HUMAN SKAB – THUNDER HIPS & SADDLE BAGS (CD by Family Vineyard) *
ALAN LICHT & LOREN CONNORS – INTO THE NIGHT SKY (CD by Family Vineyard) *
BROWN WING OVERDRIVE – L PHANTASM (CD by Kavekavity)
SEHNSUCHT – WÐSTE (CD by Cold Spring)
ORIGINALLJUDET – ORIGINALLJUDET (CD by Kalligrammofon)
PRAED & TAKUMI SEINO – FADE DIARY (2CD by Grapes)
BRB>VOICECOIL/SPOILS AND RELICS (LP by Harbinger Sound)
DEAD SHALL NOT HAVE DIED IN VAIN/DYSTHYMIA (7″ by Diophantine Discs)
+DOG+ – STAY GOLD (CDR by Love Earth Music)
DREADFUL PASSAGE (CD compilation by Hipster Death Records)
100 PIECES – SHE SLICHING SHE (CD by Hipster Death Records)
ALEXEI BORISOV & OLGA NOSOVA – ELEKTROKOOPERATIV (CDR by Industrial Culture Records) *
RADERE – A PROCESS IN THE WEATHER OF THE HEART (CDR by Full Spectrum Records) *
NICK HENNIES – LUNGS (CDR by Full Spectrum Records) *
MARCUS OBST – DAY IN DWARFS CAPITAL (CDR by Gruenrekorder) *
STORMHAT – FROM THE MOAT (CDR by Apollolaan)
KAJKYT – KRST (CDR by Cmafu Records)
P.O.W.E.R. COWBOY LOVES (3″CDR by Le Son 666)
FILTHY TURD – DEATH EJACULATIONS (C30 By Knife in the Toaster)
MUTANT APE – KNOCK AND WAIT / WATER GROWTH (C10 By Knife in the Toaster)
SENSIBLE NECTAR/RJ MYATO (cassette C62 by Rainbow Bridge)
NUNDATA – ENTROPY (cassette C62 by Rainbow Bridge)
KAPOTTE MUZIEK – TWENTY FIVE (10 cassette box set by Blossoming Noise) *
BERTIN – RANDOM SONGS 20??-20?? (MP3) *
HUMAN SKAB – THUNDER HIPS & SADDLE BAGS (CD by Family Vineyard)
ALAN LICHT & LOREN CONNORS – INTO THE NIGHT SKY (CD by Family Vineyard)
Sometimes Vital Weekly (well, parts of it) is written in the proximity of children, who sometimes curiously look up when they hear unusual music. In some cases, they start imitating the music on their toys or by singing. I admit to have made recordings of that, but never used it anywhere. In 1986 Human Skab was ten years old and released a cassette called ‘Thunder Hips & Saddle Bags’, of himself on pots and pans, three string guitar, a detuned piano, toy guns, bottled, along with himself singing, as well neighborhood kids and siblings. Its totally outsider stuff and its now released on a CD, and I am sure people will dwell on this as totally unique. Travis Roberts is available for interviews and ‘is eager to talk about his childhood, experiences in the military and the Middle East’, since he was a private military contractor in Kosovo and Afghanistan, a black market entrepreneur and pimp in the Middle East, and now a father and husband. Somehow it all smells like an elaborate hoax. A fun item for birthday parties.
