Week 37

ILLUSION OF SAFETY – FLOAT (CD by Full Spectrum Records) *
M.B. – S.F.A.G. 31.11.1981 (CD by Eighth Tower Records) *
M.B. – SYMPHONY FOR A GENOCIDE (CD by Menstrual Recordings) *
M.B. – DAS TESTAMENT (CD by Menstrual Recordings) *
JAC BERROCAL & DAVID FENECH & VINCENT EPPLAY FEAT COSEY FANNI TUTTI AND JAH WOBBLE – BROKEN ALLURES (CD by Cold Spring) *
MATILDE MEIRELES – LOOP. AND AGAIN (CD by Cronica Electronica) *
SIMON WHETHAM – SUCCESSIVE ACTIONS (CD by Cronica Electronica) *
CASTRUP & EMERGE – COVALENT RADII REVISITED (CD by Attenuation Circuit) *
PHILLIP RÜTTGERS TRIO – ETUDES OF SHAPES AND FORMS (CD by Zennes Records) *
N(109) & LICHT-UNG – EIN UNSICHTBARER PUNKT (2LP by Attenuation Circuit/Licht-ung) *
DAVID BROWN & TONY BUCK & MAGDA MAYAS – BLUE PLUM BLOOM (LP by Shame File Music) *
TAPAGE & GURO KVERNDOKK – THE ELEPHANT STARTED CRYING WHILE LISTENING TO HERSELF SING (LP by CASE Records) *
EMERGE – RAUMFORDERUNG (CDR by Attenuation Circuit) *
SPRUIT – FLUIDITY (CDR, private) *
COMMAND-K – DAS (CDR by Attenuation Circuit) *
CLINTON GREEN – LUCID LUCID LUCID LUCID LUCID LUCID (CDR by NCTMMRN) *
MEKETA – YOU ARE NOT ALONE (cassette by Alpha Morzel)
IGGOR CAVALERA X DWID HELLION – † (cassette by Alpha Morzel)

ILLUSION OF SAFETY – FLOAT (CD by Full Spectrum Records)

Last year, right before Illusion Of Safety’s Daniel James Burke headed to Europe to play his first concert in many years, he did a concert using the CLEAT 16-channel system recorded in Binaural by Russell Gillespie. The CD presented here is, of course, a stereo mix of the concert, and since it’s a fixed piece, Burke uses the original Ableton files and various room recordings from later dates. I wrote this many times before, and should Vital Weekly exist in many years to come (doubtful), I have been following Burke’s music since discovering it in the late 1980s when we traded cassettes. Burke is the main man behind the group, which had a floating membership, including one Jim O’Rourke and Kurt Greisch, which was a particularly fruitful period. The disturbing beauty plays a central role in the Illusion Of Safety’s music. There is a lot of emphasis on treated natural sounds, improvisation on instruments, lots of electronics and sampling, and small and significant sound events. Every period has its particular characteristics, and it would take a small guide to detail these. After some hibernation period, Burke returned using the name Illusion Of Safety some years ago and has since played several concerts, using a small set-up of modular electronics and an iPad.
‘Float’ is an interesting yet different piece from the Illusion Of Safety catalogue, which shows an ongoing interest in change. I don’t think it’s the sort of thing Burke would perform in a noisy, small club but in front of a seated audience. The dynamic range of this piece is vast and includes various instances of silence. His sound sources here are all forms of water, liquid, vapour, and solid, transformed heavily with granular synthesis, and added are piano and electronics; the result is quite a collage-like piece. Collage isn’t an alien form for Burke’s music, either by layering various unrelated events or using hard cuts, but usually within one piece. These events are by themselves: a small block here, silence, another block, shorter or longer. This means one has to listen to the piece from beginning to end, take notice and enjoy the immersiveness, even when things are silent. The first three and the last ten minutes of the piece (in total 41) are among its loudest sections, bringing everything to a dramatic conclusion, which is perhaps a bit of a cliche, but it works well. It ends a great piece of music, and one can only imagine what it would have sounded like on a multi-speaker sound system, but at home, too, it sounds excellent. (FdW)
––– Address: https://fullspectrumrecords.bandcamp.com/album/float

