The Sound Projector Music Magazine 5ifth IssueOriginally published January 1999

This digital edition published January 2010Made available under a Creative Commons License

(Attribution / No Derivatives / No Commercial Use)

Entire contents Copyright © 2010 by Ed Pinsent and the respective creatorsThe Sound Projector, BM Bemused, London WC1N 3XX, UK

www.thesoundprojector.com

How to use the Table of Contents, The Sound Proiectorscontents are sorted under a series of eccentric, interPretativeciass names. With mrnor variations. these have been tn Dlace srncethe flrst issue. For ease of use, this time !he), have been sortedalphabetically by a selected keyword (underlined), and thennumbered sequentially; they are thus'fixed' notations.

Due to the significant number of interviews this issue, I havefurthcr sor'tcd the cntire contents under thrcc mcta-classheadings - labelled A, B and C. The fixed class names (most ofwhich refer to types of music) are arranged under RecordReviews (A). ihe interyiews (B) couiri be included wiihin one ormore of the class names. so the number of the parent class(es)they belong to is supplied in square brackets. Short Articles (C)inclucie one or two 'tloatint' recorci revrews whrch have beendesignated as articles due to their length.

However, the actual layoutol the magazine is determined byneither of these systems; rather, the pages are simply arranged ina visually pleasing order. The Table of Contents, therefore,preserves the original structure of the fixed parent classes, thendirects the user to the relevant pates, no mamer where theyoccur within the structure.

I trust this explanation makes things clearer. (EP)

t l l l t t l l l l l r l l l l l l l l r l l ln

A: CD, LP AND TAPE REVIEWS

l. In the Art Gallery / contemporarT composersEdgardo Canton. Tim Hodgkinson. Arne Nordheim. PaulineOliveros. Electropleinair sound diary pp 37-39

2. .f,.toms of Pure NoiseMnemonists. Merzbow. Neil Campbell. Vomit Lunches. Monosot3. Rebirth of Fool comp. Peeled Hearts Paste. pp 3-5

3, The Crackling Ether: electronic missivesVariations 2 compilation. Pan Sonic and Alan Vega. Transient VResident. Water & Architecture. Anton Nikkili. Daniel Mencne.Tone Rec. S.E.T.I- pp 53-55

3tr. the Crackling Ether: lield recordingsAnnea Lockwood. Chris Watson. pp 79-82

4. Cut 'N'Paste: collage / edit musicRyoji lkeda. David Weinstein. Pure Water Construction. CarlStone.

5. The Discurator's DenPP 8-9

Henry Cow. Datblygu. Alternahunk John Clyde-Evans. Swans.The Orchestre Murphy. Doug Snyder and Bob Thompson. EugeneChadbourne. Sun City Girls. Birchville Cat Motel. To Live andShave in LA,. Fit For Kings ccrnp. Sonic Youth. The Land of Nod.The Monsoon Bassoon. Peter Blegvad. rhBand. ppTl-77

6. FreeJazzSun Ra. Miles Davis remixed. The Eremite label. pp 85-88

?. Funky Orgauic Chutzpah: moden R'n'BLauryn Hill. Sleepy's Theme. Charli Baltimore. Cleopatra. Brandy.Monica. Aii Sains. En Vogue. pp 2 i -21

8. Sbades of Darkness / Holy MinimalistsTcny Conrad. Terry Ri!er'. Eliane RaCigue. pp 26-29

9. Iapan [Your] Ears [arel Maximum DistressBoredoms. Cassiber with Ground-Zero. Hijohkaidan. pp 4849

10. Mephisto-Beats!Panacea. Binary. p 89

I l. A Sense of the MonolithicFoxtrot. Die Krupps. Der Blutarsch. Crisis, Ncturnal Emrssrons,New New Zealand music. Death ln lune, pp 44-46

12. The Mossbed of Improvisation is KosmischeLa! Neul. The Pyramid label. Gomorrha. Gila. Electric Sandwich.

1

Agitation Free pp 40-43

The Sound Projector sifth issue

ffiTable ofContents

13. The Phantom of Liberty: improvSweethearts in a Drugstore. Derek Bailey with Mrn Tanaka. ChrisBurn's Ensemble. Phil Minton. Minton. Butcher. Hrn. Lol Coxhrlland Veryan Weston. Kev Hopper. Steve Lacy. Phll Durnnt.

pp l 7 -20

14. Skipload ofTapesKnurl. Cock ESP / Emil Hagstrom. Brian Ruryk. Inca Eyeball. JulianBradley and Neil Campbell. Ashtray Navrgations. -outhern acfic+.How to Kick Yourself. The Kzimpos and Hoogwater. pp 92-94

]B: INTERVIEWS IN REAL TIME

T:un[kl Systems [3, l lLondon-based sound sculptor Peter Hodgkinson explains histone-generators, the science-art dialectic, and avant-garde

p p l 0 - 1 6

Charlemagne Palestine [81Legendary New York musician o{ the'Mrnimalrst' school, talks in a

church about the organ, death, drones and singing in the

synagotue. pp 30-36

Simon H Fell [3, 6, l3lThe UK's most approachable polymath of jaz, composition,improvising and beyond, writes intelligently about his work andthe perils of a small label. With an overyiew of key records fromhis discography.

Chris llfatson [3Ll

pp 56-64

Former Cabaret Voltaire player discusses his field recordings andviews on wildlife, the environment and noise pollution. pp 80-82

Merzbow [2,9lMiniaturist interview with the modern Surrealist Masami Akita, nolonger using the term Noise for his work. Typeset in the 'Dada'

style. PP 6-7

(U: SHORT ARTICLES

This HeatReissue of Health and Eflicierclpromptsa backwards glance pp 90-9 |

Disinformation [31Three experimenrs reiaring to the hypothericai use of paraboiicsound mirrors as offensive weaDons.compiled by J Banks

Book reviewLunar Notesby Zoot Horn Rollo

Folk Music: a rambling discourseThe Wicker Man English folk; Andrew King.

Live ReviewsTokyo's Psychedelic improv invasion, p 25. CarolinerRarnbow, p 65; Question Mark and the Mysterians p 83.

foe MeekA bmce of compilation CDs bearing his producion hallmarks p 78

ADVERTSAsh International [RlP] p 16. Resonance p 16. ACTA p 47. Discusp 47. Fisheye p 47. Bruce's Fingers p 62. Blast First p 70.

l l l l l t t l r l l l l r r l l l l l r l l l

pp 50-52

P 8 4

pp 66-69

TextEditor / writer ED PINSENT

Principal contributors WAR ARROWand HARLEY RICHARDSON

Also appearing BEN YOUNG, JOEBANKS

ImagesIAN MIDDLETON pp e , 1e ,31 ,38 ,68,75

PETER HODGKINSON pp 10, 13,| 4, | 6; back cover

ANDREW KING p 57

HARLEY RICHARDSON p 83

JOE BANKS p so

Bona Fide member of ALL SAINTS p 23

Collages and drawings by ED PINSENT pp 4,25,26, 30,42, 44, 49.79

All text and images herein @ Gopyright 1999by their respective creators

@@@@@Back Issues available atinteresting prices...Number one THE MICROWAVE MANUAL @ tz

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Number Four THE ACE OF SPADES MEANSDEATH p rlPlease add 50p postage per copy in the UK, { l per copyoverseas. lf you order all four back issues postage is free!

Cheques payable to ED PINSENT please

@@@@@The Sound Projector is sold mail order via FisheyeDistribution, Betley Welcomes Careful Drivers, CounterProductions, Slab O Concrete, Compact Disc Services.Stocked in London at Helter Skelter, Rough Trade (bothshops), lntoxica, Compendium Books, These Records. Also atStaalplaat, Amsterdam

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The Sound Projector sifth issue

Tlre SorrndProjeqqrqiruorssue .5,:5.:5. .5,:5,

Issued January 1999

Editorial Address: THE SOUNDPROJECTO& BM TNDEFTNTTE,LONDON WC1N 3XX, UNITEDKINGDOM

ATOTnER EDITORIAL OFBITTERNESS AND BILE

ONE OF MY PEEVES AT THE MOMENT lS mobile phones, and surelyI'm not alone The most galling factor rs he stupid jargon hat headvertisers have devised to fy and make these totally uselessappurtenances seem llke something worthwhile; they sell us'talk-hme','rollover minutes', which will lead to something called'more epressivemnversation'. 'Make yourself heard' states one of these rnane ads, asthough nothing important is ever said unless ifs said on a mobile phone.

It only bkes a moments thought to demonskate the ghastly invidiousnessof these ideas. 'Talk-time' simply refers to the amount of time you spend onthe telephone blking to somebody. ln an innocent age before mobilephones, everyone took this for granted and nobody had even thought todesignate it at all. now they've given it a name, and its become acommodity, a saleable item Indeed, so precious a commodity is it that theypersuade us we must do everyhing we can to save every second of our'falk-time'; hence we're offered tollover minutes', so that if we only spendtl5 seconds out of a minute talking, wete not charged for those extra 1 5seconds we dbnlu*. Gaah...l

Whether the phenomenon of using mobile phones has actually led to'moreeryressive mnversation' lwitl leave you to judge. All I ever hear peoplesayrng on mobile phones is'l'm on the bus right now'or'l'll be there infifteen minutes', trivial phrases epressive of nohing whatsoever.

Having received my irst review mpies of Recordable CDs for this issue, Iwas all set to try and draw some spurious comparison between CD-Rs andmobile phones. lt/y neurotic prejudice convinced me that having access tomore technology to make ourselves heard would srmply lead lo vastswathes of self-indulgent musical ouput, of the 'l'm on the bus right now'quality. Thankfully, l've been proved wrong so far, and he excellent MartinArcher self-release seryes as evidence. Again, however, it remains to beseen wheher the CD-R facility, or rndeed the promised revoluton offeredby downloading musrc over the Internet, will lead to'more epressivemusrc'.

On he other hand, l'm sure one of the big selling points of CDs is the extraamount of 'listen trme' they offer the purchaser. Why else print thatpervasrve TOTAL TIME iormula on ttre bac*? lf you're inclined to doubtthis, just see if you've caught yourself refurning a prospective purchase tofie rack because it didn't seem to you to be quite lengthyenough induraton ..yep, 'more is bette/ is the handy tag of ail mnsumerism

Personally what I'm after now is a CD Srat will offer me 'rollover minutes',because hen all the bme | ,y'ontspend listening to hem muld be used todo somehrng more useful, like the washing uo I keep putting off. Yes,somethlng that lengthens your lifespan would be nice, iike the Reeves andItiortmer garden gates that can actually add five days to your calenciaryear.

(Signed) Ed Pinsent, Editor

Mnemonisls, EordeReR Recommended MNI (1998)

Reissue of a l98l LP from these lostAmerican noisesters, also called TheMnemonist Orchestra, who laterbecame Biota. Ten astoundingly dense,crowded, multilayered tracks ofresonating anarchic bri l l iance. Played bya twelve-piece combo ofradical ly-minded boys 'n' gals, of whicheight played instruments andmanipulated tapes, two made picturesand sang, and another two iust madepictures. Aiming for that synapse effectof sense-swapping mayhem, theMnemonists wanted fusion of theirvisuals with their music and neverreleased anything without accompanyingeyeball-frying images ) which aDIY-|ncl ined l istener might f ind useful tosecure their brains against a masonitewall. Those by Randy Yeates feelparticularly satisfying to your opticalorbs, if you're keen on tight rapidographrenderings ofan Infernal nature. In theoriginal vinyl release these goodies cameas a fofder of prints, a la Faust So Far orBefore and After Science. Still, theyreproduce okay CD size, and an hourspent with a magnifying glass can onlydouble your twisted pleasures.

The sprawl of this enormous tapestry ofwallopsome sound is rarely less thanawe-inspiring, and the collaborativecontrol is such that it neverdetefl orates into nameless,overwrought sludge. lt's generated byfree art-style playing along the lines ofFaust or AMM, some of i t usingantiquated electronic synths and ortans,or odd instruments l ike the crumhorn.recorder and shawm. The whole mess iscooked up with a charcoal broi l ing ofintensive tape work and soused withspicy electro-acoustic treatments.Fabuloso - l 'm so glad to have heardthese Promethean bellowings from thedepths of the earth, and I intend to leapheadlong into this particular fissure tofind what I may. A benchmark of qualityachievement in the f ield that makes

The Sound Projector sifth issue

many Ambient solo sound-manglerslook like four tins of catfood - a timelvre-release, that's for sure.

ED PINSENT

Merzbow, PinkreamDirter Promotions DPROMCD 3Zl lseslScorching and scint i l lat ing... .a MasamiAkita solo set (playing the MA-EMSsynthesiser and metal junk), recorded in1995 and first released by DirterPromotions in 1996, original ly as a 3sided 10" vinyl artefact; this CD addstwo cuts from the same sesstons cut atZSF Produkt studio. A vivifying steambath for the head; Pinkream is theult imate cleansing experience, butwhereas some records are like relaxingin a Radox tub, Merzbow is more akinto having the inside of your skul lsandblasted. Probably one of Merzbow'sbest, but unti l I 've heard more of hiswork I 'm real ly rn no posit ion to assertthaq al l I know is i t 's becoming moreand more beautiful, less like noise, morel ike music. The machine-l ike pulseseventual ly become human pulses; the

inhuman al ien screech becomes alanguage. All you need do is persist,provided /ou can stay in the same roomfor long enough. An unstoppable forceall right, but if you go along for the rideit can be exhilarating - more of a chargethan most exDeriences in life canpromise, the equivalent of nearly beingrun over by a fleet of buses. Greatsleeve art by Abtechtonicssuperimposes an Indian deity over anelectronic circuit diagram - in a Pinkfield natch. Being'reamed out 'incidental ly is I bel ieve a slang sexualexpression referring to a thoroughpenetration of the vaginal or analpassage, depending on youroutlook...the Pinkream title drives homethat metaphor with its suggestion oftender inner f lesh. Like a good'reaming', this record might bring tearsto /our eyes, but at least you won't bel imping home the day after.

ED PINSENTFrom Steve Pittis, Diner Promotions,PO Box 61, Herne Bay, Kenr CT6 9GA

Merzbow, TauromachineUS.H,, Release RR 6989-2 (1998)

Another Merzbow, this onepropounded by i ts Americandistr ibutors as being one of his mostextreme. lt's far from that, but I wouldrecommend its savage capability toanybody who is about to dip their toe inthis part icular acid bath. 'Try l istening atlower volumes', is the helpful suggestionto those who find it unapproachable.This music never loses i ts essentialal ien-ness, i t goes on being strange andgoes a long way to achieve the state of'permanent revelat ion' aspired to by theSurrealists, who have insoired Masamiso much. This alien-ness factor is whatkeeps most of his bohemian fanslistening, I expect, just to prove tothemselves and each other how muchof this endurance test they can take.That's right folks, why not try aMerzbow this Christmasl lt may hurt

I.?.K.MS 0F PURE N-O'I'S'EAll vibrations to the ear ffiffiffiuttilfiffitlnrfitnnrmlfilttttttflttrlfu nction as molecu lar d isru ption. HilHttttttrflttflutttrfitttutlunrlililflflilHilililtflilffilfiiltHilffifl||rrsrr Th is d i s ru ptio n i s ca u sedby Atoms of Pure Noise. iltnilrffirutuntnrtnffirnttttttmilrlX )X(X X )X(X X ) X(X ffiflrrrurrrmrlflrrrumufltmlfilfllnl

MERZBOW + interview(Japan) * PeeledHearts Paste (Aust) XNei l Campbel l (UK) i (* M o n o s t a t 3 X v o m i t

Lunches (Japan) X

3

your ears less than you think. With acomputer-distorted tigef on the coverand some of the best-ever titles - 'Soft

water Rhinoceros', 'Wounded CycadDub', 'Unti t led nude pulse'. Thefour-minute 'Emission', with i ts superbtreated water sounds, originallyappeared on the Frieze art magazine3-inch CD. Release also handleMerzbow's top-selling Venereology andPulse Demon CDs, reckoned by manyto be defining moments in the man'scareer.

ED PINSENT

Neil Campbell, ?fiesePtemises are No Longer

The Sound Projector sifth issueSpector - mixes a karaoke-style toykeyboard with the drones in thebackground, and is the only thingresembling a wrong foot here; to me it'sa hokey old cassette band joke, a rather1980s thing (eg Family Fodder on theirSunday Gids EP). However virtuallyevery cut here is a compell ing one,particularly the wonderfully hauntingand epic t i t le track, which is simplydel ir ious. This LP is a dense, high-octanemix of instruments and sounds; and, onesuspects, made very efficiently (iecheaply!) and with great resourcefulnesson the Dart of the creator

ED PINSENT

Suppiied by EWCD; see TheDiscurator's Den section for address.

record puts you through the mincer ina similar way, but I very much doubt it. Iknow the 'Butcher' sleeve on anAmerican Beatles issue is an old cl ich6by now but at least it meant something(anti-Vietnam protest) at the r ime.We're so desensitised and coornovradays that images like this onlyupset vegetarians. The recording'spretty wild fun too and should makeyou feel as sick as it's intended to. Lotsof collaged noise fragments deployedvery Otomo-esque style, screechingelectronics, clattering dustbins, inanewacky synth bloops that sk-itter-nowhere very fust indeed, occasionallywelded together by humourousvorce-snatches irom trashy movres ancii-ecoi'ds. The most oi'iginal touch is

using the aimless hrrmming ofsome bored-witless officeworker as a samDle: at least Ihooe that's what rt rs. and notthe artiste actually attemptingto sing. Also exists as a l0-inchpicture disc.

ED PINSENT

Monostat Three,Ettperinent 2.3Betley Welcomes CarefulDrivers, BWCDOOG (1998)

A bri l l iant, godless, sprawhngcontinuous racket puked outby Priya Ray, Robert Price and

Hoyos. A combination ofdrums and 'cat ' which I

hope refers to some form ofelectronic keyboardinstrument - otherwise I giveup. Whoever is playing theviol in ( i t 's Priya Ray) is so goodhe deserves to have his armshacked off with a charnsaw.The Chilean singer-guitarist

Jara was so good he hadhis hands smashed during thePinochet regime. This music isl ike a dist i l lat ion of energyextracted from the most

frenzied moments of white-hot 1950sfree iazz, re-recorded by Peruvianlunatics while chewing coca leaves, onbootleg quali ty tape in the back room ofa gloomy government office in Prague.The drummer Adris Hoyos heads upthis rnf idel tr io, and she used to be inHarry Pussy and Transmission, while theother two play in a punk band KreamyLectric Santa. From Florida. USA: this isthe first non-cassette release ofMonos'rat 3. Photocopy insert andsmudgy black and white sleeve. What agreat one. You deserve to own this.

ED PINSENT

BWCD address is in The Discurator'sDen secrion.

Bugged(Private Press LP)

A f ine solo LP by thisLeeds-based noisemaker /improviser, and occasiona,Tei-miie club haibinger; fora full stor',v on his doings,consult ye the interview byPhil Todd in Opprobrium5,the New Zealand zine. Thissuperb home-made recordis in the same league assome of those issued byRichard Youngs and SimonWickham-Smith, althoughthose jokers have tended toput out some wackynonsense along with thegood; I was intrigued tohear that 1988's Adventhasnow gained enough statusto be reckoned (by AlanLicht, at any rate) as amodern classic ofminimalism - and has beenreissued on CD as such. Onthese six pieces, NeilCampbell plays al lInstruments and tuntngs;with resonating guitars.viol in drones and ooenharmonics aplenty, this isalmost a f lea-circus versionof the Theatre of Eternal Music. lf he'sindeed opting for a specres ofJustlntonation it's a treat success, as theplangently r ich drones on side one wil lconvince you. On 'Change login zeds' hemixes in some descant recorders iust tothrow the root chord off-balance; on'Clump' the faults in the recordingProcess contr ibute to the overal ldegradation, the trembling tape addingan uncertain wobbly feeling as thoughthe tightrope walker might full off anysecond. On 'Monument l rv ine ' thecassette player gives up altogether, witha sad l i t t le dying squeal providing an aptending. The pop song on side two - asomewhat jokey rendering of 'Why

Don't they let us fal l in Love' by Phil

Vioient Giash beiween kiilerbastards of ear dot remixllotfal, CD4 LUNCII (199E)

A nasty little 3" CD recorded byHironori Murakami, adorned withtasteful butcher shop and deep-friedofhl art. Back in the distant past whenthe Tory Government were doing theirbest to outlaw certain films on video,one of the objections against zombie,gore, cannibal and chainsaw movies -about which I know next to nothing -was that they reduced the human bodyto so much meat. l f unl ike me you'refamil iar with Ted V Mikels' movie IheCorpse Grinders, you may find this

4

Various Artists, The rebidh offool volume oneAustralia, Dual Plover I(SW - 351(1998)

...which sort of confirms my theory thatCDs are the new cassettes. On thestrength of this, Dual Plover delight inthe nonsensical ly abstract, cheesi lycheap, and self-conciously wacky. I can'timagine why anyone would want to putout most of these tracks on a CD but,for better or worse, that's what theyhave done. The big ( in a manner ofspeaking) names are Merzbow andRunzelstrrn & Gurglestock, of which theformer comes up with a fairlypresentable slab of cacophony. The restjust sounds too nutt/ io be l istened toout of anything more than curiosity,Havrng said that I wouldn't cal l this bad,only say that it lies a good few milesoutside the realm of my immediateccmDrenenston.

So, one out of ten for the music. and atleast eight for the names of the artists.Sports Bra, DJ Smallcock, and the NewWaver track title 'We're Gonna GetYou After School 'al l gave me morethan a few chonles. The infornrationsheet goes even fur-ther. Theexplanation of 'Wendy', a song recordedfor you by The Jerker, simply asks:'After Wendy left him alone what wasleft to dol Then again what's in a namel'About the only track that lives up to itspublici ty is the sub-heavy metalshenanigans of 'Ya Ya' by The PooTouchers, about whom it is written'when six year old Gabe Townend raninto his father's studio with plastic gluegun nozles on the end of each f inger

proclaiming them to be "Poo Touchers",Chris (his futher) knew what to cal ltheir band'. This curiously enduringimage has stayed with me for days.Which is sadly not the case with mostof the music but, ah well , you have toadmire their sauce, i f not their sounds.Personally I 'd have a hard t imerecommending this CD to anyonealthough a whole CD, or better st i l l aT-shirt , of The Poo Touchers could beguite a different mafter.

WAR ARROW

Peeled Hearts Paste. PeeledEearts PasteAustralia, Dual Plover IMR PIO00H negzl

An outstanding contemporary noiserelease... investigate the free noise scenein Australia through this. lf the musicalsearch for freedom is a world-widequest, l ike Empire-bui lding, thesereports from the nether regionaloutposts are worth relaying to yourfr iends back in the club over a bott le ofport and a fine cigar. Peeled HeartsPaste is so committed tomind-expanding explorat ion ofuncondit ional freedom that i t verges onthe incoherent, which is both good andnecessar/. l t also has, to me, a decidedlynasty streak - something black andcannibal ist ic about t t , maybe the t i t lesugSests this as does the sonic butcheryof the playing. This too is welcome.Lucas Abela is Peeled Hearts Paste, heremostly playing solo althoughoccasional ly joined by fr iends. Thegruesome noise is generated by Abela'shome-made, industr ial devices - for

example the 'Bridge'. t f tThis unholymonster is bui l t of spinning plates ofmetal mounted on a large frame withexhaust engines. Grinding against thesewith butchery knives, springs andswords in a grotesque, overblownparody of turntabl ing produces analmighty racket; it's also a highlydangerous activity, as Abela's severedtendons and hospital records will testifyHe has also worn the ' infamous glove',an arm-length ladies' glove mountedwith four styluses enabling him tosample four grooves of vinyl with asingle Nightmare on Elm Street-styledstab. He's played a miked-up trampolineand released a CD called Music ToDrive 8y, consisting exclusively ofmiked-up noises from the motor andbody-parts of his beloved 1975 WV vanA Kombi, and i ts disintegrating radio.Here, he's joined by screaming manRezil l on 'My Friend the Postman'andaddit ional screamer and drumming manVeeve Steele on 'Dul l Day Afternoon'.'Dead and Dying Animals' is quieter,extended scraping of vinyl grooves andgenerally natsome frottage techniquewhich' l l soon wear down yourresistance. Nothing musical in sight. Inf ine a midnight feast of gloriousunrestrained horror from this scaryAntipodean loon, who's been col l idingand col luding at the outer edge ofconfrontational gigs and situations inrecent yearsi help to take him offGovernment support and buy thls (andanfthinS else on the Dual Plover label).

ED PINSENTDual Plover, PO Box 983, Dailinshurst,NSW 1300, Australia

5

6. ff," Japanese underground scene,, u we,re beginning to unders*nd lt. has been maniresting iaellslowly in the uK for most of the r990s. As an avid colsumer of this music over the rast few years, I find itvery beautiful but many aspecs are so arien they're 'unknowabre'

to us. But then rhis unknowabirity has apleasure of i6 own. I am always struck by the intensiq or the Esrern appreciarion of progressive Roc(especial ly King cr imson and Black sabbath. King cr imson have been despised over here for

"many years, in

t h e n a m e o f ' f 6 h i o n ' . N o w t h r o u g h J a p a n e s e u n d e r g r o u n d n o i s e a c i r c l e o f s o r c i s b e i n g c o m p l e t e d .

7. IT'S IMPORTANT THAT SEEWORLD ALTERNATIVE WAY.IT'S INFLUENCED FROMDADA / SURREALISM ALSO

MARCEL DUCHAMP.

I . The film Tetsuo The lron Man seemed to bevision of man - welded inextricably with scrap metal -which you'd already l ived and embodied, some t imebefore its release. Tetsuo was a cinematic version ofyour noise genemted with contact-miked scrap metal.Would you agree with thatl Did you enioy rhe movteat all, with its low-grade surrealism imagery (borrowed

y from Svankmaier and David Lynch)

I. 'TETSUO' IS OK FILM. MYIMAGE OF FRESH METALORGASM IS MUCH MORELIKE 'HELLRAIZER PT. I ' OROF COURSE I LIKED LOT OFSVANKMAYER. HIS -

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7. D^d^ and Surreal ism, automatism - your interest in these is well-documented. Visual art movementssurreal ism suffer from a unigue modern phenomenon; famil iar images or tropes are frequently sold back to usas watered-down versions, used as commonplaces in advert ising. ls i t possible for your music to resist thisprocessl With something so extreme, surreal and underground as your woi-k, is it yet too soon to gauge ihereal importance of your sounds in the worldl Should we start looking outside the arena of anything musical lWas the Surreal ist quest, above al l , a quest for l iberation on al l terms - sexual, social, psychological, pol i t ical lDo you al ign yourself with such a questl

B. Seeing you and Reiko perform in the UK at 'Meltdown' in July1998 I heard your work as music for the first time. I certainly enjoyedit before, but it was noise. Now it became music.2. t, it hir to say your work has developed from the earlier collage and cut-ups, tomore continuous howl of feedback, metal and effects? There is, clearly, a true intelligencebehind the ordering of your sounds. How much does it depend on thorough knowledgeof the tools you usel ls it better not to understand too much about your equipmentlyou a process artist, or is it always a battle to wrest artistic control away fi-om yourmachinesl

B. rrs Nor My rASTE THAT usE TERM 'NOISE' sTRATEGy FoRMEDIA ANYMORE. THERE ARE TOO MANY SOCALLED

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ARTIST AND BAND. I PLAYED AS MUSIC AT'MELTDOWN CONTROLL'CAUSE I WANT TO STATE MEMBOW IS FAR FROM OTHERS.

5. r'M ALwAy wARRy ABour BRoKEN EeUIpMENTS tNSTAGE-SPEAKER OVERLOAD. SO, PERFORMANCE IS THRILLING OFEXPERIENCE WHIcH KEEP BALANCE oF PRoDUcTIoN/DESTRUCTIoN. ILIKED THIS KIND OF EXPERIENCE-ECSTACY TECP AS LONG AS POSSIBLE.IN STUDIO, IT'S MORE FUNCTIONAL WORK FOR MAKING SOUND. REPEAT OFMAKING / L ISTENNING / THINKING.

5. ls i t possible todecribe your personalstate when performing,or recordingl Are youin a delirium of ecstasy,or completely aware ofeverythingl Aheightened sense ofemotionl Can youswitch to automaticpi lot l

2. My FrRSr MorvAroN oF MAKTNG MERZBOW Musrc wAsTRIED SOMETHING VERY CHEAP/PUNK VERSION OF 'SYMPHONY FOR AMAN'OF PIERRE SCHEFFER/PIERRE HENRI. I HEARD THIS COMPOSITION INA RADIO AND VERY SHOCKED WHEN I WAS TEENAGER. I 'M TOTALLYCONTROLL MY EQUIPMENTS.

6. EARLY 7OS BRITISHROCK WAS GREATINSPIRATION FOR ME.PROBABLY JAPANESEDIDN'T CARE WITHLYLICS SO WE COULDACCEPT PURELY THEIRSOUND ITSELF. I ALSOLIKED ZAPPA LONG TIMEBUT IT'S ONLY HISSOUND. CAUSE, IRECOGNIZED HISLYL'cs toor-r?t#fil?

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The Sound Projector sifth issueRyoji lkeda, ACTouch TO:38 (1998)

Ryoji is a youngJapanese artistspecial ising in this extremelyminimalist ic, headphonics material -probably extremely testing if you haven'tprepared yourself first. The only way toprepare yourself would be to l ive in theArctic for a few days - probably wearingonly a T-shirt and shorts, eatint thesnow. lf you return from this and yousti l l aren't snowblind, or deafened by theroar of the Arctic winds, you'll stand achance of understanding what's going onhere. l t 's almost l ike Feng-Shui for themind, posit ioning your thoughts inexactly the right spot so that eventuallythey' l l l ine up in a coherent row andmake sense. Even lovers of the mostextreme German electronica andexperimental Techno will have a hardtime with this stuff. Hardly clear exactlyhow it 's being generated, but you'redoubtless looking at some form of digitaltechnology and l i t t le conventionalmusical input. There are a few alarmingvoice samples though. There's an earl ierrelease from 1995. The cover design isal l white l ike a Sol Lewitt absrraction,unti l /ou get closer and discern amathematical grid substituting fortypography.

There was a disappointing live show inLondon, Upstairs at the Garage October1998. organised by the label to promotethe release. Hike S Harding (the Touchhead honcho) and his pal Jon Wozencroft (who does much ofthe label's graphic design) took up best part of the eveningacting as avant-garde DJs while presentint a rathermodestly-scaled slide show of arty photographs onto a sheetof white paper tacked on the wall. I know the Garage is adifficult space to work with, but not even a first year artstudent would have tr ied to palm off such a shoddypresentation on their tutor and expect to make it to YearTwo. After what seemed like an eternity of waiting, leavenedonly by Bruce Gilbert 's skipping CD and mixing desk antics,Ryoji appeared on stage - only to stand there as stiff as amannequin while he simply played the above CD in anexpensive CD player. l ' l l concede he was twiddl int someknobs while i t was playing, presumably to convey theimpression he was making a l ivemix, but l'll be blowed if there wereany significant rmprovements addedby these manipulat ions. Sti l l , l 'mprobably missing the point

ED PINSENT

David Weinstein, Petfume

Iapan, .Evant AVAI{ 020 (1998)

Pretty good sampler music from composer-musicianWeinstein- While perhaps not exceptional ly ground-breaking,at the very least he brings some warmth to computer mustcwhile generating his decent compositions: they're evocative,strante, and they keep changing all the time. He's not afraid ofusing nicely detuned melodies and rhythms, nor of berngaccused of dabbling with a hackneyed source; one pieceresembles corny oid player-piano music tbr a srlent fr lm. I 'd

--al1d--

PASTE

imagine there can be one or two pithlls in playing asampler - a tendency to use too many presets,pushing buttons on sounds already over-famil iar;and deploying too many sounds in one piece, l ike aword-processor that has | 000 different fonts andthe writer feels he must use them al l in everysingle page he typesets. Weinstein avoids these

lls pretty successfully.

After studying at lllinois, Weinstein moved to NewYork - where there is, apparently, an'experimental music space' called Roulette;whatever this wheel-of-fortune agency may be, hewas co-director of it between 1979 and 1994.Roulette, ehl Maybe he had to act the artisticcroupier, crying out ' fui tes vos jeux! ' to thebohemian musicians who showed up with theirlutes and bongos. Whatever, sounds l ike Cageanchance procedures were mandatory in whateverscene went down in that particular loft of art andself-expression. John Zorn has also used chanceprocedures when he deals out the cards in hisCobra experiments. Cards are issued to a group ofimprovisers, which offer a rather ambiguousinstruction about when and what to play. Therules of Cobra are difficult to explain; like an oraltradition, they seemed to have evolved over time,and Zorn is needed in oerson to direct i t . l t 'sprobably a device to get started, because it's stillnecessaD/ for everyone to rehearse to make itwork; and a lively set of clashing musicalpersonalities will make it even better. How heloves making the sparks fly out of chaos!

Weinstein has appeared in Zorn's Cobra andNaked City configurations, to what success I knownot; needless to remark he's also hooked uo withother notable New York avantist musos of thedrop-dead cool variety: warbl ing lass Shelley

Hirsch, Arto Lindsay, El l iot Sharp, and harpist Zeena Parkins.However, the specific works on this disc come from a periodstart ing in l99l where Weinstein and his other pals wereworking on the lmpossible Music protect. His buddies,including David Shea, Ted Greenwald, lkue Mori, NicholasColl ins and Tim Spelios played l ive using a bunch of portableCD players, using'fragments of music and sounds from all erasand styles'. Some of the sound effects he liked well enough touse them as a basis for tracks on Perfume. So, if you've everwondered what impossible music sounds l ike, here's yourchance.

ED PINSENT

hte Wate r Co ns ttztc ti o nDiscus I ICD (1998)

Cut-ups of improvised music arranged into composit ions,executed by Simon H Fell and Mart in Archer. An excit ing andski l ful combination of improvised music and electroacoustictechnique, realised with the benefit of modern digital soundprocessing technology. Using Pro-Tools and Soundscapemeans you no longer have to fiddle around with razor bladeand quaner-inch tape; you can experrment quickly and easi lyand make your investigations more efficiently. Fell and Archerdisplay mastery of equipmenr, processes, sound quality andmusicianship. They're joined here by an excel lent team ofplayers and old fr iends including the great Chris Burn ( leader

'An endlessmeaningless

doubl ing andwaveforms?' Bncell ing

of

8

r 0 9 1 8

of the magnif icent Wind Ensemble), harpist Rhodri Davies,cellistJenni Molloy, Robin Hayvrard, and Stefun Jaworzyn.The elaborate methods of sound-sculpt ing used on thisrecording demonstrate the care and attention of theorganisers, and should win full marks for ingenuity, innovationand inspirat ion. Obviously not ever/ improvising musacianwould necessarily agree to undergoing this form of treatment,since some of the alterations are extremely mdical: varyingnot just their personal famil iar sound, but the duration andcontinuity of their playing, disrupting that chain of clearthought in music that makes improv so unique. Not al limprovisers should or could wish for such Soundscaping; butit is well that the players represented here have taken part inthe experiment. The results show it's paid off, as every trackis a modernist gem of mournful, elegiac, deeply movinginstrumental music.

Take the Robin Ha)rward tuba work on'Part l ' , an episode intension - quite l i teral ly breath-taking suspensel This closemiking technique puts the l istener r ight inside the bel l of theinstrument, as though the whimsical stoned-out daydream ofBrian Wilson's'George Fel l into Hrs French Horn' hadbecome a real i ty. 'Cooler air moved in and was madewelcome', muses Archer's interpretative text. Chris Burn'spiano on 'Part 2' wi l l also be made welcome, by al l lovers of1950s electro-acoustic - who can resist the unmistakablesound of backwards taped pianol 'Deliberately somewhatretro', comment the creators, 'but we really love thosesounds. ''Part 4' is probably my melancholy fuvourite for what it'sworth...Molloy's cel lo versus Fel l 's double bass, vying inside avirtual reality digital battle arena watched over theviol in-wielding Archer behind the controls. l t depicts a slowand sad struggle, like music for some bitter middle-agedmarried couple rehearsing their weary arguments in theirdecl ining years. Which isn't meant as any sort of comment onthe players, that's just the way I feel now. 'Part 4' is beautifulslow music; there's a strained, frustrated whimpering throughfilters; then a spaced-out howl punctuated with silences andwhite-noise breaths. 'Part 5' features a Stefan Jaworzyn guitar

I

The Sound Projector sifth issuesolo with other players adding reprocessed drums, a drummachine and bass guitar - almost l ike rock music. Come tothat l'd wager there are plenty of rock listeners who wouldprefer music of this untrammelled energy to some no-hopergarage band attempting to put together guitar music whichthe rock press would welcome as 'harsh and angularpost-rock', but sadly they never think to look for it here. Atlength a series of mechanical, chattering, metal chunters playsalong with an ensemble of other improvisers; the computerprogramme is collapsing, chance events have taken over andwe descend into a lovely chaos, wallowing in sound eventsthat neyer actually really happened, had no existence outsideof the editing suite.

ED PINSENTMail order from DISCUS, PO Box 558, Sheftield Sl0 3YRor through CDeMUSIC ar www.CDeMUSlC.orgSimon H Fell is featured and interyiewed this issue.

Garl Stone, Mom'sUS-E, New Albion Records NA 049 (1992)

Reliably entertaining sampler-based electroacoustic workfrom this Cali fornian composer. He has quite a few productsavai lable in the USA and one on the Nott intham-based EM:Tlabel over here. A man with an international reputation, hisCV is stacked out with scores of high-profile, corporatesponsored commissions and performances; a couple of thepieces here were done for a Tokyo dancer in | 990. Stone hassome impressive credentials too, having studied composit ionwith Morton Subotnick and James Tenney at the CaliforniaInstitute of the Arts. Delving into a mountainous recordl ibrary and uti l is ing what one suspects is very expensivecomputer-based sampling equipment, Stone l ikes to zero inon 'a kind of wonderful moment in an otherwise dreary piece'and extend i t into a composit ion. Like David Shea and othersof that sampling school, he professes an interest in virtuallyany form of music under the sun. I was hoping for somethinga bii more exciting when I bought this; unfortunately it tendsto come over a bit smarmy and self-satisfied.

ED PINSENT

2 t 1 . 1 8

The Sound Projector sifth issueT:UN[K] SYSTEMS appeared at a live installation performanceevent (or however /ou want to style it) at my local ArtGallery in Peckham. The South London Gallery - or SLG asthey prefer it - staged a'Sound Art' package over some 12-14days in August 1998. Prior to a solo 'set' by T:un[k] Systems,Disinformation floe Banks) staged a collaboration betweenthe two of them. 'Disinformation made a twittering effectcoming over the top, with the sub-bass moving underneath it',is Peter Hodgkinson's take on the event when I spoke to himthis September. The experiment filled the airwaves, triggeredsensory disruptions that only existed in the space of the head,and ultimately blanked out everything else - almostobliterated the outside world. lt turned the room inside out,disrupted the laws of space. lf you're a regular reader, youshould know that Disinformation monitors sounds existing asradio waves, captured on a receiver and amplified. But howdoes T:un[k] Systems create such ungodly noisel ' l 'm comingfrom another angle. What I was using was simply pure tones,genemted in an Apple Mac - modulated, remixed andchanged. Tones would be cut up and put against each other,so that there'd be a lot of overlapping / modulat ion. Therewas a constant tone, but also variation, by degrees,throughout it, but the tones were very very sub-bass. I alsoused extremely amplified silence.It's like a sound anti-matter, whenit's present it blocks everything,but as i t decays the sound "behind"reinstates itself. When I played itthrough those sub-bass speakers,you received the physicality of it.Most of my sound mixing wastransmitted on the ground lof thegallery] because that's where thesub-bass was situated, and Joe's wasa prickly static cominS from thespeakers on the cei l int, so we hadboth ends of the spectrumcovered.'

Peter Hodgkinson, who is T:un[k]Systems, explarns that playing withBanks was a one-off for him(although further col laboratrons areplanned), perhaps untypical of hisother work. He has alsocollaborated as GeV (GeV means abillion electron volts) with long-standing friend Barry Nichols,who also appeared at the SLG event. Their planned recordlabel 'Eigenstates' will release a highly selective run of limitededit ion CDs, intended more as mult iples rather than iustanother CD in the record shop. He also creates beat / break-based / scapes under the 'Mechos' tag. He played live at theMuseum of lnstallation, ioined in the noisy artist's iam at theICA (under the auspices of David Gilchrist), and maintainsmany links with the avant-grde end of ferocious, minimalisticdance musrc - for example having lived through nights of thelegendary Brixton squat-cum-venue Dead By Dawn. 'l feel thatthe aftitude espoused by the so-called underground isrmportant, it is a refusal to be recuperated, it represents aresrstance to genre or it is a transformation of genre. lt's likea huge grinder in which extremely tasty morsels reappear toinfect the mainstream. lt's essential, although it's mainlyignored. The general music media glves this energy a tokenresponse, mainly long after the main event has happened, triesto catalogue it, intellectualise it, in other words tame thebeast by tacit acceptance and banal romanticism'.

