THE INTERNATIONAL NOTHING – IN DOUBT WE TRUST (CD by Ftarri) *
PSYCHIC TV – KONDOLE/DEAD CAT (2CD, DVD by Cold Spring Records) *
ALEXANDER SIGMAN – FRCEMAP (CD & DVD by New Focus Recordings)
JOAO CAMOES & JEAN-LUC CAPPOZZO & JEAN-MARC FOUSSAT – AUTRES PAYSAGES (CD by
Clean Feed)
SPINIFEX – AMPHIBIAN ARDOUR (CD by Trytone)
BURNING TREE – OSSUARY LIGHT (CD by Utech)
VAGINA DENTATA ORGAN – IRENE’S CUNT (CD by World Satanic Network System)
PHILIP SULIDAE – RAMSHEAD (CD by Unfathomless) *
KLOOB – REMARKABLE EVENTS (CD by Winter-light) *
GOLPEA TU CEREBRO – SPANISH UNDERGROUND CASSETTE CULTURE 1980-1988 (2LP by
Insane Muzak)
NOEMIENOURS – BEAR MEDITATIONS (LP, private)
HEAL – ESPACE D’INCERTITUDE (LP by Sound On Probation)
BENJAMIN FINGER – SCALE OF BLINDNESS (CDR by Eilean Records) *
SRUTI – HEARD, UNSPOKEN (CDR by Eilean Records) *
DOC WÖR MIRRAN – INDUSTRIAL (HISTORICAL OBSCURITY VOL. 3 (CDR by Miss Management) *
JOSEPH B. RAIMOND III – JUNIOR BLUES (book by Mirran Thought)
JOSEPH B. RAIMOND – VAGABONDIA (book by Mirran Thought)
QUADRATURE (cassette compilation by Under My Bed Recordings)
SIMON CUMMINGS (cassette by Cronica Electronica)
PEACOCK KINGS – UNDER BADGER THROW (cassette by Meteorismo)
THE INTERNATIONAL NOTHING – IN DOUBT WE TRUST (CD by Ftarri)
A duo of two clarinet players; that is perhaps something you don’t see every day? Both Kai Fagaschinski
and Michael Thieke play one clarinet each and the first is in the right channel, the other left. Over the
years I should think I reviewed some of their releases (Vital Weekly 1041, 939 and 738), so almost
everything except their debut from 2006. As a duo they are not interested in playing improvised music
but compositions of their own making and for their fourth album (every four years they do one; one
was a collaborative release with others and was outside this scheme) they recorded a single track of
thirty-seven minutes and the same amount of seconds. They write: ‘no overdubs, no electronic
manipulation… and no improvisation”. Hard to believe I would think, as I could swear some of this
sounded like electronics, for instance right at the start with some beautifully shimmering mystery
tones. I would think that the various separate parts were recorded in various sessions; I counted
somewhere around seven to nine individual parts here, and all of it is of some excellent beauty. With
The International Nothing space becomes a very important place. It all has to do with how these two
clarinets interact with each other, creating microscopic differences between them, and how they travel
through the recording space before landing on whatever medium is used to record this. Most of the
time it sounds like two clarinets playing long form sounds, long on the sustain, so it sounds like sine
waves (hence perhaps my initial thought of this as ‘electronic’, from time to time), but right in the
middle there is also a piece for crackling of plastic, perhaps upon the surface of the instruments. Both
players play almost the same thing and it would take some very close headphone listening to find out
what the differences are between the left and the right channel; I would think very little difference,
as both of these are highly accomplished players and I would think they rehearsed their piece very
well. This is truly beautiful piece of music! (FdW)
––– Address: http://www.ftarri.com
PSYCHIC TV – KONDOLE/DEAD CAT (2CD, DVD by Cold Spring Records)
As far as I can remember I never had to speak out on the subject of Psychic TV and/or Genesis
P-Orridge. Following Cosey’s book on Coum/TG and everything else it is hard to feel much sympathy
for the man, but at the same time I must also say that some of Psychic TV’s music I enjoyed, without
buying into the whole Temple Of Psychic Youth. I can very much be my own man, and there is no need
for churches, parties, well, or whatever organisations. With the whole #metoo thing (and perhaps
Cosey’s book was a forecast of that?) we are more and more forced to think about ‘the man’ and ‘the
work’ as two separate entities and as far as I know anything about Psychic TV, I readily admit that
doesn’t amount to very much, I also liked to believe that with much of Psychic TV’s output it’s who
GPO likes to work with that decides the outcome. It would be an interesting study, for everyone of
their own, to dissect ‘what are my favourite Psychic TV records and who plays on them?’ I remember
enjoying their first two albums and some of the later ‘Themes’ releases, even when I haven’t heard
all of those. And there is a whole lot of music by them I haven’t heard.
