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Ampersand Etcetera – 2002_18
Ambient & microwave & electronica & experimental lowercase & postclassical & minimal & techno & etcetera
A series of mini-albums to start: some called EPs, some 3"-time limited, and others of similar length, in reverse alphabetical (around 30 minutes was the max). Then the catharsis of Systriate. lush Gaab, enticing Sogar, followed by live electronica from Halfnormal and an Absurd pair to conclude.
And the latest errata – in addition to a couple of typos in my Kucharz review in 2002_17, I called the album Unit 34: Assorted Pieces, while it is actually Assorted Tracks. My only excuse is trying to do too much too quickly – apologies all round.
To come – a second new releases from Erewhon, another trip to the antipodes represented by New Zealand, Brisbane (I hope) and an aural exhibition catalogue, Zenapole, Public Eyesore, two more from Absurd, more from Cut, and of course whatever else comes this way (but that should about fill 2 issues before the end of the year). Plus I hope to catch up with Metamkine before the years end – I have some on order.
jeremy@pretentious.net
&
http://ampersandetc.virtualave.net/ampersand.html
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Joel Stern
Unplugged/Jodphur
TwoThousandAnd 2++4
http://www.twothousandand.com
Joel Stern appeared in 2002_07 and TwoThousandAnd was last seen in 2002_13. This album, part of the subscription series (indicated by the ++ in the number, and meaning subscribers [rather than one off buyers] get subscription only releases) and is described as 'like exploring a derelict building'. And to convey that feeling the cover is ripped card held together with thick gaffer tape with a ripped and weathered old photo on the front: the info sheet has the same photo, suggesting that while it looks like an old B&W picture, it is a reproduction and each copy has been individually treated. Anyway, the cover explores the found metaphor of the music.
Composed with contact mikes, computer, cutlery and pans, radio, cables, bows, paper and more, each track seems to explore a microworld of sound, some components of which bleed from one room to another. Close crackling and metal twangs, a harsher crackle over and a stepping scrape builds in the first track, drops to little dits and a scrabble, rebuilds, potters and twang, resonant metal. We've no idea where we are, but there is a lot of interesting things to hear. A buzzing scrape, swoosh and noisey buzzburr in the brief second part before a burry zing tap and tingling build in the metallic third section. A percussive ringing, drops to poppery chewing with regrowing pinging, then a popping ringing and water sound, a rubbed glass tone, dropping sounds and pulses.
Light chittery dits, steps and distant noises (children, birds) deep resonances and tapping in the fourth room. Then we shift into an open space, a hollow empty resonance with a metallic chopping squeals scrapey horns in a harshness that we hear steps moving away from. In six a slow thump, thump, whirly squiggling machines, thump machines rumble click whirr. A twangy scrape, rising buzz and soft putter in the seventh section is replaced by shaking metal chimes of eight, more twanged metal and background voices. A soft burring, and as the chimes slow and soften a fuzzy tone takes over.
The final track begins with a deep electrical discharge humm-rumble, broken up and with crackles in, that develop a rhythm; that drops to a lower level with some voices in then gains momentum as a percussive component gains a dramatic climax, drops to a crackle then a cable-hum; thence –boom- back with an active vengeance full with more samples deep in there before dropping for the last half minute to strange distant distorted voice loops.
Only 30 minutes, but there is a heap of activity and subtlety of events to listen into in this sound collage – something for close listening, and well worth it.
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GD Luxxe
Vendetta
Suction 015
http://www.suctionrecords.com
Gerhard Potuznik, co-owner label of Angelica Koehlermann, producer and pr-blessed 'music machine' releases an ep of electro-pop.
The opener 'Reasons' was apparently written in the late 80s, and shows it. Depeche Mode, Soft Cell, New Order swell into the memory banks as the sequencer rhythms kick in, the long tonal melody weaves through, and the distracted vocals entice. Homage without being craven, a nice pop song (and identified as 'potential top-ten single'). Things are a little more restrained in 'Words' with a more animated vocal, lighter buzzy bumpy rhythm-melody, and a descending bass-synth line at one break that is so NO.
