VITAL WEEKLY
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number 620
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week 13
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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 pod-cast
ANNEA LOCKWOOD - A SOUND MAP OF THE DANUBE (3CD by Lovely Music) *
JUSTIN BENNETT - WILDLIFE (CD by Spore Records) *
IREZUMI - ENDURANCE (CD by Snow Blood)
THANOS CHRYSAKIS & DARIO BERNAL VILLEGAS & OLI MAYNE - PALIMPSESTO (CD by
Aural Terrains) *
COTI - DUNUNG (CD by Antifrost)
RLW & TITO - MAHLZEIT (CD by Hinterzimmer Records) *
KIKO C. ESSEIVA - SOUS LES ETOILES (CD by Hinterzimmer Records) *
THE RITA & WILT - WEREWOLF IN THE BLACK SPACE (CD by Cipher Productions)
CLEW OF THESEUS - THE PLAYGROUND OF THE DAMNED (CDR by Cipher Productions)
LOUIS DUFORT - MATERIAUX COMPOSES (DVD by Empreintes Digitales)
SMALL TOWN BOREDOM - AUTUMN MIGHT HAVE HOPE (LP by Trome Records)
IDEA FIRE COMPANY - THE ISLAND OF TASTE (LP by Swill Radio) *
CONNECT_ICUT - THEY SHOWED ME THE SECRET BEACHES (LP by CSAF Records)
FESTIVAL DER GENIALEN DISSIDENTEN (LP compilation by Enfant Terrible) *
R.O.T. - CECI N'EST PAS AVIOTH/ILS CHANTENT POUR VOUS (LP by Morc Records)
ILLUSION OF SAFETY - SEDATION/QUELL (10" by C.I.P.)
VED - TAYGETOS (CDR by Psychic Malmo) *
GOLDEN VARIOUS (CDR by Bremsstrahlung Recordings)
METEK VS N.STRAHL.N - ANCIENT MACHINERIES (CDR by Dim Records) *
ASHER & UBEBOET - CELL MEMORY (CDR by Winds Measure Recordings)
CIVYIU KKLIU & ILYA MONOSOV - CARTOLINA POSTALE (CDR by Winds Measure
Recordings) *
SERAFINA STEER - PUBLIC SPIRITED (3"CDR by Static Caravan) *
BERLIN ELECTRONICS (4x3"CDR by Absinth Records)
MUS****C (MP3 compilation by Cronica Electronica)
YOSHIMI! - MIXED (MP3)
SIEGMAR FRICKE & ROYCE ICON - FALSE NEGATIVES (MP3 by Agonal Period) *
ANNEA LOCKWOOD - A SOUND MAP OF THE DANUBE (3CD by Lovely Music)
JUSTIN BENNETT - WILDLIFE (CD by Spore Records)
Rivers sometimes provide inspiration for music. Remember 'Mississippi' from
Pussycat? Better not. Wrong example. Strauss jr's 'Blue Danube'? Nice but
romantic kitsch. Smetana's 'Moldau' comes closer. That piece depicts the
start of this river until it's very end. A classic from my childhood, I
might add. Another classic - different time for it's creation and for me -
is Annea Lockwood's 'Sound Map of The Hudson River' from 1982, in which she
does the same as Smetana, but then using sounds recorded at various points
from where its springs to life until it's very end in the Atlantic. It's
however not the only river she has recorded, but the Danube project is
certainly the longest river she did. She spent five trips to Europe over
three years to make the recordings along this river from where it springs in
Germany in the Black Forest to the very end in the Black Sea. Obviously
there is the water flow, but also animals, insects and even several
interviews with people who live along the
river. It comes with an extensive map, and I noticed I crossed it at
Regensburg once, in Passau, in Linz, Vienna and finally Budapest, so I
haven't seen half of it. Lockwood's music is a trip that completes the
entire journey. For almost three hours this takes us along the beautiful
river and its likewise beautiful landscape. The interviews are all in native
language (translation supplied on the backside of the map), but if you
decide not to pay attention to them and try not to understand it than it's
even more journey like. You feel like a tourist on a boat, flowing down
stream, crossing all these countries in which you can not always understand
the language. This is a true sit back and let it all come release. Lockwood
is our guide on this journey, noting whatever is interesting noting to hear.
Maybe I feel more connected to this because the environment is so familiar,
rather than the Hudson River, which I also have crossed a couple of times,
but which is less familiar. And for
someone who doesn't like being on boats, this is the best alternative route
to float.
In a similar line of interest is the work of Justin Bennett. He didn't
release much recently but that's not to say he isn't busy with sound
installations or pieces for dance companies. Out of the latter came
'Wildlife', which seems to me an inappropriate title, seeing it was all
recorded in zoological and botanic gardens in Berlin, Barcelona, Paris,
Amsterdam and Bergen. The sounds were recorded for a dance piece, and later
reworked in 'during a series of live performances and in the studio'. More
than with Lockwood, the pieces flow right into eachother, thus making more a
unified picture of the zoo. Bennett gives his pieces titles that doesn't
leave much to guess, like 'aapjes' (monkeys - Bennett may be from the UK,
but his long term stay in The Netherlands learned him a beautiful new
language), 'Persian Leopard', 'Butterflyhouse' or 'Pond'. It's hard to tell
wether these sounds are all processed or not. The more I hear it, the less I
know. It might be, but on the other hand it
might
not be. Sometimes it sounds as pure as can be, but then what exactly did he
rework in live performances and in the studio. Not that it really matters of
course, it's the end result that counts. And that's beautiful in this case.
