IF, BWANA – BREATHING (CD by Pogus Productions)
If, Bwana have been around since god knows how long, yet their released
out-put is too sparse to say that their name rings many bells. Their much
aclaimed work, well at least to me, is their CD in the already legendary
Anckarstrom series, which was a fine ambient blend of sound. Much to my
surprise we find on this new CD, a kind of part 2 to this release. But
first things first. The opening (title-) piece is named after the fact that
it uses 2 people playing dijeridu and oboe, to which cello and tapes are
added. The dijd sounds pretty much like a continues, breathing drone and
the oboe and cello seem to play the weird, improvised notes. Then the part
two of that other CD. Piano sounds play a dominant role in here, together
with a high pitched sounds and some sample (I couldn’t figure out what is
sampled there). Less ambient then I would expect, this one stays again in
the improvised/composed areas. There is an overall crescendo to be found in
this piece, which grows thicker and louder. Then the final piece of this CD
is the shortest (still over 19 minutes) and opens with strong droning
sounds and from far away voices start playing a role. Like the other two in
this piece there is place for improvisation, which is laid over the general
structure of the piece. In general, I must say that the pieces are a bit
too long for my taste (that a CD can hold over 70 minutes of information,
doesn’t mean you have to fill them!), but in general this CD left a good
feel with m. (FdW)
Address: <pogal@ix.netcom.co>
DOMINIQUE PETITGAND – 10 PETITES COMPOSITIONS FAMILIALES (miniCD by Metamkine)
Here is the second full mini CD by that wacky frenchmen who seems to devote
his life recording his relatives. “Family compositions” he calls his little
symphonies. People tell us something (though with my lo-fi french I can’t
figure out what) and to this some strange sounds are added, something that
sounds like a harmonium, a guitar, a bouzouki. Even though one can’t figure
out what this is all about, there is a poetic, dramatic feel to it. A sort
of dreamy look in the country life (I hasten to add: or so it seems).
Petitgand manages to produce some highly intruging and puzzling music.
(FdW)
Address: 50 Passage Des Ateliers – 38140 Rives – France
MAEROR TRI – LANGUAGE OF FLAMES AND SOUND (CD by Old Europa Cafe)
Bad news for the Maeror Tri fans: the band is no more. Two of the three
members will continue under a new name. Here is what will be, may be, their
final studio CD (to be followed by a live CD). A dreamy accordeon piece
open the CD, intercepted by a heavy droning sound that grow louder and
louder. In the second track there s dominant role for the guitar being
plucked and feedbacked. ‘Entrance Of Reality’ is the first ‘ambient’ track,
albeit with darkness underneath. From here on the CD takes us into
underworld of sounds. Put your headphones on, close your eyes and you will
have a journey, riding on long droning sounds. Some people may this
describe this as ‘ambient-industrial’, but for my part you may skip the
‘industrial’ tag. Experimental ambient for sure, but noway this gets noisy.
Just another great Maeror Tri CD. What grief! (FdW)
Address: V. Le Marconi 38 – 33170 Pordenone – Italy
ERIC CORDIER – HOULQUE (CD by La Grande Fabrique)
O.k. I admmit: I hardly know anything about Eric Cordier. I believe he has
something to do with UNACD – an old french group (who slipped out of my
memory). This CD consists of two pieces, ‘Stellaire Holostee’ and Houlque’.
The first one divided in 2 parts, the later in 8 parts. Sounds sources
include a hurdy gurdy, dulcimer, harpiscord and church organ. In the first
part of ‘Stellaire’ a multi-track droning piece is created. Sounds move
along eachother. The second part is similar, yet quieter in texture. The
second piece starts out in similar vein, but gradually the pieces have a
more improvised character and loose a bit of their character. The CD is
accompagnied by booklet of photos of speakers in various concrete
environments, yet I am still figuring out how to relate that to the CD.
(FdW)
address: available through Metamkine
ORPHX – FRAGMENTATION (CD by Malignant Records)
Malignant Records is a small US label that specialises in dark, utter dark
music. Sometimes leading to ambient soundscapes, and at other times
industrial metal areas. Their release by Orphx is in this last territory.
Over top distorted metallic rhythms that will certainly appeal to fans of
music that in general comes from Cold Meat Industry. But it did nothing for
me.
