AUGUR & J. BENHAM – ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS (Self produced CDR)
ANTIMATTER VS. ANTIMATTER (CD by Asphodel)
ELLENDE – MINI_MADNESS (CD by Fukk God Lets Create)
STEWART WALKER & GEOFF WHITE – DISCORD (CD by Force Inc)
THIS MORN’ OMINA – 7 YEARS OF FAMINE (CD by Ant-Zen)
SCHNEIDER TM – 6 PEACE EP (CD by Mute)
NOBUKAZY TAKEMURA – ASSEMBLER/ASSEMBLER 2 (CD by Thrill Jockey)
CARL STONE – NAK WON (CD by Sonore)
XELA – FOR FROSTY MORNINGS AND SUMMER NIGHTS (CD by Neo Ouija)
AUGUR & J. BENHAM – ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS (Self produced CDR)
In his usual tradition, Augur (Steve Brand) has released another artfully
packaged (limited to 100 edition) CDR. This time around with the help of
Jonathan Benham’s homemade instruments, everything from metal piping to
bottles and other random shards. Featuring dragging, dropping and other
manipulations of objects, this has is the heart of musique concrete, pure
imaginative improvisation. All the sources were recorded live in home and
gallery, industrial space and rural hideaway. Fragmented and enigmatic,
the scene is unadorned and just plain raw. The listener is stunted,
permeated with conflict and curiosity. Maybe itís the use of cement and
rubber bands ñ but this, even though it reminisces of memories of your
uncle tinkering away in his toolshed, has more in common with an alternate
state of restrained unrest. This duo combines Brandís eerie
colloquialisms with Benhamís raw materials equaling a raw infusion of like
minded experimenters. On The Shoulders of Giants is a necessary addition
to any collection that hosts works by Brume, Crawl Unit or Illusion of
Safety. (TJN)
Address: http://www.shiney.com/augur
ANTIMATTER VS. ANTIMATTER (CD by Asphodel)
Antimatter (the sound system beyond) is the Bay Areaís Xopher Davidson, a
former painter and filmmaker cum loop technician/curator man about town.
As Antimatter he releases his debut, a dizzying conglomeration of
crypticisms and soundbytes. Laptop arrangements curling toward the next
millennium, Davidson has enabled his voice to launch and land in a space
with no clear ground. This has pure guts and attitude in its application
and a no-frills improvised finish. Antimatter may be the future of fluxus.
Bouncing Bali beats and nursery rhyme charm darken this doorway.
Delightful fingered frequencies that test our ears into deception. At
times this is a wash of so many varied concepts, and can be off-putting to
those who donít listen carefully, but if you stick with it you are in for
multiple short stories. And as a storyteller, Antimatter speaks with
fluency in his language that samples bagpipes, chimes, organs and other
unusual noise that blend multiple world music sensibilities with the
common ground of electronica. Quieter passages are dimly it by repeated
elements that hint of mechanical engineering and sandy vacation memories.
This is a contemporary radio play that could easily be used in the next
David Lynch cinematic experience with just the right amount of digital
dominance. (TJN)
Address: http://www.asphodel.com/
ELLENDE – MINI_MADNESS (CD by Fukk God Lets Create)
This one track long CDEP is 26 minutes long and adapted from inspiration
by Wim Bontjesí’The Book of Swearing’. With enough bass drone to fill
your frontal lobe all week, this Japanese collective has been truly
underground for the past few years conjuring new unparalleled projects
filled with wise forbearance and premonition. Partly in similar spirit to
works by Troum or Ultra Milkmaids, this recording has a depth of field
that surpasses its periphery. The first listen envelops dark chambers that
construct an altered space where silent fiction meet Joel Peter Witkin in
a metallic silo. This would be a drag and drop environment if I could put
my finger on where it came from, but alas, this belongs completely in the
imagination of the listener. Also watch for their new full length disc
with mini cd component’The Little Suidice Book’. (TJN)
Address: http://www.fukkgod.org/ and http://www.ellende.net/
STEWART WALKER & GEOFF WHITE – DISCORD (CD by Force Inc)
Pleasant harmonious glitch. Discord is as funky as it is dissonant. The
plastic ambientechno derived by these two stateside producers keeps a
mostly low profile. While there, the crispy beats are full-bodied
hip-a-rific. The collaboration allows for a wider perspective on steamy
space sounds for mutant galaxies. Things start to build and take shape on
Whiteís’Have Mercyí tonally kicking up the pace a few notches. Then
on’Expando’ the clockwork pacing builds and hides schematically. The
whole thing reminds me of a waiting game, building a
nose-to-the-grindstone type crescendo. This seamlessly meets
Walkerís’Merciless Pt. 2′ which chills the blaze with bass and echo.