M.B. – S.F.A.G. 31.11.1981 (CD by Eighth Tower Records)
M.B. – SYMPHONY FOR A GENOCIDE (CD by Menstrual Recordings)
M.B. – DAS TESTAMENT (CD by Menstrual Recordings)

For some time now, I dabble with books, writing, producing and publishing them, and. much like doing a record company, this brings demos and ideas. Somebody recently suggested doing a book about Maurizio Bianchi, the godfather of Italian industrial music. I admitted I only have a superficial knowledge of the man and his work, but maybe he’s one of those musicians about who there isn’t much to tell. I told this person a book about his discography might be interesting, even for a minimal audience of die-hard fans, as there are quite a few re-issues with interesting variations. I am not your man to write such a book. I love his work, I heard quite a bit, and yes, mainly the works before he retired from music in 1983 and not as much as from his return, after 1998. I have both of the 5CD re-issue box sets of his early vinyl and many downloads, but let’s not mention that. These three recent re-issues are all with those variations I am talking about. The two re-issues by Menstrual Recordings are part of the 5CD sets mentioned earlier, but without the bonus tracks from back then, which I see as a missed opportunity, as individual re-issues from the box sets still hang around. As far as I can judge, the Menstruka re-issue is the same as the original CD re-issue (sans bonus pieces), but ‘Part One’ from ‘Das Testament’ is slightly longer, with ‘Part Two’ marginally different. ‘S.F.A.G. 31.11.1981’ is a re-issue of a work known as ‘S.F.A.G. 81’ (in which the acronym stands for ‘Symphony For A Genocide’, but they are different works), which already saw various re-issues in the past, but now comes with the impossible date (November 31 doesn’t exist), which was omitted from all previous releases (except Mianchi’s CDR version in 2018), and now put back in at his request.
All this information, which is of mere interest to archivists only, may lead to the exciting question: what is Bianchi’s music about? All three are early works and quite different from each other. In terms of ‘classic MB’, I think the ‘S.F.A.G. 31.11.1981’ is the best place to start, and MB (let’s stick to what it says on the cover) is at its coldest and best. Using a lot of echo on relatively few synthesisers, he creates cold, spacious drifts of polar wind, and the music has no beginning, no end, and very little development. Yet, there is always movement; therefore, it changes quite a bit. It’s not a static drone but a somewhat nervous and hectic sound. I always believe (and I know I might be wrong) that MB used radio sounds as the source, be it spoken word or music, heavily treated with effects and synthesisers, adding more eerie effects to the music. It is very much the sound of dystopia, and that’s part of the zeitgeist. None of the industrial types were comedians. This sort of spacious, rusty sound is among the favourites of MB for me, along with ‘The Plain Truth’. The cover mentions the music was cut in two, so it fitted on a cassette, but why not correct that and make it one long track? It’s obvious exactly that: one long track.
The other two are even more experimental works. First, there is ‘Symphony For A Genocide’, in which a rhythm machine plays important, feeding through synthesisers and having a more traditional industrial sound; think Throbbing Gristle or Cabaret Voltaire (or, a bit later, early Esplnedor Geometrico), but without any vocals, going on and on, per each of the seven pieces. Although many of his early works are long-form compositions, this one has shorter pieces; it may take work to go long-form with rhythm (even when ‘Three Mantras’ may prove differently). The cold and distant sound is also part of this music; it’s not pleasing. Well, not per se, that is, as I happen to like this early industrial music very much.
‘Das Testament’ has two pieces, LP length, 23 minutes each, and sees a continuation of what we just heard in a mash-up version. There is a lot of delay and a bit of rhythm, and the main difference is the sound on ‘Das Testament’ is opener and not as massive as the other two releases. It is, for the lack of a better word, also a more experimental record. The other two are more explicit manifestations of what we identify as “industrial music”, which isn’t the case here. Maybe the second part comes closest to the industrial sound and perhaps even to ‘Three Mantras’, but locked inside a cold winter’s bunker. These are his challenging works, especially the first part, and ones that don’t jell that easily and show another side of his work. It completes the picture. If you heard the name and want to dive in, these three works are all great places to start. (FdW)
––– Address: https://eighthtowerrecords.bandcamp.com/
––– Address: http://www.menstrualrecordings.org/

JAC BERROCAL & DAVID FENECH & VINCENT EPPLAY FEAT COSEY FANNI TUTTI AND JAH WOBBLE – BROKEN ALLURES (CD by Cold Spring)

