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ALEJANDRO FRANOV – KHALI (CD by Staubgold) *
ROBERT HAIGH AND SILENT STORM – FROM THE AIR (CD by Seal Pool)
WALDTEUFEL – SANGUIS (CD by Beta Lactam Ring)
MARTYN BATES – MIGRAINE INDUCERS: DISSONACE/ANTAGONISTIC MUSIC (2CD by Beta Lactam Ring) *
GUILLAUME ELUERD – THE YEAR OF THE DOG (CD by Fabriq)
THE SPLINTER ORCHESTRA (CD by Split Records) *
TOSHIMARU NAKAMURA & LUCIO CAPECE – IJ (CD by Formed Records) *
MERSAULT – RAYMOND & MARIE (CD by Formed Records) *
ROBERT VINCS – DEVIC KINGDOM (CD by Extreme)
MARC HANNAFORD – THE GARDEN OF FORKING PATHS (CD by Extreme)
BRUME – ACCIDENT DE CHASSE (CD by Waystyx) *
BRUME – I’M… I COME… I WAS… (CD by Waystyx)
BAD SECTOR – STORAGE DISK 1 (CD by Waystyx)
RYAN RAPSYS – THE-NOVUS-ARCADIA (CD by Erratik Productions)
DUNAEWSKY 69 XQUISITE.XCERPT. (CD by Kvitnu) *
YAPORIGAMI XIII (CD by Give Daddy The Knife / Merry Works)
KNOB A SIESTA – IN MY HEAD THERE IS SILENCE AND A HULA-HULA GIRL DANCING TO A MAKE-BELIEVE TUNE (LP by Tonometer)
DEATHROES – FINAL EXPENSE (LP by Misanthropic Agenda)
MLEHST – VILIFICATION OF THE ENGLISH PEASANT CLASS (LP by Diophantine Discs)
MUURA – EL DORADO (CDR by Black Petal) *
THE NORTH SEA – ON THE ENDLESS GOLDEN SKYWAY (CDR by Black Petal) *
KENJI SIRATORI & GOH LEE KWANG – BACTERIUM SYNDROME (CDR by Herbal Records) *
WOLFGANG FUCHS – BRINX (CDR by Herbal Records)
JEAN-LUC GUIONNET & PASCAL BATTUS – TOC SINE (CDR by Herbal Records) *
SUPRASTATE – MODERN CLASSICS (CDR by Tib Prod)
LYDHODE – MY LIFE IN THE GHOST OF BUSH (CDR by Tib Prod) *
INSECTS WITH TITS (3″CDR by Tib Prod)
[BLEED] – BLACK LEATHER UNIFORM (CDR by Nil By Mouth Records) *
FIRE IN THE HEAD – YOU TOO SHALL BURN (3″CDR by Nil By Mouth Records)
DISASTRATO – FLOWS-FLAWS 1 (MP3 by LuvSound)
ALEJANDRO FRANOV – KHALI (CD by Staubgold)
The Staubgold imperium spreads its wings further now they signed Alejandro Franov from Argentina. It’s not the first time that a folk/world musician comes to a Western label, say the Vital Weekly area: Jorge Reyes was about a decade ago the man from Mexico releasing on labels as Staalplaat. In a way Franov can be compared to Reyes. Franov plays three instruments: the african Mbira, the Paraguayan harp arpa and the Indian sitar, along with percussion, voice and a little bit of electronics. Reyes limited himself to traditional Mexican instruments, but there are resemblances in sound – me think, while I have to add that I most certainly not someone who knows his way in the world of world music. The music of Franov is throughout peaceful and calm. The rhythm is tapped on the tabla, and a swirl of ethnic sounds are rolled like cosey warm bed. The sitar plays it’s raga like tunes, but it’s never uptempo. Dreamlike, meditative, late night lounge music, sipping a good cocktail. Or, as in my case, good music to wake up to with a pretty heavy hangover. Very pleasant by all means. (FdW)
Address: http://www.staubgold.com
ROBERT HAIGH AND SILENT STORM – FROM THE AIR (CD by Seal Pool)
Probably best known for his ambient drums and bass albums as Omni Trio, Haigh’s earlier, and much more electronic-avant-garde work with Sema has been criminally overlooked by the digital format. This is a true shame as 1982’s Notes From Underground LP belongs to the best that the genre has to offer. Growing tired of his early work, Haigh moved to semi-classical piano pieces with the release of the beautiful Valentine Out Of Season LP on United Diaries, which is also still not available on CD. On From The Air Haigh creates 9 beautiful instrumental tapestries of haunting melodic piano pieces combined with shifting drum patterns. Definitely not dance nor strictly experimental and never obtrusive, From The Air is brilliantly positioned between Haigh’s work with Sema and his later work as Omni Trio. The first edition of this album comes with a bonus CD with one long ambient, eerie track incorporating voices, which is much more reminiscent of his earlier work with Sema. Now all we need are the four Sema albums on CD (FK).
