Week 6

GAGI PETROVIC – MUSIC FOR DANCE AND THEATRE 2011-2024 (2CD by Moving Furniture Records)
JANEK SCHAEFER – CONSCIOUS SEDATION (CD/DVD by AudiOh)
JANEK SCHAEFER – LOVE HERTZ (CD/DVD by AudiOh)
ADAM BOHMAN – TEXT PIECES + COMPOSITIONS FOR PREPARED STRINGS AND OBJECTS (CD by Krim Kram)
BREN’T LEWIIS ENSEMBLE- DUMB TANGERINE DREAM (CD by Krim Kram)
KNURL – OBTAIN BY SACRIFICE (CD by Krim Kram)
DAIMON – ELLIPSE (CD by Dissipatio)
SULLIVAN JOHNS – PITCHED VARIATIONS (CD by Moving Furniture Records Contemporary Series)
IGGOR CAVALERA / SHANE EMBURY – NEON GODS / OWN YOUR DARKNESS (CD, LP, Ltd LP by Cold Spring Records)
ASTASIE-ABASIE – VESTIGIAL GAMELAN (LP by Shame File Music)
ANDREW CHALK – DIORAMAS (LP by An’archives)
PUREH – TETRAGRAM (CDR by Pharmafabrik Recordings)
MATS BJÖRK – HOW LONG WAS I GONE (CDR by Eplektrik Audio)
E.M.I.R.S. – SLOW (CDR by Belch Singersonggrinder)
MODELBAU – TIME LAPSE (cassette by Momentarily Records)
ANDREAS RÖNNQUIST – FROM PURE AIR (cassette by Momentarily Records)
TONI DIMITROV & STEFAN CHRISTOFF – BALKAN WINDS (cassette by Unfulfillment)
CAST OFF FORM – STRINGS (cassette by Eh?)

GAGI PETROVIC – MUSIC FOR DANCE AND THEATRE 2011-2024 (2CD by Moving Furniture Records)

Moving Furniture sure loves the work of Gagi Petrovic. Almost all his releases came via this label. Petrovic is
“an award-winning composer, performer, producer and teacher of music”, and part of his job as a composer is composing music for dance and theatre pieces. This double CD compiles the pieces covering the years 2011 to 2024. Each piece is described as such: ‘[‘Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes’ by HOMESICK, 2013]’ or ‘Patriarch Oppression [‘AYAH’ by Haya Maella, 2017]’. I would have assumed that dance and theatre mean long pieces, taking a fair bit of time, but that’s not the case. The examples I gave are 2:48 and 16:03; seeing as I don’t often visit the theatre or dance, I admit I don’t know much about it. As I have repeatedly recounted, the problem with releases like this and film soundtracks is the lack of visuals. More than once, I thought, ‘This is great music; what did it look like’? According to the label, Petrovic’s work “moves within the grey area of progressive composition, digital electronics and alternative pop”, which is spot on. The computer plays a significant role in bending and reshaping sounds, often without any clue as to the originals, with a strong love for drones, musique concrète and sometimes that oddly shaped rhythm piece, which I assume is the element of pop. When that happens, I am reminded of people like Zeno van den Broek, with whom Petrovic collaborated earlier. Sometimes, there are voices, which he chops up, adding an unsettling feeling to the music. The 19 pieces are short and to the point, with much variation. Much of this remains a mystery, though, as I don’t know how he does his music. Maybe that’s not important to know, but something I’d be interested in (perhaps I should sign up for lessons with him?). Also curious: why are the last three pices attributed to ‘anonymous’? I believe Petrovic would know who he composed these pieces for—some fascinating mysteries in this release. I enjoyed that, but much more the music that accompanies it. (FdW)
––– Address: https://www.movingfurniturerecords.com/

JANEK SCHAEFER – CONSCIOUS SEDATION (CD/DVD by AudiOh)
JANEK SCHAEFER – LOVE HERTZ (CD/DVD by AudiOh)

