AMP – L’AMOUR INVISIBLE (CD by Space Age Recordings)
DUPLO REMOTE/CATO (splitCD by FastFlange Records)
EINOMA – UNDIR, FEILNOTUM (CD by Vertical Form)
I8U – OBSTACLE PHASE 2 (CD by Oral)
KUWAYAMA-KIJIMA – 01.06.16 (CD by Trente Oiseaux)
RADIAN – REC. EXTERN (CD by Thrill Jockey)
JOHAN SKUGGE – OBJECTS AND BUILDINGS (CD by Source Records)
RAFAEL TORAL – EARLY WORKS (CD by Tomlab)
REGIVAR – COLONNA SONORA PER UN FILM IMMAGINARIO (CDR by S’Agita Recordings)
AAL – DEAR DEAD DAYS (CDR by S’Agita Recordings)
CHRISTIAN KIEFER – EXODUST (CD by Extreme)
FIBRO-TRESPO – 8,01 % ACTION (CDR by Humbug)
NOBUKAZU TAKEMURA – WATER’S SUITE (CD by Extreme)
COR GOUT – TEXTUUR (CDR by EE Tapes)
FOLKTALES NUMBER THREE (3×3″ CDR by Crouton Music)
FAN CLUB ORCHESTRA – SUN PAPA AND THE FAN CLUB ORCHESTRA VOL. 1 &
VOL. 2 (CD by Sonig)
THE BOOKS – THOUGHT FOR FOOD (CD by Tomlab)
O vs TIN.RP – STEREOPHONIQUE (CDR by Burning Emptiness)
XENIS EMPUTAE TRAVELLING BAND – UNDER A SOULAR MOON (CDR by Trademark)
WILLIAM BASINSKI – THE DISINTEGRATION LOOPS (CD by Musex International)
AMP – L’AMOUR INVISIBLE (CD by Space Age Recordings)
Following their Space Age Recordings debut live release Sain Cecilia
Sinsemillia (2000), the reinvented AMP (Richard Amp and Corine
c.Olivier Gauthier) picks up the delicate pieces and runs with them
snugly tucked underarm. “Crazyhead” is a character biopic like a
lazy haiku and opens this sultry set. This, their sixth studio
recording, includes pop-friendly “Curious Smile” which blends Astrud
Gilberto with Creatures overtones. “Where Was When” harkens the wary
angels customarily found in the center of a stray Throwing Muses
sleeper complete with stressed guitar work and above ground fretting
vocal. There is a signature here, maybe profoundly conceptual, that
links this band to the label that boasts such other players as
Spectrum and Experimental Audio Research. The breathy “Glasshouse
Jam” (co-penned with Jan Zert) pairs a Reich-like piano line as the
last breath of half-dangling nymphs plead in tongues of lost nations.
Keiko Sugiyamaís cover art for L’Amour Invisible is a striking and
textural miasma of microscopic highlights of frayed soft fabric
landscapes. It is an insightful, immediate union with that which its
package contains. The theremin sounding bellows of “Junkyard Blues”
is a sad investigatory piece that uses sound to envelop a dark space,
with chains, warble and a hint of Lost In Space. “Go” closes the
disc, overcome with illusions of ambiance. This is a mysterious
release by a band not egocentric enough to avoid their past
collaboration with such electronic experimenters as Robert Hampson
(Main). Nor are they too proud not to hide a secret unnamed track far
into the finale here. I’ll let you hunt but – let’s just say its
worth its overbearing weight – AMP are too cutting edge to be
mid-career so rest assured that you will be blessed further into the
future by these pioneers of shallow rhythmics. (TJN)
Address: http://www.spaceagerecordings.com
DUPLO REMOTE/CATO (splitCD by FastFlange Records)
Limited to only 500 copies, this 33-minute set includes ten tracks
split between duplo_remote (M. Haughton) and cato (J. Campbell).
Starting out with duplo_remoteís essence-au-Squarepusher on “dvoel”
with its drum and bassy sockets all being ravaged. The fidgety
opener and subsequent tracks are interspersed with spacey anthems as
in “polyhexcity” and “helianthenum”, restrained tracks that explore a
variety of electronic tones and patterns. Haughton warps melodies and
recycles sound with a fast wit and knows how to chill the house down.
