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Vital Weekly 725

  Tobias

VERNON & BURNS - MORT AUX VACHES (CD by Staalplaat)
This might very be the first time that Staalplaat repeats a cover for their Mort Aux Vaches: the metallic cover for this one was also used for the Mitchell Akiyama release (unless of course one states that a lot where printed on paper), but with a different pin. Musicwise of course Vernon & Burns are something different than Akiyama. What many perhaps don't know is that perhaps the whole Mort Aux Vaches enterprise started with VPRO and Staalplaat was by asking people to deliver radio plays for transmission. From there on things grew as an in studio project. To have Vernon & Burns it sees a return to the radio play days, as they incorporate a lot of spoken word in their little pieces. They don't make necessarily a story per se. Not inside a track, but also not as a whole. These stories rather set a mood, although its not a clear one. It might be a different mood for each listener. There are funny bits, sad bits, melancholic bits, spooky bits, all packed with musique concrete elements, electro-acoustic music and such like, which are placed with great care onto the spoken word material and the plundered sounds from old trash-bin records. Matches being struck, water sounds, quite fascinating stuff really. One could argue that it would be nice to see them working within a larger story frame, and no doubt that's something for the future. This CD - recorded in 2007 already - shows Vernon & Burns at their best, quite coherent in their action than their recent, somewhat shattered LP release for Gagarin (see Vital Weekly 722). An excellent head trip. Much better to spend your time with this than watching any tube. (FdW)
Address: http://www.staalplaat.com

ROLF JULIUS - MUSIC FOR THE EARS (CD by Western Vinyl)
Now here's someone who is perhaps world famous in the world of sound art, yet hardly ever appears in Vital Weekly. Its, among other reasons, because he didn't release that much music, but also because his music is usually heard in museums and galleries and not always on record. But the good news is that Western Vinyl will re-release eight of his old works, starting with 'Music For The Ears', which comes with the subtitle 'small music no. 1' and small music it is. 'Song From The Past', the first of the two pieces on this album sounds like one long tape loop of bamboo flute being played. Every now and then it stops and then it starts again. Music that is very undemanding - an environmental piece to fill your ambience. Or perhaps music to meditate by - if only I ever did that. The second piece 'Music On Two High Poles' is different. It might be played on a small, children's organ or a harmonium, cut into two loops of a varying length. Its a bit louder, or perhaps it just appears so: I turned up the volume quite a bit for the first piece, so this one comes in louder. I think both pieces are designed to do the same thing: create a sonic environment. What I especially liked about it, and that's something you can only hear when the volume is quite a bit, is all the extra sounds that come along: the static hiss from the used analogue tapes that creates a nice additional sonic layer to the music. And which doesn't seem to make the music static but very much alive and vibrant. Excellent music. This is the earliest Rolf Julius recording, from 1979 and the start of a great career. Can't wait for the other seven releases. (FdW)
Address: http://www.westernvinyl.com

M. HOLTERBACH & JULIA ECKHARDT - DO-UNDO (IN G MAZE) (CD by The Helen Scarsdale Agency)
In Brussels we find a sound-art laboratory called Q-O2 Werkplaats which is run by, among others Julia Eckhardt, who is also a performing musician herself. Over the years she has build an archive of viola recordings played exclusively in G. People who visited the Q-O2 Werkplaats could use these recordings. One of them is Manu Holterbach, who works primarily inside field recordings. He brings to the table recordings of an arc lamp, the sounds of Parisian subways and an electric powerplant - all of which happen to be in G. too. All of this is combined in 'Do-Undo (In G Maze)' which is a lovely work of acoustic drones and field recordings. Quite an intense piece of work actually, that, despite the fact that this is all acoustic and field recordings alike, sound pretty much 'electric', rather than 'electronic'. A big buzzing, ringing enters your environment, with some excellent changes that add a further vibrancy to the material. Cut into two pieces, the first one seems to draw the attention to the acoustic side, while the second is more about the electrically charged sound. Think a refined meeting between Phill Niblock and Alvin Lucier and you get my drift. Limited to just 300 copies, so grab it while you can. (FdW)
Address: http://www.helenscardale.com

