Week 2
GEINS’T NAÏT – À CONSOMMER SANS MODÉRATION (CD by Klang Galerie)
JARL – RECEPTOR RADIATION (CD by Zoharum)
PAUL TAYLOR – EXPOSED (CD by Klang Galerie)
10TH ANNUAL REPORT (CD compilation by Unexplained Sounds Group)
T.A.G.C. – ISO-EROTIC CALIBRATIONS (CD by Cold Spring)
COLD WAR – ILLUSION: THE COMPLETE STUDIO SESSIONS (CD/LP by Grow Your Own Records/Ohne Grund Schallplatten)
ABDOU/GOUBAND/WARELIS – HAMMER, ROLL & LEAF (CD by Relative Pitch Records)
ADA RAVE – IN SEARCH OF A REAL WORLD (CD by Relative Pitch Records)
DAN BLACKSBERG – THE PSYCHIC/BODY SOUND SYSTEM (CD by Relative Pitch Records)
ZEENA PARKINS – DAM AGAINST THE SPRING TIDE (CD by Relative Pitch Records)
DUO GROSS & SCHOUTEN – BEE SAGE (CD by Attacca)
UMIAK – IRRLICHT (CD by Wide Ear Records)
PSEUDO CODE – LIGHT/LIVE (LP by Je m’en Fish)
FRANCESCO PELLEGRINO – CREARE UN OCEANO PER ANNEGARCI DENTRO (CDR by Setola di Maiale)
MAKE A JOYFUL NOISE: 2024 ZAFTIG RESEARCH HOLIDAY SAMPLER (CDR compilation by Zaftig Research)
STEVE UNDERWOOD – EVEN WHEN IT MAKES NO SENSE: THE BROKEN FLAG STORY (Korm Plastics, 2024)
TAKU UNAMI AND ERIC LA CASA – PARAZOAN MAPPING #2 (booklet and download by Kindling)
SETH COOKE – HOW BUILDINGS LEARN (booklet and download by Kindling)
AREK GULBENKOGLU – SWAN IN THE PAST (booklet and download by Kindling)
GEINS’T NAÏT – À CONSOMMER SANS MODÉRATION (CD by Klang Galerie)
The latest promotional blast by Austria’s Klang Galerie got me thinking about the label. I use this review to expand a bit on my thoughts. I see the label as having three interests. The first is to re-issue old works, primarily from what I will loosely call the ‘cassette network/industrial music’; the second is new works by musicians from that scene, and the third is improvised music. In the latest batch, the first is represented by the re-issue of an old cassette by French group Geins’t Naït, the second by a CD by Paul Taylor and The Residents, and the four releases of more or less improvised music. Is the axis shifting towards the latter, thinking there is more to harvest in the future, whereas the well of the other two interests may have dried out?
Curiously, while an old group, I hadn’t heard much of Geins’t Naït’s music in the past, monetary restrictions as a young lover of music and all that. Recently, I caught up with a lot of the band’s output, all released by Klang Galerie. This new one is a re-issue of a cassette release from the American Subterranean Subliminal Subversion Music label (which is about the first time I know what SSS stands for, despite knowing the label for 33 years; maybe I never gave it much thought). The previous one I reviewed was also a cassette-only from the early days, and I believed it to be a bit more experimental and electronic and something can be said of this release. We find Geins’t Naït playing around with crude loops of smashed glass, vocal bits and elemental percussion banging, and like before, it has the idea of sketches and ideas rather than fully formed compositions. The studio is the group’s playground to experiment with various instruments and electronics, with the blank tape as the canvas for the collage to emerge. Sometimes a bit too sketchy and unformed, but another nuanced insight into how this group worked, with room for the group’s banging and trashing of metal percussion – that Neubauten and SPK influence is running through all their work. (FdW)
––– Address: https://klanggalerie.com/
JARL – RECEPTOR RADIATION (CD by Zoharum)
Erik Jarl continues to build his small empire of music, or maybe a fleet of the empire, to stay within space metaphors, which might suit the nature of the music. Each new album is a vessel of music and part of a more significant thing. Jarl called his previous album ‘Neurotransmitters-Sphere-Music’, and that’s a different sphere than what I had in mind (pun intended). Jarl is an operator of the synthesiser at large, connecting the dots and holes with cables and plugs, and each connection creates a multitude of new connections. It is one extensive system but a moving system, an ever-changing one. Jarl taps into the world of ambient music here, as he always does, but his ambient music has a bite, an experimental edge, or even a tiny amount of noise. He likes his shifts to take place slowly and minimally, and it’s not music for those seeking quick satisfaction. It’s a work that should immerse you. The listener is invited to lie down, sit back, do nothing, relax, and let these four pieces, over an hour long, fill up your living room (or whatever room one uses to listen to this kind of music) and your mind, and enjoy those minimal changes and ever-changing electronic vistas. As before, I am not entirely convinced about the effects the music should have on my nervous system and brain as intended by the composer, but indeed, those things are, perhaps, a highly individual affair.
