COH – MASK OF BIRTH (CD by Mego)
SMALTS – IT’S GOOD TO BE ON A WELL-RUN SHIP (CD by Korm Plastics)
STAALPLAAT SOUND SYSTEM – SWEET SISSY AND THE BALLROOM HISS (Mini-CD
by Staalplaat)
MIMI SECUE – MIMI SECUE (CD by Karate Joe)
MORCEAUX DE MACHINES – LIBERUM ARBITRIUM (CD by No Type)
OLD BOMBS/WOLF EYES (CDR by Public Eyeshore)
WALDCHENGARTEN – IN PREPARATION OF MACHINES TO FALL (LP by Noise Jihad)
BIRCHVILLE CAT MOTEL – CRESTFALLEN (7″ by Killer Records)
ORIGAMI ARKTIKA – AT ROYSPYTTEN (7″ by Killer Records)
TORE H. BOE – KNEKK (7″ by Killer Records)
EMERGENCY STRING QUINTET – ON THE CORNER (CDR by Public Eyeshore)
MORE – SWEET KILLERS (CDR by Old Gold)
STREWTH (CD compilation by Synaesthesia)
UN CADDIE RENVERSE DANS L’HERBE – SOME NENU SONGS (CD by Oozebap)
XINLI SUPREME – MURDER LICENSE (CDEP by Fat Cat)
MINAMO – .KGS (CD by 360 Degrees Records)
DUO KANEL – BRA TING (LP by TV 5)
THE SLINGSHOT IDOL (7″ compilation by Norway Rat Records)
PHLUIDBOX – ALTER EP (12″ by Spa.RK)
PHILIP SAMARTZIS & RASMUS B. LUNDING – FLUORESCENT (CD by Dr. Jims Records)
SISSY SPACEK (7″ by Rhystop)
ROMULUS & REMUS – HEKATE (10″ by Beta Lactam)
BERNHARD LOIBNER – TRANS/MUTE (CD by All Quiet)
THE ABRASION ENSEMBLE – MUSIC FOR THE SAME 500 PEOPLE (CD by Beta Lactam)
COH – MASK OF BIRTH (CD by Mego)
This is a more then welcome re-issue of Coh’s first release, but
which was limited and on vinyl only from Raster-Noton in 1999. Now
it’s digitally remastered and has bonus material. Coh, aka Ivan
Pavlov was born in Russia but now lives in Sweden. His musical roots
are still in Russia, and on this CD he claims to have worked with
electronic keyboards only and that’s the ‘new disco for the new
human’. Apperentely inspired by seventies and eighties dance music,
one can detect such only on a marginal level. Playing around with
monotonous rhythms and a wall of various synth washes which are
apperent in most of the tracks, this is, me thinks, not really dance
music. More so, this is very much along the lines of Carsten Nicolai
and Komet – at least at the point when this was released. Maybe even
pre-laptop days really in a way (which is something Coh uses these
days) and is more the work of someone who knows how to craft a nice
piece of electronic music. Influences, besides the aforementioned
Raster posse, is also Pan Sonic, such as in the uptempo ‘Boog’, with
its driving rhythm and sine waves that play the melody. The added
bonus pieces were probably recorded somewhat after this CD, and are
already a forecast to his later computer work. Nice CD that is nice
to hear, at last, in digital format. (FdW)
Address: www.mego.at
SMALTS – IT’S GOOD TO BE ON A WELL-RUN SHIP (CD by Korm Plastics)
Exactly two years after the disaster with Russian submarine Koersk,
the album ‘It’s good To Be On A Well Run Ship’ by Dutch group Smalts
is released. Although the title sounds quite ironic, it’s dedicated
to those who died in the ship and those left behind. All cover texts
are printed in Russian as well.
