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Ampersand Etcetera – 2003_jk
87 central & undecisive god & undecisive god/w.i.t. & muslimgauze & rocchetti & the abstractions & VA staalplaat & lambert/wright & mattin & mora & twin & v.v & t’um & sawako & hartman & linblad & rozenhall & VA fylkingen
Ambient & microwave & electronica & experimental lowercase & postclassical & minimal & techno & etcetera
Please excuse the slight ego-trip title – seeing how all of this is somewhat egotistical, thinking that my (re)views are of interest to anyone but me. And the pleasure is all mine from prerelease, promo and special editions, listening through and considering them, putting this together, and then (the best bit) when I get some responses from the artists – it's that that has kept me going at times when & is threatening to swamp me. (Though no review copies of the Archos Jukebox have come my way following last issues intro!)
And the order – well by length: based on number of lines and for 2 which had the same, the number of words – from shortest to longest. Ego.
At this stage no idea what is coming up, as nothing has arrived – so the next issue could be some time. [Taming Power has indicated some tapes are on the way, to show he is not fixed on vinyl!] Which gives me some breathing space to do some work, and catch up on some re-listening. And maybe even update the alphalist (have already started and shows 754 items not including this).
Jeremy
ampersand@pretentious.net
&
http://ampersandetc.virtualave.net/ampersand.html
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87 Central
Formation
Staalplaat STCD187
http://www.staalplaat.com
Created by Jeff Carey from 'no-input mixer, computer models of feeedback systems, field recordings, and samples of Dan Armstrong playing guitar' – he is also co-writer on one track ('Oranje').
Slow reverberating didgeridoo-like pulses open 'Formations', spaced out, developing an echo and more complexity (depth, length) becoming a more continuous pulsing. Metal shimmers enter quite late with soft calls, then drops to a more musical burbling then soft crackle fade. Very minimal. There are wavery drones with a rhythm through, higher pulsing and a twangy echoed rhythm in 'Mux'. Dense and fuzzy, it opens out then fades leaving a heartbeat and some scratchy musical tones, ending with some rumbling.
'Pulsewidth' combines rhythmic glitch-click-shimmers with longer tones and pulses, more change than the first two tracks; long organ chords, rumbling pulses and then a white noise hiss that builds, drops, rebuilds and wavers before dropping out leaving the organ drifting alone. The guitar provides long tones in 'Oranje', layered, with a vibrant organ, deep pulses and high ringing that seem to be constantly unfolding. Shimmers and whooshes in, opening out, then shimmer_whippering tones. I got a picture of a frozen lake in 'Night' as deep slow pulses in the ice are surrounded by various cricket chirrups, some faster, and long calling tones from the surrounding forest, resonating and interweaving. A percussive loop of soft ticks and scrapes slides in and then blowing or a clatter of a site that fades.
There is an active crackling through 'Fire', more so than any other track, which is probably the eponymous sounds, coming and going with some variations, with guitar tones, scraping rolling, deeper tones and echoed bloops working through at different times. Finally, 'Hold' returns to the minimalism of the opening as a tone pulses, slowly building as it cycles, lengthening, vibrating, adding shimmering inter-tones, then becoming more obvious as tone chords before fading like a memory.
This a densely minimal ambient album that is highly listenable and impressive. Not dark but complex.
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Undecisive God
(_The_War_Against_Sleep_)
Black Orchid Productions 028
Undecisive God & W.I.T.
Modern Discourse
Shame File Music SHAM021
http://shamefile.tripod.com
Shame File is a Melbourne distribution and production operation for alternative etc music, run by Clinton Green who is Undecisive God.
'(_The_War…)' is a double sided cassette of pieces which I understand are largely guitar based. 'The random will of spheres' has tonal spirals, sirens, little insects of feedback and playing running through it, edgy but approachable. Things are slower and deeper in 'A home of forgotten things' with guitar strumming within the dense drones and some lovely long tones, while 'Memory 2' buzzes with electronic pulses and squirls, pulsing with some guitar theatrics at the end.
The long title track sounds like a bass solo – the guitar grumbles and rolls with slow deep notes, slowly developing around the pulsing and squalls – and draws you along. A brief feedbacky layered guitar in the edgy 'Memory 3', then a briefer bass solo 'Azathoth 1'. Squally long tones and deep vibrations from 'Guitar in E (short version)' before the tape concludes with a simpler, more contemplative guitar solo, relaxed and easy, with some production touches to vary the tone.
All in all a very nice collection of varied works, lofi production provides its atmospheric effects, and of a quality which begs for a wider audience. As it comes as a bonus with Shame orders, a bargain.
