TIDAL/CHAOS AS SHELTER/IGOR KRUTOGOLOV – INGATHERING OF EXILES (CD by
Ground Fault)
ERIC CORDIER – DIGITALS PURPEREA (CD by Ground Fault)
SENILE MUSIC CORPORATION – NO WARNING (CDR single by Six Moon Night)
MARTIN HOOGEBOOM – STOCK DOVE (CDR by Six Moon Night)
FRANCIS DHOMONT – JALONS (CD by Empreintes Digitales)
MONIQUE JEAN – L’ADIEU AU S.O.S. (CD by Empreintes Digitales)
DEISON – SCENE MISSING (MP3 by Enough Records)
DEISON – ON THE SURFACE (MP3 by Corewatch)
DEISON – STILLS (MP3 by Neverkink)
TIBPROD (various MP3s)
D/COMPUTE – ON MY LEFT HAND (CDR by Mouthmoth)
MASSIMO – ABSOLUTELY FREE (mini CD by Cling Film)
ASCHE – DISTORTED DJ (2CD by Ant-Zen)
SKOLTZ_KOLGEN – HYALIN (CD by Line)
MATTIN/ROSY PARLANE – AGUR (3″CDR by Absurd)
URE THRALL – PREMONITION 9/11/THE TRAVELER (7″ by Drone Records)
BARDOSENETICCUBE – RAIN IN JUNE (7″ by Drone Records)
ECCLESIASTICAL SCAFFOLDING – LUCID DREAMING (7″ by Drone Records)
TROUM – DARVE SH (10″ by Beta Lactam Ring)
TROUM – SYMBIOSIS (3″CD by Transgredient Records)
EVEREST – INHALIGHT (miniCDR by Everest Records)
SUN – SUN (2CD by Staubgold)
CIRCUITS OF STEEL (2CD by SSS Records)
PANCREATIC AARDVARKS – FEVER DREAMS (CDR by Gnarphlager Records)
GARETH MITCHELL A.K.A. PHILOSOPHER’S STONE – AUGUST; SNOW; PIECES
(CDR by Absurd)
VANCE ORCHESTRA – VANCE PLAYS VANCE (CD-R by Blade Records)
.MURMER – DEFINITION (CDR by Absurd)
TAMING POWER – SELECTED WORKS 1992-98 (10″ by Early Morning Records)
TAMING POWER – SELECTED WORKS 1997 (10″ by Early Morning Records)
TAMING POWER – SELECTED WORKS 2000: EXCURSIONS FOR TAPE RECORDERS
(10″ by Early Morning Records)
ERIC GOLDD & T.B.EGG (3″ CDR by Realistic)
TIDAL/CHAOS AS SHELTER/IGOR KRUTOGOLOV – INGATHERING OF EXILES (CD by
Ground Fault)
It’s a little bit of a puzzle, this one. All tracks, save for the
first one, were recorded by Tidal, Chaos As Shelter and Igor
Krutogolov. The first one is just by the latter two. Tidal is one
David Brownstead, whose previous guises include 666 Volt Battery
Noise. As Tidal he has some releases on Alluvial and Manifold, but I
haven’t heard those. Chaos As Shelter is one Vadim Gusis and hails
from Israel, just as Igor Krutogolov. Both have various releases, and
none were heard by me. So this CD is the first introduction. The
thematic approach for “The Ingathering of Exiles” is when, in the
Messianic age, all Jewish people, including the Ten Lost Tribes,
would gather from their exile around the world to Israel. The Ground
Fault Recordings CD, “Ingathering of Exiles” is an idea that explores
the shared heritage of the three collaborators”. A lot of words to
say that the music was made via the exchange of sounds via (e-)mail.
