home > browse > cd-feature > view article

Vital Weekly 721

  Tobias

UNS - WHAT DOES THE BRAIN HAVE TO DO WITH IT (2CD by C.I.P.)
You may not immediately recognize the name UNS, but its one of the older pseudonyms used by Z'EV. Back in the days - speaking of the 80s here - Z'EV was the act where he played with metal, Stefan Weisser when doing tape-loop performances. According to 'The Industrial Culture Handbook' UNS is a "band producing "low-tech" rhythms and rants (the vocalist's name is Saul Zev)". There have been a couple of releases in the 80s (according to the same book), and part of his 'Live At Target' contribution is now in full on this two CD documentation of those years. Also in the same book, there is a picture of an UNS performance, where we see Z'EV (which is the preferred way of writing it, not Zev or Z'ev) behind some organ like instrument and a megaphone. As UNS Z'EV deals with poetry and noise music, at least that's how it sounds. C.I.P. already released an UNS CD (see Vital Weekly 174), more than twelve years ago, so its about time more was released. The four tracks that span these two discs are pretty noise, with repeated phrases from either taped voices or Z'EV himself - that is not entirely clear here. It all sounds pretty maniac here, especially the voice stuff. The noise is not really the sort of noise youngsters these days create with their computers, but rather a somewhat lo-fi rumble of piercing sounds, skipping records and staggering blocks of organ sounds. The recording is as to be expected from 1980, 1981 and 1982 not the greatest, but that adds, I guess, to the rawness the music. An excellent re-issue, most needed. And while at it: may I suggest someone writing a book on the work of this man? (FdW)
Address: http://www.cipsite.net

PLINTH - ALBATROSS (CD by Deadslackring)
RICHARD MOULT - ETHE (CD by Deadslackring)
UNITED BIBLE STUDIES - THE SHORE THAT FEARS THE SEA (CD by Deadslackring)
Three examples of atmospheric music. 'Albatross' is the third album by Plinth, the band around Michael Tanner (guitars, harmonium, bowed dulcimer), with the help of Aine O'Dwyer (harp), Richard Moult (piano) and Nick Palmer (piano on one track). Albatross? Fleetwood Mac? Yes, that albatross is at work here. I love that old Fleetwood Mac song (well, all Fleetwood Mac to be honest) and the simple reduction of guitars in that song is the basis of this whole album. Slow music, in which the guitar plays the main part, and the other instruments are used sparsely in the pieces. The desolate feeling of the original lives on, much more extended, in these five pieces. Great atmospheric music. The lonesome road, the empty desert (with one albatross in the sky), a starry night: all those cliche images appears when I hear this. Maybe the music is a cliche too, but let's not care about that. Its just great late night music.
Richard Moult, who plays the piano on the Plinth CD, is a musician, artist and poet from Scotland and was a member of Current 93, United Bible Studies and Black Furlong. 'Ethe' is his first solo CD and he plays the piano. Its all recorded live in St Leonard Parish Church in Hastings, thus using the natural reverb of the church as an additional layer to the music. That sort of atmosphere reminded me of 'The Pearl' by Brian Eno and Harold Budd. Slow, meditative music. Spacious music - not just because of the environment in which this was recorded, but also because of the phrasing used in playing the 88 keys. Following the Plinth release, this is the perfect music to end a day. Even more reduced than Plinth, Moult's music is like a candle that slowly burns. Totally dark at the end, and the night is well on its way.
And finally there is a repress of 'The Shore That Fears The Sea'. It eludes me a bit why I should get another review copy, other than to say its repressed again. Well, boys and girls: its out again, and I have a repress too. The re-press of the review of the review from Vital Weekly 512: "Following Daniel Padden's recent folk excursion, here is another, by United Bible Studied, from Ireland. Originally formed as a duo, these days they are a collective of up to twelve members at a time. They play folk music but with a strong twist into the world of improvisation. Free Improvisation, with twice a capital! The instruments include guitars, theremins, banjo and accordion, and they scrape their way along instrumental tracks as-well as some with vocals. The influence of say Current 93 or Sol Invictus is there, but there is a general lack of percussion, making this much more intimate and even more melancholic. It's in a way close to Vital Weekly when it comes to the improvisational parts of various tracks, but when it's guitar playing and singing it's perhaps to far away. It's music that is hardly heard here, and therefore quite nice." Best to start the evening with this one, then Plinth and then Richard Moult. Warning though: a certain sadness lurks around the corner. Just so you know. (FdW) Address: http://www.deadslackring.com

