Week 39

KLEISTWAHR – WHERE THE WORLD IS NEVER (CD by Fourth Dimension Records) *
CAPRICORNI PNEUMATICI – WITCHCRAFT (CD by Eigtht Tower Records) *
STEFAN PRINS – INHABAIT (2CD on Sub Rosa) *
BESTIA ASTRUM – FURY 161 (CD by Cold Spring Records) *
UENO TAKASHI – ARMS (CD by Room40) *
LENGLET BODART BRAMNK – L’HUMEUR DES NON JOURS (CD by Circum Disc) *
JESSICA PAVONE – WHAT HAPPENS HAS BECOME NOW (CD by Relative Pitch Records) *
MADS EMIL NIELSEN & CHROMOCOLOR – HEARTBEATS (10″ by Arbitrary) *
ARCANE DEVICE – PRAVITATIS PRINCIPIUM (CDR by Pulsewidth) *
N.E.R.F. – NERV 30 SEP 2023 LIVE FABRIEK (CDR by No Copyright Recordings) *
BUTPLUG -THE SHOW MUST GO ON (2CDR by No Copyright Recordings) *
ELIO MARTUSCIELLO/OSSATURA – AKOUSMA-MOTHER – UMBILICAL CORD (CDR by Em-Music) *
DELPHIUM – EVRYTHING IS LOST II (CDR by Aquese Recordings) *
THING (#7) (CDR compialtion by Attenuation Circuit)
IAH – CIMILITURI (CINE ARE URECHI DE AUZIT SA ASURZEASCA) (CDR by Inner Demons Records) *
THE GREY MEN – THE SHAPE OF NOISE TO COME (CDR by Inner Demons Records) *
R4 – RAINMAKER (3″ CDR by Inner Demons Records) *
3HZ – LANDERS (cassette by Utter East)
COIMS – ECO JAMS VOL 1 (cassette, private) *
OLIVER WILLIAM OLIVERS – IMPROV 2 IMPROVE (cassette, private) *

KLEISTWAHR – WHERE THE WORLD IS NEVER (CD by Fourth Dimension Records)

Gary Mundy’s ongoing solo project Kleistwahr is always good for a new album, maybe one every year; sometimes even two, an older one receives an LP re-issue. Kleistwahr’s music has little development, which isn’t bad. I immensely like the somewhat depressing (and yet occasionally hopeful tones) music played by guitars, electronic drums, synthesiser/organ and electronics. I always appreciate hearing new versions of it. The six new pieces, all recorded this year, form another set of dystopian nightmares. It’s not necessarily loud, yet not quiet either. Restrained is, perhaps, a word that one applies to the music. Controlled and held back aggression, waiting for a moment to explode. Guitars and vocals drenched in reverb, mixed towards the back of the mix, with more guitars in the foreground. It is trademark Kleistwahr music, especially when a minor chord on an organ ends a song, such as in ‘As The Last Echo Resounds’. In the opening, ‘Ext. Nightclub 2am’ and ‘It’s All Escape’, there is a slow bass drum thud all the way down in the mix, which makes, especially in the first piece, much sense; the bass coming from inside the nightclub, and in the last, possibly dancing as a form of escapism. A requiem for whatever misfortune. What these lyrics are about, I have no idea. I see the voice more as another instrument, a different kind of howl from the deep. It’s noise, but not your traditional power electronics (Mundy was there, did that, as Ramleh) or harsh noise wall, but a more rock-noise, heavily guitar drenched music, and yet different from previous works he did, such as Toll. It’s an excellent release, but I’m not surprised about that qualification. (FdW)
––– Address: https://fourthdimensionrecords.bigcartel.com/

CAPRICORNI PNEUMATICI – WITCHCRAFT (CD by Eigtht Tower Records)

