DACHTE MUSIK (CD by Grob)
NUISSANCE BEACON (CD by CIP)
THE SCHOOL OF VELOCITY – HOMEWORK (CD by Grob)
PILLOW – THREE HENRIES (CD by Hapna)
STEPHEN VITIELLO – 17:48 AT TEXAS GALLERY (miniCD by Texas Gallery)
WILLIAM X – DAWN VARIATIONS (CDR by Public Eyeshore)
JORGE CASTRO & CARLOS GIFFONI (CDR by Public Eyeshore)
ANALOGOUS INDIRECT (CDR/LP compilation by Public Eyeshore)
NAOAKI MIYAMOTO – LIVE AT 20000V (7″ by Public Eyeshore)
WHAT WOULD JASON DO? GO AND DO LIKEWISE (2CD compilation by !OOT)
RROSELICOEUR – DRACHENHOEHLE (CD by Partycul System)
ALVA NOTO – TRANSFORM (CD by Mille Plateaux)
JAZZKAMMER – ROLEX (CD by Smalltown Supersound)
FRANCISCO LOPEZ – BUILDINGS [NEW YORK] (CD by V2_Archief)
ERIC LA CASA – LES PIERRES DU SEUIL 4-7 (CD by Edition…)
DACHTE MUSIK (CD by Grob)
Dachte Musik is untranslatable German and is the name of group of four people.
Trombone player Radu Malfatti, Franz Hautinger (trumpett) and the two
guitarists Burckhard Stangl and Gunter Schneider. Household names to those who
dig improvised music. They offer us over two hours of their improvised music,
which deals with a great deal of soft sounds, silences, small events. None of
the instruments gets to play a big role, appear for a while in the foreground
in order to move back later on, but everything happens on the same level.
Occassionally, but very occassionally, there is a short outbrust of sound, but
it almost immediately disappears again and everything is back on the same
level. Thus it’s music that moves by, which you can play without great
concentration, as an environment. The problem you might encounter is that you
think most of the time nothing is playing, and you miss out on some of the
finer details. A more concentrated listening session reveals those beauties.
However, listening straight away for over two hours in a very concentrated
mood, is something that is not very easy, at least for me. Not very easy
listening, but rewarding. (FdW)
Address: www.churchofgrob.com
NUISSANCE BEACON (CD by CIP)
Behind Nuisance Beacon is one Marcelo Cavallari, from the Bay Area. Before
Nuisance Beacon he played in Derail and worked solo as Thread. This new project
is best described as ‘minimal’. In the five extended tracks on this CD he
explores tight blocks of sound, which occasionally break together into rhythmic
pulses. Closely layered fields of sound. Not a sign of course what the origins
of these sounds are, or in what way they were processed. I imagine loops on a
powerbook, but who am I? Loops for sure, since the tracks are called ‘First
Cycle’, ‘Second Cycle’ etc. Each track holds enough variation to be
interesting, ie it’s minimal yet not static. The music is most of the times
quite noisy, maybe even industrial to some, but this is the kind of industrial
music that is interesting. Not the usual blend of noise and effects running
amok, but well-thought fields of noise. In ‘Third Cycle’ he dabbles with a
jackhammer pulse which gets sauced by hiss and crackles. More the old Esplendor
Geometrico then the new Pan Sonic, if you get my drift. Powerful stuff, not for
the weak of heart. (FdW)
Address: <vertonen@earthlink.net>
THE SCHOOL OF VELOCITY – HOMEWORK (CD by Grob)
The School Of Velocity was founded by Dave Tucker, formerly a member of The
Fall, who, after moving to London, started to become a member of the improv
scene. The School Of Velocity is Dave’s band, with himself on guitar, Evan
Parker on saxophone, John Edwards on bass and Steve Noble on drums. Although an
improvisation group, there is a certain element of rock hanging over the
recordings. Most likely this is due to the guitar that at times howls in
feedback and effects, like an ordinary rock guitarist. The saxophone plays
those many notes as you might guess in this area, and is like the jazz
component of the work. The solid but free backing is provided by the solely
played drums and bass. The recordings on this CD, five in total, weren’t made
at a live concert, but in a studio. The afterward mix certainly gave this music
an extra element, that is depth in the recordings, as opposed to some more flat
live recording. It makes this music rather energetic, without losing any of the
rawness that is so present here. Wild, rocking free stuff.
