New Releases. Click For Infos.
A WITNESS – I am John’s Pancreas CD Euphonium
BOXCUTTER – Oneiric CD/2LP Planet Mu
DJ OLIVE – Sleep CD room40
FIRST NATION – s/t CD Paw-Tracks
FRANCISCO LOPEZ – Untitled #164 CD Unsounds
GUILTY CONNECTOR – Beats, Noise & Life CD Planet Mu
GUNTER ADLER – Hallo Herr Adler, ich hab Sie im Fernsehen gesehen EP Gagarin
HOLGER HILLER & THOMAS FEHLMANN – Wir bauen eine Stadt LP Gagarin
POSTHUMAN – The People’s Republic CD Seed
RAUHAN ORKESTRI – Lauhkeat Lampaat CD Ache
TAKAGI MASAKATSU – Journal For People DVD+CD Carpark
TAYLOR DEUPREE – Northern CD 12k
V.A. – COMMERCIALLY UNFRIENDLY CD Gott
V.A. – PROJECT: BICYCLE CD/LP Ache
VITAMINSFORYOU – The Legend of Bird’s Hill CD intr-version
YANNIS KYRIAKIDES – Wordless CD Unsounds
A WITNESS – I am John’s Pancreas
CD Euphonium EUPH001
http://www.euphoniumrecords.com
A digitally re-mastered re-issue of the legendary ten track album, not available
on CD before, with additional sleeve notes, lyrics and photos from the band’s
private collection.
“I am John’s Pancreas” is the classic debut album from Peel favourites A
Witness, who carved a distinctive and original path through the independent
1980s. Formed in Manchester, they made their initial mark as a drum machine band
with attitude and were included on the seminal NME C-86 cassette of new
hopefuls.
The ten tracks have been digitally re-mastered from the original quarter-inch
master tapes after one side of the album spent twelve years missing in a former
drummer’s attic. The songs have lost none of their drive and power, with KEITH
CURTIS’s vocals delivering VINCE HUNT’s lyrics with passion and commitment,
underpinned by the jagged, angular guitar work of RICK AITKEN, who could switch
effortlessly from full-on aggression to subtle slide. One critic said “Rick
Aitken’s guitar work is, at times, intricate, and then blisteringly
complicated.”
First released in October ’86, this record still stands as a testament to the
power of the three-piece line-up and the range of their musical vocabulary, just
a year after their first 12″ single “Loudhailer Songs”. During a six-year career
cut short by the death of Rick Aitken, they appeared on the same bill as The
Fall, John Peel, Swans, Half Man Half Biscuit, Sonic Youth, The Wedding Present,
The Nightingales and Big Flame. A Witness recorded four Peel sessions and toured
extensively in the UK, France, Belgium, Holland and Germany, with releases also
in America and Greece.
As well as being included on the NME C-86, they were also listed on the
influential 1989 compilation of Manchester bands “Manchester, so much to answer
for” (Strange Fruit SFR 202). Their 2000 compilation album “Threaphurst Lane”
included some but not all of the tracks on “Pancreas”. Stewart Lee in The Sunday
Times’ Culture section said of A Witness: “Another great British band of the
1980s lost between the death of punk and the rise of Britpop. ‘I Love You Mr
Disposable Razors’ mixes nasty swaggering guitar with one of the most uplifting
pop choruses ever (while) the previously unreleased title track ‘Threaphurst
Lane’, a tremulous piano instrumental, could be a lament for A Witness’s
unfulfilled potential.”
This album is the precursor to that material, sometimes harsh, sometimes gentle,
but unafraid to experiment beyond traditional guitar-bass combinations, with the
sound collage “4.49 Stool” the spark for Hunt’s later Pure Sound project,
exploring control, climax and crescendo. The re-release also includes additional
sleeve notes, lyrics and photographs from the band’s private collection.
“I am John’s Pancreas” was well received by critics in 1986. Ziyad Georgis in
Sounds said:
“… ‘Pancreas’ can be exhilarating. ‘Car Skidding’ is a departure in style from
the rest of the album. Moody and eerie like Pere Ubu, the melody swings while
the vocalist sombrely intones ‘one way to describe my week, a car skidding off
the road.’ Brilliant, and so much more effective than the thrash merchants could
ever be. With the combination of the weird, the trivial and the wonderful, all
within the time limits imposed by the format of the three minute pop song, A
Witness could become the heirs to Wire’s vision.”
