CINEMA PERDU – INTERVENTIONS IN A LANDSCAPE (CD by Moving Furniture Records) *
X-NAVI:ET – TECHNOSIS (CD by Instant Classic) *
THE GREEN KINGDOM – HARBOR (CD by Dronarivm) *
MAJA SK RATKJE & CIKADA & OSLO SINFONIETTA – AND SING (SACD & Audio Blue-Ray)
SONG CIRCUS & RUBEN SVERRE GJERTSEN – ANATOMY OF SOUND (SACD & Audio Blue-Ray)
JAKUB ADAMEC – ARE YOU HUMAN? CONFIRMED (CD by Mik Musik/Bdta) *
GITANE DEMONE QUARTET – PAST THE SUN (CD by Dark Vinyl)
GENDER TROUBLE – CHOKEHAIR (CD Dark Vinyl)
BLACKHOUSE – LIVE IN LEIPZIG (CD/LP by Dark Vinyl)
ZOLOFT EVRA – MURDER CHAMBER (CD by Frozen Light)
BETONFRAKTION – I CHANGED MY SEX (CD by Blowpipe) *
ELEKTRA – ELEMENTS OF FRAGMENTS (digital by Blowpipe) *
DENNIS TYFUS & KRIS MAES – STEVIGE NACHT/DE KERSTDAGEN (7″ by Meeuw Muzak)
ANNIE & THE STATION ORCHESTRA – BINGO HALLS (CDR by Bearsuit Records) *
STEINEBACH – ZEIT (CDR by Attenuation Circuit) *
ACRYLWAFFEN – ABRAXAS (CDR by Attenuation Circuit) *
SMALL THINGS ON SUNDAYS – DETRITUS (cassette by Ojud Records)
SMALL THINGS ON SUNDAYS – TRAVELS (cassette by Scala Records) *
GREY GUIDES – BEAST MASK SUPREMACIST (cassette by Crow Versus Crow)
MYTRIP – FILAMENT (cassette by Amek/Serpent Eve Records)
SENZ BEATS – ODE TO THE GHOSTED (cassette by Tanuki Records) *
CINEMA PERDU – INTERVENTIONS IN A LANDSCAPE (CD by Moving Furniture Records)
The title of this group/project might possibly be translated as ‘lost cinema’, whatever that is and
it is the solo project of Martijn Pieck. In the past I reviewed his ‘L’Anormalite/La Deviance’ (Vital
Weekly 967), which was under his own name and perhaps a bit different than this work. Pieck is
also a member of the [law-rah] collective with Bauke van der Wal and with Jon Unger he is the duo
Woodbender. Solo he works as Cinema Pedru and there have been releases on Wool-E Tapes, Rabbau
and Audio Visuals Atmosphere (very recently, so maybe that one is coming). With Cinema Perdu
Pieck starts with field recordings and then manipulates all of these, and later on adds synthesizers
and recordings made with contact microphones. At a certain point he also adds quite a bit of
reverb to suggest space; hence the landscape in the title I should think. In the four pieces on
‘Interventions In A Landscape’ it deals with the coastal landscape one can find at Leihoek,
Cornwerd etc., The Netherlands, as indicated by the various titles of the pieces. We have the
silence of the dykes and the ever-changing pattern of the sea waves. I am sure I am supposed
to hear some sea waves in these pieces, but they are rendered beyond recognition now. The music
by Cinema Perdu is very much like a soundtrack. Himself Pieck would add to that word soundtrack
‘without movies’, but I can easily see this fitting a film of equally slow movements, wide open shots
of a landscape without persons in it but in which the scenery slowly changes as daylight fades or
clouds passing overhead. The music from Cinema Perdu is quite dark and mysterious, as well as
spacious, thanks to the aforementioned reverb. Drone-like of course (this is a Moving Furniture
Records release after all), and all of this is highly atmospheric. Perhaps not the biggest innovation
in the genre per se, but good solid musique concrete taking the form of deep space music and
that’s not bad on a cold winter’s day. (FdW)
––– Address: http://www.movingfurniturerecords.com/
X-NAVI:ET – TECHNOSIS (CD by Instant Classic)
Rafal Iwanski is a very busy man, being part of HATI, Innercity Ensemble and Alameda 5, but also
with his solo project X-Navi:et, with releases on Eter, Zoharum, Instant Classic, Wounded Knife
and others. I didn’t hear them all, I think, and so I now learn that this new album sees a return to
using African and Eurasian traditional instruments, and getting ‘rid of the field recordings, samples,
synths and drum machines’. That I must say is something I didn’t notice right away, still thinking
Iwanski was using his synthesizers and electronics, and listening to these eight tracks that is not
very strange. If you wouldn’t know you could easily be mistaken. But all right, so African and
Eurasian instruments they are, but I think it is safe to say that Iwanski uses quite a bit of samples
and electronics along the way, to create his somewhat densely layered compositions. The music
of X-Navi:et is all about atmosphere and dark mood, and sometimes a bit of rhythm, but not
necessarily these work out to be dance rhythms. In ‘Matnia’ the deep bass thump is slow and
majestic and other percussion sound like wind chimes; slowly speed is picked up and the electronics
imitate insects at night; well, that’s just what I believe to hear, it might not be true. In ‘Oto
Technosis’ there is the sampled thumb piano, which doesn’t make X-Navi:et sound like Konono No.
