AMBRACHI/MULLER/SAMARTZIS – STRANGE LOVE (CD by For4Ears)
URS LEIMGRUBER/GUNTER MULLER/ARTE QUARTET – E_A.SONATA.02 (CD by For4Ears)
CHARLOTTE HUG/CHANTALE LAPLANTE – BRILLIANT DAYS (CD by For4Ears)
NOW IN DARKNESS WORLD STOPS TURNING – TIE DYE (CDR by Verato Project)
PI CAB ALTER – MEMOIRE DE L’ETHER FLUCTUANT (CDR by Verato Project)
EEYOW KAROOM – AGGRO STATIONS VOLUME 3 (CDR by Verato Project)
KOJI ASANO – ZOO TELEPATHY (CD by Solstice)
KOJI ASANO – WIND GAUGE (CD by Solstice)
KOJI ASANO – THE GIANT SQUID: A COLLECTION OF SHORT PIECES VOL.1 (CD
by Solstice)
COLONGIB & OCTOPUS INC (EP by Kracfive)
STEVE RODEN & JASON KAHN – SHIMMER/FLICKER/WAVER/QUIVER (CD by Brombron)
CHEAPMACHINES – [BOREHOLE] (CDR by Uranium City Records)
EMITER/K.TOPOLSKI – 16.03.2003 (CDR by Authorized Version)
JOHN HUDAK – ROOM WITH SKY (CDR by Chaba Recordings)
JARL – PARALLEL/COLLAPSING (CD by Segerhuva)
MATT WAND – PUBLIC.EXE (10″ by Dekorder)
PERLONEX/JULIJUNI (split LP by Happy Zloty Records)
BLACK TO COMM (10″ by Dekorder)
KAZUYA ISHIGAMI/TOMAS KORBER – MISTAKES (CD by Neus-318)
BRUNNEN – THE HONEY BUTTON (8″ by Plinkity Plonk)
BETH ANDERSON – PEACHY KEEN-O (CD by Pogus)
F\S\B—– – –[WE SPY ON YOU.\” (CDR by Top 40)
ED.S – [ENCENS JAPONAIS](CDR by Top 40)
JOHN DUNCAN & PETER FLEUR – THE SCATTERING (CD by Edition…)
LESSER – SUPPRESSIVE ACTS I-X (CD by Matador)
KID 606 – KILL SOUND BEFORE SOUND KILLS YOU (CD by Ipecac)
AMBRACHI/MULLER/SAMARTZIS – STRANGE LOVE (CD by For4Ears)
URS LEIMGRUBER/GUNTER MULLER/ARTE QUARTET – E_A.SONATA.02 (CD by For4Ears)
CHARLOTTE HUG/CHANTALE LAPLANTE – BRILLIANT DAYS (CD by For4Ears)
From the ever so active Gunter Muller, three new CDs of improvised
music, involving ‘real’ instruments and electronica. The first one is
a trio improvisation from down under. Muller went to Australia to
play the “What Is Music” festival and there he teamed up with
guitarist Oren Ambarchi and electronica/field recording expert Philip
Samartzis. In their piece ‘Cooler’ they improvise on a fairly held
back level, letting static sounds (thanks to Oren, me thinks) and
crackles (thanks to Philip, me thinks) evolve in a natural way,
embedded in processed rhythmical textures provided by Muller. Only
towards the end of this piece, things seem to be bursting out a bit
more – a sudden and unexpected death to the machines? Not really, but
pre-conceived it seems. The second piece seems to be a solo piece,
recorded at home in Sydney, Melbourne and Itingen – it seems like
Muller behind the knobs mixing three seperate sound-sources (each
player worked at home and send the results to Muller) together on
quite an equal level, which makes this piece a much more lively one,
but at times also a bit more unfocussed.
The next one is not really a disc of improvisation per se, as it
involves a composition by Urs Leimgruber. He wrote this piece for the
Arte Quartet, a saxophone quartet from Basel, Switzerland. Urs
himself also participates on his saxophones and Gunter Muller sits
there to pick up the saxophone sounds and process them. Readers from
Vital Weekly may be aware that I’m not really a big fan of the
saxophone, so I have a little bit of trouble with this disc –
entirely my mistake. However, I say a little bit, because the
stretched tones of either the saxophone playing and the computer
processings of Muller make this into quite an enjoyable disc of what
seems to be more improvised playing then a composition. Not quite
easily to access but certainly the more intimate moments are quite
nice. When all horns blow, it is getting a bit too much for me. When
it’s all down pitched and layered, like in the opening section, you
can see a smile on my face.
