OLIVIA BLOCK – PURE GAZE (CD by Sedimental)
JAN VAN DEN DOBBELSTEEN – MUSEUM UNDER WATER (CD by Cosmic Volume)
A/H – PALAT (CD-R by Some Place Else)
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZP! – ficta003 (CD EP by AnAnAnA)
SPACEHEADS – ANGEL STATION (CD by Pandemonium in Europe/ Merge in America)
OLIVIA BLOCK – PURE GAZE (CD by Sedimental)
Olivia Block is, besides composer, a player of trumpett with Pauline
Oliveros. This CD, a single, just under 28 minutes, piece uses wind
instruments (trombone, english horn, and clarinet) in combination with
field recordings. It’s an almost traditional setting in modern classical
music: music for wind-instruments and tape. This places this work in a
bigger tradition of modern classical music. Quite evocative the music and
sound moves through various textures, or maybe desolate landscapes is a
more appropiate description. Somewhere at 20 minutes the crackles of dance
hall records come through and you feel like going back in time. That’s the
power of this recording: going back and forth in time and space, from
desolated grounds to roaring ages. It reminds me of Phil Niblock (but more
in collage vein), or some of Jim O’Rourke’s work. But Block surely has a
voice of her own as I think this is a strong work. (FdW)
Address: P.O.Box 4144 – Austin, TX, 78765 – USA
JAN VAN DEN DOBBELSTEEN – MUSEUM UNDER WATER (CD by Cosmic Volume)
Consistentely Jan builts a catalogue of strange, mmmm very strange
releases. The first few dwelled on text, found, collaged sound and other
weirdness. This new one was created for an installation “Whomb”, in
Hasselt, Belgium. I have no clue what this installation is about. The
soundtrack is a 74 minute blast of distorted noise, processing sounds
of…? Well, I can’t tell. Maybe it is water running down pipes, but it
could easily be a distorted guitar. My opinion is as good as yours here.
Except for the third (and longest) piece it is a static hum, that strangely
managed to capture my attention for the complete time. Consistent zennoise.
(FdW)
Address: <jada@IAE.nl>
A/H – PALAT (CD-R by Some Place Else)
I thought until now that Some Place Else releases the dark electronic,
industrial music, but their latest release A/H took me by surprise. The
four pieces (total playing time around 25 minutes) are best described as
microwave stuff: off beats, deep bass tones and hiss and tickles
everywhere. Clearly inspired by Pan Sonic in “Tuore Ruoto”. “Muu Maa” is a
just synth piece with a creepy touch. Very nice release. (FdW)
Address: www.netti.fi/someplaceelse
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZP! – ficta003 (CD EP by AnAnAnA)
Phew, I hope I got the number of Z’s right in this name. The title is also
the catalogue number of the CD, so ordering it shouldn’t be a problem. This
is the first time i heard from this band and label from Portugal, so i was
open to anything. Presented are four tracks (the third one is only 46
seconds, so basically we’re looking at three tracks), that are all
inbetween 4 and 7 minutes long. The first track has a techoid character but
is disturbed by all kinds of added sounds. There’s no real melody and the
piece runs on. The second track is more or less the same story except that
the atmosphere is less ‘underground’ than the first one (there is a melodic
sequence in there). After some time some weird farty noises are added and I
can’t help wondering if this CD is some kind of joke, the joke being on
techno….. Nevertheless, there is something to this piece, it’s got humor.
The third (and shortest piece) is a remix of some jazzy stuff and very
nice. The last piece uses some ethno based drum sequence with new age
synths and stretched voices and gets nasty every now and then. Not bad for
a first release. The compositions are the weak point, a little to
monotonous (with too many ingredients, if you know what i mean). (MR)
Adress: ananana@esoterica.pt
SPACEHEADS – ANGEL STATION (CD by Pandemonium in Europe/ Merge in America)
New studio recorded album from the trumpet’n’drum duo from the UK, known
for their amazing live performances on both sides of the atlantic. As usual
Andy Diagram plays his trumpet through delays/loops/harmonizers etc… and
ocasional vocals aswell, while Richard Harrison is on drums and percussion.
This album shows well how the Spaceheads have developed what they are doing
quite a lot further than before, and I must say doing it better aswell. The
album opens up with some intense left and right trumpet punches, which
actually throughout the whole album are somethimes hard to believe are
trumpets, the breaths, punches and extraordinary melodies who deform into
various figures through the electronics. The drum beats are quite funky for
the most part and push the tracks forward aswell as your danceshoes. The
Spaceheads build up soundscapes wich are actually songs, sometimes very
freeform yet structured, very danceable most of the time though there are
some beautiful floating moments in for good measure, also very electronic
and acoustic at the same times even. A brilliant release from brilliant
players, and I recommend all to look at their sparkling website:
http://www.spaceheads.demon.co.uk, and if you have the chance – don’t miss
them live!(HB)
address: http://www.pandemoniumrecords.com