02 July 2012

Administrator

Albums and Singles

This compilation of artists on SharkAttack! features some extremely talented bands playing some incredibly strong material. Charlene, whose members started SharkAttack!, contribute four tracks, HelloAttack give two, and Compass and Lockgroove three each.SharkAttack!Music

The music of Charlene has already been praised on the Brain recently, and the four tracks here run their gamut of sound. There's the drone of "Look for the Line," the pop of "Low Down" and "Radio Son," and the quiet beauty of the hidden "Slow Broadcast Dozer." All are fantastic. HelloAttack craft space rock instrumentals with solid bass grooves, chiming guitars, and keyboard drone. Their two tracks bode well for their full-length, due next year. "D" is an loud attack with a bounce rhythm, where "A" is slow to start but eventually makes it to a loud yet metered and aggressive tone at the end. Lockgroove includes David S. Goodman, who is also Compass. Both projects have released singles on SharkAttack!, and both demand strong notice in their offerings on this CD. Goodman plays with beeps and programmed beat pop with aplomb, and his three songs have a charming grace. Lockgroove burn out of the gate with "Nullify," then click it down a few notches for "All Caught Up" and "All My Friends," showing the ability to bruise as well as to soothe. Their debut EP and full-length, from 1998 and 2000, respectively, are also available directly through their website, with more to come on SharkAttack!, I'm sure. SharkAttack! is truly a home for great artists with common themes and has a lot to show on this compilation.

samples:

• Charlene - Low Down
• HelloAttack - D
• Compass - Beth
• Lockgroove - Nullify

02 July 2012

Steve Smith

Albums and Singles

23five
This two-disc compilation coincides with last year's SFMOMA exhibit ofthe same name, a "listening event documenting the past 18 years ofJapanese experimental music," though this recording features mostlyelectronic-oriented material from the past few years. Despite this, itsbreadth is exceptional and some of the tracks are unreleased, so it'sexcellent both for collectors or as an introduction.
Noise, of course, is a focal point, and each of the several noisepieces are quite distinct—Pain Jerk's track is a rumbling, rhythmicassault in contrast to Masonna's brighter vocal and synth-drivenfreakout. The Otomo Yoshihide track, consisting only of high frequencyguitar feedback, is easily the toughest; he exploits the subtleinteraction of two tonally pure sustained notes, holding them foruncomfortable lengths of time. It's interesting and challenging but Iprefer his more dynamic work.
Other tracks range from minimalist-inspired rhythmic clicks, such asthe Nerve Net Noise, Atau Tanaka, and Ryoji Ikeda tracks, which allmanage to distinguish themselves with their detailed but disarminglysimple tonal palettes, to more abstract, juxtaposed medleys. MasahiroMiwa's contribution uses plaintive low-fi synths to establish tension;though the sounds are light and playful, the overall feel is heavy andworks well with his stated topic of youth violence in Japan. I likeI.d.'s supposedly "hacker"-inspired piece. Its discrete bundles ofstatic and waves of digital noise sound almost like information, and itslowly develops into something vaguely repetitive and structured.
The compilation also features a few notable older but forward-lookingpieces. Yasunao Tone's track is about contrasts: beauty and ugliness aswell as ancient and modern, combining gorgeous flute playing and anoisy synth that sounds like the creaking of a door. The music stopsperiodically for an NPR-type voice to read some semi-decent poetry;although the track is long and generally simple, it's still engagingand I love the flute playing.
The Kazuo Uehara composition, dating back to 1988, has the mostimpressive sounds on the disc. It begins with some quiet, indeterminateevents and some mumbled French with a cavernous echo, and the vocalsgrow increasingly processed and alien. Stunning woodwind-like dronesbuild towards an organ-like range and later into hauntingly serenehowling and whistling. The ground that this compilation covers, as awhole, is amazing, and it definitely reaffirms the brilliance ofJapanese musical innovation.

samples:

• Otomo Yoshihide - Composition For Two Guitars
• I.d. - Oo.>>..>>..Bt
• Masahiro Miwa - Alleleuia

