TRYYO – FLYING BOX (CD by Pfmentum)
HAFFAH – SENZA TITOLO (CD by Evil Rabbit Records)
REDDEER – NEW YORK-ST.JOHANN (CD by Evil Rabbit Records)
ORCHESTRA OF THE UPPER ATMOSPHERE (2CD by Discus Music)
STRINGSTRANG – WAASLAND (CD by Seja) *
FERGUS KELLY – LOCAL KNOWLEDGE (CD by Unfathomless) *
THE OWLS ARE NOT WHAT THEY SEEM: DAVID LYNCH TRIBUTE REMIXES (2CD by
Zhelezobeton)
UHUSHUHU/OGNI VIDENIY/LUNAR ABYSS (CDR by Zhelezobeton) *
MELODIE DES VERGESSENS – PALUSTRE GENESIS (CDR by Zhelezobeton) *
SACROMONTE – RIME (CD by Luscinia Discos) *
ANDREW RAFFO DEWAR & ANNE LEBARON & ANDREA CENTAZZO – ENCANTAMIENTOS (CD
by PfMentum)
GIW – NEVER IS ALWAYS (CD by Fi Records)
NANDI – MYLAPORE (CD by Cjn Records)
NATASHA BARRETT – PUZZLE WOOD (CD by Aurora) *
ETANT DONNES – LE PARADIS BLANC (LP/DVD by Warm)
OPÉRA MORT – FILM WORKS (LP by B.a.a.d.m.) *
A THING HEARD: FOUR WAYS OF LISTENING (10” lathe cut by ppppp)
JON THORNE – HOMESTEAD (CDR & 7” lathe cut by Static Caravan) *
DIECI ENSEMBLE – SAME (CDR by Setola Di Maiale)
BARTOSZ DZIADOSZ & TOMASZ MREŃCA – MIRAGE (3”CDR by Taalem) *
CENDRE OGATA – DE MAGIA (3”CDR by Taalem) *
INTERNAL FUSION – WAÏSSAD (3”CDR by Taalem) *
JEROEN DIEPENMAAT – DOUBLE LANDSCAPE (business card CDR, private) *
SANELIV – PENINSULA (cassette by Illuminated Paths)
TRYYO – FLYING BOX (CD by Pfmentum)
Many releases of California-based Vlatkovich were on my table in the last few years. And each new
record often was one with a new line up, a new format. This time trombonist Vlatkovich makes his
point in a trio with Jonathan Golove (electric cello) and Damon Short (drums). Golove is a cellist and
composer, performing new as well as traditional composed music. As a player of the electric cello he
prefers settings of improvised music, as is the case here. Tryyo debuted in 2012 with live-recorded
‘Pershing Woman’. ‘Flying Box’ was recorded in the studio halfway 2015. They set their teeth in ten
compositions by Vlatkovich, producing some positive and tuneful vibes, even a bit funky at moments.
Vlatkovich never moves deeply into avant-garde territories. But starting from conventional idioms, he
always succeeds in creating music that is entertaining and full of ideas. On this album ‘ballads’ and
introvert pieces contrast with up-tempo compositions. There is fine relaxed interplay between the
three, and also room for solos. Those follow unison-played passages where the players push and pull
one other in different directions. Just the joy of jazz. (DM)
––– Address: http://pfmentum.com/
HAFFAH – SENZA TITOLO (CD by Evil Rabbit Records)
REDDEER – NEW YORK-ST.JOHANN (CD by Evil Rabbit Records)
Evil Rabbit is steadily building on its catalogue of improvised music. The label started in 2006 as an
initiative by pianist Albert Veenendaal and double bass player Meinrad Kneer. Now they present
release number 25 and 26. Both in the recognizable sleeve design by Lysander le Coultre. Haffah is
Christian Ferlaino (alto sax), Herbert de Jonge (piano), Renato Ferreira (double bass) and Hans
Houtman (drums); an Amsterdam-based unit. Houtman is the veteran in this combination. He is
part of the Amsterdam free jazz since the 70s. Together with de Jonge and bassist Michiel Dhont he
had a trio OAAO in the early 80s. Houtman and De Jonge still make a team, and Haffah seems a new
initiative of them. Because of the symmetry in the names ‘OAAO’ and ‘Haffah’ I am inclined to think
Haffah is their idea. Anyway, with their younger companions Ferlaino from Italy and Ferreira from
Brazil, both active members of the improv scene in Amsterdam, they make an interesting next step.
In ten short pieces they make their point in jazzy improvisations. All of them show a very sensible
quartet at work, which is a pleasure to listen to. At moments they sound lyrical and romantic. Like
in ‘Ni & Nim’, where romantic piano contrasts with pointed playing by bass and sax. All In all this is
very lively and playful album with great playing by Ferlaino and others.
