VITAL WEEKLY
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number 612
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week 5
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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)
reviewed. It will remain on the site for a limited period of 5 weeks.
Download the file to your MP3 player and enjoy!
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* noted are in this week's podcast
D_RRADIO (CD by Cabin Boy/Distraction Records)
MOIRA STEWART - SWEETNESS, YES! (CD by Cabin Boy/Distraction Records) *
COLD READING TRIO - LIFE OF GHOST (CD by Form Function Records)
SUITE CRUDE REVUE - SPACE AGE GUTBUCKET AFRODELIC JAZZPLOITATION
(CD by Cosmoelliptic)
SET IN SAND - NOTHING AGAINST THE OCEAN (CD by Abandon Building) *
BRAN(...)POS - COIN-OP KHEPRI (CD by C.I.P.) *
LJUDBILDEN & PILOTEN - ONE HUNDRED FIFTY-FIVE (CD by Nosordo) *
BIRCHVILLE CAT MOTEL - GUNPOWDER TEMPLE OF HEAVEN (CD by Pica Disk) *
HLEUCHATISTAS - EVEN IN THE MIDST ... (CD by Cuneiform)
FAVOURITE PLACES (CD by Audiobulb Records)
TITMACHINE (7" by Meeuw Muzak)
AHASVERUS - FOUNDATION (CDR by Ahasverus Records) *
PUIN + HOOP - HEADPHONE SESSIONS (CDR, private)
JOSH RUSSELL - SINK (CDR/MP3 by Quiet Design) *
ROBERT CURGENVEN/CHRIS HOWDEN - ALICE SPRINGS, CENTRAL AUSTRALIA (CDR by
Recorded Fields) *
LINDENBERG MUNROE & LAMARQ BARROS & THELMO CRISTOVAM & HENDERSON RODRIGUES -
ALPENDRE (CDR by Tib Prod)
LEONARDO BARZABAL/ADRIAN JUAREZ - SPLIT SERIES #5 (CDR by Tib Prod)
LECANORA - IMMUNITY (CD by Kokeshidisk) *
JGRZINICH - FERRIC (3"CDR by Taalem)
HUM - CALDRON OF WINDS (3"CDR by Taalem)
BEN FLEURY-STEINER - HE DREAMS IN RIVERS (3"CDR by Taalem)
JUTE GYTE - APIDYA (CDR by Jeshimoth Entertainment)
JUTE GYTE - WHERE WE GO WHEN WE (3"CDR by Jeshimoth Entertainment)
JUTE GYTE - ARAKAN (CDR by Jeshimoth Entertainment)
GRIZ+ZLOR & JUTE GYTE - COLOSSUS OF WHITE TAR (3"CDR by Jeshimoth
Entertainment)
PUMPKIN BUZZARD - UNDERNEATH ROTTING (CDR by Jeshimoth Entertainment)
PUMPKIN BUZZARD - MANTIS ANTLER (CDR by Jeshimoth Entertainment) *
OPRHAX - DROWNING IN A POOL OF TREES (3"CDR, private) *
COLOSSUS - THRONE (Cassette by Heavy Nature Tapes)
SUBURBIA MELTING/MOTHKULT (Cassette by Heavy Nature Tapes)
MYSTIFIED - UNCANNY (Cassette by Heavy Nature Tapes)
MYO - LIGHT (MP3 by Zeromoon) *
ASHER - STUDY FOR AUTUMN (MP3 by Con-V) *
D_RRADIO (CD by Cabin Boy/Distraction Records)
MOIRA STEWART - SWEETNESS, YES! (CD by Cabin Boy/Distraction Records)
Of course I have no idea how the young people these days feel about a 7",
but when grand daddy - me - was young, money was sparse and you couldn't
always afford to buy all you wanted, so 7"s were the preferred format. One
great song, if you were lucky the b-side was also great. This you had to
play until more money arrived to buy another one. Maybe that's why I still
like 7"s. D_rradio surprised me with three 7"s on Distraction Records (Vital
Weekly 510, 524, 546) and they have worked for three years on their debut
CD, and guess what? Like in the old days, when you saved up from washing
daddy's car, and you could finally afford to buy that LP by that beloved
artist, it was not always the same genius as was the 7"s. That's what
happened here. What sounds great as one pair of tracks, may sound dull when
bundled up in a pair of ten. In itself they might be great tunes, filled
melancholica, dry humor, nice moves and such like, but perhaps it's the fact
that they come in series of ten,
instead of two, the uniform sound, the absence of vocals that made me less
enthusiastic about this debut album. Maybe follow Joe Jackson's 'I'm The
Man' and release a boxset of five 7" records?