I played this CD a couple of times, but I am not convinced by the
material. It’s a sort of ambientesque sound, but seemingely played on
acoustic instruments. But it goes on and on, and never reaches a
great point or a greater depth. ‘Resurrection’ sounds like Current 93
and Nurse With Wound on a early 80s Maldoror recording. This sort of
thing might be appealling to the likes of those good old days, but
you can count me out. (FdW)
Address: http://www.groundfault.net
ERIC CORDIER – DIGITALS PURPEREA (CD by Ground Fault)
Eric Cordier is an unlikely player of the hurdy gurdy (introducing
the instrument to Jim O’Rourke and Keiji Haino) and was involved in
such bands as The Grief, UNACD, Schams, Phéromone, Tore and Enkidu,
most of these operating in the realms of improvised music. On this
new release he documents four pieces which were made for different
sound installations, the oldest dates back to 1993, that is when it
was made. Some installations are still being built up by him and some
of them consist of hundreds of speakers. It’s of course not easy to
translate that back to a stereo mix that I am now hearing. It’s like
hearing a soundtrack without watching the film. But in these four
pieces things work well for the home consumer. There is a delicacy
over the sounds Cordier uses, which are not dissimilar to people like
Richard Chartier, Roel Meelkop or Bernard Gunter. Sometimes Cordier
slips into something that is barely audible – mainly in the
openingpiece – but it’s not one of those releases where one has to
crank the volume all the way up. None of the sound sources mentioned
on the cover, hurdy gurdy, church organ or field recordings, are
easily to be recognized. It’s interesting to see that all of these
pieces were recorded between 1992 and 1997, but sound very much like
things that went on after that – see the aforementioned trio, whose
ultra dynamic work is of a later date. Cordier’s disc is a great
example, and may he join the ranks of Gunter et al. (FdW)
Address: http://www.groundfault.net
SENILE MUSIC CORPORATION – NO WARNING (CDR single by Six Moon Night)
MARTIN HOOGEBOOM – STOCK DOVE (CDR by Six Moon Night)
It’s been quite a while since I reviewed releases by Martin
Hoogeboom(Vital Weekly 227), but here he is again. Martin Hoogeboom
is a Dutch guitarist (once of the legendary band Dier) and a painter.
I must admit I am a bit clueless why he produces such short CDRs, but
maybe it all has a reason. The Senile Corporation might be a band and
not a solo project, but it says ‘featuring Martin Hoogeboom’, so
let’s assume this is a band. It sort of takes the old sound of Dier
into the realms of the new millenium. But you might argue that you
never heard of Dier… They combined free rock of the Recommended
acts, with the fresh punky attitude of No New York and the Senile
Music Corporation has a similar attitude to music. Free in form and
spirit, with a dominant role for Martin’s guitar playing and maybe a
bit more computerized in it’s drumming (just wildly guessing here).
Maybe Martin should release the good ol’ Dier stuff on CDR one day?
The other release is really a solo one and features Martin on guitar.
Eight short improvisations, totalling eighteen minutes. I am not sure
if he is playing all of this live along the lines of some effect
equipment (delay lines mostly) or if it’s multi-track. Some pieces,
like ‘Kwaaitaal’ is defintely live (or better ‘recorded as one
thing’), but for others I am not that sure. Not that it really
matters… I like this kind of playing, while it doesn’t easily
compare to something or some other guitarist that works in an
improvising way. Nice miniature music going on here. (FdW)
Address: http://www.hoogeboom.org/
FRANCIS DHOMONT – JALONS (CD by Empreintes Digitales)
MONIQUE JEAN – L’ADIEU AU S.O.S. (CD by Empreintes Digitales)
These two new CDs on Empreintes Digitales are probably exactely what
one should expect from them: Seriously composed electronic music with
high brow soft- and hardware. Each piece, on both CD’s, comes with a
description of what it is about, in conceptual terms and what has
been done musically to realize it. Humour or self-reflection seems
not to be the case in this area.
Francis Dhomont is a somewhat older gentleman, whose interest in
musique concrete and acousmatics dates back to the early 50s. The
seven pieces on this CD were not really composed yesterday: some date
back to 1985 and the most recent piece is from 2000. Also in length
there is some variation: the shortest piece is just over one minute
and the longest is fifteen minutes. But the majority of the pieces
are over ten minutes, which makes this into quite a lengthy sit
through. I must admit I have some trouble with this kind of music. It
sounds to me very much like a cliche of things. These sounds that
seem to roll over eachother, the software plug ins doing over time,
and no doubt the compositions are greatly structured, but the sounds
themselves became so digital and form an unrecognizable mass.
