JONAS KOCHER – MATERIALS (CD by Creative Sources Recordings) *
MIKE SHIFLET & DANIEL MENCHE – STALEMATE (CD by Sonoris) *
OMNI (CD by Presqu’île Records)
THE OPPOSITE – INTERTWINED (CD by Kopasetic)
ANDRES NILSSON’S AORTA ENSEMBLE (CD by Kopasetic)
IDO GOVRIN – MOREINE (CD by Interval Recordings) *
I (compilation CD by Zelphabet)
DOVE YELLOW SWANS – LIVE DURING WAR CRIMES #3 (CD by Release The Bats) *
RUNZELSTIRN & GURGELSTOCK/MAMA BAER (LP by Psych KG)
ROBERT PIOTROWICZ – RUROKURA AND EASTERN EUROPEAN FOLK MUSIC RESEARCH VOLUME 2 (7″ by Musica Genera)
MACHINEFABRIEK – SLOVENSKO (7″ by Eat Sleep Repeat)
RYONKT – SUNLIGHT & WATER (CDR by The Land Of) *
SIKHARA – LIVE IN THE UNITED STATES 2007-2008 (CDR by AntiClock Records) *
WYRM – LIVE ON KSER.ORG (CDR by Impulsy Stetoskopu) *
SZELEST SPADAJACYCH PAPIERKOW – TROJMIEJSKJI WIATR (3CDR by Impulsy Stetoskopu) *
WAHEHE – DYWAGACIE UNIWERSALNE (4CDR by Impulsy Steoskopu) *
ANDREW COLEMAN & DEFASTEN – OPENLAND (CDR/DVD-R by Cocosolidciti) *
OLIVIER BLANK – KARHU JA TIIKERINI (CDR/DVD-R by Cocosolidciti) *
BJERGA/IVERSEN/PAULSEN – RIVER OF ASHES (CDR by Striate Cortex) *
SNAPPING TURTLE – BRAVE RIGHT BURST (CDR by Savage Yank Records)
TBC – OKTOBER (REMIX) (2CDR by Suggestion Records)
PHILIP SULIDAE – THE CAUSE OF OTHERS (CDR by Ripples Recordings) *
JAMES MCDOUGALL/DAVID VELEZ – SONORIDADES INDUSTRIALES (CDR by Ripples Recordings) *
FERGUS KELLY – FUGITIVE PITCH (CDR by Room Temperature) *
COMPOUNDEAD – OMS HAVOC (3″CDR by Dumpster Score Home Recordings)
ENDORGAN – ENDORGAN (3″ CDR by Toxo Records)
JONAS KOCHER – MATERIALS (CD by Creative Sources Recordings)
Releases like this make me think about what I like or dislike about instruments. The accordion for instance, the instrument of Jonas Kocher. I never heard of this Swiss player who has worked with Urs Leimgruber, Michel Doneda, Thomas Lehn, Harold Schellinkx and many more. Here he has a CD of his solo work for accordion and I am pleasantly surprised. That has hardly to do with wether I like or dislike the instrument. It never sounds anywhere like an accordion, which is an instrument not used a lot in this particular world (well, besides Pauline Oliveros). Kocher plays the instrument like an object that makes sound. He rubs it, plays it with a bow, thus creating ringing overtones and in ‘buttons, electronics’ (titles refer to objects or parts used of the accordion), things buzz around, shaking the bass ground. All in a highly improvised manner of course, but Kocher controls his instrument in a great way, but always the way he creates sounds with them. An excellent CD of partly improvised music, and partly drone based music. This musician is certainly open to keep an ear open for with future improvisations. (FdW)
Address: http://www.creativesourcesrec.com
MIKE SHIFLET & DANIEL MENCHE – STALEMATE (CD by Sonoris)
To make noise is pretty a not very difficult thing, but the main question remains: is it interesting for the listener? This where lots of noise makers leap away and do an endless barrage of distorted sound and think that the more is the better, and the louder it gets adds to the fun all around. I beg to differ. There is good noise and its not always about being the loudest for the longest duration, but to actually compose with unusual sources. It needs skill, imagination and experience, I guess. Mike Shiflet (former boss of Gameboy Records) and Daniel Menche have exactly those qualities. They work here with Hammond organs (odd, just like Golden Serenades on ‘Hammond Pops’ – see Vital Weekly 702) and electronics an create a three piece suite of electronics that is both minimal and maximal. Minimal towards the sounds they use, the actual composition and sometimes to the volume. Maximal to some of the louder parts of this work. They use a variety of layers in this work, built them up in a great, never letting go of the idea of ‘noise’, but at the same time think of the listener: what do we want to create that is also interesting for him/her to hear, who is so far away? They succeed well. This is a well-crafted, thoroughly composed work, loud, menacing but a great pleasure to hear. This is the noise I like very much! (FdW)
