Response from Martin Rouge concerning the review of his Piggi CD in the last set of reviews. To say that it makes a refreshing change to see anybody writing to Adverse Effect in order to defend or justify their work would be an understatement. As such, here are his words on the matter...
 
So, regarding your comments in the review, I'd just like to put some things into context, not so that the review gets edited, but more as a background note for biographical purposes. Back when most of the material was recorded, I was broke-ass and just used whatever I had to put things together; pretty much all the recordings were done on a basic tape deck, then years later, the tapes were transfered to digital through a 4-track recorder, so there's some sonic artefacts that are bound to happen that way. I also tried to clean up the recordings as much as I could, but too much just ends up bastardising the original and ends up putting shitty garble on the tracks to replace the tape hiss, so...
As far as sound production is concerned, I'm not a laptop player, any more than I am a laptop DJ. I use whatever soundsources I have available, which mostly involves old synths (the two I have are the old Kork Poly 800 and Poly 8000), bones, rocks, bits of metal, more-or-less tuned guitars, cheap microphones (like 1$ karaoke microphones...) and an old school sampler or two (Mirage 1, and an itty-bitty keyboard that has one on board)... Back then, everything was produced at the same time, so its sort of a live recording in a way. Only some of the solo material was recorded on the 4-tracks, simply because its really hard to sing, play guitar and drums, and have some sort of sample going on at the same time by yourself. I've only begun multitrack work in the last few years, when I got my hands on some hacked programs and freeware, 'cause I'm cheap that way. I do use the computer to filter the sounds through interesting effects, but I don't just grab stuff off of the 'net and call it my own and think I'm original. Well, okay, I've sampled porn flicks, but that was for Molinier, and he would have approved.
And, for the record, I'm still a cheapskate. While I do enjoy getting my hands on new guitars or effects pedals, it's more interesting to find out what I can do with them, than what they can do based on what pre-established musicians have done with them. I'd still love to get my hands on a Juno, or a Jupiter, or all those classic synths, but I'd rather get my ass in gear and start recording with whatever I have to hand, 'cause that's how I roll.
I hope I didn't sound too defensive there. And too boring.
Martin Rouge, Toronto, Canada

* Thanks, Martin. Having been through similar experiences myself with recording, I firmly empathise with the limitations or drawbacks that can be created through having both a shoestring budget and equipment to match. The most important thing, of course, is to do one's best despite this. And, although in the instance of your work, I feel that the ideas would benefit greatly from better equipment, there's no denying either that some great music has been produced with barely any money or decent equipment behind it or that a lot of highly produced music just amounts to vapid shit with any (only too rare) semblance of a good idea at its core completely lost in the process. Keep me posted with your next works anyway, please.

Another round-up of just some of the releases received during the last few months of 2009. Hopefully, more will follow soon. As, indeed, should an interview with Steven Severin. Enjoy!

Richo

AARKTICA In Sea CD (Silber, USA, 2009)

Twelve songs make up the sixth album by NYC artist, Jon DeRosa, which, with its title already winking in the direction of Terry Riley?s own fantastic In C, stokes a similar furnace of cyclical melodies in terrain otherwise not so far removed from the tundras previously explored by Labradford and Mogwai. Whilst a little moodiness creeps in from time to time, most of these songs remain gently atmospheric, with drifts of melancholy fleshing out the proceedings accordingly. Using only guitars and a Bilhorn Telescopic Pump Organ, DeRosa weaves beautiful textural swells together with the kind of dimly-lit corners reserved for both contemplation and bittersweet pontifications. Occasionally, vocals lend a rather more traditional or accessible edge to these pieces, such as on the neatly titled 'Hollow Earth Theory', whilst the final cut, 'Am I Demon?' is a cover of a Danzig song so tempered it sounds more like something The Chameleons would've written. But, overall, the plaintive furrows express a sense of yearning for both times lost and better things to come (due, I'm sure, to DeRosa's having lost his hearing in one ear a number of years ago), plus display a versatility often missing in such music.

