CLICKS AND CUTS FIVE: PARADIGM SHIFT (CD by Mille Plateaux)
AMETSUB – THE NOTHINGS OF THE NORTH (CD by Mille Plateaux) *
KABUTOGANI – BEKTOP (CD by Mille Plateaux) *
FRANK VIGROUX – CAMERA POLICE (CD by D’Autres Cordes) *
RUSSELL HASWELL – VALUE/BONUS (2CD by No Fun Productions) *
NICHOLAS SZCZEPANIK & JUAN JOSE CALARCO – LACK AFFIX (CD by Unfanthomless) *
ALIO DIE/PARALLEL WORLDS – CIRCO DIVINO (CD by Hic Sunt Leones) *
SOUND ON PROBATION 2010 (CD by Sound On Probation)
PAUL AUSTERLITZ – JOURNEY (CD by Innova)
CUT IOWA NETWORK – PROJECTOR GUNSHIP HELD {яя} (CD, private)
MATTHEW HERBERT – RECOMPOSED GUSTAV MAHLER (CD by Deutsche Grammophon)
LONTANO – HOMAGE TO GIANCINTO SCELSI (CDR, private)
MAURIZIO BIANCHI – THE PLAIN TRUTH (LP by Hot Releases)
BOYZONE – MENARCHE (LP by Hot Releases)
SEAHAWKS – HIGH TIDES/ASTRAL WINDS (7″ plus CDR by Static Caravan) *
MATT CHAUMONT – LINEA (CDR by Avant Whatever) *
TOM HALL – PAST PRESENT, BELOW (CDR, private) *
CHAD E. WILLIAMS – THE VISION FIELDS (CDR by Love Earth Music) *
DAVID NEWLYN – FRIDAY NIGHT CHOIR PRACTICE (CDR by Ephre Imprint) *
JONATHAN MCHUGH & MARK WASTELL – HYDRIOTAPHIA (CDR by Confront) *
WAND AND PRINCESS – UTOPIA NEGATIVES (CDR by Hashish) *
ERIC LUNDE – XCHDX: THE UNEXPLORED TERRAIN (CDR/DVR by Trait) *
OOTHEKA/ERIC LUNDE (CDR by Trait) *
THE DEAD MAURIACS – UN APRES-MIDI SUISSE (CDR by NPH) *
CORPORATE PARK ‚ SURRENDER (CDR by FLA)
SUNSLIDE – FIELD PIANO (3″CDR by Field Muzick)
COOLOOLA MONSTER : TAM ‘O’? SHANTER (CDR by Amothue Records)
TARUHO (CDR by Le Brutal Records)
CARLOS VILLENA, MIGUEL A. GARCIA AND HECTOR REY – UNTITLED (3″CDR by Mantricum Records)
VERTONEN – DROWING IN WET SAND (3″CDR by CIP) *
VERTONEN – CRESTING (cassette by Bloodlust!)
CLICKS AND CUTS FIVE: PARADIGM SHIFT (CD by Mille Plateaux)
AMETSUB – THE NOTHINGS OF THE NORTH (CD by Mille Plateaux)
KABUTOGANI – BEKTOP (CD by Mille Plateaux)
In the last weeks I was reading a book about Tony Wilson, the boss of Factory Records and The Hacienda, who brought us say Joy Division, New Order and Happy Mondays. Factory collapsed in 1992, and its often forgotten now that when a record label collapses its messy. People are owed money, catalogue becomes unavailable and such like. Tony started Factory Too, and even a F4, but never gained the same artistic success as he had the first around. I was thinking about the record industry when listening to these three new releases, or the relaunched Mille Plateaux label. They crashed too, somewhere in 2004. I do not wish to speculate what caused that, but I’m sure its wasn’t (entirely) their own fault. Just like Factory, they too have a strong legacy of great music. The Oval releases, SND, Luomo, to mention three. Four: Mille Plateaux set with their series of compilation the standard for ‘Clicks & Cuts’ music. Music created with glitches, all the wrong doings inside computers, to create music that has a lot of rhythm. Wether techno based or ambient based (or even sound art), a very distinct style of its own. The volumes usually read like a who’s who in that particular musical area. After that six years of hiatus, of which the last two years have been used to relaunch, is there such a thing as Paradigm Shift, one could wonder? I am afraid not. The seventeen tracks here built on what the previous volumes presented. The true paradigm shift comes from a single band or person, rather than from seventeen individual musicians. The good thing however about this compilation is that, like before, it presents the listener with a whole lot of new names. None of the old folks are present here (unless under a new guise, but I haven’t been aware of that) and that clicks and cuts are here in all their incarnations. From totally screwed up IDM to laid back dubby tunes, hick-up in the bass end, lush ambient textures. Names included are Sifa Dias, Klive, Gulskra & Artikler, Alinoe, Loom, Kiyo and such like. An excellent place for trainspotters of the latest breeze in what seemed to be a dead end street in music land.
