IDEA FIRE COMPANY – VITAL (LIVE IN EUROPE) (CD by Swill Radio) *
ULTRE – ALL THE DARKNESS HAS GONE TO DETAILS (CD by Audiobulb) *
ANTHEA CADDY & THEMBI SODDELL – ILAND (CD by Cajid Media) *
EFZEG – KROM (CD by Hat Hut) *
PENUMBRA BOOMING (CD compilation by Roggbif Records) *
DAVE PHILLIPS – 6 (CD by The Egg And We Music) *
KOJI ASANO – BAROQUE ENSEMBLE NO.1-NO.5 (CD by Solstice) *
QUENCH – CAIPRUSS (CD by n5MD)
LAST DAYS – SEA (CD by n5MD)
ANOTHER ELECTRONIC MUSICIAN – PATIENCE (CD by n5MD)
BLUEPRINTS – (CD compilation by 12K)
SEAWORTHY – MAP IN HAND (CD by 12K) *
TOMAS PHILLIPS – INTERMISSION/SIX FEUILLES (CD by Line) *
TRIO JEAN FELIX MAILLOUX – AURORES BORÉALES (CD by Malasartes Musique)
DAMIAN NISENSON & JEAN FELIX MAILLOUX & PIERRE TANGUAY – MUZIKA (CD by Malasartes Musique)
I, MUTE HUMMINGS (CD compilation by Ex Ovo Records)
KEITH BERRY & IAIN STEWART – 58 DEGREES NORTH (DVD-R, private)
MATHEW ADKINS – MONDES INCONNUS (DVD AUDIO by EMPREINTES DIGITALES)
PETE STOLLERY – UN SON PEUT EN CACHER UN AUTRE (DVD AUDIO by EMPREINTES DIGITALES)
BUM COLLAR – VERSATILE STYLES (CDR by Club Moral) *
A.M.B. – CHLORAMPHENOL (CDR by Tib Prod) *
DANNY KREUTZFELDT – DISRUPTION (CDR by Tib Prod) *
ASCANIO BORGA – INNER GEOMETRY (CDR, private)
ASCANIO BORGA – LIQUID SYMMETRIES (CDR, private)
ASCANIO BORGA – BAD GROUND (CDR, private) *
IDEA FIRE COMPANY – VITAL (LIVE IN EUROPE) (CD by Swill Radio)
For many years the Idea Fire Company has been active on the fringes of experimental music. Self-supportive and fully independent they are responsible for a series of brilliant albums (including this years’ beautiful Stranded LP) and live performances. In March 2006 Scott Foust and Karla Borecky of Idea Fire Company came over to Europe to play a series of live shows. On these dates they were accompanied by Frans de Waard (Beequeen). I was very curious to see how Idea Fire Company without the two other members Meara O´Reilly and Jessi Leigh Swenson would hold up. The first show, or rather the try-out, was in Extrapool in Nijmegen. Even though at 20 minutes it was a short set, I was impressed the now threesome of Foust, Borecky and De Waard played very well together, staying close the typical Idea Fire Company sound. This CD (a ‘best of’ from the various shows) features three tracks from Rotterdam, one from Bremen and one from Hasselt.