Part deux of this split disc goes to cato, and it is a warm up to his
also recently released debut solo disc “One Man Banned – Greatest
Hits 1998-2002″ (FFR/Quiet). His sound is at once a melodic, somewhat
trance, weave of understated rhythm heard on the four tracks here
titled “missing I – IV”. Tinkling low-fi refrains are built into
the static-filled, clever use of background tracks to enhance the
listeners range. Campbell utilizes a funky guitar line merging it
with bells and beat. With a touch of smartly phrased tropical
overtone, the final two tracks derive themselves from a mesmerizing
jazz/lounge flavoring. A short but sweet set from these two emerging
artists. (TJN)
Address: http://www.fastflangerecords.co.uk/
EINOMA – UNDIR, FEILNOTUM (CD by Vertical Form)
EinÛma, a new Icelandic project of producers SteindÛr & Bjarni, are
on to something. Their mix of floating notes and experimental
electronics makes for a percussive treat on “Glerborgir”. This disc
is chock-full of atmosphere in the uppermost sense as witnessed on
“Hringlgun” a sparse and downbeat track. The compelling “Amonie”
pulses with hip-sway fueled inner fire and a faint unsettling curve.
“En Route” teases with picking up the pace but settles in the
shallows of a satisfying filtered drone. This seems like the type of
record that would appeal to those who are desperately trying to ween
themselves off drum + bass. With its apt decision to keep more
grounded than frenetic – Undir, FeilnÛtum has its fair share of
groove on the poppy “Celvoir” which sizzles and shakes, then comes
down to survey earth. Like a sequenced electrical storm this disc is
a mutated breather from a number of like attempts on contemporary
electronic pop music. Part science-fiction and part sensory, EinÛma
has outdone itself on its debut full-length, is that possible? (TJN)
Address: http://www.verticalform.com
I8U – OBSTACLE PHASE 2 (CD by Oral)
Obstacle Phase 2 is actually a work of sound, video and animation,
but this CD only presents the sound part. One long track of flowing,
mostly dark sounds, with an occasional rhythm. The piece evolves
quite slowly and has an ambient feel, but on close listening, one can
hear subtle things that are not very ambient at all. Despite the dark
sounds, the piece doesn’t have a gloomy atmosphere, it has a pretty
concrete character. That’s what sets it apart from regular ambient.
The rhythmic elements are very minimal, so there is no danger
whatsoever of the track becoming flat or cheesy. The slow development
of the work does not cause loss of attenttion, on the contrary: the
tension is kept so well, that the whole piece is very captivating.
I’m very sorry I missed the performance with the visuals, because if
that was anywhere as good as this, it must have been a great show.
(MR)
Adress: www.oral.qc.ca
KUWAYAMA-KIJIMA – 01.06.16 (CD by Trente Oiseaux)
Once again, K-K have undertaken a trip to the Japanese underworld,
recording their improvisations on cello and violin underneath a
highway at midnight.
