MACHINEFABRIEK – MORT AUX VACHES (CD by Staalplaat)
MAHMOUD REFAT – MORT AUX VACHES (CD by Staalplaat) *
FRANCISCO LOPEZ – UNTITLED #188 (CD by Con-V) *
DUCHESS SAYS – ANTHOLOGIE DES 3 PERCHOIRS (CD by Alien8 Recordings) *
EVENTLESS PLOT/GOOD LUCK MR. GORKY (CD by Granny Records) *
HANNES LÖSCHEL – HERZ.BRUCH.STÜCK (CD by Loewenhertz)
STEFANO PILIA – ACTION SILENCE PRAYER (CD by Die Schachtel)
ANDREA BELFI – KNOTS (CD by Die Schachtel) *
LULLATONE – THE BEDTIME BEAT (CD by Someone Good)
THE RATIONAL ACADEMY – A HEART AGAINST YOUR OWN (CD by Someone Good)
KLANGWART – STADTLANDFLUSS (CD by Staubgold) *
MAPSTATION/PAUL WIRKUS – FOREST FULL OF DRUMS (LP by Staubgold)
JASMINA MASCHINA – THE DEMOLITION SERIES (CD by Staubgold)
PEDAL – PEDAL (CD by Staubgold)
HEAVEN AND – SWEETER AS THE YEARS ROLL BY (CD by Staubgold)
A (CD compilation by Zelphabet)
B (CD compilation by Zelphabet)
PARX-X – A COMPILATION OF INDEPENDENT MUSIC (CD by Clear Springs Entertainment)
MUZYKA VOLN (CD compilation by Muzyka Voln)
OVERDOSE KUNST – WAS IST OVERDOSE KUNST (3″CDR by Zhelezobeton)
KRYPTOGEN RUNDFUNK & HLADNA – ROKTON + FORMANTA (3″CDR by Zhelezobeton) *
ESTHER VENROOY – THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE (LP by Entr’acte)
SAN KAZAKGASCAR/THE MASTER MUSICIANS OF HOP-FROG (7″ by URCK Records)
MARC MANNING – A SKELETON, SOON AND THE FOREVER (CDR Dragon’s Eye Recordings)
ETERNAL ICE – YELLOW AND RED (CDR, private)
UNDECISIVE GOD – EVERYTHING’S BROKEN (CDR by Shame File Music) *
XDUGEF – BOSSLADY (CDR by Canned Beef Records)
LEO MARS – LIGHTEARS (CDR by Naiv Super) *
THE MACHINE AGAINST RAGE (CDR by nolabel)
[NOISE SYMBOL] (CDR by nolabel)
KOMMISSAR HJULER/JURGEN O OLBRICHT (CDR/DVDR by SHMF)
KOSTIS KILYMIS – ACCUMULATED (CDR by A Question Of Re_Entry) *
PASCAL BATTUS & ALFREDDO COSTA MONTEIRO – DUCTILE (CDR by A Question Of Re_Entry)
JLIAT – NOW THAT’S WHAT I CALL NOISE (CDR by Jliat) *
JDG – LIVING UNDERGROUND (CDR by Cohort Records)
THE INFANT CYCLE/DRONAEMENT – SPLIT (CDR by Cohort Records)
PLASTIC BONER BAND – DANCE, CALIFORNIA (3″CDr by Dokuro )
GOOD NOISE BAD NOISE – ODD ROOKS RECUR (3″CDr by Dokuro )
TORSTEIN WJIIK – KOMPRIMERT MUNN (3″CDr by Dokuro )
NODOLBY – MADE OF BLAZES/MAZE OF BLADES (Lilac C16 by Dokuro )
ADAM SONDERBERG (cassette by Ophibre)
PAL ASLE PETTERSEN & UBEBOET & UR – THE TWISTS AND THE TURNS OF THE LOVED AND HATED U (MP3 by Chew Z)
ADRIAN JUAREZ & ZENLU – RANDOM TRIP (MP3 by Chew Z)
LULE KAINE – RADIATIONS FROM FUTURIST FURNITURE (MP3 by Chew Z) *
MACHINEFABRIEK – MORT AUX VACHES (CD by Staalplaat)
MAHMOUD REFAT – MORT AUX VACHES (CD by Staalplaat)
It’s been awhile since we last heard from Staalplaat as a label and the two releases that are now ‘new’ in the Mort Aux Vaches series, are in fact recorded some time ago. The Refat one in 2006 and Machinefabriek is a bit hard to tell. The cover is made with stamps but on my copy it’s a bit hard to read. But it’s also been on the shelf for some time, which in the case of Machinefabriek is a bummer. Rutger Zuydervelt released so much music in the past three years that we got a pretty clear idea about how he developed in that period, but it’s a bit hard to say where his Mort Aux Vaches will fit in. We hear him play guitar, more than he does these days, but throughout his carefully created atmospheric music is already present here. It moves away from the previous released live recording in that sense that they are less noise based and forecasts his recent music. However things are less complex around here, and works on a more straight forward level. The emphasis lies on the guitar, which shows Zuydervelt here to be a good student of Oren Ambarchi, with perhaps a bit more effects at his disposal. Minimal, atmospheric: it’s all there yet not as refined as in much of his later work.