1, but there are similarities to be noted. X-Navi:et is just throughout much darker and neatly
organized. Occasionally there is music with quite a bit of overtones, all from analogue devices, as
X-Navi:et stresses that he doesn’t use laptops and will never do so. It is a pretty varied album,
even when the last piece ‘Alchemy Of Sounds’ lasts 23:23 minutes (that can’t be a coincidence,
I would think) is a bit too much. It’s a drone affair, perhaps created from the use of multiple voices
layered together, but it’s too long and sounds a bit like something long needed to fill up the album,
which as far as I am concerned was not really necessary. Up until that point the seven preceding
pieces made a strong impression, offering quite a bit of variation, and that would have been
enough for me I think, or perhaps make the 8th one just also about five to seven minutes and
leave the album with a fine fifty-minute mark. (FdW)
––– Address: http://instant-classic.com/
THE GREEN KINGDOM – HARBOR (CD by Dronarivm)
Russia’s Dronarivm releases drone music, as the name already implies and from time to time they
surprise me with names I never heard of, or perhaps who never release that much, and it seems
these are new names. Somebody like Michael Cottone, also known as The Green Kingdom, who
had before a release on the same label (see Vital Weekly 921) and many more moons ago on The
Land Of (Vital Weekly 633), but who also released on SEM, Nomadic Kids Republic, Home Assembly
Music and Own Records. Here he returns with a new album and it continues where we left the
previous ‘Expanses’ off, which is the one Dronarivm released. Guitars play again a big role on
‘Harbor’, along with a bit of rhythm, even when to a somewhat lesser degree as on the previous
release. There is also a bit of electronics in play, yet plenty of reverb. Eight pieces, which last
about forty-five minutes and the pieces are between three and eight minutes. Each of these
pieces has this laidback feel; a slow rhythm maybe, a bit of slide guitar, a bit of chords, and
much reverb to suggest as much space. It sounds at times a bit post-rock like, such as in the
title piece, but also this came occasionally quite close to the world of new age music, something
that is not strange in the world of Dronarivm. There always is a fine line between ambient and new
age, and it’s minor details that decide if it’s stays in the world of ambient music, which is usually
a bit more bass, that chirpy high tone, a dislocated crackle if you will, and if all of those are absent,
one easily can drift away in a more new agey feeling, but that’s music that usually leaves me cold
and untouched. The Green Kingdom sometimes as a tendency to be a bit too cliché, too easy
going/no sharp edge and that’s a pity. A piece like ‘Jade Star’ is a bit too much Mike Oldfield
fingerpicking for my taste. But on other pieces The Green Kingdom has this sharper edge and
it sounds quite all right. In the end that’s what made me like this record, despite some of it’s f
laws; the very fact that he knows how to do a fine ambient piece with a bit of edge. It is just
something he should do more. (FdW)
––– Address: http://dronarivm.com/
MAJA SK RATKJE & CIKADA & OSLO SINFONIETTA – AND SING (SACD & Audio Blue-Ray)
SONG CIRCUS & RUBEN SVERRE GJERTSEN – ANATOMY OF SOUND (SACD & Audio Blue-Ray)
Both releases come as Hybrid SACD and Pure Audio Blu-ray. Luxurious and ambitious releases by
the Norvegian label 2L that is specialised in modern composed music from Norway and – even
more – exploring new digital formats. I’m afraid I don’t have the optimal equipment over here for
enjoying these releases in respect to their audio qualities. For sure a real audio thrill. However I did
enjoy the music. First ‘And Sing…’, a project by Ratkje in collaboration with Cikada, an ensemble
of 10 musicians (flute, clarinet, piano, percussion, string quintet) founded in Oslo in 1989. They
are backed by the Oslo Sinfonietta. They perform two works: ‘And sing while thou on pressed
flowers dost sleep’ and ‘Concerto for Voice (Moods IIIb). In both works there is still role for the
voice of Ratkje. In the first work her voice work was pre-recorded. In the second recording she
sings live. Ratkje produced sings in an extreme and noisy way. Very Radical. Both pieces have
further in common the use of long extended, dissonant clusters and patterns. Making sound
more important than melody, rhythm etc. we are dealing here with very unorthodox and very
outspoken works. There is much power and strength in the music that is not to missed, created
by the intensive use of dynamics. Like earlier work of Ratkje both compositions make also a very
massive and spacial impression. Very engaging and dramatic also that led me into unheard musical
landscapes. ‘Anatomy of Sound’ has Song Circus at work. An ensemble of five professional singers
based in Stavanger. For four years they worked with composer Ruben Sverre Gjertsen on his
‘Landscape with Figures’-project. A extraordinary work of almost 45 minutes that is condensed
perfectly on this release. An extraordinary work. What impressed me immediately is the immensely
detailed and microtonal spectrum. A world full of nuances and small gestures that make up one
giant musical construction in twelve movements. One can dwell endlessly in this strange world.
