EVIL MADNESS – SUPER GREAT LOVE (CD by Editions Mego) *
LAWRENCE ENGLISH & STEPHEN VITIELLO – ACUTE INBETWEENS (CD by Cronica Electronica) *
ALEXANDER RISHAUG – SHADOW OF EVENTS (CD by Dekorder) *
AREV KONN – NOSPELT (CD by Humming Conch) *
CM VON HAUSWOLFF – 800 000 SECONDS IN HARAR (CD by Touch) *
ANTIMATTER – RESET (CD by Resipiscent) *
THE MAGIC I.D. – I’M SO AWAKE/SLEEPLESS I FEEL (CD by Staubgold) *
ANGELICA CASTELLO – BESTIARIO (CD by Mosz) *
AN EXTREMELY LOUD SILENCE (CD by Trait Mediaworks)
KEVIN DRUMM & JEROME NOETINGER & ROBERT PIOTROWICZ – WRESTLING (7″ by Bocian Records)
TOMASZ KRAKOWIAK – A/P (7″ by Bocian Records)
DARK SKY SINGERS – THE HARROWING (7″ by Static Caravan)
PLANK! – PIG SICK/SELF HARM (7″ by Static Caravan)
ANNE-JAMES CHATON & ANDY MOOR – DEPARTURES (7″ by Unsounds)
CHORA – THE WAX WHEEL (CDR by Zero Jardins) *
SUNSTABBED – IN THE CORNER (CDR by Zero Jardins) *
SUNSTABBED – DES LUMIERES, DES OMBRES, DES FIGURES (LP by Doubtful Sounds)
ARTIFICIAL MEMORY TRACE – COLLECTION 5 (CDR by Gruenrekorder) *
STEPHANE GARIN/SYLVESTRE GOBART (2CD by Gruenrekorder)
FABIO ORSI/FLUSHING DEVICE – T (cassette by Collezione Del Silenzio)
DAVIDE DEL COL – H (cassette by Collezione Del Silenzio)
K11 – K (cassette by Collezione Del Silenzio)
AB’SHE – SONGS (cassette by Silentes Tapestry)
MATT CARLSON – GECKO DREAM LEVELS (cassette by Gift Tapes)
MILLION MISTS (cassette by Gift Tapes)
SPARE DEATH ICON – SURIVIVAL (cassette by Gift Tapes)
WHIRLING HALL OF KNIVES – CELESTRIAN FERROXXIDE (cassette by Munitions Family)
PAUL VOGEL – GODWIT SONGS (cassette by Munitions Family)
RED ELECTRIC CHAMBER/REPTILE BRAIN (cassette by Munitions Family)
EVIL MADNESS – SUPER GREAT LOVE (CD by Editions Mego)
If anything, Editions Mego sure knows how to surprise the listener. If that Bill Orcutt was strange, then so is Evil Madness. Announced as the Traveling Wilburys of electronic music from Island (and in case you don’t know the Wilburys – praise to be – think old dinosaur rock guitarists cashing in). We have here Johann Johannsson, Helgi Thorsson, Sigtryggur Berg Sigmarsson (the latter of Stillupsteypa), Petur Eyvindsson and BJ Nilsen (oops, he’s from Sweden). Actually they have been around since 2006 and ‘Super Great love’ is their fourth album. If you know what these boys when they are serious (and sober perhaps), then you might expect a mighty fine album of highly atmospheric drone music with a touch of classical music or, well, its Mego, and with this name, a whole bunch of piercing digital noise. But then you forgot that Johannsson was/is a member of Apparat and he brought his analogue synthesizers over for this hobby project. Lots of kitschy, cliche disco rhythms, arpeggio’s working overtime and sequencer’s burning through the floor and of course complete with a vocoder in ‘Maxim’s Goldfinger’. Let’s have a party, with mean 70s disco’s music. Not too smooth, but full of pumping machismo. Excellent stuff I’d say, but then I always have been a sucker (closet) admirer of cheesy disco. I wonder how many dedicated Mego followers are. (FdW)
Address: http://www.editionsmego.com
LAWRENCE ENGLISH & STEPHEN VITIELLO – ACUTE INBETWEENS (CD by Cronica Electronica)
Although not very often in these pages, Stephen Vitiello was here only two weeks ago, with his Moss release/collaboration for 12K. Another collaboration this time, not in a live concert or physical working together, but one generated through mail, with Lawrence English. They have a strong passion for anything that has to do with field recordings and modular synthesis, so their ‘Acute Inbetweens’ is announced as a work between ‘electricity and environment’. And probably anything ‘inbetween’ too. This work, these five pieces, are not some pieces of electronic music, nor the work of cut out of reality field recordings, but somehow meet up in between. Not really ‘just’ field recordings, not even ‘just processed field recordings’, but occasionally the field recordings are alive – and god knows what they recorded – just as much and as occasionally the electronics come alive. Microsound obviously, let there be no mistake about that. Stretched out pieces, drone like, atmospheric, ambient – any of those words apply to this release, and perhaps its a such that its also to be noted that this may not be the most innovative release in this scene, or something that would put this on a totally new level. Far from it. But that is not the point, I guess. The two gentlemen play gentle music. And they do so with great care and great style. They don’t care about things being entirely new but rather explore the depths of what has their strongest interest and at doing so they set the highest quality standards for their music. And that’s what makes this a strong album. (FdW)
