SYLVAIN BONVALOT & CYRIL DARMEDRU & LIONEL MARCHETTI – CrÍte (Cd by Ektic)
ALLUVION – ALLUVIUM 2 (Mini-CD by Aesova)
VARIOUS ARTISTS – LIGHT (CD by Touch)
REHBERG & BAUER – PASST (CD by Touch)
LAURENT GRAPPE – LE LUXE DE LA RFLEXION ! (CD by Sonoris / Metamkine)
CHAS SMITH – ALUMINUM OVERCAST (CD by Cold Blue)
RICK COX – MARIA FALLING AWAY (CD by Cold Blue)
BIRDS OF TIN & ENE – KEY RAY (CDR by Mystery Sea)
CNUT – PRINCE OF SHAMPOO (CD by Angelika Koehlermann)
RAVEN REC. – LIVING ON A LAKE (CD by Angelika Koehlermann)
CRAWL UNIT – CLAY SOUND (7″ by Meeuw Muzak)
SASKER SCHEERDER – BOOMCAR (7″ by Meeuw Muzak)
LEIF ELGGREN – CUTTING CROWNS (7″ by Meeuw Muzak)
VENETIAN SNARES – DOLL DOLL DOLL (CD by Hymen)
OIL 10 – LINKS (CD by Vacuum)
SYLVAIN BONVALOT & CYRIL DARMEDRU & LIONEL MARCHETTI – CrÍte (Cd by Ektic)
A new generation of interesting improvisors, composers and sound-artist is
coming up in France. And this cd is prove of it.
Bonvalot is a classically trained violonist, guitarist and trombonist. As a
violonist he played in La Grande DÈformation, a sort of bigband. With this
group Bonvalot made his first appearance on cd. Later he discovered
electro-acustic music. He worked together with Lionel Marchetti from 1995 tot
1997 at the CFMI in Lyon. Currently he works as a member of the Ishtar
collective on electro-acustic music with a focus an jazz and street brass band
music.
Cyril Darmedru is a sax player, played blues, impro, techno and everything
between it. He played with Guigou Chenevier, JoÎlle LÈandre a.o. Also he was a
member of La Grande DÈformation. An interesting player with great expression
and vocabular.
Lionel Marchetti may be more known tot Vital readers. He is a composer of
electro-acustic music, working regularly since 1989 at CFMI in Lyon. Also he is
interested in improvisation as cooperations with Jerome Noetinger and the
Collective Le Cube show. He collaborated with Keith Rowe, Voice Crack, Kaffe
Mathews. Of all three musicians involved here, Marchetti has the most extended
discography. Releases are available on Metamkine, Selektion (with RLW), Grob
(witrh Noetinger and Voice Crack).
‘CrÍte’ is subtitled as ‘a mixed composition based on improvisational work’. It
was recorded and edited at het CFMI studios in Lyon, autumn 2000. Bonvalot and
Marchetti play electronics; Darmedru sax.
The composition consists of 10 pieces. The sax has a dominant position in most
of them. The music moves between slow, soft and subtle on the one hand, and
loud and rough on the other. It is very vivid music. Although it may be
abstract music, it is not unpersonal. The music is not a superficial mix of all
kind of noises and sounds, but a very well (instantly) composed work When
listening to the cd, I can easily imagine them as playing live, but as the
information indicates this work finally came into being on the editingtable
(DM).
Address: <ektic@hotmail.com>
ALLUVION – ALLUVIUM 2 (Mini-CD by Aesova)
An interesting little disc this one. It contains one track with a length of a
little more than 18 minutes. Starting with distant clicks and close rumbles,
higher tones are added and slowly a dense layer of sounds is created. An
undercurrent of brownish noise completes a desolate soundscape until almost
everything dies out, leaving some glitches that introduce the next part. Grainy
sounds and high bleeps are panned all over the place and tension rises.
Crackles are left again and slowly end the track. As a whole, the build up of
the piece is good and tension is kept well. Maybe a little too much reverb here
and there, but that would be my only complaint. (MR)
Adress: alluvion@aesova.org
VARIOUS ARTISTS – LIGHT (CD by Touch)
REHBERG & BAUER – PASST (CD by Touch)
A brief CD showcasing the participants of this label’s recent worldwide tour
(of Europe?), who were (mostly, I believe) accompanied by Jon Wozencroft (and
someone else) on the most amazing live visuals I’ve ever seen. Nice package by
Mr. W, but what about the content? Well, there’s the usual looming darkness,
this time punctuated by handfuls of rhythmically flung gravel and insecure
steel plates, on the track’Meteosat’ by Hazard. Normally a favourite of mine, I
have the feeling lately that Benny may be regressing back to the days of the
‘From Here to Tranquility’ compilations on (now dead) Silent. No surprises
here, then.
