\ / | ----- /\ | \ / |== |== | / | \ / Week 41 \ / | | / \ | \ /\ / | | |/ | \ / Number 98 \/ | | / \ |--- \/ \/ |__ |__ |\ |__ | KADURA - FROM THE DEPTHS OF OUTER SPACE (CD by Charnel Music) Debut from a Japanese psychedlic rock group. There is not much to tell here, other that besides the traditional rock instruments, Kadura also uses Double Reed Horns and Nepal Bells. All of these tracks are pretty long (as is common with this type of music), filled with pounding drums, wordless vocals (or maybe it's Japanese - in either way, not much of a clue for me) which reminded a bit of Haino and tons of fuzzy, feedbacky guitars. The production is drenched in reverb, which adds the obligatory space needed - so as some Vital Weekly writers would with the right substances a damm fine release. But even without I found this quite an interesting listening session. Even when I fulminated against rock with vocals stuff before I quite dig this. (FdW) Address: BRAAXTAAL - SPEECHLOS (CD by Kontrans) Braaxtaal is just one of the many projects from Jaap Blonk - the guy that uses his throat to make some extraordinary music. Solo reciting dada sound poems, with also with various musicians in various combinations. Here he teams up with Rob Daenen on synthesizer and Theo Bodewes on various drums things. The title piece which opens the CD is n exciting improv piece - hauting and captivating. Filmic and like a direct blow on the face. And this is only the start of the CD. All 11 tracks are an eclectic mix of improvised music, popmusic, soundpoetry, jazz but all in full speed. This CD is not the result of an improv happening somewhere but of composing and excellent producing! I am speechless! (FdW) Address: F.R.U.I.T.S - ELECTROSTATIK (CD by Exotica) MOON FAR AWAY - LADO WORLD (CD by Exotica) K.U.STREET SPRING - SOFT (CD by Exotica) Three CD's from Russia. Music from non western countries (Japan excluded) always sound either outdated or not fully 'there' (meaning the grasp the idea of a music style, but never is it). Or so it seems. These three come from Moscow and all deal, one way or the other, with electronic music. Exotica is an electronica label that brought us Species Of Fishes before - who have some fame in the west already. F.R.U.I.T.S. dwels on the minimal rhythmical side of the spectrum - with track titles like 'Blue Panasonic' and 'Sahkodelik In Red' you should know in which direction this lies. Rhythms are in full stereo and out of sync. Anti dance for the random beat generation. Copy cats for sure, but as I may have written before, sometimes the copy cats are not bad. In fact some of these pieces are quite good, such as the 'Sahkodelik In Red' and 'Suomimatrix'. Moon Far Away is entirely a different cup of tea. A sort of etho ambient with female vocals - the sort that Hyperium releases to stay on the hip music scene. Probably in its sort not really bad - but not for my liking. One way or the other there is too much popmusic involved. A bit on the popside is also the third one, but more trip hoppy. This again hints at dreamy music, like 'Schells (sic) Of Ancient Seas'. The kind of late night laidback listening. This one appealed more to me: the production sounded better, the compositions more interesting. The verdict is that also in Russia musicians are into new developments of electronic music, and that even though they listen carefully to other music, they maintain to have something that is definetely their own and something exotic. Address: fax: + 095-9558225 SKETCH - ABEYANCE (2CD by Mold) Wow what a package: on beautiful recycled paper, full colour printed enveloppe with cards and booklet (all with an organic/geographic reference). But what about the music inside? Sketch apperentely had releases before on R&S/Apollo, which I didn't know because I'm not a dedicated follower of that label and operate, to put things bluntly, in ambient dance areas. The two CD's seem to fall apart in two distinct styles. One is more the up-tempo rhythmic one and the other has tracks that are more... organic. These flow around simple sound sources, but are, for me at least, more deep and mysterious. The dancy CD was less interesting, even though I hasten to admit well entertaining. Both these CD's do not contain a new insight on either ambient or dance music - they seem to operate where a lot of the ambienists left the development a few years before the next hype came in. Oh well - entertainment is o.k. (FdW) Address: EVAN PARKER / LAWRENCE CASSERLEY - SOLAR WIND CD Touch TO:35 Evan Parker is a famous saxophone player who is around for quite some time already. He has been playing with a number of different people, mostly in the improvised music areas. On this CD he is working together with Lawrence Casserley who is taking care of all the signal processing (effects). It has been recorded at STEIM in Amsterdam, january this year. Evan Parker is a briljant musician who is capable of producing the most beautiful sounds. Sometimes it's hard to believe that they are made with a saxophone. And after processing they sound even less recognizable as such. The result is a quite "relaxed" CD with six tracks which are very nice to listen to. Long delay times, lots of dynamics, drones and other piercing stuff. For me it's the sound of wind in all its various aspects, from a windy afternoon breeze to a thunderous storm. (RM) Address: Correction: In last week's review I said that the 'Door & Sigh' piece was by Pierre Schaeffer, but it's the other Pierre - Henry. Thanks Pita for being a carefull reader! 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), The Square Root Of Sub (MP), Ching-Chong Jing-Jong (CP), Radboud Mens (RM), Sister Clika (RTH), BAraka[H], (BAR), Howard Stelzer (HS) webpage: www.staalplaat.com -- 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: Vital Weekly/Frans de Waard -P.O.Box 11453 - 1001 GL Amsterdam - The Netherlands All written by Frans de Waard (FdW), The Square Root Of Sub (MP, ), Heimir Bjorgulfsson (HB), Dolf Mulder (DM), Meelkop Roel (MR), Brian Lavelle (BL, ), Gerald Schwartz (GS), Niels Mark Pedersen (NMP), Henry Schneider (SH), Jeff Surak (JS), TJ Norris (TJN), Gregg Kowlaksky (GK) and others on a less regular basis. 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