CHESTER HAWKINS – SEMISOLIDS (CD by Intangible Arts) *
ICH BIN NINTENTENO – LOOK (CD by Va Fongool) *
CAKEWALK – TRANSFIXED (CD by Hubro) *
SKADEDYR – KONGEKRABBE (CD by Hubro) *
2KILOS &MORE – 10 (2CD by Audiophob) *
TOM BLANCARTE – THE SHORTENING OF THE WAY (LP by Tubapede Records)
THE LEGENDARY PINK DOTS – TRAUMSTADT 2 (double CDR by The Terminal Kaleidoscope)
JOUX JOUX VS GERALD FIEBIG & ALEXANDER MÖCKEL – PRIVATE TRANSPORT (CDR by Attenuation Circuit) *
ASSUAJE – E KEST VA PE KELL (CDR by Attenuation Circuit) *
MICRODEFORM – APHELION (cassette by Zam Zam Records)
SIGTRYGGUR BERG SIGMARSSON – CHALLENGING NON-ENTERTAINMENT COMPOSITIONS (cassette by No Basement Is Deep Enough)
SIGTRYGGUR BERG SIGMARSSON – SUN OF LATE AFTERNOON (cassette by Hanson Records)
SIR IAN – II (CD, private)
ARKTIS/AIR – EN-TRANCE (CD by Wire Globe Recordings)
CHESTER HAWKINS – SEMISOLIDS (CD by Intangible Arts)
The man behind Blue Sausage Infant is Chester Hawkins, you may know this from previous releases. However Blue Sausage Infant is no more, as Hawkins decided to go by his ‘human’ name now and ‘Semisolids’ is his first release as such. But that’s really about the only change made, as the music hasn’t evolved. Now sometimes I don’t like that, as I think everybody should develop and be on an endless repeat, doing the same thing over and over again. But maybe I have’t heard enough Blue Sausage Infant in the past (I didn’t check, but maybe four or five releases?) and always felt there was room for further exploration. Hawkins has an all electronic set-up and taps into many of the sub-genres of electronic music. Drone, cosmic music, serious composition, noise, soundtracks, it all seems to be present here. Music with a full, omnipresent sound, very dynamic and intense. None of these (nine) pieces are really short, but that’s alright. Hawkins is the sort of guy – with twenty-eight years of experience – who can put up a lengthy piece of music on his analogue synths that is imaginative, evocative and interesting. He employs a bit of rhythm, when necessary, such as in ‘Nematode’, which is very much inspired by Conrad Schnitzler, or the krauty rhythms of ‘Plasmid’ and the shimmering melodic ‘Isle Of Dogs’. I didn’t like the droney ‘The Brood’ that much, which seemed too simply, but it was maybe the weakest link around here. I could have easily imagined this on Spectrum Spools, although I don’t really have an idea what they are up to these days (maybe more into a world of beats and this album by Hawkins might be a bit too dark for them). An excellent release, this cosmic trip by Hawkins. Let’s have a couple more. (FdW)
Address: http://www.chesterhawkins.org
ICH BIN NINTENTENO – LOOK (CD by Va Fongool)
From this band I reviewed an earlier CD, recorded with Mats Gustafsson, back in Vital Weekly 853 and made a spelling mistake (so not easy to find I guess), which I enjoyed even when their free noise jazz rock was quite a strain to hear. There new CD is a bit longer, extending to forty one minutes, and recorded on a 8 track recorded in a small room; originally they opted for a big hall, but the results were not great. The small room recordings have been handed over to Lasse Marhaug who mixed them together and with great result. It’s loud, it’s free and it’s jazz and it’s noise. It howls, jumps and bends around. Christian Skar Winther (electric guitar), Magmus Skavhaug Nergaard (electric bass) and Joakim Heibo Johansen (drums) do what they do best and that is creating one hell of a racket. It’s very energetic and very powerful. It doesn’t leave anyone unharmed and not easy to find something to play after this; the listener is surely fatigued after this. A disc of energy and variation, like it’s predecessor. (FdW)
Address: http://www.vafongool.no
CAKEWALK – TRANSFIXED (CD by Hubro)
SKADEDYR – KONGEKRABBE (CD by Hubro)
Unlike their previous packages, Hubro didn’t enclose any information on these releases, but the covers of these promo’s contain, perhaps, enough information. First we have the trio called Cakewalk: Øystein Skar (synthesizers), Stephen Meidell (guitar, bass, boxes and tape machines) and Ivar Loe Bjørnstad on drums. That’s the basic information, since if you slide this in and see Itunes calling this jazz, then believe, it’s not. Cakewalk are a fine power rock trio with influences, perhaps, from the world of jazz but as easily, if not more, form the world of (post) rock. Six lengthy pieces, spanning forty minutes of instrumental rocky tunes, with a fine emphasis on the use of keyboards.They bring in a gentle, light touch to the music which is otherwise pretty dark and doomy and that lighter touch reminds me at times of the somewhat mysterious band Dif Juz on 4AD. It has a swing, it has a groove and it has a fine melody to go along. It’s great music, I was thinking, especially if you like that whole post rock groove thing to be a bit darker, but maybe, so I was thinking, this is a bit too far from the Vital Weekly home.
