IPSO FACTO – LA SPIRALE DE L’ESCRAGOT (CD by Monsieur Fauteux)
EM – OUTWARD (CDEP by The Foundry)
JON ASENCIO & SYLVIE CHENARD – OCEAN A VENDRE (CD by Ambiances MagnÈtiques)
SYLVIE CHENARD & MARYSE POULIN & ALEXANDRE ST-ONGE & MARTIN TETREAULT
– OCEAN POUR LA SUITE (CD by Ambiances MagnÈtiques)
GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR – YANQUI U.X.O. (CD by Constellation Records)
NAW – GIBBERISH (CDR by Piehead Records)
I AM ROBOT AND PROUD (CDR by Piehead Records)
THE PHENOMENOLOGICAL BOYS – MELODY, MELODY, MELODY AND MORE MELODY
(CD by Tomlab)
COSTIS DRYGIANAKIS & NIKOS VELIOTIS – 28/04/2001 (CDR by Absurd)
MATT DAVIS & MARK WESTELL – DERBY/LIVERPOOL (CDR by Absurd)
MICHEAL HARTMAN – PLAY EVERYDAY (miniCD)
SINGLE UNIT – FAMILY OF FORCES (CD by Jester Records)
OREN AMBARCHI – STACTE 4 (LP by En/Of)
THE RIP-OFF ARTIST – THREE OF A PERFECT PAIR (LP by En/Of)
WANDER (LP by En/Of)
KOJI ASANO – OCTOPUS BALLOONS (CD by Solstice)
ANDREW LILES / RUSE – A LOVE SONG / RUSE (10″ by Macrophonies)
COMPILATION – BLACK FACTION REWORKED (CD by Vivo)
AUGUR – SACRED ENGINES (CDR)
AUGUR – THE ENVY OF WINGED THINGS (CDR by Alluvial)
NEMESIS – WHISPERS FROM BEHIND THE WINDOW (CD by Vivo)
ROSY PARLANE/ROHAN THOMAS/PETER DUIMELINKS/ROEL MEELKOP – THE
(GOLDEN) COLLECTION (2X7″ by Room Records
IPSO FACTO – LA SPIRALE DE L’ESCRAGOT (CD by Monsieur Fauteux)
Debut by Ipso Facto on the small Monsieur Fauteux label, a label
related to Ambiances MagnÈtiques. Ipso Facto is a quartet: David
BussiËres (guitars), Chantal Bergeron (violin), Simon Dolan (Bass)
and Francis Roberge (percussion). Their music is best characterised
as modern chamber music. It is not rock, it is not jazz, but a bit of
both. Influences of world music are nearby: klezmer, latin rythms,
etc. Melody is important here. The m usic is very accesible and
‘classic’. The idiom of Ipso Facto is well-known. No revolution takes
place here.
But all compositions (by guitarist David BussiËres) have an original
touch and there is a great variety. For the historical perspective,
their music picks up where Conventum (early 80s) stopped. Although
the compositions here are more ‘simple’ in nature then was the case
with Convemtum (Lussier, Duchesne, a.o.). The enthusiastic and
inspired playing of Chantal Bergeron (violin) and the other musicians
make this is one a very enjoyable one (DM).