But things can be entirely opposite too. My first encounter with Moira
Stewart, for their debut album, is a straight shot of joy. But it would also
lead to a small confession. Well, maybe I coughed up before: I like New
Order. And straight from the opening lines of their first track (no titles
here), synths, drum machines, ah-ha choir, thin lead vocals and guitars, I
feel at home. Except that I am really at home instead of listening to my
favorite New Order on my Ipod in the train. It has great hooks, rock-dance
inspired songs, funny samples, multi-vocals. In all great pop tunes, and
this time I mean pop tunes. I am no record industry mogul, nor will I ever
see big cash rolling in but if Moira Stewart won't be big with their
uptempo, quirky electro-rock pop tunes who will? For the ten tracks,
thirty-four minutes (how more classic pop-length do you want it), this has
put one big smile on my face. (FdW)
Address: http://www.distractionrecords.com
COLD READING TRIO - LIFE OF GHOST (CD by Form Function Records)
Form Function Records focuses on experimenting with electro-acoustic
improvisation. The CD by the Cold Reading Trio is a clear example of this
interest. This trio comes from New York, and is made up by Christian Pincock
(laptop computer, valve trombone), John O'Brien (drums, percussion) and Evan
Mazunik (accordion, keyboards). John O'Brien studied symphonic music and
also jazz drumming with Gerry Hemingway among his teachers. He drummed in
many different contexts: afro-cuban music, jazz, orchestral music, etc. With
the trio he tries to expand the "sonic possibilities of the traditional
drumkit". Evan Mazunik is an accordionplayer who recently got involved with
Soundpainting, "a sign language for live composition", that is by developed
by Pinnock a.o. From early childhood Christian Pinnock was interested in all
kinds of soundmanipulation and that led him into the world or
electro-acoustic music. He directs the Brooklyn Soundpainting Orchestra.
With the Cold Reading Trio he aims at
"capturing material from other players during an improvisation and
recombining and modifying that material to create his contribution to the
group". You get the picture? Improvisors are in dialogue with what returns
from their playing through the live processing by Pinnock, that also comes
into being through improvisation. For my ears it is not always traceable
what comes from the musicians and is what is echoed by the samplers. And I,m
not a listener who is interested in how they did things, but in the music
that is created in whatever way. Their improvisations are very open and
transparent. They sound more like an ensemble of new music then as jazz
trio. The music is very well recorded. They keep a good balance between the
acoustic instruments and the electro-acoustic means. All this makes
listening to this cd a great pleasure where there is room for every detail.
In 'Raven steats the Sun' the drumming by O'Brien is in the forefront. In
other pieces like 'The Sybert Commission' or
'Rub-a-dub' the music is centered around the accordion. Improvisations vary
in coloring and structure. They don't lose themselves in meaningless
technocratic escapades. Far from it. All of them are very disciplined
players, and there is definitively beating a heart in this very advanced
music. (DM)
Address: http://www.formfunctionrecords.com/
SUITE CRUDE REVUE - SPACE AGE GUTBUCKET AFRODELIC JAZZPLOITATION
(CD by Cosmoelliptic)
I'm not sure what we have here. Its a very hybrid and mixed up cocktail. The
genius behind it is Daniel Zelonky, who has some CDs out as Low Res, Crank,
a.o. With several members of the Sun Ra Arkestra he gave a live performance
of obscure Sun Ra compositions. That is about all I know about him. But
listening to this crazy album I learned another thing, it is clear that
Zelonky loves the orchestral sound of old latin albums by Perez Prado, etc.
Also I had to think of old James Bond-like filmmusic and lots of other
exotica from the 60s and 70s. In most of the 11 exotic pieces it is as if a
complete orchestra is at work. But probably we are dealing here with
cleverly sampled or otherwise 'imagined' orchestras. The grooving
compositions he constructed from these old records don't differ very much, I
suppose, from the ones on these records and are therefore not extremely
original. He didn't transform the original music into some completely new,
but he stays close to the original musical
idioms. In most pieces Zelonky adds his sax-sounding keyboardplaying. All is
done very clever. He successfully assembled his pieces into music that has
great unity. The track 'Chalky' is also in a live performance on this disc,
played by a 36-piece orchestra, showing convincingly that Zelonky can create
his hybrid jazz-funk-latin also on stage. The cd closes with an 'unreleased;
Sun Ra composition 'Intergalactic Research'. Considering the amount of
records that are out by Sun Ra, it is hard to believe we are dealing here
with an unreleased composition as the liner notes tell us. But what does it
matter? For it is a funny and very enjoyable cd. (DM)
Address: http://www.cosmoelliptic.com/
SET IN SAND - NOTHING AGAINST THE OCEAN (CD by Abandon Building)
High hopes for Set In Sand, as this release on Abandon Building is totally
fresh and new and already licensed to another label, Hue Records in Japan.
