STEPHAN MATHIEU – GIGUE (miniCD by Fallt)
WARMDESK – THE PRIDE OF THE SOUTH SIDE (miniCD by Fallt)
OREN AMBARCHI & KEITH ROWE – FLYPAPER (CD by Staubgold)
BLOODYMINDED – TRUE CRIME (CD by Bloodlust!)
BLUE SKIED AN’ CLEAR (2CD compilation by Morr Music)
ANDERS GJERDE – KYLLING SMASK/KLUNK BERRY (CDR by Humbug)
WITCHYS (CDR by Humbug)
PAL ASLE PETTERSEN (CDR)
JOHN LITTON BAROI & PIERRE VERVLOESEM – ZALA ZALA (CD by Carbon 7)
SLANG – SAVE THE CHILIS (CD by Carbon 7)
PRESENT – HIGH INFIDELITY (CD by Carbon 7)
AFANASSI VIEBEG – KARAWANENMUSIK V (CD by Moloko+)
OHNE – 1 (CD by Ohnemego)
CASIO FOR THE PAINFULLY ALONE – ANSWERING MACHINE MUSIC (CD by Tomlab)
BEIGE – I’M ONLY IN IT FOR THE MONEY (3″CDR by Alku)
STEPHAN MATHIEU – GIGUE (miniCD by Fallt)
WARMDESK – THE PRIDE OF THE SOUTH SIDE (miniCD by Fallt)
Two cute little CD’s that last around 25-30 minutes and have a
transparant ring at the edge… they are called AB CDs, you may have
seen them before. Fallt, who released the Invalid Object Series box
last year, start a new series of live works. Of course many people
think that playing music while having a laptop on stage is a rather
static visual thing, and probably, they say, the music comes anyway
from a soundfile being played it’s most welcome that some of the more
exciting musicians in the field of microsound/laptop etc. release a
live CD. Stephan Mathieu’s CD certainly has a live feel to it, as the
recording is quite raw (microphone recording most likely). Mathieu is
very happy with this recording, because it was on a website for
download and now on CD. The recording was made at A-Musik, the
well-known shop in Cologne. ‘Gigue’, which is the main portion of
this release is indeed an excellent example of Mathieu’s work. It’s
hissy, scratchy and decaying samples move back and forth through some
computer files/patches and Mathieu does a clear built up, and falls
back in some computer hotch potch which is so common with laptop
musicians. The second piece is a treatment of his ‘Wurmloch
Variationen’ CD and is a deep drone piece, which has both a warm and
icy feel to it. I read that these are only the last five minutes of a
ninety minute set, which was only recorded in the last five minutes,
shame shame shame!
A bit more conventional are the working on Warmdesk, aka Bill Selman.
His emphasizes lie on the use of rhythm, which is in full drive mood.
Techno and dub inspired. The icing on his cake is the use of sounds
for everyday life, which are sampled and thrown in the mix. His three
pieces are kinda nice, but also a bit too normal. The sparkling thing
is not present, me thinks. But I’m sure live it worked well.
Address: www.fallt.com
OREN AMBARCHI & KEITH ROWE – FLYPAPER (CD by Staubgold)
Maybe at first sight this is an odd combination. Oren is known for
his lengthy, spacious guitar outings and drone fields and Keith for
his improvised prepared guitar work. It could work greatly, or not at
all. On a closer look one could also see the similarities between the
two. And one of those similarities is the use of silence in the work.
Guitar sounds as such are not easy to recognized in this work.
Everything is spun out to a large extent, treated with electronics
and amplified small sounds on the guitars. It’s more a work of
electronica, then of guitars, me thinks. Rowe and Ambarchi control
the sound fields to a high extent. I saw this compared to Roland
Kayn’s work, which I find true to a small extent. The course of
events take maybe similar routes as with Kayn, but also they take a
slower route. It’s more minimal, more open and more spacious. All of
the sounds here fit together very well, and shows the hands of two
masters at work. ‘Flypaper IV’ is the longest piece and also the
master piece of the CD. Low end buzz, adding external sounds (it
seems!), building crescendos and is all over the place. No doubt all
gathered from improvisation, but it’s not that one can hear this.
Great CD! (Fdw)
Address: www.staubgold.com
BLOODYMINDED – TRUE CRIME (CD by Bloodlust!)
Together with a number of power electronics-acts from the U.S. and
Italy, Bloodyminded certainly made a big impression on me when I put
my ears into the raw “Sound of sadism”-compilation released on Crowd
Control Activities a couple of years ago. The collection of
innovative contributions on the compilation exceeded any other power
electronics-compilations that I had listened to by lengths. Therefore
it was quite a pleasure to receive this second full length-album by
Chicagoís Bloodyminded. Originally formed during the summer of 1995,
Bloodyminded were born after the dissolution of the legendary power
electronics-act, Intrinsic Action, established by Mark Solotroff.
