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VITAL WEEKLY
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number 621
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week 14
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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
before submitting material please read this
carefully: http://www.vitalweekly.net/fga.html
Submitting material means you read this and approve of this.
* noted are in this week's podcast
ROBERT PIOTROWICZ - LASTING CLINAMEN (CD
by Musica Genera) *
BUCK & FUHLER & ZARADNY - LIGHTON (CD by Musica Genera)
LEHN & GRYDELAND & ZACH - (CD by Musica Genera)
AUTOCLAV 1.1 - BROKEN BEATS FOR BROKEN HEARTS (CD by Hive Records)
ESA - HOW PURE WOULD YOUR UTOPIA BE? (CD by Hive Records)
MEMMAKER - HOW TO ENLIST IN A ROBOT UPRISING (CD by Hive Records)
CRYPTIC SCENERY - ON THE OUTSKIRTS (CD by D'Oorhinge L'Orange)
KONRAD KORABIEWSKI - STATELESS (CD by D'Oorhinge L'Orange) *
HOH - WE CAN WORK IT OUT (CD by Zang: Records) *
KIOKU - BOTH FAR AND NEAR (CD by Quiet Design)
PEDAIR AWR YNG NGHYMRU FYDD/BRAVE NEW WALES (3CD by Fourier Transform)
ELETRONAVN - COSMIC CONTINUUM (CD by Ikuisuus)
OPEN EYE DUO - SEA & FISH (CDR by Ikuisuus) *
MATOMERI - JOYS OF SUMMER (CDR by Ikuisuus)
MY3YEAH (CDR by Ikuisuus)
AARON DILLOWAY / CARLOS GIFFONI - LIVE AT THE NO FUN FEST 2007
(LP by No Fun Productions)
ENEMA SYRINGE - LIVE AT THE NO FUN FEST 2007 (LP by No Fun Productions)
RELIGIOUS KNIVES - RESIN (CD by No Fun Productions)
THURSTON MOORE - SENSITIVE / LETHAL (CD by No Fun Productions)
MENACE RUINE - CULT OF RUINS (CD by Alien8 Recordings)
JESUS OF NAZARETH / KUSARI GAMA KILL - VAIN (Split-Cdr by R.O.N.F.
Records)
EXILLON - IT'S OK TO DANCE (CD by Ad Noiseam)
PSYCHIC SPACE INVASION - TRANSITIONS (CD by Persepolis Records)
MIKE BROWNINGS INNER WORKINGS - TRANCEMISSIONS (CD by Pharmafabrik)
MARCHING DYNAMICS - NAILSLEEPER (CD by Hymen Records)
TWINKLE - LE JOUET (CD by Ant-Zen)
BULBS - LIGHT SHIPS (CD by Freedom To Spend) *
ANLA COURTIS & SEIICHI YAMAMOTO & YOSHIMI - LIVE AT KANADIAN
(CD by Public Eyesore) *
STEVEN HESS & MILES TILMANN - DEPARTURES (LP by Other Electricities)
AUDIOSCOOP COMPILATION 1 (2LP compilation by Audioscoop)
FREIBAND - CAPTURE (3" CDR by My Own Little Label)
MOLJEBKA PVLSE - IODE/IVX (7" by Drone Records)
NOISE DREAMS MACHINE - IN/OUT (7" by Drone Records)
SHRINE - DISTORTED LEGENDS (7" by Drone Records)
XABEC - FEUERSTERN (7" by Drone Records)
MYSTIFIED - SUBDIALOGUE (CDR by Verato Project) *
STEVE PETERS - FILTERED LIGHT (CHAMBER MUSIC 4) (CDR by Dragon's
Eye Recordings) *
OZMADAWN - RISE OF THE MOTH (CDR by Chambara Records)
HORSEFLESH - SYNTHENESIA 1 (CDR by Chambara Records)
K.E. REVIS - BANISHING ANXIETIES (CDR by BXR Records) *
K.E. REVIS - LETTING GO (CDR by BXR Records)
THE LAMB AND THE TYGER (CDR by I Had An Accident Records)
SAM FEMINO - THE ROARKIAN TEMPLATE (CDR by I Had An Accident Records)
TUGBOAT - THE ASTORIANS (CDR by I Had An Accident Records)
BABA LLAGA - GESAMTKUNSTWERK (CDR by Hamaika)
MAIKKO - TLAYACAPAN (CDR by Gruenrekorder)
TBC - PFALZ II (CDR by Gruenrekorder) *
SUSPICION BREEDS CONFIDENCE - THE FAUNA AND FLORA OF THE VATICAN
CITY (CD by Gruenrekorder)
LASSE-MARC RIEK - ISLANDS (CDR by Oem Records)
STEINBRÜCHEL & MACHINEFABRIEK - STAUB (3" CDR by
Machinefabriek) *
ORIGAMI BOE - ACOUSTIC LAPTOPS (MP3 by Ambolthue) *
BLINDHEAO - IT'S A BIT LIKE PLAYING A GAME - FRUSTRATING GAME
IN WHICH THE RULES MIGHT CHANGE AT A MOMENT'S NOTICE (MP3 by Ruidemos)
ROBERT PIOTROWICZ - LASTING CLINAMEN (CD
by Musica Genera)
BUCK & FUHLER & ZARADNY - LIGHTON (CD by Musica Genera)
LEHN & GRYDELAND & ZACH - (CD by Musica Genera)
When I open a parcel with multiple items, like this one I start
playing just whatever comes in my one hand first. When it's on,
I start investigating the rest. So while playing the release by
Robert Piotrowicz and jotting down on a piece of paper 'loud drones',
I noticed that the other two would be entirely something different.
Interesting. Ok. So writing down 'loud drones' was just the first
impression of Robert Piotrowicz. I never heard of him. His release
was recorded in two days, but then mixed over various dates in
2007. Piotrowicz plays one instrument, the Doepfer A100 modular
synthesizer. The loud drone thing only goes for the first piece.
The other three are much more subtle. Whoever this Piotrowicz
is, he plays his instrument with great care. Building large spaces
with a massive, fat, dense sound that is highly minimal, but somehow,
somewhere has a great captivate feel to it. Industrial? Perhaps.
Minimal? Yes. Ambient? At times. Impressive music.
Now onto the other two. Both are releases are live recordings
of a trio playing improvised music. The first is Tony Buck on
drums, Cor Fuhler on piano and electronics and Anna Zaradny on
alto saxophone. I never heard of the latter, while the other two
are all over the improvised music scene. Their recording is from
already two years ago, and displays their qualities well - as
far as I can judge of course in the case of Zaradny, who seems
to me the most regular player in this trio. Her contribution is
certainly making this into a much more conventional album. Her
playing is quite jazz related and blurs for me at least the playing
of the other two, who seems to be doing interesting things on
the drum kit and the piano. A bit of a pity but the saxophone
playing of this kind is not well spend on me.
Of much more interest is the trio of Thomas Lehn (analogue synthesizer),
Ivar Grydeland (guitar, guitar banjo) and Ingar Zach (percussion),
with an even older recording, from 2005. All three are also from
that ever inspiring improvisation field, working with anybody
they can think of. Here they are in full form. They treat their
instruments with care and trust. Bent and break the things at
hand. This trio offers a very dynamic set of music, going from
soft introspective parts to loud, vicious strokes. Their instruments
sound usually unlike what they are supposed to sound, save, perhaps,
for Lehn's, but then what does an analogue synthesizer sound like?
