Editorial news: we have decided to stop reviewing MP3 releases. Please do not send any discs with MP3 releases. Just send me an e-mail with a link and a short description, so people can download it. The amount of releases pile up every week and I can no longer devote time to MP3s. Whatever you see coming in the next few weeks are the last ones. Please do not send anymore. Also: releases that do not contain the original artwork will most likely be no longer reviewed. The real thing is necessary for a real judgment. If you wish to send us not the real thing, please contact us first. <vital@vitalweekly.net>
SOLO ANDATA – SOLO ANDATA (CD by 12K) *
DASH – BANGALORE (CD by EWM)
TETSUO FURUDATE – ONE DAY AN OLD PHANTOM PASSED ABOVE MY HEAD (CD by Menstrual Recordings) *
TETSUO FURUDATE – PIECES OF TETSUO FURUDATE (CD by Menstrual Recordings)
TIM OLIVE – THE SPECIALIST (CD by EM Records) *
CRISIS – REACTOR4 (CD by Syndrome Records) *
TETUZI AKIYAMA NERO’S EXPEDITION (LP by Monotype Records) *
GREYMOUTH – WEST COAST RIP (CD by A Binary Datum/Drunk Uncle) *
ANTHONY GUERRA – [#6] (10″ by A Binary Datum)
ZONDERLAND – PREACHERMAN SAYS: “KILL ASSHOLES” (CDR, private) *
OUTPUT:NOISE 6 (compilation CDR by Output:Noise)
LESSON LESSON LESSEN RELEARN (CDR by West Palm Beotch Records) *
THOMAS ANDRE – RECORDED IN CHINA (CDR by Gruenrekorder) *
POPTARDS – HOT CUM ON COLD CHILD (CDR by Waste Records) *
ODAL – SMASHING UP REALITY / THIS DAMNED NIHILISM (2CDR by Impulsy Stetokopu)
KNURL – MESOSOMA/NIHILISM (CDR by Impulsy Stetokopu)
DISGUISES (2CDR by Brise-Cul)
REI REA – QUEL QUE (CDR by Brise-Cul)
SLAM NIHIL PULSE RAMP (CDR by Brise-Cul)
CONSCIENTIA PECCATI – TOTEM (CDR by Tosom) *
COMPEST – RUINEN (CDR by Tosom) *
CRIA CUERVOS – L’OMBILIC DES LIMBES (CDR by Tosom) *
UNITAUF NEFES (3″CDR by Lanpaarntaal)
N.R.Y.Y. – SUFFERING (CDR by Lanpaarntaal)
BOAR (3″CDR by Lanpaarntaal)
FELLAHEAN /FUCK, THE RETARDED GIRL – ANONYMOUS DIVORCE (CDR by Lanpaarntaal)
TORTURING NURSE – ERSTELLEN (CDr by Lanpaarntaal Sounds)
OBSOLETE (OFFICE EQUIPMENT) – FAIRGROUND DISORDER (3″ CDr by Lanpaarntaal Sounds)
WANDER – WANDER (3″CDR by R.O.N.F. Records)
TOY BIZARRE – KDI DCTB 216 [DATA #3] (3″CDR by Ingeos) *
SOLO ANDATA – SOLO ANDATA (CD by 12K)
Does anyone reminder the series ‘Heavenly Voices’, compilations by Germany’s Hyperium? Mid to late 90s, this series had a whole bunch of humming and chanting female voices, set in electronic and gothic music. Half way through ‘Ablation’, the opening piece on Solo Andata’s third album ‘Solo Andata’ (which means ‘one way’ in Italian), there is all of a sudden such a humming choir of voices. Or perhaps a digital keyboard? I am now sure, but the press text talks about the almost absence use of electronics and the use of acoustic guitar, piano, cello and ‘natural resonances of organic materials’. I can see the two members of Solo Andata, Paul Fiocco and Kane Ikin, humming in a tunnel, picking up the resonances of the voices and placing this back into the music they create at home. Its absolutely great that 12K notes this thing about all of this being acoustic, because I