OMIT – TRACER (2CD by Helen Scarsdale Agency)
COIL/THE NEW BLOCKADERS/VORTEX CAMPAIGN – THE MELANCHOLY MAD TENANT (CD by Black Rose Recordings)
BIRGIT ULHER/DAMON SMITH/MARTIN BLUME – SPERRGUT (CD by Balance Point Acoustic)
FRITZ HAUSER – DEEP TIME (2CD by Deep Listening Institute)
PLAINS – INTO TONE (CD by Scarcelight)
VIOLET – THE SUN IS SHINING AND THE FLOWERS ARE BLOOMING ON VIOLET STREET (3″CD by Scarcelight)
THE TRUST RIOTS – DEAD HAVEN AMPLAND (3″CDR by Scarcelight)
NASH KONTROLL – YOUR LEFT HAND JUST EXPLODED (CD by Ideal Recordings)
VARIOUS ARTISTS – EPITAPH FOR JOHN (CD by Korm Plastics)
GOH LEE KWANG – PUNK GUITAR (CD by Herbal Records)
CHRISTINA KUBISCH – ARMONICA (CD by Semishigure)
DAVID GRUBBS – TWO SOUNDTRACKS FOR ANGELA BULLOCH (miniCD by Semishigure)
QUATUOR BOZZINI – DIFFERENT TRAINS (CD by Collection QB)
KNITTING BY TWILIGHT – SOMEONE TO BREAK THE SILENCE (CDEP by It’s Twilight Time)
FHIEVEL – LE BAPTEME DE LA SOLITUDE (CD-R by Petite Sono])
CHARLES GOFF III/CHRIS PHINNEY – MAESTROS OF THE MAGNETIC AGE (2xCDR by Taped Rugs/Harsh Reality Music)
EVENINGS – CRYPT SWELLINGS (CDR by Audiobot)
ICHOROUS – TODEKAPITEL (CDR by Audiobot)
OUBLIETTE – RAZORLUND (CDR by Audiobot)
ROXANNE JEAN POLISE – CHANGING LIGHT PATTERNS OF THE UNDERWATER FOREST (VOL. TWO) (CDR by Russolo’s Brain)
WILL SODERBERG – FUCK THE SWELLS (3″CDR by Russolo’s Brain)
MATHIEU RUHLMANN – TODAY I FOUND THE GOLDEN WORLD (CDR by Somne Recordings)
ROEL MEELKOP – HARAMU/DREMPEL (CDR by Why Not)
INTERNAL EMPTY/BURN WARD/XIPHOID DEMENTIA (CDR by Existence Establishment)
BURN WARD/XIPHOID DEMENTIA – XIPHOID BURN (3″CDR by Existence Establishment)
TOBIAS C. VAN VEEN/TOMAS PHILIPS – IF NOT, WINTER (CDR by And/Oar)
OMIT – TRACER (2CD by Helen Scarsdale Agency)
A long time after I lost my interested in cassette as an independent medium I discovered the music of Clinton Williams, aka Omit. He had then already released a bunch of lathe cut vinyl, regular vinyl and even a three CD on my still favorite Corpus Hermeticum label, but I went to great length getting some of his obscure cassettes releases. Since some time either the flood has dried out a little bit, or perhaps going past by me, without me knowing it. The material on ‘Tracer’ was released on CDR some years ago (recorded from December 2001 to 2002) by SySecular, but now saved from further decay, through a re-issue on a real CD. If you could at it closely, it’s hard to tell why Omit makes great music. Using a blend of analogue synths, outdated rhythm machines, effects pedals and tape-loops of concrete sounds, it’s not something that is exactly new. But there is a certain hypnotic quality in Omit’s music, even when some tracks are short (that’s something he seems to like: either short, sketch like tracks and sometimes very long tracks, like the opening piece ‘Sequester’). The hypnotic quality of the takes us back to the seventies psychedelic music, cosmic music of that day, but then less smooth, more lo-fi and more raw. The music here comes down to the listener as an extended flow (two discs with 120 minutes of music – mind you), but best is to sit back, relax and float downstream. Omit still crafts some excellent music! (FdW)
Address: http://www.helenscarsdale.com
COIL/THE NEW BLOCKADERS/VORTEX CAMPAIGN – THE MELANCHOLY MAD TENANT (CD by Black Rose Recordings)
Both Coil and The New Blockaders started out in the early 80s (in 1983 and 1982 respectively) and have since become major players in their specific musical territories. This limited edition (there’s 500 of these) re-release of a cassette (of which there were only 50) from 1984 features 2 collaborative tracks between both bands together with the more unknown Vortex Campaign (who I guess are probably Belgians considering their names). One long noise track (15 minutes) and one very long noise track (30 minutes) that are familiar terrain for The New Blockaders but certainly shine a new light on the formative years of Coil, as this is pretty far away from their debut album “Scatalogy” which was released the same year, and probably comes closest in spirit to the early Zos Kia material. As a noise release on itself it is certainly not the best there is, especially seeing some other things The New Blockaders ended up doing, but this was 1984 after all, and it’s a nice curiosity to hear Coil from a different and slightly unexpected perspective. If your ears are still in place after these primitive 45 minutes of loudness then there are also three shorter tracks from Vortex Campaign. Has some very nice screenprinted-by-hand covers as well, though I’m not sure if historical value alone should have be reason enough for this rerelease. For the completists. (RM2)
