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VITAL WEEKLY
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number 358
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week 6
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REMANENCE - LAMKHYER (Cd by Mpath Records)
BUSRATCH - GIRAFFE (CDR by Boxmedia)
TU M' - DIFFERENT LINES (CDR by Boxmedia)
MIKE SHIFLET - THOSE THAT TRULY LOVE MUSIC KNOW THAT IT MUST BE
DESTROYED (CDR by Boxmedia)
MAPSTATION FEAT. RAS DONOVAN - VERSION TRAIN (miniCD by Staubgold)
BIP HOP GENERATION V.6 (CD compilation by Bip Hop)
TONY BUCK - SELF CONTAINED UNDERWATER BREATHING APPARATUS (CD by TES)
JIDAI - NOVA (CDR by Mixer)
DISCOM - AUTOMOTO (CD by Deco)
.MURMER - EYES LIKE A FISH (CDR by S'Agita Recordings)
I-CELESTIAL-INSECT (2CD compilation by Doctsect)
AKIYAMA/NAKAMURA/SUGIMOTO/WASTELL - FOLDINGS (CD by Confront)
R. CHARTIER - DIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL (CD by 3Particles)
R. CHARTIER - OTHER MATERIALS (CD by 3Particles)

REMANENCE - LAMKHYER (Cd by Mpath Records)
After the well-acclaimed debut album "Apparations" Remanence have
this time reduced the efforts into three tracks lasting approximately
20 minutes. Apparently this beautifully cardboard-packaged three inch
sized CD is the first sign of a new up-coming full-length album
titled "A Strange Constellation of Events". Brian McWilliams and John
Phipps, the
duo behind Remanence create an effective mixture of spiritual ambient
and tribal percussion with some strong ethnic influence. Title-track
"Lamkhyer" opens the set with various hand percussion and wind
instruments that penetrate the soundscapes of dark drones. Smooth,
drifting and mysterious. On second track "K'an (the abyss)" the
listener is confronted with some Tibetan bell ringing that in its own
subtle way intensify the dark and eerie expression on this, the
album's most non-tribal track. Final track "The leftward path" is the
most percussive with some mid-tempo rhythmic textures that reminds of
earlier works by Steve Roach. "Leftward path" is also the brightest
and most tuneful track where the two previous tracks moved deeply
into dark and gloomy territories. "Lamkhyer" is a Tibetan slogan
saying that whatever happens in your life must be included as a part
of your journey. In that sense I advice any listener of ethno-ambient
to include this brilliant CD-Ep as a part of their ongoing musical
explorations. Especially admirers of Steve Roach and Vidna Obmana
will appreciate this work a lot! (NMP)
Address: www.remanence.org

BUSRATCH - GIRAFFE (CDR by Boxmedia)
TU M' - DIFFERENT LINES (CDR by Boxmedia)
MIKE SHIFLET - THOSE THAT TRULY LOVE MUSIC KNOW THAT IT MUST BE
DESTROYED (CDR by Boxmedia)
Busratch was a turntable trio from Japan, now reduced to a turntable
duo. I must say that I am never too fond of turntable as an
instrument, although I know some nice exceptions and those are mainly
the ones I saw in concert, maybe the live version makes more
impression on me. The pieces on this disc were recorded in a studio
and in concert, but there is at such not really a difference between
the two. Densely layered crackling and noise, with occassional
recognizable musical elements (although not recognized any music as
such). It's probably a nice work, but not really well spend on me, I
guess. Too flat, too faceless...
Tu M', known for their website activities were once a trio and now a
duo. From the period when they were still a trio, and from after
that, comes this work 'Different Lines'. Tu M' is an all laptop trio.
Plundering music from the web, CDs and maybe things they have
recorded themselves, which gets hacked away through filters, plug ins
and what else have you got on a laptop. Like many of the other
releases Tu M' did, they have absolutely very nice tracks, such as
the quiet, contemplating seventh and eigth track on here (no titles
of course). But they sometimes also have tracks that aren't just it,
like the stripped bare minimalism of the second track. Tu M' is a
band that continue to produce music on end, but they never seem to be
too critical in editing out the pieces that should be archived and
the pieces that should be released.
Mike Shiflet is part of Noumena, a performance group from Columbus
Ohio and he also runs the Gameboy Records label (who released some of
the excellent Brutum Fullmen stuff). Although still a young man, Mike
produces some noise related music that is for more interesting then
the usual feedback orgastic masturbation. On this release, Mike
skipps the notions of feedback in favor of softer rumbling of contact
microphones on metal plates and dronings of processed shortwaves,
ampnoise and other buzzing found sound. Serious in musical approach,
Mike adds the fun in his titles, 'Ben Vida Of Noise' and
'Twenty-First Century (Com)posuer' (which absolutely bares no
relation to the King Crimson piece) being the best examples. Noise
can still be an interesting thing and Mike proves it. (FdW)
Address: www.boxmedia.com