Great recordings, great composition, and although different than Lockwood in
many ways, this is great CD. (FdW)
Address: http://www.lovely.com
Address: http://spore.soundscaper.com
IREZUMI - ENDURANCE (CD by Snow Blood)
The French label says Irezumi, at 21, is 'quite possibly the best ambient
artist of his generation', which might be justifiable claim: how many
ambient artists are there anyway at that age? Like young Thomas Köner once
did, in his first album 'Nunatak Gongamur', Irezumi is inspired by the
tragedy of the Antartic expedition of Ernest Shackleton. Music-wise there is
indeed a bit that refers to the classic Köner album, but Irezumi does things
a little bit different. He uses software, synthesizers (analogue or
digital), guitars and spoken word samples to generate a densely layered
pattern of ambient sensibility that has a strong feeling of chilly air,
freedom but also loneliness, a bit like the mountains that are photographed
on the cover. A few persons walking up mountain, among lots of rocks and
snow. Dark but not too dark. Grey sky with a touch of blue - that kind of
feeling is what comes of this release. The voice samples that of a low
voice, which reminded me of the KLF's 'Chill
Out' (when did I last hear that - makes note here to listen again) and music
wise the Space album out of the same KLF home. None of the rhythms are
apparent. Space is suggested by the extensive use of reverb, which is not
always something I like very much, but Irezumi keeps things neatly under
control. Like said, the best ambient artist of his generation might be a
claim to soon; it's a fine idea to keep ears open for whatever else he has
to offer, but as a start, yes! 'Endurance' is a very mature sounding CD and
makes a perfect start. (FdW)
Address: http://www.snowblood.eu
THANOS CHRYSAKIS & DARIO BERNAL VILLEGAS & OLI MAYNE - PALIMPSESTO (CD by
Aural Terrains)
Music by Thanos Chrysakis has been reviewed before, most notable his 'Klage'
CD (see Vital Weekly 586) in which the vibraphone plays a central part, even
when it feeds through some bits of software. A warm, ambient glitch piece of
music. Here he returns with two compadres of whom I never heard, Dario
Bernal Villegas who contributes drums, vibraphone, bass-drum, cymbals and
inside/string piano and Oli Mayne on vibraphone. The latter doesn't play on
all pieces though. 'Palimpsesto' is the work of real time composition as
these improvisations are called. The title refers to the use parchment being
erased and re-written. How exactly this relates to the music here is a bit
of a riddle. Chrysakis writes: "Is music but a palimpsest in the air? A
moment to moment of writing and erasing different temporal layers? A
coexistence of what we have accumulated, and how we relate, and respond to
the instruments and to each other, in the course of a musical encounter?".
The music that comes here to
us, in nine pieces, is of a rather dull nature. It's surely improvised,
there is no doubt about that, but in the good ol' fashioned manner 'let's
hit something together and we'll see what comes out of this' approach, which
indeed sometimes can lead to great results, but also at times some pretty
tiring moments, which counts for this CD as well. Sometimes I felt this was
all pretty tight and strong, but then things break up and down and you land
rather with a bump in some area which you don't want to end up with. So I
have rather mixed feelings about this one. 'Klage' was much nicer! (FdW)
Address: http://www.auralterrains.com
COTI - DUNUNG (CD by Antifrost)
Antifrost's catalogue is in general filled with music that is sometimes best
described as 'difficult', even 'noise', 'conceptual', but hardly ever as
'easy listening'. Coti, who before was one half of Textu Rizer with Nikos
Veliotis, just releases 'Dunung' which is one hell of a break with that.
Coti, real name Costantino Luca Rolando Kiriakos, born in Milan 1966, but
living in Greece, was active since the mid 80s with bands as Ricochet, Dada
Data, Raw, Spiders' Web, In Trance 95 and worked with Tuxedomoon, Stereo
Nova, Blaine Reininger, The Raining Pleasure, Nikos Veliotis and ILIOS to
but a few. On his fifth solo CD he offers music for the piano. Simple as
that. No concept, well not other than playing the 86 keys and a bit of
electronic treatment, like a bit of reverb, processing but it's kept a
strict minimum. Playing the piano is what counts here. Coti plays minimalist
patterns, not unlike old Steve Reich, not always with a similar clarity, but
a bit muffled through the use
sparse
of sound effects. It entirely fits the current wave of people playing the
piano that were so dominant in 2007. If you like your Sakamoto, Harold Budd,
Steve Reich or Erik Satie like than this is right your alley. I thought it
was a bit much for the similarity the work had to offer, but as 'music while
you work' this did a pretty fine job. (FdW)
Address: http://www.antifrost.gr
RLW & TITO - MAHLZEIT (CD by Hinterzimmer Records)
KIKO C. ESSEIVA - SOUS LES ETOILES (CD by Hinterzimmer Records)
Sure, sure. I am a big fan of the music of Ralf Wehowsky, ever since the
early days of P16.D4 down to this very day. Many of his works are recorded
in collaboration with others, and here it's the Transindustrial Toy
Orchestra, a loose collective from Hamburg and Amsterdam, of whom I never
heard. Here they have three members, Peter Kastner, Ine Ophof and Jan van
Wissen, with a 'vast collection of toys and kitchen tools, using electronic
devices to transform them into bizarre acoustic situations'. RLW adds
electronics, instruments, voice and 'body functions', bouncing material back
and forth. Some pieces are by RLW,. some by Peter Kastner, some by Jan van
Wissen and one is 'RLW plays Tito'. 'Mahlzeit', as a title, refers to eating
and cooking: it's German for enjoy your meal. I'll be honest: it's not my
cup of tea. It's quite noisy at times, which put me off a bit, but it's not
the main point. It seems that these pieces are thrown together (probably
they are not, and the result of hard
work), and rather a big bunch of improvisations of all sorts which could
have been edited into nice pieces of music, but it's not. It still stays on
the rough side of things. To use the analogy of cooking: you can eat it, but
does it taste nice? I thought this meal could have used a bit more
preparation. Many dishes are on the table for sure, but the burping says it
all.
