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VITAL WEEKLY
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number 539
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week 33
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Vital Weekly, the webcast: as an experiment
for the time being, we offering a weekly webcast, freely to download.
This can be regarded as the audio-supplement to Vital Weekly.
Presented as a radioprogramm with excerpts of just some of the
CDs (no vinyl or MP3) reviewed. It will remain on the site for
a limited period (most likely 2-4 weeks). Download the
file to your MP3 player and enjoy!
complete tracklist here: http://www.vitalweekly.net/podcast.html
you can subscribe to the weekly broadcast using the following
rss feed:
http://www.harmlog.nl/vitalfeed.asp
New broadcasts will be sent directly when uploaded. For more information
on
podcasts go here: http://ipodder.sourceforge.net/
* noted are in this week's podcast
MATHIAS DELPLANQUE - MA CHAMBRE QUAND JE
N'Y SUIS PAS (CD by Mondes Elliptiques)
NECROPOLIS - NECROSPHERE (CD by Cold Spring)
P.A.L. - MODUS (CD by Ant-Zen Recordings)
AB OVO - EMPREINTES (CD by Ant-Zen Recordings)
FRANCISCO LOPEZ - UNTITLED [2005] (CD by Anoema) *
LUC FERRARI - FAR-WEST NEWS (EPISODES 2 AND 3) (CD by Blue Chopsticks)
*
SHUTA HASUNUMA (CD by Western Vinyl)
ROBERT LIPPOCK - ROBOT (miniCD by Western Vinyl) *
MANDELBROT SET - ALL OUR ACTIONS ARE CONSTANTLY REPEATED (CD by
Highpoint Lowlife) *
HAMSTER THEATRE - THE PUBLIC EXECUTION OF MISTER PERSONALITY /
QUASI DAY ROOM (2CD by Cuneiform) *
AXEL DÖRNER & MATTIN - BERLIN (CD by Absurd/1000+1 Tilt)
*
PHILIP SAMARTZIS & KOZO INADA - H[] (miniCD by Room40) *
LAWRENCE ENGLISH & PHILIP SAMARTZIS - ONE PLUS ONE (miniCD
by Room40)
LOPE/YELLOW6/ABSENT WITHOUT LEAVE/KIMONOPHONIC (CD by Bloated
Sasquatch Beer Theatre Audio)
BOB - UNSTABLE FRIENDS (CD by &Records)
BERNARD FALAISE & MARTIN TETREAULT - DES GESTES DEFAITS (CD
by &Records)
MICHEL F. COTE - 63 APPARITIONS (CD by &Records) *
KLAXON GUEULE - CHICKEN (CD by &Records)
FOODSOON - SOMELOVE (CD by &Records)
DUAL - TOCSIN (CDR by Mystery Sea)
OBFUSC - INTERNAL COUNTRYSIDE (CDR by Boltfish Recordings)
LOST TRANSMISSIONS FROM PLANET ZERO (2CDRs, T-Shirt, magazine)
*
JANKO BARTELINK - DECEMBER (CDR, private) *
SABASTIAN BOAZ - SLUGGISH (CDR by Retinascan) *
CHEFKIRK - MUSEUM OF FOOD WASTE (CDR by MNDR)
NUOH - TAJNE PREJSCIA (MP3 by audioTong)
DAWID SZCZESNY - STAPES VI-VII (MP3 by audioTong)
MATHIAS DELPLANQUE - MA CHAMBRE QUAND JE
N'Y SUIS PAS (CD by Mondes Elliptiques)
Besides making music on his own, Mathias Delplanque is also a
member of the trio The Missing Ensemble, who have released their
album 'Hidden Doors' on the same label Mondes Elliptiques. On
this new CD, Delplanque continues with the music in the similar
areas as before, only now there's only one piece on the album,
which is 45 minutes, while on 'Hidden Doors' there are more pieces
with shorter length. The music on this album is a part of a sound
installation which is based on 'the recordings of sound produced
in spaces with no human presence'. Then the recorded sounds were
amplified, with their frequencies accentuated to the extreme.