More serious, dead serious, is the sixth album by Alan Licht and Lorren Connors since 1993, and the first since 2003. Two men, two electric guitars, two twenty-four minute pieces. Now its all together easy in some way: these two established voices of desolate guitar music do something that is no surprise to anyone who has heard their previous collaborations or their many other collaborations and solo works: it sounds pretty much similar to much of that older work. Now that can bring (at least) two responses. Wow that’s great, since I love that kind of desolate guitar playing a lot, followed by a full stop or followed by ‘but I heard that enough by now’. Either way is perfectly valid of course (not valid is: ‘what a bunch of crap’ – that can’t be). I must admit I belong to the latter group. I really like this kind of what I sometimes call ‘the empty desert’ music a lot, but then I also think its also more of the same, which is perhaps a pity. (FdW)
Address: http://www.family-vineyard.com
BROWN WING OVERDRIVE – L PHANTASM (CD by Kavekavity)
BWO consists of Chuck Bettis – electronics and throat, Derek Morton – banjo fx synth divination and Mickey IQ Jones electronics objects voice. They present 10 tracks of mixed up electronics and sounds, creatures and effects reminiscent of some of Star Wars sounds, and by that absolutely nothing to do with John Williams, more the burbling of R2-D2 like robots being tortured by those little midget creatures- I’m no geek about these films- so can’t remember what they are called… a case of ‘first is best’, (I can’t be a doing with all the “prequel” nonsense which I think related originally to the Godfather films and not Star Wars) but I digress, BWO manipulate electronics, what sounds like balloons with pseudo Tibetan throat singing in such an eclecticism and mix which does definitely portray some pictures of the above in the imagination, especially and sadly when the whole is wrapped in reverb. And that raises the question, can noise ever be reverb (or visa
versa), that is a device rather than destroying sound, is for creating a false impression of space, something which in its narrative structure all traditional western music does, from the Four Seasons through to the Right of Spring… that general telling of either Christian, political or other such stories, the general idea of beginning, (genesis), middle and end, – (eschatology), which is so powerful in the west, to the extent its now found core to the writings of Quentin Meillassoux and Ray Brassier, and what is called Speculative Realism, a mistaken interpretation of correlationism (IMO) with its pre-ancestral post human apocalypses that is in danger of subverting modern physics into a new religion with “real” teleologys, conveniently ignoring both Barrow’s – ‘given infinite time everything re-occurs’ and Penrose’s intriguing take on the second law of thermodynamics and the infinity of universes that creates, one in which these Star Wars creatures would no doubt exist, all imaginary landscapes being realties, though the problem here is too much truth for anything not to be true. So any criticism of my review fails if it thinks it doesn’t address the music sufficiently, in some other universe in some other language (than English) this text will do *precisely* that. (jliat)
Address: http://www.brownwingoverdrive.com/
SEHNSUCHT – WÐSTE (CD by Cold Spring)
Sehnsucht is the Norwegian artist called Maniac. Apart from Sehnsucht, Maniac is also the brain behind one of Norway’s most successful black metal-bands Mayhem. Before Sehnsucht, Maniac established the project Skitliv, that was combining elements of black metal with electronic elements of the harsher kinds. Sehnsucht use the same approach of combining metal elements with mistreated electronic equipment, though in comparison to Skitliv, this project is more subdued and introvert. Compositionally the album first of all belongs to the industrial, with ambient elements of the darker and more evil kinds. Metal-based guitarriffs and industrial, even harsh noise elements penetrates the music. Another remarkable thing is the vocals of Maniac himself, changing between black metal-screams and spoken voices. Also voice samples of women and screaming horn instruments momentarily intervenes the structures. Interesting new effort from Maniac, that takes a further step away from his early roots in the extreme metal-scene. (NM)