+ + +
BOX CUTTER – Oneiric
CD/2LP Planet MU ZIQ147
http://www.planet-mu.com
+ + +
DJ OLIVE – Sleep
CD room40 RM413
http://www.room40.org
As one of the pioneers of ‘sleep’ parties in the low level apartment blocks and
converted industrial lots in Brooklyn during the early nineties, DJ Olive’s
latest long player collects together his experiments in ambient sound spaces.
It’s a celebration of filtered texture, hidden melody and gentle turntable
flickers.
Like Buoy his debut solo record for room40, Sleep is delivered with a simple
message ‘please listen to this quietly, it’s a sleeping pill’ and while its aim
might be to induce unconsciousness, this mission is completed more through a
diligent understanding of the possibilitiesof ambient sound than through
repetition or minimalist approaches. A refined and emotive composition, Sleep
shifts through a variety of phases, reflecting in some ways on the nature of our
sleep patterns.
As each section unfolds, DJ Olive reveals his characteristic sensibility for
spatial mixes and in the process generates some of the most remarkable and
refined post-ambient music to be created in the 20th century. Free floating
audio clouds paint a subtle portrait of dimly lit late night spaces, faded
whispers, close bodies huddled and in the corner DJ Olive’s echoed lullabies
colouring the audiosphere.
+ + +
FIRST NATION – s/t
CD Paw-Tracks PAW11
http://www.paw-tracks.com
After their first seven inch release on Paw Tracks and a successful tour
supporting the Animal Collective, the First Nation ladies now drop their
self-titled debut stunner. We could throw a bone and say they sound sorta like
an updated Raincoats or The Slits. But hell it’s 2006 and First Nation live in
New York Fucking City. They’re too smart for RIYLboners.
First Nation definitely employ the loosey poppy songwriting method made popular
by their buddies the Animal Collective and Gang Gang Dance. But they bring a
quieter and, dare we say, softer side to this sound. There’s even a kinda cool
trancey tribal thing going on that they probably got from listening to some
damaged techno… or maybe one too many Folkways compilations (one member of the
band IS an anthropologist).
+ + +
FRANCISCO LOPEZ – Untitled #164
CD Unsounds 12u
http://www.unsounds.com
Untitled #164 came out of a project commisioned by the ARGOS festival in 2004,
Brussels Sonic Matter. Using field recording made in the city together with
TRMX, Johan Vandermaelen, Martiens Go Home, and Building Transmissions; Lopez
mutates and records these into an intense 73 minute composition that takes the
sound of a city and transforms them into a interior landscape, a city within.
Francisco López is internationally recognized as one of the major figures of the
underground experimental music scene. Over the last twenty five years he has
developed an astonishing sonic universe, absolutely personal and
iconoclastic, based on a profound listening of the world. He has realized
hundreds of concerts, projects with field
recordings, and sound installations in 50 countries, he has an extended catalog
of sound pieces, and he has been awarded twice with honorary mentions at the
competition of Ars Electronica Festival.
+ + +
GUILTY CONNECTOR – Beats, Noise & Life
CD Planet Mu ZIQ142
http://www.planet-mu.com
DR. KOHEI aka THE FILTH aka GxCx aka Guilty Connector is a Japanese hybrid
human/noise-machine that creates noise-scapes of unfathomed depths. Banging
hand-made noise generators aka “SHIBAKI Electronics” made of iron plates, he
creates and liberates dazzling spectra of sounds, from ultra-fast extremely
trippy harsh barrages to meditative spacy sounds. Experience the roar of his
live electronics with your own flesh.
+ + +
GUNTER ADLER – Hallo Herr Adler, ich hab Sie im Fernsehen gesehen. Es hat mir
gut gefallen.
EP Gagarin Records GR 2014
http://www.gagarinrecords.com
On his first Gagarin release Gunter Adler, formerly known as the vicious
violonist of Groenlandorchester, created a soil-resisting electronic
razor-record on his search for Miss Amanda Lear’s true gender. He didn’t even
need to pay bounties for the cover girls who he fetched from Paris Moulin Rouge.
When unpacking the goods, Gunter saw himself being overwhelmed by two hungry
hyenas that he would never get rid of again. Hypnotized by the new sound, they
asked for a hot bath in order to restore their purity in the Jyrgen
Hall-of-Fame.
This record tastes like Martini, you can listen to it before, after and while
bathing.