There are layers of hissing sounds on this cd, there's also the
occasional bass sound appearing as a background. The music with
the sounds altogether are carefully filling up the space, creating
a longer drone piece made of many layers of shorter and longer
sounds that are spreading in space. It's interesting in the approach
and in the execution of the music, which is curious for listening
on this cd, apart from the installation where it was originally
presented. (BR)
Address: http://www.angle-rec.net/mondes
NECROPOLIS - NECROSPHERE (CD by Cold Spring)
As we have been waiting for the long-awaited re-issue of dark
ambient's probably most defining album from 1994, "The place
where the black stars hang" by Lustmord (re-released on the
7th august 2006 by Soleilmoon Recordings), the time has come for
another re-incarnation of an epic moment in the history of dark
ambient. Being far lesser known than Lustmord's milestone, the
album "Necrosphere" composed by Russian artist Necropolis
is nevertheless a true masterpiece of drone-based darkness. Necrosphere
was originally released as an extremely limited edition only counting
85 CDR-copies back in 2003. English label Cold Spring has now
given us the chance to experience this unique exploration into
the darkest territories of ambient. Musically the album is based
on field recordings first of all taken from disused military missile
shafts. There is a melancholic atmosphere on the 30 minutes long
track both operating in the cold and warm spheres of expression.
The album stylishly floats between hostile industrial ambient
and warmer spacey soundspheres sometimes reminiscent of early
sonic adventures by German krautrockers Edgar Froese and Klaus
Schulze. The listener are being taken to obscure territories,
where dark ambient fuses with industrial sounds from the military
bases. The sound is very dense, though there is much space and
air to breathe in the grandiose soundscapes. Deep and three-dimensional
sonar effects, multilevel background noises, at times rather tranquil,
sometimes suddenly swelling to a massive sound. The album includes
an equally high quality standard bonus track - the fifteen minutes
ambient work titled "Morning air" that continues the
style of "Necrosphere" with the same impressive result.
Listeners of hauntingly dark, yet beautiful ambient will appreciate
Cold Spring Records for giving this magnificent piece of black
art a proper distribution. A true gem! (NMP)
Address: http://www.coldspring.co.uk
P.A.L. - MODUS (CD by Ant-Zen Recordings)
German Industrial-artist P.A.L. (pronounced "pal") is
one of the true legends on German label Ant-Zen Recordings. He
had his first release in 1993, the same year as Stefan Alt established
Ant-Zen recordings. That was the five-track tape titled "Concrete
rage". After a six years break P.A.L. (a.k.a. Christian Pallentin)
has finally released his follow-up to his 2000-album "Release".
"Modus" is quite a step away from the Industrial/power
noise-oriented release. In fact it is not an easy job to pigeonhole
the expression on this very mature album. Mature because there
is a great span in emotions and expressions throughout the 50
minutes playtime. Tracks like "Gone" and "Playtime"
certainly demonstrates the musical skill of P.A.L. in how to write
music that floats far beyond the home-territories of Industrial/power
noise. On the other side he convinces any misbeliever that he
still knows how to create heavy pounding Industrial/power noise
on tracks like "Jobs" and "Agentfister". The
track with the, extremely hard to memorize, title "dl7vdx
v2.0", is a nice piece of chilling ambient. In other places
of the album there is a sense of punk attitude saturating the
expression. "Modus" is a very pleasant album that will
satisfy the long time waiting fans of P.A.L. for sure, but also
novice listeners of this true legend should give the album a try.
It certainly is worth it! (NMP)
Address: http://www.ant-zen.com
AB OVO - EMPREINTES (CD by Ant-Zen Recordings)
"Empreintes" is the second full-length out on German
label Ant-Zen Recordings from French duo Jerome Chassagnard &
Regis Baillet, working under the project Ab Ovo. Having existed
since 1991, Ab Ovo is musically far away from the harsh territories
of sound expression. Neither does it operate in pure ambient-spheres.