Address: http://www.seal-pool.org
WALDTEUFEL – SANGUIS (CD by Beta Lactam Ring)
More than 3 years in the making, this new album by Waldteufel (German for Wood Devil) comes in a beautiful heavy book-like gatefold cover, which, unfortunately, gives no other information than artist and album title. This is a shame, as this release would benefit from more background information. For instance, how else would we known that the lyrics are based on writings by German Fin-de-Siecle artists Stefan George and Alfred Schuler as well as the ancient Indian Vedas? And if you think that sounds pretentious, you’re right. Still, Waldteufel (Markus Wolff, also known from the band Crash Worship and his partner Tyrsson Sinclair) have managed to create a fascinating album filled with Teutonic avant-garde rock. Containing Gregorian-like chants with tom-tom percussion, German (spoken) lyrics embedded in creepy soundscapes, ritual passages and the occasional blast of distorted guitar, Sanguis is one of those albums you either fall in love with instantly or laugh you head off about. (FK)
Address: http://www.blrrecords.com
MARTYN BATES – MIGRAINE INDUCERS: DISSONACE/ANTAGONISTIC MUSIC (2CD by Beta Lactam Ring)
Calling yourself Migraine Inducers might not be the best route to stardom. But then, this was released in 1979 at the birth of the DIY movement, which was all about making a defiant two-finger salute to stardom. A new generation of ambitious musicians armed with total artistic freedom released their music on the then-popular cassette format thus bypassing major record companies. Martyn Bates (of later Eyeless in Gaza fame) debuted with Dissonance/Antagonistic Music, a homemade cassette full of intense nervous fragmented soundscaping, not dissimilar to Nurse With Wound or an instrumental Throbbing Gristle. When the initial 12 copies had sold out, the tape was re-released slightly more professionally over the years and now, for the first time ever, as a double CD. Sonic exploration is the heart of this beautiful, stark masterpiece, which may not be easy on the ear on first take, but gradually grows and then, when you least expect it, proves itself full of harsh beauty. (FK)
Address: http://www.blrrecords.com
GUILLAUME ELUERD – THE YEAR OF THE DOG (CD by Fabriq)
This has been noted before, but Vital Weekly may seem to review a lot, but there is a substantial amount of music we get that we have no use for. One Guillaume Eluerd is in this lot. He plays guitar and sings. It seems to be a bunch of some religious inspired songs, which are actually quite nice, and this was kindly tinkling it’s way in the background, but it entirely misses it’s place in Vital Weekly – and please don’t start the narrow minded approach, which we certainly don’t have. But this is far far out of place here. It’s not dark folk, it’s not experimental, not even remotely by any (sub-)standard, just fairly o.k. folk like songs about the world, god, people and friends – well, a man and a guitar, and why do I have the urge to play Al Stewart’s ‘The Year Of The Cat’? I had a nice time with it, no doubt about that, but what is it doing here? (FdW)
Address: http://ww.fabriq.net
THE SPLINTER ORCHESTRA (CD by Split Records)
In terms of big bands, The Splinter Orchestra can easily match up, size wise, with Mimeo, actually they have twenty-five players, instead of twenty-four, but in the past it even went up to fifty-five players. Among them we note names as Robbie Avenaim, Ben Byrne and Split Record labelboss Jim Denley. About every instrument is played here. Late last year the pieces on this CD were recorded as a ‘set of improvisations and procedural compositions’. They like small sounds, with a natural flow for each of them to explore the specific sonic quality of each instrument. As you can understand it’s not easy to keep things under control, but The Splinter Orchestra succeeds very well in keeping control. It’s not that they play a deliberate soft card here, it’s au contraire, a very detailed recording with lots of sounds happening on all level. Large scale scrapings on a microscopic level, plinks and plonks all around, even crackle of electrical charges like in a good laptop improvisation are there. Occasionally things go ‘wild’ here, but that’s only on very few moments, and even at that they don’t reach for noise or deliberate loudness. It’s more controlled hecticness than about loudness. One that requires loads of attention before it truly unfolds it’s power. It would be great to see them all play together and learn how the interaction works here. (FdW)
