ERIC LUNDE – WHEN YOU WISH UPON A SCAR (CD by Povertech)
Now here is an old aquitence: About 8 to 10 years ago, Eric was top notch
industrial musician, his work was not just music, but involved video,
performance, writing and sculpting. Eric was a founding member of Boy Dirt
Car and is now playing in a band called Inane. This CD is a collection of
pieces reccorded between 1983 and 1991, and were previously released on
cassettes and vinyl. It’s quite interesting to hear all this music that one
was so known with after all these years. There is a certain rawess captured
here that is not seen too much nowadays. Take the ‘sonic geography’
inhabited in such pieces as Aztalan or the The Colorado Terrain
Investigation. It is still as puzzling as it was then (what are they doing?
just what is the goal of this investigation? etc.), but it is still
intriguing.
Piece de resistance is the full, over 22 minute, version of Tape Death Cut,
from the split LP with Hands To. Here Eric Lunde is in his most refined
state – using samples from his own work, reworked and eroded/decoded sound.
If you are me (read: old), then you might like to hear some old stuff which
may have collected a fair amount of dust. If you are young, but willing to
seek out some recent history, this is a place to start.
Address: <povertech@emrl.com>
FINAL – THE FIRST MILLIONTH OF A SECOND (CD by Manifold)
Final belongs that particular wave of guitar players that play the guitar,
but if I didn’t tell you, you wouldn’t know. Usually the six string sound
is well hidde beneath a bath of samples and sound effects. The result is
never aggressive or abrssive, but of simple beautiful… hey maybe ambient
quality. Slowly melodies evolve, take shape and disappear. More then others
in this area, Finals guitars and basses are actually to be heard on this
one. This is what sets Final apart from the other isolationists (is that
word dead by now?). What more should one add? Probably nothing, other then:
yes, this is beautiful. (FdW)
Address: <manifold@wspice.com>
DAVID KRISTIAN – CRICKLEWOOD (CD on alien8 recordings)
Here’s a reasonably great CD constructed from a gaggle of analogue machines
by Canadian David Kristian, known to some for his drum’n bass releases on
Discreet/Indiscreet and Dropbeat records.
Most of the sounds on this new release were generated in real-time using
conbtrol voltages derived from pitch material from other instruments.
It was something of a strut back in time for me; the last I heard like this
was the Michael Winnerholt CD on Multimood, which was a motley collection
meandering of blips and blurps compared to fine, subtle constructions by
David. The ghosts of composers and bands notyetdead dance jigs in
Cricklewood, and despite separate tracks, this collection comes across as
an almost symphonic piece.
Nervous knocking slips into reversed reverberation…the Sonic lads from
Pan on Valium, perhaps ? This slides into a semi-eastern, but almost
certainly extraterrestial gong being pounded by insistent metallic flies.
Footing now lost, I slip further into the oscillators, into my stirred
memories of Morton Subotnick’s ‘Wild Bull’,’Silver Apples Of The Moon’ and
‘4 Butterflies’ of years ago. Soft subterralien murmurings precede the
sound of something big being encouraged to fit through a space too small
for it. Spurred on by a brief display of Star Wars synthesiser artillery we
finally fall through the narrow seam into a gritty landscape. On the
horizon a rising sine. A bold, eccentric sashay accompanies us to the edge
of the end.
Hmm, finely tuned and very carefully made music. A sense of peace. A piece
of sense. (MP)
Address: <alien8@total.net>
BASTIAN MARIS – LARGE HOT PIPE ORGAN (CD on Staalplaat)
Here’s a qote fro the CD cover: ‘B.M’s interest in machines, sound and
violent processes has lead to an ongoing research in chemo-acoustic
phenomena and the development of musical instruments based upon this
priciple. In 1993, after four years of testing, this resulted in the
creation of the Large Hot Pipe Organ.’ The LHPO consists of twenty pretuned
pipes with varying lengths and diameters and sound is produced by
detonating propane-air mixtures within the pipes. The system is controlled
by a customised programme enabling direct keyboard input. A sort of
MIDI-to-explosion converter.
Now, I was fortunate enough to experience Bastiaan’s devices shortly after
moving to Holland, and several times since then. In real-life-time they
convey a dramatic sense of danger and spontaneity. In fact I feel they can
only be appreciated this way… the CD recording, whilst lacking nothing in
clarity fails dismally to represent the true power of these installation,
and comes across as a slowed down recording of a bowl of Rice Crispies
(that’s Snap, Crackle and Pop to the uninitiated, or very young !). (MP)
Address: <staal@euronet.nl>
ARCHON SATANI – THE FINAL COMPLETION (picture 10″ by Cold Spring Records)
This seems to be the final document by a group that is strongly linked with
the so called ‘Death-Industrial’-genre. The original group consisted of two
members until 1993, when Tomas Petterson left to create his new project
ORDO EQUILIBRIO. Mikael Stavoestrand, the other half, was working under the
name INANNA solo (and he still is) and continued ARCHON SATANI on his own.
The pieces here were recorded in 1996 (so, without Tomas) and are more
‘ambient’ than real ‘death-Industrial’ I think, as they are built mainly
with low-frequent tribal drumming and haunting drones, which gets softer at
the end and really spheric (Side A), whereas Side B begins very silent and
suspenseful with very slow drums and gets more and more thick, although it
never really turns into noise. The pieces are dark and brooding, but not as
‘occult’ as one would maybe expect.
For me, this is the best ARCHON SATANI-work so far, and I hope INANNA will
continue in the same area of sound. The picture-disc has a ‘mystic’ outfit
and is limited to 500 copies. Not only recommendable for “fans” of the
group. [BAR]
Address: <coldspring@thenet.co.uk>