They come from the US midwest and combine IDM, hip hop with say Steve Reich
in their early days, but now take things a bit further. Rhythms are broken
and chopped up, guitars are added, and more importantly samples of all sort
of weird origins an vocals. Though the latter are not present in every
track, they sound very much like my personal heroes of Sparks, with whom Set
In Sound share more than just the vocals. The weird angles from which things
are approached (jazz? rock? symphonic rock?), sudden weird moves and of
course the falsetto voice, with sings along with itself. It doesn't have the
complexity, nor the rock of the latest Sparks albums, and throughout Set In
Sound is less complex per track, but they have potential to be more a pop
band than a strict electronic band. Personally I prefer the vocal tracks
more than the
instrumental ones, and I think that should be an area that they should
explore more. It's not difficult to see the potential that these clever
label bosses also see with this band. Very witty and clever made. (FdW)
Address: http://www.abandonbuilding.com
BRAN(...)POS - COIN-OP KHEPRI (CD by C.I.P.)
The label compares the oddly named bran(...)pos with 70s Residents,
Stockhausen, Dick Hyman, Runzelstirn & Gurgelstock, Gert Wilden, Emerson
Lake & Palmer with the compositional complexity of Ennio Morricone and
Beethoven. Phew. Behind bran(...)pos is one Jake Rodriguez, who works as
such since 1995. I have no idea what else he has released over the years.
I'm likewise not entirely sure if I can follow what he wants with his music.
Some of his 'influences' I can surely detect in here. The collage like
approach of say Runzelstirn & Gurgelstock, cheesy film music ala Wilden,
sure. But it has also techno inspired music, such as in 'Archival Rodeo',
which I thought wasn't that interesting at all. As such, this is a bit of
the problem with this release: maybe Rodriguez wants things to be too
clever, too many influences, too much genre bending that it numbs the
result. A mixed feeling is what I have here. Part of it is certainly quite
nice, but certainly towards the end of the disk, some
of
the pieces are a bit too long for the amount of information it has. One has
the idea that not everything has been fully explored, and some decisions
need to be made. But in the future that may grow, no doubt, but its not
entirely here yet. (FdW)
Address: http://www.cipsite.net
LJUDBILDEN & PILOTEN - ONE HUNDRED FIFTY-FIVE (CD by Nosordo)
Kristofer Ström (great name, if you know it means electricity in german) is
man behind Ljudbilden & Piloten and hails from Malmö. He already a split CD
before with Osso Bucco (see Vital Weekly 416), but it took him some time to
create his real first full length. In the meantime he has recorded music for
theatre, dance-theatre, films and toured with David Balula, Domotic, O.Lamm
and Dead Texan and made animation films himself. A busy bee. Although he
uses a variety of instruments and objects, his main instrument is the
guitar. He tinkles nice away, with in the background rhythms compiled from
all sorts of sources as glass, an egg slicer and handclap. The ornament
comes from the piano and a trumpet every now and then. All of this is
created inside the fine, warm place of the computer, making foremost busy
music. Even when things are supposed to be mellow and easy, it's music that
is really filling up space. Everything is used and Ström uses many layers.
Combined with the fact that
certainly towards the end of the CD a certain similarity arises in the
pieces makes that I think that this CD is a bit too long for what it is. It
should have been ten instead of fifteen tracks (which doesn't mean that the
last five should be cut off, just a best ten actually) and it would have
gained strength. Now it's all a bit too much. Program your CD player and
create your favorite list and it'll be a great CD. Nice extensive collage
booklet also. (FdW)
Address: http://www.nosordo.com
BIRCHVILLE CAT MOTEL - GUNPOWDER TEMPLE OF HEAVEN (CD by Pica Disk)
Music by Birchville Cat Motel, a.k.a. Campbell Kneale only reaches me very
occasionally, so the list of releases mentioned in this booklet certainly
impressed me. If ever I want to collect it, I sure have a lot to catch up
with, but it might be a worthwhile thing to do. Or so my thoughts were when
hearing this release. Like I said, I don't always catch up with Kneale's
output, but this new one certainly filled me with pleasure. To make things
easy: Birchville Cat Motel plays drone music of a louder kind. One piece
here, forty minutes in length. At it's core lies organ drones, that sound
like a church organ, carefully layered to create miniature variation. That
is the firm foundation of the piece. Somewhere a bass slab sound comes in,
and somewhere later, the organ plays a three note melody, all of this while
the fundament lies firm. Hold on, there is a cymbal played mechanically too.
Or isn't? Such is the music of Birchville Cat Motel. Deceiving. Deceivingly
simple from the surface,
but complex if you listen carefully. Things aren't what they are, elements
are picked out and evolved, altered and put back in the mix. Not 'loud' as
in the word 'noise' but forcefully present - the music is 'there', loud and
clear. A very refined work of drone meets noise. Play loud and be immersed.
