D_RRADIO (CD by Cabin Boy/Distraction Records)
MOIRA STEWART – SWEETNESS, YES! (CD by Cabin Boy/Distraction Records) *
COLD READING TRIO – LIFE OF GHOST (CD by Form Function Records)
SUITE CRUDE REVUE – SPACE AGE GUTBUCKET AFRODELIC JAZZPLOITATION
(CD by Cosmoelliptic)
SET IN SAND – NOTHING AGAINST THE OCEAN (CD by Abandon Building) *
BRAN(…)POS – COIN-OP KHEPRI (CD by C.I.P.) *
LJUDBILDEN & PILOTEN – ONE HUNDRED FIFTY-FIVE (CD by Nosordo) *
BIRCHVILLE CAT MOTEL – GUNPOWDER TEMPLE OF HEAVEN (CD by Pica Disk) *
HLEUCHATISTAS – EVEN IN THE MIDST … (CD by Cuneiform)
FAVOURITE PLACES (CD by Audiobulb Records)
TITMACHINE (7″ by Meeuw Muzak)
AHASVERUS – FOUNDATION (CDR by Ahasverus Records) *
PUIN + HOOP – HEADPHONE SESSIONS (CDR, private)
JOSH RUSSELL – SINK (CDR/MP3 by Quiet Design) *
ROBERT CURGENVEN/CHRIS HOWDEN – ALICE SPRINGS, CENTRAL AUSTRALIA (CDR by Recorded Fields) *
LINDENBERG MUNROE & LAMARQ BARROS & THELMO CRISTOVAM & HENDERSON RODRIGUES – ALPENDRE (CDR by Tib Prod)
LEONARDO BARZABAL/ADRIAN JUAREZ – SPLIT SERIES #5 (CDR by Tib Prod)
LECANORA – IMMUNITY (CD by Kokeshidisk) *
JGRZINICH – FERRIC (3″CDR by Taalem)
HUM – CALDRON OF WINDS (3″CDR by Taalem)
BEN FLEURY-STEINER – HE DREAMS IN RIVERS (3″CDR by Taalem)
JUTE GYTE – APIDYA (CDR by Jeshimoth Entertainment)
JUTE GYTE – WHERE WE GO WHEN WE (3″CDR by Jeshimoth Entertainment)
JUTE GYTE – ARAKAN (CDR by Jeshimoth Entertainment)
GRIZ+ZLOR & JUTE GYTE – COLOSSUS OF WHITE TAR (3″CDR by Jeshimoth Entertainment)
PUMPKIN BUZZARD – UNDERNEATH ROTTING (CDR by Jeshimoth Entertainment)
PUMPKIN BUZZARD – MANTIS ANTLER (CDR by Jeshimoth Entertainment) *
OPRHAX – DROWNING IN A POOL OF TREES (3″CDR, private) *
COLOSSUS – THRONE (Cassette by Heavy Nature Tapes)
SUBURBIA MELTING/MOTHKULT (Cassette by Heavy Nature Tapes)
MYSTIFIED – UNCANNY (Cassette by Heavy Nature Tapes)
MYO – LIGHT (MP3 by Zeromoon) *
ASHER – STUDY FOR AUTUMN (MP3 by Con-V) *
D_RRADIO (CD by Cabin Boy/Distraction Records)
MOIRA STEWART – SWEETNESS, YES! (CD by Cabin Boy/Distraction Records)
Of course I have no idea how the young people these days feel about a 7″, but when grand daddy – me – was young, money was sparse and you couldn’t always afford to buy all you wanted, so 7″s were the preferred format. One great song, if you were lucky the b-side was also great. This you had to play until more money arrived to buy another one. Maybe that’s why I still like 7″s. D_rradio surprised me with three 7″s on Distraction Records (Vital Weekly 510, 524, 546) and they have worked for three years on their debut CD, and guess what? Like in the old days, when you saved up from washing daddy’s car, and you could finally afford to buy that LP by that beloved artist, it was not always the same genius as was the 7″s. That’s what happened here. What sounds great as one pair of tracks, may sound dull when bundled up in a pair of ten. In itself they might be great tunes, filled melancholica, dry humor, nice moves and such like, but perhaps it’s the fact that they come in series of ten, instead of two, the uniform sound, the absence of vocals that made me less enthusiastic about this debut album. Maybe follow Joe Jackson’s ‘I’m The Man’ and release a boxset of five 7″ records?
