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Mathieu Ruhlmann - Tsukubai (Unfathomless)

It's often a fascinating, if thorny, problem grappling with a new field recording release, one that doesn't immediately knock my socks off, that is. Very difficult, for me, to quantify whatever my ultimate feeling is about it, why I do or don't particularly enjoy it. "I didn't like the way the water sounded here" or "The wind and clicking sounds were great there." Seems silly. Maybe how transportive it is overall, if indeed that's the originator's intent, which it well might not be. How thoughtful or disruptive to thoughtfulness. Tough generally, more so when the example at hand, over the course of its 35 or so minutes, fluctuates enough between what I hear as routine and wonderfully immersive; shouldn't it fluctuate? Doesn't that more accurately represent a "normal" serious listening experience when as well-intentioned as one might be, the mind inevitably wanders?

Some of the thoughts occasioned on listening to Ruhlmann's "Tsukubai" recorded in the Nitobe Memorial Park in Vancouver, largely (totally?) underneath the surface of water. The water sources are clear from the very beginning and, as such, not quickly absorbing, though there's a hazy background hum that is. The presence of that hum expands for a while, alters into a thinner pattern, disappears. Throughout, there's an ebb and flow of elements (though water is never far away), very calm as would seem appropriate, but with inherently varying levels of interest for this listener. As implied above, though, I'm not sure this is a problem in this context. If it's an accurate representation of the place (given much editing, two years worth of recording etc.), I'd expect my interest to flag here, be piqued there. At the end of the day--or the disc--there's a sense of quiet satisfaction even if the details concerning its genesis have already been clouded over.

My copy arrived with a remix disc, titled "Funayurei" which is a 50-copy pressing and I think already sold out. The same material with more or less Enoesque treatments applied, leavening out the sounds in an attractive, though edge-softening manner. One thing I can say (doubtless with many counterexamples) is that I prefer my field recordings to possess a certain amount of grain, a wide range of textures akin to what one actually experiences when opening one's ears. "Funayurei" is fine for what it is, has a nice inhale/exhale aspect to it, just not enough grit.


(I couldn't locate a cover image for it, but found the same title attached to this wonderful print:) [oh, and here's that missing image--thanks, Daniel]: Posted by Brian Olewnick at 11/27/2009 09:26:00 AM 1 comment: 

Kelsey's blog, where you can order Jean-Luc Guionnet - Gezurrezko joera (Arteleku)

arteleku (I imagine there are easier places to find this) Graham Lambkin - Softly Softly Copy Copy (Kye)