Exactly. It sounds only like Lehn does. Peeping loud, moaning,
grunting. The other two get likewise sounds out of their instruments
and make this release an utter joy. (FdW)
Address: http://www.musicagenera.net
AUTOCLAV 1.1 - BROKEN BEATS FOR BROKEN HEARTS
(CD by Hive Records)
ESA - HOW PURE WOULD YOUR UTOPIA BE? (CD by Hive Records)
MEMMAKER - HOW TO ENLIST IN A ROBOT UPRISING (CD by Hive Records)
US label Hive records started in 2003 with the aim of promoting
"harsh industry-grade frequency manipulation and flowing,
dark atmospheric music". Three albums released early this
year show the wide approach to experimental electronics. All three
contains their own quality and seems different from each other.
First album comes from British artist Tony Young who composes
under the name Autoclav 1.1. Apparently he has been on stage enough
time, to catch the attention of a wide range of experimental scene's
interesting artists and thus make them manipulate and treat the
works of Autoclav 1.1 into their very own. And it does really
work great with the stylish variation of remixes. From Oil 10's
emotional IDM-remix of "Fault" to the hyper energetic
gabber-like version of "This is untitled" by Wast3 the
listener shouldn't get bored during this trip. Fortunately the
main part of the remixed tracks keeps the emotional spheres of
Autoclav 1.1. since this is his real treat. A very satisfying
remix-album. Next album comes from an artist calling himself ESA
being a shortage of "Electronic Substance Abuse". As
you might have guessed thanks to the project name, the style belongs
to the harsher sides of electronic music circulating around Power
Noise / Industrial. The album opens with a dialogue, slowly moving
into the sounds of guitar noises putting an end to the track titled
"Dialogue". Second track opens with blasting beats of
Industrial that soon after are followed by voice samples interfering
the up-beat expression. On following track the tempo gets even
faster with fast rhythm structures and buzzing drones of power
noise building a dark and brutal atmosphere. The stylish expression
continues in this vein until the calmer track titled "In
lust we trust" appears. A more emotional and melodic track
with elements of Trance though still kept in the harsh pace. The
album goes back to fast mode after this and he keeps the listener
banging his head until last track. "You do not belong here"
is a very emotional and dark track floating in slow ambience floating
throughout its seven minutes running time only interrupted by
discreet voices of females and children. A quite emotional album
from ESA demonstrating that Power Noise is not only the question
of brutality. Where ESA "only" had a few doses of Trance-elements
included on the album "How pure would your utopia be?",
the Trance-element is an essential part of the last album reviewed
here. The album titled "How to enlist in a robot uprising"
is the debut of a project calling itself Memmaker. The project
consist of two Canadian sound artists, one of them being Guillaume
Nadon and the other one being Yann Faussurier, the latter respected
for his unique Trance-based Industrial project Iszoloscope. Memmaker
belongs to the same stylish category as Iszoloscope, though with
an even more club-oriented pace mixing harsh industrial, EBM and
up-beat hard trance - the beat texture never drops below 126 bmp!
Thanks to its repetitive nature there is plenty of floor fillers
on the album making the album born to the club-scene. Rather than
focusing on melody "How to enlist in a robot uprising"
concentrates on the dynamical body-appealing edge, and the two
members of Memmaker certainly do it well. Three quite intense
releases from Hive Records. Check the myspace-address below for
more info and music from the label. (NM)
Address: http://www.myspace.com/hiverecords
CRYPTIC SCENERY - ON THE OUTSKIRTS (CD by
D'Oorhinge L'Orange)
KONRAD KORABIEWSKI - STATELESS (CD by D'Oorhinge L'Orange)
As reported before, of Christian H. Sötemann we reviewed
a couple of solo CDR with shady, hazy post ambient isolationist
guitar music, but his main line of work is a band Cryptic Scenery,
of which we only heard one track on a split 7" with Antenne.
That failed to make any impression, but that was perhaps it was
because it was just one track. Now I know for sure: Cryptic Scenery
is not my kind of music. At all. Citing Roxy Music, King Crimson,
Ultravox, John Cale, Talk Talk (actually some of these I like
too), this band however fails to make much impression. Perhaps
because what inspired them I heard when I was much younger, but
my taste has progressed, and I play some of that old stuff for
nostalgic reasons only. I certainly don't think this is bad at
all. Production wise, music wise, the way things are played, it's
all done with great care and eye for detail. Just nothing for
me.
Of Konrad Korabiewski I never heard, although he has done remixes
of the Danish band Amstrong, which I do know. Originally from
Poland, he know lives in Denmark too. It's hard for me to understand
what he wants with his CD 'Stateless'. The pieces are based around
rhythm, even manage to sound a bit techno like, but somehow don't
sound like floor fillers to me - adding that I am not a DJ, so
what do I know? But then there also bits of music around, especially
in the built up of some of the pieces that are quite experimental
and for which Korabiewski takes his time. Not that they sound
super great, but it adds a street credibility with the Vital Street
gang. Perhaps music like this better off on a piece of vinyl and
being played loud in a club, in stead of this mediocre volume
at home. Like Cryptic Scenery something of which I can hear that
it well made and with love but perhaps not entirely my cup of
tea. (FdW)
Address: http://www.bsbta.com
HOH - WE CAN WORK IT OUT (CD by Zang: Records)
A strange label, Norway's Zang:, releasing serious electro-acoustic
music but then also something like this. HOH (again, not to be
confused with the Icelandic guy of the same name) wants to play
pop/techno music. Two pieces here, plus of each two remixes. The
first is 'Lovebreak' in which he is influenced by Cabaret Voltaire
and Fad Gadget, mainly through his dark vocals, singing all the
dirty words from the book. A simple and effective song. The two
remixes didn't do much for me. The first, by DJ:Woo is a breakbeat
like and QRT mixes it like it would be mixed on the dance floor,
but doesn't work on CD. The fourth one is the title and that's
my favorite here. Sparse melodic lines, minimalist techno beat
an a sad girl voice singing 'we can work it out', which has no
relation to fab four song of the same name. Here lies the inspiration
in 90s techno, but even at its stretched length this is quite
a nice song. Very lush. The 'P-remix' entirely destroys the song
- big shame and the Radio mix is slightly redundant after the
long original. This could have been a great 7". (FdW)
Address: http://www.zang.no
KIOKU - BOTH FAR AND NEAR (CD by Quiet Design)
New York City is still a place where new musical adventures are
born. And not all of them find their way to the Tzadik catalogue.
Kioku (japanese for "memory") is N.Y.C.-based trio who
released their new one on the small Quiet Design label. And that
is the way I like it. Who are Kioku? The trio is made up of Wynn
Yamami (taiko, percussion), Ali Sakkal (saxophones, percussion)
and Christopher Ariza (live electronics). Their music is a very
unusual blend of influences, unheard before and providing the
word 'worldmusic' with a new content. Yamami is specialized in
playing japanese percussion. Sax-player Sakkal originates from
Kuwait. With his eastern background he studied with Branford Marseilles,
Oliver Lake, a.o. Ariza is a composer and programmer of sonic
structures and systems. He composed for theatre, film, interactive
media, etc. With their different backgrounds asian percussion
music, jazz and sound art come together for a new adventure. In
contrast, most compositions refer to already existing traditional
korean and japanese music. 'Drum Thing' is a composition by John
Coltrane. 'Spirits 16' is composed by Keith Jarrett. Over all
the music is very powerful and aggressive. In most pieces we hear
eastern rhythms and patterns played with much energy on eastern
percussion, noisy and abstract sounds, and a jazzy saxophone.