Sometimes I think there is less mail for a good reason, for instance, because of Christmas time. To realise parcels get lost, more so, it seems, than before, occurs a bit later; Christmas has been beyond us for some time now. I had a fever last week and didn’t feel the need to play music all day, and then these two Janek Schaefer releases dropped in. ‘Love Hertz’, an excellent variation of ‘Love Hurts’, that dreadful song by Nazareth, is an older album, already released on Valentine’s Day last year. But there’s another one coming, and love is eternal, so why not? I started with ‘Conscious Sedation’, which was what a nurse said to Schaefer, who responded with ‘What a great album title.’ “It was my ambition to harness the energies, experience, and learning around me, blended with my new treatise of ‘+ve intent’, that I had conceived in the spring earlier this year.” ‘+ve intent’ means positive intent and seems to be some kind of strategy for non-violent communication or some sort of self-help thing; look up what Schaefer says about all of this on his website. The nine pieces of music on this album form the soundtrack of a film by the same name, consisting of grainy, colourful textures with minimal movement. Schaefer informs us that he plays around with nine sounds, and each track is a variation of these sounds, and you should play it all day in shuffle mode. Thanks to the Dutch post unwilling to deliver my mail (or deliberately holding on to it) and my feverish state, I could play the album for a prolonged period, even when all day was too much. The music consists of slowly evolving minimalist drones. In the download, some pictures of his studio set up, which includes a turntable, pedals, reel-to-reel and some small keyboards, nothing out of the ordinary, but the results are simply outstanding. I am very much the sucker for these kinds of grainy, droney, sustaining ambient pieces in which time and space dissolve, quietly transporting the listener to a different. As such, I like the title very much, too. I am conscious (well, feverishly, so), but the music also sedates me a bit. It’s what Brian Eno would say about music being there but not forcing itself.
There also drones on ‘Love Hertz’ and Schaefer lists his sources here; “2000’s Shruti Box, Indian bellows reed instrument, 1950’s domestic pipe organ, New York, 1970’s Magnus fan-powered chord organ, 1860’s Huddersfield Father Willis pipe organ and Distortion”. The results are worlds apart from the drones of ‘Conscious Sedation’, and it’s not just the distortion that adds to the difference but also plays a significant role. These drones are massive and loud, combined with open microphones, picking up extraneous sounds from the space in which they are playing. It’s not your typical wine-and-dine romantic music suited for 14 February. The video part of this release contains sea waves with flickering lights, and I can’t figure out if this is all real-time or a loop. Like the images from ‘Conscious Sedation’, this is a product of ambient experience; you glance at it now and then and combine it with immersive music. There is no escaping or ignoring there. As both works consist of dark music, you could quickly think they are interchangeable; they are not. Whereas I could play ‘Conscious Sedation’ on a loop for an extended time, I wouldn’t consider doing that with ‘Love Hertz’, which I also think isn’t suited for hearing in a dark room alone. It scares the daylight out of me, and I play this during the daytime, albeit grey and rainy. That doesn’t elevate the mood but provides a solid soundtrack of pleasurable darkness, should you subscribe to such things. I do. (FdW)
––– Address: https://janekschaefer.bandcamp.com/

ADAM BOHMAN – TEXT PIECES + COMPOSITIONS FOR PREPARED STRINGS AND OBJECTS (CD by Krim Kram)
BREN’T LEWIIS ENSEMBLE- DUMB TANGERINE DREAM (CD by Krim Kram)
KNURL – OBTAIN BY SACRIFICE (CD by Krim Kram)