Address: <http://www.actuellecd.com>
EM – OUTWARD (CDEP by The Foundry)
The second EP in the Foundry EP Series is by Foundry founder EM. For
this 21 minute journey, EM goes outward, outward into space. There is
a dark space hoovering the atmospheres on these three lenghty tracks,
even when EM is with firm feet on the ground in the opening piece
‘From The Eart’. He uses animal amd insect sounds alike, whereas in
the other pieces he plays around with satellite sounds. He could have
fooled me; I was under the impression that EM was using a bunch of
digital synths and aloads of reverb (which is curious, because if
space is anything at all, it’s certainly not reverby!). The extensive
use of reverb adds a spacey effect for sure, but it’s something that
I am pretty much done with. I rather hear those satellites, animals
and insects au natural and not spaced out. Needles to say that this
new EM is classic ambient chill out stuff, in the best USA tradition
(by labels such as The Foundry and Hypnos). (FdW)
Address: www.foundrysite.com
JON ASENCIO & SYLVIE CHENARD – OCEAN A VENDRE (CD by Ambiances MagnÈtiques)
SYLVIE CHENARD & MARYSE POULIN & ALEXANDRE ST-ONGE & MARTIN TETREAULT
– OCEAN POUR LA SUITE (CD by Ambiances MagnÈtiques)
Sylvie Chenard (Valleyfield, 1957) is a multi-talented artist:
composer, performer (electric guitar), writer. She fights many
battles. Her work reflects her engagement with feminism, pacifism,
and many social and ecological (whale) themes. ‘Les projets de la
Baleine’ for example reflects her interest in the strugge for
surviving of the whale. For this cd she collected compositions
recorded between 1994 and 1996. With these two new cds all attention
goes to the environment of the whale, that is the ocean. The oceans
are for sale. Culture is for sale. The cult of consumerism is for
sale. There is nothing left to buy. ‘OcÈan vendre’ is a cooperation
with composer, performer and multi-instrumentalist Jon Asencio. He is
a veteran of the MontrÈal music scene. He played punk, reggae, pop,
jazz, experimental and electronic music. For this cd with Sylvie
Chenard we have an example of his electronic and experimental music.
Asencio is playing bass, voice and ‘Èchantillonneur'(?). Chenard
plays electric guitar, electronics and voice. As a guitarist she is
inspired by Frisell, Ribot, Chadbourne and Frith. No conventional
guitarplaying here. She developed a style that is non-agressive, but
on the other hand she does not want to comfort lazy ears. No pompous
political songs, but radical experimentation.
She seems to prefer to work in duo combinations. As the cd ‘Hybride’
(1999) and ‘Manifeste pour contrer la violence faite aux femmes’
(2000) have also duos. ‘OcÈan pour la suite’ has Chenard duelling
with Tetreault (tourne-disques), Poulin (sax) and St-Onge (bouche
Èlectronique). The duets with Martin TÈtreault I like most. But
that’s because I’m a admirer of TÈtreault. Other pieces made no
strong impression on me. But I can recommend her music to those who
are in for radical improvisations (DM)
Address: http://www.actuellecd.com/
GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR – YANQUI U.X.O. (CD by Constellation Records)
Apart from a slight name change, Godspeed You! Black Emperor remain
the same. The big, angry you men and women come back with their third
album, and even when I couldn’t tell from the title, it’s probably a
large protest album against War and Capitalism. Even when there is no
lyric involved, not even a snippet from a movie or the news, the
album flames protest with a capital P. Here it comes packed in a 5
piece suite, of very lengthy pieces – the total spans 75 minutes.
After two previous full lengths (one was a double CD) and a CDEP, I
still think this is beautiful music. Full of anger, an apocalyptic
vision thunders from the speakers when Godspeed is on full blast and
desolate atmospheres when they built up a track. But if I am very
honest, the ideas of Godspeed begin to wear out. It seems as if
almost every track has the same built up: tinkling guitars, violins
and cellos drop in and then when the drums start to roll, the
orchestra (because with the nine or ten members, one could easily
speak of an orchestra) is in full operation and the music is like a
hurricane. But but but, it sounds like a familiar recipy, a trick…
However, the sheer impact is still full on, and it would be
interesting when this beast starts moving, and if so, in which
direction. (FdW)
Address: www.cstrecords.com
NAW – GIBBERISH (CDR by Piehead Records)
I AM ROBOT AND PROUD (CDR by Piehead Records)
More volumes in Piehead’s limited edition series, and two of people I
didn’t know before.
Naw are the eigth in this series and behind is one Neil Wiernik, from
Toronto. Neil has played with bands like The Crystal Methodists and
Phycus, and now operates as Naw. For the nine pieces on his release,
Neil plays the great book of minimal techno, in the best Kompakt/Mike
Ink/Wolfgang Voigt tradition. Nice work and some track could go
straight to 12″. That format would be better for this kind of music,
because nine of these lengthy techno slabs is a bit too much to
consume in one go. But in itself the tracks are quite ok.