The other band is Skadedyr, and it’s a big band with thirteen musicians, and founded by Heiða Karine Jóhannesdóttir Mobeck and Anja Lauvdal, who used to play in Your Headlights Are On. The other members are from bands as Moskus, Broen Ósk, Karokh, Snøskred, Skrap and Hullyboo and it’s more a small orchestra or ensemble, rather than a band. This album was recorded in just one day by Andreas Mjøs (of Jagga Jazzist) and here too it’s been called jazz by Itunes, but again not something that covers it, at least not entirely. But what exactly is it then, you may wonder? That’s not easy to tell. It’s orchestral at times, a music hall band at others, acoustic noise based, and maybe the Norwegian answer to Zeitkratzer at other times, such as in ‘Lakselus’. Even when I think this is not entirely my cup of tea, I quite enjoyed the variety of styles, sometimes working at the same time and throughout this disc, making it melodic and ‘weird’ at the same, curious enough. I have no idea what this is about, really, but it sounds pretty much alright. (FdW)
Address: http://www.hubromusic.com
2KILOS &MORE – 10 (2CD by Audiophob)
Somewhere I think I may have heard of 2Kilos &More, but it seems that their previous work was reviewed by NM in Vital Weekly 841. This duo from Paris consists of Séverine Krouch & Hugues Villette and exist for ten years, which causes a bit of a celebration. Maybe these are packed in some textile bag, but not these copies, which came in a regular printed sleeve. The first CD is a live affair, and the second contains remixes. The live CD was recorded at two different festivals and has a whole bunch of guests, such as Phil Von, Flore Magnet and Black Sifichi. They provide guest vocals. 2Kilos &More ‘improvise over long evolving sound waves’ and is somewhere along the lines of post rock and ambient-electronics, but certainly also massive fans of Coil, I think. Lots of rhythm, lots of synthesizers and a bunch of (sampled) guitars. The voices here make it all a bit darker than I would have thought it would be. It’s not entirely the kind of music I like; maybe a bit too dark in a gothic sense of the word, too much underworld ghost music perhaps, but that’s mainly thanks to the darker vocals. A bit out of place, but it ends with a rather nice and subdued remix of Rapoon.
