Vital Weekly 604

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VITAL WEEKLY
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number 604
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week 49
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Vital Weekly, the webcast: we offering a weekly webcast, freely to download.
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LABFIELD - FISHFORMS (CD by Bottrop-boy)
MOUTHUS - NO CANAL (CD by Bottrop-boy)
STARVING WEIRDOS - SUMMON WITH ELECTRONIC SORCERY (CD by Bottrop-boy)
HECKER - HOLLER, TRACKS (2LP by Semishigure)
RUDIS/CUSTIDIO/DIAZ-INFANTE - CRR LIVE (CD by Pax Recordings)
PHONO PHONO (CD by Absinth)
HAMAYOKO - 4/29 (CD by Entr'acte)
WEISS - REPHLEX (CD by Electroton)
SIGNAL TO NOISE VOLUME FOUR (CD by For4Ears Records)
SIGNAL TO NOISE VOLUME FIVE (CD by For4Ears Records)
ASMUS TIETCHENS & JON MUELLER - ACHT STÜCKE (CD by Auf Abwegen)
HEMATIC SUNSETS UND OKKO BEKKER - WEIHNACHTEN IM AROMA CLUB (7" by Klang Der
Festung)
EVAPORI - FUMES (LP by Walter Ulbricht Schallfolien)
DITTERICH VON EULER-DONNERSPERG/COLUMN ONE - DER FLUSS IN DER TRUHE (LP by
Walter Ulbricht Schallfolien)
KALLABRIS - HUND VOR DIE TÜR (LP by Entr'acte)
PAPERCUT & WRECKING BALL (CDR by Deserted Village)
RED NEEDLED SEA - 23:04 (CDR by Krakilisk)
MYSTIFIED - LOWER (CDR by Krakilisk)
KENJI SIRATORI (CDR by Krakilisk)
FISH SLIPPERS (CDR compilation by Krakilsk)
GLAUKOM SYNOD - OGRE (CDR, private)
VARIOUS - ROBOT EARS (CDR by Meatronic recordings and the St. Petersburg
Institute of Noise)
NOVASK - ALPHA (CDR by Triple Bath)
ANDREW DEUTSCH & STEPHEN VITIELLO - INDUCTIVE MUSIC (CDR by Absurd)
THESSALONIKI 1963 - A DIARY FROM B TO C (CDR by Absurd)
TEXTURED BIRD TRANSMISSION - SPECTRAL DOVES OF SKELETAL INTENSITY (CDR by
Dead Sea Liner)
SRX - VESSEL (CDR by Dead Sea Liner)
RINUS VAN ALEBEEK & CARLO RONCHI & PAOLO ROMANO & MATTEO UGGERI -
MILAN-SHAKHTAR: 4-1 (CDR by Sparkling Sodality)
OUBLIETTE - LIVE COLLECTION (CDR by Hymns)
ANDREW CHADWICK - MAGNETIC PERSONALITY (CDR by Hymns)
ORIGAMI BOE - 000 BAUNOTEN (MP3 by Con-V)
ORIGAMI TACET - E.XTREM T.ON (MP3 by Ambolthue)
ORIGAMI ALL STARS - EARWITNESS (CDR by Tecnonucleo)