Posted by Brian Olewnick at 11/21/2009 08:48:00 AM 10 comments: My sole Globe Unity LP, issued on Po Torch in 1977 and a rather good one. Side one, "Jahrmarkt" was recorded in '75 and has a stellar cast that includes Evan Parker, Brotzmann, Braxton and the mighty trombone trio of Christmann, Rutherford and Mangelsdorff. It's a bit murky and clunky but, by and large, a decent semi-structured free-for-all. Still, the rewards are to be found on Side B, "Local Fair", a massive, Ivesian public performance conceived by Brotzmann featuring, in addition to GUO, a local brass and reed band (Wuppermusikanten), a Greek jazz quartet an accordion entourage whose squeezeboxes number a couple dozen. The recording is ambient, including area noise, the groups coming and going, merging and separating, free jazz, polkas, "Down by the Riverside". Excellent. A very fascinating DG LP, I guess issued around '69 (I picked it up much later at a record fair, iirc) featuring Vinko Globokar performing a piece of his own (Discours II pour cinq trombones) as well as Berio's "Sequenza V", and works by Stockhausen and Carlos Roque Alsina (the latter otherwise unknown to me). I'd forgotten the Berio was here, having only relatively recently really gotten to listen to the entire set, spurred by Domenico Sciano's excellent recombinative release from last year. Impressive piece, as is the Stockhausen ("Solo fur Melodie-Instrument mit Ruckkopplung" (1966-67), an early (?) example of the musician being recorded, the music played back into the room after some delay, the musician commenting on it, etc. Here, much of the "commentary" comes from five people playing tape recordings of a section from "Hymnen". Very rich piece. Lot of meat in this recording, worth going back into often. Along with Material and the Love of Life Orchestra, the Palominos (originally head by Anton Fier and Laswell, soon run pretty much by Fier) were one of the groups that forced me to re-evaluate my opinions on the viability of rock-oriented music in the early 80s, which I'd all but abandoned. I remember running across this in the jazz outlet of J&R, back when it was a small place on Nassau St., around '83. I knew most of the names, having heard Frith & Tacuma of course, but also having encountered Zorn, Laswell and Lindsay (in DNA) here and there. Most humorously, for me, was the presence on one track of Roger Trilling (credited with "Records"), who I knew a bit at Vassar in the early 70s (if you've self-googled, Hi Roger!). How could I resist? I forget if I'd already owned Zorn's "Locus Solus" at this point (right around the same time) but even so, this sounded entirely new and exciting to me. Still does! Trying to think of what else sounded like this; can't really come up with anything. That heavy, "tribal" kind of rhythm, maybe Martin Bisi or early Sharp, but this packs such a surge. Laswell and Tacuma are fantastic here, huge sound. Really holds up superbly. Ok, I understand my credentials as arbiter of all things rock might come into question in some quarters, but damned if this isn't a great, relatively straight ahead rock album. Every track is utterly solid, fine melodies, strong, strong playing. Some, like "The Animal Speaks", featuring John Lydon, are as powerful a rock song as I know, so much better than anything in the quasi-same ballpark of which I'm aware. Even Michael Stipe sounds great! The slightly softer pieces on Side 2 (with fine Jack Bruce on "Silver Bullet") point the way to the next album but are far, far superior. Excellent sound, too. Talk about falling off a cliff. Most of the same personnel, gears shifted almost entirely to MOR status, everything laced with saccharine. Objectively, I guess it's no worse than any dozen other things of its kind released around '87 but comparatively, this is a major step backward; I only retain it for historical purposes! :-) This was the last LP of theirs I bought. I think it was two or three years before their next, which came out on disc. I kept up with them though I thought their output was spotty. Fier navigated through a few different areas, including drone-y Laswelliana though their last (?) one, "Dead Inside" (1996) a collaboration with poet Nicole Blackman, has several very strong tracks, "Victim", a first person narrative of a kidnapping and murder, is one of the most chilling pieces I've ever heard.
Posted by Brian Olewnick at 11/14/2009 04:47:00 PM 11 comments: A couple years back, I went to see Rick Brown and Mark Howell out in Brooklyn at Goodbye Blue Monday and reported on it here, a very fun evening. Last night, Rick (that's him on the right; some readers may know his work in the post-punk band V-Effect and the later group Fish and Roses, among others) did a set at Issue Project. He's a wonderful, gentle performer, very comfortable in his own idiosyncratic way of singing and playing, an in-your-living-room, homemade kind of approach.

He did four pieces, beginning with an all-time favorite of mine, Partch's "The Letter". Rick has this wooden box, maple I think, kind of chest drawer-sized, that he straps around his shoulder and plays, this time, with soft mallets. It's quite resonant, great sound. His rendition was lovingly intoned, the sole accompaniment the beats on the box, very moving. He next performed a really fantastic little work that bordered on eai, using only static, a small 45rpm turntable and a cassette recorder (I think--my view was blocked), juggling the three spare elements at fairly low volume, each one clearly heard, keeping the music sparse and obscure, including shards of what sounded like a jazz-soul track. Great piece. The sole off-note was the following song, a political piece that was lyrically a bit clunky, though the use of an alto trombone with bari-sax mouthpiece, funneled through a computer program that regurgitated bits and pieces of it was interesting. He ended with a long, richly droning and thumping work (again including homemade percussion involving wooden boards and sheets of metal) that segued in and out of what turned out to be (upon researching the lyrics--I didn't know it otherwise) a cover of the Dream Academy's "It'll Never Happen Again" [I'm informed by Rick that it's actually a Tim Hardin song, apparently itself covered by Dream Academy], softly crooned in a Wyatt-esque voice, ghostly and effective.

