Week 16
SETH NEHIL/BRUNO DUPLANT – (ELSE)WHERE (2CD by Auf Abwegen) *
JAN VAN HASSELT/CHRISTOPH OGIERMANN – DER BAU (2 cassettes by Auf Abwegen) *
ERYCK ABECASSIS – É V A P O R A T I O N (CD by Flag Day Recordings) *
RUTGER ZUYDERVELT – KITES (MUSIC FOR A PERFORMANCE BY ROSHANAK MORROWATIAN) (CD by Machinefabriek) *
BRUNO DUPLANT & RUTGER ZUYDERVELT – EDGE OF OBLIVION (CD by Machinefabriek) *
TOMEKA REID/ISIDORA EDWARDS/ELISABETH COUDOUX – REID/EDWARDS/COUDOUX (CD by Relative Pitch Records) *
CATHERINE SIKORA/SUSAN ACORN – FILAMENT (CD by Relative Pitch Records) *
MARK VERNON – THE DRAMATURGY OF DECAY (LP by Futura Resistanza) *
NIKA SON – DRIFT (LP by Futura Resistanza) *
DE MOND – GLOW (LP by Futura Resistanza) *
CHANGES TO BLIND – VOLUME EIGHT: BEFORE BIRTH TO EXPIRATION (CDR by The Mucal Studio) *
FAIL – UNFORTUNATE THINGS (3″ CDR by Inner Demons Records) *
RDKPL – HER PES TRINCH (3″ CDR by Inner Demons Records) *
ELI WALLIS – AUTUMN IN THE HOUSE OF USHER (3″ CDR by Inner Demons Records) *
INSANITÉS (cassette compilation by Korm Plastics D)
PHANTOM CHIPS – FARRADS 4 JUPITER (cassette by Artsy Records) *
KRINGLOOP KASSETTES LABEL REVIEW Part 2
RNPNO.2 – IT’S TIME WE TALK ABOUT ALLEVIATION – AGAIN (cassette by Kringloop Kassettes) *
HOWARD SELZER & MODELBAU – WE AGREE (cassette by Kringloop Kassettes) *
DIURNAL BURDENS & OPT OUT – FALSE DEPICTIONS (cassette by Kringloop Kassettes) *
ALLEGRO PREASTAT (USB by Degem)
SETH NEHIL/BRUNO DUPLANT – (ELSE)WHERE (2CD by Auf Abwegen)
JAN VAN HASSELT/CHRISTOPH OGIERMANN – DER BAU (2 cassettes by Auf Abwegen)
The third time Bruno Duplant and Seth Nehil work together, they also involve two photographers, TJ Norris (who contributed to Vital Weekly for a long time) and Harrison Higgs. I had not heard or seen anything from the latter. They worked together in various ways, and inside a carton box, we found ten cards, with ten of each photograph, two CDs and a poem by David Grubbs. The first disc has ten pieces of music, each five minutes, and the second has five pieces, each ten minutes long. While this is their third collaboration, I only heard the second, ‘The Memory Of Things’ (Vital Weekly 1357). They continue the approach of the previous release, which is a lot less drone-like for Duplant and deals with a lot of small sounds. Field recordings are the number one sound source, but occasionally, there are electronic tones, a piano (with even some melodic stuff) or an organ. The whole thing has a somewhat arbitrary feeling of not going anywhere in particular and being in many places simultaneously. I wish there were more organisation here and more guidance on this trip. I don’t have the equipment to play two CDs simultaneously, but playing both will bring exciting results, especially in shuffle mode. I wonder if that is what these two musicians want us to do, but who knows? Randomising some more might be a good thing.