Number nine in the series is by I Am Robot And Proud, aka Shaw-han
Liem), also from Toronto, who had releases before on Catmobile and
Mira. But since I don’t know these, I can only go by this relative
short collection of tracks. These seven pieces are remixes that Shaw
did for such band like The Uberkids, .Tape., Stella Maris, Heidi
Hazelton, Girls Are Short, Gng and Printed Circuit (plus after and
inside track seven a hidden remix of something that is surely famous
R&B, but hey what do I know). None of these original seven people
that receive remixes are known by me either. I Am Robot And Proud is
not, what I expected music that is along the lines of Suction
Records, electro pop on analogue synths, but warm, glitchy
electronica, usually downbeat (with exceptions), melancholical lines
on keyboards. The classic Morr Music, but then in a very nice way,
incorporating very nicely vocals, as in the Stella Maris remix. Pity
it’s such a short release. (FdW)
Address: www.pieheadrecords.com
THE PHENOMENOLOGICAL BOYS – MELODY, MELODY, MELODY AND MORE MELODY
(CD by Tomlab)
The Phenomenological Boys are a group, probably, from Somerville, MA,
USA, probably. Nothing is very clear about this release. One member
or more? What do they want? The P-Boys play popmusic. They probably
play everything themselves, but maybe the plunder their way through
2000 years of music (or 100 of recorded music, rather). They are
fascinated by melody and they have a lot. From country & western in
‘The Anti-Beard Song’ to silicon teens like popmusic ‘Everything’s
Got A Shade Of Green’ and everything in between (though no hardrock).
Their lyrics are no doubt humorous, but not always easy to follow.
Everything about this release deals about fun and everything is very
tongue in cheek. It’s a strange release, of child like naivity, but
played with great skill. Great weirdness. (FdW)
Address: www.tomlab.com
COSTIS DRYGIANAKIS & NIKOS VELIOTIS – 28/04/2001 (CDR by Absurd)
MATT DAVIS & MARK WESTELL – DERBY/LIVERPOOL (CDR by Absurd)
Two releases from the world of improvisation, but both from a
different angle. The first one is by two Greek guys, Nikos Veliotis
plays cello and Costis Drygianakis plays tape recorders. The first
improvises and the second tapes that, and plays it back, along the
improvisations of the cello. For the bigger part of the hour that
this release lasts it’s a soft scraping and scratching of sounds and
occassionally we hear the hand manipulated sounds of tape that is
spinning along the recording heads. Quite intense music to listen
too, and pretty radical in that respect, simply because at times
nothing much seems to be happening at various times. A work of free
improvisation that can easily meet the works of people like Thomas
Lehn or Phil Durrant (I’m referring to their CD on Fringes from years
ago, which was also hoovering around in silence).
The other new release on Absurd is also from improvising matters, by
Matt Davis and Mark Wastell, both whom are unknown to me. They played
electronics, processing and amplified textures and this release was
recorded during two occassions in Liverpool and Derby. Silent
electronics, controlled feedback and surface scratching is what we
get during the little over thirty minutes that this release lasts.
They play their stuff with great skill, care and held back passion.
Things evolve slowly, along the lines of people like Roel Meelkop or
Bernard Gunther, but then in a more improvised way. Like the other
release on Absurd, silence plays a big role here too. Nice one(s).
(FdW)
Address: <absurd@otenet.gr>
MICHEAL HARTMAN – PLAY EVERYDAY (miniCD)
A strange one, this one by Micheal Hartman, also known, hopefully, as
one of the three of TV Pow. Commisioned and paid by local Chicago
arts foundation, he offers seven tracks of more and more electronica.