Address: http://www.sonoris.org
OMNI (CD by Presqu’île Records)
Omni (Kato Hideki / Tetuzi Akiyama / Toshimaru Nakamura). Recorded live by Kato Hideki at SuperDeluxe in Tokyo on November 25, 2008. “Time is an essential subject in music.” Well there are some- few but still some zero length worksand subject – in the case of the zero length it may be “Conventionally, musical time moves in one direction on a linear plane. We visualized the three of us on separate trains going through tunnels, rather than riding together on a linear time-table. Prior to the performance, each of us came up with individual sequences, without telling the others what we would doThe result was many layers of moments that were transfixed in the recording, like a photograph taken with a long exposure.” Well that would give one image – without layers- perhaps I’m being particularly unreceptive at the moment. I can follow the aesthetic and drift of micro-sound – is this now a generally abandoned project – Bernhard Günter it appears is back to playing an academic jazz on bamboo flutes, shakuhachi, xiao clarinet, alto clarinet, pocket trumpet, though not simultaneously (and is learning to play the Arabic Ou.) – out of abstraction into Fantin La Tour? So here chronologically out of time 2 tracks 40- minutes microsounds / electronics lots of silence hums electric clickery followed by 5+ minutes similar- why? (jliat)
Address: http://www.presquilerecords.com
THE OPPOSITE – INTERTWINED (CD by Kopasetic)
ANDRES NILSSON’S AORTA ENSEMBLE (CD by Kopasetic)
Kopasetic is a swedish label, presenting two ambitious combos with their new releases. ‘Intertwined’ is the debut CD of The Opposite, recorded this year in may in Malmo. This sextet was originated by Loic Dequidt (pianos) and Peter Nilsson (drums), and is completed by Marcelo Gabard Pazos (alto sax), Samuel Hallkvist (electric guitar), David Carlsson (electric bass) and Anders Vestergard (percussion). The title of their debut points and describes correctly what we hear. Especially what happens concerning rhythm and beat these acrobats weave very complex and intertwined structures. And very enjoyable not to forget! The CD opens with ‘The Opposite’ that has an immediately captivating and complex rhythm, making room for nice solo work for sax and guitar. Inspiration comes from the 70s (Miles Davis, Keith Jarrett, Weather Report and Sun Ra). This is especially evident in the playing of the piano player. It is music with jazz and rock as clear influences, but I wouldn’t call it jazz-rock. Also it is far from self-satisfied fusion. The playing of guitarist Hallkvist is one of the main forces preventing this. In “Seau d’Air” he opens with a mean and distorted guitar solo, making a meditative moment in the middle of the cd possible this way. Also on other moments he adds interesting twists. What defines their music most is the rhythmic complexity for which they took inspiration from the musical traditions of Cuba, India and Africa. Like “By no means!”, that reminds very much of Cuba. Because the idiom of this piece is so recognizable, it is also not very surprising. The closing piece “Switch Foot Pogo” is one of the stronger pieces of this album. With its pushing moves it brings this promising cd to a worthy end.
