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Vital Weekly 713

  Tobias

ROBERT TURMAN & AARON DILLOWAY - BLIZZARD (CD by Hanson Records)
AARON DILLOWAY - HISS NAUSEA (CD by Hanson Records)
Last year in January there was horrible snowstorm in Ohio. It looked Aaron Dilloway (ex-Wolf Eyes, Hanson Records man) and one Robert Turman (ex-Non, Z.O. Voider) in a room, with a bunch of synthesizers, tapes and effects. If you can't do anything, then do music (and if you can do something else, also make music). Stuck together they recorded these four pieces of blizzard music. Unlike a blizzard, this is music that doesn't move very fast. Long stretched out sounds on the synthesizer, bending the music down, down and more down, into a shaking rumble of sound. On top tapes of highly obscured sounds move around in a bunch of sound effects and the outcome is actually quite beautiful. The cruelty of beauty that is. Vast and spacious in the first movement, earpiercing in the second movement, rattling like snow and ice being crushed in the third. The final track has a oscillating drone and some nice vaguely vocal loop on top, making this the most 'musical' outing of the four. Four excellent excursions that fit the snow white world of the Vital headquarters perfectly. Released at exactly the right time: winter music.
In 2006 Dilloway released a double cassette in an edition of 30 copies, which now gets a re-edition of 200 copies, along with fifteen minutes of music not on the previous release. Like the title implies, Dilloway uses hiss, along with feedback and loads of tape-delay. Now this would call cassette music. Five relatively simple pieces, derived from one idea, exploited for seventy-five minutes. Tucked away in my lazy chair with a book, I was thinking of the 80s, when I loads of cassettes like this. I was studying my books and play this kind of music on end. Based on loops, hiss, feedback, some delay pedals, maybe the occasional synthesizer in play. This afternoon I looked at my CD player and contemplated a few things. One was that this isn't isn't the greatest CD ever released, that is was quite long, but it was also a journey into the past - the world of twenty-five years ago, me as a young man falling in love with crazy music. Maybe out of those kind of sentimental reasons (I'm not allowed to say, I know, but the age, the age) I thought this was quite an enjoyable release. (FdW) Address: http://www.hansonrecords.net

S.E.T.I. - CORONA (CD by Loki)
LAND:FIRE - SHORT WAVE TRANSMISSIONS (CD by Loki)
Over the years I lost track of Andrew Lagowski, sometimes (such as here) known as S.E.T.I. I have no idea why I lost track, but perhaps he was busy playing concerts, or just not as active with releasing music. I learn that 'Knowledge' from 1994 was his first album (and perhaps I should add 'a classic') and 'Corona' is only his fifth album as S.E.T.I. until now. Space is still the place here. S.E.T.I.'s music is based on the cosmos, space, stars, and everything else connected to that. It takes a look at that vast empty space from within, but also from a distance. Lagowski uses recordings from Nasa which he cuts into his heavy drone based music. The novelty of that is long gone - 'Knowledge' is a classic - as it is done by him and by others after him. That is perhaps, after sixteen years the downside of this music. Its all a matter of heard and seen it all. But with so few S.E.T.I. releases out there, we may not mind about that little progress that has been made. The music here is excellent. On a grey winter day with darkness starting half way through the afternoon, this is just the perfect ambient soundtrack for the cold season. Highly atmospheric, no rhythm in sight, just slow evolving patterns played on a bunch of analogue synthesizers, sound effects and some radio transmissions. Ambient music may be a dead end street, but this is a damn beautiful work.
With a title like 'Short Wave Transmissions', you could perhaps easily think that the album of Land:Fire is along that of S.E.T.I. That is only partly true. There is indeed a lot of talking on this record, snippets from the radio, but the music is somewhat different. Land:Fire is an alter-ego of Herbst9, and it has been five years since he last released a record. This is all about radiological warfare, nuclear fall out and other somewhat unpleasant things in life. Here too we have some analogue synthesizers, computerized effects but also rhythm machines, which create a cold clinical and mechanical sound. That may seem like something negative, but its not. The music is very dynamic, moving back and forth between blocks of synthesized sound and soft spoken ambient textures, all spiced up with radio talk. Its not easy to say wether the music really reflects the radiological/nuclear holocaust theme (would you be aware if it wasn't told?), but there is certainly a spooky atmosphere surrounding this record. Excellent soundtrack to an imaginary film about these kind of subjects. (FdW)
Address: http://www.loki-found.de

NOMMO OGO - ACROSS TIME AND SPACE (CD by Record Label)
The title of the album gives a clue: This is indeed a very trippy journey from the band with the strange name "Nommo Ogo". The music is a blend of electronic music and acoustic psychedelia. The style is always kept on a relaxed downbeat pace, both rhythmically and with the overall instrumentation. The acoustic part of the album draws associations towards early krautrock (Amon Düül II, Faust, Can) though this is exclusively instrumental. Also the acid-style of earliest Pink Floyd shines through as well as newer approaches to psychedelia as from Legendary Pink Dots and Subarachnoid Space. Consisting of nine pieces the length of the intersections exceeds 8 minutes with the Esoterrorade sounding like a mixture between early IDM of the Warp label but still with the acoustic interference. Field recordings and spoken words also are part of the expression on this very interesting album. (Niels Mark)
Address: http://www.recordlabelrecords.org/

