Sublime Frequencies
By far the most surprising and unorthodox of SF's newest releases is Broken Hearted Dragonflies,a series of unprocessed field recordings of cicadas and dragonfliesfrom the Southeast Asian lowlands, again captured by producer andrecordist Tucker Martine. It's been very appropriately subtitled Insect Electronica From Southeast Asia,as the ear-piercing high-frequency drones of these insects suggestartificially-rendered, conceptual electronics made by some heretoforeunknown Western minimalist. The spine-chilling, synthetic swoops anddithers of sound are amazingly textural and complex, making it hard tobelieve that these sounds are presented untreated, just as they wererecorded. As a test, I played this for a friend without revealing thesource of the recordings. He immediately began to make all sorts ofassociations, from Alvin Lucier to Ryoji Ikeda to Whitehouse. When Irevealed the actual origin of these synthetic alien tones, his reactionwas shock and disbelief, followed by a jubilation and fascination thatsuch noises exist in nature. Listening to these four extended tracks —given titles like "Particle Swarm Intelligence" and "Brood X" thathighlight their other-worldliness — provoke some very deep thoughtsabout the possibility of hidden patterns in nature. The liner notes bymodern cultural provocateur Peter Lamborn Wilson (AKA Hakim Bey)outline these provocative questions. If this album was the work of ahuman being, we certainly would not hesitate to call it art. However,because these performances come from swarms of supposedly behavorial,mechanical, unselfconscious insects, it belongs to some other realm.The title of the album comes from a Burmese legend about a species ofdragonfly who court their mates with choruses of high-pitched screams.Those that don't succeed in mating eventually scream so loud theirhearts explode and they drop dead. It's an appropriately morbid imagefor this collection of unrelentingly piercing, shrill tones. Listeningon headphones at top volume is enough to send my pulse racing, puttingmy heart in serious danger of spontaneously combusting. Broken Hearted Dragonfliesputs nature back on the map as the source of the most complex,frightening and fascinatingly textural noises in the field of dronemusic. I hope my ears will stop ringing soon.
By far the most surprising and unorthodox of SF's newest releases is Broken Hearted Dragonflies,a series of unprocessed field recordings of cicadas and dragonfliesfrom the Southeast Asian lowlands, again captured by producer andrecordist Tucker Martine. It's been very appropriately subtitled Insect Electronica From Southeast Asia,as the ear-piercing high-frequency drones of these insects suggestartificially-rendered, conceptual electronics made by some heretoforeunknown Western minimalist. The spine-chilling, synthetic swoops anddithers of sound are amazingly textural and complex, making it hard tobelieve that these sounds are presented untreated, just as they wererecorded. As a test, I played this for a friend without revealing thesource of the recordings. He immediately began to make all sorts ofassociations, from Alvin Lucier to Ryoji Ikeda to Whitehouse. When Irevealed the actual origin of these synthetic alien tones, his reactionwas shock and disbelief, followed by a jubilation and fascination thatsuch noises exist in nature. Listening to these four extended tracks —given titles like "Particle Swarm Intelligence" and "Brood X" thathighlight their other-worldliness — provoke some very deep thoughtsabout the possibility of hidden patterns in nature. The liner notes bymodern cultural provocateur Peter Lamborn Wilson (AKA Hakim Bey)outline these provocative questions. If this album was the work of ahuman being, we certainly would not hesitate to call it art. However,because these performances come from swarms of supposedly behavorial,mechanical, unselfconscious insects, it belongs to some other realm.The title of the album comes from a Burmese legend about a species ofdragonfly who court their mates with choruses of high-pitched screams.Those that don't succeed in mating eventually scream so loud theirhearts explode and they drop dead. It's an appropriately morbid imagefor this collection of unrelentingly piercing, shrill tones. Listeningon headphones at top volume is enough to send my pulse racing, puttingmy heart in serious danger of spontaneously combusting. Broken Hearted Dragonfliesputs nature back on the map as the source of the most complex,frightening and fascinatingly textural noises in the field of dronemusic. I hope my ears will stop ringing soon. 
