FEDERICO DURAND – LA ESTRELLA DORMIDA (CD by White Paddy Mountain) *
KAWAGUCHI/OLIVE/OSHIRO – AIRS (CD by 845) *
FREDERIC NOGRAY – MERUA (CD by Unfathomless) *
DAG ROSENQVIST & RUTGER ZUYDERVELT – VINTERMUSIK (CD by Zoharum) *
HUMAN GREED – WORLD FAIR (CD by Omnempathy) *
SHIVERS – SHIVERS (CD by Miasmah)
BEN BENNETT & JACK WRIGHT – TANGLE (CD by Public Eyesore)
SIGMA OCTANTIS – DISSIPATIONS (CD by Malignant Antibody/Opn) *
MV X – MONOCHROME VISIONS 2004-2014 (3CD by Monochrome Vision)
KEITH KELLEY – THE PEOPLE WHO LEFT (CD by Edgetone)
NASHVILLE ELECTRIC (CD by Edgetone)
DREW CECCATO & ADAM TINKLE – EIDOLON (CD by Edgetone)
DAYS & TAXIS – ARTIST (2CD by Percaso)
MICHEL GUILLET – UNSTABLE DISTANCE (CDR by Ing-on) *
PS STAMPS BACK – MUSIC TO CROSS FORESTS (CDR by 1000+1 Tilt) *
HYSTERYLAND 1 2 3 (CDR by Stront Rec.)
LOSSE EINDJES (CDR by Losse Flodders)
LOSSE FLODDERS (cassette by Losse Flodders)
PASCAL SAVY – ADRIFT (CDR by Eilean Records) *
NATHAN MCLAUGHLIN – NOTHING TO BE SAD ABOUT (CDR by Eilean Records) *
PALE SISTER – EMBEDDEAD (3″CDR by Sincope)
SUTT – ELEMENTER (cassette by Sincope)
GRIZZLY IMPLODED – THREATENING FRAGMENTS FROM FOUR BOUDERS (cassette by Sincope)
JABBER GARLAND – PRIMITIVE FUTURE (cassette by Sincope)
MONOCHROME VISION – THE REVEALER OF ALL LIFE (cassette by Under Label)
UNCODIFIED/SIMON BALESTRAZZI – SPLIT (cassette by Old Bicycle Records)
FEDERICO DURAND – LA ESTRELLA DORMIDA (CD by White Paddy Mountain)
Back in Vital Weekly 734 we reviewed Federico Durand’s debut record ‘La Siesta Del Ciphers’, and since then he has had releases on Own Records, Oudu, Home Normal, Desire Path Recordings and now on White Paddy Mountain. He seems to be one of those rising stars at the ambient firmament. He plays guitar, uses field recordings and sometimes records on a cassette to have that extra bit of warmth in his music. Sometimes the result of that is very drone like, such as in ‘Reflejos Del Sol En La Superficie Del Agua’, which is perhaps on very common ground for this kind of music. Sometimes there is a more plink plonk approach – cracked music boxes, a tinkle on the piano, hiss from a tape – and it becomes more musical, with small shimmering melodies underneath. A bit shaky at times, as if the recording heads of the Walkman is wearing out. Here too I don’t think Durand is walking a new and unseen musical path, but the beauty of the album lies simply in the nature of the music; it’s not really innovative or different, just beautiful and part of the strength of this particular album is the variety of approaches in this music. It’s never one approach and that’s the beauty of it. Ten tunes for autumn leaves – coinciding with the first real cold autumn day here. That can’t be a coincidence, I was thinking. Nice release all together. (FdW)
Address: http://whitepaddymountain.tumblr.com
KAWAGUCHI/OLIVE/OSHIRO – AIRS (CD by 845)
Hot on the heels of ‘Dominion Mills’, by Tim Olive and Ann-F Jacques (see Vital Weekly 942), here’s one Tim Olive recorded with Takahiro Kawaguchi, who builds his own instruments using everyday objects and is active in the field of improvised music as well as with Mokoto Oshiro, also creating his own instruments combining electro-mechanical devices and household products (see also a review of his previous release in Vital Weekly 931) and Olive himself who plays magnetic pickups, metal, wood, plastic and analogue electronics. The four pieces here were recorded in a room, using a microphone, so traveling through air, thus explaining the title; but it has also to do with ‘the meaning of the word as a tune or a song, more broadly interpreted as a composition’. All of this using ‘pre-chosen guidelines related to form, time, sound sources and density’. The result however all sounds more improvised, but perhaps sometimes it is hard to tell the difference between one composition and improvisation. The music is what we probably expect from Olive by now. It’s a bit noise like but of a more intelligent kind. Scraping and scratching the surface, exploring tonal qualities of daily objects and all along listening to each other and reacting to what the others are doing. There is a strong interaction between these players, and they create some very dynamic music. Loud and quiet are on equal par in this album. Sustaining sounds and short sounds are also used in equal amounts and at forty minutes this is not a minute too long or too short. A refined album of some exciting electro-acoustic music. (FdW)
