SAGOR & SWING – ORGELPLANETEN (CD by Hapna)
PATRIK TORSSON – KOLVÄTESERENADER (CD by Hapna)
L.E.AK./KOSMOPHON – DUOCHROMATIC (CD by Fin de Siecle Media/Inhospitable Lab)
CAESAR ROMERO – MATAMOROS (CD by Fin de Siecle Media)
+MINUS – FIRST MEETING (CD by Trente Oiseaux)
THE WALLS ARE WHISPERING (CD compilation by EE Tapes)
TOSHIYA TSUNODA – KAPOTTE MUZIEK BY (CD by Korm Plastics)
3/4HADBEENELIMINATED – 3QUARTERS HADBEENELIMINATED (CD by Bowindo Recordings)
GIUSEPPE IELASI & RENATO RINALDI – ORELEDIGNEUR (CD by Bowindo Recordings)
JASCH – SHIMMER (CD by Doc)
THE PHONOGRAPHERS UNION – LIVE ON SONARCHY RADIO (CD by Accretions)
JAAP BLONK – URSONATE (CD by Basta Music)
BILL HORIST – LYRIC/SUITE (CD by Accretions)
JOHN KANNENBERG – GELIDUS (CDR by Retinascan)
INSTRUCTION SHUTTLE – WIDE AWAKE WITH EYES CLOSED (CDR by Retinascan)
BOCA RATON – MANSDOOF (CDR by Absurd)
NIXILX.NIJILX (CDR by Absurd)
GINTAS K – TALP TALP (3″CDR by Zeromoon)
VIOLET & DENZLER – THE LONG MARCH (3″CDR by Zeromoon)
XV PAROWEK – CHEWING IS POINTLESS (CDR by XV Parowek Records)
XV PAROWEK/ODAL (split CDR by XV Parowek Records)
ODAL (CDR by Stront/Interference)
SHIFTS – Vertonen 15 (3″CDR by The Locus of Assemblage)
MILITANT FIELDS – 80.39 (3″CDR by Robotriot)
CDR – ANTIPATHETIC (CDR by Soi Tapes)
CRIA CUERVOS – CANCROREGINA (CDR by Immanence Records)
PUNCK – A MOVIE WITHOUT IMAGES (3″CDR by Ctraltcanc Records)
ROBOTS AND ELECTRONIC BRAINS NUMBER 12 (CDR/Magazine)
ROBOTS AND ELECTRONIC BRAINS NUMBER 13 (CDR/Magazine)
KRENGG – MANHUNT (CDR by Six Moon Night)
SENILE MUSIC CORPORATION – LIVE AT THE CASABLANCA RED HOUSE (CDR by Six Moon Night)
THE SMILE ADVENTURE/IRON BITCHFACE (CDR by Push The Button Records)
DEREK CRAIG ZOLADZ – PRIMROSE (3″CDR, self-released)
SHIFTS – VERTONEN 12 (CD-R by Authorised Version)
DAS TORPEDOES – A SHUT-IN’S EVENING (cassette by Grel)
SAGOR & SWING – ORGELPLANETEN (CD by Hapna)
If I understand the press message correct, this is the last record by Sagor & Swing. Their fourth in a relative short period. Sagor & Swing are Eric Malmberg on organ, moog and accordion and Ulf Muller on drums and percussion. And what joyful music they play! Compared to the previous releases, the tempo is more up and the whole thing sounds more energetic than before – and be sure: the previous three releases were also energetic. Sagor & Swing play happy music, tunes on the keyboards with support of drums (only in “Idiom’ the drums seem to play a solo role, reminding me of Golden Earring’s drumbreak in ‘Rader Love’). Come to think of it, the whole Sagor & Swing sound is a bit seventies. With ‘Distro’ they even could have a small hit at hand. Sagor & Swing would have made the perfect 7” for Meeuw Muzak. I never seen them live, which should be an all exciting thing. What a pity to see these boys stop. Collect all four CDs, immediately. Sob sob sob. (FdW)
Address: http://www.hapna.com
PATRIK TORSSON – KOLVÄTESERENADER (CD by Hapna)
Apperentely Patrik Torsson was an off-shore worker for five years: six months on sea and six months at home. At home he worked on his music, incorporating lyrics he wrote at sea. Patrik plays piano, guitar, electronica and field recordings. Anyone out there who remembers Dominique Petitgand? He incorporated talking of his family with relatively simple music – a banjo, a guitar, a tape-loop. Imagine Patrik Torsson doing the same time, but he expanded a bit more on the sound. The music is much fuller, with even a dash of rhythmmachines thrown in, more guitars and more piano, but the semi-sung, half spoken words remind me very much of Petitgand or of that other quite nice Hapna release by Hans Appelqvist (see Vital Weekly 379), who covered a similar territory, that of music meeting hörspiel, or vice versa. All of the texts are in Swedish, which is not a language I have mastered very well, which makes it impossible to tell what these texts are about, so I don’t dare to give an interpretation. However, from the tone by which Torsson speaks them, I don’t think it’s rough sailor talk about a girl in every harbour, but rather a longing for home. Very intimate music. And yes, another fine Hapna release. (FdW)
Address: http://www.hapna.com
L.E.AK./KOSMOPHON – DUOCHROMATIC (CD by Fin de Siecle Media/Inhospitable Lab)
CAESAR ROMERO – MATAMOROS (CD by Fin de Siecle Media)
A split mini CD is two ways. Not just two bands on one CD, but also released by two labels – and all four are new to me. L.E.AK. stands for ‘lustige elektro-akustische klänge’ (which is German for ‘witty electro-acoustic sounds’) and have a released before an album on Cold Meat Industry (a label of which I completely lost track over the years). Their name is about the only fun thing here, as the music of L.E.AK. is pretty dark, with reversed vocals (although no spells are revealed) and sparse percussion. Probably aiming at some ritualistik that in my down to earth manner is lost on me. The other band is Kosmophon, which is a side project of Caesar Romero aka D.A. Jones, who also runs the Shadowfist label. His two tracks rely heavily on rhythmic sounds, industrial slow banging – crushed by the wheels of industry. ‘Mutter’ is even more noisy, with the loops closing in and forming heavy drone music. I am sure that lovers of old school ritualisk and magick industrial musick will find pleasure through pain here.
D.A. Jones’ Caeser Romero’s ‘Matamaros’ is however a different thing. It was already released in 2000 but is now re-issued. Jones was a member of Rancho Diablo, who were signed to 13th Hour Recordings, a subsidiary of Mute. But the band exploded and Jones formed Dragon Ladies. As Caeser Romera he creates his solo music, which can best be described as music for b-movies. Tarrantino better watch out for this. The ten tracks could easily serve as a soundtrack for sphagetti westerns or soft-erotic movies. Track four obviously for the first for instance. Sampled together from the most obscure spots of the musical history, he sounds like the demented son of Esquivel, with a strong love for the black side of things. Quite some steps away from his Kosmophon project, I sure liked Caeser Romero, basically it’s so remotely away from anything else that I have. I am no expert on film or soundtracks, I can only judge this in terms of ‘liking’ or ‘disliking’. I go for the first. (FdW)
Address: http://www.findesieclemedia.com http://www.inhospitable.se
+MINUS – FIRST MEETING (CD by Trente Oiseaux)
In another life, Bernard Günter was an improvising musician, although probably not many people heard what he did back then. Upon meeting Mark Wastell and Graham Halliwell, his interest for improvising music in a live context came back. Günter plays here ‘electric cellotar’ and ‘composed basic tracks’ – the latter should be understood as ‘playing two of my previous pieces in the background’ and not as ‘I created some new music for this’. Wastell plays amplified textures, nepalese bowls and gong and Halliwell plays alto saxophone feedback and alto saxophone. The bandname refers to improvising along pre-recorded tapes. The two tracks ‘[Minus] One’ and ‘[Minus] two’ are without pre-recorded tapes and, yes, you guessed right, ‘[Plus] One’ and ‘[Plus] Two’ are with. I must say, I played this CD a couple of times and couldn’t find much joy in there. The playing is very onkyo, many silences and many careful strummings of instruments – it’s like they are all afraid to hit a bum sound. It doesn’t differ much from many other works in the same area and is, at least for me, a good but ordinary work of improvised music with two old compositions thrown in in the background. (FdW)
Address: http://www.trenteoiseaux.com
THE WALLS ARE WHISPERING (CD compilation by EE Tapes)
EE Tapes is a label that have been around for a long time, starting out with tapes, then CDRs and now their first ‘real’ CD. It’s the first part of a trilogy of ‘dark ambient music’, and all three are going to be compilations. On this first one we find nine more or less well-known names, and one newcomer, a guy called Sveen. The ‘dark ambient’ however is not just to be understood as ten minutes of drones, but could also involve things like field recordings. So we find some unlikely people here, such as Toy Bizarre, Christian Renou and Steve Roden. Not really names easily connected with dark ambient. Kallabris plays even a bit of rhythmical piece in ‘No, My Dear, It’s Only The Heating’. More usual suspects like Vidna Obmana, Inade, PBK and Troum do what usual suspects should do: play the right thing. There is no weak brother here, but at the same it must be said there isn’t a strong one either. All eleven tracks are quite nice and enjoyable. It serves the need of die hard collectors of bands like Troum, and not necessarily bring news listeners to the dark ambient tag. It makes one wonder what the target audience is. (FdW)
Address: http://www.eetapes.be
TOSHIYA TSUNODA – KAPOTTE MUZIEK BY (CD by Korm Plastics)
The wet, static rain, combining digital and other field recordings attempts to reconstruct “Vier Stukken” by Kapotte Muziek (Frans De Waard). Toshiya Tsunoda (Sirr, Intransitive, Lucky Kitchen) brings together some deep conceptualism to this work. Recorded in Nagaura Bay, Japan, Tsunoda captures the primal frequency of the shoreline, the anchor’s chains, the stillness of the water’s calm with a random gull, general marine industry. Though, if you step outside of the known sound you hear distinctive metals, percussion via churning bubbles and a drone that could be either the well worn tracks with a distant, passing steam locomotive or an elongated cry for help. You know that sound when you have reached the bottom of a favorite drink? Sucking endlessly through a straw you attempt to savor the very last drop, all expectations high that the serving will last forever. This exaggerated anticipation is built tenfold here with a series of velocity shifts, and some added chirps and slight melodies implanted in the background. This is the eleventh in an ongoing series that matches composers with the back catalogue of work by KM which also includes renditions by Stephan Mathieu, Raboud Mens and others. In conclusion, Tsunoda brings us back to the coast, with big (jetliner passing overhead) and lil’ birdcalls. The combination of nature and industrial stillness (and chaotic frenzy) is a complex, difficult listen. Its tension mirroring the way of the twenty-first century world. (TJN)
Address: http://www.kormplastics.nl
3/4HADBEENELIMINATED – 3QUARTERS HADBEENELIMINATED (CD by Bowindo Recordings)
GIUSEPPE IELASI & RENATO RINALDI – ORELEDIGNEUR (CD by Bowindo Recordings)
Two releases from the Italian improvisation front. The first one is by a curious named band 3/4HadBeenEliminated. This is three piece group of Stafano Pilia, Claudio Rocchetti and Valerio Tricoli, all three of them being active with solo releases, the latter two also on Bowindo Recordings. They play guitars, harmonium, double bass, percussion, glass harmonica, resonant pipes, objects, turntables, synthesizer, tapes, electronics and field recordings. The seven pieces here sound like one piece that is divided in seven parts, even when they get seperate titles. Improvised music is however maybe not the right word here. It seems to me that these pieces were constructed in the studio. Much of the material is alike drone music, but they shape it differentely in their tracks. Sometimes a bit more low-end, sometimes a bit more high end, and by adding the other instruments they expand on the idea of drone music, ultimately leading to almost rock music ‘Bedrock’, with the addition of drums and sounds of stuff falling on the floor. This is carefully constructed stuff, much more composed than improvised. Great work indeed.
More improvised is the CD by Giuseppe Ielasi and Renato Rinaldi. Ielasi you may know through his own Fringes label and Rinaldi released some music on Fringes. In this duet they play guitars treated in various ways (played with motors, conventionally played, and filtered via tapeloops), field recordings of all sorts and small percussion. Carefully they play around with this limited set of materials, but not like +Minus: Ielasi and Rinaldo do take risks at what they do. Peaceful strummings, the falling of objects and the soft rattle of contact microphones over surfaces. This is almost rock music less the rock and this almost singer-songwriter stuff less the singer. Delicate and intimate, but prepared to a risk or two. (FdW)
Address: http://www.bowindorecordings.com
JASCH – SHIMMER (CD by Doc)
In the last few weeks I have been playing this CD by Jasch a lot, and always for the wrong reason. He has a background in jazz and electro-acoustic music and has a degree in jazz doublebass and a masters in digital arts. The reason why I heard his CD so many times in the past couple of weeks is that I just don’t seem to get this CD. It’s actually quite boring. Jasch freaks out in a jazzy way on the computer. None of the seven tracks have any tension or dramatic change. It drags on and on, on end. At one point he seems to be testing the delay function and what fun one could have with it. So I played it again and again, to see if I actually miss out on something but I don’t think I did… (FdW)
Address: http://doc.test.at
THE PHONOGRAPHERS UNION – LIVE ON SONARCHY RADIO (CD by Accretions)
With a name such as The Phonographers Union, I am bound to think of the Sonic Arts Union. In the sixties this was a group of composers who played live electronic music and included Robert Ashley, Gordon Mumma, Alvin Lucier and David Behrman. With The Phonographers Union I sort of see the same thing: this large group of people, nine in total, all armed with their mini-discs, CD players and even a laptop, plugging these into the mixing board and making this giant sound collage of field recordings. The field recordings are not in any way processed or altered, but just a little bit of filtering and EQ-ing. It seems to me that the majority of these people is interested in the ‘social’ aspect of soundscaping. Apart from the beginning, where we hear animal calls, there is a great deal of people talking (though most of the time not to be understood what they say) and other signs of human activity. The sound is a bit dull at times, I must say as there are many things happening at various levels all the time, but due to the bit muddy mix it’s hard to make a good seperation. Maybe it would have been a better idea (but probably not conceptually right) to put all nine players on a multi-track tape (computer) and do a sort of mix afterwards, thus bringing in sharper edges to the material and make it less of a continuos flow. Players include: Steve Barsotti, Christopher DeLaurenti, Marcos Fernandes, Mark Griswold, Alex Keller, Dale Lloyd, Perri Lynch, Robert Millis and Toby Paddock. Many of these people have solo recordings with field recordings, so if you like this (and despite my comments, there is no reason why you shouldn’t be interested in hearing this, since it’s not bad at all), a world of field recordings will open up for you. (FdW)
Address: http://www.accretions.com
JAAP BLONK – URSONATE (CD by Basta Music)
It must have been somewhere in 1986 or 1987 when my father returned home from his usual saturday afternoon shopping in the classical music store when he bought me a record. An unknown guy Jaap Blonk performing the ‘Ursonate’ by Kurt Schwitters, at that time one my favourite visual artists. I contacted Jaap back then, not sure if he remembers this, to ask him for some help on getting in contact with Ernst Schwitters, the son of Kurt, because I released a compilation tape of hommages to Schwitters. Jaap gave me some address, and he told me that Ernst had his LP removed from the shelves because it was not allowed to perform the ‘Ursonate’ – only Kurt could do this. That was odd, since the score of the ‘Ursonate’ had suggestions for players. Erm, I see the questionmark on the uniniated foreheads, what are you rambling about? Kurt Schwitters was one of the original dadaists from the twenty (although he called it ‘Merz’, in case you wondered where Merzbow got his name from), making paintings, collages and performing his poems. ‘Anna Blume’ is one, the ‘Ursonate’ is his most well-known one and probably also his most radical. Although classical in structure (like a symphony, it has ‘first movement’, ‘largo’, ‘scherzo’ and ‘presto’) it’s a most radical work of non-sense words, letters, and the like, which are being repeated and letters are added throughout, thus making it a rhythmical piece. There is no complete recording of Schwitters reciting his ‘Ursonate’ so it’s impossible to compare it with Blonk’s version. However it’s possible to compare Blonk from 1986 to a recent version of 2003. This version, recorded live, sound a bit denser and warmer, due to the nature of the recording. This is Blonk at his very best, a single piece that made Blonk to what he is now – a skillfull performer of voice works, solo and in combination with other improvisers – and in that respect we can only be very happy that this long lost gem is finally available on CD. Hurray. (FdW)
Address: http://www.basta.nl
BILL HORIST – LYRIC/SUITE (CD by Accretions)
The list of people who worked with guitarist Bill Horist is quite long, and includes KK Null, Trey Gunn (of King Crimson), Jeff Greinke and Thomas Dimuzio – to name but four of the twenty. There are also a couple of solo releases by him and this, his latest, was made for Canadian choreographer Davida Monk. In the thirteen tracks on this CD, Horist displays his love for the guitar and the various possibilities to play them. There are looped pieces of prepared guitar (such as ‘Entropy’, ‘Scissors’), noise (‘Alphabet Dance’) ambient doodlings (‘Overture’, ‘Vortex’) and even psychedelic sound tapestries (‘Cadenc’ although very short and ‘Gesture’). In all a varied CD indeed, but at the same time it’s all sounds a bit tame too. Horist plays nice, decent, pieces, but at the same time they also remain a bit distant and alien. The pieces didn’t really grab me, showed little of Horist himself. It’s music made to measure. Nothing wrong with that, but it would have been nice to see the dance too. (FdW)
Address: http://www.accretions.com
JOHN KANNENBERG – GELIDUS (CDR by Retinascan)
INSTRUCTION SHUTTLE – WIDE AWAKE WITH EYES CLOSED (CDR by Retinascan)
There are of course always people who claim that CDR are of shit quality, and maybe they are right, at least in some of the cases. However looking at these two new releases by Retinascan I can also state things can be done right. DVD cases with full colour semi transparant paper, and twelve page booklet, also full colour on good quality paper. Almost a real CD. John Kannenberg might be a bit known from his previous work and here gives ‘a sonic interpretation of extreme cold in six parts’ using ‘manipulated field recordings, tape hiss and synthesis using Reason 2.0 on a clamshell G3 iBook’. It’s odd to write a review of music dealing with extreme cold, when the weather outside is a nice twenty degree celsius, but the message by John Kannenberg comes across well. There is indeed a strong sense coldness and alienation from these recordings. The tape hiss works almost like snowflakes and the field recordings are like a strong cold wind blowing out of your speakers. These six pieces are sparsely instrumented but none of the six are too long. Each brings a message across and could be seen as one long track in six parts.
Behind Instruction Shuttle we find one Todd Christopher, who plays Fender Jazz Bass and powerbook here. Not of course any of the bass sound could be recognized here. In the seven pieces the drone material is the primary goal. Long pieces of glacier sounding bass drifts, dark and highly atmospherical. Much a like so much of the works by Mirror, Monos and Ora (and such like), Instruction Shuttle would be a good new partner on that scene. One could object that what he does is more of the same – and maybe that is a right objection – but it’s executed with great care and skill. Sometimes it’s not necessary for a new direction and one just has to enjoy the beauty… (FdW)
Address: http://www.retinascan.de
BOCA RATON – MANSDOOF (CDR by Absurd)
NIXILX.NIJILX (CDR by Absurd)
Two new releases on one of the finest CDR labels around, and still going strong. Boca Raton, you are no doubt aware is a city in Florida, but it’s also the musical project of Mr. Mixer Martijn Tellinga. After his 7″ for his own label, he now releases on Absurd. The release was delayed but it enabled Boca Raton to rework the material according to new working methods learned at his Sonology training in The Hague, The Netherlands. Boca Raton is the man running around with a microphone and a minidisc – taping sounds from the environment. Then he returns to his studio and started treating the sounds electronically. A very traditional way of working of course, but in Boca Raton’s instance he comes up with ten delicate nice compositions. What sets him aside from so many others is the fact that he is not interested in making the material ‘silent’ or ‘inaudible’ or ‘noisy’ and ‘louder’. He simply crafts ten small pieces of sound. Off hand I could think of one other band that did so, albeit in the past. Much of the work of Boca Raton dwells on the ideas of THU20, a Dutch electro-acoustic group. They too treated their sound with great care and what interested them, and now Boca Raton, was the composition they could make out of it. Everything is well-balanced and placed in the mix, which makes this a truely nice work to hear. Joyful. Skillfull. Two things that aren’t always around.
I never heard of the Nixilx.Nijilx project (let alone how to pronounce it!), but apperentely he is a 19 year old guy from Greece. He recorded electric guitar, voice, microphone noise, toy drum, breath and some field recordings and in the electronic process of all of these sounds, he comes up with a very strong piece of lowercase microsound. None of the seperate sound sources are to be recognized and the whole things becomes an intelligent ambientesque blurr of sound. Though the material in itself is quite interesting, I must say that the three tracks are also alike, which in this instance of just under thirty minutes is not a real problem. I think if it would have been stretched longer, it would have maybe (!) leaped into boredom a bit. So far, so good. (FdW)
Address: <absurd@otenet.gr>
GINTAS K – TALP TALP (3″CDR by Zeromoon)
VIOLET & DENZLER – THE LONG MARCH (3″CDR by Zeromoon)
Gintas K is known for his organisation of Garso Zona festival (see last week’s issue) but he is slowly getting around with his music. Here on a 3″CDR on the US Zeromoon label. It’s a strange release. Five tracks in total, of which the first three don’t last very long and the last one is over twelve minutes. In these first tracks it’s hard to get an idea about his music. It’s rhythmical, with some high end peeps, some deep bass but they are over before you know it. ‘Talp Talp’ is a bit longer but at the same time also a bit more minimal. Here the Pan Sonic influence is the strongest. Digital, bit-rot drones are the central theme of ‘Kai Nuvaziuosin’, which unfortunally do not sound original. Like I said, this is probably not the best introduction to the work of Gintas K.
The other new release on Zeromoon is a duo – I assume done through mail – of Betrand Denzler and Violet. Betrand plays saxophone and Violet plays prepared record player, autoharp and sampler. In four tracks they cover many musical grounds. From the collage like opening, via the ambient ‘The Beach Is Red’ to the noisy ending of ‘Inside The Liberated Area’, all is here. The saxophone is hardly to be recognized as such, as Denzler uses some extended techniques to play his instruments. Quite a nice but short trip. The Chairman can be happy with these flowers to blossom. (FdW)
Address: http://www.zeromoon.com
XV PAROWEK – CHEWING IS POINTLESS (CDR by XV Parowek Records)
XV PAROWEK/ODAL (split CDR by XV Parowek Records)
ODAL (CDR by Stront/Interference)
XV Pawowek, aka Bartek Kalinka, has already a couple of releases out, which so far were a crude combination of musique concrete and noise. On ‘Chewing Is Pointless’ however he goes into new territory: that of soundscaping. Many sounds from the city where he lives are played here: inside of a bus, inside of a car, street, cafeteria and station. He plays this back by cutting silence seemingely at random in his music. Maybe Parowek is now all Cage inspired? There wasn’t really a counterpoint, a distinct break or anything such like in the material, which makes it not an easy release to digest.
The split release with Odal brings him back to his more known noise material, although maybe less refined than his release ‘Kilogrammy’ (see Vital Weekly 393). There he played objects and the resultant recordings were filtered and changed. Here he seems to operate in a more electronic way. Less Brume or Merzbow and more Odal, I guess. And who might Odal be, you may ask? Odal is Peter Zincken from The Netherlands and he plays around with low-level since 1986, if I am not mistaken. He used to run various cassette-labels and now off and on releases CDRs and works with De Hondenkoekjesfabriek. His piece is lenghty excursion into Peter’s personal low-fi, home altered electronica. Putting on simple effects like a delay, he creates his own world. Outsider music from someone is on the inside scene wise, but outside enough to make his own statement for nearly twenty years now.
On a self-released CDR Odal presents a couple of more tracks, and with a couple of more people. This CDR is result of various people jamming together on lo-fi electronica, rhythmmachines and microphones. The latter pick up bits and pieces of conversations going on between the musicians. Curious enough, this expanded sound is something that suits well. Odal comes closer to the collective efforts of De Hondenkoekjesfabriek. Cover-wise his style didn’t change much over the course of twenty years. A title is therefore hard to give from the chaotic cover. (FdW)
Address: http://xvp.terra.pl
Address: <pzincken1@chello.com>
SHIFTS – Vertonen 15 (3″CDR by The Locus of Assemblage)
The Locus of Assemblage offers this latest mini CD, limited to 200 copies, by Shifts. At just under 20 minutes ‘Vertonen 15’ is a recording resembling a ball of soft edged digital friction morphing in free space. Frans de Waard keep the savory fusion of suffocated, yet harmonic drone quite warm in its own incubator-like space. It might be the sound one would hear while covering your ears with hollowed out , mic’d walrus tusks while traveling through a long train tunnel – though kids – don’t try this at home. It’s a bit of a sound warp listening challenge that just builds like mercury in a thermometer, mid August in Paris. The pressurized reverberations jitter, obliterating any peripheral ambience with a tonal flossing so to speak. (TJN)
Address: http://www.assemblage.freeuk.com/news.htm
MILITANT FIELDS – 80.39 (3″CDR by Robotriot)
A loop of tin can static reminiscent of the Eraserhead soundtrack hiccups its way for the first 3 minutes of this 11 minute one-track ep. Its one of those compositions which change as you move within the space-if you sit still it seems static. The underlying loop holds the pattern until the seven-minute mark while elements are slowly chipped away from it, leaving just the core sound panning left and right. A vacuum tube hum takes over and inhales and exhales bringing the piece to a muted close. An intriguing work, that makes me curious to see where Militant Fields goes from here. (JS)
Address: http://www.robotriot.nu/audio
CDR – ANTIPATHETIC (CDR by Soi Tapes)
If I understand things correctly the band is called CDR and ‘Antipathetic’ is the title of the release. It’s their debut album. The play ‘lo-fi digital noise’ of samples they lift from records from the eighties. These noise samples are played back and forth in the digital domain in a rather improvised way. These tracks are not really short and do not always capture one’s full attention, like in ‘Interim’, which despite it’s title lasts fourteen minutes. Some more editing would have been a good idea. Overall their sound reminds me of powernoise, but it’s all more cut up and put forward in a rhythmical way, without being dance related. CDR sound indeed inspired by the 80s industrial music, but know how to transport the sound into the digital domain. Quite nice indeed. (FdW)
Address: http://soi.yoll.net
CRIA CUERVOS – CANCROREGINA (CDR by Immanence Records)
Another new name for me, and I don’t know much about him, other than that his next release will be on Mystery Sea. So that might give you an idea in which direction this goes. On ‘Cancroregina’ Cuervos explores the depths of dark ambient music. Not sure though what it is he uses, but it seems to me there is some digital synths at work, plus a whole bunch of sound effects. The result is the far away cry of dolphins or the undersea adventures of a thousand fishes swarming around the wreckage of a ship. Good sturdy ambient music, which offers no new insight on the material but instead continue what has been going on in the field for the last twenty years. Which is not necessarily a bad thing, as this is quite nice late night music. For those interested: a new demo from Cuervos is also available. (FdW)
Address: http://www.immanence-records.com
PUNCK – A MOVIE WITHOUT IMAGES (3″CDR by Ctraltcanc Records)
Quite a while I reviewed the first CDR by Adriano Zanni, aka Punck (see Vital Weekly 357). Now he returns with another short CDR. Adriano uses laptop, objects, field recordings, contact microphones and samples. The work starts out with the rumble of contactmicrophones on surfaces and a whispering voice. This goes on for a while, and in a subtle way sounds are added. Indeed filmic music and easily fitting the tradition of Metamkine’s Cinema Pour L’Oreille releases. However half way through the piece, synthesized sounds are added and the piece changes into a more ambient industrial piece which for me was a bit of a let down. The tension is gone and is now a mere good but standard ambient industrial piece. Bleak images of industrial sites at night is what is now on the film – if indeed it was film. A pity that the good start didn’t make it to the finish. (FdW)
Address: http://www.ctraltcanc.tk
ROBOTS AND ELECTRONIC BRAINS NUMBER 12 (CDR/Magazine)
ROBOTS AND ELECTRONIC BRAINS NUMBER 13 (CDR/Magazine)
There was a time when Vital Weekly also reviewed magazines. Actually now I come to think of it, I don’t know why I don’t that anymore. In any case, I received two magazines from the UK ‘Robot And Electronic Brains’, issue 12 and 13. I have been reading these with some amazement: I though I heard all the names by now, but here I found so many more bands, projects and artists that things began to blurr. Luckily I had nothing to fear because each magazine (A5 – 38 pages) comes with a CDR. Issue 12 is with thirty-three tracks a crowded but pleasent bunch. I never listen to any radio station, but if there is one, I would like it to be as with this CDR. It has all sorts of music, all vaguely close to some kind of popmusic, alternative guitar music, spoken word, some electronica. With such an overload hard to pick a highlight. Issue 13 is a split release with Burning Emptiness who not just add some nice music to the CDR but also fill half the magazine. Less bands here and maybe a less variation. But Loca is a nice band to watch out for. (FdW)
Address: http://come.to/robots
KRENGG – MANHUNT (CDR by Six Moon Night)
SENILE MUSIC CORPORATION – LIVE AT THE CASABLANCA RED HOUSE (CDR by Six Moon Night)
Martin Hoogeboom strikes again, with his as ever obscure releases. Whoever Krengg is, I don’t know. I understand ‘Manhunt 1’ is a studio improvisation. A pounding rhythm with samples underneath of voices and electronics. A bit on the minimal side. In ‘Manhunt 2’ natural sounds are added, such as stones, wood, plants and pipes, which are fed through a sampler and built into another rhythmic piece. At just under eleven minutes, this is rather short. Too short to make a point of some kind, I think.
The Senile Music Corporation had releases on Six Moon Night before and here he plays with Martin Hoogeboom. The latter on guitar and electronics and the first on piano, electronics and drums. I understand this is a collage of various live performances. Truely free improvised music going on, but still with an eye open for some harmony, which made it kind of nicer. Also short (twenty minutes), but making a much stronger point than the other release. (FdW)
Address: http://www.sixmoonnight.com
THE SMILE ADVENTURE/IRON BITCHFACE (CDR by Push The Button Records)
This is definetely the strangest release in this issue. It has seven tracks by each band and last just under fourteen minutes – one minute per track. It takes electronic music to a logical punk extreme. Rhythmboxes are out of control, the singer took too much speed and mayhem is total. Slight differences between the two: Iron Bitchface in general tries to incorporate alienated samples which somehow don’t seem to match the rest of the sound and The Smile Adventure is much more straightforward. Recentely I saw a band called The Hawney Troof doing something similar. Short, utterly powerful and to the point. That’s what this release is also all about. Not a second too long, but that must seen as a positive thing. (FdW)
Address: http://www.pushthebutton.tk
DEREK CRAIG ZOLADZ – PRIMROSE (3″CDR, self-released)
A small run was made on this one and I have absolutely no information on the artists. It credits one Derek Craig Zoladz on sounds and voice and one Jeff Harber on voice. To me it sounds like a radioplay of sorts. Small but unidentifable sounds are made and fed through delay and reverb units. A small bit of electronic transformation happening, certainly towards the end of the disc. The voice howls mainly at the beginning. Like I said it seems some kind of radioplay to me, but the story behind it, somewhat eludes me. I thought the sparsely second part of the disc was better than the swollen, at times pathetic early part of the disc. Overall actually quite alright. (FdW)
Address: <derekcraigzoladz@hotmail.com>
SHIFTS – VERTONEN 12 (CD-R by Authorised Version)
As the title indicates, this is Mr. de Waard’s twelfth Shifts reworking release (and I happen to know that he has done fifteen at least). In fact, this way of working is closely related to de Waard’s other projects Kapotte Muziek (studio version) and Freiband. Both basically deal with recycling existing musical material and in this case the snake bites its own tail, because Shifts is recycling itself. Be that as it may, Shifts is obviously different from the former two projects, mainly because of its drony nature. This work is no exception: the disc contains one track of forty minutes. The first part is a kind of hollow sound, probably based on a loop and pretty distant. It slowly fades into an almost Lopezian bass sound that in turn is combined with a sound like the first one, but softer and lower. The next part is very subtly added to the former, which only becomes clear when there’s a sudden cut in the first sound. This is a very low stuttering bass that floats for a while until a whistling sound cuts in, as if the wind suddenly starts blowing out of nothing. This lasts for some time and then another wind sets in, taking over the othe two sounds. N earing the end of the disc, a loop creates a rythm for the remaining four and a half minutes. This si faded out very slowly. So, that is a description of the piece, but what about my opinion? Close readers of this magazine may know that I am not particularly partial to drone music, but I must say that I found this disc quite a pleasure, especially when working on something (text or other typewriting activities). Headphones on and just work. This music actually keeps out unwanted noises and helps to concentrate on the work at hand, even when there’s something unexpected happening: this helps to keep awake and alert. So writing this review was a piece of cake really. And so was writing the application letter for another job. Thank you Shifts! (MR)
Address: <aversion@gmx.co.uk>
DAS TORPEDOES – A SHUT-IN’S EVENING (cassette by Grel)
Ah, nothing like a old tape to warm the soul. And this 16 minute tape does just that. Old school crusty noise with a soothing drone melody buried under the crackle and hum. Occasionally something recognizable comes up for air through the morass, a snippet of speech or the source tape and then its overwhelmed by the rising tide of sludge. It’s like the noisey bits of Fennesz remixed by Non circa the Physical Evidence album. Actually not quite as good as that would be, but for now this will have to do. But since this tape is a limited edition of only 14 scant copies, I bet most of you will just have to wait until that remix happens. (JS)
Address: http://www.grel.bravepages.com