One can argue a lot of Jarl’s music is very much alike through his album and there isn’t a lot of development. If you’re looking for that, maybe a few of his albums are enough for you. If you like to take a deep dive, I am sure this new album is as welcome as the previous or next. (FdW)
––– Address: https://zoharum.bandcamp.com/
PAUL TAYLOR – EXPOSED (CD by Klang Galerie)
A few years ago, I bought both Sutcliffe Jugend box sets on Vinyl On Demand, and after six months, I had not played more than five of the 20 LPs, so I decided to sell them again. At the end of the day, I would rather play VOD’s Nekrophile boxset than have more noise. This is an interesting shift in how I listen to music; years ago, it would have been noise all day. Maybe noise is now a more temporary thing? This means I didn’t keep up with Sutcliffe Jugend’s development and the follow-up Sutcliffe No More either. I know Paul Taylor and Kevin Thomkins are long-time members, but I don’t think I heard Taylor’s solo work. On the cover of ‘Exposed’, he writes that this is a “good example of what I get up to in the studio when not recording with Kevin Thomkins. The compulsion to record is always there, very little of what is recorded sees the light of day”. So, there’s no reference point for me here, and I have to go by the 11 pieces on this album, not knowing how different they are from his regular work. It is interesting to notice Taylor taking a lot of liberty to go anywhere he wants. There is pulsating noise feedback and screaming in the opening title piece or the bleak ambient industrial soundtrack of ‘A Strange Day’. These are the musical opposites of this album. Taylor uses vocals, synths, bass and electric guitar, allowing him to take a more expansive musical journey. It’s primarily unpleasant music, and the noise end takes the lead, but the music remains bleak and austere even when it doesn’t. It is the perfect dystopia soundtrack, and I found the variation between genres somewhat opposite, which is the album’s strong point. That was the thing that made the music quite a journey and not a repetition of similar pieces, which is what noise albums tend to do. All in all, a great album. (FdW)
––– Address: https://klanggalerie.com/
10TH ANNUAL REPORT (CD compilation by Unexplained Sounds Group)
Some people love ’em, others hate ’em. What am I talking about? Compilation albums, of course! And when they are a part of your conceptual approach as a label, they will find their way into my hands, because I usually love them. And there is a reason why I love ’em, provided they’re good compilations. Like a regular album, a good compilation tells a story; a lousy compilation is like the incoherent rambling of a meth-head who desperately needs another hit. This ’10th Annual Report” compilation knows a proper conceptual approach and – even though I have one little remark – is a compilation of the good kind.
Firstly, the Unexplained Sounds Group is a network of aural disorientation founded in 2015 by Raffaele Pezzella alias Sonologyst to investigate the experimental worldwide music scene. Loads of CDs, as well as downloads by dedicated artists or sudden collaborations, and a lot of compilations structured as “Anthology of [insert style] Music from [insert country or area]”. Next to that are annual reports, of which this is the 10th. So we have it that the story is good and to make it a little bit better even, there are two versions of this one. One on CD (pressed, not a CDR) and a digital version containing over four and a half hours of music. Including these 76 minutes and many hours of great additional sounds.
The CD has 76 minutes and 13 acts and is a compilation of various styles of experimentalism. There is some electro-acoustics, musique concrete, some minimalist noise, some droney behaviour, some ambience and even with my knowledge and background, I only know one name, Hendekagon, a.k.a. Signalstörung. All of the rest is new to me, and I must say, except for one moment, this whole album is excellent. Even though there are 13 different artists, it has a continuous pace and, most important, a stable ‘narrative’ theme. And that one moment? In Trampelfâd’s “Linear Plan 019”, the ending is too sudden. Yes, that is the only remark I have. A single fade-out that – in my mind – would have contributed to the flow. That is the only remark I could think of.
Both variations are a great way to end 2024 and to start 2025. (BW)
––– Address: https://unexplainedsoundsgroup.bandcamp.com/
T.A.G.C. – ISO-EROTIC CALIBRATIONS (CD by Cold Spring)
Yes, you’re reading it correctly. We’re reviewing an album that was initially released in 1994. But I’ve checked the archives it seems we didn’t get a chance to review it back then. So we might as well do it now, right? In the last months of 2024, Adi Newton and friends did a European tour to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the Clock DVA “Buried Dreams” album. Flawless synced audio and video by the man we’ve all known for so long. For many of us, Clock DVA was a gateway to ‘difficult’ or maybe ‘different’ music. For me, I know it was. But it wasn’t the beat / rhythmic driven part of Clock DVA; for me, it was the complexity and experimentalism of the ‘Meontological Research Recordings’ and that one album that is a desert island item “, Burning Water”. Becoming an artist myself, I think those albums partially defined me.
