============ VITAL WEEKLY ============ number 418 ------------ week 15 ------------ contents: HORCHATA - BASIDIA (CD by Ad Noiseam) JOHN BISSET - SMITHY (CD by 2:13 Music) THE HAFLER TRIO - THE SEA ORG (CD by Korm Plastics) ANDREW CHALK & BRENDAN WALLS - THIS GROWING CLEARING (CD by Three Poplars) HENRIK RYLANDER - TRADITIONAL ARRANGEMENTS OF FEEDBACK (CD by Ideal Recordings) WILT - AS GIANTS WATCH OVER US (CD by Ad Noiseam) BLACK DICE - MILES OF SMILES (miniCD by Fat Cat) PLASTIKMAN - CLOSER (CD by Nova Mute) EMIT TWO (CD by Room 40/Qut) MARILYN LERNER - LUMINANCE (CD by Ambiances Magnétiques) PLANK - ALP+ (CD by Melange Records) CHLORGESCHLECHT - CHORGESCHLECHT CONSULTING (CD by Melange Records) CHINA HONEYMOON - OZAWA PRESENTS CHINA HONEYMOON (CD by Melange Records) SUDDEN INFANT - EAR WASH (CD by Cool Anatomy) PIERRE LANGEVIN & PIERRE TANGUAY - LA BOULEZAILLE(CD by Ambiances Magnétiques) RADBOUD MENS - PULSE (CD by Staalplaat) PHROQ - CONFUSION (CD by Shiver Sounds Records) TORE HONORE BØE - SUAVE SIESTA (CD by Purple Soil) SLO-FI - >1>2>3>4 (12" by Antenne Records) EVOLUTION GARDEN - SUNSET DREAM (12") LAKES - LET'S GO ARCTIC (7" by Pocket Clock) TAMING POWER - MEDITATIONS FOR RADIO (10" by Early Morning Records) FUTURE REMIX - [EVERYTHING GOES EMPTY] (CDR by Retinascan) ELLENDE - NATTO (3" CDR by The Lotus Of Assemblage) LIQUID SPHERE - DOTS & WAVES (CDR by L.S.I.) LIQUID SPHERE - HYPOCRACY 2 & 3 (CDR by L.S.I.) DISISM - ROCK ON BROADWAY, SAN FRANCISCO (CDR by Taped Rug Productions) CORY THRALL - COLORS (MP3 by Samsa Records) OPERATION - PROTECTION (MP3 by Samsa Records) HELMETICRONONAUT - THE HELMETICRONICLES PART 1 (MP3 by Samsa Records) MR. CHEMICAL - MUSIC FOR A FASHION SHOW (MP3 by Samsa Records) CHEFKIRK - ATKINS WILL KILL YOU! (MP3 by Samsa Records) HORCHATA - BASIDIA (CD by Ad Noiseam) For me, Horchata is a new name, but it's one Micheal Palace behind it. He plays music since the late nineties and has as Horchata another CD available. He has also worked with Twine, Ocosi, Miles Tilmann, Narc and Zenopede. If these names mean anything to you, you know which way this goes: illbient, trip hop and dark hop. Slowed down hip hop rhythms embedded in a much more interesting music setting and, lucikly no raps. Palace works as a scientist at the New Hampshire Complex System Research Center and through his work he has made field recordings in the Amazon forest which are frequentely used here. In eleven tracks he shows his skills in putting on nice trippy music, with deep bass sounds and a good sense of extra sounds. A fine album. However, like so many CDs reviewed in these pages, it's also a bit long and that never adds to the quality. Seven or eight tracks would have been fine too and it would have made the album into a very strong one, instead of just a good one. Otherwise no complaints! Great stuff. Address: http://www.adnoiseam.net JOHN BISSET - SMITHY (CD by 2:13 Music) The title of this disc refers to the location of its recording: a smithy. At first this goes quite unnoticed and seems pretty arbitrary, until it becomes clear that there are some background noises: muffled traffic sounds, a far away voice from the street, but above all: the crackling of fire. Playing solo acoustic guitar (metal strings), Bisset improvises on song tunes that have shaped his musical perception. The originals can be found in the 'Scottish Students' Songbook' (the title alone is already worth mentioning this methinks). The recordings are very sober and dry, which only adds to the intimate atmosphere that this disc creates. Sometimes it is quite easy to get lost in the music, just sort of dream away, until somebody walks in the door and interrupts the concentration (this actually happens). Really, this is easy listening, but meant in a sincerely positive way. (MR) Address: THE HAFLER TRIO - THE SEA ORG (CD by Korm Plastics) On goes the reissuing of older works by The Hafler Trio with one of my personal favourites, The Sea Org. Why my fav, you ask? Well, let me explain. This records more or less contains everything that The Hafler Trio have done in their long and outstanding career: drones, cut-ups, layered field recordings and loop-based work. The only thing "missing" is the spoken word part. One of the first noticeable things of this release is again the cover: a deep purple is the basic colour and once again it looks quite stunning. The second thing is that noise reduction has been kept to a minimum, thank you very much! This may lack the cleanness of contemporary recordings, but it certainly has remained clear and crisp and above all: full. About the music I can be short: it is still as good as it was back then (when was that again???) and it has lost nothing of its importance to all of the people who make this sort of music nowadays (I count myself among them). This has the power and the depth to compel the listener to what he or she is supposed to do. And that is the most important quality music can have. Let's wait for all the other reissues! I still have a few on my wish list...