02 July 2012

Administrator

Albums and Singles

Kranky
'Style Drift' couldn't be a more appropriate title for this,Fontanelle's long-awaited sophomore full-length, as the band don'tnecessarily shift their style but improve enough to make a noticeabledifference. Recorded again in their Magnetic Park studio, 'Drift' is areal step forward for the band, as their confidence improves and theirarrangements gain strength and weight. For improvisation-based music,it doesn't get any better than this, and Fontanelle are reaching anapex where their version will be instantly recognizable. As always, thedrumming is tight, the bass a propulsive mass, and the wah-wah guitartasty. The keys, different types, are more ingrained than before, andcreate a mood and feel all by themselves, often with layered effectsand computer gimmicry applied to them. The band has become tighter, asperfectly evidenced on the breaks in the title track. There's adefinite jazz vocabulary at work, too, that only serves to improve theproceedings. Overall, though, the spirit in Fontanelle is inmaniupulation. There are sounds on this record that are new for theband, as they reach out towards the outer limits. Imagine, if you will,that the Max Rebo Band fired Sy Snoodles and got a hold of a fewTortoise records and you wouldn't be far off. Fontanelle have alwaysbeen amazing musicians, but on this release they are in the pocketevery time, working together better than ever, and proving that thereis longevity and consistency in doing it all off the cuff.

samples:

• Just, Go, Crazy
• Scissure
• Style Drift

02 July 2012

Steve Smith

Albums and Singles

23five
This compilation, released to accompany an SFMOMA exhibit, collectseleven tracks from Australian experimental musicians. There's anexcellent sense of unity, as most of the compositions are aestheticallysimilar, at least superficially, in their emphasis on sparse,laptop-driven presentations. Some rely on organic instruments andothers on homebuilt electronics, but all of them find creative soundsand work really well, making this album quite consistent.
Worth mentioning are the extremely lucid liner notes by PhilipSamartzis and Csaba Toth, which provide a reductionist breakdown ofimprovised and noise music; it sheds some light on the undercurrents,although nothing on the compilation fits clearly into their categories.
Jim Knox provides the most noise, in the form of three short pieceswhich range from an eerie metallic drone to a harsh, radio-influencednoise collage. Most tracks on this disc have some incredible sounds andtechniques. Delire's track is a flowing medley of intermittent sci-fisounds occasionally riding on an electro rhythm that keeps fallingapart; then things get a bit nostalgic as he incorporates someobfuscated videogame-type tones into the mix, along with some crunchyphased static.
My favorite piece is David Brown's "Were Holes Mended?", a duet ofprepared guitar and squeaking door. The guitar cliches are in effect:the high gain power chords, the pick slides, and the Derek Baileyimitations; but it flows seamlessly, as the creaking door morphs intostrange horn-like tones and the processed guitar provides a dazzlingarray of counterpoint sounds (in what could be all the Powerbookcliches). Robbie Avenaim's "Impulse Control Disorder" also takes theDSP improv route, mixing high tones, beeps and FM bells, and thewhistle of steam with the clatter of thin, trash-can percussion. It hasa great sense of progression. Philip Samartzis' piece, "Soft And Loud,"is an exercise in interruption; a train approaches and then somefractured music starts, only to suddenly disappear leaving only thewind. This general idea is repeated several times, using environmental,mechanical, and digital sounds to represent these two extremes. Ireally like the "soft" parts of the track; there are some beautifulfield recordings and gentle buzzing drones, but it's only fitting thatthese moments of peace are transitory. 'Variable Resistance' hasintroduced me to some innovative new artists, and like its relative'Ju-Jikan,' is definitely a worthwhile collection.

samples:

• Robbie Avenaim - Impulse Control Disorder
• David Brown - Were Holes Mended?
• Jim Knox - Fuck To Mandatory Detention

01 July 2012

Administrator

Albums and Singles

On their third full length album, the duo of AJ Cookson and Matthew Rozeik that somehow managed to merge the disparate worlds of black metal and hard-edged electronic dance music have put together another brilliant combination of the two, sounding like no one else in the process, in the best possible way.

Distraction

If I had only heard the name of the band, I would have likely have written them off as yet another cliché black metal project with intentionally bad production and stupid garbled vocals.However, with a first album titled This Beat is Necrotronic, I was curious to hear more, and I am glad I did.That same defiance of expectations can be seen by the artwork alone:the "almost black on black" graphic design of so many metal albums is here, but rather than demons and blasphemy, there are pictures of astronauts.