Mahmoud Refat is from Egypt, who previously released on Leerraum. He’s not a player of traditional instruments, but is a ‘normal’ (??) artist with sound installations, field recordings – following a career in funk/acid jazz/experimental music. I must say I had no expectations whatsoever. I can’t say I’m disappointed. The whole notion that it should be ethnic (inspired) is of course bull shit. It proofs that whatever we call microsound (for the lack of any better term) is much more a global thing that we knew. Refat plays laptop music, using sounds of whatever field nearby or far away, but he adds low humming beats – think Ikeda or Noto but on a much more subdued level – which work well as a creepy undercurrent for the music. The rhythmical notion he puts on makes this perhaps more clicks ‘n cuts (for the lack of any better term) than plain microsound, but the addition of field recordings is certainly a refreshing look on the subject matter. Meelkop meets Noto, Chartier meet Pan Sonic – if you catch my fantasy running wild on the subject. For me an entirely new artist, but certainly someone to watch for the future. (FdW)
Address: http://www.staalplaat.com
FRANCISCO LOPEZ – UNTITLED #188 (CD by Con-V)
Back in Vital Weekly 537 I reviewed ‘Montreal Sound Matter’, a compilation CD, which was made up using sounds from that lovely Canadian city (I hope I now apply for a free plane ticket after all this promotion), put together by Francisco Lopez as part of a workshop organized under his guidance. Lopez lived in that city at that time, and had been there on numerous occasions. On ‘Untitled #188’ he goes back to all the sound material from that city he recorded over the years, as well as the sounds recorded for ‘Montreal Sound Matter’ and built a new seventy-one minute piece out of that. Perhaps as a goodbye to the city, since rumor has he is going to live in Amsterdam (which in my book is a big leap backwards, but alas). It’s a very Lopezian work, divided in various sections of sounds from the environment, yet it’s hard to recognize these sounds. I won’t even try to make an assumption here. It moves from block to block, divided by silence, or near silence. It makes you aware of your environment, even in the silent street I live in. Highly ‘processed’ sounds, although perhaps (perhaps!) it’s just a matter of making all the right equalization or even adding loops to the proceedings. Quite a dark piece that requires full attention. You should adjust the volume in the opening sequence. Put that up there, quite loud, and you’ll be find for the rest of the CD. It moves away from the old Lopez and his side steps with heavy metal samples, but it’s so much better: a thoughtful collage of sounds, never near silence when the music actually plays and can easily meet his best releases, ‘La Selva’, ‘Buildings [New York]’ or his recent ‘Pantagonia Wind’. Great first real CD for Con-V – way to go, boys. (FdW)
Address: http://www.con-v.org
DUCHESS SAYS – ANTHOLOGIE DES 3 PERCHOIRS (CD by Alien8 Recordings)
No information along this one, so I must assume that Duchess Says is the bandname and ‘Anthologie Des 3 Perchoirs’ is the title, that there thirteen tracks and that it is released by Alien8 Recordings. Which is good, since it leaves something to guess. My guess is that Duchess Says is off spring of Lesbians On Ecstacy, who are also on the same label, and with whom Duchess Says share an interest in uptempo beats from the groove box, nasty guitars and spitting vocals. Like with the Lesbians it’s hard to understand what these lyrics are about, but I believe they don’t share the radical lesbian point. They don’t share a love for playing covers or tunes based on covers. Thirteen tracks of forceful, loud tunes, with the energy and speed of punk. Not exactly sing a long pieces, that is a bit of a bummer, but it’s certainly the nicest attempt at strange popmusic of this week. (FdW)
Address: http://www.alien8recordings.com
EVENTLESS PLOT/GOOD LUCK MR. GORKY (CD by Granny Records)
Perhaps a granny left some money behind so there could be a label called Granny Records? Their second release, following a compilation ‘Bits Of Quartz Glitter’ is a split release between two new bands, for me new that is. Three pieces by Eventless Plot and three by Good Luck Mr. Gorsky, who open the proceedings here. Also both bands have three members. Stylewise the two bands are related but there are minor differences. They operate both in a corner where rock meets electronic meets improvisation. There is the use of real instruments, guitar, drums, harmonium with the additional use of laptops to create an expanded rock sound. A bit like Fessenden or Haptic does, but in say ‘Olchmin’ by Good Luck Mr. Gorsky things are much more musical. They also use a voice in one track, but the soft mumbling is not really my cup of beer. With differences so small, it’s hard to believe that these are two different bands. I must admit I didn’t notice it until after playing it for the second time and taking a closer look at the cover. The musical quality however is very high for both bands. Great playing, moody music, enough sense of experimentalism, make this a great CD that can easily meet the best in this otherwise not very crowded field. (FdW)
Address: <grannyrecords@yahoo.com>
HANNES LÖSCHEL – HERZ.BRUCH.STÜCK (CD by Loewenhertz)
Löschel is a composer/musician from Austria. Vienna to be more precise. Early in his career he was specialized in playing modern composed music. Later he turned to improvised music. This background is very obvious on his new CD ‘Herz.Bruch.Stück’, a collection of songs reporting from life from wedding to grave. Songs that are deeply rooted in the austrian musical song tradition. We hear great renditions of Franz Schubert songs ‘Das Wirthaus’ and ‘Die Nacht’. Irresistible waltzes of Strauss, compositions of Löschel himself, etc. Songs that are sung in the beautiful vienna dialect, that you do not wish to understand because the expression and sound of it, says it all. In a very natural way these old songs are combined with improvisation and a more modern jazzy approach, always staying close to the original spirit of these old songs. In the way Löschel arranged, composed and interpreted this music, he proves that this austrian blues still is very enjoyable and up to date. Hannes Löschel surrounded himself with the following musicians: Klemens Lendl (violin, vocals), Michael Bruckner (guitars), Walther Soyka (harmonica), Karl Stirner (cither), Thomas Berghammer (trumpet, horn), Bernd Satzinger (bass), Mathias Koch (drums) and David Müller (vocals on track 4). Löschel himself plays piano, harmonium and cither. All of them play acoustic. There is only an electric guitar on some of the songs like in ‘Warum’ where Bruckner plays a nice solo, and where Berghammer is even more impressive on trumpet. This music is open to everything that happens in life, but always keeps a smile on his face. True soul music. (DM)
Address: http://www.loewenhertz.at/
STEFANO PILIA – ACTION SILENCE PRAYER (CD by Die Schachtel)
ANDREA BELFI – KNOTS (CD by Die Schachtel)
A story I told before is that on the night I saw 3/4Hadbeeneliminated I also saw Andrea Belfi, of whom I never heard. Belfi blew me away in his silent approach of the drumkit and organ, whereas 3/4Hadbeeneliminated blew me away, volume wise that is, not quality wise. Here Pilia, the guitarist of 3/4Hadbeeneliminated offers a solo release and it may seem he’s trying to make up things for that loud concert. He plays guitar, obviously, plus loop pedal in six pieces that all breath a fresh breeze, morning sun light and tranquility. Ambient music with the big A that is. He does a very refined job here, absolutely weightless, timeless and whatever less one can think off, but since Brian Eno took off with the Apollo, there is not much news under the ambient sun. If you like calm, thoughtful and contemplating music, this is the place to be.