Reddeer is a trio of Fay Victor (vocals), Elisabeth Harnik (piano) and Dominic Lash (double bass).
This is a very international line up; Victor comes from Brooklyn, Harnik from Graz, Austria and Lash
is from Bristol. In 2010 they participated at a collaborative residency for musicians near New York. It
was here they first met and discovered that they inspire one other. In 2011 first recordings followed,
also in New York. Most of the improvisations on this cd are from this session. In 2012 they played on a
festival in Austria. The cd includes three improvisations from this concert. So recordings of this debut
date from several years behind. Victor combines spoken word with non-verbal singing. Her vocal style
didn’t immediately appeal to me. But after a few listenings my perception changed completely. Victor
bends her voice in any thinkable direction. Big changes in dynamic and power never lead her off the
road, a very expressive singer and vocal artist. She is in good company with Lash and Harnik, who
plays the inside of the piano as well as piano keys. The three construct tight, edgy improvisations that
leave you no escape. (DM)
––– Address: http://evilrabbitrecords.eu/
ORCHESTRA OF THE UPPER ATMOSPHERE (2CD by Discus Music)
This orchestra is one of the many projects Martin Archer is involved in. In this case an extended
ensemble that debuted in 2012 with a double album. Followed by a second double album in 2014,
and now again with a double album. The orchestra has seven members: Martin Archer (keyboards,
electronics, sax, clarinets, flute), Chris Bywater (keyboards, electronics, laptop, percussion, voice, etc),
Steve Dinsdale (electronic drum kit, floor percussion, keyboards), frostlake (voice, electronics, viola),
Yvonna Magda (violin, electronics), Walt Shaw (percussion, voice & electronics) and Terry Todd (bass
guitar) and they are assisted by four more musicians. A big line up. How to call their music? It
reminded me most of some kind of progressive rock dominated by electronics played in a traditional
way. In fact everything is traditional on this release. They excel in spacy, spun out jam sessions with
a beat that transport you back straight into the 70s. However, it not so much a plain retro sound they
produce, but also it is far from a renewed version of this kind of music. Overall the music progresses
in a pleasant laid back manner. There does not much happen to disturb your cosmic trip. They created
a coherent universe but not the most exciting one. (DM)
––– Address: http://discus-music.co.uk/
STRINGSTRANG – WAASLAND (CD by Seja)
Early 2016 I saw Jan-Kees Helms, also known as StringStrang play a concert. It was in a period of
personal turmoil with his former partner and mother of their children being terminally ill, and
passing away shortly after that. Helms, who previously worked as Post Mortem, Jen Jen, ran Lor
Teeps and scribe for this rag, has been working as StringStrang for a number of years now (Vital
Weekly 910 and 905), and I missed out on his last release ‘Deportatie’, a limited CD release and
photo book. Helms is also active in photography and films. With StringStrang Helms explores the
guitar and sound effects to create some highly atmospheric music, which found it’s inspiration in
Stars Of The Lid or Fear Falls Burning, to mention just two other players of similar music. It is as
such not something I haven’t heard before, but at the same time I am quite a sucker for this. The
three pieces here were recorded during that period of sadness and that reflects in the music. Over
the years StringStrang’s sound has been developed further and became much more refined I think.
Recorded in his living room, all of the rawness of before seems to have vanished but there is a rough
edge anyway to the music, a slight persistence of dissonance if you will. Helms uses a guitar, a Tibetan
bowl and a glue ring to create this music and it works best in in the longer pieces, such as the title
piece and ‘Dead Flowers Alive’, both well over twelve minutes. In the final piece ‘Reflections On
Echos’, at seven minutes a bit shorter, the development is too quick, I thought. Which made me think
that at thirty-six minutes the album is a bit on the short side as a whole; I wouldn’t have minded this
to be fifty or so minutes. Maybe its the depressing weather conditions of rain and thunder, the
passing of grey clouds or the fact that summer’s gone and the days are shorter and colder, this is
the perfect soundtrack to go along with that. (FdW)
––– Address: http://sejarecords.bandcamp.com
FERGUS KELLY – LOCAL KNOWLEDGE (CD by Unfathomless)
One of the more active composers from Ireland is Fergus Kelly and his work has been covered quite a
bit in these pages. He is mainly active in the world of field recordings and for ‘Local Knowledge’ he
made recordings along “an approximately 4km stretch of North Dublin’s Royal Canal, between Ashtown
and Phibsborough”, with a bunch of microphones, binaural and contact microphones, and also
hydrophones. The whole range as it were of possibilities to tape sound. Kelly lives in this area and
walks there quite a bit. There is a train line nearby, small industries and a lock to control the water.