On the final new release on For4Ears there is no involvement from
Muller, other than putting the CD out of course. Charlotte Hug plays
viola and Chantale Laplante plays electro-acoustic music using a
laptop. They met in London in 2001 and the five pieces on this CD
were recorded in concert in 2002. Their duo works are not one person
processing sounds from the other, but rather each has their own
technqiues and sources. Hug plays viola and plays around with
electronics and Laplante works on her laptop with her own sounds. I
am not sure if that is a very good idea. Sometimes the works seem to
be a hit and miss thing. Overal it’s good played, improvised music,
but it stays a bit on a clean, distant side. Tension is missed here
and there, and so is interaction. Having said that, this is not a bad
work, but not one of utter brilliance either. (FdW)
Address: http://www.for4ears.com
NOW IN DARKNESS WORLD STOPS TURNING – TIE DYE (CDR by Verato Project)
PI CAB ALTER – MEMOIRE DE L’ETHER FLUCTUANT (CDR by Verato Project)
EEYOW KAROOM – AGGRO STATIONS VOLUME 3 (CDR by Verato Project)
Whoever is behind the band ‘Now In Darkness World Stops Turning’, I
don’t know, and maybe I don’t want to know either. One Josh Banke and
one Jason Crumer, both responsible for the noise. Their CDR ‘Tie Dye’
was recorded ‘march-may 2003’, that struck me as odd. It lasts 75
minutes and could have easily be recorded in the same time, while
making the cover at the same time. The product is 75 minutes of the
more boring noise I have encountered. Rumour will spread that I don’t
like noise (which is not true) and the two musicians will most likely
be proud of a negative review (“what we do is so extreme, nobody
likes it; it must be good”). Well.
Even less information is known about Pi Cab Alter. No names, no
background, just this one hour filled with fifteen tracks, but at
least something is going on here. Somebody has had a few ideas. Pi
Cab Alter delves from the ambient source of music, with a dash of
neo-gothic (I think they are called ‘heavenly voices’ by some) in the
form of voice samples. These samples are fed through a series of
synths and filters and come with some fairly interesting ambient,
although half way through one wishes for a change of diet. The last
two tracks finds them all of a sudden in a more experimental mood.
Maybe a bit more of that and then mixed in with the other tracks?
That would be lovely.
Behind Eeyow Karoom is Mister Cosmo, from Cosmonauts Hail Satan and
Iron Man Avenga and this is not his first release. Like Now In
Darkness, he deals with noise, but he knows how to deal with it, if
you catch my drift. Ten shorter tracks, lasting just over thirty
minutes, of processed rhythm structures, feedback held under control
(always there in a corner, but never full on present), guitars are
played through chainsaws (or vice versa). If you say noise is for the
untalented, which is something I never say, than you are wrong. To
create a piece of interesting noise music, one needs some imagination
and some ideas. Mister Cosmo has some of them, and makes up a nice
release. (FdW)
Address: http://www.verato-project.de
KOJI ASANO – ZOO TELEPATHY (CD by Solstice)
KOJI ASANO – WIND GAUGE (CD by Solstice)
KOJI ASANO – THE GIANT SQUID: A COLLECTION OF SHORT PIECES VOL.1 (CD
by Solstice)
No news from Koji Asano since Vital Weekly 369, but here he is again,
and why not, with three CDs. Three different I may add! Zoo Telepathy
has three lenghty pieces with a total length of around fifty minutes
of Asano’s violin playing, but set against a wall of computer
generated and treated sounds. In each of the three tracks he builts
layer upon layer of hectic violin playing, in this even more stranger
bed of sounds like accordions and flies recorded in a zoo. I have not
always been a great fan of Asano’s music, even when I am always eager
to hear some more, but this release, I rate among his best so far.
This nervous violin playing reminded me very much of Agencement, a
rather obscure one violin band from Japan, who did similar things but
more limited to just the violin. Asano takes this into the world of
digital music and expands with some extra sounds. Very nice indeed.