As far as I can remember from the Belfi concert, in relationship to ‘Knots’, I think this CD is the culmination of playing that material. Belfi is a drummer, but one with a soft, gentle touch. He doesn’t have the harsh banging methods of say Jon Mueller, but his work is more about silence. He carefully hits a bit, even a rhythm or two (be reminded that this is hardly the work of improvisation), to which he adds a small, delicate blend of electronics (hammond organ perhaps, humming, static crackles). Like Pilia soft music that however is less ambient than Pilia, or rather perhaps it is ambient, but not of the well-known kind. Belfi actually does something that crosses the paths of ambient, post rock and electronica (and perhaps even a bit of ethnic music, I should add), and has crafted a really beautiful piece of work. Pilia is good, but known. Belfi is better because it bends the genre a bit further. (FdW)
Address: http://www.die-schachtel.com
LULLATONE – THE BEDTIME BEAT (CD by Someone Good)
THE RATIONAL ACADEMY – A HEART AGAINST YOUR OWN (CD by Someone Good)
On Room40 subpop label Someone Good, the next two outings in this area. Lullatone is a name that I surely remember from the past – but where from? I don’t seem to remember. They have ten tracks in twenty minutes and their instruments are shown on the inside of the cover. The Orff instruments, a stripped down set of drums and some sort of organ. But if you look well, there is also a computer. Shawn Seymour and Yoshimi Tomida are Lullatone and they play a highly naive form of popmusic. The singing is almost that of a child, a bit false, the music is dreamy. It sounds like a further stripped down version of Tujiko Noriko, but stripped off the longer endings. The whole brief character of the CD makes this actually quite nice. Short, sweet tracks, many in number, small in length, makes this a very nice, just about long enough release.
Popmusic too, but then something entirely different comes from the Rational Academy, which, according to the cover (again!), is a big band, but basically centered around Benjamin Thompson and Meredith McHugh. The people around them, from Ben Frost to For Barry Ray, who provide a part electronic, part rock based sound, but at the centre the vocals of the principle core duo. Perhaps it’s the extended line up of various musicians that make this a highly varied CD. McHugh’s voice reminds me of Noriko (but not at all through the music though), the music is a fine mixture of electronic rock, rocktronic. I am no expert in this particular field, but I can say I surely enjoyed these seven songs a lot. Alternative rock at it’s best. Well, my guess that is. (FdW)
Address: http://www.someonegood.org
KLANGWART – STADTLANDFLUSS (CD by Staubgold)
MAPSTATION/PAUL WIRKUS – FOREST FULL OF DRUMS (LP by Staubgold)
JASMINA MASCHINA – THE DEMOLITION SERIES (CD by Staubgold)
PEDAL – PEDAL (CD by Staubgold)
HEAVEN AND – SWEETER AS THE YEARS ROLL BY (CD by Staubgold)
A small explosion here for Staubgold, which I, for once, will accept, even when it’s more than three. One of the things I looked forward to was the new Klangwart. Klangwart is the duo of Markus Detmer (Staubgold CEO) and Timo Reuber. They have been working together since 1996 but their has been only a handful of releases. In fact five, all in the years 1997 to 1999. Since then things have been quiet, but Klangwart has been around playing concerts. As such ‘Stadtlandfluss’ is not exactly new, since they attempted to record a version of it in 2004, when I saw this also performed live at Extrapool. In 2007 they finally succeeded in recording a version they liked. Using loops and electronics, along a pretty flexible score, they can perform this piece is various ways. Using samples from classical music, voices lifted from the radio, or the oscillating tones from a synthesizer or two, they craft a nice piece of music, ranging from subtle electronic drones in ‘Zwei Töne’ to an almighty classical piece in ‘Telemann’ (with a 1000 strings in full action). Sometimes close to the Germanic krautrock and cosmic music, the gamelan of ‘Hamanamah’ sounds very ungerman and absolutely gorgeous.
If I understood the press text correctly, the releases by Paul Wirkus and Mapstation (a.k.a. Stefan Schneider) was recorded outside, in a forest. Wirkus plays drums, cymbals, branches, leaves and ‘air improvisations’, while Schneider is responsible for ‘steps, recording, editing and mixing’. It’s an interesting idea, I think, not to mix some field recordings along some improvised percussion music, but to record it out in the field, complete with birds, voices or an airplane overhead. The playing of the drums and natural elements is rather loose and highly improvised, but it seems to me that Schneider is using various recordings and plays them over each other. It’s a very fine work, a fine concept which is worked out in a very consistent manner. Nice one.