Here we have two CDs with soundtracks to films that may not have been made, but in one case,
there is am actual film, ‘Dead Cat’, and that can be found on the DVD. Of ‘Dead Cat’ there are two
different soundtracks, one long and one short, the latter used in the film. All of these are instrumental,
which, for me at least, is a big bonus. Now this is the sort of Psychic TV music I like. It is all highly
minimal throughout all of these musical pieces, with an emphasis on the use of loops. In ‘Dead Cat’
these loops are mainly electronic in origin, feeding through amounts of reverb and other studio
trickery; it could be the sound of insects, voices, whispering, street sounds or indeed whales and
dolphins, and indeed a cat or two. In the other two pieces the emphasis lies also on the use of
repeated sounds but here in the form of tribalistic drumming. Vaguely ethnic sounding and with a
great effect on repetition in ‘Thee Whale’, almost like Joujouka kind of drumming and on ‘Thee
Shadow Creatures’ a similar repetitive element but within a much darker context and less exotic.
Three quite distinctive pieces of music, exactly as how I, very subjective indeed, like my Psychic TV
to be.
The film is by David Lewis and he made this while in film school and has GPO on a role as well as
Derek Jarman. The whole twenty-minute thing is shot in black and white and deals with a dream
about a sickly cat. There is of course a whole sort of subconscious Freudian subtext to it, which of
course I fail to see. It is not difficult to see the influence of David Lynch, Michael Powell or Jarman
himself in this nightmarish vision. It all looked a bit amateur like, but I also thought it was most
enjoyable, considering how little I understood all of this. If, of course, there was something to
understand. (FdW)
––– Address: http://www.coldspring.co.uk
ALEXANDER SIGMAN – FRCEMAP (CD & DVD by New Focus Recordings)
Sigman is a composer of electro-acoustic music and interdisciplinary arts. He studied at IRCAM,
Stanford, and Institute for Sonology of the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague, a.o. So far his music
has been released so far by Carrier Records, ‘Nominal/Noumenal’ (2011), presenting seven of his
compositions spanning 2005-2009. Also he is featured on the solo cd by violinist Miranda Cuckson’s
with his composition ‘VURTRUVURT’ for violin and electronics, released in 2010 by Urlicht
Audiovisual. Also some his compositions can be found on releases by the Innova-label. With ‘fcremap’
we have at last a new release completely devoted to his work, released by New Focus Recordings, an
artist led collective label featuring releases in contemporary creative music. ‘Frcemap’ started from
a collaboration in 2013 with Korean visual artist Eunjung Hwang resulting in an animation piece
called ’Future Creatures’. Later on this work was the starting point for re-workings of this concept,
resulting in 6 compositions that are reflected on this release, written for very different instruments:
percussion, flute, piano, violin, as well as for a small ensemble (played by Decibel New Music
Ensemble), combined with electronics. The performances reflect a fine and successful integration
of acoustic and electronic sources. The electronic sounds have something indefinable and vague,
what makes them very attractive. Sigman creates bewildering and eerie atmospheres. The music is
highly abstract and experimental, but also very emotional and engaging. The compositions also
have a distinct musical form, showing Sigman developed his own language and knows what to
communicate. The DVD offers a live-registration of the compositions combined with visual
projections by Hwang (DM)
––– Address: http://www.newfocusrecordings.com/
JOAO CAMOES & JEAN-LUC CAPPOZZO & JEAN-MARC FOUSSAT – AUTRES PAYSAGES (CD by
Clean Feed)
João Camões is from Portugal. He studied viola in Conservatory of Music of Coimbra. Moving to Lisbon
he discovered the praxis of improvised music. Based in Paris he works often with Jean-Marc Foussat.
Together with Claude Parle they recorded ‘Bien Mental’(2015) and as a duo the released ‘À La Face
Du Ciel’ (2016). Camões may also be known from his participation in Earnear with Miguel Mira and
Rodrigo Pinheiro. Jean-Marc Foussat is a French-Algerian musician, who started in 70s playing in
progrock groups, but moved to experimental and electro-acoustic music. He was also one of the
founders of the Potlatch label, and also Fou Records that was started by in 2012. Jean-Luc Cappozzo,
a trumpeter and flugelhorn player from Belfort, France join Foussat and Camões. The cd consists of
three improvisations, lasting between 15 and 21 minutes. We hear Camões mainly on viola, plus
mey (a double reed instruments from Turkey). Cappozzo plays trumpet, flugelhorn and harmonic
flute. Foussat is responsible for the electronics and other devices and voice. They keep a nice balance
between acoustic and electronic sources, and a fine interaction between the two. This results in
beautiful intimate sections, like the end of ‘Léspace qui nous sépare’ that has a nice solo by Cappozzo
on flute and inspired playing by Camões. Both are often in a dynamic interaction on functioning on
different levels, whereas Foussat plays another role in supplying subtle electronic sounds. Over all
the music is focused and concentrated. At some moments however the improvisations just are drifting
around a bit unfocused. Camões often plays patterns that are repeated and changed along the route,
whereas Cappozzo adds short punctuated comments. In the closing improvisation ‘Berceuse pour
Manuel’, Foussat is most prominent building an engaging soundscape, using environmental sounds
(dogs barking) as well. Near the end we hear Camões on mey in a dialogue with Cappozzo on flute.