Despite many of their original releases dating back to the 1980s, I didn’t hear Capricorni Pneumatici in those days, and my introduction was when I reviewed their CD ‘The Erivar’ (Vital Weekly 1107), which seemed, listening to ‘Witchcraft’ today, an entirely different band. Or maybe their approach to music changed. The one I heard before was made with PVC tubes, air compressors and such like, whereas the 1987-89 pieces are composed with a Yamaha DX7, soprano sax, tapes, field recordings and CX511; ot on every track though; the DX7 is the only instrument to appear on all four pieces. The title track found its way to a single-sided cassette by SSS productions; two pieces were released on a cassette that came with the Zos-Kia Volume 2 fanzine, and the last one is a previously unreleased track. There was a time when the whole Aleister Crowley reference was heavily appealing, and that time was brief. The time after, the total opposite, was much longer. These days, I receive these things with a mild indifference; whatever pleases you, I think, and as long as it doesn’t bother me, fine. Looking beyond the Crowley thing, I care just about the music and the music I enjoy. The title piece opens the release, and it’s almost 19 minutes, the longest one. With the sound of the soprano saxophone recorded in a cave and heavily processed along with the DX7, this is a very moody, dark ambient piece. It is not a strict drone, but it sounds slowly morphing and re-shaping in a gentle, slow manner. The other track forms a similar trajectory of slow-moving electronic sounds; ‘A-Ro-Go-Go-Ru’ almost sounds like a prolonged piece of modern electronics. ‘A-thele-ber-Seth’ is an even slower, more drone-oriented piece of music with a bit of those granular bendings. ‘Schmumm’, the unreleased and most recent (1989) piece on this release, is a work of heavily treated field recordings, including a church with a female choir. This is perhaps the most traditional ritualistic piece of music on this CD, and still something I enjoy. Even if only for the darker ambient qualities of the music and not so much for whatever else they drag into the melee. (FdW)
––– Address: https://eighthtowerrecords.bandcamp.com/

STEFAN PRINS – INHABAIT (2CD by Sub Rosa)

Sounds to live in, to warm oneself too. Cosy up in aural matter, immersive tones to inhabit… From the off: that’s not the material Stefan Prins deals in. His new release, out on the celebrated Sub Rosa label, presents four large-scale works for acoustic woodwinds, electric guitar, orchestra and electronics, feedback and field recordings. And that’s material for those loathing the likes of for example Einaudi or Pärt, this moves into the realsm of Russell Haswell, Leif Ellgren and Carl Michael von Hausswolff. And beyond.
The works operate on a massive scale, bending piercing and shrieking feedback tones into subharmonies and overtones with acoustically produced noises. Tuning and attunement push and pull. Fresh and refreshing are the openings Prins searches for and finds in the midst of virtually chaotic juxtapositions – his works breathe with a non-density: a spectacular massivness and all-encompassing musical sound vista not unlike Iannis Xenakis or Jannis Christou, but with more spaces in between the curved lines, the paraboles and hyperprisms.
In these non-densities, these blanks, so to speak, left open, Prins manages to use this porous nature of his compositions to allow acoustic phenomena and sounds to dance around and merge with electronic matter. While this may indeed sound academic, these works, expertly performed by Ensemble Mosaik, EnsembleKollektiv Berlin, Nadar Ensemble and Yaron Deutsch with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Prins manages to imbue his composition with long and soul-stirring narrative arcs. His are not the tiny vignettes or what I would call ‘Polaroid’ snapshots. His is a post-neo-post-modern, almost Caspar David Friedrich-like vast horizon of internal and external turmoil finding expression through the most contemporary of means – there’s no nostalgia at play here, mind you.
This is sonic landscaping in the futuristic deconstruction of what a grand narrative contemporary composition can be, could be, should be, projected from what’s to come towards our present time’s con brio. Nature, nurture, tech. A bumpy, sometimes abrasive ride, not for the faint-hearted. A nuanced yet bold statement of intent from the noises of our times. (SSK)
––– Address: https://subrosalabel.bandcamp.com/

BESTIA ASTRUM – FURY 161 (CD by Cold Spring Records)

Without being a big science fiction know-it-all fan, it’s a genre I like, movies and books-wise. Did I see ‘Alien 3’? I am not sure, and just as I recently remarked, I do not keep a diary; I also never kept a list of movies I saw or books I read. Let’s be on the safe side and say I didn’t see it. Abby Helasdottir is best known for designing covers for Cold Spring releases. Now she has a CD under the name Bestia Astrum, and it’s called “a grim exploration of Fury 161, the prison planet from the movie Alien 3”; let’s say a kind of alternative soundtrack, but it’s also about the “troubled production of Alien 3, incorporating themes from earlier concepts proposed during its development hell, including the treatment created by Vincent Ward, who imagined the movie’s location as a wooden planet that was home to an order of space monks.”. I’m sure I have never heard of this and have not seen the movie (puts it back on another existing list, ‘movies to (re-)visit). I have no idea what kind of instruments are used here, but my best guess is field recordings, strips of metal percussion and electronics, all abundantly used along with the extensive use of reverb. Every piece is drenched in it, which helps the music’s unsettling and apocalyptic character. There may be too much reverb at times, but on the whole, it’s easy to see how it works towards the advantage of the music. Some field recordings sound like church bells, others like vessels at the bottom of the ocean, all rusty and slowly scraped. The music is abstract, massive clouds of sound, rather than melodic and accessible. Sometimes there is some creepy voice stuff, which scared the hell out of me the first time I played this. It’s stuff I love very much. And, because this is not an original soundtrack, the pieces have a proper length and don’t sound like promising excerpts, as many soundtrack albums do. Great stuff. (FdW)
––– Address: https://coldspring.bandcamp.com

