YANNIS PATOUKAS – JAMMED (CD, private) *
PARADOX ENCOUNTER GROUP – SUPERSEDE (CD by Abhorrent Creation Tapes) *
JOANNA MATTREY & GABBY FLUKE MOGUL – ORACLE (CD by Relative Pitch Records)
BRÛLEZ LES MEUBLES – TARDIF (CD by Tour de Bras)
YORGOS DIMITRIADIS/AXEL DÖRNER/LORI FREEDMAN/ANDREA PARKINS/CHRISTOPHER WILLIAMS – BEINGFIVE (CD by Relative Pitch Records)
BILL SEAMAN & DANIEL HOWE – DISPOSITIONS (LP by Oscarson) *
KEITH KELLY – DEPARTURE (CD by Edgetone Records) *
LUCA SIGURTÀ – PROPOLI KISS (CDR by Suoni Possibili) *
LOREN CONNORS & SERGIO SORRENTINO – SHADOW (CDR by Suoni Possibili) *
ALAN GLEESON – VIOLET MOTION (CDR, private) *
BOY DIRT CAR – SINNERS OF SAINTS (CDR by After Music Recordings) *
ADAM GOTTLIEB & VICTORIA STOLZ & AVIVA ENDEAN & JIM DENLEY – IN THE WEATHER VOLUME 1: THE HIDDEN VALLEY (CDR by Split Records) *
OMARLEEN & BENT 5AJULE – A PIECE FROM/FOR THE LOVED ONES (CDR by DJ Cut3) *
MONOGOTO – PARTIAL DELETION OF EVERYTHING (VOL. 2) (CDR by Polar Seas) *
SHAUN ROBERT & ALLAN ZANE & BIG CITY ORCHESTRA & PBK – CHAIN LETTER EXHORTATION SERIES #4 (cassette by PBK Sound) *
POOL PERVERT & PHARMAKUSTIK & ANLA COURTIS & PBK – WE PASS THROUGH EACH OTHER IN DREAMING (cassette by PBK Sound) *
PBK & GATES OF JANUS & INSTINCT PRIMAL & ARTIFICIAL MEMORY TRACE – LOST WORLDS (cassette by PBK Sound) *
MUSIC FOR A FEW PEOPLE, 01 (CDR compilation by Music for a Few People)
MUSIC FOR A FEW PEOPLE, 02 (CDR compilation by Music for a Few People)
MUSIC FOR A FEW PEOPLE, 03 (CDR compilation by Music for a Few People)
GNAARF – STATIONS (CDR by Ramble Records) *
HYDRA TRANSMITTER – THE BIRDS (cassette by Anticipating Nowhere Records) *
QUARTZ LOCKED – DEEP CITY WANDERINGS : EXPERIMENTAL TAPE 1987-2022 (cassette by Staalplaat) *
PM – SPACESHOT (cassette, private) *
MAURICIO REYES & MICHAEL ESPOSITO – OCULI MORTUUS (USB by Telekinett/Spectral Electric) *
YANNIS PATOUKAS – JAMMED (CD, private)
Following studying musicology in Thessaloniki, Patoukas went to study electro-acoustic composition in The Hague at the Institute for Sonology. In his privately released CD, there is a booklet in which he writes that his work deals more with improvisation, leaving mistakes in the music and allowing random approaches. There are three pieces on this CD; two parts of ‘Plod’, two of ‘Cloaked’ and one of ‘Canned’. As I understand this, the music is performed by a small group of players (cello, electric guitar, piano and flute, plus sound engineering) and the music was then used to create the music on this CD. The text in the booklet is extensive and not one I care to repeat. Patoukas uses ancient technology such as reel-to-reel machines to create the first four pieces, splicing tape, routing sounds, shuffling them around etc. This results in four pieces of modern electronic music, E Musik, as the Germans would call this. Fragments of recorded instruments and electronic transformations tumble around and make a vibrant sound. Patoukas keeps his sound material short, and there is constant change. I would file this under ‘traditional musique concrète’, which sounds great. In ‘Canned’, he does something different. This time there were no electronic treatments, but he recorded his group playing several times and then started to build his piece from these various sessions. I guess the idea is that we have the impression it is all ‘as it was recorded’, but in reality, we hear the construction, created out of various pieces, now neatly edited into one solid piece of music. I like the idea because it relates to the idea of the ‘studio as instrument’, but this is the least exciting piece; it is too much modern contemporary music. One could argue that this made this a successful piece of music. An exciting and surprising release! (FdW)
––– Address: https://yannispatoukas.bandcamp.com/
PARADOX ENCOUNTER GROUP – SUPERSEDE (CD by Abhorrent Creation Tapes)
This long-awaited review is due to the lethargy promoted by ‘the situation’. Harsh noise is the only alternative. Writing about the situation, writing about the arts, is difficult. Writing about harsh noise isn’t easy because it remains the same, like chocolate. However, this is not true, cheap chocolate tastes like soap, the real stuff is from Belgium, but for me, it’s Cadbury’s, because I’m English and from Birmingham, but now the factory is a museum or theme park the chocolate is made in Poland. So that is not true of noise. This release is the real Cadbury’s, but how does this sit with the arts? Well, I have nothing more to say at the moment about chocolate, or this excellent harsh noise other than the idea for this review came from last night listening to BBC Radio 3’s (the BBC ‘classical!’ service) ‘night waves’, which is the BBC’s attempt at the avant-garde. (Think BBC as now a theme park) But last night, this avant-garde music was of the easy listening kind one finds in shops which sell patchouli oil, wind chimes and dream catchers. Whale songs and pan pipes. Music for dying cancer patients, IOW the avant-garde. The whole edifice of the Broadcasting house is a Kremlin aesthetic, a myth of empire. The myth of the arts being significant (the noise drowns this myth). The reality in the political world is now clearly military. Might is right, or right is might. Propaganda ceases to gain traction in the mud of reality. A reality yet to be witnessed in western art. And maybe yet to occur, but if anyone has seen Ed Sheran’s film ‘Yesterday’, the grim reality has emerged. So what of ‘Night Waves’ set to lull the intellectual to sleep? Chemotherapy for the elites. Why hasn’t the harsh reality of the situation been harsh? OK, admit it’s harsh. It has been edited out of the culture to escape the blame. Who is responsible for Covid, Ukraine? Who makes the news, and who makes the situation? Harsh noise is the desire to see the authority of the vacuous like that of the T64 tank. The BBC lacks the bad news of harsh reality, and harsh noise; worse it creates fake chocolate and fails to be the sponsor of violence. (jliat)