So, during my life, I did continue to investigate as one should. I got some older albums of several ‘Adi related’ projects, and after 1994, at some point, I got the “Iso-Erotic Calibrations” album, which I’m now listening to again. And yes, I love it still / again. Feel free to choose any of those two choices. After 30 years, it still stands solid; it is as hypnotising as the first time you heard it, the sound design is impeccable, and the atmosphere is intense. But… Yes, I am writing ‘but’. Adi has many faces when it comes to creating music. And it is as if with “Iso-Erotic Calibrations” it was too dark or too experimental to be labelled as Clock DVA; it completely fell out of the perspective of a possible Psychophysicist release and – here is the ‘but’ – for me, it is not experimental enough to be considered a T.A.G.C. recording. It’s rhythmically structured; you can recognise a lot of compositional techniques that can be found in Clock DVA tracks. But this would have never fitted a Clock DVA release. This goes way beyond.
I hear you thinking, ‘Get to the point,’ so here it goes. THIS ALBUM IS SO GOOD!!! This is probably the most ‘Adi’ album possible. In its 76 minutes (next to the original seven tracks now available on vinyl), the CD version has four extra tracks. Two were included in a digital version early in the 2010s, one is taken from a video project from the same era, and there is one remixed version.
Archaeology sometimes speaks of the ‘missing links’ if they find something that enables them to connect different findings. This album is the missing link between Clock DVA and The Anti Group Communication and possibly other projects that Adi Newton has been a part of. It was released 30 years ago and is as impressive now as it was then. (BW)
––– Address: https://coldspring.co.uk/
COLD WAR – ILLUSION: THE COMPLETE STUDIO SESSIONS (CD/LP by Grow Your Own Records/Ohne Grund Schallplatten)
The new label Ohne Grund Schallplatten, operated by Pressing Matters Record Shop, Hastings, UK, pointed me towards this record. As indicated by the title, it contains the complete studio records of a band called Cold War, which had three cassettes and a 7″ out in 1981 – 1983. I had not heard of them before; you can only know so much. Also, the members’ names don’t mean much to me; they are Chris Knowles, Ian Smith, Kev Bulmer, Michael Lawrence Fisher, Paul Harding, and Stephen Jackson. The label says they were “part of the anarcho-punk thing but far too post-punk for that crowd,” the music sounds like a cross between Josef K and Wire. That’s something I can see/hear, but there is enough in here that makes a fine post-punk band, borrowing ideas left and right from other groups, and it has that dark and doomy edge a lot of early 1980s music had, but that’s part of the deal. The jangling guitar sound from Josek K is present and some of Wire’s immediate melodic stuff. They don’t have big production technology behind them, no Martin Hannett, which accounts for the band’s more straightforward sound. It is not the product of a live studio recording session; there has been some polishing, but no doubt they sound in the studio as they do on stage. Perhaps a bit too far removed from the usual Vital interest, but from a personal and historical point of view, something I received very well; the last days of the old days always give this sort of nostalgia for me, so why not discover from the old days? (FdW)
––– Address: https://growyourownrecords.bandcamp.com/album/illusion-the-complete-studio-sessions
ABDOU/GOUBAND/WARELIS – HAMMER, ROLL & LEAF (CD by Relative Pitch Records)
This is the second release of Sakina Abdou. The first one was reviewed in Vital Weekly number 1370. That was a solo recording. Here, we hear her with percussionist Toma Gouband and pianist Marta Warelis. Abdou formed this new trio in 2024 and used it as an opportunity for students of the music department of the ESDM in Lille, also her hometown, to improvise with the trio. This wasn’t the first time for her to record a trio. A few years earlier, Lescense/Gmatique came out on the Circum-disc label, part of the Muzzixx collective in Lille, of which she is a part. Marta has been mentioned quite a few times here on these pages. The last time was in a duo recording with Andy Moor, one of the guitarists of the Ex. And last but not least we have Toma Gouband, a French percussionist. Heretofore an unknown name to me, but from what I heard on this record, I need to catch up on his work. An hour of music, nine pieces. All titles are variations of the title, making verbs out of one of the words: Roll the leaf, Hammer the Roll or just Leaf. It’s subdued music in volume, or that may be how it’s mastered. There are subdued sections but also ecstatic sections. In Leaf the Roll, Abdou even vocalises ecstasy through the mouthpiece of her saxophone. Ecstasy in the biblical/mythological/ritualistic sense of the word, mind. The loss of self. The interplay between Sakina and Marta is magnificent. And Gouband adds subtle percussive sounds into the mix. Those students learned a lot by playing with this trio. At first, I thought an hour was too long. But no, I needed more; I was hooked. Please get together again soon! (MDS)
––– Address: https://relativepitchrecords.bandcamp.com/
ADA RAVE – IN SEARCH OF A REAL WORLD (CD by Relative Pitch Records)
