UHT/SAOULATERRE – EERSTE MIXER
RADBOUD MENS – TWEEDE MIXER
IMP ELECTRONICS FOR DEFENCE – DERDE MIXER
(all 10″s by Mixer)
O.S.T. – DEFLECT (CD by Emanate Records)
ERIC CORDIER & JEAN-LUC GUIONNET – TORE (CD by Shambala)
BERNHARD GAL – BESTIMMUNG NEW YORK (CD by Durian)
UHT/SAOULATERRE – EERSTE MIXER
RADBOUD MENS – TWEEDE MIXER
IMP ELECTRONICS FOR DEFENCE – DERDE MIXER
(all 10″s by Mixer)
A new label from around our corner with a well-chosen name. It either mixes
various styles or uses the mixer as an instrument… a multi-usuable label
name. They kick off with no less then 3 10″ releases, which are euh mixed
in variety. The first one is by UHT and Saoulaterre. Only vaguely I heard
some of their music before (released by Cavage, a french label), but I
don’t remember it. They use an odd combination of samples, effects and
synths to create their own crude form of techno, or maybe I’d better say
technoish music. I am sure this won’t go well on the dancefloor, but it’s
weird enough to get my feet tapping. Apart from William Burroughs sampled,
I think this is a very ok record.
Radboud Mens may be known from his previous releases and various operations
in music, either noise, ambient, techno or drum & bass. Here he shows his
recent interest in click electronica. Both tracks on his 10″ are lenghty
exercusions in buzzes, hisses and crackles that occur in the studio, which
in his case is a computer. Radboud saves these mistakes as soundfiles and
uses them later on to create more music. Cut short, looped around with
added sound effects, his music has the drive of techno but it’s much more
‘industrial’ (in the good ol’ Esplendor Geometrico sense) that strictly
danceable. His music is much too austere and dark to drive crowds crazy on
the dancefloor. But who am I, a non-dancer anyway, to complain. The a-side
is my favourite which goes like Noto remixing Unit Moebius with the intense
of a formula one driver.
IMP Electronics For Defence is Nimoy and Nimoy was one of the members of
the very legendary Unit Moebius. This sort of will drive you into one
particular area of music, and you’re right. Nimoy still loves those crazy
short loops of rhythms but he adds his own dose of samples, synth and
humor. Also unlike the old Moebius, his tracks are very short, around two
to three minutes. This gives the record a fresh approach and is full of
small surprises.
Mixer will have their own sound festival in Amsterdam next week, programm
at our announcement section. Some of those concerts will eventually be
released. (FdW)
Address: <mixer@staalplaat.com>
O.S.T. – DEFLECT (CD by Emanate Records)
OST is one Chris Douglass, who learned a few tricks of the trade from Jonah
Sharp (Spacetime Continuum). I heard some of his music before, mainly the
CDR releases on Phthalo. I have great difficulties with his music. The
rhythms bang around like somebody banging on a drumkit, and synthesizers
play at times bleeps and at other times majestic chords (such as in the
opening piece). But there is hardly a track that sticks in your mind, a
track that raises the eyebrow, an unexpected line… it remains on the same
flat surface. The press blurb raves about jazz, drum & bass, dark ambient
and experimental sounds, and while they might be all part of the blender,
it’s hard for me to like it a lot. (FdW)
Address: http://www.syncopated.net/emanate
ERIC CORDIER & JEAN-LUC GUIONNET – TORE (CD by Shambala)
Improvised music by Eric Cordier on hurdy gurdy and Jean Luc Guionnet on
church organ, flutes and saxophone. The two have recentely released a CD on
Selektion, which was ignored sadly in these pages. I believe that CD was
all about music from and for strings. From the four tracks, three are
excursions in drone music, building blocks of hurdy gurdy sounds (and as
far I could hear, not much electronics) with small added layers of flute
and organ sounds. The final piece is a much more free piece, free as in
free jazz… it starts wildy all over the place with outbursts and cries of
the saxophone before going over into a more drone sound. This piece
couldn’t convince me very much as the elements didn’t seem to fit together
very well, and it’s sadly the longest piece here. Without this would have
been a very good CD, now it’s just good. And with 40 minutes out of sixty
that isn’t a bad score. (FdW)
Address: <shambrec1@aol.com>
BERNHARD GAL – BESTIMMUNG NEW YORK (CD by Durian)
Gal is an austrian composer, who works both in Vienna and in New York. In
this work, his first released one, he explores voices. In 15 tracks, he has
15 friends and collegues speaking the same phrases in their own languages.
The binding element of these people is that they live in the big apple.
Languages are neatly mentioned, good god, otherwise I should have started
guessing. These fragments are sampled and put together to short fragments
of music in which the rhythmic and sonic quality is examined. They never
exceed 5 minutes, and the majority are around 3-4. Some of the pieces are
the usual sample and stretch pieces, but others are like Alvin Lucier or
Steve Reich on XTC, like the repetitive piece ‘Gabriel’. The result can be
best described as ok. It’s not an entirely convincing piece of work, as
some of the tracks go nowhere and remain in the air, but this CD also has
it’s moments (like ‘Gabriel’ or ‘Kat’) (FdW)
Address: www.gal.tripod.com