It starts out with a short piece of people talking, but soon spirals
down (or up of course) along the lines of electronica. Loads of
crackles, hisses and in the fifth track deep end drones. It’s
unclear, at least to me, what the purpose is of these pieces, wether
they stand by themselves or if they are part of something – film,
theatre, dance, art or whatever. One would assume so, since otherwise
it’s a nice, though small collection of pieces that seem, again at
least to me, have little relation to eachother. Nice, strange,
weird… (FdW)
Address: <micheal@tvpownet>
SINGLE UNIT – FAMILY OF FORCES (CD by Jester Records)
Behind Single Unit is Are, a guy from Norway who is a member of
improvisational trio Arm – of whom I saw a brilliant concert once.
Here he is in solo mood, and armed with a sampler and an organ. Heavy
cut up styled music. Are plays his sixteen tracks in just over 32
minutes. And it’s mostly high energy music, taking drums, guitars,
organs from various songs apart and then splice them together into
new songs. I think one could classifiy Single Unit as plunderphonics,
one of speed and aggression. Sometimes one finds spoken word elements
in plunderphonics but here it’s all ‘instrumental’, so the aspect of
‘funnyness’ is only within the music. Even when it’s this short I
felt kinda exhausted after the CD is over, it sucks away your energy.
So it’s a very nice CD, with maybe not great new ideas, but a
re-making of ideas in a great way. (FdW)
Address: www.jester-records.com
OREN AMBARCHI – STACTE 4 (LP by En/Of)
THE RIP-OFF ARTIST – THREE OF A PERFECT PAIR (LP by En/Of)
WANDER (LP by En/Of)
All good things in three is probably the idea of En/Of, the bit
pricey art series cum vinyl from Germany’s Bottrop Boy. The gatefold
sleeves contain a piece of art (a multiple as they are called, not
some paper with watercolour for the sake of a rare edition) on one
side and a piece of vinyl on the other. En/Of manages to bring
together some interesting musicians and artists (although, to be
honest, I get review copies without artwork).
Oren Ambarchi’s LP has an artwork by Simon Starling which is a
lithographic film (30×30 cm). Oren continues his Stacte series (three
were previous released as LP’s, two in a small edition edition,
though bigger then En/Of). Both sides have one piece. On the A-side
is a hectic, nervous field of guitar sound, which is fed into a short
loop and with delay it’s radical minimal music, which is not unlike
Steve Reich on speed (in every sense of the word). The b-side is a
total contrast (like in fact all of the Stacte records). Quite guitar
tones glide by with small ticks (Oren’s effect boxes). There is
hardly any progress here, but instead a weightless space of sound.
This side comes close to Oren’s recent ‘Mort Aux Vaches’ CD (and is
probably like that CD a live recording)`.
Matt Haines is The Rip Off Artist, who has various releases under
which one on Mille Plateaux. The artwork is by Gerwald Rockenschaub
and is a digital print, and there are 10 different ones in an edition
of 10. The ten tracks by The Rip Off Artist are a soundtrack for each
image. Played on 45 rpm this is quite a short record. The tracks
consist of short loops of rhythms, crackles, bass sounds etc. There
is a certainly sterility present on these recordings, which make the
music a bit cold and distant. But for lovers of click, cut and dub
influenced music this is a nice record.
Wander in combination with Carsten Hller, who has pciture cut in two
and a CDR of exactely the same music as on the LP – twice the same
thing, or maybe not. Wander are Freek Kinkelaar and Frans de Waard,
both also known as Beequeen. Wander is their side project of drones.