Almost everything about the other new release by Auf Abwegen is in German, even when Jan van Hasselt may have a Dutch (von would be more German than van). The two cassettes are inside a large, heavy carton folder, and there is a book, hardcover but only a few pages (60), with texts in German. My German is pretty good, but what this text is about isn’t easy to say. From the information I understand, this is part of a performance about a giant metallic container called ‘Bau’. It’s a sort of dystopian science fiction thing, and the music is part of the theatre piece. Jan van Hasselt is the author, and Christoph Ogiermann is the musician; this is the first time I have heard his music. One cassette is 30 minutes, and one is 80. Everything is instrumental, but in the download, there are 60 minutes in which the music is re-constructed into a radio play. The whole package is somewhat grey/dark, and the music fits the package. Whatever Ogiermann does, whatever electronic means, the music is quite dark and, at times, pretty noisy. The two pieces on the shorter cassette use various sound materials, some of which could be recorded at a construction site. Ogiermann mixes these with an electronically processed version and applies a cu-up montage method to these pieces. The long cassette has a more single-minded approach to a lot fewer sounds. ‘BAU_das gas macht also_geil_Flächen nach MAIN’ takes a more noisy route and seems to me primarily electronic, perhaps with some modular setup, whereas ‘BAU MUZAK Jan’ is more loop-based (maybe some orchestral sounds) and gradually these loops fall apart, so the piece slowly disintegrates. In the radio play version, one recognises some sounds but now takes on a different shape, sometimes heavily reduced to make space for the spoken word. Some of this seems to be found in spoken word, mixed with texts written for this project. Some of this may be lost on me, but throughout a most enjoyable project, the music works pretty well as a stand-alone thing. (FdW)
––– Address: https://aufabwegen.bandcamp.com/
ERYCK ABECASSIS – É V A P O R A T I O N (CD by Flag Day Recordings)
With spaces and all lowercase, this title; that’s how it appears to be on Bandcamp. ‘é v a p o r a t i o n’ is the sixth solo album by French composer Eryck Abecassis. I know him as a bass player, usually collaborating with others, but on this CD no bass, but “modular synthesisers, guitar, sampled instruments software, Roger Linn linnstrument keyboard, field recordings.” The latter contains recordings from a “train station, streets and beach recordings location: New Delhi, Ahmedabad, Madrid, Héraclée Beach La Croix-Valmer”. Unlike his previous solo work, ‘Siamoises’ (Vital Weekly 1252), which contained shorter pieces, the five pieces on this CD aren’t short; they are between five and eleven minutes and seem to have a somewhat loosely organised character. Maybe such is the nature of working with the instability of modular synthesisers, bleeping away at times, and the other instruments used to bring out some structure here. I like this slightly different take on the whole notion of musique concrète, breaking away from all too rigid structures and approaching it more from an improvisational side. The music is never loud or all too present but rather has a creepy undercurrent, with the intensity of isolated tones. And yet, the music also has a playful character, with some bouncing arpeggios in overdrive, in ‘Morsures Solaires’, or when ‘Yamuna River Variations’ is up to speed. Field recordings aren’t always easy to recognise and I assume they are used to trigger synthesisers, and yet they are not absent either. Abecassis moves cleverly between styles and influences, from cosmic music to musique concrète, with a dash of improvisation and a smear of industrial music; he does a neatly varied job here and yet presents a most coherent album. Maybe at forty minutes a bit too short, as I wouldn’t mind hearing a bit more, but it wasn’t a punishment to play the album again. (FdW)
––– Address: https://flagdayrecordings.bandcamp.com/
RUTGER ZUYDERVELT – KITES (MUSIC FOR A PERFORMANCE BY ROSHANAK MORROWATIAN) (CD by Machinefabriek)
BRUNO DUPLANT & RUTGER ZUYDERVELT – EDGE OF OBLIVION (CD by Machinefabriek)
There was a time when I reviewed new releases by Machinefabriek every week, and there’s a lot less now, even if we consider that some are as Rutger Zuydervelt, the man behind this factory. The reason is that he composes a lot of new music for dance, film and television, and, perhaps, needs to be more relient on putting out CDs. I am guessing, by the way. As the title of his new release is relatively self-explanatory, Music For A Performance By Roshanak Morrowatian, which is called on the cover ‘an interdisciplinary performance’. The music Zuydervelt recorded in 2020-21 (another reason to think he’s not that active with releasing everything immediately). Maybe Zuydervelt toured with this performance, as he sometimes does, but if he did, I missed it. To release this on a CD means that he’s confident that the music stands by itself, and it does. The seven pieces here are what I see as a sample card of Zuydervelt’s various musical interests. Of course, the atmospheric side is well represented here, with looped guitar sounds going all drone, deep, intense and minimal. But as with much of his recent work, there is room for shorter loops, sampled spoken word, and even rhythm, such as in ‘Places’ and ‘Traces’. In ‘Obsolete Veil’, he turns to turntablism. There is quite some variety in these seven pieces and no doubt that has to be with a dance performance, but also as a standalone, it works really well. In the past, Zuydervelt may have been stuck to one concept per release; here, he’s confident to play around with various styles, coming up with a most coherent album as a result.
