PAAVOHARJU – YHÄ HÄMÄRÄÄ (CD by Fonal Records)
KEMIALLISET YSTÄVÄT – LUMOTTU KARKKIPURKKI (CD by Fonal Records)
ROEL MEELKOP – 5(AMBIENCES) (CD by Intransitive)
JESS ROWLAND – PIANO IMPROVISATIONS (CD by Pax)
KAPOTTE MUZIEK – PRAAG/ROTTERDAM (CD Chondritic Sound/Pac Rec)
ANDREW CHALK – SHADOWS FROM THE ALBUM SKIES (CD by Faraway Press)
LOVE’S SHATTERED PRIDE-A TRIBUTE TO JOY DIVISION AND NEW ORDER (CD by
Failure To Communicate Records)
ZOMBI – COSMOS (CD by Relapse Entertainment)
AMAZING GRACE – REVIVAL TIMES (CD by Desolation House)
MINIZZA – MUSIC FOR GIRLS (CD by Brocoli)
HOH – WATER/TEETH (CD by Zang)
IF, BWANA – GRUNTLE (CD by Absurd)
TOMAS KORBER/DIEB 13/ERIK M – CONDENSER (CDR by Absurd)
THE HATERS – ICTANEA ALL NARIS (3″CDR by Absurd)
ODRZ – ODRZ06-01 (CDR by Tib Prod)
NAUTICAL ALMANAC – SOMETHING (CDR by 8mm Records)
NIKO SKORPIO – TO GIVE LIGHT TO THAT WHICH IS WITHOUT (CDR by Some Place Else)
IGOR KRUTOGOLOV – MUZIKA ELEKTRONICA (CD-R by ESC.REC)
HERV – INTRODUCTION TO SYNTHESIZERS (CDR by Go Away Recordings)
DIS.PLAYCE – R (CDR by Naiv Super)
KASPER VAN HOEK – 30507 (TITCHENER) (3″CDR, self-released)
KASPER VAN HOEK – OBJECTS (3″CDR, self-released)
EMERGE – CYCLE (3″CDR by Verato Project)
LOD – TASKENTI (MP3 by ~N)
G_N44F – 120_1 (MP3 by ~N)
COEVAL – DISTANTE (MP3 BY ~N)
PAAVOHARJU – YHÄ HÄMÄRÄÄ (CD by Fonal Records)
KEMIALLISET YSTÄVÄT – LUMOTTU KARKKIPURKKI (CD by Fonal Records)
Whereas Norway has the reputation of a leading noise country, Finland is quickly becoming the leading nation for neo-folk music. Although Kemialliset Ystävät (translated as ‘chemical friends’) had a release before on Fonal Records, this my first encounter with both of these bands. Paavoharju is apparently a collective/solo project of ascetic born-again christians and they certainly have a strange bunch on offering here. Starting out with an electronic, low resolution sample and ending with a rock/reggae song, they play also Current 93 like inspired hymns, pop tunes, even in the realm of electronica (such as in Valo Tihukuu Kaiken Lapi, if I read that well), but also in singer-songwriter traditions. This stylistical hotchpotch may be all over the place, but quite curious things work quite well. The female voice remains similar throughout, in whatever style the band is going and that keeps things together. Esoteric pop-music, according to any new or old standards.