If it’s Krim Kram’s idea to release music from outsiders, and they come with Adam Bohman, is that a good catch or, perhaps, not? Let me explain. Bohman is an excellent sound manipulator armed with a bow, mallets and objects he plays with household objects, pieces of styrofoam, metal, glass, wood, screws, bolts and nuts. Electro-acoustic music except there are hardly or no electronics. Very few people similarly do the same thing. Are you an outsider then? Bohman is part of the UK improvised music scene, including membership in such groups as Morphogenesis, The Bohman Brothers, Secluded Bronte, and The London Improvisers Orchestra. He also recorded spoken word pieces with his typical recognisable voice. Add to this his graphic work, like his music and spoken word, full of collaged images, and there is a substantial body of work there. And yet, this makes Bohman still something of an outsider, not part of any scene or trend, and following his private direction, doing what he does best. I don’t follow everything all Bohman concerned, but I pick up when there is something in front of me. Looking at Discogs, I am surprised at the number of releases with his name. Therefore, this new release is received with some anticipation, as it had been a while. This CD delivers what it promises: text pieces and compositions for prepared strings (a violin mostly) and objects. These are independent things and don’t mix. The text pieces aren’t single read-pieces but multiple voices reciting texts, which can be a menu. It’s not always just Bohman’s voice; others are heard, too. Excellent confusing sound poetry and very dada. Which also can be said of the music. Here, too, a dadaistic element can be noted. It’s a lovely wild ride of shrieking acoustic sounds, plucked and scratched, bowed and broken, with a controlled intensity and aggression. Following each music piece, there is a text piece, followed by a music piece, etc. Vintage Bohman, but you don’t expect him to do something outside the body or work we already know from him. It also serves as an introduction to his work.
The first time I reviewed a trio of releases from Krim Kram was in Vital Weekly 1337, applauding that they opened up shop as a noise and related music label. Their inaugural release included the ever-elusive Bren’t Lewiis Ensemble. I wrote I don’t know a lot about them, and that’s still the case. Seymour Glass of Bananafish Magazine plays an important role. They have many releases, and I only heard a handful, and certainly not the four 3″ CDRs they released between 2019 and 2021 in an edition of 25 copies. They are now compiled on this CD, so look no further and pay no more top dollar. As I said, I don’t know anything about the Bren’t Lewiis Ensemble, who they are and what they do. Before I called it “lo-fi musique concrète, on LSD and in a fine surrealist mode. The tape treatments that Smegma at times are known for but lack on the release I just heard are in vast abundance. A slow-paced Nurse With Wound/Sylvie & Babs or Le Scrambled Debutante. Maybe all this is to be seen as part of the surrealist movement?”. That is still the case, but even more here as these pieces are fragmented, spaced out, and trippier than before. Maybe it has to do with the originals being limited releases, so an easier place for uncontrolled and unashamed experimentation. There seems to be no direction or filter, so it falls on the listener like a roller-coaster of sounds, ideas, notions and mistakes. If, of course, there are mistakes. I love it. (FdW)
This new Knurl release is my first encounter with Krim Kram, from Cork in Ireland and, next to Kapotte Muziek, the only name I recognised, so maybe I should invest some time shortly to see what this is about. But we’re here for the Knurl CD, so let’s dive into it.
Knurl is, of course, Alan Bloor, who has been making noise for 30 years now, highly appreciated and of a constant high quality and thorough style. Discogs mentions 100 albums and almost 50 more minor releases, so he’s pretty productive too. The promo text is right where it says ‘”Obtain by Sacrifice” is another solid entry in his vast discography, presenting seven tracks of amplified junk metal screech’. Because that’s what we’re listening to. And those seven tracks cover around 50 minutes, so it’s safe to tell you that you need an open mind for this if you do not know what you’re listening to.
The seven tracks are all in the same style, as mentioned before, though a lot is happening in each. Being a drone artist, I am very focused on sound design. Alan also put some effort into balancing the high-pitched over distorted feedback with the depth of bass sounds generated by his instruments/metal. If you have someone who doesn’t know what he’s doing, junk could easily convert into garbage. Converting junk into musical instruments is an entirely different category.
And about using junk for making music, Knurl is not pop music like the Neubauten, far from that. But listening to Knurl does trigger me into playing ‘Das Schaben’ again. That is where that gnarly metal sound becomes more of a drone instead of noise. That is also where my love for metal scraping noise started. I was searching for extremes and the Neubauten was available for me. The promo also mentions a few more quotes from Alan. It states where love for metal started, “I used to think it would be great to form a band that could play as loud and fast as a grinder grinding metal. That never materialised, so I took matters into my own hands.” And we all know that being in a band also often means you must compromise. Alan doesn’t do that. Relentless, extreme and in your face. (BW)
––– Address: https://krimkram.bandcamp.com/

DAIMON – ELLIPSE (CD by Dissipatio)

