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VITAL WEEKLY
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number 603
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week 48
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Vital Weekly, the webcast: we offering a weekly webcast, freely to download.
This can be regarded as the audio-supplement to Vital Weekly. Presented as a
radioprogramm with excerpts of just some of the CDs (no vinyl or MP3)
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* noted are in this week's podcast
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AGITATED RADIO PILOT - WORLD WINDING DOWN (Cd by Deadslackstring Records) *
THE NEW BLOCKADERS - DAS ZERSTOREN, ZUM GEBAREN (CD by Blossoming Noise) *
DE FABRIEK GOES THE HITMACHINE - HET TERREIN * II (CD by EE Tapes) *
POMASSL - SPARE PARTS (CD by Raster-Noton) *
SORIAH - OFRENDAS DELUZ A LOS MUERTOS (CD by Beta-lactam Ring Records)
VOLCANO THE BEAR - AMIDST THE NOISE AND TWIGS (CD by Beta-lactam Ring
Records)
GEORGE AND CAPLIN - HE REALLY GOT THROUGH TO ADVERTISING (CD by Beta-lactam
Ring Records)
ARON DUGAN & JEFF ARNAL - DOG DAY (CD by C3R)
BELA KAROLI - FURNISHED ROOM (CD by Helmet Room)
TRIO DEROME GUILBEAULT TANGUAY - ETYMOLOGIE (DVD by Ambiances Magnétiques)
SIEBEN MAL SOLO (CD compilation by Schraum)
TELEPHERIQUE - STAHL UND STEINE (CD by Waystyx Records) *
(AD)VANCE(D) - FLUSHING THE VEINS (DVD by Waystyx Records)
ZBIGNIEW KARKOWSKI & ATSUKO NOJIRI - CONTINUITY (CD/DVD by Asphodel) *
FUCK BUTTONS - BRIGHT TOMORROW (7" by ATP Recordings) *
DEAD LETTERS SPELL OUT DEAD WORDS (CDR by Mystery Sea) *
NIGEL WRIGHT - FLOTTER (CDR by Gest) *
MARC SPRUIT & MICHIEL DE HAAN - RADICAL IMPROVISATIONS (CDR, self released)
*
SOCIALISTIC JONNY GOBLET - LAWRENCE JEBEDIAH MCCRATHER (CDR by Reality
Impaired) *
SOCIALISTIC JONNY GOBLET & MOLOCH - THE END OF THIS PLANET (CDR by Reality
Impaired)
SUPER COLLIDOR - THE MICRO TRANSISTOR GROWS (CDR by Reality Impaired)
DAVID GROVE & ROBERT PEDERSEN (CDR/MP3 by Common Collector)
ST.RIDE - SE STO QUI, NEUICA (CDR by Marsiglia Records)
SAFE (CDR/DVDR by Panic Research)
SAFE - PUBLIC DOMAIN (MP3 by Zeromoon)
GINTAS K - ELEMENTARY PARTICLES (3"CDR by Retinascan)
PHOENELAI - TINY ARC (3"CDR by Retinascan) *
NUMBERS ON THE MAST (MP3 by Artifical Music Machine)
INVERSION EFFECT - A BRIEF HISTORY (MP3 by Artificial Music Machine) *
AGITATED RADIO PILOT - WORLD WINDING DOWN (CD by Deadslackstring Records)
Agitated Radio Pilot - as I first saw the name of this project on the cover
sleeve I expected something in a much larger scale electronic based, than is
actually the case. The album puts much emphasis on the acoustic expressions
though there is also a proper dose of electronic experiments. The
combination of these two sound worlds is accomplished very well, indeed.