Something different is Kemialliset Ystävät, whose album ‘Lumottu Karkkipurkki’ (meaning ‘the enchanted candy jar’), is the follow-up to ‘Kellari Juniversumi’ and it’s a ‘two-concept’ album: one are songs about a boy eating candies which change his ‘surroundings unexpectedly and completely’ (I assume there is a law against selling those candies) and the other one has to do with ‘plucking string instruments growing moss and the speed control’. Let’s say we are dealing with quite psychedelic music of some kind here. The playing is free and probably intoxicated by similar candies, but it’s rather acoustic and intimate playing going on here, certainly at the beginning of the CD, the louder and meaner bits are towards the end. A most curious CD of some highly free outsider music. (FdW)
Address: http://www.fonal.com
ROEL MEELKOP – 5(AMBIENCES) (CD by Intransitive)
Liner notes on a Roel Meelkop CD? Not the usual ‘recorded at’ and ‘thanks to’, but an actual text comparing making music to writing a text and that’s it. Besides a ‘thanks to Elise de Waard’ and ‘all tracks 1998-2002’, no ‘real’ information is given, but in all five pieces ‘ambiences’ play a role. Ambiences, not ambient. In each of the five ambiences, Meelkop explores a space: the zoo, at home and even the sounds of an unborn child in her mothers womb (these are the ones I recognized, mind you). Exploring, taking them inside out, upside out and whatever is possible at all to change sound into music, making the sound come alive through the composition we call music. All the material is transformed, treated and processed until it becomes something else. This album was finished in 2002, after ‘4 (Propositions)’ (see Vital Weekly 380) and forecasts a development that became clearer on ‘Onkyo Ok’ (see Vital Weekly 420): Meelkop’s sound has become more minimal and more ambient (ah after all). It’s more a go with flow and to a lesser extent the collages of his earlier works. Sounds flow in a more natural way and new sounds arrive as a logical, next step. It’s a pity it didn’t came out in 2002, but thank god it’s not lost. Another refined moment. (FdW)
Address: http://www.intransitiverecordings.com
JESS ROWLAND – PIANO IMPROVISATIONS (CD by Pax)
“Piano Improvisations” is in fact the subtitle of this CD. The title is some I Ching symbol I can’t decipher. It seems to mean ‘water’. And if I tell you that in the enclosed booklet we find a poem by zen-master Basho, it’s fair to conclude that we have artist here who is inspired by eastern thought. It was only for a short moment that I was afraid to have here some semi-spiritual new age blurb. But don’t be afraid this is not the case. No Rowland , who defines her music as “freely improvised, stream-of-consciousness composition”, is with both her feet on the ground. She is a self-taught composer and improvisor. In the past she lead her own rockgroups like Spork and Soundchaser. More recently she is into multi-media. But also she must have spent many hours behind the piano, because she is an accomplished pianoplayer and improvisor. Much of her earlier work is available on cd, but this new cd is my first acquaintance with her work so I can’t make any comparison. Also I find it difficult to situate Rowland as a pianist in the spectrum of jazz pianists. I,m not that much into this kind of music. Most pieces have a romantic and nostalgic touch. They are sounding all very peacefull and thoughtful. She is not breaking new ground but she is a remarkable, though not very original musician in the tradition of piano-improvisors. A brave move of Pax Recordings, who released another album of piano-improvisations very recently by Thollem McDonas (“Solo Piano”). (DM)
Address: http://www.paxrecordings.com/
KAPOTTE MUZIEK – PRAAG/ROTTERDAM (CD Chondritic Sound/Pac Rec)
This joint-release of Chondritic Sound and Pac Rec contains two live pieces,
recorded in 1995 and 1998, at the time when Kapotte Muziek was still a trio
featuring Roel Meelkop, Peter Duimelinks and Frans de Waard. ‘Praag’,
recorded in 1995, starts off with a serene drone, subtle added by the fickle
crackling of various kinds of manipulated sounds. Although ‘Praag’ may be
classified as a standard live set, being menial documented, the second piece
should be seen as an ode to Detroit, the city of punk, noise, trash and
techno. In 1998 Kapotte Muziek took part of the ‘I rip you, you rip me’
project in Rotterdam, a project dedicated to the impact of Detroit to the