Address: <srmeixner@yahoo.co.uk>
BIRGIT ULHER/DAMON SMITH/MARTIN BLUME – SPERRGUT (CD by Balance Point Acoustic)
More music from trumpet player Birgit Ulher, who has released a couple of CDs herself, as-well as being present on some of the Creative Sources releases, and here teams up with the for me unknown Damon Smith on double bass and Martin Blume on percussion. Their work, nine tracks/fifty minutes in total was recorded in 2004 on a day in a studio in Oakland. The pieces are a mixture of free jazz playing, onkyo styled improvisation and regular free improvisation, but throughout it didn’t do much for this listener. It’s a mixture of various possibilities of improvisation, but too varied to make a decision in what style they really want, going into these various corners that not always mix well. It’s not bad at all however, just a bit too regular, too standard. (FdW)
Address: http://www.balanceacoustics.com
FRITZ HAUSER – DEEP TIME (2CD by Deep Listening Institute)
Originally Fritz Hauser is a drummer and composer from Basel, Switzerland, who got a piece commissioned by the Pauline Oliveros Foundation. Hauser composed music to tape, using sounding sounds and various watches and clocks (he is Swiss after all) and then a bunch of musicians improvise over this tape. These musicians include Pauline Oliveros herself on accordion and expanded instrument system, David Gramper (expanded instrument system electronics, miscellaneous small instruments), Urs Leimgruber (soprano and tenor saxophone) and Fritz Hauser himself on percussion. This double CD contains two versions of the piece, both recorded on October 26, 1994. The first version is a more loosely based of improvised sounds, which is nice but not really great. The second version (for some reason pressed on two CDs, whereas they could have fitted on one CD, as both versions are around 32 minutes) is much denser and electronic in sound, which lots of small sounds swirling around, in a much more concentrated vein. That version alone would have been enough here, but some people surely can’t get enough of both. (FdW)
Address: http://www.deeplistening.org
PLAINS – INTO TONE (CD by Scarcelight)
VIOLET – THE SUN IS SHINING AND THE FLOWERS ARE BLOOMING ON VIOLET STREET (3″CD by Scarcelight)
THE TRUST RIOTS – DEAD HAVEN AMPLAND (3″CDR by Scarcelight)
The Scarcelight label likes to take risks, and that’s great. Did you ever of Plains, for instance? Maybe not, but it’s a kind of whose who in the New Zealand laptop scene, including Rosy Parlane on guitar and computer, Richard Francis on computer, Mark Sadgrove on feedback and LinuxCsound, Tim Coster on field recordings, Clinton Watkins on guitar and Paul Winstanley on electric bass and digital feedback. The thirty-three some minute piece was recorded last year in concert in Auckland, and consists of a low humming piece of bass tones, processed field recordings of rain falling on a tin roof. Everything moves in a slow and peaceful way, and all the players keep whatever they are doing in perfect control (unless of course in some post-editing phase these were cut out!). Ambient glitch of the better kind, well executed but unfortunately not freshly new in terms of musical development.
Releasing Violet is taking the band from CDR and MP3 format to a real CD, even when it’s a 3″. The man behind Violet is Jeff Surak, who has been active inside experimental music for more than twenty years, always renewing himself. It’s not easy to give a good description of the music of Violet. It’s a strange but well-made mixture of field recordings, electro-acoustic sounds, ambient glitch and noise. In Violet’s pieces he built up usually from some mid-range volume to a louder crescendo, in ‘Priznak Aluminum (Holiday Suite For Foil)’ using a thick layer of looped guitars – even when the title suggest tinfoil. A bit psychedelic here, but quite nice, and ‘Dead. End (live)’ shows Violet’s capacity to make some violent noise. If you came across this name before and didn’t know what it was about, then time has come to find out.