More remixes can be found on the other CD. On a different remix, a while ago, I wrote extensively about the nature of remixes, and why I don’t like these projects. The label owner had different opinions (“an insane proposition in today’s world, as well as your derogatory concept of a remix is entirely insufficient to even grasp contemporary electronic music, I think”) but no further discussion was engaged. That’s a pity, since it didn’t go into my argument that a remix should/could bring music to an entirely new audience, in a different market, and not preach to the already converted. Now, and here as well, it stays close to home. A Von Magnet remix is not a big surprise, having heard front man Phil Von just sing live. Or Black Sifichi. Or Rapoon returning the favor. The music here is melted down to rock which is a nice move by Picore, guitar heavy by Wild Shores, the grinding industrial world of Rogor Rotor and the drum & bass of Needle Sharing. Now here we can hear some radically altered music. I am sure fans of Rotor or Needle Sharing would pick up on this and might be interested in 2Kilos &More. Not something that can be extended to the entire CD unfortunately. It’s great music, don’t get me wrong, here, and no doubt everybody had a great time doing remixes, but will it bring news fans for 2Kilos &More? Do I know more of their music now? I am afraid, that’s not the case altogether. I have an idea, but not enough to form a more solid opinion. (FdW)
Address: http://www.audiophob.de
TOM BLANCARTE – THE SHORTENING OF THE WAY (LP by Tubapede Records)
A solo debut, is the LP by bassist Tom Blancarte from New York. He’s been for ‘years holding down the low end with a number of avant-garde groups’, which are Farvefisen Blomstrer, Totem, The Home Of East Credit, The Gate, The Peter Evans Quintet, Jeremiah Cymerman and Seabrook Power Plant, to quote further from the press text. Two side long pieces here, which could refer to Peter Brotzmann, Barry Guy, Morbid Angel or Iannis Xenakis. Definitely not easy listening music, I would think. The upright bass is amplified and perhaps, but I have no evidence to support this, the recordings might be layered together from various sessions. In ‘Secher Nbiw (The Golden Path)’, the music is rather hectic and nervous and I am reminded of the first albums of Agencement, who had a similar approach to a string instrument, a violin in his case. Up until somewhere half way through ‘Kralizec (Typhoon Struugle At The End Of The Universe)’ on the other side, this hectic continues and then slows down for a short while, and even gets a bit more rhythmical. But it picks up with the hectic again and continues that onwards, until the end of record. Totally free, improvised music, without a trace of silence in sight, or single space to breathe, this is a record that I think is great, and of which I think is very tiring. Noise and such ‘radical’ music can be relaxing at times, but this attack on the senses is a more ‘noisy’ affair, then your average harsh noise wall release. This leaves you behind like a wreck and without any appetite for more music. Just go out for a refreshing walk. (FdW)
Address: http://www.tubapederecords.com
THE LEGENDARY PINK DOTS – TRAUMSTADT 2 (double CDR by The Terminal Kaleidoscope)
It’s perhaps no secret that I like The Legendary Pink Dots, even when I wouldn’t call myself a true, dedicated fan. I very much enjoy the early works, the cassette days, and the more recent more experimental stuff, but not always the more krauty, mainstream music, which perhaps goes down well with the true fans. Their back catalogue is an immense affair after more than thirty years but the always changing technology you can, I guess, keep on remastering. And why not? Especially in this case of ‘Traumstadt 2’, which was an early compilation of pieces submitted to compilations, alternative mixes and some tracks from main albums. In the past there have been more compilations documenting these early days, think ‘Stained Glass Soma Fountains’ for instance, but here’s the true ‘old days’ (old daze?) fan in me, but not quite fan enough. I recognize many songs, ‘Plague 2’, ‘Vigil Anti’ or ‘Love In A Plain Brown Envelope’ but couldn’t tell if I heard this version before or not. There are no doubt dedicated websites detailing such information for us, but I don’t care. Very much as the twenty-year old FdW all those years ago, I enjoy this crazy brand of electronic music, rhythm machines, guitars and Patrick Paganni’s violin along with Ka-spel voice; it all sounds as fresh now as it did back then. Spanning ninety minutes, just as the original cassette version, we have seventy on one CDR and sixteen on the other… now, if ever there was room for some bonus pieces, it would have been here. No doubt there is more obscurities in the basement that could do with a refurbish! (FdW)
Address: http://legendarypinkdots1.bandcamp.com/
JOUX JOUX VS GERALD FIEBIG & ALEXANDER MÖCKEL – PRIVATE TRANSPORT (CDR by Attenuation Circuit)
ASSUAJE – E KEST VA PE KELL (CDR by Attenuation Circuit)
The music on ‘Private Transport’ is a remix of music created by Gerald Fiebig and Alexander Möckel, and which is released by Gruenrekorder but then remixed by someone who calls himself Joux Joux. No doubt an online release by Gruenrekorder, so perhaps something I could order, but ten euros is a bit steep for such an investigation. But apparently the original is a ‘warm, humming drone chord to humanize the traffic noise in a street tunnel’, but such references are no longer present in the remix by Joux Joux, and I see the original release spans a variety of pieces and lasts over sixty minutes; the remix is only one piece and close to twenty-six minutes. The music here has to do with the use of drones, which sound mildly distorted throughout. It moves distinctly through three different sections, which are all somehow related. It’s a heavy first piece, a more mellow second part and a louder finale. Here the drones tend towards the land of noise, but elements from previous part keep returning – maybe traffic lights being heavily processed. They say there is light at the end of the tunnel but in this case I doubt that. It seems a one way tunnel with no light and once you are locked in there is no way out. Claustrophobic drone music.