LABFIELD - FISHFORMS (CD by Bottrop-boy)
MOUTHUS - NO CANAL (CD by Bottrop-boy)
STARVING WEIRDOS - SUMMON WITH ELECTRONIC SORCERY (CD by Bottrop-boy)
HECKER - HOLLER, TRACKS (2LP by Semishigure)
Four new releases from the house of Bottrop-boy, three on the main label and
one of the side imprint Semishigure. Of the three, two are in the stylish,
handmade new line of design of Bottrop-boy, while one has the 'old' line of
design. I have no idea if there is any specific reason for it, but it could
perhaps be some sort of division in music. Starving Weirdos and Mouthus (and
Mattin/Bower and Sunroof of before) are in a certain musical area where you
won't find Labfield. The latter is a collaboration between David Stackenäs
and Ingar Zach. Stackenäs produced some nice work for Häpna, while of Zach
we didn't much hear after an initial lukewarm response in these pages (the
task of Vital Weekly is to be critical not to maintain good friends), which
didn't lead to reviewing much more of music. On the risk of being accused
(again) that I heard this only once, I must say that the work he produced as
LabField with Stackenäs is great. Absolutely great. Zach plays bass drum,
percussion,
electronic scruti-box and electronic saranghi-box and Stackenäs plays
acoustic guitars, resonator guitar, preparations and low budget electronics.
With a background in improvisation you would expect careful, quiet, intimate
playing - and in a way they do that. But it's not tender, soft or hardly
outspoken. I suggest putting the volume up and get immersed by their wall of
machine sounds. They play their instruments using all sorts of motors, fans
or other mechanized instruments to create a natural resonating yet acoustic
sound. Especially in 'Gin', the opening track which spans two-third of the
entire CD this works wonderfully well. Dense to bone (mm, that's no
expression)... dense like clouds, like being in a factory and one hears all
the machines humming at once. Not deafening loud, but well constructed,
balanced, varied, not from one point of the factory, but one has the feeling
of walking about, hearing new aspects of the machines or new combination of
the machines. By contrast
'Gin', the shortest piece, is a like bridge between that and 'Showa', soft
tinkling guitars and percussive sounds, until things start to heat up again
for the final piece. Hardly improvised sounding at all, this is
sophisticated drone music of an outstanding order.
Of course the music by Mouthus and Starving Weirdos can't be compared to the
two previous Bottrop-Boy releases, but altogether you might say that they
are connected through the world of lo-fi, noise, drone, and rock - and
preferable where they all meet up. Mouthus is a three piece of guitar,
drums and electronics. I don't think we ever reviewed any of their music.
The opening piece is a great flowing piece for synthesizer solo, eerie
floating and I had to double check if I was playing the right CD. However
with the next piece I knew I was back on track. Loud, hooky rhythms,
feedback noise and guitar eruptions, make up the music. Post punk hookiness,
but rather nice. In the third track things go a bit further into the
territory of noise, but on top they lay down a tinkling guitar, which seems
out of place, but the contrast works quite well in this wall of noise. The
final piece is a track that is most industrial, with sounds that could
machine loops, but is perhaps the steady drum
beat on some pieces of wood. Four tracks, four different positions, yet it
makes perfect sense altogether. It has certainly stirred curiosity about
their previous works here.
Also new to me are Starving Weirdos, a collective around Brian Pyle and
Merrick McKinlay from Humboldt County which is in California. They have been
around for nine years and produced a whole bunch of CDRs. Apparently they
have some sort of empty warehouse where they do most of their recordings.
Playing mostly guitars and drums, picking up the sound with microphones from
the space used this becomes, almost in a natural way, spacious music. Here
too the word 'drone' can be easily used, but it should go with the word
'rock'. 'Desert Folk' is what Bottrop-boy calls it, and I can second that.
Music as empty as the desert, but, as we know the desert is no quiet space.
Starving Weirdos play like the wind licking the plains. It waves and it
waves. Very cinematographic in approach, although I don't think some
director will pick this easily, or he has to be interested in spacious
shots. What is surprising with this one, as well as Mouthus, is that the
recording quality is great, not the
usual
hiss induced lo-fi affair, but quite detailed pieces of aural refinement.
The final new release is on the side label Semishigure, one of the side
labels of Bottrop-boy dealing with music and art. Music-wise, format-wise,
it's all quite different than the three previous releases. The double LP is
packed in a gate-fold sleeve, with pictures by world famous visual artist
Carsten Höller (and of which separate prints will be sold in true art mode),
and the music is by Florian Hecker. Perhaps I already told something about
how my appreciation for Hecker changed after seeing his play live last year.
Before that he was good, but it seemed to me he was one of the digi-noise
boys from the Mego area. His concert however was great. Concentrated
portions of noise and silence. The music on this record was created was made
with software created by Alberto de Campo and Tommi R. Keränen, and it all
sounds utter dry and utter minimal. Clicky rhythms, hardly anything to dance
to, but rather loud and without much bass. They bang on, but over the course
of a piece, things
gradually change and it's done in a rather subtle manner. That makes the
whole thing a rather fascinating listening experience, even when not every
track is convincing. Especially 'II' derails half way through. But as a
total - music, concept, package - this is a small piece of art. (FdW)
Address: http://www.bottrop-boy.com

RUDIS/CUSTIDIO/DIAZ-INFANTE - CRR LIVE (CD by Pax Recordings)
Impro-noise extravaganza from a trio of three mad artists from the San
Francisco Bay area: Lx Rudis (DJ rig, two copies of 'Crashing the Russian
Renaissance'), Andre Custidio (Nord Modular Synthesizer, microphone,
darbuka, voice) and Ernesto Diaz-Infante (amplified acoustic steelstring
guitar). This new CD from this trio is a follow-up to "Crashing The Russian
Renaissance," a studio album released in 2002 by Paxrecordings. Recordings
for this live-cd - making use of the earlier studio-cd! - also date from
2002, but for some reason they were not released earlier. We have the trio
at work here on two different live perfomances, where they mix electronic
and acoustic instruments. This results in a very unusual spectrum of sounds.
A brave trio, who are not afraid crossing any border. And that makes them
interesting. On the other hand, both improvisations sound to me as formless
soundscaping, collages of all kinds of soundmaterial, but without much focus
or sense for direction. Maybe I
miss the point here, but it didn't work for me. (DM)
Address: http://www.paxrecordings.com

