Radu Malfatti

[Richard Pinnell]

unless I'm forgetting something, .

Beinhaltung maybe?

[jon abbey]

unless I'm forgetting something, .

Beinhaltung maybe?

no, that one's too sparse and quiet for me, they need the rain of dach to get to the point where I find it really compelling. I'm also not quite as sold on the EWR CD as everyone else, although obviously as the first document of his new direction, it has power.

[user_1484]

I've got Futatsu, Dach and Going Fragile.. out of these the first disc of Futatsu I really think is the most excellent, but I don't know how much more I need of that type of thing. I do like the latter 2 discs a good deal as well.. and of course the EQ3 performance was great..

For, um... "variety" in his recent music, which releases should one go for?

unless I'm forgetting something, those are almost the only ones I'd fully recommend, along with the first Mattin duo (which I prefer to Going Fragile, although maybe just because it was first).

it's interesting to note that while most of his work is either superminimal free improv or performances of very strict compositions, that I think the single best document of his superminimalism period has been the first disc of Futatsu, which he put together in postproduction. it shows you how difficult his approach is to fully pull off in real time, balancing the sounds and the silences.

thats the one with like 9 5-second tones tones over two disks, right? where the few tones that exist are really dull and emotionless? indeed, that is a great album. i feel so much pain, after waiting 25 minutes, silently, for the next tone only to realize that the tone is also only 5 seconds long, also dull, also emotionless, knowing that i may have to wait another 25 minutes to hear the next tone, like a starving dog waiting for his abusive owner to give him his next bowl of milk (or something). if it doesn't put me to sleep, i will just spend the empty space in either daydream or insanity. what i like to do though, is to drain my head during the spaces of sound, empty all my thoughts, desires, bordom (especially hard). what you are left with is prefect clarity and silence. im not sure if this ability comes easily to people, at first you have to move your eyes around rapidly, keeping your brain busy processing visual info without thought or observation. you feel like a bird at the shiney metal feeder watching out for the fat grey cat, and then you can stop the REM, but remain in that state. i call it instinctual-animalvisual-meditation. the music adds an occational unaffecting island of grey sound, reminding me what a high brow fuck i am. ahh, back to clarity. it doesn';t matter.

[jon abbey]

and that's why I ignored your review of inland empire.

[user_1484]

i edited it, it had some mistakes and makes much more sense now (the post above me)

[jon abbey]

the first sentence is so far from reality that there's really not much point to reading past that, dude.

[user_1484]

to be honest i haven't even listened to it. i skimmed through it searching for tones, and only found about 2 after skipping to random spots in the track, and then deleted it

[dave quam]

macklin. the next meltzer?

[bryan]

I've got Futatsu, Dach and Going Fragile.. out of these the first disc of Futatsu I really think is the most excellent, but I don't know how much more I need of that type of thing.

So there you go, thats the decision you have to make. When the music bores you, don't listen to it any more! Not difficult...!

oh.. it's not that it bores me so much.. more that I have to cherrypick.

For, um... "variety" in his recent music, which releases should one go for?

Well you have most of the key releases from recent years. the only other disc he has been involved with that is significantly different is the Building Excess disc on Grob, a quartet with Mattin, Klaus Filip and Dean Roberts that I like quite a bit.
If you want to give the composed works a go then I can't recommend die temperatur der bedeutung enough.

The Grob disc is actually the one that piqued my curiosity because the lineup seemed interesting. Thanks for the tips.

[cleanzero]

I've got Futatsu, Dach and Going Fragile.. out of these the first disc of Futatsu I really think is the most excellent, but I don't know how much more I need of that type of thing. I do like the latter 2 discs a good deal as well.. and of course the EQ3 performance was great..

For, um... "variety" in his recent music, which releases should one go for?

unless I'm forgetting something, those are almost the only ones I'd fully recommend, along with the first Mattin duo (which I prefer to Going Fragile, although maybe just because it was first).

it's interesting to note that while most of his work is either superminimal free improv or performances of very strict compositions, that I think the single best document of his superminimalism period has been the first disc of Futatsu, which he put together in postproduction. it shows you how difficult his approach is to fully pull off in real time, balancing the sounds and the silences.

thats the one with like 9 5-second tones tones over two disks, right? where the few tones that exist are really dull and emotionless? indeed, that is a great album. i feel so much pain, after waiting 25 minutes, silently, for the next tone only to realize that the tone is also only 5 seconds long, also dull, also emotionless, knowing that i may have to wait another 25 minutes to hear the next tone, like a starving dog waiting for his abusive owner to give him his next bowl of milk (or something). if it doesn't put me to sleep, i will just spend the empty space in either daydream or insanity. what i like to do though, is to drain my head during the spaces of sound, empty all my thoughts, desires, bordom (especially hard). what you are left with is prefect clarity and silence. im not sure if this ability comes easily to people, at first you have to move your eyes around rapidly, keeping your brain busy processing visual info without thought or observation. you feel like a bird at the shiney metal feeder watching out for the fat grey cat, and then you can stop the REM, but remain in that state. i call it instinctual-animalvisual-meditation. the music adds an occational unaffecting island of grey sound, reminding me what a high brow fuck i am. ahh, back to clarity. it doesn';t matter.

eh, eh..but you can't go better than the review of Futatsu that was made on the italian magazine Blow Up. This, together with an interview to Sugimoto (with a lot of empty answers) and a report of a concert of Sugimoto/Malfatti/Flip have been some of the funniest things music related I've ever read. And yes, despite this I bought Futatsu and "maybe" even enjoyed it... However the best thing I've heard from Malfatti are Dach and Whitenoise. (which was not matched by Going Fragile).