(MR) Address: http://www.kormplastics.nl ANDREW CHALK & BRENDAN WALLS - THIS GROWING CLEARING (CD by Three Poplars) Three Poplars is slowly growing as a label. Besides releases by Jim O'Rourke and William Basinski, it's a label for the musical activities of Mirror, being Christoph Heemann and Andrew Chalk. Either they offer their solo works or collaborations with likeminded third parties. Bredan Walls is one such third party. He had a CD on Idea Records before and Chalk and Heemann did a remix 7" of that CD for the same label. Here they meet up (I assume through mail) in a joint work of electrifying ambient. Working in the field of overtones, this is a very richly layered work of drone music. But it's not a work that is just one tone for forty minutes. Chalk and Walls have looked with a careful ear for the smallest details and add a great sense of dynamics to the recording. Two more than excellent pieces. For fans of Mirror and all such nice drone music alike! (FdW) Address: http://www.diestadtmusik.de HENRIK RYLANDER - TRADITIONAL ARRANGEMENTS OF FEEDBACK (CD by Ideal Recordings) The work of Henrik Rylander has been reviewed before, via a 10" (see Vital Weekly 318 and 413). Rylander was a drummer in a rock band called Union Carbide Productions, but since 1996 he works inside electronic music. On his solo release he works with 'controlled feedback from different fx-units'. In each of the ten pieces he plays around with them in a rhythmical way. Each of these pieces is minimal and in each of the piece I thought: god, this sounds very much like Pan Sonic area 'Vakio' or other works from that period, for instance the first Noto or the first Goem CD. For this new CD there are also traces of the 80s industrial music, especially Esplendor Geometrico springs to mind. It seemed to me that Rylander didn't have many original ideas of his own and that he's years too late with his sound. I must say that it's an excellent copy though - in that respect he did a very nice job. (FdW) Address: http://www.idealrecordings.com WILT - AS GIANTS WATCH OVER US (CD by Ad Noiseam) The work of James Keeler, also known as Wilt has been reviewed before. His previous CD 'Radio 1940' was well received here in Vital Weekly (see Vital Weekly 344) and this new one, 'As Giants Watch Over Us' goes down well too. Wilt's music is a fine blend of darker ambient textures with occassional bursts of noise... or rather occassional louder parts, as noise is not really the thing going on here. Rather than playing the drone card in long track, Wilt chooses to play shorter tracks and per track he has hiw own story. Taped radio excerpts take care of counterpoints in the music and ultimately make this music into a fine soundtrack for sci-fi movies or a radioplay on the subject of deep sea exploration or outer-life. Normally I would complain about the length of things like this, but here the extended length of the release sort of makes sense. I don't think it's entirely ment to be, but I believe this to be one long story that for the sake of convience is split up in thirteen tracks. Much powerfull ambient with a strong idea about the total composition. Great work. (FdW) Address: www.adnoiseam.net BLACK DICE - MILES OF SMILES (miniCD by Fat Cat) While listening to the miniCD of Black Dice, I was reading the extensive information that I got along. I learn that this the third release by this band, consisting of Aaron Warren (vocals, electronics), Bjorn Copeland (treated guitar), Eric Copeland (vocals, electronic percussion) and Hisham Bharroocha (drums, percussion). I think, apart from the fact that they have no bass, it's a rock band. But is it the right CD that I am playing? It doesn't sound like a rock band at all. There is music in there, but the two tracks (each around fifteen minutes) are long collages of sound of found sound, field recordings and maybe this band playing. It's not the sort of music I expect from a line up like this. Although the information also reads about bands like Wolf Eyes or Sonic Youth, I think that Black Dice are much more subtle and much less lo-fi than those bands - although I must admit I didn't hear their previous work of course. Very seldom I think that the marriage between ideas and techniques of musique concrete mix well with that of rock music, but here I must admit it works quite well. The rock band notion has disappeared and is replaced by an intelligent cross-over composition of rock and musique concrete. A great surprise this Black Dice. (FdW) Address: http://www.fatcat.co.uk PLASTIKMAN - CLOSER (CD by Nova Mute) We all thought Plastikman is dead. Ok, Richie was still playing