HOTELGÄSTE – FLOWERS YOU CAN EAT (CD by Schraum) *
JOHN HUDAK – SAND OR STARS (CD by and/OAR)
SAWAKO – YOURS GRAY (CD by and/OAR)
JOZEF VAN WISSEM – OBJECTS IN MIRROR ARE CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR (CD by BVHaast)
BRUCE ARNOLD/OLIVIER KER OURIO – DUETS (CD by Muse-Eek)
THE NEW BLOACKDERS/GOSPLAN TRIO – SOUND SKETCH FOR RAGING FLAMES (CD by Klanggalerie)
THE VILLAGE ORCHESTRA – ET IN ARCADIA EGO (CD by High-point Lowlife) *
FENTON – PUP (CD by Plop) *
COBRA KILLER/KAPAJKOS – DAS MANDOLINENORCHESTER (CD by Monika Enterprise)
GUIDO MÖBIUS – DISHOEK (CD by Dekorder) *
CALIKA – SMALL TALK KILLS ME (CD by Audiobulb)
TAPIO KOTKAVUORI – TERRA HYPERBOREA (CD by Gemina Stella) *
YELLOW SWANS/THE CHERRY POINT – LIVE AT CAMP BLOOD (CDEP by Troniks)
XEAXX XEAXX – JAZZ BUST (CDEP by Troniks) *
DEVILLOCK – THESE GRAVES (CD by Pac Rec)
DOCTOR QUIRKEY’S GOODTIME EMPORIUM BAND – A6 (CDR by TwoThousandAnd)
ANTHONY GUERRA/NISHIDE TAKEHIRO – SCOPA POSSIBILITIES (CDR by TwoThousandAnd)
BROKEN HANDS/LUCKY RABBIT – LUCKY HANDS (CDR by TwoThousandAnd) *
MARK WASTELL – VIBRA #2 (CDR by Longbox Recordings) *
OMNID/JOHN KANNENBERG – ENTROPY AND INCANDESCENCE (CDR by Cohort Records) *
UBEBOET – BLACK AND RED (MP3 by Earlabs)
HOTELGÄSTE – FLOWERS YOU CAN EAT (CD by Schraum)
The members of Hotelgäste come from Germany and Canada, but they all currently reside in Berlin. Rather ambitious they let us know: “…draws upon diverse experiences within their environment to explore a new music created in the moment; sonic densities and vast cold silences are juxtaposed to bring architectural integrity to their improvisations”. Hotelgäste are Micheal Thieke on alto saxophone, alto clarinet and clarinet, Dave Bennett on guitar and Derek Shirley on bass. Shirley also plays in Monno, Coal Oven and Ununium, Bennett is Tunar, The Hollowmen, Erik and Me and Splatterdandy, whereas Thieke plays around with improvised musicians. Although there is only one date mentioned for this recording, I assume this is a studio recording, with some form of multi-tracking at the basis. The density they mention is surely an important factor in their music, as in each of the six tracks the music is close together. Maybe Hotelgäste set upon an atmosphere, or perhaps a sort of sound, in which they want each player to sound alike. This tight knitting of sounds is not as silent as some of the other current improvisers, and also the treatment of their instruments as objects is not as close as some of the current players in the scene, but it’s remotely away from regular playing of the instruments, i.e. it’s somewhat harder to recognize the origins of each instruments. This makes this CD into quite a pleasure to hear: improvised enough, but also a bit composed, played freely among tight plans, crossing the boundaries of old and new improvisation. Quite nice! (FdW)
Address: http://www.schraum.de
JOHN HUDAK – SAND OR STARS (CD by and/OAR)
It has been quite a while since I last heard a work by Hudak, so this disc comes as a very nice re-introduction to his work. The CD contains three tracks, all of which clock between 17 and 20 minutes. The compositions are the same: a long stretch of stretched sounds, edited and put together almost at random. Of course this has a purpose: it pulls the listener to focus on the sound itself, instead of on development in time. This character of the music is enhanced by the duration of the tracks: after 5 to 7 minutes time becomes quite irrelevant and the quality of the sounds is all important. And here lies Hudak’s great strength: the original material is treated so very well, that one keeps listening to the sounds, intent on grabbing them in some way, while they themselves elude captivity all the time. This is a pretty miraculous feat and one that Hudak maintanins throughout the whole disc. Excellent listening experience! (MR)
Address: http://www.and-oar.org
SAWAKO – YOURS GRAY (CD by and/OAR)
