Week 32
M.B. & SONOLOGYST – FORME (CD by Unexplained Sounds Group) *
KHOST – MANY THINGS AFFLICT US FEW THINGS CONSOLE US (CD by Cold Spring) *
ONCEIM – LAMINAIRE (CD by Relative Pitch Records) *
MOZO MOZO – MASCHINE (CD by Klang Galerie) *
HUBBUB – ABB ABB ABB (CD by Relative Pitch Records) *
DANIELA FROMBERG & STEFAN ROIGK – JENSEITS DER WAND (CD by Fragment Factory) *
NEGAPADRES.3.3. – BINCHE (CD by Klang Galerie) *
PJS – FLORA (CD by Dronarivm) *
MYLAN HOEZEN – SUNKISSED (CD by Futura Resistenza)
MATT LUCZAK – SONY GUTS (CDR by Love Earth Music) *
GOD PUSSY – TRILOGIA DO TERCEIRO MUNDO (3CDR by Love Earth Music) *
HET ZWEET – FORCED RUN (cassette by Staalplaat) *
HET ZWEET – FASE (cassette by Staalplaat) *
HET ZWEET – MASSIVE TRANCE (cassette by Staalplaat) *
HET ZWEET – ZWEEPSLAG (cassette by Staalplaat) *
STRANGE FOG/NET – LIGHTHOUSE SONG/WERRIT MIRE (split cassette by Bivalve) *
WAPSTAN – COMME UN CENTAURE PRIS DANS LA GLACE... (cassette by Brise-Cul Records) *
DISENSEMBLE/EN FER (cassette, private) *
AGOGOL – BUH [OXO] (cassette, private) *
M.B. & SONOLOGYST – FORME (CD by Unexplained Sounds Group)
Does Maurizio Bianchi need an introduction? I hope this name is familiar, playing unsettling electronic music since the late 1970s. Raffaele Pezzella is from the next generation of likewise unsettling electronic musicians and works as Sonologyst. His work was also reviewed a lot. The two of them would one day work together, and it’s perhaps a mystery why this didn’t happen sooner. Whereas Bianchi’s influences may lie in very early industrial music and musique concrète, without any specific names, for Pezzella, it’s a lot more, Brian Eno, Pauline Oliveros, Terry Riley, Jon Hassel and, no surprise, Bianchi, besides influences from films books, philosophy (hauntology, nihilism), and science (particle physics). The cover mentions Bianchi using “digitized equipment mixed with outdoor soundscapes” and Sonologyst working with analogue synths, processing and sampling, along with mix intersections, whatever that is. The cover quotes Bianchi saying, and I assume this is about the title, “In music, the definition of “form” describes a musical structure in two or more sections, with various characteristics in the articulation, melody, and rhythm of a composition. But when it intersects with experimentation, the form takes on a more autonomous and uncompromising characteristic, so that a connotation of such research is the meeting between tradition and innovation. This is intended to be “Forme,” a work pervaded by investigative exploration of the unknown electro-modulatory. And the user of such emotional torrentiality will be able to receive an existential fulfillment that leads to formal irrationality”, which is, I guess to say there isn’t much form here, but more of a flow of sounds, electronic in nature, as I didn’t hear any “outdoor soundscapes”. Maybe they are worked over a lot of times and are there, heavily disguised. I know there’s always heavy debate if the current M.B. is as good as the old one (there was a long hiatus, and after his come-back, his music changed quite a bit), but I find such playground discussions. One should see such things as part of building and developing a career. His music isn’t as industrial as it once was, and quite rightfully so. The music is still quite dark and ominous, sharpish and pleasantly dystopian. Who does what on these seven tracks is unclear and hardly necessary. Whatever they do, it all blends well. There is a consistent flow in these pieces, rather than tight composing, almost as if mistakes were left in, creating odd shifts. Maybe I read too much into it, and is all of this carefully planned? I love this sort of rusty spaceship accident waiting to happen soundtrack; the leaky nuclear reactor minutes before combustion and we feel the burn slowly arriving. Enough metaphors to describe the music, and I am sure you’ll get my drift. Bianchi, in particular, produced a massive catalogue in his 40-plus career, and pinpointing the masterpieces was not easy. I couldn’t say if this is one of those, partly because I haven’t heard all of his output. I can say I enjoyed this one a lot! (FdW)
––– Address: https://unexplainedsoundsgroup.bandcamp.com/
KHOST – MANY THINGS AFFLICT US FEW THINGS CONSOLE US (CD by Cold Spring)
khost (as they prefer it to be written) hails from Birmingham, and “Many Things Afflict Us Few Things Console Us” is their fifth album on Cold Spring, according to Discogs. Their mixture of doom metal and industrial has opened some tight doors already through which they could share the stage with bands like Godflesh, JK Flesh, Con-Dom, Anaal Nathrakh and others. Most of them I know or have seen at some point, so before listening to the new khost album, I was adequately prepared for what I was about to hear. I thought…
A short and heavy noise piece entitled “Shard” opens, and then it really starts. ‘The Fifth Book of Agrippa’ will appeal to old-school metalheads (like me) by reminding them to play their mid-90s My Dying Bride catalogue again. And while the next song kinda underlines it, listening to “Face” opens a whole different side from the metal scene. A bit like maybe Fear Factory or Prong atmosphere and it is at this moment you realize that khost is not just another average metal band.