Address: http://www.coldspring.co.uk/
ORIGINALLJUDET – ORIGINALLJUDET (CD by Kalligrammofon)
Originalljudet (translated to “original sound” or “odd sound”) is a band consisting of musicians and artists based in Stockholm, Sweden. Five musicians to be exact: Hans J–rg Ehammer (accordion), Rosali Grankull (alt saxophone, piano), Egil Sandstr–m (double bass), Jens Peterson Berger (sough machine drum-chair, brainwave generator) and Aron Junker (baritone saxophone & bass clarinet). Three more guests assist in several of the 9 pieces on this first CD by the band. Their music is very close to Satie, even some themes that occur that are very reminiscent of Satie’s work, if not interpretations of some of his theme‚s. The band makes a friendly combination of jazz and folk, an approach that is typical for this kind of music from Sweden. I have to think of Archimedes Badkar, Samla and numerous other bands of an earlier generation. Moody and very accessible music, evolving slowly without unexpected moves or twists. That is not there thing. They are deeply rooted in traditional folk musics (polka, tango, etc.), and create easy going tunes of a melancholy nature. They manage to do this without using cliches that are always very near by in these kind of operations. Their musicianship is not perfect, but altogether this is a very sympathetic release. (DM)
Address: http://www.kalligrammofon.com
PRAED & TAKUMI SEINO – FADE DIARY (2CD by Grapes)
Again a new cd featuring Takumi Seino. A double one filled with live recordings (Jala Jalan, October 15th, 2010). The first piece is a 20-minute solo improvisation by Seino on acoustic and electric guitar. His improvisation leans towards comfortable easy listening jazz, without becoming it. But the improvisation goes through different stages, showing very different faces. It is followed by a very percussive improvisation of the same length by Praed. Praed is a duo of swiss Pad Conca and lebanese Raed Yassin. It often sounds like being in the inside of a mechanical clockwork that lost its way. The third improvisation takes us on a trip of about 40 minutes and has all three musicians involved. Praed is already for some time around. They released a work on Creative Sources: ŒThe Muesli Man‚, combining unusual electro-acoustics in 40 very short tracks. Here they followed different procedures. Conca is known for his work with art-rock group Blast, and side projects like Otolithen. Yassin is from Beirut where he is (or was) one of the driving forces behind IRTIJAL a festival for experimental and free improvised music. The trio piece has nice guitar work by Seino, but as a whole it did not work for me. It sounded too much played in a at random-way. I discovered no real togetherness and focus which is so essential for enjoying improvised music. Okay, in my terms. It did sure have it moments and it is a enjoyable free-form way of experimenting they practice. (DM)
Address: http://www.grpaesmusic.com/
BRB>VOICECOIL/SPOILS AND RELICS (LP by Harbinger Sound)
This is the first time that BRB>Voicecoil release something out of their own label Muzzedia Verhead and its also the first time they release something on vinyl. They share a side of music with Spoils And Relics, of whom I never heard, on Harbinger Sound. Since its BRB>Voicecoil who send me this along with some information about their piece, I can safely say what they do, and I quote: ‘the piece was constructed from factory production line source recordings and preconceived situation recordings set up and captured in a Victorian warehouse cellar on Newcastle’s quayside which the artists rents’. Perhaps not entirely clear, but there is indeed some sort of buzz going round from what could be a production line of some kind, but it stays far away from any sort of industrial rumble. Au contraire: the piece is most of the time quite soft and not too outspoken in what it does, but hoovers somewhere in the corner of the cellar for quite some time, before picking up again and starting all over, back on the production line. It seems like we see the beginning and the end of the conveyer belt, and not the middle part. A filmic piece and an excellent composition from this band which always reminds me of Small Cruel Party (well, still does).