––– Address: https://abhorrentcreationtapes.bandcamp.com/
JOANNA MATTREY & GABBY FLUKE MOGUL – ORACLE (CD by Relative Pitch Records)
Joanna Mattrey and Gabby Fluke Mogul are two young, experimental musicians from the New York scene. Improvisation is an essential ingredient of their art. Violinist, composer and improviser Gabby Fluke-Mogul studied at Mills College with Fred Frith and Pauline Oliveros. Mattrey is a New York-based violist and composer were active in the new music and free improvisation communities. Both worked last year on the project ‘Death in the Guilded Age’ with guitarists Ava Mendoza and Maetteo Liberatore. This year both were involved in collaboration with Charmaine Lee, Fred Lonberg-Holm and Weston Olencki (‘Live in Accord’). They have solo-albums out on Relative Pitch Records that are now presenting their first duo effort. Of course, we have to deal with conventions in improvised music as in any other music. I remember listening to a release from a young guitarist Derek Bailey, etc. inspired. In contrast, this release shows a highly non-idiomatic practice of improvisation. Their intuitive and radical explorations often sound like some imaginary folk-like ritual music. Implying the use of repetition and a certain slowness. Altogether it is an extraordinary and unconventional music. Abstract, on the one hand, but the dissonant and raw unpolished sound gives the music a physical feel. This is a highly risk-taking meeting full of contrasts, changes in speed and dynamics, and unusual movements and gestures. Very original explorations from two promising musicians! (DM)
––– Address: https://relativepitchrecords.bandcamp.com/
BRÛLEZ LES MEUBLES – TARDIF (CD by Tour de Bras)
Brûlez Les Meubles (Burn the furniture) is a duo by Louis Beaudoin-de-la-Sablonnière (guitar) and Éric Normand (electric bass). In 2018 they debuted as a trio with Louis-Vincent Hamel on drums, playing a stripped-down melodic kind of jazz. They are a quartet with Jean Derome on alto sax and bass flute on their new release. John replaces Hamel Hollenbeck. Jean Derome is one of the founding fathers of the music scene of Quebec needs no further introduction. Nor John Hollenbeck, who produced impressive albums with his Claudia Quintet. Louis Beaudoin-de-la-Sablonnière worked in projects led by Guillaume Tremblay (Quinos, Guillaume Tremblay Groupe) and also played in the jazz-rock band Gisèle. He works with Eric Normand, Normand who operates in very diverse musical contexts for a very long time. Above all, that of free improvisation and most known for leading GGRIL, his large ensemble devoted to free improvisation. Together with Beaudoin-de-la-Sablonnière focus on an accessible laid-back kind of jazz. They perform nine works composed by all members except Hollenbeck. Also, they play a composition by German trombonist Albert Mangelsdorf ‘A Jazz Tune I hope’, title-track from an lp from 1979. Easy-going, melodic compositions that unfold organically, resulting in moody and organic atmospheres. So we are offered an accessible and not very demanding music that is nevertheless built from thought-over arrangements, like the playful ‘Journée Pedagogique’, and ‘Maiange’ that has Hollenbeck in a prominent role in a sort of answer-response situation with Beaudoin de la Sablonnière and Derome.. A charming release. (DM)
––– Address: https://tourdebras.bandcamp.com/album/tardif
YORGOS DIMITRIADIS/AXEL DÖRNER/LORI FREEDMAN/ANDREA PARKINS/CHRISTOPHER WILLIAMS – BEINGFIVE (CD by Relative Pitch Records)
What happens if you put five accomplished musicians in a room and record the outcome? That’s what BeingFive is. Lori Freedman, a Montreal-based clarinet player of all available sizes from E-flat to contrabass clarinet, got the chance to assemble a group in Berlin and work with them into BeingFive. That culminated in a performance at the Silent Green, also in Berlin. She chose four musicians to her liking, and this release is a studio recording two days after the live performance. Yorgos Dimitriadis (percussion and electronics), Axel Dörner (trumpet and electronics), Lori Freedman (clarinet and bass clarinet), Andrea Parkins (accordion, amplified objects and electronics) and Christopher Williams on double bass. Three longer pieces and two shorter ones called Amusic and Amusic bis. Freeze, the last one, is a meditative piece with a dronelike quality but with an inherent sense of suspense as several layers of frequencies and textures come and go, frequencies because it’s impossible to tell the sound source. Somewhere halfway, the accordion is heard, and a few minutes later, the clarinet, or at least better discernible than before. Quite an impressive piece, which reminded me a bit of Modellbau. The same kind of drone is a small part of the first piece, Eclipse. These are as many modern classical compositions as it is free impro. It’s a fascinating journey of BeingFive, a journey of five individuals merging into one organism, resulting in the meditative music of Freeze. )MDS)
