Carsten Nicolai (aka Noto/Alva Noto) has been collaborating via e-mailwith several different but like-minded artists lately: with à for"Wohltemperiert", with Ryoji Ikeda for Cyclo, with Scanner for"Uniform" and here with Thomas Knak (aka Opiate) for the latest in the'static' bag series. Knak records solo under his own name as well asOpiate and Gloria Hirsch, is a member of Future 3 and worked with Bjùrkon her latest, "Vespertine". These tracks, referred to simply as optofiles 1 through 4, total a little over 33 minutes and fit right in withthe static aesthetic. Nicolai's digital glitches rhythmically singaccompaniment to Knak's simple, lazy melodies. Add bass swells, simmerand stir occasionally. It's a comfy balance between fireside warmth andgoose pimple chill. 1 and 3 are just the right length, the latteradding a tasty beat, while 2 is way too long and 4 is way too short,the latter being the most minimal of all. Nice ...
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"Transform" is Nicolai solo as Alva Noto and it is his second disc assuch for Mille Plateaux, follow-up to last year's "Prototypes". Bothare all about minimalism deeply rooted in microscopic mathematicalcoding and structure. It's kinda funny now because I really enjoy(ed)the first disc and was looking forward to more in a similar vein at thetime, but now that I have it I'm not as satisfied as I should be.Unfortunately for me (and perhaps Nicolai) is that in the time that haspassed between the two albums his collaborations with others haveinjected new and different blood into the mix with varying and excitingresults. With "Transform" were back to just Nicolai's evolutionarycomposition techniques and standard set of audio building blocks - thefull range of waves, pulses and drones, glitches, metallic pops andclicks, etc. The quality of his solo work is just as good but myperception of it has changed some ... it seems exceedingly academic andsterile in comparison now. That said, there are still a number ofmildly funky (well, about as funky as a German with a laptop canpossibly be) grooves to be found among the 10 tracks or 'modules' asthey're referred to here. But here's hoping that more collaborativework is in store.
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Peter Rehberg may be familiar as Pita and Ramon Bauer as General Magic,both of whom are usually at home on the Mego label. However, they'vebeen documenting noisy rhythms emanating from errors over the course ofa trilogy of CD's on Touch. Never ones to stick closely to a rulebook(except perhaps 'How to Rewire Your Fridge') the third CD is actuallyculled from Australian live performances by the Austrian duo. Once pastthe irritating over the top intro from a swearing local 'celebrity'it's over the top laptop noise all the way. Really this has as much incommon with Rehberg's Pita material as it does the earlier 'ballt' and'Fasst' installments. Maybe that's because the glitch is seen by thecogniscenti to have become a bit of a cliche in the five years since'Fasst' emerged twitching and humming into the twilight. The CD isindexed into 13 tracks over the course of four titles, so on randomplay cuts three of the noisescapes into 2 to 7 chunks which actuallywork off each other very well in any order. I suspect that Rehberg andBauer would actively encourage even greater listener interaction. Trydownloading the samples below and hacking, chopping and mulching themto your own requirements. I had a lot of fun doing just that withsamples from the last General Magic CD. Which is not to suggest that'passt' isn't a fine listen in itself. Its crackles and pops andmeasured descents into howling digital whirlwinds are fine exercises inreigning in and controlling chaos. From heartbeat pulses to emergencywhite noise whiteouts, Rehberg and Bauer keep things moving at a fingerclicking pace. Halfway through the longest closing excursion intomounting dissonance, 'Revolver', the influence of Bruce Gilbert'slatter day solo work is readily apparent, and recommendations don'tcome much higher than that. Like 'In Esse' or the Speedranch^JanskyNoise 'Live at the Scala' disc, these are noise works with so manylayers and masked shifts that repeated listening is essential to makeheads into tails. Piccadilly Records were impressed enough to remarkthat the album has a nice cover and These Records have described'passt' as the first comedy laptop record. So where does that leaveV/Vm and their horrible covers?
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When Beatles tributes take the stage someone has to put it back. Stadium bores with hands behind backs and whiny nasal voices are pelted with rancid eggs, fat squishy tomatoes, tubs of lard and mouldy old dough by young hackers who forgot John Lennon before they were even born. Suddenly backdrop collapses and the thin squawking of union jack guitars is drowned by big nasty laptop noise eruptions. Two men in pig masks are revealed and cabbage leaves are thrown to the throng.