Mille Plateaux themselves spotted two talents in here, Ametsub and Kabutogani. The first is from Tokyo where he was born in 1983. At the age of six he learned to play the piano. He released his first album in 2006, and a trip to Iceland inspired him for this second release, where he also shot pictures for the cover – pre volcanic eruption I might add. The notion of clicks and cuts is continued here, but Ametsub uses a somewhat narrow approach to it. He builds his rhythms from glitches, like he is supposed to do, but in what he uses them for, is what sets him apart. He employs lots of piano sounds, processed and unprocessed and builds elegant pieces from that. However, it doesn’t lead to some laid back ambient album, with a few glitches. Ametsub has some interesting ideas to create a variety of music. Jazzy at times, ambient at others, but he mixes in some harsher stuff to. Never noise of course, but the elegant mood is pleasantly disrupted by these interventions. Fourteen tracks (including a remix by Helios and a video edit) is however a bit much. Towards the end the album looses its edge a bit. Here ten tracks would have made a perfect album, now its a perfect album with a somewhat long ending.
Kabutogani is from France and the russian word on the cover means Vector. Maybe he likes his art to be Russian, as the package is red, black and white, like an El Lissitzky painting. This is fourth album, but my first introduction to his work. In the press release, Mille Plateaux, refer to some of their old stable to sell this album: Alva Noto, Frank Bretschneider, SND, Vladislav Delay, Pan Sonic (and, to be fair, also to Machinefabriek, which link is hard to be made). Music that is not at all alike that of Ametsub, as Kabutogani plays the harsher card of click and cuts. His beats are gritty, noisy, distorted, feeding it through digital effect processors (I have to be careful here, I know). In all of his tracks – twelve in total – there is some sense of melody, but usually kept in the background. Like Mille Plateaux, Kabutogani knows his classics too, and especially Pan Sonic seem to have a profound influence on him, but I give Kabutogani the benefit of a doubt, like the relaunched Mille Plateaux itself. Its a brave decision, these three releases have some fine music indeed, exploring what the mothership has planted all those years ago, but its not the Paradigm Shift they claim. That is not bad, they don’t happen often, and its nothing to be ashamed off when you release good music. I hope they stay out of trouble. (FdW)
Address: http://www.mille-plateaux.com
FRANK VIGROUX – CAMERA POLICE (CD by D’Autres Cordes)
The French label D’Autres Cordes releases music with some background in improvised music, even jazzy at times, but here they blast away with the third album by Franck Vigroux. His first two didn’t make it to Vital Weekly, but last’s album with Matthew Borne. An odd mixture of jazz and electro-acoustic music. All album full of music, from top to bottom filled up. On this third solo CD, Vigroux uses analogue synth, drum machines, samplers, turntables, vocoder and such like. Just what he is up to, I was thinking. This has to do with improvisation… just being very little. Although I can believe that parts of these pieces were improvised, the outcome has nothing to do with improvised music as we know it. The music is loud, distorted, even noise based perhaps but also heavy on the rhythm. Think short outbursts of Merzbow backed by the rhythms of Pan Sonic and you are close to it. A furious, energetic album, with again hardly a moment to rest and sit back. It hammers and bang on. The missing link, between the record right above by Kabutogani and right below by Russell Haswell. Much louder than the first, not playing the exact same noise card of the latter. Vigroux manages to find a balance between the clean clicks and cuts movement and the analogue (?) noise mass. Breathless and tired, the listener is left behind. (FdW)
Address: http://www.dautrescordes.com
RUSSELL HASWELL – VALUE/BONUS (2CD by No Fun Productions)
Back in Vital Weekly 699 I was pleasantly surprised by ‘Wild Tracks’ by Russell Haswell, a work of “”‘deliberate recordings’ made with other multi media/film projects in mind”. No post processing, overdubs or compression.” For this new double CD, the cover tells us ‘non stop free improvisation (where possible), over overdubs, no crossfades’. This one doesn’t seem to be too much (if at all) involved with field recordings and more about electronics. Now that’s where the cover isn’t to clear about things. What kind of electronics? Based on his previous work, I’d say computer noise in some way or another, but then I might be entirely wrong (although one track is called ‘Computer nO!se’ – unless he wants to emphasize the O! thing, but that’s something I doubt); the cover lists a variety of computer devices and outboard stuff but then maybe Vanilla Electronics may not mean that much. Anyway the records are pretty interesting, and again Haswell takes me by surprise. This is not the noise onslaught as he know him for, but a whole bunch of interesting electronic pieces. ‘Value’ has sixteen pieces, of which the last two are pretty long, and ‘Bonus’ has a shorter piece and one very long one. On ‘Value’ the shorter pieces seem to me studies in sound. An ‘event’ is started, there are some variations and then that’s it. Drone like but then of a more ‘pressing’ nature. Pieces created with static (white, pink, black and brown noise) or a slowed down voice, which warn us for loud sounds, and indeed the tracks following that are crushingly loud, until the fourteenth piece which sounded like Hecker and Autechre meeting up, followed by lengthy noise excursions. I had the odd idea about this being some sort of conceptual audiophile test record, but perhaps I am thinking the wrong way here. The short piece on ‘Bonus’ (which lasts ten minutes anyway) has a bird call like sound, perhaps as a loop. The other piece, which lasts over an hour, consists of searching the radio waves. Maybe a layered thing of various improvisations, maybe a ‘live to disc’. Nice enough for sure, but not too good to stand its own feet, but certainly works well as a bonus. Point proven. Over two hours of highly demanding music – from noise, to more silent stuff, techno and riding the radio waves. Excellent. (FdW)