Address: www.churchofgrob.com
PILLOW – THREE HENRIES (CD by Hapna)
Pillow is another group from Chicago with an all acoustic line up: Michael
Colligan on dry ice, reeds, tubes, Fred Lonberg-Holm on cello and nyckelharpa,
Liz Payne on bass and Ben Vida on guitar and accordion. Their CD was recorded
in a day early this year, and contains fragile
improvisations in which lik///ewise fragile drones are created by those
instruments that can do so (cello, accordion) and careful loose strummings are
played on the other instruments. This stuff doesn’t deal with silence, as there
is enough happening throughout the CD, but it’s rather an intimate atmosphere
that is created. It sounds like Pillow is in your room, sitting next to you,
playing their instruments. Sometimes they players get into frentic arguments,
such as in the sixth piece when the sounds get a bit nastier and meaner, but in
the end they solve their indifferencies and leap back into delicacy. Very
fragile, delicate and intimate… (FdW)
Address: www.hapna.com
STEPHEN VITIELLO – 17:48 AT TEXAS GALLERY (miniCD by Texas Gallery)
Stephen Vitiello is an electronic musician who is known for his solo work,
aswell as his collaborations with Francis Marie Uitti and other musicians and
choreographers. This miniCD holds two pieces, recorded when he did a live solo
performance at Texas Gallery in Houston. The first piece, called Gallery Mix,
is a studiomix of various sounds Stephen recorded for an installation at the
gallery. Using photoelectric cells, he measured the different light qualities
and translated that into sound. A fairly high pitch sound and almost hiss like
sounds open here, until after seven minutes a low end rumble kicks in. Also
included are sounds by Pauline Oliveros, but I fail to understand what her
involvement is in the installation. The second piece here is a live recording
at the gallery, using the lights as sound sources. Dark end rumbles that slowly
change position. Nice sounds but the result sounds a bit unfocussed to me. It
sounds like a random set of sounds playing, and not very structured in the end
result. Maybe nice to see, but by itself it’s not very strong. (FdW)
Address: www.texgal.com
WILLIAM X – DAWN VARIATIONS (CDR by Public Eyeshore)
JORGE CASTRO & CARLOS GIFFONI (CDR by Public Eyeshore)
ANALOGOUS INDIRECT (CDR/LP compilation by Public Eyeshore)
NAOAKI MIYAMOTO – LIVE AT 20000V (7″ by Public Eyeshore)
Public Eyeshore is a noise label and these releases are some examples of what
they do. The collaborative efforts between one Bryan Day and Jorge Castro (who
you might know from his ambient releases on Eco label) as William IX is loud
noise. Fucked up sounds from radio, feedback, synth noise, the whole lot is
there. Nice? Humm maybe. I heard worse in the genre, and the big pro about this
release is the total absence of concentrationcamp/sex/nazi imagery. So one can
do noise without those quasi shocking images.
Jorge’s work with the for me unknown Carlos Giffoni is more interesting. I am
not sure wether the ‘Guitarras Del Olvido Y Pensamientos Dimensionales’ is the
title or the programm of the work, but anyway the two play the guitars in a
semi ambient, semi improvised, semi noisy way, going through a bunch of
effects (delay mainly) and it creates overall a nice atmosphere.
Under the title of ‘Analogous Indirect’ we find a whole bunch of noise makers,
who present their own view on the subject matter. Available as LP and CDR. The
noise found here operates more in the lo-fi improv areas. Scratchy guitars,
fuzzy guitars, crashed cymbals, tweaked drums and of course the real noise. We
welcome Solmania back on the front in very noisy outing. Other fine moments are
by Flying Luttenbachers in a total free improv mood, Thurston Moore’s unnoisy
guitar pluckings, Jonas Lindgren’s cracklings and hiss. Most of the tracks on
the second side (even the CDR lists them as ‘front’ and ‘back’) are more in the
noise/industrial vein (with people like Kazumoto Endo/Yoko Sato, Cornucopia,
John Wiese) and Sickness. The shortness of the tracks create a variety that
makes this more enjoyable then the usual one hour feedback orchestra.
