 number 1218
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week 5 ---------------------
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THE QUIET CLUB & STEPHEN VITIELLO - BLACK IRIS (CD by Far Point Recordings) * MAKOTO OSHIRO & YAN JUN - A ROSE WITH NO NAME (CD by Ftarri) * HIDEKI UMEZAWA & YOICHI KAMIMURA - RE/PORTS (CD by Ftarri) * SEE YOU AT FTARRI (CD compilation by Ftarri) EMMELUTHS AMOEBA – CHIMAERA (CD by Ora Fonogram) * THE BUREAU OF ATOMIC TOURISM – EDEN (CD by Rat Records) * RAMLEH - THE GREAT UNLEARNING (2CD by Fourth Dimension) * STÉPHANE GARIN & JEAN-PHILIPPE GROSS - DÉNOMBREMENT (CD by Eich Records) * DISPOSOFÓNICOS (4CD, 1 LP, 1 book by Sonoscopia) NURSE WITH WOUND/HANNS HEINZ EWERS - SORCIERE MA MERE (mini CD & booklet by Lenka Lente) * TONGUES OF MOUNT MERU - THE HEX OF LIGHT (LP by Moving Furniture Records) * VERTONEN - VENN DIAGRAM PROPOSALS; AN ACTIVITY BOOK WITH COMPLEMENTARY AUDIO (CDR, book, lathe cut by Ballast NVP) * TEST CARD - MUSIC FOR THE TOWERS (CDR by Sound In Silence) * WORRIEDABOUTSATAN - CRYSTALLINE (CDR by Sound In Silence) * MEYER HUTHWELKER - NEURO/BP (cassette by Otomatik Muziek) * CHRISTIAN MIRANDE - MY FRIEND WENT TO HEAVEN ON THE FRANKFORD EL (cassette by Anathema Archive) NOTE LITHUANIA: EXPERIMENTAL/ELECTRONIC 2019 (CD compilation by MIC Lithuania) ZOOM IN 13: NEW ART MUSIC FROM LITHUANIA (CD compilation by MIC Lithuania) SEMOD (CD compilation by Dumpf) ESCUPMETRALLA – QUIERO SER GUITARRA DE ESPLENDOR GEOMETRICO 1994 / 25 ANOS DE PAZ (2CDR by Novak) OYMOZ - BREED (CD by Everest Records) KATAWA SINGERS - UFULU 1991-1997 (CD by Modernizations 1000Hz) DUBINY - VIANIE RUTA 1982-1988 (CD by Modernizations 1000Hz) INTENSIVE STUDIES - PERFECTLY (AB) NORMAL (CDR by Love Earth Music) THE QUIET CLUB & STEPHEN VITIELLO - BLACK IRIS (CD by Far Point Recordings) The Irish duo of Danny McCarthy and Mick O'Shea, also known as The Quiet Club did a residency at the Rauschenberg Foundation in 2016. The first release from that was 'No Meat No Bone' (Vital Weekly 1128) and now there is a release they recorded in concert with Stephen Vitiello towards the end of the residency at the Black Iris Gallery and Studio; hence the title. There is a picture of the concert on the inside of the cover and although not a very clear picture, I would think this is something that involves lots of small objects being amplified, electronics, guitars and the odd laptop. I believe this is a recording made with a microphone in the gallery and there is some additional hiss in this recording. It gives some more edge to the recording I guess. Over the course of thirty-five minutes the three men improvise, not so quietly I must say, with all that is at their disposal. It is, perhaps, not your usual improvisational music. There are small synthesizers used, bumping on objects and guitars being processed on the spot. There is a fine interaction between these players and they can go a bit of quiet introspection if they want to. Just as easily they up the volume and add a bit of a noise element to the music. The addition of spoken word (from shortwave radio, I assume) is an unexpected but fine addition to this. Overall there is a direct in your face approach here, both in the way the material is played by them as well as with the recording itself. That results in a fine disc, but also one that at this length is just enough for me; it should not have been much longer than this. (FdW) ––– Address: http://www.farpointrecordings.com MAKOTO OSHIRO & YAN JUN - A ROSE WITH NO NAME (CD by Ftarri) HIDEKI UMEZAWA & YOICHI KAMIMURA - RE/PORTS (CD by Ftarri) SEE YOU AT FTARRI (CD compilation by Ftarri) Here we have a trio of new releases by the Japanese powerhouse Ftarri and I decided to start with what, on paper at least, would probably the most radical release. Yan Jun has quite a reputation by now for some of the more radical sound art experiments. In 2017 he did a residency project at Daad in Berlin and recorded with Makoto Oshiro, who gets credit for 'objects'. Yan Jun plays 'feedback'. It sounds like they are sitting at the kitchen table doing this music. There is lots of amplification (and no neighbours, it seems, to complain), causing all the feedback and Oshiro producing all sorts of acoustic sounds, which he plays with his hands but also with devices that rotate and causes these objects to vibrate. It is radical music but also most enjoyable. The music is loud, but not a full-on parade of distortion. This is not harsh noise wall music. In fact, there is a most curious 'acoustic' element to this music, being picked up with a microphone in the space it was played (which, for all I know, might not be a kitchen of course). The first piece, 'Another Rose Is OK', has a collage-like feeling to it, bouncing all over the place, and in the second piece, 'Another Name is Also OK', they go for a more continuous approach of rattling, bouncing sounds, which keeps shifting back and forth with objects being moved around and various degrees of feedback moves. This is radical music, but jolly fun, also. Something different is the release by Hideka Umezawa and Yoichi Kamimura. It is also something that perhaps you wouldn't expect on Ftarri; it deals with field recordings and electronics. It even contains a beat at one early