VITAL WEEKLY
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number 638
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week 32
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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 programm 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
D (CD compilation by Zelphabet)
THE SKULL DEFEKTS - THE DRONE DRUG (CD by Release The Bats) *
STEPHEN FLINN - ARCHITECT OF ADVERSITY (CD by Creative Sources Recordings)
BERNARD FALAISE - CLIC (CD by Ambiances Magnetiques)
SILENCES SUMIRE - RETURN IS SELECTIVE (LP/CD by Ropeadope Digital)
IRONICO ORKESTRA - PASSEGGIATA DEI BUDDIES (CD by Malasartes)
DAMIAN NISENSON TRIO - 3 EN CONCERT (CD by Malasartes)
DAN BURKE & THOMAS DIMUZIO - UPCOMING EVENTS (CD by No Fun Productions) *
ELI KESZLER - R.L.K. (CD by Rel Records) *
ASHLEY PAUL - D.O.L. (CD by Rel Records) *
A CLEANSING ASCENSION (CD by Elevator Bath)
ANDUIN - FOREVER WAITING (CD by Smtg Limited) *
CAUSTIC CASTLE - MAKEPIECE (3"CDR by Smtg Limited) *
MONOLITH ZERO - SOUND FOR DELETED SPACES (3"CDR by Smtg Limited)
PEOPLE WHO DO NOISE (DVD by Cold Hands Video)
TRISTRAM CARY - TRIOS (LP by AKA Records) *
OOPHOI - POTALA (10" by Drone Records)
KAMRAN SADEGHI - THROUGH THICKNESS (CDR by Dragon's Eye Recordings) *
ALIA MUSICA PITTSBURGH - PREMIERE (CDR by Abstract On Black) *
JEREMY BIBLE & JASON HENRY - VECTOR (CDR by Experimedia)
JEREMY BIBLE & JASON HENRY - SHPWRCK (CDR by Experimedia) *
DER EINZIGE - CHEAP MATERIAL MUSIC (CDR by Moriremo Tutti Records) *
HARSHCORE/DER EINZIGE - THE BUJUN FREAK SHOW (CDR by Moriremo Tutti Records)
OVO - VOODOO - REWOORK AND VIDEOO (CDR by Moriremo Tutti Records)
FERVENT - IRGENDWO (3"CDR by Dirty Demos) *
D (CD compilation by Zelphabet)
The Encyclopedia that my parents had was a thing that ran for three years or
so, and every week you got a small portion - like a magazine being
delivered, which you had to make into a book yourself. The poor men's
version, but it was great, because every week I used the read the entire
thing, rather than looking something up. Its a bit the same with Zelphabet,
the series of music by artist with the same first letter, here Damion
Romero, Daniel Menche and Dave Phillips - all three with a lengthy piece.
Damion, once a member of the unforgettable (for some) Slug, presents a very
heavy piece of music here - one long rumble of sound, earpiercing. Menche is
also quite loud, who seems to have taped the sound of a helicopter, or maybe
two, which he mixes together in a very clever way. One has the idea of
standing right next to thing and with the cold wind from the fan on a summer
morning it's a real haunting experience. I could have sworn to have looked
outside and see where the damn thing
was. Great piece. Following these two quite heavy slabs of ongoing noise,
following the cut 'n paste music of Dave Phillips. He too plays noise, but
they arrive in finely sliced blocks, intercepted by silence and crack 'n
boom that has become the trademark of Runzelstirn & Gurgelstock, of which
Phillips is a member. Field recordings, outdoor and indoor, heavy machine
recordings and things subtle or otherwise, make an intense piece of music.
Another fine addition to this slow growing encyclopedia of noise music.
(FdW)
Address: http://www.zelphabet.com
THE SKULL DEFEKTS - THE DRONE DRUG (CD by Release The Bats)
The two members of The Skull Defekts work as such since 2005, but both their
musical history dates back to a lot of older Swedish bands, such as Kid
Commando, Alvars Orkester, Union Carbide Productions, The Members of
Tinnitus, Trapdoor Fucking Exit, Cortex, 8 Days Of Nothing and more - not
that they are all familiar here. The two members, also both active as solo
musicians, are Joachim Nordwall (a.k.a. The Idealist) and Henrik Rylander.
