VARIATIONS 2 (CD by Paradigm)
Another succesful attempt to promote musicians from London, and the
majority you never heard of (well guessing of course). The CD opens with a
beautiful computerized piece by one Akemi Ishijima of objects sampled and
floating free in space. Micheal Ormiston multi layers various recordings of
violin, oops… I mean an instrument with two snares, slightly similar to a
violin. Another relative short piece is by Tom Wallace of high pitched
sound in slow movements, a short of megoish. Hugh Davies performs ‘Strata
for ‘Concert Aolian Harp’ and tape – the wind blows his tune into an
instrument best described as a TV attena which is being scraped and plucked
– the radio is playing in the background. The six minute ‘Domestic Ambient
Noise’ is not for me: I don’t like dogs barking and men imitating them.
John Grieve – whose fame is being a founding member of Nurse With Wound –
provides the shortest piece of densly layered noise – people talking?,
insects being burned? too many saxophones playing? – I couldn’t tell. Clive
Graham (also the collector of these talents) apptly names his piece ‘In
Tension’ and has tons of droning and scraping sounds, with the sea beneath.
The tension level is fed by near, but never complete feedback. Rolf
Gelhaar, the grey hairs of the lot, has a computer piece (diagram on the
cover) of slowed down sounds, and tumbling wit. Not as good as the opening
track – too much of a live recording for me.
So if experimental music still has a warm place in your heart, and you love
to fid out new names – here you go. You need a fax machine to contact them!
Address: + 44 171 609 1754
MOELLER / MORGENROTH – Luenkern (Cassette by Tape Records)
Tape Records is a relatively new label from Duesseldorf, Germany, which is
dedicated to tape-only-releases mainly from the Duesseldorf-scene of
experimental, techno, free-jazz & whatever style. The label is open to all
kinds of unconventional sound-creating, as they say in their info. And
really, the releases I listened to so far are all so different from each
other that it’s at least a suprising experience each time. This tape by
this unknown duo Moeller & Morgenroth contains a great electronic collage
of synthesized ambience which sounds to me quiet unusual, with rhythmical,
deep bassy influences which are always soon to be followed by unexpected
effects, noises, drones, etc… this lies somewhere between more “modern”
trance-techno and experimental “Post-Industrial”. Atmospheres and sounds
change often. A release with a true experimental spirit. Very much worth
listening, also check out their back-catalogue: Tape Records, Marcus Maida,
Wielandtstraße 54, 40211 Duesseldorf, Fax : x49-211-5370976 [BAR]
DELPHIUM VS. AL.X – DON’T FUCK WITH DEMONS (12″ by The Rhythm of Disaster)
A surprising remix-collaboration appeared on this new label (which is a
sub- label of Disaster Area, a long working mail-order service who is now
active like hell with new releases), which shows Delphium in a much more
“poppy” style than usually, the guitars are gone, and the whole thing has a
rather drum’n’bass – styled outfit. The tracks (three pieces actually) are
all taken from the first Delphium CD, and have been remixed by AL.X , who
had a 12″ on Charrm Records so far. This is dance – music with an
experimental edge, and although I’m not a specialist in this kind of style,
I must say I really like it. [BAR]
Address: <Disaster_Area@t-online.de>
TERRY BURROWS / ASMUS TIETCHENS – BURNING THE WATCHING BRIDE (LP by
DISASTER Area)
Some of you older “Industrial-veterans” might know the similar titled LP-
releases from the eigthies. This is now – as the info suggests – the fourth
part of the series (I think I missed something if this is right), and
although it’s no real surprise, it’s as good as one could expect: Long
droning pieces mixed with far away female singing, some high bells are
appearing, smooth ponding rhythms, the whole reveals a secretful
atmosphere. No hard edges here…. What should I say? A wonderful release!
[BAR]
Address: as above
DASCHISE – ELEGANT AGGRESSION (Cassette by Self-Abuse)
This tape contains many short tracks on one side, and one long track on the
other. The first side is wrought with incredibly loud 60-cycle hum, which
caused me to, first, adjust the tone-controls on my stereo, then lower the
volume so as not to damage the playback system. The low throb lets up a
little bit by the end of the side, so the crunchy noise does become
audible. The interesting thing, though, is this: the last track on the
first side introduces a simple melody (!), which carries over to the second
side. The melody, itself quite fuzzy and distorted, drifts in and out
before finally stating itself plainly about 15 minutes in. A quite nice
change of pace from the usual hard-noise assault, and one which took me by
surprise. The tape comes in a sturdy vinyl case with a color-copy sleeve,
which is also nice.
THE NEW BLOCKADERS – FINAL LIVE PERFORMACE (CD-EP by Robot/Siren)
This very limited and near-impossible to find item is once again made
available (again in a limited edition) by Robot Records of Texas.
Everything this band does sounds like a building crumbling apart; it all
has the same cadence that falling rocks down the side of a mountain have
(well, at least as I’ve seen rocks fall in movies) with huge things
crashing into each other again and again and again. I have no idea how this
could be done live, and we don’t hear any trace of an audience, no buildup
or real ending. Most of the action, though, occours in the left speaker
only, which just doesn’t make much sense to me. Perhaps that is how the
performer(s?) were situated on the stage. There is no information given
about the performance, methods, anything. As a document of the last
performance of a band, it does the bare minumum of providing a take-home
version of the concert you probably didn’t attend.