Rick's planning more solo ventures upcoming--do check him out.
Posted by Brian Olewnick at 11/13/2009 10:34:00 AM No comments: A rare opportunity to dip back into some vinyl. Posted by Brian Olewnick at 11/08/2009 09:51:00 AM 3 comments: Jason Kahn/Asher - Planes (Mikroton)

Ok, ok, I admit it--I'm a total sucker for these kind of things. Give me some dense, drone-y electronics (here, despite not saying so on the sleeve, I think with added percussion--there's some of those finger-tapped Tibetan bells in play midway through) and layer in rich, well-chosen field recordings, augmented or not, and you've pretty much got me. The result may not be as transcendent an experience as achieved in more "dangerous" collaborations (see: Rowe & Sachiko) but such efforts, when well-conceived, seem to center in on some juicy area that I find as irresistible as a good piece of fudge. Healthier, probably. Kahn's generally dark hues play off Asher's often innocent and sunny recordings (children playing); it's not the most surprising juxtaposition but it works very well. Shimmering and begrimed at the same time, a fine combination. Dafeldecker/Kurzmann/Tilbury/Wishart - s/t (Mikroton)

Orange, then green, now violet. Seven tracks recorded live in Vienna and Wels (sounds as though the first four are from one, the latter three from another), this is an enjoyable set though a somehow dissatisfying one. Rich in colors and textures, (Wishart credited on hurdy gurdy but, I assume, also playing violin, the clarinet and bowed bass of Kurzmann and Dafeldecker twining beautifully, Tilbury being Tilbury) the more or less drone-based improvisations are ultimately a little featureless, a bit too much like attractive slabs without much inner structure. Not sure what it is that gnaws at me here, maybe just a sense of too much noodling, albeit with variegated, often tasty pasta. There are a couple of points, oddly enough, especially in the first and last tracks, where I was reminded of early Anthony Davis pieces, specifically his "A Walk Through the Shadow" theme. Not bad, but a bit disappointing given the participants.


Available this side of the pond from erstdist Anthony Guerra - s/t (a binary datum)

I have several questions. First, let me say this is an excellent recording. Do I know what I'm hearing? Not so much.

OK, it's a 10" lathe cut. I didn't know from lathe cut and still might require some explanation. Apparently, these discs are individually cut from PVC, not vinyl and, so it's been suggested, will erode at a far faster rate, enough that what one hears might vary significantly over time. Is this the case? Cool, if so. A guy in New Zealand by the name of Peter King seems to be the doyen of this area, perhaps responsible for this one. As to the sounds--most recently seen around these here parts as half of Green Blossoms, dispensing pretty, even sugary morsels of whimsical melody, Guerra here is all about icily remote noise. One side--the label doesn't distinguish--is relatively quiet, beginning with grainy, fluctuating tones and much static, as though recorded through wires that a dog's been at. It explodes and finds itself located in a different register, differently textured tones with an insistent, soft click. These eruptions become more frequent, though not too loud, before being abruptly sliced off just before the end of the piece, which concludes in a minute or so of near silence.

While I have no idea of which side is which, the other one sounds as though it just might be a continuation of the "first", picking up immediately in a rambunctious area, quasi-rhythmic static bursts sputtering over a low, turntable-like rumble. It pretty much stays there, a mini-firestorm over that bass threat--really tasty, wonderful stuff, great lack of self-consciousness.

It appears that the only way in which one might obtain one of these jewels (unless you're lucky enough to have one sent your way) is via barter at a binary datum

Go for it.
Posted by Brian Olewnick at 11/07/2009 11:53:00 AM 4 comments: Daniel Jones/Barry Chabala - Undercurrents (Roeba)

I take it this was a long-distance collaboration (Barry can correct me) but whatever, it's a real good one, my favorite thing thus far from Mr. Chabala as an improviser (his take on Pisaro's "an unrhymed chord" is outstanding as well). He has a bent toward pure, ringing tones, often high-range--I know he's a fan of "Evening Star" and I think it comes through--so having someone like Jones in tandem is just the right tonic with his rougher scrapes and rumbles. Four cuts, each strong in a different way, leaning in the agitated calm direction. There's an especially beautiful sequence near the end of the second cut, "Empty", where those clear guitar tones play against a distorted field recording with voices and maybe radio captures. Each piece has a natural ebb and flow, an intriguing enough outcome if their genesis is as intuited above. Solid throughout, "Undercurrents" kept me attuned and riveted; strong release. Lee Noyes/Barry Chabala - The Shade & the Squint (Roeba)