Address: http://www.cronicaelectronica.org
ALEXANDER RISHAUG – SHADOW OF EVENTS (CD by Dekorder)
Despite having released albums on two high profile labels (‘Possible Landscape’ on Asphodel (2004) and ‘Panorama’ on Smalltown Supersound (2001)), the name Alexander Rishaug is not really a household name. Maybe its because the gap between releases is quite long? In any event his music still appears on high profile labels, as this third album is on Dekorder. Rishaug was once part of ARM (whose concert locally still ranks to one my favorites), a collective of computer musicians, and worked with Lasse Marhaug. In his solo work he is influenced by the works of Steve Reich/Terry Riley on one hand and on the other its the 90s electronics from Oval/Microstoria and the more obscure artists on Mille Plateaux/Ritornell. His music is ‘developed from field recordings, instrument improvisation or live sampling. The processed and edited with the computer as the main tool. I’ve used sounds hailing from a dusty rhodes, a lovely guitar, a nervous radio and a lonely piano’, he writes in the accompanying text. Everything on this release seems to be retro – the computer graphics, but also the music. It harks back to the Ritornell label, especially Stephan Mathieu’s albums and anything that happened in ambient/microsound/drone since then – think Taylor Deupree, William Basinski, Machinefabriek, Richard Chartier; it all finds it way here. That makes this a highly unremarkable CD – unless, and I think that’s the whole point of this exercise, it is meant to be retro, going back to those mid 90s roots of early computer/laptop music. If that is the case he succeeds well in doing so. If not, then I think he delivered quite a nice album actually, Unsurprising, but very well made. Nicely warm ambient computer music, which easily meets the work of Mathieu or Machinefabriek. Maybe it just continues a fine line in musical history. (FdW)
Address: http://www.dekorder.com
AREV KONN – NOSPELT (CD by Humming Conch)
Antony Harrison is Arev Konn, and if I’m to believe the press text he is best known as Konntinent, which had releases on Home Normal, Sonic Pieces, Sweet Lodge Guro and such labels, but which I never heard. Harrison choose a new name for more abstract and abrasive work, which is what Arev Konn is all about. Its however not really the sort of noise that is, well, ‘real noise’, but using guitars, synthesizers, field recordings, piano and violin are used to create something that is indeed quite abstract. Part of that is due to the analogue cassette techniques he uses and also a 60s reel-to-reel machine. Things burst and bubble, scratch the surface and bounce up and down. Quite an interesting album, I’d say, and one that fits the current wave of noise musicians which opt for a more intelligent sound, adding such things as dynamics. Arev Konn can be loud, although never really loud, but also very soft and introspective. No instruments can be really detected (except for the piano on ‘False Starts’) as they are all transformed beyond recognition. The six pieces are fine mixtures of electro-acoustic processing, noise based outbursts, drone patterns and together make up a damn fine album. Certainly a name to watch out for in the future. (FdW)
Address: http://www.hummingconch.net
CM VON HAUSWOLFF – 800 000 SECONDS IN HARAR (CD by Touch)
Hard to believe, but this is the first CD of CM von Hauswolff on Touch. I could have sworn there were more. At the basis of the music here was an invitation to do something for a play in Goteborg, based on a famous letter written by Arthur Rimbaud in his youth. The play is about Rimbaud’s life, which ended in 1891 in Harar in Ethopia, and obviously Hauswolff asked if its was possible to go to Harar (Rimbaud spend seven years there), and so he went there to do field recordings and soak up the atmosphere. There are three part to the first track and then one part that is the fourth track. In the first three pieces we encounter field recordings, wind, insects, children and in the second a leaking tap in his hotel room, along with sounds derived from a ‘krar’, which is an Ethiopian string instrument, but played with a bow. In ‘Night’ this slowly builds up to a solitary drone and in ‘Alas’, the single pitched drone evolves into what seems to be almost like a church organ. Compared to much his previous work, which was more conceptually based, this is actually much more musical. Quite powerful as well as peaceful, I’d say. In ‘The Sleeper In The Valley’, the drones continue, but then generated through various oscillators and a very faint low rhythm, which apparently is a morse code transcription of the poem by Rimbaud of the same name. Here we return to the more conceptual work of Hauswolff he is better known for these days. This is another piece though perhaps a bit long. (FdW)