Somebody should open a door and let some light in.
Monique Jean is a composer from Montreal who studied with Francis
Dhomont. I thought her work was a bit more interesting, as it seems
less drenched in software manipulations and even some sounds and
instruments are to recognized. The most interesting piece in that
respect is ‘Low Memory #2’, for bass flute, piccolo and four channel
tape. Sparse notes on the wind instruments in combination with
likewise sparse sounds on the four channel tape. ’13’13 Pour Voix
Defigurees’ is also a work that is of interest: voice treatments in
combination with spoken word is quite nice – not shockingely new.
Jean delivers a CD that I thought was more listenable then Dhomont’s,
but both of them are a tad bit too serious for me… (FdW)
Address: http://www.electrocd.com
DEISON – SCENE MISSING (MP3 by Enough Records)
DEISON – ON THE SURFACE (MP3 by Corewatch)
DEISON – STILLS (MP3 by Neverkink)
TIBPROD (various MP3s)
There is an awful lot of music available on the net. We at Vital
Weekly never go somewhere to download and review that. But
occassionally we receive CDRs on stuff that is available, usually for
free by downloading it.
Deison from Italy runs the Loud! label (and released Thurston Moore
among others) and his first CD was released by Cionic Mind. For some
reason I am now no longer aware of, I assumed that Deison played
hardcore industrial noise. Not much so on these fifteen tracks, which
is the sum of three different MP3 releases. Apperentely Deison
switched the menu of sound and ended up, these days, in the world of
microsound, glitches and ambient. Some people would call this laptop
ambient (and by classifying it like that, they do not make a very
positive remark), but I must say I was pleasentely suprised by this.
‘On The Surface’ is a bit more experimental, but doesn’t reach to
noise at all. In some ways I was reminded of the Conrad Schnitzler
work. ‘Stills’ is the darkest work, with four unearthly soundscapes
and the laptop never far away.
Tib Productions is from Norway and have various full length and eps
available for download. The best known names featured here are Conrad
Schnitzler, Quoit (Mick Harris’ drum and bass project), Tore H. Boe
and Origami Replika. There is also work by Obscure Tapestries, Jan-M.
Iversen, Guignol Dangereux, Scullfaced Moon, Koff Koff and The
Ambience Collective Of Norway (and more is added of course). The
music is mostly electronic and experimental, and it seems that
Schnitzler is somewhat of an example for some of the artists
(Iversen, Obscure Tapestries). A bit more noisy is Scullfaced Moon,
but as far as I heard they are the only one. The cosmic sound
prevails and that’s nice for a change. (FdW)
Addresses:
http://www.enoughrecords.com
http://www.corewatch.com
http://www.neverkink.net
http://www.tibprod.com
D/COMPUTE – ON MY LEFT HAND (CDR by Mouthmoth)
This is the follow-up to the debut release
‘Iwillpushmyselfintotheforestandiwillbedeadthere’ which was reviewed
in Vital Weekly 252. Behind D/Compute we find Alistair Crosbie, who
formed a duo with Brian Lavelle as Inversion and a trio with the same
Brian and Murray Johnstone as No Input. For his solo project
D/Compute works mainly in the realms of techno oriented music, but
within these twelve tracks there is a great variety of influences.
