MARSEN JULES – SHADOWS IN TIME (CD by Oktaf) *
EXIT IN GREY – ONE LUMEN IN THE PAST (CD by Frozen Light) *
JAMES BATTY – SANTUARY (OVERTONES AND DEVIATIONS (CD by Frozen Light) *
FLIN VAN HEMMEN –DRUMS OF DAYS (CD by Neither/Nor)
ARDEN DAY & WYSOZKY – UNBEHAGEN (2CD by Cmafu Nocords)
ANTONIN GERBAL – SOUND OF DRUMS (CD by Umlaut Records)
RYOKO ONO & ROGIER SMAL – WOOD MOON (CD by Toztizok Zounds/Jvtlandt)
BOMB – THE SUBJECT (CD by Konvoj Records) *
KONVOJ ENSEMBLE – MIRA (CD by Konvoj Records) *
HALSTER – MINDFULNESS (CD by Konvoj Records) *
RYAN CHOI – THREE DANCERS (CD by Accretions) *
COLIN POTTER – THE SCYTHE (2LP by Deep Distance Recordings)
ANAÏS MAVIEL – HOULE (CDR by Gold Bolus)
RSS BOYS – M0NKYY BL00D (CDR by Mik Musik) *
EMERGE – LIVE AT ECHOKAMMER (CDR by Attenuation Circuit) *
ANIMAL MACHINE – TRASHING DRIVE VEGETATION (CDR by Attenuation Circuit) *
NAAGAUK (cassette by Barreuh Records) *
KATSA.THEO – BAUHAUSMUZAK (cassette by Ressonus Records)
ARVIND GANGA – SRI MAHA MARIAMMAN (cassette by Toztizok) *
MARSEN JULES – SHADOWS IN TIME (CD by Oktaf)
This is actually available on a plethora of formats: a LP, a CD, a download, but also on an USB stick.
I have here the CD version in front of me, but that is the static version (as would be the LP and the
download, I guess; I might be wrong); which is of course great but this is a concept album. From what
I understand this work is built from a number of layers of sound, which are played together, but all of
these layers can be hustled around and create a new composition. Marsen Jules recorded more than
300 different ones and each USB stick a unique, one-off version of the piece. As such Jules doesn’t
take matters as far out as say Brian Eno would do; for instance releasing this work as an app for your
phone or tablet and have this play as an interactive sound module on end – but maybe that is
something for the future? These forty-nine minutes with one long piece, on the static CD version (but
perhaps, since one can’t interfere with the finished composition, all versions are static? It is just that
this one is not unique but pressed on a CD, so multiple copies of the same thing exist) is classic
Marsen Jules ambient music. Long lines of synthesized computer based granular synthesis intertwine
with each other and that is, again, very much in a Brian Eno like fashion. The sound waves that Jules
uses do not have an equal length but because some are shorter and others are longer they never
make the same connection in the piece, but because (and this is actually very much Jules territory)
these sounds are very close to each other in terms of how they sound, it seems that they are all pretty
much the same, but with minor differences. I quite enjoy that even when Marsen Jules doesn’t
necessarily excavate new musical ground here. It is what he does and what he does best I guess.
This is fifty minutes of heavenly bliss music, perfect for other ambient activities, such as drinking a
glass of wine, reading a book or simply meditation. I think the app version is something that he should
seriously consider as I can imagine there is quite a market for that kind of thing. (FdW)
––– Address: http://oktaf.com
EXIT IN GREY – ONE LUMEN IN THE PAST (CD by Frozen Light)
JAMES BATTY – SANTUARY (OVERTONES AND DEVIATIONS (CD by Frozen Light)
Originally Exit In Grey was a duo of Stanislav Wolkow and Serge Suhovik, but these days it is just
the latter, and you might know him from his other work as (S), [S], Five Elements Music, Radioson,
Redhouse, Black Deal With Snow, Candyman And Evil Flowers and Sister Loolomie. There are actually
differences between all of these projects (well, as far as I heard them, which is not all), but it’s safe to
say (I guess!) that it’s all to be found in the world of drones and atmospheres. I only heard a few of his
Exit In Grey releases (Vital Weekly 913 and 555) and with the last one I thought Suhovik was aiming for
a bit more melody in the musical mind of this particular moniker, but listening to these three pieces on
‘One Lumen In The Past’, I must say I am not convinced by that melodic edge still being part of the new
pieces. Exit In Grey uses prepared guitar, radio, violin, flute, field recordings, mini piano, harmonica,
voice and effects, and I would think that the latter is the most important feature of the release, as you
can feed as little or as much to effects as Exit In grey does and none of the instruments will be easily
recognized when served after the full effect treatment. Everything is spaced out, extended, sustaining,
long form sound waves, and very occasionally, such as in ‘Whispers Time’ one recognizes the guitar.
