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VITAL WEEKLY
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number 605
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week 50
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Vital Weekly, the webcast: we offering a
weekly webcast, freely to download. This can be regarded as the
audio-supplement to Vital Weekly. Presented as a radioprogramm
with excerpts of just some of the CDs (no vinyl or MP3) reviewed.
It will remain on the site for a limited period (most likely 2-4
weeks). Download the file to your MP3 player and enjoy!
complete tracklist here: http://www.vitalweekly.net/podcast.html
you can subscribe to the weekly broadcast using the following
rss feed:
http://www.harmlog.nl/vitalfeed.asp
New broadcasts will be sent directly when uploaded.
* noted are in this week's podcast
MB/HUE/FHIEVEL - ERIMOS (CD by Digitalis
Industries)
MUDBOY - HUNGRY GHOSTS! THESE SONGS ARE ENDORSED (CD by Digitalis
Industries) *
STEVEN R. SMITH - OWL (CD by Digitalis Industries)
I AM A VOWEL - ET OP LA BANG (CD by Fang Bomb) *
ANGHARAD DAVIES & TISHA MUKARJI - ENDSPACE (CD by Another
Timbre) *
FLORIANA VS MACRO - HELEYLAH SUNSET (CD by Dalaki) *
ZAVOLOKA - VITER (CD by Kvitnu) *
BOY DIRT CAR - SPOKEN ANSWER TO A SILENT QUESTION (CD by Aftermusic)
*
STEN OVE TOFT - LIT DE PARADE (CD by Roggbif Records)
ANAKRID - UNODOS (2CD by Beta Lactam-ring Records) *
MOLJEBKAS PULSE | SEVENTEEN MIGS OF SPRING (CD by Topheth Prophet)
DEUTERROR - LE GUEULE DE GUERRE (CD by Steelwork Maschine)
TENHORNEDBEAST - THE SACRED TRUTH (CD by Cold Spring)
JOHN BARLEYCORN REBORN : DARK BRITANNICA (CD by Cold Spring)
VON THRONSTAHL - SACRIFICARE (CD by Cold Spring)
BOWLINE (CD by Sonoris)
DUANE PITRE/PILOTRAM ENSEMBLE - ORGANIZE PITCHES OCCURING IN TIME
(LP by Trome Records)
MANDATE (12" by Mandate Records)
CHANDELIERS - CIRCULATION (7" by Ghost Arcade)
MARK HAMM - TO THE NAKED EYE (CDR by Muertepop Records) *
JLIAT - NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL NOISE VOLUME 9 (CDR by Jliat)
A WEEVIL IN A BISCUIT (CDR by Bearsuit Records)
FRED LONBERG-HOLM/BREKEKEKKEXKOAXKOAX - SPLIT (CDR by Cohort Records)
JEPH JERMAN - METAL DRIFT (CDR by Fissur)
TÔ - ETASMA (CDR by Cesare) *
MATT EARLE - GOLDEN GUITAR (CDR by Black Petal)
GEODESIC DOMES OF THE EASTERN SEABORD - VISCOUS '70 MAGNETS MULTIPLIED
BY NOTHING (3"CDR by Black Petal)
THE IMPROMPTULONS - BEAT IT/BEAT OFF (3"CDR by Black Petal)
*
MYSTIFIED - D-PROGRAM (3"CDR by Industrial Culture Records)
CORPOPARASSITA - ILBELGIOCO (3"CDR by Industrial Culture
Records) *
NANOHEX - THE BRAIN EXPERIMENT (3"CDR by Industrial Culture
Records)
MAJA RATKJE - TEIP (3"CDR by Ambolthue) *
TORSTEIN WJIIK - LIVE AT STOY PA LANDET FESTIVAL (3"CDR by
Ambolthue)
ELISE DE WAARD - GELUIDJESMUZIEK (businesscard CDR by Moll) *
VIOLET & FREIBAND - FENDER BENDER Fender Bender (3" CDR
by Moll)
WANDER (businesscard CDR by Moll)
MB/HUE/FHIEVEL - ERIMOS (CD by Digitalis
Industries)
MUDBOY - HUNGRY GHOSTS! THESE SONGS ARE ENDORSED (CD by Digitalis
Industries)
STEVEN R. SMITH - OWL (CD by Digitalis Industries)
The Digitalis Recordings catalogue is quickly expanding barrel
of anything non mainstream, but these three releases also proof
the big variety in sounds offered. Just like the other M &
M (Muslimgauze and Merzbow) Maurizio Bianchi has a wealth of releases,
which seems to be vastly growing in more recent times. Maybe I
wondered before how much of it is his work, but here I do it again.
The cover says 'inspiration and concept by MB', but 'mixed and
mastered by Hue', whereas the music is created by Bianchi, Hue
(Matteo Uggeri) and Fhievel (Luca Bergero), the latter known as
Sparkle In Grey. So in what way is this a MB album or, say a Hue
album? Or is the presence of the name MB a mere marketing trick.
Let's say that it's the work of three persons (and two further
guest players on guitar and piano). The concept is about the emptiness
of deserts and solitude of hermits, in Greek called 'Erimos'.
In a single forty-one minute piece this desert is depicted through
calm and meditative music, but it's not a single ambient drone.