+ + +
HOLGER HILLER & THOMAS FEHLMANN – Wir bauen eine Stadt
one-side LP Gagarin Records GR 2017
http://www.gagarinrecords.com
Paul Hindemith
Wir bauen eine Stadt (We Build a Town)
Interpreted by Holger Hiller und Thomas Fehlmann
In 1930 the German composer Paul Hindemith (1895-1963) wrote a series of small
pieces for school orchestras. It was described as a “play for children”
depicting the construction and survey of a modern city. The unusual thing about
it is the age of its inhabitants: “In our city the grown ups have no say (Š) Our
mayor is seven years old, and all uncles and aunties are children. Even the
traffic warden is a child.” We Build A Town comes across as strange in more than
one way. Firstly, as a bizarre alternative blueprint to an eldery society.
Secondly, as a combination of constructivist music and antiquated-modernist
lyrics. These lyrics reflect traits of naïve belief in progress and open
repression.
The complexity of the upcoming technical age is disguised as being simple, and
all aspects of modern city life take on a model-like character. As a result, a
strangely “adult” intelligence seems to speak through the organisation of this
children’s world. Topics covered are traffic, education, hygiene, consumer
protection and crime. The author of the text, Robert Seitz (1891-1938), develops
a penchant for listing occupational groups (“I am the train conductor”), whose
members have to deal constantly with complaints from clients (“There are maggots
in this”). At the end of the play, thieves who steal watches, potatoes, cars and
young dogs are arrested.
Half a century after the original was created, two German artists with a punk
and new wave background reinterpret the play and release it in 1981 as a
cassette tape on Ata Tak, a label based in the German city of Düsseldorf. The
classic orchestration of the original is replaced by synthesizer and manipulated
voices. Apart from that, the original score is strictly adhered to. The use of
electronic instruments and voice effects not only gives new life to the
futuristic character of the pieces, but also subtly hints to its origins in the
world of adults.
Like the flame of a burning fuse leading to a bundle of explosives, the tape
wanders through the children’s bodies and back into the heads of the grown-ups.
+ + +
POSTHUMAN – The People’s Republic
CD Seed Records seedcd12
http://www.seedrecords.com
Posthuman are cousins RICH BEVAN & JOSH DOHERTY, from Edinburgh and the North
East of England respectively, now based in London where they run their own
record label ‘Seed Records’
Lukas Wooller of Maximo Park features on two tracks. Posthuman are old friends
of Maximo Park, with Lukas and Rich (Posthuman) attending University in
Newcastle together in the mid 90’s.
‘The People’s Republic’ is their third album, the duo formerly released on Skam
Records (also former home of Boards of Canada). Posthuman and their label Seed
Records ran the legendary tube station parties at the disused Aldwych
Underground Station in London; which played host to everyone from Aphex Twin to
Richard X, Goldfrapp to Mark Moore.
‘The Peoples Republic’ sees Posthuman leave their electronic roots behind and
embrace more organic post-rock sensibilities, with guitarist TOM BRADY and
keyboardist LUKAS WOOLLER (also of Maximo Park). A very dark, original and
compelling album.
+ + +
RAUHAN ORKESTRI – Lauhkeat Lampaat*
CD Ache Records ACHE024
http://www.acherecords.com
We are proud to announce the release of RAUHAN ORKESTERI (Peace
Orchestra)/LAUHKEAT LAMPAAT (Meek Sheep) CD originally released on LP in 2005 on
Italian label, QBICO; ten pieces of free-improv-folk-jazz from Finland, with a
distinctive foundation of playful vigor and heartening spirit. It’s an organic
improv session that breathes countryside air, sensing the grass between its
toes.
Not including several self-released 7”s and limited edition CD-Rs, this is the
PEACE ORCHESTRA’s second full length. It illustrates a great progression and a
newly acquired, absolutely beautiful sense of restraint. The members of this
quartet play off each other magically, leaving room for the microscopic details
to shine through.
Deeply routed in the incestuous Finnish pych-folk-experimental scene, the family
tree of this four-piece has many branches, including the duo, LAUHKEAT LAMPAAT
who are peppered throughout this release. These pieces are differentiated by
higher timbres and a slightly more tongue-in-cheek air (They are also
distinguished by the asterisk in the song listing).
RAUHAN ORKESTERI has to be one of Europe’s most exciting new free jazz outfits,
filled with a rarely encountered joyful energy floating on a fantastic search
into the free realms of the outer possibilities of sound. No cause for
intellectual drama here, ANTTI TOLVI, VILLE JOLANKI (reeds), JAAKKO TOLVI
(percussion) and TERO KEMPPAINEN (bass) need no more then the direct physical
contact between body and instrument for their sonic onslaughts that in no time
go from hectic outbursts to warm and mellow soft blows.