PHONO PHONO (CD by Absinth)
Phono Phono is a berlin trio: Sabine Vogel (flutes, electronics), Magda
Mayas (piano, synth) and Michael Renkel (guitar, electronics). Unknown
musicians to me. Magda Mayas is a young musician from Berlin, also playing
with the Mayas-Nutters-Olsen-Galvez Quartett and in a duo with drummer Tony
Buck. Sabine Vogel originates from Munich. As a composer and musician she
makes her living nowadays in Berlin. She played for instance with Michael
Thieke, Alessandro Bosetti and Michael Griener in the 'Schwimmer' project.
Michael Renkel is the most experienced of the three and also the leader of
this trio. He studied classical guitar in Hamburg. Over the last 20 years he
developed his own musical vocabulary and style. He worked and recorded
intensively with Burkhard Beins as Activity Center and also with Kai
Fagaschinksi, Phil Minton, Luca Venitucci, Sonja Bender, etc. Phono Phono is
one of his more recent collaborations. The CD of this new trio contains a
liverecording from 2005. We hear four
improvisations alternated by three short interludes. They play a very
reductionistic and open kind of improvisation. I use the word improvisation,
but maybe some of it is composed, as their music sounds like some modern
classical music. Anyway, with no doubt these players were inspired by modern
composers (Feldman). The music is often very close to silence. On the other
hand the music is also incredibly rich, full of little details and nuances.
They found a good balance between the acoustical instruments (classical
guitar, piano, flute) and electronics and synth. At one moment they play
their instruments in a conventional way, at other moments they make use of
extended techniques. With all that is available to them, they construct very
well proportioned musical unities. All pieces have equal participation of
all three players. They play with a great sense for detail and finesse, and
concentrated throughout. It is one of these examples of improvised music
that concentrate on sound and
textures, but that is done with great musicality. So that I can end up
saying without hesitation: this is great music! (DM)
Address: http://www.absinthrecords.com/

HAMAYOKO - 4/29 (CD by Entr'acte)
Of course we here at Vital Weekly hear loads of music, and some of it is
quite bizarre. Hard to pin down is perhaps better said. Behind hamaYôko is
Yôko Higashi, who is 'a performer, vocalist, choreographer and dancer',
formed Yokohama Zen Rocks in 2003, and the duo Octobriana with violinist
Agathe Max. She also worked with Keith Rowe, Tomas Korber and Lionel
Marchetti. The latter helped her out with mixing her first CD '4/29' and
that's where the bizarre aspect comes in. What to think of it? We hear lots
of vocals, set against a most curious set of electronics that can perhaps be
best described as musique concrete. Yet the vocals are more resembling
popmusic than classically sung tunes, even when Yôko can bend her voice like
a true Cathy Barberian, although not always a steady as the sad Cathy. But
Yôko also throws in walls of guitar samples which add more to the confusion
I think. I am not entirely convinced about this approach, to be honest.
Sometimes it puts a curious smile on my
face, but as a whole it was too bizarre for me. I have no clue what she
wants: create odd popmusic? Make fun to musique concrete? Is it serious art
or a good laugh? Certainly one that should end up in the section marked with
'?' in your local record store. But perhaps I am entirely mistaken and we
deal with something radically new. Who am I to tell? (FdW)
Address: http://www.entracte.co.uk

WEISS - REPHLEX (CD by Electroton)
A new label from Germany is Electroton and they call themselves
'Klangarchiv' (sound archive) and the name and the addition, in combination
with packaging reminded me of the first Raster music (archiv for ton und
noton, remember) releases (Goem, Behrens, Cascone etc). A similar
transparant, soft plastic box, with a transparant sticker. It's not where
similarities end however. Also music wise, Weiss (which means white, but
it's also the name of owner, and first artist on the label) knows his
classics it seems, which are in the same area. Exploring 'computers,
synthesis and the programming language pure-date', Weiss presents his own
click and cuts. Harsh, but rhythmic noise that refers to techno, but it
would be hard to see any feet move to this lot. Head nod music this is. Nine
tracks in total, with minimal variations, both inside the pieces as well as
among the pieces it self, but it's short enough not to trap the hole of
repeating himself. So, as a debut it's certainly not a bad CD,
but it stays close to the originals of say Alva Noto or a more pop oriented
version of Ikeda (Ryoji that is) and not the promised label statement of
'innovative, non-mainstream-oriented music'. Maybe Electroton should try and
sign Hecker (reviewed elsewhere) to sign innovation. (FdW)
Address: http://www.electroton.net

