GILLES AUBREY – BERLIN BACKYARDS (CD by Cronica Electronica) *
PURE – IFICATION (CD by Cronica Electronica) *
MAARTEN VAN DER VLEUTEN & IGNACE SCHRETLEN – EEN ONVERMOEDE BOCHT (CD/book by Signum Recordings) *
MERZBOW – HODOSAN (CD by Vivo Records) *
SIKHARA – ANDUNI (CD by URCK Records) *
TOMASZ BEDNARCZYK – PAINTING SKY TOGETHER (CD by Room40) *
HEAR – 5 PIECES (MP3 by Room40)
SACRAL SYMPHONY (Compilation CD by EE Tapes)
ZOMBI – SPIRIT ANIMAL (CD by Relapse)
ATA EBTEKAR & THE IRANIAN ORCHESTRA FOR NEW MUSIC (2LP by Isounderscore)
MALEFICIA (LP by Isounderscore)
DROR FEILER &LASSE MARHAUG – NO MORE DRAMA (LP by No Fun Productions)
DYLAN NYOUKIS – INSIDE WINO LODGE (LP by No Fun Productions)
IDEAS BEYOND FILTH (LP by Harbinger Sound)
DIETER MUH – AAKAL/NOSTRUM/EARBLIND (7″ by Harbinger Sound)
DIETER MUH & LON MILE DUQUETTE – THE CALL (LP by Haemocult Recordings)
SCHUSTER – THE BRUTAL ARC (7″ by Adept Sound)
MECHA/ORGA – 61:50 (CDR by Triple Bath) *
CAALDRUN – CLOUDFACE MOUNTAINHEAD (CDR by Fox-den) *
B*TONG – HYSTERIA (CDR by Verato Project) *
MILKBAGBROTHER – POOPY FINGERS LIVE IN EUROPE (CDR by Slut Factory)
CHAOS THROUGH PROGRAMMING – BOOKS ABOUT THE INTERNET (CDR by Slut Factory) *
PABLO RECHE – CONEXION (3″CDR by Con-V) *
BRB>VOICECOIL – OCCUPATION BY KILLERS (3″CDR by MuzzeDia Verhead) *
BRB>VOICECOIL – SONAN (3″CDR by MuzzeDia Verhead)
FRANS DE WAARD – PROFIELDEEL ZEVEN (business card CDR by My Own Little Label)
FRANS DE WAARD – VERVAL (3″CDR by My Own Little Label) *
TERJE PAULSEN – LANDFORM (MP3 by Rain Music)
NIHIL OBSTAT – EMPIRE (MP3 by Twilight Luggage)
TORTURE GNOSIS (MP3 by Twilight Luggage)
WINTER SOLSTICE (CDR by Twilight Luggage)
GILLES AUBREY – BERLIN BACKYARDS (CD by Cronica Electronica)
PURE – IFICATION (CD by Cronica Electronica)
One of the things I like Berlin (and some other German cities), is the backyards which houses. A small entrance and then you are surrounded by four sides of houses and apartments, and which are excellent for parties, concerts and such like. A form of social control also, that might be the downside, but I don’t know: I never lived in Berlin. The backyard is also the place were all the technic stuff from buildings come together, like ventilation, trash, recycling containers and electrical wiring. A noisy place by itself, and sometimes allowing street noise to come in. I never made any recording in there, but Gilles Aubrey, who lives in Berlin since 2002, did, perhaps with the same fascination for these places. Its not easy to say what, if anything at all, Aubrey did to the sounds he recorded. In these eight pieces there are moments when I think these are pretty straight forward field recordings, and in other cases I seem to think that uses loops of the material. My best guess is however that’s a combination of both. There is however very little other ‘processing’ going here, save for a bit of panning and equalization. I thought that was a pity, since eight of these pieces is pretty much. The street sounds, electric power station, the rolling of containers: after about six pieces you know the drill of it.
