L/A/B
psychoacoustics
Ground Fault
GF032
Dave Phillips
/////
Ground Fault
GF031
Guilty Connector
Cosmic Trigger / 2AM Visit
Ground Fault
GF033
Zbigniew Karkowski + Antimatter
KHZ
Ausculture
aus021
Last year, the kind folks at Ground Fault sent me a number of releases to review. Despite my less than lukewarm response to some of them (though I greatly appreciated my first taste of the work of Joe Colley, Daniel Menche and others), they’re happily undaunted and recently proffered four more. Once again, the results, to my taste, are decidedly mixed but as always, I’m happy to actually hear music like this if only to attain a more accurate picture of what’s occurring out there that I might otherwise never get around to. As before, I welcome comments from those more into some of these scenes who may well strongly disagree with me.
Karkowski was the only name with which I was previously familiar and the packaging of his release somehow indicated great promise, so I held that one off for last, listening to the others in the sequence given above, eyeballing the liners and guessing as to the order I’d eventually come to enjoy them in, least to most. I was spot on. The liner notes for L/A/B’s “psychoacoustics” reek of pretension, including lines like “…illustrates the musical sounds of the human psyche” and “The dominant mythology of our time is science”. The trio’s music doesn’t fare much better. Petri Laukka, Jonas D. Aneheim and Henrik N. Bjorkk wield unidentified electronic instruments in what appears to be a melding of live improv, composition and studio post-production but the results are almost unrelievedly bland. The first track, for instance, has a buried, dub-like bass pattern overlaid with loopy, sci-fi sounding electronics and rough, repeated rhythms. All well and good but the actual choice of sound, of rhythms and of placement seems so unconsidered, so rudimentary; something you’d expect from a trio of well meaning youngsters who just made the leap from rock to free improvisation. This sets a pattern for much of the disc. There’s such a clichéd aspect to the majority of the sounds employed to the extent that I wondered if that might be the point: “Let’s intentionally use every electronic music cliché in the book and see what we can come up with”. Alas, I don’t think so. There’s even some (what appears to be) solo noodling on the piece, “Masking; Loud” where it momentarily sounds like Keith Emerson’s grandkid got a hold of his dad’s old Moog. The brevity of the tracks (15 in about 48 minutes) doesn’t help as the few ideas that sound as though they might actually yield something are cut off midstream. In fairness, it’s not entirely that dire and some pieces, like “Telefonbau Normalzeit”, wherein rare restraint is shown and “2050 C”, which more unabashedly displays rock roots, work pretty well. But overall, an unsuccessful album.
I’ll freely admit that when I see a disc that contains 99 tracks, my expectations are lowered approximately that many notches. I suppose someone had to do it once but after that, there really isn’t any excuse unless you just happen to have that many pieces to round out an album in less than 80 minutes. Dave Phillips’ enunciation-defying “/////” doesn’t fit that latter bill. Toss in liner notes printed in dark purplish gray on black (hadn’t a law been passed against this sort of thing post-Zorn?) and you’ve dug yourself a pretty deep hole with this listener. But “/////” actually begins enticingly enough, after the (obligatory?) silent first cut, with a soft field recording of rain and distant thunder. Not earth-shaking but not bad. After this, however, the disc progresses into a kind of noise territory that has a disheartening sameness about it. With track 9, two sounds that I’ve increasingly come to hear as epigrammatic in this sub-genre make their appearance: One is something you’d imagine would be produced by hitting a heavy, metal banister with a two by four. As good a noise as any other, I guess, but one that swiftly cedes any resonance or mystery. The other, shades of Randy Yau, is the sound of someone retching. Why retching seems so attractive is troubling. Again, as a simple noise, fine and dandy, but the fact that it, among the gazillions of possibilities, rears its head on yet another disc leads one to think that its creators are intending a more metaphorical connotation, one that is off-puttingly adolescent. Maybe it’s just Phillips’ history on the death metal scene; I don’t know. And it’s always possible that the artist is commenting on just such suppositions. To be sure, these two only happen to stand out to me and the remainder of the disc covers a wide sonic range but the haphazard, slapdash back and forth sounds almost as stale today as those post-modern musical cut ‘n’ pastes of the late 80s, early 90s. I can understand some listeners getting a kick out of this approach (and perhaps those here who do, maybe Nirav or Ed, will chime in), but with the exception of the odd passing moments of interest, I fail to hear it.