(FdW)
Address: http://www.picadisk.com
HLEUCHATISTAS - EVEN IN THE MIDST ... (CD by Cuneiform)
The fourth album from this post-punk trio from North Carolina, and their
second one for Cuneiform. With three earlier records out they have already
have an development behind them. But I can't say anything about it, as this
is my first meeting with these guys. What is their music about? Surely they
raise the question: how complex can you get, using guitar, bass and drums
only. And this trio gives you an impressive answer. Starting from an punk
attitude they underwent undeniably the influence of Captain Beefheart. This
places them in the tradition of earlier punk orientated bands who made
efforts to incorporate Beefheart's madness. Think of bands like Minutemen,
Big Flame or Stump. But we are in 2008 now and Ahleuchatistas is their name.
An instrumental trio of Derek Poteat (bass), Shane Perlowin (guitar) and
Sean Dail (drums). Very dedicated, they maintain the same high level of
concentration and intensity from start to the end, also in their slower
songs. All three turn out to be
virtuoso musicians, but their craftmanship functions as a means to an end,
and not as a goal in itself . They don't trade in acrobatics, these
musicians have something to tell us. From the artwork one could conclude
that their are politically interested. Back to the music. One could ask what
is interesting rockmusic nowadays? To be honest, I don't know. Is it dead,
or is it above all a silly question? You tell me. The great days of
rockmusic where somewhere in the previous century. But with Ahleuchatistas
and related bands we have something really interesting going on. As said
they keep a punk mentality, but it is not forbidden to be capable to play an
instrument now. Also it is allowed now that one piece differs considerably
from the other. Also it not forbidden to have musical ideas, and put as many
of them as you can in one song. All this is the case for Ahleuchatistas in
their down to earth way, using no unnecessary make up. I have the feeling
that the way they sound on this cd
comes close to their live sound. What you hear is what get. Just a few
overdubs and some other manipulations, like the backwards playing of tapes
in the last track. But that's it. Some of the compositions are very
convincing, others however are not that interesting. This is the weak spot
of this trio I think. But that is all in the game when you are seeking for
new territory as this band is doing. "Swimming Underwater with a Cat on Your
Back" is an overwhelming and very rich piece. With very tight playing.
Changing of rhythms and color. In a piece like the intimate "The Bears of
Cantabria Shall Sleep No More" they try improvise a ballad like piece. The
twangy guitarplaying we hear in most of the songs sets them apart from their
colder math rock-brothers. They love changes. Changes in dynamics, rhythm,
mood, etc. Making it an adventurous listening experience. Definitively a
band to watch! (DM)
Address: http://www.cuneiformrecords.com/
FAVOURITE PLACES (CD by Audiobulb Records)
No doubt everybody must have a place that they call their own. A place which
you cherish and go back. Like a forest, the bath, a museum or an alley.
These are just four of the examples on this CD of ten pieces of artists'
favorite places which they were asked to record and then treat those
recordings into a music piece - both source and composition are inside one
track. The whole project comes with photos and coordinates. All neat and
carefully planned. The end result is certainly as great. From forest walk by
Taylor Deupree to the lighthouse of Biosphere, from the bath of Dot Tape Dot
and the studio of Leafcutter John - it all sounds intimate and the music
they play as a result of these intimate recordings is of a likewise intimate
nature. Drones, glockenspiel, acoustic guitar and rhythms make up eerie
music. It moves away from the previous compilations by this label that the
artists are better known, musicwise it moves more towards ambient and less
to techno music (in all it's
guises) and the thematic approach. Topped off with an elaborate packaging
(both print work and jewel case) this is the best effort on Audiobulb so
far. Also included are Claudia, John Kannenberg, RF, Aaron Ximm, Build and
Nomad Palace. Very lush. (FdW)
Address: http://www.audiobulb.com
TITMACHINE (7" by Meeuw Muzak)
The very essence of anything punk and beyond is the very urgency to do
something. Learning the skills to play an instrument is absolutely the last
thing you could or should loose time on. I think. Three chords of punk is
way too much. Titmachine started out in the periphery of The Hitmachine, and
have by now nine tracks under their belts and played a handful of gigs to a
bemused and bewildered audience. It's Jana on keyboard/voc, Djamilla on
guitar, Jodee on bass/voc and Pascale on drums. A classic line up for non
classic music. Maybe Meeuw Muzak, who just released their first 7", didn't
know any titles, or perhaps Titmachine themselves are waiting to think up
themselves, but one side has a piece that is about playing faster all the
time, when the introductionairy talking about the very early days of the
band is over, that is. The other side has 'I Wanna Be Your Dog', the classic
piece of which I am told every starting (startling? sparkling?) band plays
in their early days of their
careers - but since I never mastered any chords, it's very unlikely you'd
see me rock out to this classic song. Titmachine wear their instruments well
and have a firm no wave at-tit-ude. The start of something beautiful.