Starting off with a silly, but somehow fitting spoken introduction by Peter Fengler, the first song ‘Pleasure Cruise’ is absolutely great; based on a repeated sample with washes of sound and radio bits and pieces (Foust’s speciality) it is my favourite track from the CD. ‘Cycle 19’ is more ambient and synthesizer based (the synths are courtesy of Borecky), ‘Hanging’ has some serious radio frequences and static and is more fragmented by character. ‘Pour HG’ features a one-note synth drone with radio sounds added. The last song of the CD is a second version of ‘Pleasure Cruise’, which even though it features the same sample, sounds nothing like the first version. Even though their songs may sound simple on paper, the Idea Fire Company has a truly unique sound of their own. Well-recorded and mixed with just the right amount of ambience from the clubs themselves this is a great addition to an already great catalogue of music and it comes highly recommended. (FK)
Address: http://www.anti-naturals.org/swill
ULTRE – ALL THE DARKNESS HAS GONE TO DETAILS (CD by Audiobulb)
Just when we thought Audiobulb were only releasing MP3s, they arrive with a new CD release by Ultre, also known as Finn mcNicholas, who despite his young age of twnety-four has been active in music since ten years. Before he played in ‘loud bands’, but spends his days now behind the computer, creating his music, for this release, but also for TV, short films, PSP when not on the road to play live. If I understood right, all the music on this CD was made by sounds of piano, strings, guitar as well as some metal bow he built himself. It took me some time to understand what this was all about, as upon initial listening I put this CD away as another attempt to connect to the melancholic intelligent dance music, from the likes of Expanding Records or Highpoint Lowlife. After repeated listening I must say that I enjoyed it more and more, but still can’t escape the fact that it sounds like those labels. Maybe at times, Ultre sounds even more ambient, or perhaps even a bit more experimental, such as in ‘Orchestre Neutron’, but throughout the beats rolls over eachother. The interesting moments of Ultre is where piano is heard and some processed guitar or strings and things are less beat oriented. There he breaks away from the somewhat rigid idiom that this kind of music has, and shows the original sound (although it might move towards ambient music). It’s a fairly good album, which certainly holds possibilities for the future. (FdW)
Address: http://www.audiobulb.com
ANTHEA CADDY & THEMBI SODDELL – ILAND (CD by Cajid Media)
From down under comes this all female duet of
Anthea Caddy and Thembi Soddell. Caddy plays cello. She has worked with Darrin Verhagen in the past, played at various Australian festivals and has her solo work released by Australian Computer Music Association and Liquid Architecture. Thembi Soddell plays sampler on this release. Her previous solo work, ‘Instance’ was also released by Cajid Media (see Vital Weekly 495). She samples the cello from Caddy, but also adds her own blend of field recordings. ‘File under: Contemporay Brutality’, which is of course funny, but at the same time, also the case at hand. The music by Caddy and Soddell is indeed quite contemporary classical sounding, with it’s mass of cello sounds, breaking together, colliding, and with whatever sounds Soddell is adding to the mix. At the same time, it’s not just brutality that is going on: there are moments of absolute silence. The dynamic range of this release is quite strong. Going from absolute nowhere to absolute anywhere. A work that requires full attention in order to unfold it’s beauty. Blocks of furious classical sound are replaced by careful static sounds. References go out to Jani Christou or Xenakis. A particular strong work here. (FdW)
Address: http://www.cajid.com
EFZEG – KROM (CD by Hat Hut)
Since a fine number of years Efzeg has been kicking around, out of the heart of Austria. It’s a five piece, on Boris Hauf (saxophones, synths, computer), Billy Roisz (computer; before mainly as a VJ, but now also doing audio), Martin Siewert (guitars, lap steel, electronics), Burkhard Stangl (guitars, electronica) and dieb13 (computer, turntables). An all improvising group and as such it’s not strange to see them on Hat Hut (file under: jazz/free improvisation it says on the cover), but until now I had Hat Hut in my book as a fairly traditional improvisation label, but what do I know? Efzeg never occured to me as a traditional improvisation group. Many, if not all, of their releases so far were captures of their live playing, but on ‘Krom’ (means ‘bent’ in Dutch, oddly enough, but here derived from chromatin – the part of a cell nucleus that stains with specific substances), this is only partly the case. Over the course of three days, Efzeg recorded in SWR studios in Baden-baden in Germany, but afterwards Hauf did all the editing of the material, into what we now have on CD. So it’s perhaps a composition derived from improvisation, or some such. It’s an excellent CD, that is for the most very quiet. Sounds move in and out in a very gentle way. Only the fourth track is a bit more noise related, but don’t expect Efzeg to go the full Merzbow way: it still stays on the friendly side of things. Efzeg’s music can be heard through very concentrated listening, but I rather take their music as a bath: you glide it and get carried away. Perhaps not the way to note all the delicate small differences and refinements in sound, but to sit back and crank up the volume a little bit and then let the music flow by. A great CD, perhaps the best I encountered from Efzeg until now. (FdW)
Address: http://www.hathut.com
PENUMBRA BOOMING (CD compilation by Roggbif Records)
On this three way disc, we find Jon Eriksen, Sten Ove Toft and Utarm – all three from Norway’s underground noise scene. Toft is perhaps best known for he is a member of Ryfylke and has had various solo releases. Jon Eriksen however opens the CD with a harsh noise piece in the best Merzbow tradition and of similar quality. He is also the only one to have two tracks, the second being the closing piece of the CD, in which he reprises what he does in the opening piece, and following the softer and subtle ending of Utarm, it makes a nice counter point.
