From Richard
Graham Halliwell / Tomas Korber The Large Glass (Cathnor)
Another beautifully packaged release from Richard's Cathnor label, in fact probably my favorite of the three so far. The three tracks of this are all made up of Grahams trademark feedback which in general is an unstable drone. To this Tomas adds in varying degrees of his guitar manipulations, from accompanying tones, to static noise to unrecognizable sonic detritus. The more contrasting Tomas is the better this disc works as Grahams overly beautiful tones can be soporific on their own. Three pieces on this disc the first is the longest and in many ways the weakest of the three. It starts off with some fluttery washes of sound and soon Halliwells long tones come in. This progress nicely for 20 minutes or so, but then a short loop is created and allowed to run for the bulk of the remaining time. This loop is distracting and subtly dominates the sonic palette becoming more and more aggravating. Fading out this track just prior to the looping would have made for a much stronger piece. The second track (as heard on this weeks audition) stays firmly in the beautiful territory with Tomas almost always added in complementary sounds. A very nice piece and easily the most solid of the disc, but it is lacking a bit of the essential frission that makes for truly outstanding music. The third and shortest track of the disc is the most ambitious in sonic scope yet perhaps due to its length doesn't quite transcend the sum of its parts. Denser with a lot more under the surface it rewards closer listening more then the other tracks, but in the end (which comes quickly) it never really moves beyond this broiling. Anyway I disc I will spin a lot more and well worth ones time.
From ErstDist:
Mitsuhiro Yoshimura and so on ((h)ear rings)
Of all the music I have heard in 2007 (and most of 2006 actually) this is the most exciting release so far. Nicely packaged in a plastic sleeve at about the size of a large postcard with a nicely aged looking image in and it includes a sheet liner notes by Taku Sugimoto. These are pretty interesting as they talk about how Taku hears "electro acoustic improvisation", which he kind of dismisses. Yoshimura he gives a lot of credence to as his technique seems to strip away a lot of the trappings of the performer. He works with a microphone and headphones, creating thin layers of feedback that is subtly modulated by minute movements. Like the best of Sachiko's work these continuous tones never drone as they are two piercing, too aggressive for that. Most of these tracks have two tone one which acts as a baseline to modulate against and the subtly changing feedback creates some absolutely riveting contrasts against it. Definitely recommended and I for one can't wait to hear more from Yoshimura.
Bhob Rainey/Ralf Wehowsky I Don't Think I Can See You Tonight (Sedimental)
On one listen this didn't really appeal to me at all. It is impeccably done but it's overtly constructed nature and reliance on stereotypical synth/computer sounds just doesn't appeal to me. Too much goes on, there is very little space or subtlety in this disc. I need to give it a few more listens, but so far it has failed to grab me.
Cor Fuhler Stengam (Potlatch)
Two listens of this one so far on headphones and open air. I think this is quite good a rich palette of textures evoked from the piano via various forms of manipulation. There is basically three pieces on this disc with the title piece split into six tracks. This piece is probably the least successful, more prone toward drone without quite the variance of detail that the other tracks have. Overall a good disc if not all of it as rewarding on a close listen.
Sachiko M Debris (F.M.N. Sound Factory)
A old release from Sachiko and one her most successful solo releases in my opinion. Interesting use of a slight delay on the first track and nice scrabbling work with a contact mic on the second. Definitely an essential release for Sachiko fans and one I should have picked up ages ago.
Looper/John Tilbury Mass (Esquilo) (DVD)
Alas I haven't had a chance to watch this DVD yet. I will soon and will post some impressions into the Abstract Music DVDs thread.
from Saltwatersnow
Rhodri Davies & Ko Ishikawa Compositions for Harp and Sho (Hibari)
I'd had mp3s of this for a long time, before it was even available in the US I think. When I saw this on Saltwaternow's for sale list I jumped on it. I wrote up some thoughts on this for JC at someones request a few weeks back which I'll duplicate here:
Track 1: Aka to ao (Taku Sugimoto)
Rhodri playing eBow harp and long whispy tones from the sho, interspersed by spaces. Seems to be pretty typical Sugimoto for right now (Live in Kansai, Tengu et Kitsune and so on), not ridiculously spacious but the notes are plenty separated. I quite like this one overall.
Track 2: Torso (Masahiko Okura)
Lots of notes from Ko with the very harmonica like sounds I complained of above. Rhodri is playing plucked strings, mostly single notes but the occasional broken chord. About a third of the way in it becomes long chords on the sho against Rhodri's plucked notes. This piece is a lot busier then Sugimoto's but it still has some big spaces in it. This is one of the cuts that I like aspects of but a lot of the sho sounds grate on me too much to say I like it overall.
Track 3: Three drops of rain / east wind / ocean (Antoine Beuger)
Single notes plucked on the harp, space, long tone from the sho, space, repeat. Played a very low dynamics, this piece is the the quietest and longest of the disc. After some time, single notes are often followed by a second note and some increased density. The harp and sho start to overlap at certain points which is really nice the long tones accented by the sharply plucked notes. This one is really great, probably my favorite of the disc. I could definitely see people becoming impatient with it though.
Track 4: Strings and pipes of the same length float on waves (Toshiya Tsunoda)
Distorted warbly sounds, with an almost staticy pitch against it opens this one. From there it becomes even nosier with rapidly beating rough pitches being turned on and off. The sounds in this one are completely different from the rest of the album and that aspect is quite nice. The rapidly oscillating aspect is not quite as good and lends it an old school electro acoustic feel. This one has the least amount of space in it, though it does increase toward the end. This is the other track I alluded to where I like a lot about it but aspects of it really detract from it as a whole.
Dachte Musik (Hautzinger/Malfatti/Stangl/cheunder) (Grob)
Finally got a copy of this two cd set that raised a bit of controversy back when it was released. I have yet to spin this one, but will be interesting to hear how this has stood up to the controversy and time.
A month or so ago I got direct from Lovely Music:
Alvin Lucier Music on a Long Thin Wire (Lovely Music)
What a stunning album this is. Continuous high tones with subtle warbling variations and that deep smacking sound that a long wire can make. I've really been getting into Lucier for the last year or so and I have to say should have gotten this one a lot earlier.
Christian Wolff CUES: Writings & Conversations (Edition MusikTexte)
A book of Wolff's collected writings mostly made up from magazine articles, liner notes and program notes. I've yet to delve into this one very far as I'm well swamped with music books. But I wanted this in my collection and when Lovely had it in stock I grabbed it.