Agitated Radio Pilot as a project was founded by the Irish composer David
Colohan back in 1993. On this latest album he gets assistance from a number
of artists, among others Maya Elliott of Current 93. The album with the
strong and descriptive title "World winding down" drifts beautifully from
the guitar solo works of David Colohan to more ambient-stylish expressions
where there is a frequent use of Field Recordings. Thus the album takes its
starting point in the neo-folk style with a nice psychedelic touch of
electronic experimentation. Being a double disc, the album floats in
atmospheres of stark sadness, melancholic
warmth and the sound of the forest as it runs through the 100 minutes
running time. In the ambient-based moments the album reminds me of
ambient-maestro Robert Rich's guitar-based ambient project of melancholia,
Amoeba. As said the project name "Agitated Radio Pilot" gave me associations
to something stylishly up-front and more edgy electronic, but what is really
heard is warm melancholic neofolk of otherworldly beauty. Highly
recommended! (NM)
Address: http://www.stevefanagan.com
THE NEW BLOCKADERS - DAS ZERSTOREN, ZUM GEBAREN (CD by Blossoming Noise)
Usually the word 'final' means 'last', but in the case of The New Blockaders
it could mean anything but 'last'. 'The final live document' says the
sticker on the cover, but no doubt when opportunity knocks again, there will
be another final live document, and another - ad infinitum. No problem, bro,
whatever you want. The New Blockaders have been around since twenty or so
years and I must admit I have always been fond of their music, but find it
always hard to say what it is. Their earliest work seemed almost like
acoustic noise, of rusty metal sheets scraped against bicycle tires - at
least that's how I imagined things. Over the years they added feedback like
sounds, but their sound reminded collage like, and lo-fi. Not the ongoing
noise blast, and not the refined blasts, but a kinda of musique brut, with
strange things dropping in and out. Since sticking around for so long they
are now officially recognized as pioneers, so they gather up at say All
Tomorrow's Parties - good for
them. This recording was made about a year ago, and it seems to me that they
are a little bit more inspired by the Merzbowian noise and fury, while
trying to maintain some of their original sound of cutting sounds in and
out. This recording seems to me one made with various microphones and the
various recordings were made mixed together - I might be totally wrong of
course. The change, or at least the marginal change, in sound is something
that I'm perhaps not entirely used to, but I thought this final recording
was a fine one and surely not as final is it suggests. (FdW)
Address: http://www.blossomingnoise.com
DE FABRIEK GOES THE HITMACHINE - HET TERREIN II (CD by EE Tapes)
If this is 'Het Terrein II', there must be a 'Terrein I', which I found in
some blog (433.rpm.blogspot.com) being a cassette from the late 80s by De
Fabriek and Hands Minimal Arts. I have no idea why this title is now dusted
off and used again, unless the process behind this is the same as the one
before, but information is something that not well spend on De Fabriek,
unlike their many releases. After some thirty years it's hard to make any
sort of discography by this Dutch 'band' (?), let alone tell if they have
anything to do with releases that carry the name De Fabriek. Confusing? Yes,
sir, it is. Information on 'Het Terrein II'? I'm sorry, sir, no such luck.
'The Hitmachine Goes De Fabriek', 'De Fabriek Goes The Hitmachine' is all it
says, besides the label information. There is however one track on the CD
and not two. In a good solid forty minute mega mix (to use that 80s phrase)
we, the listener are taken for a ride through both music by De Fabriek and
The Hitmachine, my local
groupe extraordinary, who are like De Fabriek: always in for surprise. Who
does what or when, who sat behind the controls when producing this, it's all
quite unclear. I recognized elements of De Fabriek's 'Neveleiland' release,
the live rock elements no doubt come from The Hitmachine (as De Fabriek
never plays live), but throughout it's hard to know what is the outsider
rock/noise/pop of The Hitmachine, or the experiment/industrial/techno noise
of De Fabriek. It's like two chameleons in a room, changing color, shape and
size every time you look up. It's probably as much as a De Fabriek and The
Hitmachine release. It even has a cover that strongly resembles a lot De
Fabriek did - go figure that one yourself. And as per usual: limited to
merely 300 copies only. Another pre-programmed collectors item. (FdW)
Address: http://www.eetapes.be
POMASSL - SPARE PARTS (CD by Raster-Noton)
It's been a long time since Pomassl from Austria released his 'Trail Error'.
Just very occasionally we heard something from him, or from his Laton label,
but here he returns, for the first album of his on Raster-noton. When
releasing his 'Trail Error' album in 1996 he was easily lumped in with the
early Alva Noto, early Pita, early Pan Sonic - say anything that was early
then in the field of high end peeps and low end bass rumble. The origins of
head nod music, the era of clicks 'n cuts. Now eleven years later, Pomassl
still works with on one hand the computer but the other hand is touching
ancient sound generators and synthesizers of the soviet union history. The
cool cross-over between analogue and digital. However what was ten years
something new, sounds now a bit worn out, I'd say. The beeps and thumbs we
know and even when Pomassl keeps his tracks short (fifteen in fifty-five
minutes) some of them sound like sketches, a drawing if you will. Not every
track is as worked out as
the
other, which makes this a somewhat unbalanced album. What I do like is the
fact that some of the pieces have that rough analogue sound such as
'Valsalva Maneuver' that even sounds hissy. It makes a fine counterpoint
against the clean, digital sound processing of some of the other pieces. In
that sense this album is a pretty varied bunch, skipping over the place.
However, my main critique, is that this album could have been stronger if
some of the weaker brothers would have been left off. Rather forty great
minutes than fifty-five of lesser quality. (FdW)
Address: http://www.raster-noton.net
SORIAH - OFRENDAS DELUZ A LOS MUERTOS (CD by Beta-lactam Ring Records)
VOLCANO THE BEAR - AMIDST THE NOISE AND TWIGS (CD by Beta-lactam Ring
Records)
GEORGE AND CAPLIN - HE REALLY GOT THROUGH TO ADVERTISING (CD by Beta-lactam
Ring Records)
This week Vital received two new releases in Beta Lactam-ring's ever popular
Black series and one that was released on BLRR proper.