Faster beat in another resurrected number: 'Garden' has full and descending synth lines, bright rhythm lines pushing it along through a twisted verse/chorus structure into an final build-up which could be the basis for a great remix. Speaking of which, 'Quiet life' is a version of a GD Luxxe/Solvent piece, and is a delightful frothy concoction, bouncy and light, bright and airy featuring some lovely instrumental breaks. Bass and drums, synths tweaks open 'Metawelt' slow and restrained, a synth-percussive melody enters then hammond-ish organ, melodeon: this is the 'instrumental closer' and is very groovy.
I hope that there is still a place in the world for simple electro-pop: the nostalgia factor is conjoined with a belief that music can be a pleasure, and for 22 minutes GD Luxxe allows you to forget your worries, fall into the music, bop around and just enjoy yourself.

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Lionel Marchetti
RISS (l'avalanche)
Erewhon CDWhON007
http://radiantslab.com/erewhon
Metamkine's Cinema Pour L'oreille series of Musique Concrete 3" releases has been one of those essential collections – the things that even the critics buy! Why start an Erewhon review this way? Well, Marchetti (as well as other work, including one in 2002_05) has had two disks on Metamkine, and this 1990 work would fit easily in the series (and indeed the internal layout seems to be an homage to the original Metamkine one).
Deceptively simple, it is based around a text (written and read) by Anne Decoret, that recurs through the piece between the sound interludes. My monolinguality frustrates me here – I am sure that the texts adds to the musical experience: the title and cover image suggests snow-related aspects and I think there is reference to an ice palace and tomb in the final stages. Anyway, Decoret has a delivery that suggests a meaningfullness and intensity, lightly manipulated and with a bed of simple and extended tones to support her.
The interludes, in contrast, are dense and dramatic: bird noises surrounded by big grinding tones, strings stretched to breaking, swirling around. Softer tense rumblings and breath-intakes, percussive, whispers and distant voices, shimmering coldness. Slowly spiralling tones down into the crinkling, sliding, uncertainty of the ice. Pops, crackling with tonal music within, pulsing. Birds throughout.
This is an exciting piece of music and I have no idea how it could have sat around since 1990. Whyever, it is great that it is now available, and provides an intense aural-visual experience.
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Michael Hartman
Play Everyday
Not For Profit nfp03
Michael@tvpow.net
It took me a while (too slow to see the email) to work out that Michael Hartman is part of TV Pow (Morte aux Vache reviewed 2001_17) when this short album cased in an orange clam shell arrived sans PR sheet.
In 'Bad plant' a variety of musique concrete sounds introduce the album – moving around, rustling, voices, birds, children playing building and into 'Free lunch abuse' which seems to emerge from the sounds, manipulated. Glitchy cycles, squiggles, clicks, pops ebb and flow, twangy pops (manipulated drops?) fall in, getting noisy at times, buzzing to a gentle storm. The mood continues into 'Knee deep by '05' where light pings, a rhythmic crackle and other glitches are underlayed by a deep burring tone, echoed and building mass of bloopy blurts with a high ringing over. Then 'I got your pipeline' wit a soft modulated squeal with ditdits plays over a faint background sample with rumbles and a rhythmic scrape ends the first part of the album – these four tracks have totalled about 7 minutes.
Which is the length of 'California's next', the first of two longer tracks. The scraping and background continue, joined by a high cycling that builds, flattens and expands, and then a musical direction emerges with a warm deep swelling vibration that pulses with little buzzes and twangs. A high feedback slips in, and the buzz becomes more pronounced to the final fading minute, during which a deep sine pulse arrives, continuing into 'Together for a day'. As the previous track fades into its background, a sine pulse with light highlights around, including a slow picked our key melody. This fills out, together with light chimes and a moan-like noise, a sort of feedback scrape. Tones stretch, combine, vibrato slow to fade.