Address: http://845audio.org
FREDERIC NOGRAY – MERUA (CD by Unfathomless)
French composer Frederic Nogray stayed in Honduras in August 2012. To be precise, he stayed on the Caribbean North Coast of Honduras between the cities of Tela and La Ceiba and near the Garifuna people. ‘Merua’ is a mountain where Nogray recorded some sounds but upon returning home there was nothing on the soundcard; such is the way of the local Buyei, a local shaman. However Nogray recorded other stuff and composed a piece out of those sounds. This piece, close to forty minutes, is one of great power. It seems to be constructed entirely (almost entirely) of insect sounds and nothing much else, but these recordings are cleverly put together and make up dense patterns of high-pitched sounds. Now, you could all too easily think this comes without much variation, but that’s not true. It seems to be shifting back and forth around various sounds; sometimes it seems Nogray created a rhythmic element in these sounds, especially after the twenty-fifth minute mark. Not in a techno sense, but it’s slow yet repetitive. ‘Heavy’ is perhaps a word one doesn’t use all too often when dealing with this kind of music, but this is all quite heavy I would think. The on-going high chirping, the deep ends, almost bass like sighing I heard and the endless amount of layers of sound together. Only the final bit is very soft, as a kind of coda. A great release this one: play this loudly and you’ll be dealing with the best noise release in some time. (FdW)
Address: http://www.unfathomless.net
DAG ROSENQVIST & RUTGER ZUYDERVELT – VINTERMUSIK (CD by Zoharum)
With some recognition (to avoid the word fame), Rutger Zuydervelt, also known as Machinefabriek, can always lean back and grab an oldie but goodie (and sold-out-ie) from the shelf and have it re-released. This is what happens here: The first six pieces were released in January 2007 on a CDR by the musicians themselves and probably didn’t make it to these pages, and ‘Feberdröm (Koortsdroom)’ was released in December 2007 as a 3″CDR and reviewed in Vital Weekly 609. All of this now compiled on ‘Vintermusik’, a proper CD version of all the work by Dag Rosenqvist (sometimes also known as Jasper TX) and Rutger Zuydervelt. It’s after all these years still not possible to tell who did what on these recordings, as for instruments and mixes that is. The original 3″CDR is placed at the end of this release back then I wrote: “… it’s a great work. High static crackles, a mid-range bed of warm drones and a bass that rumbles somewhere below. Much along the recent works of Machinefabriek, and a sound that brought him his fame so far. Maybe there is a risk of repeating, but no doubt the fans will take that for granted. Nice one.” The other five pieces follow a similar schematic, I think: lots of drone like sounds, generated by guitars and loop devices (and who knows what else from the electronics department) and all of this creating a solid hour of the finest dark ambient. Nothing new, but what did you expect from a re-issue? Fine quality, through out all of this. (FdW)
Address: http://www.zoharum.com
HUMAN GREED – WORLD FAIR (CD by Omnempathy)
This is the fifth album by Human Greed (or Michael Begg’s seventh if you count the other ones under his own name) and he worked for the last two years on this, and that’s something that shows here. While Human Greed is mainly himself and Deryk Thomas, there is a whole bunch of musicians helping them out, on cello and violin but mainly in the vocal department, such as Chris Connelly (Revolting Cocks, Ministry), Sukie Smith and Sophie Bancroft. If I understand well the album is about exploring ‘the potential for that science to be represented in a devotional mode more associated by faith’, and Human Greed harks back to the 16th century, both for that and the song craft here. It’s not that easy to detect I must say, but then: I am no expert on 16th century music either. In the past I compared the music of Human Greed with Fovea Hex, and it’s still on a similar line. The mood is a bit dark, with string instruments playing minor chords, aided by dark and moody soundscapes, field recordings, spoken words, and sweet sung melodies, although Human Greed is less folky than the music of Fovea Hex. There are also links to the musical world of Current 93, especially when things are a