Address: http://www.nofunproductions.com
NICHOLAS SZCZEPANIK & JUAN JOSE CALARCO – LACK AFFIX (CD by Unfanthomless)
The third release in the Unfathomless series is a duo release of two artists bringing sounds to the table from their own places. Nicolas Szczepanik from Washington and one Juan Jose Calarco from Buenos Aires. They traded these sounds and then started to work on processing these. This resulted in the three pieces on this CD. Its hard to recognize the busy urban life in these pieces. Just as much as you would guess, this could also be the sounds from a small village. Unless of course they stuck out their microphones in the middle of the night, picking up the remains of the day and the birds of the night. Occasionally they work towards a crescendo, but even then its not easy to spot the city. Not that I care about this, I must say. They come up with music that has a lot to imagine about. Great field recordings, and great processing of the sounds. They do an excellent job, mixing all of this together, with great clarity and lots of detail. The sound bounces all over the dynamic spectrum. If you like say Francisco Lopez, then you’re bound to like this too. Highly refined soundscapes. (FdW)
Address: http://www.unfathomless.net
ALIO DIE/PARALLEL WORLDS – CIRCO DIVINO (CD by Hic Sunt Leones)
From end of the telescope things have been quiet for Stefano Musso, also known as Alio Die for some time. He has released his music before on Projekt, Timebase, Heart Of Space and his own Hic Sunt Leones. Its here that he releases an album with Bakis Sirros, also known as Parallel Worlds. I never heard of him, but he is active in the field of modular synthesizers, mainly the brand called Doepfer. This is an album of ambient music closely bordering to the world of new age. There is a role here for the wordless singing of India Czajkowska, with sounds a bit too ethereal for me. This music is set out to please the listener, to transport him/her to a different place, yet you have to be open for that of course. Vaguely painted colors of sound, watery drum sounds, washy synth sounds and all such ingredients. Time to light a candle and incense. Minimalist, dark, but sometimes widely open. Mysterious music, rather than magical music. I am not the biggest lover of this kind of music, I must say, its perhaps just a bit too light weighted for me, or perhaps I should say that, because it hints a bit too much towards new age, its not my cup of tea. But surely I had a fine time listening to this, sitting back with a good book and coffee. The music is crafted with great care and style, lots of detail in the production, then perhaps not something I would like to hear all day (but then: which music would?) (FdW)
Address: http://www.aliodie.com
SOUND ON PROBATION 2010 (CD by Sound On Probation)
This CD is produced for the English magazine ‘Sound Projector’ and has various bits from old and forthcoming releases from the French label Sound On Probation. The ones that have been released were almost all reviewed in Vital Weekly, just use our search magazine on the website. The ones that aren’t released yet, will come when they arrive, no doubt. The label is run by Laurent Perrier, and much, actually all, of the music is also from his and his various guises, Zonk’t, Heal, Pylone, Cape Fear and under his own name. A fine place to start investigating, I’d say. Perrier’s take on music, be it techno based, ambient or electro-acoustic, its all here, but then, if you have been reading these pages, you already know this. If not, order a copy of that fine magazine and find out. (FdW)
Address: http://www.soundonprobation.com
PAUL AUSTERLITZ – JOURNEY (CD by Innova)
The 14 tracks on this one are divided into 5 chapters, carrying the titles ‘In-Vocation’, ‘Palo and Beyond’, ‘Merengue and Bebop’, ‘Poetry and Song’ and ‘Out-Vocation’. In different line ups Austerlitz is surrounded by sixteen musicians playing drums and percussion, acoustic and electric bass, piano and keyboards, etc. Austerlitz himself plays – beautifully – contrabass clarinet, bass clarinet, clarinet, tenor sax and voice. Besides being a reed player, he is composer, and ethnomusicologist. As a ethnomusicologist he wrote books on jazz and merengue. As a composer he is inspired again by both traditions. Jazz and afro-cuban and other latin music. So this is what we get served by Austerlitz on his ‘Journey’. Included are influences from raga, Stravinsky and Debussy. A melting pot created by a true lover of ‘worldmusic’. Not an easy-going and accessible treat, nor an academic meta-approach. (DM)
Address: http://www.innova.nu
CUT IOWA NETWORK – PROJECTOR GUNSHIP HELD {яя} (CD, private)