As Machinefabriek, Zuydervelt recorded a lot of collaborations, and in that respect, he’s much like Bruno Duplant, who is doing the same thing but in more recent years. Also, concerning solo releases, both are very active. For Duplant, it is the second release I have heard of him this week, and it’s pretty different from his work with Seth Nehil. The density I know from his other work, and not as apparent in his work with Nehil, is present here in full force. Who is doing what here? We can safely assume there are a lot of electronics at work, along with some more orchestral sounds, all looped around and arriving in a vast mass of sound. Halfway through this 36-minute work, the synthesiser/organ becomes a solo instrument with individually played notes hanging around in this air of heaviness. Sometimes, the orchestral samples take a shine, and there is a delicate dissonant ring to the music, almost something between a horror soundtrack and a church mass. It could be an atypical work for Zuydervelt (but we can also argue: what would be typical for him, anyway), known for some dense music but on a more abstract level, and on this massive approach and not as orchestral. As always, I am too first to admit that I have no idea if this is true. It ‘just’ sounds more like Duplant. Either way, this is an excellent collaboration of two like-minded busy bees. (FdW)
––– Address: http://machinefabriek.nu
TOMEKA REID/ISIDORA EDWARDS/ELISABETH COUDOUX – REID/EDWARDS/COUDOUX (CD by Relative Pitch Records)
This release is the live recording of a 2021 late summer concert in Marleen im Lili, a cultural space in a shopping centre named after Lili Marleen, a song made famous by Marlene Dietrich. Three accomplished cello players are all searching for a sound from a cello remote from the marvellous Jacqueline du Pré. Still, instead of interpreting the classical cello literature, Reid, Edwards, and Coudoux play free improvisation. The late and great Jaimie Branch -Reid played with Jaimie in Fly or Die- once told me it’s the same: whether you play sheet or improvised music. Certainly with the same vigour and intensity, when written in the sheet music or “found” together -or agreed upon, of course- in the collective improvisation. Because that’s what this is. Four improvised pieces ranging from nearly half an hour to a short and relatively concise piece of seven minutes with many glissandi. These three players create a dense sound world where a lot is happening, but each musician has a place in the stereo image with a tendency to occupy the left side of the stereo image. Percussive sounds, scraping of the bow, and overtones are all permitted to get that cello sound away from the traditional classical bowing. There are fierce parts but also parts with sparser playing. In other words: magnificent music played by magnificent players whose minds and ears are so in tune that they sound as a three-headed Cerberus with the same kind of fearlessness and ferocity, reigned in by the musical intelligence of all three. But let me be clear: these pieces have serene moments and passages. Furthermore, the music couldn’t have sounded so good without the mixing and mastering by Constantin Herzog and Markus Braun, respectively. Put this music on and get your ears blown away, figuratively speaking, of course. I, for one, really hope there’ll be a follow-up. (MDS)
––– Address: https://relativepitchrecords.bandcamp.com/
CATHERINE SIKORA/SUSAN ACORN – FILAMENT (CD by Relative Pitch Records)
Recorded at Zürcher Gallery in New York City, a famous space for both art exhibitions as well as concerts, this is a live recording of a first meeting between Susan Acorn, a well-known pedal steel guitarist and Catherine Sikora, sax player, a new name to me, but on two occasions reviewed here at Vital Weekly. Eric Mingus – yes, son of Charles-, with whom Sikora has a long-standing duo, has mixed the concert. It’s divided into three parts: two long-form improvisations and a shorter one of twelve minutes, in total 65 minutes. Sikora exclusively plays the tenor saxophone here. The combination of tenor sax and pedal steel guitar as a duo is pretty unique, at least in the impro world. The outer-worldliness of the pedal steel guitar in the hands of Alcorn, combined with the grounded and earthy tone of Sikora’s tenor sax, makes for an enjoyable listening session. This is not muzak, but you could put this in the background doing tedious chores. On the other hand, you’d miss the wonderful interplay between the two musicians. Now, there might be some people who find this music dull. Well, for them I’d say stick to what you know. Here’s the result of two musicians who are very capable on their respective instruments making adventurous music where a lot is happening over time with never a dull moment. The excellent mixing helps, of course. This could easily have been a muddy mess.