Composer Gjertsen studied the work of Wishart and Ferneyhoug. Wishart who composed a lot for
voice and electronics, and Ferneyhoug who has something with complexity. Both aspects are
apparent in this work built not only from voices, but also from field recordings and electronics
played by Gjertsen himself. Complex, and above all utterly beautiful. As is ‘Persefone’ the closing
composition on this release by Ole-Henrik Moe. Moe is not into complexity, but more into the
opposite of it. The music changes gradually, evoking a spiritual atmosphere. (DM)
––– Address: http://www.2l.no/
JAKUB ADAMEC – ARE YOU HUMAN? CONFIRMED (CD by Mik Musik/Bdta)
One can notice two things about Mik Musik and Bdta these days: they work together a lot, although
looking at it from the outside at least, and I am not sure why they do so all the time and the other
thing of note is that much of their music deals with rhythm, and that is no different with this Czech
musician Jakub Adamec. I tried understanding the press release, but somehow it just didn’t make
any sense. It says that Adamec wants to tell us stories with secret messages. I think they remain a
secret. He has ten songs on this album and rhythm, synthesizes and sequencers play a big role in
this music. Yet what Adamec does is not always well suited for the dance floor, me think at least
(but am I suited for the dance floor? Good question). Some of his songs stay very much on the
abstract side, such as ‘Acid Rain, Acid Snow, Acid Sun’, with it’s fast rhythm and child-like keyboard
sounds. Sometimes he adds spoken word, as in ‘Look, That’s You There? Yes. That’s Me’, but with
it’s start/stop play and the voice just too much on top, makes this is also no winner on the dance
floor. It remains all on the abstract side, with the rhythm being an equal partner to the other
sounds, so it becomes not one thing or another. It is too accessible to be a fully radiophonic story,
too song-based to be dance floor filler and too rhythmic to be ambient. It was not bad, but it also
left me a bit too confused. Just what does Jakub Adamec wish to achieve with his music? (FdW)
––– Address: http://mikmusik.orghttp://bdta.pl
GITANE DEMONE QUARTET – PAST THE SUN (CD by Dark Vinyl)
To say that Demone has had an interesting musical career would be a serious understatement.
Active since the early 80s in bands like Pompeii 99 and, perhaps most famously/notoriously,
Christian Death (with original singer Rozz Williams and guitarist Rikk Agnew and later singer/
guitarist Valor Kand – to whom Demone was married), Demone is one of the female icons of
death rock. Demone is currently engaged (or perhaps, as I write this, already married) to ex-
original Christian Death guitarist Agnew, who also pops up in the line-up of the Gitane Demone
Quartet. Other members are keyboard player Paul Roessler, who was, like Agnew and Demone,
active in the 80s LA punk scene and played in bands like The Screamers and 45 Grave (who often
played support to Christian Death) – indeed, this quartet lives in a small world! Final member Deb
Venom, hopefully a pseudonym, adds keyboards and bass. The drummer on this album goes
unnamed. “Past The Sun” offers a number of Demone/Agnew originals as well as covers of
Suicide’s Ghost Rider and Tim Buckley’s Lorea. So far the statistics. What does “Past The Sun”
sound like? Even though Demone herself has always professed an ever binding love for Billie
Holiday, her vocal style can be perhaps best be characterized as ‘big lungs singing’. Her eviscerated,
often wailing, vocals dominate the death rock music on this album. I’ll readily confess myself to
being a major fan of Christian Death’s first two albums, but I’m not a specific lover of the genre
per se, which is my loss I suppose. “Past The Sun” offers close to one hour of ever-present
distorted guitar and stretched out keyboards that lay the foundation for Demone’s vocals. I
certainly enjoyed listening to the album – with personal highlights like “Man Made God”, “Circle
Ov Air” (despite the fact I hate that kind of semi-magick spelling), “Standard Upright” and “Honest
Cum” (I kid you not!). Incidentally, “Standard Upright” has been released as the albums’ (digital)
single. No doubt Demone’s many fans will be pleased with Past The Sun, which to me works really
well within the limitations of its genre. As said, I am neither an expert nor a specific fan, but I spent
a pretty enjoyable hour with this album. (FK)
––– Address: http://www.darkvinyl.com
GENDER TROUBLE – CHOKEHAIR (CD Dark Vinyl)
Gender Trouble is a new project by Dean Roberts and Faith Malimba, with guests like Kenneth
Parker and Ashley Scott. I remember Roberts from his albums as White Winged Moth and curator
of the Formacentric Disk label. In fact, White Winged Moth’s “Silo Blanket” LP still gets a frequent
airing at Chez Kink. Gender Trouble couldn’t be more different to Silo Blanket’s spaced out gentle
guitar noodles – think Durutti Column. Kind of. Chokehair features two long techno-noise Harsh
Noise Wall tracks. They are dominated by techno rhythm combined with, well, harsh noise. If you
go to techno parties and enjoy taking drugs, I suppose this is the sort of music that makes you
‘go all the way’. Listening to Chokehair sober at home is perhaps not the best idea. Not for me
anyways. (FK)
––– Address: http://www.darkvinyl.com
BLACKHOUSE – LIVE IN LEIPZIG (CD/LP by Dark Vinyl)
A thirty-one years’ wait is finally over: this album documents a rare Blackhouse live appearance!