Jasmina Maschina is one half of Minit, the Australian duo in Berlin, who blew me away with a great concert in Extrapool some time ago. Her solo record may suggest industrial music mayhem, ‘The Demolition Series’ only demolishes your idea about Jasmina Maschina, as her solo music is quite far away from Minit. She plays guitar, sings and gets help from a bunch of musicians on melodica, piano, drums and more voice. It’s music that is not found very often in these pages, as it’s more folk than anything else – and I must state right away I am no folkie, so it’s hard for me to make a proper judgment about it. I can hear elements of Maschina’s other work (drone, noise) somewhere remotely in the background, so no doubt her work will be too strange for real folkies, but for me the whole thing is a bit too sweet and normal. Great lazy sunday afternoon music though and as such I must say I did quite like it.
Pedal is a duo: Chris Abrahams and Simon James Philips, the latter is a new name (I think), but Chris Abrahams was reviewed here only two weeks ago. Pedal plays the grand piano, the Steinway. Two pianos, four hands, seven pieces of music, which are all improvised. They cite as influences and inspirations: jazz, be-bop, hard bop, Terry Riley, Little Richard, Janacek, Grieg, Feldman, and much more. All of this culminate in something that is dreamy like piano music, inspired by Satie and Debussy, light verse jazz music, rhythmical, classical. They play with a light, impressionist touch, even when it’s a bit louder as in ‘Burgeon’. Great music, rather the first to play on that sunday afternoon – just after waking up, with the coffee still warm and then, after that Jasmina Maschina. That makes a fine afternoon and one is ready for some more heavy music.
I am however not sure if Heaven And would be my choice of something more heavy on that afternoon – it’s more night music. Heaven And is a quartet of Martin Siewert (guitar), Tony Buck (drums), Steve Heather (drums) and Zeitblom (bass, keyboards). These names might give away some indication where things came from, or where they are going to. Recorded live in the studio. There is vocal help on two pieces by Alexander Hacke of Neubauten fame. Free rocking music, in which you can easily find jazz, post rock, post jazz, free rock, even elements borrowed from noise and heavy metal. Sometimes things sound very retro, certainly the way the guitars sound, and also the way it reminiscences Tortoise. Of the five the one I liked least. A bit worn out, this post post lot. (FdW)
Address: http://www.staubgold.com
A (CD compilation by Zelphabet)
B (CD compilation by Zelphabet)
Almost close to thirty years now span the career of G.X. Jupitter-Larsen, better known as The Haters, and throughout these many years he has met many other musicians, labels and such like. His telephone book is well stocked with names so it seemed him a good thing to make the musical variation of his phonebook, an ambitious twenty-six (well, actually one more) series of compact discs with each three or four musicians with the same letter at the start of their name. So that accounts for the presence of Achim Wollscheid and Asmus Tietchens with the letter ‘A’. With names like AMK and Arcane Device further on ‘A’, one could all too easily think that G.X. knows only old folks, but on ‘B’ we find the young ones The Beast People, 16 Bitch Pile-Up and Bob Bellerue with just one older person, blackhumour. ‘B’ is unmistakably the noise variation, with loud distorted pieces by the three new (relatively speaking of course) acts. Blackhumour, where has he been I was thinking, hands in one of his trademark pieces of unprocessed voices. Looped around, cutting them shorter as the piece progresses, this is both a stand still but since I gather not many people know him, it’s good to get reacquainted. Bob Bellerue’s piece of subdued noise is the best of the rest. AMK on ‘A’ also does what he seemingly always does, playing with damaged records. It’s the least interesting piece on that one. Achim Wollscheid has a great computer controlled piece of playing Xylophone. Arcane Device created a recent mix of old feedback pieces and Asmus is in his recent mood of shimmering microtonal bits and pieces, fed through ring modulation. Great promising start, can’t hardly wait. But it looks like a definite compendium of thirty years of difficult music. Subscribe now to this wiki of noise and know all there is to know. (FdW)
Address: http://www.zelphabet.com
PARX-X – A COMPILATION OF INDEPENDENT MUSIC (CD by Clear Springs Entertainment)
For perhaps very few occasions I refuse to review music, certainly I feel it’s to far away from the original outline of Vital Weekly, which already covers a wide field of music, from noise to ambient, from improvised to composed and also certainly rock styles. Partly those when it’s about popmusic. We don’t dismiss popmusic; we are not purists or music haters loving the experimental for the sake of the experiment. But sometimes things are too far away for us. Too regular punk, new wave, hard rock or what have you. This compilation is one such thing that should not be advertised in these pages, but I was doing some stupid computer repair work and played this. In a normal case I would have switched it off after the second piece, but in this case it stayed on. Twenty groups from Australia, New Zealand, Scotland and America plays fairly normal rock pop music that I would never cared about, since normally I would play New Order if looking at my computer screen. None of the bands really stood out, but it was surely pleasant enough to finish it throughout. And probably to be totally forget all about it, had it not been for these lines. (FdW)
Address: http://www.clearspringsentertainment.com
MUZYKA VOLN (CD compilation by Muzyka Voln)
OVERDOSE KUNST – WAS IST OVERDOSE KUNST (3″CDR by Zhelezobeton)
KRYPTOGEN RUNDFUNK & HLADNA – ROKTON + FORMANTA (3″CDR by Zhelezobeton)
Russia’s Zhelezobeton started a sub-division called Muzyka Voln and here they present their first real CD, an overview of what is currently the trend in ambient and drone music from their country. A move that so many new labels make, which is understandable, but perhaps also a safe decision. Many of the names here are new, even to us, who have been at the Russian underground for some time. We recognize Bardoseneticcube, Cisfinitum and Hum, but names like Kshatriy, Closing The Eternity, or Lunar^Abyss^Deus^Organum are new to me. The strange thing is that listening to these twelve is like listening to the same band – maybe we are being fooled here? I doubt that. I was wondering about that; is it good or bad? There is something to say for either way. It’s great compilation of contemplative ambient and drone music, which works well if you stick it on and let it play throughout. Some of the pieces are bit more crude or rough in their current state, but on the whole there is minor differences. The bad thing is that none of the bands stand out and make a difference from the rest. Aspiring A&R managers who no doubt roam Vital on a weekly basis in search of new talent to sign may a difficult time in finding out which are the best from the rest. See my problem? Luckily I don’t sign for labels. I can sit back and simply have this music wash over me
The previous two releases by Overdose Kunst, a Japanese duo of Takeshi F and Ryuta K, didn’t do anything for me. Nothing at all. That was in Vital Weekly 594, so the positive thinker in me, was curious to see if things had progressed. Well, not entirely, but it sounds better. They play guitar here and sing, as opposed to having a few samples running. That’s the good news. But in itself the four tracks could not really please at all. Mumbling voices, nonsense lyrics under the pretext of ‘poetry’. It all seems to be made on a rather dull afternoon.