+ + +
TAKAGI MASAKATSU – Journal For People
DVD+CD Carpark Records CAK 32
http://www.carparkrecords.com
Takagi Masakatsu is one man trying to make sense of the world. He travels the
globe recording people’s everyday lives, and then returns home to Japan where he
delicately molds the everyday into the sublime. A classically-trained pianist, a
multimedia documentarian, an art-gallery exhibiting jet-setter, Takagi Masakatsu
is clearly a renaissance man of our times.
After releasing two cds and a dvd with Carpark in 2001 and 2002, Takagi returns
to us once again with his “Journal For People” DVD and CD. Lilting piano lines,
digitally-enhanced melodies, and sturdily constructed ambient pop tunes
comprise the audio. The video features people from all over the world
intersecting with Takagi’s painterly palette of organic and psychedelic imagery.
It’s what art at its best is capable of: a sensually gratifying and spiritually
healing experience.
+ + +
TANAKH – Ardent Fevers
CD Alien8 aliencd63
http://www.alien8recordings.com
Tanakh’s “Ardent Fevers” marks the band’s fourth release for Alien8 Recordings
and finds JESSE POE and company continuing to delve deeper into the world of
psychedelic pop music.
While this most recent work bares some resemblance to the band’s debut “Villa
Claustrophobia”, and their sophomore “Dieu Deuil”, it treads more in the sounds
of Seventies rock, resulting in an album is less precious and closer to Tanakh’s
live sound.
Listening to “Ardent Fevers” one is treated to a beautiful array of lush
compositions that capture the listener with memorable choruses and well thought
out orchestration. Stellar tracks include the opening “Drink to Sher”, which
recalls Beck from his Sea Change period or Tim Buckly. “Greybreathes” is an
unforgettable piece of music that has you humming the chorus for hours. Just
like most of the music of Tanakh the focal point of this cut is the wonderful
vocal style of Jesse Poe. “Like I Used To”, a heart-wrenching song based around
fragile guitar and lap steel, is moody and easy to loose yourself in. “Still
Trying to Find You Home” starts off as Leonard Cohen-esque folk dirge but builds
momentum until it takes on the feel of Neil Young’s Crazy Horse and comes close
to “freak-out” thanks to some pretty serious soloing on guitar. The band then
switches to the far lighter “Restless Hands”, which recalls sixties era Brittish
folk- pop.
Over the last couple of years Tanakh leader Jesse Poe has been living in
Florence, Italy, resulting in a temporary hiatus in the band’s touring schedule.
Poe is now planning to return to his native U.S. soil this Spring, in order to
play this year’s edition of the prestigious Terrastock festival which will take
place in Providence, RI.
Previous releases by Tanakh include their debut Villa Claustrophobia [aliencd/lp
33], Dieu Deuil [alience 43] and most recently the self- titled double cd
[aliencd 48].
+ + +
TAYLOR DEUPREE – Northern
CD 12k 12k1037
http://www.12k.com
The inspiration behind Northern (including its music, title and photography)
comes from Deupree’s recent relocation from the heart of urban activity in
Brooklyn to the tranquility of the forest in upstate New York. Inspired by
nature and the winter during which it was created, Northern, like much of his
recent work, explores Deupree’s interest in stillness and a slowed sense of
time. Through quiet textures, subtle movements, faint loops and echoes, it was
his goal to create the type of music that comes naturally to him while also
highlighting the input from his dramatic new surroundings.
In contrast to the brazen repetition found on Stil., Northern more ephemeral
approach to Deupree’s theme comes from looking at the stillness found outside of
his studio windows: large, looming boulders, the softness of snow, and the
hushed whisper of wind and fallen leaves; it is a world of countless tiny
movements so active that an implied stillness results from the din it creates.
Deupree’s earthbound ideas in the album are rooted in his choice of sounds and
studio practices. His now-signature Kyma manipulations are still prominent, but
they have been applied to improvised electric piano, melodica, guitar, and field
recordings using techniques picked up from his experimental/pop collaboration
with Eisi (Every Still Day, Noble Records, Japan, 2005). A careful balance is
kept through the layering of synthetic source tones of basic waveforms and
long, drawn-out, fragile swells. Northern is melodic, warm and introspective,
forming a bed of sound that is simultaneously quiet and noisy, structured and
unsettled, looping and chaotic.