music history. All mentioned music elements, except punk perhaps, pass by
during the set. It’s great to hear the meaning of ‘trash’ being used by
taking found objects as source material, gradually manipulated to noise and
electronic excerpts. I guess you may call it a punk spirit. (MW)
Address: http://www.iheartnoise.com
ANDREW CHALK – SHADOWS FROM THE ALBUM SKIES (CD by Faraway Press)
Now that Mirror is on hold for a while, or perhaps for ever, it’s time for Andrew Chalk and Christoph Heemann to work on other projects again, solo or with other artists. Chalk kicks off with a solo release on what I think is his own label. Previously this was released as a limited CDR in an edition of 50 copies – that is: the first piece of this. With twenty-seven minutes, the short of the two (the other being forty-seven). In both pieces Chalk plays guitar and feeds the signal through an endless line of delays, reverbs, harmonizers and what else have you. In the first, short, piece, things work mainly in the mid to high end of the spectrum, which sometimes doesn’t too good, but the second piece works it’s way through the low-end of frequencies and works wonderfully well. Here, Chalk comes close to the original Mirror sound, of slowly evolving and humming sounds, that slowly change shape, color and content. By itself just this would be have been enough, as it would have made a great album, now it’s a great album with one track that is just a bit lesser. (FdW)
Address: http://www.farawaypress.net
LOVE’S SHATTERED PRIDE-A TRIBUTE TO JOY DIVISION AND NEW ORDER (CD by
Failure To Communicate Records)
Even though I am not really all that familiar with the post-punk band Joy Division or it’s other incarnation New Order, I can still say that this tribute album from independent Failure To Communicate Records is a decent effort from fourteen different artists even without having the resources to check out the originals juxtaposed to the covers. I can tell you that this album does have the two biggest hits from this group: Love Will Tear Us Apart, covered by In The Nursery and Blue Monday, by BlackCycle. Concerning the former, I still prefer the version of Blue Monday by Orgy, but BlackCycle does a good job putting their own spin on it which is a good thing instead of performing a note for note rendition of said song. I really like the cover The Drawback, by The Brides. It’s a particularly punky number that I was immediately drawn to and it makes me want to find the original track to see if it is The Brides version I would prefer instead of the Joy Division version. Out of the fourteen tracks, the other standouts are: Heart and Soul, performed by Entropy; Unto Ashes, performed by The Him; Crystal, performed by Ahab Rex And The Fourteens; New Dawn Fades, performed by Nerve Exhibit; Ice Age, performed by Theatre Of The Absurd. It will be very obvious to whoever gives this disc a spin that it is a hit and miss effort with the bulk of the material leaning toward the hit rather than the miss. (CN)
Address: http://www.ftcrecords.com
ZOMBI – COSMOS (CD by Relapse Entertainment)
Zombi is a duo that, according to them, is inspired by horror movie scores from the eighties; but I got to say that you couldn’t tell from this album. It is an instrumental journey it seems through the voids of space, hence the name of the album: Cosmos. The album features seven tracks worth of spacey, synth-based compositions produced with vintage synthesizers, drums and electric bass. Clearly with this album, Zombi accomplishes giving the listener the feeling of a weightless adventure through uncharted space, perfectly putting to score our sense of awe at the silent yet majestic wonders one may see when free of the atmospheric confines of our terra firma. I am glad I was sent this album. Do yourself a favor and seek it out; you will not be disappointed. (CN)
Address: http://www.relapse.com
AMAZING GRACE – REVIVAL TIMES (CD by Desolation House)
What manner of album content can you get from equipment such as this: Macintosh G4, Pro-tools & Plug ins, thOnk_0+2, Argeiphontes Lyre 2.0.4, sonicWORX Power Bundle 2.0.5, Digitech DSP-21 Legend, Gibson double neck SG, Fender Telecaster, Cymbals, Clay, Metals, Water, Voices, Realistic headphones as microphones, Sony MZR700 minidisc recorder, Sound Professionals Standard Binaural Microphones, lapel microphones, movie/speech samples, and environment recordings? I will tell you: an album of cold, barren soundscapes that vary in the volume department and features very little repetition. This is the kind of ‘dark electronics’ album that I can say will stay in my CD collection. You will find it hard to relax with this release, so if meditation is your thing for the moment, you might try some bargain bin new age flute music instead. With this release and others, the Desolation House sub-label is certainly bestowing grace to us by making Revival Times available. (CN)
