Week 38

THE SEA OF WIRES (2CD by Cold Spring Records) *
RLW – C.D. (2CD by Penultimate Press) *
VÄÄRISTYMÄ – 2014-2024 (CD by Unexplained Sounds Group & New Polar Sound) *
LOCUS ASPER LOCUS – 3 ÂNES (CD by Unsounds) *
PAUL LYTTON/GEORG WISSEL – LOOSE CONNECTIONS (CD by Confront Records) *
STEVE BACZKOWSKI – CHEAP FABRIC (CD by Relative Pitch Records) *
YPSMAEL – AKYSTRET (CDR by Chocolate Monk) *
JASON KAHN & TIM OLIVE – LEVEL LIMB (THE SHADOW OF THE WIZARD) (CDR hy Chocolate Monk) *
INSECTS WAITING – NONSENSE CODES VOL.3 (CDR hy Chocolate Monk) *
YURII SAMSON – STONE CURL (CDR hy Chocolate Monk) *
FAIL – DATED 11 (3″ CDR by Inner Demons Records) *
PLASMAN – VARIABLE MIRA (cassette by Sud Afternoon Tapes) *
DJ BAREFOOT – THE SOUND OF BRESHA (FEAT. DJ BRESHA) (cassette by Sud Afternoon Tapes) *
ETVRNE/IZOLAT (split cassette by No Sides Records) *
HIDEOUS REPLICA – TRUE SCALE – LIVE 2014-2019 (CD by No Sides Records) *
OFFICE CHAIRS – CROSS PASSAGES (Deluxe Version) (3″CD by No Sides Records) *
ALKILITH – THY DARK MAJESTY (3″CD by No Sides Records) *
GHETTO BLASTER – GIMME THE GOOD OL’ DAZE (3″CD by No Sides Records) *
WARREN BURT – MR. BURT HIS MEMORY​.​.​. (cassette by Holiday Maker Records) *
BRUTAL SHIFT – EXIT INTERVIEW BURIAL (cassette by No Sides Records) *
PERICOPES + 1 – GOOD MORNING WORLD (CD by Losen Records)
I SINCOPATICI featuring CLAUDIO MILANO (CD, private)

THE SEA OF WIRES (2CD by Cold Spring Records)

Upon discovering industrial music, power electronics and cassettes as a viable medium to release musical productions, I also found a group of (mainly) English musicians working with synthesisers in the style of 1970s German synth meisters. Sometimes, these tracks were hidden on compilations, such as ‘Rising From The Red Sand’, or filled up half of the ‘Flowmotion’ compilation LP. People such as Carl Matthews, Ian Boddy, Colin Potter, and Paul Nagle. A name not showing up at the time was The Sea Of Wires, a duo of Chris Jones and Tony Murphy. Their name refers to the wires connecting the synthesisers, I assume. I believe they didn’t release many solo recordings; Jones has one solo cassette and only has two cassettes to their name; ‘Individually Screened’ (1980, re-issued in 1981 by the Flowmotion label) and ‘Beyond The Edge Of Tomorrow’, also released on their The Sea Of Wires label. In 2014 Vinyl On Demand released a double LP, combining the best tracks of both cassettes, plus five solo pieces by Jones. That release didn’t make it to these pages, but now there is another re-issue same track listing (in a slightly different order), so time for a review. Their synthesiser setup is small (korg MS20, korg SQ10, Wasp & Spider, Yamaha CS30, and both use a Copy Cat Echo), and they don’t use the banks of synths used by, say, Tangerine Dream. And while this might be considered a primitive setup, their music sounds great. It has all of that Berlin school of electronic music but with a great, charming, naive quality. Lots of slowly bouncing arpeggios, shimmering melodic phrases and much space. The difference between Jones’s solo and the duo music is that Jones uses ‘vocals’, very much in that 1980s non-schooled voice manner, again with that same charming naivety. Sometimes, the music bends towards a bit more industrial music, but the main interest remains in the cosmic world. When I discovered this kind of music back then, I was a big fan. There’s more buried in those old cassettes, which I would love to see on CD, and after 40+ years, I still hope I will see them! This is an excellent example of this kind of a re-issue. (FdW)
––– Address: https://coldspring.bandcamp.com/

RLW – C.D. (2CD by Penultimate Press)