‘C-Street’ by Mr. Fennesz is considerably more interesting, continuing the
sonic threads spun in ‘Endless Summer’ (Mego, 2001), which is surely one of the
most innovative releases of this year. Finally, two tracks by Biosphere;
smooth, slippery sounds compared to the tumbling grit partly (re?)discovered by
Fennesz and his Mego chums and used ineffectively here by Hazard,. Almost
unnecessary tracks (both remixes) by Biosphere considering the concise beauty
of last year’s (comeback?) CD ‘Cirque’ on the same label. Perhaps ‘Light’ was
conceived of as memento of their collective tour, perhaps as a sampler or
limited edition, or maybe simply as a short CD of unreleased material by a
gaggle of (in case you get me wrong) great composers. My advice? Purloin this
CD, but pay full price (plus tip) for all the full-length releases by this
intrepid trio of sonic navigators. (MP)
I once saw one (or was it both) of the Twins of Digihurt perform in Holland
(The Hague, maybe?), and after the concert, the entity in question insisted on
playing the Teletubbies(a phenomena I had thus far, mercifully, been ignorant
of) theme over and over again, flapping his thermoinsulated arms up-and-down,
penguin-style (for it was cold as the small droplets of frost in Bjork’s
knickers). Since then I have had the distinct and hopefully forgettable
experience of finding out who the Teletubbies are, as well as realising (again)
that human memory retains all, even (disturbingly) the image of
thermally-distressed composers impersonating fat, furry (and yes, simple)
television personalities. Where’s the relevance, you may shriek^ . Well, this
anecdote is included here because it was (and is, unfortunately, each time I
hear it) the flash I suffer when hearing the beginning of this new CD by
Messrs. Rehberg and Bauer: A brief (dare I stretch the definition of
‘humourous’) introduction that is only really irritating from the second
hearing onwards (the point, perhaps?). And of course, there’s all the
over-tightened sounds we have come to know and expect (love and could
eventually not-love?) from them, and maybe that’s where my problem lies. Always
on the search for new sounds (both in my own explorations and in the results
discovered by others), I find little on this assemblage of ditties that gets my
rooster crowing, even though at times it’s almost like the Twins are on the
verge of truly deep electroacousticity (good name for a record?)(tell me it’s
been done) a la those stabled with peerless Canadian label, empreintes
digitalis. Mostly, it’s pulse, glitch, thud. Repeat as long as you like and
then reverse the ordure for the chorus before nuking it. Comes a remote second
to their 1999 release ‘ballt.’, on the same label (get this instead!). Time to
ditch LISA? (MP)
Address: www.touch.demon.co.uk
LAURENT GRAPPE – LE LUXE DE LA RFLEXION ! (CD by Sonoris / Metamkine)
This is the first time I encounter a coproduction between these two renowned
French labels. Laurent Grappe was unknown to me until this release. The works
on this CD are based on Arabic texts (or poems), of which the booklet provides
translations in French. Aside from the Arabic texts an occasional French voice
is heard as well. It seems that most of the sounds are based on field
recordings and Arabic instruments. Many of them are heavily treated and
therefore unrecognisable. In a sense this is music in the tradition of French
and Canadian electro-acoustics or musique concrËte (please forgive me for not
really knowing the difference). There is a lot of concern for details and
dynamics and for how sounds are combined or juxtaposed. Combined with the
texts, the pieces are quite energetic and demanding and certainly no easy
listening. It took me quite some time to hear it all, but that was a rewarding
time. (MR)
Adresses: metamkine@compuserve.com / info@sonoris.org
CHAS SMITH – ALUMINUM OVERCAST (CD by Cold Blue)
RICK COX – MARIA FALLING AWAY (CD by Cold Blue)
Two new releases by Cold Blue Music. The first one is by my beloved composer
Chas Smith. He creates his own instruments out metal, but also steel guitar
(that must be out of metal of course), flutes, cello and such extraordinaries
as the guitarzilla and the dado. Pictures are again to be found in the booklet
with this CD. Like his previous releases, Chas Smith explores further the
underworld of overtones. By playing these instruments with bows, rubbing them
with fingers or a simple tick with a metal stick, and of course maybe a bit of
studio magic (the use of reverb only seems a natural addition here) Smith
creates a very rich sonic landscape. Much of the music sounds like a quiet
Organum and the use of flutes here (which I believe to hear for the first time
in Smith’s work) remind me more precisely of ‘Vacant Lights’ or ‘Ikon’ by
Organum (as to speak the more softer side of Organum). Aluminum Overcast has
six tracks of which the first five seem to be part of the bigger thing. The
sixth tracks adds delayed voices and is sonically a more stretched out thing,
or less moving texturally. It forms the beautiful end of a likewise beautiful
CD.