The last recording by this pair was a bit too tilted toward the efi side of things for my taste; this one's far more up my alley, much more expansive, much wider spaces carved out, particularly on the first of the two tracks. Once again Noyes, on percussion, (in New Zealand) and Chabala on guitar (in somewhat more exotic New Jersey) created their parts independently, "blind and layered", by which I take it without either's awareness of the other's output? However achieved, "Yin (The Shade)" is pretty much seamless, a rich, imaginative piece, varied in dronage both percussive and guitar-based and also evincing a wide range of clatter. The second cut, "Yang (The Squint)", incorporates far more silence--I take it this was a guiding parameter in the trans-world exchange?--and, with the plucked and struck approach largely taken on the respective instruments, falls more readily in the efi mode, quite effectively so, though I'll be damned if I don't pick up traces of "Moonchild"...

Both recordings are worth a hear.

Available wherever records are sold. Or, failing that, via squidco
Posted by Brian Olewnick at 11/07/2009 08:19:00 AM 3 comments: Jason Kahn/Ryu Hankil - Circle (Celadon)

It's a pleasure to welcome the first release from long-time discussion group participant (and all-around curmudgeon) Bill Ashline's Celadon label, and even more of one to report that it's damn good. An interesting pairing in that both musicians often employ overt rhythmic elements in their work, not the most common feature at this end of the playing field, but those rhythms are quite different. Kahn I think of as more "steady state', with vibrating surfaces that maintain a fairly regular texture (over any small span of time, though shifting on larger scales), kind of a color field approach to sound. Hankil, who makes wide use of clockworks, strikes me as somehow more ragged, more erose with his ticks and alarms. So, on the face of it, it portends a possibly delicious melding of attacks and, yes, we get a good dose of that over the course of the 93 or so minutes of this 2-disc set. But, more, there's a lot of delicacy, of barely occupied space and high, soft textures. Too, the rhythmic element is never consistent--it manifests then sputters out, catches on barely then sublimates into sparks or subsonics. When, as occurs about 15 minutes into the second disc, Kahn re-emerges with fingers on tempered metal and Hankil clatters about on grittier, more commercial material (at least, it sounds this way to me), the effect is surprising and wonderful. It's a long enough set that it's tough to get a fix on the whole structure and, perhaps, it overstays its welcome a tad but by and large it's a rigorous, intricate and absorbing performance. Moniek Darge - Soundies (Kye)

When I received this disc, the name violinist/composer/vocalist Moniek Darge didn't ring a bell. But a little research revealed that I had indeed heard of her in conjunction with her partner Godfried-Willem Raes, founder of Belgium's Logos Foundation, whom I'd run across during AMM investigations. He and Darge apparently engaged in many a public performance, often in the nude, occasionally spurring arrest, etc. Still, I had no idea what to expect musically. Well, it's a varied lot, some of it quite good. Seven pieces, arranged chronologically from 1980 - 2001. "Sand", the earliest work is a fine extended steady-state work with marvelously irregular percussion delicately tumbling over a slightly wavering, organ-like tape. Really excellent study in agitated calm, my favorite piece on the recording. Intervening tracks are hit and miss, with some use of vocalizations and animal sounds a bit whimsical for my taste and the free improv aspects somewhat formless, though the chime-like tones and ambient noise in "Caete" are very lovely. Happily, the disc closes with another very strong piece, 2001's "Turning Wheel", a rich live soundscape (in situ, I think, not tape, though I'm not certain) with male and female voices (English and Japanese) and violin, somber and churning. Well worth a listen.

Available through erstdist (as is the Celadon disc) or from Graham Lambkin @ email@example.com
Posted by Brian Olewnick at 11/05/2009 09:17:00 PM 1 comment: