08 February 2004

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Albums and Singles

Enterruption
Larsen never lacked a sense of beauty. Even on the most catharticrushes of adrenalin guitar mayhem that erupted at opportune moments ontheir stunning Michael Gira-produced album Rever,they always had an air of ritual mystery and a mystical energy thatperhaps recalled other intense Europeans Deity Guns and Neubauten, witha nod to prime New York avant rock. There are ancient monumentalshadows looming over and cast by their muse. Having lost bassist SilviaGross to jazz, Larsen are now a quartet with a more stripped-down,instrumental sound, which is no doubt going to see them get a fewgodspeed comparisons. Every ringing guitar note and accordian dronehits home in an uplifting spirited enunciation of landscapes bothcinematic and emotional. It's no surprise to discover that they'veplayed gigs supporting Thalia Zedek, who no doubt found them kindredspirits. While on Rever there were occasional jousts of LiveSkull dual guitar hellfire, here, heavy ponderous drums hit home withthe same melancholic deliberation as Come and Thalia's more recent solorecordings. MUSM was originally a very limited US tour CD-R butis now getting a wider release on CD and vinyl. It opens with a collagefrom Larsen's long unavailable debut album, No Arms No Legs: Identification Problems and a couple of remastered tracks from that album which set the scene but are soon surpassed. Half of MUSMwas recorded as a soundtrack to Winsor McCay's animation"Cartoanimalettimatti." These five tracks are certainly rivetingstanding alone, more enticing melodic entanglements unfurling withevery repeat listening, yet it would've been nice to have seen some ofthe animations on the computer section of the CD-R. "How a MosquitoOperates" circles inexorably towards some bloody climax, and "TheSinking of the Lusitania" is suitably aquatic, each dramatic pausebetween chords seeming to let more water seep in. There is anunrecognizably mutated version of Syd Barret's "Vegetable Man," whichopens with an accordian drone elegy, before sleigh bells and guitarpangs rise slowly above creaking turnip brains. A short outtake from arecent rehearsal session ends the album with a hesitant question mark.However the highlight of MUSM might well be the film of Larsenperforming a majestic slow building instrumental in a Polish cathedral,not so much for the film itself which fades images of the band walkingthe glowing night time streets of Gdansk with their static stagepresence, but for the music which would have been nice to have had asregular audio. Maybe this is a hint of even better things to come andwill appear on a future album? Larsen have two more albums in thepipeline, including collaborations with Lustmord and Jarboe. If they'reeven half as fine as this, they'll be utterly essential. 

samples:

• Rebirth
• How a Mosquito Operates
• Vegetable Man

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08 February 2004

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Albums and Singles

Beta-Lactam Ring
The peat bogs of Northern Europe have been the source of some of themost exciting archaeological finds of last century. Fortuitously, thechemical content of these viscous pools of goo was such that corpsesfished out thousands of years later were hardly decomposed at all,allowing anthropologists to solve many a historical riddle of the earlyIron Age. Bog Bodies are currently on display at the Museum of Ireland,stunningly lifelike bronzed cadavers, many fully dressed in the costumeof the period. Earthmonkey is the work of a homo erectus named PeatBog, who has managed a similar archaeological excavation on Audiosapien.Perhaps it is less significant to the scientific community, butEarthmonkey's terrestrial, Neolithic stomp is a deliriously accuratereconstruction of the hairiest psych-prog of 30 years past. This is nota zoo-bound monkey of the poo-throwing variety; this monkey is aholdover from a previous evolutionary phase, a giant ape that boundsacross the fertile landscape on its knuckles looking for sustenance,but finding only amanita muscaria on which to subsist. So thisEarthmonkey vibrates to an ancient shamanistic current, riding the waveof Terrence McKenna's archaic revolution, which Peat Bog translatesinto a series of deep and droning rhythmic jazz-rock jams, liberallysprinkled with moondust by producer Steven Stapleton. This pairingmakes sense, as Peat Bog has collaborated with Nurse With Wound onseveral releases as Inflatable Sideshow, and Stapleton's productiontouches jettison this material straight to the heart of the Kraut. Therhythms on Audiosapien are of the trance-inducing JakiLiebezeit mould, with a variety of lysergically-effected guitar riffs,saxophone blasts and atmospheric electronic textures, unashamedlyevoking mid-period of Amon Duul II or arcane Kosmische jam bands Kraanand Xhol Caravan. This hairy, future-primitive quagmire is augmented bycontemporary beat constructions, which places Earthmonkey vaguely inthe techno-prog neighborhood of The Orb and Eat Static. "Reflections OnNative Yard 52" lifts the bassline from The Rolling Stones' "2000 LightYears From Home," but veers into an entirely different wormhole: acyclical rhythm that perpetually reigns in the cosmic bounce of thelead guitar. Elsewhere, the roll of a didgeridoo creates a droning,ethnicized backdrop for mellow grooves, every empty space filled withghostly vocal samples and bizarre Stapletonian textures. The plot ofthe Lord of the Rings is recounted by a young British lad withsound-effects accompaniment on "'And They Go Off To This Place...,'"and the two-part song suite of "Burningman" attempts to evoke theprimitive desert paganism at the heart of the annual Nevadafestival/rave/catharsis. The deeply stoned third-eye soloing on "MakeMe One With Everything" is so immersive, it makes the goofy song titlealmost completely forgivable. Plumbed from the depths of Ireland'sgelatinous fens, Audiosapien is the sound of psychedeliade-evolving into the shaggy depths of a dimly remembered past. And mostimportantly, it doesn't suck. 

