Holbrooke, Joseph Trio - “Moat Recordings, The ” - [Tzadik]

1960’s British free music supergroup (Derek Bailey- guitar, Gavin Bryars- bass, Tony Oxley- percussion) reunited at Moat Studios, London, to pick up their improvised musical conversation after a hiatus of about three decades. Not much variation from track to track, but it’s a treat pretty much anywhere you drop in to sample the conversation. The volume level tends to be relatively low. Throughout these two CDs, I particularly enjoyed zeroing in on Oxley’s amazing array of percussion sounds. Running alongside is Bailey’s guitar, and his style of playing, heavy on sputtering picking and harmonics, reminds me how influential he was in free improvised music. This material was originally slated for release on a different label in 1999, but that plan fell through due to various unforeseen events. Tzadik stepped in to make sure it gets proper exposure in 2006.

Tender Buttons - “S/T ” - [Pacific-Rock/Deathbomb Ac]

A puzzling EP from this Kill Me Tomorrow side project, with a sort of post-apocalyptic, future shock feel. Track 1 is aggressive and full of whooshing electro beats, dirty distorto vocals, finger pointing, and accusations. Track 2 is a quiet, spooky cover of Van Halen’s “Jump”, containing what may be a nod to the “X-Files” theme music (?). Track 3 is a noisy Xiu Xiu remix of the first track that barely even sounds like the same song. And talk about puzzling: just when you think you have a handle on Track 3, it goes silent for a few seconds and then returns as a bedroom-sounding recording of a moody piano instrumental. WTF? It’s all very KFJC in other words. Not exactly easy listening, but certainly there are rewards for the adventurous listener.

Bischoff, John - “Aperture ” - [23FIVE Inc.]

This respected computer music pioneer is closely associated with the Center For Contemporary Music at Mills College. Here he performs seven pieces of his recent work in real time, without overdubbing. Tracks range from 4 to 10 minutes in length; some are quite active, others more toward the ambient end of the scale. A few brief descriptions: #1 uses a single piano chord, repeated, to trigger electronic events, including a computer activated bell. #5 has something that sounds like a strangely-processed human voice. #6 reworks Kenneth Atchley’s amplified water sounds. The 23five organization continues to bring us intriguing sound works.

Vladimir Ussachevsky “Film Works” [New World Records] (CD)

Ussachevsky, Vladimir “Film Music” “New World Recordings”
Vladimir Ussachevsky was a pioneer of electronic music composition and an early developer of “tape music”- a synthesis of French musique-concrete and German electronics. This collection features 2 film scores.

In No Exit he uses three sound sources- electronic, vocal and concrete: ominous, slicing electronics, manipulated screams, children talking, men laughing- silenced by rifle fire.

In Line of Apogee he uses more environmental sources- wind, footsteps, animal sounds along with chanting, piano and glock(enspiel) all electronically modulated.

Nam June Paik “Works 1958-1979″ [Sub Rosa] (CD)

Paik, Nam June- Works 1958-1979 (Sub Rosa)
Nam June Paik was a student of Cage and Stockhausen and it shows. Using prepared piano his performances were not only experimental in sound, but at time dangerous for the performer and audience- eviscerated pianos that he threw himself into, grabbing wickedly long scissors and leaping into the front row where he proceeded to cut and slash away Cages suit jacket while Stockhausen edged nervously away…

Trk 1- Prepared Piano is a live recording of his performance on and IN the piano. 28′33
Trk 2- Hommage a John Cage is a hand spliced sound collage 4′10
Trk 3- Simple is a hand spliced sound collage 0′21
Trk 4- Duett Paik/Takis is a collaboration with Paik on piano and voice and Takis on metal sculpture 25′46
Trk 5- Etude for Pianoforte is a hand spliced sound collage 2′49

Vainio, Mika “Metri” [Sahko Recordings]

Exceedingly repetitious nocturnal ambient techno minimalism from Finland. - is Mika Vainio’s experimental solo project, operating in a slightly different stratosphere than his ongoing IDM offerings with Pan Sonic. I suppose this classifies as
lo-fi IDM but the emphasis orbits more around pleasantly simplistic microscopic sounds & minimal electronica. Layered samples & programming are totally absent. It’s essentially house without the hardcore. Not exactly club or rave material, but it’s still exemplary in its rhythmic nuances and slight sound shifts. This is very nice stuff to trip you out, not trip you up.