UENO TAKASHI – ARMS (CD by Room40)

Just as with last week’s Warren Burt, I am sure I saw the Japanese duo Tenniscoats play, and I’m sure it was at Extrapool, but I don’t remember when and have a vague recollection of not being blown away by it. I believe I have not heard solo music by Ueno Talashi before, who was/is the group’s guitarist. A quick glance at Discogs tells me there’s a lot to catch up on, should this album convince me to do so. According to Room40, he “tests the fringes of extended technique, harmonic relation and post-blues modes”. ‘ARMS’ (the preferred spelling) is a collection of pieces made in the last few years and, apparently, one of his most melodic and structured recordings. We have here 18 pieces, all about two to three minutes, and indeed it’s pretty melodic, even when sometimes the starting point is improvisation. His electric guitar goes through various sound effects and there’s a moody tone within all of these pieces. Sometimes watery and distant, sometimes upfront and crystal clear, and the guitar remains to be recognised as the guitar. I don’t play the guitar so that I couldn’t say much about his playing. I heard a lot of solo guitar records over many years (and ‘The Return of The Durutti Column’ will be a number one, always), in many different styles, including this sort of ambient approach by Takashi. The album sounds quite alright, but also nothing out of the ordinary or exceptionally special. Solid mood music, 51 minutes long, and on a grey autumn, that’s all I want. (FdW)
––– Address: https://room40.bandcamp.com/

LENGLET BODART BRAMNK – L’HUMEUR DES NON JOURS (CD by Circum Disc)

Philippe Lenglet (acoustic guitar, effects, objects), Samuel Bodart (snare drum, bass drum, cymbals percussions, baschet sound structures), and Falter Bramnk (prepared piano, objects) known each other for a long time, crossing paths at places where they perform, constantly improvising, but never worked as a trio. I think I only heard music from Bramnk before, but I forgot the context. They recorded this CD in a live situation, without an audience, “neither Steve Albini nor A.I. were called upon”, which is a strange remark for a press text months after Albini’s untimely passing. The nine pieces are very much improvised music, and as such, may not be my cup of tea and, spoiler alert, at 55 minutes, this CD is too long. But there is something in the first few pieces that I enjoyed. The music’s directness, the way these musicians hammer on their instruments, is a sort of brutal approach that I enjoyed very much. It sometimes sounds pretty chaotic, as if no one listens to what the others are doing, but as the CD continues, there are moments of more introspective playing and less chaos. Maybe these pieces appear more towards the end of the CD, or perhaps I’m more used to their way of playing. But I am also growing a bit tired of it. The sonic brutality is a bit too much at the end, which is odd, seeing this nowhere near as noisy as some of the releases also reviewed elsewhere. But those releases are less defined than this one, in which we can hear each instrument and each crash, bang and strum. The instrumental approach is relatively conventional, and if you get my drift, a piano remains a piano. (FdW)
––– Address: https://circum-disc.bandcamp.com/

JESSICA PAVONE – WHAT HAPPENS HAS BECOME NOW (CD by Relative Pitch Records)

This is the fifth solo release of Jessica Pavone and the fourth one released on Relative Pitch Records. Her instrument is the viola. In the past, she has performed original music by William Parker, Henry Threadgill, Matana Roberts, Wadada Leo Smith, Aaron Siegel, Tyondai Braxton, Matthew Welch, Samantha Boshnack, Jason Cady, Elliott Sharp, and Taylor Ho Bynum, to name a few. From ’05 to ’12, she toured regularly with Anthony Braxton’s Sextet and 12+1tet and appeared on his discography. She explores the tactile and sensory experience of music as a vibration-based medium, according to her bio. Indeed, we hear the viola used as a sound generator on this short (four pieces in less than half an hour) release. The first piece studies intervals, seconds, fifths and the like and their harmonics. It’s dronelike, and the casual listener might find it dull, but the devil is in the details. The tuning, or rather the interval, closes in microscopically small amounts, I guess using her fingers on the strings, creating slowly changing dissonant intervals. The second piece is played on a Sword Viola, an actual sword with a string attached to the blade and two shoulder cushions, built by Ken Butler. It’s one of his hybrid instruments. He combines strings with unusual string holders: a Kalashnikov or a tennis racket. Combined with electronics, we hear glissandi in an indirect, distant way. The third piece is an etude in texture (by applying different amounts of pressure on the strings, the sound of the strings gets grainier or a more rasping sound and again intervals. The fourth piece is a surprise: noisy drones in a lower spectrum of the available frequencies with a kind of pulse. Excellent stuff! (MDS)
––– Address: https://relativepitchrecords.bandcamp.com/