point in the piece. Also, the cover is not the usual Ftarri package and there is an explanation on a time, informing the listener where all these field recordings were made. It is all quite interesting and I can imagine someone who follows the label for their take on all things improvised might raise an eyebrow. In the world of Vital Weekly, this would have been a release on Germany's Gruenrekorder. This piece is culled from many different sources and comes in a multi-layered form. This is not field recordings that are meant to be as a document of one place, but from all over Japan plus a few from Taiwan, Germany and Kandersteg in Switzerland (a place I visited, not that anyone would care). Sometimes sounds return to the mix. It is a very fine listen, this report of many locations; I am not sure to what extent electronics played a role in the composition but I would think they have a place in here somewhere. It is all produced with great care for detail and it moves cleverly through the dynamic range. It is for Ftarri perhaps a chance of scenery, but for Vital Weekly, it is not. It is a firm solid collage of field recordings; something that is good and not out of the ordinary. Check this out, improv heads! Damn, now that we have a corner for compilations since last week I am in a pickle where to put this review. Since it came with the other two Ftarri releases, I will do it here. Ftarri is a shop that doubles as a venue sometimes. Every year they do a compilation to celebrate another anniversary. On August 11, 2019, they had three (well, at least) small concerts. The first one is Toshimaru Nakamura on his no-input mixer with a carefully played piece that shows the dynamics of it at all. It is not as loud as it could have also been. Next up are Daysuke Takaoka (tuba) and Tadashi Yonago (flashlight and sprinkler) with a very minimal piece of music. The tuba is most of the times barely recognizable. The electronics are interestingly vague. This piece is a fine showcase for Ftarri music. The longest is saved for the last and we have here Junji Hirose (SSI4), Kayu Nakada (Bug synthesizer) and Yuma Takeshita (electro-bass). This too is quite carefully played with lots of attention to detail and various ways to approach the instrument differently and this trio know the added value of dynamics; at one point in the middle, this can be called 'loud'. That is not heresy in the world of Ftarri; it's not as common. A fine birthday bash! (FdW) ––– Address: http://www.ftarri.com EMMELUTHS AMOEBA – CHIMAERA (CD by Ora Fonogram) ‘Chimaera’ is the second album by Signe Emmeluth and her Amoeba quartet. After their very surprising debut ‘Polyp’ from 2018, I’m very curious what their new album has to offer. Again we hear Signe Emmeluth (alto saxophone, compositions) with Christian Balvig (piano), Ole Mofjell (drums) and Karl Bjorå (guitar). Again Emmeluth composed some thoughtful compositions that play with the relation between improvisation and composed structures. Leaving room and opportunities for her companions to make engaging contributions. The result is a record as diverse and inventive as their debut recording. The cd opens with ‘Squid Circles’ that has Emmeluth playing an intriguing intro. Likewise, she opens with a penetrating solo in the closing track ‘Outro’. But overall we hear a tight quartet where everybody participates intensely. Guitar, drums and piano equally attract our attention in the hands of these spirited performers. They feel at ease in lyrical jazz-inspired ballads like ‘No.1 or the introvert ‘Velvet’ with fine guitar playing by Bjor; but also in complex structures, such as in the up-tempo and jumpy ‘Lyons’, with a hammering piano played by Balvig. ‘Ab’ lives from a subdued energy and is the most free and experimental of the tracks on this album, with proportioned use of electronics. It is also the lengthiest one with whirling sections and sections where it becomes a bit too introvert for me, with minimal jazzy allusions. But for sure this quartet again proves to be an adventurous unit, showing many different faces and at the same time making a coherent and convincing musical statement. Can’t wait to see them live, somewhere, someday! (DM) ––– Address: https://www.orafonogram.no/ THE BUREAU OF ATOMIC TOURISM – EDEN (CD by Rat Records) Belgium drummer Teun Verbruggen is an important exponent of the Belgian jazz and improv scene since quite a while. He is known for his many international collaborations and his drive to explore new territories. One of his bands is Warped Dreamer with Scandinavian musicians Stian Westerhus and Arve Henriksen plus his mate Jozef Dumoulin. Dumoulin is also a member of Verbruggen’s most important vehicle: Bureau of Atomic Tourism (B.O.A.T.) In former line ups Nate Wooley, Marc Ducret, Trevor Dunn and Jasper Stadhouders, among others were part of this sextet. Nowadays Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (bass), Magnus Broo (trumpet), Jon Irabagon (saxophone), Jozef Dumoulin (Fender Rhodes), Julien Desprez (guitar) and Teun Verbruggen (drums) make up this explosive collaboration. Again a very international line up that gave birth to B.O.A.T.’s sixth album, released on their label. A bit on their backgrounds: Norwegian bassist Ingebrigt Haker Flaten is known from The