Much nicer is the music presented by Kryptogen Rundfunk, which was recorded in collaboration with Hladna, also known as M.M. and Nikolay Kalmykov. They play two identical synthesizers with different names, as under Soviet guidance they were produced by two different companies. The names are Rokton and Formanta which both feed into a drum machine. Minimalist beat music, head nod music if you want to. It sounds like very early Pan(a)sonic to me, but it lacks structure in the pieces, I’m afraid. It’d be nice to sample the hell out of it, and create some more continuos beat music. But as said, much nicer than Overdose Kunst. (FdW)
Address: http://zhb.radionoise.ru
ESTHER VENROOY – THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE (LP by Entr’acte)
This album marks the return of Venrooy to the Entr’acte label, who now have use a somewhat nicer looking cover format for this LP. Venrooy was born in The Netherlands where she studied the saxophone and started composing electronic music for dance. She now lives in Belgium and composed music and performs it live. On ‘The Spiral Staircase’ she makes use of an EMS synthi 100 among other things I believe. Venrooy calls it: “a series of short electronic vignettes that constitute two vertical progressions”. I might say posh words for what I think is a record about drone music, but perhaps it’s all semantics. The record, two pieces of twenty minutes, is a great minimal electronic record. Tones slowly take form, develop, alter shape and then slowly disappear again. This is done in a very consistent manner throughout this record. Rather than two sides with separate pieces, this record should be regarded as one piece that sounds perhaps microsound like, perhaps drone like or modern classical, but it’s a very delicate piece of music. (FdW)
Address: http://www.entracte.co.uk
SAN KAZAKGASCAR/THE MASTER MUSICIANS OF HOP-FROG (7″ by URCK Records)
A split 7″ on URCK, with on one side San Kazakgascar and on the other The Master Musicians Of Hop-Frog. The latter have a slow rock song like thingy with some wordplay which ‘shines a dark light on what is seen as a new generation of American racism’, but it’s lost on me. So is the music actually. San Kazakgascar is actually a band, and they too play a slow rock song. Somehow it’s hard to relate what this is all about. I am clueless. I must say that none of this was anywhere near well spend on me. (FdW)
Address: http://www.urckrecords.com
MARC MANNING – A SKELETON, SOON AND THE FOREVER (CDR Dragon’s Eye Recordings)
With this CD comes a nice small booklet of minimalist lines and drawings that were made during ‘recording and mixing sessions’ of this CD. Either the music is not very hands on, or someone has too much time. Marc Manning plays guitar in these recordings, using flageolet playing, bits of echo (sometimes a lot of bits of echo) and in one track a firm dose of distortion. Ambient and microsound would be the first words that spring to mind, but its more hands on than much of that. Manning has to continue to play the strings and make a sound. It’s a pity that each track is built in the same way and that there’s only one that has some more variation to it, which is the one with the more distorted character. The other four float by in much the same fashion, which makes it a bit too much of the same for me. It’s certainly a nice clean break from the world of laptops, but landing in the ambient scene with not enough variation throughout. (FdW)
Address: http://www.dragonseyerecordings.com
ETERNAL ICE – YELLOW AND RED (CDR, private)
By curious accident ‘Idyl’ by Eternal Ice got reviewed twice in Vital Weekly (485 and 512), whereas there was also ‘Skya’ (Vital Weekly 391). They sure take their time record something, as here is their third release ‘Yellow And Red’ to review here (there is more, just check their website). Eternal Ice continues the path they have chosen before: that dark ambient music, created here with more guitar than synths, and in ‘Yellow’ even a bit distorted, not unlike some Fear Falls Burning. Seven tracks of spacious doodling, sometimes sounding like a cliche, but sometimes quite strong. They should, me thinks, try to get rid of some of the factory presets on their synthesizers, and things would be more their own. Eternal Ice operate in a style that is well known, which is o.k. I don’t think their objective in life is to be utterly new and avant garde. A well executed hobby. (FdW)
Address: http://www.eternalice.de
UNDECISIVE GOD – EVERYTHING’S BROKEN (CDR by Shame File Music)
Behind the moniker Undecisive God is Clinton Green from Australia. Since the early nineties he has been recording solo experimental guitar music. Despite various releases, this is the first work I heard from him. We find him playing the guitar, using extra’s such as sound effect, no input mixer, vinyl records, bass and TV sounds. His playing is radical and extreme. No doubt he can play real chords and such like, but as a good improviser he likes to hide that. I must say that it’s all a bit too free for my taste. A bit long also. Things start to bump and ride, like a roller-coaster, but has head nor tail (a bit like a roller-coaster…?). A piece like ‘Non-Cricket’, edits from a TV broadcast of cricket, without the ball-and-bat is as boring as the real game. Like with many thing improvised it’s always fun to do, but in general it doesn’t care much about the listener. Some more rigor editing should take place in order to please the unsuspecting listener. (FdW)
Address: http://shamefilemusic.com
XDUGEF – BOSSLADY (CDR by Canned Beef Records)