At the end of last year I reviewed a CDR releases on Tilt Recordings by Eric
Boros and Kiko C. Esseiva. The latter was unknown to me and played piano on
that release. I never heard his first release, 'Musiques Pour
Haut-parleurs', but here's his second solo release 'Sous Les Etoiles'. Not
limited to playing the piano, in fact hardly at all, this is a release to
combine acoustic instruments, noise, voices, field recordings and 'static
sheets of sound'. Hinterzimmer compares it to the likes of Luc Ferrari and
older Nurse With Wound, which indeed make two great places to start
investigating this album. Hard to describe this melting pot of krautrock
(without any drumming that is), musique concrete, improvisation and
electronic music. As a whole it's a much more coherent work than the RLW &
Tito release, moving around in all sorts of strangely textured sounds and
odd shaped compositions. It doesn't always have the vivid imagination of
Steve Stapleton, but then it's rapid changing sounds,
musique concrete like cutting and pasting of sounds, all in a non academic
fashion is quite nice. Maybe some of the pieces could have used a bit more
rigorous editing, but throughout it's nice. (FdW)
Address: http://www.hinterzimmer-records.com
THE RITA & WILT - WEREWOLF IN THE BLACK SPACE (CD by Cipher Productions)
CLEW OF THESEUS - THE PLAYGROUND OF THE DAMNED (CDR by Cipher Productions)
Counter to the proliferation of "objects" in amongst other things
cybernetics but also in the world of celebrity which appears to cover
everything now- including The Rita- I was reading that despite our primitive
notions of number- that numbers may not be objects at all- but properties -
if so then what we have here is a denial of that, of the de-establishment of
the totality of what The Rita was and is (now) in collaboration with Wilt
which erodes the semantic totalities into something with beginnings middles
and ends. The provision of such pieces found here re-casts the object as
some narrative process, negating what was once Rita's truly
indistinguishable noise (back) into authorship. The semiological breakdown
has been (sadly) arrested. As is said elsewhere the "murderous rampaging of
The Rita material shaped, shrouded and clouded by Wilt." droney echoey
rhythmical intros washed in reverb merge into static and lowrise noise
feedback and back out again or sometimes fade into oblivion- or blocks of
hail and blue echo-spaces like english bank holiday weather. Nothing is
erased - a picture is painted and painted again in the second Cdr where the
monster reverb roams and roars. And what is similar with the first release
is the mix of harsh noise - ambient reverb and quoted speech - Ben Brucato
states his "music" Never sounds like itself. - "Sound can be ambient,
experimental, harsh, quiet, cut-up, wall of sound, etc." Which could be a
plea for noise to progress into a totality of arbitrariness? Of the kinds of
experimentalisms in the use of shortwave radio and the iching of the
previous century. And that would be my main concern - as in recent
conversations with others over the lack of irony which is needed now but
might not be present. Not that there is anything wrong with that - quite the
reverse it holds up (again) an ethic - even if it's a totalizing one.
(jliat)
Address: <cipherproductions@lycos.com>
LOUIS DUFORT - MATERIAUX COMPOSES (DVD by Empreintes Digitales)
Sometimes, afterwards, I think I was a bit too harsh. When I recently
reviewed a couple of DVD (but with music only) releases by Empreintes
Digitales, the final review was a re-run of the previous reviews - as to
outline the repeat character of the music. That was, perhaps, not entirely
fair. But it make want to listen with much anticipation to the release by
Louis Dufort. That was, again, all wrong, as this one, I must admit (and
never afraid of admitting when I'm wrong), I quite liked. The differences
between this, and some of the precedent releases by the label, are to me
clear. Dufort's interest doesn't lie in the ways sounds are processed by
similar pieces of software which seem to be applying to the other composers,
but he rather uses a more roughly shaped compositional method. His sounds
are more direct, more in your face, not processed beyond belief as some of
the sounds what they are. In, for instance, 'Materio _***', there are farm
sounds, scraping the surface, cooking
sounds and clusters of instruments. They all make perfect sense, a fine,
balanced audio picture. Sounds do not bounce up and down, back and forth,
stumbling and tumbling, but are placed with great care in the right spot. Of
course Dufort uses all sorts of computer techniques but as a means, not an
end. O.k. so I was perhaps wrong in writing off this label. It doesn't mean
I will necessary straight away applaud everything they do, but this release
made up things in an excellent way. (FdW)
Address: http://www.electrocd.com
SMALL TOWN BOREDOM - AUTUMN MIGHT HAVE HOPE (LP by Trome Records)
This is one of those albums where the title says it all really. Autumn Might
Have Hope is the debut album of Fraser McGowan (who also writes the lyrics)
and Colin Morrison. Here they are aided by a bunch of friends and local
musicians and together they have created this album, which can probably best
be described as 'would-be low-fi singer/songwriter shoe-gazing' music. You
know what I mean. This is not to say this is a bad record, for a debut this
is well-recorded (and not as low-fi as the band wants us to believe) and
contains decent enough tunes. The problem is however, that this (in the
words of Kevin Rowland) 'all sounds the same'. All songs are based on guitar
and vocals with hardly any rhythm section in sight. All songs are below
mid-pace 4/4 tempo. All lyrics revolve around the 'I'm pitiful because you
left me' theme. You want proof? Check out Apologies For Apathy "I came round
to the sound of quiet backwoods rain, static on the TV and you were gone
again" or "We're here
again with promises lost in this bed" (on Afternoons At Thornhill Road) or