samples:

• Reflections On Native Yard 52
• Burningman Pt. 2
• Make Me One With Everything

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08 February 2004

Albums and Singles

Beta-Lactam Ring
In adidition to a fourth LP side not available on the CD edition, Beta-Lactam Ring's double vinyl edition of Audiosapien also comes with a bonus 12" billed as Earthmonkey vs. Nurse With Wound. Hanu @ Basecloudis a welcome companion to the album, and could even stand on its ownquite well as a short LP. The record is introduced by the legendaryJimmy Carl Black of the Mothers of Invention, intoning his famous linewhich will be very familiar to Zappa fans: "Hi, I'm Jimmy Carl Black,I'm the Indian of the group, and you're listening to...Earthmonkey!"This auspicious introduction is sampled, spliced, chopped and pouredlike lumpy gravy over the rest of this sidelong track, a powerfullyhallucinogenic slab of fierce, majestic psych-rock that phases all overthe stereo channels. I'm guessing that Nurse With Wound's contributionlies in the incongruous vocal snippets and samples sprinkled liberallythroughout these tracks, adding just the right amount of strangenessand complexity to the primitive Kraut jams. Side B is a different beastaltogether, a Middle Eastern-textured psych excursion with a dark,shuffling beat overlaid with snaking funk guitars, horn bleats andhair-raising washes of surrealistic sound. It's a bit reminiscent ofthe soundtrack to Fantastic Planet, pulled through the other side of an hashish tent filled with ranting bedouins. This 12" is just as accomplished as Audiosapien, but with an intensity and focus that makes it even easier to return to.

samples:

• Hanu @ Base Cloud
• Echobase

08 February 2004

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Albums and Singles

Zo?
The much-hyped alt-country troubadour commemorates her long tour in support of her debut album Failerwith this short but sweet live EP/DVD. The DVD portion is just thevideos for the first two tracks on the debut, "Six O'Clock News" and"One More Song the Radio Won't Like." They're quaint, simple affairsthat really don't follow the plots of the songs but show off the manyfaces of Edwards, so the videos themselves are a bit of filler. Clipslike these are for fans only anyway, as if you didn't see it on TV andit wasn't a hit, you'll never see it again. In that regard then,they're a nice addition. The live tracks aren't filler at all,thankfully, as they really show off how Edwards can lay it on thickwhen she wants to. In promoting the record, she appeared on all thelate-night talk shows, performed the single, schmoozed it up. But theperformances themselves on the shows were lacking, honestly, as if thiswas just another in a long line of essential evils that needed to befulfilled. On the EP's tracks, recorded — obviously — at the Bowery inNew York, Edwards lets her hair down and feels the songs a bit more.And though her voice warbles a bit here and there, it's not adetraction and she still comes off as great as all the hype makes hersound. "National Steel" was my favorite track on her album, and it getsthe full treatment, frailty and all, with small changes in voice hereand there as needed. Edwards starts it off alone, but when the bandkicks in, let's just say I hope she's paying them what they deserve,cause they bring it full scale. Guitarist Colin Cripps adds great licksand capable backing vocals, too, making the songs sound darn near theirstudio counterparts in tone. "Hockey Skates" next, and it's obvious howmuch the fans love it as they cheer it on when it starts. It's looser,and Edwards lazes her way through it, but no matter as it's still agreat song. Closing out the too short experience is a clever cover ofAC/DC's "Money Talks." It shows Edwards influences, sense of humor, andability to throw a good curve. I wish the EP had been longer, but it'senough to tide fans like me over until the next awe-strikingfull-length. 

