e a r p e a c e : audio reviews

andreas berthling & kim cascone
blectum from blechdom
christina carter
eugene chadbourne
nels cline
cyclo
axel dörner - kevin drumm
kevin drumm
fennesz
hazard/fennesz/biosphere
tomas jirku
christian marclay/otomo yoshihide
stephan mathieu
needle & io/needle, jeswa, & otto von schirach
bhob rainey/kevin drumm
triangles
us maple
lorette velvette
vote robot
neil young
(various artists) all the paths lead nowhere
(various artists) rkk 13 cd
(various artists) songs in the key of z

• andreas berthling & kim cascone rust & blue dawn 3" cd (anechoic)
  
  interesting little audio artifact, in the form of a squarish 3-inch cd, containing interactions between well-regarded electronic composers, one euro (swedish), one american. well inside the vein of the "noises" i often concern myself with, these days, sounds of indeterminate origin, likely computer-processed, nary a drum-beat in sight. attentive listens will detect rhythms consisting of other sounds, inattentive involvement finds the listener moving into a meditative place of curiousity and contemplation. for more info on mr. kim cascone, visit anechoicmedia.com. his writings and support for other artists, thru his label, are a strong presence in the "microsound" community. andreas berthling has releases on boxmedia, microwave, staalplaat & fallt, and a web presence at berthling.cjb.net.
  
  
• blectum from blechdom the messy jesse fiesta cd (deluxe)
  
  androgynous san francisco duo of kevin & blevin blectum, doing a mutated, stranger, noisier, yet no-less-humorous take-off from chicks on speed terrain. that comparison does not do them justice. odd, disturbing sounds with beats and techno elements. drill-and-bass, warped samples, undefinable synthetic sounds abound. they have constructed an irreverently elaborate self-mythology, which can be seen on their web site, blectum.com (unfortunately not accessible as of this writing), consisting of cartoon characters such as the snaus. samples available here. unique, enjoyable and recommended.
  
  
• christina carter l'etoile de mer   music to the film by man ray cassette (freedom from)
  
  unfortunately, i do not have the man ray film on hand, so i can only review the music by itself. christina carter is known for her work in charalambides, a texas kind of ethereal psychedelic group, reminiscent of say, windy & carl (in a way). the first side (2 performances, recorded live) consists of sparse acoustic-sounding finger-picked guitar meditations, solemn single string repetitions of minimal patterns moving into chordal ambience. is that the light application of tremelo bar i hear? maybe it is a nice hollow-bodied electric, after all. brings john fahey to mind (that is a very good thing). on side 2, titled "seven songs", she sings wordlessly and unaccompanied, setting a mood of long shadows and longer haunted looks.
  i did find the film online, at the getty art collections site, so in case you pick up this tape, you too can watch christina's soundtrack with visuals.
  
  
• eugene chadbourne horror part three   x the man with the x-ray eyes cdr (house of chadula)
  
  i love to buy these things from the mad dr. chadbourne at his shows. this one i got at the magic stick show back in april in detroit. it came in a sock, or at least part of one, with a not-quite-clamshell case, with the cdr inside. the insert was accompanied by a nice piece of origami (one of the chadbourne daughters' work?). it proudly proclaims that this was made using material taken from any demo tape that eugene had been given. i hear some banjo, sweet and manic guitar breakage over a bed of audio roughage. "it's okay because dr. xavier must see the whole musical universe". hmmm...this has become one of my favorite ec releases due to the sheer chaotic underpinning combined with definitive guitar and banjo havoc.
  
  
• nels cline destroy all nels cline cd (atavistic)
  
  destroy all nels cline is actually the name of the band. nels cline here leads a predominately multi-guitar group thru investigations of the "catharsis" possibilities posed by this combination of personel (including woodward lee aplanalp, carla bozulich, alex cline, bob mair & g.e. stinson, with guests zeena parkins & wayne peet). i detect very little fusion-type ego moves here, instead a sense of movement thru a set of compositions which allow room for expressive instrumental applications using noise along with dynamics, melody & "chops". a very complex and exciting work, which i fully expect to continue trying to get my ears around for a good long time.
  
  credit is due to nels cline for the reach of the various projects he has cooking, including the latest, the nels cline singers. his web site, www.nelscline.com, gives a good amount of info on how well his work is going.
  
