SZMT – PARVENU (CD by Gruenrekorder) *
STIJN DEMEULENAERE – LATITUDES – SEPTEMBER 2016 (CD by Silken Tofu) *
TETSUO FURUDATE – RHAPSODY IN STOCKHOLM (CD by Menstrual Recordings)
ROD MODELL – DAWN, DUSK AND DARKNESS (CD and book by Silentes) *
DOROTHY HINDMAN – TIGHTLY WOUND: MUSIC FOR STRINGS (CD by Innova Recordings)
ERIC STOKES – THE LYRICAL PICKPOCKET (CD by Innova Recordings)
JESSE JONES – EPHEMERA (CD by Innova Recordings)
STEFANO DE PONTI & ELEONORA PELLEGRINI – PHYSIS (CD by Many Feet Under Concrete) *
QUARTET & QUINTET – DOUBLE VORTEX (2CD by New Wave of Jazz)
INNLAANDDS – SAME (CD by Wide Ears Records)
RORO PERROT – PEU IMPORTE, ECHOUE MIEUX (CDR by Dscdechoue)
MERZBOW – MUSICK FROM SIMULATION WORLD (CD by Menstrual Recordings)
VOMIR – CLOITREZ ET TUEZ VOUS TOUS (CD by 4iB and Narcolepsia)
COOLHAVEN – RODE PRUIK (10” plus book by De Player)
HOMOGENIZED TERRESTRIALS – SUSPENSION (CDR by Aubjects) *
ITDREAMEDTOME – A.Y. (CDR by Trome Records) *
MICHIRU AOYAMA – WETLANDS (3”CDR by Taalem) *
HIROTAKA SHIROTSUBAKI + SLEEPLAND – ÉTUDE 3 (3”CDR by Taalem) *
SEKI TAKASHI – SMOG MOON (3”CDR by Taalem) *
RHUCLE – BEAUTIFUL FRAGMENTS (3”CDR by Taalem) *
TART – ON THE RADIO (cassette by Lathelight)
SPINIFEX M – REVISION4 (cassette by Lathelight)
EKIN FIL – INFLAME; ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK (cassette by The Helen Scarsdale Agency)
STELZER/MURRAY – CONNECTOR (cassette by The Helen Scarsdale Agency)
HABEMUS SITZFLEISCH – LWO CONCRETE SCHATZEN (cassette by Luftschiffhalle Lustheimstrasse) *
ARTEFACTS (cassette compilation by Default)
SZMT – PARVENU (CD by Gruenrekorder)
Behind szmt (no capitals needed) is Tobias Schmitt, better know, I think, as Suspicion Breeds
Confidence, but also an improviser and organiser of concerts. As szmt he “contextualizes seemingly
contradictory material and techniques. All input is equal and will be formed into a coherent but
nevertheless open to misinterpretation result by means of improvisation and composition” and for
‘Parvenu’ we read that it is a “work about authoritarian structures and developments. The narrative
is abstract, all sounds are concrete. Every single sound on this recording is based on recordings from
three bee hives”, in which context I guess the whole authoritarian structures becomes funny. When I
played this yesterday for the first time I didn’t look any of this up, nor could I really decipher the font
on the cover and decided to give it another try, another day, which turned out to be today. Now that I
know I am hearing the processed sound of bees, it sounds like something very obvious, but I guess
that’s always the case. I assume that Schmitt is armed with a laptop and sound processing tools that
lie within those machines to compose the four pieces on this CD. It is shimmering, quiet, sometimes
loud, sometimes very processed, beyond recognition and then sometimes it seems to be fairly close to
what is really a recording of a bee. Most of the times it sounds like the work of microsound, that active
music force from a decade ago, but in the case of szmt that is perhaps 2/3 of the story. In “The General
Skepticism of the Constitutional Monarchy Was Justified as New Forms of Authority Surfaced” (all four
titles are that weird, indeed), Schmitt let’s his bees do a dance, and while not really techno music, or
perhaps something we could or should dance too, there is surely some kind of groove to be detected.
Schmitt’s work reminded me of Roel Meelkop, Marc Behrens and that posse, but he added his own
twist by allowing a more loop based structure, working his processing around those, calling for
minimalist developments within each piece. It’s these perhaps not so big differences that actually made
it stand out from the microsound as it was before and made it into something he can call his. (FDW)
––– Address: http://www.gruenrekorder.de/
STIJN DEMEULENAERE – LATITUDES – SEPTEMBER 2016 (CD by Silken Tofu)
You may not know this name, unless perhaps you visit Belgium quite a bit, as that’s where Stijn
Demeuelenaere’s activities as a sound artist mostly take place. Not really to release his music on
CD but as part of sound installations, video work and dance pieces. ‘Latitudes – September 2016’ is
his first release, and it is a registration of a concert at Brussels’ Q-O2, and it uses only field recordings,
from his trips to South Africa, Iceland and The Netherlands (that man has time and money to burn, I
was thinking!), in this piece, just under twenty-four minutes. That is a bit short, I thought. If I
understand well there is not really a narrative Demeulenaere is telling his listeners, but more or less
puts together sounds from all over the world, choosing and selecting together what he thinks fits best
together. There is, so it seems to me, a love for sounds that involve water. In the opening sequence this
sounds like the sound of rowing, along with birds, insects and from there on he expands further into
wildlife. It is hard, or perhaps for me impossible, to tell what it is that he’s doing with these sounds, if
anything at all that is. This might be a work of pure, untreated sound events stuck together for all I
know, but just at the same time it might also be that Demeulenaere creates loops out of his sounds, or
uses quite a bit of sound processing. Only towards the end there is definitely loops and processing
going as Demeulenaere creates some odd rhythms out of his material, and whatever was the sound
originally we no longer know. For much of the rest of this piece we don’t know if that is the case as
well. Now, of course, after hearing the whole thing a couple of times, I would think it is the case;
everything is some way or another a bit processed and enhanced. Overall I enjoyed this piece quite a
bit, but found it perhaps a bit too short. Why not add another recording, from another concert but
within the same context and double the pleasure for the listener? Now it’s a fine but short debut,
hopefully with the promise of more to come. (FdW)
––– Address: http://www.silkentofu.org
TETSUO FURUDATE – RHAPSODY IN STOCKHOLM (CD by Menstrual Recordings)
This CD recorded at EMS (Elektronmusikstudion – the centre for Swedish electroacoustic music and
sound-art) in Stockholm features Tetsuo Furudate – electronics, aided by Lars Akerlund – electronics,
Carl Michael Von Hausswolff – reading, Leif Elggren – reading and Dror Feiler – sax… AKA notable
Swedish musicians / sound artists. The subject of the text ‘appears’ at first to be sound, though I say
appears as much of it in overlaid to the extent of obliteration at times, electronics in the form of harsh
noise. Though at about 12 minutes everything stops and the noise restarts at which point Dror Feiler’s
sax enters the mix, improv stabbings. Again issues of intention are not helped by any information. And
an obvious rejoinder, other than my failing to find any, is non is needed. And I would counter such a
rejoinder in that if non of explanation is needed then none of any ‘review’ could be said to be likewise.