But there is also a whole selection of birds in the area. Enough to do a bit of recording I’d say and the
nine pieces presented here are mostly presented ‘as is’. There may have been a bit of cleaning, to
reduce an unwanted frequency here or there, but otherwise untouched. That is hard to believe, as
based on what I hear I could easily believe there is some kind of processing going on. In the seventh
piece we hear wind howling in an underpass, or so it seems, but it could easily be some snare
installation. There is the passing car or bystanders asking Kelly something (‘hey man where’s your
camera’ or something to that extent). In the ninth piece (all are untitled) there is some kind of
rhythm, maybe picked up down at the lot of small industries? There are more machine hum and
conveyer belts in this one. The whole nature (pun intended) of these pieces is one of quietness, which
is great. No doubt some of this was recorded with very few people around, ‘at various times of the day’,
as it is said on the cover. In his selection, Kelly looks for something that can be seen as a ‘song’ or
‘piece’. Various elements that collide together on this particular moment in time and space; like the
obscured hum and ventilator sounds of the fourth piece, with a train passing overhead and some
bird sounds. Very still music, but with lots of power. This I think is a great release, probably Kelly’s
most refined moment so far. There is no noise here, which is something that was on some of his
earlier works a presence, but here it remains quiet and evocative. (FdW)
––– Address: https://unfathomless.wordpress.com/
THE OWLS ARE NOT WHAT THEY SEEM: DAVID LYNCH TRIBUTE REMIXES (2CD by
Zhelezobeton)
UHUSHUHU/OGNI VIDENIY/LUNAR ABYSS (CDR by Zhelezobeton)
MELODIE DES VERGESSENS – PALUSTRE GENESIS (CDR by Zhelezobeton)
This particular trip starts with something I never like to review, which are compilations. Here the
subject is David Lynch. I did see some of his movies, surely. There are more that I didn’t see of his,
actually. I know that makes me like a barbarian as of course it’s better to write that all of his films
are masterpieces and very dear to my heart. When “Twin Peaks” was on the idiot box in the 90s he
lost me after three episodes; I couldn’t remember what I saw in the last episode, a week earlier. But
a few years I watched them in a short period of time and enjoyed it. That didn’t make me rush out to
watch the third season, but as someone remarked at a fantasy convention I attended recently, Lynch
intends this third season as an 18 hour movie, so I was thinking to save it up for Christmas day and,
as I remarked jokingly, to use the bathroom whenever a band comes on to do their bit. That works
well as a start for a review of a double CD compilation dedicated to David Lynch, his films and his
music? Probably not. This is more or less a remix of an earlier tribute (see Vital Weekly 1040) of
Russia’s finest reworking the previous compilation and Reutoff, Light Collapse, Dvory, Skripp,
Wunderblock, Relic Radiation, Kryptogen Rundfunk, Arcuation, Povarovo, DMT and Sal SolarisNotum,
Uhushuhu, Acruation, Alex Schultz, Lokodepo and many more take on the duties of remixing. Can’t
particular picture David Lynch dancing to some/many of the more techno inspired songs here, but
then I was surprised to see Nine Inch Nailes being part of an episode. There are quite some moody
textures to be spotted here, but I must say that I think the emphasis is on the rhythm a bit too much.
It seems like a good excuse was needed to come up with a bunch of dance/rhythm based remixes
and it’s not easy to see the David Lynch connection in this lot, nicely dark and bouncing as I thought
the music was.
Also a compilation of sorts is the three-way split between three of Russia’s finer ambient projects;
playing the kind of ambient music that Lynch might also like, I thought. Each project has a solo piece,
which take up about half the disc while the other half contains a collaborative recording of music they
played together as part of a sleep concert in September 2015. Close your eyes and listen, ignoring the
cover, who’s who doesn’t matter that much. There is very little difference between all of these pieces
and they all use an endless sustain on their synthesizers, allow a bit of field recordings (birds, people),
instruments (Tibetan bowl, voices), and lots of effects (delay and reverb mostly, but no doubt also
chorus, pitch shifters, flangers and phasers and whatever they are called), which are employed in a
rather free form modus; everything is switched on, all lights blink and the only agreement is to play
everything very slowly and let developments go in a rather natural way. This is best heard in their
collaborative concert recording; someone plays a recording of water, feeding it through effects,
whereas someone else has a bunch of synthesizer sounds on the table and the third one puts heavily
effected acoustic objects in the microphone. Everything is dark, everything is moody and all is played
with very slow pace, which is exactly the kind of thing this music needs.
