There seems to have been a slight breather in the production schedule of the excellent Portuguese label Creative Sources. But, as spring has ceded first to summer and now autumn, Ernesto Rodrigues’ imprint is in full bloom again.
CS 51
Vocalist Agnes Palier and Olivier Toulemonde (electroacoustic set) meet up on Rocca (CS 051). Many of these tracks consist of low murmurs bathed in rich, echoplex sounds; it’s a lot like listening to a monastic choir through several layers of steel. This is a lovely effect that the two musicians occasionally meddle with in the wrong way, with a few too many birdsongs and scrapes moments, or a Minton-like squishy kiss that spoils the mood. But with the third – and longest – improvisation, they settle into a fine subdued space that explores reverberant overtones. Somehow, the moments where Palier ululates ecstatically are the least successful to me. I prefer the more intense, non-idiomatic vocals where she blends in with Toulemonde’s metallic whorls (which occasionally – as on the brief concluding track – flash with the weird synergy of, say, Cosmos). Pretty good.
CS 53
Bassist David Chiesa’s solo Phonemes (CS 053) is a fine statement which compares favorably with recitals like Domenico Sciajno’s Broken Bridge. The first of these two pieces begins with thuds on the body punctuated by occasional scrapes and submarine drones. This relatively sparse palette is explored fully, and Chiesa slowly knits the different pieces together while increasing the aggression and tension. The second piece explores spectral tones even more fully, digging into the contrast between extreme upper register whispers and sepulchral moans. There are also some hot flashes of nastiness and some mournful pizzicato towards the end. Basically, this program explores a few ideas very effectively. Fans of solo bass improvising should definitely hear it.
CS 54
Some think that German trumpeter Birgit Ulher suffers a bit from over-documentation. On her new solo recording Scatter (CS 054), however, she shows that she is very much expanding her improvisational repertoire. It’s not only a succinct, coherent statement (with ten tracks in 45 minutes), but offers something different from her previous works. Put simply, she is moving away from the Dixon-indebted splatter into a more spacious territory where she sounds as if she’s taking her instrument apart. Each piece seems to explore a different aspect of the instrument – valves, bell, or what have you – but somehow it doesn’t seem like a simple practice session. Some tracks, like “Elements” or “Possibilities,” incorporate older styles. But this is mostly a very fresh sounding disc for Ulher.
Guitarist Sascha Demand eschews the conventions of solo recording by working in extremely miniature forms on Plakation (CS 055). Recorded at home in Hamburg, Demand delivers 39 incisions in just under an hour. I appreciate the focus and conciseness, since rambling is the main deficiency of solo improv recordings. On the other hand, Demand’s textural palette is a bit too limited for my taste. These are almost like technical miniatures, or distillations of some of the basic sonic components existing at the interface of guitar and (significantly) amplifier: oscillations, volume swells, gentle knocks on the body below the bridge, rubbings, and so forth. No notes, that’s fine. No long excursions, also fine. But after the first dozen tracks or so, it sounds a bit like treading water.
Kreisel (CS 056) consists of eight micro-improvised miniatures played by turntablist Claus Van Bebber and percussionist Michael Vorfeld (who is also credited with stringed instruments). These musicians have considerable imaginative and technical range, though they mostly set about to create landscapes of harshness. “Eingekreist” sounds like rain dripping into a cavernous loft, with scratchy squeaky noises audible beneath and surrounded by circular thrums and low moans. “Aufgedreht” contrasts the ominous tolling of bells (then later small chimes or prepared strings) with the whizz-whirr of manipulated audio. “Gekreiselt” sounds like the wind chimes in your backyard as filtered through gauzy electronics, a bit like the silvery sheen on “Gezirkelt.” But I suppose I’m most partial to “Gerundet,” the roughest and most granular of these pieces (although “Umrundet” has some truly caustic squealing, like Merzbow attacking a calliope). Its lovely turntable effects (like backwards tape playing) contrasts nicely with the percussive grit.