It is music that Suhovik also does as Five Elements Music, his other project that I heard some of. This
is all quite dark and heavily drone based, and as such not something we haven’t heard before, but the
end result is quite good. Sturdy, serious drone music, just as we love them on a grey day.
Something different is the music of James Batty, of whom I hadn’t heard before, but seeing this is his
debut release, it’s not that strange. He is from London and trained as a piano player and composer,
and he had a seat in ‘the final of the BBC Young Composer competition and on the prestigious SPNM
Shortlist’ for whatever that is worth these days. In 2015 he worked for three months on ‘Sanctuary
(Overtones and Deviations)’, where he combines his piano compositions with electronics, ‘retuned
pianos and other acoustic instruments’. It’s not easy to make up my mind about this. The poorly
designed cover doesn’t help, even when that’s not that important. Overall the mood is ambient, and
sometimes it goes to being a bit experimental, but it all stays very polite; a bit of hiss, some scraping
on the violin, but in many of the eleven compositions the piano is the main instrument. It’s not the kind
of Harold Budd playing, or Satie, Debussy or any of that ambient ilk, but well, slow piano music that
not necessarily always is very ambient or some tension. Like I said, I don’t know if I really enjoyed it
or not. It wasn’t bad, far from it actually, but it didn’t grab as much as I think music should do. I played
this with much interest, thought about it, write about it, but I will probably soon will also have forgotten
about it. And that’s a pity. (FdW)
––– Address: http://www.frzl.ru
FLIN VAN HEMMEN –DRUMS OF DAYS (CD by Neither/Nor)
First solo work by van Hemmen a pianist and drummer originally from Nijmegen, Netherlands. Later
he moved to Amsterdam where he was part of Narcissus with Harmen Fraanje, Robin Verheyen, and
Clemens van der Feen. In 2009 he was ready for the big jump and settled down in New York. It is here
that he is developing into a promising musician, as this first solo album proves. We hear van Hemmen
on drums and piano, sided by Todd Neufeld on acoustic guitar and Eivind Opsvik on double bass.
Tony Malaby guests on soprano and tenorsax in one track, the beautiful but very short piece ‘Morsell’.
Neufeld made his contributions so far for numerous ensembles like the Lee Konitz Quartet, Gerald
Cleaver’s NiMbN1, etc. Opsvik is New York based bassist and composer covering jazz, improvisation
and experimental pop. All three also played with Tony Malaby, the linking pin. On ‘Drums of Days’ they
concentrate on 11 compositions by van Hemmen. Delicate and poetic structures, that sounds almost
as modern chamber music with overtly romantic touches. From jazz and improvising musicians one
expects they prefer live recordings of their music, as there it is where it comes into being.
Interestingly van Hemmen has an opposite opinion. “I love produced records and listen to them much
more then ‘live registrations of the music’, unless of course it’s Coltrane, then different rules apply.
I started looking at my first recording as a sculpture that I patiently chipped away at. It’s a thing in and
of itself, a work of art for your listening ears.” The music was recorded in Brooklyn, june 2014. Silence
is also an important element in their musical interactions. The musicians chose for a subtle and fragile
less is more approach in building their structures. For this reason it may sound too civilized at first
hand, but a lot of uncommon things happen on this surprising album. Improvised music of a relaxed
and sensitive kind, with lots of details to enjoy. (DM)
––– Address: http://www.neithernorreocrds.com
ARDEN DAY & WYSOZKY – UNBEHAGEN (2CD by Cmafu Nocords)
I had no idea what to expect from this one, as both artists are new to me. But after listening in into this
double cd-release it soon turned out to be a very pleasant surprise. It is a very nice and impressive
work! Wysozky and Arden Day work together since about 2010, coming from very different backgrounds.
