Saturday, January 13, 2007
the painful leg injuries
if the devil's in the details then how many details can you fit upon a match? cd+dvd
[2006, oks recordings of north america]
if the devil's in the details, perhaps attempting to challenge fiona apple's crown for most verbose album title, is pli's second effort, again issued on their own oks label. thankfully, all comparisons with ms. apple end there (she did have some good songs though). i reviewed pli's backwards, broken and incorrectly disc awhile back, but if your memory isn't too great, i'll help you out: they're a husband and wife duo out of brooklyn, ny. bill byrne handles the electronics, vocals, field recordings and all instrumentation that isn't the cello or that doesn't involve percussion, suzanne takes care of those.
what a difference a year has made for the painful leg injuries. 2005's backwards, broken and incorrectly, while it was a solid album, centered primarily around drones and cold soundscapes, familiar territory for many an ambient techno project. they've raised the bar considerably for themselves on this one. bill hasn't lost his affinity for the drone, but this time around he seems more willing to let it play a supporting role instead of having it run the entire show. overall, bill and suzanne seem to have taken a much more musical approach in the making of if the devil's in the details, and that work has paid off immensely. the big payoff would have to be in replayability. by inversing the focus and relegating the more ambient aspects to the background, the duo allow themselves to make the music, instead of just adding to it. as a result, their work here is very layered. there's almost always quite a few things going on at once and while you might not catch everything the first time (or times) around, they start to reveal themselves. additionally, they provide plenty memorable tracks: every minute of everyday someone is having an apocalypse, nothing ever begins, ends or changes that much, every morning is a gift and a complete lack of charisma and/or talent, being my favorites. there's not much hope to be found in the song titles on this one, but in terms of their music, these two have a lot to be optimistic about.
music aside, the other big change that i find here is the drastically improved production. improved not only in overall sound, but there's a lot more going on with the two stereo channels, and seeing how this a more layered affair, i'd say that it was done masterfully. kudos for the very nice packaging, too. the devil certainly is in the details.
the dvd that's included has six videos of songs from the album, but i don't have a dvd player, so i can't speak on their added value. right now i'm technologically declined, sorry.
Nothing Ever Begins, Ends Or Changes That Much
[2006, oks recordings of north america]
if the devil's in the details, perhaps attempting to challenge fiona apple's crown for most verbose album title, is pli's second effort, again issued on their own oks label. thankfully, all comparisons with ms. apple end there (she did have some good songs though). i reviewed pli's backwards, broken and incorrectly disc awhile back, but if your memory isn't too great, i'll help you out: they're a husband and wife duo out of brooklyn, ny. bill byrne handles the electronics, vocals, field recordings and all instrumentation that isn't the cello or that doesn't involve percussion, suzanne takes care of those.
what a difference a year has made for the painful leg injuries. 2005's backwards, broken and incorrectly, while it was a solid album, centered primarily around drones and cold soundscapes, familiar territory for many an ambient techno project. they've raised the bar considerably for themselves on this one. bill hasn't lost his affinity for the drone, but this time around he seems more willing to let it play a supporting role instead of having it run the entire show. overall, bill and suzanne seem to have taken a much more musical approach in the making of if the devil's in the details, and that work has paid off immensely. the big payoff would have to be in replayability. by inversing the focus and relegating the more ambient aspects to the background, the duo allow themselves to make the music, instead of just adding to it. as a result, their work here is very layered. there's almost always quite a few things going on at once and while you might not catch everything the first time (or times) around, they start to reveal themselves. additionally, they provide plenty memorable tracks: every minute of everyday someone is having an apocalypse, nothing ever begins, ends or changes that much, every morning is a gift and a complete lack of charisma and/or talent, being my favorites. there's not much hope to be found in the song titles on this one, but in terms of their music, these two have a lot to be optimistic about.
music aside, the other big change that i find here is the drastically improved production. improved not only in overall sound, but there's a lot more going on with the two stereo channels, and seeing how this a more layered affair, i'd say that it was done masterfully. kudos for the very nice packaging, too. the devil certainly is in the details.
the dvd that's included has six videos of songs from the album, but i don't have a dvd player, so i can't speak on their added value. right now i'm technologically declined, sorry.
