Week 49

NASMAK PM – BOOTY TWIST TO TANGLED TANGO (CD by Nasmak) *
VIDNA OBMANA – TWILIGHT OF PERCEPTION REDUX: VOLUME ONE 1990-1998 (3CD by Zoharum) *
KOKUM – OBSCURED INSTINCT AND THE PALE FOLKLORE (CD by Eighth Tower Records) *
JAMISON WILLIAMS – THE KEY OF THE LESSER SALOMON-BAEL (CD by Relative Pitch Records) *
AUDREY LAURO – PROSE MÉTALLIQUE (CD by Relative Pitch Records) *
CAMILLA NEBBIA & ANGELICA SANCHEZ – IN ANOTHER LAND, IN ANOTHER DREAM (CD by Relative Pitch Records) *
HORNORKESTERET – DANS FRA DALSTRØKA (LP by Panot)
KOMMANDO – WAGE OF WRATH (LP by Ant-Zen) *
KAREN WILLEMS, ROMKE KLEEFSTRA & JAN KLEEFSTRA – IT DEEL III (LP by Moving Furniture Records) *
YPSMAEL – STORSION TRUPPIGGETANZT (7″ lathe cut by Spaltung) *
CHOCO MUNO – ØLFRUGT (CDR by No Copyright Recordings) *
TAALEM ADVENT CALENDAR 2024 (24x 3″ CDR Box by Taalem) Part 1
01 NIMH – RECALLING BLACK SILENCES (3″ CDR by Taalem) *
02: DRONAEMENT – SHAMANIC BREAKFAST (3″ CDR by Taalem) *
03: COMPEST – ZUSTAND UND STASIS (3″ CDR by Taalem) *
IGOOSE – HELLA FREE (3″CDR by Inner Demons Records) *
SHADOW ECHO CANYON – A DAYMARE REALITY (double 3″CDR by Inner Demons Records) *
ELI WALLIS – SWUM TO PHASIS (3″CDR by Inner Demons Records) *
LÄRMSCHUTZ – DETHRONE (double 3″CDR by Inner Demons Records) *
PLATONOFF – RUSSIAN WORLD (3″ CDR by Inner Demons Records) *
ROBERT SCHWARZ – STRIDULATIONS (cassette by Superpang)
KAPOTTE MUZIEK – USE NOW (cassette, private) *

NASMAK PM – BOOTY TWIST TO TANGLED TANGO (CD by Nasmak)

Last Sunday I saw the best concert of this year. That says nothing, as I rarely see concerts and certainly never pop music. I saw pop music and even travelled out of town for this. Nasmak PM played two concerts at the weekend, and I saw the second one. Four people were on stage, of which two were members all along; one was a member at the start and since their return last year, and the last one was a hired gun on bass and synth (Richard van Kruysdijk from Phallus Dei). It turns out the guitarist is ill this day, making the music rely even more on synthesisers, drums (both played electronically by Toon Bressers and on tape), and bass – Van Kruysdijk’s playing occasionally reminds me of New Order. Like I remember from their two previous CDs (Vital Weekly 1436 and 1425, meaning when they started again), there is always a glimpse of old songs, shining through, above, below or somewhere beneath, and sometimes in the open. Singer Truus de Groot (also better known as Plus Instruments) performs no less than three versions of her first 7″ ‘Special Agreement’—a concert with classic and new material and many beats. Nasmak PM plays ‘dense music’, with a double meaning of dense meaning and dance (well, pronounced in Dutch).
The guitar is present on ‘Booty Twist To Tangled Tango’, giving the music a pretty balanced character, different from the concert. More balance, which was also in the concert, is the use of male and female voices, which adds an exciting dynamic to the music. This time, the hints towards their back catalogue via drops of song titles or in the music are less noticeable. The complexity of the rhythm is still their strong suit, creating music one could dance to but all the same can be something one sits down and hears. This is pop music, but what do I know about pop music? Nothing at all, and I think this could be big, so it’s good I am not under the control of a big-time record company. I am sure the kids would like something else. Nasmak PM is still at its game; it’s still the ghost of post-punk, updated with a lot of technology, relying more on synthesisers (just as at the end of the first period) and samples and funky. Nasmak PM made three albums in one year. They are all great. Is that something they will keep up? Or even want to? There is enough experiment and excitement here to keep doing it, but is that what they want? Time will tell. (FdW)
––– Address: https://nasmak.bandcamp.com/