Something entirely different is the latest album by Pure, from Vienna. He works under various guises, and this is fourth Pure CD, following ‘Noonbugs’ on Mego for four years ago. Seven pieces of electronic music, six of them recorded with the help of others, like Christoph de Babalon on guitar samples, Martin Brandlmayr on drums, the screams of Alexandra von Bolzn and Anke Eckardt on bass guitar. What Aubrey lacks in variation is made up here by Pure. The heavy start of ‘Fire’, into to post nuclear war zone with no survivors of ‘After The Bomb’ (an appropriate title), Pure takes the listener on a ride that ranges from subtleness to the utter crude, which ends with the nightmares of ‘Iron Sky’. Excellent music for b-movies that deserve a-music. Certainly not always ‘pleasant’ in terms of nice background music for your living room, but unpleasant music to make your life a bit easier and less painful. (FdW)
Address: http://www.cronicaelectronica.org
MAARTEN VAN DER VLEUTEN & IGNACE SCHRETLEN – EEN ONVERMOEDE BOCHT (CD/book by Signum Recordings)
Back in Vital Weekly 653 I got introduced to Maarten van der Vleuten, who has a strong background in techno music, in all the various hybrid forms it comes, but now he works under his own and produced a great LP for the excellent Tone Float label. Here he returns with a CD and book (which I didn’t see) of poetry, by one Ignace Schretlen. There are subjects I know I shouldn’t touch, like video art, because I have not much idea about it. I guess poetry belongs to that same field. Ignace reads his poetry slowly and solemnly but I have no idea in which tradition, if any at all, he writes them. They are nice, I guess. I can’t say that for the music, since I think Van Der Vleuten does a too easy job here. Simple doodling on the synth to create that atmospheric ambient tune, but it sounds very much like a watered down version of ambient music, sometimes going towards the edges of new age. When he applies a rhythm, like in ‘Het Verlaten Van Mijn Huis’, its raw and crude, but it all sounds a bit too simple for me. It sounds like a hasty job. Based on his previous record, I should say he could do much better. (FdW)
Address: http://www.maartenvandervleuten.com
MERZBOW – HODOSAN (CD by Vivo Records)
Yesterday I received this latest Merzbow CD, which I didn’t play right away. Late last night I found myself in a small disco, watching youngsters dance to hip hop, techno and even Johnny Cash’ ‘Ring Of Fire’. I saw people checking their mobile phones, taking pictures and enjoying the beer. Meanwhile I was thinking about the Merzbow CD on my desk. Perhaps I would have wanted it to be played right there and then to this small crowd of people. How would they respond? Would there ever be a time when we would hear hip hop, techno, Cash and Merzbow? I think such times may come, one day, but perhaps in a time when I less frequently visit small disco places. Perhaps they don’t play ‘Hodosan’ by Merzbow then, simply because there will loads of other Merzbow releases by then. Here Masami Akita plays ‘noise and drums’, and knowing Akita started out playing the drums this hardly strikes me as odd. Or maybe its odd that he doesn’t do this as much as he should. Akita bangs the drums like a maniac, three endless solos on drums, completely washing them away with a similar endless barrage of true noise. Feedback, distortion, distortion and feedback. Its as simple as that. Another massive example of his extraordinary talent in producing the best noise, perhaps twice in real time – first to record the drums and then the electronics over it, rather than the other way round. Its good, obviously as this is Merzbow, but its also good because its different from say the ‘usual’ Merzbow. It breaks away, a bit, with the usual onslaughts of Merzbow, replacing it with the ‘onslaught plus instrument’ approach. Another small alley opened. I can imagine ‘The Joy of Soy’ in a form that is dance floor material that young, tattooed hipsters will enjoy. (FdW)
Address: http://www.vivo.pl
SIKHARA – ANDUNI (CD by URCK Records)