CORDAME - MIGRATION (CD by Malasartes Musiques)
AMY HORVEY - INTERVIEW (CD by Malasartes Musiques)
NOZEN - LIVE AU UPSTAIRS (CD by Malasartes Musiques)
The continuity of interesting releases by Ambiances Magnetiques is also the case for the sublabel Malasartes Musiques, that was started by Damian Nisenson several years ago. This time Nisenson presents his new group Nozen, a quartet by Pierre Tanguay (drums), Jean Felix Mailloux (bass), Bernard Falaise (guitars) and Nisenson himself on (alt and tenor sax). They interpret 12 compositions by Argentina-born Nisenson that move between jazz, new music and musical traditions of Jewish Eastern Europe. After the revival of klezmer in the 90s, it was also embraced by jazz musicians. Just think of John Zorn's Massada or Burton Greene's Klezmokum. Nozen is also exponent of this development as Nisenson also strives above all for a combination of jazz and klezmer. He does so very successfully. Their playing is modest and inspired. The music often starts very calm but gradually effervescent passages takes over and climaxes are reached. Very satisfying are the few tracks where guitarist Falaise impresses with fine solo work and dissonant, like in the opening track and in the fantastic "Spread the News". They counterbalance perfectly with the pieces that pass by relatively unnoticed because they are built around klezmer-like themes that sound to common and therefore insignificant. Like the closing track "No Milk No Sugar". However after the short silence a new piece begins that is added as a ghost track. This is by far the most experimental track and was probably produced in the studio.
Mailloux is ready for his second record by his group Cordame (Marie Neige Lavigne - violin, Julie-Odile - violincelle, Remi Giguer - guitares, Ziya Tabassian - percussion, vibraphone, Pierre Tanguay -drums). "Migration" draws inspiration from Persian, Indian and Armenian music, and modal and improvised music. In this respect it is a similar project as Nozen, as both integrate eastern musical traditions in a western context. In contrast with Nozen Mailloux moves further east, not only geographically but also in the music he composes. Jazz-influences, as well as other western idioms are less obvious then in the case of Nozen. Mailloux is not interested in opposing or confronting these influences with western traditions. He brings an ode to eastern musical traditions, leaving behind all the ornaments that characterize this music often in its original form.
Of course one can hear immediately that the music is played by western players, who - that is also very evident - are very dedicated to this music. It is evident that Mailloux is very fond of eastern music. However the compositions are not always satisfying or engaging from beginning to end. A bit too spun out from time to time. The music often moves along in the same slow - walk like a egyptian - pace. If you can surrender yourself to this it is a very pleasant slow journey. Very organic and pleasing chamber music. Constantly in the same relaxing mood but played very spirited.
With "Interview" something else is going on. This is the fist solo effort by the young trumpeter Amy Horvey. She works mainly as a contemporary, orchestral and Baroque trumpeter and appeared as a soloist with numerous ensembles and orchestras. On her first solo-album she interprets works from very different composers. The CD opens with "Quatrro pezzi per tromba sola", a beautiful composition by Scelsi. It is followed by pieces from unknown contemporary composers: "Musica Invisible" (Cecilia Arditto), "Interview" (Anna Hostman). In "Apparatus Inconcinnus" (Ryan Purchase) a story of the Russian writer Charms is read by Horvey, interrupted by instrumental parts. "Overture to The Queen of the Music Boxes" features Jeff Morton on music boxes, toy instruments and electronics. It sounds like an improvisation, but I can be wrong. To conclude I can say that Horvey made the right decision in including a wide variety of compositions, showing that she feels at home as a trumpeter in very different musical worlds. (Dolf Mulder) Address: http://www.actuellecd.com/

PAUL DEVENS - INK SUMMIT (LP by Moab Records)
So far I thought of Paul Devens as someone who was mainly interested in noise music. Loud noise music based on computerized transformations of whatever field recordings. But over the last few he toned down and let the field recordings speak and keep whatever process down. His latest work, I believe his first LP release, was presented at Experimental Intermedia in December last year. It has eight pieces, all based upon field recordings, from air ventilation systems, branches, heating furnace. All of them are fed through digital processing and modular sound synthesis. No longer the pure noise is at the forefront, but whatever process is applied in the computer its there to serve the sound. The original field recordings seem to be main point of focus. Mechanical humming versus irregular sound events are spiced up with bits of computer work. They add an extra layer to the music, and not take it over. The result is a very vibrant record of musique concrete, based on electro-acoustic events with bits of electronic processing. An excellent record, in a beautiful fold out poster cover. (FdW) Address: http://www.pauldevens.nl

