OSSO BUCCO – MANIPULATIONS IN FOLKK MINOR (EP | MP3 by Komplott)
ANDEREGG – ANOMIA (CD by Apestaartje)
MINAMO – BEAUTIFUL (CD by Apestaartje)
DARUMA (Compilation CD by Ant Zen Recordings)
EDWIN VAN DER HEIDE – WAVESCAPE (3″ CD by Staalplaat)
UN CADDIE RENVERSE DANS L’HERBE – NOW THERE’S A WEIRD TASTE IN MY
MOUTH (3″ CD by Dekorder)
JOHN HEGRE – A NICE PLACE TO LEAVE (3″ CD by Dekorder)
VOKS – VAKS VANSKAB AK (3″ CD by Dekorder)
MOOR & LEHN & BUTCHER – THERMAL (CD by Unsounds)
VIOLET SHIFTS – RESITA MOLD (3″cdr by zeromoon)
OLLO – SLEEPER (CD by Creative Vibes)
CHRISTIAN RENOU – 7 KISSES (CD by EE Tapes)
ELEGY #5 (CDR compilation by EE Tapes)
UGLINESS MAN – INTERIM (3″ CDR by Piehead Records)
DAVID JACKMAN – FLAK (10″ by Die Stadt)
SOMEPLACE: THE REMIXES/THE BLAME SHIFTER (LP by Famefame)
KAZUMOTO ENDO – BRICKS AND MORTAR (CD by Rhystop)
[MULTER] – KOPENHAGENER DEUTUNG (LP by Genesungswerk)
N – BERGEN (2LP by Genesungswerk)
KRILL.MINIMA – KALAMAR/KALMAR (7″ by Genesungswerk)
DEAD+HURT – JUGG/BEHE (EP by Fukk God Lets Create)
DESORMAIS – IAMBROKEANDREMADEIAMBROKEN (CD by Intr_Version)
PEETALL – RMXS1 (MP3 by Earlabs)
COMMANDO CAULDRON – T.E (CDR)
FREIBAND (MP3 by Earlabs)
MITRE – SYMPHONY FOR AGAMEMNON – (3″ CDR by Dreamland Recordings)
OSSO BUCCO – MANIPULATIONS IN FOLKK MINOR (EP | MP3 by Komplott)
Osso bucco is the Barcelona based sonic artist Greg Kowalsky’s solo
project. Here he presents 5 tracks on this short ep, free for
downloading. Each track seems to use a single acoustic guitar sample
inspired by folk music as its starting point, which is then looped
for the duration of the track, and processed through various filters
and patches on the laptop. “Fresh Linen Night” is one of the
highlights of this release, with the guitar sounding like a series of
stuttering bell rings. All of the tracks are pleasant enough and
nicely done but I wish there were more dynamics in the composition,
and less strict adherence to a single repeating loop for each track.
“Less of Susl” almost does this, but still the same loop controls the
flow of the track, fading and then returning again at the end.
Kowalsky aims to create something ambient and minimal, and he does
succeed in this aspect. However complex structures would have held my
interest more, and perhaps this can be an avenue that Osso Bucco can
pursue on future releases. (JS)
Address: http://www.komplott.com/
ANDEREGG – ANOMIA (CD by Apestaartje)
MINAMO – BEAUTIFUL (CD by Apestaartje)
Brendon Anderegg presents his second full length CD, after ‘When
Rectangles Roll Under Cities’ (see Vital Weekly 301). There is a
little bit more information on the cover, so we learn that Brendon
uses computer, electronics, guitar, rhodes (I assume a piano?),
cello, accordian, clarinet, tape loops, small electronics and field
recordings. Quite a mouthful, or is that a handful. It’s quite nice
to see such a list, because it would be hard to tell upon just
hearing the CD. Anderegg’s music is the result of playing around with
all of these instruments, but processed quite heavily in the digital
world of the computer. His nine tracks are relatively short, but they
are all accurate, that is: not a single note too much. There is a
certainly pop sensibility around this CD, especially in the tracks
that open this CD, mainly due to the shortness of the tracks and the
open minded tone of the pieces, but upon closer listening one can
discover lots of small, complex layers in the music. The best piece
is the closing title piece, with it’s nicely use of the unprocessed
cello. Maybe the musical approaches of Anderegg aren’t entirely new
or innovative, but the result is a very album. Let’s say that this is
enough.