Igor ‘The Ghost’ Tumanniy started Melodie Des Vergessens in 2012 in Volgograd, Russia and the
idea was to use the sound of a live accordion. As I was copying this bit of information from the
information sheet I was thinking why his nickname would be ‘the ghost’, but then I reached the end
of information I read that on January 10 of this year he committed suicide in his home in Moscow. He
released a bunch of albums on CDR and in the digital domain. In 2015 he recorded this album, mainly
in the countryside but doing also work in his mobile studio. The accordion is not the most ordinary of
instruments, even when Pauline Oliveros’ work springs to mind, and with the amount of live processing
that Tumanniy applies to the original sound it is also not always easy to recognize the instrument,
should that of course be something you want. Through loops and all sorts of other electronics means
(reverb, delay, the whole foot pedal collection) the music that Tumanniy creates is quite ambient but
not necessarily of the cleanest proportions. The result is quite forceful at times, but at the same times
also lovingly spacious. Underneath there is an occasional thumb or beat, but mostly it contains massive
soundscapes. Lots of shifting of tones takes place, back and forth, up and down and inside to outside and
back again. It is perhaps not something you stick on for a fine time of meditation, but it might make you
on a most pleasant head-trip, while fully conscious. Very good and sad to know there won’t be more of
this. (FdW)
––– Address: http://zhb.radionoise.ru
SACROMONTE – RIME (CD by Luscinia Discos)
Behind the name Sacromonte we find Alberto R. Lucendo who is from Castellon in Spain and who
recorded the music on ‘Rime’ in Berlin, where he now lives. His main instrument is the guitar and
after having ‘an intense career in the Spanish musical scene’, he started Sacromonte in 2015 and
‘Rime’ is his debut album. The label tells us that ‘this work came from the necessity of reach the
essence in spaces and deep emotions’. There are seven songs here and one is an instrumental, in
the rest there are vocals, sometimes by Sacromonte himself or by Ana Bejar. Other musicians play
synthesizer, grand piano, Wurlitzer, French horn or ‘echo tape machine loops’. The music is quite
dark, full of emotion, perhaps, as quite rightfully the lyrics are printed on the cover, because from
whatever is sung it is not possible to decipher them. The voices are covered with an unhealthy
amount of reverb and mixed to the background, and are more intended to be atmospheric than
something to be perfectly understood. Music for sad souls from a likewise sad soul. Or desolate? Or
melancholic? It is all something along those lines. Popmusic? Well, maybe one could say this is pop
indeed, perhaps in a 4AD kind of way, even when I gave following what they released after 1985.
But that sort of dream pop meets shoegazing I think is something that fits Sacromonte also. For me
it is all a bit too ethereal, too much drama and despair; maybe I would rather play an old This Mortal
Coil record again, if I want to sink into similar moodiness; better vocals surely over there. The cover
is pretty black and doomy so in that respect all the right boxes are ticked. (FdW)
––– Address: http://luscinia.org
ANDREW RAFFO DEWAR & ANNE LEBARON & ANDREA CENTAZZO – ENCANTAMIENTOS (CD
by PfMentum)
Collaboration between Andrew Raffo Dewar (soprano saxophone), Andrea Centazzo (percussion, live
electronics) and Anne LeBaron (acoustic and electric harps), recorded at the California Institute for
the Arts on January 28, 2012. Dewar is a composer, improviser originating from Argentina, but living
and working in the US. Did his studies with Steve Lacy, Alvin Lucier, Anthony Braxton, a.o. Composer
and harpist Anne LeBaron is from Louisana, studied with Kagel and Ligeti. Centazzo is a veteran from
the Italian underground and improv scene. He started as an inventive drummer, and is also known for
his Ictus label that he started in 1976. In the late 70s he played a lot with NY improvisers like John
Zorn, Tom Cora, Eugene Chadbourne. He stopped however with improvisation in 1986 and turned to
composing music (operas, symphonies, etc.). This release however shows that he not completely
abandoned improvisation. The cd has seven tracks, ‘Encantamiento I’ up to ‘Encantamiento VII’.
Recorded at the California Institute for the Arts on January 28, 2012. Intriguing music that is difficult
to situate. Music that integrates many traditions and influences, but they are abstracted to a level that
makes this music something new. It is improvised, but the way I perceive it, it sounds often as modern
composed music as well. They create engaging textures, sound dominated colouring, improvised
music a very high level. Sometimes a bit Eastern-flavoured because of the playing by Lebaron. But
also because of the disciplined playing of all three in their reflective improvisations. Great work! (DM)
––– Address: http://pfmentum.com/
GIW – NEVER IS ALWAYS (CD by Fi Records)
Giw is trumpeter Pablo Giw from Cologne. We spoke here earlier of his duo-work with drummer Mirek
Pyschny as Dus-Ti. ‘Never is Always’ is his first solo statement. Giw is an exploring artist, searching for
new sounds and textures. Considering the structure of these compositions however, they are not very
far out. Several of the tracks stay close to the song format, like the title song that has vocals and moody
trumpet playing by Giw. The instrumental tracks have influences of minimal music. ‘Gone’ for example,
sounds without doubt as a Philip Glass-inspired piece of music. Also other tracks are built from
repetition from certain phrases. ‘Hain’ is also an instrumental track, and for sure the most funny one.