A series of crisply recorded audio snapshots from producer Tucker Martine's travels through the West African countryside in the fall of 1998, Bush Taxi Mali is probably the most disarmingly beautiful of the five new entries to the Sublime Frequencies discography. Capturing singers and instrumentalists in several small villages in the heart of Mali, Martine's impressive recordings recreate a rich, brilliantly rendered portrait of the Mande and Dogon people comprised of guileless performances from guitar and Fulani flute players, choruses of children and stunning vocal performances.
This summer brings five new releases from Sublime Frequencies, arelatively young label that has already gained a reputation as one ofthe most unique sources of ethnic esoterica. Owned and operated byRichard and Alan Bishop of Sun City Girls, Sublime Frequencies hasalready released a clutch of superlative radio collages, fieldrecordings, compilations and video travelogues that have carved out aunique aesthetic that could be loosely termed extra-geographicalpsychedelia. Although their releases are invariably instructive on avariety of ethnic and cultural musical styles, they seem to functionbetter as a kind of World Noise; unfocused and messy, lacking structureand neat categorizations, a dizzying assortment of low-fidelity exoticathat transcends racial and national identities. The first of the newestgrouping of releases is a unique compilation culled from over 150 agingcassettes at the Asian branch of the Oakland public library. Thoughthis collection is subtitled Khmer Folk and Pop,the emphasis is clearly on the Pop side of things, with the majority ofthe tracks utilizing Western instrumentation and combining 60's dancemusic and psychedelic rock with indigenous Khmer styles. Those who haveheard Southeast Asian pop before will know that it can be insufferablyprecious and cutesy, and the music on this CD is no exception.Infantile female and male vocals tackle a variety of cloying pop tunes,with unexceptional keyboards and programmed rhythms, and the occasionalraunchy guitar solo. However, the range of the material chosen for thiscollection is quite remarkable, clearly having been chosen with care torepresent as many different styles as possible, with forays into rockinstrumentals, haunting ballads, garage-psych, dance music, synth-heavynew wave and easy listening jazz. Compiler Mark Gergis has avoided theinclusion of more recent Cambodian popular music, which tends toconsist of tiresome MIDI and karaoke variations on classic Khmer pop ofthe kind represented here. In contrast, most of the tracks here utilizereal instrumentalists and many also evidence unorthodox productiontechniques, such as the dislocated spring echoes of the unknown artiston track 19. Sadly Khmer pop music reached its apex of success in 1970,soon to be undermined by the ensuing civil war and the brutal Angkaregime. Under the tyrant Pol Pot, thousands of Khmer's musicians,artists, teachers and intellectuals were viewed as enemies of therevolution, and a staggering 90% were executed at the S-21interrogation center. Many of the post-1970 tracks on this compilationwere recorded by escapees throughout the Cambodian diaspora — fromThailand to Long Beach to Rhode Island. It's hard to imagine, listeningto the blissful innocence of tracks like "Don't Let My GirlfriendTickle Me," that at one time, merely performing this music was groundsfor arrest and execution. 
Low has amassed an incredible body of work in the eleven years sincetheir inception, this is more than likely due to the fact that Lowrespect their job as musicians more seriously than nearly every rockband in history, working seemingly overtime, writing music andconstantly touring. What started out as a few 7" singles andcompilation releases has exploded into a three-disc set of music plus afourth disc: a double-sided DVD with some home made documentaries andall their music videos! For a fan, this collection is a gift, packagedin what even looks like a pleasant, compact gift box. Unwrapping eachaudio pesent contained within is like Christmas for an easily excitablechild, featuring numerous recordings never commercially released,single a-sides and b-sides, compilation tracks, demos, and weird bitsand pieces the band never intended to go on any records. It might soundlike a mess to somebody just scratching the surface, yet, between someof the not-so-ready for our record bits are some of their mostincredible, and some of their most popular live songs. Early, scratchyrecordings of songs like "Lullaby," "Prisoner," and their cover ofWire's "Heartbeat" and the painful cover of Journey's "Open Arms" areprobably not going to find any new fans, but their popular livemainstay "Venus," covers of George Harrison's "Long, Long, Long," andSoul Coughing's "Blue Eyed Devil," along with vinyl LP bonus/raresingle tracks like "Tomorrow One," and "Don't Carry It All," couldeasily be some of what would make up a Greatest Hitsrecord. Each of the three CDs come painfully close to the 80 minutemark, the second even includes some live randomness of Low performingtheir songs in Misfits style, and while the documentaries are homegrown, they're entertaining and personal insights to the band and kidand their travels. Perhaps sometimes it's a bit too close and personal,but then again, anybody who know's Low's music knows they're prettyclose (or at least are good at giving that impression) to begin with. 