This trio moves through various stages of which the first two
are drone like, time stretched pieces and synthesizers (at five
minutes almost techno like), but as the work evolves and extra
piano and guitar are moved into this electronic landscape things
step out of the ordinary drone/synthesizer music, and perhaps
becomes a bit kitschy, but throughout it's a fine work, and not
as empty as desert is (well, or perhaps as we think it is).
Who or what Mudboy is we still don't know, not after his previous
releases (for Ultra Exczema for instance), but to me he seems
like a real outsider. A guy with an organ, some effects, his voice,
well and perhaps nothing else. Like a savage poet he sits in his
single room apartment and records his songs - not really with
lyrics or something like that, but more atmospheric sketches of
angst, desire and despair. A drone piece, a piece of rhythm and
fury, such as in probably the best worked out opening piece 'Hungry
Ghosts!' or minimal, jazz like rhythmbox in 'In Which The Sea
Hag Is Lead Away, or We Are Lead by Her'. Mudboy throws it all
on tape (well, that's gotta to be a computer, since the quality
is quite good, and not the usual outsider lo-fi), and the differences
in volume between the pieces is quite high. I thought it was a
great release, pretty raw in a way, but also sophisticated in
the way it was recorded and mixed. Relaxed at times and a rough
diamond at others. The enclosed film displays the psychedelic
nature of some of the songs - well, that, and the excellent cover.
The new main feature on 'Owl' by Steven R. Smith seems to be the
fact that he now singing. But for me that's hardly a new fact
since I never knew he wasn't singing. Smith is a member of Jewelled
Antler, something I may have read about in the Dire, but never
heard their music. Also outside the format or genres, Smith plays
his guitar in a desolate way, sings his desolate songs, about
lost world, lost love and whatever, and yet Digitalis still calls
this 'hopeful'. Perhaps it's because it's raining outside that
it's hard to see anything hopeful about this, but it's not suicidal
either. Hardly music to cheer you up, that much is true. I am
not a big lover of male vocals (well, of vocals in general), but
in the case of Smith things work best indeed when it's instrumental,
as the drone like 'The Tree King'. Smith doesn't have the crazy
power of Mudboy, but the same loneliness as Bianchi, be it in
an entirely different way. (FdW)
Address: http://www.digitalisindustries.com
I AM A VOWEL - ET OP LA BANG (CD by Fang
Bomb)
Behind I Am A Vowel is one Nelly Languier who recorded these eight
(short) pieces in Paris. I never heard from her, but 'Et Op La
Bang' is her first release. Her soundsources are limited: as you
may guess, she uses voices, but also stones and a computer. The
latter is easy to guess if you hear, the first two is a bit more
difficult. Languier treats her material quite extensively. Fang
calls this 'pop-drone', but I'd say it's more drone than pop.
There are small rhythmic particles flying about (stones?) and
loads of time stretched sounds (voices?), but it doesn't quite
constitute as pop to these ears. No problem I think, as the material
is quite nice. It has a certain intimacy, one that is not uncommon
in the female parts of the micro world (think AGF or O.Blaat),
and, as said, tracks are kept short. They are more sketches than
worked out pieces of music. Usually she gets one idea going and
that's it. Which, given at this length is fine enough. Longer
would be a nuisance and shorter nonsense. At twenty-five minutes
this is long enough to hold the attention, but for a next release
it would be nice to expand the concept a little I think. What
it is now, is perhaps a bit limited. (FdW)
Address: http://www.fangbomb.com
ANGHARAD DAVIES & TISHA MUKARJI - ENDSPACE
(CD by Another Timbre)
Of both these improvisers I never heard. Angharad Davies is from
London, plays violin which can be heard on releases for Absinth,
Creative Sources, Simple Geometry, NEA and Emanem, whereas Tisha
Mukarji is from Copenhagen, works on the inside of a piano and
made her solo debut on Creative Sources in 2006. These two women
got together in July of this year at the Goldsmith's College to
play this concert of a highly delicate nature. The music is quite
soft, but not silent or empty. There is always something going
on here. The violin sounds at times like a violin, but also at
times like a small sine wave. Mukarji hits, strums and bows the
inside of the piano and it sounds like she adds a bit more musical
elements to the music. Fragile music for which one has to turn
up the volume quite a bit and stay focussed. Otherwise you may
miss a few bits. To treat this like aural wallpaper doesn't justify
the music at all. Full attention is needed for this piece of beauty.
It may take time, but its rewarding to o. (FdW)
Address: http://www.anothertimbre.com
FLORIANA VS MACRO - HELEYLAH SUNSET (CD
by Dalaki)
Today I did some physical exercise, of what nature is of course
not of big importance. I came home, opened my mail, and found
this CD by Floriana vs Macro, popped it into the CD player, because
I read the words 'deep ambient', 'deep jazz' and 'deep slow dub'.
Why this one, and not (fill in some of the others from this weekly)?
Because I wanted to sit down and relax. Simple as that and this
seemed the right choice. It is the right choice, I hasten to add.
Quite, spacious, rhythmic, jazzy ambient dub. Organic. Flowing
and floating. Like having a warm bath - except I have no bath.
Floriana is Joerg Schuster who is owner of the Dalaki label and
Macro is 'a very nice guy from Madrid, Spain'. Ah Spain. Sun.
