\ / | ----- /\ | \ / |== |== | / | \ / Week 39 \ / | | / \ | \ /\ / | | |/ | \ / Number 96 \/ | | / \ |--- \/ \/ |__ |__ |\ |__ | TCH - SINFLOWER (CD by Iridium/Dorobo) This new release, on Dorobo's techno imprint Iridium, is the second TCH album. I must admit that the first one didn't struck me so much. TCH (which stands for This Crepuscule Hour - not a name to get really excited by) is one Peter B., and in 10 tracks he manages to produce some clever techno music, loaded with samples throughout. More armchair then floor related if you ask me and it is definetly quite alright. The problem is that none of these pieces will struck you, it stays too much easy music for working people wanting to relax with some half up-tempo music. And that is not a bad thing, but maybe there is so much of this already... (FdW) Address: DARRIN VERHAGEN - SOFT ASH (CD by Dorobo) Darrin is a busy bee - besides running the highly aclaimed Dorobo label, he produces music with Shinjuki Thief, as Professor Richman, and as far as I can remember this is his first outing under his own name. Subtitled 'Seven Treatments Of Lethal Atmopsheric Inversions (With A Drifting Narrative Sense)'. This is not a pleasent release! All seven pieces deal with pollution, radio activity causing death (Bhopal and Chernobyl for instance). Each track seems to be a continuation of the previous. Some kind of inhalation sounds, breathing or otherwise air escaping from the mouth seem to be the backbone of each track. There is a lot of time stretched sampling going with clicks and tweeks every now and then - no wonder that Bernard Gunther gets a mention on the cover. Although most of the tracks have the remark to play at medium to low volume, I suggest that the full impact can only be heard at high volume. The occasional outbursts have a higher impact. Ambient this might be, but it's for sure one with a high emotional one. Sudden devastation can come without any warning. Another landmark in Dorobo's catalogue. (FdW) Address: FENNESZ - HOTEL PARAL.LEL (CD by Mego) Another highly aclaimed cult label, this time from Austria, is Mego. They present that truely exciting mix of techno and industrial music (although they would say it is not one nor the other). Fennesz had a 12" before and now present a full length CD. Before this he played guitar in a largely ignored Austrian rock band and made movie soundtracks. This CD is a fine showcase of what Mego stands for. The opening track (sorry I have no titles here) is a damm noisy one, followed by a nice moody computer piece. The fourth track is built of loops of guitar playing, but sped up and sauced with rhythms which turns out in a digitalized distortion dance track. The track after that is more distorted rhythms with an industrial edge to it. And so forth. A varied album that will never hit the dance floor obviously, but who cares about that? (FdW) Address: MERZBOW/THE HATERS (LP by Old Europa Cafe) I hear you moan: another one! Well, this time Merzbow is different. Masami is heading for analogue stuff, being a moog, two rhythm machines and effects. The rhythms tick away nicely and Masami is in good psychedelic mood here. So it is noisy, but it has a wacky sense of humour to it. The titles refer to old MB records and this must be thought of as a kind of tribute The Haters present another version of Drunk On Decay, the "Toast to MB version". G.X. was one of the last people to meet MB before he turned into a jehova witness. This is much noisier then Merzbow and greets MB as a founding father of industrial music. A record side of static noise. Great tribute record. (FdW) Address: R. Protti - Via Marconi 38 - 33170 Pordenone - Italy BILL HORIST - SOYLENT RADIO (CD by Unit Circle Rekkids) Bill is an improv guitarist who played with many people - just like Bill unknown to me. This CD with seven pieces of improvised music is partly solo, and partly duets with people playing moog, fuzz keybass, sharp metal objects, corpus collosom (what is that!!!?! and electronics. Sound rather dull writing this, but I enjoyed playing this. Bill shifts through many styles and genres, one time being really improv and noisy, and on the other hand ambient and quiet. And at times it even hints to 'pop melodies' - remote but apparent. If you are into improvised guitar playing from Henry Kaiser or Jim O'Rourke, then this is not to be missed. (FdW) Address: V.A. - FURNITURE FUN (Cassette by Dhyana Records) The small label DHYANA comes from the very south of Germany and is also the home of DEEP, an interesting group that creates a kind of experimental doom-rock. This low-priced compilation is nicely styled and comes with a very informative booklet. It's aim is to present new and unheard projects from the large fields of DIY - recording. Many of the tracks go into the ambient / techno - direction, but there are also more rock- & Noise-oriented styled tracks, although everything on this cassette has an experimental edge. The most well known group here might be DE FABRIEK, these Industrial-veterans can still often be found on tape-compilations. They present a very nice atmosperic droning track. Other very good tracks come from FEINE TRINKERS BEI PINKELS DAHEIM, TE ILD, TARKATAK (the highlight for me) and RAUMERKUNDUNG (these are the groups I know), followed by lots of totally unknown groups, which come with one exception all from Germany. The label has planned to do these kind of tape-compilations on a regular basis as a kind of series. A great possibility to inform oneself about new developments in the underground cassette-scene. (BAR) Address: DHYANA RECORDS - Bernd Spring, Carl-Schurz-Strasse 29A, 86156 Augsburg - Germany PAIN JERK - V (Cassette by Amp) The theme that unites this tape is... all tracks start with the letter "V"! Really, I can't make this stuff, folks. Once I got past the silliness of the "concept", this noise is really interesting. The blast has the cold, well-produced sheen that can only be the product of computers, which immediately seperates Pain Jerk from his geographical peers. Much of the music is rhythmic, but that rhythm is buried beneath outrageous amounts of twisting skronk. It isn't a dinky drum-mavhine rhythm, though, seems like tape-loops, or a repeated sample. A neat, unusual quality and a nice contrast to the rougher sounds it is used to propel. Better keep an eye on this guy. PAUL SCUTZE - THE ANNIHILATING ANGEL (CD by Tone Casualities) Here's a true story.I was listening to this CD a few minutes after I bought it, and my friend comes into the room. He says, "Oh, is that your music? I thought you were watching Miami Vice". (I know, you Europeans don't know what I'm talking about. Don't worry, the rest of the review is self-explainatory) He's right, too. All I had heard previous to this was Paul's track on the excellent "Endless" compilation CD a few years ago. His track on that was a flowing, dark mass of synth goo, real pretty dark-ambient stuff. This Cd is nothing at all like that. A reissue of a 1990 Cd on Extreme, "The Annihilating Angel" is an uncomfortable mix of TV theme music, muzak, and stilted world-beat that would embarrass David Byrne. Every track is plagued by a silly beatbox and fake-jazz trumpet solo. It so desperately wants to come off as "serious", that no less than FIVE of these titles are names of Burroughs or Ballard novels. The other two titles in the series, "Deus ex Machina" and one other whose name I can't recall, are also being reissued by this same label. 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