Blackhouse has been around for a quite while, in fact since the mid-80s when they first began
spreading the word of Jesus through industrial music. This has made them the first band to make
industrial music specifically for the Christian market. Hailing from Eureka, California, Blackhouse sole
permanent member is Brian Ladd. Even though Blackhouse has made previous live appearances in
the 80s, they went underground when these performances were met with problems from non-
believers (as Ladd sings ‘there are only two groups of people: believers and non-believers’). The
2015 performance at the Wave Rock Treffen in Leipzig, was therefore a special performance: their
first in many years. Featuring songs from their first three, and probably best known, albums “Hope
Like A Candle”, “Five Minutes After I Die” and “Pro-Life”, the momentous occasion sounds as clear
as a bell. Aiming at being a valid industrial alternative to their perhaps more blasphemous and
certainly more notorious almost-namesakes Whitehouse, Blackhouse live sound more like SPK
with their focus on rhythm lacking the harsh powerhouse synthesizers. The heavily echoed vocals
certainly reminded me of SPK. Despite being very competent, Blackhouse are not very original. But,
let’s be fair, not that many noise bands are. And that is, I guess, also beside the point. Blackhouse
has a message to spread. Over harsh stark rhythms, pre-recorded tapes of confessions, sermons,
crowds et cetera, Ladd bellows his message of love and hope. And that is what sets them apart in
the often morose and cynical world of industrial music. Despite the shortcomings of religion and
the dangers of people who believe in books rather than thinking for themselves, I really enjoyed
listening this album. (FK)
––– Address: http://www.darkvinyl.com
ZOLOFT EVRA – MURDER CHAMBER (CD by Frozen Light)
It’s not easy to pin down the releases by Russia’s Frozen Light. I enjoy what they do, that is, most
of the times, but sometimes their music is all about too obscure for me; or perhaps hinting at
something that I simply don’t ‘get’. Zoloft Evra is a trio of ZC (drones, synths, noise), Cold (sharp
razor guitars) and Blackfrost (ritual voices) and there are guest appearances by Cory Rowell and
Tenebra. The label informs us that this new release ‘follows the obscure, cruel, sadistic and perverse
path already started with the debut album “Negative Infliction Pleasure”, presenting an evolution in
the suicidal and asphyxiating drone overall sound and atmosphere. Asphyxiating is perhaps
something that this music aims to do to the listener. The music is closed off from the world, with
much reverb on the voice that would otherwise also sound like a tormented soul anyway, guitar
strum away on end and everything is very dark. It is loud, though not necessarily rooted in the world
of noise for the sake of noise, and there is a hint or two (three) towards something magickal, if you
care to believe such things of course. This is one of those things I play with interest; scratch my
head a couple of times and write words to that effect and think ‘well, you know, it is not really bad
or good, I can surely see something that I like in here, but just as well it is something that I can live
without’ and I am sure that is not enough. (FdW)
––– Address: http://frozenlightlabel.bandcamp.com
BETONFRAKTION – I CHANGED MY SEX (CD by Blowpipe)
ELEKTRA – ELEMENTS OF FRAGMENTS (digital by Blowpipe) *
So back in Vital Weekly 937 I wrote this about ‘Sure ‘Nff ‘N Yes We Do’, the second release by
Betonfraktion: “Its great to see some small independent labels taking risks here in the Lowlands,
going off the path, against the grain. Narrominded is one and Blowpipe is another. We support
that obviously, but that doesn’t mean that everything they send is our cup of tea. Betonfraktion
(a substance of concrete? a bit of concrete?) is a trio of Frank Crijns (guitar, devices), Marzj
(drums) and Störsender Swarth (voice & noise) for instance is foremost a rock band, with a bit of
improvisational qualities, maybe even a bit of heavy rock/rap influences (Urban Dance Squad?), but
it’s all very loud, like in a metal sense. Which happens to be the kind of stuff we don’t know much
about. It’s hard to decipher what these lyrics are about, but maybe a bit of politics? ‘Rattle Your
Brain’? ‘Synthetic Anti-Riot Speech’? That sort of thing. Four pieces only, lasting just seventeen
minutes but oh, boy, what power and energy. It has the spirit of punk but with much longer tracks
than the more usual one-minute, 1, 2, 3 and 4. Metal with the energy and power of punk. An
excellent antidote for the all drone and experiment that usually sounds around here.”