A bit of warmth. No rain. No such thing here. But the music, the
music makes up for this. Warm music. A bit glitchy, modern living
room music. I sat down, listened a bit superficially and felt
relaxed. This is not a work with a higher meaning or an intriguing
concept, just eight fine pieces of entertaining music. After a
day of hard work that is sometimes the only thing one wants. (FdW)
Address: http://www.dalaki.net
ZAVOLOKA - VITER (CD by Kvitnu)
From the several highly active composers of the
Ukraine - Kiritchenko, Kotra and Zavoloka - the latter is quite
active and her music is rapidly progressing. This new album is
one of four, dedicated to the four elements. 'Viter' means wind
and it's the air vibrations of violin and cello that is at the
hearth of this CD. She has those played by Olga Potramanska and
Anton Zhukov, while Zavoloka herself edits the music on her computer,
by adding rhythms and electronic sounds. Seven short tracks, in
total just under twenty minutes. It's strange, strange music.
It's light of nature, swirling and moving. The lack of any knowledge
on my side of any folk music makes this hard to place down. The
rhythms are borrowed from the world of clicks and cuts, but the
whole string part could be traditional, folkloristic music from
the Ukraine. Or perhaps not. It sounds like recorded in a cathedral.
If you read this, it may seem an uneasy marriage, these two totally
alienated approaches, but rest assured: they make a perfect combination.
To incorporate what is called - horribly - ethnic/traditional/third
world music with electronics is a new path of which Zavoloka is
the among the first to do so, and it makes way for perhaps an
interesting new direction in music. Hurrah for that. 'Viter' is
a most promising start. (FdW)
Address: http://www.kvitnu.com
BOY DIRT CAR - SPOKEN ANSWER TO A SILENT
QUESTION (CD by Aftermusic)
While listening to 'Spoken Answer To A Silent Question' I read
the newspaper. Apparently twenty million people tried to get a
ticket to the third Led Zeppelin concert since the band split
up in 1980. Reunion rock is big business. I can't remember when
I first heard Boy Dirt Car, nor when the last time was. It must
have been years (to quote Gary Numan). Originally started as the
band of Darren Brown and Eric Lunde, shortly after that completed
with Keith Brammer and San Kubinski they were an exciting noise
band in the mid eigthies, with various releases on RRRecords.
Their last recording dates from 1980. After that Lunde and Brown
went solo, the first under his own name, doing performances and
poetry and Brown worked and released music as Impact Test. But
lo and behold, now in 2007, Boy Dirt Car is back, without Lunde,
but with the others and even three new members. They met up last
year and decided to get things going on. Like I said, I can't
remember when I last played a record by Boy Dirt Car, but it must
have been at least fifteen years ago. On this new one I keep thinking
to recognize the old Boy Dirt Car, but there is also strong memories
of Impact Test. I never saw them play live, so I don't recall
how noisy they were, but this new CD doesn't seem to be very noisy.
Not at all. Boy Dirt Car's instruments aren't listed on the cover
or on the information, but I assume they are bass, guitar, percussion
(metallic no doubt), electronics and tapeloops. Three shorter
pieces and one long epic track. It's not easy to pin this down,
but rock drone would come close I think. Slow, peaceful organ
loops, heavy bass and siren like sounds, make this balancing on
the fine line of ambient industrial and 'real' industrial, although
this comes nowhere close to the real noise. Hard to imagine that
eight (!) people play on this work. It's both retro sounding as
well as new, this can be a true example for everybody who love
their lo-fi noise/drone/rock music of the younger generation.
A pretty strong return this one. Especially the long piece 'Gentlemen,
It Has Been A Privilege Flying With You' has strong psychedelic
qualities. (FdW)
Address: <boydirtcar@earthlink.net>
STEN OVE TOFT - LIT DE PARADE (CD by Roggbif
Records)
Although the name Sten Ove Toft popped up in Vital Weekly, it
never occurred to me that he never released a proper CD of his
own. With 'Lit De Parade' this is now 'corrected'. He has been
playing music since 1999 and worked with Ryfylke, Waffelpung,
Röyskatt and Audiokustus. Much of this is in the world of
noise music, but 'Lit De Parade' is however to a lesser extent
present in that area. Occasionally things explode here into the
realms of noise, but throughout it's more microsound than noise.
Toft uses guitar and electronics, I think and quite some computer
processing (again: I think). Drone like at times, cracks, hiss,
static, all the usual components are there, save for the fact
that they sometimes explode into noise. I must admit I listened
carefully to this album, and surely some parts I really liked,
such as the sixth part, which seemed to be the most worked and
detailed one, but as a whole, I thought it was very hard to get
into this. A bit like 'been there, heard that' feeling occurred
to me. As if Toft tried to play music to please me, using the
idiom of microsound, but without making something of his own.
(FdW)
Address: http://www.roggbif.com
ANAKRID - UNODOS (2CD by Beta Lactam-ring
Records)
Despite being active since 1990, Chris Bickel, who is behind the
name Anakrid showed up once in Vital Weekly, with his self-released
'Reality Is Elitist' (see Vital Weekly 391), but he has released
a lot more music, on CDRs and LPs. This new double CD compiles
two self-released LPs and some bonus tracks from the same sessions.