MIRT - HANDMADE MAN (CD by MonotypeRec.)
Handmade Man is a conceptual album of the Polish musician Mirt. Mirt is musician and graphic designer. He uses analog electronics, prepared trumpet, guitar, loops and fieldrecordings. All this compositions are edited with analog tapes and without the use of a computer. He plays also in the Brasil and The Gallowbrothers Band. Since 2001 he made six solo-albums. In his new album "Handmade Man" he discovers how a homunculus will see and view the world? In what kind of safe area will he lives in the world full of human stupidity, greed and fanaticism. Alchemists believed that they can create a human being of sperm without the intermission of an uterus. When the homunculus will grow up in a good atmosphere he/she can develop to a person with special power and possibilities. Nowadays still scientists investigate how to create human-beings who are more perfect and without any genetic determinated diseases.
The albums starts with sound of birds, synthesizer and guitarmelodies in a relaxed atmosphere. The world seemed to be peaceful and with an open view to strange creature. The song "Handmade Man" Mirt sings about the dreams of a Homunculus when he would be a king. "Glass Mother" is a nice musical interpretation of the laboratorial uterus made of glass, a subtile mix of fieldrecordings, voice and music instruments. The albums develops more and more and the sphere becomes more narrow and melancholic. Is our world ready to accept human-beings created in a laboratory? Does a homunculus wants to live in this world? Mirt doesn't give answers to this questions, but the sphere is not hopeful, but his concept of this album is interesting and worth listening to it. (Jan-Kees Helms)
Address: http://www.monotyperecords.com

CHEMINS - CDR #3 (CDR, private)
The third release by Chemins from Finland (see also Vital Weekly 707 and 716), and again its a twenty minute work, working from a rock end improvisation in the area of drone music. Even more here than before. Drums seems absent, or play rotating tunes with objects on the toms? The guitars can being played with e-bows or violin bows and all along there is a bunch of field recordings; I assume these are played on a laptop which is also responsible for the electronic sounds in the music. Like with their second release, this piece has two distinct parts, broken up by some louder parts on the guitar but in the second half it moves more and more into an electronic field. Again an excellent piece, on par with the previous two releases. Chemins, people, Chemins. Get them for your label. Please listen up. I tell you, you won't be disappointed. (FdW) Address: http://www.cheminsgroup.blogspot.com

SHELF LIFE - COURTESY (CDR by Psychic Oscillator)
Casual rattle from this rather ductile collective centered around Public Eyesore head Bryan Day and experimental co-conspirator Jospeph Jaros. 'Courtesy' is broken into three tracks: "Morning Parlance," "Afternoon Parlance," and "Evening Parlance." I don't quite catch the meaning here, but Shelf Life's manner of speaking is rather disheveled, full of clutter and clatter sourced from household percussive elements, stray metallic clangs, peripheral vocal blather, and some guitar shards positioned for good measure. One might not be inclined reach for "Courtesy" for a spur-of-the-moment casual listen - that isn't its place. Instead, Shelf Life provide fifty-six minutes of crisply-recorded, acoustic free-improv; it's a fun dose to rattle your soul, if nothing else. (Michael Tau) Address: http://we-11.blogspot.com/

MASSIMO FALASCONE + BOB MARSH - NON TROPPO LONTANO (CDR by Eh?)
Falascone and Marsh populate this rather lengthy (and lively) stretch of free-improv with spastic spatterings of sax, violin, electronics, and clipped samples. The duo employ a fair dose of negative space, upchucking brief tidbits of sound on a backing of silence; the result is often tense and surprising, though abuzz with a cacophonous array of squeals, bleeps, and stutters. Some improvisations are rather sparse and awkward ("Facciamo," "Mattina"), though I am more partial to the fuller whirls of sound that comprise the busier moments of 'Non Troppo Lontano.' Jerk-jazzer "Casa Ne Pensi," wild "Everything is Done," and mega-whimsical "Sigma 40" are among the duo's stronger compositions, each evocative of carnival worlds filled with devilish instrumentalists and menacing mechanoid beepers. It's a maniacal trip, to be concise. (Michael Tau) Address: http://www.publiceyesore.com/

