Week 8
R. IWANSKI – TRANSFORMATIONS II (CD by Antenna Non Grata/Eter Records)
SHEPHERDS OF CATS – VJ PIETRUSHKA – LIVE AT BEMMA BAR (CD by Antenna Non Grata)
AUTONISTER – ONE (CD by Auf Abwegen)
SATORI – PILLARS OF SALT (CD by Cold Spring Records)
COLOSSLOTH – THE HARMONY KNIFE (CD by Cold Spring Records)
MINNY POPS – STOCKHOLM 1974 (LP by Psychofon/Blowpipe)
MAGNETIC STRIPPER – SCRAPING THE TAPES (LP by Suitcase Recordings)
CHEAP IMITATION – STORY OF LOVE (LP by Vips & Vaps)
PASCAL PLANTINGA – DAS VOLK IST EIN FRESSENDER KADAVER (CD & 10″ by Blowpipe)
BIG HARE – SUN HOUSE (LP by Blowpipe)
HAARLEM UNDERGROUND (LP compilation by Blowpipe)
UNSUB – SUFFER APATHY (CDR by Love Earth Music)
NOISERIST – COCHON (CDR by Chocolate Monk)
MCHK – SHROUDED IN SILENCE (3″ CDR by Inner Demons Records)
MOREINE – UPON THY CATTLE (CDR by Inner Demons Records)
BLACK MIRAGE – LP1 (double 3″ CDR by Inner Demons Records)
ASYLUM CONNECTION – A DECAY OF A PANDEMIC MIND (double 3″ CDR by Inner Demons Records)
KNOWING – OSSUARY BLUES (cassette by Grisaille)
TROND JERVELL – IDEAL (cassette by Grisaille)
GÜNTER SCHLIENZ – ZEITMASCHINE (cassette by Grisaille)
R. IWANSKI – TRANSFORMATIONS II (CD by Antenna Non Grata/Eter Records)
SHEPHERDS OF CATS & VJ PIETRUSHKA – LIVE AT BEMMA BAR (CD by Antenna Non Grata)
It’s been quiet for the Polish Antenna Non Grata label, at least from my perception. Their latest two releases contain at least one surprise. Whereas I think of this label as either music made with radio waves or improvisation, the new release by R. Iwanski is different in that it isn’t either thing. We know him from his percussive work of Hati and electronic soundscapes as X-NAVI:ET and Voices Of The Cosmos. Under his given name he works, just as he did on ‘Transformations I’ (see Vital Weekly 1373) with African instruments; sanzas, kalimbas, sanzula, rattles, rain sticks, bells, metal objects, spring tubes, wah-wah tube, frame drum, ocarina, flutes, pipes, drum machines and effects (“soma laboratory, electro harmonix, strymon, haf wire, boss” and field recordings. He writes that the idea to record an “electroacoustic music” album dates back to 15 years ago, but is it electroacoustic music? Don’t expect lengthy, granular synthesis, extending one bell sound in a 15-minute drone, or such a thing. Rhythm is a primary concern here, more than on the first installment, and I believe he samples the hell out of his sources. Some of this results in highly danceable, almost techno-like music, such as in ‘E System Y’. However, in most cases, it’s more shimmering, obscured rhythms, various working simultaneously, and with some fine field recordings, creating a refined exotic atmosphere. It must be the cold weather, but this music has some excellent sunshine. There is one weak track, and that’s, sadly, also the longest, ‘Sum-Sum’, with its phasing loops going on for too long.
