home > browse > cd-feature > view article

Vital Weekly 638

  Tobias

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. (Dolf Mulder) 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! (Dolf Mulder) 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. (Dolf Mulder) 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. (Dolf Mulder) 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

 
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

 
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

 
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

The complete Vital Weekly is available at: Vital Weekly