VIDNA OBMANA – TWILIGHT OF PERCEPTION REDUX: VOLUME ONE 1990-1998 (3CD by Zoharum)

As of today (November 20, 2024), Discogs lists 107 compilation appearances by Vidna Obmana, or 157 if we go by ‘appearances’. If that is a lot or not it is not an interesting discussion. Dirk Serries started in 1984 or thereabouts, so after 40 years, there is a lot. Many of his works have been re-issued by the Polish Zoharum label, and now it’s time to compile the compilation tracks and (maybe) clear the archives, as from the 23 pieces, six are previously unreleased. I haven’t studied all Vidna Obmana releases that closely to know why Volume One started in 1990 and not in 1984 (or thereabouts) because right from the start, there were compilations with his music. One reason might be the clear musical break in 1990, separating what came before and what would come later. Vidna Obmana started as a noise band but, within a few years, turned towards more melodic music, which, after 1990, took off completely. The tracks on this set aren’t in chronological order, so it’s not easy to follow Vidna Obmana’s trajectory in music. Through the eight years covered here, there isn’t much development, and Serries is fine-tuning his approach to composing ambient music. Many of these pieces evolve around long-form sequences and loops of sound, set to trigger synthesisers and the occasional rhythm. Serries uses “various fujara’s, overtone flutes, percussion, dream pipe, recycling & abstraction mutations and voices” are added. These aren’t things one quickly hears through the extensive use of the sound effects, which may be called “atmospheres” on the cover (perhaps these are the sparsely used field recordings). There is in each of these pieces a slow, majestic flow, both pleasantly tranquil and yet with a dark undercurrent, stirring the music firmly away from the world of new age music. Close to three hours of music, this is an excellent soundtrack for short and dark (and cold) days, and it’s music exuding much-needed warmth. The reissues of Vidna Obmana seem endless, but bring it on. (FdW)
––– Address: https://zoharum.bandcamp.com/

KOKUM – OBSCURED INSTINCT AND THE PALE FOLKLORE (CD by Eighth Tower Records)

From Hungary comes musician Kokum, and I had not heard of him or his two previous releases (according to Discogs). I think the title of his latest release is somewhat of a program. The label also says, “This album traverses the shadowy corridors of dark folk music and the pulsating rhythms of new wave post-industrial soundscapes, creating an otherworldly and mesmerising experience.” Kokum uses his voice, field recordings, and what is called “the sounds of everyday objects” without being too specific, and due to the electronic treatments, none of these objects can be recognised. Folklore sounds like an appt description, but it’s more a pagan folklore, one of darkness and rituals and has nothing to do with traditional folklore music. Here, I find myself in a musical landscape that I don’t know much about, the kind of ritual music that wasn’t my ‘thing’ in the ye olden days, but I started to enjoy it more over many years. If anything, I think Kokum’s music sounds very much inspired by the first few Current 93 albums, ‘Nature Unveiled and ‘Dogs Blood Rising’, an area of 93 I enjoyed a lot (any of their music until an acoustic guitar came into play, and it became folk music to my adolescent noise ears). This music isn’t of a similar power or industrial background, but more reflective and with much shorter pieces. There is no Gregorian chanting, Jesus doesn’t weep, and I have no idea what these lyrics are about. I enjoy it all the same, as there is a very refined experimental edge that works very well. Between the slowed-down percussion and the slow grunts and poetry, Kokum waves a horror-like thread throughout the music, which adds to the nightmarish aspect of the music. What it means eludes me (well, probably), but the grimness of the music is very well received on these shortened days and long and dark nights. I can’t start a campfire here, but it will be all in candlelight the next time I play this. (FdW)
––– Address: https://eighthtowerrecords.bandcamp.com/

JAMISON WILLIAMS – THE KEY OF THE LESSER SALOMON-BAEL (CD by Relative Pitch Records)

