THU20 – LIVE IN GRONINGEN (CD by Mixer)
SON OF CLAY – FACE TAKES SHAPE (CD by Komplott)
NOEL AKCHOTE – PERPETUAL JOSEPH (CD by Rectangle)
DIEB13PURESIEWERT – JUST IN CASE YOU ARE BORED. SO ARE WE (CD by DoC)
KEIJI HAINO – “C’EST PARFAIT” ENDOCTRINE TU TOMBES LA TETE LA
PREMIERE (CD by Turtles Dream/A Bruit Secret)
TAKU SUGIMOTO GUITAR QUARTET (CD by Bottrop-Boy)
THE NORDIC MIRACLE – WE SHALL PROVIDE (CD by Humbug)
CULVER – RESENT METAL OPENING (CDR by Humbug)
DUO KANEL – LIVSOPPLEVENDE DIKT (CDR by Humbug)
EDWARD RUCHALSKI – MOVEABLE SITES (CDR by Humbug)
SIGTRYGGUR BERG SIGMARSSON – A LITTLE LOST (CD by Bottrop-Boy)
VOODOOMUZAK – Brouillarta (CD on Amanitare)
FRANCISCO LOPEZ – LIVE IN ‘S-HERTOGENBOSCH (CD by Bottrop-Boy)
THE CARIBBEAN – HISTORY’S FIRST KNOW-IT-ALL (CD by Tomlab)
FLIM – HELIO (CD by Tomlab)
JACOB KIRKEGAARD – 01.02 (CD by Bottrop Boy)
THU20 – LIVE IN GRONINGEN (CD by Mixer)
THU20 are probably musique concrete best kept secrets. Although in
existence since 1986, they have released only a small number of CDs,
LPs and hardly ever to compilations and with only a few rare gigs,
maybe totalling 15 of the past 16 years. As a band they are free from
any recording pressure and can work for whatever time is required.
Started out as a five piece, now there are four members: Jos
Smolders, Jacques van Bussel (aka DMDN, aka Antenne Records), Roel
Meelkop and Peter Duimelinks (the latter two also members of Goem and
Kapotte Muziek). They all play music as solo artists too. This new
CD, their fifth I believe, is the result of an extensive work
recorded in Groningen (The Netherlands) in August 2000. Inside a
metal container, they improvised for 5 hours on a concert. This
rehearsal was more or less open for people to attend, and as a result
a concert was given. This CD is not a strict registration of the
concert in question, but rather an edit of everything that was
recorded that evening. If one is familiar with the various solo
activities of the members, then it’s nice to see those elements
popping up. Smolders’ voice treatments, Duimelinks’ field recordings
and Van Bussel’s DJ techniques. Roel Meelkop’s influence is not in
some sound, but rather in the overall edit of the work. It carefully
moves from silence to loudness and back and with sounds moving in and
out. This is no longer the work of four people improvising, but
rather a composed work, using the sound elements that were generated
in a live concert situation. It turns out to be an excellent work.
(FdW)
Address: www.stichtingmixer.nl
SON OF CLAY – FACE TAKES SHAPE (CD by Komplott)
Behind Son Of Clay we find one Andreas Bertilsson, who has a master
degree in Fine Arts and is currentely based in Berlin where he works
with soundsculpting and sound installations. Previously his works
have been published by Komplott too. This ‘Face Takes Shape’ is his
first full length. For this CD he went about his appartment and
recorded the stairwell, the balcony, the doors and what have you got
and built little samples from that. From these little samples he
created the music we find on this disc. Microscopic sounds, clicky
beats, little melodies. The names of Mego, Oval, Fennesz, 12K float
by and its hard to find something new in this CD. The fact that
Andreas recorded parts of his appartment to create is hardly
relevant. Given the right software one could record virtually
anything and still create this. One could even record nothing and
stretch blank sound files and create this. The input side is not
really important. It doesn’t make a CD any more or less interesting
then if you don’t know. Since this CD packagewise holds no reference
to these sound inputs, it’s not really interesting to know. So why
mentioned in the press release? Don’t get me wrong, this is a nice
collection of concrete sounds being reworked into fairly interesting
but hardly innovative microsoundings.