and recording as DJ, but it was well known that Consumed and Artifakts (b.c.) were the last albums. It seemed that the minimal-techno/less-is-more ideas were simply consumed and wasted, no need for more Plastikman music since 1998... Until 2003 (at least for Richie of course) when the same music is back again with a single and another new full-length album Closer. The single-track Disconnect is simply great, minimal of course and with a treated computer-ish voice. It's good to know now that Richie Hawtin's Plastikman is back. And it's a bit tricky too. Do we need more Plastikman musick? I really don't know... Closer is good album, a little bit dull sometimes, or at least stretched, often close to ambient even with the rhythm. The music has progressed and changed in it's minimalistic manners and it's more settled down now. I wish it was more edgy, I miss tracks like Rekall, Are friends electrik? and Pakard from Artifakts ('I don't know' comes closer here). But still, I remember how fascinated I was when I first discovered this plastik-music, to me it was the bottom-line in music for some time. After all, Plastikman is my micro-techno hero and Closer sounds ok. (BR) Address: http://www.mute.com and http://www.m-nus.com EMIT TWO (CD by Room 40/Qut) Here's a mix-compilation done by Lawrence English and John Chantler who also make music as Warm. It starts nice, with a track from Puzahki, unknown to me before, but the track is in the dreamy idm area I'd say. Things get more distorted in the second track by Timeblind, but the atmosphere calms down with Tim Koch and his more conventional but nicely done track. There are many artists who are unknown to me here and make different kinds of music, like Doily, Molliger, Ubique Trio, Skist, Diaspora, Xanpha, Ai Yamamoto... Some parts of this mixed compilation are dealing with ambient atmospheres, like Paul Abad and others... Some tracks are more conventional than others which are more twisted or leftfield. There's also some improvised music from Ubique Trio which is a bit strange in this context. Or maybe not, because first of all this is a compilation (at least that's how I see it), not a dj mix, although the tracks are presented in a mixed form. It's nice to hear good music from un/less known artists, like the fine and kinda minimalistic vocal piece from Skist, the cracklings from Diaspora, or Gintas K and Sound_00 at the end with their street-ambient music here. (BR) Address: http://www.emit.qut.com and http://www.room40.org MARILYN LERNER - LUMINANCE (CD by Ambiances Magnétiques) Marilyn Lerner (Montréal, 1957) is pianist and composer and has been active in the Canadian scene for the past twenty years. She has performed with a very mixed company of musicians, like Paquito D'Riverera, Tito Puente, Jon Faddis, Steve Lacy, Christian Escoude, Jane Bunnett, Vinny Golia, etc. Her jazz work includes the solo cd 'Miss Overboard' and 'Birds are Returning - Marilyn Lerner in Cuba.' Also she produced a series of audio art pieces using computer technology. For the last few years she formed a duo with bass clarinet player Lori Freedman, named Queen Mab. Together they try to build bridges between new music and jazz. The last ten years she made a lot of recordings and wrote music for film, television, theatre, etc. All this does not have to imply that you ever heard of her before. In my case 'Luminance' is a first encounter. What may not surprise us of someone with such a reputation and experience, is the virtuosic playing that illustrates her extensive knowledge of grammar and repertoire. She is also a very capable and original composer and improvisor. What is more, her music has also depth and is passionate. A great variety of techniques, idioms, color, moods, etc. pass by. In each track she investigates different aspects of music. In many pieces she is into timbral possibilities. In other pieces melodic and harmonic ideas are investigated. In 'La boxe' , 'Glovys' and other pieces rhythmic excursions are dominant. Besides, in one piece, like 'Plucky', she uses many extented techniques, making the piano sound like the prepared piano of John Cage. Whereas in other pieces she limits herself to the keys of the piano. If the idea of a solo piano cd is frightening you, let me assure you that you won't be bored by this one. It's a very personal work on the borders of new music and jazz by a talented player and improvisor. By the way, an interesting aspect of this release is the recording technique. For each track is indicated what microphone is used and where it is placed (DM).. Address: http://www.actuellecd.com PLANK - ALP+ (CD by Melange Records) CHLORGESCHLECHT - CHORGESCHLECHT CONSULTING (CD by Melange Records) CHINA HONEYMOON - OZAWA PRESENTS CHINA HONEYMOON (CD by Melange Records) For me Melange Records is a new label, but they have been around