\ / | ----- /\ | \ / |== |== | / | \ / Week 12 \ / | | / \ | \ /\ / | | |/ | \ / Number 32 \/ | | / \ |--- \/ \/ |__ |__ |\ |__ | Editorial note: some people seem to have trouble getting Vital Weekly. If you receive this, then send me the word 'check', and I will built a new list from there. best wishes, CREVICE - CREVICE (CD by Seizure) Sometimes we receive CD's that lack so much information that there is not much to say other then what we mention above. The playing time is around 71 minutes and these smart people indexed the whole lot as one track, giving no track titles. The CD opens with a spoken word description of psychedelic music, and laziness on our side it shall be, let's describe it in those terms. Some of the idividual pieces are chaotic collages of noise and children's records or outbursted analogue synth stuff. I was reminded of some of the F/i stuff. It's like with the music of Arvo Part which I wrote about some weeks back: a small dose every once in a while will do for me. Highlight on this CD for me is, however not some weird psycho piece, but can be found at around 40 minutes inwards the CD: a droning piece of sound that goes quit deep. This nicely builts up with some power. Like I said, taken with with a small dose makes this quite enjoyable. (FdW) Address: Seizure - 411 Hallie - San Antonio, TX 78203 - USA BILL LASWELL & TERRE THAEMLITZ - WEB (CD by SUBHARMONIC) Willy Laswell seems intent on ousting Pete Kuhlmann from his position as most prolific recording artist of the last few minutes. This accolade (if indeed it is such) means not a jot if quality is sacrificed in the name of quantity. This new release on Subharmonic is sadly disappointing and gives Laswell plenty of chance to contribute to that area of new elctronic music surely designated to filling the beige boxes marked 'BLAND' on the sale shelves in health food stores. Loadsashite. Now that I have damned this release, allow me to encourage you to seek out Big Bearded Williams other stuff which displays his excellent musicianship and uncompromising energy (eg. Material). Terre Thaemlitz perhaps motivated by the exposure to be gained from this collaboration, is himself responsible for some far deeper and much more subtle work. Seek out 'SOIL' on Instinct Ambient (Europe) which comes across as a sublime mixblend of drones and drifting conversations which hint at a greater thing. 'SOIL' is much like a memory scape... scattered distant echoes suggest dreamtowns and similarly blurred locations. Avoid 'WEB', get ' SOIL'. (MP) MUSLIMGAUZE - AZZAZIN ( CD BY STAALPLAAT ) Mr Jones has, through proliferation, firmly embedded his particular sound on the ears and minds of many. I am tired of his stuff a while ago ( ' ZUL'M on Extreme was for me a certain highpoint in his career ) as I found little innovation or adventure in his hey presto! formulation of percussion loops and an occasional overdub of ratatatat. Heard one, heard 'em all... Thank Christ on a Bike (or is it Allah on a Vespa?) for this brightly digipacked limited edition CD released on Staalplaat. Reasons being that there is not a single bloody bell to be heard and the bongos were left in the basement for this one. It's suffused with thick syrupy analogue layers which weave a continuous narrative through this absorbing CD, which I perceive as one composition. Hopefully, whoever bought Jonesy his analogue toy will be saving up their foodstamps in earnest so that they can get him another one. Give this man more gear. I'd love to say ' More of the same, please' , but I fear a sudden wave of similar releases might clog up the shelves in the stores leaving little room for the rest of us. Well, that's an exagerration really because Mr. Gauze's emissions are mostly slurped up in presales or by the Muslimgauze subscribers. And if you don't know what the subscription deal is all about, get this release and read all about it. Details are included inside the digipak. (MP) Address: TMRX - PRACTICALLY TOTALLY REAL , BUT NOT ( CD BY STAALPLAAT ) I am a clickphobe - I'm sorry, I just don't like the accidental blits and cracks that occasionally sneak into studio recordings. Power surges and faulty fridges beware! (The latter is easily disciplined wiff a Doc Martin, the former often requires a soothing massage with expensive filters that can only be bought with the contents of an eelskin purse). The sensitivity of our technology (as with all things evolving) increases in direct proportion to it's complexity. This having been said I can now get on with the review, although the above was my most immediate reaction to this release. TMRX are a Belgian formation which produces unusual sounds through manipulation of other peoples' works. Everyone is thanked for source material but I have a feeling that the mutations have been taken so far that I doubt any of the original composers would recognise their own compositions in this project. My favorite track is the last one - a 15 minute opus called ' Bypass- Information ' which has, for me, the most compelling narrative. Liner notes close with a warning that...'some sounds are closer than they seem...'. Play as loud as you can, but do heed this warning. (MP) Address: LES PHONES - MYTHES ET LEGENDES PHONES (CD by Audiorama) Les Phones is a trio from Belgium who built their own instruments from metal, glass etc. These objects are brought alive by hitting or blowing. This CD covers recordings from the last three years of concerts. A lot of it sound improvised (even though the cover hints at the use of scores) with an oriental feel to it. Overtones are sometimes created on these acoustic objects (there is no trace of electronic treatment). The result is sometimes nice and sometimes boring. I found some nice moments on this CD, but overall this CD is not for me. (FdW) Address: Audiorama - BP 161 - 67004 Strasbourg Cedex - France Vital Weekly is published by Frans de Waard and submitted for free to anybody with an e-mail address. If you don't wish to receive this, then let us know. Any feedback is welcome . Forward to your allies. Snail mail: Frans de Waard - P.O.Box 11453 - 1001 GL Amsterdam - The Netherlands All written by Frans de Waard (FdW) and The Square Root Of Sub (MP)