A minimalistic disco-track that really works on the dance floor. Also ‘Right Endeavour’ is a weird track
in the same vein. ‘The Golden Calf’ brings the ambient trumpet playing of Jon Hassell to my mind. This
solo album is a really mixed bag, with interesting and entertaining moments. Everything is by the hand
of Giw himself: music, lyrics, recording, mix, etc. Included information says Giw had electronic music in
mind, but in the end created music by acoustic and instrumental means only. (DM)
––– Address: http://giwmusic.com/
NANDI – MYLAPORE (CD by Cjn Records)
Nandi is a trio made up of Ghatam Suresh Vaidyanathanv (ghatam, kanjira, konnokol, vocals), Pascal
Lovergne (acoustic bass guitar, konnokol) and Stefan Orins (piano), that started October 2014. In fact
we are talking here of a classic line up of the piano trio of piano, bass and drums, but not quite.
Lovergne and Orins, both from Lille, France, are joined here by an Indian master percussionist, who
not only introduces Indian percussion instruments, but also rhythms and melodies that are rooted in
the South Indian Carnatic traditions. Stefan Orins you may know from, his numerous collaborations
released on Circum Disc. Lovergne has a strong interest in Indian music and is the binding force of this
project I guess. Vaidyanathan is above all a master on he ghatam, a classical claypot instrument from
India. Both Vaidyanathanv and Lovergne also practise konnokol on this album, a vocal percussion
technique. In seven collective compositions they create a convincing mix of Indian musical traditions
with jazz. For sure an intelligent meeting of technically very advanced musicians, and a first release
for CJN records. Not on all moments it worked for me. When Orins plays in a lyrical jazzy style, it didn’t
really combine with the ghatam playing by Vaidyanathanv. On other moments when Orins is more
involved in rhythmical aspects, it really worked well. Absolutely a very thorough work and an
intelligent meeting. (DM)
––– Address: https://nandi.bandcamp.com/album/mylapore
NATASHA BARRETT – PUZZLE WOOD (CD by Aurora)
From UK composer Natascha Barrett I reviewed some work before but that was some time ago (see
Vital Weekly 622 and 964). She works within the field of electroacoustic music, with an academic
background. Her music is released on similar serious labels, like Aurora and Empreintes Digitales
and I must admit that sometimes I think this kind of computer based music sounds very much the
same and the five pieces on ‘Puzzle Wood’ is not different. In the booklet there is a description for
each piece, telling what kind of original sound in went into the machine, animal sounds, for instance
and what lies at the root of each piece, which considerations. Then, inside the computer, these sounds
are filtered, stretched, granulated, bend and re-shaped. Barrett then puts the outcome of all of these
processed sounds together and creates a sound collage out of that. Usually pieces like this are
performed on multi-speaker systems, but on CD they are reduced to a stereo image. I can imagine
that sitting in an auditorium surrounded by x-amount of speakers there is a certain element of
immersion with this music, but somehow at home this may not work in the same way; at least I am
not always allowed to play music as loud as possible, or required. The five pieces by Barrett are quite
good, but for me don’t seem to stand out what I heard previously released by her or by others,
primarily on the empreintes Digitales label. Sounds fall up and down the granular scales, reverb is
used with care but never she holds back on the use of it. It is not bad, but also hardly surprising and
maybe it lacks for me the aspect of surround sound. One hears the proficiency it was made with, but
at the same failed to get a good, firm grip on the listener. (FdW)
––– Address: http://www.grappa.no
ETANT DONNES – LE PARADIS BLANC (LP/DVD by Warm)
Very recently I mentioned seeing a festival in 1986 where Tasaday played (but I wasn’t sure I saw
that), but also Coup de Grace, SBOTHI and Etant Donnes. Especially the later made an enormous
impression on me. It was super loud, super exciting and very short. Maybe twelve minutes including
the overwhelming classical music (by Manuel De Falla) that was right at the start. I was blown away
and since then I looked and listened to the music and videos of the French brothers Hurtado differently.
With their work after 1997 (or so) I have not so much connection; the whole aging rock star pose is not
my cup of tea. The box set that Vinyl On Demand released of their earliest work however I found most
enjoyable (not reviewed in Vital Weekly).