On ‘Wind Gaughe’ Asano expands on older disc ‘You Can’t Open The Door
Because It’s Already Open’: improvisations on the piano in an
environment, taking in the sounds from that environment. On the
previous CD it’s the recording in a castle in Russia and one hears
traffic passing, people talking etc, but on ‘Wind Gauge’ the piano is
more inside Japanese nature and especially the insects that can be
heard so much in Japanese summers. Cicadas are everywhere. Much more
a relaxing piece than ‘You Can’t’, the music breaths a majestic
calmness throughout.
The collection of short pieces makes up the third CD but it’s Asano’s
first CD with just short pieces – in his catalogue of 35 CDs he has
mainly one track/idea per CD. But here he collects all of his varied
output, from noise to piano music. Some pieces are short starters for
what became longer works. It seems to me that his main interest
however is more for his electronic works. I can imagine that for some
people it’s hard to choose a CD by Asano because of his vast
catalogue, but be assured that this CD of short pieces is a good
introduction to his works of the last ten years. I can also imagine
that some people have trouble with his one idea per CD approach, so
for them it’s also good to find out what his music is about. Asano
has some interesting things to say… (FdW)
Address: http://www.kojiasano.com
COLONGIB & OCTOPUS INC (EP by Kracfive)
Colongib and Octopus Inc are 2 people from Kracfive Records and this
EP is released by both Kracfive (USA east coast) and Obtain Freedom
(a small label from Japan). Octopus Inc is Noah Sasso, he has a great
mp3-EP Subcon Sound Museum @ Notype.com, and Colongib is Chris
Graves. This new untitled (or self-titled) EP has 8 collaborative
tracks and the CD version features some additional data: videos,
photos, stickers…, and Mack-O-Chalk – nicely designed and
entertaining toy (Kracfive sequencer) for making noises using sounds
like those in the music composed/improvised by Colongib & Octopus
Inc. Their tracks have really strong pop sense but they are never
with a concrete melody or rhythm. They are rather experiments wrapped
in a poppy cover. This music deserves carefull and close listening,
there are many details inside (Chris and Noah, like Matmos, use lots
of real sounds) and it doesn’t work well as background music ’cause
that way you’re missing too much. You should listen close to discover
very nice sounds on this successful release and it’s sampledelic
kracphibian ethic. (BR)
Address: http://www.kracfive.com
STEVE RODEN & JASON KAHN – SHIMMER/FLICKER/WAVER/QUIVER (CD by Brombron)
Number 6 in the Brombron series (now being released by Korm Plastics)
is yet another joint venture concocted in that small, but highly
effective Extrapool studio. I suppose both artists will not need
further introductions, as they are well known in the field of
electroacoustic and improvisation music. Very aptly, the CD contains
six tracks, most of which are around 6 to 7 minutes. Track one is a
very atmospheric piece with lots of hiss and very subtle background
sounds and basses. It seems mainly loop based, but that is not a bad
thing, because the loops are evasive enough. Other sounds are
present, but somehow slip away al the time. So basically the whole
first track is very evasive and slippery, so that’s very good. The
second track is also based on loops, most of which seem to be based
on bell sounds and strings, with some undistinguishable sounds
drifting in and out. But there is a strong tension that holds
everything together, not in the least because the main sound is
strongly panning from extreme left to right all the time. The third
track is the longest, clocking at just over ten minutes. The
beginning sheds light on Kahn’s musical origins, but only very
slightly so. The track is very subdued and rich in texture and just
floats on and on untill suddenly it’s over! Good track. Track four
starts in a similar way, but builds up to a much denser piece with
lots of different sound aspects. Track five boosts in with huge hiss
and metal reverberation and a fine high line underneath. Slowly a
part of the sound shifts from high to mid to low and a sort of rythm
develops. Very subtly, the movement becomes clearer untill, again,
all is cut off. The last track at first seems more electronic than
the ones before, but that is probably due to extreme filtering,
because in other ways it is very similar the rest of this disc:
shimmering, flickering, wavering and quivering. A very apt title for
music that moves on the border of ambient, electroacoustic and
improvisation and is highly recommended because it doesn’t suit any
of these categories. (MR)
Address: www.kormplastics.nl
CHEAPMACHINES – [BOREHOLE] (CDR by Uranium City Records)
In Vital Weekly 397 we discussed a CDR by UK’s Cheap Machines, a
band?, a person? who have been around for some time now, with quite
an endless stream of CDRs on many small labels. Their ‘Subfusc’
release was quite an enjoyable release of modern musique concrete, so
I put on ‘[Borehole]’ with some anticipation. Just one track that
lasts just under one hour and it’s one big field of noise music.