Also Naoaki Miyamoto is somebody of whom I never heard. He/she presents two
cuts from a gig at 20000V, a club in Osaka. I think the prime source of the
noise here is guitarfeedback. Very stretched out and the guitar is hardly
recognizable as such. The recording is a bit flat and lacks depth. (FdW)
Address: www.sinkhole.net/pehome
WHAT WOULD JASON DO? GO AND DO LIKEWISE (2CD compilation by !OOT)
“After waiting ages (and ages and ages) for Mild Man Jan’s fabled boxes, we
asked ourselves “What Would Jason Do?” These are the introductionairy words to
this double CD. Jason painted two lovely ceramic pigs and while doing that he
recorded his environment. CDR copies were send out to a handful of friends to
remix it, and the remixers gave the material further. Apperentely 4 or 5 CDs
worth of material is what has been generated from this, excuse me, ‘silly
idea’. Now a selection is available on two CD’s, and a wide array of remixers
take their changes on the material. From the noisy outbursts of Wagstaff or
Ashtray Navigations to more rhythm inspired material by Multipara, Radboud Mens
or Persona and then it spirals down to the ambient of 87 Central. It’s quite
nice to see that the same material leads to so many different kinds of music,
even when I doubt all the music actually uses the material as given. This
variety is like a showcase of possibilities of music and possible ways to do
remixes and can therefore alone be welcomed as a nice CD. Also it will
introduce some people to some new names. A pity though from the naive title…
(FdW)
Address: <tarjason@msu.edu>
RROSELICOEUR – DRACHENHOEHLE (CD by Partycul System)
Three multi-instrumentalists here: they play guitar, drums, samplers, cornet,
bass, piano and organs. Despite their gothic name and title, Rroselicoeur play
rock music, or even to be more precise, post-rock. Most of the times this is
instrumental music, sometimes with some taped conversation being mixed in (like
in ‘Hotels Et Palaces’) with minimalist changes. The guitar play repetative
tunes, occasionally howling through distortion and returning to their usual
tunes. Less jazz inspired then Tortoise, to mention one of those unavoidable
references. However, the main difference lies also in the fact that
Rroselicoeur are much more raw. Take for the instance the very very normal
rhythmbox used in ‘Hotels Et Palaces’, which sound so dull that it becomes nice
again. Due to this naive and raw character, it is less worked then say again
Tortoise, but still has that strange lo-fi appeal to me. (FdW)
Address: www.chez.com/partyculsystem
ALVA NOTO – TRANSFORM (CD by Mille Plateaux)
Alva Noto, aka Carsten Nicolai, aka Noto, is a very precise man. With a limited
pallette of sound, a couple of sine waves, some clicks, he produces, or rather
he transforms into music. The CD starts out like he is searching for a groove,
but which doesn’t seem to arrive. Dance music that is not dance music. But as
the CD progresses, you realize that this is the programm of the CD. After track
4 the beat is there in a ‘correct’ order, quantatized to a 4/4, and the sine
wave swirl in and out. Module 7 is a fine cross-over using Pan Sonic like beats
and Ikeda like sines. After that the three remaining tracks transform in a more
abstract direction again, and the circle is closed. What is fascinating here
that all of these tracks seem to contain the same sound sources, but that none
of these tracks sound the same. Also Alva Noto doesn’t show off all the plug
ins, but keeps things at a minimal end in this regard. Very good release. (FdW)
Address: www.mille-plateaux.com
JAZZKAMMER – ROLEX (CD by Smalltown Supersound)
The title of this CD is actually sort of misleading, because not only is
Jazzkammer on it (twice), but also Zbigniew Karkowski, Maja S.K. Ratkje,
Merzbow, Reynols, Thurston Moore, Pita, Alexander Rishaug, R. Sundin, T.H. Boe,
TV Pow, Jrgen TrÊn and Francisco Lopez. All of these have been invited by
Jazzkammer to remix material from their two first albums. Of
course, with so many people involved, this is a CD with many sides and many
approaches. Some are close to the original Jazzkammer style, others are way off
and some are basically themselves. The disc opens with a very crunchy track by
Karkowski, very digitally distorted, that gets denser all the way through. No
telling what he did to the original piece(s), but it sounds good. Maja Ratkje
seems to be more in tune with the original material, using voice with FX, nifty
cut ups and some funky loops. Someone is actually laughing until noise blasts
in. A very exciting track. Next up is Merzbow with a very quiet start (for his
standards, that is): some rumbles and hisses are looped and are getting louder
and then here’s that typical
Merzbow sound cutting in. But then he goes quiet again, just a low rumble and
then new cuts. From here the piece builds up steadily, but dynamically.
Jazzkammer have probably used the same material for the next part as Merzbow
did, but obviously it sounds very different. More distant and atmospherical and
with a slower build up. Even more so is the track by Reynols: crackles, distant
guitars and maybe a voice? This could almost be considered an ambient version.
Interesting, to say the least. Thurston Moore blasts us right off our feet with
overload noise, cut with dance beats and other turntable samples. Pretty
exciting stuff, although the scratching in the end could have been better.