Tc Hodgkinson, a collaboration with a large group ofsound-artists will confound the conventional art critic who'slooking for the 'star per{ormer'. But art Saller/ spaces (usuallyhost to avant-garde paintings and sculptures) aren't always the

best places for this kind of performance. They may or maynot haye great acoustics, but knowledgeable staff, equipmentand other vital resources can be deficient 'This goes into thewhole arena of playing live...and l've got more Particular now,because sometimes you're iust bunged into a corner, where Iam unable to monitor the sound as moving space. l 'm verymuch interested in stereo imaging / psychoacoustics in thework I'm doing. So I get the drift of sound going throughspace, and i fyou're stuck up one side you ofcourse only hearthat side of it. So that's why I stipulated we were to be in themiddle, but even then the sound was a lot louder at the farend. Hence Barry's feedback was absolutely gruelling therebut he had no idea that it was. But that's playing live, it's verydifficult if you want to get it right, and we didn't really havetime to soundcheck. lt would have been useful if there wasanother sub-bass speaker s/stem, and it would have been niceif it hadn't blown during my set!' (Frances Morgan in herreview in The Wire October 98 page 78, said 'as an endingto a performance, they don't come more perfect andcathartic than that'.)'You can sit here ( in the studio) for hours craft ing a sound,and getting it exactly right as much as the monitor speakers

will allow. I never know what it'sgoing to be like on a mega-rig orother sound systems. lf I'm doingrotary pans, that allow fordisplacement and reoccupation bypreviously submerged sound, that'swhat I want the audience to hear.People who actually create thesounds are going to be moreintimate with them, and morecri t ical, than an audience. But i t 'svery imPortant for me to get thebest condit ions; the main problemis with distortion of crap PAs, somuch is lost, having hours of workreduced to noise: my work is notnoise based, although velociry andfrequency extremes are used, buti t is al l constructed and, hopeful ly,balanced... '

Although this reminded me ofKarlheinz Stockhausen with his

Teutonic insistence on the correct placing of amplification ateach performance, it would be a mistake to consider thiswork strictly alongside 20th century composed music. ltemerges that Hodgkinson is largely driven by two primaryforces. First, a fascination with the processes of soundsculpting - accomplished by a mixture of analogue and digitaltechnology, as we'll see; second, a passionate interest inlearning about unusual scienti f ic ideas and developments,which are a source of inspirat ion. Art i f ic ial intel l igence,quantum mechanrcs, hyper-space and chaos theory are all

Srist to his mill. 'l'm interested rn a lot of scientific areas,because they pose interesting concepts or approaches towork. But it's purely on an aesthetrc level, it's not makingscientific works. lt's more the process of reading somethingsay l ike [on] guantum mechanrcs and thinking - | can't imaginethis! This is wonderful, because I can't imagine it. lt's thatprocess of trying to imagine something that's unimaginable.There's a treat gap, but a lot happens in that gap. You readabout ten-drmensronal space - only four of them are avai lableto the l ikes of us, but the other srx are curled up - you think,What the hel l is al l that aboutl For me there is theexploration of this apparent divide, from the quantumuncertainty principle to our everyday reality. How does onetranslate through to the other, so without falling into aconceptual morass you have put the question(s) onto an

T:un tkl$ystems<+<+<+<+<+(+<++)'An lmaginary LEAP to

flre REAL"

11

The Sound Projector sifth issueexperiential footing, where you can work on them creatively.Which, of course, requires going back into the unknown,going lateral. lt might spring an idea / new approach out,although the compositions might have absolutely norelationship to - hyperspace, or the singularity in a black hole,where all laws of physrcs are totall/ null and void. And youcan't ever imagine that, because imagination is based onknown phenomena. But I like the act of imaginrng it, becauseit confounds thought. But there is more to it than that - theresearch into emergent phenomena, artificiallife/consciousness, information theory, the Quantumuncertainty principle, superposit ion, these make sense rnterms of part icipation an a process. l t is a move from an ' l '

centred universe to a participatory, collaborative mode. lt is areal challenge, to move to a new position, and it is also verytaxing as one has to understand the old model and all itsimperatives - that is, the quite subtle effects of Newtonianphysics (the mechanical universe) and the Cartesian dualism.The new physics is point ing to a much more complex modelwhich wil l take a long t ime to assimilate.'This area of science and art, at present, lacks a criterion ofassessment, and there are some areas I have reservations on.One such reseryation is the re-presenting of science, withoutany transformation, as art. The use of scientific analysis /equipment as a medium, or col laborations with scientists;these are ven/ interesting, but the old adage of "blinded byscience" is highly relevant here. The people involved in thisshould be honest about their input. Art ists can cherry-pickideas without necessarily understanding the import of theexperiment or equipment , or even the model or conceptScience, mainly through popular science books, has become anew form of verbiage and padding for cerarn art workswhich, under scrutiny, reveal themselves as repackaging ofideas. An example of niche marketing - the same happenedwith "cyber art". I am not opposing this trend, but I think theartist's iob is to explore this area in a more lateral way, toeffect a transformation, so a genuine piece of work can beproduced. lt will be a long process, and it will take artists a lotof sweat and hard graft (ie actually knowing, as an actuality, athing that can be spouted from the reading of a pop sciencebook). What is interesting in this light is that it will happen,just as how computers have transformed music, this lateralaPProacn...'The other way is the zeitgeist phenomena - hke hard Sci Fi,which appropriates scrence or phi losophy and puts a spin onit. lt does not have pretensions of [being] high art and it iswork that reflects the concerns of the present time. lt is a lotmore assessable and enjoyable - a book like Spares by MichaelMarshall Smith engages and penetrates more, it's morerelevant to peoples' dai ly l ives. l f gal ler ies can become venuesall well and good, and there is a change on that level, butcurators will first have to grasp the nettle of new technologiesand the requirements of the audience thoroughly. '

lf our own imaginations are limited, Hodgkinson wants to trland stretch them, the same way his extremely testingsoundworks, with their subsonic frequencies, wi l l stretch ourfuci l i t ies of what i t is actual ly possible or not possible to hear.'We have a certain sensory apparatus - sorr/, l'm not trytngto make humans sound l ike machines, even rf I have produceda sertes enti t led "The Machine Use of Human Beings"-paraphrasing Norbert Wrener's book - we can only hearcertain frequencies, anci we can only see certain frequenciesof lrght. But other creacures have got fucilities to sense thosethings. So we're l imited in our perception, but at the sametime we've got an ability, as human beings, to want to gobeyond that. even if we can't. So in the West we've usedtechnoiogy to implement that. We can have a microscope andsee something in infinite der.ail. You get a picture of amosquito, say, blown up a thousand times - you see this

incredible structure, and you think, well , I 'm looking at that,but I can't equate it to that creature that's burzing around.We then have to make an imaginative leap to the real again,so we're re-translatint. lt's sort of extending our Perception.When we're seeing pictures of outer space from the Hubbletelescope or electron microscope images, we have totranslate those back into the original again. So we'redouble-taking on ourselves, through our own technology.We're extending ourselves, but we're still seeing in the waythat we do every day. So we've got this peculiar translationproblem. We have an image pool of perceptions that wehave never experienced as actuality - say the image of theearth from outer space. And yet it is in our rmage bank, this isa virtual world. The virtual world of comouters is anextension of this but that is something else again, the moebiusstrip of image reprocessing. This endless move into theunexplored is what undermines our preconceptions,confounds our present world view, but it also what makes usfeel most alive and aware.'

ls it the aim to try and pass on these thought-processes tothe audiencef 'Yes, I think by doing interyrews l ike this I wi l lvoice this, but I don't think anyone who's l istened to themusic wil l think that 's what l 'm doing! l t 's in a lot of thinkingnowadays, this whole...(goes to book) the AnthropicPrinciple! Where man is within the cosmos, some peoplethink [we're] this 'crown of creation' idea. But I don't, I justthink we're evolving. We yust happen to be a sort of...crop atthis particular time. and it'll go on to other things; machineswill take off on their own path, another species and the waythey evolve will be very different to us'.

Hodgkinson's background is rooted in the Fine Arts. He hasexperimented with painting and film-making, motivated bythe same fascination with simple processes as is nowchannelled into his sound art. Each process would yield i tsown 'mistakes', or anomalies in the process, and it was thesevery freaks of nature that he wanted to explore. The tactilesensations of handling cel luloid, in the middle 1980s (workingwith Chris Garratt, now of Biffhme, at the Exeterfilm-makers Co-Op) was clearly exciting: 'l'd shoot footage,and manually reprint i t on a wooden block in a darkroom.You'd start a process, you'd get a slight blur where you didn'thold i t down properly. Al l these anomalies start happenint.They're accidental. you're doing what you can rn the dark.There's this process going on, and that's what l'm mostinterested in. I'd get all the footage developed, which was areal fag, in this ancient Russian bakelite developing tank,where you screw on the top with 100 metres of film in thedark. That has i ts anomalies as well , because you don't knowwhen the f i lm's touchrng, so some bits don't develop and youget splurges and al l sorts of things. Then i t would be cut upagain, and then re-edited and edited on and on. Then i t mightbe reprinted. So i t 's endless reprocessing. So you're not surewhere you're going, but you can make decisions.'The other area I got into was lust throwing loads of foundfootage that came off the cutting-room floor, into a bath fullof bleach so it's completely clear stock. And then using adiffuser to spray Indian ink on i t . The Indian ink, when i t dr iesand when it's projected, shows nrillions of hairline cracks init, in pure clarity. And because the ink blobs are all differentsizes, they have a peculiar spatral characteristic. lt's like beingin a black snowstorm. There was a soundtrack that was alsocaused by the spray, because it went on the optical [track].The [prcjector] was physically reading the same thing that wasprojected. That series was called Spurtz.'

Shades of the techniques of Harry Smith and Liz Rhodes(Lighr Music) there. Hodgkinson informs me that FutureSound of London used avant-garde techniques in their videos,thereby giving MTv directors the 'idea' to go anci plunder thatarea for themselves - hence the banal, superficial copyisms of

12

The Sound Projector Sifth issuethe art of Stan Brakhage andMalcolm Le Grice (flares,scratches, overexposure,multiple exposures, fi lters,optical printer experiments)you f ind in crappy pop videosthrough the l99Os.

Regarding avant-grde cinemain the UK, I knew vaguelyabout the complex andideological ly puri tanicaltheories ofstructuralist-materialist film. Iwondered if any of theseideologies had rubbed off onHodgkinson's sound art. Forinstance. how im9ortant rs itthat the audience figures outthe structure of the worklShould they be exhonedtowards actively trying toanalvse the workl ' l t

depends on the individualreal ly. An individual gets aresponse in a particular way.You'd have to acutely listen,and probably have to listento it quite a few times. I'd sayit is imDortant. but I wouldn'tever demand it . . . . l don'tknow if I have the right to dothat. lt's more to do withhow the venue is organised.Playing in gal leries is adifferent issue. People arecoming there, you hope, tosee or l isten to whatever.. . the sound instal lat ion, or theimagery...part of entering through the portals of the gallery isyou actually say. I'm going to concentrate on the work ondisplay here. Most of the events I've played at, it's a socialevent as well [as a music one], so people wil l talk over [ thework] or talk through it, or occasionally listen. You're notgoing to get an enrapt audience, like you would in the PurcellRoom listening to Beethoven's late quartets. Perhaps you canmore in a gallery venue, because that was good in the SouthLondon Gallery, that hct that it was more like a concert. Iknow these ideas are meant to be old hat, but it's quite nicehaving a chair to sit down and listen to a piece of music.Whereas being at The Garage for instance, you're in themelee of everyone else, so that's also part and parcel of theevent, but that's the nature of it. l'm not complaining aboutthat. Or say at The Electronic Lounge, where you can't hearanything else but other people ulking! Which is unfortunatesometimes, because some good music was played there.'

The film analogy with T:un[k] Systems doesn't really standclose examination, then. However, the repetition techniquesof these grainy 1970s movies (which you might find in thework of Le Grice, Gidal, Kurt Kren or the Heins) seem tointerest him: 'There's one particular film by Kurt Kren. lt'sjust a shot of a dock with a crane in it, and all the sections arecut up and it's endlessly repeating itself. So you never knowwhat area you are in the film, there's no beginning, no endrng,but things repeat themselves lt's this peculiar space you getinto, and you're relat ing to i t . . .but then i t would come up in adifferent sequence. That's also what I liked about the Rohfilmby Birgit and Wilhelm Hein. Amazing, a really wonderful film!Seeing stills of that, they're like really beautiful collages. Eachbit wi l l be physical ly stuck on. There's a repeti t ion of CologneCathedral, or faces and other textures, and this grey wall.

When I first read about rt I thought this was quite stranSe,each frame is separate, I mean how do you [visually] read thislYour brain's taking in 25 separate images a second. I found itincredible, because I really could read it. lt's a matter ofconcentration. So obviouslv. one's brain is hster than theprojector.'

We're back in the area of testing the limits of the 'sensory

apparatus', clearly. This interest in perhaps providing a rush ofintricate detail extends to the extremely dense, carefullycrafted surhces of his sound work. Working largely with theCubase programme, Hodgkinson painstakingly assemblessamples in a mosaic-l ike hshion, then reprocesses these usingmore broad-sweep techniques. 'There's a digital tonegenerator in the computer. Because you have it on a visualdisplay you can actual ly work on i t as a tone, /ou can cut i tup, pitch-stretch it - do all sorts of things that you can only dothrough computer editing. The tones exist as samplesimported into Cubase, and worked on structurally. So it's likea composit ion with them. I also use pure tones, cut and with aspecific decay in the beat /drum and bass compositions,surging throbs which underpin the Wasp and Juno synth l ines.'lt's all audio samples that I produce; the sources for those aremyriad. The way one constructs with Cubase, unless you havehundreds of different samples (with huge hard disc space) thatcan go from end to end, there will always be repetition. So Iwas tryint to think, How can I get round that, without it beintan obvious repeti t ionl l t real ly comes down to how you putone sound with another within the composit ion. So you getlines of tracks on Cubase, you put the sample there, you haveanother one that just cuts into it, and then you getcombinations of sound, and that can throw it spatially, ratherlike the anti-matter beats I mentioned earlier. Some samolescan be a just a fraction of a second. Of course the computeris multi-loaded with effects, depths, all that sort of thing...in

13

The Sound Projector Sifth issuethe compositional staSe you'll probably hear these sampleshundreds and hundreds of different times, in various ways,which can drive you nuts sometimes, but it is totallyseductive.'Then you can get into the audio editing, where you can docross-hdes etc, everything under the sun. But l'm looking foranomalies in the music al l the t ime, anomalies in the processwhich wil l send me into another area. Al l this is obvious tothose who are working in the medium, i t becomes secondnature. I like visualising the "cold code" idea, the fuct that it'stotally impartial, millions of bits making up the tracks, the"cold code" becomes important (to us) when i t producespatterns, creates communication.' But he's not tied to oneway of working. From excited musicians who rave aboutoriginal moog synthesisers like VCS3s and Rolands, even Iknow how trendy analogue sound is right now - are theresuch things as'real ' tone Senerators!

' l 've seen one - neverused one. What interests me is the composit ion, l 'm notinterested in pure sources and elevating them to the rarsond'etre of the piece, in digital terms everfthing is pure source -the "cold code".'When Baudri l lard talks of the implosion: a system reachessaturation and a reversal takes place...he also says thishappens in the imaginary as well . We certainly areexperiencing a form of saturation, call it data smog orwhatever. lt creates a peculiar sense of loss or inadequacy,because we can always exceed ourselves in the virtual fields.Sound, beats, anfthing can be so precise, so fast that they canbecome mere fields of endurance that can't be out-oerformedby humans, they can't be bettered: the machine wins, so thereis a human rear guard action, strategies to humanise machines,humanise rhythm, to cloak (virtually) the machine interface,to go atainst obvious machine programs. But this is a totalrrony, because it's inverted, or doubled over, iust a rewritewhich will only increase the subtlety of the machine interface,to make it so seamless that we won't know any differences assuch, only degrees of the virtual. For instance I also useanalogue s/stems. When doing digital pitch-shifting , the moreit slows down the more it becomes granular, it breaks up.Whereas when you do it in analogue, it's continuous, Butthat's the nature of digital media, the sampling rate. Now youhave these really interesting crunchy noises that startappearing in digital editin& but sometimes you don't alwayswant that, so I might send the sample out into the four-trackand manually pitch-shift it, then re-record it as a sample. Sothere's a lot of going out of digital frameworks, into analogueones, and then back In atarn.'The other thing I do is record on a four-track at high speed,then play it back in an ordinary cassette, and that immediatelypitch-shifts it right down. l've got some incredible things from

that. You have this cassette in your hand and you don't knowwhat's going to happen when you place it in the player,sometimes it's rubbish, sometimes it's [amazing]...1've gotwhole tracks through this process, but I resample all thisanalogue mode, I return it to digital. 5o is it analogue ordigitall The same is happening with graphics, using the scaninto Photoshop, manipulating, printing, altering the hardcopyby stressing, erasure etc, then scanning again, thenre-composing in the computer. The difference between thevirtual and concrete realiry is constantly being blurred. But Iam not pessimistic about this, we will just have to becomemore aware. I am totally into this, I really want to see how farthis wil l go.'The only thing that does concern me is the Warmachine, asVirilio puts it, and the Statemachine: there are no fields ofresistance here. Perhaps in the future those so inclined canhave virtual revolutions, the future "opiums of the people"wil l be unl imited, tai lored to one's own part icularrequirements, to l ive total ly in one's own tai lored i l lusion.That sounds like most people's everyday consciousness so wewon't have to fear, eveD/thing will be the same. There rs onearea, though, where it's working the other way, that rs jazimprovisation. The spontaneity of improvrsation, the tensionsarising from good musicians feeding off each other is superb,people like Ron Miles for instance. And also the area ofcontemporary classical, like Dumitrescu, where electronicsare integrated.'lf you had unlimited time in the big studio, and also theexperience - you're working with huge desks, the sort ofequipment you've got to learn, and you don't have the t imefor that. lt's the intimacy of having your own equipment rn asmall studio - lends i tself to [experimentation]. l t can be andhas been done in big studios, but it's with people using themall the time, who can also pay for that facility. Either you'regetting a grant from the government to do avant-grde music,like the stuff in France - IRCAM and Pierre Boulez; or you'vegot to pay for it yourself. So that is the grass roots of theexperiment, in that I 'm very hmil iar but learning al l the t imeabout the technology, and i t 's opening up possibi l i t ies al l thetime. But it's just the way I'm inclined anyway.'

A common accusation level led at any computer music is thati t 's mechanical, inhuman - an old complaint which we hearabout 20th centur/ art from The Futurrsts onwards, aboutanyone who dares to embrace the world of frighteningtechnology or tries to explore the unknown. Hodgkinsonfumbles a l i t t le trying to place any personal dimensron in hisalien soundscapes: 'l think what I'm trying to do is get tounknown places, at!'nospheres, l'm very attracted to thewhole notion of what inhuman or rather transhuman (notanti-human) is, but i f we discover this i t wi l l no longer be

14

lranshuman because we have exoerienced it. but to makethese into things which can actually be heard, it has to be veryempir ical, you have to be on the machine and work with thesounds. Of course I am one of many who feel this, areexploring this, that is why there is a sense of collaboration, areal buz, although the good old human condrtion is still withus...so enough said. Certainly there are feelings, these can begenerated from many different sources, I like the term"cognitive dissonance"-defined as a piece of information thatappears to contradict a well-esablished belief orunderstanding - the inclination is to categorise or familiariseall phenomena, the unknown is not to be tolerated. But atthe same time we have a quest for the unknown. Whetherthis is an atavistic urge to colonise, process, territorialise, thehuman control-freak tendency, or the need for awe, anantidote for hubris, I don't know - though i t is obviously both.That is why I enjoy the spl intered mapping of Baudri l lard,Virilio, Deleuze and Guttirri. Baudrillard saying that theapocalypse has already happened, but we failed to notice, iswonderful. And Virilio's analysis of dromological society, theimplosion in the post modern world, is a seductive concept,the fact that it is mainly dystopian is a good antidote totechno liberalism. But what is interesting to me is why is thisdoom analysis is so attractive and compelling; perhaps it's acase of going Meta so we can witness the spaghettification ofhuman endeavour at the f in de Mil lennium, although i t 'sprobably a sense of termination of the explained world. Theneed to get back to atavism and the sense of awe which fuelsthis compulsion, although my vaew is on a slower process inwhich the cracks and fissures increase untrl they slowly joinup, the black light syndrome, what the cracks reveal will bevery interesting; but there is no end. I guess that's what mycompositions are about, opening the cracks and seeing what'sunderneath and inverting the structure: phase transition, herewe come.'

Scientific ideas to stretch the mind; technology to stretch thelimits of the artistic gesture. At all times, a healthy embrace ofaccidents in the process, /et a struggle to avoid lapsing intoone's own clich6s. We're nearing some sort of definition ofHodgkinson's personal aesthetic. 'l'm trying to avoid an/thingthat sounds like - how can I put this - habitual ways ofworking. l f you get Techno [music], you know there's gonnabe a hook somewhere which picks you up, all music has that.But I try and think, How can I avoid doing that, but do it atthe same timel At these transition ooints - let's call them thatrather than hooks, and I'm not being derogatory about otherpeople's music, it's iust that I want to try and work in a slightlydifferent way, but I guess everyone feels this, that's why thereis the sense of endless mutation in the scene today.Composition is the key, the balance of structure. I am mostinterested in creating total worlds, compositions that are bothalien and strangely familiar. Sound is the most evocativemedium, because it's so temporal. With a visual still imageyou can explore it any way you please, but with sound it'simmediate, the moving st i l l point, the development leavestraces which pi le up in a constant present, momentum. Thesounds accumulate in the memory so a sound image rscreated. And yet when transitions occur that is what grabsthe attentron, and past events can be completely forgotten -

and then they can reappear and bring back the old image butin contrast with the transition, many worlds...'One of the things that fascinates me - although I haveabsolutely no answer for this at al l - is why one makes adecision to choose one piece rather than another piece. Thenature of decision-making in a piece of music, or acomposition, or anfthing for that matter. Anything creative.' lsthis not the artistic process you're describingl 'Oh, absolutely.This is quite intr iguing. You could give a group of people sayten samples each - each one's the same, you could send them

away and they'd come back with something totally different,transformed. And that's what | find really hscinating. Andthat's what great about doing collaborations with people aswell, their end to it. They'll open somethint I haven't thouthtabout, and vice versa.'

There are artists, I wonder aloud to him, who seem to have aperfect vision in their head of how the finished artworkshould be; all they need do after that is execute it (if they canbe bothered), although the actual executron can bedisappointing after that moment of clarity. 'A lot of theconceptualists were like that I suppose, but the/ were alsoworking ag'ainst the art object, so it was a political anticonsumerist stance. I don't start with a concept and have it inmy head, and think rt's got to be that at the end. I just can'twork in that way. lt's got to be a process in which I discoverthings. I think people have different vrrays of working, and it'sall valid really. Andy Warhol, for rnstance, got other people todo his pictures; I can appreciate that, it's interesting on aconceptual front, but Warhol was also up against how peoplewould do his pictures. They' l l have their foibles, and i t won'tbe [pertect]. You see hundreds of his silkscreens, all thesame...but they're not. He's put al l the...mistakes,experiments, or whatever you want to call them, into thehands of other people.'l think there's a lot oftalk after the event. The actual thing iswhat's going down when you're actually working onsomething, and you can talk about it afterwards. Your mind isactually active in many parallel ways, when actually working.You're in an area of not-knowing, in a way. You're always onthe lookout and there's lots of processes going on. But thenyou have the intellectual process of trying to explain it allafterwards, to yourself and to other people. And that's why -

if I give out [a printed statement about my work], in one wayit's vague, but in another way it's specific, because I try when Iwrite things like that to be very honest about the approach.'Finally, returning to science; what is Stochastic TopologylLaughing, Hodgkinson replies 'Stochastic is randomness, purerandomness! And in total contradiction to that is Topology.It's something that's based on a continuum, but rt's thetransformation of structure. A circle could become a square,and vice versa, but it has to go through the process of change.I don't know if you've seen this - rubber sheet matting, it'scalled - space-time diagrams! You get illustrated how lightbends round an oblect. But it can be conveyed as a totallylogical map. So it's a way of structuring or mapping. I'm notbeing strict on this - it's just something l've read on topology,and I really like it conceptually. lt gives me an idea of howsomething can change, and yet keep structurally intact as well.Or it has a very logical A-through-Z structure to it, but itmight be multi-hceted, and if you actually saw something inseveral dimensions flattened out - you can't really read it, butthere is a logic, it's very mathematical. But Stochastic is totallythe opposite, it's chaos. So the wvo [terms] don't gotogether.''Artists are in quite a unique position, in that they cancherry-pick ideas. I can go through all these ideas and say, Ohtopology, that's greatl, but there's no way that l'm atopologist. I can't do calculus. So it's the concept of it, as away of thinking how something can change, that inspires me.

[A scientific idea] is actually based on a factual exploration, it'sso rigorous in that way, it has to be proven, borne outthrough experimentation in a lab, with concrete results. lt'snot lust an idea you can fling out, which is very different fromarL'

<+ (+ <+ (+ <+ (+ <+ (+ (+

The Sound Projector sifth issue

15

s.E.T.l.Above BlackAsh Internat ional IR. l .P. ] # M31

Well, here's one that soared into my Top Ten Iist for'98 within seconds of lt

starting to vibrate the ail molecules at home. lt 's a most definite successor to

the CD 'Knowledge' (1995). 'Knowledge' was constructed from recordings made

wi th a l l sor ts o f exo t ic space and domest ic mon i to r ing and surve i l lance dev ices and

included what I guess is the declaration oJ the S.E.T.l. (Search For Extraterrestrial

ln te l l igence) o rgan isa t ion as l iner no tes . Every t ime I p lay any o f the t racks o f f'Knowledge ' on the rad io , somebody ca l l s to enqu i re what the t i t le o f th is amaz ing ly

oower fu l mus ic ]s . l t w i l t sure ly endure the tes t o f t ime - much l i ke th ls new cD,

wh ich I cannot he lp bu t cons ider as t rue ' c lass ica l ' mus ic o f our t imes. The concept

beh ind th is mus ic i s c loser to home, and much, much more th rea ten ing because

of th is . Out landers roam our p lanet w i th the apparent consent o f Nat iona l Secur i ty

Agenc ies and mi l i ta ry au thor i t ies , who are ac t ive ly ass is t ing these en t i t ies w i th the i r

ne far ious abduct ion and human mon i to r ing programmes fo r reasons we can on ly

imag ine . Of course most scenar ios dep ic t mass-cont ro l , o r a cu l l ing o f the human

species in an attempt to save this planet, probably so that THEY can move in and

reap the croOs we have yet to sow. Anybody familiar with the X-Files (to name just

the toD of the heap) wil l be aware of this proliferatlon of paranoid speculation,

wh ich is lad led ou t by so many peop le and organ isa t ions a l l hop ing to ge t the i r

share of the gie before the fan stops working all together. There's money in fear,

y 'know. (Jus t ask the Chr is t ians ! ) 0 f course th is i s no t the f i rs t t ime the sub jec t

has been used as a concept for a composition (despite separate track tit les and

index ing , th is i s one ' symphon ic ' p iece to me) , and I cannot c la im to have hearo

anything but a drop in this vast ocean. N4y body tells me that this composition is

spot -on , though. Somehow my meat knows these f requenc ies , my ce l l s respond

wi th harmon ic resonances o f the i r own. my sk in soaks them up. I fee l th is mus ic

more lhan I hear i t . Crack les z ip th rough s immer ing , s t re tched vo ices wh ich cur l

ou t o f sa te l l i te space l i ke s in is te r fog . A /c t i c w inds tw is t th rough deso la te and

forgotten steel girders. Sound in static. Static in space. A key to a door in dreams.

lnnerd imens lona l . (V ITAL)

Ash In te rna t iona l lR . l .P . l 13 Osward Road, London SW17 7SS

E-mai l : ashr io@touch.demon.co .uk Web: www. touch.demon.co .uk

Fax: +44 181 682 3414 Credit Card HotLine: +44 L87 355 9672

The Sound Projector sifth issue

T:un[kl Systerns / Mechos checklist/r-\ /.-\ /i-\ /4-\ /.\

\.-!/ \.a/ \r-l \fal \r/ \r/ \.a/ \aal \-/ \.r' \a/ .w

Recordingslnvaders white label ZTRMachine llse of Human Belrgs (Mechos) CD / remixes on vinylin 1999Phase Transition Eigenstates CDStochastic Topology Eigenstates CDVacuum AnomaJies Eigenstates CD

Drum & Bass (as Mechos)

Full Spectrum AnalysisConstruc tion Cop i er Mach in eCold CodeSeries Decay (release in 1999)

Axiomatic (with Henry Smith)

Fear for All8 Bit Life

CollaborationsT:un[kl Systems v DisinformationHecker remix Mego RecordsLive Mains Electricity (remixed by Mulholland) Via SatelliteRecordings

Sound PerformanceKeep (x 2)NoiseJam - fCA, part of Gastarbyterwith David GilchristSound Factory: solo performance and collaboration with BarryNichols, joe BanksMuseum of Installation: sound per{ormance / labOccupied Silence: two events at the Roadmender,Northampton and Junction, BrixtonMusic for play Daniel Halbermensch. Munich, touring Germanyand Swieerland 1998-99

Other doingsMutual Reality website with Owen Valetine PringleWork with Stef farc at ICA on Ping Eody - interviews andweDsrteWork with Art Angel photography and construction Pro,ectswith other anistsExhibition at Cyberia internet-cafe, Chemical Paintings

For details ofthe above recotdings:mechos@dircon.co.uk

(+(+()€€€(+(+(+(+(+(+

ResonancePublished by London Musicians' Collective ISSN 1352-772X

NOWAVAILABLE

Volume 7 Number | [December 1998] - MoverikoLa MonteYoung and Morton Feldman in conversation;MarkWebber interviews Charlemagne Palestine; PaulineOliveros;Jim O'Rourke; Phil ip Corner; Caroline Kraabehand Terry Riley. Plus plentiful reviews, letters &c.Plus 64 minute CD featuring exclusive material byThurston Moore & John Tilbury; John Cage Musicircus;Mass Producers; Pauline Oliveros; Phil ip Corner; and newradio work by Xentos.{7.00 in UK shops or mail-order direct from LMC(includes p&p in UK). For subscription information andback issues details, contact ResOnance by wriring toResonance,LMC Ltd,Unit 3.6,Third Floor, Lafone House,t I - t3 Leathermarket Street, London SE I 3HN, England.Te l : 0171 403 l 922 .Fax0 l7 l 403 1880 .E-mail: lmc@lmcltd.demon.co.uk

Selected articles from out of print and back issues arefeatured on our new website ath ttp ://www. l- m -c. o rg. u k

16

Sweethearts in aDnrgstore,Sweethearts in aDrttgstoreDenmark, NinthWorld MusicNWMoIo cD u99zlA f ine small improvisedgroup recording, tapedlive from a concert inCopenhagen in | 996.

Moody and mysterious,generally ratherdeliberate in itsmovements, this musicis r ich in atmosohereand resonant deep colours l ike purpleand crimson dyes flowing in a vat at thedraper's workshop; i f you jump in andimmerse yourself, you' l l be permanentlystained to the core of your being.Which is a good thing. In thisinternational combo of six. we have theUK's own Phil Durrant on viol in andelectronics, and Pat Thomas on acousticpiano and more electronics; joined byUSA jazz musician Alan Silva on anadditional keyboard, with bass andpercussion support from Peter Fri is andP O Jorgens respectively. TrombonistJohannes Bauer may tend to dominatesome of the works with hiselephant-like blasts, but they're goodfarty animalistic noises which contrastperfectly with the synthetic electronicepisodes floating in and out of thesonorous swirlings of strangeness. Infuct, when these digital wisps andwashes take centre stage, you're in forsome moments of utterly sweet andunanchored obl ivion as chi l l inglyeffective as that benchmark LP of whatI cal l 'Up the Orinoco UnexploredWasteland of improv.' I refer to 1985'sHook, Drift and 9huftle, the quartetwith Evan Parker (plus Lewis, Guy andLytton) on Incus Records INCUS 45.That particular LP remains unbeatable inits field - a veritable voyage rnto theHeart of Darkness to surpassApocalypse Now and Fitzcarraldo. Everylistener who dares to venture into itsmurk wil l end up stranded on a desertisland with l i t t le hope of return. l f suchan undertaking appeals to theadYenturer in you, then start off bybooking a passage now withSweethearts in a Drugstore. And if youonly listen to rock music, I daresay thelonger pieces l ike 'Blue Stal l ion' may yetgrab you; the drummer's having purehistr ionics on that one, aided by theepileptic fits from the massedelectronics section, and they achievepure satori thereby, despite thetrombonist's efforts to calm everyonedown with his reassuring slow tones. Agood one! Fine sleeve design by Jorgens

The Sound Projector sifth issue

and Renee Paaschburg recalls USA popartist Robert Indiana at his best.Sweethearts in a Drugstore is a niceidea too, suggestint lovers taking mutualacid tr ips or more simply sharing achocolate soda together. Either way thismusic del ivers the equivalent goods,hal lucinatory highs or a simple sugarbuzz. Enioyt

ED PINSENTMail Order from Humbleaekvej 56, DK3480, Fredensborg, Denmark

Derek Bailey with MinTanaka, IWasic and DanceUS.6,, Revenant 201 (1996)

A very special one from 'El Maestro' ofthe improvised guitar. Thecircumstances behind this unusualrecording mean we hear Bailey playingsome extremely plangenr ringtng noteson his acoustic guitar, along withenvironmental sounds - includingbackground audience chatter, trafficnoise, and the fal l ing rain on the venuerool which at one point threatens todrown out ever/thing else. Everything isenhanced by the natural ambience andecho; plus there's the slightly grainyrecording process, adding another sepiatinged layer of audio-interference. Infact this CD is a reissue of amusicassette, the only time Incus ever

issued a product rn such a format. Thefinal and most intriguing fuctor is aninvisible one, the unseen presence ofdancer Min Tanaka who was making hismoves, completely naked, throughoutthe oedormances here documented.You may think you can't actually hearhim, but you'd be wrong. This is acollaboration between Bailey andTanaka. Bailey did more thanaccompany the dance pieces withappropriate music; there was such arapprochement going on here than youcan virtually reconstruct the dancer'spresence through the recording. Almostl ike the vibrat ions he set uD in the airhave magically transferred, ghost-like,onto the tape. A bold claim, l'm aware,and perhaps a little pretentious, but dotry and hear this for yourself and you' l lsee I 'm not making i t up.

The environment plays a big part in theextreme performances of the Japanesedancer Min Tanaka, who has danced insuch inhospitable places as 'glaciers,

ditches, traffic islands, ploughed fields,up mountains, under bridges - i f i t 'sthere Min wil l dance on i t or in i t , 'states Bailey approvingly. So thetorrential rainfall we hear on 'Rain

Dance'. recorded in 1980 at an oldforge in Paris with a glass roof, isn't aninappropriate interruption - it's sopowerful that it becomes almost a thirdmember of the col laboration. How

marvellous to have been there, butwith this record it's almost as good as;i t creates such a physical tension, sucha palpable presence, that you canalmost taste it. With addedgreen-tinted photographs to enhancethe effect. One from John Fahey'sRevenant label, governed by his highlyoersonal aesthetic that hearsconnections betvveen raw music -American Primit ive - of al l kinds andorigins, so that Bailey shares asoundworld with early rockabil ly and| 920s rural blues.

There aren't many artists whose workcould stand up to this intensescrutinising. This a record of such

ffi(c.€>sffi

unforgivint starkness - the sound ofmen laying their souls bare with no fr i l lsto sweeten the deal whatsoever. that ttcan be very demanding. l t 's aclaustrophobic expenence, recreatingthe four walls of that venue in your ownhead, leaving you no place to escape -you have to stay and witness theconfessions these men make, on theirfeet to the last l ike spir i tual gladiators inthe arena. 'Tis a truly great record and anecessar/ addition to any Derek Baileycol lect ion.

ED PINSENT

Chris Bunr's Ensemble.NauigationsActa Records, ACTA 12 (1998)

lf you've ever steered clear ofimprovised music because you think i t 'stoo disjunctive, this CD might justchange your mind. Here's someexcellent, acoustic studio-based grouprmprovisations that always coalesce intoa satisfyinS and meaningful whole. Whatcommunication and empathy there ishere. Suckled on the milk of freedomlike Romulus and Remus at the teats ofthe Woll the players in Chris Burn'screw bui ld on the hard-won lessons ofIncus / Company Week grouptmprovisations, and bui ld a new HolyRoman Empire by taking the wholedynamic of group playing into anotherspace. Democracy is what comes overstrongest; respect for the other playersand their space. Si lence is the glue thatholds everything together (the sleevenotes speak of'a transparency about thesound'); and a very strong sense of teamspir i t . Each piece is credited to a leaderor composer who presumably designedthe skeletal blueprint for 'navigating'

these exciting improvisational spaces.Ful l marks for commitment to this

The Sound Projector sifth issuehighly effectiveprocess to allmusicians involved inthe team.

Human voices prevai lin the range of almostal l acousticinstruments: the greatPhil Durrant onviol in, Burn on piano,

John Butcher onsaxophones, JimDenley on flutes,Axel Dorner ontrumPet, MarcioMartos cel lo anddouble bass, JohnRussell on guitar;Rhodri Davies andMark Wastell guestingfrom IST on harp andcello respectively;one electronic player,

Matthew Hutchinson; Stevie Wishart onthe hurdy-gurdy, and voice. No drums.Wind instruments emohasise the humanbreath above musrcal notes; growlingand purring l ike giant fr iendly cats.Bowed and plucked instrumentslikewise foreground the movements ofthe human arm; it's all very gesturalmusic, as deep and crafted as any greatabstract expressionist art.

Chris Burn formed the ensemble in1984. The great thing he does is al lowthe musicians to be themselves,recognising that each player has aunique, personal voice and a musicalbackground all of their own. Yet theyalso share the willingness to work on agroup sound, rather than using the

troup as a platform for soloing orshowing off. Musical languages talkingtogether, not a Tower of Babel. Whilethe crop of US electronic Droning-Dansthis issue have produced some f inework, most of it springs from the artistsinteracting with the mechanics ofstudio-based sound oroduction andmodification. Thrs Navigations CD bycontrast, shows music that has grownfrom a more organic base: commitment

to a musicianly craft, study of theinstrument and working with a dif f icultway of playing. To manage suchhigh-quali ty results within a groupensemble situation is even more of anachievement.

ED PINSENTActa, 28 Aylmer Road, London Wl29LQ

Phil Minton, A Doughnut inBoth Eands: SoIo singing1975-r982

Wll999lA good one from this eccentric oddityamong UK improvisers; few use thehuman voice alone. Another great onein my book is Vanessa Mackness, aCompany Week hvourite who seemsto have vanished without trace leavingfew if any recordings. Minton's aone-man band in voice; he can evenproduce two harmonic tones at once,not only srnging but squeezrng outgrunts, wheezes, belches, Donald Ducksounds. and general ly wrrngrng strangeand tortured wails from the walls of hislarynx as though he was twisting fortyyards of wet towelling with his baremitts. Although this very physical andhuman music can occasional ly verge onthe comic, a few spins should convinceyou of the genuine and heartfelt natureof Minton's personal explorations intoimprov. There's humanity here, l ikesol id lumps of pink plast icine. Comparethe gnarled and knobbly texture of thisrecord to an utter smoothie like BobbyMcFerrin, and you' l l be glad you madethe r ight choice. Minton had a careerwith the Mike Westbrook Band in the| 970s and | 980s, singing songs andimprovising with his throat muscles l ikeany tenor-playing trooper. Recorded inLondon and France in I 975. | 980. | 98 |and 1982, port ions of these primit ivebellows were previously issued on vinylby Fred Fri th, on his Rift label inAmerica.

ED PINSENT

Minton, Butcher, lli.rt, TwoConcertsGermany, Free MusicProduction EMP OWN (199?)

Lol Coxhill and VeryanWeston, BoundlessEmanem 402t (1998)

Two very different releases byimprov veterans. In h.rzo Concerts,Phil Butcher, Erhard Hirt and PhilMinton set out to produce everysound perceptible to human ears.At least they do if you take Marcus

PF{ ! t . F" l tNT* t {A ) i ) !JGl lN iJ { !N I }O iH i r r : ' , ; i , . . ,

18

Muller 's sleeve notes at face value. Ioften wonder what value lohnCage-style objectives are to supposedly' free' musicians. Which is not to knockCage's ideas, they have their place inmusical phi losophy, but such workingmethods seem to me to form anacademic barrier which allows themusicians to ignore what their ears aretelling them. Take for instance theage-old avant garde cl ich€ of replacingthe notes on a musical stave withdrawings, the intention being that theart ist interprets these in sound. This isa valid approach to making music withprecedents in other genres, fromHolst's Ode to the Planets to )oeMeek simulat ing the sounds ofouter space. l t requiresimagination and, since i t isnigh-on impossible to carry out aliteral translation of a Dicture to asound, is bound to throw upinterestrng results. My problemwith this approach is that i tsuggests that the artist is scaredof the essentially abstract natureof music and wants a foothold inconcrete reality. They could behaving a more interesting time byclosing their eyes and trust ingtheir ears. On the other handmaybe such methods are justconvenient ice-breakers, al lowingthe musicians to loosen up whilsttheir artistrc instincts awaken.

Anyway, I don't think this lot areguil ty of such preciousness. Theysound l ike they had their tonguesfirmly in cheek throughout, ful lycomprehending the frivolity andimpossibi l i ty of their task. And rfthey don't produce every soundperceptible to the human ear(seventy minutes is just way tooshort a time to do that), they have adamn good try. This is one of thetiShtest and most rmpressrve tmprovsets l've heard, a fucking great record!

The echo effects, eastern melodies andmantras of Sixties psychedelia have beenassimilated into the mainstream by U2and The Verve (to name but two), butthe genre has continued to develop andgrow in the hands of rock bands such asThe Butthole Surfers and Sonic Youth,who have found new ways to createl iberating drug-l ike disorientat ion forthe l istener. Minton, Butcher and Hirtcontinue in this tradit ion. Erhard Hirt isthe only member using effects, whichmake his guitar and electronicequrpment sound l ike who knows what,but his col leagues manage to conjureequally strange and uncharacteristicsounds from their resDective acousticrnstruments. lt's often hard to tell whois doing what. Those gurgles and wailscould conceivably be either vocal ist Phi l

TheSound Projector sifth issueMinton or saxophonist John Butcher.Sounds overlap and gl ide seamlesslyfrom one disturbing combination toanother. Just as you think you've tot ahandle on what they're playing, ittransforms, barely perceptibly, intosomething else. The whole record isutterly eerie. After a quick recce ofSpace 1999s Moonbase Alpha. youreturn home and tune into a DiscoveryChannel documentary about creaturesfrom Edgar Al len Poe stories. Suddenlyyou real ise your l iv ing room is beingscanned by The Mysterons, and there'sa battalion of Daleks shootint holesthrough your kitchen door. l f ambient

2 1 . 1 ' 1 8

music attempts to take you on a gentleand soothing trip across the oceans,countryside and cosmos, then this musicis like a ghost train ride throughscience-fiction history with theBoredoms as tour guides.

Boundless on the other hand is imorovas Jaz. Lol Coxhill's sax emits whinesand splutters and Verfan Weston'spiano pl inks and plonks for l5 short andsimilar-sounding pieces. The whimsicaltrack titles may give you a clue to what'sgoing on here: 'Grey Day at Mumbles','Slightly Tipsy Turvy', etc. lf this isboundless. I 'm a monkey'sstep-daughter. You've heard it allbefore and every note screams'jaz'.Not that there's anything wrong withworking within a defined idiom. Thevery capable duo produce music whichis mournful and pleasing to the ear.There's a Blue Whale in your drawingroom and i t 's singing the blues! But i flike me you're a stranger in the houseof Jaz, it may take repeated listening to

gain a foothold in this record (althougharguably it defeats the point of improv ifyou can't get it first time). Unusually itdoesn't become fumiliar with reDeatedplays but it does become strangelylistenable. The goalposts shift andsuddenly i t al l sounds good. Let yourmind take a wander, follow Lol andVeryan as they meander up and downthe scales. Who cares where they go,as long as rt takes you away fromwherever you were. But in the end it'snot an interesting enough trip for mytastes, there's too few landmarks alongthe way and not enough light and shade.As the man at the Fast Show's lazz Club

says, 'More Hooplah for myMoohlah. Mr Ticket Man!'

HARLEY RICHARDSON

Kev Hoppet, Spootrr:hungThoofa t (1998)

Solo tracks, mostly, demonstratintHopper's solo work with a speciesof 'prepared' bass. lt involvesadding various cl ips and clamps anddampeners to the instrument.making i t sound l ike i t 's beenstrung with gigantic rubber bands.lnspired by his listening to Africanmusic, but with no desire to 'go

ethnic', Hopper yet manaSes toachieve the fascrnating monotonyof an African stringed instrumentsuch as a ground bow or'pluriarch'. He also plays themusical saw. joined by avantistfriends Charles Hayward, JohnButcher and lan Smith for a couolecollaborative tracks and.elsewhere, his regular assistant,Rob Fl int the video art ist. Hopperis a jovial gent who may be known

to John Peel l isteners circa I 987 as thebass player in Stump, whose jol ly musicfeatured what I think are known as'angular Beeftreartian guitar lines'ianother of his more recent bands isTickl ish, with Phil Durrant and RichardSanderson. An unusual sounding, jauntyI i t t le disc.