All told, In Sea is a fine and solid enough entry in the post-rock canon, whether it desires to be or not, although I can't help but ultimately feel this approach to songwriting usually makes it sound old and weary before its time. (Richard Johnson)

www.silbermedia.com

PAUL BARAN Panoptic CD (Fang Bomb, Sweden, 2009)

Scottish composer, improviser and electro-acoustic artist Paul Baran has here assembled an album of pieces that play around with all of these approaches within often mournful or somewhat sombre song settings. Utilising all from organs, pianos, guitar, 'objects', voice and field recordings, etc. himself, and assisted by guests including Keith Rowe (prepared guitar), Sarah Whiteside (cello), Werner Dafeldecker (double bass, voice, electronics) and others, each piece is anchored to a restraint that borders on the minimal. Mannered tinkling, distantly bowed strings, indiscernible shuffling folds of sound, random bursts of non-explosive noise, carefully picked strings, dog-tuned tones and so on all lend themselves to a refrain inspired by notions of the underclass, constant surveillance, the mass consensus and the writings of theorist Jeremy Bentham. The feeling of space being steadily consumed by creeping yet increasingly abundant causes for paranoia and suffocation being only too apparent although, remarkably, Baran ostensibly succeeds here for side-stepping the obvious in terms of playing and, indeed, convention. (Richard Johnson)

www.fangbomb.com

JAMES BLACKSHAW The Glass Bead Game CD (Young God Records, USA, 2009)

It's funny, and good, in a way, that some groups/artists can slip by unnoticed for so long and then suddenly leap out the dark with a sledgehammer . Blackshaw definitely falls into this rank for me, despite my good friend Hassni having mentioned him to me repeatedly for a considerable while. Whatever, the latter part of 2009 not only saw the arrival of this new album by him, courtesy of Michael Gira, but also an appearance at the Unsound Festival in Krakow in October which caught him, rather unfortunately ill-placed, in the Philharmonic Concert Hall (good a performer as Blackshaw is live, his protracted guitar tunings and slight awkwardness onstage are more appropriate to the beer-sodden world of pub backrooms and the like, I'd say). Over the years, Blackshaw has had a number of albums out, toured a lot and even, during the past eighteen months or so, become one of the key members of Current 93, so there's no question concerning my having some serious catching up to do whenever the opportunity (read: spare funds) arises. Whatever, onto The Glass Bead Game itself and we are treated to five near-instrumental songs that stop at nothing short of being simply sublime. Aided by two other stalwarts of the circle revolving around David Tibet, Joolie Wood (violin, flute, clarinet) and John Contreras (cello), plus Lavinia Blackwall (vocals), the album commences at a high standard maintained firmly till the very last note sounds out at 49 minutes and 35 seconds. With the harmonic lilt of Blackshaw's 12-string guitar, piano and harmonium providing the compositional hammock to all else, the songs suck on a wide range of elements that can be traced to all from minimalism to folk and even choral music. Without doubt, it's invigorating work as enriched as it enriching, but the proclivity for repetition, as emphasised in particular by the closing 19-minute piece, 'Arc', is possibly where most listeners would find themselves jumping overboard, no matter how colourfully it's actually executed. Not a problem for me, of course, as I'm partial to the odd refrain repeated ad infinitum, and love the work of, say, Steve Reich, with whom some of the ideas here compare, yet there's no denying that Blackshaw succeeds in pushing the melancholic envelope to those realms many would deem uncomfortable.

Having not yet heard his previous albums, I've no idea how this compares or how Blackshaw has developed as a musician, but The Glass Bead Game, with its beguiling cello flourishes and Blackwall's wordless vocals augmenting certain passages, seems as perfect a place to begin yet another exploratory mission as any. A highly accomplished album from an artist very clearly guided by his own voice(s)... (Richard Johnson)

www.younggodrecords.com

BLIND CAVE SALAMANDER & PIETRO RIPARBELLI/K1I The Nietzsche Fabrik Sessions/Transmission CD (Radical Matters, Italy, 2009)