Back in Vital Weekly we reviewed ‘Bardos State’ by Scott Nydegger, also known as Sikhara, which was the result of a tour in 26 different countries. Right after that he started working on the new release, ‘Anduni’, which was recorded in various places, such as Nashville, Porto and Brussels and its still an all percussion based ensemble. The music is inspired here from Armenia and Georgia, and ‘Anduni’ means homeless in Armenian. The name that popped up before and that pops up again, which is Crash Worship, and much of what I thought of ‘Bardos State’ applies here too. There is chanting voices, looped around, but the rhythm is still all important for them, and there is little room for melody, although ‘Anduni’ has some fine moments, such as in ‘Tuhano Volta’, in which the voices seem to forming some form of melody. But throughout I must admit I am not that impressed with their mixture of ethnic and industrial banging. I think it has progressed from the previous release, having more depth and more loops of voices. But its all just not enough to make an engaging release on CD, but I think that their live sound must be impressive. This is certainly a band I would want to see play live one day. (FdW)
Address: http://www.urckrecords.com
TOMASZ BEDNARCZYK – PAINTING SKY TOGETHER (CD by Room40)
HEAR – 5 PIECES (MP3 by Room40)
Back in Vital Weekly 616 we reviewed the debut release by Tomasz Bednarczyk on MP3 format by Room40, who are confident in this new artist to release him on CD now. The piano is still his main choice of instruments, along with the computer to process it. In 2007 lots of people used the piano, but in 2008 that craze seemed to be gone as suddenly. Listening to these nine new pieces on ‘Painting Sky Together’ there is nothing new under the Bednarczyk sun. Still as delicate and fragile played on the piano, still subtle crackles and hiss from the computer. Still Fennesz, Stephan Mathieu and Richard Chartier inspired. Still very nice. But as said, nothing, no progress either for him or the ambient glitch as such. Which I guess is fine enough.
On the non physical digital format a trio called Hear, a meeting of Toshimaru Nakamura (no input mixer), Tony Buck (drums) and Hannes Strobl on bass. I never heard of the latter, but the other are big shots in the world of improvisation. This is their first release as a trio. It was started by Hannes who was ‘inspired by the possibilities of expanding his composition for electric upright bass’. Four of these pieces are rather short, around five minutes whereas the first lasts almost half an hour. I think the four short pieces were made first to play around with Hannes’ notion of the bass. He plays the main instrument on these recordings, which are more free improvisation affairs than electro-acoustic notions which the press text also promises. Nice pieces for sure, but its the thirty minute piece that is the standout track here. All three players have an equal share in what they do, leading up to some interesting interplay of sounds and extended use of the instruments, extended beyond their usual means. Just this piece would have justified this release for me. The four smaller pieces are a nice bonus. (FdW)
Address: http://www.room40.org
SACRAL SYMPHONY (Compilation CD by EE Tapes)
You don’t have to be a religious fanatic to hear the quality in this latest effort from Belgium label EE Tapes. The album titled “Sacral symphony” presents five grandiose pieces of drone-based electronics from five well-known and acclaimed composers of drifting ambience. The compilation is compiled by Russian composer Eugeny Voronovski who also contributes under his artist alias Cisfinitum. German composer 1000Schøen opens the symphonic extravaganza with a hypnotic piece titled “Dageraad” that includes acoustic sounds of guitars and flutes to create lush piece of ambience. Next artist is also German. Troum
contributes with the piece titled “Palas tyn” consisting of church bell-sounding drone accompanied by warm drones moving in deeper sound levels. Eugeny Voronovski alias Cisfinitum contributes with the beautiful piece “Autumn ritual” based on ochestral ambience reminding me of works from Angelo Badalamenti. Things get even more grandiose with the otherworldly piece from Rapoon, “One last breath”, a dark and beautiful piece of processed choir samples. Final piece comes from the artist titled First Human Ferro, a remarkable piece of spacey ambient based on church organ samples with echoed acoustic sound like in a
church. An excellent piece to end this otherworldy ambient compilation
from EE Tapes. (NM)
Address: http://www.eetapes.be
ZOMBI – SPIRIT ANIMAL (CD by Relapse)