could have easily believed something else: computers, electronics, field recordings and such like. Its quite nice to hear this all acoustic music that sounds (almost) all electronic. This one shows that it is possible to change the station when it comes to microsound. Perhaps the outcome is close to other music (that thing about heavenly voices was merely a side remark to get the review started; it has nothing to do with that kind of music), modern classic music perhaps, chamber music or ambient, and thus builds on a tradition, deepens that tradition further. Rich textured music. Great stuff. (FdW)
Address: http://www12k.com
DASH – BANGALORE (CD by EWM)
Luckily in this case I read the letter first and then played the CD. No, wrong. I played bits of this CD. Dash is a Dutch group of jazz musicians. Modern jazz perhaps. I don’t know I don’t care about jazz. Perhaps I would have given this to Dolf Mulder if I didn’t read the letter first. The letter is not from a band member pushing their latest master piece, but from Arturas Bumsteinas. He writes that he doubted wether to post this Vital Weekly, since this ‘eclectic-jazz’ would not be my cup of tea – jazz, well spotted – but the last track is a remix he did of the material. Mainly he uses the singer’s breathing as samples and adds his own instruments. Sixteen great minutes don’t make up for this release (let’s hope there will be an anthology of the Bumsteinas’ remixes which includes this in the future), of minimalist strings and breathing loops. It has nothing to do with jazz, thank god for that, but surely an odd ball in this disc. I can imagine one doesn’t rush out to get this CD, but should you come across it: fast forward to the last track. Its a great one. (FdW)
Address: http://www.ewm-music.com
TETSUO FURUDATE – ONE DAY AN OLD PHANTOM PASSED ABOVE MY HEAD (CD by Menstrual Recordings)
TETSUO FURUDATE – PIECES OF TETSUO FURUDATE (CD by Menstrual Recordings)
Its been a while since I last bumped, physically, into Tetsuo Furudate, but also a while since I last heard his music. Whatever I heard sounded good, but I also felt it was not my kind of music. What that is, I don’t know. Furudate uses the sampler to create soundtrack like music. He uses percussion samples, guitar samples, orchestral stuff. Maybe I think its the occasional orchestral bombast and noise that put me off a bit. These two new releases re-aquint me with his music. I have no idea why one is released as a CD and one as a CDR. The CD lists five films (‘Nostalgia’ (Tarkovsky), ‘Hamlet (Olivier), ‘Singin’ In The Rain’ (Kelly), ‘Orphee’ (Cocteau) and ‘Persona’ (Bergman) from which he used sound samples to create this one hour work. Some of the bombast is indeed present here, but then I think its also kept to a minimum. I fail to see the relevance of mentioning the films as sources, but then it might also be that I never saw those films. By and large drones seem to prevail in this work, wether they are loud or quiet. Its hard to spot any link towards any film, but its a great work. Even the noise bit and the sampled orchestral percussive bits work fine here.
