DAVIDE BALULA – PELLICULE (CD by Active Suspension)
ALL NOISES SWELL TOGETHER (CDR and Fanzine by Editions_Zero)
UNSONG – THE FRAILTY OF ANGELS, THE TREASON OF PEOPLE (CD by Macrophonies)
IN MEMORIAM TARKOVSKY (CD compilation by IVB)
JOZEF VAN WISSEM & GARY LUCAS – DIPLOPIA (CD by BVHAAST)
MICHEL BANABILA Spherics II (CD by Boudisque)
SMYGLUSSNA – WE CAN FIX IT REMIXES (CD by Vertical Form)
ASSEMBLAGE (CD by Creative Sources)
I TRENI INERTI – URA (CD by Creative Sources)
TELEDROOM – TWO TWOS (CD by Glasvocht Records)
SEI MIGUEL – Ra Clock (CD by Headlights)
SEI MIGUEL – Still alive in Bairro Alto (CD by Headlights)
WARREN BURT – HARMONIC COLOUR FIELDS (CD by Pogus)
STEVE RODEN – WINTER COUPLET (mini CD by New Plastic Music)
HEADPHONE SCIENCE – WE REMAIN FADED (CD by No Type)
THE EVOLUTION GARDEN – 090403 (CDR)
MUSIC MAKES A QUIET MIND (CDR compilation by Musically Incorrect Records)
RUSSIAN VITAMINS/EDDIE EDWARDS (CDR by Musically Incorrect Records)
CLAY FIGURE – HUMAN EVOLUTION (CDR by Musically Incorrect Records)
EN – OP. 10218 (CD by Sirr.ecords)
HAT MELTER – UNKNOWN ALBUM (LP by Crouton Music)
HINTERLANDT – T[RAUMDEUTUNG] (CDR by CUE Records)
DAVIDE BALULA – PELLICULE (CD by Active Suspension)
Active Suspension took us by surprise before and here they do it
again. One visual artist by the name of Davide Balula combines
probably the weirdest mixture I heard in some time: folk music and
microsound. Maybe not that weird, but they exist next to eachother
and not intergrated into eachother. Playing guitar and singing (in
such a fashion that one will never win me for, really) and when that
happens, the microsounding experiments are pushed to the back. As a
soundsource for these he uses CD players, microwaves or alarm clocks,
which are then sampled and put into the music. The usual structure is
that the microsounding experiments open the piece, gradually fading
over to guitar and vocals and then back into the world of experiment.
I must admit that I like almost everything on this CD, but that the
vocals give me a hard time. In general I’m not particular fond of
music that is sung, and more difficulties when I don’t like the
voice. And such is the case with Davide Balula. Otherwise it’s quite
an interesting work – man meeting machine or some such. (FdW)
Address: http://www.activesuspension.org
ALL NOISES SWELL TOGETHER (CDR and Fanzine by Editions_Zero)
A small fanzine and CDR release together: if that doesn’t bring back
good memories of the eighties. Hanging over some xerox machine and
producing a small run of copies (yes, Vital existed on paper, so I
did too). Everything in this zine is in Greek and so is all the
information on the CDR. I am told that the magazine is called ‘All
Noises Swell Together By Themselves In Landscape’ and that the
articles include Joseph Beuys, Gustav Metzger’s Auto Destructive
Manifest and a translation of the Anti Natural’s Manifest. Also
featured is an article on The New Blockaders and the only thing that
is understandable for me non-greek is the discography printed here.
The CDR is filled by music from a band named ‘Night Of The Ghosts’,
the musical relationship of Kostas Tsiknis and Dimitris Andreou. Old
recordings as they were made in 1999. The first piece is called ‘The
Ghost Of Harmaina’ and has seashore sounds, something that sounds
like dolphins (could be human cries too) and some occassional
metallic percussion. Quite etheral music, certainly for a piece that
lasts twenty four minutes. The second (and last) piece is called
‘Fairies’, of a more less equal length, but much more scattered and
broken up. A collage of voice stuff, percussive sounds, synths and
samples. Of the two pieces this is the lesser brother. It drags on in
a minimal but uninspiring way. (FdW)
Address: <absurd@otenet.gr>
UNSONG – THE FRAILTY OF ANGELS, THE TREASON OF PEOPLE (CD by Macrophonies)
Behind Unsong is one Mason Ball and ‘The Frailty Of Angels, The
Treason Of People’ is his debut. I have no idea wether Mason did
other musics before (apperentely he did sound design for the London
Theater Company Furnace Memoirs, such as ‘Stories From The
Bleedhinder’,
‘The Killing Of Fat Kid’, ‘Beak’ and ‘The Gospel According To Mr.
punch’), but it might be so, since it sounds very well put together.
The input in his music are electronically generated tones, processed
field recordings, disassembled voices and household stuff. I gather
this all goes in to one large sampler, maybe harddisc and well boiled
it serves us Unsong. Dark, atmospheric music, that however doesn’t
tend towards something like dark ambient (with tons of digital
synths), but more into the sound research areas of The Hafler Trio
(circa How To Reform Mankind), Coil or Andrew Liles. One of the
better pieces on this is the lenghty title piece, which is a slow
beast moving onwards until a loop drops in and changes the slightly
the atmosphere of the music. Sometimes the music falls below the
point of hearing, but it always creeps back from under the carpet,
right into your face. Scary music, this is. Music that could be
easily used for some thriller film production. Very spooky but very
well made.
I am told that through the website of Unsong it is possible to order
from each song a lenghty remix (one track per CDR), in case this
wasn’t enough… (FdW)
Address: http://www.macrophonies.co.uk
IN MEMORIAM TARKOVSKY (CD compilation by IVB)
In 1986 filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky died. He left behind a small but
impressive oeuvre of about 7 films. One of the aspects of his
craftmanship and creativitiy was his use of sound and music in film.
This way he added very important coordinates to the filmic
experience. Just think of ‘Stalker’. Near the end, when the three are
very nearby the Room, they sit together silently. Nothing happens.
We see and hear ‘the rise and fall’of a rainshower. It sounds like a
concert in my ears and gives somehow ‘suspense’ to the scene. For
films like ‘Solaris’and ‘Stalker’ he worked with the famous composer
Eduard Artemyev.
On a release of his filmmusic for Tarkovsky (on Electroshock) we find
also a in memoriam called ‘Dedication to A.Tarkovsky’ composed by
Artemyev.
Other composers made their tributes in memory of Tarkovsky as well:
Stefan Kovac
Tickmayer: ‘Spes’, Arvo Part, Victor Cerullo::’Visions – A Homage to Andrei
Tarkovski'(Electroshock 2003), a.o. A very recent tribute we’ll find
on this new cd from the russian IVB label. The cd offers a collection
of compositions by four different composers: Michael Prime, Christian
Renou (aka Brume), Roger Doyle and Stanislav Kreitchi. Kreitchi may
be the most unknown of this quartet. But he is not in Russia. He is a
composer of electronic music since the early 60s. Like Artemyev he
uses the photo-electronic ANS-synthesizer, a computer developed by
Eugeniy Murzin. He worked at the Moscow Experimental Studio for
Electronic Music. But let us turn back now to this new cd from the
obscure IVB label. All four works form together a homogeneous whole.
All pieces breath the same dark atmosphere. Michael Prime opens with
‘µcross the River’. We hear concrete sounds, voices and music
manipulated into a dynamic and powerful piece. The colors of his
sounds remind me of early electronic music from the 50s. Christian
Renou starts ‘Tarkovski’ with a monologue by a russian voice. Is it
the voice of Tarkovsky ? Gradually echoing sounds are added. Harsh
noises complement the piece. ‘Water, water, water everywhere’. This
could be a remark by someone who viewed Tarkovsky films where water,
rain, ponds, brooks, are always present. But here it is the title of
the composition by Kreitchi. Various sounds of water are followed by
metallic sounding noises.
Roger Doyle (Operating Theatre) closes this cd with ‘Mr Foley’s final
moments’. Angelic sounds are calling from another world and
intertwined with more brutal sounds. All together this is a good
compilation of succesfull works (DM).
Address: <com.eudoramail@eudoramail.com>
JOZEF VAN WISSEM & GARY LUCAS – DIPLOPIA (CD by BVHAAST)
The illustrious history of the BVHaast-label goes back to the
beginning of the 70s and is closely connected with many of the
developments that appeared since in dutch jazz and improvised music.
The label was founded by Willem Breuker who released most of his
work on this label. Also many other musicians and composers had and
still have their work released on this label (van Manen, Cuypes).
Over the years BV Haast became a very important label for the dutch
impro and jazz scene plus modern music (Louis Andriessen, Otto
Ketting), with Breuker setting the esthetic boundaries. For Vital
readers the sublabel Acousmatrix may be of special interest. Here we
find some great cds with electro-acustic works of Ferrari, Pousseur,
Koenig, Berio, a.o. But times change and so does BV Haast.
‘Diplopia’ (funny but unintelligible title) is evidence of this.
It’s a cd by Jozef van Wissem, who is the boss of BV Haast nowadays,
and Gary Lucas. Former
Beefheart-guitarist Gary Lucas built himself up a varied
solo-career. He had his own groups and projects like Gods and
Monsters, and likes very much to perfom solo. Overlooking his career
it is evident that he takes his inspiration from many sources: german
expressionism, film, blues, folk, chinese music, etc, etc. He did
work with very well known arists (Jeff Buckley, Nick Cave), but also
with much lesser known musicians. On ‘Diplopia’ for example, we find
him recording with Jozef van Wissem. Or is it the other way around:
it’s Lucas on a van Wissem cd, as all compositions, concept and
production are by van Wissem. Special about this cd is without
question the instrument played by van Wissem, being the renaissance
lute (& electronics, percussion). That is not often heard out of the
context of medieval and other old
music. I can’t tell you much on the musical background of van Wissem.
He comes out of nowhere for me. But their cooperation seems to enjoy
them both, as ‘Diplopia’ is already their second release. In 2002
‘Narcissus Drowning’ was released on the Persephone label. I suppose
van Wissem has his background in playing renaissance music, because
three compositions on this cd are based on works from this time
(Nicolas Vallet, Robert Ballard, anonymous). I must say that I like
these adaptions of very old tunes in an alternative and modern way.
It seems in interesting approach to me with perspective for the
future. Adaptions of early music like these are rare, but
fascinating. Only one other example comes to my mind: Jean Michel
Bossini did a good job with ‘Messe d’ pres Gillaume de Machaut’.
‘Diplopia’ has Lucas playing a bluesy guitar in his very own avant
garde way. The playing of van
Wissem has a ‘medieval’ touch and is less subtile. Two very different
languages (dipolar?) but both go together very well. Alas the
recording is not very well balanced. There 9 short pieces on this
31-minute cd. One of them ‘The Mirror Stage’ we hear in two versions
(studio and live). It is a simple Popol Vuh-like tune. Together they
make up a nice miniature of timeless folk tunes (DM).
Address: http://www.bvhaast.nl
MICHEL BANABILA Spherics II (CD by Boudisque)
Every new cd by Banabila is a pleasure, but we are not always hearing
something completely new. But that may be my problem. There is
nothing wrong with his music and craftmanship. He is undoubtely a
master in his craft. And by the way, the title of this new cd is
‘Spherics II”, what indicates that this cd stays within an already
established concept.
The ‘Spherics’ series show Banabila from his most ambient side with
sensitive and organic music. Carefully arranged and with great
feeling for detail and colour. The opening track ‘The monitor is
dead’ is the most heavy one, due to the drums of Ruben van Rompaey.
All other tracks have Banabila alone playing ASR-10 sampler and
K-station synthesizer. This new cd surely keeps up with the standards
of his earlier work. Banabila is still going strong. (DM)
Address: http://www.boudisque.nl
SMYGLUSSNA – WE CAN FIX IT REMIXES (CD by Vertical Form)
The remix follow-up to “We Can Fix It” shows some new handling of
former tracks by several currently touring artists. The title track
taken under the wings of Boom Bip is redefined by bass drumlines and
puffy squeaks. It proves that you can break something down to its
most awkward dimensions and still have imbalanced funk filled fun.
Fujiya and Miyagi recycle “Tea With Angela” repeating pops and
vocoded gasps. The result is a bit tacky and harsh, though the beats
goes on. Recently seen at Mutek, Sixtoo mixes down “Foaming Prairie”
into a frothy, chillout number worthy of it weight in midnight oil.
Albeit a bit to short at less than 2 12 minutes, it shows the
potential these boys bring to the scene. Matmos splinter band, the
Soft Pink Truth, take the reigns of “Work Shall Be Abolished” – a
funky affair in a clever high hat style. Having as much fun as the
vernaculars embedded in works by say, They Might Be Giants, this
track is pure unadulterated excitement, almost a little slapstick.
More in common with recent Mouse on Mars, the Soft Pink Truth has
subtracted the obvious “work” involved in creating a track that lets
itself, and us, loose. “Clean Sneak” is Smyglyssna’s own instrumental
edit. The inverted beats are like a game of Space Invaders, bells and
whistles. The gaming in electronic music keeps a healthy sense of
play in music on this previously unreleased track. In a completely
different direction, Restiform Bodies retools “Tea With Angela” into
abstract parts and pieces, sounding like outtakes from early
politically charged songs by The Cure. The percussion is cryptic and
properly distorted. Closing ceremonies is Einóma’s take on the title
track. This version has a gothic underbelly and a click/cut collage
aesthetic, all wrapped up in soft tones. The overall recording has
been compiled in a way that differentiates each track and the styles
of each artist taking on mixing duties. It is a well balanced, tight
set running under 40 minutes showcasong this new artist through
others’
apt handling. (TJN)
Address: http://www.verticalform.com/
ASSEMBLAGE (CD by Creative Sources)
I TRENI INERTI – URA (CD by Creative Sources)
Here is a very nice work of improivisation. Assemblage is an ad-hoc
ensemble with Ernesto Rodrigues (on violin and viola), Guilherme
Rodrigues (on cello and pocket trumpet), Manual Mota (on electric
guitar) and Jose Oliveira (on percussion, acoustic guitar and inside
piano). They play three compositions (so it says on the cover, but we
can safely assume this was all recorded during improvisation) and do
this by using objects that are not commonly used to play instruments
like this. Thus the result is an assemblage of sound (hence the
title). Overall they love small sounds happening all over the place –
a small scratch here, a pluck there, some bang inside the piano,
slowly building tension in a piece, but there is never a lift-off.
Nowhere the procedures explode and erupt in a wall of noise. These
four people are rather held-back in their playing, maybe pre-arranged
(who knows?) before they started recording, but they cleverly know to
keep the tension on the right spot. Well done.
Of a more radical nature are the improvisations by I Treno Inerti.
Two trumpet players (Matt Davis and Ruth Barberan) and an accordian
player, Alfredo Costa Monteiro. There is some pretty radical playing
going on, both on the trumpet and on the accordion. Tones are
produced that are not likely to link back to the original sounds
these instruments are known for. Unlike Assemblage, I Treno Inerti
sometimes go way out the extreme, holding tones for some time at
quite some volume and sometimes it sinks to the level of
inaudibility. Their tension lies in a somewhat different area then
Assemblage: more in the shock surprise of dynamics. But overall this
has turned out into a very nice work aswell. (FdW)
Address: http://www.geocities.com/creativesources_rec
TELEDROOM – TWO TWOS (CD by Glasvocht Records)
Man behind the Glasvocht label is Filip Gheysen and he’s also a
musician going by the name of The Ordinary Seaman, aswell as Alfa and
Picturesque. Together with Wio (who had a bunch of releases on the
Kraak label), he recorded a new album as Teledroom, following a CDR
release of some years ago. Now on a real CD they offer eight lenghty
pieces of mostly guitar oriented musics. Filip plays electric
guitars, effects, vocals, drones) and Wio (acoustic guitars, samples
and vocals). Teledroom finds their inspiration in whatever can be
loosely called post rock with a strong Icelandic breeze (Sigur Ros)
and Canadian wind (Godspeed You Black Emperor). Guitars play
repeating patterns, forming glacier like drones, but always with a
tinkling guitar that arises out of the field. Samples of rhythms are
only sparsely used here and in general the whole work dwells more
guitar and atmospheric drones. Mostly instrumental this Teledroom,
which is fine, because the lesser bits for my taste are those that
involve singing. Luckily this is kept to a minimum. Otherwise the
tunes on this CD work really well in both atmospherical aswell as in
a pop direction. This should defintely be appealling to the fans of
Fat Cat label (and it’s a damm pity it’s not released on that label,
as it would have certainly applauded more attention). So c’mon and
try something new. (FdW)
Address: http://www.glasvochtrecords.com
SEI MIGUEL – Ra Clock (CD by Headlights)
SEI MIGUEL – Still alive in Bairro Alto (CD by Headlights)
Paris-born Miguel settled himself in Portugal in the 80s as a
composer, director and trumpeter. Here he made fame with his group
Moeda Noise. When the group split in 1986 Miguel continued activities
using his own name. He worked together a lot with Rafael Toral,
Manuel Mota and Fala Mariam. Since 1988 Miguel released several lp’s
and cd’s. Alas they gave him not much recognition outside of
Portugal. And I’m not sure these two new relases will change much in
this situation. And that is a pitty, because Miguel is an original
composer and player. ‘Still Alive’ has only one piece ‘Favorite
Places in Time’ that goes on for about forty-two minutes. It was
played live on july 3rd 2000 by a group of seven musicians: Fala
Mariam (alto trombone), manuel Mota (first guitar), Tiago Brandao
(guitar), Margarida Garcia (twin), Monsieur Trinit, (small
percussion), Cesar Burago (small percussion) and Sei Miguel (trumpet
and direction). Together they make up not a rockgroup, not a jazz
combo, but more of an ensemble playing modern music.
The piece sounds like a freely improvised structure, but equally all
music could have been composed by Miguel, leaving room for
improvisation. I’m not sure on that. Silence is as numerous as sound,
and often we hear only two or three members of the ensemble play. The
music sounds constantly under control, no freaking out. The presence
of Miguel is the most constant. His playing is responsible for the
disc’s most pleasing work. It is not the most impressive work of
improvisation I’ve heard. Quite a job to listen this one completely
through, allthough the playing is done intelligently and sensitive.
‘Ra Block’ is Miguel’s latest effort. It has 5 compositions for
different line-ups. The players are the same as on ‘Still Alive in
Bairro Alto’, except for Paulinho Russolo who plays Hammond organ on
‘Asterion’. Miguel performs mostly on trumpet, but for ‘Etude for
Asterion’ he plays piano. All music is in the unmistakable mood that
characterizes the work of Miguel. Slowly shifting patterns and
spaces. A meditative kind of music. Buddhist jazz….(DM).
Address: <i@clix.pt>
WARREN BURT – HARMONIC COLOUR FIELDS (CD by Pogus)
Colour fields in painting is where the painter uses one colour and
the picture is made with the variations of colour and how it’s
brought to the canvas. Warren Burt took inspiration from this methods
for the five pieces on this CD. He uses a Roland Sound Canvas
Synthesizer (how appropiate), the “world’s best cheap solution for
fine tuning microtonality” and various sorts of software. Harmony is
of more importance then melody. Once a piece starts, it more or less
stays in the same place for as long as the piece lasts (and the
pieces on this CD are between ten and sixteen minutes). Warren Burt
takes his musical inspiration from seventies drone music composers
such as LaMonte Young, Charlemagne Palestine, Harold Budd and from
his own work from around that period. But these works, all composed
between 1996-1997, are more complex. More things happen – I know that
sounds like a conflict in the world of minimalism. Several layers
move over eachother, in and out and in again of the mix and make
things more complex. In “11:21:23 (A Drone On Mom And Felix’s
Birthdays)’, the tones are almost sinewave like, and if you move your
head, the sound will change also. Upon superficial hearing maybe just
a normal, quite static sine wave piece, but it’s much more a slowly
changing thing. By far the best piece on this CD, but the other four
aren’t bad either. Despite the limitations of the concept, it’s a
varied CD in how such a simple concept is brought to life. (FdW)
Address: http://www.pogus.com
STEVE RODEN – WINTER COUPLET (mini CD by New Plastic Music)
Of course you know Steve Roden’s work and that it often is related to
exhibitions and installations. This mini CD (twenty five minutes) is
no different. Housed in a carton sleeve with two water colour
paintings and absolutely no information, this is a true art-house
item. Here it is the installation called ‘Winter Couplet’, consisting
of ‘a series of 2,5 inch speakers, mounted in the bases of 40 inch
and 36 inch long cardborad tubes and inspired by the work of
architect Shigeru Ban. The title inspired by chinese Chun Lian
(Spring Couplet), poems hung in pairs on each side of an enteryway on
nee year’s eve. This poem, like the chun lian is written with the
hope of bringing good blessings’. For the sound source of this piece
Steve uses two small tea cups. The sound is very minimal, and
recommended to be played at low volume, and don’t sound like tea cups
but rather wind chimes. The sound is mainly layers of similar loops
fading in and over eachother. With slight electronic procession, this
becomes very poetic music. On a day like today, cloudy and sunny with
a fresh breeze, this is a nice environmental piece – maybe that’s why
I was thinking of wind chimes. This is indeed poetic music,
contemplative and evocative. (FdW)
Address: <sroden@inbetweennoise.com>
HEADPHONE SCIENCE – WE REMAIN FADED (CD by No Type)
Dustin Craig is from Oakland, California and has worked as
Elasticlego and Headphone Science, melting his interests in hip hop,
dub, IDM and musique concrete together. This debut CD release is
considered an EP but at 38 some minutes, I think it’s more then that.
Many of the influences (which I just cited from the blurb) are not
really that apperent, except hip hop. The opening title piece is an
exception: this more in the directions of IDM, with jumpy beats and a
piano theme. The other five tracks are clearly more hip hop inspired.
The rhythmsection, the dominating factor of each song, and cut up
raps (I assume lifted from TV or radio?), make all the other
influences very small in that respect. ‘To Dine In Distance’, again
with a conversation taken from TV, and loungy trumpet, is a nice
piece, but overall I wasn’t really blown away by it. Maybe it has to
do with lacking interest in hip hop or anything like that. One can
hear that Dustin Craig can make a nice piece of music, sampled
together, but a bit more IDM and a bit less hip hop would be, at
least for me, nice. (FdW)
Address: http://www.notype.com
THE EVOLUTION GARDEN – 090403 (CDR)
Already the fifth album The Evolution Garden in their series of
rehearsal space recordings, while working on what seems the never to
be finished new studio album. Here The Evolution Garden works more
like a rock group. Pounding drums, bass and spacy guitars. Still they
probably go for headspace music, but they rather their influence this
time from cosmic or krautrock then from ambient music made with tons
of synthesizers. It’s not an area which we saw them exploring before,
but maybe is indeed a logical step to explore also. Of course it
doesn’t sound top notch, but then one must keep in mind that these
are pieces from the rehearsal room. I think I stated this before: all
of these rehearsal space recordings are quite nice, but when are they
going to finish that new studio album, which should be the
culmination of all these try-outs? (FdW)
Address: http://www.evolutiongarden.com
MUSIC MAKES A QUIET MIND (CDR compilation by Musically Incorrect Records)
RUSSIAN VITAMINS/EDDIE EDWARDS (CDR by Musically Incorrect Records)
CLAY FIGURE – HUMAN EVOLUTION (CDR by Musically Incorrect Records)
Musically Incorrect Records are the true successors to the cassette
scene of the eighties. Xerox packaging, badly xeroxed photo collage
and harsh noise. I am sure it is appealling to some people, but maybe
they also give the CDR only releases a bad name. Their compilation
‘Music Makes A Quiet Mind’ features Haare (who splice together
endgrooves from LP’s of Pink Floyd, Alice Cooper and others), Rats
With Wings, who are in a more noisy territory then on their excellent
Corpus Hermeticum release, Toni Kandelin, just noise. Then two pieces
by Uton, who sounds recorded next door and Armenia (who are believe
from Columbia), with a very common noise excercise. The compilation
ends with three pieces by Gelsomina, with probably more tracks that
use sound material from Tapio Rautavaara (see Vital Weekly 365). A
bloody noise affair this compilation…
Packaged in a similar style is a split CDR by Russian Vitamins and
Eddie Edwards. Both of these bands like short tracks. Russian
Vitamins have no less then twelve tracks of totally fucked up
electronica. A bit like Aaviko or Felix Kubin, but then loaded with
(more?) drugs than they can handle. A bit of techno, samples from
porn movies and quirky childish melodies. Eddie Edwards is not one
guy, but a band, including Genital Simmons on ‘Bass and Ass’. They
play seventeen tracks (total length of the CD is under thirty
minutes, mind you). Musically they are even more weird, from
grindcore to fucked synthi pop and with lyrics loaded with humor
(enclosed on a piece of paper, otherwise it would have been a bit
more difficult). Though weird not musically strong throughout, the
material goes a bit up and down.
And then finally Clay Figure, the band from label honcho Pekka PT.
This is also weirdness, what else would you expect from this label,
but goes in a different field then the other releases. Playing around
with distorted guitars, lo-resolution samplers and grinded vocals,
but all in a rather slow tempo and not aiming at something that might
be considered ‘a proper recording’, this is formost a personal
product, and maybe secondary a product that is ‘nice’ or ‘pleasent’
for others. (FdW)
Address: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/musically_incorrect
EN – OP. 10218 (CD by Sirr.ecords)
I don’t know what En means in Hungarian (it means ‘and’ in dutch
bytheway), but it’s also the name chosen by Pal Toth. Well, it’s
rather ‘én’ then ‘En’. This is rather important, since the press text
cites Morton Feldman, and we all know that his disciples spell their
name rather in lowercase then in title case. Pal Toth is a sound
artist and radio producer from Budapest and on this CD, his debut, it
seems that the latter experience is important. He plays ‘ether
concerts’, ‘compositions made to the medium itself’. On the air he
edits his works, removing and erasing sounds and bare, naked sound
residue remains. Entirely along the lines of Roel Meelkop, Bernard
Gunther or Richard Chartier, with this exception that Pal Toth has a
more bleak and empty sounding music. Hums from various sources,
occassionally time stretched are interwoven and some vague metallic
rumbling are the main sources. It remains at all times distant and
cold. Despite the fact that the CD is divided in three sections, I
think it should be regarded as one long piece. It’s quite an
alienated piece of music, which works quite alright, but I think that
things could have been trimmed here and there and at a shorter length
it would have certainly won power. (FdW0
Address: http://www.sirr-ecords.com
HAT MELTER – UNKNOWN ALBUM (LP by Crouton Music)
Two percussion player and two cello players, being Steve Hess and Jon
Mueller and Matt Turner and Jeff Klatt (probably some twist of
letters make up the band name, but I am not very good in riddles).
All four are reknown improvised music players. The music on this LP
was recorded straight live but then afterwards deconstructed and
reassembled in the studio. Hat Melter used various sorts of
microphones (direct on instruments, room mics and contact
microphones) to record this music. This results in a very odd mixture
of recognazible instrument playing, microtonal glitch and collage
elements, at some points emphazing the overal sound and at other
times very upfront sounding instruments. Here the studio becomes the
fifth member (or maybe in this case C. Rosenau, whose studio was
used). This is a fresh look at improvised music, me thinks. Whereas
most releases of improvised music is a mere documentation of a
session between one or more musicians, or a mixed down version of
multi-tracked session between players at it’s best, here extra
elements are brought in. It’s an extended use of multi-track, using
various recording methods to interact with eachother. I don’t think
much new elements were brought in, and they are only dealing with the
live session at such. This makes this album into something that can
be well enjoyed by those who in general don’t have a strong appetite
for improvised music. (FdW)
Address: http://www.croutonmusic.com
HINTERLANDT – T[RAUMDEUTUNG] (CDR by CUE Records)
Despite the current living ground, Hinterlandt is really German but
now Australian and nom de plume of Jochen Gutsch and is a rather
flexible workforce. In the studio he works solo but live it can be
with various musicians, or just solo vocal performance. The
background of Gutsch is in classical trumpet education, extreme grind
core and math rock before turning solo and electronics. In these five
tracks Hinterlandt Jochen goes wildly amok over numerous influences.
Distant trumpets in ‘Farewell On The Rain Train’, voice improves on
‘Our Protagonist Stroll The Markets’ and wind chimes processing on
‘Back Home: Drifting Thoughts On The Front Veranda’. A wild and
thickly layered form of collage is the presence of each of the five
pieces, but often incorporating small melodies in each piece. A
strange ride in the world of subconciousness… (FdW)
Address: http://www.cavestudio.org/cue