ED PINSENT

SteveLacy, SaxophoneSpecial +Emanem 4024 (1998)

More rerssued treasures from theMart in Davidson archives; is there aninexhaustible supplyl The value ofhearing these rare i tems is not simplybecause they are great music - whichthis one emphatical ly rs - but also forthe value they have in adding anotherpiece to the enormous l igsaw puzlethat is the history of improvised musicThese particular sets are taken from

19

| 973 and | 974, with Steve Lacy theAmerican soorano saxman credited asleader (and composer). The | 974 setsfeature an astonishing four-waysaxophone crosstalk symposium, heldbetween Lacy, Steve Potts, TrevorWatts and Evan Parker. When thesefour blowing titans all hold forth atonce, there are so many levels of ideasflying about the air you can hardly akeit all in; /et it's all integrated, like afour-dimensional game of chess. Addedto this Dotent forum are a 'noise

section': Derek Bailey playing ampli f iedguitar, and Michel Waisvisz, the Frenchsynthesiser-man, making a rareappearance. He played an unusualsynth with no keyboard, making'manymysterious hand movements'. His outerspace analogue whoops and whirrssometimes fill in the soaces between thesaxes with delicate, filigree detail; orrnteract with a solo sax to absolutelystunnint effect. Meanwhile Bailey'smighty stereo-amplifi ed,volume-pedalled whomps on theelectric tuitar are framing everfthingwithrn a tight fortified barrier,something the other playershave to push against. lt'spower{ul music, mostly ful l-onspir i ted whooping but withmany exquisite softer passages.The team pull off their tinymiracles of rnteractive dynamismnot once, but on six separatecuts here, recorded at WitmoreHall and original ly issued as anEmanem long-player in 1976.Davidson points out there aresome ' inaccurate themestatements and incomoatibleimprovisations caused by thebrevity of rehearsal t ime'. but Imust haye lugs full o'wax -nothing can mar this record forme.

The first three tracks are no lessrewarding. A quintet again ledby Steve Lacy, this time withSteve Potts, Bailey, and KentCarter on bass; plus the latelamented.fohn Stevens onpercussion. From the openingsto these composit ions, I thinkyou can trace elements of Lacy'sdevelopment out of Be-Bop;those jaunty toons might be astripped down version ofThelonious Monk, but you'd better get asecond opinion from a real iaz experton that. Steve Pofts, on the sogranoand alto saxes, deseryes special mentionas a long-standing collaborator of Lacy's,having worked in many of his bandsbetween l97l and 1995. He was crucialin realising Lacy's 'theme statements',which by this t ime required twovery-adjacent melody l ines soundingtogether so that they would 'r ing l ike

The Sound Projector sifth issue

bells if they're in the nght order'. Thesethree were taped at the 100 Club inI 973 and issued as another Emanem LPi n 1 9 7 5 .

What comes over strongest is the greaturgency of this music - as though all theplayers were wound up l ike coi ledsprings, driven by a need to unwind in aburst of creative energy. The

Phil Duran! SowariActa Records, ACTA l0 (1992)

Fantastic - | don't know if Durrant ishighly respected in these isles or what,but he darn well ought to be, and youshould hear his work as soon as youcan. This is a solo viol in CD and rt 'smagnifique - an energetic and inspiredseries of composed / free musics, half ofwhich are treated with electronics. Theacoustic tracks are blistering; theseexcoriat ing str ing I ines cut into yourface with the precision of a scalpel,while Durrant the surgeon unforgivinglystudies the X-rays of your skull. As withhis work with Chris Burn, this is musicfree from dis;uncture; Durrant 'sphrases are studied and carefully setdown with great deliberation, a networkof concentrated drones spun withgeometric accuracy, yet col l iding withastonishing leaps of logic. This is notcliched experimental music that stuttersand chatters its way through life.Durrant proceeds at all times withunhurried convict ion, knowing what to

say, and gifted with the talent tomake the violin express it perfectly.

Durrant turned 40 in 1997 and wasprompted to catalotue, in the pagesof Rubberneck magazine number 26,some of hrs endeavours in 20 years

of music-making. Turns out this soloCD Sowari was a ven/ deliberatestatement, principally to showcasewhat he refers to as 'difference

tones' - audible freouencies that aregenerated when the viol in toneinterferes with the acoustics of theroom. This might account for hissleeve note urging that the CD beplayed over loudspeakers and notheadphones. Besides an impeccablecheckl ist of inf luences, Durrant hashis mind oDen to al l manner ofmusical and non-musicalexperiences: including a st int in theunderground techno dance scene inLondon from 1987, rubbingshoulders with avant-electronicsbuffs Fennesz and Rehburg (andmany others) in a group cal ledMIMEO, and performrng l ive musicfor the choreographers Gill Clarkeand Maxine Doyle. The phrases thatthe Clarke uses in her physicalmovements have, claims Durrant,made him rethink his approach to

improvisation. Sharp-eyed readers willhave noticed his presence on otherrecordings in thrs sqction; there areplenty more as yet undocumentedprojects associated with John Butcher,Chris Burn, and synthesist ThomasLehn. Try and make a point of seeinghim perform l ive, i f possible

ED PINSENT

excitement that everyone felt withexploring and experimenting with whatwas then a relatively new music ispalpable; to listen is to feed off theelectricity of a live wire. Or eight ofthem. to be orecise.

ED PINSENTFrom Emanem Records, 3 Bittacy Rise,London NW7 2HH

20

Lauryn HiiII, The |Wiseducation

of Lautyn EiIlRuffhouse 498843 2 (1998)

Have you heard Wyclef Jean's cover of Queen's'Another One Brtes The Dust'? lf not I urge you to doso as soon as possible. Wyclef is of course a memberof enormously successful hip-hop act The Fugees (or'The Fudgies' as Zoe Roberts, who isn't a fan, callsthem). The Fugees represent the last word inpoint less cover versions of old standards. With'Another One Bites the Dust ' Wyclef hasn't simplysampled bits of the original, or even nicked heftylumps from it. Oh no. No half measures for this boy.What he's done is Just play the record, more or lessin i ts entirety, and interspersed Freddie Mercury'svocal with assorted hip-hop maxims and sayings;'Check i t out, y 'al l ' ;

' l 'm gonna take your Rolex'; 'Yo!

Where's Freddie at l ' (st i l l dead, last t ime I heard).What a genius. Give i t up, MrJean. You are a twit.

So, as this album came out amid a f lurry of reviewsand interviews hai l ing Lauryn as the talented memberof The Fugees, I was hopeful. There's no way, I reasoned, shecan be as creatively chal lenged as Mr Jean. ThanKully, this isgeneral ly the case. No one can real ly doubt her vocal abi l i t ies.One reviewer hai led her as the new Aretha, which although abit excessive isn't completely without just i f icat ion. Equally. herwriting goes a bit further than exhortations to 'check it out'or int imations of impending t imepiece purloinment.

Those are the good points. The shortcoming are not so easilyisolated. The rapping is sharp. The singing is reasonablyinspired. The music (al l played by real musicians,including...gulp...Carlos Santanal) is str ipped down andeffective. Yet somehow, for me, it doesn't quite do it. Maybel 'm int imidated by the Fugee connections, or the inevitabi l i tyof all the awards this CD will accrue. Mercury prizes. Thatsort of thing. For al l i ts f iner elements I can't help thinking ofthe record col lect ions that are fated to include this as a tokenrepresentation of hip-hop, alongside other culture mafiosafuves like Van Morrison, Bob Dylan - and Radiohead, for whenwe're feel ing a l i t t le brt modern and dangerous. Like thoseothers we're all expected to apDreciate without question, andfor all its fine intentions, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hillisjust a bit too worthy. Maybe next time. t-,

\z This qetsthe War-Arrow votefor LP OF THEYEAR

Organized Noise aredist inguished in the loose f ieldof R&B t inged soul by theirpreference for 'real'

instruments: guitars, stringsections, Hammond organsand so on. Their sound hasbeen l ikened to cool 70s funkof the kind associated withblaxplortatron cinema, Havingsaid that, this is no mere

exercise in nostalgia. Although The Vinyl Room looks back tothe era before the advent of sampling, i t is resolutely of 1998.The groove is leisurely, deep, and hard, which may seem anunnecessary innuendo-laden descript ion, but is quiteappropriate for what is cerainly the sexiest disc l've heard insome time. I generally find songs about sexual naughtiness abit unconvincing, but not from this lot. They make BarryWhite sound l ike Gary Numan.

A problem with much soul music is that paradoxical ly i t lackswarmth or feeling, and simply reproduces - with boringaccuracy - sounds that imply these sensations. This is evidentin much 80s soul, which rarely exhibit any more signs of l i fethan the demonstration sefting on a cheesy Casio keyboard.Not the case here though. This record is so warm, that I'veactually worn it as underpants on several occasions, what withWinter drawing in and al l . Really real ly real ly bri l l iant.

The Sound Projector Sifth issue

and R&B Revue!All Saints remix LP and othersreviewed by WAR ARROW

Sleepy's Theme, The Vinyl RoomBang II Records BBCD-2001 (1998)

The two greatest songs of all time are TLC's 'Waterfulls' and'Don't Let Go (Love)' by En Vogue. This is not simply anopinion. lt is a fact. Ask anyone. lnterestingly enough, both ofthese cracking tunes were written and instrumented largelyby Organized Noise, a production studio team type thangfrom the American deep South. Now some members of thisloose col lect ive have come together in their own band,Sleepy's Theme. So no, this isn't the accompaniment to abloke who spends all day in the sack, it's a group named forvocal ist Patr ick'Sleepy' Brown.

Considering former glories mentioned above, this CD washunted down with great difficulty (largely because somedumb-ass shop assistant had filed it in the hip-hop section ofHMV), increasing excitement, and a vague fear that it couldn'tpossibly be as good as hoped for. But BLOODY HELL - lT'SBETTER!

z',|.

Charli Baltirnore, MoneyUnentertainment,/ Epic 666227 2CD single (1998)

This being a humble single that hasalready made a brief aDDearance in thecharts. thus merit ing an unconvincingTop OfThe Pops performance by hernibs, it may seem a littie esoteric to giveit attention here. However, it's iust sogoldarn (whatever that means) bangin'(see previous comment) that I can't helpmyself. The main bass riff is one ofthose that comes along once i i l alifetime, that is so simple, yet so big itdrives you nutty that you hadn't thoughtof it first. Actually Charli and her palsmay not have thought of this first and itmay even be tea-leafed from an earlierfunk monster, but who caresl lt worksfor me.

Charli's rapping is not the most expertI 've heard, but what she lacks in pol ishshe makes uo for in att i tude...oraftitood or however you want to spellit. Furthermore, she comes over asreasonably scary, rather than iustannoying and whiney l ike so many ofher less able compadres. Thesubject matter is that old rapfave of 'l'm bigger, better andown a more impressive trainsetthan various sucker MCs',

The Sound Projector Sifth issuecultivation of a gang mentality in whichindividual characterist ics and fui l ings aresubmerged within the collective gestalt.Instead, she opts once again for'Because we want to! Because we wantto! '

To the best of my knowledge the threeCleopatra sisters, Zainam, Yonah andCleopatra (hence the band name)Higgins are even /ounger than theaccursed Billie, but demonstrate togreat effeet (and my immense reliet)that the upcoming generation aren'tcompletefy useless after all. Comin'Atcha! is the first of what I susoect willbe many albums of decidedly unstodgyR&B inspired pop. Good sol id beatsunderscore a l ight and spacious soundwhich remains ski l ful ly balanced on thefine line between sharp programmingand funky organic chutzpah. A writer inBlues & Soul magnine recently decriedthe apparent inability of contemporaryartists to come uo with albums free offiller material. lt's a good point, but Iwonder if he listened to this, becausethere isn't a single st inker here. Thetoken'epic soul bal lad'can prove the

group whose first single ('Cleopatra'sTheme') is an ode to self-esteem, anddoing your best not to be a slack-jaweddimwit, is a very healthy thing indeed.And al l this in spit€ of the ominousrumour thatan Adventures ofCleopatra television show is on thecards. Gals, if you're reading this(apparently they're all big fans ofFarmers Manual) - DON'T DO lT. Justkeep more of these coming and we' l l al lbe laughing.

Brandy, NeverSayNeverAtlantic ?56? 83039 2 (1998)

Monica, The Boy fs MineArista,02822 l90l l 2 (1998)

It seems to have become something of atradit ion in the soul press to reviewBrandy and Monica together. Part of thereason is doubtlessly due to their dueton the absolute thumper (meaningmore than just good) 'The Boy ls Mine',which crops up on both ofthese discs.In addrtron, I suspect a degree of saucemay inform their association,

particularly as they seem tohave fallen out with eachother, fol lowing a punch-upat some event intended toprove that their rumouredmutual animosity was iustbollocks. However, they'repaired here because (ratheroddly) they both succeed,and full flat on their faces, rnexactly the same places.

€Brandy has to my lugholesone of the finest, mostindividual voices to be foundin R&B at the moment. l t 'sbreathy, delicate and vaguelyplaintive but not at theexpense of depth, range, oremotrve Dower.Furthermore, her singingstyle is instantly recognisable,which is a rare thing in a fieldthat seems to favour oureformulaic technioue oversounding l ike you actual lymean it. Monica comes aclose second, and I bel ievethey key to their respective

successes is material which suits theirvoices, al lowing the scope to f lourish.Much of Never Say Neveris the workof upcoming genius Rodney jerkins, Heachieves much with very little. The besttracks here are sparse, allowing a slowand weighty hip-hop beat to carry alongskilfuiiy uncierstated meiocjies. WithBranCy's voice added to the equationthe end result is frankly, fuckingsublime. ln the r ight seft ing her voiceshivers up your spine and explodes outof the top oi your head. Having said that

f i l tered through Charl i 's obviousfascination with the film TheLong Kiss Goodnight Some maydisapprove of such shamelessself-promotion, but only abloody idiot is going to arguewith this gal. An absoluteearthshaker.

Atcha!

your sweet innocence), Bi l l ie is a

ffi::J;i,r;:if[HfJ]:f h:y:"',"'*"*i::*1y;*. fir U P*ffir',','"'-"ffJt"J [i#'

-* t fr-ir'

i"4s\F;,'creopatra, comin' i l'l\ fifS T-:i?.utffiil,._.;.,,,, i!{.rs.$ m;r :i.J : *"#."'",,ry.1:':,f." " L\ -' ft * pf ' .1_1

7

W|J, I

big-toothed | 7 year-old girl, and the I u,ndoing of the finest singers, and. even

voice behind an ode to unpleasantness I the mighty Brandy comes unstuck on

that would disgust even The Ramones. I that score, b.ut if there's such a one

' W h y y o u w a n - n a p l a y t h a t s o n g s o l o u d l ' l h e r e . i t ' s p r o b a b l y ' T h e B i r d S o n g ' w h i c h

enquire the stuffy old squares io whom I could surely force a lumP into the

Billie,s ditry is directed. iB"."ur" ,r" I throat of even Norman Tebbit.

want tol Because we want to!' comes I With regard to my continually testedthe riposte. 'Why d'you always hang I faith in hunranity, it's a real tonic to heararound in cr^owdsl' the interrogation I such an effortlessly buoyant collectioncontinues. Bi l l ie should, of course. I of songs from ones so youthful, whoanswer that this is due to an underlying I actual ly dare to show they have brarns.sense of insecurity and a lack of I The fact that Cleopatra's funs, whom Iseif-esteein which infoi-irrs the I suspect are rnostly jusi as young, have a

22

Never Say Never contains four 'epic

soul bal lads' (uh-oh) none of which,rather tel l ingly, seem to have had muchinput from Mr Jerkins. She seems a bitlost within these songs; it's like havingYoung Marble Giants play WembleyStadium. Point less.

All of the above stands more or lessequally true for Monica's album. In thiscase the genius knob twiddler is oneDallas Austin, whose name crops up onall but the four duff tracks - weird ehlMonica's voice, although perhaps notquite so dist inct ive as Brandy's, similarlyworks vocal magic against the rightbackdrop. The widescreen bawlersleave me cold, but again i t 's on thebeaty R&B that she shines, smoulderingaway like a good 'un as the single 'The

First Night ' (an ode to keeping one'shand on one's ha'penny, as i t were)capably demonstrate.

Two fine collections which prove to benear perfectly formed. This is 1998 styleR&B at its understated best, providingone ignores the quota of soppy cuts. lt'sinteresting to note the phenomenalnumber of people thanked by Brandy

on her album. At six pages of small typeshe must be trying for some kind ofrecord, because it's almost as if she'staken a phone directory and crossedout the names she doesn't know. Sti l l ,it's something to read whilst sitting outthe four hummers...

All Saints, The Remix AlbumLondon Records 556 063 2 {1998)

A cynic might cal l this naughqvmarketing: assorted remixes of the sixhits oroduced from the debut album -

some (possibly al l) of which havealready appeared in some form. Maybeso, but as l've never reassigned myyouthful enthusiasm for collecting PGTips teas cards towards All Saintssingles, most of these mixes are new tome. Besides, this being mid-price, onecan't really moan about being ripped off.'Yes', my chums say, 'but you alreadygot these songs aincha, ya candy-assmofol'

The fine art of remixing has come a longway since the hel l ish 1980s, when aremix meant an instrumental version

welded onto the beginning of a song,punctuated by cheesy orchestralsamples. Many of these tracks, bycontrast, are related to their parentsongs only by the vocal l ine, underneathwhich a whole new ditty has been laidout. Whether this works or notdepends on how much you l ike theoriginal, and who gets to monkeyaround with it. There are no less thanfour versions of 'Bootie Call', a trackwhich I never quite warmed to, it beingafter all iust The Addams Familysignature tune with ruder lyr ics. Thus Ifind the reinterpretations to be animprovement, particularly that done byClub Asylum, which turns a once clunkynumber into a true speed garagemonster. Conversely I expected to bedisappointed by new versions of ' l KnowWhere lt's At' and 'Lady Marmalade'.After all (pardon the slightly grandioseallusion) why repaint the Mona LisalHappily, the revisiting of already finetracks is done with such imagination andingenuity that one forgets to makecomoarisons.

ary"\:

t,,/- J-)

6 ..',,ta

,S 01// /1 Fil

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//

23

The Remix Album flows through its l5songs without a pause for breath. Acracking kick-off is followed by somevery grindy R&B mixes of 'Never Ever',about half of which are pretty special. Alemon, rather than oranges, is offered athalf-t ime when the normally rel iableGanja Kru take a shot at 'War OfNerves' in a drum n bass style, amarriage that iust wasn't meant to be. ltmanages simulaneously to be a crapversion of a bri l l iant original, and dodgy

Jungle that's ruined by having the Saintsslapped all over iL Drum n bass in waltztime is about as useful as a football bat:never mind, i t recovers qurckly. The lasthalf of the CD bui lds up with a batch ofintense speed garage mixes that Justgets better and better. Only to beexpected, from the impressivenames at the mixing desk: BookerT; Dreem Teem; and Nu Birth, aka187 Lockdown aka Jul ian Jonahwho's been largrng i t up massivestyle (and so on) for a good tenyears now. Despite hiccups, there'sa fuir few choice cuts of firstdivision R&B here, and i f speedgarage is your thinS you won't findany better than the last 4 or 5numbers on this disc.

En Vogrre, .873East West ?559 0609? 2 (1997)

En Vogue, Best of...East $rest 2559 62322 2 (1998)

What the hel l is al l this gir l powerstuff that the crappy media keepsbanging one aboutl There havealways been girl bands, right back toThe Andrews Sisters, and if it's oneof the 'feisry' variety - pardon mycondescension - En Vogue havebeen at it for years. I first heardthem on the radio at five in themorning, an hour when I 'm notalways at my best and the DJs areusually from the bargain bucket, andnot so adept at tying their ownshoelaces or giving out the name ofwhat they've just played. Therecord was cal led 'Free Your Mind'and I assumed it was either L7 orthe younger sisters ofGuns'N'Roses, Which just goes toshow how wrong you can be.

En Vogue demonstrate how absurd andpoint less are commonly-held bel iefsabout the worth of 'real 'groups over'manufactured' ones. Those who form'manufactured'groups choose not to bein the l ine-up themselves, becausesomeone else better suited is moremusical. or less of an eyesore. This is anapproach that could be more widelyadopted. thus sparing us from differentlytalented (to use the politically correct

The Sound Projector Sifth issueterminology) svengalis like the Gallagherbrothers, who continue to sul ly theirown group with their ubiqurtouspresence, despite many lucrattveopportunities in the gurning industry. EnVogue are four Southern bel les (nowthree) brought together by songwritersThomas McElroy and Denzil Foster,partially it cannot be denied for theirstunning good looks but principal ly fortheir vocal abi l i t ies. And Jesus...can theyever sing! (Can they ever singl) Theanswer is YES, in the biggest typefuceyou can find.

Their col lect ive vocal training is clearlyto be found amongst the gospelcommunit ies of the deep South,strongly evident on 'Hold On'. Withsuch atomic-powered tonsils as are at

definitively not plastic soul. Even thesparingly used synthesised instrumentsare expressive and organic. Particularlyimpressive is the effortless way EnVogue hop between Senres withoutpausing for a fug and a guick walkaround the block. 'Free Your Mind'rocks l ike Led Zeppelin during a badhair day, an astute move considering itsanti-racist message. You're probablymore likely to find the odd whitesupremacist getting down to MotleyCrue than Bootsy Coll ins. In context,it's still identifiably the same group thathas produced the funkier numbers.'Hold On' has recentlv suffered from arather pointless speed garage remix,thankfully absent here; the futilit/ ofsuch an exercise is apparent from the

original single, which sets thesensation of driving fast over adramatically hump-backed bridgeto music. That, in my book, isalmost too darned funky forwords. 'Don't Let Go (Love)',being the greatest song of allt ime, shouldn't need an

work here, I can imagine a few southernchurches where the roof restorationfund must have taken a real beatingduring En Vogue's formative years.However there's more to it than simpletonsular dexterity, and the sheer rangeand scope covered by thrs Best Of,compiled from over eight years ofbelters, illustrates why. Manufactured ornot, there's liftle that could be wnttenoff as formulaic here, and nothint thatsuffers from the 80s soul disease of alltechnique and no hearu. This is

introduction. but for the record i tsurely represents R&B at its mostextreme. lt's so slow andtortured, you can hear the bloodsweated out on the studio floor.Any harder and this would'vebeen on an earlv Swans album.Even the normally terr ible gir l rapduo Salt N Pepa manage to shineon therr Suest aPPearance on'Whatta Man'.

With a Greatest Hits set. it's fairto say one can't really lose -

unless the author is irredeemablyshite (Simply bloody Red, forexample), and the real test of aband's strength is if it can keep upthe same standard on a regularalbum. EV3 has been around awhile now but is wonh taking afresh pog at in the light of theabove. There's no difference at allin the quality of the matenal. Theuse of conspicuously moderntechnology and effects blendssmoothly with the warmth of thebluesy acoustrc Instrumentation.The vocals and inspirat ionalharmonising are alternatelTpowerful and understated in all

the right places. Even the occasionalburst of the histr ionics avoids thecommon pitfull of standing in as the soulequivalent of guitar fretboard wank sohvoured by En Vogue's contemporaries.Soul music, R&B or whatever you call rtis often criticised for being a corporateaural sedative. There's much to iustifythis, but not En Vogue. They are mostdefinitely the real thing. I know they'refairly successful but on the strength ofthese releases, l'm amazed they aren'teven bigger.

24

OAOAOAOAO

PJYqH

@ The Centurion, DeptfordBroadway London SE8,5 November 1998WELCOME RETURN OF SOME OF TOKYO'S FINESTMODERN psychedelic heavy speedmetal maestros. Whattanight! Members of Jap metal band High-Rise, plus Britimproviser Gary Smith showing that improv can ROCK! Lasttime we heard from them it looked they were poised to takeover the world - World Class Wrecking Crew'chey weredubbed by The Wire and played anabsolutely unforgettable $g in 1996which we reviewed in Sound Projector2nd. Main man Asahito Nanjo boastedof his aim to own and hear everysingle recorded LP ever made (in amad race with Keiji Haino to finishfirst), and his conceptual rock'project'was a viable and exciting new way todo music. Aiming for a sort ofuniversal music, the grandeur of hisscheme was simply too much tocontain in one band. so he formed atleast three - High-Rise (psychedelicpower crio), Musica Transonic(avant-garde power trio), and TohoSara (semi-acoustic weird improvisingquartet). Now he's joined byMunehiro Narita, the original guitaristin High-Rise; guest star Koji Shimuraon the bass and guitar, from WhiteHeaven; non-Japanese guest, GarySmith (the loud guitarist of the GarySmith trio) and the incredible ShojiHano, drummer. Hano has played withPeter Brotzmann and Keiji Haino, andlet's hope he'll remain a permanent fixture of High-Rise; hisultra-precise superfast drum solo was virtually the high spotof the sec his entire body curling round the kit and everylimb working overtime - so much so he appeared to haveeight arms. The evening's work took the form of pairing andswapping in duos and trios, everyone playing mosdy freeimprovised pieces - everything loud and psychedelic, beefedup by an armoury of effects pedals that from where I wassitting looked like an aerial shot of the D-Day invasion.

ln my high school days a guitarist friend used to impresswannabe-musicians such as myself with fancy frework. Oneof his favourite tricks was to hammer his fingers repeatedlyon carefully chosen parts of the fretboard, unleashing strange

The Sound Projector sifth issueand mysterious sounding non-notes. l've now seen this kindof thing repeated enough times by enough different people toknow it to be pretry standard taught guitar technique. GarySmith was up to the same kind of tomfoolery tonight. He cutquite a contrast to his oriental associates, lookingself-satisfied as opposed to self-assured throughout. Can'tdeny he conjured up a darn fine noise though, in stereowhat's more, using foot pedals to send the output from hisaxe to two very differendy set up speakers, sendingtwo-hundred foot tall tigers roaring around the room. DolbyStereo Surroundsound - stick that in your pipe and smoke it!

As always the utter joy of this music is seeing the high-qualityof musical proficiency wedded with incalculable power;Munehiro Narita has made an artform out of the heavy metalpsych guitar solo, a suffused ecstasy just traceable on hisinscrutable visage as he scales the passion-drenched heights.Shoji Hano's punchy drumming throughout delivers knockoutblows to the hearg stomach and face, yet never once slipsinto sloppy time-keeping paradiddling. The star turn without adoubt was his solo. Phil Collins is my only previous exposureto drum improv so I was dubious at first that it could work.Only a minute into the act and I was hooked. Like JackieChan dispatching a gang of nunchaka-wielding hitmen whiletucking into a 40-course Chinese meal, Shoji Hano was awhirl of speeded up activiry, yelping over a set of addictiveand powerful rhythms the like of which has not been heardsince Can's heyday. This man knew what to do with his kigbeing able to keep a mean beat going while improvising

convincingly on top, even thoughsome of the drums tried to escape hisgrasp and had to be taped into placeby a fellow High-Rise member. I'venever seen anything like it!

The concentration by these guys isintense, yet the music's so freeitsends you higher than LSD; one skinnygirl was sent into a writhing acrobaticdance by the irresistible rhythms ofHigh-Rise. High-Rise showed whatthey can do when they pre-plan stuff.An incredibly tight unit with everynote and twist and turn in thecomplicated song structures naileddown perfeccly. A beautifully short(two perfect pieces!) mini-set - anymore and it's easy for a weary listenerto switch off under the weight ofendless power riffing. Only GanTSmith, and a late additional Westernerjoining in the end of gig jam with hisflute. added false notes: Smith has thetechnical fluency all righc but heseems a bit of a show-off. That saidhis hyper-volume work made more

sense in this context, reined in by the discipline of the

Japanese team.

A nearby table groaned with CDs and LPs issued by the manyvariants of Nanjo's rocking teams. lt would have been nice tothink he was more popular (less than a hundred in theaudience), but then the intimacy of this venue was perfect.Credit to organisers Trevor Mainwaring and Paul Hood.

/oint review byHARLEY RICHARDSON and ED PINSENT

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25

The Sound Projector Sifth issueTony Conrad, EarlyMinimalism VolunteOne4 x CD boxed setUSA, Ta.ble of tbe Elernents33 As (Arsenic) (1997)

An important release. this. MrTony Conrad returns to thespoclight and is given the spaceand time to speak his piece.Recendy cultivated by RolandSpekle in Amsterdam (he ofBarooni Records, which heformed as he broke away fromthe Staalplaat empire to releaseCharlemagne Palestine'srecordings), Conrad has now thrown in his lot with theGeorgia USA crew of enthusiascs who form the Table of theElements coalition. Conrad, at his recent appearance in theUK, proudly sported a fine TOTE T-shirt emblazoned withtheir credentials (which include tours and records by Faust,Keiji Haino and Zeena Parkins).

The beautifully packaged black boxcontains four CDs. of which three arerecent recordings of Conrad violinworks composed in 1994. sometimessupporcd by fellow musicians: JimO'Rourke on violin, and Conrad'spartner Alexandria Gelencser on cello.Each of these modern works comes it atover an hour apiece and are extremelytesting worrisome droneworks; at firstyou think you can handle it but let mewarn you that few strong men make it tothe halfway mark without experiencingsome form of panic attack, which mightmanifest itself as claustrophobia, nausea,or simply an unpleasant resdessness. Thedrones shake you to your bones.However. the modern works are asnaught compared to the utter starkterror that is the 1964 recording whichConrad made by overdubbing his violinfour times as a home-recordingexperiment. Double your pleasure, thendouble it again. Try an experiment ofyour own and leave a carcon of milk inthe room while this is playing; come backin 30 minutes and it'll have turned intoyoghurt. The awesome power ofvibrating strings is hammered homerelentlessly by a mad scientist. Can it benatural to even consider using a violin inthis way?

Conrad attemDts to answer thisquestion, with his extensive sleeve notesin the form of a perfect bound bookletas thick as a CD. His principalmotivacions for this astonishing workstrike me as almost nothing to do withmusic, and more to do with scientificnotions. He is fixated on the idea of timepassing and writes a horrifying pieceabout how it might be possible tobecome aware of the start of a singiemillisecond. When I feel millisecondspassing even a bunch of them at a time, I

know that thousands more are slipping past me completelyunobserved, sacrificed by my act of choosing to fixate on theothers which I have marked with a beginning.' For thelistener. when steeped in the thick of a Conrad drone, suchacute awareness of the passate of time is very nearlyachieved - and I do sympathise with those listeners whosimply wish the music would just hurry up and end, forheaven's sake! So this part of the experiment might bedeemed a success.

The other fixation appears to be on tuning, a theory to whichhe has dedicated his life. Again, this one appears to be lessabout music and more about mathematics. He calls it a 'scale'

in inverted commas: it comes from pitch relationships derivedfrom the 2nd, 3rd, 7th, I lch and | 7th paruials in the harmonicseries.

Conrad explored the inner workings of tunings and harmonicfrequencies during his youth when practising the violin, andbecame passionate about generating long sustained tones andplaying the violin very slowly. His enthusiasm for this led himto ponder the matter, and at length he came to view thetraditional (ie as adopted within Western classical music)tuning of stringed instrumencs as deeply flawed. The actualphysical properties of a vibracing string, he observed, actually

tenerate a much wider range of harmonic intervals than areallowed for in the present restrictive system. Harry Partchbefore him found much the same, and built his own irregularinstruments to compensate for this inaccuracy; Glenn Brancaafter him found a way to adapt a similar principle to tuning hiselectric guitar orchestras. When you get into this kind ofarea, I start to think of acoustical physics and not just music;Conrad takes it even further and traces che root of thisdeviance from the truth back to Pythagoras. Indeed, aprevious Conrad release Slapping Pythagoras is intended as arebuke to this ancient Greek scholar, who is the firstrecorded to suggest the notion of dividing the length of avibrating string according to a mathematical principle. Therebuke is not, I think that using numbers is wrong but thatold Pythagoras didn't use enough of them. Accordingly,Conrad proposes a more elaborate system of integercalculations that demonstrate the validity of his theories.

Further disclosures into che mind of Conrad follow. Heemerges as intelligent and articulate, and also just a tadeccentric - in the nicest and best possible way. He builds agood case for what he believes, although some of his ideasmight be a bit far-flung, But then if you can't relate to thisform of idiosyncrasy, you're in the wrong place. Conradwould prefer it if we didn't all believe the same things - notfor him this 'Renaissance-man'view of the world. wnere weall have the same shared assumptions. This is clearlyperceivable in his dismayed tone when he speaks of theco-optation of minimal art by corporate sponsorship; in his

tt++ttt t rt+t tt +t + {t +tt++tttt

HOI.Y-++t{t{tt+tSTS

27

idealistic youth, he'd been devoted to dismantling high culture,picketing art galleries in New York, and was opposed to the'lmperialist influences of European High culture.'

Another story here is the sad tale of the Theatre of EternalMusic and the falling our between Conrad and La MonreYoung. lt's quite remarkable how much mileage there is inthis tale. which if it was about members of a rock bandrefusing to talk to each other would have merited but a singleheadline in Melody Makerin che 1970s. But don't forget,we're calking about fine artists here; Young is reputed todemand art-gallery scale fees for an appearance these days,not music-venue scale fees. From where we're sitting, young'sbehaviour cercainly seems totally unaccepable - he is tryingto take all the credit for inventing, composing and owning allthe copyright on music rhat was demonstrably produced by acollaborative effon, The only condition under which he,llrelease these tapes ro the surviving group members is if theysign an agreement rhat identifies him as the sole composerand owner of the works.

It isn't quite true that the tapes Young is hoarding away navenever been heard; there have been radio broadcasts of chemin the USA, and bootleg tapes of these are reported to exist.But Conrad's bitter frustrationruns deep; his rage finds waysof assigning motives to Young('arch-conservative,autocraric,..') that might noteven be there. In any case, it'llall be academic one day;Young needs money. is beingdrawn into a position wherehe has to make more oublicappearances, and the releaseof these recordings isprobably inevitable. I'mexpecting a disappointmentmyself; even Conrad warns usnot to hold our breath. 'lt wasindeed amateurish; ourrecordings, should anyoneever be able to hear them. areof poor qualiry, wirhoucrageously poor balance inthe mix...'

Conrad used to be afilmmaker in New York in the

The Sound Projector sifth issueThis music is highly potent stuff; given rhe rightcircumstances, even the idea of it existing at all can besomewhat unsetrling. Don't play it lare at night, whatever youdo.

ED PINSENT

Terry Riley, Poppy Nogood and the PhantomBand "AII ltight Elight'VoI IUS.f,,, organ of Corti 4 (1996)

Your chance to hear one of Terry Riley's famous all-nightconcerls, this CD is extracted from a oerformance at StateUniversity of New York in Buffalo from 1968 - a vintage year!Such a concert would have lasted from lOpm to 6am - acomplete document of one would require about g CDs.Luckily this is only one CD, and it's a digestible and ucterlyrefreshing spiritual shower-bath. The piece. whose full-blownwordsome subtitle seems to be Purple Modal Strobe Ecstasywith the Daughters of Destruction, is performed solo byTerry working with soprano saxophone, electronic organ, andhis unique Revox-based echo system called the 'Time-Lag

Accumufator'. There is of course a studio recording of PoppyNogood, issued on ColumbiaMasterworks in the USA andas part of the CBS Music ofOur Time series in the UK.which boasts of replicatingthe 'spatially separated mirorimages...Terry gets in hisall-night concerts'. Whateverthe technology, we areguaranteed beautiful cascadesof free-flowing modal runs onthe saxophone, dancingwithin the frameworkssuggested by his repeatedorgan riffs - which can flowinto a different key at theflick of a switch.

Writing from the haven of hisSri Moonshine Ranch, Rileymuses on the intendons anddevotional asoects of thissplendid work: 'POPPY

NOGOOD is abour WAVES,Waves in the Curved Air --

in the Ether, in the Pran Vayu---Celestial cloud waves, Wavesof Ecstaric Attunement to the Sound Current that ReverseEcho the demonic waves of Anxiety reverberating in theUnderworld'. Music with the power to dispel anxiety? Surelynot. Yet, to a troubled mind, it can be a balm; if this recorodoesn'r do it for you, I know one rhar will - Persian SurgeryDervishes, originally issued as a double LP on rhe FrenchShandar label, but now reissued on CD. lt costs more Enan abocle of Prozac, but you need no prescription. Thatparticular LP's Los Angeles session (from l97t) was producedby the West Coast aftist and film-maker Bruce Conner, whosupplied the wonderful lithograph arrwork R for this organof Corti CD, The inserL printed in black and white on goodquality art paper, unfolds into a double-sided print larger thanan LP sleeve. You can stare at the intricate Mandala shapeshere undl your mind is well and truly blown; as good as a stillfrom a James Whitney movie.

Terry Riley was one of those who threw in his spiritual lotwith Pandit Pran Nath, rhe Sufi singer who was also rhe guruand menror of La Monte Young; from this stems their

1960s and 1970s. His repuetion in this area has been secured6y The Flicken a conceptualist work made in 1965, andcomposed only of lengths of black and white leader,assembled according to an algorithmical pattern. Havingrecently experienced a screening of this astonishingprojection, I can testify it's as remorseless as the violindrones; just as soon as you think it can,t get any moreintense, it doubles the flicker-rate ro a yet more insufferablelevel. This, too. succeeds in making you aware of the passingof a single millisecond. And it generates hallucinatoryexperience: residual after-images, colours that are not there,patterns that couldn't possibly exist. The parallels with hisapproach to making music are, I think, not too far-fetched; heclaimed The Flickerwas something quite removed fromfilm-making as it had been understood up to that point. A fairclaim, too; it was more about the mechanics of projectionthan exposing film stock to make images. Conrad'sfilm-making background feeds into his live shows these days,where he always takes the stage with a tungsten light so hecan back-project his imposing silhouecte onto a shrouo.

28

The Sound Projector Sifth issuehighly-developed understanding of Eastern music, intertwinedwith the religion and philosophy that led to the evolution ofwhat I cal l their 'Holy Minimalism'. As Riley puts i t , 'For thefirst time in Western music, we experience the full-blownmetaphysical archetypes of the far East rhar infuse the highclassicism of Bali, Java, India and China, borne aloft on aseparate ray, a genuine new breath of devotion.' He couldhave been describing his own music, bur this is from the noteto The Well-Tuned Piano by Young. Pandit Pran Nathincidentally was himself recorded by Alan Douglas in 1968;Dougfas released an LP called Eanh Groove by the \y'oice ofCosmic India', and further archive tapes from the sessionssurfaced later as Ragas of Morning and Night on Gramavision.Pran Nath was brought over to meet the hippie crowd byone of Timothy Leary's henchmen, Richard Alperc (callinghimself Eaba Ram Dass at this time), and Riley and Youngnever looked back. Whereas although The Beatles cameunder the Maharishi's spell for a time in 1968, rhey soonfound out what a phoney he was. I think Leary was a slimyopportunisc glibly quoting Buddhist fragments mixed withdumb acid mantras to suit his own self-seeking purposes. Onehas to be a litde sceptical of a religion rhat you can apparentlyslip on and off as easily as a T-Shirt, but I guess you had to bethere. There's no denying the depths to Terry Riley's music,and as far as I can tell chere's no requirement that you sharethe same devotions as he to enjoy it.

Part of the 'Terry Riley Archive Conservation Project; anumber of releases are planned, but no issue dates have yetbeen sec The Project concentrates on Riley's personalarchive of tapes he made of his performances, for privarecirculation to friends like Robert Wyatt and Daevid Allen;also the rare Mass Art LP from 1966will be reissued.

ED PINSENTFrom organ of Corci N Box 6016,Point Dume, Malibu CA 90264, USA

Eliane Radigue, Trilogie deIa Mort3 xCDUS.f,,, Experirnental IntermediaFoundation XI I 19 (f 998)

A magnificent work. Beginning withone or three genrly oscillaring rones,spanning a mighty duration overthree hourlong CDs, and building upto an almighry revelation by thetertiary disc, with its suggestions ofgongs, chanting monks, bagpipes andthe heavens above opening before you. Drone work of thispure quality is rare; so perfect that it does not appear to havebeen made by human hands. it is more like a work of natureinstead. Think of spontaneous natural forms like snowflakes,the rings of a tree, the edges of clouds, coronas around thesun, imploding galaxies...extravagant claims for sure, but thismusic lives uD to them.

An essential listening experience, and to enjoy to its utmostall you need do is to clear space in your mind, removing allthe clutter. lf you find this impossible, let this music do it foryou. Very meditative. There is a detailed Buddhist textsupplied to chart the aruist's inrentions and inspirations, whichseem to slem from personal tragedy (the dearh of her son)and religious convictions in egual parts, Pan one is inspiredby the Tibetan Book of the Dead and is predicated on the sixbardos - the intermediate states of the essential continuiry ofbeing. Part Two maps out an imaginary journey to rhe rop

Mount Kailash, a sacred mountain in the Himalayas. Radiguehad to make this pilgrimage in her own head, because shelives in Paris. But it was intended as a memorial to the deathof her son Yves, and she made the voyage in spirit throughher music. Part Three is more metaphysical. 'an expressionof lhe transcendent power of Death in life, of life over death'.This one is linked to an actual crip to Nepal, where shewitnessed the ceremonial cremation of her Zen master. Onespin of this record and I remain convinced of the genuinenessof Radigue's pursuits, and I stress this because I feel TimothyLeary, with his half-baked reinterpretations of the TibetanBook of the Dead so prominently foisted upon the Hippies in1950s San Francisco, has probably done a disservice toBuddhism.

Parisian-born Eliane Radigue studied tapework techniqueswith two of the 'big guys' of electro-acoustic music. PierreShaffer and Pierre Henry, at RTF in France - and worked asHenry's assistant at Studio Apsome. Her devotion toBuddhism began in 1975, and most of her work has been partof a cycle based around the life of a particular medieval Zenmaster. Her religion and compassion seem to make her musicfar less aggressive than most experiments (chiefly by maleartists) in this area; and it's inspiring to see such a personaldimension in her creation. What a welcome break from theponderous ego of some artists who insist on the'monumentality' of their work as a substitute for personality.

Trilogie de la Montook about eight years to reach thisparticular manifestation of completion. Working with theoriginal analogue sounds, the CD was remixed digitally in astudio with the help of Luc Martinez at the CIRM studio in

Nice. This presented a few technicalproblems, because most of herwork was generated using fantasticold analogue equipment inparticular an original Buchlasynthesiser and, since the mid1970s, an ARP synth. Radigue useslots of very delicate sounds thatwhen played on one of these trustywave-form beasts, can simplydissipate into inaudibility in a verynatural way. Transferring the sameeffect to digital is, surprisingly,extremely difficult; a digital signal isan on-off thin6 the sound is eicherthere or not. On the other hand,she took it philosophically: 'There

are enormous advantages with thecontrol you have in digital mixin&and one can't be too concerned

about a few limitations of this sort'.

Premiered at a monaster/ in Nice in 1993 through hiddenloudspeakers, the first public performance of this workeffected that disembodied gualiry she's been striving for allher life - where you couldn't imagine where the music mighrbe coming from. Get a good pair of speakers yourself and rryplaying this at home: prepare for three hours of transcendentbeauty. Hearing is believing.

