Vital Weekly 635

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VITAL WEEKLY
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number 635
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week 29
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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
available on the site for a limited period of 5 weeks. Download the file to
your MP3 player and enjoy!
Complete track listing here: http://www.vitalweekly.net/podcast.html

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* noted are in this week's pod-cast

ERIC LA CASA & CEDRIC PEYRONNET - LA CREUSE (CD by Herbal International)
MAJU - MAJU 5 (CD by Extreme)
CLAUDIO PARODI - A RITUAL WHICH IS INCOMPREHENSIBLE (TO THE SMILE OF PAULINE
OLIVEROS) (CD by Extreme) *
LEMKE GWILLIAM - FOURMILL PLUS AQUARTERINCH (CD by Nur Nicht Nur) *
DALGLISH - IDEOM (CD by Record Label Records) *
SUDDEN INFANT - PSYCHOTIC EINZELKIND (CD by Blossoming Noise)
VRIL - THE OBSERVER (CD by Skullnoise Records)
HUGH DAVIES & ADAM BOHMAN/LEE PATTERSON/MARK WASTELL - FOR HUGH DAVIES (CD
by Another Timbre) *
HUGH DAVIES - PERFORMANCES 1969-1977 (CDR by Another Timbre)
MATT DAVIES & MATT MILTON & BECHIR SAADE - DUN (CD by Another Timbre)
ESTEBAN ALGORA & ALESSANDRA ROMBOLA & INGAR ZACH - ... DE LAS PIEDRAS (CD by
Another Timbre)
BRANDON LABELLE - RADIO MEMORY (CD/Book by Errant Bodies Press) *
BRANDON LABELLE - DIRTY EAR (CD by Errant Bodies Press)
ANNETTE KREBS & TOSHIMARU NAKAMURA - SIYU (CD by SOS Editions) *
OLIVIA BLOCK & SANDRA GIBSON & LUIS RECODER - UNTITLED (DVD by SOS Editions)
HUM OF THE DRUID - THE NEW WING BRAIDED INDUSTRY (LP by SNSE)
LE SCRAMBLED DEBUTATE & SURFACE HOAR & KENJI SIRATORI (CDR by Galloping
Foxely Recordings) *
SURFACE HOAR - TEASE AND TELL (CDR by Galloping Foxely Recordings)
JLIAT - NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL NOISE VOL. 15 (CDR by Larks Council Of
England)
MOUTHS - 3V1/3V2 (CDR by Absurd) *
TASOS STAMOU - ELECTROACOUSTIC IMPROVISATION #1 (CDR by Kukuruku Recordings)
DEMERGO - WESTWATER MEADOWS (CDR by Ahasverus Records)
TRUE SOLACE - BANDONA (CDR by The Art Of Mystification Records) *
INDUSTRIAL PASSAGE FT MELLE KRAMER - KARMA (CDR by The Art Of Mystification
Records)
EZRA JACOBS - DIFFUSIEDRANG (CDR by Etherkreet) *
RICHARD JONAS - STEKKERSPEL (CDR by Etherkreet)
BAS VAN HUIZEN - ANACHRONISTENMIST (CDR by Etherkreet)
FORDELL RESEARCH UNIT - REAL MEN DRINK HORSE MILK (CDR by Dead Sea Liner)
EL HEATH - A (RATHER) DEAD SEA LINER (CDR by Dead Sea Liner) *
DEAD WOOD - HARMONIC SECTOR 1-10 (CDR by Dead Sea Liner)
ADRIAN SHENTON - THE MEASURING MOMENTS (CDR by Quiet World) *
IAN HOLLOWAY & DARREN TATE & BANKS BAILEY - SUMMERLAND (CDR by Quiet World)
IAN HOLLOWAY - A LONELY PLACE (CDR by Quiet World)
THIS WINDOW (CDR, private)
THE STRIGGLES - EXPRESSIONISM (CDR by Noise Appeal Records)
SCISSOR SHOCK - SYNONYM FOR THE WORD DECAY (?)
LAWRENCE ENGLISH /JEPH JERMAN (3"CDR by Compost And Heigth)
MICHEAL JOHNSEN - UNTITLED (3"CDR, private) *
MICHEAL JOHNSEN - UNTITLED (3"CDR, private)
HAROLD NONO - THE DEATH OF BARRA (MP3 by Rack & Ruin Records)
SEGUE - A GLASS DARKLY (MP3 by Resting Bell)

ERIC LA CASA & CEDRIC PEYRONNET - LA CREUSE (CD by Herbal International)
As far as I remember I've never been to the area where Cedric Peyronnet
(also better known as Toy Bizarre) and Eric La Casa recorded their work, the
Creuse department in central France - maybe I saw it today when watching the
Tour de France. However there is a booklet with this CD with pictures of the
area, and in each picture there is a pair of microphones to be spotted. This
is as close as you can make field recordings visual I guess. A pity that the
booklet, a diary it seems, is all in French, with some general English
translation on the cover. The area was divided into several specific sites
which were recorded by one, and then sent to the other to work on it, to
interpret the place. And vice versa of course. Each piece is started by one,
finished by the other. Its not easy to hear who did what, but I think that
the pieces finished by Peyronnet have a minimal subtle electronic
manipulations, and that La Casa's pieces are entirely made with field
recordings. I might be wrong
however and no electronic processing took place. We hear rain, wind,
footsteps and sounds from water, objects and other sonic events which are
hard to be placed somewhere in terms of what one could recognize. Even when
this is divided into nine pieces, it's best enjoyed as a complete picture:
listen from start until the end, sit back and transport yourself through
time and space - time is the length of the CD and the place is La Creuse.
This rural and forest area is pictured quite well before your very eyes. A
very refined work. (FdW)
Address: http://www.herbalinternational.tk

