{"id":39072,"date":"2015-10-20T23:58:15","date_gmt":"2015-10-20T21:58:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/modisti.tk\/15\/?p=39072"},"modified":"2015-12-31T16:47:33","modified_gmt":"2015-12-31T14:47:33","slug":"vital-weekly-1004","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modisti.com\/15\/vital-weekly-1004\/","title":{"rendered":"Vital Weekly 1004"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/modisti.tk\/15\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/philippe_petit.jpg\" alt=\"philippe_petit\" width=\"447\" height=\"250\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-39075\" srcset=\"https:\/\/modisti.com\/15\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/philippe_petit.jpg 447w, https:\/\/modisti.com\/15\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/philippe_petit-300x168.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 447px) 100vw, 447px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>PSEUDO CODE &#8211; REMAINS TO BE HEARD VOL. 1 &amp; 2 (2CD by EE Tapes) *<br \/>\nINDIGO KID \u2013 FIST FULL OF NOTES (CD by Babel)<br \/>\nTHE LAST HURRAH!! \u2013 MUDFLOWERS (CD by Rune Grammophon)<br \/>\nDANIEL BARBIERO &amp; CRISTIANA BOCCI &#8211; NOSTOS (CD Acustronica)<br \/>\nHARVEST RAIN &#8211; NIGHTWAVE (CD by OPN)<br \/>\nNIHILTRONICS &#8211; CURIOSIT\u00c9S (CD by OPN)<br \/>\nSTILLLIFE &#8211; ARCHIPELAGO (CD by Ftarri) *<br \/>\nIRMLER &amp; EINHEIT &#8211; BESTANDTEIL (CD by Klangbad) *<br \/>\nPHILIPPE PETIT &#8211; EAR ME IN (CD by Monotype) *<br \/>\nNOAH &#8211; SIVUTIE (CD by Flau) *<br \/>\nRAYONS &#8211; THE WORLD LEFT BEHIND (CD by Flau) *<br \/>\nECHOES OF YUL &#8211; THE HEALING (CD by Zoharum) *<br \/>\nMACIEK SZYMCZUK &#8211; MUSIC FOR CASSANDRA (CD by Zoharum) *<br \/>\nHATI &#8211; METANOUS (CD by Zoharum) *<br \/>\nMARINA FAGES &#8211; DIBUJO DE RAYO (CD by Panai)<br \/>\nSEBASTIAN ZANGAR &#8211; CHILDREN OF M (CD by Lantern) *<br \/>\nDREKKA &#8211; UNBEKNOWNST TO THE PARTICIPANTS AT HAND (LP by Dais Records)<br \/>\nDENKI UDON &#8211; IN ZDB (LP by Three-four) *<br \/>\nEX YOU \u2013 EX YOU (CDR by Ex You)<br \/>\nRUHE &#8211; PATRIARCHS (CDR by Eilean Records) *<br \/>\nCDR &#8211; ACID WALTZ (CDR by Adaadat) *<br \/>\nVENTA PROTESIX &#8211; ANNI DI MASTURBAZIONE (CDR by Adaadat) *<br \/>\nKARMICIEL WSZY &#8211; ISDALSKVINNEN (CDR, private) *<br \/>\nPINA BOUNCE &#8211; TRUMPETANCY (cassette by Orila\/Paraphernalia\/Noise-below)<br \/>\nAMK\/HOWARD STELZER (cassette by Noise-below)<br \/>\nH\u00dcBEBLO GENEVA (cassette by Hidden Temple)<br \/>\nT. MORIMOTO &#8211; CRIT REFLEX (cassette by Junk Mnemonic) *<\/p>\n<p>[rssless]<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"660\" height=\"180\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mixcloud.com\/widget\/iframe\/?embed_type=widget_standard&amp;embed_uuid=33ae3827-ee9d-4c49-95ed-139b94340d2e&amp;feed=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mixcloud.com%2FVitalweekly%2Fvital-weekly-1004%2F&amp;hide_cover=1&amp;hide_tracklist=1&amp;replace=0\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div style=\"clear: both; height: 3px; width: 652px;\"><\/div>\n<p style=\"display: block; font-size: 11px; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px; padding: 3px 4px; color: rgb(153, 153, 153); width: 652px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mixcloud.com\/Vitalweekly\/vital-weekly-1004\/?utm_source=widget&amp;utm_medium=web&amp;utm_campaign=base_links&amp;utm_term=resource_link\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color:#808080; font-weight:bold;\">Vital Weekly #1004<\/a><span> by <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mixcloud.com\/Vitalweekly\/?utm_source=widget&amp;utm_medium=web&amp;utm_campaign=base_links&amp;utm_term=profile_link\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color:#808080; font-weight:bold;\">Vitalweekly<\/a><span> on <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mixcloud.com\/?utm_source=widget&amp;utm_medium=web&amp;utm_campaign=base_links&amp;utm_term=homepage_link\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color:#808080; font-weight:bold;\"> Mixcloud<\/a><\/p>\n<div style=\"clear: both; height: 3px; width: 652px;\"><\/div>\n<p>[\/rssless]<\/p>\n<p>tracklist for Vital Weekly 1004:<\/p>\n<p>0000 Tune<br \/>\n0014 Sebastian Zangar &#8211; Waldeckpark<br \/>\n0321 Irmler &#038; Einheit &#8211; Brooks<br \/>\n0627 Pseudo Code &#8211; The Sweetest Energies<br \/>\n0934 Rayons &#8211; Can&#8217;t See Through The Fog<br \/>\n1237 Echoes Of Yul &#8211; Organloop<br \/>\n1546 Hati &#8211; Fusion<br \/>\n1854 Noah &#8211; Blur<br \/>\n2202 Denki Udon &#8211; Saike Zoku<br \/>\n2510 Philippe Petit &#8211; Ear Me In<br \/>\n2822 Stilllife<br \/>\n3132 Karmiciel Wszy &#8211; Elizabeth Leen Hoywfer<br \/>\n3436 Ruhe &#8211; Felled<br \/>\n3739 Maciek Szymczuk &#8211; I Am Free<br \/>\n4045 T. Morimoto &#8211; Placeholder<br \/>\n4354 CDR &#8211; Acid Hell (version 2)<br \/>\n4634 Venta Protesix<br \/>\n4934 Tune<\/p>\n<p>PSEUDO CODE &#8211; REMAINS TO BE HEARD VOL. 1 &amp; 2 (2CD by EE Tapes)<\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s a little confession from something I was thinking about a few years ago\u00a0<br \/>\n(maybe I recounted this before): I took out a piece of paper and started to make\u00a0<br \/>\na list of all releases by Belgium&#8217;s Pseudo Code, their one LP, the 7&#8243;s, their\u00a0<br \/>\ncassettes (four, I believe), and, hardest to work out, the pieces they submitted\u00a0<br \/>\nto compilations throughout their existence. I am sure the list was far from\u00a0<br \/>\ncomplete but the idea was: how many CDs would be needed to release their complete\u00a0<br \/>\nworks on a CD box-set and would such a thing be commercially viable or suicide?\u00a0<br \/>\nI am not sure how it worked out, CD-wise, as it simply was a fading day-dream,\u00a0<br \/>\nbut there is no longer such need to think about this. By now various of their\u00a0<br \/>\nworks have been released, even some previously unreleased works saw the light\u00a0<br \/>\nof day (&#8216;With Helpful Friends&#8217; on Plinkity Plonk; see Vital Weekly 860) and much\u00a0<br \/>\nof that is thanks to the tireless help of Belgium&#8217;s EE Tapes. They have released\u00a0<br \/>\n&#8216;Europa&#8217;, the LP, on CD (see Vital Weekly 733), as well as a CD of earliest works,\u00a0<br \/>\n&#8216;The Radio&#8217;s On&#8217; (Vital Weekly 937). So slowly we are getting there. EE Tapes now\u00a0<br \/>\ninvests in this great package of two discs, spanning both volumes of &#8216;Remains To\u00a0<br \/>\nBe Heard&#8217;, which were first released in 1984 and 1986, by Insane Music, the label\u00a0<br \/>\nof Alain Neffe. Both cassettes had pieces which were unreleased, since the group\u00a0<br \/>\nsplit up in 1982. There is three bonus pieces, and for those who acted quick,\u00a0<br \/>\na limited lathe cut 7&#8243; with two more pieces, both from &#8216;rare&#8217; compilations (which\u00a0<br \/>\nI honestly think all are most are). For a band that only existed for a short period,\u00a0<br \/>\nmaybe two or three years, there is a lot of music out there. Pseudo Code was a\u00a0<br \/>\ntrio with nucleus Alain Neffe (on synthesizers, strings organ, rhythm machines\u00a0<br \/>\nand suchlike), Guy Marc Hinant (who you may know as the main operator of Sub Rosa,\u00a0<br \/>\nwho just released a CD\/LP by Kosmose, a group which included Neffe, Hinant and\u00a0<br \/>\nothers, which was a more cosmic rock group from the seventies; sadly not received\u00a0<br \/>\nhere!) on pianet, organ, casio VL-tone and Xavier S on vocals. These two discs do\u00a0<br \/>\nnot contain material that should be regarded as inferior: &#8216;oh yeah, we got this\u00a0<br \/>\ntoo, it remains to be heard (also)&#8217;. They shed a light on the development of the\u00a0<br \/>\ngroup, the more experimental leanings (compared to say, &#8216;Europa&#8217;), even more\u00a0<br \/>\npsychedelic at times: the rhythm machine is the central force, ticking in a machine\u00a0<br \/>\nlike fashion and the three members improvise around that in quite a wild fashion.