But stylishly the music on "Empreintes" is tranquilizing
and pleasant with only a minimal use of rhythm texture, floating
somewhere in-between IDM and ambient. Not that the rhythmic section
of the album has been exclusively suppressed in the sound picture,
but the rhythms never disrupt the overall chill-out feeling. Rather
the downbeat rhythm-texture helps accomplishing the laid back
atmosphere of the album. There is a nice eclectic mood on the
album calling for the late night moments of listening. The slowly
evolving waves of sound combined with downbeat rhythms create
a very nice nocturnal expression. The expression is very cinematic,
thanks to the intriguing chilled soundscapes that allows the imagination
and the memories of the listener to be prompted into a vision
splendid - like an inner cinema. Highly recommended! (NMP)
Address: http://www.ant-zen.com
FRANCISCO LOPEZ - UNTITLED [2005] (CD by
Anoema)
The majority of the releases by Francisco Lopez are 'one piece'
releases, one specific work, that can last anywhere between say
twenty to seventy minutes. But every now and then he releases
a CD that is called 'Untitled' (obviously, since that's what the
majority of his pieces are called) and then a year, rather than
a number. Usually these CDs have more than one piece, but they
were usually all created in that year. Or in this case, 'also
performed' in this year, since one of the pieces is a piece Lopez
wrote, but it's performed by the Zeitkratzer Ensemble. This is
the only recording from 2001, rather than 2005. And of course
it's an unusual piece. Whereas the other three pieces featured
on this CD deal with environmental sounds, like so many of the
Lopez releases, this is an orchestral piece, played on violin,
cello, trumpet, saxophone, accordion, piano and percussion (among
others), but still has the Lopezian touch: starting out soft and
then rising to an almighty crescendo. These instruments play alike
the sounds Lopez would use. It's funny to see that the three other
pieces, don't have a similar built up: they are more or less straight
forward pieces, staying on a similar level, but are (perhaps)
heavily layered pieces of insect like sounds, which buzz and sing
around. Perhaps it's a very clever edit? Which ever is the case:
this is a worthwhile addition to the expanded catalogue of senor
Lopez. (FdW)
Address: http://www.anoema.com
LUC FERRARI - FAR-WEST NEWS (EPISODES 2
AND 3) (CD by Blue Chopsticks)
Late last year Luc Ferrari died, a remarkable composer of musique
concrete since the early fifties (being born in 1929), but also
one who broke away, finding new ways of creating music. 'Presque
Rien No.1' is his most famous piece using solely field recordings,
not in a linear way, but rather in a story telling way. 'Far-West
News (Episodes 2 and 3)' is something and more recent. It deals
with a trip Luc Ferrari and his wife Brunhild Meyer undertook
in the far west of the USA, going from Page to the Grand Canyon
(episode 2) and from Prescott to Los Angeles (episode 3). It's
not a soundscape, Hörspiel, electronic work, not a portrait
of reality, but a composition 'in some cases, especially in mine,
and increasingly in my life, is a perverted game with the truth'.
We hear them meeting people, talking about the pending Clinton
impeachment (recordings were made in 1998), talk about cars, food,
meeting people, talk in English, French and even Dutch, so it's
about miscommunication too. The French - English tongue of Ferrari
and there is some electronic music, some found music and such
like. It's a fascinating journey to do no doubt, but this is also
fascinating to hear. There is a lot of stuff happening on various
levels, outdoor sound, communication and music, and thus makes
a truly remarkable and highly musical journey. (FdW)
Address: http://www.bluechopsticks.org
SHUTA HASUNUMA (CD by Western Vinyl)
ROBERT LIPPOCK - ROBOT (miniCD by Western Vinyl)
These two releases by Western Vinyl are somewhat related, that
is musicwise. Shuta Hasunuma and Robert Lippock both share a love
for digital manipulation of sounds from whatever nature, but that
both keep an eye to the world of popmusic. Yet the outcome of
both is a bit different. Shuta Hasunuma from Japan uses field
recordings and electronic music but also guitar and piano melodies.
They are cut apart in tiny sequences and then pasted together,
so that they form new, small melodies. At such he does a great
job, but I must admit there was some disappointment here: in each
of the twelve pieces I heard a lot of similarities with lots of
others in this field, most notably people on Noble Records and
Spekk but also people like Stephan Mathieu and Flim. It's clear
that Hasunuma stands in a long tradition, but doesn't break with
it, or makes the next step forward. If you never heard this, and
you like your music to be experimental yet melodic, referring
to 'real' music, then this is the place to be. If Yasushi Yoshida
or Kazumasa Hashimoto are already on daily plate, this makes a
nice dessert.
Robert Lippock (of To Rococo Rot fame, as well as his solo and
collaborative work) created a more or less conceptual album about
the robots of the past, about how robots were seen in the past.
To this end he uses analogue technology as well as some inspiration
from early 90s techno and crafts together eight short pieces of
music, which are bit more poppy and a little less experimental
than Hasunuma. Lippock uses minimalist rhythms along with sweet
melodies in pieces that are sometimes merely sketch like but in
this simplicity work rather well. The warmth of the analogue synths,
which is at times indeed quite robotic, make this into a melancholic
trip. It moves away from the melodic music offered by such labels
as Expanding Records, because of this rather simple approach,
but in the end makes the music stronger. Very nice and refreshing!