Deupree has dedicated Northern to his closest friend of his teenage years, Bryan
Charles Striniste, with whom he first started experimenting in electronic music
over 20 years ago. Deupree’s relocation to a nearby area much like the one where
he grew up spurred memories of those days of early musical playfulness. Thus,
Northern became highly personal and nostalgic while at the same time breaking
into new territory for Deupree, echoing the changes in his personal life.
Northern is the first solo CD from Taylor Deupree since 2004’s January (Spekk,
Japan), and the first on 12k since the seminal Stil. (12k, 2002).
+ + +
V.A. – COMMERCIALLY UNFRIENDLY: A History Of The British Underground 1983-1989
CD Gott Discs gottcd029
http://www.gottdiscs.com
– no promo in the UK
CURSING THIS AUDACITY
9th JUNE 1983. The Conservative Party of Great Britain won their second term in
office with 45.98% of the vote. Apparently buoyed by the nauseating patriotism
that can arise when innocent lives are lost to what was seemingly a cynically
calculated and unjust ‘conflict’, 72.48% of the population actually bothered to
turn out that year.
Two weeks later, The Membranes played at Blackpool Houndshill Shopping Centre
(June 25).
Neither occasion would have meant that much to me at the time. The summer of 83
was the one that waved goodbye to the warm cocoon of Primary School and prepared
us for unknown threat and danger of Secondary School. The last stand of
childhood, if you will.
So whilst the wider-world settled down to another age of Tory devastation, and
the initiated few were aurally-pummelled by the live ferocity of ‘Crack House’,
Skid, Frog, Wilf, Leigh and myself were down the brook listening to punk and
ska. We had a Binatone tape player and would play the two Specials albums,
everything by the Pistols, the Damned’s ‘Machine Gun Etiquette’ and Frog’s
‘Trojan Explosion’ eps incessantly. It was a good life.
Yet these three disparate events are the crux of this cd. 1983 was the beginning
of my adolescence, the beginning of a second-wave of Thatcherism that would
destroy great swathes of this once-proud land, and, in many respects, ‘Year
Zero’ for a burst of musical creativity, excitement and anger that would
eventually worm its way into my heart and remain a constant influence and
inspiration, whilst remaining largely unknown and unheard to the wider world.
By 1989, most of the bands spawned from the period we’ve chosen to document had
burnt out, I had moved to Manchester to prance around in tights and masks, and
the Poll Tax had arrived. Ostensibly, by the following year, my adolescence, my
favourite bands and my Political arch-nemesis were all things of the past. It
was time to move on. And as we’ve moved on, then our collective memories and
impressions of “the 80’s” have been mutated into something with no redeeming
values. But this wasn’t always the case. Yes! We saw Paul Young cover Joy
Division and Billy Bragg (cassette version of LP only) whilst wearing a gold
lame suit. Yes! We saw Scritti Polliti and ‘The Humours Of Spitalfields’-past,
reborn as Woodbeez. Yes! There was Kajagoogoo, Joe Dolce, Modern Romance and
Duran Du-fuckin-ran, but JesusŠ! That wasn’t the whole story. This was also the
period that bridged the mighty forces of Punk and Techno, and although the music
contained herein was nowhere near as visible, revolutionary and lauded as these
larger scenes, it embodied their shared, basic ethos and inspired fans to do
their own thing. Including me.
To a sizeable chunk of the population, the artists you’re now listening to are
the unsung pioneers in one of the bleakest decades of British history. This was
the true soundtrack to the horror movie of the Miner’s Strike, Mrs. T’s rabid
mauling of these sceptic isles, the rape of industry and the death of
nationalisation. This was the perfect teenage antidote to Wham!, Spandau Ballet
and their irksome ilk. This was political, challenging, get up and go-go-go
music. This was the soundtrack to my adolescence. These were the bands that made
me realise that everything that one does, says or believes is a political act,
and therefore, being a political being means being an individual being…
“Things to remember; there is no God. Liberation will never come. We’re all
doomed to a life of servitude…”
Take control. Make a noise. Be proud and DON’T compromise your ideals. The
personal is political. Provocative 3 minute pop songs can change your life, and
that’s something that elected Politicians will NEVER do. That’s why this cd has
been compiled. This is about an almost ‘lost’ decade of British music. This is a
testament to musical innovation in time of mundanity. It is about a time when
being on an Independent label actually meant something.