spookier and more textured here, Colin Potter and Andrew Liles may be inspirations here, and the whole thing has no doubt something very English about it. The creepy country castle atmosphere, the mechanics of a broken doll perhaps. Human Greed moves between the soundscape textures and the more song based structures of some of these pieces, and with pieces fading into each other, this sounds like one long trip, a journey if you will, moving through this fine, yet somewhat dark landscape. In good Fovea Hex tradition there is also a bonus CDR available, in which Begg and Thomas take the whole music of the CD apart and make an entirely new studio construction out of that. You hear little bits of the original in here, sometimes you may recognize a cello, or a violin, some voices but it’s otherwise heavy on the use of sound effects to create even denser atmospheres; the cloud on the CD is perhaps more grey; here’s it’s more black. More abstract perhaps too, and less with a story to tell us. This is an excellent form of sound recycling – to avoid the word ‘remix’. An excellent release, all around. (FdW)
Address: http://www.omnempathy.com
SHIVERS – SHIVERS (CD by Miasmah)
Shivers is a trio of Rutger Zuydervelt (logic), Gareth Davis (bass clarinet) and Leo Fabriek (drums). In the past they played and recorded in various combinations (Machinefabriek, The Julie Mittens), but this is their first statement as Shivers, released on the German Miasmah-label. They take inspiration from the first film by David Cronenberg, ‘Shivers’, a film with horror and sci-fi elements. This results in uncomfortable dark ambient music. Sinister and frightening music. They are very effective in creating unpleasant atmospheres, built from thick layers of noise, like in the first part of piece ‘Rabid’. In the second part however this piece turns into pleasant meandering playing by sax and drums around long extended drones from the organ. In a track like ‘Brood’ the noisy intro is followed up by electronic-based rhythms. In ‘Spacek’ they arrive at a point where I started to like it most. Spooky, almost voodoo like atmospheres and trance-induced rhythms. In the end I’m a bit dubious on this one. Half of it is much too amorphous for my tastes. In the other half they built interesting and some captivating patterns. (DM)
Address: http://www.miasmah.com
BEN BENNETT & JACK WRIGHT – TANGLE (CD by Public Eyesore)
Several weeks ago I reviewed a cd of Jack Wright together with his son. And now another duo recording sees the light. Wright (alto-, soprano saxes) is now accompanied by Ben Bennett who plays drums and percussion. Three improvisations, all about 20 minutes, recorded on july 2, 2013. As we are talking of Jack Wright I don’t have to mention that we are talking here of radical, improvised music. Bennett and Wright have been playing together since 2006. Together with Bennett’s dad, John M.Bennett, known for his work in the underground poetry scene, they had the trio Rotty What, who left two cds “Naming the Dust,” and “Ohio Grimes and Misted Meanies”(on Edgetone). Ben Bennett studied jazz drumming, and followed his own path intuitively in the world of improvised music. Bennett and Wright make a good match here as this recording proves. Lively improvisations full of subtle and communicative playing. It is a kind of sound poetry and definitely music, although free improvised music of this nature may sound cacophonic and random for untrained ears. (DM)
Address: http://www.publiceyesore.com
SIGMA OCTANTIS – DISSIPATIONS (CD by Malignant Antibody/Opn)
It’s not very often that we see good ol’ Morthound mentioned as an inspiration for current music. Maybe because I would assume it would be too far away in history? But maybe that’s just my perception of ‘that’ kind of music. Whenever I meet BJ Nilsen, the subject hardly ever gets to the fact that Morthound was his first musical enterprise. Here we have Sigma Octantis, which is a trio of JB, JW and JMW, and I assume from France and while I am trying very hard to remember what Morthound sounded like, I see also the ‘latter works of Caul’ mentioned, as well as Deutsch Nepal. All of which in my book are noted as the more interesting end of the dark music; gothic music, anyone? Back in the day, and I am speaking some twenty years ago, I was working for a record label/distributor and gothic would be the derivative term to label just anything dark, swollen, pathetic, rhythmic