Perhaps. Unless the ladies end up in drug habit of cola flavored chocolate
or an immense cat fight (both of them unlikely) (FdW)
Address: http://www.meeuw.net
AHASVERUS - FOUNDATION (CDR by Ahasverus Records)
It's been a while since the previous release by Ahasverus, also known as
Henrik Summanen on the label with the same name as the band. Henrik Summanen
also runs Elektron, but Ahasverus is his hobby project. He records his music
at home and at the EMS studios, which may shed some serious light on his
music, but ever since he discovered dark wave/industrial/dark ambient he is
converted to that music. Since 'Ten Is The Number' (see Vital Weekly 525),
nothing much has changed in his modus operandi: deep washes of synths, the
tickle of bells through massive walls of reverb create music that is
strongly linked to the likes of Lustmord, Old Europa Cafe and Cold Meat
Industry. I was thinking it all sounds a bit too mechanically produced. You
take the blue print of one type of music, make a close study and apply your
own music to it, but without putting your hearth in it. Music made according
to a matrix, without their own soul. (FdW)
Address: http://www.ahasverus.se
PUIN + HOOP - HEADPHONE SESSIONS (CDR, private)
Wether Puin + Hoop is a duo of solo project, it's hard to tell. They refer
to themselves as 'we', 'us', 'musicians'. The Headphone sessions do not
refer to the way you should hear them, but rather how the music was made:
'the musicians were not able to hear each other. They could only heart their
own sounds through a headphone. The separate parts were recorded
simultaneously on a multitrack device. Nothing but a base note was
determined before hand'. The four tracks in which this results are
remarkable coherent. A sort of lo-fi electronic music that is occassionally
noise based, but never goes over the top. It could be a bunch of guitars,
lots of devices of which the delay seems to be the most important one,
slowly developing and changing color. Of course the notion of this being
recorded to multitrack leads to the whole thing being mixed out after that,
perhaps adding more effects to the proceedings and balancing between the
various input. But of course that is no problem at all, as
it's the end-result that counts and these Dutch boys may borrow a bit of the
New Zealand style figures (noise, rock, drone), they have something of that
is certainly of their own imagination. Quite nice and nicely spray painted
cover. (FdW)
Address: http://www.myspace.com/puingeefthoop
JOSH RUSSELL - SINK (CDR/MP3 by Quiet Design)
Sometimes things are not what they seem to be. And sometimes they are. When
I popped in this new release by Josh Russell, I thought we were dealing with
the same person who presented microsound compilations on his own
Bremstrahlung label but the sound coming out of my speakers weren't
certainly microsounding at all. Loud, skipping, almost earthly sounds.
Damaged speakers? Damaging speakers? Can't be the same, right? But yes, it's
the same person. I checked the press message, and yes, it's him. He has a
background in biochemistry and microscopy research, and 'Sink', while loud,
may represent a bit of that background. It sounds like a chemistry lab, with
obscure fluids being boiled, amplified and brought alive. Or looking through
the looking glass and see lots of similar bacteria crawling about - it's
them singing on this release. Russell puts on quite an amount of
amplification to let you hear them. His loudest record to date, it says. Is
he deliberately trying to break out of the
microsound world? I hope so, since this sounds great. It has all the trade
marks of microsound (minimal, glitch, plug ins, hey maybe even field
recordings), but it's so much louder. In the dead end alley that microsound
has become it's good to see someone trying to change things and Russell does
a really fine job on 'Sink'. Excellently produced with a finer sense of
detail in the entire sound range, moving about and varied. Rather one piece
divided in ten steps than ten different pieces. The future of microsound has
started. (FdW)
Address: http://www.quietdesign.us
ROBERT CURGENVEN/CHRIS HOWDEN - ALICE SPRINGS, CENTRAL AUSTRALIA (CDR by
Recorded Fields)
I am not entirely sure what this release is about. "The first volume in its
(Recorded Fields - the label) Sound Atlas Series. [...] the sound atlas
comprises field recordings made over eight days in twenty-two locations
through the township and surrounding MacDonell Ranges, creating stunning
sonic vistas from the unique arid land environment". So, what we hear is
culled as mix of field recordings from twenty-two locations. Then I am
impressed, as it sounds like an open microphone recording made in one place.