Address: http://www.touchmusic.co.uk
ANTIMATTER – RESET (CD by Resipiscent)
Both known as Mixture151 and Antimatter, Xopher Davidson also worked with Zbigniew Karkowski, Wobbly, Tim Perkis, Michael Gendreau and David Kwan. His releases appeared on Sirr, Antifrost, Asphodel, Carrier Records, Artifact and Auscultare Research. On this new release, Davidson works with obsolete signal generators, test equipment and analogue computers: cold war technology. This is another example of ‘noise-plus’ music. The analogue techniques used make this a harsher and louder thing than the average microsound release, with hissing sounds, deep end bass rumble, piercing electronics and such like, but with the addition of dynamics, balancing carefully on the thread of ‘quiet’ (sometimes) and ‘loud’ (a lot of times), it is interesting disc of what can be seen as the heritage of industrial music. Culminating from anything early of Throbbing Gristle (less any vocals) and Cabaret Voltaire all the way to the pulsating drones of Pan Sonic (less the strong rhythm), Joe Colley and Illusion Of Safety. Each of the eleven pieces is a heavy weight picture by itself, top heavy indeed, with menacing drones, high pitched frequencies, looped signals. You could wonder if eleven tracks/sixty five minutes is a bit long, but perhaps its this longitude is part of the power that lies within. I am not fully convinced by that aspect, but its certainly throughout a pretty strong release. (FdW)
Address: http://www.resispiscent.com
THE MAGIC I.D. – I’M SO AWAKE/SLEEPLESS I FEEL (CD by Staubgold)
Exactly three years after their debut as The Magic I.D. (see Vital Weekly 619) this quartet returns. An odd quartet, of Kai Fagaschinski and Marcel Thieke, both playing the clarinet, Margareth Kammerer on vocals and guitars and Kurzmann on vocals, laptop and lloop. Maybe by reputation of these people you could easily think that this is a quartet of improvisers, and henceforth they play improvised music. Things are not that simple however. The Magic I.D. play short pieces and pieces that could qualify perhaps as popmusic, but set within the limitations (?) of improvised music. How does that work? Easy, the band improvises, find a way to create a tune and then set vocals to it. Especially the latter makes this poplike. Alternating between male and female voice, which sing nice songs this is great. When Kammerer sings it seems a bit more jazz like. The guitar adds a lot, whereas the clarinets have a more free role in what they play. Sometimes they plat unison, but at other times totally contradicting lines. An excellent release once again. On paper it may seem like a totally strange marriage, but combining improvisation and popmusic works quite well, again. An excellent CD. A pity I missed their concert, but let’s hope there will be some more touring on the back of this album. (FdW)
Address: http://www.staubgold.com
ANGELICA CASTELLO – BESTIARIO (CD by Mosz)
Originally Angelic Castello is from Mexico, but via Montreal and Amsterdam she landed in Vienna in 1999, where she still lives and teaches. Her main instrument is the recorder, which she plays with or without electronics. She plays this solo as well as with various groups, such as the Low Frequency Orchestra, Los Autodisparadores, Frufru, Cilantro, Subshrubs and Chesterfield. On her solo CD she uses Paetzold contrabass and subgreatbass recorders, piano, ukulele, toys, field recordings and voice. Perhaps due to her study of electro-acoustic and computer music, this release turns out to be a great one, I think. Where I perhaps expected some improvised music, this is actually thoroughly composed music. The flute is perhaps indeed the main instrument, but its very unclear what she does with it. Are these recordings fed through some kind of analogue or digital processing device, heavily layered or as dry as possible? Its hard to say and probably its useless to think about this, since what counts is the outcome, and that is great, I think. Seven pieces of musique concrete, electro-acoustic and an excellent montage of sounds, with the necessary field recordings to go along, sizzling electronics. Music that evokes images and could easily be used as a great soundtrack. Evocative stuff that is just excellent. (FdW)