But the furious and convincing playing of the three, leaves you
no time to wonder about this exceptional combination. They have
no time and reason to hesitate. The tapestry of percussive beats
is in most pieces very dominant, also because the traditional
percussion colors the soundspectrum considerably. But also the
saxophone often is in a prominent role. The live electronics of
Azira however have a place more in the background, bridging everything
effectively and inconspicuous together. An excellent work! (DM)
Address: http://www.quietdesign.us/
PEDAIR AWR YNG NGHYMRU FYDD/BRAVE NEW WALES
(3CD by Fourier Transform)
A bit of regional patriotism is something I for one never dislike
- Nijmegen rules of course (to remind you once again that Vital
Weekly is not, we repeat, not from Amsterdam). But would I want
a CD with all sorts of music from Nijmegen only? Perhaps not.
Wales is somewhat bigger than Nijmegen, so here's a triple CD
of music from Wales, named after Huxley's 'Brave New World', although
the Welsh title translates as 'Four Hours In Future Wales', oddly
enough. I could only think of one Welsh band, on top of my head,
being Super Furry Animals, but they don't seem to part of this
collection (maybe to big?). Glancing at all these names, I only
seem to be recognizing one, which is Graham Bowers and Rhodri
Davies. Although there are no less than forty-eight pieces in
somewhere over 240 minutes of music, some people have various
pieces, so it's not forty-eight different artists. It's quite
a daring move to start with a couple of strong noise pieces on
disc one, but as the CDs evolve there are also other forms of
music, mostly ambient and field recordings, as this turns out
to be a release of music that is nowhere near rock music and that's
the cool thing about this release, it's all connected to the world
of experimental music, in all it shades and colors. Hard to tell
track by track what is there, but as a whole, this is an excellent
introduction to Wales and it's musical undercurrent. Including
Gimp Nipples, Chuch, Achonry, Rose Heyworth, Gwydion Gruffield,
Stereo Minus One, Edwin Pang, Richard Bowers, WHITENOISESOUND,
Tatamax, Carrintavy, Min Boyce, Y Phthwng, The Lumpy Choo Choo
Band, Carphology Collective, Beautiful Screaming Lady, Simon Proffitt,
Angharad Davies/Rhodri Davies, Steve Hubback, Gorwel Owen, Eirwyn
Llwyd Roberts, The 14th Century, Y Chwiorydd Marw, Traw, Jim Knight,
Fiona Owen, ISG, Nawadaha, Lleu Williams, Hwyl Nofio, Ap Duw,
The Master Musicians Of Dyffryn Moor, Perfect Blue, Sound Engineer,
Matthew Lovett & Javier Carmona, Strap The Button, Green End
Listening Station, Dominic De Nebo and Carrintavy. Extended information
on all of these in the booklet. (FdW)
Address: http://www.fouriertransform.com
ELETRONAVN - COSMIC CONTINUUM (CD by Ikuisuus)
OPEN EYE DUO - SEA & FISH (CDR by Ikuisuus)
MATOMERI - JOYS OF SUMMER (CDR by Ikuisuus)
MY3YEAH (CDR by Ikuisuus)
Lots of new names to be explored on Finland Ikuisuus label. Its
hard for me to see why something is released on CD and something
else on CDR - there must be logic there which I fail to see. From
Denmark comes Elektronavn AKA Magnus Olsen Majmon, who plays a
whole bunch of instruments, such as clarinet, voice, guitar, organ,
flute, gong, harp, percussion and field recordings. The outcome
is not easy to lump into some musical category. I think Elektronavn
likes drone music, but played on what seems to me be a set of
mainly acoustic instruments with hardly any electronically means.
Which is fine of course, had it not for the fact that it's not
a great recording. A bit hollow. In some ways I think Elektronavn
is a bit of a hippie, scratching, scraping and chanting his two
lengthy songs. I wouldn't be surprised to know that Elektronavn
rather would have made a LP, highly limited with hand made covers,
which in some circles would give him a legendary status. Free
psychedelic music I guess, but not for me.
The other releases are on CDR. Open Eye Duo are Pascal Nichols
and Dave Birchall. Dave is the man behind Black And White Cat
Press, and has played in bands like Stuckometer, Kalbakken and
My Beautiful Ridiculous Plan. Pascal has releases on Rayon Records
and played in Stuckometer, Chora, On Fire and A Band. Together
they recorded on Pascal's birthday in his flat with a bunch of
instruments such as a floor tom, a guitar and found objects. They
have a very direct in your face of scraping, scratching, plucking
and hitting their instruments and objects which is actually quite
nice to hear. Its certainly is quite raw and untamed, but the
fact that the recording is quite nice make this a delight to hear.
Some of scraping of strings sound like Agencement, if anyone remembers
that. A recording that is very much acoustic, even when there
is a bit of feedback in 'Booted'. Loud acoustic music is what
we need.
Something entirely different is Matomeri, which is a band from
Tampere and holds one of the directors of the label it's ranks.
Its Timo Puustinen on synth and drums, and Jussi Ahonen on throat
and guitar and Simo Pieniniemi on guitar. Together they play loud
free improvisation music, through hazes and shades of feedback
and distortion in an endless of wall of sound approach. A bit
blurry in the recording (where's the throat, the synth?) and reminded
me of some of the Acid Mothers Temple. It's pretty much o.k. but
not entirely my cup of beer then.
Something similar I could say about Argentina My3yeah, a duo of
Tomas Muller and gmc. On their self titled CDR they offer five
long improvisations, mostly or entirely in the area of electronics.
They crash about in a semi noise based way, but things never get
too loud or too gritty. That is fine, but in itself I didn't think
these pieces were very good, except for the last one, which was
much softer and based around slow samples. A much ambient drone
piece at work here, which worked well, despite its length. (FdW)
Address: http://www.ikuisuus.net
AARON DILLOWAY / CARLOS GIFFONI - LIVE AT
THE NO FUN FEST 2007 (LP by No Fun Productions)
ENEMA SYRINGE - LIVE AT THE NO FUN FEST 2007 (LP by No Fun Productions)
RELIGIOUS KNIVES - RESIN (CD by No Fun Productions)
THURSTON MOORE - SENSITIVE / LETHAL (CD by No Fun Productions)
The annual No Fun Fest must be one hell of a weekend, considering
that many recordings from the festival are later immortalized
on disc by No Fun Productions themselves. The bill for each year
certainly sounds like it's the most exciting festival around at
the moment, if only it wasn't that far away for us Europeans.
You would therefore think that it's a small solace that we now
get the chance to hear these performances in our own homes, but
the question is if it's such a great curatorial idea to release
several individual live releases from each year's lineup.