Spoils And Relics are, as said, a new name for me and trio of Myles, Piercy and Scarr. They too have one piece on their side, which seems to be a collage of sound. Banging on metal outdoors, obscured electronics, voice like mumbling, maybe field recordings. It doesn’t come across as composed as the BRB>Voicecoil side of things, but rather like a somewhat more crude construction in the domain of musique concrete. Its all a bit loosely organized, a sort of naive charm around it. Its one of those things that leaves me curiously wondering what else it is that they do. (FdW)
Address: http://www.myspace.com/muzzediaverhead
DEAD SHALL NOT HAVE DIED IN VAIN/DYSTHYMIA (7″ by Diophantine Discs)
A split 7″ on Diophantine Discs. Dysthymia is Kyle Wright, also the man behind the label, whose first release was also a split with Dead Shall Nor Have Died In Vain. That is the project of Marc Benner, who started in 2000. He has a bunch of releases on RRRecords, Tape Fiend and Turgid Animal as well as his own label Pottersfield. Apparently, since this is the first time I hear his music a more noise based outing, but here with an ambient industrial tapestry, with heavily reverb on the metal sheets that rumble on top. Dysthymia on the other side is more noise based, with crashing loop of industrial sound. The sound and the fury, but Wright keeps things well under control. I like both sides actually, but this is not 7″ music, if such a thing exists (obviously it doesn’t). Both sides seem to be out takes of longer sections, something that more music suffers from that is released on 7″. Here a 10″ would have been in place and then with a more appropriate beginning and end. Not that die hard fans of the genre would matter of course. (FdW)
Address: http://discs.diophantine.net
+DOG+ – STAY GOLD (CDR by Love Earth Music)
Nine tracks of what I’d call electronica but the Wire probably would file under outer limits, (that linear teleology like sand (or volcanic ash) gets everywhere). Each track begins and ends and in the middle manipulates low-fi rumblings, arcade games and washing machines through a thick fog of a filter, or poor reception on an AM radio. The cover has pictures of a lake, soccer pitches in autumnal landscapes, nothing seems to relate – no information is provided. No information is needed, I wrote a similar review to which the artist misunderstood me – nothing unusual then, in this act of the reversal of meaning, structure, form, content…its lack of interest in science, philosophy, the past or the future this inconsequentialism like Heidegger’s boots brings with it a being in the world which is no way “outer” but essentially – existentially present here – only here – and now – only now. That is what makes it to anyone who sees that this, and not stories of… (physics, religion, psychoanalysis ..etc) actual presence of a thing, in this case sounds, without a history or future- authentic being. That is in other words to those who don’t believe in fairies- it is very good. (jliat)
Address: http://www.loveearthmusic.com
DREADFUL PASSAGE (CD compilation by Hipster Death Records)
100 PIECES – SHE SLICHING SHE (CD by Hipster Death Records)
Joy Von Spain and Jean-Paul Garnier from Seattle – USA released for many years under different names at several recordlabels. In 2010 they started their own label called Hipster Death Records. Dreadful Passage is a compilation with complete different atmospheres. From harsh noise stuff of Numb Erone to more ambient classical material of Joy von Spain, played with electronics. Andante of Joy von Spain is really a great composition where she combines classical baroque influences with minimalism. The first two parts of the CD she composed she played them together with Patrick Urn are complete different. They combine trumpet, electronic sounds and drums. There are beautiful parts in these compositions, but then they go wild and the music is associative. Black 13 and Cathartech are more into the ambient music, not in a cosy way, but with some noisy elements in the track. I really like how they create a quiet intense atmosphere. Murder is maniacal musician who uses lots of soundsources to create his restless turbulent music. In the second part of this contribution Murder goes more into his sounds and creates in that way a beautiful composition. The compilation has many styles to offer. That can be interesting to discover music and to combine different styles.