Nicely gentle ambient-techno (‘Punk/Protest’, more experimental
sounds (such as in ‘On My Left Hand’) to straight forward techno and
electro songs (‘Vertical Pavillion’, ‘Pre-Xmas Boy/Over’,
‘Light Owls’) and even an acoustic guitar piece/saused with a spicy
rhythm (‘S(B)C’). One may wonder how this hotchpotch will sound, as
on paper it doesn’t seem a very coherent work? Actually, I must say,
it makes a lot sense, as it’s this variety that makes this into a
very listenable album. It’s variety is a rare thing for a CDR
release, and even in most of the CDs nowadays a rare thing. This
should have been a real one. (FdW)
Address: http://www.mouthmoth.go.to
MASSIMO – ABSOLUTELY FREE (mini CD by Cling Film)
Ah the young god Massimo is back and in such a fashion we always
love. A short CD – fourteen minutes and just four tracks – but that’s
good. Massimo will never leave the listener untouched. His brutal
sound work can easily compare to the best Merzbow work, except that
where Merzbow is king of the analog sound (and I am still not
convinced of his recent digital work), Massimo is king of the digital
world – and I am pretty sure there was never an analog world for him.
Rhythmically Massimo can easily meet the likes of Esplendor
Geometrico, but techno is never his thing. Massimo can jump into a
nice rhythm, but after a few bars he’s fed up with it, destroys it
and continues in a new mood. Always fresh and exciting, always on top
(and I am sure Massimo likes to be on top, as much of his work is
sexually loaded). Fourteen minutes leaves the listener breathless,
maybe screaming or begging for more, but Massimo is very strict –
it’s enough, you can’t get more, unless he decides to unleash some
more work. Massimo is boss and beast. (FdW)
Address: http://www.clingfilm.org
ASCHE – DISTORTED DJ (2CD by Ant-Zen)
If debut album from Asche, “Distorted disco” was a good album, this
new double-disc follow-up titled “Distorted DJ” is nothing short of
excellent. The power of Asche is Andreas Schramm’s (a.k.a. Asche)
ability to create catchy rhythmic textures, which balance cleverly
between danceable appeal and dark brutality. “Distorted DJ” is
generally more aggressive than its predecessor. The album opens with
a psychedelic cut-up mixture of voices and processed samples
reminiscent of Download (especially closing title track on “The eyes
of Stanley Pain”-album comes into mind). From second track forward
the introverted nightmarish sound texture disappears and the rhythmic
inferno opens once in a while turning into catchy deep house rhythms.
Second disc contains fourteen remixes of “Distorted disco”-tracks
created by different artists from inside as well as outside the
Ant-Zen camp. Highlights are Xingu Hills’ energetic
breakbeat-freakout and the death industrial-remix from Institut. Two
discs of high musical quality make “Distorted DJ” a great investment
for listeners of rhythmic noise! (NMP)
Address: http://www.ant-zen.com
SKOLTZ_KOLGEN – HYALIN (CD by Line)
Dominique Skoltz and Herman W. Kolgen hail from Montreal and are both
musicians and visual artists. Their work is usually a cross-over
between sound into image and image into sound. For this, their debut
full length CD, they are “transposing certain optical attributes of
the photographs onto audio sources and assembling them in multiple
layers, the results are a micro-system of isomorphic tones” – that is
certainly a mouthful. There is one long piece of music, which
certainly in the opening part (say the first fifteen minutes) result
in quite some feedback like sounds, and cover a harsher territory
then we are usually common from the world of 12K/Line. After that the
sound sinks for a while below the audible range. Later on the balance
between the high end and the low end is restored and even a sense of
rhythm may occur. It’s hard to tell what these boys use soundwise or
what their input might – field recordings, just laptop doodlings? – I
think it’s mainly just the latter. This CD covers many territories
where others were before, and in that respect there might not be too
much new things going on. But as a whole and by itself it is quite a
decent CD. Austere sounds from an interesting concept. (FdW)
Address: http://www.12k.com
MATTIN/ROSY PARLANE – AGUR (3″CDR by Absurd)
Two boys – two laptops. Mattin (from Barcelona) and Rosy Parlane
(from Down Under) both reside in London these days where they are
actively involved in the lively improvisation scene by organising
their own concerts. Of course the two meet each other during a