To the butchered tune of 'Hey Jude' a new anthem is dedicated gloriously writhing in eternal hacked ridicule: "Na Na Na, Na Na Na Na, We Hate You!" Stadium bores dissolve into puddles of plagiarist goo and Madonna bumps and grinds across the stage until she knocks over the achey breaky hard drive and is declared a filthy slut by a horde of rampaging alien porno midgets. The Caretaker gives pause for organ reflection before the sucker MC Russ Abbot is airlifted into the stadium to announce the happiest atmosphere at any party he's ever been to! Even the timely demise of Big Ron, whose liver erupts with all the excitement, can't put a dampener on the stomp. Russ's biro tache gets the biggest round of applause yet, but is soon upstaged by the 'Mod Theme' courtesy of Gai/Jin (Hrvatski in a monkey suit) whose frantic dum'n'base remix of the jolly mouldy old dough anthem is even better than anything you've heard by the legendary Karl Cocks ever! But you ain't seen nothing yet! Remi Moses and Devil Chan drive huge trash trains into the arena and the music fighters and ghostbusters hurl it all around until the place is full of garbage as far as the nose can smell. The stench of rancid trotters, rotten cabbage and mouldy old dough fills the air. A giant pig mask appears in the sky above the stadium, cackling, "We did it because we HATE you!" Fade out to eerie strains of 'The Bleeding' from Icon of Throat. Aphex Twin didn't show up, and no one gave a fuck.
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- Icon of Throat - The Bleeding
- Gai/Jin - Mod Theme
- V/Vm - Hate You (full length)
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When I think back to the early 1990s, three albums stick out in my mindas being timeless classics: The Las, The Stone Roses, and 'Loveless'from My Bloody Valentine. Unfortunately, these bands had recordingsbefore these records (and in one case after), which fail (miserably) toreach the stunning climax of their staple album, leaving their mark onthe world as an imperfect existence. To its credit, the recent MyBloody Valentine collection of older EPs is much better than both fromthe Las and Stone Roses 'Garage Flowers'. If you're looking for thenext best thing to a follow-up from 'Loveless', however, you will be infor a disappointment. While the airy open voice male and female vocalsand heavily distorted guitars are recognizable, it's a cross betweenjangly pop and the occasional dark distorted track, often giving aretrospective nod to more obscure 1960s rock stuff. My Bloody Valentinewere certainly not in their own element quite yet. There is a certainalmost indescribable charm to it however, despite the poor production,embarassing lyrics and crummy artwork. Perhaps they were trying toohard not to sound like The Smiths but couldn't escape the traps of thecontemporary music as these EPs most likely doubled as a demos backthen. It's worth the cheap price but if you see the disc going for ajacked-up import cost, there's no need to bother.
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Though recorded in 1999, the latest Hed Nod Session is just now finallyupon us from Montreal's Hushush. This one is on candy red transparentvinyl and, unfortunately, it is the last one on vinyl due to financialissues (future sessions will be split CDs with other artists). Youshould know what to expect from Harris by now, especially for thisseries of limited edition (300) 33 rpm LPs: killer beats spinning slowand hitting low. Slower and lower than most of Harris' work as Scorn.Each of the 3 tracks per side, about a half hour total, consists of ahip hop stylized beat, a dark atmosphere, deep bass bumps and swells.And once Harris lays down the minimal groove, he sticks with it, soyou'd better be a fan of repetition. "Shorting" takes the cake on SideA with it's crisp snare rush loop propulsion. "Sweet As" starts offside B tediously, its beat being relatively limp and thedownwardcascading sound loop growing tiresome after a few minutes. But"Where" and "Then 3 More" recover very nicely, carrying on where side Aleft off. Every time I spin one of these records I realize minuteslater that I'm subconsciously swaying back and forth and/or nodding myhead. Proof positive that Harris is doing something right.
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The name Pale 3 has now been bestowed upon to the three-person team whohave composed two soundtracks prior to this one, 'Winter Sleepers' from1996 and 'Run Lola Run' from 1998. This time around, the trio teamed upwith a host of some of the most buzzworthy female singers in modern andelectronic music to complete a full-length release which accompaniesthe score. The first half of the disc are seven songs which featureSkin, Louise Rhodes (from Lamb), Alison Goldfrapp (of Goldfrapp), AnitaLane (Bad Seeds/solo), Beth Hirsch (solo/Air guest appearances), andthe film's star Franka Potente. While most of these are not from themovie itself, the trio has taken the skeletal work of many film themesand developed them into complete songs with the said singers. Fans ofthe 'Run Lola Run' soundtrack would probably be impressed with theelectronics once again exhibited here. Lush soundscapes fill the soundspectrum, heavy with emotion, while each singer delivers rather dry andalmost heartless performances in contrast. From the opening track withSkin, I have to admit I wasn't impressed as the tune sounds much like aripoff cross between Portishead's "Roads" and Radiohead's "PyramidSong", yet the two following tracks from Louise Rhodes and FrankaPotente seemingly make the purchase worthwhile. The second half of thedisc features straight score from the film and recycles many themesheard in the vocal tracks from the first half. It's decent and amust-have for Lamb, Goldfrapp and Anita Lane fans, but as the movie is,your life won't be different if you miss it.