100 Pieces is the name of the duo Joy von Spain and Murder (aka Jean-Paul Garnier). They made a fury opera. And no doubt… this is a right description of their music. The voice of Joy von Spain reminds me many times to Diamanda Galas. She screams and laughs like a lady from hell and back again. But anyway… The album has also many faces. The three “Interludes” are well-played pieces of music in a classical way. The title tracks are great, because of the combination of rhythmical drums and cymbals and electronic sounds of Murder and the improvisations on cello by Joy Von Spain. But after a while they go wild again and the music loses its intensity. Other songs are built up with a lot of samples and for me it is too chaotic. A furious opera will be fine, but for me it was more interesting to be furious in the sounds and work more in a strict concept. Also on this album are too many styles to tell the musical story. For me the combination of noise and classical elements without the references to rock or gothic was good enough. (JKH)
Address: http://www.hipsterdeath.stabbings.net/
ALEXEI BORISOV & OLGA NOSOVA – ELEKTROKOOPERATIV (CDR by Industrial Culture Records)
Dabbling around in many different forms of music, Alexei Borisov is best known (in the world of Vital Weekly) for his electronic music and his releases for Laton and collaborations with Anton Nikkila. Here he teams up with Olga Nosova, whom he knows from a previous band Motherfathers. Borisov uses analogue electronics and voice and Olga electronic drums and voice. The six pieces are all improvised and inspired by Dziga Vertov’s documentary ‘The 11th”. The fact that its improvised doesn’t say much about the music, I think. Borisov and Nosova try to work from a song structure, with drum machines/sequencer banging a rhythm and top a strange hybrid of electronics and voices. In the two versions of ‘Low Voltage’ things go off the rails a bit, but in the other four pieces it works quite well. A strange mixture of noise, improvised electronics and an odd touch of electronic popmusic. Maybe the production could have been a bit better, with more depth, but otherwise a great release. (FdW)
Address: http://www.industrialculture.org
RADERE – A PROCESS IN THE WEATHER OF THE HEART (CDR by Full Spectrum Records)
NICK HENNIES – LUNGS (CDR by Full Spectrum Records)
Carl Ritger from Philadelphia is our man behind Radere, and as such he has been producing music since 2003. His interest lies within ‘the notions of stasis and chance’. To that end he uses guitar and field recordings. He creates loops with them and those are fed through a whole bunch of means of sound processing. When you read that it may sound like nothing new under the sun. References are made to Taylor Deupree and Tim Hecker, and they are indeed valid I think. Radere’s music could have been a release on 12K, even when its less refined (or perhaps because of that). Is that to say that I don’t like this release? In terms of finding something new, something unheard of, I must indeed say that this is a somewhat disappointing release. Nothing that hasn’t been said or done before. That’s perhaps a reviewer’s opinion. If one would care to listen this without being biased, this almost forty minute single piece of music of tinkling guitars, ambient washes, bird sounds and rain drops, is a great piece of chill out music, utterly relaxing and of great beauty.
The other new release by Full Spectrum Records is by percussionist Nick Hennies, who recently surprised us with a great release of music he performed by Alvin Lucier. Here he has four acoustic pieces, all recorded in real time, using the qualities of drum skins and their resonant qualities. He places objects on the skins and tapes the skins as they resonate. Sometimes, maybe (!) he uses his hands to play them. The result is a beautiful piece – actually two of them – of drone music. Low and slow humming of sounds. In the bookend pieces, both called ‘Sympathy’ there is only a tiny fragment of sound, which are repeated every now and then. Here the strong quality lies perhaps in the absence of sound. Although this may count as ‘drone’ music to some, or maybe even ‘ambient’, this is not an easy to access release. One has to listen close and careful to the silent character of these pieces, but within lies a lot of beauty. Just like his Lucier release: an excellent work. (FdW)
Address: http://www.fullspectrumrecords.com
MARCUS OBST – DAY IN DWARFS CAPITAL (CDR by Gruenrekorder)
“I am not a scientist. I am a dreamer. So one morning I awake and got a field recording from a trip to dwarfs capital on tape” it says somewhat cryptical on this release. “Recorded 24.09.05 in Froent Tor, DC”, wherever that may be. Marcus Obst we know best from his own label, Field Muzick, and his moniker Dronaement, but here went to Gruenrekorder, which is this fifty-three minute work. Its a strange piece, that might be entirely based on field recordings, but also has a slight electronic feel to it. Its hard to say wether these electronic sounds are also field recordings (like using some sort of transport vehicle being used here, or toy like instruments) or were added later on. A strange conceptual piece of music. Not with a lot of changes but with sounds dropping in and out all the time. Quite a nice backdrop to whatever you are doing. An odd mechanical field recording drive to it. In all its strangeness quite an effective recording. (FdW)