With Guilty Connector’s “Cosmic Trigger/2AM Visit”, things take a healthy, noisy turn. Twelve tracks dense with noise but, unlike my sense of the previous two releases, steeped in purpose. Difficult to put one’s finger on, of course, but I hear more pure engagement here, more of a plunge into the storm without regard for effect, an immersion if you will. Someone will correct me if I’m wrong but I believe it’s one individual, Kohei Nakagawa, who’s responsible for this onslaught. I’ve no idea what Utsu and Shibaki electronics, which he’s credited with wielding, consist of and don’t care. He takes a misstep here and there; “Brighter than 10,000 Cacophonous Suns” stumbles through some raucously percussive screeching far longer than necessary though it too eventually circles in on some heady, feedback-laden material that more or less justifies the journey. Once in a while, I found myself thinking of mid-60s Sun Ra at his most extreme. In music as noise-driven as this, that sense of abandon, of an utter lack of calculation, might be what makes or breaks it for me and Nakagawa has abandonment down. Extra points for the appearance of Abba’s “Rock Me” at the tail end of one particularly vicious screed. It’s a good, tough record, well worth checking out, and someone I’d like to actually witness perform.
But the real gem of this bunch is Karkowski’s “Antimatter”. One tightly focused 45-minute track that grabs attention from the first sound and maintains a high level of creativity throughout. Stuttering sub-tones provide a rough bottom coat, imparting something of a forward momentum while medium and high pitched scrapes and whistles dart randomly above, hovering for a bit before flitting off to one side. There’s certainly a landscape (or, maybe, methane-laden seascape) aspect to “Antimatter”, a sense of hurtling through or around some alien territory. The contrast of the muted low tones and often piecing upper ones in the first half of the work is striking, creating vast spatial separation and recalling something of Xenakis. In retrospect, you realize there have been a large variety of sounds but because none of them come off as forced, there’s a seamlessness to the piece, a misleading sense of continuity. About midway through, the rumbles subside (never quite disappear) and a slew of midrange whirs and buzzes whipsaw their way across the scene. Drones, but disquieting ones lacking any serenity. A pulse emerges and granularity increases for a few minutes before things quiet down to a dialog between the pulse, angry and studded with clicks, and a distant jangle. An electrostatic storm erupts suddenly and wildly only to swiftly plummet to a hissing eddy, closing out this fine, thoughtful and immensely enjoyable disc.
As always, I’d be happy to get conflicting opinions, especially on the two I didn’t care for. I may well be missing something.
~ Brian Olewnick
All of Mr Karkowski's best music - and there's quite a lot of it - recalls Xenakis, with whom he apparently studied, though I'm not sure for how long. I haven't received these GF releases yet Brian, so I'm not in a position to comment on the other two, but - and this ties in rather nicely with my post on the other thread - there's one Karkowski release you might try & get hold of asap, "Pop" with Peter Rehberg. And, yep, it's on Absurd!!
Posted by: Dan Warburton at February 6, 2005 6:30 AMnice job as always brian.
i agree on the L/A/B, i was really disappointed in that one (not that i knew who those guys were in advance, but i've found that i've enjoyed maybe 80% of groundfault's catalog, so the rare clunker for me is a letdown).
also agreed on guilty connector, that's an incredible disc, the intensity level is very impressive.