Wysozky grew up in Czechia and started experimenting with an old tape recorder. He moved to Vienna
where he learned about digital tools for sound processing. Also he got involved in the local scene.
In 2003 he compiled a CD with works of young Viennese musicians of electronic music, called ‘Beta
Jar’. Later he worked with Vienna-based artist Davor Mikan from Portugal. Arden Day is an alter ego
of British writer and film director Adrian O. Smith, who is based in Paris. And it is in Paris where
‘Unbehagen’ came into being after five years of collaboration. Earlier they did the music for Kopfschlag,
an anonymous internet-project by Wolfgang Natlacen & Primavera De Filippi, and also the score for
the film ‘Totems’ by Sarah Arnold. ‘Musical Banks’ one of the pieces on this album was presented
for the Luc Ferrari contest and broadcasted on Klangkunst of the Deutschlandradio Kultur. It won the
2011 SUAL Award in Vienna.
Turning to ‘Unbehagen’, Arden Day plays extended piano, rhombus, hurgytron & boîtes à bourdons.
Wysozky did granular synthesis, tape machine, pi synth, am radio & processing. The first cd has studio
recordings, except one piece that was recorded on location. The second cd has one beautiful 37-
minute live outtake from a concert in Paris, with Adrien Daoud on saxophone. What strikes me first are
the well-chosen sounds and instruments that they use for their engaging electro-acoustic music. They
construct sonic landscapes, extended sound textures. In all cases it are well defined and carefully
built structures. What are they aiming at? To “explore new forms of domination and exclusion in society
using sound environments” is their goal. For their politically inspired music they take inspiration from
modern French music as well as shamanistic traditions. What counts, this duo speaks with a very
profiled voice. Absolutely worthwhile! (DM)
––– Address: http://www.nocords.net/
ANTONIN GERBAL – SOUND OF DRUMS (CD by Umlaut Records)
Gerbal is an improviser, composer drummer connected to the scene of Paris, where he studied music
and philosophy at the university. He is also linked to the Umlaut initiative. Umlaut is a European
collective of musicians started in 2004 in Stockholm. In 2009 he founded Umlaut France, organizing
festivals and concerts in Paris. He worked intensively with Pierre-Antoine Badaroux, Axel Dörner,
Sébastien beliah , Bertrand Denzler and Jean-Sébastien Mariage, a.o. Free jazz and improvised
music is his metier. And now he presents his first solo work that has nothing to do what one normally
associates with jazz. The CD opens with the title track and it is by far the longest track on this album
(21 minutes). Followed by four other tracks that range between 38 seconds and 13 minutes. One can’t
deny the title is well chosen, as Gerbal wants to concentrate on the basic sounds from this instrument.
Building complex patterns is not his thing here. Gerbal builds his pieces along a limited set of
possibilities. Often just linear moving roll of drums. Sometimes played on the toms, sometimes on the
hi-hats, or bass drum. Hitting predominantly with the same time interval throughout. Changes of speed
occur, as well some other movements. A minimalistic piece that has its charm, and made me wonder
what is the meaning of all this. The same counts for the other pieces on this album. The second piece
‘Antéfixe’ plays with timbre. Likewise Gerbal plays in the other pieces with other elementary possibilities
that colour the sounds coming from the drums.