PORATZ - BEAT (3"CDR by Electroton)
V4W.ENKO - SND (3"CDR by Electroton)
KETEM - COLOUR (3"CDR by Electroton)
INCITE/ICONICITY - (3"CDR by Electroton)
Following various download only releases, the German Electroton now goes on with releasing physical product. The first four are to be released soon (I have no idea why I am reviewing early April something that has a release date of June 25 2010, but then: do the marketing principles of the real industry also apply to the world of a limited CDR release, I wondered). Design wise these releases look very similar to the early Raster Noton releases, and musicwise there are also strong links. Poratz is Patrizio Orsini from Livorno, Italy and his release is dedicated to Aoki Takamasa (should I know him? I think so) and in his seven pieces he sets forward a nice danceable beat. Beat indeed, I was thinking. Maybe a bit too weird for the real dancefloor (although on my travels through nightland I have encountered more stuff like this and I saw people moving), with sounds and breaks just a bit too weird for that. Well, that, and the fact that this no piece of vinyl - although: does the current DJ use vinyl? I should pay attention. Poratz is actually quite nice, somewhere half away home and house (that sounds better than home and techno, I know).
From Kyiv is Evgen Vaschenko, who works as v4w.enko, who started in 2007 as 'live electronics, sounds and videostreams [...] being realized in realtime by manipulating of self programmed algorithms'. No doubt, given the title, inspired by SND from Sheffield, but there is also a strong connection to Alva Noto and Ryoji Ikeda. Sine wave like sounds, cut into smaller blocks of repeating sound, deep bass sound rumbling below. That's the sort of action we get here. Even less hinting towards the floor, while quite rhythmic too. This is head nod music. Hardly an original version thereof, but its done in a nice way anyway.
The release by Ketem is around ten minutes, the shortest of these four. Its the collaboration between Shay Nassi (Mise En Scene) and Tom Kemeny (Darmock). They are from Tel Aviv and in their version of digital glitch music it seems that they sample ground hum and sine waves and maybe a bit of real rhythm. In all these slight variations (I am talking here about the four releases) its not easy to find different parallels, but Ketem seems to me dreaming of Pan Sonic. It has that similar somewhat brutal attack on the bass line. Maybe a bit too short to form a real opinion, but apparently they are working on a full length album.
From these four the Incite/ duo might be best known - if only for their consistent mailing of concert dates to Vital Weekly. They have had a couple of releases before and play all over the globe. A duo from Hamburg, of Kera Nagel and Andre Aspelmeier. This is where all the influences emerge together: heavily influenced by Pan Sonic, with bouncy rhythms, the crisp clear digitalia of Alva Noto and Ikeda, with a fat bass sound. The sound is a bit too jumpy to be really straight forward dancing but somehow I think that in a battle of the bands, Incite/ would be the ones to get the crowd moving. All in all four quite similar releases, none of which is highly original, but all four made with true labor of love. (FdW) Address: http://www.electroton.net

INCH-TIME - A HANDFUL OF DUB (cassette by Static Caravan)
Of course this was expected: Static Caravan also venturing into the world of cassettes. Recently we reviewed a LP by Inch-time, one Stefan Panczak from London (see Vital Weekly 720), with some very relaxed laidback dubby jazzy tunes. I didn't straight away of a remix, but come to think of it: why not? Six tracks here, of which one is a new Inch-time tune, one is a self-remix and the other four are by others: Shoeb Ahmad, Radovan Scasascia, Paul Gough and Lawrence English. The first two bring out the dubbiness from the remix, whereas the latter two are more interested in the ambient shades of Inch-time. Cleverly put in pairs on both side, with Panczak's own remix and new piece as new pillars at the start of a side. Great light music, burning like a small sun, as quiet as a campfire. I wish I had a car, so I could put this in and drive around. Lovely orange tape in an edition of 100, with a badge. (FdW)
Address: http://www.staticcaravan.org

ROYALLEN - MOTIVATIONAL TAPE (cassette by Vanishing Hour Revival)
Royallen's muddled motivational brew is a seething cauldron of sample-o-phonic sound - be it Bodyflex infomercials, skipping records (Morricone, I believe?), crackly new-age film score melodiousness, or eerie relaxation instructional tapes. And that's all on the first side. This is, basically, your ideal twenty-four minutes of thrift-store musique concrete, its joy predicated on the profound juxtaposition achieved by pairing disparate audio sources with one another. It's a fine solo debut from Mr. Royallen, who has issued a steady stream of splits n' comp appearances on Housecraft Records, and who also occasionally records as Zebulon. There is plenty of tongue-on-cheek humor on tap here, but some of my favorite moments are those which blend the germane with the outright ominous, experienced best, perhaps, on the garbled speech and synthesizer gloom of side B. God bless experimental music that dares to be fun. (Michael Tau) Address: http://vanishinghours.blogspot.com/

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