\u00a0<br \/>\nWhen rhythm is absent, Neffe lays down a few string sounds, Hinant picks a few\u00a0<br \/>\nnotes on his pianet, while Xavier sings words and uses a bit of delay here and\u00a0<br \/>\nthere; almost like sound poetry set to music (something Neffe later on did with\u00a0<br \/>\nhis Cortex project, using a variety of female vocalists). There is a nice collection\u00a0<br \/>\nof live recordings in here too, from the few concerts they played, but all of their\u00a0<br \/>\nmusic has a very &#8216;live&#8217; feeling. While Pseudo Code&#8217;s influences lie in the early\u00a0<br \/>\n&#8216;industrial&#8217; music such as Cabaret Voltaire, and a lesser extent Throbbing Gristle,\u00a0<br \/>\nthey always manage to sound like Pseudo Code. Even if one removes one element,\u00a0<br \/>\nwhatever remains is still very much Pseudo Code and that is quite some achievement\u00a0<br \/>\nI think. The vocals of S. along with the electronic music by Neffe and Hinant&#8217;s\u00a0<br \/>\npianet create a unique sound that sometimes is wild and driven by lots of energy,\u00a0<br \/>\nand sometimes is a quiet and covered in solitude. This is, still after all these\u00a0<br \/>\nyears, some powerful music.\u00a0<br \/>\n\u00a0\u00a0 There is more to wish for: a double CD with &#8216;Potlatch Music Vol. 1&#8217; and &#8216;Vol. 2&#8217;\u00a0<br \/>\nwould be most welcome, I think, or perhaps more volumes of &#8216;Remains To Be Heard&#8217;,\u00a0<br \/>\ncompiling all of the pieces Pseudo Code contributed to compilations, which gave\u00a0<br \/>\nthem early recognition (I knew it would be a great compilation if it had both\u00a0<br \/>\nPseudo Code and the Legendary Pink Dots); by then we may have pretty complete\u00a0<br \/>\npicture of this great band, and a well deserved monument is then finished. (FdW)<br \/>\n\u00a0\u00a0 Address:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.eetapes.be\/\">http:\/\/www.eetapes.be<\/a><\/p>\n<p>INDIGO KID \u2013 FIST FULL OF NOTES (CD by Babel)<\/p>\n<p>Indigo Kid is Dan Messore (guitar), Iain Bellamy (tenor sax), Trish Clowes tenor sax),\u00a0<br \/>\nTim Harries (bass) and Martin France (drums). Their first album dates from 2012, and\u00a0<br \/>\ncontained a mixture of jazz, rock, country. On their follow up \u2018Fist Full of Notes\u2019\u00a0<br \/>\nthey limit themselves to jazz. Again Messore, who has a preference for melodic lines\u00a0<br \/>\nand themes, composes everything. Sophisticated and warm playing makes this one an easy\u00a0<br \/>\nlistening. The compositions are okay and feel deeply rooted in the jazz tradition,\u00a0<br \/>\nshowing a different face or style in each track.\u00a0 Also the playing of Messore makes\u00a0<br \/>\none think of other guitarists from the past. I had to think of Frisell for instance.\u00a0<br \/>\nIn \u2018from Nowhere to our Place\u2019 I heard influences of folk rock. So Messore is very\u00a0<br \/>\ncapable composer and player, in the company of excellent players, incorporating many\u00a0<br \/>\ninfluences. Happily they don\u2019t lose themselves in technical acrobatics. All that\u00a0<br \/>\nimpress me, but the music didn\u2019t really turn me on. I don\u2019t know why, while a lot is\u00a0<br \/>\nhappening on this solid recording. So be it. (DM)<br \/>\n\u00a0\u00a0 Address:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.babellabel.co.uk\/\">http:\/\/www.babellabel.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n<p>THE LAST HURRAH!! \u2013 MUDFLOWERS (CD by Rune Grammophon)<\/p>\n<p>Third release by The Last Hurrah!!, a project by Hans Petter Gundersen who wrote all\u00a0<br \/>\nsongs except one, and plays guitar. Gundersen is a central force in the scene of Bergen,\u00a0<br \/>\nNorway for decades now, as a producer, composer and musician. Maesa Pullman \u2013 yes\u00a0<br \/>\ndaughter of actor Bill Pullman &#8211; sings. A dozen or more musicians play the numerous\u00a0<br \/>\ninstruments. Most of the musicians involved are from Bergen, but a few American\u00a0\u00a0<br \/>\nplayers are invited. The pedal steel guitar is in the hands of Marty Rifkin (Sprinfield,\u00a0<br \/>\nPetty), on Hammond organ John Thomas who played in The Magic Band. The music transports\u00a0<br \/>\nyou back to pre-punk and new wave times. Songs full of Americana: country, rock, pop,\u00a0<br \/>\nsoul, etc. All in a strong 60s-70s outlook. The voice of Maesa Pullman fits perfectly\u00a0<br \/>\nin this ambiance. So in the least this is a very clever album insofar they deliver\u00a0<br \/>\na very convincing homage to this period. In every detail and aspect this one refers\u00a0<br \/>\nto time passed. The arrangements, the sound, etc. as if a lost album was found on the\u00a0<br \/>\nshelves in some American studio. So yes be prepared if you are of a certain age: most\u00a0<br \/>\ncertainly you have heard it all before a thousand times before. So here problems start,\u00a0<br \/>\none could say. What does this one add? Well not that much if you ask me. But, on the\u00a0<br \/>\nother hand, these guys do their work with love and very professional. A superb musical\u00a0<br \/>\nreincarnation! (DM)<br \/>\n\u00a0\u00a0 Address:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.runegrammofon.com\/\">http:\/\/www.runegrammofon.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p>DANIEL BARBIERO &amp; CRISTIANA BOCCI &#8211; NOSTOS (CD Acustronica)<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Nostos\u2019 is a duo effort by Daniel Barbiero and Cristiano Bocci. Both have a background\u00a0<br \/>\nin modern classical music and share a similar sense for adventure as this release proves.\u00a0<br \/>\nBarbiero plays double bass, plus electronics in the second track. Bocci plays electronics,\u00a0<br \/>\nand electric bass in track 8. They are into electro-acoustic improvised music. The CD\u00a0<br \/>\ncounts eight examples of musical interactions. What we hear is the double bass often\u00a0<br \/>\nplaying long sustained notes and patterns embedded in an electronics environment. These\u00a0<br \/>\nelectronics range from very sparse in the background to very prominent. \u2018Nostos\u201d is from\u00a0<br \/>\nthe same root as nostalgia, they explain. And well, emotionally this music fits well with\u00a0<br \/>\nthis mental state because of the dark and deep sonorities that are produced. Nostalghia\u00a0<br \/>\nhas to do with being divided in space and time from a place one loves. The aspect of\u00a0<br \/>\ndistance offers another link to this work that came into being through the web. Each\u00a0<br \/>\npiece starts from a double bass solo by Barbiero. These were sent to Bocci who lives in\u00a0<br \/>\nthe US. He did all kinds of manipulations, ending up in the final results that are in the\u00a0<br \/>\nCD. The music deals a lot on drones and timbre. At times their music stayed a bit foggy\u00a0<br \/>\nand vague in my perceptions, but happily there are many moments when the music unfolds\u00a0<br \/>\nitself in captivating patterns and sound structures. (DM)<br \/>\n\u00a0\u00a0 Address:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.acustronica.com\/\">http:\/\/www.acustronica.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>HARVEST RAIN &#8211; NIGHTWAVE (CD by OPN)<br \/>\nNIHILTRONICS &#8211; CURIOSIT\u00c9S (CD by OPN)<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s quite hard to write a negative CD review. It is obvious from the meticulous care\u00a0<br \/>\nthat is put into the artwork and the poetic background story in the sleeve notes that\u00a0<br \/>\nthis not merely bungled together in an afternoon on a rainy day. I always consider the\u00a0<br \/>\npossibility that something just isn&#8217;t my kind of thing; that I simply don&#8217;t understand\u00a0<br \/>\nthe aesthetic merit of the music in question. So in this case I will carefully try to\u00a0<br \/>\nexplain why I don&#8217;t like this album that much. It is quite clear where the band is\u00a0<br \/>\ncoming from: think early Death in June, mixed with percussion-looped post-punk, drenched\u00a0<br \/>\nin reverb, recounting fables, ghost stories and the such. Sounds good, you might say.