But things can be entirely opposite too. My first encounter with Moira Stewart, for their debut album, is a straight shot of joy. But it would also lead to a small confession. Well, maybe I coughed up before: I like New Order. And straight from the opening lines of their first track (no titles here), synths, drum machines, ah-ha choir, thin lead vocals and guitars, I feel at home. Except that I am really at home instead of listening to my favorite New Order on my Ipod in the train. It has great hooks, rock-dance inspired songs, funny samples, multi-vocals. In all great pop tunes, and this time I mean pop tunes. I am no record industry mogul, nor will I ever see big cash rolling in but if Moira Stewart won’t be big with their uptempo, quirky electro-rock pop tunes who will? For the ten tracks, thirty-four minutes (how more classic pop-length do you want it), this has put one big smile on my face. (FdW)
Address: http://www.distractionrecords.com
COLD READING TRIO – LIFE OF GHOST (CD by Form Function Records)
Form Function Records focuses on experimenting with electro-acoustic improvisation. The CD by the Cold Reading Trio is a clear example of this interest. This trio comes from New York, and is made up by Christian Pincock (laptop computer, valve trombone), John O’Brien (drums, percussion) and Evan Mazunik (accordion, keyboards). John O’Brien studied symphonic music and also jazz drumming with Gerry Hemingway among his teachers. He drummed in many different contexts: afro-cuban music, jazz, orchestral music, etc. With the trio he tries to expand the “sonic possibilities of the traditional drumkit”. Evan Mazunik is an accordionplayer who recently got involved with Soundpainting, “a sign language for live composition”, that is by developed by Pinnock a.o. From early childhood Christian Pinnock was interested in all kinds of soundmanipulation and that led him into the world or electro-acoustic music. He directs the Brooklyn Soundpainting Orchestra. With the Cold Reading Trio he aims at “capturing material from other players during an improvisation and recombining and modifying that material to create his contribution to the group”. You get the picture? Improvisors are in dialogue with what returns from their playing through the live processing by Pinnock, that also comes into being through improvisation. For my ears it is not always traceable what comes from the musicians and is what is echoed by the samplers. And I,m not a listener who is interested in how they did things, but in the music that is created in whatever way. Their improvisations are very open and transparent. They sound more like an ensemble of new music then as jazz trio. The music is very well recorded. They keep a good balance between the acoustic instruments and the electro-acoustic means. All this makes listening to this cd a great pleasure where there is room for every detail. In ‘Raven steats the Sun’ the drumming by O’Brien is in the forefront. In other pieces like ‘The Sybert Commission’ or ‘Rub-a-dub’ the music is centered around the accordion. Improvisations vary in coloring and structure. They don’t lose themselves in meaningless technocratic escapades. Far from it. All of them are very disciplined players, and there is definitively beating a heart in this very advanced music. (DM)
Address: http://www.formfunctionrecords.com/
SUITE CRUDE REVUE – SPACE AGE GUTBUCKET AFRODELIC JAZZPLOITATION
(CD by Cosmoelliptic)
I’m not sure what we have here. Its a very hybrid and mixed up cocktail. The genius behind it is Daniel Zelonky, who has some CDs out as Low Res, Crank, a.o. With several members of the Sun Ra Arkestra he gave a live performance of obscure Sun Ra compositions. That is about all I know about him. But listening to this crazy album I learned another thing, it is clear that Zelonky loves the orchestral sound of old latin albums by Perez Prado, etc. Also I had to think of old James Bond-like filmmusic and lots of other exotica from the 60s and 70s. In most of the 11 exotic pieces it is as if a complete orchestra is at work. But probably we are dealing here with cleverly sampled or otherwise ‘imagined’ orchestras. The grooving compositions he constructed from these old records don’t differ very much, I suppose, from the ones on these records and are therefore not extremely original. He didn’t transform the original music into some completely new, but he stays close to the original musical idioms. In most pieces Zelonky adds his sax-sounding keyboardplaying. All is done very clever. He successfully assembled his pieces into music that has great unity. The track ‘Chalky’ is also in a live performance on this disc, played by a 36-piece orchestra, showing convincingly that Zelonky can create his hybrid jazz-funk-latin also on stage. The cd closes with an ‘unreleased; Sun Ra composition ‘Intergalactic Research’. Considering the amount of records that are out by Sun Ra, it is hard to believe we are dealing here with an unreleased composition as the liner notes tell us. But what does it matter? For it is a funny and very enjoyable cd. (DM)
Address: http://www.cosmoelliptic.com/
SET IN SAND – NOTHING AGAINST THE OCEAN (CD by Abandon Building)
High hopes for Set In Sand, as this release on Abandon Building is totally fresh and new and already licensed to another label, Hue Records in Japan. They come from the US midwest and combine IDM, hip hop with say Steve Reich in their early days, but now take things a bit further. Rhythms are broken and chopped up, guitars are added, and more importantly samples of all sort of weird origins an vocals. Though the latter are not present in every track, they sound very much like my personal heroes of Sparks, with whom Set In Sound share more than just the vocals. The weird angles from which things are approached (jazz? rock? symphonic rock?), sudden weird moves and of course the falsetto voice, with sings along with itself. It doesn’t have the complexity, nor the rock of the latest Sparks albums, and throughout Set In Sound is less complex per track, but they have potential to be more a pop band than a strict electronic band. Personally I prefer the vocal tracks more than the instrumental ones, and I think that should be an area that they should explore more. It’s not difficult to see the potential that these clever label bosses also see with this band. Very witty and clever made. (FdW)
Address: http://www.abandonbuilding.com
BRAN(…)POS – COIN-OP KHEPRI (CD by C.I.P.)