SIGNAL TO NOISE VOLUME FOUR (CD by For4Ears Records)
SIGNAL TO NOISE VOLUME FIVE (CD by For4Ears Records)
When playing number four and five of the the six pack that is going to be
'Signal To Noise' I was thinking that the tour de suisse is not only well
documented but apparently it delivered enough material to release six CDs.
On volume four we find Jason Kahn (analog synthesizer, percussion), Tomas
Korber (guitar, electronics), Norbert Möslang (cracked everyday
electronics), Günter Müller (ipod, electronics) and Christian Weber
(contrabass) on behalf of the swiss invasion and Katsura Yamauchi on
saxophone. The six of them spent two days of recording and one concert at
the lovely Yamaguchi Centre For Arts and Media which brings from the studio
sessions this CD. To start with the second piece: this is a heavy load of
highly concentrated playing with everybody seems to be really working his
instrument, while as a group building up and up in a mighty crescendo.
Everybody sounds at the same while focussing on their own instruments and
letting the rest get on to. A total contrast to the first
piece, which is quiet and thoughtful - almost meditative in approach, with
lots of room to breath for everybody - the listener included. It's the first
one I like best, but it means only I'd play that one more, while the second
piece has strong points too. Improvisation master class this one.
It's quite a surprise to see on Volume Five Kahn, Möslang and Müller with a
guest who you wouldn't normally see in the world of improvisation: Akifumi
Nakajima, or man of Aube, and someone who we don't see in Vital Weekly that
often these days. He lives in Kyoto and the swiss trio stopped by there to
record with Aube. This too might be considered a surprise. The careful, but
predictable Aube built up of a piece is not present in these four pieces,
but also the trio do things that they normally don't do. Multi-layered
pieces of rather condensed noise. Things roll about in quite a heavy manner,
a bit like the second piece on the previous disc, but altogether in a more
electronic setting. Lots of things happening on all levels of the music, so
it takes some time before everything has enrolled before your ears. Once it
does, you know beautiful noise can be made, easy and simple (but perhaps not
as simple). (FdW)
Address: http://www.for4ears.com

ASMUS TIETCHENS & JON MUELLER - ACHT STÜCKE (CD by Auf Abwegen)
HEMATIC SUNSETS UND OKKO BEKKER - WEIHNACHTEN IM AROMA CLUB (7" by Klang Der
Festung)
Following '7 Stücke', there is now 'Acht Stücke', or 'eight pieces' by Asmus
Tietchens and Jon Mueller. Like with the previous work, Mueller supplies the
rough sound material which forms the basic material for the Tietchens
compositions. Mueller, it might be known, is a percussionist/drummer and
works mainly, but not exclusively, in the field of improvised music. He has,
as said, worked with people that compose new works out his playing, such as
Martijn Tellinga in the Brombron series and with Tietchens. Apparently it's
fruitful material, the percussive sounds. Tietchens feeds the material to
the oscillators, generators, sine wave machines and modulators rather than
treating it computer wise (although I am not sure how he feels about this
these days) and this new work has the classic stamp 'Tietchens' all over it.
Eerie tones, drone like backgrounds, but on the foreground water drop like
rhythmic particles flying about. Peaceful and thoughtful this stuff. It's
not a work that stands
out of much of previous work, but it's a good, sturdy work.
Some years ago, Asmus Tietchens promised us to bring every year one new
release as Hematic Sunsets, his project for 'real' music. Following his
christmas record for Meeuw Muzak of, I think, two years ago, there is now
another christmas record on his own Klang Der Festung. 'Oh Tannebaum' as an
instrumental version on the a-side while Okko Bekker sings it on the flip,
plus a most curious live piece recorded on the market. A frivolous Tietchens
record, which he permits himself to do once every year. This record will
play nicely along the Meeuw 7"s on Boxing Day. (FdW)
Address: http://www.aufabwegen.com