Address: http://www.mosz.org
AN EXTREMELY LOUD SILENCE (CD by Trait Mediaworks)
Of course you should read the complete entry on Wikipedia on Samuel Beckett, but I quote the beginning: “Samuel Barclay Beckett (13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish avant-garde writer, dramatist and poet, writing in English and French. Beckett’s work offers a bleak outlook on human culture and both formally and philosophically became increasingly minimalist in his later career.” I must admit I never read much of his work, but here’s three artists who probably read lots of Beckett. Its the for me unknown Bryce Beverlin II, the well-known Eric Lunde and Peter J. Woods, whose LP was reviewed here two week ago. Each has a long piece inspired by the dramas written by Beckett. In Wood’s piece things start with talking for quite some time, and after a while injected by loud bursts of noise, which towards the end get longer and longer. The text is not always clear to hear. Lunde used three cassette players for his piece, which has Lunde stamped all over it. Largely, or more accurate, all spoken word in Lunde’s clear voice, but with treatments made with his cassettes, eroding the speech effectively. Occasional silence separates the various texts. Extremely loud is the keyword for the final piece, by Bryce Beverlin II, who also speaks his text in the middle of a noise racket of distortion and feedback, also with occasional silence. Its the least convincing piece in my opinion, but it takes minimalism probably to another level. Quite an interesting release, which prompts the listener to listen, but probably also to read more, which is always good, I think. (FdW)
Address: http://www.traitcentral.com
KEVIN DRUMM & JEROME NOETINGER & ROBERT PIOTROWICZ – WRESTLING (7″ by Bocian Records)
TOMASZ KRAKOWIAK – A/P (7″ by Bocian Records)
Two 7″s on Poland’s Bocian Records. The first one has a live recording from May 2005, a trio collaboration between Kevin Drumm (analog synthesizer, electronics), Jerome Noetinger (electronics) and Robert Piotrowicz (analog synthesizer, guitar). Two furious slabs of improvised noise here. Side A (perhaps called ‘Wrestling’) has a battle of sounds, wrestling of analogue sound creators, trying to make out who is the strongest here, machismo in music, perhaps? The B-side (perhaps called ‘Rest’) start out in a similar loud mood, but here things are getting more and more quiet as the piece evolves and end with something of a machine being switched off. Nice one.
One Tomas Krakowiak uses a cymbal and a stereo microphone on his 7″. Both sides last exactly four minutes fifty-nine seconds, and one piece is called ‘A’ and the other is called ‘P’. He plays the cymbal by using objects to create rotating sounds, to lift up the cymbal make it sing in overtones. Somehow I think these pieces are layered from various recordings, but of course I might be wrong. ‘P’ is the more droney version of the two, ‘A’, the more acoustic one. Both pieces aren’t flawless, one hears small ‘mistakes’ of whatever it is to sets the cymbal to vibrate, which adds, me thinks, a nice human touch to it. Maybe all a bit too short for the format of a 7″, and a 10″ would have been more in place. But nice it is for sure. (FdW)
Address: http://www.bocianrecords.com
DARK SKY SINGERS – THE HARROWING (7″ by Static Caravan)
PLANK! – PIG SICK/SELF HARM (7″ by Static Caravan)
Via a rather obscure release we were, back in Vital Weekly 752, introduced to the music of Dark Sky Singers. Seven folk like songs in just fourteen minutes. Last saturday we have an intimate pop-quiz with friends, and me admitting to like Simon & Garfunkel a lot sure a few eyebrows. But I do. Therefore music like that made by Dark Sky Singers is absolutely nothing for Vital Weekly, but I am very glad I can write about it. ‘The Harrowing’ has an accordion, piano, guitar, sparse percussion and a dark voice (not matching that of Paul & Art) makes a really great track. A bit dark, but so lovely. A duet, male and female on the b-side, along with piano and a bit of percussion and some strings. Hauntingly beautiful. ‘Quintain’ is a short third track with a melody going round and round and has bird sounds. Spring has indeed arrived. Excellent.