for a while. Their release by Plank, which should not be confused with an also UK band called Nacht Plank, is Joe Gilmore, also one half of Vend and one third of Powerbooks For Peace, who had a CDR release before on Alienation (see Vital Weekly 365). This 'real' CD is a collection of works from the last three years. Plank is truely a laptop artist. His music consist throughout of carefully constructed glitches, which, I must readily admit, sound pretty coherent here. When a lot a of these computer people are bad improvisers who let their software go wild without maintaining any control, Gilmore here presents here thirteen pieces are a true pleasure to hear and who sound like their have been worked out. Some time and considerations went into these compositions, which sound like they have been inspired by Stockhausen rather than Oval. Rather a nice surprise this one. Despite their releases on labels such as Planet Mu, Rephlex, Klangkrieg and WMF I never heard of Chorgeschlecht, a trio of Alex Kloster, Johannes Malfatti and Olivier Alary who play computers and traditional trash metal instrumentation and death grunts. What I say about bands with laptops seem to come true here for Chlorgeschlecht. A mixture of death metal music with computer processings may sound like a wacky and funny idea, but it's quite tiring after a while. Seventeen such pieces... and an eightteenth piece which is a cut up of some fake radio programm, which again may be funny and wacky, but at such time frame is again quite boring. Some knowledge of the German language is also required to enjoy it. Nice, but not my tea at all. Also a trio but then from Japan is China Honeymoon. They play keyboards, computers, bass, drums, sampler and such like. Their CD doesn't kick off very well. The first (untitled) track seems to go nowhere really. More laptoppy doodlings. But as the CD progresses the pieces get better and become more coherent, until the final eighth (and longest) piece which is a dark and moody piece of electronics and musique concrete sounds. This CD, at twenty-six minutes, is a bit too short too form a well founded opinion about, but the final piece is definetly something that is a direction to go to. (FdW) Address: http://www.melangerecords.com SUDDEN INFANT - EAR WASH (CD by Cool Anatomy) Before putting on this CD by Sudden Infant I turned the volume a bit down, because Sudden Infant is all about noise. I thought. But the first two pieces are actually much softer outing than I anticipated. Joke Lanz, since many many years the main man of Sudden Infant plays turntables, electronics, sonic trash and sings, while being aided by Franz Liebherr on trombone, flexible pipe and voice. Occassionally Sudden Infant explodes in the usual feedback mood, but overall I must say this was quite a pleasant form of noise. 'Zombie Lullaby' is for instance centered around a rhythm, with delay machines and noise pushed around in the background. A version of 'Ne Me Quitte Pas' (from Jacques Brel) is also included and renders the original beyond recognition. This is quite an original work of noise, which goes all over the place and doesn't stay just in the areas of pure feedback noise. Here an experienced noise artist is playing around and it shows. (FdW) Address: http://www.geocities.jp/coolanatomy PIERRE LANGEVIN & PIERRE TANGUAY - LA BOULEZAILLE(CD by Ambiances Magnétiques) Pierre Langevin studied clarinet and chamber music in Québec, Cleveland and New York. For some years he played bass clarinet in the Orchestre Symphonique de Québec. Later he developped himself into a multi-instrumentalist with a special interest in medieval music. In 1986 he formed the Strada Ensemble. He is memeber and the artistic leader of the this ensemble. This ensembles focuses on medieval folklore music from Europe. But Langevin feels also attracted to new music and worked together with René Lussier and collaborated on many musical productions for dance and for film. Pierre Tanguay is also member of the Strada ensemble since it originated in 1986. It makes sense to memorate this common background of Langevin and Tanguay, as in their duo production 'La boulezaille', influences of medieval music are evident, like in 'Danse du vent comme dans le temps'. Old traditional instruments are used as well. But among them also many of exotic origin. And this can be explained from another part of Tanguay's background. As a percussionist he did additional studies in Africa, India and gathered (percussion) instruments from all over the world. Tanguay is a busy bee. He is co-founder of member of groups like Mara, Ogane Song, Trio Marc Villemure, Pierre Cartier Ensemble, Icarus, etc. Composed for theatre, film and danse productions and played with Nana Vasconcellos, Noma, Tim Brady, John Surman, Barre Philips, and many more. The Ambiances Magnétiques