MADS EMIL NIELSEN & CHROMOCOLOR – HEARTBEATS (10″ by Arbitrary)

The name Mads Emil Nielsen seems new to me (and I admit my research didn’t go very deep), and there is not much information here. This is “the second in a series of 10″ vinyl remix collaboration releases by Danish musician Mads Emil Nielsen and Chromacolor”, and I don’t think I knew Chromacolor was Hanno Leichtmann. Still, I know his music, albeit not heard in quite some time. Nielsen composed the original for a radio soundtrack. The music is derived from loops and granulations of sine waves and pulses from the modular synth, later combined with recordings of synthesised bass and layers of organ-like tones. In about seven minutes, Nielsen offers quite a gentle piece of slow pulsating sounds and ambient glitchy organ sounds. He takes enough time to keep things interesting without going off track and allowing something weird to happen; he stays within the groove (not for the dancefloor) and let it work out very ambiently. Just a wonderful ambient glitch, clicks ‘n cuts piece. Leichtmann adds his Hohner guitar, Fender Rhodes and Moog bass, creating a different kind of organism. It’s more instrumental, perhaps, since there’s also the cello of Anthea Caddy (a name I hadn’t heard in a long time) and voices by Annie Garlid. It’s a shorter piece with more happening. This is also an ambient composition but leans towards a new age/pop approach. The whole project, music and artwork reminded me of the Stephan Mathieu 10″ series from the first years of this century. I am sure that’s a good thing! (FdW)
––– Address: https://madsemilnielsenchromacolor.bandcamp.com/

ARCANE DEVICE – PRAVITATIS PRINCIPIUM (CDR by Pulsewidth)

David Lee Myers never delivers much text with releases, and this new one isn’t on Bandcamp as of writing these words. A small note says, a bit different this time, but that’s what he said of ‘Projections’ (Vital Weekly 1441), and yes, that one was different. This new release is also different from the previous one. I have to figure out when Myers thinks a work should carry his name and when he thinks it’s better to use Arcane Device. But I can see why Arcane Device fits these 13 pieces better. All titles are in Latin (not for the first time in the vast Arcane Device catalogue) and written in a goth font, but don’t let that fool you. It’s electronic music. I would think feedback still plays a primary role in his music, but for whatever reason, I can see a more substantial use of reverb plates here. Myers fed his sounds into these reverberating metallic sheets and recorded the ringing and singing of the plates. Maybe occasionally, some other sounds slip through here, but there is an exciting noisiness about these pieces. Not loud per se, but rather an unsettling kind of ambient music, with louder undercurrents. The thing we called ‘ambient industrial’ towards the end of the 1980s and ‘isolationism’ for a brief period in the mid-1990s. Sometimes, the unsettling part becomes too much, and it topples over to noise, such as ‘Circulos In Circulos’, with a backbone in the world of industrial music. The five short interlude pieces are among the loudest on the CDR. If anything, the music here is more audible than on many of his recent releases. Sure, it’s different, but simultaneously, the music sounds very much like Arcane Device. It’s just a different approach, but I might be wrong here, different instruments or technology. It’s great to see Myers still exploring new roads, new ideas and new technology (or re-configuring old technology), to create new work. This is another fascinating work by David Lee Myers, now with his Arcane Device hat on. (FdW)
––– Address: https://davidleemyers.bandcamp.com/

N.E.R.F. – NERV 30 SEP 2023 LIVE FABRIEK (CDR by No Copyright Recordings)
BUTPLUG -THE SHOW MUST GO ON (2CDR by No Copyright Recordings)