ED PINSENT

Look out for various other Radigue CDs devoted to Milarapaon rhe USA Lovely Music label: also Biogenesis. a mini-CD onthe French Metamkine label parc of the 'Cinema of the Ear'series.Address for Experimental lntermedia Foundation, 224 CentreSereet, New York NY 10013, USA

29

"ll,e€endaryroNltsrsterlouls,

Strange"oo"

CharlernagnePalestine

Interview by Ed PinsentH 3t 8t 3t 8t 3t 3t St 3t 3t ffi 3t 3t StYOU'RE GOING TO WEAR THAT NOTE OUT!'WASTHE BAFFLED REACTION of one visiting dear oldchurch-worker to St John the Evangelist Church on WaterlooRoad. Palestine had inserted wedges of paper in the keys ofthe church organ to keep those keys depressed for hiscontinuous drone work; our visiting friend simply couldn'tbelieve anyone would want to listen to one note for thatlong. Wearing out notes is my job!'was Palestine's enthusedcry of response.

Often associated with the 'big guys' of the 1960s New Yorkavant-garde music scene which later picked up the tag ofMinimalism, Charlemagne Palestine outlines in the interviewbelow his connections with them which were, apparently,somewhat more social than artistic. Philip Glass and SteveReich are major players now, Glass in particular having longsince abandoned his radical approach in favour of awishy-washy establishment baroque monumentalism, andmaking big bucks beside. Palestine was nurtured at artsfestivals in the 1970s, like those staged by Fabio Sargentini inRome. Sargentini was something every out-on-a-limb artistneeds, a patron who cares about supporting go-for-broke art.He was privately wealthy and used his income to stagefriendly avant-garde festivals; most of the audience weredrawn from his circle of personal friends, of which he hadhundreds; the venues had little in the way of good per{ormingfacilities, little more than garages with a power point. And, asPalestine remembers, nobody got paid. Instead, you couldstay at a fine hotel for the week of the festival, sign therestaurant bills, in short live well for ten days - and Fabiowould foot the bill. Here. there's a moral dimension topatronage - a responsible one at least - which Palestine deeplyregrets is missing from the gallery scene today, full of greedyspeculators keen to make their reputation and hunting afterthe next Basquiat. But the Sargentini arrangement cut bothways - Palestine would often remain in residence far longerthan the allotted week, testing how much freeloading thepatron would bear.

Palestine played publicly in London twice in 1998. The firsttime was in May at che London Musician's Collective annualfestival of experimental music, held at the South Bank. There,he played Strumming Musrc as a solo work on a Bosendor{ergrand piano, a sustained rhythmic drone produced by playing

31

The Sound Projector sifth issuejust two notes; the power and duration is such thatharmonics and overtones are generated from the otherstrings. The focus, simplicity and sheer transcendent beautyleft everybody breathless; the whole audience knew they'dwitnessed something nearly holy in its power. You simplydon't get this from playing his CDs - the presence of themusic is undeniable, and makes your apPearance at a livePalestine piece mandatory. A charismatic and genial fellowPalestine also demonstrated that night a brief glimpse of'Charleworld', the world of his own that he can share with

other people; the stuffed animals, scaryes, colourful clothing.Every bit of the performance was considered: he combinedmodern art installation techniques (position and presence ofthe piano, the red lighting) with his own personal rituals, ofcigar and cognac.

The second piece was at Paul Smith's Drifting Festival inSeptember, a per{ormance of Schlingenblangea which is acombination of tapework, live organ and strumming piano -

the first such performance of this work for over | 5 years.While the actual night went a bit off the rails due to theplayer's sheer exuberance - he thinks of himself as a 'sonic

troubadour' - in rehearsal it sounded like it was going to beabsolutely divine. The tape was a combination of an electronicdrone with a field recording of a Jamaican street festival madein Brooklyn; these two elements were made totallyindependent of each other, yet veqy coincidentally theirtonalities matched exacdy. As the noisy shouts, reggae musicand helicopters increased in overall volume, Palestine shoutedout approvingly that it was like 'total bedlam!'As it played,the organ would be wearing out its one note (actually amodal chord) while the troubadour danced, ran and shouteddeclaimingly about the nave. The night before the piece hehad remarked, somewhat melodramatically, 'the organ meansdeath! TheJamaicans mean life, and the organ means

Church Waterloo Road, under the organ lofq the sound herefers to is the organ ostinato.

3t 3t 3t 3t ffi 3r 3t 3t 3t 3t 3t ffi 3t 8tEP Why does the organ mean Death to youl

CP Well, it's the sound...it's in church...it's funny, I broughtthat up yesterday when I spoke about it and right now there'san organ tone playing and it doesn't sound so funereal. But inthe end, there's something about a church, it is a home to thedeath and resurrection of Christ. So already it is a kind of amausoleum in a sense to the Son of God, by the Christian

[faith]. As I was brought up in Jewish radition, and sang inthe synagogue when I was very youn& the organ is forbidden.The human voice is the only instrument permitted to sing toGod - for Jews. We're not permitted to have any image in

life and death. never resolved.'

our church, our synagogue, becausenothing is supposed to be incompecition with the greatness of God.We even wear a skullcap to mark thedivision between His heaven and ourearth, and then we live in a kind ofhumility because He's a very tough,rough dude! And He doesn't like it if weget too uppity! The Jewish God,

Jehovah, is really a tough rough dude,he's the Mafiosi, he's a Don Corleoni!He's a Marlon Brando, that's for sure.And so we gofta be veqy [careful], wehave to walk on eggshells with Him, sowe're not permitted to have anythingaround...since He himself is the unseenand the unknown, sometimes we seeHim as a bush...we're not evenoermitted to have a bush on fire in atraditional synagogue. There's noillustration permitted. He is - as He says. , I A M T H A T I A M ' .

l'd already played the carillon when lwas 16years old. thebells at St Thomas Church in New York Ciry. So I'm alwayssorta connectd with these - some say that bells are lheVoice of God. Of course again that's not permitted in

Judaism. Only GOD has his voice, and we can't have anythingelse that's the Voice of God. Like only God has His image, Heexists, He has no image, like I say even the burning bush isnot permitted, even though He himself has shown himself tous as a burning bush, we're not permitted to use it becausethat's what He uses for Himself. He's like an improviser! Helikes to come back each time with something else and Hedoesn't want to be pigeon-holed. He doesn't like us to takeone of his manifestations and iconify it forever.

So - we don't have this organ. The organ didn't come out ofanything of our tradition. And so for me when I began tooriginally play an organ in church...certainly l'd heard Bach; forme, very powerful was the music of Olivier Messiaen...but thewhole idea of this air.,.these sounds...it's funereal to me. it'ssomething....even when I ake it out on record I rarely lisren,at home when I put on the organ, most people say Youwanna put that on? lt's so depressing! So it's not just me whohas this concept, it does have this kindof depressing-ness, unless you happento be a specialist in the organ.

EP Did that make you afnid of playingthe organl

CP No, it made me attracted to it.Because in fact since my music touchesonto the sacred...l mean, what is thesacred? The sacred is...iconification of acertain kind, about prayer, meditation,but when are you in an act ofsacredness? When you're born, whenyou're maried, when you have initiationto the place of sacredness, and thenwhen you die. And this idea that HE -the Christ- resurrects in this place, thenthis instrument - and here in this churchwhere we are right now, is St John'sChurch Waterloo Road, it just sohappens that there's a painting of acrucifixion of Chrisc at one wall of thechurch, and directly behind it in thesame exact place, in the back of the

church - is the cluster of organ pipesthat are almost the same bulk. Andespecially like in this church - you seethe visual thin6 there's the image ofdeath and resurrection in this panel ofChrist - and then the sound which we'renow hearing behind is coming from thisforest of pipes that is the auralmanifestacion of the deatfi andresurrection. so that's why. Plus thesound itself. I mean it's not an idea forme. When I started one of my earliestinstruments as a kid was to play theaccordion. Now the accordion is a smallorgan, But the accordion is aTroubadour insrument. The accordionhas nothing to do at all with death - ithas only to do with life! With dancingwith singing, with parties. lt's funny.that's a reed instrument using air, but it'sall about life. But [the organ], this regalkind of dinosaur that tives these tones

in this mausoleum space to the honour of the martyrdom ofChrist and His resurrection, sounds and positions itself in thisnear-death and after-death level...and that's why for me itsymbolises death. Which atcracts me to it.

EP ln sorql to begin on a sombre note.

CP Oh no. I don't find death sombre. No, but...many of myfamily [are dead], my father is dead, my brother is dead. Manyof my cousins are dead. Many of my friends now are dead. Sol've had to make peace with death. And so for me too, myhonouring death by doing this piece. That sound that rightnow we're liscening to, it could last forever. When I firstdeveloped this piece I lived in the church, a week at a time. Inthe 60s. In fact that was an interesting way to sleep, cause thetones influenced your dream-state very much. I started thispiece around...one of the earliest pieces in my life was thisSchlingenblangen. lt didn't start with that name, which is anonsense name, it's kind of a joke, kind of making fun ofStockhausen's names, and Xenakis's names, that all had thesemeanings. And this was a Germanic-sounding term,Schlingenblangen, that means absolutely nothing! lt has no

[meaning],..but it's close to sounding like something thatcould sound very serious. Which it is,it's a very serious piece. But it's just anonsense language. And I first startedthat piece, because I started very younginvestigating oscillators, reading HermanHelmholtz, about the nature of tones -

combination tones, beating tones,overcones. And an organ - in factHelmholtz uses an organ for all hisinvestigations, In the book you alwayssee chese organ pipes that he used forall his l9th-century investigations on thenature of sound. So already that for me- it made it scientific; then when you putit into a church then it becomes ofcourse this context, this religiouscontext. And so it started very veryearly I was maybe already 15 or 17 yearsold when I began to break out of thekind of Stockhausen, Cage, Xenakismould that I had been educated in, andwas interested in, for a while, and eventried to emulate and mimic for a while.And then I began to become - | began to

The Sound Projector Sifth issue

32

The Sound Projector sifth issuereturn almost - to the drone tradition of the synagogue.Because in the synagogue you sing, I would sin6 with a choir,a male choir, maybe six people. And the Chzain - the singer,who's the singing rabbi, he sings sometimes like in somespecial holidays like Yom Kippur, the grand pardon which willcome up just next week, which is the Day of Atonement. lt'sour confessional day, it's our paying-back for all of our sinsday. We don't eat. And when you sing in the synagogue onthat day you sing for five or six hours non-stop, you don'teaE you don't stop, you just sing. And you sing basically onone chord. Or one series of chords. You sing this chant andprayer to cleanse yourself, to ask forgiveness from the BigEnchilada.

I had never been that kind ofmathematical scientist, l'm notGerman, l'm not a Greekarchitect, I mean you knowXenakis was an architect,Stockhausen was a very preciseGermanic composer. Cage { 3lsewas kind of a Merhodisr aProtestant tradition of freedom -which. though it was free - being aRussian Jew I always found histradition somehow constrictive,which is strange. Because so manypeople found great liberadon inthe philosophy of Cage. And theceremony - while I appreciated i!I always found it very constricdve. And at a certain goinr inour relationship...because Cage, when I was first starting up,and I firsr was ro do my early piano works on theB6sendorfer, in the early 70s, all of a sudden one day -because I used to do it in my studio, my own studio in Soho(at that time Soho was sona like an abandoned area). And Ihad a red and gold studio. Already ir was like some kindaiconic Russian church that I'd invented. And all of a sudden -in pops John Cage, and he started to become a regular to allof my concerts in that period. To the point where one day hefinally asked me if I wouldn'r do a work specially for MerceCunningham. And when I did it I found myself . he wanted meto play the piano - and I thought Well the work I do is verybeautiful but it's not so confrontative all the time.' Though itwas very new at the time. And so I chose something muchmore confrontative. much more avant-garde, much morewhat I would call my way of [demonstrating] that in effectanything is possible, which is what the original Cage conceptwas. And the thing I did was very conrroversial, and JohnCage came over to me in front of people to say:'Charlemagne - | think you shouldn't have done this!,And Iwas very proud in a certain way because I had gotten [thetruth]. I was sure that his - what's the word? - he was veryliberal, he was very permissive - Ah! - that his permissivenesshad very strict limits. And as a Russian Jew, with a kind of anaughty streak. I tested those limits - and I found it was Erue.

So I was searching for something else. Something that wasmaybe more ancient, and certainly somerhing ritualistic, thatcame from a ritual that existed, and was sacred. The idea thateven this sound right now as it exists [is sacred] ...thoughpeople say, I mean La Monte Young claims to re-invent thedrone let's say, because the drone has existed for thousanosof years. But La Monte Young in the 50s listens ro arefrigerator, and the compressor under a refrigerator has a60-cycle hum, and he in rhe Fluxus tradition claims that soundas HlS. And claims then he is the modern father of the drone.Well, as I propose you rhat thing you decide for yourself! lfthere's accordions, and bagpipes, and all kinds of ancient

instruments that at least in Europe go back to the 2nd, 3rdand 5th century; and India and places like that, and the sho

[mouth organ] in China that go back even two thousandyears. So we're talking about this idea of this continuous toneis thousands of years old, and comes from maybe tendifferent traditions all over the world. So then La MonreYoung listens to a refrigerator, stoned out of his mind, anddecides that perhaps he's now the new Messiah of the Drone.And I don't say this with humour or with sarcasm, ir's justwhat he claims. And then he claims that people like me cameafter - so I came after the refrigerator! Cerainly I came afterancient China and India and then I came several years afterthe refrigerator, that's true, the refrigerator was born before

me!

Actually my first musics, alsoelectronic [music], sounded a littlebit like space travel. They weremore like these sort of

[swoooowwhhh noises]. Like akind of white noise, but a whitenoise that goes on a long time andhas a little tone in it, and it soundslike you'd be in some kinda spacecapsule going off into some kindof a srange, planetary [journey].And those are some of my firsttape pieces. And from rhat rheybegin to get thinner and thinnerand I discover Helmhole.

So I come from this kind of ambiguity, because I am Jewishalthough never of course an Orthodox one, though I sang inOrthodox tradition, this early tradition ...and rhen I becomevery connectd ro rhe Catholic Church, or the ProresanrChurch, I mean Christianity. And for me the Church is...lmean theyrre my cousins as Jesus was a rabbi, he just inventeda new system. So that somehow is related to my musicsomewhere, Although my music has never been religious -RELfGfOUS - it has been sacred. ln fact ofren churches didn'twant to play my music because they thought it was very..,theydidn't like the sound. I would dress in a weird way, and it's allvery strante, And the people who'd come, rhe avant-gardeintellectuals, the Communists, and the weirdos...but in fact itis [religious], I mean as l'm here today, we're in a Church,we're doing this festival at evening in rhe Church. The musicis perfect for this space! lt's MADE for a church! My music ismade for a church!

EP Therei a real strong sense af ceremony attached to eachpetlormance you do, is chat right/ The personal things youhave to do in preparing yourself..

CP Well in that sense I have invented - my music or mywork is not religious, but it's sacred - I decided to invent areligion, that had no pafticular dogma, no parlicular point ofview, except its riruality, So I would do rituals to notnecessarily anything at all! | mean I began with my stuffedchildren's animals, and my scaryes, and my cognacs, mycigaretces, my funny underwears of weird colours, and myHawaiian shirts, and my weird hats. These became theaccoutrements, rhe garb of my religion that has no dogma,that has no reason to be, it just exists. And I present it with agreat fervour, like a zealol So I think there's something funnyin that it's a total nonsense position, but I present it with thezealotry of rhe most fiery John the Baptist!

EP Would it be fair to say you're making a comeback aftersome time, nowl

CP I don't know, you'd have to ask other people. I've alwaysbeen around. Until I die, I will still be around! And if

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The Sound Projector Sifth issueresurrection does exisg then maybe l'll come back. But l'malways around. And so it's just a question of when I'm giventhe opporcuniry to do something I can do it.

EP What's been happening in the last 15 years, say? Whathave you been doingl

CP I left performing. I didn't perform until two and half yearsago, I started again. I was doing sculpture, my stuffed animalsculpture, my epic teddy bears, and my altars, and my workslike that. And I did no music whatsoever. In fact when meword music was said, I got into a tantrum. lf anybodyremembered me as a musician - | got into a tantrum. lfanyone asked me what was going on with my music I wentinto a tantrum. And then gradually - there were severalpeople - Roland Spekle from Barooni records; the womannow he's living with, the sculpror Lorenza Pellegrini; theycalmed me down and convinced me thar I had somethingimportant to say in sound, and that I should again attempt toenter the scene. I had felt very abandoned in the late 70s,when the kind of yuppie marerialist painting-sculpture arrmarket became very stron& speculation etcetera - | felt reallykind of abandoned, and when some of my colleagues - PhilGlass, Steve Reich, Laurie Anderson. Terry Riley ...well TerryRiley less, Terry Riley also sort of disappeared for a while.But these people they all sorta made what Tom Johnsoncoined as'Minimalism' in1977, which until rhen hadonly been a name used forpainting and sculpture. lr wasnot a term about music. Weused to call it'Trance Music'- Trance was the termbefore it, there wasn't reallya term, I think he was rightto, it's not a bad word. lt just didn't exist in those days, wedidnt call it that unril he did.

EP How far did you align yourself with these other guysl

CP Not so much. I shared a studio with Phil Glass for twoyears. I met Tony Conrad even earlier. One day l'm playingthe bells, about 1968. lplayed the bells nexrto the Museumof Modern Art on 53rd Street and Fifch Avenue and all of asudden I had to play up in a tower where you had to go up aspiral staircase. I clang and I hear some noise, somebody'syelling Wow! That's incredible! Wow! Who is that?'And it'sthis guy who's like pracdcally foaming at rhe mourh and irturns ou! to be this guy named Tony Conrad, who lived norso far away who passed by, had heard these bells that I playedevery day for five years, and which half the pieces I playedwere hymns because I had to for the church, and half werethe work that became a Soap Opera of daily segments. lrbecame several thousand daily segmen6, where Iexperimented with tones and invented a kind of language, thatwas to become my strumming kind of language. And he cameup and he told me that he had been playing Russian bells inHarvard, that he was a film-maker. And he invited me to hishouse. He and his wife were working on a film of which rhemusic was - since he had worked with him - La Monte YoungTerry Riley, Angus |laclise John Cale, TerryJennings - therewas a whole group. that were a whole part of The VelvetUnderground. And so he wanted me to play bells. And that'swhere I met Warhol, The Velver Underground, the NewYork avant-garde. This was in 1967 or 1968. I did ir becausehe had heard me play the bells and he came up into thetower!

Phil Glass I dont meet until guire a few years later, in Rome,we were at a festival of Fabio Sargentini where chere wasSteve Reich, Phil Glass, La Monte Youn6 Terry Riley, paricia

"lf anyone asked mewhat was going on withmy music I went into atantrum."

Brown, Lucinda Childs, And after we sp€nt a week togetherin Rome. Phil and | - | was just changing - | had been living forthree years in California, Assistant Professor at Cal Arts, AndI had been working with Don Buchla and Serge Tcherepnin,who would make the Serge Synthesiser. They were workingon a drone machine for me, in which there was manyoscillators and filters. so I could do my sonoriries. So then Icame back to live in New York through a woman namedAlana Heiss who ran the Clock Tower and PS-One and chingslike that. She would find places not expensive for arrists andshe decided that Phil and I would make a good team living

[together] - having studios - because Phil only needed astudio for his group three or four times a week for severalhours, but they had equipment that was very expensive. Andthe spaces where we were permitted to work were notinsured because they were like squatter, almost - | mean youhad to pay but they weren'r really official spaces, that's whythey were so cheap, they were run by the City who wasn'tsure yet what they were gonna do with them. And so I wouldalways live in these spaces, Soon after B6sendorfer gave me apiano so I had a Bcjsendorfer. I was sort of like the priest ofthe space, and then Michael Eastman, Kurtman Casey, Philand his whole group, in those days it was Jon Gibson, DickieLandrey. There was a whole group of them. They would

come every few days aweek and practice and wedid chat for over cwoyears, We had about threedifferent spaces. So I hadcontact with him. forexample,

La Monte - in the late 60s Imeet a guy named Baba

Ram Dass, who's actually Richard Alperg'r"ho was rheassistant with Timothy Leary for finding mind-expanding drugsin Colombia. He becomes a Guru in the late 60s. and hebrings over from India this very magical Sufilike singer calledPandit Pran Nath. And I meet this Pandit Pran Nath and sinceI came from synagotue singing, immediately he wants me tobe his disciple. I start to sing with him; he wants me ro giveup my life for him; I can't. A year larer, Terry Riley and LaMonte Young hear him; they also are a$ractd to him; healso asks them to give up their lives for him; they do give uptheir lives for him! And then they spend twenty years as hisdisciples until he died, just last year.

So my connection to each of them starts...Tony starts in themiddle to late 60s by the bells; Phil Glass we shared rhestudio, and La Monte and Terry by Pandit Pran Nath; andSteve Reich also in Rome, rhe same time as Phil Glass, hemarries one of my best friends, a video arcisr Beryl Koror;and it turns out that my best friend becomes one of his bestfriends, Ingram Marshall the composer, So then I have a familyconnecdon! | even gave the first Teddy bear to Beryl andSteve's son Jezrah when he's born. And chey convert to

Judaism - Orthodox Judaism, because she's a full Jew, he washalf-Jewish. They become very Orthodox - | become son ofan uncle of the house, because even rhough I'm the infidel Iactuafly had a traditional Jewish baclground. So that's how Iconnect with all those, ler's say rhe 'players' of that school,

But wich each of them, I'm always considered sort of the'weird one', l'm not very reliable, I'm an alcoholic, I like to beout in the streets, l'm kind of unpredictable, I'm kind ofdisruptive, l'm me! So as l'm a member of this group, l'malways sort of considered the - now when people say, thesort of 'legendary, mysterious, strange, CharlemagnePalestine'. Because I've never been terribly - l'm moreconsidered like a nomad.

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The Sound Projector sifth issueEP With Tony Conrad and La Monte Young, l've noticedthey have a lot of conceptual bagage I think - they write anawful lot of words, explaining their theories.

CP Well - it's very funny - because when you just said that, Ithought of the one piece of La Monte's that I think is themost powerful piece I ever heardhim do - is chat he was singing acowboy song because La Montewas brought up as a Mormon inUtah. There is a song that I heardhim sing - a cowboy song. ['Buryme not on the lone prairie' - EPIAnd that's his roots! Tony Conradwas kind of like...one of thesescience nerds! So theirrelationship to the drone I think issecondary, meaning it wasn't theiroriginal background. lt's somethingthat they acquired. So that's why,all this baggage! | really was veryfazy. I was born in the drone! So Ijust redefined it - but I didn't reallyhave to say anything. lt was already in my life. That's whythere's very litde I had to say, I just do ic

EP You've also spoken I think ofthe spontaneous, unplannedpotentialt/ bacred space of Minimalism'.

CP I don't know - in fact Minimalism didn't offer me that - |Dut it into Minimalism. lt wasn't like that because minimalismis much more rigid. So that's my contribution, because it wasanother one of these haughty positions. Spontaneity...yes, butthis goes back to what I was just saying. Stockhausendeveloped a language Xenakis developed a language. Cage...They were not born in that language. lt was something theydeveloped like after school. I on the contrary - all I do, lazybastard as I always have been, I started in the synagogue,where there were drones. Then I went to school where I sawall this stuff and I tried to emulate it and I couldn't do it verywell. And I went back to the lazy drone of my childhood andmade that my work. lt's really that l'm thelaziest of them all! But I'm also thenatural-est of them all, you see, because Ididn't have to invent from scratch anentire system - | just went back to asystem that already existed, and used it ina new way. l'm the laziest gu/ that youcould imagine!

EP You say lazy, but I would say aboutthe piece you're doing today - not fust thesimplicity of it, but the work that springsto mind is efticiency! lt seems the mostefticient and simple way to organise apiece of worl<, and on guite a monumentalscale...

CP The present - for me - is the onlyreal realicy. I was recently at a symposiumin Amsterdam just now about notation.They asked me what had been my history,my dealing with notation. I said, early onin my life I said Notation Yes, NotationNo. And then I tried notation, and I beganto feel that notation got in the way of the presenx Even whenyou're reading somethin& you can't have all of your sensesexperiencing something, I mean you don't see animals readingto figure out how to st:rlk another animal! They do it byinstinct. So as I say, my laziness is, that I just took myinstincts and I created a language, verT precise perhaps, very

diverse, and since I do it and they're my instincts, I don't haveto read something that shows me how to do it. I am the livingincarnation of my work!

And that's [*hy] - in these times, when people, in theavant-garde contemporary music scene especially, are so

didactic and dry, and full of thisobsession with writings - mymusic seems incredibly visceraland direct, because it is! | play likea rock musician! There's no music,there's just me and you - you meand us. ln this kind of minimalismthat becomes something ver/direct.

E? Have you ever made anycompositions, written thingsdown/

CP Oh yes. I have written thingsdown because people have playedmy music. But my style ofnotation is also something very - a

lictle bit like they do in Africa, or in India - is that, it's a kindof a simple series of explanations, so you remember what todo and when to do it, and then you dont use it when youactually play. You memorize that - and then you play totally inan oral tradition. So the notation is merely a way ofremembering the rules, until you memorize them, and thenyou play them without. So it's the most simplistic and directkind of notation that could possibly be, because in the endwhat I would demand is that you play from your instincawithout any thought of the idea, That you just basically closeyour eyes - and play the piece. And listen as with your eyesclosed. So how can you play with your eyes closed if youhave to read it? And that is like an Indian music. When peopleare learning raga, they don't have a score in front of them.Raga is a very precise tradition, but it has lot of spontaneity init, a kind of improvisation tradition - like jazz. At ics besg jazzalso has no notation, yet the tunes that you play are tunes

that you memorise and each time whenyou first play the tune, you play it exactlyor nearly exactly and then later with eachvariation it becomes something else. So Icome out of something like that!

EP lt's ironic that (in this country atleast) a student came here to play one ofyour pieces before you yourself came.

CP Twenty-one years before! ElizabethFreeman played at The Purcell Room, myStrumming Music for Harpsichord, |.977,and it took until 1998 for me to playStrumming Music for Piano which was theoriginal strumming music - in the PurcellRoom - the same Purcell Room.

E? How about making recordsl Are youdisappointed with the process ofrecording/ lt's so important to see it live,you have to be there...

CP Certainly l'm disappointed. Yes, andalso the music I play is so incredibly

three-dimensional. lt fills a space, and it's hard for a CD to fillthat kind of space at home. You don't know where it's gonnabe, where somebody's playing it, if it's in headphones. if it's intheir car or wherever. So my music was always veryproblematic as discs, which also creatd one of the problemsof why I never became perhaps more known and accessible,

35

because records wasone of the most

flucrative?]. PhilGlass, Steve Reich.LaurieAnderson...they liveoff of their records.

EP A lot of peopleforget aboutan)/thing religious inevetyday life. Musichas become separated, it doesn't connect to anyone'spersonal sense of religion. ls that something you're trying toput back in the system/

CP No, it's just my thing. No, I have absolutely nomachiavellian desire to help the system...no. Ceruinly it's truethat there are people who have seen what I do, and it affectsthem. I mean it's normal when people do something but Ihave no intention of..,l don't see myself as that kind ofteacher,..l see myself as a kind of...

EP You said today you were a priest of music, a priest of thestreet...

CP But I'm also a schmuck. I'm a priest and a schmuck!That's kind of a sweet way of saying l'm an idiot. So I'm theschmuck-priest of music! And that's OK for me,

EP ls your music more a personal guestl

CP Well I dont think so because whenever anyoneexperiences it, it's not private. l've been to many concertswhere the player of the music never even looks at theaudience, and they do something which they could just as wellbe doing at home, and there's no real transference of them toyou. My work is totally - when I am there - I give, everysecond of my work, I am emitting to my audience. I'm anymphomaniac in that sense! | am constandy having somekind of audio or physical sexuality with my audience! l'maroused, and l'm trying to arouse. So quite the contrary. ltcomes from me, so that's personal. When I do it in public, it'sintended. lt's useless for me. That's an interesting point withlike, for example, La Monte Young. I think he sees his musicas something that can exist whether people are there or not.That's not my case. For me it's a social [event], it is acommunion. lt's a communal form. And I only do my bescwhen I have people - there was someone here in the pressyesterday and he called me 'The Sonic Troubadour'. And it istrue. I am like a troubadour. I need to sing my song to theworld, once I do it.

EP What is Charleworld/

CP lt was Roland Soekle from Barooni who sort of - oncewe were having an interview and we were talking about like,what is this religion, this sacred world that I've created, so Isaid well I couldn't chink of a name, so I said it's not anphingit's a like a Charleworld! But it means these rituals, cheseanimals, these scarves, these traditions, the cognacs, thecigarettes, the singings, the dancings, the shoutings, thesounds, the whole ritualistic presentation of my work and itsaccoutrements, the objects around me and the clothes, that's- Charleworld.

EP Would you sal that, in the West, we've become kind ofseparated from the w4/ that music can plug into cukuregenenlly.

CP Absolutely. That kind of ribal...you go to Bali and you goto India, the aborigines, the Native Americans, I mean [there]it's an integral part of life.

EP Does this [sepantionJ trouble youl

CP lt more thantroubled me, I foundit intolerable. So Iinvented my owntribe. 'cause I lovedtribes and I wasreally sad to be in aWest that was soribe-less. So Iinvented my ownlittle tribe.

EP But what you're saying is it's not conditional, we donthave to subscribe to any dogma.

CP Well, if a person is idiot enough to believe people,because they tell you to do it - well chen they'rethe realschmucks! Certainly, it has given me a great deal of comfort,and I think there is a lesson there. but it's not me whoinvented this lesson. Tribes invented the lesson! l'm just

mimicking again, things that existed for thousands of yearslike l've been doing ...all my work imitates. La Monte Youngperhaps thinks he invented Minimalism; I think civilisationinvented Minimalism. And I am a student of that. Theyinvented the drone, they invented tribalism, they inventedperfecting things in meditation, there are all kinds oftraditions that came, who knows who was the first?

EP Do you chink your father would understand what you'redoing nowl

CP Not at all, not at all. But that's not true, because - | hadno relationship with my father, except that when I used tosing in the synagogue, he would be about ten rows behind,and I would notice that as I was singing he would bemouthing the words to my songs. And that's the onlyrelationship I ever had with my father. When I was actuallyaround next to him, he was a very introspective, depressedman...he found me too kinetic and hyper, and he couldn'tstand to be around me, not any regular. But when I was inthe synagogue, singing, he would be ten rows behind orfurther - never close - and l'd see him...mouthing the wordsto the songs that I sang. He always loved my singing. So thatpart he would have understood, I think.

EP ls your hmily very important to you/

CP Well I don't have a family. I think I miss it. I think that'swhy this whole tribalism came about for me. lt was a kind ofreconstruction of something that I don't have. I think I feelvery - it's something that still gives me a lot of sadness andgrief is that I never really have a family. The picture on thepiano, that's my brother who commicted suicide, That's myfather's grave [in the picture of CP next to a gravestone]. Iwas doing a whole series of photographic pictures; that placewhere l'm standing in that particular photograph is where if Iwant, I will have my grave. lt's my space, next to my father. Iwent back to the cemeterl of my family with my stuffedanimals - with Charleworld! | took Charleworld to chePalestines' cemetery, to have a kind of interaction. l'll go backagain, and it's a place I like to go. I like cemeteries, as I likeorgans. lt's my peace with death.

8t $t 3t 3t $t 8t 3t 3t 3t 3t st 3t 3t 3t

The Sound Projector Sifth issue

"La Monte Young perhapsthinks he invented Minimalism;I think civilisation inventedMinimalism."

36

The Sound Projector Sifth issueEdgardo Canton,fuomenade d'6td d'IIIisAlasaItaly, Neplees CO 981 2004(res8)Electro-acoustic music by thisArgentinean composer, threepieces from the 1960s and onefrom l9&4, realised at the Groupde Recherces Musicales in Paris,Recommended to the max; ifyou've been afraid of the darkforeboding world of musique concrdte and tapework, thisshould be the record that will change your mind. lt's simplysome of the most beautiful music l've ever heard. lt is also -particularly the long NASA title track - enremelyapproachable and listenable. This gorgeous 43 minute'Promenade', music for a moonwalk or extra-vehicular activiwout in space, moves with the grace of a weightless astronautand will enable you to enter lhat state too. lt is blissful, musicof the heavens. By accident it hints at some things that BrianEno. Michael Nyman and Steve Reich have been trying to do;but I only say this to give you some kind of purchase on whatyou're about to enjoy. This is utterly original. compellingmuslc.

The earlier works are 'Animal Animal'from 1962, Voixinouies'from 1965, and'Une espece de serpent ' from 1969.All of these inspire the most poignant nostalgic emorions inthis listener, so personal that it's something impossible toaccount for (and impossible to share); I only wish that themusic will induce something similar for you, dear reader. The1969 work is fashioned from recordings of bird-song.Canton's lransformation of these sounds. in the classicmusique concr€te scyle, does not brutalise or mangie them.emptying the meaning or life out of birdsong. Rather, ir's intotal sympathy with the animals, celebrating and enrichingtheir natural forms, with complete respect for the totalenvironment and our place within it. Without quesdon thisglobal respect is part of Canton's philosophy. extending tothe final lrack's universal statement on the Dlanet.

Canton began his musical life as a violin player, studyingclassical music at Rosario. In 1959 he wen! to Paris, after asuccessful stint at the University in Buenos Aires in themid-1950s, and linked up with Pierre Schaeffer's GRM. Invitedto become a permanent member of chat bunch, heparticipated in their gang until 1965. From this period comes'Animal Animal'; Canton produced it by playing a hunk of tinwith his violin bow, and processing the resultant sounds.Although that approach may seem pretty familiar to youpost-Test Dept listeners, remember that to theclassically-educated Canton it was somelhing of a shock tofind he could reveal these concealed noises from a lump ofmetal. In contrast to his traditional violin studies, ourgentlemanly friend considered this sort of activity pretrybrutal, hence the animalistic tide.

Two other pieces would emerge during his GRM tenure, afterwhich he continued to comDose and realise electro-acousticworks independent of his French counrerparts. Between 1965and 1973 six more pieces were composed, and a series oftheatrical collaborations took place - all this in between hisday job at the UNESCO archives section. The final piece herewas inspired by seeing some slides of space exploracionissued by NASA. which were later presented as anaudio-visual inscallation with a longer version of this deeplyhaunting music supplied as soundtrack, 'An invitation totravel' is how it's described. but to where?

Canton states his case in a sleevenote written last year, animaginary letter to Stendahl. He has embraced modern

"[andJ contemporary composers-9glack Death anil Errors in Construction -19Animat - Animal VSoup of the Evening tP

Poly Poly {jtwnat is Music Made OttTl +'!

technology as a way to make better music:'these means offered the possibility to enlargethe bases on which the musical matter could bearticulated'. However, he noticed a tendencyamongst many modern composers to resist suchthings as 'simple harmonic or contrapuntalpatterns which could be relaxing to the ear';their tendency being towards che notion that tomake music of any value, it had to be extremelycomplicated, Hence so much 20th century musiccontains this enormous conceptual element,virtually impenetrable to many in the audience,which is in danger of rendering itincomprehensible and unlistenable except to asmall elite. The fear of being simple has indeedmarred the work of many a good artist; not justin music, but in modern visual arc also. Canton -

a humble man, perhaps - is not afraid of beingsimple, or of being understood. This might justbe what makes his music so achingly beaudful. Ihave rarely been so moved as when l'm listeningto this.

ED PINSENTFrom Nepless, CP l59Z 20101, Milan, ltaly

37

Tim Hodgkinson, PragnnaReR Recom,rnended, ReR THI (1998)

Disturbing fierce modernist compositions from TimHodgkinson here. I think even if you knew nothing about Tim,you'd pick up just by playing this CD that here's a man whothinks the world has a lot of problems. He conveys this sosuccessfully in musical terms that even after one listen toPngma you too will start feeling there's somerhing palpablywrong with modern life. Which isn't to say that this music isnecessarily depressing or gloomy, but it inculcates that seedof dissatisfaction that may one day flower into full-blownrevolution in the minds of the audience. Pragma doesn'tdirectly offer any solution to your difficulties, bur it sure ashell puts them into pretry sharp relief.

Hodgkinson has longtime set forth political musicalstatements and worked in projects that have a criticaldimension. Founder member of Henry Cow with drummerChris Cuder. which in the mid 1970s linked uo withlike-minded spirited revolutionary musicians across Europe totake the world by storm with Rock In Opposition. Later, Timwould play a screechingly harsh Hawaiian guitar in a bandcalled The Work, who released a blisteringly fine single calledI Hate America (Woof Records 002) in 198 | .

Both Henry Cow and The Work used song lyrics, striving fora text it would be impossible to misunderstand (as RobertWyatt did with his Old Rottenhat LP); it was possible to pickup the anti-Capitalism sentiments that Hodgkinson wished tovouchsafe unto us. At least a lyric like 'l Hate America'conveys more a personal statement of disgust and is lesspreachy than the wordy 'Living in the Heart of the Beast' -which assumes the listener already agrees with the singerbefore he's even finished the argument. As my ownpreference is usually for the oblique approach toproblem-solving, I prefer Pngma's non-specificity - as I alsofavour an earlier (mostly) instrumental CD by the Timstercalled Each in Our Own Thoughts (WOOF 016 / MEGA 014),even if that release was positively sooching compared to thepresent work under discussion. Musically, Pragma has beencrafted from a mixture of composition and improvisation,eleccric and acoustic instruments, real-time playing andsampling demonstrating the man's versatility and economy of

38

The Sound Projector sifth issueapproach that burlds on al l aspects of hrs r ich understanding of20th century music. Even electing to go for this difficult atonalsound is, in his book, a political statement of sorts - in acountry where cultural yahoos in the daily papers are urgingmodern composers to return to modality, harmony andmelody. And at a t ime when so much electronic music-makrngequipment is available on the high street to anybutton-pushing young ninnyhammer, Hodgkinson is resolutelycraftsmanlike in his arrangement of sounds: 'What you hear inthe end are traces of countless decisions about the Doint inmusical space at which a particular sound or sound-groupbecomes determrnate enough to resonate with the structureof the space but not so determinate as to foreclose otherlater twists'. Suck on that, Squarepusher! (Just kidding).

He recently met with the great lancu Dumitrescu, and theyeven made music together; Dumitrescu conducted aperformance (not this one) of che epic piece that's the lasttrack here, and whose title alone, 'Black Deach and Errors inConstruction' I think articulates what l've been grasping for inthese paragraphs.

ED PINSENT

Arne Nordheim, EIecEicRune Gramrnofon RCD 2002 (1998)

The combination of elements in this package may seem a limleoff-puaing - Nordheim is Hungarian, this is electroacousticmusic which most people refer to as 'important', and one ofche tracks is effectively a sound-diary of Warsaw. This mayconjure up visions of political oppression, even if you've onlyseen the cinema from this period - the music was recorded in196f'-1970 - and it's lrue there was a certain strictnessassociated with the authoritarian control behind the lronCurtain, leading to ics art and culture remaining a trifle.,.erm,underdeveloped would be the kindest way of putting it.However, Nordheim managed to struggle through, partlythrough intersecting with the somewhat more vibrant Polishmusic scene at the time - it was flinging out visionarycomposers Penderecki, Lutoslawski and fellow HungarianLigeti, like a grindstone throws off sparks. The WarsawAutumn music festival in Poland brought an openness to thecreative arts hitherto unknown. Bv 1970 Nordheim had

The Sound Projector sifth issuesecured a commission at the World's Fair ScandinavianPavilion, where his 'PolyPoly'tape loop piece was installed.

Mostly working with tape, Nordheim is one of manyinfluenced by the French school GRM under the auspices ofthat genius theoretician and solver of many a three-pipemystery, Pierre Schaeffer. Arne Nordheim works also withacoustic instruments and electronics. however. and in hiscompositions he never loses contact with the human voice -

an element running like a golden thread throughout all ofthese pieces, whether it's a children's song or a series ofvoices reading out the Declaration of Human Rights. These,and other documentary field recording sources, contribute awarmth to pieces that might otherwise appear a bit cold onfirst audition. He was also heavily into loops, delay echo, 3ndextensive use of the ring modulator. Despite being steeped inexploring this technology, he's considered to be not too faraway from the Romancic school of composition, and peoplewith more develooed musical sensibilities than mine canallegedly hear traces of Mahler and Bruckner.

1968's 'Colorazione' is a real tour de force, a performancerather than a studio work and it involved extensive livereprocessing of a Hammond organ with a small ensemble andpercussion unit. Their live phrases would be fed back to themas delayed timbral specres by Nordheim using his 'musical

time machines', making a concertd effon to extend thetimbral range of the phrases he selected and thereby turnback the hands of time itself.

All in all a fine CD of excellent near-classic work in the 1960selectronic and tape-work genre. lssued in a handsome orangeand black triple digi-pak with booklet, and remastered fromextremely rare vinyl record[s] originally issued in 1974, whichyou'll never see in a lifetime of searching; l'd snap this upsoon as you can if you're interested.

ED PINSENT

Pauline Oliveros, Alien Bog / Beautiful SoapUSA, Pogug Productions P 21012-2 (1992)

From the great Pauline Oliveros comes another fascinatingslice of 1960s electronic experimentadon. Of the two suires,the second is not without some attendanr listening difficulties.'Beautiful Soup'was recorded in lg66 but not issued; it turnsout to be snatches of Lewis Carroll nonsense verse. takenfrom both the Alice books and his lesser-known fairy epic,Sylvie and Bruno. These are read in a preposterous accent bysome gink who clearly is not English. so there's more than ahint of Mary Poppins about it. These readings are trearedwith various computer-tripped echo delays and overlays,occasionally blending in with other burrs and buzzy noises toform a sludgy electronic murk. Fragmenting Carroll's verselike this does his poetry no favours, nor does it create a new,better nonsense out of the old: a visual eouivalent would beto use John Tenniel engravings collaged inro disjunctivesettings, which is pretry much what some Hippie poster artfrom this period was doing anyhow. Although Carroll becamemore of an emblem for fluffy English psychedelia, hetransplanted to che USA too; taking Grace Slick's \ly'hiteRabbit' lyric as a text, Timothy Leary (inevitably) claimed thatthe hookah-smoking caterpillar and the mushroom rhat madeyou larger or smaller were clearly drug-taking references(yawn!), a misapprehension that persists to rhis day.'Alien Bog' however is more successful, boasting many animpressive splash of colourful and inventive sound-painting. ltwas realised in Oakland, California ar The Tape Music Centreof Mills College (now called the Centre for Contemporary

Music), utilising electronic equipment built by Donald Buchlaand Oliveros' own tape-delay system. Many of the shortepisodes are looped repeatedly, generating their weird pulsesinsistently until it almost suggests a species of rhythm; thenfurther layers accrue. At all times the 'alien bog'theme isheavily delineated, causing the listener to see visions of blueswamps inhabited by gigantic insects and slimy worms ofunsettling dimensions. This very looping method can tend tofrustrate the piece's dynamic developmenc so that eventuallyit becomes literally bogged down in its own layers. Unable tolurch onto solid ground, the piece simply fades out. I havepreferred it when Oliveros gives the listener wings for somenameless cosmic flight. Still, how absurd to carp when wehave the chance to hear and enjoy this rare music. Oliveros isan important figure and continues her research into deeplyspiritual lines of investigation to this day. Her work is finallybeing made more available and given the attention it deserves.This is a'comoanion'CD to Clive Graham's excel lentParadigm issue which surfaced at about the same time.