Let’s talk a bit about the title of this solo release by Jamison Williams. According to Wikipedia, the Key of the Lesser Salomon (or to be precise: Lemegeton Clavicula Salomonis) is a grimoire, or book of spells, likely based on The Key of Salomon, an Italian grimoire from the 14th or 15th century. The former contains four more demons King Solomon summoned to build his temple, where he placed the infamous Ark of the Covenant containing the stone tablets with the Ten Commandments. Raiders of the Lost Ark depicts what happens if the Ark is opened, back to the grimoire. In total, there are 72 demons. So, potentially, this release is the first of a series of 72. The recording location has a story as well. It’s the church of Lasauvage : Sainte Barbe de Lasauvage. Again, according to Wikipedia, the place’s name goes back to a legend of a wild woman who is supposed to have only eaten raw meat and lived under a rocky promontory where a landslide buried her. It is assumed that the valley was not inhabited before the 17th century. In early chronicles, it is referred to as Val de la Sauvage femme (French for “Valley of the Wild Woman”). The church is a replica of the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris, a chapel (not a cathedral) built by Louis IX. On to the music: Jamison plays the baritone saxophone, the largest standard saxophone. One size more significant is the bass saxophone. Naming the track Bael means that during this 50-minute long track, either Bael is summoned (in a church!) or Jamison plays what Bael would sound like if the sax were possessed (using Jamison as a playing vessel). Either way, the music has a natural reverb and stays attractive for fifty minutes because of the recording location. And he uses the reverb to let sounds die out. And multiphonics as well. Apart from that, the music is well-balanced and thought out. Well done! Or, in other words, an exciting release. (MDS)
––– Address: https://relativepitchrecords.bandcamp.com/

AUDREY LAURO – PROSE MÉTALLIQUE (CD by Relative Pitch Records)

I only saw Audrey Lauro, French-born, Brussels-based, in concert at a concert in Antwerp, Belgium 2019. Ken Vandermark’s Marker did a residency at De Studio. On the second night, he composed new music for Marker with local (Belgian) musicians. Stan Maris, Farida Amadou, Hanne de Backer and Audrey Lauro joined the festivities for the second set (and the new material). The evening was recorded, and I still don’t know if a release will happen. I genuinely hope so. The music was exhilarating. Prose métallique, out on Relative Pitch Records, with an ongoing series of solo improvised releases, is her second solo release after Sous Un Ciel D’écailles. The recording of that one was at the chap of the Grand Hospital with a lot of natural reverb. This one was recorded close-miked at the sunny side studio, the owner of which recorded, mixed and mastered the release: Nico Lefèvre. This is intimate music with the alto saxophone used as a sound generator. Audrey uses everyday objects to prepare the alto saxophone. The second track (Prose métallique (metallic prose)) is a slow burner with harmonic overtones, reminiscent of what Morton Feldman would do if he played the saxophone. Prose plastique has more movement with sputtering notes in a high register with tongue slaps. Apart from the first track, with Charlie Parker-like runs, the music is delicate, intimate, and highly personal, not to mention soft-spoken (played). Listen to this in a quiet environment with an attentive ear. It’s not background music and deserves your utmost attention. (MDS)
––– Address: https://relativepitchrecords.bandcamp.com/

CAMILLA NEBBIA & ANGELICA SANCHEZ – IN ANOTHER LAND, IN ANOTHER DREAM (CD by Relative Pitch Records)

Here we have a recording of a duo set by Argentinian-born, Berlin-based Camilla Nebbia on tenor saxophone and American-born, New York-based Angelica Sanchez on grand piano in New York City. The location is iBeam, a member-owned venue in Brooklyn. Nebbia has been featured a few times on these pages. Angelica Sanchez is a new name. She is a member of the infamous Rob Mazurek’s Exploding Stars Orchestra. She has recorded music with Anthony Braxton, Ivo Perelman, Pat Mastelotto (drummer of King Crimson) and Kris Davis, among many others. The music on this disk is almost like modern classical music, in a very good way. There’s a lot to discover here in the nine pieces. Invigorating music throughout, with a lot of attention to detail. The interplay between the two is phenomenal. This is highly recommended. (MDS)
––– Address: https://relativepitchrecords.bandcamp.com/

HORNORKESTERET – DANS FRA DALSTRØKA (LP by Panot)