The return of trio Daimon; Simon Balestrazzi (analogue and digital synthesisers, treatments, crotales), Paolo Monti (synthesiser, guitar, live electronics) and Nicola Quiriconi (synthesisers, electronics, magnetic tapes, contact microphones, voice). I reviewed some of the earlier work (Vital Weekly 1209 and 1129), besides various other releases by Balestrazzi. When I first heard this release a couple of days ago, I was reading an early 1980s fanzine of electronic music, the Klaus Schulze/Tangerine Dream kind of thing, and the word ‘sequencer’ appeared on every page at least three times, and it also dominates the opening piece, ‘Cat’ of Daimon’s new CD. This piece has a strong Krautrock feeling, which is good and continues in the following five pieces. Re-reading my previous Daemon reviews, it seems they change their music per release, and this time, it’s krautrock music, neatly coincident with my reading material. The title track has that vulnerability I recognise from Cluster, while other pieces rely more on the guitar, so I’m thinking Ash Ra Tempel there. Sometimes, there is a bit of distortion, but Daimon’s clever enough to keep things under control; it remains part of the overall atmospheric quality of the music. Atmospheric and yet also distant and still warm. It’s a bit contradictory here, but I get their drift. It’s a boot: you get in, and it transports you effortlessly, and you see the shore slow and the landscape change. Each song is a new view. Colours blur and change, but the overall tone is greyish, a pleasant darkness. Refind mood music, just the way I like it. (FdW)
––– Address: https://dissipatio.bandcamp.com/

SULLIVAN JOHNS – PITCHED VARIATIONS (CD by Moving Furniture Records Contemporary Series)

Three sound sources (two bassoons played by Agustín Agen and Javier Cereceda and one viola played by Sanya Smileska) and the mastermind of Sullivan Johns. The three players played short phrases and notes composed by Johns. Sullivan processed these using pitch control and automation and made seven pieces. The result is simply stunning. Sometimes, it’s like you’re listening to a reed organ because of the timbres of two bassoons (and a viola). At some points, aptly named Bassoon Pitch, it sounds like a contrabass bassoon is in play; it’s that low. Seven pieces in just over half an hour beg for a CD put on repeat, or as my wife does many times: put a single track on repeat for an hour or so. Because there’s pitch control involved, Johns can put a gentle interference into two tones slightly misaligned in frequencies, causing an interference to appear. Sullivan Johns has released two cassettes under the moniker Cloud Diameter. They are more rhythm-driven; on this release, the rhythm comes from the changing notes or added notes in a different octave, kind of like a klangfarbenmelodie, a musical concept developed by Arnold Schönberg that treats timbre as a melodic element. The best example in my ears is Amnerika by Frank Zappa on Civilization Phaze IV, or as played by Ensemble Modern, a real orchestra. The original was written for and played by a Synclavier. The pieces Johns put together also have a Morton Feldman or even Arvo Pärt feel about them, at least in some pieces. Only two pieces can be heard on the Bandcamp page of Moving Furniture Records. All the pieces will be available from March 28th on, digital and on CD. Again, this is a stunning new addition to the MFR Modern Contemporary Series. Before I forget, all three players are experts on their respective instruments. I couldn’t find anything on Agustin Agen. But the other two are well-versed in contemporary music. (MDS)
––– Address: https://www.movingfurniturerecords.com/

IGGOR CAVALERA / SHANE EMBURY – NEON GODS / OWN YOUR DARKNESS (CD, LP, Ltd LP by Cold Spring Records)

