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Ampersand Etcetera – 2003_g
Ambient & microwave & electronica & experimental lowercase & postclassical
& minimal & techno & etcetera
Various Artists
Stasisfield: Year 1
http://www.stasisfield.com
This issue is a label overview – with a bit of a difference: only one cd
is reviewed. But, there is over 10 hours of music on it – which represents
everything the net-label released in 2002.
Which raises the question – why buy it when it is all available free on the
web? To which I can suggest a few answers:
First of all, it isn't any more – Stasisfield have archived the files.
If you have a slow (or no) modem, it gives you access to the music (though ordering
is on-line, so we assume access at least).
You can catch up in one go.
You will value it more – one group I have had contact with are averse to
releasing via a web-label as they feel people have more respect (is probably the
word) for real things they have paid for. As the amount of web material increases
and the use of MP3 players grows this is probably changing – but I know that
I listen to things in different ways. I have collected hours (days actually) of
web-music, but can only really listen on my work computer, so haven't given most
of it the attention it deserves. (For this review I decoded and burnt the releases
so that I could listen in more places).
Speaking of that, where possible the bit-rate has been improved.
You get the full web-site, so you have the covers and details.
There is an un-released piece.
Plus you are supporting the label – and $10 is next to nothing.
A good site that was pointed to me by M K Krebs is http://www.rowolo.de/labels/index.html
which lists all the labels I have come across and more. This density is the main
reason that I have eschewed reviewing web-labels recently: getting things in real-form
like this Stasisfield set (or the Slapart compilation last issue, or the fal.sch
collections) is different, and I would recommend it to web labels.
As an overview, this will be somewhat more concise I hope!
A LATE ADDED BONUS – Loam's solo disk arrived and seems to fit here.
Next issue – Public Eyesore, Zeromoon, Absurd all well represented, Headphone
Science, Stern/Guerra and Hardclan. To come – Accretions and more
Jeremy
ampersand@pretentious.net
&
http://ampersandetc.virtualave.net/ampersand.html
&&&&&&&&&&
SF-1001
J3: Audioreliquary
The opening piece, by three Js, including John Kannenberg the label maestro (with
Ethan Koehler, James Schoenecker, James Warchol), is from an installation about
life and memory. The main track, an excerpt of 30+ minutes, is a shifting space
of fast voices, children crying and laughing (musically modified), buzzing, thumps,
snatches of music, other sounds. It drifts and flows, building to more active
phases (a choral industrial site, for example, that is briefly remembered) then
relaxing. An almost sub-aquatic feel, you are immersed in its hypnotic depths.
What is especially interesting are the five short pieces – birth, childhood,
adulthood, death, haunting – which are samples from the basic files that
aleatorically create the longer work.
SF-1002
Capricorn One: Panopticon
This is described as 'an ode to Dr Who' – but as someone who remembers seeing
the first episode, set in the junk yard, who has fainter memories of being frightened
by Quatermass, and definitely remembers queuing to see Dr Who and The Daleks which
gave us the opportunity to see them in colour, I must say that other than track
titles like 'Castrovalva' I was not reminded of the series or the wondrous Radiophonic
Workshop. BUT what we do get is a tasty album of fairly beated melodic techno.
'Time and the relative dimension of space' opens with some musico-soudeffects
with analog tones underneath, dominating the second half. Fast pattering beats
in 'Eye of harmony' has a slow futzy synth melody, with a light tone joining later.
In 'Mandragora helix' there is a pulsey twangy loop that echoes shifting left
and right, echoed in other tracks, tones creating melody snatches – the rhythm
returning in 'Auton' with analog blurts and echoed fragments. Throughout the rest
of the album there is an ongoing mix of beats of various types, analog synth,
echoes and melodies, occasionally getting edgy as in 'Androzani major'. 'Skaro'
has lots of metallic tapping and strange whooshing music, easing and rebuilding
while 'Panopticon' closes with lovely harmonising languid loops.