ED PINSENTPogus Productions, PO Box 150022, Van Brunt Starion,Brooklyn, NY ll215-0022, USA

Vwhat is MusicMade Of ???V

Electropleinair sound diary, The Wind RisesReR Recomrnended, SDI (1998)

Reissue of a Hungarian LP from 1987, music composed bylsw6n Mdrtha. Something of an oddiry, a curious mixture oflive music (played on ethnic instruments such as thecimbalom), electronic synthesiser music, field recordings andspoken and sung texts - written by Endre Szkirosi. The workfades one piece into the next; seemingly disjointed yet itunfolds into an ecology narrative. We start with a radiovoice, the voice of officialdom sanctioning the destruction ofnature; it's OK because all birdsongs have been catalogued,and the only use for forests is to keep the lumbermillsrunning. After the inexorable horrors of regimented workinghours pictured in the 'Work Song', there's a declamatorypoem spoken over the sounds of a timberyard playing alongwith the band. The exquisite 'Church'follows, blending a 1973field recording of Mrs Pieter Bodo's lament, sung with a tune'characteristic of the poetry of the Csangos, a Hungarianminority isolated from the nation centuriesbefore...conserving very old customs, language and folkmusic'. Spliced together with a calming church organ, thisgenuinely haunting piece might just be the record's musicalhigh point and contain a clue as to the work's intentions. Inthe 'Forest Opera'that follows, Fer6 Nagy's saxophonehonks in competition with barking dogs, and the mysteriousnarrative deepens in the closing pieces: 'Ruin', set in a ruinedmanor on a hill above the village; 'Kapolcs Alarm'with itsfragmented images of violence and ruin; and 'The Fields', apastoral idyll shot through with its surreal poetry of'pedigreed skulls'. There's a video from Maryar TV toaccompany this album. stills of which are reproduced here; asis the original sleeve art, depicting a green and pleasant landonce whole, split asunder by the passing of a threateningblack bird. As the sound designer S6ndor Bern5th puts it:YVhat is music made of? Of movement! Of light! Of sound!This record is not about how things were - that is just anillusion.' Or to put it another wa/ - 'l may be from Hungarybut I sure aint weird'...

ED PINSENT

39

La! Neu?, Cha Cha 2000 - Livein Tokyo 1996 Volunte Ilapan, Captain TtipcTcD-100/l0r (1998)

As I listened to this I turned on thetelevision (blowing in its ear usuallyworks) keeping the sound down forsome random visual accompaniment. Aprogr:rmme about chimpanzees caughtmy attention, and I was instantly put inmind of 'Monkeys In The Zoo'. Manyyears ato in a scummy West Midlandscomprehensive school, my fellows and Ihad sought amusement during onebreak time by swinging around on therailings in the cloakroom. Mrs Stanley,our headmistress, a woman who hadsurely not been born but ratherbui l t in some imposing northernshipyard. happened upon us inour folly and, rather thanrebuking us, chose to ufter asingle sardonic remark about 'the

monkeys in the zoo' beforepassing on. This event was laterreported in a song of the samename, performed by thecardboard-box drum kit ounkband we had formed in order tofill the time we might havewasted by trying to learnan/thing.

Er.. .anyway...here is a double CDof Mr Dinger and pals, doing l ivethat thing that they do, thatstrangely iridescent drone rockwhich he perfected in Neu! andparticularly La Di.isseldorf. lt's awhile since I listened to anyDingerabilia, and I hadn't forgoften howdynamic it can be when done right.Much of Dinger's output is a vividreaffirmation of the Eno maxim that'repetition is a form of change'. PrimeDinger manages to sound as though it isundergoing a continuous process ofrenewal, even when it's the same riff theband started playing three days ago.What l'd forgotten is how punky itsounds. The nihi l ist ic snarl of ounk isabsent, instead one f inds a fr iendl iersentiment, a sort of innocent sense ofelation. With mild surprise I realise thatDinger's music isn't too far removedfrom 'Monkeys In The Zoo', except thatwhere we reported the event asanother signifier of the onset of | 984 inname as well as symbolic import, Dingerwould have offered a celebration.

This CD appears to have been recordedfrom a posrt ion in the audience, ratherthan through the mixing desk, thusfuithfully capturing some of the liveatmosphere. With your eyes closed andthe speakers in the right place it's a loteasier to imagine you were there thanwith many live albums. Paradoxically thisis a little frustrating. While much of the

The Sound Projector sifth issuealbum is fairly sharp and pacey, thereare pass:rges (the long, slowintroductions) that although doubtlesslyrivetint at the rime, tend to flounder alittle in your living room. Cha Cha 2000doesn't always shimmer with quite theclarity of the La DUsseldorf studioalbums, but after all this is a record ofan event, and not the event itself. Onceit gets fired up and running on all fourcylinders. that's when the wholebecomes greater than the sum of itsparts. Not one for the casual buyer, butit should be enough to raise a fewlighters aloft in the ranks of the Dingerbarmy army.

WAR ARROW

escaped from their cell for long enoughto make this one record, then returnedto re-read Lord ofThe Ringslor thebillionth time. They call themselves afterTolkien characters. The heart-stoppingatmospheres conjured from theirdoomy organ, synths, and slowpercussion dirges would have beenachievement enough, but they add thatki l ler touch with their mournful hornblasts and treated tubular bells. Thisrecord is so powerful, it's more thansimply depressing; it makes you feelyour very soul is doomed.

Qnmid, though it could be situated inthe Tangerine Dream pre-Ambientdrifty-wifty school, is still pretty insane.One track only, 35 minutes of 'Dawn

Defender' played by personsunKnown on Surtar, moog,mellotron, hammond organ, electricpiano and Tibetan bel ls. l toccasionally reaches cosmic heights -mainly, one suspects, due to thestirling efforts of the producer withhis fade-out levers. These tools canbe your best friend when there's acrew of self-indulgent long-hairedpeople on the other side of the glass,intent on laying their tr ip on theworld. An idealistic sleeve note fromthe original LP cover catalogues allthat superstitious baloney aboutPyramid Power, probably longbefore it was as commonDlaceamongst the Fortean Imes brigadeas it is today.

Temple verges on being aprogressive rock nightmare, with its

ponderously sung poetry lyrics fromanother stoned-out Hippie rejoicing inthe name of 'Poseidon'. l t would be niceto think of Poseidon performingwearing a large fish-mask a la PeterGabriel (certainly his distorted voicesounds like that's how it was recorded)but no such luck . 'Heathen 'and'Kingdom of Gabriel' are pretty manicguitar-led chanting anthems, the latter inparticular buried within myriad layers ofadditional synth, Suitar and percussionsolos; they genuinely don't makerecords as cluttered as this any more.The mood is lightened by the welcomereappearance of vocals from PaulineFund (also on the Cosmic CorridorsLP). From the name oftheir keyboardplayer (Zeus B Held), the Trojanwarrior helmet on the cover and thetrack 'Ship on Fire', you might be ableto construct a prog-rock version of Thelliad and the Fall of Troy from theirwork, but it's more likely just a grab-bagof the sort of imagery that fascinatesthese oseuds.

Krautrock one-upmanship is one thing -in hct any kind of boasting about rareunheard | 970s LPs is pretty dumb, asthey frequently turn out to be very

Pyramid, PyzatnidPsi-Fi, PSCD0O04

The Nazgfrl, The NazgrfrlPsi-Fi. PSCDOOOS

Temple, TenplePsi-fi. PSCD0006

Three more strange and exotic raritiesfrom Tony Robinson's |ramid label.These are neglected | 970s art-galleryonly releases, originally available inl imited runs of 100 copies.

l'm still cultivating my suspicion thatnone of these bands had much of a lifeoutside the studio. One envisages aseries of projects emerging underRobinson's direct ion, musicians drawnfrom a pool of alent, working in DieterDierks Cologne studio duringdown-time, with 'The Mad Twiddler'producing; once sufficient album trackshad been gathered, sleeve art would beconcocted and a name assigned to theone-off rtem.

None of this really accounts for thestark horrors of The Na4g0l, though.Looks l ike three serious acidheads

41

boring records. But notthese; they are genuinelystrange and beautiful musicsall. As I've said before,probably best to ignore theY irgin Un kn own De utsc h lan dsamplers (where some ofthese tracks are compiled)and just get the raw uncutstuff right here.

ED PINSENTPsi-Fi: PO Box 248,Sevenoaks. Kent. TWl46WT

Gomorrha, f Tutnedto See Whose Voiceit WasAvant-Garde (Boot,originally on BrainMetronome 1003)

I know nothing about theseobscurities, but any recordwith a Hammond organ is asure-fire winner with me.Their meaty apocalyptic dirge'Opening of the Sealed Book'begins with a churchyHammond-fest, minglingsweetly with acoustic guitarriffs, before it grows into arockin' beast with sevenheads. This New Testamenttheme continues withponderous descript ions ofthe four Gospel-makers, anoother bizarre creatures emerging fromthe Book of Revelations, through lyricssung in English by a hirly abominablevocalist. But I like this waroedbible-quoting stuff. There's some morevisionary dreams on the title track,apparently an episode about meeting

Jesus or God - ' l am the First and theLast' - at any rate the 'chosen one'who's narrat ing ends up holding TheKeys of Destiny. Very deep! lt comesover like a nasty version of Genesis on abad acid trip - a real antidote to thosefey English rockers, much as we all loveThe Lamb Lies Down...

l'd like to hear a lot more of thatHammond (played by EberhardKrietsch) - just listen to the intro andexit to 'l try to change this world',where it's fed through a killer distortioneffect (a Leslie speakerl). Suchgrandeur! Most of the songs are led byloud conventional guitar riffs fromtuitarists Ali Claudi and Ad Ochel.'Kreizelstanz' is sung in German, lapsesinto pastoral flute interludes and goesthrough other delightfully bafflingchanges, only to end with an arty i"pesection of a NASA space rocket. lt'sfabulous! The band can rock out withtasty psychedelic instrumental jams in

that clumsy and ungainly fushion thatonly the best Krautrockers can; thereis. I find. a certain oleasure to bederived from hearing music that isn'tplayed or even recorded perhaps aswell as it could be. This is their third LP.The cover boasts one of those greatgouache painted Surrealist sleeves thatseem so t),pical of the period. Their firstequally rare LP, Trauma has beenreissued by Second Battle.

ED PINSENT

Glla, CiIa [Itee ElecbicSoundJGermany, Second Battle SB LP021 (lsez)'This album has been a much in demandGerman legend for long, long years', sayits issuers, the Second Battle team inBerlin. 'Regarded by many as one of thefinest Krautrock albums of all time',states the Freak Emporium catalogue.No wonder. This is a ouite monumentalwork by the Conrad Veidt group, inwhich the man himself plays guiars andtabla, loined by Fria Scheyhing on theorgan and mellotron, with drummerDaniel Al luno and Walter Wiedenkehron bass. 6rh features long freaked out

tracKs,andds fed

through cosmicelectronic effects,pinned down by arisp rhythm section

and recorded inl 9 7 l t o anear-perfectstandard by DieterDierks in theTonstudio Dierks rnCologne. Gilaimpresses with amassive sound,achieved throughmeticulous mixingdesk craft, judiciousplacement of echoeffects and liberaluse of volumed upamPs; theinstrumental jamscarry us through acavernous,massive-scaledsoundworld. Thisponderosity isreinforced by the

PersPective-heavysleeve art - cubistblocks floating outof an imaginarydesert landscape,pushed aside by acobra-l ike [GilaMonsterl ] repti le,and in the

block-lettering of the band's logo. Aheavyweight look for a heavyweightsound!

It even has a concept LP theme - aboutman's progress from atgression tocommunication, and the consequencesthereof. This theme is (thankfully,perhaps) stated musically first, lyricallysecond. Occasional sound effects - awater splash, a crying baby, a flock ofseagulls - are inserted to underline keypoints in this humanitarian essay, andthe lock-groove at the end of side oneis presumably hammering home amessage about man's struggle to achievehis place in the universe. Veri ly thehippie dream of love and peace, ofwhich this development seems aperfectly plausible articulation, was stillshining brightly in Berl in in 197 l ; guessnobody could have known the horrorsthe rest of the decade would hold,particularly with the rise of internationalterrorism - which is more aboutcommunication through aggression.Gila's stance retisters as drug-free, andpretension-free; l'll ake this kind ofheavy sermonising over anfthing by PinkFloyd, The Alan Parsons Prolect or

Jethro Tul l , thanks very much.

The Sound Projector sifth issue

42

Veidt was an exceptional spaceyguitarist such control, never lettingthose effects tet the better of him. Thebeautiful 'Kontakt' and 'Kollektivitiit' onside two are Eastern-influenced circular

tuitar tapestries as perfectly formed andlayered as anything he recorded duringhis tenure with Popol Vuh. Gila's 1973follow-up LP Bury My Hean atWounded Knee is not apparently asgood as this debut. This however is asuperlative package from Second Baftle,which as far as I can tell exactlyreplicates the BASF original - gatefoldsleeve and Doster insert. and a finepressing on heavy vinyl which soundssuPerD.

ED PINSENT

Elestric Sandwich, Electric

Sandwich.5, Bootleg CD remastered fromvinyl. 941033

Another fair ly obscure one from 1972,originally on the Brain label. Investigateif Hendrix-infl uenced hog-like guitarwork is your bag, although this pig$/stuff is, if anything, more excessive thanThe 'jayster' could grind out of hisFender Strat. Jcirg Ohlert, whose nametranslates roughly as 'Big Hog', akes allthe blame as lead guitarist (also playingoccasional organ and mellotron, thoughit's hard to actually discern any) and hefavours liberal use of the wah-wahpedal. You need to hear the first track'China' to get the gist of hisoutstandingly unsubtle abilities - hands,fingers and feet flailing like a manicscarecrow, overamped to the point thathe's happily f loundering in a swamp ofgreasy mire of his own making. Luckilythe rhythm section are there to fish himout atain - and you can bet he'll rely onthem to do so more than oncethroughout the course of this LP. Plusthere's some excellent electric sax

The Sound Projector sifth issuetoots of an equally greasynature, the likes of whichhaven't sul l ied vinyl sinceXhol Caravan. These areblurted out byJochenCarthaus (who also singsthe dumb lyr ix in English).Again, the Teutonicheaw-handedness thatmakes Krautrock such anattractive proposition ishere by the bucketload;never afraid to overstatethe case, play too loud orfor too long, nor shrinkingfrom the crassest musicalstatements available in theirlimited repertories (no finerexamole than 'Archie's

Blues' exists todemonstrate this point) -

seems there's an unending supply ofsuch hairy seventies fellows waiting tobe discovered in the canon ofKosmische. Also of note is the brilliantlvdisgusting Cal Schenkel l ike cover. Theartist photographed a hideousassemblage of a vile, greasy cheesesandwich mixed up with electricaleguipment and shooting out sparks.What an imaginative interpretation ofthe band's name, ehl Produced byDieter Dierks which would seem tolocate it in Cologne; and they have beencompared to Emergency, whom I'venever heard. Other than that I'mclueless.

ED PINSENT

Agitation Eree, MaleschFrance, Spalar 14250 (1992)

The first and (so many say) best LP bythis excellent and still somewhatunderrated combo. From 1972, it's amagnificently ambitious afhir, a suite ofseven interlocking instrumental piecesall as perfectly formedand as varied as theintricate motifs withina Persian caroelTricky rhythms,melodies, sounds andmethods of playing areinfluenced by Egyptianand Middle-Easternmusic, and there's afew field recordings ofthe real thing (plusdocumentary sounds)made in Cairo by thebass player MichaelGunther. When theseguys are sufficientlyfuelled up with psychicenergy, which is prettymuch al l the t ime,they operate anunbeaable mixture of

cosmic guitar manipulations (LutzUlbrich, Jorg Schwenke),brain-bendingly bri l l iant electronicprocesses (Michael Hoenig) and a teamof fellow players that must have beencommunicating via ESP; they provide asolid bedrock rhythm section whichsupports all the cosmic proggerydecoration. 'Khan El Khali l i 'and theglorious title track show how they canall plug rn together for flowing.clich6-free cosmic jams that surpasseven The Grateful Dead; switchingtime-signatures as easy as blinking, asthey drive around the Sahara desert intheir four-wheel drive Landrover. lf Iwas in a guitar band and I had onlyrecorded the track'Sahara City' - a tinymasterpiece of elliptical arrangement - |could die a happy man. The fact that theentire LP yields up treasures of equalsplendour makes this al l the more anessential proposition. Sheerinventiveness through and through - justlisten to all the ideas flying around on'Ala Tul' - swirling organs, overlappingguitar lines and an inspired marimbapassage from drummer Burghard Rausch- have you ever heard anythingremotely like this in the entire historyof rockl lf you think Jimmy Page's'Kashmir ' is great - as indeed i t is - justprepare for something even better. Anexquisite, sun-drenched, masterfulmusical statement full of space and light.

Lutz Ulbrich would later play guitar inAshra. Michael Hoenig, the excellent'electronic devices' man, probably hit hiscreative peak with Agitation Free; in themid 1970s he would tour withTangerine Dream, replacing PeterBaumann. He made a solo LP in thePhaednl Green Deserc mould, calledDeparcure From the NonhernWasteland, in 1977.

ED PINSENT

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43

The Sound Projector sifth issue

A $ense orilreIrlElll0l]IHlG

"Musicians of an AwkwardDisposit ion"...WAR ARROWselects recent choice pickings

trtrtrtrtrE1Various Artists, FoxhotChalice GRIAICDO0I (1998)

A compilat ion containing tracks from the members of Coil ,Nurse With Wound, and Current 93, in their respectivegroups and as solo or collaborative performers. The sleevenotes reveal that John Balance (Coil) has a drink problem ofsufficient tmport to merit specialist medical help, and thisdisc is a benefi t project in order to f inance same. Counsell ingfor alcoholism is not cheap, you see. While I don't wish toappear unchariable about what is obviously a serious macter,I feel a l i t t le dubious about this. The world can be a big andhorrible place. Overpopulation. Mass starvation. Genocide.We are lucky to be born into 'first world' countries, as mosrpeople reading this wil l be. People st i l l disappear in SouthAmerica. lt was not so long ago that government troops InGuatemala would amuse themselves by taking Mayan babies

from their mothers, to use as living footballs. So, while itis commendable that Mr Balance's chums are rooting forhim by donating tracks, the reportage of this fuct strikesone as self-indulgent and, at worst, whining. Never mind.

Those who are fumiliar with these groups will knowlargely what to expect Although I'm no diehard fan ofanybody here, it makes for fairly compelling listeningthroughout. Nurse With Wound's'Spooky Loop' is acollage of low-key electronics which proves er...restful(and that'sa word I wouldn't normally associate withthem). 'Heartworms' is probably the standout track, byvirtue of Coil's characteristically esoteric use ofsampling. Very gothic, very moody, and suggestive ofHieronymous Bosch with access to digital technology.Current 93, I occasional ly have problems with. Theirmusic, for me, often seems pithy and unfinished. Happilythis is not so with 'A Dream Of The Innocent Light ' , alengthy and hypnotic instrumental which completelydispelled the expectation of wishy-washy new agediahorrea that its title suggests to cynical old bastardssuch as myself. And this shift in perception holds truefor the disc in general. I st i l l don't know about the causeit supports, or at least whether I really need toknow...but the music is good, and, i f you're game, mayserye as a pleasant introduction to some groups of adisDosition that's often a bit more awkward than on thissamoler.

Die Knrpps, Foundation

fapan, Captain Trip CTCD05? (199?)

I once visited a house where a ritht-wing person hadrecently moved out, leaving in his former room somebelongings, amongst which was a box of records. Morewith amusement than horror, I nosed through thiscollection of 'Nazi filth', as the genre is most accuratelydescribed, and I came across the strangest record l've

ever seen. In amongst the numerous recorded works ofSquadron, Skul lhead, Skrewdriver and others, was an albumby... l 'm not making this up...Chas & Dave, the loveableCockney rogues hmed for being'snooker loopy' and keepingtheir beer' in the sideboard here'. This olast ic bul let enti t ledThe Early Years or something to that effect, contained 'early

recordings and rare studio outtakes'. I could hardly wonderwhomight buy so bizarre an item (l knew well enough) butwhy it should exist in the first place is a question that wouldsurely tax even the great philosophers of the ancient world.Which kind of brings us to Die Krupps.

I know Die Krupps were never terr ible, but then who is tosay Chas & Dave didn't have some role in the great schemeof things. Okay. They did some nice tunes. 'Machineries ofJoy' is undoubtedly a classic of the 'Germans who shout overa sequencer' school of composition. and there are threeversions of it on this disc. But, you know, that's kind of itreally. There's plenty of groups who did this a lot better.D.A.F., Nitzer Ebb, Front 242 (send an sae for the names ofthe other 997). So here we have three songs, two of whichget three mixes each, all preceded by a live set of a qualitythat I suspect even the group's mum would be forced toadmit leaves room for improvement. lf you have 'Die Krupps'tattooed on at least five of your body parts, you may besufficiently committed to go apeshir over this, certainlysuitable to be commifted.-.which only leaves the other 99%of us to ponder those great insolubles of why we are nere,where we are going, and why this CD exists when Chas &Dave must surely have had some unreleased material stillwaiting in a dark hidden corner of the archive.

44

The Sound Projector sifth issueDer Blutarsch, Der Blutatsch

WBoy, is my hce red! | met the chap behind this CD about sixmonths ago and assumed him to be a berk, albeit a l ikeableone. His name is Albin Jul ius, and he used to belong to agroup cal led The Moon Lay Hidden Beneath A Cloud (yes,that's what I thought as well). This group dabbled in gothymedieval folk, so I am reliably informed. This is his new stuff,with a new group and seemingly a new direct ion.

The cover sports a bare minimum of information, in German(MrJul ius is Austr ian) and in a script so boldly gothic that Ican't tel l which letters are which. The cover paint ing beingone of the kind so loved by Laibach, and similarly printedgrey on silver, certain preconceptions are invoked. 'By

Odin's pacemaker' , I exclaimed to my valet, 'another tunelesswanker screaming about Hitler, I'll wager!'

Der Blutarsch do, as I suspected, seem to have a fixationwith the Second World War, although in all hirness nomore so than Laibach or Die Krupps. However, I wasn'tprepared for the almost sublime delicacy and beauty of themusic, which is mainly instrumental, though with a sparinguse of sampled speech. lt does in parts remind me a little ofLaibach, without the pomp or bluster, but only by virtue of asimilar sense of the monolithic. Although there is no tracklist(with my copy anyway) the l6 numbers are strongly definedas individual pieces covering a pretty wide spectrum, in fucteverfthing from early church music to frenziedMoorish-Soanish dances.to one Darticular slice ofgenrus tnat suggestswhat one might haveheard in the marketplaces of | 3th centuryMorocco.

Damn! | was all gearedup to give this a goodkicking but i t 's a r ightold smasher. Whateverreason Albin Jul ius mayhave had for talkingrubbish in' t pub sixmonths ago, I mustconcede that he knowshis musical onions.What fine eye-wateringonions they are too.

Crisis, We Ere AIIfewsEnd GerznansWorld Serpen!CRIGCD 2xCD (199?)

Crisis wei'e of course the band in ',vhich Douglas P and Tony\ /akeford. later of Death In June and Sol Invictus. forgedtheir writ ing ski l ls. This CD col lects Crisis's singles andmini-album, none of which have been avai lable for a longtime - unless you funcy paying f30. Crisis rose to minorleague status during the heyday of punk, of which they r*erevery much a part, and (sadly, to some ears) a rather tediousone. They formed as a response to, among other things, thelack of serious pol i t ical thought they perceived amid theircontemporaries, and as such Crisis were among the morevocal campaigners like Rock Against Racism and theAnti-Nazi League.

One might assume therefore that what we have here is dirgy,right-on, and rather naive punk r-ock, Whoah Nellie! Not atall. Musically, the roots of early Death ln June are hard to

miss in Crisis, whose sound lay somewhere between arockierJoy Division and a less-ref ined Wire, with vague hintsof Ennio Morricone's sense of scale, part icularly in the guitardepartment. Crisis were of that time when no two punkbands sounded the same, before the rot set in and anyoriginalitv or distinctive character drowned in the sludge of athousand studded green-haired clowns.

Lyrically, Crisis are fairly raw I once made the mistake ofplaying my treasured copy of Hymns Of Faith to an uppitylunch-doing comic art ist knob-end. Sipping a Perrier he fai ledto notice the rough elegance of the music, choosing insteadto sneer down his taramasalata on rye at the naivety of thelyrics. l ' l l be the f irst to admit that 'pick on someone wedon't l ike, let 's be men, let 's spi l l blood tonight ' may not beWordsworth, but isn't such a criticism rather missing thepointl One may as well accuse Richard Dawkins of being lessfunny than Tommy Cooper, or castiSate Wordsworth forthe lack of classic 7" punk singles to his name.

I have only two criticisms. Firstly Stewart Home's sleevenotes suSgest he's either more pretentious than I hadimagined, or he's taking the piss. Either way they'recompletely superfluous. Secondly, the songs which are listedas 'live in Norway' are, rather saucily, actually just the tracksfrom the Hymns Of Faith mini-album (all of which are alreadyhere anyway) with added reverb. Very cheeky and not evenparticularly well disguised. Still, these are only minor niggles,which are easily eclipsed by the sheer joy of finally having

some of this stuff on disc. lf you'veforgotten how exciting punk oncewas, or didn't get it the first timearound, or weren't even there, givethis a try and see what tets old fartsl ike me excited.

Noctrernal Ernissions,

Invocation Of The BeastGods

WNocternd Emissions andC.C.C.C., The Beauty OfPoIIationEndorphin Factory, EDPOI3

!I999tNot being able to read Latin, I amunable to make sense of the sleevenotes to lnvocation of the BeastGods, or invocaiio Eestiae Deias itis alternatelv titled. Being sor-t offumiliar with Nocturnal Emissions'

back catalogue. and the esoteric ways in which the mind ofNigel Ayers appears to work, I believe the cover mightdescribe the recording process of this albunr, which I suspectinvolves the sampling of noises made by fur-ry animals. Whylbecause NE have done this sort of thing before, notably onMouths Of Babes, which built some pretty denseatmospheres from the gurgling of sprogs. Here only some of. L - - - . . _ f - - _ - : l - - ^ : 4 - L l - - - L - : - - _ l ^ - : - - - l - - : - : - - ^ l - - r ^L I t e 5 U U i l 0 5 d I e t u e i l L i l t d u t e d 5 u e i l l t o t d I i l I I t d t o I t t i l t , 5 0 u u n L

buy this expecting to get Per-cy Edwar-ds.

Right from their very early issues, Nocturnal Emissionsrecordings have a curious quality that sometimes suggeststhe music just occurs of its own accord, without humaninvolvement on a level any greater than that of a reportercapturing the moment on tape. Even their mildly anomalous'pop' phase - which gave us the bizarre spectacle of Mr Ayerssinging rhyming lines over dance beats, and makingannouncements l ike ' this is the big sound of Nocturnal

45

The Sound Projector sifth issueEmissions coming out of your speakers' - seemed faithful totheir sense of ego-free reportage. True to this theory, onecould af most say Beast Godswas written by the sampledwildl i fe.

As one might imagine, there's a lot of repeti t ion and looping,and i t 's extremely relaxing, but happily renrains toointeresting to be insulted by the word 'ambient ' . l f there isany intention, as the title seems to imply, to capture the rawwonder of the natural world, then i t succeeds admirably in afield where countless peddlers of new age aural laxativeshave failed dismally. [Editor's Note - A glance at the ChrisWatson interview this issue might be appropriate at thisjunctureJ.

By way of dramatic contrast, The Beauty Of Pollution is tcol laboration with Hiroshi Hasegawa, or C.C.C.C., anotherone of the growing legions of Japanese who take delight indoing to our ears what Mrs Thatcher did to the miner's.Relaxing i t is not. In fact i t borders on unl istenable, or woulddo i f not for the unpredictable rhythm that informs the ebband flow of white noise. The first of the two lengthy piecesactually sounds like waves crashing on a beach, distorted, fedback on i tself and ampli f ied into obl ivion, which may well beexactly what it is for all I know. This sort of thing is very easyto do, but difficult to do well, and in this case the fine linebetween unl istenable and compell ing is fol lowed with theprecarious ski l l of a high-wire act. There's certainly somemean artistry at work here. Praise the noise and pass theAnadin.

Earchly Delights, PO Box 2, Lostwithiel, Cornwall PL22 1YY,United Kingdom

Various Artists, Bottotn of the World: A

Compilation of new New Zealand musicFourth Dimension / Fisheye ?" EP mS55 / SCilOOL3 (lee8)

About 50% of this rs pretty good. Four bands / art ists fromthe thriving musical underground of NZ are represented, ofwhich I preferred those on side two - Dunedin's Sandoz LabTechnicians and Surfuce of the Earth, from Well ington. Thelatter turn in a part icularly f ine three-guitar feedback dronetempered by electronics; cal led simply 'Castle' i t 's an excerptfrom a longer work, and I could've taken a good LP side'sworth of thisqutte happily.The Sandoz teamwork up aninstrumentalhymn to Ebola,that monstrousvrrus thatthreatens towipe out thehuman race anyday now, withtheir powerfulabstract slabs ofsonic witchery.S ide one I d idn ' tcare for as much.Omit turns in anunconYincingSteve Stapletonimpersonation in'The practice offalling apartinside the r iverof voices', asampled voice

tape over meandering electr ic noises. RST's 'The problem ofconlainment' is rather lacklustre aimless guitar strums andfeeding-back set against similarly aimless drum bashes,recorded on a Portastudio. These two bands (although Omitis a solo turn, Cl inton Wil l iams, who also did the sleevephoto for this) come from Blenheim and Aucklandrespectively. l f you play this EP back to back (as I trust youwil l) you might be struck by how samey i t al l sounds. in spiteof the geographic distances beween our four featured acts...Sti l l , worth checking out; this lornt issue (also in conjunctionwith Opprobrium magazine) was delayed for two years, srncewhen each artist here has at least one maior release to theirname.

ED PINSENTFisheye, PO Box ll0, Farnborough, Hampshire GUl4 6YTFourch Dimension, PO Box 53. Herne Bay, Kent CT6 5YU

Death in ]une, Take Cate And ControlNER, BAD VC CD42 (199e)

Death in June have an unsettling habit of alternating betweenalbums that are erther dire or perfection itself, with rarelyanythanS in-between. Many wrote them off as past-it with1988's Ihe Wall of Sacrifice, which would've been a superb7" single, but made for a lousy long player. This waseventually followed by But What Ends When The SymbolsShatterand Rose Clouds Of Holocausc both record ofabsolute subl ime beautv. The r)exttwo. Kaoo!andtheScorpion Wind album, were absolute strnkers. Now a fewyears later this comes out, and once again we're cookingwith gasl

As purveyors of solemn music which should definitelynotbeplayed to anyone with proclivities towards toppingthemselves, Death In June are r ight up there with JoyDivision and Swans. Like those two Broups, the r ichness ofthetr sound stems from the fact that within the panoramrcswathes of despair, there is always a piercing ray of sunl ightcasting the shadow, lending i t a depth that is absent fromtruly miserable music. The f inest i l lustrat ion of this qual i ty isperhaps'Behind The Rose'from the Nada! album: acousticguitars and trumpets punctuated by kett le drum rol ls conlurea crushing sense of loss and mourning, as epic andprofoundly mell i f luous as any paint ing by the old masters.Death In June are on similar cracking form here, del ivering

up onewide-screen

Paean tosublime sorrowafter another.The formerlyubiquitousacoustic guitaris almostentirely absent,replaced by ap se ud o -c lassi caluse oforchestralsounds, offset

by €DouglasP's gentleflirtation withpoppy melodies.

As one maygather from theabove, Death In

June are backon form.

46

ACEA 28 Aylmer Road, London,W12 gLQ UK JBacta@msn com(0\181 740 1349 - tel / fax

NFYIGATIONS - Chris Burn's ENSEMBLEChris Burn l j John Butcher - l Rhodri Davies Jim Denley

Axel Diirner - Phil Durrant Matt Hutchinson :- Marcio MattosJohn Russell

- Mark Wastell I Stevie Wishart (ACTA | 2)

11 RECENT CROAKS Mart in Klapper / Roger Turner10 SOWARI Phil DurrantI PLAYING ALONE Veryan Weston8 A NEW DISTANCE The SME r Stevens / Smith / Butcher7 A HENRY COWELL CONCERT played by Chris Burn6 THIRTEEN FRIENDLY NUMBERS John Butcher

All CDs f .12 fromMeasures (only) US

ACEA [or USA orders of Secret$13 from UO8ALU iMll. l inc. p&p

SECRET ME ESI|RES electro-manipulationsfiom

John Butcher & Phtl Durant"Butcher, always one to explore the outer reaches of the

saxophone rather than rely on the weight of its jazz history, findshimself pushing even further out as Durrant transforms delicatemelodic f lurr ies into landsl ides of thudding percussion or astentorian tenor roar is whisked into a telephone bleep."Rtchard Sanderson (iner notes) (WOA OOOI

WOAAU AAIL P o Box 16206,Chape l H i l l NC 27516 , USA

wobbly@mindspnng. com

Top Noises from New Zealand and other pockets of the globe

CDs

A Handful of Dust - Jerusalem, Street of Graves. (Corpus Hermeticum). ['10.50Kjetil D Brandsdal - Freedom - Waaoh Waaaoh. (Corpus Hermeticum). t10.50Alan Licht - The Evan Dando of Noise ?. (Corpus Hermeticum). f 10.00Sandoz Lab Technicians - Let Me Lose My Mind Gracefully. (Corp. H.). f 10.50Surface of the Earth - s/t (Corpus Hermeticum). [10.50Small Things - Keep Calm-and Dig. ( lnf ini te Chug). €10.00Richard Youngs/Simon Wickham Smith - Veil (for Greg). (lnsignificant). t9.00Brian Crook - Bathysphere. (Medication). t10.50The Terminals - Live. (Medicat ion). €10.50Victor Dimisich Band - My Name ls K (Medication). t10,00Fl ies Inside the Sun - s/ t . (Metonymic). t10,50Total - Kaspar Hauser. (Metonymic). t10.00The Cakekitchen - The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea.(Raffmond). e9.00Nocturnal Projections - Nerve Ends In Power Lines.(Raffmond). t9.50Alan Licht & Loren l{iazzacane Conners - Mercury. (Road Cone). €9.00Loren Mazzacane Conners - Calloden Harvest. (Road Cone). t9.00Loren Mazzacane & Alan Licht - Two Nights. (Road Cone). 18.00This Kind of Punishment - d.t,;(Roof Bolt). 19.50Dead C - Harsh 70 s Reality. Tu$ 10.50 eachThe Shadow Ring - Hold Onto lDThe Pickle Factory - Our Pledge. (Swill Radio

CD Postage UK: 50p 1st item, 25p each extra. Europe: 75p.50p each extra. ROW: t1.50 1st item, t1 each extra.

.cheoues to P. Wild.

Fisheye Dis t r ibut ion:PO Box 110..FARNBOROUGH : Hampshire.

,GU14 6YT : UK.fisheye@netcomuk,co. uk

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.cheques to P. Wild.

.wholesale enquiries welcome.catalogue also available [SAE for details].

'i:, n,

The Sound Projector sifth issueSist ine Chapel cei l ing in miniature. l f you have never bought aBoredoms record, make up for it now and snap up thisfire-eating candy skinned monster while you still can; fail to doso and I can't be responsible for the consequences. Somethingof this vision, breadth and universality may be a necessaD/survival ki t for the next mil lennium, and none of us want tobe considered Yesterday's Man!

ED PINSENT

Cassiber, Live in Tokyo(with Cassiber with Shinoda Masarni rernixedby Ground-Zero)ReR Recommended. ReR CGZ2

Two records in one; a rare unreleased concert by Cassiberand the last ever release from Ground-Zero. OtomoYoshihide was cal led in to remix a 1992 concert fromCassiber, their first and only appearance in Tokyo. lt turnedout to be almost the last public appearance of this Europeanavant-garde combo, before they drifted apart. As if thisweren't tragic enough, the sax player Shinoda Masami whohad joined them on stage for a blast or two, and was lookingforward to their next collaboration, suddenly died aged 34.Putting together this inspired release gave Chris Cutler achance to issue the final Ground-Zero record (Otomo's stillbusy, but with a new band and a new direct ion).

Otomo's idea of remixing is to remakeevefihing, occasionally sourcing Cassiberbut working so hard as to produce anentirely new record. He's brought in mostof the Ground-Zero crew, who play theirutmost in a fontastically tight set ofperformances, and bring the house downwith a show-stopping version of Chic's 'At

Last I am Free' - a joyous close to theirmusical career. Hearing this pretty muchchoked me up - | haven't felt as moved by arecord since side four of The History ofThe Bonzos (where 'Trouser Press' ispositioned as a bowing-out song for thegreatest band the United Kingdom everproduced.) But that 's the ending - i f youwant a tear-jerking eulogy to the death ofCassiber, or indeed the death of ShinodaMasami, no more iouching tribute existsthan the first 20 minutes of this record.Forget about Death ln Venice...listen toOtomo on the turntable and hard-diskrecorder, joined by three of his principals)inthesists Masuko Tatsuki, Mizuhira andNagata Kazunao, for music of an unbearablebitter-sweetness. Only a man of stone couldremain unmoved!

The Otomo-Cassiber l ink goes deep, ofcourse, with the Revolutionary PekingOpera record being the connecting point;

Alfred 23 Harth and Heiner Goebbels made the originalrecord that formed the basis of Otomo's almightymasterpiece. Alfred was in the original Cassiber lineup andthen left, leaving them as a trio of Heiner, Chris Cutler andChristoph Anders. l 'm not so keen on the Cassiber disc here,finding their declamatory vocals and crash-collision noises anacquired taste, but it's obvious they were an important band.Among their early releases you might want to check out, areMan or Monkey/ and Beauty and the Beast Goebbels-Harthcollabs of note include their Berthold Brecht LP with singingby Dagmar Krause. Fnnkfurc-Peking is where the PekingOpera source music came from. Before anything else, they

aaaaaaaaoaa

Jrpan eoAEars gO+MO(! MUMD!STRESS

aaaaaaaaaaBoredoms, Super &|apan, Warmer Music fapan Inc ,/wEf,wPc6 8433 (1998)

Don't be scared off by the high price tag; thisis more like a limited edition fine art obiectanyway. Buy it, play it loud and pack yourflight case for a expensive trip to MusicHeaven, courtesy of the most gorgeousoverwhelmi ngly gravity-laden massively scaledmusic trips ever committed to a digital disc,or other retrievable hst-access format. lnthis kaleidoscopic whir lwind tour of theplanet, you will visit all of your fuvouritemusics past present and future, renderedwith ferocious loving care by the unholy bandof insane, free-loving idiot savants that areBoredoms. True, from psychedelia toKrautrock, Terrl, Riley drones to cut-uprecord travesties that even Christian Marclaywould fear, Boredoms do it all and befter.Seriously, this is one that should win overeven those sceptical ones among you whoflinched at the ugly sprawling chaos of someof the earlier CDs, because this one is farless dislunctive than those mightycosmos-breakint epics; having shattered thesurhce of the earth, Boredoms now proceedto cultivate the ground (they're the only onesaround...). So when they get into a riffinggroove merchant mode, it wipes the floor with any single oneof the tastiest, rarest, Jimmy Page spiralling into an sweatyecstasy of black satin Led Zeppelin bootlegs you could throwinto the furnace. Strong contenders for being the best bandever to have existed in the last ten years; equally strongpossibility that this is their best recorded artefuct yeg so freshand alive with ideas it even makes Wow 2 and ChocolateSynthesisersound turgid, which takes a bit of doing. lt's also aremarkable bit of packaging that looks good enough to eat aClaes Oldenburg soft vinyl cheese sandwich, that also happensto glow in the dark, wrapped with a beautiful rainbowcoloured sl ice of precision register colour print ing that 's a

BOREDOMS

Supert ZSuper

ARE ?

Editor'schoice forALBUM OF1 998 andbeyond!

48

were in a German avant-garde wind orchestra called theSogennantes Linksradikales Blaseorchester which playeoworks by Sun Ra, Hans Eisler and Frank Zappa.

ED PINSENT

Hijohkaidan, Zouroko No Kihyo [Zouroko,sStrange DiseaseJJapan, .Elchemy trRCD{O8

Lovely noise of a visceral, cathart ic and l ibidinous narure, andthe earl iest recording ofJapan underground yet to come myway. | 980-l 981 recordings, this is the first Lp by theHijohkaidan, also called Second Damascut reissued here onCD (with exrra live track!) as parr of Alchemy,s Gold Rockseries. Comes with a brilliant cover drawing of a cartoon manrofttng away, maggots swarming from his hip, fluid dribblingfrom one eye...booklet contains astonishing photographs ofthe band's stage act from this time; perhaps a precursor toButthole SurJers unrestrained mayhem, mess andperformance art spilling off the stage and into the listenrngarena; could be dangerous, but l ike therecord itself it's probably good cleanfun. Hi johkaidan were 'notorious asthe most disgusting live performanceact in Japan'. Just look ar these writhingfigures covered in fire extinguisherfoam or whipped cream, a sexyJapanese babe in stockings andsuspenders, instruments being abused,streams of blood down the fronts ofshirts.. .kinda makes Punk Rock seem atad tame, although this is obviouslyvery arty. They covered themselves innoxious smell ing f luids and left mostvenues unusable for a week after;many places banned them outright.Other reDorted elements involveeatint raw fish, pissing on theaudience, messy action painting,throwing ampli f iers at the audienceand vomiting live on stage. ln fuct thefirst irack documents lust thai. i justlove l istening to rhis primit ive mustcregardless, this bri l l iant morontcpounding and strumming of guitars anddrums rs as powerful anci mesmerisrngas the first Amon Diiiil and once youcan get over the harsh high-pitchedfeedback hurdle (and admittedlythere's a lot of it) this is as coherentand intelligent as free jazz. Coremembers Jojo Hiroshige and NaokiZushi formed the band in 1979, pickingup other key members along the way;they claim they were about the onlynoise rock act in Japan apart fromFushitsusha and Worst Noise. Afterbeing thrown out of a Jaz festival, theyfound more open minds in Japan'spunk scene. Though I bought this froma list as 'rare', Phil Todd believes it'sst i l l in print. . .send your yen toAlchemy now.