The other new release is the label’s improvisation department. Shepherds of Cats are a quartet of players, Adam Webster (cello, voice), Aleksander Olszewski (ethnic percussion instruments), Dariusz Błaszczak (modular synthesiser, sampler) and Jan Fanfare (guitar, prepared ukelele, looper). They have, quoting the press text here, a unique audiovisual project with Maciek Piatek, aka Vj Pietrushka (live cameras, video processing). Not unique enough to release a DVD, so I can’t comment on that side. In September 2023, they played at the Bemma Bar Wrocław, Poland; the recording is on this CD. The total length is 37 minutes, and at 17:40, there is a bit of silence, lasting until 18:09, and the only reason I can think of is that they recorded something to be released on vinyl. While not really my cupper, I enjoyed this to some extent. Maybe it was using modular electronics, the somewhat rocky guitar, or the droney cello. It’s not for me to judge whether this is something out of the ordinary. At times, it sounds pretty standard and sometimes not at all. I enjoyed it all the same. (FdW)
––– Address: https://antennanongrata.bandcamp.com/
AUTONISTER – ONE (CD by Auf Abwegen)
Seeing new releases by Strafe FR was quite a surprise in recent years, but perhaps for the first time, this duo now starts a collaboration. Siegfried Syniuga and Bernd Kastner teamed up with Detlef Klepsch, of whom I had not heard before, and who works as keit, ki lik il, a most unusual name. “The main interest of the trio lies in the combination of open disruptions between simple and complex rhythms, sound and noise textures, different tempi, as well as instrumental and vocal sound elements”. To that end, they use software synthesiser improvisations, manipulated string instruments, vocal experiments and heavily treated field recordings. I assume much time went into organising these sounds, so it became the 12 pieces of music; I imagine lots of software edits were made here. A lot happens in each of the 12 pieces, making this far from an easy album. It also defies easy categorisation, as it borrows many things from many genres and musical styles, so it’s all over the place. Sampling is the most common technique, I would think, and there’s an endless amount of layering going on, even in those pieces which are relatively ’empty’, such as ‘One_10’. There’s ambient, musique concrète, dance music, granular bending and pitching, a bit of noise and at 70 minutes, this isn’t the most leisurely trip to make. Even when I enjoy much of the record, I think it’s a bit of an overkill. There’s a risk of tracks blending, and a certain kind of sameness slips into this. But taken in smaller doses, this is a lovely record. (FdW)
––– Address: https://aufabwegen.bandcamp.com/
SATØRI – PILLARS OF SALT (CD by Cold Spring Records)
COLOSSLOTH – THE HARMONY KNIFE (CD by Cold Spring Records)
For a few reasons, noise seems to be back in my life; reading and writing about noise helps, I guess. I knew Satøri never left the stage but went through different incarnations. First, a duo of Dave Kirby and Robert Maycock, back in the 1980s, then Kirby and Justin Mitchell, later with Mitchell and Neil Chaney, and since 2012, it is a Kirby solo project. I wrote all of this using slightly different words in Vital Weekly 1398 when I discussed the previous album, ‘The Woods’. This new album continues Satøri’s explorations of rhythm and noise, with the word dystopian piping up again. I’d love to say I like all things dystopian, but they should be confined to the art world, in books, music and movies. However, dystopia is around us nowadays if you hand a second-hand Bond villain the keys to the system. In the words of Cold Spring about this album, “An aberrant signal. Data loss. Corrupted programming. Everything should be fine. But it isn’t, is it? Everything is fucked. Something has gotten into the system and is destroying it from within. This is humanity being consumed by the inability to think for itself. Ahead is the future. Just don’t look back…” Lyrically, it’s hard to say what these pieces are about. The vocals are down in the mix and often layered and laced with effects, but titles as ‘Blackened Skies’, ‘Fear Is A Lever’ and ‘Humiliate Me’ are telling examples. The rhythms aren’t complex affairs, but mainly in the low end: a punch in the stomach or a blow to the head. Primarily slow, but occasionally like a machine gun. Synthesisers and effects accentuate the rhythm and the voices and form the machine core of the music; here’s where the noise happens. Loud and without any mercy, the pleasure and the pain. That’s what we want from noise and Satøri delivers the goods. It’s not your standard scream noise, power electronics record, but a highly diverse dish with much structure, thanks to the beats and the chaos swirling above, but in equally measured proportions—an excellent album.