The other one is a collection of various bits and pieces and perhaps after one solid hour of Furudate, one might not actually want to play a second hour of his music, but this has six great pieces of sampled drones. ‘Live In Koln’ is the big noise blast which I didn’t care much for, but the best pieces are ‘Gottingen’ which is gentle touch of processed ancient film music and ‘Ode To Benito Mussolini’ which takes the voice of Mussolini and marching music into the digital domain, and gets seriously fucked around over there. Much better than Louis Andriessen’s ‘Il Duce’, but me keeps thinking: “what does Furudate mean with ‘ode’?” (FdW)
Address: http://www.menstrualrecordings.org
TIM OLIVE – THE SPECIALIST (CD by EM Records)
Oddly enough the name Tim Olive just sounded familiar, without being able to place him anywhere on a musical or geographical map, but it turns out his name appeared twelve times in Vital Weekly. ‘The Specialist’ is his first solo CD, as his main trade is to improvise with other people (“Alfredo Costa Monteiro, Shinichi Isohata, Katsura Mouri from Busratch, Joel Stern, Adam Sussmann; plus long-running duos with Jeffrey Allport, Bunsho Nishikawa and Kelly Churko” – quote from the website). He also improvises on this CD, without edits, directly to two track. Olive uses his “electric guitar/bass hybrid machine, essentially a piece of wood with two magnetic pickups, a bass string or two and occasionally an unwound guitar string. No effects, just an analog preamp”, which makes it not easier I guess to imagine what this looks like, even after hearing the thirteen rather short pieces on this CD. They are pretty much noise based, but work around various textures, one per piece it seems and Olive uses the collage form at times, to break up and opening of what he does. Certainly, by any standard, not easy music, but one that requires your full attention. If Monteiro’s work means something to you, then Olive might be your man too. (FdW)
Address: http://www.emrecords.net/
CRISIS – REACTOR4 (CD by Syndrome Records)
Maybe its a sign of the times, to call a band Crisis, no doubt not the only band to be called Crisis (could we forget the punk band of the same name?). They are from the UK and ‘Reactor 4’ is their debut album. It deals with 1986 disaster of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor. The CD uses vintage electronics, tape-loops and found Russian voices. It feels like 1987 again, except back then this would have been a hissy cassette from the underground and not a pro-pressed CD. Maybe, given the length, an LP in an edition of 200 with nuclear waste site as its cover (and in 2009 hailed as a lost classic on some blogs). Everything about this release is retro. The humming of analogue synths, the use of reverb, the mumbling of buried voices, the cold and desolate nature of this music. One could think of the old Maurizio Bianchi, area ‘The Plain Truth’, that depicts similar bleak, industrial landscapes. Perhaps entirely outdated, but the consistent execution of the music and the thematic approach make up for it. Perhaps its growing with this kind of music that I can still quite enjoy it and perhaps, for all I know, there is an industrial music revival going on, of which I haven’t been informed? Nice enough. (FdW)
Address: http://www.syndrom-records.com
TETUZI AKIYAMA NERO’S EXPEDITION (LP by Monotype Records)
Polish Monotype Records branches out to vinyl, and their first release is limited to 250 copies, in hand painted recycled used record covers of which 125 are for sale, and 125 ‘kept by the artists involved in the project’. I am not sure, based on the CDR, that the band is called Tetuzi Akiyama Nero’s Expedition or that its just Tetuzi Akiyama and Nero’s Expedition is the title. But its a band that plays. Besides Akiyama on guitars, there is John Arrias (saxophone, electronics, no input mixing board), Leo Swensson (cello, organ) and Henrik Olsson on drums, electronics, piano). Six pieces, which are my CDR, cut as two pieces, although there are clear pauses between the pieces. Its an interesting release, certainly I think for Akiyama fans. He plays electric here, which may not be a Dylan like shock to his fans, but a piece liked ‘Failed’ is a racket of noise which may come as a surprise. At least for me it was. The six pieces, all gathered through methods of improvisation, throughout moves on the louder side of things. Akiyama’s fingerpicking style is at various times the start of things, but when all playing is going, things are pretty wild and very much free styled. Noise based improvisations on acoustic instruments and a bit of electronics, making a nice surprise for Akiyama – his second after he started to use vocals, and, I must admit, with more effort! (FdW)
Address: http://www.monotyperecords.com
GREYMOUTH – WEST COAST RIP (CD by A Binary Datum/Drunk Uncle)
ANTHONY GUERRA – [#6] (10″ by A Binary Datum)
Mark Sadgrove’s A Binary Datum is primarily releasing which can’t be bought, but you can trade them with him. They are usually limited run lathe cut vinyl, so much to my surprise I get a proper pressed CD, which means lots of trading. Maybe you can buy one too! Greymouth is a duo of Sadgrove and Mark Anderson. The west coast rip in the title refers to the actual village of Greymouth on west coast of the South Island of New Zealand. Be careful on that nasty west coast rip. Maybe treat the music also with some care. Eight tracks in twenty minutes of very loud guitars, drums and vocals. A kind of improvised loud rock, perhaps even the word punk may come to mind. Feedback lurks around the corner in this great furious noise rock. Think Norway’s DEL, early Sonic Youth, but shorter and to the point. Not a second too much around here and leaving the listener breathless once the twenty minutes are gone. Wow.