Both of these releases are from the world of Odal’s Peter Zincken, a man who loves his noise and his mystery. Both of these arrive without any explanation, and Discogs helps a bit. First, N.E.R.F., Zincken’s duo with Zyrtax’s Johnny van de Koolwijk. At the basis, there are recordings from the Odal vaults, and they add “fragments of improvised live recordings, analogue synths, loops & vocals”. On this CDR is a recording from about a year ago, at a place the Fabriek (not to be confused with the music group) in Eindhoven. They played for 25 minutes and presented some noise onslaught of heavily processed vocals, a ton of reverb and some shrieking metallic sound. The reverb gives you the impression we are in the big hall, which this venue might be (I’ve never been there), creating this hollowed-out space sound in which we hear a massive howl around and barely discernable field recordings. Some solid noise is going on here, and perhaps a bit short overall.
Butplug is something entirely different. I have no idea who is behind this. Next to a cassette release, this is their only other release. Maybe this is Peter Zincken in a disco guise. Each CDR has multiple tracks, but they aren’t separated on the CDR for whatever reason. Maybe there is a good reason for it; maybe it’s just a digiphobe at the controls. There are some differences between both discs. The first one contains seven lengthy pieces of electro-pop rhythms and silly keyboard doodles, but they are also fed through some nasty filtering, allowing for noise manipulation. It’s not exactly dance music, but who knows how this sounds on a big installation? Maybe that changes all. The 12 pieces on the second disc are in a similar style but not as strict electro rhythm, tune and noise. It sounds more sample-based and has way more variation than the first disc. Sometimes very minimal in the rhythm department but quite funny at times; even words as melodic and dreamy pop to mind. Something to book for your next underground dance party. (FdW)
––– Address: try Discogs

SEAN HAMILTON – DAYS OF IMPERMANENCE (CDR by Gotta Let It Out)

The last time I reviewed work by Sean Hamilton (Vital Weekly 1211) was the first time, and I mentioned that a solo CD by an improvising musician could be considered a business card. “This is what I do” sort of thing, but I am not aware of his work with others, but that might be because work from that area doesn’t reach me. As I mentioned before, there’s a lot of improvised music coming our way, and it’s not the core business for Vital Weekly. So, after about five years, another solo album by percussionist Sean Hamilton. He uses a drum set, prepared vibraphone, percussion and, in one track, the software of Pure Data. I had to re-read my old review to remind myself what I said (I never had the memory to remember all of this music I reviewed) and read what I was already thinking: Hamilton bounces all over the place. There is a lot of wild banging on the drum kit, sitting next to more reflective pieces. The latter involves the vibraphone, and they make up for quiet intersections with the wilder stuff. Also, the title piece is one of the quieter pieces, mainly played using cymbals and has a very intense feeling: unsettling quietness. Sometimes, I had the impression Hamilton uses multi-tracking, thinking about the impossibility of playing so many things simultaneously. But I am not a drummer, so what do I know? More from the last time I still agree with: this is a pretty good business card. Hamilton’s playing can fit many impromptu or fixed groups of people improvising. Maybe this has to do with his background in playing solo, but also “chamber ensembles, electroacoustic mediums, and fixed media”, as he calls it. A limited amount of copies of this release come with a book on 35 mm photography, a relatively new interest for Hamilton. I haven’t seen it, but if the cover is anything to go by, I’m sure it looks fine. (FdW)
––– Address: https://gottaletitout.bandcamp.com/

ELIO MARTUSCIELLO/OSSATURA – AKOUSMA-MOTHER – UMBILICAL CORD (CDR by Em-Music)

A bit of a strange one: Is this CDR by Ossatura, or is it by Elio Martusciello? From the front cover you could even understand there’s a band called Akousma-Mother. The music is also a strange mixture of wide-apart musical interests. I know Martusciello’s earliest work was when he worked with sampling technology, resulting in musique concrète pieces. He’s been doing the Ossatura trio for a long time also, since 1995, and Recommended Records released various works. Martusciello plays the guitar, Luca Venitucci on accordion, piano and electronics and Fabrizio Spera on drums and percussion. As far as I understand, the three musicians recorded music, which Martusciello then used material to cut up. Hence, I use the word ‘strange’ because it captures so many styles and also it’s not easy to grasp. I liked the cutting and editing of the rock sounds, using whatever was available to splice, but then some of the music is also very loungy and jazz-like with laidback piano work, which isn’t for me. It’s a wild trip, that much I know. I don’t know much about the technology behind this, but it all fits, I assume, key and note-wise, which, I suppose, isn’t always an easy thing. I like the alienation more than the traditional jazz and improvised music approaches, and I couldn’t say what the balance is here. Sometimes, it all happens within one piece. There is a lot to explore on this record, and every time I heard it, something new grabbed my attention, which, for an album that isn’t always my cup of tea, is quite a thing. (FdW)
––– Address: https://eliomartusciello.bandcamp.com/