I am sure I haven’t heard all the works by Ralf Wehowsly, also known as RLW, but I have heard a lot. I am racking my brain if I encounter a work of his of political meaning. It may be, but I am no longer aware. On his latest CD, called ‘C.D.’ there is. In this case, the title doesn’t mean compact disc, nor is it RLW’s tribute to Oval, but it is the acronym for Colonia Dignidad, the Chilean settlement of a German evangelical sect. They went there in 1961 after being prosecuted in Germany on accounts of child abuse. On the outside, it all looked great, like all sects; on the inside, there was repression, sexual abuse and the support of the Pinochet regime. RLW uses documentary recordings of contemporary witnesses (I am sure I saw the same documentary on Netflix), along with a set of melodic improvisations “improvised in the spirit of the impressions of terror, claustrophobia and fear”. This is on the second CD, and the first is all about the denial of atrocities and the glorification by the former leaders who returned to Germany. As I said, I can’t remember RLW being this outspoken. Last week, I wrote about absolute and programmatic music, that 19th-century notion about music having no meaning or being a story. Here we have a story. Yet the story is on the cover (basically what I wrote above), and then the question arises: what if one doesn’t know this background? What is left? What do we understand? A difficult question, and one I would carefully answer with, ‘I am afraid a lot would be lost’. The music is very much musique concrète-like, with cutting up sounds, pitch shifting, looping, reversing and whatever other techniques are at the disposal of the composer, who uses MIDI to play back various virtual instruments (piano, sax, guitar, turntable, lung machine, barrel organ and synths). Along with cutting up voices (plus all the other musique concrète techniques), this all sounds very much like an excellent RLW release, but at the same time, there is also the question: do we hear anything that is a direct link to Colonia Dignidad,? I am afraid I don’t, but there’s always a possibility I am missing out on something. Granted, by adding voices, there is surely a radiophonic aspect to the music, and as said, this is all classic RLW music. The use of musical instruments, finely chopped into small pieces, re-contextualised into new music. That’s what he does, and that’s what he is great at. (FdW)
––– Address: https://penultimatepress.bandcamp.com/

VÄÄRISTYMÄ – 2014-2024 (CD by Unexplained Sounds Group & New Polar Sound)

Before you ask or wonder, these guys are from Finland and it means distortion or warp. VÄ​ä​ristymä has been around since 1992, so that’s quite some time already. In the beginning, it was experimenting with computers. After they got struck with the analogue electronics virus – who hasn’t, I’d almost say – they began creating their instruments and making music with those. And at that moment VÄ​ä​ristymä was born. According to Discogs, the first releases were from 2012, and there haven’t been many of them. A few from 2012 till 2014, and that’s about it. Occasional split efforts, some samplers … So it’s fair to say they saved it all up, and on this CD, it’s publicized what they’ve been up to this last decade.
The CD artwork and the promo text on Bandcamp include a list of all the equipment they’ve designed and created, and for a nerd like myself, that’s very interesting. I’ll save you the why, but believe me when I say it’s way harder than it seems to be to design playable instruments from scratch. So sincere compliments to VÄ​ä​ristymä for this.
The opening track brings you directly into the atmosphere of an open space, maybe early in the morning, with nebula clouds rising from the tundra grass. It’s beautifully done, and perhaps a little less reverb could make it even colder in emotion. And the tracks following actually are similar to this atmosphere. It’s a very consistent album, where the sounds don’t change too much in nature, but they change enough to see the electronic progression v​Ä​ä​ristymä made over the ten years which is the span where the tracks were recorded.
At the same time, you should beware of the picture of an empty tundra with its scarce vegetation. How long would you be able to walk around and see things interesting enough to maintain the joy of walking around? And that is where my (personal) opinion gets a bit of the overhand. The compositions or style of music is minimal rhythmic structures with drones, beeps and noises. Something that will appeal to fans of Pan Sonic and followers of the Raster Noton label. Especially the older stuff. Maybe even people who like the minimal side of Orphx or some of the minimal stuff on Kvitnu. All things I appreciate a lot, but listening to this album over and over again, something is missing, and I can’t wrap my head around it. So it’s a really proper album, and I think I’ll play it more often, but at the same time it will not become a favourite album in this musical style. Having written that, knowing this album is made with homemade instruments these guys get all the respect from me they deserve. Beautifully done and very well produced. Favorite track? “Ulvoo (Live 2023)”. (BW)
––– Address: https://unexplainedsoundsgroup.bandcamp.com/