A very satisfying session of poetic and colourful improvisation full of nuances. (DM)
––– Address: http://www.https://cleanfeed-records.com/
SPINIFEX – AMPHIBIAN ARDOUR (CD by Trytone)
Tobias Klein (alto saxophone), Jasper Stadhouders (guitar), Goncalo Almeida (bass) and Philipp Moser
(drums), plus Bart Maris on trumpet, who replaced founding member Gijs Lelievelt. New is also John
Dikeman (tenor saxophone)! German musician Tobias Klein around 2005 started the quintet Spinifex.
In 2015 they celebrated their 10th anniversary with an extended version of the ensemble: Spinifex
Maximus. For their newest project they are reduced to an sextet. With a program of compositions
recorded in Lisbon, during their 2015-tour in Portugal. The offers ten new compositions, five of them
are composed by Klein, two by Almeida and three other ones are interpretations of music from Iranian
and Pakistani Sufi traditions. Throughout they combine high-energy free improvisation with very
tight-composed avant-rock structures. The title track exemplifies this. In a rhythmic complex
structure, Maris and Dikeman go mad in convincing improvisations, bursting of energy. Their music
seeks to appeal to intellect, belly and everything in between. At times comparable with what Blast
was up to. Spinifex once more proves to be a very good-oiled machinery. Their playing is very tight
and together. The eastern-flavoured compositions fit well in their repertoire. It is absolutely catchy
music played with drive and enthusiasm. At the same time – but that may be my personal problem –
this kind of avant rock doesn’t have the urgency anymore it had 20 years ago. Despite all their
qualities!! (DM)
––– Address: http://www.trytone.org
BURNING TREE – OSSUARY LIGHT (CD by Utech)
Burning Tree is dag Erik Knedal Andersen (drums, percussion) and Dag Stibeg (saxophone). In 2013
they debuted with ‘Lammergyer’, an lp for the Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based Utech label. Four years
later they return with a new release for Utech. Both Norwegian improvisers deal in over the top, high-
energy improvisations with a strong physical impact. The CD consists of six improvisations of varying
length, all aggressive, noisy, speedy improvisations. A real smash in the face. In the line of good old
Peter Brötzmann and all free power players that followed. The cd opens with the ultra short ‘My Body
is on Fire’, reviving John Zorn’s Naked City. But happily there is more to it. ‘Klang Ceremony’ for
instance, opens with a solo by Stibeg, with distorted melodic elements, and sober replies by drummer
Andersen. ‘Sacrosanct’ is the most lengthy piece (10:53) and starts as a very etheric soundscape,
preparing a strong contrast with what is to come. As after a minute or so – out of nowhere – the battle
of sax and drums sets in. Again we are amidst an overwhelming eruption of noisy dynamics. Both are
excellent players by the way. I enjoyed the technique of Stiberg and his passionate performance. Stibeg
and Andersen make following remark on their new release: “this album dwells further into the notion
that harsh and extreme music can induce calm and serenity in the listener.” With titles as ‘Sacrosanct’
and ‘Altered Bliss’ they seem to hint at this, providing it with religious connotations. Interesting, but
the effect of the music on me remained one of restless excitement rather than serenity. (DM)
––– Address: http://www.utechrecords.com/
VAGINA DENTATA ORGAN – IRENE’S CUNT (CD by World Satanic Network System)
Let’s start with a bit of history: in 1928 the French surrealist poet and novelist Louis Aragon published
his short novel ‘Le Con d’Irène’ or, in plain English, ‘Irene’s Cunt’. The novel details the life and
contemplations of an older man who has lost his ability to speak and move because of syphilis. Due to
the novel’s slightly subversive content, Aragon used the pseudonym Albert de Routisie. Interestingly
enough, even though the novel was considered extremely controversial in the 1920s, Aragon himself
would later be nominated for a Nobel Prize for literature no less than four times! Serving in the
French army in World War II, Aragon was awarded the Croix de guerre (War Cross) and the military
medal for acts of bravery. After the defeat of the French army, Aragon joined the French resistance,
both as a poet as organizer of resistance acts. Following the war Aragon became involved in
Communism and publishing. In his final years he resumed to his surrealistic writing before passing
on in December 1982. This album, tantalizingly packed in a silver foil bag, not un-reminiscent of those
1970s bags in which you would purchase your pornographic magazines, is intended as tribute to the
famous novelist and his infamous novel. Now, as with Aragon it is impossible to predict Vagina Dentata
Organ. The solo project of Catalan surreal artist Jordi Valls, VDO has been releasing intriguingly
unpredictable sound since 1983. Therefore, I am not going to tell you what Irene’s Cunt is holding for
you. You, dear reader, will have to buy a copy of the album and experience that familiar tantalizing
excitement, reminiscent of the aforementioned magazine bag, of opening that silver foil bag and
checking out its content. Be prepared for the unexpected. Nothing is what is seems – certainly not
Irene’s cunt (FK).