––– Address: https://relativepitchrecords.bandcamp.com/
BILL SEAMAN & DANIEL HOWE – DISPOSITIONS (LP by Oscarson)
Daniel Howe is the unknown quantity here; I reviewed some music from Seaman before. I don’t know too much about him. His musical work deals primarily with electronics and especially those found the laptop. Howe is a guitarist, and at the basis of this record, we find Howe playing improvisations on his guitar, using his Pataclysm software, “which were then digitized and situated by Seaman in complex and tonal structures”. Then he asked a bunch of musicians to deliver some more music while Howe recorded with bassist Scott Dodd. The additional instruments are violin, hirn, contrabass and trumpet. The music sounds as heavily layered, which doesn’t make it easy to get into. A lot is happening, both in the front and the background. Sometimes I felt that I missed out on specific aspects of this music. The additional instruments appear mainly in the foreground of the music. I wanted to have the option to hear whatever happens in the background closer, as I think a lot is happening. That aspect of this music I missed out on. I enjoy the fact that the music is at a crossroads between ambient music, computer processing, improvisation and modern, variation chamber music. On a superficial level, this is relaxing music, but when I turned up the volume, there was mild distortion just below the surface, which added a certain weird edge to the music. Sometimes it all didn’t seem to fit like there was a randomized aspect to the music. Almost as if Seaman stuck all recordings into his DAW and, at all costs, wanted it all to sound together. It took me various rounds of listening to get my head around it, and even then, some tracks still gave me a hard time. (FdW)
––– Address: https://oscarson.bandcamp.com/
KEITH KELLY – DEPARTURE (CD by Edgetone Records)
There is quite a bit of text from the composer here, and it is about jazz and how this is not a jazz release. That almost put me off listening to this; when people say something isn’t something, it usually is. But, so I was thinking, maybe people know Keith Kelly from his jazz music, and it is vital to point out the difference. I don’t know, as I believe (!) I didn’t hear of Kelly before. Also, he writes that “you wanna call it ‘ambient’ – well it doesn’t sound like Eno to me so…NOPE.” I think that is a bit easy, as Eno’s music is primarily ambient, but not all ambient music sounds like Eno’s. Kelly uses quite a bit of electronics, but I would also think of saxophones or other wind instruments. Most of the time, these instruments are processed, as in looped, such as in ‘Looking out Into The Vastness’. Ambient? Yes, I would say that is the appropriate term for this music. It is tranquil, has elements of drone music, puts this listener in a happy state of hearing great music, and fills up my living room with pleasant sounds. And again, this is not the kind of music Brian Eno does. I cast the net of ambient music perhaps broader and welcome Keith Kelly as a member of this family. His music is mostly, but not always, abstract. Sometimes a melodic phrase pops up, such as in ‘New Strange Economics’, which gives the release a nice variation. Not every piece is strong. ‘And Then It Was’, with its bouncy rhythm machine and a voice saying those words, is a bit out of place in this otherwise instrumental and non-rhythmic album. Throughout, primarily, a delightful album. (FdW)
––– Address: https://edgetonerecords.bandcamp.com/
LUCA SIGURTÀ – PROPOLI KISS (CDR by Suoni Possibili)
LOREN CONNORS & SERGIO SORRENTINO – SHADOW (CDR by Suoni Possibili)
Since he started in the early 2000s, I have reviewed many works by Luca Sigurtà, yet somehow I seem to think of him as someone from the past. I wanted to start this review with something like, ‘it’s been a while’, and his last one is from four years ago, so, indeed, a while ago. His latest album is about “melancholic emotions”, a record about the past, “to celebrate the inspiring 90s TV show ‘MTV Chillout Zone”, so there will be a video for each of the seven pieces here. Over the years, Sigurtà shifted with various musical styles. From pure abstraction to vaguely pop music, well, the alternative version. The music on ‘Propoli Kiss’ is a mix of his various musical interests. Rhythm plays a considerable role, along with drones, created by the use of the synthesizer. That is not to say that Sigurtà’s music is danceable. The rhythms are sometimes broken up, constructed from glitches, patches or such and, while looped, not easy to dance to. Also, looking at the ‘pop’ side of this music, I think Sigurtà’s music is a bit too dark and gloomy. A song such as ‘Ador Chaos’, with a slow and trippy beat, is such a dark piece. This is excellent mood music, a bit dubby, with guitars buried somewhere in the mix. Sigurtà’s music has more this moody textures, and some of these can easily fit any dark flick about the decay of society; or the next episode of ‘The Twilight Zone’. Among the influences, I think he listened closely to Porter Ricks when creating some dubby rhythms. I found this a pleasant album in all its darkness; dark, moody, textured and lovely on any grey, short day.