Mørke-Lys (CS 057) pairs Wade Matthews with Norwegian percussionist Ingar Zach. Matthews is known as a solo performer on saxophone but last year released a solo electronics recording on Sillon and is here credited with “electronic synthesis.” I’m not sure whether that refers to live interactions or post-production of Zach’s work. Regardless, these six tracks from Madrid 2005 are quite good. The editing is wonderful, with Zach’s percussive bestiary – a languorous brush stroke on a snare, or a dull rattling of chains – contrasting provocatively with Matthews slow-building walls of sound. At times, the playing seems to crest like waves, a music of oscillation. Elsewhere it focuses on squirts and rough metal strikes, as on “Mørke.” There are lots of quick sizzles and sounds like various weighted papers and vellums being rubbed together (especially on the intense “Oscarita – Luce,” where things sound like agitated birds). A good one.
Belvedere (CS 058) is the title of a single, 70-minute performance by guitarist Emmanuel Petit, alto saxophonist Jean-Luc Guionnet, bassist David Chiesa, and Eric La Casa wielding microphones and mixing desk. It seems similarly in methodology to an earlier disc, Metro Pré St. Gervais, where Guionnet and violinist Dan Warburton descended into the Paris subway with La Casa, who sculpted the environment and the improvisers’ sounds in real-time, the results of which themselves contributed to the overall sound. Here the musicians gathered into a single dwelling, moving about in its space throughout the duration of the piece, exploring its resonances and its limitations in ways so that the cumulative sounding out of this space is quite vivid. Part of the charm of this performance comes from the occasional “intrusion” from the outside – there is the flitting or chirping of birds and, right at the end, some passing trucks. Occasionally the musicians produces identifiable sounds – there are long tones from Guionnet, grumbling arco from Chiesa, spectral feedback from Petit – but in general it sounds like listening to wood grow, or like some organic Eliane Radigue piece. Guionnet is the most dominant voice, playing more demonstrably than the others do, altering his attack consistently – from a buzz to a warble to a shriek – while the others mutter and hum (only seldom coalescing in a tutti swell or giving way to some rough damage from contact mikes). Provocative.
Pedro Chambel delivers Bruit (CS 059), the second solo guitar recording of this batch. Unlike Demand, Chambel gives himself more time to explore the guitar in these six medium length improvisations. His focus is, despite the difference of scale, on a similar range of distilled instrumental properties. On the first piece, for example, Chambel scrapes and tickles roughly prepared strings near the bridge, setting these small sounds against a backdrop of amp hum. There is an occasional thwack, twang, or input jack crackle. The second piece is a fulsome, crackling drone, and it seems to move the record in a provocative direction. The problem, however, is that the third and fourth pieces are altogether too similar, with only minor variations in the material. The fifth track, with its compelling assemblage of scrapes and rustles is far more diverting, but the disc closes with a return to the feel of the second piece. Not my cup of tea.
One of the finest recent CS releases is Looking in My Ear (CS 063), which comes courtesy of Tripwire: Lars Scherzberg (sax), John Hughes (bass), and Jeff Arnal (perc). It sounds like a cross between some late version of SME with the kind of granular, organic improv recently heard on Reuben Radding’s Fugitive Pieces. Recorded in a very live, reverberant space, Tripwire plays with heavy abstractions of their instruments, exploring the contrast between clatter and long tones, between furtive escapes and the occasional declamation. The pieces are nicely concise, ten focused improvisations where the players restrain almost all traces of ego in the name of evocative group sound, like listening to echoes from a canyon below. Scherzberg is perhaps the most muted of the personalities here, creating all kinds of evocative effects that avoid any hint of saxophone-isms (save for his intense fluttering on “Altitude”). Hughes’ rough arco doesn’t overpower by any means but provides the music with real flash. And Arnal continues to impress as a percussionist, particularly on the disc’s centerpiece “The Precipice Inside.”
The aptly named Kinetics (CS 043) features a wonderful quintet consisting of Ernesto Rodrigues (vln, vla), Guilherme Rodrigues (clo, pocket tpt), Oren Marshall (tba), Carlos Santos (elec), and Jose Oliveira (perc). Theirs is music of quiet gesture and nuance, the faintest scratch or breath, a snippet of pizzicato, and only the occasional spasm of raw noise (the sudden gusting on part 1 of this 8-part suite, for example). As much as I enjoy the chattery, forest-dwelling interplay of the strings players and Oliveira, I keep listening to what happens between the wonderful Marshall and the mischievous Santos. The quick darts from the former three seem as if they’re trying to escape from some slouching lower-register beast on part two. Over the course of these focused improvisations, things get even more intense, as if building to some kind of confrontation. And indeed, on parts five and six, the music is thick, scary, and at times even claustrophobic. By the time you hear Guilherme Rodrigues’ pocket trumpet on the final track, this recognizable sound seems alien to your ears. A fine work.
