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Ampersand Etcetera 2001:1
ambient & microwave & electronica & experimental & lowercase & postclassical & minimal & techno & etcetera

Welcome to the new millenium. Ampersand continues, with some minor changes, all in production not content. What should have been volume 4 becomes 2001 for no good reason other than it seemed like a good idea and suggests a future rather than a past (pretentious? you bet!)
As usual our viability depends on my finances (low) and the support we get from labels and distributers - continuing and ongoing thanks to Dense (ex MK), and we are pleased to review Larry Kucharz (a good friend to Ampersand) in our first issue of the new millenium. At this stage the rapid schedule of volume 3 is unlikely to be maintained, but as long as it all holds out, monthly would be a minimum, with perhaps slightly more material per issue.
And while we’re on volume 3, two labels/sites from the special editions - No Type and .tiln - have had a continuing roll of new releases. No Type has passed by the 40 singles mark, and .tiln has got over 29 artist pages, with everything from a few short tracks to multiple albums. The addresses again are
http://www.notype.cpm
http://www.tiln.org (note new address)
And the others are still active - techNOH promising ‘this new year will be even better with much more free electronic music in the pipeline’. (http://techNOH.com) & 2360 has added some.
jeremy@pretentious.net
&
http://ampersandetc.virtualave.net/ampersand.html
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Keith Rowe & Kim Cascone
With Hidden Noise
anechoicmedia a002
http://www.anechoicmedia.com
http://www.riouxs.com
The second release from Kim Cascone’s new label, distributed by Riouxs’ records (I am going to get a copy of the first, so expect a review), and its a little marvel - a square cd that comes in a clear plastic envelope. While it looks great and rather smart I was worried it wouldn’t play, which it didn’t until I placed it on the platter as a full sized disk - the diagonal is the same length as a normal cd’s diameter. Anyway, it works aesthetically and functionally. What about musically?
‘With hidden noise’ seems to have two distinct layers. Forming the ground is a slowly swirling synth piece, reminiscent of Heavenly Music Corporation, and like an illustrative ground your awareness of it varies - sometimes it seems to be way down almost hidden and at others it progresses almost to the foreground. And occasionally there a subtle variations and pulses.
And the figure which comprises that foreground is very varied and restrained - constructed from clicks and skitters, pops, scratching, rumbles and so on, it creates a constantly changing surface over the more consistent ground. (At one stage there is an obvious guitar sound - one of the sources.) Sometimes loud and direct, at others a distant chopping, shifting between densly layered and single elements, you lose your sense of perspective. Like a necker cube your perceptions swing between the figure and ground, the ground becomes your focus and then your mind swaps back to the other component.
This is not an intense piece - its drifting currents carry you along for a relaxing ride. But the (improvised) surface adds a controlled nuance that provides a satisfying depth and draws you back to the piece.
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Larry Kucharz
ComputerChoral Green Prints
International Audichrome IA31
interaudiocr@aol.com
Following Techno Unit 30 (&etc 2.10) with its rapid percussive approach, the mellow flowing Kucharz returns with the fourth of his ‘electrochoral’ series. The short word on these is that they are some of the more beautiful ambient music around, amalgamating the mood and methods of renaissance choral music with the tonal and sustain abilities of computer music. This is music to let wash over you, the harmonies and melodies hypnotising in the majesty.
The tracks are mainly long, allowing the progression of the music, which is primarily based on long tones with breathy, voiced sounds, which also form shorter tones in some pieces, but never drawing down to simple notes: the closest is the church organ feel of some tracks such as ‘Jade green’ (again, they all have a colour suffix, green, which will be assumed from here on) which is an organ solo of 3 minutes between longer choral pieces, where melodic lines are commenced and responded to, or ‘Symphonian’ where shorter motifs glide over the longer notes.
The opening ‘Choral’ gives primary focus the long tonal layering without the accoutrements some other pieces have, such as the later ‘Taverner’ where shorter melodic themes loop and develop over the surface of sustained tones, presenting quite an active aspect. Similarly ‘Garland’ has a shifting shimmering backdrop over which long-noted slow tunes play - but the key chosen has a darker mood than others in the collection, providing further variation. The pulsing drones of ‘Emerald’ are contemplative backdrops for layered sustains.