The music by Loren Connors and Sergio Sorrentino is of an entirely different nature. Both play electric guitars; Connors has been doing this for a long time and has released a long string of records. Sorrentino was a fan, and the pandemic provided an opportunity to play together via a Zoom session. It’s been a while since I last heard Connors’ music, but I assume from him we get the more traditional approach towards improvisation here, freely strumming and plucking, adding a few sound effects. On the other hand, Sorrentino has a different style, producing more ethereal soundscapes, meandering about. They are in the background, like ghosts lingering over the music. When I heard this the first few times, I had some trouble getting into it. I am not sure why that was. Maybe I thought the music didn’t fit together, but once I sat down for it, this time for real, I got the music. Strange shifting from the atmospheres to improvisation create a delicate balance of interests, swinging back and forth between them. Quite poetic at times and quite abstract as well. (FdW)
––– Address: https://suonipossibili.bandcamp.com/
ALAN GLEESON – VIOLET MOTION (CDR, private)
Here we have the first physical release by Alan Gleeson, who also has ten more digital only albums. I am not sure why he choose this 2018 live recordings to be his first physical release; it seems a bit of an odd choice. Unless, and that may very well be possible, that he thinks this represents his current work best, and (or) that he rarily plays love and this is as such a document. There is nothing to be found what Gleeson, who is, despite his English sounding name, from Spain, uses, instrument-wise. Without knowing too much, this could be either all modular electronics, or laptop-based. It has that direct synthesizer approach that made me think that the first is most likely. At one point, somewhere in the middle of this forty minutes there are a lot of resonators at work, indictaing the use of modular electronics. Gleeson sure loves his darkness. I can imagine that this music, when played on a big sound system in a somewhat darkened room, this effects are overwelming. In transferring the music to disc some of this power is still present. That can also be said of the music itself. I don’t think there have been attempts to smooth out the music, it remains very much a document of a concert and not the edited highlights. Going back and forth between the hard abstract synthesizer doodle and the odd, little melodic stuff that Gleeson also throws in, all hanging in there, a carefull balancing act, works quite well. Out of the darkness, there are rays of light. There is some powerful stuff going on here indeed. (FdW)
––– Address: https://alangleeson.bandcamp.com/
BOY DIRT CAR – SINNERS OF SAINTS (CDR by After Music Recordings)
Now active for over forty years, Boy Dirt Car, they are still firmly located on the outside of any musical scene. They may have played with Neubauten, Psychic TV, Pussy Galore, Z’EV, or Sonic Youth and I am sure they picked up some influences along the way. However, they always manage to sound like Boy Dirt Car, even when there is not one easy way to describe what they are doing. On ‘Sinners Or Saints’, their recent release, they offer a live in studio recording. Why not a live recording, I wondered. Knowing this is a live in the studi recording made think, why all the announcements? Unless, of course, there were people present in the studio (think ‘Heathen Earth’ by Throbbing Gristle). We hear the group going through their industrialized sound, using sounds of an air raid, distorted guitar, metallic percussion and Darren Brown’s characteristic voice; deep, dark and demanding. More reciting poetry than singing. There are snippets of TV shows, and throughout there is a dense, oppressive feeling to the music. The soundtrack of grim times, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Boy Dirt Car consider all times to be grim. In the studio the group retains their live sound, not only the way the play the music (complete with introductions), but also in the way it is recorded. As if Boy Dirt Car is on stage and a stereo mcirophone captures the feed of the stage in the studio, making it all very direct in your face. Shock tactics are probably the only tactics that work. Another lesson from the world of industrial music. (FdW)
––– Address: https://boydirtcar.bandcamp.com/album/sinner-or-saints
ADAM GOTTLIEB & VICTORIA STOLZ & AVIVA ENDEAN & JIM DENLEY – IN THE WEATHER VOLUME 1: THE HIDDEN VALLEY (CDR by Split Records)