Soriah hails from Portland. Ofrendas Deluz A Los Muertos (offerings of light
to the dead) is the follow-up CD to Chaos Organica In A Minor. Whereas that
CD featured a lot of layers of organ sounds and throat singing, this new one
is quite different. The CD features two long tracks. The first one features
hand percussion (perhaps castagnettes?), deep bass sound and feedback tones
to create a rich ambient piece, which never bores. After a while
incomprehensible vocals are introduced and concrete noisier sounds. Track
two continues this theme, but adds singing/chanting in a Pandit Pran
Nath-kind of way. Ritual/shamanic music you could say. More often than not,
that would not be a recommendation, but Soriah pulls it off on this
interesting album. Soriah makes the most of his music during performances,
which have taken place in tunnels, churches, deserts and even a tree. Would
love to see a video of that last performance. A good listen and definitely a
name to keep in mind.
Volcano the Bear have been active since 1995. Members Aaron Moore, Nick
Mott, Clarence Manuelo and Daniel Padden have recently released this follow
up to their Classic Erasmus Fusion album. Despite the beautiful hard-carton
book package and the great quality paper of the insert booklet (for the
first 1000 copies of the CD), I'm having problems with this album. Volcano
The Bear try to mix trippy songs with Nurse With Wound-ish collages and
Residents-like piano/saxophone playing. This might be a good idea if it
would work, but somehow the combination just doesn't gel on this disc.
Tracks one and two (The Sting of Haste and Before We Came To This Religion)
set the 60s jam psychedelic freakout idea, with acoustic guitars, tablas and
flute. The weirdness starts with Larslovesnicks Farm where the NWW/Residents
piano kicks in. Tracks like Cassettes Of Berlin and One Hundred years of
Infamy are again more collage/avant-garde like. Best track of the bunch is
Burnt Seer with its banjo playing
and Robert Wyatt-like singing. In all, this is a nice but also rather uneven
album and I'm not quite certain at who this is aimed. It sounds like Volcano
The Bear basically make music for themselves, which is a good thing, but as
a result this album failed to impress me as a whole.
The surprise of the bunch is George and Caplin (de facto Jason Iselin and
Jeffrey Stevens). Their CD He Really Got Through To Advertising gives us 27
minutes of pure 80s popsongs. The title track features a nice rhythmbox and
slightly crunchy guitars. The introduction of a harmonica in Horse Fair is a
nice touch. Psychosomatic loses some of the magic, but it is well made up by
the last few songs on the CD. A nice, subtle and friendly piece of work this
is. Shoe tapping for shoe gazers. (FK)
Address: http://www.blrrecords.com
ARON DUGAN & JEFF ARNAL - DOG DAY (CD by C3R)
The small canadian C3R-label was established in 2002. Gradually this label
builds up a personal catalogue of very diverse experimental music. Albums by
Maja S.K. Ratkje and Lasse Marhaug, Tsurubami, Gordon Monahan, Jesse
Stewart, Axel Dörner and Diego Chamy have already been released. Also an
excellent CD by Jeff Arnal together with Michael Evans, called 'Meja'. An
impressive album of improvisations by two percussionists. For 'Dog Day'
Arnal is in the company of guitarist Aaron Dugan, and this album is another
highlight. Again Arnal proves himself as an amazing drummer who often takes
the lead in the battles with Dugan. As a duo they have been actively
collaborating since 2003. On a day in december 2006 they recorded 14
improvisations for this album. Aaron Dugan is a new name for me. He has
performed with Bill Laswell, John Zorn, Susie Ibarra, Ikue Mori, Ori Kaplan,
Zeena Parkins, and many others. He toured and recorded with Matisyahu, and
has three albums out produced by Bill
Laswell. Originally he comes from Philadelphia, but nowadays he works in New
York. I haven't heard any of his previous work, but is very refreshing and
surprising to hear an guitarist improvising, but at the same time staying
close to rock and even metal music concerning his sound. It gives the
feeling of listening to some free rock music. As a duo they amaze with their
constant flow of ideas in high-energy improvisations. Arnal dances on his
percussion, playing highly subtile, speedy and multicolored patterns, with
great virtuosity and refinement, whereas the guitarist in contrast plays in
a consciously stiff and a bit clumsy, nonchalant way. The maximizing
strategy of Arnal and the minimizing style of Dugan make up a very explosive
brew. This one is not to be missed when you love improvised music. Highly
recommended. (DM)
Address: http://www.c3r.ca
BELA KAROLI - FURNISHED ROOM (CD by Helmet Room)
After being active in the Denver music scene for years, the three women of
Bela Karoli have released their first CD on Helmet Room records. Originally
Bela Karoli was the solo efford of Julie Davis (vocals and double bass),
but now Carrie Beeder (strings) and Brigid McAuliffe (voice and accordion)