concert, like on October 26th 2002 at the Oligarch Shit Transfusion
(I mean what’s in a name). Armed, as said with two laptops, they work
their way through a strange set. High beeps and soft crackles mingle
together until after some fifteen minutes, they reach a climax and
some sort of rhythm has occured. I wouldn’t say necessarily a good
set or concert, but one that is highly typical of the laptopscene:
experimental and improvised, not always ‘there’ and sometimes a hit
and miss. But it’s good to see the action being documented. (FdW)
Address: http://www.anet.gr/absurd
URE THRALL – PREMONITION 9/11/THE TRAVELER (7″ by Drone Records)
BARDOSENETICCUBE – RAIN IN JUNE (7″ by Drone Records)
ECCLESIASTICAL SCAFFOLDING – LUCID DREAMING (7″ by Drone Records)
It’s been a while since I last reviewed 7″s by Drone Records. They
are now up to release number 58 to 60. In case you don’t know. Drone
Records is a label that only releases 7″s of drone music – although
that has gotten an extended meaning these days – in an edition of 250
copies with a handmade cover by the musicians themselves (maybe by
now worth an exhibition?). Ure Thrall is somebody whose name keeps
popping up since the early days of cassette business, but whose music
I never could really capture. ‘Premonition 9/11’ is an anti-war song,
both against the people who flew plans into the WTC and the US
response to it. Pounding rhythms and e-bowed guitars produce quite a
psychedelic piece and even mixes in some recorded sounds of the
second plane hitting the WTC. Good cause of course such an anti-war
song, but maybe a bit over done. ‘The Traveler’ is on the other hand
a much lighter song. Flutes sounds, a loopy old piano and haunting
atmosphere. Also in psychedelic atmosphere, but more weightless
space here.
I can tell you much less about Bardoseneticcube. They are from St.
Petersburg, Russia and have some releases on the Ultra label and a
real CD on Athanor. Apperentely this 7″ is more ambient then their
previous work. Indeed it is. The a-side has rain sounds, some sort of
metallic scrapings (but remotely away) and mumbling voices. It’s not
really good or bad – it sort of stays on one level without really
moving. Much the same can be said about the b-side, except that
things a tad bit louder on this side.
Like Ure Thrall, the name Ecclesiastical Scaffolding is such a name
one has heard before, but maybe not the music. They/he are from
Australia and have one or more releases on cassette by Extreme – so
go figure how old that must have been. Ah ‘Lucid Dreaming’ – didn’t
hear much about since the time Aphex Twin raved about it. If I do
recall correctely, it’s about being half awake and half asleep, so
that by the time you are really awake you can remember things. So you
think up a great composition and then record it afterwards. Both
pieces on this 7″ have a dream like atmosphere. Since whenever this
guy has been doing music, his equipment certainly improved as the
production of the 7″ is very nice. Great depth on the sounds, small
tinkering of chimes and reverb. It’s the usual flock of ritualism,
but at least it sounds good. (FdW)
Address: http://www.radiantslab.com/DroneRecords/
TROUM – DARVE SH (10″ by Beta Lactam Ring)
TROUM – SYMBIOSIS (3″CD by Transgredient Records)
I fear a bit that Troum had reached the boundaries of their sound and
that it would proof difficult to change it from the heavy dreamlike,
organic tapestries of sound to something that would be similar but
different, if y’ catch my drift. But then they come with ‘Darve Sh’,
a 10″ for the Lactamase series by Beta Lactam Ring records, and I am
wrong. Within their context they can change the sound to something
new. Both sides are just one piece. Both sides have pounding rhythms
as a starting point. But both sides are different. The a-side is
layered with, besides the drums, a whole bunch of guitars which
almost sound euphorical – a celebration of life. Not as darkly loaded
as much of their previous work, but almost light – maybe I shouldn’t
overdo this – lighter dark as opposed to darker dark. The b-side on
the other reflects their more darker dark side and the drums sound a
little bit further away and the occassional lift comes from processed
voices and more recognizable mumblings. To be noted here is that the
production is really nice, more depth then ever. Maybe Troum will
turn to professional studios now? It would justify their sound.
At the same time Troum releases on their own label a 3″ CD, which
contains solo tracks by the two Troum members Glit[s]ch and BarakaH.
