NIKO SKORPIO – THE UNFOLDING (THEMES & VARIATIONS) (CD by Paraferal) *
VANESSA ROSSETTO – SELF-CARE (CD by Unfathomless) *
BERLIN ART QUARTET – LIVE AT B-FLAT (CD by Unisono Records)
PAOLO PASCOLO & STEFANO GIUST – HAIKU (CD by Setola di Maiale) *
SETOLADIMAIALE UNIT & EVAN PARKER – LIVE AT ANGELICA 2018 (CD by Setola di Maiale) *
TRIO YASAÏ –SAUTE-MOUTON (CD by Trio Yasaï) *
LOWERED – MUSIC FOR EMPTY ROOMS (CD by Morc Records) *
R.O.T. – KLEIN EILAND (CD by Morc Records) *
PEFKIN – CLESTIAL NAVIGATIONS (LP by Morc Records) *
EXQUISITE RUSSIAN BRIDES – REVISIONS (LP by The Cat Box Corp) *
LAURENT PERRIER & DAVID FENECH – PLATFORME #3 (LP by Bam Balam Records) *
ANTONIN DE BEMELS – LA FIN DES PSEUDONYMES (CDR by Thin Consolation) *
YUNCLAS – THE ANTICOSMICK ACCELERATION (CDR by Hazard Records) *
DEMO – MY BROKEN JUNO (CDR by Hazard Records) *
FABIO ORSI – ANEMOS (3″CDR by Taalem) *
GREGORY KRAMER – SILENT CITY BLIZZARD (3″CDR by Taalem) *
ANDREA MARUTTI & CARLO GIORDANI – IMPRESSIONI ORGANIZZATE DI ANSIE LIQUIDE
(3″CDR by Taalem) *
HALI PALOMBO – CHERRY RIPE (cassette, private) *
OMORI – EMBRYOGENESIS (cassette by Amek tapes) *
V-STÓK – AQUATIC RITUALS (cassette by Amek tapes) *
COMFORT CLUB 01 (fanzine by Amek tapes)
CALINECZKA – KYSTYMSKA (micro SD card by Szara Reneta) *
LES ESPACES ELECTROACOUSTIQUES II (2CD by ColLegno) *
NIKO SKORPIO – THE UNFOLDING (THEMES & VARIATIONS) (CD by Paraferal)
If I am honest, and I usually am, I sort of forgot about Niko Skorpio. Years and years I got releases
from his Some Place Else labels, containing, sometimes, his musical projects, such as
Thergothon, Cold Once Turning Dust, This Empty Flow A\H, Rajapinta and Haeretici 7o74 and in
all of these, he explored the darker regions of industrial music, metal, gothic, rituals and such. In
more recent years Skorpio went on to focus on doing “cinematic expression, experimental film
and video art” and as such we must see the current release, ‘The Unfolding – Themes & Variation’.
This is “an audiovisual projected installation for darkened space. It provides a space for inner
contemplation by combining abstract imagery and sounds in an environment that encourages
silence and arrest”. The installation piece is eighteen minutes and twelve seconds and appears in
two different versions, at the beginning and the end of the CD. In between, there are three tracks
with outtakes of these pieces. Of course with releases such as this one, soundtracks to films or
installations that is, it is not easy, once removed from the installation or the movie, to say if it works
as the musical side of such a visual project. Once removed, what is left is the music and the
question is ‘does that stand by itself?’ In the case of Niko Skorpio, I can confirm that it does, and
more so, he continues to do what he is known for. The music still has that ritualistic touch, the
deep end, processed voice, the percussive element, the metallic ring and the dark electronics. I
am not sure if both versions of the installation piece are different enough to warrant inclusion of
both of these on the same CD. They aren’t the same, but the elements are too similar, especially
when they also appear in the three session pieces. I have reminded me of music by Peter Johan
Nyland, who does things a bit darker and more intense than Skorpio but touching upon the
similar ground there, especially in the whole treatment of instruments and electronics, connecting
it with body, nature and mind. I would have loved to see the actual installation piece! (FdW)
––– Address: http://www.paraferal.com
VANESSA ROSSETTO – SELF-CARE (CD by Unfathomless)
Over the years I have reviewed some of the music by Vanessa Rossetto (Vital Weekly 690 and
1139) and yet I don’t have much idea what she does. From her website, I understand that “she
uses primarily chamber instrumentation, field recordings, electronics and a wide array of objects.