I don’t know anything about Plank! Maybe also not very Vital like, but definitely not folk like either. Plank! seems to me a modern rock/pop hybrid. ‘Self Harm’ has rocky guitars, funky bass, fat synth lines and furious drumming. Quite an uplifting track actually, all instrumental, and quite retro. Oh, and quite a surprise I think for Static Caravan. With vocals it could have been an alternative hit actually. A big kitsch, but, now, that I happen to like as well. ‘Pig Sick (remix)’ is a likewise uplifting piece of instrumental music, but it seems a bit more electronic than the other side. It lists somebody who does the vocals, but either they are heavily vocoderized or remixed out, but I don’t hear them. Another excellent 7″ on one of my favorite labels. (FdW)
Address: http://www.staticcaravan.org
ANNE-JAMES CHATON & ANDY MOOR – DEPARTURES (7″ by Unsounds)
This is the first of four 7″ releases, the first vinyl for Unsounds, and its overall thematic approach is ‘transition and transportation’, with on the a-side factual information and on the b-side fictional. In this first case information on the French Foreign Office website about safety and current political climate in every country and longitudinal and latitudinal coordinates from Travel Around The World In 80 Days by Jules Verne. The texts are read by Anne-James Chaton in a low voice, looped around, along with a vibrant guitar improvisation by Andy Moor (of The Ex fame) and a bit of electronic rhythm. The rhythm is quite present on ‘D’Ouest En Est’, the b-side, which is almost an effective piece of dance music, save of course for the quite clinical reading of the text. Basically like reading a list out loud. Deep bass lines almost like dubstep. Here the element of improvisation is almost gone. A great 7″, and one that made me very curious about the next three 7″s. Great fold out poster as a cover, reminding me of the old punk days. (FdW)
Address: http://www.unsounds.com
CHORA – THE WAX WHEEL (CDR by Zero Jardins)
SUNSTABBED – IN THE CORNER (CDR by Zero Jardins)
SUNSTABBED – DES LUMIERES, DES OMBRES, DES FIGURES (LP by Doubtful Sounds)
Not a lot of information on either of these two releases. Chora is a quartet from London (Rob Lye, Ben Morris, Karl Brummer, Ben Nash), instruments are not specified on either website or cover. I think I hear various wind instruments and percussion, plus maybe a guitar, although I’m not sure if it appears in every track (the feedback like sound of ‘Formula To Go Forth By Day’ seems so). They play improvised music, which has been taped with a simple microphone set up, live without overdubs. That is perhaps a pity, since it doesn’t leave much depth in this recording. The playing is rather free with the wind instruments playing extended, sustained tones which tumble and struggle together while the percussion below shakes and rattles. At times I was reminded of the old band Five Or Six in their more abstract moments (on ‘A Happy & Thriving Land’), but throughout I must say they were better. Some of these tracks are a bit long too, such as ‘Mire Walks’, which twenty-three minutes could have been a release by itself. Chora’s music is not bad at all, but needs to be better recorded, a bit more edited and trimmed down. Then it could be really good.
A duo from France is Sunstabbed, or perhaps Sun Stabbed – the stamp on the cover is nice but not entirely clear. They have a single twenty-eight minute piece on their CDR, which they recorded two years ago in concert. Again no instruments are mentioned but my best guess would a duet for two guitars, amplifiers and stompboxes. If they would have been from New Zealand I would have surely believed that as well. A somewhat lo-fi drone affair, endless on the sustain, ringing in the overtones, with that sound that sounds like the guitar is on fire. Put together as an improvisation clearly, this has some weaker moments in the piece (around the twenty-first minute), in which they search a bit too much for the next thing and sometimes they seem to loose it. But the whole thing is quite alright, for lovers of drone rock, Dead C, Surface Of The Earth and such like bands.