In almost 70 minutes, divided over 18 tracks, they show humanity how it’s done, With some extra input provided by Terence Hannum of Locrian, Jo Quail and Manual Liebeskind. Granted, there are a few interludes of under a minute and a few longer tracks like the previously mentioned “Fifth Book of Agrippa” and the nine-minute drone doom epos “Define the Edge of Someone”. And “TVSB” which is like … ambient metal? … Guys? … What the fuck are you doing here? You’re mixing unfixable things, and it sounds fantastic!
I have to think of mayonnaise; Oil, egg, mustard and vinegar don’t mix naturally, but if you use enough force, you create an emulsion with a truly fantastic taste. That, my fellow drooges, is khost for you. Their music is the emulsion with so much quality you can use it at almost any meal. And if you don’t mind a slight heaviness in your guitar, khost will just as well fit any musical taste ranging from industrial to noise to metal to … Try it! (BW)
––– Address: https://coldspring.co.uk/
ONCEIM – LAMINAIRE (CD by Relative Pitch Records)
What Hubbub is for five musicians, is Onceime for a whole orchestra. Started by Frédéric Blondy in 2011 and now consists of 35 musicians. Blondy is acting as an artistic director rather than a pianist in the orchestra. I quote from their website: “The concerts that have come out of collective Onceim work sessions and residences have been brought together in a collection entitled Laminaire, which, while of great complexity and quality of writing, retains the force and intensity specific to improvisation. We thus speak of laminar flow, which in physical terms concerns the process whereby layers of fluid slide on top of each other. The sound layers form a whole and are visible simultaneously. Although the music is played in real-time and is improvised, the free collective creations tend towards a form of writing. From orchestral polyphonic writing to the development of various types of matter and texture, the Onceim improvisers know how to breathe life into the different horizons offered in the form of a collective imagination in perpetual mutation. Each musician in their individuality, and by listening to each of the others, puts themselves at the service of the collective, together producing this group work so dear to Onceim.” What we get is three lengthy performances: ‘Gorges Gard’, almost fifty minutes, ‘A la Muse’, almost ten minutes and Laminaire #12 (sixteen minutes). Because of the nature of the orchestra, thirty more than Hubbub, a lot more is happening, but at the same time, there are a lot more extended notes because there are more musicians who can take turns by entering the timbre (stagger breathing is the term). Again, mesmerizing music with a lot of different timbres over time. Excellent music on this one. And again, not everybody’s cup of tea. May I have another cup, no milk, no sugar? (MDS)
––– Address: https://relativepitchrecords.bandcamp.com/
MOZO MOZO – MASCHINE (CD by Klang Galerie)
Second release by this Austrian quartet. Iggi D’Agostino (bass), Toyboy28 (drums) potzblitz!brak (guitar) and Sir Sax-a-lot (saxophone), all pseudonyms/instagram and or youtubehandles of Michael Masen (sax), Felix Linhart (guitar) Christoph Kirmaier (bass, FX) and Lukas Wöber (drums), combine free jazz with the heavier side of rock, even heavy metal. It’s a fun ride with lots of layers, changes, colours and colour changes. Ten pieces, shorter interludes that are a bit quieter but with a lot of tension in them. Circus Mozzimus is a noise fest lasting four and a half minutes that takes us directly into what these four musicians are up to. Sometimes there’s a bit of layering of sounds: the aptly named Transcendental Time layers for example in which the saxophone gets a nice reverb treatment. If anything : this should be played loud. I’m guessing the impact is maximized when you see these guys live in a small dark venue. Oi! By the way: for me the music works best when the saxophone is a bit more integrated in the overall sound. That’s the case in the longer pieces. But that’s purely a personal preference. Definitely not Manonfriendly music. But I like it a lot ! Closer Seelenreise is just that : a perfect soundtrack for the cenobites from Clive Barker’s Hellraiser while ripping you to pieces or your soul (Seele is German for soul) on its way through a magic theatre not unlike the one in Herman Hesse’s Steppenwolf. (MDS)