They play drone music, or rather in their words 'The Skull Defekts is all
about R H Y T H M, repetition and all energies in sound'. The Skull Defekts
don't play nice, atmospheric drone music with that nice touch of ambiance to
it. It's the pitch black opposite version they play, the nightmare take, the
industrial, polluted kind of drone music. Deep, heavy bass like sound
pressing against your ears - even without headphones - and high pitched,
feedback like sound that cause that immediate headache. The rhythm cycles
are very fast, so fast that they
become a drone. This is not music to play 'soft' and let it gently fill your
atmosphere, but this is music to be played loud, in a dark room and the
volume should be set to level which doesn't allow any escape. No easy music,
but top heavy drone music. The instruments? Clueless. Machines (of any kind,
musical and non musical) I guess, fed through a line of sound effects and
maybe analogue synthesizers. What do I care? It hardly music that one can
think straight: that is the level of immersion here. Very nice stuff - even
when that sounds like a conflicting term. (FdW)
Address: http://www.releasethebats.com
STEPHEN FLINN - ARCHITECT OF ADVERSITY (CD by Creative Sources Recordings)
Creative Sources Recordings is a prestigious label from Portugal dedicated
to improvised music that concentrates on investigations in sound and
textures. 'Architect of Adversity' of the American percussionist Stephen
Flinn is no exception to this. You may have met Flinn earlier in Vital
Weekly in my review of 'Square Circle' (Pax Recordings) that he created
together with Noah Philips and Tim Perkis. He is playing professionally
already for more then 20 years all over the world, but spends most of his
time writing, performing and teaching in Scottsdale, Arizona. On his new CD
'Architect of Adversity' he is all on his own. 14 tracks that were recorded
on two occasions are presented here - not unimportant to know - with no
overdubs or whatever. Flinn plays drums and percussion, plus voice.
Listening to his CD it is clear that he uses an extensive set of percussive
objects that he treats in equally manifold ways. Pieces develop and unfold
in different ways. Sometimes through making use
of
a pattern that is varied and extended during the piece (cyclic). Sometimes
each step is a new one (linear). In a track like the first one,
'Magistrate', it is unbelievable that this is created live on percussion. If
I were told it is a tapemanipulation of prerecorded music and sounds, I
would immediately believe it. So this exemplifies the talent of this
percussionist. Forget the traditional sounds coming from drums and
percussion. You won't hear them here. He makes you forget how he generated
the music that is - in result - a truly abstract music. Each improvisation
is built around its own idea and worked out by different percussive objects.
In 'Jewels In My Teeth' he uses deep and low sounds. Sometimes like in
'Heart so Strong' it is as if a melody is hidden in the music. At other
moments the music makes the impression of some old machine or mill, that
makes all kinds of noises due to its old age and all the dirt between the
wheels. Just listen to 'Violet Bank'. In the track 'Money
Punch' Flinn concludes his research with the most noisy and loud
improvisation on this album. 'Architect of Adversity' has much to offer. It
is a rich an varied album of an accomplished player with unusual musical
visions for a percussionist. (DM)
Address: http://www.creativesourcesrec.com/
BERNARD FALAISE - CLIC (CD by Ambiances Magnetiques)
Fantastic to have a record like this produced in these days. I will explain
what I mean by 'this', but let me first introduce you to Bernard Falaise.
This Montréal born guitarist and composer wrote music for the Ensemble
contemporain de Montréal (ECM) and several other ensembles. Also he created
music for exhibitions, television, theatre and dance. As a musician he is
known for his many contributions to projects of M.F.Cote like Klaxon Gueule
and Mecha Fixes Clocks. And I also would like to remind you of his work with
Miriodor and Papa Boa. These references may give you a first indication of
what we have to expect on 'Clic': it is fair to say that Falaise has a
strong interest for new forms of rockmusic. And yes, this is also the case
for his new soloproject 'Clic'. His second one after 'Do' released in 2000.
For 'Clic' Falaise is assisted by Gordon Allen (trumpet), Jean Derome
(saxes, flutes), Lori Freedman (clarinets), Julien Grégoire (marimba), Jean
Martin (drums, percussion) and
Tom Walsh (trombone). Falaise himself plays guitars, banjos, etc. He wrote
13 compositions that came into being in the context of a pure
studio_project. The musicians didn't actually play together simultaneously,
but only one after another, with little room for improvisation. Complex
music, almost impossible to perform live according to Falaise, because of
the complex tempi, but one wishes it would be possible. In his own words:
"With 'Clic', what I wanted to do was to experiment with unusual metronomic
applications. For instance, the ever_changing tempo in Yéti; the
superimposed tempi in Mule, Thon, Neuf, and Fête; the tempo changes in Neuf,
etc. Also, Watt and Clic feature two_part canons, each with its own tempo."