And oddly enough one day after this I also received ‘Des Lumieres, Des Ombres, Des Figures’, their first LP release. Basically its an extension of what I heard on the CDR, but better worked out. Still owing big time to the antipodes, but the four pieces are quite a varied bunch of music. ‘Ce Petit Monde En Derive’ has some fine lo-fi frequencies of the higher range and dabbling of acoustic sounds, culminating in a low knitted array of sounds. ‘La Terre Avec Ses Bruits’ is build around loud guitar drones and sounds entirely different. The other side also has two tracks, ‘La Fin, On L’a Devine’ is a more introspective piece, with hand-held recorders feeding sounds through the pick-ups all along using the strings to perform their improvisations. It makes up quite an intense piece of music. This all culminates in the final track, ‘Les Societes Secretes Et Leurs Agissements’, which is a more straightforward noise drone rock excercise. The LP is better worked out than the CDR release I think, obviously, I guess, since its a studio recordings and me still being a sucker for Dead C, Bruce Russell, Surface Of The Earth and Sandoz Lab Technicians, think this is a great album. (FdW)
Address: http://www.zerojardins.com/zj
Address: http://www.doubtfulsounds.info
ARTIFICIAL MEMORY TRACE – COLLECTION 5 (CDR by Gruenrekorder)
STEPHANE GARIN/SYLVESTRE GOBART (2CD by Gruenrekorder)
‘No additional information is available with this edition’ it says on the cover of this release, other then ‘all particles of reality recorded and created by Slawek Kwi in various dimensions of time-like-space’. Slawek Kwi, we know, is Artificial Memory Trace, one of the more interesting modern day musique concrete composers, and who still sticks with his pseudonym (like Toy Bizarre). From the Czech Republic to Belgium to Ireland, where I believe he still is. He may not be the most active one, when it comes to releases, but his out put is always interesting. The cover is indicates a few more things. It seems that ‘Track 01-18’, ‘Track 19’, ‘Track 20-31’ and ‘Track 32’ make up four tracks, split into thirty-two tracks. The other thing is that its part of the field recording series, so no doubt the majority of the music uses field recordings. Majority I’d say, as there is an occasional instrument to be heard here and there. I found it hard to say wether these pieces belonged together, say track 1-18, or track 20-31. When you assume there is a logical stop in a track, it may be half way through and not right at the end. Maybe the whole idea is to shuffle these tracks. As said, lots of field recordings here with interesting forms of transformation. “Perception. No Cognition. Listen.” it says on the cover and that’s perhaps indeed all there is.
The other new release by Gruenrekorder I somewhat was reluctant to hear. Not because of its content – field recordings from Nazi concentration camps – but because of its intention. It has photos and sounds from various locations, but the whole thing just gives me the creeps. ‘We wish to call up what cannot be seen any longer, but also to show that there is nothing left to see, in order to break with the vision we have grown accustomed to, by a certain collective memory, eager for spectacular’ or that arty farty speak of ‘our choice was dictated by a will to create abstraction and to break formally with an iconography that conditions our memory’. Just as much as I think that other projects from all of man’s wrong doings, like nuclear disaster sites, is a mere con to sell a project to the world of art. There is not much difference between an empty room and an empty room. The field is innocent, so the forests of Drancy, Auschwitz, Birkenau etc are as innocent as those around my corner – it’s men idiocy who is responsible the activity that went on there. You wouldn’t know these sounds came from concentration camps, if you didn’t read it. Does it make the whole thing more ‘important’, more ‘interesting’ or even more ‘relevant’? We should never ever forget the holocaust, visit concentration camps, read books about it, but this double CD seems very wrong to me. I conducted a small experiment in which I played some of this to various people, sometimes letting them what it was and sometimes not. Those who didn’t know, thought it was indeed just outdoor recordings, and those who did know did agree that it hardly makes a difference and it all still sounds like field recordings which could have been made anywhere. I do think however that the package is a strong reminder – never again – and a such of course its pretty well made. (FdW)
Address: http://www.gruenrekorder.de
FABIO ORSI/FLUSHING DEVICE – T (cassette by Collezione Del Silenzio)
DAVIDE DEL COL – H (cassette by Collezione Del Silenzio)
K11 – K (cassette by Collezione Del Silenzio)
AB’SHE – SONGS (cassette by Silentes Tapestry)
The second batch of Italy’s answer to the Zelphabet series – the first six were reviewed in Vital Weekly 753, all dabbling with the notion of silence, hence the title. The first seems to be either a collaboration or something like that. The well-known Fabio Orsi teams up with Flushing Device, unless of course its the title of the piece. The tape starts out with soft guitar music and bird sounds, but gradually fades over into organ like drone music, which seems to be recorded on ancient tape, including all the flaws of the medium. Fireworks open the other side of the tape, and field recordings – wind perhaps, birds – make up a large portion of the piece here, along with another set of low resolution drone music. A fine mixture of both in a rather lo-fi (but nice) fashion.