I played this one a lot in the few days. Although it did not impress me on first hearing, for some reason I continued to play it. And then it started to grow and grow. They don’t catch you be surprise but gradually hypnotize you. Cut Iowa Network is guitarist Tim Evans, drummer Steve d’Enton and bassist Adam Barringer. This UK band started in 2008, tapping from electronic, experimental, drone, krautrock and other sources. ‘Projector Gunship Held {яя}’ is their second effort. It reminded me as well of old (Fripp, Eno, Neu, minimal music) as well of new music, especially post-rock. In each track, whether short or long, they arrange wide panoramic views of ambient rock. Most pieces have a prominent role for drums, laying down unspectacular repetitive structures and patterns. They are filled with looped sounds, resulting in harmonious atmospheres. Long extended melodic lines are woven into these carpets. Often I’m bored with post-rock, but the trance inducing instrumental music of Cut Iowa Network really works. Because post-rock is a kind of music that is not very dramatic, it uses other means to convince and communicate. In the case of this band this is done with success, because of the detailed soundspectrum and the captivating structures they succeed to built. It all happens under the surface. Well done. (DM)
Address: http://www.championversion.com/
MATTHEW HERBERT – RECOMPOSED GUSTAV MAHLER (CD by Deutsche Grammophon)
LONTANO – HOMAGE TO GIANCINTO SCELSI (CDR, private)
We, the ‘kids’ (whowe?) should listen more to classical music. At least that’s what Deutsche Grammophon wants, since they want us to buy their CDs. But just how often does one buy Mahler’s tenth symphony, the one he didn’t bother to finish? Just yesterday, scouts honor, I watched an opera, by Ergo Phizmiz, great stuff and had a conversation about symphonies. So I play Dvorak’s ‘From the new world’ quite a bit, occasionally Shostakovich’s seventh (funny first part) and very rarely Gorecki’s third, but like said yesterday ‘I’m not that often depressed’. So never Mahler, but then I also I never anything by Matthew Herbert. Oh he was so hot, that night I saw him on stage, breaking bottles and oh, there is a groove out of that. I think Herbert is a boring guy with too many tales up his sleeve. So this guy recomposes the tenth of Mahler. Suppose I like Mahler, would I then rush out to buy all work by Herbert? Oh no, wrong intention. I should like Herbert and now be rushing out to get all Mahler, on DG preferably. Another boring CD born in a poor’s man marketing mind. No doubt to get raving reviews elsewhere.
Perhaps of more interest is the CDR which I received on the very same, which happens to be a compilation dedicated to the Italian composer Giacinto Scelsi. Now we are talking. Someone whose music should be heard more, I guess, and who was a profound influence on a lot of minimalists. Not in the Reichian sense of the word, but a very reduced sound, in which depth played an important role. Pitch and duration where also of importance. Ok, first, I have no idea why its called ‘Lontano’, because I had to think of Ligeti (must see ‘The Shining’ again), but Stefano Tedesco gathered an interesting crowd to play Scelsi like pieces: Sebastien Roux/Eddie Ladoire, Rafael Toral, Elio Martusciello, David Toop, Skoltz/Kolgen, Scanner, KK Null, Alvin Curran, Efzeg, Eddie Prevost/John Butcher, Lawrence English, Rhodri Davies/Joe Williamson/Stefano Tedesco and Olivia Block. Oh my goodness, and all of this on a CDR in an edition of 100. We live in cruel world. Whereas DG probably made a few hundred pro-pressed promo’s of Herbert, this is only an edition of 100? Although I heard a few work of Scelsi’s works, I would never call myself someone who knows it all. But I do know that his work was generated through improvisation at times, which is probably clear from this list of people who participated. Some tracks seem pretty ‘full’ like Efzeg, but then other feel the ’emptiness’ of Scelsi’s later work perfect like Prevost/Butcher, Rhodri/Williamson/Tedesco, Toral, or Block. There are various approaches here, from more traditional, minimal improvisation, to the use of computer (Roux/Ladoire). Hardly a weak track in sight. An excellent compilation. (FdW)
Address: http://www.stefanotedesco.net
MAURIZIO BIANCHI – THE PLAIN TRUTH (LP by Hot Releases)
BOYZONE – MENARCHE (LP by Hot Releases)
When I reviewed Maurizio Bianchi’s ‘Armaghedon’, the LP version released by Hot Releases in Vital Weekly 703, I considered this might be a bootleg LP. The label later on told me it isn’t, and that the next would be ‘The Plain Truth’, which has now arrived. I told the labelboss Ryan Martin its another classic (it’s also in the review). It was one of the two LPs I originally bought by Bianchi in the eighties. The other was ‘Weltanschauung’, which I must have somewhere still. I sold the original copy of ‘The Plain Truth’, when the box set was released. I still prefer CDs over vinyl (there’s no need to send me e-mails on this subject, thank you), but I know for some people its the other way round. No doubt for those who weren’t around the first time to buy ‘The Plain Truth’ on vinyl, or too poor to buy an original on Ebay, there is now the second best choice, this LP version. Like said, its Maurizio Bianchi at his best. Cold electronics, depicting a post nuclear landscape. Death new age music, stone cold in its grave. But also quite musical, with a slow mutating melody per side. Hypnotic, dangerous and hallucinating. Lost nothing of its power in twenty-seven years.