The second work is a collaboration with W.I.T. (see 2002_04, 2002_20)and comes on a business-card cd-r: a 3" round that has been cut down to about 2.5 on one axis (giving a rectangle with arced ends, if that makes sense) with a small recordable silver ring, in this case with about 5 minutes of music. Looks cute but very limited capacity. The title track is just under a minute of sirens blurts squeals and an undercurrent of chopped/sped voices. 'Within, winder' slowly builds warm guitar feedback/drones to a plateaux and adds chittering shaker percussive, edgier feedback and harsh noises easing back to a puttering soft drone drawing out before a tantalising touch of orchestral sampling. Much much too short – a fascinating glimpse of what I hope is a more extensive interaction.
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Muslimgauze
Iranair Inflight Magazine
Muslimgauze Limited Editions MUSLIMLIM021
http://www.staalplaat.com
Strange cover choice – eastern european military photos – but the track titles are all taken from the eponymous magazine, and there is a subtle screenprint of the airline logo on the disk.
Quite typical later period Muslimgauze – the theme running through it all is the use of background tapes. In the first track ('Jagdeep radio repairs, zarawar singh marg, old delhi, india' – yes, long names which I will abbreviate) we have rapid drum loops with an Indian tape playing quietly in the background – the rhythms break out and misstep occasionally. There are more electropop loops in 'Unfinished mosque…' (which the PR references to the very early Muslimgauze sound), an almost interference ting, drums and a hiss crackle. Vocal snatches and then probably a sitar which becomes clearer later, the relaxed rhythms are distorted at times, and there is a vinyl-loop ending.
Messed about 4-beat loop and flute in 'In the bazaars…', with the flute coming forward and getting blowy, and sometimes, deep inside the mi, a voice. Electro-squelch is the basis for dubby hand-drum rhythms and breaks on 'Mysore cochin bangalore', with stuttery sitar as well. It winds down and then returns as a more electro buzz hums and pops with a little echoed percussion for the ending. Vinyl loops appear in 'Desent with selim ahmed' both as scratches and music, to augment the futzy deep loop and flute, breaking and bitty releases.
The surprise track is 'A small intricate box…' which has an almost sweet reggae rhythm (I was strangely reminded of 'Don't worry…') which is sometimes squelched, distortions and crackles pass by. But throughout there is an extended film sample (my guess) – first snatches of words, then some soft huitar, but the extended conversations, extraneous noises (water poured, an engine, birds, teacups) and then a long speech by the woman. It sounds French but there could be some Arabic (Algiers?). A couple of war-cries and it fades. Then 'No maps…' with distorted buzz-hum, slow thuddrums and tapping percussion, a brief sound of singing (a Mullah?) and flute: but that strange scraping drone is actually singing too, as the track rumbles on.
An enjoyable Muslimgauze album – it doesn't break with the mould particularly, but thee combination of drums and instrumental recordings (I presume) makes for some relaxed listening.
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Claudio Rocchetti
The Work Called Kitano
Bar La Muerte bar24
http://www.barlamuerte.com
A new artist promoted by a little known label – always an interesting proposition. The PR suggests something good, Rocchetti plays pc, guitars, dat, turntable, cdj, microphones, doublebass, piano and tapes, has assistance on a couple of tracks, its relatively short (just on 30) so lets put it on.
With the wisdom of hind-hearing, the first track is unusual in the context. What we have in 'Existenz' starts as a musique concrete/improv piece – there is violin, scraped and plucked guitar, percussive tapping and rhythms, whistling and computer boobles in an intense assault. This eases back to looping high tones and backwards sounds, electrocrackles, then dropping back again to a blowy loop over which we get some picked guitar, faint resonances and a bit of bass, before shifting back to jumpy collage, mainly strings. So the suggestion is of constructed pieces.
Then 'Burned' with a looped violin sample (from an obvious classical piece whose name escapes me) with a big underdrone, as the loop slightly changes. Over this there are hard-disk crash glitch noises as the loop jumps, scratches and changes speed, all quite intense and focussed. Hissy scrapey pulses move around in 'Eleven am', then a crackly scrabble glitch with a musical undertow, the scrape rejoins, machine, a deep rumble. More plunderphonics orchestral loop in 'Petra von kant' segues to distant crackly piano with a susurrus that emerged from the loops over it, a cycling pulse, then the piano emerging at the end.
'My love was sitting on the mortician's knees' opens with a plundered piano concerto, the samples varying and reversing, with some deep (slowed?) notes, then woozy tape, a bit of clarinet, becoming distorted and clear, more backwards sequences. A slow rhythm on top (thud, slide) and an open mike shifts to a simple lovely piano solo with deep tones behind and scratches, ending in just the tones. Very brief noisy sample with voices in is 'Dan black' after which a more collaged 'Lovesong' with a venting hiss, clicks, little high melody cycles. Long organ pulses in, vibrant, a stuttering violin then long held tones that pulse, occasionally breaking up, very faint end.