Showing Gerbal had a clear concept in his mind for this project that he fulfilled along consequent
lines. (DM)
––– Address: http://www.umlautrecords.com
RYOKO ONO & ROGIER SMAL – WOOD MOON (CD by Toztizok Zounds/Jvtlandt)
Ryoko Ono is an improviser, saxophonist, flautist, composer and arranger from Nagoya, Japan. Ono
has her own band Ryorchestra and is one half of Sax Ruins with Yoshida Tatsuya. Rogier Smal is a
Dutch drummer, who loves to experiment with free percussion sounds. Former companions included
Anne la Berge, Marshall Allen, Eugene Chadbourne, Peter Zincken, Sunburned hand of the man,
Daevid Allen, Nora Mulder, to name a few. After meeting in Japan, Ono and Smal decided to do some
concerts in Europe, and from that ‘Wood Room’ resulted. An exhausting listening experience, one
continuous eruption of energy. But they don’t lose themselves in producing an overwhelming bath of
noise and energy only. There is far more to it. We witness an inspired, often sparkling interaction of two
musicians of equal energy level and presence. We hear fiery battles with melodic themes enclosed
sometimes, as in ’Wood Moon’ where Ono introduces a jazzy theme that sounded familiar. In ‘Wood
VIII’ she opens with a Philip Glass-like theme, a piece that demonstrates they can also do things more
quietly. In total one can enjoy nine improvisations, ‘Wood Moon I’ up to ‘Wood Moon IX’, most of them
around five minutes. Smal is operates on the same level as Ono, equally determining the content of
these improvised conversations that result in moment of a bold intensity, where the music becomes
more than the sum of its parts. The CD is a co-release of the Danish Jvtland label and Dutch Toztizok
Zoundz, that has more Smal-involved releases in their catalogue. (DM)
––– Address: http://toztizok.com/ http://www.jvtlandt.com/
BOMB – THE SUBJECT (CD by Konvoj Records)
KONVOJ ENSEMBLE – MIRA (CD by Konvoj Records)
HALSTER – MINDFULNESS (CD by Konvoj Records)
A quick scan of these three new releases by Swedish Konvoj Records learned me that this was all in
free improvisation land, with various degrees of freedom and intensity, so I decided to do one a day.
Not many of these names (bands, musicians) meant a lot to me, so I picked out Bomb to start with.
This is a trio from Malmö, and consists of Ola Paulson (alto saxophone), Anders Lindsjö (six string bass
guitar) and Anders Uddskog (drums, percussion). The nine pieces on ‘The Subject’ were recorded live
‘with a minimum setup and very few rules’. Bombs say that if they have a goal, it ‘is to find the un-
expected, possibly untested, ways and new approaches within the context of improvised (… bla, bla,
bla)’, which shows they don’t take themselves too seriously, always a plus in my book. Their approach
to free improvisation is that of a more conventional kind, more along the lines of free jazz than anything
else, but with some great power among the players. All three of the instruments sound like what they
are supposed to do, and there is none of that ‘instrument as object’ playing going on, and there isn’t
much in terms of silence with these three players. It is bursting with energy and they don’t leave the
listener any moment of quietness. Even a piece like ‘The Discursive’ is full of tension and attention.
This is one of those releases that leave the listener completely tired, yet satisfied behind.
I guess not many labels have their own ensemble, but Konvoj does, and perhaps it’s the kind of music
they are dealing with that makes it easier to have an ensemble sharing the name of the label. Most
remarkable member is Evan Parker (tenor saxophone) bringing in many years of experience. Other
members are Lotte Anker (alto & soprano saxophone), Ola Paulson (alto saxophone), Liudas Mockunas
(clarinet and bass clarinet), Sten Sandell (grand piano, voice), Jakob Riss (computer, real time
processing) and Anders Uddskog (drums, percussion). They set out to work with graphic scores and
interactive methods and so far released one CD ‘Colors Off’ (see Vital Weekly 895). Here they perform
‘Mira’, a s core by Paulson and Riis and it spans five parts, but the cover lists for the third piece, three
different movements, so seven movements in total. This is all a bit less free I suppose, even when I
have no idea what the score looks like and calls for. I think it has more to do with the way the music is
performed, which makes this less freely improvised and pulls it into the realm of modern classical
music. Sometimes the saxophone playing is a bit too much regular jazz for me, such as in ‘Speak Out,
Oh Ye Red Giant’ and ‘A Part Of Miranda’, when it moves too much to the foreground. In other pieces
all of the instruments are more together on an equal level, and then it becomes more of an ensemble
playing modern classical music, with long gestures and strange intervals. I quite enjoyed those bits
on this release, and a little less of the more jazzy parts.