‘Corellian’ further combines the strands by mixing a stately organ-like melody with vocal lines, and the organ is revisited in the short tuneful ‘Parnassus’ which acts as a prelude to ‘Perotin’. This is another of the 70s revisited gems which Kucharz has included on most of these albums. It is more active than some earlier ones where notes have risen out of a fog, and is closer in form to the recent pieces. However, there is not the vocal-tone to the notes, and the long sustains seem to roll out of each other, maintaining a perpetual motion music machine as they emerge from the fading note before.
As usual Kucharz handling of tone, melody, pace and variation is masterly and allows him to create works of lush sensuousness. If you haven’t heard any before, this is as good a place to start, then track down the others. Those who know him will be looking for this already.
(&etc 2.5, 2.7, 2.8 for more Kucharz reviews)
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David Abir Movement A, study 33
Ashley Wales Landscape
Sulphur MELD003
http://www.sulphurrecords.co.uk
Sulphur (going under the name Sulfur in the US) is Robin (Scanner) Rimbaud’s label, designed to be eclectic, which this disk definitely suggests. The two previous Meld sublabel releases have been a Scanner/DJ Spooky set and Stephen Vitiello an NY sampler, turntablist. This disk features a pair of lush pretty-close-to classical works, and I have placed it adjacent to Kucharz because both disks straddle the ambient/newage modernclassical fence.
David Abir has 23 minutes for his ‘Lesson one’ and it is a flowing, throbbing time. The music appears to me (ol’ cloth ears is back) to be composed of looped orchestral warm sounds which could be sampled or come from a synth, but they sound ‘real’. These form a pulsing base, almost as if they were recorded on a tape machine that had a fault that caused it to accelerate and slow down over short (a second or two) periods. This instrumental layer builds and recedes in both density and volume during the piece. The other elements which come and go are a vocal line (Rebecca Chamberlain) which at times is distinct (though subtle) and at others sampled, a cello (Kirsten McCord) which again at times forms an obvious melodic line while elsewhere is integrated as a low droning, and a higher tone, somewhere between keyboards and plinkey strings, which adds further melodic lines (an almost fairground feel at one stage for example).
In his 14 minutes, Ashley Wales builds ‘Landscape’ by slowly accreting elements which themselves develop. An electric piano initiates the piece playing rhythmic chords which will underpin the work. Some restrained electronica joins, first of all some belllike ringing, then synth sweeps and voice sounds deep in the mix amongst other parts. A piano picks out distant notes. Then you notice that the short sample which sounded like a string section has grown to become a whole chord, and that the short synth touch has become a voice tone. Once all the elements are in place at their appropriate length, a slow fade occurs, as if the landscape has dimmed.
As I said, two very beautiful pieces, and if your taste straddles the same fence, a very enjoyable disk. One distant equivalent is the Andrew Poppy release on ZTT records in terms of both the music and the relationship with an unexpected label and another is the Factory Classical releases (if anyone has a copy of the planned release Two Guitars [factcd396], I would be interested to hear from them). Genre breaking is a great idea, and I hope that this release on Scanner’s label interests a diverse audience on both sides.
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Efzeg
Grain
Durian 012-2
http://www.durian.at
Efzeg are a four piece improviational group featuring sax, two guitars (which are interestingly presented in separate channels), electronics and turntables. The three pieces presented here were recorded live in 1999 and demonstrates the strengths and weaknesses of the format.
1 is thirty minutes long and shifts between periods of crackling electronics, scattered notes and feedback, nosiy horns and guitars, and saxophone squeals. Never really really noisey (unless you turn it up loud) it seems to progress randomly through its moods and paces, with an emphasis on a contemplative structure - there is usually quite a deal of space around the instruments and the notes. The shorter 2 (9 minutes) is more meditative, focussing on the electroinca with tones, squeaks and shimmering with some plucked guitar and restrained sax touches.
As with the others, 3 (23 minutes) opens quietly, electronic pulses and drones supporting some clicking before the sax starts blowing some whistles. Things build in a group way, then settles again for a period of clicks, scratching, and building buzzes. Again the ground shifts with the group dynamic, responding to each other, drifting casually and calmly, centring around thoughtful subtleties. A long silence before the unlisted 4, 3 slightly harsher minutes of the group.
The complementing instrumental composition makes this an intriguing disk, with interesting juxtapositions and passages. However, as an improvisation you have to enjoy the thrust of the moment rather than seeking an overall structure, and don’t expect any melodies - the emphasis is either on subtle interplays or edgy atonality. I am not an ‘improvisational expert’ so can’t advise whether this is a good example, but it has enough in it to maintain my interest, and I will keep playing it both as an arch-background noise or more loudly to capture the nuances of some components. I can’t disagree with the statement that ‘Ezfeg repudiates acclaim from anyone not repudiating the present austrian government’ and offer that repudiation.
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Colin Andrew Sheffield Spring(time)/The bridge
Barbed Pocket reminders/Rolf o.d.
Bexar Bexar 07.04.99
Elevator Bath EEAOA 04, 05, 06
http://www.elevatorbath.com
Three vinyl releases from this Texas label - 04 and 05 are 7” while 06 is a one-sided 12” - they come in textured card sleeves, with only the Barbed release having an illustration, although Bexar Bexar’s has a small sticker.
Sheffield’s clear vinyl disk comes in a pair of sleeves - green inside the blue - and is his second Elevator single, working within the glitch arena. ‘Spring(time)’ opens with crackling (which the vinyl will add to) with various bleeps and bloops from the computer, joined later by a tone, some electrogrumbling and more varied pops and crackles. These all ebb and flow, directed by a random control. On ‘The bridge’ a quiter, more subdued tone is developed with a low humming accompanied by less frequent bursts, a sustained and pulsing tone emerges washing beside the other strands, creating a restraint that extends into the long fade.
The two Alexes who are Barbed use collage to create exciting effects. ‘Pocket reminders’ alternates between periods of intense wild metallic percussion with tones and washes deep within, and chopped and extended spoken samples backed by restrained electroaffects. They switch between these to create a dynamic balance, adding some simple (sampled?) computer melodies and other noises, including swirling and swooping synths and a dense feedback to accompany the closing section. A fast short sample provides the percussive base for ‘Rolf o.d.’, a less complex track, with restrained squealing electro over it. Added to this are some faux Middle Eastern breaks, a ‘rock’ drum line, and some concrete samples (film winding etc). A couple of intense tracks.
Bexar Bexar’s piece has three or four layers of site recordings. One is a background of people shouting, playing and generally enjoying themselves. Over this noises of sirens of various types and trucks backing flow, the strumming of chords on a guitar cycle - probably looped - and a random banging noise. This sounds like someone hitting a wet cardboard box, at times rapid like a machine gun. Then at the end of the 15 minutes there is a rapid sequence of these bangs and a whole host of oohaahs and the penny drops. This is not called 7th April, but 4th July (aside - why do Americans use month day and not day month???) & this is a fireworks display. The crowd and rockets a probably a single recording, and also complete - the ebbs and flows reflect a firework display - while the collected sirens and looped guitar have been interpolated. A soothing and pleasing piece, the layered internal rhythms (at times random) create a strong flow.
There is still something Quixotic about vinyl releases - you are minimising your audience not just by your music but also by your medium. And yet there is still something attractive about the packing and feel of vinyl, and the 7” allows for short sharp vinyl communiques. I enjoyed all three of these disks.
Elevator Bath are obviously committed to the medium, and providing quality and variety. While a piece like Bexar Bexar’s would make a great 3” cd, if you want to hear it, you’ll need a turntable. And you never know, you might find yourself playing those old LPs and getting back into plastic.
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Jurgen De Blonde
Hidden Rabbit
Tomlab Tom10
http://www.tomlab.de
This is an album of psychedelic bedroom lo-fi (call it what you will) pop songs interspersed with short instrumentals. De Blonde plays all the instruments, but it would appear that the guitar is his preferred one as it features in most tracks (there are some nice keyboards too), and he sings in english with a distant dispassionate tone.