Thing and Atomic, Swedish trumpeter Mangus Broo plays also with Atomic, Angles 9, etc., and American saxophonist Jon Irabagon is known for his work with Dave Douglas Quintet, Mostly Other People do the Killing, etc. Julien Desprez is an experimental guitarist from Paris. I had the luck to enjoy them live last December in a concert in Nijmegen, where they played an excellent second set. Desprez made intensive use of his pedals what sometimes looked as if he was dancing. Funny. All compositions on this new statement are by Dumoulin who has a very eccentric and unconventional composing style. Complex compositions that unfold and develop differently from what one expects. But they do have their own convincing logic. The opening track ‘De Teun van Eden’ departs immediately with full and outrageous energy as if we drop in somewhere halfway. In contrast, a title as ‘Two-Part Oven In Thin Eleven’ starts almost like an ambient soundscape that has Dumoulin injecting drops of noise later on. Dumoulin keyboards are part of the charm of this release. At other moments he adds dark mysterious soundscapes while the blowers are fighting their battle; a contrast that works very well. With ‘Search Ends where Sharing Starts’ we are halfway the album, in the middle of this storm, we find ourselves in a strange postrock-like drone. The ultra-short and weird ‘Ifrit’ that is built follows it from very short intertwined gestures. ‘Video Interlude I’ is a funky piece, featuring fine trumpet playing by Broo. ‘B Minor Blues’ has beautiful keyboards by Dumoulin in a strange laid-back piece. And so on. Different ingredients and idioms are juxtaposed and opposed to gain contrast and disorienting effects. Many dazzling moments pass by in this multi-layered succession of interruptions, twists and contrasts in dynamics, etc. I know some of their earlier albums, but I never was as impressed as I’m now. This one grows with each listening. There is so much to discover here. Truly daring and urgent music! (DM) ––– Address: http://www.ratrecords.biz/ RAMLEH - THE GREAT UNLEARNING (2CD by Fourth Dimension) Through the grapevine, I heard a book on the band Ramleh is to be published soon and that is something I look forward to. I hope, for one reason surely, that it will shed light upon the question that has been bugging me for years and that is, 'why did Ramleh go from being an all-electronic power electronic to become a unit for guitar noise?' There was a time that Ramleh was my favourite power electronics group (well, actually, from that period probably still is). Not Whitehouse, with their high-pitched frequencies but Ramleh with their dense orchestrated feedback moves, synthesizer drones and screaming vocals through a battery of sound effects. And then, suddenly, it was quiet for some time (or so it seemed) and the group returned with 'Grudge For Life' and guitars were distorting all over, but it had that rock sound. What happened? I don't know. I would think that Gary Mundy, who was the main man here, had a plethora of other sound project going on for a Ramleh styled noise group and it was time for a change. Ever since Ramleh is in such a modus and since then group is Mundy on guitars, Anthony Di Franco on bass, Martyn Watts on drums (not all pieces have drums though), with Sarah Froelich and Philip Best on synths; Stuart Dennison of Skullflower plays drums on four pieces here. In the old days lots of this sort things were within strict boundaries; 'you are not the real punk/power electronics/disco person' and so on, but these days of course (?) the open mind prevails and you can say that you love noise as much as, I don't know, Fleetwood Mac. Gary Mundy published on Facebook a list of 500 records that he loves and it is not difficult to hear many of those different interests in the work by Ramleh. They are a noise band, mainly the synthesizers are the proof they are, but they enjoy a good number of guitar riffs, furious blasts on drums and biting vocals. I have no idea what they are about, even when the inside of the cover they can be read (or sung along?); I am not a critic of poetry. The nine pieces here are quite a mixed bag. Opening with 'Futureworld' and closing with 'Natural Causes', being two massive space rock pieces, of which the first slips in what seems a disco rhythm at one point, which I found hilarious. 'No Music For These Times' and 'Religious Attack' are two short furious attacks of post-punk proportions (the first) and synth noise (the second; not much guitar seemingly there). There is a slow stomper with a massive sound in 'Your Village Has Been Erased', and the mysterious drum machine noise jam that is 'Procreation As An Imperialist Act' and 'Blood Aura'. There is quite of variation in here and some of it way outside of Vital's scope and some of it totally from our world. This is an excellent blast. I can't wait for that book to arrive! I am spending my weekend with Ramleh's 'Awake' box set in anticipation of that (see Vital Weekly 838). (FdW) ––– Address: https://fourthdimensionrecords.bigcartel.com/ STÉPHANE GARIN & JEAN-PHILIPPE GROSS - DÉNOMBREMENT (CD by Eich Records) Hot on the heels of what was for me the introduction to the work of Jean-Philippe Gross (see Vital Weekly 1200) there is now a collaborative work with Stephane Garin. He plays in O (along with Joël Merah and Sylvain Chauveau), Eklekto and Ensemble Dedalus. He is a percussionist. The work here is subtitled 'for percussions, electronics and recorded sounds). I would think that each title is some indication of what is going on, or perhaps one or more ingredients are mentioned. 