have joined. The unorthodox trio has created a wonderfully lush album with
both sparse acoustic and more electronic soundscape songs. The serious,
literary air that Bela Karoli wants to portray is reflected in the title
(which comes from a poem by TS Eliot) and the track Some Things That Fly
There (which lyrics are a poem by Emily Dickinson) but luckily that never
stands in the way of the music. Surprises are reinterpretations of
Summertime and Ol' Man River (probably my favourite Frank Sinatra
interpreted song) with wonderfully sparse arrangements. The fragile track
Machine reminds me of UK jazz band Carmel. A very nice late-night atmosphere
setting album this is, which can probably be
best described as avant-garde lazy jazz-oriented pop. (FK)
Address: http://www.helmetroom.com
TRIO DEROME GUILBEAULT TANGUAY - ETYMOLOGIE (DVD by Ambiances Magnétiques)
This trio is around for more then a decade now, and two CDs preceded this
dvd. The first dvd-release by Ambiances Mangétiques if I,m not mistaken. The
three musicians need no further introduction. All three of them are veterans
of the Montréal jazz and impro scene. Most of the time they play their own
work or any other modern music. But from time to time all three of them show
their love for the tradition of jazz. Guilbeault did a project on Charles
Mingus. With his quintet Réunion Tanguay played work from Duke Ellington and
Ben Webster. And also in this trio-format they concentrate on the history of
jazz, although on their first CD '10 compositions', they did only pieces by
Derome that he composed during different stages of his career. On this dvd
they play compositions by Eric Dolphy, Duke Ellington, Lennie Tristano,
Misha Mengelberg, a.o. Plus 2 compositions by Derome. One of them is
'Etymologie', a piece dedicated to and composed in the style of Ornette
Coleman. Tanguay plays
drums, Guilbeault doublebass and Derome plays saxes, flute and voice. In
their interpretations they show their deep affinity with the material. They
stay close to the original pieces, but not in a nostalgic way. In their
reworking labour they try to proof the relevance and beauty if these pieces
for the present time. From what I read, they are successful in reaching a
younger public and younger jazz musicians. I don't know why they chose the
dvd-format for this particular release. But it opens the opportunity not
only to hear but also to see the interplay between these three gifted
musicians during a concert at the L'Off Festival de Jazz de Montréal in
2006. (DM)
Address: http://www.actuelle.cd/
SIEBEN MAL SOLO (CD compilation by Schraum)
Berlin's Schraum label released with their first six releases group
improvisations, of anything bigger than duo's, but it was a wish from them
to release a CD with solo works. In June of this year they invited seven
musicians to Berlin to play a short solo concert - each lasted about ten
minutes. Of the seven musicians, I think I only recognized the name Sabine
Vogel, who plays bass flute and live electronics. There is a variety of
course in instruments (ogrephonique, alt saxophone, electric bass, accordion
etc), played acoustic or with electronic amplification. Its this variation
that makes this quite an interesting release and perhaps less because all
the tracks are great. Ute Völker plays an intense piece on his accordion,
Vogel an modern classic piece on her flute, but then Christopher Marien
percussion piece was of lesser interest. Throughout the pieces are good,
although the players stay close to the original ways of improvisation, I
think, but then that has been Schraum's line
so far. Also included are Dave Bennett, Lars Scherzenberg, Axel Haller and
Paul Hubweber. (FdW)
Address: http://www.schraum.de
TELEPHERIQUE - STAHL UND STEINE (CD by Waystyx Records)
(AD)VANCE(D) - FLUSHING THE VEINS (DVD by Waystyx Records)
The title of this new work by long serving members of the
ambient/industrial/rhythm scene Telepherique translates as 'steel and
stones' and it might be programatic for the music on this CD. Although there
is no information otherwise available on this, I am quite positive that
Telepherique took a bunch of metal sheets and stones into their studio to
create the seven pieces on this release. The sounds that can be created with
those elements are sampled, fed through electronica (read: analogue
synthesizers) and lots of sound effects. Somehow I think Telepherique deals
with computers, perhaps solely to record their music on. We hear the rust
coming of the sheets, stones rolling, chains and other such like being
looped around. Which is perhaps a bit of the problem I have with this. In
some cases it's a bit too loop based. Sounds are looped around, fed through
some sound effects and synths, but then stay too much in that. No real
tension or follow up, a sudden change, but sticks around
like
a carrousel. Some of the pieces are definitely too long for what they have
to offer. Some editing could work nicely here, to add some liveliness to the
music, get it drifting away. I must say I heard them do better.
The second release by Mars Wellink's new solo project (Ad)Vance(d) takes the
form of a DVD. Wellink was one half of the Vance Orchestra, 'which lost
after 10 years most of his magic', as we read in the booklet. We also read
that Wellink was treated for cancer and that this new DVD 'symbolizes my
feelings' and hence the title. The images and sounds were created by Wellink
and processed by one Mooreezz. Like Telepherique (Ad)Vance(d) likes to use
loops, but whereas they are simple in the 'Stahl Und Steine' release of
Telepherique, with (Ad)Vance(d) they are produced on a wider scale and he
takes the listener on a more coherent journey. Tinkling bells, animal
sounds, voices, street sounds, they all rotate with a constant tempo. The
images have a similar process: colored fields rotate about, return, change
shape and color, and keep on rotating. Music and images have a hallucinatory
effect if you watch and listen this closely on a TV screen and with the
sound quite loud. Or it works as a
nice ambient environment to which glance every now and then, while having
the music. Many possibilities there. (FdW)
Address: http://www.waystyx.com
ZBIGNIEW KARKOWSKI & ATSUKO NOJIRI - CONTINUITY (CD/DVD by Asphodel)
When I popped in the DVD once I opened the package I checked wether volume
was a bit more down. Zbigniew Karkowski is in my book a noise composer, even
when he did a lot of softer things in his life too. The DVD started playing
and I was surprised to find some modern classical music. I turned to the
DVD/CD case and noted a whole bunch of musicians and instruments mentioned.
I know Karkowski is a trained composer of real notes, real scores but I
don't think I ever heard any of it. Or at least I can't remember. The press
text is not very clear on the proceedings. It says 'Karkowski employs a
variety of tools to process and rework original acoustic instrument
recordings', so I assume they talk about their own release? If I understand
right, CD and DVD (which hold in total five different pieces) work along
these lines. On the DVD the third piece, 'Membrane' is a pure electronic
piece, while the other two are a mixture of acoustic instruments (including
bass drum, bass trombone,
contrabass
clarinet, violin, cello, guitars, and percussion among others). I must say I
found the first piece 'Float' great, with lots of tension and abrupt sounds,
whereas 'Tritonal Rapture' was a bit too minimal for me. 'Membrane' was more
a classic Karkowski piece, but here I though the visuals of Nojiri worked
really well, keep the 'flow' of the piece. In the other two, Nojiri also
follows the music quite well, but the highly abstract nature of it (lines,
squares) is not too well spend on me. The CD has two long pieces (twenty-six
an forty-one minutes) of music that seems to take the instruments indeed
into a whole new electronic environment. Probably running it through
Max/msp, sounds glide up and down the scale, and form a thick mass of sound.
These layers drift apart from eachother collide with others, but drift
again. Like icebergs but with faster movements. The music is not as noise
based as some would probably expect from this man, but it's still heavy, if
you catch my drift. Quite a
remarkable release this one, showing, as far as I can recall for the first
time the various aspects of Karkowski's composed output and thus should
serve as a fine introduction. (FdW)
Address: http://www.asphodel.com
FUCK BUTTONS - BRIGHT TOMORROW (7" by ATP Recordings)
Andrew Hung and Benjamin John Power started Fuck Buttons in 2004 as a noise
band, but quickly grew out of that. The element of noise is still present in
the music, but there is also melody and rhythm, as proven on this 7", my
first introduction to this band. The title song has a simple bass beat, a
simple melody on a like wise simple keyboard, until some noise like vocal is
kicked in but then the track fades out quite abruptly. Distorted guitars,
another simple melody on the keyboard and a drumloop is the b-side. I'm sure
a band like this would do well on a stage, but on record I found them less
convincing. The music is meant to be loud, but it lacks true aggression - as
said: on record. Live that might all be different. If they would play around
I would certainly check it out and get convinced otherwise. (FdW)
Address: http://www.atpfestival.com/atp-recordings
DEAD LETTERS SPELL OUT DEAD WORDS (CDR by Mystery Sea)
Thomas Ekelund's project Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words has been around
for some time, and has had numerous releases on MP3, CDR and CD, mostly
knitting ambient and glitch music together. If I understand this right, this
new release deals with on land sounds. Perhaps a first for Mystery Sea? So
far much of their music had a sub-aquatic theme, with sounds that if not
recorded under water surely sounded like that. For the three lengthy pieces
on this released by Ekelund he uses the sounds of the park, of walking
about, the sand, stones and glass under his feet. All of that goes into the
holy computer to arrive strongly altered, smeared deep and low with rumbling
sounds to the listener. Each track starts out relatively calm, but unfolds
over time in mighty dark beasts - loud, perhaps even violent, dark rumble.