Behind the sounds of Bloodyminded is then once again found Mark
Solotroff together with Steve Marvin and Ed Knigge. Apart from these
three composers of violence, there is guest appearances from other
heavy-weights of the American power electronics-scene like Jonathan
Canady of Deathpile and Deadworld and John Balistreri from Slogun.
Also Japanese composer Akifumi Nakajima of Aube appears on some of
the tracks. Drilling noises, screeching noises and rumbling noises
penetrates and disappears in the turbulent wall of sound. Underneath
the distorted maelstrom of sonic extremity lie two layers of human
voices. Lowest is some subdued spoken words sounding like audio
samples while the upper layer uses screaming vocals from various
people of the project. More old-school than innovative in its
expression the album does remind a little of earliest Whitehouse. And
eventhough “True crime” does represent a rather intense exploration
into musical sickness, I do miss a little more variation in the
overall sound picture. Nevertheless a good album from Bloodyminded
supporting the fact that the American power electronics scene is well
worth watching. (NMP)
Address: www.bloodlust.blogspot.com
BLUE SKIED AN’ CLEAR (2CD compilation by Morr Music)
If you are keen follower of Vital Weekly, you may have read before
‘typical the sound of Morr Music’, but maybe you never had the
oppurtunity to find out what this typical sound then was. Maybe for
those people, Morr Music has just released a double CD which includes
almost everbody one could think of that is in some way connected to
Morr Music. Beats, dramatic synth lines, melancholic washes with a
fresh dose of vocals. This last thing is something new in the world
of Morr. Especially the first disc is filled with vocal tracks. The
vocals add an even more poppy feel to the pieces. However, and this
is important if one wants to create popmusic, not all of the voices
used are necessarily great vocalists. Some of them have these sort of
half spoken, half sung lines, which make not every track a hit.
That’s a pity, since many tracks have great instrumental potential.
To learn more about how the Morr Music sound works, this is however a
more then welcome compilation. Included are pieces by Future 3, ISAN,
Lali Puna, Limp, U. Schnauss, Styrofoam, Manual, Solvent, Komeit,
Herrmann & Kleine, Mum, Skanform. And many of those have two tracks
here… (FdW)
Address: www.morrmusic.com
ANDERS GJERDE – KYLLING SMASK/KLUNK BERRY (CDR by Humbug)
WITCHYS (CDR by Humbug)
PAL ASLE PETTERSEN (CDR)
More lo-fi music on Humbug here. Anders Gjerde uses metallic
percussion, distorted guitars and found sound of any kind in the nine
pieces on this release. His improvisations tend more towards noise et
al, but he keeps things under control. Sonic manipulations (maybe
even the good ‘ol tape recorder techniques, who knows?) prevail here,
and each track shows enough variation in itself to hold ones
attention. Anders’ main interest seems to be using per track
different sound sources and different ways to play them. This all
makes this an interesting and sympathetic release.
Also opting for free improv is Witcys who operate in a strange mayhem
of found sound and who use vinyl a lot I think. Lifting sound
fragments from record, spinning, looping and cutting them into small
pieces. With no less then 44 tracks in 77 minutes this is quite a sit
through, which I could enjoy only partly. Some of these pieces put a
smile on my face (certainly some of the cliche disco ones), but
overall it was a hard time…
The release by Pal Asle Pettersen is not an official Humbug release,
but it is available from Humbug. I would suggest that Humbug
seriously consider re-issuing it, as this is a very nice release.
Pettersen uses acoustic sounds, treats them on the computer and
presents them in the form of strong sound collages. His works reminds
me of M. Behrens or Roel Meelkop. Carefully placing sound elements
among wide fields of near silence, thus juxtoposing the sounds.
Pettersen doesn’t add much sound effects, but mainly uses changes in
the frequency range. Great stuff that needs to be heard more widely.
(FdW)
Address: <tchartan@yahoo.com>
JOHN LITTON BAROI & PIERRE VERVLOESEM – ZALA ZALA (CD by Carbon 7)
Zala Zala is a blend of Indian and Western music produced by two
Belgian musicians. The disc is a collection nine Bangladeshi
folksongs dealing with different aspects of love and man’s journey
through life. Highlights include Pothiker Vhari Bozha (Heavy Burden
of the Traveler) with tablas, sitars, and a guitar riff that doubles
the vocals; Tor Kotha (With Thirst of Night), a love song with a
strong bass line reminiscent of Les Claypool; and the title track
Zala Zala (Crying the “Bina” of the Heart), another love song, that
really rocks with a harmonium and raga feel developing a reggae beat
with electric guitar and sitar. An enjoyable listening experience
that is different from most of what you hear today. (SH)
Address: www.netbeat.com/carbon7
SLANG – SAVE THE CHILIS (CD by Carbon 7)
Save the Chilis is the second release by this Belgian trio of sax,
bass, and percussion. They have expanded from their first release
Los Locos and have created a new genre, REC. REC is a French acronym
for Ethno-Coltranian Rock, a blend of jazz, ethnic music, and rock.