It’s been a while since I last heard music from Hornorkesteret, the Norwegian group playing fiddle-like instruments made from reindeer antlers alongside strummed zither, bone flute, tin flute, glockenspiel, ukulele bass, moose skull, mandolin, guitar, timpani, rototoms, bass drum, cowbells, hoof rattle, and cymbals. That sounds like a curious collection of instruments without electronics. The only time I heard their music was in 2008 when I reviewed their ‘Elegi For Roald Amundsen’ (Vital Weekly 637), which included texts about the ill-fated North Pole mission of the Amundsen. That album contains texts, whereas this one is all instrumental. Which is good, as the Norwegian language isn’t my strong suit. I don’t remember their previous release, so comparing it with the music on this release is complicated. Even when this music is far from what Vital Weekly gets served, I find this quite a compelling album. The music has a specific rock-like approach or, without the electricity, a folk-like approach. The music is far from gentle, I think. It is pretty rough and brutal, like the landscape it stems from. A ritualistic aspect, if you will, enhanced by the sometimes kind of chanting, for instance, in ‘Krekling’ (and in some other pieces as well, but I may also mistake the strings for voices). It’s like the horror soundtrack about an isolated community up north (kinda like ‘Midsomnar’ perhaps), and it’s easy to mistake the band’s name as a funny way of writing ‘horror orchestra’, but it means ‘horn orchestra’. I know nothing about the (possible) traditions behind the music or the area it comes from, and as such, I feel like an outsider. However, I don’t mind being one. I may not understand it, but I like this, mainly because it’s so different from what I usually review and includes music I also review and yet fail to understand. (FdW)
––– Address: https://hornorkesteret.wordpress.com/

KOMMANDO – WAGE OF WRATH (LP by Ant-Zen)

Many years ago, Vital Weekly had a dedicated follower (and reviewer) of Ant-Zen releases, and when he quit, you may have seen hardly any Ant-Zen releases on these pages. I admit I never “followed” the label that much, and the releases I have in my collection are under five (Beequeen and two by local group Distel). I don’t know if there is something of any established label sound or a roster of artists. By sheer coincidence, I got this album by Dan Courtman, who you (not me) know as Thorofon but also works as Kommando. PJN reviewed a previous album in Vital Weekly 1005. There are several releases by Kommando, which I may not check very soon, but that’s nothing to say about the quality here. Being not too well-versed in the world of noise, not knowing each sub-section that well, and because Kommando plays quite a bit of diverse noise music. Almost everything has ominous distortion: the synthesisers, rhythms, and voice. Think industrial music meeting pure power electronics, a bit of Pan Sonic-esque low-end bass punches and the occasional moment of unsettling dark ambience. What these songs are about, I don’t know. Your guess may be as good as mine with such track titles as ‘Sonic Wanking’, ‘Torrent Of Fresh Blood’, ‘Death On Demand’ or ‘Not What You Think’. Or, as the label writes, “Within its chaotic structure, ‘Wage Of Wrath’ mirrors the internal conflict of the mind, where discordant elements clash violently. the aggressive soundscape is both destructive and cathartic, stirring up the subconscious and exposing repressed emotions. yet, in this infection, there is also a potential for catharsis, a chance to confront and ultimately overcome one’s inner demons.” That is, of course, also a possibility. As with other noise music, the excitement is generally more in the personal sphere. To enjoy over-the-top noise music, the brutalist aspect of the music, a clearing of the mind. Let the music be a purge if you. Therein also lies why I am not seeking out the back catalogue immediately. These 39 minutes are enough for now, the head all cleared up, reborn and refreshed after a cold shower of screaming feedback, top-heavy bass sounds and relentless jackhammering rhythms. Noise pick of the week! (FdW)
––– Address: hhttps://ant-zen.bandcamp.com/album/wage-of-wrath

KAREN WILLEMS, ROMKE KLEEFSTRA & JAN KLEEFSTRA – IT DEEL III (LP by Moving Furniture Records)