In an album only 19 minutes long, it seems odd to have a 'Bonus track', but that is what the last track is described as. And it is a bit different, a more minimal techno rhythmio-music exploration of throbs, rhythm loop, ticks, burrs and clicks.
A short but excellent album – one of the growing band that succeeds in combining the edge of glitch/click with a lighter mellowness.
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eM
Inside
The Foundry EP series Fou.18
http://wwwfoundryite.com/ep
Michael Bentley dons the eM suit and takes us on another trip, an extension of All The Stars Burning Bright with some of his more constructed pieces, for the second in the ep series.
A rumbly clatter and then high tones, seeming to be voiced, take us 'From the earth'. A crackling with a deep whoo through, high tones and motor clicks settles down into a morse sustained segment. Sweeping high tones, clicks, birds and a deeper sound seem mysterious, pulsed and layered. The tones are subtly manipulated, given an slight edge. Electro-animal calls into rumbly loops with water, strange signals and an earth-quake depth; into mellifluous resonant tones with higher edges, shimmery signals as we leave and drift away.
And pass 'Across the milky way' on layers of signals. High piercing ones the most prominent but also deeper shimmering hollow and crackly ones. It becomes denser, suggestions of music in there. The whooshing becomes predominant with ditty scratches and billows behind – all becoming quite loud and ringing through the skull before a fading, t'chings in the settling drift, and more suggestions of strings – messages passing through the aether – burbling fade.
Into a building storm 'Beyond the magellanic clouds' – a metal resonance, softly swelling, shimmers and crackles of interference that grow and pan across the sky, low pulsing percussives, squiggles rhythmic, deep organ pulses are all gradually accreted, rumbling. To a tingling whooshing majesty that fades to a cloud of little noises, a final crackling message and a deep farewell.
A delightful addition to eM's oeuvre, the Foundry ep series and to the edgier side of stellar ambience.
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Jeffrey Allport & Tim Olive
Allport:Olive
Infrequency (no number)
Jamie Drouin & Lance Olsen
Garden of Cellular Indecisions II
Infrequency in_download01
http://www.infrequency.ca
Allport plays guitar and Olive percussion on this 3"cd.
Both instruments are played percussively - the guitar is obviously scraped and tapped, not really plucked (though some string taps create an almost note) or strummed at all. The 17 minute the two pieces cover is a varying density of scraping and tapping percussives, rolling, clatters, pops, hollow jar-sounds, stretching together with strange whooshings and smears (generally soft) that add to the atmosphere. It was recorded direct to DAT in March (in Tokyo) and there is an intense delicacy to the work. Listening on ear phones it ebbs and flows, is undemonstrative though it builds at times to relatively dense activity, and gives the impression of a brief excerpt from the on-going collaboration. It doesn't really begin or but is there and then isn't But while you are with them it is a closely meditative period, satisfying though brief.
The site, as with many labels, is worth visiting – there is a good selection of MP3s including a complete mini-cd. Drouin and Olsen's Garden of Cellular Indecision II is a concoction for two cd players selecting from field recordings together with live synth and noises extracted from material in the garden. Over the 26 minutes there is a constant by-play of little noises, crackles tapping (hollow echoed deep) tings scrapes rumbles deep-tones radios ringings chitterings, that have a very organic feel to both their origin and interplay. The random aspect is integrated well with the constructed components to create an audio environment which provides an evolving involving soundspace and a recommended down-loading.
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Svstriate
Whole Year Inn
Glare Glare01
http://glare.con.st/ruction
Systriate, audio/visual artist Andrew Campbell, has produced an album of intense contrasts, between subtle almost delicate ambience and visceral enveloping noise. I first listened to it properly one morning when I was feeling a bit tense, and it was a cathartic experience. The impact of the harsh white noise blasts is increased by the lightness in between, creating a collection which is surprising and direct.
