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Ampersand Etcetera – 2002_12
Ambient & microwave & electronica & experimental lowercase & postclassical & minimal & techno & etcetera
A mixed bag, as per more usual – and I have decided to order it on the basis of the label. Hell, why not!
Coming up – a bit of a home focus: the liquid architecture compilation, a London label co-managed by expatriate Anthony Guerra, new Dorobo and Brisbane electronica. Also to be slotted in, three from Orthlong Musork, and whatever comes my way.
jeremy@pretentious.net
&
http://ampersandetc.virtualave.net/ampersand.html
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Marcos Fernandes: Hybrid Vigor
Donkey: Big Sur
Accretions ALP027 & 028
http://www.accretions.com
Two more from the active San Diego label – both homegrown this time: label boss Marcos Fernandes with a solo album which a range of Trummerfloreans play on, and the return of the Donkey duo with material recorded at Accretions and Big Sur.
Hybrid Vigour comes from Fernandes Portugese/Japanese background, his Catholicism in a Buddhist land, and from the artists in the Accretions and Trummerflora family. On the eight tracks here he has combined his percussion, production and compositional skills to create an amazing and strong album. It opens with 'Port of call' a tape piece (he has had works on all the phonography.org collections, we reviewed the first) combining crowds and various musical forms with ceremonies. 'Science boy' initially foregrounds the percussion – a complex handdrum syncopation from 3 players that modulates slightly throughout. Over this is the 'science' – squiggles and synths, blurts, feedbacky guitar and other electronica from Donkey provides an unstable but captivating surface that shimmers into an electronica fade.
A big-group improv follows: 'Undercurrents' includes trombone, guitar, percussion, sampler, bass and sax – from a radio tape layered opening through an electronica battle the instruments emerge blurting sax, bass runs and drums, settling into a strong spacious improv that remains focussed. A change of mood with the meditation of 'Convergence' – prayer bells, tings, a deep throb and wood block percussions as Fernandes percussion and Ellis on skittering bass are joined by some shakuhachi from Philip Gelb which plays both straight and with some interesting light effects. Then back to a group improv in 'Bullets for battles' which starts in an unstructured combination of shaker percussion, flute, piano chords, animal calls and talking into a late night jazz and sax with the tapes and then a little wilder piano/sax, all moody and sort of nightmarish – a dark soundtrack.
Twisting the mood again, another ensemble percussion work 'Manifested/manifesting' where shakers, wood blocks, bamboo start tentatively and build through shimmering waves of flowing sound. And into 'The orange line' where the group is joined by Michael Dessen on trombone that adds blows and tones to a slowly building delicate opening, then a bass and drum solo before a groovy guitar and then melodic trombone join in, speeds up with more solos to a big end. A wooshy wavering tape piece 'Scintillation ("Don't sing aloha when I go")' with layered voices and birds mirrors the opening, then segues into a ukulele solo over nature sounds – this is Chris Fernandes, presumably the uncle the album is dedicated to. And forms a sensitive ending to a fabulous album – probably the most impressive showcase of the varied talents of the collective and of Fernandes compositional and creative skills.
A studio track – 'Crick' – fills the first half of Big Sur, and it underscores the synth/electronic credentials of the duo of Hans Fjellestad and Damon Holzborn on their second Accretions outing (see 2001_03). It is a shifting piece of electronica – from a swirly deep underwater sampled swirl, fluttering and organic opening into distorted speech and boobling squeak; tuned percussion and little notes; sonary beeps and long waves, with more crackling voice-like sounds; bangy wavering guitar and percussive excitement; wild washy synths, fast and choppy; woobly squiggles, distorted guitar, buzzy, swirly, squiggly fast into an ending that echoes the start. A protean piece, it has the feel of having been created from various modules tied together with a focus on the sounds created rather than a structure – there is not a real feeling of coherence, although the individual parts are interesting; and I would have liked a bit more variation in the sounds and tone for a studio piece.
The first live track is 'Wood' is an extended battle and interplay between the electronica/synths of the duo – one is higher more variable, the other works at a deeper level, and there is a nice flow from the active entrance through a quieter middle and into a big finale. The second live piece, 'Fog' is my favourite on the album – the first part is a twangy guitar improv with supporting synth, which shifts into a soft dense synth piece: very nice variation. Overall an enjoyable album, that suffers from a narrowness in its textures and sounds, and something of the lack of coherence that can come with improvs.