ED PINSENT

eO-.'9OreO

Jightning bolt Qenie Qoilwogg$noke Jiemonode beastie

v

aeoeoaeo49

The Sound Projector sifth issue

Compiled by J Banks 26111197

O the Luftkanone, developed at TalstationLofer, Germany, by Dr RichardWallauscheck'The design consisted of a parabolic reflector, 3.2 metres in diameter,having a short tube which was the combustion chamber or sound

Senerator, extending to the rear from the rrertex of the parabola. Thechamber was fed at the rear by two coaxial nozles, the outer non leemitting methane, the central nozle oxygen. The length of thechamber was one-quarter of the wavelength of the sound in air. Uponinitiation, the first shock wave w?rs reflected back from the ooen end ofthe chamber and initiated the second explosion. The frequency wasfrom 800 to | 500 impulses per second. The main lobe of the soundintensiq/ pattern had a 65" angle of opening and at 50 metres' distanceon the axis a Dressure of 1000 microbars had been measured. Nophysiological experiments were conducted, but it was estimated that atsuch a pressure it would take from 30 to 40 seconds to kill a man. Atgreater ranges, perhaps up to 300 metres, the effect, although notlethal, would be very painful and would probably disable a man for anappreciable length of time. Vision would be affected, and low-levelexposures would cause point sources of light to appear as lines.'

Secret Weapons of the Third Reich, Leslie E Simon, WE lNC.PUBLISHERS, I97I

Information supplied by Barry Nichols of ECM 323

O Distressing effects of loud sounds: byProfessor E. N. da C. Andrade'When a certain level of sound intensity is reached, the sensation ofpain is experienced through the ears. There appears to be no recordof any other phpically deleterious effecl as distinct from apsychological effect, produced by sounds in the audible range. Therange of frequencies possible is limited in two directions. A to employsound offensively it will be necessary to produce a beam, whichdemands a mirror whose diameter shall be something like ten timesthe wavelength. This means that the wavelength cannot easily exceed1.2 feet or so in practice. A wavelength of 1.2 feet means a frequencyof 920 cycles. B: the aftenuation of sound increases with frequency insuch a way that above a frequency of | 000 cycles or so in moist air theabsorption will be excessive. We may, then, take l@0 cyclessomewhere about the most favourable {requency.'To produce discomfort or distress a sound level ofabove 140 ohons isnecessary. At this intensity the lines of equal loudness are not far fromstraight lines parallel to the frequency axis, so we may take this figureas 14 bels. This is a consenative estimate. 14 bels means | 02watVmetre2. lf the sound producer has an efficiency of 50%, which isextremely high, then I kilowatt of energy must be fed into themechanism to produce | 40 decibels over an area of 5 metres'?. In stillhomogenous air at humidities usual in this country the idealattenuation at 1000 cycles is round about 5 decibels per mile. At lowhumidities such as are met over desert it is much higher. Theattenuation found in certain experimenb carried out by Messrs BritishThompson-Houston, which included attenuation due to lack of perfectparallelism of the beam, was very much higher than 5 decibels per mile- in fact it was about | 0 decibels at 2@ fards. Taking no attenuation, alow figure as estimate for distress, and an extraordinarily efficientsound producer, it will be necessary to employ something like I

kilowatt of energy per I metre of front, since at any reasonabledistance we cannot hooe to confine the beam to less than 5 metres inheight. Ear plugs, of a kind which can be readily improvised, woulddiminish the sound by something like 30 decibels, which meansmultipllng the above figure by l@0. The project of producing acutephysical distress by sound is clearly not practicable.'

The Ministry of Supply Advisory Council on Scientific Research andTechnical Develooment convened an Acoustics Sub-Committee toadvise the War Office on the potential military applications ofadvances in sound technology. These quotations are taken fromthe report of their 2nd meetin& 26 February | 943 - a documentdeclassified in 1972.

@ Sound mirrors as reflectors of airborneexplosive shock-wavesFollowing promising experiments in the grounds o{ Binbury Manor,near Maidstone, Kent in l9l6 - in which a Professor (probablyF C)Mather sculpted a parabolic sound mirror into the face of a chalk cliff -

Dr W S Tucker of the RAF Air Defence Experimental Establishmentexperimented extensively with sound mirrors as passive acousticearly-warning detectors, designed to provide directional fixes on thesounds of incoming enemy Zeppelins, planes and ships. Mirrors wereinstalled at several sites on the Kent and Yorkshire coasts - theawesome monofiths documented in the Disinformation Antiphon)'Wdeo Supplemenrby Barry Hale - and at Baharic-Cahaq in Malta andplans were drawn up to extend the UK coastal network and buildsimilar chains for colonial defence in Hong Kong Singapore, Gibraltarand Aden. Tests were conducted using aircraft, ships, and alsoconcrete tubes projecting low frequency drones at frequencies below50Hz to simulate aircraft noise. Dr Tucker also designed an activesound mirror to proiect an acoustic beam - guiding aircraft to safelandings on fog-bound runways; these experiments were abandonedafter a number of serious accidents at Biggin Hill aerodrome. lt istempting to speculate that, should this prove to have been the firstexperiment with blind-landing Dr Tucker may have been in effect theunsung father of controlled airspace and contemporary air traf{iccontrol.

ln his bookfet Mirron 4, the Sea Richard Scarth reports that thedecision to abandon the sound mirror early-warning sptem was madeby the Royal Engineers in May 1939 - they had been rendered obsoleteby the increasinS speeds of hostile aircraft and, more importantly, bythe invention of radar. Nonetheless in January | 940 Dr Tuckerconducted 'experiments to in\€stigate the nature of the disturbanceproduced by explosions in large, concave, concrete reflectors' at theGreatstone site near Dungeness, a concept similar to the Wallauscheckexperiment already described.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooBiographical notesErnest Neville da Costa Andrade, one-time President of RoyalInstitution, wrote a number of papers on acoustics for journalssuch as Nacure, The Proceedings ofthe Royal SocietStPhilosophical Trdnsactions elc. during the 1930s.

F C Bartfett wrote The Problem of Noisefor the CambridgeUniversity Press in 1934.

During the 1920s and 30s W S Tucker published important workon atmospheric sound propagation, and hot-wire anemometrictechniques for recording infrasounds, particularly those producedby distant gunfire.

Further reading'Antiphony Architectural Supplement', lmmerce magazine issue 4'Disinformation - War and Sound', Noisegare magazine issue 6'Low Level Urban Funk Campaign', Noisegate magazine issue 5

Mirt'orc by the Sea by Richard Scarth, arailable from the MartelloBookshop, Rye 0 | 797 22224L

oooooooooooooooooooooooo

Three experiments

of

mrrrors as

relatins to thehvpoth-etical usepairabolic sound

offensive weapons

51

The Sound Projector sifth issue

Repor t No" ' ?6 P .2o

tho mtrror le not ln uso thereby

landlng of the I plane o

2 l - 5 - 20

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o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o*St6t"BJB yJ#L'Jg6'33 r " "

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o52

Variations 2: A LondonCotnpilationParadigm Discs PD 05 (1998)

1998's follow uo to the first Variationscomp (reviewed in our very first issue).Variations 2 almost surpasses its 1995forebear for excellence; and the Londontheme continues, each sound art isteither born orcurrently based in'The Big L' as wecosmopolitans call it.Clive Graham, whocompiles the musicand designs thearnvork in this series,has evolved into alatter-day | 8thcentury publ ishinggentleman, issuingoccasional fine art folios. Views ofLondon by distinguished engravers. So,how does the fair city sound after threeyearsl Claustrophobic. These worksview the city from interiors, and the fewglimpses of the sky show that it's gritty,pol luted and dark. The bui ldings simplyhem us in eveDrwhere. There's anundercurrent of menace in TomWallace's excel lent 'Brixton Quatrain' :this is mostly extremely quiet, meldingreal-time documentar';r recordings fromoutside his Brixton window with suddenloud interference from a drum'n'basspirate station woven into the warp. BobCobbing and Lawrence Upton reportingfrom Highbury and Carshaltonrespectively, hurl their growling dog andshouting matches at us, extracted froma live oerformance of 'Domestic

Ambient Noise' (recorded at TheKlinker).

Clive Graham himself, stewing inFinsbury Park on a wet Sunday, mayseem deDressed but nonethelesssurvives to the end of the day with 'ln

tension', a splendidly moody piecewhich contemplates the descendingdrone arcs falling out of the rainy sky.Of our other shut-ins, Akemi lshijimafinds many ways to usefully occupy herempty time in 'Catalysis'; the mostbeautiful and translucent piece oftape-work here (wisely leading off thecomp) and suggests she dividesattention between Zen Buddhistmediat ion, tea ceremonies and tendingto her bufterfly collection. The mightyHugh Davies roars, in hismassively-scaled 'Strata' - a rush ofpulsing energy currents and warmanalogue burrs. An epic in miniaturefrom the meticulous and inspiredDavies, reckoned here as 'one of thefirst names in the academic world ofelectronic music' ; he was in Musiclmprovisation Company in the 1970s,and has worked with Stockhausen.

TheSound Projector sifth issueTwo excellent oieces of acoustic music:the first, the serenely gorgeous 'Hym'

played on a Mongolian strinSedinstrument by Michael Ormiston;second, '251.3.04.22' by Clapton's finestreedsman, John Grieve. This grandioseelephant / aeroplane roar was amazinglygenerated by multiple overdubs of thetenor sax. Lastly, a magnificent l5

minutes ofelectronic musicfrom Rolf Gehlhaarof Belsize Park.'Cusps', anextraordinary forayinto alien texturesand outlandishwaveforms, comesfrom Rolfs uniqueultrasonic sensors

that are part of his 'real-time, remotegestural control system'. AnotherStockhausen acolyte, he worked withthe Big Kahuna from | 967 to | 970.Variations 2 is a fine release, which likeits predecessor merely whets myappetite for more recordings by theseotherwise somewhat neglected figures.

ED PINSENT

Vainio, Viisinen, Vega,End,IessBlasi First BITPI4TCD (1998)

In other words, Pan Sonic meetSuicide's Alan Vega.

A fr iend and col league of mine thinks helikes avant-grde music but I suspect hedoesn't really. He recently sat unmovedthrough a live performance by PanSonic, while I had been lapping up withdel ight their high-volume deathdealingbursts, non-musical electronic swoopsand thunderstorm explosions. He said itwas just too basic; he likes steelmoulded into the shape of amotorcycle, because a motorcycle issomething useful, an end product youcan ride about on. Hearing Pan Sonic tohim was like being presented with aglowing hunk of steel fresh out of thesmelting works.

I propose that Alan Vega is of a similarradical nature, working with voice aloneand distilling the nature of vocalrock'n'roll and pop music to an essentialpure form. Vega's vision of rock isprobably the correct one: sex, blood,guts, drugs, excess, religion, weirdnessand desperation. He absorbs the wholehistory of this most American ofcultural forms, digests it through hisFrench intellectual sensibility. andreflects it back in a mirror that shows atruer amage than even its originalproponents can devise. This latestproject Endless displays Vega's uniquegenius to great advantage; it's a collab

53

The++++++

Ether

that presumably came out of a recenttour with the Finnish electronicists, andturns out to be a crucial statement not

lust another interesting idea.

Pan Sonic revise their Dosition on totalabstract music and condescend to bringin beats - albeit skeletal, hostile andmonstrously alien beats, like theanimated skeletons in Jason and theArgonauts. Such relentless rhythmicalattack, when layered with Vega'sintoning growls, his demented spoutingsof cut-up distorted cinema images ofThe Madonna meeting Marilyn Monroein a sleazy whorehouse, outlines a newversion of Suicide - more spooked ouggrotesque and insane than the original.When Pan Sonic revert to the 'raw

material' approach that my friend findsso distasteful, Vega is left to fend forhimsell but st i l l comes out a winner,though he be tattered and torn by theelectronic barbed wire fences he's hadto cl imb through. 'No Home Kings' isone such battle of the wills, Vegashouting his impassioned lament over anelectronic rainstorm and electronicdrag-racing car. 'Outrage for theFrontpage' is even more extreme, acondensed eoisode of utter alienationand despair: Vega talking in tongues ashe spits out incomprehensible rants l ikepoisoned acid drops, against a chorus ofbitter electric grunts from hisinstrument partners. This is a prettyuncanny record, a total triumph and agreat success for all concerned.

ED PINSENT

Transient V Resident. Live1997 Dhatma DayDiscus, a-CDR (1998)

A large, swirling organic mandala ofmusic, constantly changing; dititallyedited from live events to oroduce.seamlessly, two separate continuousecstatic trips spread generously overtwo CDs, lasting over an hour apiece. Inthese mrnimalist abstract tone paintings,no colour or mood dominates for longand the pace keeps changing as thoughdriven by a pulsing quartz; the musiccould turn from meditational droning toedgy, awkward conversations betweenthe machines and their operators.Waves breaking on the shore, aircurrents passing in the sky. Beats mayhde in and join the throng of angelicvoices, only to find that particular topicof musical conversation is already oldhat and yesterday's fish. But this doesn'tmean it's a restless, dislunctive ride - theshifts in the musical slants are alwaysnatural and each episode expands l ikemusical crystals. In the tensions andbalances of this dynamic dialogue withChris Bywater, Martin Archer seems tohave found a perfect foil - a relationship

The Sound Projector sifth issuethat never fails to deliver anything lessthan excel lent music. I think on thisparticular outing they even Midi-ed theirsynths together, like mountaineers,al lowing one player to modif theother's sounds with his ownmanipulations. The first recordable CDrelease from Martin Archer's label , itwas recorded from live per{ormances atthe Mappin Art Gallery in Sheffield, overthe weekend of the Buddhist Dharmaday. Buddha himself got into the groove,as you can see from the plasma poolsand weird underground caverns he'sexploring in Chris Bprater's cover arl

ED PINSENT

Various Artists, Water &Erchitecture(Directions, Atom Heart, Bisk,Seefeel, AER)Belgium, Sqb Rosa SRl20 (199?)

Above average modern electronicscomoilat ion of new and unreleasedtracks. All featured players, about whomI remain in total ignorance, come oyeras technological experts in the field -intelligent sequencer programming,precision of arrangements and effectiveortanisation of sampled materials arethe watermarks of excellence here. Myfavourites are three avant-digital tracksfrom Bisk, who might just be Japaneseplayer Naohiro Fuiiwaka; I like thesimplicity in colours, tonal range, andthe bright finish all stitched totetherwith a cheery sequence of friendlybeats. lf it's something more perplexingyou're after, three eerie tracks by AER(Alpha / Echo / Romeo) fit the bill:decontextualised radio voices referringto unknown events, morse code signals,looped speech pacterns generated intoinfinite gibberish, backed by driftingaetherial synths. No doubt this tr ick isbecoming kinda fumiliar by now (seeS.E.T.l. elsewhere), hinting at some formof global conspiracy by continuallysanding on the brink of del ivering asecret message, without actually doingso. This keeps the l istener in alet's-pretend state of tension, but it's anenjoyable tension nonetheless. In thisvein, jon Wozencroft contributes hisintriguing sleeve photographs, withtypography and elliptical messages aboutthe nature of water and architecture.The most successful image is a row oftimbers on the beach, equated (by arestrained slice of concrete poetry)with the international radio alphabetwords, Alpha Bravo Charlie. Alsorepresented here are Directions (BundyK Brown and Doug Scharin); AtomHeart with the excellent minimalist triD'Space is Sanity'; and two ratheryawnsome Ambient wash-paintings by

Seefeel. Their contribution 'Ripley' mayrefer to the heroine of the Alienmovies, may contain a SigourneyWeaver voice sample, maybe not.

ED PINSENT

Arrton Nikkila, FortnalistMoscow, Exotica, EXO98I08

Can't get my head around this one.Techno from Finland, but not as weknow it - not that we know any FinnishTechno in the first place. Maybe it's alll ike this. The sound and structuressugtest this has evolved from dancemusic - just as Rachel Whiteread's arthas evolved from art which could beenjoyed by people who aren't smartarsepost-modernists. This is not the sort ofTechno one might describe as banginior indeed be tempted to have it largeto. Formalist as the title suggests. issomewhat sparse, and sounds to beentirely computer-tenerated. Most ofthe sounds are essential ly percussive.and oddly inappropriate. The weedypencil-banged-on-edge-of- table sound isonly defined as a snare beat by where itoccurs in the bar. The bass drum isn'tparticularly bassy. The rhythms had mechecking to see if the CD was skipping.It wasn't. This was how it was supposedto be. Even those tracks which don'tsound l ike the aural eouivalent to afestival of exDerimental animation shortsfrom Canada fare only marginally befter.An organic life form went somewherewithin a fifty mile radius of the cut 'Oil

On Water', but this is still as tight-assedas you can 8et without actually havingyour buttocks stapled together. I couldelaborate further. about this being asuccessor to Richard Kirk's (farsuperior) Sweet Exorcisr endeavour, orabout how I suspect this is the artversion of gabba (unlistenable NorthEuropean 'dance' music which boastsBPMs in the 250s, in l : l t ime), and i f Ilooked hard enough l 'm sure I couldfind something nice to say about this.But sod it! I'm past caring. This isunl istenable.

WAR ARROW

Daniel Menche, TealO R , # I l o l d 5 ( 1 9 9 8 )

Extreme...Menche once made a CDcalled lncinention that came with awarning not to listen to it. Well, almost- you were warned not to listen usingheadphones, or a small speaker system,due to possible brain or hearing damagewhich might ensue. This guy doesn'tmake music, but seems set on somenihilistic, destructive bent whichinvolves exploring extremes of dangerand unpleasantness, sometimes making

54

use of his own body. The actualexploration seems to be the imporantprocess; you might say the tapes thatresult from these investigations arealmost peripheral, but this CD is bloodyexciting to listen to nonetheless. Thenearest equivalent might be theAustralian performance artist Stellarc,who likes to think he's half man, halfmachine. Fairly recently this genialcobber wired up his own body withelectrodes that caused spasms in hismuscles, so that cuflous participantsmight cause his l imbs to ierkinvoluntarily by pressing the rightbuttons; you could even do it over thelnternet. I think it was Stellarc who alsoinserted microscopic camera lenses inhis guts and exhibited the result ingvideo footage as arq if not he, somegink must have done that by now.Menche is similar, part visceral and partindustrial machinery. Although there aresome actual yents (pumping hot air)taoed here. the CD starts off with arecording of his own heartbeat withclose-miking, which produces a quietbut extremely disturbing effect;thereafter it's merely an hour's worth ofdark and eerie investigations you haveto work through. Adjust the volume foryour desired anxiety attack level. Aquick glance at the checklist of methodsused in capturing the sources shouldclue you in: smashing and scratchingobiects; a microphone accidentallycatching fire; broken record players;recording equipment being abused; andso forth. Menche delights in his owncrudeness, l ike a chi ld in the sandboxmaking mud pies; but this apparentinfanti l ism doesn't detract one whitfrom the power of his work. The mostintriguing proposition is that the overallsound is somehow'sicker' than hisprevious six CDs (which l 've neverheard); he's aiming for a species of sonicdeterioration, forcing you to hear thevery sound of rot. He wants this energTto pour from the speakers and 'escape

into the listener's psyche', suggesting hereally wants to get under your skin. Thescary skull image )printed on the CDis another visual cue; hearing this is l ikebelng confronted by such a skul l rn astrange nightmare, eating away at yourface with its razor teeth. The nasty thingis, it's doing it from the inside of yourown head...lf this one isn't strongenough for you (you sicko!) then lookout for his other 'hits', Sacrc Burn, Fieldof Skin and Furious Eclipse on theSoleilmoon label. Try and make it to theend of Vent, though...the sixth track islovely, almost like music.

ED PINSENT

+++++a++++

The Sound Projector sifth issueToneRec, PholcusBelgium, Sub Rosa SRl36 (1998)

Brilliant electronic manioulation fromfour Belgians, created and mixed inNovember 1997. They keep i t simple,almost to the point of diagrams; aschematic for creating these sevenpieces would probably be so bafflinglyminimal as to out-stupeff anyconceDtual art buff lt's like this. Onecl icking, skipping or thunking tone isIooped to provide a sort of rhythm;another tone oscillates between twonotes, creating a sort of melody; and athird is simply one form or another ofdirty white noise to roughen up theoverall surhce. Put'em together andyou've got the Tone Rec formula atyour fingertips. Just kidding. Actually it'snot as simple as that; because when youkeep things as stripped down as this,you have no choice but to use only thevery best sounds your machinery caninvenl otherwise their very tritenesswill soon become apparent and let youdown in the final construction. So theoriginal building blocks here are madeof nothing but the finest Portlandcement and rolled steel; you can trustTone Rec to make your house on asolid foundation all right. Like theWater & Architecture lot (see above)they believe that modern music createsa tangible living space for your head.The only trouble is their architecturaldesign is so futuristic you can't even findthe front door...it seems to be floatingin space behind several sheets of blacksmoked glass. Fret ye not, however,because once inside the labyrinth restassured there are many hscinatingdiyersions awaiting your intensive study.Another feature I like about this musicis that it doesn't really get anywhere.

Unlike Ambient music which tr ies tosuggest some form of drifting protressin its tapioca-like movements, Tone Recallow their few simple statements tojust stay there endlessly repeatingthemselves in little hermetically-sealedlooped dances. You're compelled to payattention, but they're strong enough towithstand the scrutiny. I'm alsoenheartened to find they can manage+a+++++a

55

the backwards-tape effect, which l'massured by a studio whiz is no longerpossible with digital recording.

ED PINSENT

+++++a+++++a+++++a

S.E.T.I. , Above BlackAsh Intenational [RIPI #.EshM3r (1998)

Reasonably effective dark ambientsound-sculpt ing from this highlyproductive solo electric guy, AndrewLagowski. Unlike other mendicantswho've wandered through this area, thisguy doesn't fall asleep at the mixingdesk; his careful structuring of theseatmospheric odysseys is as brilliantlybizarre as a sort of avant-gardeghost-train ride. Like a Hippie chemistmanufucturing a cocktail drug, he'll mixhis sources eccentrically, leaving bignear-silences; large pps of hoveringtension shimmering in the air, only tobe shattered by a sudden and alarminginterruption. The fact that theseinterruDtions are often sourced fromquite ordinary, domestic sounds - atelephone or human voice - makes itdoubly unsettling somehow. In fact thedistorted voices usually sound totallyinhuman. Deliberately, one suspects; Iwould guess this l inks to the theme /subject matter of this guy's explorations,which are largely UFO / X-Filesoriented. S.E.T.l . denotes the Search forExtra-Terrestial I ntelligence; referencesare made to covert governmentoDerations both here and abroad - theso-called Black Projects. A list ofwebsites is included on the l iner forfurther research. I can't quite put myfinger on what (if any) questions he'sasking about that stuff, mainly because Idon't give a darn about aliens fromouter space. lf you too find suchhoo-hah a bit hard to stomach, takeheart because this is still good listening,a groovy spaced-out trippy disc, staticbursts and musical tones sandwichedtogether and each whooooshy tracksegued into the next to deliver that truespace-cadet experience. Lagowski hasbeen issuing audio product since | 987,although S.E.T.|. proper began in 1992with the Vector 12" record; since thenhe's notched up a string of dancefloorrelated items as long as your arm.Cover photo is not without a sense ofhumour, too - two old dears sifting on apark bench, the gap next to themimplying a missing presence; perhapsthey've just been visited by an'outlander' .

ED PINSENT

The Sound Projector sifth issueHE IS ALMOST A DUKE ELLINGTON OR CHARLES MINGUSFOR THE 1990s, with therr same capability for prodigious outputand managing big musical projects, Those giants were no purists,and neither is Fell: not simply a lazz I free improv player, hecomposes and arranges; and embraces modern recording andsampling technology inspired by the heroes of early musiqueconcrete tapework. Fell has experimented freely within thesefields with great success, as his recorded output demonstrates.

His genius for combinations of raw materials might (and probablyhas) leave a bad taste in the mouths of some listeners. Consider:Steven Spielberg back-pedalled on his box-office disaster movie/94/, adnilling the aesthetic was excessive - he had tried to puttoo much in the stew, adding fruit to a savoury dish, Nouvellecuisine might mmbine the savoury and the sweet in an aperitiflike deep-fried brie with cranberry sauce; even gourmets who likethe taste of both may not enjoy them together in the samemouthful. How often has an experimental artist been accused of'over-egging the pudding'by fastidious critics unable to digest thework set forth on the table?

I use this food metaphor to suggest that it has a basic flaw as acritical construct. lt assumes that all art is about consuming, Somany writers - myself included - describe the success of a CD orrecord in terms of whether it ends up delivering the equivalent ofa satisfying meal. The artist is the chef, serving up a deliciousthree-course meal, which as listeners we voraciously gobble.

This could be a big mistake, I think art is about thecommunication of ideas. lt would make sense for Simon Fell towant to mmmunicate a complex rdea by expressing it in terms ofsomething else; using the Teletubbies to explain Wittgenstein, orlike that, Holding no allegiance to the purity of any given musicalform of expression, nor to preserving a continuance of thetraditions ol jazzor improvisation, Fell uses whatever forms hesees fit. The ideas warrant it. However, another mistake would beto overstress this: as he says below'l wouldn't like readers to getthe impression that my work only explores this area'.

Here we have an interview with Fell as he reaches his 40thbirthday, and his own label Bruce'sFingers is also having its 1Sthanniversary. Record wise weconcentrate mostly on hisastonishing new double CD )which is a heavy-duty item indeed;as rich as a fruitcake, in fact (seewhat I mean?!), Also there is aretrospective survey of other recordsfrom his career,

i l1i l i l i l i l i l i l i l1l l i l l l l l i l l i l i l l t l

Compi lat ion I I IEP What are the methods you useto realise a proiect like CompilationLll You seem to use composirion,'conduction', and improvisation inalmost egual measures; is that a hir r{'trdt:.assessment/ How has this interest in combining elementsdeveloped/ Have you experienced a personal disillusionmentwith the limiu of any single sty/e of music, or playing/

SHF Well, the methods used for this kind of work are usuallya fairly even balance of compositlon and improvisation, butwith very l i t t le 'conduction'. ( 'Conduction' is something l 'veliterally only just started experimenting with. I did my first'conduction' piece just under three weeks ago!) In thrscontext 'composition' really means the traditional thing ofdots on paper; the main difference is the way I ask themusicians to approach interpreting notated materials. (with

respect to this point it's worth remembering that WesternEuropean music notation has developed from a simpleaide-memoire for soontaneous elaboration and flexiblerealisation into the all-pervasive restraining straightiacket weare fumiliar with.)

sm{oNlH[.F"tr,LL

An AmbiguousComplexity...

Interview written by Simon HFell (questions bv Ed Pinsent)I I l l l f l I | | I l l i l i l l i l rr | i lr | | i lr r

When I use noation with improvising musicians, I try andencourage them to return to this original 'aide-memoire'

state; I often ask them to play the notation 'as if it's a |azzstandard that you already kno#. This is sometimes difficultwhen the notation is extremely complex, but only as long asthe player tries to play it 'right'; as soon as someone graspsthat there are several 'rights' (and l'll let them know if theyspill over into the 'wrongs') the process becomes relativelystraightforward. At some stage one starts to see the return ofenergy and personality into the musician's playing; and it can

be possible to reiniect spontaneityand commitment into apparentlysterile notated materials. I thinkthat's it's probably this preparednessto allow the soecifics of thecomDosition to mutate several times

i during the preparation forg+-,!. performance or recording that is the

;; i r essential element if a composer is to

* * * . : . * * *

r. 1,{ work successfully with jaz ori , rmProvrsrnS musrcrans.

As for combining elements, I' ' ie wouldn't l ike readers to get the

6 impressron that my work onlyexplores this area; indeed one of themost problematic areas for my critics

- is why I want to try and investigater, - .- ,{- so many dif ferent ideologies so

er : . l i iF . { ! - r ' . ._ { ' ! frantically. However, I suppose myinterest in combining elements stems

from my love of both ambiguity and complexity; theambiguous complexity created when several simple elementsare combined is both only apparent and simultaneously veryreal. Listeners educated in the subtlet ies of imorovised musicactually complete the composition by their own perception ofit, creating the possible relationships; this is a prospect whichI find fuscinating, and can produce a music of unparalleledrichness whilst remaining ostensibly straightforward. Thereare several 'constructs' on Compilation lllwhich explore thisthinking extensively. Of course there are several musicianswho have inspired me to investigate thts area; lves (of

57

The Sound Projector sifth issuecourse), Braxton, Mahler, Stockhausen, Cage and Mingus haveall worked with the recombination of disparate elements, ashave many others.

I don't think that I 've real ly experienced disi l lusionment withany single style of music as such, but of course there's a lot ofdisappoint ing (and bad) music out there in al l styles.Sometimes it can be hard to remember why you love playinga certain type of music, and this happens to me a lot. But thatjust means it's being played badly. Of course my polymathstance (or should that be 'dilettantism' - as described by myHeadmaster in 19761) is possibly a bad idea. Certainly from acareer point of view, but also from a musical one. Possibly Iwould make 'better' music if I just did one thing. But when Ican hear things in my head which no one else seems to bedoing quite the way I would like to hear them, then I do feelthat I have to trl and realise those ideas. Often I may notsucceed in creating what I wanted to hear, but I must keeptrytng.

EP Do you prefer performing and playing to composing; orperhaps everlthing is parc ofthe same parcel/ You seem toplay bass with an almost frightening attack, and I feel thisenergy transfers to the players you work with.

SHF I don't think I could relate these two activities with aview to preference; I seem to need to do both to realise myaspirations. This is partly just practical; both activities have somany aspects which are disheartening that it's useful to beable to balance the two. But on a more aesthetic level, I guessmy real interest is in complex intellectual systems beintrealised by fallible but creative human beings; I wouldn't beable to bring my work to life in the way I want if I didn't havethe connections and experiences which are so much a part ofbeing a player. And although playing improvised music rs ahugely important part of my life, I would never be happy justdoing that; marvellous as improvisation can be, my perversitymeans l'm always interested in stretching both it and otherstructural idioms by recklessly combining the two. l've neverhad any interest in recreating music that already exists, andthis extends even to my own work, so once a particularexperiment has been tried I want to move on. l'm notnecessarily interested in perfecting and refining it...

I'm not sure about the frightening attack. That depends oncontext, perhaps. But I do consciously try and injecteverything I do with focus and intensity. This may not meanthat the music's loud, or fast (although sometimes it is), butmusicians who work with me need tobe electrified and intense if they're toget the effect I need. When they'rereading music, or fol lowing otherdirections, people often focus on thetask they're undertaking, rather thanthe sound they're producing. My maintask is to get them to get back to thesound they produce, and force them tomean it! lf people have something tosay, I want to hear it; if not they shouldlet someone else speak. Far too manymusicians fill space because they'resupposed to, without really engagingwith the activity. lf my energy transfersto them, it's because I work hard to tryand make this happen. l 'm not alwayssuccessful, of course, and it'sparticularly difficult with large groups.

EP There seems to be a real craftsmanship at the hearc ofyour work, a very considered process as methodical (but not,thankfully, as over-elaborate) as Stockhausen's large-scaleworks such as lnori / Formel. I personally prefer what you doto the throw-everything-together-and-see-what-sticks

approach of our eclectic American friends/ohn Zorn, HenryKaiser or Eugene Chadbourne.

SHF l'm not sure that's a question, but l'll respond anyway.Everything I have artistic control over is considered (that's avery good word). l'm not saying this is automatically a goodthint, but it's the way I work. Every possible implication,permutation and manifestation of a particular idea has beenexplored and assessed before a final version is realised; this ispartly why everfthing takes me so long to do! And perhapsworking with improvisers is my way of keeping this tendencyin check.

Although I frequently find Zorn's work interesting, listening tohim certainly taught me that constant change can result inincredible stasis. While l've always been interested incut-and-paste collaging, the time-scale has to be right if you'regoing to perceive the iuxtapositions. Sometimes Zorn movestoo quickly; this isn't incipient fogeyism, it's just that hedefeats his own object by reducing his cells to dots in a greypoint i l l ism. But he has also produced some f ine work, and hasbeen an inf luence on the way I think about the term'composer'. I have a lot of time for Eugene Chadbourne; notsure about Henry Kaiser though!

EP Speaking ofStockhausen, he seemed to like includingcomplex printed booklets with his records that tried toexplain all the trouble heA uken getting this thing together.How about you - is it at all important for you that theaudience understands what's going on, or is it enough for usjust to listen/

SHF I'm happy for the audience to listen on any level fromcompletely analytical intellectual understanding to 'l don'tknow what this is, but I kinda like it'. What does piss me off iswhen people who are not interested in technical information,theoretical background or aesthetic aspiration decide thatno-one else should have access to this information becausethey themselves don't want it. I've learnt everfthing I knowabout music and composition from reading books and recordsleeves and l istening to Radio 3 ( in the old days); I want asmuch information as I can get about the music l'm listening to,at least in the case of 'composed music'. Giving peopleinformation isn't elitism; it's elitism to decide on behalf ofother people that they are too ignorant or shallow to haveany interest in aesthetics or technical matters. Therefore Iwould always want to make this information available, but it'snot necessary to an appreciation of the music. However,

more understanding might lead to adifferent, deeper understanding ofwhat's going on. The people who don'twant this kind of information don'thave to read it...

Trust Me.. . I 'm amusician

EP Is the relationship with themusicians and players as people - asfriends, even - important to )'oupersonally, or to the process/ Are theysimply 'hired hands' reading the sheetmusic, or are they chosen specially forexplosive combinations, to realiseparcicular effectsl ls it a 'nurcuring

orocess'lI R A N K E N S T I ] ' {

SHF The relat ionship is crucial. I needpeople who understand my aspirations,

who trust me musically (and financially), and who are flexibleabout putting themselves in awkward situations. I cannotwork with people who are worried about'failure' or nave afixed view of what constitutes good music. l'm anexperimental musician, and this involves risk; everyone wno

58

The Sound Projector sifth issueworks with me needs to be prepared to undertake that risk.They also need to have a good sense of humour, and bereliable. l've no time for posers, stuff-strutters and preciousartistes; there can be rough and tumble in my music!

Very occasional ly musicians wil l come in as 'hired hands'; thishas happened most particularly on theCompilation projects, mainly due tothe size of the ensembles, or needing asoecific instrument that wasn't availablefrom among my usual coterie. Almostalways a bad idea, though. 'Hired

hands' produce music that sounds l ikeit was played by 'hired hands', and it'spretty hard to motivate | 5 or 20stranters in the course of a 3 or 4hour recording session. With regularcollaborators there is an element ofnurturing, but i'ci ciescrrbe rt more asmusicians'gefting used io' my slightly skewed intentions inmusic-making. Some people are already on my wavelength,some settle down to it after one or two proiects; others iustcan't get it at all, even though they may be fantastic musicians!

EP Are you at all inspired / interested by similar large-ishcombos, or composer-leader events - eg the Spontaneousi\iusic Ettsentble, the Arkestra, London jazz Contposer'sOrrhactrn Bt trh Marri< Franl< Tnnna hand<)

SHF Well yes, althcugh not particularly the cnes you'yelisted. My interest in large and medium groups springs partlvfrom orchestral music - lves, Stockhausen, Varese - partlyfrom the big band tradition - Ellington, Kenton, Mingus,Braxton - and partly from jaz-fusion experiments by peoplelike Zappa, Westbrook and Don Ellis. l've never really beenthat influenced by groups like SME/O, the Arkestra, LJCO andButch Morris' work, mainly because when I was developingthe interests which still form the bedrock of my aspirationsmost of this music was unknown to me. One of the thingsabout experimental music is that exposure to it is extremelyhaphazard, particularly if one's youth is spent in the Provinces,as mine was. I suppose the crucial things have been that I likebig forces and I love dissonance, so anything that combinesthe two is off to a flying start with me.

EP ls Simon Fell's arcistic presence somewhere at the centreof large proiec* like this/ The linal result seems verl free andopen - a Parliament of voices - so are )/ou more in the way ofan enabler for this desinble state of afhirs/ How much of anauthorial voice should we be listening for/

SHF l 'm not sure to what extent you should l isten for anauthorial voice, but it's certainly there in most of theseprojects. Any recording released on or through the auspicesof Bruce's Fingers will always have my fingerprints on it" forbetter or worse. Even if it only extends to selecting the orderof improvised pieces, or select ing musicians to improvise, oreven iust selecting a recording for release, all of theseprocesses involve me ensuring that the recording has thefocus, consideredness or experimentalness which I need inmusic. Sometimes this might simply extend as far as givingsomeone a chance to speak who has been previouslyignored... Even though my work extends through many variedareas, I consider i t al l very much of a piece.

EP Funher on the audience. Sleevenote to BF 27 implies thatthe music might simultaneously disappoint [puristJ hns ofclassical music, improvisation, and iazz. Have you any though*on the way music is categorised and packaged for audiencestoday/ Are the terms used too restrictive/

SHF l'm afraid I find the way music is categorised andpackaged within the wider marketplace offensive anddemeaning to the free-thinking l istener. Even within thenon-commercial field musicians and labels are far too ready to

pander to l isteners' predeterminations and prejudices; ofcourse it can be nice and cosy in your own Particular ghetto,but l'm more interested in enabling anyone to hear the musicwho might just conceivably be interested. This relentless andobsessive pigeon-holing is not necessarily universal; it seemsespecially part of our British arts infrastructure. Part of the

blame for this must be laid at the doorof funding orga.nisations like the ArtsCounci l , who insist on identi fying,categorising and labelling any newmusic put before them. And woebetide you if you try and mix it up abit!

EP Have your proiects hred betteroverseas than in the lJKl

SHF A.nother- difflcult one to answe!';thinRs always seem better when you'reviewing them from ahr. Of course it's

easy to be supportive when you only have very sporadiccontact with someone, but l'd have to say that enthusiasts artrjdistributors in both rnainland Eurooe and North Amertcaseem to offer very much more unreserved support. AlthoughI have a marvellous collection of UK mail order customerswho are tremendously committed, the UK musices-r.atllishrrreni (pi-oiloters, ci-iiics, inagazines) aii seerr-r to t,ever/v wa!',v of expr-essing oYert enthusiasm for- anything(although there are notable exceptions!), preferring to lookand act cool. I find the sometimes incestuous back-scratchingof UK gig-getting particularly difficult to participate in, but amdetermined io ir-/ and do nioi-e iive piaTing over the conringyears; possibly not much in this country though.

EP Compilation lll srruck me immediately as being anextremely dense CD, I mean not a single musical momentgone to waste over the entire 2 CD set. Has this densitybeen achieved through discipline, meticulous planning,editing.../

SHF Yes, yes and yes. Phil Darke and I spent absolutelymonths in the studio ensuring that (at least in my opinion) thewasn't one wasted second during the 125 minutes. And Imean that literally; there isn't one second's music which hasn'tearned its place against some tough opposition. Often you'rehearing three, four or five ideas being simultaneouslyexplored; the contrast with passages of quiet empty intensityis also all planned. Every bit of this record has been gone overwith a fine-tooth comb. One of my greatest disappointmentsrs how some so-called reviewers have praised the albumwithout ever really getting to grips with it. There's so much tosay about this music. lt's not so much a matter of whether areview's positive or not, but I've yet to read one where thereviewer seems to have listened closely...

EP Another ching / /ike about this record is how ic achievesso many astonishing effects, almost exclusively throughecoustic instruments...well not exclusively obviously (electricguitar), but my guess is you refuse easily-obtainedatmospheric effects beloved of modern ambient musicians.

SHF Yes. Quite early on in this process I decided to eschewthe use of electronics. Thus only the electric guitars and bassguitar use electricity in this work, and even they avoid the useof particularly elaborate electronic effects. (l think a slightfuzzJdistortion on Colin's guitar rs about as fur as it goes.) Myinterest in electronics hasn't abated really, but this is verymuch an acoustrc album. However, I don't think this makes ita conservative recording; the way the acoustic instrumentsare used and combined is extremely exploratory. Also,several recordings have appeared recently which explore myideas about the use of samplers (l'm thinking of This Music lsSilent Until You Listen, Frankenstein and Pure WaterConstruction), but I don't often get chance to work with so

"I 'm afraid I f ind theway music iscateqorised andpack-aged within thewider marketplaceoffensive anddemeanine to thefree-th i nking I istener. "

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many live instrumentalists. As a result it seemed sensible tofollow the acoustic tendency that the music was developing.

You're certainly right about the 'easily-obtained atmosphericeffects'; nothing else makes my heart sink quite the way itdoes when a musician switches on a delay pedal! There isdefinitely some law of physics that dicates that the moreelectronic effects you have to twiddle with, the lessinteresting the resulting music. Many a potentially interestingrecord has been ruined for me by simplistic and banal use ofdelay and other effects, and the same goes for gigs. Of coursethese things can be used in a creative way ( and I even useddelay myself quite a lot in the early days of Persuasion), butgenerally I prefer disruptive rather than palliative electronics.

Descension and NoiseEP Descension - is this still a going concern/ When did youhook up with Stehn Jaworzyn/ Do you share with Stehn apassion for 'marathon' endurance playing sessions, along thelines of the Cecil Taylor Unit/ Whose idea was ir to playrcgether/ How does this profect rate in your persona/scheme of achievementsl Do you like any modern extremenoise music, like Merzbowl

SHF Descension's still a going concern, except that nobodyever offers us any gigs, or invites into studios to recordalbums. We're not (and never have been) the kind of bandwho just play together for fun, but if anyone's goint to give uswork, we' l l be there. I suppose | 'hooked up'with Stefan (notsure what that means) in late 1994/early 1995; he'd written areview of foom! foom!for Grim Humour in which he'd saidthat he'd like to hear more. So I sent him more, andapparentl/ he meant itl I would perhaps say I have a passionfor 'marathon' sessions when it's appropriate; I think ratherthan in terms of time/duration, we should be talking aboutintensity. I think what I definitely share with Stefan is arequirement that the music is real and committed, rather thanaffected or flippant. Sometimes it reguires time to achieve thisstate, particularly for a lot of players from the 'iaz' tradition;

/ou lust have to keep pushing and pushing and pushing unti lsomething bursts and you're in a different space. But otherscan achieve this instantly; Webern, for example. As forplaying together, I don't remember the details but I knowStelan and I cooked it up together. Tony and Charlie werewilling volunteers, but Stehn and I made it happen. I rate thisproject veny highly in my scrapbook. I think the music wemade on our | 995 tour (and at subsequent sporadic gigs) isamong the most intense l've ever heard inmy life. The Live, March /995CD is stillastonishing, even though the recordingquali ty is so appall ing. In one sense I don'tsee how I could ever be involved inplaying music as loud, as lntense. asreckless and as transcendent as that everagain. My only real regret is that (at leastso hr) there's never been a goodrecording of Descension; I wishsomebody would arrange a studio date(or even befter a good multi-track live

The Sound Projector sifth issue

"If I want 'modernextreme noisemusic' I ' l l l isten toBroadcasf byAscension."

the gory complexity of Stefan's guitar (let alone played withhim), how can you have any time for a lot of theone-dimensional tr ioe that seems so fashionablel

EP What are the logistical difficulties in realising a work likeCompilation lll, from stan to linishl - in rcrms ofco-ordinating so many players, rehearsing, booking studiotime etc.

SHF Just plain horrendous. l'm afraid that the major part ofany work of this nature is just administration; the number of'phone cal ls required to get even ten busy musicians and amobile recording setup in the same heavily-booked room atthe same time is sometimes almost beyond belief. And thenthey don't all turn up! Even thinking about this aspect ofCompilation ///still makes me shudder. Someone once said tome, 'there are lots of people who'd like to do music like this,if they were given the chance'; well, nobody gave me thechance, I had to make it happen for myseli working from ablank page upwards. This is part of the skill/art of doing theseproiects, and without it l'm afraid large-scale musical ideasdon't go very fur... Only being an auteur film director could beany worse!