'Woodblock', 'Cymbal, Watercourse And Wave Shaping', 'Floor Tom And Electronics'; that kind of thing. Gross is responsible for the electronics. It is a short CD, only thirty minutes, and has seven pieces of quite a radical sound work. I have no idea how it all worked out in the studio when laying down these pieces, but I can very well imagine there is some kind of interaction between both players and instruments, with the electronics being responsible for trigging percussion and Garin adding more percussion in reaction. The electronics are to be understood as sine waves (one track is called 'Break 1 (Sine Waves Are Always Nice') and provide the radical sound experience in these pieces. Extremely high frequencies; extremely low ones; crackling and buzzing as if the cables broke down during recording. That is support by some of the in-studio talk that is also part of this, which adds to the mystery of the release. It is at times very minimal, such as in the longest piece 'Woodblock'. I quite enjoyed all of this. It was short, but was it too short? I find that hard to say. Maybe at thirty minutes, this is all one needs to know? Great stuff all around. (FdW) ––– Address: https://eich57.bandcamp.com/ DISPOSOFÓNICOS (4CD, 1 LP, 1 book by Sonoscopia) Here we have a massive project! Four lengthy CDs, 1 LP, a 120-page 12" hardcover book and two photos, all about the work conducted at Sonoscopia. Simply put: "a platform for experimental music and performance arts", from Porto in Portugal. The texts explaining what Disposophonica is rather complicated, sadly ("Disposophonica is a neologism referring to civilizational well-being and the concept [...] apt to define the compulsive and the urgent human act of gleaning and collecting sound futilities, from the most innocuous to the most turbulent or thoughtless. Disposophonia is therefore a group of haptic effects capable of promoting an ecology of sound knowledge and sound craft") but the pictures in the book tell more than words. What the group of people behind are researching is sound and objects, in in the form of installations or concerts or a combination of both. Listening to the music while looking at the many colourful pictures in the lavish book explain quite a bit more. Not always though; 'Control And Unpredictability No. 1' sounds like a field recording from a shop but the book shows metal objects, guitars and cymbals in a concert setting. Perhaps the way N.3 and n.5 from that series sound? The four discs are divided by interests, I think, from installation pieces on disc one, concert pieces on disc two and disc three whereas disc four has pieces from the Srosh Ensemble. Throughout on all of these discs there are long pieces, providing some wonderful listening. There is much going for slow development in a lot of these pieces; having a sort of ambient meets modern composition meets unstable installation pieces. Occasionally there is leap into noise land, such as by 'The Sonoelectroacoustic Laptop Ensemble'. Field recordings, or something that passes on as such are also part of it, either because the pieces are recorded in situ, or because sounds are part of the composition. I enjoyed the fact that not all of it seemed to be overtly serious such as the shorter pieces by Nova Orquestra Futurista Do Porto, which seems like satire (perhaps) of Luigi Russolo's 'art of noises' manifest. 'Gorgolatori' starts with opening a few bottles, using those sounds, drinking the content and the blowing on bottle heads as flutes. Some of the pictures of string instruments in the book reminded me of Dutchman Yuri Landman, whose name is also among the many people who played there. So perhaps there is a whole movement out there? You wish you could lay your hands on some of these objects, instruments and such like and play them yourself. I wondered in Sonocopia has an archive where they keep these, or if this is all of a temporary nature? Through a long and wonderful experience for both ears and eyes! (FdW) ––– Address: https://sonoscopia.bandcamp.com/ NURSE WITH WOUND/HANNS HEINZ EWERS - SORCIERE MA MERE (mini CD & booklet by Lenka Lente) In their ongoing search for obscure, short texts by writers who died a long time ago (and surely in the public domain), Lenka Lente exhumed a text called 'Die Mutter, Die Hexe', also known as 'Sorciere Ma Mere', in the French translation, as all books are in French with this publishing house. There is an English translation online on various blog entries, but e-mail me for a PDF and I will send you one (I am not sure if that is allowed, actually). It is a story about a man who writes a letter to his brother, informing him that he suspects their mother to be a witch and he thinks it is hereditary. In the end, there is a short reply from the brother. I thought it was a funny, little story in which you easily believe it is true but also in his brother’s imagination. The musical component is by Nurse With Wound, who are steady suppliers here