Calling your CD ‘Beautiful’ is of course not entirely without a risk.
It’s the second CD by Minamo (third CD in total), a Japanese group of
improvisation musicians who play guitar, computer, keyboards,
saxophone and electronics. The six pieces on this CD were compiled
from a series of improvisations. It breaks away from the previous two
CDs in that sense that the guitar plays an important role here. The
two guitarists tinkle nicely their way in a waste land of glitch
related sounds (clicks, buzzes and drones). Man vs nature, machine vs
man… that sort of thing. Occassionally more ‘brutal’ sounds come
in, like a square sine wave loop (in ‘Clearing’), but it’s all kept
to a pretty decent level. The mixture is a really weird pastiche of
folky guitars, electronica, minimalism, krautrock and improvisation.
It’s not either or, it’s and and. ‘It defies description’ is a
commonplace often wrongly used, but in the case of Minamo it might
very be used. The music could appeal to people who like dark folky
stuff on World Serpent, glitches of 12K or postrock on Thrill Jockey.
Much more refined then their previous work. Highly recommended. And
soon, along with a couple of other band mates from Apestaartje, on
tour in Europe. Don’t miss out. (FdW)
Address: http://www.staartje.com
DARUMA (Compilation CD by Ant Zen Recordings)
On the front cover of Ant Zen Recordings’ tenth anniversary
CD-compilation titled Daruma you will find a pretty angry face
staring at you. The face belongs to Daruma, who was the father of Zen
Buddhism. The facial expressions of Daruma vary according to the
human feelings. Thus the variations in facial expression on the cover
sleeve, symbolises the range of atmospheres represented on the double
CD-compilation. The spectre of musical expression seems wider on this
anniversary collection compared to the fifth year-compilation
“Ant-hology” where the expression were first of all concentrated
towards the harsh side of electronic music. On Daruma we are
stylishly confronted with everything from noise and power electronics
across tribal space-ambient to drum’n’bass and trance-related
industrial techno. Even an ethereal gothic hymn added female vocals
appears thanks to David Thrussell (aka Snog aka Black Lung) under his
side project Veruschka. Best moments on the compilation are
Morgenstern’s ambient noisy track of deep rumbling power electronics
titled “Touched”, and the short but intense “180 bullets per man” by
Individual sounding like an upbeat version of earliest Suicide. The
compilation proves that the list of interesting upcoming names on Ant
Zen Recordings still seems to grow meanwhile the legends keep going
strong. In that sense Daruma is a very nice way of celebrating the
tenth anniversary of a label that definitely has had a great impact
on the widening of extreme electronic music. (NMP)
Address: http://www.ant-zen.com
EDWIN VAN DER HEIDE – WAVESCAPE (3″ CD by Staalplaat)
Having studied sonologie at the Royal Conservatory, Edwin Van Der
Heide works in the field of sound art. Some will probably know him as
part of the Sensorband, also counting Atau Kanaka and Zbigniew
Karkowski. On this 3″ CD Edwin van der Heide has put his powers into
field recordings from the Port of Rotterdam. A very interesting
project, not only because of the musical result but also as a
scientific experience does it end out pretty fascinatingly. 24
microphones are placed underneath the surface of water. Each
microphone is connected to one speaker on the harbour. In that sense
the deep subtle drones from the underwater sound space interferes
with the acoustic sounds from the harbour. Since the speed of sound
underwater is almost five times higher than the speed of sound
through the air, we end up with some very strange interference
between the two sonic levels. The result is a thrilling mixture
between recognisable sounds and a great world of subtle noise from
the underwater sound space. On Wavescape Edwin Van der Heide gives us
a fascinating sound experience, an experience that proves his talent
as a sound artist and a sonic explorer. (NMP)
Address: http://www.staalplaat.com
UN CADDIE RENVERSE DANS L’HERBE – NOW THERE’S A WEIRD TASTE IN MY
MOUTH (3″ CD by Dekorder)
JOHN HEGRE – A NICE PLACE TO LEAVE (3″ CD by Dekorder)
VOKS – VAKS VANSKAB AK (3″ CD by Dekorder)
Dekorder is a new label, or maybe not really new (their previous
effort as a label was Disc Bruit, who released the Nanoloop
compilation and a CD by Tietchens/Meyers). The first three new
releases are all in that lovely 3″ format and they are all in some
way related to the world of laptop electronica wizzadry.