A few days I was watching an instrumental rock band, playing post/math rock sort of thing. I couldn’t help thinking that so much of rock music is a very macho thing, muscle rock for tattooed boys who get all the girls. Perhaps I am not that macho, but I found/find little joy in this kind machismo. So I was a bit scared when Attentuation Circuit calls the music of Assuaje ‘avant rock’. However it’s not a band in the traditional sense of the word as it’s Berlin based Italian bass player Alessandro Quintavalle. Here he plays the bass, in all sorts of ways, some of which may sound like a demented rock bass player, but it’s more than that. There is quite some samples thrown in here from voices in the Neapolitan dialect, and ‘aimed at celebrating the subversive power of speech that defies the rules of written grammer with a free-form music that equally defies the boundaries between rock guitar riffs, quasi-techno and drone noise’. I must admit the quasi-techno is something I didn’t hear, even when there is some rhythm in ‘Lavendaie’, but not every rhythm makes up techno. The bass howls around, in the world of distortion – the element of rock I should think – but this material way to free form to be called avant-rock. It’s all more to do with a heavy noise form of improvisation with a lot of samples thrown in. Never really quiet or subdued, Assuaje pulls back every now and then and brings in a bit more mood and sharper contrasts in the music, especially in ‘Rosary’. The socio and political element in here may not be as easily understood, but these thirty minutes surely make a powerful statement. Excellent stuff. (FdW)
Address: http://www.attenuationcircuit.de
MICRODEFORM – APHELION (cassette by Zam Zam Records)
Behind Microdeform we find one Liam McCanaghy from the UK with two lengthy concert recordings and, on either side, an extra, home recorded piece. The music was made using a turntable, 4 track tape machine, synthesizer, mixer and effect pedals with a bit computer software to record those pieces. It’s not easy to avoid a name like Philip Jeck, but McCanaghy also cites as influences such people as Tim Hecker, William Basinski and Christian Marclay. However there is more to add to that list. These long form improvised electronic pieces, which bounce back and forth, on an endless rotation, also reminded me of Rapoon (sans rhythm) and even more Zoviet*France in the late eighties and early nineties. This is all played without taking too much care about composition, but with a fine interest in the constant flow of these sounds. Very gentle, drone based on side A and on side B, the opening (it’s hard to detect separate tracks in here), more louder and intense. But all in all, it’s all about the flow, and Microdeform has a fine form in this flow. Sometimes it’s get stuck in a groove for a bit too long, I think, but Microdeform gets out alive and moves on. Essentially this has to do with the use of vinyl records that provide that ever rotating feel, and then comes with a lot of on the spot variations from all those sound effects that are used to manipulate these locked grooves. Quite a gentle release with nice, nasty undercurrent. Just the way I like this kind of music: not too smooth, not too noisy, but well adventurous. Not exploring too much new territory, but a fine, further exploration of the musical roads of Zoviet*France, who never release as much as we want. (FdW)
Address: http://www.zamzamrec.org
SIGTRYGGUR BERG SIGMARSSON – CHALLENGING NON-ENTERTAINMENT COMPOSITIONS (cassette by No Basement Is Deep Enough)
SIGTRYGGUR BERG SIGMARSSON – SUN OF LATE AFTERNOON (cassette by Hanson Records)
Still the young man he always, the man with the name hard to pronounce, Sigtryggur Berg Sigmarsson, and I am sure, if you bump into him, you can call him Siggi. It seems that is what everybody else does. Best known for being first one third, then half of Icelandic plunderphonics Stillupsteypa (and lots more probably, come to think of it), and their, more recent, ongoing collaborations with BJ Nilsen, Sigmarsson is also active as solo composer. Perhaps less known, but he has had records on Trente Oiseaux, Bottrop-boy and Fire Inc (all labels that seem have disappeared), but his music can be also be found on cassette only releases. Here are two of them. Each side has a one title, which may indicate that we deal with a piece per side and maybe do. On ‘Sun Of Late Afternoon’ you might be right with that assumption. Here we find Sigmarsson in his drone mood. Field recordings are heavily transformed by sound effects and computer manipulation into vast masses of sound. Very occasionally he mixes in some of the rough versions of these field recordings – the originals as it were – to let you know ‘this is field recordings, boys and girls’ and it’s all moody music. Sometimes we hear Sigmarsson rummaging through his house, shouting and screaming, and using collage techniques to mark the end of a section, or the end of a piece. Highly atmospheric, as Sigmarsson stretches out his sounds and makes them into a gentle flow. Gentle, but always with a bit of lo-fi sound. Hiss from tapes are never far away and some of this sounds like recorded through a blanket.