Zombi is a duo consisting of Steeve Moore (bass, guitar and synth) and Paterra on synths and drums. The band released their first album less than five years ago, but they have already a number of albums in their back catalogue. The Pittsburgh-based project combines electronic music of the old-school kind with rock-based guitar-textures and always kept in instrumental spheres. “Spirit animal” is their latest effort and judged by the music on the album there still seems to be plenty of energy for more albums in the future. Stylishly Zombi belongs to the prog-rock-scene of the 80’s and 90’s. The combination of retro-synthesizer sounds, progressive drumworks and uptempo guitarrriffs, Zombi recalls the sound of British progressive rock/electronic band Ozric Tentacles. Also Canadian prog-band Rush comes to mind with the hard rock-sound that saturates the album. On final track titled “Through time” the guitar sound moves from hard rock to an almost death metal grinding sound accompanied by some technical rhythm textures from Paterra. “Spirit animel” is a nice instrumental work that will appeal to old-school prog-heads as well as fans of prog-metal such as Dream Theater. (NM)
Address: http://www.relapse.com
ATA EBTEKAR & THE IRANIAN ORCHESTRA FOR NEW MUSIC (2LP by Isounderscore)
MALEFICIA (LP by Isounderscore)
The artists ‘Ata Ebtekar & The Iranian Orchestra For New Music’ sound a bit strange, well, at least to me it did. My false pre-conception was that this would be some ethnic music – well, maybe I missed the word ‘new’ in the artist names? Ebtekar was born in Hamburg, but lives now in America. But recently he stayed for three years in Iran where he recorded these pieces with classically trained musicians. In these years he worked with Alireza Mashayekhi, a ‘legendary composer’ according to the press sheet (he is present on the Sub Rosa compilation ‘Persian Electronic Music (Yesterday and Today 1966-2006), which I don’t know. The ten works on this double LP are all by Mashayekhi, as performed by Ata Ebtekar and The Iranian Orchestra For New Music. This is electro-acoustic music for sure. Sometimes we recognize a piano, a bunch of string instruments, but they are heavily treated by electronic means, all in the traditions of musique concrete. It doesn’t work always as well though. ‘Meta XY’ for instance is a piece with many strings, hardly any processing going on. But somehow the quality of the recording is not that well, so its not the best piece of the set. Also the pieces on the fourth side are a bit so so. The best pieces are to be found on the first LP, in which the mixture of the acoustic and the electronic work quite well. Brutal and folk, modern and classical, electronic and acoustic – a fine marriage of strange and familiar sounds. A fine record from an odd corner of the world.
More like what you expect from a label like Isounderscore is the album by Maleficia, which is Ilysea Viles Sunderman on vocals and viola and Andy Way on electronics. Way is also of French Radio, NF Orchest, Carrion and Riqis. I believe both sides – one piece per side – are connected. ‘Making’ and ‘Remaking’. ‘Making’ is a piece that blurs together all the sound that can be produced by voice, viola and electronics, in a swirling mass of sound that it in the end is a bit muddy, but in ‘Remaking’ things are opened up, with looped viola and voice being clearly presented and the electronics pushed a bit to the background. They form a perfect aural wallpaper for the viola and voice to develop. A haunting and scary piece of music, excellent nightmare music. Perhaps I wished both sides were alike this, and ‘Making’ is certainly not bad, but it could have been better, I think. (FdW)
Address: http://www.isounderscore.com
DROR FEILER &LASSE MARHAUG – NO MORE DRAMA (LP by No Fun Productions)
DYLAN NYOUKIS – INSIDE WINO LODGE (LP by No Fun Productions)
I can’t critically agree with the descriptions on the NFP website that you might like to read, though in parts factually no doubt true, in others I’m very dubious. “The most brutal vinyl record you will hear this year” – is addressed no doubt at someone either about to go deaf, become a trapist monk or are listening to this on their ipod as they fall from the golden gate bridge. Dror Feiler’s days as a paratrooper, and Lasses’s 300 other great projects, does not account for the lo-fi gentleness- though the description of Nyoukis’ “LP of strange sounds, vocal improvisations, tape manipulations mangled strings and hiss drones” is probably more relevant. As these are vinyl, and arrive with a pedigree they are no doubt entomological of significance. There is in what has become known as “the noise scene” a certain confidence reminiscent of the maiden voyage of the titanic, a feeling of camaraderie and adventure, but one destined to sink if not already doing so into murky depths (was once called industrial) to the applause of Gavin Bryars, rather than reach any destination, yet alone the