––– Address: https://klanggalerie.com
HUBBUB – ABB ABB ABB (CD by Relative Pitch Records)
Another beast entirely is ABB ABB ABB by Hubbub, a French ensemble founded in 1999. The members are Frédéric Blondy (piano), Bertrand Denzler (tenor saxophone), Jean-Luc Guionnet (alto saxophone), Jean-Sébastien Mariage (electric guitar) and Edward Perraud (percussion). Spectra;l music meets electro-acoustic sensibilities in a hyper-dense form. Or rather, a hyper-time-stretched form. Two long pieces, one almost forty minutes long, the other one half of that. This is mesmerizing music to me. Some might find it dull. I invite them to open their ears. A lot is happening here. They whip up a sound world with great precision. All kinds of timbres, longer repeated figures, pointillistic stabs of sound, sudden beats on the bass drum. And I keep it short: the musicianship is superb. This is their sixth release, excluding a DVD. Kudos to Relative Pitch Records to put this out there. Hubbub deserves a broad audience. (MDS)
––– Address: https://relativepitchrecords.bandcamp.com/
DANIELA FROMBERG & STEFAN ROIGK – JENSEITS DER WAND (CD by Fragment Factory)
‘Jenseits der Wand’ is the second album I review by the duo of Daniela Fromberg and Stefan Roigk, following ‘Unfamiliar Home’ (Vital Weekly 1333). That album dealt with sounds recorded during the renovation of the house they lived in and which they used in a sound installation. This new album has sounds from two “walk-in sound installations”, realised in 2021 and 2022. The first is a “site-specific sound installation for a recycling container”, and the other is a “concert for two performers, objects and large listening booths made of cardboard”. The third (title) piece is a “mixed-media sound installation”. These are pretty exciting pieces as the two booklets detail some more and how they, for instance, used sound transducers placed on the walls of the container, “reproducing metallic scraping, squeaking, and reverberant sounds recorded on the surface itself”. It is a fascinating read, and while I still have no idea what it means, its music sounds inspiring. The low metallic rumble, some rattles, and scraping of objects are unknown. It also includes two large assemblages from polystyrene waste. In the cardboard piece, they play large boxes with bottle brushes, dish scrubbers, cardboard tubes and so on, but also a “polyrhythmic crawling motor”, which makes the whole assemblage shake and rattle, certainly towards the end. This piece may sound very much like a work of electro-acoustic improvisation and sounds excellent. The final piece is all about sounds we can only hear and not see because they are behind a wall. This is the most obscure-sounding piece, broken up into a few fragments. Here, too, the music has that acoustic object-based improvisation quality, which I find fascinating, even quite clueless about what happens. As an art installation, it is undoubtedly very captivating but cut away from anything to look at; it is still a great musical work. (FdW)
––– Address: https://fragmentfactory.bandcamp.com/
NEGAPADRES.3.3. – BINCHE (CD by Klang Galerie)
à;GRUMH… is one of the band names I used to see popping up from time to time, but I have yet to hear their music. They were a duo from Belgium, consisting of Phillippe Genion (aka SΔ3 Evets) and Jacques Meurrens (aka JΔ3 Seuqcaj) and existed from 1981 to 1991. They played EBM/industrial music, assuming it was not industrial music that interested me in the 1980s. In 1987, they also released an album as nEGAPADRES.3.3. after 2000, this became the name of their follow-up band. By now, Binche is their fifth album, and it has guests John Ellis, erstwhile guitarist of The Vibrators, and later guitar slinger for Peter Gabriel, Peter Hammil and The Stranglers. Other guests are Jean-Marc Lederman and the late Micky Mike. I had no idea what to expect, especially after reading about the album’s theme being “the music from The Gilles, a type of folklore figure in the region of Binche and La Louvière, Western Wallonia, the French-speaking part of Belgium. It all goes on from a month before Mardi Gras until Easter in every little town in that area. The Gilles have a very coloured costume stuffed with hay, bells, wooden shoes, masks, and giant hats with ostrich feathers; they