This CD is my introduction to the music of Sawako. There are 7 tracks with a total time of just under 37 minutes. Some of the tracks are hardly longer than 2 minutes. That is rather unusual in the phonographic sound scene I would say. The music in general is a mix of field recordings and electronic (or electronically enhanced) sounds and the combination works very well indeed. All the tracks have a gentle and quite still character that envelop the listener, inviting him/her into Sawako’s world. A world that is best described as gentle, quirky and created with a lot of pleasure. But do not make the mistake of taking this too lightly: it is very serious, but without getting heavy. Basically one of those works that has to be heard in order to be appreciated. What more can I say? Listen! (MR)
Address: http://www.and-oar.org
JOZEF VAN WISSEM – OBJECTS IN MIRROR ARE CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR (CD by BVHaast)
This new solo-recording by BvHaast boss Jozef van Wissem carries not only a long title. The subtitle is also extensive: “Solo lute palindromes, AirfieldRrecordings and Electronics”. Contrary to the cryptic title, the subtitle explains clearly what we may expect here. Palindromes are words or sentences that when read backwards result in the same word of sentence when read normally. Like “Dad” or “Madam, I,m Adam”. Peter Blegvad (of Slapp Happy fame) played with this formal characteristic of words on the “Kew.Rhone”- album. But not only words or sentences, also a sequence of notes may have this distinguishing mark.
Only few composers made use of palindromes in their work, I found out through a little Google-research. Ars nova-composer Guillaume de Machaut (1304-1377) did. In one of his motets a voice sings “Ma fin est mon commencement et mon commencement ma fin”. Part of the melody is first played forward then backwards. Also present-day composer John Tavener makes use of the palindrome-principle for his religious compositions to bring about a mantra-like effect,. So both composers used the palindrome for their own reasons. This is also the case for Jozef van Wissem who uses palindromes are from a totally different perspective. He understands himself first of all as a conceptual artist who is fascinated by the Lacanian concept of “Mirror stage”. Lacan observed that infants from 6 up to 18 months start to recognize themselves in the mirror. So something that is not them – but an image – helps them to construct their sense of identity. Objects in mirror are closer than they appear may be the conclusion here. Van Wissem transposes these ideas to his musical compositions and interprets them on his lute, that happens to be the instrument he plays. Because of this he composed all the pieces as a palindrome. Each composition is mirrored halfway and continues from the point where it just ended backwards to its beginning. My ears are not that trained , that I can judge how consequent he executes this symmetry.
As an idea the mirror effect is fascinating. Also thinking of the musical possibilities is stimulating. But I ask myself whether when used as a leading principle to compose a piece of music, it is enough to compose an interesting piece of music. Because it narrows down increasingly your possibilities. But here we have to remember that Van Wissem is above all a conceptual artist. His composer- and musicianship serve to bring about an incarnation of a (non-musical) idea.
Let’s turn now to the actual music on this cd. All compositions sound quiet and peaceful, the music always brings you back where you started. Because of the palindrome structure the music never reaches a climax. It is more the other way around. Each piece ends as an anti-climax and very open. Tension is built up otherwise here. So it is interesting exercise in mirroring your listening conventions.
Van Wissem who divides his time between the two sides of the big mirror: the Atlantic, made also some field recordings on airports. Airports are interesting places to him, because of the great diversity of sounds. The manipulated field-recordings function as a frame for the lute pieces, that have only the friendly sound of the lute to offer, except in one piece where van Wissem is helped out by Arnold Marinissen on palindrome percussion (DM).
Address: http://www.bvhaast.nl/
BRUCE ARNOLD/OLIVIER KER OURIO – DUETS (CD by Muse-Eek)
Here is a duet of two musicians and instruments, Bruce Arnold on a guitar (he uses labella strings) and Olivier Ker Ourio plays hohner chromatic harmonicas, which is probably not that often found together in jazzy kind of music, as it is here. These two met at an international jazz festival in Monterrey Mexico. Olivier, who is from France, visited USA few months later, when with Bruce they recorded this CD with duets based on Bruce’s compositions. The guitar/string and harmonica sounds in these pieces are very intimately and carefully mixed altogether. The strings usually playing the bass base of a piece, but almost always are also in the front, mixed with the harmonica’s improvisations, which is interesting to hear. All of that played with a great sense for sound on this CD. (BR)
Address: http://www.muse-eek.com
THE NEW BLOACKDERS/GOSPLAN TRIO – SOUND SKETCH FOR RAGING FLAMES (CD by Klanggalerie)
Just for how long can something be final? The New Blockaders announced their ending umpteenth times, and they never go away. Not that we would want that, but what it’s point? These days, The New Blockaders occupy themselves with doing collaborations, in this case with Gosplan Trio, a quartet (!) with Alexei Borisov (voice, guitar, electronics), Sergey Letow (saxophones, bass-clarinet, flute, whistles), Ivan Sokovsky (electronics) and Lazyfish (additional atmospheres), although the latter is credited as ‘plus’, so perhaps it’s a trio. I never heard of the trio before (the name meaning The State Planning Committee of USSR), but some of Borisov’s solo recordings. No doubt the music was exchanged by mail, and it work either way: either Gosplan trio sent material to the Blockaders, and he reworked it, or vice versa. It seems that no further stages of alternation where done here. The wind instruments play a free role in this otherwise electronics bunch of sounds; free but they sound rather traditional. The voice sound like a normal, text reciting voice and also the guitar sound at times occasional. The electronics, both from the trio and from the blockaders, make up the noise part, but it seems to me an uneasy marriage of the noise related electronics on one side and the somewhat more traditional free rock band attitude on the other. In two lengthy pieces all the edges of this marriage are explored, and occasional leads to great moments, but the jazz saxophones sometimes spoil the fun. (FdW)
Address: http://www.klanggalerie.com
THE VILLAGE ORCHESTRA – ET IN ARCADIA EGO (CD by High-point Lowlife)
Perhaps you heard the name The Village Orchestra before, on say, the compilation ‘Some Paths Lead Back Again’ (see Vital Weekly 461), but ‘Et In Arcadia Ego’ is the debut full length. An orchestra of one man, being Ruaridh Law, who is one third of The Marcia Blaine School For Girls, and also active as Accrual and Rose And Sandy. Despite being a solo project it is hard to tell the difference between this and other projects of Law, especially when it’s straight forward techno inspired music, packed inside ambient textures. Although less complex than The Marcia Blaine School For Girls, I’d hoped for something that makes this different than his other works. Say a bit like the opening piece, or ‘Sunken’, which are both exploring the rhythm-less ambient music, or the closing ‘In Arcadia’ with it’s layered guitar sounds. Maybe not much innovation there either, but certainly the different path that the solo moniker is so handy for. Otherwise, this is a pretty smooth and pleasant to hear affair, no complaints there, as this is all music that sounds nice while reading newspapers or drinking coffee. (FdW)
Address: http://highpointlowlife.com
FENTON – PUP (CD by Plop)
Dan Abrams recorded before, as you are probably well aware under his own name and Shuttle 358 for 12K, but here he calls himself Fenton, leaving behind (or on a different track) his more rhythmic, microscopic music in favor of music that is made with acoustic and processed electric guitars. Abrams is inspired by ‘the beginning and endings of pop songs’ and ‘wanted to know what would happen if I made an album out of just those moments’. In the ten pieces he produces quite an ambient sound of calm guitar sounds, which can still be recognized as such. Pretty much along the lines of Brian Eno, Taylor Deupree, Christopher Willits or Kenneth Kirschner. Great late night listening music for sure, without adding any new insight on the development of microsound, ambient glitch or whatever tag is needed these days. Not outstandingly different or innovation but other than that, just a very fine disc. (FdW)