In 2008, she launched her own CDR label, Music Appreciation. Through this imprint she has
released four solo albums: Misafridal (2008), Imperial Brick (2008), Whoreson in the Wilderness
(2008) and the FILE Festival-honoured Dogs in English Porcelain (2009)”, but beyond there is a
lot more releases on other labels. This is her second release for Unfathomless and it was
recorded in two days, 7-9 September 2018, “on the street and at The Boat, san Francisco, CA”, it
says on the cover. The website tells us more, “Self-care is made up of documentation of a three
day trip to San Francisco in the fall of 2018. I spent the majority of my time there in a pleasant
rented room where I left the recorder running and examined elements of my relationship with my
corporeality”, which accounts for the many, lengthy spoken word parts in this piece. To be honest,
I am not sure what to make of this. I easily (always) admit I am not really listening to words/lyrics/
poetry per se, and so some of this, or rather much of this, is lost on me. A few parts seem to deal
with electronics of rather undefined nature, drone-like, working up to a crescendo before cutting
back into the spoken word thing again. I liked those parts, but I am less enamoured about the
spoken words and the dripping sounds that open up and close this release. The whole story
could have been a lot in a lot less time, I think. (FdW)
––– Address: https://unfathomless.bandcamp.com/
BERLIN ART QUARTET – LIVE AT B-FLAT (CD by Unisono Records)
Reinhard Brüggemann was a pioneer in the Berlin free jazz scene near the end of the 60s. As a
student and starting drummer, he participated in the small scene around Jost Gebers who was
later to establish the famous FMP-label. But his musical career didn’t take off in those days. In the
90s he picked up musical activity again as a member of the trio Gruppe Hörsturz. And in 2013 he
founded the Berlin Art Quartet. For this quartet, Brüggemann took inspiration from the New York
Art Quartet of John Tchicai. These pioneers of the free jazz recorded two records in the mid-60s,
records that made a big impression on Brüggeman. For this reason, he chooses for the same
instrumentation with Matthias Schubert on tenor sax, Matthias Müller playing the trombone and
Matthias Bauer on double bass. So Brüggemann surrounded himself with top German
improvisers with lots of international experience. It is beyond my judgment if there is some stylistic
continuity with the New York Art Quartet. Maybe this counts for the style of Brüggemann’s
drumming. What is more important the four play completely improvised, developing together a
musical and vivid interplay. Especially the blowers excel in a spirited performance. Together they
produce a strong life-sign of improvised music that nowadays has found a flourishing centre in the
city of Berlin. They reach for strong interwoven and concentrated moments in their improvisations,
like the final part of the first improvisation. The second improvisation starts with a solo by
Brüggemann, illustrative for his style of drumming, disciplined and sober. Also in this improvisation
they gradually built up their interactions towards some very intense moments in the second part,
ending in a very charming finale. The third improvisation is dedicated to Johannes Bauer who
played trombone in this quartet from the very start until his passing away in 2016. The quartet
recorded this album at the place where Johannes Bauer gave his last concert. Their first one is
released by the Berlin-based label Unisono Records. (DM)
––– Address: http://www.unisono-records.de
PAOLO PASCOLO & STEFANO GIUST – HAIKU (CD by Setola di Maiale)
This is a duo-work by the two experienced Italian improvisers. Label-boss Stefano Giust (drums,
cymbals) and Paolo Pascolo (flute, bass flute, tenor sax, electronics). Both know one other as
members of the Aghe Clope quartet with Georgio Pacorig and Andrea Gulli. An ensemble
dedicated to free improvisation. In their duo collaboration, Giust and Pascolo also almost sound
like a complete ensemble. Their rich vocabulary and technique make that their playful dialogues
are full of details concerning dynamic, colour and timbre. I especially enjoyed the improvisations
that have Pascolo playing the flute. And throughout, this CD is an excellent opportunity to enjoy
Giust’s playing style. He plays in a very natural and organic way, using many percussive objects
in all possible ways. Pascolo plays similarly, that is to say, in flowing movements and gestures.
This makes their sensible textures very coherent. ‘Kana’ and ‘Yugen’ are two improvisations that
have Pascolo playing electronics in his interaction with Giust. These improvisations make an
intriguing contrast with the other improvisations that are all 100% acoustic. It is very satisfying
and interesting how Pascolo uses electronics in improvisation. Hope to hear more of it one
day. (DM)
––– Address: https://www.setoladimaiale.net/
SETOLADIMAIALE UNIT & EVAN PARKER – LIVE AT ANGELICA 2018 (CD by Setola di Maiale)
In 2018 Setola di Maiale celebrated its 25th Anniversary with a concert at the Angelica Festival
by the Setola di Maiale Unit. A collective of eight improvisers led by label-founder Stefano Giust:
Marco Colonna (clarinets), Martin Mayes (horn, alphorn), Patrizia Oliva (voice, electronics), Alberto
Novello (analogue electronics), Giorgio Pacorig (piano), Michele Anelli (double bass), Stefano
Giust (drums, cymbals), and with Evan Parker (saxophones) as a special guest. In the opening
part of this collective improvisation, two other musicians participated: Philip Corner (gongs intro)
and his wife Phoebe Neville (gongs intro). They take us on a 70-minute-long improvisation that is
divided into five sections. Improvised – if not all – music is best consumed live. In the case of a
recording of improvised music, the impact is often less, even more in the case of big ensembles.