Address: http://www.gruenrekorder.de
STORMHAT – FROM THE MOAT (CDR by Apollolaan)
“Stormhat” is the Danish word for European region’s most poisonous plant – in english called “Monkshood”: 3.6 mg of the plant will kill a person instantly. Using the name of such a plant, gives a clue of what to expect from present Danish sound art project. Behind Stormhat, you find Danish visual artist and composer of sound-/noisepieces Peter Bach Nicolaisen. He teaches full time at Krabbesholm College for Art, Architecture and Design and part time at the electronic department of the Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus. The specialty of Stormhat is his intense use of field recordings, building up layers of found sounds sometimes transformed into abstract textures and other times concrete and recognizable sounds. Having released quite a few albums by now, this is his first album on the acclaimed British label Apollolaan Recordings. The label was founded in February 2008 and all releases of the label comes in special CDR art editions, all hand drawn, painted or illustrated in some way, and all hand numbered. This is also the case with present album “From the moat”, being the latest of Stormhat – and one of the strongest efforts by the artist. “From the moat” are divided into six intersections running 60+ minutes. Overall there is a very good structural design in the compositions, that combines strange soundscapes of concrete sounds, distant melodies and threatening ambience. Especially third intersection titled “Taking off on fragile wings” attracts. Despite the new age-kind of title, the track is anything but gentle chillout. This is a quite sinister beast built on a mixture between subtle noises and concrete sounds. Field recordings of recognizable sounds are woven into unknown sounds meanwhile manipulated voices swirl around the speakers like flying ghosts. Underneath the upper textures, whooshing drones of buzzing noise creates a raw substructure. Anyone interested in abstract sound art, field recordings or generally ambient should check this out. Limited edition of 50 copies. (NM)
Address: http://www.apollolaan.co.uk/
KAJKYT – KRST (CDR by Cmafu Records)
Appearing in a pitch black carton box, with a cross on it, four cards with more crosses, this is also available as a 2LP set, but I think it works better as a CDR release: the four pieces should be heard without any interruption. Its not easy to say who does what here. The music is ‘recorded, mixed and produced by Kajkyt’, in the period 2005 to 2009. Is that a band, or just one person? There is also mention of a choir, which I didn’t detect, although one of the pieces has voice. Highly atmospheric music of drones, created largely (I think) with the use of guitars and electronics. To that there is the addition of slow, pounding drums, which aren’t exactly heavy and slow, but light and slow (in a sort of meditative post rock/trip hop tradition), except in the third section, when all instruments go wild and heavy, before coming down to earth in the fourth section. The second section has a voice which sounds like a Byzantyne priest. A top heavy release, both in terms of music and package. One to fit a grey winters day and perhaps less to a sunny monday filled with football and fun. Although it brings contemplation. (FdW)
Address: http://www.norecords.net
P.O.W.E.R. COWBOY LOVES (3″CDR by Le Son 666)
“Credits Artwork By [Design] – Le Son 666 , Šric Normand Keyboards, Bass, Harmonica, Electronics [Video Cam, Tv, Cb, Telephone] – Catherine S. Massicotte , Dominic Gagnon, Šric Normand …” This is a wonderful conglomeration of sonic errors no where in which could I place any of the devices listed above, allegedly made live and by phone (track1) and by battery and solar recording in non-organized territories???? (track 2) just sounds like a house being demolished, or perhaps a recording badly made and manipulated of a house being pulled down. An unsettling being of presence as destruction. Excellent stuff then kids? (jliat)
Address: http://www.le-son666.com/
FILTHY TURD – DEATH EJACULATIONS (C30 By Knife in the Toaster)
MUTANT APE – KNOCK AND WAIT / WATER GROWTH (C10 By Knife in the Toaster)