Cheapmachines have been listening to Merzbow a great deal before
going into the ‘studio’ to record this. Nothing delicate, noting
refined – just one long steady stream of sound. Merzbow is my thing,
but I am never that much interested in more Merzbow under a different
name (simply because there is enough Merzbow already, I think). So I
sat through the entire length of this disc, writing these lines,
waiting for that brilliant move to happen, but it didn’t. Sorry, must
do better, next time. (FdW)
Address: http://www.uraniumcityrecords.com/
EMITER/K.TOPOLSKI – 16.03.2003 (CDR by Authorized Version)
Here are two musicians which I never heard (or at least: can’t
remember hearing of), one Emiter (who plays loops, tapes, electronics
and guitar) and one K. Topolski (who plays piezoelectronics and
drums). I am not sure what they play, but it seems a bunch of samples
set against improvisations on guitar. There are two pieces here, one
that last about thirty-eight minutes and one that is about four
minutes. As they are live pieces, I assume the first is the live
concert and the second is the encore. Style-wise the two lads from
Poland move in a wide variety of musics. From noise to improvisation
to densely layered electronics. Maybe the styllistical changes are a
bit too much here, which makes this concert a bit unfocussed for me.
Like the two don’t have a specific plan of what to play, and rather
try to play all the ideas they had in mind. But having said that,
this is not a bad disc of improvised electronic music at all and the
good moments outlast the weaker brothers.
Address: http://www.a-version.co.uk
JOHN HUDAK – ROOM WITH SKY (CDR by Chaba Recordings)
John Hudak slowly builts a very consistent body of work together,
that by now dates back to the mid 80s and spans many cassette only
releases (and most of them worth a re-issue on CDR, mind you), CDs
and CDrs and some on vinyl – although that is something not happening
a lot. ‘Room With Sky’ is his latest work, I think self-released on
his Chaba Recordings label, a CDR in a small edition. The piece lasts
about one hour, like so many other Hudak pieces. It’s the perfect
length for a Hudak release. Not that there is much development going
on here, but it’s the right length for the listener to forget time
and place and simply to enjoy the sounds. Here it’s unclear what kind
of sounds Hudak has put into his machines (laptop with max/msp
patches, I believe), maybe it’s some natural sound, maybe it’s a
piano? With somebody like Hudak this is never really important – it’s
the result that matters. These simple sound processings move forward
slowly, peacefully – like a mass of ice moving over the course of
thousands years – slowly, without much change on the surface, but
underneath is where the action takes place. To some it might seem
that John Hudak produces ambient music on the fringe of new age, but
this is not so at all. His sounds are too edgy for that. Hudak has
crafted another fine work – another stone in his slow expanding
universe. (FdW)
Address: http://www.johnhudak.net
JARL – PARALLEL/COLLAPSING (CD by Segerhuva)
I never heard of a Swedish band named IRM and thus I don’t know what
they sound like. It’s band because Jarl is Erik Jarl and he is one of
the members. With ‘Parallel/Collapsing’ he delivers a solo CD. The
work is divided in seven parts, totalling almost fifty five minutes.