Jagged violin samples loop with deep tones in 'The last night', brief bursts of noise, the violins increase volume to distortion and drop. Other loops are around – piano, bits of electronica, very insistent before collapsing. Then 'Coda' – a hissy three note piano loop breaks free to a solo before catching another loop to conclude.
There is a delightful lightness to the plunderphonics here, and an exciting breadth of directions, indicative that Rocchetti will indeed be a name to watch out for.
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The Abstractions
Ars Vivende
Pax/Edgetone PR90260/EDT4019
http://www.paxrecordings.com
http://www.edgetonerecords.com
Ernesto Diaz-Infante heads another collaborative work with ten others – looking at the credits, other than E D-Z (guitar, violin +, solo album 2002_d), the main participants are Dina Emerson, Sandor Finta and Jesse Quattro (mainly words&/orvoice), Phillip Everett (drums, autoharp, percussion), Bob Marsh (cello, accordion, 2003_h) and Rent Romus (plays all manner of things some of which are instruments).
Pax has a leaning towards political statements and this album continues that. It seems an album created in the shadow of war – there are few statements directly towards the current situation (the lyrics of 'After the WAR' are printed on the back cover, with the refrain 'after a war comes another' and a quote from Goering on the disk) but the mood seems to reflect the concerns and anguish of the moment. As such the music on the album is varied in structure, tone and direction.
Again a Pax trend, there is a large swath of spoken word material – Diaz-Infante's whispered voice couldn't really be called singing and most other vocal parts are declaimed poetry (in the long tradition that includes Ginsberg and Smith among many others). The instrumental accompaniment varies with the tones - 'The bitter undiscovered…' opens the album with a lo-fi rock with loose guitar and sax, while 'Heart of midnight' is a bleak anguished poem with improv group skittering slowly behind to close. In between there is an almost death medal drone and wild accordion to 'Cultivate the voices in the wilderness', relaxed drums and group including electronics on 'The thread', rolling drums and accordion for 'Companions on a journey…' followed by a dark tonal soundscape with crying and animals on 'After the WAR'. Steady drum and sax lines for the more scattish 'Caress of the claw', and soft vocals over wailing sax, rolling drums are faster in 'No more loans', ending with some piano and a slow sensuousness continues in the penultimate 'Flow between my past and my future' with sax guitar and flute.
In the first part of the album we also have 'The tower' a brief collage of vinyl groove-lock, wind and soft tapping; a wild assault in 'Your eyes like steel' from the group with growling voice powering on, relaxing a little at the end. This is followed by 'Lurch' where the group pulses in unison throughout, dramatically and forcefully, and there is a screaming voice, some sax over it, the rhythm seems to break a little, but maintains an assault slowing (electronically?) at the end before murmuring away. The power is there in 'A furiously fatal future' which has loud music from the group but a mini-cacophony of voices in it that suggests some sort of disaster, sax and accordion to the front, slightly disturbing, before a rhythmic stability emerges near the end. Insanity again in 'Peeling back the layers of a dead foot' with group improv and voice samples long chords scratching and sax build with computer noodles to a climax.
While those descriptions have jumped around, there is a central suite of pieces. They is a pre-echo in 'Amerika not beautiful' with strange demented voices like a Central American cabaret, which will return. The middle begins with 'Demon down twisted' is more atmospheric with some cello and slow guitar, all stripped down as the voice is close miked with some echoes. Then an extended vision of hell 'Rain of bullets' where a dark droney scrawl has groaning and looped voices (cree-ture?), bass and guitar echoed, squeaking, it builds and holds a dementia some long guitar notes before fading to a wash with sirens. It is like the dark heart of the album. 'The hdeous beauty' brings back the Dada cabaret then a vocal collage of short notes and long tones in 'Armageddon under glass' is quite beautiful (especially in this context). Dada gargle and strained woman in 'Psychotronix melodramatix'' followed by a slow whispered version of Gershwin's 'But not for me' that is quite restrained before a final strange cabaret in 'Universal fLAW'. The flavour of the whole seems captured in this part.
While the album is angry and at times anguished, it doesn't become destructive or unmanageably assaultive, rather intense and demanding. And it is worth the effort of listening as a stimulating and engaging work.
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Various Artists
O Superman remix
Staalplaat/ERS ERSCD006/STCD162
http://www.staalplaat.com
1982 and Laurie Anderson's amazing single makes its first foray into our brain cell. Hypnotic minimal music, deadpan poetic lyrics, astounding film clip – it is still fresh and influential (perhaps even more so, for as the PR notes, there are pre-echoes of September 11). ERS/Staalplaat have brought together a mix of artists to create remixes and versions for the 20th anniversary.