i can't agree on dave phillips, though, since i really like that disc. nirav can comment more on phillips' previous work, which is apparently even better (i'm in the process of catching up on it now), but i think IIIII works really well in taking the usual Runzelstirn & Gurgelstock sound to its utter extreme. often, any individual track on the disc (like the retching you pick out) doesn't totally work on its own, but i find that the complete tapestry of sounds, the overall structure, and the variety that's included here makes the whole thing add up to much more than any of the isolated sounds on their own. the contrast between the ugly bursts of noise peppering this thing and the more subdued moments is really effective, especially since each louder blast seems to shake me up at exactly the point when i'm starting to settle in to the music. i don't really get the sameness you talk about, especially since you later say it covers a wide sonic territory, which it does. this approach certainly isn't new, but phillips' take on it at least gets me excited.
oh, and i haven't heard the karkowski disc, though it's certainly top of my list next time i buy or trade with GF. but i should point out that's it not Karkowski solo, it's his collaboration with Xopher Davidson AKA Antimatter, and the title of the disc is actually "KHZ".
Posted by: Ed Howard at February 6, 2005 7:01 AMYikes, apologies on the misappelation of the Karkowski/Antimatter disc (maybe Joe or someone can edit at least the title listing...) Had I paid more attention to the insert that came along in the package, I would have noticed that. In my defense, I'll say that from the disc itself, it's not difficult to have made the mistake. For that matter, I'm reading the Phillips title as "/////" rather than "IIIII". (I like my read better!). Apologies to Erik et al for any errors such as these.
Not being familiar at all with the Swiss scene that Phillips apparently emerges from (?), it seems to come from something of a post-Schwitters kind of approach and, if this is at all accurate, I admit to having had difficulties in Schwitters-appreciation in the past, so it may just be a blind spot of mine.
nice reviews, brian.
phillips emerges from "schimpfluch gruppe" w/ rudolf eber & jole lanz (aka sudden infant).
the title of the CD is probably IIIII, since the last one was called IIII [on manufracture] ... but i'm not sure.
nirav should chime in - he's an expert.
Posted by: tomas at February 6, 2005 9:57 AMyes, 'IIIII' is correct, he has previous releases of 'I', 'II', 'III', and 'IIII'.
http://www.tochnit-aleph.com/davephillips/disco.html
Posted by: jon abbey at February 6, 2005 11:16 AMYou're mocking me, aren't you Tomas? (-:
Posted by: Nirav Soni at February 7, 2005 10:56 PMBrian wrote:
"Not being familiar at all with the Swiss scene that Phillips apparently emerges from (?), it seems to come from something of a post-Schwitters kind of approach and, if this is at all accurate, I admit to having had difficulties in Schwitters-appreciation in the past, so it may just be a blind spot of mine."
Phillips started out in the shortlived grindcore band Fear of God and then fell in w/ Rudolf Eb.er and the Schimpfluch/Runzelstirn & Gurgelstock crowd. I'm sure there's some kind of indirect Dada (I wouldn't say Schwitters specifically) influence on their performances and certainly on the Schimpfluch records, more than a few of which were unplayable objects. But the Vienna Aktionists are probably a much more apt comparison, though one the Schimpfluch people are quick to downplay. I read an interview w/ Eb.er where he mentioned that he was much more influenced by the writings of a certain Buddhist monk who was "much more extreme" than the Aktionists were. (No, I have not been able to track down anything by said monk and even I've forgotten the name.) He's also talked a lot about breathing techniques (Eb.er teaches an esoteric brand of martial arts in Japan) which induce certian psychological states. This kind of breathing certainly plays a large part in Eb.er's work and I'd say Phillips as well. These techniques and the use of space they entail (there are a lot of various breathing patterns for certain kinds of meditation that involve long stretches of holding your breath, counting to 100, etc.) are very prevalent in a lot of Runzelstirn & Gurgelstock recordings and are one of the dominent aspects of their influence on a lot of musicians today (a lot may be exagerrating, but I know more than a few who've been highly influenced by them). The combination