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Vital Weekly 694

  Tobias

OLIVIER GIROUARD - LA NUIT NOUS DECONSTRUIT PAR COEUR (CD by Ekumen)
The Ekumen collective is a group of musicians from Montreal who play microsounding ambient (a mere generalization on my behalf, I know, but just for the lack of a better word). Olivier Girouard joined last year and 'La Nuit Nous Deconstruit Par Coeur' is his first, albeit, short album. It contains five pieces he recorded for choreographer Kate Hilliard, who create a piece for Marie Uguay, a poet from Quebec who died at the age of 26 of cancer. Obviously I must admit I never read her poetry, but judging by this music it must be very intimate. Girouard's main instrument of choice is the guitar, which in the first two pieces sound almost unprocessed. Naked and delicate. In 'Ne Me Laisse Pas Ici', the computer starts playing a role in likewise delicate processed sound. Delicate and intimate are just the two phrases that spring to mind when hearing these pieces. Objectively speaking, this music is hardly 'new' or 'surprising', but somehow I don't think its Girouard's intention to do anything such like. He wants to create a beautiful piece of music in loving memory of someone he loved, and he succeeded wonderfully well. (FdW)
Address: http://www.ekumen.com

ROGER KLEIER - THE NIGHT HAS MANY HOURS (CD by Innova)
The starting point for this CD, as well as the two that have already been released as part of this trilogy is that guitarist Roger Kleier is inspired by the notion of recurring characters in novels (such as in those by writers he likes as Raymond Chandler, Walter Moseley and William Gibson). He sees his musical pieces as a character who 'shows up repeatedly in a myriad of musical situations, with each variation somehow related to the last one'. An interesting starting point to make a CD. He plays all instruments here, except for cello (by Joan Jeanrenaud) and organ (by Annie Gosfeld). Kleier has played with the likes of Carl Stone, Marc Ribot, Elliot Sharp, Fred Frith, Chris Cutler but also Stan Ridgway (a personal favorite here, but hardly Vital related), which might give you some clue as to where to find this music. I am not sure wether these eleven pieces were all composed or partly improvised, but for some reason I assume the latter. The CD starts pretty strong with some great drone like sound material, over which the guitar and cello move freely with interesting melodies, but there are some 'stories' here which I didn't like that much such as 'Knuckleduster' with its driving rhythm and disjointed organ sounds, or the computer processing of guitar sounds on 'Deluge: Devil Take The Most' (placed after eachother) and 'Anyway', which seems a combination of both. If these are stories about the same character, which is actually something I can hear in the music, then I'd say that most of the stories are great, but not all. That happens. In novels and in music. But throughout I thought this was a most enjoyable release. (FdW)
Address: http://www.innova.mu

COLLAPSAR - BEYOND THE EVENT HORIZON (CD by Malignant)
HYIOS - CONSUETUDINES (CD by Malignant)
US label Malignant has been going for quite a number of years now, but they are not always releasing that much, or, perhaps I do miss out on releases every now and then. Here however they introduce us to the work of Collapsar, from France. In case you don't know know what kind of music Malignant deals with, I would think that Collapsar is very example. They loosely refer to this kind of music as 'dark ambient', but that doesn't entirely satisfy me. Perhaps if one would play this kind of music at a medium volume, it would indeed be ambient and somewhat dark, but once turns up the volume, this music has a strong bit to it, that industrial edge that comes with the releases on Malignant (the ones I heard that is). Hermetically closed music, of crashing synthesizers and sound effects - lots of those around, especially the use of reverb is extensive with Collapser - as in fact with the whole dark ambient scene. That reverb provides that nice overall, dense, multi-layered sound. Maybe the pieces are a bit one dimensional when it comes to choosing sound and methods of composing, but on the other hand it puts down a great atmosphere throughout the entire disc.
To point out the finer differences between Collapser and Hyios (from Leipzig, Germany) is not easy, but one difference is for sure that Hyios doesn't smear the sound together into an endless mass. Details are a bit clearer to be spotted, the picked-up rumble of metal sheets feeding through that unmistakably present line of reverb. It seems to me that both bands play that fine ambient drone music, but that Hyios is somehow more concerned with a compositional built up in a piece - be it very slow and precise. But the pieces built up, grow in intensity, die out, a circle of life, a living organism, unless the somewhat motionless Collapser. Maybe it has also to do with the use of a variety of sound sources, including the aforementioned metal sheets, electronics and synthesizers. Hyios seems to me a bit more ritual music based, however in a big ambient context. Both of these releases may just a bit too dark and ritualistic based for me, but especially Collapser I enjoyed very much. (FdW)
Address: http://www.malignantrecords.com