There are of course moments where the duo sticks to more conventional metal territory:the digital guitar distortion and screamed vocals of "Led to the Water" and "Theme From Escape" are a bit more traditional, although the stiff drum machine rhythms and ambient synths do their part to mix up the archetype.Similarly, the distorted bass and pummeling riffs of "Arrows" keep things metal, but the synth textures and guest female vocals by Eliza Gregory are anything but the norm.

For me the best songs here are the ones that bounce between the two extremes."Imperial" begins with grimy guitar and a chintzy drum machine channeling "kvlt" metal before it throws itself into a synth heavy breakbeat collage, which is then broken up by guitar solos and bassy drone.It has the bleak heaviness of metal, catchy electronic rhythms, and memorable transitions to create a track that brilliantly sounds like no one (and nothing) else.

The aquatic bass thuds and filtered synths of "Endless Vertex" exemplify this as well.The slow, pounding heavy layers and heavily effected guitar are paired with lush keyboard passages to create this great juxtaposition of ugly and beauty.Even the heavily processed basement guitar drone of "Wretched Hag" is balanced out by electronics to create a bizarrely heavy take on ambient music.

The Colonial Script retains the joyful genre-bending of its predecessor Music of Bleak Origin, but adds an extra layer of polish and experience, feeling more focused and self-assured.As dark and as bleak as it may come across, there is a perverse sense of exploration and excitement to be found here, something that too many bands simply choose to ignore.

samples:

• Imperial
• Arrows
• Starbeast

 

01 July 2012

Administrator

Albums and Singles

An ambient side project from Dean Costello (Harpoon, Diatribes, Winters in Osaka), Cosmic Despair is a perfectly titled album: a long suite of guitar and organ bleakness, with just a hint of psychedelia to keep it different and unexpected.

Basses Frequences/Calls and Correspondence

"The Beginning" leads off with rich, funereal type organ drones that hit just that right level of creepy without becoming cliché, creating a distinctly dreary atmosphere.Guitars drop in noticeably, but do not upset the dark atmosphere that was already created.The result is chugging, resonating waves of indistinct noise that manage to be simultaneously dark and inviting."Abstraction" has a slightly more restrained dynamic, but a vintage-tinged, nostalgic hum and heavy waves of bass give it its own unique identity.

"Expanding Mental Universe" is where things begin to get spacey.Sci fi synth blurbs, slathered in reverb, pulse outward with understated drifting tones atop.Subtle variations on the same theme are the norm before overdriven bass and crunchy, earthy guitars come in to ground the otherwise cosmic vibe, with the two instruments eventually becoming equals in the mix.

Also channeling in the more celestial elements, "The Crossing" begins with shimmering electronic swells leading to an overall more restrained, pensive quality to it.While the electronics are a big piece of the equation, resonating guitar notes draw focus.Sparse, deliberate tones glide through the synthetic ambience.An almost hidden layer of percussion is there to be heard, pushed into the distance but panning around the entire track, giving a certain dynamic flow to it before ending on gloriously hallucinogenic organ tones.

Cosmic Despair does exactly what the title indicates, bringing in an astronomical take on dark, bleak atmospheres, but the use of identifiable guitars serve to keep things somewhat grounded.The bleakness is particularly well done, because it never slides into tired or overwrought territory.Like the best dark ambient, it knows exactly how dark to get before sliding into self-parody.

samples:

• The Beginning
• Expanding Mental Universe
• The Crossing

 

01 July 2012

Administrator

Albums and Singles

With a notable recent string of high profile collaborations with Aidan Baker and Yellow6, guitarist Eric Quach has been continually refining his abstract take on ambient drone, and on this four track solo cassette, his ability at generating unique, alien noises from the stalwart instrument is clearly on display, as is his skill for composition as well.

Land of Decay

The A side opener "Phantom Eye" immediately leads off with Quach's knack for shaping dissonance into beauty, with the shimmering, undulating guitar noise coming across as warm and engaging, rather than harsh and off-putting.Isolated, plucked guitar notes ring away as another layer of guitar eventually pushes things into louder territory with its driving, vacuum cleaner roar.Chugging, compressed riffs eventually supplant the spaciousness before the piece collapses onto itself into silence.

