubt thanks to the expert remastering qualities of Jos Smolders at Earlabs, who did a great job here. Love this one, it makes my day every time I play this. (FdW)
––– Address: https://finalimage.bandcamp.com/
––– Address: antenne-tilburg@home.nl

PICK-UP – EINDER (12″ Lathe by licht-ung)

Leverkusen is where Johannes Garbe organises, creates and releases things about experimental music. He very probably does way, WAY more than just those three things, but as for now, that is enough. Because he released them in a super minimal edition (16 copies), these final recordings of Pick-Up. Pick-Up is a collaborative work from Martin Luiten and Frans de Waard. They’ve released two albums, one cassette, and one mini CD-R in 2008-2010, and now this final 12″ lathe cut with never-released material is available.
The compositional setting is Martin on guitar and Frans on computer, manipulating the sounds Martin creates. The exact configuration of both parts is unknown, though. Did Martin use FX? Did Frans use pre-recorded sounds in addition to the live manipulation? But you know, it actually doesn’t matter too much. This is a really nice recording of two people making music, and the exact method is irrelevant. I wonder, however, if these are ‘leftovers’ or if they were planned to be released but didn’t find their way out somehow. Take, for example, the first two tracks of the A-side. “Denkbeeldige Lijn/Verte” (imaginary line/distance), a 19-minute piece which is just beautiful; Guitar ambience with minimal melodic behaviour. “Curve”, which is closing the first side, has a more staccato sound and uses the guitar slightly less as a string instrument. I mean, the guitar is played, just not the strings.
The reverse side has three 5-minute tracks titled “Kim”, “Geografisch Noorden” (geographical north) and “Einder” (horizon). The first one is maybe the most ‘Frans’ and least ‘Martin’ of everything on the record. Heavily manipulated sounds create a beautiful drone. The second is more in balance again, but like “Curve”, it’s the guitar being used as a sound source more than it being played like it’s supposed to. But as Vital Weekly is a platform for experimental music, well, maybe it’s the other way around and a guitar being a sound source is more evident than… Euhm, chords? The title track that closes this release is based on a minimal melody with luscious harmonic drones and ambience placed carefully under them. The result has a minimalistic ambient / post-rock feeling, and it’s just a beautiful thing. (BW)
––– Address: https://licht-ung.bandcamp.com/

ILLUSION OF SAFETY – A BRAINDEAD COMPANION (8″ lathe cut, private)
SOUNDOFERROR – LIVE AT PATCHWERKS (cassette, private)
TWILIGHT FURNITURE – JUST A MOMENT (cassette, private)