Second album from the Italian group spearheaded by Fabrizio Modonese Palumbo and including excellent cellist Julia Kent in the lineup. Originally recorded live at the Nietsche Fabrik workshop in 2008, where the idea behind the concert was to incorporate the sounds of carpenters, machinery and suchlike at work at the same time as the performance, the four eponymously titled pieces have subsequently been reworked and re-edited. As with the first album, Blind Cave Salamander prove themselves to be masters of the molten drone, yet never remain content with just this. Other sounds of a more electro-acoustic nature forever nudge their way into focus, or the always shifting morass of textures simply give way to the type of strums found on some of Ennio Morricone's earlier work or the kind of noodling cooked up for '50s sci-fi film effects. It all delivers like Stars Of The Lid or someone of a similar ilk having spent a lot of time locked up in a mad scientist's laboratory, anyway. Which is certainly not a bad thing, but I wish BCS would push this side of their sound more instead of keeping it at a manageable distance. The threat is good but, I feel, could go further. The lengthy fifth track is by Pietro Riparbelli/KII and pretty much amounts to a remix using sourced BCS material from the live broadcast of the show that stays in keeping with all else on offer until a slightly more dissonant climax.

What with the addition of a video on the disc as well, this all makes for a decent enough release, but I would like to witness BCS delivering on the greatness always promised next time. (Richard Johnson)

www.radicalmatters.com

CHAPELLE NITRIQUE Piggi CDr (Bone Structure, Belgium, 2009)

I rarely succumb to reviews of Cdrs but, occasionally, an exeption, or an example (depending?), has to be made on account of my latent fear of appearing more unapproachable than I actually am. Chapelle Nitrique's Piggi is this Montreal-based group's debut, arrives in a DVD box cover, and presents us with over half an hour's worth of music spread between five cuts. Roughly-hewn and kinda soundtrack-like, it proffers post-industrial soup of the early Cold Meat Industry persuasion. Beneath a morass of doom-sized textures, dialogue excerpts and winding drones, we're subjected to the sound of dripping pipes, basement creaks and what appears to be someone trying to start a rusted banger. Although quite effective, I can't help but feel the lo-fi production goes against it somewhat. Music of this nature needs bringing up to date. Let's hope the technology's on their side next time around? (Richard Johnson)

www.bone-structure.blogspot.com

CINDYTALK The Crackle of My Soul CD (Editions Mego, Germany, 2009)

What's especially interesting about this album, the first by Gordon Sharp's Cindytalk platform since 1995's astonishing Wappinschaw, is the departure from the often organic and piano-led sound of before to its firm handshake with contemporary software usage. Whilst Cindytalk has always delved into those places where abstract forms make the most perfect sense, The Crackle of My Soul cranks this side of Gordon's interests up to the max. Throughout the ten pieces, all recorded between 2001 and 2009 in the US, Hong Kong and Japan, frosted and angular shafts of noise, splutter and hum emerge from waves recalling everything from what sounds like interstellar gloop ('Magler') to some of Basic Channel's own hypnotic excursions had they been put together by a scientist having a nervous breakdown ('Transgender Warrior'). Despite my feeling there'd be room amongst all of this for Gordon's voice, guitar and piano to once again make their presence known, it's good to see him back and, additionally, promising more releases to come this year. (Richard Johnson)

www.editionsmego.com

www.cindytalk.com

PIOTR KUREK Lectures CD (Cronica, Portugal, 2009)

Ten pieces originally composed by this Warsaw-based artist for a festival in the very same city in 2007, created in honour of Cornelius Cardew. Using previously unreleased sounds culled from performances, lectures and rehearsals by Cardew (and passed onto Piotr bh his son, Walter), Kurek has subsequently developed them during the time since to simultaneously pay respect to them and tease them into a context more his own. The resulting compositions are surprisingly accessible on the whole, often working themselves around repetitive melodic fragments, sizeable chunks of dialogue, tiny gusts of sax spurting, swaying tonal wisps, and hints of mannered jazz that wholly betray the clanging that greets us at the disc's entrance. Rather airy and full of movement, Lectures is a perfectly hewn listen that I'm sure would have been worth hearing in its original form, live, too. Kurek has done a good and respectful job here and, if Cornelius Cardew were still alive, I'd like to believe he'd feel much the same way. (Richard Johnson)

www.cronicaelectronica.org

ROBERT PIOTROWICZ Rurokura and Eastern European Folk Music Research Volume 2 7" (Bocian Records, Poland, 2009)