EVAPORI - FUMES (LP by Walter Ulbricht Schallfolien)
DITTERICH VON EULER-DONNERSPERG/COLUMN ONE - DER FLUSS IN DER TRUHE (LP by
Walter Ulbricht Schallfolien)
Since the shop was closed I assumed the label with the same was also gone,
but much to my surprise here are two new releases on Walter Ulbircht
Schallfolien. The label who brought you SPK and Laibach in the far away
past, presents her just German artists. The first is a LP by Evapori, also
known as Oliver Peters, who has his own label Anti Information Conspiracy
and of whom we reviewed music before, but its some time ago. Peters was in
Hamburger Kunsthochshule, studying also with prof doctor Tietchens, but it's
not to say he is a mere copy cat of his master. Instead he seems to be
finding his inspiration from the field recordists and computer processors
such as Roel Meelkop, Marc Behrens an Bernard Gunter. His previous work
seems less refined and despite the gap between this and the previous
release, nothing much has changed, except perhaps it's now all a bit more
refined. There is a complicated text in German along with this, but I am not
sure if I should regard this as a
clarification or mystification of the album. Throughout I thought the album
was pretty good, but perhaps a bit faceless. It didn't seem to be much of
his own. Hearing examples, making something along similar lines, but not
always as convincing as the sources. The work before was good, but maybe I
expected a bit more when it comes to making a LP.
Labelowner Ditterich von Euler-Donnersperg teams up with Column One on a
split LP for his own label. There are loads more of his records, but they
rarely make it into Vital Weekly, well, until his recent, great christmas
record for Meeuw Muzak. Now this record I like better, for various reasons.
Column One on their side use field recordings, following their recent CD for
Auf Aubwegen. That one showed field recordings pure, clean and without
processing, and processing again is not in place here, but there is
'analogue and digital sound' according to the inlay, but several other
members (Column One is a five piece here) are credited with 'cut', I assume
as in splicing tape. Two pieces, although hard to tell apart, offer a
delicate collage of field recordings, almost telling a story. It's precise
and to the point. An excellent work. Ditterich on his side has four pieces.
I am not sure how they were made, but me thinks it's through sampling.
Opening up in a Hafler Trio mode (or should
that be 'mood'?) of meandering electronics (samples? sound effects? field
recordings?), there is also a piece of sampled bass, percussion and piano.
E-musik as the Germans (and only the Germans) call it. The album close with
a highly obscure electronic piece and voices and tops off a great side.
(FdW)
Address: <donnersperg@web.de>

KALLABRIS - HUND VOR DIE TÜR (LP by Entr'acte)
Through the many years of their existence, Kallabris is one of my favorite
groups, but as I was listening to this new LP 'Hund Vor Die Tür' ('dog
standing for the door'), I am never to sure what it is that I like about
them. Perhaps the whole mythical surrounding of the group. Is it a group?
One man? We don't know. Let alone what they do. However text seems to be
important with their releases, even when it's not easy to figure about what
they are about. Apparently the piece started in April 2005 with a live
concert in Dortmund and has expanded over time into this record. And it's in
a way about dogs (pity, as I am not a lover of anything canine), although 'a
piece of music is not a tale', the cover informs us. Perhaps so, but this
record has tale like qualities. There is a vocoder voice that recites some
lines every now and then - making this record one piece rather than a
collection of pieces) - and on side one this is embedded in a warm bath of
computerized drones and the on the
b-side with plucked acoustic guitar and even a hot steamy rhythm. The b-side
is my favorite, since it moves through all these nice textures, while on the
first side it's all rather single-minded. But once again, this is a great
record of a mythical band with great sound, hovering the experiment and the
pop notion of folktronics. Kallabris remains a favorite. (FdW)
Address: http://www.entracte.co.uk

PAPERCUT & WRECKING BALL (CDR by Deserted Village)
Irish Deserted Village likes to have hardly any information for their
releases, so other than Wrecking Ball is Steve Fanagan and Gary Morrison who
is Papercut. They two teamed up to record this work of improvised guitar
noise, spread out in two tracks. Maybe there is more to it than just guitars
and Morrison also lists on his myspace thingy "Circuitbent Radios and
Keyboards, Synths, Vocal Drones + Screeches, Tapes, Samplers, Fx". I am not
blown away by either piece, especially the second piece is not my favorite.
It's the noisiest one of the two, but the sounds are a bit thin, compared
with the stronger first piece. Also the second (no titles of course) is a
bit long and could have be saved, I guess, with some editing. The first
piece is stronger because it's better worked out (although that seems
strange in this improvised lot), and it moves to the undercurrent of noise -
the darker side of noise meets drones. It's o.k., though not brilliant.
(FdW)
Address: http://www.desertedvillage.com/