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Various Artists
Recycling Buzz
Amanita/Idoia
http://www.amanitarecords.com
http://www.idoia.com
Formatt, reviewed in 2002_05, sent me a copy of this compilation he's on: I've no idea how these French and English labels got together, so here goes. It is easy to see why Formatt was invited – the sound is generally the mix of abstract click/cut with lyrical layers that he pursues, and is also allied to the direction that Bip-Hop is going. In 'No7' Formatt mixes the clicks and cycling scrapes with a deep underburble and washes of sounds and shimmers of notes – mellow and groovy. A little later, 'No12' is a brief excursion of tones, loops, bloops and computer squiggles.
Continuing through the album – sequentially, but when an act has two tracks jumping to that too, as they ain't adjacent – Retina has the two longest tracks (9 & 8 minutes, the rest are 5 or under bar one): 'Dia.gnostica' layers puttering loops of various textures (high, ringing, percussive, piercing) and plays with the balances, putting chittering and whipping over and then a complex beat driving the track until it all starts to unravel and then fade. The trance element is more to the fore in 'Grigioblu' that builds long tones and fast percussive loops, adding and shifting, with a couple of breaks. Un Caddie Renverse dans L'herbe create a minimal musique concrete work in 'Dum' as pulses of phonemes pop out with periods of more dense rubbery tones and percussive tapping – a strange little piece.
Colongib lay down some very percussive piano in 'Wholesale' which together with a scrabble and tuned percussion (or is it a crapyard?) create a strong rhythm, dropping to squelches and back before scrabbling to the fade. Their second piece, 'Pair up and board' shifts a dancing bloop melody from an edgy aggressiveness into a softer mood, incorporating voice tones. Looping crackle pop pulsing tone and 'tschii' form a constant base for Forestoppers 'Soave' where the scrapes high-tones bells and noises are quite moody, while melodic pops and a slow violin are beautifully integrated in 'Ver.di'. The ever reliable Alejandro&Aeron put together a range of samples – pulsing keys, pings, scrabbly voices, accordion, scratching – in a simple construct that transcends its parts: 'Dylan flies first class'.
The first half of Eardum (remix) 'Suffer' is an arhythmic wild melange of chopped percussion, fast high squiggles, an 'Oh' and squirls that suddenly shifts into a very fast horns and drums fest. Then Act on double bass create 'A blotch' which shifts from a buzzing plus the bass, adds drumming percussion then an orchestral sample, full drums, some Satchmo and full female choir –quite sublime. 'Mutator' by Voodoo Muzak is a very percussive click popper which then adds guitar and drums, and finally (although Retina's Grigoblu' is the last track) Idoia take a sine wave, add nice groovy boobles and a high whistling dances over in 'Fromthemoon'.
A couple of cd-rom bits are added: 'From the moon' is a demo which seems to integrate the music with a 3d concentric circle image viewed from various angles. Hitting buttons seems to change rotation, some accompanying music and more – but its not very intuitive. The quicktime movie 'Whole sale' by Christopher Graves is very nice – slow pans, dissolves and silhouettes in a scrap yard that complements the Colongib track.
A compilation full of strong incursions into the glitch-groove genre which is well worth seeking out – perhaps at the Amanita shop which runs using an interesting net-shop program/interface designed by Idoia which is also worth a look at.
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Andrew Duke
Sprung
Bip-Hop bleep12
http://www.bip-hop.com
http://www.techno.ca/cognition
Coming off an extensive discography on Cognition Audioworks (which he formed in 1990), and various compilations (including BiP-HOp generation v.5), Sprung is the first of a number of albums on other labels Duke has in the works.
This is a highly rhythmic album – basically tracks built from various loops of clicks, beats, scratches that create a movement and focus of their own. 'Hell yeah 1' builds slow beats and layers of scratching, electro bass and a sonar beep. The watery feel continues in 'Pharmakei' where a wet loop moves in and out of focus, clicks clacks and other rhythms added in an insistent movement, or in the subaquatic stuttering of 'Knot rocket' with watery loops and voice washes that strips and rebuilds. In 'crablike' a dododo-click phases, morse is added, then dardrum, funny squiggles and becomes a little arhythmic and changes speed. Most of the album continues like this, building tracks up and letting them run and play. The speed or density changes, as does the tone to some extent. 'Chromosome 20' is darker and almost industrial with an edge to the higher tones playing over machine wooshes, or 'Ut ut' where an industrial drone-base has a pulsing tone 'melody' weaveing through the choppy changing tch tchs. 'RSVP' plays with an almost latin beat and rapid beats and noisy growls, and 'Shark circles' is a minimalist exploration of the style.