This double CD set reissues what is, in my opinion, the most thought-provoking and satisfying album by Organum, originally released as an LP from the mid-1980s. That it is paired with a frustrating singles compilation called "Rara Avis" makes me stop short from giving it a whole-hearted endorsement.
The fourth DVD release from Sublime Frequencies is a 50-minute
travelogue through the rural, impoverished region of Northeast
Thailand, an area known as Isan. The culture of Isan is distinct from
the rest of Thailand because of the marked Laotian and Khmer influence.
Because of its remoteness and relative poverty, Isan has escaped the
Westernizing reforms that have affected the rest of the country, thus
their indigenous culture and unique heritage has been well preserved
throughout their years. Documentarian Hisham Mayet shot this footage in
March of this year, and has done a very good job in capturing much of
the unique character of the region. The film opens with a traditional
ceremony and festival demonstrating the rich cultural heritage of the
four dominant tribes of Isan: Khmer, Suai, Lao and Yo. It showcases
marching regalia of costumed Thai, demonstrations of skills such as
fire-breathing, synchronized sword fighting and acrobatics, culminating
in a bizarre ritual involving the crowd throwing live chickens into the
air and chasing rabbits through the grass. Laotian women participate in
traditional dances, performing beautifully expressive hand gestures,
synchronized to syrupy Thai music that blares out of a distorted PA
system. The remainder of the travelogue features mainly raw
performances on traditional Isan instruments from a random assortment
of villagers and street musicians. Mr. Ken plays a bamboo khaen, a
large double-sided row of pipes that produce a complex, richly nuanced
sound with interior countermelodies. Mr. Thongbai plays the wod, a
circular arrangement of pan pipes that make an intoxicating and magical
sound. Mr. Thongsai plays a lively folk tune on a phin, a
three-stringed lute that is played identically to a guitar. A few
scenes shot inside gentlemen's clubs in the urban centers of Isan
follow, groups of costumed girls dancing seductively in a style known
as Lam Sing. The finale was recorded on a busy Bangkok street in the
early morning hours, and represents a traditional vocal style called
Lum Glawn. A woman sings along with an amazingly proficient performance
on the khaen pipes, her dynamic vocals flowing freely at breakneck
speed, to match the sophisticated peaks and valleys of the khaen. Isan is a delightful snapshot of a relatively unknown and unsung culture. 