Smalts was formed in 1982, right after the release of the Minny Pops
album ‘Sparks In A Dark Room’. Minny Pops members Wim Dekker and
Pieter Mulder work together on instrumental music, at first to be the
basis of new Minny Pops songs, but soon it became clear they worked
on their own sound. The two musicians became Smalts, together with
drummer Rubin Oates and Minny Pops soundman Zip Boterbloem. In this
line up they still exist and, aside from tracks on compilations, this
is their first release in quite a long time. The CD features thirteen
tracks, all with a rich texture of instruments and melodies. Ethnic
influences combined with computer technology give the whole a very
contemporary atmosphere, but with a distinctive character. These are
basically popsongs, but of a very rare kind: intimate, relaxed and
spacious. The emphasis is not so much on the lyrics, but more on the
atmosphere of the songs. A very nice comeback indeed. (MR)
Address: www.staalplaat.com
STAALPLAAT SOUND SYSTEM – SWEET SISSY AND THE BALLROOM HISS (Mini-CD
by Staalplaat)
Staalplaat founder Geert-Jan Hobijn has become active as an artist
himself in recent years. The Staalplaat Sound System is his project,
although he frequently collaborates with other artists under the same
name. The Staalplaat Sound System is actually a strange mix between
sound art installations and mixing sounds and music live. The mini-CD
gives an overview of a mix and several installations and there’s a
Quicktime movie as well. Most interesting are the recordings of the
installations, using kitchen utensils of various kinds, combined with
mixed music. The result is very dissociative and remarkably
intriguing. Shame I missed the event……(MR)
Address: www.staalplaat.com
MIMI SECUE – MIMI SECUE (CD by Karate Joe)
Sometimes we get music that is so far away from the daily techno,
musique concrete and glitch that it can be a relief. But sometimes
it’s a little nightmare. This CD falls in the latter category. A
singer songwriter playing slow songs, with guitar and drums, added in
the mix with a firm dosis of reverb, to enhance the body of the
songs. Sorry, but I think this guy just can’t sing nor write a nice
song. Apperentely, according to the press release, this is a band…
It moves along the likes of some bands on Constellation, like A
Silver Mount Zion, but if that’s a good enough reference to rush out
to the shops to get this, I don’t know. (FdW)
Address: www.karate-joe.at
MORCEAUX DE MACHINES – LIBERUM ARBITRIUM (CD by No Type)
Morceaux De Machines means, if i am not mistaken, pieces of machines
and is a duo: Aime Dontigny and Erick Dorion, who met at a radio
station. They played in a band called Napalm Jazz, who release a MP3
work on No Type. Together they are mostly interested in free,
improvised music. It seems to me they are using vinyl and tape
manipulations, aswell as the good ol’ computer treatments. Everything
is layered ad infinitum in the computer and mixed at great intensity.
Bring on the noise, because that’s what this CD is all about. Noise
played at a furious rate, with furious intensity. But unlike the
industrialists, their noise is almost free of walls of feedback, but
instead there is scraping and scratching of maybe 100s of pieces of
vinyl. Maybe my love of noise has vanished over the years, or maybe
I’m just getting old, who knows, but to play the entire CD in one
run, is getting a bit too much. The CD’s best moments are when they
pull back and give air to their lengthy improvisations. A zen like
endurance test maybe, but I keep on thinking: ok, heard that, bring
on something new. Instead it goes on. (FdW)
Address: www.notype.com
OLD BOMBS/WOLF EYES (CDR by Public Eyeshore)
Originally released by Betley Welcomes Careful Drivers and now
re-issued on Public Eyeshore. These bands feature members of Fukktron
and Monotract and use a weird blend of lo-fi analogue and digital
sounds, to create weird sound collages.
Old Bombs are a trio, who seem to be using manipulated audio
cassettes and old analogue synths, which rumble some where in the low
end part of this release. The music is a sort of noise ambient, with
many layers of sound that go on and on, but has a strange captivating
mood.