(FdW)
Address: http://www.westernvinyl.com
MANDELBROT SET - ALL OUR ACTIONS ARE CONSTANTLY
REPEATED (CD by Highpoint Lowlife)
On a lot of occasions we mention that labels such as Expanding
Records and Highpoint Lowlife release similar music: breakbeat
like with melancholic keyboard lines and such, but in the case
of Highpoint Lowlife we should add that they also release music
that is way different. Of course this is the case with Mandelbrot
Set (otherwise we wouldn't have mentioned it). Mandelbrot set
is a band around one Keung (previously of Hentai) on guitars and
pedals (very important to mention that!), Melisa on guitar, bass,
cello, drums, violin, banjo, melodica and trumpet and Simon on
drums. You have to play this loud to grasp it better, I guess.
Mandelbrot Set is a drone rock band, playing walls of sound, employing
all the pedals required (mainly live sampling and overdubbing
the guitars) and furious drums banging beneath. Whatever Melisa
adds is around this: her sounds become the pictures on this wall
of sound. Stoner rock? Shoegazing? It's all there, but Mandelbrot
Set gets away with it. Of course because they do something entirely
different than 90% of the acts usually to be found on this label,
but also because they play a dam fine tune, not caring about any
hype or trend, they do their own thing, and at such perhaps not
so new under the sun, but I thoroughly enjoyed it, just because
it was so different. Great, furious one. (FdW)
Address: http://www.highpointlowlife.com
HAMSTER THEATRE - THE PUBLIC EXECUTION OF
MISTER PERSONALITY / QUASI DAY ROOM (CD by Cuneiform)
In the late 70s and early 80s when progressive avant RIO-styled
rock was at its peak, it was most importantly an european affair.
The Muffins (plus Random Radar Records) were the exception. And
not to forget the Conventum-crew from Canada. Only later in the
80s american groups like Thinking Plague, 5UU,s and Motor Totemist
Guild a.o. faced the surface and profiled themselves in this musical
direction. But this is also already history. To turn to more present
days, Hamster Theatre is new american outfit that continues in
this musical area. This group was started in the 90s by Dave Willey.
He is the keyfigure of this band, playing accordion, keyboards,
etc. Mark Harris (saxes, clarinet, flutes, etc.) and Mike Johnson
(guitars, mandolin, banjo, etc.) both have their roots in Thinking
Plague. Raoul Rossiter (drums, etc.), Brain McDougall (bass on
disc 1), Matt Spencer (bass on disc 2) and Emily Bowman (viola
on disc one) complete this theatre. Now they present their third
release, being a double cd. Disc one is a studiorecording of new
material, disc two is recorded live in 2002. Often this combination
offers a contrast: a sophisticated studiorecording on the hand,
and a rougher version live on stage. But in this case we find
on both discs an instrumental combo that offers a comforting kind
of avant rock in a similar approach and performance. Their version
of avant rock is obvious folk-influenced. Very melodic and friendly.
Never sounding tormented, or aggressive like Univers Zero. This
should not surprise as leader Willey is strongly influenced by
Lars Hollmer. Also Nimal and Ensemble Rayé (both post-Debile
Menthol projects) were sources for inspiration. At other moment
older bands like Henry Cow, and of course Thinking Plague come
to my mind. So we have here an ensemble that is heavily rooted
in this idiom. This makes it fair to say I think that they operate
with joy and dedication within already known borders of artrock.
They remain within the well-known idiom of progressive avant rock.
So their power lies not in the fact that they break new ground
with their compositions, although they do understand how to compose.
But they serve us with their colorful instrumentation and convincing
performance by some very skilled musicians. They demonstrate that
this tradition of art rock is very much alive, and I hope that
they will attract a new and younger public for this kind of music.
(DM)
Address: http://www.cuneiformrecords.com/
AXEL DÖRNER & MATTIN - BERLIN (CD
by Absurd/1000+1 Tilt)
Mattin. Where doesn't this man go? On 'Berlin', he plays together
with Axel Dörner, and was no doubt recorded in the city with
the same name, and perhaps even has to do with the history of
the city in relation to popmusic. Perhaps not. But Absurd kindly
send us the lyrics from Lou Reed's song of the same name, about
the city of the same name. Mattin, the man of the furious walls
of feedback coming from his laptop, has proven to be more than
just a loud troublemaker: he can play also soft and inaudible,
and even released a couple of singer/songwriter works. I thought
his work with Dörner would see a continuation of his more
subtle work of lately. Dörner is a trumpet player, whose
playing resembles probably anything but a trumpet. But softness
plays an important role for him. Here on 'Berlin' things are different.