R.Y.N. - ARCHAIC TECHNIQUES OF ECSTACY (LP by Equation)
The English based R.Y.N. were initially formed a couple of years ago as Goathanger. Realising that this acronym probably wasn't going to make them famous plus the fact that original member Mendez left, the remaining members Burn and Glaister re-christened themselves R.Y.N. in 2003. Over the next couple of years they worked on their debut CD Cosmic Birth (for Turgid Animal records). Their second album Astral Death was released early 2008 (for Unrest records) and these titles should give you some indication of their music. Manipulating sound (often guitars and bass) into an unrecognizable sonic texture is what R.Y.N. are good at. This new album is no exception, but sounds considerably bleaker than their earlier efforts. Two side-long tracks (Provisional Sketch of Mind and the title track) sound like a death carriage rattling through medieval streets. There are echoes of industrial ambience with dark drones that sound like processed field recordings, there is clanging of objects that made me remember to play my Metgumbnerbone album later that evening. The music leaves no room to breathe, which makes for uneasy listening, but then again, that is the whole purpose of this album. Packed in a silk-screened card sleeve with lots of inserts (which, unfortunately, shine little light on this already dark album), this is grim music. Good music, but grim all the same. Great for lonely, depressed late-night listening. In the dark of course. (Freek Kinkelaar)
Address: http://www.chronoglide.com/equation

UNCLE WOODY SULLENDER & SEAMUS CATER - WHEN WE GET TO MEETING (LP by Dead CEO)
A few weeks ago I said that the word 'strange' is one I don't like to use very much, yet the very word pops into my head when hearing this. From New York City we have Woody Sullender, who plays banjo, and from the UK/part Amsterdam the harmonica of Seamus Cater. Banjo and harmonica? Is this then perhaps some folk music? Well, perhaps. But then of the more stranger edges. The playing is all the more improvised, yet both instruments are clearly to be recognized. Sometimes the playing seems standard to me (how would I know with my limited amount of knowledge of the genre at hand), certainly on the first side. The second side seems to me a bit more experimental, or even a bit more improvised, this is perhaps a side I like more. The banjo sounds a bit detuned here, while rambling on in 'The Edge Of A Squall' (I see, quite rightly, the name of Genry Flynt mentioned on the press release), while the harmonica plays more sustained tones. Even for non Vital like music which we receive (like this week no less than 8 CDs of heavy metal from Poland), this is certainly one which deserves the word 'outsider'. Its one of those things which you have no idea what to make of, but you feel instinctively its great and perhaps therefore all the more a great record. Odd but great. An how this will sound live? I'll find out tomorrow when they play at Extrapool. (FdW) Address: http://www.deadceo.com

PALE BLUE SKY - SHADES OF GREY (12" by Arbor Infinity)
Ah, the classic 12" format, four/five tracks, some twenty minutes, 45 rpm, the perfect introduction for a new artist - at least in my formative years, before it was hi-jacked by the techno scene. Behind Pale Blue Sky we find Mike Pollard, who was formerly known as Treetops (or perhaps a member of, this is not clear), and he recorded 'Shades Of Grey' as his debut release. I assume Pollard plays guitar and effects on this release and the result, perhaps as implied in the title, is drone music. Five pieces of long sustaining sounds, although all the five pieces are kept within a reasonable time frame. One could argue that there isn't much difference among these tracks, which is true, but throughout this gentle mood music works quite well. The 12" format suits the amount of material on offer pretty well. More of the same would probably spoil the fun, but this is exactly the right amount. Great full color cover too. Great start. (FdW) Address: http://www.arborinfinity.com

TG - LES BOISSONS GRATUITES/LA NUIT VA RECOMMENCER (7' by Lexi Disques)
This is not Throbbing Gristle, but TG is a French artist living in Brussels. He used to play ambient music using a guitar, but these days is more interested in 'funny and dark, noisy speed/hardcore/gabber live shows', the label writes me. This 7" is neither that nor ambient. TG sings and plays keyboards here. On 'Les Boissons Gratuites' (the free drinks) he gets help from El-g on vocals and solo synth. Its a nice vaguely amateurish popsong, but with great charm. This could, or perhaps should, be an alternative hit. Do they still have alternative charts for stuff like this? If not, they should open that business up again. 'La Nuit Va Recommencer' (the night starts again?) is more noisy song, after a melodic start, with mild distortion due to overload on the keyboard and the microphone. Likewise charmingly amateurish made, and in its somewhat crude approach, a perfect b-side for such an a-side. Lovely package too. (FdW) Address: http://www.lexidisques.net