And while I am at it, why not some more noise? Also from the UK is Colossloth, also known as Wooly Wolaston. ‘The Harmony Knife’ is his fifth album ad an old school concept album about “the writings of professor Ted Kaczynski AKA the Unabomber. It is not about his terror campaign against the industrial society and the rise of technology – but his manifesto “Industrial Society And Its Future” and particularly the elements of “The Power Process”. As with much noise and their vocalists, one does not hear this. It could very well be about anything. Colossloth’s music is a bit different than Satøri’s, in that he also uses guitars, even gently strummed ones, in ‘Silhouette In Kerosene’, next to heavy metal guitars towards the end of ‘sIs Survived By’, following a lengthy ambient opening section. Also, Colossloth’s music is not as densely orchestrated, not as layered, perhaps. Think of it as a minimalist approach, straightforward, with a few sounds running amok. Next to the guitars, there are a lot of electronics used, feedback, noise, and chaotic drum machines melting down. More dystopian music (see also Satøri), which I guess is part and parcel of the noise world. I am not complaining; again, most welcome in art and not in the real world; thank you very much. It has the furious aggression of punk and if the world needs anything more these it is punk music.(FdW)
––– Address: https://coldspring.bandcamp.com/
MINNY POPS – STOCKHOLM 1974 (LP by Psychofon/Blowpipe)
This album was supposed to be out in 2021 on a German label, Psychofon Records, but for whatever was infinity delayed, the stock is now sold through the Dutch Blowpipe label. Minny Pops is one of those legendary Dutch music groups, going back to the late 1970s, whose claim is to be the first Dutch band for a John Peel sessions, a 7″ by Factory Records (based on supporting Joy Division on various Dutch concerts) and their singer’s Wally van Middendorp’s Plurex label. They made four LPs until 1984, and then Wally opted for a career in the music business. In 2012, Minny Pops resurfaced with the revival of Ultra, the Netherlands’ answer to No New York, of which the group was an instigator in 1980. Since then, the group became Wally’s conceptual vehicle for gigs/performances and the occasional release with a changing cast of musicians. Wim Dekker was part of a lot of the group’s musicians, but he’s absent on ‘Stockholm 1974’, which Wally recorded in England, his home base these days, with mostly English musicians; only Dutch guitarist Mark Ritsema, present since 2012, is on this record.
This new record is about Patty Hearst, granddaughter of newspaper boss William Randolph Hearst (who inspired the movie ‘Citizen Kane’), who was kidnapped in 1974 and who joined the ranks of her kidnappers, the Symbionese Liberation Army, which coined the phrase Stockholm Syndrome (we at Vital Weekly love to give you a free history lesson). As you should know, I never pay attention to lyrics, so I miss something. The music of Minny Pops in the 21st century is lightyears away from the debut album, ‘Drastic Measures, Drastic Movement’. They now play music! Rhythms, melodies and songs, drums, guitar, banjo and a clarinet. The only thing remaining is Wally’s deadpan vocal delivery. It’s the kind of updated post-punk record by a former post-punk record. They know the tricks but developed as musicians, they also (!) know the right chords and progressions. Nothing wrong there, and it makes this an excellent record with some highly diverse material, angular, poppy, weird and pleasantly normal.
I know of remixes of these songs, so hopefully, they will see the day of light soon? But how do we define this one soon if we waited for three years? (FdW)
––– Address: https://blowpipe.bandcamp.com/
MAGNETIC STRIPPER – SCRAPING THE TAPES (LP by Suitcase Recordings)
USA’s Suitcase Recordings label goes back a long way, yet their catalogue is relatively small. I can speculate about that, but I won’t. They are responsible for the excellent ‘Paper & Plastic’ compilation CD (Vital Weekly 731) and the three-way collaboration by TAC, Kapotte Muziek and All Fours (the music project behind the label), ‘Materialsrecoverfacility’, see Vital Weekly 839. After a decade of silence, he returns with an LP by Magnetic Stripper, also known as Jim Ellis. With All Fours’ Eric Blevins, he was the Absolute Ceiling duo, and I reviewed a 7″ from Ellis before (Vital Weekly 766). This LP is an archival release containing music Ellis recorded in San Francisco in 1995-1996 after moving there from Knoxville. The project’s name comes from using reel-to-reel tape, shredding off the ferric oxide from tapes. You’re wrong if you think this results in some of William Basinski’s quietness. The music on this LP doesn’t resemble the more rhythmic