\u00a0<br \/>\nIt did to me at any rate. Harvest Rain has been around since the mid 90s apparently\u00a0<br \/>\nand though they have previously released their work via some well-known goth\/industrial\u00a0<br \/>\nscene labels, I don&#8217;t believe I&#8217;ve ever heard any of their albums.<br \/>\n\u00a0\u00a0 All right so the album kicks off with an ambient intro that grabbed my attention\u00a0<br \/>\ninstantly, as it really has the typical atmosphere of a dreamlike Current93 intro.\u00a0<br \/>\nHowever, the second track directly disrupts that oneiric flow with a bland kick\/clap\u00a0<br \/>\nloop that seems unintentionally wonky every 8 bars or so. Also when the main vocal\u00a0<br \/>\ndrops, it seems to be offbeat, which is somewhat covered up by the river of reverb\u00a0<br \/>\nin which the distorted guitar is growling its muffled melody. And that&#8217;s another thing\u00a0<br \/>\nthat made listening to the album a bit challenging; the mix is very messy. Maybe this\u00a0<br \/>\nis an artistic choice and yes indeed there are classic albums of both post-punk and\u00a0<br \/>\nneofolk about that were recorded in miserable conditions and sound accordingly, but\u00a0<br \/>\nthe tonnes of reverb that emphasise the harmonic content in such a way that it&#8217;s hard\u00a0<br \/>\nto tell what is actually going on every now and then, had me wondering if it is there\u00a0<br \/>\nto cover up the odd mistake. But then again even the drum computer has a fair load of\u00a0<br \/>\nreverb on it, so it might simply be what these lads prefer. Funny thing is that the\u00a0<br \/>\nthick cloud of effects does work quite well in a track like &#8216;Christblossoms&#8217;, in which\u00a0<br \/>\nthe guitar has an industrial automaton thing going on. To me this song would have been\u00a0<br \/>\nexceptionally interesting if only that silly kick-clap combination wasn&#8217;t there, as it\u00a0<br \/>\nseems somehow to serve as an unnecessary buoy for the lost-at-sea listener, while at\u00a0<br \/>\nthe same time it prevents the track from being truly overwhelming. &#8220;Antique Powdered\u00a0<br \/>\nSleep&#8221; was the highlight on the album, sounding like a mellowed down Esplendor\u00a0<br \/>\nG\u00e9ometrico, which stands out for obvious reasons. Then there were some tracks that\u00a0<br \/>\nwere so goth that it would be hard to not find them entertaining (&#8220;Weightless&#8221; for\u00a0<br \/>\ninstance). Also the vocal delivery is very pleasant in its neofolkity\/gothness,\u00a0<br \/>\npartly sung, sometimes declaimed and I found it to be reminiscent of Brendan Perry&#8217;s\u00a0<br \/>\nvoice every now and then when it surfaced from the ocean of effects. Please understand,\u00a0<br \/>\nI like reverb, I really do, but it seems like Harvest Rain has chosen to soak the\u00a0<br \/>\nentire main mix in it before sending the master to the factory. Apparently the band\u00a0<br \/>\nand OPN think that is the way to go and maybe you do to. Why not check it out for\u00a0<br \/>\nyourself?\u00a0<br \/>\n\u00a0\u00a0 NihilTronics is one of the aliases of Arnaud B. who has myriad of other monikers,\u00a0<br \/>\nof which I-C-K is the only one I actually know. The sleeve does not give us much info<br \/>\nto go on, nor does the label&#8217;s bandcamp page, which only cryptically mentions that\u00a0<br \/>\nthis is &#8220;Nihilistic music for nihilistic people&#8221;. So from the outset my initial aim\u00a0<br \/>\nis to ignore the recurring mental &#8220;we believe in nossing Lebowski&#8221; sound bite and avoid\u00a0<br \/>\ndropping more &#8220;Autobahn&#8221; quotes apart for that one. However, the first track of the\u00a0<br \/>\nalbum does not help much fighting off my facetious disposition, as it seems to be\u00a0<br \/>\ngrumbling on with its clowny bass line. It reminded me a bit of the dark cabaret AIT!\u00a0<br \/>\nand Nov\u00fd Sv?t had us dancing to in the mid 00s. But then by the third track &#8220;Le\u00e7on&#8221; we\u00a0<br \/>\nleave dance floor and all fun behind and get dragged down into the dreary cellar of\u00a0<br \/>\ndark minimal electronics. Le Syndicat Electronique\/La S\u00e9duction des Innocents spring\u00a0<br \/>\nto mind, also because many of the tracks murmur on without clear climaxes, like a lot\u00a0<br \/>\nAlexandre Gand&#8217;s stuff does &#8211; a notable exception being &#8220;Les Masques&#8221;, which is one\u00a0<br \/>\nof the more catchy tracks on the album. And yes there are indeed a lot of similarities\u00a0<br \/>\nbetween the styles of I-C-K and NihilTronics &#8211; severely modulated vocals, minimal\u00a0<br \/>\nrhythmic setups and crispy synths. It seems to me that some synth parts are hand played<br \/>\nwhich I think is a commendable feature and adds an organic sense, albeit a wonky one.\u00a0<br \/>\nThe basic beats and melodies are quite hypnotic from time to time and the driven\u00a0<br \/>\nproduction is quite snappy and harsh. I guess what it does this album does well.<br \/>\nThen again, personally I prefer this kind of music to sport more memorable vocals and\u00a0<br \/>\nhooks and I can&#8217;t really see any occasion on which I would pop this disc into the cd\u00a0<br \/>\nplayer again. But yeah, obviously a matter of taste. (PJN)<br \/>\n\u00a0\u00a0 Address:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.opn.fr\/\">http:\/\/www.opn.fr<\/a><\/p>\n<p>STILLLIFE &#8211; ARCHIPELAGO (CD by Ftarri)<\/p>\n<p>Following their all Japanese CD &#8216;Yuro No Katarogu&#8217;, the duo of Stilllife offers here\u00a0<br \/>\na new recording of music performed in 2014 and 2015, which is cut together as one long<br \/>\npiece, spanning to the very second at one hour exactly. Takashi Tsuda and Hiroki\u00a0<br \/>\nSasajima are responsible for the music but unlike last time when we were told there\u00a0<br \/>\nwere no &#8216;instruments, improvisation nor ensemble&#8217; I am sort of inclined to think there\u00a0<br \/>\nmight be instruments here, and hell, why not, there is some sort of improvisation.\u00a0<br \/>\nBetween the title, &#8216;Archipelago&#8217;, there is mentioning of &#8216;Kagiroi&#8217;, &#8216;Kehai&#8217; and\u00a0<br \/>\n&#8216;Tobari&#8217;; the first and the last might be names of locations. If you listen to the\u00a0<br \/>\nmusic, it seems there are four places, rather than three, but the first and last part\u00a0<br \/>\ncould very well have been recorded outside somewhere, the last bit on busy street\u00a0<br \/>\nsomewhere. It could also be (I&#8217;m sorry if I sound like I&#8217;m speculating here, but that&#8217;s\u00a0<br \/>\nwhat I do best) they play some sort of flute or wind instruments from time to time.\u00a0<br \/>\nIt has that feedback like ring to it that something is going on here that is man made,\u00a0<br \/>\nrather than sticking out a microphone and capture whatever happens to be going on at\u00a0<br \/>\nthe moment. Last time Stilllife sounded like they did small songs, which is not the\u00a0<br \/>\ncase on this release that much. Here everything is more about longer pieces, lots of\u00a0<br \/>\nbird chatter and a bit of music that is played (or not that is. Maybe these people\u00a0<br \/>\nshould release DVDs I mused, so we can check it out more easily). Except for the final\u00a0<br \/>\nbit everything here sound very quiet and non-obtrusive; the field recordings, or rather\u00a0<br \/>\nthe field as a place to make recordings, is still very important and, while not as\u00a0<br \/>\nunique as their previous release, this is quite a refined music release. (FdW)<br \/>\n\u00a0\u00a0 Address:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.ftarri.com\/\">http:\/\/www.ftarri.