DELPHIUM – EVRYTHING IS LOST II (CDR by Aquese Recordings)

Jonathan Forde’s project Delphium has been around for ages, but releases arrive irregularly. Sometimes quiet for a long time, and then various in a row. The last one I reviewed was in Vital Weekly 1282, about three years ago, and now there is a new one with 15 songs, spanning 74 minutes. I missed the first volume of ‘Everything Is Lost’, also available on CDR, but the amount of music presented here makes up for it. It seems Forde is particularly fond of long albums, but I think it is also too much. Sure, I know people can choose to play a part or select favourites, so why not fill the entire length of the medium you’re using? Call me old-fashioned, but I also like to hear an album that is properly sequenced to be an album and not a collection of songs. It is a collection of songs now, but it is what it is. Delphium’s music is still about rhythm—many drum machines, synthesisers, sequences and ambient pads. At times quite forceful, but I don’t think Delphium’s music is aimed at the dancefloor. None of his beats are rigorous 4/4 beats, pounding away. It’s a bit more broken up, and throughout the production has a sense of navity, mainly from the production perspective. More armchair techno and dance floor house music, if you get my drift. Some of that naivety is also in the compositional side of the music, with tracks ending with a rather abrupt fade out mid-melody. The music has a similar sound throughout the 15 pieces, and they are all about five minutes long. I believe the album could have been more robust from a stricter selection or with more pieces like ‘Loneliness Is A Sharp Blade’, one of the album’s pieces without beats; add a couple of those and the overall mix gets more variation. Now, a couple of these are tucked together at the album’s end. But overall, I found this an enjoyable album, ticking away on a long Sunday afternoon, being holed up inside the house and a book, with a wealth of armchair techno on the speakers. (FdW)
––– Address: https://delphium1.bandcamp.com/

THING (#7) (CDR compialtion by Attenuation Circuit)

For those who think they’ve seen this release reviewed before in VW, you’re wrong. The title is the same as six previous ones, I give you that, but that’s just the concept behind this series. Attenuation Circuit has an open window for a sampler series entitled “Thing” and this is number 7. Artists can apply for the series with a maximum of 15 minutes, and Sascha Stadlmeier, who is behind the label, will try to combine submissions until there is a new product where the tracks will fit together. After a fee, the 100 copies are distributed equally between the artists and the label (so, 20 each) and this way, you get a) a nice release and b) the possibility to get distributed amongst an audience of each of the three other projects which might result in getting your project out to a new audience. On this seventh iteration, the artists are Gerald Fiebig, NHWRF, and Gehirn. Implosion and Carsten Vollmer. I think they have been mentioned in VW before, but let’s listen …
Gerald Fiebig is a regular on Attenuation Circuit and his track “The Last Street Song” is a bit weird in my ears. The composition has loads of sudden movements, which is relatively minimal overall. It’s definitely noisy, but I’d personally put it in the experimental pile before I’d put it in the noise pile. There is a whole concept behind the track, with noise being closer to the ‘song of the resistance than the international’, but that concept doesn’t really bloom here i.m.h.o.
From the first tones, the second track is more up my alley. NHWRF’s massive droney noisy layers in his track “Moist Like DP—Dead Blood” are impressive. This track evolves organically based on particular well—chosen or well—generated samples. There is constant movement, and even though it’s a bit limited in dynamics (it’s constantly harsh with loads of bass), there is more than enough happening to keep it interesting—fully saturated basses.
The third track is for Gehirn. Implosion with their massive “Wir sind die Erinnerung” (translated: We are (the) memory). Relatively high-pitched noise where a lot is happening, yet nothing is happening. A harsh noise drone if people would ever need an example to define a genre. It’s noisy as hell, but if you read what it’s about, three older tracks played together and recorded as-is. ‘Because while the memory of our experiences shapes us, we are also yearning not to be completely determined by them’. Nice!
The final track is Carsten Vollmer, and those who haven’t heard of him have been asleep since the early 90s. With his alter ego, Bär & Co, he was present on the first sampler cassette on the legendary Ant-Zen label. Under his name, he makes feedback noise, and we all know feedback is hard to control. But because of his experience over the years, Carsten manages perfectly. “Respect Thee Runes” or “Respect the ruins”? It doesn’t matter. After 13 minutes of feedback your ears are happy for the silence that remains.
Just under an hour of four different types of noise. And you can order five of those doctors for only 20 euros, including this one. So, if you feel explorative, check Bandcamp or the website in the links. This one is a stayer in my collection! (BW)
––– Address: https://www.attenuationcircuit.de/
––– Address: https://emerge.bandcamp.com/