As a kid, I was a metalhead. Sue me! I lived in the countryside; the most extreme things I could find back then were hard rock and metal. And there is nothing wrong with acknowledging your roots. But later, I realised that the things I liked were the clash between the extremity of the metal in combination with the long elevated intros or ‘dark, creepy tracks’ that one could find on some of those albums. Take, for example, Venom with ‘Buried Alive’ melting into ‘Raise The Dead’ from the ‘Black Metal’ album. The tension between those two, well, I remember this feeling still, and it was 43 years ago! What I want to say with this is that somehow this release doesn’t surprise me at all, yet surprised me completely.
Cold Spring Records releases this split album between Iggor Cavalera and Shane Embury. Iggor, who we know of Sepultura, Soulwax, Mudo, and Shane, the bass player of Napalm Death, Brujeria, Dark Sky Burial and many other projects. Not two beginners when it comes to working with extremes in sound, you will have to agree. And in front of me, these two released a 12″ vinyl where they both got a side to fill. You can get the black vinyl, limited white vinyl or the CD. Or digital, but well … We all know that music in this style is best listened to in the safety of your home, on a good sound setup, sitting in your favourite spot with a nice drink and proper company. It’s not the stuff you stream from Spotif*ck on shitty earphones.
“Own Your Darkness” is Shane’s piece in just under 14 minutes. This leaves more than enough vinyl to fully embrace the basics of this track, which are deep synth lines and very creative use of his bass. I’ll see him play live this Thursday with Napalm Death, and I can’t wait. The composition is maybe a little bit in the direction of what you would / could expect from what I described earlier, an experimental piece that would fit a metal album perfectly. It’s partially a two-note/chord drone piece where, through sound design, an enormous build-up takes place. Resulting in a noisy drone where so much is happening that you have to listen to it a few times even to grasp the beauty hidden. It all has a very analogue feel, meaning there isn’t a single moment where I think a computer with typical digital sound manipulation (granulizing, sampling, etc) is added. It can all be done on tape, explaining the beautiful compressed sound. It’s a massive, well-produced, constantly pressurised piece where you can lose yourself. Maybe that’s where the title refers: lose yourself, but ‘own your darkness’.
“Neon Gods” is the title of the almost 20-minute piece Iggor Cavalera added to this release. There is so much happening here. It is as if he’s still exploring his palette of different paints with which he is painting his sonic sculptures. The opening part is kinda ‘lonely’ as reflected in ‘Paradise Disowned’ by Lustmord. And then the throbbing pulse leads the way into more complex noise territory which reminded me directly of ‘Jeux de Terre’ by Vromb. A massive drone follows the experimentation, slowly introducing the final moments as an intense, noisy, incoherent structure built from voices, noise and delays. After 19 minutes the silence remains as a static noise resembling the needle in the final groove. Wow … What can I say about it? Many different styles of noise and minimalism are covered here, and Iggor is going through many different perspectives on sound in 20 minutes. I only hope someone will give him the possibility for a full release where he can go deeper into the different chapters of his capabilities. I feel the stories he wants to tell are strong, and the words are there, but at the same time, he tries to put so much in there that (except for the 2nd part) the message gets lost. It’s like ready only the titles on the news page, but not the content of the articles. I want a whole ‘book’ !!! The stories he’s telling are great! (BW)
––– Address: https://coldspring.co.uk/

ASTASIE-ABASIE – VESTIGIAL GAMELAN (LP by Shame File Music)

The duo Ian Andrews and Garry Bradbury, operating as Astasie-abase, released their album, “Exploring the Magnification of Insignificant Sounds”. The two previous (Vital Weekly 1296 and 1354) also carried the word gamelan; if you hear the music, it’s easy to see the connection. The two work with small sounds, not easy to amplify, and sometimes result in extraneous noise. Much like John Cage’s ‘Cartridge Music’, they don’t want to avoid them but certainly not emphasise them; Astasie-abase’s music sounds surprisingly clean. They use contact microphones, home-constructed cartridges, miniature piezo microphones and conventional microphones, and as for objects you have to think of hand drills, film winders and motorised drills/screwdrivers. The most important thing is the music’s random nature, which I greatly enjoy. Think of wind chimes, rattling in the wind, but here, the chimes are broken and make a lot of different sounds, unlike the different tunings of a wind-chime. It all rattles about, and if you listen close, you can detect some organisation. It’s difficult to say how much of this is ‘played’ or the result of automated actions and how much editing is done. Astasie-abase opts for short pieces, all eleven around three minutes and within each of these, there is not only a lot happening, but there are also many variations throughout this record. Much of this happens on a mid-frequency range; some on a more low-end range, like they added a bass drum to the proceedings. In the two previous reviews, I used the word Zen-like, and there is no reason not to do so again, so despite all the nervousness and hectic moving of sounds, it is also very Zen-like. (FdW)
––– Address: https://shamefilemusic.bandcamp.com/

ANDREW CHALK – DIORAMAS (LP by An’archives)