Just in time, I saw I hadn’t reviewed this, and the deadline for a review is within six months of releasing a record. This one came out at the beginning of last June. So there’s that. Ada Rave hails from Argentina and is now based in Amsterdam. She is in a trio with Onno Govaert and Aaron Lumley called Bioluminus. I have bought the music but haven’t listened to their release on Doek RAW. Anyhow. Back to this release. Nearly forty minutes of improvised music of the highest order in seven pieces. She uses manipulations to extend the sound of her saxophone, not unlike Audrey Lauro. Compulsory datatronik sounds like a saxophone version of a dial-up modem, including the gasp of air when the connection breaks while downloading an mp3 of 24 MB. But that’s my interpretation, of course. On ‘choiko purrun’ she plays the sopranino and the soprano simultaneously and imaginatively, reaching back to her Argentinian roots. All in all an excellent addition to the long line of solo saxophone records. But not spouse-friendly. She lets her creativity run free and has an abundance of that. (MDS)
––– Address: https://relativepitchrecords.bandcamp.com
DAN BLACKSBERG – THE PSYCHIC/BODY SOUND SYSTEM (CD by Relative Pitch Records)
Forty minutes of heavenly or hellish trombone music in eleven pieces. That’s what you are in for when you put this record on. It’s just a metaphor to begin this review. Because Dan can play a mean trombone, entirely acoustic, but with some mic-ing procedures, he can get very non-trombone-like sounds out of the instrument. Like track number four: observing the endless screamer. It’s in the highest register of the trombone (even up and beyond, I have to say).
Softgrind Lament features Dan playing and vocalising simultaneously—an excellent idea and excellently executed. There are more amazing ideas on this record. Number eight with tongue slaps and a piano (I think). It was awe-inspiring playing overall. And if you hear this, you can’t imagine a trombone can sound like this, unlike Glenn Miller, J.J. Johnson or Kai Wendig. It’s more like Roswell Rudd and Sonic Youth. Yes, that happened. Well done, Dan! This is an excellent addition to the solo trombone, or any other instrument for that matter, records. I’ll be keeping an ear out for his previous and following releases. (MDS)
––– Address: https://relativepitchrecords.bandcamp.com
ZEENA PARKINS – DAM AGAINST THE SPRING TIDE (CD by Relative Pitch Records)
Two pieces on this new disc by Zeena Parkins, the composer/multi-instrumentalist most known for her take on playing the harp. The five-part Past turned into space and the four-part Dam against spring. The first piece is based on her combing through the Walter Benjamin archives in Berlin. The titles of the parts are named after the kind of box the papers that Benjamin wrote are placed in the archive. The content of the papers are childhood memories of him and Parkins transformed them into music. The musicians on these pieces are William Winant (vibraphone, crotales, harmonica), Brett Carson (piano, organ), Joan La Barbara (voice) and Zeena Parkins (elbows on piano, field recordings). It’s engaging music that takes different and unexpected turns. It’s up to the listener to transform the music into the images Benjamin saw in his childhood. The second piece is much darker in mood: Dam against the Tide features Zeena on acoustic harp and Laurent Bruttin (clarinets), Tony Buck (drums, orchestral percussion, objects), Christian Kesten (voice), Magda Mayas (piano, clavinet, objects) Matthew Ostrowski (electronics, processing) and Sebastian Roux (electronic processing). Kesten quotes directly from Benjamin’s papers as chosen by Parkins, and maybe with the help of Kesten for the translation. It’s almost an audio documentary with accompanying music. And as I said darker because of the sounds made. Gespensterhaft in German or spooky in English. Ghosts from the past. Anyway. Listen to this in the dark (or not) and deep dive into this music. It’s well worth it. (MDS)
––– Address: https://relativepitchrecords.bandcamp.com
DUO GROSS & SCHOUTEN – BEE SAGE (CD by Attacca)
Disclaimer: This review is an exception. This is modern classical music, with sheet music (and maybe some room for improvisation), but that doesn’t mean Vital Weekly will review more contemporary classical music. The duo consists of Katharina Gross from Austria and Fie Schouten from the Netherlands, who join forces in 2022 to play an international repertoire for cello and (low) clarinets. Both are based in Amsterdam. These happen to be two of my favourite instruments. Katharina Gross is active as a soloist, performer and composer of music for theatre and the Aubette, a house in Strasbourg designed by Theo van Doesburg. A funny coincidence is that Fie Schouten will do a residency next year in the Van Doesburg house in Meudon, a city near Paris. Five pieces on this disc: 1. Oi kuu (1990) by Kaija Saariaho 2. Masks (1989/2024) by Doina Rotaru 3. Bee Sage (2023) by Rozalie Hirs 4. Dyssynchrony (2023) by Tolga Tüzün and 5. “When you see…” (2023) – Dimitris Andrikopoulos. The info on the CD says this about the programmed works: “In his work, Dimitris Andrikopoulos explores the boundaries of the audible. The work begins with a fascinating silence, which transforms into restlessness as the piece progresses and finally escalates into an explosive outburst. Doina Rotaru’s Masks also has the two musicians playing small percussion instruments, stimulating a varied, lively dialogue between the musicians and their instruments. The work of Istanbul-based composer Tolga Tüzün likes to experiment with spatial concepts. In his exciting compositional style, rhythmic overlays, microtonal progressions and contrasting individual chords and tones collide. The new works by spectral composer Rozalie Hirs and the fragile sound world of Kaija Saariaho captivate with their extraordinary poetry, which can be experienced almost meditatively by the listener thanks to the extremely subtle sounds on both instruments, thus transporting them to another atmosphere/dimension.” The music was recorded in a small church south of Rotterdam. It adds to the ambience of the music.