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p>IRMLER &amp; EINHEIT &#8211; BESTANDTEIL (CD by Klangbad)<\/p>\n<p>Hans Joachim Irmler you of course know as a member of Faust, but over the years he\u00a0<br \/>\nopened up his studio to record with other musicians, and it is worth to note that\u00a0<br \/>\nthese musicians are often drummers or percussionists: Gudrun Gut, Jaki Liebezeit\u00a0<br \/>\nand Christian Wolfarth. FM Einheit, best known perhaps as one of the early members\u00a0<br \/>\nof Einsturzende Neubauten and Abw\u00e4rts, which he both left in the mid 90s, to pursue\u00a0<br \/>\na solo career. He plays percussion but is also the inventor of the bass spring,\u00a0<br \/>\nwhich is what he uses here. Between 2012 and 2015 he made eight trips to the Faust\u00a0<br \/>\nstudio, usually spending two days there, and recorded in total eight jam sessions\u00a0<br \/>\nof himself on percussion and Irmler on the organ. Later on these were mixed together\u00a0<br \/>\ninto the nine pieces on &#8216;Bestandteil&#8217;. The element of improvisation is never far\u00a0<br \/>\naway, not even in these mixes. Usually the set a groove in motion and play more\u00a0<br \/>\nsounds on top. These grooves don&#8217;t have to start with Einheit: it can also be just\u00a0<br \/>\nas well a sort of sequencer like motion from Irmler. The music they play on top\u00a0<br \/>\nstays with that groove, but we hear the abundant use of delay and reverb. Unlike\u00a0<br \/>\nthe release Irmler did with Jaki Liebezeit (see Vital Weekly 940), the overall mood\u00a0<br \/>\nis quite dark here, both in the way the organ and the rhythm sound, even in the dark\u00a0<br \/>\nbig band samples of &#8216;The Taking&#8217;. Moody and textured rhythms and grooves, that&#8217;s\u00a0<br \/>\nwhat this music is all about. Every time I hear this it grows more and more,\u00a0<br \/>\nall of this subtle dark and minimalist variations. Great release. (FdW)<br \/>\n\u00a0\u00a0 Address: http:\/\/klangbad.de<\/p>\n<p>PHILIPPE PETIT &#8211; EAR ME IN (CD by Monotype)<\/p>\n<p>A meeting with legendary French composer Bernard Parmegiani in 2005, prompted\u00a0<br \/>\nPhilippe Petit to compose a work with &#8216;the dynamic of the resonance and its\u00a0<br \/>\nincidences: a microphonic exploration of a single sound body made to resonate by\u00a0<br \/>\nmeans of different types of percussion&#8217;. To that end he got access to the whole\u00a0<br \/>\nbody of percussion instruments (timpani, wind chimes, tubular bells, marimba,\u00a0<br \/>\ncastanets, bass drums, gong, gamelans and such like, as well as his on amplified\u00a0<br \/>\nwood tablet) and from all of this created his own sound bank, which he pressed\u00a0<br \/>\non a bunch of one-off copies on vinyl. Over the years he has been using these\u00a0<br \/>\nunique pieces of vinyl in his concerts (a fine reminder that Petit started out\u00a0<br \/>\nas a turntablist), which brought him a whole bunch of recordings, which were then\u00a0<br \/>\ncut-up, spliced and processed using computer technology. This results in the\u00a0<br \/>\ntwo pieces that we find on &#8216;Ear Me In&#8217; and Petit proofs to be a good student\u00a0<br \/>\nof Parmegiani, or in fact the whole idiom of musique concrete. Two pieces of\u00a0<br \/>\naround twenty-two minutes each of cascading sounds, vinyl pops, glissandi notes,\u00a0<br \/>\npitched up and down percussive sounds, and never staying too long in the same\u00a0<br \/>\nplace. In &#8216;Slowly The Door Creaks Open\u2026&#8217; there is also a few bits with voices,\u00a0<br \/>\nwhich I could have lived without. In this piece Petit also finds space for\u00a0<br \/>\nsomewhat longer, sustaining sounds, moving through space before landing just\u00a0<br \/>\nanywhere, unlike the shorter cuts of the title piece. It&#8217;s an album of a non-<br \/>\nacademic composer and that&#8217;s something one can easily hear in these two\u00a0<br \/>\npieces. Petit doesn&#8217;t care so much for classical notions on compositions,\u00a0<br \/>\nbut rather plays around with these sounds in a more intuitive ways, which\u00a0<br \/>\nmakes it all the more interesting. Quite a lovely tribute to the old masters\u00a0<br \/>\nby a new one. (FdW)<br \/>\n\u00a0\u00a0 Address:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.monotyperecords.com\/\">http:\/\/www.monotyperecords.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p>NOAH &#8211; SIVUTIE (CD by Flau)<br \/>\nRAYONS &#8211; THE WORLD LEFT BEHIND (CD by Flau)<\/p>\n<p>You could think that while listening to music all day, writing reviews, sitting\u00a0<br \/>\nat home, a large bag of candies is never far away; it&#8217;s not. Not because I don&#8217;t\u00a0<br \/>\nlike candy but I know which result it will have on the not-so-active body.\u00a0<br \/>\nSometimes there is music that is also like candy: very sweet, very naive and\u00a0<br \/>\nvery intimate. Flau from Japan have quit a reputation for releasing that kind\u00a0<br \/>\nlof music, but it&#8217;s been a whole since it was something as sugary sweet as Noah.\u00a0<br \/>\nAll of the fifteen pieces consist of very sparse piano tones, lots of reverb on\u00a0<br \/>\nthat sparse tinkling so it all sounds far away, a contact microphone attached\u00a0<br \/>\nto an object (most likely a doll, or a toy instrument) and the whispering voice,\u00a0<br \/>\nof Noah perhaps. &#8216;Gorgeous Death (Noah remix)&#8217; is the only piece with a bit of\u00a0<br \/>\nrhythm, otherwise I though it all sounded by and large the same. The same sweet\u00a0<br \/>\nsong over and over again, the same compositional model, the same whispering\u00a0<br \/>\nvoice, for the entire length close to an hour this release lasts. I must admit\u00a0<br \/>\nI pretty much had enough after four pieces of this, so I skipped through most\u00a0<br \/>\nof the rest. I fail to see what the attraction of this kind of music is: for\u00a0<br \/>\nwhich audience is this released?<br \/>\n\u00a0\u00a0 The piano is a main instrument in the catalogue and also on the album by\u00a0<br \/>\nsomeone who calls him\/herself Rayons. There is a bunch of guest players,\u00a0<br \/>\nplaying flute, alto flute, clarinet, violin, viola, cello and voice, the\u00a0<br \/>\nlatter by Predawn, who actually sings and doesn&#8217;t whisper. Thank god! Here we\u00a0<br \/>\nhave ten pieces, spanning thirty-eight minutes of pure modern classical bliss.\u00a0<br \/>\nMusic that reminded me of Wim Mertens, of Les Disques du Crepuscule, of spring-<br \/>\ntime, of joy and of sadness, especially when the piano is a solo instrument here.\u00a0<br \/>\nMany of the instruments, if they play, are in the same piece,and then Rayons\u00a0<br \/>\nsound more like a small modern music ensemble, with Predawn&#8217;s voice singing\u00a0<br \/>\nbeautifully about a frozen forest or waxing moon. Maybe in the pieces the\u00a0<br \/>\ninfluences shift towards 4AD records, but never rock like. The music is very\u00a0<br \/>\nmuch like painting watercolours: brushes here and there, mixing music together\u00a0<br \/>\nin an endless variety of wishy-washy tones. A highly enjoyable release, most\u00a0<br \/>\ncertainly after the drivel of Noah. For all it&#8217;s sweet aspects this is surely\u00a0<br \/>\nthe place to be, as it offers variation, insight and delight. (FdW)<br \/>\n\u00a0\u00a0 Address:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.flau.jp\/\">http:\/\/www.flau.jp<\/a><\/p>\n<p>ECHOES OF YUL &#8211; THE HEALING (CD by Zoharum)<br \/>\nMACIEK SZYMCZUK &#8211; MUSIC FOR CASSANDRA (CD by Zoharum)<br \/>\nHATI &#8211; METANOUS (CD by Zoharum)<\/p>\n<p>From these three new releases by Polish Zoharum, I started with the one I had\u00a0<br \/>\nno clue about. Echoes Of Yul may have released two albums, a split and an EP,\u00a0<br \/>\nthis is my first encounter with the music of Michal Sliwa, who plays electric\u00a0<br \/>\nand acoustic guitars, basses, synthesizers, keys, bows, theremin, accordion,\u00a0<br \/>\nharmonica, flute, stylophone, talkbox, vocoded voice, kazoo, shortwave radio,\u00a0<br \/>\ndrums, percussion, field recording, programming and samples. That&#8217;s a lot indeed,\u00a0<br \/>\nbut with such an orchestral sound as he has, this is surely all necessary. The\u00a0<br \/>\nmusic by Echoes Of Yul doesn&#8217;t fit in any particular music area. It lies heavily\u00a0<br \/>\nin the world of rhythm, with real drums playing an important part (next to the\u00a0<br \/>\nuse of loops of sound), and that rhythm is a bit slow, a bit dub like at times,\u00a0<br \/>\nbut also solid as in rock music. Think post-rock, krautrock and psychedelica.