VITAL WEEKLY
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number 629
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week 23
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Vital Weekly, the webcast: we offer a free-to-download weekly webcast as the
audio-supplement to Vital Weekly. Presented as a radio programme with
excerpts from some of the CDs reviewed here (no vinyl or MP3s). It is
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* noted are in this week's pod-cast
JANEK SCHAEFER - ALONE AT LAST (CD by Sirr-ecords) *
HURRA CAINE LANDCRASH - UNANSWERED QUESTIONS (CD by Split Femur Recordings)
*
MARK CAUVIN - TRANSFIGURATION (CD, private)
MARY LOU NEWMARK - MUSIC FROM STREET ANGEL DIARIES (CD by Green Angel Music)
TZOLK'IN - HAAB (CD by Ant-Zen)
THE JONES O'CONNOR GROUP - A CROW FOR EVERY CROW (CD by Joc Records)
FLUTWACHT - SECONDFACE (CD by The Tourette Tapes)
JOZEF VAN WISSEM - A PRIORI (CD by Incunabulum)
LULL - LIKE A SLOW RIVER (CD by Glacial Movements) *
MAD EP - BASS.HED (CD by Ad Noiseam)
HECQ - NIGHT FALLS (CD by Hymen Records)
SPYWEIRDOS AND JOHN MOURJOPOULUS WITH FLOROS FLORIDIS - EPISTROPHY AT UTOPIA
(CD by Ad Noiseam)
THE RORSCHACH GARDEN - TRANSFER (CD by Bazooka Joe)
ELODIE LAUTEN - THE DEATH OF DON JUAN (CD by Unseen Worlds) *
STEPHAN MATHIEU - RADIOLAND (CD by Die Schachtel) *
CLAUDIO ROCCHETTI - ANOTHER PIECE OF TEENAGE WILDLIFE (CD by Die Schachtel)
GIROLAMO DE SIMONE - SHAMA (CD by Die Schachtel)
DAN WARBURTON & FREDERICK FARRYL GOODWIN - COMPENDIUM MALEFICARUM (CD by
Incunabulum) *
KYLE BOBBY DUNN - FRAGMENTS & COMPOSITIONS (CD by Sedimental)
RICCARDO DILLON WANKE - CAVES (CD by Sedimental) *
MICHEAL ESPOSITO & FM EINHEIT - THE SALLIE HOUSE (CD by Firework Edition)
GREGORY BÜTTNER - WALZE 1-8 (CD by Firework Edition) *
MARJA-LEENA SILLANPAA - H&H O&A N&N (CD by Firework Edition)
DAN FROBERG - 15 SONGS (DOWN AT JINXEY'S) (CD by Fylkingen Records) *
LARS AKERLUND - UR/VOLT (CD by Fylkingen Records)
OTHIN SPAKE - CHILD OF DECEPTION AND SKILL (CD by Glasvocht Records)
AIRCHAMBER - CRUMBLE (CD by Amirani Records)
XABIER IRIONDO & GIANNI MIMMO - YOUR VERY EYES (CD by Amirani Records)
NOLE PLASTIQUE - ESCAPERHEAD (CD by Nexsound PQP) *
SEED RECORDS VOLUME TWO (CD by Seed Records)
JEFF CAREY'S MOHA! (7" by Rune Grammofon)
FOR KINGS AND QUEENS - MERZ (CDR by Subterranean Sonic) *
PLASTIC BONER BAND - ISAIAH 66:6 (CDR, private)
ANDREAS BRANDAL - THIS IS NOT FOR YOU (CDR by Eh/Public Eyesore)
RICARDO ARIAS/MIGUEL FRASCONI/KEIKO UENISHI - OBJECT (CDR by Eh/Public
Eyesore) *
SHELF LIFE - CONCERNING THE ABSENCE OF FLOORS (CDR by Friends And Relatives
Records)
AIDAN BAKER & JAKOB THIESEN - A BOUT DE SOUFFLE (CDR by Waterscape)
JASON SLOAN - STATIC (THELEMA.DAWNING) (3"CDR by Waterscape)
HAKOBUNE - MELTING REMINISCENCE (3"CDR by Waterscape) *
INVERZ - VARIATIONS ON HOLD (CDR by Moremars)
TRACY LEE SUMMERS - MY FAVOURITE COLOR (CDR by Moremars)
VIOLET - FOREIGN LANDS (CDR by Spirals Of Involution)
JLIAT - NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL NOISE VOLUME 14 (CDR by Jliat)
JLIAT - MONSTER (3"DVDR by Jliat)
JARROD FOWLER - NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL NOISE VOLUME 13 (CDR)
VRONTHOR / ROSTIGES RIESENRAD (3"CDR by Foghorn/Apocalyptic Radio)
BONEMACHINE + KENJI SIRATORI (3"CDR by Foghorn/Apocalyptic Radio)
XEDH - TRÜMMER (3"CDR by Foghorn/Apocalyptic Radio)
FLUTWACHT - REGENTAG (3"CDR by Foghorn/Apocalyptic Radio)
JANEK SCHAEFER - ALONE AT LAST (CD by Sirr-ecords)
With somebody like Janek Schaefer, who is known to travel a lot, the last
thing you would expect from him is a CD called 'Alone At Last'. Or perhaps,
despite all his travels, he likes to be alone? Either way, I don't know.
What I do know is that a lot of his music is purpose made, i.e. he is
commissioned to do specific pieces for specific events, places or
installations. Usually these are pieces which are heard there and then, and
never here and now. They lie around in his archive, collecting dust. That
is: until now. 'Alone At Last' compiles eighth of these pieces, composed
between 1997 and 2007. Unfortunately that's all the information that is
given on the cover. Not the where, how, when or any other relevant
information. That is a pity of course, but you could also think that it is
of no more importance. That was that, this is now. The positive attitude: be
glad what you have and not what you don't have. Each piece has a picture in
the booklet (especially the one for 'Scarlett
Arrives' is very funny - but hey I like children) that also not always gives
us a clue. 'Alone At Last' may serve as an introduction to the work of
Schaefer to those who need one (the die hard fans surely have this already).
Schaefer takes every day sound - field recordings - of whatever nature and
transforms them into pieces of music. He does that to such an extent that
the 'original' field recordings have disappeared and what remains is, quite
curious in these eighth pieces, a highly 'drone' and 'ambient' piece of
work. Schaefer works the mood here. I couldn't help, while hearing this,
thinking of Main - with whom Schaefer recorded a CD as Comae along time ago.
The same subtle processing, taking the musique concrete into an entirely new
realm - at least for musique concrete that is - the form of ambient music.