I am sure most readers of Vital Weekly are aware of Andrew Chalk. Active since the mid-1980s and associated with projects such as Organum, Ora and, to me personally, the most intriguing one, Mirror, Andrew is a comforting fixture on an ever-changing ambient-experimental music scene. Following his two recent albums in 2023, one a collaboration with Daisuke Suzuki, the other with Jean Noël Rebilly, and the more recent solo album Songs Of The Sea, we now have Dioramas. And what a beauty this is and in so many ways! As music always comes first, we’ll start with the fifteen pieces of this album – juxtapositioning Songs Of The Sea, which featured two side-long tracks. Diorama, much like the principle of a diorama, a model representing a scene using three-dimensional figures or, more intriguing, a painting, which can be viewed through a peephole simulating changes in the scene in colour and direction, offers brief glimpses into Andrew’s world. The music, played on organ, piano, and an array of non-specific scene-setting instruments (though I think I can detect a koto in there, too), is warm, humble and modest. There is much attention to recording details: think room, presence, and (reversed) reverb. The various brief sketches and playing seem, at times, random until a sudden (fragment of a) hesitant melody appears. As a whole, this album does not tell you anything new about Andrew Chalk – rather than a new book, Dioramas is like being offered the next few pages from his ongoing diary. Like a diary, thoughts and ideas are recorded in slight melodies, almost superficial notes, scribbled lines – until you start reading them properly and realise they are all individual glimpses of Andrew’s reality: becalming wondrous music. The package is another thing – I admit that I consider An’archives one of the most interesting and worthwhile labels. Take Dioramas; the cover features a modestly-toned image and a wrap-around paper obi, displaying the label owner’s fascination with Japan (a recurring theme in almost all An’archive releases). Inside the album cover is a postcard and a heavy carton insert. The album features a smaller-sized label, making the disc look like an ancient shellac 78 rpm album. And a final applause should go to the plastic-lined brown inner sleeve. A detail, perhaps, but like the music, the packaging is all about details. There are only 350 copies of this album, so do not hesitate to act on the idea of purchasing! (FK)
––– Address: https://anarchives.com/

PUREH – TETRAGRAM (CDR by Pharmafabrik Recordings)

I glanced briefly at the information, and I know this isn’t a compilation, but it could have been a compilation. Behind PureH, as is the preferred spelling, we find Slovenian composer Simon Serc, who has been active since 1993. Sometimes, he uses names such as Cadlag and Biodukt and runs the Pharmafabrik label. As an artist, Serc explores themes of technology, dystopia, nature and human perception; he’s part of what is called ‘ambientcore’, which, despite being an ambient head myself, is a new term for me. Since 1994, he released only five albums, including this new one. ‘Paracusia’ is the opening piece here and starts with a dark synth and some birds and seems to set the tone for what is to come. Not some beautifully flowing and glowing ambient music, but with sharpish tones, the soundtrack of dystopian nightmares, flowing in the lengthy synth opening of ‘Slumber’, but halfway through, drums come in some voices, and the album’s tone completely changes. Now it’s more like The Orb’s music from the mid-1990s, not bad at all, but different. A decade later, Orb rhythm is in ‘Tasukete’, with a Japanese voice, and right, maybe this is more intended as an ambient house sort of thing? That’s ok. I was a big fan of the genre, and I don’t hear it as often, but every time I hear some of the classics, I realise I still enjoy it. But then ‘Metatron’ arrives, another slab of dystopian nightmares. Do you see what I mean by this being more of a compilation? See it more as an introduction to many talents. (FdW)
––– Address: http://www.pharmaafbrik.com

MATS BJÖRK – HOW LONG WAS I GONE (CDR by Eplektrik Audio)

Discounting that his name came up in a review of Komptjor Eplektrika in Vital Weekly 579 and 1070, I had not heard any other music from Mats Björk from Copenhagen, Denmark. If the title is a question directed to me, as the listener, then I can’t say he was ever gone, and this is his debut for me. His Bandcamp has two releases from his old band moniker and four under his real name. The packaging leaves room for improvement. There is no other information available; therefore, I need to guess a few things which is never easy or fulfilling. My best guess would be Björk is a composer of electro-acoustic music, using computer technology. Field recordings, ‘other’ (undefined) electronics, objects, and a guitar in the third piece are on the input side. In some kind of real-time processing style, these are stretched, cut, granulated, and pitched, and these improvisations are edited into the four pieces of this release. Again, all of this is to the best of my knowledge. Björk isn’t particularly interested in a careful approach, as slips in distortion and feedback when it happens; he doesn’t remove them as unwanted guests. The four pieces have a vibrant feeling, with these cracks and bursts moving and changing throughout, but in the end, all four could benefit from some more editing. It stays on the same side in each track, and I blame it on the input side. When that remains the same, no matter how many bends you apply, you know the drill by then. It’s not bad at all, but in need of further exploration. (FdW)
––– Address: https://matsbjork.bandcamp.com/