of music, and as far as I can judge (or know such things), this is a previously unreleased piece of music, clocking in at exactly twenty minutes. The title is a line from the story. No players are mentioned, so I have no idea if behind head nurse Steven Stapleton anyone is involved. The opening section, the first five minutes, sounds like a modern music ensemble, ringing violin bows and percussive bits along with sounds on tape. It evolves into something a bit more massive in tonal approach, but in which the piano sounds, violin and percussive linger on, but now with more electronics. It is a great piece. It has all the makings of a classic Nurse With Wound piece; it is ambient. It uses the studio-as-instrument. It's a fine combination of acoustic instruments and electronics. It reminded me of Zeitkratzer Ensemble with somebody at the mixing desk overlaying their playing with some mysterious sound effects. It's a pity that it's so short; I hadn't finished reading the story. It worked well on repeat for the entire time of reading the Ewers story. (FdW) ––– Address: http://www.lenkalente.com/ TONGUES OF MOUNT MERU - THE HEX OF LIGHT (LP by Moving Furniture Records) Lasse Marhaug is surely a name known to all readers of Vital Weekly. Staggeringly active as a musician, book publisher, graphic designer, film maker, zine writer/editor and probably even more than that, Marhaug is most often associated with harsh electronic noise. However, he’s also not one to rest on his laurels… or, as far as I can tell, to rest much at all. Tongues of Mount Meru (just one of the myriad bands/projects he's part of) is his long-running duo with Jon Wesseltoft, and it’s far from the blistering assault that one might expect from either artist. The album fits onto two sides of an LP, but I could imagine that these are two slices from within much longer pieces... and not necessarily slices that start at the beginning. They sound like they're carved out from the center of two hour-long tracks, but we only get to hear 19-minute extracts. Both sides are slow- moving cascades of shimmering texture, dense with layers of microscopic movement. There is no lead-up; the moment that side 1’s monolith “Foliage” begins, the listener is dropped into the furious eye of a crystalline ice-storm already in progress. Dissonant chords hover in and out of focus and a threatening saw-like buzz constantly peals at the music's edges with competing rhythms. I’m reminded of Phill Niblock’s vertical drone pieces, forceful and confident minimalism at maximum volume. The second piece, “Affinity Birds”, is another side-long mantra that begins in medias res and is just as merciless as the first side. Elements begin to drop out after eleven minutes of boiling syrup and a warm resolution seems about to coalesce… but it never quite resolves. Marhaug and Wesseltoft twist the knives as they near the finish line, transforming the textures into a sharply aggressive climax before dispassionately cutting the thing off. No happy ending here, just a hard stop. (HS) ––– Address: http://movingfurniture.bandcamp.com VERTONEN - VENN DIAGRAM PROPOSALS; AN ACTIVITY BOOK WITH COMPLEMENTARY AUDIO (CDR, book, lathe cut by Ballast NVP) First, we need the help of Wiki to learn what a Venn diagram is: "A Venn diagram (also called primary diagram, set diagram or logic diagram) is a diagram that shows all possible logical relations between a finite collection of different sets. These diagrams depict elements as points in the plane and sets as regions inside closed curves. A Venn diagram consists of multiple overlapping closed curves, usually circles, each representing a set." In the booklet, you can find on each of the 36 pages a list you can create your own Venn Diagram. Such as " a) Likes Patrick McGoohan b) Could spell Portmeirion correctly if asked c) Favourite number is 6 d) considers self a number e) considers self a free man (or woman) f) has seen Ice Station Zebra". I think that is funny (and puts 'The Prisoner' back on the to watch again list) and there are more like this. There is a soundtrack to go along. The CDR and lathe cut deal with the sound of vinyl; "the needle of a record running along a runout groove, a record skip, a loop created from an audio snippet, or layers of any, (or all!) aiming to create a meditative quality, either as one creates the diagrams or a stand-alone audio". The music on the CDR is seventy-one minutes long, and indeed made of skipping records, but slowly Vertonen adds little bits of electronics, making the overall sound thicker and towards the end, the sound effects have taking control and it becomes something of a piece of unrest ambient music, going darker towards the very end. It reminded me of the older work of Vertonen when the project first started. The lathe cut record is 5.5-inch x 6.7 inch and is a Euler diagram. Hold on, another quote coming up "A Euler diagram is a diagrammatic means of representing sets and their relationships. They are particularly useful for explaining complex hierarchies and overlapping definitions. They are similar to another set diagramming technique, Venn diagrams. Unlike Venn diagrams, which show all possible relations between different sets, the Euler diagram shows only relevant relationships." I tried to play the record but (of course?) it is impossible without doing some serious damage to my stylus. It looks great though; this Moebius ring-shaped record object. Overall I thought this to be a very funny release; there are some great diagrams to be made and the music is a most fitting, rotating soundtrack to it all. Limited to thirty copies only! (FdW) ––– Address: https://ballastnvp.blogspot.com/ TEST CARD - MUSIC FOR THE TOWERS (CDR by Sound In Silence) WORRIEDABOUTSATAN - CRYSTALLINE (CDR by Sound In Silence) Two new releases by Sound In Silence often mean two new names; here it is one. Behind Test Card is Lee Nicholson, who was once a member of Formula One and Domestic4 before moving to Vancouver and first working as Electrohome and now as Test Card. 