It is not usually my practice to review out-of-print or specially made disks. However, Steve Roden sent me two disks which made me bend this practice. Both are christmas specials, and one will become an MP3 and the other was produced in enough quantities that you could persuade Steve to let you have one in a fair exchange.
Volume Projects curates multimedia events and for its first anniversary asked him to put together a soundpiece, which has been released as Edition 1Vester Fields. The celebratory card is now out of print, but a free download is promised (and I'll let you know when). The instrumentation was suggested by a postcard, but from there it moves onwards. A 7" 78 christmas recording from the 1940s provides an opening before the starts playing cycling melodies, quite percussive almost like a hammer dulcimer joined by some slithering metallic (bowing) elements - quite dense. Something like a bird call loops in and a pulsing accordion - all surprisingly loud and upfront for SR! Strings fade a a deep flowing string bass, something like a thumb piano and a strange distant squiggling of an overheard conversation. Fading again for the voice to enter, strange harmonies and overtones, under which a venting drone develops organ flutters. A complex sound, which resembles water but with more elements in comes to the fore, laughing voices weave through and soft taps. The strings return briefly for short concluding coda. This is one of SR's more episodic pieces, like the Soundwalk live work or Resonant Cities, and is captivating as it takes you on a journey through these soundspaces (there are field recordings and plants in there too). It will be worth waiting for.
The other disk is A christmas play for joseph cornell which is based on a text-score by G Brecht. This was produced by SR as a christmas gift, but there are some copies left. The play opens with crunchy crackling snow noises, possible footsteps, into which rising/falling percussion loops drift (a bathtub tapped with mallets). A cycling clicking, cluttering develop and will run through to the end. Single notes on a vietnamese string instrument join developing into some rapid strums and flat notes, before SR's sings the lines for the first child in his hauntingly distinctive voice - a breathy semi-whispered falsetto. Some processing, including a buzzing marks the centre of the piece: to here it has echoed the image on the front, gradually enlarging as elements are added. Now a process of decretion occurs - the percussion becomes more prominent as the voice fades, then the strings change - short echoed strings and bowing/scraping, resonant but slowly fading to leave a soft buzz to fade. Then a brief coda, a hum and crackles from a 78 grooves. There is a strong narrative flow to the 30 minutes of this piece - a visual shape to its development which enhances the atmosphere of the music. SR's work continues to develop, as does one's appreciation of individual works, and he never fails to enchant.
Both feature images from the RPPC and snapshots that are the visual heart of the invaluable airform archives (follow the links on the right)
And if you are interested in SR's collection of 78s, which regularly feature on the archives, for a short while streaming and as a podcast is his set for the framework radio show.
Circumvention hit the spot with another smooth album. Rick Helzer plays piano and John Stowell guitar (though unless you knew that already, the information is not on the sleeve), and have been doing so for some time - and the duo is based on a 25 year friendship. Friendship and remembrance 051) is, on the whole this is one of those late night ease back and relax albums - the guitar and piano lay down grooves that intertwine with each other, giving the space for each other to shine in the foregrounded solos. Both instrumentalists are skilled players and this shines in the melodic and contemplative nature of these pieces. The mood changes, however, to add variation and depth: And now, back to reality is a much brighter, faster piece, as is For the real composer in the house; while Hiro's hideaway is a guitar solo. Desert rest stop breaks away from the others, opening with soft bass and strange percussion, pizzicato piano, odd rhythms, a leaning to atonality, possibly prepared strings and an altogether more imagistic approach, which demonstrates another avenue these two could have explored. Another really enjoyable album from this label.
Guitarist Eric Barnett sent me his recently released cd - Music for a picture of a painting - details of which are at his myspace page. On this ambient album he plays electric, acoustic and lap steel plus prepared piano. There are two parts - a longer first (22') and shorter second (11'), with unnamed (numbered) tracks.
Part one begins with slow, resonant picked notes through which some gentle playing emerges together with pedal steel.The track is all about emergence and growth as the music develops, adding elements, intertwining layers, with some minor echo FX - attractive active ambience. The one false note on the album is the abrupt change from the fullness of track one into simple gentle melodic guitar in 2 - which has some pedal steel accents and close miking to emphasise the finger slides. There is an verse/chorus element as the piece shifts registers. Speed and melody pick up in 3 as looping figures are played, balanced by the steel. The final section is a pleasing experimental touch as the guitar plays backwards, including the finger positioning, fading to a wind-like humm.