The ‘music’ simply ‘is’. Which would be OK for a minimalist. But this work obviously is constructed,
texts are chosen, sax is introduced, readings are suspended. Or is any ‘organic’ ontology possible, as in
the perceived development with modernism. We have passed this, and regardless of whatever term
we might use, but post-modern is the most descriptive, the giveness of po-mo’s freedom means that
meaning is not arbitrary, or impossible, but can be dangerously ‘anything you like’. 27:0.00 again a cut,
milk bottles and newspaper rustles… ? And the reading begins again, is now discernible but for me
incomprehensible… “yet I am aware that I’m mostly held to be a sophist seeking rather to appear
subtle and reveal the truth an ambitious fellow diligent rather to support.. a snarer of birds who
perused the splendour of may by spreading ahead the darkness of error.. therefore my lord may the
heavenly powers scatter before me all those who aren’t justly atheists? May my god be ever gracious
in … may all the rulers of our world be favourably to me …” But we have ‘rhapsody’, “an effusively
enthusiastic or ecstatic expression of feeling: a free instrumental composition in one extended
movement, typically one that is emotional in character.” Which is suitably in-line with the post-
modern ideas of ‘sensation’ and the Deleuzean ideas of art being ‘affect’. Though Deleuze misses the
post-modern point, affect for him must not be “the simple “opinion” of a spectator who determines
whether or not to “materialize” the sensation, that is to say, decides whether or not it is art.” This, to
me!, seems precisely what we have. And what is this? It’s like a metaphysics which so removes itself
from reality that it can spin and spin, but without traction on something other, gets nowhere. (jliat)
––– Address: http://www.menstrualrecordings.org/
ROD MODELL – DAWN, DUSK AND DARKNESS (CD and book by Silentes)
Never bored of repeating myself, but reviewing other things than music is not my strong point. Silentes
from Italy loves photography and occasionally release books with some great pictures. I love books like
this, especially if it’s about a city that I have been too (albeit not in quite some time). Rod Modell is a
name that I haven’t in a while, I must admit. In fact I can’t remember when was the last time. I also
didn’t know he is a photographer. Here he has a hardcover book, 72 pages, of photography from the El
Raval neighbourhood in Barcelona, from dawn until darkness. Once a rough area, but these days
regenerated, with people on the streets it seems on all hours of the day. Great pictures indeed and
looking outside to December coldness and first snow it made me almost book a plane ticket so I could
be there by this dawn. I didn’t as I stayed home to listen to Modell’s music, which is all based on field
recordings from the city that in some way reworked, or processed, or even maybe added some kind of
synthesizer to. There are ten pieces on this CD but it is in fact one long piece of music of a long gentle
flow of sounds, very spacious and atmospheric. Inside, covered up almost, we hear people talking to
each other. But that is an occasional thing, so it seems. Most of these sounds are captured from afar and
it seems that Modell works with lots of overhead sounds, hiss almost, to add reverb, delay and chorus
(or whatever else) to create his spacious music. I am not sure if I should call this spooky or not. In a way
the darkness is, well, dark indeed, but the presence of human life works very well here. It is dark indeed
but we are not alone in this city. I am awake, but then so are other people, and we’re all drifting along
the night, on the streets of Barcelona. I may not be there, not tonight anyway, but flipping through the
picture book, it almost made me think I could have been there, with the music as the perfect soundtrack
for such an imaginary journey. Just CDs may not sell, but if they come with such a fancy and beautiful
book it should very hard to resist. (FdW)
––– Address: http://store.silentes.it/
DOROTHY HINDMAN – TIGHTLY WOUND: MUSIC FOR STRINGS (CD by Innova Recordings)
ERIC STOKES – THE LYRICAL PICKPOCKET (CD by Innova Recordings)
JESSE JONES – EPHEMERA (CD by Innova Recordings)
Innova Recordings started in 1982 by the initiative of the Minnesota Composers Form, nowadays the
American Composers Forum). Nowadays it is one of major labels focused on contemporary composed
music from the US. Yearly they add 20 to 30 new releases to their catalogue! And here we have three
of them. Let us start with Dorothy Hindmann, a composer from Florida. Her compositions appear on
about ten CDs. ‘Tapping the Furnace’ (2014) is one of them and was the first cd completely devoted to
her work. This is also the case for ‘Tightly Wound’, a double cd presenting 15 of her compositions,
skilfully performed by a diversity of ensembles and musicians. Compositions are for solo, duo, trio and
quartet settings. They span two decades and focus on her compositions for strings. In September 2017
Hindman received for this album the gold medal in the Global Music Awards. She is an important voice,
speaking of contemporary US composers for chamber music. The compositions reflect power and
energy. The works are full of drama and emotions, sometimes of a very lyrical nature like in the second
part of ‘Setting Century’. Compositions like ‘Taut’ and ‘Needlepoint’ directly speak to us and confront us.