Normally Bickel plays in various punk bands such as In/Humanity,
Guyana, Punch Line and Confederate Fagg but for his solo music
he does something entirely different. 'Father', the first CD is
a nineteen track affair, which brings out the collage man. Bicker
has all sorts of sounds (percussion, cheap old tapes, microphones)
which he throws together in what seems to be an audio-blender
(no, don't look on the internet for this lovely device, I made
up the word): sampling his stuff together, adding more electronics
in what becomes a wild, hot brew of sound. The influence of Nurse
With Wound is never far away in this work. It's wild, even industrial
at times, but the musical element is never lost. The second CD
in this package is 'Rapture Of The Deep', which takes the material
into a different direction. Things happen here in a much more
peaceful manner. No wild collages, longer tracks and in general
a more electronic approach. It seems as if sound is captured inside
an electronic system, locked in rather and from there on things
start to live their own life, in that closed system. Here no real
Nurse With Wound influence, but rather that of the academics of
the fifties and sixties, the era of serious composed electronic
music, although Anakrid is not as rigid as the old masters. His
form is more free, aiming for dark effects and sounding like a
good horror soundtrack. Two different sides of the music of Anakrid,
now that's what I call a successful double CD package. (FdW)
Address: http://www.blrrecords.com
MOLJEBKAS PULSE | SEVENTEEN MIGS OF SPRING
(CD by Topheth Prophet)
DEUTERROR - LE GUEULE DE GUERRE (CD by Steelwork Maschine)
It is not every day you find reviews of albums released by Israeli
labels in Vital Weekly. Topheth Prophet is an independent Israeli
label formed in summer 2002 whose aim is to spread the knowledge
of the Israeli noise scene to the outside world. The label focuses
on styles ranging from harsh noise across power electronics to
dark ambient. This 13th release from the label deals with drone-based
ambient music. On this particular release one of the presented
projects has its origin in Sweden. It is a split album between
Israeli project SEVENTEEN MIGS OF SPRING and Swedish project MOLJEBKA
PULSE. The album opens with the 27 minute long track titled "Ravha"
from the latter mentioned project. The brain behind Moljebka Pvlse
is the Swedish sound artist Mathias Josefson who explores the
sounds of both acoustic and electronic origins, quite often with
the starting point taken in found sounds and field recordings.
The "Ravha"-track is a nice example of Mr. Josefson's
ability to transform the sounds of reality into a world of drone-based
minimalism. Opening with a mixture of concrete natural sounds
and buzzing drones the expression slowly turns more and more harsh
as the field recordings develops into noisy drones including spoken
words. At a point the concrete sounds fades away or turns into
sonic abstraction. The track moves into pure drone ambient minimalism.
Nice work.
Seventeen Migs Of Spring is an Israeli project consisting of three
members, Gurfa, K-76 and B-74. As was the case with aforementioned
Swedish project the conceptual approach of this Israeli project
is sonic drones based on concrete sounds. Compared to the Swedish
project the Israeli projects goes further to the extremes with
sounds of a rather noisy kind. Especially four or the five tracks
get quite harsh with the use of an on-going mixture of static
noise and radio-based shortwave frequencies.
Inbetween the two projects comes a collaborative track that successfully
combines the style of the two projects. Everyone interested in
drone based ambient with focus on concrete sounds should definitely
check out this album. Talking about drone-based works another
one comes from French label Steelwork Maschine. After having released
two mp3-albums, "Cohortaris Lex" and "Agripen",
Belgium sound artist calling himself Deuterror is ready with his
debut CD-release. The album titled "Le Gueule De Guerre"
is a very dark piece of ambience. Dominating on the album is harsh
industrial-based buzz drones giving a quite hard-edged and disturbing
approach to dark ambience. Despite the cynic and quite brutal
air saturating the album, there is a great atmosphere adding some
melodic warmth to the album. Especially the final track shines
with its mixture of brutality and beauty woven together into a
tense contrast between grim reality and idyllic soundscapes. The
limited edition of 1000 copies also includes a section computer-generated
images and short film clip of medieval-looking fantasy landscapes,
suiting the atmosphere of the music very well. (NM)
Address: http://www.topheth.org/
Address: http://www.steelwork-maschine.com/
TENHORNEDBEAST - THE SACRED TRUTH (CD by
Cold Spring)
With a past in the British dark ambient-project Endura in joint
venture with Stephen Pennick, Christopher Walton knows exactly
how to create atmospheres of the disturbingly black kind. His
solo-project "Tenhornedbeast" is like a trip back to
the early days of death industrial. The expression on the five
intersections of the album is repetitive and slowly moving, though
the approach to dark minimalism varies on the overall album. With
drones based on orchestration of the dark kind the associations
from beginning of the album stylishly turns towards the Cold Meat
Industry-scene, more precisely towards the lesser harsh moments
of Brighter Death Now around the "Necrose Evangelicum"-period.
From fourth intersection titled "In the teeth of the wolf",
the drones becomes more guitar-based in the gloomy drone-rock
style characterizing the expression of Sun O))), with a dark ambient-based
touch reminding of Lustmord and early british industrial/metal-ambient-project
Saw Throat (aka Sore Thoat). The true power of this album is Christopher
Walton ability to create cinematic atmospheres of trance-like
hypnotism with this great mixture of acoustic and synthetic. Impressive
album. (NM)
Address: http://www.coldspring.co.uk/
JOHN BARLEYCORN REBORN : DARK BRITANNICA
(CD by Cold Spring)
VON THRONSTAHL - SACRIFICARE (CD by Cold Spring)
One of my favourite compilations was released back in 1999. "Succour
: The Terrascope Benefit Album" was an album released to
economically support the legendary experimental music magazine
Ptolemaic Terrascope. Though the approach on this new compilation
released on Cold Spring is different there is some similarity
to aforementioned "Succour"-compilation. Both compilations
have a great folkloric atmosphere saturating throughout the album.