MAJU - MAJU 5 (CD by Extreme)
CLAUDIO PARODI - A RITUAL WHICH IS INCOMPREHENSIBLE (TO THE SMILE OF PAULINE
OLIVEROS) (CD by Extreme)
The last few releases by Australia's Extreme were more in the areas of
improvised music, but with these two the label is back to its more original
roots of experimental music. Maju, the duo of Hosomi Sakana and Masaki
Narita, return to Extreme with their fifth album. The fourth volume was
reviewed in Vital Weekly 547 (the previous three didn't make it to these
pages) and this new one sees a steady continuation of the lines set out on
the previous volume. Highly ambient music in a highly digital manner. If
anything, the name of Stephan Mathieu comes up again. Stretched fields of
hissing sounds, loops of grainy textures, hard discs working over time. Like
before it's not music that is in the new age area, as 'Maju 5' also works in
the experimental/electronic ambient glitch alley. An alley that has been
well explored before, and as such 'Maju 5' doesn't necessarily add much new
insight, even when Hosomi Sakana plays four solo tracks out of the total of
seven. Solo or duo: it hardly
makes
a difference. Great late night music, nothing new under the moon.
Also before on Extreme has been a release by Claudio Parodi, who back then
(Vital Weekly 553) paid homage to Alvin Lucier. Here the bowing goes to
Pauline Oliveros and her deep listening music. Parodi plays turkish clarinet
for that in a three part (the third includes a coda) work. On this
instrument he plays a few lines, which are continuously repeated and
layered, but he brings in small variations to the scheme every now and then,
like a variety of loops being played. Below this he adds a most curious
blend of hard to define sounds - field recordings perhaps, scratching the
surface or highly reverbed spaces - its pretty far away in the mix of the
Turkish clarinet, so virtually not possible to scan this out. It sounds
quite nice as a background, and the solemnly played instrument makes this
almost like a requiem piece. Like the Lucier homage this is also a
consistent work. Very nice again. (FdW)
Address: http://www.xtr.com

LEMKE GWILLIAM - FOURMILL PLUS AQUARTERINCH (CD by Nur Nicht Nur)
Right across the border, Vital Weekly can almost see it from the HQ, is the
small German city of Kleve, and located there is a small but active scene of
improvising musicians, who gather around the Nur Nicht Nur label and as such
has been a force for many years. One of their members is Helmut Lemke, who
has 'presented the process-based results of his investigations into
site-specific sound' for close to thirty years now. Here he teams up with
the much younger Ben Gwilliam, who does likewise work and is more from the
improvised music scene. In 2007 they spent time together, using different
formats of audiotape: pre-recorded, prepared and unprepared. Together they
collected a whole bunch of sounds on various tapes (reel to reel, cassette,
micro cassette and what else, 8-track maybe?) which they collage together in
quite densely layered pieces of hiss like sounds and obscured sounds. Its
not easy to say what the sounds are that they recorded on those tapes, save
for some voice material
being sped up and slowed down. Otherwise its not easy to recognize much, but
that obscurity adds a great texture to the release, I think. It's a bit like
music you could find on cassettes in the 80s, but now with a much better
recording quality. Small amplified sounds along the lines of John Cage's
'Cartridge Music'. A fascinating, closed cloud of sound is what they
produce, with small elements coming in and out, which leaves much to guess
for the listener, who is sucked into this swamp. A nice trip down! (FdW)
Address: http://www.nurnichtnur.com

DALGLISH - IDEOM (CD by Record Label Records)
Only recently we reviewed 'Waetka' by O.S.T., the long term project of Chris
Douglas and after quite a long hiatus, today we read in the press text of
Dalglish that Douglas is no longer using O.S.T. as his band name but it's
now Dalglish and also Rook Valard, of which I didn't hear any music yet. I
am not sure why this name shift was necessary, but o.k. it's there. The
first release as Dalglish is a fact and it's a fine combination of all sorts
of influences past and present - the early techno/IDM inspired music,
ambient and noise. The main principle behind each track is to present a
bunch of loops and see how they work together. Sometimes these loops do not
match up together, they bump and collide and just don't make any sense, such
as in 'Thism', but it gets kind of hypnotic because it doesn't work
together - odd but true. And sometimes things fall neatly into place and a
more steady beat holds the music together - a bit like techno, but this
music isn't something to move your feet
too; rather to tap your feet to. Tracks last around five minutes here which
seems to me to be the right kind of length. So far so good, I'd say. One
complaint however can be made: with fifteen tracks this album is also kinda
long. This is the moment when I regret music like this is no longer released
on a LP: with four of these tracks per side, this would be a perfect album;
now, with fifteen pieces, this is quite a sit through and a certain
similarity is moved in. Play one half one day and the other the next day is
my suggestion. (FdW)
Address: http://www.recordlabelrecords.org