Well, that is my experience. But this release is a pleasant exception to this. First, the recording is
excellent and transparent and secondly because the improvisation is very ‘accessible’ in a way
and unfolding itself in one undivided and consistent movement. During the long period, the
performers behave like one giant organism fulfilling the conditions to stay in one constant organic
flow. Incredible all this is instantly improvised without a conductor. The performers were very good
attuned to one other as this improvisation has focus and body from start to finish. Of course, the
improvisation undergoes different phases, with different performers or sections of performers in
the forefront. A true abundance of styles, atmospheres, colouring, dynamics, pass by during this
journey. A joy! (DM)
––– Address: https://www.setoladimaiale.net/
TRIO YASAÏ –SAUTE-MOUTON (CD by Trio Yasaï)
Trio Yasai is Kumi Iwase (sax, clarinet), Hugues Vincent(cello) and Colin Neveux (drums). We
have met Hugues Vincent earlier on releases by the now-defunct Improvised Beings-label that
was run by Julien Palomo, like ‘Strange Days’(2017) with Ryoji Hojito. Also, his release as a
member of The Octopus we discussed here as well as his collaboration with Takumi Seino (‘Last
Tree’, 2015). Iwase studied saxophone in her homeland Japan and moved to France for
continuing studies (clarinet, jazz, composition, electro-acoustic). Both Iwase and Vincent work as
a duo since 2011 combining the world of improvisation and composition. Colin Neveux as the
drummer of this trio, worked with Vincent a lot in earlier years. The CD gives room to eight
compositions, six of them composed by Iwase, two by Vincent. Compared with other work by
Vincent from the last few years, this one leans far more on composition instead of improvisation.
The trio deals in Avant-jazz with ingredients from many different corners. Most compositions make
use of drastic turns and twists. Contrasting, for example, heavy electric parts with breakable
acoustic ones. In the opening track, ‘Saute-Mouton’ Vincent plays an electrified angry cello in
what almost sounds like straight hardcore noise rock. ‘Conte de fée’ starts with a very uplifting
and joyful theme that is changed for abstract sound improvisation that hardly can be experienced
as a continuation. ‘Yasaiologie’ is a folk-induced theme that half ways turn into a freer adaption
of the theme by Iwase.
“Bar Tock’ is a fine work of composed chamber music of swirling unison played movements.
‘Le 13’ is an ingenious Avant-jazz up-tempo composition by Vincent, that halfway turns into a solo
by Vincent with minimal support drums and sax. The closing track ‘Le Temps passée’ starts with
an extremely intense stream of noise, with the clarinet playing a serene and thin line on top of it.
In the second part of the piece where Vincent plays acoustic, the music becomes very pastoral.
This is a very worthwhile album full of surprising manoeuvres. (DM)
––– Address: https://www.facebook.com/events/sunset-sunside/trio-yasai/1635876479796307/
LOWERED – MUSIC FOR EMPTY ROOMS (CD by Morc Records)
R.O.T. – KLEIN EILAND (CD by Morc Records)
PEFKIN – CELESTIAL NAVIGATIONS (LP by Morc Records)
In a note, Morc Tapes informs me that I wrote about all three of these projects/musicians before. I
would have known without the information. Of the three, I have heard two some time ago and I
needed some update, but in the first case, Lowered, I wrote about it a few times in the last few
years. The musical project of Chris Gowers is the follow-up to Karina ESP, of which I recently
reviewed a split 7″ with Morc Records label boss Circle Bross (and noted this is a small world
indeed). Both of these projects deal/dealt with mood music, but with Lowered the music takes a
more introspective turn. This is his fourth full-length release (see also Vital Weekly 1117 and
1027) and his sources are singing bowls, piano, tam-tam, cello and “mostly room tones”. You
could call this drone music, but with a few interesting different qualities. One of that is the use of
acoustic instruments, which float into space. It is not easy to figure out how he does it, but these
instruments might be amplified and the sound is picked up in space; maybe there are loops,
created on rusty to -to-reel tapes? Again, I am not sure there. But along with the acoustic
instruments, some additional hiss or hum is being picked up, which creates an excellent
additional atmospheric quality to the music. It is the sound of an empty room indeed; perhaps
not so empty with the occasionally played sparse tones, but beyond the decay, what remains is
next to nothing. This is some great music, full of Zen-like meditative quality, even for those
people who aren’t into the whole meditation aspect of it (just like me, I guess). I have no idea
about the circumstances under which this was produced but it all has quite a sorrowful ring to it.