Scarcelight is one of the few labels that successfully release CDs as-well as CDRs, but for the latter they surely keep the more experimental works, such as The Trust Riots. Quite unclear as to who or what, but they have a bunch of guitars, and some effect boxes but sadly not much money to make some proper recording, as this is all quite hissy and lo-fi in quality. The intentions are alright, and The Trust Riots could be from New Zealand (with the sounds like Sandoz Lab Technicians and K-Group), so the lo-fi quality is surely something they carry with proudness. (FdW)
Address: http://www.scarcelight.org
NASH KONTROLL – YOUR LEFT HAND JUST EXPLODED (CD by Ideal Recordings)
Never heard of Nash Kontroll? Neither did I, but flipping the CD box will learn you that this a trio of Dror Feiler, Mats Gustafsson and noise loverboy Lasse Marhaug. He’s the most well-known bloke, but the other two have a history of their own. Dror Feiler is a well-known and controversial artist and a saxophone player with a love of volume. Mats Gustafsson (also from Sweden, and not Norway as the presence of Marhaug may suggest) plays also flute and saxophones. The recordings here were made by Swedish radio and by god, do they really broadcast that? Because the three tracks carved into this CD is one hell of a noise party, certainly the first half of the CD, with at the central control, Marhaug operating his laptop, electronics and broken guitar and as his sparring partners two guys blowing their lungs out. It is easy to see a direct link between Nash Kontroll and Borbetomagus, but the latter is even a few steps away from Nash Kontroll, as the Scandinavian counter part also knows how to play a soft piece, such as the ending of the title track. Here things go down, way down and in the third track, the three play even melancholiac tunes. Quite a CD that would blow you away – literally. A fine range from noise to more obscured moments – all created in the world of improvisation. And if I understood correctly Nash Kontroll will be a band, not an one-off project. (FdW)
Address: http://www.idealrecordings.com
VARIOUS ARTISTS – EPITAPH FOR JOHN (CD by Korm Plastics)
I will be honest: I don’t know the music of John Watermann, to whom this CD is dedicated. He died quite suddenly of an infection resulting from the treatment of cancer in april 2002. But I do know all of the artists who are presented on the CD: Asmus Tietchens with the first four tracks, RLW with the fifth track, Merzbow with the sixth and Freiband with the seventh track. The last track is by Watermann himself. The album is the result of Frans de Waard’s commitment to the music of Watermann. Both had agreed to work on a collaboration that was never finished due to Watermann’s death. As a result Frans decided to hand over the original material two the others musicians on the CD. All of them had already worked with Watermann or had made clear their intention to do so. Tietchens’ tracks have an almost restless quality and are quite short: track three is the longest with just over five and a half minutes. The sound is somehow wilder than I am used to, with an eerie quality, but certainly creates the high attention span that we know of Tietchens’ work. Wehowsky’s piece actually has the same eerie sound quality (so probably this is inherent in Watermann’s original material?) and is built up very well. The piece is divided in two parts, both layered thickly with very different sounds. Wehowsky’s dynamics are amazing and quite stunning. Merzbow works in a more loop based way, but with the same dynamic range and extreme panning as RLW. It is also noisier, but the drawback of this piece is the emphasis on the loops and their manipulations. Up next is Freiband with a subtle build up of drones, digital degradations and gentle beeps. This is a very gentle and lovely piece that some could mistake for ambient. The end is very good! And last but not least is the track by Watermann himself, a dense collage of field recordings with strange pans and volume changes. There is a strong interaction of natural and unnatural sounds, the basis of which are the cicada’s and the birds, with occasional airplanes and other means of transport passing by. If this is what Watermann’s music is about, I need to get to know it better! (MR)
Address: http://www.kormplastics.nl
GOH LEE KWANG – PUNK GUITAR (CD by Herbal Records)