This is definitely a quality of her work. Evidently Hindman integrates rock attitudes in her work, as well
the drive and expression of Spanish music or tango. Like in ‘DrowningXnumbers’ for amplified cello.
The compositions themselves however were not always very appealing to me. But that may be a matter
of taste.
Eric Stokes is the veteran of the three. He ended his studies in the early 60s at the University of
Minessota, where he continued to work as a professor. As a composer Ives, Brant and Cage influenced
him over the decades, which imply that his compositional work changed over the years. This CD
presents five of his compositions recorded between 2009 and 2015. The works were composed
between the 60s and 90s. The title of the CD is taken from a composition from 1990, a suite of six songs
that are adaptions of traditional American folk songs for chamber ensemble and piano. Also ‘Four
Songs for Soprano and Oboe’ (1963) and ‘Song Circle’ (1993) have Stokes working within the song-
format. These chamber works are at the centre of his output as a composer. Music of a poetic and
lyrical nature. No experimental stuff here, but well-constructed accessible works, that are presented
here in an inspired performance.
Jesse Jones studied composition and piano at Cornell University and University of Oregon.
‘Ephemera’ is the debut album from this composer who won several prizes so far. The CD presents five
compositions for very different line-ups. ’Unisono’ is a well-written piece for clarinet, violin and piano.
Very well performed with a strong drive. Very different is ‘Harmonies Poétiques et religieuses’, based
on a very religious text by Alphonse de Lamartine, and composed by Jones at the time when he was
losing the religion of his youth. This added I think to the focus of this work, that is performed by soprano
Sharon Harms and Ensemble Recherche. ‘The Mystery that binds me still’ is again a setting of a text,
using melodic elements in a surprising way, this time the poem ‘Alone’ by Edgar Allan Poe. Again
performed by Harms and Kenneth Mayer on guitar. Also for all other compositions Jones searched for
spiritual and existential themes as a starting work for his compositional work. Jones has a very
pronounced style and makes crystal clear musical statements. Works that have a strong identity, fine
combinations of sounds and instruments and, not to forget, performed very vividly and engaged. He is
the most interesting and surprising composer of these three, if you want me to compare. (DM)
––– Address: https://www.innova.mu/
STEFANO DE PONTI & ELEONORA PELLEGRINI – PHYSIS (CD by Many Feet Under Concrete)
Solving a puzzle before reviewing is not my forte or pastime. So I am looking at a 7” cover, and it
mentions a bunch of tracks, six in total, for ‘Physis’, in two parts, but none but one timing match up
with the two pieces on the CD, although one comes close enough; ‘Canto’ is according to the cover
18:29, and there piece on the CD that is 18:35. So wherever the other 4 are, I don’t know. Maybe as a
bonus on Bandcamp? The music (and performance this is part of) is all about the evolution of Nature,
“described through a linear narration from the origins to a possible future”. De Ponti plays cello,
prepared guitars, objects, mics and electronic devices and Pellegrini voice, objects and body whereas
Emanuele Magni receives no credit for composing but is mentioned to play the Bucla music easel and
other electronic devices. I have the feeling some visual element is lacking here, the actual performance
itself, which may (or may not) provide some more background for me. The music seems to be dealing
more with field recordings than is suggested, perhaps, in the list of used instruments. There is a bit of
voice, but very occasionally and it might be reciting related texts, but I wasn’t blown away by its opera-
like nature. The music saw itself about longer sustaining sound masses, but then rather isolated, along
with the crackles of… well, nature’s elements, perhaps, leaves or branches being cracked about. Like I
said: with a visual element it would probably make a bit more sense. The whole performance is now a
bit lost and the music is not always outspoken enough to hold my attention, and also not ambient
enough to transport me to a different place. I found this all not bad at all, but not interesting enough to
hold my full attention to it; or to dig deeper and see what the hell it was all about. (FdW)
––– Address: https://manyfeetunderconcrete.bandcamp.com
QUARTET & QUINTET – DOUBLE VORTEX (2CD by New Wave of Jazz)
Up till now I knew Serries work only under the monikers of Vidna Obmana and Fear Fall Burning. But
there was also a noisy free improviser hidden in him, who one day said: and know it is my turn. And so
series changed ambient for noisy free improvisation. A remarkable shift! He formed a quartet with high-
energy blower John Dikeman, an American tenor sax player who works and lives in Europe since several
years now (Blast, Spinifex, etc.) and also with Andrew Lisle on drums and Colin Webster alto and
baritone sax. They made their first appearance in 2015 at Café Oto. This set was released as their debut
album. In 2016 followed by a double-LP – ‘Apparitions’ – for New Wave of Jazz. Now the label returns
with an impressive double CD. The first CD covers a live session of the quartet. The second CD has a
live session of the quartet with Alan Wilkinson (alto and baritone sax) as a guest. Both sessions were
recorded on February 8th this year at the Vortex Jazz Club in London. Wooah, wish I was there that
evening! Starting is above all the American free jazz tradition, more than the European tradition of free
improvised music. Their improvisations are of a constant intensity that is not often met. Be it in the
modest parts or in the most extravert and powerful sections, the music is always intense and of a
concentrated energy level. The interplay is very focused and committed, very tight and together. Serries
succeeds well to make his contributions and to co-direct the course of this continuous slide of noise and
energy. Of course it is not just a cacophony of noise; far from it. This is totally sparkling music that is
difficult to resist if you feel connected with it. This is an absolutely convincing statement and an
extraordinary work by a very dedicated crew.