Violinist Christoph Irmer meets up with “endangered guitar” specialist Hans Tammen on the marvelous Oxide (CS 060). Irmer knocked me out on a fantastic trio disc with John Butcher and Agusti Fernandez a couple years back, while Tammen has long impressed (but not necessarily excited) me. Well, this duo is quite excellent, and on each track they create a truly compelling mix. “Desultory” is anything but, with Tammen’s bevy of bell noises swirling around Irmer’s rough then fragile arco. The feather-light overtones on “Breach” sound as if trying to escape the rough snarling beast crouching behind Tammen. Things get even more intense during the spasmodic glitch and scrape frenzy of “Hiatus.” But my two favorite tracks are “Fracture” (with a haunting loop that seems to catalyze the string-mangling frenzy in the foreground) and “Rare Metal,” a lovely robot chamber music finale.
How to refer to Grundik Kasyansky? The common denominator to each of the four tracks on Light and Roundchair (CS 062) is the use of feedback synthesizer (though he also employs computer, theremin, and radios). Kasyansky’s approach to the radio is far different than one finds in, say, Keith Rowe’s music or N:Q or Otomo Yoshihide. The sounds he coaxes from them are almost delicate ones, meant to blend into his tasteful use of sine waves and the feedback synthesizer, suggesting an animate ball of paper rustling uncomfortably amidst the drones. On “10.9.2005” we hear low, wet gurgles like a Mats Gustafsson loop build into a steadily denser sound cluster, with shrieking feedback and even rougher scratches. “Turnover” features a slowly pin wheeling bit of feedback, a harmonic gloss on the steady bore of high-pitched feedback (with an occasional bullying from radio). And when Kasyansky finally coaxes some referential material to the fore – on the first, 30-minute iteration of “Radio Dostoevsky” – it serves as catalyst to a massive crumbling wall of noise. A perplexing recording. Would that there were more of them.
Heddy Boubaker’s Lack of Conversation (CS 066) is part of the label’s ongoing interest in solo saxophone records. Boubaker, a new name to me, refers to these improvisations as “technico/poetic sound work . . . a travel to anyone’s imagination.” He works at the intersection of approaches defined by, say, Butcher, Gustafsson, Wright, and others, fluttering and exploring the metallic resonances of the saxophone as object itself. He generally favors the low and guttural, with the expected range of wet sucking sounds and static crackle very much in abundance. Though there is much to enjoy here (the rough breaths of “Solitude #2” or the manic clacking of “Solitude #3”), it’s not quite distinctive enough from other, similar recordings for my taste.
CS 64
Finally (for now), we have Etau (CS 064). It’s a lovely, soft incantation from Benjamin Duboc (b) and Edward Perraud (d, perc). Muted thuds, groaning arco, rubbed toms and cymbals: these are long plangent sounds, which, on occasions, seem to clatter and fall apart. Somehow, there are times, during these two lengthy tracks, when the music seems to erupt and spill over its confines, when I’m reminded of AMM (albeit with a quite different instrumentation). It’s really about the spaces opening up, about sounds flaring and then fizzling out. At times, it seems that the pieces are perhaps a bit too similar, with a few too many sepulchral groans and so forth. But there’s an incandescent charm to this one.
~ Jason Bivins
Posted by derek on October 12, 2006 4:55 PMChapeau for dealing with so many albums so concisely Jason. I was a little bemused by your Eliane Radigue comparison re Belvedere - which Radigue piece are you thinking of? (FYI a sequel to Metro Pre St Gervais is in the works.. this time we'll be going to a car park.) The solo guitar releases above didn't do much for me, and I never managed to connect with the Kasyansky, despite several attempts to do so, but Etau, Morke-Lys, Kinetics and especially David Chiesa's solo bass album (good call, comparing to Broken Bridge!) are excellent.
Of course another 9 CS albums have appeared since these, and there are some promising ones in the pipeline (a Djll big band and a Nate Wooley / Chris Forsyth duo I see). Enough to keep us all busy well into 2007.
"Of course another 9 CS albums have appeared since these..."