IAH – CIMILITURI (CINE ARE URECHI DE AUZIT SA ASURZEASCA) (CDR by Inner Demons Records)

Weirdness can lead to mind games, but a proper amount of wine or whiskey might also obscure the thinking process. Any primary thought might lead to answers to questions you didn’t know would have the answer you just came up with. Why did he roll his eyes at the neighbour’s goat? Is what’s in the hand not a lie? Or can it still be? Dadaist noise with loads of fun and intense moments by Iah from Băicoi, Romania. He is also known as Ia-HA-Crax but being honest, I had never heard of him (or her or them) before.
The 5-inch “Cimilituri (Cine is urechi de auzit sa asurzeasca)” released by Inner Demons will keep your mind occupied for over an hour. The title translates to “Riddle (He who has ears to hear will be deafened),” and while there are some quite deafening moments on this album, it has a lot of atmospheric, not too intrusive tracks. It sounds a bit like little noise makers, effects, maybe some modules, some acoustic instruments, but basically, it sounds like fun times.
Most tracks are some kind of evolving things, a minimal base that’s generative with other sounds or manipulations. And because of this method – which I, by the way, really appreciate – it just goes on and on. I played the album several times, and for me, the best moment was during a car drive where the evolution of sounds somehow merged with the variations of landscape and cityscapes. Sometimes there are trees, occasionally wide open fields with cows, a few villages left and right and a highway carefully directing the traffic away from the city. Yet still, the concrete skyline cuts through the line of trees.
I’m looking forward to listening more often on different systems, at different volumes and in different situations. This album seems to adapt itself to the environment. How? I don’t know … That’s maybe the riddle … (BW)
––– Address: https://innerdemonsrecords.bandcamp.com/

THE GREY MEN – THE SHAPE OF NOISE TO COME (CDR by Inner Demons Records)

Hold it, wait … I can hear you think, ‘I thought Inner Demons only did 3″ CDRs,’ and while you aren’t completely wrong, it’s been a while since they also do the 5″ / normal-sized ones. So here we have another full album, over an hour of some great sounds to listen to. The Grey Men are a collective of experimental musicians from Sydney, Australia, with stringed instruments forming the base of some ultimately heavy drone doom with a side serving of experimentalism.
“Slowly played distorted guitars and feedback with modular synthesizers, tape loops and obscure samples to achieve sounds both harsh and transcendent” is mentioned on the Bandcamp page, and exactly that is what I thought of when listening for the first time. Honestly! I’ve seen Sun O))) a few times, and even when The Grey Men reminded me of them, there was something different. Listening and registering, I somehow came up with Sunn O))) getting a lot of their extra layers from valve harmonics and volume, The Grey Men aren’t afraid to incorporate other instruments to generate those extra layers.
Sure, I admit, at high volume is where noise has the most impact, but this is actually also very admirable on a lower level. Not too low, though. The tracks are between 7 and 13 minutes and there are 6 of them on this album. Most drone doom, except for “Void” which has vocals as if it’s a cross-over with black or death metal. A few tracks are very strictly slow guitar in sync with what you’ll expect from a band inspired by Sunn O))) and others have more of a droney trajectory or buildup or are more noisy in nature. And while I’m thinking and listening yet again to come up with a favourite track for the podcast, I can’t… There are two or three so different that I just can’t make that choice. (BW)
–– Address: https://innerdemonsrecords.bandcamp.com/

R4 – RAINMAKER (3″ CDR by Inner Demons Records)