Now they have six pieces on ‘I Changed My Sex’, and it lasts almost thirty-two minutes but
otherwise I think nothing has changed. It just isn’t the sort of thing that we know too much about
so for a good review we aren’t cut.
Elektra’s new EP, as it is announced, lasts a whole minute shorter, but why one is a CD and
the other an EP I am not sure. This is a digital release, but copied on a CDR for review purposes,
and that’s something we would normally just toss aside (read those guidelines, I’d say). I reviewed
one of her previous releases before, so I was curious enough about this new one. Elektra plays
guitar, piano, tabla and a Native American flute, and records and produces her own music. She is
not on social media and very shy. Her music is quite dark and very sparse, and the voice is her most
important tool. She plays a few minor chords and sings quite dramatic, like in the best trip tradition,
but then without it becoming trip or hop. Rhythm is used very sparsely. At times I was thinking of
Kate Bush (another musical recluse), which is always good. I might be all-wrong, I know. I was also
thinking that this sort of sparse yet melodic pop is also too far off for Vital Weekly. I simply have
no idea what to write about it. I enjoyed it, but that rarely makes up a good review by itself. (FdW)
––– Address: http://blowpipe.bandcamp.com/
DENNIS TYFUS & KRIS MAES – STEVIGE NACHT/DE KERSTDAGEN (7″ by Meeuw Muzak)
My turntable sometimes spins a bit oddly at 45 rpm, which in this case might work very much in its
advantage. Meeuw Muzak don’t do a Christmas 7″ every year, but here’s one for 2016, recorded by
visual artist, Ultra Eczema boss and sound artist Dennis Tyfus, responsible for voice and cassettes,
along with Kris Maes, who plays guitar and cut work, as well as doing the recording. In much of
Tyfus’ work, as far as I know it, the voice plays a central role along with noise from mixing consoles
and stuff he recorded on cassettes; a kind of lo-fi sound poetry perhaps. Here he has a collage of
Christmas instrumentals, an atmospheric slide guitar playing one and his own voice announcing
‘Kerst’ (Christmas, in case you didn’t realize); it is quite a funny little tune, ‘Stevige Nacht’ (fierce
night, as opposed to silent night), with Tyfus (?) as a choir boy in the end.
I won’t spoil what is funny about ‘De Kerstdagen’, and I’m sure if you are not Dutch you won’t
get it at all, but I thought it was incredible funny. Now you see: Christmas might be a horrible time
of the year or not, depending on how much you like to be on your own and I surely like to be on my
own, drinking wine, smoking a good cigar and by now have the prospect of a great afternoon
playing all Meeuw Muzak 7″s so far that deal with Christmas. On all the other kerstdagen I should
play all the other Meeuw Muzak releases and then it’s New Year’s Day. Lovely! Bring those damned
days on! (FdW)
––– Address: http://meeuwmuzak.net/
ANNIE & THE STATION ORCHESTRA – BINGO HALLS (CDR by Bearsuit Records)
Much of what Bearsuit does can be found in the world of pop music and as such the music by
Annie & The Station Orchestra is no different, no matter if the label writes that the music ‘maybe
a little experimental and challenging in places’; they should hear some of the music that is being
reviewed usually in these pages. Chas Kinnis a.k.a. ‘Annie’ used to be a member of the Pep Boys,
along with Finnish singer/songwriter Jean Sibelius Ramsay, and who was member of Scout-Master
General and Kennel Club, but here operates alone; well perhaps with a number of loop stations,
hence the ‘band’ name. The eleven songs are all instrumental, save one, and use a lot of guitars,
rhythm and keyboards and to me sound like the most ‘pop’ music release of this week, and that
includes the Senz Beats release (you haven’t reached that one yet, it is below). That one is all
about smooth soul samples, but this one is all about playing your own tunes and that’s maybe
a bit different. The rhythms employed by this band sound rock like; fierce and powerful and the
guitar isn’t shy of playing a bit of proggy-rocky tunes. I asked myself: do I like this? The answer
was, to extent I do, but I do like a bit of pop anyway, but if I’d be honest I would not easily think
about this album again in a few months, let alone years. Maybe if the music wasn’t all instrumental,
and Annie & The Station Orchestra went ‘proper pop’, the songs would be something to remember,
but as instrumentals they just don’t work like that I guess. Now it is some forceful (most of the
time) rock inspired tunes by a one-man orchestra. Not bad indeed, but maybe it’s just too much
out of place here in Vital Weekly? (FdW)
––– Address: http://bearsuitrecords.bandcamp.com
STEINEBACH – ZEIT (CDR by Attenuation Circuit)
ACRYLWAFFEN – ABRAXAS (CDR by Attenuation Circuit)
Martin Steinebach was once known as Compest, Conscientia Oeccati, Monoid and StillStand, all
within varying degrees of rhythm, noise and ambient, now works under his own name, so it
seems, and has a few releases out on Tosom, TibProd and Sincope and now on Attenuation
Circuit, who only delivered two new releases this week. I don’t know Steinebach’s other releases
under his own name, but here he has a sixty-three minute piece of a drone like sound that goes
on and on, and is being fed through some synthesizers, effects or what have you, and Steinebach
slips in field recordings from down the shopping mall, all of it drenched in a hefty amount of reverb.