Their music was recorded at their debut concert where they played
music to Derek Jarman’s ‘In The Shadow Of The Sun’. While by no means
new, having probably been with us since we discovered the art (and
meditative or trance-inducing effects) of the continuous twang, there
can be no limit to the variety of ways they can sound. Continuous
drone pieces, composed in the now, might be considered sound
photographs, for each is unique. In the case of this recording, four
hands did the work and produced a thick swathe of high-ly
harmonicked, (possibly) organ grind. I liked the anomalous burps and
grunts at the edge of the field. Strange moments on an otherwise
comforting (and, by virtue of its very nature as a drone piece) and
familiar surface. And I liked even more the low feedback bas at the
end – it’s always a good sign when full cups of tea are vibrated off
the speakers. (FdW + MP)
Address: www.bottrop-boy.com
KOJI ASANO – OCTOPUS BALLOONS (CD by Solstice)
The 28th CD release by Koji Asano who seems to be right back on
releasing schedule track is a short one. His recent CDs lasted an
hour or so, this one just over 33 minutes. This here is a purely
electronical work. Somehow I can’t get it out of my head that Asano
uses the processed sounds of balloons – but maybe it’s more a
metaphore of the sounds here: that of escaping air from a balloon,
set against the deep end rumble of rubbing a finger on a balloon.
From start to halfway through this remains as it is, loose sounds,
deep rumble. Then there is a change and full distortion sets in. Mean
cracking sound, very deep inside digital distortion. That’s a pity
because the more open ended first half sounded better. Asano still
plays the minimal card in his music. There is never much change or
variation once he gets started. It remains distant and difficult
music. (FdW)
Address: www.solstice-europe.com
ANDREW LILES / RUSE – A LOVE SONG / RUSE (10″ by Macrophonies)
And again there is music by Andrew Liles. This is, I believe, his
first release on vinyl, pink coloured. I think it fits the idea of
the ‘love songs’ Liles produced here. Andrew Liles continues his
explorations with computer treated sound, like on his previous CD ‘An
Un World’, with it’s nice combinations of ambient and musique
concrete. However I must admit that the addition of girls having sex
and the sounds they make, probably lifted from porn soundtracks, is
something I don’t like very much. It’s done before and frankly it
bores me a lot, which is a pity since the music is quite nice. I just
can’t hear porn sounds anymore…
The other side is by Ruse, whoever that is. His side long piece is
called ‘Radar Listening’ and might be the processed sounds of
longwave receivings. It’s a funny piece in that the start is the
loudest and then gradually goes down in volume, so that the static of
the vinyl takes over. Loops of similar sounds swirl in and out and
the piece slowly develops. A very simple and effective piece of
music. (FdW)
Address: <thevoice@macrophonies.co.uk>
COMPILATION – BLACK FACTION REWORKED (CD by Vivo)
Black Faction is Andrew Diey from Manchester, whose work so far was
released by Soleilmoon Recordings. Strong, dark and rhythmical are
the keywords to it his music. On this CD he is reworked – which is no
doubt the word for non techno people for remixed. It has a strange
collection of people who you hardly see in the world of remixers,
like John Hudak or Rapoon, but also Keith Fullerton Whitman and
Sutekh, aswell as some various guises of Black Faction and people
from Poland, obligatory since the label comes from Poland. Even when
I don’t know all the Black Faction work, I must say I am a big
disappointed by this collection of reworks. It’s rather a collection
of extensions of the existing Black Faction work. Most people, even
including John Hudak, take some sounds from Black Faction, mainly in
the rhythmical aspects of the Black Faction music, and built a new
track from there, but not arriving at something wild and new, but
rather another Black Faction track. I don’t understand this. Why try
and sound the same and not try to arrive at a new thing oneself, or
that takes the Black Faction sound further. Nice tracks indeed, but
all very close to Black Faction.
The biggest surprise is the final track by Black Arc, which is sunny,
dubby track with vocal samples of ‘Unheimlich Schon’ by Luc Ferrari.
Having said this, I must say that the compilation is quite alright,
but that it’s rather another nice Black Faction CD, with guest
players. (FdW)
Address: www.vivo.pl
AUGUR – SACRED ENGINES (CDR)
AUGUR – THE ENVY OF WINGED THINGS (CDR by Alluvial)
After last week’s Re:Source vs Augur, here two releases by Augur
themselves. ‘Sacred Engines’ is a self-released CDR. Augur is Steve
Brand and he has various CDR releases on labels such as Pyhrric
Victory, Solipsism and The Rectrix, aswell as Alluvial, which we also
discuss here. The main interest of Augur seems to be in creating
drone music of various kinds with various inputs. Using beside
traditional instruments also found and handmade objects, toys, voice
and field recordings, he creates interesting fields of repeating
sound blocks, but at the same time also closely amplified objects
which scratch, rub and which are slowly fed to effect boxes to add
delay, reverb and other nice sound elements to come up with the
almighty drone. Music for the head this is. Dark ambient with a
strong touch of musique concrete. Due to it’s primitive recording
nature the sound is quite thick and a bit primitive. However that’s
no problem, it never sounds bad. For those who like zoviet*france,
Beequeen, old Maeror Tri this is a place to be.