opportunities afforded once one clears Ellis island. Brooklyn no longer holds the promise of the shock of the new – though once it certainly did. Noise should either be that, and release itself from political or even emotional silliness, or else take up philosophy or religiosity and metaphysics with some degree of seriousness. Spelling this out – though noise/dada mutated into the silliness of surrealism this did provide the philosophical aesthetic for the *abstract* expressionists. (jliat)
Address: http://www.nofunproductions.com/
IDEAS BEYOND FILTH (LP by Harbinger Sound)
DIETER MUH – AAKAL/NOSTRUM/EARBLIND (7″ by Harbinger Sound)
DIETER MUH & LON MILE DUQUETTE – THE CALL (LP by Haemocult Recordings)
SCHUSTER – THE BRUTAL ARC (7″ by Adept Sound)
This is all in some way connected, and I’ll try to piece it together. First there was Ideas Beyond Filth, which was Steve and Schuster. This was in the 80s. Later on Steve started Dieter Müh with other people. Now there is a new LP of them together with Lon Milo DuQuette, Schuster released a 7″ in his new homeland Australia, and Harbinger Sound offers a historical LP of old Ideas Beyond Filth. Not really confusing. I do remember hearing Ideas Beyond Filth, but it was in the cassette era, so it was at times difficult to tell who did what piece of music. Excuse me if I don’t recall it, at all. The pieces on this LP were recorded between 1985 and 1987 and released by Carnifex and Bloedvlag Produkt. I must admit that I like listening to this kind of old stuff, especially when its out of the original context of a cassette, remastered and then it turns out to be a delight. Ideas Beyond Filth use loops of chanting voices – either by produced by them, or taking from ethnic music records – to which they add electronics and lengthy percussive bits. Keeping up the rhythm doesn’t seem to be their prime interest, as also not to play a coherent tune all the time. The electronic part of the music is loosely based in noise and power electronics. Here too quite nice, perhaps inherent to the equipment of the day, and not the ‘digital kill all’ noise of today. Maybe I’m not old, just retro. Very 80s this album, from music to package. Time capsule stuff.
Time wise I think the Dieter Müh is the second oldest of this lot (although all fairly recently released), and perhaps provides the missing link between the old Ideas Beyond Filth and the more recent sound. Also Dieter Müh is a name from the past, and surely heard their music, but also something I forgot. Their sound on the 7″ is slightly more industrial, and better produced (even I liked the production of Ideas Beyond Filth), this is a three piece suite of electronics and voices. Not overblown noise of the twenty-first century, but rather the sons of Throbbing Gristle, with fairly decent experimental music that finds its roots in musique concrete and electronic music. No screaming noise, but we see them moving towards the ambient industrial sound of the future (of their career)
I never heard of Lon Milo DuQuette, but I read on Wikipedia “AKA Rabbi Lamed Ben Clifford, American writer, lecturer, and occultist best known as an author who applies humor in the field of Western Hermeticism”. I have no idea how he ended up working with Dieter Müh, but ‘The Call’ is the fruit of their collaboration. A long intro, perhaps half the twenty-three minute piece, and then a voice emerges, reciting a text (in Latin?), which sounds rather friendly. I have no clue what it is, but I’m sure its something occult, and I’m not initiated. At times it sounded like Kurt Schwitters ‘Ursonate’, so perhaps that’s where the humor comes in. The music has calmed down, slowed down and forms a dense tapestry of sound, ambient industrial, which makes the perfect bed for the words to lie in. On the other side of the record there is ‘Sutreworde’, live recording from 2003, which shows them going from noise to the more ambient industrial sound of the other side. The noise bit only appears at the end of the record. Dieter Müh take their time in getting there, but once arrived in noiseland, they keep their music well under control, making some great well balanced noise.