Yes, there are extended techniques used in the pieces. But all of them use a space, in this case, a church. There are wonderful melodies in here. If there’s one disc you should listen to at the end of this year, it’s this one. It’s probably because it appeals to my musical background: clarinet player in a symphonic wind band who likes modern classical music that may or may not be consonant. Including the duo sonatas for violin and cello by Martinu, Honegger and Ravel. Bee sage reminds me a bit of that early twentieth-century music. Plus, this morning, a dense mist was on the fields surrounding our house. And the music on this disc fits these images perfectly. But in brought daylight, this is excellent music, and dare I say it, with a postrock, theatrical feel to it. Simply put, beautiful and expertly executed. The duo have prepared a new program for the coming season with a new program, including a new work by Dutch composer Janco Verduin for cello, bass clarinet and soundtrack. Catch them if you can. If not, there’s a recording of a concert at the Pletterij on YouTube. And this CD, of course. (MDS)
––– Address: https://attacca.nl/product/schouten-gross-bee-sage/
UMIAK – IRRLICHT (CD by Wide Ear Records)
Umiak began as the duo of Eva-Maria Karbacher (saxes) and Christian Moser (oud, the precursor of the lute from the Middle East). Alfred Zimmerlin joined them for a project with dance, and that was the beginning of Umiak as a trio.
Karbacher had a strong solo record two years ago that got a review on these pages. The same goes for Christian Moser. Alfred Zimmerlin was mentioned as a mentor and composer of a piece for guitar. He also has a CD on ECM with other works by him. The combination of sax (soprano and tenor), oud and cello works really well. Not only in the combination of timbres but also in how these three seasoned musicians partake in their voyage together. The Opener, ‘Auf hoher See’, sets the stage. Hoher see isn’t high seas but a small lake in Germany. Deep enough to take an umiak (a boat used by the Inuit) for a drive on that lake. The oud has a distinct timbre when used in the music of the Middle East. Moser uses it not in that way. It sounds like an oud, but he doesn’t use Middle Eastern scales. And at times, many times he uses the oud to make non-traditional sounds. The same goes for the cello and also for the sax. Each piece explores different constellations in function, atmosphere and roles of the three instruments. To my ears a fascinating journey. And I have had this release on repeat a few times, and there’s something new to discover every time.
All three together suck you into their maelstrom of sounds, executed with finesse and intelligence, like a chamber music trio. Excellent work! (MDS)
––– Address: https://wideearrecords.bandcamp.com/album/irrlicht
PSEUDO CODE – LIGHT/LIVE (LP by Je m’en Fish)
Of all of Alain Neffe’s musical projects, I always liked Pseudo Code best, the trio he had with Guy-Marc Hinant (who later founded the Sub Rosa label) and Xavier Stenmans, armed with a lot of electronics, some guitar and voice. Their music had that blend of industrial edge (even when they didn’t like that word), electronic pop (also not a word they would use) combined with a more improvisatory approach, and the result was dramatic music. I picked up on their music when exploring the many compilations they were part of at the time (1983), and after 40 years, I am still fascinated to the point of purchasing their music. This new LP consists of a re-issue of a 10″ from 2006 released by Germany’s WSDP and long sold out, plus on the other side a live recording from 10 Juni 1981 at the Ancienne Belgique in Brussels (an evening shared with Z’EV, Blurt and Tuxedomoon. I didn’t review the 10″ when it was released, and it’s interesting to see the order of the pieces being mixed up here, starting now with the catchy ‘Could It Be A Hit?’, probably the band’s finest moment in playing a pop-like song. But also other tracks on this side are ‘catchy’, such as the many saxophone layers of ‘She’s Got Blue Eyes (Wow)’ and the casio rhythms of ‘Waiting For Zorro’.