IAN HOLLOWAY - HANDLE THIS WINO LIKE HE WAS AN ANGEL: BAUBLES & GEWGAWS 2002-2008 (CDR by Quiet World)
As far as I can remember, I think that all of the releases by Ian Holloway had just one track. Usually a drone based piece of around forty minutes. That's about the extend of his work, with minor differences here and there. Then this new release comes a major surprise. Apparently Holloway sometimes creates weird, little pieces on his computer, which he calls 'little diversions, games, distractions and brainstorms' which never fitted on any 'real' release. All of these little pieces were kept over a period of eight years and are now collected here. This is by far not the Holloway we know, no long form drones here, hardly any organ like sound, but something which is probably best defined as plunderphonics. Lifting his sounds from various types of media (CDs, TV, internet: who knows) he cuts and pastes them together in a highly vibrant manner. The CD opens with 'Why M', which seems to be more a click 'n cut piece, but quite soon after orchestral music comes in. Looped, transposed, shifted in true plunderphonic fashion. As said sometimes things are more abstract, in a clicks 'n cut manner, but these tracks are all pretty short. Its a pretty interesting release, but perhaps a bit long for the limited amount of ideas that these pieces have. I think Holloway could have been a bit more selective with these pieces, throw out those with the weakest ideas and over the top effects, like 'Monday's Time', and have with ten or so (instead of fifteen now) a much stronger album. Now its all a bit too sketch like and a bit crowded. I am pretty sure his dedicated fans will be shocked by this release, but I thought it was pretty good as well as funny. (FdW)
Address: http://www.quietworld.co.uk

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF INDUSTRIAL MUSIC VOL. 1 (book & 2 CDR compilation by Impulsy Stetoskopu)
DRILLING A HOLE THROUGH THE SKY - 30 YEARS OF THE HATERS (book & CD by Helicopter)
And what do I do when listening to all this great music? Well, besides active listening and not doing much at all, reading is a great way to pass time. Especially the kind of books which may not require all my attention, books (or magazines) that small blocks of text. You may believe this or not, but I have here three different volumes of the Dutch encyclopedia of popmusic, which I sometimes take off the shelves and then read back to back. Easy, since you can read one bit, put it aside and pick it up later again. So imagine my happiness when I got volume one of the Encyclopedia Of Industrial Music, spanning the letters A, B and C. The word Industrial music should be taken with a pinch of salt: it has also a lemma on ambient, on John Cage, on Kenneth Anger, Joseph Beuys, Adorno and Aleister Crowley. And would you think of Autechre as being industrial, or Jonathan Coleclough? Exactly. And that's the whole thing why I like reading encyclopedia. The information is dated the very second its printed. Carved in time. Extended discographies for each artist here and how Industrial music sounds can be heard on the two CDRs that are part of this package. No Cage, Crowley, Burroughs or Autechre, but Altar Of Flies, Andrea Marutti, Artificial Memory Trace, Astral Social Club, Bardoseneticcube, Beequeen, Bob Bellerye, The Black Vial, Black Leather Jesus, Chaos As Shelter, Cheapmachines, Christblood, Circuit Wound, Clew Of Theseus, Cock ESP, Nicolas Collins, Costes, Cranck Sturgeon - which is probably as eclectic for choice as what you read in the book. Excellent. Can't hardly wait for the next volume.
And no doubt in one of the upcoming volumes there will be G.X. Jupitter-Larsen's project The Haters, who exist for 30 years now, and quite rightly deserved a book. 251 pages of pictures, scanned from booklets, leaflets, flyers and many photos from performances, plus an ind-depth description of many of those performances over all those years. That takes up the majority of this book. Also a short but in-depth interview with G.X., a discography (which unfortunately lacks a lot of the cassette releases), bibliography, videography and a CD of Haters collegeau's paying tribute to the destroyed music of The Haters, such as Gerritt Wittmer, The New Blockaders, Sissy Spacek, K2, Sudden Infant, Incapacitants, Frans de Waard, Jarrett Silberman, Damion Romero, Glands of External Secretion, CRH Draheim and aaron Dilloway. A mighty blast, sonic, visual and literal overload. Yes, I love books about music. (FdW)
Address: <impulsystetoskopu@yahoo.com>
Address: http://www.john-wiese.com

FRANS DE WAARD - MY OWN LITTLE DJ MIX (3"CDR by My Own Little Label)
MACHINEFABRIEK & FREIBAND - KILAUEA (3"CDR by My Own Little Label)
KAPOTTE MUZIEK - 25 GREATEST HITS (business card CDR by My Own Little Label)
Three new releases from My Own Little Label. All releases are in the usual size of MOLL-releases meaning 3"-size. First album is titled "My own little DJ mix" and comes from label owner himself, Frans De Waard. Don't expect a DJ mix for your local rave club here: More likely this is the classic style of Frans De Waard, due to its mixture between demanding approach combined with quite cool and catchy interventions. Abstract sound textures of noises and silence. The piece is one lengthy track running 21 minutes shifting between chilling silence and noise pictures built on abstract electronics as well as concrete sounds of various animals and other creatures. Towards the end of the piece rhythmic textures penetrates moving along abrasive sounds, reminiscent of the minimalist style of Pan(a)Sonic. Interesting piece! Next album is a joint-venture between Freiband and Machinefabriek. An excellent trippy ambient-piece running 20+ minutes of waving drones that over time goes into more abrasive sound worlds of abstract noises and concrete sounds. Not too far away from first reviewed release but more chilling and calm in expression. Third release was a give-away to the audience of a concert by Dutch trio Kapotte Muziek in legendary Extrapool in Nijmegen on 26th february 2010 - thus only a couple of weeks ago! The containment of the album is 25 excerpts of tracks created by the concrete noise-based Dutch sound-art trio over the last 25 years. Compared to the first two releases, present album of Kapotte Muziek more gives a ultra-short overview of Kapotte Muziek rather than being a whole music experience. The album running a bit more than 5 minutes with 25 intersection, thus giving an average play time per track around 20 seconds and being focused on noise expressions of various kinds. Rather than expecting 25 great smash hits (hence the title) more rather do expect pieces of demanding but never the less rewarding experiences. Very interesting indeed. (NM)
Address: http://www.kormplastics.com/moll.html