and/or forceful. Maybe over the years I learned to appreciate and recognize the differences, and while Sigma Octantis might not end up regularly in this CD player, I quite enjoy what they do. It’s rhythm heavy, lots of guitar sounds fed through all sorts of effects to make it more atmospheric and distorted, and a bit of more regular guitar and underneath probably a bunch of synthesizer sounds. All of these pieces are well over five minutes and have this atmospheric rocky sound with a bit of dark ambience and industrial monotony. I should be digging out some old Morthound releases to see if there is any validity in their influence claim, but then: who cares? I think Sigma Octantis did an excellent work on this. (FdW)
Address: http://www.malignantrecords.comhttp://www.opn.fr
MV X – MONOCHROME VISIONS 2004-2014 (3CD by Monochrome Vision)
This was supposed to be reviewed when I did the Architects Office and Falx Cerebri releases on the same label (see Vital Weekly 944), but found out there was something seriously wrong with the pressing and brought the bad news to Moscow. I already started the review (nothing ever goes to waste here): And then, Monochrome Vision has been around for ten years. The main interest is to release music from the 80s underground, sometimes old and sometimes new music by old people and as such, topped with nice black and white artwork, this label has provided me with some true surprises, such as Falx Cerebri or Rafael Flores, but also summing up the best around. Oh, speaking about summing up, I can best sum up who’s on here and you will have close to four hours of the finest encyclopedia of current ‘noise’ music, and much beyond. We have here: Laurent Pernice, Cisfinitum, Miguel Ruiz, HHTP, Rafael Flores, Kinetix, Maurizio Bianchi & Siegmar Fricke, Lieutenant Caramel, Das Synthestische Mischegewebe, Frank Rothkamm, If Bwana, Asmus Tietchens, Y-Ton-G, Kohei Matsunaga, Batchas, Falx Cerebri, Vox Populi, Pacific 231, Gen Ken Montgomery, Arcane Device, Freiband, Nikita Golyshev, Trance, PBK, Bardoseneticcube, Francisco Lopez, Tomas Phillips, Kiyoharu Kuwayama & Hideaki Shimada & Kiyoshi Mizutani, Jason Kahn & Richard Francis, Bernard Donzel-Gargand, Les Syndicat MMX, @C, Karl Bosmann, The Oval Language, Simon Whetham, Factor X, Artificial Memory Trace, Thanos Chrysakis, Mystery Hearsay, Watercoloured Well, Roel Meelkop & Mecha/orga, Yannick Franck, THU20, Julien Ottavi, Umpio, Sigillum S, Architects Office. Lots of electronic music from the world of computers and laptops, but bands like Vox Populi and Trance are certainly most welcome odd balls in this lot. Close to four hours of great music, erm what more do you want? Onto the next ten years of monochrome vision! (FdW)
Address: http://www.monochromevision.ru
KEITH KELLEY – THE PEOPLE WHO LEFT (CD by Edgetone)
NASHVILLE ELECTRIC (CD by Edgetone)
DREW CECCATO & ADAM TINKLE – EIDOLON (CD by Edgetone)
‘Eidolon’ is the work of the sax players, Ceccato (tenor, baritone) and Adam Tinkle (alto).
Their duo-improvisations were recorded live on March 3th, this year in San Diego, the city where both improvisers have their base. Ceccato developed a style that combines free improvised music and modern composed music. Tinkle lives as a farmer on the one hand, and as a musician playing several instruments on the other hand. On “Eidolon’ they deliver some interesting and engaging duets. These two excellent improvisers build fine textures. Investigating harmony, playing with colour, sometimes sounding almost unison, at other moments they play contrasted lines. But whatever they do, their concentrated interplay results in fresh and vivid free improvisations.
Keith Kelly is also a sax player who debuts with his quartet that often operates as Ask Not: Ari Chersky (guitar), Shaun Lowecki (drums and cymbals) and Doug Stuart (upright bass). Kelly is a woodwind specialist, teacher and researcher. The cd offers eight improvisations that gave a good impression of this combo. Although hectic at moments, a relaxed feeling dominates in these loosely developing journeys, moving between departing and arriving. Kelley has a philosophic mind as he writes in the liner notes: ‘We are always becoming, but that also means we are always leaving’. The moments that gave birth to these improvisations have been long gone now, but listening to these recordings they can establish a new momentum in your experience.