‘Broken Allures’ is the fifth album by the trio of Jac Berrocal, David Fenech and Vincent Epplay, respectively playing saxophone and voice, guitar and electronics. With such a run time they could have picked a band name for their ongoing concern, but they didn’t. I reviewed two previous albums by them, Vital Weekly 1227 and 1367, and Jah Wobble returns to play bass like on the last one. A new guest on the new album is Cosey Fanni Tutti makes her presence playing guitar, cornet and voice. What I liked about this trio’s music is what they continue to do here. Music that may have its origins in improvisation, and no doubt many of these pieces got their kick-off by jamming around, but the eye is on the result, and the result is a more pop-oriented album, for the lack of a better word. Please don’t believe this music will be popular one day, but I use the word lightly because these five pieces use a shorter time frame to create a song, and they do that well. The changing spectrum of male and female voices adds an exciting dynamic to the album, also reflected in the use of the saxophone and cornet. Wobble’s bass adds, as before, a jumpy, dubby element to the music without being overtly dubby. Cosey’s guitar sometimes sounds like the old Throbbing Gristle days, which perhaps forms an odd combination with the film noir trumpet. As always, I have no idea what these lyrics are about. The titles sound more poetic, such as ‘Warszawa’ (not sure if it’s a cover of the Bowie song), ‘Tones Of Blue And Red’ (with Cosey vocals and very much a Cosey title), ‘Zadar Melodia’ or ‘Sondelimosa’. The resulting songs are very cohesive, thanks to the use of rhythm machines and sequences, an obvious choice if you want to avoid the world of improvisation. They range from dark and darkest to a bit brighter and lighter (at least, that’s my impression). At 37 minutes may be a bit short, but it’s also available on LP for those who love vinyl. (FdW)
––– Address: https://coldspring.bandcamp.com/

MATILDE MEIRELES – LOOP. AND AGAIN (CD by Cronica Electronica)
SIMON WHETHAM – SUCCESSIVE ACTIONS (CD by Cronica Electronica)

From Matilda Meireles I reviewed a cassette before, ‘The Life Of A Potato’ (see Vital Weekly 1316), for the same label, now releasing, ‘Loop. And Again’, which isn’t the same colourful title as before. Meireles uses field recordings to compose site-oriented projects., and “investigates the potential of listening across spectrums and scales as ways to attune to various ecosystems and articulate plural experiences of the world. Some examples include the inner architectures of reeds and complex water ecologies, resonances in everyday objects, local neighbourhoods and the architecture of radio signals”. On her new album, she works with “the dynamics of magnetic fields”. This project she did in Belfast and “In the project, sound suggests different ways to engage with Belfast, where walking routes could be improvised to incorporate the drones as part of how we experience the city.” I am sorry about these lengthy quotes. There is a lot more to quote from, but essentially, she made her recordings with two contact microphones and an electromagnetic
sensor of the overall environment of the city and the river Lagan, and sometimes they are processed. The opening piece, ‘Introducing Variables’, is a beautiful piece of gorgeous drones that sound like sine waves and in and out of the mix we have the floating city and river sounds. It all sounds very tranquil, which may seem odd for a city of unrest. Something happens in the second piece, ‘Magnetic Fields’, relying even more on drone-like loops with robust ambient quality and the field recordings on a sparser level. The last piece is ‘Cross Parade’, which is a break with the other two. Here are some private home recordings, including trombone improvisations by Tullis Rennie, who worked on the same project a few years ago. Here too, we find some long-form tones, but now from the trombone, which makes for a distinctive, different sound, along with a discussion at the breakfast table. Not bad, just different and something one could consider putting on a different album, or maybe add one of these and have a different balance? It’s a minor thing on an otherwise fine album.
Music by Simon Whetham we reviewed quite a bit. ‘Successive Actions’ is already his fifth release for Cronica and another apparition of his “kinetic sound performance project series ‘Channelling’ in which various motor devices, salvaged from obsolete and discarded consumer technology, are activated by playing sound recordings through them. This produces new sounds from the devices, amplified using various microphones and techniques.” For other works in this series see also Vital Weekly 1437 and 1405. I am unsure to which extent this particular set of recordings differs from the previous instalments. Judging by the sounds, there may not be that many differences. As it happens with this kind of release, documenting installations with sound, without the visual component, it is very hard to imagine what these look like and what the hell one hears. That said, as before, this sounds all quite fascinating. On the risk of copying too much of the previous review, the music has a solid electro-acoustic character, vibrant and energetic. Percussive music, if you will, but none of the standard percussion bits, more akin to a drummer playing household objects and debris. With the hushed and muffled tones, the music gets a layer of mystery about, with the listener being locked up in a dark dungeon, not a cave, but a plastic one, made out of waste, and we hear waste dumped on top, rolling off a hill and we don’t know if there’s an escape. Again, as before, lovely stuff, with the note about not being too sure what the differences are. (FdW)
––– Address: https://cronica.bandcamp.com/

