Vital Weekly 44 Week 27 Number 44 PAUL SCHUTZE & ANDREW HULME -FELL (CD on 7 Degrees) In case you didn't know: Andrew Hulme is the frontman of 0 Yuki Conjugate ever since their inception, more then 10 years ago. Paul Schutze's name will be familiar through his many works on as many labels. These boys are close friends: Paul produced the last OYC album 'Equator'. Dissatisfied with how the record industry works, they started their own label. 7 Degrees works strictly mail order only. From this first release they have 999 copies for sale, one half in Europe through their UK address (below) and the other half in the US through Soleilmoon. The price is high, but it's worth the buck. What you get is a booklet sleeve, sewn together and printed with silver and embossed. The CD is housed inside in a nice printed carton sleeve. A package made with care. As for the music: that is good too... Both of these guys have a wide interest in ambient music, long before the hype jumped on (and off again) the bandwagon, but also dance music, ethnic influenced. Now all of these things can be found on this CD, without getting slick or anything. The 7 compositions (that can't be a coincidence) have a strong sense of experimentalism to it, and each of the composition is a like a complex web of sound, either analog untreated or sampled to a wide extent. I guess it's more in line to the OYC work then to Schutze's solo work (which doesn't appeal to me always). Get this thing as a valuable part of your collection, but don't bother your local distributor, but get to: (FdW) Address: <101741.1111@compuserve.com> or ROLAND KAYN -KYBERNETISCHE MUSIK (double CD on Reiger Records) Prepare yourself for Barooni's next hype. After digging up Charlemange Palestine, and getting his name around again, Barooni will release in a few months a 4 CD set by Roland Kayn. He is a by now largely forgotten German composer who spend much of his life in The Netherlands. Kayn's biggest contribution to music is his Cybernetic Music. This is music that is largely sel£-generative. A string of electronics (synthesizers for instance) is connected to each other and once set in motion will play their own music. Reiger Records is a label founded by Roland Kayn himself to release his works. Three sets of double CD's are now available. The other two not mentioned here contain piano works and orchestral works, and have nothing to do with Cybernetic Music. I remember somebody who I ran into who found an unsleeved record at the flea market, and he raved about the 'ambient-industrial' character of the music. I looked upon the label, and it turned out to be one of the four Barooni will release. 'Ambient-industrial' : what an appropriate description of the music of Kayn, yet I doubt whether Mr.. Kayn is aware of the terms 'ambient' and 'industrial' .The textured, densely layered, yet flowing electronics that make up this double CD. To anyone with firm roots in industrial music, this will certainly appeal for it's darkness, without any of implications industrial music has. No address is given on this CD, and I'm told it's going to be for sale in august or September. CEE MIX -HOME IS WHERE THE BASS IS (CD by Incomingl) What goes up, must go down. After the brilliant start of the Incomingl label, we have had some rather dubious releasesl SETI equals it's boring tracks, with brilliant tracks. On the Cosa CD we raved, the Serenity Dub vol. 3 and 4 couldn't get me going as the first two... So I started out with a little suspicion on Cee Mix. Some of Cee-Mix's track are strong dubby works ('Whett' and 'Tribal') but others just lame digital reggae stuff (such as 'Killa' or 'Galaxy' ). It should have a little bit more tension. Some of the tracks hold the power, but in all it is not really convincing. Is digital dub dying a slow death already? (FdW) Address: <100421.647@compuserve.com> THE SECRET LIFE OF THE FLYING LIZARDS (CD by Piano) When I was younger so much younger then the grey hairs on my head I listened to top 40 radio. 'Money' by The Flying Lizards was a novelty hit and I decided that this great band should have their Ducth fanclub. From music magazines I culled reviews, the lyrics to 'Money' and even a real interview. The one and only issue I made was in an edition of 1 only, and I probably lost it over the years. Much to my surprise the Piano label (run by David Cunningham from The Flying Lizards) started out again last year, and their first CD release is this beauty. The source material was recorded in 1978 in Jamaica by Jah Lloyd for Virgin who didn't want to release this. They asked David Cunningham to remix it (I wonder if they used that term back then, but alas, for the sake of a better one). More so then the old, early 80s Flying Lizards work this is heavily reggae and dub induced. Excellent powerful stuff, much better then some of the recent stuff. MNORTHAM -CONDENSATION (7" by Povertech) Mnortham once was a contributor to the ND Magazine, and traveled at least half the world. As a sound maker is prime interest is in making music with acoustic objects, and natural resonance. Side A of this record is 'for Tubeviolin and ship engine' .Scraping sounds and huge