You may know Dan Burke best for his work as Illusion Of Safety; technically, a group of people, but that was in the past. For a few years, after Burke returned to the music world and has been playing solo. As such, he perfectly blends electronics and acoustic sounds, manipulating these on the spot, ranging from very loud to quiet. Some of his other solo projects are in the deep past, such as Fixated and Groovy, but these days, he also works as Soundoferror and, since very recently, as Twilight Furniture. Today, I have the opportunity to write about all three.
First, there’s an 8″ lathe cut record, which is a companion to a companion. The mothership is a download-only, of the same name, and it’s a compilation of archival material from the group’s past. The oldest piece is from 1983, and the newest is from this year. Various live cuts, among others with Jim O’Rourke ad Mitch Enderle, an odd compilation track and a side of the 7″ ‘Kapotte Muziek by Illusion Of Safety’. A heavily varied set of pieces and moods, ranging from ambient to sound art to industrial music. The 8″ contains an interesting new construction of old bits and pieces. When you can use everything as a sound source, the archives are as good as any. I am told there’s new material from this year, “other unreleased parts of the recordings from Live at Edge Of The Lookingglass 9.30.90 with Jim O’Rourke and Mitch Enderle and unissued parts of the IOS trio recordings of 2010 with Mitch and his daughter Sara”. Burke has the college approach down very well, so neither of these pieces contains something out of place. If you don’t know any better, you could think this is the result of one recording session, with a few people contributing sound. Side A has a relatively subdued sound, reflective and distant. In contrast, the B-side has a more aggressive approach of crumbled tones, in-your-face electronics, cut with some quieter interludes. Both pieces, while similar, make up 18 minutes of excellent Illusion of Safety music.
When Burke works as Soundoferror, he works with only electronic means, judging by the pictures I saw of the concert documented on this live recording from July last year in Seattle. It is tempting to look for overlaps in this material with what Burke does with Illusion Of Safety, and surely there is, at times, a minimalist approach to treating sounds, letting them slowly evolve and explore like a living organism. In ‘Patchworks 1’, there is also an industrial component to the music, but that might be due to the live recording of the piece, with the space contributing to the relative harshness of the music. The second part is more minimalist and ambient, while the third has a slightly more cosmic approach with its sort of arpeggio/delay. Only the fourth track, ‘Hightower’, a studio track, is a plink/scratch modular synth piece, which is luckily also the shortest piece on this cassette. With many of the modular synthesiser players these days, there is that element of improvisation, ‘let’s try all knobs’, and the compositional aspect is lost. Burke keeps an eye on the ball of composition in the three live pieces, bringing three excellent pieces of music.
In Vital Weekly 1474, I was pleasantly surprised by a split cassette with a new musical endeavour by Dan Burke, Twilight Furniture on one side. One long piece of sampling, orchestral tones and hazy spaciousness. Imagine my delight hearing some more of this. ‘Just A Moment’ is a five-piece cassette, of which ‘Life Goes On – Slightly Altered’ takes up the entire second side. The cover shows piano keys, and I know Burke likes to play the piano (doing so in homes for the elderly, I believe), and hearing these pieces, I think the piano plays a significant role here, too. It’s not a very clear piano, as Burke covers it with clouds of electronics, synthesisers, effects, and what have you, all bringing that highly atmospheric approach. In “Disquiet’, there’s even some rhythm. The music is slow and spacious, maybe one could say traditional ambient, despite what I feel to be an approach with modern means, even when I am unsure what this is made of. In ‘A Drift’, there’s a harmonium; that doesn’t spell ‘new instrument’, doesn’t it? The music works best when the pieces are longer, so there is room to breathe, expand, and evolve. Like its (half) predecessor, this is a great release. (FdW)
––– Address: https://illusionofsafety.bandcamp.com
––– Address: https://soundoferror.bandcamp.com/
––– Address: https://danieljamesburke.bandcamp.com/

NORN – ENDLING (cassette by Cloister Recordings)

The restless human being that is Norn is also Nÿland, one half of Trepaneringsritualen, Hadewych, O Saala Sakraal, and much more. Each project has a distinctly different sound. One constant is darkness. As Norn, Peter Johan Nijland, continues in some ways where he left Distel behind, at least on this new release. That was angst pop, and the pop element may be gone (if it was a strong presence; there is something to debate about that), but rhythm and melody stayed. Don’t understand these rhythms happening in steady paces and present all the time and in every song, as Norn uses a start/stop approach. The melodies are dark, it’s not easy to understand the lyrics, but it’s easy to detect an apocalyptic element in the music. Songs about what happens when the flood comes; what will remain? It’s dystopian music without the usual lo-fi, leaky nuclear powerplant sounds, now replaced by rhythms and melodies. Sounds are crumbled and granulated, but with computer technology organised and composed into the nine pieces on this cassette. It’s a step forward from Norn’s earlier, more ambient leanings, although not as ambient as some of his work as Nÿland. The earthly, more ritualistic elements from his other projects, such as O Saala Sakraal, are perhaps less present on this cassette, but it’s not entirely gone either. Yet it’s not easy to pinpoint a specific thing here, and it’s more the general feeling of the music. In some respect, I could use the word ‘gothic’, my private container term for all dark matters, lyrical content and ritualistic stuff. Over the years, I have been enjoying that kind of thing more and more, and without understanding too much about it, yet find some strange attraction to it. This is no different; oddly compelling stuff of nightmares and dystopia, so that may explain it for me. (FdW)
––– Address: https://cloisterrecordingsus.bandcamp.com/

KATARIIN RASKA & VILLEM JAHU – ÕHUNE (cassette, private)