"Phantom Brain" keeps things sounding more like actual guitars, with the slow, melancholy notes reverberating away:a slow, bleak drift through almost completely blackened caverns.Stuttering, mid-ranged notes eventually shine through; all the while the track builds to a dark crescendo before retreating."Phantom Voltage" goes for a more electronic sound, with the heavily processed ebbs and flows of guitar noise acting as the foundation.On top, guitars that sound like synths soar, channeling a Vangelis-y vibe that leads into a soaring climax.

On the flip side of the tape is a single, sidelong track, "Phantom Pain," that pieces together the elements of the previous pieces into a single long-form work, with some new techniques.Opening slow, with heavily echoed and delayed guitar notes, there is more of a rhythmic throb that emerges, putting it in a different space than the other tracks’ largely textural sounds.Different layers of percussive rattles appear, with the slow addition of guitar sounds leading to a dramatic build in dynamics.About half way through it is almost as if the distortion on every track is cranked up, resulting in a dramatic, intense peak before the track goes back to a more ambient, though aggressive, territory.

TQA is often considered amongst the multitude of "guitar drone" projects, but like the best examples of that sub-genre, it is anything but repetitious or simplistic.Instead Phantom Limbs is a detailed and thorough meditation on a single instrument that does not become stagnant, but spends the perfect amount of time to develop and expand on a theme or sound.This is one of those works that really demand close attention to absorb all the nuance and complexity that lies within.

samples:

• Phantom Eye
• Phantom Voltage
• Phantom Pain

 

01 July 2012

Administrator

Albums and Singles

Whenever asked about reissuing his old material, the standard line from Robert Haigh has always been that because the original masters had been lost there was no chance of a reissue. So it came as a bit of a shock when Vinyl On Demand announced that they were releasing a box set of Haigh’s work as Sema this year. Although there is no unreleased material included, the scarcity of all this music means that there is nothing to complain about. This is complete collection of some of the best and criminally unheard music of the 1980s.

 

Vinyl-On-Demand

The lost masters have not mysteriously resurfaced, instead an almost forensic digital remastering of the material was performed using multiple copies of the original LPs, removing pressing errors and allowing the full detail of the music to remain. The result is a stunning reproduction of all the Sema albums but with the addition of bonus tracks to fully flesh out each album. They sound beautiful (though that is not hard compared to the MP3 rips I have had to make do with) and it is hard to tell that these had been mastered from other records. Granted there is a little muffling to some of the mid-range piano notes but it is slight and barely noticeable even when it does happen.

Beginning, naturally, with Notes from Underground, this box set offers me a chance to experience Haigh’s early works again as if they were brand new. While Haigh has always been a deft hand at the piano, his work as Sema incorporated a lot more than just ivory tinkling. Tape loops, synthesizer, and unusual percussion are as much a part of Sema as the instrument for which Haigh is now best known. "Song of Solomon" incorporates a steady but discordant synth drone into the sparse but elegant piano lines; the two elements coming together to create a strange new space within the music. The sound of wordless breathing at the end of the piece remind me that this is not some alien transmission but the work of a fellow human.

"Concrete and the Klee" wears its influences on its sleeve with Haigh combining found sounds, electronic tones and piano to form a strange, surreal landscape much like some of Paul Klee’s paintings where easily identifiable figures are incorporated into colorful, blocks of abstraction (incidentally, Sema was the name of an artistic union formed by Klee in the early 1910s). This link with an artist indebted to Cubism and Expressionism makes total sense when Haigh’s own style is so heavily inspired by analogous composers like Erik Satie and Claude Debussy. The addition of musique concrète into such a mix, along with the angular guitar (?) of "Air Cage" prevents these recordings from being mere throwbacks to a bygone era as Haigh brings such "easy" music into a new era.

The set continues with Theme from Hunger, a brooding work which saw Haigh push his piano playing away from the previously mentioned influences and take on more of a distinct style of his own. Using the piano to punctuate the tense electronics of the title track, he creates a fascinating piece which stands out even amongst the many great pieces included throughout Time Will Say Nothing. Seguing into "S.S. Minor Ghosts," the electronic hum becomes stronger and stranger and dramatic percussion widens the scope of the music further. Hints of John Cage can be detected on the second side of Theme from Hunger, especially on "Song of Praise," which sounds like a prepared piano piece being played on an unprepared piano (though I imagine most pianos are unprepared for Cage!).