The other new release is by Boyzone, now a duo of Ryan Martin and Jeff Rehnlund, but these recordings are from 20097-2008, when the band also had in the ranks Rachel and Roxann Spikula, Galen Wiliams plus contributions by Lauren Ford and Charlie St. Clair. We lack of course the dancers and exploding giant maggots on this LP release. It says nothing about how the music was created, but its surely a racket of low, home brew electronics, metal percussion, distortion pedals, and micro cassettes. Its all pretty noisy stuff, but I must say I quite like it, like with more of the work by Rehnlund. I leave most of today’s noise stuff with Jliat, but every now its good to have some noise cleaning my ears. Boyzone is a great example to do the honors. (FdW)
Address: http://www.myspace.com/hotreleases
SEAHAWKS – HIGH TIDES/ASTRAL WINDS (7″ plus CDR by Static Caravan)
Although Seahawks have a nice website (www.seahawks.wordpress.com) it doesn’t say much about the band itself. If indeed this is a band of course. Static Caravan just released their first record, a lovely fat picture disc 7″ and some copies have a free CDR to go along. Now that’s value for money, I guess. And its worth it, as what we get is lovely great music. Seahawks cherish the sample devices. They sample whatever comes close it seems, guitars, drums, keyboards and create some particular light, sunny music with it. Heavily influenced by seventies disco – ‘Sun Trails’ (on the bonus CDR) even has vocals and an opening that could be from KC & The Sunshine Band – but with a great touch of psychedelic music to it. A great combination of light and dark meet up here, and puts a big smile on my face. Seven great pieces on the CDR, two excellent cuts on 7″: why not a proper LP, I wondered. This music certainly would have deserved it. (FdW_
Address: http://www.staticcaravan.org
MATT CHAUMONT – LINEA (CDR by Avant Whatever)
Avant Whatever is a new label from Australia and their first release is by Matt Chaumont. He currently lives in Melbourne, but studied in Helsinki and Sydney. He’s a master in Fine Arts and has created sound installations in Australia, USA and Europe. His CDR is neatly packed in a limited edition of 100 copies and has nothing to do with the Asmus Tietchens work of the same name. Three lengthy pieces which show an interest in sub bass material. You have to crank up your installation a bit before you actually hear something, but once a piece is going, it is really going. No doubt it sound massive on a big, proper P.A. (which reminded me of Bernard Gunter: when he played his music on his own installation for me, it sounded indeed much different than at home). The bass cones do overtime on this release, which I guess might be good thing. However I think the concept of just using these low to mid end sine waves is not enough to do a forty-seven minute disc. Well, perhaps in a concert situation or as a sound installation it might, but as for home listening I have some serious doubts about it. Its very nice, but then limited to one piece at a time, I guess. Not bad, but to be consumed in small doses. For those who like Ikeda and Noto. (FdW)
Address: http://www.avantwhatever.com
TOM HALL – PAST PRESENT, BELOW (CDR, private)
In a short time span, late 2007 and early 2008, Tom Hall released three CDRs of his solo work, involving computer, field recordings and instruments (see Vital Weekly 584, 598 and 617), followed by a collaborative release with Lawrence English. Then it was quiet, on the front of releases. In the past two years, Hall traveled the world (and the seven seas) to play over 250 concerts and he has been immersed with impressions and sounds. Again lots of field recordings and instruments such as drums, guitar, piano, organ, vibraphone, Chinese gongs and harmonium. He uses both computer and guitar effects to alter those sounds. I was sitting back in my reading chair, smoking my pipe and listening to the music. The spring sun is nicely warm (windows closed). I was thinking about Tom Hall and his music. I liked it, I did. Then I got up and played the release again, sitting behind my computer, again thinking of Tom Hall and his music. I still like it. But the honest thing to write is also that I kept thinking about the entire 12K catalogue and all their artists and how the music of Tom Hall would fit into that. It means that this honesty says that there is not much news under the sun here, and perhaps I should think that after a two year hiatus that is a pity. I do. I decide to sit in my armchair again, and play the music once one. (FdW)
Address: http://www.tomhall.com.au
CHAD E. WILLIAMS – THE VISION FIELDS (CDR by Love Earth Music)
‘Mildly interesting facts about the music contained on this CD’, it says on the cover, but what is written below is pretty difficult to read, so I skipped that. Sorry. There is also a picture of some equipment, a guitar, mixer, microphone. The music is by one Chad E. Williams, of whom I may not have heard before. I assume he plays these instruments on this release. I must admit it gave me some hard time, not knowing what to think about this. Its not really the kind of music of Vital Weekly, but its also not really the kind of popmusic that we also get but usually don’t fit us (or hard rock, normal jazz etc.). Williams plays quite pleasant, yet moody, mostly instrumental music. Its a a bit poppy, rocky, jazzy (horrible jazz saxophone on ‘Vampires Don’t Dance To Bleed Thru’), as said mostly pleasant and melodic. Occasionally there is a bit of poetry reading. Quite a talented player of his instruments. Its not bad. I played this while eating my dinner, and kept thinking it was all pretty enjoyable, but not spectacular. Not something to play a lot, even there is all the good reasons to do so. Pleasant music is nice. (FdW)