The music is always present, and is a true duo of trumpet and
computer. Perhaps the sound of the trumpet is fed into the computer
and manipulated and perhaps not. Perhaps both are done. Dörner
and Mattin plays short pieces that are collated together. Because
of the length of the work, three tracks in total, it's not easy
to follow what is going on, and it may leap into a bit of boredom,
and you think: oh they cut another sound here. After most of the
cuts there is a short silence, but not one that corresponds with
the CD index. The third and longest track is perhaps the track
that is also the most silent around here, or least it works on
a different dynamic level. It sounds more stretched out, which
works better when one tries to fully concentrate on it. Throughout
a pretty radical disc. Not as soft as some of previous Dörner
releases and not as loud as Mattin's early days, but most enjoyable
indeed. (FdW)
Address: http://www.void.gr/absurd
PHILIP SAMARTZIS & KOZO INADA - H[]
(miniCD by Room40)
LAWRENCE ENGLISH & PHILIP SAMARTZIS - ONE PLUS ONE (miniCD
by Room40)
Whatever happened to Kozo Inada? It's not a question that I could
think of every day, but today, receiving his work with Philip
Samartzis, made me think it has been a while ago, since I last
heard his music. Which is a great pity, since his previous works,
released by Staalplaat, V2_Archief and Selektion, among others,
made a big impression on me, especially after seeing a couple
of his concerts. Working entirely with field recordings, going
through various computer programs, building to crescendo's and
carefully re-building after that, were excellent. Some of his
more recent works, or at least, last time I checked where in collaboration
with other people, and now one surfaces: with Philip Samartzis,
formerly a member of GUM and since long a solo artists. He too
works with field recordings and electronics, but in a more sustaining
way, with lesser of a dramatic built up. In their cooperative
piece both are represented. The continuity of Samartzis and the
dramatic built up of Inada. The result is a more than excellent
piece of music. Delicate, warm, glitchy, familiar and highly captivating.
An excellent piece of music.
Samartzis' previous band GUM was one of the first to experiment
with vinyl, taking John Cage and Christian Marclay to the field
of industrial music. Lawrence English has been using turntables
alongside DJ Olive and Janek Schaefer and in 2002 he met fellow
aussie Samartzis and since they are a turntable duo. The recordings
on 'One Plus One' were made early 2006 and sees them both playing
vinyl and surface noise. This is a less delicate work than the
piece with Inada, but the four pieces are fine pieces of rotating
sounds (inescapable when you with such matter) that move nicely
about, in a warm bath of electronics, and almost get a rhythm
swing to it in the fourth piece and turning it almost into minimal
techno piece. Usually I am not too pleased by the works of turntablists
but this is a rather nice exception. (FdW)
Address: http://www.room40.org
LOPE/YELLOW6/ABSENT WITHOUT LEAVE/KIMONOPHONIC
(CD by Bloated Sasquatch Beer Theatre Audio)
The four way split release sounds, well at least for me, like
a return to the mid eighties, when a compilation LP was good when
it had four bands, each about 12 minutes of music, and thus getting
a better introduction than when it had 10 or 12 bands. With a
CD release you can have up to twenty minutes per artist, so what
better introduction could you want? Of the four on this one, I
heard Yellow6 and Kimonophonic, but just in passing rather than
fully exploring the full catalogues of said bands. Lope starts
of with three tracks. Lope is Victor Kvarnhall from Sweden and
has a couple of self-released records. His tracks have a lot of
bass, perhaps even a bit too much bass, which sorts of breaks
with the high melancholic textured music he plays on top of that.
Melancholy is a word that can also be used for the other three
bands, but there are differences, even when these are minor. Yellow6's
shortest track is pretty much along the lines of Lope, but the
other two longer tracks dwell more on guitar sounds, which produce
both drones and strummed notes. The piano adds to the melancholy.
Absent Without Leave is one George Mastrokostas from Greece, who
had a couple of CDR releases and an album for Unlabel. His 'Achromatic'
is the longest track on the CD, just over twelve minutes, but
it's also the most ambient piece of the lot, quiet and peaceful.
Much shorter but similar is his 'Delete' track and the his last
peace sees the addition of a rhythm to it. Kimonophonic is perhaps
also a bit more well known, for he had releases on Earworm, 555,
Awkard Silence and such like, and he is the one that shakes up
things a bit. His track are shorter, and offers six of them. Two
of them are live and one is a collage of field recordings. Rhythm
is much more present and his keyboards are cheap, rough and warm.
The melancholiac bit here is present but only a very reduced level.
It's great music, by all four actually, and seeing this is the
103rd release by this label, who have much more of this kind of
music, it's time to investigate this highly curious named label.
