GRUNDIK + SLAVA – …FOR ELECTRONICS AND BIRDS (CD by State Art)
OK.SUITCASE/CANCER – PRODUCT 03 (CD by Cronica)
DANIEL MENCHE – EYE ON THE STEEL (CD by Substractif)
ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE AND THE MELTING PARAISO U.F.O. – MANTRA OF LOVE
(CD by Alien8 Recordings)
LES GEORGES LENINGRAD – DEUX HOT DOGS MOUTARDE CHOU (CD by Alien8 Recordings)
MARSHALL WATSON – THE TIME WAS LATER THAN HE EXPECTED (CD by Highpoint Lowlife)
TELEPHERIQUE – BIONIK (CD/LP by Laub Records)
JÜRGEN ECKLOFF – KOMPOSITIONEN OHNE GRUND (7″ by Laub Records)
AUTOMATION (2LP by Laub Records)
PAWEL GRABOWSKI – DIARAKTH/IMAGINISM (7″ by Laub Records)
FOR A SPACE – DESIRE (7″ by Laub Records)
AIDAN BAKER – LOOP STUDIES ONE (CDR by Laub Records)
MOLASSES – TROUBLE AT JINX HOTEL (CD by Alien8 Recordings)
GIACOMO SPAZIO – A NEW LOOP (CD and book by City Living)
EDWARD KA-SPEL – PIECES OF 8 (CD by Beta-lactam Ring Records)
LEGENDARY PINK DOTS – CRUSHED MEMENTOS (CD by Plinkity Plonk)
DE FABRIEK – NEVELEILAND (CD by PLINKITY PLONK)
TIM HECKER – RADIO MARTI (LP by En/Of)
EFZEG – PAY (LP by En/Of)
TAMING POWER – FRAGMENTS OF THE NAME OF GOD (7″ by Early Morning Records)
GARLIC YARG – SNOW GOAT AND THE SEVEN WOLVES (CDR by Digitalis Industries)
THE NORTH SEA – THE OSCELOT CHRONICLES VOL.1 (CDR by Digitalis Industries)
GRUNDIK + SLAVA – …FOR ELECTRONICS AND BIRDS (CD by State Art)
This is already the 4th album from this Russian duo of Igor ‘Grundik’
Kasyansky and Slava Smelovsky, and their first release with a
worldwide distribution trying to get more attention. These Russians
are obviously inspired by those little japanese lyric haiku
songs/poetry and that’s evident even from the cover of this CD
because it has one song from Issa (one of the most popular japanese
poets in this style, lived in 18th and 19th century) written on it.
Grundik + Slava’s music here is inspired by minimalism in general and
it’s not aiming to be experimental, cutting-edge or too inovative,
opposite of that, it’s just (too) simple, pleasant and soothing.
That’s not bad, but somehow it lacks new ideas and freshness. It also
has repetitive moments, specially between the tracks when too often
the same or similar very small birdy sounds appear, maybe like a
tribute to Issa’a fascination with mosquitos, insects and all things
small. But in this music it’s becoming a not so interesting pattern
between the tracks. The music is fragile, sometimes it’s like coming
from a russian melancolic fairy tale cartoon. Maybe Grundik + Slava
should be more edgy…? Or put more new ideas, dynamics and intensity
in their music. Being simple is not enough here and it leads to
absence of some really interesting musical contents. On the other
hand, this music is still pleasant, but it’s just that. I’d grade it
with 3 out of 5. (BR)
Address: http://www.stateart.de
OK.SUITCASE/CANCER – PRODUCT 03 (CD by Cronica)
This is the third part of the so called Product series released by
Cronica. The simple (and just a bit dubious) concept or aim is to
release 2 artists or works on 1 CD, something like split in a digital
medium. Here the space of this CD share 2 less known artists:
Ok.Suitcase and Cancer. Ok.Suitcase is Andre Goncalves, connected to
Grain Of Sound label, has an EP on Stasisfield and also a very quiet
track on one of the .microsound mailing list’s mp3-projects (signed
as Specimen there). I know I liked Ok.Suitcase’s music I’ve heard
before quite alright, and compared to the new pieces here I can say
before it was quieter and more calm, which is something I liked,
specially ’cause it’s mainly improvised music which can be related to
the lap-top improvisers like Fennesz and Vladislav Delay. Here
Ok.Suitcase offers 5 pieces. The label’s info says he uses guitar and
computer as main instruments. The guitar is recognizable in the first
track and sometimes elsewhere, but even when it is it’s treated
enough in various ways and there are other sounds too equally present
or even more pointed out, like crackles on the surface, rumblings and
background atmosphere. I think the general ideas here are very much
alright. They’re developed differently in the tracks, sometimes more
sometimes less. It would be good though if there are more different
sounds, the treated voices in the 4th track are a good surprise. And
even more important, the balance of the elements and the intensity of
the music could be better, that’s always important for improvised
music. In my opinion those things work best in the 5th and in the 2nd
track. Although I generally like this music, I’m not as much
impressed with everything as I expected.