Address: http://www.loveearthmusic.com
DAVID NEWLYN – FRIDAY NIGHT CHOIR PRACTICE (CDR by Ephre Imprint)
Not being a very religious person, I don’t visit many churches, save perhaps for some tourist attraction. But some years ago I went along with some friends to an All Souls thing with a choir singing in a church. I wish I took my recording device that night, to tape the singing in the beautiful resonating box we call a church. I can see why people are religious I thought that night, though wasn’t converted. David Newlyn, who runs the Cathedral Transmissions label (what else?), and who did have releases on U-Cover, Symbolic Interaction and Mobeer, went into the Durham Cathedral with this recording device and recorded the choir practice there. Muffled, far away, we hear voices, a church organ and in general the sort of atmosphere you would connect to cathedrals. Its hard to say if and what Newlyn did in the first piece. I doubt much at all, saves perhaps for creating some kind of edit in the material to keep a constant flow of the sound. In the second piece (‘Part 2 (version)’) it seems that he added reverb and the sound gets drowned out. Its supposed to be more spacious, but the whole piece seems to me a bit superfluous. Though ‘Part 1’ I thought was nice enough. I could have settled with that. (FdW)
Address: http://www.ephreimprint.eu
JONATHAN MCHUGH & MARK WASTELL – HYDRIOTAPHIA (CDR by Confront)
The Arp 2600 is a beast of an analogue synthesizer. Look for an image online, I’d say gaze at it. All along you can play this release by Jonathan McHugh who plays one, here on this recording with Mark Wastell, who plays a 32″ paiste tam tam (look for an image of that one too I’d say). This is one of those things that seem to scream ‘warning drones ahead’, and we are not disappointed here. The forty-five minutes are filled with some really charming drones. Its totally unclear which role the tam tam plays, but the Arp sets forward a few nice sounds, deeply humming most of the times, but then sometimes chirping like a summer field filled with insects. Meditative music foremost. Hard to believe this comes from the world of improvised music: it sounds very much like composed music, executed with precision and care. Ending with a pretty nasty, piercing sound. Great stuff. (FdW)
Address: http://www.sound323.com
WAND AND PRINCESS – UTOPIA NEGATIVES (CDR by Hashish)
From the obscure world of Wand And Princess comes another release. A handmade cover holding the title, the band name, and ‘Hashish Ha 7’. The forty some minutes of music is cut as one track, but clearly consists of various tracks. It opens with piano, then a long stretch of noise (ten minutes), before leaping into some lo-fi guitar drones stuff which I actually thought was nice. Spacious and dirty. Followed by a similar piece but even more open and spacious, and also more quiet. This is the best part of this release I think. Free strumming, with no sense of direction, but creating great headspace. The piece (?) ends with another free strumming bit that is louder and deals with too much reverb. Actually a pretty nice but uneven release. And with such a low form of presentation, I keep on wondering: for whom is this for? If you like New Zealand and their lo-fi guitar music, then Wand And Princess (from the UK according to the stamps) is your tea for sure. (FdW)
Address: none given but try http://www.myspace.com/wandandprincess
ERIC LUNDE – XCHDX: THE UNEXPLORED TERRAIN (CDR/DVR by Trait)
OOTHEKA/ERIC LUNDE (CDR by Trait)
The recently resurrected career of Eric Lunde continues and branches out. There are now two new releases, one under his own and one as Ootheka/Eric Lunde, but then with a line through it. In the 80s Lunde was known as a noise artist, but he did something that set him apart from the other noise boys. His releases hinted towards performance, installation and geography. Performed at some site, and the release included maps and such like. It gave his work some edge which was not easy judge, certainly in the distance I was at. One of his records was the ‘XchdX – Terrain Of Prophecy’, which no doubt can be downloaded somewhere, and he presents here a DVDR/CDR set from those sessions, from a ‘very distressed analog tape’. To spoil the end: this release doesn’t shed much light on the old work of Lunde. Maybe I expected to see some performance outside on some rock or mountain, or one in a gallery, but its not. The DVDR, saved from an old VHS, contains flicker like images of a TV with lots distorted signal. The music seems to respond, sometimes, and sometimes not at all. The sound is crude, like an eroded tape that has been in the water too long and dried up. So its great. The images and the music certainly have something really captivating, hypnotic even. You could wonder if you would want to hear, after watching the lengthy film, the CDR which contains (perhaps!) the same music of this eroded sound – what sound is that anyway, I wondered, recorded to failing tape heads – but then you may not want to watch the video all the time I guess. Very nice, very much in decay, very much OK.