The cover doesn’t list what kind of instruments Jarl uses, but my
best guess is that Jarl works mostly with mixing boards and
soundeffects. The input is no longer important – the sound is
captured in an endless line of reverb and delay units. Like bacteria
these sounds become living organism, eating their way through ones
and zeros of these digital lines. The seven pieces flow right into
eachother and the sound doesn’t seem to change that much throughout
this CD. It’s a monochrome painting in sound – a whole bunch of
endless variations in blue. Too loud and too present to be called
ambient, so maybe ambient industrial is the term that comes close to
this. Science fiction music to a movie in which human life does no
longer exist and the machines fight eachother – cold, alien, gruesome
pictures of a world to come. Alienated but captivating. (FdW)
Address: http://www.segerhuya.se
MATT WAND – PUBLIC.EXE (10″ by Dekorder)
One may remember Matt Wand as one half of the Stock, Hausen & Walkman
duo from a couple of years back, or from his Hot Air label. Since
some time Matt Wand also records solo, under his own name, and his
love of small electronic devices, led him to use game boys and effect
pedals. During a tour with Goodiepal and Nanoloop programmer Oliver
Wittchow (the guy who wrote a musicprogramm that runs on game boys),
he got noted by Dekorder who asked for a live record by Matt Wand. I
don’t what your expectations are when you hear people make music with
a game boy, but my expectations are always a highly energetic
rhythmical music but in a rather bleak way, but somehow Matt Wand
doesn’t live up to this. Wands approach is of course also rhythmical,
but the whole thing is too distorted and too freaky to be a
children’s version of techno. Wand’s music is edgy and at times
noisy. The expected bleakness of the game boy is not at all present,
and this is quite forceful, present music. It’s one of the better
examples of using game boys in music. Very nice one. (FdW)
Address: http://www.dekorder.com
PERLONEX/JULIJUNI (split LP by Happy Zloty Records)
Happy Zloty is a small German label who have released a whole bunch
of loveable and collectable 7″ with improvised music in nice
silkscreened covers. Now they move away from the handwork of glueing
7″ covers with the release of their first split LP. Of course in a
silkscreened cover… On this LP we find two improvising bands from
Germany. The a-side has Perlonex, a trio with Ignaz Schick on
electronics, devices and turntables, Joerg Maria Zeger on guitars and
Burkhard Beins on drums and percussion. They have two CDs on Zarek
(see Vital Weekly 235 and 286) and a 7″ on Bad Alchemy. Like I wrote
before, it’s hard to tell wether the music of Perlonex is entirely
improvised. I once saw them play live and noted the tight playing,
which seemed kinda planned out. Not that it mattered that much to me,
because it was a great thing to hear. Perlonex combine various styles
of music in their own music: it’s a bit of noise, electro-acoustic,
ambient, composition and improvisation, that is brought together in
very intense and powerful pieces of music.
On the other side we find Julijuni, a Berlin/Hamburg trio of Tim
Tetzner on feedback, Micheal Rieken on powerbook and Ansgar Wilken
(boss of Happy Zloty) on guitar and electronics. They exist since
2001 and their first rehearsal was also their first gig. Since then
they have played all over Germany and The Netherlands (they say: I
didn’t see them). Julijuni operate indeed in a much more improvised
music style and they opt for the more noisy side of improvisation.
Their piece (although divided in three parts, it sounds very much
like an ongoing thing) starts out nicely in a moody way, but
gradually builts up to a wall of noise, feedback and extensive
scraping of contact microphones. Building up fiercly, this is less
delicate than the Perlonex side, but will certainly appeal to those
who like noise and improvisation going hand in hand. (FdW)
Address: http://www.happyzloty.de
BLACK TO COMM (10″ by Dekorder)
This is debut release from a ‘new computer music artist from Hamburg,
Germany’. I have no clue who is behind this, but I am sure it’s
someone who loves to put on some drone music, in combination with
some finer points of computer processing. The result may count to
some as drone music, but it’s drone music of a more violent nature.
The bowed sounds that open the b-side of this record, explode within
seconds into a mighty violent drone, with machine gun shots fired
through plug ins. References in the computer treated guitar music are
obvious (think early Fennesz or Pimmon), but the whole violence that
is generated is more linked to noise music ala Merzbow, even when
there are more quiet spots to be noted here than on an average
Merzbow CD. Quite a nice little record, which is albeit too short to
have a good picture of what this guy can do. Looking forward
therefore to the more extended programm. (FdW)
Address: http://www.dekorder.com
KAZUYA ISHIGAMI/TOMAS KORBER – MISTAKES (CD by Neus-318)
In Vital Weekly 396 I reviewed a CD by Gunter Muller, Ralph
Steinbruchel and Tomas Korber, and here again, we see the return of
Korber. The Swiss guitarist has a split CD collaboration with Kazuya
Ishigami, who seems to be very active these days as Daruin (see Vital
Weekly 395) and under his own name on compilation (see Vital Weekly
393). The two guys exchanged sounds they made for the other to
re-compose. Ishigami comes up with two pieces based on Korber guitar
sounds, but none of which are to be recognized as such. It’s quite
easy to compare this with the recent works I heard by Ishigami: a
major step forward! Delicate and precise, with great care for a
balance between louder and softer passages. Noise is not so my thing,
but here everything is kept in the right balance.