Maybe that is a bit of a pity since it makes all three tracks a bit single
minded, since they all sound alike, certainly the first two pieces. However
the first and third piece
are quite, over which I prefer the third. Here the dark rumble and field
recording keep in perfect balance. Maybe the second piece is a bit
redundant, and without it, things would have been a bit stronger. (FdW)
Address: http://www.mysterysea.net
NIGEL WRIGHT - FLOTTER (CDR by Gest)
Since about five years works Nigel Wright inside experimental music, as
member of Nest and solo, having releases on CMR and some that were
self-released. Here he releases 'Flotter', which is created from field
recordings, guitar and tape loops, which all feed into the laptop and which
are used to create a thick smear of sound. I say smear, but I mean this
positively though. Wright staples sound on sound on sound (etc), thus
blurring the fine lines between field recording, guitar and tape-loop, and
something else arrives: a finely woven pattern of sounds, that only reveal
their beauty by either looking very close by or from some distance. The
first piece, 'Wildts' has some angular loud sound, but the following three
are soft, meditative but also dark, moody atmospheric. As such Wright
doesn't do much new work, not in the sense of his background as a New
Zealand composer (although this is far from the usual lo-fi), or in a wider
sense of dark ambient music made with field recordings,
but I think he does a pretty fine job in creating some autumn infected tunes
of low fog music. Quite nice. (FdW)
Address: http://nest.or.gest.googlepages.com
MARC SPRUIT & MICHIEL DE HAAN - RADICAL IMPROVISATIONS (CDR, self released)
Some weeks ago we were introduced to the work of Marc Spruit, through a
self-released short 3"CDR. Here he teams up with Michiel de Haan, of whom I
never heard. He plays guitar and 'mix-tracks' whilst Spruit plays turntables
and also 'mix-tracks' - whatever they may be. They call the nine tracks
'radical improvisations' and they last around at least three minutes each.
So 'much' longer than on Spruit's first release (which lasted only eight
minutes in total). In the first few pieces I thought this would be a rather
noisy affair, but it turns out to be a lot more different than just that.
There is indeed a certain noisiness about these nine pieces, but the two
apply a strong elements of collage to it. Sounds cut as brutally in and out,
breaking the whole thing up and down, with small portions of silence. It's
cut through the middle where stereo separation could have added a bit more
variation between the pieces, but it's actually quite nice, if not a bit
long at times. Perhaps not as
radical as we could expect in the pages of Vital Weekly, but they do quite a
nice job. (FdW)
Address: http://www.myspace.com.haanspruit
SOCIALISTIC JONNY GOBLET - LAWRENCE JEBEDIAH MCCRATHER (CDR by Reality
Impaired)
SOCIALISTIC JONNY GOBLET & MOLOCH - THE END OF THIS PLANET (CDR by Reality
Impaired)
SUPER COLLIDOR - THE MICRO TRANSISTOR GROWS (CDR by Reality Impaired)
Perhaps the most interesting item from these three new releases on Reality
Impaired is a release by Socialistic Jonny Goblet (new entry in the contest
for silly names) called 'Lawrence Jebediah McCrather', which comes with a
four page story and many xeroxed photo's on this person, whom I doubt ever
existed. I can look it up on the internet, but frankly I gave up believing
what I read there, plus, perhaps, I don't want to spoil the fun. Maybe it's
true and McCrather exists, but who cares. The story about his satan life,
imprisonment and such like is nice, so why does it have to be true? The
music is spread out of nineteen tracks of improvised noise, with voices,
guitars, electronics, drums. Sometimes heavy inspired by rock, sometimes
towards more pure noise and sometimes in more open ended free rock
improvisation. Perhaps all a bit long and tiresome and it could have been a
bit more to the point.
Together with one Moloch the same band, Socialistic Jonny Goblet is a duo,
there is also 'The End Of This Planet'. Stan and Sciron on 'noise &
destruction, sounds of fury' and Pr Sergiy on 'all intuitive poisoned
impulses'. More noise related than the previous release this one, this one
howls and screams all over the place. Feedback, mayhem, destruction,
screaming voices all do their good part. It's o.k. I guess and the tracks
are more to the point but then close to forty minutes is still quite long.
As a total counterpoint is there the CD by Super Collidor. I am not sure if
this has anything to do with the software of the same name, somehow I don't
think so, but the music is quite apart from the other two releases.
Atmospheric and ambience play the main tune here, but Super Collidor uses
some low resolution samples which make this whole thing quite nice. There is
a certain graininess about the sounds (synthesizers? guitars? software?)
uses, which is quite nice. Not very outspoken, but after the rather violent
blasts of the Socialist Jonny Goblet this comes as really nice chill out
music. (FdW)
Address: <dm_prae@hotmail.com>
DAVID GROVE & ROBERT PEDERSEN (CDR/MP3 by Common Collector)
Both the label and the artists are new to me and hail from Vancouver. Grove
plays a 'primitive home made synthesizer' and Pedersen (prime mover behind
the label) plays 'modified cassette recorders'. How these are modified and
in what way they are different from a normal cassette recorders we are not
told. On September 28, 2007 they sat down together and recorded this almost
twenty six minute improvisation. It's a pretty gritty, lo-fi affair of
suppressed noise, of magnetic tape against tape heads and the synthesizer
producing square waves. Maybe it's my imagination but things are picked up
with a microphone and that's it. It's surely a nice work, if not a bit long.
I think, in my sincere and humble opinion that not every freak out session
should be released. Why not record a number of improvisations and splice the
best parts together. Why this? Why not tomorrow's session, or last months?