For Ootheka Lundes writes that he’s not sure how to call it, which is a bit, seeing the quite nice presentation of it. He calls it a cross between power electronics, noise, and tape processing, so I was prepared for some ear damage. This is not the case. There are no less than forty-three tracks on this release, among which are various of six seconds only. Track seventeen to thirty-one has one title. I guess the music is best described as an update to his own previous sound approach. There is a analogue electronics, computer treatments, cheap tape techniques (memorecorder) and the voice of Lunde which is always easy to recognize. The analogue electronics, no doubt just one synthesizer, plays at times nasty, piercing stuff, but also pulse like material (like a very reduced Pan Sonic). At an hour its perhaps a bit long, but that might also be because the tracks are pretty short and sketch like. Maybe its a good to work some ideas out into somewhat longer pieces and make the whole thing forty or so minutes. There is indeed some great power in this release, but its not, thank god for that, the power electronics that is full hour of distortion.
Address: http://www.trait.vox.com
THE DEAD MAURIACS – UN APRES-MIDI SUISSE (CDR by NPH)
A group of up to seven people, with the core of Vincent Dommeyne (guitar, computer), Helene Prieur (who plays the Darquies, which is a home made string instrument made of a wooden box of red wine, the Chateau Darquies) and Olivier Prieur (computer and small amplified objects). Prieur is solely responsible for this particular release as The Dead Mauriacs, with Helene on the last tracks. I am not sure what Prieur wants with his release, and that is not said in a negative way. His music is best described as something that works along the lines of microsound, drones and glitches. It seems to me that its an exercise in possibilities. Prieur knows his stuff. The plug ins, loops, the combination of acoustic sounds versus that of processed sounds, field recordings, it all works out nicely. Hardly something that hasn’t been before, but somehow I think that Prieur wouldn’t care about that. He’s trying to create his own version of what we know, and he does a fine job. Think Fennesz, think Stephan Mathieu (although less minimal) and be surprised of the beats in a piece like ‘Lemmy’s Digital Vein Spiralled Upside Down’ (great title too). Made with lots of pleasure, that much is clear. (FdW)
Address: <olivier_prieur@club-internet.fr>
CORPORATE PARK ‚ SURRENDER (CDR by FLA)
Corporate Park takes techno music and screws around with it, introducing shards of abrasion (“Vital Essence”), strange track progressions (“Train From Dallas to Malvern”), and Cabaret Voltaire-esque ritualism (“Searching for Iris”) to the fold. It’s a strange, brief little treat from this Denton, Texas duo who seem to enjoy analogue drum machines somewhat more than the average human, as evidenced by the 808-esque handclaps of “Train From Dallas to Malvern” and the grungy, grouchy pulse that sends “White Lie” noxiously throbbing forward. The record’s most accessible moment is likely the cold microhouse jig that is “I Will Not Surrender;” it’s a rhythm-centric romp replete with a menacing ambiance, the sort of thing Corporate Park seems to excel at. (MT)
Address: http://freelovinganarchists.blogspot.com
SUNSLIDE – FIELD PIANO (3″CDR by Field Muzick)
Nigel Simpson is the man behind Sunslide, and as such he has been experimenting with acoustic and electric sounds. Most curious thing mentioned on his CV is a meeting with Phil Manzanera in a coffeeshop which resulted in playing on two of his solo records. He lived in London but has moved to Suffolk, where he can finally play the piano again. He set up the 88 keys outside and played these improvisations, keeping in mind the music of Chopin, Schumann, Bill Evans, Arve Henriksen and also Brian Eno’s ‘Discreet Music’. Long sustaining sounds, carefully playing and of course country-side sounds. Its where the label name truly lives I’d say. There is some sparse electronic processing, but what it does is not exactly clear – that kind of sparseness. In the third piece there is something of mild distortion going on and a lot on the seventh and final piece, which I also didn’t like: it broke up the gentleness of the previous six. Quite hissy at times. I was reminded the old great Harold Budd track on ‘From Brussels With Love’, but then played outside. Apart from that seventh track a lovely moody little item. (FdW)
Address: http://fieldmuzick.net
COOLOOLA MONSTER : TAM ?O? SHANTER (CDR by Amothue Records)
TARUHO (CDR by Le Brutal Records)
A debut album from the Basque band Cooloola Monster at Amothue Records.