The second side contains pieces from Pseudo Code live, a different attraction. On stage, their music was quite more experimental, either with the rhythm machine hammering, with guitar, vocals and synthesisers in improvising modus around that, such as the excellent ‘The AB Effect’ (which sounded very familiar, but I can’t find on which compilation I must have heard this; so much for the uber fan), or sans rhythm and Stenmans’ voice being the central point, free-wheeling with the other two in a similar freeflow going on as happens in ‘…Contre Tous…’. Here, Pseudo Code is at its most dramatic, with the vocalist sounding like a hurt animal – not my original reference. ‘Nothing More’ is a sort of synth-punk-inspired blast, while the last track, ‘Even Americans Can Cry’ is a haunted ambient-synth ballad. This live side shows different sides of Pseudo Code in live action, and it’s quite a different approach to the more concentrated studio pieces. Some of these pieces I have known for a long time because they appeared on compilation cassettes back in the day. I don’t know if much is left in the band’s archive, but keep it coming! (FdW)
––– Address: https://jemenfish.bandcamp.com/album/pseudo-code-light-live
FRANCESCO PELLEGRINO – CREARE UN OCEANO PER ANNEGARCI DENTRO (CDR by Setola di Maiale)
In case you have been a long-time reader of my words about music, you may be aware I am not the biggest fan of wind instruments. In particular, the saxophone isn’t for me. So, with some hesitation, I started the CD by Francesco Pellegrino, in which he uses the tenor saxophone, trumpet with a saxophone mouthpiece, synthesisers and live electronics. He recorded the four pieces live without any overdubs. I don’t know anything else about the musician. The tracks are all just shy of 15 minutes, and it’s all quite fascinating. It’s also a bit long sometimes, but I’d say try this if you do not like wind instruments. The other sounds create a dense, drone-like backdrop, sometimes stemming from the synths and sometimes from putting on effects on the saxophone and trumpet. Sometimes, there are also voices, like children on a playground, which adds to the more soundscape-like nature of the music and steers away from a stricter improvised approach, which I think is excellent. Sometimes the music is like a soundscape, an industrial one even, at times, and occasionally going in a quieter approach. These shifts may occur within a single piece, adding to the overall varied approach in the music. See, there is something about saxophones that I sometimes find fascinating, and this CD is one fine example. (FdW)
––– Address: https://www.setoladimaiale.net/
MAKE A JOYFUL NOISE: 2024 ZAFTIG RESEARCH HOLIDAY SAMPLER (CDR compilation by Zaftig Research)
So, January 2, 2025, is the time to start work again, and what’s on the desk? ‘Make A Joyful Noise: 2024 Zaftig Research Holiday Sampler’. Luckily, the Christmas tree is still out, and unluckily, it’s a bright sunny day, unlike the days this sampler is for when it was drizzling and damp. But as I learned from previous Zaftig Seasonal Samplers, this contains no heartfelt cover versions of ‘Last Christmas’, ‘Jingle Bells’ and whatever the supermarket spat at you, as this is a noise compilation. Stolen Lights starts the proceedings with a comment on Black Friday, which is always good. As far as I know about such things, the 14 pieces are mainly by US noise makers, from the dark, murky and noisy corners of that scene, from people behind labels such as Inner Demons Records. Names you might have read about before in Vital Weekly, such as Fail, Wilt, Praying For Oblivion and R4, next to new names such as Noise Hangover (fine dark ambient piece there to nurture the hangover), Ben Arp (possibly the only cover here, of ‘Silent Night’), D.K.E., Narishkeyt, Orange, Persons Unknown, Goose, Stolen Light, Platonoff and This Is What I Hear When You Talk. Throughout, the music isn’t always that noise-based, but instead opting for something sinister and darker, the nightmare on Christmas Eve vibe, if you get my drift. And sometimes it’s very noisy and loud, the counter medicine for a quiet dinner.
It’s too late, of course, to try and not think of this as a Christmas release, and would this have been presented as a random set of dark ambient and mild noise music. I would have had two questions: who is the artist (not artists), and why on earth is there a ‘Silent Night’ cover in this lot? Oh, is it a compilation? It could be a response from me after I had mentioned the lovely variety in these pieces. As on any compilation, not every track is a winner, and there are hardly any weak ones, and, more importantly, music for all seasons. (FdW)
––– Address: http://www.zaftigresearch.com/
STEVE UNDERWOOD – EVEN WHEN IT MAKES NO SENSE: THE BROKEN FLAG STORY (Korm Plastics, 2024)
In 2010, with the support of Chris Sienko, Steve Underwood — label head of U.K. label Harbinger Sound — created “As Loud As Possible: The Noise Culture Magazine”, a book-length volume roaming across what was, by then, a near unfathomably broad and deep subculture. At the time, before a recent wave of primarily academia-driven works, the (arguably) 40-year-long history of noise was often obscure, fogbound terrain through various publications — ZigZag to Re/Search, Vital to Just Glittering or Idwal Fisher, Noise Receptor Journal to Special Interests — had planted marker poles guiding explorers between critical artists, labels and releases.