\u00a0<br \/>\nOn top of that there is a lot of guitar and synthesizer like sounds spacing and\u00a0<br \/>\nracing a long; voices are kept to a minimum, but if present sound like a bunch\u00a0<br \/>\nof monks chanting wordless together. It&#8217;s a clever, modern pastiche of styles\u00a0<br \/>\nand Echoes Of Yul does a great job in connecting the dots between musical styles.\u00a0<br \/>\nIt&#8217;s highly atmospheric, spacious, much of which is owed to the extensive use of\u00a0<br \/>\nreverb, but it no doubt could appeal to a wider, more rock oriented audience,\u00a0<br \/>\nthanks to those heavy rock drum sound and lots of dubbed guitars. This is the\u00a0<br \/>\nkind of music that would sound great in concert, even if I have no idea how Sliwa\u00a0<br \/>\nwould pull such a thing off. Maybe forming a proper band would be the one solid a<br \/>\nnswer and take this show on the road. I predict a great career for Echoes Of Yul.<br \/>\n\u00a0\u00a0 Maciek Szymczuk has been going for many years and has had releases on Mik Musik\u00a0<br \/>\nand Zoharum, solo and as part of Aabzu (see Vital Weekly 937) and he continues\u00a0<br \/>\nhis ambient &#8216;pop&#8217; music on his latest &#8216;Music For Cassandra&#8217;. There is a bit of\u00a0<br \/>\nrhythm, some piano and guitar, lots of atmosphere and Szymczuk is your man to\u00a0<br \/>\nguide you in this doomy and moody world. All of this is rather simple in terms\u00a0<br \/>\nof composition: rhythm ticks away, a bit of piano chords, some on the guitar and\u00a0<br \/>\nwashes of synthesizers. Most of the time it sounds like gently passing like clouds\u00a0<br \/>\nin the sky; a sky at twilight time, shimmering with darkness. Taking its title\u00a0<br \/>\nfrom Friedrich Schiller, there is a darker, romantic notion over this music,\u00a0<br \/>\none of despair, spleen, weltschmerz, or whatever you prefer (&#8216;Infinite Sadness\u00a0<br \/>\nOf Being Right&#8217; is one of the titles, &#8216;Last Lament In Death&#8217; another; there you\u00a0<br \/>\ngo). It is also filled with musical notions, as Szymczuk doesn&#8217;t want this to be\u00a0<br \/>\nfully abstract and alien, when it comes to the use of drones. Sometimes it&#8217;s\u00a0<br \/>\na bit grittier and dirtier, such as &#8216;Let My Life Be Done&#8217; (what did I say about\u00a0<br \/>\ntitles?), and more rock-like. Maybe a bit out of place, but it also provides\u00a0<br \/>\na needed counterpoint, a different angle (angel?) to the music. It is cold outside,\u00a0<br \/>\nit is grey and the mood is sad: yes, Szymczuk knows how to make the right move.<br \/>\n\u00a0\u00a0 Hati is known as the duo of Rafal Iwanski and Rafal Kolacki, but they also\u00a0<br \/>\nworked as a trio, which included Robert Darowski. He plays wooden and bamboo\u00a0<br \/>\ndidgeridoos, rain stick, clap sticks, double windwand and pvc pipe, while the\u00a0<br \/>\nother two play gongs, cymbals, bells, spring drums, rattles, shell, wooden horn,\u00a0<br \/>\nocarina, bass drum, rattles, flute and animal horn. Hati is, as you may either\u00a0<br \/>\nguessed or known, a percussion troupe and the music owes to the world of magick,\u00a0<br \/>\natmospherics, drones, ambient and all such like. The best news is: they keep any\u00a0<br \/>\nsuch references as to magick to a minimum, or in fact, it&#8217;s hardly there at all.\u00a0<br \/>\nThis time around the didgeridoo is a fine addition to the music of Hati, and\u00a0<br \/>\ntaking their music is a slightly different field. The percussion is stretched\u00a0<br \/>\nout more, and playing longer sustaining tones, to which the didgeridoo adds more\u00a0<br \/>\ndepth. Following the music of atmospheres created by Echoes Of Yul and Maciek\u00a0<br \/>\nSzymczuk, this is another addition to that, albeit of a somewhat difference\u00a0<br \/>\nnature. I am not the world biggest fan of this type of percussion music; it is\u00a0<br \/>\nperhaps too esoteric for me, too ritualistick, magick and whatever else ends on\u00a0<br \/>\n&#8216;ck&#8217; (not even calvin). As said, Hati leaves out many of these references these\u00a0<br \/>\ndays, and that&#8217;s something. Purely as music this might not be entirely my cup\u00a0<br \/>\nof tea, but I surely hear that this is made with some great skill and fine ear\u00a0<br \/>\nfor detail. (FdW)<br \/>\n\u00a0\u00a0 Address:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.zoharum.com\/\">http:\/\/www.zoharum.com<br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\nMARINA FAGES &#8211; DIBUJO DE RAYO (CD by Panai)<br \/>\nSEBASTIAN ZANGAR &#8211; CHILDREN OF M (CD by Lantern)<\/p>\n<p>Following her debut &#8216;Madera Metal&#8217; (see Vital Weekly 897), there is now the\u00a0<br \/>\nsecond CD by Marina Fages, still big in Japan, and while I thought of her folky,\u00a0<br \/>\npoppy debut as &#8216; all too sweet and perhaps all a bit too similar&#8217; but not bad\u00a0<br \/>\nfor a post summer&#8217;s day, she now turned her ears towards &#8216;punk music&#8217; and more\u00a0<br \/>\nespecially her own interpretation of it. Ah punk. I do like a bit of punk,\u00a0<br \/>\nand still rank Crass and The Ex as bands I enjoy to this very day; there are\u00a0<br \/>\nlots of early 80s Dutch punk I like but I never cared for US hardcore. While\u00a0<br \/>\nwriting these lines I am playing Fages&#8217; second album, now into the second piece.\u00a0<br \/>\nI was thinking (skip to track three) that I have no idea what punk in Argentina\u00a0<br \/>\nwas like, but if it was anything like Fages does here, than (skip to four) I\u00a0<br \/>\nwonder what they thought of hardcore US bands, or Crass, or The Ex. This,\u00a0<br \/>\nI thought, was more like alternative heavy rock with a bit of new wave influences\u00a0<br \/>\n(and yes, I do like new wave too, in fact too many bands to mention), which is\u00a0<br \/>\nsomething that has been recycled over the years just too many times and every\u00a0<br \/>\ntime these recycled versions are heralded as the next big thing (Franz Ferdinand\u00a0<br \/>\nand whatever else was applauded, skip to next song) and who knows, maybe the\u00a0<br \/>\nworld is waiting for the new wave songs of Fages and she can be truly big star.\u00a0<br \/>\nThis music is something that has not left me indifferent; it left me a thinking\u00a0<br \/>\nthere is so (skip track seven, seven more to come) much more great music alike\u00a0<br \/>\nthis to be played from my personal collection than this copycat. (skip cd)<br \/>\n\u00a0\u00a0 From the same source also a second release from Romanian born, German\u00a0<br \/>\nresident Sebastian Zangar (picture on the press shows a man with a beard,\u00a0<br \/>\ncap reversed on his head; I wish I hadn&#8217;t seen that actually; must be my punk\u00a0<br \/>\nbackground: who cares what the artist looks like?) who\u2019s &#8216;Song 4 Sector 4&#8217; was\u00a0<br \/>\nreviewed in Vital Weekly 886. His recent album was partly recorded in Berlin and\u00a0<br \/>\npartly on an island near Stockholm (have laptop will travel) and Zangar changed\u00a0<br \/>\nhis tune too. His previous album was a bit jazzy, a bit like a lounge record for\u00a0<br \/>\nhip people (have beard will reverse cap, will sip coffee of a more obscure kind\u00a0<br \/>\nwhile waiting for my next tattoo or large hole ear ring) but perhaps I am just\u00a0<br \/>\na bit sceptical about all of that. His new record sees Zangar dealing with\u00a0<br \/>\nelectronics once again, but without the elements &#8216;jazz&#8217;, &#8216;lounge&#8217; and &#8216;piano&#8217;\u00a0<br \/>\nand in its place we find dub techniques. &#8216;M&#8217; in the title stands for Maurizio,\u00a0<br \/>\nhe who guided so many on their roads to dub techno through his releases on Basic\u00a0<br \/>\nChannel and Chain Reaction and Zangar is a very good student. Maybe I could\u00a0<br \/>\nlaunch another diatribe against copying, but I&#8217;m not against copying at all.