SUDDEN INFANT - PSYCHOTIC EINZELKIND (CD by Blossoming Noise)
Is or are Joke Lanz, who here is joined by Bill Kouligas and Christian
Weber, but has from the website collaborated with most of the people in the
known universe. And even here the last three tracks are remixes by Z'EV,
Lasse Marhaug and Thurston Moore. Given all that and his support from Pro
Helvetia? and the Swiss Arts Council (resist third man quote!!!) I have to
admit I didn't enjoy or like (not the same thing) this release. I know its
all my fault.. I've been listening to this over and over and it still
reminds me of French mime - no doubt both incredibly deep and at the same
time funny to the Gallic mind but to me - a WASP - I just don't get it?
Though I do understand the rules of cricket - 'I don't like Reggie - I love
it' to quote 10cc.. Well I suppose it has bits of noise but I'm thinking
Fluxus does eurovision - and that might prove popular to some. What I would
call clanky clank silly rhythms - which naughty Thurston has just run tracks
1+? through a distortion pedal,
Lasse's a kind of coughourama.. or take track 11, its made from zipper noise
to sound like small dogs barking. (very funny? Oh how clever - in the accent
the pigs use in shrek.) elsewhere bits of guitar and electonica - I'm
probably damming my chances with the avant garde - but sorry guys - I don't
get it, maybe - just maybe the first name is a giveaway - emperors new
clothes - or maybe not? (Jliat)
Address: http://www.suddeninfant.com/

VRIL - THE OBSERVER (CD by Skullnoise Records)
"The Observer" es la "antimúsica", la descomposición y el desorden donde la
estructura musical es el mismo caos. Intento romper con todas las normas y
crear unas texturas y atmósferas ruidistas e inquietantes en algunos
casos.." Well you can say that again - and they do in English - "The
Observer" is "anti-music", the decomposition and disorder where musical
structure is chaos. I attempt to break with all norms and create noisy
textures and atmospheres, even disturbing in some cases. 58 minutes of
pulsating brutality where the tone generator and distortions merge in a
vortex of high voltage frequency." Yep - does what it says on the can- as
the Ronseal ad goes (I love that expression but imagine others hate it.
Especially the swiss) Its noise (jim - but as we know it) slow - drawn out
like things being fed through some giant electric saw and slowly shredded
into oblivion - well into bits at least- and not on all the tracks - the
persistence and single minded stupidity of noise is I
know at times hard to maintain. Another point I'd make Paco (Rodríguez) is
the artwork is dull - I'm thinking. (ad man type voice.) princess leia as
the slave girl in SW5 perhaps? A thinly disguised rouse to intellectualize
pathetic sexism. By calling it ironic. oh come on- 7 of 9 - searing
indictment of post-modern cybernization of humanity or what! (jliat)
Address: http://www.vrilnoise.com

HUGH DAVIES & ADAM BOHMAN/LEE PATTERSON/MARK WASTELL - FOR HUGH DAVIES (CD
by Another Timbre)
HUGH DAVIES - PERFORMANCES 1969-1977 (CDR by Another Timbre)
MATT DAVIES & MATT MILTON & BECHIR SAADE - DUN (CD by Another Timbre)
ESTEBAN ALGORA & ALESSANDRA ROMBOLA & INGAR ZACH - ... DE LAS PIEDRAS (CD by
Another Timbre)
Of course I could make a joke about mafia money running out and Another
Timbre now also doing CDR releases (see Vital Weekly 619), but the reason
for releasing a CDR is probably more archival than economical. Hugh Davies,
a builder and inventor of sound devices, died in 2005. He played his
instruments since the sixties, and belonged to the 'first wave' of
improvisers (along with Derek Bailey, Evan Parker) as well as playing music
by Cage and Stockhausen. On 'For Hugh Davies' there are a six solo
improvisations from 1969 to 1977 which are played back to three players,
Mark Wastell, Adam Bohman and Lee Patterson (all of them influenced by
Davies), to which they added their own playing, as well as one homage to
Davies without Davies. A bit complex I'd say, and perhaps a bit blasphemous.
Wastell plays the cello, while Patterson and Bohman use a table full of
small, amplified objects. If you are aware of say the works of Patterson or
the Bohman Brothers, then you might have an idea of
what
this is about. Lots of scraping, touching, scratching etc of objects, in a
hectic manner, or if Wastell plays a bigger role, with some more emphasis on
longer, sustaining exploration of the instrument. Certainly not easy music,
and certainly not quiet music, but throughout a highly concentrated affair.
How it sounds without the players, the real solo thing as it were, there is
a CDR of the original Hugh Davies live recordings available too. Maybe it's
better to hear that first, to get the impression of the original thing
first, which of course I didn't, so maybe my judgment is a bit clouded. On
this CDR the live sound of Hugh Davies is a more direct in your face sound.
His self-built instruments rattle in your face in a direct way, like when
things are picked up with a microphone close by. It was a bit hard to
believe that these recordings were the foundations of the release I just
heard, as at times this sounds much more loud and present. It's not the
easiest disc, since, with six tracks that span almost eighty minutes, this
is a bit too much. But it surely gives you a very fine impression of how
this great man sounded.
Also on Another Timbre are two trio discs. The first is by Matt Davies
(trumpet and field recordings), Matt Milton (violin) and Bechir Saade (bass
clarinet and flute). This is a live recording from November last year. I
never heard of Matt Milton, whereas the other two already have a rising
reputation in the world of improvised music. Improvised music from the world
of sound, rather than from the world of instruments. The world in which
silence, or sheer near silence, is as important as producing a sound. Here
is where a sound is produced, left by itself and then the wait starts for
another sound: the three players watch eachother, in full concentration and
then a new event happens. Certainly not music to put and leave on, and do
something else, but very much like the players to be listened with full
concentration. No easy listening here, but one that unfolds its beauty in a
similar peaceful way as it is produced.
A more unusual line up is on '... De Las Piedras' with Ingar Zach
(percussion), Esteban Algora (accordion) and Alessandra Rombola (flutes and
tiles installation). Here the improvisation is of course, like all releases
on this label, the starting point, but the outcome is not like that of the
previous three. Indeed careful playing, silence plays a part, but throughout
it seems to me that these three are aiming at something else. It seems that
things are more planned around here, with Algora's accordion at the centre
playing Oliveros' like drone music, and the other two are more in a free
role. This trio stays more close to the original improvisation but offers
likewise strong, intense listening music. Certainly it's not easy to play
all four of the new Another Timbre releases in a row - I certainly didn't -
but each of them has their own view on the subject of improvisation and
proving the endless amount of possibilities are available. (FdW)
Address: http://www.anothertimbre.com