This Cd arrives in a jewel case which is wrapped in “re-sealable sextape”, the artwork is in part cut ups from female domination magazines and included with the CD is a single black latex glove. Xdugef is AKA Adrian Dimond a noise maker from L.A. whose work is produced from found sources on the internet, from modified electronic toys and self made devices. There are 17 fairly short tracks, and on one we do hear the boss lady speak – but as elsewhere the whole work is a mix of pulses and beats, glitches and feedback. This has to be one of the most significant pieces I’ve yet reviewed. If noise contradicts itself by obliterating itself – and here we have that – and the actuality of the fucking up not only of sound but the mechanisms for making sound – which though is doubly inscribed by the whole iconography and ontology of female domination. A reversal of traditional roles yet one which is generally opposed by feminists – an interesting aporia which is the sexual doppelganger of the noise genre. It was Merzbow who famously created the problematic of noise paralleled by the exploitation of female bondage which was “carried” off by the excuse? of being part of an oriental culture- and so art! – the feminist critic becomes racist or tolerates female exploitation, imposes colonial values or allows the pornographic- the music isn’t music but noise – yet we are in a double bind as it clearly is just that. Our value judgments flip backwards and forwards like computer logic gates, western logic and the rule of the excluded middle is broken – do we obtain what used to be called freedom? Do I enjoy the kitsch of noise/glitches – fishnets and arse as an intellectual comment – or as is – or both? Perfect. (jliat)
Address: http://www.cannedbeefrecords.com
LEO MARS – LIGHTEARS (CDR by Naiv Super)
There is no person behind this who is called Leo Mars, but a name they invented and which is hard to google. There will be the US band Mars, the star sign Leo, a philosopher, a beer and more like that. Hopefully also the Berlin band of Marcel Türkowsky and Stephane Leonard, who spent some time thinking what they wanted, recording improvised sessions and talking moves to make. Perhaps it’s a bit odd that they come with ‘Lightears’… One of them uses tapes with prerecorded sounds and the other has a synthesizer, a distorted microphone an ‘a radio intercepting atmospheric disturbances’, the end result is something that is not entirely to my satisfaction. It’s noise, but it’s noise as we know it. Merzbow cut short. Seven tracks in the range of two to eight minutes, with a more clear built, fade in -> noise -> fade out (perhaps the result of cutting it out of various sessions), but in the end I thought it was all bit too easy. Firm blocks of distorted noise, albeit with variation – thank you, god – but does it necessarily add something to this thing we call ‘noise’. I am afraid it doesn’t. It’s very much a flat field they march in. (FdW)
Address: http://www.maivsuper.de
THE MACHINE AGAINST RAGE (CDR by nolabel)
[NOISE SYMBOL] (CDR by nolabel)
Amazingly minimal packaging of two pieces on HP domestic recordable CDRs and sparse textual information on what could NOT be called a website – but is a txt file! http://noisepedia.org/nolabel.txt Well pop fans what am I to do- being generally berated for not listening to the music (carefully enough!) and not saying if I liked it or not. Check out the intentional fallacy pop-pickers – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intentional_fallacy – then eat dirt! Whoops – now i’ll be accused of writing a stream of consciousness – as opposed to unconscious writing? Noise symbol – which is a double crotchet crossed out (under erasure for all those who finished third grade) is someone mucking about with a cassette of cheesy film music a’la eric morecambe (whoops) – reminds me of chicken in the basket music – plus some samples of junk = domestic field recordings- german(spice girlies) & Byng Crosby etc. – the music/sound is subsequently deconstructed into noise (trans. Fucked up). Its either a piece of shit or a searing inditement of post-modernity’s aporias – take your choice. (trans. “The semantic horizon which habitually governs the notion of communication is exceeded or punctured . and “in the last analysis” does not give rise to a hermeneutic deciphering, to the decoding of a meaning or truth.) (trans. Yeh man I liked it – its cool!) Swiftly on then ducking the brick bats – TMAR could be described as a load of vomit- or its an arabesque of abstract cut-up sound of neo-baroque minimal merzbowesq low-core transubstantiating into the previous work! Personally I prefer a little more maxing of the DBs (dude!) – and would love to give it the once over – if you know what I mean – writing as someone who likes ketchup and mustard on his dog. (yo respect) (?) (jliat)
Address: <legionsudan@gmail.com>
KOMMISSAR HJULER/JURGEN O OLBRICHT (CDR/DVDR by SHMF)
A friend of mine sells records and arty fart packed tapes and CDs. He has a large section of music by Kommissar Hjuler, which have odd packages and some even constitute as anti-records. This package is hardly spectacular. The DVD has a film of a handmade airplane, hand held moving along a scenic landscape and road. A short scene of two guys in an office and the plane heads back. Spacepatrol Orion. On the CDR a short spoken word piece between Kommissar Hjuler and Jürgen O. Olbrich, recorded separately on two cassette decks. Beats me if I knew what this is all about. I’m really clueless. The sort of stuff you can watch for hours and still feel clueless. Beyond good or bad, this is true art: it makes me wonder, on end. (FdW)
Address: http://www.asylum-lunaticum.de
KOSTIS KILYMIS – ACCUMULATED (CDR by A Question Of Re_Entry)
PASCAL BATTUS & ALFREDDO COSTA MONTEIRO – DUCTILE (CDR by A Question Of Re_Entry)
Some weeks ago, in Vital Weekly 604 we reviewed a CD by Thessaloniki 1963, a project by Kostis Kilymis although it was hard to decipher. Maybe it was after all just under his own name. This new release is more clear. Five pieces of music by Kilymis, who offers some highly dynamic music. Let’s say if you wanted to hear the softest bit on the CD, the loudest bit would be earpiercing loud. I compared his previous work with Meelkop, Behrens and Chartier, here he seems to be finding more of his own voice in music. Still based on field recordings and such like, there is a bigger deal of feedback employed here (the earpiercing aspect), and more crude and raw than before. His music is made of amplifying his surrounding and let the unwanted sounds – feedback and hiss – inside. Quite a wellmade release once again.