On new double disc compilation from British label Cold Spring
Records, titled "John Barleycorn Reborn : Dark Britannica"
the folkloric expression is completely dominating. And the result
is a deeply inspiring musical experience. With a running time
of more than 150 minutes, the album presents 33 projects spanning
from completely unknown to folk noir-legends such as Sol Invictus.
"Dark" refers to a historical unknown period of Great
Britain. More precisely "Dark Britannica" means dark
folk of Britannica referring to the fact that all tracks on the
compilation have been derived from a time in British history that
has been completely forgotten. Each of the contributing artists
has done a very nice job making this "music of the forgotten
past" speak its very own language in the age of present time.
With deep respect to the ancient folkloric expression the interpretations
emerges into modern expressions spanning from neo-folk across
modern psychedelia to ethereal space rock. "JOHN BARLEYCORN
REBORN : DARK BRITANNICA" is an extremely beautiful voyage
back to the days of dark British folk. Another album to explore
if you're interested in the updated sound of traditional folk
is the latest album by German project Von Thronstahl. Based on
traditional instruments with strums of acoustic guitar playing
an important role, the music floats into grandiose soundscapes
alternating from cold electronic escapism to more orchestral and
warm expressions. The vocals of brainman Josef K fits well into
the neo-folk atmospheres, but in the moments where the vocals
of Josef K are assisted by backing vocals the vocal parts pull
the music to even higher grounds. Especially the "Death In
June"-reminiscent track "Gloomy white sunday" is
a nice example and one of my personal favorites on the album.
With "Sacrificare" being one of the Von Thronstahl's
more melodic albums to date this album will appeal to everyone
interested in the singer-songwriter part of modern neofolk. Highly
recommended! (NM)
Address: http://www.coldspring.co.uk/
BOWLINE (CD by Sonoris)
Behind Bowline we find the more and more present musician David
Maranha, who was once best known as Osso Exotico, and these days
also works as a solo musician and one Francesco Dillon. He is
from Italy and studied the cello. These days he is a member of
Alter-Ego (see Vital Weekly 602 for their work with Gavin Bryars)
as well as playing with people like Matmos, Pan Sonic and Scanner.
A man of many talents. Here too Dillon plays cello, whereas Maranha
gets credit for 'hammond organ, violin, vox amplifier (with Francesco
cello signal), glass harmonica, tremolo and distortion pedals'.
Of the four tracks , the first is the most silent one, taking
several minutes to get started. Like with so many other projects
of David Maranha, in which ever form it takes, this is a work
of minimalism. Of sheer, utter minimalism and what beauty, once
again. The careful strumming of various string instruments, the
drones added, sparsely of course, from the other instruments.
Three short tracks which eventually culminate in the fourth track,
which takes up about two-third of the CD and in which the three
previous excursions return but glorified. Everything comes together
here. If you love Osso Exotico or any of the works Maranha did
after that, this is will be a most welcome addition. Also fans
of traditional minimal music, especially Lamonte Young will find
this a great release, I'm sure of that. (FdW)
Address: http://www.sonoris.org/
DUANE PITRE/PILOTRAM ENSEMBLE - ORGANIZE
PITCHES OCCURING IN TIME (LP by Trome Records)
At the basis of this LP (which is also released on CD by Important
Records) is a 'conceptual composition' from Duane Pitre: two 'long-form
drone compositions' with 'set tonic, set pitch classes, playing
methods and technique restrictions' and is played by Pitre himself
on guitar, and the Pilotram Ensemble which has a tone generator,
bass clarinet, alto saxophones and a violin, with the extra addition
of a pump organ. Two, twenty-five minute pieces of pure drone
music, in which the instruments play along the tone generator,
thus combining acoustic and electronic sounds. This is hardly
y'r common drone music that one can find a lot in these pages.
It's rather a piece of modern classical music, perhaps along the
lines of the Theatre Of Eternal Music (if only we could hear more
of them), but also Alvin Lucier and to a lesser extent Phill Niblock
(although one could easily link this to 'Five More String Quartets').
Beautiful, peaceful music of slow passing clouds of sound, all
excellently recorded. Music rises, falls, rises and falls again,
staying in that harmonious way of seemingly one drone (well, two).
Great work for the dark winter night. (FdW)
Address: http://www.tromerecords.com
MANDATE (12" by Mandate Records)
CHANDELIERS - CIRCULATION (7" by Ghost Arcade)
Being a dancing fool is something I am not, and never was, but
having said that, I do like rhythmic music every now and then.
Perhaps only certain examples of rhythmic music, like a good bit
of straight forward techno or house. Music you can do things to,
rather than force you to listen intensely. Ghost Arcade LTD deals
with this kind of music that sound as retro as can be. They say
that the 12" from Mandate could have been from 1993 as well
as 2007. I agree. The pumping beat, the sweet keyboards makes
me want to play Sweet Exorcist and Sandoz right after this. Music
that puts a smile on your face... well, at least this face that
is.
More electro inspired - also fine with these feet - is a 7"
on Ghost Arcade with three tracks of a five piece called Chandeliers.
Their music is a bit more chaotic - maybe due to the line up of
five people, I thought - and less straight forward than the Mandate
12".