samples:

• National Steel
• Hockey Skates
• Money Talks

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08 February 2004

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Albums and Singles

If he is mentioned at all, Martijn de Kleer is mentioned primarily for his job as twice lead guitarist and youngest member of The Legendary Pink Dots. Produced by LPD mainstay Raymond Steeg, and boasting guest appearances from drummer Cevin Key (Tear Garden, Skinny Puppy) and bassist Ryan Moore, So Close Yet So Far Out uses an impressive variety of approaches and instrumentation, by far outstripping any of the usual implications of a solo guitar album. In addition to playing some deliciously fried fuzz guitar, de Kleer also tackles bass, synthesizer, organ and some surprisingly passable vocals. What he accomplishes is a psych-rock long-player with shades of damaged 60's psychedelia, shoegazer pop, and a clear affection for the rich, textural space dementia of Hallway of the Gods-era LPD.Beta-Lactam Ring

It's no coincidence that "New" is the English equivalent of Neu!, as the song owes a debt to Rother and Dinger, a chugging organ-and-drum beat that form the perfect backdrop for de Kleer's fragile vocals and brain-sizzling guitar. "Delayed Chemistry" is propelled by de Kleer's lyric, a compact pop song boasting dense production and a ridiculously shredding guitar solo. It's a bit reminiscent of Bevis Frond's work, which is saying a lot. "Jet Lag" is a favorite, a heavy-as-shit anthemic blast of stoner metal, heavily phased and placed alongside the screaming engine of a jumbo jet. An actual White Mountain Apache storyteller narrates a mystical tale against a backdrop of de Kleer's mellow psych on "What Happened To A Young Man...," and the whole thing sounds a bit like a fantasy soundtrack to one of Jim Morrison's peyote trips. The cyclical lyrical refrain of "You Are..." is exploited to gradually lift the track into the stratosphere on an ectoplasmic crest of swirling guitar effects. "The Apple Crumble Trail" is a 25-minute meditational soundscape utilizing field recordings of Himalayan villagers, expanding into a masterpiece of slow-cooked rock splendor that gy!be and their ilk would be too cynical to produce.

samples:

• New
• Jet Lag
• What Happened To A Young Man In A Place Where He Turned To Water

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08 February 2004

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Albums and Singles

M
Ryan Moore's bedroom dub albums have taken him far beyond any of theacclaim and recognition of his stint as the bassist for the LegendaryPink Dots, garnering almost unanimous critical praise. Twilight CircusDub Sound System succeeds because of its deceptive simplicity; themusic seems to be an alarmingly precise and studied recreation of theoriginal, groundbreaking 1970s dub by progenitors King Tubby and LeePerry. The warm, organic textures, the unashamedly melodic basslines,the deliberately messy live instrumentation and atmposphere arecompletely without peer on the current scene, dominated byboundary-pushing German artists such as Pole and Rhythm & Sound,who often surgically excise reggae's soul in their clinical pursuit ofpost-dub experimentalism. All of Moore's albums up to this point havebeen exclusively instrumental dub, using a minimal palette to portrayhis signature sound. After eight or so albums however, this limitingformula would have become repetitive to all but the most hardcoreclassic dub fans. Foundation Rockerstakes a deliberate step into new waters — a collection of vocal dubs bya number of great Jamaican vocalists with full horn sections andtop-notch production. I am happy to report that the album is abeautiful accomplishment — a warm, wet, nuanced album that is entirelyredolent of classic dub productions, but with a creative edge thatkeeps it from becoming a retro exercise. The legendary Big Youthcontributes the de rigeur antiwar vocals on "Love Is What We Need," amellow, vibe-y song that gets even better after it's been dipped intothe Amsterdam bongwater on "Dub Is What We Need." Luciano's laments forpeace and unity float alongside Moore's gloriously rocksteady rhythmsand vibratory bassline on "What We Got To Do." "Alpha Skank" in aninstrumental track spotlighting the talents of the Might Three Hornsbrass section that lend their considerable talents to the whole album.Every track is a winner here, but Mykal Rose's particularly hauntingcrooning on "No Burial," as well as Moore's heartbreaking guitar fills,push the song to the top of the heap. Foundation Rockers is anextraordinarily lovely album of reverential dub reggae that exceedsexpectations and delivers on the promises of Moore's back catalog.