'Music For The Flowers' is his third album under the guise of Test Card, following 'Rediffusion' (Vital Weekly 1112). According to the information, he plays the guitars, bass, synthesizers, field recordings but if it was just a bunch of synthesizers and field recordings, I would have believed that as well. As you can guess by the title of this collection, inspired by 'Music For Airports' no doubt, this is ambient music with the capital A. The previous release seemed to be a bit more guitar-like than t his one. Here it is all very quiet and introspective, but not without little, warm melodies. It is very spacious, with carefully played tunes on a piano, keyboard and, yes, a guitar, feeding off through some effects (delay, reverb, loopers, chorus; whatever else) and that's about it. It's nothing you haven't heard before, but on a day like today (the day after Blue Monday should that be any indication) it is grey and cold in the street of Vital Weekly. Flowers are months away, warmth also (well, providing the earth doesn't warm up quicker) and it's best (for me, that is) to stay inside, near the central heating and play quiet ambient music, reading 'stuff' and glancing outside. It makes the longing for spring easier! Gavin Miller is Worriedaboutsatan since 2005, when he started this a solo project next to Johnny Pointdexter, the band he was in. Later fellow band member Thomas Ragsdale joined him and they released on Gizeh Records and Denovali Records. In 2011 they started a new electronic project, Ghosting Season, which released two albums, put it on hold in 2014 and started doing Worriedaboutsatan again. In the period that followed they released four more albums. In June last year Rasdale and it is a solo project of Miler again, who is now responsible for what the cover lists as "guitars and computers". I would think lots of guitars and the computer kept to a minimum; maybe it is used in looping a few sounds, editing or mixing; maybe adding a distant texture here or there. There are also electronics, synthesizer and a drum machine part of this. That one is slowly ticking away time, supporting the spacious instrumental bits and bops that, again, also support the guitar, the leading instrument here. Miller uses quite a bit of reverb in all of the eight pieces here, suggesting atmosphere and space, but it is at times also a bit shrill; just a bit too much I would think. Like Test Card, this is surely another fine bit of ambient music, but Test Card out-ambients Worriedaboutsatan. The differences are in the details really. I have a preference for the all-out ambient sound produced by Test Card but surely the music of Worriedaboutsatan is beautiful on the same day too; more warm sounds indeed. (FdW) ––– Address: https://soundinsilencerecords.bandcamp.com/ MEYER HUTHWELKER - NEURO/BP (cassette by Otomatik Muziek) Behind this name, we find a duo, Helge Meyer and René Huthwelker. They are both active in the world of modular electronics, using a 208r Rev2 Music Easel, a Floer Electronics Little Boy Blue and Eurorack modular synthesizers. Mayer is from Hamburg, starting with improvised music but now more in the ambient, drone, noise and generative music; he is also a member of 9-24V Group and Ex-Kopf. Huthwelker is aa part of the Niedervolthoudini collective, plays in bands such as Katzenkönig and Modulation Lab, and is the sound engineer of Station 17 and Palais Schaumburg. Still, there is time for some solo music and projects like this. This is the duo's first release and contains two seventeen-minute pieces of drone music, by analogue means. Both pieces have a fade in and once in place they become a fine, delicate, sonorous blast of slowly unfolding tones. It is not the same sort of minimalism that we know, for instance, from Orphax. Meyer Huthwelker aren't that minimal; they move around in their material quite a bit and don't stay too long in the same place; well, some sounds may linger on for a while, but others don't. There is a healthy amount of reverb here, especially in the slightly more homogenous 'Taucharbeiten', to suggest much atmosphere. There are some differences to be noted between pieces, the second being a bit more minimal and the first with ore changes. These are solid pieces of music, these two and beyond the more usual modular synthesizer release and great listening experience. (FdW) ––– Address: https://otomatikmuziek.bandcamp.com/ CHRISTIAN MIRANDE - MY FRIEND WENT TO HEAVEN ON THE FRANKFORD EL (cassette by Anathema Archive) The second release I hear by Christian