CREVICE – CREVICE (CD by Seizure)
Sometimes we receive CD’s that lack so much information that there is not much
to say other then what we mention above. The playing time is around 71 minutes
and these smart people indexed the whole lot as one track, giving no track
titles. The CD opens with a spoken word description of psychedelic music, and
laziness on our side it shall be, let’s describe it in those terms. Some of the
idividual pieces are chaotic collages of noise and children’s records or
outbursted analogue synth stuff. I was reminded of some of the F/i stuff. It’s
like with the music of Arvo Part which I wrote about some weeks back: a small
dose every once in a while will do for me. Highlight on this CD for me is,
however not some weird psycho piece, but can be found at around 40 minutes
inwards the CD: a droning piece of sound that goes quit deep. This nicely builts
up with some power. Like I said, taken with with a small dose makes this quite
enjoyable. (FdW)
Address: Seizure – 411 Hallie – San Antonio, TX 78203 –
USA
BILL LASWELL & TERRE THAEMLITZ – WEB (CD by SUBHARMONIC)
Willy Laswell seems intent on ousting Pete Kuhlmann from his position as most
prolific recording artist of the last few minutes. This accolade (if indeed it
is such) means not a jot if quality is sacrificed in the name of quantity. This
new release on Subharmonic is sadly disappointing and gives Laswell plenty of
chance to contribute to that area of new elctronic music surely designated to
filling the beige boxes marked ‘BLAND’ on the sale shelves in health food
stores. Loadsashite. Now that I have damned this release, allow me to encourage
you to seek out Big Bearded Williams other stuff which displays his excellent
musicianship and uncompromising energy (eg. Material). Terre Thaemlitz perhaps
motivated by the exposure to be gained from this collaboration, is himself
responsible for some far deeper and much more subtle work. Seek out ‘SOIL’ on
Instinct Ambient (Europe) which comes across as a sublime mixblend of drones and
drifting conversations which hint at a greater thing. ‘SOIL’ is much like a
memory scape… scattered distant echoes suggest dreamtowns and similarly
blurred locations. Avoid ‘WEB’, get ‘ SOIL’. (MP)
MUSLIMGAUZE – AZZAZIN ( CD BY STAALPLAAT )
Mr Jones has, through proliferation, firmly embedded his particular sound on the
ears and minds of many. I am tired of his stuff a while ago ( ‘ ZUL’M on
Extreme was for me a certain highpoint in his career ) as I found little
innovation or adventure in his hey presto! formulation of percussion loops and
an occasional overdub of ratatatat. Heard one, heard ’em all… Thank Christ on
a Bike (or is it Allah on a Vespa?) for this brightly digipacked limited edition
CD released on Staalplaat. Reasons being that there is not a single bloody bell
to be heard and the bongos were left in the basement for this one. It’s suffused
with thick syrupy analogue layers which weave a continuous narrative through
this absorbing CD, which I perceive as one composition. Hopefully, whoever
bought Jonesy his analogue toy will be saving up their foodstamps in earnest so
that they can get him another one. Give this man more gear. I’d love to say ‘
More of the same, please’ , but I fear a sudden wave of similar releases might
clog up the shelves in the stores leaving little room for the rest of us. Well,
that’s an exagerration really because Mr. Gauze’s emissions are mostly slurped
up in presales or by the Muslimgauze subscribers. And if you don’t know what the
subscription deal is all about, get this release and read all about it. Details
are included inside the digipak. (MP)
Address: <staal@euronet.nl>
TMRX – PRACTICALLY TOTALLY REAL , BUT NOT ( CD BY STAALPLAAT )
I am a clickphobe – I’m sorry, I just don’t like the accidental blits and cracks
that occasionally sneak into studio recordings. Power surges and faulty fridges
beware! (The latter is easily disciplined wiff a Doc Martin, the former often
requires a soothing massage with expensive filters that can only be bought with
the contents of an eelskin purse). The sensitivity of our technology (as with
all things evolving) increases in direct proportion to it’s complexity. This
having been said I can now get on with the review, although the above was my
most immediate reaction to this release. TMRX are a Belgian formation which
produces unusual sounds through manipulation of other peoples’ works. Everyone
is thanked for source material but I have a feeling that the mutations have been
taken so far that I doubt any of the original composers would recognise their
own compositions in this project. My favorite track is the last one – a 15
minute opus called ‘ Bypass- Information ‘ which has, for me, the most
compelling narrative. Liner notes close with a warning that…’some sounds are
closer than they seem…’. Play as loud as you can, but do heed this warning.
(MP)
Address: <staal@euronet.nl>
LES PHONES – MYTHES ET LEGENDES PHONES (CD by Audiorama)
Les Phones is a trio from Belgium who built their own instruments from metal,
glass etc. These objects are brought alive by hitting or blowing. This CD covers
recordings from the last three years of concerts. A lot of it sound improvised
(even though the cover hints at the use of scores) with an oriental feel to it.
Overtones are sometimes created on these acoustic objects (there is no trace of
electronic treatment). The result is sometimes nice and sometimes boring. I
found some nice moments on this CD, but overall this CD is not for me. (FdW)
Address: Audiorama – BP 161 – 67004 Strasbourg Cedex – France