Address: http://desolationhouse.com
MINIZZA – MUSIC FOR GIRLS (CD by Brocoli)
Ok, so I wonder: it’s ‘Music For Girls’, can I listen to it? Should we hire a female reviewer? Or, seeing this is an all-boy group, we’d be alright doing it ourselves? It will be the last, since we are not girls and we don’t have female reviewers. Minizza is the undertaking of Franck Marguin and Geoffroy Montel, but they receive help from Edward Ka-spel (a legendary pink dot) who sings on one track, Erlend Oye (a king of convience) and use extensively samples from Roel Meelkop (of his own right, mostly): a diverse bunch of musicians, but the outcome is nice, yet miles away from the usual music covered in these lines. This is popmusic with a capital ‘p’. Soft popmusic, intimate, real songs, with real lyrics. At times melancholical, a times up tempo and joyful poppy (most strangely in the track sung by Edward Ka-spel), this is a well-balanced album. Jazzy, loungy like some of the best of the very old Everything But The Girl, but updated to the world of electronica (voices are treated through a vocoder, especially when it’s more uptempo) meeting the guestplayers on saxophones or guitars. The voices are not always very strong, hence the treatment, but the joyness of the music is felt throughout here. Not as close to experimental music as much of the other music featured here, but it’s damm fine popalbum. (FdW)
Address: http://www.brocoli.org
HOH – WATER/TEETH (CD by Zang)
This HOH should not be confused with HOH from Iceland. This HOH is Helge Olav Øksendal from Norway. He has released a couple of works on labels as Edgecity Records, Fuck Subtle Records and Humbug. He has played live, mostly in Scandinavia and has made music for films, dance and installations. The five tracks on this lengthy mini CD (or perhaps a rather short full length – twenty-five minutes) all dwell heavily on the use of the sampler. Slicing up vocals, guitars, rhythms, the end result is quite forceful electronic music, much alike EBM, but with a nicer twist, such as the lounge like ‘Water’ or the glitchy ‘Teeth’. Quite an enjoyable release, but maybe a bit too short to form a real opinion on what this HOH can do. These first five however a fine introduction. (FdW)
Address: http://www.kunst.no/paal.asle/Sider/zang/zangrammer2.html
IF, BWANA – GRUNTLE (CD by Absurd)
TOMAS KORBER/DIEB 13/ERIK M – CONDENSER (CDR by Absurd)
THE HATERS – ICTANEA ALL NARIS (3″CDR by Absurd)
In various capacities Al Margolis is The man for music in America, although not everybody knows this. Running his own Pogus Productions as-well as uncovering artists for New World, he should be occupied enough, but he’s also a man of his own music, under the guise of If, Bwana. He’s been active for maybe close to twenty years now, when Al was releasing cassettes on his Sound Of Pig label. Releases these days are far and between, but this new collection runs a selection of works recorded between 1995 and 2002. Is there something as the If, Bwana sound? My first main encounter with his music was with his CD in Anckarstrom set, released in the early nineties, and although I haven’t played that in years, the music on this new release comes close. What If, Bwana is doing is a process of stapling. Sounds and loops. The best example is ’20 Violins’, which is for ‘multiple violins’, but of course it’s one violin played twenty times and then mixed out. All of the sounds are close together in the final mix, thus making a hasty, somewhat nervous sound of endless shifting violin sounds. In ‘Bwana Bass Loops Mit E-Bow’, he does something similar with the bass guitar. In the mixing process, If, Bwana not always adds electronic treatment, but rather let the sounds as they are. This makes the sound not only a trademark If, Bwana sound, but also an intense listening experience. Beyond ambient, before noise: in a grey area in between all of this, but with maybe more hints to modern classical music than one should guess.