BRANDON LABELLE - RADIO MEMORY (CD/Book by Errant Bodies Press)
BRANDON LABELLE - DIRTY EAR (CD by Errant Bodies Press)
Perhaps I once stated that I have no radio. It's not entirely: next to my
bed I have radio, to wake me up in the morning with the 8 o'clock news (days
at Vital HQ start early), and then I shut it down and get up. I don't know
what else is on the radio anymore. I don't mind either as through the door
much music arrives. As a young man, with no money, enough time on my hand
(being a student), I used to listen to radio in the evening. Several good
programs in The Netherlands ('Spleen', 'Radionome' anyone) gave me my first
steps in strange music. I did tape stuff from radio back then, and in some
cases it too me years to find a record that I known for so long ('Nyrabagia'
anyone?). I wonder if anyone who downloaded a MP3 these days has that same
feeling - but I am getting old, I know. All of this rambling about radio is
all hardly of interest I guess, but it could have been part of the
installations that were conceived by Brandon LaBelle. A couple of years he
invited a whole bunch of
people to write him about their first memories on radio. That can be a song,
or a situation in which radio played some role. It's an interesting read, as
they are collected here in the book, which brings back other memories of the
same songs here or which made me curious to hear some of the ones I don't
know. Part of the book is devoted to the installations that resulted from
these memories, and is thus an art catalogue. And of course there is a CD,
in which LaBelle works with four memories and builds a script around them,
have them spoken by some people and adds music to them. The result are four
radio plays about memories, dreams or nightmares about radio, locations and
people. A very strong and coherent work, even when you won't be playing this
on a daily basis.
At the same time there is also the release of 'Dirty Ear', which has no book
which seems to be a rare thing for LaBelle these days. It uses 'dirty field
recordings, found sounds, sound effects, archives and sonorous dramas.
Composed as a series of micro-narratives each designed to intervene onto
imagined settings or spatial locations, as counter-sonorities'. Although
that last bit is a bit of abacadabra to me, the actual music is quite
interesting. They are indeed micro-narratives, on quite an abstract level it
seems, or at least most of the times. Hard to tell what those 'dirty' sound
sources are, but there is a certain muddy aspect to the music which makes it
actually quite nice. Good to hear LaBelle's doing a more regular release
again. (FdW)
Address: http://www.errantbodies.org

ANNETTE KREBS & TOSHIMARU NAKAMURA - SIYU (CD by SOS Editions)
OLIVIA BLOCK & SANDRA GIBSON & LUIS RECODER - UNTITLED (DVD by SOS Editions)
These two releases look beautiful, no doubt about that. The DVD is a box
which holds the release and the CD is a cut-out, pop-up, fold out thing.
That is amazing, and no doubt expensive to make. But why oh why would you
want to release such beauty and hardly any information on either cover. I
found out that the label is called SOS Editions, and no information yet on
their website about these two new releases, which I culled from another
site. The CD is by Siyu, or perhaps the title is 'Siyu' and it's performed
by Annette Krebs and Toshimaru Nakamura. Krebs plays guitar, mixing board,
tapes and objects and Nakamura plays no-input mixing board. As minimal as
the cover is the music. Stretched out sine waves, produced by the no-input
mixer mingle together nicely with the overtones produced the guitar, in
which we sometimes recognize the guitar and most of the time nothing at all.
Contemplative music - like staring at a white wall with sunlight on it (or
perhaps the white cover with it's
geometric holes). A work of peace and quiet, even when I can imagine this
working on the nerves if you are not initiated in this kind of music. But me
thinks this is quite nice indeed.
I said it before, and will say it today and probably many more times: I have
a big problem when it comes to reviewing video. I am afraid I just don't
know too much about it. To be honest: I stuck this DVD on, and didn't look
at it. The reason was perhaps that the music is by Olivia Block, someone
whose work I admire a lot. She composed a 'site specific' which doesn't
sound like much I heard from here before. The forty some minute piece is
quite noise based with distorted sounds of unknown origins. In the back
there is the mighty drone, rolling about for what seems to be the entire
length, but on top there is all sorts of glitchy sounds moving in distorted
way, especially as the piece progressed. Kinda like latter day Oval - and
that's something that didn't bother me much. I must say that this is the
first Block work that didn't work very much for me. The video footage, with
its flickering images however fitted the scene quite well I thought. In that
sense this worked well, even when
I'm no specialist at all (I might have said that already). (FdW)
Address: http://www.soseditions.com