I am not sure who to credit this release to. There are four people mentioned, but the music is created by two of them. Jim Denley plays flure, gumnut, vocals and stones and Aviva Endean uses clarinets, plastic tubes, pocket amplifier and stones. The other two mentioned on the cover are Adam Gottlieb on stones and trees (which, I realize this, could be used to create sound) and Victoria Stolz who did charcoal darwings (and, yes, that too can be a sound source), The four of them headed out to the Hiden Valley in Budawang Mountains. Denley has been going to this place since the late 1980s. We deal with ‘musiciking’, a term I had not heard before, which defined by Christopher Small (1927-2011), “any activity involving or related to music performance”. And “To music is to take part, in any capacity, in a musical performance, whether by performing, by listening, by rehearsing or practicing, by providing material for performance (what is called composing), or by dancing”. Which may account for the enclosing of Stolz as a performer. Outside in the field these music do music, and the sounds that happen while playing this music. Insects, birds, wind, and whatever else is captured on microphone. Which is, to be honest, not a lot of strange things, but there is, throughout, an electro-acoustic feeling to the music. Especially in ‘Tones Of Stone’ this happens quite a bit, with everybody rummaging around on, I presume, stones. in ‘Hidden Song’ and ‘Streaming’, the wind instruments play a bigger role than in the other two pieces, and the improvised playing works quite well with the sounds from the environment. However, I found it not easy to say that these musicians respond to the environment; maybe I miss out on the visual aspect of this. Also, I wondered, why these recordings? Are they part of a bigger recording project? Or, perhaps, is the recording device switched on at this particular moment to capture this precise performance? I can imagine this kind of music to be played for a long time, lengths easily exceeding the limit sound carriers. Having said that, and surely questions I would like to see an answer to, the music on this CDR is very interesting, with its middleground of improvisation, field recordings and action music. (FdW)
––– Address: https://splitrec.bandcamp.com/
OMARLEEN & BENT 5AJULE – A PIECE FROM/FOR THE LOVED ONES (CDR by DJ Cut3)
This CDR has been on my desk for a week or so, because I found it not easy to make up what this is about. I don’t even know if you can order this CDR, or if this is made for me to promote a digital album. Although from Arnhem, The Netherlands, the music deals with the Middle East. The ten tracks use material such diverse as “readings of Quran from Muhammed Omran and Abd al-Baset Abd al-Samad, the singing of Asala Yosef, Jofeat of the Druze of Palestine, samples from documentaries about the Euphrates, funny videos, latmyat of the Shia Islam, Ataba of the Syrian army, a Piano piece by Ghazale Moqanaki and Aleksandra Komsta with sounds of electronic improvisations”, which Omarleen and Bent 5ajule, both of whom are new to me, use in improvised sessions. I assume there is a bit of sampling going, maybe some kind of process on the source material, but I am not too sure. Much of the original sounds can be recognized and it has the idea of sonic diary, but then with quite a bit of extra sound. Sometimes sounding like a detuned radio, sometimes like pluderphonics (a bit from Wendy Carlos’ ‘Clockwork Orange’ popped up), sometimes like electro-acoustic music. I found this fascinating and mysterious. I had very little frame of reference. What is it about, I wondered and found myself without an answer. Strange one, but quite captivating at the same time. (FdW)
––– Address: https://djcut3.bandcamp.com/
MONOGOTO – PARTIAL DELETION OF EVERYTHING (VOL. 2) (CDR by Polar Seas)
Here we have a trio of musicians, who, so at least assume, don’t meet up in person, but exchange sound files. Ian Hawgood, Porya Hatami and David Newman create music that are based on the concept of creation, deletion, and loss. The first volume was released in November 2020, a longer digital only track on 12K. “Each piece brings natural, electronic and orchestral sounds into focus and then dispersal. Each deletion references the interplay of existence between the physical reality and the subjective”, which I am all not too sure how that translates in a partical sense to the music. Are they actual deletions taking place? Is there is a lot of sound material at the start and they scrape away the unwanted sounds? Hard to say. So, while we are in the dark as to how this music was created, the results are beautiful. Sure, dark it is, an element of decay doesn’t seem to be far away, and, perhaps, with loss as the result. Four pieces, in total thirty-six minutes of music, in hwich each player brings to the table what they do best. Think computer-based processing of field recordings in combination with ‘real’ instruments and recordings picked up in various ambiences. There’s a drone element running through all these pieces, a bit of hiss is never far away (I guess to indicate the decay part of the proces). A bit of an oddball is the opening of Seedling, with its skipping Oval-esque sound, of something mechanical that got stuck somewhere. Here to it gradually fades away, as much of the music is about using long fades to arrive in a different place. Mind you, not ‘fade out’, which one could, perhaps, think when reading the word ‘deletion’. The music is not about a vanishing act, i think. Music that one can play on slow cold days, inside the house, warm and cosy, and outside the clouds pass majestically along a slowly darkening afternoon. Oddly, a romantic notion. (FdW)
––– Address: https://polarseasrecordings.bandcamp.com/
SHAUN ROBERT & ALLAN ZANE & BIG CITY ORCHESTRA & PBK – CHAIN LETTER EXHORTATION SERIES #4 (cassette by PBK Sound)
POOL PERVERT & PHARMAKUSTIK & ANLA COURTIS & PBK – WE PASS THROUGH EACH OTHER IN DREAMING (cassette by PBK Sound)
PBK & GATES OF JANUS & INSTINCT PRIMAL & ARTIFICIAL MEMORY TRACE – LOST WORLDS (cassette by PBK Sound)