RED NEEDLED SEA - 23:04 (CDR by Krakilisk)
MYSTIFIED - LOWER (CDR by Krakilisk)
KENJI SIRATORI (CDR by Krakilisk)
FISH SLIPPERS (CDR compilation by Krakilsk)
So far I have quite enjoyed the work of Red Needled Sea, also known as Panos
Alexiades, who explored one instrument per release, such as guitar,
shortwave and piano. For this new release I am a bit unsure what he
explores, but my best guess would be some sort of field recording that deals
with either wind or rain sounds. I might be entirely wrong. The title is the
length of the music, so that isnt of much help either. Things start in a
pretty roughly shaped manner of what could be the unprocessed field, but as
the piece evolves, things get rebuilt, reshaped, no doubt with the good help
of the laptop and various plug ins. Dense, layered and clouded this one.
With a length of twenty-three minutes the right length for sure, but why not
another piece of similar dark austerity?
>From Mystified we have reviewed several releases,
and most likely there is much more we don't know about. It's an one man
project of one Thomas Park. The title seems to me the programm of the CD:
lower as in the lower regions of the tonal spectrum. The CDR opens up with a
bunch quite similar pieces of dark ambient - the lower spectrum made audible
with field recordings and/or synthesizers, albeit of a digital nature. But
there is more to that. There is also a piece which evolves around a bass
drum, which is quite nice (I remember thinking that Mystified should explore
the rhythm road more) and some that are slightly more experimental. Maybe
it's a bit too conceptual this one and one could wish for some more high end
tones, and that those should not be on the next release called 'Higher'.
Noise then, from Kenji Siratori, who runs the risk of becoming the next
Chefkirk. Too many releases and not always/never (cross out what you don't
like) of noise. Apparently he is a cyberpunk writer, and he uses vocals in
his music, at least that's what I am inclined to think. His 'Death Game' has
five 'phases' of highly distorted noise, although the trained ear spots some
sort of rhythm in there, within all the rampage. I am pretty sure I can live
very well without this.
In Vital Weekly 562 I reviewed a disc by Fisk Pa Disc, on the Tibprod label,
which I thought was pretty interesting along the lines 80s acts like Paul
Kelday (not that many remember that). On Krakilsk there is a remix of this,
which included the whole Norwegian posse of Swamps Up Nostrils, Jan
M-Iversen, HOH, Rogaland, Pal Asle Pettersen. Mystified and Torstein Wjiik,
and some even producing two tracks. They all seem to be anxious to take the
material into a new, more louder and more rhythmic territory, but
unfortunately it doesn't always lead to interesting results. Noise plus
noise equals noise? Lots of harsh beat stuff, exploding ambiance, but
throughout none of the tracks really stood out or marked something
different. Not everything needs to be remixed, boys. Sometimes the original
is as good as it gets. (FdW)
Address: http://www.krakilsk.org/

GLAUKOM SYNOD - OGRE (CDR, private)
VARIOUS - ROBOT EARS (CDR by Meatronic recordings and the St. Petersburg
Institute of Noise)
NOVASK - ALPHA (CDR by Triple Bath)
"[sic]TIM GOLDIE "ABJECTOR[sic] ( CDr on hibari music & w.m.o/r)
Putting on one side (for a moment) ideas regarding sexism and biological
differences one could produce a bigoted review of this "music" which in its
generality and ignorance of any subtlety or fact, mimicking the abhorrent
behavior - at least intellectual - (i.e. the recent debacle re free speech
at the oxford union) - to behave as an unreasoning right-wing bigot might
represent - or present to an active, subtle and discriminating mind
something which could be described as noise. Noise as the opposite of
communication - of clear and subtle thought, of truth etc. The French would
appear slightly askew in their Gallic nonsense and tomfoolery - of the mime
artist, watched disdainfully by the thick necked Germans and ignored by the
English, who are either stupid aristocracy or stupid football hooligans.
whatever a general English distrust of intellectuals. "diverse Glaukom
Synod are an extraordinary and eclectic mixture of sounds and styles that
almost defy classification and yet which come together brilliantly.
Experimental and hypnotic at times, and seriously danceable at others..." -
see what I mean - as an English man I cant take anything danceable
seriously - it a genetic fault (if my argument holds) It is only with the
eclecticism of a nation which is not a nation but a legion of united states
that the incomprehensible can exist and the idea of the idea be not ignored
but held in
great respect. Which explains why noise is so popular in the land of the
free- so Robot ears (my my) is an audio PowerPoint of contemporary music,
modern art in a Midwest gallery. Here I can be the English snob so moving
swiftly on then Novask meddle with sine waves whilst " [sic] Tim Goldie:
drums (disc 1), voice (disc 1, 2), credit card (disc 1, 2), bird whistle
(disc 1), snare drums (disc 2), guitar amplifiers/leads (disc 2)" i.e. noisy
drums and noisy voice - "Recorded by " " [sic] Tim Goldie with two AKG 414
BULS direct to Tascam DAP1 DAT No overdubs or effects" - "no effects"! - I
think that is because it sounds like its all run through my behringer bod100
(German design Chinese manufactured and only £14.95!). (jliat)
Addresses
http://meatronic.com
http://glaukomsynod.site.voilat.fr
http://www.novasak.com
http://www.mattin.org