It’s of course no problem to call your CD ‘Punk Guitar’ but why pack it so poorly? Goh Lee Kwang (which we western people would probably identify as Lee Kwang Goh) just folded a badly designed xeroxed paper around it, probably to make a punk statement. This CD contains tracks of Goh playing the guitar, in the formative years 1998-2002. All of these tracks were processed by computer means in 2001-2002. Sometimes these processing’s aren’t very clear and the guitar still sounds like the guitar, but at other times the noise and distortion totally removes any idea to the guitar (especially in the last piece of the CD). It’s not exactly punk playing that Goh does here, but rather a free playing of sounds on the six strings. I found it quite hard to like the material in here, and I must admit it didn’t do much for me. Sometimes it was ok, but sometimes also too much of a drag of uninspired playing. Not my tea, indeed. (FdW)
Address: http://www.geocities.com/herbalrecords
CHRISTINA KUBISCH – ARMONICA (CD by Semishigure)
DAVID GRUBBS – TWO SOUNDTRACKS FOR ANGELA BULLOCH (miniCD by Semishigure)
This is the third release by Christina Kubisch for Semishigure, the CD side label for arts and musics of the Bottrop-boy empire, following ‘Diapason’ (see Vital Weekly 339) and ‘Twelve Signals’ (see Vital Weekly 411). On the first two she used non musical sound sources, such as tuning forks and mining bells, here she returns to music by using the glass harmonica, an instrument from the 18th century also known as the armonica. The glass is all tuned and moved by feet and played with wet fingers. The instrument is played here by Konstantin Restle, but it’s edited by Kubisch, although no processing of any kind were made. This fifty-six minute piece is a beautiful drone work of slowly shifting overtones and moving textured sounds. The feet are also recorded, but are pushed away to the bottom-side of the recording. By cutting out the silence in between the notes, the work stays throughout on a similar level, which makes it not dissimilar to the work of Phil Niblock. Although it has the same sparse music as the previous two works, it’s still something that works on a totally different level. A great, moving piece of music.
David Grubbs is perhaps best known for his work inside outsider rock bands, such as Bastro and Gastr Del Sol, but a fair portion of his work under his own name consists of much more experimental music. On this new mini CD, Grubbs has two pieces of music for installation pieces by Angela Bulloch. Her work deals with ‘pixels’, which is based on 50x50x50 cm cubes that have a screen on one side on which constantly changing colors can be shown and a software program running pixelated films, which are then projected onto shifting color fields that change according to their original composition. Grubbs made the soundtrack to two of these installations, which are both related to Antonioni’s film ‘Zabriski Point’. He plays mainly guitar here in a free strumming mode, which through a line of effects, but he uses them mildly. It evokes the idea of emptiness, which fits well the empty landscapes depicted in the films used for this installation. It’s a kinda rough playing going on here, and perhaps it should be better to see the films and hear the music at the same time, but still it’s a very refined work. (FdW)
Address: http://www.bottrop-boy.com
QUATUOR BOZZINI – DIFFERENT TRAINS (CD by Collection QB)
It may be no secret that I am a great admirer of the music of Steve Reich, especially his older works, say until 1980. When I heard ‘Different Trains’ the first time, I wasn’t too sure if it was my thing. Using taped speeches of his relatives on his childhood train-rides set against testimonials of the holocaust (jews on different trains) set against a string quartet was a nice idea, but somehow didn’t appeal to me at first. But in the years after I started to appreciate the piece more and more, although I must admit I didn’t hear it in recent years. For me it’s a bit unclear what the difference is between the well-known version by the Kronos Quartet and this new version. Quatuor Bozzini re-recorded the string quartets which can be heard on the tape, and the speeches are the same, but essentially this version is not different than the Kronos Quartet version. It’s still a very fine piece, and Quatuor Bozzini plays it well, but for whom, I may ask. (FdW)
Address: http://www.actuellecd.com
KNITTING BY TWILIGHT – SOMEONE TO BREAK THE SILENCE (CDEP by It’s Twilight Time)
Here is the odd-ball for this week, Knitting By Twilight. They call themselves a Music And Art Collective and are based around John Orsi, who is also the drummer for Overflower and Incandescent Sky, who-ever they are). They have been around since 1994 and this new CDEP is the forecast of a new CD ‘An Evening Out Of Town’. Rather melodic music with a melancholic touch, with a strong emphasis on the vocals, which are male and female. A bit like old 4AD or Factory Records, which in my book is always good, but it also falls outside the territories covered in Vital Weekly, which makes it hard to place along any historical developments in that kind of music. But as said, quite enjoyable. (FdW)