While only one is called ‘Chain Letter Exhortation Series, #4’, all three of these cassettes are part of a series called ‘Chain Letter Exhortation Series’. Unplug your phone and email when you dive into this. On the cassette, you will find the result, but on the download, you will find the previous steps of the project. Someone puts forward the source material, and the second on the list adds material and mixes that, then a third and fourth, final round. It returns to the world of ‘exquisite corpse’ and mail art. The final artist to do a mix can place a strong personal stamp on the mix or decide to go with the flow. Three cassettes, lasting one hour each, plus the two previous steps, also easily another two hours, means there are some nine hours of music to listen to; PBK Sound, the label (but also the artist PBK, who is involved in all musical activities in this series), says that the previous steps are on the included “For purposes of study”. This series is a bit of who’s who in the world of electronic music, old and new. Some of these musicians worked on similar projects in the 80s (Big City Orchestra or PBK), but others are more recently into this game. The first one mentioned is responsible for the final mix (PBK, Pool Pervert, and Shaun Robert). It is interesting to compare these various process stages and spot the differences and similarities. For example, I know Robert as a composer of sound collages and something that I found in the final mix he made. The jump-cut approach of solo work isn’t that strong present here, but it is a technique he certainly applies here as well. Pool Pervert’s compositional approach is also something he stamped over his mix; these two side-long pieces (all final mixes are one piece per side) are long-form drone pieces, and he applies his processing techniques to the earlier mixes. PBK may not have such a straightforward approach to mixing as Robert and Pool Pervert, but in his mixes, I think I recognized his love for sound effects, which he puts all over the place. I think the original input in his pieces shines through more than in the other two. But I might be mistaken! Spending your Sunday with all this music, all these sounds, all mixes, loaded into one player (for convenience or laziness, I downloaded them all from Bandcamp), bouncing back and forth between known sounds in different configurations, driving me slightly mad. A mad, long day with weird music. That’s all a man ever wants! (FdW)
––– Address: https://pbksound.bandcamp.com/
MUSIC FOR A FEW PEOPLE, 01 (CDR compilation by Music for a Few People)
MUSIC FOR A FEW PEOPLE, 02 (CDR compilation by Music for a Few People)
MUSIC FOR A FEW PEOPLE, 03 (CDR compilation by Music for a Few People)
In the late 80s, when the experimental tape scene was still very much alive and kicking some serious butts, there was a small tape label called Interrupt Product based in Haarlem, Netherlands, run by Egbert van der Vliet. Back then, there were a lot of labels and people active on all kinds of territories, but when I look at what happened in ’88 and ’89 (Discogs ;-), I already see great names like Grey Wolves, Odal, S-Core, Vidna Obmana, 6de Kolonne, PBK, Big City Orchestra, Blackhumour … Stuff to look out for, to say the least. In 2019, so that’s 30 years later, Egbert jumpstarted his ideas and started a little label called Non-Interrupt. Several releases from projects from Egbert and befriended artists. As well as a few sampler tapes and CDr’s under the title “Music For A Few People”. And an extra sampler on the side label of Non-Interrupt: Eyeless Vision. And now: It’s 2022 – almost 2023, and it’s time to get it all out. Now the world has Bandcamp as a proper digital distribution channel. And a CDR on the side as well! So we have a batch of three volumes sold as separate releases; let’s dive into them.
“Volume 1” has six tracks and opens with a collaboration between Modelbau and Pool Pervert, so it’s Egbert and Frans together. “Umbau 10” is almost 10 minutes of minimal noise drones as a base, completed with manipulated field recordings and lovely tape delays. It sounds really saturated if I can use this word here. Tracks two and six are from Grey Planet with different collaborators. It doesn’t say who Grey Planet is, so I can only describe the tunes to you. Like the first track, there is heavy use of delays in the ‘added’ sounds, but the ambient drone in “Molecules are spaceships” (way too short with only four minutes) is very well done: Think old Projekt sound. “Control Room” is twice as long and has the same vibe, but field recordings/samples have made way too lovely high-pitched rattling. The whole experience gets an almost sci-fi yet organic feel. Pool Pervert – Egbert himself – has two tracks on this one, the eighteen-minute “Error (Part 2)” and the seven-minute “Guru”. The “Error”-track fits what I wrote in Vital 1361 about his recent release on NDWICM: ‘The sounds depict a landscape in decay, and they can be played to change the environment you’re in while listening’. “Guru” is a minimal drone based on sounds that might very well be from some organ. Minimal yet intrusive through the choice of sounds. M.T.U.L.’s track is entitled “A9”; again, I have no clue who this is. The track is based on a repetitive loop or sound going in and out of the sonic image. A heavy granular drone in the back completes this minimal experiment.