Ultra-limited pressing of this single by Poland's Robert Piotrtowicz, here treating us to three cuts that, respectively, take up the 'Wedding' and 'Funeral' side via some recordings, purportedly, of a Greek Catholic School Boy Choir, the Molomotki Ocarina Orchestra and a School Girl Band subsequently hammered way beyond all recognition. Occasionally rhythmic, wound like tightly coiled metallic tubes and definitely and defiantly 'out there' in the best possible sense, this little pearl is one to cherish. Sweet. (Richard Johnson)

www.bocianrecords.com

REMORA Derivative CD (Silber, USA, 2009)

Latest from US artist Brian John Mitchell?s pursuit, basically amounting to a collection of shapeshifting 'n' kaleidoscopic guitar-drone-led pieces that have all taken their cues from looped hooks lifted by favourite songs of his by, amongst others, Journey, Blue Oyster Cult, Pere Ubu, Bob Dylan, Joy Division and Warrior Soul. Whilst at least two of these sourced artists/groups may well leave you either cold or reaching for someone to hit (but let's not forget he's American, so don't be too hasty), the songs themselves are more akin to some of the scorched-ambient works of early Kranky releases or even Fripp & Eno's classic (No Pussyfooting) and Evening Star albums and, in turn, actually work for their being a homage that?s then teased into shapes the originals would never have imagined. Whether that's a good thing in itself or not is something for the listener to decide, but I can appreciate the sensibilities and earnestness only too apparent here. And, in a day and age where most bands/artists blatantly display their influences through sheer unoriginality, such homages themselves are precisely the opposite. (Richard Johnson)

STEVEN SEVERIN Music for Silents CD (Divine Frequency, USA, 2009)

Ah, truth be told, I'd been waiting for this album to appear for a while. Ever since I put on a concert by him in Krakow in 2007, and then, the same year, caught him performing this very same music to the very same films in Edinburgh, actually. Whilst certain cynics around me at the time scoffed that the music was a tad too 'easy listening' and handfuls of goths and by now bald and pot-bellied ex-punks craved nothing but some classics by the Banshees, I always felt that, following the few solo albums and soundtracks prior to this release, his music was finally beginning to come into its own and move away from the more Philip Glass influences of yore. Furthermore, it was clear that his music had been worked at considerably for the films used in said live shows, knowing that it would have to work both in this context and, indeed, as a soundtrack. As such, there?s an incredible amount of movement throughout Music for Silents that, whilst still very much the product of the digital age, embraces all from tonal music to moody and abstract post-dancefloor constructions, avant-garde embellishments, Cluster-like space voyages and even a segment which sounds akin to Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells had it been originally scored with The Exorcist in mind. Once in a while, traces of Severin's interest in Glass's early cyclical melodies still pokes its nose into the proceedings, but the fact this is more contained now pays off perfectly. Beginning with the slightly over 30 mins score to Germaine Dulac's 1928 surrealist film, The Seashell & the Clergyman (itself concerned with themes of sexual desire and repression) and then taking on six shorts commissioned, I believe, by contemporary filmmakers and video artists, it's interesting to hear the music unfold without the images accompanying it, anyway. And, once again, it's only too apparent it stands up in its own right regardless. Whether the constantly morphing and sometimes slightly unsettling shades at work in The Seashell itself, the melodic playfulness witnessed in the accompaniment to Aura Saltz's I Put A Spell or the suitably crafted descent into the nightmarish world of Bruno Forzani & Helen Cattet's L'Estrange Portrait De La Dame En Jaune, Severin proves himself to be at the top of his game as a solo composer. If the generally blinkered balding punks and ageing goths can't handle that, then the loss is entirely theirs.