On the same label a shorter release, eighteen minutes only of Tomas Korber (guitar, electronics), Dieb 13 (turntables) and Erik M (3K pad system). Things start out, rather long, beyond the threshold of hearing, but once the car is on the road, things ‘explode’ like a cascading wave of noise, although that term should be used with care: it’s not the noise of Merzbow, but rather a collage of noise elements thrown into a big blender, a pressure cooker, which heats up the music until the ultimate crash comes. These three established improvisers know how to play together as there is a strong sense of homogeneity in playing and it seems like all three are all well aware of what should be done. CDR comes with a so-called ‘anti-record’ – for home DJ-ing.
It’s hard to tell when I last reviewed something of The Haters, but if my count is right, it was that unlikely but surprising release with Scanner (Vital Weekly 201). There was a time when I collected everything new by The Haters, and saw many of his performances (and even acted in some of them – a refreshing experience), but somehow along the lines we lost contact – that happens. The piece on this CDR has come a long way. It was recorded for an unreleased compilation in 1991 by Harsh Dept (Absurd’s old name), remixed in 1996 for a split LP with MPD, which was also never released. It uses the sound of breaking glass as-well as an amplified staple-gun to staple LPs together. Creating something new is just not the concern of The Haters, re-creating something old with new means is. As such this release sounds like a very familiar Haters release with that usual sound-input that he is so-well known for. Hardly an essential release for those who want to hear some Haters every once in a while, and a great one to the fans. And if playing time is over, one can always wear the T-shirt that comes with – I know I will wear it again and again, along with the 73 other lucky buyers of this. (FdW)
Address: http://www.anet.gr/absurd
ODRZ – ODRZ06-01 (CDR by Tib Prod)
The man behind ODRZ is one Massimo Mascheroni and he likes to put on a good concept. Previous releases included a release of six different Italian TV stations mixed together in a true Cagean way. ‘ODRZ06-01′ is the first part of a nine CDR set, which will all be released on May the 1st, perhaps to celebrate the day of labor, or perhaps to poke fun at this socialist tradition? We don’t know. Like all his previous releases, this lasts exactly sixty minutes, and I think it’s the celebration of the worker behind his conveyer belt, as this sounds highly industrial and the best industrial music captures the nature of a machinery hall in full operation. Along the lines of good ol’ Vivenza, ODRZ made recordings of real machines and puts them through a wide array of sound effects. Unmistakably noise related this thing, but at times it’s also getting a groove. Maybe not so much to dance too, but surely to tap those feet when behind that conveyer belt. Nice but long release. (FdW)
Address: http://www.tibprod.com
NAUTICAL ALMANAC – SOMETHING (CDR by 8mm Records)
A while ago, Nautical Alamanac played in Europe, so I assume we all went out to see them? I did and was sort of not really satisfied but it wasn’t bad either. A good night out with the boys. Belated ‘Something’ arrives as the sort of document before or after the actual thing. The three tracks are way more noise related than I remember the concert. They are all related to popbands: ‘INXS’, ‘Smashing Pumpkings’ and ‘Kraftwork’, but none of the original bands are to be recognized. A wild collage of smashed up vinyl and electronica in the first two tracks and in ‘Kraftwork’ guitars playing rather free sounds. Lo-fi noise that is quite common with this kind of music, that can be placed along the lines of Wolf Eyes. Nothing new under the sun, but still quite effective. (FdW)
Address: http://www.8mmrecs.com
NIKO SKORPIO – TO GIVE LIGHT TO THAT WHICH IS WITHOUT (CDR by Some Place Else)
Usually Niko Skorpio’s work can be found on ‘real’ CDs or 7″s on his own Some Place Else label, but for reasons for entirely clear it’s a CDR here. Maybe a clean up of archives or a forecast of future material? Seeing all three pieces were recorded live, it’s maybe the first of the two. The first piece starts out in a very dark ambient industrial vein, not unlike old Archon Satani or Inanna, but noise prevails towards the end of the piece. The other two pieces are a bit shorter, but here too a strong retro sound of the good old days of ambient industrial (synthesizers and reverb) zips through. It’s dark, it’s deep and it plays the card of mood music very well. Nice, but maybe not something I would have expected to hear from Niko Skorpio in this stage of his career. (FdW)