––– Address: https://newwaveofjazz.bandcamp.com/
INNLAANDDS – SAME (CD by Wide Ears Records)
With Innlaandds we are in Swiss territories. Band members are Michel Wintsch (piano, synthesizers),
Raphaël Ortis (bass), Bernard Trontin (drums) and Antoine Läng (vocals). Trontin and Wintsch are old
mates and worked around 1999 with Fred Frith for the project ‘Whisperings’. Wintsch is also known
for his collaboration with Christian Weber and Christian Wolfarth (WWW). Bass player and composer
Ortis is busy with his duo/trio/4tet LEON and the trio ShabraK. Also he is a member of the
Insubordination Meta Orchestra, just like Antoine Läng. He is a vocalist with an interest for the
relationship of voice with electronics. He started from a rock and pop background, but is fully into
improvised and experimental music nowadays. Well, how experimental is Innlaandds then? In any
case, Läng makes full use of his vocal style he probably exercised in his pop and rock days. It is in this
vein he sings and performs the texts. What are the other musical ingredients from which Innlaandds
built their music? We hear also composed lines that come from jazz. Finally free improvisation is an
ingredient, as well electronic sound textures. The music shifts and breaks from one style to another,
what makes up the surprising part of this music. The melodic parts however dominate and are very
conventional. So their odd way of combining conventional and – okay – experimental aspirations evoke
strong mixed feelings about this well performed undertaking. (DM)
––– Address: http://www.wideearrecords.ch/
RORO PERROT – PEU IMPORTE, ECHOUE MIEUX (CDR by Dscdechoue)
Acoustic & electric shit folk by Romain Perrot AKA Vomir and here Roro Perrot. I was aware of
Romains’s venture into “shit folk”, his term, and I should say anyone who was expecting anything like
Vomir’s signature HNW would be either disappointed or maybe pleasantly surprised. The commonality
here would I suppose be the word ‘extreme’. The first track is acoustic as are
#3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,12,13,14,15,16,17…until 22 the latter tracks very short, some under 10 seconds, grunts
and un-tuned acoustic guitar, From track 3 the grunts deteriorate into moans…at times sound
as if “Mr Roro” might have indulged a little Bordeaux or such. By track 13 the guitar is used merely as
something to beat, and the vocals mere groans, track 14 shows some signs of recovery, in classical
terms a re-introduction of some opening “themes” approaching ‘musicality’, #17 is more “delicate”, I
should put every ‘musical’ term in scare quotes… #22 opens with a drone… 44 seconds… and with #23
we return to acoustic. And so #24,25,27,28 (we do have a limit of 99 tracks on a CD and by this time the
patient listener might be wondering if this is a goal?) #28 is ‘electric’, with acoustic mix. I was going to
say that the second track and first electric piece in its shear noise – almost- approaches recognisable
rock music as does #28, a longer track and the final track. With the electric guitar dangerously close,
not that close! to sounding “lyrical”. Well what does one make of this? One can make plenty, there is
certainly a dystopian philosophical air about Mr Perrot’s projects, but they could equally bring about
nausea, anger, despair or laughter. Or merely be ignored. Akin then to nature, life, and the universe
itself, I suppose, or not. (Jliat)
––– Address: https://www.decimationsociale.com/
MERZBOW – MUSICK FROM SIMULATION WORLD (CD by Menstrual Recordings)
This CD is a re-release of a very early cassette release from 1983, ‘Recorded and mixed in ZSF Produckt
studio’ which was the name of Masami Akita’s home studio. Two tracks, M.F.S.W Part 1 (19:00) &
2(22:21). From my limited knowledge at the time Masami Akita was using distorted recordings of
amplified small sounds, and cassette loops, and this could certainly be true of the recording here.
Though there is occasional noise roar and a few synth pulses it is mainly mechanical noise, sometimes
the obvious hitting of metal. There is little bass, though for an early cassette recording this is not
surprising, as also the stereo drop outs on the first track, and the ‘provisional’ beginnings on the second.
The second track does provide ‘the shape of things to come’ and how already Masami Akita was
departing from industrial ‘music’. It’s a continuous metallic sound with loops. Given the restrictions
back in 1983 the power and violence of latter releases is not obvious, but this as I say must be down
to the materials and technologies to hand. Obviously Merzbow collectors will want this recording, but
its also interesting in its proto-genesis of what was to follow. Remastered in 2017, shockingly 34 years
ago!, I think rather than attempt at ‘improving’ the limited dynamics this has not taken place, so we
have sense of it being archival material which lacks the full cathartic force of Mezbow’s latter work and
at times a sense of naivety in the impression of this being made by improvising with objects, simply
banging them! against some simple loops, it gains a charm of simple improvisation, even to the extent
of “drumming” at the end of track 2 obviously not found latter on in the ‘career’ of Masami Akita. (jliat)
––– Address: http://www.menstrualrecordings.org
VOMIR – CLOITREZ ET TUEZ VOUS TOUS (CD by 4iB and Narcolepsia)
With “Cloitrez Et Tuez Vous Tous” I had to be careful because of my recent mistake regarding a
compilation on Cardboard Club in which I mistakenly took three tracks to be by Vomir, which in fact
was Vomir ‘Untitled’, Asleep In The Lake ‘Insects Breeding Between Sheets Of Damp Cardboard’ and
Duplo Chat ‘Untitled’ (see last week). My apologies. My analysis of each remains, though the strangeness
of the two latter pieces seemingly the Vomir at lower sample rates is even more intriguing. As if
randomness, noise, has some commonality. In my defence the submission, as often they do, had no
accompanying text, and there might be a debate about if they should. Well if not the work should
stand by itself? But I was pointed to Discogs where the above correction was to be found. With Cloitrez
Et Tuez Vous Tous we have a B&W card sleeve, an image? and title then three web addresses. The first
Romain’s, the second narcolepsiahn.wordpress.com, and third http://www.4ibrecords.com – which
seemed to be the label, checking it out it was, but then checking out narcolepsiahn, that too was a label,
it seems both responsible for this release, so no other than Vomir alone.