Address: http://www.splitrec.com
TOSHIMARU NAKAMURA & LUCIO CAPECE – IJ (CD by Formed Records)
MERSAULT – RAYMOND & MARIE (CD by Formed Records)
‘IJ’, the name of the latest CD by Toshimaru Nakamura and Lucio Capece, is the name of some water part near Amsterdam, which is the city where this CD was recorded, at the legendary Steim Studios. Nakamura gets a credit for no-input mixing board and Capece for soprano saxophone, bass clarinet and preparations. Certainly this is not easy music. The level is quite low, which requires full on concentration so one can fully grasp what’s going on. There are two pieces on this CD. It seems to me that in the first Nakamura has the bigger say, whereas in the longer second piece the Capece sounds are more to the foreground. So it’s careful feedback backed with careful saxophone sounds. Everything seems to be happening with great pace and slow speed. Sounds come in, move around, disappear, every time displaying a new technique in playing or a new approach to the same sound. Highly concentrated and quite demanding material, but very rewarding.
When I first reviewed Mersault, I listed the names of the players as the artists and Mersault as it’s title (see Vital Weekly 517), but now I understand that Mersault is actually the name of the group. The players are Tomas Korber (guitar, electronics), Christian Weber (doublebass) and Christian Wolfarth (drums). All three are high profile improvisation musicians from Switzerland, a land gifted with more talent in this area. This new work ‘Raymond & Marie’ sees a continuation from the previous release. Analogue improvisations on all three instruments meet up with the isolated electronics played by Korber, which seem to be a minority this time around. Much louder and audible than the other new release on Formed Records, this too has a wide range of dynamics. The playing ranges from soft and intimate to loud and menacing. Maybe because of this being a bit louder than Nakamura/Capece, the high level of concentration is less needed, and this comes all in a free form flow towards the listener. An utter fine disc that doesn’t sound to haphazard improvisation, but offers longer, sustaining blocks of improvised sound. (FdW)
Address: http://www.formedrecords.com
ROBERT VINCS – DEVIC KINGDOM (CD by Extreme)
MARC HANNAFORD – THE GARDEN OF FORKING PATHS (CD by Extreme)
Extreme Records takes a new direction. Some time ago they surprised with a superb album of solo-improvisations by trumpetplayer Scott Tinkler. Now again they release two other records of improvised and new music. And if I’m not mistaken, they didn’t cover this kind of music in the past. Tinkler is again present on the cd of pianist Marc Hannaford, another rising star in the world of improvised music in Australia. He gives an overview of his music through eight works, some composed by himself, others by all the players. Composed may be not the right term. He composed frameworks as a starting point for improvisations. Besides Hannaford (piano) and Tinkler (trumpet), we hear Ken Edie on drums and Philip Rex on double bass, changing from trio to quartet-format. Also there they are two solopieces by Hannaford on the cd. There’s a lot happening on this cd. Drummer, trumpetist, pianist, bassist, all of them seem involved in their own thing at moments, at first impression. But that is far from the truth. In fact they intelligently construct some very engaging and complex improvisations, through a process of intense interactive communication. So this music really ‘talks’, specially when the piano and drums meet. Like in the first track there are several moments on this cd where the music really takes off. There music is close to what you normally associate with the word ‘jazz’. But no retro-styled jazz, nor completely free and far out improvisations. They prove there still is a future for jazz, also in Australia. Hannaford has an economic and effective way of playing the piano, but his mates are equally impressive musicians. So Extreme Records has another hit with this album.