Four of the pieces are long, perhaps a bit long altogether, for the
diversity the disc has to offer. With six of them the picture would have
been equally clear, even when the
final piece 'Never Ending Story' is short and should be included. That
moaning aside, Schaefer delivered a great disc, I think, of highly subtle
music that should win him new fans and pleasantly surprise the old. (FdW)
Address: http://www.sirr-ecords.com
HURRA CAINE LANDCRASH - UNANSWERED QUESTIONS (CD by Split Femur Recordings)
Along time ago, in Vital Weekly 500 we reviewed work by Daniel Hopkins, also
known as Hurra Caine Landcrash, as well as HL. Back then his work was
released on his own No Ground Processes, here he finds his way to the real
CD format on Split Femur Recordings. Back then we already noted his shift
towards the use of the guitar, which he now worked out into 'Unanswered
Questions'. If I understood things correctly Hopkins drops shells, pebbles
and stones on a guitar, picks up the sound in his laptop using 'various
filters and effects' and explores as such the guitar. The blurb raves about
'on one hand of no wave punk and then sweeping to more ethereal esoteric
sound-scapes'. I must say I had a hard time hearing the no wave punk, but
then perhaps I had the wrong records when I was young. The 'ethereal
esoteric' part I can dig, but that sounds a bit negative, or rather some
musical area in which you rather not be. Hurra Caine Landcrash's 'Soul', the
opener is kinda not like the album: it
distorts and not in a nice way. The tracks to follow are much nicer and work
from a microsound/drone perspective. Even when Hurra Caine Landcrash doesn't
do an original job here, despite his perhaps somewhat curious approach in
working, the music sounds all quite nice, except of course for that first
track, which is an odd ball. Think Fennesz, of course I'd say, Deupree or
other microsound artists, and Hurra Caine Landcrash fills in the holes they
left with quite an intelligent mixture of his own techniques. Moody,
atmospheric and with the guitar leaping into sound areas which may seem to
be from an altogether different nature, this is quite a nice album. (FdW)
Address: http://www.splitfemurrecordings.com
MARK CAUVIN - TRANSFIGURATION (CD, private)
A double album of compositions for solo double bass, showing the many faces
of this rich instrument. Mark Cauvin is a young double bass player from
Australia who did his studies at the Conservatorium of Sydney. Before that
he played all kinds of music: classical, art-rock, traditional Greek music,
avant garde, etc. With the help the Australian Arts Council he was able to
realize his project 'Transfiguration'. For this project Cauvin selected
several compositions from modern composers like Berio, Xenakis, Scelsi,
Dubrovay, Zbinden, and Grillo. Also he studied briefly with Fernando Grillo
in Italy. Grillo is a very well-known player of the double bass. I remember
an intriguing interpretation by him of 'Medium III', a composition by
Dimutrescu. On this double-cd all the efforts of this three-year project are
condensed, accompanied by helping introductions to these compositions in the
included booklet. It is common for many modern compositions that they make
use of extended playing
techniques. The selection on this CD is made in order to offer an overview
of the wide range of extended techniques and possibilities that is to be
found in the repertoire for double bass. It made me think what distinguishes
an extended technique from a non-extended one. What defines an 'extended
technique'? Is it one that is not common for (convention), or not proper
(principal) to the instrument? I don't know. Also this cd made me realize
that it is typical for 20th century composers that they were interested in
expanding possibilities in order to enlarge the soundpallet that is hidden
in an instrument. The question why this is so, brings us to the field of
music history, which is not the subject here. Mark Cauvin proves to be an
excellent guide through this repertoire. He offers an unique collection of
seldom heard and recorded pieces of modern music. They are especially to be
found on the first cd. The second one has 'Suite 1 for Double Bass' a first
recording of a composition by
Grillo. (DM)
Address: http://www.markcuavin.com/
MARY LOU NEWMARK - MUSIC FROM STREET ANGEL DIARIES (CD by Green Angel Music)
Mary Lou Newmark is a composer and poet from Los Angeles. Also she plays
electric violin. She has her background in classical music. Her compositions
are often multi-media events where her poetry, theatrical aspects,
electronics and performance are integrated in one whole. Also the music on
this cd has its origin in a multi-media performance that took place in 2006:
,Street Angel Diaries,, a project on homeless people. Everything we hear on
this cd is done by Newmark herself, apart from two contributions by a brass
quintet. One could call it music, but to me it sounded more as a radioplay
with musical aspects. In several pieces the texts spoken by Newmark in are
the centre and speak about the daily experiences of homeless people. Other
pieces are soundcollages, mixing environmental sounds, her voice, acoustical
instruments and electronics. And from time to time we hear her electronic
violin. Her voice is the weak spot, lacking power and expression. But it is
clear that Newmark is
experienced in this artform of soundcollage. Musically spoken, the results
on this cd however are not very adventurous, but probably fitting in the
context a theatrical performance. (DM)
Address: http://www.greenangelemusic.com/
TZOLK'IN - HAAB (CD by Ant-Zen)
From the very first moment this album allures the listener with the intense
ethno-industrial style. Opening track titled "Muwan" is an emotional
beginning of pounding rhythms and emotional melodic soundscapes turning the
memories back to the good moments of legendary US-project Gridlock. Behind
the odd name "Tzolk'in" you find the collaboration between Flint Glass and
Empusae. Tzolk'in - the name of the project refers to a calendar of the
ancient Maya civilization of pre-Columbian Meso-America. As the name of the
project indicates the music on the album titled "Haab" is ethno-inspired
with an exotic approach to the Industrial style. Ritual rhythm textures
floats in beautiful atmospheres, meanwhile harsh expressions of Industrial
sounds create a more edgy angle to the trance-inducing music. The result is
quite unique and definitely worth checking out. (NM)
Address: http://www.ant-zen.com/
THE JONES O'CONNOR GROUP - A CROW FOR EVERY CROW (CD by Joc Records)
This one brings us to Cardiff where this quartet has its home. On their own
Joc-label they released their second album. We meet Paul Jones (piano,
synthesizers), Richard Jones (guitar, electronics), Chris O'Connor (double
bass) and Mark O,Connor (drums). No further need to explain the name of this
group. They seem to be influenced by post-rockbands. But listening to this
cd it leaves you with no doubt that these guys are above all inspired by
music from the 70s. Associations with Canterbury-groups like Gilgamesh (Phil
Miller) and Hatfield and the North came easily to my mind. Yes, this group
is deeply rooted in the british jazz and fusion tradition. The thorough
compositions come from the talented Paul and Richard Jones. Although very
well constructed there is little room for innovation or just a surprising
twist for letting know that we are in 2008 now. But don't forget, these are
solid compositions! Also in their sound they go back to the 70s, due
especially to the sound of the
keyboards. The playing is very much OK. Nice work on guitar and keyboard.
They play beautiful lines. Together the four show a real togetherness in
their playing, making the music evolve very naturally and organic. From what
I write you could conclude this band is too much on a retro exercise. But
that wouldn't be fair, I think. They are much too intelligent for just
offering some echoes from the past. They are great stylists who will
convince you of their message if you are open to it. (DM)
Address: http://www.jonessoconnorgroup.co.uk/
FLUTWACHT - SECONDFACE (CD by The Tourette Tapes)
Tourette Tapes is a side-label by Apocalyptic Radio that focus on
experimental electronic music from harsh industrial to dark ambient. Present
album is a semi-tribute album to the project of label owner Flutwacht.