Com.a kick off with a fairly 'standard' mix – long tones, the ah's and some vocal lines are sampled before a glitch D'n'B rhythm loop drops in to provide a three layer structure: long drone tones, a subsumed memory-jogger of sampled loops and the rhythm. There is a break with 'anybody home' and some ahs, the drone joins, some melody and the violin line before a long drone-drawn fade. The second half takes this version into a more interesting plane.
Then a couple which seem far from the original. 'O Hyperman' sees Radboud Mens run a fast electronic pulse and soft drones with some fast rhythm loops. These drop and an electro dragging comes in, rhythms back, then another break with burring drifts. The next break has an almost vocal fragment, an it seems likely that the strange noises are treated vocals. Which seems confirmed in the next section where the voice is more apparent, relaxed and distracted though not clear, with the descending motif from the original, before long soft tone fade. Freiband (Frans de Waard) plys high ringing tones that bounce around over a low drone with highlights (manip voice?) The tinging tones are the focus, moving around, smearing together, and there is no instantly recognisable Anderson.
Relaxed and playful from the Electric Company, where the ahs are slowed (or rerecorded male) the lyrics are processed or vocodered and a light rhythm of ringing, bloops and electronic birds bubbles along. There is a weird phone message inserted at the appropriate point, and at times the singing is quite sensuous, drums join later and again a nice fade. Extremely playful is 'Five diamonds and two eyes' by Staalplaat Soundsystem: the track is chipmunked up and samples from the Conet Project interwoven (both spoken and morse signals) and some metal zoom scrapes, and a building sine tone that takes the outro with the morse.
More respectful is Danny de Graan's 'O Super Mom' which takes the lyrics and feeds them through a quite sophisticated sounding MacInTalk voice and adds a dramatic soundscape created from the first ah. This includes fragment washes, crickling loops, tones that match the words pointedly. We are in 'mom's electronic arms' and in the second half there repeated high percussive tapping.
Team Doyobi take a different word as their way in – 'come'. They created quite a nice remix with a D'n'B rhythm, crackling noises, well selected loops, and then paralleled the original ahs with porno-climaxes. It pushes along powerfully, but I ain't a fan of these samples. Three sections from Massimo – looping noisy computer glitch loop into which the guitar section looms large and some ahs then surface white noise over the lot; drops to looped keyboards and some voice work; heavy electronics with phasers through hurtling like an out of control car.
Low tones create a threatening subtext to Origin of Sounds version, which has some rhythms through and also plays with the lyrics, this version places us on an empty plain as high tones slide by, particularly in a very moody break.
This disk comes in a shiny blue-silver slide top box (perhaps emulating the cigarette box in the smoking section). It was a pretty daring exercise, remixing such a classic – but Staalplaat has covered all bases. It is not too respectful so that there is variety but also some humour, and still recalls the origin. For those of us for whom this was a seminal single this is a great way to see where it can go, and if you don't know it this should take you directly to Laurie Anderson (if there is anyone out there who has missed her!)
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Ross Lambert & Seymour Wright: Lucky Rabbit
Mattin: Gora
TwoThousandAnd 2++6 and 2++7
http://www.twothousandand.com
This London improv label (last appearance 2002_20, but see also 2003_h) from Guerra and Rodgers continues to put out finely packaged cd-rs. These two follow the theme set by Guerra's solo – with slightly oversize folded card for Lambert/Wright with colour photo on the cover, insert photo and black disk, while Mattin is a heavy card sheet with a half-size slip card, feels very nice.
The cover image on 'Lucky Rabbit' intrigues me – a photo of part fo a room, antique char, table and sideboard, marble floors, carpet, glasses on the table. On the wall two mirrors, the largest above the desk filling most of the upper half of the image, reflects people in what looks like a shopping mall (lights, chrome) rather than a Louis Quinze room. And on top of that, I feel that the furniture is really small, dolls house stuff, but don't know why I have that impression, especially as it would make the glasses very small, and the reflected image is too big to be in a mini-mirror. Which says nothing about the music recorded by Lambert (guitar) and Wright (sax) in London and Tokyo (with some Japanese contributors on computer and voice).
As you would expect from an improv label like 2000+, the music of 'Lucky Rabbit' is not free flowing sax and guitar lines. Rather Lambert and Wright are of the ilk where playing with the instruments is the order of the day- the sax squalks breaths squeaks blows putter-percusses while the guitar picks scrapes humms drones and squeaks. They create the sort of exploratory music that you have to be in the mood for, and which by its nature is harder to have as background. If you are in the right frame of mind it works really well. On the three tracks recorded in Japan the sounds are opened up a little – the computers add rattling or pingpong percussion, some tones and chirrups (though some of that could be prepared guitar as there are similar sounds in other tracks) and give the sound an additional layer.