I am not sure what to make of this. Is this a live recording? It sounds like it, at least something
that was made at home, straight to tape. While there seems to be a constant shift between
sounds that go on top of the drone music, sometimes leaping off into noise land, sometimes
into something much more mellow, it fails to get to me. The fact that much of this stays on the
same level, and keeps on using the same sound throughout all of this, works for me very much
against the piece. It left me cold and uninterested in the end.
The second release by Attenuation Circuit is a collaboration between a project named
Acrylnimbus and Waffensupermarkt, being Tobias Schmitt & Guido Braun who played at Abraxas
in Augsburg on 6th of July 2016. Schmitt is a member of many group (according to Discogs) 3
Banditos, Acrylnimbus, Acrylwaffen, Antenna Research, Arbeitsgemeinschaft Fruchttanz Und
Artverwandte Orgien, Autumn Appreciation Society, CFTS, Conspiratio Intestinalis, Eigenidyll,
Gedankenkontrolle, Horzes, Predicted People, Suspicion Breeds Confidence, Waldlust – of which
I only recognized a few. Barun just works as Acrylwaffen, DEEPTECHINDUSTRY, Icd-10,
Waffensupermarkt, so that’s easier. Discogs show a picture of him sporting a bass guitar. I am
not sure what these men play here on this thirty-four minute live recording, but by the sound
of it there is surely a rhythm machine and a few of those kaossilator/kaospads at work here; in
goes the rhythm and out come the variations. The recording at hand here seems to have been
released very much without any editing and is most of the times pretty chaotic and loud; in
recording not so much in terms of noise. Only towards the end there is bass coming into the
proceedings and I was thinking: why did they wait that long? I wouldn’t have minded that one
a bit earlier, and get a connection with the world techno music. Everything seems suddenly a bit
more coherent. Not bad this one, but also one of those things one probably enjoys more when
one is present (or ‘was present’ and then looking for a souvenir of the event). Not every live
recording deserves a release, not even on CDR, I’d say. (FdW)
––– Address: http://emerge.bandcamp.com/
CYRIL BONDI & CHRISTOPH SCHILLER – NEIGES (CDR by Caduc)
AKAMA/OLSEN/DUPLANT – RUZAWI (CDR by Caduc)
A spinet is not an instrument we come across a lot in the releases that reach us, but here’s one,
played by Christoph Schiller, but he doesn’t play this is the regular way; his other ‘instrument’
mentioned on the cover are ‘objects’. Cyril Bondi (him we do know from a lot of work in the field
of improvised music) plays also objects and drums. In September last year they did a recording in
Geneva and this is what is now released as ‘neiges’ (no capital in there; it means ‘snow’). The
music is all about things being quiet and spaced out, but that doesn’t mean there is just a lot of
quiet stuff on this album. The music works together, against/in contrast with the silence they
allow in their music. So we hear a thump, some string sounds, an object on the surfaces and that
is followed by some silence. As far as I can judge none of this is really regular. One can’t say that
so much silence follows so much music as this isn’t mathematics. Contrary really, I believe there
is a very intuitive playing that is going on here. Sometimes they allow themselves to be a bit behind
each other, or be all solo, and very occasionally they allow themselves to be playing for a bit longer.
The whole piece has a strange yet quieting effect on the listener. One can easily slip into a comfort
zone of meditation and tranquillity. There are neither offensive notes in here, nor any abrasive
sounds, loud textures and it is simply wonderful improvised music. It is a lovely, gorgeous piece
that lasts forty minutes.