MAPSTATION FEAT. RAS DONOVAN - VERSION TRAIN (miniCD by Staubgold)
This new miniCD continues were Mapstation's previous 'A Way To Find
The Day' left off. Mapstation is the solo project by former Kreidler
bassplayer Stefan Schneider and one third of To Rococo Rot. Armed
with just a little bit of gear (minidiscs, bass and sampler) he
produces some delicate micro tonal, micro glitch and above all
intimate music. In a pure instrumental mood, small, carefully crafted
pieces fill the space. Small melodies embedded in a bath of swirling
electronics, cozy and warm. However there is also another possibility
which Mapstation explores and that is the addition of Jamacian like
voices of Ras Donovan and Scallo. The sound of Mapstation becomes
more dubby in there and the toasting reminds me of Tikiman's work
with Rythm And Sound, but it's less formal dub inspired and more
electronical. The laidback dubby vocals and sounds fit together very
well, and with the warm and rich glitchy music of Mapstation
instrumental this becomes a very nice work. But short, too short.
(FdW)
Address: www.staubgold.com

BIP HOP GENERATION V.6 (CD compilation by Bip Hop)
Bip Hop continues with their 'bip hop generation' series (six artists
per compilation), now up with number six, with small changes in the
design (unfortunally the booklet remains badly designed but
informative). As before Bip Hop succeeds to make a nice cocktail in
names, known and unknowns. Scanner or Ilpo Vaisanen may be more crowd
pleasers then Bittonic. The cocktail continues in the music. The CD
opens with the laptop wizzardy of concrete musicians Alejandra &
Aeron whom with simple means create intense and evocative music.
Scanner operates in a rather known territory for him, scanned voices,
synths. Maybe a bit more digital then before, but nothing new for the
bigger part. Nice pieces though. Bittonic, aka Iris Garrelfs, is from
Germany but lives in London shows an interest in Chain Reaction
rhythmical ambience. The fact that she uses processed voice makes it
quite interesting. Ilpo Vaisanen (one half of Pan Sonic) has three
shorter pieces which clearly show his part in Pan Sonic and a more
private interest in dub. Cold and minimal are his keywords. Battery
Operated also operate in a more musique concrete style, but arrive,
unlike Alejandra & Aeron at a more rhythmical music, short,
defragmented loops of sound. The CD closes with Angel (Ilpo Vaisanen
and Dirk Dresselhaus, who have a CD on Bip Hop) do not, again,
impress me with the rhythmical blurr of industrial music. Overall I
rate this as a positive compilation, with some nice music. (FdW)
Address: www.bip-hop.com

TONY BUCK - SELF CONTAINED UNDERWATER BREATHING APPARATUS (CD by TES)
Now here's a drummer that has not been reviewed a lot in Vital
Weekly, but one who has played with almost the entire telephone book
of improvised music (Otomo, Yoshihide, Axel Dorner, Andrea Neuman,
Andy Moor, Jon Rose, Zeitblom, Werner Dafeldecker and many more -
this phone book is not alphabetic), but he has also some solo
recordings. This new CD was recorded in one take and has no overdubs.
In the beginning of this fourty minute work, he starts out with small
percussion only, but over the course of the piece, he adds more small
details until the bigger picture of an almost percussive orchestra
arrives. After some twenty six minutes the layers have grown into a
dense, thick fog. It's defintely not easy music to digest - more so,
it even made me tired, like I was drumming myself - but one that
fully needs your attention. Beauty will unfold itself then. (FdW)
Address: <re_drum@hotmail.com>

JIDAI - NOVA (CDR by Mixer)
The second release by Mixer in the format of a CDR is by a young
Japanese sound artist Jidai. It's his debut release. Upon first
hearing one could altogether easily classify this as the same old
laptop story. High end peeps, low end rumble. But there are
differences. Jidai plays short tracks, fourteen in just over thirty
minutes. There is enough variety in these small tracks to make it a
very nice set. The second thing is that this sounds much more
melodical and musical then most of the rest in these cold laptop
areas, even when Jidai plays no real melodies. But he crafts careful
small and delicate pieces. The bad thing is, however, that the
overall volume of this CD is quite soft. I don't really get that
point. Why is he so shy? Is there something to hide in there? Some
additional mastering would not have been a bad thing for this
release. The CDR comes with a nice printed booklet, full of Japanese
text. I am told that this text deals with the four elements. Hard to
see the relation with the music, but maybe it's poetry, just as this
music is kinda of poetic of nature. But in every sense this is well
thought out release. (FdW)
Address: www.stichtingmixer.nl

DISCOM - AUTOMOTO (CD by Deco)
A duo who started Deco sometime ago and who now release their work on
a CD. Lionel Fernandez and Erik Minkkinen are the enterpreneurs, who
apperentely built their own computer tools. "Automoto" is their
second CD. So that's about all there is to know about them. When I
played their entire CD, my immediate thought was: so what? Tons of
random bubbles, software synths, which once started, seem to run on
random end. A bit of hacked popmusic, some mego like processing,
noisy bits, some Oval. Everything that people classify as hip is part
of the deal, but it never gets anywhere near even interesting. Maybe
it's the sort of thing which people always dislike about laptop
musicians: it sounds so uninspiring. If you need an example of this,
get the Discom CD. (FdW)
Address: www.w-deco.com