Crime Desire - “We Hate All Life ” - [Life’s a Rape Vinyls]

Solid So-Cal hardcore punk with extremely agitated high-pitched vocals. Songs about depression, gender confusion, drugs, our obsession with our looks, and, yes, some crime desire, like wanting to kill people and stuff. Tracks all run together, except the final track, which stands alone. I enjoyed the short hard fast rush this record provides.

Machinist, The - “Machinist, The ” - [Mellowdrama Records]

So you know when you like something so much that you can’t
be trusted? That’s how I am about this film, and moreso about
the tremendous score by ROQUE BANOS. His music steals the show,
with theremin cobwebbing down beneath tiptoe harp steps…down
to the basement of your consciousness. Down there a trace of
BERNARD HERRMANN’s stem cells are growing on long violin bows.
Check out the stretching question marks of the main theme as
heard on “Nikkolash’s Game” amongst others, hair-raisingly
beautiful. The motif sort of ebbs and flows till it vanishes.
Little xylophone drops of color get dropped into some passages,
but overall the weather is bleak and grey. Again the theremin
is used to paranoid perfection, this soundtrack is smeared
with it. As stark as the results are, the soundtrack really
works a varied palette, the results are as thin and effective
as Christian Bale yet as gorgeous as Aitana Sanchez.
Don’t sleep on this one. Trust me?!?

-Thurston Hunger

Archie Bronson Outfit - “Derdang Derdang ” - [Domino Recording Co Ltd]

Can a band have catchy drums? The Archie Bronson Outfit
does, even if they don’t number an Archie or a Bronson
among them. An interesting nomme-du-band, tending more
towards Riverdale than “Death Wish” perhaps? The yelp of
Sam Windett has a nice plummet, if not Fall, to it. We
get his impassioned vocals, good chunky guitar, and again
them catchy drums…all working to keep things pretty
well amped up for this London three-piece. An unplugged
electrile dysfunction leaves the album hanging on a
limper whimper rather than a roar. Yeah, I know it’ll
be your favorite track. Anyways lyrics work a pretty
well-fenced pop mythos, ten tears here and there, cue the
fog, lotta lovelorn anguish, lips, fingers, fur (recalling
an earlier release). With a title of “Derdang Derdang”
repetition is no stranger stranger to these London lads.
Even if their limited lexicon is as easy as ABO, the depth
of whatever chased Windett’s caterwauling up a tree comes
across as sincere to me. That, and the kind of rumbling
hootenany of the chunes help this album pass gasp!

-Thurston Hunger

True Primes - “We Have Won - EP ” - [Self Release]

Two piece/no peace wail over death march drums. Possibly the
two, Che Chen and Rolyn Hu, both sit at said drums while
manipulating other guitars, gizmos and gremlins. The sound
has the ramshackle charm of say the Dirty Three, the march
is led by an worn-out ol’ mare whose nostrils still flare.
Rolyn’s voice rollin’ along in the saddle, slow and lopey.
Che offers his nasal twang and some hollerin’ as well. When
little bursts of noise drift by (embodied by an overdriven
effect, a rampant drum machine rumble) they are like little
tumbleweeds on the soundscape here. Songs often get cut off
at the pass by these choppy interventions. Vox don’t quite win
the talent show, but that plus a nice playful approach to
effects makes them more memorable. It almost seems like Rolyn
is holding her larynx horses in the barn willfully. “In The
Surf” works very well, and washes away the Western analogies,
Rolyn huffing, and puffing, and screeching away…Che adding
some grimace and grit. Decidedly lo-fi through-out, but when
they hint at a poppishness, they portend their next surprise.
Evidently headed to Locust Music, where likely their balance
of order/disorder will be even further embellished and the
narco-psych formula refined. As this EP states, True Primes
have already won, count on it!
-Thurston Hunger

By-Products of America - “Maybe Use My Knife ” - [Shake It Records]