Address: http://www.inpartmaint.com/plop
COBRA KILLER/KAPAJKOS – DAS MANDOLINENORCHESTER (CD by Monika Enterprise)
Of course it’s entirely my mistake not having heard anything by Cobra Killer before, but seeing some of the older releases are on Digital Hardcore makes me think how it could sound. Here the cover their own songs, or maybe it’s better to say: here they perform their own songs in new arrangements, made for Kapajkos, a folk orchestra, consisting of three mandolins, bass, keyboards and cajon. It makes it impossible for me to compare this to the previous releases by Cobra Killer, and almost to approach it like a fresh thing. The music is not even remotely Vital Weekly, it’s very far away, and, although it is not advocated as such, it’s occasional very nice to hear something that is so far away from the daily digest at the Vital HQ. These folky tunes with duo singing is very nice, in up-tempo songs, leaving no rest for the listener, but it’s a highly unusual combination that works surprisingly well. (FdW)
Address: http://www.monika-enterprise.de
GUIDO MÖBIUS – DISHOEK (CD by Dekorder)
‘Dishoek’ is a small village somewhere in the western part of The Netherlands, I just happen to know, since I visited a couple of times. It’s also the title of the second CD by Guido Möbius, following ‘Klisten’, reviewed in Vital Weekly 429. ‘Klisten’ was in one word a great CD, and ‘Dishoek’ isn’t the same blow, but it’s a worthy successor. Helped by the likes of FS Blumm as-well as a host of others who add trumpet, violin, clarinet and human beat-box, this is still along the lines of Sack and Blumm, meaning childlike melodies, minimalist shapes and warm ‘real’ instruments. It wanders through the entire spectrum of music, from ambient to rock to pop and even sometimes folky guitar licks. Deceivingly easy music, made, so it seems, very easy, but that’s not true. Every sound seems to be throughout and planned for some good reason: it’s there because it has to be there. ‘Dishoek’ is a like ‘Klisten’ too short, with it’s nine tracks, just over thirty minutes. It doesn’t come with the same blow, but it’s still an extremely well made disc. Hats off, again. (FdW)
Address: http://www.dekorder.com
CALIKA – SMALL TALK KILLS ME (CD by Audiobulb)
The man behind Calika is Simon Kealoha who is also half of Clifford/Kealoha, a collaboration he does with Mark Clifford of Seefeel. ‘Small Talk Kills Me’ is his solo debut. Apparently he uses sounds derived from ‘strings of dismantled piano’s, harps, mouth organs along with synthesizers and guitars, aswell as found sound and distorted drum kits. Also somewhere it’s says ‘no gimmicks, no short cuts and no loops in this album’, but the latter sounds hard to believe. The music on the CD is quite interesting, combining various moods and textures, ambient and rhythms alike, but in the end the bunch is too varied for my taste. It seems as if Calika couldn’t make up his mind as to what to do. The more ambient and glitchy experiments appealed to me more than the somewhat more straight forward techno inspired musics. But in general this was quite a long album, with fourteen tracks clocking in at over sixty minutes. Some more critical look at some of the material would have given us a more consistent and a bit shorter of an album. (FdW)
Address: http://www.audiobulb.com
TAPIO KOTKAVUORI – TERRA HYPERBOREA (CD by Gemina Stella)
Many of the releases on Some Place Else deal with the music of Niko Skorpio in various guises, but here they release on Tapio Kotkavuori, who is ‘a Magister of the Temple of Set’ and who ‘has an essential role in the practices and information sharing of northern magical context’. This is release is not strictly by Some Place Else but they take of the distribution. As a non believer of any kind, I surely view this with my usual rational sepsis, but the ‘post-apocalyptic dark ethno ambient’ (not my wording) is quite nice. Kotkavuori performs his music on rainstick, vocals, shaman drum, synthesizer but also kitchen knives and coffee maker. The music provide ‘an inspiring background for mundane as well as Other Kind of activities’ it says. The thing might not be my cup of tea for it’s esoteric content, but it was nice to these slowed down tapes, reversed sounds and obscure chanting, like Current 93 never did anything similar more than twenty years ago (and in fact a phase of them I really enjoyed). Not that it matters really, as what Kotkavuori does is actually quite nice too. It’s not the sort of thing I could hear for days on end, but just as with Cobra Killer this is something that is far away from the usual digest that that alone makes it worthwhile. It’s hard to compare it with related music, simply because I’m not up to date on that. On my mundane level it was a dark atmospheric drone, and that’s good enough. (FdW)
Address: http://www.someplaceelse.net
YELLOW SWANS/THE CHERRY POINT – LIVE AT CAMP BLOOD (CDEP by Troniks)
XEAXX XEAXX – JAZZ BUST (CDEP by Troniks)
DEVILLOCK – THESE GRAVES (CD by Pac Rec)
News from noise camp. Pac Rec men Phil Blankenship is The Cherry Point on electronics and Yellow Swans are GMS on guitar and electronics and Pete Swanson on electronics and vocals. The almost nineteen minute collaboration between the three was recorded live at Camp Blood in 2004 and is a single noise track. Feedback, distortion, voices (really? where?) crash in upon each-other like a bunch of cars at a rally. Loud, mean and dirty. A bit of Merzbow but with the occasional grunt here and there adding their own perspective. Pretty strong, if you catch my drift.
Shorter even is Xeaxx Xeaxx, which you should pronounce as Heavy Seals. They offer no less than eleven tracks on ‘Jazz Bust’. Xeaxx Xeaxx is one Brace Plaine and the omnipresent John Wiese, who apparently play stuff like forks, shampoo bottles, comb, guitar, lips, hair straightener, but despite this we are not allowed to call this musique concrete. ‘They are the musical equivalent of cum covered sheets’. Of course it sounds like musique concrete, with scratches and hitting their objects and taking the amplification to a higher level than we are used to in the world of musique concrete. Not the ongoing fields of noise here, but strict collage and cut up stuff, in short pieces of fiery sound. Once again, Wiese places himself at the foreground of noise in the USA, by taking steps that not many other take. Strange yet compelling.
The final new release is by Devillock, and lasts twice as long as the other releases. Devillock is Justin Chris Meyers on organ, tapes and electronics. He also runs the Tone Filth label and also plays as Panther Skull. ‘These Graves’ is his debut on a real CD, but he has released handmade tapes and CDRs. He offers four tracks of densely layered sound, knitting all the sounds he can find together. Slowing down old reel to reel tapes on the title track provide another dark gesture in this music. Devillock doesn’t play harsh noise as such, but he provides a pretty noise related drone sound. Minimal piercing sounds, mainly the lower region of the sound spectrum, making this quite a menacing affair. Noise as it’s supposed to be: menacing, not by the harshness of it’s sound, but by the content of what its sound has to offer. Despite it’s title and bandname, I think it’s a much more serious affair than the average noise attack. Great stuff. (FdW)
Address: http://www.iheartnoise.com
DOCTOR QUIRKEY’S GOODTIME EMPORIUM BAND – A6 (CDR by TwoThousandAnd)
ANTHONY GUERRA/NISHIDE TAKEHIRO – SCOPA POSSIBILITIES (CDR by TwoThousandAnd)
BROKEN HANDS/LUCKY RABBIT – LUCKY HANDS (CDR by TwoThousandAnd)
After a period of quietness three new releases on the TwothousandAnd label, ran by Aussies in London. The first one is a duet by Chris O’Connor on drums and Daniel Beban on guitar, both of whom I never heard, but they are both from New Zealand. Their release as Doctor Quirkey’s Goodtime Emporium Band contains one piece of music that is pretty minimal. Not in an onkyo/AMM manner, but in the way it’s executed. Short and hectic sounds on both instruments that only change their manner over the course of the piece. Minimal changes that work towards a mighty crescendo towards the end, but in a very subtle way. Very consistent playing throughout, but perhaps also a bit on the regular improvisation side of things. Both guitar and drums are clearly to be spotted in the way they sound.