Falaise mentions Aksak Maboul, Anthony Braxton, Captain Beefheart, Franco
Donatoni, Les Granules, Conlon Nancarrow, Igor Stravinsky, and Robert Wyatt
as points of reference. Falaise brings new life to the avant rock genre that
is not allergic for melody and harmony. In a
way he continues where groups like Henry Cow stopped. One can hear that he
takes the advantages of new technology and musical principles. He must
clearly feel at home in company of groups like Blast, Miriodor, and not to
forget Albert Marcoeur. His music is accessible and complex at the same
time. The pieces have beautiful arrangements, a strong drive and are full of
unsuspected twists. Because of the recording process we must also mention
that Falaise did a great job in mixing it. An impressive and important album
from a true talent. I hope it takes not another seven years for his next
album! (DM)
Address: http://www.actuellecd.com/
SILENCES SUMIRE - RETURN IS SELECTIVE (LP/CD by Ropeadope Digital)
Behind the mysterious name Silences Sumire hide Charles Gorczynski and
Thomas Faulds, a Chicago-based duo. Their first release got the even more
mysterious title 'Return is Selective'.
No thoughts about what might be the idea behind it. Gorczynski is also
involved in the project Colorlist. Their excellent CD 'List' I reviewed
several Weekly's back. Again this new album is a nice surprise, albeit close
to what we already heard from Colorlist. Both gentlemen play electronic and
acoustic instruments, not specified on the cover. But is evident that the
prominent and very recognizable saxophone playing comes from Gorczynski. For
this project they received help from Tabitha Rae Lydon (vocals), Chris
Merrill (bass), David Keller (cello), Elliot Ross (guitar), Katie Wiegman
(vibraphone), Matthew Golombisky (acoustic bass), Tobias Kaemmerer
(trumpet), Anthony Abbinanti (bass clarinet), Tyler Beach (guitar), Dave
Miller (guitar). The music of Silences Sumire comes from the same musical
inspirations as Colorlist. The term ambient-jazz describes it may be the
best. Both Gorczynski and Faulds have their background in jazz and
improvised music. But more then Colorlist, Silences
Sumire enters modern pop-territories by the extensive use of electronic
beats. Yes, with the saxes and other wind instruments on the on hand, and
the electronic beats on the other, we have the main ingredients of this
music. They are delicately combined and interwoven by tasty sounds coming
from other acoustic and electronics sources. They are absolutely successful
in blending acoustical instruments and electronics together into an organic
unity. Carefully everything is assembled into a very human music that is
more then the sum of its constituting parts. This is supplemented with a
good sense for melodic aspects. They don't seek interesting dissonance or
alienated juxtapositions. Instead harmony is their thing. Friendly and
uplifting music that is created with a clear concept in mind and heart. (DM)
Address: http://www.ropeadope.com/
IRONICO ORKESTRA - PASSEGGIATA DEI BUDDIES (CD by Malasartes)
DAMIAN NISENSON TRIO - 3 EN CONCERT (CD by Malasartes)
Two new CDs from the small Malasartes label run by Damian Nisenson. Like
most CDs released on this label, the cd by the Ironico Orkestra is by a duo:
Luzio Altobelli (accordeon, melodica) and Guillaume Bourque (clarinets). For
their debut they took inspiration from traditional folk music of italian,
jewish or other origin. Altobelli was active in the Montréal scene with his
group Manouche for more than eight years. If the name does not mislead us, a
group that focused on Django Reinhardt-like gipsy music. We find him also on
Fanfare Pourpour recordings. With 'Passeggiata dei buddies' he releases his
first cd with this duo that was formed in 2004. Guillaume Bourque was also
member of Manouche. Later he often participated in projects of Robert Marcel
Lepage and Jean Derome. The duo performed at the Montréal Jazz Festival in
2005. So they had already an history together when they went to the studio
for the recording of this album in 2007. Half of the compositions are by
Altobelli, the
other half by Bourque. The cd opens with 'Paseggiata I' with unisono
playing, quickly here after they take different roots, in order to return to
unisono passages later. The combination of accordeon and clarinets works out
okay. Both of them are good players. And many of their compositions are
catchy. In spite of all these positive aspects, the cd failed to attract my
attention from beginning to end. In some way it is all to thin. The same
pieces re-arranged for a bigger ensemble would satisfy me more. More depth
and interplay would be gained then.
Nisenson with his trio delivers us a more engaging melting pot and he has
his biographical reasons for doing so. We will come to that later. Besides
Nisenson himself on saxes, we hear Pierre Tanguay (drums) and Jean Félix
Mailloux (bass), plus three guests: Ziya Tabassian (percussion) , Luza
Altobelli (accordeon) and Denis Plante (bandonéon). Most compositions are by
Damian Nisenson himself. We hear a live registration dating from december
2007.
Nisenson takes his inspiration from Eastern Europe and Jewish music
traditions. We hear many motives that sound familiar with we have heard
before on so many klezmer records. Nisenson who grew up in Argentina is of
jewish origin. In his youth he was surrounded by an older generation that
spoke yiddish. But later he drifted away from his jewish roots. Only much
later his jewish roots came back in his thoughts. "And one day I asked
myself another question: what would the Jewish music have become if the
Shoa - the Holocaust - had not taken place?" We will never know of course.
