ARTHUR DENT & DEEPER THAN SPACE -UR/DRIFT (CD by Silent Records)
Ambient by now, is declared (so we think/hope) , so what will the future bring?
Looking at the cover of this new Silent CD things seem to change: not another
blurry photoshopping Buddha, but a pretty straight forward design. The music
changed too: dark atmospheric which seems to hint only vaguely to ambient music
of last year. Repeating fields of layered noise, resembling ~uch more to
‘industrial’ music then the go-with-the flow ambient house. Let’s hope this will
be a new direction for Silent Records.
Address: Silent -340 Bryant St. -3rd Floor East -San Francisco, CA 94107 – USA
IOS SMOLDERS -MUSIC FOR COMPACT DISC (CD by Staalplaat}
Ios Smolders, known as editor from Vital, former member of THU20, having
released tapes and LP’s on his own, now releases his first CD. Indexed with 99
tracks, designed for the listener to play along using the shuffle/programm mode
on the CD player, the concept is not exactly new. But as a total package (the
booklet being a fake CD player manual}, this is quite an interesting item.
Address: Staalplaat -P.O.Box 11453 -1001 GL Amsterdam -The Netherlands
THE HATERS -TRUNCATED FORMICA {7. by Self Abuse) THE HATERS -ROT {7″ by Apraxia)
No doubt about it; The Haters is still one of my favourite noise groups. The wit
of their live performances, anti-records and overall approach to music makes
them probably the most unique group in the world. And they still manage to get
new records out. On both of the recently released 7″s you’ll find the noie fury
that is the main part of The Haters. It’s kinda hard to tell what sound sources
they use, but then again it makes no difference. From these two liked Rot the
best, as it seems it was the most ‘composed’ one. But then again: this makes no
difference.
Address: Apraxia -P.O.Box 85155- Seattle, WA 98145- USA
Address: Self-Abuse -13 Academy St -Concord, NH 03301- USA
EDWARD KA-SPEL -TEXTURES OF ILLUMINA (10″ by The Bog)
To some Edward Ka-spel is just the leadsinger of a weird pop band, but if you
take a close look at some his work outside the LPD’s, then you realize he is
doing some interesting electronic music, with a pretty rough-experimental
character to it. On both of the sides, you’ll find a more song oriented piece,
and a electronic collage piece, built around ear piercing electronics, outdoor
sounds and voices. Ka-spel proves to be further away from pop music then ever.
Also watch out for the soon to be released LP by Dna Le Draw D-Kee, a project
with Elke Kabong and Edward Ka-spel, with no cover, but 45 minutes of droning,
experimental ambient.
Address: Sven Niechziol -Glashuttenstrasse 101- 20357 Hamburg -Germany
AUBE -WIRE TRAP (CD by Self-Abuse)
Watch for the coming man of Jap noise. What sets Aube apart from the majority of
Jap noise scene is his diversity in producing noise. Sometimes this can be
obnoxious loud, but also dark, moody, almost ambient like. And sometimes it’s
built carefully up from a low volume to ear-pain level. This is a difference
from the 60 minute feedback fury from some of the other Japs. All tracks on this
CD are generated by wires. The sounds are sampled and thus the result is a
repeating field of noises. This time Aube chooses for the hard volume approach.
The end-result is quite good, though not exceptional.
Address: as above
VOICE OF EYE AND LIFE GARDEN -THE HUNGRY VOID VOL.l: FIRE (CD by Void)
A collaboration between us bands, both of them working in dark, atmospheric
music. If you think that previous works by these two are great (so like I do),
then you probably assume this is a very interesting thing. But I am very
disappointed by it. Dark drones, almost gothic like, echoed voices. It seems, at
least to me a work that was hasty put together. Next time around, I hope they
will do better.
Address: Cyclotron Industries -P.O.Box 66291- Houston, TX 77266- USA