‘Mindfulness’ is not a term that is well spent on me, but here too it might same we should take this
with a pinch of salt – just looking at the band picture seem to justify that. We have three players of the
electric guitar here: Adam Persson, Anders Lindsjö and Matthias Nihlen, who recorded their nine
pieces, live in a studio. They named themselves after the place where they meet up, each Monday
night, at six o’clock in downtown Malmö, south in Sweden. Their playing is also very free, as much
as Bomb, but then restricted to three electric guitars. There might be a bit of sound effects in play here,
but for most time they don’t use them as much and the guitars sound here pretty much as guitars, but
then there is none of those things as chords, structures, strumming and what else guitarists normally
do. This trio abuse the six strings to quite some extent but in all of their playing it shows they also know
how to play their instruments for real, and some of these pieces actually sound like songs, including
a bit of rhythm here and there. In that respect it is also perhaps a little less ‘all free’. Some of these
pieces sound surprisingly song like, head and tail and all that, even with the improvised setting of this.
A bit of punk perhaps, had punk developed into something really free and not the macho thing it also
sometimes is. Most enjoyable and perhaps the one that I thought was most accessible. (FdW)
––– Address: http://konvojrecords.com
RYAN CHOI – THREE DANCERS (CD by Accretions)
It’s been a while since I last saw a release by America’s Accretions label, but here they present the
debut album of Ryan Choi. He was born in 1984 in Honolulu, Hawaii, and trained on the double bass,
but these days he keep himself occupied with playing the ukulele, percussion, ‘other string instruments’
and electronics. Apparently he was on a ‘years-long hiatus from music’, but still explores the concepts
conceived over the last fifteen years. It is a very short album, clocking at twenty minutes only and has
three pieces. In each of these three pieces Choi starts a piece from scratch (it seems) and from there
explores the piece further on, adding layer upon layer, but not through the use of loop stations or such
like, but ‘simply’ by adding another note, a different string or changing the rhythm a bit, shifting back and
forth. It reminded me from time to time of the music by Agencement, who did something similar, but
perhaps with more hectic, nervousness, on the violin, but it shares that similar density from playing an
instrument and seemingly without too many electronics, and that made me wonder what part electronics
do have in this release. As far as I can judge with my limited knowledge, it seems that they are used to
add colour and space to the pieces, in a very moderate fashion. I might be entirely wrong. Also I am not
to sure about the extent in which pieces were layered together and/or how much of this was the result of
a live improvisation. Not that these things really matter of course. What does matter however is that the
music grew on me every time I heard and that it is a great pity there are only three pieces on this album.
Otherwise I thought this was a great release. (FdW)
––– Address: http://www.accretions.com
COLIN POTTER – THE SCYTHE (2LP by Deep Distance Recordings)
While playing this expanded re-issue of a cassette from the early 80s I dug out an issue of ND magazine,
issue number 20 to be precise, already also ancient, dating back to 1997. It is one of my favourite issues
of this great magazine, with interviews with Jliat, Michael Prime, Andrew Chalk, Giancarlo Toniutti,
Organum and Colin Potter (besides much more actually). The interview with Potter is quite long and in-
depth and about his earliest works up until the mid 90s when he started to work with Nurse With Wound
of which he still is a member. His early works have been documented before, in the form of a five CD box
set, ‘Ancient History’ (see Vital Weekly 817) and back then I argued that ‘The Scythe’ should perhaps been
part of that, as it is his second release, but for reasons I am not aware of it isn’t. I could think that one of the
reasons might be that ‘The Scythe’ is, for the lack of a better word, more pop-oriented. Potter uses a lot
of synthesizers and drum machines, along with himself on guitar and vocals. It is nothing like the drone/
synth music you might know him also for. That stuff he did too in those days as documented on ‘Ancient
History’, but on ‘The Scythe’ he’s working more along the lines of electronic pop music of that time. I can’t
say whether he was influenced by something as early Human League or OMD (when they were still called
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark) but that might very well the case. Obviously (?) Potter’s pop wasn’t
about getting into the charts as much of this is quite crude and on the experimental edge of pop, but in
those days there wasn’t that much different. That is an important difference, but also the fact that Potter
uses quite a bit of guitar in many of his songs, which makes this surely quite different from the world of
synthpop, being all rough and distorted. I think I had ‘The Scythe’ on cassette in the 80s, but maybe I
picked it up in blogosphere a decade ago, I am no longer sure, but some of these songs sounded quite
familiar (maybe some of these were on compilation cassettes, I wondered). This re-issue expands the
original cassette release with nine extra songs from the same period, some early or alternative mixes.