The pieces move through various stages, each instrument having time in the foreground, shifting between dense and more open sections, speed and more relaxed paces. In the brief third track there is some surprisingly full electric guitar, which also nudges into 7 with both playing and what sounds like flat hands to the strings, while the fifth becomes quite wild and centres around what sounds like bowed guitar (actually like violin but none is credited) to further extend the sound frame. The percussive aspects becomes more prominent in 6, and includes more obvious computer and whistling.
For me albums like this are 'in the moment' – the often don't coalesce into a directed narrative, and while there are some climaxes, the pieces seem to end rather than finish. But as a relaxed and yet exciting and varied exploration of sonic possibilities this album continues the strong 2000+ tradition in another direction.
&
A Mattin release was in the first batch that Joel Stern sent me quite a while ago that hitched &etc and the 2000+ scene, and he recently had a 3" Absurd piece with Rosy Parlane (also 2003_h with back links). 'Ni' recorded in Nijmegen opens quietly as Mattin turns on machines creating a softly varying humm with feedback shimmers over, joined by a percussive banging and some whirly electro it suddenly increases in volume. The humm and burring electro tones, tzinghiss and burrs and a loud white noise overpapering. This keeps coming at you, varying a little, the deep tone audible and a rising tone, then eases to a still loud crackle hiss, ends, applause.
In Hamburg he created 'Zu' where a soft buzz crackle slowly builds to a loudness with a deeper tone in, the crackle moves about the sound space and there is an electro wind. It all rises and falls, though still a full-on hissing storm, eventually easing to a venting and buzzcrackle, blowy feedback easing down to silence, then reerupting to warbling feedback then held tone and very loud pulsing, withdrawing again seemingly gone for a couple of minutes before a final buzzing noise pulse end.
'Eta' (Berlin) begins with shocking crackles subsequently pulsing fuzzes then a held tone, scrawling, high pitch melody tone into white-noise assault, then a 'gentler' hiss with a buzz in and a deep warm throb, to washing crackle little clicks silence. Rosy Parlane and Julien Ottavi joined Mattin in London; 'Haiek' is the most restrained piece, sounds settling in, perhaps the audience, though they seem recorded and 'played with'. A warm vibrating tone (keys?) and little loops, pulses and a percussive part that sounds like semi-random firecrackers. This is spacious, bursts of feedback, little things happening, a roulling noise and hiss build, swirling possibly keyboards (Keith Emerson and Nice), computer bobbles eases back to firecrackers that emerge again, slows right back before a final brief burst.
I will admit to enjoying this more than I expected – as well as being cathartic noise it is also exceptionally well managed noise. Probably not one for the party but an excellent example of what improv can be do with unusual tools. (And as pointed out by Vital, at home you can moderate the aural assault with your volume control).
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Mora: +a (aecdr022)
Twin: Theater/Theatre (10001)
V.V.: The Animals In These Cages Are Injured In Some Way And Would Probably Die If Released (10010)
Tu m': Blue In Green (10011)
Sawako: Nin (10100)
Aesova
http://aesova.org
We looked at the first couple of Aesova 3" releases in 2002_02, and a new batch has arrived, with some familiar names. (And an unusual numbering – the binary was lost for Mora for some reason).
Mora is Brent Gutzeit (Freedom From, 2001_18), Jason Soliday and Philip von Zweck with Andreas Berthling (solo, 2002_04, a track on and cover of 'Cicle 0') for this release (hence +a). After a disorienting start – high scrabbly morse, scritching, bursts of blowey noise and scifi woobles the piece settles into a very nice groove. Basically a sequence soft ambient minimalist bases (high tones and low rumbles, siren with a deep throb and accordion) over which small events happen. Little noises and rising spirals, putterings and stepping bubbles, little animals eating, buzzes high tones. Towards the end things build over an organ-siren with scrabbling, noise bursts that fades to a low rumble and hiss whirr vibrate away. Surprisingly spacious considering 4 people worked on it, this is a very enjoyable piece that weaves activity with ambience.
&
There is a feeling of live-ness to the Twin set. 'Theater' is all change and excitement: modulating hums, taps, radio sqrls, burrs and a scrapey hiss, then a vent, chatter, squalls and feedback, whistley blowy tone and edgy noises. Sudden drop to soft rumble scrapes and rubs, swirring tone, volume increasing and noises, though more stable. Metallic hiss vent builds and a scratching plus tone, modulates, a distant voice; drops to putters, held resonant tone, building with some noises but more stable. Ends. The correct spelling version is more restrained as tones and woozy scraping tapes ply (perhaps there has been a bit of tape/turntabling going on) as paper rubs on a mike. A squeaking is going to run through, like a balloon, and there is some percussives and hissing interference. Guitar scrapes, more woozy notes, percussion building to a slight storm, eases. More tapes – voices? – tone rumble and keyboards, balloon: gentle restrained fade. Improv electronic noise explorations that are difficult but not unpleasant.