CASTRUP & EMERGE – COVALENT RADII REVISITED (CD by Attenuation Circuit)

Here we have more music from Sascha Stadlmeier, better known as EMERGE (see also elsewhere, a very busy bee as a musician and a label boss. His Attenuation Circuit has a massive catalogue of releases, and the latest addition is this music he created with Hans Castrup as part of an exhibition of their visual work. For Castrup, that means drawing, and for Stadlmeier, photography, which he always did a lot, but in more recent years, taking it to a more artistic level. They created the music using piano, electronics (Castrup), violin, and sound recycling (Stadlmeier). As with Castrup’s solo work, the title comes from the world of physics and means “The covalent radius, rcov, is a measure of the size of an atom that forms part of one covalent bond. It is usually measured either in picometres (pm) or angstroms (Å), with 1 Å = 100 pm”. Individual titles don’t have titles. I’d be curious to learn more about the artistic process; for instance, do they pick up each other’s sounds in the respective sound processing, or do they restrict themselves to their own instruments? The music provides no clues. I wasn’t overly enthusiastic about Castrup’s solo music, finding it too much of a mix of various interests and styles, played through improvisational, without head or tail. That’s different on this CD. Maybe it’s because he plays with somebody, maybe there has been some talk beforehand. The electronic side of the music plays a more significant role here, forming drones and patterns in which the piano desolates and moves around. There is a plink here and there and some bass chords, adding some delicate atmospheric melodic touches to the music. When plucked, the violin does the same; if EMERGE uses a bow, it’s all part of the drones. The improvisational element remains present, especially in the second and fifth pieces, but with all the electronics used, it’s part of the overall atmospherics. The third piece I enjoyed the most, because there was a lot of tension, which went missing in the fifth piece, which came across as a bundle of sounds rather than a composition. At 31 minutes not a very long CD, but quite nice overall. (FdW)
––– Address: https://emerge.bandcamp.com/

PHILLIP RÜTTGERS TRIO – ETUDES OF SHAPES AND FORMS (CD by Zennes Records)

I postponed writing about this release for several months. Why? I couldn’t find the right words to review it, and I couldn’t find the time to properly listen to it. It’s great background music while doing tedious chores like cleaning, doing taxes, and sorting out a vinyl collection. But that doesn’t do it justice.
For me, this is instantly likeable music. Of course, there’s likeable music and likeable music. The first category is delightful but gets too easy to listen to if that makes sense. This release, which came out in May this year, is thoroughly enjoyable without getting tedious to listen to. Why?
Because these three musicians are excellent in their playing together and the ideas they come up with. But first, let me introduce the members of this acoustic jazz piano trio. Phillip Rüttgers, born in Kreuzberg, Berlin, and now based in Amsterdam, teaches piano at the Conservatory in Arnhem, a city in the east of the Netherlands. In 2018, he won the competition to write a piece for the North Sea Jazz Festival: ‘Twists of H.C. Andersen’s Untaped Fairy Tales’. The acoustic bass in the trio is played by Thomas Poll, born in Zwolle, a city in the east of the Netherlands and now based in Rotterdam. He played with Randy Brecker and Gregory Porter, went on a scholarship to New Orleans to study bass and now he’s completing or already graduated from a classical double bass master in Tilburg, a city in the south of the Netherlands.Last but not least, we have the trio’s drummer, Sun-Mi Hong. Born in South Korea, she completed her jazz master’s in Amsterdam, where she is currently based. She has her quintet, with a new release coming spring. There are 13 pieces on this disc: 54 minutes of music. The music was recorded at Wisseloord Studios in Hilversum, a city in the centre of the Netherlands. It resulted in a warm, lush sound with a lot of melody, bits with prepared piano and a joy to listen to. Some motifs return in different pieces: an ascending and descending figure of 6 notes are mutated rhythmically and present a hook. The interaction between the three is fantastic. This disc has been on heavy rotation. And with each listening round, I discover new details. Kudos to all involved; hopefully, we’ll hear more of this outstanding trio. (MDS)
––– Address: https://www.zennezrecords.com/