There’s a sense of uneasiness, not surprising as this was recorded not long after the pandemic. Listen to this and let yourself be surprised and captivated! (MDS)
––– Address: https://relativepitchrecords.bandcamp.com/
MARK VERNON – THE DRAMATURGY OF DECAY (LP by Futura Resistanza)
NIKA SON – DRIFT (LP by Futura Resistanza)
DE MOND – GLOW (LP by Futura Resistanza)
From the highly prolific Futura Resistenza label, at least three new releases, and I started with the known quantity, Mark Vernon. He’s been active in sound installation, radio plays and field recordings for many years, usually with a conceptual, narrative edge. In his latest work, the passing of time, decay and death play a significant role. I got this from the accompanying text (something this label always takes good care of), and he uses found sounds from old answering machines, audio letters, and other finds from the thrift stores he frequently visits. The sounds become part of the music, both processed and unprocessed. Vernon favours the analogue processing methods, but some of the stuff here sounds like digital versions. The opening track, ‘A Wrong Turn Towards Eternity,’ has, for instance, what sounds like time stretching (and yes, slowing down can be done analogue, of course). Many electronic sounds here are drone-like, and Vernon uses a bit of reverb here and there, so the results are a bit more ambient. And then, sometimes, these voices come in, from beyond, far away, from a long time ago, and the music changes towards a radio play, except without too much of a narrative. There is some spoken word here and there, some acoustic sounds, and even at the minimalist level Vernon keeps his music at, the music remains powerful and mysterious. There is even a bit of Dutch singing, ‘Achterhaven Splinters’, and I assume that’s where Vernon found the recording. The music reminds me, at times, of Michael Esposito’s EVP recordings, but now words are easily understood even when the context and meaning are lost. But a similar exhumation of sounds and structures to put these in is what ties these works together. Abstract in all its recognisable ways, that’s Mark Vernon cinema for the ears.
I have not heard of Nika Son before, but she did music for a film of the same name by Helena Wittmann. “Following a weekend at the North Sea, one of Wittmann’s two protagonists embarks on a journey across the Atlantic to the Caribbean, during which unpredictable waves and deep sleep foster a transformative experience”. In her music, water tells the story, and a geographical position indicates the title of each piece. I assume Son made recordings in this position, but maybe not. The first is the ‘day’ side, and the other is ‘night’. On either side, there are also two pieces called ‘Wildness Of Waves’, made for a video installation by Wittmann and Son. These are electronic pieces, and in some ways, these are waves. Interestingly enough, after the first of those two, the piece sees seaside sounds mingling with electronic sounds. The ‘Night’ side starts with ’34°55’35.4”N 36°16’14.3”W’ and here too we find electronic sounds. I admit I am a bit lost (at sea, I could add), but it occured to me this is perhaps part of the ongoing narrative of the movie. The position refers to somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. We find the next one, ’17°01’15.0”N 61°45’41.2”W’ on Antigua. At this point, I gave up thinking about the titles and such because I hadn’t seen the film either, so quickly, there was something lost there, and I could only review one part, which was the record at hand. I love sounds from the sea more than I love the sea, as I like to be at home often. The brutality of the sea I can move in the safe position of a non-rocking chair, and the way this LP is constructed, with pieces of pure field recordings and some using electronics, made me see the album as one long composition, which works rather well—an excellent record, growing every time.