Also on this label is a collaboration between Pascal Battus and Alfredo Costa Monteiro. Both play paper and microphones. ‘Every sound is used here as it was recorded with no processing of effects’, which is hard to believe. Maybe they use the microphones to actually play on the paper surface and there is an amount of amplification used, instead of having the microphones just pick up the sound. The result is definetly more powerful, more noisy than one should expect from the notion of things being made with paper. At times freaking loud, almost in a Merzbow sense of noise, but Battus and Monteiro use a more dynamic frequency range, taking things back down and play the paper in various ways to create all these fascinating dynamic paper alterations. Not the easiest release of the week, but surely one of the more inspiring ones. (FdW)
Address: <planitis_miden@yahoo.gr>
JLIAT – NOW THAT’S WHAT I CALL NOISE (CDR by Jliat)
Part twelve, already (?), in what is slowly developing in a crazy conceptual series of noise based CDRs. Each track last four minutes, each cover is a rip off of a classic rock album and each piece of noise sounds exactly like before. Each release has eight pieces, which, if you open this in Itunes, the Gracenote database will inform you, as before that you dealing with a Karaoke CD. I thought it was great. Along track eight of Jliat’s CD I sang ‘Quite Playing Games’ by Backstreet Boys. It was a combination that worked really well. Actually you could also use this to do your own karaoke version of Merzbow, which could also work well. Or not use this as karaoke – kara-no-ok – but simply enjoy this as track 88 to 96 of a larger conceptual work towards noise. Maybe try and play all twelve together. With noise the potential is endless. (FdW)
Address: http://www.jliat.com
JDG – LIVING UNDERGROUND (CDR by Cohort Records)
THE INFANT CYCLE/DRONAEMENT – SPLIT (CDR by Cohort Records)
JDG stands for John D. Gore, owner of Cohort Records, and sometimes known as Kirchenkampf or The Oratory Of Divine – with subtle differences between the two projects. I don’t know why this is credited as JDG. ‘All tracks are made from source material provided by Robert Carlberg’s Anode Urban Soundscape Series’ it says on the cover, but that doesn’t ring a bell here. However it sounds nice: a muffled recording of street sounds. It’s really hard to tell what Gore did to the material and how it sounded in its original form. Simple in its execution, but it certainly has something captivating. Like sitting on a square in a big city with eyes closed, listening to the multitude of sounds around with none standing out of the rest. Great if you don’t have to deal with the noise of a big city on a daily basis.
Cohort also releases a bunch of great split CDR releases, of which this is another fine addition of two bands that have surely crossed paths before, be it on virtually. Originally the split series started as a series of split releases of various drone musicians, but that path is long gone. The Infant Cycle uses a bunch of low tech equipment (cheap keyboard, guitar, poly 800 etc) in his first track, but takes too much time to develop something decent out of it. His second piece deals with harbor sounds and is much nicer with slowly developing field processing. ‘Organ Music For You’ is a nice piece of heavy drone music. Dronaement has more piece, six in total, and actually it’s one piece in six parts, as far as I’m concerned. Pieces are mixed into eachother and use mainly field recordings and a faint organ drone. Much more coherent than The Infant Cycle bunch on this release, this actually great stuff. Soft, but outspoken. Nothing new, but all gorgeous. (FdW)
Address: http://cohortrecords.0catch.com
PLASTIC BONER BAND – DANCE, CALIFORNIA (3″CDr by Dokuro )
GOOD NOISE BAD NOISE – ODD ROOKS RECUR (3″CDr by Dokuro )
TORSTEIN WJIIK – KOMPRIMERT MUNN (3″CDr by Dokuro )
NODOLBY – MADE OF BLAZES/MAZE OF BLADES (Lilac C16 by Dokuro )
http://www.dokuro.it/news.html and you will see both the packaging- line up/recording-gig details and be able to listen to excerpts. So having reduced my readership to friends and family – as the wife doesn’t read this – we are now close to zero. PBB is a distorted guitar drone. A fairly (minimal rhythmical modulation towards the end) continuous wall of sound. Its good at what it is – though its kind of out of place in this century (oh here he goes again!) Why – you ask? Well it has presence (it is pure) and presence is something Jacques D. has taught us we can no longer enjoy- what we now have is a continual deferment – so this piece remains like a statue – and not like the decomposing and flayed (holy) cows of post-modernity – pecked at by the beautiful fishes. http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A2413658 i.e. presence is the guarantee of truth – as in witnessing a marriage ceremony – but *now* we know that divorce is also present – as a deferred possibility- get it? and if you do – it means that music/noise is now open to itself – its glitches – its mistakes – rather than attempting some perfect construction – (in a sense it destroys itself – i.e. it becomes not music but noise) the more sensitive the artist the worse for them – Barnett Newman hated Warhol- just like post-modern software – is never good or complete- (just set your browser to show script errors) such a music – art – noise – world – reflects back the new truth that perfection – presence – the good and true always alludes us. And if you think that sounds hypercritical – you’re on the money. GNBN use loops and electroacoustic lap top mess which in turn degenerates or generates into Conradesq violin drone which in making categorization difficult could seem to be a protogenesis – but as this is “post” it cant – and so succeeds in making the point either knowingly or not – that there is no point – and similar could be said of the last 3inch CDr, Torstein Wjiik’s ghostly industrial work- the pieces have not yet perhaps reached the “oneness” of minimalism and the now futile presence found in Dance, California, or yet possibly reflected on the irony of a “record”- “the trace itself does not exist”.”in presenting itself, it becomes effaced” (J.D.) i.e. listening to noise – makes you deaf! So I’ll leave you to complete this already too long review by reflecting on what comments could occur regarding a cassette tape of 16 minutes (?lilac!C16?) of *broken* guitar feedback – clue – which overloads the tape to the point of self effacement! – (OK!) (jliat)
Address: http://www.dokuro.it
ADAM SONDERBERG/OPHIBRE (cassette by Ophibre)
Perhaps you recognize the name of Adam Sonderberg from his previous releases as a member of Dropp Ensemble and Civil War or his collaboration with Paul Bradley, here he offers two long solo compositions, which cleverly explore the medium it was released on. Two ‘untitled music’ pieces, one ‘for .aiff and magnetic tape’ and one ‘for bell and sine tone’ and it’s released by that always obscure Ophibre label. I’d say clever since on the first side of this tape by Ophibre, a fair amount of hiss that comes courtesy of releasing it on cassette plays a big part, when over the course of the length, I think thirty minutes, some sort of minimalist piano music is being fade up from the ultimate lower depths of the hiss and ultimately rises to the hearing level. Irregular piano loops, repeated at infinitum, makes quite a nice piece. Not much silence on the b-side by Sonderberg. Bell sounds are repeated to such an extent that they take the form of a drone, which they merge into the sine waves until the bells is beyond decay, and the whole thing starts again. Maybe both sides are a bit too long, but the sturdy conceptual and minimalist approach of Sonderberg is more than alright. Could have also a great CDR! (FdW)
Address: http://www.ophibre.com
PAL ASLE PETTERSEN & UBEBOET & UR – THE TWISTS AND THE TURNS OF THE LOVED AND HATED U (MP3 by Chew Z)
ADRIAN JUAREZ & ZENLU – RANDOM TRIP (MP3 by Chew Z)
LULE KAINE – RADIATIONS FROM FUTURIST FURNITURE (MP3 by Chew Z)
Much confusion with the first release. I read the press text that says that ‘The Twists And The Turns Of The Loved And Hated’ is a project of Zan Hoffman, since long an active force in the musical under-underground. But what the project actually is, I don’t know, that is not said. Three artists take part here, Pal Asle Pettersen from Stavanger, Ubeboet from Madrid and UR, being Frederico Esposito an Mauro Sciaccaluga. They all use field recordings and processed instruments, but just what exactly do they do here? They paste their tracks together, cut, splice and paste, without noting what the previous sound was like. Like a chinese whisper. Except that it sounds all much to arbitrary for my taste.
Wide apart also live Adrian Juarez who is from La Plata in Argentinia and Zenlu from Shenzhen in China. Now this is more like it. Two short tracks and one longer drone piece of processed instruments, like, well, perhaps, guitars, pianos along with field recordings, but put together to make quite a unified sounds. A bit abstract, but at the same time highly enjoyable, especially in the two shorter ones. The drone piece was nice, but perhaps a bit more (too) regular, but even here I thought it was quite alright.
Lule Kaine say their release is “inspired by futurism, post-atomic and the avantgarde movements of the beginning of the 20th century”, but it’s something that hardly shows in their music. I have no idea about this band, but they must be a band: bass, drums and guitars (at least 2) and perhaps a string of electronics and they play post rock with a firm dose of electronics. Not bad, but all the tracks sound a bit alike, with minor differences of course, but it’s music that walks a path that is well walked in the past ten or more years. Not bad, entertaining even, but that’s it. It sticks too much in a world that we knew so well.
On the same label, to celebrate the first year of existence, a twelve track compilation of musicians close to the hearts and minds of Chew Z, all of which are completely new to me. We find Paul Beauchamp, Yorgbl, Sandblasting, Die Stadt Romatische Puinks, Simone Pelliconi, Riga, Passenger, Rocktone Rebel, Port Royal, Camusi, Fabio Zuffanti and, ouch, Satan Is My Brother. For the benefit of the tape I’d like to state that this is quite a nice compilation, moving through a variety of musical styles that works nicely, from ambient to broken beats, rhythm and a bit more noise related works. Clearly points must be given to those who put the tracks in order here: the weak(er) ones are placed among their stronger brothers in such a way that you won’t notice that much that they are weaker. People keep their pieces within reasonable limits thus not overtly long in their meanderings, but nice and tight. A good place to start. (FdW)
Address: http://www.chewz.net