He mixes up the moods between tracks to provide a broad range - ‘Something going growing (special K)’ includes some squarly feedback guitar with drum machine and bass rhythm, some synths and a quiet end, while ‘Reincanary (for the dead birds)’ is quieter with acoustic guitar and touches like radio squeals in the latter stages - and both demonstrate that within a piece he shifts quite dramatically from complex or harsh sections to more restraint. ‘How alien abduction eventually leads to misconceived James Deans’ is memorable for the name and is a swirling acoustic guitar and bass, and ‘Surlepoint’ opens with an orchestral loop and percussion and ends with a childrens choir. The shifting focus of the album makes it constantly fascinating - the very simple guitar and vocal of ‘Two minutes of mourning’ is followed by ‘Simple observations of basic facts’ where a processed faraway vocal alternates with a wooshing drone and ends with a cheesy organ solo, and then voice samples mimic a trumpet solo for ‘Shady brain (for Britney Spears)’ which also features some dirty guitar and rapid fire drum machine. And ‘Maniac (for Meredith Brooks)’ has an almost Neil Young feeling to its piano. ‘Sad lullaby’ which concludes the album alternates acoustic guitar/voice with some more complex parts and also includes some strange random noises popping and banging, which add that little extra touch.
Similarly the instrumentals vary from short keyboard synth washed pieces (’Surlepoint’ or ‘Spinning dream of a Japanese boy’), guitar studies (’Sinking : Loveboat’), simple pieces that grow (’Fast Freddy aka William, goldfish) where a subdued rhythm loop is placed under the second half, to driving guitar and keyboard of ‘Order now’.
Created with a light touch. the pleasure of the creation is reflected in the simply enjoyable nature of the album. It is not at all offensive (and can be played to spouses and friends: much of what is reviewed in &etc isn’t, at least at my house and work) but is not disposably minor because of that: as well as the beautiful, the complex, the confronting we need the simple pleasurable too - and this fits the bill.
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David Sylvian
Everything and Nothing
Virgin CDVD2897
Another tentative foray into the majors, more a mention/description than a review as David Sylvian should be pretty familiar. This double album is a strange beast - it is not really a best of nor a selection of rarities but something of a chimera.
Of the 29 tracks 15 are from previous releases and unchanged - 4 from his most recent vocal album ‘Dead Bees on a Cake’, others from ‘Secrets of the Beehive’ (3), ‘The First Day’ and ‘Gone to Earth’ (2 each), the ‘Pop Song’ single and three from ‘Rain Tree Crow’. The other half of the mix is previously unreleased material (5 from the 2 Bee-sessions and 2 Japan pieces) and remixed material - ‘Weathered wall’ from ‘Brilliant Trees’, ‘Buoy’ from a Mick Karn album, a couple with Sakamoto, 2 from an album called ‘Marco Polo’ by Alesini and Andreoni and a remix of ‘Ghosts’. What is odd is the weighting towards the more recent material at the expense of ‘Brilliant Trees’ and ‘Gone to Earth’ and nothing of the more ‘ambient’/instrumental material from ‘Gone to Earth’ (a wish for a full non-Japanese rerelease on cd) or the albums with Czukay, Alchemy etc. Perhaps a companion double disk is planned (another wish!)
As it stands it has enough new, varied and obscure (’Marco Polo’) material for the fan to pick it up - as with any compilation the new juxtapostions are interesting and the sequence is non-temporal so periods get shuffled and interleaved. That said, if you had it all on cd already, the remixes aren’t dramatically different, so you’d be looking at 7 new pieces. For someone interested in ‘getting into’ Sylvian it offers an interesting entry. 2 disks full of the relaxed ‘pop’ with Sylvian’s distinctive voice singing over complex (usually) and pleasing (always) instrumentation with many memorable melodies. The Fripp/Sylvian ‘God’s monkey’ stands out (something like a sore thumb) as the most rocky aggressive moment, otherwise you can enjoy some soothing modern crooning. Whyever it exists, a very pleasant experience.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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