Flutwacht collaborate with a number of interesting artists released on the
Apocalyptic Radio-label as well as other great acts. With Flutwacht being a
creator of sonic darkness the overall atmosphere is nocturnal an intense.
The expressions range from dark ambient (i.e. Xedh) across deep drones (i.e.
Contagious Orgasm and TZII) and ritual moments (i.e. Bonemachine and Objekt
/ Urian) to extreme sound spheres of Harsh Noise (i.e. Antracot, Synomorph
and Terg). Despite a few moments of rhythm textures, the compilation is
dominated by ambient expressions with a flow that works very well indeed and
thus keeps the listener glued from beginning to the end. Intense work! (NM)
Address: http://www.tourettetape.de/
JOZEF VAN WISSEM - A PRIORI (CD by Incunabulum)
Van Wissem is known from several CDs as a player of the baroque lute, an
instrument that is not often heard in our days, especially not in
territories of improvised or other modern music. This makes Van Wissem a
lonely cowboy, even more because of his curious compositions. Like on his
earlier CDRs Van Wissem is still fascinated by he palindrome and the mirror
as leading principles for composing music, qualities that were also to be
found in lute music in the Renaissance and Baroque. This procedure may
guarantee that the music is free from hidden devilish messages when played
backwards. Other advantages however I find hard to imagine. For me it would
be a self-chosen prison, but for Van Wissem things are different of course.
All seven pieces on this cd pass by in the same pace. It is very calm and
peaceful music. Throughout everything happens on same level of intensity.
Because of its palindrome-structure you will not find any climax in this
music, on the contrary it is anti-climax
music. It reminded me of 'music' I heard on the german radio in earlier days
when a program was ended and a few seconds or minutes had to be bridged:
little tunes to mark the silence and time passing by. Ambient tunes without
any other pretension. Also the tunes composed by Van Wissem are not very
demanding, however they carry 'bombastic' titles as 'How the Soul has
Arrived at Understanding of her Nothingness' or 'The Heavens are Parting and
the Spirit Descends like a Dove'. The pieces are played in a non-dramatic
style. A bit sterile and dry. At a few places however Van Wissem allows
himself bluesy slides. For sure because of Van Wissems eccentric approach he
delivers a very unusual listening experience, questioning the conventions of
how we normally listen to music. (DM)
Address: http://www.myspace.com/incunabulae
LULL - LIKE A SLOW RIVER (CD by Glacial Movements)
If I wouldn't have seen this release, I would just think that Mick Harris'
project Lull would have died a soft death somewhere sometime ago. A question
of shifting interests, or perhaps nothing more to say. But look here: 'Like
A Slow River', a really new Lull album, recorded earlier this year. I must
admit that it's been also a while since I last heard Lull (shifting
interests perhaps), but if I was to describe, from memory, how Lull sounded
like, I would no doubt describe something like 'Like A Slow River': long
dark pieces of ambient music, or to use the vulgus of the old days,
isolationist music, which live up to the name of the label, Glacial
Movements. Like a glacier, this music moves, but very slowly, but without a
doubt: it moves. Despite the gap of many years it seems that nothing changed
in this music, which is fine for the die hard fans, but to me it's a bit of
a disappointment I guess. I could have played some of the older records and
get the same idea. But I didn't, I
played the new one and thought it was not very new, but I also thought it
was quite nice to hear. (FdW)
Address: http://www.glacialmovements.com
MAD EP - BASS.HED (CD by Ad Noiseam)
In 2006 American composer Mad EP released the massive triple-disc album "The
Madland Trilogy" on German label Ad Noiseam. Not only the length of the
album was impressive, also the variation in expressions was remarkable. The
brain behind Mad EP, Matthew Peters, differ from the main part of electronic
composers with his skills as acoustic musician. With a background as a
cellist and as a producer of Chicago Symphony radio broadcasts, the
Iowa-based composer has put a clear imprint of his past into his previous
albums. And it is also the case with this latest effort though the approach
is quite different. The album titled "Bass.Hed" marks a change in the
musical direction. From the multi-facetted expression of electronica, hip
hop, jazz and drum'n'bass on "The Madlands Trilogy" the style on "Bass.Hed"
is more exclusively focused on hip hop-based electronica, though still with
the recognizable sound of Mad EP thanks to the natural use of acoustic
instruments. Natural instruments counts
cello and violin but also trumpets shine through the digital sound picture.
What characterizes the album, hence the album-title, is the comprehensive
use of bass. The ultra-heavy darkside-oriented bass-lines are integrated
into a nocturnal world of hip hop with breakbeats and catchy rapping from
Non-Genetic and Shadowhuntaz. The compositional skills of Mad EP are unique
thanks to his foot in both the acoustic and the digital sound world, and
"Bass.Hed" thus ends up as a first class experimental hip
hop/electronica-album. Especially listeners of projects like CloudDead and
Mike Ladd should take notice on this one. (NM)
Address: http://www.adnoiseam.net/
HECQ - NIGHT FALLS (CD by Hymen Records)
German composer Benny Boysen was quite young when he began his musical
explorations under the flag "Hecq". From the five year old debut album "A
dried youth" (Kaleidoskop) to last year's "0000" (Hymen Records), Hecq has
drawn the lucky listener to sound worlds developed as a mixture of downbeat
electronica, discreet beat pulses of clicks'n'cuts and atmospheric ambience.
On his brand new effort no. 5, Hecq has left the rhythm textures behind
ultimately focusing on the sound of ambience. And the result is astonishing
indeed. That Hecq knows how to create otherworldly ambient has been
confirmed by earlier albums, but present album titled "Night falls" contains
absolutely stunning images of deep ambient turning the memories back to
legends of the space scene counting John Serrie and Michael Stearns. The
atmosphere is grandiose with space choirs and gently moving sheets of
orchestral ambience making it sufficiently pompous as soundtracks for the
planetarium industries. On "Night falls",
Hecq once more shows his skills as master of electronic atmospheres. Highly
recommended! (NM)
Address: http://www.hymenrecords.com/
SPYWEIRDOS AND JOHN MOURJOPOULUS WITH FLOROS FLORIDIS - EPISTROPHY AT UTOPIA
(CD by Ad Noiseam)
Integrating elements of jazz in electronic music has been explored in many
years by now, but most oftenly with the main weight put on either the jazz
side or the electronic music side. "Epistrophy at utopia" beautifully
balances on the midline between the two styles. Behind the album titled
"Epistrophy at utopia" you find three Greek musicians with quite different
backgrounds. Behind the name Spyweirdos you find Spyros Polychronopoulos
who's been exploring electronic music since 1993 with collaborations
counting among others Alva Noto, B. Fleischmann and several label mates
counting i.e. Mad EP, Larvae, Wilt among others. John Mourjopoulos is
acoustics professor and Jazz musician and Floros Floridis is a legendary
clarinist and improve veteran having been active since the 70's. This very
interesting project let's the warmth and attractiveness of jazz shine much
clearer through the synthetic sound world with acoustic instruments playing
an important part of the musical pieces.