LOREN DENT - ANTHROPOLOGY VOL. 1 (CD by Infraction Records)
LOREN DENT - ANTHROPOLOGY EXTRAS (USD by Infraction Records)
DRAFTED BY MINOTAURS - AVERSION THERAPY (LP by Infraction Records)
Infraction Records, it has been pointed out before, is by now an established force in the world of ambient music. A bit like Malignant (see elsewhere), but there are differences. Malignant's ambient is dark, very dark and has ritualist undercurrents, whereas Infraction is more concerned with ambient in both dark and light shades and are more nature based in approach, both through the use of field recordings as part of the music, as well in the nature photography on the cover. I am not sure if I ever heard of Loren Dent but seventy-two minutes on the CD as well as a USB drive with another four hours of 'outtakes' is well enough. I was listening to the CD with some distance. Not noting the CD, so I couldn't tell when a track started and when it stopped. So I was kinda surprised, when returning to the CD player, that this CD had thirteen tracks - it seemed a bit less. Dent uses samples of choral and orchestral music, along with guitar and some computerized stuff. That results in a pretty dark mass of sound, without any industrial undercurrent of, say, 'Collapser'. Beautiful music that perhaps is a bit long in the end, although, no doubt, the idea might be to bring the listener in a trance like mood. Perhaps to that end the USB diskdrive serves this purpose even better. Four hours is a bit long of course, but stick this on and let it run. The music here is much less complex than on the CD, more then one or two sounds approach with a bit of sound effects. As said less complex but perhaps therefore a bit easier to digest in its longitude. Both of them are nice excursions in a territory that is already well-known.
A duo is Drafted By Minotaurs, being guitarist Ryan Wilson and trumpet and glockenspiel (an unlikely combination me thinks) Ian Fulcher, whose 'Aversion Therapy' is their first LP. A great package with a gate fold sleeve - no costs are spared here. Their ambient is much more open and gentle then say Dent, and miles and miles away from the music of Malignant Records. The guitar is clearly to be recognized, even with some folk strumming in 'Sault Locks'. Whatever glockenspiel and trumpet are doing is however a bit unclear. My best guess would be is that are looped through a variety of sound devices and which form the ambient backdrop in which the guitar seems to move so freely. Side A has three tracks, under which the aforementioned 'Sault Locks', which is quite short, which are nice, but the best piece is the side long b-side 'Sunday's Morning Ghost', in which the trumpet plays a more dominant role (or at least can be recognized more), in long sustaining tones, meandering together, merging gently with the guitar sounds, which now are close to the trumpet. The glockenspiel? It plays its own spiel somewhere, like shimmering metallic sounds pushed towards the end of the spectrum, but they haven't disappeared altogether. Great cinematic beauty. Top class ambient album. (FdW)
Address: http://www.infractionrecords.com

NAKABAN - DER METEOR (DVD by Noble)
Even though I would like to present myself as a snob who never watches TV (or film), I of course do so. But tonight the cable is down, and I am contemplating what to do. I want to watch something and then there is this, a DVD by Nakaban, a Japanese painter and picture book artist/illustrator. 'Der Meteor' (comet in English, I never know why Japanese people are so much into the German language) is the DVD release on DVD and is an animation film. Luckily not in the slick Hollywood sense of the word, but rather in a naive manner, almost like an old eastern Europe one (Czech Republic): child like, naive, with objects being filmed in front of a painted background, with small pieces of wire from the ceiling about (spoiler coming up) a man in blue searching for a comet. It looks great, and the music, under supervision by Takeo Toyama fits the film very well. Just acoustic instruments, such as piano, marimba, organ and cello, played by various people (names not included with my promo copy). It sounds like Debussy at the beginning, a bit of Satie, easy listening, Pascal Comelade and Penguin Cafe Orchestra. Intimate music, like a small ensemble playing to a small film. No fancy digital techniques all around, just a very intimate film with an excellent piece of music. A film with a story, beautifully made. One wishes there would be more so TV could be switched off always. A snob speaking. (FdW)
Address: http://www.noble-label.net

NERNES/SKAGEN - AD UNDAS (2LP by Fysisk/Format)
This is one of those things that land on my desk, and the big questionmark can be spotted miles ahead: what is this? From the design I'd say some sort of doom metal band, but its not. Well, not entirely. Nernes/Skagen is a 'hybrid duo', whatever that might be, from Oslo. Nernes is one half and he plays guitar, while Skagen plays synthesis, analogue, filters and advanced sound constructions (more questionmarks please). Together they merge influences such as Glenn Branca, earth, Pauline Oliveros, Ryoji Ikeda - now we are talking (exclamation mark please). This is a record to be played loud, because its only then when the complete dynamics of what is on offer can be heard. When the guitars rock, minimal of course, in the best Branca tradition, they rock hard. Banging chords with breaks. But that's only one side of the story. Nernes/Skagen also deal with lots of silence in their music. Here the loud volume comes handy. We hear the electronics sizzling beneath the surface. It makes quite a powerful statement. Quite a blast - remember: noise works best when it deals with extreme dynamics. Not just extreme loudness but also extreme quietness and Nernes/Skagen play that game extremely well. Maybe whatever undercurrent, conceptually speaking, is part of this is not that well-spend on me - the cover for instance would not engage me in picking this up from the shelve - but once heard: hats off. (FdW) Address: http://www.fysiskformat.no

O.R.D.U.C. - AUTO (7" by Motok)
Hot on the heels of the LP release by E.M.M., from the same house now comes a 7" by O.R.D.U.C. - the One-0-Seventh-Royal-Dutch-Underground-Company. The band which launched the career of Nico Selen, also known as E.M.M., No-notes, Ilo Istatov, The Bearcage and who knows what else. His career started in 1980 and with various hiatus continues until this day. 'Auto' is a track that will also be released on '107', a LP which will be out in November. For his various names, Selen has different types of music, although all of them are in the field of electronic music. There is minimalism, ambient and popmusic. Perhaps the most undefined project is O.R.D.U.C., since it seems to combine his various interests. Selen calls this minimal wave, separated in minimal pop, minimal synthesizer and minimal (it all seems a bit semantic to me). 'Auto (edit)' is on the a-side of which the lyrics seem to be a bunch of names mentioned used by Selen, set against a nice slow back-drop. Not entirely pop I'd say, but surely a minimal song. This is followed by 'EU (edit)' brings indeed the synthesizer much to the foreground in a nice and moody textured piece. Rhythm play again a big role. The 'Less Is More' version of 'Auto' is largely an instrumental song of slow drums, and tinkling synthesizers, with a nice drum fill. Not entirely 'Autobahn' like either, but I can imagine a superlong version for car stereo and this to be a driving song (if only I could drive a car, that is). Nice 7", which makes me altogether more curious about the forthcoming LP. (FdW) Address: http://www.motok.org