‘Devic Kingdom’ by Robert Vincs is an altogether different piece of cake. Vincs is a very experienced musician in many ways. He has a lot of experience as a freelance jazz musician, composed music for theatre and dance. He he teaches saxophone, improvisation and musical technology at The Victorian College of Arts. Furthermore he made his mark in the past with works for saxophone and interactive electronics. In 1988 he received an award for his work on artificial intelligence in music. His solo-album ‘Devic Kingdom’ is inevitably a very high-tech album. Vincs plays mainly saxophone but also a korean bone flute and a leather horn, a.o. Plus a considerable amount of interactive electronics is at work. Vincs plays his saxophones often in the higher regions, often with a penetrating sound and in an ecstasy seeking way, like in track 5, which makes him not my favorite sax-player. Like in track 6 or 7 it becomes evident that he is influenced by exotic musical cultures. The echoing sounds of his playing evoke the atmosphere of ‘primitive’ or tribal cultures. Of each track something different can be said. He makes use of many different musical influences, on the one hand, and of lots of possibilities that the electronics seem to offer. So with 15 pieces on this cd, it is for sure a very varied one, offering many different textures. But I,m not sure what Vincs is up to in the end. He has a fascination for interactive – thus ‘intelligent’ – electronics. But from this he became also interested in “the nature of human consciousness and the ‘transcendent’ experience and the music of ancient cultures.” All these interests can be traced easily on this cd. And surely Vincs is doing interesting things. There is a lot to discover on this cd as it is a very rich one considering the sounds and sonic landscapes Vincs creates. But in the end the music left me unmoved, as all his escapades didn’t impress me. The musical structure of most pieces didn’t appeal to me, and left me with the question: why? (DM)
Address: http://www.xtr.com/
BRUME – ACCIDENT DE CHASSE (CD by Waystyx)
BRUME – I’M… I COME… I WAS… (CD by Waystyx)
BAD SECTOR – STORAGE DISK 1 (CD by Waystyx)
Russia’s Waystyx is an ambitious label, and that’s great. They now start with the first two of a total of thirteen releases by Brume, from the period 1978 to 2000. Those were the years that Frenchman Christian Renou used the name Brume and he released a whole bunch of cassettes back then. On the thirteen CDs you will find a selection of these, along with live material and unreleased recordings. Every CD will be released in an edition of 375 copies, so collector’s item stamped all over it. The first two releases here were originally released by Tonspur Tapes with a three year interval, but it’s Brume at his trademark sound. Using reel to reel multitrack recording, synthesizers, percussion and voice he creates his full on sound: never a moment of silence. The differences between these two are quite small. I’d say that ‘Accident De Chasse’ is a bit more minimal, with less sudden moves and that ‘I’m… I Come… I Was…’ is a bit more focussed on sound collage with a great deal of voices. Both releases are quite nice for everybody who loves that more industrial form of musique concrete.