An album which works closely within the form that Duke has chosen – looking to allow the rhythm of loops and layers to drive the work forward, with little or no consideration of melody as such. Recognising that refined direction as a given, Duke offers us the sort of driven driving album we would expect from Bip-Hop, with plenty of variation on the theme. You know what you're getting in to, and its an enjoyable ride.

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Collections of Colonies of Bees
Fa.ce (a
Crouton Music crou014
http://www.croutonmusic.com
Chris Rosenau and Jon Mueller have apperaed on a number of the Crouton releases reviewed here (Mueller on Folktales 2, both on Pianobread, as two tgirds of Telecognac and of Aranos Mueller Rosenau) but this is their first appearance as a duo – with a number of other players.
The album has two main directions – some lightly attenuated guitar improvisations recorded by Rosneau and Donny Mahlmeister and electronica by the two C.C.Bees. A lyrical guitar, from the duo improvisation, with subtle electro highlights (zings, soft tones) which is joined by fast percussion and bass which opens up into a jazz ensemble with rhodes piano, bright airy and lightly electro-modified. A swing to the other side, as the guitar continues and then a shimmering of percussion, breaking signal, high tones and echoed crackles in a minimalism that creates trompe l'auriole – becoming more focussed with white noise, radio, gong and percussive guitar. Then an extended piece from the guitar duo, tentatively developing and again given supple highlights and a tonal background.
The fourth track, solo by Rosneau, works around steel drums, bird recording, synth 'do' voices playing a choral melody and a looped piano accordion – slow and then breaking down a little before pulsing back, jumpy with guitar loops over. In 5 a modified/manipulated steel guitar forms a ground for a groovy drum solo, followed by another lovely guitar solo with dronal (e-bow acoustic?) base. Electro blurts shifts into another nice guitar/drums combo which then get atmospheric touches (chitters, piano, tuned percussion) which opens out and shifts to a guitar/piano duet before a long tone fade. The final track has a name – 'Mu:rder' which grows from singlr picked guitar notes into a melody with shimmering percussion, light mysterious and mellow: this changes as edgy sounds start to engage, including computer games sounds, and it goes wild before winding down.
Finally, in keeping with, and extending, Crouton's aesthetic of making each release packaging unique, this comes in a plastic envelope and the information inserts are printed on pages from stock photography books, so that each of the 1000 copies has an individual appearance.
A great album that balances the lyrical and edgy electronica superbly, and continues the Crouton commitment to visual and musical aesthetics – a pleasure to listen to, and eminently relistenable.
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John Butcher/Phil Minton: Apples of Gomorrah
Efzeg: Boogie
SSSD: Home
Grob Grob 429, 430, 431
http://www.churchofgrob.com
Three more improv albums from the Church.
An unusual pairing – extrumpeter Minton on voice and Butcher on sax, and providing the most 'difficult' one of this Grob batch. Across 17 tracks in 40 minutes recorded in 1999 the two improvise duets. Butcher explores more familiar territory – blurts, runs, popping, sweet tones and the other possibilities of the instrument – while Minton is more problematic. His voice traverses chant, scatting, gastric straining, gargling, phonemic suggestions, angry howls, hahahas, distressed confusion and some softness. And he can visit a number of these in any one track. Confronting and disturbing at times, over all it didn't work for me – there seemed to be too much change, too little to hang on to. Throughout there are really great sections – the duet in'Herb twopence', the wildcats fighting in 'Sticky willie' the shift from groaning chant through laughter to forcefulness in 'Dead men's bells' and much more, but I would have liked to see more periods of considered interplay. Interesting however, but unsatisfying in the whole.