It's hard to figure what makes this a stand out session that they are so
desperate in getting out
.
So for now it's o.k., but in the future some more effort please. (FdW)
Address: http://www.commoncollector.com
ST.RIDE - SE STO QUI, NEUICA (CDR by Marsiglia Records)
Music by St.ride has been reviewed before, and usually I made mistakes in
describing what they do. Here on the cover of their latest CDR release,
things are in Italian, but it seems (!) that Edo Grandi plays rhythm and
synth, Maurizio Gusmerini vocals and guitar, plus there is various room for
more experimental outing which shortwave and contact microphones. The seven
pieces on this new release make a leap forward, I think. From the cut 'n
paste sound of before, they now explore to make proper songs, held together
with a strong rhythm and sequencer. On top the voice is not really singing
and doing things that resemble singing. The rhythm is hip hop like. There is
also extra sounds, such as skipping CDs, guitars (??, hard to recognize
though) bring in the ornaments of the music, and make throughout quite a
mature impression. This is not music to dance too, even when the rhythm is
forceable present, but it's great popmusic to hear, with a strong sense of
experimentalism to it. Very
nice! (FdW)
Address: http://www.marsigliarecords.it
SAFE (CDR/DVDR by Panic Research)
SAFE - PUBLIC DOMAIN (MP3 by Zeromoon)
Despite being a recent collaboration, both Dave Vosh and Tyler Higgins, who
make up Safe have a long career in music. Vosh since the early 1970s when he
started to play around with analogue synthesizers and Tyler Higgins who is
an improviser on various instruments, here with the autoharp, banjo and
electronics. How it looks, we can see on the DVDR part of the self-released
package. It contains a seventeen minute concert recording at the excellent
Sonic Circuits festival on last september. It makes sense, I think, to watch
this first before going to the CDR part. The CDR has four lengthy cuts of
improvised music, and seeing them doing it, makes things a bit clear. Vosh
provides an ongoing back drop with his modular synthesizer, over which
Higgins brings his sparse sounds on the autoharp and banjo. The biggest
problem in all of this activity is that they are straight recordings from
the board and seem to have no editing afterwards. In the DVDR part that is
no problem, since it's always
fun to watch people do their work, but on the CDR things are a bit too long
and spun out too much to true captivate the listener. And certainly when
there is nothing to see things may get a bit too problematic.
A good way of easy checking out what Safe is about, you can always download
'Public Domain' on Zeromoon. It's not that is better, but it's free and the
three pieces there give a good idea what Safe is about. The three pieces
don't make up anything different than on the CDR/DVDR release. Nice all of
this, but a bit rough and in need of some refinement. (FdW)
Address: http://www.panicresearch.com
Address: http://www.archive.org/details/zero085
GINTAS K - ELEMENTARY PARTICLES (3"CDR by Retinascan)
PHOENELAI - TINY ARC (3"CDR by Retinascan)
One my favorite CDR labels is Retinascan, who take great care for the
covers, a rare thing in the world of CDRs. Both of these three inch releases
come in nice printed cardboard boxes. Gintas K is of course someone who came
across before and here he goes into conceptual edges of sound, working very
specific frequencies that reflect male or female speech, 80hz sine wave
'which sometimes goes below the scale of human hearing - hell, and 10 khz
sine wave which goes above the scale of human hearing - heaven'. Originally
made for a podcast, but of course it's hard to translate these frequencies
into MP3 (a format unsuitable for any kind of experimental music, but that
is probably a different discussion). It may seem altogether quite
complicated, but Gintas K actually manages to create some nice music.
Continuing his somewhat more crude sine wave cut ups of his previous
releases, like a bastard (although in a positive manner) son of Alva Noto,
his sine wave music has balls. Deep rumbling,
cut to fit beats that are hardly danceable, but which are surely groovy.
Still under the influence of early Pan Sonic, this is actually another fine
release by this Lithuanian composer.
I have no idea who is behind Phoenelai, but he has had releases before on
Retinascan and Instruction Shuttle. There is no mentioning of instruments on
the cover of the release, but me thinks Phoenelai uses a laptop to create
his music. Taking his inspiration for the most part from the world of dark
ambient music, he manages to add elements from the world glitch through a
sparse clicky rhythm, hiss and amplified static. However through the four
pieces here stay 'dark', 'atmospheric' and 'ambient'. The four pieces also
show that Phoenelai has some experience and skill in producing this kind of
music, as despite it's minimalism he knows how to hold attention from the
listener. Based around shifting loops and dark textures this is pretty nice
release. Now this could have been a bit longer, I think. (FdW)
Address: http://www.retinascan.de
NUMBERS ON THE MAST (MP3 by Artifical Music Machine)
INVERSION EFFECT - A BRIEF HISTORY (MP3 by Artificial Music Machine)
Both of these bands have a different line up, but they curiously sound quite
similar. Both are from texas, both have an extended amount of gear at their
disposal, both are trios, both sound electronic but all of the music is
created through improvisation. Numbers On The Mast is Eric Archer, Trey
Smith and Matthew Thies along with a whole bunch synthesizers, effects
pedals, circuit bend electronics, a CD player, guitars and much more. They
deliver six improvisations that hoover somewhere in the grey area of cosmic
music, psychedelic music and electronic music. I am not sure but it might
seem to me that everything was recorded direct to two track, cut from a
series of improvisations. If they would have been great than there would be
no problem, but the improvisations here at hand, are long, tedious and
absolutely not to the point. They drag on on end, with much variation,
change or tension.