La bohËme like its source Henri Murger’s novel, ScËnes de la vie de bohËme, relates the fact that even 160 years ago originality within the arts was beginning to be located with the poor and outcast, its no surprise then that fine-art and fine art sound artists are “re-discovering” the cassette medium – a feigned discovery as its cheapness and dated technology has long been esteemed in the production of noise, that genre as we know which has rescued the elitist methodologies from the avant garde and completed the western teleology of music. Both these tapes are of recordings made 3 years ago. Filthy Turd’s a fairly static wall as is Mutant Ape once it begins, a wall of static like noise which crumbles across the tapes stereo tracks as if merely the recordings were made by a broken/breaking machine, or static of a communication system in breakdown. As in the novel which is a collection of vignettes with no unified plot this represents the breakdown of analogue life, its analogue where we find signals with noise, all too often the modern digital age offers only perfection, or silence, this is not a critique, its simply what it is, perhaps that’s why Seti has failed to detect any life, I cant “tune” my new DAB radio, it decides what is listenable, so if even if I want a signal sliding into oblivion, like old fashioned warfare, now we just get an impenetrable digital silence. (jliat)
Address: http://www.knifeinthetoaster.com/
SENSIBLE NECTAR/RJ MYATO (cassette C62 by Rainbow Bridge)
NUNDATA – ENTROPY (cassette C62 by Rainbow Bridge)
Rainbow Bridge is run by Justin Marc Lloyd, who is living in Mayo, a town in Maryland/USA. His aim is to be as DIY as possible and release tapes and CDr. The label releases music in different styles, like noise, power electronics, ambient, drone, avant-garde and all cross-over between this definitions of music. His own musical project is called Sensible Nectar. His noise is very pure and associative. Tones, distorted voices, raw-electronics and high pitch tones come and go, but still there is a great intensity and concentration and he doesn’t lose himself into chaos. RJ Myato from Pittsburgh uses more feed-back in his walls of sounds. It is a pity that in one composition he uses an electric guitar with a lot of feed-back and fuzz and some weird accords. It is just for a short period, but still he added another musical approach. The other compositions are more abstract, raw and brutal. It is nice how he plays with the different types of creating noise, with voice, raw electronics and guitar. Each release comes with individually unique artwork cut out from a 1980 National Geographic book about the universe.
More artwork from the universe is covering the tape of Nundata, a noise/drone project from Japan. The repeating sounds create a drony atmosphere, but the sounds are harsh, low, high, crunchy, dark, brutal and have no mercy. Slowly he build up his strong repeating soundlayers to a big deafening silence. You will find the harsh noise at side b of this cassette. Great music for the lovers of noise music. The track at side a is more quiet, but has the same purity as his noise. With basic long-repeating sounds he climbs from the silent tones and waves to melodic and rhythmical elements, who are destructed to noise. He experiments with all kind of combinations of sounds, but I think the composition will be much stronger when it is shorter. The second track has an ambient atmosphere which refers to meditative moments created by synthesizer/organ and electronics which are similar to Tibetan singing bowls. The music of Nundata is promising and I am looking forward to more of his combinations of his drony noise. (JKH)
Address: http://www.hellorainbowbridge.com/
KAPOTTE MUZIEK – TWENTY FIVE (10 cassette box set by Blossoming Noise)
I love history, cassettes and boxes. This box set, which documents 25 years of Kapotte Muziek, combines all those elements. Describing 25 as a mere “best of” compilation would be a serious mistake. As with most things De Waard undertakes there is a concept to 25. First a bit of history: in October 1984 Frans de Waard (then training to be a teacher) decided rather than just to listen to cassettes filled with experimental music, it would be a far better idea to start making them himself. Finding a kindred soul in fellow student Christian Nijs, Kapotte Muziek (broken music) was formed to participate in their first compilation cassette De Waard releases. The term was coined by De Waard’s father in order to describe the noise emerging from his son’s room. Having no previous musical experience, KM’s timing was perfect; the DIY movement of the early 80s was still vibrant, resulting in a large potential audience for independent cassettes, which were the perfect and anarchistic alternative to expensive vinyl albums, then the preferred format of major bands/labels, forming the perfect two-finger salute in those days. Nijs and De Waard mostly used contact microphones, cut-up tapes, tape loops and environmental recordings to create improvised music. However, by 1987 Nijs had lost his interest in the project and KM essentially became a De Waard-solo effort. He continued to release large (some would say legendary) amounts of