Number 340

CM VON HAUSWOLFF – A LECTURE ON DISTURBANCES IN ARCHITECTURE (CD by
Firework Edition)
STEN HANSON – TEXT-SOUND GEMS & TRINKETS (CD by Firework Edition)
LEIF ELGGREN – EXTRACTION (CD by Firework Edition)
THE SONS OF GOD – THE SONS OF GOD REFURNISH (CD by Firework Edition)
Four from the conceptual world of Firework Edition, the world of Leif
Elggren and friends. The first friend is Carl Micheal von Hauswolff,
who is one of the two kings of Elgaland-Vargaland. He has a strong
interest in architecture, so he has lecture to offer. In this lecture
Hauswolff is concerned with seven specific situations in life
connected to living spaces and wants to ‘open up an informal dialogue
with house builders’. These are temperature, uselessness, ultrasonic
and subsonic frequencies, vertical and horizontal relations,
repetition, standards and materials. Each situations comes with their
own sound, and this is what is on this CD. The lecture itself is not
on the CD, so that makes it alltogether more puzzling. Sonorous
fields of sound, at times really low end bass or high end, these
seven pieces are highly static in approach and are good examples of
the sound world of Hauswolff. R. Buckminster Fuller opens up with a
short spoken introduction about how he never prepared a lecture, and
in track nine, Hauswolff’s thanks you for the attention.
Another friend is sound poet Sten Hanson, who works inside sound
poetry and performance art since 1955 and who has 80 some recordings
available on LP and CD. This is the only of the four new Firework
Editions that comes with an extensive booklet, with notes on the
recordings and places were it was performed. It’s unclear wether this
is a CD of previously released highlights of the man’s career, or a
round up of pieces that were never released but which were too nice
to leave out. Keeping in mind that some of this stuff dates back to
the dawn of recording technology, this is a highly interesting work
of voice and electronics. At times simple tapeloops and other
tape-technology which is now lost knowledge in the world of
computers, but also at times synthesizers and other such apparatus.
Sometimes the pieces are down to earth, such as ‘how are you’, a sort
of introduction, to more politically inspired work as ‘Che’, about
Che Guevara. Of both historical and artistic interest is also the
piece ‘Tete A Tete’, which was recorded with Henri Chopin (and some
other pieces were published in Chopin’s ‘Revue Ou’). An unique voice,
in every sense of the word.
Leif Elggren’s own new work is even more difficult to explain. “The
basic sound material was recorded in my biological mother’s uterus
with my not yet developed teeth as a fundamental and simple recording
device a few days before my birth. This sound material was kept
recorded and hidden until recently inside one of my wisdom teeth, but
has now been brought to daylight and exposure”. The cover also lets
you know that this CD not necessarily something to be listened to,
but you can also turn it on, leave the house and everything will be
changed when you come back. To point out what Elggren is up to, is
difficult to say. I did stay throughout the CD and the almost one
hour sound piece goes on and on, but changes are to be noted for
instance when the sound is phasing, because the source material is
doubled. Also listed in one Maja E, credited for the voice, so maybe
this is a work of sound poetry, albeit, an extreme form of sound
poetry. That’s what I like about Elggren’s work: it’s minimal (but
with a very strict personal notion of minimalism), it’s conceptual
and it’s puzzling.
Elggren is together with Kent Tankred the Sons Of God (or should I
say ‘are The Sons Of God’?), whose CD ‘refurnish’ is a recording from
1995, for two actors, furniture and electro technics. The CD opens
mildy synthtetic for what they normally do. But the mildly, maybe
even vaguely new age sounds go away and the pushing of furniture
around the room becomes the main sound ingredient for the next hour
or so. The mildly, new age like sounds return every once in a while
and reflect maybe the outer or inner life – the space next to the one
with furniture. The pushing around has a strange droning element to
it, which is not unlike Organum unplugged. Quite nice, but maybe a
bit long.