Birds, insects, somebody walking - the usual ingredients of untreated field
recordings. Not exactly strong stuff, I must say. It's nicely recorded,
perhaps a bit soft, and it sounds alright, but somehow I have the idea
something is missing here. Perhaps an unique edge, something that makes it
more their own thing, rather than some building blocks of what could have
been music made from field recordings. More work in progress than finished
work, I thought. (FdW)
Address: http://www.recordedfields.net
LINDENBERG MUNROE & LAMARQ BARROS & THELMO CRISTOVAM & HENDERSON RODRIGUES -
ALPENDRE (CDR by Tib Prod)
LEONARDO BARZABAL/ADRIAN JUAREZ - SPLIT SERIES #5 (CDR by Tib Prod)
From the four players of this disk, I only heard
of Thelmo Cristovam before. Here he plays 'c-melody sax'. The other players
are Lindenberg Munroe (Didjeridoo, Pianica, Recorders, Whistles), Lamarque
de Queiroz Barros (Pianica, Recorders, Whistles) and Henderson Rodrigues
(Pianica, Recorders, Whistles). That is a lot of wind instruments. In 2005
they teamed up together to play for sixty minutes, three seconds and a
little bit. An endless stream of sound is what the produce. Not in continuos
in the drone sense of the word, but blowing wildly aloud and apart. Oddly
minimal in a way, with each player getting on with his own part. It's a long
sit this release, and certainly could have been thirty minutes shorter to
have the same power, but perhaps the long and windy road is something that
needed to be explored from beginning to end. For lovers of true improvised
music on wind instruments this is certainly an interesting disc. For myself
I was mildly enthusiastic about it.
Also the next two names are new one for me, and I have no idea where 'split
series 1 to 4' may have appeared. No information on the Tib Prod website for
this. Adrian Juarez opens up with a piece for improvised percussion.
Carefully he plays his music, with an emphasis on the cymbals and the
overtones it can create. It's a nice piece. It's a bit harder to tell what
Leonardo Barzabal uses for instrument. It could be a stringed instrument or
strings playing percussion. Also his piece is nice, intensely playing,
scraping and touching his instrument. Both pieces clock at around twelve
minutes and a fine examples of what they can do. (FdW)
Address: http://www.tibprod.com
LECANORA - IMMUNITY (CD by Kokeshidisk)
JGRZINICH - FERRIC (3"CDR by Taalem)
HUM - CALDRON OF WINDS (3"CDR by Taalem)
BEN FLEURY-STEINER - HE DREAMS IN RIVERS (3"CDR by Taalem)
Kokeshidisk is mainly concerned with releasing golden oldies and perhaps
Lecanora is one such goldie from yesteryear, but I don't believe I heard of
them. Maybe I did - it's not always easy to keep up. It's a solo project
from the label boss at hand here, Cyril Herry, who was also a member of
Exotoendo, a trio who recorded their music is abandoned tanks. All of this
material, released as well as unreleased became the prime source for Herry's
solo project. The sounds are re-treated - more reverb in a lot of instances,
some delay, layered on top of each other or cut short to make small loops.
Bell like sounds, the noise of debris falling on the floor and other spooky
detailed music. Maybe a bit too uniform in approach for my taste as many of
the pieces do have a tendency to sound alike, but for those who love
Lustmord, Rapoon or even Troum (in a more rhythm induced moment), may find
this a pleasure to hear.
The vastly growing empire of Taalem: an endless line of 3" CDR, a bit like
the other endless line of 7"s on Drone, and covering many similar names and
music. The first new one is by Jgrzinich, who has been active in the field
of recordings for more than a decade now. These days he is in southeast
Estonia, where collects his field recordings, along with rusty metal wires,
a wind harp and such like. 'Ferric' is one piece of alternating drone music
and back in the shack rusty metal shields, carefully swung together. Highly
atmospheric, slowly in decay towards the end.
More field recordings can be found on the release by Hum, also known as
Dmitry Christov from Russia, or perhaps his other aliases, such Sphogha,
Maw, Mikosterion or Small Town Zombie, all of which I never heard. Hum had
releases on Mysery Sea and Drone. There you are. Here he has three untitled
piece of slow enveloping ambient/drone music. A bit of field recordings is
set against some obscure electronics, which are hard to pin down. Synths?
Computer process? Can't tell really. It's a nice lo-fi affair this one, not
high and mighty on the recording side, but full of raw intent.