music of the previous 7″. It is much harsher and louder here. A sticker on the cover says this is for “fans of TG’s 2nd Annual Report, Metal Machine Music, early Esplendor Geometrico, 70s CV, the Radiophonic Workshop, etc”. I agree with some of that, but foremost I’d stress this is an album of tape manipulations. What is on those tapes, I don’t know, assuming lots of electronics, voices, shreds of noise, and the destruction of acoustic objects. Sometimes, it appears as loops, as tape being spooled and unwinded by hand, along with firm doses of reverb and delay. It’s the doomed kid of musique concrète composers, let loose in their parental studio and doing a full-on destruction on machines, maybe even taking mummy and daddy’s tapes and shredding them. An excellent, different take on the harsh noise, blending noise and psychedelic surrealism, is also depicted on wild collage on the cover. Much like Cheap Imitation, reviewed elsewhere, this is a reminder of the old days, even with a much different result. (FdW)
––– Address: https://www.suitcaseaudiovisual.com/
CHEAP IMITATION – STORY OF LOVE (LP by Vips & Vaps)
I could have sworn I reviewed a CD by Cheap Imitation before, but alas, it was a cassette, Vital Weekly 1038. Wrongly, I wrote Cheap Imitation was the solo project of an, at that time, unnamed woman from Sweden. I know now they are a duo of Ann-Charlotte Rugfelt (vocals, Casiotone mt-65, electro Harmonix mel9 and Boss sl-2 slicer – the latter two on one track only) and Anders Olofson (space echo R20, Schulte compact phasing A, and, on three tracks, the Korg Volca Beat). The LP is packed in a recycled sleeve, the cover inside out and with a Xerox stuck to front and back. The songs were recorded live, in one take, in their rehearsal space. I am sure this duo know their history, and the cover, the recording process and the music, I can’t think of this as anything but a homage to the 1980s alternative synth-pop musicians. On the cassette, Rugfelt’s voice reminded me of Cosey Faanni Tutti. Still, on LP, I am thinking of Nadine Bal, singer of Bene Gesserit, but less expressive, and the music sounds very much like Human Flesh, along with Bene Gesserit, all part of the Insane Music family. There is an excellent naive feeling here, with their minimal set-up, knob twiddling and avoiding considerable production value. Again, this is very 1980s, when expression was of more importance than how it sounds. Like previously, I am circling back to the band’s name. Do you see their music as a cheap imitation of what came before? Is there a level of irony involved? It’s a question I can’t answer, but they sell themselves short if they feel they are cheap imitations of Human Flesh, Chris & Cosey or Algebra Suicide, as I think they sound great. Very intimate, very alternative pop and very underground; very much something I love dearly! (FdW)
––– Address: https://cheapimitation.carrd.co
PASCAL PLANTINGA – DAS VOLK IST EIN FRESSENDER KADAVER (CD & 10″ by Blowpipe)
BIG HARE – SUN HOUSE (LP by Blowpipe)
HAARLEM UNDERGROUND (LP compilation by Blowpipe)
Dutch label Blowpipe operates on the fringes of popular music and, therefore, also on the fringes of Vital Weekly. We aren’t a publication about popular music, even though this grey area certainly interests us. Here are a few recent examples.
First, there’s Pascal Plantinga, who, if I’m not mistaken, once wrote a book about jodelling and who is good buddies with Pyrolator, who is also on this new record with his electronics. Pyrolator was one of the musicians behind Germany’s Der Plan, which is essential for this review. Plantinga plays bass and sings, and there are other musicians on trombones, sousaphone, trumpet, piccolo, flutes and clarinets. The music might be highly electronic, but with all these wind instruments, it also sounds, at times, like a jazzy big band and a fifties soundtrack. Maybe there’s an overall theme, which is described thusly: “In an era where the world’s leadership dangles on the precipice of collapse, with a sinister alliance of global powers edging toward a critical meltdown, the rise of hard-right ideologies sweeping across the continent and the ominous beats of war resonating ever closer, one is compelled to ponder: WHERE IS A DEAD KENNEDY WHEN WE NEED ONE?” An odd mixture of new beats and old horns, with each song a miniature, many not longer than two minutes and a handful of seconds. There is certainly an influence of Der Plan in the later days (whereas I am much a fan of their early record ‘Geri Reig’), and The Residents are also never far away. A strange pop record that will never fit the top 40, not even ‘Bird In Disguise’, the longest song here, a cover of ‘Una Paloma Blanca’ by the George Baker Selection, and one of those songs not yet rediscovered by Taratino.