Address: http://www.someplaceelse.net
IGOR KRUTOGOLOV – MUZIKA ELEKTRONICA (CD-R by ESC.REC)
The cover design of this work is really what the CD is all about: it shows a washing machine, a drum kit, a drum computer and a mixer all connected to the heart of a person. The heart is called distortion. And distortion is certainly at the heart of Krutogolov’s music. All elements of the sound pass through the distortion, deforming all the sounds in more or less the same way and thereby creating new sounds. The music is mostly beat based, with melodic lines escaping every now and then. Krutogolov also uses a bowed bass and voice, but anyone able to discern this gets my utmost respect. The result is basically what one would expect: a very dense sound palette with weird and sometimes eerie sounds piercing through. It may seem strange but I liked this CD most when played softly on headphones. In this way I was able to recognize best the efforts Krutogolov has made to create well balanced tracks, with breaks etc. Unlike a first impression this music deserves full attention to discover its hidden qualities. But it must be said that a playing time of over one hour is a bit much, regarding the fact that the overall sound quality is more or less the same all the time (track number 4 excluded, but that’s just a little too less)… (MR)
Address: http://www.escrec.com
HERV – INTRODUCTION TO SYNTHESIZERS (CDR by Go Away Recordings)
If the copy I have looks at what is for sale, then I’d say it’s a pretty lousy job: very undesigned, with no track list, although the press blurb do give us track titles. The guy named Herv is one Ewan Hennelly, who has gained much attention in the last three years in Ireland, but who has been active some longer period. The material on this CDR release stem from the period 1999-2002. Herv plays synthesizers, but those that work on a laptop really, along with two Gameboy machines. The music is up tempo electronic stuff, warm and brittle. The material is sometimes similar to that released by the likes of Highpoint Lowlife, Morr Music or Expanding Records, but Herv is much more naive, a bit more crude and raw in his music, thus leaving out the melancholical side of things, which is actually something I like. Much more upfront this is, breaking away from the common ground and that is quite a relief. Very pleasant and refreshing this is. Shame on the cover though. (FdW)
Address: http://www.riscrecords.com
DIS.PLAYCE – R (CDR by Naiv Super)
Another new CDR label from Germany, even when the release by Dis.Playce is already the fourth one, this is my introduction. Dis.Playce is the ongoing collaboration between Maximilian Marcoll and Hannes Seidl from Essen, who have been playing together since 2002. Besides using custom written software on their laptops they use electro-acoustic devices such as small coils, piezo elements or alarm signals. The material on their CDR was recorded between 2002 and 2004. It took some time before the release grew on me. Upon initial hearing I though the material was too restricted to the realms of microsound, even when there were a few outbursts of noise, with the usual glitches, cracks and careful built ups, but after a few rounds of listening, the fine dynamics of this release started to work. Dis.Playce knows how make a good balance between the ever so careful side of microsound, but it’s the occasional noise elements that make this into a finely shaped work that is full of tension and surprise. Elegant and delicate but with a sharp edge. (FdW)
Address: http://www.naivsuper.de
KASPER VAN HOEK – 30507 (TITCHENER) (3″CDR, self-released)
KASPER VAN HOEK – OBJECTS (3″CDR, self-released)
In Vital Weekly 478 I was introduced to the work of Dutch painter and musician Kasper van Hoek, via his release ‘5’, which had various diverse fragments from his work so far. In these two new mini CDR releases, he limits himself to a more conceptual approach per release. The first is about the structuralist philosopher Titchener, who thought the consciousness consisted of 30507 different elements. Van Hoek recorded 30507 sinus waves from the frequency of the same number and treats those sounds on his computer. The eighteen minutes are filled with noise related glitch material, but in a rather cut-up, collaged vein. The material is sort of alright, but could have perhaps used a bit more editing to make the composition a bit stronger. Now it remains in the ‘air’ too much in a too much of an improvised approach.