of this and the absurdity of Dada and the Aktionists, and the bodily extremity of the Aktionists bring you a bit closer to the Schimpfluch way. Then add the lo-fi, cheap, transgressive aesthetic of the burgeoning noise scene in the 80s and we're getting somewhere. With Phillips, beyond the general extremity, psychological tension, induced states, punk, anti-art, etc. there's also a strong political/anarchist angle which was part of Fear of God as well. He's passionate about animal rights (a vegan I believe), human rights, civil rights, etc. which (may or may not) give the frustration, anger, whatnot a more purposeful focus. So... on to 'IIIII' - I listed it as one of my favorites of this year. I think it's a fantastic recording. I also get a bit concerned when I see 99 tracks on a CD, but since it's a Dave Phillips CD, I wasn't worried. It makes perfect sense. A lot of his work has the taut, fragmentary, broken, almost binary (complete silence or in the red) quality of the finest Schimplfluch works where the sounds themselves are aaaaaallmmosst arbitrary and the compositional/psychological rhythm and form they create are much more important. A lot of the Runzelstirn & Gurgelstock recordings used almost the exact same sounds even. R & G fans will easily recognize the infamous short scream/hitting oneself on the chest sound that were all over countless R & G recordings. This was partially comic, partially referencing the arbitrariness of the sounds themselves and partially lazy? (80s noise we-don't-give-a-fuck ethic). This is or was also a technique of Lionel Marchetti's tape music for a while. The 'swooshing of a switch through the air' sound was ever present on his recordings, to the point that it became a point of tension/composition when and if it arrived. It seems like he hasn't used it in a while - I miss that sound! At any rate, yes, there are some familiar sounds happening. The Schimpfluch folk are probably responsible for the popularization of the retch sound you mention. Part of Phillips' set up involves a contact mic in the mouth and the performative qualities of bodily extremity certainly play a part in his music and you can read into this in a number of ways as being some kind of abject body horror transgression, a statement on dehumanization or whatnot or you can treat it like a sound. A sound that turns up often enough in Schimpfluch-related recordings (Yau is certainly influenced by these guys - I'm not sure where else you've heard this sound). But like the sax slap tongue, a bowed cymbal or a "gamelanesque" plucked note on a prepared guitar in free improvisation, simply part of the lexicon. And dude... vomit sounds are fukkkin siiiiickkk!! :-)
Enough out of me...
Posted by: Elk at February 8, 2005 8:26 AMAnd here you were with a perfect opportunity to incorporate some vomitatious aural input into your set with Jason here in September and you (so to speak) bagged!!!
Thanks for the detailed response, Greg. As it's probably one of the hundreds of areas I'll never get around to exploring in depth, I'll just chalk it up, for now, as a genre that I don't get, joinging a long line of stuff....
Posted by: Brian Olewnick at February 8, 2005 9:39 AMBrian:
"And here you were with a perfect opportunity to incorporate some vomitatious aural input into your set with Jason here in September and you (so to speak) bagged!!!"
oc·cult (&-'k<, ä-; 'ä-"k<}
adj.
Hidden; concealed; not immediately obvious or overtly expressed.
Elk wrote:
"Phillips started out in the shortlived grindcore band Fear of God and then fell in w/ Rudolf Eb.er and the Schimpfluch/Runzelstirn & Gurgelstock crowd. I'm sure there's some kind of indirect Dada (I wouldn't say Schwitters specifically) influence on their performances and certainly on the Schimpfluch records, more than a few of which were unplayable objects. But the Vienna ....... blah, blah, blah .......................ways as being some kind of abject body horror transgression, a statement on dehumanization or whatnot or you can treat it like a sound. A sound that turns up often enough in Schimpfluch-related recordings "
Elk...great summary and analysis of dp. You definately know your dp shit.
Elk also wrote:
"(Yau is certainly influenced by these guys - I'm not sure where else you've heard this sound).
Coming soon....RHY Yau/Dave Phillips collaboration on Auscultare/Ground Fault.
Posted by: Erik Hoffman at February 23, 2005 9:56 AM.................................................. © 2003 - 2006 bagatellen ..................................................