Similar avant-garde electro-pop comes from the duo of Big Hare. There are Luuk “Dolfijn” Ottenhof on drums, voice, concepts, and synths and Tim “Autofrahn” Fraanje on words, voice, concepts, and synths. I enjoyed seeing them twice in concert and reviewed their ‘Hasyayoga’ in Vital Weekly 1063. They are an electro-pop duo along the lines of Blancmange, Soft Cell, Tears For Fears, and OMD, yet they have a style of their own. Call it raw or primitive; they are firmly outside the top 40. Some of their synthesisers were taped at Rotterdam’s Worm Studios, proud owner of such lovely gadgets as Arp 2600, TR-909, Optigan, Alfa Juno 2, Soma Enner Night Frog, Farfisa Synthorchestra and others. In fine 1970s tradition, this is a concept album. “With the first SOLARCORE hymn collection Sun House, we celebrate that the Sun and the wind will gift us limitless energy. We will have the power to find a new hedonism. We will attempt to communicate with other beings. We will enter… the Sun Age.” Environmental issues, energy transition and what have you are recurring elements in their music, and the duo continues their strong pop-like songs, weird psychedelic excursions, with sometimes a song completely changing within three minutes, and dadaistic lyrics, and it’s a most pleasurable record. If they play in my area, I will surely see them again.
Finally, the local compilation LP. It’s been a while since I saw one of those. In the late 1970s, this was a popular item to promote a regional city (think Arkron, Coventry or Bristol). Blowpipe Records hails from Haarlem and promotes local alternative music via an 11-song LP. Many of these bands can be heard on local radio, where label boss Wim Dekker has a show. None of these names rang any bell; the compilation LP was a calling card for new talent. We have Birmingham Electric, Iris Stub, Nachtfilter (the only song i Dutch), The Lost Noise, moduli, Moon Ibrahim, Ideal Profile, New Orland, Something Broke, La Promenade Violence and ZiEK. From mellow synth-pop to techno to what I can only call modern pop. Lots of vocals, lots of leanings towards alt-pop. Not all are electronic, such as Moon Ibrahim en especially La Promenade Violence is particularly post-punk rocky. I don’t know if these are the best bands from Haarlem or if they represent some kind of scene, but it is a lovely, varied bunch of tracks, and hopefully, some of these will have a release of their own. (FdW)
––– Address: https://blowpipe.bandcamp.com/
CATHERINE LAMB & GHOST ENSEMBLE: INTERIUS/EXTERIUS (LP by Grey Fade)
There is a lot of contemporary music coming our way, and, along with free jazz, jazz and improvisation, that’s music for which Vital Weekly has little space. We feel we are ill-equipped to write about this kind of music, as it doesn’t belong to our core business. Sometimes, I hear a piece of music, and I think, ‘yeah, that sounds alright’, but is that the kind of thing you except from a reviewer? I should hope not! ‘Interius/exteriors’ is a work composed by Berlin-based composer Catherine Lamb (1983) and performed by New York’s Ghost Ensemble. “The work’s title reflects its central organising principle: tones move in ‘interior’ and ‘exterior’ directions, shifting between inward balance within the ensemble and outward expansion towards new harmonic possibilities”, so I am told, which means, I think, players have freedom in performing this piece, along the composer’s guidelines. There are six parts, but I think this is one long piece (33 minutes) of slow-moving tones and minimalist movement. The ensemble uses flute, oboe, accordion, percussion, viola, cello, and twice the contrabass. Each of the six pieces is a slow piece of minimalist tones and sustaining tones. Not all too melodic, but instead painting a landscape in watercolours. Many tones blur and mingle, and while the music is relatively quiet, there is a Zen-like feeling to all of this. Not just for the listener but I guess also for the players. I don’t know in which tradition to place this, but I thought it sounded alright even if I thought not to use that phrase anymore. (FdW)
––– Address: https://www.greyfade.com/
UNSUB – SUFFER APATHY (CDR by Love Earth Music)
knew I heard of or read about this project name before. The previous release was reviewed in Vital, but by my dear colleague FdW. His closing words back then were ‘A fine reminder of music I don’t hear as often as I did but which I immensely enjoy’. So this opens perspectives. In his review he mentions guitar drone like pieces and things that are closer to post rock. With both styles – if executed correctly – you will make any Bauke a Happy Bauke, so my expectations are set. Unsub is a project by Kevin Fetus / FetusK who is professional a graphic designer for the music industry. Hence this album’s tagline “Every Monster Had A Bad Day” is nicely shaped into some creepy artwork by his capable hands. The other member of Unsub is none other then Uncle Steve Davis of +DOG+. Kevin does guitar, drones and beats and Steve focusses on synths. And this album is the second one they’re doing together.
“Suffer Apathy” counts 5 tracks, 4 of which are in between the 8 and 9 minute mark. Closing track “Enduring Shame” is a whopping 15 minutes, so about 50 minutes total. The opening track “Inborn Casket” is a nice drone structure and it ‘cleanses the pallet’ so to say. The second track “Feral Orb” gets closer to post rock and as ambient as well as a bit more intrusive structures. While listening I thought at that moment about the ‘beats’ that Kevin did, but I hadn’t really heard anything yet … So yeah, while I was thinking that (honest!) the third track “Addicted to Sorrow” started and there we had them. Very nice ambient easy to the ears but hard on the soul guitar music. Lots of variation musically and keeping it interesting constantly.
The fourth track “Sorority Corpse” isn’t really a song but it’s not really a drone either. It keeps on playing with tension over and over and over. If this is like a buildup towards that final 15 minute track … “Enduring Shame” closes this album. Postrock melodies with ghastly screaming in the back. Like a symphonic composition themes are used to create a continuity in the track, while sounds and structures are exchanged and used to emphasize different parts. And it keeps on building and building, creating extra layers and guitars and I think I also heard piano and solo’s and powerchords and … And … After 13 minutes there is a breakdown and all that’s left is the atmosphere of a horror movie …
As said before, the tagline of this album is “Every Monster Had A Bad Day”. But this monster listened to the new Unsub and suddenly this particular day wasn’t that bad after all. (BW)
––– Address: http://www.loveearthmusic.com/
NOISERIST – COCHON (CDR by Chocolate Monk)
Claude Spendlehauer is a member of the as ever oddly named Micro-penis, the Myself Trio and now has a solo project which he calls Noiserist. The saxophone is his primary instrument, and Spendlehauer writes that he loves to “play with many dissonances. Certainly, it is not free jazz, but more something else! What? I can’t say!” Usually, when I tell people Vital Weekly isn’t a jazz or free jazz publication, they respond with “my music isn’t jazz at all”, even when their CV is full of jazz festivals, jazz labels and so on. I have said it before, and after Vital Weekly 1500, the last issue, you won’t hear it again, but the saxophone is not among the wind instruments I love, with a few exceptions. I saw Borbetomagus twice in concert, and it blew me away. Choosing the Noiserist moniker comes with the promise of noise, at least in my limited way of thinking. I think Spendlehauer also uses electronics, and perhaps not in an all too noisy way, but it adds an interesting vibe to the music. Sometimes, it seems he uses some kind of loop device, doubling and tripling the saxophone, and the music certainly is dissonant. It is also, indeed, not a very traditional free jazz record. The saxophone plays an important role, but the electronic side makes this very interesting. It’s not some free-wailing saxophone blasts (well, a bit of this is) but concentrated drone-like excursions, sometimes with just electronics or in a refined combination with layered saxophones. Perhaps the name implies a different kind of noise than it offers, but I enjoyed this all the same. A fine noisy release, sure, with some jazz elements thrown in, but staying also stays away from traditional jazz and free jazz. I even doubt whether jazzo’s might like this. I can imagine if they are fans of more noise-related, they are. All in all, reasons enough to explore this. (FdW)
––– Address: https://chocolatemonk.co.uk/Index.html
MCHK – SHROUDED IN SILENCE (3″ CDR by Inner Demons Records)
Going through my stash of stuff I had to review but didn’t have a chance yet, I stumbled upon the final ones of the last physical batch of Inner Demons Records. As that was a HUGE batch (30+ releases at once), I don’t feel too bad about not being able to have done it, though I feel bad about having missed them on a musical level. IDR has that power always to surprise me in a way. Releasing unknown artists that are a standout, or better known artists that somehow found the opportunity to experiment in a way you hadn’t noticed before. MCHK is an artist in the first category.
MCHK is a collaborative project between Manuel Carbone, an Italian sound artist living in Berlin. He has an abstract approach to composition using manipulating field recording, the sound of found objects, and he’s taking it from there. The other person in the project is Hendekagon, a.k.a. Signalstörung. Based in Leipzig – and co-founder of the Global Noise Movement and Adventurous Music – he explores the relativeness of beauty.
Manuel and Ro are producing an intense dronescape with a central role for a layer of noise, making you glad earplugs were invented. At the same moment, a layer of luscious synth sounds emphasises that there were still frequency bands open and should be used. Twenty minutes is way too short for a production like this. But both artists have several releases and sounds available on Ro’s Adventurous Music Bandcamp, so I will also include a link. In case you feel like exploring too. Like I do 😉 (BW)
––– Address: https://innerdemonsrecords.bandcamp.com/
––– Address: https://adventurousmusic.bandcamp.com/
MOREINE – UPON THY CATTLE (CDR by Inner Demons Records)
Preferred yet not restricted to 3″ CDs, this is a 5″ CDr, also known as a normal one. Although that’s just the format, there is nothing normal regarding the content. But I’ll get to that in a bit. First of all, who is this Moraine? I don’t know. He/she/they/it has a couple of other projects too (Her Menacing Pet & Thrill Behind Barks), and I think the name we’re looking for is Jason Herrboldt as the man to ‘blame’, but maybe it’s Saint Nick. Who knows. Moraine has two releases on Bandcamp, “Upon Thy Cattle” and “Upon Thy Horses”. As you can see, there is a link between all mentioned animals (pet, barks -> dog, cattle and horses), making me wonder what Moraine means. Wiki is your friend.
The word “murrain” (like an archaic use of the word “distemper”) is an antiquated term covering various infectious diseases affecting cattle and sheep. It originates from Middle English moraine or more, parallel to Late Latin marina (“plague”), a probable derivative of Latin mori (“to die”).
We continue with my earlier remark about the content not being typical. Fifty-five minutes divided into nine tracks, and it’s hell on earth. There is so much happening in all different aspects of music. The only thing missing is some proper danceability. There are moments of intense noise, heavily manipulated field recordings straight out of an abattoir (or so it seems), feedback excursions, creepy atmospheres, corpses breathing … If there ever was a soundtrack for a horror movie, you could listen too. This would be that soundtrack where it wasn’t needed to see the film to know what it was all about. So, let’s treat it as such. The nine movies which you can’t look at have fitting titles like “Skull Rack”, “Venom Cult”, “2 Spades, 1 Grave”, and “The 13th Cabin”.
Maybe not all synthesised sounds are as original as I would have wanted (triggered by, for example, the generous amounts of reverb), but that doesn’t matter in this release. The generated atmospheres make up for it, which is a welcome addition to any horror fanatic’s collection. (BW)
––– Address: https://innerdemonsrecords.bandcamp.com/
BLACK MIRAGE – LP1 (double 3″ CDR by Inner Demons Records)
This is a double 3″, with 14 and 17 minutes recorded per CDR. I’ve given up on trying to find anything about Black Mirage. Hint: It’s not a Swedish Hardstyle producer. These two CDs contain ‘improvised strums on dulcimer over pulses of synthesis’. And that’s it. I could have ended the review here, but I won’t because there is so much more to tell.
The dulcimer is a sound everybody with a synthesiser knows because it’s in every sound bank everywhere on every wave-based synth. Sometimes, at analogues also where they did tried to get to the original sound. Well, here it’s a dulcimer being played. There is so much more to this instrument than you would have expected. At moments, it’s a bit of a gothic feel like you’re listening to Lisa playing her yangqin; at other moments, it’s like eclectic guitar picking. But what it’s not: A piano or synth being played with the sound of a dulcimer. It is so much more.
The background over which the dulcimer is played is a minimal synth background, some additional sweeps, drones not unlike what could have been a hurdy-gurdy or some ancient Australian device. And so this release creates a very structured atmosphere, though there are two tracks I have to mention explicitly. “Eve of Diamonds” where it seems like either the sound manipulation of the original dulcimer has made it so that the background instrument (synths) has become the lead, and then there is “Hunger Stone” where either a harmonica is added or the synth has also gotten a second function. Very nicely done, down to earth. Fitting for a Vital? I don’t know. Fitting for an anti-fascist label? Always. Fitting for a Sunday afternoon on the couch? How yeah … (BW)
––– Address: https://innerdemonsrecords.bandcamp.com/
ASYLUM CONNECTION – A DECAY OF A PANDEMIC MIND (double 3″ CDR by Inner Demons Records)
Luca Tommasini hails from Italy, and Asylum Connection is his more noisy output. Other projects are A Distant Shore and Shadow Echo Canyon, of which FdW reviewed an earlier release on IDR. This double three is titled “A Decay of a Pandemic Mind”, and it’s precisely that. During the Covid times, all of humanity was looked up and we were not allowed to do anything. In most countries, everybody was restricted in some way to their own home. And that was only 5 years ago. People died around us, and conspiracy theories were blooming simply because people had nothing else to do.