After Merzbow, Incapacitants and Pain Jerk it's now time for sets
by Aaron Dilloway, No Fun-head honcho Carlos Giffoni himself,
and Enema Syringe, all on LP. I always dig Dilloway's solo stuff,
and his side of the split-LP he shares with Giffoni is no letdown
either. No need to peak-in if you're indifferent to the word ,loop'
though, as that is Dilloway's main feature. He creates repeating
patterns of rough sounds from a variety of sources (mostly tapes
I guess), but his sound never becomes too extreme, in fact it
always stays quite musical, even when he lets go more towards
the end. The Giffoni side shows him in the analogue style that
we know of him by now. Sputtering synths aplenty here, as if the
airconditioning has been turned on max for the No Fun audience
during his set, and it must've also sounded quite refreshing after
hearing 10 Japnoise acts I guess. Both sets have a studio-quality
in sound, and both sets are great introductions for these artists.
Enema Syringe is an old noise institution from Sweden, and as
it is one of the main objectives of the festival to get an idea
of what spectrum of noise acts there have been (as long as they're
still active, and if not, Carlos will probably revive them again
for one night). This is the first time I heard this solo-act,
but his sweet introduction with the heavy Swedish accent on top
of some religious church singing already wins me over. It's not
as harsh as I thought it would be, though its repetition can be
grinding, and he mutters and screams unintelligibly over mostly
all of it. I've never liked screamo-noise, but he does have some
interesting sounds going on, especially an electro-like rhythm
in the first track of the second side. It sounds like a Ricky
Martin cover anyway. No, I didn't say that. I guess Swedish is
just not a good language to scream in. The last track is like
the Swedish Chef on a bad acid trip.
Religious Knives just released their first ,real' album "It's
After Dark", but this is their second CD for No Fun on which
they collect limited material from 12" and CDR releases.
It's a nice follow-up to "Remains" in that is shows
their development towards a more open and melodic side. I tend
to like the early material better, especially when I hear the
single "In The Back", which has a certain silly feeling
to the way the vocals are delivered. They fare better on the b-side
of that 12" with its gorgeous use of organ and harmonica,
but again the singing sounds a little underdeveloped. It's a recurring
problem on this collection, but look beyond it and you get a beautifully
sounding set of tracks. The spacious quality of the keys, guitar
and cymbals on "Growth" are RK's biggest strength, even
if it can veer closely to times agone, echoeing a languid version
of the Doors in almost every track.
Timeless and without comparison though, is the new Thurston Moore
solo album. More intricate then, say, his work as Bark Haze, much
more listenable too (even if the little girl on the cover doesn't
agree). The first track is layer over layer of guitar, but nothing
gets out of hand, it sounds rather balanced. A backbone of acoustic
guitar is backing up a frontal guitar freakout, and they work
perfectly together. After a nice short middle track the final
one rips up the scene to pieces, a quite noisy affair though still
very enjoyable. I wouldn't mind hearing more of this stuff from
Mr. Moore... (RM)
Address: http://www.nofunproductions.com/
MENACE RUINE - CULT OF RUINS (CD by Alien8
Recordings)
JESUS OF NAZARETH / KUSARI GAMA KILL - VAIN (Split-Cdr by R.O.N.F.
Records)
When I approximately 20 years ago got hold of the extreme metal-compilation
"Grindcrusher (Earache records, 1989), I was especially fascinated
by a certain track titled "Colostomy Grab-Bag" from
a band calling themselves O.L.D. (a.k.a. Old Lady Drivers). The
band's approach to the Grindcore-style was quite unusual with
some weird high-pitched screaming vocals and complex rhythmic
structures. As I purchased their equally impressive debut-album
"Old lady Drivers", the name "James Plotkin"
for the first time hit my mind. Since then that name has returned
back to me in connection with a large number of interesting projects
throughout the years. Flirting with both the electronic ambient-spheres
and the metal-based expressions this guy knows how to melt down
the borders between the two quite opposite sonic worlds. James
Plotkin is the producer of this present release from the, always
exciting Canadian label Alien8 Recordings. The project calling
itself Menace Ruine has its roots in the northern parts of Canada.
Somehow there must be a link between icy temperatures and frostbitten
black metal. Equally to the extreme metal colleagues from the
homeland of black metal, the freezing Norway, Menace Ruins creates
atmospheres of cynic brutality. With the sound production accomplished
by James Plotkin, Menace Ruine pulls the harshness of black metal
into the world of electronic ambience. The result is seven tracks
of apocalypse that simply kick an impression into the listener.
From the relatively controllable opening tracks "Process"
and "The sky as a reversed abyss", consisting of black
metal rhythms, soundscapes of electronic ambience to the completely
apocalyptic terrorism of "They who enter caves" that
manage to compete with maestros of black metal brutalism, Norwegian
Immortal, though with the addition of evil bursts of the electronic
equipment in the case of Meca Ruin. Buzzing and dark drones of
electronic noise push the hyper-fast beat-blasts and screaming
vocals of pure wrath to the extremes of expression - my absolute
favourite track on the album! On the track titled "Bonded
by wyrd" Menace Ruine catches an almost melodic pace with
some nice guitar work combined with almost ritual vocals. The
end of this certain track has a quite interesting development
into Industrial Ambience reminding me of the "Inde$troy"
(Manic Ears Records, 1989) from Saw Throat (a.k.a. Sore Throat).
With James Plotkin as a producer and with Alien8 Recordings as
the open-minded yet quality conscious label, "Cult of Ruins"
can only succeed and hell it does!
If Menace Ruine had a balance of 70% black metal and 30% ambient
noise, Split-album between US-project Jesus Of Nazareth and Danish
project Kusari Gama Kill titled "Vain" has the opposite
balance with more focus on Noise but still with a heavy weight
on Grindcore expressions. The album is released by the Spanish
label R.O.N.F. Records that focuses on extreme expressions of
grinding metal as well as of harsh noise. And the expression certainly
is extreme on this split-album. "Jesus of Nazareth"
opens the jolly show with ten blasting bombers based of hyper-fast
drum machines, processed voices and other samples from among others
Jap-noise artist Masonna. Despite the hyper-activity of the drum
machines the rhythmic texture gives a great solid ground to the
nine works of Jesus Of Nazareth. There are lots of interesting
interventions in the noisy spheres with among others samples of
early Saloon Music mixed up with almost melodic soundscapes on
the track titled "Life was perfect". In other moments
the expressions reminds of John Zorn's Naked City-project thanks
to the furious mixture of grindcore, jazzy drum patterns and noise.
As Kusari Gama Kill hits the stage the poor listener is completely
wiped out by the nasty growling of Janus Blomfrø meanwhile
his collaborator Martin Weile demolish any sign of silence with
his cynic mistreatments of electronic equipment. As was the case
with Jesus Of Nazareth, Kusari Gama Kill uses ultra-fast machine-drumming
as a nice underground layer to the symphonies of sickness. Two
excellent albums from two different labels revealing the fact
that the difference between electronic expressions and extreme
metal can easily be melted down - with a quite nasty result!
Anyone interested in Noise created by drum machines should also
check out the "Drummachinegun" released by Relapse Records
in 2006. (NM)
Address: http://www.alien8recordings.com
Address: http://www.ronfrecords.com
EXILLON - IT'S OK TO DANCE (CD by Ad Noiseam)
House-Techno seems like having a revival at the moment but separate
to the original scene of the peaking 90's there is a much more
experimental edge to a great part of what is being released, for
instance on labels like Kompakt and Get Physical. Third shot from
the exciting sound artist from the Bay Area, Exillon, seems like
moving in the same direction. Jay Fields a.k.a. Exillon impressed
with his earlier releases, especially the "Keening Dithers"-album,
thanks to a nice combination of good composition skills as well
as skills for creating awesome melodic atmospheres. This latest
album titled "It's OK to dance" also contains some great
musical moments, though the real gem of this album is the lightness
and the boiling energy that makes even the laziest body want to
move. Compared to earlier efforts the album puts much weight on
the up-beat style and less on the atmospheric ambient-scapes.
The expression varies from minimalist techno reminiscent of Richie
Hawtin (a.k.a. Plastikman) with TR-808-sounding interventions
and sharply cut beat structures. Other tracks like the "Hairyback
acid" has the ritual acid-style Goa Trance. My personal favourite
track on the album is the alluringly happy piece titled "Office
work" that nicely balances between Technoid House and a more
experimental edge. A very interesting development for Exillon,
that with this new step proves his ability not only to feed the
brain of the listener but also the feet. Highly recommended! (NM)
Address: http://www.adnoiseam.net
PSYCHIC SPACE INVASION - TRANSITIONS (CD
by Persepolis Records)
Ian Holloway, the man behind Psychic Space Invasion, started the
Elvis Coffee Records label, then Quiet World, and now is perhaps
behind Persepolis Records. It may seem confusing, all this label
work, but 'Transitions', the new release by his own Psychic Space
Invasion, is on a 'real' CD, as opposed to the previous releases,
which were all on CDR. That is perhaps the only break, since the
music is a continuation from what we know and heard before. At
the bottom of the music there is a drone. That's however in a
constant movement, a flux, a flow. On top Holloway waves together
sounds, clearly divided into various parts. There is a part with
humming, chanting voices and towards the end there is a long passage
with loops of piano playing. Loaded with effects this release,
mainly in the area of delay and reverb, which gives the music
a somewhat muddy character, whereas it could have been more open.
That's perhaps the only thing that is a bit less about this release,
but otherwise I thought this release, while offering more of the
same, is quite a nice release, and should appeal to those who
love the Uk drone scene of Monos, Ora, Mirror, Andrew Chalk, Colin
Potter and Paul Bradley. (FdW)
Address: http://www.myspace.com/persepolisrecords.com
MIKE BROWNINGS INNER WORKINGS - TRANCEMISSIONS
(CD by Pharmafabrik)
People, who followed the heydays of death metal, would have heard
of the Dutch project Nocturnus that revolutionized the scene with
its use of synthesizer to create sinister atmospheres in the symphonies
of grinding metal. As soon as I saw the cover of this present
CD-album by Mike Browning Inner Workings, I was reminded by the
debut-album of Nocturnus, "The key" released on the
legendary Earache label back in 1991. The doomy dark blue colors
on a bizarre sci-fi monstrous world from "The key" remain
on this solo-album of ex-Nocturnus vocalist/drummer Mike Browning
titled "Trancemissions". Mike Browning was the man with
the strange robotic talking vocals of Nocturnus, thus responsible
for the strange expression that led to the success of the band.
Now Mike Browning has left the harsh expression behind and moved
into the world of electronics to explore new sonic borderlands.
In the electronic world Mike Browning focus on dark nocturnal
atmospheres with the exclusion of any kind of rhythmic texture.
From the opening track titled "Inner workings" consisting
of threatening thick drones and buzzing noises swirling in the
background to the more melodic yet sinister work "The edge
of the universe" that almost reminds of the John Williams
theme to Ridley Scott's Blade Runner. A radical change by the
ex-drummer and vocalist of death metal projects that apart from
Nocturnus also counts Morbid Angel and Incubus - a radical change
that actually does quite well on this debut album. (NM)
Address: http://pharmafabrik.com/
MARCHING DYNAMICS - NAILSLEEPER (CD by Hymen
Records)
TWINKLE - LE JOUET (CD by Ant-Zen)
Despite the fact that Ant-Zen Recordings traditionally has more
focus on the harsh Industrial-related expressions with Hymen Records
putting more focus on less harsher and more IDM-based expressions
there is some similarity between the two legendary labels run
Stefan S. Alt. The two present albums from the two labels are
by artists that certainly know how to create excellent club friendly
rhythm textures. "Nailsleeper" from L.A.-based project
Marching Dynamics and released via Hymen Records, proves that
the brain behind, S. Talada, has a sense of creating beat textures
cut sharp into an almost militant pace. Thus the project name
suits perfect to the style. Take for instance the club-track titled
"Un fall able" with dark technoid atmospheres not far
away from early Biosphere, circa "Novelty waves". Another
perfect moment is the ultra-cool track "Stoic" based
on old-school electro-beats reminiscent of early pioneering electro-tracks
such as Hashim's "Al-Naa-Fiysh (The Soul)" and Africa
Bambaataa's "Planet Rock". The album moves in a nice
balance between dreamy ambient-techno, breakbeats and a few moments
of Industrial interventions. No really harsh moments on this one.
Harshness on the other side is found on the next album released
via Ant-Zen Recordings. French project "Twinkle" has
gained cult status for their live shows around Europe. Therefore
the debut album titled "Le Jouet" from the duo has been
long awaited. Expressionally Twinkle varies from a downbeat Industrial-style
of great atmospheres to pompous melodies of floating orchestral
ambient as on the excellent track "Ton style". On a
track titled "Les voies infectees" the expression turns
more abrasive with a number of voice samples and strange synth-lines
moving above very cool downbeat yet rather complex rhythm textures.
Awesome track! The combination of experimental electronics and
catchy Industrial-textures works great. Two awesome albums from
Ant-Zen recordings and Hymen Records. (NM)
Address: http://www.ant-zen.com
Address: http://www.hymen-records.com
BULBS - LIGHT SHIPS (CD by Freedom To Spend)
Bulbs is the new duo of William Sabiston (drums), who was former
in Axolotl, together with Jon Almaraz since 2005, when they both
moved to San Francisco. The label Freedom To Spend (which perhaps
says something about their resources?) speaks of 'an odd space
between the gloss of Kompakt records minimalism, the glue huff
ambiguity of a band like Mouthus and the stuttering clicks and
confusion of a Han Bennik [sic]/Derek Bailey duo'. It's not references
I fully understand. Bulbs is certainly a duo who love to improvise,
but me thinks in a pretty chaotic way, more Bennink/Bailey or
Mouthus, but I can hardly see the connection with Kompakt. The
drums are at times sound quite muffled in the way they are recorded
and are not really open sounding. The guitar does lots of crazy
things, feeding through distortion, chaotic strumming but throughout
I must say I didn't particular enjoy this, mainly because the
production is something that could be better. One can sense there
is more to it than this, but it has not yet come to entirely to
life yet. (FdW)
Address: http://www.freedomtospend.net
ANLA COURTIS & SEIICHI YAMAMOTO &
YOSHIMI - LIVE AT KANADIAN (CD by Public Eyesore)
Two members of Boredoms, Yoshimi (voice, keyboard and percussion)
and Seiichi Yamamoto (electric guitar & percussion) team up
with former Reynols member Anla Courtis (e-guitar, toba violin
& tapes) on a night in Osaka in 2005, at a place called Kanadian.
I must admit straight away that I am not the man who knows Boredoms
very well. I expected a bunch of free noise rocking about, but
whatever happens, and however free things get, things aren't free
rocking noise. This trio plays around with their instruments in
a total free manner, and the take back down the volume if needed,
which is a fine thing. However this is an unedited live performance,
which no doubt is much appreciated by completists of the work
of these people, but I think it could have certainly been a bit
more stripped down and be a bit more in shape. Not every single
second is interesting, especially in the all out fourth piece,
clocking at twenty-six minutes, this becomes clear. It's a fine
piece, but it could have been improved if trimmed a bit. What
I thought was nice is the fact that they move all over the place,
from the outbursts to the more quieter moments, and that really
saved the CD. (FdW)
Address: http://www.publiceyesore.com
STEVEN HESS & MILES TILMANN - DEPARTURES
(LP by Other Electricities)
By now, the name Steven Hess could be well-known. Whenever I see
something with his name attached to it, like Pan American, Fessenden,
Haptic, Dropp Ensemble or collaborating with say Robert Hampson,
it's time to open the ears and listen. Hess is a drummer who can
play jazz, electro-acoustic sound and improvisation. Here he teams
up with one Miles Tilmann of whom I never heard, but who works,
apparently, with ambient, experimental and dance music. Here he
plays electronics, while Hess plays drums and vibraphone. The
six pieces are richly layered, textured pieces which are one foot
in the ambient music and one foot in laid back, groovy rhythms.
Hess plays with a great jazzy feeling, with brushes and such like
and Tilmann adds a fine blend of textured electronics to it. There
is an influence of Pan American to be traced throughout these
pieces which is quite nice. A great pairing of improvisation,
musique concrete, dub, ambient in six particular strong tracks.
(FdW)
Address: http://www.other-electricities.com
AUDIOSCOOP COMPILATION 1 (2LP compilation
by Audioscoop)
FREIBAND - CAPTURE (3" CDR by My Own Little Label)
Since 2005, "Audioscoop" is an ongoing series of musical
events, held in the lovely soundworkplace "Intro In Situ",
in Maastricht, the Netherlands. Kim Laugs, member of Feedback
Society and who I suspect to be the brainchild behind Audioscoop,
invites artists to "explore the boundaries in sound and music".
This double LP contains a selection of artists who where part
of these events, between 2005 and 2007. They were asked to deliver
exclusive material or edits from their live performances at Intro
In Situ. Quite some pioneer explorers are to be found here: Asmus
Tietchens, Das Synthetische Mischgewebe, Aube, Kapotte Muziek,
Sudden Infant and the late MSBR (sadly, one of his last concerts
was the one in Maastricht). They are placed, fittingly well, together
with some new kids on the block: Arnoud Rivière, Meta Orcha,
incite/, Thuth, Ex.Zero and (of course) Feedback Society. I should
also mention the fieldrecording composition made by Rinus van
Alebeek: it deals with chocolate and is really funny (with an
odd erotic twist). In conclusion: highly enjoyable record that
gives a nice overview of what has been so far, and makes you look
forward to the events to come.
Freiband (aka Frans de Waard) was present at the release party
for above mentioned double LP. He was asked to speak some words
on the history of Audioscoop and the to-be-presented compilation.
After the words, followed a Freiband performance and for this
event he made a remix of the material present on the double LP.
Since I was present at the event I started off with hearing the
remix, before I had actually heard the compilation itself. Not
that that is very essential, but at that moment I had no recognition
of the individual elements - I wasn't even aware of hearing myself
back in the live remix! Now that I have notion of the tracks on
the double LP I do. To some extent, this composition (divided
in three recognizable parts) also follows the mood line of the
compilation; changing from subtle sound experiments in the beginning,
to a growing noisier outburst in the middle and collagesque elements
throughout and towards the end. Quite an exciting piece and a
nice accompaniment to the compilation! (SDT)
Address: http://www.introinsitu.nl
Address: http://www.kormplastics.nl/moll.html
MOLJEBKA PVLSE - IODE/IVX (7" by Drone
Records)
NOISE DREAMS MACHINE - IN/OUT (7" by Drone Records)
SHRINE - DISTORTED LEGENDS (7" by Drone Records)
XABEC - FEUERSTERN (7" by Drone Records)
With something of pure amazement I can look at the releases of
Drone Records, now up to their 7" number 89 to 92! And what's
also amazing is the fact that Drone always seems to be able to
find names I never heard of, except, in this case, Moljebka Pvlse.
To start with what we know. Mathias Josefson has already a bunch
of releases at his name (his latest was a very nice project that
included a CDR in an edition of 10 copies of processed singing
with his mother!), but here on 'Iode/Ixv' he returns to the full
form drone music that Moljebka Pvlse is best known. Two introspective
pieces of music that move like lazy, slow animals. That, or it's
the slowed down pastoral chords on a church organ. A drone records
blue print this one. Dark, atmospheric and highly drone like.
Noise Dreams Machine is one Oscar Martin from Spain, who is partly
based in Berlin and partly in Barcelona, working on homemade software
for 'sound deconstruction and realtime performance'. Here Drone
Records moves away from the pure drone music field into electro
acoustic music. It's very hard to tell what it is that Martin
does here, or what sounds are used in this input. They are all
blurred somewhere in the computer into a somewhat harsher set
of sounds, but that also works well as a piece of drone music.
Very nice one, this.
Shrine hails from Bulgaria, not a likely place for the avant-garde,
but perhaps things are growing over there. Here too it's not easy
to tell what is done, but my best guess would be that Shrine has
some analogue gear which he recorded on a four track to create
a little more melodic version of drone music on the a-side. On
the other side he puts on some more noise and to that end he uses
a guitar. Shrine makes things a bit more 'gothic' style, with
hummings created by the presets of his synthesizers, but he cleverly
manages to stay on the right side (of the brain?).
The best package is kept until the end. Xabec has two versions
of his 'Feuerstern' (Firestar), which is 'a choreographed performance
featuring music and fireworks'. The studio version of the main
them has a lush ambient texture to it, with some deep end sound
and faint sounds of things falling. That could be fireworks but
perhaps its something else. On the other side there is a live
version that includes Micheal Northam moving around with microphones
and Xabec also adds some pre-recorded material by Northam. It
starts with fireworks, but it turns out to be an entirely different
piece of music. Moving around with a harsher texture and even
some rhythm this is also a great piece, albeit a big more rough.
This 7" comes in a cardboard box with embossed gold printing.
The best of the otherwise not bad either rest. And now Drone Records
is reaching number 100, isn't it time for a 10 CD (well, or so)
of all the releases so far?