ANd judging by the sound of the passing cars, it’s been a good choice
to do this at midnight; during the day the sound of the traffic would
probably have drowned them out. Even at night it seems to be pretty
busy over there. So, this CD presents four improvised pieces using a
vocabulary that is very rich, from free jazz to contemporary composed
music and everything inbetween. The passing cars have a very specific
influence: they seem to be directing the duo in a strange way. In a
sense this is only true, of course. K-K have been reacting on their
environment without any doubt. At other moments, it seems just the
other way around: as if cars are recting on K-K’s music. This a
fascinating record for everyone interested in contemporary music and
music concrete. (MR)
Adress: www.trenteoiseaux.com
RADIAN – REC. EXTERN (CD by Thrill Jockey)
Radian is Martin Brandlmayr (Drums, Vibraphone, Computer), Stefan
NÈmeth (Synthesizers, Computer) and John Norman (Bass). The Viennese
trio has been playing together for about a half-dozen years at such
diverse locales as Tonic (NY) to Ars Electronica Festival (Austria)
to All Tomorrow’s Parties (UK). “Jet” has the type of feedback that
Jimi Hendrix’s mother cursed over. The overall sensibility here has
impact and full stereo sound, every channel is filled, or at least
tampered with. Full-on drone subtly paints the edges of the bassline
and vibes making their way from the distance in “Kilvo”. Here we see
the labelmate comparison to Tortoise (with whom they have played
live), just toned down and tossled a tad. Radian has formerly
recorded for the well respected Mego empire, playing alongside Pita
in their very first year live and being captured by Rhiz Records at
the time. The chattering “Bioadapter” makes its way into the
microsound scene though makes room for some aberrant bass and signal
play. Where 100s of records have accosted our senses with feedback
wrath and fury ñ this time it seems sensible when balanced with
faint, almost kodo-like drumming. Experimentation is in high gear for
these three young men who blur genre lines seamlessly and with
intention. “=Elot” evidences the bands mono recording techniques as
it begs release from its Dadaist fly attitude towards traditional
music making. Released in August, Rec.Extern is superbly mixed by
John McEntire (Stereolab, Trans Am) dubbing this a nearly perfect
recording on all four wheels! The only imperfection here is the
short 40 minute discount, made up for in sense of purpose, it begs a
companion disk (or maybe that should be a diskette – nudge!). (TJN)
Address: http://www.thrilljockey.com
JOHAN SKUGGE – OBJECTS AND BUILDINGS (CD by Source Records)
Objects and Buildings sets out to the “Pacific” in a track that
murmers and crackles like an upturned Pole with a side of attitude.
This is Skugge’s debut disc, and it’s right in line with other
micro-releases from Mitek, Mille Plateaux and even Profan. In fact,
Thomas Brinkmann comes to mind with multiple listens. In its
resonant bass center intricate noise dimensions swirl and travel.
This is deep sound with perky beat. Digitones and funk programming
make “4am” seem something worth waking up for. Its contact mic play
and complex repetitive glitch creates dances with wires. It is as
though you left the room after the record ended and the tone arm
stayed in the lockgroove, taking on a merry little life of its own.
Stockholmís Skugge is a computer sciences student by day (no surprise
there) who uses aged computers and freeware to shape broken-ass noise
into shoulder rotating electronica. What we hear on Objects and
Buildings is a stripping down of the facacde, and a rebuilding of
simple structures on top of others in an assemblage of interconnected
complexity. The end result is at once refined and stark without cold
detachment as in “Eeg” and “Rev”. Closing the CD is “Module” slowing
things down a bit, reckoning with itself as it fades away. This is a
hit record on mars – superior summer listening to chillout and
unravel the din of the city. (TJN)
Address: http://www.source-records.com
RAFAEL TORAL – EARLY WORKS (CD by Tomlab)
By now a well-established household name, this Portugese guitarist
Rafael Toral. Working both as an improviser and solo works (which
usually consist of beautifully layered overtones of captured guitar
sounds) he has gained some fame. Toral started out some 15 years
playing and recording the guitar, and he could have never dream of
seeing them released. These six pieces were recorded between 1987 and
1990 on a four track (one track on a 8 track open reel) and belong to
his oldest works. It’s not easy to see these pieces seperated from
what came after that, and for which we know Toral all to well. The
drone character of the music is already present, but the pieces are
much shorter and seem to be a bit more about melody. Those melodies
seem to float in weightless space. Using the echo and reverb boxes
quite clever, Toral creates small miniatures of sound. Unlike his
recent work, which explore sound at more considerable length, the
ideas here remain small and intimate. It’s hard to see this as the
missing link between the ‘old’ and the ‘new’, and it’s much more a
continouos line from ‘then’ to ‘now’. This also goes for the sixth
track ‘Sand Precision’, which is a total improv playing on the many
channels that the 8 track machine gives Toral. This forecasts his
later interest in improv music. Very nice music indeed. It’s pity
that it clocks in at some thirty-five minutes. This meal could have
lasted longer… (FdW)
Address: www.tomlab.de
REGIVAR – COLONNA SONORA PER UN FILM IMMAGINARIO (CDR by S’Agita Recordings)
AAL – DEAR DEAD DAYS (CDR by S’Agita Recordings)
Maybe all music can be used as a soundtrack for a film, somehow,
somewhere and someday. But still some people call their music
soundtracks for imaginairy films, as if they seek an assignment in
that direction. Or maybe they are not convinced about the potential
of their music to stand by itself? Whatever guessing, this work was
recorded in 1999 and was shelved for no reason until it was recentely
re-discovered and released. Raffaella Graziosi is the composer and
she recorded this in Bologna, Italy, using synths in combination with
environmental sounds, although the latter is kept to a minimum. Her
style is to be found on the darker side of music and would maybe
serves best as the soundtrack to a film noir.