Rick Cox has played his electric guitar on various film soundtracks, such as
The Horse Whisperer and American Beauty and did work with Ry Cooder and Jon
Hassell. His own music can be best described as ‘almost new age’, even when the
press release raves about the fact that Cox uses a prepared guitar which he
plays with objects such as sponges and brushes. Through the extensive use of
reverb, everything starts to float in an ocean of reverb. Sometimes things tend
to be jazzy as in ‘All The While Toward Us II’, with a jazzy saxophone.
Probably alright in it’s kind, but not really the kind of stuff I dig… (FdW)
Address: www.coldbluemusic.com
BIRDS OF TIN & ENE – KEY RAY (CDR by Mystery Sea)
Birds Of Tin are one of those bands who are definetly underground. Via releases
on CDR, CD and vinyl, they have created a small output that seems to find its
way to the dedicated fans out there. Here is a new release, again on CD-R on a
new Belgium label, Mystery Sea. Birds Of Tin here hook up with Ene, nom de
plume of Scott Hudgins, another active mind in the US undergound. Released in a
full colour cover in a lovely small edition of 100 copies. Birds Of Tin are
easily classified as ‘ambient industrial’, but I don’t think this entirely
justifies what they are doing. And to classify Ene as another sample terrorist
doesn’t justify him either. Both are around too long and have developed their
own techniques. Through the use of lo-fi equipment (one recognizes the old
casio samplers by their lo-bit sampling rate) and likewise sound effects, they
built epic drone pieces, which hold enough variations to be entertaining and
are minimal enough to create a trance inducing state in the mind. These epic
pieces are sometimes torn down in a collage like manner, via speeches,
environment sounds and the like. Intense music is the result of this
collaboration of two different minds that works remarkable well. (FdW)
Address: <chalkdc@infonie.be>
CNUT – PRINCE OF SHAMPOO (CD by Angelika Koehlermann)
RAVEN REC. – LIVING ON A LAKE (CD by Angelika Koehlermann)
Angelika Koehlermann is an Austrian label who never cease to suprise me, even
when most of their releases are not spent on me. They mix techno, rock and pop
in a witty way, but maybe I am too serious for this? Maybe this only comes half
the way, so maybe it’s not there yet? Cnut are a scottish electro-pop duo, who
dwell hard on the sampler, which is loaded with funny little tunes, which are
more poppy then anything else usually found around here. Every track has a fair
portion of vocals of probably funny lyrics – I never can tell. It’s the kind of
stuff that is very well put together and that could be big one day. But for me
it’s too normal to be interesting and not enough pop music that one can sing
along. If you want to see what it looks like live, there is also a video clip
enclosed.
Also on Angelika Koehlermann is the Vienna based Raven Rec. A trio who create
their music with ‘4 track recorder audio loops and synthesizer’. Unlike Cnut
this almost instrumental (save for some vocal samples) of a much more
electronic nature of pleasent music. Music with quirky rhythmboxes, arpeggio’s,
occassional reggae like rhythms and an overall krautrock like feel. Electronic
music that might go down well in a lounge bar. (FdW)
Address: http://angelika.koehlermann.at
CRAWL UNIT – CLAY SOUND (7″ by Meeuw Muzak)
SASKER SCHEERDER – BOOMCAR (7″ by Meeuw Muzak)
LEIF ELGGREN – CUTTING CROWNS (7″ by Meeuw Muzak)
Three new slabs of vinyl, all on 7″s by Meeuw Muzak, whom, I think, only deal
with 7″s (they did 2 10″s and 1 8″ in the past and the rest is all 7″). Meeuw
Muzak is a strange label, with two so it seems seperate interests: either
comical records (like Felix Kubin or Karate Timmendorf) or sturdy sound
exploration. But all of their 7″s are on 45 rpm with big hole, all are coloured
vinyl and recentely they all have recycled grey paper covers. A label for those
who like to collect!