––– Address: http://www.rumpski-pumsti.com
PHILIP SULIDAE – RAMSHEAD (CD by Unfathomless)
Here we have an example of someone who is perhaps not one of the most active composers when it
comes to releasing music. I have no idea why that is; maybe there aren’t that many labels, maybe he
is very critical, or perhaps he’s not that active in composing new works. So there are serious time
lapses in his release schedule, and it has been four years since his last release on Unfathomless,
‘History Of Violence’ (see Vital Weekly 925). This time he went on a trip to the Kosciuszko National
Park, in New South Wales, Australia. The press text reads like a tourist guide: “This national park
covers alpine and sub-alpine areas, and as such provides an unusual environment within the typical
low lying bush land and desert of greater Australia. It covers the highest peaks on the continent, and
as such is a diverse environment that covers everything from heavily wooded valleys and river ways,
through to rugged grasslands high above the treeline. There is a similar variation in animal and bird
life, whilst the weather is inclement all year round with everything from blazing sun to snow in one
day.” None of this, Sulidae says, plays a role in the four pieces on ‘Ramshead’, but he taped sounds that
he liked to work with later on. In saying that I think is implied that these four pieces are not the result
of documenting a straight forward scenery, but that these are compositions of sounds recorded at
various locations, mixed together later, to form a narrative, a composition using recordings of various
bits of environmental sound. One easily recognizes the sound of wind over barren land, the rustling of
leaves and branches, and the not-so calm stream up the mountains or animals at night. Of course the
narrative isn’t straight forward, but poetic and quiet, strange and/or wild. Maybe at thirty-six minutes
it is all rather short in duration I was thinking. I wouldn’t have minded some fifteen or so minutes of
this beautiful field trip. (FdW)
––– Address: https://unfathomless.bandcamp.com
KLOOB – REMARKABLE EVENTS (CD by Winter-light)
As I had no idea what ‘Kloob’ would mean I tried looking it up, only to find out that it is just the last
name of a guy whose first name is Dani. At least that’s how Daniel Ferreira from Spain calls himself.
He was involved in ‘underground progressive house music’, but since 2010 he produces ambient
music and has two previous releases on Relaxed Machinery. However ‘Remarkable Events’ is the first
album I hear from him. He writes on the cover that “vital changes, unique experiences and a South
India trip are the primary sources of inspiration for this deep dark ambient work”, and maybe these
account for the title of the release, as well. Events that were remarkable but in his own private world
remarkable, I would think and perhaps not much for us, the outsiders. Thinking about his trip while
playing his music, I would believe that Kloob has a strong love for synthesizers, lots of effects and
maybe some heavily processed set of field recordings (from South India no doubt though we are
warned “this is not an album filled with the chants of Hindu monks and the busy clatter of every day
Indian life”) and since this is on Winter-light you know which route is taken; the journey into the
dark, nocturnal landscapes, but perhaps, so I was thinking it is also possible to see some heavy exotic
air in this is slow music. Everything that happens here happens in a slow manner. There is no quick
movements or rapid changes and in the nine long pieces (total length of the album is seventy minutes)
here it all builds in the same peaceful manner. Long fades are used extensively on this record, and
everything is within the well-known ‘dark atmospheric’ template that comes with the territory, with
two exceptions. In the opening pieces there is the bouncing arpeggio from the world of cosmic music
and in ‘Exhuberante’ there is a far away rhythm to be noted, covered with much reverb (otherwise
an effect he loves dearly anyway), so Kloob draws his inspiration from further afield as well. Not the
most original of ambient releases but one made with great care and love for detail. (FdW)
––– Address: https://www.winter-light.nl/
GOLPEA TU CEREBRO – SPANISH UNDERGROUND CASSETTE CULTURE 1980-1988 (2LP by
Insane Muzak)
Vital Weekly writes mostly about new music, just freshly recorded and released stuff, but over the
past years a fair portion of our time has been devoted to re-releases and compilations that deal with
the past. Usually much to my pleasure I must admit, certainly when ‘the past’ equals ‘my past’,
growing up in the 80s, being heavily involved in underground cassette culture. I am sure it’s the
sentimental old fool speaking here, but it surely was a time upon which I think with warm feelings.