We came across the Austrian quartet Efzeg in 2001_ 01, and their turntablist Dieb 13 in 2001_05: the other three are Boris Hauf on sax, Burkhard Stangl and Martin Siewert on guitar and other things, and includes a video from their fifth member Billy Roisz and her video is the final track. Here we get 4 cd tracks recorded live in November 2000 and June 2001 – although which where and whether remixed isn't indicated. '!numa' is a exciting composition where a solid base of rapid blits and rumble tones with notes in becomes the forum for gradual change and overlying sounds – high tones, puttering, guitar and turntable bursts and more – in a very visceral wall of sound. A 20 second segue into 'Ishki' which is lighter and has more obvious instrumentation – saxes and guitar over the crackle – this more spacious area shifting into a more noise period before long tones and more rapid rhythmed noise, sounding at times like a huge train, finally winding down. The first half of 'Tor' continues the electronica, but in a reflective still heart as hollow taps, rumble, turntables and scrapes explore the soundspace, building into a moody ambience of tone and rhythm before slipping into acoustic guitar playing melodies to a pulsing crackle – a delicate side of Efzeg. A wall of sound is created that crashes to electric guitar and washes. Finally on the cd 'Kapulanta' is slow and visceral density of crackling edgy sounds that passes through and electro and putter stage to an earpiercing tone. This drops to putter and guitar before edging to a quieter end. The video 'Pram' combines the edgy musicality of an Efzeg soundwall with an abstract shifting interference pattern that is quite hypnotic.
SSSD includes a couple of Efzeg – Martin Siewert and Burkhard Stangl – while Taku Sugimoto and Werner Dafeldecker may be familiar (Dafeldecker is Eis9 also from Grob reviewed in 2001_17) – and all are on guitars (including bass) and some electronics. And again demonstrates why we can't make assumptions about labels: because expecting noise or hardy improv, I found a delicate and delightful album. The long 'Home' opens the set – spacious pciked notes from bass and guitar, occasional strums, shifts into Spanish influenced with chiming steel with some deep tones and soft electro-rumble. The piece ebbs and flows, with some little shimmers in, but is melodic and lyrical. The mood continues in 'Is' but focuses on warm resonances from the bass, some e-bow drone behind and highlights from guitars. 'Where' adds some prepared guitar to the mix – little vibrations and noises, that work with the guitar that scrape and twang, ending in a drone. A rising and falling tone under picks and strums that duet into a complex melody with short picked notes that sound like electronica in 'My' (the titles make a sub-title). 'Hard' is the hardest on the album – a resonant electric guitar with scrabbles clutter scrapes and tones, a drum in there too – edging to noise but complex and fascinating. 'Disc' is another spacious piece, more like the expected improv, notes and bursts that dance around, and finally more mellow lyricism in the interlocked guitar parts of 'Was'. Altogether a beautiful album that combines the instrument textures intriguingly.
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Vir Unis & Saul Stokes
Thermal Transfer
Hypnos Binary HYBY0203
http://www.hypnos.com/binary
The laid back Hypnos label has a newish subsidiary – the Binary branch is for more beated, driven ambience (the relationship with The Foundry is more of a supportive collaboration). In fact it was this disk which stimulated Mike Griffin to start the label up. And it was well worth it.
Saul Stokes makes his own synths, and has a disk out on Hypnos (see &etc 2_10) that purrs delightedly – I haven't come across Vir Unis, but together they create a dynamic beated ambience. Starting with squiggly aquatic noises and long tones, 'Kinetic center' suggests a juxtaposition of forms taken further when a quite fast beat kicks in – not overwhelming but working with the other components and boobling skating over. In 'Stroboscopic' and 'Replicants in order' (the names remain Hypnos-tic) we find more beats slower in the first, clipclopish the second with long Frippish tones, washes, voice tones, rumbles, developing a fine balance between sensibility to the beat and the languors of ambience, building and changing nicely, adding edgy or metallic elements.
In 'Modea's liquid metal' there seems to be a closer focus on the rhythmic elements which emerge out of a burbling sample noise, and which sweeps into a sunny groove. And, before we forget, the album is very nicely segued as the conclusions of one become the starting point for the next. A relaxing chill to 'Blurring maguro' which is a little more relaxed with some coppy percussion in the middle. The opening to 'Surface solar' is the first really false note, with a fairly cliched rhythm in a lougey section, but that drops and the second two-thirds is a more interesting restrained and delicate development.
There is no segue into 'The burning ground' an exciting and energetic short track that is harder with a pulsing synth line before the album ends with 'Thermal transfer' which is darker than the rest, synth washes, stepping-tap, guitar-sound and a rolling melody. It is dense and rhythmic without being beaty, and with the piercing tones near the end this is a great conclusion. Which is weakened a little by a remix of 'Blurring maguro' by Interstitial which is effective - some cd-jumping effects, nice beat and looping sample – but could have come after a break, or been slotted in earlier.