Nashville Electric is a keyboard-dominated outfit, something you not expect to come from Nashville, but in this case it is: Tracy Silverman (electric six string violin & effects), Ryan Norris (keyboards), Dylan Simon (keyboards & effects), Thollem McDonas (keyboards) and Ed Pettersen (guitar, effects, & percussion). The musicians have very different backgrounds, but joined forces for this unusual and truly experimental project. The keyboards produce massive clouds of sound, accompanied by riffs from the electric guitar and contributions from the violin. A strange balance is the result. Don’t know what to think of it. The music is dynamic on the one hand, but also of a static nature. It is not so much about movement and development. They create a spatial experience, a room filled with thick and foggy air, that make it difficult to distinguish who is doing what. (DM)
Address: http://www.edgetonerecords.com
DAYS & TAXIS – ARTIST (2CD by Percaso)
Christoph Gallio is a stabile force in the Swiss jazz scene since many decades. One of his most long lasting projects is the trio Day & Taxi he formed in 1988. Originally a quartet it soon turned to trio-format. The line up of this trio changed over the years. But playing with different drummers and bass players, Gallio remained focused and developed his own voice. The latest release of this trio – their seventh – is the first one in the new line up that is operating since 2013: Silvan Jeger (double bass), David Meier (drums) and Gallio himself playing soprano, alto, c-melody and baritone saxophones. Jeger and Meier are both Swiss musicians of a younger generation. In three days they recorded this double cd, counting 30 compositions all by Gallio. The pieces are sparse and effectively arranged, which makes his music crystal clear in its structure. Saxophone and drums often follow the same path, giving a unison effect. Gallio is not the man for long extended improvisations. He clenches his ideas in short well-constructed frameworks. And because there are 30 short tracks on this double release, a kaleidoscopic effect is the result. In some pieces jazzy attitudes dominate, others are more close to avant rock á la Etron Fou, etc. Some of the pieces remain sketchy impressions. Throughout Gallio and his mates produce not more notes and patterns then necessary to work their musical ideas. Not to forget is Gallio’s love for melody. Transparent and accessible avant garde music is the result, if that is not a contradiction. (DM)
Address: http://www.percaso.ch
MICHEL GUILLET – UNSTABLE DISTANCE (CDR by Ing-on)
It’s been a while since I heard ‘Behind Nothing’, the third album of Michel Guillet and my first proper introduction to his work (see Vital Weekly 801), a French composer of music and collaborator with other artists. A list of activities may not constitute as a biography, I was thinking. For this new work he writes that it is ‘a work about concept of itinerary, the goal was to create continuity with discontinuity’, and unlike the previous that ‘the used sources are instrumental and also analogic [sic], mostly retreated with digital technology’. In his previous work he said that is was ‘electroacoustic spirit and a noisy touch’ and back then it wasn’t far from the truth, but also for this new release one could say the same. This is the kind of music that stands strongly in that French tradition of musique concrete, building massive electronic pieces out of sparse material at the beginning. All of these transformations, from every stage of processing, seem to be used and re-used; recycling in optima forma. Guillet’s music is louder, it seems than most others in this field of electro-acoustic composition, or maybe just on this particular release it seems a bit louder. Two pieces here, both just over thirty minutes each, and it’s more like an endless stream of sounds going on here, some kind of subconscious mixing of sounds and less about the exact placing of sounds; more improvised than composed, perhaps? Less sensitive than the previous it seems, but it’s the kind of noise that works for this listener really well. (FdW)
Address: <m.guillet@sfr.fr>
PS STAMPS BACK – MUSIC TO CROSS FORESTS (CDR by 1000+1 Tilt)
Whenever I got out for a longer walk, which is never a lot unfortunately, I take my portable music device and listen to music. But whenever I am surrounded by trees and hardly any humans (with their dogs, usually, when it comes to having trees around you), I feel a bit silly with an earplug and maybe thinking I should remove them and be listening to the birds around us. Almost everything on the cover here is in Greek letters, but I understand that it’s music to ‘act as a background while driving or walking in mountains and forests. Most of the titles refer to Greek mountains and forests’, as the label tells me. It uses ‘mfb nanozwerg, monotron, domino, reaktor, audiomulch, insectos tropicales’ and some stuff in Greek. You can walk for seventy-two minutes playing this music before having to put this on repeat. Now, today, it’s windy and cold, autumn has arrived here in The Netherlands, and I went out to quickly buy some groceries, listening to two odd songs on my Ipod; it’s not the kind of weather conditions that would prompt me in taking a long forest walk. So, instead I sit at home and work a bit, mainly on the computer and I play this music. Now, while I like this music, I don’t think I would easily play this while walking. But while working at home: yeah fine. PS Stamps Back create rather easy going rhythmic pieces of electronic music, maybe with a marching theme I was thinking; it has a sort of motorik drive to it, with the synths bleeping around it, all ordered nicely. It’s music with a rather nice function to it: you have to do something. It’s minimal and tracks are pretty long – not always – but each of these pieces holds enough variation to be interesting for the entire length of these pieces. Sometimes it’s perhaps a bit too piercing, and thus perhaps not easy to listen to on a mountaintop, but the more gentle, monotonous beat driving/sequenced pieces towards the end worked quite well. Very nice release! (FdW)
Address: http://tiltrecordings.org
HYSTERYLAND 1 2 3 (CDR by Stront Rec.)