Forms of Things Unknown is primarily the work of multi-instrumentalistand windplayer Ferrara Brain Pan, who has previously played with BoydRice and legendary krautrockers Faust. For his debut EP as Form ofThings Unknown, the artist tackles a galaxy of wind instruments,including bass clarinet, saxophone, flute, recorder, Tibetan thighbonetrumpet, didgeridoo and shakahuchi. Multiple overdubs and liberal sonicmutations push the material into the sort of dark, uneasy territoriesoccupied by Coil and Nurse With Wound, who seem to have exerted heavyinfluence on Mr. Pan. The first two tracks are two movements of thesame 16-minute piece, amusingly entitled "Black Candles &Pentagrams 'n Shit." Extended tape loops of the aforementioned hornscirculate slowly, as deep, vibratory foghorns blow across a murkylagoon at midnight. Occasional swipes of backwards-tracked soundcontribute a ritualistic mood to the proceedings, but the artistgracefully breathlessly bends and bows his performance to mesmericeffect. The next two tracks represent an instrumental and vocalarrangement of an anonymously composed 14th century devotional song.Monsieur Pan plays his courtly medieval recorders with aplomb, andvocalist Shannon Wolfe beautifully renders the Latin lyrics. The songis immediately reminiscent of Shirley and Dolly Collins and other1960's neo-medievalists, and that's enough to keep me smiling forweeks. The last track is an unorthodox arrangement of UK punk legendand former Buzzcock Howard Devoto's "Stupid Blood," from his latter dayLuxuria project. The song trips along at its own turgid pace, with Mr.Pan providing pleasurable blasts of layered brass and vocalist BobAyres delivering the lyrics in a stately baritone. The EP ends with anincredibly brief answering machine message left for Ferrara Brain Panby one Babs Santini, which has prompted the artist to label each copyof this EP with a sticker declaring "Special guest appearance by SteveStapleton of Nurse With Wound," thus hopefully luring unsuspecting NWWcompletists to buy his music. However misleading and manipulative thisstrategy seems, I don't think avid Nurse fans would be disappointed by Cross Purposesin the slightest, should they be tricked into purchasing it. On thecontrary, this is a dynamic and intriguing work, just the sort of thingyour average NWW fan would be in for.
At its simplest, this album proves yet again what exactly is wrong withthe major record label system: they don't know what to do with goodtalent, and they relentlessly promote the mediocre variety. Old 97swere the darlings of the indie rock scene, releasing one album on theirown and another for Bloodshot Records, throwing out their own brand ofpunkified countryness with a classic Old West feel. They wereeventually snatched up by Elektra, where they released three morerecords, every one an attempt by the band and the label — more thelatter than the former, I'd wager — to get that one true hit, makingthe songs poppier and poppier as they went along. They did pretty well,but their albums never really hit the big time, and eventually labeland band parted ways. This obviously triggered a return to the DIYmoments of their past, as their first album for their new label is atrue awakening of potential, and a bold statement about where a bandcan go on their own if they're not prodded and poked. Old 97s of oldhad fire and spunk, but still held on to their roots, maintaining aflavor and sound that was decidedly uncommercial, as it was unsurewhere they fit in. That feel, that classic "we don't know if this isgoing to work" vibe, is all over these songs, and the band sound betterthan ever. This is wholesale rejuvenation, with every band memberpulling out their very best, and letting the true directions of theband set in. Drag It Upwas recorded on eight tracks, and most vocals recorded in one room withone microphone. It sounds dirty, uneven, and like the band wanted totake chances. The record features guitarist Ken Bethea's first stab atlead vocals on "Coahuila," and while not a brilliant first effort, thetrack has the most energy of any on the record. Bassist Murry Hammondsings a few tracks, as usual, and as usual I'm not real fond of thosesongs, though they are still great slices of storytelling. When allpieces fall into place, it's like all the stars aligned and the trueshape of the constellation can be revealed. Rhett Miller's clean wailis better than ever on songs like "Bloomington" and "The New Kid," andhe even warbles here and there, letting the little imperfections makeit all better. What it all adds up to is that five albums along Old 97sare experiencing a rebirth, and the sky's the limit. 