And now for something completely different. De Mond (or DE MOND), a duo of “Stijn Wybouw (also known as Kramp) and Arno de Bock (who provided drums for Hermànn among other projects)” and ‘Glow’ is their debut LP. De Mond is Dutch for the mouth, and vocals play a role, but the music deals, by and large, with drums and electronics. It has that post-punk feeling of experimenting within the context of rock music, but nothing too traditional. There is a booming aspect to the music; a bit free at times, and it has that basement/garage-like type of recording. I admit I found this not an accessible record to digest. Maybe it is a bit too far away from my daily musical intake; perhaps it’s something reminding me of other things from the past, such as PIL (as mentioned by Byron Coley in the press text) circa ‘Flowers Of Romance’, but not as good. What Coley mentions as ‘post-tongue treatments of musique concrète, hewn from non-obvious sources’ is a bit lost. Not a bad record, not at all, but maybe I’m not the right audience for this. (FdW)
––– Address: https://futuraresistenza.bandcamp.com/
CHANGES TO BLIND – VOLUME EIGHT: BEFORE BIRTH TO EXPIRATION (CDR by The Mucal Studio)
While I am unsure, I don’t think I heard of Changes To Blind before. On Bandcamp, I read, “CTb was borne in Syracuse, NY, in the mid-80s. Originally the trio of phil zampino, Mortimer deSquid & Heraldo deSquid, only zampino survives. Wires and boxes were dragged about and throttled, moving to Manhattan in 1992 as improvisation krept into the mix. Now in Wilmington, NC the kurrent state of affairs involves exposition, as CTb airs its dirty underdrawers for the listener’s disdain.” There is also a fair number of releases. Zampino takes credit for “acoustic & synthetic instruments, field recordings & samples”, and for compositions and improvisations. There are also some guests, such as Levi Erik or “910 Noise Members Carl Kruger, Grant Stewart, John Bishop, Authorless, Ryan Lewis”, supplying voices & sounds on one piece. as I don’t know any of the previous work, this first connection is a most pleasing one. I easily see that ‘composition’ and ‘improvisation’ thing; it’s ‘and’ and not ‘or’. Listening to the music, I’d say the Zampino loves to play around with sounds from objects, instruments and field recordings, banging on stuff left and right, but that differs from the result he’s after. He instead takes his music to the computer and finds organisation there. That’s where the compositional element comes in. No matter how hard one bangs on a can, without a composition, it remains banging on a can. It’s easy to see this as part of the musique concrète history at large, and it surely is; I am also thinking about Nurse With Wound and see a connection there. Perhaps a more surrealist approach is the connection here. The eight pieces are pretty playful, with equal portions of ambient and noise, but never too quiet or too loud. Changes To Blind has a refined collage-like approach, with intricate cuts and ones that evolve naturally. Lovely drone-like electronics, bird sounds and acoustic cluttering. This is a great release, providing I have some time, something that needs further exploration. (FdW)
––– Address: https://changestoblind.bandcamp.com/
FAIL – UNFORTUNATE THINGS (3″ CDR by Inner Demons Records)
Fail is the brainchild of the man behind the Inner Demons label, Dan Fox. He is active under a few names, and Fail is his noise outlet. Not that the other monikers aren’t noisy, but this is the most in your face direct play, record, master and release one. In the beginning, each release had titles concerning the date the track was created, but slowly – surely after the multiple additions he gave to the annual Zaftig Research Christmas samplers – his tracks also got titles and a message or concept. At least, I think so.
‘Unfortunate Things’ is a 3″ with two tracks. The 15-minute ‘Tallypractice’ and a 5-minute ‘short one’ entitled ‘Inadequacy’. “Tallypractice” starts with a few samples of words in combination with short erratic sounds. After two minutes, noise gets added to the composition. It’s like he is indeed seeing what happens if sounds are added. And added. And added. It’s not an HNW, as in the exact meaning of the word, because Dan starts filtering the original sounds and makes them part of the end result. This is one beautiful buildup in which Dan shows he knows what he’s doing. The second track, ‘Unadequacy’ And don’t let your autocorrect fail / fool you, it IS a word, has a bit of the same buildup with erratic sounds and a massive tail (a bit like a picture of a really angry kitten I might add) of noise with a very minimal rhythmic structure. Not danceable at all, but enough to scare the Trump voters away. I like! (BW)
––– Address: https://innerdemonsrecords.bandcamp.com/
RDKPL – HER PES TRINCH (3″ CDR by Inner Demons Records)
‘Trinch’ – according to the ever so doubtable internet – means something like cheers. The title should probably be understood as ‘Cheers, you now got herpes’. Yes, this is a noise album. And as I learned from my good friend Hendrik, who got his doctorate in herpes research, Everybody has herpes. It’s one thing you might get, and once it’s in, it’s there for the whole ride. So I’ll never get rid of this 3″ anymore! NEVER! But hey, it’s not a bad thing 😉
RDKPL is, of course, Radek Kopel, a Czech experimental electronic musician from Most and a former member of (amongst others) Eine Stunde Merzbauten and Napalmed. I’ve written about him a few times before in VW, mostly about his Inner Demons releases. He does release way more, though, so if it interests you, there is much more to discover. Two tracks named with dates, October 22nd 2023, index 3 and 4, both 10 minutes in length. From what I’ve learned in the past, Radek creates a setup, and with that setup, he records. However, what his setup is is only sometimes known. But the method invites to create, and he creates a lot. Two hundred fifteen full albums since 2021, according to Discogs. Maybe he is on his way to overthrow Uncle Merzbow from his throne because, let’s face it, Merzbow is on 459 full albums since 1981. Radek releases exponentially more.