Un Caddie Renverse Dans L’Herbe has had various releases reviewed in
Vital Weekly, some of which are on Didac P. Lagarriga from Sao Paulo
and now in Barcelona. Six pieces of processed african instruments
such as Mbira, Kalimba, Balaphon but also melodica and chimes. All of
this is thrown in the mighty blender called laptop and spiced with
software, Un Caddie presents a pleasent, quiet, meditative work. For
those who expect laptop crackles when they hear the even sense the
very presence of laptop, this should be a real gentle surprise to
hear. The instruments are easily to be recognized – one may wonder in
some cases wether or not Un Caddie just offers a bunch of loops.
Would that cause a problem? Not for me. A piece like ‘To Deconstruct
Any Dream’ is just very nice. Sentimental and sweet, with a touch of
Pascal Comelade. The laptop doodlings on this release seem very far
away, at least in the first five pieces (‘That’s If You Want It.
Locked Anymore’ is a bit of an oddball) – and that might be a relief
to some of you.
The name John Hegre might not mean that much to you, but some of the
bands he’s in, probably do: Jazzkammer, Kaptein Kaliber and Der
Brief. His 3″ might be considered as his solo debut. There are three
pieces on this CD, which, I must admit, are along the lines of the
Jazzkammer music. Using computer, microsounds and guitar, Hegre’s
music is partly based on drone like experiences and partly on sudden
shock editing done on the computer. In the second piece, the old
noise elements from the first Jazzkammer releases pop up, after a
very quiet start of the track. It’s a less surprising CD then Un
Caddie, mainly because it could have easily been aother fine
Jazzkammer release. Fine release.
Who Voks is, I don’t know. Apperentely he had some release on
Goodiepal’s Goodiebag/Demonbag 7″ series and various websites. When
he started to work as a computer programmer, he became a compulsive
obsessive with ‘setting the notes right’ before he could go to sleep.
He’s also obsessed with synthrock from labels like ReR, Aaya, Ata
Tak, Ralph etc. So far so good, but the ten tracks on his mini CD
didn’t do much for me. Digital synths play rather boring melodies,
one melody per track with a bit of rhythm off and on. Maybe
Pyrolator-like, but without the humour (or the wit of the Residents
or Der Plan). Tracks are short, almost miniature like, but even at
that it couldn’t capture my interest. (FdW)
Address: http://www.dekorder.com
MOOR & LEHN & BUTCHER – THERMAL (CD by Unsounds)
A work of improvisation by three outstanding players in the scene.
John Butcher plays saxophones (and did this with people like Phil
Minton, Gerry Hemingway and Derek Bailey), Andy Moore plays guitar
(and this with The Ex, Dog Faced Hermans and Kaffe Matthews) and
Thomas Lehn who plays an EMS synthesizer (and did this with Marcus
Schmickler, Gert-Jan Prins, Mimeo). Three respected players meet up
and play. They are skillfull players on their instruments, but they
also have a good ear, a trained improvisational ear. What is the
other guy doing, and how? How do I interact and do I need to
interact? The important thing in improvised music is when to know
when to play. In the fourteen pieces captured on this disc there is a
controlled atmosphere: each of the players knows when to play and
when not. They hold back, give room to the others, and collectively
burst out in music when necessary. Given the various backgrounds and
experiences (Moor’s more punk past, Butcher’s free jazz part and
Lehn’s electronica), it’s a combination that surely holds risk, but
they take the challenge and the resultant work is great. A fine work
of improvisation. (FdW)
Address: http://www.unsounds.com
VIOLET SHIFTS – RESITA MOLD (3″cdr by zeromoon)
Last week a number of zeromoon releases were reviewed but my
contribution was late so you get this one now. And what a nice
package is this. 4 USD for a slender pouch containing a silvery disk,
3″in diameter. The cover is tastefully designed offering the reader
the brainteaser of interpretating a large array of different
typesetting. Enough already. On to the music itself.