Great full color cover this one. (FdW)
Address: http://www.ghostarcade.com
MARK HAMM - TO THE NAKED EYE (CDR by Muertepop
Records)
You could expect Mark Hamm to be English or American, but his
real name is Francesco Giannico, from Taranto, in the southern
part of Italy. He studied 'Musicology and Musical Heritage' and
has been active since 1999 as a guitarist, with several self-released
productions and some on Afe and Muertepop, like the most recent
one 'To The Naked Eye'. The idea behind this album is 'the involution
of post-modern humanity in the globalization age, or more simply,
a sour consideration of our days'. That may sound quite heavy
and some of the titles are top heavy depression, like 'academic
disumanity [sic]' or 'Overheated Century', I must say none of
that reflected in the music. Throughout the music has a calm and
peaceful touch to it, with largely processed guitar sounds - be
it from traditional sound effects or computer processing. Dark
ambient music, isolationist as it was called ages ago, but Hamm
does a nice job at what he does. Lighten up, I'd say, the world
is in decay, but let's plant a tree. The music and the film presented
here are a nice start at that. (FdW)
Address: http://www.muertepop.com
JLIAT - NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL NOISE VOLUME
9 (CDR by Jliat)
Our in house reviewer of all things noise Jliat does exactly what
noise wants: provoke in a noisy way. He doesn't approach reviewing
noise in a regular reviewing manner, but associates his way through
it. Or maybe he uses a lot of drugs. Maybe he puts bad noise in
a few words. It's hard to tell. But maybe some noise just doesn't
deserve any better than that? Some of the noise works reviewed
in these pages is terribly bad, poorly made and still has to be
welcomed as the next masterpiece? Obviously not and if you expect
otherwise than Vital Weekly might not be your stage. Jliat's own
'Now That's What I Call Noise', now up the ninth volume, is certainly
not a masterpiece either. It's more like a conceptual work, the
whole series that is, of 'songs' of around four minutes, and each
volume has eight pieces. It has to do with his take on popmusic,
and ripping up covers. Jliat isn't Merzbow either, and the concept
might be done and said with. Unfortunately however for the other
noisicians, who rather see me reviewing their music, I only have
to deal with Jliat because it would be hard for him to review
his own stuff (he could try) and not with so many others in that
area. Only when I like it and that's a relaxing thought. (FdW)
Address: http://www.jliat.com
A WEEVIL IN A BISCUIT (CDR by Bearsuit Records)
It's probably hard to believe but there are moments when even
in the Vital HQ there is silence. The desk is empty and we are
truly free to play whatever we like. It's likely we go back to
something from the not so immediate past, a LP or maybe even a
cassette. I was thinking of that when listening to 'A Weevil In
A Biscuit'. And probably I was a bit jealous about the fact there
is something like internet, where you can easily invite artists
and compile such a release. Much better than the old days when
you had to write letters and wait for weeks, months for a reply.
Just as then, the compilation is a favorite tool to explore new
artists. Of the sixteen presented here, I didn't recognize a single
name. Wow. So many weeklies and still so much to explore. The
music here is mostly based around rhythm of a diverse nature.
Rhythm machines tick away beats, jazzy, techno like, breakbeat
like, even glitches, but what keeps this together in a funny way
is that it seems that everybody tries to make a small popsong.
I am not sure wether that was the original intention of Bearsuit
Records, a method of selecting these artists or just something
that happened. It makes the whole thing however nicely coherent,
even when it is diverse. That may seem a bit strange, but this
compilation works like an alternative radio: experimental pop
tunes that are throughout pleasant to hear, never too long or
alienated. Names? James Ross, Harold Nono (son of Luigi?), Linda
Bjallam Alfred Brown, Kaboom Karavan, Alone Together, Anne King,
Oldman, Hulk and Cahier. Oh and many more! (FdW)
Address: http://www.myspace.com/bearsuitrecords
FRED LONBERG-HOLM/BREKEKEKKEXKOAXKOAX -
SPLIT (CDR by Cohort Records)
Over the years we have learned about the work of Fred Lonberg-Holm
as a fine improviser on string instruments, hailing from the Chicago
scene. In recent times we lost a bit track of his work, but here
he returns, with some thirty minutes on the split CDR with Brekekekexkoaxkoax
(you always hope to write that well, I guess) and to be honest:
I don't get. Improvisations for feedback, but recorded without
any power or tension. Not the best recording for not the best
kind of music, ouch. I think he could do so much better. Brekekekexkoaxkoax
here is the head honcho Josh Ronsen on the left channel playing
guitar, as well as clarinet (stereo I believe), with Glenn Nuckolls
on electric guitar/right channel, acoustic guitar, banjo and violin,
Genevieve Walsh on flute, drums, voice and Jacob Green on oboe,
organ, electronics and misc. instruments. They go for an all free
improvisation jam, scattered on a multi-track and mixed in a totally
free improvisation spirit. Sounds drop in and out, scratching
the surface of the instruments and no-one seems to be taking the
lead here. A continuos free flow music that is a wealth to hear
after Lonberg-Holm's half hour. (FdW)
Address: http://cohortrecords.0catch.com
JEPH JERMAN - METAL DRIFT (CDR by Fissur)
TÔ - ETASMA (CDR by Cesare)
For me Jeph Jerman is one of the biggest secrets in the world
of experimental music. His career may span now by some twenty
years or more, and who remembers his alter ego Hands To or his
group City Of Worms. Since perhaps a decade or so he works under
his own name, playing almost exclusively acoustic junk, stones,
metal, wood and such like. For 'Metal Drift' he went out with
his mini disc to record found metal on the street and in the dessert
(I believe he lives in Arizona) using microphones and contact
microphones. After the streets had been roamed, he transferred
all the material onto various CDRs and with a four channel mixer
created this collage. Jerman as a composer? Yes, that's right,
as a composer. Whereas most people, myself included, would rather
thinking of him as a player, an improviser, here he sits down
and creates a work out of his previous recordings. I am not sure
to what extend things had been planned, but judging by the quality,
it might be fifty percent planning and fifty percent improvisation
and/or spontaneous playing of the material. Textured recordings
these are, of sounds that aren't necessarily harsh or loud, but
on the contrary most of the times sound like underwater recordings.