The label compares the oddly named bran(…)pos with 70s Residents, Stockhausen, Dick Hyman, Runzelstirn & Gurgelstock, Gert Wilden, Emerson Lake & Palmer with the compositional complexity of Ennio Morricone and Beethoven. Phew. Behind bran(…)pos is one Jake Rodriguez, who works as such since 1995. I have no idea what else he has released over the years. I’m likewise not entirely sure if I can follow what he wants with his music. Some of his ‘influences’ I can surely detect in here. The collage like approach of say Runzelstirn & Gurgelstock, cheesy film music ala Wilden, sure. But it has also techno inspired music, such as in ‘Archival Rodeo’, which I thought wasn’t that interesting at all. As such, this is a bit of the problem with this release: maybe Rodriguez wants things to be too clever, too many influences, too much genre bending that it numbs the result. A mixed feeling is what I have here. Part of it is certainly quite nice, but certainly towards the end of the disk, some of the pieces are a bit too long for the amount of information it has. One has the idea that not everything has been fully explored, and some decisions need to be made. But in the future that may grow, no doubt, but its not entirely here yet. (FdW)
Address: http://www.cipsite.net
LJUDBILDEN & PILOTEN – ONE HUNDRED FIFTY-FIVE (CD by Nosordo)
Kristofer Ström (great name, if you know it means electricity in german) is man behind Ljudbilden & Piloten and hails from Malmö. He already a split CD before with Osso Bucco (see Vital Weekly 416), but it took him some time to create his real first full length. In the meantime he has recorded music for theatre, dance-theatre, films and toured with David Balula, Domotic, O.Lamm and Dead Texan and made animation films himself. A busy bee. Although he uses a variety of instruments and objects, his main instrument is the guitar. He tinkles nice away, with in the background rhythms compiled from all sorts of sources as glass, an egg slicer and handclap. The ornament comes from the piano and a trumpet every now and then. All of this is created inside the fine, warm place of the computer, making foremost busy music. Even when things are supposed to be mellow and easy, it’s music that is really filling up space. Everything is used and Ström uses many layers. Combined with the fact that certainly towards the end of the CD a certain similarity arises in the pieces makes that I think that this CD is a bit too long for what it is. It should have been ten instead of fifteen tracks (which doesn’t mean that the last five should be cut off, just a best ten actually) and it would have gained strength. Now it’s all a bit too much. Program your CD player and create your favorite list and it’ll be a great CD. Nice extensive collage booklet also. (FdW)
Address: http://www.nosordo.com
BIRCHVILLE CAT MOTEL – GUNPOWDER TEMPLE OF HEAVEN (CD by Pica Disk)
Music by Birchville Cat Motel, a.k.a. Campbell Kneale only reaches me very occasionally, so the list of releases mentioned in this booklet certainly impressed me. If ever I want to collect it, I sure have a lot to catch up with, but it might be a worthwhile thing to do. Or so my thoughts were when hearing this release. Like I said, I don’t always catch up with Kneale’s output, but this new one certainly filled me with pleasure. To make things easy: Birchville Cat Motel plays drone music of a louder kind. One piece here, forty minutes in length. At it’s core lies organ drones, that sound like a church organ, carefully layered to create miniature variation. That is the firm foundation of the piece. Somewhere a bass slab sound comes in, and somewhere later, the organ plays a three note melody, all of this while the fundament lies firm. Hold on, there is a cymbal played mechanically too. Or isn’t? Such is the music of Birchville Cat Motel. Deceiving. Deceivingly simple from the surface, but complex if you listen carefully. Things aren’t what they are, elements are picked out and evolved, altered and put back in the mix. Not ‘loud’ as in the word ‘noise’ but forcefully present – the music is ‘there’, loud and clear. A very refined work of drone meets noise. Play loud and be immersed. (FdW)
Address: http://www.picadisk.com
HLEUCHATISTAS – EVEN IN THE MIDST … (CD by Cuneiform)