If there were a time machine, I’d go back to my old bedroom and do the same thing again, and again.
The alternative is of course when young people have the energy to compile all this old stuff and re-
issue them, and as it goes with young people I guess, it has to be on vinyl. There have been great re-
issues (Rising From The Red Sand, the releases by Discos Trangenero, Vinyl On Demand, the Narwal
LP, Knekelhuis compilation LP, Trax 2LP come to mind straight away; there are more of course) but
when it comes to background information it was all, at best, ‘a bit sparse’. Who were these musicians,
how did they work, what was their motivation? You know, that sort of thing is always interesting to
know. No expense has ben spared with the release called ‘Golpea Tu Cerebro’, subtitled “Spanish
Underground Cassette Culture 1980-1988”, which comes in a box (which were called ‘cassettes’ in
the world of classical music back then, funnily enough) and a 52-page booklet that is LP sized. This
booklet contains tons of cassette covers and photographs of innocent young men and their electronic
devices. All texts in Spanish and English, and very seldom one gets a better answer to the questions
one usually has. There is so much to read that by the time I finished reading about the first band,
Bulbo Raquideo, I was at the end of side 2. That perhaps isn’t easy, as you hear thing on record and
read about something else at the same time. It just means that you have to play the records a few
times before you get it all.
While I was playing these records and reading the extensive notes it occurred to me that the
music also was quite a bit different than the records mentioned earlier in the review. Whereas many
search for the electronic pop element in the underground, the kind of thing that was considered
weird back then but not so much these days, this collection is much more about the experiment, the
industrial music legacy, the noise, and the weirdness. It is not until the fourth side when there is
some poppy inspired sound to be detected, and that included Francisco Lopez earliest piece with a
shimmering melody that we haven’t him do in many years. There are twenty-six different projects
here and even for an old follower of the world of cassettes, there are many names in here that I
never of heard before; Zumbi2, Ieximal Jelimite, Brigada Nadie, C-307 for instance. Not really
missing but due to the fact that they are well-known Esplendor Geometrico is not present here,
which I can applaud. If they would have been present it could seen as a marketing trick. Luis Mesa
is the only other musician from those days that is absent, simply because it seems he cannot be
traced. Another that struck me is that so many of these people used Spanish named band names
and titles in Spanish. Not something I saw used in a similar way in say the Dutch cassette scene.
I very much enjoyed these pieces, simply for the fact that it sounded very rough and noisy. If a
musician says he’s using scratched records as sound sources then you can be sure to hear them.
Some of these experiments are simply just that: experiments and that is, I think, very much in the
spirit of the old cassette scene. It’s not about doing a rough electronic pop song, but microphone/
delay/record/tape abuse, cheap synthesizers and distortion pedals and with that extensive liner
notes that occupied for me an entire afternoon one could wish every country would have such a
dedicated fan compiling this. The fact that Insane Muzak sounds a bit too much like Insane Music,
the former Belgium cassette label from the 80s, can be forgiven as the only flaw in all this excessive
beauty. (FdW)
––– Address: https://insanemuzak.wordpress.com/
NOEMIENOURS – BEAR MEDITATIONS (LP, private)
“All-ages slo-fi lullabies, supporting a non ideological, vegan and drug-free lifestyle”, so it says on the
Bandcamp page and it is also repeated on the cover, along with ‘Save the bears, anywhere they are.