The centrepiece of ALAP was a comprehensive oral history that listed every release on the Broken Flag label. This new volume from Korm Plastics, “Even When It Makes No Sense: The Broken Flag Story,” is a worthwhile reissue and extension of that text. It hopes to encourage a new generation to discover Gary Mundy’s seminal label and allow established fans to renew their appreciation of what Mundy achieved.
Established in 1982 with Debbie Thomas, Mundy recalls, “Debbie concentrated more on the magazines, and I concentrated more on the music….We had ideas about being some kind of multimedia organisation, but it eventually boiled down to music and magazines.” That kind of matter-of-fact phrasing veils the amount of respect due. It would already be praiseworthy to have established one of the handful of labels of critical importance to the history of extreme music while still living in one’s teenage bedroom. Still, Mundy managed to sustain it for the better part of a decade when many of his peers either quit, lost inspiration, lapsed into repetition, or compromised in search of more significant popularity and success. It’s easy to be swept along amid a wave of broader inspiration and potential but it takes strong legs to stand firm when that tide ebbs, to keep moving forward during the years of quiet contraction and reconsolidation. Mundy’s grit and determination made the label into the connective tissue between early 80s noise and power electronics and the renewed energy that created the turn of the decade.
Broken Flag reflected a level of discernment that has ensured that the label’s output remains a rewarding listen. Near every artist of significance to the early era of power electronics features somewhere in the back catalogue, running the whole gamut of U.K. figures, the core Italian scene, and international standouts from the U.S. and Europe. At one point, Mundy mentions, “I seemed to be forever in my bedroom copying tapes, cutting out covers, going to the post office and the photocopy shops…” While Underwood’s volume is dependably devoid of hyperbole, these understated memories and the record of around 100 label releases reflect a level of grind that would be beyond a vast majority of people, particularly when enacted through sheer enthusiasm unconnected to even a minimum-wage level of remuneration. Mundy managed this on top of creating his output on the label as Ramleh, Kleistwahr, Toll, Male Rape Group and Next, managing to be a part of indie rock group Breathless and working with Anne Clark; before going onto a one-off band with Philip Best — The Worried Well — and a spell with Skullflower; then reinvigorating and returning to his work as Ramleh and Kleistwahr.
It’s beneficial that this volume includes a reprint of the two issues of When It Makes No Sense, the zine Mundy created after Thomas, who prepared Broken Flag’s earlier zines — King Krown And Kountry and Farben — stepped away. Reading these time artefacts provides a valuable tone shift versus the main text’s retrospective angle. In the second issue, there’s a short statement by Mundy lamenting that “…the pursuit of the superficial aspects of extremism in electronics has become as boring as it is futile…” Mundy was one of the first people at the heart of power electronics to call for an end to the controversy-bait, atrocity exhibition, and gross-out teenage ‘humour’ that dominated 1982-1983. Mundy is honest about the absence of ill intent behind the Nazi-themed content of that time; that he was part of a highly liberal, anti-conservative group of friends who were questioning the right of governments and other authority figures to dictate what the public was mature enough to hear or see. That context is vital for modern readers who, deluged by the internet, may not realise how restrictive and centralised information was: there was a genuine information war to be fought in the name of freedom.
Other articles in the zine show that commitment to a helter-skelter sharing of ideas in the hope that they might spark creativity or originality in others, whether in ‘All And Everything: Beelzebub’s Tales To His Grandson — George Gurdjieff And Syd Barrett,’ which alternates paragraph-by-paragraph between the stories of those two individuals, in the primer on Adolf Wölfli, the amusing reprint of Kierkegard’s ‘History Of Boredom’ which posits the entirety of religious/human history as a doomed flight from tedium, or the short introduction to Kaos Magic.
Within the main text, Underwood brought together nearly every artist who appeared on Broken Flag, making for a comprehensive sense of the label’s standing and why they chose to release material with Broken Flag, where they were in their creative trajectory, and a palette-whetting sense of what even the most obscure tapes contained. While the tape-by-tape format lends an episodic feel to the reading experience, the connections running through the work as a whole reward consolidated consumption, whether that means tracing the Italian scene through the memories of Maurizio Bianchi, Pietro Mazzochin, Maurizio Pustianaz, Paolo Bandera, Giancarlo Toniutti or Pierpaolo Zoppo; the expansive reach of the label’s compilations and their changing intent over the years; Mundy’s varying impulses and the openness or otherwise to live performance; or the restlessness that would see the label move from its initial power electronics focus to also wrapping in the harsh noise of Ferial Confine or Putrefier.