Stylistically the album is a pleasant musical adventure a nice variation in
expressions. Pieces such as Epistrophy and Raymond Bound are dominated by
jazzy expressions turning the memories back to Thelonius Monk meanwhile a
track like "The letter after omega" is more ambient-based and the track "Wet
house" being somewhere in-between with a pleasant atmosphere of downbeat
jazz and chillout. The album is filled with some great nocturnal atmospheres
and thus works as the perfect partner for late night listening. Excellent!
(NM)
Address: http://www.adnoiseam.net/
THE RORSCHACH GARDEN - TRANSFER (CD by Bazooka Joe)
German project "The Rorschach Garden" has been on the stage for quite a
while by now. More than ten releases since the debut-7"-release "State
project" (Bazooka Joe, 2001). The Rorschach Garden is headed by Phillip
Münch who is also known for his part of legendary Power Noise-band
Synapscape. Where Synapscape takes its starting point in the Harsh
Industrial scene, The Rorschach Garden is the almost extreme contrast with a
background in the electropop-scene. Latest album "Transfer" turns the
memories back to the British technopop-scene of the early mid-80's sounding
like a fusion of New Order and early Depeche Mode (post-Vince Clarke-era),
with touches of Visage on a track like "Your face". Though The Rorschach
Garden reminds of the heydays of 80's electropop the project still has their
very own sound and style making them one of the interesting acts of the fast
growing electropop scene these days. (NM)
Address: http://www.bazooka-joe.com/
ELODIE LAUTEN - THE DEATH OF DON JUAN (CD by Unseen Worlds)
Where did I first hear the name Elodie Lauten? This question has been
bugging me since I got the CD 'The Death Of Don Juan'. My best guess is at
Dolf Mulder's when he was living close by and we shared evenings listening
to music. Perhaps I am wrong. Maybe it was a name I once saw. But it's not
something musical I remember - just this somewhat strange name. Elodie
Lauten was born in 1950 in France and moved to New York in the seventies and
embraced Buddhism. She worked with the late Arthur Russell, combining rock
and classical music. In the mid eighties she released on her own label 'The
Death Of Don Juan', a neo-opera, with not a linear story, but rather
thoughts, memories etc. Lauten plays fairlight, amplified harpsichords and
the trine - an electro-acoustic lyre. It's one of those forgotten classics
that Unseen Worlds loves to release as one of the lost works of minimal
music, and quite rightly so: here it is. The bad thing, my strict personal
view speaking here, about operas is
that there is singing in it. And that is usually my big problem with opera,
operette or musical. But I am curious cat, so how would it sound in a more
minimalist vein? Actually not bad, or rather better than I would have
anticipated, although I am not convinced about the medium of opera. The
music however is great, especially in the instrumental pieces that open up
this album. Strong, jumpy minimalist pieces of music. When voices come in,
the too operate from a minimalist vein, with repeated lines that have that
phase shifting sense of Reich or Glass, but the instruments are definitely
more 80s. I thought this was an interesting and curious record, rather than
a great one. It's surely something one should have heard if minimalist music
and whatever happened after 'Come Out' has your interest. (FdW)
Address: http://www.unseenworlds.net
STEPHAN MATHIEU - RADIOLAND (CD by Die Schachtel)
CLAUDIO ROCCHETTI - ANOTHER PIECE OF TEENAGE WILDLIFE (CD by Die Schachtel)
GIROLAMO DE SIMONE - SHAMA (CD by Die Schachtel)
It's been a while since we last heard something new by Stephan Mathieu solo.
Maybe the 'The Sad Mac' was the last one? I honestly don't recall. But of
course things haven't been quiet for him. In the recent years he toured
quite a bit with his 'Radioland' work. Here he plays with real time
processed shortwave signals. Picking up from a simple receiver, feeding it
into his self-built max-msp patches and transforming the signals into what
is best described as 'Mathieu music'. Stephan Mathieu, whom I like to regard
as one of the true masters of ambient glitch music, produces music here that
is once again of absolute great beauty and expands beyond the 'softer' side
of ambient music and goes into a bit more louder area, working with
overtones created through multi-layering of such sounds. However, don't
expect this to be harsh music or in fact static music. Mathieu knows how to
move stuff around, finding small details in the music, amplifying them,
lifting them out of the music and
giving
them life on their own. The minimalism of the godfathers of this kind of
music (LaMonte Young, Palestine and Niblock) resonate through the
computerized (but oh so warm!) version of Mathieu. What a great CD! And what
a lovely package. A continuing peak in quality.
Also with a great package, digipack this time, is the work by Claudio
Rocchetti, a member of 3/4Hadbeeneliminated, who gets help from a whole
bunch of players (Valerio Tricoli, Margareth Kammerer, Madame P, Xabier
Iriondo, Massimo Carozzi and the mastering help of Giuseppe Ielasi). Of
course it's tempting to say, but there are connections to the sound world of
3/4Hadbeeneliminated: improvised playing on a variety of instruments -
Rocchetti plays voice, guitar, turntable, cassette, field recordings, piano,
percussion and last but certainly not least editing - which are all set on
the hard disc recorder and then cut and pasted into music. However that's
the similarity, there is also a difference: Rocchetti's solo music is less
complex than the band, more intimate, more drone like but likewise
beautiful. His guitar playing sounds like Ambarchi versus Ielasi, while his
ominous drone music is more like Mirror or Monos. Nice intimate
improvisation/drone music.
I never heard of Girolamo de Simone who is a piano player and composer, I
believe more in an academic sense of the word. 'Shama' means 'to listen' but
also 'to accept' and has eighteen relative short pieces, which do not only
consist of piano playing but also electronic music. It's a bit hard to form
an opinion on this music since the pieces are so brief. They are over before
one realizes they have started, and as such they are quite different from
each other. The piano pieces I liked best since they were calm,
introspective and Satie like. The electronic pieces didn't do much for me.
They seemed to be culled from a few samples which are let loose in space,
but apparently not going anywhere in particular. A pretty much alright
album, but for the next one it would be nice to focus on one thing a bit
longer instead of many in this short time frame. (FdW)
Address: http://www.dieschachtel.com
DAN WARBURTON & FREDERICK FARRYL GOODWIN - COMPENDIUM MALEFICARUM (CD by
Incunabulum)
A CD of spoken word on the Incunabulum label, run by Jozef van Wissem.
Frederick Farryl Goodwin is a writer/poet. That is about all I could trace
about him. Warburton is a british born musician and writer living in Paris.
I suppose he initiated this project and did most of the work.