‘Le Paradis Blanc’ was recorded in 1983 as part of a three-day festival in Lyon. On the first day
they constructed an installation, the second day they performed and on the third day they destroyed
the installation. The DVD contains an ‘edit made with the movies of the construction and the
destruction of the installation’. The whole film lasts seven minutes. The record, two parts of the title
piece, lasts exactly two times twenty-two minutes and sixteen second, and contains that classic Etant
Donnes sound. At least that’s the sound I remember from them. The vari-speed working of a reel-to-
reel tape, which is used to record all sorts of sound on and layered onto each other, they make up
some intense collage of musique concrete sound. It has a mighty fine lo-fi character, and we recognize
a synthesizer here or there, among the loops glass breaking, vari-speed voices moaning and sighing as
well as the slowed down layering of bricks. Well, that I figured out from seeing the DVD, in which they
are making a construction with bricks and gravel, with the usual stroboscopic effects from time to time.
The music that is part of the DVD sounds oddly enough a bit brighter than on the vinyl, which seems to
be a bit more covered in dust, but I suggest you turn up the volume quite a bit and experience the raw
power of Etant Donnes. Every now and then I play a bunch of their works, and this goes straight that
pile ‘to be played again’ in the next round of music to hear again from this great duo. (FdW)
––– Address: http://www.warm-ed.fr
OPÉRA MORT – FILM WORKS (LP by B.a.a.d.m.)
As the title already indicates these are soundtracks to movies; ‘The Potted Psalm’ by James Broughton
and Sidney Peterson and ‘Dream Work’ by Peter Tscherkassky. The latter is from 2001 and the first
from 1946 and of which only an excerpt can be found online, whereas the second is on YouTube in its
entire form (I think). The first was silent and the second had a soundtrack before but as part of the
Night Of The Experimental Film in Gent Belgium, Opéra Mort composed new soundtracks and added
a third work, ‘The Potted Work’ as an outtake from their rehearsals. The Parisian duo of Èlg + Fusiller
have a number of works available, but I think I only heard something by Fusiller solo before (see Vital
Weekly 898) so my proper introduction to Opéra Mort. I saw the movies and they are quite
experimental and surreal, with rapid changing scenes Tscherkassky with odd colours and masks as in
‘The Potted Psalm’, and the soundtracks cooked up by Opéra Mort fit the scenery quite well. They
extensively use synthesizers, perhaps of the modular variety and with different results. On ‘The
Potted Psalm’ there is certain nervousness but also one could say this some roughly and hectic form
of cosmic music whereas on ‘Dream Work’ the music goes ventures out towards a more industrial
form of cosmic music, following a somewhat subdued first half. The non-soundtrack bonus is their
most spacious cosmic moment, and it forms a fine afterthought after some of the more heavy-duty
electronics of the other pieces. This is a most enjoyable record and yes, I would not have minded a
DVD to go along with this, to see the entire films in a fine quality, but as a work of electronic music
this worked also quite well. (FdW)
––– Address: https://baadm.org/
A THING HEARD: FOUR WAYS OF LISTENING (10” lathe cut by ppppp)
The thing with lathe cut records is that they usually have no label, which in the case of a compilation
record might be a bit complicated to tell who did which piece. This record is the catalogue for a tour
that four artists are undertaking (five on selected dates) and who are all active in the field of sound
art. Sound is the primary medium, ‘exploring the inherent materiality and physicality of sound through
a range of media, working methods and outcomes’. They use high-tech electronics (loudspeakers,
computers, sensors, surface transducers) in combination with wood, rope, sheet metal, bioplastics,
carbonated liquids, and pyrotechnics. The artists are Jordan Edge, Jospeh Higgins, Joshua Legallienne
and Charles Pender (Guoda Dirzyte is on some dates as well, but not on this record). In a fine art
tradition there is a catalogue on paper describing the works as well showing some pictures and you
could think one could match description with what one hears, but things are perhaps not that simple.