On the other side of the CD there’s Jorge Cortes who have been making
music as Cancer from 1997 to 2002 and now it’s released. His music
from 2002 onwards is more minimal click-house. Here we find 6 tracks
by him. The rhythm, more obvious or deconstructed, is much more
present here. Sometimes it’s like listening to Frank Bretschneider.
Cancer likes those fractured but still rhythmic spaces, like in some
abstract dubby tracks from Vladislav Delay. So what’s he doing,
improvising with rhythms maybe? Not really, it’s still too fixed. Or
maybe this is blurry mutating music that lead Jorge to the
click-house sound. Who knows? I hope the house is more alright now.
(BR)
Address: http://www.cronicaelectronica.org
DANIEL MENCHE – EYE ON THE STEEL (CD by Substractif)
His previous CD containing his most electronic work to date, was
reviewed some weeks ago and sadly didn’t leave a big impression on
me, but the announcement of this new CD made me altogether curious
again. On many of his previous CDs, Menche plays lenghty pieces, up
to a piece per CD. Here however he plays shorter tracks, eleven in
total, in about seventy minutes. Apperentely somewhere in here is
Menche’s first vocal based track, but I couldn’t detect that. It
seems to me that on this CD, Menche takes his original recordings,
which he usually transforms in a bunch of sound effects, to his home
and stuck them on his computer to make new processings. Menche’s body
recordings aswell as those animals, fire, water and even melodicas
are wrapped through a bunch of plug ins. Unlike his previous CD,
things work really well here: the shortness of the tracks and the
variety among them guarantee a varied CD, that is still very Menche
like. A physical, direct sound. Menche’s music is all about noise and
here he is at his current best, taking his old sounds and experiences
into an entirely new territory. Way to go! (FdW)
Address: http://www.alien8recordings.com
ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE AND THE MELTING PARAISO U.F.O. – MANTRA OF LOVE
(CD by Alien8 Recordings)
LES GEORGES LENINGRAD – DEUX HOT DOGS MOUTARDE CHOU (CD by Alien8 Recordings)
There is very few music I dislike, and there is a lot of music that I
only like a small dose off. Spacerock is one such thing. Although I
like bands like Vocokesh and F/i, it’s not that I play that day after
day. Acid Mothers Temple is a band that I once saw live and thought
was extremely dull. Three people (or were there more? I can’t
remember) playing an endless jam of bass, guitar and drums. A
freakout but highly skilled musicians. Yet, this morning I am playing
‘Mantra Of Love’ (Jimi is never far away in these areas) and I must
admit I quite liked it. The continous hammering of the drums, the
pounding of the bass and the guitar solo which lasts almost from the
first second to the last. The first, lenghty piece, ‘La Le Lo
(Occitan trad)’ is by far better than ‘L’Ambition Dans Le Miroir’,
simply because the latter seems almost like shorter version of the
first, kinda like a remix, but more loosely composed.