1:04:33:453 of static unchanging noise. Cloitrez Et Tuez Vous Tous translates to Cloitrez and you
kill all? Both the sites quote extensively regarding this release, I quote “Romain stays true to his non-
conformist approach by presenting his Harsh Noise Wall entirely stripped of any ideas and unabided
by any rules.” Well? just a few things, “stays true to his non-conformist approach” doesn’t that become
conformity? “unabided by any rules” Are not these works completely rule generated? And latter “This
album reflects Vomir´s nihilistic view” – yet is “entirely stripped of any ideas”? The mistake – if there is
any – is not with the work but the text. This is not a pejorative criticism of the work, if anything it is to
its being so described. Vomir often uses the title “Untitled”, and so avoids any representation. Abstract
art, which this is, like the work of Sol Le Witt – his drawings were at first a shock, but they are rule based
and repeated ad infinitum. This makes saying anything about the unsayable difficult. True, Romain
might find his work ‘nihilistic’, just as someone might regard a tree, one can climb a tree, pick its fruit,
cut it down and build a house, or burn it, or use it as a gallows. This abstract work makes (without
making) a fundamental critique of language and in particular of the word “is”. What is this? it is not
is! It is not it. Or is it? (jliat)
––– Address: http://www.4ibrecords.com http://narcolepsiahn.wordpress.com/
COOLHAVEN – RODE PRUIK (10” plus book by De Player)
There is a lot to say about this, but let me start with a small private story. A few years a book was
published about a local punk band, The Bips, and in it I read that their drummer (in various moments
of the time span of this band the same guy, but not always) spend time doing dance music at one point
in the early 90s. That was a shock for me to read, as being a former class mate of this drummer, I would
never have expected this leather jacket boy to be interested in techno music, but he was quoted saying
that techno and acid at that time had the same impact as independent punk records some twelve years
earlier. Of course it was something I could have known but perhaps never fully realized. When I later
on saw the record covers of Rotterdam’s Termination Source on Youtube I realized that these cartoon
styled covers have their roots in the world of punk music; actually mostly like that of fellow citizens
Rondos. That ties in punk and hard-core techno music, but also the whole ethos of ‘here’s three chords
now form a band’, which you could also translate as ‘here’s a three-o-three now make a dance record’.
More than acid or house, hard-core techno was all about simple musical ideas and perhaps the big
difference was that in the mid-90s the political aspect wasn’t as strong as in the late 70s.
The Rondos existed for a short period of time, in the late 70s, in Rotterdam, formed in art-school.
They wanted to graduate as a collective and posed as die-hard communists. They had a record label,
King Kong Records, published books on the history of the left-wing movement, as well as comic books,
and a massively influential fanzine, Raket. I really recommend getting the double CD that they released
a decade ago that compiles all of their works, as well as a live recording. They weren’t a hard-core punk
band per se, not 1,2,3,4, and let’s go a bit faster, but more inspired by the arty-end of punk, Wire, Gang
Of Four or even PIL. In their slipstream an even more stripped down punk band, Tändstickorshocks,
made one 7”, with quite simplistic punk songs (‘To Hell With Shell’, ‘Religion’, ‘School Army Working
Dying’) that probably required a lot less than three chords.
With all the reunions, re-issues and whatever, you could wonder if there is any relevance in 2017
for this? You bet there is. Brexit, Trump, asylum seekers, information wars, Putin, real wars, capitalism,
populism, me too, drone wars: there is a lot wrong in this world, and ‘punk’ could still be relevant. When
Trump got elected I read quite a bit of ‘now I am starting my punk band’ bragging, but fail to see any
materializing. Such are the times as well; talk is easy. Coolhaven, a Rotterdam trio of Hajo, Peter and
Lukas, are musicians that actually very well know how play their instruments, and too old and too wise
(perhaps) to be ‘punks 2017’, but they are serious pranksters, taking all sorts of musical influences in
their musical/theatrical work and here they explore the connection punk and gabber. They perform
five songs by Rondos and two by Tändstickorshocks, using mainly synthesizers and drum machines
(and a bit of guitar), next to vocals, as influenced by the gabber scene from the 90s. Of course they are
far too musical to pull off a real gabber record (this ain’t no Paul Elstak record), but the simplistic
‘Religion II’ (by the Tändstickorshocks), is spread out over the entire B-side and has a great hard beat
minimal edge to it, repeating the two tones of the original over and over. Six songs are on the other
side, and Coolhaven deliver a much better version of the Rondos’ ‘King Kong’s Penis’ than the band did
originally. If you know the originals as well as I do you easily recognize from the first tones what the
songs are. The only thing that could have been stronger, I guess, was the selection of songs. I was never
a fan of ‘I Don’t Like The Rastaman’ for instance, and was thinking that one option could have been to
choose songs that belonged together more, say all about ‘fascism’ or ‘religion’.