Up to “Volume 2”. This one opens again with a collaboration between Pool Pervert and MNomized. “Phantom Train (Ghost Version)”. It’s safe to say that the field recordings that take care of the atmospheres are from Pool Pervert and that MNomized, a.k.a. Michel Madrange from Paris, France, has written the rhythmic track. The track’s flow feels like a train with an ambience describing the environment it travels through. “You Can’t Unbake A Cake (excerpt)” by Dei Stephen & Jeffrey Sinibaldi continues with a more electronic-sounding-sounding sampler than the first one. Ambient layers with filtered pulses and a rhythmic structure create an uneasy atmosphere, and the added atonal children’s organ sounds and bass lines don’t make it sound any easier. This is way outside my comfort zone, but I must say, I now know why people sometimes refer to complex music as being ‘interesting’ when they don’t know what to say. The next one is Modelbau with “End Game”. This one is less noisy than what I’ve heard from him recently; I think this should even be considered class ‘A’ ambient. Massage Creep with “Botox (Full Version)” is a three-minute interlude and, honestly, didn’t do it for me. This sounded a bit too easy between some of the other tracks on the CDR. Track 5 is another collab between MNomized and Pool Pervert. With the title “The Core”, this is how I like my soundscapes. A story translated into sounds, a description of an environment and getting lost during listening. The final two tracks are again both collabs; PBK and Pool Pervert wrote “Sentimental Berlin + Close”, and it’s again no secret I’ve known PBK for quite some time and followed his output. The two together deliver a great soundtrack for a cold winter’s evening. The final track of this CDR is “Alone” by Grey Planet, which we’ve seen in “Volume 1”, and I still don’t know who or what. He/she/it/they collaborate with Perseverance (also: no clue), resulting in a five-minute short fun track, but like the Massage Creep track, it doesn’t do it for me. It’s not bad, but a few earlier tracks made me happier.
Finally, “Volume 3” and this review will be shorter than the previous 2. Why? Because it’s a re-release of a cassette written about before in Vital Weekly 1240. And If you read the Vital on a regular base, you know there’s not too much regurgitation unless it’s recorded and used as a sound source. But ok, a short recap: The Modelbau track left me with buzzing ears, holy shit. The Massage Creep track is very, very lovely, well-done lo-fi analogue rumbling experiments. The three Minoy tracks are an amazing joy to listen to. The Utrecht-based Lärmschutz do 17 minutes of free improv jazz noise, which just isn’t to my taste. MNomized and Pool Pervert do another great collab together, and finally, Ian Stenhouse’ “Solo Trumpet” is precisely how I like my trumpets: Unrecognizable. (BW)
––– Address: https://musicforafewpeople.bandcamp.com/
GNAARF – STATIONS (CDR by Ramble Records)
HYDRA TRANSMITTER – THE BIRDS (cassette by Anticipating Nowhere Records)
Here we have two projects by Karl Pelzmann, from Vienna (he’s also a member of Deludium Skies. On the cover of the Gnaarf release, he gets credit for electric guitar, classical guitar, synths, violin, percussion, fretless bass, and bass ukulele. I previously heard two other releases by Gnaarf, and I am still unsure how this project works. I believe Pelzmann has a bunch of recordings of him playing his instruments in that smokey jazz club setting, and sometimes he mails these to musical friends to add some sounds to the proceedings. A bit like what electronic musicians do, but now with instruments. On this release, we find thirteen songs, and Guido Spannocchi adds his alto saxophone to six pieces. Daniel Vujanic appears on two pieces with his electronic guitars, synths and processed field recordings, and Charlotte Keeffe plays the trumpet on one piece, which means that some pieces are solo tracks. Pelzmann is responsible for the final mix, in which he adds sound effects. With Gnaarf, a lot is possible, even when the starting point seems to be improvisation. In his solo pieces, the emphasis is on using the guitar, but with the others, it leans towards free jazz and jazz, and that nightclub atmosphere comes. Take that with a pinch of salt, as it’s not really the same thing. But the brush-like percussion and the saxophone and trumpet made me think of that. Distortion is never far away, and Pelzmann isn’t shy in using it, but never as an all too dominant feature. In his solo pieces, the guitar is more present, while the music is more subdued with the others. Sometimes I am reminded of Doc Wör Mirran, and sometimes not, especially when the guitar is prominent. While not all these pieces are up my alley, I found the variation on offer most enjoyable. Gnaarf plays improvised music with considerable slowness and refined moods, a combination I enjoy.