Sten Ove Toft has the longest piece of the four pieces here, and shows him at his best. Starting out in a soft manner, he quickly fades things up into a machine like drone. When it reaches it’s peak, volume wise (which is much softer that Eriksen) he plays with subtle phase shifting of the material. Only towards the end things get more noiser. Utarm has a strange piece of sampled orchestral sounds, which are fed through a whole bunch of sound effects, mainly reverb. Although it’s highly dark and loaded atmospherical piece of music, I must say it’s not well spend on me. It’s heavier moments reminded me too much of music on Cold Meat Industry, and I was never a big fan of that. Only the subtle ending was quite nice. As an introduction to these Norwegian noise makers, this is a very fine disc, with Toft being the prize winner. (FdW)
Address: http://www.roggbif.com/
DAVE PHILLIPS – 6 (CD by The Egg And We Music)
There is of course a lot of noise music out there, but there is only a handful people that do something that is really interesting. Merzbow provides the real thing, R.H. Yau and Dave Phillips do their own thing in the field of noise music, and they do a more than excellent job. ‘6’ is Dave Phillips latest offering and it is a true blow. Phillips has been a member of Schimpfluch Gruppe, Fear Of God, Ohne and Dead Peni, but his true power is in his solo work. He blends together field recording, real noise, insect recordings, cracked electro acoustic sound and voice together in a truely fascinating manner. Not always loud, in fact hardly loud, but in a true collage style: moments of sheer silence are cut off with segments of cracking objects, insect sounds, speeding up tapes, people shouting on the street and then perhaps, perhaps, silence again. Twenty-three tracks in total, all with a super-long title, but this is best experienced as one long track. The dramatic impact is so much greater. Play this loud and you’ll be scared shitless. It might be no coincidence that’s halloween today? Noise music isn’t about playing whatever in loud volume only, but deals with all forms of sound that are put in some context, tells us a rather unpleasant story, which in Phillips case is all about religion and the wars it lead to. A very very clever release, and establishes once again Phillips as a master of noise. (FdW)
Address: <zvuuk@open.by>
KOJI ASANO – BAROQUE ENSEMBLE NO.1-NO.5 (CD by Solstice)
Over the years, we have reviewed much music. A lot of music that can be classified as experimental, but every now and then an odd ball of rock music, prog rock, modern classical and what have you. But baroque music? Nah, don’t think so. Whereas we are wholly unclassified to write about rock, prog rock and modern classic music, we are really in the dark about baroque music, and yet this is exactely what we get here from Koji Asano. He wrote five pieces of baroque music, for the Ensemble Deneb, which I believe are dutch. Recorder, oboe, violin, harpsichord and cello and they play these five pieces. I am baffled. I can’t say I hate it, can’t say I particular like it. It’s just one of those things that is what is. Baroque music. Not with a twist, not with some edge. Baroque music. Not bad to hear, and certainly quite a surprise after being at the dentist who always plays similar music. If we did star ratings, I’d say: ????? (FdW)
Address: http://www.kojiasano.com
QUENCH – CAIPRUSS (CD by n5MD)
LAST DAYS – SEA (CD by n5MD)
ANOTHER ELECTRONIC MUSICIAN – PATIENCE (CD by n5MD)
Of all bands in the world California-based project Gridlock remains one of the ultimate to combine Industrial/IDM sound spheres with strong emotional elements. Listen to their album “Formless” out on Hymen Records back in 2003 and you know exactly what I mean! Gridlock has dissolved, but the conceptual approach somehow seems to live on with the n5MD-label that was established by ex-Gridlock member Mike Cadoo back in 2000. Not that all releases of n5MD sounds like Gridlock, but as the label writes on the web-site the releases of n5MD deals with “emotional experiments in music”. The three present releases beautifully confirm that fact! Dutch brothers Don and Roel Funcken, also known as the men behind the Funckarma-project, operates in the IDM-territories on their debut as Quench. Soundscapes of warm tranquilizing ambient drifts in the background, giving space to ongoing waves of rhythm textures that penetrates only to fade away giving space for new forms of beat patterns. The album titled “Caipruss” nicely balances between