20' to 2000 series Raster / Noton 1999
20' to 2000 is a collaborative monthly series by Germany's Raster and Noton labels, both well known for their minimal electronic music releases. The idea is for invited artists from around the world to create approximately 20 minutes of music to mark the end of the millennium. Each cd has a uniform aesthetic: a part clear, part silver 4 and 3/4 inch disc housed in a transparent clam-shell case. Every "issue" is limited to 1000 copies and Paris/Berlin based designers Bless are creating a "transport module" for the entire series. They are a bit price-y for a 20 minute cd, around $13-$15 apiece, but it's well worth it in my opinion. They look as great as they sound ...
Additional reviews will be added as I receive each new issue ...
january - komet "manhatten" (18:18)
1. (5:06)
2. (4:32)
3. (3:48)
4. (4:49)
Komet is German artist Frank Bretschneider, also a member of Signal and Produkt. Bretschneider actually falls short of the 20 minute mark with his contribution, choosing to divide his work into 4 pieces. Each track begins with a trickle of sounds that slowly builds through the duration, not really reaching a climax persay, but just coming to an end. Sounds used are mechanical in nature: metallic pings and beats, bass throbs, static, metronome like tickings, pops, clicks, slaps, etc. The music is clinically precise, minimal in a less is more sort of way to create a sense of uncrowded space. But, it's quite expressive and seems to have a strange, watery feel at times. A "techno" for the 22nd Century. "manhatten" is a great start for this series. The May issue is by Byetone (Olaf Bender), a fellow member of Signal and Produkt and the September issue is by Noto, also a member of Signal and Produkt ...
february - ilpo vaisanen (20:51)
1. ( :20)
2. (3:05)
3. (2:34)
4. (3:21)
5. (3:25)
6. (4:24)
7. ( :51)
8. (3:25)
Ilpo Vaisanen is 1/2 of the highly acclaimed Finnish duo Pan Sonic. Vaisanen covers quite a range of sound with his 8 tracks. Tracks 1 and 7 are about as minimal as it gets, the former containing nothing more than a few ticks and the latter being nothing more than a quiet drone. Tracks 2 through 6 are more complex, and occasionally brutal as waves of noise and shards of ear-splitting, high pitched tones and sub-bass throbs (5 and 6 shake the hell out of my speakers) drift in and out around the beats and thumpings. Track 8 begins with a dramatic organ like chord then fades to a quiet drone until a deep bass throb ends the disc. I think this disc is more interesting than anything I've heard to date from Pansonic/Pan Sonic. The other 1/2 of Pan Sonic, Mika Vainio, will be providing the October issue ...
Pan Sonic
Sähkö
Recordings
Blast
First
march - ryoji ikeda "variations for modulated 440hz sinewaves" (20:02)
1. - 99. ( :12)
100. ( :24)
Ryoji Ikeda is from Japan and is a member of Dumb Type. The sub-title of this disc, "variations for modulated 440hz sinewaves", pretty much sums it up. Ikeda's 20 minutes are split up into 100 indexed tracks, the first 99 being 12 seconds apiece and the final track being 24 seconds. The 12 second tracks consist mostly of sine waves drifting across the stereo field, speeding up, slowing down, overlapping, etc. At times it is merely 1 wave, and at others a multitude of waves that create a beeping, fax machine-like sound. The 96th - 99th tracks go from a barrage of rapid waves to a slow trickle of beeps, then finally the final 24 second track is one continuos test pattern tone that comes to an abrupt end. I certainly don't own many other cds quite like this one. "variations.." can either be annoying or mesmerizing depending on the mood and circumstance ...
Ryoji Ikeda
at Brainwashed
Touch
april - COH "into memories of s-tone. for gavin bryars" (20:21)
1. (20:21)
COH is Russian artist Ivan Pavlov, currently a resident of Sweden. Pavlov is the first to use the allotted time for a single, continuous piece indexed as 1 track. "into memories of s-tone" is a drone/tone based work similar to "C is for Sleep" from the Sentrax Records "Interiors" compilation. The track begins with two gentle drones that sound off in a call and response fashion over a subtle rumbling. More waves come and go through the duration of the piece as it ebbs and flows. In the 9th minute, a very low sub-bass rumbling begins to shake your speakers/brain. By the 13th minute, static-y pops, clicks and surges, reminiscent of sounds from COH's 1998 ENTER TINNITUS disc, appear in the mix. Near the end, jabs of buzzing tones arrive just in case you drifted off. "into memories of s-tone" is a subtle, moody, beautiful piece of music. It may be "minimal electronic" music, but the humanity and emotion comes through loud and clear. This is my favorite issue to date ...
Rastermusic
Sentrax
/ Wavetrap
may - byetone (19:58)
1. (7:59)
2. (4:25)
3. (2:07)
4. (5:16)
Byetone is German artist Olaf Bender, founder of the Rastermusic label. He is also a member of Signal and Produkt along with Frank Bretschneider of Komet (January) and Noto (September). Byetone's 4 tracks are the essence of minimalism. Track 1 is comprised of assorted swooping tones that drift in and out of recognition and through the stereo field and a few bass throbs. Track 2 sounds like gentle explosions ... little pops and clicks like ball bearings slowly colliding. Track 3 has short, gentle blasts of static and tones which also float about the stereo field. Track 4 begins with more swooping tones, then an ominous, static-y drone takes precedent in the 2nd minute. In the 4th minute sequenced tones (you'll swear your pager is going off while listening to this one) with a metallic hi-hat effect take over and continue along with static for the duration of the track. Byetone's sound is very barren, emphasizing a lack of sound to great effect. It's intriguing ...