EP Do you have to do all your own groundwork in securinggrants, linancing etc/ Do you agree with Conrad Schnieler'sview that the arcist shouldn't have to do everything himself/'

SHF Yes, I do eveqahing myself. All the musicians I know do.Who else is going to do it for theml There's not enoughmoney in this music for consultants, agents, administratorsetc. Of course the artist shouldn't have to do this; everysecond spent on stupid pointless forms for clueless artsadministrators is one second that should have been spent onmaking art. So much great work has presumably been lost inthis country as a result of the hysterical tendency to try andforce artists to jump through hoops to prove their worth,rather than iust allowing those persons who actually knowabout the artform to use their discretion. Do you realise that'value for money' now actually appears on monitoring formsfor Arts Counci l lmprovised Music toursl How much doesthat tell you about arts funding in this countryl

The Bruce's Fingers labelEP What prompted you to start )/our own label - perhaps torelease certain music that nobody else would/ Are there anylimits or definitions to what makes it onto Bruce's Fingers/Do you perceive a gap in what is currentl)/ evailable, thatneeded to be filledl

recording) for that band, before l'm too old to survive theexperience!'Modern extreme noise music': actually, a lot of it doesn'tseem that modern or extreme to me. Some of it is very veryloud, and stays the same for a very long time, but I don'treally consider that a big deal. Once you've heard a recordingof this music you can often say 'right, I know what that does'and you don't need to listen to it again. lt's a one-trickwhatsit, whatever the saying is. lf I want'modern extremenoise music' f 'll listen to Broadcastby Ascension. That's asmodern and extreme as you' l l ever hear, and you' l l hear anew harmonic twist every time you listen. Once you've heard

SHF I suppose the answer would have tobe the foolhardy ignorance of youth. Likemany young musicians starting out ontheir careers, in | 983 | sincerely bel ievedthat all I had to do was make the music Icould hear in my head, and the musicalworld would fall over itself offering memoney, recording contracts, fume, etc.Or at least I thought there would besome kind of career progression where

-things would get easier and projectsbecome successively more significant. Of course I wascompletely wrong, but the realisation of that comes later. So,since the first two or three labels I sent tapes to didn't reply, Isimply thought I should put this stuff out myself. I had alsorealised early on that making one's way in the 'business' had asmuch (or more) to do with your ability to 'hang out' and bepart of a 'scene' as it did to do your music. Since I've neverbeen very good at any of music's social ski l ls I decided I wouldstart my own 'scene'. I was short-srghted enough to thinkthat once a tape was made or an LP pressed, the world wouldfall over itself trying to buy it; I had no ideas aboutdistribution, advertising or anything. Of course l'm now agrizled pessimist (but still socially challenged).

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The only two criteria as to what makes it onto BF are (i) Ipersonally must like it/feel it's importanVwant to support it, atleast at the t ime I make the decision, and ( i i ) somebodysomewhere has to find the money to make it happen;sometimes that's me, sometimes not. This may mean that thecatalogue is a reflection of my own personal tastes andinterests, but what the hell else would you want it to be. lt'shard enough to keep the will to survive putting out recordsyou believe in: l'm not sure what other method I could use.

The only gap I perceived in the marketwhen I started BF was thenon-availability of my own music. I wasconvinced that there was a smallnumber of people who would beinterested in what I was doing, if onlythey had the chance to hear it. I wasright in that at least. I just neverthought that the number would bethar small...

EP What does rhe name BrucebFingers mean, anyhowl

SHF Nothing. lt was picked at randomfrom a video tape cover in 1979 or1980, because a band I 'd set up neededa name. I never dreamed you'd beasking me this question nearly 20 yearslater! (lt was a Bruce Lee video, ifyou're interested.)

EP Was it a good time for independent labels when youstarced/ Has it got any better since/ Do you sell items inrespectable numbers/ What has been the best-selling iteml

SHF l'm not sure what would be a good time for independentlabels. I think most musicians view setting up an independentlabel as a last resort; either because the existing infrastructureis too uninterested, too unreliable, too untrustworthy, toocommercial etc. I know I did. Of course, artistic control andfinancial independence are marvellous liberties which it's easyto take for granted, but running a label does take up a lot oftime and energy which would otherwise be spent on music.It's hard to say whether things are gefting better; as you getmore established things seem to get a little easier, probably asa matter of course. Certainly new technologies like e-mail,the internet and DTP can make life a lot easier for smallorganisations on a budget. And the Euro could make lifeeasier, since currently it's practically impossible for anoverseas customer to order iust one item because the bankscharge an arm and a leg for changing even tiny amounts ofcurrency. But I 'm sure there' l l be new downers to counreractany improvement; I'm afraid I'm a pessimist.

No, i tems don't sel l in respectable numbers! l f I could sel l oneCD for every five people who have a reason for asking for afreebie (they're a critic, they have a radio show, they'rewriting an article, they're doing a dissertation, they've got nomoney, etc - sorry Ed!) then I'd be a happy record labelmagnate. For CDs sales are generally between 100-500copies. Most are at the bottom end of that scale. In additionthere are an awful lot of copies floating around the world on'sale or return', which seems to be some weird black hole justpast Alpha Centauri. Essentially, this music gets talked about ahell of a lot, written about a lot, played on the radio a lot, buthardly anyone seems to put their hand in their pocket andactually buy it! I'm sorry this is turning into a rant. Thesituation's not helped by a world (almost) full of flakydistributors, either. Or by too many CDs (we'll come to thatlater). OK, l'll calm down. The best selling item is the /oomlfoom! CD, by a long chalk. But even that's not yet hit 5OOcopies. (My heartfelt thanks to those people who do buythings, by the way!)

The Sound Projector Sifth issue

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EP My only sour note - your sleeve destgns seem a bitnondescript and awkward to me sometimes, and I know youdid some of them...sorry. ls a strong visual image importantfor you, not iust to sell records, but can it make some form ofadditional statement about your music/

SHF OK. Well here's an answer with several strands. Firstly,a lot of this artwork has been incorrectly realised/printed etc.One of the things about working on a tiny scale with a minutebudget is that you don't have much weight to throw around

with designers, typesetters, printersetc. So some of the designs aren't asthey should be, and disappoint me too.Sometimes this is due to my owninexperience, particularly in the earlydays. Secondly, and most importantly,this is inevitably a matter of tasteanyway. More recent efforts have beenachieved in the way I'd hoped, so if youfeel this way about the design of PlayingWith Tunes, Frankenstein or GhostNores, then I guess we'll just have toagree to differ. l'm quite proud of theseones. Thirdly. I don't thrnk i t matters.The music is what's imoortant. I knowthis seems obvious, even simolistic, butI do think it's worth restating. Thenumber of sumptuously and ingeniouslypackaged CDs l've seen over the past

few years where the actual music is as dull as ditchwaterdoesn't bear thinking about. Of course, when people areswamped by CDs that they can't possibly have heard, theymight make choices on the basis of the design or packaging.Well , don't ; buy a print or small sculpture instead.

Although I'm very interested in graphic design, and would liketo make BF releases as interesting as possible (to my ownparticular taste), I would hope that one of the benefits ofkeeping at this business is that you establish a reputation forthe music. not the boxes.

EP lf in | 998 it's now become as eas)/ to release a CD as itwzs to issue a cassette in the 1980s - how does this in yourview, Aevalue the currency of music'l

SHF Of course, what I'm going to say will be completelyundermined by my own previous actions, and a good thingtoo. The fact that everyone and anyone is now releasingalmost all the recordings they make on recordable CDs ontheir own labels (in minute quantities) means that it's nowvery hard for the listener (and prospective purchaser) toattribute any particular standing to a recording because it'sbeen released on CD. Of course this standing has always beenmythical, since for most commercial record labels the qualityof the music has been pretty low down the list anyway, andthere's much superb music which has been ignored by labelslarge and small. But although it's an artificial distinction, theprestiSe of a CD release has both given musicians an objectiveto aim for and listeners and purchasers a theoreticalguarantee of 'significance'. Needless to say (and BF was aprime example), there was a time when people put outcassettes like there was no tomorrow. The reason thecurrent situation is different. however. is that for the firsttime in the history of commercially recorded music thepre-eminent consumer artehct and the lingua franca ofdomestic recordists is becoming one and the same thing: theCD. This could present a remarkable crisis, since the linguisticconsumer infrastructure does not differentiate betweenpressed CDs and recordable CDs; at rhe very least it willprove interesting. Suffice to say, BF's cassette selection willsloily be supplanted by recordable CDs. Rather than 'devalue

the currency of music', perhaps this simply seryes to subvertand undermine received preiudices about which music is

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The Sound Projector Sifth issue'significant', based simply on the format which carries it.People may start making their own minds up about what'sgood and what isn't; or they may decide there's too muchstuff and not listen to any of it...

The Production of MeaningEP lnl970s film theory, rhey speak of 'the production ofmeaning' in avant-garde cinema. I think this means that only atthe point of viewing does the artistic communication processbegin to work. There are no 'fixed meanings' inherent in thefilm waiting to be discovered by the passive viewer - ratherthe viewer must become active (while watching) in producingtheir own meanings. The Constructivists took the view thacthe arcist is more like a social scientist conductingexperiments, rather than a lofty outsider dispensing greatwisdom. Does this apply to any of your workl

SHF One of the main features of the work I was undertakingin Compilation //l and subsequently continued in Pure WaterConstruction, was exploring the degree to which musicalform, interaction and structure can be retrospectively createdby the ear of the listener. lf someone is used to listening toimprovised music or any music which requires a bit of workto perceive what's going on in terms of structure orexpression, I do think i t 's possible to develop much morehighly developed listening hculties. Many structures InCompilation lllare lhe result of chance combinations ofseparate events, and yet I find as a listener that they arerelated. I don't think that this is just fanciful. l've spoken tomany musicians about this and some of them get quitemystical about it" some telk about scientific explanations. Butthe depth of the relationship between the events dependsupon a capacity to listen - as I listen to some of the tracks, Ican hear people reacting to things which they can't actuallyhear. The correlation of that interaction may be pure chance,and it may be that subconsciously I thought that it mightwork; but I also feel that when a listener hears the first thinghe/she interprets the second as being a response to that.That's something which improvised music listeners tend to be

very good at, because they're used to discerning subtlerelationships. Cerainly if the listener restricts themselves tothe 'fixed meanings' they will miss the main point of theexperience; Compilation lllis a workwhich requires aBerkeleyan God-like listener to bring it into existence! MartinArcher, in fact, has gone so far as to assert that there's nosuch thing as interaction, only chance combinations perceivedas relationships. Whilst he's not completely right, he's not aswrong as many people would immediately assert.

EP / seem to be arriving at a statement rather than asking aguestion, which is that your music is exciting co me becauseit communicates several very different elementssimukaneously. The Compilation ll record, for example, evenat its simplest sounds like Alben Ayler free iazz andStockhausen electronic music playing at the same time -causing sparks to fly. This is kaleidoscopic music for listenerswith eight-tnck minds. Can listeners cope/ Are peoplewilling to listen in four dimensions/ Do you want to make thelistener work hardl This, I think, is what l'm getting at with'the production of meaning'.

SHF 'Kaleidoscopic music for listeners with eight-track minds'is a great phrase; I hope it makes it into the mapzine. lf itdoes l'll quote it ever/where... I'm not sure that I wantlisteners to work hard as an obiective, but I do want them to(in lves's somewhat sexist phrase) 'use their ears like a man'.Listen to the music with an open, flexible mind; if you'reinterested in the intellectual background it's there if you wantit, but you can just listen if you wish. But don't shrink awayfrom things other people have told you are 'ugly', 'vulgar','di f f icult ' or 'obscure'. just make your own mind up. l 'm notsure all listeners can cope with having to make their ownminds up, but some wil l . My music is for questioning,independently-minded people who are interested in quirkyf lexibi l i ty, complex simplici ty, t i reless reinvention andunpredictable results. Even if I say so myself (you can tell Iwrite my own press releases).

fl-BRUGE'S FINGERS

Contemporary, improvised, experimental and difficult musics . 15 years of independent releasesSIMON H. FELL - Composition No. 30'Compilation ///', a large-scale work for 42 musicians . BF 27 (double CD)

Nikki Dyerl piccolo, flutdSam Koczy; oboe/Becky Smifi; darineucharl€s Vvharf; contsabass darineUJererny Webster; bassoor/Jon Halton;contrabassoon/John Butcher; soprano sax, tenor sax/Carl Raven; soprano sax, clarineuSirnon Wllescrofi; atto sax/tlay'ey Comick; atto sax, flute; /Mic*

Beck; tenor sax/Katy Hird; tenor sax/Alan Wilkirson: baritone sax/Jo Luc*hurst baritone sax. bass darineucarv Fan trumoet/Iom Rees-Roberb:wa a EIn

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trumpeuJoanne Baker; trumpeuDavid Tollington; ftench hony'lim Page; ftench horn/Paul Wrpht; trombone/Caroi Jarvis; trombone/lr4attr\ew Hanison;trombone/Andrerv M, Oliver; tuba/lrene Lifl(e; violin/Mark Wastell; 'celldMalfiew Wilkes; 'cdldKate Hurst; 'cello/Justin Quinn; acoustic guitar/Stebn

Jawozyn; elecfic guitar/Colin Medlock; electric guitar/Damien Bowskill; electric Auitar/Andreil Stuart; eleclric guitailRhodri Davies; harpflhaneaStevens; dulcichord/Fardijah Freedman; harpichud/Guy Avem; piano, bass guitar/James Cufiill; prepared piandorphy Robinson; vibes/John Preston;

double bass/Sinpn H, Fell; harpsidtad, prepared piano, double bass/Paul Hession; drufiEet/Mark Sanders; drums, percussion. 1998 (125 mim.)'A g@uir6ly imryftant wotk. Fell's sedalist tercts de Bdicaily energised by tln shades of Mingus aN Do\fry, whlle ttr- hggy excesftr,s whhh @n

nar iazz or extetdd frf€ inprovisatbn have b€,en piled awsl, lea/ing a frnely vaiegaEd aN bautifuW bdanced conryitlfi.' Julian e,awley THEWRE| Fd is lryhg the founddkns lor utqian music-making beyond fl,e dnnde. Se/rous s htft the debate abd 2lst4enhtry nusic sterts tight herc.A:1" Ben Watsm HIFI NEWS & RECORD REVlEWfThis is, I pomise, a rarc tred.' B(ian Madey AVANTIRena*able for iE anbit:r,us objective as

well as tltc neas enpbyed, &npsition No. 30 musl be recognr.sed x a significai event for British jazz. lntriguing, mexpx;ted, sutptising,distutt)ing but atways in@ssioned aN thrilling, &],npositbn No. 30 fuily realises the fnril of its anbitions.' Gustule &nrtti IMPROJAZUI an stafting

to beliew that Sinon H. Fell is one of the nosl inwdant conryets alive, and releases /,ke fhis jusl nake the case noe cd-ad4ded by the minute.'Rbhad cochnne RESONANCE

MARTIN ARCHER/SIMON H. FELL - Pure Water ConstructionAn electroacoustic suite based on solo improvisations by 5 leading musicians. Discus 11 CD (CD)

Martn Archer; sopranino sax, violin, keyboards, drum nuchines, eleclronics/Charlie Collins; bass darineuRotin Hawvard; tuba/Jenni Molloy;'cello/Stefan Jauozyn; guitar/Rhodri Davies; hardChris Bum; piano/Sinnn H. Fell; keyboar&, double bass, bass guibr/Gino Robaic percussion. '1998

(72 mirE.)"Ilrc guesf lmprovisers' coilribulions dd several dinensions lo a wodd of ide66 dready pushilg tl?e bourdades of modem conposition. Orce etr/ain, it

seens as tlpugh Mailin Arclw dtd his cdlabontors have sucr,essfully ueded Wes between worlds previously barety inqitd aN iilustrde justflow cleatfu nodem ncordim txhnioux am fifilw hamxs Thc lirc lnlwen mxlm<c & Mnhrc nav Mll lE lhin htt Matlik

M

aI

J ceilainly knows llow to patade a camival along it.' FOURTH DIMENSION

lST - Ghost Noteslmprovisations and new composed music for string trio . BF 28 (CD)

Rhodri Davies; har/Mark Wastell; 'celldsimon H. Fell; dolbl€ bass. 1998 (65 mins.)includes:BergstrorrNielsen-FlruMusrc,Contantinou-Empedoc/es,Dunant-SowanFor/slFell-/cons&Cublsn,Puw-Xjst,Wastell-Rrtmico

Tlp latest additbn to this Fell leasLThe critics haven't cauglrt up with this one Wt....

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a tGDs €11.00. double CDs €18.00

ALL PRICES INCLUDE POSTAGE & PACKING FOR EUROPE. OUTSIDE EUROPE please add e1.00 per iterrrBRUGE'S FINGERS,24 CHAUNTRY ROAD, HAVERHILL, CBg 8BE, U.K.J '

o$o+#o*#eef++$oolo+$++**o*->o

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#*o#oe$++$oefeolo+#o*#eo$++<)

+elee$+o#eo#o@+

Selectedrecords from

the Simon H Fellback

catalogf||g...

+o+ee++++@e++++

This Masic issilent until youIistenElectroacoustic

by Martin, Simon H

Fell, RobertGoodman, SimonVincent,Ilaiharine NorrnanDISCUS 6 Cp (1996)

Compilation, in which Fellturns in 'Mutual andReciprocal Ceremonies', hisComposition No 26. lt's a

and alarming tapeworkakin to a

nightmare version of FrankZappa's early Lumpy GnvTperiod - it's alwapexhilarating hearing windinstruments doing thingsthey can't possibly do. lt'schiefly a cut-up of arecording of one of Fell'sown works, an octet Diece,reconfigured to be playedvia sampling keyboards.Palng affectionate tribute tothe viny' medium (andlamenting its possibledemise), Fell incorporates anold scratchy classical musicorchestral record from a carboot sale: even the cracklesare sampled and played like

:.'They wouldn't let mean orchestra. so I did

instead', is his wryon the ingenuity

this assemblage, which issomething of an

t o n

elaborateas embodied in the

Same; and

perspicaciouson the state of

modern music compositiontoday. A little gem ofcompaction. (The rest ofthis CD is also good, butthen this is Simon Fell'sarticle...)

The Sound Projector sifth issue

Hession / ll/ilkinson / Fell, Foom! Foom!Bmce's Fingers BF 5 (1992)

Outstanding CD of free jazz playng spirited, loud and fierce;'threeway dialogues of unstoppable veolocit/, this one apparentlycoined the term 'Punk

Jarz'. Alan Wilkinson is one of my P€rsonalfavourites in the UK scene and continues to this day to make adelicious racket with his rast honking bell of metal. He stillmanages occasional pairings with Stefan Jaworzyn strumming hisanSry guitar. A man of catholic tastes, the music which has {ed intohis plalng includes not only the great Archie Shepp, but Hendrix,

ream, Faust and Deep Purple. Alan Wilkinson and Paul Hession(with the help of others) organised the Termite Club in Leeds inthe 1980s, which has been an importantfocal point in the Northof England for international free plalng. Termite seems to have apretty op€n agenda, which is welcome; besides improvised music,they also book electronic noise merchants like the Swiss teamRunzelstirn & Gurglestock, whose dada-esque pranks (eatingplatefuls of spaghetti connected to contact microphones) cansometimes upset those segments of the audience who preferacoustic improv in the Derek Bailey mould.

This great CD is six studio recordings whose names evoke thefun-loVng Derek Bailey penchant for hilariously elaborate titles -

eg'The Alphabet Poised like twenty-six frozen ducklings'. Forurther furious Wilkinson blasts, check out the Bruce's Fingers

Termite Two(lrom 1989) and Eogeys(from l99l)

+o++o+o++++++o+

eo+++$++#++#€'++

Simon H Fell, Compilation If

Theme and Variatlons for improuisors, Jazzensem.ble and elecEonic sBruce's Flngers BF 4 (1990)

An early foray into collaSe, combining unrelated musical events.Wemight say that the mxsive work Compilation ///is cut from the samecloth as this. Working with featured brass players Alan Wilkinson,Charles Wharf, Martin Jones and Pete Minns, and drummer PaulHession, Fell takes recordings of unconnected improvisations andmixes them together, creating astonishing musical events that neveractually happened. He then adds layers of his electronic plalng overthe top, and mixes in speeded-up tapes and other musique concrdtedevices. Frank Zappa has deployed the method with his studiobands, putting together backing tapes that don't match - he called itxenochronicity. Fell's methods may upset improvisation purists, butwho can complain when the results are as good as this? No holdsare barred when it comes to the post-performance editorialising inthe cuttinS suite: this recording has a much more rough-hewnquality than its I 998 brother. All the edges are slammed together,still raw and bleeding. A splendid work and one that will repay closerlistening. Sleeve notes by long-sewing supporter and champion, BenWatson. Sleeve photography byJo Fell deploys six croppings andenlargements of the same one photograph to emphasise differentelements of the scene; a visual equinalent to what's going on in thegrooves, perhaps.

+++++$oo#oo#++#++*@+++o++o#oeloe#eo

#oo#os+Gharles Whar:f /Simon H Fell,ITankensteinBnrce's Fingerl BF2 5 ( l

Highly intriSuing - of Fell'srecent works this isrecommended highly. Fellmakes cut-uDs of CharlesWharfs saxophone plalngand mixes it with foreiSnelements, his own plalngon keyboards and bass

, and layers of soundThe CD traces anic and quirky

through a suiteideas. handled with

and the kind ofminiaturist detail

're coming to exp€ctthis man Fell. Funnily

we had anotherFrankenstein-oriented

last ish - the splendidFra n ke n s te i n Symp h o n y by

French-CanadianFrances

Dhomont. Fell's cover art istaken from the samemovie, the James Whale

ic, but cleverly singlesout the key images of thenormal and abnormal brain(crucial to the story...guesswhich one ends up in BorisKarloffs bonce?). We'll tryand resist the 'mad

scientist' comDarisons, butnote there's a beautifulthunderstorm sound-effecton this record, muffled intothe background during aparticularly m)6terioussonic experiment. Tracktitles refer also to the

storm thatthe life-force

energr for the Monster.

63

********x*************** **Cotnposition No 30:Compilation IE for

Big Bandand Chamber Ensem.ble

x C Dt t BFz? (r998)

The big one. Listen to all the records(don't iust read my stoopid

) and then play this monster;career might have been leading

to this maSnum opus. We might saythat Fell has worked through several

jor modern musical developmentscentury and made them work that

better. lmproVsation - allowing histo blow free but then using

to make furtherexciting combinations, and tape editintto leave only the choicest moments.E laborate Stockhausen-likecomposition - refitted into a leaner,more efficient, streamlined model.Musical architecture with plenty ofopen spaces. Tapework - all studiotechniques are permitted, even ifthe/re considered to be'cheating' bysome. Digital editing works, so whynot use it? Only a diehard PierreHenry fanatic would insist thatmaSnetic tape is the only mediumoermissible.

Some ei6ht years in the making thisrecord is a Noah's Ark filled to thebrim with an entire menagerie oftalented musicians and musical styles.Like Noah, Fell is the comDassionatezookeeper tendinS to all the beasts

and small, from the tiniestmosquito to the largest elephant; playthis record and that's the range of

you'll hear. To extend theocean-going metaphor, a trip throughthe two hours of this record is to liveinside the belly of the whale - a trawlthrough the ocean of 20th century

musical history has beenwhole. The luckiest man

alive would be Jonah who could happilyspent the rest of his life inside

this treasure-house of delights. Andyet the cover art modestly seems to besalng the work is no more than apebble washed up on the beach. I thinka similar analogy was used by lsaacNewton when asked to reflect on hiscareer of scientific discoverv.

**x*********x**Something Else, Playingwith TunesBruce'g Fingers BF 20 (199?)

Live recordings collected from touring sessions 1995-96, with MickBeck on the tenor sax and Paul Hession on the drumset. The nameof the band should put any j"z buff in mind of Something Else!the| 958 recording by Ornette Coleman: paying tribute to thatlandmark LP, the UK trio carry the message of lree iaz. on theirjourney like zealous missionaries. The record is an odpsey throughthe modern world with 'discussions...about how society could beorganised, money distributed, and moral codes established.' Themusic's great: Fell's double bass work very well with just Hession'srimshots behind it, as in the introductory passage to'DifferentSticks', while .Jacking it Up' starts off with very moody

ing over a bass drone and panpipes. Beck's sax plalngon 'Lonely

Life' and 'Mpteries' is about the most heartbreakingyou'll hear outside of Charlie Parker on a bad day. A melancholyrecord, but not without hope; the field recording of the church bellat Saint Saens, Seine-Maritime suggests some Christian compassion,an island of comfort in the midst of their dangerous vofage.

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The Sound Projector sifth issue

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Music fot IO(A)Syznphony for I0 improuisers and poet: Op, - 28vetsion No I (I'eeds)teo Records. LEO Ltl,BCD 013

A big composition in eleven movements, big band swing music withplenty of space for free blowing. Written for the City of Leeds tocommemorate the | fth anniversary of the Termite Club in that fair city(where it was recorded live in 1993), received funding from YorkshireArts, and coincided with the 100 year celebrations of the cit/sfoundation. Some passages, for example, 'Movement lV'sound like a

Brass Band or Salvation Army band blowing a melancholy air inthe bitter Northern air. Although the full piece takes some 90 minutesto perform, sections can be removed and re-arranged as necessary; I sawa slightly truncated one at the LMC Festival, and it's very good indeedlive. With the added bonus of ranting poetry from Ben Watson, who

with poisonous zeal aSainst the hypocrisy andforces of record shops in Leeds. With players

Wharf, Minns. Beck Wilkinson. Hession and Fell: and Paul Buckton onelectric tuitar, John McMillan on electronics, Mary khwarz on

Vola and Guy Llewellyn on French horn.

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lBruce'g Fingerg 8F 20 (199?) f *5|4

lLive recordings collected from touring sessions 1995-96, with Mick I . :

| ff:Lt*;m ;T :l;,'#'ff* ;J :i:"lffi; I[,T:" I ft*l,:::'.::iT,1 H"'[?ffil"".'; :ilT'i:#'iiP!1", :'ll'.n " . | * xl iourne/ like zealous missionaries. The record is an odlasey through | - | _ . | .

l*ml::x"":11;l'l;i[:'.1',^;*i:s:#;ffi"1Yff l)FxI iln'f ffi ';:ffitl"rr4t"frH*idf s'[ Hess'n s

I f xl.y-o",-o.urnrg o"!'.

" o:rss orone ano panplpes. Beck's sax pr"f"S I *X

lon'Lonely Life' and 'Mysteries' is about the most heartbreaking I . :

I #Jli:il.";; iil::iiH:il:1"il :":::,lil if,:':ffiH,",, | * x| :::1,'l;.'T :*#lf il:' ffi :iffifi;ff ;[i'i'::;:] o^'' "

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Xtr***{t**i({()c*******r(************rf ***Jf X jF*lr*rF*ir****lST, .tlnagratns to EvoidUS[, SIIllA Records SIWf, #3 (199?)

First and (as yet) only viny' release by string trio IST formed in | 994 - Fell plap the bass. Mark Wastell plap cello, and has also worked withEran Parker, Chris Burn and tape manipulatorJohn Wall, besides running the Confront Recordings label. Rhodri Davies is a Welsh harpist whoalso does orchestral and chamber work besides solo plalng. (l guess he provided the Welsh translation of the sleevenotes here). This is fineplalng sometimes of an extremely discreet naturei 'Strim

Stram Strellach' is one of the most subtle sub-sonic works of improv yet captured ontape. Each string player finds an infinite variety of sounding techniques on their chosen acoustic device - plucking resonatin& sawing scrapingbowing, hitting...so that a simple trio can produce a range of droning and percussion effects comparable with an entire orchestra. At time ofwriting the trio have booked a tour of the UK in November 1998, where theyll be plalng their own composed pieces and works bycomPosers Earle Brown, Stockhausen, Bergstrom-Nielsen, and avantists Richard Sanderson and Phil Durrant.

64

The Sound Projector Sifth issueTHERE ARE FEW EXPERIENCES lN LIFE that rival rhat initialspanking when you're released from the womb into the greatcruel abscess of existence, wailing and bleating like theproverbial lamb on the altar, a surprisingly unromanticsnipping of cords and flesh before the pleasant reunion wirhmother or incubator, what have you...the first wet dream, thefirst pleasant love affair, the first kill, the firs! arreslsuperladve memories.

Occasionally, on the best of evenings, a concert or art showcan rival these experiences like no other form of socialintercourse, the best of such experiences are cataclysmic and

transponed into a black light universe of maddening luxury.The previously serene looking giant dayglow tapestries turninto molten hieroglyphics that furl haughtily in rhe breezeand the band members are suddenly decked our in rhe sameMayan highlighr patrerns. Their costumes, unlike rhesuspiciously friendly Care Bear look of rhe first group, areindescribable, somewhere between the symbols of GeorgiaO'Keefe and the plot thrusts of Gerald Jablonski's comics.maddening skeletal puppets and props like horrible satanicwitching ceremonial garb cover all members with bizarrefleshy wigs and outrageously misproporrionedappendages...the singer flaps wildly over a similarly decoratedmoog wirh a cow-skull helmet with what looks like some

internal organ dangling from it.The violinist wears giganricbutterfly wings that flap andfold with her intonations. Theguitarist wears a giant maskthat excends far below thehead and angles precariouslyover the instrument. Thedrummer and bassist seem f,obe joined by some oddlypainted tableaux of horse hoofthunderstorm landscapecactus leaves with spinyanteaters prancing within andamong the debris of lostcivilizations. All oerformseemingly as one victim, and

n,. several characters arent bandmembers at all but giantmenacing puppers thar rwicrerinfrequendy to some weirddisco design that mangles and

splinters. A ladder appears into

controversial and can have prgqlucilre and unsettling results.I've heard that in the fifties LSD p or.rginally used by theCIA to convert alcoholics by @ ,ll:., ';: i,: i,, i:,ri:providing them with rhe'religious experience'documented as a necessarycatalyst for their cure. The oesrartists and musicians providetheir wares as such like a tonicelixir for the pangs ofcontentment and boredom.Like an evangelical prayergrouP, something supernaturalis promised; an awarenessunlike any other which thelistener must 'break onthrough' ro discover. Whetherthe spectacle is illusorT orself-mocking, the promise ofsome kind of revolutionarvreckoning is inherent.

I don't like to spread praisegratuitously, or even likewriting concert reviews for that

1111t:;i),1.i'1';:i

,,r;,,,ii'.i,

??ji?i!i

matter, but I break the exception for the supremely satisfyingCalifornia based troupe called Caroliner. This band has neveiplayed in Europe but, like Spinal Tap - and loudness - arepopular in Japan. I urge all you freaks to get some breadtogether and fly them over for a show like none other in anyplane, astral or physical: that will make sparks fly from yoursweateryest and keep your synapses stitched with neon.

I am fresh from this brearhtaking experience which raised thepent'ton at the Eyedrum Space in Adanta the night ofOctober 21. A girl got burned and a guy got a ladder thrownon top of him and stomped on but sometimes it takes a rowlevel of violence to spark the transcendence of what I like tocall enviable memory.

The Melted Men from Athens began the evening with aswamp druck fever calling dressed in pink furry animalskins and tweaking and turning dozens of knobs andturntables in a white noise frenzy of hot control andweird somnambulant nausea lhat was far riskier anointerestinger than I'd seen previously. The traces ofhip-hop and drum machine experimentalia were stilltraceable in their bizarrs, piner-patter soft shoe whichincluded much running around in crazy Hike Kelleycostumes and screaming weeny lyrical monbgey diatribes.Then they seemed to multiply and divide into a veritablearmy of stuffed animals, prouncing around the room,dousing everyone with machine smoke and throwingfirecrackers at fans lurking in the staircase. Altogeth-er animmensely fulfilling feat of performance in itself.

But wait - like a reverse volcano spiralling over the void,Caroliner slowly takes the stage as the extinguishersmoke clears and one suddenly realizes one has been

the mix and the singer is upon it, bucking and riding it overand onto the crowd like a crazed possessed mechanical bull,which ir is a bull, the bull is Caroliner and has appearedbefore this awe-stricken collective, and the bull is tramplingthe opus of all our expectations in a ritual of drivel andchoreographed fantasy extreme and delirious dialectics...

All compelling and immensely addictively yearning to returnone to the freest of scenest the wildest of frontiers, not theWest of McCanhy or the South of Faulkner but theinnermost landscapes of the minds of history, passed history,unforgettable collective enviable history...see for yourselvesthis singing bull of the ancient sunburned telepathic void. anddon't say I didn't blame you.

BEN YOUNG

ffi

OlL]tN]E]R]RI\]tN]EONrILIVE@ EYEDRUMTATLANTA GA (USA)I 21 ocroBER 1998??????????oooooooooo

65

F"OI-KN4IUSICPart One:England WW

Rambling notes by Ed Pinsent

ffiffK,";?$ ryx*

The Sound Projector sifth issue

tq?DFfFOLK MUSIC POSES AN ENIGMA for me, the simpleproblem of unknowability. Even a superficial study of thelyrics, and their sources, of English folk music will eventuallylead to a brick wall - because of what is uncierstooci as the'oral tradition'. The exact origins and meaning of a given folksong, murder ballad or weird fuiry story are lost to us, andwill remain unknowable. You can study and compare thesurviving versions, making allowances for corruptions andmistranslations in the process - nonetheiess the ineradicableenigma remains at the heart. But I find this eniSma exciting -

the very not-knowingness adding a profound sense of awe. Amurder ballad or fairy song will always yield up at least onefrightening image, too powerful even to attribute to thedarkest imagination.

The idea of the Hobby Horse rampaging through the villagestreets to bring in the summer is one | f ind decidedly odd; i t 'sa May Day pagan tradition that has survived in parts of theUK. Tim Budden showed me photographs and a dummy headof its Welsh counterpart - [ the Marie Llwyd] - at the CardiffFolk Museum, and took it for granted that everyone wouldenjoy having this monstrous beast poking its head in at yourthreshold. Brr! The Hobby Horse, along with other traditionslike John Barleycorn, the Maypole, and wearing of antmalmasks winds up in the The Wicker Man movie, a strangeBritish film from 1973 sold to us as a horror story but withmany added repercussions that have made it a cult classic.

The soundtrack to The Wicker Man finally became availableearly in I 998, thanks to Jonathan Benton-Hughes and hisassociates at Trunk Records in Hampshire. Noteworthybecause it had never been officially issued in the first place;this edition has been taken direct from the soundtrack ratherthan master tapes. The music was mostly composed by PaulGiovanni, with songs and acoustic instruments played by a folkcombo called Magnet. The songs are never forgotten by mostviewers: some are beautiful, like the 'Maypole Song', a danceand a hymn to reteneration rites (real Golden Bough stuff ,this) with cascading chi ldren's harmonies; some are simplybawdy romps, like 'The Landlord's Daughter'. Sadly we'remissing the most seductive and naturalest of the songs, thenocturne 'GentlyJohnny' - because the record-makers onlygot hold of the shorter version of the film. But 'Corn Riggs' (amusical sett ing of a Robert Burns poem) is another piece inthe jigsaw of a work full of images referring to the narrativetheme - a failed harvest and the human sacrifice necessary tobring it back. Most effective are the snatches of music whichblend with the movie's sound effects: the record oPens withthe roar of a seaplane's motor which segues perfectly into thedrone of a bagpipe. The sound effects for the sacrifice of theEdward Woodward character are terrifying - he's caged insidethe Wicker Man, with the sounds of crackling flames,livestock screaming - while the strains of 'Summer is lcumenIn' (natural ly) sung by Lord Summerisle and his insane acolytesto the weirdest musical setting you could think of. Thistraditional celebration song becomes, in Giovanni's hands, anunsettling and melancholy dance of doom: Beniamin Brittencould have done no better! These brilliant sound-collagemoments are naturally emphasised when you play thesoundtrack away from the film; the emotional impact isstunning. l think even if you'd not seen the film you'd bermPresseo.'Summer is lcumen In' is one of Bri tain's earl iest popularsongs, known to exist in the | 3th century. Yet, despite itspedigree and age, even this isn't necessari ly a 'pure'folk song;it's a 'carefully contrived work, full of stylistic innovations'. Sosays Karl Dallas, who considers the song likely to haveemerged at the end of the minstrel tradition in this country,at a time when the feudal system was decaying and cities were

66

The Sound Projector sifth issuegrowing. lt's more likely to present'a townsman's view ofcountry life, rather than the authentic article'.

tq?*fFor years I was haunted by'She Moves Through The Fair' - inparticular a version sung by Anne Briggs, which only surviveson a rarish Decca compilation of music from the EdinburghFolk Festival of| 963. Aghost-lovertheme whichnever fuils toraise the oldhackles, thisslory In songbroughtmesmerisingrmaSes; r wasconvinced thatno more genuineexample ofancient'unknowable'

English folkexisted. Howwrong I was. lt'san traditionaltune all right, butthe lyr ics are byPadraic Colum -

a 20th centurylr ish poet Youcan hear anotherexcel lent versionby MargaretBarr.y on TheElectric Museshe learned i t{rom an old 78record by Count

JohnMacCormack andpassed it on torevival ist singers in London when she sang at folk clubs inCamden and Kentish Town. Also recorded by FairportConvention and Trees, of course. And l'm painfully aware ofthe more recent use of this song in a TV commercial, to sel lsome form of beer of an alcoholic nature for drinkingpurposes. I think the singer there might be Shane MacGowan,but that doesn't bother me so much as the crass images thedirector used: a romanticised red-haired col leen, an expl ici tpicture of a 'swan' appearing when the lyric compares the girlto a swan in the evening; and substituting a funhir for themarket hir. Shudder.

Another folk record that really got under my skin was asampler of Northumbrian musrc, with a thrilling mixture ofborder ballads, death songs, stirring tunes played on the smallpipes by Jack Armstrong, and good-natured drinking songs. Ikeep returning to it for personal reasons too difficult toexplain. lt is called Norchumbrian Minstrelsy, and features thesinging talents of two Tynesiders, folk club hvourite BobDavenport, and lost tunestress lsla Cameron (who had afeatured role on the soundtrackfor Far From the MaddingCrowdl. The simple tunes are indelible; the lyrics sketch inglimpses of a forgotten and disappeared England, withhorrifying accurac/. 'The Border Widow's Lament' is an imageof utterly unbearable misery; the violence and widows' lossresulting from the battle of 'Chevy Chace' equallyinsupportable. Yet neither of these songs are delivered with

\rr,irer' King. L\l\: ()rS'fi:45 Britannitus,,\p'ri1-\ILrr llXr

any undue excess of emotional torment by Bob Davenport;no tormented 'soul singer' he. The emotion is all in the form.lsla Cameron also has some great death songs - 'My BonnyLad' about her lost sailor boy whose 'grave it is green, but naewith grass'; another drowning song, 'Willie's Rare'; 'The ThreeRavens', and 'O can ye sew cushions', a very ancient Scotsnurse's lullaby which is one that shows the hidden origins of

rock-a-bye baby;and also hints at apossibility thatsomething hasgone horriblywrong in thenursemaid andbaby scenario.You can almostsense a missingverse thatexplains the storyand shows you ababy accidental lysmothered todeath; the songmight become theunsettling lamentof a mad woman.

I mention thechi ldren's nurseryrhymeconnection there,because I think i tpoints to one ofthe many filtersthat folk song haspassed through. Irefer to theefforts ofacaoemlccollectors, amongthem Cecil Sharp,who collectedEnglish folk songs

in this century; and Professor Francis James Child, whocollected English and Scottish ballads at the end of the | 9thcentury. Their stirling work meant that a lot of the oraltradition (which in any case was virtually dying out as theyperformed their tasks) has survtved in written form. This hasled to two problems, troublesome to a purist. One, thetendency by these academics to editorialise, and leave out bitswhich might upset a wider audience. Baring Gould is knownto have expurgated rude words and phrases from WestCountry folk songs, annotatinS such lapses as 'vety gross' and' impossible to print ' . I think this is how Mr Punch, forexample, was transformed (particularly in Victorian Picturebooks for children) from a violent wife-beating murderouslecher who beats Death and the Devil, into a friendly Nurserystory-book chap. Two, the transference of words that onlyexisted in spoken or sung form, onto the printed page; thusrendering them into 'literature'. These issues have beendiscussed elsewhere many tlmes, and I simply mention them ispassing. For certain I believe the ballad form is about the mostefficient way to tell a story; it cuts straight to the action withabsolutely no exposition, and its deft use of ellipsis issomethint any aspiring writer would do well to study.

tfl?*Plf the oral tradition is something you insist on, then somethingof interest to you is the Leader record Unto Brigg Fair. fhis isreckoned as a pretty important item, as it contains very

67

nearly the earl iest known recordings of English Folk Musiceyer made. They were made in 1908 by the Australiancomposer Percy Grainger, who studied the tunes to weaveinto his classical compositions - as have others, such as RalphVaughan Williams. Grainger made location recordings on hisown cyl inders in 1906, and revisited Lincolnshire in 1908 tobringJoseph Taylor (and others) in the GramophoneCompany recording studios to make further records. TheLeader record is made up of these cylinder recordings. Evenleaving aside the historical significance of this item, it really isgorgeous music: struggling across the years through anunstable medium, there floats this most graceful of voiceswith an exacting intonation and control of phrasing that putsmany classical singers to shame. The voice of Joseph Taylorexudes a gentle calm, yet the control is all there; in a way it'shard to connect this sublime voice with the photograph of therather stufff-looking white-haired gentleman with hiswatch-chain, sideburns and bowler hat. This man was 75 whenhe made these recordings.

tqgfifThis record is but one of many inf luences on Andrew King, inrealising The Bitter Harvest - his first release of English FolkSong. King cites all the known printed and taped versions ofthe songs that he chooses, and delivers these mournful dirgeswith excel lent voice, and minimal musical accompaniment.Focusing almost exclusively on murder ballads, songs aboutdeath, and other ghastly disasters, King brings these ancienttales and songs to life. Both 'Sir Hugh' and 'Earl Richard' aredelivered with flawless intonation, each tale filled wrthshocking images of murder, /et sung completely'straight' - aswith 'Chevy Chace', the emotion is all in the text. 'Sir Hugh' isbased on versions of the Lincoln murder, allegedly as part of aJewish r i tual in 1255; 'Earl Richard' closes with the stunningimage of an accusatory bird delivering a stern warning fromthe bough. Other songs, however, reflect the much laterversions which had survived into the English music hal ltradition; and, slightly earlier, those which existed as printedbroadsides. Both of these song forms, catering to abloodthirsty English mob that gathered at the gallows orother public executions, are a tad more melodramatic thanearlier ballad forms. Through his English panoramic sweep,King concentrates mostly on the characters in the ballads, butincludes along the way some very specific references to areasof the English country (Brigg Fair, Folkestone, Sussex,Taunton), and touches on his knowledge of certainceremonies, like wassail and may dances. Even the 'May Song'processional conveys an unequivocally pessimistic message,reminding us how our l ives are short and wil l be cut downlike grass. King weaves a potent spell, supporred by hisimpasto paintings reproduced on the cover and CD. Theseimages are entirely apt visual aids for listening to any goodchil l ing folk song.