The fourth album from this post-punk trio from North Carolina, and their second one for Cuneiform. With three earlier records out they have already have an development behind them. But I can’t say anything about it, as this is my first meeting with these guys. What is their music about? Surely they raise the question: how complex can you get, using guitar, bass and drums only. And this trio gives you an impressive answer. Starting from an punk attitude they underwent undeniably the influence of Captain Beefheart. This places them in the tradition of earlier punk orientated bands who made efforts to incorporate Beefheart’s madness. Think of bands like Minutemen, Big Flame or Stump. But we are in 2008 now and Ahleuchatistas is their name. An instrumental trio of Derek Poteat (bass), Shane Perlowin (guitar) and Sean Dail (drums). Very dedicated, they maintain the same high level of concentration and intensity from start to the end, also in their slower songs. All three turn out to be virtuoso musicians, but their craftmanship functions as a means to an end, and not as a goal in itself . They don’t trade in acrobatics, these musicians have something to tell us. From the artwork one could conclude that their are politically interested. Back to the music. One could ask what is interesting rockmusic nowadays? To be honest, I don’t know. Is it dead, or is it above all a silly question? You tell me. The great days of rockmusic where somewhere in the previous century. But with Ahleuchatistas and related bands we have something really interesting going on. As said they keep a punk mentality, but it is not forbidden to be capable to play an instrument now. Also it is allowed now that one piece differs considerably from the other. Also it not forbidden to have musical ideas, and put as many of them as you can in one song. All this is the case for Ahleuchatistas in their down to earth way, using no unnecessary make up. I have the feeling that the way they sound on this cd comes close to their live sound. What you hear is what get. Just a few overdubs and some other manipulations, like the backwards playing of tapes in the last track. But that’s it. Some of the compositions are very convincing, others however are not that interesting. This is the weak spot of this trio I think. But that is all in the game when you are seeking for new territory as this band is doing. “Swimming Underwater with a Cat on Your Back” is an overwhelming and very rich piece. With very tight playing. Changing of rhythms and color. In a piece like the intimate “The Bears of Cantabria Shall Sleep No More” they try improvise a ballad like piece. The twangy guitarplaying we hear in most of the songs sets them apart from their colder math rock-brothers. They love changes. Changes in dynamics, rhythm, mood, etc. Making it an adventurous listening experience. Definitively a band to watch! (DM)
Address: http://www.cuneiformrecords.com/
FAVOURITE PLACES (CD by Audiobulb Records)
No doubt everybody must have a place that they call their own. A place which you cherish and go back. Like a forest, the bath, a museum or an alley. These are just four of the examples on this CD of ten pieces of artists’ favorite places which they were asked to record and then treat those recordings into a music piece – both source and composition are inside one track. The whole project comes with photos and coordinates. All neat and carefully planned. The end result is certainly as great. From forest walk by Taylor Deupree to the lighthouse of Biosphere, from the bath of Dot Tape Dot and the studio of Leafcutter John – it all sounds intimate and the music they play as a result of these intimate recordings is of a likewise intimate nature. Drones, glockenspiel, acoustic guitar and rhythms make up eerie music. It moves away from the previous compilations by this label that the artists are better known, musicwise it moves more towards ambient and less to techno music (in all it’s guises) and the thematic approach. Topped off with an elaborate packaging (both print work and jewel case) this is the best effort on Audiobulb so far. Also included are Claudia, John Kannenberg, RF, Aaron Ximm, Build and Nomad Palace. Very lush. (FdW)
Address: http://www.audiobulb.com
TITMACHINE (7″ by Meeuw Muzak)
The very essence of anything punk and beyond is the very urgency to do something. Learning the skills to play an instrument is absolutely the last thing you could or should loose time on. I think. Three chords of punk is way too much. Titmachine started out in the periphery of The Hitmachine, and have by now nine tracks under their belts and played a handful of gigs to a bemused and bewildered audience. It’s Jana on keyboard/voc, Djamilla on guitar, Jodee on bass/voc and Pascale on drums. A classic line up for non classic music. Maybe Meeuw Muzak, who just released their first 7″, didn’t know any titles, or perhaps Titmachine themselves are waiting to think up themselves, but one side has a piece that is about playing faster all the time, when the introductionairy talking about the very early days of the band is over, that is. The other side has ‘I Wanna Be Your Dog’, the classic piece of which I am told every starting (startling? sparkling?) band plays in their early days of their careers – but since I never mastered any chords, it’s very unlikely you’d see me rock out to this classic song. Titmachine wear their instruments well and have a firm no wave at-tit-ude. The start of something beautiful. Perhaps. Unless the ladies end up in drug habit of cola flavored chocolate or an immense cat fight (both of them unlikely) (FdW)