Anthony Guerra is these best known for his delicate acoustic guitar work, but when he was living in London, years ago, he could be seen with an electric guitar and electronic devices. Even when we like his current music (a lot actually), its good to see that he returns to that. The guitar is flat on the ground, connected with contact microphones which feedback and produce a great hissing sound. I didn’t know Guerra suffers from tinnitus for the last seventeen years, which perhaps makes sense if you hear this record. Things are at a very high end (Peter King, the man who cuts lathe records must have had smoke coming out of the cutter heads), like the Japanese semishigure in the summertime – a sound perhaps all too familiar for Guerra, who currently lives in Tokyo. A very consistent record of remarkable raw beauty. The guitar is hardly to be recognized and the medium of lathe cut means that it will decay over time, thus adding new layers of sound. Great record. (FdW)
Address: http://www.ils.uec.ac.jp/~mark/label.html
ZONDERLAND – PREACHERMAN SAYS: “KILL ASSHOLES” (CDR, private)
Early 2008, in Vital Weekly 608, we reviewed ‘Oidipus: Motherfucker’ by a new Dutch trio Zonderland, being Bart, Michel and Sietse (the latter also known as Orphax). A trio on drums, bass and guitars and perhaps electronics. A fine blend of Godspeed, Tarentel, Subarachnoid Space and, in their own words, Arvo Part. They played a few concerts last year and recorded, already in June 2008 some of this new release and the remainder in January 2009. Maybe they shopped it around for a possible 2LP release, but I can imagine this to be a risk, but the music could deserve it. Post-rock music at its fine best. The previous release was recorded in a studio, but this one, although the cover says ‘studio’, sounds more like rehearsal space recording. Which, I think, is a pity. Especially the drums sound a bit distant here, and could benefit from a better recording (more microphones, mixing etc). That is main trouble with this new release. Again the music is mainly improvised, which doesn’t work out very well in the second piece, but the other three (all around ten to fifteen minutes in length, for a good measure of trance) are great. More headspace music. The third piece lacks (conventional drums) and is an atmospheric drone affair, the other two with free drums and carefully strummed strings. My suggestion for the next record is getting in someone who knows his/her way with microphones and make a solid production. The music deserves it. (FdW)
Address: http://www.zonderland.org
OUTPUT:NOISE 6 (compilation CDR by Output:Noise)
Perhaps the title ‘Output: Noise’ suggests something that is not actually happening, but in this case I am glad. Maybe I didn’t search in the right place, but I couldn’t find where this community is from, nor why I got number 6 of their series and not number 7, which seems also be released. ‘Output:Noise is a night of improvised experimental, avant-garde, ambient, electro-acoustic and noise music developed to encourage collaborations between musicians of varying experience and disciplines’ it says as their mission statement. It mentions a whole list of people of whom I never heard (I think), such as Matt Henshaw, Daniel Rozman, J. Nathan Dziedzic, Sara Odze, Robert Braden, Ariel Cruz, Chris Hine, Martin Freeman, Joel Dow, Ben Sear and Zach Henzel. They play a variety of real instruments, guitars, electronics, effects, cello, guitar, drums, and vocals, and somehow, somewhere improvise together, many of whom never before with eachother. I think that the material was somehow edited in whatever form, but throughout I must say I was quite pleased with the quality on offer. This group of musicians play quite traditionally their instruments, don’t go for extreme silence, but play improvised music that dwells quite heavily, I think, on a mutual love for drone music, as this seems to be most of the times the case. A drone is played on an instrument, and others play along, further exploring that drone in a more rock/improvised music context. Fine explorations of musical instruments, which create some fine, intense and thoughtful music. Great release I think. Well edited, an example to others. (FdW)
Address: http://www.outputnoise.com
LESSON LESSON LESSEN RELEARN (CDR by West Palm Beotch Records)