Beautifully packaged, limited and numbered edition of 999, too. What are you waiting for? (Richard Johnson)

www.divinefrequency.com

SUM OF R eponymous CD (Utech, Switzerland, 2008)

Debut full-lengther by a Swiss trio comprising Reto Mader (bass, piano, strings), Christoph Hess (turntable) and Roger Ziegler (harmonium). Together, they here create ten pieces of twilight-bound and often industrial-strength drone and shimmer splurge that sometimes aims at the same epic proportions as, say, Godspeed, You Black Emperor! . It's okay, but the grainy production goes against it and the slightly predictable approach, not helped at all by terrible titles such as 'Physically Deformed', 'Bones, Beer & Muscles' and 'Requiem for a Liar', suggest that it's either very much early days yet or that Sum Of R still have some baggage to shake out of their collective system. Stunningly packaged, though. (Richard Johnson)

www.utechrecords.com

URAL UMBO eponymous CD (Utech, Switzerland, 2009)

Another album from Swiss chaps Reto Mader and Steven Hess (with help on two pieces by guest, Roger Ziegler), this time displaying a marked progression from Mader?s Sum Of R outpourings. As with Sum Of R, however, vast drones and textures consume the axis to the nine cuts on offer, but there?s more clarity and, indeed, a wider scope of sounds that owe something to a shared interest in '60s horror film scores. To this end, on fifth cut, the intriguingly titled 'Don't Eat Carrots, My Little Ghost Horse', the drones give way completely to some subdued amp buzz and a heavier focus on the otherwise submerged, virtually electro-acoustic, sounds whilst a plaintive guitar is hoisted to the frontline. The next cut, 'Stumbling Upon Blood and Mercury', even pays witness to some simple but effective spacious (and spaced-out) drumming coming into play and, over the entire course of the album, it becomes increasingly apparent that a maturer approach to their craft has taken hold. Together with some quite nice, slightly oversized, packaging featuring what appears to be trademark black & white photography, Ural Umbo's debut adds up to an album well worth revisiting. It'll be good to hear the next one. (Richard Johnson)

VLOR Six-Winged CD (Silber, USA, 2009)

Collaborative second album by Vlor, masterminded by Silber's boss, Brian John Mitchell, and involving a host of other affiliated musicians from groups such as Aarktica, 6PM, The Wet Teens, Rollerball and more besides. Over the sixteen cuts, everything from sombre and contemporary folk-tainted songs, through Eno-esque whorls, progressive-ambient and slowcore, to the kind of punk-strained garage rock Billy Childish has churned out is explored. Unfortunately, although it's clear that there are a lot of ideas here that Mitchell & co. are fully adept at handling, it's this very same diversity that leads to Six-Winged's undoing. If, perhaps, some of the only too brief, yet abstract, pieces, such as the fantastically titled 'Statue of Jealousy', had been allowed to take up more room here instead of the indie sensibility, I'm sure things would've been different. Whilst there's no denying the sincerity behind all of this, the whiff of either trying to prove themselves or please everybody hangs a little too heavily. (Richard Johnson)

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Just to set the record straight about a few things, allow me to clarify what Adverse Effect may or may not be these days. Basically, I would like to see it exist in published form once again but, since barely anybody bought the final, fourth, edition of the magazine itself in 2005, I have had to consign material for this either to the now barely functioning website and, well, here ever since. I hope that the website will be replaced by something better in the near future. And I would one day like to collect some selections from here in a published compendium, following on from the one that will hopefully appear next year that's devoted to the eighteen editions of Grim Humour. In the meantime, I will continue to post reviews here, plus more interviews. I am not sure who I will interview next, but Thomas Bey William Bailey and Steven Severin are both on my shortlist. I'd welcome contributions and/or suggestions from others, too, but please do not expect me to include any unsolicited material.

Likewise, I will only review 'proper' vinyl, CD, DVD, etc. releases. The same goes for books and, indeed, anything else. As such, please do not ask me to consider MP3 releases and suchlike. Whilst I can fully appreciate some of the effort that goes into creating music, or anything else, I do not have the time spare for the more, dare I say, hobbyist approach. If you believe in what you're doing, get it out there properly. The same as I do and everybody else whose work I respect. I am not here to support half-measures. And whilst on the subject, I would welcome more review material too, please. See the previous reviews for an idea of where the interests lay...

Thank you.

Richo

Originally posted on October 17, 2009

Reviews: Number Five

Unfortunately, there are still some older titles tucked amongst the review piles, but I think this lot sees the back of those from 2007. Please note that some of the reviews here are by old Adverse Effect contributor Ian Canadine, too. Hopefully more people will climb on board in due course...