&
V.V. and his Throat label have appeared a few times. This extravagantly named track takes us on a journey through a combination of field recordings plus some processing. We are moving through a large space, there is an empty ambience, steps (some running), mike rubbing. Building machine noises, vents, scrape drops to a low hum, then to a loud site with calling or singing, car whooshes, voices. Interference hum and crackle builds over noisily, then drops again to a hiss that becomes pulsing, piano notes play a tune with accordion sustain, building; gains some scrape-mike schlepping and birds. A deep engine rumble, noises, hissy vent or white noise and a cycling. This then underscores a sequence of drifting organ, rattling, popping click and rumble, train and scrabbling. A strange keening that eases a bit then a scrabbly whoosh that builds and is cut.
A dark but intriguing journey.
&
Tu m' (2002_02) offer up a double release – one disk is 'Blue' the other 'Green' (unfortunately not coloured cd-rs) – and they are quite distinct.
On 'Blue' there are three tracks of a more relaxed ambient flowing glitch. The first has clickpops on waves of hiss with percussive and futzy washes, gentle relaxed looping. Some schlepping and stuttery clicks and deep throbs, with some almost musical spiral tones. Then clicks and burrs that stutter almost voice, a light soft glooping softly sustained, a humming tap becomes a sustained tone, then bobbling tones softly. Finally gentle hissing buzz, crackle percussive, a light cycling and ringing. These pieces flow smoothly, moving gently through their atmospheres, lightly engaging.
'Green' is a darker flip-side. The two parts are made of harsher, aggressive tones clicks squalls scrabbles, sine tones that edge to harshness, excursions into more noise related though not without periods of easier tension or sustained sensitivity. There is also an almost random feel to the pieces though, almost as if we are listening to the inside of a machine as it processes various pieces of information – perhaps even a computer as it generates the tracks on 'Blue'.
The edge to 'Green' provides an alternative to the more mellow 'Blue' presenting this as a rounded release with things to enjoy and confront.
&
Sawako had an abbreviated release on Stasisfield (2003_g) and also an earlier one on Throat (2002_14). Here there are 9 tracks. '1' is short, layering high sine tones, some purring, intense. Then 'Asiat' is a site recording of a large open space, birds calling, a high tapping and crackles – possibly processed – two hissing waves, then soft pulses, faint voices and a frying noise before 'belll' is high tones again, more musical, birds in the background, more obvious at quiet times, sudden noises and a fading gong. 'Bass' is a few moments of violin in a big space followed by a rolling ringing, birds and scraping in 'Passage'. Then a delicate piano builds in '.ps', wind and animal calls, walking and site recording. It seems like another tone piece with 'Fin' as they layer and loop but then an organ, an ear-splitting tone, the zoo before soft pulsing rumble fade. 'La' is a longer work, scrabble hissing chopper loose-cable, then high squeak and rising/falling hiss, wind pulses. A long strange hiss, earplaying, wiith a scrabbling morse over, whistling, hissing to birds and white noise. Finally 'Light' with a random tapping, rising hiss fuzzyscrape and soft mike. As with previous releases, Sawako balances the release sensitively.
&
A varied set, but the 3" format is a great one for trying different forms and approaches, expanding your horizons, and each of these releases has much to offer with repeat visits. And Aesova as always present these very nicely.
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Hanna Hartman: Farjesanger, Cikora, Die Schrauben…
Rune Linblad: Die Stille Liebe
Elektron EM1005 and 1006/7
http://www.elektron.nu
Rozenhall
Eyeland
Firework Edition records
http://www.fireworkeditionrecords.com
Various Artists
Circle 0
Fylkingen records FYCD1019:1-2
http://www.fylkingen.se
A batch of material arrived from Sweden, and there are links across them so a combo review.
Hanna Hartman's disk contains three collage/musique concrete pieces. 'Farjesahger' (Ferrysongs) is hard to place and describe. It is a varying composition of (largely) scrapes stretching hollow tapping that almost sound like they could all have come from the inside of a piano (and there are occasional piano notes) but there is also a brushing sound, boat-type creaking (possibly interpreting sounds in light of the name), breathing tones, some voices, water running and some machinery. Even what sounds like velcro being ripped apart at one time. It shifts and swings between forceful and restrained periods, intriguingly leading you through – to where?
A similar collage is created in 'Cikoria', although with a greater sense of narrative. There is a recurring element of public transport – bells ringing, pneumatic doors closing, rumbles and clatters of movement, together with a series of announcements in a train in New York. Around this core, however, flows a dreamlike scene – including machines, street sounds (sirens, truck-horns blaring, pneumatic drills), strange crying out or echoed laughter in a subway, sudden rain storms and thunder, water sounds and glooping, brief snatches of piano clarinet and organ, stepping, bird and animal sounds. Along with hissing tones and rhythms found and created. A mysterious narrative to untangle, seemingly random it does cohere.