walk in groups and dance around and throw oranges to the audience. They are always accompanied by marching bands based on drums and horns, very loud and often drunk.” The music was recorded on an old computer “based on samples, recordings and generated sounds and instruments”. This album could still swing in many ways, as I am unfamiliar with this folklore. Maybe the two musicians taped some field recordings from this area and swung that into the music, as there is undoubtedly some drunkenness about the music. Here, we have, at times, something that I would call industrial music and in no way EBM, relying heavily on sample/tape manipulation, thrown across the board without seemingly much relation to each other—the sounds of a drill, fanfare, shouting, life inside a factory and all such madness. Eleven pieces are on this CD, and not one seems to have much head or tail. It took me a while to get into this, only from a purely entertainment level, as I believe after repeated playing, I still don’t grasp the ideas behind this. As I noted on numerous occasions before, I think it’s not always a necessity to grasp the finer points (and I am the first to admit there may not be any) behind all of it; the coherent idea of being locked up in the maelstrom of sounds is quite detailed. The curious ‘Waudraz’ is an odd example of plunderphonics, perhaps a bit out of place, but also something that didn’t come without surprise. It is a most curious but excellently strange release. (FdW)
––– Address: https://klanggalerie.com/
PJS – FLORA (CD by Dronarivm)
From the duo PJS, I reviewed two works before, both on cassette (Vital Weekly 1230 and 1326). PJS are Patrick Dique and Jordan Christoff, and this time, they tell the listener, “all music recorded live without computer sounds or screens” (see my remark elsewhere about Queen and Brume as I am not repeating it here, but I add here: why mention what isn’t used, and not what is?). There is, on Bandcamp, also a quote by or from Hildegard von Bingen, the mediaeval mystic, who also composed music in a monophonic style. I wonder if PJS takes that notion from her here or her devotion to beauty and love as quoted. It could be either, or so I thought while playing this album (although Von Bingen was also a botanist, perhaps there is something of that, too). From their previous works, I know that PJS is a duo that loves ambient music. Music of slow movements, very cosmic, very dreamy and touching carefully upon the grounds of new age music, something not uncommon with releases on this label, but PJS stays firmly inside the ambient world, with some darker undercurrents. They used field recordings in their previous works, but none is the case here. Just very sparse synthesiser doodling, slow, near-standstill arpeggios and nothing more. Music to wake up to, opening your doors and letting the sunshine in, the dawn of a new day, as opposed to the kind of ambient music that is dark and ominous, the end of the day soundtrack. If you get my drift. I played this CD at least five or six times before writing about it, even if I wanted to. As I was listening to this, I was also engaged in cleaning up the floor because I will be away for some time (and thinking: why do I clean up? I am going to be away, anyway) and doing some other chores, and the music was there, not being all too present, but also not too much aural wallpaper, and each time I couldn’t concentrate on what I was hearing. Only when I sat down and actively listened to the music could I think of the words for it. (FdW)
––– Address: https://dronarivm.bandcamp.com
MYLAN HOEZEN – SUNKISSED (CD by Futura Resistenza)
While I didn’t review Mylan Hoezen’s ‘Operating Manual For Floating In Space’ (see Vital Weekly 1244), I heard and liked that record. That record was the soundtrack for a performance by Lili Ullrich, Ratri Notosudirdjo, Noëlle Lakshmi and Alex Chater, with Bergur Thomas Anderson doing the musical direction. Even when the performance element was missing from the music, it came across as the most interesting piece of modern classical music, shouting and lovely drones. Now there’s a new album, with music from the second act of ‘Sunkissed’. This performance “aims to evoke the experience of proximity to the sun—a dual force that can be soothing one moment and hazardous the next. Sunkiss embodies this duality, where the sun’s