It is not about a ‘scene’. ‘Shambling’ was yet another IPC-initiated way to try
and easily pigeon-hole ideas and concepts outside their linear, limited grasp.
PleaseŠ! If The Nightingales’ angular, multi-layered song structures were
shambling, then what the fuck were The Pastels?!! What many of these bands
shared was their position of scrabbling away in their own corner irrespective of
what the rest of corporate Indiedom was tweely tra-la-la-ing along to (despite
this, the NME’s C86 tape was still successful in inexplicably lumping many of
these bands in with the Talulah Gosh’s and Close Lobsters of this world).
If anything does unite these bands, though, then it is discordant, fractured
guitars and polyrhythmic drumming. There is no real reason why, sonically,
NOSEFLUTES and A WITNESS should be considered in any way similar – BUT – for
many people, these bands are inextricably bound together; when one is mentioned,
the other is usually close behind. This may be due to the prevailing D-I-Y
attitude that these bands shared – the bIG*fLAME hand-letraseted inserts, Simon
Clegg’s MEMBRANES artwork, the DEMON RADGE, VINYL DRIP, VINDALOO, EUPHONIUM and
RON JOHNSON record labels, Mike’s BOGSHED sleeves (sadly unable or unwilling to
contribute to this compilation but still integral to its whole ethos and
spirit), the EX’s own label, distribution company, packaging, literature,
plugging…. The latter were ultimate D-I-Y. Ultimate Independent. Punk as Fuck.
(And as a disclaimer, we KNOW the Ex weren’t British but we felt that any
overview of the 83-89 ‘scene’ would be incomplete without them. Any
dissentersŠ?)
So here it is. One boy’s incomplete, non-definitive collection of songs that he
feels should have more resonance and cultural weight than they currently
possess. Hope you enjoy it.
That said though, although any compilation featuring The Fall is worth the
admission cost alone, and giving credence to the terminally overlooked Inca
Babies, Great Leap Forward and Jackdaw With Crowbar proves that this is clearly
a labour of love and not just a cheap ‘100 Greatest’ tie -in, this round-up is
incomplete. For whatever reason, we couldn’t extend this cd to 70 minutes-plus
by including such essential architects as Stump, BogShed, 5 Go Down To The Sea?
and DCL Locomotive, but fuck it! They’ll always be in my heart even if they’re
not on this album. And that’s what it’s all about.
Thanks for the indulgence.
Tracks by: THE FALL, THE NIGHTINGALES, A WITNESS, INCA BABIES, BIG FLAME,
PIGBROS, THE MEMBRANES, NOSEFLUTES, THE SHRUBS, DOG FACED HERMANS, THE GREAT
LEAP FORWARD, THE EX, JACKDAW WITH CROWBAR
+ + +
V.A. – PROJECT: BICYCLE
CD/LP Ache Records ACHE025
http://www.acherecords.com
Eleven electronic / electro-acoustic artists from eight countries unify to pay
homage to what listeners of BBC Radio 4’s You and Yours radio program have voted
as the most significant invention since 1800, beating computers, the internet,
and even the combustion engine with more then half the total votes. The concept
is simple: Give a handful of today’s most progressive sound designers only one
sample to work with. They are able to manipulate this sample in any way they
choose, but their entire song most be composed entirely from the single sound
byte.
The supplied sample is a studio recording of a bicycle, recorded by Jesse Gander
at The Hive Studios in Vancouver. This gives equal importance to the materials
as well as the method used in PROJECT: BICYCLE. This, along with the beautifully
written essay on bicycle riding and it’s social, environmental, and physical
benefits by Green Party Candidate, Sean Orr, offers a deeper concept to the
project. With the inevitable threat of peak
oil in our not too distant future, it is time we opened the lines of
communication to other forms of energy and transportation.
The incredibly international list of artists (Usa, Canada, France, Belgium,
Germany, Denmark, England, and Italy) also furthers the concept, illustrating
that peak oil, and global warming is everyone’s concern, not
just one country or region.
Each artist has chosen to tackle the project uniquely, embracing his own
particular style. Whether it’s the playful, electrifying outbursts of Sun O.K.
Papi K.O.’s ‘Song name’ (Belgium) and Aelters’ ‘Song Name’ (France), or
the smoother approaches of Wobbly’s ‘Song Name’ (USA), and Romanhead’s ‘Song
Name’ (UK), the various techniques in composition and style offer an incredibly
dynamic listen, given PROJECT: BICYCLE’s strict guidelines. Perhaps the most
interesting piece, Greg Davis’ ‘Song Name’ (USA) is a collection of
manipulations of the original sample played back threw a handheld tape player
while he rides around town on his own bicycle, pushing the boundaries of music,
as well as this project.