Hydra Transmitter is Karl Pelzmann’s ‘real’ solo project. I assume he uses the same instruments as with Gnaarf (see above), but the results are very different. As Hydra Transmitter, this is his third release, containing some beautiful quiet music. While some of the pieces may owe to the world of grainy, lo-fi soundscapes, the melodic streams set the music of Pelzmann apart from that world. His textures are in the background, but either piano or guitar provides gentle melodies, tinkering away, and I don’t negatively mean this. The drones and hiss are vast amounts of space, and the instruments are like spaceships, floating quietly from planet to planet. Of course, I am thinking here of science fiction and real space travel—a friendly science fiction in which new worlds are explored with an open mind. Only occasionally, there is a darker current, in ‘Spring’ for instance, with its slightly distorted guitar and bird sounds, but this is an odd one different from the rest. Most of the time, the songs are about three minutes, a bit longer, a bit shorter, and in each one, Hydra Transmitter sets a specific mood and does that very well. I heard a space theme, but with all those recordings of birds, someone else could see a more earthy connection without the proceedings becoming too new-age-like. Forty minutes of quiet sonic bliss, precisely the soundtrack I like to have on a dark and cold day when birds are absent. (FdW)
––– Address: https://music.anticipatingnowhere.com/
QUARTZ LOCKED – DEEP CITY WANDERINGS : EXPERIMENTAL TAPE 1987-2022 (cassette by Staalplaat)
Following the ‘Wave 91.6’ LP and Flexi disc reviewed in Vital Weekly 1029, things became quiet for Quartz Locked, the musical project of Julien Merieau. Now there is ‘Deep City Wanderings: Experimental Tape 1987-2022’, which supposedly was recorded in 1987. On this tape, the music was sourced from non-musical, professional electronic appliances and preserved on a C90. The primary devices were “a hacked, roadside traffic signal data logger (I have no idea what that is – FdW), on the one hand, and a physician’s pager, on the other”. Both devices were connected and created “additional random interference patterns, while occasional tape manipulation and varispeed effect were also applied during the recording process”. One Laurent Fairon digitized the tape in 2022, and now it is released… as a C45 cassette. I am not sure where it lost half its weight. On Bandcamp is a lot more text with no author mentioned, but I assume Merieau, who tells us he used the name G. Viederland at the time. I have no idea if any of this is true or not. All too often, I came across ‘lost and found’ music that turned out to be a fabrication, and let’s be honest, why not have a good story? The music is pretty old-school industrial with crude synthesizer sounds (which I understand as circuit bending), distorted pulses and noise bits. These are crudely cut up and stuck randomly on tape again. The varispeed aspect of the music comes from recording tapes spooling back and forth, which also comes in a collage-like fashion. But true enough, this music could very well be of its time as it has all the makings of a homemade musical adventure. The first steps one takes when making ‘noise’ music. Spooling tapes, grab a pair of scissors, cut tape, solder wires from one apparatus on the next, record the output on tape, and repeat that process back and forth. For me a reminder of the vibrant times of cassette culture, and I love this all the same, still to these days. One thing, though: with the impact of so much sonic information, cutting it t forty-five minutes is a wise decision. (FdW)
––– Address: https://staalplaatlabel.bandcamp.com/
PM – SPACESHOT (cassette, private)
With some distance, this is the weirdest cassette I heard in a while. Behind PM, we find David Prescott and Minoy. In 1987 they recorded this cassette; Prescott was responsible for electronics and mix, and Minoy for voice and electronics. On Minoy’s Bandcamp (maintained by PBK, who is accountable for Minoy’s legacy), there is another earlier collaboration album (digital only), dating from 1986. That sounds what I would think of when imagining these people playing together. There’d be the noisier and industrial end brought to the table by Minoy, combined with the cosmic electronics by Prescott. It is quite daring to release ‘Spaceshot’ (1987) on cassette, as this is a strange work. Prescott’s electronics, which owe much to Conrad Schnitzler’s legacy, bubbling and bursting, oscillating and a bit cosmic, and Minoy talking on top of that. I checked with PBK if this was Minoy’s voice, as this was perhaps not what I expected. The talking bit is quite dominant on these recordings, especially on the title track, and does not always seem the most coherent of texts; in fact, I have no idea what this is about. I blame my not being that interested in lyrics, texts, poetry and such beauties. On ‘Hotline’, the voice is less dominant but still has a strong presence. I recently saw a movie, to which my response was, ‘I am not sure if it is good or bad, but it is different’. That is what I can say about this tape as well. It’s different from what you may expect from Minoy, more than Prescott, and as such, perhaps, more of a strange curiosity, but also one that reflects the freedom of the 80s regarding releasing cassettes. (FdW)
––– Address: https://minoy.bandcamp.com/
MAURICIO REYES & MICHAEL ESPOSITO – OCULI MORTUUS (USB by Telekinett/Spectral Electric)
The influence of William Burroughs on literature and music (and art in general) can’t be underestimated. Together with Bryon Gysin, he developed the cut-up technique. Pick a book, any book, cut it up and re-arrange the words, which you can do with music as well. People used that to significant effect in music. I am never that impressed with Burroughs and Gysin’s experiments in that direction – I am not speaking about their written words; I haven’t read enough of their books. In 1951, Burroughs shot his wife in what is always called a Wilhelm Tell-styled shooting gone wrong. In this hour-long work, Michael Esposito and Maurizo Reyes combine various of Burroughs’ interests into what is best described as a radio play. The shooting, cut-up, Dada and EVP. The latter is Esposito’s expertise, and to this end, he went to Burroughs’ grave and recorded sounds of electronic voice phenomena. Many of Burroughs’ spoken word is cut up (without permission of his estate, so I believe) and used with “Resonant Noise, Poison Processes, and granular synthesis in Binaural mode”. The voice is pretty on top of the music, which makes escaping it quite tricky. It’s always funny to hear his voice, but as it is mostly unprocessed, you always hear what he has to say. Interesting as his stories about cut-up and EVP is, how often do you want to hear those? I love the electronics used here; massive computer treatments of the sounds at work, with the EVPs lurking about like ghosts. Especially in all those moments when uncle Bill keeps stumm, this works well. I thought it would be great to have two versions of this piece (32 GB USB; two versions should fit easily), one with the voice and one without, so one can choose. The cut-up element isn’t that extensive, so the narrative could easily be followed. (FdW)
––– Address: https://www.telekinett.com/oculi-mortuus/
––– Address: https://spectralelectric.bandcamp.com/
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