samples:

• Dub Is What We Need - Big Youth
• Alpha Skank - Mighty Three Horns
• No Burial - Mykal Rose

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08 February 2004

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Albums and Singles

Staalplaat
Greg Davis' music is difficult to not like. If abstract computer musicis at all your thing (and it occasionally is mine), Davis' is nothingif not pleasant. It exudes a serene positiveness—an easy and smilingwarmth. The music of this disc, culled from a live radio session onVPRO in Amsterdam and featuring songs that appeared on his previouslyreleased albums and singles, appears to be grounded in folk and popsongs with the structures gently splayed into digital dots. StephanMathieu and Christian Fennesz tread along paths such as this one, butDavis' music is remarkable in that, despite the random bleeping noises,there are no sharp edges to it at all. It's inoffensive, innocuous,fading into the background just as readily as it intruiges (to thosewho wish to engage it in this manner) with the richness of itscomponent sounds. When Davis finally sings and plays acoustic guitar inthe Beach Boys cover that closes this album, I imagine him sitting withhis laptop at the bedside of a child, tucking her in and lulling her tosleep. Or else he's sitting on a swing in some lush garden on a sunnyafternoon, soaking in the sun and running some loose melodies through aMax patch. This could easily veer off into Nobukazu Takemura-likequasi-New Age drool, but somehow it remains tasteful. Only a real cyniccould not smile along with him. 
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08 February 2004

Albums and Singles

Audiosphere
This collaboration began during a performance at Tonic in NYC celebrating the release of Willits' Folding, and the Tea,still one of my favorites on Deupree's 12k label. Willits' style ofguitar processing, a method he calls "folding," involves the digitalreassembling of plucked rhythms and melodies in a way that resists bothfragment pile-up techniques and a tired glitch aesthetic. Theaccurately "folded" results show evidence of computerized cuts, falsestops, and redirections, but each piece also retains the timbre andirregular sustain of the guitar itself, as if Willits' laptop were justanother pedal at his feet, each uncanny alteration arriving seamlessly,swift as the click of a heel. Folding would not be asimpressive, however, if the guitarist's playing were not sounderhandedly melancholic. Without the rolling minor chords of someonelike Fennesz, Willits brings emotion to his music in a more subtle way,producing fragile, staggered tonal clusters, taking on weight only asthey are creased and misaligned during the "folding" process. The "tea"to which his debut's title refers is clearly not the skyward,psychedelic brew filling fellow lap-tarist Joseph Suchy's glass, butmore like a strong herbal black, the kind meant to accompany sittingand staring into surfaces. Taylor Deupree's earthbound approach tomicro-tonal sound arrangement is a perfect match for the concentrated,tactile element of Willits' work. Fostered by the growth of his 12kimprint, Deupree's now-mature style has developed around a minimalistdissection of sound, a mapping of sound particles in a way that, likeWillits', avoids an obsession with glitch-ist process, ordeconstruction per se. Instead, Deupree, along with the expanding 12kroster, favors a highly suggestive magnification of sound events thatfeels wholly related to human gesture and the surrounding world, fullof miniature drama and plaintive tug. Most of the music on Audiosphere 08comes from live sessions where Deupree uses Willits' guitar, run firstthrough the folding box, as source material for his microsoundinvestigations. The live setup creates a kind of circular dialogueresulting in some remarkably focused compositions. Up close, theproduct of the collaboration is predictable: the dominance of Willits'guitar gives the tunes a buoyancy and a more present melodic portionthan Deupree is used to, and the latter's position in the backgroundsituates the guitar's colorful folds in a crisp stew of tiny sounds,ranging from the static skips and jumps more typical of Deupree's solooutput to assertive drones, pulsing as if stripped from the core of aplucked string. At greater remove, isolating each musician'scontribution becomes not only impossible, but a easily forgotteninterference in the enjoyment of these tracks, so much so that the twosolo live tracks also included make for an interesting look at just howmuch one of these guys brings to the table. As a release, Audioshere 08holds up surprisingly well among the intimidating previous output ofits contributors, and as a collaboration, this music is a stunningachievement, a beautiful rounded sound that leaves me hoping this duowill record again.