Address: <malignant@earthlink.com>
ANAL – ZERO BEATS PER MINUTE (CD by KAK Records)
So assumptions are wrong… With such a bandname and title, I am expecting
punk, but how wrong I was. Anal is like the unborn son of Arcane Device.
This is feedback music throughout, played with much skill and matches well
with Arcane Device in his more powerful days. There is nothing more I can
add. Try and find this. I have no address nor any other information, so I
hope you’re lucky and bump into this in some mail-order catalogue. Then get
this.
ROLAND KAYN – TEKTRA (4CD SET by Barooni)
Roland Kayn was born in 1933 in Germany. He composed his first orchestral
piece while only 17, and three years later composed Kammerkonzert, which
won first prize in the Festival of Twentieth Century Music in Japan in
1958.
Sometime during 1956, Kayn created a system of composition which paralleled
contemporary ideas in information theory. He applied statistical
methodology to determine musical characteristics like pitch, duration and
density of the tones and chords. Kayn felt that the music of the future
would be compositions in which ‘all the sounds are points in space, without
melody or rhythm’, citing Stockhausen’s Spiel Fur Orchestra `as a perfect
example. It wasn’t long before he started modifying the tuning of the
‘unison’ strings in a piano to avail himself of the frequencies which occur
between the standard half tones. Not only were new fundamental notes
created, but the entire overtone series of the instruments became an
enormous spectrum of sound. So it was that Kayn got closer and closer to
his idea of cybernetic music.
At this point, and as contradictory as it may seem, Kayn started to suggest
ways of working in which composers themselves could be somehow excluded
from the compositional process. Not surprisingly, this idea alienated him
from his contemporaries who probably didn’t want to relinquish their
authorship and consequent funding. It wasn’t long before he was excluded
from the concert stage either, and it was after a short sojurn with the
improvisational group Gruppo d’Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza, that he
made the choices that were to determine his methods of working from then
on.
At that time, musical events in a composition were still largely defined by
the composer. Kayn was primarily interested in a form of music which
regulated itself. He started designing complex systems of instrumentation
in which he practically gave up his control over the resulting piece,
abandoning the narrative elements and all the asprects usually associated
with the ideas of ‘authorship’. His scores started looking more and more
like abstract, mathematically derived paintings, with increasingly more
freedom being allowed the performers.
His electronic pieces start with a defined network of equipment. All
conceivable events within that network are collated and then used to
develop a system of signals and commands which are then incorporated into
the triggers and controllers of the machines. All of this preparation took
much longer to complete that the compositions themselves, which were
recorded to tape once and once only !
Tektra, a 4CD set is the 16th release on Amsterdam based label Barooni, and
it is a re-release of the latest availible work (originally on vinyl in
1982) by Kayn. This set was mastered from the original tapes used in the
manufacture of the records. Consequently, these quite lengthy pieces were
faded in and out so they would fall within the time restrictions inherent
to that medium. As a result of this, the various compositions which
comprise Tektra are themselves sub-divided.
The music slowly swells from silence. Each of the compositions has it’s own
unique character and all of them are amazingly unique examples of what can
be done with a drone. You’ll hear sounds not heard before-in Khyra the
sound of all the ringing bells on earth alternate with five billion voices
close to the right note (you’re floating in space, of course, and listening
to the sound of the whole planet). The industrial backfed repetition of
Tarego, which eventually shatters into it’s individual components. In
Amarun, we are suspended on a synapseweb of overtones inside a Tibetan
monks skull. It’s magnificent, more now than then and certainly zen.
Barooni were the first to release the works of Tommy Koner way back when
and have played the greatest part in reviving interest in the almost
forgotten minimal music discoveries of Charlemagne Palestine.
Special congratulations to them for this beautiful package and for their
care and continuing love of this medium. Most certainly one to watch…(MP)
LOSD – KORGANICS (10″ by Korm Plastics)
A ten inch with two sides…as usual. First side is called ‘Monophonic’…
it’s a sprinkling of bright analog starswhich flicker and sparkle riding
the crests of random waves. Filters open and close sensating the
thingymajigs that secrete endorphins in the old brain-pan. Rise and fall,
rise and fall. Percussion slowly dribbles in and we board that train called
drum machine. Nice high pitch at the end of this branch line. I did hunger
for it to take an extra step or two in the direction of UP. Fancy it could
be pitched up meself…
The other side is titled ‘Buitenaards Ondergronds’… music for a dramatic
title sequence shot at ground level of someone running past flickering
oblongs of light. Windows in some endless personnel carrier writhing it’s
way past on what were once called train rails. ‘On The Run’ again ?