Last week I wrote my apologies for not finding a CDR by Lesson Lesson Lessen Relearn, but it turns out that the CDR was here, and apologizes are in place. On his side of the split 7″, Nelson Hallonquist worked with some deep analogue synthesizer sounds and stuff found on a cassette, which is something he continues here too. There is also a bit of vocal here and there. Throughout this seems indeed to be the continuation of his 7″, but with tracks being somewhat more raw or less worked out (whatever you prefer). The synth is always played at the lower end of the keys (except in ‘Stepfriends’, he finds the upper end keys too), feeding through some sort of early sequencer thing, or perhaps arpeggio thing, to create, still, that vague reminiscent early industrial music of Cabaret Voltaire or Throbbing Gristle, though Nathan emphasis less on the vocal. Quite violent at times, bass shaking in ‘Break On Through (To The Other Side Of The Rainbow)’, almost ripping subwoofers apart. But its a kind of violence that is rather pleasant. Leaning a bit towards the noise end of things but never too much, this is a pleasant nightmare. (FdW)
Address: http://www.nelsonhallonquist.com
THOMAS ANDRE – RECORDED IN CHINA (CDR by Gruenrekorder)
Today might be the hottest day of summer in The Netherlands. I can barely move between arm chair and computer, or perhaps even think about reviewing music. Listening to music is hardly a problem, switching a CD is a bit more dramatic. So its easier to press ‘play’ again and listen to it again. I imagine China to be hot this time of the year too, but Thomas André made his recordings in spring 2007. Maybe the weather is better then? The title is as plain as you can get it; ‘Recorded In China’ means ten tracks of sounds from that immense country. The cover describes every track in detail: ‘Sunny. People, Loners, familias, couples. Near the main temple, a choir gathered and started singing. They are smiling, having fun and making jokes. Leaning on a tree, in the shades’, is the description for ‘Choir Of The Temple Of Heaven’. I have never been to China. I would like to go, but not because I just heard ‘Recorded In China’ twice. These recordings, untreated, unprocessed, as they are, are quite nice, and it just made me more curious about that country. Even when these recordings are quite nice, I sort of wonder who they are for? Maybe its all a bit too pure field recording for me and I rather would like to see something musical be done to them. (FdW)
Address: http://www.gruenrekorder.de
POPTARDS – HOT CUM ON COLD CHILD (CDR by Waste Records)
The package is one of those things that doesn’t exactly invite the listener to hear it. Foil, handpainted, a xerox collage, and spray paint on the disc. Poptards are from Saint Louis and are a six piece. They relate themselves to My Bloody Valentine, Sonic Youth, Mars Volta, Salt N Pepa, Lou Reed, Lou Barlow and Lou Bega. The band uses guitar, drums, voice, electronics, bass and synth. They perform a kind of garage rock, which I don’t understand very well. I can see the pleasure of playing such music, but listening to this mass of feedback sound, disjointed drums, bass, electronics swirling in and out, for about no less than twenty-five tracks… it all seems to me a bit overdone. All of the pieces are the result of jamming, improvisations on the spot. They are rudely cut when the band has enough and then the next one starts. And then another one. Etc. I am not sure who at the Vital HQ would dig this kind of noise rock of lower production qualities, or anyone out there. Having said all that, I do imagine this to be a great live band to watch. (FdW)
Address: none given
ODAL – SMASHING UP REALITY / THIS DAMNED NIHILISM (2CDR by Impulsy Stetokopu)
KNURL – MESOSOMA/NIHILISM (CDR by Impulsy Stetokopu)
Knurl’s (Alan Bloor, Canadian experimental composer and sculptor) CD arrives in a metal tin with six cards, photographs and quotes from Henri Bergson. (not)coincidentally has six tracks made by live recordings using scrap metal and violin. That was useful information and interesting because of the totalization of noise across a range of frequencies and feedback which has the feeling of speed or speeding is not an obvious auditory signified of its means of production so usurping the modernist ideology of truth to materials- ah! At least in most of the tracks. Three is more obviously a pitched stringed instrument and sits uneasy as does the following track amongst the otherwise unidentifiable noise. So I’m not sure of these – are they there to show us the puppets strings, or remind us of materiality and sense? And references to Bergson and arthropodic morphology, a middle?