Schuster in the land downunder is the most subdued producer of this lot. I wonder if he is the same person as Zilverhill, of whom we reviewed a CD in Vital Weekly 640. The two pieces here on the plastic vinyl, pressed by Peter King, deserve a better quality in pressing, since his deep ambient drone sound gets a bit lost here. This is music that comes best pressed on CD, allowing all the frequencies to have room (when properly mastered of course). Slow moving pictures of sound here. Deep sound. Ambient debris of a darker kind. Very nice, but way too short. This is definetely not music for this medium or size. (FdW)
Address: http://www.dietermuh.org
Address: http://www.adeptsound.net
MECHA/ORGA – 61:50 (CDR by Triple Bath)
So far we have learned to know Yiorgis Sakellariou as an extremely nice young man, playing some excellent electronic/computer music under the name of Mecha/Orga, with releases on his own Echo Music, A Question Of Re-Entry, Absurd and Lab For Acoustic Media. His music is a long the lines of Roel Meelkop or Marc Behrens, but sometimes he tends to be a bit louder than the his fellow mates. That is until now. On ’61:50′ (being of course the length of this release), he explores the world of noise. Feedback processing in various tracks that wouldn’t look odd on a Merzbow CD. I didn’t know this was an interest of Sakellariou. I must admit that a world that already has a Merzbow with that enormous output may not need necessarily another Merzbow. Perhaps Sakellariou uses this an exercise, to see if noise can be his thing too. Yes, it can, but no, please return to the opening and closing pieces of this release: field recordings which are processed and have a dark moody texture to them. Especially ’11:33′ is a spooky and haunting piece – for me the best of the whole release. Received with mixed feelings. Not bad at all, but not necessary either, except for that final piece. (FdW)
Address: http://www.triplebath.gr
CAALDRUN – CLOUDFACE MOUNTAINHEAD (CDR by Fox-den)
Caaldrun is one Eric Kessel from New York City who gets the credit for synthesizer, voice, drum machine, guitar and samples. He studied Cultural Anthropology, and works for Caaldrun ‘are concerned with constructing compositions which are based on reconstructed memories from travels to and within other zones of experience’. The seven pieces here are based on recent travels in South America. Good to be informed, as I couldn’t have told this from just hearing the music. A mixture of electronics sounds that is not very unpleasant to hear, a bit ambient, a bit experimental, based around loops of sounds. Its all fairly interesting, but not great. The pieces in general are a bit long for my taste, and remain a bit flat to me. You can sense there is more to it than just this, but it lacks depth to be fully engaging to the listener. The material remains a bit distant, it doesn’t grab the listener by the ears and doesn’t drag him into his soundworld. Kessel knows the genre, works around with his material in a pretty decent way, but forgets, I think, to put them into real compositions with depth and a vision of his own. None of these things that can’t be overwon. I’d be curious to know what the future holds for him. (FdW)
Address: http://www.tothefoxden.com
B*TONG – HYSTERIA (CDR by Verato Project)
Slowly B*tong builds an interesting body of work that moves in various directions, at the same time. From dealings with ambient and isolationism on one hand and experimental music, ranging from the soft microsound end to the more engaging noise end, in a clever combination of ideas. Its a bit hard to say wether this is a concept album of sorts, but it could just be as well. B*tong works here with a variety of sounds and ideas, using electronic processing of (his?) voice, adding to the notion of hysteria. As said various interests are combined here and make solid impression on the listener. ‘Damage Receive’ and ‘Fragile Package’ are soft and meditative pieces, where ‘Diaspora’ has multiple layered voice treatments, embedded in a bit of computerized noise. These are the extreme boundaries of this work, but throughout they make a very coherent work which works very well. Well-made album, thought out, carefully constructed, rich in ideas and detail. That’s the way to do these things. Bravo for B*tong. (FdW)
Address: http://www.verato-project.de
MILKBAGBROTHER – POOPY FINGERS LIVE IN EUROPE (CDR by Slut Factory)
CHAOS THROUGH PROGRAMMING – BOOKS ABOUT THE INTERNET (CDR by Slut Factory)
Let’s be short about Milkbagbrother. They play ‘party-folk’ and this album has recordings from the spring European tour. A man plays guitar and sings. Sometimes there is a drum machine and he raps. Sometimes he burps. Must have been much fun, no doubt, but this outsider is nothing for me.
