STARS OF THE LID – E.P. (LP by Sedimental Records)
ULTRASOUND – ANALOGIC (2LP by Ba Da Bing!)
Rock ‘n Roll’s main instrument is of course the guitar. In experimental music it is less used, however there is small, but strong movement of people using guitars, although a lot in combination with studio techniques. One of the best known groups in this area is Main, whose ‘Firmament II’ is a much acclaimed work for experimental guitar music. These two bands come from Texas and work along similar lines. Stars Of The Lid already had a CD out on Sedimental, which I enjoyed a lot. This LP (which lasts at least 22 minutes per side, so E.P. = extended play, is appropiate in a way) is a limited run of 700 some copies. Side A opens with a huge droning wall, but slides back after a few minutes to a long, quiet but shifting phase of sounds. Gradually the drones are faded up again. This side ends with what sounds like a requiem (luckily no gothic overtones here). Guitars are more recognisable on side B, where they sound more spacey. This is ambient music for the non-keyboard generation. This LP is an excellent follow-up to their first CD, and I can’t wait to hear more of this band.
Ultrasound had a previous record, which I reviewed in these pages earlier this year. Their new 4 sided thing is a jump forward. There is luckily not much singing going on, and on one side there is a bit of drums. The rest is filled up with long washes of guitar and bass drones, some resulting in feedback loops. Unlike Main, the guitar has not been altered beyond recognition. Or at least: some times. There is a large chunk of music with drums and guitars on the fourth side, which goes into the space rock direction and I don’t like it very much. The LP set comes with a booklet full of a very personal view on his own music and it’s relation to other musicians and ideas. So if you like anything from Main to Maeror Tri then this one is for you. One of the members of Ultrasound is now in Europe for 11 months or so, and he is eager to get some concerts. Contact Vital Weekly for more details. (FdW)
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Address: <badabink@aol.com>
AMM – LIVE IN ALLENTOWN USA (CD by Matchless Recordings)
This is my first review of an AMM record, although I have been aware of their work for quite some time. The trio that has been working for more then 30 years together now have a strong influence of many bands and persons. All of their released work are recordings from live concerts. I am not familiar with how they choose a particular recording for release. This particular concert from their USA 1994 tour contains 6 pieces where each of the three instruments of AMM are used to their maximum effect. In the second part the percussion plays a big role. In other parts the piano seems to lead (the fourth one for instance). AMM produces free flowing music, a stream of sound. It will either fascinate you or totally annoy you. A lot depends on how you set your mind to this music. I think an ’empty’ (in the sense of no other thoughts) mind is necessary to discover it’s full beauty. (FdW)
Address: 2 Shetlock’s Cottages – Matching Tye, Near Harlow – Essex CM17 0QR – UK
TOY BIZARRE & ACTION CONCRET – ISOLATION STUDIES (C60 by First Circle)
From the world of cassette we received a nice package with postcards and booklet. The whole set, including the music, deals with viruses. A virus so small it cannot be seen with the naked eye can kill a whale. Microbes, instead of marcobes rule the world. I’ve come across the music from Toy Bizarre a couple of times, but I must say I didn’t get into yet. This tape comes as quite a surprise. Toy Bizarre use tape collage techniques in a classical musique- concrete sense of the word, but with the power of, say, somebody like Brume. The result stays at the same time also firmly in the industrial music, with it’s occasional outbursts. Particularly the opening of the B-side attracted me. So this tape is one to have. (FdW)
Address: 36 Uppingham Street – Semilog – Northanpton NN1 2PG – UK
SEEDMOUTH – VARIOUS ARTISTS (CD on Cold Spring Records)
This peerlessly named CD is the first I have come across, with the exception of his own compilations, which quotes from D. Toop’s informative synopsis on the possible roots of contemporary music as designed by the Trendmongers amongus. I was slightly confused by the additional text in the booklet which, while claiming to represent the underbelly electronic eclecticism also derides musical snobbery. However it makes the extremely valid point that the more challenging a product, the more threatening it appears. Plus there is a beautiful poetic text printed on the CD where the warnings usually glower.
Now to the music…first track is by Deutsch Nepal…a rather excessive 10’00 piece, the most riveting ingredient being a vocal sample asking when the big sticks are going to reduce the smog. Classic dronemeisters, Illusion Of Safety slip effortlessly in and out of their piece and are followed by what sounds like a demo for a reverb unit by Inade (never heard of…). Cranioclast (haven’t heard from them for a while) snarl and gnash their way through the Gestalt Of The Doppelganger – great track, by the way, even if it is a bit long.
Innana proffer a moment which could almost be the sound of the Martian cylinders unscrewing their portholes on some rural common shortly after their arrival in H.G.Wells’ head. John Waterman (who remembers that totally brilliant track off, coincidentally, a comparable – and sold out, dammit – compilation ‘Sky Flowers And Horses’ Eggs’) is next. (Probably better to end that sentence there, I think). His stuff is always interesting (check out Calcutta Gas Chamber or Babel) and I’m never really sure how he folds, spindles and mutilates it into place. This piece is no exception, filled with glorious textures and editing.
Mikhail Atom staggers harmonic series (going up ?) in N2 – too bad (sometimes) it ends so abruptly, sometimes. Band Of Pain get rained on while they avoid the endless screaming cracks in the pavement.
EAR irk.
Less intrusive and more spacious is the Chemical Wedding by Jawbone (crazy name, crazy guys!). Lastly, Lustmord plummet but soar as they roar, submerged. Their track ‘Deep Calls To Dub’ is like the longing cry of some subthing. The first word in this song should be ‘discorporate’…it means to leave your body.
An amazing end to this compilation which is mostly far better than good. (MP)
Address: <coldspring@thenet.co.uk>
TECHNOISE/HYWARE (2CD on I Records)
This double CD set of ‘soundsculptures’ was created as an invasive sound tool by noise technician R. Mens, who works in a variety of unusual ways. He glues contact microphones to wire brushes and gently massages selected records to death, recording all the while. He uses discarded and often broken down equipment he finds on the street as sound producers or manipulators.
Anything that goes ‘wrong’ during the sessions is mostly retained as a random element in the piece. As he says ‘noise music is all about structures, textures and colours’ and later, about this his latest release, ‘it’s a room of noise, rather than a wall of noise’.
The extreme intensity of the sound material inspired Mr. Mens to cut his tracks into 2 or 3 minute sections. Silence is included as counterpoint to the noise and index points sometimes occur in the middle of a piece.
The idea behind this set is that the Technoise CD, which is comprised of distorted rhythm loops (plus some extras…weird old recordings of family gatherings circa Year Dot) is used in conjunction with the Hyware CD which has 30 tracks of unstructured noise. The user is invited to programm herms ‘room of noise’, or leave it up to the CD Shuffle to decide. Either way it’s a bloody effective combination which certainly refreshes the ears and body (if it’s loud enough – besides who listens to this stuff soft ?), as is the intention. My question is, will a remix project be commissioned by the record label and where do I send my DAT? (MP)
Address: <che@cheltd.demon.co.uk>