As we work through the label, it will be obvious that this is more rhythmic than
most of the works, which allows Kannenberg to provide us with a fine range of
music.
SF-1003
John Kannenberg: Aero
This is a suite of 12 pieces – connected in a variety of loose ways. A number
of them feature a washing sound of cars passing in the rain, and other samples
appear throughout (thunder in 'Ascent', a beach in 'Pteron', breathin 'Aether
II') and there is an overall mood which struck me as wistful nostalgia or melancholy.
They also reminded me of Eno's 'Music For Films 1 and 2' in construction –
a collection of short pieces each exploring a theme – and musically on occasions.
The 'Prelude' introduces the wash sound and adds a processed guitar, pulses and
site sounds and the 'Ascent' which is more abstract, like most of these images,
where a rhythm/bed is established – a deep scrape rumble – little echoed
ticks and then a varying four note extended tone sequence, thunder rolling over.
A bouncy sample loop runs through 'Pteron' building speed in steps with the crunchy
sand and gull sample with some synth squiggles.
In the 'Aviary' a percussive shimmer loop jumps from speaker to speaker as various
bird sounds (warbling, squeaky and ringing) ply through together with a sine tone.
'Aether I' pulses percussion and popping chitters with soft long tones which really
brought Eno to mind, as a keyboard melody wanders through. There seems less structure
to 'Scope' as high tones noodle, a deep echoed rhythm pulses and other sounds
intrude, and then we get the powerful movement of 'Airship' with jumpy keys and
swirls.
Insects chitter lightly in 'Contrail', a tone moves through, then a scrape/hiss
loop and hollow reverb, all spaced out, the tone gathering, slowly. More space
in 'Front' tooas echoed keyboards, crackling and hollow scrape build. Big washes
jumping and clicks form a 'Torrent' before a variation in 'Aether II' which is
more languid and finally the title track. A machine rumble, the wash and then
a return of instruments, a piano-keyboard to the fore, the car wash, and the fade.
A strongly gathered group.
SF-1004
Phluidbox: The Muse And The Product
Another more rhythmic work. In 'Pillow' rhythm skitters across the sound space
with some notes. A tock added, ripples and light tones; a pause and then back
fuller before the fade. An extended silence opens 'Adapr' before poppy rhythm
with echoed key chords. About half way through a deep soft phut and eventually
a melody and some electro shapes before a long silence ends.
'The muse and the product' abstracts angular rhythms against an Asian-influenced
melody, joined by a rhythm box midway and some fast tuned percussion before easing
back to the odd angularity. Long wind-ish tones and a hollow bamboo percussion
in 'Whent' with a rubber rhythm and guitar sample suggesting the Caribbean. Again
a hollow melody that floats along the shaker percussion and bass of 'Nupercs'
gaining a boppy rhythm and becoming looser and almost feral at the end. There
is a groovy Hammond melody line in 'Barter' along with squiggles squelches and
a bop-bop rhythm, perhaps some talking in the background. And then 'Ice sands
of carpet' a lovely Asian influenced cycling percussion ending a very satisfying
set.
SF-1005
Loam: Meditations (on ashKroft)
24 minutes of manipulated samples from Attorney General Ashkroft who is described
as 'the most frightening songsmiths of our time' (as an non-US citizen I missed
the references first time round). The results are an extended droning rumble,
that builds, has choppy periods, echoes and stuck edges. A noisier metallic middle
before a softer release in the expanded and stretched ending – all very dark
and brooding: and astoundingly harsh-ambient-musical given the putative sound
source. Comes with a short version.
SF-1006
Takuji Tokiwa: Four Tears
Electroacoustics inspired by the suikinkutsu, a sound device buried in a Kyoto
style garden.