Another release by Davide Valecchi, who released before as Aal (see
Vital Weekly 310). This is a short release, with just over 23 minutes
of music, but with seven tracks. Davide also combines electronic
sounds with ‘other’ sounds, but also for him the emphasizes are on
the electronic parts, either in the form of drones and more
rhythmical sections (which are more loops, repeating sounds, rather
then rhythms). Sometimes they seem to dwell a bit too much, at least
for me, on a darker atmosphere, which is a bit too much doom and
gloom for me. But the piece with the processed wind shield wiping in
‘Untitled #3’ and ‘Untitled # 4’ were nice attempts at musique
concrete.
Address: http://sagitarecordings.vze.com
CHRISTIAN KIEFER – EXODUST (CD by Extreme)
There is a lot said in the press message about Christian Kiefer, but
not who he is or what his background is. On the cover he thanks
violinist Paul Zukofsky and composers Terry Riley and Steve Reich.
When I read such a statement, I try to find traces in the music.
Kiefer uses sound recordings from the late 1930s and early 1940s and
the diaspora to the west of the USA in music and speech. The ‘dust’
that is referred to in the title, are the dust storms as that came as
a result of over farming and drought in the mid-west. He samples
those sources to death, layers the resultant recordings. Mainly big
time drones in a vague orchestral mood, with layered voices. I think
here is where the Steve Reich part drops in, and then mainly his
later work, such as ‘Different Trains’, ‘City Life’ or his recent
‘Three Tales’. Both sound and texts get layered and only snippets of
text will come through clearly, and the rest remains blurry. Although
this is quite nice in all, I think the music part could have been a
bit more varied. I was surprised to see that the see has some 14
index points, whereas from just hearing the sounds, I thought it
would have been just 3 or 4 tracks. But if the music is just the
carrier of the word, and this is regarded as a radioplay, then it
works well. (FdW)
Address: www.extr.com
FIBRO-TRESPO – 8,01 % ACTION (CDR by Humbug)
More Fibro-Trespo (see also Vital Weekly 326) and again it’s a
re-issue. This is a recording from 1996 and was released on cassette
by the English Kylie label. Fibo Trespo are Sindre Bjerga and Kjetil
D. Brandsal who play one piece of music, spanning some 45 minutes.
Like the CDR recentely released by Absurd, this is one long piece of
improvised feedback drones, scraping of metal and even a little bit
psych-out synths swirls and guitar bending. Obviously recorded in the
usual high standard lo-fi setting. It’s quite a sit through for the
entire 45 minutes, because the momentum gets lost here and there, but
you get their drift quite clearly. Again one for the die-hards…
(FdW)
Address: <tchartan@yahoo.com>
NOBUKAZU TAKEMURA – WATER’S SUITE (CD by Extreme)
Having seen the inside of a studio sometimes and twisted a knob here
and there, I consider myself a true nitwit, certainly when I read “I
played the original MIDI data and I input the scale, harmony and
melody in advance, however, I didn’t use the typical method of
replaying the sequence data. Instead, I did the SCRUB control change
improivsation for MIDI data on my software”. I am entirely lost here.