The cassette on No Basement Is Deep Enough comes in a nice old photo frame with a portrait of the composer. Very nice. This tape should, technically, also have two lengthy pieces, but are more clearly divided into separate sections, including concert announcement, people laughing and sound poetry of Sigmarsson. This is a bit different in approach, less drone based – or perhaps: less long form drone based – than on the other tape, and it shows also a bit of humor that is so much part of his work. Not that Sigmarsson is a joke act, as I think everything he does, he does very seriously, but not without some reflection on what he does, and making it less heavy. That is something that is very much clear on this release, more than on the other. Here Sigmarsson also adds a bit of louder music to his work mode, without ever getting into the land of ‘noise’. I played both of these tapes in one go, and then repeated that exercise. It was an afternoon of quiet music and with a good book at hand (not ‘The Old Man And The Sea’, to which the Hanson cassette release is dedicated), it’s perfect winter music. (FdW)
Address: ignacedb@hotmail.com
Address: http://hansonrecords.bigcartel.com/
SIR IAN – II (CD, private)
ARKTIS/AIR – EN-TRANCE (CD by Wire Globe Recordings)
And here’s the sorry section. I was playing an online quiz game today and thinking of trivia questions for it, just for the hell of it. Just because I can do it. And while I was waiting for the mail to arrive to drag me back into the world of Vital Weekly, but I got these two (as well, I must say). I have no idea why people send me this. I climb back on that soap box again. I can imagine you want to promote your music but if you don’t consider the sort of publication you mail your music to, then why would I bother? Bart Hoevemaars is Sir Ian and he’s from Rotterdam. He plays guitar and sign with a higher female voice. Very good, Sir Ian, but did you ever read Vital Weekly? Did you play our podcast and you thought, fucking hell, these people are into what I do? Where do you connect here? Or, perhaps, you thought, shit what a bunch of non-valuers of there, I’ll show them what a proper pop song is, as obviously these people haven’t got a clue. (thanks also for adding your first CD, life wouldn’t be the same had I not hear this). That’s what I call money not well spend and time well-wasted.
Of an entirely different nature is the release by Arktis/Air, a band from Austria. They play alto saxophone, voice, guitar, keyboards and drums and are with six people. Elsewhere I talk about the machismo in some forms of rock music, and without seeing this band, I wouldn’t be surprised their a bit of machismo also. They are loud, but they are rock band. A minimal loud rock band, repeating phrases, and adding some stuff on top. Sometimes it has breaks, like a math rock band but it doesn’t come with many changes of the tempo. It seems, however, rooted in an area where prog rock meets noise in ‘Makeup’, repetition in ‘Airuin’ and more King Crimson in ‘Poskok’ – but I already have ‘In The Court Of The Crimson King’, a record I play once year at least – maybe I’m showing here with prog credentials? – and which I liked ever since I was 15 and heard it for the first time. But now, so many years, I learned that’s fine, and I probably don’t need another King Crimson. And most certainly Vital Weekly doesn’t need one, as that’s what this rant is all about: both of these releases are probably great, but we aren’t qualified enough to tell. They are mentioned, and that’s sometimes enough. (FdW)
Address: http://www.sir-ian.nl
Address: http://www.wiregloberecordings.com