Wolf Eyes, who have a couple of other records out already, played
live for a US station about a year ago, and after a noisy collage
intro, they turn towards using vocals, saxophones, feedback and
percussion. In a way the vocals remind me of old Whitehouse or
Ramleh, but the rest of the music is a bit unlike those bands. It’s
noisy in a lo-fi kind of way, and not noisy in a really painful way.
Two fine band breaking the boudaries of noise, free improv and electronics.
Address: www.sinkhole.net/pehome
WALDCHENGARTEN – IN PREPARATION OF MACHINES TO FALL (LP by Noise Jihad)
Waldchengarten is a Danish band with two boys, Lars and Dennis, who
had a 10″ out before (Vital Weekly 256). This LP takes off where we
left them. Waldchengarten plays around with the idiom of good old
industrial music. Noisy at times, but they incorporate much more.
Guitar samples, scratches of sound, sheer silence (at the beginning
of side b), piano sounds and concrete sounds. This makes this LP into
a record that is downright nostalgia for the later 80s vinyl releases
when the really daring musicians released LP’s like this, aswell as
into a solidly made record of the new millenium. It seems to me that
these boys know what they want to do and are not interested in
playing with the next hype. Industrial music for post industrial
people. (FdW)
Address: www.noisejihad.dk
BIRCHVILLE CAT MOTEL – CRESTFALLEN (7″ by Killer Records)
ORIGAMI ARKTIKA – AT ROYSPYTTEN (7″ by Killer Records)
TORE H. BOE – KNEKK (7″ by Killer Records)
Three new 7″s on that nice label from Norway. Birchville Cat Motel
are obscure to those who not know, but they have been around for a
while, with many small scale releases on labels as Betley Welcomes
Careful Drivers, Ecstatic Peace, Drunken Fish and Corpus Hermeticum.
This is their first real 7″. Campbell Kneale, for it is him, has two
right upfront drone pieces of ringing sounds, added with saxophone
playing. The b-side ‘Winters Crackling Glory’ is somewhat more noisy
and has an nerving, unsettling, Organum like rattle.
More Origami Arktika here. This is an active band (soon to embark for
a US tour with The Legendary Pink Dots) who go even more into the
areas of guitars, drones, folkmusic and improv. The b-side is a
little bit more industrial oriented. Nice exploration of their self
defined music.
Origami’s main man is of course Tore H. Boe, who releases many solo
works too. They are usually more conceptually inclined. Each side is
an opus, one for flute and one for harmonika and both say: + 12 year
old glitch tape). The side with the flute results in a low end
rumble, with a very unclear sound. But the harmonika side is rather
nice, with lots of crackling and a drone that swirls out of the damp.
Nice side that one.
All three are limited edition releases, so you may want to hurry… (FdW)
Address: <kjellj@nfi.no>
EMERGENCY STRING QUINTET – ON THE CORNER (CDR by Public Eyeshore)
I don’t know if the Emergency String Quntet is a real group or an ad
hoc thing, but it seems to me a real Quintet really: two violins, one
viola, one cello and one double bass, where the guy that plays the
cello is also ‘director’. These four improvisations were recorded
late last year in San Francisco, and is improvisation music in the
very way one can expect it. Hectic playing, dense playing and
sometimes nice, moody parts. Somehow I get a nervous feeling when I
play this. It all sounds too hectic, too random in a way and not
really going anywhere in particular. More like five persons having a
good time on day in December 2001. But to me it doesn’t do much,
really. (FdW)
Address: www.sinkhole.net/pehome
MORE – SWEET KILLERS (CDR by Old Gold)
From time to time the Old Gold label choses to release music on cdr.
This is the case with the release ‘Sweet Killers by More. What has
More to offer? 75 minutes of amorph free rock jammings and
improvisations. It sounds like Can in their very early days. Albeit
without the hypnotic musical qualities of Can. Also when we consider
the sound quality the comparison with Can makes sense. It is live
recorded with not to many microphones.
I guess this is one for those who like to know what is going around
in local underground scenes.