These guys take turns creating preludes to each others pieces and the mix
is truly continuous, a real collaboration that communicates.’Cloud City’
is classic Force, Inc. with hints of Vladislav Delay and even Thomas
Koner. The clicks and drones are righteously married in a fortified mix
that keeps you an active listener.’Cumulus Bloom’ takes down the house
with microbeats and floating, synthetic tones bleeding right into Walkerís
‘Simulife’ conclusion. This recording is a fragmented reckoning of the
senses. (TJN)
Address: http://www.force-inc.com/
THIS MORN’ OMINA – 7 YEARS OF FAMINE (CD by Ant-Zen)
Accusing trance techno for being a clichÈ subject in Vital Weekly would be
wrong. Nevertheless is this present album by Belgium act This Morn’ Omina
built on this more club-oriented style of music. Originally released on
the American label Live Bait Recordings in 2002, fourth shot from This
Morn’ Omina has now had its second coming on German label Ant Zen
Recordings. Since both labels first of all are known for their quite harsh
approach to electronic sound, it was some sort of surprise being
confronted with “7 years of famine”. Illustrious undertones and
diversified forms of old mid-eastern and African rhythmic texture are
meshed with eruptive techno and industrial elements. Even though the album
never reaches the usual over the top-level of rhythmic Noise that Ant Zen
Recordings are known for, the rhythmic texture on the album does have some
sort of crushing heaviness not far away from some of the legendary Ant Zen
profiles like Synapscape and Imminent. The combination of harsh
electronics and tribal ethno-trance are definitely quite unusual,
nevertheless does it work really well on “7 years of famine”! (NMP)
Address: www.ant-zen.com
SCHNEIDER TM – 6 PEACE EP (CD by Mute)
Schneider TM (Dirk Dresselhaus) has re-evolved, remade and remixed six
tracks from his former recordings Frogtoise, Binokular and Zoomer. With
the vocoder neatly in place at his side, this mini peek at Mr.
Dresselhaus’ last few years reveals astonishing similarities to
contemporary Beck, though distancing himself from the higher art of
characaturizing himself. “Frogstears” is a cross between a Partridge
Family sing-a-long with shades of Roxy Music. The completely
re-configured “Fruktos” in the hands of kptmichigan barely resembles its
original form and makes for a staccato rendering filled with the synthetic
pleasures of static and voice replication. The up antics of “Chotto
Matte” is a low-fi, microsound boogie woogie meets dancefloor seduction.
“The Light 3000” plays with our memories of the Smiths’ angst-ridden
classic about the deadly pleasures of the cynicism of good old fashioned
love. schneider TM’s treatment truly re-analyzes the lot while paying
subtle reverence to the original with persuasive, angular harmony.
Closing with Mogwai’s remix of “Reality Check”, the would-be hit has been
reworked like rawhide. Paying careful attention to keep the vocal intact
the Glasgow-based ruffians of indie electro-rock take on this four-letter
free-verse anthem with a punk attitude and lots of sure static. Also
included are two video clips. (TJN)
Address: http://www.mute.com
NOBUKAZY TAKEMURA – ASSEMBLER/ASSEMBLER 2 (CD by Thrill Jockey)
Currently on a US tour, Thrill Jockey has released the first of two new
releases by Osaka-born electronic experimentalist Nobukazu Takemura. If
you haven’t seen this man live, please get to that theater near you soon –
he does some truly unique and original things with laptops, voices, bells
and whistles! On Assembler, Takemura shapes the opener “Conical Flask”
under great scrutiny. The end result is a sort of organ symphony, muted
and contorted, like a high mass run by a mad scientist. One of the best
things about this man is that he never stops trying new ideas and avenues
to express his electronic passions. “USINE” is a fragmented trip through
a cartoon lab. Its balance of sine waves, trickles, knobs, switches and
fidgeting bring together a comically resounding and playful improvisation.