music on cassettes and, later, also on vinyl and compact disc. Highly recommended is the 1990 compilation LP History Is What Was, which samples the best of KM’s first five years. In the 90s Kapotte Muziek became a “band” again when Roel Meelkop and Peter Duimelinks joined and a shift towards electro-acoustic music was made. Anno 2010 Kapotte Muziek has been active for twenty-five years, which is an accomplishment for any band (unless you’re more like a cooperative business like The Rolling Stones), but most certainly for an independent project like Kapotte Muziek. Just imagine, twenty five years of your life, creating sound and managing to find an audience for your music! It is easy to forget how special that is. Very appropriately this release comes on cassette. Cassettes are back! The format of the DIY-movement, cassettes have proved to be a valid alternative to vinyl and even compact discs. Clearly Kapotte Muziek and Blossoming Noise feel the same way, which leads us to this box. 25 consists of 10 cassettes of (approximately) one hour each and includes an insert and a numbered slide (De Waard also having a strong interest in graphic art), all contained in a wine-bottle-like wooden box. Probably best consumed with that bottle of wine, the music documents the development and output of KM in various themes. The set starts off with the earliest (and rather noisy and loopy) Kapotte Muziek recordings Aircraft (originally released in 1986), which are, in fact, solo-recordings by Nijs. The inclusion of this cassette is of course of historical interest, but it’s also a touching gesture to Nijs who passed away a couple of years ago. The second cassette contains Vier Stukken and Murmer from 1992. Vinyl works from 1989-1996 are enclosed on the third tape. Probably the most interesting cassettes are number four and five, containing collaborations and compilations. Both collaborations as compilations have always had De Waard’s strong interest; enabling him to work with a (compilation) theme or collaborating with another artists. This often leads to interesting, and at times, less “confined” results than other works, adding just that little extra that makes this side of his work worthwhile. Cassette six contains Anathesia, a great solo tape from 1988 on one side and on the b-side a recycling version of that tape from the mid 90s, which was released on CDR in an edition of 2 copies! Cassettes seven, eight, nine and ten contain live recordings ranging from the first-ever live show in August 1986 to a very recent show in November 2009. Often the music is made up out of repetitive, simple and minimal sounds. At times, the music feels more like a quest, a specific research if you like of a certain idea or concept. 25 offers some of the best music De Waard has ever created. Not everything is for everybody, but it is, much like the 24 hour box set by Throbbing Gristle; an equally fascinating and valid musical document. Professionally made, highly individual and perhaps even touching (even though he won’t approve of me using that word), 25 deserves to be listened to. It also serves as a source of future research and recycling (he will love you for it) and a testament of what can be achieved by one man’s vision and a lot of drive. (FK)
Address: http://www.blossomingnoise.com
BERTIN – RANDOM SONGS 20??-20?? (MP3)
The cover for this is a rip-off/homage to R. Stevie Moore’s ‘1952-19??’ LP on Cordelia Records and I got this on CDR, but after writing much of the reviews, trying to fill in the details, I found out this is ‘only’ a MP3 release. Never wanting to waste time spend, I’ll run the review anyway. Oh and perhaps, because I know Bertin anyway. Having produced the ultimate synth pop classic (not yet recognized as such, at least not by others) ‘Videorecorder’ (see Vital Weekly 658), these ‘Random Songs’ are his third full length album, in whatever format. If we remember Bertin as the man of casio pop then this we need to adjust this image. Guitar plays quite an important role on this new album. That’s one important change. The other is that Bertin is using his voice in a more clear way now. Before it was quite transformed, but since the previous, not reviewed, album ‘The Voice’, the voice is more important. It makes Bertin’s music even more accessible, but one of the things that didn’t change is the charming naive quality of these lo-fi pop tunes. The casio is still there, such as ‘Momo’ and ‘Blow And Whistle’, some of which remind me of Der Plan, but the majority is the man with a guitar approach. True Bertin, like me, have to get used to this new approach, but I must say its a pretty strong album of sheer, true alternative popmusic. If you like, say, Weltraumforscher, and you want a new great discovery, the Bertin is your new name! (FdW)
Address: http://bertin.bandcamp.com/