PROJECT: BICYCLE is open sourced, meaning the original sample appears untouched
at the end of the compilation. This gives the listener a point of reference for
each artists song, offering an inside perspective on what each
musician chose to do with the supplied sound. It also encourages the listener to
get involved on more then an audience level, offering the means to create a song
themselves, removing the hierarchal relationship between artist and fan.
Overall, PROJECT: BICYCLE is an important compilation that unifies several ideas
about politics and art, activism and creativity. Yet, these ideas are presented
modestly and open for interpretation, not relying on a “beat you
over the head” approach that can be intimidating. On the most basic level, it is
simply a collection of wonderful music by some of the world’s most creative
people, with a simple message: have fun riding your bike.
Contributions from: AELTERS / JAB MICA OCH EL / SUN OK PAPI K.O. / SECRET MOMMY
/ DJ ELEPHANT POWER / TU M’ / ROMANHEAD / USKÉ NIKO / GREG DAVIS / WOBBLY /
JASON FORREST
+ + +
VITAMINSFORYOU – The Legend of Bird’s Hill
CD intr-version intr016
http://www.intr-version.com
Both a product of Winnipeg’s rich experimental electronic music community and
its uncompromising indie-rock scene, BRYCE KUSHNIER under the guise of
vitaminsforyou has been creating music for all contexts since 1998. His unique
sing-along sound might evoke whispers of the Postal Service, Manitoba/Caribou,
or Schneider TM, but 99% of listeners agree that they’ve never heard anything
resembling his shy plundering of pop, psychedelia, fey techno, and folk.
Vitaminsforyou’s first album, “I’m Sorry Forever and For Always” (intr_version,
2003), was a quiet hit with taste-making publications from The USA to Germany
such as the Wire, Stylus, and De:bug – amongst many others. The success of the
album propelled him, along with then-fellow Montrealers Ghislain Poirier (also
of intr_version and Chocolate Industries) and Montag (Carpark), on a Canada-wide
tour.
Vitaminsforyou has also earned a small following (that could be described as
obsessive) performing at Mutek’s Canadian and Mexican editions, Vancouver’s New
Forms Festival, and Winnipeg’s Send and Receive Festival. Locally he’s
supported the Notwist, Schneider TM, Tim Hecker, Polmo Polpo, and so on. His
credits also include work with Justin Small’s (of Do Make Say Think) group
Lullabye Arkestra; Mitchell Akiyama’s Désormais and Avia Gardner projects;
production for Montreal’s Hexes and Ohs (Noise Factory Records) Emm Gryner, and
collaborations with Mike Feuerstack (Wooden Stars, Belle Orchestre, Kepler &
Snailhouse); original music for Winnipeg Filmmakers Matthew Etchies and Kiera
Dannell; and scores for Montreal choreographer Andrew Tay, Sasha Kleinplatz and
Dana Michel.
In the almost three years since his last full-length Vitaminsforyou’s EP “Désolé
monsieur soleil, c’est la neige qui va me libérer” (intr_version, 2005) has
given listeners a taste of the complex and ravishing things that have been
brewing. His upcoming full-length, “The Legend of Bird’s Hill” is his most
intricate and dizzying work yet and a nod to one Manitoba’s most beautiful,
diverse and inspiring parks just minutes north of the Winnipeg perimeter.
Featuring contributions from Ghislain Poirier, Emm Gryner, his occasional band
the Wednesday Afternoon Players, and other members of the Canadian music
landscape, this album dives deeper into the psychedelic waters Vitaminsforyou
has been testing for some time. Carrying over are the lush arrangements, shy
vocals, and intoxicating melodies that make Vitaminsforyou a unique and
indispensable element of Canadian music.
+ + +
YANNIS KYRIAKIDES – Wordless
CD Unsounds 13u
http://www.unsounds.com
This is the fifth release of composer and digital sound artist Yannis Kyriakides
on UNSOUNDS, an electronic composition which has been performed to enthousiatic
reception in festivals around the world.