Agitated art punk from Cincinatti jerked circa the 80’s.
There was a style of strained singing then, let’s call them
elongated clown vocals, they sound so detatched and deranged.
Vocals meant to annoy, every bit as much the lyrics spat out
were equally annoyed with mundane, glossy fare one would find
in the day’s pop pulp. Guitar work is dorky but determined,
quirky single-note lines with occasional Gang of Four pick-up
clang and banging. Plenty of whammy bar, and weird slippery
sliding on the frets as well. Striving towards authentic
sloppiness, or maybe just wrestling with instruments. The
drive to be in a band would overcome technical inabilities,
or maybe would be spurred on by them. At times, the spastic
sound almost has a kind of awkward Beefheart urgency, but I
think is just what came out of their fingers and they made
the most of it. Pretty vital 20+ years down the road. KFJC
has the first 10 tracks on our copy of “Moving and Storage”
not sure why “Sickness” and “Now Voyager” were yanked from
this, but plenty of other additional angulangst, including
a Harry Nilsson cover “Jump into the Fire” and good gunning
fun on “Shot (in the dark).” Check out the careeeeeening
sound of “Piss on the Flag” and salute this band, although
don’t buy into the acronymic make-over and hail them not as
BPA but properly as By-Products of America! Mmmmm, by-products…
-Thurston Hunger

Partch, Harry - “Bewitched, The ” - [New World Records]

In what may be his defining work, the prodigal son of American music, Harry Partch, deeply examined the interactions of music, dance, and theater, in the context of both society and individuals. In a time when American arts were completing their sgregation into isolated component forms, Partch looked back in time and saw the integrated whole from whence they had come, and mourned the loss of gestalt. “The Bewitched” is the dance/play/opera/musical production that both celebrates the potential of iintegrated arts and realizes it. By itself, the soundtrack still retains much of its power, since it is rooted in deep conviction. The sound is unmistakably Partchian, as almost all instruments are of the composer’s design. Most tracks are in the 4-6 minute range, and are musically self contained. The tempo is lively enough to make this appropriate for almost any show. As with all things Partch, I am inspired to contemplate the limitations of my ability to appreciate it, and in so doing, begin to break them down. Play, and be enlightened!

-LouN

Smith, Barton “Reelizations One & Two: The Sound of Barton Smith” [Em]

The enigmatic Barton Smith Reelizes superb talent on this super essential two disc Japanese re-issue of Reelizations One (1980) and Two (1982) originally released on Folkways. Beautiful, dazzling & equally puzzling electro acoustic home recordings composed during the 1970’s. Minimal music concrete, haunted abstract audio & invasive electronic sounds were also created using guitar, tape loop magic, synthesizers, keyboards, and imaginative self-made instruments. Smith works through several moods on Reelizations each producing very different results. He likes simple serene sound structures but also strolls through shadowy & seemingly unsteady sonic pathways. His diverse and somewhat incongruous experimental compositions were devised for dance groups with various backgrounds including ballet. Develop new consciousness and enjoy these peaceful & intense juxtapositions on tha Reel.

Korea Soundblaster “s/t” [Dom Elchklang]

Korea Soundblaster is not only a killer name but an explosively concise description of this noisy space rockin’ psych femme Korean trio. These girls are trippin’ out? straight up & out like a rocket. Sounds like a harrier jet on overload, or a shuttle that lodged its landing gear in the hull of an alien aircraft. Moans & shrieks mesh over metal riffs, ascending & descending Theremin-styled pitch shifts, quirky electronic blips, and thunky drum machinesque pounding. Seems like a massive experiment to breach the sound barrier or maybe just reinvent it. All pieces track together for an impressive synthesized symphony, er? cacophony. It’s noisy but not simply noise. Exemplary extreme sound blasting ingenuity & improvisation that’s distinct and definitely on par with Japanese psych / noise circles. Achim P. Li Khan (a.k.a. Hirsche Nicht Aus Sofa / H.N.A.S. / Moose Without A Sofa) also lends production & various sound savvy to this project.

Menche, Daniel “Scattered Remains: Early Rarities” [Soleilmoon] CDx2

These are works that Mr. Menche submitted over the years to various labels for release on compilations. He compares these tracks to his full-length albums as ’short stories vs. long books, small paintings vs. large paintings.’ His technique is sound sculpture: producing tangible noises! Compared to other releases, these are very harsh tracks. No computers used here, so it is all very organic, primal, and invigorating? very bright, loud, and clear, like sitting in the middle of cleansing fire.
-anjl

Walker, Scott “The Drift” [4AD] (33 RPM)