Using small snippets of sound, played, it seems randomly, with the
occassional glimp of marimba like sounds, Takemura remains somehow
close to the Oval sound, but in a more improvised way. This works
best in the four shorter tracks on this CD, but not so well in the 22
minute ‘Part 5’ piece. Here control gets lost and we are left with a
huge mish-mash of sounds swirling in and out, which apperentely go
nowhere. It would have been nice to see what it could have done, if
Takemura tried to play real songs with the process he describes. Now
the CD is too long for the limitations of the concept and could have
easily lost 22 minutes on the edit table. (FdW)
Address: www.extr.com
COR GOUT – TEXTUUR (CDR by EE Tapes)
The name Cor Gout may mean nothing to you, certainly when you are not
Dutch or Belgium. Cor is the front man of Trespassers W, a Dutch rock
band which uses Cor’s philosophical texts to large extent. But it
remains, excuse me, normal rock music. This CDR however collects the
more weirder outings from Cor Gout, small pieces recorded with a wide
variety of Dutch improvisers (mainly from the scene in Rotterdam),
aswell as some tracks recorded with Alain Neffe (once of the Insane
Music label, whatever happened to him?) and Jan van Duivenvoorden
(front man of Unit Moebius). Some pieces are more fairy tale like
stories in Dutch, some are almost children like songs and there are
jams with the aforementioned improvisers. All of the sixteen pieces
dwell heavily on texts and vocals, which, if you me, are not always
well spend on me. The texts are about alienation, life in the big
city or for instance a dialogue between Charles Ives and his hair
dresser. But it’s good to see Cor doing music wise more daring stuff
and move away from his rock work. Even when this is a not really
coherent musical collection, it’s a nice collection of weird
combinations and strange music. The jazzy, electronic ‘Gemobiliseerd’
(with the Unit Moebius guy and a contrabass player) is the last
piece, but a highlight. (FdW)
Address: <eetapes@hotmail.com>
FOLKTALES NUMBER THREE (3×3″ CDR by Crouton Music)
Folktales is a series of ‘to explore the literary aspects of sound
and performance’ and they each take the form of three three inch
cd’s, released in an edition of 300 copies. On this third volume, we
find three US musicians, whom, I must admit, I never heard of:
percussionist Kevin Shea, computer musician Adam Soderberg and
violinist Dan Warburton. There is also a small text which they wrote
together.
Dan Warburton is on the first one, and he plays violin and
‘soundfiles’, me thinks computer processed violin sounds. The violin
was recorded by Eric La Casa, in case you should want to know. The
larger first part of his piece is a layered drone piece of violin
sounds and processed sound thereof. Then after some 12 minutes there
is a short hectic break out of Agencement like playing after which
the piece continues as before. Very nice work.
A similar compositional approach has Adam Sonderberg. After a long
drone stretch (sources unknown here) there is a short violent
outbreak, which if you did crank up the volume to hear the drones
will ruin your speakers I guess, after which things fall dramatically
in volume, almost to Lopezian propotions. I must say I enjoyed this
piece less then Dan’s piece, which had more clarity in approach.
Kevin Shea’s piece ‘Among The Ash-Heaps And Millionaires’ lists
drums, speech, casio as instruments, but the drums play the most
important role. Wild, kinda like improv drumming going on, with
occassional spoken word pouring in. It reminded me a bit old Craig
Burke stuff, which I didn’t like very much back then. This is sort of
ok, since the length is an endurance test, and the spoken word part
is kept to a minimum.
Address: www.croutonmusic.com
FAN CLUB ORCHESTRA – SUN PAPA AND THE FAN CLUB ORCHESTRA VOL. 1 &
VOL. 2 (CD by Sonig)
This Fan Club Orchestra CD has been spinning my player a lot these
last weeks, but somehow I still don’t know what to write about it.