More odd packaging from Odal (Peter Zincken from the low countries) 2 x CDr
in a “painted cake box with a tomentum. Never released material from 1987-1989 years.” Tomentum I think refers to a felt disk between the CDrs? Chops and cuts of film song and other noises lofi- collage, distorted loops- I did say lo fi.- perhaps recorded through a Tomentum- long distorted pointless loops- if noise is a reaction to invention (of the western project) then this is fine noise indeed in its throwness, like scrapping through an industrial waste heap it better exemplifies noise than the Knurl which still has an Avant Garde artisim about it, Odals hand made cake box contains the sediment and detritus which the confused searchers for quality would should and could listen to. (jliat)
Address: http://www.myspace.com/impulsystetoskopu
DISGUISES (2CDR by Brise-Cul)
REI REA – QUEL QUE (CDR by Brise-Cul)
SLAM NIHIL PULSE RAMP (CDR by Brise-Cul)
Quel Que is the normal industrial – heavy metal pulses awash with reverb and echo – track 4 which is shorter and more dense almost song like. Pulse Ramp –
is what it says on the can -a mix of analogue synth noise (pulses) at times sounding like eastern chanting – (its hard not to see patterns and be anthropomorphic) Which is said to be “skate noise” – the cover does show images of a broken skate park- I was unaware of the genre. Three tracks in all fairly homogeneous – perhaps becoming denser – with the occasional laser gun sounds.. General packaging is poly sleeve B& W or B & R photocopy with spray painted CDrs. Its left to the Disguises double to do something a little more interesting – these sound like live group performances rather than the dead studio work of the other two where you get the distinct feeling of fun- but that might be my big mistake. Strangled guitar and primitive pulses, crashing cymbals the whole thing a drunken improv. Second disk has more solo guitar improvisation still very live and raw in feel. I think the problem here – if there is one – is that notwithstanding the anti-art of harsh noise- electronics and experimentalism is now so out of
date and so over-rehearsed it becomes difficult in that what was novel becomes normal. That’s not a direct criticism, but what was once a listening leaning is now just a listening. The live performance is different in only that its never quite the same, a National Geographic film as experimentation is always the same unlike a visit to the zoo. (jliat)
Address: http://kvlt667.com/
CONSCIENTIA PECCATI – TOTEM (CDR by Tosom)
COMPEST – RUINEN (CDR by Tosom)
CRIA CUERVOS – L’OMBILIC DES LIMBES (CDR by Tosom)
All three releases are in the best Tosom tradition: DVD (big or small) cases, with full artwork printed on photographic paper. Looks great. Musicwise, the Tosom label moves in the corner of noise and ambient. First we have Conscientia Peccati, whom I may have heard before, although I am not sure when and where. The six pieces of music on ‘Totem’ actually put a smile on my face, although I don’t think the music is meant to be ‘funny’. What I liked about it was its cleverness. Taking the best from your various musical heroes and re-built it into something of your own. The drumming is Muslimgauze/Rapoon/Dessacord Majeur at its slowest, the drones are humming nicely like Lustmord’s “Heresy” and the mumbling of voices like… erm, well I draw a blank here. Animal cries are sampled and there is calm ritaulistik atmosphere. Normally not really my kind of music, but since I never hear his heroes again, but know what they sound like, I thought this was a pretty good release. Very solid, lengthy pieces of highly atmospheric music and well crafted at such.
Martin Steinebach, the man behind Conscientia Peccati, is also behind StillStand, Monoid and Compest, and under the latter guise he presents ‘Ruinen’ on Tosom. According to the label he melts all the various styles of his project together when it comes to the music of Compest. The tribal rhythms, industrial rhythm, ambient music, noise and ethnic chanting. All of this, however, it seems to be coming from a bunch of analogue and digital synthesizers and drum machines. The label’s words are indeed a very apt description of Compest: its all in there. The sledgehammer rhythms, the Gregorian and ethnic chanting, drones beneath it all, tribal percussion sounds. Just like the Conscientia Peccati release this is not really my kind of music that much, but again I think its nicely made. There is lots of variation in the music which is good, and influences are less obvious (which, but this is just a personal, I thought was very funny, again!), which makes that this release is perhaps a bit of lesser interest for me. For the more black typed rhythm lovers.