Here we find them in their ‘older’ style, with a strong emphasis on
guitar sounds. Five relatively short pieces for Troum standards, but
with their usual sense of drones. Played with bows and e-bows,
drenched out in sound effects they are all quite enjoyable, but I
think they would have made more sense if they were a bit longer. Now
they end abruptely, before the drones can really stick in your mind.
Maybe the 3″ format is well suited for one Troum track, and not five.
They shouldn’t be afraid of doing just one or two for such a length.
(FdW)
Address: http://www.blrrecords.com
Address: http://www.radiantslab.com/DroneRecords/
EVEREST – INHALIGHT (miniCDR by Everest Records)
As you might have guessed, Everest are the group behind Everest
Records, aswell as the organisation r3s3t, who organise concerts in
Switzerland. Everest are Matu and Meienberg. They record everywhere
and always, taping whatever sounds they think is necessary for their
music. Don’t really understand why it results only in a four track
cdr, but the extensive CD rom part makes things quite ok. Included
are a whole bunch of sounds and computer tools which allow you to
play around with the stuff in a really friendly way. I don’t think
you could re-create the music part of the CD, but that might not be
the idea either. The four pieces are electronic, covered in nicely
packed rhythms, but at the same time unfamiliar sounds creep in,
sounds that one usually doesn’t find on an average Warp record.
Street sounds, environmental recording: that sort of thing. This adds
a strange atmosphere to the music, which makes it altogether more
interesting to hear, certainly in the good ol’ home situation and not
on the dance floor. Intelligent dance music for people that don’t
dance, I’d say. (FdW)
Address: http://www.everestrecords.ch
SUN – SUN (2CD by Staubgold)
If you thought that everything Oren Ambarchi ever did was to play a
bunch of drones and related music, then his new duo ‘Sun’ proofs you
wrong. Sun is Oren and Chris Townend. Of course you know Oren
Ambarchi from the lines of Vital Weekly, his drone releases and his
collaborations. Chris Townend might be less known. He played once
with Kiss My Poodle’s Donkey and now works for films (Dead Poets
Society and Dead Calm for instance) and runs a studio. That all
doesn’t say that much about Sun. Well, Sun is different from anything
else I heard by Oren Ambarchi. There singing on this CD, there is
guitar playing, there’s drums. Is this a rock record? Yes, so it
seems. What do I know about rock music? Let’s just easily state:
nothing. It’s not that I never heard any, but somehow I never know
what is hip, good or bad. I think I heard Low, but didn’t like it for
one minute. I heard and liked Tortoise – but are they a rock band? I
have Pet Sounds – was that rock? Enough rambling. I think Sun is
great. Some of the songs remind me of the Beach Boys, like ‘Reach For
The Sky’. Some other pieces remind me of those bands whose singer
(m/f) you can never understand hearing what they sing, but with Sun
you can. Most of the songs are down to mid tempo, the atmosphere is
always a bit clouded here. A bit sad and melancholical. Personal and
warm. At least that’s what I think about it.
The nice thing about this release is that Staubgold commissioned
remixes for each track, so on the second CD, you hear the entire CD
again and in the same order but then dramatically remixed by some.
With people like Pimmon or Mapstation taking just a tiny fragment and
building their own thing, one knows one is in remixing land. But
Pluramon stays very close to the original (and I mean very close),
but also Rafael Toral and Hvratski incorporate much of the original
work into it. Most surprising remixers here are, however, Norbert
Moslang and Christoph Heemann, both hoovering on the more abstract
side of things, but especially Heemann’s dreamy guitar mix is very
nice. But it’s altogether even more surprising seeing these guys
doing a remix.
Sun is great. If I was into rock music, I’d say the best rock record
of 2003. (FdW)
Address: http://www.staubgold.com
CIRCUITS OF STEEL (2CD by SSS Records)
PANCREATIC AARDVARKS – FEVER DREAMS (CDR by Gnarphlager Records)
Pittsburgh is a nice city, somewhere in Pennsylvania. Nice, if you
like old factories and steel mills. That’s why this double CD
compilation of electronic music from that city is called ‘Circuits Of
Steel’ – steel from the city’s old industries and circuits for all
the electronic wizzardy going on on this CD. This is an overview of
no less then thirty bands and individuals from Pittsburg playing
electronic music and I am pretty sure a lot of them sound pretty new.
