Mark Nelson (Pan American), Frank Bretschneider (Komet) and Joe Kingman (Fisherofgold) are given only one restriction for this project: approximately 15 minutes apiece to subjectively express themselves. I wonder why only 48 minutes total when most discs and players can accommodate 75-80? That question aside, volume 1 of this artist friendly series from Quatermass is a solid collection of complementary tracks.
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Two of the earliest Pole tracks from 1996 are reissued here along with4 pairs of reworkings by Stefan Betke (aka Pole) and contemporariesBurnt Friedman and Kit Clayton from his own ~scape label. Do "Raum 1"and "Raum 2" warrant ten versions? Somewhat surprisingly the answer isyes. "Raum" is German for "Space" and these guys are experts in thefield, each taking the source in different directions. The originalsare murky dub affairs with washes and crackles aplenty and steady, deepbass lines - much like everything that has followed to date on Poles"1", "2" and "3". While they're fine in their own right they do pale incomparison to the updated versions. Betke's variations (and two morenew tracks spawned from them) feature first time collaborator D. Meteo,guitarist for Submission. Everything is much more bright, clear andspacious as truncated guitar notes and riffs are abruptly weaved intothe new mixes, sometimes adding a sort of dub strum to the groove.Friedman takes the tracks into his own personal ambient jazz trajectoryby dressing them up with latin flavored percussion, sliding bass andmore ambiance. The Raum 1 Variation all but erases the original by thefinal few minutes of its graceful decay. And last but not least,Clayton's cut and paste treatment clutters up the static and rhythmsover time making for the busiest mixes of all. Nice variety. Perhaps"R" is a precursor of new ideas for the next Pole album proper? I hopeso ...
Living in Boston I have become quite jaded towards ska. As a teenager,I was into the Two-Tone scene but after moving to a scene flooded withobnoxious punks, skins, plaid clothing and Doc Martens, I found myselfextremely agitated and had to distance myself. Hearing a slice of oneof the originals years later is very refreshing and I've found myselfactually coming around to the style again. Terrorists were originals ina few respects - first off they predate the Specials, the Beat andSelecter by a couple years. Next up, while you can kind of/sortof/almost but not quite hear the reggae and punk influences on most ofthe more popular acts, it's clear as day with the Terrorists. Thequartet was based in NYC, played the punk circuit, were confined to arough sound due to their financial position and often played behindvocals from Lee "Scratch" Perry and Roland Alphonso of the Skatalites.This collection, out now on ROIR will probably be faced with adifficult time entering record stores due to the group's name, but weneed to try to rest the hypersensitivity, especially when it comes froma group who hasn't recorded anything in nearly twenty years.
It has been three years since the last Amp (proper) full-lengther, the phenomenal 'Stenorette' release on Kranky (produced by Robert Hampson of Main). Since then, there have been a couple releases as A.M.P. Studio (but don't ask me to describe the distinction between entities). While the world awaits another full-length masterpiece, the group has decided to collect recordings made on the road during their 1998/99 European tour, from in-studio performances at AJZ radio in Switzerland and the famed VPRO in the Netherlands.
There's a lot of electronic music out there that either plain bores or annoys the absolute piss out of me. So much of it sounds the same, and what it sounds like is something so pedestrian that it was all created using standard ACID loop libraries. That's why it's so refreshing when something like loscil comes around. "Triple Point" is a fantastic release just based upon the rather unique palette of sounds here. But there's so much more going on in the mix. Sampled sounds so buried you really only hear them faintly, and treated keyboards that sound hollow and distant have such an eerie effect. Each track starts of easy enough, but builds to amazing heights as more sounds are added and volume increases. Scott Morgan, who is loscil, has an amazing ear, as these songs are dense and droned-out but you never lose sense of this music and Morgan never lets you stray from the path long. "Triple Point" is reportedly based on the concepts of thermodynamics, and that couldn't be a more appropriate analogy for the effect this music has on the listener. It soothes, it relaxes, it resonates with a warmth that almost defies description, and it propels you in the same instant, willing you to create or submit to its will. Never has an artist's debut on a label impressed me more. loscil has obviously just begun, and there's great promise for the future.