The poems of Goodwin are central on this cd. They are printed in the nice
booklet. Many people lend their voice for these recordings which was a good
move. Listening to the same voice all over would be boring. The treatments
by Warburton concentrate sometimes on the voices themselves. Sometimes
several voices are speaking the same text with intervals. At other times the
voice is a little manipulated. But there is more then the voice speaking and
performing the poems of Goodwin. All poems are bedded in carefully compiled
soundscapes, designed in function of the texts. There is much variation to
be heard and Warburton has a good sense for detail. Sometimes however it
sounded a bit unpronounced to me, although many sounds and sources are
incorporated. Warburton invited also many musicians to contribute: Jac
Berrocal, Bruno Meillier, Jean-Luc Guionnet, etc. So he had many ingredients
to his disposal for composing his structures.
I t would be missing the point saying that Warburton composed attractive
backgrounds for the poems. Because he treated the voices they are part of
the sonic environment. And, even stronger, at times I had the feeling the
rich sounds textures also 'speak' of the poem, or speak of what the poem is
about. The soundscapes follow the content and meaning of the texts. For
example in a piece like 'Violence' this is clear. So Warburton has done a
very imaginative work here. (DM)
Address: http://www.myspace.com/incunabulae
KYLE BOBBY DUNN - FRAGMENTS & COMPOSITIONS (CD by Sedimental)
RICCARDO DILLON WANKE - CAVES (CD by Sedimental)
Two artists on Sedimental of whom I never heard. First there is Kyle Bobby
Dunn, born in 1986 and since 2000 active as a composer, which is kinda
young? He has had releases on This Generation Tapes, Housing and Kning Disk,
so it's definitely going somewhere. Dunn plays the piano here as well as
various electronic keyboards. At least, I think so. His music is best
described as drone music with a classical music edge to it. Especially in
'Miranda Rights' the multi-layered violin is quite nice. It made me think of
Olivia Block, even when field recordings don't seem to be playing a big role
in the music, the dramatic built-up works quite well. Not every piece is
that great, as in 'Sedentary 1' it rieks a bit to new age for my taste, even
when it stays a bit on the dark side. At other times it reminded me of
Mirror, which was good. Perhaps a bit unbalanced in its various approaches
this CD, but throughout quite nice.
Wanke hails from Italy where he was born in 1977 and over the years he has
played with Giuseppe Ielasi, Francesco Dillon, Stefano Pilia, David Maranha
and others. Wanke used to play the saxophone, but these days it's the
guitar. 'Caves' was recorded in Portugal using acoustic and electric
guitars, saxophones and 'natural sound elements', using various effects to
create a minimal version of acoustic drone music. His album is less
scattered over the place and makes a much more homogenous impression on the
listener. Wanke layers sound upon sound, starting with a few simple
disparate sounds and then goes on and on to layers them until a somewhat
(not to) dense mass of sound arrives. The influence of Ielasi (who mastered
this album) is quite clear, even when Wanke stays more on the improvised
side of things. Very nice record, this one, with solid improvised drone
music. (FdW)
Address: http://www.sedimental.com
MICHEAL ESPOSITO & FM EINHEIT - THE SALLIE HOUSE (CD by Firework Edition)
GREGORY BÜTTNER - WALZE 1-8 (CD by Firework Edition)
MARJA-LEENA SILLANPAA - H&H O&A N&N (CD by Firework Edition)
DAN FROBERG - 15 SONGS (DOWN AT JINXEY'S) (CD by Fylkingen Records)
LARS AKERLUND - UR/VOLT (CD by Fylkingen Records)
Perhaps one remembers that Firework Edition releases musical CDs with a
strong conceptual edge? These new releases are no different. Micheal
Esposito already made a CD with Leif Elggren and Emanuel Swedenborg (see
Vital Weekly 615) dealing with Electronic Voice Phenomenon, death and
houses, and here he teams up with FM Einheit (present on the cover in same
size as Esposito, but only present on two of the five tracks), dealing with
'America's most famous haunted houses in the hearthlands of Atchinson,
Kansas'. The voices of the death were captured during various visits,
Einheit composed static noise, and the result is a long CD of voices and
static noise. When they are combined it reminded me of the very early
cassette releases by Ios Smolders, which was nice enough but the conceptual
edges are widened here a bit too much. One has grasped the idea within the
half the length of this time (alsmost 77 minutes), or perhaps even less. But
of course, and no doubt, this is not meant to be
music, but information. I guess, so it's probably o.k.
A little less conceptual is the release by Gregory Büttner, whom we know
from his various releases on his own 1000Füssler label, as well as various
other things inside music, who use the sound of wax cylinders on 'Walze'
(which is the German name for wax cylinders). He recorded sounds of them and
processed them and played them along various of his own music. There is of
course more rambling about 'memory' and such like, but in the end it's all
about the music, I think. Büttner, like before, is a good student of Asmus
Tietchens' recent work in microsound, with slow, minimal, high pitched
sounds, in which one very occasionally recognizes some of the original
cylinder recordings. He does a pretty fine job I must admit, and surely
'Walze' is a delight to hear, but with the exception that it also moves
inside a musical territory which we already now, the traditional microsound
fields of Meelkop, Chartier or Günter. As such nothing new under the sun,
but no doubt a fine CD by himself.
No information on Marja-Leena Sillanpää, who, I think (!) wrote the text for
'H&H O&A N&N', and I couldn't possibly say what's it about. There are three
parts, each with music by somebody else, but here too no names that mean
anything to me: Mattias Akerfeldt, Helena Ohman-McCardle and Patrik Boman.
Akerfeldt plays lo-fi electronic music with simple rhythm box and
synthesizer (minimal synth as they call the music of the 80s now), Helena
keeps it short with sort of lo-fi techno, just like Boman. I didn't get the
stories, nor the music. Such can be length and strength, and failure of
concepetual art.
Also from Stockholm and sometimes connected to Firework is Fylkingen, a
place for concerts, art, work and much more. A fine place to be. Their
releases are less arty and conceptual and more musical. The name Dan Fröberg
rings a bell, but my memory is such a condition that I don't remember. It
seems to me he works with found sound: people talking, street sounds, the
luna park, birds and electrical currents. He puts these together in a great
way, a dream-like state of music. Strongly reminding me of Dominique
Petitgand, but less telling a tale than he did in his music. With Petitgand
somebody would tell a story, sing a song and he would add found sound,
whereas Fröberg places the sound in the central position and lets the
listener think of a story. This is 'close your eyes and dream away' music,
but not in a new age sense of the word, but cinematic: true cinema for the
ears. Great one.