Address: http://www.dronerecords.de
MYSTIFIED - SUBDIALOGUE (CDR by Verato Project)
While doing so many small things around here, I played 'Sub Dialogue'
by Mystified twice in a row. Perhaps I was not entirely convinced
what I heard, or some such reason. Or perhaps I wanted to double
check things. Mystified belong to the sort of musicians who play
music as a hobby. Switch on the machines, create some music through
sound manipulation and see who is going to release it. No plan,
no grandiose schematic to change the world of music. Just do whatever
needs to be done. Nothing wrong with that. But on this end, the
reviewer's end, things aren't that easy. First of all there are
so many things by one and the same artist that it's hard to see
what is going on and secondly, for some of the people goes, heard
one, heard all. Actually I do like Mystified low resolution sampling
ambient industrial wall paper. Not a lot, but it's nice and it
reminds me of say City of Worms or some early Hands To, and 'Subdialogue'
is no different. No development and interchangeable. Its something
you hear and go 'oh nice', but you wouldn't necessarily play it
again (unless of course you are reviewer). (FdW)
Address: http://www.verato-project.de
STEVE PETERS - FILTERED LIGHT (CHAMBER MUSIC
4) (CDR by Dragon's Eye Recordings)
Part four in an ongoing series of site-specific sound installations
'derived from recordings of the empty rooms in which the work
is exhibited'. Here it's the turn of Steve Peters, whom we know
through his releases on his own Nonsequitur as well as for other
labels. Sitting in an empty room is something we hardly do of
course, filled as they are with furniture, music and activity.
But should you have the possibility to listen to empty spaces
than you would realize there is a lot to hear. Peters recorded
the room for an hour and selected fourteen frequencies between
70Hz an 3Khz. The hour was divided into thirty-two segments of
varying length, played at random on a four channel installation.
As such that what we get here is just one possible interaction
of this. Cut as one track, leaving no room for us to further randomize
the event, this is an absolute great piece of music. Very microsound
of course, but things move around, change color, change shape
and keep evolving throughout the course of the piece. Music to
be played in a full room, sit back, relax and enjoy. It's very
much a Brian Eno piece updated to today's technology. What else
can I say? Simply gorgeous. (FdW)
Address: http://www.dragonseyerecordings.com
OZMADAWN - RISE OF THE MOTH (CDR by Chambara
Records)
HORSEFLESH - SYNTHENESIA 1 (CDR by Chambara Records)
With titles like - Synthenesia 1, tracks called The Breath Of
Orion and notes" For the Ra of the Sun and the Eye in the
Pyramid" its difficult to be serious - or should it be 'Sirius'
(boom boom). Actual I think Stockhausen (R.I.N.) claimed he hailed
from the neighborhood of said star and spoke approvingly of 9-11
- both facts kept quiet by his minders- I digress, Freudian avoidance-
Synthenesia has fairly straight FM sounding works - long quite
sparse - and well - I just don't get the point? - The Rise of
the Moth (there is nothing more dangerous than a cornered moth)
is a little more interesting as Dereck Donohue has support from
Jonah Rust, he really does spell his name Dereck. and reading
on "Recorded at Vahalla Summer 2007 Post Production by Skozey
Fetisch" - umm two things - its sounding like a Douglas Adams
hitch hiker cast list - so the whole thing might be a giant pun
(to set the controls to the heart of..) and I recently got flak
for commenting not on the music but extraneous detail- as if it
matters what planet they think they are on to criticizing the
music, but Hitler's watercolors are still crap- so TROTM - more
interesting frippery but the opening track sounds a little like
the theme music to Marathon Man - sets your teeth on edge then?
is it safe - yes very- Actually an old Aunt of mine (RIP) was
once bitten by a moth which drew blood. So careful with that moth
Eugene? ..oh and "Style: Krautrock, Drone, Space Rock, Noise,
Experimental" .....(jliat)
Address: <dereckdonohue@htomail.com>
K.E. REVIS - BANISHING ANXIETIES (CDR by
BXR Records)
K.E. REVIS - LETTING GO (CDR by BXR Records)
Only two weeks ago we were introduced to the music of K.E. Revis,
who started to release his music for the first time in 2007, but
who had been around for years dabbling around. Here he sent us
a slightly older release, the first from 2007 and a most recent
one. 'Banishing Anxieties' is the older one, and has four super
long tracks, almost spanning the entire eighty minutes of the
CDR. Revis tells us that 'both (are) quite different from each
other and from the previous one you reviewed'. That is true, but
the differences are not that big. Come to think of it: I am not
sure if I could tell they are from Revis, if you wake me up and
asked me this all important question. On the 2007 release there
is a touch more ambient sounds going on. But it's ambient with
a small 'a' and a lot of industrial music influences. Using keyboards,
sometimes to be recognized and sometimes not, as the main source
of music, there is also quite a lot of sound effects applied here,
which is of course o.k. had it not been that the sound gets quite
blurry. That is a pity since with some more creative mixing guess
things would have certainly improved, as the fourth (untitled)
piece proofs - the best of the lot.
On 'Letting Go', Revis explores the noise route more. Shorter
tracks and more this time around. Here too things dwell extensively
on the use of sound effects, albeit in a more gritty manner. Right
from the start things explode, rumble and distort, but in an odd
way Revis actually composes more with the sounds at hand. On his
other releases it's more like a free flow of sound, here he tries
to compose music with the components at hand. Perhaps I heard
a bit too much noise in my days to get overtly excited about this,
but this is actually his best release yet. Maybe apply the composing
methods to his other, more ambient oriented music, and turn out
a really great release. (FdW)
Address: http://www.bxrrecords.com
THE LAMB AN THE TYGER (CDR by I Had An Accident
Records)
SAM FEMINO - THE ROARKIAN TEMPLATE (CDR by I Had An Accident Records)
TUGBOAT - THE ASTORIANS (CDR by I Had An Accident Records)
As long as the promotional budget is spent it's all fine. It really
doesn't matter where things go. The Lamb And The Tiger is described
as 'indie rock from Gettysburg, PA. Two boys Joe and Rob write/sing
about liberal arts'. Music with balls by and for boys. 'Powerful'
indie rock, latin text in the opening 'The Tyger', which is like
a prog rock piece. Then things slow down, a ballad even, and it
stays there for much too long before speeding up in 'Cellblock'.
All the time I was thinking, why did I get this. But I wasn't
prepared for Sam Femino, 'a folk singer from New England', which
starts out a cappella, but then straps on his guitar and mumble/sings
his way through a bunch of songs. Cheap low recording, false singing
and playing the guitar. Perhaps I'm missing the outsider point
entirely here, which might happen, but I'm prepared to take that
risk. One to forget.
Tugboat are two boys living in Portland, Oregon and deliver 'the
most intriguing music to date. Very deliberate material' we are
promised. They two have a guitar, an amplifier, the same cheap
microphone, but there is some feedback and a whole bunch of obscured
sounds, which make it more nicer than the other two releases.