Sonic debris, decay, rust even a touch of sadness is about these
recordings, of things lost. I thought this was a very mixture
of field recordings, ambience and musique concrete.
The label which released the Jeph Jerman disc is Fissur, and Thomas
Tilly who runs the label also plays music under the name of Tô.
He sent us two of his releases, of which 'Elaeis Guineensis' is
from 2005, and therefor too old to be reviewed. But I played it
and the use of various natural sounds (think of clay, children,
water, insects) and combined with mental sounds (pain, devils,
fever, spirits) and made an interesting combination. The liner
notes of 'Etazma' weren't entirely clear what it is we are dealing
with here. Played after 'Elaeis Guineensis' which was quite organic,
perhaps due to the nature of the sound sources used, I thought
that 'Etazma' was more electronic. Large cascading waves drop
by, break down, collapse almost, but never die out, and slowly
rise up to make the hit again. A bit of a distant work this one,
however not as good as the previous one. (FdW)
Address: http://www.fissur.com
Address: http://www.cesare.fr
MATT EARLE - GOLDEN GUITAR (CDR by Black
Petal)
GEODESIC DOMES OF THE EASTERN SEABORD - VISCOUS '70 MAGNETS MULTIPLIED
BY NOTHING (3"CDR by Black Petal)
THE IMPROMPTULONS - BEAT IT/BEAT OFF (3"CDR by Black Petal)
Anthony Guerra's Black Petal label catalogue grows nicely and
if you put all the releases next to eachother you'll see that
he loves to make nice packages. Strange papers (he lives in Japan
after all), cords to tie 'm up, cloth etc. The CDR market as the
real do it yourself market. Also music wise he has something interesting
to tell. Matt Earle for instance, whom we greeted before as Muura
(also on Black Petal), but also active under many other guises
(which we haven't heard). 'Recorded in the Blue Mountains Winter'
it says on the cover. Are the winters in Australia cold? I can
imagine Matt Earle sitting outside, strumming his guitar on end,
with no point, with a metal rod between the strings and Earle
mumbling a word or so ('vocals'!). Highly minimal work this one,
with certainly in the second piece not much happening ('tension'),
this quite radical lo-fi music and perhaps a bit much. Track one
with either two or three would be nice, but as a trio it's all
a bit too much.
Behind the Geodesic Domes Of The Eastern Seaboard is Peter Blamey,
whose name we recognize from his work with Jim Denley for Split
Records (see Vital Weekly 546). Two tracks, of which the first
is quite long and quite noise based, even with some revolving
rhythm (lifted from a record perhaps). Quite loud this piece and
perhaps not quite what expected following that great work with
Denley. The second track is very short, just under a minute, and
has a lo-fi rhythm and some feedback like sounds. Strange one,
this one. Maybe a tad bit too noise based for my taste, but quite
alright, perhaps also in it brevity.
Something of an entirely different nature are The Impromptulons,
a bigger group with Joel Stern, Will Charlton, Alan Nguyen, Rin
Healy, Marek Rygalski and Adam Park (Peter was absent it says
on the cover). 'Everybody solos, nobody solos' is the starting
point of this work. They all play just for themselves it seems,
while nobody seems to be responding or reacting to the other.
It bangs on and on, but the lo-fi recording quality prevents this
from being a real loud stomper though. Highly minimal in approach
this one, and also oddly fascinating. Minimal, without becoming
a drone, like the Velvet Underground not becoming rock. Highly
appealing recording. (FdW)
Address: http://www.blackpetal.com
MYSTIFIED - D-PROGRAM (3"CDR by Industrial
Culture Records)
CORPOPARASSITA - ILBELGIOCO (3"CDR by Industrial Culture
Records)
NANOHEX - THE BRAIN EXPERIMENT (3"CDR by Industrial Culture
Records)
The new Industrial Culture Records label releases all sorts of
experimental and industrial music, and the noise part went to
Jliat and the 'softer' (ambient, drone) side landed on my desk.
The omnipresent Mystified, also know as Thomas Park, selected
(2007 !!) discography counts twenty titles, and that doesn't include
the 'Lower' release, reviewed a week ago. Eat your heart out,
Merzbow. The four pieces on 'D-Program' are all to be found on
the lower, drone ambient side of the musical spectrum. Machines
humming, field recordings or pitched down samples: whatever the
input may be Mystified delivers some fine work in a known modus
operandi. The rhythmic aspects of his work, which was detected
some time ago, is entirely gone here, which is a pity, since that
proved, I think, a possible way out of the somewhat dead alley
of ambient drones.