Crawl Unit’s ‘Clay Sound’ for instance falls in the latter category. The cover
describes what it does: “Piezo transducers were attached to plastic buckets
containing dried ceramic clay. Water was added and the subsequent sounds of
absorption recorded without effects or manipulations of any kind’. It doesn’t
say wether this is done in real time, but Crawl Unit could have fooled me. It
sounds like a mechanical device that slowly goes down in speed. Presented as a
straight forward sound event, this is a most curious record, presented to those
who like to scare of visitors with strange records.
Sasker Scheerder is a Dutch visual artist who at times involves music in his
work. This is the second 7″ on Meeuw that deals with cars (after Mark Posyden’s
one). Here it deals with car’s stereo. The a-side is a low frequency fed
through a 1500 watt boomcar, recorded in various parts of a building. The tone
comes in and fades out and not much else seems to happen. This fits sonically
perfect with the Crawl Unit 7″. The b-side deals with a basic track being
transformed by three musicians and groups via an FM frequency and has rap,
rhythm and spoken word of visitors passing by. Very much like the stuff
normally coming from heavy car stereo’s. Reflecting more the comical side of
Meeuw Muzak.
Leif Elggren of course is well-known for his installations and sound works.
Highly conceptual stuff as usual. Probably this work is an off-shoot of his
royal CD’s ‘Pluralis Majestatis’, ‘Flown Over By An Old King’ and ‘Talking To A
Dead Queen’, with sounds of him cutting crowns from the tin cans as displayed
on the cover. Sounds of everything involved (scissors, cans) are amplified and
provide you with an austere soundtrack of preparing the crowns of a new king.
As with most of Elggren’s work, not easy to understand, or in fact not easy to
enjoy, but always elementary. (FdW)
Address: <laridae@xs4all.nl>
VENETIAN SNARES – DOLL DOLL DOLL (CD by Hymen)
Since the full length-debut “Printf(shiver in eternal darkness/n)” released on
Isolate records back in May 2000, Venetian Snares has become a pretty strong
name on the breakcore-scene of today. And this latest album from the Canadian
artist, whose real name is Aaron Funk, probably won’t disappoint anyone
interested in the earlier works of Venetian Snares. Released on the well-known
Technoid sub-label to Ant-Zen Recordings, Hymen, Aaron Funk’s monstrous hybrid
of breakbeats and drum’n’bass should gain even wider attention this time.
Opening with the dark atmospheric “Pygmalion”, the album shortly after rush
into a powerful world of darkside drum’n’bass, where impetuous breakbeats and
drilling noise seems to be essential. The album has an overall jazzy feeling
using piano lines and funky broken beats. With a pretty nice artwork done by
the uncompromising artist Trevor Brown most known for his cover-productions for
Whitehouse, the aesthetical side of “Doll doll doll” supports the inside
quality of the album very well. The style of Venetian Snares could be labelled
drum’n’noise though the expression is more technoid and less noisy compared to
the large amount of harsh stuff coming from that scene at the moment. Anyway,
an excellent release by Venetian Snares recommended to the darkside audience.
(NMP)
Address: www.klangstabil.com/hymen
OIL 10 – LINKS (CD by Vacuum)
Listening to Oil 10, makes me quite nostalgic. Thinking about the early days of
Warp Records, where the expression seemed so straightforward futuristic without
any abrasive noises to interrupt the fine lines of pure electronic sounds. The
most strong association penetrating me, as I listen to debut-album “Links” from
French composer Gilles Rossire aka Oil 10, is the masterpiece-compilation
“Artificial Intelligence” released on Warp Records back in 1992. Like it would
be listening to “Artificial Intelligence” today, nine years after its release,
the sound of Oil 10 first of all relates to the past. Having the organic
electronic sound expression of earliest Warp-acts such as early Autechre and
Black Dog combined with the strictly patterned rhythm textures of Kraftwerk,
“Links” is a comfortably nice and easy album, listening to. In such way, the
album does not particularly open the doors towards new sonic explorations. On
the other side: That probably was not the intention of Oil 10 anyway! (NMP)
Address: www.thevacuum.net