Some of this sounds really retro, especially on the guitar side of things (maybe a bit too seventies?),
but then, the whole rhythm machine and synthesizers, the vocal treatment and the tape experiments really
make this old man long back for some serious 80s music fest, which means following playing this double
album with something like ‘Ancient History’, which also had some of this styled electronics and from there
on? Some truly old cassettes, I guess. If you want to hear Colin Potter is something that is perhaps less
serious than much of his latter work sometimes seems to suggest than this is surely an excellent double
album to get. (FdW)
––– Address: http://www.greatpopsupplement.com
ANAÏS MAVIEL – HOULE (CDR by Gold Bolus)
A new release by the Gold Bolus label of New York. Anaïs Maviel is of Franco-Haitian background,
currently living and working in New York. She works as a vocalist, percussionist & multi-instrumentalist.
In her early years she learned a lot from her Haitin mother Joyshanti who sang afro-cuban music and jazz.
Later she studied vocal jazz and Brazilian percussion in Paris. She has a deep interest in the transformative
and even healing forces of music. On this exciting CDR she presents seven songs or song-like structures,
demonstrating a wide range of vocal techniques. What a power and expression! Besides singing she plays
some percussion. Experimental and abstract on the one hand, but at the same time rooted in old black
musical traditions. There is something magical in her performance. She is not creating merely magical
sounding effects, it is really something that is inherent in her performance, in every gesture she makes.
A very original and inspired voice of great musicality. (DM)
––– Address: http://www.goldbolus.com/
RSS BOYS – M0NKYY BL00D (CDR by Mik Musik)
Following two so-so releases by Mik Musik on CDR two weeks ago, they return with this one and in their
more beat/rhythm oriented styled music with the RSS Boys, of whom Mik Musik released music before
(Vital Weekly 971 and 884) and of which ‘Monkeyy Bl00d’ completes a trilogy of releases. This duo of
anonymous musicians met up in Benin, but this one was recorded in Rio de Janeiro, if the information
is anything to go by; none of it may be true. The music by RSS Boys is inspired by the world of all things
dance music, but not always necessarily translate to music people actually dance to, as it not always is
about a 4/4 beat. The title piece for instance is all about a sampled guitar, some sparse percussive samples
and an irregular beat. Sampled it is just a sample of one looped rhythm and some gradual transformation,
as in ‘VV00YYCCYYSS 00FF RR00CCYYNNHH0000’, but they proof also to go the way of a more straight
forward beat and a hint of mledoy as in ‘PYLMYT0 P0LYTYCS’, but the piece that I thought had the most
organisation was also the longest, ‘YMPYYCHMYNT YYNNDD’, with it’s beats, creepy organ melody
and quite some sound effects. It makes all of this a most enjoyable release, with quite a balanced variation
between the straight forward and the more experimental approach. At thirty minutes perhaps a bit short,
but no doubt that length had something to do with the fact there was also a limited hand-made vinyl cut
available, a recent new feature for Mik Musik. (FdW)
––– Address: http://mikmusikarchive.bandcamp.com
EMERGE – LIVE AT ECHOKAMMER (CDR by Attenuation Circuit)
ANIMAL MACHINE – TRASHING DRIVE VEGETATION (CDR by Attenuation Circuit)
It is not uncommon for Emerge, the musical project of Sascha Stadlmeier, to use voices in his work. Usually
female voices and they are usually singing. In the case of this live recording from November 1, 2014, he
uses voices, but then of a more speaking variation, which he chops up and feeds through a whole bunch
of sound effects and adding the sampled sounds of objects. Attenuation Circuit says that this is quite
unusual for Emerge, and that this album documents a seldom-heard aspect of his music, and of course
they would know, right, but the end result might perhaps not be as alien as it seems. The label connects
this with the radiophonic works of Luc Ferrari, which I must admit I can relate to only a small extent.