LOCUS ASPER LOCUS – 3 ÂNES (CD by Unsounds)

Of the wind instruments, I favour the clarinet (oddly, with other groups of instruments, I haven’t got favourites), and I am not sure why. Maybe it’s that sine wave-like quality. In the trio Locus Asper Locus (which might mean place harsh place, but I am not sure), we find two clarinets, played by Benjamin Bondonneau and Xavier Charles. The third member is Lionel Marchetti. Inspired by the 1878 book by R.L. Stevenson, ‘Travels With A Donkey in the Cévennes’, they went into nature, armed with their instruments, which in Marchetti’s case meant battery-operated electronics and speakers, along with three donkeys to walk and play improvised music. The seven pieces have precise dates, locations (including their geographical degrees), and times of the day. Each player has microphones and objects; the result isn’t your typical improvised music release. Even for the great outdoors, this isn’t typical. Whereas much music is recorded with microphones not too far away from the instruments, distance plays a big role in this case. The players are at some distance from each other and the microphones, and we get a fine glimpse of their habitat. Lots of birds and very occasionally a donkey. Along with the more sine wave-like, drone playing for most of the time, this is very tranquil music, except for the short ‘Gevaudan’, which consists of shouting and a bit of chaos. That’s the sixth piece, so maybe they thought a break was necessary. I think it breaks the carefully constructed tranquillity of the previous pieces and the one that follows. I really like this combination of found field recordings (which, of course, they are not) the instruments playing along, responding to each other, imitating sounds from nature, or responding to sounds from nature, creating rich yet quiet textures. Sometimes, I wished the music was a bit louder, but then I also enjoyed the effort needed from the listener to get into this; casual listening is not an option. (FdW)
––– Address: https://unsounds.bandcamp.com/

PAUL LYTTON/GEORG WISSEL – LOOSE CONNECTIONS (CD by Confront Records)

This is the first time on these pages Paul Lytton has his review. He is consistently mentioned as an influence, never as a performer, which is strange for someone who has been on the improvised music scene since the late sixties. Oh well, better late than never. Blimey: that’s not true: recently we had ‘Canaries on the Pole!’ But that’s it—just one. Here, we find him playing a duo with German saxophone player Georg Wissel. It’s, in fact, half of the quartet of EEPS!, the quartet that released Canaries on the Pole. It’s not the first time they played together. Tabletop percussion (no drums) and bits and pieces are the instruments Lytton uses. Wissel utilises a prepared alto and tenor saxophone. This release is the live recording of the duo’s concert in LOFT, Cologne. Forty-five minutes of music spread over three tracks of roughly fifteen minutes each. It’s mesmerising and delicate music. Lytton creates textures with his tabletop percussion thingies or comments on the sounds Wissel makes with his saxophone. As with Steve Baczkowski, Georg is more interested in making sounds that sound unlike a saxophone, although there are some passages in which the saxophone sounds like a genuine saxophone. The interplay between them is fantastic. There’s never a dull moment here. Attentive listening is required here! And deservedly so. (MDS)
––– Address: https://confrontrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/loose-connections

STEVE BACZKOWSKI – CHEAP FABRIC (CD by Relative Pitch Records)

We know Steve from the trio with Brandon López on double bass and Chris Corsano on drums, as well as numerous other duos and ensembles. Here, we hear him solo, recorded in his living room of warehouse proportions on a reel-to-reel tape machine, and to top it off, while a lunar eclipse was happening.
No wonder that many of the thirteen titles are moon and astronomy related. Two tracks feature homemade wind instruments. Steve plays the tenor and baritone saxophone in the rest of the tracks. But… a bit is coming. In most of the tracks, he makes them sound otherworldly, sometimes delicately, sometimes with fierce intensity. But always with intent and utter control of the instrument, whether it’s the clattering of the keys, the soft mourning windy sounds without vibration of the reed or the hints of melody in some pieces. Most of the tracks are about texture and using the sax as a source of sound instead of the traditional husky three oçlock in the night dive bar sax player. Some pieces are short, and some are pretty long in comparison. And yes, listening to this in one go might be a tad too long. Don’t get me wrong: there’s a lot of variation in sound. But listening to the release in one go was a bit much for me. But still, this is a stunning release by an artist with excellent command of his instruments and who knows how to tell a story with unusual sounds from a traditional instrument. (MDS)
––– Address: https://relativepitchrecords.bandcamp.com/