Ambolthue Records was started in June 2006 by Kjetil Hanssen and his motto is “don’t get annoyed, get inspired!”. The main idea of the label is to release as much good music as possible, and to inspire people all over the world to make, and listen to experimental music. Cooloola Monster consists of Estanis Comella (keyboards, samples), Miguel A. Garcia (oscillators, no-input Mixer), Oier I. A. (plunderphonics, djing) and Ross Macdonald (vocals, lyrics). The CD starts with a happy melody and noisy sounds, but in a short time it turns into chaos. “Rona Dung” is the second track and the calm voice of Ross Macdonald is supported by electronic sounds and after a while a lot of sounds are passing by. And this is the pattern for this cd. Some parts are very well played with a lot of attention, but it is a pity that the quartet does not take enough time to explore this soundscapes as they do the sixth track “Une nymphe amie d?enfance.” For sure this CDR is experimental, but for me experimental is not a synonym of going wild on your equipment, but to explore the possibilities of your instruments and the interaction between the other musicians.
And this is exactly the problem of Taruho. This album is a registration of some parts of an improvisation workshop directed by Michel Henritzi and Rinji Fukuoka (a Tokyo-based psychedelic guitarist and violinist). Michel Henritzi improvises a lot with other musicians and in this occasion he plays with Miguel A. Garcia, Edorta Izarzugaza, Al Karpenter and Jon Mantxi. I really do not know what I had to think about these recordings. For some tracks it is hard to listen to, cause the musicians are searching and searching for the moment or making as much as noise as possible on the guitar, violin and whatever. The first two tracks are interesting because the musicians will come together and make a flood of their melodies and sounds. Especially the second track has a fine melancholic atmosphere which inspires for more. I cannot imagine that the third track is an improvisation, for me it is a break between the improvisations and I do not understand why the musicians share this moment with the listener. Workshops are meant to experiment and to find spontaneous moments to explore your musical possibilities with your own and the others. To share this intimate moments with others is another level and needs more critical redaction. (JKH)
Address: http://www.ambolthue.com
Address: http://www.myspace.com/lebrutalrecords
CARLOS VILLENA, MIGUEL A. GARCIA AND HECTOR REY – UNTITLED (3″CDR by Mantricum Records)
Carlos Villena is an artist in music and graphic design who lives in Spain. He has realized gigs with other worldwide experimental artists, audio / video installations and runs the label Mantricum. Together with Miguel Garcia and Hector Rey he did some concerts in 2009. The recordings are released in a beautiful packed small dvd-case with a childish naФf drawing of Raul Dominguez. The first track is a live recording of Carlos Villena and is full of feed-back, created by a television, turntable, contact microphone and a walkman. The result is a slow noisy track, not really special and innovatory. Tracks two and three are live improvisations of Miguel A. Garcia and Hector Rey from Spain. Hector Rey is also an artist, who creates conceptual arts. Miguel A. Garcia is a soundartist who also works with the name Xedh. The two artists improvise well with their equipment, like pre recorded piano, drumcomputer, effect pedal and oscillators. In the two compositions there is more diversity in sound and volume. That makes these compositions dynamic and like modern classic music in an experimental way. (JKH)
Address: http://www.mantricum.com
VERTONEN – DROWING IN WET SAND (3″CDR by CIP)
VERTONEN – CRESTING (cassette by Bloodlust!)
Blake Edwards recently surprised us with three 3″CDRs and a split LP, now he arrives with the first of four, quarterly 3″CDRs as well as a cassette. The first 3″ was intended to be a cassette release that never happened. The cover lists three tracks, but on the CDR there are only two, although its very well possible they are merged together. Its here that Vertonen works out his recent interests into deeply moving textured pieces of drone music. Although densely layered, there is some great subtleness gong in these pieces. Vertonen’s music works on all dynamic levels and is put together in an excellent way. The two/three pieces mark his progression in this. The US counterpart to Eliane Radigue.
I expected the cassette to be somewhat more noise based, seeing it released on Bloodlust!, but its rather not. Vertonen’s recent work deals, mostly, with drone like music, like on the 3″CDR, which is continued here, although altogether of a more heavy nature. Five tracks here, of which the first is a more quieter outing, but then ‘Scotoma’ is pretty loud and very dense. “Tackypnoea’ is more quiet again. ‘Mains Collapse’ on the b-side is a more ambient industrial drone-scape, whereas ‘Deep Water Blackout’ sounds like airwave loops flying about. An excellent cassette release. Quite powerful, and highly varied. Not as delicate as the 3″CDR, but fine enough. (FdW)
Address: http://cipsite.net
Address: http://bloodlust.blogspot.com