No rhythms on the final new release by Tosom, by Cria Cuervos, of whom reviewed music before. Two of the four pieces have been released before, be it however in a different form. Cuervos plays ambient, drones or whatever you call it, but I would like to refer to it as closed system music, isolationist and reductionist. Taking the smallest and simplest sound, say the humming of a radiator, wind blowing down a tube, and expanding, through computer means on that single sound. Creating a multitude of layers of all those processed sounds, he starts mixing them into a homogenous mass of sound, in which those layers can be recognized. Yet its not all quiet humming that’s going here, as things can get pretty loud and nasty around here, such as in ‘Des Tempes Qui Se Vitrifient Ou Se Marbrent’. That, perhaps, is the nicest thing about this new Cuervos release: the sheer diversity in the end result. I guess this is one of the most refined releases by Cria Cuervos, among an already fine catalogue of works. (FdW)
Address: http://www.tosom.de
UNITAUF NEFES (3″CDR by Lanpaarntaal)
N.R.Y.Y. – SUFFERING (CDR by Lanpaarntaal)
BOAR (3″CDR by Lanpaarntaal)
FELLAHEAN /FUCK, THE RETARDED GIRL – ANONYMOUS DIVORCE (CDR by Lanpaarntaal)
Pre-amble – Lanpaarntaal Sounds is a trade only label – though some of their releases are certainly interesting enough to allow non noise/music makers the opportunity to get a copy. The myspace site gives this “Noise can be anything, sound art, pedal noise, musique concrète, tapemusic, computer generated sound, field recordings, found sounds, outsider music, so it’s not all harsh noise or power electronics” anyone on the chondriticsound forum might know I have to disagree. Not on the basis of the source of the sound but its underlying structure and loath to say “metaphysics”. I’m not going to rehearse or whip the dead horse but can i point out “Impressionism” as an art term it could be argued is not just blurry French 19th C painting but anything that makes an impression – from the Sistine chapel through to a Homer Simpson cartoon. OK Noise can be anything- even Frank Sinatra- so I’ve lumped some of these anythings here – with something of a definitive response. Unitauf Nefes has 3 tracks Al adiat – A very distorted Male song in Arabic, Araf – Arabic music – flute and percussion – looped for around 6
minutes followed by very distorted singing and track 3 – ‘Eastern format’ again distorted Arabic? Singing. / drumming. Art can be art by virtue of its context but that as an original idea has long been done, I’ve no idea what Unitauf is about- it might be nothing at all – but the recognizable Arabic songs immediately politize the piece, though even recognizably is sufficient to move away from noise to a form of play between signifier and signified. N.R.Y.Y.’s myspace gives Experimental/noise/dark ambient/EBM – yes though not much noise or experiment – lo-fi twittering. BOAR – Starts with what I suspect could be called a drone with distortion – is in reality a deep pitched humm which evolves into noise, the following track noise evolves into a high pitched whine/oscillation- and final track where noise becomes echoy metallic drumming. Does this signify a drift away from noise towards music or some attempt at a terminal grey? Again though there is movement across some semantic plane it is of definite direction(s).