In fact I recognized four names: Jeremy Boyle (who had a very nice CD
on Southern a couple of years ago), Powder French, Impercept and
Tentatively, A Convenience. Most of the music goes about in techno
and drum & bass areas, and sometimes the results are pretty painful,
but sometimes they are pretty nice too. Names included: Zombi,
Automatic Matty P, Climax Street, Syne Lapse Variate, Micheal
Johnson, Luxe Robotica, My Boyfriend The Pilot, Telesysm, Geobot,
Manherringbone and more and more. No particular standout track, some
losers, but defintely worth checking out if you look for something
out of the ordinary.
One of the few bands that is not featured on Circuits Of Steel and
that do some sort of electronic music is the Pancreatic Aardvarks. I
saw them (or better him) playing live sometime ago and quite like the
ambient patterns played on a bunch of keyboards and guitar. Some
parts of his guitar playing reminded me of Durutti Column. After the
concert I got this release, which was according to the Aardvark the
one that sounded the most like the concert. Josh, whose project this
is, is a guy that likes lenghty music and ambient textures. In
‘Looking Down’, this results in some guitar playing echo, or echo
playing guitar, and maybe the eleven minutes are a bit overdone, but
it’s nice piece. I was a bit put off by tracks with his vocals, but
they are kept to a minimum. Nice work with room for progress. (FdW)
Address: <manny@telerama.com>
GARETH MITCHELL A.K.A. PHILOSOPHER’S STONE – AUGUST; SNOW; PIECES
(CDR by Absurd)
Philosopher’s Stone have come a long way from the Kranky album to
this. Former member of AMP Gareth Mitchell produces an album of post
rock for Kranky, but in the last two or so years, he moved to using
laptops to create a much more experimental kind of music. On this new
CDR with three pieces, the first and the last, are really quite
radical laptop doodlings. Cracklings, noise, plug ins running amok.
It’s the sort of thing the uniniated might except (and maybe those
who know too). The nicest piece on this CD is ‘Snow’, the second or
middle piece of the release. Lengthwise it’s the longest with it’s
twenty minutes. It starts out really slow, but then looped insect
like sounds drop in and as the piece evolves, the whole is lifted and
thick layers of what seems to me bell sounds are created. Drone music
but then much more in the areas of digital sound processing. This is
the stuff I think Gareth should be doing more and leave out the quasi
composed pieces of randomized sound events. The cover certainly fits
the idea of the ‘Snow’ more then it does for the other pieces. (FdW)
Address: http://www.anet.gr/absurd
VANCE ORCHESTRA – VANCE PLAYS VANCE (CD-R by Blade Records)
Vance Orchestra may not exactly be your average household name, but
they have been around for quite a while now. Releasing their music
from the eighties untill now on all the usual media, they have by now
established a large catalogue. Their music is hard to define because
it is a mix of styles, all belonging more or less in the underground
genres: industrial, ambient, electroacoustic, you name it and it’s
there. Aside from their own musical undertakings, they are also
active as organisers of concerts and other events in Arnhem, in the
east of The Netherlands. Well, so much for introducing Vance
Orchestra (if at all necessary) and on to the CD at hand. The title
already suggests what this is about: Vance Orchestra have been
digging in their archives and have sort of remixed their own
material. Nothing new obviously, but the good thing here is that
Vance have decided not to freshen up the sound or digitally remaster
old stuff. They have simply taken old sound material and made new
tracks with them. The result is refreshingly ‘old fashioned’: two
long tracks with loops, needles in grooves and lots of other sounds
mixed into drone pieces with a lot of atmosphere. The pieces flow
through the speakers with subtle changes and a certain scenic
quality, enabling the listener to sink away in sound induced dreams.