Mirande, following 'Trying To Remember A House' (Vital Weekly 1055), which I thought was a promising release. I learned back then that he uses 'iPhone and tape, open-reel tape manipulations and digital re-synthesis' and for all I know, that is still the case here. At least it sounds like it. The ten pieces on this new release continue with this very varied mix of sound sources. Some of these sounds like they were recorded around the house, including static interference, people humming and whistling, some objects carefully moved around. On top there can be heavily processed electronic sounds, high pitched, crackles, more static (but digitally this time), found sound from the radio, TV or vinyl, and somehow, for all we know Mirande himself, (one track lists the voice of Ralph Salvina Jr.) and it holds the middle ground between a personal audio diary, radio drama or a therapeutic session. It is not too heavily drawn on voice material, but when it does I was reminded of some of Eric Lunde's work. All of this arrives in a cut and paste/collage style, going back and forth in various degrees of extremeness; loud and quiet; heavily processed, totally acoustic; personal and public. It is, by all means, a most curious release, topped off by this "how to administer Naloxone for an opioid overdose" and a link how to do that. See, there is a deeply personal aspect to it all, which, we the listeners, may not fully grasp. Well, maybe I don't grasp, but I hold on to the music, which I think is great! (FdW) ––– Address: https://anathemarchive.bandcamp.com/ The compilation corner; NOTE LITHUANIA: EXPERIMENTAL/ELECTRONIC 2019 (CD compilation by MIC Lithuania) ZOOM IN 13: NEW ART MUSIC FROM LITHUANIA (CD compilation by MIC Lithuania) SEMOD (CD compilation by Dumpf) ESCUPMETRALLA – QUIERO SER GUITARRA DE ESPLENDOR GEOMETRICO 1994 / 25 ANOS DE PAZ (2CDR by Novak) Ah, compilations. They still arrive here, no matter how often I say that I don't like reviewing compilations. I understand the need to release them, to promote your label for instance. To promote a country and it's musicians or to promote a bit of software. Here are examples of both, plus, oh no, remixes. The Music Information Centre Lithuania is an organisation that supports all sorts of music with all sorts of activities. One of them is to release compilation CDs. They did a lot of them in the past and surely lots in the future. First, there is 'Note Lithuania: Experimental/Electronic 2019' wth Veliu Namai, Patris Zidelevicius, Skeldos, Daina Dieva, Distorted Noise Architect, Nulis:S:S:S, Tiese, Unit 7, Fume, Phil Von, Nortas, Raguvos and Avidja/Devita. The most surprising name here being, of course, Phil Von, once the man behind Von Magnet and now residing in Vilnius, Lithuania. This experiment and electronics are to be understood as rooted in the world of industrial, drone and ambient music. It is fairly safe to say, the world of Vital Weekly. It is a mixed bunch of strong rhythmic songs (Unit 7, Phil Von Distorted Noise Architect))), drone music (Fume), gothic (Skeldos), noise (Dainia Dieva) and the rest possibly somewhere between all of this. A booklet provided all the necessary information, also about festivals. No such booklet for 'Zoom In 13 on which we find Egidija Medeksaite, Albertas Navickas, Rumanas Motiekaitis, Goda Marija Guzuaskaite, Ruta Vitkauskaite and Ziboukle Martinaityte. This is more the realm of modern composed music; classically trained composers and much less within our field of expertise (as mentioned a lot of times). No explanatory booklet with this one. With my limit knowledge of this sort of thing, I'd say this is all quite melancholic, save perhaps for the final dramatic piece by Martinaityte, which is quite a soundtrack for a movie. All of this is nothing really for Vital Weekly. And then there is a compilation to showcase software, Segmod in this case. "Segmod is a non-standard sound synthesis that embraces the discrete nature of digital sound. All sounds created with Segmod result from the concatenation of simple periodic waveforms, such as sine, triangle, and square waves". Thanks to one of the participating artists who mailed me this, I had a sniff around as one can translate words in text files to music and I was wondering how this issue of Vital Weekly would sound. But of course, I am afraid I will fuck up something with my computer or that the whole text I just penned is lost, as I easily admit knowing fuck all about software. I understand that if you repeat words or numbers that would translate into a rhythm, and a lot of text probably means quite a bit of noise. You get the drift and otherwise, these sixteen artists drive the point home; David Pocknee, Lula Romero, Veronika Klaus, Ji Youn Kang, Yota Morimoto, Martin Lorenz, Artemi-Maria Gioti, Jliat, Casper Schipper, Miriam Akkermann, Hanns Holger Rutz, Demian Jakob, Hadas Pe’ery, Luc Döbereiner, Volker Straebel, David Pirrò (no prizes if you have an idea who send a review copy my way). Lots of names I never heard of, but maybe there is a whole computer musician’s circuit out there that I don't know of. It is all pretty radical music; lots of noise, deep bass sounds, high-end frequencies and the occasional stuttering rhythm. Ah and the deadly combination of compilation and remix; both