Finally 'Die schrauben,…' (Screws that hold the world together) initially seems obvious: the first nine minutes is a collage of sounds that appear to relate to wood work (and the title) – there are taps scrapes twangs screwing-tensions crackles cropped-metal, building to eruptions and falling back again, some loops developed to create activity and some manipulation. A big percussive cycle ends with some harmonica and rain. We then move right away from the workshop, with looping and layering of voices saying things in German (not the title I think), then a zither some creaking, and birds singing over a loop cycle from noises in the first part. A few words in there, religious ceremonials, baby crying and then the harmonica returns for a solo (with some talking behind) to take us out. Once again, Hartman has left us something to think try and undertsand.
Hartman combines her site recordings with minimal processing and with sufficient context that they are grounded but destabilised in their new context. Then, through the new structures she creates, she leaves us with puzzles which are sonically satisfying but intellectual challenges to decipher. A surprising release.
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Back in 2002_02 I reviewed a set of three disks from sound artist Ake Hodell on Fylkingen, and this Rune Lindbald set is very similar, though on a different (related?) label, re-presenting a sound artist. Lindblad apparently worked relatively independently in the Swedish music scene, combining an interest in musique concrete and Electronic music, and creating his own idiosyncratic pieces which are gradually becoming more well known (or at least relatively). This double disk contains works mainly from the seventies, combining them in a manner which provides an overview of Lindbald's output and also a programmed musical experience.
'Opus 131' builds electronic tones that sound like glass rubbing, varied pitches, into a stepping ambient electronica which reminded me of Aphex Twin's ambient releases. As it develops there are shimmers in, loops and movements, filling and emptying spaces. I am not sure what sort of night it was but 'Nocturne 72-2' demonstrates the relationship to Noise noted in the booklet: a pulsing feedback warbling base with noise bursts, loops of pulsing and honking, harsh aggressive and driving. There is a decentred playfullness in 'Opus 172 (decree)' as it shifts through various sounds almost as an exploration of the sound palette – slow drip pops, tone emlody, increasing rumble crash, high tones and soft scrabbles, squeaks and voice loop mutters. There are voices coming in and out, some manipulated, higher washes stepping computer tones and organs stops. Then, after it has ended there is 30 seconds of a faint drum roll – which may or may not be part of the piece.
With 'Forort' Linblad uses fibrillating parallel long tones with burring pulses and harmonics, crackles and then more waves of sound that eases to a call and response, before lengthening again with echoed twangs buzzes whip-cracks and some noise bursts. Purring pottering putters in 'Samtal' (the earliest work) scratches and whirrs suggest manipulated voices, and there are voices audible in the mix, which becomes quite percussive, has snatches of song before building to a climax, dropping back and continuing for a scribbling grumble and some Tuvanish-drones. 'Pedagogik' is a spoken piece, mainly seeming to read a talk. It is impossible not knowing the language or its inflections to know if there is any artifice in the voice. But at times there is a second layer, and then the tone becomes more resonant and a second voice shouts orders (I recognised 'concentrate') towards the end. The final piece on the first disk is the title track – opening with blurty squalls and sliding edges, occasional held tones, from some sort of noise generator, almost like someone working out how to tame the beast. Vocal interjections alternate with the noise, then there is a stabbing pulsing putter squeals and sirens before another vocal part – surrounded by blurts and high tones. Jumpy ear to ear, then phonemes and chopped almost fragments and trills of tape.
'Orgel 3 (medeltida borg)' another older piece opens the second disk with wonderful organ variations – pulses, little whistles, sustains and rumbles playing between drone and activity. There seems almost to be a narrative to 'Associationer' with crowd scenes and samples from what sounds like English war movies, sci-fi tones and alarms, electronic assaults, hitone fluttery melodies: a little musical play. More ambient electronics from 'Opus 133' with notes playing a melody or sliding to drones, percussive, abstract periods – moving but not going anywhere.
'Glaciar' is a mysterious and mystical work where rumbling whooshing builds and roils, like voices in it, woobles and whips, distorted distant cries, whooshing pulses vibrations – inside the ice-world. Perhaps the most musical piece 'Opus 161' works around sibilant hissy echoed voice over a machine rhythm bed.
A collage in 'Musikundervisning' as a whispering voice reads a list, moving around the sound space, layered, some of which are instruments or musical terms. Tones pass, and longer phrases, almost cartoonish, like a warped Childs Guide to the Orchestra. Electronic noise. The voice becomes echoed later, the tones easier, slower. And a final noisier work to conclude on 'Gryning' pulses and crackles restraint, some harsher descending echoed held tones, edgier, to abuzzing pulsing hiss end.