KASHIWA DAISUKE 5 Dec CD (Noble Records, 2009)
The first track on this album wafts in with some gentle keyboard melodies pleasantly redolent of Daisuke?s countryman Ryuichi Sakamoto, while some of the later pieces combine piano and glitch in a manner very reminiscent of Sakamoto?s excellent collaborations with Alva Noto on Raster Noton. That would all be fine, if a little unoriginal, but Daisuke obviously feels the need to shit all over the mellowness elsewhere, by throwing in everything but the kitchen sink on the majority of the remaining tracks. With elements of drum?n?bass, cheesy Metal guitar and pounding beats elbowing each other aside for room, Dec 5 mostly comes across as a bit of an incoherent bombardment, or perhaps an exercise in cut up pranksterism that can?t quite wipe the smirk off its face. (Ian Canadine)
www.noble-label.net
www.kashiwadaisuke.com


FAMILY UNDERGROUND untitled 7? (Quasi Pop, Ukraine, 2009)
New release from this Danish trio who?ve been furrowing their own path through a convergence of foggy drones and textures for a number of years now. Both pieces here maintain their interests perfectly well, offering up two instrumentals almost bordering on layered noise via the sound of electric shavers overheating whilst, on one, a hypnotic rhythm does its utmost to compete. Rather nice. Wouldn?t mind getting one of their albums now as this taster?s simply not quite enough. (Richard Johnson)
www.quasipop.org


FRANZ HAUTZINGER & BERTRAND GAUGUET & THOMAS LEHN Close Up CD (Monotype Records, Poland, 2009)
I recently had a discussion about improvised music with a close friend who ended up contending that you only need to listen to it on a release once because, afterwards, it?s got nothing new to offer. Whilst I can see his point, I likewise feel that recordings of improvised music, as with any other form of it, can become valid documents in their own right which, for all manner of different reasons (subjective and otherwise) can be returned to repeatedly. Especially if those moments captured succeed outside their realm as, simply, improvised music. This team-up of these improvisers caught in, respectively, early 2007 and two separate occasions in 2008, illustrates this all too clearly. Utilising Gauguet?s alto and soprano saxophones and Hautzinger?s trumpet (and electronic devices) alongside Lehn?s analogue synth, the three untitled pieces caught here fall into that magical category whereby certain music or collections of sounds appears to reveal something new with every listen. Through some carefully mannered gloop positively rife with contours enough to sustain interest alone, breathy rasps, squelches, tones, unearthly mumblings and a subtle sense of distress and unease unfurl without once sounding either unnatural or uncontrolled. The fact these three players have played together several times and have a huge understanding of each other prevails heavily throughout. Nobody gets in the way of the others and the focus never once strays. What?s even more noticeable than the apparent chemistry, however, is the way the music pulls itself along into possibly the most atmospheric domain I?ve so far heard on a release of this nature. And whilst the music itself is not so obviously confrontational, it does at least sound like it?s challenging the notions of what can or can?t be done in improvisation. An achievement in itself. Highly recommended. (Richard Johnson)
www.monotyperecords.com


MERZBOW Tombo CD (Fellacoustic, USA, 2008)
Three cuts of ear-bleeding howl the like of which Masami Akita made his name on before he began going both digital and into more rhythm kingdoms. Some of the sounds, as to be expected, are incredible, but I have to ?fess this album?s not as dynamic as certain work I?ve caught in recent years. Track two, simply titled ?Tombo 2?, nudges in some quieter moments but, as with the rest of the album, an all-out sonic lava-fuck tends to remain the main course. (Richard Johnson)
www.fellacoustic.com