Address: http://www.meeuw.net
AHASVERUS – FOUNDATION (CDR by Ahasverus Records)
It’s been a while since the previous release by Ahasverus, also known as Henrik Summanen on the label with the same name as the band. Henrik Summanen also runs Elektron, but Ahasverus is his hobby project. He records his music at home and at the EMS studios, which may shed some serious light on his music, but ever since he discovered dark wave/industrial/dark ambient he is converted to that music. Since ‘Ten Is The Number’ (see Vital Weekly 525), nothing much has changed in his modus operandi: deep washes of synths, the tickle of bells through massive walls of reverb create music that is strongly linked to the likes of Lustmord, Old Europa Cafe and Cold Meat Industry. I was thinking it all sounds a bit too mechanically produced. You take the blue print of one type of music, make a close study and apply your own music to it, but without putting your hearth in it. Music made according to a matrix, without their own soul. (FdW)
Address: http://www.ahasverus.se
PUIN + HOOP – HEADPHONE SESSIONS (CDR, private)
Wether Puin + Hoop is a duo of solo project, it’s hard to tell. They refer to themselves as ‘we’, ‘us’, ‘musicians’. The Headphone sessions do not refer to the way you should hear them, but rather how the music was made: ‘the musicians were not able to hear each other. They could only heart their own sounds through a headphone. The separate parts were recorded simultaneously on a multitrack device. Nothing but a base note was determined before hand’. The four tracks in which this results are remarkable coherent. A sort of lo-fi electronic music that is occassionally noise based, but never goes over the top. It could be a bunch of guitars, lots of devices of which the delay seems to be the most important one, slowly developing and changing color. Of course the notion of this being recorded to multitrack leads to the whole thing being mixed out after that, perhaps adding more effects to the proceedings and balancing between the various input. But of course that is no problem at all, as it’s the end-result that counts and these Dutch boys may borrow a bit of the New Zealand style figures (noise, rock, drone), they have something of that is certainly of their own imagination. Quite nice and nicely spray painted cover. (FdW)
Address: http://www.myspace.com/puingeefthoop
JOSH RUSSELL – SINK (CDR/MP3 by Quiet Design)
Sometimes things are not what they seem to be. And sometimes they are. When I popped in this new release by Josh Russell, I thought we were dealing with the same person who presented microsound compilations on his own Bremstrahlung label but the sound coming out of my speakers weren’t certainly microsounding at all. Loud, skipping, almost earthly sounds. Damaged speakers? Damaging speakers? Can’t be the same, right? But yes, it’s the same person. I checked the press message, and yes, it’s him. He has a background in biochemistry and microscopy research, and ‘Sink’, while loud, may represent a bit of that background. It sounds like a chemistry lab, with obscure fluids being boiled, amplified and brought alive. Or looking through the looking glass and see lots of similar bacteria crawling about – it’s them singing on this release. Russell puts on quite an amount of amplification to let you hear them. His loudest record to date, it says. Is he deliberately trying to break out of the microsound world? I hope so, since this sounds great. It has all the trade marks of microsound (minimal, glitch, plug ins, hey maybe even field recordings), but it’s so much louder. In the dead end alley that microsound has become it’s good to see someone trying to change things and Russell does a really fine job on ‘Sink’. Excellently produced with a finer sense of detail in the entire sound range, moving about and varied. Rather one piece divided in ten steps than ten different pieces. The future of microsound has started. (FdW)
Address: http://www.quietdesign.us
ROBERT CURGENVEN/CHRIS HOWDEN – ALICE SPRINGS, CENTRAL AUSTRALIA (CDR by Recorded Fields)
I am not entirely sure what this release is about. “The first volume in its (Recorded Fields – the label) Sound Atlas Series. […] the sound atlas comprises field recordings made over eight days in twenty-two locations through the township and surrounding MacDonell Ranges, creating stunning sonic vistas from the unique arid land environment”. So, what we hear is culled as mix of field recordings from twenty-two locations. Then I am impressed, as it sounds like an open microphone recording made in one place. Birds, insects, somebody walking – the usual ingredients of untreated field recordings. Not exactly strong stuff, I must say. It’s nicely recorded, perhaps a bit soft, and it sounds alright, but somehow I have the idea something is missing here. Perhaps an unique edge, something that makes it more their own thing, rather than some building blocks of what could have been music made from field recordings. More work in progress than finished work, I thought. (FdW)
Address: http://www.recordedfields.net
LINDENBERG MUNROE & LAMARQ BARROS & THELMO CRISTOVAM & HENDERSON RODRIGUES – ALPENDRE (CDR by Tib Prod)
LEONARDO BARZABAL/ADRIAN JUAREZ – SPLIT SERIES #5 (CDR by Tib Prod)
From the four players of this disk, I only heard
of Thelmo Cristovam before. Here he plays ‘c-melody sax’. The other players are Lindenberg Munroe (Didjeridoo, Pianica, Recorders, Whistles), Lamarque de Queiroz Barros (Pianica, Recorders, Whistles) and Henderson Rodrigues (Pianica, Recorders, Whistles). That is a lot of wind instruments. In 2005 they teamed up together to play for sixty minutes, three seconds and a little bit. An endless stream of sound is what the produce. Not in continuos in the drone sense of the word, but blowing wildly aloud and apart. Oddly minimal in a way, with each player getting on with his own part. It’s a long sit this release, and certainly could have been thirty minutes shorter to have the same power, but perhaps the long and windy road is something that needed to be explored from beginning to end. For lovers of true improvised music on wind instruments this is certainly an interesting disc. For myself I was mildly enthusiastic about it.
Also the next two names are new one for me, and I have no idea where ‘split series 1 to 4’ may have appeared. No information on the Tib Prod website for this. Adrian Juarez opens up with a piece for improvised percussion. Carefully he plays his music, with an emphasis on the cymbals and the overtones it can create. It’s a nice piece. It’s a bit harder to tell what Leonardo Barzabal uses for instrument. It could be a stringed instrument or strings playing percussion. Also his piece is nice, intensely playing, scraping and touching his instrument. Both pieces clock at around twelve minutes and a fine examples of what they can do. (FdW)
Address: http://www.tibprod.com
LECANORA – IMMUNITY (CD by Kokeshidisk)
JGRZINICH – FERRIC (3″CDR by Taalem)
HUM – CALDRON OF WINDS (3″CDR by Taalem)
BEN FLEURY-STEINER – HE DREAMS IN RIVERS (3″CDR by Taalem)
Kokeshidisk is mainly concerned with releasing golden oldies and perhaps Lecanora is one such goldie from yesteryear, but I don’t believe I heard of them. Maybe I did – it’s not always easy to keep up. It’s a solo project from the label boss at hand here, Cyril Herry, who was also a member of Exotoendo, a trio who recorded their music is abandoned tanks. All of this material, released as well as unreleased became the prime source for Herry’s solo project. The sounds are re-treated – more reverb in a lot of instances, some delay, layered on top of each other or cut short to make small loops. Bell like sounds, the noise of debris falling on the floor and other spooky detailed music. Maybe a bit too uniform in approach for my taste as many of the pieces do have a tendency to sound alike, but for those who love Lustmord, Rapoon or even Troum (in a more rhythm induced moment), may find this a pleasure to hear.
The vastly growing empire of Taalem: an endless line of 3″ CDR, a bit like the other endless line of 7″s on Drone, and covering many similar names and music. The first new one is by Jgrzinich, who has been active in the field of recordings for more than a decade now. These days he is in southeast Estonia, where collects his field recordings, along with rusty metal wires, a wind harp and such like. ‘Ferric’ is one piece of alternating drone music and back in the shack rusty metal shields, carefully swung together. Highly atmospheric, slowly in decay towards the end.