catalogue shows that Tanguay likes the duo-format as he worked together with Rene Lussier, Jean Derome and Tom Walsh. And now a work with Pierre Langevin. Like on his solo-album 'La musique de mon disque' Tanguay brings a great diversity of percussive instruments to the studio as well as some self-built instruments. The last category show Tanguay's interest in noise and sound. Langevin plays wind instruments like a duduk, bagpipes, pipe, recorders, a.o. and brings in themes reminiscent of medieaval times. Time and space barriers are broken down here, melting together in a very sympathic music that can be of no other age then ours. All eight pieces show the wit and humour both Pierres must have experienced. Surprises and inventive improvisation make it sensitive and enjoyable record. Both gentlemen use the great many instruments in order to 'colour' a music that shows love for detail. Well done! Jean Derome and Jean René both guest on one piece: 'La scie voleuse'. The cd seems to carry two titles: 'La Bouzaille' and 'Le boulezaille'. Don't know if is intentional wordplay of a mistake.... (DM). Address: http://www.actuellecd.com RADBOUD MENS - PULSE (CD by Staalplaat) Following his debut on Staalplaat from a couple of years back, here is the second, now really full length CD by Radboud Mens. Once known as Hyware, also record boss for ERS Records aswell as the CDR imprint Hond In De Goot, Mens works under his own name since a couple of years. He is clever in keeping in mind on which format his music is released. His three 12"s for Audio.NL are minimal techno stompers of an utter reduced techno beat, but highly danceable. The previous CD 'Sine' and this 'Pulse' take the experience of dance music into the realms of much more subdued music. Rhythms do play a role (of course, I'd say, if you call your CD 'Pulse'), but they are embedded in sizzling, cracking and foremost deep bass structures. Mens is somebody for whom technology hardly has a secret and he uses all the possibilities sound have. Playing this music softly is one listening to maybe a quarter of it. The low end is there on a very present level, presumming you want to open the volume. I strongely suggest to do so. Each of the six pieces is a lengthy excursion which will take you through a variety of moods and tonal shifts. Maybe it would have been better to cut some of these pieces into smaller pieces, since some of the changes are so radical and going into something entirely different, it's almost like a new song. It not necessarily adds to the composition of the whole track. Otherwise: an excellent CD and to top it off, the jewel case is printed with concentric circles and the CD itself too. It sure adds to the hallucinating character of the music. (FdW) Address: http://www.staalplaat.com PHROQ - CONFUSION (CD by Shiver Sounds Records) In Vital Weekly 408 I discussed a previous release by Phroq, the monniker of Francisco Meirino. That concerned a live concert in Japan, but here, I believe we are dealing with a studio work with the total of nine tracks over some forty five minutes. Still Phroq is in noise territories here, but I must admit it's noise of a much higher interest for me. He plays around with contact microphones on objects and surfaces and processes the resultant sound into quite an interesting body of work in which dynamics play an important role. Sometimes things are on the silent edge, such as in the nineth piece but sometimes they burst out in full noise blast. It's quite a step forward from the previous work I heard from him. If he would succeed in transforming his studio sound into a live concert, I'd be interested in hearing that concert. (FdW) Address: http://www.phroq.com TORE HONORE BØE - SUAVE SIESTA (CD by Purple Soil) Our man Bøe is a regular guest in these pages, although usually under the guidance of reviewer MR. On this new CD Bøe presents two related works. Both deal with field recordings and both are merely collages of sound, rather than altered field recordings. The first five pieces deal with field recordings made in 2003 in Bøe's new house in Gran Canaria and in general they are quite peaceful and quiet. Wind blows by, sand falls down on the microphone. The only thing that Bøe does here is a little bit of editing. The other five pieces are from 2000 and were made in Agadir (Morocco) and we are told that these also don't use any electronics, but that seems hard to believe. In some of these pieces there is electro-magnetic hum and crackle which the normal ear wouldn't pick very easily (I think, but maybe I am deaf by now?). All ten tracks make up a nice soundscape work, which is quite pleasent to hear as a background hum. On a rainy day like this, the warmth has to come from field recordings from the hotter parts of the planet. (FdW) Address: SLO-FI - >1>2>3>4 (12" by Antenne Records) Antenne