MIKHAIL Morphica 3xCD (Sub Rosa, 2009)
Morphica apparently represents an exercise in ?morphing? an earlier Mikhail album, Orphica, from 2007, which was based on the Greek Orpheus legend. The triple CD set features a cast of thousands, including DJ Spooky and members of the Hilliard Ensemble, reworking material from the earlier project. It comes elaborately packaged, including a sizeable foldout featuring extensively annotated heavyweight academic essays, referencing Deleuze and Lyotard, which attempt to site the artist somewhere on the intersection of the postmodern and the Baroque. While it would certainly be easy to snigger at the preciousness of the whole thing, that would indulge a kneejerk anti-intellectualism which I tend to think is cheap, so I?ll restrain any cynicism here. The discs within are respectively entitled Electronics, Voices and Strings, although I wouldn?t say the distinction in sound or content between the three was that clearly discernible. The music itself comprises a dense and heady fog of layered and phased electronics, harpsichord and kettle drum, tabla, drones, whistles, squelches, and chamber strings, with a Gertrude Stein sample thrown in for good measure. Mikhail?s highly-strung androgynous vocals float in and out at intermittent points, to complete the febrile atmosphere. I was reminded at times of Antony and the Johnsons, at others of ?80s 4AD supergroup This Mortal Coil, and occasionally of the queasy stylings of Nurse With Wound. Having not heard the original Orphica CD I?ve got no idea how Morphica develops or resembles it, but it nonetheless works reasonably successfully as a standalone experience. (Ian Canadine)
www.mikhailmusic.com


FES PARKER Side Room CD (Pressupable Recordings, 2008)
Fes Parker, ?one of the real Blackpool legends? according to Simon Morris?s sleevenotes, was a local hero of the Fylde coast punk scene, who died of cancer in February 2009. This 2008 release delivers a full-on set of fairly unreconstructed, and sometimes pretty lo-fi, rock?n?roll ranting, with maybe a touch of Hawkwind kosmische in the guitar attack. Not really my scene, but the guy was obviously a man with a mission and he stuck with it to the end. (Ian Canadine)


GERT-JAN PRINS & BAS VAN KOOLWIJK Synchronator DVD (Cavity, NL, 2009)
Collaborative audiovisual project that commenced in 2006 by these two artists that can be perceived as some kind of assault on what?s typically spewed from our TV screens. Prins? own digitalised sonic gush, wavering as it does between spacious crinkled workouts and towering temples ablaze with molten white-noise, provides the perfect accompaniment to images derived from often distorted magnetic signals found within the interference. The resulting ten pieces here amount to broken and barely snatched images cast assunder by violent waveforms or what may well be a test card transmission beamed from a planet so distant that it?s become a mere shadow of its former self in the process. It all works rather nicely but, I?m sure, would be far more effective on a massive screen than those to be found in most people?s homes, despite this being the original intention. The fact it also clocks in at 36 minutes total goes in its favour as well. Too much of this and I think these boys would have to get Nurofen sponsoring them? (Richard Johnson)
www.synchronator.com


RAMLEH Switch Hitter 10? (Black Rose Recordings, 2009)
Since the late 1980s, Ramleh have been stabbing away at a tumultous rock approach that steers between a heavily anguished form of psychedelia and something more suitable to battering yr senses to fuck. Occasionally, they still dabble with their power electronics of yore, too, or even combine the two approaches. Whatever, as far as I?m concerned, it?s all pretty damn good and I can honestly say they?re one of the few groups who survived the early ?90s UK noise-rock non-genre still prone to doing interesting things. ?Switch Hitter? opts for another all-out sensory bombardment of a punked-up and beefy Hawkwind In Search Of Space variety where some great rhythm pummel drives along the kind of guitars that could spill your innards. The distortion?s cranked to the red and Gary Mundy?s vocals sound like they?ve been stripped savagely from an early angry punk obscurity. It all, need I point out, works fucking great for me. The b-side?s ?The Machines of Infinite Joy?, a title in itself which instantly conjures something from the late Ballard?s world, is an equally heavy instrumental belter. Neat. (Richard Johnson)
Write: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it