More field recordings can be found on the release by Hum, also known as Dmitry Christov from Russia, or perhaps his other aliases, such Sphogha, Maw, Mikosterion or Small Town Zombie, all of which I never heard. Hum had releases on Mysery Sea and Drone. There you are. Here he has three untitled piece of slow enveloping ambient/drone music. A bit of field recordings is set against some obscure electronics, which are hard to pin down. Synths? Computer process? Can’t tell really. It’s a nice lo-fi affair this one, not high and mighty on the recording side, but full of raw intent.
Ben Fleury-steiner is best known for the releases he produced on his own Gears Of Sand label, sometimes as Paradin or Light Of Shipwreck. He too evolves dabbles around with drones and field recordings, more the first than the latter. Unlike Hum, Fleury-steiner operates with synths of processed ambient guitars, which are layered on top of eachother, and make rather spatial forms. More open than the somewhat claustrophobic Hum. A pity that both pieces are too similar however, the second is an extended remixed version of the first. (FdW)
Address: http://kokeshidisk.free.fr
Address: http://www.taalem.com
JUTE GYTE – APIDYA (CDR by Jeshimoth Entertainment)
JUTE GYTE – WHERE WE GO WHEN WE (3″CDR by Jeshimoth Entertainment)
JUTE GYTE – ARAKAN (CDR by Jeshimoth Entertainment)
GRIZ+ZLOR & JUTE GYTE – COLOSSUS OF WHITE TAR (3″CDR by Jeshimoth Entertainment)
PUMPKIN BUZZARD – UNDERNEATH ROTTING (CDR by Jeshimoth Entertainment)
PUMPKIN BUZZARD – MANTIS ANTLER (CDR by Jeshimoth Entertainment)
The whole notion of no more than three releases and nothing older than six months was entirely lost of Jeshimoth Entertainment and the owner Jute Gyte (the previous released and reviewed Chefkirk ‘The Word Veganism’ was in Vital Weekly 606). So in stead of an indepth (?) review a small survey of the releases at hand. Gyte, whose real name is Adam Kalmbach, has released various of his works. He has been playing music since 2002 in various genres ‘including ambient, black metal, harsh noise, IDM and various others’. His 2006 release ‘Apidya’ shows his love for more ambient industrial music in the first piece, with a loud outburst of noise somewhere in between. The other two tracks are more interesting. ‘Empty Rooms’ is built around a slow rhythm and the title piece around the sound of rain and computer processing. Here too there is an element of noise, but Gyte keeps it under control. Both tracks would have been stronger if somewhat shorter.
Then he released a 3″ CDR (I am going by catalogue numbers here) called cryptically ‘Where We Go When We’, with just one twenty-three minute piece. ‘Bass drones, esoteric vocal manipulation and destroyed guitar’ are the three ingredients for a loud, noisy beast of feast. Flowing like waves on a stormy ocean, this cascade of noise is not my thing, although it’s not the worst in its kind. Here too the length is the problem. Why use twenty-three minutes when ten would be fine too?
With twelve tracks at seventy-eight minutes, ‘Arakan’ has more tracks which are a bit shorter. It also moves in an entirely different territory of music. Rhythm plays an important role, spiced up IDM rhythms that is, with lots of keyboards and distorted guitars. Heavy beat music, with some more subdued electronic music parts, part field recordings, nervous organ playing and such like. Strange music this is, but it surely has some nice moments and with some more variation then the other two, this is the best of the trio. But again, too long!
With Griz+Zlor (being one Paul Dever), Jute Gyte made a collaborative release of two ten minute tracks of unrelentness noise. Here it’s cut down to ten minutes, but both pieces work rather single minded, so three would have been fine too. The least release of this lot. Too much Merzbow on a off-day.