But with this project Nisenson gives in fact his answer to this question by
giving room to the jewish culture that is part of his biography.
It is not the kind of project that tries to reconstruct as pure as possible
the 'original' klezmer music, whatever that may be. Nisenson let his jewish
motives loosely interfere with other musical traditions that formed
Nisenson. With a guest on bandéneon, Denis Plante, it is evident that he
also gives room to his Argentinean background. In 'Paspire' his Argentinean
roots dominate and the beautiful duet between sax and bandonéon bring that
old record by Astor Piazzola and Gerry Mulligan to my mind. 'Chanson de rue'
is opened with a Bo Diddly like riff, stating that also rock and roll is a
relevant tradition for Nisenson. In the last track - but also in others -
Nisenson tries to play like in the typical manner of jewish clarinetplayers,
making clear that is above all that Nisenson wants to speak with a jewish
voice on this satisfying record. Satisfying because he gives not a boring
reproduction of klezmer music, but because he proves that klezmer
ingredients mixed with other
influences result in interesting and vivid music that appeal to many. (DM)
Address: http://www.malasartesmusique.com/
DAN BURKE & THOMAS DIMUZIO - UPCOMING EVENTS (CD by No Fun Productions)
The releases by No Fun Productions have certainly been fun, but mainly for
the reviewer of all things heavy heavy noise concerned. Today I could inform
him of the next four releases that are out, but only three will make it his
way. I am quite surprised to see a release by Dan Burke and Thomas Dimuzio
on this label, simply for the fact that I know these boys can make a hell of
a racket, but the main idea is never about the just the noise itself. A good
piece of noise isn't just loud, it's dynamic - it can be loud for sure, but
its the interaction between loudness and silence that separates good noise -
well at least for me. Thomas Dimuzio, who has some pretty strong solo
records, as well as collaborations with Fred Frith, Chris Cutler, Arcane
Device and Matmos teams up with my personal hero of American's underground
'noise' music Dan Burke, who is mostly known as the main man of Illusion Of
Safety, but who sometimes works under his own name - such as previously with
Dimuzio and with
Kevin Drumm. In 2004 the two played three nights in a row at the Luggage
Store Gallery in San Francisco, which are now edited into fifteen startling
pieces of 'noise' music. Take 'Operative': a near silent piece of a few
samples - I bet none of the kids would classify that as noise, but the old
man does (no reason why he should know better of course). These two, also
older men, play a variety of devices such as laptop, objects, live sampling,
feedback and 'sound sources' and create with that, of course in an edit,
almost an hour worth of music that is highly vivid, dynamic, bouncing from
'loud' to 'quiet' with sheer elegance. They know what they are doing, which
is sometimes questionable from their younger peers. Intense, listenable,
cinematic. Quiet can be the loud, and loud can be the quiet - if someone can
proof that point then its Thomas Dimuzio and Dan Burke and 'Upcoming Events'
is exhibit a. Boys and girls - take notice. (FdW)
Address: http://www.nofunfest.com
ELI KESZLER - R.L.K. (CD by Rel Records)
ASHLEY PAUL - D.O.L. (CD by Rel Records)
Both this label and its artists are all new to me. Eli Keszler's 'R.L.K.'
release was already released as a CDR in 2007 but is now out of print. This
CD version marks both his first official CD, as well as the first CD for REL
Records. Keszler plays guitar, percussions and electronics on the three
untitled tracks that make up 'R.L.K.'. I assume this will not happen in real
time (but you never know), but through a process of multi-tracking. The
guitar is solo present in the second track, the full thing is in the first
and the last track. Even when this is done through multi tracking, this
still maintains quite an improvised character. In an odd way I was reminded
of Dean Roberts' early CDs for Mille Plateaux, perhaps a bit less involved
with electronics. I must say I liked the two shorter pieces with all
instruments involved a little better than the longer solo guitar piece,
which seemed a bit too regular for me, but the other pieces certainly had a
fine somewhat unique style to it,
which could have been explored more on this otherwise short CD.