ANDREW DEUTSCH & STEPHEN VITIELLO - INDUCTIVE MUSIC (CDR by Absurd)
THESSALONIKI 1963 - A DIARY FROM B TO C (CDR by Absurd)
Although mister Absurd is no father he knows people with children and it
seems that for every occasion he can possibly think of, he will create a new
release. Or almost new release, such as in this case of Stephen Vitiello and
Andrew Deutsch. Last year it was already released on Magic If, and now
re=issued on 'Kyra's first birthday'. They are helped by Ann Hamilton
producing 'whispers' and Thomas Moore producing microsounds. Laptop a go go
this one. Two long pieces of endless streaming, hectic and nervous sounds.
Plug ins or max/msp working overtime. There is so much happening that it's
hard to follow the route. The third track on the other hand is short, almost
like a contemplative afterthought. Perhaps it could have been placed in the
middle, so that it would provide the listener to take a deep breath of air.
But it's a nice release, not the best I heard by either of them, but more
like a quick thing in between.
A bit harder to decipher is the release by Thessaloniki 1963, if that is the
name of the project chosen by Kostis Kilymis. The four pieces were recorded
this and last year, while he also uses sounds provided by Valerio Tricoli,
Tasos Stamou and Nicolas Malevitsis. Kilymis shows us that he likes his
Meelkop, Behrens, Lopez and Chartier. He successfully hides his original
sound sources and in stead offers lots of sound processing. Sometimes, like
his tutors in a soft, detailed manner, but especially at the end of the
third track and the beginning of the fourth things get pretty nasty and
loud, in a somewhat crude manner, unlike his examples. But throughout it's
well balanced and done rather nicely. (FdW)
Address: http://www.void.gr/absurd

TEXTURED BIRD TRANSMISSION - SPECTRAL DOVES OF SKELETAL INTENSITY (CDR by
Dead Sea Liner)
SRX - VESSEL (CDR by Dead Sea Liner)
Following their 'Singing Through Trees' 3" CD on Dirty Demos (see Vital
Weekly 592) they return with five new tracks on 'Spectral Doves Of Skeletal
Intensity' on their home label Dead Sea Liner. Still we know nothing about
this troupe but they continue with some mighty fine ambient music of a
darker nature; darker than the previous lot it seems to me. Ringing sounds
of endless sustaining guitar, metal sheets or some such, make up these
pieces, and this time it has the right length. Five pieces in about thirty
five minutes of music that will surely appeal to the likes of Mirror, Ora or
Monos. Very nice.
Also new to me, I think, is SRX. Here an old piano, field recordings and
some other obscured elements of music plus a female voice. I was listening
the other day to some music by Cortex, one of the lesser known
groups/project by Alain Neffe of Insane Music, and there is some resemblance
between the spoken words of SRX and Neffe's. Lyrics are hard to understand,
tracks are short and to the point. The seven pieces go down in a mere
eighteen minutes. The sketch like character of the music is a bit of a
problem, I think. Pieces are gone before they even started, whereas one has
the impression it could have had so much more. Also the sound quality
between the first two, non-vocal pieces, and the other five is a bit too
much. This needs some balancing in the future. (FdW)
Address: http://www.deadsealiner.co.uk

RINUS VAN ALEBEEK & CARLO RONCHI & PAOLO ROMANO & MATTEO UGGERI -
MILAN-SHAKHTAR: 4-1 (CDR by Sparkling Sodality)
'A completely improvised session made with tapes/walkman, contact
microphones, electric and acoustic bass. Very weird, very improvised'.
'sorry for the poor quality of the recording (made with binaural
microphones), but the good thing is that there is no overdubbing at all'.
Two quotes from the press text, which tells us otherwise who is Rinus van
Alebeek, Sandro Ripamonti and Carlo Ronchi (both are from Tasaday, an old
Italian group) and Matteo Uggeri. The four of them (well, five if you count
the visuals of Paolo Romano) teamed up in Milan for this improvised work,
which is hardly weird but very improvised. I must admit I kept on wondering
why it's good that there is no overdubbing. Because if they would have, or
at least applied some editing on the blurry recording, it would have perhaps
saved a bit of the quality, both in music and recording quality. Now we have
two tracks of thirty seven minutes in length which drag on end, with no
climax, no built up, no tension but also no
relaxation or moody textures. Quite dull overall. (FdW)
Address: http://www.greysparkle.com