  
• cyclo cyclo cd (touch/raster-noton)
  
  collaboration of ryoji ikeda and carsten nicolai, first heard on the raster-noton new forms compilation. comes in a weird package with an ejecting mechanism for the cd inside a plastic casing. the sounds are very rhythmic, heavily "glitch" oriented...lots of popping, feedback-y things making you fret for the welfare of your speakers. very well put together. an interesting variation on ikeda's solo work, which has distilled electronic sound elements into pure elements of sine-oriented sound. the naked sounds are still there, but they are arranged to provide crypto-beats. suitable for club play? keeps finding its way back into the player here with frequency.
  
  
• bhob rainey/kevin drumm 6 standing desert/hasn't (1-5) split 12" (fringes)
  
• kevin drumm bara en samling ljud/ännu en samling ljud cassette (freedom from)
  
• axel dörner - kevin drumm axel dörner - kevin drumm cd (erstwhile)
  
  well, it's raining kevin drumm-related recordings here at earpeace world hq. first up is the split 12" on italy's fringes label. it actually predates the boxmedia split 12" (drumm/pita reviewed last issue), and it fits nicely onto the other side of a tape for noisy rides in my cadavalier. rainey's side features breath effects and sustained saxophone tones given lots of space (to breathe?). maybe this foreshadows the collaborative work with horn player axel dörner. drumm's side kicks in with minimal clicks and ringing, sounding more likely than not laptop manipulated. his sense of when to change the sound and go off in a different direction keeps it interesting. dynamics build and then are released with skill, or intuition. brings to mind weather sounds, don't ask me why, that is just the impression that comes to mind, perhaps due to the organic quality to the compositions/improvisations.
  
  next up is the freedom from c-54 (the titles translate from swedish as "just an accumulating noise" & "still an accumulating noise"). one side starts with more tabletop guitar scrapery, a la his first cd kevin drumm (see review) on perdition plastics. there are progressively more layers, with laptop-processing, additional guitars, percussion joining in to create an ensemble effect. this recording appears to have a looser feel to it, as in less polished, which i enjoy. it is like getting a glimpse into some of the sources of the other work. definitely identifiable sound sources creep in. this recording is more aggressive. in its use of mangled rock?/jazz?-esque elements, it reminds me of brice-glace (jim o'rourke's "rock band" project which drumm participated in) and a rougher triangles...more on that later. the other side picks up with a very noisy (laptop?) section. very distorted, pummeling, falling, breaking up, changing sounds. this piece goes on for 15-20 minutes or so, then there are several minutes of tape hiss (?) and an odd little quieter processed composition wraps things up. i really do appreciate this guy's touch with (what i call) abstract music.
  
  the axel dörner-kevin drumm collaboration is a much more formal sounding affair. dörner has been touted as a breakthru player, who takes the trumpet outside of limits of expected sound. this record is pretty quiet, for the most part...does get louder once or twice. slowly changing hard-to-identify sounds permeating the atmosphere, creating an impression of distance. lots of separation between events. there is an effective sympathy between these 2 players, they compliment each other well. i found this record to be rather sedate after hearing the "samling ljud" tape.
  
  
• fennesz endless summer cd (mego)
  
  a very interesting release. the (primarily guitar) sources of fennesz' work are more apparent here, with some chord progressions and loops surfacing. the powerbook treatments are still present, they just seem less dominant than on earlier releases like plus 47 degrees or hotel paral.lel. this trend was foreshadowed on his single release, plays, which presented significantly reconfigured "versions" of "paint it black & don't talk (put your head on my shoulder) - don't expect to be able to hum along with, or even find any recognizeable remains of the 60s songs. i have noted that there is a very odd edit at about 5 minutes on the second piece, "endless summer", that always makes me jump, like it is a mistake or defect. the overall feeling is languid, as if trying to convey relaxation. which oddly enuff, seems to have bugged some of his fans. my opinion is that this melodic dvelopment sustains interest. this cd is challenging in the construction of the sound palette, yet there are avenues left open for critical enjoyment of the textures. it is hard to believe that anyone could listen closely to this and find it too accessible. there are effective treatments of the sources, resulting in altered electronic features. i like this, and find it has a lot in common in approach with the triangles cd.
  