Also with an abbreviation comes the CD by Ashley Paul, 'D.O.L.'. She
performed with Loren Connors, Aki Onda and Greg Kelley, with Phill Niblock
as well as Anthony Coleman. She combines improvisation and more modern
classical music. She plays a variety of instruments, such as saxophones,
clarinet, bells, crotales, guitar, percussion and voice. Eight pieces on her
CD, which start out in a very promising way with sustaining, almost singing
overtones, which will later re-occur as the music evolves. However there are
also pieces in which she sings and plays more improvised tunes, and I must
say I thought these pieces were less convincing to me. It sounded recorded a
bit far away from the microphone, like a microphone in a room approach,
which made things a bit remote for me. Her music worked best if she played
whatever sustaining sound she could produce on whatever instrument and let
those pieces work out. Its hard to say much that was, but it seemed to me
some fifty/fifty here. I might
be
wrong of course with this division, but I found half the CD to be really
good, and one half to be mildly interesting. (FdW)
Address: http://www.relrecords.net
A CLEANSING ASCENSION (CD by Elevator Bath)
The compilation of the week is 'A Cleansing Ascension', which is to
celebrate ten years of Elevator Bath, which bears catalogue number 040,
which means an average of four releases a year. That may not seem much, but
why say more if you want to say fine things? Exactly my point, there are too
many mediocre releases. Elevator Bath's releases span all sorts of formats,
from 7"s and LPs to CDRs and CDs. The ten artists gathered on this disc may
be regarded as the current bunch 'signed' (a term not appropriate to the
world of Elevator Bath, but you get my drift, I hope) to the label and it
makes quite a coherent family. The pieces move along the very fine line of
ambient music, sound scapes, drones and modern electronics. The exact
definition of each might be hard to give, but fact is that there are vital
and subtle differences between the pieces. It may require some insight to
tell these differences, but they are there. None of these pieces is weak or
even remotely weak, as all of them
are quite good. But there is also no track that really makes the big jump
and leaps ahead of the rest. Perhaps in a showcase like this, this is also
not really necessary. The ten that create this birthday bash are Matt
Shoemaker, Adam Pacione, Jim Haynes, Keith Berry, Rick Reed, Dale Lloyd,
Colin Andrew Sheffield, Francisco Lopez, James Eck Rippie and Tom Recchion.
If this is a new label for you, then you should definitely seek it out.
(FdW)
Address: http://www.elevatorbath.com
ANDUIN - FOREVER WAITING (CD by Smtg Limited)
CAUSTIC CASTLE - MAKEPIECE (3"CDR by Smtg Limited)
MONOLITH ZERO - SOUND FOR DELETED SPACES (3"CDR by Smtg Limited)
This is my first introduction to the Smtg Limited label, which releases on
all sorts of formats, from CDs and LPs to 3"CDRs. On a CD we find Jonathan
Lee who is Anduin. He's a member of Souvenir's Young America, whom I don't
know. Partners in crime are the usual suspects of electronics, field
recordings, a bit of rhythm and lots of ambiance. He likes things to be
moody, dark and atmospheric. Music that would be called 'ambient industrial'
two decades ago. Anduin does a neat job at playing similar music:
electronics and field recordings bump into piano and violin, all drenched in
a bit too much of reverb. The music is actually quite alright, but a bit
faceless: this could be anything by say Voice Of Eye, some Illusion Of
Safety or Yen Pox - for all I remember. Anduin produced some very nice stuff
in a way that the same kind wasn't produced in the late 80s, but doesn't try
(or doesn't succeed) in producing anything that he call his own. It sounds a
bit like too much by someone else,
which is a pity. That aside its very fine nocturnal music - to be played in
the dark.
On a smaller disc we find Caustic Castle's 'Makepiece', which he created
with one Clifford Schwing on soprano saxophone. Caustic Castle himself plays
what is called 'electronics' - I suspect this to be a laptop, picking up the
signals by Schwing, which he then processes. The first few minutes are taken
by sustaining tones from the saxophone, producing overtones. When that is
over things move into a more abstract land: a collage of all sort of sounds
produced by the saxophone, not just by blowing it, but also hitting it,
touching, rubbing etc. All of this is nicely transformed in a microsound
like manner and Caustic Castle produced a really fine piece with these sound
elements, along the lines of say Roel Meelkop.
Adam Hudson is the man behind Monolith Zero and here things get a bit more
noise based, even when only later in the piece. Monolith Zero is a
minimalist in terms of drone and noise. The first half of his 'Sound For
Deleted Spaces' is in a relatively low drone manner, but then things have
warmed up and the sound starts bursting out. Machine drones, I'd say, but
unfortunately this piece doesn't have enough on offer to be completely
interesting. Once Hudson gets to the point he wants to make, he stays there
for too long without much change. The various elements he uses in this piece
could, when a bit more condensed, be quite nice, but now is a bit too long.
(FdW)
Address: http://smtgltd.com
PEOPLE WHO DO NOISE (DVD by Cold Hands Video)
Whenever television brings some documentary on anything music related I
usually watch. Just very recently I saw a great documentary on Meat Loaf's
recent tour, although I can't imagine music that I dislike than Meat Loaf's.