His best work as Lowered so far.
I do remember Belgium’s R.O.T. but, to be honest, only the name. The press text reminded
me of the fact they were an offshoot of the more rock-oriented group Toss. First, it was duo but
then a trio of Laurent Cartuyvels, Bram Borllo and Christophe Piette, who between them play the
guitars, organs, wind instruments, percussion, objects, modified electronics and lots more. They
are not a normal rock band but very much interested in playing “free music”. Over the years they
have not been very active; the recordings here are from 2014 and apparently (according to the
press info and not the cover), Floris van Hoof was a band member). It was recorded in an empty,
now demolished building in the south of Brussels, of which the name, ‘Klein Eiland’ (meaning
‘small island’) lives on. Free music it surely is. They set up shop in this building and use the
space to play an important role in shaping the texture of the music. They play freely and
unconventionally. There is nothing here that reminds us of a rock band; they shuffle instruments
about, smash something here, crack something there, walkabout and also some clusters being
played on an organ here and there. The recording is very direct; a pair of microphones set up in
the middle of the space, picking up on all the action and all the space. Sometimes this is very
close by, but usually with some more distance, creating this sense of space. I am reminded, not
just because the label mentions this, of Sandoz Lab Technicians, but of a lot more of the more
outlandish New Zealand free music meeting rock instruments and it’s not something that is a lot
on rotation anymore these days, but this new release by R.O.T. is a fine reminder I should play
this some more again. R.O.T. are as great as many of the New Zealand bands are or were. It’s a
pity then we might not hear from them again any time soon.
The second time I wrote about Gayle Brogan’s project Pefkin, in Vital Weekly 1077, I said
that was my introduction but I previously heard the ‘Zugunruhe’ release, as discussed in Vital
Weekly 684. ‘Celestial Navigations’ sound like a title by Brainticket and perhaps we should see
this a sort of follow-up to the psychedelic electronic music of the recently deceased Joel
Vandroogenbroek. The music of Pefkin is more folky and introspective. In 2018 she played at the
Øy festival on Papa Westray (the Orkney Islands) and she uses her voice (layered most of the
times), violin, analogue synthesizer, zither, psaltery, harp, guitar, found objects and field
recordings. She receives some help from John Cavanagh and Alan Davidson. She was asked
about a link between the islanders and space exploration and these five pieces are the result of
that. It is perhaps not music I hear a lot, but it is surely something I like very much. The whole
space connection, to be honest, eludes me, but I didn’t mind. The spacious trip this music makes
is a heavenly ride anyway. Throughout the music is drone-based, with all of these instruments
strumming and striking and sustaining and in the middle, there are the vocals by Brogan, careful,
delicate, folky. I very much enjoy the way it all works together; the folky voice, the acoustic
instruments and the space suggested by the electronics, through loops, the reverb on the voice,
and the synthesizer such as the VCS3 creating this all-important atmosphere. This is the perfect
soundtrack for a grey, rainy day, not wanting to leave the house and dream of stars (not visible).
(FdW)
––– Address: http://www.morctapes.com
EXQUISITE RUSSIAN BRIDES – REVISIONS (LP by The Cat Box Corp)
While I was thinking that Exquisite Russian Brides isn’t a particularly great name for a band, I am
playing the record, and I quite enjoy it. And thinking it was is a silly name, I might be hearing it for
the first but a quick search learned me I already reviewed a split 7″ by them and Elektronavn back
in Vital Weekly 572; a long time so I am excused of this oversight (or the fact that I don’t remember
that one). I have no idea what the brides did in the intervening years, but I learned today that
behind this project is one Marc Kellaway, who on the cover gets the credits for “Old tapes, plastic
organ, electric violin, prayer bowls, bells, synthesizers and drum machines”. Each side has a
single, twenty-minute track and somewhere, somehow I would say this is connected to the world
of cosmic music. Development is slow but straightforward, almost linear. A few synthesizers to
start the proceedings and slowly in come the drums, the sequencers, more synthesizers and then
there is that finely woven pattern of synthesizers and drums rolling majestically along. Krautrock,
you say? Yes, that what I would say too, krautrock it surely is. All of the instruments mentioned are
not the ones I heard, but maybe they are there is some kind of sampled form; I am not sure there.