Part 2 begins very softly, layering strummed and picked guitar with some deep resonances. Expanding guitar loops, both staccato and resonant in 6 are joined by scraped strings (from a piano) and a tinkling chime which is probably the 'preparation'. This continues in the final track, with a soft drone. Hollow, resonant ringing guitar emerges with more harpish piano behind, then fading to a final echoey ratchet processing in the dying minute.
This is a very nice album - eno budd and brooks came to mind - but Barnett has developed his own approach to guitar ambience which is strengthened by the inclusion of piano and experimental touches. Have a listen to samples at his myspace page, the find out how to get a copy of this satisfying ambience.
A fresh lot of material from Eh? has arrived : 4 disks which I'll review in a couple of batches.
First, Jesse Krakow World Without Nachos (eh? 33). Krakow had a release on Public Eyesore, and is, from my web search, something of a journeyman across a range of serious groups. I say this because this album, like the last, is a lo-fi outsider piece: there are 72 named tracks across its 38 minutes, which means that there are some very short tracks (4 seconds is the shortest) and no very long ones (1:38 is the winner there). The pieces are dominated by Krakow's voice - a sort of friendly drawl which occasionally does different accents - his seemingly untrained guitar (which at times reveals his skill) and percussion (a drum machine I would guess). Using 4 track recording he does some over dubs (most noticeably vocal) and there is some electronics (Me and my laser friends or extensive strings on I am dum). While the album appears as a collection of doodles, songs such as I am learning to like golfing or So urban belie the hidden writing component, where at times the mulitvocal harmonies recall the Beach Boys. Many of the songs are 'mere' stings - 51 to 53 are single sentences (I am the king of rock but I don't like crowns) with simple backing, but as they expand they demonstrate some complexity as in the title track which asks 'how can you live in a world without nachos' twice over strums, but stretches the final harmony of the dish into a magic tone or I will love you tomorrow which is a complete harmonised song, with building synth chords and the guitar, ending in a looping guitar strum and percussive beat and imploration to the 'girl' - but the songs are really too compressed for any real analysis. The topics canvas personal weaknesses, food, love, coolness and friendship (and its mirrors). At times disturbing, amusing, entertaining and usually musical this is a strange and frustrating release-you get the feeling that there are some great somgs which could emerge from here, but it is as if the Beatles had sung 'I want to hold your haaaann' or Amy Winehouse 'Rehab? no no no no Rehab, nooooo'. But just go with the flow as this sketchbook washes its changes over you, and enjoy it.
The second disk for this post is The KBD Sonic Cooperative - Kimaid, Beam and Dohm on percussion, strings, horns, trumpet, cello, signals, electronics, objects and a no-input mixer. Four plus one refers to studio improvisations and a live track. This is a group that seems primarily interested in creating atmospheric soundscapes using the instruments as sound generators rather than playing 'music' - hence there is a squeaky wooden rubbing noise which could be a toy or a cello tuneing knob. In the studio pieces they focus on different aspects of their music; the long first is abstract and doesn't have many focussed group-playing sections, but is gentle, building slowly, clicks purrs scrapes percussion with an echoey processing at the end with something of a climax. The second is more active, particularly percussion and the wind sections, with less space and more instrumental playing, and some particularly nice long processed trumpet notes.The third becomes more active again, with more electronica to the fore, looping sonarish beeps tones and shimmers which plays along well with the trumpet; and the short fourth one has soft buzzsawscrapes and builds to a big percussive climax. Each of these is interesting, but my favourite track is the live one - almost half the album. Here the group plays within the constraints and expectations of a live set - providing more variation, a greater ebb and flow and maybe less indulgent. All the aspects of the group are on display - electronica, scrapes and nosies, brass - and provides an interesting ambience. None of these pieces 'go anywhere' but rather weave through a space of their own creation that is diverting - and at 80 minutes it is probably best consumed in two doses: the studio tracks or the live excursion.