And, for the first time, Slang includes some vocals. The opening
song Sugar is minimalistic funky jazz that reminds me of the Battered
Ornaments. Other songs combine elements of Indian, South American,
and Arab music. It is amazing what this trio can accomplish. At low
volumes, this music can almost be background music, but the
intricacies of the melodies demand your attention. The CD closes
with the standout song La Gigue. Like Los Locos, Slang is not for
the casual listener. If you enjoy sophisticated music, Save the
Chilis is for you. (SH)
Address: www.netbeat.com/carbon7
PRESENT – HIGH INFIDELITY (CD by Carbon 7)
High Infidelity is Present’s seventh release of intelligent music
that extends the tradition laid down in Trigaux’s previous releases.
This new CD contains three songs: Souls for Sale, Strychnine for
Christmas, and Reve de Fer. Souls of Sale opens the disc and is
immediately in your face with Frippish guitar riffs, dissonant
chords, and interesting themes. Strychnine for Christmas is a dark
brooding piece about a father who poisons his children, not an
uplifting story, but the music is excellent with some cool mellotron
phrases thrown in the mix. The CD closes with Reve de Fer, the
shortest song, but no slacker at 9:24. Heavy beats, dual guitar
lines, and a laid back approach present another facet of this
excellent band. If you like King Crimson, Univers Zero, Magma,
Heldon, Pinhas, etc., then this latest release from Present is for
you. Highly recommended. (SH)
Address: www.netbeat.com/carbon7
AFANASSI VIEBEG – KARAWANENMUSIK V (CD by Moloko+)
Apperentely it is ten years ago that Caravan Music IV was released
(and who knows when I, II and III were released?) by the
German-Kazakhstani Afanassi Viebig and in the last four years he has
been working on the fifth album. Now it’s released and it’s my first
encounter with his music. It seems to me that Viebig dwells heavily
on rhythm. Pseudo-ethnic tribal drumming to which he adds all sorts
of sounds. Sometimes one hears the lion roar sampled, quasi religious
chantings or metallic ringings. Some of these pieces were composed
for the play ‘Nathan Der Weise’ and they come with texts from the
play. These pieces seem a bit out of place, or maybe it would be have
been better to group them at, say, the end of the disc. The music
reminded me sometimes of Muslimgauze, but it lacked the power of
Gauze and Viebig sound much cleaner in approach. The music comes off
a bit sterile and has not much warmth in it’s rooms. Maybe I’m just a
bit allergic for those sampled pseudo-ethnics, but I found it hard to
enjoy this. Only parts seemed of interest. (FdW)
Address: <ralf_friel@ferrostaal.com>
OHNE – 1 (CD by Ohnemego)
This CD is not really a Mego release, but it shares the same carton
sleeve package and is manufactured and distributed by Mego. Ohne
(German for ‘without’) is Daniel Lowenbruck, Dave Phillips, Reto
Mader and Tom Smith. Lowenbruck you may know from his various
activities in the Berlin experimental music scene and Mader from his
various releases on Domizil. The other two I don’t know. I am not
sure if Ohne is just an one-off company, or if they intend to go on
after this CD. I may suggest that they do so, because what I heard is
quite interesting. It’s also kinda hard to explain. There are voices,
something half sung, sometimes distorted and beyond recognition.
There are laptoppian parts of noise played as a backing piece, or the
rumbling of contact microphones. It’s the sort of musical madness
that is far away related to the old Residents, but in an updated
technological jacket. Laptop doesn’t go pop(music) here, but it
certainly tries to get there in a wonderful, strange release. (FdW)
Address: http://ohne.educations.net
CASIO FOR THE PAINFULLY ALONE – ANSWERING MACHINE MUSIC (CD by Tomlab)
The previous release by Casio For The Painfully Alone was reviewed in
Vital Weekly 308. It’s a one man band, using simple keyboards and
rhythmbox – even in some cases the rhythms from the casio VL tone 1.
And like it’s predeccessor, this contains sixteen songs in less then
39 minutes. If you hear this music, you can see him play it. Sitting
in his bedroom, keyboards around him, notes of scribbled lyrics,
microphone in the right position to capture all the sounds rightly
(although the cover says some were recorded on answering machines).
The lyrics are not always good to understand, but who cares. Owen
Ashworth captures his deepest emotions, grief and anger in a true
lo-fi ppmusic mood. Not a great leap forward from his previous
release, but still one to cherish. (FdW)
Address: www.tomlab.de
BEIGE – I’M ONLY IN IT FOR THE MONEY (3″CDR by Alku)
Beige is the nom de plume from the German Oliver Braun and this 3″
CDR has six of his techno inspired pieces. He offers break beats,
lush synth lines and a funky style. Nothing really great going on
here, but in all it’s funkyness a very enjoyable release, that with
it’s sixteen minutes is just long enough to be entertaining. The
differences between the tracks is not really great, so it’s just
about enough. With a handwritten cover, this is an intimate item.
(FdW)
Address: http://personal.ilimit.es/principio