UNFOLKUS (CD by Unit Circle)
OUTHOUSE – PROCESS OF ELIMINATION (CD by AP)
Two times free music, but both with a slightly different angle. Unfolkus,
who rank Bill Horist (whose solo CD we reviewed a while ago), is a four man
group, playing on a Chapman Stick, guitar, windinstruments and ‘sharp metal
objects and batterie’ is a very free improv style. Noisy a a rock band, but
with roots firmly in jazz. As usual my references are nil, but with fierce
aggression not bad at all.
Outhouse is also free music, but stay more on the rocking side, playing
bars and lets various members improv their way around. Firmly based in the
Recommended Records from the late 70s, but its nice to see that two decades
don’t mean much. Plus I can imagine this is a great live band. (FdW)
Address: <www.unitcircle.com>
Address: <outhouse@wa.net>
Irr. App. (Ext.) – An Uncertain Animal, Ruptured; Tissue Expanding In
Conversation (CD by Fire Inc.)
“And just as a thousand drums do not make as much noise as a single drum,
and a thousand intelligence’s form a mob moved by instinct, so an
individual is not an individual for me when he appears in the company of
several of his equals, and I maintain that a head is only a head when
separated from it’s body”
This quote from Alfred Jarry gives a good description for this CD; it is
noisy because it is silent and all the used/stolen audio pieces are
separated from their original meaning and juxtaposed into a new meaning. So
this is collage music build up with a large variety of different sounds of
which some are reversed others slowed down ( like the audio pieces from the
film “Himmel Uber Berlin” from Wim Wenders). A lot of recognizable sound
made into more abstract ones. There are 11 tracks on this CD and some tend
to get more into the dark side of things than others do.
Artworks look like they are done by Steven Stapleton from Nurse With Wound.
Also the music reminds me of Nurse With Wound, and then I mean the collage
aspect, Apparently this American is a big NWW-fan. A divers CD which takes
a couple of listening sessions before it kicks in. Worthwhile listening to!
(RM)
Address: <sfs@isholf.is>
ONE LAST KISS/HUMECTANT INTERRUPTION SPLIT (Cassette by Spite)
MSBR “FINAL HARSH WORK #2” (Cassette by Spite)
Maybe this is a silly question (and heck knows I’ve asked plenty of them
in my time), but if something is “final”, how can a “part two” exist? I
mean, then part one wasn’t very final, was it? And the existance of a “part
2″ leaves room for “parts 3 through 27” on subsequent tapes. But perhaps
I’m nitpicking.
MSBR, if you aren’t already familiar with them, are the Japanese noise
band with the most ridiculously excessive packages of any other band. They
pack releases in sculptures made from socks, tar, wood planks, anything
Zoviet-France might have at one point rejected as either too silly or too
much trouble, these guys have already done. This tape, though, comes in a
simple cardstock envelope which, while at least not toxic or dripping,
still won’t fit nicely in with your other tapes. Damn. Thier noise is as
harsh as you’d want it to be, and usually quite rich and dynamic. On this
tape, they introduce the bleepy-bloopy analogue synth sound for that
outer-space psycedelic effect. At one point on the second side, the
telltale rise and fall of a Moog carries on with only slight crunch
accompaniment.
The split tape is a whole other story. Both bands make maximum use of the
pan knobs on thier 4-tracks by recording completely different material in
each channel. One One Last Kiss’s side, the sounds of a few rocks being
slowly shaken around in a box fill up the left side, while small metallic
scraps are jostled around lazily in the right. Both activities continue for
the duration of the side, resulting in a nice hypnotic effect. It’s neither
grating nor dull, and I’ve found myself rewinding this side to hear it all
over again. Actually, it doesn’t sound too far from the New Blockaders.
The side by Humectant Interruption, on the other hand… well, I can’t
imagine it actually being recorded with the intent of being eventually
listened to. One channel has a one second loop of squealing noise with a
half-second of silence in between each burst. In the other channel, after
absolutely nothing for five minutes, is the sound of a couple of latino men
having oral sex and occasionally exclaiming in Spanish and English. While
funny, sort of, and erotic, sort of, it’s also an endurance test that,
well, I passed but only barely. This will belong with my Gerogerigegege
records in that category of my collection which only gets played for other
people so I can watch their incredulous faces. (HS)
Address: <MONOnanie@aol.com>
ULTRASOUND – YERIDA (CD by Autonomy)
ROY MONTGOMERY – AND NOW THE RAIN SOUNDS LIKE LIF IS FALLING DOWN THROUGH
IT (CD by Drunken Fish)
WINDY & CARL – DEPTHS (CD by Kranky)
DOLDRUMS – FENG SHUI (CD by VHF)
These are various views at what some call gravel music – or post rock for
that matter. Ultrasound, an US guy in exile around my corner, burned 400
copies of almost 36 minutes of beautiful music. A warm drone fills your
room, and although as 1 track on the CD, there are several tracks of
layered synths, samples and maybe something that could be described as a
bass guitar. From this lot probably the most abstract and ambient.