HUM OF THE DRUID - THE NEW WING BRAIDED INDUSTRY (LP by SNSE)
I'm having to fix my deck (yo man respect?) for this one so while we wait
just some words of warning to Eric (Stonefelt) that the druids are in the UK
a bit of a joke - though they pratt around at Stonehenge the said circle
predates them by hundreds if not thousands of years, plus Ken Barlow of
Coronation Street is a famous! druid. Nuf said? - (not from the UK? then
Wiki said Ken..) OK - elsewhere a reviewer talks of the Bass on this - and
its there at first simply like the amplified rumble of the deck- but then
what appears as a rooftop flyover of a Hercules transport - I say this from
experience - you know - what the FCUK was that! There is some processed
"scary" vocal - but we will let that go . What is *particularly* good about
this release is that given its on vinyl at times you cant help but think the
stylus is simply running over a slab of rusty metal, and that any artifacts
of the actual medium are instantly part of the piece. (That's a good thing
children, as it relates
to McLuhan's dictum - I said dictum!) Anyone who is into vinyl (resist
slutty joke) should check this out. OK vinyl and noise - got to be a sex
thing here? Ken certainly wouldn't like any of it. "Soooooo I'm thinking
noise.... vinyl..... ken.... & then Barbie! . and." oh getoutahere -
actually "Kenanbarbi" - got to be better than H o t D - so - what do you
think - kind of japanesse sounding.. no?.. sorry - anyway - nice release -
nice (jliat)
Address: http://snse.net/

LE SCRAMBLED DEBUTATE & SURFACE HOAR & KENJI SIRATORI (CDR by Galloping
Foxely Recordings)
SURFACE HOAR - TEASE AND TELL (CDR by Galloping Foxely Recordings)
From the department of puzzles and riddles, comes
a release of six people working together. Only Kenji Siratori is a name I
know, but Sir Bear Trapper, Le Chat Du Noir, Sid Redlin, Kensaku Nishizato
and Matthew Amundsen are new names to me. Apparently some work as Surface
Hoar and some as Le Scrambled Debutante. They thank Nigel Ayers (now him I'm
know!) for samples. One piece, forty five minutes, of processed voices (hard
to say wether that is singing, chanting or speaking), set against an old
school industrial rhythm backbone and some sounds that are hard to define,
but all of an electronic nature. I expected, perhaps for no good reason,
this to be quite noise based, but it's not. It has even some techno inspired
rhythms here and there, and lots of electronic sounds to go along. The
voice, I think Siratori's, is pitched up and sounds like he took some
helium, and perhaps pitched down too, who knows, is a bit in the way of the
music at times, but it also hides the fact that the music is not always that
varied, if not too say a bit
boring. But throughout this release was quite alright, even when it's all a
bit puzzling as to who did what around here.
On the same label, apparently without a website, also a new release by
Surface Hoar, in a nice recycled package. Surface Hoar is Matthew Amundsen
(the man behind the label actually) and this release was made of electronic
improvisations. I assume this is all computer/laptop generated stuff (though
I might be wrong of course) of loud mean sustaining sounds and minimalist
beats. Loops of all of these fly about in eleven relatively short pieces.
Surface Hoar seems, at least seems to me, to like music which is carried by
beats, be it any beats. Click n cut like rhythms are employed quite a lot
around, with fuzzy electronics playing steady sine wave like structures.
Think a very rough version of early Pan Sonic, but more generated through
improvisation, rather than fixed compositions - 'Scrapper 3' is a perfect
example of this. Sometimes a bit too stripped down for my taste but this
music certainly has potential to grow into something more structured. Once
there, anything could happen and
the sky will be the limit. But me thinks it should not be limited to
improvisation and 'see what happens'. That we know, now get the real thing.
(FdW)
Address: http://www.myspace.com/lescrambleddebutante

http://www.myspace.com/surfacehoar http://www.kenjisiratori.com

JLIAT - NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL NOISE VOL. 15 (CDR by Larks Council Of
England)
For a moment I thought of sending this to Jliat, the current reviewer for
Vital Weekly of all things loud noise concerned, and see what he has to say
about this consistent body of work. Number fifteen in an ongoing series of
'sampled noise, guitar effects and distortion pedals', with each track being
three minutes and fifty-nine seconds in duration, repeated eight times.
There is, me thinks, not really difference between these eight and the
previous 112 tracks that were released, and perhaps that's the whole
conceptual idea. Maybe there is a theory behind it, a notion that I am
missing, but I can play this once, write a few lines (or invent them) and
then move on. Maybe that is the whole idea behind it. I don't know. That's
why I should have mailed to this Jliat. (FdW)
Address: http://www.jliat.com

MOUTHS - 3V1/3V2 (CDR by Absurd)
Maybe I am wrong but the Mouths release I reviewed before was perhaps the
only thing I reviewed by this band, which was then Jon Mueller (percussion,
cassettes, vocals), Jim Schoenecker (analogue synthesizer, shortwave radio,
vocals) and Werner Moebius (computer, devices). It seems now that Mueller is
the constant factor of Mouths, now that he presents another release, which
is one track with vocalist Carol Genetti and one with her voice material and
Jim Schoenecker. Both pieces were recorded live and use 'mouths' -
vibrations of air made using voice and which sets other instruments in
motion. In the duo piece with Genetti things start out in a gentle manner,
with long sustaining voice sounds, until everything seems to have
disappeared. That however doesn't really happen because when things return
they return for good: nervous hectic voice sounds, the rattling of bows
against cymbals. Its almost like a New Blockaders piece. The piece with
Genetti's voice on tape is '3v2' (I am sure
the titles work out in some chronological way) and it seems to be, to me,
the same voice material as from the first track, but it's a much more
quieter piece, starting out low and slow and works some quicker to a peak. I
think the voice material is fed through Schoenecker's synth who creates a
fine, slightly distorted drone and Mueller's resonating drum skins. I
thought this was the better piece of the two, a bit more concise and
structured. (FdW)
Address: http://www.void.gr/absurd