ADAM PACIONE - STILL LIFE #14: ENDING TITLES (3"CDR by Bee Eater Recordings)
ADAM PACIONE - REGALO DI TONO (3"CDR by Bee Eater Recordings)
COLIN ANDREW SHEFFIELD - FOR TOMORROW (3"CDR by Bee Eater Recordings)
The world of ambient music here, but perhaps ambient from a more daring kind. Adam Pacione, who is behind the Bee-Eater label, has two releases here. The first is the last one is a series called 'Still Life'. Number 14 is called 'Ending Titles' and the series dealt with 'late night improvised recordings dating back to 1999 up till 2008'. This one is from 2002 and is a low humming affair in which we something vaguely melodic recognize. A slow meandering organ drone in the background and every now and then it slowly moves upward - the melodic line. Quite a simple piece, but surely quite effective. Maybe just a little bit too long to be interesting for the full eighteen minutes, but I think I am listening in the wrong way: rather than listening, one should just undergo the music, have it on as a tonal background thing.
More abstract is his 'Regalo Di Tono', which is a 'stripped down improvised live recordings (sans initial background tones from 1999)'. Used here are a Moog opus 3, Moogerfoogers and Sleepdrone 5. Less ambient than 'Still Life #14' this tonal exercise reminds the listener of work carried out by Alvin Lucier meeting old school cosmic synth meisters (Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze). Slow moving, long sustaining sounds, with the slightest of changes. Where the previous, which has basically the same idea, not succeeds in its entire form, it works quite well on this one. Its hard to say where this difference lies, but it might be a matter of personal affection with music like this. Excellent.
Colin Andrew Sheffield runs the Elevator Bath label, and as such he released some music by Pacione, and here he shows up on the Bee Eater label. Its a companion piece to a piece he did on a compilation for his own label and consists largely from processed church organ sounds. It starts like a massive block of sound and then over the course of the twenty minutes this piece lasts, he adds more and more sound effects (from the computer I assume) and then it seems to die out slowly. But towards the end the organs returns and that ending seems a bit superfluous, but it perhaps make sense too. The ending would have been a bit too much of a cliche and now it restores the order of the piece. Nice one too. (FdW)
Address: http://www.adampacione.com

THE YEAR 25 : 25 YEARS KORM PLASTICS (Compilation Cassette by Korm Plastics)
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of his important sound art label Korm Plastics, owner of the label, Frans De Waard has compiled a number of artists from the outer limits of musical expression. For the novice listener of the Dutch label, the compilation "The year 25 - 25 years Korm Plastics" gives a nice introduction to the span of releases from the label from its birth in 1984 to the presence. Korm Plastics originally began its explorations into contemporary electronic music as a cassette-only label, so what could be more natural than celebrating its 25 years of existence by releasing exclusively on that media. Another interesting thing about the idea of releasing is of course the old-fashioned cassette-media and its sharp contrast to the modern sound expressions that is presented on the compilation. Through the selection of old and new artists, the expression on the overall compilation sounds like the "state of the (sound) art", probably because the main part of the artists presented here are people from the front of the sound art scene. Thus we find contributions from artists such as Francisco Lopez, Asmus Tietchens and Z'EV among many interesting artists. Peaks of the compilation comes with contributions from Edward Ka-Spel (Legendary Pink Dots), with his piece of strange voice samples combined with field recording and distant noises. Also Freiband impresses with two artistic noise-pieces constantly interchanging between abrasive sounds and silence with interventions of ultra-short pulses pushing in. Excellent ambient piece comes from Mirko Uhlig with his beautiful drone-piece combined with eastern tablas reminiscent of Coil due to the trippy atmospheres. Just a few peaks mentioned on an album that has so many great moments, and represents the perfect celebration of the essential Dutch label Korm Plastics. (Niels Mark)
Address: http://www.kormplastics.nl

The complete "Vital Weekly" is available at: Vital Weekly