Scrapes and distant noises, a sine throbs, twangy buzz – a collage of sounds open the album: then long tones, rising and falling crackles and a lower level of machinery – with hefty noise bursts over. It drops to tones and then a building wall of noise builds with the machinery underneath, the dichotomy that envelops the first part of the album. The second track takes us from buzz, clicks, samples and beeps into soft washes and distant distorted tones. A thump then an aggressive varied buzz, then water and the big white noise bursts and varied, breaking briefly with sqrls and voices. The fourth piece opens with light musical gestures, tones and percussive, quieter loops then moves into some varied noisey segments – tonal music with buzzes that is overwhelmed by echoey metal, a ringing whoosh and then the white noise overlay stepping from total foreground to nothing then back, with some middle levels. A sine wave buzzes a warm section, a spattering of rain, high tones and wooshy breath, plus the noise. Not overwhelming, but providing some variety. A short scrapey noise with under sampling sounds in the brief fifth.
In six a quiet collage, including breakfast and weather forecasts transforms into a varying rumble-whoosh that rises and falls, changing tone, then a building hollow-noise that winds down in the last half minute into a simple hissing high tone with a tapping undercurrent that opens 7. The buzz broadens to soft pulsing tones then ringing and an industrial pulse – a cloud of tones that hints at a musical origin, then into distortion and a crackling zing. In eight a series of sounds holds the stage: vent drones, motors plus a mall, slow music, birds and finally rhythmic motors in a pulse drone.
Nine features a backwards vocal/tonal loop that is almost recognisable over which various sounds ply – a click loop, motor cycles, buzzes, more backwards sounds and zits. Then in ten another gentle ambience is broken into by rapid pulsing white machine noise that blasts for some seconds then drops right away, so that noise and ambience alternate, the noise softening towards the end.
The intensity relaxes over the last few tracks. In 11 a tonal ambience is replaced by shuddering chittery machines that whoosh and crackle, fading as long soft tones and a hollow scrape build and take the track out with held tones. The twelfth, thirteenth and fourteenth track sound the same – 45 seconds of a voice, distant rumble, pulsing high tones and crackles, with 45 seconds of silence added to the last. And I actually ripped the tracks and had a look at the waveforms, and they appear identical, but with a reduced amplitude in each. Then the final track, taking its cue from some earlier ones, is a lovely piece of backward looping selected, layered and sequenced to provide a reflective conclusion.
The contrasts across the album make this a dynamic and exciting audio journey, with surprises and depth a plenty. (And what a great web address – damn fine)
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Larry Gaab
War Riddles
Morphosis Music MM10
http://www.shocking.com/~garbanzo
Larry Gaab has become quite prolific (2001_16, 2002_03, 08, 09) with his relaxed and moody synth works, but the volume isn't indicative of facile creation and the minimal restraint of the self published (a real problem). Rather Gaab is developing and honing his skills, through albums that are fresh and interesting.
War Riddles combines an orchestral scoring with a restrained development that gives the work a strength and gravitas, appropriate to the exploration of 'our bliss and our suffering'. A fanfare of slow atonal sliding horns takes 'The truth' into a highly orchestral movement – a slow drum with layers representing the strings, brass and woodwind), playing a measured and contemplative piece. This strips backs to tones and drum, the fanfare returns and into tones and squiggles. The percussion increases through a multilayered darker period with deep voiced tones, violins and long tones.
Light woodwind and pizzicato strings provide a pastoral mood for 'Exacting moment'. The orchestra shift into varied long tones (willowy, voiced, vibrato) a slightly distorted maelstrom that whirls into glass tones and then building percussion to a restrained wildness (perhaps too restrained at times) which segues into a jittery key-base and long tones that take the fade. The title track opens with high and voice tones swelling over a simple progressing tone melody, slow and considered, then around halfway it starts to break out – burry tones, melody and percussion fighting it out, into a swirl of panning puffs, rising percussion that then drops back to long burrs and as soft finale.