YPSMAEL – AKYSTRET (CDR by Chocolate Monk)
JASON KAHN & TIM OLIVE – LEVEL LIMB (THE SHADOW OF THE WIZARD) (CDR hy Chocolate Monk)
INSECTS WAITING – NONSENSE CODES VOL.3 (CDR hy Chocolate Monk)
YURII SAMSON – STONE CURL (CDR hy Chocolate Monk)

A new bundle of CDR releases from the old powerhouse for this medium, UK’s Chocolate Monk. It’s not Ypsmael’s first release for this label, and this time, it’s a limited edition of 60 copies on CDR and 60 copies on white vinyl. Some music was already recorded in 2011-2013 (“live/room recordings made at shows around east Angelia”, as it is called on the cover). Some of it is new, with Ypsmael using guitars, pedals, voice, feedback, field recordings, found objects, loops, live sampling and manipulations by 4-track cassette recorder). “The title Akystret is mere sound, a one-word extract of leaving a digital handheld recording device running when trying to find sleep, recording own somniloquist mumblings during short and nightmare-ridden patches of sleep from the same period as when the tracks were recorded”, which sounds fascinating. It made my mind drawn towards sleep and insomnia, and I think the music reflects that state of half-sleep. The music sounds nocturnal, that much is sure. Dark and atmospheric, and maybe not the kind of music for a sunny Monday morning, but work is constant, and, honestly, I can always enjoy a fine piece of dark, atmospheric ambient music. Ypsmael’s music has delicate touches of the melodic and long strokes of more abstract drones, spiralling beautifully. The guitar is the dominant instrument, hardly a surprise, and Ypsmael doesn’t do anything to hide that, which is also unnecessary. His music differs from the guitar slingers with loop devices because it’s not melodic or too looped-based.
Also ‘Level Limb (The Shadow Of The Wizzard)’ is the third collaboration by Swiss-based Jason Kahn and Kobe-based Tim Olive. Both musicians have an extensive catalogue of collaborations, and two pieces were recorded at Olive’s home in 2023 and one in concert in Osaka. Olive is behind his trusted magnetic pickups and Kahn on voice and synthesiser. Kahn’s use of voice is a recent feature and he uses this without words; it’s more a ritual chanting. In ‘LL-1’, some of this voice is layered, and I need clarification on how that works; maybe Kahn uses pre-recorded voice material. The live piece is in the middle, showing the two at their noisiest and in chaos. That’s different from how we know them, as much of what they do is minimal and reflective. Maybe something they show in ‘LL-1’, dark and ominous and with Kahn’s voice also quite earthy and ritualistic. It’s not necessarily quiet music; Tim Olive’s music rarely is. Following the chaotic pressures of the live piece, ‘LL-3’ is the longest of the three pieces, doubling the length of the other two. It combines the minimalist approach of the first with a less chaotic take on the second piece, in something very concentrated, full of hidden noises, and very well-controlled lashes of feedback. It is less of a ritual because of a different use of the voice, but at the same time, a kind of primordial exorcising of ghosts.
Behind Insects Waiting, we find the duo of Edinburgh’s Euan Currie (Dead Labour Process, Muscletusk, etc.) and Albany, NY’s Eric Hardiman (Rambutan, Sky Furrows, Spiral Wave Nomads, etc.). Their collaboration is also a third one, as you may have guessed. The cover contains nothing else than the band’s name, the title and the label’s logo, all stamped (lovely!, said the stamp fan), so we are in the dark about the instruments used and other vital information. Electronics are one of the primary ingredients, transforming whatever input. On that side of the chain, I am sure there is a turntable or other kinds of loos devices, but also wind instruments, a guitar and modular electronics. And then again, I might be entirely wrong, and it’s nothing of this kind. They don’t go for a super detailed sound but a rather messy pool of sound, which gives the music a sort of 1980s cassette underground sound. It is a free-fall experiment of sounds, music, ideas and some kind of non-musicianship that works very well. Without too much discipline or knowledge and yet enough control to be entirely listenable, these six pieces are examples of great imagination, all long enough to hold interest and too short: I wanted more!
Yurii Samson is behind “several projects of electroacoustic, noise, industrial music (Starless, Kadaitcha etc.)”. He is from the Ukraine. I had not heard of his projects, but I reviewed a CD from Vital Weekly 1381 and ‘Stone Curl’ is the second work I heard from him. Luckily, it’s longer this time, clocking in at 44 minutes. According to the label’s website (they may not have a Bandcamp page), Samson uses “blooming electronics, loops, voice, amplified objects, etc”. This new release doesn’t have the overtly political message as the previous one. I mentioned before the music to be of the musique concrète variety, using granular synthesis to transform all kinds of sounds. That may also be the case here, but perhaps to a lesser extent. The music here seems to be more ambient and industrial, equal parts of both, and the collage aspect isn’t that present, as each of the pieces is a continious, linear affair. The granular synthesis is part of this, but synthesisers and other sounds, not as processed perhaps, create a rich, warm and quite diverse set of pieces. Diverse and yet also very much one thing. The variation adds to the album’s quality, making it a long ride between the highs and lows, with sonic depth and dynamic sound material. This album isn’t better or worse than the previous one; it’s different and equally good, with the benefit of being longer. (FdW)
––– Address: https://chocolatemonk.co.uk/available.html