I think even 10. I have only listened to "Neumática" by Alud, and it's a very good work. Back to the ones reviewed by Jason - I think "Phonemes", "Mørke-Lys", "Belvedere", "Etau", "Kinetics" and "Looking in My Ear" are the best.
Talk of the devil, the ten new ones arrived in this morning's post! I'll report back to you when I get round to giving them a good listen. Meanwhile, if there are any Baganauts in Brussels, I'll be there tomorrow afternoon to chair a panel discussion on improvised music with Eddie Prévost. It's at the Chapelle de Boondael, square Vieux Tilleul 1050 Bruxelles (pl Marie José terminus tram 94) at 4pm. And there are some great concerts on there tonight and tomorrow!
Posted by: Dan Warburton at October 13, 2006 4:40 AM
Mercy! 14, plus 9 or 10 others? We anonymous folk have to pay for these pleasures. Would someone at Bags please teach me how to rob the bank legally?
Posted by: Graham L. Rogers at October 13, 2006 8:06 AMone old cs disk i have recently been spinning and liking more and more is vasistas. what are the opinions of that one compared to new work. also the big question in my life right now is should i make a cs disk. ernesto excepted a demo i sent him out ofn curiosity to see if he would. he offered me the standard deal which at the time was impossible, and currently is really more money than i can responsibily spend do to my no health insurance subsistance level life. plus whole issue of do you want to pay to play, even under the most honorable of circumstances like c.s. on the other hand dont i owe it to myself as an artist to invest in myself if I want to be serious. also i really do like the look and sounds of the label and feel the music fits in extremely well. I actually would really welcome anyones thoughts advice or experiences very much. im a little embarrassed to bring this up publicly but i have been spinning this decision around in my head for days and days and some fresh thoughts by people in the improv musician/fan/writer/label community would be great. thanks yall
j
SWS, the world can never have enough interesting music. BUT . . . I'm also aware, as a reviewer and as an occasional salesperson at a 'record' store, that as CDs have become cheaper to produce, the world has become awash with CDs and CD-Rs of music that no-one but the artist really wants to listen to. The simple fact is: sales are hard to come by, no matter how good the music. That's unfortunate. This is a scant market (few purchasers per capita) but one cast worldwide. If you gig heavily, you're likely to sell more CDs in any year of your music post-gig than a 'record' store is likely to be able to shift. That's not to underplay the value of 'record' stores - they have a valuable part to play in the dissemination of music. But you're likely to be the best ambassador of your music. Should you go with CS? If you feel you'll benefit, in some respect or other, yes. But financially that benefit is hard to quantify. If you feel, for whatever reason (excluding financial), that you want to get your music out into the world, do it: it may be ignored but it may be celebrated. Like making the music, the risk is yours alone.
Posted by: Brian Marley at October 13, 2006 8:57 AMYes, one of the inevitable consequences of releasing so many discs is that many get overlooked (buried).. Vasistas is nice, for sure (but it's not my favourite Guionnet / Denzler outing.. tried the one on Fargone, John?.. or "Metz"?). Graham, in answer to your plea for advanced tuition in grand larceny, maybe you should address that one to the Inland Revenue.. suffice it to say that we "writers" will do our level best to point you to what we think is the most worthwhile investment :))
Posted by: Dan Warburton at October 13, 2006 9:05 AMDan: The fate of my wallet is in your hands. Please be merciful with it!
Posted by: Graham L. Rogers at October 13, 2006 10:09 AMJohn, I'd say you're better off using your money to release and distribute your music on your own. I personally stopped trying to process the CS catalog a long time back, since I didn't like almost any of them, they almost all ranged from OK to inexplicable for me (the two discs that Kai F. is on are probably the only exceptions).
what are the advantages of going with CS? distribution and sending out promos for you? you can send out the same promos to the 10 or 15 people worldwide that care and can/will write intelligently about them, I can help you out with a list if you want. distribution? I highly doubt most CS titles break the 200 copies paid for mark. and I think there are so many titles on the label that it doesn't really get your name out there. if you're doing interesting work, it'll usually get noticed pretty quickly in this world, witness the quick rise to "prominence" of the Will Guthrie/Arek Gulbenkoglu/Adam Sussmann crew, no matter how poorly it's distributed. you can do a better job promoting yourself in the IHM room on SLSK, or trying to get David Kirby to put a piece of yours on Homophoni (homophoni.com), and both of those are pretty much free.
sorry if I'm coming off harsh, but I'm really not a fan of the CS "aesthetic", for lack of a better term. one of the musicians on the label calls them "Creative Sausages", and that's dead on for me. it's nice that musicians have that potential outlet to get their music out there, but I don't think it really takes more effort or cash to do it yourself, and I think the results would generally be more interesting, and certainly more individualized.