The other release has three pieces, each by one of the players, or rather performers of the
same score, ‘Ruzawi’ by Lance Austin Olsen, which you can purchase for free here:
http://infrequency.org/?paged=3. It has a short story and a visual component, but I believe it
is the story that it is about: “‘The Ruzawi School for boys in Southern Rhodesia, where I was
dumped at seven years of age, had a very interesting school badge – it was not a swastika. A
swastika you can view as four 7’s put together, the Ruzawi badge was four T’s, close enough,
and no blacks were allowed. I was tormented by another child of around nine years old named
Sanguinetti (I think the name has something to do with bleeding you dry). He decided to call
me the ‘Nazi’ and the name stuck. Every morning we were woken at 6am and then forced to
run naked through a succession of twelve ice cold showers. If we avoided one, we had to do it
again. If we argued, or caused any aggravation, we spent our weekend writing lines on the
blackboard, until our fingers ached and we were covered in chalk dust. Ruzawi was like being
incarcerated in prison but we were so young that we had no hope of escape. Mostly it was dark.’ –
Lance Austin Olsen writes and then it is followed by these instructions: Ruzawi is a visual score
for varying number of performers. The duration and tone should take direction from the above
background story.
We have three performers here; Ryoko Akama on electronics, Bruno Duplant on organ and
electronics Olsen himself on amplified (broken) kinetic sculpture and guitar. Akama is at twenty-
four minutes the longest and Duplant at fifteen the shortest performer. Akama’s piece is very
dry and electronic but dies out and what remain sounds like the time of a clock, slowly ticking
time away. Olsen’s piece is second and it is a likewise two-part piece, with some highly obscured
guitar sounds at the beginning and ending for quite some time in near silence, ending on a
somewhat higher note. It has a very unsettling character, but I admit that I read the score.
Bruno Duplant has an excellent piece of organ sounds playing a cluster of sounds and electronics
performing a kind of transforming of this cluster of sounds, crackling like fire, almost as if he
wants to destroy the organ sound. This too was a somber piece of music but somehow, perhaps,
not as dark as the other two. Both of these releases are excellent, and come with the traditional
high quality print work. (FdW)
––– Address: http://caduc.org/index.html
SMALL THINGS ON SUNDAYS – DETRITUS (cassette by Ojud Records)
SMALL THINGS ON SUNDAYS – TRAVELS (cassette by Scala Records)
From Denmark hails the duo Small Things On Sundays, being Henrik Bagner (who also works as
On The Wrong Planet) and Claus Poulsen (who works as Artwerk and Wbuam, as well as being a
member of CAM (who did a brilliant LP recently, see Vital Weekly 1051), Alarm 112, Audionauts,
FLAK, Krankenhavs, Piss Guitars, Reaction Power Trio and Star Turbine, which is perhaps his only
other work I know pretty well, and which he does with Sindre Bjerga). As Small Things On Sundays
we have reviewed quite a bit of their work.
On both of these cassettes, the band uses vinyl and turntables as instruments, which is
something that is for them not an odd thing to do. On ‘Detritus’ they only use vinyl and laptops
and according to themselves this their ‘Faust Tapes’ for the post-2000 generation. I see what
they mean, I think. The thirteen pieces bump all over the place, from pure Merzbow-inspired noise,
to techno, modern electronics and psychedelic soundscapes. This is something for everybody and
that I think is a great thing. It moves away from using one style and operating in many different
ones, which makes this a very varied album, and yet not too varied. They explore many possibilities
and that’s a great thing. The really loud bits are short and to the point, and the spacious and more
dance oriented ones are longer but Small Things On Sundays certainly don’t over do things, but
here to keep it is all with a fine time frame. Nice one!