Bears have better to do than performing shows”. Each of the nine pieces on this record has this sort of
private statement, which, for me at least, not always made much sense. Vegan, drug free and also non
ideological, which seems a bit of contradiction and when I asked Noemienours about it, I got this
somewhat cryptic reply: “If you have an ideological frame, the idea is to find a position outside this
frame, where things could find an actual meaning, absent inside this frame. Bears only have the
point of view of outsiders in comparison to mankind, which is already naturally post-communist for
instance. I try to find the horizon of things, where there are not stiffened anymore by
anthropocentrism. I was influenced by Merleau-Ponty’s book “The adventure of dialectics” to develop
this approach”, which lead to a pleasant reading about things I never heard of. As for the music by
Noemienours I would think she is firmly located in this grey area called ‘outsider music’. I must admit
I have a bit of a problem with that whole term outsider. Sometimes it just means ‘I can’t play but still I
do, but I also know I am not so good at it’, and on other occasions it means ‘I have no clue what I am
doing, still I am doing it’, and it’s never easy to figure out if it’s the genuine article, if of course there is
such a thing. I am not so sure about Noemienours. She sings remotely, vague, removed and plays a bit
of electric bass and clavichord, all of which is not recorded with the greatest care, yet never
leaps into the world of noise and surely the word ‘lullabies’ is very well chosen. As it goes with
‘outsiders’ (and I have no idea if Noemienours regard herself to be one) it is not easy to say ‘yes,
fucking great’ or ‘oh man, what the hell this?’ and I have mixed feelings. I very much enjoyed the
consistency of the performance, and I would think Noemienours has a pretty good idea what she
does – check out this interview with her and you see what I mean. Not necessarily my cup of tea, the
music and the political motivations, but I enjoyed the consistency of it all. It was all very punk, but not
in the traditional sense of the word, but very much in the political spirit of punk (I should hope at least)
but with very distinctly different musical voice, which I enjoyed even more. (FdW)
––– Address: https://noemienours.bandcamp.com/
HEAL – ESPACE D’INCERTITUDE (LP by Sound On Probation)
To be honest: I know Laurent Perrier, the musician behind Heal, since thirty years, ever since released
his own music as Eleve Modele on ‘Ciguri’, the first release on his label Odd Size and I wrote in the past
about his music quite a bit. Perrier works under various names, Heal for instance, but also under his
own name, as Zonk’t, Pylône and Cape Fear but to be honest (this is where it really comes in) I couldn’t
tell the differences between these various names. I am sure there are; I believe one name is for more
rhythmic music, others for abstract musique concrete, but which is which? I don’t know. Here he works
as Heal and it is all about modular synthesizers and I believe this is for the first time he works with
such machines. Before it was all laptop and precise editing and modular synthesizers are more open
for improvised playing, but that is not the case here. Perrier explores on each side of the record a
specific system, the Bucla on side A and the Mutable on the second the Mutable. Both sides contain
pieces created for choreographies. There are similarities and differences to be noted. It is throughout
gentle music on both sides, and both not shy from some strong influence from the old cosmic music.
Of the two sides the gentlest music is on the ‘Mutable’ side, I think. The ‘Bucla’ side is a driven by
sequencing and mild arpeggios’ bouncing along the way, but here too the word one would be using is
gentle. There is some form of rhythm on the ‘Bucla’ side but not of this engages the listener to dance, I
guess, but I can very well imagine this to be used in choreography of some kind. I very much enjoyed
this record. For the simple fact that I thought of the music as wonderful and also while it sounds very
coherent. It’s not bleepy modular synthesizer music but very well constructed, like it is being played
on a bunch of analogue keyboards, like in them good ol’ synth days. If only more modular synthesizer
records were like this! It reminded me of Steve Moore and that is, in my book, a very fine reference.
Excellent record. (FdW)
––– Address: https://heal2.bandcamp.com
BENJAMIN FINGER – SCALE OF BLINDNESS (CDR by Eilean Records)
SRUTI – HEARD, UNSPOKEN (CDR by Eilean Records)
‘Scale Of Blindness’ is Benjamin Finger’s second album for Eilean Records, but it seems that
“Pleasurably Lost” from 2015 never made it here. I am not sure why, as I believe Eilean has been
sending material for some time. Finger is “a composer, electronic music producer, DJ, photographer
and film-maker based in Oslo, Norway” and other releases of his were by labels such as How is Annie
Records (NO), Time Released Sound (US), Digitalis Recordings (US), Watery Starve Press (US), Eilean
Records (FR), Shimmering Mood Records (NL) Blue Tapes and X-Ray Records (UK), Oak Editions (IT),
Sellout! Music (NO), and Flaming Pines (UK), which means that he is very prolific, yet also on labels
who never send a promo this way. On the cover it just says ‘sounds, field recordings and all
nstruments’, which much specification. While listening to the eight pieces here I kept thinking about
Finger also being a filmmaker, and for reasons that I cannot entirely justify I think one hears that in
his music. Not only because of the voices added to ‘If Memory Preserves’, but also in the way some of
the music comes across as a bit loosely organised and the way some of the midi-controlled instruments
are used, mainly the percussion. It has that supporting role, but it also, at times, rattles a bit too much
in the background such as in ‘Vagabond Void’. But this would not be Eilean Records if that touch of
ambience, drones and atmospheric would not be part of it. When Finger processes the instruments
it all works out fine as glitch based ambient music. It makes the album as a whole perhaps slightly
unbalanced, with just a bit too much variation, as if Finger hadn’t made up his mind yet where to go
with his music, or perhaps wants to show off what it is that he can do. Either way I think it would be
better to make up his mind and do a more coherent album, one that fits together overall.