Roy Montgomery is also a skillfull homecrafter, recording everything on the
good ol’ 4 track. Guitars (mainly), piano (a little) and voice
(unfortunally)… and of course there is hiss. Yes, you got it, I don’t
like singing, but the minimal minitiatures of music are nice. The sort of
nassle singing puts me off a bit. From this lot probably the most poppy.
The duo Windy & Carl surprised with the beautiful Antartica CD and some
blue limited 10″, but this new is a little more of the same, and a little
bit more darker. Like Ultrasound they dwell on waves of fuzzy guitar, and
like Roy they sing – thank god a lot less then Roy. It seems that Windy &
Carl turned inside rather then a beuatiful warm outside look. Having some
reservations against the progression of this duo, I don’t think this bad.
Maybe something happened that made them sad. From this lot probably the
most dark and sombre.
Doldrums are more in rock format – mucho drums and feedback guitars in what
is an almost instrumental record. Post rock may not be an appropiate term,
let’s file this under space rock – anything from Pink Floyd to Hawkind to
F/i you may find in here. At times quite complex, and at times rockingly
simple. From this lot probably the most rocky.
Address: Ultrasound – <ovetz@kon.con.nl>
Address: Kranky – P.O.Box 578743 – Chicago, IL 60657 – USA
Address: Drunken Fish – P.O.Box 460640 – San Francisco, CA 94146 – USA
Address: VHF – <vhfrecords@aol.com>
Jean-Michel Rivet – Embrasement (CD on Sonoris)
J.M Rivet has been reasonably busy composing music for several and a half
years now, and recent works are pften performed at international festivals
in France and elsewhere. This may be his first release, details are not
supplied.There are five tracks here, each of them augmented by a little
pome by JMR, hisself. The music traverses most of the standard sound
sources and studio techniques which we have all come to associate with (and
either love – or hate) with electroacoustic music. Tiny bells are stretched
out into long, complicated tones. The wave-forms of some sounds are be used
to shape another…a favourite here seems to be the sound of waves. There’s
the usual tweaked recording of a firework display (no more of these,
please) and squealing, buffeting wind zooms around the stereo space. Most
interesting are the voice manipulations which occur. I suspect that some of
the texts by JMR form the content of these pieces, which suck and blow,
first gentle then asthmatic in their struggle to be heard. No surprises
though. (MP)
Address: fax: + 33 55648-5475
JUST ABOUT NOW – VARIOUS ARTISTS (CD by V2 Archief)
This CD accompanies a series of installations being presented in Rotterdam
at this very moment (that’s like, right now, you dig?). It features works
by some of the doyens of the avant-garde Dutch scene (and others) and was
bunged together by Roel Meelkop, no stranger to regular readers of Vital.
Judging from the minimal content of this CD, I would venture to guess that
all of the installations are quite minimal, with more attention paid to the
audio content than the spaces. Frans De Waard (now, where have I heard that
name before) recorded and processed the sounds of an electricity meter –
the track on this CD is an extended remix of the real thing, which clocks
in (geddit?) at about 5’00. Point being that most visitors won’t hang about
for much longer than this in any of the spaces unless they’re unemployed.
Carsten Nicolai’s piece is divided into 6 separate tracks (which adds a lot
of colour to this when played on Shuffle/Random – something I seem to be
doing more and more these days). The extreme range of frequencies is most
groovy, and I particularly liked ‘POL.Modell for it’s low end. I will
sample this and hurt it in the near future, I think. Ryoji Ikeda’s track is
an extension of one of his musical ideas which I first heard on ‘+/- ‘ on
Touch some time ago. Very high, almost inaudible, yet very present
frequecies can fill any space, most especially the one ‘twixt your ears. If
you listen to this while pressing the fast forward knob on your electrical
device, you enter quite a different sound world. (Now that we dont’t have
to turn the vinyl over, human interactivity with sound carriers has been
reduced to a minimum, so find new ways to fiddle with it.) Peter Duimelinks
left his Hoover on while slowly knocking hard, lumpy object off their
perches – actually, this was made by recording the sound of the exhibition
space itself with a bunch of microphones, including all anomalous noises.
This is an excerpt of the installation version which is 45’00 long.
Francisco Lopez tests hearing (and patience) with a track that ho(o)vers at
-60 dB and gradually reaches an overwhelming crescendo at -40 dB. Not quite
sure what the point of this one is – perhaps it’s another ‘lesson’ in
listening…and how to hear, although I heard that he filters out all the
noise, cranks up the bass and volume ad plays it through a sub-woofer in
situ. Why so cunting soft on te CD then ? Roel Meelkop closes this
collection with a somewhat directionless track which features a few
different sounds but does not bring this CD to a satisfactory conclusion.
Perhaps I should visit the exhibition in order to mete out the correct
punishment on this one. (Luke Warm)
Address: <archief@v2.nl>