E.M.I.R.S. – SLOW (CDR by Belch Singersonggrinder)

Quinten Dierick, also known as E.M.I.R.S., takes it slow for his latest release, even when he seemingly has a few releases in a short period. His favourite medium is magnetic tape, be it reel-to-reel tapes or cassettes, but the music ended up on a CDR for a change. The slow element is within the music, where everything takes place at turtle speed. That’s not to say that E.M.I.R.S. plays ’empty’ music, one sound followed by a lot of silence, because that’s not the kind of slowness. It’s within the use of sounds and instruments we find this slowness. More so than on other releases by E.M.I.R.S., there seems to be the guitar this time, alongside the usual electronics, small synthesisers and percussive blasts. Some of this finds its basis in rusty loops, and with some of the additional reverb, it becomes solemnly played music. That’s also part of E.M.I.R.S.’s minimalism and slowness. There is no density here, unlike some of his other work. He plays his lines clearly, allowing even for some kind of melodic approach, again slowly played out. It all sounds like nothing you would think is E.M.I.R.S., yet it all makes much sense once you hear what he’s doing. This release is quite a surprise and also quite a beauty. (FdW)
––– Address: https://belchsingersonggrinder.bandcamp.com/

MODELBAU – TIME LAPSE (cassette by Momentarily Records)
ANDREAS RÖNNQUIST – FROM PURE AIR (cassette by Momentarily Records)

How time flies. It’s already been 5 weeks since I reviewed the previous Modelbau cassette, and I thought I missed a few. It turns out Frans had the flu, so hence the delay … Just kidding, of course, but I am always eager to listen to new material by Modelbau; frequent readers will know and – if you’re not a frequent reader – just try going through the archives by the search function. There are almost 1500 editions, with some 10 to 20 (say 15). That’s a total of 22.500 reviews. And only 84 of them contain the word Modelbau. And that’s not even everything he released, I believe. So, we can safely state that there is more to discover.
This time, it’s again a cassette titled “Time Lapse” in beautiful DIY packaging with various types of recycled paper. Two tracks cover a whole side of the tape, with a playtime of about 24 minutes. And both in the style we’ve grown accustomed to. Deep rumbling drones with more than enough happening to keep your brain working. The music can generally be seen as tapestries with slow movements, loops by delays or tapes where slow sounds are added and layered until the attendance of previous sounds are taken over by new iterations of themselves or different ones and meticulously built from nothing to something to nothing again.
“Dead Man’s Eyes” is relatively ‘stable’ in composition. With that, I mean to say that a lot is happening, but everything that IS happening seems relatively uniform. There are no extremes, no different notes, and many fading in and out into various states of sonic balance. The first half sounds slightly raw compared to many other releases, making it edgy somehow. “Dream Lover” starts with a slow pulsating resonant tone with an additional pulse wave pulse. It’s entirely synthetic for Modelbau standards, but maybe we’ll find out why during the rest of the track. It’s not long there, although … If you listen carefully, there is always a faint presence, and it’s only to return in the end. It’s almost like breathing by the one next to you on which you concentrate just before trying to sleep. And suddenly, you realise you are asleep, and you’re dreaming. And after your dream, while you’re waking, you realise the breathing is still there … Who knows, that’s just my interpretation.
It’s a lovely cassette release on a label that offers more of them. Check out their BandCamp to see if there’s something for your taste.
There is another new release by Momentarily Records and time to look at what this is about. Bandcamp only has a few lines for general info and there it says: ‘Exclusive tape label. Established in 2022. The releases feature special and tangible music composed exclusively for momentarily records. The label focuses on quality and identifies subtle differences in each work.’ And I have nothing much to add, I think. There have been eight releases so far, of which two are sold out, and of course, a shirt is available. But as already mentioned in the Modelbau review in this Vital, gorgeously designed and executed artwork on each of them. I am really, really impressed.
According to Discogs, Andreas Rönnquist is a relatively new name with five releases (excluding this one) since 2021. This is my first time hearing his name and music, so let’s give it a chance (> insert listening session <). Well, those were 40 minutes well spent on a Sunday evening. Two 20-minute tracks simply titled “From Pure Air” 1 and 2 with a well-executed concept. ‘[It’s] inspired by a rain and thunderstorm that passed through southern Sweden, which was captured with recording equipment and combined with some of my guitar-based drones to complete the work.’ (Taken from the promo text) And when you listen, you can feel that tension, the moment before rain where you think the air pressure slightly diminishes; you’re not getting a sudden headache, but you start to feel (and we’re using a beautiful German word for this) unheimlich or unheimlich.
Musically, those field recordings are pretty in the back of the composition, and where needed, the definition is pushed more toward the front. The guitar-based drones are flawlessly accentuating the events of the rain as well as the atmosphere of it all. At moments in complete harmony, at other moments slightly dissonant to emphasise that ‘unheimisch’ emotion. And as the rain slowly passes in those 40 minutes the sky clears and life continues. The most significant advantage there is that we don’t have to water the plants in the garden anymore, but we can play the tape again, open the garden doors and pour ourselves a nice glass of wine. (BW)
––– Address: https://momentarilyrecords.bandcamp.com/