We hear drums, guitars, bass, saxes, flute played by local heroes Ben
Young, Steve Pomberg, Marshall Avett and John Armstrong. The music
has strong moments where the playing is concentrated and intense.
Nice trip (DM)
Address: http://www.oldgold.org
STREWTH (CD compilation by Synaesthesia)
Australia and New Zealand may be remote areas but they have a lively
music scene. Maybe it’s because of the fact that they are remote
areas: to hear music one should do it themselves. Hence so many
people play music. This compilation is a sort of overview of people
from down under who play ‘abstract electronic’ music and has an
extensive booklet with liner notes about the artists and themselves
describing their work. Featured here are some well-known people like
Darrin Verhagen, Matthew Thomas, Dion Workman, Philip Samartzis, Oren
Ambarchi but also some names that at least to me are new, like
Candlesnuffer, Delire, Xonk and David Franzke. The whole CD is in
full laptop/computer mode. Most of these pieces deal with crackling
sounds, deep end bass sounds and high end peeps. At times it’s a bit
too much really. One starts to look for those who do ‘other’ stuff.
Matthew Thomas for instance has a nice, almost ambient piece of
music, which uses all of these elements but in moody, atmospheric
piece of music. Another piece like that is by David Franzke, which
has similar dark qualities, but which is a bit too long. Nice is also
Cray’s piece, which is a computerized musique concrete piece – paying
hommage to classical counterparts in the genre. Other nice pieces are
by Rosy Parlane, Oren Ambarchi and Darrin Verhagen. Sadly there is no
track by Pimmon and nothing by the late John Watermann. These
ommissions aside, a good compilation which gives a clear overview.
(FdW)
Address: www.synrecords.com or www.mego.at
UN CADDIE RENVERSE DANS L’HERBE – SOME NENU SONGS (CD by Oozebap)
The previous CD was reviewed late last year and we learned that this
is one guy project who is from Brazilian background but who lives in
Barcelona. Since then we didn’t learn much else. Both the music and
the package is quite cryptic, to say the least. Un Caddie is all over
the computer place with no less then twenty two tracks, which are all
short, accurate, witty and to the point. Plunderphonics without the
voice stuff. It seems to me that Un Caddie steals his sounds all of
the place, puts them in has laptop and creates loopy, sampled pieces
with them. There is some underlying theme here, which deals with
geography and travelling – but it’s exact meaning eludes me. Vague
hints of ethnographic sounds are used here, but whether they reflect
South America, Spain or Asia, who knows. It’s not really important I
think to grasp exactly what this is all about, because the music by
itself is alright. Crackling laptop sounds, jazz and improv fragments
being mingled and wrapped, drummachines on the run and an occassional
crackle of vinyl. Modern day music. (FdW)
Address: www.oozebap.org
XINLI SUPREME – MURDER LICENSE (CDEP by Fat Cat)
This year has already been busy for Xinli Supreme and they still
haven’t been touring, or in fact playing any concerts, doing remixes
or giving interviews. In their remote part of Japan they work
gradually on more music. This new CDEP, lasting 30 minutes, has seven
new songs, as a follow up to the Tomorrow Never Comes, their full
length of some time back. In the meantime they have completed another
album, and three more singles. After my initial encounter I wasn’t
too pleased with their music, but this one really kicks it. The
production is way better, crisp and clear and the music is awesome.
It sounds like the Jesus & Mary Chain remix by Suicide in a new remix
by Merzbow in full speed and in full dynamics. There is also a moment
of contemplation, in the unlike them piece ‘I.T.D.O.O.M.’ of highly
brooding atmospherics. For the rest, it’s furious and intense music,
loaded with insanity. And as said, I think they get better and
better… (FdW)
Address: www.fat-cat.co.uk
MINAMO – .KGS (CD by 360 Degrees Records)
Some weeks back we reviewed a nice compilation CD from the
Apestaartje label, and one of the bands included there was Minamo.
Apestaartje also carries in distribution their own full length CD.