Some of the used sounds and ways to collage them might be along that way, but there is also quite a bit
of Emerge way of sound treatment as we know it. Sampling sounds and using all of that gear that easily
transforms any sound, something as a Kaospad or loop station and those are fed with the sounds of
spoken voices and objects. The latter might be recognized as such, but the voices are hardly to hear
as such. If that happens they sound recorded out of a window in a backyard. Through the nearly thirty-
eight minutes this piece lasts Emerge cleverly goes back and forth in this material, using what seems
a multitude of possibilities to manipulate the events at hand. Sometimes quite sparse at times with space
between the sounds, but on other occasions neatly dense, moving from the mid-high spectrum to the
lower region from time to time and with some nice jump cuts. Emerge releases a lot of material recently,
but I rank this one among his better ones. (FdW)
Four tracks of Harsh Noise recorded by Ernesto Bohorquez between 2009 and 2013 “The titles underline
the antagonistic nature of noise (which is always “against,” namely against the signal)” We have extremely
competent Harsh Noise, if there can be such a thing, Short Wave Radio sounds, pulses, filter sweeps
fragments of low frequency noise, gaps and chops, echoes, modulated noise, cut ups distorted white noise,
heavy filter sweeps and pulses, stereo channels dividing, at times one without any signal, a wall of sound
like a heavy rocket launch, staccato glitches, silences and short bursts of sound – channels diverge and
blend and finally the end. Despite the idea of noise being against the signal the accompanying material
does pose “The idea if civilization/industry versus nature.” in two of the tracks, maybe the titles? But I’m
aware of Tim Morton’s work – Ecology without Nature – where nature is just as much a product of civilization
as The International Space Station (evidently the most expensive object – EVER!) or Coke – the drink! This
might get me into trouble with the P.E. elements in Noise, as would remarking that the same idea is found
in Of Grammatology with the OOO mob.
Derrida deconstructs the structuralist Levi Strauss – (via Rousseau and the whole band of artists in search
of reality different from modernity – you know the names!) he is wrong to assume the Nambikwara primitive
without writing – they write pathways through the forest. as then Deleuze is wrong to assume the Nomad has
any greater insight or affinity with the event. (Boy I’m in trouble) There is as Derrida points out an already
dangerous supplement, in Rousseau ‘s case masturbation and not the illegitimate children he helped
produce in his noble way. What this supplement becomes is not the new society of 1968, or the avant-
garde art of experimentation. It becomes – Noise – as this piece I’m reviewing ‘is’, it is not any of these others –
it is that “which is always “against,”! The picture of Bohorquez with cows and electric pylons is a clue.
The electric pylon and the cows are one and the same- objects. Just as the sounds in noise are all both
different and one in the same, against the signal. This of course now cuts across even the Silver Fox’s
tracks, there is no signifier. In French we experience and experiment, but now we only experience. What?
Noise! (keep up-this is a review of a noise work) Well almost, but as the noise has no sign it experiences
us. The object imparts its allure (tip of the hat to Harman) to us, we merely now experience. But to merely
experience via our hyper culture where technology is everywhere and does everything we are unlike
both the Nambikwara and Levi-Straus, we are truly primitive. We are without écriture. Noise is truly primitive,
its like a bone or a rock yet to become a tool. It is a bone or a rock. As I’ve said noise is the most valuable of
metaphysical things- das Ding an sich- noumenon. (jliat)
––– Address: http://www.attenuationcircuit.de
NAAGAUK (cassette by Barreuh Records)
When recording the four songs on this cassette Naagauk was a duo, but last Saturday they played live for
the first time, but then as a trio, including a drummer. It is, low and behold, a local, Nijmegen trio and their
tape is short and to the point. In a different age they would have released this as a 7″, I guess – that’s what
I would have done. It would fit easily. So Gwirr on guitar and drums, and Haask on vocals and bass and
from a good source I have it that I actually know one of them. Now, I am not very well versed in the world
of metal music (as in: totally clueless), but I am told this is ‘midtempo black metal with a bit of gothenburg
death influences’ – right, you got me there: I never knew that existed. The one thing I was thinking off with
these four songs, times more or less three minutes each, is that it all sounded very well recorded, with
great care for the details of the instruments, even the grunts (and yes, that includes one has no idea what
these lyrics are about) but there is a certain quality to this that says ‘pop music’. Now, obviously this is not
storming the top 40 next week (why not, I wonder, but save that discussion for another time), but these
songs sound great. Nothing you can sing along, but the catchy briefness of all of this works really well.