Nathan Hubbard, percussionist, has appeared on a number of albums reviewed across the &etc years, mainly on Circumspection and Accretions. This solo album - Blind Orchid - is on Accretions (www.accretions.com, ALP043) and is subtitled solo works for percussion and electronics. This release continues from his previous solo collection Born on Tuesday (circumvention SA081) and also complements ensemble releases Compositions 1998-2005 (circumvention CS121a/b) and Skeleton Key Orchestra (circumvention 039a/b) to give us a view of his developing oeuvre.
This is a very constructured, musique concrete album. i/nside (no exit) is a helter skelter of jumpy percussion creaking and groaning with a voice in the mix, which finally succumbs to a cracking up to break up (the lyrics are included in small writing in the diagram that accompanies the track in the booklet). more processing and piano resonance join percussion and voice in 17 stone park stutter/breath, with events occuring around a percussion solo (such as voice pops, and skittering hollows) that segues into a keening section and then complex rumbling rolling sounds with the piano twangs before a long slow fade. A simple drum solo and poem is Microhole; while another dense drumming solo, with some deep resonances forms Wisdom of not knowing II (for Stomu Yamash'ta).
The title track again carries us on a complex journey from fast distorted percussion into a pulsing tone, a simpler gonging central section, a voice crackle that builds a wave of percussion and feedback. A flowing percussion with tones and tinkles (possibly a sonographic tape) drops and rebuilds in Circle within a circle (for Max Neuhaus). Another normalish drum solo in Witchball breaks up through the processing and returns. A loose jack buzz opens Close to the margin with a metal percussion, building and speeding up over the track, layering, with a chittering end.
Not a simple percussion album - which makes it that much more interesting to me. Prepare to be unsettled as these constructions unfold before you in a complex weaving of processing and electronics, which my descriptions only begin to explore.
Back in 2006 I gave a short review to Westen's previous album The Pigs - OINK and now have been sent a pre-release copy of the Vidiots - tune in release [and am now not really sure if Pigs & Vidiot are part of the title of these releases or the 'author' - I will credit them to Westen for simplicity]. That earlier release brought to mind 80s and 90s electropop and this album does again. There are a couple of direct nods - a Depeche modish sequences that Just can't get enough on She's so young or a New Order guitar line through Searching for love (8).
On the whole the music is driving, percussive and hooky: the title track opener (actually called Better get started) is an anthematic rocker with a guitar solo designed for air guitarists, as is the beaty Angry young man. Together uses synths and percussion to move it on before the celebratory sound of Action Man suggests a party (this track opened the Pigs album as Saturday Night). Another group that kept popping up in my mind was Godley and Creme - something about the percussion bed and processed vocals of Some of you girls, and even the theme, reminded me of Ismism, as did some vocal aspects of Don't stop the kiss and the use of percussion and horns. Women dominate has a salsa swing, while the restrained electropop of Friend or lover closes the album nicely. Perhaps the centrepoint of the album is Searching for love (track 8) which is a slow number, full of bells and a big sound and a guitar solo that reminds me of Fripp on Heroes and the slips into Queen.
Lyrically/thematically the album expresses a male view of alienation and love - Vidiots who are stuck in their room with no future, who may be together but are in a lost life, angry young jealous men, women who are temptresses 'who don't know when to stop' (i'm so scared'), who dominate men's lives, and boys confusion about whether you want to go all the way. Even the good times, like Saturday night parties, offer an opportunity to 'forget about depression' or to take Sally's mind off suicide. We have been watching the TV show Skins, and this album parallels the confusion and uncertainty seen in some of those characters.
Friend or lover is more complex, as I can't work out the gender of the person the song addresses nor the relational outcome, though I think its a threesome. And one song I haven't mentioned yet diverges both thematically and musically - She's so young is a ballad, a much slower number than anything else, and is sung by a 55 year old millionaire about a young woman wondering why she is so in love with him.
Full of hooks this is a pop/rock album with lyrical intelligence, that is entertaining and surprising - the sort of subversive product that gets you singing along but then pondering the lyrics and the lives depicted. But fun.
The album is available from March 25
More about Westen here - http://www.disturbingmusic.com/