Minamo is a four piece band, whose individual members don’t ring any
bell here. On the five pieces of this CD they work in various
combinations, plus they get help from people like Masashi Kamada and
Utah Kawasaki. Most of their improvisations work like this: there is
drone sound running in the background, and bandmembers improvise on
top of that. They either play guitar, samples, piano’s or maybe
whatever they can lay their hands on. Usually these playings are very
minimal, repeating the same sound over and over again, but because
they are played and not used in a looped form, the sounds changes
gradually. Minamo play their very own kind of minimal music. They
might have borrowed the ideas of Steve Reich, but they combine it
with the free improvisation music and have thus found a little niche
of their own. It’s music to medidate by, really. There is a good
‘flow’ present here, but the sound doesn’t go in any new age areas.
Therefore the production contains too extreme sounds. Nice work
indeed. (FdW)
Address: http://shi-ra-nui.hoops.ne.jp or www.staartje.com
DUO KANEL – BRA TING (LP by TV 5)
THE SLINGSHOT IDOL (7″ compilation by Norway Rat Records)
From the weird and wonderful world of free and more free music, an LP
by Duo Kanel, aka one Mr. Klev and one Mr. Andersen, both from
Norway. They come up with an LP of no less the nineteen small tunes
of free guitar noise, free noise, free improvised organ sounds and
snippets of sound thrown in. Titles of tracks are ‘Keep Purple’,
‘Embraceable U2’ and ‘Merzbow Is The King Of Noise’ – it displays
their interest in popmusic of any age (one member is working on a
Pink Floyd tribute album I’m told). Duo Kanel is raw to the bone.
Sometimes badly recorded with peaks of sound, showing that they
didn’t use too well of equipment. But in all it’s roughness, punk and
V-VM alike inspired crazyness a nice LP.
Duo Kanel are also involved in a 7″ remix project. Apperentely the
thing to remix was a couple of tracks by Mosseposse. The first is by
Noxagt, who have a sort punk song as a result. Duo Kanel bring
everything over the top, simply by recording in overload mode. Nice,
but maybe a bit too long. O. Melby has a grindcore version that seems
to be entirely built on tape loops. DJ Bra Nesegir is more in plain
punk rock mode, but is horrible recorded. Strange 7″, this one.
Address: <duokanel@hotmail.com>
Address: www.norwayratrecords.com
PHLUIDBOX – ALTER EP (12″ by Spa.RK)
On Barcelona’s Spa.RK label comes their first 12″ (which is odd,
because Spa.RK deals with a lot of dance music). Phluidbox is one
Joseph Fitzpatrick who had tracks before on a Spa.RK compilation, a
Fat Cat compilation and Integral Component. The first two pieces on
the a-side are nice laidback dubby pieces of broken beats and glitchy
sounds. The last piece on side A is more a straight forward
headbanging piece and more a dance floor oriented piece.
The b-side is more along the lines of the first two pieces of the
a-side. Dubby, here even with some jazzy influences, in three nice
little tunes with subtle melodies to go along. So that makes a good
score with five out of six tracks and thus a very nice record. (FdW)
Address: www.sparkreleases.com
PHILIP SAMARTZIS & RASMUS B. LUNDING – FLUORESCENT (CD by Dr. Jims Records)
Philip Samartzis is one of those names from Australia, who you see
around more and more. An one time member of Gum, having produced two
LP’s of pre-turntablism, he’s now a man of laptop wizardy. Sometimes
sturdy and serious experimentalism, but here he teams up with a less
serious thing, including humorous fragments with Rasmus B. Lunding. I
am not familiar with his work, but let’s say he’s deeply involved
playing guitar and bass, aswell as his own work on the computer.
Rather then coming up with a CD with just one or two tracks, filling
each 30 minutes of pointless laptop ramble, they set themselves to
composing eleven pieces of to the point laptop sounds, aswell as a
fair dose of improvised sounds on the guitar. Digital manipulations
of guitars, field recordings and electronics. Each of these pieces is
short (anywhere from 44 seconds to 8 some minutes) and play with care
of detail in a rather spontanous mood. Added that the cover is also
not really y’r standard microsound glitch cover (usually small
typography with two squares), this could easily mistaken for a real
improv record or maybe even, altogether a techno music release.