Oddly enough I just found out that the previous release by Lars Akerlund,
'Rivers Of Mercury/Via Styx' was reviewed twice in Vital Weekly (220 and
263) but by two different writers. He is still the man of long works, again
two of around thirty minutes here. Both pieces were conceived for
choreography, an interest Akerlund has developed since the early 90s. Both
pieces also stand however by themselves. Masses of electrical currents,
oscillating tones, sine waves and more such like sounds from old analogue
synths (around the corner of Fylkingen you'll find the EMS studios who have
such delights), making nice soundtracks for the dance pieces, but perhaps
it's also a bit 'normal' in terms of electronic music, looked from a
historical perspective. Nice, but also a bit too regular, even when both
pieces have a long block of more rhythmical sounds. (FdW)
Address: http://www.fireworkeditionrecords.com
Address: http://www.fylkingen.se
OTHIN SPAKE - CHILD OF DECEPTION AND SKILL (CD by Glasvocht Records)
If the original CD is as unattractive as the CDR copy that I got sent of
this, then prepare for something that they don't want you to read or
understand. I have never heard of Othin Spake, but 'Child of Deception and
Skill' is the follow-up to 'Ankh' and it contains a 'music on the record is
a full improvisation and is put on the record as it was played'. Which I
gather is a great pity. It was recorded the second time the band together
(and why would it justify releasing that, I wonder). Dull, improvised rock
music, with jazzy themes, endless solos on the guitar and more such crap.
Horrible retro free rock jazz/jazz rock. Best ignored. (FdW)
Address: http://www.glasvochtrecords.com/
AIRCHAMBER - CRUMBLE (CD by Amirani Records)
XABIER IRIONDO & GIANNI MIMMO - YOUR VERY EYES (CD by Amirani Records)
Two discs of improvised music from Italy with lots of new names. First we
have Airchamber3, a trio of Andrea Serrapiglio (voice, laptop, electric
cello, contact mic, loopabow, miniature mouth armonica), Andrea 'Ics'
Ferraris (guitars, pedals, jack, kaoss pad, phototeremin, screwdriver), Luca
Serrapiglio (saxophones, wind controller, laptop, contact mic). They are
from Alessandria where they shape their improvisations. I must say that I am
not very convinced by their work. Their computer processing sounds very
digital - and that I don't mean in a positive way. On top they improvise in
quite a crude way on their instruments - loud, gritty, angular but it
doesn't grab my attention very much. Annoying is a better word. Not my thing
at all.
The name Xabier Iriondo also pops up in the review of Claudio Rocchetti.
Here he plays taisho koto, mahai metak and lo-fi devices. In a duet recorded
with Gianni Mimmo, who plays the soprano sax, they explore the sonic
qualities of a 10th century cave-church in Matera, during the summer
solstice of 2007. They too love to improvise. The saxophone plays in quite
a recognizable fashion - and thus is less to my liking as I like them to
sound a bit different - but the sounds produced by Iriondo are quite nice.
The two use the space in quite a nice way, exploring the natural reverb of
the church. They have some tension in their music, which I thought lacked
with Airchamber3, but here too throughout it wasn't really my cup of tea.
(FdW)
Address: http://www.amiranirecords.com
NOLE PLASTIQUE - ESCAPERHEAD (CD by Nexsound PQP)
Wordplay all around: Escaperhead, Nexsound PQP: these are the edges of
popmusic and experimental music. Nole Plastique are from Russia and consist
of Roman Kutnov and Alexei Belousov and 'Escaperhead' is their first album.
It's quite a curious affair. Nole Plastique likes their popmusic, of a very
special area. Sixties psychedelic music, with guitars, weird sound effects,
vocals and keyboards, with little bits of drums here and there. The vocals
reminded me of a local band, The Use Of Ashes (formerly known as Mekanik
Kommando): the same somewhat far away sound, held back singing and very
english. It's music that I would hardly play for fun, not because I don't
like it, but because I own so very little of it. It's nice for a CD, which
is deliberately recorded in a way that is not very good, but which could
have been better I think. Nice enough, this twenty-first century stab at
sixties psychedelics. (FdW)
Address: http://www.nexsound.org
SEED RECORDS VOLUME TWO (CD by Seed Records)
Somewhere late morning I quit listening to music, go shopping for food and
make dinner, which unlike other people I rather eat in the early afternoon
than in the evening. Today I had my favorite pasta. As soon as I started to
eat, I put in a CD, picked up the newspaper and started to read, eat and
listen. The music was a compilation by Seed Records, their second one. It
was almost like having a radio (which I don't have), varied but balanced,
lots of rhythm oriented music, bits of guitar, vocals, techno rock and more
such things. Like good radio, a pleasant trip and none of the tracks stood
out - they were all pleasant to hear. Included were Zombi, Mokira, Sleeps In
Oysters, Legowelt, Eyes, Skitanja, Alexander Robotnick, SJ Antoni Maiovvi &
MC Fortuna, Tobias Schmidt, [s]!, dDamage, Neil Landstrumm, Mark Verbos,
Jaques Lueder, The Doubtful Guest. Nice food, nice music. What more do you
want? (FdW)
Address: http://www.seedrecords.co.uk
JEFF CAREY'S MOHA! (7" by Rune Grammofon)
Last saturday Extrapool re-opened their doors after a year long
reconstruction job. The all-night party included many small concerts and
performances. Due to little girls needing to head to bed, I didn't see it
all, but MoHa! rocked the boat. Their full-on blast of drums, guitar,
computer, keyboards and lights sounded cruel during the soundcheck, but in
concert they got their full power and it worked amazingly well. A highlight
right the start of the new Extrapool. Just a day before this 7" was
released, which is a Jeff Carey (87 Central, Skif++, N Collective) rework of
recording MoHa! made in Berlin. These two pieces will also be on their next
CD in a different form. Carey lets his computer techniques run wild on the
rock music of MoHa!. You can never achieve the same wildness as MoHa! has
during their concerts, but you can try. Carey succeeds well, I think, but
you have to put up the volume really high to get the same intensity level as
with their concerts. But if you do so,
everything falls into its place and you have a great rocking 7". Even a
certain little girl liked it! (FdW)
Address: http://www.runegrammofon.com
FOR KINGS AND QUEENS - MERZ (CDR by Subterranean Sonic)
A new label from Berlin, this Subterranean Sonic and their first release is
by For Kings And Queens, the project of one Mr. K, who is also a member
Ofmiceandmen - of whom I also never heard. His inspiration he gets from
Nurse With Wound, The Hafler Trio and Merzbow and to that end he uses field
recordings, guitar, electronics, voice and effect pedals. The Merzbow
influence is something which I fail to see, and with some effort Nurse With
Wound or Hafler Trio: yes, but even those are not easy. Mr. K likes densely
layered music, that is for sure, and he likes his music to be moody. Partly
drone music, but less worked out than say The Trio did in recent years, and
that goes for much of the music on this release. It seems to me that it has
been put together with some haste and with not much attention to the detail.