The first movement opens with a schlobbledobble of swirling scrapes and clunks,
a buzzing grows and semi-string-synths take over in tunelike note progressions
that overlap, somewhat chimish. A shuddering builds in waves with single tones
in, longer ones emerging over a watery base. The second movement is 'provisional'
(as is the fourth) and is a gradually softening of layered high squealing ringing
with a lower hornlike tone, with a constant forward action.
A ringing Buddhist bell opens the third part, modulated gently (sped up, slowed
down) but with more and more intensity until it becomes a buzzing, then slows
to a rumble-whoosh. More ringing to a more strident end, shimmering with more
layers of bells until a resonant organ develops, enveloping. A carillion overwhelms
it, becomes a drone but with notes through. The final layers rich vibratos, pierced
deeper chordal notes, some a cleaner, and there is a great use of sound space
(as throughout). It falls away to a few notes, rebuilds with some whooshing effects
as a watery rumble develops under, building, a twanging buzz swells, climax and
light fade.
SF-1007
Jonas Olesen: Dis_published
Ten short pieces (all less than 3 minutes) selected for this release by Kannenberg,
provide a sequence of varied miniatures.
A delicate musicality to 'Winters morning' as clicks birds and insect (though
probably electronic) over waves of soft tones. On a boat drifting we hear strings,
paddles in the water, soft horns peeps and ratchets of lines in 'e-ror'. Very
choppy pulsing tones and organs bouncing echoed coming and going in 'on_hold',
to a flight of bees in rain as crackles with stretched tones under, beeps from
'clan_clan'.
A dreamy string wash, buzzing chitters over, pulsing smoothly through 'exhibit
room', then a musique concrete of machines phones drills tones buzzes after a
crack wakes you for 'klartone'. Slow deliberate looping of clicks and other rhythms,
high tones over are 'shell' before the fast puttering tone samples at various
pitches that jump randomly through 'file conversion #3'. Shimmering layered tones
sing in 'dispublished' as faster tone pops and puttering emerge and finally a
distorted calliope from 'homemedia overlay'.
The ninth track suggests where some may have come from, but this is like a small
auditory gallery we can wander through and imagine with the short pieces we hear.
SF-1008
Carlo Genetti: Grain
A single short piece – a female voice, looped phonemes that can be deciphered,
and develops into a sentence that just about makes sense, painfully stuttered
looped and strained over. A haunting Dadaist piece
SF-1009
Koura: Seto
Musique concrete created from recordings in Seto, Japan. In the first a brushing,
wind and pebbles come in bouts, a scrape bowl, reverberation, animals and people
– chopped and shifting but becoming more stable.
A darker mixture in 'ii' that starts with wind and whispering, little echoed noises
and birds – a high ringing tones pulses notes with water or motors below
– the noises diminish and the garden returns. A noisey motor in 'iii' with
the natural sounds under, at times purring becomes very quiet then a buzzing and
we emerge into a busy city.
The urban sounds continue with people in a shop, noises around, crack and pops,
a deep rumble develops and continues when the people fade, in the distance music,
light crackles. Finally traffic whooshes, loops, door sounds – rhythmic layering.
Train rattle, voices, white noise pulse-loops rhythms, drops and fade.
A complex vision of Seto, which the recommended earphone listening would extract
even more from.
SF-1010
OK Suitcase: Minus One
The first track is a shifting piece of synthesis, moving from organic crackling
dits, a humming drone, tocks and pulses, echoed with a deep throb; the crackle
drops and tings and the deep tones ply with an increased cycling ringing, swirling
and tonal play dor a period; before splashing whooshes and fast beat enter and
the other fades, water bubbles with little music behind, again for some time this
plays around then a pulsing beat and brief metallic scrabble and the music makes
its way back; it futzes, then crashing and shimmers to echo fade.
The second track is more static as glass or string-like loops and delicate sounds
are lightly modulated, phase shifting and deftly touched with some very soft under-rumbles,
to hypnotic effect.