But that's a minor quibble in a really enjoyable ambient album which will sit very nicely on the dance floor.
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Rev.99
Everything Changed After 7-11
Pax Recordings PR90255
http://www.paxrecordings.com
First of, the new album from Rev.99 (see 2001_14) wins something for the title – I missed it when I glanced at the album, but it is damn clever. There are a range of modes of improv/collaboration here – live, telephone improv, mail-circles, post production improv – to create a collection that is varied and impressive. With an fine list of collaborators – many of whom have passed through here on earlier Pax and other improvs: Ernesto Diaz-Infante, Bob Mrash, Akio Mokuno, LX Rudis among others, with 99 Hooker leading on sax and vocals. The liner info graphically indicates who plays on what – a nice cover.
'Christian music' takes a nice sample – things are worth listening to here – and provides some guitar and noise, similarly into 'The price of guitars' and adding guitars and sax. A wild postal remix 'Everything's been done before' lays all sorts of noises – samples, singing, 99 Hooker, clackers – over quite a mellow drum and guitar: that's one of the things about this, the mixtures of tones. Two slightly longer pieces: 'Where's the 3 martini war'is dense noisey and musical with dirty computer noises leading into drums, distorted tones and sax, taken over by high tones then a drone-base for 99's poetry; while 'Radical episcopalianism' opens with some musique concrete (kids singing, some spoken material, looped female singing and Salvos over groovy drums) into some poetic samples over drum, bass and distant sax and clarinet with a strange night-mood and finally a very delicate tonal and guitar section.
A squeaky electronica and drums ('Etude brut') and then the first 'Iron engineer' 99 Hooker's version. A lovely piano piece alternates with chitters, drums and loops, with tones added to the piano on one return, violin next and choppy piano loops finally – an intricate remix. 'Variable terror' feels like the heart of the album as members of the collective tells stories and jokes over the phone surrounded by noisy electronica, channel surfed TV and percussion. Again, the stories weave around the album themes. A wrestle for 'The child's immortal soul' follows, a melodic harpsichord and tonal piece which is quite lyrical, the mood continuing in 'What happened' with rumbly drones, phone noises, drums and other percussion.
Ross Bonadonna's 'Iron engineer' takes the piano loop and adds mixed percussion and sticking piano loops, the violin is still there and it ends in a mad loop. 'Moloch in 'is oxygen tent' is a mix of TV, percussion, sax, harmonica and some 99 Hooker in varied proportions. High twangy synth, bloopy percussion, twangy guitar and bass in a groove. Then Akio Mokuna opens his 'Iron engineer' with the percussion and some guitar setting the melody for the piano to enter later. Then the last sound track (Nervous breakdown is the last 'track') 'Howlers', which refers to the monkeys in the last part, but this is 99 Hooker's 'Howl' – over 12 minutes he recites a pretty amazing poem, with minimal support and short musical interludes (guitars and sax, samples, distorted tones and percussion) that is the true climax, encompassing the politics of the whole album.
An outstanding album – based on improvs but including post-production work – that stimulates the ear, the groove and the mind. It is not an easy album, not easy listening, but it is well worth listening to for both words and the music, combining strong lyrics and also humour with a musical ear that encompasses both the more noise-atonal improv and lyricism. From the title to the final sounds a complex winner.
Two other 'tracks' feature on the album: 'Britney Spears autopsy' is 3:44 of silence, 'Notes on a nervous breakdown' is 3:01 – the manufacturers refused to press the disk with these tracks, the first remixed Britney, the second was a spoken word piece over Enya. Apparently it is the manufacturers who get sued over copyright. Circumstances meant it was too late/costly to redo the process, so the tracks are present as silence. But, you can download them from Pax – which you should as they are both impressive. If I was Britney Spears (heaven forbid!) I would release the remix for alternative cred, while the Breakdown piece is an interesting juxtaposition. 99 Hooker's comments are also available, and offer cogent reflections on copyright/sampling etc – and the liner notes on the album are a good read on methods too.
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And of course, all past issues, with hundreds of reviews, on site.
Copyright for these reviews remains with me, Jeremy Keens. Artists and labels are free to use and quote them as long as they acknowledge Ampersand and don’t mess with my words! And if anyone else happens to mention one of these reviews, do pass on the web address or my email address so new readers can find me. Thanks.

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