Address: www.komplott.com
NOEL AKCHOTE – PERPETUAL JOSEPH (CD by Rectangle)
This new CD by guitarist and improviser Noel Akchote is the closing
of a trilogy that started with ‘Alike Joseph’ and ‘Simple Joseph’.
Noel says that “the character of Joseph is a place, a view or a
position more than a speech. The physical representation of stand-by.
There is no idea of progress, neither of improvement, in between the
three solos. It’s just time passing in front of someone’s feet. A
length and a duty, a sound and a room, a guitar and an amp”. That is
excellent, because it sums up what this music is about. A guy playing
electric guitar with an e-bow, so that stretched out tones arise from
the (sw)amp. You sit back and these things happen. Four lengthty cuts
of shimmering tones, simple, straight forward guitar lines, played in
an improvising manner, with a simple set of sound effects, like a bit
of delay. It’s a bit along the lines of Rafael Toral but Noel’s
playing is in a more improvised matter. A simple, straight forward
disc, but one of great beauty. (FdW)
Address: www.rectangle.org
DIEB13PURESIEWERT – JUST IN CASE YOU ARE BORED. SO ARE WE (CD by DoC)
A Viennese improvisational tour de force. Dieb 13 plays turntables,
Pure sits behind his laptop and Martin Siewert (from Efzeg fame)
plays electronics and guitar. Over the last couple of years they have
been improvising in concerts and this CD contains the edits from two
of these concerts, one from 2000 and one from 2001. The longest of
the two, ‘Just In Case You Are Bored’ starts out a bit dark and
industrial, but after some time, the sound opens up and more details
arise. After 15 or so minutes the individual players are more in
place and their various sound inputs can be recognized. From then on
the piece gets better and better. The second piece, ‘So Are We’ is
about a quarter in length of the other one but also very minimal. It
starts slowly in a microsoundish way, with half way through
melancholical tinkles on the guitar and gliding tones. A very fine
almost dramatical and melancholical piece. It’s a pity that this is
it. The CD could have done with another fine piece, me thinks. But
alas, it’s still a fine disc anyway. (FdW)
Address: http://doc.test.at
KEIJI HAINO – “C’EST PARFAIT” ENDOCTRINE TU TOMBES LA TETE LA
PREMIERE (CD by Turtles Dream/A Bruit Secret)
I must admit I am not a big van of the work of Keiji Haino, most
notably his solo work. It’s hard for me to relate to this work. His
singing and guitarplaying is probably very intense and dramatic, but
I seem to be missing a point. So apart from the occassional work, I
didn’t hear that much of his work. This new CD, one piece lasting
around 45 minutes, is again all about singing but this time without
the guitar, but the backing is provided by rhythm machines. Captured
in a live concert, Haino sings, howls, screams and whispers over
sometimes a manically driven rhythm machine, sometimes slow ticking.