Also a duet is the one by labelowner (co-owner) and guitar player Anthony Guerra, by now a relatively well-known in the London improvisation scene. Here he teams up with one Nishide Takehiro, who is credited ‘various’ as his instruments. Originally he was tied into the punk scene, but none of that here on the release. ‘Scopa Possibilities’ is a thirty five minute piece of guitar and feedback and crackles, which leaves me thinking that Takehiro plays no input mixer. These sounds from the extensive backdrop of this CD, which is otherwise low in volume. But if one cranks the volume up to hear all the information contained within this release, but it’s worth doing so, even when the feedback is also amplified then. It makes this not easy listening music of course, and perhaps it’s also something that hasn’t been done before, but it’s nevertheless a well made release.
The final new release is also a duet, but here of four guys. Two from the band Lucky Rabbit and two from Broken Hands. Broken Hands is Anthony Guerra on electric guitar and Micheal Rodgers on acoustic guitar and Lucky Rabbit is Ross Lambert on electric guitar and Seymour Wright on alto saxophone. The recordings were made on Resonance FM in November 2003 and consist of various cross-overs: Guerra with Wright, Lambert with Rodgers, followed by two pieces of each band and an altogether improvisation. Despite the different instruments used the players, there is a strong sense of homogeneity in this release, perhaps because guitars are used throughout each of the tracks. The careful and delicate playing of all four musicians involved makes this into a very intense listening affair, which requires nothing less than full attention, but it’s certainly a rewarding affair. (FdW)
Address: http://www.twothousandand.com
MARK WASTELL – VIBRA #2 (CDR by Longbox Recordings)
This is the second in a series of compositions by Mark Wastell for solo tam tam, which he records in the memory of Roger Sutherland, one of the founding members of Morphogenesis. Much alike the first piece, ‘Vibra #1’ (see Vital Weekly 434), this is another slow movement of strumming the instruments and let the vibrations run out beyond their sustain. Very resonant work which is recorded in a beautiful way. Contemplating music that fits very well the memory of Sutherland, even when the sound is not very related to the work Sutherland did with Morphogenesis. For those who love drone music without any electronics, or who is in favor of onkyo styled music, this is an absolutely fine work. Not as musique concrete, but made with 100% sincerity. (FdW)
Address: http://www.longboxrecordings.com
OMNID/JOHN KANNENBERG – ENTROPY AND INCANDESCENCE (CDR by Cohort Records)
This is the first release in a new series of split CDRs, with each artist contributing around thirty minutes of material. On this first one two entirely different artists team up. First on is Omnid, perhaps well-known to the Vital Weekly reader, who offers seven tracks of his laptop music. A mixed bunch at that, but mostly Omnid is playing around with glitchy rhythmical notions and other fine processing of whatever Omnid can lay his hands on while recording. It’s not his finest moment as the tracks don’t leave a big impression on me. It’s sort of the usual, standard ok microsound material. The other artist is John Kannenberg who offers just one piece. Very softly recorded (or mastered), this is a top piece of microsound. Hissy, glitchy, slowly developing and enveloping, this is a great ambient glitch piece. This alone is worth getting it. (FdW)
Address: http://www.cohortrecords.0catch.com
UBEBOET – BLACK AND RED (MP3 by Earlabs)
Another fine release on the dutch earlabs imprint. And did I say its fine? Mighty fine? Pretty damn good? Ubeboet is the moniker for Miguel Tolosa from Madrid. This four track work is based mainly on field recordings-water sounds, gentle waves coming ashore, feet trampling along a pebble beach, urban soundscapes of passing trucks etc. That description itself could be about a myriad of phonography works and doesn’t convince the average reader to click, not walk, over to earlabs. Ubeboet takes those elements and renders them into very convincing compositions and throws in other sound sources like radio, turntables as well. Track 2 “Dark Blue” is my favorite of the lot… as the water sounds mutate into a floating string section, ala Arvo Part. Wonderful! (JS)
Address: http://www.earlabs.org/label/LM/LM028.asp?titleID=1296
Correction: in Vital Weekly 492 we reviewed what we thought was a CD by Master Control, called ‘Blood Ov Thee Christ’, but actually Blood Of The Christ is the band name and ‘Master Control’