  
• hazard/fennesz/biosphere light cd (touch)
  
  relatively brief, at 30-odd minutes, this release was issued to promote a tour by these touch label-related artists. christian fennesz, i am familiar with (see review of his new solo release endless summer), and his piece is a precursor to the relaxed sound of his latest work. hazard and biosphere are new to me, tho both have multiple releases available on touch. the hazard piece, "meteosat" begins as a drone, with various undefined event elements developing in an abstract, chiming manner. biosphere's two pieces are more rhythmic, with recognizable sounds sources including drum machine, voice samples and keyboards textures.
  
  the question that has to be asked at this point in time tho, with all of the samplers & compilations trying to follow-up on last year's successful clicks & cuts, is what would make this one stand out? i think it would best serve as a souvenir of the tour- for the rest of us who missed it, it will just be filed away, a victim of the glut.
  
  
• tomas jirku immaterial cd (substractif)
  
  this cd starts out with a rather mundane beats and backing set. eventually it wends its way around to some(what) more interesting developments, but only for a few seconds, by which time i was no longer paying attention. lots of heavy reverb, making things sound like traffic, cars and airplanes. this guy really loves his reverb (did i say that already?). sub(s)tract(if) points for annoying timbres in the effects. the parts are there, i just don't really care for how they are put together...all too predictable. nothing happening. field recordings of rain? (yawn).
  
  
• christian marclay/otomo yoshihide moving parts cd (asphodel)
  
  collision/collaboration by two of the major figures in turntablism. christian marclay has been pioneering the use of damaged/reconstructed/altered vinyl in his audio collage work since the seventies. otomo yoshihide led the experimental group ground zero, before recently turning more towards sine tone experimentalism. i am particularly fond of his newer combo i.s.o.. hearing these two work together is fitting. there are a lot of things happening here, very rapidly. a passage of demi-recognizable orchestral recording emerges, only to be impacted by a completely different sound, quickly moving into something completely different. there are very harsh, "industrial" parts, and also sections that could be a jazz combo. so much going on, it is overwhelming. watch out for the "hidden track" at the end of cd, after 10 minutes or so of silence. anyone who has any interest in making "art" with vinyl and turntables owes it to themselves to investigate these two.
  
  a couple of years ago, i was at a student show at cranbrook, where i discovered one of the students had "discovered" the idea of breaking lps and taping them back together, then playing the result as his piece. i had to find the guy and ask him, "have you ever heard of christian marclay?" of course, he hadn't...how sad...perhaps by visiting the history of similar work (such as this cd), he might have pursued the ideas further and contributed something that hadn't been done 25 years before.
  
  
• stephan mathieu wurmloch variationen cd (ritornell)
  
  this cd ended up on quite a few top ten lists for 2000 within the .microsound community. the premise is, a recording of a piano piece was done, then the variations were derived by application of various processing techniques. the cd was sequenced so that the variations preceed the original source recording, which is placed last. the resulting sounds define signal entropy. you might hear similar transmissions thru broadcast interference. there are swells of backwards piano and rising and falling patterns of statics, hisses, pops & clicks. reminds me of storm weather sounds. something to think about, but i am not sure that i find it as inspiring as some.
  
  
• needle & io the cabinet of dr. caligari
  needle, jeswa, & otto von schirach nosferatu: symphony of horror 2cd (elegua)
  
  "'from the electronic music & the moving image' series conceived by needle." the elegua records web site has a link to a real player version of the films, so i did get to try to watch these as the soundtracks. i say try because the times don't line up, not to mention buffering time (even with a cable modem). needle is connected with the beta bogeda coalition, a politically active group sure to be described as "left" by people i don't agree with. the very interesting packaging initially caught my eye. very much electronic, abstract, pure tone elements, with some very interesting movements. may consist of heavily-processed sequenced & synthesized sounds, tho i can't tell, which forces one to deal with the sounds as themselves, rather than as results of source manipulations. well-recorded, with great low bass tones. the ideas flow well, developing into different themes. i did think that the "caligari" soundtrack was the stronger of the two.
  