SF-1011
Reliable Sound Products: Uh-oh Machine
Three quite different directions from this duo. 'A list of things not worth doing'
opens with putters and swirls, possibly some voice, and then adds tinny strings
(Chinese or guitars), chopping and degenerating decreasing speed and density of
clicks and tones. There is a suggestion of speech in the structure of some of
the pops; scrapes and twangy wind, a pulsing tone that slides and swirls. The
track starts to wind down to a soft tone and chitter, rebuilds with various putters
and tones to become quite active, incorporating some weird voice-squirls as it
climaxes..
After that more complex piece, a couple that are more minimalist (and are by each
member of the duo). Neil Jendon's 'Evaporated' starts with a fuzzybuzz and a growing
drone which seems to contain notes. There is a rattling, rather like a train,
and a high tone emerges. Crackling buzz takes over and then a new warm sine tone
with harmonies builds, popping and then some pulses. The train flapping is back
before a long tone fade. Then David McKenzie gives us the deceptively simple 'Simoon'
where a steel guitar (it could be a sitar or some folk instrument) that picks
out a melody, while drones (a wavering high one and a more constant one) ply behind,
quite captivating: a strange clicking gives a slightly divergent end.
SF-1012
Ian Simpson: Seite
Described as a 'soundtrack of exquisitely crafted drones for an installation'
this set of three tracks are and beyond – they are more active than the drone
moniker suggests.
'Seite 1' plies febrile tones with deeper and hollow more sustained notes, long
and layered. A pulsing and subtle crackling develops, then slow spirals, putters,
radio whips congregate. It has become busy, a high ringing, active and swirling
the high drones surround you, a flock of birds, softer tones return before winding
up again to a high tone and ringing fade. Perhaps a little less active in 'Seite
2' when a soft fuzzy ringing gets pulsing and the intertwined components vary
in their intensity and volume, weaving through each other. A spacey feel as high
whoosh ringing slides in, voice tones, long rising and falling drones becoming
quite intense before moving back to a more hollow chuffing into the phade.
'Seite 3' is then gentler and more restrained as a soft ringing whoosh and gentle
voices layer. An organ bounces through, then some gongs and bells, and there is
a ringingness. It almost disappears but recovers a couple of times, almost as
if the voices in there were breathing it in and out, but tones eventually take
it out.
SF-1013
Sawako: 3 Stories
Due to contractual obligations, a single short track of delicate drone, piano
and site sounds
SF-1014
Josh Russell: ub_cus
Three tracks on this full length album, each a varied and shifting work. 'I can
fly but I can't breathe' opens with the dramatic quiet of high tones, sine pops,
crackles shifting and weaving, then a new crackle, longer tones, layered honking
visceral, then finally slow contemplative, pulses with chimey music. Just over
20 minutes of slowly plying delights.
Movement through 'Various remote controlled…' with warm tones, clicks, rhythmic,
a brief scraping, easing to a light dancing. A judder joins and deep tones –
lovely drift dance. Noise and volume start to build, pulsey edge distortion, dropping
rapidly to a soft humm, then reconstructs with complex of clicks, horns to a rhythmic
crackling fizz pulse. This continues in 'For mike mccurdy' as a new tome plays
over the crackle, metal scrabbles and spacey pulses. Big organ tone, scrapes,
a shop bell, a hollowness. A tonal buzz takes over, drops as cycling patter, tones
and putters cycle. Insect flutter and chirrup as light harmonies build, peeps
and pings build with a humm, scissors cut paper, parts fade as a xylophone enters
(some resonant notes, other dead). There are water sounds under, and they lead
the fade with other sounds floating over.
The descriptions may not suggest it, but this is an intricate and controlled set,
that draws you with it.
SF-1015
George de Decker: Le citta invisibili
In a series of releases which are all impressive, this one is the most surprising
and startling – a manipulated chamber piece (with broad orchestration including
piaon, strings, trumpet, clarinet) based on Italo Calvino's book about the many
faces of Venice. It combines classical sounds with modern techniques.