"Its all the same but you're not around" (on Enjoy The Fireworks). You get
the idea. Maybe it would be a good idea if McGowan would allow his bandmates
some input on the lyrics next time. There are those who will lap this stuff
up and there are those who will hate this. I fall in neither category;
however, as much as I enjoyed playing this (and I don't want to sound too
negative about this album) I know I will never play it again. Still, the
packaging is nice with a lovely color sleeve and an insert with all the
lyrics. When you find yourself on a lonely Sunday morning with your lover
gone, the rain pelting against your window, an empty fridge, lying in bed
not able to move your limbs because of an over-powering grief, this is the
album to play. (FK)
Address: http://www.tromerecords.com
IDEA FIRE COMPANY - THE ISLAND OF TASTE (LP by Swill Radio)
I've been waiting for this album to arrive for quite a while. IFCO's
previous album Stranded made it to my 'Top Something' of the year and is
played regularly with great pleasure. With such high hopes the chances that
The Island Of Taste would disappoint are, admittedly, quite high. But The
Island Of Taste does not disappoint. Far from it. More than ever IFCO
(consisting of mainman/women Scott Foust, Meara O,Reilly, Jessi Leigh
Swenson and Karla Borecky, this time aided by Dr. Timothy Shortell, Graham
Lambkin and Frans de Waard) have created their own little safe haven. Like
all IFCO releases this albums sounds out of any place or date, much like a
journey rather than one static location. This is probably why IFCOs music
works much better on LP (where the music benefits from space and length)
than on a single format. Inside the colorful cover (a painting of an island
with huge plants, which seems to be floating above a sea) you will find an
envelope with various cards featuring
photos
of the band (Karla Borecky looking especially cute - I can't help it, I have
a weak spot for pony tails) and essays on the phenomenon that is taste
('Taste is the fundamental quality that sums up all other qualities' - a
quote by the Count of Lautreamont - a man who knew everything about taste).
In short, the concept behind IFCO's music is that taste has been reduced to
a static commonplace. However, true taste (true beauty) is something which
needs to be re-discovered by each individual. The Island Of Taste offers a
possible journey for such a re-discovery. The album starts off with Land
Ho!, featuring sounds of walking/scraping combined with sparse electronics
and bells. The title track, Lost Victories and Like Old Days all consist of
sparse piano playing, bird and rain sounds, singing (on Heroes Of The Last
Barricade), remote feedback and tape hiss. But, as always, I find the music
of IFCO hard to put into words. Somehow the words (also those in this
review) tend to remove the
beauty from the sound, which is not what IFCO is about. There is so much to
discover in this record. To paraphrase Scott Foust: "I think of my work as a
timebomb set for a mythical future. I would like to see it explode during my
lifetime, but if that does not obtain, I will die knowing it is still there.
Ticking". That sums up the output of IFCO perfectly. Beauty waiting to be
discovered by those willing to shake off convention. This is a beautiful
record. (FK)
Address: http://www.anti-naturals.org
CONNECT_ICUT - THEY SHOWED ME THE SECRET BEACHES (LP by CSAF Records)
The time gap between this album and the previous 'LA (An Apology)' is
smaller than with the one before that, 'Moss' on Dehausset Records (Vital
Weekly 569 and 467). Yet the new album seems to be moving away from the
previous, as the pop sensibility of the previous album is gone here and now
in favor for a more regular work of glitch music. Musical glitch I should
add straight away, as Sam Macklin, the guy behind Connect_icut, plays little
melodies with the glitches that he has produced through computer means.
Maybe his sources are guitars or, more likely, organ, but they all undergo
processing through max/msp, that piece of software nobody seems to be
without these days. Still high on influences as Oval, Fennesz, Tim Hecker
and Rafael Toral, I thought that this was a good record, but somehow it
lacks something that made 'LA (An Apology)' so enjoyable. But I am not sure
what it is that is missing here. Maybe its the similar approach that runs
through some of these tracks, or perhaps
the lesser pop approach, I don't know. It's surely still nice music to hear,
away from the very silent microsound approach, still with something of his
own, but also something missing. Hopefully to be returned the next time
around. And this album, of which the releasedate is apparently july 1st (!)
is a lot less limited than the previous album. (FdW)
Address: http://www.connect-icut.com
FESTIVAL DER GENIALEN DISSIDENTEN (LP compilation by Enfant Terrible)
The first time I heard of the Dutch label Enfant Terrible was when they
released, very much to my surprise, a compilation LP of the also Dutch
cassette label Trumpett Tapes, not surprisingly one of my favorite labels of
the early 80s. Little did I know, never willing to keep up with what is hot
and what not, that the electronic pop inspired music by Trumpett Tapes was
still hot, 'in certain musical circles'. Since then I receive their mailing
and, even when I don't get everything they release, there is both love of
the past (releasing a 7" by Störung) and the present followers of fashion.
It's a whole international scene. On the new compilation 'Festival der
Genialen Dissidenten' (which sounds very Neue Deutsche Welle, had it not for
the festival der Geniale Dillitanten in 1984 in Berlin) only has artists
from this day and age. Many of them manage to sound like the very early 80s,
but much to my regret I also hear the influence of EBM, a musical style I
associate with black suits and
marching rhythms. Music history is like a double helix, when one movement is
in the ascendent, the other is in the descendent, like a criss cross.