Get my drift? Somehow I don't think 'People Who Do Noise' will be shown on
Dutch TV, but you never know, right? This 82 minute documentary concentrates
on people who do noise and who are from Portland, Oregon. I am hardly an
expert on communities and such like, and from the twenty-four hours that I
was in Portland, in 1993 (!), I thought it was a nice small city with two
great bands/persons playing the same evening, where I was asked what the
admission should be, which was odd by US standard I thought. The band that
also played was the already legendary Smegma (which for years was cause for
bewilderment: Smegma opened up for you?) and then upcoming young noise maker
Daniel Menche. Both are still legendary - or rather even more legendary,
still from Portland and
both present on this DVD documentary by Adam Cornelius. Lots of talking
heads and bits of concert. But Menche is the true hero of this saga. He
doesn't speak, but shows us a few lines about noise and then is followed by
a live cut at a totally different location than most of the others - more
light, more rock show venue whereas the others are filmed in a small club
called Foodhole, naked, without lights. That hardly gives the idea of a
'concert' but rather a presentation of the music. That is a pity I thought.
We see lots of solo acts, with a small table filled with a mixer, some
looping devices, and a microphone stuffed up various mouths. The ones that
are really different, in set-up, clothing, as a band is of course Smegma.
Despite all the noise and feedback of the others, despite their various
intentions (ranging from 'a good time' to 'apocalyptic visions'), most of
these people seem to operate within the existing boundaries of what is
thought to be noise and Smegma with their
toys, instruments (wind instruments, drums, guitar), turntable and hippie
clothing play music that is much more free, and perhaps dealing with 'noise'
that the confined in a more rigid field. The line that runs through most of
the interviews is this: is noise the new punk?, which most of the musicians
answer with yes. Of course, I'd say. Punk became popmusic, marketed and all
that, but didn't the same happened to 'noise'? There are noise artists who
release endless amounts of CDs, fly all over the world and who are
worshipped like idols. So is noise the new popmusic? Just my two cents.
Something else that I thought was note worthy: all of the bands, none
excluded, was the improvised nature of all of the music. None of the people
seemed to be interested in actually composing a piece of music, or work
along something that was thought out before. Apparently the spontaneous
character of this kind of music is something that is the most important
thing. Filmed naked, with much theatrical lightning, these boys and one girl
(Kitty Midwife) show what they do, and why they do it. I already liked
Smegma, Menche, Pulse Emitter and Yellow Swans and it was nice to hear them
speak on the subject of noise and the city of Portland and see them play
live, just like it was to see the others, but there I must admit I didn't
become a fan straight away. But watching music being made and people talking
about it, is always a nice thing. Better than TV. (FdW)
Address: http://www.peoplewhodonoise.com
TRISTRAM CARY - TRIOS (LP by AKA Records)
April 24th of this year Tristram Oglivie Cary died at the age of 81. He was
a composer of electronic music since the early post second world war days,
composed classical music and provided music for say Doctor Who. The work
here, 'Trios' was composed in 1971 and on record there is a 2006 performance
by Vincent Epplay and Samon Takahashi. The work is for the EMS VCS3 synths
and two gramophone records. For whatever reason that is highly irrelevant I
listened to this on headphones and the record sounded great. Many stereo
effects rolled about, lots of deep, analogue synth sounds, and scratches and
peeps from the turntables. As far as I understand the small print of this,
this is a composition with a somewhat character - very much a product of its
time, I'd say. It leaves the players to be somewhat free in making decisions
how to perform it, and the two players do a really great job. Its not some
sterile pieces (or rather six in total) of oscillators humming, but partly a
continuos piece
of music, even with some rhythm, like a raw form of Pan Sonic, and glissandi
rolling about. One could even say that some of this sounds like microsound
or glitch, but it's most likely it's not. Quite an exciting record! (FdW)
Address: http://artkillart.tk/
OOPHOI - POTALA (10" by Drone Records)
In Drone records' series "Substantia Innominata" (music dedicated to the
unknown, for instance music for the unthinkable, the unidentifiable etc's)
Oöphoi presents this luscious 10 inch album. Oöphoi is the nom-du-plu of
Gianluigi Gasparetti who, as his name suggests, hails from Italy. He
released his first album Three Lights At The End Of The Sun in 1995,
concentrating on what is known as "deep space ambient". Utilizing
synthesizers, sampling and an array of singing bowls, flutes, processed
percussion and voices, his work certainly is exemplary of this genre. To
some, this kind of music may just sound as undecipherable sounds in washes
of reverb, but that would be missing the point. This album, which is pressed
on the greenest of green vinyl, is actually very good. Although the sides
are not indicated, I like side A (which was the first side I played) best.