The cover and booklet feature some of Lindblat's artwork, and it makes an altogether very appealing introduction to an interesting sound artist whose work while not influential surprisingly reflects developments and trends in the wider sound world.
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Daniel Rozenhall (who wrote the text for the Lindblat release) presents an album of fascinating electroacoustic material. The first track is the short 'A plumage man with a plastic bag' that first creates a melody from hiss-pulses and then shifts to fast squarbling and electro squiggles that slides into the first part of 'Eyeland'.
This has three parts. The first is a whistly wind with a high melody, that resolves as an organ solo, in it, multitracked, a bit distorted by the wind, but going slightly troppo and into; a held tone with wind chimes, the tone becoming something of a rumble, a swirling sound, distant at first but coming forward and widening to a spattering patter (almost a weird crowd). New tones warble. This is stable but unsettled/ing. There are little key shimmers, the tone drops, we rehear the chimes, a puttering, some radio sqrls. The putter grows, cycling from ear to ear, woohs. Then a swift change to the third part as the volume increases and a couple of loops become the ground. There is a deep tone, a melody as the loops change, intensity builds to almost siren like; and there are spatters of noises over, easing to the end with whistley whooshings and tones varying to an ease.
Turn the disk over for the second part of 'Eyeland'. A long fuzzy shimmering, varies, seems to pulsate, like an assault of bees. Gradually slowing, getting deeper, then suddenly dropping deeper still, to a quite inviting mode. A high shuddery shimmer (about halfway), radio squalls and warbled tapes start to over whelm the bees. It is quite metallic and seems to occur in an empty space, squeaks as well, all more active and towards noise. A juddering scratch emerges and a long tone which varies and spreads into droning over a crashing scratchiness, whistly higher tones. A voice like humming, singing tones, travelling along nicely towards the end, some Theremin-ish tones, then a high violin held sample and deep tone , drops to soft organ pulses, held to the end.
This is a dramatic work which seems to fit the format. Though it would work as well on cd, there seems to be something about the structure and shifts that reflect the vinyl rotation. A fantastic plastic.

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'Circle 0' comes from Fylkingen and was put together by Michael Stavostrand, and is not essentially Swedish. It has the usual compilation issues for a reviewer – there are 23 tracks across the two disks, and to list and describe each would be somewhat boring and repetitive, and yet to pick favourites or the well known artists or the less impressive tracks is a bit arbitrary. So I will rather give some general impressions of the disks, and describe some tracks or sequences and let you get the picture.
An issue with any album, but often exacerbated with compilations, is getting a handle on what they are trying to do or where they are going. With this one I was completely distracted by the first track – which I will name. Andreas Berthling's 'Life #2' is simple gorgeous – lovely long tones as rapid chitters fly by, an absolute gem. After that the rest of the first disk seemed somewhat lifeless or grey. A second listen (by passing the first track) showed that the colour that I had started to see towards the end of the disk was indeed there, and running through the second one emphasised that there was a programming objective behind the sequence, and that there are blocks of similarly directed pieces. So, onward again.
After Berthling is a series which could be referred to as the glitch/collage sequence: clicks with jumpy tonal music below, soft pulsing and deep tones; short musical break loops and deep tone; crackle hizzle, electro buzz easing and varying, fades to spatter, stepping in water; mysterious deep rumbles after needle grooves, soft pulsing, hiss quiet; a hitone, schlepping scrape, music emerging, spooky chimes, washing, suspense.
The second half of the disk is sine tone based (with some overlap) – the tones are used as a bed for other activity or the focus itself. Scritchings and ringing adding layers, or tones building slowly and putting in rattle, throbbing, minimal developments and playing with. A delightful sequence for those who enjoy those pure tones but with glitchy highlighting.
On the second disk we open with a long series of groovy glitch click techno – there are beats and ear-to-ear clicking, washes, very groovy, piano loops and electro graffiti, bass, jumpy tones and voice phonemes and snatches, grooves, tones and resonant and very rhythmic.
A short stretch of more minimal, static techno, brooding over looping keys, an interpolated abstract glitch, a deep visceral loop that goes through some minimal changes but adds filigreed. And then a couple more that regain a beat, perhaps less bouncy than the first half, with picked guitar and out-of-tune melody and finally a long slow burn build of glitc(h)lick building momentum, shimmers and a deep bass.
Once I worked out the structure of this album, I enjoyed it immensely – it has a lot of variety and the sequencing means you can listen to parts to suit your mood or the whole for fun. The names-I-know and the names-I-don't all present high quality work, so again I'll refrain from listing them and conclude that this is a strong showcase for abstract through to highly rhythmic glitch/microsound.
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