I am not sure what Ishigami send Korber music wise, but his twenty
four minutes hoovers on the edges of silence for the bigger part. If
it wasn’t based on collage, I’d say this is almost Lopezian in
approach. Some louder parts occur, but in general this for maybe 80%
on a very silent level. But in the darker corners of the unearthly
rumble, small explosions take place and slow expanding waves go the
surface of the sea. A bell sounds and we dive again. We swim undersea
and we see nor hear anything for a while, until a rumble starts
again… In all it’s minimalism, rich music. (FdW)
Address: http://www.neus318.com
BRUNNEN – THE HONEY BUTTON (8″ by Plinkity Plonk)
I am pretty sure I am not the right person to review this record. The
reasons are many. I know the musician all to well, and I like what he
does when in solo mood, but it’s very much outside the world of Vital
Weekly. It’s most intimate singer songwriter stuff. A man and his
keyboard in one track or a guitar on the next piece. Four of these
intimate sung pieces. Words like noise, computer processing, plug in
or max/msp are not to be found in a review of this. Comes in a lovely
handprinted cover and the biggest reason not to review this is the
shameful edition of 20 or so copies. You gotta hurry. (FdW)
Address: <info@beequeen.nl>
BETH ANDERSON – PEACHY KEEN-O (CD by Pogus)
Pogus never cease to amaze me with finding composers that aren’t
really young but of whom I never heard. Take Beth Anderson. Born in
1950, studied in Kentucky, at Mills, studied the piano and
composition, co-editor of the publication Ear from 1973-79 and
currentely teaches at the Greenwich House Music School in New York.
This anthology of nine pieces are all works of the seventies, and
some of them have a really seventies atmosphere. The opening piece,
‘Torero Piece’, is such a piece. A women’s voice recites texts about
her daughter and her relation to her daughter and is ‘to describe the
most dramatic event or relationshio in your life’ – not well spend on
me. Same goes for the moaning piece ‘Peachy Keen-O’Other pieces are
luckily of more interest, such as ‘Tower Of Power’, a heavy droning
organ and electronic piece – minimal yet forceful. The four short
pieces ‘Ocean Motion Mildew Band’, ‘Country Time’, ‘Yes Sir Ree’ and
‘I Can’t Stand It’ were all quite nice too, text sound based, but
with a high rhythmical impact. Reminded me of Craig Burke. The best
pieces here were ‘Joan’ a minimal piano piece in the best Steve Reich
tradition and the closing piece ‘Ode’, a strict tape piece of looped
prayer tapes and electronics. Here too, a Steve Reich influence is to
be noted, especially ‘It’s Gonna Rain’. A bit mixed feelings about
this CD, but the good pieces outlast the bad ones. (FdW)
Address: http://www.pogus.com
F\S\B—– – –[WE SPY ON YOU.\” (CDR by Top 40)
ED.S – [ENCENS JAPONAIS](CDR by Top 40)
Are you confused? You should be, these are some new releases from Top
40, a label from the Moscow’s underground. I don’t know who F\S\B
and >ed.s are, there’s no info about them on Top 40’s site, but you
can still visit the site and ask Vadim (aka Motor, the label’s owner)
if you’re interested. Now we should be more interested about the
sound of these releases. You know Radio 4’s song Dance To The
Underground? Well, this is the underground, but you can’t dance to
F\S\B’s music ’cause it’s too quiet, minimal, no rhythm… But you
can still dance in your mind. The second track from F\S\B’s EP is
called Food For Your Fantasy and I think this title connects well
with the music, which is more a sound experiment, silent and
ultra-microsound, present enough to make you aware of it’s existence,
crawling sound fighting for it’s survival in a very fragile way. This
music/sound is somehow strange and a bit alienated. Adding more
diversity inside or even a little bit of humour might be fine.
Though, it still sounds nice as it is. It’s more interesting than the
second release.