This record comes with a 10” sized comic as made by Johannes van de Weert, the original singer in
the Rondos, who back then was already drawing comic books of the adventures of ‘Red Rat’ and how he
was mangled by the trinity of religion, state and capital. This time the book is about The Netherlands in
the 70s, the rise of punk, of squatters, Rondos, left-wing thinking and dada, and about Coolhaven
(nothing about gabbers unfortunately, but maybe he doesn’t know much about that?). This is an
excellent product, I’d say. It all makes perfectly sense; especially now! (FdW)
––– Address: http://www.redwig.org
HOMOGENIZED TERRESTRIALS – SUSPENSION (CDR by Aubjects)
Over the years I reviewed quite a bit of music by Phillip Klampe, who seems to be around for ages. His
last release was ‘E Tistulo No. 2’, back in Vital Weekly 1057, but his earliest releases go back to 1992.
Over the years Klampe has found his own approach to sound and as far as I can judge (not sure if I hear
everything he does) he explores that sound further and further. It all has to do with moods and
textures, created by a bunch of synthesizers, software or analogue versions thereof (hell, maybe even
a combination of both). I am not the kind of person to really hear the difference I guess. Many of the
fourteen pieces deal with some kind of long sustaining synthesizer sound or two, or three, and some kind
of slow sequenced sounds around it; all of this comes with a blanket approach of sound effects,
mostly, obviously, reverb to suggest space and mood. If there is a rhythm it is stripped down and bare,
but here too it is used to create a darker mood. The music is through atmospheric, but not pitch black,
more various shades of grey (no number specified by me) and fits perfectly the cold and dark
December afternoon when I have the pleasure of hearing this. It is partly old school ambient
industrial, part microsound, much ambient and a fine dose of experiment. Think zoviet*france, a bit
of Muslimgauze, Mirror (but way shorter pieces), spiced by a dash of rhythm and a spice of field
recording. There may not be that much variation and development in the music of Homogenized
Terrestrials, but each new release show a small step in a new direction, another hustle of equipment
and ideas and with all the fine production skills a most lovely product is delivered, in a great pro-
digipack. Why did Klampe never made the move to a proper collection of CD releases I wondered? His
music surely deserves it. (FdW)
––– Address: https://aubjects.org/
ITDREAMEDTOME – A.Y. (CDR by Trome Records)
The word Trome, as in Trome Records, is an acronym that stands for The Remains Of My Estate and
Itdreamtome is Johann Wlight from the UK. Trome kindly informs me that I wrote about him before,
Vital Weekly 388, 415 and 607 and it is good thing they do so, as I wouldn’t have easily remembered. I
now learn that in those years, 1990s and 2000s he was quite active with releases on such labels as
Evelyn, Sijis, Larkfall and Matching Head, and his last recording was the first as Itdreamedtome. After
2005 he was silent for nearly a decade but now is back, still with that oddly moniker. This new release
comes in a carton box, with a booklet, matchbox (including an iron pyrite) and it looks austere and
great. Like before there is a bit of esoteric symbolism, which seems to be part of the deal with his music.
You might not be surprised to learn that I re-read those old reviews, but to be honest after all those
years I don’t remember the music very well. It was, as I judge now, very atmospheric and perhaps
being made with the use of field recordings or hiss. Of this new release I am told he uses much of the
same; field recordings, found sounds and tape samples, but it could very well be also guitars and sound
effects. There are three long pieces here, from ten to twenty minutes, of shimmering moody pieces.
Today I have used the words ‘moody’ and ‘atmospheric’ quite a bit, and the day ain’t over yet, but this
surely is by far the quietest of music I hear all day. Slow music, like time taking simply more time,
minimal music as in ‘as there any developments, or is this it’ (the answer is: no, there is a bit more than
that) and a careful build up if ever it needed one. I thought this was a great release; every time I played
it in the last week I grew further and further. (FdW)
––– Address: https://tromerecords.com
MICHIRU AOYAMA – WETLANDS (3”CDR by Taalem)
HIROTAKA SHIROTSUBAKI + SLEEPLAND – ÉTUDE 3 (3”CDR by Taalem)
SEKI TAKASHI – SMOG MOON (3”CDR by Taalem)
RHUCLE – BEAUTIFUL FRAGMENTS (3”CDR by Taalem)
All of the four new titles were released last month and available individually but also as a box set, along
with two bonus 3 inch CDR’s. This was available until December 1st, but now it’s December 6th, so there
is I guess not much point in reviewing these bonus discs. The first bonus had an extra piece by each of
the four composers, and the second had three collaborative pieces of involved composers. So let’s go to
what you actually can purchase still and the first one is by Michiro Aoyama, who has some releases on
organic Industries and Shimmering Moods. I never heard of him before. Surprisingly, I guess, he offers
five pieces all around four to five minutes, which in the world of ambient music is not a common thing.
It is hard to say what Aoyama uses as sound sources or instruments, other than (perhaps) a laptop and
various sound effects and throughout is the music not the most of quietest things you ever experienced
in your life, but somehow all a bit more glitch like, with faulty wiring being transposed for a long time
and replicated with all those sound effects. Not as spacious as many of the releases on this label, but it
works rather fine all together.
Both Hirotaka Shirotsubaki and Sleepland are from Japan and even when the latter relocated to
Berlin they still work together. I had not heard of Shirotsubaki, but Sleepland had a record out on
White Paddy Mountain (see Vital Weekly 1008). Now here space is the place. The two artists recorded
together (I assume via e-mail) some long formed spacious pieces of music, perhaps with the use of
guitars, loop stations and a bunch of reverb pedals coupled together. Sound wise I was reminded of
Chihei Hatakeyama here, who has a similar approach to play the sustained ringing guitar. Lots of
reverb times lots of delay and a bit of hiss make up a sound that just is very well suited from dreaming
or sleeping (not that I would do that when I play music, but it’s a thought that occurred to me with the
name Sleepland). Not too long, a bit ominous and it works just fine.