TASOS STAMOU - ELECTROACOUSTIC IMPROVISATION #1 (CDR by Kukuruku Recordings)
A new label from Greece is Kukuruku Recordings, which have as their first
release a CDR by Tasos Stamou, of whom we reviewed 'Infant' in Vital Weekly
581. Like the title implies these are electro-acoustic pieces for sampled
instruments and objects, like bamboo flutes, kalimba, cymbal, singing bowl,
souvenir whistle, alcohol test-whistle and maraka, which are sampled and
looped around. Even Stamou takes the listener on multiple journeys, it's cut
as one twenty-four minute track. He feeds the playing - samples, loops and
real time playing through some delay pedals but unfortunately the word
'improvisation' here is used to let things go without too much structure and
sort of try to create a semi/quasi piece of atmospheric electronics, but the
end result is a muddy affair of flute like sounds, delays on end, and
kalimba rattle. Leave of the improvisation part I'd say and start composing.
(FdW)
Address: <greekoolo@yahoo.com>

DEMERGO - WESTWATER MEADOWS (CDR by Ahasverus Records)
Behind Demergo is one Patrik Muhr, who produced 'soundscapes' for this
release. It comes with a story, on the cover, not spoken as text on the
release but as text you can read while hearing the music. Its a text about
events in the future: a piece of science fiction, in the year 2145. Of
course our grand-grand children will laugh at this story and at the music
and 'how wrong we were in those days' with our concept of the future. But we
shouldn't care about that at all, and enjoy what is on offer now. Muhr has
six pieces of digitally manipulated sounds, using time stretching, plug ins
to create deep end bass sound and high pitched peeps and moves away from the
microsound posse with something that owes more to the world of industrial
music - post industrial music. Some of the ideas sound alright, and on other
occasions things sounds like worn out ideas. Sort of alright when you a
shooting a home made version of 'Metropolis' and want to use something else
than 'Forbidden Planet', if
you
catch my drift. (FdW)
Address: http://www.ahasverus.se

TRUE SOLACE - BANDONA (CDR by The Art Of Mystification Records)
INDUSTRIAL PASSAGE FT MELLE KRAMER - KARMA (CDR by The Art Of Mystification
Records)
Always nice to see a new label from The Netherlands, even when a blink on
their myspace site things seem to be a bit too gothic for my taste. The art
of mystification Records was started in 2006 by one Ewell Juliana and we
read that the label is " self- release Ambient Drone Avant-garde music with
a black dark spiritual charisma and occult films. Music feels like entering
the Eden of disharmony and enlightenment, exploring both spiritual and the
unknown activities inside your deepest unwanted feelings." The first release
is by Ewell Juliana himself (herself perhaps, as I never heard the name
Ewell before) under the banner of True Solace. Five lengthy pieces of music
which are made with guitar, spoken voices, hummings and lots and lots of
effects at which reverb is at the very centre of the chain. The guitar is
strummed and played with a bow, while the singing is more like chanting.
Quite ethereal - certainly for my taste. True Solace works in atmospheres
that aren't mine - too closed
,
too confined, too directive. Things work best in those pieces in which the
chanting is less dominant or absent, such as 'Skuridat' or in 'Panorama'.
Maybe the music relies a bit too heavy on the use of reverb, but throughout
it's quite a nice work, if a bit too closed for me.
The other release features on Melle Kramer who plays drums and percussion
and a group called Industrial Passage who are responsible for guitars and
vocals. The 'theory of Karma is central on this album. No time to think or
analyze, doing is the main word of this theory. By reunite these spiritual &
musical friends you will discover this kind of music with art structures' it
says on the website. The guitars are loud, slow and heavy, they sustain and
drone nicely along in bath of reverb and distortion. The drums play a more
free role in the music and seem to be recorded as part of an improvisation.
Heavy free improvisation rock with strong drone like qualities, but because
of the free role of the drums, the two long pieces are also a bit like
various loose ends stuck together, and sometimes the power of the recordings
get a bit lost in a dark forest. One can hear what they are aiming at, yet
it's not always reached. A bit shorter next time and keep more consistency
in the drumming and
it's a rocking formation to clean those stuffed ears. (FdW)
Address: http://www.myspace.com/theartofmystificationrecords

EZRA JACOBS - DIFFUSIEDRANG (CDR by Etherkreet)
RICHARD JONAS - STEKKERSPEL (CDR by Etherkreet)
BAS VAN HUIZEN - ANACHRONISTENMIST (CDR by Etherkreet)
Another new label, hand delivered since they are from Nijmegen is
Etherkreet. Nijmegen isn't that big, but that doesn't mean I know each and
everyone playing music. The three names here don't mean much to me, but who
knows: if I see them, I may know them. They might not be locally, since the
label is based here and in Amsterdam. The first release is by Ezra Jacobs,
who uses 'manipulated shortwave recordings' which were recorded during storm
and heavy rain, which I thought was a good starting point. I am clueless as
to what kind of manipulations is used in these six tracks, but my best guess
is lots of layering. Large chunks of radio sounds are layered and stacked
together of unequal lengths, so that there is no apparent element of
repetition. The one thing that put me off a bit is the extreme variation in
volumes. The first two pieces are very soft, while the third one bursts out
at one point. No doubt intended as such, but it breaks the gentle flow of
the first two pieces and things
could work better if the flow was more constant. But this is a most
enjoyable album of ambient sounds, atmospheric in every sense of the word.
Richard Jonas recorded sound material in the analogue studio of the
Institute of Sonology and from these sounds built his own work called
'Stekkerspel' (which is a funny word play as a 'stekker' means plug and
'spel' is game or play), referring to the plugs old analogue synthesizers
have. He creates nine relatively short tracks with this material, which
takes him all over the place. As easy going from serious 'Forbidden Planet'
alike material, he can suddenly create a beat or two or leap into music for
sci-fi computer games. As the pieces are short and joyful, this is a very
nice release to hear. Jonas keeps his material fresh by not exploiting them
to the hilt. A fine combination of styles mixed into something that might
not be entirely unique, but which is refreshing to hear.
And finally there is one Bas van Huizen, with 'his processed guitar and
voice sounds'. Van Huizen may be regarded as the most musical release of the
three, using layered guitar sounds in which both drones and shimmering
melodies play a role. The drones provide the mighty backdrop for the tracks,
the guitar feeding through endless delay pedals, with additional computer
processing to top things of. The voice I didn't recognize in this swirling
mass of sound. Bas van Huizen likes moody tunes of a darker kind. Elegantly
produced, perhaps a bit long here and there, but quite nice. (FdW)
Address: http://www.etherkreet.com