The first view has an echoed hollow drum, drones and strings, horn pulses. Appropriately
for the city it pulses and waves, word in a soft clatter, piano and a rolling
tone as a Gregorian soloist sings in loops, solemn and doomy. A world comes to
Venice in the second part as a Native chant (possibly Amerindian) is accompanied
by horns and a parallel choral chant.
We hear empty streets in the wind and slow woodwind tones of the third part, building
but restrained, percussive as tones build as strings enter before a full liturgical
singing over water sounds. Which continue in a swirling site-suggestion of four,
clarinet and strings while a woman sings – either crying or laughing –
the clarinet puttering out over the water.
A lute, which has been prominent throughout as a classical Italian instrument,
plays with long organ tones. A doom rumble, while a singer performs in the rain,
with strange rhythmic/melodic voice loops and guitar strikes. Boatmen call, crackle
and scraping, soft melodic choral and older female singer. Layered clicking ending
on a voice drone.
A mad dance in 6 of fast voice loops, jingly percussion, scrapes and clattering
sites, strings. Our final view of Venice is a more dignified Carnivale building
over distant horns, calls, voices, a dancing violin, deep chants. Fading to a
gentle strum, deep tones and an Enya-ish voice, drones and horn into the night.
Strikingly different and worth the entrance fee alone.
SF-1016
Jon Mueller: A Wooden Bicycle
Percussionist heard on Crouton releases, here gives us five minutes of a building
pulse of twangy clicks that deepen, there are squelches. Bells start ringing –
like door or bicycle – at different pitches, coming in bursts that increase
frequency till it becomes quite sustained with clashing cymbals.
SFA-001
Schoenecker: Live In NYC/open air/19.05.02
The auxillary label is for live pieces (there is a J.Frede one and a Loam EP already
for 2003). This is a three part laptop session, though the parts are a little
arbitrary. It starts with phuts clicks little-high-tingles (varied) that build
and create a nice moving rhythm. There is a spaciousness and great use of the
sound space. Fast patter and squiggles lead to an increased density and volume,
rhythms within rhythms.
It gets faster, with a deep rumble, easing back and then rebuilding with a purr.
Putters and high pinglings with a futzy pulse and some almost-chimes, somewhat
noisey before the third part builds again, with some quite piercing tones, some
deeper aspects but driving along before suddenly dropping right off.
SS-01
Con|text
Glenn Bach: Incidental Music
A twenty minute piece that moves through various states – moods and methods
linked together. From buzzy ringing layers with clicks to soft rumbles and pulses,
analog blurts, machine cycling with rumbles, minimalist scrapes, very quiet whooshing
high pings to a fade.
A diverting incidental music – changing tableaux that shift and interest.
SS-02
Palimpsest project V.1
One 'danger' of MP3 availability is people sampling and using your material. A
number of sites have got around this by promoting an exchange/manipulation project
(Foton Osaka, Microsound Bufferfuct and more). Stasisfield does it with Palimpsest.
This is an on-going exhibition of visual (still and moving) images and sounds.
Version 1 (most of which is on this disk) was the base from which the series is
to develop, with material derived in a number of ways. (Version 2 is already on-line).
Glen Bach's 'Round length of the room' is a woobly bubbling synth piece, with
deeper rumbles under, that slowly eases to a modulating and moving tone, with
a whooshing wind behind.
Two short pieces of noise from David Brady accompany his art – crash screens
from nintendo games (the sounds are the audio interpretation of the files)
The recording and transfer of a guitar piece by Loam results in 'Cassette hiss
guitar' with crackling cable interference, buzzing futz, blurting, rhythmic metal
crackling and occasional touches of guitar.
Em.Chia creates swirling and changing metallic/industrial electro background from
the web (apparently) that is laid down for samples in 'Metaxological mourning
methods'. The pieces start with a Buddhist explanation that you cannot try to
persuade someone to Buddhism, range through a variety of preachers doing that
for Christianity, then an extended speech at the repaired Pentagon before a final
preacher. I am not sure what the piece is trying to say – it doesn't seem
as random as suggested!