Davide del Col we may remember from his collaboration with Andrea Marutti as Molnija Aura (see Vital Weekly 766) and who is also in 30 Seconds Over Teheran and Echran. Here a solo release by him. Two pieces of drone music of an obscure kind. Not as lo-fi sounding as the one by Orsi, but a computerized transformation of field recordings, it seems. A droned out piece of music on the first side and metallic ringing on the second side, followed by a shorter piece of treated piano sounds with mild distortion. Hardly silent music, come to think of it. Both pieces are monolithic excursions in drone music. Nothing of the kind we haven’t heard before but all in nice rough state. Empty building music.
The shortest release is by K11, and also one of the few whose title reflects the bandname. This is perhaps the most obscure release of these three. Rumbling deep end sounds with some mild distortion and far away we hear some sounds in the background. That could be sounds picked up in a large room with lots of natural reverb, say a church so. The humming sound returns on the second side of this tape, but now also pushed towards the back and again with sounds picked up, seemingly, at random. Streetsounds, radio interference and such like. Things build up over the course of the tape to a mighty crescendo of colliding field recordings. I preferred the b-side over the a-side, simply for its more austere, creepy character.
Also on cassette and on the same label, but not part of this series is a release by Ab’she, who already had a release in the silent series. Gianluca Favaron is behind Ab’she, and as we now know, who was two weeks ago reviewed as part of Under The Snow. There are four songs on ‘Songs’, the last song taking up the entire b-side, so perhaps not a song as such. Since reviewing Under The Snow, I know Favaron is a man of computer processing and I assume that is what is going on here. Its hard to say what exactly he is processing on this tape. For all I know this could be anything, but the most likely candidate seems to me some kind of field recordings. The processing level is ‘high’ here, transforming and mutating the input into computer driven, shifting pieces of drone music. Slowly moving forward – come to think of it, it might be guitars as well – with strange juxtapositions and odd changes. Maybe I’m in a different song here (that will always be the main problem with cassettes, I think)? On the b-side he reaches out for the land of noise, in his own computer minded way. Here field recordings are in play, and it seems to me they are cars. Quite a heavy form of musique concrete is in place here. Throughout an excellent tape. Highly varied works. (FdW)
Address: http://www.silentes.it/
MATT CARLSON – GECKO DREAM LEVELS (cassette by Gift Tapes)
MILLION MISTS (cassette by Gift Tapes)
SPARE DEATH ICON – SURIVIVAL (cassette by Gift Tapes)
A while, in Vital Weekly 760, I reviewed a release by Nathan McLaughlin on Gift Tapes, which prompted the label to send me some more, new releases.
The first is by Matt Carlson, from Portland, Oregon, where is a member of Golden Retriever (electro-acoustic improvisation), Parenthetical Girls (pop music), Oregon Painting Society (video soundtracks), CexFucx (freely improvised dance music) and Bonus (reductionist electronic drones). Not that I have heard any of this. His solo music is not easy to describe though. It seems very computer based, bouncing, pop like but perhaps at the same time also a bit academic. ‘Infinity Canyons’ on the b-side harks towards cosmic music, but like in the other tracks, its all being deconstructed. Its never one thing or another. Minimalist music, but never drone based. In stead, like said, things bounce through space, effectively using the stereo spectrum. Maybe here and there a bit long, certainly on the b-side, but surely effectively estranged music. Somewhere half way the academic avant-garde and pop music, this is quite a nice release.