I never read a book about the internet, but I know I should, perhaps because I am not a big fan of the net – perhaps a curious revelation to some. The music that Chaos Through Programming offers, is a close to thirty-five minute plunderphonic mixture of electronics, spoken words, radio sounds, vocals and perhaps other people’s music. A bit chaotic, but what can you expect with such a name, a bit noise based, but not in a heavy sort way, maybe more in a technical way, since this doesn’t sound too well recorded all the time. It seems that they play various pieces, but its cut to one long track, making it more like a radioplay, but then with a lot more music inside. Much more funny and intelligent made than the Milkbagbrother. (FdW)
Address: http://www.slutfactory.com
PABLO RECHE – CONEXION (3″CDR by Con-V)
So far the work of Pablo Reche has extended mostly in the areas of noise music. Loud but always with a sense of field recordings. Here on his new 3″CDR ‘Conexion’ it seems that he makes a better balance between the noise and the sources, in this case field recordings. The noise still there, but its pushed back in favor of the fields. In ‘Camp’ the line hum of a broken cable is the source, and on top Ikeda/Alva Noto like signals make interferences. In ‘Golu’ things are turned down with static hiss being processed to a lower point. Mechanical, motorized objects seem to have his strong interest as shown in these tracks, but it seems to me, even when I don’t picture his entire discography in front of me right away, the balance between the pure noise elements and making things more musical prevails here, and it marks, I think a big step ahead. (FdW)
Address: http://www.con-v.org
BRB>VOICECOIL – OCCUPATION BY KILLERS (3″CDR by MuzzeDia Verhead)
BRB>VOICECOIL – SONAN (3″CDR by MuzzeDia Verhead)
Some things never seem to get any following. That was a thought that crossed my mind when I was playing these two 3″CDRs by the oddly named. Kev, the man behind it, had a small label named Muzamuza in the nineties and worked as Bigroadbreaker/brb and then was silent for a couple of years. So the name that sprang to mind was Small Cruel Party, when I heard this. On ‘Occupation By Killers’ Kev uses ‘moulded plastic on wood using close microphones and crushed tin on concrete using condenser microphone’, which is something that Small Cruel Party also have used, but it also sounds like a missing work by Key Ransone. It starts out in a rubbing, acoustic way and then slowly gets electronic treatment, in a highly compelling yet minimal manner. A great piece.
No sound sources are mentioned for ‘Sonan’ but it says ‘sound source recorded on location within the south tower of the tyne bridge’ and then a couple of locations and various years. A bit of a shorter piece, almost fourteen minutes, of an even more obscured event, but it seems to me that this also along the lines of Small Cruel Party, but then in a slightly more electronic vein. Here minimalism also plays an important, with likewise slowly shifting sounds, that always seems to open new doors and alleys, where something similar yet different seems to be going on. Perhaps not as good as the other one, both are promising re-starts. For all those who also miss Small Cruel Party. (FdW)
Address: http://www.myspace.com/voicecoil
FRANS DE WAARD – PROFIELDEEL ZEVEN (business card CDR by My Own Little Label)
FRANS DE WAARD – VERVAL (3″CDR by My Own Little Label)
“My Own Little Label” is a Dutch label launched in 2007. Since its birth the label has released 20+ cds in Mini-CDR-format from interesting projects such as Freiband, Bee Queen and solo projects of Dutch sound artists Peter Duimelinks, Roel Meelkop and Frans De Waard. Latest two albums on the label both comes from the owner of the label, Frans De Waard. First album is a soundtrack composed by Frans De Waard for the art video “Ijziig Vuur” which was created in a collaboration between Jan Kees Helms and the composer. “Ijziig vuur” in english means “ice cold fire”, a title that makes sense as you watch the art video (i.e. on Youtube). The visual part of the video shows an ice block melting on a human body. The audio part of the video, and thus the music on present release titled “Profieldeel zeven” is a concrete sound collage of crackling noise drones reminiscent of the sound of burning fire. There is much vitality in the sound pallet of the piece meaning that this audio-only release works well. Interesting album. Next release titled “Verval” (in English: Decay) is a conceptual work of sound art which was created a few weeks ago at the “Tape Treff”-event at Extrapool. The event focused on sounds derived by the use of tapes. The piece on ‘Verval’ has been developed with the help of feedback on concrete sounds. A sound is played in a room and three cassette players record the sound and feed the sound back into the room. The result is a kind of sound fission where one sound continuously develops into a pulsating sound drone that changes over time. Compared to the work on first release “Profieldeel zeven” that was crackling digital noise drones, the drones on “Verval” has a more waving analogue sound character. Two interesting pieces of sound art from one of Holland’s most prolific sound artists. (NM)
Address: http://www.kormplastics.nl/moll.html
TERJE PAULSEN – LANDFORM (MP3 by Rain Music)
Last year Terje Paulsen released this on a 3″CDR himself in an edition of 30 copies, but now its available as MP3 on the French netlabel Rain Music. Paulsen says this is easily his most ambient work to date. No instruments are used, just field recordings and a sampled chorus from the television, which has been reversed, slowed down, looped and turned around. All of this into the computer, with some extra plug ins and the end result is a pretty good piece of drone music that reminded me very much of Paul Bradley’s work in this direction. Lots of humming low end sound, and on top there is a vague sounding melody – the chorus no doubt – that waves along the deep cliff of sound. Gorgeous piece of music, with exactly the right length for matters like this. However nothing new under the drone sun, but surely a very fine piece. Indeed his most ambient work, but also his best work to date. (FdW)
Address: http://www.rainmusic.free.fr
NIHIL OBSTAT – EMPIRE (MP3 by Twilight Luggage)
TORTURE GNOSIS (MP3 by Twilight Luggage)
WINTER SOLSTICE (CDR by Twilight Luggage)
Twilight Luggage celebrate their first year with a compilation on which you won’t find the two artists they also just released. Whatever of whoever Nihil Obstat (one John Lithium actually) is we don’t know, but their ‘fuzzy drones, creepy noise walls, and industrial shadows’ are in embryonal stadium. Noise noise but without a beating heart, his own voice, badly recorded and such like. Behind the screen, working with sound maker 1.0 blowing up the volumes and oh my god, I’m a noise artist.
Of more interest, although embedded in the world of noise, but a world with a large view I guess, is Torture Gnosis (where do they find their names, I wonder), a duo of one David Obm and Andreas Brandal, whom we know as someone who can at least do good work. As said Torture Gnosis is also in the world of noise, and those are the moments that don’t work very well, at least not for me. When things peep and scratch the metal it seems that they want it badly, but don’t know how to get there, like in the track that carries the band name. They mix it with deep synth, orchestral samples and such like and it doesn’t match up. But sometimes they pull back, out of the noise land and wander off in a more cold, electronic landscape, such as in ‘Somnambulast Disco Part 2’ and things clear up a bit. Please more of that and less of the noise, I’d say.
And up we go. The most interesting release from the Twilight Luggage house is the compilation, which has a bunch of noise tracks we best forget or at the most play once such as Jarle Nodrvik, Jliat, but also some nice drone based pieces such as by Roto Visage and Kallsup, some improvised pieces by Horacio Pollard & Peter Gossweiler and Boe and experimentalism of Continental Fruit and Echo. Altogether a nice one, perhaps that’s why it’s on CDR? Its however all music that fits the medium quite well. Nothing special, all home brew. (FdW)
Address: http://www.twilightluggage.com