.MURMER - EYES LIKE A FISH (CDR by S'Agita Recordings)
.Murmer aka Patrick McGinley is a guy with a microphone, walking
around the house or outside to tape the fascinations of everyday
life. After he stucks his sounds on his four track and plays around
with reverb, delay and distortion. For instance for this release he
taped a beer cooler, fireworks, escalator, skipping hardcore CD,
wasp, insects, airplanes and church bells, to name but a few of his
sources. This release reflects some of his early works, dating from
1999 and 2000. His treatments to his source material are mild. The
fireworks on new years eve are still fireworks. For the more abstract
sounding material it's hard to figure what it is, but it's good to
see it listed on the cover (and maybe in some cases even inspiring to
get your own microphone hooked up). Some of the ideas on this release
are a bit naive (like recording fireworks) or even out of place, such
as fourth track with it's skipping hardcore cd. But the third piece,
with it's lengthty combination of various sound sources in a darker
moody atmosphere makes it up a lot, I think. .Murmer's recent works
may sound more refined, but this early work is maybe because of it's
raw and pure nature, also a good start. (FdW)
Address: www.sagitarecordings.vze.com

I-CELESTIAL-INSECT (2CD compilation by Doctsect)
Doctsect is a small US label, based around the composer Cordell
Klier. Their recent double CD compilation 'I-Celestial-Insect' has a
sort of microsound design like cover, but the music is only loosely
based on microsoundings. Featured here are some people I never heard
of, and some people who are mostly known from releases on CDR.
Musicwise there are connections to the worlds of microsound, but in
general the artists featured on this compilation tend more the use of
rhythmical elements in their music. But I must say straight away,
none of these artists are really techno inspired. Some of these
rhythms are darker edged electronica, sometimes glitchy and never
really danceable. It seems to me that on the second disc things go
even further and the ambient character of the music prevails. Here
too the more darker atmospheres prevail. Over the two discs/two hours
of music there isn't a particular stand out track, which is a pity.
But there isn't also any odd ball, or really bad track around. There
is an overall good quality present here. Names included here are J.
Frede, Raan, The Holocaust Division (I must admit: whose music is
as horrible as the name), Goose, Liquid Sphere, In Mires Of, Tu M',
Bizz Circuits, Immaculate Grotesque, Brain, Matt Gibney, Mag Wheels,
Abstruse and many more. Worth checking out for the more adventurous
minds.
Address: www.doctsect.com

AKIYAMA/NAKAMURA/SUGIMOTO/WASTELL - FOLDINGS (CD by Confront)
Music on the edge of silence. A four people improvisation by Tetuzi
Akiyama (turntable, air duster), Toshimaru Nakamura (no input mixing
board), Taku Sugimoto (acoustic guitar, preparations) and Mark
Wastell (violincello, preparations, contact mix, amplifier). Recorded
about a year ago in Tokyo at Offsite, a place that needs no
introduction as far as these soft matters go. There are two pieces,
'First Fold' and 'Second Fold'. The 'First Fold' consist mainly of
loose sounds by either of the four players and it's hard to tell from
these subtle scrapings who is responsible for what in here. Austerity
rules, ok! But maybe the austerity here is a bit too much. Luckily in
'Second Fold' things are up a bit. There is even a continuous tone
here and there, a bit of ongoing hum and ongoing scrapings. Maybe
there is 1000% more happening then on the first fold, but I'm still
playing this at a much louder volume then the average CD. This CD is
in true onkyo style and probably goes well with the die-hard lovers -
I am sometimes one. (FdW)
Address: www.confront.info

R. CHARTIER - DIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL (CD by 3Particles)
R. CHARTIER - OTHER MATERIALS (CD by 3Particles)
If I was a rude boy, which I am not, I could eaily describe this as
'Ikeda on acid': harsh bleeps, utter deep bass, but luckily more is
happening. Chartier moves with several minutes into more passages
then the average Ikeda (so it is less minimal), the average Guenter
(so it is more audible), or the average Meelkop (so it may be less
composed), or the average Rehberg (so it is less beat oriented
noise). You may get the picture. Chartier takes inspiration from
these people, but adds his own voice, one that is at times more
industrial, and certainly throughout more varied in the sounds and
compositions used here. A nice cross-over between anything on Trente
Oiseaux and Mego, so the hypy boys 'n girls know where to be. That
was all years ago, as all of the above lines come from the review
from the time when this CD was released, by Intransitive. Now, as a
re-issue, and with a considerable amount of other Chartier works
available, it is nice to see that the austerity of his later works is
already present in these older works. Maybe it's the conversion from
analog to digital (the original CD from 1998 was largely made using
analog equipment, this CD has been digitally remastered) that makes
this into a less loud CD, but it most definteley fits the current
Chartier sound very well.
The second release by Chartier on his own 3Particles label is a
collection of pieces he did for compilations (of which some are still
available, curiously enough) plus five previously unreleased pieces.
They range from 1999 to 2001. The shorter time span of compilations
calls for more 'active' pieces - pieces in which there is more
action, then y'r average more silenced and longer works that we
usually find on Chartier's CDs. A nice collection here. (FdW)
Address: www.3particles.com