Of Omar El Abd we heard before, since he works as omrr, but here he teams up with Mohammed
Ashraf, also known as Pie Are Squared, together as Sruti. This album was recorded partly in their
home country Egypt and in Ravenna, Italy. From the previous releases by omrr I know he loves all
things that glitch, hiss, crack, hiss and tick, preferable if it finds it’s origin in the guitar, but when it
comes out, in the end, of a laptop. I don’t know about Ashraf and his preferred methods of operation,
but judging by the four pieces, all somewhere between eight and twelve minutes, he works along
similar lines of computer processing an instrument, which might also be the guitar but it could very
well something else (at one point I was thinking about a piano). In these pieces there is quite a bit
going on, in terms of sounds. The music is far from ‘empty’ and on various levels there always seems
to something happening, even when thing seems to wind down, such as in the opening of ‘Unspoken
(Part 2)’, there is still a lot going on. Bits of field recordings fly by, and the guitar shines for the first
time rather un processed and there that lingering drone, but in the other pieces the drone seems to
be omni-present, bursting with sound effects and both orchestral and shoegazey like. Sruti has quite
a ‘fat’ sound, quite coherent with more ambient nightmares and strangeness thrown about. Quite a
solid piece of work I thought and some great power locked inside. (FdW)
––– Address: https://www.eilean-records.com
DOC WÖR MIRRAN – INDUSTRIAL (HISTORICAL OBSCURITY VOL. 3 (CDR by Miss Management)
JOSEPH B. RAIMOND III – JUNIOR BLUES (book by Mirran Thought)
JOSEPH B. RAIMOND – VAGABONDIA (book by Mirran Thought)
Late last year I made a discovery when visiting the Two Car Garage studios. Actually I made a few
discoveries. Hard to fit two cars in there was one discovery, but that was not the main thing. In my
role as a very part-time, very much long distance member of Doc Wör Mirran (which boiled down to
sending two cassettes with some sounds, some twenty or more years ago) I visited an actual
recording session with ‘the guys’ and I learned they see themselves as a krautrock group. Of course!
How did I miss that? Now that I know it is easy to see of course. There are some musicians on guitar,
saxophone, bass, electronic drums and such like, setting about some kind of rhythm and everybody
else fiddles around and yes, this is some krautrock that can ne rocky, or electronic, or atmospheric,
or punky, or silly. Results of that particular session are not yet available, but here, as part of a series
about Historical Obscurities those old tapes are taking out of the shoebox along with those by Bernard
H. Worrick, Joseph B. Raimond, Peter Schuster, Beaulieau, Adrian Gormley, Jeandra Raimond, Ralf
Lexis, Deane Kusiak, Denise Kusiak, John Eberly, Theodor T. ThrongoMob, Rich Ferguson, Michael
Wurzer, Ishimaru, JoAnn Raimond, Jello Biafra, Asmus Tietchiens and Allen Shain. Well maybe some
of this is played in that studio? This is a collection of pieces from years ago, from compilations on vinyl,
but remixed, reworked, recycled or revived (whatever you prefer in such a case) and it became one
long piece of music. It starts out with some heavy type feedback noise thing and surely it would
account for ‘industrial’ and some of the rest is loud and very present, but keep thinking of that
krautrock and those guitar solos at the forty minute point all of a sudden make sense as well. This
is one long pleasant trip, a musical nightmare if you wish, but one I enjoyed very much. Not because
of my own contribution, because as always I don’t recognize any of that at all, but perhaps because it
was a fine reminder of that Sunday in snowy Fürth, but also because Doc Wör Mirran remains one
my favourite groups, especially when they space out over such a long time-frame, sixty-nine minutes
here, of music that is very industrial indeed, but also spacious, krauty, ambient, or downright weird
and alien. It sums up very well what Doc Wör Mirran is all about.