FAIL – DATED 11 (3″ CDR by Inner Demons Records)

The most recent batch of new releases from the always mind-tingling Inner Demons Records counted about 30 (!!) items. So you will see a few of the last few weeks and the coming ones being reviewed in each Vital. The first one this week is one by FAIL, and we’ll start with shameless copy and past the information on the Bandcamp release page because this one aline tells you all you need to know who is being FAIL, why it’s called FAIL, how FAIL makes music and where the name Inner Demons comes from. And yes, that’s almost as much text as that whole alinea!
“Fail is the longest running (20 years +) noise project of Dan Fox, the guy who runs IDR. He has a bunch of other projects, too, and spends most of his free time with pedals and cats. He struggles with mental health problems, and he can’t wrap his head around how we got here and how the fuck we’re supposed to fix it.”
“Dated 11” has two tracks, “080919” almost tipping 13 minutes and “080830” just under six. And yes, this is FAIL’s 11th release entitled ‘Dated’ in succession. All other ‘Dated’- releases were, by the way, also released on Inner Demons. So, IF you’re curious and want to support the label, check out the Bandcamp page and the ‘Buy Digital Discography’ option. You’re getting a lot for a little.
“080919” is a track that opens with scattered bursts of noise under which some lovely rumbling appears. The rumbling has lots of modulation triggered by probably delays and saturated distortion and it slowly builds up before it’s very carefully put to sleep again. “080830” is built on feedback sounds and slowly changing noises in the background. There is way more of a droney structure here, and from the two tracks my favourite. I’m looking forward to #12 and further! (BW)
––– Address: https://innerdemonsrecords.bandcamp.com/

PLASMAN – VARIABLE MIRA (cassette by Sud Afternoon Tapes)
DJ BAREFOOT – THE SOUND OF BRESHA (FEAT. DJ BRESHA) (cassette by Sud Afternoon Tapes)

These are the two inaugural cassettes by Italy’s Sud Afternoon Tapes, who describe their work as “Psychedelic music for mystical experiences. Ecstasy and dance to attain knowledge”. This was the first I had heard of Plasman or DJ Barefoot. SAT 001 is the cassette by Plasman, and we only learn a little from the information, except he (?) uses a 4-track on magnetic tape, using analogue and modular systems. The six tracks were recorded between 2021 and 2022. Plasman’s music is best described as ambient music from the subsection called cosmic music. His keyboards sound pretty standard. He likes his arpeggio, though not always too massive or fast, and it’s all quite melodic—sweet music, not too dark, and yet not too light. Unsurprising music may seem like a negative qualification, but it’s not. Not all music can be surprising (a lot isn’t), and one has to remember what the music is for. Plasman doesn’t deal with shock and awe value but wants to entertain and does that very well. Maybe not something one else remembers a few days later, but something you would return if you see the tape and are in the mood for soothing music.
One Marcio Mcfly is DJ Barefoot, and I’m sure that’s also a pseudonym. His music explores “the boundaries and overlaps between drone music and noise and hardcore”. He uses “environmental recordings, electric bass sounds, white noise, effects, voices” to that end. The four pieces are lengthy, between seven and ten minutes. ‘Carnival Holocaust’ is a relatively mellow opening piece, with lots of droning electronics, and I thought ‘, Where’s the noise and hardcore’? That happens in ‘The Sound Of Brehsa’, which, I assume, sees the help of DJ Bresha, with a fierce hardcore bass beat and icy electronics. For about four minutes, it’s nice enough, and ten is too long. ‘Wave Dreaming’ has an acceptable ambient opening section, with lots of creepy space sounds, but then gets occasionally interrupted by noise-based sounds, which seem a bit out of place. Something similar happens in ‘Rolling From Space’, but this time, the noisy and chaotic beats disrupt the ambient flow. It’s as if DJ Barefoot wants to do too much and differently, all cramped into one release. (FdW)
––– Address: https://sudafternoontapes.bandcamp.com/