The tracks’ compositions should be described as erratic structures. They are momentary recordings in which the instruments are used to give emotion a ‘face’ (read: sound). Not something for everyone, but a welcome soundtrack for a Sunday afternoon when the sun is shining, winter turns to spring, the windows are open, and you want your neighbors to know you’ve survived hibernation.
And give them Herpes 😉 (BW)
––– Address: https://innerdemonsrecords.bandcamp.com/
ELI WALLIS – AUTUMN IN THE HOUSE OF USHER (3″ CDR by Inner Demons Records)
I have no clue who’s behind this project. There are a couple of hits on the name, but as this is a full no-input mixer recording… Just no 100% hit though the Eli Wallis from Vancouver, British Columbia / a poet from Kamloops came closest. And if I’m wrong? Hopefully, someone will correct me through the available channels because it’s always good to learn. ‘Knowledge is the only thing that multiplies if you share it’ was our motto at the chair of education where I worked around Y2K.
The three tracks on this 3″, two three-minute ones and one exactly 14 minutes in length, are all created with an Allen & Heath Zed-10FX mixer fed into itself. So we have a no-input mixer project here, and see more of them in Vital Weekly. The two short tracks, ‘Mirror Says’ and ‘No Sunbeam Ever Lies’, are two layers each, and I notice quite some noise in the recording. No idea where it comes from, but the feedback patterns would sound more open and resonate a bit more when that noise isn’t there. The compression pushes it into the front, which is a shame. Though yes, it’s a matter of opinion.
The title track is created in the same way, but here, four layers are created and recorded while the Melville Webber & James Sibley Watson silent film adaptation is played. This movie ‘envisions the house as a labyrinth of dark rooms looping back into themselves, ghostly recursions adrift with hypnotized inhabitants’ (from the promo text). This movie is available on archive.org, and I’ll include the link at the bottom of the review. It’s a nice combination to try out (I did). So yeah, definitely something to replay in that setting. And proof that without instruments you can also make actual musical stuff. (BW)
––– Address: https://innerdemonsrecords.bandcamp.com/
––– Address: https://archive.org/details/FallOfTheHouseOfUsher1928short
INSANITÉS (cassette compilation by Korm Plastics D)
You may not have heard many people saying, ‘I am proud to be Belgian’ because of the languages dividing the country. Still, if there’s one thing that makes me proud to be from Belgium, it is our vast history in electronic music, which transcends language barriers. New Beat, Front 242, Luc van Acker, The Klinik, Absolute Body Control and, of course, everything around the Insane Music label. I first heard of them when I found a second-hand copy of Human Flesh’s ‘The 35th Human Attempt’ and, later on, CDs by Bene Gesserit. Both these projects involve one man, Alain Neffe, whose musical history includes Pseudo Code and, in the 1970s, Kosmose. A glance at Discogs won’t but amaze you at all the connections his bands/projects had in the 1980s cassette world. I only heard a fraction of his massive output, and, like with many of these prolific artists, the big question is ‘where to start’. A prominent place would be Insane Music’s Bandcamp page, but now ‘Insanités’ is a handy cassette collecting everything in one place.