Taking the four pieces as they are, without knowing who did what, one could say that there are some
strong links between these pieces/composers, with an emphasis towards the more minimally
developed compositions with a sparse number of sounds. They can rattle (the first track on one side)
or hum on the low end (second on the other), so the input might be different for each of the four pieces,
but the execution and interests seem very much the same. Touring together seems like a good idea,
and while the record lacks the visual side, which is of course a pity, the music on the record is quite
good as it stands easily by itself. This is certainly to experience if you are in the area. Check the address
below for more information regarding that. (FdW)
––– Address: https://www.facebook.com/events/1402723033130186/
JON THORNE – HOMESTEAD (CDR & 7” lathe cut by Static Caravan)
Normally Jon Thorne plays the double bass ‘everywhere and with all types’ and these days with James
Yorkston and Suhail Yusuf Khan gracing the global festival stages as Yorkston/Thorne/Khan’ but on
this solo release he does something entirely differently. He plays piano, keyboards, loops, samples and
radio and crafts fourteen relatively short pieces; from forty-five seconds to over five but an average
piece is about two to three minutes. There is help from friends on flugelhorn, cello, piano and vocals
and a dash of field recordings from the Isle of Wight or his kids around the house. There are four pieces
on the lathe cut 7”, which are also on the CDR, the reason for that somehow eludes me. The music is
very introspective and personal. Soaring tones meander about especially when it comes to string
instruments, with a firm dash of reverb here and there, and everything melts together rather gently.
Sometimes a piece is just a few chords on the piano, guided by a looped drone, and other times there
is a bigger, chamber orchestral like sound to be heard. This is very much modern classic as well as
folky, topped with a hint of exotic strings to jazz noir, but also a fine sense of avant-garde music, with
the vague field recordings of ‘With You Until The End’. Think Nils Frahm or Max Richter, but perhaps
on a somewhat wider range of instruments. As the days grow shorter and the nights longer, it is that
time of the year again to play thoughtful, moody music and the thirty-seven minutes of ‘Homestead’ is
a guaranteed winner in that department. Exclusively for sale, so Static Caravan says, through Rough
Trade, but no doubt also through the label. (FdW)
––– Address: http://www.staticcaravan.org
DIECI ENSEMBLE – SAME (CDR by Setola Di Maiale)
A great work by a ten-piece ensemble from Italy: Eugenio Sanna (amplified guitar, acoustic guitar,
objects), Maurizio Costantini (double bass), Cristina Abati (viola, cello), Edoardo Ricci (sopranino sax,
soprano sax, alto sax, bass clarinet), Guy Franck Pellerin (soprano sax, tenor sax, baritone sax), Stefano
Bartolini (soprano sax, tenor sax, baritone sax), Andrea Di Sacco (sampler), Marco Baldini (trumpet),
Giuliano Tremea (voice, scacciapensieri) and Stefano Bambini (drums, electronics). Initiated by
Eugenio Sanna, this ensemble unites important members of the Italian improv scene. They produce
some lovely, intense group improvisations of a very radical nature, connected to the early improvisation
music practised by Derek Bailey. Just listen for example to the guitar playing in ‘Canti di uccelli a
primavera’. For ensembles of this size, I often use the word ‘chaotic’ to describe my first impression of
the music. Chaotic because of the many players at work simultaneously, seemingly moving in very
different directions. There is so much to listen to. But on the other hand all play one and the same game.
That is especially the case for this ensemble. Although it may sound chaotic at first hearing, everything
fits and is together! The players share the same very free, anarchic spirit. They show some very
concentrated and communicative interaction, resulting in truly fascinating and very musical passages.
A great work in an excellent recording. (DM)
––– Address: http://www.setoladimaiale.net/
BARTOSZ DZIADOSZ & TOMASZ MREŃCA – MIRAGE (3”CDR by Taalem)
CENDRE OGATA – DE MAGIA (3”CDR by Taalem)
INTERNAL FUSION – WAÏSSAD (3”CDR by Taalem)
Two times before Bartosz Dziadosz released works on Taalem, but twice it was under the moniker of
Pleq (see Vital Weekly 839 and 962) and both of these were in collaboration with others, Hiroki
Sasajima and Philippe Lamy. Now Dziadosz has his third release and its again a collaboration, with
Tomasz Mreńca, a violin player of whom I had not heard before, but who played on released by Pleq
before. The violin is the primary instrument here and I’d like to believe that Mreńca plays it all the
way through in this piece and Dziadosz adds his electronics and effects to the proceedings. Moving
and bending notes, and opening up a ton of extra filters, the two of them create a very dense pattern
of sounds. Bending, stretching and putting small gesture upon gentle stroke, the violin and the
electronics become a closely woven web of sounds. Almost like an orchestra going all wrong and it
sounds quite nice, this combination of acoustic instrument and electronics. It makes up for a different
drone altogether.
Christophe Debouit is the man behind Cendre Ogata, and in case you didn’t hear his name, neither
did I; ‘De Magia’ is his first release and the title comes from a book by Giordano Bruno, who was an
Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, mathematician, poet, and cosmological theorist from the 16th
century, and perhaps it is not easy to see where the magic comes in, unless of course you believe that
within the use of electronic machines to generate music lies the true magic. Well, perhaps for the
outsider is does contain a certain amount of magic. You twiddle a few knobs and this whole world of
sound opens up. Cendre Ogata has three pieces of more or less traditional drone based music, of
which the last, ‘Les Feux, Les Songes’, contains a bit of field recordings, I would think (footsteps in the
monastery, wind and rain), but also in the other pieces there is some heavily treated sounds (bows on
metal, chains) going on that all become long formed, sustaining masses of sound. This is quite the
scenic music that would do well as a soundtrack to a horror movie.