Of a totally different nature is the record by Les Georges Leningrad,
a ‘post-punk’ band from Montreal. The album ‘Deux Hot Dogs Moutarde
Chou’ was originally a self-released record but found worthwhile
enough by Alien8 to do a repress. Les Georges Leningrad may be
post-punks but their sound is a true time-machine: it takes me back
to the mid-eighties, the no-wave period. Hooky lines, falsely sung
lyrics, but also a healthy dose of experimentation in sound (like a
vinyl loop in ‘We Are All’). Weirdness of the Los Angeles Free Music
Society drops by, or Caroliner. Like Acid Mothers Temple it’s not the
kind of music I play very often (and, although that sound probably
boring, I would play the ‘real old’ stuff instead, preferable from a
hissy cassette), but it’s certainly music I quite like; at given
times. (FdW)
Address: http://www.alien8recordings.com
MARSHALL WATSON – THE TIME WAS LATER THAN HE EXPECTED (CD by Highpoint Lowlife)
Highpoint Lowlife never ceases to suprise us with new names. One
Marshall Watson was DJ in New Orleans, he had a dub techno project
with a guy called Brian Geoghagan under the monniker Polar
Frequencies and dabbled a bit in hop hop. Now living in Seattle, he
produced his first album and his music is a perfect match for
Highpoint Lowlife. The nine tracks here are all in the intelligent
(huh huh) electronic dance music field, with a firm dose of
ambientesque synths but at the same time keeping a strong rhythm
force. While I was playing this music I was doing all sorts of small
activities in the house, and when the CD was over, I immediately
played it again. Was it lazyness to find another CD? Not really, as
this was perfect music to do all sorts of small activities around the
house. Energetic and entertaining on a pleasent level. Sun bursting
through the window – the house never looked cleaner. (FdW)
Address: http://www.highpointlowlife.com
TELEPHERIQUE – BIONIK (CD/LP by Laub Records)
JÜRGEN ECKLOFF – KOMPOSITIONEN OHNE GRUND (7″ by Laub Records)
AUTOMATION (2LP by Laub Records)
PAWEL GRABOWSKI – DIARAKTH/IMAGINISM (7″ by Laub Records)
FOR A SPACE – DESIRE (7″ by Laub Records)
AIDAN BAKER – LOOP STUDIES ONE (CDR by Laub Records)
Although my first encounter with this label, by their kindly sending
of all the titles they released so far. They operate from the ever so
vivid Berlin scene in which we find also a label like 90% Wasser. The
releases are somewhere in the underground where techno, noise,
industrial and ambient meet up. Let us start with the the two recent
releases. Telepherique is one of the more legendary bands I know in
the electronic underground scene. They have built a consistent body
of work, through many CDs, CDRs, vinyl and tapes. I must admit that I
didn’t keep up with everything they did, but off and on I hear some
interesting music coming from him. His ‘Bionik’ project is ‘dedicated
to nature’ and on the CD he works with sounds from the four elements
in a lenghty synthesized piece of music. Natural sounding elements,
such as a frog choir, are set against long washes of synths. Very
much, I think, the previous work of Telepherique this is good, but
not always surprising piece of music. The LP on the other hand brings
mostly uptempo music, kind of cheerful in a way, which has it’s
bearings in the older, somewhat darker music, but there is an element
of sunnyness zipping through here. A piece like ‘Sonarsystem’ is
dubby and uptempo. ‘Flugsimulator’ has some nasty high pitched
frequencies. On this LP Telepherique makes a decisive step forward
and is among the best music I heard from them.
The other new release is by Jürgen Eckloff, who is half of Column
One. He calls this ‘temporary musique’ and his two pieces are
dedicated to Gustav Proehler, a theoretican of cut up in the 19th
century, who sought out the ‘possibilities of deconstructing the
grammatical order’. On the a-side there is a piano sort of piece. A
bit cut up, but the piano is as such still to be recognized. The
b-side is closer to the idea of cut-up with a conversation between
three people, who don’t seem to understand eachother very well. It’s
in German so those who don’t master that language very well have a
problem. It’s not funny in a sort of old Nurse With Wound way, but
somehow serious and has an alienating feel to it. A most strange
record.
Laub Records started life with a double LP compilation of the finest
experimental ambient and noise around. On the first LP dark ambient
music seems to prevail, with such bands as Troum, Ultra Milkmaids or
For A Space, whilst the second LP is more about noisy, rough edged
music by such as the Japanese Guilty Connector, Alienlovers In
Amagasaki and Contagious Orgasm but also Christian Renou. Here too
are the Ultra Milkmaids, with quite a noisy track tipped at the name.
Quite a nice record which will find its way to the fans of Troum or
the Milkies and maybe bring new fans to more unknown bands such as
Drape Excrement or For A Space.
Recentely I reviewed a 3″CDR by Pawel Grabowski (Vital Weekly 414)
and I believe this 7″ was released before that. Whereas the 3″CDR
hoovered in microsound areas, this 7″ find Grabowski in dark, spooky
ambient industrial moods. Huge walls of ambient synth walls and the
occassionally flicker of light – the differences between both sides
is not really great. Nice if somewhat dated sound.
A very new name for me is For A Space. This German guy released a CD
on Basic_unit_production, a label of Haujobb’s Daniel Myer, plus he
did some remixes. ‘Phaseadvancer’, the a-side of the 7″, is slow
dubby track of which the rhythm sounds like a respirator, with
tinkling piano and children in the playground. Spacey, dubby and
relaxing. The b-side takes similar ideas into an even further swamp
of reverb, again with a spacey feel to it. Chain Reaction like on a
small scale. Nice 7″.
All of the Laub Records have nice printed covers, but the CDR by
Aidan Baker comes therefore as a disapointment: just a full colour
xerox. Baker is by now a reknowned player of ambient music and his
music won’t disapoint the listener. All tracks on this release were
made a guitar being fed through some effect boxes and no overdubs
were made. It’s a trick of trade that Baker does often. The result
are lenghty pieces of calm, relaxing guitar doodlings that are quite
enjoyable. Drone music of a somewhat darker kind.
Laub Records have succeeded well in placing themselves in a crowdy
market of small labels with some truely nice music and blending the
better known with lesser known. (FdW)
Address: http://www.laub-records.de
MOLASSES – TROUBLE AT JINX HOTEL (CD by Alien8 Recordings)
When I got up this morning, I looked at the ‘to-do’ pile, here at the
Vital Weekly headquarters. What would be a good CD to wake up with? I
choose for no reason at all, Molasses. Simply because I don’t know
Molasses, but seeing it is on Alien8 Recordings, it would have some
guitar music – hopefully quiet enough to wake up with. It was a lucky
catch this morning. Molasses play Americana – did I ever use the word
Americana in Vital Weekly? No I didn’t (but another reviewer of
Molasses’ previous CD did – ed). A guy, Scott Chernoff, sings songs
with a simple guitar, be it acoustic or electric, and piano to guide
him. A bit of slide guitar, some female background vocal. These
simple ingredients are played by no less than sixteen different
players. But the music remains always open, simple and engaging.
Where a few notes proof it’s enough. Lots of guitar, importance on
the singing, the lyrics. This is a sound that you will hardly find
around Vital Weekly. Do many people recognize such names as Will
Oldham, Tom Waits or Leonard Cohen (these people are not the latest
craze in laptoppop, but singer-songwriters of similar territory as
Molasses). If those names mean anything to you, and fill you with
digust, then better leave Molasses for what they are, but if you
Americana is something that means anything to you, and Molasses is a
new name for you, I would say, investigate it right away. (FdW)
Address: http://www.alien8recordings.com
GIACOMO SPAZIO – A NEW LOOP (CD and book by City Living)
Some time ago I reviewed a CD and book (or was it the other way
round?) ‘In Aller Freundschaft’ (Vital Weekly 392) and usually I
would think that such a nice photo-book and CD is a one-off action by
artists to get rid of some art grant (sorry for the negative
approach), but much to my surprise I got the second book today. It’s
again a hardcover book, but less about photo’s and more about
computer graphics. All the images and (small) texts deal with sound
and technology. Photos are manipulated, pages with cut-outs: it’s all
lavishely done. Spazio is also responsible for the music part of the
book, and he has been active in art and music likewise since 1982 and
founded VoxPop in the 80s (according to the blurb ‘the most important
indipendent [sic] label in Italy’, but I never heard of them in the
80s), who releases Casino Royale, Mau Mau, La Crus and more. Since
the early nineties he is into experimental art and music. The twelve
tracks (and spoken intro) all deal with highly rhythmic and minimal
techno. But throughout the CD, Spazio knows to create different
tracks and not twelve times the same thing. Musicwise I was reminded
of Akufen, Auch/Betrieb or releases on Audio.NL – the same forceful
uptempo but highly minimal music. Unlike to many others in this area,
Spazio seems to know what he is doing and he does a damm fine thing.
Maybe the first book on City Living wasn’t entirely convincing as to
what they were up to, but ‘A New Loop’ proved me wrong in more than
one way… (FdW)
Address: http://www.spazio.org/cityliving
EDWARD KA-SPEL – PIECES OF 8 (CD by Beta-lactam Ring Records)
LEGENDARY PINK DOTS – CRUSHED MEMENTOS (CD by Plinkity Plonk)
As the official story goes, Edward Ka-Spel started a solo career in
1984 because he was accused of being too dominant in Legendary Pink
Dots. The other band members wanted an opportunity to get their ideas
through as well. Therefore it’s remarkable to notice that the recent
solo output by the separate members nowadays is far more interesting
than the material they record together as a band. Are the Pink Dots
becoming strangers to each other or do they simply not inspire each
other anymore? Anyway, Pieces of 8 is Ka-Spel’s latest solo album and
an interesting conclusion to a trilogy that features the albums Caste
O’Graye Skreeëns and O’er a Shalabast’r Tyde Strolt Ay. I always had
a hard time with Caste O’Graye Skreeëns, an album that consists
mainly of one lengthy soundscape. It sounded like a non-stop stream
of unconsciousness spouting of ideas. Some interesting but most a bit
samey. Problematic was that the interesting ideas just screamed for a
further investigation, to make them become something great, which,
unfortunately, happened nowhere. Ka-Spel once told me this album was
very personal and simply had to be made, which I respect, but to me
Caste O’Graye Skreeëns served missed opportunity after missed
opportunity, resulting in a frustrating listening experience. That’s
not to say for O’er a Shalabast’r Tyde Strolt Ay. Again lengthy
soundscapes, but now containing direction, and in unknown
territories, for that matter. Fascinating storytelling dialogs
between estranging sounds, at times resulting in a never heard before
language (Big words, I know, but all of them true). Closing album
Pieces of 8 is a bit of a mixed bag, because besides the by now
obvious soundscapes it also contains some short songs. Those songs
are classic Ka-Spel in that they are electronic waltzes. Opening one
The Writing on the Wall is a bit too cliché (we’ve heard similar ones
before and better), but the others are heavily distorted (main
source: guitars), which gives them a nice touch. Still, I do question
myself why Ka-Spel incorporated these o so typical songs – to return
to his natural musical habitat? That’s not really needed, because he
manages to combine his gift for haunting keyboard melodies and swing
in Here Comes the Night and 8.2 8.3, both the soundscapes. It’s a
surprise how well they both connect to the material collected on
Crushed Mementos, material recorded between 1981-83 by Legendary Pink
Dots and only released on cassette. This is Pink Dots in all their
glory, with familiar pieces of music rearing their beautiful heads
once in a while, now showing a different side of their character
because they’re out of the context they are known from. Like for
instance the beautiful violin piece in Premonition 15 that became
most famous for ending The Lovers Part II and the moody pulse that
ends The People Tree, well known for being included in the song This
Could Be The End. Crushed Mementos collects the more experimental,
mainly instrumental and soundscape-like material. Even Close Your
Eyes, You Can Be a Space Captain – one of the classic songs – is
included here in a lengthy version, that’s grittier than the other
available ones and ends with a meandering piece of music, based
around the manipulated voice of a young child crying. Absolutely
haunting, and two years ahead of what Current 93 would become famous
for. Add to that the (again) child-voice driven The Punchline and the
weird little pop ditty March, and you’ve got one of the better LPD’s
“cassette re-releasing CD’s”. (RT)
Address: http://www.blrrecords.com, http://www.terminalkaleidoscope.com,
http://www.kormplastics.nl
DE FABRIEK – NEVELEILAND (CD by PLINKITY PLONK)
De Fabriek (The Factory) hails from the Dutch City of Zwolle and
originated around Richard van Dellen, Louise Manuru van Dellen and
Simone van Dellen at the end of the seventies. Not considering
themselves a regular band (for one thing, they are a label too) they
present The Factory as some sort of workmen-union, and the musicians
they work with as labourers. Music is created through workman tools
and machinery. Neveleiland is their second album (so not counting the
cassette releases), was printed in very limited quantity, and sold
out fast. Now Dutch Plinkity Plonk records re-releases this original
1983 album in a limited CD-edition, remastered from the original
tapes. Neveleiland consists of two 20 minute tracks, two pieces of
storytelling. Zuidkant A lets us eavesdrop a conversation (interview,
maybe) in the Moluccan language. I don’t understand a word of it, but
was told that it concerns a Moluccan soldier who returned to The
Netherlands with his family, when Indonesia became independent. This
was no free choice: Moluccan people became a part of the Dutch army
in Indonesia, which forced them to leave for Holland as well, when
that country lost its colonial leadership on Indonesia. At first the
spoken word is like the relaxing, non-comprehensible drone human
voices become when packed together, but through keen manipulation of
the voices and additions of warm, dense atmospheric sound, one gets
sucked into the music as in a novel or film. The electronics are very
minimal and minimalist, resembling Tony Conrad, Kraftwerk and Conrad
Schnitzler. The second story, Noordkant B, features an Icelandic
farmer telling the story of how two witches destroyed his life. His
voice is treated in such a way that it becomes robotic at times, to
which tumultuous acoustic drumming is added in the background, as
well as other, mainly electronic drone sounds. Only 500 copies
pressed so get one while you can. This Dutch classic will definitely
disappear very rapidly again. (RT)
Address: http://www.kormplastics.nl
TIM HECKER – RADIO MARTI (LP by En/Of)
EFZEG – PAY (LP by En/Of)
Also for his next two releases, En/Of presents two known bands and
musicians. Both records are to be played at 45 RPM but last at least
fifteen minutes per side. So is it a LP or a 12″? I gather they are
LPs then. Both editions of these records come with photo’s. Sam
Durant and Stan Douglas both have a signed photo that comes with
these records. In Stan Douglas’ case it’s worth noting that the photo
is called ‘Radio Cubano’ and it seems to me that Tim Hecker pays
tribute, musically, to the photo. His sides are called ‘Radio Marti’
and ‘Radio Havana’ – and it sounds like he filled his computer with a
whole bunch of sounds taped of the radio which he then slightly
treats in the computer, but it can still be recognized as a bunch of
radio noise. Minimal static music, with in ‘Radio Havana’ a bit of
ethnic music leaking through the noise. Maybe the idea is nice, and
the execution is alright, it’s also a bit tiresome. There is no
tension, just a static tension overload and not a really worked out
composition.
I don’t think the relation between the music of Efzeg and the photo
by Sam Durant is that strong, but I also believe that is not always
the case with the En/Of, sometimes the music is kinda unrelated.
Musically I think Efzeg’s music is stronger than Tim Hecker. Efzeg is
a group of four people, being Boris Hauf (saxes), Martin Siewert
(guitar, lapsteel, electronics), Burkhard Stangl (guitars, devices)
and Dieb13 (turntables). Their pieces, ‘Pay 1’ and ‘Pay 2’ shows
their craftmanship in producing some of the finest improvised music,
where electronics and guitar sounds work together very well. The
subtle playing on the guitar is embedded in a sizzling atmosphere of
electronics and the soft crackles of turntable noise. ‘Pay 2’ with
its ongoing rhythm is even better than the bit less structured ‘Pay
1′ and towards the end a distant saxophone drops in, adding a bit of
melancholy to the scene. Great stuff. (FdW)
Address: http://www.bottrop-boy.com
TAMING POWER – FRAGMENTS OF THE NAME OF GOD (7″ by Early Morning Records)
Slowly Askild Haugland expands his territory. His early records were
all about guitars and treatments of that through his bunch of
cassette players and tape-machines, since some time he uses other
instruments, such as shortwave radio and on this new 7″ a
glockenspiel. There was a time when I would the word ‘erosion’ for
such a process of sound: vaguely reminding the listener of the
original sound, but it has eroded, not through wind and time, but by
re-recording the material over and over. On side A a particular noisy
drone piece followed by a piece of processed sound of rain. It’s a
noisy piece but one with a clear and interesting structure. On the
b-side the glockenspiel can be recognized as such, even when it seems
a bit slowed down. Over the course of this track, time and how time
changes seems to play a role. It seems to be slowing down just a
little bit more and this play makes a nice piece. Good to see Taming
Power moving in such directions. (FdW)
Address: <earlymrecords@yahoo.no>
GARLIC YARG – SNOW GOAT AND THE SEVEN WOLVES (CDR by Digitalis Industries)
THE NORTH SEA – THE OSCELOT CHRONICLES VOL.1 (CDR by Digitalis Industries)
Two small scale releases on a small label. Garlic Yarg is ‘the other
project of Smolken, known for his fantastic recordings as Dead Raven
Choir’ but I never heard of those. Garlic plays guitar here in a
rather free improvisation sort of way, but there is also the addition
of acoustic percussion and flute here and there. Each of the wolves
get his own track and then there is a lenghty piece for the snow
goat. At times things sound pretty grim and dark, but overall it’s an
enjoyable release of rather lo-fi free guitar improv.
Labelowner Brad Rose works as The North Sea and his ‘The Oscelot
Chronicles Vol.1′ is the first of three releases dedicated to the
Oscelot. Although Brad was nearly killed in a tornado, so the series
could have died premature. He too plays guitar on his release, but
this time it’s an electric one, feeding through a whole bunch of
effect boxes. In a way this could be described as ambient music, but
it’s loud ambient. Brad likes the repeating elements of music, but he
doesn’t seem to care about careful volumes. His strummings are pretty
noisy at times, not in a powernoise kind of way, but kind of raw and
untamed. Maybe for nine tracks the ideas, I assume played live, it’s
a bit weak in it’s final execution, but for at least half the tracks
it’s altogether not bad at all. (FdW)
Address: http://www.digitalisindustries.com