I am quite sure though that I very much enjoyed these two trips. It reminded me of many other
things; all things kraut and cosmic from the last fifty years but especially, and perhaps oddly, the
recent music of Fabio Orsi. It shares that the same sequencer driven quality even when Exquisite
Russian Brides is a tad slower in tempo but sharing the same busy spacious place in the musical
idiom. Busy as in the multiple layers of information (not in the sense that many people do this kind
of music, of course. I am not sure about that). (FdW)
––– Address: https://thecatboxcorp.bandcamp.com/
LAURENT PERRIER & DAVID FENECH – PLATFORME #3 (LP by Bam Balam Records)
First: I am not sure if this is an LP. I am pretty sure I have a CDR in front of me. Read those review
submission guidelines! This is the third instalment of ‘Plateforme’ in which Laurent Perrier (also
known as Zonk’t, Pylone, Cape Fear, Heal) works solely with the sound material given by another
musician. The first two were CDs released by Baskaru and saw him using sounds from Felix
Kubin, Lawrence English Gianluca Becuzzi, Francisco Lopez, Tom Recchion and Christian
Zanesi. Each of the pieces was twenty minutes back then. Now it’s time for David Fenech., who
describes himself as “a kind of punk musique concrete” and who has worked with Nurse With
Wound, Jad Fair, Tom Cora, Pascal Comelade and many others. He produced the first side of the
record, ‘Plateforme #3.1’ in which Perrier handles Buchla and Serge modular synthesizers and
Fenech electric guitar, percussion, composition and mix. The second, not surprisingly called
‘Plateforme #3.2’ sees the latter on prepared electric guitar and Perrier on euro rack modular
synthesize and composition/mix. They both have their interests, which are shown in these two
pieces. Both pieces, while taking up the whole side of a record, contain various sections. In “# 3.1”
it starts with a looped rhythm that is not dissimilar to the world of krautrock; the endless guitar
flow, reminding me of Manuel Göttsching no doubt, added to that. In the second half of the piece,
the rhythm is gone and the drones have completely taken over. Both the guitar and the synthesizers
are now tuned down and slowly bringing a mighty iceberg-like sound in. In Perrier composition,
it all starts a bit more careful, with a multitude of loose sounds before it arrives, and then we are
already halfway through, into something more sustaining and coherent spacious sound. There is
a level of abstract approach on this side compared to the other, which makes a fine contrast; a fine
showcase of musical collaboration might do. (FdW)
––– Address: http://www.bambalam.com/
ANTONIN DE BEMELS – LA FIN DES PSEUDONYMES (CDR by Thin Consolation)
Along with this release, there is a note that reads, “this is a new release, fifteen years after one
for which you wrote a small review, and that “kinda liked it” even if you didn’t know exactly why. It
was under the name Petite Porte De Bronze. Do you remember?” Well, how charming! I have no
idea what I reviewed last week, let alone fifteen years ago, surely multiple thousands of reviews
ago. I looked up that review, in Vital Weekly 446, and to be honest, I still didn’t remember anything
about that release. I now learn that the music is by Antonin de Bemel, who also worked as Antoine
Lebleme, Petite Porte De Bronze, Bonhomme Daniel, Bonhomme de Bronze; this release is a
farewell to pseudonyms. That’s what the title means and what I understood from the cover text,
even when I am not entirely sure why he waves them goodbye (my French is not that great). De
Bemels has six pieces, of which the shortest is three minutes and the longest eight minutes, but in
all honesty four are over six minutes anyway. Back then I was reminded of the skipping CD
technology-as-instrument, explored and popularized by Oval, and there is something of that in
these new pieces, but it is embedded this time within something that we could label as ‘techno’
music. Perhaps not necessarily the same kind kids dance to (do they still? I am not sure), but the
4/4 time thing is hectically present in the fast opening piece ‘Humus’, along with alternate
stuttering. Slower in tempo are other pieces, such as ‘Histoire Naturelle’, or the very delicate
‘Comptine Bis’, with its high end click and deep bass. Two pieces are the exemption here; ‘Le
Debut De Quoi’ is a piano piece of somebody who is not entirely sure what he wants to play and
‘Serpetine’ is a very fine piece of chamber pop music with sampled toy piano’s. These two pieces
don’t break the mood but add nicely to the varied bunch these pieces are. Throughout this is quite
a lovely release. See you in fifteen years or… sooner? (FdW)
––– Address: https://thinconsolation.bandcamp.com/
YUNCLAS – THE ANTICOSMICK ACCELERATION (CDR by Hazard Records)
DEMO – MY BROKEN JUNO (CDR by Hazard Records)
Barcelona based label Hazard Records is an active force, but mostly in the realm of all things
free, so their releases are mainly to be found on Archive.org where they can be downloaded in
various formats. Now and then they mail some releases on CDR and I am never too sure if these
are also made for public consumption. I reckon’ they are not. Today I find on my desk a release
by Demo and Yuncals. To start with the latter, which is the name chosen by Adolfo Fernandez.