Part three of an ongoing series by the brothers Kleefstra in which they have a residency at a church in Friesland, a province in the North of the Netherlands. After working on the material, there’s a presentation for the public. And roughly a year later, there’s a release presentation. The first one (It deel means part) had Michał Jacaszek as a guest. He added electronics and string arrangements into the mix. Part two had two musicians, Eivind Lønning on trumpet and electronics and Espen Reinertsen on saxophone and again electronics. They invited Karen Willems, Belgian drummer and percussionist for part three. She was the drummer in one of the incarnations of Belgian band Zita Swoon, the Zita Swoon group to be exact, one of my favourite Belgian bands, and has a project called Inwolves, with two releases, the latest being Color in the Zoo from 2018. On the It deel III. Again, eight pieces, the longest lasting nearly 10 minutes. It’s the opening track called De moaiste Dea, which translates as the best death. This song’s lyrics (translated into English) are : I can imagine total silence, but becoming overgrown might well be the best death. There where the ground takes me in, life only begins for real. We don’t know this yet, scorched earth, life staying small and lean. I’ll leave the interpretation to you. The soft-spoken words are embedded in moving drone layers, with subtle changing notes and added field recordings. The piano comes in with extended, sustained chords and bowed cymbal. Beautiful! And that’s only the beginning. There are three other pieces with lyrics. For a comparison, I don’t make them very often but think of a Godspeed You Black Emperor track in slow motion or, even better, Low with Frisian lyrics. At least for the tracks with lyrics. Dark ambient might fit as a description. Many, many layers are to be discovered. This is not background music. It draws you in and hooks you with its talons like a hobby, the bird of prey in this case, or in the Frisian language: de blauwe wikel. I’m looking forward to next year’s release. (MDS)
––– Address: https://movingfurniturerecords.bandcamp.com/

YPSMAEL – STORSION TRUPPIGGETANZT (7″ lathe cut by Spaltung)

Last week, we had a compilation CD from the Struppig Tanzen organisation in Leverkusen on these pages; now it’s time for a lathe cut 7″ by Ypsmael. I reviewed music by Norm Mueller, the person behind the music, before. On 9 June 2013, he played at an event at the home ground of the organisation, the Kulturbesserungswerk in Leverkusen and Ypsmael came armed with feedback, electronics, microphones, claves, voice and guitar effect pedals. More than ten years later, these recordings are reviewed, reworked, remixed, or recycled into the two pieces on this 7″. In what way these recordings resemble the original concert, we will never know unless Ypsmael decides to share it one day. Whatever he did to the concert recordings remains a mystery; the results are beautiful. Two delicate pieces of highly atmospheric music. Some drones, some repeated clicks and ticks (never forming a full-on rhythm, but enough of a rhythm anyway), and it reminded me of a lot of other things, all from that crowded crossroad of ambient, industrial, lo-fi, and musique concrète, but nothing all too specific springs to mind. Some eleven minutes is the total time of this record, and that’s way too short. Each side could have lasted longer, and I would have enjoyed it all the same, so maybe doing an album with more of this concert (or, if appropriate, from this period) would be most welcome. (FdW)
––– Address: https://licht-ung.bandcamp.com/

CHOCO MUNO – ØLFRUGT (CDR by No Copyright Recordings)

A quick dive in the weekly archive learned Schoco Mune was mentioned before, in Vital Weekly 1357, when he (?) was part of a multi-person cassette by the Plattegrond label. The reviewer said Schoco Mune is a Japanese noise artist using the piano to generate noise. There is one of those no information, no Bandcamp releases by the elusive No Copyright Recordings – I believe that should be without any spaces. Now it’s Choco Muno, and is there a piano? I don’t think there is, but can you tell from these 30 minutes of noise and feedback? Maybe there was a piano, and now its 88 keys are scattered around the studio. There is a lot of brutal noise, chaotic and noisy, frantically bouncing around. As I was studying some older noise music as part of something bigger, I noticed how anti-musical some of the noise is and what easy means there are to generate noise music. It is a notion I have been aware of for a long time, but maybe it’s the easiness I never realised. It’s that actual punk element of noise music, the no-need for expensive equipment, just some contact microphones, a stomp box and some recording device allowing you the full-on distortion. It’s a fine reminder, and great to see this kind of thing live on. (FdW)
––– Address: try Discogs