Intense and dramatic for sure. At times I am reminded of the current
sound of Etant Donnes, laden with pathos, agony and anger. No doubt
the true Haino fans will be delighted. I am delighted, because a lot
of my prejudices against Haino are confirmed. (FdW)
Address: <m_henritzi@club-internet.fr>
TAKU SUGIMOTO GUITAR QUARTET (CD by Bottrop-Boy)
By now you should know Taku Sugimoto, for me the most interesting
guitar player of Japan. His style is that of incorporating silence to
the same extent as incorporating guitar playing. Carefull, fragile
miniatures is what he offers, either alone or in improvisational
nature with such people as Kevin Drumm or Keith Rowe. Here he has
formed his own guitar quartet, together with three other Japanese
guitarists, Tetuzi Akiyama, Toshimaru Nakamura (both on acoustic
guitar) and Otomo Yoshihide (on electric guitar, just as Taku
Sugimoto). Their first manifestation on CD took some time, because it
was hard to capture their concerts on tape. But they managed to have
a great recording, made at Off Site. With so much silence going on,
it’s hard to imagine that this is a live recording and even harder
it’s to imagine that there are four guitarists at work here. They
could have fooled me. If somebody said it was only one guitar
playing, I would have believed this also. So delicate and carefull
played, with so much concentration going on. Every player is there
waiting for minutes to play one note, leap back into silence and wait
until it’s his turn again. It’s not music to play while doing
something. It’s music to close your eyes to and listen. Concentrate
and listen. Beauty will unfold then, right there, right before your
ears. Do nothing, but listen. (FdW)
Address: www.bottrop-boy.com
THE NORDIC MIRACLE – WE SHALL PROVIDE (CD by Humbug)
CULVER – RESENT METAL OPENING (CDR by Humbug)
DUO KANEL – LIVSOPPLEVENDE DIKT (CDR by Humbug)
EDWARD RUCHALSKI – MOVEABLE SITES (CDR by Humbug)
Hurray a whole new bunch of err from Humbug, straight from the
Norwegian underground, but also with artists from abroad.
Their first real CD release is however exclusively for Norwegian
artists, and I must say two living legends, Lasse Marhaug and Tore H.
Boe. They both have their hands firmly in the Norwegian experimental
music, and although not discovered entirely by the overground press,
I think it’s merely a matter of time. As The Nordic Miracle, they
call themselves a crooner noise duo – “not at all inventive nor
groundbreaking”, Boe says in the booklet. That’s all true. These
three lenghty cuts, all captured in live concert of sheer blasting
noise. Kinda similar to the recent Marhaug/Drumm CD (this reference
for the youngsters), but also similar to most of these guys
backcatalogue, either solo or with Origami Replika or Del or one of
those other outings they ever used. Boe is right: the music is
nothing new, but as he also says in the booklet, the main goal for
them is the noise for noise sake, not to provoke. It’s noise executed
very well. Noise is something many people can do, but only few can do
well.
Culver are a UK band (one man, two men, more?) who have their own
label, Matching Head, who just released Culver’s debut LP. This CDR
on Humbug is my first encounter with this band, and I must say it’s a
pleasent one. Culver is like so many others into the realms of drone
music, played on a bunch of guitars. In ‘Razor Pin-Up’, the final
track on this CDR (and also taking half the disc size), this
gradually explodes into a noise rage, which is the term drone not
worthy. However the first two tracks are pretty interesting of
continuous guitar patterns, which all get stuck inside a delay line
which gradually starts eating the music, and long lines of sounds
arise from the mass. ‘Death Shines On Black Water’ with it’s acoustic
guitar is the prize winning piece.
Duo Kanel are Sindre Andersen (another most active member of the
Norwegian underground) and Ansten Klev. Their ‘Livsopplevende Dikt’
CDR is filled with musical madness. They play guitars, drum
computers, synths and improvise in a rather free way on them. It’s
not the noise part that they find so interesting, but it’s rather a
hotchpotch of styles from pop and rock music that they play. All
brought to you in a lo-fi manner, which is annoying for the high end
freak, but it’s the sort of lo-fi that makes sense in a release like
this. Although certainly nice and all, I wasn’t totally convinced by
it. The self-chosen chaos makes this into a rather unbalanced product.
Although the name Edward Ruchalski might not be very well-known, his
career spans some ten years now. His work is on a borderline between
experimental music and narrative music. The basis of his
soundmaterial is field recordings, only in a few occassions with
additions of zither and percussion. When it comes to the music, we
are offered a densely layered cake of droning sounds, carefully
layered upon each other. Kinda similar in the scrapings of Organum.
But the addition of text and voice makes this into something of his
own. Obsviously, you know me, I care more for the pure instrumental
pieces, but as they are in a vast majority on this CD-R, you realize
I am a happy man. In terms of composition and structure this is
indeed a much more thought out release then most of the others on
Humbug.
Address: <tchartan@yahoo.com>
SIGTRYGGUR BERG SIGMARSSON – A LITTLE LOST (CD by Bottrop-Boy)
The guy with the name that is so hard to pronounce (and a member of
the band with gives you a similar tongue twist) returns with his
third full length CD (after one for Trente Oiseaux and Fire Inc. and
a LP for ERS Records). So far from what I heard from Sigmarsson (who
is also one of the two remaining members of Stilluppsteypa) it goes
in two directions. The first one (his Trente Oiseaux CD and ERS LP)
explores drone like music in the realms of digital music and the
second one (Fire Inc. CD) is more about digital processed environment
sounds and is more collage and cut up. On this CD you’ll find
examples of both. The latter is represented by the second which utter
lenghty title I won’t repeat via a live recording. I happen to see
that particular concert (in january 2001) and for me it doesn’t work
that much really. The recording quality is a bit flat, the sounds
and live collages do not grab you by the balls, but it’s overall a
bit flat and unfocussed. The third piece on this CD ‘Pining For
Azoth’ is a studio piece that is on similar lines as the live piece,
but here things work better. A long collage of sounds swirling in and
out, with drones in the background. However the first piece, which
takes up almost half the CD, is from the other camp, a drone piece.
Low end sounds move over eachother and is in a contemplative, almost
ambient mood. This is how I like them best, I must say. For me this
direction (even when it’s a limited trick and should not be repeated
to often) of Sigmarsson is the best one. (FdW)
Address: www.bottrop-boy.com
VOODOOMUZAK – Brouillarta (CD on Amanitare)
‘Brouillarta’ is the sixth album by Voodoomuzak, but it is the first
one for my ears.
Listening is comparing. First associations brought Regressive Aid to
my find. A band that made only one famous but forgotten album twenty
years ago (‘Effects on exposed People’ on Rhesus). An album of long
percussive tracks in the context of rock. With Voodoomuzak we have
more or less the same concept of drums and bass.
The cd has 5 tracks. 47 minutes of pulsating and polyrhythmic music.
Sampled riffs and bass loops wave their patterns in the percussive
and rhythmic tapestry. Inevitably the music has a hypnotising effect.
If muzak is environmental sound for elevators, etc. and if voodoo is
a ritual of ecstatic intensity and religious devotion, then the music
of Voodoomuzak lies perfectly in between. This means it is neither
this nor that. But what is it? Well I have a problem here. The music
does not convince me totally allthough it is well done. But it does
not really grasp me for some reason.
The rhythms do not hypnotise me. Musically spoken there is not that
much happening to make it interesting and satisfying..
Voodoomuzak is Stephan Krieger and Alex Garacotche (6 and 4 string
basses, live sampling) plus Lou Ciccotelli (drums, percussion). On
two tracks Richard Olatunde Baker adds african percussion. I hope
they decide to chose on their next one: muzak or voodoo (DM).
Address: http://www.amanitarerecords.com
FRANCISCO LOPEZ – LIVE IN ‘S-HERTOGENBOSCH (CD by Bottrop-Boy)
Francisco Lopez has an extensive discography already and he is seen
playing live a lot in the most parts of the world. Yet only very few
live pieces were released on CD. This new CD might be the very first
CD entirely devoted to a single recording from him. Already recorded
four years ago, and planned for release, but labels went bust etc.
Now it’s finally available and it comes with a blindfold. As many who
visited a Lopez concert will know, he plays in the dark and both
Lopez and visitors wear blindfolds to concentrate fully on the music.
Although I was there that evening in 1999, I had to leave before
Lopez started to catch the last train. What a pity to miss such a
historical concert. The CD starts in a true Lopezian vein: silent.
After some minutes sound starts to come out of your speakers, but
it’s still soft. After some twenty minutes the Lopezian sounds (which
are, as always, hard to define in terms of origin) arrive at an
audible level and from then on things go up sound wise. At the end
(the concert lasts around thirty minutes) it’s very loud, without
being too noisy or blurry. Everything remains at a clear sound level.