Jamie Potter is behind Million Mists. He is also one half of Brother Raven and a member of Bonus. He uses inexpensive keyboards, tape loops and effects, yet the label describes as a ‘fusion of new age dreamscapes and odd space formations’. Don’t let that lull you into a big sleep, as me thinks this has very little to do with new age music. The cheap electronics used make a sort of light weight cosmic music sound, with lots of effects to enhance that sound and something leading to a bit too many dabbling in that sound, i.e. things are a bit freaky around here. But in the world of cassettes such things never count, I think. Its still the most free place to go with your music. You can fool around as much as you like. Million Mists is quite a raw attempt at cosmic music and as such its a pretty nice tape. Rough loops of sounds, hissy sound, digital delays taking care of the arpeggio’s and its all highly enjoyable. You won’t find this in your local new age shop, you can be sure of that. At times too long, but don’t let that put you off.
And finally Spare Death Icon, which is label boss’ Jason E. Anderson own musical project. He works a lot with synthesizers and tapes, alone or with others such as in the duo Brother Raven. He has various solo guises, and I am not sure what the differences are between all of them. Anderson was also a member of BSNF, who had a CD on Locust Music, see Vital Weekly 433. Nine tracks here of heavily synth based music, with lots of drum machines to go along. Just as much as Alexander Rishaug’s new release reviewed elsewhere, seems to hark back to the nineties, this one is more like a 80s underground cry. Dark for sure, spacious on the synths, a rather mundane recording quality, which in this day and age perhaps takes a bit of clarity away, that you can easily find in CDR releases, but the science fiction soundtrack that this is, is quite nice. But also like Rishaug’s, for me the most interesting aspect is the retro aspect than the music as such. Think ‘Flowmotion’ LP, b-side, but less Tangerine Dream. If you have no idea what that means, then you might equally well enjoy this moody synth music. (FdW)
Address: http://www.sparedeathicon.com
WHIRLING HALL OF KNIVES – CELESTRIAN FERROXXIDE (cassette by Munitions Family)
PAUL VOGEL – GODWIT SONGS (cassette by Munitions Family)
RED ELECTRIC CHAMBER/REPTILE BRAIN (cassette by Munitions Family)
From Ireland hails Munitions Family, a label that
releases primarily cassettes. Here are three of their latest releases. First there is the duo Whirling Hall Of Knives, being Magnetize and The Last Sound. They are labelled as a darkdrone/noise collaboration by the label, and that’s about what it is. Two side long (is fifteen minutes) pieces of low humming synthesizers, a fair share of feedback/distortion, and a more introspective title piece on the b-side. That side was the one I liked more actually. It seemed a bit more organized and put together. Both tracks didn’t seem to add much to the world of darkdrone and/or noise, but throughout these pieces were alright.
Paul Vogel is an improviser who was in the late 70s a member of the Bristol Musicians Co-op and a promoter of concerts in Dublin. His work was released by Cathnor, Confront and Homefront (see Vital Weekly 631and 536). I believe he plays wind instruments and computer processing, although none was mentioned as such on the cover. Its not easy to tell, but it might the case. The cassette has two pieces, ‘Morning’ and ‘Evening (Excerpts)’. The material is quite experimental. Feedback pitched sounds play an important role, along with what seems to be loops of acoustic sounds, perhaps of him playing an unmentioned wind instrument. Essentially there are not many differences between both sides which is a pity. It makes a strong statement as a whole of course, but its perhaps a bit too much, even at thirty minutes.
The last one is a split release between Dan Smith who works as Red Electric Rainbow (also known as ‘the busiest man in synthesis’) and Andrew Fogarty, known as Reptile Brain. Red Electric Rainbow has, I think, two pieces of cosmic music on offer here, with nice bubbling arpeggio’s, fine oscillations and space is the place. Very nice. Reptile Brain continues in similar vein, but even more cosmic. Remember a few lines above, different review, what I said about that ‘Flowmotion’ album? Well, that b-side of that compilation is almost like a blueprint for this one. People like Ian Boddy, Paul Nagle, Carl Matthews and Colin Potter did similar music, almost thirty years ago, and even then it was pretty dated, but oh so lovely. And Reptile Brain does a great job too. An excellent swirl of analogue synths, arpeggio’s and endless repetition. The best was saved until the last here. (FdW)
Address: http://munitionsfamily.bigcartel.com