TAALEM ADVENT CALENDAR 2024 (24x 3″ CDR Box by Taalem) Part 1

The box itself is sold out, so good luck hunting it down if you haven’t gotten it already. But the fantastic little label from Brussels run by Jean-Marc is a new initiative to keep the 3″ format alive. Taalem always did an advent calendar the last couple of years by choosing 24 random releases from their amazingly 140+ catalogue and presenting one each day for ‘pay what you want’. The advent calendar led up to Christmas Day, which saw their annual massive (!!!) release ‘Homework’ with fresh contributions of all the past artists if they had time or wanted to participate. After many hours of fresh drones, noises, and ambience again, ‘pay what you want’, I think I have them all.
But this year is different, and Jean-Marc decided to release a gorgeous little wooden box with 24 FRESH pieces of artists and, to us, your Vital Crew, the task to let you know what’s on these discs. But without spoiling the surprise, because, well, that wouldn’t be nice of us 😉 So, after some deliberation, we’ve chosen to write about this box in the coming few weeks, and each week, we’ll look back on the past seven releases or the number of releases leading up to that day. As today is December 3rd, we’ll present you with numbers 1 to 3; next week, it’ll be 4 to 10, et cetera. You could, of course, also subscribe to the Taalem mailing list or click the ‘follow’-button on Bandcamp; I think both will give you the information even before you get it from us. Enjoy the cold December month with these warm words and sounds. (BW)

01 NIMH – RECALLING BLACK SILENCES (3″ CDR by Taalem)
The first and only release on Taalem by Nihm is already from 2005, so it was about time he got something out again. Giuseppe Verticchio from Italy is no unknown to most of us. My collection, too, has some Silentes Minimal Editions releases from him and projects he is a member of, like Hall Of Mirrors and Maribor. “Recalling Black Silences” is a 20-minute piece with luscious pads and minimal melodies. Despite the eerie character and the title, this track has a lot of warmth. Yes, it’s ultra-minimal ambient, but maybe this should also qualify to be described as a melodic drone. There is not much happening, but everything that is happening has a meaning and leads up to the empty feeling you are left with after it finishes. And then you want more of this feeling of nothingness. (BW)

02: DRONAEMENT – SHAMANIC BREAKFAST (3″ CDR by Taalem)
Also with one previous release is Marcus Obst, a.k.a. Dronæment. Even while he is from Germany, “Shamanic Breakfast” opens with a few Dutch words. No, we’re not that far from each other, and yes, Duchies try to speak German, and I watch German TV, so why wouldn’t it have gotten into my head earlier that Dutch media would also maybe be listened to in Germany? “Shamanic Breakfast” knows quite a ritual approach to its composition. Sounds (or samples) from a toy box, a guitar, loads of effects and layering of drones and pads. Then, the second part is slowly pushed forward with those previous pads and field recordings of having breakfast in the garden on a Sunday morning (as proven by the church bells in the background). The third and final part is based on a harmonium sound and, on occasion, gets completely distorted. It was a relaxed breakfast until the coffee kicked in. (BW)

03: COMPEST – ZUSTAND UND STASIS (3″ CDR by Taalem)
It’s December 3rd, Tuesday, and here we have the 3rd entry of the Taalem Advent Calendar. And as I was familiar with the previous artists, Compest is a new name for me. Yes, there was an earlier release, too, in 2005, but I had never heard of Martin Steinebach from Kahl before. This is weird because he’s active as Compest, Conscientia Peccati, EM1V, Monoid, StillStand and Karma F.I.S.T. It’s ranging from noise to rhythms to ambient and just about everything. Someone to remember. “Zustand und Stasis” is an excellent drone with a corrugation sound (feel free to google it) as a recurrent theme forming an ever-so-gentle basic to build from. And that building is done great. There is a good balance between all the layers, and even though the composition is fully plastered with sounds, there still seems to be enough open space to fill with additional sounds or layers. Well done. (BW)
––– Address: https://taalem.bandcamp.com/

GOOSE – HELLA FREE (3″CDR by Inner Demons Records)
SHADOW ECHO CANYON – A DAYMARE REALITY (double 3″CDR by Inner Demons Records)
ELI WALLIS – SWUM TO PHASIS (3″CDR by Inner Demons Records)
LÄRMSCHUTZ – DETHRONE (double 3″CDR by Inner Demons Records)