This is thirty-five year old Takemura’s purest, most naÔve, freeform
recording to date. But rest comfortably that the sound of naivetÈ is well
assembled, designed and calculated to a refined finish. Having played
with jazz hiijinks as of late it is really pleasing to hear him re-route
into his electronica skin that fits his bare bones best. This is a return
to earlier releases like “Scope”, where the influences of Cage and Eno can
be clearly heard in the ambience of “campana”. On Assembler/Assembler 2 a
bridge is built to larger points of navigation and collaboration. This
proves that Takemura has what it takes to formulate a world-class voice in
the worlds of sound that are outside of the realm of the underground. This
recording parallels theater/operatic works by Robert Wilson, Dumb Type
(Ryoji Ikeda) and even David Byrne’s “The Catherine Wheel” in its intimacy
and dramatic pace. This is a far more serious recording than his former
“Sign” or “Hoshi No Koe” which relied more heavily on urban electronic pop
trends. “Molla” takes frequencies to bed with its Gameboy, coaster-like
metering. A robotic turn of the cheek in directions less used by his
contemporaries who are bathing in the beauty of the moment, Takemura now
sets a new trend by forming a beatless, animated world of sound research
daring to embrace the past. (TJN)
Address: http://www.thrilljockey.com
CARL STONE – NAK WON (CD by Sonore)
The title track starts off as a ‘test’ – an aural Rorschach experiment.
What turns out to be a quite lovely play of primary tones is collaged and
replicated over the course of 24 minute-long MAX/MSP dissertation. At
times like Speak & Spell for adults, at times simplified tonalities that
percolate the unused portions of your brain stem. Cage would be quite
proud of Stone’s latter-day approach, breathing new life into minimalist
composition, while filtering out even minute traces of excess. On Nak Won
he has created a barren horizon line that hosts thousands of sound
spheres, hovering and kinetic. This is the work of a clear mind filled
with sketches. Stone has applied his work to the worlds of dance, museum
and theater. Parts of Nak Won were recorded live at the 2000 San Francisco
Electronic Music Festival. This new real-time piece was performed using a
G3 Powerbook and rectifies his love for pure digital synthesis and the
exploration of atonal dimensionality. “Kreutz” brings things down to a
quieter space, with heightened cinematic qualities it deals with space as
an elipse, a curve in time. Now living and teaching in Japan, Stone has
found special tensions that can be perceived in his sound. Filled with
delicacy and enchantment “Kreutz” appears to be an alien visit to a lost
world, using tonal chambers as hiding slots in an ambient game of musical
chairs. The final of three pieces is “Darul Kabap”. Hinting at traditional
Japanese strings, this out jazz investigation is sparse and uses sampled
wind instruments as fractals. In its lengthy 28 minutes the track
introduces and layers a concocted synergy between analogue and digital.
The result is quite funny, slightly messy, but all purposefully warped.
“Darul Kabap” tests our perceptions of physical and virtual. When Stone
introduces mesmerizing eastern influenced vocals and piles on Western
dance mixes, all sped and cut-up the listener is jolted by the immediacy
of the pure polarity of it all. This is a record for discerning academics
and aspiring super users of all things electronic. (TJN)
Address: http://www.sonore.com/
XELA – FOR FROSTY MORNINGS AND SUMMER NIGHTS (CD by Neo Ouija)
This is ambient cryp-hop. There is an urban flavor “Under the Glow of
Streetlights” where a funky inconspicuous beat winds and turns with
electro-synth organ. Twenty-One year old Brit John Xela proves that you
can be under-aged and an overachiever all at once. A funky breakbeat voice
sample is quieted by the harmonious drone on “Japanese Whispers”. The
title infers a lot – especially once “Inbetween Two Rooms” gets started,
slowly caressing its way through a deserted space routed right into the
ominously simplified “Impulsive Behaviour” which takes its cautious
lessons in the teachings of Stefan Betke’s Pole. Crispy-crunchy beats
blaze and bellow on the stand-out track here, “The Long Walk Home At
Midnight”, bathed in afterglow and a leisurely pace. The lullaby “Bobble
Hats in Summber” is an anthem to early morning slow-motion. The “Last
Breath” here envelopes the headphoned listener in aural pleasures, so
deep, so wide, you forget for a moment where you started. This is a
gorgeous disc that has Xela’s debut well ahead of his Earth years. Totally
crafted to the final note, with absolutely zero filler. In response to Mr.
Xela’s website, <outbind://35/www.learnwithxela.com>, I recommend shelling
out the required quid on this magical spin. (TJN)
Address: http://www.neoouija.com/