'Grand plan' is delightfully simple – gentle strings and tones questioningly plying around long organ tones, softly swelling. A rumbly percussive underlayer to 'Broken language' could be drums, low strings or subterranean industry, either way it provides interesting support. Big string crescendos settle to a slow dirge melody, edgy, long metal tones, spacey warbles entering along the way. Voices wash, extended high sine-tones swelling to a battle with the percussion, that voices wash out. And finally 'Drift away' seems to do just that with a long stepped melody, but becomes more active and exciting as some atonal jumpy layers, subtle textures and buzzy swells of percussion join the drifting, with a surprisingly short fade.
Another measured and successful excursion into the world of thoughtful ambience from Gaab.
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Sogar
Stengel
List L2
http://www.list-en.com
My first listening notes say 'this is rather nice' and that could just about sum it up: rather being a very positive modifier and nice meaning enjoyable and approachable, again positive rather than the limp version. So what's nice about it?
Sogar (Jurgen Heckel) tills that newly productive field, the intersection between click/cut glitch and melody, the softening or ameliorating of the harshness to provide a more relaxed inviting sound. The basic elements are the same – pops, clicks, tapping, jumpy cds loops, buzzes, tones and more – but the combination and interplay is more analog less synthetic (real v virtual perhaps).
It makes description difficult or repetitive – 'st.01' has a scratching, high pings with a slight harshness, tone melody loops of music caught on the edge of becoming and shimmy shakers, which sounds (writes) fairly ordinary but the combination is entrancing. As we move through the album, different aspects become obvious and variations in mood prevail. 'st.02' is a magical play of broken keyboard melodies that is jumpy, pulsating and builds to a swirling crescendo, while 'st. 03' has light loops and rapid clicks and is more mystical. It may be the time of year here, but 'st.04' conjured up the sun and surf with its rapid ringle, burry and long tones and panning clicks becoming increasingly musical.
And on through the album – which is cunningly constructed so that tracks merge into each other. It is full of highlights and fun tracks – calliope sounds in 'st.06' around which the high tone melody, hums and buzzes ply; the layered and rhythmic complexity of 'st.08'. A strange air of mystery that emerges from the abstracted sounds of 'st.07' or wistfulness in 'st.09' from crickets, little bursts of sound and organs, which continues in the bright bubbly first part of 'st.10' that drops into a controlled aimlessness. There could be a hit single somewhere in 'st.11' where a broad vibrato tone sounds like a processed vocal. 'st.12' concludes where it started and has continued, combining a big sine base with pops, clicks, high ringing, echoed and stretched pulsing and swelling to a lightly piercing crescendo that backs down and fades.
So, a rather nice album.
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Bob Bellerue (halfnormal)
Threat Level Charlie
Anarchymoon recordings ANOK1
http://www.halfnormal.com
Bob Bellerue is a performance artist who works with a range of material – the inside of the sleeve shows Liam Mooney (one of a number who work with him) manipulating a sheet of glass – but he also uses various metals, resonant tubes, radio, programming and his body to achieve his musical effects. TLC (interesting acronym as the name is actually the highest level of alert) was recorded in a studio but with excerpts from a live show.
Shimmering crackly feedback signals and a low throb build a stimulating atmosphere joined by tings and distant chopped voices. Pattering noises and a growly undercurrent together with a metal wind make way for sustained ringing and gentle tones, then shifting to a noisey scrabble, distorted voices and tones to squally feedback. A shifting electroacoustic space. The second track opens with a distorted Dubya accompanied by a squeaking balloon and deep wobble-board sound develops into scrabbling windswirls, a twittering battle and high tones. Passing from a more musical mood it drops to a rumbling pulse and soft cycles that echo and loop to an applause-like percussion. Deep woobles, twitters and harsh whoosh, a low tone and manipulated higher one – interference vibrations – crackles, tones fade.