There’s certainly an ebb and flow of interest given certain interviewees — William Bennett of Whitehouse is the standout in this respect — seem cagey or unforthcoming. In contrast, others like Tim Gane (Unkommuniti and, later, Stereolab), Anthony Di Franco (JFK, Ethnic Acid), or Mauro Teho Teardo are expansive and engaging. Judicious editing ensures the book is punchy and retains momentum, given a minimum of repetition, except where one speaker expands usefully on a theme. At times, given the brevity of most comments, one could wish for a few essay-style pieces to delve in-depth into the subjects or history touched on, but that desire for more-More-MORE is a hunger that can be answered in other sources.
Compared side-by-side, the main text seems unchanged versus its original printing in 2010. Still, it has been extended to encompass three additional Ramleh releases (Switch Hitter, Guidelines and Live Valediction). It concludes appropriately with the” Never Say When: 30 Years Of Broken Flag” festival, which took place in London in May 2012, making “Even When It Makes No Sense: The Broken Flag Story” a comprehensive rendering of the label’s story, supported by two additional interviews. One is with Richard Johnson of Fourth Dimension Records, who created “Grudge For Life: A Book About Ramleh” (2012, Vital Weekly 1265), which, in combination with this volume, makes Mundy’s work the best documented of the early power electronics acts. The other is a fresh interview with Mundy, bringing us up to date with his ongoing projects and casting one eye to the future as he continues to demonstrate his relentless commitment to his art. (Nick Soulsby
––– Address: https://www.kormplastics.nl
TAKU UNAMI AND ERIC LA CASA – PARAZOAN MAPPING #2 (booklet and download by Kindling)
SETH COOKE – HOW BUILDINGS LEARN (booklet and download by Kindling)
AREK GULBENKOGLU – SWAN IN THE PAST (booklet and download by Kindling)
The postal service is the biggest problem for a publication such as Vital Weekly. Once owned by the state in many countries, now a money-making affair, so postal rates are sky-high all around, and for us, receiving mail outside the EU comes with a price tag these days. Letters are not subject to this, so Eamon Sprod, also known as Tarab, started Kindling Editions, a 12-page tabloid newspaper with audio as a download. This he can send at the cheaper letter rate.
I could review them in order of release, but let me start with the second one by Seth Cooke. He had his house assessed by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors. He asked the surveyor for the audio recording of the assessment. It’s a sort of field recording, not leaving the house. The paper shows a cut-up of the evaluation, and the music is 65 minutes of hard-to-understand talking. That’s the concept, and if you like this sort of conceptual field recording, then this is your thing. Not mine, however.
The other two are of much greater musical interest. The first release is by Taku Unami and Eric LaCasa, who already had an album called ‘Parazoan Mapping’ in 2015 on Erstwhile Records, which I missed. The press information mentions ‘avoiding word-based explanation’ and ‘letting the work speak for itself’. I don’t know what’s happening here except for some field recording-based action. These two pieces contain some bizarre interactions. Part One seems to be recorded outside, near a highway, airport, or buzzing environment. That’s the background. In the foreground, the two musicians create sounds by shuffling one or more objects around. Maybe there is also some kind of cut-up of this material. The music is as fascinating as it is mysterious. The other part sees them moving inside and separating the stereo field. They’re performing similar actions, shuffling about, cracking acoustic objects, maybe sawing some, but now with a strict left/right channel separation. There is also interaction between the two, as within the piece, various segments belong together and both musicians do similar actions with different results. Again, very fascinating stuff, and I’d be very curious to know what is going on, and sadly, there isn’t a visual aspect. The booklet shows a bunch of unrelated images (I think!). The second piece has a longer duration than the first one and is the one I prefer, even when the first is also very nice.
The third release is by Arek Gulbenkoglu, who is from Australia (like the label). It’s been a while since I last heard his music, possibly when reviewing his LP ‘A Gift Like A Hollow Vessel’ in Vital Weekly 1152. The first time I reviewed his music was in Vital Weekly 492, and up until then, I had heard about five or six of his releases. What I heard I immensely enjoyed and hearing this new work and reading he has several small-edition releases made me think I should track them down, but where’s the time? Gulbenkoglu has a background in improvised music, and maybe that shows in his compositions, but effectively, that’s what they are: compositions and not improvisations. ‘Swan In The Past’ is a 40-minute collage of various unrelated sound events, from some clicks to a massive drone. I think much of this finds its way in the world of electrical currents, but also hitting and scratching objects. Maybe even a drum surface in some instances. Sometimes, the music is tranquil for some time but always picks up in volume again, so it’s not all on the hearing threshold. Maybe he also uses some modular setup, but I am unsure. This piece is an excellent collage of ideas, styles and techniques, capturing my attention. Think of improvisation, musique concrète, electro-acoustic music and nothing too strict, instead going for a free play of every element available. The booklet contains a similar collage of images. (FdW)
––– Address: http://www.sonicrubbish.com/KINDLING