N(109) & LICHT-UNG – EIN UNSICHTBARER PUNKT (2LP by Attenuation Circuit/Licht-ung)

Licht-ung is besf-known as a label, releasing limited cassettes, CDs, and lathe cut vinyl, but also operates as a concert promoter and a musical act, in the form of Johannes Garbe, violin and effects. Here, he teams up with N, who always adds a number, so we know where he’s at with his releases. N is the German musician Hellmut Neidhardt, a guitar player. The use of amplifiers and sound effects is essential for both musicians. I played this record for the second time early this morning when it was still darkish and tried to read the text on the cover, which turned out to be just the title and the label names) and what’s on the label, but failed quite extensively; too small and too dark. The music, however, was very much suited to the time of the day, the sort of dark ambient music I enjoy hearing. The guitar is not an instrument that one recognises in the music here (I was going to write ‘four pieces’, but I have no idea if this is true), as there is extensive use of bowing (thanks to the violin) and sustaining here, creating the music to go slowly back and forth, like slow sea waves. Above this sea are a lot of grey clouds and occasional rain, and it’s like a forecast of autumn to come. One could argue there isn’t much difference in these pieces, or, negatively, they play the same piece on each of the four sides, but the devil is in the details, and the coherent approach is one to enjoy a lot. To switch over the vinyl every 20 minutes is perhaps a bit of a drag, disturbing the carefully constructed mood here, but I enjoy the music all the same. It reminded me of the best of Stars Of The Lid, with a similar approach to weightless space and vistas of wide-open spaces. The two players here, the two instruments and whatever else they use to alter the guitar’s sound, blend naturally, and there’s no conversation going back and forth, but one narrative, one voice and many expansions of that.
The cover looks handmade, indicating a limited edition, and it’s on marbled vinyl, so not a lathe cut this time. I imagine this set will sell swiftly, and quite rightfully so, for such a beauty. (FdW)
––– Address: https://emerge.bandcamp.com/
––– Address: https://licht-ung.bandcamp.com/

DAVID BROWN & TONY BUCK & MAGDA MAYAS – BLUE PLUM BLOOM (LP by Shame File Music)

‘Blue Plum Bloom’ is the debut album of a trio of improvisers: David Brown (prepared guitar, electronics), Tony Buck (drums, percussion) and Magda Mayas (piano, objects). Debut album holds, I think, the promise of more releases, and we shouldn’t think of this as an ad hoc trio of musicians meeting up one day, recording some music and drifting in different directions. Buck and Mayas already have a duo, Spill, for many years, and maybe it’s Spill Plus with the addition of Brown on percussion. Having said that, I may not have heard the music by Spill, so I can’t say to what extent this is Spill Plus; I do know they have been going as a trio for ten years. All three players have a background in improvisation, playing with 9virtually) anyone who matters in this world. Now, typically (and it seems these days more and more), I may have a slight aversion against improvised music; on the ground, there is so much of it, but there are also occasions in which I find myself enjoying this kind of music. This LP is such a release. The three instruments are easily recognised and, at the same time, the extended use of objects on their instruments, effectively changing the tonal qualities of their instruments and expanding them. Throughout these three pieces, there is something laid back in the music, an aspect I also hear in the music by The Necks (and I admit there’s more to explore there) and some other improvised music releases from Australia. Let’s say there is a very subtle approach here, in which the music stays very much on the same dynamic level, allowing the listener to sit back and experience the music in a more immersive way, not in the sense of drone music, but via a wildly varied, ever-changing play of sounds and textures. Sometimes, they merely hint towards something and leave out certain aspects, maybe a sketch-like approach, which nevertheless tells the complete story. As is to be expected, this is a live recording, perhaps with some mixing and editing, maybe not at all, but it’s a great release. It is a very limited release, to 150 copies only, so act swiftly. (FdW)
––– Address: https://shamefilemusic.bandcamp.com/