The second release by >ed.s is also very quiet, ultra-minimalistic
and done in a lo-fi way, there’s constant muffled sound that’s
present almost always and not changing at all. And there’s not much
else. There are some very quiet and distant voices in russian that
sound like they’re coming from a television. It sounds like someone
has recorded the sound from the television with a poor tape quality
and from a distance. Nothing much is happening on this release, it
lacks activity and musicality. It’s ok as a sound experiment, but not
too interesting musicaly and a bit limited. (BR)
Address: http://www.top-40.org
JOHN DUNCAN & PETER FLEUR – THE SCATTERING (CD by Edition…)
This CD is a collaboration album of sorts: the first track (of three)
was done by both Duncan and Fleur, the second pece is by Fleur solo,
the third by Duncan solo. For those who don’t know: Fleur was part of
the duo L.O.S.D. with Radboud Mens and later released a very DIY
ambient kit in the form of a double 5″ (one CD, the other vinyl,
beautiful!). The tracks on this disc all stem from 2001 and seem to
be based on data files and shortwave sounds. This could be true, but
it could just as well not be. Most of the sounds are heavily
stretched, so they could have originated anywhere. But of course,
that is also unimportant in the end, because what ultimately coutns
is the music itself. And after an initial slight repulsion on my
behalf by so much stretching (this is strictly personal!), things
begin to find their place and flow. The track sounds ambient at
first, but escapes this by having way too much composition and build
up. The tension stays good throughout the piece and after some time
the sound actually stops, which is highly surprising in a work like
this, but it’s a very nice surprise indeed. We are now more than
halfway through, still 13 minutes to go and then: bang! another
stretch blasts in and puts everything on edge again. This one lasts
the whole last 13 minutes, although it fades out very slowly and
somewhere a bass sound is added, that slowly gets richer. This is the
title track by the way. Well done. Track two is a 15 minute piece by
Peter Fleur, starting with a low resonating ambient bass sound, into
which a cluster of higher frequencies is slowly mixed. This movement
is repeated, but each time more sounds are added, which does a lot
for tightening the tension. And here again, halfway through: a sudden
break, a completely distorted sound taking over, fading out and
digital rain is left. The track ends with long glissando’s of all
kinds and a surprise. Defenitely not your everyday ambient drone
stuff from Fleur. Something way more interesting instead! Duncan’s
track is the one stemming from the shortwave sounds. The piece seems
to be edited together from several recordings, but then again, it
could also be a direct to disc mix. The sounds are familiar for
anyone who has ever turned a radio dial and the track itself doesn’t
do much to enhance that experience, except for layering these sounds.
To be very honest: I have heard it done better. Still, the CD as a
whole is a success, as far as I am concerned. (MR)
Address: http://editionellipsis.hypermart.net
LESSER – SUPPRESSIVE ACTS I-X (CD by Matador)
Last album from J. Lesser I tried to give a spin was Gearhound. This
2001 beast sounded like playing ones record collection all at once.
No doubt that non-penetrable mess contained deeper motifs and
theories at base, but I never managed to pick them out. In a way this
Suppressive Acts I-X can be considered one big mash-up too, only now
clearly structured and brought down to random bursts of noise that
one can actually define as songs. Outstanding track is the opening
The Science of Pathology, being a deathmetal song, stitched together
tightly out of several sampled pieces from the graveyards of the
genre. Normally this is brutal and aggressive music, but because
Lesser has provided his piece of work with a very mechanical
character, it now more resembles John Oswalds Metallica/Kronos
Quartet collages. I guess the same can be said about the other
material, being techno without the aesthetics of dance music. In here
there is no swing. And where other acts their music is without doubt
computer-generated, Lesser’s sound is clearly sampled and pasted
together. It’s noteworthy that most of these samples were taken from
metal sources (Lesser being a metalhead and (once) a player in a
Metallica-coverband). In a way you could call this old fashioned, but
with a keen treatment with nowadays software (listen for example to
the extremely noise reduced funk in Dandy in the Fandora, with the
guitar-line coming straight out of Adam and the Ants’ Stand and
Deliver), this Suppressive Acts I-X has a sound all its own. This
disc also includes an album by Lesser’s pre-electroclash band The
Robotic from 1995, in MP3 format. (RT)
Address: http://www.lsr1.com
KID 606 – KILL SOUND BEFORE SOUND KILLS YOU (CD by Ipecac)
Drum&bass, drill&bass, jungle, breakbeats on the loose with reggae
basslines and toasting. If these sounds haven’t killed you before
they definitely won’t do it now either. Soundmurderer, anyone? The
Kid 606 is a talented one, but on his latest he tends to repeat
himself. A couple a months ago we were already treated on two tracks
from Kill Sound Before Sound Kills You, single The Illness and the
magnificently titled Ecstasy Motherfucker. The latter is a totally
fucked-up mix of aforementioned genres with raving gabberhouse,
without immediately becoming digital hardcore. This eight minute
killer gave me the same rush of excitement I felt when I first
encountered the sounds of Squarepusher, Alec Empire, Jamie Lidell,
Remarc and, most definitely, the Kid himself. It was new, fresh and
absolutely devastating. Unfortunately most of the other material
doesn’t quite make-up to the raised expectations, no matter how good
it gets. (RT)
Address: http://www.ipecac.com