The Drift ushers in a tremendous double LP release from the legendary Scott Walker (a.k.a. Noel Scott Engel). Originally fronting 60’s pop sensation The Walker Brothers, he eventually went solo, retaining popularity for his first three outings before dropping into darker musical obscurity. These are his latest original creations and most recent solo recorded material since 1995’s Tilt. Walker’s trembling disturbed vocal mannerisms assume Elvis Presley, Jim Morrison, Roy Orbison, and Nick Cave characteristics as he divulges morbidly dark & deranged lyrics. Unsettling complementary tension building rhythms and harrowing melody structures slip through the experimental and improvised post-music circuits. Its pounding reverberations and twisted transformations are like some tortured interpretive cinematic Cirque du Soleil performance for the eternally damned. I can’t help but listen aghast & awestruck. A subtle sense of panic starts swelling in my gut as I imagine what suspenseful drifting currents lay floating behind Walker’s blood stained velvet curtain prior his nerve wracking shock tactics. I think he even pulls off a demonic Donald Duck impersonation straight from the Day of Doom. These are the sort of surreal theatric sounds you might experience in a David Lynch film and his disturbed macabre musings are still nesting & picking like pitch black crimson eyed vultures in my unstable psyche. LANGUAGE: Side C - 6

Von Hausswolff, C.M. “Operations of Spirit Communication” [Die Stadt] (33 RPM)

Carl Michael von Hausswolff is vitally important to Stockholm, Sweden’s stunning visual art, minimal sound art & electronic music culture. Initially, his efforts entailed electronic music composition with Oscid. Here he relays operative spirit communications channeled through machines & tape recorders using constant drone oscillation, subtle feedback fluctuation, minimal electronic variants, and extremely faint feed interruptions of sparse netherworld voices & static white noise. It’s a cadaverous companion to the Ghost Orchid’s introduction to Electronic Voice Phenomenon (EVP) recorded by Raymond Cass. Not surprising since fellow music collaborator Leif Elggren has contributed to both Von Hausswolff’s and Cass’s phantom projects. Could incorporeal entities actually make contact through radio transmitter and recording technology? That’s debatable but the concept is fascinating. Von Hausswolff was so taken by that notion he dedicated this and several other LP’s to exploring the phenomenon and developed deemphasized & droning electrical communication methods believed to summon & capture spirit dialogue. These aren’t exactly frightful concrete sounds. Its elongated presentation hovers in somewhat of a lull, but exercise patience and your curiosity will see you through to the other side.

I Burn “Ipertermia” [Stateart” (33 RPM)

Released in 1998 and limited to 500 copies, Gabriele Santamaria and Maurizio Landini (a.k.a. I Burn) utilize sound sample treatments and digital technology as the flesh out pounding dark ambient scratchiness from Italy. It’s minimal yet builds briefly into mildly distorted echoing ear rash-ionality. Circulating glass bowl resonance increases audible parameters before fading out slowly. Sound layers never breach the barrier, but they don’t have too. They expand & retract in oscillating repetition with an indecipherable dark aura. Just when it seems such excellent sci-fi experimentation can go no further, exquisite industrial dance rhythms pervade momentarily. Very impressive & entrancing burning sensations. Check out their other works as Biped, H.P.P. and Typhoid.

Chariots “Congratulations” [Troubleman Unlimited] (33 RPM)

Infuriated indie noise rock with art punk-ish agitated emo screams and distraught dance demanding rhythms akin to previous Oakland outfit, Songs of Zarathustra. Rippin’ bass lines & angular guitars devastate, distress, and are damn good. Theatric organ grinder keys and electronic effects whip those horses into overdrive, sending Chariots careening at a dangerous break neck pace around the harrowing hippodrome. It’s spazzy, hard edged, thrashy, get-yer-ass-movin’ post-rock n? roll plain & simple. Not sure if they’re still using both live drumming AND a drum machine but its pretty apocalicious any way you slice it. Aggressive & unforgiving as hell? Perfecto!

De Dionyso, Arrington “Breath of Fire” [K]

Semi-cultured dry-heaving barnyard animals discover Tuvaan bleating & squealing beneath a moonlit sky. The funny farm gets a little kooky when Yeoman Arrington De Dionyso picks up the vibrations, lays down that Old Time Relijun next to his pitchfork, and mystically mimics the throaty improvised moo mantras with a rusty key-clapping bass clarinet and the occasional touch of jazz. Massive mammal heads raise & ears perk to pinpoint the luring livestock sound. But that clever Arrington still hides in the hayloft and let’s loose with an old copper kettle, some tattered newspaper, and a Siberian khomuz jaw harp, smirking as the bewildered beasts curiously call out to their playful prankster. The surreal session extends well into the early morn just as the cock crows and the stars begin to twinkle & fade. ‘Until the eve then you divine bovine,? whispers Arrington.