VARIOUS ARTISTS – 2000 HANDS (2CD by Hands Productions)
OTOMO YOSHIHIDE/VOICE CRACK – BITS BOTS AND SIGNS (CD by Erstwhile)
BLUE FOUNDATION – 33 (cd by April Records)
VARIOUS ARTISTS – WOW (7″ by Janek Schaefer/Caz McIntee)
JAILHOUSE – QUILLA (version) / THESE FOOLISH STRINGS (7″ by Meeuw)
VOICE CRACK – BALLCHANNEL (7″ by Meeuw)
BERNARD DONZEL-GARGAND – TOILE DE SONS (CD by Plate Lunch)
PHILIPPE BLANCHARD/CHRISTIAN RENOU – PLAY:LUNCH (CD by Plate Lunch)
MENTAL ANGUISH – MILE AFTER MILE (CD by Harsh Reality Music)
MENTAL ANGUISH & NOMUZIC – FLAMINGO ROAD (CD by Harsh Reality Music)
DAVID ROSENBOOM – INVISIBLE GOLD (CD by Pogus)
VARIOUS ARTISTS – 2000 HANDS (2CD by Hands Productions)
Another shining star of extreme music has seen its light. Brand new German
label Hands Productions concentrates its power on the harsher side of
experimental electronic music. “2000 Hands” functions as a sampler of what
to expect from the label, and it certainly is interesting things. One of
the first thoughts that might occur to you, when auditioning “2000 Hands”,
is the wide span of different approaches to electronic music that is
represented on the album. From Xabec’s electro-acoustic dark ambient across
harsh power electronics from Schlachtanlage Gegenort to dark side
drum’n’noise from Typhoid. Also worth mentioning is the danceable
hard-techno of Winterkälte and NKVD.
Common denominator of most of the tracks during these 140 minutes of
enjoyable listening, is the sheer brutality that saturates the sonic
expression. With this excellent compilation, Hands Productions have proved
their potential as a prospective star-label within rhythmic
noise-electronics. Especially admirers of compatriot label “Ant-Zen” should
check out “2000 Hands”. You won’t be disappointed! (NMP)
Address: http://www.handsproductions.com/
OTOMO YOSHIHIDE/VOICE CRACK – BITS BOTS AND SIGNS (CD by Erstwhile)
Another studio meeting of electronica cum improvisers of the more
well-known nature. Voice Crack, who seem really back on track with many new
releases in just a few months, with their wide areas of cracked everyday
electronics (house hold appliances, toys, cable’s) team up with Otomo
Yoshihide, who has been playing with everybody on that scene already.
Rather then a cracked sounds which bumps all over the place, skipping back
and forth between small sounds and crackles, I found that this CD is a much
more coherent in sound, with tons of sounds that are going on. Best
exemplified in the ending of “@@@3”, which is a pure sine wave experiment
(and according to the liner notes, sampled from Sachiko M) that is ear
piercing. But also in “@@@1” and “@@@5”, there are continuos, repeating
loops (samples?). To the untrained improv this can serve as a guide through
the music. At times the sounds are furious noisy and sometimes bittersweet.
But thoroughly fascinating throughout. There is one problem I had with this
CD. It says in was recorded in the Zack Studio, but it sounds to me,
especially in “@@@1” as a recording with a cheap microphone. That’s a pity
for an otherwise great CD. (FdW)Address: www.erstwhilerecords.com
BLUE FOUNDATION – 33 (cd by April Records)
Recordings like these are a truly and thoroughly modern phe-nom. They’re
played by wily college radio stations which can somehow justify becoming a
.org. Their titles are breathlessly pronounced by breathy aficionados of
this sort of sound. Bachelors generally hoard these types of things,
subsequently, because they are a very contemporary and “go-to” form of fuck
music.
That female voice – those lips, that voice, those sighs. A tinge of jazz
without recrimination. The band is a sturdy, clever, with-it variety of
individuals – cosmopolitan, but that does not include YOUR street in the
big city. It is, however, fitting driving music for times of deep thought
and domestic escapes… (DC)
Address: <april@vow.dk>
VARIOUS ARTISTS – WOW (7″ by Janek Schaefer/Caz McIntee)
In which Mr. Schaefer and Diskono send copies of “Wow” (physically-remixed
in the cutting of the 7″ itself) to several people with instructions to
further physically remix.
My copy, by Caz McIntee, was pierced by drill and needled thread,
transposing a 14th century shunga print onto the vinyl. See website for
further physical remixes:
<http://www.findo.freeserve.co.uk/wow/update.htm>
In this case, is the original recording remarkable more for what it
inspires later; the initial sound being somewhat immaterial? I’m thinking
now that I should’ve ground mine into a fine powder and mixed into a
festive gingerbread. Ho ho ho and hardee-fuckin’-har.
JAILHOUSE – QUILLA (version) / THESE FOOLISH STRINGS (7″ by Meeuw)
Another release from the label that features the most hallucinatory hues of
coloured vinyl this side of Albert Hoffman’s house. This time out: marvy
magenta. The thud of percussions slumps playfully across the pop and
crackles. A tuneful ditty burbles by. Voices possibly call out – the
return of the aural Rorschach?
Those foolish strings twinkle around more synthetics and the off-time
drummer. Jaw’s harp redux in cheap unstable interstellar prison. Alas –
too soon, too soon…
Address: <laridae@xs4all.nl>
VOICE CRACK – BALLCHANNEL (7″ by Meeuw)
The speed at which this bright-oranged recording is to move is not specified.