radiant energy sustains life’s flourishing while also capable of devastating destruction. To be kissed by the sun signifies both blessing and curse, illuminating the fragile balance between vitality and peril that defines life on Earth”. I have no idea what kind of sound is in the other parts of this performance. Still, here we have “vocal sounds and interactions with glass, plaster, and latex”, performed by Emirhakin, Negiste Yesside Johnson, Ratri Notosudirdjo, and Mylan Hoezen. It has to do with the post-COVID world picking up speed again, and that sound comes from the shepherd tones that are also part of the music. And Shepard tones may always seem to pick up speed, but they never end, adding a creepy texture to the music. Also, this becomes an extraordinary musical piece with what appears to be random voice material, shouting, or such. The total length is 56 minutes, and this piece has slow development. The Shepard tone seems to stay there throughout, but other elements change: a different kind of voice handling, other electronics and, in general, without seeing anything, it all becomes difficult here. I am reminded of Cornelius Cardew’s ‘The Great Learning’, mainly how voices are used in this piece, and not so much the music, which has a strange urgency. Overall, it was a pretty tiring piece of music, but I found it most enjoyable. I have no clue what I hear, and that’s the most fascinating thing about it. (FdW)
––– Address: https://futuraresistenza.bandcamp.com/
MATT LUCZAK – SONY GUTS (CDR by Love Earth Music)
On the front cover is a picture of what seems to be a tape recorder showing its insides. The reverse side shows a Sony mixer with ‘spaghetti’ made of cables. I expect this album to provide proof that you don’t always have to use equipment how it is supposed to be treated. In other words, There is a good chance we will find some noise here… And yes, I am right! Oh, beautiful, noisy musicians of the world, keep this stuff coming!
‘Sony Guts’ is the newest release by Matt Luczak from New York, and I can’t tell you what or how much he has released so far because Bandcamp and Discogs mention entirely different numbers, and I don’t really have much to go from. Nowadays is normal, unlike when musicians were all about creating websites with complete and correct info. The internet ruined it partially because, at some point, everybody was overdosing on info, leaving it hard to differentiate between truth and lies. But that’s a whole different discussion: I’ll make peace in not knowing everything now.
What I do know is that this album has four tracks about ten minutes long, and it’s completely fucked up in a few ways. First of all, many cut-up techniques are being used, making it at moments so hectic you don’t know where to look. Especially with the vocal stuff on “TC-200”, there is so much happening. Layer upon layer of incomprehensible stuttering. Nice! ‘Wow and Flutter’ seems to have a bit more loops on the lower end, creating a sort of drone layer, but here, too, the vocals fuck things up severely.
‘Return to Unit'” is the most easy-listening track of the bunch. An orchestral sample creates a ‘sacred’ atmosphere, and from that moment on, there is a lot of – hell, I’m gonna invent some new words here – micro sampling noise terror done in higher frequency layers. Just listen, and you’ll know what I mean. Because of this, the second half of that track has just about zero sacredness left. Significant buildup here and a gorgeous track to finish this album with. A new name to keep track of, courtesy of the high output of Uncle Steve Davis from Love Earth Music! (BW)
––– Address: http://www.loveearthmusic.com/
––– Address: https://mattluczak.bandcamp.com/
GOD PUSSY – TRILOGIA DO TERCEIRO MUNDO (3CDR by Love Earth Music)
‘Trilogy of the Third World’ is (freely translated) the title of this triple treat of Brazilian noisician God Pussy. This is the first time I hear of him even though he has already been active for about 15 years. Loads and loads of releases all over the place and splits with many known and lesser-known artists. A few of those known ones include Ego God, Napalmed, Armenia, Torturing Nurse, Richard Ramirez, Incapacitants, Macronympha, Eine Stunned Merzbauten, Government Alpha, Knurl and GX Jupitter-Larsen. So Jhones Silva – God’s real name – earned his spot in the world of noise.