Posted by: jon abbey at October 13, 2006 10:25 AMJohn, I tend to agree with most of what Jon says. It really depends on why you would be going to CS for your release though.
If you want to put out a CD on an 'established' label in the hope you will sell mopre copies or get noticed out there I actually doubt the CS approach would work. I personally stopped trying to listen to the CS catalogue about a year ago when things just got stupid with their release schedule and the ratio of great CDs to the number of releases fell too low... and lets face it, if I'VE stopped buying them all, that doesn't bode well!
I very much doubt that you would sell in advance of 200 copies, if you even get near that. You also are likely to get lost in the review stakes, buried in one of Jason or Brian's CS round-ups!
My advice would be to take the money that you would be giving to CS and put yourself togetehr a nice quality home made release in a run of 150 or so, or if you want to put out a proper 'silver' disc take a look at the deals offered by Dual Plover down in Australia.
Then market yourself... as Jon says, go hang about in slsk chatrooms, make your presence felt in forums, send copies out to likely reviewers, even send me a copy and if its any good I'll play it on audition!
That said, if you want to go with CS because you don't have the time/technology/artistic skills/energy to put out your own release they may be the best option.
At the end of the day in this game the music has to be good if you want to get anywhere, its as simple as that, but I personally think it would be more effective in your case to self-publish.
By the way i'm not out to bash Creative Sources, they provide a good service to musicians and there have been some good discs on the label and a handful of great ones (Stand Clear, No Furniture, Stralau, Ura). In my opinion though if they slowed things down a little I'd probably stop and take notice a bit more.
Posted by: Richard Pinnell at October 13, 2006 2:33 PMhey everyone thanks for all the thoughtful replies i have been reading them throughout the day. My aim in the cs disk definately would not to have been able to make more money, I never expected to come close to recouping what i would have had to put out for it, and a big problem i would have had is what the hell to have done with all the disks i would have bought for myself. The advantages would have been being on a recognized label as an aide to promotion, and most importantly distribution beyond the walls of nyc which is where most of my music stops, that what re4ally appealed to me. It looks like I will go with the other plan I have been thinking about which is starting a small cdr label with my with my friend who runs a poetry mag with another guy and using the same methods they use which is making the item, and then having a big event at which admission to the show also gets you a copy of the mag/cd for free. that way they have been geting 50 magazines out there at once and then as the rest trickle out into the world you know a nice chunk exsists in peoples hands. the problem being geography since all my gigs are in the same place, but I will take the advice and do the sending out for reviews and dist, and after initial events sell them ourselves for minimal price. If I can take a self promo minute here, by coincidence tomorrow night at 8 pm at the bowery poetry happens to be one of those greetings magazibe nights i mentioned above so if anyone in nyc wants to come out should be good. 6 bucks gets you admission, copy of the mag, and a cd recording of the last event. I will be playing a duo set with ed chang, bryan eubanks will be doing a solo set.plus some other musicians good poets and collobartions. here is a list of scheduled
Performers:
David Bernstein
Ed Chang
John Clair
Bryan Eubanks
Nathaniel Farrell
Shelley Hirsch
Marisol Martinez
Eugene Ostashevsky
so anyway again thanks for all the thoughts everyone.
j
Just wanted to say that I found the insights shared here regarding CD releasing/distribution a good read too. Thanks to everyone for the perspectives.
Posted by: derek at October 13, 2006 9:59 PMDon't forget the Sei Miguel album, The Tone Gardens (CS 67, reviewed elsewhere here): an album that certainly doesn't deserve to be overlooked
"For Sei Miguel it was also a new concept, where each musician could be at once an actor in a landscape and part of the landscape itself. There's also a sense of structural openness, as if the pieces have no beginning or end. Playing that music was extremely demanding. It was quite a hypnotic experience, entering those 'gardens'. I think you only make records like these two or three times in a lifetime." -R Toral
Check it out!