LOSSE EINDJES (CDR by Losse Flodders)
LOSSE FLODDERS (cassette by Losse Flodders)
Hysteryland has started as a birthday party for the 50 years old noise musician Peter Zincken. The first edition was in the Y Keuken in Amsterdam and just some noise-acts were doing their wicked shows. The second edition was at De Vondelbunker in Amsterdam during the international music festival SOTU (Sounds of the Underground) and lots more acts and styles did their shows. The festival was growing and the third edition was held at Landsbouwbelang in Maastricht. Hysteryland is a festival organized by members of the Fckn?Bstrds, a noise act with a lot of crazy performances with a lot of trash and plastic materials. The festival itself is just a chaotic as the Fuckin Bastards and that?s the fun of this event. Most of the musicians just play for fun and a couple of beers and that?s it. Main goal is to create a lot of noise and an atmosphere in which everyone feels free to do what he or she wants. The compilation Hysteryland 1 2 3 is released at Stront Rec, the label of Peter Zincken and the CDR is just as chaotic as the festival itself. The quality of the several recordings varies. The cover of the CDR is handmade and handwritten and that makes this release personal. Projects at this release are Laffe Mietjes, Weird Dust, The Cockpainters, Stinkend Reich, LSD Mossel, Odal + Snot, Zyrtax, Morphines Sister, Levi Daal, Magriet Kicks Ass, Kristus Kut and more. Most of the acts are noise based, but bands like Stinkend Reich are more metal based with basic texts about cigarettes or beer. The noise is divers and varies from an installation of Magriet Kicks Ass to ear blowing noise like Zyrtax or screams of Morphines Sister. Anyhow, this CDR gives a good view of the part of the Dutch independent noise scene that just play for fun and mostly play just straight from the heart and nothing more. Losse Eindjes is a compilation of some bands that played at Losse Flossers, a small festival with same attitude as Hysteryland and organized by a part of the Fuckin Bastards. Losse Eindjes is more metal orientated with bands like Capra Ibex, Stinkend Reich and Dirty East Godverdomme. The metal comes is just metal and the texts are basic as hell and with a lot of humour. Suzuki Alto is more electronic based with pulsing synth sounds, a minimal drummachine, drony string synths and some disturbing electronic sounds. Nice weird track. Fckn? Bstds is pure chaotic noise in combination with ‘smartlappen’ muziek (popular dutch-language music). The chaos, which they create on stage with garbage instruments, is effective and much fun to watch and to listen to it. And last but not least another compilation with a collection of live recordings of several events and noise-acts. The compilation is recorded in a re-used tape and packed in a plastic box with a lot of artwork. I think this release fits most to the atmosphere of these weird noise freaks. Between the noises there are recordings of quotes of Fabeltjeskrant, which create some more humor in the tape. Lots of projects of Peter Zincken are on this tape and his friends like Betty Poop, Ziek, Zeseneenkwart and S.N.O.T., but also musicians like Levy Daal, Frank Vis and LJ Katergoud. (JKH)
Address: https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Hysteryland/1468313010086350
PASCAL SAVY – ADRIFT (CDR by Eilean Records)
NATHAN MCLAUGHLIN – NOTHING TO BE SAD ABOUT (CDR by Eilean Records)
Eilean Records release something every month, I believe, so here are perhaps the ones from this and last month? They are bot limited to sixty-five copies and the first is by someone whom I may have never heard of, Pascal Savy. That sounds French I thought, but it was recorded in London between April and August 2014 and at his disposal he had tape loops, synthesizers, sine waves, guitar, xylophone, bells, feedback and pedal. In these eight pieces he paints some nice ambient music, perhaps a little too much along the beaten track of whatever else is happening in this particular genre of all things dark and ambient, but Savy does a nice job here. The production is very nice, there is a nice amount of variation in these pieces, which is nothing big or anything, but it flows nicely from one piece to the next. Whatever instruments used are sufficiently worked over and don’t get easily recognized in this music. If you are in seeking about new names in the genre that also brings you Machinefabriek (and you didn’t get enough of those), than Savy is your next man.