Address: http://www.overflower.com
FHIEVEL – LE BAPTEME DE LA SOLITUDE (CD-R by Petite Sono])
Fhievel is the moniker for Italian electronic musician Luca Bergero. Or maybe the term electroacoustic is more appropriate: Fhievel combines electronic acoustic sounds with field recordings in a very controlled and composed way. His use of the different materials is without question and feels absolutely natural. This CD contains three tracks ranging from over 10 to over 15 minutes, which is not so long, but that is very good. The music is demanding: the listener has to focus and concentrate. This is not to say that Fhievel’s music is difficult, quite the contrary. But there is a gentleness and quietness about it that simply needs attention to be fully appreciated. With the use of his ingredients Fhievel arrives at an almost narrative structure, but without getting too bold. Yes, this is very suggestive and also beautiful music. (MR)
Address: http://www.petitesono.com
CHARLES GOFF III/CHRIS PHINNEY – MAESTROS OF THE MAGNETIC AGE (2xCDR by Taped Rugs/Harsh Reality Music)
Both Christ Phinney and Charles Goff III aren’t the new kids on the block, as they have been active inside experimental music since twenty or more years. Phinney used to run the Harsh Reality Music cassette label and worked under the moniker Mental Anguish and Goff III has been active as Goff III mainly. On this double CDR release they do a very 80s trick: Phinney re-works sonic material of Goff in the 80s on analog tape and Goff does the same thing with Phinney’s material from the 80s. Chris Phinney is a man of spacious musics, feeding the sounds of Goff through an endless line of analogue synths and many sound effects. We don’t know what the input of Goff was here, but it’s a nice cosmic trip Phinney takes us on.
On a similar trip is Charles Goff III, but his material is less lengthy and a bit more dense. Also, but I am not 100% sure about this, I think computer treatments play a bigger role here than with Phinney’s re-work (boys of this age don’t use the term remix, mind you). Goff’s work is more 2005 than Phinney, but it’s a good, solid space ride for two hours, without much news going on. (FdW)
Address: http://www.geocities.com/padukem http://www.harshrealitymusic.com
EVENINGS – CRYPT SWELLINGS (CDR by Audiobot)
ICHOROUS – TODEKAPITEL (CDR by Audiobot)
OUBLIETTE – RAZORLUND (CDR by Audiobot)
New releases on one of the finer movers of noise on CDR, always presented in a nice package, Audiobot from Belgium. And they always seem to be finding new talent, god knows were. Evenings for instance, which is one Miles Haney, who has four lengthy cuts (some thirty minutes in total) of ear-piercing noise. It’s hard to tell what it is that he does, maybe adding tons of distortion pedals to a bunch of highly scratched records, but it might be something entirely different that he does to operate the furious noise. In some ways connected to the School of Merzbow, but evenings proofs to be a good student there. Passed the first test alright, I think.
Ichorous is one Andy Phelps from Lowell, Massachusetts and his release also has four tracks, shorter and with a lyric sheet, that is easier to read than listening to his vocals. His vocals a clearly inspired by the grunts of metal music, but the music owes much more to Merzbow, with sounds feeding to the grinder and mixed with lots of distortion. Nice, short and to the point, but for diehard only.
In terms of music, Oubliette is also on the noise side of things, but their nine tracks are a more varied bunch of tape-loops, turntable variations and electronic manipulation. It’s not always the extreme side of distortion going on here, but there is much more structuring of the mayhem than is usual on this kind of releases, and it’s still noisy enough to please the fans of the genre. (FdW)
Address: http://www.freakendfuture.com
ROXANNE JEAN POLISE – CHANGING LIGHT PATTERNS OF THE UNDERWATER FOREST (VOL. TWO) (CDR by Russolo’s Brain)
WILL SODERBERG – FUCK THE SWELLS (3″CDR by Russolo’s Brain)
The releases on the Russolo’s Brain label look rather cheap and hold not much information, which is a pity. Also the website doesn’t tell us much about the artists. Roxanne Jean Polise, whose ‘Leave Your Wet Brain In The Hot Sun’ was reviewed in Vital Weekly 489. This new (?) release is again dense and dark of nature, and again it’s hard to tell what is going on here. Sampled music of whatever kind (guitars? classical music? field recordings?), all pitched down to create a sombre and atmospheric piece of music that hardly moves in any direction, not backward or forward but creates an environment of itself. Quite nice at thirty minutes, but it could have lasted easily another hour or so. Music you put on at night to sleep by, or by day to do the dishes.