progressive breakbeat-textures and strong emotional melodies. There is a nice jazzy feeling on quite a few tracks on the album. Especially the track titled “Thaenailz” moves away from the emotive atmosphere with the use of cool and catchy jazz-like rhythm-textures and with only a slight touch of melody. An excellent album operating in soundspheres not too far away from Autechre. Drifting in quite different sonic worlds, the emotional aspect remains in the debut album by American composer Graham Richardson alias Last Days. In fact the emotive expressions goes deeper into melancholic soundspheres on this one. “Incredibly beautiful” is the first few words slipping to my tongue to describe the album with the perfect title “Sea” (Imagine yourself drifting somewhere in the sea, you cannot help but letting the tones of “Sea” take you wherever it want to). Last Days as a project floats in the space between edgy ambient and melancholic postrock reminiscent of “Godspeed You! Black Emperor”, though still quite different from the aforementioned Canadians since Graham Richardson has a more electronic approach to expression. Apart from the electronically created ethereal soundscapes the compositions on the album has much emphasis on the the acoustic based sound world with gentle guitar strums and strong passages of cello play. “Sea” is a remarkably beautiful sound experience that will be your best friend throughout these cold and dark autumn days here in the Northern Hemisphere! Californian composer Jase Rex is the man behind last project described here. Carrying the funny name “Another Electronic Musician”, Mr. Rex is another change in direction from the two aforementioned projects. Being closest to Quench, Another Electronic Musician works in the IDM-oriented field with comprehensive use of clicking microsounds and glitches. There is a nice spacey feeling on the album, with slowly waving melodies assisting the complex rhythm texture. With quite a few track lasting for more than 10 minutes, Jase Rex takes plenty of time to let the glitchy ambient minimalism slowly develop. And it really works well! Reminiscent of a crossover between clicks’n’cuts expert Pole and The Orb in Alex Paterson’s most chilling ambient-period around U.F. Orb, this is another high quality album from n5MD. The album title is a liar though: You do not need patience to dig into this beauty! There is a lot going on in the US electronica-scene of today. n5MD is a good label to begin your explorations (NMP)
Address: http://www.n5MD.com
BLUEPRINTS – (CD compilation by 12K)
SEAWORTHY – MAP IN HAND (CD by 12K)
TOMAS PHILLIPS – INTERMISSION/SIX FEUILLES (CD by Line)
Probably it’s quite a risk, taken here by 12K, but all three releases (two on 12K and one on sub-division Line) are all by virtual unknown people. That is a risk in itself, since who wants music by someone nobody ever heard of, but also the actual musical content of the label. 12K is after all a label that is known for a very specific kind of glitchy and ambient music, a kind of music that we may have heard every corner of. So bravo to 12K for taking these risks. But 12K’s Taylor Deupree is a clever boy: first he releases a compilation in the fine compilation tradition of the label, and to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the label. Not with Frank Bretschneider or Richard Chartier, but with two tracks of six artists, who will all release their own full length next year. A such ‘Blueprints’ is indeed the plan of things to come, but it might also be considered a blueprint of the state of glitch music. Only Leo Abrahams is known for his release on Bip-hop, the other five are all new to me, even when some of them have had releases before. At first I played this CD without noting too much about the various bands and my first impression was: good and solid microsound and glitch ambient, but without too much difference. Only if you listen closely you will detect the differences, such as the post-rock guitars of Seaworthy, the bit of more noise direction of Christmas Decorations, spacious ambient sounds by Autistici, the ambient concrete of Jodi Cave and the all out, bit progressive guitars by Leo Abrahams. It takes those in the knowledge to recognize these subtle differences, but it doesn’t make a such a varied CD, which doesn’t mean that what is pressed on it is of lesser quality. It’s all of a very high quality and each of the players seems to have found it’s own little niche inside ambient glitch. Which makes a great promise for their solo releases.