Either way, a jolly nice collaboration. (FdW)
Address: www.drjimsrecords.com.au
SISSY SPACEK (7″ by Rhystop)
I don’t know much about Sissy Spacek, that is the band, not the
actress (maybe my knowledge there might be limited too, now I come to
think of it), but it has John Wiese’s involved. John is reknown noise
musician in his own right and a member of Bastard Noise. As a guy
armed with a laptop, it’s hard to see what he is doing in this band,
save for some cut up work. Totally distorted feedback guitar and
drums, the way grind core should sound when it went through a
grinder. These boys love noise. I am not a particular fan of the
genre, but I must admit I like the cut up methods that were used in
producing this 7″. It adds that little bit of extra that is needed so
hard to stand out. (FdW)
Address: www.rhystop.com
ROMULUS & REMUS – HEKATE (10″ by Beta Lactam)
Romulus & Remus you of course know as the founders of the city of
Rome, but there are also a band. This is the first official release,
in an edition of 111 copies. If you know and you do of course, then
you should be aware of my allergy against anything that has to with
mythiscm, rituals etc. This record has images all over of such things
(that I usually associate with The Hybryds), including pictures of a
naked woman with a knife. Actually the music is not bad. The a-side
has tribalistic drumming, along the lines of Rapoon and Muslimgauze
and the tracks on the b-isde are also rhythmical but here it’s built
from analogue synths and vinyl scratches, and has a darker atmosphere
to it. The later pieces on this side have again the same ritual
tribal drumming. Although this borrows clearly from the
aforementioned groups (including The Hybryds), this is a nice ethno
ambient thing. (FdW)
Address: www.blrrecords.com
BERNHARD LOIBNER – TRANS/MUTE (CD by All Quiet)
Bernhard Loibner is an Austrian composer, studying computer
engineering in Vienna and who was the co founder of the band All
Quiet On The Western Front, who apperentely played a crossover
between electronic, rock and improvised music. Later on he worked
with such people as Robert Woelfl, Tom Sherman and the media group
Rams. Then he started to release some solo CD’s, of which this one
‘Trans/Mute’ is the latest one. According to the cover Bernhard uses
Apple G3 and G4 in combination with Max/MSP software. I expected some
boring powerbook cracks and glitch work, but it’s not. Loibner has
some nice sounds besides the purely electronical. I think I heard a
guitar in there somewhere. Loibner creates short compositions (these
ten tracks last 45 minutes), in which the compositional structure
seems important. He builts tracks and develops them within the given
structure of the piece. There are well-known sound elements in there
which seem inevitable in the world of glitch, but overall this is a
very nice CD. (FdW)
Address: www.allquiet.org
THE ABRASION ENSEMBLE – MUSIC FOR THE SAME 500 PEOPLE (CD by Beta Lactam)
Nucleus of The Abrasion Ensemble is Rick Reed from Texas who has
various solo releases to his name, but has a rather large ensemble of
people around him who don’t work together altogether at the same
time. Involved are David Nuss of the No Neck Blues Band, Josh Ronsen
of Brekekkexkoaxkoax, Tom Carter of Charalambides and others from
Austin, Texas scene. These people play prepared guitar, drums, broken
electronics, sine generators, short wave and lots more. The results
are five pieces of free improvised music, that cover the fine line of
Organum (the droning aspect), anything on Grob and the lengthyness of
AMM (less their delicate sounds). Sometimes the music flows back and
forth in a nice way, and sometimes the music gets out of control,
resulting in a large mess of sounds. I prefer the lenghty softer
passages as they work better, with their densely layered sounds,
adding tension to the total. (FdW)
Address: www.blrrecords.com
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