Used instrumentation are autoharp and guitar. In other words: snares
brought into vibration. This has nothing to do with a guitar or a
harp. What we hear is the sound of vibrating snares mixed, layered,
sped up and down. Two compositions: Jubilent Horde and Square is
Mobbed. Both have approximately the same structure. They start rather
oppressively, loud perhaps and then after some four minutes sort of
die out slowly for six minutes. During this second part the layers
are shifted and colored. The result is quiet, sort of ambient but
definitely not the easy kind of ambient. I listened to thismusic
while sitting in my garden, next to a pond, under a tree. While there
is nothing natural about the music (meaning: tis all artificial)
somehow it
blended in quite nicely. Adding intellect to the cliche peacefulness. (IS)
Address: http://www.zeromoon.com
OLLO – SLEEPER (CD by Creative Vibes)
Not an entirely recent CD, but it only reached me just now. Ollo is a
DJ duo from Sydney, Australia (maybe the CD came walking to me and
that took some time?) and they are residents at sunday night at
Frigid in Sydney in 2001. Ollo are all-o-ver the place in their
music. Lifting jazzy samples, telephone calls, guitars and much more
from their original context and incorporating it in the blender mix
of hip hop, techno, ambient, dub and house, it’s mostly sunny music –
and with the temperature here rising to summer degrees, sipping a
cold glass of water in short pants on the balcony. With no less than
twenty-one tracks, this is also a work of shorter pieces which adds
to the scattered musical character, but somehow is still a nice,
coherent thing to hear. This might not be a totally new listening
experience, but nevertheless a nice mixture of styles and influences
(Herbert is quite apperent) which I certainly enjoyed hearing. (FdW)
Address: http://www.cvibes.com
CHRISTIAN RENOU – 7 KISSES (CD by EE Tapes)
ELEGY #5 (CDR compilation by EE Tapes)
More Christian Renou, the artist formerly known as Brume. After his
recent release on Ground Fault (Vital Weekly 371) and his
collaboration with Bastard Noise (Vital Weekly 369), he releases a
new lengthy work on EE Tapes – a label with a long tradition in
releasing cassettes and CDRs and now finally their first ‘real’ CD.
Renou is Brume in reverse: Brume always stated that everything was
analogue and no samplers were used, but for his new work, under his
real name he states ‘no analog stuff used’. ‘These recordings were
the first experiments made with old, defective and more recent
computers’. It doesn’t say wether it’s the computers making music or
that it’s made with software running on defective computers. The
seven pieces flow into each other which makes it hard to note the
difference between each track. Flow is also what this music does. All
of the sounds are faded into eachother, loops swirl in and swirl out
again. Overall there is a somewhat less refined character in this
music, then say on his Ground Fault CD. The music, despite it’s
title, is more dense and more industrial then I would have hoped for.
It’s lesser cut into smaller pieces as the previous Brume work. The
pieces are also a bit long for my taste. A pair of (digital) scissors
to trim the work, to say maybe half the length of have at leasted
doubled the impact. More for the die-hard Brume/Renou fans at that,
I’d say. Nice package though.
Still on the CDR format is the compilation series called ‘Elegy’, of
which the fifth and final volume is just released. This thematic
series was all about life and death, just in case you were wondering.
Upon listening, I am not sure if life is celebrated here very much,
as most of the pieces have a rather dark tone, but maybe I am just
thinking the old fashioned way: life can be dark too and death could
be light? Many names I haven’t heard before. The light rhythms of
Ras.Al.Ghul are much welcomed, and so are the spacy guitars of M.A.L.