TAPAGE & GURO KVERNDOKK – THE ELEPHANT STARTED CRYING WHILE LISTENING TO HERSELF SING (LP by CASE Records)

Tapage is no stranger to the pages and columns of Vital Weekly. Under this nom de plume, Tijs Ham has been working for some 20 years at the forefront of forward-thinking music, sound design, instrument development, and sound art. The broad spectrum of his artistic output is mirrored by the various labels his works have been released on, ranging from Adnoiseam, Moving Furniture Records, Tympanik Audio, and Ant-Zen.
One of the last times I saw Tapage perform was in the brilliant space for experimental music called De Ruimte in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Ham showcased a devastating dexterity in using a mix of acoustic and electronic instrumentation to perform quite a noisy set with the captivating power of deep listening music and the musical intelligence of contemporary composition, while the concert was – I gather – mostly improvised.
This LP brings exactly that spectacular blend of aural approaches from Ham and Guro Kverndokk. Maybe she’s not the most well-known artist around here. Kverndokk is a vocalist from Oslo who pushes the boundaries of vocalization and expression through freely improvised music and cross-disciplinary projects, such as working with the music for a cross-art performance between mark design and contemporary dance.
Together Tapage & Guro Kverndokk form what could be called a new avant-garde super-duo. Their debut LP glistens and seduces, lures in and cuts deep, bruises, kicks and pulls apart – as a dismemberment plan steeped in intensity, these two disjoint harmonies and weave intricate patterns of dissociations. For a split second, you think you hear the Blade Runner-soundtrack clash with Stine Janvin Motland. Another instance: Peter Garland’s frantic percussion suggests an entrance to a ritualistic dream.
Self-made electronic instruments from Tapage and Kverndokk’s electronics bring forth an aural realm that’s remarkably acoustic-like: a soundscape of tactility and resonance, of timbre and presence. A state too of being wide awake in a dream, of dreaming the waking hours – a nebula of otherness and in-between states, like a borderline veil across the instrumentation. Aural phenomena present themselves ready for identification, but upon closer inspection, you’re not quite sure if you hear strings, organ drones, bowed objects or long-string instrument-like singing.
While Kverndokk’s voice brings free-flowing, ethereal touches, this duo’s work is solidly grounded at the same time. There’s no loftiness at play here. Playfulness in the sense of liberal experimentation and boundary-pushing, all the more. Not for a l’art pour l’art of experiment for experimentation’s sake, that is, though, because across these six tracks, the sonic and musical material – not in the least part Kverndokk’s vocal work – is used as a conduit for fantastic narrative experience and, simultaneously, perhaps, too, as a raw and visceral counterpart to the polished and slightly unhuman-like qualities of elements of the otherworldly electronic side of the music.
The delicacy of the materials woven by Kverndokk and Ham brings to mind works by Phew and Eiko Ishibashi & Jim O’Rourke. And also grand, immersive narratives from decades of profound quality experimentation at the GRM. Plus, there’s a touch of the Frysian aesthetic of IT Deel or FEAN in play here, too. The Elephant Started Crying While Listening To Herself Sing is one of the year’s most intoxicating, bewitching, bewildering and captivating listens.
––– Address: https://caserecordsofficial.bandcamp.com/

EMERGE – RAUMFORDERUNG (CDR by Attenuation Circuit)

In Vital Weekly 1442, I reviewed the previous release by Emerge, a.k.a. Sascha Stadlmeier, which was a rerelease from 2018 and actually recorded in 2014. For ‘Raumforderung’. we’re talking really really fresh work because it was specially composed for the live event ‘Schalltrichter & Scheibentank’ at Gaswerk in Augsburg. And this took place at September 8th of this year, only two weeks ago. One of the things the Augsburg skyline is known for is the large disk-type gasholder, which now has a cultural function and is better known as Gaswerk. And Augsburg being the hometown of Sascha means something had to be done. A concert, a special release, manipulation of field recordings, exhibition…
In two tracks, Emerge draws an audio painting of the gasholder. My guess is that the field recordings that formed the basics of this were recorded inside, outside and around the gasholder and that there is a lot of granular and other sample manipulation. Where the first part is quite droney/noisy, the second part emphasizes the spatial aspects through the massive use of reverb on down-pitched sounds. But the beauty here is in the resonant structures revealed by this method. Playing in a room with an echo/reverb like this (just Google Augsburg Gaswerk to see what it looks like) you simply have to work with the resonance of it. And even if you didn’t attend the concert, the second track indicates the resonance.
Literally translated, ‘raumforderung’ means claiming space, and this release makes the space the 80-meter cylinder takes audible. The creepiness and darkness of the tracks coincide with the fact that the use of fossil fuels is bad for the environment, the climate, people’s health and many other things. So the fact that use of the gasholder contributed to that makes it a very contemplative release. Nice work!
Additionally, there is the digital-only release ‘Raumforderungen’, where over 40 artists used the original field recordings by Emerge to create a track of their own. For a mere four euros, you get over 4 hours of music, enabling you to investigate the spaciousness of the gasholder and the inspirational aspects of European industrial heritage. (BW)
––– Address: https://www.attenuationcircuit.de/
––– Address: https://emerge.bandcamp.com/

SPRUIT – FLUIDITY (CDR, private)

Meanwhile, outside the world of labels, scenes and what have you, Marc Spruit is creating a body of releases, mainly on relatively short CDs; this new one is 24 minutes and comes in two plexiglass plates with an image in between. The CDR mounts to the outside. In all those years I reviewed his work, there hasn’t been much information; press texts and Bandcamp provide no further information either. I know turntablism is an essential feature for Spruit, and the one he always mentions is that the sounds are heavily cut up. I assume he does so using computer technology. The turntable totally disappears in his work and is replaced by click ‘n cuts, glitches, deep bass rumble and occasional high-end peeps. Spruit’s music needs to be heard on a good set of speakers. Otherwise, you may lose some of it. More than before, his music now sounds like ‘modern electronics’, the classic version of electronic music (i.e. the serious stuff). In his version, he doesn’t sound any less than the originals. Spruit is not interested in playing easy music; there is nothing here to relax or space too much. some concentration is required on the listener’s part, but if you open your ears, you will be rewarded with some beautiful music. (FdW)
––– Address: https://spruit.bandcamp.com/

COMMAND-K – DAS (CDR by Attenuation Circuit)

Another release from our friends at Attenuation Circuit is this mini-album by Zürich based Polish-born Kalina Solarek. In 18 minutes divided over six tracks, she experiments with rhythms, electronics and her electric guitar. She studied jazz / electric guitar but currently works as an architect and we all know she’s not the first architect who does experimental music. I mean, maybe there is something with spatial aspects and the urge to construct that gets triggered. Maybe a sidetone far, far away, but has there ever been research on which professions experimental musicians have who can’t live off their music? That would be interesting, I think (just throwing it into the world).
But, back to Kalina. As said, her primary instrument is an electric guitar, and that’s audible on ‘DAS’. The opening track, ‘View From Above’, consists of a looped guitar melody where distortion is added to create all kinds of harmonic structures. The second track, ‘Football Fans in Altstetten’, is built on a rhythmic structure/fundament where ambient layers based on sustained guitar sounds create a pleasant experience. The third track, “OTR”, is an experiment with rhythm and noise, and right after that ‘OTN’ is a combination of rhythm and melody/bass line with supported noisy sounds that again seem to originate from a feedbacking guitar. It reminded me of a few things I have heard from the (K-RAA-K)³ label. There, too, you would get stuff you never expected.
The most paradoxical track of this release is ‘6:35’, which is 3:38 in length. The time signature here reminds me a bit of old-school electronic body music. Yet again, where old-school EBM was mainly electronic, here, too, the main instrument is the electric guitar—done tastefully and, in the end, noisy as f***. ‘Collision with Aliens’ closes this release with an excellent rhythmic structure and, from what I could recognize, the only whole electronic track on here. Maybe a few sounds here and there are guitar-based… But the track never becomes as heavily guitar-driven as the previous tracks. Welcome to the world of experimental music, Kalina! (BW)
––– Address: https://www.attenuationcircuit.de/

CLINTON GREEN – LUCID LUCID LUCID LUCID LUCID LUCID (CDR by NCTMMRN)

If you wonder what the label’s acronym stands for (I know I did!), it means “Nothing Comes To My Mind Right Now”. It’s an independent record label from Melbourne/Naarm, Australia. Clinton Green is a musician who runs the Shame File Music label and works a lot with turntables and devices, but on this CDR extended his palette with Walkmans, cassettes, percussion, voice and text. This CDR has three lengthy pieces, and it’s an odd affair. The first (title) piece and the last, ‘Out of The Fog,’ are heavily concentrated affairs of electronic music, with nervous clicking of synthesiser sounds, maybe looped, maybe just going from an input source, and maybe (just, maybe), a heavily radicalised, stripped down version of Ikeda, Pan Sonic and Alva Noto (early days; I have no idea what he does these days), taking to another conceptual dimension. It all ends in a very dark tunnel. In between these two pieces is ‘I Was A Boy’, a collage-like piece of a Dictaphone recording, which sounds like a confession, along with field recordings, scratchy vinyl, hiss, and other unwanted sounds people normally remove from their recordings. There is something creepy about this music as if we’re eavesdropping on a conversation we’re not supposed to hear. As if we are scanning the waves to find the words, picking up these radio interferences along the way. It’s a bit like a horror movie. How this piece relates to the other two is the big mystery here. Maybe it’s all part of some lucid dreaming experience Green had. I am guessing here, obviously. It’s weird music but somehow quite captivating as well. (FdW)
––– Address: https://nctmmrn.bandcamp.com/album/lucid-lucid-lucid-lucid-lucid-lucid

MEKETA – YOU ARE NOT ALONE (cassette by Alpha Morzel)

HOLY SHIT !!! If you were looking for something harsh and powerful for the coming weekend, don’t waste more time looking. Meketa (or Meketa Power Electronics; I see different notations over the web) is here to surprise the f*ck out of you. And no, I can’t use any other words because this one caught me off guard, and I was as surprised as you will be when you listen to the sounds this week or visit the label’s Bandcamp page.
In five short tracks, between two and three minutes, Meketa cleans your sinuses and other orifices in what can only be described as a more angry version of Atrax Morgue. The difference is that Atrax shows cynicism, melancholia and desolation, and Meketa shows aggression and hate. And when we look at who’s behind it again, this project’s first part/vocals is Steve Makita from Lockweld. As Lockweld has been active for 20 years already, this release sounds professional and really makes an impression, which might be no surprise. Music/sounds/noise is created by Dwid Hellion, who you might know as the only consistent member of Integrity (in my collection due to being a metalhead long ago) or solo as Psywarfare.
I’m reviewing this from a digital source, so I can’t tell you if this cassette is a double-sided same track or if the five tracks are split over the two sides. There are many short releases in noise-land, C5’s even, but who cares? This just under 15-minute release deserves to be played not once, not twice, not thrice… Repeat, auto-play, whatever… This is how Uncle Bauke likes his power electronics! Keep ’em coming! (BW)
––– Address: https://alphamorzel.bandcamp.com/

IGGOR CAVALERA X DWID HELLION – † (cassette by Alpha Morzel)

The second release by the new Belgian label Alpha Morzel is another surprise. Cassette, 100 copies and just like the previously reviewed Meketa, one of the musicians is Dwid Hellion a.k.a Psywarfare. So rest assured that the sounds on this release also ruin ears when played too loud. The other musician on “†” is Iggor Cavalera. He is known as the drummer from Sepultura, Nailbomb and currently Soulwax (Hey… Maybe there’s the link to being released on a Belgian label). Not many people know he is also fond of experimental music and likes it loud.
On four tracks, Iggor and Dwid explore the coherence between noise, rhythmic structures (without ever becoming rhythms), feedback and, as I see it, what it does to the human mind. The whole project is over in 20 minutes (listening to it digitally as the cassettes are on their way to me), but my oh my, what a beautiful 20 minutes those are. Actually, it is surprising how members of two metal bands I listened to in the early 90’s are now making music together that has nothing to do with metal but is a style that I’ve grown into listening to.
Compared to the other release by Alpha Morzel this cassette is way more experimental noise. It’s absolutely no power electronics with death industrial influences like Meketa, this is weird. This is two guys in a studio, seeing what they can develop if they combine forces. Emphasis on ‘force’. Play now, Play loud, and Regret later. (BW
––– Address: https://alphamorzel.bandcamp.com/