The ominous subterranean bass and chanting at the start of "Extract from Rosa Silber" demonstrate another side to Haigh’s work as Sema. This falls more in line with some of Current 93 or Coil’s experiments with loops and atmosphere than the rest of the Sema material. Haigh’s arabesque piano motif acts as an anchor for the unsettling dirge, an unlikely pairing much the situations described in the previous LPs described above. The surprise guitar arpeggio that jumps out suddenly sounds like Mike Oldfield walked into the wrong recording studio, played a lick before realising his error and leaving. I can see how this disjointed and illogical approach to composition would appeal to Steven Stapleton and Extract from Rosa Silber definitely fits with Nurse With Wound’s Spiral Insana, which Haigh would later contribute to.

"Anatomy of Aphrodite" on side B of Extract from Rosa Silber continues this unpredictable style with some fantastic piano melodies, church bells and is-it-human-or-is-it-a-ghost vocalisations. The chopping and changing is much more frequent here compared to the title track; Haigh seems to have been having a great time with putting together this piece. Extract from Rosa Silber has been bulked out with three short pieces from various compilations also included (though they come outside the time frame indicated by the box set’s title). These pieces are more varied than the rest of the Sema collection with pretty much all bases covered by these pieces. "Untitled" from Three Minute Sympony lies somewhere between Haigh’s modern piano works and the murder scene from Psycho whereas "The Pleasure of the Text" from Devastate to Liberate is warbly, gossamer ambience that spreads out of the speakers like a vapour. The metallic percussion and piano "The Over Yellow" from Ohrensausen threatens to turn into an Omni Trio-esque groove, occupying some strange middle ground between Sema and Haigh’s later electronic dance music phase.

Co-credited to both Haigh and Sema, the final LP to use the Sema name finished off Time Will Say Nothing. Three Seasons Only is the point where Haigh left the experimentation and avant garde nature of Sema behind and embraced the piano as the dominant (and usually only) instrument in his music, saving the electronics for his later work as Omni Trio. "Empire of Signs" largely revolves around the keys of his piano but Haigh also employs gorgeous acoustic guitar and glockenspiel that sound so warm and happy compared to the cooler electronics and percussion of his earlier works (though this happiness is shattered by the stabbing strings used in "Untitled" described in the last paragraph).

The title track could have come off one of Haigh’s recent albums; the three movements recalling Satie’s Gymnopédies though Haigh’s work is livelier to say the least. "Two Feats of Klee" continues in this vein but is embellished with strings (or possibly bowed guitar, it is hard to say). It astonishes me how he seems to be able to just throw these fabulous piano works into the world like the rest of us make a cup of tea or coffee. The album (and indeed the box set) is capped off with the addition of "Found Improvisation" which was originally issued on the Best of Robert Haigh tape on United Dairies. By its nature it is looser and more harmonically adventurous than the other pieces on Three Seasons Only and I am not sure it really fits in with them but it is nice to have it included for completeness sake.

With such a brilliant job being done on Time Will Say Nothing, I can only hope that other Haigh projects get similar treatment. The Truth Club and Fote material is quite hard to find, as are the four records under Haigh’s own name from the late 1980s; to see these remastered and reissued in a similar way would be incredible though maybe not as incredible as these Sema LPs. Short of a box set of complete La Monte Young recordings, nothing would have amazed me more than Time Will Say Nothing!

 

01 July 2012

Administrator

Albums and Singles

I absolutely loved Jakobsons' last solo album (Darwinsbitch's Ore), but her many collaborative releases since then have varied quite a bit in both style and quality.  Recently, however, she has been on a definite hot streak, as both Myrmyr's Fire Star and the Espvall/Jakobsons/Szelag album were pretty amazing.  Glass Canyon does not quite keep that impressive momentum going, but there are enough flashes of inspiration to make it an intermittently satisfying effort nonetheless.