This is one of those things were one can sense there is more to it than what
actually comes out. Some of the ideas are nice, certainly in the beginning
of the disc, but
towards
the end there are some tedious long piece of guitar with effects,
improvising away in a wash of sound effects. I'd say: return to the screen
and extensively remix it before releasing it. (FdW)
Address: http://subterraneansonic.blogspot.com
PLASTIC BONER BAND - ISAIAH 66:6 (CDR, private)
I was going to use the bible quote inaccurately given in the second track as
a lame excuse for quoting Jules' Ezekiel 25:17 miss-quote in Pulp Fiction,
but cant as the biblical text seems to have little meaning here. As previous
there is heavy duty packing but problems occur once the cd is played. That
aside I could return to "I lay my vengeance upon you..". There is a double
paradox of Jules wanting to believe his interpretation of a fake which might
be just that in reality.. but Isaiah is not doing this- its essentially a
synth/sample electronics work. Track 1 is rumble and noise through a VCA-
with a riff and rhythm- track 2 harsher with white noise and filter sweeps,
track 3 slow intro to rhythmical drone!? (guys when looping a sample find a
zero crossing point and crossfade otherwise you here a click in the loop)
which strangely becomes track 4 - without inter track gap of 1 & 2, track 5
again uses loops but harsher with a badly produced fade at the end. All
that said -
sounding negative is not what I like, and I get the feeling that PBB could
do something but seem to be uncertain of what. Perhaps too planned and
composed - if only the soundworks would live up to the packaging and title -
violence is required I think - I'm sure they are up to it."." I been sayin'
that shit for years. And if you ever heard it, it meant your ass. I never
gave much thought what it meant. I just thought it was some cold-blooded
shit to say to a motherfucker before I popped a cap in his ass.". you need
to pop some caps guys? Next time? (jliat)
Address: http://www.myspace.com/plasticbonerband
ANDREAS BRANDAL - THIS IS NOT FOR YOU (CDR by Eh/Public Eyesore)
RICARDO ARIAS/MIGUEL FRASCONI/KEIKO UENISHI - OBJECT (CDR by Eh/Public
Eyesore)
SHELF LIFE - CONCERNING THE ABSENCE OF FLOORS (CDR by Friends And Relatives
Records)
The two new releases on Public Eyesore's sub division Eh? are two opposites,
one improvised and one composed. To start with the latter, Andreas Brandal
is a member of Lupus Golem (see Vital Weekly 625), but we know him better
from his CD release on Quasi Pop 'Drive Home With A Hammer' (Vital Weekly
532), but his history dates back for ages when he recorded with other
people. Like on his Quasi Pop album the present feature is still working
with the sampled sounds of orchestral music in all its variety. Ranging from
pleasantly soft pondering to louder excursions, Brandal creates nine varied
pieces of music. The softer side of Brandal's music prevails here and that's
good to hear, as that's what he does best, I think. Full of tension, made
with pleasure, with enough angular sounds to keep things fully interesting.
Nice one.
The improvisation side of matters are in the hands of Ricardo Arias
(bass-balloon kit), Miguel Frasconi (glass objects) and Keiko Uenishi
(laptop). They played together in 2004 at the Scultpure Center in New York.
I couldn't quite follow what it says on the cover about solo, duo and trio,
but apparently it's so that everybody plays a bit, then as a duo and then as
a trio. Spread out in two long pieces this is quite elegant object based
music. The rubbing of the balloons and glass in combination with whatever
the laptop is doing (stand alone sound production or processing of the
sounds produced). They play a vibrant piece of music, which is put together
in a great way. Most of them delicate and softly played with lots of
attention for the detail. Highly improvised but throughout a wealth to hear.
One of the best releases on this label which I have encountered and a pity
it wasn't released earlier.
Shelf Life is the group of improvisers around Bryan Day, the man behind
Public Eyesore, but for their release 'Concerning The Absence Of Floors'
they went to Friends And Relatives Records. Other members are Jospeh Jaros,
Luke Polipnick, Alex Boardman and Jay Kreimer. There are no instruments
listed and they play in various combinations. The recordings here were made
in autumn 2007 and edited later on. I think (!) I hear guitars, electronics,
metallic percussion, maybe a rusty synthesizers humming away. Shelf Life
play pieces that are quite long around specific themes. You could almost
hear them say: let's do a quite one. Let's do hectic one that lots of
similar sounds. And so on. I rather like that approach I must say, because
it brings a more homogenous character to the music. That's the good news.
The bad news is that five of these long tracks is a bit too much. All around
fifteen minutes is quite a strength to listen to. However when served in a
smaller dose its quite nice. (FdW)
Address: http://www.publiceyesore.com/
AIDAN BAKER & JAKOB THIESEN - A BOUT DE SOUFFLE (CDR by Waterscape)
JASON SLOAN - STATIC (THELEMA.DAWNING) (3"CDR by Waterscape)
HAKOBUNE - MELTING REMINISCENCE (3"CDR by Waterscape)
Waterscape is a new label, owned by Martin Fuhs, whom we also know as
Seconds In Formaldehyde and it's mission is to release ambient music made by
guitars. The first release is by Aidan Baker, our highly productive
guitarist, who teams up here with Jakob Thiesen, who plays percussion, like
he did on 'Desire In Uneasiness' by Nadja. Despite his many releases, Baker
is a man to find new forms and shapes. On this release things are more
experimental and improvised as opposed to being the more ambient player he
is on some of his earlier solo releases. Baker tinkles away, sending his
guitar through his many devices while Thiesen supplements nicely with
percussive sounds, but it's more a supportive role than an active one or
playing a 'solo' himself. The ambient element is not entirely gone, as much
of it stays on an equal dynamic level and could perhaps pass on as a sort of
rough shaped mood music. Nice stuff.
On a smaller size we find Jason Sloan, who is from Baltimore and in his work
he explores 'various aspects of spirituality and it's connection to life,
death, memory, religion and our transitory time on earth', via performances,
installations, video etc. His one piece on 3" is 'Static [Thelema.dawning]'
and it's indeed a static piece. Guitars are hard to recognize here, as they
are stretched out into a long waving pattern of ambient sound. Eno meets
Hypnos. Halfway through there is something of ghost like sounds, but maybe
it's my perception that has gone blurry, which I guess is a good thing for
this kind of music. Not original, but quite nice.
From Kyoto in Japan hails Hakobune who released on U-Cover before. His
guitar playing sounds more like guitar playing, well, more than Sloan, but
more ambient than Baker does on his release. Playing sparse notes, feeding
them through an endless package of sound effects, but still maintaining to
keep things nice and quiet, he creates nice atmospheric music, ethereal in
'Yukidaruma', but not falling into the traps of kitsch new age music. It has
enough bite. Again not very original, but nice enough. (FdW)
Address: http://www.waterscape.de
INVERZ - VARIATIONS ON HOLD (CDR by Moremars)
TRACY LEE SUMMERS - MY FAVOURITE COLOR (CDR by Moremars)
There is a lot of information on the cover of the release by Inverz, about
the individual tracks but nothing about the band or musicians themselves.