Wordless is a suite of 12 electronic sound portraits based on interviews from
the BNA-BBOT archives in Brussels. Words from the interviews are edited out to
leave only the hesitations, breathing emotional reactions and environmental
sounds. An aspect of the personality of the interviewee somehow comes across in
these inbetween
sounds, as if stripped of language another layer of communication comes into
focus, more emotional, more revealing than what is expressed in words. The
soundtrack of the edited interviews is then re-sampled and set in musical
structures with wave-based electronic sounds, resonances, pulses and noise.
Wordless was originally commissioned by the ARGOS Festival, Brussels, Belgium
held in October 2004.
Yannis Kyriakides’s musical language synthesizes disparate sound sources and
explores the relation between emotion and language. Recent releases include ‘The
Buffer Zone’, ‘The Thing Like Us’, ‘Red v Green’ (with Andy Moor) and
‘conSPIracy cantata’, which was awarded the Gaudeamus Prize in 2000.
+ + +
LIVE DATES
25th anniversary of the conception of TOUCH
13/04 CZ – Prague, Archa Theatre w/ Fennesz and Philip Jeck
05/05 UK – London, Cut and Splice, ICA, label spotlight w/ Philip Jeck
07/05 BE – Brussels, Les Nuits Botaniques, Spire live at St. Michael’s Cathedral
12/05 UK – Leeds, Fus festival, Spire live at Town Hall
13/05 UK – Newcastle, Spire live at Jesmond Church
24/06 NL – Amsterdam, Holland Festival, Spire live at Oude Kerk
BELONG + Ariel Pink [Carpark]
12/05 SE – Stockholm, Debaser
13/05 NO – Oslo, Blaa
16/05 DE – Hamburg, Golden Pudel
17/05 DE – Berlin, West Germany
18/05 DE – Leipzig, Ilses Erika
19/05 DE – Freiburg, TBA
20/05 DE – Dudingen, Bad Bonn
21/05 AT – Vienna, Flex
22/05 IT – Faenza, Clandestino
23/05 IT – Porto Sant’Elpidio (Ascoli), St. Indie Festival
24/05 IT – Turin, El Barrio
25/05 DE – Munich, Rote Sonne
26/05 CH – Zurich, Kalkbreite
27/05 BE – Antwerp, Petrol 5voor12
29/05 NL – Breda, Mezz
30/05 NL – Amsterdam, Paradiso
31/05 NL – Utrecht, Ekko
BiP_HOp Generation event #70
28/04 ES – Barcelona, NIU Gallery
GREG DAVIS with SEBASTIEN ROUX [Carpark/12k]
30/05 UK – London, The Luminaire
29/05 FR – Rennes, Le Bon Acceuil
27/05 PT – Lisbon, Ze Dos Bois
26/05 ES – Barcelona, TBA
24/05 BE – Aalst, Netwerk + The No Neck BNlues Band
23/05 DE – Hamburg, Astra-Stube
22/05 DE – Berlin, nbi
21/05 DE – Leipzig, Nato
20/05 DE – Cologne, Kulturbunker Muelheim
19/05 FR – Nantes, Le Lieu Unique
18/05 FR – Bordeaux, Cafe Pompier
16/05 FR – Lille, La Malterie
MOHA! [Rune Grammofon] 26/04 DE – Berlin, Ausland, N-Event
PETER REHBERG [Mosz]
12/04 FR – Blockhaus, Nantes
14/04 PT – Galeria Zé dos Bois, Lisbon
16/04 UK – Descent, The Sage, Gateshead
18/04 CH – Fri-son, Fribourg
19/04 CH – Cave12, Geneve
THE EX [Ex Rec.]
01/04 NL – Groningen, Grand Theatre
02/04 NL – Rotterdam, Worm
05/04 NL – Amsterdam, Bimhuis
06/04 BE – Diksmuide, 4AD
07/04 FR – Paris/Bobigny, Maison de la Culture de la Seine
08/04 FR – Tourcoing, Grand Mix
20/04 DE – Köln, Kulturbunker Mülheim
21/04 DE – Bremen, Schlachthof + Chumbawamba
22/04 DE – Braunschweig, Drachenflug
09/05 FR – Strasbourg, tba + Konono No.1
UNIFORM [Planet Mu] 30/04 AT – Donaufestival Krems
ZEITKRATZER [X-tract]
20/04 AT – Donaufestival Krems + Keiji Haino
22/04 AT – Donaufestival Krems
20/05 FR – Marseille
+++
to UNSUBSCRIBE please reply from the address you want to have unsubscribed and
paste REMOVE in the subject line
Dense Promotion
Reichenberger Str. 147
10999 Berlin