Inner Demons may come across as a noise label, but these four releases prove their noise can be a different noise, too. Apart from Lärmschutz none of these names I heard before. I started with Goose, a project by Brett Lunceford, who works as Stolen Light. He has several releases on Zaftig Research and sometimes receives the label’s Christmas compilations, so maybe I heard Goose before. According to Discogs, he finds his inspiration in Lustmord and Coil, especially in his early days. Seeing these three pieces recorded with a violin bow across cracked cymbals, sending the signals through an effects processor, sounds like something an early Coil could have done. Or maybe Lustmord is in a cave somewhere. The title comes “from Micah at Starving Musician writing “Hella Free” on broken cymbals and leaving them for anyone who wanted to pick them up”, two of which ended up with Lunceford. This is not noise and also not a typical ambient record. The bow across the cymbals is a bit on the louder side of things, a bit shrill, but it works very well. Lunceford reaches for the overtones, ringing and singing, and gets there. In ‘Outro’, the third and final and shortest) piece, there is room for something for some more low end, but the music works best in ‘2’, at 13 minutes, the most extended piece, because in this sort of longitude, the music can resonate and sustain, moving slowly back and forth. Maybe I would have recorded it all with less gain, leaving more space for the music, but it’s a beautiful, unsettling, isolationist release.
If Bandcamp is anything to go by, Shadow Echo Canyon is from Bologna, Italy. No names, no instruments, and listening to the music doesn’t make things easier. As for instruments, I couldn’t mention any. Maybe there aren’t any, and all of this is created with field recordings of household machinery and electronics. Maybe loops of acoustic sounds, slowed down and heavily treated? There is also a voice, reciting low in the mix, both in volume and in ‘far away’. Maybe the music is made with the voice, too? Slowed down and that whole thing? That might be an option, too. It all sounds dark, oppressive, and depressing. I am listening and thinking it reminds me of something, but I am unsure what it is. Something from the halcyon days of cassette culture, and that’s one legacy (and one long time ago). Maybe these texts aren’t about anything in particular, and it’s only to convey those feelings of depression, angst and whatever else there’s not to enjoy in life—adding more darkish atmosphere to an already black soundtrack—a daymare indeed; music for your teatime sleep.
Eli Wallis is from Vancouver, Canada and has a massive Bandcamp page waiting to be explored, and many by the Eli Wallis Quintet; maybe he is jazzo? I need to find out when the time is on my side. It’s not without reason I am thinking about jazz, as already in the first track, there is the sound of a muted trombone. It’s set solely against bleeps and blips of a no-input mixing board and radio, “which were then arranged in reverse chronological order and responded to with amplified (and mostly muted) trombone.” I had little expectations when I read that it could go many ways, from very noisy and chaotic to something quite contrary. I am happy to see it’s the latter. These are three stunning pieces of reflective playing. Sure, this is improvised music, not only from the trombone but also from how he handles the no-input mixer and the radio, but in this handling, he is very controlled, creating a lot of space between the sounds. There is a laidback approach in this music too, strangely that kind of a film noir soundtrack-vibe, but without the men with hats and brushes on cymbals. It is more as if Wallis is at home, enjoying his no-input mixer while pensively playing the trombone. So, yes, maybe this is jazz, and if so, it’s some jazz I finally appreciate. If it’s not jazz, even better, but I like it all the same.
And lastly, the Dutch group Lärmschutz. It’s been a while since I heard from these anarcho-free punk jazzers from Utrecht. The group has a somewhat floating membership, and I don’t know who’s part of the double 3″CDR plus another 32-minute bonus piece in the download. Maybe I should go by what it says on their Bandcamp, assuming it is updated: Stef Brans (guitar, stuff on strings) and Rutger van Driel (trombone, electronics, bass). I know Lärmschutz as a hardcore improvisational noise outfit, chaotically bursting with energy, but on this double 3″CDR they go for a more controlled form of improvisation. It is almost as if the two players made some arrangements before they started and set out to play accordingly. “Let’s play longer and sustaining noise clouds, in which we let the trombone pop up occasionally, but everything else is close together”. No guitar ripping, but with “stuff on strings” doing that drone-like dance. Only towards the end of “Groan” is some sudden movement, betraying the live recording aspect of their music. Maybe it’s all a bit much to digest in one long session (it is also the last one of the day, so some fatigue kicked in), but it’s great to hear something from them again. (FdW)
––– Address: https://innerdemonsrecords.bandcamp.com/