At the same time 12K releases ‘Map In Hand’ by Seaworthy, a three piece from Australia, who released a whole bunch of CDRs, lathe cut 7″s on such labels as Celebrate Psi Phenomenon, Misplaced Music, 555 and Fat Cat. ‘Map In Hand’ was already released as a CDR in an edition of 128 copies by Feral Media. Seaworthy, being Camereon Webb (who seems to be the core member), Sam Shinazzi and Greg Bird, uses guitar, piano, electronics and field recordings. At the heart of the music are the guitar loops and drones it produces. They were recorded on cassettes and reel-to-reel tapes and later on transferred to the computer, including all the hiss and errors for a further processing stage. This makes this into a quite a nice bunch of tracks that is sometimes mere sketch like and sometimes is a more a worked out piece of music. The guitar as such is always to be recognized from the drones and carefull processing stages, making this a nice cross-over from the Windy & Carl like post rock into the areas of microsound and ambient glitch. Perhaps not exactely new either, but at least it is a bit different than what we are common with, and nicely done throughout.
I said three times unknown, but of course Tomas Phillips isn’t that unknown. His CD for Trente Oiseaux we didn’t hear, and the three releases that we reviewed all were in collaboration with others, such as I8U (Vital Weekly 515), Tobias C. van Veen (Vital Weekly 499) and more recently with Dean King (Vital Weekly 425). These three releases were all fine excursions into the world of microsound, and ‘Intermission/Six Feuilles’ is no different, except that it is his first solo CD we hear. Phillips takes the acoustic instruments, piano and koto (a Japanese string instrument) into the world of digital processing. Well, or perhaps vice versa. Sparse notes that reveal a love of Morton Feldman, although certainly at the beginning Phillips uses more notes than Feldman would do, the work evolves of it’s almost thirty-eight minute course into something that goes down in volume and activity, it seems. Sparseness, silence, tranquility: it all gets bigger and bigger, despite some occasional ‘outbursts’, which still happens here and there. Phillips places himself in the tradition of Bernard Günter for his use of instruments, and also along the lines of Roel Meelkop, Marc Behrens and Richard Chartier in use of silent electronics. A great, but perhaps somewhat traditional release. (FdW)
Address: http://www.12k.com
TRIO JEAN FELIX MAILLOUX – AURORES BORÉALES (CD by Malasartes Musique)
DAMIAN NISENSON & JEAN FELIX MAILLOUX & PIERRE TANGUAY – MUZIKA (CD by Malasartes Musique)
You may have noticed that the canadian Ambiances Magnetiques label concentrated on new jazz in the last few years with there series of jazz releases. This trend is continued with the new associated label Malasartes Musique. Although this label welcomes any new music, the first two releases are definitely jazz. The label is founded by Damian Nisenson, an argentinian born musician and actor who came from Europe to Montréal in 2005. He assimilated quickly it seems, as he presents now his own record on his own label. Not bad. Under the wings of Dame Distribution his music will now also attract international attention, which was not the case for his musical activities in Argentina with Dosaxos 2 and the Nisenson Kabusacki Dawidowicz Trio.