Not specified.
The sound moves in a similar manner. It is unclear if it is an installation
of violence – a voice, a crack, all of that or none of it. It’s slightly
reminiscent of verbal abuse – or, perhaps more succinctly, the moment at
which one knows the words will come. Difficult to read the Jane Bowles
collection by, you know. It demands attention – and fades out, but what is
the reason why this is so? They use to call these sorts of things
“barn-burners” – not to be confused with a “potboiler”, p’raps…
Address: <laridae@xs4all.nl>
BERNARD DONZEL-GARGAND – TOILE DE SONS (CD by Plate Lunch)
PHILIPPE BLANCHARD/CHRISTIAN RENOU – PLAY:LUNCH (CD by Plate Lunch)
So, this is what happens if you clean up at the end of the year: you’ll
find stuff that have been lying around waiting for a review which never
happened. These are two of them. “Toile De Sons”, means web of sounds, and
is a very good coverage of what Donzel-Gargand does: he waves together
sounds and tells a story. He uses field recordings (water sounds, church
bells and bird sounds, were the ones I recognized) along with strictly
synthetic sounds, or maybe electronic manipulations of those field
recordings. Either way, he calls these “landscapes made of sounds, images
without pictures”. One piece, “Legende Du Pont D’Yeu” has a real
storyteller, but that doesn’t mean much: even when my knowledge of the
French language is rather superficial, I was under the impression that
understanding what is said was not the main issue here. From the cover
text, I had the impression that this piece was the only one that reflected
a real story, even when it’s on a legend. The other texts on the pieces are
much more abstract – as abstract as the music. Bernard Donzel-Gargand
continues that great tradition of French electro-acoustic music with four
great pieces.
Philippe Blanchard (previously part of Lt. Caramel and Pierre Bouchet) and
Christian Renou (who is more known as Brume) are likewise the younger
generation of electro-acoustics from France. Besides producing great
electro-acoustic music, the French are also a bit known for their cooking.
Preparing food is the theme on the split CD by Blanchard and Renou.
Blanchard takes a rigid division of the various activities involved: buying
the food, to simmer, to digest etc. Sounds in the various pieces seem like
to be derived from those activities. Renou (who rarely produces music under
his under his own name) on the other hand throws all of the stuff in his
kitchen he can find in the blender (excuse le mot) and cooks up a nice
sonic meal, but it’s not that some sounds are rigidly available for one
piece. In regard of the label name, this is a very nice thought of thematic
CD, which could be a nice series. The only thing missing is a recipe. (FdW)
Address: <platelunch@t-online.de>
MENTAL ANGUISH – MILE AFTER MILE (CD by Harsh Reality Music)
MENTAL ANGUISH & NOMUZIC – FLAMINGO ROAD (CD by Harsh Reality Music)
Two more CDR releases by Harsh Reality Music, which is transforming slowly
into a real CDR label (from the ruins of a cassette label).
The basic concept of ‘Mile After Mile’ is beyond me: I gather it has to do
with loops, which are mixed by Chris Phinney, main operator of Mental
Anguish. For the bigger part the pieces dwell heavily on thick rhythms and
sequences. Towards the end there are also some weird guitar pieces and
vocals, which don’t sound like traditional Mental Anguish stuff. There is a
lot of sound input from people from the underground-exchange scene, many of
which are new to me, which makes it hard to track down who does what. Of
course with this sort of de-personalization projects and non-ego’s this is
not necessary.
Same can be said of the collaborative efforts by Mental Anguish with the
other old-timer here: Nomuzic, aka Carl Howard, aka Audiofile and god knows
what else. They recorded five pieces in which time as stopped and space is
the place. Spacious jams around arpeggio synth sounds, heavy drum machines
and other psychedelix. The only misser here is, curious enough, “Drone
Fury”, a piece that has nothing to do with drones, but is a mere collection
of loosely played sounds on synths etc. Very seventies this collaboration.
(FdW)
Address: <chris.phinney@gte.net>
DAVID ROSENBOOM – INVISIBLE GOLD (CD by Pogus)
David Rosenboom is a well-known name in the serious academic circles of the
USA, having been a teacher at various universities and scholarships. His
main interest, so I understand, is to “investigate the workings of the
human brain by inventing musical circumstances in which the brain’s
electrical activity was integrated into the interactive dynamics of
self-organizing, electronic music systems”. But as with many, there isn’t
much music available to rik public, but luckily people like Pogus fill in
the important gaps. This CD has two key pieces of Rosenboom. The first is
“Portable Gold And Philosophers’ Stones” from 1972. It starts out with
drone like synth sound which gradually evolves into a rich textured piece
of sounds, which are produced with a bank of resonant filters, known as a
Holophone. More and more is happening and there unfolds a beautiful piece.
Then there are two versions of “On Being Invisible”. “The title refers to
the role of the an individual within an evolving, dynamical environment,
who makes decisions concerning when and how to be a conscious initiator of
action…” it reads in the booklet. In the first part it results in a very
hectic piece of pulsating sounds, a bit like ‘Neural Synthesis’ by David
Tudor. Part 2 of this piece is much easily to access and has an overall
better mood. Lovers of Tudor or Alvin Lucier should check this guy out too.
(FdW)
Address: www.pogus.com
correction:
Ultrasound’s wesbite address is: www.ultrasoundsite.homestead.com