Records is foremost a nice shop in Tilburg, one of the bigger cities in the southern part of the Netherlands, but also a nice small label. Their first release, a 7" with one minute tracks by various Dutch artists (entiteld 'Dutch Fidelity') wasn't reviewed here, but now the second release is available. It's a 12" by >slo-fi, sometimes known as )slo-fi_, or *slo-fi. Other than he is Dutch and has a two 12"s on Audio.NL and a CDR on the Microwave label, nothing much is known. Nothing much is needed to know really. >Slo-fi concerns himself with techno music. On his first Audio.NL 12" this was really slow techno, the second one went into Chain Reaction styled, but here he seems to finding his own style. On a superficial level this seems to be straight forward techno, but way down there are all sorts of strange processings going on of stretched out sounds, workings with overtones. Overall there is a joyous character to this music with a spooky undertone, especially towards the end of each track. So far the best >Slo-Fi record. (FdW) Address: http://www.antenne-tilburg.nl EVOLUTION GARDEN - SUNSET DREAM (12") Things have been quiet for Evolution Garden for a while. After a whole string of CDR releases with work from the rehearsal room - work in progress - they are now ready to release their first 12". Evolution Garden is now a four piece group of guitars, bass, drums and synthesizers. Over the years they have grown from an ambient two piece band into a psychedelic rock band, who use to a great extend guitars played with e-bow and solos and is, I am afraid, much less than I hoped for. The three cuts here are well-played and even well produced but they are also pretty straight forward psycho rock songs. I can see clearly their development, but it also seems to me that the adventure is gone and now it's unfortunally more of the same in an area that has been well exploited by others. (FdW) Address: http://www.evolutiongarden.com LAKES - LET'S GO ARCTIC (7" by Pocket Clock) This band started as two piece band from California but now is only Sean Bailey. On this 7" he displays his love for early 80s synth music. All three tracks (total length: 5.35 minutes) have robotized rhythms with singing and little synth humm in the back. The melody is brought in minimalist vein through the lyrics mostly. If you wouldn't know better than it could be a 7" from 1981, like a stripped down version of the Screamers or Primitive Calculators. Rather now cashing in on the electro-clash hype, this stays much closer to the original and a clever deliberate lo-fi recording certainly enhances the fun. (FdW) Address: http://www.pocketclock.org TAMING POWER - MEDITATIONS FOR RADIO (10" by Early Morning Records) Things have been quiet for Taming Power after the whole string of 10" records which I reviewed late last year. Here he turned on his radios and left the guitar unplayed. Using radio waves and transmissions, he made a collage on his four track recorder without any manipulations, filtering or alterations. Just the plain radio sounds in collage form. The a-side is quite open with repeating blocks of sounds. Of course it's hard not to think of John Duncan's old work for shortwave radios here. The b-side is much denser and darker, with voices leaking through. From some of the previous albums I wasn't too pleased but this one is actually quite nice, maybe not the sort of meditation that is required for new age therapy, but nevertheless ambient industrial enough for me. (FdW) Address: FUTURE REMIX - [EVERYTHING GOES EMPTY] (CDR by Retinascan) It's totally pointless finding information about Future Remix. As far as I can tell it's someone who loves remixing other people's music - on his website I found eleven MP3s of remixes of Throbbing Gristle's 'Beachy Head'. On his (her? their?) 'Everything Goes Empty' they call it 'mutant techno mantra and urban industrial noise merge. Everything's getting very mixed up'. Indeed. Their samplers or computers do not seem to contact much music, just very static, minimal hiss which is fed through some effect units. In a way very old school industrial - maybe MB would have sounded like this if he had access to computers in his days - and indeed very much not like any sort of techno music. It's very simple music indeed, but strangely enough it's also quite captivating. Changes are there, I know it's hard to believe, but yes, they are really there and operate on a very very microscopic level, but that makes it all the more captivating. One could argue if one should hear similar tracks a couple of times, as the conceptual ideas are limited, but it's a nice urban decay thing anyway. And of course it's nicely pack in a tin can. (FdW) Address: http://www.retinascan.de ELLENDE - NATTO (3" CDR by The Lotus Of Assemblage) By now Ellende seems to appear in every new Vital Weekly, here with a release on the excellent Lotus Of Assemblage label, who have a series of 3" CDRs. Ellende presents two tracks. 