Martin McCreadie, Thomas Fang and Dan Burton make up Inversion Effect, as
such they use guitar, synth, field recordings, radio, scanner frequencies,
turntables, circuit-bent toys, laptop and bass. They are sometimes helped by
other musicians. There is not much difference with the release by Numbers On
The Mast, except perhaps they have more track in less time. That is good
news however since they keep things tighter to eachother than Numbers.
However they too sometimes sink into pointless improvisation, which drag on
less end than the other band, but here too I think it's not great either.
It's a pity since some of the tracks such as 'In The Shadow Of The Vampire',
show they can produce a nice tune which needs a bit of fine tuning. (FdW)
Address: http://www.artificialmusicmachine.com
1. From: Joe Gilmore <joe@qubik.com>
Wavelength
Wavelength tour of digital performance and expanded media - Sheffield,
Leeds, York (UK), December 2007.
Live: Mark Fell & Ernest Edmonds, Joe Gilmore
Film & video: Simon Payne, Malcolm Le Grice, Malcom Clarke
DJs: Mark Fell & Mat Steel (snd)
An evening of all dimensions featuring live performances, video works and
expanded cinema that activate the screen and space. Mark Fell and Ernest
Edmonds' generative audiovisual performances are characterized by a highly
formal use of pure colour and tone, the harmonic relationships between these
and the primitive systems that govern how they evolve. They will perform two
works: Port Hacking#4 and DC Release. Joe Gilmore's sound compositions are
an organic confluence of texture, tone and harmony. He will perform 4.66920
16609 10299 06718 52303..., part of an ongoing body of work. Through the
intermittent intervention of a light bulb, Malcolm Le Grice's seminal 1966
film Castle One illuminates not only the projection but the room itself, and
the onlooking audience. Simon Payne's new video work New Ratios, rapidly
expands and contracts the proportions of the screen, as phasing staccato
beeps reinforce the fluctuating image. Malcom Clarke's recent work for CRT
monitor emits a pervasive
and discordant presence and proposes a new context for the tube.
Sheffield
Wed 5 December
Bloc Studios
198 Arundel Street,
Sheffield S1 4RE
8-11pm | £4 / £3
York
Thu 6 December
Auditorium
Music Research Centre
University of York
8-10pm | £4 / £3
Leeds
Sat 8 December
Wrangthorn Church Hall
Hyde Park Rd
Leeds LS6
8-10pm | £4 / £3
http://www.markfell.com/wiki/index.php/Mf/Wavelength
2. From: Timo van Luijk <tivalu@telenet.be>
Next Metaphon event in co-production with Recyclart:
THE LEGENDARY PINK DOTS
CATALOGUE (Berrocal/Pauvros/Artman)
We. 28 November at Recyclart, Ursulinenstraat 25 Rue des Ursulines, 1000
Brussels
Doors: 20.00h, Entrance: 10 euro
More info:
http://www.metaphon.be/
http://www.recyclart.be/
Metaphon is a platform dedicated to promoting sound experimentation,
soundart and electronic music.
3. From: "absurd" <absurd@otenet.gr>
earzumba
(<http://www.earzumba.com>www.earzumba.com a.k.a. christian dergarabedian,
c.d. (ex- reynols))
live in xanthi, folk museum, saturday december the 1st. 21:00 hr.
party continues in bar 'kokori' w/ the 'out' soundscapes of dj christos
carras (overdub 'zine)
4. From: Timo van Luijk <tivalu@telenet.be>
Concert announcement from Metaphon:
LIMPE FUCHS
CHRISTOPH HEEMANN
STEVE STAPLETON
Saturday, 22 December 2007
KC, Belgie,
Burgemeester Bollenstraat 54,
3500 Hasselt,
Belgium
doors: 20.00h
entrance: 9/11 euro
www.metaphon.be
www.kunstencentrumbelgie.com
5. From: "incite@gmx.de" <incite@gmx.de>
Gilles Aubry (CH)
Kim Nasung + Dress (PL)
Friday, November 30th
Hoerbar@ B- Movie
Brigittenstr. 5
Hamburg St.Pauli
9pm, 5?
<http://www.hoerbar-ev.de>http://www.hoerbar-ev.de
<mailto:incite@gmx.de>incite@gmx.de
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