Except for one traditionel tune, Nisenson composed the rest of the music on ‘Muzika’. Performers are Jean Félix Mailloux on bass, Pierre Tanguay on drums and Nisenson on tenor, alt and sopranino saxes. If I,m not mistaken I hear klezmer-like influences in some the compositions. Also in his phrasing Nisenson I hear the influence of jewish music at some moments. These and other influences are melted succesfully in a music that in the end is very jazzy in nature. Nisenson proves himself as a disciplined and devoted player who knows what atmosphere he wants to create. The very experienced Tanguay delivers wonderfull contributions. On Jean Félix Mailloux I can say more listening to the cd of his trio. With Arden Arapyan on piano and Jonathan Racine-Ménard on drums and Maillous himself on bass this trio brings to life nine compositions of Mailloux. All three of them are are young musicians of Montréal, active in miscellaneous musical contexts, which is the modus operandi nowadays for so many musicians that are open to what is happening. In the combination of this trio they met each other for their love for a very lyrical – nightclubbish – kind of jazz. The drummer shuffles his way almost timidly, as does the bass with its warm sound. This way both give room to the pianoplayer, who with his nice touch, plays wonderfull melodies. The compositions are ok, but also very conform the rules of this standarised kind of music. Nothing wrong with it, as it is very well done, but not my piece of cake. Allthough, I have to admit that this cd did tremble my prejudices on their feet, wanting to surrender to the swing. (DM)
Address: http://www.actuelle.cd/
I, MUTE HUMMINGS (CD compilation by Ex Ovo Records)
KEITH BERRY & IAIN STEWART – 58 DEGREES NORTH (DVD-R, private)
A while ago we reviewed an excellent CDR release by Mirko Uhlig called ‘Vivmmi’ (see Vital Weekly 525), which should be re-released on a CD is my humble opinion. Back then I though that the Ex Ovo label was merely a vehicle to release this work, but much to my pleasant surprise I receive now ‘I, Mute Hummings’ a real CD, a compilation, along with a CDR that comes with the first 100 copies. Maybe Ex Ovo will be a real label, and maybe they will consider putting ‘ Vivmmi’ out as a real CD? The subtitle of the compilation is ‘A Collection Of Drone Music And Dulcet Atmospheres’, and it brings together some of the more known players in the field (or perhaps even the true stars, such as Troum), but also people like Jeffrey Roden, Dronaement, Rochard Lainhart and Steve Jollife, who played on ‘Cyclone’, a 1978 record by Tangerine Dream. Some of the contributions sound exactely like we expect them to do, like the guitar humming of Fear Falls Burning, Troum’s psychedelic sounding space or Keith Berry or Paul Bradley’s darker than life music. All of high quality, even when a bit predictable. The interesting pieces comes from Dronaement, with processed voices (or should it possesed voices?) and crackling vinyl, Jeffrey Roden’s guitar playing on the veranda, Steve Jolliffe’s flute playing in a onkyo meets drone style mix (courtesy of Mirko Uhlig) and Column One providing the harshest tones in a piece that sound like Organum circa ‘In Extremis’. Richard Lainhart’s ‘White Nights’ closes the CD, but it sounds too much like regular ambient music to me.
And if the first seventy-seven minutes aren’t enough, there is the possibility of ordering ‘Mute Scribbles’, another seventy-two minutes of highly similar music, but by people that are lesser known, and who all have releases on CDR labels, such as Einzeleinheit (like Mirko Uhlig, Brian Uzna, Feu Follet) or Verato (like Emerge). Throughout the pieces here things seemed a bit more minimal and less worked out than on ‘I, Mute Hummings’. Field recordings and synthesizer hummings play an important role in these pieces, but without much development, at least most of the times. Not that I think this is a great problem, since these are mighty fine pieces too. The best here is by Aalfang Mit Pferdekopf, who cleverly waves ambient patterns together with CD skippings. Not in an Oval-like manner, but as ‘mistakes’. A fine piece. And the complete thing is a long trip in the darker underworld of sound. Some names are missing, like the complete UK scene, but it offers many new names instead. In terms of drone music a fine and steady release.
Present on ‘I, Mute Hummings’ is Keith Berry, who provided the soundtrack to a film by one Iain Stewart, called ’58 degrees North’. To create film to music by people like Keith Berry, it is not difficult to turn to the imagery of landscapes, or in this case, sea scapes. Big panorama shots of the sea, with it’s slow waves. Then a clouded sea scape with some rain somewhere in the back. Berry’s music is that of stretched out sounds, which fits the aquatic theme quite well. Both the music and film are made with great care, but both thread also common ground and such offer no new road to the development of drone music. Not that is necessary always, but some development wouldn’t hurt. (FdW)
Address: http://www.exovo.org
Address: http://www.iainstewartphotos.co.uk
MATHEW ADKINS – MONDES INCONNUS (DVD AUDIO by EMPREINTES DIGITALES)
PETE STOLLERY – UN SON PEUT EN CACHER UN AUTRE (DVD AUDIO by EMPREINTES DIGITALES)
The canadian label Empreintes Digitales releases two cds with compositions from english composers and performers of electro-acoustic music. ‘Mondes Inconnus’ brings together 8 works that were composed between 1995 and 2004. The composer is Mathew Adkins. He started in 1993 as a member of BEAST (Birmingham Electro Acoustic Sound Theatre). He received many international prizes for his electro-acoustic compositions. So he is someone with a reputation in the circles of electro-acoustic music. This is also the case for Pete Stollery who, just like Adkins, studied composition with Jonty Harrison in Birmingham. Also Stollery has his work – mostly electro-acoustic music – performed all over Europe and America. On his new cd ‘Un Son Peut En Cacher Un Autre’ seven works composed between 1993 and 2003 are presented. Since 1996 both gentlemen established with some others the group invisiblEARts whose aim it is to perform and promote acousmatic music. All this may sound as if we are in highly academic and elitist environment with these two composers. But let me assure you these two composers are absolutely no boring company. In their own way both offer some very exciting and satisfying electro-acoustic music. A music that still is very much alife since it was initiated by Pierre Schaeffer.
Especially in the works of Stollery a diversity of concrete sounds can be traced and identified.
From this Stolley builts abstract and
surrealistic soundscapes. He succeeds in preserving the ‘purity’ of the original sounds, which makes his work very colorful. With a great sense for detail, he composes dynamic and intriguing structures that kept my attention from beginning to the end. I,m not familiar enough with this kind of music in order to discover whether these electro-acoustic compositions carry a personal signature. Listening to both cds I found myself unable in identifying the hand of Adkins or Stollery. In general the works of Adkins are more ambient-like and synthetic, and less whimsical then the works of Stollery.
As indicated above, both items are released as DVD audio. This means that you look, while listening, to a static picture on your screen. But this adds absolutely nothing. For this kind of music you better close your eyes and let your phantasy produce it,s own pictures. Recommended. (DM)
Address: http://www.empreintesdigitales.com/
BUM COLLAR – VERSATILE STYLES (CDR by Club Moral)
Not being a quiz man myself, it eluded me at first of course that Bum Collar is an anagram of Club Moral. Club Moral died after twenty-some years last year, with core members DDV and AMVK moving to different countries and pursueing other fields of art, although DDV still, irregular, podcasts the excellent Club Moral archive. So for whatever reasons I am not aware of they reunited, still with Mauro Pawlowski on guitars (just as in the last years of Club Moral-as-band) and with one Paul Mennes of browntones and engineering. I must say I am not too impressed with this first work. The guitar by Pawlowski adds an improvisational quality to some of the songs which takes away some of the sharpness of some of the tracks. Furthermore Bum Collar uses a rhythm machine – nothing against that – but it sounds a bit too weak. What remains, is DDV voices and piercing electronics, the two main ingredients of Club Moral, which work well, just as in ‘I Feel Bad’. Overall it seems to me a bit directionless and throughout it reaches out for a power that is not there yet. It’s a bit hard to tell what is ‘wrong’ with it. Perhaps the production? The actual songs? No ideas here. I can see the potential of Bum Collar, I can hear what I don’t like about it, but the solution I don’t have. Let’s wait and see what they come up with. (FdW)
Address: http://www.myspace.com/bumcollarsound
A.M.B. – CHLORAMPHENOL (CDR by Tib Prod)
DANNY KREUTZFELDT – DISRUPTION (CDR by Tib Prod)
These two releases on Tib Prod are quite surprising. Not because Tib Prod releases such things, but the actual, musical content of the music. Behind A.M.B. we find Miguel A. Ruiz (DSP programming, digital editing), Heike Boehm (modulated voix) and Siegmar Fricke (programmings, sequencing). Fricke and Ruiz have been active in electronic music since more than twenty years, and perhaps that’s the moment when things start to itch. Why always be serious, be experimental? Why not something to dance too? I am not sure if that is the thing that went through their mind, but the ‘beach mix’ of the title tracks certainly hints that way. It has an uplifting techno beat, with vocoded vocals. It’s perhaps a pity that this track appears here in four different versions, some rhythmic, some ambient. But four out of nine is a bit much. Being not much of a dancer myself, I can’t say wether this would fill the floor very well, but somehow I doubt that. It’s a bit too slow, and a bit too outdated. Ten or so years ago, when ambient house was it’s peak, this would have certainly found it’s way to one of the smaller labels wanting to jump the bandwagon and even today it makes a highly pleasant listen, without being highly original. Surprising however to see these boys do this.
And what is also surprising is the EP (twenty minutes) by Danny Kreutzfeldt, whom we know mostly through his ambient releases on Databloem. Some of those also carried traces of rhythm oriented music, as found on Chain Reaction. However on ‘Disruption’ things are much more, a lot more noise related. Everything is full on with regard to the noise. All the filters are wide open, and the result is, once it started, a full on blast of noise in a good Merzbowian tradition, but however without the decisive force that the master of Japan is known for. I think I prefer his other work much more. It’s not that I don’t like noise, but this just isn’t it. (FdW)
Address: http://www.tibprod.com
ASCANIO BORGA – INNER GEOMETRY (CDR, private)
ASCANIO BORGA – LIQUID SYMMETRIES (CDR, private)
ASCANIO BORGA – BAD GROUND (CDR, private)
Perhaps to shed some light on his career, Ascanio Borga mailed me three of his releases, of which Bad Ground is the latest. The other two are from 2001 and 2002 respectively, but still available. I will not make a habit in reviewing things that old, and briefly mention them here. Borga plays guitar, among them in a trash-death band Die (trash-death), Ossinax (experimental rock), Kajal (techno rock), Renoir (alternative rock), Thought #0 (dark rock), Peckimpah (instrumental post-rock), but like so many others captured in Vital Weekly there is a corner in his heart for experimental and electronic music.
His 2001 release ‘Inner Geometry’ is a fixed point in time of ambient music. Arpeggio’s in the title track is perhaps not the best starting point, but the the three other tracks also stay a bit too much on the safe side of ambient music. Music that was produced this way twenty years ago, and will still be done in excately similar fashion in twenty years time. Fine, but not great.
‘Liquid Symmetries’ is from a year later and is apparentely entirely improvised. Long piece, all in the range of eight to fourteen minutes of slowly shifting material, many with some vague traces of an acquatic theme, with slowed down bubbling sounds, either from samples sources of water sound, but heavily processed in the world of sound effects. Highly ambient, but with a healthy dose of experimentalism.
Which brings us to ‘Bad Ground’, after a leap of four years his latest release. Not sure what happened in those four years, but life certainly has become a little bit more dark for Borga. Only two tracks here, still spanning forty-seven minutes, but what is captured here is certainly more dark than the previous two releases. Ambient industrial music with a big ‘A’ and a big ‘I’. Chilling to the bone, this is a post-nuclear war soundtrack. The last man on earth wanders around through the wasteland and the nuclear fall out is everywhere. The music is like a giant dark cloud hanging over this desolate landscape and rusty chains mark the no go area. By far the best release of the three, even when also ‘Bad Ground’ walks common ground in the world of ambient industrial music, but it’s executed with great care. (FdW)
Address: http://www.ascanioborga.com
PODCAST ANNOUNCEMENT:
From: “gintas k” <gintaskr@takas.lt>
Crónica is proud to present the 15th Crónicaster, by Gintas K.
http://www.cronicaelectronica.org/cronicaster/cronicast015.mp3
http://www.cronicaelectronica.org/?one=cronicaster
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