ETVRNE/IZOLAT (split cassette by No Sides Records)
HIDEOUS REPLICA – TRUE SCALE – LIVE 2014-2019 (CD by No Sides Records)
OFFICE CHAIRS – CROSS PASSAGES (Deluxe Version) (3″CD by No Sides Records)
ALKILITH – THY DARK MAJESTY (3″CD by No Sides Records)
GHETTO BLASTER – GIMME THE GOOD OL’ DAZE (3″CD by No Sides Records)

We (and this time I mean ‘we’) have never heard of Chicago’s No Sides Records, who, looking at their catalogue numbers, have 70 previous releases and 10 new ones are coming on November 1st. We divided these across the board, meaning I have these five. There are many different formats, so you’ll only find them in the cassette section because I started with the split cassette by Etvrne and Izolat. I never heard of either. Both seem to be solo projects. Behind Etvrne is Michael Weeks from Hightstown, New Jersey, and the label describes the music as “GOBLINesque dungeon synth”, which is also a first for me. I can imagine what it is, listening to the music. Dark, melodic, dwelling heavily on synthesisers, keyboards and drum machines, there is some kind of dungeon sound, topped with some orchestral strings in ‘The Weary Road’. The whole sample pack was used! Izolat is “NYC musician Derek Rush of COMPACTOR’s own finally unveiled ds project”, and I assume ‘ds project” is dungeon synth. As always, I might be wrong. The music is slightly different from Etvrne. Izolat uses more reverb (to create the idea of a bigger dungeon?), is less melodic and henceforth also more experimental. As this is my first introduction to ‘dungeon synth’ music, which is the genuine article? I am merely joking. I liked Izolat’s abstractness better, but he’s overdoing the reverb, and I liked Etvrne for its over-the-top kitsch. Maybe it’s more serious than that, but I liked it all the same, like the old Autopsia, for whom I have a soft spot.
The name Hideous Replica sounds familiar, but maybe I came across the name somewhere and it stuck because it sounded it Hideous In Strength, the old band from Boston. This duo, Dan Hintz and Frank Rose from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, record and perform with two iPods and twiddling the equaliser knobs at their amplifiers. They go on stage all prepared but sometimes just use room recordings before the concert so the audience gets a slice of their conversations at full force. On their CD, we find six recordings covering a period from 2014 to 2019, which, for some reason, needed a five-year wait before getting released. Their noise approach is one of those walls of sound of approach, taking no hostages and minimalist but not without changes. At times, reminding me of Merzbow, with that stomp box approach to changing sounds, but in these six pieces, there is quite some variation. Don’t think of this as six versions of the same noise. The ‘WXRW 2014’ piece is a ‘lighter’ piece than the ‘Wisco 2015’, even when the overall approach is the same: a massive sound smeared across the board, and occasionally, some is talking. Be it the audience listening or pre-recorded and feeding back into the audience listening and not talking. It’s loud and relentless, but maybe it’s the way some of this is recorded that sounds from some distance, which also contributes to the variation here, which makes this a most lovely release; my noise favourite of this week.