\u00a0<br \/>\nOne should not applaud every copy as the work of a genius, that&#8217;s all (and yes,\u00a0<br \/>\nforget what Picasso said about copying and talent). No one says Fages is a genius,\u00a0<br \/>\nyou&#8217;re right there, but maybe the whole dub techno is just something that I enjoy\u00a0<br \/>\nmore than a tenth carbon copy of new wave. Maybe there is something faceless about\u00a0<br \/>\nthat kind of music that no one cares who does what? Would you care about the\u00a0<br \/>\ncomposer if you were sweaty and dancing? As long as the DJ serves you the right\u00a0<br \/>\nmix. Zangar&#8217;s music would go down smoothly in a mix that would play Maurizio,\u00a0<br \/>\nPorter Ricks, Rhythm &amp; Sound or whatever is hip these days in the world of dub\u00a0<br \/>\ntechno. I quite enjoyed all of this, though the more rhythm, the better it was\u00a0<br \/>\nI thought. When he strips his beats too much, I found my attention wondering\u00a0<br \/>\noff. (FdW)<br \/>\n\u00a0\u00a0 Address:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.naturebliss.jp\/\">http:\/\/www.naturebliss.jp<\/a><\/p>\n<p>DREKKA &#8211; UNBEKNOWNST TO THE PARTICIPANTS AT HAND (LP by Dais Records)<\/p>\n<p>From the busy bee that is Michael Anderson, otherwise known as Drekka, or part\u00a0<br \/>\nof Dry Socket, as well as running Bluesanct label, and Orphanology as it&#8217;s sub\u00a0<br \/>\ndivision, comes another LP for Dais Records from New York\/Los Angeles, and once\u00a0<br \/>\nagain Drekka delves the archives to find stuff that is in the archive. In this\u00a0<br \/>\ncase a recording from October 2014, quite fresh I think, which Anderson did in\u00a0<br \/>\nItaly, together with Annelies Monsere on vocals. Anderson also takes credit\u00a0<br \/>\nfor voice and &#8216;else&#8217;, by which I think it means all the rest of the sounds.\u00a0<br \/>\nMonsere&#8217;s vocals were taped earlier on and in his concerts Anderson uses tapes\u00a0<br \/>\nto play along. The label links this piece to Nurse With Wound, which is perhaps\u00a0<br \/>\nnot something I easily hear. There are humming voices, spread out in thick\u00a0<br \/>\nlayers over the sonic palette, and there&#8217;s the rummaging of objects upon\u00a0<br \/>\ncontact microphones. All of this with quite a bit of reverb to add to the\u00a0<br \/>\natmosphere. Quite an unsettling piece of music, but alike Nurse With Wound?\u00a0<br \/>\nThat&#8217;s perhaps a bit too far fetched. On the other side there is (more or\u00a0<br \/>\nless) the title piece, but then fully named: &#8216;The Work In Question Is\u00a0<br \/>\nUnbeknownst To The Participants At Hand&#8217;, in which, if I understood correctly\u00a0<br \/>\nAnderson uses a whole bunch of sounds from people, with whom he worked over\u00a0<br \/>\nthe years and crafted this into a piece of electronic sound, electro-acoustic\u00a0<br \/>\nmayhem and a bit of collage techniques from the world of musique concrete.\u00a0<br \/>\nPerhaps this side owes more to the early sound world of the Nurse, with its\u00a0<br \/>\non-going, somewhat piercing electronics (all rather lo-fi drones), recordings\u00a0<br \/>\nof what could be a drum kit, and feedback. Spread out over the side of a record,\u00a0<br \/>\njust like Nurse With Wound did in the early days, I can more easily see that\u00a0<br \/>\nconnection. This is a very vibrant piece of music that Drekka plays here,\u00a0<br \/>\nusing a variety of apparently non-connected sounds, melted together to make\u00a0<br \/>\nan excellent piece of electronic music. For me the B-side is the winner, but\u00a0<br \/>\nthe A-side with its wrapped choir sounds is not bad either. Another gorgeous\u00a0<br \/>\ndark and spacious slab of vinyl by Drekka! (FdW)<br \/>\n\u00a0\u00a0 Address:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.daisrecords.com\/\">http:\/\/www.daisrecords.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>DENKI UDON &#8211; IN ZDB (LP by Three-four)<\/p>\n<p>ZDB, as mentioned in the title, is a concert space in Lisbon and its acronym\u00a0<br \/>\nstands for Z\u00e9 Dos Bois. While I had not heard of Denki Udon before, the trio\u00a0<br \/>\nconsists of Norberto Lobo, of whom in Vital Weekly 981, I reviewed a CD that\u00a0<br \/>\nhe did with Jo\u00e3o Lobo and a bunch of other people. Jazz was something that\u00a0<br \/>\ndidn&#8217;t seem to be far away for that release, but it was also a bit too decent\u00a0<br \/>\nfor my taste. Lobo plays guitar and bass on this recording from Denki Udon,\u00a0<br \/>\nwhile Giovanni Di Domenico plays Fender Rhodes (he was also present on the Lobo\u00a0<br \/>\nbrothers CD) and Tatsuhisa Yamamoto plays the drums. All three players have\u00a0<br \/>\ntheir roots in the world of improvised music, free jazz and modern classical\u00a0<br \/>\nmusic. That is something that they also play on this record, and in concert\u00a0<br \/>\nin ZDB in 2014: music that is partly free, mostly jazzy and also a bit careful.\u00a0<br \/>\nEverybody has their role in this music, everybody contributes to the bigger\u00a0<br \/>\npicture of a piece and they play with much ear for detail. Lobo sometimes plays\u00a0<br \/>\nmore rock like gestures on his guitar, and there are a fair bit of effects on\u00a0<br \/>\nthe Fender Rhodes; &#8216;Needle Dropping&#8217; is in that respect their most aggressive\u00a0<br \/>\npiece: three minutes of free noise rock. It&#8217;s all highly enjoyable music here,\u00a0<br \/>\nbut perhaps also no harm or danger around here. I can imagine this going down\u00a0<br \/>\nwell by those love their Sunday glass of wine and fine bit free jazz in a<br \/>\nhighly respectable jazz environment. (FdW)<br \/>\n\u00a0\u00a0 Address:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/three-four.net\/\">http:\/\/three-four.net<\/a><\/p>\n<p>EX YOU \u2013 EX YOU (CDR by Ex You)<\/p>\n<p>Ex You is a trio from Novi Sad, Serbia (ex-Yougoslavia) of Milan Milojkovi?\u00a0<br \/>\n(electronics), L\u00e1szl\u00f3 Lenkes (guitar) and Filip ?urovi? (drums). They started\u00a0<br \/>\nlast year and have also a cassette (\u2018Whatknot\u2019) out on Small Scale Music,\u00a0<br \/>\nreviewed by Frans for Vital Weekly 9. Can\u2019t tell you much about the musical\u00a0<br \/>\nwhereabouts of these three players. But as Ex You they make up a strong and\u00a0<br \/>\nfocussed unit. The CDR counts four lengthy free improvised sessions departing\u00a0<br \/>\nfrom a rock attitude. Spaced out experiments, taking time to let things evolve,\u00a0<br \/>\netc. The improvisations were recorded in October and November 2014, in a home\u00a0<br \/>\nrecording studio in Vojvodina, Serbia. At moments their music develops like\u00a0<br \/>\na jam session with a groove and rhythm at the core, almost in a Neu-like manner<br \/>\ndue to the primitive but effective pulsating electronic beats generated by\u00a0<br \/>\nMilojkovic. At other moments they choose to abstract from conventional\u00a0<br \/>\nvocabulary and take a dive into free and open territories. It all could be\u00a0<br \/>\nmore condensed and concentrated, but all in all this are interesting and\u00a0<br \/>\nsympathetic excursions. (DM)<br \/>\n\u00a0\u00a0 Address:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.exyou.bandcamp.com\/\">http:\/\/www.exyou.bandcamp.com<br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\nRUHE &#8211; PATRIARCHS (CDR by Eilean Records)<\/p>\n<p>Behind Ruhe is one Bryan Ruhe (and &#8216;ruhe&#8217; in German means &#8216;quiet&#8217;), and I\u00a0<br \/>\ndon&#8217;t think I heard of him before. The piano seems to be his primary\u00a0<br \/>\ninstrument but he also uses some other techniques to transform the sound\u00a0<br \/>\nof piano as well as to add some weirder sounds; more moods and textures\u00a0<br \/>\nreally. There&#8217;s a bit of field recording here and there (the piano is\u00a0<br \/>\nrecorded outside in the rain), but also it seems that there is a lot of\u00a0<br \/>\ntime spend on making these recordings sound very low in approach. Then\u00a0<br \/>\ncertain features are taken out of that, a bass sound, a bit of hiss,\u00a0<br \/>\nthose kinds of elements, and added again to the music, to create more\u00a0<br \/>\nalienation. None of the piano melodies are very much in a flow. Ruhe likes\u00a0<br \/>\nto play a few chords, slowly until the sustain dies out and that&#8217;s about\u00a0<br \/>\nit. This is indeed quite a curious release. I must admit I felt I was\u00a0<br \/>\nbouncing back and forth between thinking &#8216;this is actually something\u00a0<br \/>\nthat I heard before, but quite consistently worked out, and surely odd\u00a0<br \/>\nenough&#8217; versus &#8216;yeah, okay, I heard you play a few notes on the piano,\u00a0<br \/>\nreverse them, amplify hiss and add rain sounds&#8217;; it is somewhere between\u00a0<br \/>\n&#8216;not bad at all&#8217; and &#8216;quite simple&#8217; actually, not exactly between &#8216;love&#8217;\u00a0<br \/>\nand &#8216;hate&#8217;, which I think would be too strong. Even when I played this\u00a0<br \/>\na couple of times since receiving this, I don&#8217;t seem to be able to make\u00a0<br \/>\nup my mind. There is a mysterious attraction to this music, which is\u00a0<br \/>\nquite captivating and perhaps that&#8217;s the best thing about this? A quality\u00a0<br \/>\nin itself, I think. (FdW)<br \/>\n\u00a0\u00a0 Address:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/eileanrec.bandcamp.com\/\">http:\/\/eileanrec.bandcamp.