This cassette was originally released in 1984 as one of the first releases on Korm Plastics. The original came with a fanzine, Archive 2, which was basically a listing of all releases by the various bands, including the most obscure compilation cassettes. Some indeed remain obscure until these days (as in never reissued, or a reissue also faded into obscurity). Then there are Neffe’s well-known bands, Human Flesh, Bene Gesserit and Pseudo Code, next to something called ‘Japanese Genius’, the surprisingly poppy ‘Subject’, and the synth-heavy ‘I Scream’. The only exception is MAL, which isn’t Neffe but a close friend – part of the family, so to speak. Much of the music is instrumental and tends to go for the electronic instruments. However, vocals play a role in the three primary projects, and a saxophone is always close. While ‘Subject’ may be very poppy, the whole cassette is relatively ‘light’ and, in some ways, easily accessible for the faint of heart. It doesn’t have the grim character of some of the other Belgium synth dwellers, and only the short collage by I Scream, and the poetry by Cortex is a bit darker, next to the manic screaming of Pseudo Code’s ‘No More’. Perhaps this is not all as insane as the title suggests. Best song title: ‘Saxual Intercourse’ by Human Flesh. If you are looking for a way into this particular world, this is your door to open. (LW)
––– Address: https://kormplasticsd.bandcamp.com/album/insanit-s
––– Address: https://alainneffe.bandcamp.com/music
PHANTOM CHIPS – FARRADS 4 JUPITER (cassette by Artsy Records)
Tara Pattenden is a Meanjin-based artist behind Phantom Chips. She was also a member of Kunt, Monster Zoku Onsomb, BodyVice, the FCKN BSTRDS, Goodiepal, and Pals. If you think ‘noise’, then you’re almost but not quite there. She has fourteen tracks on this cassette, which lasts about thirty minutes. According to the information, she uses “wearable synthesisers that control sound through squeezing and stretching”. Check YouTube to see what that looks like; it’s pretty amazing. She also uses some small synthesisers and sound effects, and in these fourteen pieces, she’s all over the place. Maybe too much, me think. It was a noisy outburst I could live without, but otherwise, her circuit bending-like sound works very well. She has a mildly punky approach to sound. Things are short and to the point, and the top is also a bit brutal. Brutal, but not necessarily as in ‘noisy’ cruel, but as in straight forward committed to tape, with few edits, layering, and other studio tricks. In that respect, it is funny to read, “The aim of the release was to construct something recorded rather than to release a live recording. The process involved playing with the algorithms and generative elements to create randomness and responses.” So, alright, I may perceive things differently. I enjoy the more structured pieces, indeed, best, even when randomness never appears to be off the radar—strange release, much like the music itself, bouncing all over the place. If you are into everything electro and modules are too fancy, you should check this out. (FdW)
––– Address: https://artsyrecords.bandcamp.com/
KRINGLOOP KASSETTES LABEL REVIEW Part 2
These first words are just a small recap of what I wrote two weeks ago. In other words, the same message. Kringloop Kassettes is Frans de Waard’s latest project, and it’s already a success because, well… All hard copies of all releases so far are already sold out. They’re still digitally available, and I advise you to take a look on Bandcamp if (when) you feel the urge.
A bit about the background: Kringloop Kassettes is a limited edition cassette label. Everything in editions of 26, lettered from A to Z. As for now, there are six releases, of which I reviewed three two weeks ago and three this week. All cassettes originated from a thrift shop and have been reused as much as possible in their original form. So, stickers and labels are left intentionally to make it all look used. Kringloop is Dutch for Recycle and Loop in relation to cassettes; well, I’ll shut up.
The artwork is entirely in sync with the idea with the recycling idea. Recycled paper and the use of rubber stamps and as you can expect, not all releases do look the same. This is beautiful and something Frans has practised with more often about his Modelbau project. Let’s continue the journey. (BW)
––– Address: https://kringloopkassettes.bandcamp.com/
RNPNO.2 – IT’S TIME WE TALK ABOUT ALLEVIATION – AGAIN (cassette by Kringloop Kassettes)
So, RNPno.2 is already the fourth cassette on this little label, and I’m going to start with the truth: no label can release only good stuff. Or no, no single label will release only stuff that will fit the taste of one person – maybe other than the label owner. Having said that, This release is not ‘my thing’, so this review will sound a bit more abstract and distant than I mostly write my reviews. Which isn’t bad, but it was only fair to say it in advance.
RNPno.2 has been reviewed two times earlier in Vital Weekly (1201 and 1152), and there was no additional info on who’s behind the project. This time is no different; he / she / they are an enigma. The alleviation one is the only title in this release. Two sides of 45 minutes filled with sounds. It’s a bit of a tape recorder in a practice space/studio. It’s jamming, freaking, hustling, and playing around … Some sounds, in the beginning, hint a bit towards a Fluxus/ drone tapestry. Still, when the guitars and drums kick in, it’s closer to the Lofi rock improvisations Frans spoke about in Vital 1152.