Nothing Ever Begins, Ends Or Changes That Much
Thursday, January 11, 2007
withdrawal method & ones
rejected ulcer house c40
[2006, palsy]
the criminally unheard of withdrawal method is the experimental electronic project of drew demeter [pictured]. formerly from seattle, he recently located to nyc, which is a bummer for us west coast people. drew's also the man responsible for the since 1972 tape
label, which has put out cassettes by carlos giffoni, hive mind, d yellow swans, wolf eyes, burning star core, workbench and dead machines, amongst a few others. i'm not quite sure if the label's still active or not...
as for ones, while the name may be mind numbingly ungoogleable, it's the project of daniel mitha and nick phillips, though i'm under the assumption that it's strictly mitha at this point. daniel's also released under the name ykeo, and put out a split with can't, on since 1972. he's also worked with jeph jerman (animist orchestra) under the name ones/hands (with a release on brooklyn-based white tapes), and there's the possibility that he's behind palsy, but that's just me speculating.
i'd spent damn near two years trying to track down a release from withdrawal method (could be why it's so criminally unheard of) when i finally came across this tape at fusetron a few months back (you're awesome, chris). that's a long ass time to wait, but i can say for certain that i'm happy i found this . drew's side is some slow creeping noise, reminiscent of folks like devillock and sick llama's less piercing sides, though side a does get fairly noisy in spots. the main sound is a low-end rumble that doesn't dominant the other noises, but gives it a very solid foundation for demeter to add onto. overall, he does a terrific job of keeping his twenty minute track varied while avoiding that 'everything and the kitchen sink' mentality, giving the piece a consistent flow. loved the buzzing drones for the last few minutes, too.
prior to going into this review i had no idea who ones were (though i do have that ykeo & can't tape) so i had no expectations for this, and i came away really impressed. totally different feel from the flip side, this one starts off with this repetitious loop of electronic music over the sounds of someone snoring. i'm a sucker for repetitious rhythms, so that's a plus right off the bat. i could nod my head endlessly to this like it was locked groove but, thankfully, i'm not on drugs, and they switch things up about seven and a half minutes in. they ditch both elements and move on to something i can't even begin to fathom what, but i know that i like it. the piece is still catchy, but a lot weirder. it sounds like they maybe took the previous rhythm and affected the hell out of it so all you can make out is that there was a semblance of that rhythm at one point in time. that's also coupled with a very pleasant outdoor field recording which is a great contrast. there's a ton of repetition on here, but the side does change up a bit as it plays out. the bottom line on rejected ulcer house is that i can't think of anything that sounds like what ones have done here, and while that in itself is laudable, it's really good as well.
Withdrawal Method - Side A Excerpt (from 3:19 to 7:20)
Ones - Side B Excerpt (from 9:56 to 13:02)
[2006, palsy]
the criminally unheard of withdrawal method is the experimental electronic project of drew demeter [pictured]. formerly from seattle, he recently located to nyc, which is a bummer for us west coast people. drew's also the man responsible for the since 1972 tape
label, which has put out cassettes by carlos giffoni, hive mind, d yellow swans, wolf eyes, burning star core, workbench and dead machines, amongst a few others. i'm not quite sure if the label's still active or not...as for ones, while the name may be mind numbingly ungoogleable, it's the project of daniel mitha and nick phillips, though i'm under the assumption that it's strictly mitha at this point. daniel's also released under the name ykeo, and put out a split with can't, on since 1972. he's also worked with jeph jerman (animist orchestra) under the name ones/hands (with a release on brooklyn-based white tapes), and there's the possibility that he's behind palsy, but that's just me speculating.
i'd spent damn near two years trying to track down a release from withdrawal method (could be why it's so criminally unheard of) when i finally came across this tape at fusetron a few months back (you're awesome, chris). that's a long ass time to wait, but i can say for certain that i'm happy i found this . drew's side is some slow creeping noise, reminiscent of folks like devillock and sick llama's less piercing sides, though side a does get fairly noisy in spots. the main sound is a low-end rumble that doesn't dominant the other noises, but gives it a very solid foundation for demeter to add onto. overall, he does a terrific job of keeping his twenty minute track varied while avoiding that 'everything and the kitchen sink' mentality, giving the piece a consistent flow. loved the buzzing drones for the last few minutes, too.
prior to going into this review i had no idea who ones were (though i do have that ykeo & can't tape) so i had no expectations for this, and i came away really impressed. totally different feel from the flip side, this one starts off with this repetitious loop of electronic music over the sounds of someone snoring. i'm a sucker for repetitious rhythms, so that's a plus right off the bat. i could nod my head endlessly to this like it was locked groove but, thankfully, i'm not on drugs, and they switch things up about seven and a half minutes in. they ditch both elements and move on to something i can't even begin to fathom what, but i know that i like it. the piece is still catchy, but a lot weirder. it sounds like they maybe took the previous rhythm and affected the hell out of it so all you can make out is that there was a semblance of that rhythm at one point in time. that's also coupled with a very pleasant outdoor field recording which is a great contrast. there's a ton of repetition on here, but the side does change up a bit as it plays out. the bottom line on rejected ulcer house is that i can't think of anything that sounds like what ones have done here, and while that in itself is laudable, it's really good as well.