The Orchestra is to be understand as an orchestra here, with eleven
persons, including somebody for video projections. They are a side
project of Scratch Pet Land and their instruments involve percussion,
guitar, harmonica, gameboys, mouth organs, trombone, turntables and
more devices. Laurent Baudoux is the conductor, giving the outlines
via an overhead projector and the resultant recordings are edited by
Laurent and Nicolas Baudoux in their studio. This record sums up
their previous two 12″ productions, plus two bonus pieces. Their
sound is a highly vivid mix of Oval, Microstoria and Mouse On Mars
like scratchings of hard discs, in which occassionally the original
instrument pops up. It’s good to have these 12″s on one CD really,
since the continous play makes it in a nice work. It also documents
their work well, since both Scratch Pet Land and Fan Club Orchestra
sort of evolved in Electrosold, which extends these ideas even
further. Put on your walkman and put on a smile with this crazy
music. (FdW)
Address: www.sonig.com
THE BOOKS – THOUGHT FOR FOOD (CD by Tomlab)
The Books you say? Never heard of? The Books are a duo, consisting of
Dutch cello player Paul de Jong who lives in the big apple for some
twenty years and Zammuto, whom we all know for his more then
excellent CD on Apartment B and more then good CD on Infraction. He
sort of disappeared from the scene, but apperentely works with De
Jong on this collaborative effort. Mainly through mail, but also bits
and pieces face to face. The sound files they exchanged consisted of
cello, guitar, bass and banjo playing, and have meticulously been put
together on the computer. However this not your other laptop doodling
album. This hints far more at post rock cum pop music then glitch and
cut music. The tracks have been deliberatly been kept to a short
popmusic length and have a poppy built up per track, working towards
refrains, in the usual pop music format. Crazy snippets of voices and
vocals pop in and a piece like ‘Getting The Job Done’ is almost
Irish folk song, but then spliced together from banjo and cello
samples. The music never gets too digitalized or sterile, but has a
certain deep warm sound. The more I hear this, the more I like it.
There are moments this even gets close to the Zammuto ‘Wilscher’ CD
and has certainly the same feel to it. Popmusic redefined! (FdW)
Address: www.tomlab.de
O vs TIN.RP – STEREOPHONIQUE (CDR by Burning Emptiness)
O is Yann and Sylvian (and play guitars) and Tin.RP is B”L and DDN
(and play machines), and together they come up a sort of conceptual
release. Tracks are divided strictly left and right and last either
two or three minutes. Only the last piece has them both on both
channels. It seems to me that Tin.RP add sounds to O’s improvised
guitar playing, rather then the other way around. It seems to me that
samples were added their way of guitar playing. I expected this to be
more over the top noise and rhythm, but no such thing. They manage to
keep their work under control and only in the fifth piece some of
Tin.RP’s brutality arises. Although the concept is not really new or
great, it’s a nice release. (FdW)
Address: www.burningemptiness.fr.st
XENIS EMPUTAE TRAVELLING BAND – UNDER A SOULAR MOON (CDR by Trademark)
The Xenis Emputae Travelling Band is probably just one guy, who
experiments with a set a lo-fi electronics in a highly ambient and
psychedelic mood. Synths, metallic sounds, slowed down voices and
flutes, all drenched in a highly reverbed sound, which evoke an
alienated atmosphere. At times they remind me of old zoviet*france
recordings, which carried a similar alien atmosphere. It’s ambient
music for sure, but ambient with a sense and love for the more
experimental sounds and without taking great care for compostional
structures but with a great love for the good flow of sound. (FdW)
Address: <tm_industries@lycos.co.uk>
WILLIAM BASINSKI – THE DISINTEGRATION LOOPS (CD by Musex International)
More and more people go through their archives and unshelve music for
release. Like this William Basinski, who is mostly known for his LP
for Raster-music some years ago and some privately released CDRs.
While transferring his archive to a digital format he discovered some
tape-loops from 1982 but while re-recording them, he noted, with much
sadness, the tapes slowly decayed while playing. Here on this CD you
hear two of those old tape-loops slowly going under. Highly pastoral
sounding loops, slowly, almost unnotable changing and getting less
and less in quality – or maybe, I should say the quality changes.
This material comes closely to Eno’s Obscure Records (for instance
‘Discreet Music’) or ‘The Sinking Of The Titanic’. And with the
latter it shares the same background. Basinski was playing this
master when the World Trade Center collapsed on 9-11. In every sense:
decay music. (FdW)
Address: <billy2062@yahoo.com>
correction: the gluesniffer (see Vital Weekly 329) address is
http://gluesniffer.8bit.co.uk/ , and the pink.dot address is
http://pinkdot.n3.net .