The combination of electronics and bagpipes isn’t widespread, but here’s one. Katariin Raska, from Tallinn, Estonia, plays the bagpipes. She’s active in the contemporary music scene but also traditional and electro-acoustic music. She improvises with folk musicians, poets, and storytellers and here teams up with Villem Jahu, “a sound artist, synthesist, free improviser, cultural organiser from Estonia”, and he works with live performances, sound installations, dance pieces and such. I hadn’t heard of either one before. On this fifty-minute cassette, they consistently approach bagpipes + electronics equals drone noise. Jahu’s electronics aren’t exactly piercing, but are drone/noise-like, heavily suppressed block noises, and on top of that, there’s Raska’s bagpipes, nervously playing, minimal and without any electronic altering and still sounding noisy. It is a radical release regarding improvisation and noise; it’s neither, yet one could argue it is very much improvised and noise-based. It is consistent, but it’s also on the long side. As a statement of affairs, one could think, 20 minutes is also enough, but lazy as I was on this early summer-like spring day, I didn’t get up and change the tune and surprisingly enjoyed it all. There you go! If you are up for something different, then try this. (FdW)
––– Address: https://whiteforestblacknoise.bandcamp.com/

GIULIO FONTANA – AUXTRAVAGANZA (cassette by Neus-318)
KAZUYA ISHIGAMI – FROZEN MEMORIES (cassette by Neus-318)

I had not heard of Giulio Fontana before. His instrument is the Mackie 1202 VLZ. That is a mixer, in case you didn’t know. Still, it’s also apparent from the description of the eight pieces on this cassette: “A collection of tracks played with an improvisational approach on a Mackie mixer using the ‘no-input mixing board’ technique. No overdub or post-edit.” In case you forgot, the no-input mixing board approach is where you connect the headphone output to a channel on your mixer, and opening up the channel’s volume, it starts to feed back, picking up the output signal. It’s one of the easiest ways of doing noise music, especially if one adds a few effects on the auxillaries. Technically, you could use all (12 in this case) channels and tune the feedback, but I don’t think Fontana went to that length. Some of his pieces are named after the sounds they produce,’Chirps’, ‘Siren’ or ‘Mosquitoes’. The cassette lasts 30 minutes and, frankly, I didn’t find much joy in this. I heard others, such as David Lee Myers or Marko Ciciliani, doing more satisfying music with a similar setup, but granted, some pieces were alright, such as ‘Siren’.
The four music pieces by label boss Kazuya Ishigami are of much more interest. He’s been around for some 25 years now and has released over 100 works. His work is in the “Electroacoustic/Acousmatic/Post-Acousmatic/Ambient/Noise” field, which is best exemplified on this cassette. Each five minutes, the four pieces are computerised explorations of field recordings on a heavy transformation course, resulting in chilly fields of atmospheric tones. Think of Asmus Tietchens, but then on a more industrial music trajectory. Noise is absent in these pieces, at least to the trained ear. The music is densely orchestrated, owing to the original ideas of musique concrète. Still, at the same time, the music is also firmly underground, not obeying the laws of composition, and Ishigami does a great job here. The only downside is the length of this release. It could easily have been 40 minutes. (FdW)
––– Address: https://neus318.bandcamp.com/

HALI PALOMBO – MOTHER’S DAY (cassette, private)

While I loved my parents and hope they loved me, I never did much about the whole Mother’s/Father’s Day thing. I hope my parents didn’t mind. They are no longer around to ask them. Likewise, my daughter is not too big on the thing, except for the obligatory objects made in kindergarten. For Hali Palombo this is different. Her mother passed away in 2021, and this year Hali has self-released this cassette in honour of her mother and Mother’s Day. For this release, Palombo uses records of “a sacred harp singing, a baptist church service in the town my mother lived during the last years of her life, guitar, electronics, and recordings of girls jumping rope taken in the 50s or 60s.” The latter are part of ‘Eliijay’, along with what seems to be a toddler’s toys/bells, some guitar drones and the processed playground playing. The sound of the past, like ghosts from a previous life. The sound of time passing. I’d like to think that the harp and the church recordings play a bigger role in ‘Forty Days of Silence’, a twelve-minute excursion in more ghostly tones, heavily reverberating in a big space. This is a different kind of memory, I’d say, but equally haunting. I don’t know what equipment Palombo uses to manipulate her sounds, but there’s undoubtedly a neat lo-fi quality to the music, implying the use of old cassettes and reel-to-reel machines. On the other side, there’s an interview with Palombo’s grandmother, which is quite interesting but perhaps something one only plays once. All in all, two great music pieces. (FdW)
––– Address: https://halipalombo.bandcamp.com/