FORDELL RESEARCH UNIT - REAL MEN DRINK HORSE MILK (CDR by Dead Sea Liner)
EL HEATH - A (RATHER) DEAD SEA LINER (CDR by Dead Sea Liner)
DEAD WOOD - HARMONIC SECTOR 1-10 (CDR by Dead Sea Liner)
Of these three new releases on Dead Sea Liner, I only recognized the name
Dead Wood. Behind Fordell Research Unit is "the mighty Fraser of pjorn72 &
linwood flats", whatever that may mean to someone. He plays seven short
tracks of distorted drone music. Loud most of the times, using guitar (it
seems), but the tracks are way too short to say anything decent about it.
More a sketchbook than a well rounded CDR I'd say. Sometimes its not
necessary to release everything one does.
Of much more interest, I think, is the also quite short release by Eric
Heath. He plays also drone like music, but much more calm and relaxing, be
it that he is inspired by singer-songwriter material by say the likes of
Richard Youngs. Guitar plays an all important role, the singing is reduced
to humming and in the five pieces he puts on a beautiful atmospheric sound.
Sustaining sounds, fed through a bunch of delay pedals create rich
tapestries of sounds. This could have been a bit longer to please my
appetite.
Dead Wood's work has been mostly released by his own Dirty Demos label, but
various pieces of his 'Harmonic Sectors' ended up on compilations but they
are here compiled, along with six more, unreleased pieces. Adam Baker, for
it is he behind the controls of Dead Wood, seems to have discovered Ableton
Live and plays around with a minimal set of sine wave like loops per track.
They loop around, in varying lengths. Highly minimal in approach, but it
works out pretty well. That is: most of the times. Named 'Harmonic Sector
1', 'Harmonic Sector 2' and 'Harmonic Sector 3' etc, there is a strong sense
of homogeneity among the tracks, which makes that sometimes one has the idea
one is listening to a similar track made from the same source material. That
is a pity, since it has some nice ambient glitch music throughout here,
albeit with some repetition among the tracks (FdW)
Address: http://www.deadsealiner.co.uk

ADRIAN SHENTON - THE MEASURING MOMENTS (CDR by Quiet World)
IAN HOLLOWAY & DARREN TATE & BANKS BAILEY - SUMMERLAND (CDR by Quiet World)
IAN HOLLOWAY - A LONELY PLACE (CDR by Quiet World)
Of the three new releases on Ian Holloway's Quiet World label, two new
names. The first one is Adrian Shenton, whose music on 'The Measuring
Moments' isn't exactly quiet, even when he gathers much of his inspiration
from the world of drone and ambient music. It seems to me that Shenton wants
to create well rounded pieces rather than a free flow, long term ambient
piece. He plays ten relatively short pieces, which owe, structure wise more
to a 'song' than to a bigger 'piece'. Shenton doesn't always succeed in what
he wants and some pieces are a bit too easily made. But on other occasions
he manages to play a nice piece of ambient music, mainly using (software?)
synthesizers, of a somewhat darker kind. I am not sure if this is his first
release, but (hope no insult is made here) its a most promising start.
Labelowner Ian Holloway has two releases. The first one is a work he created
with Darren Tate (of Ora fame) playing guitar and one Banks Bailey providing
him with field recordings. They don't play together as such but Holloway
uses recordings of both to create five pieces of ambient drone music, even
when the opening piece has a glitch like rhythm. Don't let this fool you, as
this disc is mostly made of ambient drones, duck recordings and, perhaps a
second surprise and one that fits the scope, a more improvised guitar
playing by Tate occasionally. Quite a nice release, with some surprises and
stepping away, even just a little bit, from the world of 'just' drone music.
That's something I always like.
On Holloway's solo release 'A Lonely Place' he continues his previous
releases of drone music, but here too a small shift can be noted. Holloway
plays guitar here and mixes them with manipulated sounds thereof into a
single piece of thirty-nine minutes of music. Here too a certain element of
improvisation seems to leap it, making this is a little bit - but only
marginally I'd say - different than the other work that is available under
the banner of 'ambient drone' music, even when this comes closer to it than
the release with Tate and Banks. Certainly it seems to me that Holloway is
somebody who looks beyond the horizon and is eager to make small but
necessary changes in ambient drone music - and it's about time, I'd say.
(FdW)
Address: http://www.quietworld.co.uk