Someone was said by the guy who played him, and this very true for this kind
of retro music. Some of the music on this compilation sounds fresh because
it's very old and thus very new, and some of the music sounds naff because
the style is something that was cool once, but not anymore. My favorites are
those that simply reminded me of twenty-five years ago, dabbling about, all
day and all night with cassettes. Included are Agent Side Grinder, Dolina,
Vincent K, Nosztalgia Direktiva, Adolf Filter (great name, me thinks),
:Codes, Le Traingle De L'Androgyne, Pierre Normal, Yseult Descieux,
Jongbloed and Coeurvert. Nice record! (FdW)
Address: http://www.enfant-terrible.nl
R.O.T. - CECI N'EST PAS AVIOTH/ILS CHANTENT POUR VOUS (LP by Morc Records)
It's been a while since I last R.O.T. from Belgium, who play foremost 'free
music' inside the boundaries of rock music. Guitars, organs, percussion,
objects, electronics and wind instruments. Now they have two new pieces on
one side of a piece of vinyl, but I found it very hard to get excited by
this. First of all there is the recording quality which is a really lo-fi
affair - like a cheap microphone in the middle of a room while the various
band members just seem to be rumbling about - checking out whatever sounds
they might want to play when they start really recording - but whatever they
might be recording is not what they actually recorded when they cut out
these two pieces out of their waiting and mucking about. Free music is a
nice thing, but why put it on vinyl? (FdW)
Address: http://www.morctapes.com
ILLUSION OF SAFETY - SEDATION/QUELL (10" by C.I.P.)
There was a time when Illusion Of Safety was one of the most active forces
in the US experimental music scene. With a varying line up the nucleas was
and is Dan Burke. He and his band members played lots of concerts, of which
I happened to see quite a few, in varying line ups. They could be a total
miss, but most of the time they were great. Combining real instruments with
electronics, acoustic objects, tapes and later on computers, they carved out
music that was on the crossroad of industrial, ambient and musique concrete.
On CD it was the same, absolute master pieces like 'Probe', 'Cancer' or
'Historical' outnumber the weaker brothers, of which I only remember 'Inside
Agitator'. These days Illusion Of Safety celebrate their twenty-fifth
anniversary and it's mainly Dan Burke solo. Still on the road, still on top
of things, but music is no longer his main thing, diversing with other
activities in life and away from the endless pressure of having to deliver
music. So the releases have
become sparse, but are still great. Two pieces on this 10" 'Sedation' and
'Quell'. Both pieces are concentrated works of densely knitted web of
sounds. Apparently Burke uses an old typewriter, turntable pops/crackles,
shortwave and oscillations. The two pieces could be brothers in arms. Slow
development, taking time to take shape. Dense but not blurred. This is the
Illusion Of Safety side of ambient - not comforting quiet, but discomforting
beautiful. 'Sedation' is a humming low end piece with tension lurking
underneath. Two great pieces of someone who should have his name writing
large in the annals of music history (but of course won't, since there is no
such thing as justification). (FdW)
Address: http://www.cipsite.net
VED - TAYGETOS (CDR by Psychic Malmo)
Not being any sort of design freak, I too am sometimes attracted to covers
of releases, and sometimes not at all. So Ved's 'Teygetos' most definitely
falls in the latter kind. Clumsy folded, badly designed sleeve, totally
uninviting to hear it. And then the label name, Psychic Malmo, what. is that
all about it? So, this is one of those releases I put aside and get until
the very end of the day. The start of the release isn't very promising
either. Some jazz like loops with some high end scraping noise. I am
prepared for an hour of bullshit. But I'm wrong. Dead wrong. To spoil the
end of this story: there is one more stinker on this release, a slow piece
that could be pass off as magickal music. But then: eight absolutely great
tracks. Ved plays or samples guitars, rhythm machines and electronics and
blends it together into some crazy form of popmusic. I must have played it
four times or more by now, and I still find it very hard to make up my mind
what to think. It sounds great, but
what is it. Lounge? Electropop, instrumental? A worn out cliche?
Psychedelic? Reggae tunes then? I don't know. What I do know is that these
eight pieces are very pleasant easy pieces of music, which I enjoyed very
much for what it is. Whatever it is. Great popmusic. (FdW)
Address: http://www.myspace.com/psychmalmo
GOLDEN VARIOUS (CDR by Bremsstrahlung Recordings)
The following I had to copy straight from the information: 'The Golden Mean
is perhaps the best known ratio in the world. If one produces a series by
adding two consecutive terms to arrive at the next term
(0,1,2,3,5,8,13...etc.) then as the numbers increase the factor each term is
larger than the previous term approaches it's limit; 1.6180339887... It is
this limit that is often called the "Divine Proportion," and it and its
reciprocal have been widely drawn upon for inspiration and explanation in
the natural sciences, architecture, engineering, art and music." When I was
thirteen I failed miserable in my maths, but I have an idea what the Golden
Mean is, perhaps because I saw it explained with a painting at hand. Here
eleven musicians deal with The Golden Mean, each in their own way. Liner
notes explain what they are doing, which makes the non-math guy in me think
that this Golden Mean isn't that obvious. Josh Ronsen, a.k.a.
Brekexkexkoaxkoax says he didn't succeed in translating
the Golden Mean into music, but still has a track on this compilation, which
I thought was pretty funny. I found it hard to follow some of the more
conceptually inclined pieces in that sense that I know what they want and
what it is about, but do I like to hear them? That might altogether be a
different thing. Sine waves of certain frequencies for certain lengths -
well, ok... Just like my math books gave me a headache when I was thirteen,
the liner notes did pretty much same here, and I started ignoring it, while
listening. That did my alpha (or was it beta) head much more right. The
artists on this compilation all arrive from the microsound scene and one
should be prepared for some lo-fi humming, crackling of field recordings and
static sounds. None of the tracks really stood out as being different than
another, but then on the other hand it was also difficult to point out the
weaker brother in this lot. It all sounded pretty decent to me. Included are
Jos Smolders,
Elektronengehirn, Dale Lloyd, Brekexkexkoaxkoax, Toshiya Tsunoda, Dan
Warburton, Toy Bizarre, John Kannenberg, Alex Keller, Brent Fariss and Josh
Russell. (FdW)
Address: http://www.bremsstrahlung-recordings.org
METEK VS N.STRAHL.N - ANCIENT MACHINERIES (CDR by Dim Records)
Recently we came across the name Metek for the first time (although has been
around since the early 90s), when he made a collaborative release with
Jliat. Here he returns for another collaboration, with Germany's N.Strahl.N.
