This 12″ EP “Atomos VII” is the eagerly awaited follow-up to the 2011 self-titled debut of A Winged Victory for the Sullen (core members Adam Bryanbaum Wiltzie and Dustin O’Halloran, usually performing with different guest artists).
I wonder if, looking back a few years from now, “Halfslaap II / Stiltetonen” may prove to be a turning point in Machinefabriek‘s discography – a cautious transition from ‘improvised knob-twiddling’ (his own words, not mine) to composed music played by musicians….
Listening to this version of “Halfslaap II”, it’s interesting to know that Rutger Zuydervelt is currently working on a transcription for a String Quartet version of this piece.
But that is a thing to happen in the (near) future – thís particular recording is a score for solo violin loops (played by Anne Bakker) and electronics.
Jacob Kirkegaard is well-known for his unusual sonic concepts, “capturing and contextualizing hitherto unheard sounds from within a variety of environments: a geyser, a sand dune, a nuclear power plant, an empty room, a TV tower, and even sounds from the human inner ear itself”.
The sounds he presents are always extremely fascinating, even when heard without knowing about their actual context – but of course it does help knowing where the sounds originally come from.
Capturing the feedback sound from a deserted Chernobyl location may not be easy. This also applies to recording interactive sounds to make the listeners own inner ear play an active part in creating the sonic end result.
But can you imagine concepts like this being translated to a performance of a string ensemble?
I couldn’t.
Scenatet could.
The fact alone that Brian McBride is one of the founding core members of Stars of the Lid (along with Adam Wiltzie), is enough to raise a lot of interest about this new release on the Kranky label.
Or maybe I should say “buzz”, considering the documentary this soundtrack was created for.
Inevitably, this record bears the mark of Stars of the Lid music: the use of extended string chords combined with electronic, the melancholic, “lamentable” overall sound – anyone familiar with the Stars OTL will immediately recognize this.
But this is not a SOTL album: it is a Brian McBride solo-album (his second, following 2005’s “When the Detail Lost its Freedom).
And this means there are some noticeable differences, too.
Olan Mill is the name of the duo (Alex Smalley and Svitlana Samoylenko) presenting “Pine“, the long-awaited second release of the british Serein label.
Serein started out as a net-label a few years ago. Following the succes of their Nest-release they reformed completely, and re-released their greatest succes as “Retold” – one of the most praised (re-)releases of 2009/2010. (BTW – the Serein website does not mention it, but most of their netlabel releases – including the original NEST EP – can still be found on archive.org.)
Following up a release like that is not an easy task. But Olan Mill lives up to the expectations, without simply ‘copying’ the Nest success formula.
The Hibernate Sampler did a fine job: I was so impressed by the quality of the music that I ordered a batch of albums from the label. All of them were interesting enough to be reviewed here (and maybe I will).
But as much I enjoyed them, Porzellan‘s The Fourth Level of Comprehension was the one I played most repeatedly.
Porzellan is Francis Cazal. Classically trained composer and baroque violinist. The latter may be a bit confusing, since none of the music is very ‘baroque-as-we-know-it’.
But, firmly rooted in classical composition techniques, Cazal obviously knows how to create a compelling composition.
Though he’s not the only one working in this musical area (think of Eliane Radigue, her ‘Trilogie de la Mort’ especially, or Alvin Lucier with his ‘Music on a Long Thin Wire’), I can hardly think of anyone creating drones more ‘minimal’ than Phill Niblock does.
Phill Niblock (born 1933) has a vast catalogue of compositions exploring the essence of sound by asking the listener to zoom in almost indefinitely and forget about time. To the casual passer-by, the music may sound like it’s only one endless chord and if you don’t have the right mindset you’ll probably get extremely bored soon. But if you let the sound grab you, you’ll hear the subtle nuances and interplay of the interacting waveforms.
One of the most anticipated concerts of this year coming up friday, 21: Stars of the Lid will be performing in Utrecht (my hometown).
There’s an extensive European tour proceeding, so quite a few people may have already seen the show by now.
Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony is part of mankind’s collective memory – everyone knows and recognises it (or at least parts of it).
Can you possibly imagine how this 74 minute symphony would sound, if it was stretched to 24 full hours? I bet not. Still, it’s worth a try. Leif Inge is the man who actually did this, and the resulting 9BeetStretch is unforgettable. If there’s a sound of infinity, this must be it.