Carlsson and Nilsson are also members of the Aorta Ensemble, a joint venture between Malmo-based Aorta and the Fulminate Trio of New York. Guitarist Anders Nilsson, leader of this initiative lives in New York an tries to combine the best of both worlds he lives in. This cd offers some proof for this undertaking. The ensemble is completed by Mattias Carlson (saxes, clarinet, flute), Cennet Jonsson (saxes, clarinet) Ken Filiano (contrabas) and Michael Evans (drums, percussion). The cd opens with “Soundfear”. The first half of this 15 minute track is very thoughtful. Slowly and gradually this piece unfolds itself, moving towards a cacophony climax and closing as it started in a pastoral mood. with a nice melodic line in the centre. In “Tuning In, the ensemble comes quickly to business. With his rumbling electric guitar Nilsson abducts his mates for a dazzling ride. In 3D, we are in the beginning for a substantial part witnessing the deep grumbling bass playing by Filiano. Only after 6 minutes Nilsson takes over and gradually others start to communicate. What stroke me most in this release are the unusual roads along which they structure their music. There are the energetic free jazz outbursts, as in “Vortex”, on the one hand, and the lengthy and controlled walks on the other hand. Also the way how they play with dynamics is remarkable. It all sounds familiar in one way, but Nilsson knows how to bend it in unexpected and alienating directions. This makes this release a very fascinating and satisfying one. (DM)
Address: http://www.kopasetic.se/
IDO GOVRIN – MOREINE (CD by Interval Recordings)
From Israel hails Ido Govrin, who co-runs the
Interval Recordings label, and who is one half of Duprass, of whom I never heard. For some of the pieces on this release he gets help from Kami Postel who plays cello on the opening piece ‘Ground’ and Carmel Raz on violin on “Medial’. I type this after I heard the CD already and was playing it again. I saw the cello being mentioned somewhere already, and perhaps I sort of assumed this whole album, all six tracks were created by using cello and violin sounds. It sounds just so. But upon a closer inspection of the cover and the press text, I see there is also mentioning of ‘pure computer generated work’ – I am easily fooled I guess. The six pieces here are nice affairs of glissandi for strings (or electronics imitating strings) and owe perhaps more to the world of modern classical music than the world of microsound, although maybe a piece like ‘Lateral’ may proof you otherwise. I am remembered here of the work of Arturas Bumsteinas or those on Bedroom Community, or maybe even the current direction of 12K. Highly delicate mood music here, with great care for the smallest detail. Excellent stuff. (FdW)
Address: http://www.intervalrecordings.com
I (compilation CD by Zelphabet)
Its been a few months since the release of ‘G’ and ‘H’ in the Zelphabet series, but here’s ‘I’, the latest addition to the great encyclopedia of noise and related music. Of the four If, Bwana and Incapacitants may need not much introduction, even when the latter didn’t get many reviews in Vital Weekly. Their piece is a twenty minute live recording from August 2000 at 20000V of heavy noise. A long howl, this feedback thunder that flies low over in your living room. Piercing electronics, chaos and mayhem. Long perhaps but essential listening. If, Bwana on the other end, placed before this noise, created a computer generated piece of voice material being transformed. A minimal piece of small changes in the various layers that are running at the same time and that gets his idea from Steve Reich and Phill Niblock, but If, Bwana uses it entirely to its own end and by different means. The CD closes with Irene Moon, which sounds vaguely familiar and I may have seen them/her/him live, but I am no longer sure. I somehow expected noise, but the piece seems to be some analogue synth doodling that responds to activities or changes in temperature (me thinks). An odd piece but I quite enjoyed it. The CD opens with IDX1274, of whom I never heard and they have a live track from some radio show and its a pretty noise based piece, low to to mid end range. Not a bad piece, but also not one I particular liked very much. Maybe a bit too long and a bit too standard in the vast kingdom of noise. Fine addition to a great series. (FdW)
Address: http://www.zelphabet.com
DOVE YELLOW SWANS – LIVE DURING WAR CRIMES #3 (CD by Release The Bats)
Some water has passed under the bridge, but here is at last the final episode of ‘Live During War Crimes’ (see also Vital Weekly 496 and 546), a collection of pieces recorded by Dove Yellow Swans. The pieces are fairly recent: from 2007 and 2008, and there is a story to each of them, which is unfortunately not on the cover, but perhaps it is on the website. Four pieces here that span almost the entire eighty minutes of what a CD can have. Perhaps we are dealing with complete concerts here? I wouldn’t be surprised. Dove Yellow Swans is a duo of Pete Swanson on vocals, electronics and tape and GMS on guitar and tapes. They are a noise band who have a fairly distinctive feature: all of their live pieces start out fairly soft, and then gets slowly built up into this cascade of noise. When it reaches its climax, it usually stays there for a while, and sometimes that’s perhaps too much. In a concert this works perhaps pretty well, but on CD this is sometimes a bit too much. Especially when the balance gets lost and thing drown on end. In the third and fourth piece (all four are untitled) the balance is much better and Dove Yellow Swans have their own fine blend of noise meeting psychedelics in which they proof to be fine masters of. Maybe its all a bit much to digest at once, but maybe you should play one piece a day, and create a festival for yourself by serving one Dove Yellow Swans concert a day.
(FdW)
Address: http://www.releasethebats.com
RUNZELSTIRN & GURGELSTOCK/MAMA BAER (LP by Psych KG)
The third LP in the series produced by Kommisar Hjuler and Mama Baer has just Mama Baer on one side and on the other side we find the highly respectable Runzelstirn & Gurgelstock. This originally Swiss project has moved to Japan ages ago, and there (and most likely anywhere else) he performs his pieces, aktions as they are called in the best performance tradition. Here a piece from April 2009 in Osaka and its quite a surprising one, if you know their previous work. Much of that older work consists of tape collages of voice material. Cut ultra short and very loud, but with great chuncks of silence also. Presented in a ultra-vivid collage of sound and silence. This new piece however is something different. An ongoing sound being the strangest thing so far. There is bell like sounds, a bend violin and voices sighing, like they have an orgasm or some other form of exhaustion. Its quite an extraordinary sound approach for Runzelstirn & Gurgelstock, one that I didn’t expect but also one that actually works quite well. I haven’t seen them performing but once again the music makes me curious about this.
The Mama Baer side has three parts of ‘Words Are Crying But Don’t English’ (whatever that may mean) and its quite an interesting piece of sound poetry. Though not easily to access, as this is all quite low in volume. From what I could make out of it, this is based on loops cuts from reel to reel tapes of voice material that is soft. Singing perhaps, crying maybe? Slightly altered through rusty tapes, this is rather a nice record. A total outside approach of course, but then pretty much everything else they do is alike that, but this one I thought was particular good, perhaps even one of the best works to come out from their home so far. (FdW)
Address: http://www.psych-kg.de
ROBERT PIOTROWICZ – RUROKURA AND EASTERN EUROPEAN FOLK MUSIC RESEARCH VOLUME 2 (7″ by Musica Genera)
Along with this 7″ I received a curious note from the label: “This is fan’s tribute to Robert and Anna Zaradny works – very far from their regular concert or CDs works. Special works for this 7 ” rather very close to Robert interdisciplinary projects made in Poland that Piotrowicz participated in than music people in West Europe know from his gigs or cds.” So did Robert Piotrowicz make it or a fan? Or maybe Piotrowicz is the fan? The fan of Eastern European folk music. But then he surely treated the material in one way or the other. On the ‘Wedding’ side there are two pieces, one ‘Greek Catholic Stork Boy Choir Of Ozeriki Village’, which sounds like electronic sounds imitating insects, which perhaps can also be said of ‘Molomotki Ocarina Orchestra’, but then slightly different and perhaps working around with loops. On the other side we find ‘School Girl Band Of Gromovaya Balka’, in which we may or may not detect piano sounds, drone like sounds on the guitar. This is undoubtedly the more musical side of the two. Quite a curious record this one, highly conceptual, even when we don’t know exactly what the concept is. (FdW)
Address: http://www.musicagenera.net
MACHINEFABRIEK – SLOVENSKO (7″ by Eat Sleep Repeat)
Despite a plethora of releases, Rutger Zuydervelt never ceases to surprise. Not always I must admit, as there is a distinct style of his own, but sometimes he does something out of the ordinary. ‘Slovensko’ is such a thing. In September 2010 he went on holiday to Slovakia, armed with his camera (he is a designer after all) and these days also with a digital recorder. He collected a bunch of field recordings which he, back home, edited into the two parts of ‘Slovensko’. No guitars this time here, but pure field recordings, edited, cut, mixed together into two lovely collages of sound. Motor sounds, dogs, voices, fences and metal gates and some more obscured sounds are put together in quite a cinematic manner. Not just a continuing ambient sound but a wonderful play of various sounds. This may very well be the first time that Zuydervelt worked so solely with field recordings. And with some fine result. (FdW)
Address: http://www.eatsleeprepeat.com
RYONKT – SUNLIGHT & WATER (CDR by The Land Of)