IRON LAP – TOWARDS AN IRON LAP (CDR by Sounds Okay)
Iron Lap are ‘two people using handmade analog synthesizers and a
baritone guitar to divine sonic slagheads’. This 29 some minute
release has five tracks of their work, but I am afraid I miss a point
or two. The main blast here is noisy bleeps and other sonic mayhem
that can be produced with such limited instruments. It works best in
a piece like ‘Tzec’, which drones far away but in which the analog
synthesizer works like an irregular semaphore. But in general, the
improvisations captured here are not really interesting to hear. It
seems like thrown on the tape, without caring much about the listener
and if he is interested in hearing this. I pass on. (FdW)
Address: www.soundsokay.com

MIEKO SHIOMI – FLUXUS SUITE (CD by ? Records)
Fluxus made it to history and museums alike, so people think it’s
time to pay hommage whenever there is something to celebrate. One
Mieko Shiomi celebrates 40th years of Fluxus on a CD with 80 short
pieces. I will spare you the ramblings on how this was conceived, but
it’s about translating the names and works of 80 fluxus artists into
music. Then Shiomi took the most ugly sounding organ and played all
the pieces with great seriousness. The result is some highly
unlistenable art crap. If I was a Fluxus artist and got my hommage
like this, I think I’d be insulted. But half the people are dead
anyway, so who cares. Who cares, at all? (FdW)
Address: www.hundertmark-gallery.com

CAPTAIN STEPHANIE – CACA POUSSIERE (CDR by Mouthmoth)
Obscure beats are well hidden diamonds on the Mouthmoth label. They
deal with artists whose name might mean nothing to nobody. So whose
behind Captain Stephanie – I really couldn’t tell. I know that he or
she made this nine track CD-R release full of quirky beats, raging
from breakbeats to techno like doodlings and that they are not really
ment to be for the hardcore dancefloor, but are more usefull in an
underground disco, where dancing is optional. Captain Stephanie adds
wacky samples of speed up tapes, ethnic voices and other humurous
elements, which give this release a nice underground feel to it. It’s
not as refined and polished as many other releases in this field. The
really do-it-yourself attitude that is needed so badly. (FdW)
Address: www.mouthmoth.go.to

COSMOS – TEARS (CD by Erstwhile)
Cosmos, a duo of Sachiko M on sinewaves and contact microphone on
objects and Ami Yoshida on voice, was formed in 1998, yet the two
women apperentely don’t meet up a lot, probably due to their busy
schedules. Sachiko M is mostly known for her solo work, as well as
group as Filament, ISO and with Toshimaru Nakamura and usually she
works with sine waves. Recentely she picked up playing contact
microphoned objects too. I am not familiar with any work by Ami
Yoshida. This is a weird collaboration. The voice by Yoshida is so
completely alien, that it is hard to believe it’s a voice at work
here. It’s raw microphone abuse, wordless, abstract and could be
anything but a voice. Sometimes it sounds like rubbing objects
against eachother, and sometimes like an animals call. The sinewaves
operate in two of the three tracks as stretched, long fields of
sounds and somehow I think they are not a not perfect pair, the voice
and the sine wave. In the middle piece of the three, they unison
works best. There is detail and the sounds of objects vs the sound of
voices work wonderfully well. It’s a pretty noisy CD throughout, even
when no doubt very little electronics were added to the original
sounds. This is the sort of unsettling noise that is very direct,
almost like clothes on your skin. With the second track as a
highlight and the other two being alright, this turnes out to be a
nice CD. (FdW)
Address: www.erstwhilerecords.com

SPACEHEADS – LOW PRESSURE (CD by Bip-Hop)
Well what can I say(or write), I am a fan already so naturally I was
pleased to get the new Spaceheads album in my hands. But okay…
okay… let’s try to put all emotions aside and be critical. Although
partly you critizise by taste and that is what makes it interesting,
or not…hmm? Anyway, the new album by the duo of Andy Diagram and
Richard Harrison who play tumpet through effects and drums for the
most part with quite a bit of electronic production too.
Starting in a dub chill out mood with, the title track, which shifts
into the very up-tempo remix from the Bleach Boys(another Harrison
offshot). Then shifting again into a more pop groovy atmosphere with
some really beautiful trumpet melodies laid on top of groove flowing
beats and rhythms. Amazing contrast that works perfectly. On to
another Bleach Boys remix, this time more relaxed. Then to top the
variation on this CD there is a Graham Massey remix which is simply
the cherry on top of the creamcake, if I may say so. It is a remix of
“Trance Fig 8” a track on a previous Spaceheads CD “Angelstation”.
Wild stuff (that makes me want to do wild things)! After that we get
some more laid back material, soundscapes and that chill again, which
was good cause otherwise we might get just a bit too excited and run
off to the nearest alternative disco club (if there is one in your
area). Well, objectively (trying hard…), I must say it is a very
good CD. Personally, I think it is their most wholesome record to
date, varied with lots of different moods yet intensely focused.
Highly recommended! (HB)
Address: www.bip-hop.com