(yes, that very same guy who had cassettes on Insane Music in the
eighties). Much of the others find their way in using synthesizers,
lower end of the keyboard. People like LD50, MindMap, Anon, Sizzle
and This Morn’ Omina vs. Murderous Vision. Only Noisiv break out of
this, with deformed voices in a dark setting. Music like this may not
entirely fit the coming summer period, but rather a season in which
leaves fall and rain drips steadily all day. Wish it was more about
life, I guess. (FdW)
Address: http://www.eetapes.be
UGLINESS MAN – INTERIM (3″ CDR by Piehead Records)
Whoever is the man with a low self-esteem calling himself Ugliness
Man, I don’t know. However he took the name from a song by They Might
Be Giants. Unsuccesfully he has been producing music since 1996-97,
but in 2001 he accidentely discovered that changing the software
formats for songs may alter the sound of a piece completely. This
gave his music a new, experimental edge. The result here are seven
tracks of a rather crude form of techno music, recorded in lo-fi
fashion. Up tempo most of the times, with piano sounds at times,
noisy edges and all that. Yet to be honest: I don’t think I could
really be bothered with music like this. The tracks are kinda short,
don’t go anywhere and seem to lack compositional structure. It’s all
rather too naive, but in a wrong sense of the word. (FdW)
Address: http://www.pieheadrecords.com
DAVID JACKMAN – FLAK (10″ by Die Stadt)
Ah good old David Jackman, never tired to confuse his fans. I was
one, until poverty struck me hard to keep up with all the limited
editions. But this one, released in an edition of 500, confuses more
on a musical level. The a-side, ‘Flak’, is a heavy multi-layered
piece in the best Organum tradition. Whereas Jackman under his own
name presents usually odd recordings (machine guns fighting, cars
crashing), the Organum stuff is the more musical stuff. Metal sheets
crashing over eachother, played with bows thus creating beautiful
rich overtones, but in a harsh setting. There is a straight line from
the first Organum record ‘In Extremis’ (1984 wassit?) to ‘Flak’. But
it’s still a fine territory to be in. The b-side is ‘Wietzendorf’ –
wherever that may be) and this is more common
Jackman-under-his-own-name field. A straight field recording is what
we get here. Somewhere a plane is coming over, cars passing in a very
far distance and lots of wind blowing in the microphone. This is more
the wacky music that Jackman likes to offer. It’s a brilliant piece
of soundscaping? Not really. Does it fit in Jackman’s recording
career? Yes it does. (FdW)
Address: http://www.diestadtmusik.de
SOMEPLACE: THE REMIXES/THE BLAME SHIFTER (LP by Famefame)
This conceptual remix record attempts to explore the nature of
mental illness-as an aberration, as embarrassment and as a disease.
Most of the artists on this lp are from Toronto, all of which remix
the song “Someplace” by The Blameshifter. Most of the artists on this
record are unknown to me: Polmo Polpo, Multiplex, Tinkertoy, OHVOV,
Aidan Baker, Enemy Fighters, Andrew Duke, and The Blameshifter. The
opening track by Polmo Polpo made me expect that this would be an
interesting album. Their track entitled “Medicated Waltz” is just
that: a slow waltz melody played by synthetic strings in which
moments are interrupted or mutated into cold metallic drones. It
instantly conjured up images of a mental institution with its
residents undergoing the daily routine of forced exercises done
laconically and happy, hollow. A truly creepy track and my favorite
on the album. Aidan Baker’s contribution is another standout piece,
a circular, unsettling drone. The rest of the tracks were not as
successful in their explorations of mental illness. Too often tracks
rely on using sound clips from Psycho or other films as a way to
explore the album’s theme, not as inventive as the above mentioned
tracks. My copy of this LP had a healthy warp to it, giving side B a
freaky portamento effect. Still that side sounded like the weaker of
the two with its emphasis on techno beats and not as interesting as
Side A. (JS)
Address: http://www.famefame.com
KAZUMOTO ENDO – BRICKS AND MORTAR (CD by Rhystop)
Endo is one of Japans older noise makers, but has never reached the
status of Merzbow or Masonna. His discography is quite small compared
to that of Merzbow (but maybe that accounts for most musicians), the
odd 7″ here and the odd 3″ CD there. This new CD, is also quite
short, twenty six minutes, but for this kind of music, I think it’s
right length. Strange is that the cover lists five tracks of which
the last four are long (from 11 to 21 minutes), but the CD itself has