The first CD is titled “Governocídio” and was previously released in 2013. This album contains sixty-one tracks, of which fifty-nine are under a minute. Short explosions of noise or micro compositions with different titles, but my Portuguese is not of the nature that I can translate everything. Though ‘Police Satanica’, ‘Crise Economic’ and ‘Falsos Profeta’ might give a direction, you all have a fantasy and some logic to translate those yourselves. Compared with that first release, there is one extra ten-noise escapade called ‘Contundência Negra’.
The second CDR is ‘Retratando A Realidade Bélica’ which was released in 2016 as true 100% DIY in 20 copies in a plastic bag with a xeroxed magazine. The 15 tracks of the original release are again on this album with a bonus track. Musicwise, I hear a little difference between the two albums, but that might be the three-year gap between the recordings, or maybe it’s all just part of the artistic evolution of the artist. There is only one track under a minute, so Jhones is more dedicated to the actual moment’s flow (and message), in contradiction to putting as much energy and chaos in the shortest possible creation. Because of that, the tracks on ‘Retratando A Realidade Bélica’ sound way more mature. Furthermore, the balance here is better than on ‘Governocídio’. That might be because this is mastered for cassette, as you want those basses to saturate on that medium. But I can only guess.
The trilogy’s final part is ‘Não Vamos Dar A Outra Face’ (tr: let’s not turn the other cheek). Self-released initially on CDR in 2018 and now available on Love Earth Music for a hopefully larger audience. Because God Pussy deserves it. What I wrote for the previous CDR actually continues here. There are way more extremes in frequency and the balance of the compositions. And because of that, this trilogy is not only a great release to listen to, but it’s also an excellent document on how God Pussy developed as an artist over the years. It has a solid composition with lots of stuff happening, and even in its harsh noise approach and erratic behaviour, there are moments of rest, even if they are very scarce.
It was an excellent first encounter with one of Brazil’s finest. (BW)
––– Address: http://www.loveearthmusic.com/
––– Address: https://godpussy.bandcamp.com/
HET ZWEET – FORCED RUN (cassette by Staalplaat)
HET ZWEET – FASE (cassette by Staalplaat)
HET ZWEET – MASSIVE TRANCE (cassette by Staalplaat)
HET ZWEET – ZWEEPSLAG (cassette by Staalplaat)
With the release of ‘Zweepslag’ and ‘Massive Trance’, Staalplaat completes a four-part series of re-issues of Het Zweet. Two are older, but I will review them anyway. Het Zweet was Marien van Oers, active for a few years in the early 1980s and then moved away to pursue other music until he died in 2013. I mentioned before it’s good to see all this renewed interest; Staalplaat also released a 2LP set (Vital Weekly 1343), EE Tapes a live CD (Vital Weekly 1409) and Modal Analysis also a 2LP set (not reviewed). These four cassettes are re-issues from cassettes as they were released back then, the first two by Staalplaat and the other two by Van Oers, and we follow his rapid development as a musician. His story started with Forced Run, a duo of Van Oers and Eric Haamers, and the recordings are from 1982/83. The Forced Run cassette shares the credit with Het Zweet, and I do not know if there is any divide. The duo was unmistakenly more punk-oriented and, with that, more song-based. However, rhythm already plays a significant role in their music, and they’re using non-traditional elements as percussion, mostly from metal. They add a bass guitar, a drum machine, and rudimentary synthesiser sounds, and the singing is very much the sort of post-punk-laden paranoia and aggression. The length of the pieces isn’t always punk-like, as pieces can run up to five minutes. Throbbing Gristle, Cabaret Voltaire, and SPK also inspired these early recordings, even when Forced Run used a more basic setup.
As said, out of Forced Run quickly morphed Het Zweet as a solo project, and Van Oers worked with instruments he built, along with tape loops and maybe some electronics. I am curious to know if that’s the case for both. The original cover already mentions he will have a release on Bourbonese Qualk’s Recloose label, which never happened (eventually, Dossier Records released an LP in 1987). As with the previous release, none of the pieces have a title, and as such, both cassettes are to be seen as a work in progress. Already on this cassette, we find all the elements that make Het Zweet what it is. The tribal-inspired drumming is minimal, and there is no drum head in sight. For what it’s worth, Discogs mentions, “shopping trolleys amplified with pickups, blown cardboard tubes, etc.”, which they exceptionally might be. As I noted before, the metallic aspect of the music may remind us of Test Dept and Einsturzende Neubauten. Still, the minimalist, percussive treatment of any object is more akin to the work of Z’EV and when he adds voices, also a bit like 23 Skidoo, but without the overtly funk influences. ‘Fase’ is a rather short cassette and shows a phase in his development—a crucial phase, leaving behind the punky aggression and developing something of a unique voice.