THE FOCUS QUINTET – 1-8 in 1 (CD by Sachimay)
Sachimay is a new label to me. A view in their catalogue learns that
most releases have to do with modern composed music and
improvisation. Pianist Dan DeChellis is present on most releases, so
I gues it his ‘his’ label. Dechellis put himself on the map of modern
improvised music with his cd ‘Shapes’, released in 1996 on Sachimay.
Many releases followed. DeChellis likes to investigate the boundaries
between composed and improvised music. This is also the case for this
release by The Focus Quintet, which has DeChellis playing piano and
keyboards, accompanied by Anita DeChellis (voice), Ernesto
Diaz_Infante (acoustic guitar, voice), Jeff Arnal (percussion) and
Chris Forsyth (electric guitar).
Diaz-Infante and Forsyth have lots of experience as a duo. Dan
DeChellis and Arnal also have experience as a duo. All, except Dan,
contributed to ‘Everything changed after 7-11’ on Pax Recordings.
Working together as a quintet started with the Big Sur Experimental
Music Festival in 2001. ‘1-8 in 1’ is the first result of it. We hear
some noisy (but not loud) AMM-like improvisations provided mostly by
the guitars and percussion. Piano and voice seek their way through
this by adding very sparsely some notes and songlines. It is not a
matter however of guitars and percussion on the background and piano
and voice on the forefront. All instruments (including voice) are
equally important. They focus on timbre, texture and color. The music
is very intimate. No wild outbursts of energy, but more of a
controlled minimal approach. Very well done (DM)..
Address: www.sachimayrecords.com

MORGAN CANEY & KAMAL JOORY – MAGIC RADIOS (CD by City Centre Offices)
If you own a radio, and I mean a real one, where one can freely
switch the dial and search for a radiostation, you must have
experienced the sensation of dialing the knob and tuning into totally
different musics which seem to exist next to eachother. Such is the
nature of ‘Magic Radios’, by Kamal Joory (who has recorded for Skam,
Neo Ouija, Microwave and Nature) and Morgan Caney, of whom I know
nothing. They started their collaborative work some time ago, but it
was much to their satisfaction that they recorded another ten pieces.
And these ten pieces sound like the radio. Musicwise it ranges from
breatbeats, microglitches and singer songwriter stuff, mostly covered
with a warmth that rises above the various styles they operate in.
Campfire songs go electric via laptop-trickery, such as in “Take My
Light” or “Crispy Leaves Underfoot”. These songs have the same warmth
as found on many of the Morr Music releases and is the future of
popmusic. A fascinating journey along the waves – like the waves of
the radio. (FdW)
Address: www.city-centre-offices.de

SILT FISH – ZABARANDA (CDR by Public Eyeshore)
Sometimes we receive music that is so far outside what we normally
review, that we have nothing to compare it with, unless we go for a
blunt mistake. Silt Fish are from the UK and consist of Mr Quayle,
Andy K and Jez. According to the label they play ‘outsider
progressive folk’, whatever that is. I hear David Thomas in the
vocals, and the music is played on organs, guitars and indeed a very
haunting production. The sound is spooky and dark, a rather
unsettling atmosphere, that really adds to the work. Normally I
couldn’t care much for such singer stuff, but the weirdness of the
sound certainly held my attention throughout the rest of the release.
Slightly absurd music, with probably likewise absurd lyrics (which I,
as usual, miss out). Maybe Pere Ubu from Mars? (FdW)
Address: www.sinkhole.net/pehome