(FdW)
Address: http://www.bsbta.com
BOB - UNSTABLE FRIENDS (CD by &Records)
BERNARD FALAISE & MARTIN TETREAULT - DES GESTES DEFAITS (CD
by &Records)
MICHEL F. COTE - 63 APPARITIONS (CD by &Records)
KLAXON GUEULE - CHICKEN (CD by &Records)
FOODSOON - SOMELOVE (CD by &Records)
Of course you often use the '&' sign, but it's less known
that it means 'Et' from Mediaeval times, and means of course 'and'.
&Records is a label from Montreal, and all five of the current
releases you can find musicians from Montreal, and the broadest
description would be to say that they all play improvised music,
each in their own specific way. Not that every release is fresh,
and let us once again state: Vital Weekly doesn't like reviewing
three years old releases, and good idiots as we are, we still
do that. There is will be a time, when we will ignore them. The
release by Bob is the oldest, from 2003. Bob is Éric Bernier
(voice, computer, machines), Michel F. Côté (computer,
machines, rare back vocals), Guy Trifiro (computer, machines)
who are helped by Jean Derome (baritone saxophone, bass flute,
piccolo), Bernard Falaise (electric guitar), Normand Guilbeault
(contrabass) and Alexandre St-Onge (electronics). Like we will
see on some of the other releases, the voice plays an important
role for Bob, but inside Bob it is the most clear example of voices
that originally come from popmusic, or rather postpunk music.
Also the music hints in that direction. Very 'London' like post
punk music, with rhythms, bass, guitar and of course singing by
various voices. But then, except the singing, all played on a
bunch of modern day machines. It's quite nice, well produced,
certainly sounding outdated, but it's a great release. Very pop
with a great touch of experimentalism.
Martin Tetreault is of course a well-known turntablist, who not
just spins records but also the turntable itself. From three solo
concerts he made recordings and gave them to one Bernard Falaise,
who in turn selected 33 short fragments between 5 and 40 seconds,
11 per concert. These were then used in the eleven, three minute
pieces on 'Des Gestes Defaits'. Conceptually alright, but I must
say it also works out musically quite well. It's a highly intelligent
composition of turntable sounds, that is rhythmic, at times noisy
and at times introspective. A powerful release of cracking analogue
sounds colliding in a digital world called the computer.
Although the name Michel F. Côté rings a familiar
bell somewhere, I am not sure if I heard some of his music before.
He is one of the two directors of the &Records label. '63
Apparations' was written for a choreography and Côté
plays electronics, computer, percussion, piano and voice and gets
help from Diane Labrosse (voice), Christof Migone and Martin Tetreault
(both on objects) and uses music from John Cage (his 'Erik Satie'
piece) and Erik Satie (the ballet 'Socrate'). It's hard to say
what the choreography is about (if I would understand choreography
at all, really), but the music is very nice: it sounds like a
bunch of clockworks going down, hectic percussive sounds, banging
on all sorts of small objects and speed up sounds of mechanical
toy music. At times highly vibrant and jumpy, but here to the
softer parts are equally nice.
Klaxon Gueule is a trio of Michel F. Côté (percussion,
electronics, voice), Bernard Falaise (guitars, piano), Alexandre
St-Onge (bass, electronica, voice). The voices seem important
but they hardly sound like real voices: they are heavily processed
or may be the singers are highly possessed and make their own
transformations in sound. The music is a combination of improvised
music bumping up to the ideas of musique concrete. At times acoustical,
at times electrical, and at times a bit boring. Not every second
on this CD could interest me, and it stayed too much on the same
level, with grabbing the listener very much. Occasionally also
a bit too regular in terms of improvisation for me. Having said
that, there are also quite captivating moments here, so I'm left
with rather mixed feelings.
The latest release is by Foodsoon, a trio of Bernard Falaise (guitar,
bass, keyboards), Alexander Macsween (drums, piano, keyboards,
vocals) and Fabrizio Gilardino (prepared tapes, electronics, vocals).
This is by far the most rocking release of the lot. Foodsoon is
a rocking trio that use the method of heavy rock drumming, in
combination with a love of improvising sounds on their guitars
and keyboards. It makes Foodsoon standing in a long tradition,
from anywhere from The Beatles to Sonic Youth to any current day
post rock band, but they do a nice job, and one that is not entirely
on the well-went paths of other groups. It seems that sometimes
the sense of experiment prevails, but then it might as easily
burst out into another furious banged rhythm. Perhaps at those
times it's a bit too rock for me, but throughout I thought this
is most enjoyable disc. (FdW)
Address: http://www.etrecords.net
DUAL - TOCSIN (CDR by Mystery Sea)
It's been a while since we last from Dual, aka Colin Bradley (no
relationship to Paul Bradley, but former member of Splintered),
who has been playing ambient music on guitars since 1993, and
has a whole bunch of releases available. Ambient music is not
exactly the correct tag for the music of Dual, as there is a sense
of rhythm present in most of these tracks, which is also an unusual
feature in the releases on Mystery Sea. These rhythms are minimalist
pulsating matters, and could not be seen as anything to dance
to. It's almost like an industrial rhythm or a metronome, but
it's a more complex than that. On top, Bradley waves together
finely knitted patterns on his guitar and multiple guitar effects.