not favourite subjects to write about. Remixes, I said it before, will say it again, is a form of masturbation. Especially in the case such as the one presented here by Escupemetralla. In 1994 they recorded a song called 'Quiero Ser Guitarra De Esplendor Geométrico', which means 'I Wanna Be Espendor Geometrico's Guitarist', which is funny because they don't have a guitarist. Now, twenty-five years later, they have Spanish (mostly) finest remixing this song. The title is a reference to General Franco's '25 Years Of Peace', announced in 1964 to celebrate his victory in the civil war. It is also the name of a part of Barcelona where the boys of Escupemetralla grew up and apparently an ugly part of the city. Some bands take the piss out of the title, like ‘I Wanna Be Escupemetralla's Drummer' and the whole thing contains tons of new names for me, as well as some established ones; cue list of names. Macromassa, Jet7, Tecib, Rapoon, Javier Hernando, Anki Toner, Alxsnjrjo, Delusions, Red Kite, Bob Lanzas, Esplendor Geométrico, Permutation, Loppkio, Geométrico Aviado, Mauri, Lrad, Mandivula, Javier Piñango, Ô Paradis, Wilder Gonzales Agreda, Wdr (Jm Soler & Sofía Bertomeu), Sedcontra and of course Escupemetralla with a couple of pieces, including the original (towards the end of disc one; why not the beginning I wondered). So mostly Spanish bands but also some from abroad. These remixes take the original in a somewhat noisier area; more distortion, more beats. The more dancefloor-oriented pieces are on the second disc, next to the usual noisy stuff, continuing from disc one. None of these pieces was aiming for the dance floor (or a rock audience) and self-serving. Particularly the Esplendor Geometrico remix was a letdown. (FdW) ––– Address: https://www.mic.lt/en/ ––– Address: https://dumpf.com/ ––– Address: http://novak.es/ 'Less than Vital – music [not] reviewed outside our box' OYMOZ - BREED (CD by Everest Records) "Antonio Albanello is the musical mastermind behind the cryptically named project, Oymoz. Over the last thirty years, his works have been unveiled to the public in waves of creativity, ever oscillating between pop and experimental.[...] During the recording sessions in the Church of the Holy Spirit (Heiliggeistkirche) in Bern, the elements of Breed were blended to create a cohesive whole, skilfully weaving the majesty of the baroque organ, grand piano, percussion and vast space into the fabric of the electronic stories. It is this bold experimental approach which gives the album its distinct atmosphere." ––– Address: http://everestrecords.ch/ KATAWA SINGERS - UFULU 1991-1997 (CD by Modernizations 1000Hz) DUBINY - VIANIE RUTA 1982-1988 (CD by Modernizations 1000Hz) "Katawa Singers from Mzuzu in the Northern Region of Malawi are pundits of the local scene. They have designed and delivered the electronic gospel sound that dominates the country ever since. They have designed and delivered the electronic gospel sound that dominates the country ever since. It all started by accident. The choir that collected money for the erection of the new Presbyterian church in the Katawa area received a Yamaha keyboard from a foreign donor. What followed next is the result of the musicality, inventiveness and artistic sense of artists who quickly gain acclaim. Since then, Katawa Singers have recorded a dozen releases, toured around Malawi, playing at festivals and prayer gatherings." "Dubiny is a musical band the story of which has become an excellent example of what is here referred to as ‘modernizations’. The leader of the band, Piotr Skiepko, has been garnering musical inspirations and experiences from his young age – by watching musicians as a boy, by playing around with self-made electric musical instruments, by performing as a member of a regional folk group. In the early 1980s, all this allowed him to launch a project combining electronic music with big bit rock, and sometimes - disco arrangements with local theme songs, melodies and harmonies. The band was a short-term but dazzling success; the musicians had the house packed at their concerts, recorded their compositions to cassettes and released them semi-officially." ––– Address: https://modernizations1000hz.bandcamp.com/ INTENSIVE STUDIES - PERFECTLY (AB) NORMAL (CDR by Love Earth Music) "Released August 22, 2019; recorded by IS at WG Studios in Milford, MA 2018-2019 IS- Jack, Steve, WeeGee. Art by IS & Lob. Photo's by A Girl Named Rose. Tags rock depressing songs Massachusetts" No further information online; the first link has the music to hear and you can judge for yourself. ––– Address: https://intensivestudies.bandcamp.com/ http://www.loveearthmusic.com/home.html • Vital Weekly is published by Frans de Waard and submitted for free to anybody with an e-mail address. If you don't wish to receive this, then let us know. Any feedback is welcome <vital@vitalweekly.net>. Forward to your allies. Snail mail: Vital Weekly/Frans de Waard Acaciastraat 11 6521 NE Nijmegen The Netherlands All written by Frans de Waard (FdW), Dolf Mulder (DM) <dolf.mulder@hetnet.nl>, Jliat (Jliat), Freek Kinkelaar (FK), Peter Johan Nijland (PJN), Sven Schlijper-Karssenberg (SSK), Howard Stelzer (HS) and others on a less regular basis. 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