And now for something completely different, as the Monthies used to say. Another duo, from San Francisco, Surplus 1980, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum and Mute Socilate member Moe Staino and shoe designer Karen Cravatto. They had a self-released four-track 7″ before, which is its entirety on this mini CD, so there are two more bonus tracks. oFFice chAIRs is the preferred spelling (just because), named after seeing a photo of an office chair thrown some stairs. That photo is the front cover, and the music was made only after that. They take inspiration from “synth wave music inspired by early 1980’s acts”, and there are no apparent references I can make. They sound like many of them, The Screamers maybe, but there are melodies, next to a punky furiousness. It’s a very retro sound, and I can’t stress this enough: that’s something happening a lot these days. I once talked to a guitarist in a band inspired by Syd Barrett, and I said, that’s very old-fashioned. The reply was that I may have seen Pink Floyd in 1970, but for them, this was a way of getting close to the music they liked. As a five-year-old, Pink Floyd wasn’t a name I had even heard, but I got their point, and, sure, why not? I can surmise this is what oFFice chAIRs also have in mind, to play as they did 45 years ago. They do it very well; I enjoyed their own attitude a lot. I wish the two bonus pieces were more than a ‘raw instrumental’ and ‘instrumental remix’, maybe some more songs, i.e. a full-length album, but keep it brief and keep them longing for more.
More dungeon synth is to be found on the mini CD by Chicago’s Zak Kiernan, also known as Alkilith. Look at that, three dungeon synth acts in a short period. I’ll be an expert tomorrow. The label calls him “one of the most heralded of the top-of-the-minute crop of dungeon synth artists slaying today”, but his “ultra-minimalist style stands way far apart from the bulk of the genre, and his sound is augmented by the classic direct-to-tape recording process that seems to have been all but forgotten by most”. I’m still not getting closer to the one valid definition of dungeon synth, but I see parallel movements. The love of reverb, the somewhat hollow drum machine parts, and the slow and dark melodic touches are relatively minimal. Alkilith keeps things minimal on another side: his five pieces are relatively brief; the whole thing could have fitted on a 7″. Much like releases of original soundtracks, this sort of briefness doesn’t work very well. Great start! Oh, that’s it already? Maybe dungeon synth music goes down very well in the world of people who like computer games; I wouldn’t be surprised, but little do I know: I have never played a computer game in my life. Lovely but way too short.
The final new release from No Sides Records for me is Ghetto Blaster, also known as Michael Krause, also known as Death Factory. As Ghetto Blaster, he salutes the sounds of his youth. It’s not hip hop, but “retro-industrial-EDM”, “for fans of classic Wax Trax, mid-80’s Skinny Puppy, the dancier tapes from the RRR catalogue et al.” When bands such as Skinny Puppy et al. came up, I only caught a snippet of that, having already immersed myself in the world of power electronics and noise, and left that whole rhythmic industrial thing behind. Krause samples many rhythms and adds much noise via stomp boxes and many sampled voices. I guess these come from TV commercials, preachers or whatever American culture has to offer in terms of loudmouths. As for the ‘dancer tapes from the RRR catalogue”, the only thing that springs to mind is Smersh, but Ghetto Blaster doesn’t have the same rhythmic driving force. His rhythms are too complex to dance to, and overall there is quite a chaotic approach to music and voices. The one without overtly present rhythms, ‘Sci-Fi Cacophony’, also revolves around chaos. It’s pretty pleasant, nostalgic, retro way, and maybe a fine reminder to play some RRR tapes again. (FdW)
––– Address: https://nosidesrecords.bandcamp.com/

WARREN BURT – MR. BURT HIS MEMORY​.​.​. (cassette by Holiday Maker Records)

Having reached this wise old age and looking back like older people, I sometimes regret never keeping a diary. To remind me of concerts I saw, for instance. I am convinced I saw a concert by Warren Burt and Chris Mann at V2 in ‘s-Hertogenbosch on 23 September 1989, because I know I saw THU20 and Merzbow play that same evening and those I remember very well, but nothing about Burt and Mann. I assume, for no particular reason, it was sound poetry. As music from either never crossed my path, I admit I also forgot about it until this cassette by Warren Burt arrived. As far as I know, this is my introduction, and the work is from 1974, a live recording at the La Jolla Museum Of Contemporary Art, played on two toy pianos and two sunrise organs. It is based on what Burt heard four years prior, a reworking of renaissance music by John White and Christopher Hobbs, but his memory wasn’t correct; it was something else. There are lengthy notes on the cover, which I won’t repeat, and as this cassette lasts 120 minutes, you have plenty of time to read them. There are two pieces, both played on the same night, but the second, ‘Flying Pickle Music 3’ was recorded in 2024 because the original recording couldn’t be played, but the patch diagram from this synth piece still exists, so more stuff about Burt’s memory. The toy piano/organ piece lasts 107 minutes and is a very minimal piece, which is very long, and engaged me in doing many other things, including cooking and some other manual labour. The toy pianos tinkled their melodies, and the organs played the droning, more spaced out, but also melodic. There is also some far away audience presence audible. I think I also like this because of its long duration. Close listening isn’t required, I believe, and you drift into other activitiesThe electronic piece is one of those early electronic live pieces, which we call modular music, but at the time, I don’t know, live electronics, perhaps. Maybe because it’s a historical piece, even when recorded this year, is a reason for me to enjoy it more than some of the modern modulators; I think it’s also the roughness of the piece that I want, the straightforward linear bending and shaping, the one-module approach. (FdW)
––– Address: https://warrenburt.bandcamp.com/

BRUTAL SHIFT – EXIT INTERVIEW BURIAL (cassette by No Sides Records)

Brutal Shift is Alex Nowacki from Idaho, and he has many faces, of which Boar might be the best known. It is the one with the most releases. Brutal Shift only has one listed on Discogs, so this is Alex’ number two. I must admit it’s the first time I’ve heard of Alex and his project, but it’s definitely a name I’ll remember for good reasons. The cassette has 15 minutes per side, divided into parts where. I don’t know if they are considered loose tracks, but I’ll write the review descriptively for you. Because: This is really nice!
The first part of side A is a noisy layer with loads of filtering and modulation with subtle synth layers in the background, creating a really nice atmosphere. It could be considered some kind of harsh ambient wall maybe. There’s only too much happening for that. The bit crushers and digital manipulation are all over the place, but it ends abruptly after a little over 5 minutes. The following part is based on a deep synth layer with a long attack combined with a minimal, irritating yet beautiful layer where really a lot is happening. I want to play it as loud as possible, but it gets too irritating for that; all the movement in modulation is gorgeous. After three minutes, the sound pallet changes, and a more destructive white noise-based sound is used with that same slow attack. And even though the sounds used are more ‘in your face’, that minimalistic sound from the beginning was more disturbing. Weird how you will notice different things on different volumes. Especially when the change in sound continues, we’re slowly presented with a beautiful ‘ringing’ sound drone towards the end.
The reverse side opens with an adorable, synthy drone with rattling sounds of unknown origin over it. It slowly builds and after for minutes flows into a minimal delay /reverb based sound with slow variation. And then the moment is there where sounds are added with which the saturation of the delay /reverb setting is tested towards its feedback point. The exploration of the sound generation is further explored with different sounds being fed into the system and some very nice things are happening there. After around nine minutes, the main sound generation is set aside, and an atmosphere of desolation is generated with a simple yet effective two-sound theme. And the desolation is suddenly disrupted by anger and despair, resulting in a slow, repetitive structure reminiscent of a mix of death, industrial, and drone/noise. And ending in a minimally modulated drone again.
The sudden ending of a few sounds at a few moments is the only negative thing I can think of. It probably has a reason, but it ruins a bit of the excellent atmosphere, nicely generated sounds and continuity of the recording. Other than that, get this guy a release on a CD or vinyl. If this is only #2 … (BW)
––– Address: https://nosidesrecords.bandcamp.com/

PERICOPES + 1 – GOOD MORNING WORLD (CD by Losen Records)
I SINCOPATICI featuring CLAUDIO MILANO (CD, private)

Every so often, and according to Frans, far too often, we get releases that are unfit for Vital Weekly. This is one of them. If you are looking for futuristic fusion, yes, there’s a concept behind this record; go check this out on Swedish label Losen Records.
If you’re into dark, gothic and ritualistic music then you can turn to the dark doomy side with I Sincopatici, they released the live soundtrack to an Italian silent film from 1911 : L’inferno (hell). A visualisation of the second circle of hell. Again unbefitting Vital Weekly but right up your alley if you like a gloomy soundtrack. (MDS)
––– Address: https://losenrecords.no/
––– Address: https://claudiomilano.bandcamp.com/album/decimo-cerchio-linferno-1911-o-s-t