Students of Decay

In characteristic fashion, this album marks the beginning of yet another new direction for Marielle: prominent use of synthesizers.  Unfortunately, I cannot help but find that exasperating, as synths are very much in vogue these days and their ubiquity is definitely wearing on me.  I am not some sort of crazed Luddite or anything, but a considerable part of Jakobsons' appeal for me was due to her organic intensity in a field so rife with laptops, synths, and artificiality.  As a result, Glass Canyon is quite a bit less distinctive than most of Marielle's other efforts.  Also, some of the more aberrant pieces just seem jarringly out of place: "Dusty Trails" sounds like burbling, candy-colored neo-krautrock and "Crystal Orchard" resembles a Futurist Aaron Copland (not a compliment).  It is hard to comprehend how they wound up sharing an album with something as slow-burning and menacing as "Shale Hollows," which is probably the album's finest sustained piece.

Fortunately, several of the album's other dark pieces are quite good too.  In particular, I loved the moment in "Albite Breath" when the thick, quavering synths give way to a mournful violin coda.  It is probably among the most moving passages in Jakobsons' entire oeuvre, actually.  A few great songs do not quite salvage the album though–Glass Canyon is ultimately too uneven and too simple to burrow very deeply into my psyche.  Part of that may be by design, as Marielle deliberately set out to make a stripped-down album in order to focus on the textural contrast between violin and synthesizer, but I do not think that she allowed that impulse a sufficient gestation period: too many of these songs are lean on strong melody and place too much faith in the appeal of buzzing, throbbing, and oscillating.

Normally, I would describe this sort of album as "a transitional effort," but Marielle's whole career has essentially been one unending transition and it is entirely possible that her next release will bear no resemblance to this at all.  I suppose occasional misfires are an inevitable occupational hazard that comes with constant reinvention and restless evolution.Although I suspect much of my disappointment may be due to my unrealistically high expectations and my subjective bias against analog synth textures, I think I can safely say that this does not rank among Jakobsons' best work.  Existing fans will no doubt enjoy a few pieces, but the merely curious should go elsewhere.

Samples:

• Shale Hollows
• Albite Breath
• Cobalt Waters

 

01 July 2012

Administrator

Albums and Singles

The original idea of this project was to allow musicians from different scenes (but who shared common ideas) to work together. In this case, a development of two pre-existent duos.

Quite often musicians from different sonic languages can be seen being put together, trying to push the artists to develop unexpected works. Vainio, Drumm, Dörner and Capece have mainly strong points in common, that have been executed in different contexts. The music map is generally divided into categories that are determined by it's most evident and often banal elements; if it has beats or not, if it is quiet or loud, if it has raw material or a carefully worked aesthetic. These four musicians have been working using all the previous elements, but these elements did not determine the music, they were used at the service of deeper ideas related to time and perception. How the sound of our environment can become music, how can music be attractive without telling a story, the work of sound in it's extreme: noise, granular and delicate, digital, electronic, instrumental extended techniques, preparations. Kevin Drumm and Axel Dörner started working together in the late 90's as part of a trio with Paul Lovens, As a duo they released an influential album on Erstwhile Records. Vainio and Drumm met in 2005 in Australia, both as part of the touring festival What is Music?. Even if both musicians declared to have a great time touring in Australia, they did never played together. Drumm's and Vainio's music is often compared by critics. Capece has released a duo CD on L'Innomable label with Axel Dörner and a trio one with Dörner and tubist Robin Hayward on Azul Discográfica label from New York. Dörner and Capece worked in several projects together, including a residence with Keith Rowe working on "Treatise" by Cornelius Cardew. Mika Vainio and Lucio Capece have released together the album Trahnie- an album they worked for three years on, and also did several concerts as a duo.

In May 2008 the quartet made a 6 days residency and concert at Vooruit, in Gent, followed by a 5 concert European tour, that took them to Venice. In 2011 the group played at Konfrontationen Festival in Austria. In the meanwhile Capece and Vainio have been part of the Vladislav delay Quartet. Capece has played, and toured with Kevin Drumm in a trio with Radu Malfatti and Dörner has played with Drumm in a trio with Paul Lovens, at the Meteo festival, in France. The recording in Venice is a multitrack one. It was mixed by Capece with minimal edits, basically panning and volume adjustments.

The LP is mastered and cut by Rashad Becker at D&M, pressed on 140g vinyl and comes in a poly-lined inner sleeve. It is packaged in a pro-press color jacket which itself is housed in a silkscreened pvc sleeve with photos by Traianos Pakioufakis & artwork by Kathryn Politis & Bill Kouligas.

More information here.