six track, none of which are longer then 5 minutes. Most curious! The
first track is a nice surprise: we hear the interference of popmusic,
Endo as turntablist. Shortwaves pop up in the other pieces but never
that apparent. Metallic plates, synths, reverb, echo are mixed
together in that typical Endo style. Unlike many other noise makers,
Endo is not really interested in a bath of sounds, the continous
feedback flow, but in a cut up collage style of noise, which is, I
gather, much more work to do then to put on the machines and let them
go for a while. Even when noise is no longer my game or interest, I
think that Kazumoto Endo is, along of course with Merzbow, one of the
better noise musicians around. His precise collage style and top
production make him of the best. (FdW)
Address: http://www.rhystop.com
[MULTER] – KOPENHAGENER DEUTUNG (LP by Genesungswerk)
N – BERGEN (2LP by Genesungswerk)
KRILL.MINIMA – KALAMAR/KALMAR (7″ by Genesungswerk)
A whole bunch of new vinyl on one of the nicest smaller labels from
Germany. [Multer] is, I believe the band behind the label. The have
six pieces on their album, which open with the beautiful ambient
drone (and soft rhythm paths) of ‘Alandar’. Things however take a
change in pieces like ‘Kopenhagener Deutung’ (the meaning of
Copenhagen) and ‘Subdruese’. Vocals are used, a piano, rhythms and
drones. The vocals are hardly singing, more reciting text.
Melancholical and a bit eighties like. ‘Myosin’ on side two is a an
uptempo piece, almost in the direction of techno. ‘Columbus’ takes
them back the areas of ambient music, but still with rhythm. The
closing piece ‘Goldkugelkaktus Traeumen’ is along the lines of
‘Alandar’. [Multer] have delivered a very fine LP with some really
great and diverse tunes. They have certainly grown since their
previous releases and it has come to a mature level.
N is a soloproject by the guitarist from [Multer], Hellmut Neidhart,
and after one 7″ he presents his work now in the form of a double LP.
It would be too easy to classify the eight tracks as ambient drone
music of a darker kind, simply because they aren’t just that. Take
for instance the side long ‘Bergen: SEE’. A lengthy excursion in the
world of distortion and delay pedals. Drone indeed but rather of the
sort that is like a thunder storm. On the other side of the spectrum
are glacier like spaces of tracks like ‘Loemern 1’ and ‘Horizontwo’.
Here the influence of Thomas Koner (who kindly mastered this record)
is very apparent. I think I rather like this last side of N and the
format of a 2LP set is probably a bit too much, even when we have to
take in account that music like this needs time to develop. Although
this is one that also falls in the category ‘heard it before’, it’s
still a great record.
The last new record is by Martin Juhls, who calls himself
Krill.Minima. ‘Kalamar’ is nice laidback rhythm piece, with a dubby
piece and sunny electronics. Perfect summer music. ‘Kalmar’ may count
as a remix of ‘Kalamar’: bearing the same elements, but in a
different arrangement. More ambient and spacy and an even more sparse
bass line. Really nice laidback cocktail summer music. (Fdw)
Address: http://www.genesungswerk.de
DEAD+HURT – JUGG/BEHE (EP by Fukk God Lets Create)
This business card cdr has more ideas crammed into than most full
lengths. Its like field recordings mixed with Krautrock, except
there’s no rock instrumentation and its made by two Swedish
gentlemen. That said the four tracks seque into one another making
one collage. Full of rhythmic, crackling, crunching, squeaking
sounds, but all organized in a very musical way. Press the repeat
button and let it play over and over. And it even comes with a cool
D+H button. Superb. (JS)
Address: http://www.fukkgod.org
DESORMAIS – IAMBROKEANDREMADEIAMBROKEN (CD by Intr_Version)
It is that I never do top 10 lists at the end of the year, but if I
would do so, Desormais’ ‘Climate Variations’ would have been in the
one for the year 2002. So one can imagine my anticipation to play the
follow up. Desormais (meaning ‘From Now On’) is the work of Mitchell
Akiyama and Joshua Treble, who for their first CD collaborated
through mail (e- and snail). For this new CD they sat together in
Joshua’s studio in Cincinnati for two weeks, but not without taped
contributions by Eric Craven (from Hanged Up, on drums), Becky Foon
(A Silver Mount Zion, on cello) and Jenna Robertson (vocals). From
two boys working with laptops it’s a surprise to hear that the sound
of guitar is the most dominant featured instrument here. Together
with the aforementioned instruments, they break everything together
on their laptops and paste it back into a broken hybryd of sounds.