THIS WINDOW (CDR, private)
THE STRIGGLES - EXPRESSIONISM (CDR by Noise Appeal Records)
SCISSOR SHOCK - SYNONYM FOR THE WORD DECAY (?)
The wrong corner this is: Vital Weekly doesn't review demo's for a start.
The only reason why I mention This Window is that I remember reviewing them
in the days when Vital Weekly was a magazine and that I used some kind words
on it. But This Window is a rock band and unfortunately Vital Weekly has
drifted far away from music like this. They will have two new CDs in the
future, but this is not the place to see a review of them, nor of the demo.
Then there is The Striggles, 'Expressionism' on Noise Appeal Records. They
don't play noise, even when perhaps they might think otherwise. Captain
Beefheart like 'madness', oops 'expressionist' music of free form rock
music. Also nothing for these pages.
On the Scissor Shock page there is a lot scribbled and if mister reviewer is
prepared to do a course in reading handwriting? No he isn't. One Adam Cooley
and Aaron Booe play twelve tracks of improvised drum machine beating and
adding weird sounds from guitars, xylophone, marimba, trombone, double bass
and such like, all in a totally free mode. Actually this is 'Vital' music
indeed, but the presentation is so lame that it should be ignored, me
thinks. Release it properly and send me a new copy so I can check it. I have
not even clue wether this is a CDR or a MP3 release. I think the latter.
(FdW)
Address: http://www.m4tr.co.uk
Address: http://www.noiseappeal.com
Address: http://www.myspace.com/scissorshock

LAWRENCE ENGLISH /JEPH JERMAN (3"CDR by Compost And Heigth)
A new label this Compost and Height, with a simple but effective packaging.
They kick off with a release by Lawrence English and Jeph Jerman. English
continues his explorations of the sea started (?) on 'Study For Stradbroke'
(see Vital Weekly 631) with another piece for hydrophonic recordings, with a
strong focus here on the grain of the ocean. Water collides against the
surface and the microphones pick it up in a somewhat crude way, making this
less of a subtle piece of soundscaping but all the more interesting. Jeph
Jerman's piece is something different than his usual line of work too.
Normally he plays small objects without amplification, but here he created a
piece using recordings of meteorities, sferics and radio emmissions from
Saturn. Sounds from space set into a piece of dark drone like material which
could be a plane coming over, along with crackle and rattle. Air and ground
make a great pair on this release. Seems like an appropriate start for a
label called Compost and
Height. (FdW)
Address: http://www.compostandheight.blogspot.com

MICHEAL JOHNSEN - UNTITLED (3"CDR, private)
MICHEAL JOHNSEN - UNTITLED (3"CDR, private)
From Pittsburgh is one Micheal Johnsen, who
privately released these two 3" CDR releases, which are kind of hard to
separate - just the cover and information on it, make them different, but
neither one has a title or even a proper artist name on it - room for
improvement there. The first one is 'live electronic sound made by the
tuning and spatial manipulation of two closely spaced portable AM radios
having loopstick antennae, the resulting signal undergoing mild output
processing, primarily filtering and gating'. Even when the result is easily
described as 'mild noise', it's a little bit more than just that. The sound
reminded me of old David Tudor or Gordon Mumma - complex (or perhaps simple)
electronics set in motion and then tweaking and twichting starts; like those
electronic birds you can built from the do it yourself electronic magazine.
The other one is just 'live electronic sound', a twenty-three minute
unedited recording, and sees a continuation of the other one, but it's a
little less in quality also. Squaking electronics, wires being hit, feedback
like sound, but the end result is a little less focussed than the first
one - or perhaps it's a bit too much to swallow right after the first one?
Could also be. Both of them use improvisation and electronics as a starting
point in a modern classical, but very sixties sort of way and that's quite
nice, simply because it's rarely done these days. (FdW)
Address: <johnsenmm@yahoo.com>

HAROLD NONO - THE DEATH OF BARRA (MP3 by Rack & Ruin Records)
Its easy to make jokes about the name, or say wether or not he is inspired
by Luigi (which he is not), but Harold Nono appears here on a Dutch MP3
label called Rack & Ruin, which may suggest noise, but it's not. Nono before
had tracks on Bearsuit Records, works together with Me Raabenstein and with
Hidekazu Wakabayashi. Four tracks here, an extended play that is, of tracks
made electronics and a sampler. Quite dramatic playing with sounds that come
of like film soundtrack, the silence before the killer strikes soundtrack in
'Ham', sampled strings and such like. A bit swollen, this sound, but it
works well in a cinematic approach. Nice stuff, but perhaps at four tracks
its not easy to form a thorough opinion on his music. But nice enough to
want to investigate further. (FdW)
Address: http://www.rackandruinrecords.com

SEGUE - A GLASS DARKLY (MP3 by Resting Bell)
Jordan Sauer is behind the moniker Segue and he hails from Vancouver,
Canada. He plays a variety of instruments, such as 12-string guitar, piano,
violin, melodica, glockenspiel and percussive instruments. His 'A Glass
Darkly' is one twenty-two minute track, which seems to be falling apart in
various parts, sequenced into one track. That is a nice thing, since it
makes a continuos listening, but it also gave me the impression that they
were various pieces 'glued' together as it were. Segue operates in a micro
glitch ambient style, that is represented by labels as 12K/Line, and as such
Segue offers not really much news, but his piece is well produced, with the
all the usual ingredients of hiss, drones, tinkling bells and careful
selected glitches. Nice enough indeed to stand on its own. (FdW)
Address: http://www.restingbell.net
--

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