OUBLIETTE - LIVE COLLECTION (CDR by Hymns)
ANDREW CHADWICK - MAGNETIC PERSONALITY (CDR by Hymns)
The Hymns label have brought us some interesting works from the world of
noise, and although not every one is great, they are usually quite
interesting. Here they expand beyond the usual music of Ironing with two new
acts, well at least for me. (Seth) Oubliette is one, and he offers a ten
track plus movie files of recent and not so recent live shows. The cover
doesn't provide us with any more information than a mentioning of dates and
locations, but nothing about instruments used. Ok, no problem, we'll start
the guessing show. My best guess is that there is a bunch of noise
generators of low quality kind, in combination with cassette tapes,
amplifiers and distortion pedals. There is applause after some of the
tracks, so I was thinking (again) that a track is an entire concert. If
that's true, I must say I like that approach: short and to the point. As a
collection of ten tracks it's perhaps a bit too much to take in all at once,
but when consumed in a smaller dose every time, it's
very well to digest.
Brevity is not of concern to Andrew Chadwick. He writes about his project
being a response to Hal McGee's announcement of recording an album on
microcassette, which inspired him to do so too. Two tracks, of thirty
minutes each... well, ain't that a good cassette length? It's a pity that
they don't come as C10 cassettes, since I thought he makes a point in which
ten minutes is already long enough, so another fifty minutes of cut up
material is just a bit too much. Lots of spoken word, from real life
conversations, but without much story, it's all a bit too much. The
photograph of Chadwhickis by Jen Sandwich, 'Andrew Chadwick's official
photographer'. There is a sense of irony at least, I hope. (FdW)
Address: www.myspace.com/hymnslabel

ORIGAMI BOE - 000 BAUNOTEN (MP3 by Con-V)
ORIGAMI TACET - E.XTREM T.ON (MP3 by Ambolthue)
ORIGAMI ALL STARS - EARWITNESS (CDR by Tecnonucleo)
Only a few good guys ask us: the well-known bands from the world of rock who
help the true experimentalists. Sonic Youth is one, Einsturzende Neubauten
is another. They help out, with their name and fame,, to support
experimental musicians. Tore Boe had the honor of opening up a few concerts
for Neubauten and 'Baunoten' is a piece 'based on material from Einsturzende
Neubauten's webcasts and presented 6 times on their 2004 tour', although I
am not sure what that means. The recording here is from one concert in
Hamburg. Tore Boe is not unlike John Cage: a man of small sounds, but with
the amplification used in rock concerts I am pretty sure this must have
sounded massive. Musicboxes, piano bangs and obscured drones make up a great
piece that receives a good applaus from the audience. Well deserved.
As Origami Tacet, Tore Honore Boe played with Micheal F. Duch. The latter
plays double bass and Boe his acoustic laptop - which is a suitcase full of
small acoustic objects and contactmicrophones. This recording was may in
Dresden earlier this year, at the 'E.xtrem T.on' festival/event and during
some twenty minutes the two play a thoughtful piece of music - of a more
sorrowful nature. There is 'Elegy For Tony Wilson' (who died a week
earlier), 'Glass On The Beach', 'Nick Cage' and 'Einstein At The Zoo' - I
have no idea why it lists four pieces, as there is only one on the release,
but perhaps there are four distinct parts. It's always not clear with
improvised music when things start and stop, but the controlled
improvisation of these two is quite nice too.
Boe is the founding father of everything that is called 'Origami' with
whatever extension: a floating group of musicians that work together. Boe
himself is not always a member, but he is with the Origami All Stars. Still
with his acoustic laptop, but also with Tom Hovinbole on violin, Jonas Qvale
on samples and Jorn Egseth on synthesizer. They play seven pieces on their
'Earwitness' release and it's the least convincing of the three. The
improvisations seem to lack any tension and at times the four seem to be
searching for sounds, or go into playing their thing without noting any of
the other players very much so no real interaction seem to occur. (FdW)
Address: http://www.con-v.org
Address: http://www.ambolthue.com
Address: http://www.tecnonucelo.org

correction: correct website for Agitated Radio Pilot is

http://www.desertedvillage.com or http://www.myspace.com/agitatedradiopilot

1. From: al al <not_half@hotmail.com>

LIVE!!! LIVE!!! LIVE!!!
Live in Winnipeg!!!

December, 7 2007 at Graffiti Gallery
109 Higgins Graffiti Gallery, Winnipeg,
Cost : $5.00

The instrument line-up is official!

not half will amaze you with turntable abuse (no records...records are for
sissies), wind-up radio abuse and speaker cone abuse! Amazing uses of
speaker cones guaranteed!
Everyone else will be doing something more talented and far interesting!
Come for the noise, stay for the fun!

Live!!! Party till you drop.

not half
Crys Cole
Philia
This Camera is Red

Come out and see the insane Winnipeg noise adventure!! December 7 at the
Graffiti Gallery!!!

In the meantime, visit....

http://www.virb.com/nothalf
http://www.myspace.com/nothalf
http://www.discogs.com/artist/Not+1%2F2

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