Of course the six tracks on this release are long, but Dual takes
the right amount of time to say what he needs to say. It's music
that needs to develop over a longer period of time to do what
it has to do. It's at times a bit Rapoon like (at least on this
new release) and after the latest bunch of releases with where
more or less synomous, Mystery Sea has found something that expands
the view of the label yet still fits the context of the label.
One of the more surprising releases on the label. (FdW)
Address: http://www.mysterysea.net
OBFUSC - INTERNAL COUNTRYSIDE (CDR by Boltfish
Recordings)
Boltfish is a new label for me, but taking a look at their website,
it seems that they are quite a busy bunch. They work mainly with
musicians of electronic music, and can perhaps, just judging based
on this release by Obfusc, be seen as another branch dealing with
the melancholic side of dance music. A label along side Expanding
Records, Highpoint Lowlife and Ai Records, to mention three Vital
Weekly regulars. Obfusc is Joseph X. Burke from Brooklyn, New
York, who loves police scanner recordings, 1940's sci-fi radio,
voicemail messages as found sound to his rhythm driven melodies.
Sometimes he puts his arpeggio buttons on and the rhythm is more
stomping than we would expect, but throughout there is a sense
of melancholy in his music. However he sets himself a bit aside
of the rest of the mob, in the sense that his music is a bit more
rougher in it's edges, perhaps even a bit more analogue than some
of his more software driven companions. That makes 'Internal Countryside'
into a pleasant album that is trying to sound different in an
overcrowded world and that is of course always a good thing. Nice
collection that is never too long or never too short. (FdW)
Address: http://www.boltfish.co.uk
LOST TRANSMISSIONS FROM PLANET ZERO (2CDRs,
T-Shirt, magazine)
I can be short about the magazine. Twelve sides about United States
Of Belt, THU20, Dale Lloyd, Valerio Trico and Per Svensson and
all in Greek. However there is much to be enjoyed on the two CDRs.
One is a compilation called 'Transmission #01' and has Per Svensson,
3/4hadbeeneliminated (Valerio's band), Dale Lloyd and United States
Of Belt, whilst the other CDR has a twenty minute by THU20. The
latter is quite an obscure piece for this band, who are normally
known for playing a more subtle tune. This piece is entirely built
from tape-loops, and has two parts. The first one is semi-classical
piece, whereas the second part is much more noisier than the usual
THU20 material, although it doesn't come close to 'Nancy' or 'Bordeaux'.
It may lack the subtleness of much of their other work, and should
perhaps be seen in the light of the time when it was made, probably
around 1987. It's most curious to see that on the other CDR, the
compilation, there is a piece that is even longer than the THU20
track, which made me wonder why this wasn't on the separate CDR.
Its a piece by Dale Lloyd of highly processed field recordings,
forming a very nice piece of ambient glitch. Also United States
Of Belt use field recordings, but in a collage form and rather
unaltered. At the musical end of the spectrum we find Per Svensson
and 3/4hadbeeneliminated. The latter still operate in the area
where they play as a rock like band, using rock gear, but with
the studio as the extra instrument. It's still a fascinating band.
Per Svensson's tracks are bit hard to grasp: a rock song, an electronic
song, vocal treatment pieces. He's the one that doesn't seem to
be making choices, and rather displays the various things he can
do. Altogether a nice compilation, even when you can't read the
magazine. (FdW)
Address: <planitis_miden@yahoo.gr>
JANKO BARTELINK - DECEMBER (CDR, private)
This self-released CDR is the eleventh release by Dutch painter,
photographer and musician Janko Bartelink (1979), who has a strong
love for landscapes and weather conditions - in all three of the
disciplines he works in. Although he says that 'December' (recorded
in the month with the same name in 2005) is influenced by his
mood, it's through it's cover and titles ('Cloudy', 'Overcast
With Showers', 'Fog' etc and even the temperate is mentioned of
the day that the tracks were recorded) a much more landscape thing.