samples:

• Bloom
• Simple Sleep
• Deupree Live@Tonic, NYC 11.26.02

08 February 2004

Albums and Singles

Dekorder
Dekorder is a new label/distributor based in Hamburg and founded by thesame people behind the now-defunct Disco Bruit imprint. Kicking offwith an impressive group of 3" discs and 10" records, the label seemsto pick up where Bruit left off, furthering its juxtaposition of thebubbly, cut-and-paste electronica dominating labels like Sonig anddarker digital landscaping characteristic of groups like Jazzkammer andnew Hafler Trio. Dekorder's first release comes from Barcelona-basedmulti-instrumentalist Un Caddie Renvers? Dans l'Herbe who has justreleased a full-length CD on the label, breaking up their 3"/10"streak. If this mini-disc is any indication of the sound of his newermaterial, I can comfortably recommend hunting it down. The music flowsfrom an impressive range of sources, including a number of Sub-Saharaninstruments, cello and guitar, all fed through software to createsparse but effective compositions that develop in a deceptive,half-improvised manner sometimes reminiscent of the work of Sack &Blumm. The sound of the Mbira (thumb-piano) dominates much of thedisc's 20 minutes, cut into elaborate chiming patterns, never gaudy,and invaluable to the continental vibe drifting off most everything.The laptop thankfully sticks to the background of Weird Taste,performing cutting and looping functions almost exclusively, lettingthe soul of the instruments and Un Caddie's breezy playing do most ofthe talking. Even at their most repetitive, the artist's piano andguitar figures maintain a hypnotic, truly cinematic bent thatimmediately separates the music from the majority of small-formatlaptop productions. Un Caddie has many more releases, including severalthrough his own Ooze.Bap label and the newer Dekorder release Like A Packed Cupboard But Quite?, making this 3" the perfect introduction to a refreshing new face that will undoubtedly provide for future discoveries. 

samples:

• A Warm Fistfull of Silk
• To Deconstruct A Dream
• That's If You Want It, Locked Anymore

08 February 2004

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Albums and Singles

Dekorder
For the second Dekorder release, Denmark's Voks delivers a 3" thatlacks Un Caddie's adventurous sound-grabbing, but is no less colorful.With former releases including a spot on Goodiepal's V/VM 7" series,Voks makes intensely na?ve computer music, revealing an obsession fortoy instrument sounds and dawdling, childlike rhythms. These songs arenot playful in the punky, campy style of artists like DAT Politics orthe oddball fringe of the Sonig label; instead, Vaks Vanskab Akis more of a mood piece, despite its more flamboyant qualities. Tracksreject dominant melodic roles; rather, sounds scatter in loosecompliment of each other, haphazardly forming recognizable motifs, likethe loose Middle Eastern feel that invades songs like "Hottenslot" and"Tuuie." The disc acts like a scatterbrained attempt at scoring anabsurdist's animated short, full of swift mood swings but with enoughopen space to imply corresponding action or visual reference. Vaks Vanskab Akwould make a perfect backdrop for the bizarre puppet show pictured onits cover in which skeletal figures ride elephants and giant chickens,though I'd warn against extending its 20-min. length. Voks shows acharming command over his arsenal of tinkering toys and popping synthsounds, but a move to larger format will require a furtherconsolidating of ideas and perhaps some NyQuil for the manic innerchild who gets carried away ad nauseam on a few of these.

samples:

• Hottenslot
• Tuuie
• Klarina

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