Metek is from Sweden and has some thirty-five releases to his name and
twenty collaborations. They supplied eachother with 'field recordings,
unfinished compositions and loops' to work on. Metek has two pieces, and
N.Strahl.N four. That be the statistics from this release. I am not sure
what the ancient machineries are that are mentioned on the cover. Maybe old
and rusty machines that were recorded? Or perhaps it refers to the old
school industrial music to which certainly has its ties. Both artists love
the mechanical movements of such machines, which they recorded and then, in
all sorts of manners transform using their computers (o.k. that might be a
break with the old school). Looping things around to make it even more
mechanical, bringing out certain
frequencies. The result is a soundtrack of alienation, the empty factory
space. Certainly one we heard before, quite as good as this one, which on an
average level ranks 6 out of 10. For the lovers of the darker side of
industrial ambient. (FdW)
Address: http://www.myspace.com/dimrec
ASHER & UBEBOET - CELL MEMORY (CDR by Winds Measure Recordings)
CIVYIU KKLIU & ILYA MONOSOV - CARTOLINA POSTALE (CDR by Winds Measure
Recordings)
Very hot on the wheels of their recent collaboration here is another one by
Asher Thal-nir and Miguel A. Tolosa, also known as Asher and Ubeboet. It
doesn't say on the cover, but no doubt this is the work of field recordings
being processed. Two pieces of almost equal length of some utter dark and
densely layered material. Slowly moving forward, like a giant beast leaping
forward. It sounds like the processed sound of wind humming, recalling
ghostly voices. If dark ambient didn't exist already as a musical genre it
could be invented by this release. Not really the sort of spectacle that the
music could be, but in its genre quite nicely put together.
More 'trouble' I had with the release of Civyiu Kkliu and Ilya Monosov -
both gained some reputation for some of the more conceptual outings in
music. In 2002 already they recorded some improvisations together. Monosov
plays a music box and toothpicks, whereas Kkliu plays blank vinyl and a
metal object. "The duration and nature of the work corresponds to the
small/intimate/charged space of a postcard. Postcards as artifacts of
place/time/memory/distance/immediate impressions, etc. frame (sound-) text
in interesting ways" they write, and the release is packed on a postcard.
The music is utterly soft. I put it in my computer, normalized at zero DB
and it's still soft, but a lot more hissy. Rumbling about is the best
description I can come up. I have no idea what this means. The two of them
mess about for some twenty-three minutes and left me completely puzzled. I
am sure I missing a conceptual edge here entirely. (FdW)
Address: http://windsmeasurerecordings.net
SERAFINA STEER - PUBLIC SPIRITED (3"CDR by Static Caravan)
Head down in the world of field recordings, computer processing, hiss,
crack, noise one tends to forget there is a whole world of normal music, and
luckily there is Serafina Steer to remind us. Back in Vital Weekly 577 we
already reviewed her CD, which she cited such influences as The Cure, Kate
Bush, Fleetwood Mac (all three also my favorites), Leafcutter John and
Leonard Cohen. Here she returns with four new songs, why oh why on a 3"CDR
and not a nice 10", Static Caravans? Steer's voice is more sweeter than that
of Björk, to which she reminded me initially. Now the music, played on harp,
synthesizer and vocals (with additional drums and clarinet by others) sounds
even more folky than before and have a great charming quality which stick
right in your brain. Great sweet music. The great counterpart after a day of
field recordings, computer processing, hiss, crack, noise. (FdW)
Address: http://www.staticcaravan.org
BERLIN ELECTRONICS (4x3"CDR by Absinth Records)
Some pretty long time, Absinth Records from Berlin send us a release
containing four 3"CDR releases, all dealing with strings - see Vital Weekly
410. Here they come up with a new edition, also in four different 3" CDRs
under the banner of 'Berlin - Electronics'. Nothing is written on them, but
the timing is on the cover, so one can see whose who here. Gilles Aubrey's
'Computer Programming' is probably the only solo computer pieces here. Maybe
it's him programming his computer, with the attack on the keyboard being
amplified and modified through real time software? That's at least the way
it sounds like and I must admit I thought it was interesting on a conceptual
level (if indeed true) and not as much as on a musical level. Of the three
pieces, 'Volutes III' was the most minimal, but also the most interesting
one. Annette Krebs could have been on the previous release of string music,
because she plays electric guitar, next to mixing board, tape, objects and
radios. Her piece sounds
more improvised that Aubry, and has a strong dynamic outline, ranging from
the subtle to the peak end of noise. Moving back and forth with great ease.
I never heard of Andrea Ermke, who arrives just armed with a minidisc and a
mixing desk. I think these minidiscs of Ermke are filled with field
recordings of some kind - hard to define what it is - which are being mixed
on the mixing desk. It's pretty raw stuff going on here, not really careful
but quite raw. That rough quality makes it actually quite worthwhile. The
last is Ignaz Schick who plays organ pipes, cymbals, objects, violin bows,
turntable looper and electronic treatments. This is the most musical of the
four. Strange flute like sounds working in the field of overtones make the
four pieces very enjoyable. Here too a certain rawness give an additional
power to the release, but the best is saved until the last in the lot. (FdW)
Address: http://www.absinthrecords.com
MUS****C (MP3 compilation by Cronica Electronica)
The older I get, the more melancholic I get, the faster time flies by like
there is no yesterday, today or tomorrow. Is it tuesday again, am I doing
yet another Vital Weekly. It seems so. So in my perception of things Cronica
Electronica have been around for ages, but they celebrate their fifth
birthday with an online present. No less than 192 minutes of music (which
would have been three CDs in real life, but I assume they don't want to end
up financially broke from such an affair) and I was wondering when ever they
released some of these people. The older I get, the more I tend to forget.