Will Soderberg plays an entirely different trick. His ‘Fuck The Swells’ is a mayhem of digital distortion. A computer crash made audible, me thinks. The warped, garbled bit rot, maggots eating a hard-disc. Will Soderberg does what Merzbow does, but in a digital way. For the die hard fans this is. It’s quite alright for what it is. (FdW)
Address: http://www.russolo.com
MATHIEU RUHLMANN – TODAY I FOUND THE GOLDEN WORLD (CDR by Somne Recordings)
Every once in a while a new work by Mathieu Ruhlmann is dropped on our doorstep and every time he takes us deep down in the world of sonic processing. ‘Today I Found The Golden World’ contains one piece that was recorded to accompany the exhibition of handmade by David Ruhlmann (probably related). According to Mathieu he uses sound sources and material similar to the images and material depicted in the books, but it’s not clear what those images and material is. In the thirty-five minutes, Ruhlmann takes us on a deep rumble journey again, of bowed cymbal sounds, mumbling sounds and other dark atmospheric sounds which are hard to trace to any source. It’s another fine work of dark ambient music, which should appeal to those in favor of drones, but who something to happen there than just a sonic rumble. (FdW)
Address: <mathieuruhlmann@hotmail.com>
ROEL MEELKOP – HARAMU/DREMPEL (CDR by Why Not)
If I’m not mistaken this is the first Roel Meelkop release that comes on a CDR, but that’s not the only thing that is different than many of his previous works. ‘Haramu/Drempel’ is a live recording of a bigger, multi-media event that incorporated dance, customs, performances and lighting. Meelkop’s part was to do the sound design of it all, which if understood correctly means to rework the sound of the participants in this event. So by no means it’s the usual computerized treatments of field recordings and electronics, which is the trademark sound of mister Meelkop. In this seventy-three minute piece you hear voices (without hearing what they say), metallic sounds and objects falling to the floor. Somewhere along the lines there is also the usual Meelkopian unearthly rumblings, but it’s incomparable to his other releases. More a document of an event, and at that it’s perhaps to regret that this is not a DVD(-R) release showing the entire thing. But at ‘just’ a musical document this is quite nice too. Best to be played as an environmental recording by itself and let it fill your space. (FdW)
Address: http://www.geocities.com/herbalrecords
INTERNAL EMPTY/BURN WARD/XIPHOID DEMENTIA (CDR by Existence Establishment)
BURN WARD/XIPHOID DEMENTIA – XIPHOID BURN (3″CDR by Existence Establishment)
These two releases are connected to Xiphoid Dementia of whom ‘Embalmed In Purity’ was reviewed in Vital Weekly 483. The first one is a three way split release with Xiphoid Dementia, Burn Ward and Internal Empty. To start with Xiphoid Dementia (although placed at the end of the release), their ‘Abomination’ is a twenty-some minute piece in similar areas as their previous release: dense, stretched fields of synthesizers, which occasionally leap into the world of noise. Quite nice, again. Internal Empty also has one track here, Burn Ward is the only one to offer more tracks, five in total. Burn Ward likes to play the noise card. Feedback distortion and vocals. It’s sort of alright, but nothing new under the Whitehouse sun. Internal Empty is the most ambient player here, although it’s quite deep, dark and covered with traces of abandoned factories. The best track here.
The other release on the same label is a collaboration between Burn Ward and Xiphoid Dementia. If understood correctly Burn Ward plays the sounds in the low and mid end, and Xiphoid Dementia the sounds in mid and high end. In fifteen minutes things arise from the deep end rumblings of the swamp to go up in the air like a rocket. Engine like sounds towards the end make this altogether more audible. Noise meets ambient in a very fine way. (FdW)
Address: http://www.existest.org
TOBIAS C. VAN VEEN/TOMAS PHILIPS – IF NOT, WINTER (CDR by And/Oar)
It has been a while since the last live CDR on And/Oar, but here is the second one, by the for me unknown Tobias C. van Veen (who despite his Dutch name is from Canada) and Tomas Philips. Van Veen has three solo tracks, which he recorded at Steim in Amsterdam, but the main portion of this CD is a thirty-five minute collaborative live track which they recorded together. This piece is a fine combination of deep sonic rumbling and high pitched frequencies. They shift through their materials with great care, but also with great variation. Sometimes sounds are played for a while with little variation, but just as you start think that something lasts for too long, things start to move forward again. A very fine piece. Van Veen’s solo pieces are even more sparser orchestrated, consisting of slowly developing hums, rumbling at the earth’s surface. It tops off an interesting excursion in microsound. (FdW)
Address: http://www.and-oar.org
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