SMOKERS PLEASE - FLENSING/GREY CHRISTMAS (7" by Yoko Ono Tribute Weekend)
We may assume that the Ben Spiers who is behind Smokers Please is the same Ben Spiers we reviewed back in Vital Weekly 634, with his CDR for Transient Recordings. He moved (perhaps temporarily) to the UK from a land down under and now calls himself Smokers Please (please what? smokers please don't smoke please? or smokers please come over?). Spiers still plays guitar, viola and stylophone, which in 'Flensing' results in a vicious, loud and dirty drone, whereas 'Grey Christmas' starts out with simple strumming which continues throughout the entire piece, but with a guitar wailing through a fuzz/distortion box underneath. Both pieces seem to me the result of improvisation, as before. But opposed to his previous CDR release 'And Then', Ben keeps things well under control here. The 7" format is perhaps not the best to get a good impression of what a musician can do, and for the music of the likes of Spiers its perhaps too concise, but in this very case it works well. Two slabs of around five or so minutes gives the listener a solid idea of what Spiers can do. The sound quality is what one can expect from the lands down under: not great, but raw and noisy. (FdW) Address: http://www.yokoonotributeweekend.com

RICHARD FRANCIS & CLINTON WATKINS/ADAM WILLETTS (7" by Dungeon Taxis)
Following releases by John Pilcher & Martin McKelvey and La Lakers, here on Dungeon Taxis, a split 7". One side has a collaborative piece by Eso Steel's/CMR boss Richard Francis with Clinton Watkins (from Whitebass) and on the other side a solo track by Adam Willetts (Saturn). I don't think I ever heard of Whitebass or Saturn. The collaborative piece on the first side is a short heavy beast. Deep end rumble with piercing feedback like sound. A Whitehouse instrumental if you can picture that. Short, merely a few minutes (it seems), blasting away, ending just as abruptly as it started. Adam Willetts side deals also with noise, in an even more monotonous manner. Hard to say what he does here, but it seems to me dealing with some form of computerized noise. Whereas the other side is right to the point, this side seems a bit long to me. Just a bit, not overlong, but it could have gained more power if it would have been a bit more concise. Great hard cover for this small edition of 150 copies. (FdW) http://www.dungeontaxis.blogspot.com/

BLUE SAUSAGE INFANT - SCALPELS FOR THE ANIMAL GOD (CDR by Intangible Arts Media Alert)
Chester Hawkins, from Washington DC, records since 1986 as Blue Sausage Infant, and despite his collaborations with Violet, New Carrolton and Stolen Government Binder Clip (whom I know), I never heard of him before. At least, I think, but a somewhat silly name like Blue Sausage Infant I would have surely remembered. Maybe its the seven year hiatus in recording that made me forget the name? The three long tracks on 'Scalpels For The Animal God' are all recorded live, two in concert (one at the excellent Sonic Circuit festival in DC, which runs, well, now, more or less) and one in studio. The CDR opens with his Sonic Circuits set from last year (he also performs this year), with lots of synth and guitar and voices that loop around through some effects. Especially the voices is a bit of a let down I think, but when things collapse towards the end, and it becomes a bit more quiet, its rather interesting. The twenty minute epos 'Tactile', live at home, is however a great piece. Some sort meditation speak is sampled and set against loops of flute and a slow bouncing rhythm. The sort of raw ambient house of so many years ago - say the missing link between Horizon 222 and zoviet*france. This good spirit is followed by 'Scalpels', which is also a great piece of drone music. A sampled choir, many loops, endless sustain on the guitar and wailing synth sound underneath. Not as delicate as the previous piece, perhaps a bit of a cliche even, but the end result is certainly very nice. So if you decide to get a copy of this release, and there is no reason why not, then may I suggest to program the running order two, three and one? Or perhaps a re-issue of just the second and third track? With the lengths used by Blue Sausage Infant, that might well be enough. (FdW)
Address: http://www.myspace.com/iabluesausageinfant

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