Surely I remember Janek Schaeffer, Ran Slavin, o.blaat or Marc Behrens but
erm, Heitor Alvelos, James Eck Rippie, Cem Güney? I don't seem to remember.
If you would be looking for a good compendium of todays electronica boys
(and some girls - counting one here only), a bit like Mille Plateaux used to
do with their compilations 'Clicks & Cuts' and 'Modulation & Tranformation',
but then updated to
today's standard, this is a very good place to go. None of the artists seem
to have send it throw away pieces, 'since it's only an online compilation'
and many take advantage of the medium to sen in long pieces. Güney has the
longest with fourteen minutes, but also @C, Freiband (who sound like a
microsound remix of Electric Light Orchestra), Pedro Tudela and Vitor
Joaquim go well over ten minutes, while others go easily for six.
Autodigest's merely one minute is pale. As said this is a pretty good
compilation with music from the low end fields to the loud noise of Alvelos,
from chirpy techno like music and the full on abstract. A great party bash
this one. (FdW)
Address: http://www.cronicaelectronica.org
YOSHIMI! - MIXED (MP3)
Some time ago we reviewed Yoshimi!'s release for Esc. Rec and now he already
returns with a work that is not entirely his, but then again it is. It has
four pieces of remixes and covers of his work. Toxic Chicken does a nice
quirky remix of 'Hot Stuff'. Crash Roswell bleeps away in a cover, played on
what sounds like gameboys and a vocoder. Evince takes a somewhat more
serious approach, but his remix didn't entirely convince me. The EP closes
with Sebastian Cain feat Yoshimi & The Cartel with what could be a new
piece, and breaks entirely with the other three tracks: a slow piece,
mumbling vocals but in fact it has quite a nice tension to it. Quite a nice
remix work altogether and a nice introduction to this talented young man.
(FdW)
Address: http://www.yoshiminotaband.com
SIEGMAR FRICKE & ROYCE ICON - FALSE NEGATIVES (MP3 by Agonal Period)
One of the things you can never 'proof', if there is such a thing to be
proven, is the influence people have on other people. But here's a little
theory I thought of. Siegmar Fricke helps out Maurizio Bianchi these days
and is thus influenced by Bianchi, either from his old work or his more
recent. Of course Fricke takes in whatever he has already done in the past
(of which I only seem to remember some rhythm music and a collaboration with
Giancarlo Toniutti). Effect loaded music that is. Here he teams up with a
young artist called Royce Icon, in order to make music 'sure to make you cum
in your panties', the label promises us. I very seldom have wet dreams from
music, and certainly not this one, although the thirty or so minutes that
this harsher form of ambient hovered my space, was quite nice. Loaded with
whole stacks of sound effects to which extend the feedback is totally
altered, alienated and makes a pleasant - well, almost pleasant - room
filling vibration. Not far away from
some of the recent Bianchi music, actually... (FdW)
Address: http://www.taediumvitae.com/agonalperiod/
1. From: olivia block <oliviablock@comcast.net>
March 28-9, 2008 Santa Fe, New Mexico. Santa Fe International Festival of
Electroacoustic Music. Performance for piano and electronics
http://sfifem.csf.edu/
March 31-April 1 Brooklyn, NY (in absentia) Mata Young Composers Now
festival will have an encore presentation of "Angry in Your Sleep" multi
speaker sound installation
http://www.matafestival.org/Mfestival08.html
April 5, 2008 Santander, Spain. Performance for piano and electronics in SDR
Muestra de Arte Sonoro festival.
http://www.santandersonoro.org
April 8, 2008 Chicago, IL. (in absentia) Chicago Cultural Center Chicago
Sound Map festival. Encore performance of "Stop the Sound of the Big Bell"
for large ensemble of improvisor/performers conducted by Don Malone, along
with a new composition by Ernst Karel
http://www.kuronekomusic.com/Chicago-Sound-Map-2008
April 28, 2008 Los Angeles, California. CalArts Center for Experiments in
Art. CEAIT festival. Performance/interpretation of a graphic score by Jason
Kahn on piano with Jason Kahn, Mark Trayle and Ulrich Krieger
http://redcat.org/season/0708/mus/mus.php
(scroll down)
2. From: douglas@benfo.demon.co.uk
----------------------------------------------------------------
MAY event
----------------------------------------------------------------
** SONICRECYCLER4
A night of reinvented sounds... 2008 edition!
A packed evening of radical sounds in this lovely Thame-side venue again.
- Think: Reduce, Re-use, Recycle
Saturday May 10th, 4pm to 11.30pm
live:
BLEVIN BLECTUM
DAVID TOOP
SEAN O'HAGAN (High Llamas/Microdisney)
ALEKS KOLKOWSKI (Recording Angels)
SIMON BOOKISH
DJs
LAETITIA SADIER (Stereolab/Monade)
JANEK SCHAEFER (rummages the Oxfam box as DJ Dedication)
IRIS GARRELFS
+ demos/installations:
Aleks Kolkowski - live CD recycling demo
Dithernoise + Simon Storey - pedal-powered installation
** bring your old CDs to be recycled into vinyl
records or for the Oxfam box...**
stalls + restaurant and River Terrace Bar.