Bad Sector, the project of Massimo Magrini, is always lumped in with the darker musics I know, from the likes of Old Europa Cafe and Cold Meat Industry. But it’s not justly so, I think. Whenever I hear his music I think I should re-adjust my opinion. On ‘Storage Disk 1’, the first in a two part series, Magrini shows his love for old Soviet computers. Although it’s not said with that many words, I think Magrini made the music with such computers, or perhaps with the sound of such computers. The overall tone of the music is indeed dark, but at times also rhythmic in a crazy sort of techno sense. There is what I would call a gothic undercurrent in this music, which is not well spend on me, such as in ‘Jackie 1954’, but overall it’s a really nice CD of dark and atmospheric music that works best when it’s a bit more abstract and uncontrolled, moving away from say popmusic. (FdW)
Address: http://www.waystyx.com/
RYAN RAPSYS – THE-NOVUS-ARCADIA (CD by Erratik Productions)
Erratik Productions promise us a combination of drum ‘n bass, ambient, downtempo, trance, idm an trip hop, if we listen to the debut album of Ryan Rapsys from Duluth, Minnesota. That must be right, since Erratik Productions is Rapsys own label. Rapsys has a bachelor of music, concentrating on theory and composition, and has been playing music to choreography and film and even composes for orchestras. There are twelve tracks on his debut album, and indeed it moves among all the above mentioned sub genres of electronic music. You could image that it would bite each other but oddly enough it doesn’t. Tracks from various genres sit nicely to eachother and throughout it’s quite pleasant stuff going on here. It’s a bit hard to imagine, as a non DJ and non-dance type how this work on the dance floor, but it seems to me that this material is a touch too experimental to do well on the floor. It makes a rather nice listening session at home, let’s say just before you go out and dance and this is a great warming up listening experience. Rather nice indeed, if only for that odd mixture of styles. (FdW)
Address: http://www.erratikproductions.com
DUNAEWSKY 69 XQUISITE.XCERPT. (CD by Kvitnu)
YAPORIGAMI XIII (CD by Give Daddy The Knife / Merry Works)
It is not everyday we have the honor of reviewing albums composed by fighter pilots in the special air forces of Ukrainian army, but here we go! Behind the not so memo-friendly name Dunaewsky 69, we find a very interesting artist whose real name is Olexandr Gladun. After his career as pilot the well-talented composer spent much concentration in music. With a musical background counting drum-player in Death Metal- and Grindcore-bands as well as in Jazz-related orchestras plus a collaborative past with Japanese Noise-project C.S.S.O, Mr. Gladun certainly has a wide musical knowledge for composing music. And this album titled “Xquisite.xcerpt.” does reveal a very interesting and clever approach to electronic music. The music on this 78 minutes ride into the brain of Dunaewsky 69 is abstract electronic music based minimalist soundscapes, complex rhythm textures and most important, beautiful and extremely atmospheric ambient-layers. My favorite on the album is the incredible opening track “Flyings in slumber” with some quite amazing rhythmic jazz-like structures giving us a clue that the artist hasn’t forgot his career as Jazz-drummer. In combination with the dark long-stretching and quite emotional soundscapes, Dunaewsky 69 manages to lift the expressions up to higher grounds. With a nice balance between a listening friendly style and intellectual textures of high complexity keeps your brain entertained for AT LEAST 78 minutes. Though I bet, this is an album you will keep returning back to again and again! Another album of rhythmic complexity – mildly spoken (!!) – comes from British artist calling himself Yaporigami. The CDR titled “XIIII” is released on his own label “Give Daddy The Knife / Merry Works”. As was the case with Dunaewsky 69, Yaporigami also has elements of floating ambient-soundscapes in a few tracks, but the focus has been laid on the rhythm textures. Taking its starting point in furious breakbeats, the music belongs to the style often branded as drum’n’noise with a few doses of IDM added. Opening tracks are relatively mild and listen-friendly but as the album progress the expression turns more and more furious but always elegantly controlled by this excellent breakcore-artist. If you are ready for something ear-crushing you need to check this out! This is ultra.! (NM)
Address: http://www.kvitnu.com
Address: http://www.yprgm.net
KNOB A SIESTA – IN MY HEAD THERE IS SILENCE AND A HULA-HULA GIRL DANCING TO A MAKE-BELIEVE TUNE (LP by Tonometer)
From the department of funny names (or silly names, whichever you think is appropriate), here is Knob A Siesta. Their LP ‘In My Head There Is Silence And A Hula-Hula Girl Dancing To A Make-Believe Tune’ (from the surrealist department no doubt) is released by a new label from Denmark, Tonometer, who set themselves forward releasing experimental music on vinyl. Knob A Siesta is Caspar Bach Hegstrup an Christian Skjødt, who got together in 2003 and create their music through the use of ‘various objects, electronics, toys, keyboards and computers’ and what the press text doesn’t tell us, is that Knob A Siesta paid close attention to whatever is happening on 12K and Line. Much of what they do on this LP could have been easily released by that label. Field recordings run around through plug ins, sparse piano tones, tinkle on a guitar: it’s all there and most of the times they do a neat job. What is a bit hard to understand is why so many of the tracks end rather abruptly, as if they were clueless on how to end a piece. That is a bit odd. Throughout however it’s fairly decent album that however in no way holds something that we haven’t encountered before of equal or better quality. (FdW)
Address: http://www.tonometermusic.com
DEATHROES – FINAL EXPENSE (LP by Misanthropic Agenda)
Problem? That of the survival in the post-modern epoch of personality in the age of avatars hyperreality and MMOGs further how to write a review of a 12inch vinyl in the throws of a house move prior to a holiday in the Mediterranean? I like to think I’m Matt Damon as in the Bourne adventure series but I’m probably more like Brill AKA Gene Hackman in Enemy of the State. Why? keep up with me. So having to fix a washing machine well even heros need clean clothes, and a broken W.C. even heros need to not mention stopping the rat getting into the kitchen not code I’m left with only a couple of hours to listen to the above and another vinyl before departing. As my mission of review looks impossible I adopt the above Hollywood stars abilities and plugging the deck into a pre-amp and then via MP3 to the lap-top down load the said disks taking a 12inch deck on holiday is not an option. Why all this bother well who am I to delay publicity of Deaththoes “a noise supergroup consisting of Sixes and Gerritt “who in turn respectively are ex Crash Worship and Gerritt – Sunn 0))), Ginnungagap, John Wiese and LHD collaborator. I’m having to listen via headphones on the lap top by the pool – all around are people sunbathing and reading Harry Potter, if they knew what I was doing it would probably kill them anyway side 1 is OK standard noise disintegrating slowly if anything side 2 starts stops then continues more layered and far far more “serious” managing to project the idea of immanent collapse of the audio environment- always the mark of “classic” noise, and would be the envy of the poolside cicadas if I could hear them or they this. Side two is the business- perfect I’ll say no more. So problem solved review done all I need to do now is upload via satellite to frans and blow up the hotel why? If I told you that I would have to kill you. (jliat AKA 008-3/4)
Address: http://www.misanthropicagenda.com
MLEHST – VILIFICATION OF THE ENGLISH PEASANT CLASS (LP by Diophantine Discs)
Here we are then about to review the second 12inch and I’ve no covering material with me! Oh dear I think from memory its about England and pesantry??? – it is not noise but electronics beatless sounds background saw tooth waves perhaps ring-modulated and the occasional electronic glitch. I have to wonder the point of putting out such material on vinyl- as one is with vinyl sometimes aware of the medium in the case of harsh noise this is either irrelevant or part of the process of deconstruction of the stichhaltige Welt – again another track of a basic background oscillator with the occasional interruption of higher pitched modulated sound. All quite delicately done and now building into some attempt at an abstract edifice of sounds, then as quickly dying. Some percussive sound but still in a fairly unstructured landscape.. I could maybe contact Frans about this and get some more info via the web but the pool area doesn’t appear to have WiFi how the hard pressed reviewer must suffer* brief percussive burst ends what for argument I will call side one. Side two begins much the same- one might say located within a modernist epoch of experimentalism this work might not only find a grundlegendes Haus but some gravitas that is lacking in a period which is even forgetting post-modernism and post-structuralism and so these structures can re-appear in a Weltdiagramm in which this music is now difficult to locate, which should be surprising but isn’t. – there isn’t any surrounding logic – its then both interesting, enjoyable and ultimately in a brief moment of remembrance depressing. * obviously I did the lobby has WiFi! (jliat)
Address http://www.freewebs.com/mlehst
MUURA – EL DORADO (CDR by Black Petal)
THE NORTH SEA – ON THE ENDLESS GOLDEN SKYWAY (CDR by Black Petal)
‘El Dorado’ sees the second release by Matt Earle from New South Wales, who is also known to be part of Stasis Duo, X-wave, Your Intestines, The Minerals, Antipan and XnobbgX, and owner of the cassette label Breakdance The Dawn, but as Muura he is the man with many hands: he apparently plays guitar, drums, analog synthesizer while singing. I must admit that the feature of singing is something I didn’t hear in this new release. Like the previous ‘Scarlet Urmine Sandstone Lady’ (see Vital Weekly 526), Muura doesn’t care much about the recording quality, using the lowest quality possible. More than before he plays around with… nothing actually. The three lengthy pieces are all about silence. An occasional bang, much hiss from the amplifier, and the empty space where Earle sits. Maybe it’s easy to play many instruments when one doesn’t, but at times there is something to be heard and one can sense the level of concentration of putting this together. I thought this was a great disc!
It’s been a long time since we heard music by Brad Rose, that is music he played himself, as the releases on his on his Digitalis label reaches us all the time. He’s also a musician playing in Corsican Paintbrush, Eastern Fox Squirrels and solo as The North Sea. This new one seems to be a take off from his ‘The Oscelot Chronicles’, of which we only heard volume one (see Vital Weekly 424). Back then it seemed to be about loud drone related ambient, here it’s all singer-songwriter, well, in an odd kind of way. Brad plays guitar, percussion, harmonium, sings and gets occasional saxophone help. Private music of a desolate kind, but it’s certainly not ’empty’ music. There is a lot of action in his music. Brad does use multitracking, laying down lots of separate elements, that breath an air of naivety, but then well-produced. It all ends in the spacious, even psychedelic ‘The Sun Went Out’, which is by far the longest piece here and drifts about nicely, trapped in electronics, feedback and a swirling saxophone. (FdW)
Address: http://www.blackpetal.com
KENJI SIRATORI & GOH LEE KWANG – BACTERIUM SYNDROME (CDR by Herbal Records)
WOLFGANG FUCHS – BRINX (CDR by Herbal Records)
JEAN-LUC GUIONNET & PASCAL BATTUS – TOC SINE (CDR by Herbal Records)
It seems to me that Goh Lee Kwang moved back to Maleysia, since the latest three releases on his Herbal Records were sent from there. Goh himself is responsible for ‘Bacterium Syndrome’, which he produced together with one Kenji Siratori, who does the spoken word part. I assume this is all in Malaysian language, as it all eludes me very much. Titles like ‘Corpse City’, ‘Orbit’, ‘Antivital’, ‘Insane Asylum’ and such like doesn’t seem to relate to bacteria syndrome. Goh produces some high pitched noise to the texts, which could be processed feedback. However, since we don’t know what the texts are about, it’s a bit hard to say if there is true menace or not. From the far away point it hardly seems there is.
I never heard of Wolfgang Fuchs who on ‘Brinx’ offers us ’10 pieces for 1 turntable’. Wrong connections are made and the turntable offers a lot of feedback, hiss and an occasional crackle of needle skipping – there even might be a record (as in a piece of vinyl) involved. However I must admit that these ten variations on a theme are quite nice indeed. A rather conceptual approach than a musical one, me thinks, but with enough variation to make things interesting.
In terms of music the final release might be the most interesting one. ‘Electrics and electronics’, recorded in Montreal two years ago, this improvisation duet between Jean-Luc Guionnet and one Pascal Battus is also a pretty noise related affair in which a turntable is used and abused. The two keep the noise under control quite a bit, letting things hiss, scratch, beep and occasionally things go out of control, which is o.k. as it fits the scheme quite nicely. It misses the conceptual edge of Fuchs, but it makes it well up in terms of improvised noise. (FdW)
Address: http://www.geocities.com/whynotltd
SUPRASTATE – MODERN CLASSICS (CDR by Tib Prod)
LYDHODE – MY LIFE IN THE GHOST OF BUSH (CDR by Tib Prod)
INSECTS WITH TITS (3″CDR by Tib Prod)
From this new lot on Tib Prod, Suprastate is a new name for me. It’s one Thomas Aslaksen from Norway, who plays computer music. So far he has made releases on MP3 labels and here for the first time on CDR. I must say that I thought it was all a bit unsurprising. Loops of noise, although not loud, go bump around, culling extra sounds from field recordings, and have some plug in running. It works best when things aren’t really loud and when it seems that there is something of structure or even a faint trace of melody occurring. But throughout I thought this was a rather unengaging release.
Lydhode means something like ‘soundhead’ and is an ongoing and open collaboration. Here it’s labelboss Jan M. Iversen with Roar Borge of Cadmium Dunkel. You could expect a release about emptiness with a title like that, but it’s not. It starts out in a rather free mode with sounds bouncing and colliding towards eachother, a free fall from the sky, until the temperate is raised and we land in a world of colliding loops that oddly enough reminded me of very old Merzbow cassettes. It had that similar lo-fi reel to reel tapeloop quality. It made this into quite a nice affair. A free flow of sounds that could have very well be by Bjerga and Iversen, but it’s Lydhode. Nice.
Insects With Tits, a.k.a. Roger Smith and Kenneth Yates, do whatever they do best: play noise. Four tracks in twenty minutes. Loud, furious, but it seems to have a bit of progression from the previous work. A bit more structured and with more dynamics all around. Taking back the gear and building up again. That makes this actually quite allright. But perhaps it’s also because it’s short and to the point. (FdW)
Address: http://www.tibprod.com
[BLEED] – BLACK LEATHER UNIFORM (CDR by Nil By Mouth Records)
FIRE IN THE HEAD – YOU TOO SHALL BURN (3″CDR by Nil By Mouth Records)
Of course [Bleed] is more up the Jliat alley, but he’s out sunbathing, and I’m in dreary low countries, fulfilling the duties of a reviewer. Both releases are excellently packed, even when the contents is grim. [Bleed] have vague photo’s of guns and naked bodies, and ‘the colour is black, the material is leather, the seduction is beauty, the justification is honesty, the aim is ectasy, the fantasy is death’. Titels? ‘Dagger’, ‘Discipline’, ‘Death Rune’ and ‘Role Play’ among like wise grim others. Heavy banging on metal, feeding the loops thereof through a bunch of filters, playing backwards. Maybe it’s because SM is not of daily practice at all here at the Vital Weekly – that is if you don’t count listening to noise – that it’s a bit hard for me to relate to this. Yet it’s not all pure loudness going on, [Bleed] can get a creepy sound out of his pocket. Think Neubauten, think Test Department, think Non, think Throbbing Gristle, think: history. Both in content and execution, this is all very 80s. Maybe it’s just a joke? Nah. This must be serious. But [Bleed] would do well in the darkroom. I think.
Fire In The Head is of course Micheal Page’s pet project when it comes to noise (Sky Burial when it comes to ambient). No help from former punk rockers here on these four short tracks. It’s always hard to tell the difference when it becomes to liking noise, but Fire In The Head is a project I like. Also furious in approach, here with vocals and electronics, Page builts an intense sonic work that gets better and better, even doing a ballad like piece in ‘Hurry My Children’. Best work so far. (FdW)
Address: http://www.exoteric-zine.com/nilbymouth
DISASTRATO – FLOWS-FLAWS 1 (MP3 by LuvSound)
This last review closes the ironic circle of my life at the moment what was received was a Cdr of an internet release which therefore technically has no physical presence (I know this is in line with VWs rules) so now we have 21 tracks which in effect are orderless yet track 21, the last, stands out in it being 22:22 minutes long- compared to the others which range around a few minutes. 22:22 of 21 might be significant, though I cant find out what this is. What the sound is is electronics (again) slivers of abstract sounds- droney loops – on some tracks mixed with looped found sound in a fairly industrial way- spoken French & English and cheesy samples? Riechian loops??? – but to continue my story- I did play this on the now famous car CD on a long journey through the hottest day in England this year so lacking air con the windows full open it was only a cursory listen. so uykuzun that’s track 21, caused me to wonder if there was something wrong. There might be? But on second listening the complexity of micro sound, panning and such are revealed. “Make a nice dinner, put the lights on low, and let flows/flaws have its way.” Says the blurb but here is the problem and second irony as downloads you get individual tracks which save uykuzun mean you have either to burn your own cdr or keep stopping your meal to play the next track after a couple of minutes… of very eclectic electronics. So likely to give one indigestion oh I know you can set up a play list! But the eclectic nature of this release would still be problematic. (jliat)
Address: http://www.luvsound.org