Intriguing perhaps for what they want to do, but otherwise it
sounds like another attempt at being outsider, strange or such
like, which is also, at times, an excuse for mediocare ideas and
likewise playing. (FdW)
Address: http://www.ihadanaccidentrecords.com
BABA LLAGA - GESAMTKUNSTWERK (CDR by Hamaika)
You can watch at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpfOSehym9c and
get some idea of the sound/concept - but on this recording they
play magnificently with the stereo field and excellent sound qualities
- samples - voices clips etc.- this is a very peculiar disk -
the cut ups are short clearly and cleverly defined - you'll get
a better idea of the sound @ http://www.myspace.com/baballaga
- the work despite the youtube extravaganza is remarkably refined
- almost a genre of its own though not surprising - not being
in the mainstream of LA or even perhaps not their native country
- are- (they deserve a name check!) miguel a garcía (mixes,
effects, feedbacks, rhythms), raul dominguez (metallic percussion,
radio, musical instruments) daniel llaria (voices, shouts, thrash
drums, performance) itziar markiegi (mediatic sampling, effects
pedal, ixi software)- from Bilbao - and produce really excellent
and original material -after listening to just too much pretentious
industrial clankery from across the pond this makes a very refreshing
change - well *novelty* - it reminds me of some strange animations
of the 60s - pop/fast frame - BABA LLAGA - could be considered
pop at times - avant garde at others- all I can say in closing
is I recommend you take a listen - if only to see how reverence
and pretension can make for pretentious crap which is a polite
way of referring to some other recent material I've been listening
to. And if any A&R people read this - god why- sign this group-
the next Autechure or Pansonic? Brilliant- neo-fluxus. marx bros
meet Stockhausen.. off the wall out of the frame leftfield.. (I
must stop- but track 16 baba llaga though it's just aaaa- scream!.
jliat.)
Address: http://www.xedh.org/baballaga/
MAIKKO - TLAYACAPAN (CDR by Gruenrekorder)
TBC - PFALZ II (CDR by Gruenrekorder)
SUSPICION BREEDS CONFIDENCE - THE FAUNA AND FLORA OF THE VATICAN
CITY (CD by Gruenrekorder)
LASSE-MARC RIEK - ISLANDS (CDR by Oem Records)
I believe I never heard of Maikko, who is from Italy and is a
co-founder of Otolab and works with electronic music and visuals.
He is also a member of Newtone2060, with Cristiano Calcagnile
and turntablist MM. He has some solo releases, on Polarity Records
and Stasisfield. On his third solo release he works with field
recording - putting the kettle on - along with highly processed
computer generated music and sound. All in quite a minimal fashion,
but not very coherent. Sometimes he tries to be microsound, then
field recording and then even a bit of rhythm is used, but it
fails to impress me. Overall it's not unpleasant to hear but nothing
really sticks.
Thomas Beck has been around for a long time. I never knew he was
behind H64, which I once called the loudest in Europe. He's also
responsible for the Wachsender Prozess label, Odradek magazine
and his own radio programm. These days his solo project is called
TBC and as such he has done already a couple of releases. For
Gruenrekorder he made a work that falls in the section of field
recordings (the label works with various categories). We hear
TBC mostly dealing with wind sounds, out there in North Germany's
cold forest in one piece that lasts about thirty minutes or a
bit less. Cleverly divided into smaller blocks with silence in
between, this is almost like a Lopez like work and certainly the
best work I ever heard coming out of his hands. Away is the roughness
of the electro-acoustics of before and replaced by a subtle piece
of field recordings most easy to capture event: wind. Very nice
indeed.
I am a bit puzzled by fact why the release by Suspicion Breeds
Confidence, a.k.a. Tobias Schmitt and his friends is released
on a CD. Maybe the band had money to spend. They play electronic
music, based around slow rhythms, that, well why not, could maybe
be described as dub rhythms. Around these float a whole bunch
of sounds, but I must admit it all sounds very tame to me. None
of the pieces could really interest me or grab me. I have no idea
what inspired them to make this, other than perhaps the smoking
of cannabis while recording this.
Labelboss Lasse-Marc Riek goes away from his own label to Oem
Records for the release of his 'Islands' CDR. Recorded on two
small islands, Amrum and Poel in the northwest and northeast of
Germany. This is a work of pure phonography: take a microphone
into the country side and record whatever happens there. We hear
seagulls, cows, sea, wind and human activity, most likely farming,
I think. Riek takes all of these sounds and presents them as pure
blocks of untreated field recordings. Nice to hear, but probably
nicer to record while there. He does a fine, but not great job.
Stuff like this has been done before, better or, if you want the
real thing, go out and listen.
Address: http://www.gruenrekorder.de
Address: http://www.oemrecords.net
STEINBRÜCHEL & MACHINEFABRIEK -
STAUB (3" CDR by Machinefabriek)
Following his long string of 3" releases Machinefabriek is
now expanding more and more his horizon and ready to take over
the world. To reach that goal, Machinefabriek collaborates with
others, such as Freiband, Stephen Vitiello or in person with Ralph
Steinbrüchel. A mere two weeks ago, Rutger Zuydervelt was
in Zürich to play a concert and did a concert with Steinbrüchel,
all based on samples from Machinefabriek's 'Stofstuk', of which
he also released a double CD with remixes. In twenty two minutes
the two stretch out the music into a wealthy tapestry of sound,
with a big gigantic flow underneath and on top things flow in
and out of the mix. There is a certain roughness to the music
that no doubt has to do with the fact that this is a live recording,
but its a roughness that I quite like. It keeps the listener attention,
and presents him from lulling asleep, which might have done when
it was a more subtle studio version. Heavy mood music for heavy
moods. Spacious but with a strong bite. (FdW)
Address: http://www.machinefabriek.nu
ORIGAMI BOE - ACOUSTIC LAPTOPS (MP3 by Ambolthue)
Just what is an acoustic laptop? Its a suitcase of objects that
can be played, by hand, with sticks. It has a contact microphone
so that the box can be amplified. It's an invention that is made
by Origami Boe and which he used to play concerts with throughout
Europe. Since Origami Boe is a visual artist these boxes look
like art objects and since he has made various, there is now an
exhibition of them in Oslo. On Ambolthue you can make this download
and there is a nice booklet (full color, glossy printed) booklet
available. In the booklet photo's and information on these laptops
and some background. The music is highly acoustic. Boe uses no
electronic processing, but the sounds are as clear as possible.
Pieces of metal, glass, strings, bolts and egg slicer are played
with great care and style, solo or with others, making a fine
delicate electro-acoustic sound play that owes more to Kapotte
Muziek than Merzbow. More than the music, the booklet is the real
treasure of information and inspiration. Do it yourself didn't
came much closer to you than this. (FdW)
Address: http://www.ambolthue.com
BLINDHEAO - IT'S A BIT LIKE PLAYING A GAME
- FRUSTRATING GAME IN WHICH THE RULES MIGHT CHANGE AT A MOMENT'S
NOTICE (MP3 by Ruidemos)
It's a bit hard to write the name correct of this band, as the
'a' and 'e' should be together and the 'o' has something to it.
It's all Icelandic and means blind spot. I type Blindheao, if
you don't mind. I don't know where they are from, but perhaps
not Iceland. Some of the pieces on 'It's A Bit Like Playing A
Game - A Frustrating Game In Which The Rules Might Change At A
Moment's Notice' were presented at Cinema Nova in Brussels and
for its source the band (?) used field recordings made in Brussels,
Komarom, Bamberg, Jakarta, Bandung and Makassar. Not that is possible
to recognize any of that, since they are all electronically transformed,
beyond recognition. Throughout Blindheao creates a fine microsound
like work, which only very occasionally goes to a bit more noisy
and/or rhythmical area of work. Not really the most surprising
piece of work, but it works quite well as a backdrop for music
while you work. Very electronical in approach, a sort of experimental
ambient. (FdW)
Address: http://ruidemos.freelinuxhost.com