The other release by Augur is on Alluvial. Here the six tracks are
more open ended and the dynamics are stronger. Track three ‘Ladder
Hands, Flower-Fingers’ is almost just a soft tinkling piano piece,
that is barely audible. The drone is present here too, but always
more spacious and more open. Drone on this release is more a means
then an end, I guess. It’s nice to see the difference between these
two releases. From a point of liking one over the other, I can’t say
I a favourite. I think ‘The Envy Of Winged Things’ is of the two the
more experimental, and the more innovative one. The sound is less
raw, and more care has been given to the details of the pieces. (FdW)
Address: www.shiney.com/augur
Address: <alluvial@hotmail.com>
NEMESIS – WHISPERS FROM BEHIND THE WINDOW (CD by Vivo)
Never heard of Nemesis before, nor do I know much about them. They
are a Polish duo with behind each name an impressive list of
doodlings leading up to Nemesis, like composition, sequencing, analog
synthesizers, loops, field recordings, harmony guitars, spirit, heart
etc. Their music is best described by ambient industrial. Dark
patterns played on their synthesizers play the most important role.
Sometimes the harmony guitar shimmers through, an occassional thunder
sound, or a some tribal percussion like music. Unlike the Augur
releases mentioned elsewhere, this release is more limited to
conventional sound processing. Occassionally the sound is too dark
and perhaps too esoteric for my liking, such as in the track ‘Wow’.
The best track, but at the same time also the oddball in this
collection is ‘Biomechanic Of The Soul’, which has a tinkling guitar
and an ambient house backing. This track is a like a fresh wind in
the otherwise too dark collection of sounds. (FdW)
Address: www.vivo.pl
ROSY PARLANE/ROHAN THOMAS/PETER DUIMELINKS/ROEL MEELKOP – THE
(GOLDEN) COLLECTION (2X7″ by Room Records
Room Records are related to Room Gallery, presumably not bigger then
a room… They release off and on those nice lathe cut (aka Peter
King cut) records in super small editions. This double 7″ is released
in an edition of 40 copies and maybe no longer available. However I
wanna be nice to a free copy of it… To combine these two from down
under with the other two from Rotterdam is no big surprise. Rohan and
Rosy lived in Rotterdam for some time, so they all know eachother.
Rohan Thomas piece is a computer piece of processed feedback sound,
which are better digestable then in a live situation. The low level
cut of the disc also helps softening the music of course. Rosy
Parlane does something similar, but with low end sounds, or maybe
even just one sound, a loop which is phased in and out.
The second record has Peter Duimelinks and Roel Meelkop. The first
dabbles around with a high pitched sound, a train whistle perhaps,
which spins around in loops with subtle changes until it fades out
into nothingness. If you seen him play live, his sound will be not
unfamiliar. The odd ball here is Roel Meelkop whose ‘Refuse’ is a
slightly reworked version of a piece he did for a compilation with
interpretations of Cage’s ‘4’33’. Oddball, because his piece is not
about one sound but much more a collage of various ‘silences’ found
around the house. In his typical cut and collage style Roel plays
around with the various recordings with sounds coming and going,
intercepted by short cutups. For me his piece is the best one of
these four, mainly because it’s not so minimal, or rather minimal
from a different perspective. (FdW)
Address: www.luna.nl/~room
Correction:
EA (see last week’s issue) is not an one person band, but consists of
three members:
Zakrocki – Vin – Membrana … Sorry about this.