Six tracks in all of quite a relaxing nature. Electric piano sounds,
marimba sounds and synthesizers form the ingredients of the music,
which is best described as ambient music. It reflects the month
December quite well, with it's a bit of dark weather, cold temperatures
(although in The Netherlands it never is really cold), but also
that bit of sunlight. I must admit that for none of these days
I have a recollection of what the weather was like, but I'm sure
the mood of the day is captured quite well by Bartelink. Imaginative
music that helps Bartelink probably while painting but has certainly
a relaxing effect upon the listener, or perhaps could inspire
him to do a bit of painting too. Nice one, if hardly surprising.
(FdW)
Address: http://www.jankobartelink.com
SABASTIAN BOAZ - SLUGGISH (CDR by Retinascan)
A bit overseen last week, the release by Sabastian Boaz, who has
been active since he was 18 (in 2001 that was) with his self-titled
debut album and now comes with a forty track album, that lasts
sixty minutes. I must admit I don't understand much about it.
Short blasts of noise most of the time, with head nor tail. They
are hardly interesting. Then the minority of the pieces are more
rhythmic and melodic, but here too it seems to be lacking any
form of structure or deeper idea. I listened with some amazement
to this but couldn't exactly see a point in releasing this. (FdW)
Address: http://www.retinascan.de
CHEFKIRK - MUSEUM OF FOOD WASTE (CDR by
MNDR)
Right away I must admit I lost count of the works I reviewed by
Chefkirk, but it must have been at least over twenty or so. Right
from the early days, it seemed that Roger H Smith is a man who
likes to produce as many records as possible, and he always finds
homes for them, almost always on labels I never heard of. 'Museum
Of Food Waste' is on a German label called Multi-national Disaster
Records and contains seven pieces. I recently thought Chefkirk
would be moving more to introspective work, in which rhythm and
noise would only meet very occasionally, this new release proofs
me wrong. This is all noise again, with a firm place for more
noise. Rhythm is here to a lesser extent, and appears to be taken
the form repeated blocks of noise. It's a pity since I would consider
this to be at least two steps back. It's OK in terms of noise,
but it surely doesn't add anything to his previous encounters
in this field and to noise in general. (FdW)
Address: http://www.mndr.de
NUOH - TAJNE PREJSCIA (MP3 by audioTong)
DAWID SZCZESNY - STAPES VI-VII (MP3 by audioTong)
As with so many mp3-releases "Tajne Przejscia" ("Secret
Passages") was my first encounter with the music of Nuoh,
a project from Poland that was active in 2002 and 2003. The four
tracks of this EP were recorded in 2002 but are released only
now. Olaf Nowaczyk/Nuoh crafts highly captivating minimal compositions
from a very reduced palette of sound, that is, as he states, stripped
bare of all "cosmetic trash". The music was recorded
live without further edits. Each track is based on a continuous
stream of "pure" sound, that evolves and morphs over
the course of some minutes, showing great care for tiny modulations,
meandering overtones and the use of distortion and delay. The
complex, flickering sounds never leap into piercing noise, but
are rather slightly blurred, which creates an impression of distance,
as if the music would be heard through an acoustic fog. The standout
track is "Sen" which starts out with gentle mid-frequencies
that go through various gradual filter sweeps and become more
and more distorted towards the end.
For reasons not entirely clear to me the release comes in two
versions, one mono, one stereo and with two different artworks.
The artwork associated with the stereo version includes a black
and white photograph that shows dry plants covering a hill and
isolated elements of industrial architecture rising against a
sky with white clouds. The surface of the photographs is covered
with scratches, thus suggesting an old image. These visual elements
evoke the fascinating atmosphere of the no-man's-lands between
industrial and natural zones, around fences or in the far ends
of backyards and thus greatly correspond to the fuzzy bleakness
of the music.
The second recent release on audioTong also deals with minimalism,
but is of an entirely different kind. Dawid Szczesny has compiled
various short loops that were originally intended for live performances
and are used here to create two tracks with a total playing time
of just about 10 minutes. In these tracks slightly processed piano
and vibraphone sounds form minimally changing patterns that are
occasionally accompanied by the soft crackle of unidentifiable
field recordings. Things work best in the second track, when the
acoustic instruments are joined by some subtle percussive structure,
creating a laid back, vaguely jazzy feeling. All this might share
some characteristics with more or less recent clicks'n'cuts-aesthetics.
But Dawid Szczesny manages to stay away from the overly clichéd
digital ambient sounds, and thus keeps a distinct voice on its
own. (MSS)
Address: (http://audiotong.net/)
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