STILLUPSTEYPA – THE IMMEDIATE PAST IS OF NO INTEREST TO US (CD by Bottrop Boy)
Has it really been 10 years? The musical chameleon that is called
Stillupsteypa exist ten years now, and they have been reduced to a
duo since late last year. Stillupsteypa are chameleons in a way that
they change their music when they see fit. Coming all the way from
free improv punk to plunderphonics to clicks and cuts and now it’s
retro electro, of course with their own nordic twist. They use
straight forward, early eighties inspired rhythms, even drum & bass
like influences and put this into eleven great tracks (and not twelve
as the cover notes, no mistake, but just an Icelandic joke). It may
also be an extension of much of their previous work summed up here –
with the exception that the punk/improv startings are no longer
present in their music, save maybe for some of the more humorous
titles. I am told that much of the material on this CD was recorded
when they were still a trio, so let us wonder where they go next, as
a duo. The booklet provides some nice liner notes, historical
recounts and private musings by some of their close allies. It’s a
pity that there is no extensive discography or gig guide – but hey,
history is of no immediate interest to us, so why should you bother?
The subtitle is ’10 Years Of Pointless Activities’ – that sums up
what making music is about, right? (FdW)
Address: www.bottrop-boy.com

RUDIS/CUSTODIO/DIAZ-INFANTE – Crashing the Russian Renaissance (CD on Pax)
Lx Rudis (matrix 12), AndrÈ Custodio (darbuka, tom-tom, line 6) and
Ernesto Diaz-Infante (acoustic guitar, violin, voice) are responsible
for this crash.
Custodio calls himself a sound designer and multi-instrumentalist. he
worked with The Splatter Trio, Tom Nunn, Dan Plonsey a.o.
Rudis is a interdisciplinary media artist. Works in both commercial
and underground projects since the 80s. From 1988 interactive
computer work has his special interest.
Diaz-Infante needs no further introduction. He has a gigantic output.
His name occurs from to time in Vital. All three have their base in
San Francisco.
Let’s come to the cd. It’s a strange one. Evidently it’s free
improvised music. Typical Bailey-like guitar improvisations, but also
weird spacey expeditions. The cd starts with ‘Three College
Radio-Radio Edits’ followed by ‘Overthruster’ a work in 27 parts.
Parts that go from 0:03 to 5:59. But it’s one continuous piece.
Yes I like this kind of wild adventurous music because of it’s
experimental nature. Since free improvised music started somewhere in
the 60s it broke with many conventions. On the other hand it has
become conventional itself. The positive point of ‘Crashing the
Russian Renaissance’ is that it is not conventional in this sense.
These guys are really seeking new paths. On the other hand the music
misses some depth (DM).
Address: www.paxrecordings.com

TOSHIYUKI KOBAYASHI – DRAWING SPEED, COLOURING TIME (CD by Lucky Kitchen)
STEPHEN MATHIEU – DIE ENTDECKUNG DES WETTERS (CD by Lucky Kitchen)
Maybe it’s because I am not really a regular reader of the NME, but
apperentely Toshiyuki Kobayashi’s split 7″ with Goodiepal was made
single of the week some time ago. This CD however is his first own
full length release. I have been wondering about his titles; ‘Almond
– Golden Brown – Sandalwood’ or ‘Bright Silver – Zinc White –
Wisteria’? There is something here about colours – obvious with such
a CD title, but also with popmusic (again in connection to colours?).
Kobayashi’s music deals mostly with laptop doodlings, crafting
little, minimal pieces together, in which not necessarily a lot
happens, but with strange small shifts underneath the surface. Music
that is close to Goodiepal or Stephan Mathieu.
And the latter has a new CD too, also on Lucky Kitchen. Mathieu moves
on. From his previous works, such as ‘Frequency Lib’ or ‘Edits’, he
presents here two long works, which were both composed for sound art
installations. I haven’t seen these installations and the
descriptions don’t reveal that much, so that we have to stick to the
sound. ‘Touch’ is divided in four parts of slowly shifting ambient
dronings with slowly evolving clicks and warm melodic lines. The
title pieces, lasting almost half the CD is an even more ambient
piece of a work composed for an iron factory, but it’s hardly an
industrial soundtrack. Rather, it’s a sunrise over an abandoned
factory site, but on a chilly, yet clear wintermorning. Almost
pastoral, but by digital means. Timeless music. (FdW)
Address: www.luckykitchen.com