Although their list of works is less extensive as that of Mystifieds,
there is still quite an amount of work available from Corpoparassita,
of which I only heard their release on Tosom (see Vital Weekly
458), which back then didn't leave a big impression on me, mainly
because they sounded like Ain Soph and Sigillum S (none of which
are favorites of mine). 'Ilbelgioco' means 'the good game' and
is the alternative name given to the Sabbath. So you know in which
dark corner we are now. Three pieces of which one is a cover of
Discharge, although you couldn't tell. I must admit I think this
is a leap forward from the previous release. It's also in the
dark ambient/drone corner, just like Mystified, but the backward
guitars and the lacks of voices from beyond the grave make things
quite nice and scary. Soundtrack like music, genre horror and
science fiction. Much improved.
Nanohex is a new name for me, and behind it is one Bojan Nikolov
from Macedonia. He only started to work in 2003 and has a handful
of works to his name. I must admit I thought this was the weakest
brother of the lot. Nanohex uses a lot of voice like sounds, fed
through sound effects that probably recall the underworld, but
just doesn't lead to very interesting music. Maybe some people
would call this 'dark poetic' music, but it just failed to make
any impression on me. (FdW)
Address: http://www.industrialculture.org
MAJA RATKJE - TEIP (3"CDR by Ambolthue)
TORSTEIN WJIIK - LIVE AT STOY PA LANDET FESTIVAL (3"CDR by
Ambolthue)
It's good to note that Maja Ratkje doesn't think of herself to
be famous not to release CDRs, let alone 3" CDRs. 'Teip'
(phonetic for tape I guess) was recorded in the last three years
using a dictaphone. I am not sure wether this is a collage of
various sounds found on her dictaphone and to what extend she
did some processing to it. The cover says it was 'randomly recorded
in two different speeds and chronologically copied from the original
micro cassette for this release'. On hearing the twenty minute
collage, I think she hasn't done much about, other than making
a nice sequence of sounds. Field recordings as pure as possible.
Singing, applause, odd atmospheres and such like. Not a very refined
work of course, and the recording quality isn't the best around,
but it's a curious, private document.
Noise man Torstein Wjiik played the Støy Pa Landet festival
in June of this year, using vocals, electronics, samples and feedback.
I am not sure if these twelve minutes span his entire concert.
I am not sure why it was necessary to release this. I believe
Wjiik plays more concerts, and what he does isn't much different
from his usual work, loud noise, screaming his lungs out, feedback
and distortion, so why release this? The twelve minutes are o.k.,
but it shouldn't have been much longer, I think. (FdW)
Address: http://www.ambolthue.com
ELISE DE WAARD - GELUIDJESMUZIEK (businesscard
CDR by Moll)
VIOLET & FREIBAND - FENDER BENDER Fender Bender (3" CDR
by Moll)
WANDER (businesscard CDR by Moll)
Moll's back catalogue is expanding rapidly. The latest three additions
are one 3" and two business-card CD-Rs, all wrapped in the
usual (and usually very beautiful) photopaper covers and of course
all related to Frans de Waard in one way or the other. Right after
the curious all-acoustic concert by Kapotte Muziek (Moll 11) there
is another pretty curious release - a short field recording work
created by Frans' eight-and-a-half year old daughter Elise. If
I hadn't known about her age when listening to the music, I wouldn't
have guessed it, as the track doesn't sound childlike at all,
but rather serious, except for the finishing vocal part, maybe.
The world heard through the ears of a child (couldn't resist that
cheesy image) comprises the sounds of a train, a washing machine,
ping-pong balls (or something like that), looped giggles and more,
which is less easy to identify, but makes for slightly mysterious,
soft rumbling. Elise puts in some effective breaks and counterpoints
and knows how to mix her sounds to keep them interacting (and
interesting). This is definitely a good start and I just wonder
what kind of music Elise will be doing when the first of her contemporaries
will begin to realize that something like musique concrète
exists.
"Laptops a gogo" it says on the cover of the collaboration
between Frans and Jeff Surak/Violet and that translates as two
people improvising on their laptops, going through their respective
sound-archives and offering bits and pieces for the other to react.
The overall mood is rather calm here but with a dark and occasionally
harsh grounding. Despite being edited and "fit into shape",
there is a distinct jam-session-character to this recording and
this means you get all the surprising changes, the improvisatory
friction, but also the moments, which lack a direction. Nevertheless,
these two improvisers keep things under control and manage to
make their point. But since I'm in general not as enthusiastic
for all-digital improvisation as I used to be, 20 minutes is just
the right amount of that to take for me.
If I've learned my history lessons correctly, Frans de Waard and
Freek Kinkelaar started Wander, when the music they recorded as
Beequeen shifted from drone to a more pop-oriented style (some
six or seven years ago?). Wander took over the drone part and
each of their releases is in a different media format and always
with a vintage erotic image on the cover. So this is their business-card
CD-R release, a five-minute composition. My guess would be that
the source sounds are acoustic in nature - maybe organ sounds
- which are digitally shaped into dark and rather austere sine
wave-like sounds and pulsations. Despite the drone-tag Wander's
piece is not minimal at all, but pretty lively, with continuous
gentle shifts and variations. Yet, when it comes to drone aesthetics
one short track might not be enough to leave a true impression,
so even if this is quite a pleasant track it would at least call
for more material to do justice to the music's aesthetic parameters.
(MSS)
Address: http://www.kormplastics.nl/moll.html