june - senking (18:21)
1. (9:59)
2. (8:22)
Senking is a member of the German Karaoke Kalk label and also records as Kandis. His/her/their (?) issue is comprised of 2 tracks of sublime, laid back "techno". Both tracks have very gentle and relaxing tom tom beats and deep bass throbs. Short melodies and somewhat dub reminiscent reverberated bits of sound are subtly layered in as each track surges and slowly moves. Bye the final few minutes of each track, there's a dense buildup of sound. This is mellow mind music for a darkened room on a lonely night ...
july - ester brinkmann (19:50)
1. (19:50)
Ester Brinkmann is founder of the German Ernst label. Brinkmann's single track begins with sporadic beats and high hats. A minute and a half in, the track kicks in full force with "techno" beats and soft keyboard hits. Brinkmann subtly adds little trickles of sound and additional bits of percussion as the track progresses. Quiet, spoken female voices (French?) arrive in the 11th minute and bird calls in the 13th minute as the track becomes more and more dense. The beat/synth hit is really hypnotic by this point. The final minutes the voices and birds disappear to make way for rain, the rumblings of a thunderstorm and waves of synth sounds. My brain is telling me that the beat pattern has shifted somehow along the way, but I can't really tell for sure. If it did, it was so subtle that I almost couldn't tell. The track ends the way it began, with a quick 4 beat finale ...
august - scanner "cystic" (20:00)
1. (20:00)
Scanner is Robin Rimbaud. Scanner's single 20 minute track begins *very* quietly and slowly ... little more than an unintelligible, processed spoken sample, a deep drone and some clicks and pops. Bye the 7th minute a quiet percussion and more samples and sounds are added. In the 10th minute a soft beat finally arrives. The track continues to grow with layers of keyboard pads, a moaning sample, etc. but it always remains lethargic and subdued. The beat fades bye the 17th minute leaving behind the fragments of sound. The final minute or so appears to be nothing more than silence, which I find to be an interesting way to end the 20th century ...
september - noto "time..dot" (20:17)
1. (4:49)
2. (11:01)
3. (4:27)
Noto is Carsten Nicolai, founder of the Noton label and member of Produckt and Signal. Track 1 opens with a solitary bass throb which fades to give way to a few short, metallic clicks and pops. These sounds gently build and fall into a rhythm as the track progresses, adding a subtle, steady beat. The sounds disperse in the last minute, ending the track the way it began. Track 2 is much the same, a building series of clicks and pops, but there's also a steady sub bass throb and quiet, eerie drones that fade in and out. For the final minute or so, a stereo panned hissing wash invades the mix. Track 3 suddenly appears with a barrage of pops and clicks. An almost inaudible, speaker shaking low end is also in the mix as the pops and clicks layer, speed up and slow down through the duration of the track. The overall minimal nature of the "20' to 2000" series is quite understandable considering this contribution from one of the label founders ...
october - mika vainio (18:41)
1. (18:41)
Mika Vainio is 1/2 of Finnish duo Pan Sonic (see february - ilpo vaisanen for the other 1/2). Vainio's contribution incorporates many of the same ideas found on his recent solo album "Ydin" in the course of the 18 minutes and 41 seconds found here. The piece begins brutally with continuos textured waves of noise which slowly devolve into a single pulsating surge by the 4th minute. Near the 7th minute mark, the surge abruptly ends. From this point on the track is very minimal and quiet, nearly silent save for a variety of light, drifting drones, steam like hisses and something similar to the sound of a hot air balloon engine being turned on and off. The final 2 to 3 minutes are completely silent as far as I can detect until the last 24 seconds when a warped carnival music sample fades in and abruptly winds down. The piece is quite a mind fuck and much more interesting and engaging to me than what I've heard from Pan(a)Sonic, which seems to be the case for all of Vainio and Vaisanen's respective solo output ...
Pan Sonic
Sähkö
Recordings
Blast
First
november - wolfgang voigt "20 minuten gas im november" (20:08)
1. (10:04)
2. (10:04)
Wolfgang Voigt is also known as Gas, Mike Ink, Love Inc., Mint, Digital and Grungerman and runs the Profan and Studio 1 labels. Voigt's 2 tracks are similar with the 2nd having a much more pronounced rhythm. Track 1 has a continuous, thick wash loop from start to finish with layers of reversed sounds, pops and clicks and occasional subtle beats ... it fades in the same way it fades out. Track 2 adds the thumpin' techno bass beat and more layers of sound. Both are repetitious and change very little as the only elements that shift are the micro sounds in the mix. November is one of my lesser liked issues due to it's repetition. These tracks would really benefit from, at the very least, a little more variety within ...
december - elph "zwölf" (20:00)
1. (20:00)
Elph is one of several pseudonyms used by Coil and this disc, entitled "zwölf" (elf meaning 11 and zwölf" meaning 12 in German), is no doubt the most anticipated of the series. The single track, exactly 20 minutes, slowly builds with layers of swooping drones, electronic squiggles (for lack of any better word ... the kind of processed of sounds you only hear from a Coil disc) and an extremely odd processed vocal (?) pops up briefly here and near the end. The track moves through quieter, more minimal sections between the 7th and 12th minutes, slowly building again and introducing a subtle hi-hat and bass beat rhythm which continues through the 18th minute. There's some very beautiful and interesting reverberated sounds drifting about in the background throughout the latter half of the track. The final minute of the piece introduces a hacked up and processed sample of a cabaret show tune. Welcome to the 21st Century! This track stands out from many of the other issues and the past work as Elph in that it's more textured and non minimal really. And though I've tried not to let my biased love of Coil interfere, December is easily one of the my favorite issues and I can think of no one better to close out the millennium ...
20' to 2000 series info at Noton
Where did I get these cds? - mail order via Riouxs Records.