Koura provides 30 brief sonic postcards from across Japan – industrial, meditative,
city life.
Finally, Trace Reddell with 'Machinery for dreaming' a lush layering of tones
(some seemingly voice, including possibly slowed) that comes and goes, swirls,
develops clicks and buzzes fascinatingly.
Two movies: 'Sinking ship' is a electropiece that develops to sounds like a sax
solo as images shift and pulse – video games, block, a couple and more by
Cosmic Locksmith– while tAaron Hull's 'Clock'd' is a black and white work
reminiscent of the Bunel/Dali work or the video in 'Ring' with a softly pulsing
soundtrack.
UN-01
J3: Industrial evolution: [sound + steel]
The unreleased track is a live performance, based on samples of a sculptor (Gary
Kandziora) at work in his studio. This piece builds layers of sounds from clicks,
echoed deep thuds, rumbles and scrapes in a lovely organic looping. The artists
voice was also sampled for the process, so vocal loops and fragments also pass
through. The work ebbs and flows beautifully, with a beaty locked groove section
and some deep flowing, and ends with an extended swirling slide.
&
A conclusion? An impressive first year – there is much here that is beautiful,
striking, thoughtful, provocative, sublime. The range of material is undeniable,
as is the quality; and I think that this sort of venture will become a major way
for installation/site works to become more widely available. It is wonderful to
have such subtle and varied works available.
Already this year there are the live ones mentioned, material by Formatt, Mou
Lips! as well as some label-stables that continues the quality. Definitely a site
to keep revisiting – and supporting.
&&&&&&&&&&&
Loam
Terra Obscura
Topscore TS007
http://www.topscoreusa.com
http://www.croutonmusic.com
While I was working on this issue, and the next, this disk arrived (via Crouton)
and as I hadn't come across Loam before, but here was an undeniable synchronicity.
So while this was meant to be a label overview, 'Terra Obscura' has snuck in.
Most of the tracks are based on working with guitar and other samplers through
the laptop towards various objectives. There is a dense hissing-drone with guitar
figures through it in 'We have negative' which is joined by an atonalish twangy
guitar, clicks and pops join and a Bolero development and rhythm is going. Then
the hiss drops and it opens out, before a new guitar-drone is created then easing
to an extending ambient final segment. 'Chlos' is the first of a number of short
interludes created from sampled guitar. Here a guitar jumps, over a machine drone
with fast clicking in, creating a melody in a strange tuning. Later we have 'dtsk'
which crackles with static and then buzzing, 'drpr' where keyboards sample-jump
through drones and white noise pulses that gets squeaky and then 'sol' with clicking
and rhythmic fragments that sound like voices, looping and quite musical.
Back to the longer, odd numbered tracks. Including samples from a similarly named
Michael Jackson song, 'L@dy n my life' builds on a pair of repeated notes as a
base, adds bass voices (soft dodos and occasional ahhs) and a simple rhythm loop.
The bottom drops and the rhythm doubles, and the track grooves on though strangely
menacing. 'Long min (live)' creates a perpetual motion from clicks futzes and
chitters and some deep tones, a dense whooshing (reminiscent of the AshKroft stuff).
The rhythms speed and slow and get into some varispeeding, the droney bits build,
a pattering enters and it gets edgier again before fading. A glitch groove is
worked through in 'Middle inlet' with deep bass, rhythms, light tonal echoes and
a soft thudthud. Gradual changing, softening at times, some breaks and long overlapping
tones, it has quite a safe harbour feel. The album ends with 'Wrong tack', and
continues the water theme in its relaxed mellowness. Looping key notes pan around
with long chords and shimmers; meditative; deep blowy notes, ringing, some crackles,
but lovely drone release.
A very enjoyable album of glitch and beyond which extends the styles heard on
Stasisfield.
&&&&&&&&&&&&
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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