  
• triangles triangles cd (drag city)
  
  ah, the mysterious triangles. artwork credited to kevin drumm and leif elggren. jim o'rourke responded to my inquiring email about the identities of the folks behind triangles by saying "i have no idea who the triangles are, i just send their copies to a p.o. box.". the forced exposure site alludes to "the sole person in america who can do anything well at all on them silicon bastards, wink wink!" (possibly referring to kevin drumm's abilities with a powerbook?). the fe listing does not refer to drumm at all, instead calling him triangles. the jim o'rourke discography had listed this as a forthcoming kevin drumm solo cd for months, and now reads "triangles is kevin drumm, and possibly a second person?". c.s. yeh, who keeps up a pretty good drumm discography, that "kevin told me he was involved definitely, but that it wasn't 'his' record".
  
  the best guess i can come up with is that drumm is substantially involved in this, but prefers to deny it. perhaps seeking to avoid overexposure, or maybe looking for some other kind of anonymity in this artistic guise. his front cover drawing shows two guys, so perhaps this is a collaboration between he & leif elggren. elgrenn does have an extensive conceptual art background & has released some experimental audio work, sometimes moving in the same circles as drumm, tho i have not found any reference to any collaborative works between them.
  
  this cd has sounds in common with the drumm's ännu en samling ljud tape. identity questions aside, this is a very fine set of music. like fennesz' endless summer, it combines recognizable instrumental components with electronic treatments, tho in an edgier fashion. guitars, organ, pzm microphones, laptop are combined into a successful work of substance and charm, fulfilling a need for mood electronics. a definite front-runner.
  
  
• us maple acre thrills cd (drag city)
  
  very honest stuff from this beefheart meets no-wave dna guitars combo. the interplay of the people in this band is difficult & inspiring. like people truly are, y'know? recently had the opportunity to watch these guys in action in a2 and was impressed with how they related to each other physically and otherwise. another in a series of their recordings that demands and rewards extrospective listening. nice technique of adding the bass string to one of the guitars. i get the feeling that a lot of consideration is given to how each set is going to be approached. count-ins, incidental and other recording sounds are left in. the guitar interplay is a boon for this longtime guit-art maven, each player playing very much differentiated parts. not to neglect the percussion and vox, cuz they just so belong, unique & twisty and custom wound into the songs. the artwork is also something to sink your wisdom teeth into. there is a booklet of lyrics, recording notes, which is way more than they have ever revealed before. i recommend you track down all of this band's work, if you have half a mind to. you know who you are.
  
  
• lorette velvette rude angel cd (okra-tone)
  
  beautiful collection of previously released materials from this memphis iconoclast who i discovered thru robert gordon's it came from memphis cd & book. makes me think of what i have always loved about 'rok' muzik, but i am not sure that any majority would share that sensibility, cus it is too soulful, unpolished, anathemic to the corporate sensibilities we have come to enjoin to rock music. sweetly sour & fuzzy guitars, synths, wobbly drums, emotive singing prevail, tho she mixes up the mood well with varied settings for the songs, which incorporate elements of blues, folk & country. there is a vibe of edginess that i find comforting and somehow that it rings true, as the world is a creepy place. fans of alex chilton and tav falco's better work probably already know who she is, but if you are a fan of "american music," and you are intrigued by the idea of a trip thru the wrong side of memphis, slide in next to lorette velvette.
  
  
• vote robot in meorm na cd (scratch)
  
  canada's vote robot's in meorm na strikes me as a polar opposite to the tomas jirku cd (reviewed above). whatever sound sources they are using, they are arranged in thoughtfully divergent ways. smallish, subtle events, separated by an excellent use of space & silence, catch your attention in clever ways. i am impressed by the range of these pieces. noise is applied with a very musical sensibility. thumbs up.
  