[jon abbey]

I dunno, it's pretty easy to poke fun at what Malfatti and Sugimoto are trying to do, and I certainly have issues with a sizable portion of it myself, but in the end I think it's pretty ignorant. Blow Up seems to do a lot of half-assed "joke-y" reviews of records they should spend more time with and take more seriously. I don't speak Italian, so I don't have too many examples, but it was pretty funny when they ripped the Drumm/Tetreault record I released in their regular review in the spring, then by the time the end of the year rolled around, they put it in their top 20 for the year and apologized for the earlier review. at least back then they knew enough to do that, not sure that's the case anymore.

[sound plague]

The only Malfatti I own is Dach and Going Fragile. I find both compelling and Dach was my favourite erst for quite a while. I'm not sure I'm compelled enough at this stage to purchase much from his back-catalogue, however I may follow up some of the suggestions listed already.

Going Fragile is something you really have to invest in. It's quite exhausting and I admire the level of concentration apparent on the part of the artists.

[cleanzero]

I dunno, it's pretty easy to poke fun at what Malfatti and Sugimoto are trying to do, and I certainly have issues with a sizable portion of it myself, but in the end I think it's pretty ignorant. Blow Up seems to do a lot of half-assed "joke-y" reviews of records they should spend more time with and take more seriously. I don't speak Italian, so I don't have too many examples, but it was pretty funny when they ripped the Drumm/Tetreault record I released in their regular review in the spring, then by the time the end of the year rolled around, they put it in their top 20 for the year and apologized for the earlier review. at least back then they knew enough to do that, not sure that's the case anymore.

The magazine, which I read less and less recently, has some big merits. It has been the first italian magazine to deal, in deep and really,really seriously, with some stuff (starting from 1998) and I must thank it for letting me discover such kind of things. I remember that the Drumm/Tetrault (one of the most alien records I've ever heard) was highly praised by the magazine. Actually they are getting kind of bored with this things because they feel some kind of stagnation and repetition (the article about Sugimoto was titled 'music of the end/the end of music') and also feel that the market is becoming more and more saturated. On certain things I agree: even if Malfatti has been exciting, how far can he go with his music? How many silent records deserve publication in the future? Isn't it too easy to put out 10-100-1000 Futatsu-like records in a year? Obvious consideration that of course a lot of people have made...In the past the magazine has written well also about stuff that was even more extreme than Futatsu (for example Tower by Sukora).

[jon abbey]

yeah, the range of music that Blow Up covers is definitely impressive, from pop to experimental. and of course it's true that the market is saturated with releases, but it's also true that the very superficial attention they tend to give them will never manage to pull out the gems. it's disappointing, their coverage was a lot more interesting to me five years ago (again, the small part that I can understand not speaking Italian). on the other hand, they did do a pretty huge article on Mr. Rowe not too long ago, I wish I could have read that.

heh, that Sukora record was ridiculous, if you put your ear up to the speaker at a loud volume, you could detect a faint hiss, pretty silly.

[_duif]

is that Rowe article online somewhere? I could try and translate the interesting parts for you. though God knows my Italian is worthless in daily conversation, it's usually sufficient to read articles and reviews.

[cleanzero]

is that Rowe article online somewhere? I could try and translate the interesting parts for you. though God knows my Italian is worthless in daily conversation, it's usually sufficient to read articles and reviews.

No, it's not online. I have to check among my BU collection if I own that one since I don't remember it. I'll let you know...and eventually try to make something available (in Italian).

[user_826]

"How many silent records deserve publication in the future ?"

I'm affraid this would be a false dilemma...
it is like someone asks: "how many 'sound' records deserve...?"...
it's just how a musician approaches silence...
and for what purposes he/she uses it...
yes, bad silent records we definetly do not need...

[cleanzero]

"yes, bad silent records we definetly do not need...

Of course that's what I meant.

[maRi]

How much interest, if any, do admirers of Malfatti's current mode have in his earlier music?

speaking just for myself, pretty much none.

why?
surprising generally, not just in your case. i expect curiosity. though i suppose you've heard some, most, or all of it, haven't you? just not going back?

malfatti is adventurous, surprising if his audience isn't.

[jon abbey]

hey! a darko post I entirely agree with! whoo!

why?
surprising generally, not just in your case. i expect curiosity. though i suppose you've heard some, most, or all of it, haven't you? just not going back?

malfatti is adventurous, surprising if his audience isn't.

yeah, I shouldn't say none. I tried to listen to thrumblin' recently and didn't get very far. but you know my feelings about that area of EFI, much like radu, I find it incessantly "gabby". it used to be my favorite area of music, but after having listened to so much EAI, it's like trying to go back to stream-of-consciousness novels after having read numerous well-edited masterpieces, just seems pointless to me and my brain won't accept it.

FWIW, I know that radu almost never sees concerts outside of the thin thin vein of music he prefers, not sure how that fits into your concept of "adventurous".