Get yourself a myspace page. It's free. You can link to other good music. It doesn't look pretty, but I don't personally require that a calling card or a gigs listings page looks pretty (which is what myspace is good for). There is a sizeable amount of improvisers and noise musicians and listeners on there. Some off the best music I've heard recently has been via myspace (Offensive Orange, Fossils, Goslings, Donna Parker)
Its Newscorp (rupert murdoch) ownership is a shame, of course. Use of the myspace platform does line Newscorp's pockets: indirectly from accrued kudos; directly from advertising banners. But I think there are more effective ways of registering dissatisfaction with Murdoch's attitude towards Chinese civil rights than boycotting myspace (such as... writing to Newscorp, f'rinstance).
Newscorp are apparently going to start "allowing artists to charge for downloads" (a way of making huge revenues by taking a percentage cut of each one – dressed up as a service to musicians). Anyone who doesn't want to be making money for Newscorp can continue to allow downloads for free.
Dan said: "Meanwhile, if there are any Baganauts in Brussels, I'll be there tomorrow afternoon to chair a panel discussion on improvised music with Eddie Prévost. It's at the Chapelle de Boondael, square Vieux Tilleul 1050 Bruxelles (pl Marie José terminus tram 94) at 4pm. And there are some great concerts on there tonight and tomorrow!"
damn, I just saw this now. would have been interesting.. but I'm all tied up in the Ghent Film Festival anyway.
Posted by: David Bauwens at October 14, 2006 7:21 PM"Get yourself a myspace page. It's free. You can link to other good music. It doesn't look pretty [and] its Newscorp (rupert murdoch) ownership is a shame [..] Use of the myspace platform does line Newscorp's pockets"
Two good reasons to steer well clear in my opinion. I have no doubt it's useful but it looks awful and the "friends" thing is geekish and ugly. No thanks.
There are a ton lame things about myspace, for musicians it is all about the little mp3 player. It is like a your own little radio station that people will actually listen to.
Mine is at 7546 total plays.
If even a fraction of that is actual listens I'd say that it is worthwhile.
I have also ended up with some gigs and cd sales through myspace.
I would never give up my own site in favor of it, but it does some work for you.
dan says:
"and the "friends" thing is geekish and ugly",
your trippin dan!
check out all the cool new friends antboy has made:
http://www.myspace.com/antboymusic
yeah I know a guy who's friend on myspace with John Cage, Erik Satie... also Thurston Moore but its a FAKE one... also Cicciolina... I asked about Cage... because I'm not so sure this guy even knew who exactly is Cage and that... Obviously he cant REALLY be running a god damn "myspace"...
LONG LIVE MYSPACE... the SPACE out of it is FREEDOM...
Alexandre
You damn right I'm tripping! If those are your friends I may have to take a trip to Nantes one of these days.. Does Erell know about this? Haha!
Posted by: Dan Warburton at October 17, 2006 8:04 AMyeah, this is what the improv scene REALLY needs, less cds and more of this at concerts,
it would certainly give a well needed spice up to the scene and get me out of the house a bit more.
ps: as apposed to alexandre's imposter friend I really know all these women...
yeah, this is what the improv scene REALLY needs, less cds and more of this at concerts,
it would certainly give a well needed spice up to the scene and get me out of the house a bit more.
ps: as apposed to alexandre's imposter friend I really know all these women...
hey... .Antboy man (ah ah ah! Hello btw...) ... its been quite a while I THINK I'M SAYING that this improv scene isnt SEXY AT ALL ONE MINUTE... or so so so so RARELY...
so YES
+A
Posted by: Bellenger at October 17, 2006 10:31 AMIts this remark we use to make few years ago at instants chavirés already... watching the audience at improv gigs... basically NO WOMEN, NO GIRLS... or so rarely... and when there was the rock gigs it was so different... so I started thinking so what... IS THAT THE MUSIC OR THE PEOPLE?
Posted by: Bellenger at October 17, 2006 10:40 AMI think Bagatellen is a bit... slow... or FUCKED UP... because it seems some messages are not appearing... maybe I should just chill out... ah ah ah...
Posted by: Bellenger at October 17, 2006 10:46 AM.................................................. © 2003 - 2006 bagatellen ..................................................