The Amsterdam-based CD shop owner Elisabeth Esselink has deliveredanother bopping poppy soda-jerking sound-clashing long player as Solex.The new album is full of 15 peculiar yet captivating songs and is notyour regular haphazard clumsy mess. According to Matador's website,'Low Kick and Hard Bop' won out the title of this album, which also had'A Cross Between Cyndi Lauper and Early SPK' in the running. (You canguess which one would get my vote.) Esselink is asinger/multi-instrumentalist and clearly has a huge record collectionwhich probably dwarfs the one of Four Tet's Kieran Hebden. Bizarre,obscure samples combine with her playing and singing in a remarkablydemented world of tv game shows, Incredibly Strange Music collections,Hank Williams, Nancy Sinatra, Don Ho, and Herb Alpbert. Picture a crowdof awkward Dutch kids in blue jeans dancing messily around a 1950sburger shop. It's a world of big bright lights and loud colors, hairtossing and skirt twirling. Esselink proves she's not just anothersampladelic diva, but she is a pretty face too! I'm sure she takes herjovial art quite seriously and I can't wait to see her live again thisNovember where I ask her to be my wife. Check out 
21 years ago Steven Stapleton was invited to swing by BMS Studios inLondon late one night by resident engineer Nicky Rogers. Stapletongathered up friends John Fothergill and Heman Pathak and made somerecordings with a few goals in mind: very long tracks and no vocals -they hated songs. With the eye catching infamous artwork a classic wasborn, pressed in a limited quantity of 500 (probably because thereweren't enough fans or enough money to make more). It was actuallyquite buzzworthy around London and reviews did pop up around town(maybe not the most favorable) but people were interested in the wackcover artwork at least. In retrospect, it's a bunch of sloppy noisemade by three drugged-out naive kids who were frustrated doing boringjobs of making signs for example, bringing a ton of noisy toys into thestudio. Do I hear a Merlin in here? Loads of wanky guitars color thefirst side of the LP while the second side consists of morenon-conventional noisemakers and randomness. The beauty is that theseguys weren't taking themselves nearly as seriously as modernimprovisationalists, there was indeed an element of purity apparent.None of the tracks really end up where they started, and might servethe purpose of being a great soundtrack to a drug-influenced evening.This album provides an excellent reference point, and the newlyreleased repackage has a complete booklet with old photos of theoriginal trio, a restored front and back cover and even a letter froman A&R Rep at Epic Records in NYC asking to hear some more NWWrecords. (Imagine a world with NWW signed to Epic!) Anyhow if thatwasn't enough, the music's been cleaned up from the analogue tapes andthere's a bonus 15+ minute track recorded in September with Tibet andColin Potter. What's a new track doing on an old reissue? In a strangejustification it belongs, as the track consists of Tibet reading thatfamed list of influencors from the original sleeve, over a minimalamount of sound. It's nothing too impressive but mildly amusing andneat to have an archive of (pretty much like the rest of this record).While the new edition is a nice thing to own, if you're not all thatconcerned with new packaging or a new track, this might not be worthyour cashola. On the other hand if you never picked it up, there's nobetter time than the present. Once again I must state that I wouldpersonally like to see 'Insect and Individual Silenced' and 'AutomatingVol. 2' surface on CD before more reissues like this and 'ThunderPerfect Mind' materialize.
After listening not nearly enough times, I find myself returning overand over to the same conclusion: amazing. Tara Jane's one of thosemusicians where those 'in the know' will already have everything shehas been a part of. Her multi-instrument playing and singing can beheard on Retsin, Rodan, and Sonora Pine records as well as her fabulousdebut solo release last year, 'Peregrine.' It's inevitable you'd misswho she is if you were also a fan of Rachel's, Ida, or Shipping News asshe's bound to be making an appearance at a show here or there or sharemusicians. There's something almost magical in nearly anything shetouches. I know it sounds queer but if you've ever paid witness to oneof her shows, the amount of bleedingly direct and honest charm whicheminates from her shines really bright. People at her shows can't helpbut be captivated and completely swept up. The recorded sound is a muchmore intricate woven tapestry, however, with a mishmosh of unpluggedinstruments and varying arrangements. 'Peregrine' was such a boldstatement, as Tara Jane collected some of her best friends in andaround NYC and created a solid album of intricate instrumentation, ascattering of styles and an honest production which makes the musicianssound like they're in your livingroom. There's a lot of similar facesstill around, like Dan Littleton of Ida, Rachel Grimes of the Rachel's,Cynthia Nelson of Retsin and Ruby Falls and Ida Pearle, but guestcontributions seem much less prominent than last time. Tara's comehome. This year's album sees her moving away from the urban setting,with more production in Louisville than NY, subsequently the music ismore vocal and the subject matter appears more personal. It almostseems to me as if she proved her point last time around — that she isan accomplished arranger and skilled instrumentalist. This time she'sgot more personal stories to tell as a developing songwriter, who'soften being compared to the likes of Joni Mitchell and Cat Power.Recently I bought a new pair of higher quality headphones and deeplistening has taken on a new meaning, this disc has not let me down.
The sixth album in his Selbstportrait series, this is one of the best. Hans-Joachim Roedelius created this mini-masterpiece during the mid '70s, drawing on various recordings from his career at that time and building on them with added instrumentation and a wider selection of tones, structures and styles. The end result is a dazzling mix of old and new material (well it is all old at this stage considering the age of the album) which gives Roedelius’ talent the spotlight it deserves.
Recorded live as a duet between turntables and keyboards (with editing and overdubbing bass added later), the main track here is a slow, dramatic piece, with the flip side conjuring the best moments of electronic dub.