Lastly the comp- Fellahean’s contribution is four tracks of hissy stuff continuous noise(s) not saturated- lacking speed at times – at others having electronic movements- rotating the black hole rather than heading in – still unsure and perhaps flirting with the muse. Fuck, The Retarded Girl recorded on a single day “no mixing no instruments no talent no thanks to anyone” Which is it. Or rather not it. What it? – Noise. By this yardstick the others can be differentated, not only in themselves but against the mess which FTRG makes. The perfectly simple definition of Paul Hegarty (2007) as “intrusive, unwanted,” “lacking skill, not being appropriate” What’s so difficult to understand in that- why attempt to do more- re-introduce form, idea quality? Why is it beyond the ontic and epistemological reasoning of some people? The human condition? one that wants to impose order, meaning, sciences and gods on a universe which just might not be like that, and even worse impose individual subjectivities – id, ego and superego, political frameworks cultural ideologies etc etc.. there is a missionary movement of the pseudo religious which as in the past seeks to cure nature of its
disease which is called life, and replace it with death, the fear of death, the idea of quality and progress. (Sorry it seems I did hit the dead horse after all – how pointless is that? – I think I’ve had “that” flu). (jliat)
Address: http://www.myspace.com/lanpaarntaalsounds
TORTURING NURSE – ERSTELLEN (CDr by Lanpaarntaal Sounds)
I’m a great admirer of this group who seem to be trying to outdo the great M in terms of output. Since my last review where I heaped praise – where due & quite rightly – they have here gone I think better – how – in removing even tracks -a single work of 33″44′, this single monolith features extreme noise with oscillators and feedback amid walls of white and distorted noise. There may even be a kind of pun in the length, but removing even the parameters of track boundaries can only help this creep a little closer to the goal which cannot be reached – just as 2 and 1.9 recurring. the work floats on a recurring pointless sea of noise towards that non-obtainable/reachable limit. (jliat)
Address: http://www.myspace.com/lanpaarntaalsounds
OBSOLETE (OFFICE EQUIPMENT) – FAIRGROUND DISORDER (3″ CDr by Lanpaarntaal Sounds)
The noises made by video games as opposed the rock music associated with fair ground rides forms the basis for this 3inch. The fist track an amalgam (which is what dentists seem to mess with ugh!) of these noises – kind off nostalgic now as are fairgrounds as they lack the realism of modern day alternatives such as GTA and the Wee, which is right up or down Jean Baudrillard’s street “Our modern cultures no longer believe in this illusion of the world but rather in its reality (which is of course the final illusion). On the second track these self-same effects (should be affects?) are further decomposed pulled apart, disordered – or being trendy – deterritorialized. A piece then that not only pushes ALL the right buttons IMO – but hammers nails into them or rips them out with pliers. More demolition than deconstruction, the mighty fairground which is western culture and art has spun out of control and inverted itself and all values. Now that’s what I call noise. (jliat)
Address: http://www.myspace.com/lanpaarntaalsounds
WANDER – WANDER (3″CDR by R.O.N.F. Records)
Wander is the drone project of Beequeen (and you all know who that is!) and
this single piece of nineteen minutes resulted from an accident involving itunes, as was the accompanying image of a semi naked girl sliced with digital drop outs a result of an accident in downloading. More ambient than drone with whiteish noises the piece resembles electronic abstract field recordings, in two sections- the first slowly rhythmical mixes of noise and oscillations reminiscent of old FM synthesis the second section builds in intensity of white noise. How much the product of accident and deliberate alteration is difficult to detect, the whole thing however resembles the found objects along the tide mark, surreal, strange and at times somehow poignant, such finds brought home and kept on a shelf or in a draw as tokens of something now gone, lost. (jliat)
Address: http://www.ronfrecords.com/menu/rnf/rnf038.php
TOY BIZARRE – KDI DCTB 216 [DATA #3] (3″CDR by Ingeos)
The gap between number two and three in this twelve part series is much closer than between one and two (Vital Weekly 676 and 690), but again its a twelve minute work. Twelve parts, twelve minutes each (and no doubt will fit a nice double CD when completed). The concept is clear: Jude Anderson observes the weather in 1 square meter in Australia and Cedric Peyronnet creates a sound piece. One of the things that went unnoted by me is that the cover lists all the sounds used. Mainly I notice this now, since it says somewhere ‘Ian laughs’ and ‘Um laughs with Ian’, which can be spotted somewhere in this piece. We also hear fog, drift, tom digging, lifts and sun sweeping in – well, ok, perhaps not as clear as it is written, as Peyronnet is one hell of a master when it comes to processing the sound into a great piece of textured music. Some will identify this as microsound, no doubt. It moves quite and quiet, nicely along the waves, taking its time to built things up again, into a sudden sweep. Fine third episode. (FdW)
Address: http://www.ingeos.org