EVOL - TEN CANISTERS OF PRESSURIZED TETRAFLUOROETHANE OVER THREE WEEKS (7" by Alku)
The title of 'Ten canisters of pressurized tetrafluoroethane over three weeks' describes the record's contents astutely, believe it or not. You see, the titular chemical happens to be the high-pressure substance contained within gas horns, and it is the blaring of these very horns which comprises the entire unprocessed duration of this crimson disc. EVOL's Roc Jiménez de Cisneros has been using these canned noise-makers in his live performances for years, but this recording -- the ninth in Cisneros' 'Punani' series -- is the first to employ them to the exclusion of any other sounds. As can be imagined, the resulting performance is a challenging one to behold at times, but it also proves to be an interesting study of the parameters of sound native to an unconventional instrument. Since gas horns emit a tone oscillating around 440 Hz, the apertures of several canisters were partly clogged with epoxy to produce a wider scope of sounds. The recording, as a result, sounds sort of like an ineptly mistuned brass section warming up -- Cisneros' blaring canisters trumpet along discordantly, producing a curious range of textures, from a wheezy gasp to a last-breath sputter to a full-out bellow. It is definitely musical but freely improvised, and largely about concept and spectacle. Played loudÐ -- the horns themselves scream out at nearly 120 dB on their own) -- 'Ten canisters' makes for a cacophonous little confrontation; it's a brief record that catches the listener off guard with its pseudo-musical, unpredictable nature. Beyond that, it's likely to be the lone gas horn single in any discriminating record collector's library. (Michael Tau)
Address: http://alkualkualkualkualkualkualkualkualkualku.org/

MARTIJN HOHMANN - EQUIVOCAL GENERATION (7" by Universaal Kunst)
2009 was not only the year of Charles Darwin and his evolution theory, its been also forty years since Alvin Lucier composed 'I Am Sitting In A Room'. That piece of music is also about evolution. Lucier speaks a short text and then records the sound of him speaking in the room, feeds it back to the room, records that and repeats that process for about twenty or so times. If you ever need a simple process to transform any sound, then this is the way to do it. Perhaps Martijn Hohmann did this? The record is pressed as a lathe cut and comes in two edition: one standard in an edition of 50 and one in a red linen box as a picture disc (which in lathe cut terms means they are glued together). It looks great, a small art object. There is only one side to this record, oddly enough. Hard to tell what it is... some sort of scraping sound, perhaps a church bell? But also there are insect sounds in there, which ties this to the world of Darwin. The lathe cut is a perfect medium for a record on evolutional processes of music: unlike real vinyl, the decaying process is quicker and one can almost get a new piece of the evolution every time one plays this record. A pity that its all a bit short, this evolution. Address: http://www.universaal.nl

ERIC CHENAUX - WARM WEATHER/LE VIEUX FAVORI 4 (7" by Eat, Sleep, Repeat)
Strictly speaking there is no a or b side to this record. Which of course seems to me the right thing to do. None of these two tracks is more important than the other. on 'Warm Weather', Chenaux (of whom I never heard) plays a nylon guitar and sings. Multiple channels of guitar playing, although I don't think more than two or three. I must admit I am not a coinnaseur of this kind of singer songwriting, but it seems to me damn close to Nick Drake, this piece. Intimate, up close, and very personal. On 'Le Vieux Favori 4' we have electric guitar, melodica and 'spinning speakers creating a classical cinematic sound' and no vocals. There is a nice drone layered element to this piece of music, with an odd rotating sound, like multiple violins (which I guess there aren't any) shimmering away. An entirely different piece, but it has a similar not too outspoken quality to it. Nicely private music. (FdW)
Address: http://www.eatsleeprepeat.com

ZEBULON KOSTED - NOVAYA ZEMLYA (cassette by Haute Magie)
The core of Side A's lone track, "Novaya," features Rachid Abdel Ghafour's deadpan recitation of some line about God and suffering -- it's an emotionally bereft performance, somehow sounding like one of Conet Project's numbers station recordings -- fittingly matched with an endless procession of rapidly transforming and re-calibrating noise layers which shift abruptly from level to level. These roaming segments skip from grating harsh noise to gentle ambience to the tiny thrush of a rainstorm, all in mere seconds. According to the track listing, Ghafour's noise is produced solely through samples and electronic manipulation; at times it seems as if the recordings were collected by throwing a tape recorder into a host of different conditions -- under a highway overpass, next to a train, into the heart of a prairie duststorm... But it's hard to decipher each noise's origins - partly because Ghafour moves so impulsively from one to another, allowing limited room for reflection. Still, it's pretty solid stuff; owing to the shifting layers of sound, this A-side turns out to be more spastic and interesting than lots of sheet-noise efforts, and the deadpan vocal line adds an esoteric and alienated sensation to the recording. Curiously, side B's "Zemlya" is an abrupt departure from its predecessor. What formerly was a vocal sample and diverse quantities of noise is now a continuous, hollow, metallic timbre which pulses and cycles over the entire side's duration. This track is significantly less enrapturing than "Novaya," although it has a curious sense of emergency to it, almost like a distant, marred air raid siren blaring forth. Over the course of the track, the original, repeated cycle becomes gradually modified and changed. Taken as a beast of two disparate sides, 'Novaya Zemlya' is an intriguing little nugget worth inspection by free-wheeling ears. The first side, however, is ultimately the more intoxicating of the two. (Michael Tau) Address: http://www.heofthehouse.com

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