TONI DIMITROV & STEFAN CHRISTOFF – BALKAN WINDS (cassette by Unfulfillment)

A long time ago, Toni Dimitrov was one of our regular writing staff and worked as a sound artist under Sound_00. Still, for whatever reason stopped both (at the same time? I no longer recall) and maybe returned already, but now on my radar again, through this collaboration with Canada’s Stefan Christoff, who has roots in the area Dimitrov is from the Balkans. They corresponded about all things Balkan and set to work to create the three pieces on this cassette. The only apparent musical reference to the Balkan is in the opening of the first piece, ‘Forever’, with Orthodox chant sounding and processed. I am told there are also, “samples from original field recordings from the region and old Yugoslavian weather service music”, and the two men use digital tools to process these original sounds and cook up some elegant dark atmospheric music of a highly ambient nature. Birds twitter, sustaining synthesised sounds and the rustic sounds from a quiet backwater to the rest. Calm and slow music, just as I love it, especially on an otherwise peaceful Saturday afternoon. It’s cold in February, and listening to this music, I am contemplating a holiday in the region, or, perhaps, the holidays I had a child in Austria, which is not the Balkan, of course, but with those some birds and farmyard sounds, I know here on this release. It’s too soon for immediate departure, but if I could, I perhaps would. As a small consolation, I flipped through the old photo album and glanced at the area map, drifting slowly on the sustaining spaciousness of the music. Yep, confirmed: I’m old and nostalgic.
(FdW)
––– Address: https://unfulfillmententertainment.bandcamp.com/

CAST OFF FORM – STRINGS (cassette by Eh?)

This is the “latest instalment in the Acoustics Series”, says the label, which I read about nine minutes into the cassette. It made me smile, as the word acoustic didn’t come to mind in these nine minutes. I considered writing about the noise side of improvisation. I will use it, but on ‘Strings’, the otherwise unknown Cast Off Form uses a “solid cedar acoustic guitar accompanied by no-input mixing and modular synthesis”, and whatever is done on the guitar, it all renders beyond recognition when it leaves the no-input mixing and modular synthesis. Noise it is. I also told that “Cast Off Form spent the latter part of 2023 and the entirety of 2024 exploring unconventional uses of the acoustic guitar”, which is extended as, to some, it might sound like another lovely improvised drone/rock/noise (equal measures there) guitar music. Most of the time, the distortion and feedback prevail, and sometimes, you are reminded of the presence of the guitar. This guitar isn’t played in any conventional way. I enjoyed this interaction between the guitar and the electronic part quite a bit, mainly because it stays away from the more apparent approaches that could have been taken, like droney ambient music. At the same time, it’s not always a conventional noise release, going off in a brutalist form of electro-acoustic music. Maybe a bit long at 50 minutes, but quite the ear-cleanser, mind-resetting thing. (FdW)
––– Address: https://publiceyesore.bandcamp.com/