Here Gasparetti creates a beautiful long piece, which would be perfect as
the soundtrack to the Donnie Darko movie. Reverbed
breathing and (I admit undecipherable) sounds make up this side. The second
side is more diverse and generally of a lighter quality than the other
piece. Still, both pieces are highly enjoyable with full marks for the first
side. Potala is the name of the palace of the Dalai Lama and it will come as
no surprise that the music is dedicated to him and his struggle for freedom
from the Chinese government. In these Olympic times, a worthy cause. Limited
to 500 copies (FK).
Address: http://www.dronerecords.de
KAMRAN SADEGHI - THROUGH THICKNESS (CDR by Dragon's Eye Recordings)
Until now Kamran Sadeghi was better known under the banner of Son Of Rose,
and as such we reviewed a work from him in Vital Weekly 577. Back then I
thought this to be Taylor Deupree on speed or Fennesz on tranquilizers, but
throughout a fine listening. 'Through Thickness' however sees him in the
shadow of somebody else. Its a work that is part of the Kha series, which is
the Sanskrit word for 'zero', and this series arose 'from a growing interest
in exploring rhythm'. The new heroes are now Alva Noto and Ryoji Ikeda. Deep
bass sounds, high end 'melody', scratchy breaks - all the ingredients of
both are packed into the music of Sadeghi here. Whereas with the previous
release I could say something like 'speed up Deupree' or 'slowed down'
Fennesz, it's actually quite hard to say something similar here, as things
do match up quite closely to the music of Alva Noto or Ikeda. Maybe a bit
more sample heavy here and there and maybe the tempo is occasionally a bit
faster, but by and large it'
s
the same thing throughout. Although one could argue that lots of bands use
guitars, and some laptop musicians create rhythm from sine waves, it's here
a bit too much of a copy what we already know and explored already very
well - also by their older copyists. Its was nice, but very old hat. (FdW)
Address: http://www.dragonseyerecordings.com
ALIA MUSICA PITTSBURGH - PREMIERE (CDR by Abstract On Black)
Sometimes I wished I knew more than what I know now, so I could put nice
things in the right perspective. And you know I'm hopeless at my job - well
sometimes that is. Alia Musica Pittsburgh is a 'composer based ensemble',
meaning that they perform musical pieces composed by the various members of
the ensemble. They exist for about a year, but all of these performers have
no doubt a classical training in playing and composing. The instruments
include flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, soprano saxophone, horn, piano,
percussion, harp, violin, viola and cello - although not all have a role to
play in these pieces. They play modern classical music. And that's where I
dive deep in the hole of knowing nothing. I wished my father would have been
around, so I could ask him to reflect on this (writing books on Dvorak and
Bartok would acquire him some more expert knowledge). This seems to me, but
again what do I know, modern in the early twentieth century, French
classical music. Think Satie,
Ravel, Debussy and other members of the Groupe de Six. Its nothing earth
shaking, ground breaking, strange and unlistenable modern classical music,
but quite gentle music, at times introspective, at other times joyful and
cheerful. I have no idea if this something truly unique, part of a tradition
or absolute rubbish. I can tell that I quite enjoyed the music that is on
offer here, even for someone who is not listening to music like this on any
sort of regular basis. And perhaps this not knowing is what makes that I
like it very much. (FdW)
Address: http://www.abstractonblack.com
JEREMY BIBLE & JASON HENRY - VECTOR (CDR by Experimedia)
JEREMY BIBLE & JASON HENRY - SHPWRCK (CDR by Experimedia)
Two new artists I think (with the amount of music arriving everyday one
can't always be sure), this time from Ohio, are Jeremy Bible and Jason
Henry, who are closely connected to probably their own label Experimedia
(ok, I reviewed music by Bible before in Vital Weekly 586). Two nice
packages (glossy fold out prints) hold two of their recent releases. From
the website I gather they "seek to expose a synergetic relationship between
real world found sounds, acoustic instrumentation, and electronic sound
design" and more than once such terms as 'painting' and 'images' are used.
The language used on the website might be a bit swollen, but these two men
do a nice job at what they do. Hardly surprising by any account, as both of
these discs contain music that could go down as 'experimental', 'ambient' or
'drone', or anything that is a combination of these words. There are large
chunks of field recordings to be spotted around here, sometimes almost
'clean', but at other times highly
processed. Some of the techniques involved sometimes are bit dull, like time
stretching, but throughout I must admit they do a fine job. Listening to
both in a row is perhaps a bit much, but I must say if I had to choose a
favorite from these two, I think 'Shpwrck' would be it. It's a little more
diverse in approach, with a more varying input in sounds, instruments and
sound processing. Both dwell a bit too much on the use of reverb, but such
is unfortunately a common place in this kind of music. Quite enjoyable late
night music. (FdW)
Address: http://www.experimedia.net/
DER EINZIGE - CHEAP MATERIAL MUSIC (CDR by Moriremo Tutti Records)
HARSHCORE/DER EINZIGE - THE BUJUN FREAK SHOW (CDR by Moriremo Tutti Records)
OVO - VOODOO - REWOORK AND VIDEOO (CDR by Moriremo Tutti Records)
These three releases were received with rather mixed feelings. The first is
a re-issue of what I believe was a cassette release from 1994, with the
earliest recordings of Hue, also known as Matteo Iggeri, when he used the
name Der Einzige, together with Icci, Daniele Albricci that is. The title of
their release is probably the program of the music: using vinyl, tapes,
turntables, headphones as microphones and a slow 386 PC to create their
music, with a big sense of irony? The 'sell' it as 'harsh noise' but it's
not really harsh. Of course there is feedback and bits of noise, but its
never any really loud or over the top noise based. Its in fact a bit more
improvised, in a rather lo-fi manner. Not always great, and it could surely
have used a bit more editing here and there, but throughout things are quite
nice and Der Einzige follows different paths to make things enjoyable.