  
• neil young road rocks vol. 1 cd (reprise)
  
  as it says on the cover, neil's "friends & relatives" come along for this gentle, tho electric ride thru the neil young songbook. like some of his recent live excursions (see unplugged or year of the horse), i am left asking, "why?". there is nothing essential here, and it reeks of marketing. tho who cares about chrissie hynde anymore? the live version of "all along the watchtower" is nice, but nowhere near as good as the one on the bob dylan special. i also liked hearing "walk on", from the underrated on the beach lp, but this is just more extraneous live product. mellow product, to boot. there is also a similarly-titled dvd (video) out there on the market, but i haven't heard much of a resultant buzz.
  
  the buzz continues to be the forthcoming 4cd 88-song buffalo springfield set, with lots of unheard tracks (a la the beatles anthology). after all of that retro activity, maybe neil can get down to making something more difficult and interesting again.
  
  
• (various artists) all the paths lead nowhere: galactic zoo dossier compilation #5 cd (galactic zoo dossier)
  
  this cd sampler came "free" with the $15 issue of the hand-drawn 'zine galactic zoo dossier #5. the coolest thing about the 'zine is the set of "damaged guitar gods" trading cards, but i have only gotten eyestrain and saddened recollections of my years of chronic intoxication from the "articles." every musician was the "most-greatest-best-ofalltime" and it just kinda wore out the impact of that kind of adulation. for me, at least.
  
  ok, on to the cd. a real pot-luck here (heh heh heh...uh), unknown obscuros unearthed & "big" names from daze gone by interspersed with 90's neo-psych rockers, all of whom turn in messy efforts of minimal development, maximum overkill and familiar guitar/levitating keyboards/indistinguishable vox freakouts. musica transonic, bevis frond, michael karoli (can), & bardo pond are among the perpetrators here. the fidelity is, of course, low. i keep listening, hoping for a surprise. sleddog did turn in an attractive little underdeveloped piece. this was followed by drekka's more ambient piece which incorporated some annoying children's record at beginning & end, but inbetween was kinda interesting. the crackerjack society cut was a surreal 1968 b-side excursion. funny thing is, i still find myself attracted to stoner-rock, but i am a little more selective about the quality of the output than i find exhibited here. don't wait up for me, i'll be sleeping in the van.
  
  
• (various artists) rkk 13 cd cd (reckankreuzungsklankewerkzeuge)
  
  impressive lineup assembled for this compilation of 120 second remixes of hrvatski, including thurston moore, jim o'rourke, fennesz, pita, farmers manual (as framers manul), cex, kim cascone, pimmon, & v/vm. the 35 tracks are linked by their source material & length, then otherwise unleashed to explore possibilities. packed furiously with idea-rich abstract electronica. defies description, so just know that it comes highly recommended in these parts.
  
  
• (various artists) songs in the key of z: the curious universe of outsider music cd (which?)
  
  compilation put together by one irwin chusid as a companion to a book of the same title. i picked it up, because it featured several musical artists who i am quite appreciative of, including jandek, captain beefheart and syd barrett. while the book is well-documented and researched with informational content, i could not help but feeling misgivings and intense disagreement with his conclusions. which, as i interprete them, are that many of the "outsider" artists taken very seriously in many circles are over-appreciated, under-talented and generally creepy.
  
  he does seem to like some of the people he writes about tho. if they are unpretentious and enthusiastically amateurish, they seem to charm him. which brings me to this cd.
  
  as i listen, i can't help but wonder why captain beefheart is on here? jandek is often someone who is ridiculed, so i could see him being treated that way. you get used to it if you play jandek recordings for people. and then i begin to feel angry. there is redicule here, disdain for the work of artists who are close to my heart (and the hearts of many others). i can appreciate that his opinion is his own, but there is a mean-spiritedness to the selections on the cd. and i can't help but have the feeling that mr. chusid's psychological determinations of qualification have lumped some major geniuses in with some mentally-challenged persons as "outsiders".
  
  ok, have your opinion, fine, but to then create product which seeks to attach your name as some kind of authority on the value of such work. to capitalize on some level on the broken mental capabilities of some of these people represented on this cd, who are seemingly handicapped and grateful for any legitimizing attention. i am bothered by this. i hope irwin chusid is bothered at some level too.
  

 b . w i l d e r e d 

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