VESICA PISCIS – SHIMMER SOUNDS (CDR)
Behind Vesica Piscis are one Kendall & Carrie Ann, who produced a
lengthy CDR only release with no less then thirty three tracks. It
contains live pieces from various places across the USA and also
various studio pieces. Much of the music enclosed on this disc takes
their inspiration from electronic music of all sorts. There is hints
from techno aswell as more industrial areas and other free forms of
electronic music, sometimes next to eachother in a track, sometimes
they act on their own. However, also much of this music is in an
early stage. Many interesting ideas are there, but it lacks most of
the times a worked out idea. Most of these things seem to done in an
urge to do things, rather then to work out an idea and present a
really good track. Good thing here is that most of these tracks don’t
last very long, so whatever you don’t like is over before you know
it. (FdW)
Address: http://vesicapiscis.net

YEN POX & TROUM – MNEMONIC INDUCTION (CD by Malignant)
Two bands who have each mastered the world of subconscious drone
music. I think Troum might be a little bit better more known as Yen
Pox, but that might very well be just my own European perspective of
things. This collaborative effort started breathing years ago, but it
was born only recentely. The materialized form is very nice digipack,
with an hours worth of four lengthy drone pieces. Slowed down voices,
echoing and reverberating in a cave near the sea, breathing sounds
and obscured sounds from guitars, hoovering around in sound effects.
Music that lifts you up as much as it leaves you tied to the earth.
The perfect soundtrack to a documentary on Discovery Channel of the
lives of ants in the desert, but the commentary is not necessary. The
look at a vast amount of sand (panorama shot) and ants crawling down
there, busy, lively but hardly noticeable for the eye. The sun rises
above the desert, the heat is on, and the fata morgana becomes a
reality. It’s hard to believe that this is a collaboration of various
people around the world, that may have not ever met, but only
exchanged sounds through the post. It all seems to fit perfectly
together. Carefully crafted, dark ambient. Nothing new innovative to
add to the genre, but definetely a highlight thereof.
Address: www.malignantrecords.com or www.dronerecords.com

O.S.T. -SEIMLSTE (CD by Qlipothic)
Chris Douglas is O.S.T. and I wasn’t too pleased with his CD for
Emanate in Vital Weekly 221, and not having heard any of his other
work. But he goes on as O.S.T. and decided to start his own label
with the unpronouncable name Qlipothic. His interest lies here not in
rhythm oriented music music (that is, not a 4/4 beat, but of course
loops), but in a more experimental approach of sound and sound
design. Much more in an abstract territory, with looped sounds that
seem to come from electronic equipment (synths and rhythmmachines)
but they have been treated a lot with computer trickery. Although
this is quite a step forward from that previous CD, I think some
tracks are bit long. Why say something in seven minutes, when you can
say the same thing in three minutes? But if you are one of those
people who is fed up with techno and alike, but Bernard Gunther is
still too far away, then this more extreme electronic soundscape
might be up your alley. (FdW)
Address: <mail@qlipothic.net>

GREGORY WHITEHEAD – DELIVERY SYSTEM NO. 1 (3″ CDR by Generator)
Gregory Whitehead may be moved out of the world of Vital Weekly, but
he is still out there, doing plays and installation work. This short
3″ CDR, nine and half minutes, is a remix of an installation piece.
“The voiceover is a variation on the set of instructions given to the
nine actors to synchronize their faces in the pool of projections”.
Whitehead produced the texts and music. He speaks with a voice that
sounds a hypnotizer: slow and solemn. There are three distinct pieces
‘Good Morning’, ‘Catastrophe’ and ‘Courage’ and the pictures on the
cover show you the facial expressions that belong to each of these
pieces. The music is a backdrop of an orchestral loop, some crackling
and waving saxophone. An austere piece, but certainly one that grabs
your attention and holds it throughout. (FdW)
Address: www.generatorsoundart.org

DROG A TEK (CDR by 1000+1 Tilt Recordings)
Drog A Tek are from Athens, Greece and that’s as much as I know.
Their CDR was released by 1000+1 Tilt Recordings, a small CDR only
label, also from Athens, Greece. Much of the music on this release
dwells heavily on the use of synthesizers and a little bit on
guitars. The CDR opens with a nice lengthy piece of almost 24
minutes, that slowly evolves from a Tarentel like guitar piece to a
nice floating synth song. That is also the best song of the release,
since the tracks after that are an extension of the previous long
track, or a complete miss in track five with some time stretched
sounds. I don’t know if one should get a CDR of which one track is
very nice and then some are ok, and one is really bad, but maybe it’s
worth checking out. (FdW)
Address: www.geocities.com/tiltrecordings

HAZARD – LAND (CD by Touch)
Well, here’s a CD after my own heart. So much so, it inspired me to
whip out my qwerty board and beat out a review in syncopated time. A
compilation of tracks by person from an icy place, Benny J. Nilsen,
recorded during his recent whirlwind worldwide Touch tour ofä well,
of a few places he had to take a plane to get to. My modifiers segue
nicely into the first track ‘Substation’, a mirage of another form of
transport (a train) that spreads the bass port wide to allow one of
Mr Nilsen’s remixes of Chris Watson’s wind recordings (see Touch) to
whistle and rip it’s fury. Nice one! Winds calmed, the laptop insects
wind themselves up in typical plug-in display. ‘Old Lead Mine’ (a
couple of moody Sylvian-like track titles here) cranks and clanks
down into big space and softness. ‘Windmill’ (and the rest actually)
made me quite nostalgicä old timbre in a new coat, or something like
that. I found myself back in the early days of ambience, when the
word was fresh and considerably more precise and the drugs the same.
Almost-melodies, no foreign bodies, arabesque harmonics, corners
rounded. spinal trip, goneä By the way, I didn’t check to see if any
of these tracks are off earlier releases (Touch, too), but why should
I? This is great the way it is! (MP)
Address: www.touch.demon.co.uk

FREIBAND – HOMEWARD (CD by Bottrop Boy)
A cross-country trip with a newly installed first laptop revealing
the composer’s
discoveries in the re-mappable wonderworld of tiny circuits. Centred
on ‘cover versions’ (broadest possible use of the term, etc., etc.)
of the tunes that got him off when less wrinkly, it starts with the
eclectically titled ‘A67->A11’, a hurt rendition of the opening
harmonica on Supertramp’s Crime of the Century LP (well, it worked
for them, dammit!). (Clues, there are none in the titles, I fear, and
in the music hereafter even less-to my ears.) A bit more click and
grind and a structure emerges, a sense of motion towards. Rhythms in
pain are caressed with sandpaper and bombarded with fluffy clouds of
bass-down. And then a brief suggestion of rain before brittle. How
curious that scrunched as it is, it still offers such a welcome
natural counterpoint to the metal of electricity. The last track
‘Rebop’, the longest at nearly ten minutes, is by far my favourite.
Eno-esque, well composed, and (with a nod to dead Viv Stanshall’s
contribution to Mike Oldfart’s Tubular Bollocks, perhaps?) a tight
angel introducing a few of the digital processors by name before they
join the gentle fray. While this CD does not contain any major
surprises, accompanying this composer rocks and rolls us on an
unpredictable voyage, sharing the joy and innocence (angelic choirs,
please) of his discovery of a soundworld that must have been exciting
to explore. All those choices (and free downloads on the Internet,
too!)ä we have become our filter’s filters. Freiband is Frans de
Waard. (MP)
(PS. An almost Wozencroftian cover.)
Address: www.bottrop-boy.com

correction

The track “Peyote” on the Sonicabal2 compilation cd (see Vital Weekly
339 (is by Paul Rubenstein alone, not Bakshish. Bakshish is
Rubenstein’s former group.

Please check out my website when you have some free time:
www.geocities.com/ubertar