He played the guitar in the hardcore band Intolerance and since 2014 he works within electronic
music. “Since then he expanded his field of activity, which now includes sound landscapes, field
recordings and even a collaboration with the Sevillian flamenco dancer Ana Arenas”. Needless
to say, this is my first introduction to his work. Judging by the six pieces on this release, I would
think a guitar is still a primary tool for him and that he is not shy of a bit of noise. The guitar is the
starting point to get a strong pattern of sound going, a noise/drone if you will, loaded with distortion
and feedback, with field recordings buried beneath somewhere, but also, occasionally some
delicate guitar plink plonk that is set against the wall of noise approach that oddly also has the
rock residue in it. Loud but fine.
Of a more conceptual approach, we find Demo, the musical project of Raimon Aymerich. In
the 1990’s he was a member of Barcelona’s band Superelvis. These days he “investigates
effortless sound, or even music, productions”, as it says somewhat mysteriously on the press text.
He has a label, Lazy Sound Projects, but as Demo Hazard Records released all of his works. On
this new release, the music is all made with Roland Juno 106, the polyphonic synthesizer much
used in the ’80s. “One of the typical problems is the failure of the voice chips, in which one or
more of the 6 available chips become silent, quiet or crackly”. In two tracks called ‘Solo’, he plays
with the broken sounds as such, and in two longer ‘Duet’ he plays and/or manipulates its controls.
The two solo pieces are five minutes and consist of a lot of crackling; it sounds like vinyl, but then,
so, it is not. Very static, if you allow me this pun. Less time would have brought the same point
across, I think. In the longer pieces he adds additional synthesizers and, so at least I assume,
lots of other sounds and within the twenty or so minutes each of these duets last the crackles are
embedded in something bigger, but still of a very experimental nature, with sound shifting back
and forth, like memory banks running down and re-loading. This is all a very consistent project.
(FdW)
––– Address: https://www.hazardrecords.org/
FABIO ORSI – ANEMOS (3″CDR by Taalem)
GREGORY KRAMER – SILENT CITY BLIZZARD (3″CDR by Taalem)
ANDREA MARUTTI & CARLO GIORDANI – IMPRESSIONI ORGANIZZATE DI ANSIE LIQUIDE
(3″CDR by Taalem)
In reaction to the previous review, I wrote of Fabio Orsi’s music he let me know that his pieces are
extracts from live recordings and sometimes maybe a bit unbalanced. That is not the case on the
three pieces he presents on ‘Anemos’. In recent times Orsi uses a lot of synthesizers in his work
and surely that’s also the case here but this time around it seems to be less centred on the
bouncing sequencer and arpeggio synthesizer music, but here Orsi takes a more scenic route,
the more ambient oriented path if you will. In the third piece (all untitled) you will find some of
that arpeggio/sequence work, but here too it is all about a more introspective mood. These
pieces are less cosmic than some of his other recent work and it’s good to see him touch upon
other ambient music directions, even when this too isn’t perhaps something you haven’t heard
before either. It all works pretty well and shows a slightly more introspective side of Orsi.
I am not sure if I heard of Gregory Kramer before. He hails from the USA and works with
field recordings, electronics and various other sources. The piece here is a live recording made
a Signs And Symbols Gallery in New York City. The opening sounds are from snowflakes hitting
a windowpane. Field recordings indeed play an important role in this piece, but they are not
always easy to recognize. Something similar can be said of the electronic processing he applies.
Unlike many others who do these things within the digital world, it seems to me that Kramer uses
more analogue ways to process these sounds; they might be of the modular synthesizer variety
but just as well they might be small synthesizer or stompboxes. The result is something of a
surprise for the Taalem label. While many of their releases deal with ‘atmospheric’ music, in the
widest sense of the word, the music played by Kramer is a bit different. It’s moody, sure, but at
times has a particular rough noisy edge or, around the thirteen-minute break, a sort of slow
rhythmic pulse. That is quite a nice variation in the Taalem empire. Throughout Kramer uses the
collage method to play around with his sounds and he does a very fine job, veering back and
forth between more introspective and outlandish sound material. Mastering-wise I think there
could have been some improvement, but that’s something for next time, perhaps.
Andrea Marutti has had a release on Taalem before and there was a time when his named
popped a lot more in these pages. I have no idea why not so much these days. Music by Carlo
Giordani has been reviewed only once, it seems, in Vital Weekly 727. He takes credit for ‘field-
recordings, tapes, treatments, mixing’, while Marutti is responsible for ‘synthesizers, samples,
treatments, mixing, mastering’. I understand that this piece is the first part of a bigger work to be
released in the future, but it is something that they have been working on for some time. The
cover says it was “recorded and assembled between December 2013 and May 2019” and it is
part of a soundtrack to “Aquology – Oceano Interiore”, a multimedia project by Massimo Indellicati.
The aquatic theme one could not miss in the splashes of water sounds that we hear in the opening
of the piece and which run throughout this piece. It all has that below sea surface quality, the
soundtrack, I imagine, of being inside a submarine. Now here I would think the treatments are all
done with the use of computer technology. Large chunks of field recordings are processed and
together with those who still have a more natural feeling combined into a large, twenty-two-
minute soundscape of drips, splashes and the uber-drone of what sounds like submarine engine
humming in the back. It is something that could have fitted on the Mystery Sea label, had that still
existed. This is an excellent work and it made curious about the rest of it. (FdW)
––– Address: https://taalem.bandcamp.com/
HALI PALOMBO – CHERRY RIPE (cassette, private)
Here we have a composer and visual artist from Chicago, Ilinois, who says she’s influenced by
Philip Glass, Jorge Luis Borges and the Fermilab National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, IL
of which she says that “she would like her ashes scattered here someday, hopefully not anytime
soon”. In her music, she uses keyboards but also a “large personal library of CB and amateur
radio recordings, Morse code, wax cylinder samples and field recordings she has taken at
various Midwestern points of interest.” I believe this is her second release and it has eight songs,
ranging from one to four minutes. Some of these pieces happen a bit too quick, too sketch-like
for my taste and I think there is surely more ground to explore in there. The combination of
minimalist, part melodic, part droney electronics set against the found sound, which contain
mostly voices, not always easy to understand (or at all). All of this gives the music a part poppy
(but very much without rhythm) character, but also like a radio drama. Now, because of the
variety in the voice material, there is no overall story that is told here, but I can imagine that one
day Hali Palombo will sit down with a bigger and more coherent bunch of voice material, she
could create a wonderful epic of sound and voice. I am thinking something that Randy Greif did
with ‘Alice In Wonderland’, but of course it could be any other subject. Since this is my
introduction to her sound world, I have no idea how well defined it all is yet, but I foresee this
could all bloom into something even more wonderful than it already is. Some of this need
further exploring, some of its blooms already. This is a most promising start. (FdW)
––– Address: https://halipalombo.bandcamp.com/
OMORI – EMBRYOGENESIS (cassette by Amek tapes)
V-STÓK – AQUATIC RITUALS (cassette by Amek tapes)
COMFORT CLUB 01 (fanzine by Amek tapes)
Bulgaria’s Amek Tapes becomes slowly a force to be reckoned with. Here we have two new
cassettes and the first issue of a fanzine. Omori, so Amek says, is one of the youngest musicians
on the label and yet, ‘Embryogenesis’ is already his second release, following ‘Isomorphism/
Transparency’ (see Vital Weekly 1152). Stoyan Yovchev is still not twenty years old and his new
release is again not very long, some twenty-six minutes and has six pieces. In these pieces, he
explores the nature of ambient music further, just as he did before, and is not shy of adding a bit
of noise/drone for a fine balance. This time rhythm plays no part in the music and everything is
more abstract than before. I think that the music improved quite a bit from the previous one, and
certainly has matured quite a bit. The abstract drone ambience works very fine here. I still have
no clue if Omori works with solely digital or analogue means; I would tend to think it’s mostly, if
not all, digital. In ‘Struggle Against Chaos’ he harks back to the previous release with some
more conventional compositional approach of much reverb/delay and it sounds like a lengthy
intro to a techno piece; I prefer the other pieces in which he goes for a more soundscaping effect,
and it is much more intense and soundtrack-like. This is pleasant sci-fi soundtrack for your post-
apocalyptic imagines flickering late at night.
V-Stók returns, after ‘Primordial Soup’ (see Vital Weekly 1176), with an album that takes its
inspiration from the world of water. In all of these ten pieces there are water-like sounds, derived,
I should think, from field recordings being processed, synthesizers imitating water sounds and
electronics. According to the information field recordings were made with hydrophones in France,
Italy, Bulgaria, Iceland, and the UK and then fed through “analogue and digital synthesis and
electro-acoustic performance”. I would think his music made an interesting leap forward. The
previous one was quite diverse, melting together ambient and industrial but on this one, it all
seems to be in a more ambient place. That said it doesn’t mean it is now all quiet and subdued,
without the experimental edge of before. That is also still featured in the music of V-Stók,
especially when it has that submarine feeling of clank-clonk (Inc. lots of reverb) or the storm on
sea level, in ‘Sea Storm’, with its powerful white noise. Just as life on the sea can be, so I assume,
there is tranquillity as well as chaos and disturbance. I quite enjoyed the fine balance V-Stók
creates within his music. It could, somehow, be a fine addition to the Mystery Sea label, even
when this might be a bit too electronic for that label. The thematic approach of the waterworks out
quite well, and one could say this is a fine concept album.
And last but certainly not least, Amek Tapes expand their empire with the release of a
fanzine, the first issue of Comfort Club. Some of this text was published online before, but only in
Bulgarian. There are only interviews in this fanzine with people who were booked to play
concerts in Sofia, where Amek Tapes has access to places to perform. As I gather from the
interview they did with Italian based Altrimenti these concerts take place in squat-like surroundings
(like Altrimenti organises in Rome) and throughout the whole fanzine the ethos of Do It Yourself is
strongly promoted. We also have here interviews with CIA Debutante, Die! Goldstein, Elvin
Brandhi & Daniel Blumberg (who has a record out on Mute, so not so DIY), with a crazy interview
involving words as well as images/drawings, Linus Schrab and Niels Geybels, who is, perhaps,
the only I recognized for his work with the musical project Sequences and his Audio Visuals
Atmosphere label. All in a strong black and white A5 format and neatly printed. Sadly, an annual
affair, but let’s hope that will pick up. (FdW)
––– Address: https://amekcollective.bandcamp.com/
CALINECZKA – KYSTYMSKA (micro SD card by Szara Reneta)
No doubt, size-wise, this is the smallest release of this week. A micro SD card is just… very micro.
It comes with an adapter and that is put in a plain white fold-out 2LP cover, which is, of course,
the joke big package, the little carrier of sound. I might be wrong but the total amount of music on
this micro SD card might equal all of the music reviewed also in this issue. Maybe just below.
Calineczka has produced long works before; I remember ‘Music Not For Airports’, which consisted
of six one-hour pieces, but here, in three pieces only, that is almost doubled. The first piece is
2’32’09, followed by one that is 3’52’17 and the final one is 5’35’40, so twelve hours and six
seconds of music. He writes that he realizes that this will take up a lot of my time, and if there is
one thing you won’t find in this review, it is ‘on repeated playing I noticed’. I played all three
pieces, once. But within that duration, I had plenty of time to think about the review to think about
a lot of things. The three pieces are named after “radioactive contamination accidents that
happened in the Soviet Union in the late 1960s. From the releases by Calineczka that I heard I
learned he plays drone music and one that is very minimal in development. As such he is the
man to try his hand at such long pieces. When a piece is an hour, or maybe 80 minutes, say the
length of a CD, I think one perceives it all a bit different than when it’s two, three of five hours.
For example; I stuck the longest one on, and at a rather moderate volume, and let it roll by, doing
whatever I need to do. I was typing, reading, on the toilet, in the shower, in the kitchen, and even
when outside to post something; I didn’t stop the music as I was sure I could pick it up where I left
it. Very occasionally I thought, ‘oh the overall tone is getting darker’, but it wasn’t possible to
pinpoint an exact moment for that. Music of this long-form is not to be listened to actively, I think,
but passively. Even in a much shorter time frame that’s the case, but surely it is the case here;
you start playing this and leave it on as a backdrop, quietly humming away, on end, almost
literally. (FdW)
––– Address: https://szarareneta.bandcamp.com/
The compilation corner;
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 document something.
LES ESPACES ELECTROACOUSTIQUES II (2CD by ColLegno)
What can be said of this double CD is mainly covered by the information:
“The idea of exploring important 20th-century electro-acoustic compositions within their
historically informed performance practices, and using this as the basis for the production of a
new interpretation in 5.1 surround sound, has created quite a stir. It originated at the Institute for
Computer Music and Sound Technology (ICST) at the Zurich University of the Arts, and found its
expression in the double SACD Les Espaces Électroacoustiques I. — This album now brings us
further milestones of electro-acoustic music inappropriate and informed renditions: from Luigi
Nono’s first studio work, through the production of serial electronic sounds which Gottfried
Michael Koenig carried out in the WDR studio in Cologne as early as 1955, to Karlheinz
Stockhausen’s piece Contacts, an early example of successful dialogue between instruments
and electronics, as well as Luciano Berio’s Altra Voce, a kind of echo of the “azione musicale”
Cronaca del Luogo, which premiered at the Salzburg Festival in 1999.”
Which is followed by a list of musicians and sound projectors who worked on this. The pieces
are by Luigi Nono, (actually three of them), Luciano Berio, two compositions by Gottfried Michael
Koenig and, perhaps the most famous piece of all, ‘Kontakte’ by Karlheinz Stockhausen. I am not
sure what makes this an SACD, as it seems one play this on any regular CD player. The whole
idea of surround sound is of course lost here and I am no expert on any of these compositions. I
have no idea who well they are performed, even when I surely heard ‘Kontakte’ a few times in my
life. I would think they are fine performances and surely anyone who has no heard these modern
classical electronic pieces before should take a chance to hear them now. (FdW)
––– Address: https://col-legno.com/en/home