But Luca found things to do. He let out his inner demons and recorded them. However, he didn’t release them back then. He sat on those recordings until he could mentally look at them from a different perspective. And there he started to manipulate, re-manipulate and reorganise his mind, emotions and art. So the result of a lockdown is a shitty feeling, but for artists it’s inspiration. For Luca, it’s an answer to the question ‘what sound do I produce instinctively’, and with contact microphones, objects, found sounds, field recordings, and guitar pedals, the answer is “A Decay of a Pandemic Mind”—four tracks, 32 minutes total, musically somewhere between HNW and harsh noise.
This is something you don’t listen to; this is something you experience. Like we all did five years ago. (BW)
––– Address: https://innerdemonsrecords.bandcamp.com/
KNOWING – OSSUARY BLUES (cassette by Grisaille)
TROND JERVELL – IDEAL (cassette by Grisaille)
GÜNTER SCHLIENZ – ZEITMASCHINE (cassette by Grisaille)
In the new batch of Grisaille releases, we find a new name, a recurring one and a surprise by Günter Schlienz. Let’s start with Knowing, about which I know nothing at all. No clue on the cover, or Bandcamp, and Discogs brings up a lot of Abba, ‘Knowing Me, Knowing You’ (and Alan Partridge for that matter). Interestingly, both pieces, one per side, have a title, not parts one and two from the cassette’s title. I have to guess what Knowing does without knowing what he does (if you pardon me this). Knowing operates within noisy ambient music, heavily laced with the crumbling tape loops bereft of magnetic layers. He (or whatever) slowly builds from a few sounds to a lot more, adding a few more layers, on “Kaufman Sighed’ feedback and noise towards the end. I enjoyed that piece over ‘Second Sleep, ‘ which was a bit muffled and staying too long in the same place. Two pieces, both around 15 minutes, of enjoyable ambient on the noise edge, but nothing standing out.
From Trond Jervell, I reviewed two earlier cassettes (Vital Weekly 1392 and 1407), but at the time, as T.Jervell (no space), and now I know for sure T stands for Trond. Maybe it is a name along the track titles here, in which Jervell mashes letters of artist name into new names, such as Masse Larhaug, Busset Pogs and Enian Brno. His tracks are short and to the point as on his previous releases. Lots of cracked electronics, which is Jervell’s modular side, Dictaphone abuse, contact microphone breaking and feedback allowing collages of sound, music and noise; there is undoubtedly a fluidity in any of these terms in Jervell’s music. Sound sources are those one finds around the house—cups and pans, a piano, a door and a window – and whatever comes in from outside the window becomes part of the music. His previous releases saw him using modular electronics, perhaps more apparent than he does here, but they are still part of the proceedings. It’s busy and chaotic sometimes, but it still works quite well. At 30 minutes, this is perhaps the proper length for such a release. More could be too much.
Having reviewed a lot of music by Günter Schlienz, you may wonder why there is a surprise for me. It’s the length of the Zeitmaschine which I found a most welcome thing. In an era where short cassettes rule the game (the other two new releases on Grisaille are examples, although in Jervell’s case a solid choice), sixty-minute cassettes are rare, ninety minutes super rare and a C120? I know of two in recent years, and both were released last year. With Schlienz adding a third cassette in the same length, one could think there is a slight trend. I am a fanboy of Schlienz’s music, and I saved this release for a Sunday afternoon spin. I try not to work as much on a Sunday afternoon and spend time reading a good book, playing nice music, and not trying to think of music in terms of the following review. Yesterday, when it was Sunday, I also looked at bookshelves to see which books should go, shifted some gear around and all of this to two hours of Schlienz’s time machine, as the title translates. I have no recording to proof this, but at various moments, I said to myself, ‘fuck this is some excellent music’. It’s hard to believe he composed the music with synthesisers, guitar, celesta, tam-tam, found sounds, CD players, tape machines, and piano, as it all sounds very electronic. His tam-tam sounds at times like a xylophone. There is an excellent slowness about this music, finely pacing around, without much direction and meandering about, like a stroll in a forest. It’s almost like two hours of generative music without human interference. This is the best Schlienz release I heard; if I am not mistaken, I reviewed 19 of his releases, so I count them as some kind of Schlienz expert. The cassette might be sold out, but get the download as the best alternative. (FdW)
––– Address: https://grisaille.bandcamp.com/