Actually all of the Jeshimoth releases are long, easily clocking in between sixty-five and seventy-eight minutes. Pumpkin Buzzard’s two releases is in total well over two hours, so you can imagine that it’s quite long to hear all at once. Forty-eight in total. They are announced as a ‘highly experimental pop music collective’, ‘they draw from industrial, funk, extreme metal, pop and psychedelica, which indeed is very much true. Lots of rhythm, samples, rap, vocals, collage sounds, weirdness, hip hop, film music and many more all pass by with great ease. If there are any major differences between both releases, then I’d say that on ‘Mantis Antler’ the songs are more ‘songs’ and on ‘Underneath Rotting’ there is more sketch like piece and less coherent/more chaotic true out. As said it’s a bit much, but over time, I am sure a few favorites will distill from it. (FdW)
Address: http://www.jeshimoth.com
OPRHAX – DROWNING IN A POOL OF TREES (3″CDR, private)
Releases by Sietse van Erve’s project Orphax mainly found their way through MP3 releases, and a handful on CDR. ‘Drowning In A Pool Of Trees’ is his latest, private release and based on a concert recording he made in October 2007, which he later edited into this release. Apparently it uses field recordings, voice, electronics and a melodica sample. Orphax stretched the sample out to a twenty minute piece of ambient drones, however slightly distorted and on top there is the crackle of contact microphones scratching the surface. It’s hard to tell where the voice comes in or goes out. Bird twitter is also there. It builds up to a climax and takes it down again, all done with elegance. Nothing spectacular, nothing innovative, but executed with style and eye for detail. Nice one. (FdW)
Address: http://www.orphax.com
COLOSSUS – THRONE (Cassette by Heavy Nature Tapes)
SUBURBIA MELTING/MOTHKULT (Cassette by Heavy Nature Tapes)
MYSTIFIED – UNCANNY (Cassette by Heavy Nature Tapes)
It’s always good to see that there are still people keep releasing cassettes. Ages ago my preferred format, and perhaps still something I like. Heavy Nature Tapes first releases are all American bands. Colossus is one Ryan Laliberty who recorded five pieces on his ‘Throne’ release. Music from the deep end of ambient low bass crossing in the world of noise. It’s hard to tell which sound sources are at use here. Maybe a bass, some voice, some electronics and lots of EQ going down. There is a nice lo-fi rumble going on here, which is unclear if it comes from the recording or the medium it is reproduced on.
Suburbia Melting is Andrew Quitter from Portland, Oregon and he puts on some heavy noise. Feedback and distortion tucked in a bed of drones that seem to be recorded of an engine. Not so much my thingy. On the other side we find Ryan Laliberty again, here in disguise as Mothkult. It’s easy to see why he choose a new name, since Mothkult deals more with the noise end of things, although his deep bass rumble is still present. Better than Suburbia Melting I thought, since it had more variation, but his Colossus tape sounded better.
Mystified is a name that popped up before in these pages with their curious mix of low resolution samples and electronics. Sometimes they play a more rhythmic card – although not enough in my opinion – and sometimes moody textured music. Here the latter plays the main role. The tracks are alright, nothing new here for Mystified, although a bit more variation would have been nice. (FdW)
Address: http://www.heavynature.vze.com
MYO – LIGHT (MP3 by Zeromoon)
Music by Cory O’Brien, going by the name of Myo, has been reviewed before: ‘Process’ was a CDR release by MT6 Records. Here he offers a free download release, of two live pieces and three studio pieces, although I must admit there is not much difference in studio and live for him. O’Brien uses various pieces of free software along with field recordings of power hum, other static electricity, plexiglass and dry ice to record his own brand of noise meeting microsound. Unlike the Russell release (see elsewhere), O’Brien’s music is more from the world of noise than from the microsound, an influence that seems to be almost gone here. The end result is certainly nice. Quite loud and noise based, but also more thought out and constructed than the average noise musician. The dry ice sounds nice, placed under pressure of feedback and transformed using various pieces of software. Things work best for me when he keep things under control, as in the first three pieces – when he walks the finer line between silence and loudness. The final two pieces dwell more on the loud part and were less interesting, but throughout this is the noise that I like. (FdW)
Address: http://www.archive.org/details/zero088
ASHER – STUDY FOR AUTUMN (MP3 by Con-V)
The works of Asher (Thal-nir) find their way mostly through MP3 releases and some CDR releases. Maybe time has come to release a proper CD. At least I may have written that in the recent past about his work, but today I was in doubt again. ‘Study For Autumn’, recorded in fall 2006, is announced as one his more melodic works, but I can’t help to think it more like in terms of repeating his self. Lots and lots of hiss, sparse piano tones and some ‘brass bells’ make up this twenty-two minute piece. It seems to me like a ‘heard that-been there’ recording for him, and not his finest moment at that. Static hiss, minimal movements on the piano, some extra sounds and bob’s your uncle. Maybe it’s because it’s an older work and has Asher already progressed? I think he can do much, much better. (FdW)
Address: http://www.archive.org/details/cnv46
correction to Vital Weekly 607: Tape Rape is not Kenji Siratori but Kjetil Hanssen