Also enclosed this time were two books (print on demand) of poetry by Doc Wör Mirran’s main
man Joseph B. Raimond, of which one is hardcover and both of these have 60 pages of poems. As
much as I like to tell you something highly intelligent about these poems I can’t. If you are into Doc
Wör Mirran and order some stuff, be sure to order one of these as well. (FdW)
––– Address: http://www.dwmirran.de/
QUADRATURE (cassette compilation by Under My Bed Recordings)
This is the 50th release by Under My Bed Recordings and for this little celebration they gathered four
people together, each delivering ten minutes of music. The title, so I read, “stems from a common
detection technique of an electrical waveform, in which a contributed signal which is in phase,
orthogonally can be separated and monitored simultaneously”. Right. All of these musicians have
found earlier on their work reviewed in these pages, some more than others. In some way or another
all four of them play music that can be stamped with the words ‘atmospheric’ or ‘drone’. Drekka for
instance keeps his drones to the background, mainly hiss, field recordings of wind and such like, but
on top plays around with sparse piano tones. It is not exactly standard drone music, but nevertheless
highly atmospheric. Simon Balestrazzi, of Tomografia Assiale Computerizzata fame, opts for more
radical, digital buzz in your ear, but over the course of ten minutes there is a lot going on; again field
recordings, of course I’d say, but also the plucking of guitar strings and that seems to me the
instruments Attilio Novellino uses more extremely in his opening piece, along with rhythm, bowed
strings and much use of sound effects. It links perfectly with the second piece on the second side, by
Ennio Mazzon (one half of Zbeen; his favourite colour is #e628ab. Good to know, of course) which
seems devoid of any instruments that we can recognize and quite the heavy slab of computer noise.
In it’s own way atmospheric but you need to be a bit spiked for it, I guess. (FdW)
––– Address: https://undermybedrecordings.bandcamp.com
SIMON CUMMINGS (cassette by Cronica Electronica)
The only time before the name Simon Cummings was mentioned in Vital Weekly was when a CD by
Kenneth Kirschner was reviewed in these pages (Vital Weekly 989), for which Cummings wrote a
text. He studied composition, conducting and organ and later on also at Sonology in The Hague and
his focus is upon “gradual processes of transformation”. This new release has a Japanese character/
word as title, which is pronounced as ‘ma’ and difficult to translate. “The concept it embodies is a
spatial one, specifically the gap between two discrete structural parts or elements, with associated
connotations of an interval or pause”, plus a bit more which I must admit flew right over my head.
The music was recorded during a dark period in Cummings life and he was fixed on silence and to
that he made recordings “during the traditional Anglican service of Evensong”, and removed
everything from the recordings, except silences that occur here and there, and thus it captured
echoes, resonances and ambience. Everyone who has ever been to a church service (and I recommend
anyone to do at least once in a lifetime to visit a service, preferably with singing and all that) has an
idea of how that sounds. Cummings takes these sounds into the world of digital processing, and it
has to do with the negative space; the music is full of anger, he says. It’s not something I would have
extracted from this music should I just hear this music by itself. I would probably think of this more
like computer-controlled processes of snippets of near silent recordings, which they are, but not in
terms of anger or negativity. It sets me as a listener free from the way it inspired Cummings to
compose these works and I can take a much different approach, and that is that I think this is a
work of great beauty. The music is part quiet and majestic, slow and minimal and has occasional
bursts of loudness, of a massive eruption occasionally and controlled streams of molten lava; it is
not necessarily all very quiet and microsounding around here. The cover indicates various pieces
on this cassette, but I enjoyed it mostly as a one piece per side kind of thing; like a solid long collage
of various electronic soundscapes cut together. (FdW)
––– Address: https://cronica.bandcamp.com
PEACOCK KINGS – UNDER BADGER THROW (cassette by Meteorismo)
Another duo effort by David Freudl (Teenage Engineering OP-1, Arturia MiniBrute, Delicia Mini, Korg
Poly 800, melodic) and Tomislav Federsel (electric guitar, bass guitar, mandolin, waterphone, Hard
Mod Duo Modular synth, Korg Micropreset, vocal). They are assisted by Petr Vrba (trumpet), Václav
Kalivoda (trombone), Jorge Boehringer (viola), Martin Strakoš (Akai EVI 5000) and Marcel Bárta
(soprano saxophone). Induced with lots of humour and twists, Freudl and Federsel present a new
improvised session. They like to improvise and experiment, but want it to keep light and sunny at the
same time. They succeed very well in doing this. Their music brings back Atatak gimmicks to my
memory: Lost Gringos, Der Plan. The cassette contains eight works all around five minutes. All of
them are playful collage-like paintings. Most tracks have melodic lines and ingredients. But where
is it all leading up to? Just to give an entertaining time. Nothing wrong with that. ‘Under Badger
Throw’ is the follow of ‘Peacock King’, a cassette they released for Meteorismo in 2014 as Federsel
& Freudl. Meteorismo is a Prague based Czech-Finnish label focused on eclectic and a strange music.
‘Under Badger Throw’ is a perfect example of this. (DM)
––– Address: http://www.meteorismorecords.com/