A while ago I was pretty impressed by a CDR release by Ryonkt, on Experimedia (see Vital Weekly 698). Now I know its the work of Ryo Nakata, who plays guitar, laptop and field recordings. He is also responsible for the Slow Flow Records label. Four more pieces in addition to the four on ‘Small Conversation’ and while the surprise is a bit less than before, this is however another fine album. Here it all seems a bit less influenced by Phill Niblock if you ask me, and finds it self more in the field of microsound and ambient glitch than in that of the more minimalist music approach of before. I may be a bit tired after a weekend of traveling and hearing (and seeing) lots of music, and this music, while it has absolutely nothing ‘new’ to it, this is some highly fine chill out music. Pick up yesterday’s newspaper, make a decent cup of coffee, sit back and relax. Ryonkt late sunday afternoon soundtrack for winter’s day. Warm ambient music for the first cold day of the season. Peaceful, slow music, great stuff. (FdW)
Address: http://www.thelandof.org
SIKHARA – LIVE IN THE UNITED STATES 2007-2008 (CDR by AntiClock Records)
More music here by Scott Nydegger, the main man behind Sikhara, but with a rotating cast of members and again its a live recording, this time from ‘just’ the USA. Despite putting various releases out, Sikhara is mostly a live band. A band using just percussion, from a combination of acoustic and electronic instruments. Again the name Crash Worship pops into my head, but perhaps also a bit of Test Department or Einsturzende Neubauten, to mention of the more famous percussion troops of yesteryear. There is a tribal aspect running through this material, and yet somehow it all sounds very American. There is the addition of voices, trumpet or some pre-recorded sound, which makes the material again a bit more richer than before, and giving Sikhara the opportunity to slide back into more mellow tunes and bring a highly necessary resting point in their otherwise heavy wall of sound. I think this new one survives quite well on CD, which I didn’t think of ‘Anduni’ (see Vital Weekly 646). Still, I think this is a band to see in concert to get the full experience than on CD. (FdW)
Address: http://www.anticlock.net
WYRM – LIVE ON KSER.ORG (CDR by Impulsy Stetoskopu)
SZELEST SPADAJACYCH PAPIERKOW – TROJMIEJSKJI WIATR (3CDR by Impulsy Stetoskopu)
WAHEHE – DYWAGACIE UNIWERSALNE (4CDR by Impulsy Steoskopu)
I am not sure if I ever heard of Wyrm, a duo of of Allan Zane and Liz Lang (aka Auracene). First there is an introduction from a radio station, so we must assume this is a recording made at a radio station. The voice says it has been over eight years since they performed live, but I never heard of them. The booklet depicts them bending over some pieces of electronics, no synthesizers as far as I can se, plus a microphone for some voices, recorders and objects. Everything that is done here is improvised. Music from the twilight zone, in which it doesn’t mind to create a fine composition, but rather go with the flow of the events. I must say that the lengthiness of the recording gets a bit in the way: things drag on a bit too much for my taste. This could have been trimmed quite a bit and it would be much more interesting.
The other two releases on Impulsy Stetoskopu are from the Polish underground. I must admit that if one is unfamiliar with these bands – like I am – then its a bit hard to bite through respectively a 3CDR and a 4CDR set of music. Szelest Spadajacych Papierkow means the rustle of falling papers and hailed from Gdansk. They started out in 1981 and the oldest recording in this set is from 1985 and the youngest is from 1992. The liner notes are in pretty small font, and pretty hard to read. This duo deals with free music, played a bunch of instruments as well as a bunch of electronics. They improvise their way, using percussion, abused guitars and trumpet. On top the voice whales about. Indeed very much a product of their time, I think. The recording quality lacks quite extensively throughout this. The best results are to be found on the third disc, when things sound a little more coherent than on the other two discs and also the recording quality is a bit better.