reverberated sounds make of this track. The piece moves slowly, but doesn't reach a huge climax. The flip side is for 'prepared autopharp and iron cylinder' .Here the sounds are loose in a way and occasional feedback distorts the track at times. From the two sides this is the more industrial sounding piece. References could be made to Thomas Koner or Alan Lamb, but Mnortham has enough ideas of himself to give his music an identity of its own. Maybe it's time that somebody invested in a CD for him. (FdW) Address: MERZBOW -PULSE DEMON (CD by Relapse) God knows how many CD's Merzbow has made, but this is a beauty. Packed in a silver shiny fold out thing which is sure to give you a headache by looking at it. If that failed then insert the silver shiny disc and set volume to 10. That will do the trick. Like many of Merzbow's recent releases this uses the EMS synthesizer (an expensive old analogue toy) along with metal, voice, shortwave etc. Though sliced up into 8 tracks, they are woven into each other, thus guarantees you the full 73 minute sonic blast. There is one king of noise, and his name is Merzbow. This is a limited of only 3000, so be fast... (FdW) Address: JAMES PLOTKIN & HICK HARRIS -COLLAPSE (CD by Asphodel) Two guys with a huge background in various guitar bands (OLD, Napalm Death, Scorn) as well as many solo projects. As far as I recall this is the first time they worked together under their own names. The 5 long unfolding compositions are all densely layered works, in which repetition plays an important part. Occasionally from the string of sounds there rises an environment sound, to disappear again later on. Guitars however play biggest part in their instrumentation. Sampled and stretched by digital means the evoke pitch black atmospheres. Harris & Plotkin prove once again that they are important factors in what some call 'Isolationist' music. Call it whatever you want, this is excellent stuff. (FdW) Address: TORTOISE REMIXED BY OVAL (12" by City Slang) MICROSTORIA -SND (CD by Mille Plateaux) As far as I know this is the first remix Oval ever did. Strange it is, as the way Oval work might be perfect to do a lot of remixes. Their CD skipping technique (or probably, more accurate, their computer and sequencing techniques) is already largely imitated, but never done better. If you are familiar with the Tortoise CD 'Millions Now Living Will Never Die' you might be surprised if you hear this. Both tracks treat Tortoise beyond recognition. It is said that Oval used the whole album (in stead of one track, as is common in remixing areas), but is it true? Not really valid question. The first side is a slowly decaying composition in various parts, like a cycle being repeated, but with every new cycle decayed. The other side is a more continuous piece. Two interesting pieces, taking the guitar sound of Tortoise into new areas. Micostoria is Oval related. It's line up is Markus Popp of Oval and Jan St. Werner from Mouse On Mars. The Microstoria sound is more in Oval areas, and not the dubby poppy side of the Mouses. The 8, relatively short, compositions consists of sequenced errors of CD's, crashing hard disks or whatever faulty recordings. If you listen superficially, the lines are chaotic, but you can choose to follow a particular sound. If you do that repeatedly, then might discover this genius web of sound. As a whole this album sounded more convincing to me then the first one. Keep crashing boys. (FdW) Address: City Slang -P.O.Box 8983 -London SWll 12B -UK Address: SYLLYK -ASCENDRE, A L'OMBRE DO VENT (CD by Legende Des Voix) It has been silent for a couple of years around this Syllyk, and suddenly two releases fall upon the doorstep. Already a while ago we reviewed the Syllyk split CD with Koji Marutani. And now their own full length CD. This is a concept CD dealing with 'the wind' .The sounds you will hear are not just 'the wind' , but also sounds brought forward by wind. One of that is the sea shore and more indefinable droning sounds. Bells hanging in the wind. This is soundscaping at it's best. If ever ambient needed to go in a particular direction then this might be it. Not the bubbly world of digital drums, but recording the ambience around you. The piece by Syllyk works slowly on the mind: close your eyes, and lie down. Time will slowly disappear on you. Like washes on the shore the CD will unfold itself. Needles to say that the CD is stylish packed in natural paper... (FdW) Address: La Legende Des Voix -21 Rue Du 8 Mai 1945 - 37270 Montlouis - 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) Visit us in Amsterdam or in Xyberspace In August 1996 Staalplaat will be for one month in Berlin, opening a temporary shop and staging many concerts, performances and installations. Send an e-mail requesting the complete program that will include: Etant Donnes, J. Blonk, People Like Us, Oval Bad Sector, Kapotte Muziek, Co Caspar, C. Palestine, Deutsch Nepal, Karkowski, Fetisch Park, Muslimgauze, Spoke, F. Tan, BMB Con, TMRX, T. Koner, D. Petitgand and more! CD catalogue under the title 'Sonderangebot' with many of these bands will be available mid-july and only be available this period.