More guitars can be found on the two pieces by Seki Takashi, born in 1990 and a new voice in this
kind of music. He only has two previous cassettes and now the two pieces on ’Smog Moon’. One is
sixteen minutes, the other six. As I was playing this I was wondering if it is a wise decision to play this
right after the previous Taalem release by Shirotsubaki and Sleepland, as it follows a very similar
trajectory into space, be it that the spaceship that holds Takashi is further from earth and we don’t
see much detail anymore. The guitar has been melted down to form a more drone-like sound, and it
sounds like an organ plus massive reverb and less like a guitar and some effects in the title piece. In
‘Lit Street’ however the guitar is plucked and it sounds suddenly more like one than on the Shirotsubaki
and Sleepland release. A drone is there to guide it and it is quite a beautiful shimmering piece of music.
And finally there is music by Rhucle, also from Japan, apparently Taalem’s heartland for this kind of
music. Here too I am introduced to his music, even when he had releases before on White Paddy
Mountain, Assembly Field and Still*Sleep. For his music he uses field recordings mixed with long
sustaining electronic washes of sound, or vice versa. Perhaps. I have no idea what comes first for him.
He plays here three long pieces with an average length of seven minutes. All three pieces are gentle
streams of sound. A guitar? Who knows? Maybe it is a guitar, sound effects, but for all I know an organ
and sound effects, or heavily processed field recordings being cooked up with some that are still fresh
and which simmer through the gentle flow of drones. This is quite easy listening, perhaps the easiest
of these four excursions into the world of ambient music. (FdW)
––– Address: https://taalem.bandcamp.com
TART – ON THE RADIO (cassette by Lathelight)
SPINIFEX M – REVISION4 (cassette by Lathelight)
Before I set myself to listen to the Tart cassette I went back to the only LP I seemed to have from this
trio (I have no idea where the other is; they made only two album in their four year existence), to
remember myself what Tart was about. Tart was Scott Foust, Karla Borecky and Graham Lambkin.
They were active between 1999 and 2003 and released two albums and an earlier live cassette, which
Lathelight will re-issue next year. In my review of their second LP (Vital Weekly 370) I compare the
sound of Tart with that of Borecky’s and Foust’s main project Idea Fire Company, using minimalist
means to played a rather stripped down version of drone music. The two shows that are captured on
this cassette were from the very beginning (side A) and from 2002, when they were a well-rehearsed
unit. As for instruments we now learn they used a Casio sk-1 sampler (one of the very ones) played
by Borecky, Lambkin on another Casio (non-sampling) and Foust on shortwave/cassette for one piece
and guitar on another. The first side A is a very rough recording, more an exploration of ideas on how
sounds could be generated, looped and played around, and sometimes a bit too long, especially towards
the end. The tossing of coins is indeed something I remember from the first record, and it seems that
ideas tried out here ended up on that album. The other side is much shorter and apparently recorded
in a very limited ‘radio studio’ space, so everybody was very limited, but here it’s all more concentrated.
It’s one piece, ‘Garden’, with Borecky’s voice sampled and played around with through a delay, and
Lambkin adding tapes and shortwaves, going in and out of the mix. This is just sixteen minutes, as
opposed to the thirty-four on the other side, and it’s quite some excellent sonic bliss. No matter than I
didn’t enjoy all of the first side, it was a fine re-connection with the music of Tart.
The music of Spinifex M should b filed under ‘modern psychedelic electronics’, as it says on the
Bandcamp page and it shows a close-up of a modular set-up. It also says that we have here “…an
elongated sine wave is coaxed from an analogue tone generator, a patient and studious hand tunes
in to the ecstatic bursts of short-wave radio transmissions, frequencies shift, shutter and fold in on
themselves in a mirror of perfect symmetry and chaos”, which indeed seems very much what I have
been hearing here. It makes up for something in which we can recognize the by now familiar approach
towards the use of modular synthesizers, but whereas most people seem to be doing something that
can be called ‘carefully constructed’, it is the interest of Spinifex M to do something that is cruder,
louder and grittier, but not necessarily explode into a screaming wall of feedback and noise, which I
think is a good thing. Spinifex M keeps his music together, and explores his sound material within a
time frame that is just about enough I think. None of the pieces seemed too long (or too short for that
matter) and everything that needs to be said is said. And that is the beauty of it all; this very much
reminded me of the 80s days when people released a damn fine slab of controlled noise on a cassette
and then went on to do another one. (FdW)
––– Address: http://lathelight.org/lathelight.html
EKIN FIL – INFLAME; ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK (cassette by The Helen Scarsdale Agency)
STELZER/MURRAY – CONNECTOR (cassette by The Helen Scarsdale Agency)
While the urge is very strong to start with the cassette by Howard Stelzer and Brendan Murray, I
resisted that temptation and curiosity won to hear something new. Ekin Fil is the name and the
Agency calls her ‘Istanbul’s drone-pop producer’ with her first soundtrack “in her impressive
catalogue of recordings”. ‘Inflame’ is a movie from this year by Ceylan Ozgun Ozcelik shown in Berlin
and SXSW festivals. As the label doesn’t mention this, Imdb offers this summary: “A News Channel
employee Hasret, has been seeing the same nightmare for some time. Through recurring nightmares,
a question creeps into her mind: Is it possible that her parents were not killed in a traffic accident
twenty years ago but have died in some other, horrific way?” Okay, clear, and it surely offer an
explanation to the soundtrack by Fil. She uses synthesizers and electronics in the nineteen relatively
short pieces on this cassette. The brief character of these pieces makes it all a bit fragmented, sketch
like, more incidental pieces than a proper song if you catch my drift. I have no idea how soundtracks
are made, but I suspect that a composer delivers pieces like this, which can be stuck onto scenes as
background music. Ever since everyone liked the ‘Stranger Things’ soundtrack I have been listening
more actively to that sort of music and I can see a relation with the music by Ekin Fil. A bit of cosmic
music doodling, a bit of arpeggios, some rhythm machine (4/4 beat, slow) to make it more now than
70s and everything is quite dark and down, which no doubt fits the big screen. Maybe is is an illusion
but some of these pieces sound very alike, and I was thinking, ‘didn’t I just hear this?’, but like I say,
maybe it was an illusion. The final piece, ‘I Remember (End Credits)’ is quite a clichéd end piece, with
a female voice humming. Throughout however this was a very enjoyable release, not just the soundtrack
to a movie, but also the fine soundtrack to a very dark and grey day. Surely something that lifted my
spirit!
And, not as a reward for waiting, as Elkin Fil’s release was very good, I turned my attention to the
lovely gentlemen Howard Stelzer and Brendan Murray. The latter is a name we rarely see in Vital
Weekly anymore; not that he was ever the most active composer, but when he does stuff I am all ears.
I believe he is one of the best drone-meisters I know, working with digital means but sounding lovely
warm. Just recently I played his entire back catalogue in a single Sunday, reading a book, being totally
immersed with his drone music from a broader spectrum, i.e. not always carefully quiet. Stelzer works
with cassettes and he is much more active when it comes to releasing music. They both know each
other from the Boston experimental scene and working together is something they did before, but by
now it has been some time (and it raises the question: why is Murray so quiet these days?). This is just
the album that I expect it to be (and come to think of it: is that good or bad?) as it ticks all the right
boxes. Stelzer has his grainy cassette sounds, half eaten way, almost erased magnetic tape, faint clicks
and pops and whatever crazy methods he has when playing these cassettes versus Murray’s long
formed drone sounds, obscured yet powerful. It sounds like machine hum, but somewhere along the
line the machine shows there is something wrong. It bursts and it cracks in this universe and that’s the
sound I love; it’s the sound of high end versus low end, the pristine quality of a laptop versus the decay
of the tape. It is indeed the thing I expected and I’m happy with that. Are you shocked if I say this is an
excellent tape? Well, maybe you are neither shocked nor surprised, but I am very happy with these
four pieces of exactly the kind of noise I love. This is the kind of music that is both brutal and delicate
and often at the same time. (FdW)
––– Address: http://helenscarsdale.com/
HABEMUS SITZFLEISCH – LWO CONCRETE SCHATZEN (cassette by Luftschiffhalle Lustheimstrasse)
With my limited knowledge of the German language I could figure out that ‘sitzfleisch’ means something
like ‘one likes to sit’, but just what ‘habemus’ meant I didn’t know. I was pronouncing it the German way,
but in the Latin way, aha, of course it means ‘we have’, as in ‘habemus papam’, we have a new pope. We
got the flesh to sit down. Germans, and I mean this sincerely, have a great sense of humour. The two
men behind Habemus Sitzfleisch know each other for some time, releasing music on their own
Raketenbasis Haberlandstrasse, including the funnily titled “Waschmaschinenfest 2K15”. Too
complicated to explain why its funny, but it is. They call themselves sometimes Pille & Sardelle and as
such they were invited to play a quiet concert in Augsburg (not far from their home-town Munich), as
witnessed by me last week (and for you to download for free from the Bandcamp page below), which
lead to the foundation of Habemus Sitzfleisch, and they changed their names to Kattwick Slavendilf and
Ephraim Schlutzkrapfen; what’s in a name? They use low-end electronics, samples and field recordings
to create some weird music. Just in time for their concert they released this cassette, which is more like
an EP. It uses samples from a German film, “Zur Sache Schätzchen” from 1968, produced by Peter
Schamoni, of which they used some samples; with permission I should add. Apparently it’s a funny
movie. In the download you’ll find a bonus that lasts fifty-two minutes. I played all of this in one long
morning session, including their free download first concert, and got a bit lost in the endless stream
of sounds, images, words, sampled text, home recording and who knows what else I was hearing.
Sometimes elements returned, or so it seemed at least, as did certain type of sound effects, which
added for me to the hallucinatory aspect of the music. It was all very collage like, going into a place,
staying there, but along elements were twisted around, and changed and before you know it was
somewhere. That film thing got lost in there for me, but throughout I liked this free form cut-up low-
end electronics quite a bit. (FdW)
––– Address: https://luftschiffhallelustheimstrasse.bandcamp.com
ARTEFACTS (cassette compilation by Default)
If I understand correctly the music on this compilation cassette is recorded some twenty years ago by
two persons, Andy Nyxta and Neron Darkiuss and together they have four different band names;
Amevblement, Sp@m, Blacklightlabs and Omnisadness. I have no idea if this is all an elaborate ploy
or genuine ancient stuff; such I guess are the times we live in, suspecting everything. Also listening to
the music here I guess I am a bit clueless about the age of this. It sounds as if it was made yesterday
but just as easily it indeed could be some time ago. Perhaps it sounds like something that is more
connected to the musical world of twenty years ago, the clicks n cuts movement. Not necessarily the
harsher and rhythmic variation as in these four bands the ambient aspect of the sound plays an
important role. More than something grittier or noisier, I think. Only the collaborative piece by
Blacklightlabs and Omnisdaness could be called ‘louder’ but foremost its a bit deeper and more
present than the other pieces, which more subdued and quiet. There isn’t much difference in
approaches towards the creation of music between these various monikers and throughout I found
myself easily drifting off into a different place with this music. Perhaps not always the most original
in the well inhabited land of ambient music but most enjoyable and pleasant all together. (FdW)
––– Address: https://defaultlabel.bandcamp.com/