Four CDRs for Wahehe, from Krakow, from the period 1985-1989. More small font reading to pester those tired eyes. I understand that they use guitars, keyboards, percussion and vocals, along with the famous Casio VL-tone 1. Here more than with Szelest Spadajacych Papierkow the cover says it all: the archive of Polish industrial music, as Wahehe can certainly be tagged as ‘industrial’. Not in the power electronics sense of the word, but rather that of a rock band playing industrial music, banging away, hammering, electronics on end and throughout a wild party. This is a collection of studio and live pieces, and although once I again I think its all a bit too much and some pieces are way too long, the overall playing was better controlled than with Szelest Spadajacych Papierkow and Wahehe was a more tighter band. After some four hours of this music, of a band I had no previous relation with (which is something that always helps when reviewing older music), I am not sure if I would give this quickly a second spin. Maybe Impulsy Stetoskopu, who deserve a medal for projects like this, should think about a CD introducing various of these bands from the past to warm up interest, and not dive into the deep with such volumes. Just a thought. (FdW)
Address: http://myspace.com/impulsystetoskopu
ANDREW COLEMAN & DEFASTEN – OPENLAND (CDR/DVD-R by Cocosolidciti)
OLIVIER BLANK – KARHU JA TIIKERINI (CDR/DVD-R by Cocosolidciti)
Cocosolidciti always release music and video as one package. Usually by one musician on both formats, but not necessarily the same music. On the first one we have music by Andrew Coleman (also known as Animals On Wheels, who are quite well-known, but not around the VW HQ). He works with Canadian film and video maker Patrick Doan, also known as Defasten. He shot some images of the city and presents his film as a documentary, with spoken word, but I must admit I was too distracted to give it all my attention, and thus I can’t tell very much about it. I am just honest: I don’t know much about this. It looked good actually. The music by Coleman both on CD and DVD is actually quite nice. It fits the images: melancholic, quiet most of the times, but with some strong angles towards experimental sound, even a bit of noise. Piano, guitar, field recordings, bits of loops and rhythm: a great diversity in all of the music used around here, but it works surprisingly well.
I am just not very good at video art: on the video that goes along with this, we see a man rowing in the canals of Helsinki. No doubt some animation. Its divided by various chapters, eight in total, with each their own music, by Olivier Blank. The meaning as such eludes me. Visit Helsinki in the summer. But its all a bit too haphazard for me, both the visuals and the music. Maybe as a background this video works well. The music is by Olivier Blank, who is the former guitarist of the Jim Noir band, of whom I never heard. His music is (modern) classical in approach: highly melodic, quite minimal, using guitars, piano’s, a variety of wind instruments, drums (that add a somewhat post rock character to the music). Melancholic music of the highest Icelandic order. Again Bedroom Community comes to mind, but also Sigur Ros. Music for long evenings, cold days and warm homes. Nice stuff actually. (FdW)
Address: http://www.cocosloidciti.com
BJERGA/IVERSEN/PAULSEN – RIVER OF ASHES (CDR by Striate Cortex)
A few weeks ago I had the pleasure to see a concert by Jan-M Iversen and Sindre Bjerga, which was, besides a great concert, interesting to see. I heard a lot of their releases, although perhaps 50% of the entire output. In the small UK label Striate Cortex they have a found a big fan of their music, who now release an one-off recording they did with Terje Paulsen, recorded live at Hjem Coctailbar in Kristiansand, Norway in March of this year. Paulsen plays contact-microphones, bowed metal and strings, Iversen electronics and Bjerga tape recorders, contact microphones and sampler. So far the statistics of this release. This piece lasts almost twenty-six minutes, which also seems to be the average length of a Bjerga/Iversen concert, and the music doesn’t differ much from the usual duo recordings, although its a bit more dense and a bit more subdued. There is throughout this piece a low, menacing drone to be spotted, with a minimal amount of acoustic objects being gently touched, scrapped and rubbed. Slowly things unfold, get a bit louder, but never turns into ‘noise’. Everything is kept well under control. Over the years Bjerga and Iversen (and now here with Paulsen) have gained a lot of experience in creating finely woven electro-acoustic music from an improvised music end. Excellent work, and hopefully a trio form that is to be continued in the future. (FdW)
Address: <arborntolose@msn.com>
SNAPPING TURTLE – BRAVE RIGHT BURST (CDR by Savage Yank Records)