The sound ends abrupt and you feel it being sucked away. I don’t know
wether this is a line or microphone recording, but the result is
excellent. Maybe this is how Lopez wants his CDs to be treated: play
them and cranck up volume and EQ (bass, mid and high end) the way
they suit you, until they arrive at what you as a listener wants and
therefore his CDs are so soft, so the more potential is there. And
finally also worth noting: this comes in a regular jewel case with
printwork, albeit black, but no longer those transparant no info
jewel cases.
Address: www.bottrop-boy
THE CARIBBEAN – HISTORY’S FIRST KNOW-IT-ALL (CD by Tomlab)
FLIM – HELIO (CD by Tomlab)
Tomlab is one of the more interesting labels on the edges of popmusic
and experimentalism. Their releases are careful notions of the poppy
side of electronic and experimental music, well or vice versa. The
Caribbean is a band from Washington DC, around one Chad Clark, and
this is, I believe, the second CD and was released in collaboration
with Endearing Records from the USA. Here popmusic clearly prevails.
In the twelve tracks a desolate atmosphere is notable, but the
rehearsal room recording prevents the listener of slipping away into
sleep or esoterica. There is a healthy dose of electronica to keep
the balance right, but maybe it’s too close to “traditional” singer
song-writer music for me. I have a problem with this kind of singing,
I am honest to admit. References, music-wise, run from Beach Boys to
Beatles with an occassional nod to the intimaticy of lo-fi music.
Musicwise strong popmusic, a pity, for me about the vocals…
Flim is Enrico Wuttke from Dresden and ‘Helio’ his second CD. As
before on ‘Given You Nothing’ he plays on the instruments himself,
mainly keyboards of any kind (organs, synths, piano), I think and
some guitars. Maybe Flim adds a bit of sampling of brass instruments,
but that’s about it. Moody music, that sort of defies all categories.
It’s not really experimental, not really electronic, not really
popmusic, not really jazz, but it has a bit of everything thrown into
the blender. From the references the label makes, Wechsel Garland,
Mark Hollis and Eric Satie, I think Flim comes closest to Mark
Hollis. The structures and outlines of rock music is there, but in a
kind of stripped down version, reduced to the bare essentials of
music. Mostly this music is a bit intimacy, solitude but
occassionally it bursts out, like in ‘For Fred’, to which wild
drumming is added. The closing piece ‘Hell II’, which comes right
after the outburst of ‘For Fred’ is a soft piano tinkle, soft organ
drone, and is a total contrast. I think this CD is even better then
the previous one. Well-done. (FdW)
Address: www.tomlab.com
JACOB KIRKEGAARD – 01.02 (CD by Bottrop Boy)
Maybe you know the name Jacob Kirkegaard from his previous CD with
Philip Jeck for Touch (released in mid-2002). He was a member of
Aeter, a multimedia group from Danmark (which I never heard), but he
went solo some time ago and he currentely lives in Cologne. Apart
from producing radioplays in his country, this CD is then his first
official solo CD. Jacob is one those people who play, very modern,
electronics, cd player and laptop. He has nine pieces to offer, which
all have four digits numbers and a location. So let’s assume that’s
when and where the pieces were recorded. The music of Kirkegaard is
pleasent by all means. It’s modern day ambient, a well-cooked menu of
environmental sounds (cars passing in ‘0102 Koln’!), skipping CD
sounds, ambientesque doodlings on software synthesizers and an
occassional tick and crack here and there. It’s all nice and sweet…
maybe too sweet. The CD goes on and on until the 41 minutes are full,
and only one point he does something that is unlike the other eight
tracks on this CD. In ‘0701 Paris’ a deep end low bass sound and some
high pitched tunes pierce your ears and sound very unsweet compared
to the other pieces. It comes at least for me as a bit of revelation
after the sweetness of before. It’s a nice CD and well-done, but it
doesn’t offer a totally insight on the what is done already in this
respect. (FdW)
Address: www.bottrop-boy.com