Withdrawal Method - Side A Excerpt (from 3:19 to 7:20)
Ones - Side B Excerpt (from 9:56 to 13:02)
Monday, January 08, 2007
kiyoshi mizutani
waterscape
[1997, e(r)ostrate]
kiyoshi mizutani, formerly of an early incarnation of merzbow, has carved quite a nice niche for himself as a field recording/minimal electronic artist, which, to say the least, is quite a departure from akita's dissonance. if i had to tidily summarize mizutani's body of work, i'd have to say that he thrives from 'making the most out of what is least'. if relegated to background music, it's easy to overlook the brilliance of what he's doing because at times it can be so subtle. one of the key things that i find here to appreciate is how beautifully mizutani
combines field recordings with compositional minimalism. the overall feel to his music is one of an incredibly organic nature.
waterscape deals primarily with, surprisingly enough, watery sounds. it's in this sense that mizutani reminds me a bit of aube, but where nakajima begins with a source sound, he'll then manipulate it way past the point of recognition. kiyoshi mizutani's efforts here come across as being more naturalist in their approach. he takes the various field recordings, in their unmodified state, and adds his compositions over the top of them. it's a harmonious combination which benefits (and accentuates) both the musical and non-musical aspects. as far as the sounds that he's using, they range from running water, glasses of water, a waterfall and a damp cloth. those are the ones i can actually pick up on, either by hearing them or from their song titles. there's a few tracks on waterscape where it's hard to see (hear?) a relation to water, but i'll just trust that they're there.
the actual musical elements are minimal to be sure. they primarily involve repetitious sounds (such as the xylophone-esque chimes in discharge and a swing) or noises (magnetism), which are sporadically spaced out over the tracks. three of waterscape's seven pieces have more of an electronic slant to them, with the last work, feed back, standing out the most in terms of a departure from previous sounds. feed back is built around a sputtering electronic noise (with a drony undertone), coupled with the random sound of running water, again, interspersed throughout. tracks like this, magnetism and discharge are nice displays of mizutani's electronic compositions, whereas the rest of the disc shows off the more organic side of his work, which i'd have to say is where he's at his best. i also liked how the more "natural" sounding tracks are bookended by the electronic ones.
for a great example of mizutani's more delicate, earthy, field recordings-based work, i'd strongly recommend 2000's beautiful bird songs, on the ground fault label.
Glass Of Water
[1997, e(r)ostrate]
kiyoshi mizutani, formerly of an early incarnation of merzbow, has carved quite a nice niche for himself as a field recording/minimal electronic artist, which, to say the least, is quite a departure from akita's dissonance. if i had to tidily summarize mizutani's body of work, i'd have to say that he thrives from 'making the most out of what is least'. if relegated to background music, it's easy to overlook the brilliance of what he's doing because at times it can be so subtle. one of the key things that i find here to appreciate is how beautifully mizutani
combines field recordings with compositional minimalism. the overall feel to his music is one of an incredibly organic nature.waterscape deals primarily with, surprisingly enough, watery sounds. it's in this sense that mizutani reminds me a bit of aube, but where nakajima begins with a source sound, he'll then manipulate it way past the point of recognition. kiyoshi mizutani's efforts here come across as being more naturalist in their approach. he takes the various field recordings, in their unmodified state, and adds his compositions over the top of them. it's a harmonious combination which benefits (and accentuates) both the musical and non-musical aspects. as far as the sounds that he's using, they range from running water, glasses of water, a waterfall and a damp cloth. those are the ones i can actually pick up on, either by hearing them or from their song titles. there's a few tracks on waterscape where it's hard to see (hear?) a relation to water, but i'll just trust that they're there.
the actual musical elements are minimal to be sure. they primarily involve repetitious sounds (such as the xylophone-esque chimes in discharge and a swing) or noises (magnetism), which are sporadically spaced out over the tracks. three of waterscape's seven pieces have more of an electronic slant to them, with the last work, feed back, standing out the most in terms of a departure from previous sounds. feed back is built around a sputtering electronic noise (with a drony undertone), coupled with the random sound of running water, again, interspersed throughout. tracks like this, magnetism and discharge are nice displays of mizutani's electronic compositions, whereas the rest of the disc shows off the more organic side of his work, which i'd have to say is where he's at his best. i also liked how the more "natural" sounding tracks are bookended by the electronic ones.
for a great example of mizutani's more delicate, earthy, field recordings-based work, i'd strongly recommend 2000's beautiful bird songs, on the ground fault label.
Glass Of Water