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>CDR &#8211; ACID WALTZ (CDR by Adaadat)<br \/>\nVENTA PROTESIX &#8211; ANNI DI MASTURBAZIONE (CDR by Adaadat)<\/p>\n<p>Hikaru Tsunematsu works as Amen Junky, Amenomix, Casio Roland, DJ\u00a0<br \/>\nPsilocube Disc Recordable, GBR, Auaua, Gunslinger R, RDC, Zr3a and CDR.\u00a0<br \/>\nHis music was released by 19-T, BRK, Maltine Records, Chipdripdrops,\u00a0<br \/>\nNo Kore, Otherman Records, Amenorea, Dance Corps, Proc Records, Cuntroll,\u00a0<br \/>\nCock Rock Disco, Merryworks, Tsundere Violence and his own RDC Records.<br \/>\nIf the list of names is fake, and something lazy reviewers copy from\u00a0<br \/>\npress texts: so be it; I haven&#8217;t heard of any of these before. CDR calls\u00a0<br \/>\nhimself a noise\/breakcore\/chiptune artist and this is music that leaves\u00a0<br \/>\nany listener, of any age, behind exhausted. This is heavy on all sides;\u00a0<br \/>\nthe chaotic drum patterns that belong to the world of breakcore, the\u00a0<br \/>\ngrainy 8 (or lower) bit tunes played on worn out gameboys and the let&#8217;s\u00a0<br \/>\ncrank everything up to 11 production. Sometimes the acid side of the\u00a0<br \/>\ntitle comes alive, with some bits played on the 303. That makes this\u00a0<br \/>\nactually something with quite a bit of variation throughout, though I\u00a0<br \/>\nmust admit it also worked best for me if pieces were kept to a minimum;\u00a0<br \/>\na punk rock minimum so anything over two and half minute is already quite\u00a0<br \/>\nlong, but that&#8217;s also because not every song is a great idea in itself.\u00a0<br \/>\nShort pieces make sure that the energy level for this release is kept up\u00a0<br \/>\nto speed. At thirty-seven minutes this is not an easy task, and as said,\u00a0<br \/>\nby the time the release was done, I was entirely without energy.<br \/>\n\u00a0\u00a0 Italo Belladonna produces more noise of a more traditional stance,<br \/>\nwhich I am sure, is not his real name, who works as Venta Protesix.\u00a0<br \/>\nA previous CD was reviewed in Vital Weekly 885. This new release compiles\u00a0<br \/>\nthe best tracks from 2008 towards 2015 and Venta Protesix thinks of himself\u00a0<br \/>\nas &#8216;the most prominent representative of the emerging musical tradition\u00a0<br \/>\nknown as laptop micro-autism or bruitist stochasticism&#8217;. His interest\u00a0<br \/>\nlies in &#8220;&#8216;lolicon&#8217; &#8211; a genre of erotic anime that focuses on young ladies&#8221;,\u00a0<br \/>\nas I just learned from MT in the previous review; the artwork of this CD\u00a0<br \/>\nhas a lot of references to Japanese pornography and much of the titles\u00a0<br \/>\nhave no room for the imagination. Some of this is used in the music as\u00a0<br \/>\nwell. For whatever reason I reminded me of the other Italian in laptop\u00a0<br \/>\nnoise music, Massimo (Sapienza), covering a similar territory of laptop\u00a0<br \/>\nnoise mayhem, although I believe Venta Protesix to be more radical than\u00a0<br \/>\nhis countrymen from so many years ago. Unlike CDR Venta Protesix doesn&#8217;t\u00a0<br \/>\nkeep his pieces short, nor his album; there are no less than twenty pieces\u00a0<br \/>\non this release and it spans a good, solid seventy-three minutes. It is\u00a0<br \/>\nvery loud and very digital; maybe he opened a bunch of pictures of Japanese\u00a0<br \/>\nporn with an audio editor and recorded the noise that would bring (perhaps\u00a0<br \/>\nwhile masturbating?). It&#8217;s very loud. Oh, I wrote that already. I wonder\u00a0<br \/>\nwho could actually play this in its entirety and at the volume needed.\u00a0<br \/>\nI wasn&#8217;t succeasful in doing that, I must admit (and I know it&#8217;s not\u00a0<br \/>\nnecessary to play things in it&#8217;s entirety, but still, who could\/would?).\u00a0<br \/>\nThe creating of noise music is perhaps indeed a form of masturbation and\u00a0<br \/>\nas such Venta Protesix surely is a master of one. Oh, Venta Protesix has\u00a0<br \/>\nalso releases on Lips Infection, RDC, Floppy Kick, Anarcho Freaks Production,\u00a0<br \/>\nMonstres Par Exces, Ikebukuro Dada, Loli&amp;Puke Inc, A Dear Girl Called Wendy,\u00a0<br \/>\n16 Shots Per Second Records, Placenta Recordings, Setola Di Maiale, Metzger\u00a0<br \/>\nTherapie and Stockroom Records; this time I even recognized two or three\u00a0<br \/>\nnames, but along with the labels I typed with the CDR review: the musical<br \/>\nworld is infinity bigger than I ever imagine. Venta Protesix is not\u00a0<br \/>\nsomething I would put on repeat easily. (FdW)<br \/>\n\u00a0\u00a0 Address:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.adaadat.co.uk\/\">http:\/\/www.adaadat.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n<p>KARMICIEL WSZY &#8211; ISDALSKVINNEN (CDR, private)<\/p>\n<p>The tumblr site mentioned on the cover has no posts as of writing this,\u00a0<br \/>\nand no information was enclosed, so I have not much idea about Karmiciel\u00a0<br \/>\nWszy. Discogs tell me nothing, other than a previous CDR released by\u00a0<br \/>\nInyrdisk and a cassette by Jasien. &#8216;Isdalskvinnen&#8217;, so it&#8217;s told on Discogs,\u00a0<br \/>\n&#8220;is a promotional self-release \/ demo, available for free of charge after\u00a0<br \/>\ncontacting the artist. Also available for streaming in whole on soundcloud.&#8221;\u00a0<br \/>\nI am sure you must be able to find out where exactly on soundcloud. This\u00a0<br \/>\nis my first encounter with his or her (their?) music, and the nine pieces\u00a0<br \/>\nhere span thirty minutes. The cover mentions no instruments, so for all I\u00a0<br \/>\nknow this is someone with either a laptop and a bunch of sounds on board,\u00a0<br \/>\nor an impressive line of sound effects coupled to a guitar or keyboard.\u00a0<br \/>\nThe result is some pretty neat, but not the most &#8216;new&#8217; music, which one\u00a0<br \/>\ncould label as &#8216;ambient industrial&#8217;, actually in equal amounts of both\u00a0<br \/>\nthe ambient and the industrial side. Quite some extensive use of reverb\u00a0<br \/>\nis added to create more atmosphere to mechanical sounds, the rattling of\u00a0<br \/>\ncymbals and perhaps the obscurities of field recordings being transformed\u00a0<br \/>\ninto oblivion. Pieces are kept short, which I&#8217;m not sure is a good thing;\u00a0<br \/>\nI sense there could be a bit more in there than what it is now, but perhaps\u00a0<br \/>\nI&#8217;m wrong. In short there is much to enjoy here and there is room for\u00a0<br \/>\nimprovement to make this more of his own and finding one&#8217;s voice\u00a0<br \/>\nin this. (FdW)<br \/>\n\u00a0\u00a0 Address:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/karmicielwszy.tumblr.com\/\">http:\/\/karmicielwszy.tumblr.com\/<br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\nPINA BOUNCE &#8211; TRUMPETANCY (cassette by Orila\/Paraphernalia\/Noise-below)<br \/>\nAMK\/HOWARD STELZER (cassette by Noise-below)<br \/>\nI got these two together and decided to start this time around with the name\u00a0<br \/>\nthat is new: Pina Bounce, whose &#8216;Trumpetancy&#8217; is her debut release. Bounce\u00a0<br \/>\nis a trumpet player who holds uses a multi effects amplifier and lives high\u00a0<br \/>\nup in Mount Giona, central Greece. The five pieces are played in an improvised\u00a0<br \/>\nmanner, but otherwise she&#8217;s not willing to tell us much more than just that.