FARMERS MANUAL – FSCK (CD by Tray)
This is the second release by Tray and again we welcome Farmers Manual. The
first 12″ was a weird drum & bass track backed by a likewise weird
hard-chill track. Indexed with 99 points this is an extension of that 12″.
Weird tracks, owing in some ways to d&b as much as it does to industrial
music. If I say a lot of this sounds fucked, believe me this is truly
fucked. The more accessible (if that is an appropiate word in this context)
are in the beginning of the CD, but it gradually grows noiser and weirder
throughout. The noisy bits and pieces at the end are suitable for random
play or looping mode. Again fun for home-DJs (as you would be thrown at out
of the club if you play this on the dance floor) and bedroom composers.
Industrial music for the digital generation! (FdW)
Address: <ash@touch.demon.co.uk>
SCATTER (CD by Ash International)
Part two of a triptich (after ‘Chiky(u)u’ with Japanese music), this time
with 5 US composers. Two of each well-known (Jim O’Rourke and Daniel
Menche), one known to incrowd only (John Hudak) and one Kevin Drumm and
somebody by the name of Earth. Kevin Drumm opens up, but is not the best
choose. The noisy piece of static drone is quite uninspired. Hudak’s piece
is much interesting. Reverberated environmental noise of wind… maybe
branches broken in a tunnel… maybe fireworks recorded in the sewer… it
is an open piece for inpiration. Earth is a guitar piece, howling like
Loren Mazzacane Connors – quite nice, but maybe out of place? Or maybe,
taken the fact that it is the middle piece, a right decision. Jim O’Rourke
crackles and rumblesin the lower depths of hearing range. Sharing the good
moments of Bernard Gunter (and that is a lot) with say maybe the digitized
glitches of Oval. By far the best piece on the CD. Another wunderkind of
our days, Daniel Menche, exercises once more the high picthed drony sounds
of rubbing microphones in the basement. With the usual high impact. In
general a diverse compilation which scores 4 out of 5. Not bad at all. (FdW)
Address: <ash@touch.demon.co.uk>
NOTO – (CD by Noton)
Noton is the side label by Rastermusic, and their CD’s are easily to be
recognized: transparant jewel cases with info attached on a sticker. The
same info is also on the CD itself, so a strange reflection is made. Noto
is one Carsten Nicolai and this endless work was presented at the Documenta
X. I have no intentions to go to Kassel, so I haven’t got a clue what the
installation is all about. The 72 tracks on this are either lengthy (6
minutes) or damm short. In a way it can be compared to the Farmers Manual
CD reviewed elsewhere. But Noto’s work is more bleepy, yet minimal. In some
ways there is a reference to ø or Panasonic, but more arty. Fragmentaric
but quite o.k. Again more fun for home-DJs then clubby ones – but I don’t
care about that. (FdW)
Address: <100522.3536@compuserve.com>
PUTREFIER – CILIUM TO MKD STRUCTURE (CD by Batarr)
Sometimes I feel like in other times. Putrefier for instance is a name that
I recall from years ago, when cassette only releases was a keyword. As time
passes you assume people disappear, or loose interest in doing music. But
Putrefier continued and presents his first compact disc release of material
recorded between 1988-1995. The music can be categorized as uneasy
listening, yet Putrefier (and that is what I remember of his old work),
stays on the quiet side of noise (if that doesn’t sound like a
contradiction…). Loops or sampled of broken sound play a continous mode,
flashes of feedback are thrown in, washes of a synth here and there. Not
bad, but some of these could have been cut and a little more excitement in
structure could have made this into more then a mediocre CD. (FdW)
Address: 5090 Baillargeon – St-Hubert – Quebec – Canada – J3Y 2A7
BAeSTARD – RADIANT, DISCHARGED, CROSSED-OFF (LP Zeitgeist)
This is a group from France with their last (as far as I know) album from
1996. Not totally new but as I think there hasn’t been written anything
about them so far in VITAL WEEKLY it’s maybe time to present them. BAeSTARD
seem to come from the classical ‘Rock’-context, they have at least the
classical rock-line-up in their group except for one guy who plays
Samplers/ Tapes/ Electronics. But often their instruments don’t sound very
much like typical ‘rock’-instruments at all. Their pieces are always very
minimal, full of suspense, range from silence to noise (sometimes very
abruptly) and vice versa, can have lyrics (sometimes spoken, sometimes
sung) or be pure instrumental. From this description one can see that
BAeSTARD play a music of a great variety, which can please experimental,
improvisational, rock & noise -Freaks at the same time. I saw them few
weeks ago live in Bremen and was truly impressed, it seemed like the
perfect symbiosis of ‘rock’ and ‘experimental’ music, a field that is often
worked on but in most cases not very successful. It’s not easy to compare
BAeSTARD with any other group, but regarding their experimental vein and
their complexity & the ever changing tracks I’d like to point out a link to
the genius THIS HEAT. So maybe it was no wonder they played live a
cover-version of a famous THIS HEAT – Song? Is this the future of
Rock-music? (BAR)