From Nathan McLaughlin we reviewed a bunch of cassettes before (see Vital Weekly 760, 775 and 823) but it seemed quiet for some time. I quite enjoyed these tape releases; it reminded me of William Basinski and Jason Zeh: all about the decay of sound through the use of reel-to-reel recorders. But whereas his previous releases where a bit vague when it came to the instruments used – synthesizers perhaps – it seems to be clear that many of the seven pieces here on ‘Nothing To Be Sad About’ were made using a violin and sound effects, mainly, I think, a looping device of some kind. It makes quite a difference, even when the violin gets bend around a lot, such as in ‘Night Shades II’ and it’s more like a synthesizer indeed. It moves from the recognizable violin into something more abstract to end on a melancholic note in ‘Recess’. It’s a pity that all of this is quite short, as it clocks at twenty-eight minutes. There is a fine sense of melancholy and minimalism in this album, some beautifully textured music sitting next to some more abstract forms there of and it makes an excellent album all around. (FdW)
Address: http://www.eilean-records.com/
PALE SISTER – EMBEDDEAD (3″CDR by Sincope)
SUTT – ELEMENTER (cassette by Sincope)
GRIZZLY IMPLODED – THREATENING FRAGMENTS FROM FOUR BOUDERS (cassette by Sincope)
JABBER GARLAND – PRIMITIVE FUTURE (cassette by Sincope)
Sincope is an Italian DIY label, which releases tapes and CDT in limited editions. Massimo Truculentboy Onza who is also responsible for the minimalistic artwork of the releases runs the label. Pale Sister is a noise project from Italy. The CDR consists 23 tracks and it’s like a race against the time, a race against silence. It’s like a cut-up technic of several moments of noise. Track 13 is a break in the album, with some ear blowing silent moments and playing with the plug of a microphone. Some tracks are based on deformed en destructed dance music surrounded with tons of sounds. The 20 minutes are very intense. This music pulls all the blood from the veins. The set-up of the album is well chosen. It starts with old school power electronics and after a while there is more space in the compositions with some more echo, which give more possibilities to take some distance. Some sounds are really well chosen and too short, like the sound of breaking glass in high speed. The CD-r ends with a penetrating sound and the torture is over. Great release at Sincope.
Sutt is a duo formed in Berlin formed in June 2012. They toured a lot in Europe and Japan. The first track of the cassette (C30) ‘Elementer’ is recorded by a handy cam during a concert at Super Deluxe in Tokyo. The music is fast and furious with a lot of screams, fast drums and noises. The bad quality of the recording gives a private atmosphere and ends with a emotional scream and harmful cry. The other tracks are recorded on the Western Italian Alps. The first track is a beautiful serene song in which the voice of Trolde Christiansen and develops into an evil composition with a lot of aggression supported with noise and fast drums of Utku Tavil. The other track is like scream-jazz (does this gerne exists anyway??). Fast on-going free-jazzy drums, ongoing noises and a never ending rubbish talking and screaming voice. “Vand” is a beautiful composition of voice, which is searching and is guided by some soft noises. The atmosphere is dark and fragile and it’s like a soundtrack of a short movie. Great mix of a fragile voice, edited voices and melancholic abstract sounds. The tape ends with a uptempo beat in combination with electronics and becomes more and more wild and continues in a state of wildness. The two musicians know how to explore the borders of their instruments and melt this together in several atmospheres. Great tape!
Grizzly Imploded is a trio formed by Francesco Gregoretti, Maurizio Argenziano and Sergio Albano. They play highly improvised music with two guitars and drums. The trio released their second release on the label Sincope. The tape (C20) consists of four improvisations with titles like “The light that took complete control of my eyes”, “Scary alien worlds are on the prowl”, “Scratched by the sounds of Timpani to moult in a vortex of colours” and “A shufftecraft weighed down by a layer of honey”. The first improvisation has some more structure, but the second consists of more fragments. Side B starts slowly and some minimal tones and beats on the drumkit. This track is played with a lot of attention. The last one is more dark and slow aswell. Step by step the music becomes more and more intense and full and the musicians create more and more variety in their music. Interesting improvisation tape with four different atmospheres.