Envelopes shapeshift. Soft silence… enter the breath, then the spine…
then panic and then… off again.
In all, not a bad journey. Some slight mud. Add some high. (MP)
TOUCH SAMPLER – VARIOUS ARTISTS (CD on TOUCH)
Starts with an astounding track by the Polyphony Group of Lapharda
(Albania) taken from an as yet unreleased CD titled ‘Where The Avalaunche
Stops’ (hurry up !). The there is a track by Richard H.Kirk
from the recent Touch release Alphaphone Vol.1 Step.Write.Run.
This is followed by unconvincing self-indulgent twaddle by Andy MacKenzie.
Layers of loops are gradually dropped out by Philip Jeck in ‘Nelson Surfs’
– good track this !
Then there’s just under four minutes of The Runaway Train (in my opinion,
one of the best etc, etc on Ash International/Touch).
Something with historic value, perhaps, by New Ordure…all bleeding 7’00
of it (hurry up!). Then, a wonderful recording of two men imitating frogs
of the Balinese gonggong, an oral device.
Mark Van Hoen rasps up against oddness on his way through a dropchord
Channel Of Light and then there’s an item from Ryoji Ikeda’s recent
Headphonics CD (the first 15 or 20 minutes of which are more than effective
at inducing strange hysteria).
Stereo madness from Scala off their vinyl -now-CD (which I’m going to
listen to again…under headphones, dammit!). The something off the
wonderful R & D CD by Disinformation, aka Joe Banks, champion surfer in the
extreme sea of radio waves (of waves of waves of waves etc) crashing down
on the sandy beaches of FAR.
An excellent insertion regarding lengthy therapy is follwed by Anthony
Phillips in a plucky mood, who slowly twirls his way through a ‘Danza
Cuccaracha’. Chris Watson, now a ‘legendary’ (!) sound recordist, has
documented two very weird places. The first is surely one of the best
vocals by a beast ever. And some of the second something is going to live
in my sampler for a while.
What sounds like Nusrat’s back-up is really more Albanians ululating.
>From penultimate to ‘Omnipotent’ – the title of the last track on this CD,
which is by Mark Van Locust and Daren Seefeel circa Aurobindo (one of the
best etc, etc on Ash International/ Touch) An unusually buoyant track and
far too cheerful to have been included on the original full length release.
Makes for a happy ending here tho’! (MP)
SQUARE ROOT OF SUB’s TOP TEN LIST FOR 1996:
(in no particular ordure)
Plug – Drum ‘n Bass For Papa
Aube – Metal De Metal
Coil – Black Light District
David Shea – Tower Of Mirrors
O – Olento
Various – Storm Of Drones
Spring Heel Jack – Djed Remix 12″
Erm
Possibly Maybe – Dillinja Remix Of Bjork
Bernard Gunter/John Hudak – The Ant Moves (From ‘A Fault In The Nothing’)
…
That’s It !
Plus… The Reissues:
Andre Popp – Delirium In Hi-Fi
Film Soundtrack – Vampyros Lesbos
Tape Beatles – Music With Sound
Roland Kayn – Tektra
Frans de Waard hits for ’96 (again in no…)
K. Mizutani – Millstone CD
Aube/Small Cruel Party – Across The Water LP
Mandible Chatter – Grace CD
Starfish Pool – Interference ’96 CD
Unit Moebius – Status CD
Occupied Territories 2CD
Aube – Metal De Metal CD
Atomic Weight CD
Deepnet 2CD
Nonplace Urban Field – Raum Fur Notizen miniCD
O – Olento CD
Merzbow – Spiral Honey CD
Porter Ricks – Biokinetics CD
Ryoij Ikeda – +/- CD
UNKLE – Tortoise remix 12″
Re-issues:
Charlemange Palestine – Four Manifestations CD
Public Works – Music With Sound
Roland Kayn – Tektra 4CD