\u00a0<br \/>\nWhich I guess is fine: maybe music should speak for itself (but it may not\u00a0<br \/>\nnecessarily lead to a longer review). Pina Bounce plays the trumpet and loops\u00a0<br \/>\nthe sound on the spot, adding a bit of reverb (providing she&#8217;s not in some\u00a0<br \/>\nchurch or cave recording this). It gives the music a strange, somewhat hollow\u00a0<br \/>\nsound, like alphorns played in a somewhat sacral surrounding. Bounce plays her<br \/>\n\u00a0music in quite a slow and minimal manner, sometimes, such as in &#8216;Finale&#8217; with\u00a0<br \/>\nsome percussive sounds (maybe some kind of accidental sound being repeated),\u00a0<br \/>\nwhich reminded of 23Skidoo in a very contemplative mood. I like this best\u00a0<br \/>\nwhen Bounce puts layer upon layer and creates this sort of low fidelity\u00a0<br \/>\ndrone sound.<br \/>\n\u00a0\u00a0 The other cassette is a split release by two composers who are always quite\u00a0<br \/>\nsingle minded about what they have centre stage in their set-up, and over the<br \/>\n\u00a0years have become masters of their trade. On the first side this AMK, boss\u00a0<br \/>\nof banned Production who uses records, record players, montage flexi discs,\u00a0<br \/>\nfield recordings and shortwave radio; and on the other side we have Howard\u00a0<br \/>\nStelzer on &#8216;cassette tapes etc&#8217;, recorded and prepared by himself, as well\u00a0<br \/>\nhaving some from AMK and frog. AMK cooks up four pieces and one doesn&#8217;t have\u00a0<br \/>\nthe idea this is all today with the revolving sounds of vinyl grooves. At\u00a0<br \/>\nleast: not all the time, and that&#8217;s great. I must have said this before, but\u00a0<br \/>\nthe whole turntable thing is something I am a bit fed up with. But with AMK&#8217;s\u00a0<br \/>\nextra sounds and effects it becomes something else; partly of course in the\u00a0<br \/>\nworld of noise, but he creates also some radio play like events with small\u00a0<br \/>\nvoices and ancient music. A curious intervention in the world of musique\u00a0<br \/>\nconcrete: excellent!\u00a0<br \/>\n\u00a0\u00a0 Stelzer on the other side starts with a count-in by a guitarist and a guitar\u00a0<br \/>\nriff, which he quickly amasses to the world of 1000 excited guitarists strumming\u00a0<br \/>\ntogether, and then, via an abrupt switch-over, which works quite well, we have\u00a0<br \/>\nentered the factory which recycled guitars via chain saws: a metallic ringing\u00a0<br \/>\nsound sings towards the listener, used to mayhem by now. This is quite a noisy<br \/>\nwork by Stelzer (never shy to put on such a thing). I wonder if he realized\u00a0<br \/>\nthis release was released to celebrate the birth of the daughter of the owners\u00a0<br \/>\nof the Electric Knife Record store? It will be some time before she learns\u00a0<br \/>\nto appreciate this music is my best guess. (FdW)<br \/>\n\u00a0\u00a0 Address:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.orila.net\/\">http:\/\/www.orila.net\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>H\u00dcBEBLO GENEVA (cassette by Hidden Temple)<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s been quite a while since I saw the trio of Carl Ludwig H\u00fcbsch (tuba),\u00a0<br \/>\nClaus van Bebber (turntables) and Jaap Blonk (voice) perform at Extrapool.\u00a0<br \/>\nI reviewed their &#8216;Improvisers&#8217; release back in Vital Weekly 365 and it must\u00a0<br \/>\ngave been around that time, although I am no longer sure about that. Much to\u00a0<br \/>\nmy surprise they are still playing together, and this time under the banner\u00a0<br \/>\nof H\u00fcbeblo Geneva. Maybe because this was recorded in Geneva &#8211; also something\u00a0<br \/>\nI am not entirely sure about that? Here they played at the evening of October\u00a0<br \/>\n7th, 2012 and this is a mighty fine recording. Unlike their previous release,\u00a0<br \/>\nwhich was a studio effort, there is a fine directness about this, which works\u00a0<br \/>\nout very well. It starts with a more usual (if you are familiar with that kind\u00a0<br \/>\nof music obviously) carefully exploring musicians, see what everybody is up to,\u00a0<br \/>\nbut by the time of &#8216;Evan Eg&#8217; and &#8216;A Va Negave&#8217;, which takes up the entire B-<br \/>\nside, this trio is back on track with some particular heavy improvised music.\u00a0<br \/>\nIt is building layer upon layer, especially in the B-side piece, with Van\u00a0<br \/>\nBebber spinning many records at the same time, hitting upon something which\u00a0<br \/>\nis good for repeating and Blonk and H\u00fcbsch in a similar repetitive fashion,\u00a0<br \/>\nuntil going back, breaking down into some of their more up-tempo, hectic,\u00a0<br \/>\nDadaist sound poetry and tuba interventions; Van Bebber joins a bit later\u00a0<br \/>\nagain, with some hand-spun sounds adding tension and electro-acoustic interplay<br \/>\nto the proceedings. A highly enjoyable recording, one that oozes vibrancy\u00a0<br \/>\namong the players. A night that will not be forgotten: it survives through\u00a0<br \/>\nthis recording. (FdW)<br \/>\n\u00a0\u00a0 Address:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/hiddentempletapes.storenvy.com\/\">http:\/\/hiddentempletapes.storenvy.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>T. MORIMOTO &#8211; CRIT REFLEX (cassette by Junk Mnemonic)<br \/>\nFrom Sydney, Australia hails Tom Smith, who works sometimes as Thomas William,\u00a0<br \/>\nCleptoclectics and who works with Marcus Whale as Collarbones\/Black Vanilla.\u00a0<br \/>\nHere he calls himself T. Morimoto, which perhaps sounds vaguely Japanese and\u00a0<br \/>\nmaybe the idea when creating his synthesizer\/mixer feedback improvisations was\u00a0<br \/>\nto have some sort of Japanese image of a noise musician? I have no idea if that\u00a0<br \/>\nwas the case, but it could be. This is quite a noisy beast indeed and at the\u00a0<br \/>\nsame time also quite rhythmical. Not in a dance music fashion, far from it,\u00a0<br \/>\nbut bouncing around in that modular synthesizer fashion. Smith improvises all\u00a0<br \/>\nof these pieces and that&#8217;s something that one clearly detects in here. It\u00a0<br \/>\nsometimes derails a bit from the main track, but it&#8217;s never too far off. I\u00a0<br \/>\ndon&#8217;t think I heard music by Smith before (but with such a name it&#8217;s not easy\u00a0<br \/>\nto trace I guess), but apparently this is his noisier side. I must admit I\u00a0<br \/>\nam not entirely convinced by these excursions; I heard this done much better\u00a0<br \/>\nby other people. Maybe I&#8217;d be more interested in his other work? Maybe this\u00a0<br \/>\nrhythm &#8216;n noise is just not for me? (FdW)<br \/>\n\u00a0\u00a0 Address:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/junkmnemonic.bandcamp.com\/\">http:\/\/junkmnemonic.bandcamp.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p>http:\/\/vitalweekly.net<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>PSEUDO CODE &#8211; REMAINS TO BE HEARD VOL. 1 &amp; 2 (2CD by EE Tapes) * INDIGO KID \u2013 FIST FULL OF NOTES (CD by<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":521,"featured_media":39075,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-publications"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/modisti.com\/15\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/modisti.com\/15\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/modisti.com\/15\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modisti.com\/15\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/521"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modisti.com\/15\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39072"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/modisti.com\/15\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39072\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modisti.com\/15\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/modisti.com\/15\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modisti.com\/15\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modisti.com\/15\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}