Der Einzige is also present on a split CDR with Harshcore, the duo of
Tommaso Clerico (bass, effects, trumpet, voices) and Luca Sigurta (samples,
rhythms, electronics, objects, effects). Here too, in both bands, the same
sense of lo-fi experimentation counts, but in all eight pieces the music is
much more concise to the point. Judging by both sound quality and
composition this seems to be more recent work by Der Einzige. Improvised on
all sorts of instruments, these two bands have a closely connected style of
weird, outsider like music. Because its so different than the usual music
reviewed here, and yet strangely familiar this is the best out of three.
The final release is a compilation, always a tough thing to review. It has
mainly, but no exclusive, Italian artists who do reworks of the 'Miastenia'
record by Ovo, which we didn't review. That makes it a bit hard to judge the
remixes, if one has no clue how the original sounded. It has lots of
singing, that's for sure, and lots of 'free playing around it'. It deems to
me that its not an easy task to create a remix (let alone the question why
this needs to be remixed). Some people add more beats, a bit of piano,
violins and occasionally it leads to interesting pieces, but somehow I have
the feeling they all stay quite close to the original, and for some reason I
don't think its my cup of tea very much. Improvised rock like music, with
'weird' (hohum) vocals. No thanks. (FdW)
Address: http://www.moriremotutti.com
FERVENT - IRGENDWO (3"CDR by Dirty Demos)
If I'm not mistaken Fervent comes from Greece (they can be contacted through
the More Mars label, so that's why I think so), and they have discovered the
glitch. Despite the fact that the cover lists instruments, such as guitar
for track one, voices and korg for the second and guitar, drums, korg
wavestation for the third, it seems to me that these sounds were copied onto
various CDRs, which were then put in those fancy DJ CD players that can be
stopped on a frame and the sound gets looped on that frame. Fervent recorded
variations of this CD skipping process and collated them together into the
three tracks of 'Irgendwo' (which means 'somewhere' in German). The
noise-ness of the latter day Oval comes very close to this. Small melodies
pop up, voices can be detected, but throughout this is a heavily digitally
distorted sound. Despite the fact that it sounds a bit 'old', I must say
that Fervent does quite a nice job in taking the rock band apart and
deconstructs the post rock in
'Blinkinting' in a very nice way. Not bad at all. (FdW)
Address: http://www.dirtydemos.co.uk
1. From: "Sietse Van Erve" <sietse.van.erve@gmail.com>
Zomeravonden
August 13-17th.
Festival Organized by and at a new theatre in Maastricht, The
Netherlands: AINSI.
In and around an old factory there will be workshops, art performances,
exhibitions, theatre, dance and live music. There will be food, drinks and
much more.
The music program will be late in the evening and early night.
The Line Up is:
13/8 21.30 uur Brievenbusruimte: Swerve
13/8 23.00 uur Grote expositieruimte: Reckless Pilots
14/8 21.30 uur Brievenbusruimte: Wouter van Veldhoven
14/8 23.00 uur Grote expositieruimte: Orphax
15/8 21.30 uur Brievenbusruimte: Beequeen
15/8 23.00 uur Grote expositieruimte: Grassmoawers
16/8 21.30 uur Brievenbusruimte: Zonderland
16/8 23.00 uur Grote expositieruimte: Staplerfahrer
Festival Location
AINSI
Lage Kanaaldijk 112-113
6212 NA Maastricht
+3143 3233265
info@zomeravonden.nl
More info available at http://www.zomeravonden.nl/
2. From: incite@gmx.de
fragmented media presents:
BRIAN MITCHELL (US/Berlin)
guitar solo
Tuesday, August 19th
19:30
audiounit
Schulterblatt 78
20357 Hamburg - St.Pauli
Germany
<http://www.audiounit.fragmentedmedia.org/>http://www.audiounit.fragmentedmedia.org
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