The third track is short – edgy harsh metallic vibrations and high tones – close mike work – percussive at times, but more focussed. And this intensity carries over into the last two tracks. The fourth layers noisy held strong tones, some squeaks and scrapes. But focussed on the full tones with controlled modulation, creating a vibrant and powerful noise work with lots of interesting variations. In the final track a scrabbly burble, possibly the radio, is a base for the other components – long feedback tones, a juddery oral close-mike scrabble, noisey drills, squiggles and shimmers building the slowly fading through the noises into a whooshy finale.
The balance in the album between to more exploratory variations of the first half and the intense focus of the second provides a strong structure to the work, which is a complex mixture of live and studio performance art, conjoining engagement with sound and noise.
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Stylianos Tziritas & Madder
Rabbit Speech
Absurd #19
Matt Davis & Mark Wastell
Derby and Liverpool
Absurd #21
http://www.anet.gr/absurd
Absurd got its first &etc guernsey in 2002_15 with a retrospective of 4 recent releases. Now we have caught up and there are these 2 in this issue and a pair to come in the next. This pair sit together well (in the first structure they were separate) as they are both live electronics.
Stylianos Tziritas indicated to the guys from Madder that he was going to do his Rabbit Speech performance work at a theatre and wanted to have a group as well – and they jumped at the chance. The album contains two live pieces (23 & 24/04/02) plus some short bits by Tziritas. These are less than a minute each: the 'intro' is a simple, slightly fuzzed recorder with spoken layers, then there are three parts in the middle – '#1' is a sequence of layered 'aaghs' that overlap and extend into moans, '#2' is a breezy fast tapping and scrape while '#3' is parallel metal tapping beats that move out of phase, and could be inside a piano as there is a resonant plonking. The album ends with an 'outro' of piano, swirls and blowy horns.
The first Madder piece sees Zioutos on electronics and Malevitsis (Mr Absurd) on amplified toy typewriter. There is a balance between electronic sounds – high whistling, feedback, warmer tones, horn-pulses – and the scrabble scrape echoing which seems to come from the typewriter. There is an ebbing flow and movement through warmer pulses, tones building, slower scrabble, feedback and deep pulse, small sustained loops, simple periods and density, shimmering and dancing to a pulsing tonal end.
In the second Stemnis joins in on live video and Malevitsis plays turntable and objects. This brings in a different aspect, scratch in whirring of the turntable, shaking and clatter of different objects. There is perhaps more range with longer quieter sections and big tones, and even a period of rhythm loops.
And as you have probably guessed, very hard to describe – the electronics provide a welter of different types of tones and sounds which slide into each other and around and into the additional percussive and tactile sounds from the turntable and things. The movement is spontaneous, responding to the interplay between the players, and is not random but shifts around organically. The sounds are not generally abrasive though at times a harsh edge is there
Davis and Wastell 'play' electronics and textures in these two short live pieces. The Derby one was recorded on 11/05/2002 and is the more minimal of the two (though both are gestural and quiet). It opens very quietly and stays that way, crackling and light whoosh, take us into a combination of nicely controlled high tones with scratchy percussive, and as we move through the night there are crackles, chitters, ringing, high tones, climaxes and release, squirly and puttering. In Liverpool on the previous night things were a little more active, opening with high whipping zings, scrabble, whoosh, soft tones and then knife-sharpeing critters then a stomping and distant birds, a car horn, blurts burst, crackle, buzz, fizzy high tones. Again, responsive and spontaneous, creating an atmosphere of interesting subtlety.
The field of live/improv electronics is a difficult one – with small groups like these the sound palette is quite focussed, tonal changes and manipulation, clattery scrape accompaniment. Both of these albums ply that strict acoustic field with aplomb, creating works that are intense and directed, yet offering the sought after 'listening pleasure' and challenges.
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And of course, all past issues, with hundreds of reviews, on site.
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