PLATONOFF – RUSSIAN WORLD (3″ CDR by Inner Demons Records)

Platonoff self-released one release from Saint Petersburg in Russia; the rest was released on Inner Demons Records. Whoever is behind this project must feel at home with the anti-fascist label for Florida. Maybe it’s because of security reasons that no information about him can be found anywhere. So, as with the previous times we reviewed his works, I have nothing interesting to tell you. Except … There is a new Platonoff release, and I like it!
“Russian World” is a 2 track 20-minute release opening with the almost 12-minute title track. A slow rhythm with staccato sounds opens it, and I can’t help it, but it reminded me of the mechanical feeling of Pink Floyd’s ‘Money’, with the difference that we’re not talking 7/8 here. But relax, this was just for a bit. Within no time, the tracks evolved into a tremendous massive hypnotic soundscape rhythmic thing thanks to our good friend’s Noise and Voice. The voice also reminded me of … No, not Pink Floyd again, another famous band: Really Early Synapscape, like in the times before Maschinenfest. And when halfway through, the mechanical rhythmic pattern is killed, I can only speak of industrial sludge turning into a dark atmospheric horror film. Now, this is what I call a composition.
“PutLag” is a bit shorter but eight and a half minutes long enough to create a good composition. It opens with an empty feeling where more and more sounds are added slowly until a solid, steady, slow rhythm is based. This continues with additional sounds and noises, and the promise of a great atmospheric track is fulfilled. Platonoff might be up to a proper future in electronic music. (BW)
––– Address: https://innerdemonsrecords.bandcamp.com/

ROBERT SCHWARZ – STRIDULATIONS (cassette by Superpang)

I don’t think I heard of Robert Schwarz before, whose background is in computer music, sound studies and architecture, and who creates installations, live performances, and recorded music. “Through solitary chirps and roaring synchrony, insects and arthropods communicate through “stridulations”, diverse calls created by rasping friction between two chitinous body parts”, we learn from the information and on this cassette, Schwarz “a speculative resynthesis of such calls in simultaneity with ethological field recordings of real-world insect life”. Or “‘Stridulations 1-14’ explores the audible characteristics of entomological communication, paying particular attention to the spatio-temporal sonic patterns resulting from swarm behaviour and synchrony.” We can’t ‘know’ by listening to the music. We have to believe what Schwarz writes. Maybe it’s also not that important to know. Listening to the music, I think there are a lot of modular electronics at work, all connected, all responding and interacting with each other, creating lots of connections, and, perhaps, also disconnects. Maybe, indeed, the swarm-like behaviour, but again, I am far from a biologist. It’s lovely, very electronic, and perhaps I missed something, but I enjoyed it all the same. (FdW)
––– Address: https://robertschwarz.bandcamp.com/

KAPOTTE MUZIEK – USE NOW (cassette, private)

What the hell is this? A short cassette with random scratches, peeps, noise and a toothbrush on a plastic plate? The whole second side sounds like it’s recorded backwards? What kind of conceptual strings is Kapotte Muziek pulling here? There is a little note with the cassette with ‘instructions’; this time, it’s not ‘play loud’, but this is a so-called four-track cassette. Ah, that explains why everything is strictly separated left and right. And sticking this into a four-track cassette player (I mean, who has one lying around these days?) means the “side B” is no longer backwards, meaning you can mix sounds. I understand this fits the old ideas of Kapotte Muziek, going back to the early days of the “group”. Compositions were never finished, sounds could pop up again in other pieces, and much like mail art, everything was an invitation to collaboration. At one point back then, Frans de Waard even claimed everybody could use the name Kapotte Muziek, but that idea didn’t catch on, maybe for the better. But handing out your sounds so everybody can freely mix them, with strict instructions on what to do and what not, is still a pretty radical idea. Very Fluxus-like. If I understand correctly, each new mix will be part of the “album”, and each mix is new source material. I am not a musician at all, not even one that marginally does “something”, so maybe that’s why this package kind of eluded me. With the background ideas being explained, I enjoy the idea more than the result, but I know there are many musicians among the Vital Weekly subscribers, so come on and do something! (LW)
––– Address: https://kormdigitaal.bandcamp.com/