That is, the first three of these songs. The release closes with ‘Bookbrenner’, which is an organ drone
piece, and which they probably use as an intro for the concerts; it’s not a bad piece. So, why for four songs
only, that span just over thirteen minutes only? It is to build some obscurity; did they have no more songs?
It made me not only wonder about that, but it also left me wanting some more. I was all fired up on this
metal thing, even with that ‘wind down’ song at the end, that I took out ‘Dutch Steel’, a retrospective double
CD of Dutch metal music from the 80s – but perhaps because I have no other metal music to play and I
could rock on for some more. Excellent (short) debut release. (FdW)
––– Address: http://barreuhrecords.bandcamp.com/
KATSA.THEO – BAUHAUSMUZAK (cassette by Ressonus Records)
Ressonus Records from the Czech Republic always surprise me with their releases, which always lean
towards the realm of dance music. They usually seem to deal with artists I never heard of, such as Jiří
Tilgner, who calls himself katsa.theo (no capitals needed there), who delivers a twelve-song cassette
with quite long pieces of music. The overall concept is ‘home’ (as the title indicates) and I read we
should see that “from physical structures to the meaning and emotions linked to a place” and very much
like home we should see these pieces as different rooms belonging to the same house. There is a room
in which there is a lot of rhythm, straightforward from time to time, or as chaotic and broken as the best
breakbeat; or just more dub inspired. But you want something more downbeat, or rather ‘no’ beat also,
and to end katsa.theo has some more abstract pieces of ambient music. In again other rooms a radio
is playing and there are voices to be sampled into the music, which then surprisingly becomes a poptune,
such as ‘Sklep’. Each of the pieces is linked together and provides a continuous listening (in terms of
a ‘home’, I’d say these are corridors or hallways). Listening to all of this I’d say that it seems to me
katsa.theo has no particular favourite dance music to operate in and wants to try out each and all.
Maybe it’s a show of force; ‘see what I can do’, but ultimately I must say the variation worked quite well.
The only downside of this release was that some of these pieces were a bit too long for my taste. It is
not possible to stretch all ideas to seven to nine minutes I’d say. A bit shorter and more to the point
would have made this an even stronger release. (FdW)
––– Address: http://ressonus.bandcamp.com/
ARVIND GANGA – SRI MAHA MARIAMMAN (cassette by Toztizok)
More music by Dutch guitarist Arvind Ganga, from The Hague, and this time it is all solo. Ganga hails
from the world of improvised music and regularly plays with other musicians, such as percussionist
Rogier Smal. Ganga plays his electric guitar and sometimes uses objects to play the strings. All of his
releases have Hindu titles and this new one is the oldest temple in Kuala Lumpur. In his music there
is the object-based electro-acoustics, which results in crackling sounds, suppressing of the strings
and a bit of hum. On the other hand there is some fast, minimal playing of the guitar, in which it sounds
like a guitar, such as in ‘Hungry Stare’, or the quiet piece ‘Closed Doors’, which has a nice furious
ending, even when it’s all less ‘punky’ that his ‘Saraswati’ cassette, which was reviewed in Vital Weekly
948 (‘Wrong Exit’ is the other heavy outing here); this ending however worked quite well as a counter-
point against all the quiet object based guitar sounds. There is no equal balance in that; the object-
based pieces seem to prevail here. Not always does Ganga use a lot of sound effects and certainly it
makes much of these six pieces quite ‘dry’, but that’s something I enjoy very much. It is perhaps
something that one doesn’t hear that much these days – music that is not drowning in a lot of sound
effects. It makes this yet another wonderful Arvind Ganga release. (FdW)
––– Address: http://toztizok.com/