The next release is all about trance, massive trance as such. ‘Massive Trance’ was the title of a percussive performance in which he played a 30-minute tape with an ongoing rhythm to which rhythms were added. Live Van Oers also added voices, a string instrument, slides, and 8mm film, again something much of the day. For the re-issue, it was decided only one side of the original release made the point very clear, and the second side sees six tracks from a highly obscure cassette by Het Zweet for the UK label Stride; for me, this is the first time I heard this, but it’s a bit of a letdown, as I recognise most of these from compilations, two of which I released at the time. ‘Massive Trance’ remains robust and is best played at loud volume to induce that trance state. The music is a very organic mass of sound, going slowly through a set of sounds while maintaining the same basic rhythm. This is undoubtedly a military marching element, but I’m sure that’s not the idea here. The six pieces, on the other hand, are shorter minimalist excursions in rhythm, voices, and minimalism, very much along the lines of the piece of ‘Fase’, even when he uses more electronics here as in more delay, which adds to the organic side of it all.
Organic is also the word that applies to the last of the four cassettes, ‘Zweepslag’, which translates to ‘whiplash’. I am sure Van Oers used this without the sexual meaning. In each of the four pieces, he takes his time to explore the minimalist path. With tape loops here and perhaps the digital delay pedal by Boss, more work is needed, allowing a ‘sample and hold’ function. Het Zweet moves into something more ritualistic and different from a rhythmical perspective. That side can also be the looped sounds and voices Van Oers uses. Each of the four pieces uses a variety of loops and rhythms played by Van Oers. A lot is happening in each, as there’s more depth to the music, as if Van Oers had access to a bigger studio. But, it might still be a clever preparation of tapes and mixing of these live in the studio, with eventually live percussion. Drumming has sometimes become a bit more industrial, such as in ‘Indus’ or ‘Slindus’. In all four, the balance between trance and minimalism works very well. The length of the pieces is great, and there is the proper amount of variation in each.
These four cassettes by Het Zweet are, cover-wise, an excellent collection and showcasing Van Oer’s rapid development in the world of trance-inducing rhythm and noise; well, a bit of noise. (FdW)
––– Address: https://hetzweet.bandcamp.com/
STRANGE FOG/NET – LIGHTHOUSE SONG/WERRIT MIRE (split cassette by Bivalve)
From the Finnish label producing split cassettes in lightweight card packaging comes a new one, and it’s the two-fold introduction of Strange Fog and Net. The label picks these musicians because there is a musical connection. Behind Net, we find Edward Trethowan, who also runs the label, and behind Strange Fog is Ryan LaLiberty. Bivalve calls this “two albums of heart-felt slow-core and modular post-rock ambience”. There is a first for everything. I started with Net. He uses “pads, granulated choirs, pseudo-organic textures”, live bass, and singing. Judging by the crackles and bleeps, there’s also an element of modular synths here. But granular plays a more significant role and emotional it is. The voice is moved to the background, familiar with slow-core music, so it’s hard to figure out what these songs are about (or my lack of interest in lyrics plays up again). The musical side was okay, if somewhat single-minded, with those granular sounds, but the voice was too distracting.
If you expect guitars with slow-core music, then Strange Fog has them, along with “lots of delay, live looping, and loop processing, with minimal overdubs”, plus the music is “instrumentally and lyrically improvised”. I don’t know how that works with heart-felt emotions; I assume lyricists chew on lyrics for a long time. “Thematically, it’s all about finding comfort, safety, solace and love wherever you are, in the moment you are in, while also maintaining distance and independence. Let the lighthouse guide you home, but don’t forget to leave again.” Whereas Net’s songs are shortish, Strange Fog’s pieces are much longer, from three to 16 minutes, but like Net, the voice is more in the background, and whatever else I write about Net applies here too, but instead of modular granulations, it’s all guitars here.