So, I think the band is called Inverz, and judging by the music I think they
are a guitar band with an experimental touch. Kinda like a post rock band
with drums, but occasionally with a piano. When the guitars sound, the sound
like ambient music meeting post rock, lots of reversed sounds, hiss, static
but always throughout to be recognized as guitars. The piano pieces break
this somewhat closed sound open. It's a nice release, but not really great
or brilliant and perhaps a bit long.
Also operating from a post rock end is Tracy Lee Summers, rather a band than
one person me thinks, whose songs are short, around two and half minute, and
is recorded with a curious bunch of 'prepared drone guitar, pataphysidrum
box, melotron, larsenphone, distorted strings, flute and saxophone'. With
some of these I have an idea what they look like. Their music is scattered
all over the place. All instrumental, but sometimes moody and textured and
at other occasions uptempo with a supportive rhythm box. The variations make
this quite a nice release, but the recording quality however is not the best
around. (FdW)
Address: http://www.moremars.org
VIOLET - FOREIGN LANDS (CDR by Spirals Of Involution)
Over the past twenty or more years Jeff Surak has been very active in what
some call the 'underground' and through an endless string of cassettes,
CDRs, CDs he has gained quite a reputation. A reputation which brought him,
not locked in the studio per se, all around the world, and the East Europe
one has a special place for him. On Spirals Of Involution, one of Russia's
first independent labels for noise music, we find this 2005 tour document.
Violet, as the current name for his solo project is, was in Budapest, Pecs,
Vienna and Yaroslavl (home of this label) to perform his music. Violet's
music is always pretty interesting, since it moves all over the place. Using
laptop, autoharp and sound effects, it crosses the fine line of the very
soft to the very loud, seemingly without any flaws. Music for the mind, this
is headspace music. Drones are an all important feature for him, but they
can be soft but also loud and gritty. The four concerts captured here are
best listened in one go.
Aural cinema, always on the move, amplifying details, never losing the big
picture. Refined music. Book him when he's around. (FdW)
Address: http://atherisieren.kulichki.com/soi/
JLIAT - NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL NOISE VOLUME 14 (CDR by Jliat)
JLIAT - MONSTER (3"DVDR by Jliat)
JARROD FOWLER - NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL NOISE VOLUME 13 (CDR)
How to approach, after a week of no reviewing a whole bunch of releases?
With care and selection. This one is for this reviewer, this for another and
this I should do, mainly because the musician is the one who writes about
the noise stuff for Vital Weekly, but then, it would be odd to mail the
stuff back to him. But even then this is hardly something to hear. There is
'Now That's What I Call Noise Vol. 14', following the exact same route as
before. Eigth tracks, all four minutes. There is also 'Vol.13', which is not
recorded by Jliat but a megamix by one Jarrod Fowler, who uses all the first
tracks from Vol. 1 to 12 and layers them into his own first track, and then
repeats the procedure for the second etc. But he does a remix too. If that
is not merely enough for your noise appetite, you can always decide to play
'Monster', indeed a monster track, which lasts almost twenty-five hours.
You'll have to excuse me for only doing a partial survey of it. Nothing has
changed, it's all
about
noise noise and noise. Especially the 'Monster' piece is a heavy weight
track, even in the MP3 format it reaches us now. So now you know what this
is about, I'll check out the music in high summer time, when there is
nothing to do... (FdW)
Address: http://www.jliat.com
Address: http://www.jarrodfowler.com
VRONTHOR / ROSTIGES RIESENRAD (3"CDR by Foghorn/Apocalyptic Radio)
BONEMACHINE + KENJI SIRATORI (3"CDR by Foghorn/Apocalyptic Radio)
XEDH - TRÜMMER (3"CDR by Foghorn/Apocalyptic Radio)
FLUTWACHT - REGENTAG (3"CDR by Foghorn/Apocalyptic Radio)
Apocalyptic Radio is a German label run by the brain behind the project
Flutwacht. The label focuses on musical styles like Industrial, Noise/Power
Electronics and Martial. All releases in the series titled Foghorn comes as
3"-CDRs and focus on dark ambient. Four CDs from the Foghorn-series i
reviewed here. First album is a split-CDR consisting of two works, a work
from the composer Rostiges Riesenrad, titled "Vortex grenzsiegel" and the
work "Heroinnebel" from Vronthor. Both works move in minimalist sound
spheres of dark drones with industrial noises giving an edge to the floating
atmospheres. Next release reviewed here is a joint venture between the two
sound artists Bonemachine and Kenji Siratori. The two collaborators create
one lengthy track of Industrial ambientscapes with spoken words. Intense.
Third CDR comes from the artist calling himself Xedh and is the most intense
experience of the four releases reviewed here, and it says quite a lot.
Titled "Trümmer" the album is
divided
into five pieces. It is an emotionally strange work spanning from
threatening grunts of machine noise to deep drones swirling in atmospheric
soundscapes. Fourth and last Foghorn-release reviewed here is an equally
intense work, this time composed by label owner Flutwacht. The album titled
"Regentag" is the most minimal work of them all. Drones of utter darkness
swirls in isolated and claustrophobic sonic spaces and thus create
atmospheres of high intensity. Four interesting releases from the Foghorn
catalogue, revealing that this is definitely a series worth checking out.
(NM)
Address: http://www.apocalyptic-radio.com
1. From: "Zipo@AA" <zipo@aufabwegen.com>
the first 30 visitors receive a free copy of the anemone tube/tender love
split 7"!
Fr. 06.06.2008,
doors: 20.00h, first concert: 20.30h, tickets: 10,00 euros
aufabwegen presents: geraeuschwelten #46
FETISCH PARK
(first performance in 10 years by this legendary project!)
&
INADE
(Dark Audio Mythology)
&
BJ NILSEN
(field recordings / ex-Morthound / ex-Hazard / Janitor)
&
ANEMONE TUBE
(from headeaches to numbness)
at:
Black Box/cuba-cultur
Achtermannstr. 12, 48143 Muenster, Germany
info:
http://www.geraeuschwelten.de
http://www.aufabwegen.com
http://www.blackbox-muenster.de
reservations:
zipo@aufabwegen.com
see you there!
2. From: "> vertigo" <herrkock@gmail.com>
O Tannenbaum Presents:
Dirk Markham, Alex und Travis.
Electronic Songs, Musique Concête, noise and abstracte images.
Friday June 6.
20.00 hours
Dinner between 20.00 and 21.00 Uhr
entree 2 euro
dinner 3,50 euro
Sunday june 8.
Paulien Oltheten & Özlem Altin in a video Ping Pong
20.00 hours
Dinner between 20.00 and 21.00 Uhr
entree 2 euro
dinner 3,50 euro
O Tannenbaum
Pflügerstrasse 79a Berlin
U 8 Schönlein/Hermannstrasse
<http://www.o-tannenbaum-berlin.de>www.o-tannenbaum-berlin.de
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