samples:
- Louise Rhodes - Escape (afraid of no one)
- Franka Potente - Fly with Me
- Alison Goldfrapp - Bodo
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Carsten Nicolai (aka Noto/Alva Noto) has been collaborating via e-mailwith several different but like-minded artists lately: with à for"Wohltemperiert", with Ryoji Ikeda for Cyclo, with Scanner for"Uniform" and here with Thomas Knak (aka Opiate) for the latest in the'static' bag series. Knak records solo under his own name as well asOpiate and Gloria Hirsch, is a member of Future 3 and worked with Bjùrkon her latest, "Vespertine". These tracks, referred to simply as optofiles 1 through 4, total a little over 33 minutes and fit right in withthe static aesthetic. Nicolai's digital glitches rhythmically singaccompaniment to Knak's simple, lazy melodies. Add bass swells, simmerand stir occasionally. It's a comfy balance between fireside warmth andgoose pimple chill. 1 and 3 are just the right length, the latteradding a tasty beat, while 2 is way too long and 4 is way too short,the latter being the most minimal of all. Nice ...
samples:
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The name Pale 3 has now been bestowed upon to the three-person team whohave composed two soundtracks prior to this one, 'Winter Sleepers' from1996 and 'Run Lola Run' from 1998. This time around, the trio teamed upwith a host of some of the most buzzworthy female singers in modern andelectronic music to complete a full-length release which accompaniesthe score. The first half of the disc are seven songs which featureSkin, Louise Rhodes (from Lamb), Alison Goldfrapp (of Goldfrapp), AnitaLane (Bad Seeds/solo), Beth Hirsch (solo/Air guest appearances), andthe film's star Franka Potente. While most of these are not from themovie itself, the trio has taken the skeletal work of many film themesand developed them into complete songs with the said singers. Fans ofthe 'Run Lola Run' soundtrack would probably be impressed with theelectronics once again exhibited here. Lush soundscapes fill the soundspectrum, heavy with emotion, while each singer delivers rather dry andalmost heartless performances in contrast. From the opening track withSkin, I have to admit I wasn't impressed as the tune sounds much like aripoff cross between Portishead's "Roads" and Radiohead's "PyramidSong", yet the two following tracks from Louise Rhodes and FrankaPotente seemingly make the purchase worthwhile. The second half of thedisc features straight score from the film and recycles many themesheard in the vocal tracks from the first half. It's decent and amust-have for Lamb, Goldfrapp and Anita Lane fans, but as the movie is,your life won't be different if you miss it.
samples:
- Louise Rhodes - Escape (afraid of no one)
- Franka Potente - Fly with Me
- Alison Goldfrapp - Bodo
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Leaving the rigid beats behind this time, Richard H. Kirk introduces anew alias through a new (for him) label. The first OrchestraTerrestrial release comes from Die Stadt and is packaged exquisitelywith a fold-out CD case and six prints of digital artwork representingsix of the eight songs here (three by Naked Art, three by DesignersRepublic). While Kirk has has contrasted his usual style by creating anatmospheric soundbath with lengthy delays heavily absent of drummachines and thumping beats, his signature style of long buildups,heavy repetition and lengthy songs is noticably present. For the firsttime in many releases, I can actually clearly hear distinct treatmentsfor each sound present. Each piece of the tapestry has its own life andidentity without getting wrapped up in a grey muddiness. In the blurbgoing around, Kirk is said to have created this disc after his recentrediscovery of classical composers like Wagner, Debussy and Mozart, butI'm honestly having a tough time finding the connection. Theprogression is amazingly linear: beginning with a whisper, slowly andpatiently adding beats and more layers with each track until the end,where "Uniform Spaces" breaks down, being chopped up into little bits,threaded and looped. (It's this ending that is the key that links bothreleases together for those RHK fans who weren't sure whether thefollowing item reviewed was RHK or not!) At the end of the disc, I'mfinding myself anxious to listen again before shelving it like many ofhis releases over the last ten years. The disc is limited to 1000numbered copies.
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Mysteriously enough, a 12" single surfaced on the same day as the Orchestral Terrestrial release, bearing no explicit indication that it's also a Richard H. Kirk project aside from the amazingly similar name and fonts used. There's no illusion in the music here, however, as 'Deconstructed Trance Anthem' parts 1 and 2 graces each side with none other than repetitious butchered remains of a generic trance anthem.
I question the usage of the term 'deconstructed' however, as to me, the record's really a series of looped and threaded excerpts, or as they claim, "a locked groove record without the locked grooves." In theory it's a great concept, but in actuality this would work best around the five minute mark on each side. Unfortunately, each side stretches over 19 minutes. Future plans are to revisit these themes using an orchestra in a Steve Reich sort of minimalism, which might be exponentially more interesting than this. Fans of looped-and-spliced repetition of techno sounds would probably eat this all up but at best I find the 12" rather mediocre.
 
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