SLOWCREAM and CD (Nonine, Germany, 2009)
Five pieces by Berlin?s Me Raabenstein which embark on a celebration, if you like, of the hand, in all respects from our physical dependency on it to its use as a symbol or metaphor, and everything in between. Beginning as a commission for a contemporary dance project, Slowcream?s third album stretches for around forty minutes and generally sways gently over a filmic hue imbued with a soft electronica approach itself augmented with strings and extra cellos and organs on three of the cuts improvised live by Greg Haines. Whilst the temperament remains refined throughout, some foothills at least take shape at certain points, adding an appropriate sense of subtle drama to the proceedings that sensitively reflect titles such as ?Pressure?, ?Vibration? and ?Moisture?. What with melodic keys likewise breaking through the symphonies at various junctures, it all feels like Me Raabenstein?s background in club music is ultimately shaking itself away into pastures more serious yet not so sober it may alienate previous listeners. I?ll resist the urge to round this off by saying we?ve either got to hand it to him or must give him a big hand. Instead, I implore you to listen to this incredible addition to a canon of work by a mere handful (sorry!) of contemporary artists whose vision rests outside the usual parameters. (Richard Johnson)
www.nonine.com


STEFANIE RESSIN/ASMUS TIETCHENS 3 Wishes split-7? (Meeuw Muzak, The Netherlands, 2009)
Another great entry in the ongoing series of 7? releases from Meeuw Muzak. Stefanie Ressin I know little about, I have to ?fess, but here she proffers a nifty slice of dirty electro-pop vaguely reminiscent of Malaria!, which is fine by me. Tietchens, on the other hand, appears with a version of the same song which discards most of the rhythm and vocals in favour of sounds resembling machinery at war. Which also, needless to say, wins my vote. Fantastic stuff. (Richard Johnson)
www.meeuw.net


MIKA VAINIO Black Telephone of Matter CD (Touch, 2009)
Being one half of the fantastic Pan Sonic, it?s no surprise that Vainio?s solo endeavours tend to adopt a similar approach to teasing often abrasive or uncomfortable sound structures into areas where they are tempered and far less black and white. When Vainio cranks things up, everything feels measured and almost surgical, yet these red-level workouts only arise in the first place from a mass of undulating and sometimes broken frequencies or what sounds like machine-noise having a coughing fit. At times, such as on ?Silences Traverses Des Mondes Et Des Anges?, the proceedings even become quite subdued, like listening to an underground lake, before what sounds like a plane looming overhead then takes over in the next piece, ?Bury A Horse?s Head?. Attention to detail and, in turn, to mapping out ideas that never betray a stance that feels wholly personal (without being completely detached from the listener) is what sets everything apart. Once more, the (perhaps obvious) analogy of the surgeon in the operating theatre springs only too readily to mind. Everything?s considered and executed with precision and care. Helped along by very occasional choice samples themselves given to some appropriate treatments, Vainio appears to be operating on a far superior level to most of today?s digital wanderers. Black Telephone of Matter pays testament to this fact in leaps and bounds. (Richard Johnson)
www.touchmusic.org.uk


WICKED KING WICKER eponymous CD (Noiseville, USA, 2007)
Four lengthy tracks of slow-motion sludge and feedback by these US metal monsters. The very thing certain teenagers find themselves leaning on because they?re misunderstood whilst the rest of us splutter into our cognac, I suppose, although to be fair there are some pretty massive sounds afoot here that could make many a purported ?noise? artist weep with envy? (Richard Johnson)
www.noiseville.com


JOHN YOUNG Lieu-temps DVD Audio (empreintesDIGITALes, 2007)
John Young is an electroacoustic composer from New Zealand, though currently based in the UK. In Lieu-temps he uses field recordings, narrative framing, radio samples and oral history, interweaved with drones, electronics, detuned piano and other tools of the electroacoustic trade, to relate the story of how his father, a soldier with the New Zealand army, first met his Italian mother, during the Second World War liberation of her hometown, Forli, by Allied forces. Young mixes his ingredients effectively and movingly to draw out his major theme of how personal and world-historical events are inextricably entwined, and how chance can play such a huge role in dictating the outcomes of human lives. The repetitive use of chimes from the belltowers of Forli, together with contemporary commentary from war reporters on the scene, works particularly well in evoking the feel of time and place which is vital to the project. Lieu-temps has something of the experimental radio documentary about it, but is none the worse for that, and repays repeated listening in bringing out the intricate detail of its montaged elements. I?m not sure if there are any real benefits in this having been released on DVD Audio rather than CD, but evidently all releases on the empreintesDIGITALes label follow this policy. (Ian Canadine)
www.empreintesDIGITALes.com