What you can do with sound is fantastic. That is probably why most of you read the Vital Weekly and why you are interested in at least a part of what is considered experimental or avant-garde in some way. R4, Barry D. Scheffel from Ohio, chose a rain shower in May 2024 as the sole sound source for this release. After that part, I have no clue whether it’s all in the digital domain or if it’s analogue gear or pedals… But I’ll tell you why I like this release.
Each of the three tracks is called “Rainmaker” with a number, but each track has a different style with that same sound source. The first one is very noisy with a significant buildup and, at moments, unrecognizable from where it started. The second iteration is way more a drone and gives better insight into what that sound source sounded like. Yet still, it’s way more of a drone with field recordings, of which we know that the drone is also generated from those field recordings. The third track is weird. If it’s only the field recording, that was one HELL of a rain shower, but it’s a bit more probable that Barry took those recordings in a more pure form and started building and layering this more soundscape-like exercise.
So, there you have it. An experiment pur sang. You have a sound; what can you do with it? You could make noise, drones and soundscapes … Why not choose d) All of the above? (BW)
––– Address: https://innerdemonsrecords.bandcamp.com/

3HZ – LANDERS (cassette by Utter East)

I had not heard of a trio called 3Hz, and that’s a frequency hard to hear; I guess it’s a reference to the fact the group has three members: Steve Schwartz, Michael Carian and Justin van Slembrouck. They write about their being “born of coincidence during a few days creating audio loops and capturing field audio out in a remote stretch of the Mojave Desert; we see band members in hazy photos on the cover. The surroundings played a part in capturing the music here. They’re using guitars, pedals and amps and give as references Windy & Carl, Sunn O))), Flying Saucer Attack, His Name Is Alive, Lawrence English, Celer, Chihei Hatakeyama and Aidan Baker, and I surely hear a bit of all of that in the six pieces on this cassette. And also, that’s important; there are differences; for instance, the volume is not like that of Sunn O))). It is good to know that it is “safe for radio airplay according to FCC regulations and contains no obscene language”. It’s a limited cassette release! Times, indeed, have changed. It’s been over 25 years now that this sort of guitar, pedals, and amps, the ambient side of post-rock, first captured my interest. For a time, I enjoyed collecting many obscure vinyl releases, but that interest also went away again. That’s not to say I no longer like this kind of music. When I reviewed Navel some weeks ago, I played one of their older releases, too, and they came from a similar musical background. The sort of noisy, crunchy and grainy ambient that happens to be made with guitars, and these days, find my way in a slightly different form, more electronic, more field recordings-like and, maybe, a different kind of darkness. The same music, and yet somewhat different. For me, some nostalgia, and had I the time, I’d love to spend a day or two playing old Flying Saucer Attack or Windy & Carl again, immersing myself with the full immersive sounds. And, I’d be playing 3Hz also, as part of that mix. Maybe this would result in a slightly different review, with me pointing out the minor differences between these bands in more detail. Time is limited, the cassette is beautiful, and I’d be happy to hear more of them, wether locked in a desert or not. (FdW)
––– Address: https://3hzmusic.bandcamp.com/album/landers

COIMS – ECO JAMS VOL 1 (cassette, private)
OLIVER WILLIAM OLIVERS – IMPROV 2 IMPROVE (cassette, private)

Here, we have two cassettes of extended guitar improvisations by Oliver William Olivers and one he released under the name Coims. He has to inform one what the difference is. He mailed a booklet, ’81 Exploratory Guitar Chords’, along with these cassettes. I never learned even one standard chord, and I haven’t had a guitar for many years. I started with Coims, who improvises with others on this cassette. The first side sees the presence of Aero foam with RIM ACD, whatever that means, with a recording from earlier this year and on the other side, we have a Uranium wreath with Dali de Saint Paul and Dan Johnson. Maybe ‘Aero Foam’ and ‘Uranium Wreath’ are the titles. The neatly silk-screened covers don’t have any information. Both sides see a combination of guitar and percussion, but there are differences. There’s chaos on both sides, but on the first side, there’s more coherent chaos; it is less so on the second, going on a wilder bender. Maybe three people create more chaos. There is also a slightly more electronic component to the music on the second side. Both pieces last almost 30 minutes, and it seems none of this has been altered or edited, so it is what it is. It is a wild ride, with the second side ending in quite a noisy mayhem.
I think I better enjoy the other cassette, but you can’t agree. Let me explain: “IMPROV TO IMPROVE is a series of unique free extemporized solo jams recorded directly to found cassette”, says Olivers, meaning my copy isn’t your copy. Along with the cassette is a card with a download sampler of this work, totalling two hours of music. We hear Olivers doodling on the guitar, going spacey, noisy, and doing weird bending. Sometimes all beautiful and crispy clear, sometimes drenched with many sound effects. There is madness, and there’s strict order. And there’s a lot to digest, which makes this one long ride, but most of the time quite rewarding, sometimes not at all, but surely nice enough. (FdW)
––– Address: https://longsarmartifacts.bandcamp.com/