Admission: Tickets £10 (Conc £8) from Box Office or online at
http://www.wegottickets.com/event/28432
(Foyer/bar area free admission)
Venue:
Watermans Art Centre
40 High Street
Brentford, London, TW8 0DS
Box Office 020 8232 1010
http://www.watermans.org.uk
For updates, sample sounds, movies
http://www.myspace.com/sonicrecycler
SUPPORT WATERMANS ART CENTRE!
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/support-watermans-100%20
----------------------------------------------------------------
upcoming in JULY
----------------------------------------------------------------
** Horatio Oratorio
A concert & sound installation by Recording Angels
- Aleks Kolkowski and Stephan Mathieu.
July 11th & 12th, 2008
Horatio Oratorio is an exploration through the history of recorded sound.
The earliest recording and plackback technologies and rare
mechanical-acoustic string instruments are combined with vintage and
state-of-the-art electronics. A magnificent array of acoustic horns and
custom-built loudspeakers project sound from historic wax cylinder
phonographs, gramophones and stroh violins, layered and transformed by live
digital sound processing.
The Shunt Vaults, Joiner Street,
London Bridge tube station, London SE1
Funded by PRSF Live Connections
----------------------------------------------------------------
other UPCOMING PERFORMANCES etc
----------------------------------------------------------------
MAY 24
IRIS GARRELFS installation
Evolution Festival, Leeds, UK
JULY 29
IRIS GARRELFS residency with Urbania
Grizedale Art, Coniston, Cumbria, UK
3. From: incite@gmx.de
Hoerbar Hamburg presents:
Mecha/Orga (GR)
Broken Sleep (CAN)
29.03. - 21:00 - 5?
Hoerbar / B-Movie
Brigittenstr. 5
Hamburg St.Pauli
<http://www.hoerbar-ev.de>http://www.hoerbar-ev.de
4. From: echomusic <echomusicrecordings@yahoo.com>
mecha/orga live:
March 28 @ <http://www.hoerbar-ev.de/>the Hoerbar, Hamburg, Germany (also
participating: Broken Sleep)
March 29 @ Divus gallery, London, UK (presented by
<http://www.entracte.co.uk/>Entr'acte)
April 4 @ <http://www.wittezaal.be/>De Witte Zaal, Ghent, Belgium (presented
by <http://www.odradek.net/>Odradek, also participating: illusion of safety
and if,bwana)
April 6 @<http://www.stadtgarten.de/>Stadtgarten-studio672, Cologne, Germany
(presented by <http://www.aufabwegen.com/>Auf Abwegen also participating:
illusion of safety and if,bwana)
5. From: "> vertigo" <herrkock@gmail.com>
O Tannenbaum programme
March 26
die Sibirische Zelle
filmpresentation /film premiere Colum One!
19.00 - 23.00 hours
entree 2,00 euro
March 27
Raw Meat
Eskimo Films hosted by Taco Hidde Bakker.
20.00 - 23.00 hours
entree 1,50 euro
pfügerstrasse 79
berlin
6. From: "David Galbraith" <djg@panix.com>
EITHER/OR SOLOS WITH TECHNOLOGY
AT THE STONE
Avenue C and 2nd Street, New York City
March 26, 2008, 10pm
tickets are $10 at the door, no reservations
Either/Or, "a new and first-rate new-music ensemble"
Bernard Holland, The New York Times
Either/Or are proud to present three dynamic and cutting edge works for
soloists with analog synthesizer, tape, and amplification performed by
Richard Carrick, piano, David Shively, percussion, and Alex Waterman,
cello. Program includes the west coast premiere of Keeril Makan's new
work for amplified percussion and the world premiere of David Galbraith's
new work for cello, analog synthesizer and digital oscillators.
program
Luigi Nono "...sofferte onde serene" for piano and tape, 1977
Richard Carrick, piano
Keeril Makan "Resonance Alloy" for amplified percussion, 2007,
east coast premiere
David Shively, percussion
David Galbraith - "Composition 2005 No. 1" for cello, analog
synthesizer and digital oscillators; world premiere
Alex Waterman, cello
Since 2004, Either/Or, "a new a first-rate new music ensemble," (The New
York Times) has been hailed for its dynamic performances and creative
programming of new and recent chamber music in distinguished venues in New
York City and beyond. Either/Or concerts present new works for
unconventional chamber ensembles and soloists rarely heard elsewhere.
Drawing equally on the latest works of emerging composers, classics of
the historical avant-garde and American experimentalists, Either/Or is
fast developing a reputation as a compelling new voice on the New York
concert calendar. www.eitherormusic.org
The Stone is a not-for-profit performance space dedicated to the
EXPERIMENTAL and AVANT-GARDE. All expenses are paid for by the MUSIC
itself - through the online sale of special Limited Edition CDs released
yearly on the Tzadik label. Each month a different musician is responsible
for curating the programs with 100% of the nightly revenue going directly
to the musicians. www.thestonenyc.com
--
Vital Weekly is published by Frans de Waard and submitted for free to
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Snail mail: Vital Weekly/Frans de Waard - Acaciastraat 11 - 6521 NE
Nijmegen - The Netherlands
All written by Frans de Waard (FdW), Dolf Mulder (DM)
<dolf.mulder@hetnet.nl>, Robert Meijer (RM), Niels Mark (NM), Jeff Surak
(JS), Craig N (CN), Boban Ristevski (BR), Maurice Woestenburg (MW), Jliat
(Jliat), Freek Kinkelaar (FK), Magnus Schaefer (MSS) and others on a less
regular basis.
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permission has to be obtained from the respective author before reprinting
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the complete archive of Vital Weekly including search possibilities:
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