'Summer Child' is an ambient piece with a shimmering melody on top of a bed of drones. In the longer title piece the same synth drones start the piece but this piece has less melody and is much darker of tone. Dark atmospheric ambient music is the thing here. Two very nice pieces of isolationist music. (FdW) Address: http://www.assemblage.freeuk.com LIQUID SPHERE - DOTS & WAVES (CDR by L.S.I.) LIQUID SPHERE - HYPOCRACY 2 & 3 (CDR by L.S.I.) If you paid attention before, than you would have noted the name Liquid Sphere before. They had a 3" CDR on Taalem before and also a CD on DoctSect, which I didn't hear. The man behind Liquid Sphere is one Laurent Guerrier and he now offers two, self-released CDRs. 'Dots & Waves' has four tracks which were created spontaneously in december 2003 and deals with loops and drones which get the full sound treatment. Liquid Sphere puts them through a whole bunch of effect boxes (maybe plug ins) and leaves them running for a while. Not as ambient as his Taalem release and unfortunally also not always very interesting. In that respect the 'Hypocracy 2 & 3' is much more interesting. Here the drone related material is indeed drone-like. Processed field recordings , of sea waves washing ashore, and highly processed hums make a dark atmospherical and intense soundscape. Sometimes a mechanical rhythm pops up. A nice release but nothing beyond the ordinary really. (FdW) Address: http://www.membres.lycos.fr/zuhll DISISM - ROCK ON BROADWAY, SAN FRANCISCO (CDR by Taped Rug Productions) More music by Charles Rice Goff III, here in a band guise with Killr "Mark" Kaswan. As Disism they play guitar, cello and singing, fed through a bunch of reel to reel recorders which have tape-loops on them. Kinda like Eno/Fripp loop system from the seventies. The recordings on this release stem from the second concert as Disism from 1986 and now made public for the first time. Music, despite the tape-loop system applied, of great freedom in playing. Traces of Residents or Eugene Chadbourne are to be found here but the tape-loop system adds a strange quality of repetition to it. Not every moment is great and the recording is quite crude, but overall it's a nice release of free improvised music anyway. (FdW) Address: http://www.geocities.com/padukem CORY THRALL - COLORS (MP3 by Samsa Records) OPERATION - PROTECTION (MP3 by Samsa Records) HELMETICRONONAUT - THE HELMETICRONICLES PART 1 (MP3 by Samsa Records) MR. CHEMICAL - MUSIC FOR A FASHION SHOW (MP3 by Samsa Records) CHEFKIRK - ATKINS WILL KILL YOU! (MP3 by Samsa Records) Music launced on MP3 deserves of course everyone's attention, and most certainly by those hooked on the internet and without too much money in their pockets. Samsa Records is one such label who offers music for free to download. Other than Chefkirk I didn't recognize any of the other names. People like Cory Thrall (who runs the Samsa Records label), who apperentely have another EP on Samsa Records, which was well-received. On 'Colors' there are eight tracks, which are mostly based on digital noise. Not of the most entertaining kind, I must say. A bit too simple for my taste. More noise comes from Operation, although his variations are more in the old school, analogue vein. Bashing white noise around, fed through a whole bunch of effect boxes, this is me thinks a Merzbow imitation of a rather weak kind. Studies in feedback and noise are to be found in the work of Helmeticrononaut (who also record as Swamp Up Nostrils). Although this is pretty regular noise too, I thought it was much to digest than the Operation release. Shorter tracks of varied noise character. A rough version of very old Arcane Device leaks through. The music put on by Mr. Chemical was actually used in a fashion show and is a nice, highly energetic plunderphonic thing. Pounding rhythms and nagging keyboards fill in the gaps (if there any) leftover by the sampled popmusics. Highly distorted music, almost punk rock in approach, this is a very nice release. So far I haven't been the biggest fan of Chefkirk and I am afraid this release won't change that much for me. Chefkirk, aka Roger Smith, plays the noise card again and I just won't get excited by it. Densely layered noise patterns with not much development in each track and it's not the greatest thing in the history of sound recording either. A pity. (FdW) Address: http://www.samsarecords.com 1. From: Joe Gilmore -----| rand()% rand()% is a computer automated net.radio station, streaming generative music by international sound artists and programmers. we are pleased to announce an updated schedule and the inclusion of several new generative audio works: 1. Eric Skogen: AMOK_5 [Pure Data] 2. Karlheinz Stockhausen: Studie II - random version [Max/MSP] Programmed by: Georg Hajdu with assistance from Sven Bey, Thorsten Floth, Catrin Groth + Ulrike Luttmann. 