Jabber Garland consists of Sindre Bjerga and Andreas Brandal from Norway. Sindre Bjerga creates his music by tape recorders, contact microphones and rewired or homemade electronics. Andreas Brandal is active in several projects and active since the late eighties. He released a lot of albums and tapes worldwide. The cassette Primitive Future is their second release. The first song “Orders From Lucifer” is a beautiful mix electronics, acoustic guitars and some deformed voices at the background. Slowly a crying guitar changes the quiet atmosphere and the composition becomes more and more evil. And side A of the tapes keeps on going in this atmosphere. Drones are flowing away and are disturbed by noises and some receptive guitar notes are joining and give the abstract music some melody. Side B starts with the track “The Woods” some minimal musique concrete sounds. This fragile moment keeps on going and a soft drone is coming up surrounded with some feedback tones and disturbed voices at the background. The abstract music develops more into post-rock music. Same atmosphere in the second track called Catalogue of Diseases, but I like more the compositions at side A in which several styles are melted together. Anyhow? Sincope has a fine taste and a wide range of several styles in their releases with a high DIY quality. (JKH)
Address: http://sincoperec.altervista.org
MONOCHROME VISION – THE REVEALER OF ALL LIFE (cassette by Under Label)
It would be interesting to know if the band named Monochrome Vision knows there is also a label with the same name (see also elsewhere)? Or perhaps they do, and want to be on that label? Or perhaps it’s the label manager playing music? Oke, that last thing is surely not the case here and a look on discogs show there is just this single release, which lasts ninety minutes, so you might have a fine impression of what it is all about. The cover says that ‘analog instruments were used, synthesizers, drum PC’s, sequencers and hardware effects’, which is perhaps exactly what I expected when I played this. In the time-span of these ninety minutes Monochrome Vision offers seventeen pieces, which are easily to detect: despite them being all highly atmospheric and moody, they have a clear beginning and end. That’s always nice as it means, I think, that Monochrome Vision has clearly thought about these pieces and didn’t throw some pieces together. You could argue that some of these pieces are a bit long and there isn’t always a lot of variation available in these pieces but I think the whole thing had a nice ambient backdrop character, allowing the listener to actively listen, or ignore it, just as Brian Eno once wanted with ambient music. This I thought was so long that at one point this afternoon I didn’t know if I was still playing side B, or perhaps it reversed to Side A again – as a matter of fact it did, and already some time ago. Maybe that makes the whole thing a bit interchangeable, but one should not see it like this. It’s more in a constant flow of things, with various shades of tidal wave washing ashore. Ambient with a dash industrial: nothing new perhaps, but it surely works well. (FdW)
Address: http://www.under-label.be/
UNCODIFIED/SIMON BALESTRAZZI – SPLIT (cassette by Old Bicycle Records)
The music Unicodified is recorded during winter 2014 and is a project of Corrado Altieri from Italy. He is active since 2006 and uses only analogue and digital devices to create his music. No laptop will be used. The first track is more into the harsh noise without becoming evil and nasty. The second track Chemical Stabilizers is dronier with an on-going tone and at the background noises are coming up and fade away, like the waves of the sea. This track is moving slowly into more isolated sounds to more an open approach to noise and drones. Great track but the chemical stabilizers doesn’t work at all, because the agitation and commotion is increasing after a while. Simon Balestrazzi is active since 1982 and has done lots of projects and recorded music with a huge account of musicians like Z’EV. His music has also been used for dance, movies, and exhibitions and for television and radio. The tape is filled with a trilogy called “Eine Ballade” The trilogy starts with “Dann,” an experimental examination of electronics and cymbals. The second part “bevor die Sonne kam,” is like a difficult morning break. Sounds are coming up, like birds that are waking up from the grave. Still the sounds are scratching each other and try to find their direction. Simon Balestrazzi uses a wide range of instruments for these compositions, but it is all well balanced and it is not a cacophony. The disturbance is leaping into dark ambient atmospheres in combination with the clear sound of a bell of bike. The tape ends with “Kamen die Vögel.” And looped voice is guided by minimal feedback tones and some soft electronic soundscratches and feedback tones. Beautiful piece of music. The trilogy is based on the ballad “Minotaurus” of Friedrich Dürrenmatt. Old Bicycle Records has packed the tape in a beautiful cardboard package and again the released a beautiful tape with sensitive music. (JKH)
Address: http://oldbicyclerecords.blogspot.it/