Pita’s track consists of a relatively small number of samples, but they are
used to their full extent, which makes this piece a pleasure to listen to.
Jazzkammer again, using old vinyl to start a track of loops and cuts with
subtle drones underneath, followed by tones and weird sounds, followed by field
recordings, followed by loops, followed by cuts, and so on. A very good and
rich track.
Alexander Rishaug’s piece is a very quiet one, with beeps and buzzes, and a
strong sense of suspense. Very well done. R. Sundin’s track is also of a quiet
nature, starting with environmental recordings of someone doing something (?),
but with a glitch once. Then a door closes and there is a short silence ad then
the real thing starts: a gentle drone layered with crackles and other short
sounds. And then the glitch again. Short, but good. The fourth and last
scandinavian in this row is T. H. Boe with some kind of feedback piece, but the
feedback sounds kind of funny and quiet. Note the bass drone underneath!
Another good piece. TV Pow appear with a digital version of the tracks before,
it seems. Also pretty quiet, but certainly with a tension that rises slowly and
with a superb last part. Jrgen TrÊn gets back to Jazzkammer basics again: cuts
of noises and crackles, but with some very very nifty beats and tunes. Last one
up is Francisco Lopez with a track that starts with a very slow fade in to what
is probably a mix of Jazzkammer tracks, layered on top of each other. There is
an eerie and desolate feel to this piece, that builds up gradually to high
pitched tones, with a distant drone underneath, and ends with a volume cut and
a very slow fade out. This is defenitely one of the better compilations, partly
because there is a coherent source of material and partly, of course, because
of the invited artists. (MR)
Address: www.smalltownsupersound.com
FRANCISCO LOPEZ – BUILDINGS [NEW YORK] (CD by V2_Archief)
Considering the tragedy that happened only a few days ago in New York, the
release of this CD comes at a somewhat unhappy moment. But that is of course
something that nobody could have anticipated in advance. Again the CD comes
with a closed booklet, to be read only if one desires so. So I didn’t. These
recordings are the direct result of a commission by Creative Time for a project
in and around Brooklyn Bridge Anchorage. Lopez has recorded sounds of buildings
in New York, much as he recorded sounds in the La Selva Forest in Costa Rica
for the CD La Selva, that was released by V2_Archief as well. The design of
both is very similar and so is the approach of the work. As with La Selva,
Buildings is one long piece, that slowly evolves and changes over time. One big
difference is the nature of the sounds; on La Selva it was quite clear that the
sounds were recorded in a natural environment. On Buildings the sounds have a
somewhat more abstract character: whizzing and whirring and other obscure
sounds are less easily related to concrete (living) objects such as birds or
cicadas. On the other hand it could be said that most people are probably just
as familiar with these sounds as with natural ones, which might reduce the
abstraction. So, back to the piece. I think that it would not go too far to
state that Lopez again offers us a total listening experience. It is very easy
to get completely immersed in the world that he puts before our ears, drifting
from one space to another in anonymous buildings, that have actually become
huge machines for living (or should I say: living machines?). In all its
richness, this work is pretty overwhelming and once more Lopez has proven his
artistic capacities. (MR)
Address: www.v2.nl/archief
ERIC LA CASA – LES PIERRES DU SEUIL 4-7 (CD by Edition…)
Water seems to be the main ingredient in this new release by Eric La Casa. The
CD comes in a plastic wallet, together with several photographs of water and
the sounds listed in the liner notes mention a lot of it too, besides some
instruments and electronics. The disc contains four tracks that are all
strongly based on field recordings, much as in Lopez’ work, for example. One
big difference between the two is the addition of instruments and electronics
in the work of La Casa, although one would have to listen extremely carefully
to recognise them. I consider this a strong point, because it tends to make
wonder about the nature of sound and all its qualities. Another difference
between Lopez and La Casa is the structure of the pieces: in general Lopez
takes a long time (however subjective) to develop his pieces smoothly, whereas
La Casa builds his pieces up faster and with more dynamics (when speaking about
volume). ALso La Casa uses more cuts and shorter ‘interfering’ sounds. It is
acctually a very nice experience to play these two after each other. It shows
how composers work in a very personal way with similar material. La Casa is
just as able as Lopez in keeping the listener captivated in an ‘inner outside
world’. (MR)
Address: fenton@stonehenge.ohr.gatech.edu
correction:
last week’s review of Mollusk listed the wrong title of the CD. The CD is is
not called Tracks and Defintions but Accretions.