3. Sonicvariable: rand()%rain [Max/MSP] 4. host productions: untitled [Max/MSP] 5. Peter Plessas: r4nd.pd [Pure Data] please check the schedule at http://www.r4nd.org/schedule.html rand()% also features the work of: Alku / Dieb13 / Lia+Carvalhais / Mijim / Nullpointer / Muio.org / Plank / Charlie Ferrari / Thor+Runar Magnusson / Fehler vs. Pimmon / Adrian Ward / Dennis McNulty / Eude / for future updates and news subscribe to rand()%list: http://www.r4nd.org/list rand()% welcomes contributions rand()%bot - -----| http://www.r4nd.org - -----| http://www.r4nd.org/listen.pls - -----| bot@r4nd.org 2. From: "Gintas K" Festival JAUNA MUZIKA 2004 April 15-20 http://www.mic.lt/index2.html all events at Contemporary Art Centre, Vokieciu 2 , Vilnius, LITHUANIA 15 April, Thursday, 7 p.m. Antanas Jasenka, Ramunas Motiekaitis, Antanas Kucinskas, Luca Pavan, Marius Baranauskas, Vytautas V. Jurgutis, Algirdas Martinaitis, Ricardas Kabelis-Linas Paulauskis-Rytis Mazulis 16 April, Friday, 7 p.m. Farmersmanual 17 April, Saturday, 7 p.m. Edwin Van Der Heide 18 April, Sunday, 7 p.m. Phill Niblock Performers: Mindaugas Backus, Seth Josel, Phill Niblock 19 April, Monday, 7 p.m. Gintas K, Liudas Mockunas and Jakob Riis , Darius Ciuta and Juozas Milasius, Benzo 20 April, Tuesday, 7 p.m. Merzbow Sound installations and multimedia objects during the festival: G-Lab and Antanas Jasenka, Gintas K, Antanas Kucinskas, Snieguole Dikciute and Gintaras Seputis Festival Club - INTRO 15, 18 and 20 April Lectures and meetings Lithuanian Composers' Union http://www.mic.lt/index2.html 3. From: pbruyn@worldonline.nl )toon) 2004 The fifth edition of )toon) ? a festival of sound and visuals based on electronics ? takes place from Wednesday april 14 till Sunday april 18 at various venues in Haarlem, Holland. )toon) will be opened by Japanese noisemaster Merzbow. Further highights are the Krautrock night at Friday with Roedelius, Rother & Moebius and Nu Dub Players feat.Burnt Friedman, Joseph Suchy and Jaki Liebezeit. On Saturday )toon) presents a Berlin Elektro Fest with Ellen Allien, Savas Pascalidis, Zombie Nation and Smash TV. Also Francisco Lopez, Bernard Günter, Staalplaat Soundsystem, Felix Hess, Roel Meelkop and Kettel. For program details see: http://www.toonfestival.nl Info: tel. +31 23 5324103 / +31 23 5310004 4. From: Neil Donovan 11th April 2004 LAZYBIRD presents: Paul Flaherty-Chris Corsano with United Bible Studies (www.desertedvillage.com) Double Adaptor Lazybird International Bar, Wicklow St Dublin www.lazybird.org info@lazybird.org Admission: 7 euro Time: 8.30pm 5. From: "longbox recordings" now MUSIC SERIES / longbox recordings presents an evening with: jonathan crawford / steven hess [percussion duo] -- fred lonberg-holm [plays the music of j.s. bach] OR axel dörner / fred lonberg-holm [trumpet / cello duo] -- civil war [amy cimini, viola; adam sonderberg, bass drum and accessories; katie young, bassoon] ----- quick run-down: civil war is a new group and will be around as long as there are battles to re-enact: 'we have to destroy this music in order to save it.' fred lonberg-holm is not a fresh name to many ears and for good reason: he's been keeping it real for ages. come hear what he can do to/with j.s. bach's wonderous cello literature. OR maybe you'll hear him in a rare duo with a real nice german. finally, the semi-working duo group of hess (greg davis group, dropp ensemble) and crawford (grey ghost) will hopefully bring the ruckus in a polite but potentially brutal fashion. make sure to ask for an advance on your allowance as we will have records for sale. ----- it all goes down THIS saturday: 10 april 2004 the spareroom 2416 w. north ave. chicago (at north and western) 8pm sharp $5 -- 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 - Acaciastraat 11 - 6521 NE Nijmegen - The Netherlands All written by Frans de Waard (FdW), The Square Root Of Sub (MP ), Dolf Mulder (DM), Meelkop Roel (MR), Gerald Schwartz (GS), Niels Mark Pedersen (NMP), Henry Schneider (SH), Jeff Surak (JS), TJ Norris (TJN), Gregg Kowlaksky (GK), Roger Teeling (RT), Craig N (CN), Boban Ristevski (BR) and others on a less regular basis. This is copyright free publication, except where indicated, in which case permission has to be obtained from the respective author before reprinting any, or all of the desired text. The author has to be credited, and Vital Weekly has to be acknowledged at all times if any texts are used from it. Announcements can be shortened by the editor. Please do NOT send any attachments/jpeg's, we will trash them without viewing. There is no point in directing us to MP3 sites, as we will not go there. 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