All sound elements are present really: loops, field recordings,
electronic drones, electroacoustic crackles. All blended wih an ease
that betrays their years of experience in the field. Just sit back
and enjoy. And another thing: regular listening enhances the
experience. (MR)
Address: http://web.tiscalinet.it/bladerecords
.MURMER – DEFINITION (CDR by Absurd)
This is, I believe, Patrick McGinley’s a.k.a. .Murmer, third release
(after one on Bake and one on S’Agita). He’s one of those blokes that
always wears headphones and has a microphone as a third arm: always
hunting for sound. The pieces on this CD include such sound sources
as water bottle, bicycle wheel, freezer, rain, fluorescent lighting,
airplane landing gear, shop alarm but also a synth loop, trumpet and
feedback. When done with recording, Murmer sticks his sounds on his
analog four track machine, adds a bit of distortion, reverb and/or
delay, and that’s it. Life is that simple. And maybe it is. .Murmer’s
music is of course one of lenghty pieces, in which sounds get to
develop themselves. Rather then expanding just one sound like so many
others, .Murmer rather layers different sounds over eachother to make
a nice atmospheric mix of sounds that seemingely have no relation to
eachother, but that just work nice. In ‘Spoke Speak’ he may use just
the sound of the a bicycle wheel, he still go by with the same method
of layering sounds and then do a mix of it. The best piece on this
release is ‘Liquid Solid’, which uses the freezer, rain, fluorescent
lighting, airplane landing gear, shop alarm. A bubbling piece of dark
sounds, lighter crackles and an overall dark atmosphere. Here .Murmer
can easily meet with the likes of Mirror, Ora or Jonathan Coleclough.
(FdW)
Address: http://www.anet.gr/absurd
TAMING POWER – SELECTED WORKS 1992-98 (10″ by Early Morning Records)
TAMING POWER – SELECTED WORKS 1997 (10″ by Early Morning Records)
TAMING POWER – SELECTED WORKS 2000: EXCURSIONS FOR TAPE RECORDERS
(10″ by Early Morning Records)
Three more 10″ records by Taming Power, the work of Askild Haugland
of whom we reviewed a record in Vital Weekly 365. These three are
older, but worth reviewing. For his music, Askild uses guitars and
tape recorders. The tape recorders aren’t just there to ‘record’ but
are also and mainly used as musical instruments, ie they are prepared
to record the feedback also. Such wonders you can’t do that much on a
laptop… ‘Selected Works 1992-98’ contains mainly shorter pieces,
most of which use feedback like sounds. Maybe a bit like the old
Arcane Device music, but recorded in a lesser quality. Some of the
pieces are not really great, but due to the fact that they are quite
short it’s still a pretty varied record. Instruments on this record
include guitar, casiotone, circular saw, radio and various types of
tape recorders.
The 1997 work is just two long pieces spread out over the two sides
of the record. Here things don’t work at all, I think. The pieces are
both quite noisy and seem to be recorded in a manner of
improvisation. These pieces don’t go anywhere.
Similar thoughts I had about the 2000 work. Again longer pieces that
do not capture the real feel of drone oriented music, but instead
sound like a badly recorded Tod Dockstader. That is a pity. I think
Taming Power’s music works best in short, sketch like pieces and not
in longer, unstructured pieces. (FdW)
Address: <earlymrecords@yahoo.no>
ERIC GOLDD & T.B.EGG (3″ CDR by Realistic)
A self-released 3″CDR by Eric Goldd who plays guitar here and T.B.
Egg who is processing it in real time. At times it seems that the
real time processing takes over the guitar playing, or it must be
that the guitar playing as such is not easy to recognize. The two
boys go for the more continous, yet rhythmic sound experience. Sounds
appear looped and are slowly transformed via the means of powerbook
processing. Sometimes the metallic string sounds pop up, especially
in the third piece. It’s altogether a well done improvisational set
of recordings.
Address: <realistic_prodns@yahoo.com.au>
Correction: The Marcia Blaine School For Girls, reviewed last week,
is not an one man band, but in fact a three piece group.