Industrial / noise sound collage – some S.W. military conversations? Lots of industrial noise and harsh glitch white noise cutting across the stereo field industrial drone. “Apparently representing a long hot summer in the life of ” a turtle. Well at some metaphysics beyond me – unless the said turtle listening to shortwave radio whilst working on a production line @ Chrysler? The blurb does say “this one is for you to figure out” if it did operate on any level of representation I’d see it as the failure to stay abstract- opera always awaits – but I don’t think it does. Very confusing though some might think it interesting I’ve mentioned elsewhere the difficulty of extremism and the idea of “where to go next”. It not only occurs in modernity but just as the classical gave way or overdeveloped and gorged its musicality into the rococo so the very extreme noise without any understanding that its not just one step on the ladder or that its part of any cycle, as western thought is teleological (I’m aware I’ve said this before- but its worth repeating) in forgetting, ignoring or not seeing the finality of noise is to push it back into musicality, no bad thing some may think but I’ll just bring to your attention the likely consequences of such a move, as Clement Greenberg confessed after the recognition of modernity’s triumph in painting, which (unfortunately) completed the project, his only alternative was the still life flower paintings of Fantin La Tour (jliat)
Address: http://www.myspace.com/snappingturtlemusic
TBC – OKTOBER (REMIX) (2CDR by Suggestion Records)
Thomas Beck, Hans Fallopen – No input mixer E-Gitarrere etcOktober = Slow monotonous though not mono-tone industrial heavy mechanistic sounds, pulses, beats which drag rather than drift across the aural zeitgeist which could have been recorded live in a soviet ball-bearing factory in the 1950s, too much atmosphere and one that smells of swarf and oil.. Oktober remix = same? Makes for very tiring listening though I can imagine some would feel at home – strangely- in such a landscape. It makes for dreary and depressing listening, again programmatic but also problematic, and I’m not sure if this kind of music, for that it is, can approach the kind of Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich sort of thing. (jliat)
Address: http://www.suggestion-records.de
PHILIP SULIDAE – THE CAUSE OF OTHERS (CDR by Ripples Recordings)
JAMES MCDOUGALL/DAVID VELEZ – SONORIDADES INDUSTRIALES (CDR by Ripples Recordings)
Of these three artists we came across two before. Philip Sulidae released two 3″CDRs on his own Dontcaresulidae label (reviewed in Vital Weekly 692) and hails from Australia. Here he has full length release of his work with field recordings that are crafted into drone like textures. Its a continuation of his work released earlier. Very dark drone like material, with slow, peaceful gestures, that however bear little light in them. Its hard to say if its just field recordings or wether there is any use of instruments to accompany the field recordings. I’m sure it doesn’t matter very much. The music is quite nice in all its minimally varying subtlety. There is nothing new as such under this dark night, not compared to the previous two releases of Sulidae, but also its part of a tradition of dark drone meisters, such as Mirror, Ora and that particular UK scene. Sulidae however crafts pieces that are as equally good and ‘The Cause Of Others’ is damn fine release.
Then there is James McDougall, who, when working as Entia Non did a nice release on Sentinent Recogntion Archives (reviewed in Vital Weekly 699). Here he works with one David Velez – the new name of the three – and they exchanged some sound material, and then concentrating solely on the work of the other – create a new piece. The starting point was to create sounds from industrial zones – hence the title. McDougall got his from South East Queensland and Velez traveled in Orlando, Florida where he got his. I am not entirely sure about this, but I think the first is by McDougall and Velez did the second one. The differences between the two pieces are minimal yet definite. ‘Pieza Primera’, the first piece is a continuous affair of field recordings, crackling away. Like a vast open, concrete space, recorded in the middle of the night. It changes only a minimal way, and the sound never drops. In ‘Pieza Segunda’, Velez opts for various sections that are also likewise minimal, but they change throughout. Sometimes very low and bass heavy, then working high end with static crackles. Of the two pieces the second one sounds more composed and is more engaging, but both are quite closely related. Maybe the first could have been a bit shorter, but throughout its an excellent work of processed field recordings. (FdW)
Address: http://www.ripplesrecordings.webs.com
FERGUS KELLY – FUGITIVE PITCH (CDR by Room Temperature)