Ben Fleury-steiner is best known for the releases he produced on his own
Gears Of Sand label, sometimes as Paradin or Light Of Shipwreck. He too
evolves dabbles around with drones and field recordings, more the first than
the latter. Unlike Hum, Fleury-steiner operates with synths of processed
ambient guitars, which are layered on top of eachother, and make rather
spatial forms. More open than the somewhat claustrophobic Hum. A pity that
both pieces are too similar however, the second is an extended remixed
version of the first. (FdW)
Address: http://kokeshidisk.free.fr
Address: http://www.taalem.com
JUTE GYTE - APIDYA (CDR by Jeshimoth Entertainment)
JUTE GYTE - WHERE WE GO WHEN WE (3"CDR by Jeshimoth Entertainment)
JUTE GYTE - ARAKAN (CDR by Jeshimoth Entertainment)
GRIZ+ZLOR & JUTE GYTE - COLOSSUS OF WHITE TAR (3"CDR by Jeshimoth
Entertainment)
PUMPKIN BUZZARD - UNDERNEATH ROTTING (CDR by Jeshimoth Entertainment)
PUMPKIN BUZZARD - MANTIS ANTLER (CDR by Jeshimoth Entertainment)
The whole notion of no more than three releases and nothing older than six
months was entirely lost of Jeshimoth Entertainment and the owner Jute Gyte
(the previous released and reviewed Chefkirk 'The Word Veganism' was in
Vital Weekly 606). So in stead of an indepth (?) review a small survey of
the releases at hand. Gyte, whose real name is Adam Kalmbach, has released
various of his works. He has been playing music since 2002 in various genres
'including ambient, black metal, harsh noise, IDM and various others'. His
2006 release 'Apidya' shows his love for more ambient industrial music in
the first piece, with a loud outburst of noise somewhere in between. The
other two tracks are more interesting. 'Empty Rooms' is built around a slow
rhythm and the title piece around the sound of rain and computer processing.
Here too there is an element of noise, but Gyte keeps it under control. Both
tracks would have been stronger if somewhat shorter.
Then he released a 3" CDR (I am going by catalogue numbers here) called
cryptically 'Where We Go When We', with just one twenty-three minute piece.
'Bass drones, esoteric vocal manipulation and destroyed guitar' are the
three ingredients for a loud, noisy beast of feast. Flowing like waves on a
stormy ocean, this cascade of noise is not my thing, although it's not the
worst in its kind. Here too the length is the problem. Why use twenty-three
minutes when ten would be fine too?
With twelve tracks at seventy-eight minutes, 'Arakan' has more tracks which
are a bit shorter. It also moves in an entirely different territory of
music. Rhythm plays an important role, spiced up IDM rhythms that is, with
lots of keyboards and distorted guitars. Heavy beat music, with some more
subdued electronic music parts, part field recordings, nervous organ playing
and such like. Strange music this is, but it surely has some nice moments
and with some more variation then the other two, this is the best of the
trio. But again, too long!
With Griz+Zlor (being one Paul Dever), Jute Gyte made a collaborative
release of two ten minute tracks of unrelentness noise. Here it's cut down
to ten minutes, but both pieces work rather single minded, so three would
have been fine too. The least release of this lot. Too much Merzbow on a
off-day.
Actually all of the Jeshimoth releases are long, easily clocking in between
sixty-five and seventy-eight minutes. Pumpkin Buzzard's two releases is in
total well over two hours, so you can imagine that it's quite long to hear
all at once. Forty-eight in total. They are announced as a 'highly
experimental pop music collective', 'they draw from industrial, funk,
extreme metal, pop and psychedelica, which indeed is very much true. Lots of
rhythm, samples, rap, vocals, collage sounds, weirdness, hip hop, film music
and many more all pass by with great ease. If there are any major
differences between both releases, then I'd say that on 'Mantis Antler' the
songs are more 'songs' and on 'Underneath Rotting' there is more sketch like
piece and less coherent/more chaotic true out. As said it's a bit much, but
over time, I am sure a few favorites will distill from it. (FdW)
Address: http://www.jeshimoth.com
OPRHAX - DROWNING IN A POOL OF TREES (3"CDR, private)
Releases by Sietse van Erve's project Orphax mainly found their way through
MP3 releases, and a handful on CDR. 'Drowning In A Pool Of Trees' is his
latest, private release and based on a concert recording he made in October
2007, which he later edited into this release. Apparently it uses field
recordings, voice, electronics and a melodica sample. Orphax stretched the
sample out to a twenty minute piece of ambient drones, however slightly
distorted and on top there is the crackle of contact microphones scratching
the surface. It's hard to tell where the voice comes in or goes out. Bird
twitter is also there. It builds up to a climax and takes it down again, all
done with elegance. Nothing spectacular, nothing innovative, but executed
with style and eye for detail. Nice one. (FdW)
Address: http://www.orphax.com
COLOSSUS - THRONE (Cassette by Heavy Nature Tapes)
SUBURBIA MELTING/MOTHKULT (Cassette by Heavy Nature Tapes)
MYSTIFIED - UNCANNY (Cassette by Heavy Nature Tapes)
It's always good to see that there are still people keep releasing
cassettes. Ages ago my preferred format, and perhaps still something I like.