The other release has three pieces, all made with ‘objects’, such as wooden blocks, stove, paper, plastic guitar and coins. I assume all of these are also treated in some way on the computer, as none of this material can be traced back to its original form. Van Hoek arrives at a some raw form of musique concrete that suffers from similar problems as his other release: essentially it’s nice sounds and nice processings, but the compositions as such aren’t always that interesting. Some stricter editing of the material is again required. (FdW)
Address: http://www.kaspervanhoek.com
EMERGE – CYCLE (3″CDR by Verato Project)
Verato Project, the CDR sub-division of Suggestion Records always know how to come up with new names, that at least sound new to me. Not that I understand much of this new 3″CDR: the band is apparently called Emerge, from Augsburg Germany but the cover also says ‘original sounds by Aalfang Mit Pferdekopf’, whoever they might be. So maybe it’s safe to say we are dealing here with some sort of remix project? The music is rather ambient, but in a refreshing way. Sounds swirl in and out of the mix; sounds that remind the listener of processed wind recordings (that form the ambient backbone of this release) and animal calls (birds going past the microphone). A piece of floating music, that may last a bit too long, but when played in right ambience and with the right mood, probably goes straight into your subconscious. A great piece indeed and made me curious to hear some of Emerge. (FdW)
Address: Address: http://www.verato-project.de
LOD – TASKENTI (MP3 by ~N)
G_N44F – 120_1 (MP3 by ~N)
COEVAL – DISTANTE (MP3 BY ~N)
More releases on the ~N label, that is pronounced as Minus N, following Andrey Kiritchenko’s ‘Scatter Stars’ (see Vital Weekly 468) and they are all by artists I never heard of. Lod is the man behind the net-labels Klitekture and Sinergy and in his four tracks her plays around with glitchy and dubby rhythms, made of computer sounds, sampled guitars and some synthesizers. Slow music with a touch of darkness throughout these four tracks, making this quite something else than the usual Chain Reaction rip-off, but it’s surely something that could go down well on a late night radio broadcast or in a chill-out room.
Behind G_N44F is one Milton D., who has crafted his samples out of ‘crinkling, disparate bursts of spectral noise and fragmented sounds’, meaning static, but it’s cut short with great care for the detail. Also four tracks on offer here and minimalism is the keyword, but it’s more forceful and less dubby. More Kompakt than Chain Reaction that is. It’s minimal but Milton D. shifts his material around, with small surprises and unexpected breaks and weird built ups (sounding like break downs sometimes). Not necessarily dance music with it’s odd time signatures, but wacky enough to be a good surprise.
No rhythms as such on the Coeval release. Coeval is one J.C. Blancas and the pieces on this release were performed via means of improvisation at this years edition of Sonar. Unlike Lod and G_N44F this is a release with no rhythm at all, but instead all things drone and hum here. The tracks feature air conduct systems, aluminum foil, field recordings made in a forrest but also a classical piano player recorded in the fridge that was in the studio control room. The recordings were then later on processed inside the computer and melted together. It’s here where the drone element comes in, I think. I don’t Coeval isn’t very much interested in treating all the sounds beyond what they are, but simply adjusts the frequencies and takes out what frequency he finds interesting and takes it from there. He does that with great care and style. It’s six beautiful pieces of drone music, entirely crafted together from field recordings. (FdW)
Address: http://minusn.com/en/index.html