And that’s the whole thing for about 90 minutes and yes, there are absolutely a few very nice moments on there, but I’m always looking for a coherency between the parts: Call it a concept. As far as concepts go, for me personally, this is just a few people locked into a room with too much time and too much equipment. Is it good? I don’t know. Is it bad? I don’t know. I just don’t know … And maybe that’s the concept behind it. Sow confusion to create chaos so any pattern will mean a form of alleviation … (BW)
––– Address: https://kringloopkassettes.bandcamp.com/album/its-time-we-talk-about-alleviation-again
HOWARD STELZER & MODELBAU – WE AGREE (cassette by Kringloop Kassettes)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, we all know Howard and Frans, and we all know that I love their stuff. At least I got into Modelbau when I started writing for Vital Weekly. As a music admirer, you can only get so much music as you have a budget to spend, and as a reviewer, you get your hands on simply much more music than you would buy as a ‘normal’ person. So before ‘My Vital Years’ I heard a bit of Modelbau but I’ve gotten my hands and ears on much more material after I started my job here. And I must admit, I like it a lot as you can read in the archives. However, I only heard a few releases from Howard before I got into contact with him through the obvious route of mutual friends. I’m still not entirely sure what his sounds do to me or how I have to interpret them. But having said that, that is also a good thing. Because it leaves space and time to let it all grow a bit.
Here is a collaboration between Howard and Frans. And without too much surprise, I can only say it’s two wonderful pieces. The basic style on both tracks is obvious. Nice drones / lofi ambient with an edgey approach where it’s needed. Side A is already very puzzling to me. The sounds can be anything; I wonder if it’s a synth or a field recording of seagulls chasing a school of fish. The composition is dynamic and goes from intrusive towards fully ambient, From descriptive to emotional, and maybe even from Howard to Frans.
The second side opens with a somewhat grainy sound; it ever so slowly fades into a really unique ambient structure—lots and lots of minimal movements and unsettling frequencies in the higher and lower regions. With your eyes closed you even can see yourself standing on the rocks of the New England coast, looking over the ocean … A beautiful journey … I Wouldn’t mind hearing more of the duo. And yes, they agree, but do we agree too? (BW)
––– Address: https://kringloopkassettes.bandcamp.com/album/we-agree
DIURNAL BURDENS & OPT OUT – FALSE DEPICTIONS (cassette by Kringloop Kassettes)
And so, this is the sixth and final in the series after a journey through the whole set of k-sets (I know, I’ll stay away from trying to be funny from now on). For now. And my oh my, did Frans leave some treats to close this project. For now. Unknown names for me, so exploration time. Diurnal Burdens is Ross Scott-Buccleuch, who runs the Steep Gloss tape label. As said, this was the first I had heard of his name or activities besides the occasional words in Vital. But FdW mostly snatches the releases before I ever get a chance. Opt-Out is the output from James Wilson, and he’s a tape label owner, too; He runs the UK-based Moonside Tapes. We can start by saying that both artists know and respect the tape as a medium with all its quirks and limitations, as well as its power and possibilities.
We can find ten tracks in between 2 and 15 minutes and a total playing time of 73 minutes on ‘False Depictions’. I have no clue who does what, and – as opposed to what I have seen in other reviews – there is no list of the used equipment. The style of music should probably be labelled somewhere in the drone and Lofi ambient region with a bit of soundscape: delicious tapestries, hardly any intrusive sounds, and lots of reverb over harmonic layers, creating magnificent modulation patterns. The shorter tracks are more of a recording of ideas or experiments, but they don’t last long enough to tell a complete story. As opposed to the longer ones like “Mirage Cupola” and “Flowers That Cut The Heart” that has way more of a beginning / middle piece and end. But while writing this, the longest one, “Meditation on Borobudur Terrace”, has less of a story and really creates a meditative moment (read: hypnotizing atmosphere).
‘False Depictions’ is a great release. It’s one of those tapes for which you are okay with having a deck with auto-reverse and auto-replay. We’ll wake you up tomorrow. Sweet dreams. (BW)
––– Address: https://kringloopkassettes.bandcamp.com/album/false-depictions