The name Fergus Kelly didn’t pop up in Vital Weekly before, save maybe for an announcement. On ‘Fugitive Pitch’ he plays together with David Lacey ‘assorted metals, plastics and drums’ in the ‘cellars underneath Henrietta Street in Dublin’. Kelly takes the solo credit on the front cover however, for this material has ‘been extensively edited and processed’. That might be true, but is not easy to hear. I know nothing about Kelly or what he did in the past, but on this CDR release he creates some very interesting textured music, of scraping metals over concrete floor, creating overtones of various kinds with metal on metal (cymbal on cymbal perhaps) and such like. Some of the material seems to be processed, such as the loops of ‘Phantom Limb’, but that seems to be a minority here. Editing in the sense of creating various layers and fades between sections seems to me to more obvious approach for all those things in post-production. Nice release! It made me curious to hear the 3″CDR ‘Swarf’, which he also send, but none of the three CD players would play this paint covered item. A pity. (FdW)
Address: http://www.roomtemperature.org
COMPOUNDEAD – OMS HAVOC (3″CDR by Dumpster Score Home Recordings)
More turtle music? – but the guys have a reverb. Actually there is a dynamic- the whole thing slowly winds down to clanging gongs and deep silences. “Crunchy bass and dying electronics give way to a claustrophobic, nightmarish black-ambient second half. Bleak otherworldly soundscapes.” I’m looking out of a window at bare trees – in the distance the silver river Great Ouse runs off into the fens – now that’s a very bleak landscape in December with its huge skies and cold black fields lined with sedge and rotting willows.. the sounds of trickling water and water birds.. I suppose what I’m saying is the imagination falters at other worlds – one can hardly call atmospheres of hydrochloric acid and ammonia – bleak? (jliat)
Address: http://www.dumpsterscore.org/
ENDORGAN – ENDORGAN (3″ CDR by Toxo Records)
SEC_ & P’ex a duo from Naples – that’s Italy using prepared guitar and synth electronics have produced this work. (Nice in parts as the curate said) It certainly begins in the vein of harsh noise, a total clamor of sound – then slowly dissolves or evolves depending on your point of view, metaphysics, religion, shoe size or star sign. I’ve said enough about this before, which is why those of the noise fraternity have walled themselves up (sic) in the face of those who are never content with perfection. Whether perfect in the sense of complete or utterly hopeless, once again the dynamic brings in the idea of episodacity – ahem! In other words expect the Lone Ranger, Jesus Christ or even Godot to actually turn up with some cock-and-bull explanation of what all the fuss is about. It doesn’t have to be wall, though that guarantees the interlopers above wont get in and start their yarns, it can be just harsh noise which shows these people to the door, but then I guess you can’t have a door without a wall. So I could edit out the middle section- how close is that to a middle 8- see-! But perhaps should simply join the HWN inside the stockade. (jliat)
Address: http://www.myspace.com/endorgan
MP3 releases:
1. From: Dave Merson Hess <reverseengine@gmail.com>
Dave Merson Hess – “Music from the film PRESENCE” (Headphonica, Dec 4, 2009)
“Music from the film PRESENCE” is the score for an independent/cult science fiction film which has premiered in June 2009 at the Seattle True Independent Film Festival (STIFF) in Seattle, Washington, USA. It was shot in downtown Los Angeles, CA, mostly at night. It uses music heavily, as well as public domain and stock footage from the U.S. National Archives in Washington, D.C. to tell its story. The score was written, performed & produced by Dave Merson-Hess in a closet in Richmond, Virginia, a bedroom in New York City, and on a train traveling between the two.
info page:
http://www.headphonica.com/?p=755
direct download link:
http://www.archive.org/download/headphonica.hpcd071/headphonica.hpcd071.zip
2. From: Adern X <adernx@libero.it>
Xevor has just released “In a Green Room”, the first album from ATX. It can be freely downloaded at this address:
<http://www.xevor.net/releases.html>
ATX is Adern X and Tomaso Azara. The album is a meeting/clash of two esthetics based on samples, where meaning arise in the crossroads of sound, melody and noise. Their music is entirely improvised and recorded live.
The subtle fascination of the (pre)recorded object. Tomaso Azara eclectic dj and musician from the changing sonorous distances, Adern X sound artist of experimental vocation: a meeting/clash of two esthetics based on samples, where meaning arise in the crossroads of sound, melody and noise. For aesthetic choice, their music is entirely improvised and recorded live, stirring the beat of the cd players, the noise of AM radio, the shapes of filtered samples.
I would be glad if you can announce this release in your zine.
Greetings,
A.X
<http://www.xevor.net/>
<http://www.myspace.com/adernx>
<http://www.myspace.com/adernx>”Boredom is the mother of creativity” (Ron Arad)