It’s undoubtedly nice enough and made with great love for detail and a lovely cover, but not for me. Would I want to play sad music when I am happy? Or sad? That is my main problem with this kind of music. (FdW)
––– Address: https://bvlv.bandcamp.com/
WAPSTAN – COMME UN CENTAURE PRIS DANS LA GLACE... (cassette by Brise-Cul Records)
DISENSEMBLE/EN FER (cassette, private)
It’s been a while since we reviewed music by Wapstan. We are not the royal me, but Jliat and me, both covering the work of Martin Sasseville, who is behind this moniker. I forgot about it; my last review is from Vital Weekly 541. Jliat no longer writes for Vital Weekly. I understand things were silent for many years, and on this new cassette, he uses rapes recorded around “2010 and 2012 for an abandoned more psychedelic noise project.” Here, he uses guitars and oscillators; some of this later became En Fer, more of which in a bit. It’s not easy to hear the psychedelic element in this release. Two times 20 minutes of a wall-of-sound approach in a highly minimal noise fashion. It’s a harsh noise wall approach, but with the occasional minimal changes, so it’s also not for purists. It’s also less harsh than some of those HNW projects. It’s hard to say what was from the old tapes and what is new here, but it nevertheless made a solid impression. Everything was straightforward, and there’s not much more to add. Solid noise music.
The tape is a split between Montreal’s En Fer and Austin-based Disensemble. En Fer is a band with Alex Pelchat, Michel Meunier, Charly Buss, Reüel Ordoñez and Martin Sasseville. In the information about the Wapstan, Sasseville, he says it is more fun to be in a gang, so there’s a band. It’s not mentioned anywhere who plays what, but judging by the music, it’s a rock lineup with drums, bass, guitars, and no vocals. Speaking about something psychedelic, this is the place to be. It’s two jam sessions of unrelentless, loud noise rock, the darker bastard version of Krautrock, or, perhaps, just recorded this way to make it sound dirtier. These are two massive blasts by them, and while noise rock isn’t necessarily my cup of tea, I find them more enjoyable than the monolithic Wapstan.
Behind Disensemble, we find Vanessa Gelvin (violin, effects), Matt LaComette (violin, effects), and Josh Ronsen (cello, effects); I only recognised Ronson’s name from previous releases as Brekekkekexkoaxkoax. They recorded their 15-minute piece in one go, the way it sounds. Their music harks back to the 1960s minimal music mixed with rock music; think a bit of LaMonte Young, Tony Conrad, Henry Flint and the Velvets without a drummer. The electronic side makes Disensemble sound different, adding a layer of strangeness over the proceedings, something less easy to grasp. A great piece of vagueness here, slowly meandering about yet with a sense of urgency, becomes abstracter and weirder as the piece progresses. Excellent stuff, and at close to 16 minutes, it’s too short for my taste. (FdW)
––– Address: https://wapstan.bandcamp.com/
––– Address: https://ironapproved.bandcamp.com/
AGOGOL – BUH [OXO] (cassette, private)
Behind Agogol is Andreas Gogol, born in 1968 in Braunschweig and based in Berlin. He works as a painter and musician in various guises. The previous occasion he appeared in Vital Weekly was in number 1374 as Yocko O.ne, with Prinz-Ip, a shirt cassette single for Superpolar Taips. It is one of those things that never provides sufficient insight into a musician. I’m curious if it’s part of Agogol’s trade, as things aren’t much more explicit on this cassette. There is certainly a strong interest in using modular electronics in some of these pieces, bleeping neatly away, but then there is also some bowing on a guitar in ‘8<0-0>8 feat. Abo Gabi’, which is maybe Gabi’s doing, but there’s not a lot of electronics either (or maybe Gabi is the vocalist). It is a distinctly different tune. ‘Para I’ feels like a live recording with more technoid vibes. ‘Para II’ is more of a modern electronics and closing piece, ‘The Others & You & Me’. This cassette bumps all over the place and could be more coherent. On the two bonus tracks I found on the CDR version, Agogol plays acoustic guitar and sings; on the other, he adds accordion. All of this adds further to the idea of confusion. I have no idea what to make of this; it’s not a question of like or dislike, but rather, I first have to understand more of the underlying ideas and reasons. Some of this was good, others too much of a doodle. Mildly confused! (FdW)
––– Address: https://agogol.bandcamp.com/album/buh-oxo