Philippe Besombes was a Ph.D. student with an abiding interest incontemporary electro-acoustic music, an interest that led him tocollaborate and play with Jean Michel Jarre, Jean-Francois Dessoliers(as PJF) and Jean-Louis Rizet (as Pole). Both Besombes' and Pole'snotoriety have been sealed by their inclusion on Steven Stapleton andJohn Fothergill's famous Nurse With Wound Influence List, whichappeared in the liner notes for NWW's debut album. Israel's MIO recordshas been doing quite a good job in issuing rarities from the NWW listlately, and this CD is no exception. Comprising the entire original1974 LibraLP on Tapioca (composed as the soundtrack to the film of the samename), MIO also generously adds four tracks from the same general timeperiod, filling out the running time of the disc to 76 minutes.Besombes' unorthodox work nervously straddles two strikingly differentdimensions - avant-garde electronic composition and the contemporaryEuropean prog and psych-rock prevalent at the time. Besombes negotiatesthis dichotomy rather brilliantly, producing a spectacularly uniquealbum that pulls in influences seemingly from everything the artistever heard in his lifetime. The paltry three samples below simply can'treflect the true variety of approaches on the album, from the jarringmetallic drones and disturbingly strangled vocals of "La Plage" to thecosmic Indian twang of "Raggacountry" to the languid fuzz guitar loungeof "Ballade en Velo." Besombes employs various synthesizers, Moogs,electric sitars, oscillators and a studio full of rock session playersto achieve the stunning dynamics of the album. "Boogimmick" is asynth-drenched heavy blues stomp in the style of Hawkwind, but alsoseeming simultaneously to function as an absurdist parody of suchmusic. "Hache 6" stands out, a heavily phased funk excursion,reminiscent of the kind of eclectic library music uncovered by LukeVibert and Barry 7 on their Lo Recordings compilations. Before thealbum is over, I'm treated to an atonal free-jazz meltdown ("LaVille"), a science-fiction fanfare of mind-altering proportions ("LesCosmonautes") and a lovely psych ballad ("Tis a Song"). Bonus tracksrange from a funky breakbeat jazz number with female vocals to anamazingly textured, 20-plus minute piece for prepared piano. Libra is a fantastic album, in that rare category of storied, obscure albums that actually deserve their reputation.
Geir Jenssen lives in a different world. From his Artic Circle perchthe man called Biosphere is building a body of work as iconoclastic asAphex Twin, with as much eerie remove and accidental influence. Albumslike Patashnik and Substrataare landmarks in ambient music not because they spawned a millionrip-offs but because they work within a recognizable stylisticblueprint to create absolutely alien music, threatening total immersionto even the most cautious of "background" listeners. Jenssen's last,2002's Shenzhou found him treading further towards alienatingextremes, something like a pitch-black homage to Debussy, withorchestra samples stretched thin and opaque across an ocean of icy,crevice-filled ambience (in other words, what we all wished Drukqs had been). Autour,commissioned by French radio last year, not only rejects anything closeto a wide "radio" audience, but it is by far the most trying Biosphererelease thus far, with Jenssen moving past the beat-less transparenciesbegun with Substrata and into a harsh meditation on deep-space,a 74-minute confined drift that begins well into the air-less upperregions and does not conclude until positioned hopelessly within adimensionless dump-off on the darker side of some heavenly body.Occupying a third of the disc's length, the opening "Translation" actslike the final kiss-off to Earth and the earthen sounds that often finda place in Biosphere music. A rebus of plastic tones, entwined withenough care to erase all human touch, becomes a sky-like ceiling withwhich groaning engine sounds and whining drones struggle in a pitilessslipping, past the threshold and into the heart of Autour. Apart from a track or two based around a few distorted samples from a 60s radio dramatization of Jules Verne's De la Terre à la Lune(the "focus" of the 2003 commission) and actual recordings of MIRastronauts, the majority of the disc develops a vacuous, unsettlingatmosphere made up of seriously subsonic bass frequencies and shrill,synthetic tones dividing and encasing the deliberate arcs and hiddentextures of each of the nine "movements." By the sixth track,"Circulaire," the trip has arrived at a false ending of sorts, anoff-putting climax where the piece grounds out to two dissentingsounds, one a near-inaudible below-bass pulse and the other thesinister calm of a solid flatline. From this remote place, more Onkyothan Eno, Jenssen really has nowhere to drift except slowly backtowards the beginning, to the lush plasticities of "Trombant," almostcoming full circle on the opening track but stopping short, allowingmelody and lush texture enough footing only to remind us of what hasbeen left behind. Melodies emerge, like the aimless cosmonaut voicesamples, as if beamed from a great distance, light years into theblack, like ghosts of a human presence long since abandoned. Autouris not easy listening, and if it doesn't stand as the most returnableplace in the Biosphere catalog, it's only because Jenssen has neversounded so remote and thoroughly haunting.