As I was searching the old weeklies for previous reviews of Internal Fusion, as that is sometimes
indeed done (usually after being sure there are actually some!), I found very few (Vital Weekly 348,
426 and 677), but also a few times as a point of reference, which I guess for a band that never released
a lot music is quite something. It usually was done in combination with the words ‘pseudo ethnic’ and
‘drumming’, and other names never far away were Internal Fusion and Muslimgauze. In that sense this
new one is a bit of a different batch of music. It starts out with something familiar, ethnic voices, lotsa
reverb, but the tribalistic drumming doesn’t become part of this. Deep pounding drums are there at
one point in the middle, but in the second half of the piece things become much more abstract; Internal
Fusion discovering granular synthesis and feeding their own sounds into the machine, perhaps even
the first ten minutes of ‘Waïssad’ to it, and let computer gremlins eat the whole piece and slowly we
enter the belly of the monster. If this is something that Internal Fusion would explore further and
incorporate in their usual brand of ambient drumming and deep moods, then it could blossom into a
very rich new sound approach. (FdW)
––– Address: http://taalem.com/
JEROEN DIEPENMAAT – DOUBLE LANDSCAPE (business card CDR, private)
Ah, the lovely format of a business card CDR; something I haven’t seen in a while, sadly enough as I
love the limited time frame for a conceptually strong project. Jeroen Diepenmaat is a visual artist who
works a lot with sound. So far he did quite some work with vinyl, using blank vinyl, making scratches
and play those. Some of these are available as ‘editions’, the arty term for a very limited release, usually
one or two copies. Something similar is ‘Double Landscape’. In the beginning there was a piano and
kaoss pad, and a recording was made. That recording was cut into seven loops, inserted in cassettes
and then every combination was played as a duo, 1a+1b, 1a+2a, 2a+6b, well, you get the drift. There
are 84 combinations (I’m sure that’s correct; I didn’t count) and each lasts a few minutes and each is
burned, individually onto a business card CDR, ‘only one physical copy per track’, along with a card,
which indicates which is the one you get. You can ask for your favourite piece, providing that’s still
available and along with a download code, you can hear all 84. I got ‘4a+1a’, but I downloaded the
whole bunch as well, which is some five hours of music. All right, I easily admit, I didn’t hear it all, but
for a good solid two or three hours, while cleaning the house, doing the dishes, laundry, newspaper
reading, coffee drinking, and staring out the window, I was playing these minimal pieces that dropped
by in what seemed to be an endless amount of variations. The whole thing, one could say, is a bit
ambient like, mainly due to the repetition, but it sounded sufficiently weird enough not to lull me
asleep. And then, suddenly I had enough of the tinkle of the piano and the rusty sound and decided it
was time for some pop music, dirty loud pop music. (FdW)
––– Address: https://jeroendiepenmaat.bandcamp.com
SANELIV – PENINSULA (cassette by Illuminated Paths)
“I do pop satires that are awkwardly marketed as vaporwave and I guess were at some point
compatible with the scene… but aren’t now. E.g. for the most part probably 80 percent of the music
is original, not sample based. This one is a travelog ode to mid-florida where cool vaporwave labels
seem to have concentrated”, is about all I got along with the actual cassette. As an old man I had to
look up what vaporwave is, as I never used the term before, and learned it is a style that goes back to
muzak, lift music, lounge, smooth jazz and that the music is quite smooth and very suitable for
something sample heavy. Oh. For someone who is not really ‘in the know’, as I apparently should be,
it is hard to judge whether this music was sampled from other sources or played by saneLIV (as the
proper spelling goes) himself. If I were to judge this without prior knowledge, I would say it is a
combination of both; a bit of sampling and a bit of his own playing. I couldn’t mention this in terms
of percentages. Sometimes the recording quality leaves something to be desired, and so does the
musical execution of this. At times this is indeed very much a pastiche pop styles, lounge music, rap
music and such like, but then all a bit on the chaotic side, both as individual compositions or in
general. But something tells me this chaotic expression is part of the deal here, and all of this is done
deliberately. I could be wrong though and it is likely this is someone stoned out of his mind, doodling
away on a cheap sampler. I learned something, I enjoyed myself and so I asked myself: is that
enough? And realized it was. (FdW)
––– Address: https://illuminatedpaths.bandcamp.com