Tiny fragments of guitar playing, subtle drone lines played on the
cello and hacked together drum sounds, make this new CD into a
perfect cross-over between say Godspeed You Black Emperor and the new
(old by now?) school of Oval and Fennesz glitchy electronics. Brought
in a mimimal sauce of phasing electronics, not to dissimilar to the
sixties techniques of Steve Reich or Terry Riley. ‘To Sing Before
Going To Sleep’ with it’s female voice is almost post rock/singer
songwriter stuff. This album by Desormais proofs that progress can be
made on the original ideas sketched out by Oval and Fennesz and
crosses over into the world of rock music. The future of rock music
lies in the use of laptop? I hope so and that Desormais plays an
important role in this development. (FdW)
Address: http://www.intr-version.com
PEETALL – RMXS1 (MP3 by Earlabs)
Three tracks, each a remix/deconstruction of songs by the FabFour
(the Beatles, just in case you’ve lived in a box all your life). The
tracks chosen suit themselves well for Peetall’s reinterpretations as
Peetall focuses on their non-rock sounds, and pulverizes the
remaining elements. For legal reasons which songs they are are not
listed but upon listening its easy to tell. The Fabfour are subjected
to the usual digital plugins and wringed into a fine granular mash.
Slighty rhythmic, other times abstract, this will appeal to Beatles
fans, and those who hate the Beatles will enjoy hearing these songs
being destroyed with a steady hand. (JS) Address:
http://www.earlabs.org
COMMANDO CAULDRON – T.E (CDR)
A nice self-released CDR by a Dutch guy going by a horrible name,
Commando Cauldron. Luckily it doesn’t sound too industrial, in fact
not at all. In six tracks, just over twenty minutes, Commando
Cauldron proofs to be a good student of all things digital. Working
with the usual glitches and bleeps, he creates a fine work of
microsounding electronica. Think the larger part of the Mille
Plateaux catalogue, slow Oval, Tone Language or maybe Desormais
without the guitars. The tracks are held back, build up nicely along
beeps that form the rhythm part of the tracks. The packages with
holes punched and sown together is really nice too. This guy should
have a couple of MP3 releases on sites and gain some more
recognition! (FdW)
Address: http://www.commandocauldron.com
FREIBAND (MP3 by Earlabs)
This four track release is a remix of the AZ Blender mp3 release
(also on earlabs) using primarily Akira Rabelais’ ‘argeiphontes
lyre’, which i believe is a software program.
Arranged in a formulaic way (track 1 is one minute, track 2 is 2
minutes etc.) this is an exercise in grey, with only occassionaly the
original material being discernable-which is the human voice,
otherwise the bulk of the sounds are waves of controlled static. The
focus is on moving these monochromatic sounds through space with
fades and volume level adjustments to arrange the material. Track
three is my favorite, moving from silence to what sounds like
metallic insect wings flapping between speakers. One of the more
austere works by Freiband. (JS)
Address: http://www.earlabs.org
MITRE – SYMPHONY FOR AGAMEMNON – (3″ CDR by Dreamland Recordings)
Mitre is the project of Scott Richardson, who has been writing and
recording abstract guitar pieces since 1997. A cross between
shoegazer rock and Popul Vuh with the high end turned off is the best
way i can describe these three pieces for solo guitar on this ep. The
first track starts out with some chords strummed and then goes into
looped feedback with single sustained notes overtop modified with
stompboxes. The second piece is a short introspective interlude. The
final track is the most developed and appealing track, with ringing
tones and a dreamlike atmosphere–more Vuh with less shoe. These are
pleasant compostions but they cover well beaten paths. (JS)
Address: http://www.dreamland.antisound.net