Heavy Nature Tapes first releases are all American bands. Colossus is one
Ryan Laliberty who recorded five pieces on his 'Throne' release. Music from
the deep end of ambient low bass crossing in the world of noise. It's hard
to tell which sound sources are at use here. Maybe a bass, some voice, some
electronics and lots of EQ going down. There is a nice lo-fi rumble going on
here, which is unclear if it comes from the recording or the medium it is
reproduced on.
Suburbia Melting is Andrew Quitter from Portland, Oregon and he puts on some
heavy noise. Feedback and distortion tucked in a bed of drones that seem to
be recorded of an engine. Not so much my thingy. On the other side we find
Ryan Laliberty again, here in disguise as Mothkult. It's easy to see why he
choose a new name, since Mothkult deals more with the noise end of things,
although his deep bass rumble is still present. Better than Suburbia Melting
I thought, since it had more variation, but his Colossus tape sounded
better.
Mystified is a name that popped up before in these pages with their curious
mix of low resolution samples and electronics. Sometimes they play a more
rhythmic card - although not enough in my opinion - and sometimes moody
textured music. Here the latter plays the main role. The tracks are alright,
nothing new here for Mystified, although a bit more variation would have
been nice. (FdW)
Address: http://www.heavynature.vze.com
MYO - LIGHT (MP3 by Zeromoon)
Music by Cory O'Brien, going by the name of Myo, has been reviewed before:
'Process' was a CDR release by MT6 Records. Here he offers a free download
release, of two live pieces and three studio pieces, although I must admit
there is not much difference in studio and live for him. O'Brien uses
various pieces of free software along with field recordings of power hum,
other static electricity, plexiglass and dry ice to record his own brand of
noise meeting microsound. Unlike the Russell release (see elsewhere),
O'Brien's music is more from the world of noise than from the microsound, an
influence that seems to be almost gone here. The end result is certainly
nice. Quite loud and noise based, but also more thought out and constructed
than the average noise musician. The dry ice sounds nice, placed under
pressure of feedback and transformed using various pieces of software.
Things work best for me when he keep things under control, as in the first
three pieces - when he walks the finer
line between silence and loudness. The final two pieces dwell more on the
loud part and were less interesting, but throughout this is the noise that I
like. (FdW)
Address: http://www.archive.org/details/zero088
ASHER - STUDY FOR AUTUMN (MP3 by Con-V)
The works of Asher (Thal-nir) find their way mostly through MP3 releases and
some CDR releases. Maybe time has come to release a proper CD. At least I
may have written that in the recent past about his work, but today I was in
doubt again. 'Study For Autumn', recorded in fall 2006, is announced as one
his more melodic works, but I can't help to think it more like in terms of
repeating his self. Lots and lots of hiss, sparse piano tones and some
'brass bells' make up this twenty-two minute piece. It seems to me like a
'heard that-been there' recording for him, and not his finest moment at
that. Static hiss, minimal movements on the piano, some extra sounds and
bob's your uncle. Maybe it's because it's an older work and has Asher
already progressed? I think he can do much, much better. (FdW)
Address: http://www.archive.org/details/cnv46
correction to Vital Weekly 607: Tape Rape is not Kenji Siratori but Kjetil
Hanssen
1. From: "odrz" <odrz@odrz.org>
At Barrio's Cafè in Milan there will be, from next February, every first and
third Tuesdays, the second edition of the unconventional music set called
MARGINI SONORI II.
Each and every perfomed night flows among electonical music and pure noise,
experimental and performance, ambient and industrial music, showing distant
but original reality on a visual and musical level.
Here below the calendar:
February 5 2008
METZENGERSTEIN ambient noise
GENTLEJUNK (HR) experimental
ODRZ ambient industrial
February 19 2008
L,OCEAN ambient electronics
LEICHE RUSTIKAL (DE) industrial
March 4 2008
LIMBIELETTRONICI electronics
MADAME P experimental
NUFENEN (CH) sepolcral dance
ANALOG SUICIDE (TK) & SSHE RETINA STIMULANTS analogic noise
March 18 2008
AMON ambient
GRIEFER (CAN) death industrial
BRUTOPHILIA (CAN) harsh noise
ODRZ
www.odrz.org
2. From: "Lampo" <info@lampo.org>
The first concert of the season is this Saturday, February 2, with
Alessandro Bosetti. New sound and video work.
------------------------------------------
LAMPO WINTER 2008
------------------------------------------
- ALESSANDRO BOSETTI (FEB 2)
- CLARE COOPER AND FRED LONBERG-HOLM (FEB 23) - Chicago debut
- VALERIO TRICOLI (MARCH 8) - U.S. debut
- JOHN BISCHOFF (MARCH 22)
All concerts on SATURDAY, 9:00 PM
Admission open to all ages
Questions? http://www.lampo.org/
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