Vinyl is also the source of interest for ‘Travels’, and consist of (I guess imaginary) travels to
abandoned places around the world. Besides vinyl and laptop processing they also use instruments
on this tape. Hard to tell which these instruments are, but this could be percussion, guitars and
synthesizers. Maybe not, actually. On this tape Small Things On Sunday DO keep their music more
or less in one direction, and that is of the ambient/industrial variation, and as such they owe quite
a lot to the catalogue of zoviet*france, building up, layer after layer, a very moody sound world,
dark, mysterious and atmospheric. The vinyl no doubt is responsible for the more loop-like effects
this music has and the group adds some percussion of their own. I know I just said something
along the lines that with ‘Detrititus’ the power lies in the variation and so that would mean that
with ‘Travel’, with tracks being along similar lines this would not be as good, but that’s not the
case. I think ‘Travels’ is also a pretty strong release, but maybe two pieces too long; by then one
knows how careful their music can be and one wants have a change of mood, and something
upbeat or noisy. But up to that point this cassette had some wonderful atmospheric music and
they proved quite the opposite; you could do similar things within a given set of ideas and still
come up with a fine album. (FdW)
––– Address: http://ojudrecords.bandcamp.com/
––– Address: http://scalatapes.bandcamp.com/
GREY GUIDES – BEAST MASK SUPREMACIST (cassette by Crow Versus Crow)
This is the third release by Grey Guides, following two self-released CDRs, and this cassette is on
their own Crow Versus Crow label; that seems a bit odd, since the label exists for some time, and
has also released CDRs, so why didn’t the label release the other two works by the guys who run
the label? Strange, innit? Maybe there is good reason that just eludes me. Grey Guides are from
Leeds and this is my first introduction to them. Lynden St. John plays tapes and vocals and Matt
Hurricane-Salt is on guitar, and they take their inspiration from early Throbbing Gristle, William
Burroughs, Blood Stereo and Chrome. I can see that. Throughout these pieces there is an aspect
of noise, obviously I’d say, but this is not noise for the sake of noise; not an onslaught of loud
sounds. There is throughout these pieces something of wild improvisation with a bunch of sounds,
lots of echo and a bit of reverb, which makes all of this a bit like a noisy hippie freak-out. If you will
an element of psychedelica, and TG weren’t that shy of being a bunch of hippies turned noise,
right? The use of tapes, usually Dictaphones, might account for some of Burroughs influence. Add
to this some of the more lo-fi means of recordings and you (perhaps) have a more complete picture
of their music, if you take in account their influences. All of this was most enjoyable, if that some
of the pieces are bit too long and don’t seem to offer that much variation in the end. Of course
much of this is about the intense experience of the music, which, no doubt, works in a concert
quite well, but maybe doesn’t work isolated from the action in much the same way. When Grey
Guides are a bit shorter and concise it would work much better. This is certainly a band I wouldn’t
seeing in concert. (FdW)
––– Address: http://crowversuscrow.bandcamp.com
MYTRIP – FILAMENT (cassette by Amek/Serpent Eve Records)
This is the cassette version of the LP that is also released at the same time, but this one has three
extra pieces in the form of remixes by various colleagues. Mytrip is from Bulgaria and behind the
name we find Angel Simitchiev, who no doubt plays guitar, electronics and field recordings, although
the latter are (also) credited to Silvana Ilieva. The music is very much drone based. With a title such
as ‘Filament’ it is not difficult to think of the Main album of the same name, even when Mytrip also
adds sometimes very slow beats to the music. Throughout darkness, in case you were wondering
about the presence of any of that. Movements within the music are quite minimal in each track
everything is build up in a slow manner. Some guitar sounds on repeat and then some heavily
processed field recordings are added, and maybe, maybe a beat, such in ‘Fibre Mask’ or ‘Lustre’
or a bit of distortion in ‘Adaptive’. It is not bad what Mytrip does, but perhaps also not very original.
Lots of people pick up guitars, have loop stations and will create their own version of drone music.
The three remixes (by Ivan Shopov, Evicteles and Conjecture) all work out towards the more rhythmic
aspect of the music, simply adding a bit more beats to Mytrip’s drone music, which is
fine of course and perhaps is something that Mytrip could consider doing himself in his own music
as well, and spice things up a bit more? I am not sure if that would bring more originality to the
proceedings though. That said, and looking outside dawn slowly setting and daylight fading, Mytrip
plays some music for such sceneries. That’s worth something too. (FdW)
––– Address: http://amekcollective.blogspot.com
SENZ BEATS – ODE TO THE GHOSTED (cassette by Tanuki Records)
Originally, so Tanuki Records tells us, this was supposed to be a rap tape by Senz Beats, from
Belgium but residing in Montreal these days; the liner notes read like this: “It’s called Ode to the
Ghosted and was originally a tape I made for a girl I dated for a very short period, but it evolved
into something else. I gave it to her with a Walkman and never heard from her again”. Rather than
having a rap tape it has become a sort of mix tape with lots of ‘groovy beats, movie samples and
classic love songs’. I recognize (barely) a groovy beat when I hear one, but much of the movie
samples went right over my head (or should that ‘me head’?), and I don’t think any of these ring
any bell with me; same goes for the classic love songs, which may have never been a field of
expertise for me. So what Senz Beats does is create these two-times thirty-one minutes collages
of movie sounds, dialogue, combined with a jazzy rhythm, a laidback piano tune (love song!?) and
everything flows from segment to fragment to segment again and it sounds like anything that we
never hear in Vital Weekly; lots of soul, jazz, smooth music samples and for once that is a nice
change of the scenery, after a long day of thinking about ‘dark atmospheres moods’ music, one
could indeed be ready to have something… sunny? Taken in account the fact that at five o’clock
it is already dark inside, this samplemania is the best remedy against a winter depression. Or
perhaps if you just want to check out what a sampler can do than this is your cup also. Groovy
indeed. (FdW)
––– Address: http://tanukirecords.bandcamp.com/
•
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