The 'puri tanical ' school of thought on Folk Musrc comes outof a battle that has already been fought in this country in thefolk clubs of the 1950s. There was even a oolitical dimensionto it, supplied by the post-war folk revivalists (and Marxists) AL Lloyd and Ewan MacColl. lt's not within the scope of thisbrief article to reiterate this particular stew of conflictingideas. The purity they so insisted on is not only unattainable,it isn't even necessarily desirable; the very impurity of mixingfolk with rock music, for example, is what has led to a wholerange of interesting and exciting bands in the UK, whosestories are sketched in 6y The Electric Musebook and 4 LPset. Besides, if you want another more exciting story ofimpurity, look what happened when English Folk songs weretransplanted to the New World...

To be continued in parc two

68

The Sound Projector sifth issue

&q?*PShopping listfor theabovg...

Arrdrew King, The BitterEanestEpiphany 0l (1998)

With an annotated booklet testiting tothe depth of King's research into thesources, and many fascinatingobservations thereon. He fears for thesurvival of these songs, which isprecarious at best. 'We possess awonderful storehouse in our traditionalculture'. The lyrics can be obained fromAndrew King direct. With musicalaccompaniment on harmonium, bells,tabor and drones. The drones are tapelrcps; could this be the firstFolk-Concrete LP? Plus guest musiciansand singersJohn Murphy (from Death In

June), Karl Blake, Andrew Trail, ScottHowland and David Kenny.

Enguiries to World SerpentDistribution, Unit 7- l- | 7 SeagerBuildings, Brookmill Road,London SE8 4HL

tq?lFPPaul Giovanni and Magnet,The WickerMan oriqinalsoundtrackTrunk, BARKED 4 (1998)

Still available on CD as we speak,although apparently the vinyl press soldout very quickly. Record collectors havebeen discussing it for years; I evenconsidered at one stage running a hoaxarticle about a mre undiscovered issue ofthe LP that never existed. The movie wasreleased by British Lion in 1973, directedby Robin Hardy and staring ChristopherLee.

Trunk Records, PO Box 56,Aldershot, Hampshire GUI I 3YN

fq?tPThe Electric Muse: TheStoty of FoIk into Rock4 xIrP box setIsland,/ Transailantic FOLKr00l ( lgzs)

Great! With informative sleeve notes byKarl Dallas and compiled by the samepeople who wrote the book below, thisis a fine survey of most of the import2ntplayers and singers who developed out ofthe UK folk club scene of the | 960s, andshows how things grew into successfilland semisucces#ul rock bands -including the obvious suspects SteeleyeSpan, Fairport Convention, Lindisfarne,The Albion Country Band, RichardThompson...

The Sound Projector sifth issue

For me the high spots include the cuts bythe excellent folk guitarists, DaveyGraham, John Renbourn, and Bert Jansch;all of these demonstrating consummateguitar craftsmanship and fluency infinger-picking and quicksilver etchings ofmelody. Although some of these skillstransplanted elsewhere (PaulMacCartney's'Blackbird' is one obviousexample), mostly it was a short-livedepisode in musical history that wascompletely wiped away by the Punkexplosion, a revisionist chapter whichobliterated anything that smacked oftechnical ability.

Try solo LPs by any of these three if youcan find 'em. Davey Graham's catalogueis pretty much out-of-print andcollectible, although I did find a See ForMiles compilation. Graham picked upinfluences from everywhere, includingeastern music and Charles Mingr:s; whenhe made Folk Rooa, New RoutesforDecca in 1964, paired with theincomparable singer Shirley Collins, astrante and wonderful hybrid resulted.

Also don't miss the first'history lesson'LP, with interesting oddities like 'Shoals

of Herring'from one of Ewan MacColl'sradio ballads made for the BBC in 1960:these mixed dcumentary speechrecordings with interpretations of folksong, in this case by A L LLoyd. TheCopper family of Rottingdean (whose .4Song for Every Season on Leader isreckoned to be pretty essential) arerepresented, likewise Archie Fishersinging with his sister Ray - another one Ifirst heard on the Edinburgh Folk Festivalrecord, loving their harmonies whichwere in fact heavily influenced by USAblues singers Sonny Terry and BrownieMcGhee.

The Electric Muse is reissued on CD,along with a companion box of new (old)material The New Electric Muse.

ta?*tr?he EIecEic Muse (book)by Dave lraing, RobinDenselow, l(3al Palla5,and Robert SheltonLondon, Eyre Melhuen I9?5ISBN 0 4t3 31860 5

A rivettingly fascinating read, especiallythe Karl Dallas chaoter'The Roots of

Tradition'. Dallas was the folkcritic of Melody Makersin." i956.

tq9fitrIsla Gameron, BobDavenport, facklfrmstrong, TheRakes, Northum-brianMinsEeIsyConcert Hall AIu 2339

Title derives. we think from al9th century musical gazette byBruce and Stokoe. Recorded bythe more-than-legendary PeterKennedy, the man who recordedso much traditional music in theUK now oreserved in the National

Folk Music archives at Cecil SharpHouse, whose tapes are not available toanyone except members of the EnglishFolk Dance and Song Society. This fine LPwas a firm favourite of mail order recordclubs in the 1960s. So how rare can it belI have seen another copy at a record fair,and one in a catalogue.'Chevy Chace' = Child No 162. A longballad, and only a fragment is sung heresketching in tle aftermath of the Battle ofOtterburn I 388. The 'floating literatureof the M ddle Ages'.'The Border Widow's Lament' comes tous via Sir Walter Scott.

fq?fttrAnto Brigg Fair: fosephTaylor and otherEaditional Lincolnshiresinqets recotded in I9O8 byPercy GrainqerLeader LEA 4050 mono (1972)

In the 1970s Bill Leader issued a fineseries of LPs, in restrained grey cardsleeves, 'devoted to recording thetraditional music of the British lsles'. Thisone has stensive sleeve notes by BobThomson, lyrics, photographs, musrctranscripts, and a splendid facsimile of theoriginal record compan)/'s advert forthese recordings, 'Sung by GenuinePeasant Folksinger Mr Joseph Taylor ofSaxby-All-Saints, North Lincolnshire'.

f s?'tfEdinburgh FoIk Fe stivalVolume IDecca LK 4546 (1964)

Edinburgh FoIk FestivalVolutne 2Decca LK 4563 (1964)

Recorded live in glorious mono by BillLeader. Anne Briggs appears briefly oneach volume, singing'She Moves Throughthe Fair' on I, and 'Let No Man Stealyour Thyme'on 2. Volume I has an earlyappeamnce by Robin Williamson,pre-lncred ible String Band.

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nfl ZlSgUmT0nS DENIJungle Cookies, Henry Cow, Daily Dance, Smut,Swans Live, Sonic Youth, Sun City Girls, NewZealand comp, various droning ones, Land OfNod, Datblygu, Alternahunk...and theqgtonishing violin of John Clyde-Evans

RECORDS ARE OUR JACK DANIELSHenry Cow, IregEnd(Originaf Mix)ReR Recommended IICI (1998)

lf you read Kenneth Ansell's lmpetusmagazine # 9 (from 1979) you'll find asnapshot of a weary Henry Cowtowards the end of their natural life, tenyears after their formation. six yearsafter Leg Endhad been released. By thispoint they'd become almost aninstrumental band playing thecompositions of Tim Hodgkinson andLindsay Cooper and released theWestern Culture LP on their ownBroadcast label, only too happy to befree from the dark satanic chains ofVirgin Records and Virgin MusicPublishing. Dagmar Krause thevocalist had left, although Cutler andFrith had already pulled her in torecord the first (quite good) ArtBears LP. The original bass playerJohn Greaves had also left, scoredand recorded the eccentric jazz opusKew Rhone in 1976 with PeterBlegvad, before joining NationalHealth. Discussed at some length byAnsell alongside the other Rock InOpposit ion groups, including StormySix, Etron Fou Leloublan. UniversZero and Samla Mammas Manna,Henry Cow held fust to their 'Art isnot a mirror, it is a hammer' stance,suggesting the LP /n Przise ofLearningwas the point at which their Marxistideals would be made manifest, partlyspurred by Dagmar Krause's interest insinging lyrics with some sort of apolitical handle. However.disillusionment and futigue weresomewhat in the air by this point,judging by the press release which baldlystated 'Our caraDace has turned from astrength to a weakness.'

lf you want to feel the force of thestrength in question, turn to this - theirfirst LP from 1973. Mostly instrumental,it's a highly entertaining and rewardingmixture of styles and playing, allbrilliantly recorded at the fumed Manorstudio in Oxfordshire. lt's also quitesome way from the more political LPswhich would follow, with the exceptionof the final song 'Nine Funerals of the

The Sound Projector sifth issue

Citizen King', which gives a hint ofHodgkinson's obl iquely cri t ical al lusions.lf nothing but this LP had been issued, Idare say it would be more prized (bycollectors) as a very good example oflate period, progressive art-rock. Playedby a five piece of Fred Frith, ChrisCutler, Tim Hodgkinson, John Greavesand Geoff Leigh, it carries on a traditionwith the best elements of The SoftMachine with some fine reed work fromLeigh and very free-ranging jazy guitarsolos from Frith; and Frank Zappa, withHodgkinson's superbly tasty

composition 'Amygdala' being so closeto a Mothers of Inventionchamber-orchestra piece that it vergeson pastiche. In addition, the Cow-Menwere plugging into cool scenes in theUK at the time: one of the first bands tosign to the new Virgin label, mainly onthe recommendation of Robert Wyatt;playing a tour with Faust, who had alsorecently signed to Virgin and alsorecorded Faust lVat the Manor; andestablishing The Explorer's Club, anavant-garde venue at the London Schoolof Economics which played host to suchluminaries as Derek Bailey, The ScratchOrchestra, lvor Cutler, Lol Coxhill andRon Geesin. There were othernot-so-cool scenes too, for examDle anassociation with Mike Oldfield and thefirst performance of Tubular BellsattheQEH, which is something l 'd try and l ivedown, speaking personally. Even naffer -Cutler was also spotted on the credits

to an LP by anotherghastly Virgin signingof this time, DavidBedford.

The booklet notes tothis CD are a littlemodest about theband's history,abstemiously resistingmythologising. That'sCutler's way, I wouldguess. lt's interestingto comPare a recentrelease from KingCrimson; Robert

Fripp these days is anything butunstinting in detailing his praise for hisband during the same year, | 973. Fromhis extensive sleeve notes to The NightWatch, a frighteningly excellent livedoubfe CD from 1997:'After 1976 i twas impossible to mention...the name ofthe group without attracting derision,perhaps hostility, from anyone who readand were influenced by the Englishmusic press... the sudden increasingrespectability of "prog rock" I view withthe same oolite smile...with which Iviewed the preceding period ofignominy and social disgrace'. Still, givingmore than a flavour of the times, theLeg EndCD reproduces somecontemPoraD/ ads and cuttings fromMelody Maker and tour posters. For asecond you can imagine how it mighthave felt in '973 to see thar bri l l iant'sock' cover painting €(by Ray Smith)on the racks in your local Megastore.No member of Henry Cow should beashamed of having made great music ordoing something relevant in the 1970s.Even their haircuts weren't so bad! (lknow...hair ain't where it's at) One foreveryone to buy and listen to, and soon.

ED PINSENT

Datblygru, Wyau and Pyst = 32Bom=1982-90Ankst GD060 (1995)

Towards the close of the last decade,Wales, traditionally the land of the malevoice choir and women in silly hats,enjoyed something of a musicalrenaissance, spawning numerous groupsof diverse qualities, united only by theirnationaliqz and language. Ten years later,Welsh bands are everywhere andbehind the'hi lar ious' sheep-relatedheadlines, most of them are bobbins.Show me a man who enjoys the musicof Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, Super FurryAnimals and Catatonia - | will show youa convincing argument for thereinstatement of National Service.

Jangly indie toss u/as not always theorder of the day. Welsh music was oncea magnificent beast, iridescent with rude

71

health to which, sadly, only Welshpeople (and of course john Peel)bothered to pay aftention. There wasTraddodiad Ofnus, purveyors of iarringparanoiac rock. Plant Bach Ofnus (norelation) did the brooding driven brtwith samplers, sequencers and strikingoriginality. To these lugholes, the prizeof the lrtter was Datblygu, pronounced'dat-blu-gee' meaning either 'board' (asin Board of Directors) or 'bored' (as in'Let's watch Titanic on video'), so l'mtold.

The release of this disc, comprisingtheir two albums \st (Posts) and Wyau(Fg.s) means that one no longer has toresort to murder to hear them - whichis nice. Enterprising fanzine folk of theday often likened Datblygu to The Fall,which although not completely off themark was a linle too generalised to holdmuch water, and perhaps inspired thesong 'Fanzine Ynfyryn' or 'Fanzine ldiot'.Among these 32 songs, none of whichactual ly sound l ike The Fal l , are hints ofNew Order, Tom Waits, EinsturzendeNeubaten, John Barry. Can, and others.This said, the actual Datblygu soundillustrates the folly of namecheckingother aftists in the service of attemptingsome form of written description.Datblygu sound like Datblygu, and that'sabout as much as you can say.

It seems sadly likely that the fact ofeverfthing being written and sung inWelsh, a point that fromage grandeDavid R Edwards fnever once feltreguired explanation, isolated Datblygufrom a larger audience. lf you have abrain, however, the language barrierisn't a problem and, as has often beennoted, serves to enhance the Derceivedsurrealism of the songs - particularlywhen the only utterancescomprehensible to my ears are 'Edward

Heath' and 'trombone' during'Nofel O,r

Hofel'. Although translated ritles such as'Barking, Intercourse', ' lntentions Of

Catt le'and 'Goodnight Scum' do l inle toard comprehension, i t shouldn't botheranyone. The music, with its understateddrama and stomach-knottingmelancholia, has a raw-edged eloguencethat transcends the language gap.Datblygu move effoftlessly from the

The Sound Projector sifth issuebreezy cheer of 'Am' to thewrist-slashing blues of'Dymuniadau Da' and'NofelO'r Hofel ' to the Dadacarnival of 'Mynci Efo Crach'without breaking sweat.There's even a mutant couslnof Country and Western onhere. Although some songs(l ike for example 'Dymuniadau

Da', which boasts the mostblackly sardonrc use of thephrase 'ha ha bloody ha' l'veever heard) shouldn't be

played to the suicidal ly incl ined, l 'drecommend this disc to anyone. Not asingle dud song within earshot.

There will never be another Datblygu.They were an edition of one. Seek thisout while there is st i l l a planet uponwhich you may listen to rt.

WAR ARROW

Alternahunk, AlternahunkAustralia, Dual Plover IMR NVJ698 (t998)

Beguilingly weird feminist trio fromDown Under, with a bewitching set ofsongs layered with dubby techniguesand unbalanced electronic work. Thebank of analogue electronics equipment(including a Realist ic MoogConcertmate, a Roland Octopad SPD | |and an Alessis sequencer) is wieldedwith confidence by PhoebeJeebe, whowelcomes these devices as a releasefrom learning to play music: 'Music

doesn't rnatter. Never mind the conceptof notes when you've got frequency,and everything in between 20 hz and 20khz, everything that you can hear, youcan have every division of thatspectrum'. Singer Adrienne Patrick isanother secret weapon; iust hear hersuddenly snatching a bri l l iant lyunexpected melody out of nowhere torelate the dark dream of 'Snake Arms'.Pitch-shifting and other effects tilt hervoice into a phone-cal l from outerspace dimension. Her lyr ics are purestoned-out, fragmentary nightmare stuff.Each song is del ivered languidly andunhurriedly, underpinned by skeletaldub shards of bass and drum kit-pfusdrum machine, ever a winningcombination. An afternoon with thesecharacters could be real fun, ludging bytheir outlandish dress sense; looks l ikethey stepped out of an undergroundmovie by Jack Smith.

ED PINSENTDual Plover address is in the 'Atoms ofPure Noise'section

fi*fi*fi*fi*fi

72

fohn Clyde-Evans, 528 Stepselw ForltoverZrr 33 rpmsingleBetley Welcomes Careful Drivers./ Giardia, No Number (1998)

A perfectly exgujsite single showcasingtwo mournful and melancholy viol inworks, scored for bowed and scrapedstrings by Clyde-Evans. In this age ofcynicism and irony, I can't tel l you howmarvellous it is to hear something asgenuinely emotional as this work.Honest and moving music that is sadwithout being sentimental. No higherrecommendation surely needed.

ED PINSENT

lohn Clyde-Evans, fforhtttp/j&sJFisheye Records, Optic I LP(r998)

Arriving here within weeks of the abovesingle, comes this perfectly exquisite LPissued by Paul Wild's Fisheye label.Stating its 'all acoustic' credentials withpride, this vinyl artefact yields seventracks of beauty, mystery andpenetratinS sadness. Slow-moving,drenched with nostalgic emotron, theseworks are obviously constructed withan intensity of concentration that fewmusicians can match. As tomethodology, the sound of a viol in isapparent, along with environmentalroom-atmosphere recordings whichhave been selected by a sharp andjudicious ear, one which is sensit ive tominute changes in t imbre. Other soundsare alien to me; but naming the exactbrushes used by this particular painter issomething of a futile exercise whenyou're faced by something of thisunearthly power and beauty. The imageof windows is here twice: a sticker onthe LP cover is a gold and si lver MarkRothko-like window with hard edges.The insert is a half-tone windowglimpsed behind two semi-circles. Thesesound works are windows onto anotherworld, panly the world of Clyde-Evans'mind, partly a strange and elementalone of rare minerals (gold and silver)waiting to be mined by the horde ofexpectant l isteners. Join this excursion;peer through these windows, and openthem wide.

Multr- instrumental ist Clyde-Evans, whoplays both real and make-believeInstruments, was in UK indie bandHood for a while (at least on a 7"Useless, on the Domino label), and hasplayed with Neil Campbell, AshtrayNavigations, Dogliveroil, Children AtPlay, and Culver. This LP is a l imirededit ion of 500 copies, some sleeves

bearing Buddhist prayer papers fetchedback from a trip to Thailand.

ED PINSENTFrom Fisheye, PO Box I lOFarnborough, Hampshire GUl4 6YT

Swans, Swans areDead(2 x Live CDI995-199?)115.6., Young GodRecords tGCDOlz /Release RR6996g!9lr| find it remarkable howSwans have progressedover the many years oftheir existence, fromnear-atonal cacophonytrembling acousticmelody without evercompromrsing theseverity or intensity ofthe effect their musicinduces. The earl ierSwans records, althoughslow. loud andharrowing, with titlesthat pretty much say it all('Raping a Slave','Butcher' , 'Thug'), alwayshinted at some delicate sense of beautyamid the walls of guitar noise andshudder-inducing lyrics. Although morerecent albums have been perverselytuneful ('The Sound Of Freedom' couldalmost be Swans'take on BruceSpringsteen) that edgy sense of vertigohas remained undiluted. l t is this qual i tywhich makes them unique.

My first experience of the groupWhitehouse (cited as an influence byMichael Gin)a was quite extreme. Ifound the records disturbing to such anextent that I had doubts about wantingsuch vile artefacts in my house.Whitehouse, by their own testament,produced 'the most violently repulsiverecords ever made'. Whitehouse are allabout domination - that is, beating thel istener into submission. But wheretheir untrammelled fury is directedoutwards at the listener, that of Swanstakes the opposite approach. Swansmusic doesn't name names, but ratherfocuses on the psychological profile ofrage directed inwards; which, with theextremes to which Gira's lyrics take it,seems altogether more disturbing.Whitehouse may scream and rage aboutwhat plans they have in store for yourbottom, but when Gira howls 'l'll cut offmy right arm ,ust to stand in yourshadow', and sounds as though heintends to do just that, it is genuinelyscary.

The Sound Projector sifth issueThis double CD marks the conclusionof the group's long and tormentedhistory, with expertly recordedselections from the last two tours. LikeMr Dinger (see elsewhere), Swans arein their element doing one simple thing

over anoover untilone tscarried awayby its divinemomentum.

effectworks in asimilar wayto theprinciple ofChinesewatertorture, andon occasionto anaPParentlysimilar end.

rs rs notto suggestSwans arejust aboutpain. No, i t 'smore

thaLlike the dul land vaguely

satiso/ing numbness of a picked-atwound, a second of clarity and calmbefore a violent storm. extended outtowards infinity. Yet in spite of this,even at their slowest and ugliesg Swansremain subl imely glorious andpanoramic. There is something very OldTestament at work here. A fitting fullstop to Swans'fifteen year sentence.

WAR ARROW

The Orchestre Murtrlhy, StnutAlcoholALOMCD (1992)

I can't say I wasn't warned about thisone. Mr Editor cautiously informed meof the 'novelty' element tothis CD. The music consists ofregular'song' type song,played by a band trying theirbest to sound like a karaokedisc, or a test-cardsoundtrack. The lyrics,included in the booklet ( lhope to God not as poetry)seem mildly amusing in avague twitch of one corner ofthe mouth sort of way. That'sunti l you hear them sung - ina voice that's even moreinsufferably polite than themusic. Vague intimations ofpsychedelia or iaz are made,in the same way that anembarrassingly elderly relative

took polite interest in that LP by SadistArse Trumpet you brought home whenyou were twelve.

| find it hard to credit that someonesomewhere put this together in themistaken belief that it is vaguelyamusing. ln fact, it's so laboured andresolutely shite that it's almost art.Perhaps this is some big post-modernlaff fest intended to orovokeuncontrollable mirth by creatingsomething that's funny because it, hey,get this...lSN'T funny, even though itappears to think it is. lf you see what Imean. I have tapes of myself breakingwind that are funnier and moredeserving of national release. Oh well.Another one for the dog to play with.

WAR ARROWFrom Alcohol Records, PO Box 555,London 9ES ORL

Doug Snyder and Bob

Thompson, Daily DanceUS.E, Warm O'BriskWDS (1998)

Special: a near-undiscoveredunderground LP from 19729, and themusic is amazingly good. An electricguitar and drums record, improvisedlive to tape by two guys in rural Ohio,lefting rip in the drummer's kitchen.Although subsequent recordings madein another oart of the house weretechnically better, it \ as these so-called'Damascus tapes' that were sent toCarla Bley, the jaz composer / pianist,for possible release as a private press LPvia her New Music Distribution Service.

She said yes. Thank heavens someoneencouraged them. Quite aside from thetumultuous rush of energ;r this LP givesoff, it has a truly unique sound - or setof sounds. The most distinctive is heardearly on, in the quieter moments; I takert to be some percussion instrumentresembling a musical box. When inraging full-on mode, the duo merge intoone voice; distortion from amplification,

73

and overload in the recording process,melding into a glorious rush. Snyder theguitarist rarely plays melodic line solos,but achieves shimmering sheets of noiseand a clunking rhythm attack.Thompson drums l ike a precisionengineer, manufacturing the bolts thathold together the cases of atom bombs;and he propels each performanceforward as though it's a fire truck on itsway to a three-alarm fire. When holdingtheir sparring matches, the instrumentsseparate out more, and you can makeout the detail of their strangearchitecture: the guitarist switchingfrom feedback to wah-wah effects andpicking out eccentric lines for theblueprint of the house. The drummer,laying bricks and plastering, works tothe plan as best he can - see what abri l l iant ly crooked house results.

Of the pair Thompson was the more'seasoned' orofessional musician at thistime, and Snyder made up for what hesaw as his lack of musical abiliq/ byfeeding in his working knowledge of TheVelvet Underground, The Stooges, andSonny Sharrock. The LP was never a bigseller rn the I 970s but had a certain'deep underground' cachet, selling froma list which put it in the same companyas free .jarz big guys. Snyder joined aband in NYC in 1976 - Sick Dick andThe Volkswagens - who let him in onthe strength of Daily Dance. Theseabstract noise-makers also numberedamong their ranks Donald Mil ler andBrian Doherty, later of Borbetomagus,and Mark Abbott who later played withJohn Zorn.

One could draw up a list of greatguitar'percussion free playing ensemblesthat would include The Blue Humans,Ascension, Sonny Sharrock, Keith Roweand Eddie Prevost; Snyder andThompson would, without question, beworthy additions. The press releaseactually does this .job for you,namechecking Keij i Haino and Wil l iamHooker too; so maybe there is nothingnew under the sun, but this is a darnfine item and something so obscure asto make your indie-rock fr iends turngreen with envy. With a Ken Keseyquote on the sleeve, post-psychedelicsleeve painting by Thompson, this is onegroovy package from the Rhode lslandbased label (which last time we lookedwas called Warpodisc - now it's WarmO'Brisk... l can't keep up).

ED PINSENTFrom Warm O'Brisk, Box 3491,Newpon, Rhode lsland 02840, USA

The Sound Projector sifth issue

0*o*0*fi*fiEugene Chadbourne, fungleCookies2 x CDUSA, Old Gold OLDGOIJ)4 (1998)

I know nothing of this man, other thanseeing reviews of Shockabilly records inSounds over ten years ago, and notingthe hairy bloke with the silly grin andextremely punchable face. This doubleCD pack comes with a bookletexplaining how important Chadders is,and how clever the individual tracks are.The final kick in the teeth is thebooklet's glowing praise heaped onDerek Bailey, a man whose work isevidently too sophisticated for a thickiesuch as wot I are, sounding to me likethe 'genius' has put his guiar in a tumbledrier. I don't know...l .;ust don't know. lfyou want jungle, go and buy Panacea orLTJ Bukem, or early DJ Rap. Surely oneof the least interesting events of the lastfew years is Mr Bailey's kindly dalliancewith jungle, thus allowing people withgoatee beards and media studiesdegrees to reclassify it as a'validexpwessive cultuwal phwenomenom'.Bah!

So, with these er...reservations in mind Ilistened to the CD. Much to myannoyance it's actually quite good. Tapecollages of overheard conversations.Skipping CDs. Sped-up twangy guitars.The effect is akin to slowly tuning yourway through all the stations on four orfive radios at the same time - that is,individual tracks make little apparentsense, but if listened to in one go thewhole double set has a cumulative effectthat isn't entirel/ unrewarding. Thatsaid, some of this is very irritating - thatbloody saxophone for starters, and thecover of 'See Emily Plzy' by (shudder)Pink Floyd - but even these, maddeningas they are, seem to serye a point infilling out the weft of the rich eccentrictapestry of Jungle Cookies. For me, thetrue star of this monster is Molly, MrChadbourne's eminently astute daughterwho says of her contribution 'Debut ToMadonna' : 'lt is so much better than therest of the CD if you put it on firstmaybe people will actually listen to thisgarbage.' Well it worked for me and I'mglad that it did.

WAR ARROWOld Gold, PO Box 8776, Atlanta, GA31106, usA

Pursuant to the above, extractfrom Ben Young's diary:June | 2- l4 : Meet friends from home Marshalland Reid Aveft with the travel-straggly butexuberant Chadbourne onHarringpaakersteed, the site of recording of

his new Jungle Cookies CD, for the craziestlistening party I've ever attended...this is thenew double CD we helped put out, and thesound collage it encompasses includes all thesounds of Amsterdam - bicycle bells andspokes, shady drug and tourist deals, drunkensports-bar holiday feruour, Doppler affectedstreet music, et al. hearing it where it wasrecorded causes the host's hi-fi and thewindow noise to form a stereoscope wherelife meets an and art meets the street. Hostsprove the local dimension to this verytouristy citf is well worth seeking, as dorecord stores get, Staalplaat and Distortion.

Sun City Gids, Piasa...

Devourer of IWen: OdginalFihn ScoreUStr, Abduction ABDT403 (ND)

These guys should be given the HolgerCzukay award for excellence incontinuing the Can Concept ofEthnological Forgery Series music. Anytrack here could almost be taken from alibrary record, hke The Exotic Soundsof the.fapanese fumboo Flute. Actuallythis is the first LP by these highly prolificout-there West Coast weirdsters thatl've bought, unless you count their guestappearance on a Eugene Chadbourne LPcalled Country Music from lslam (aboutthe queasiest record he made). For thissoundtrack LP the Sun City Girls playtheir ethnic str inged and percussioninstruments, at times sounding like a toyGamelan Ensemble; and they wail theirnasal Arabic chants and mutter theirforeign-sounding gibberish into the mics.All in all a deliciously perplexing record,which by their standards wouldprobably render it a success, even if Iguess this is one of the approachableones. Afraid l'm not the man to directyou to anything better (or indeedanfthing else) at this time, but theirprivate press LPs and cassettes aren'texactly easy to get hold of. As towhether there really is a film byAntonio Pomola to which this purportsto be the soundtrack, well - you can'tdiscount the merry pranksterism thatdogs so many projects by these loons,but then there are stills on the sleeve ofa fine fossilised skull with disks for eyes,and a oteranodon-like bird on the back.Could be a low-budget Godzilla likething. Evocative titles like'StruggleUnder Talons', 'Wingspan Eclipse theMoon' and 'The Flying LeatherJackets ofPajarito' make the movie a must-seeitem, if it does exist.

ED PINSENTFrom Abduction, PO Box 961 l, SeattlewA 98t09. USA

fi*fi*fi*fi*fi

74

fi*g*g*fi*o

Birchville Cat Motel, Siberian

Eatth CutyeUSf,,, Dtrunken Fish RecordspFR43 (1998)

A good one - several long tracks ofhome-made electronic drones withadded noise interruptions. Acousticinterventions from cymbals, perhapseven bowed cymbals, along withrecorder and voice; there's guitars and'appliances' and'crystal', suggestinganalogue and radio-wave type devices. Afine hovering-spaceship noise thatenvelops and engages you even if itdoesn't progress quickly; guaranteedfree from endless twittering space-rockmoves, or aimless swamp-meanderingAmbient. This is a solo work byCampbell Kneale, who's been carving aniche as a bedroom avantist in NewZealand with a series of private pressreleases on his own Celebrate PsiPhenomenon label. His work has analarming edge, a stark clarity lurking likea flare behind the mists of foggy noiseclouds. Before you write this off as justanother drone record, take comfort inthe fact that nowadays more players aregoing along this route rather thanimitating Nirvana or other grunge guitar

The Sound Projector sifth issuetracks are crucial. Some just lie therefor five minutes without expanding intothat extra dimension. but 'Heat of theBells ' lavishes oodles of cosmic echo onits angD/ battle between some reedinstrument and a chorused guitar. And'Flood Stage' is pure modal minimal

lamming that dozens of Terry Riley funsare now finding easy to imitate. Acreditable effort from Bill and Rose,recorded in Virginia and Texas in 1995and | 996.

ED PINSENT

To I'ive and Shave in L.A,..Tonal EattnonyBetley Welcomes CarefulDrivers, BWCD No Number(ree8)Pretty ghastly...l've never actually beencornered by an acid-head at a party, butI'd imagine the experience would besomething similar to hearrng this CD.The vocals of Tom Smith, which canonly be described as a twisted howl,whine their interminable poetn/ overthe top of fragmented instrumental andelectronic bursts of a random nature.Tom Smith has been resoonsible for

compelling us to pay attention by iustbeing plain annoying. However, labelboss Phil Todd counts this release as a'personal favourite', so you might wantto persevere in order to hear what hehears. With one 'Rat Bastard' on thebass, John Morton (a former ElectricEel) on guitar and Ben Wolcott onanother oscillator. Recorded in Atlantain 1997.

ED PINSENTBetley Welcomes Careful Drivers, 7Woodside, Hadeley, Cheshire CW39HA

Various Artists, Fit For ltings:

A Compilation of PeripheralNew Zealand MusicUSL, Crawlspace./ Drunken FishRecords DFR3? (1998)

I am incl ined to direct an eyebrow inthe opposite direction from that inwhich objects travel when under theinfluence of the Earth's gravitational pull,when it comes to the subiect of limitededitions. People make music. lf theyrelease it in some form of record, CDor cassette, then Presumably they wantother people to hear it, so why not as

many people as possiblel Ofcourse, financial limitations mayrestrict how many copies youcan oroduce. So i f the l imitededition takes a form that is morecostly to make than it would in aless esoterically packaged largerrun, is this real ly anythingdifferent from what Franklin Mintdol Who knowsl Certainly notme, although the folksrepresented on this CD probablyhave an opinion - for there canbe no doubt as to the love andcare that they put into theirwork. Fft For Kings collects aclutch of artists who havereleased material in the form of8-inch lathe cut polycarbonatediscs. These discs were originallyput out in t iny edit ions of 20 or30, for this reason: berng onpolycarbonate, the material ofwhich compact discs are made,

they could not be pressed as vinyl is,but rather had to be individually cutdirect ly into the plast ic, one by one.These people make labels like Syntacticlook l ike K-Tel!

And the artists are all from NewZealand, a country which I will confessto knowing very little about other thanwhat can be gleaned from the odd film(the harrowing classic Qnce WereWarriors) and the fuct that madcapKilling Joke singer Jaz Colemanapparently lives there with his ownprivate army awaiting Armageddon. In

based bands; they may notalways achieve the sameeffects as Ligeti or evenMorton Subotnick, but at leastthese are (to my mind) morepreferable role models thansome rockist dweebs.

ED PINSENTFrom Drunken Fish, PO Box450640. San Fnnciso. CA94t46, USA

lason Bill and lackRose, Via St LoaisUSA, Dtunken FishRecords DFR36 (1998)

Passable improvised noise andtapework (occasionaloverdubs) from a duo ofAmerican players. 'Revolut ionof the Stars' collides loudfeedback guitars with soft windchimes, an imDossible balance of soundsthus pul l ing off a tr ick equivalent toseeing mountainsides dance on the t ipof an icicle. An extra guitar ioins in andfinds itself stuck in neutral insisting on afew top-register notes, then it too islost in the tidal flow of feedback. Thistrack shows impressive large-scalesculpting; these guys are capable of areal attack to their sawing and belting ofeach chosen instrument, it's not alltranced-out noodling. Just check out thespirited bowing work (on an electricguitarl) on 'You Are Not of My People'- Jimmy Page would be proud. Not al l

recording recent product by Si lverApples, which l've never heard; l'vebeen following their comeback withsome interest (they were very goodlive) but will probably remain contentedwith owning their 1960s recordedoutput. For those completists out there,you'll want to know that Simeon playsoscillator on one track - 'The Snakewhose head would not be crushed', it'sthe longest and most insufferable cut,outdoing even a solo recital byJimMorrison for outstaying one's welcome.Of course, the irritability hctor isimportant in projects like this,

75

some obscure way this seems a fittinglocale for these artists. Most of thesetracks are probably what people arecal l ing' lo-f i ' at present. This isn't aproblem. Some of this music is mildlyirritating, particularly the pieces thatmay or may not be 'free jaz" that is thesound of a guitar being thrown down aflight of stairs while someone plays asaxophone with their arse; not my cuPof chai at all. On the positive sideParmentier and Children's TelevisionWorkshop (whom it can be safelyassumed are a different entity to thatwhich gave Big Bird and Oscar theGrouch to the world), all offer works ofquiet intensity, sounding perhaps howCluster might have, had their heydayoccurred at the end of the silent filmera. I suppose if you define a limitededit ion as Frankl in Mint do for theirFaberg6 eggs, as something of greatbeauty in tiny quantities, then that's avee/ apt description of some of thismusic. So thank God they've had thegenerosity to rerelease it on CD and leta few more of us in on the secret

WAR ARROW

Sonic Youth, A thousand

IeavesUSA, My so-called records SYR#03 (1998)

Sonic Youth / lirn O'Rourkeus.f,, sY-R 3 (199?)

Seems to have been a good time for theSonic Youth lately; one had tended tolet them l ie hl low for a t ime since theirsigning to Geffen Records, but recentlythey've been turning in some mitey-finerecords and performances. In fuct at theShepherds Bush Empire in Summer 98there was a magnificent gig (around thesame time they were iamming it up withlesser UK rockers at the MeltdownFestival on the South Bank). They'renow as good as The Grateful Dead -years of working together as a unit,stagecraft and studio practice havehoned their skills such that each songcan be spun out into a improvised seshof 'Dark Star' proportions. lt's becomeas traditional as Guy Fawkes night thatthey close each gig with a feedbacknoise iam session with psychedeliclights, a trip for the eyes and ears ofwhich I personally can't get enough.Indeed I bel ieve there's a Sonic Youthfeedback CD somewhere in the welterof new releases out there, which I can'tbe bothered to look for because I hategoing out of the house. I don't mindshopping at record fairs, because I seemto be invisible there. The Jim O'Rourkething I picked up at a record fuir. I don'teven know what to call th' darn thing.SYR 3l lt's one of a series of three

The Sound Projector sifth issueimprov noiso-excesso excursions into

iamming fun and games, each issued ontheir own new label Sonic YouthRecords with uniform sleeves and notesin Esperanto. This is their way of payingtribute (like the Byron Coley Ass Runseries) to the BYG Actuel series of freejaz LPs issued in France. Vinyl junkieslove owning a set of these raritiessimply so they can admire the neat rowof spines with their sequential numbers;no other reason. Just kidding. TheEsperanto sleeve notes are another nodin that direction, referring to the greatESP'-Disk label. SYR I and 2 are EPlength, just snapshots of work inprogress, whereas SYR 3 (still dressedup as an EP) is an hour long! When theybrought in Jim O'Rourke from Chicago,he played drums at a marathon sessionand they l iked i t so much they couldn'tbring themselves to edit it down toomuch. So there are wo long driftytracks, ' lnvito Al Cielo'and'Radio-Amatoroi', plus a shorter one'Hungara Vivo', which give the fun-lovingfriends lots of space to let rip withdrones, aimless percussion, si l lyelectronic noises, backwards tapes,samples, free-form poetry intonations,picking up instruments they aren't reallyfamiliar with (Kim on the trumpet,Steve on the vibraphone) - in shorthaving a great time. lf you prefer itwhen they play songs decorated withonly occasional 'weird stuff in between,then this might not be your iug of java -but don't write it off as formlessself-indu lgence.

A Thousand Leavesyou'll need to buytwice if you're a fan - as it's on Geffenand (more limitedly) My So-CalledRecords, which is a sub-division of SYR.An excel lent double LP. In t ime you wil lsee it's as important today as Daydream

Nationwas ten years ago. The GratefulDead soirit lives on still, with 'Hits ofSunshine (For Al len Ginsberg)' , whichnot only namechecks t'aro of the primalforces so important to the Summer ofLove but also showcases a threewayguiar and bass conversation assupremely locked together as themighty Lesh-Garcia-Weir axis. Afteryears of silly people declaring that guitargroups have had their day, it's morethan inspiring to hear contemporaryplaying of this standard - it provides mewith a motive for iustifiable homicide.Sonic Youth have refined their effectsand are in complete control of theirdisharmonic noises - 'Wildflower Soul' isa blissful and felicitous examole of thisassemblage, proving how they can makeeverfthing work to full advanage now.You may 8et more of the raw energ/ onthose earlier records, but just listen tothe dynamics now! | also like thatthey're not afraid of effects like flange,phasing, or wah-wah which might havepreviously been associated with a morepolished and conventional rock sound.A handsome release from one of thefinest bands on the planet today. Plusgreat Hamster Girl cover art. Max Ernstwoulda loved it

ED PINSENT

The Lrand Of Nod, Et<ponential10" colouredvinyfOchre Records OCII023 (1998)

Nice package, claret-coloured vinyl in anifty modernist sleeve, but holds littleinterest musically. Three instrumentaltracks by players who simply pushbuttons to suggest hip and coolKrautrock influences, so their recordends up just like watered-down

Stereolab. Not anobjectionable noise by anymeans, but severely lacking inbodv.

ED PINSENTFrom Ochre Records, PO Box/55. Cheltenham. Glos GLSl0Ys

The Monsoon Bassoon,Wise Guy / 28 Days inRocket Ship 7"Weird Neighbourhoodrecords WNRSI 1998-UK

Listening to Peel over the lastfew years you'd be forgiven forthinking that punk wasinvented to give guitar bandsan excuse for setting theirsights low. Elastica andKenicke were bad enough andtheir bastard chi ldren keeo oncoming, brandishing worn-outversions of old Sonic Youth.Ramones and Pixies riffs andlacking the ambit ion to equal (or heavenforbid) surpass the achievements of anyof those bands. The Monsoon Bassoonstand out amongst this shameful crowdby aspiring to the great god ProgressiveRock. Check out their off-ki l ter t imesignatures and how many notes can wefit in Trout Mask Replica-stylemusicianship. And true to prog formthey can't sit still for a second - barely acouple of bars pass without a change intack.

However the Boredoms they are not!To make this kind of rapid-firecomposit ion cohere takes a musicalsensibi l i ty which this lot don't appear tohave. You could cut up their '28 Daysin Rocket Shrp' into i ts constttuentsegments, rearrange them in any order,and i t would be of no conseouencebecause there's no thread runningthrough it. '28 Days' sounds like it wascomposed just to keep every memberof the band h"ppy - Jack would ratherbe playing atonal iazz, Jill straight prog,etc, so a bit of everything is thrown rn.It 's only when The Monsoon curb theirmercurial inst incts and st ick with just acouple of riffs that anfhing interestingstarts to develop. In 'Wise Guy' theytzke a jazy hook and build around it amad and exciting mix of distorted guitar,trumpets, strings, and blaringsaxophones which grows suddenly andfudes away according to a logic which isknown only to the musicians. At thesame time they show that Prolapsehaven't got the market cornered induelling vocalists. The main male vocalsare played off against a second, femalesinger with a thrillingly edgy resulr Thisis a massively under-explored area of

The Sound Projector sifth issue

rock and here's hoping they've chosento delve further into it for theirsubsequent releases.

HARLEY RICHARDSONWeird Neighbourhood Records, POBox 7279, London E5 9XQ

Peter Blegvad, flangmtan's

EiIIReR Recommended PE3 (1998)

Chris Cutler, through RecommendedRecords, has proclaimed his l i felonginterest in the value of popular music,convinced of its power to convey amessage to large numbers of people.True to this, many of the bands he hasworked with play songs, and not iustweird music; and for years he carriedthe back catalotues of Perfect PopMasters such as Van Dyke Parks, PhrlOchs and erm...Tom Lehrer, in theRecommended catalotue. Blegvad was akey member of Slapp Happy, whosetunes could be said to bridge popularmusic and experimentalism; a keyrelease demonstrating this is the rare LPSorc Of, recorded with Faust Fitringthen that Cutler should back this highlytuneful record as drummer and spir i tualgodfather, and bring in anothercontemporar/ songster / guitar pickingstrum-meister, Bob Drake, as producer.While we're st i l l on the pop musictrack, is it just me or do certain songshere resemble The Beatles, Abbey Roadperiodl 'lmagine a world where this wasthe only song... ' intones Blegvad in hisend-of-album statement. over a series ofdescending chords thatjeff Lynne wouldhave been proud of. We have a mixtureof Beatlesque elements with a touch of

Richard Thompson'scynicism - for examplethe lyr ic 'Have youever seen a dog lowerhimself in the dirt andshow his bel ly insubmission to anotherdog?', but overriding i tall is Blegvad's ratherdark surrealisthumour. Simple dadawordplay yields up theodd str iking image,such as 'She saw thethinness of a dime, sawa slug secreting sl ime',even if this does placehim more in a LewisCarrol l nonsensetradit ion. On thealbum's only out andout Surreal istreference, a man's griefis made concretethrough reference to apaint ing by Ren6Magritte. An eccentric

and melodic oddball record (not, Ithink, Blegvad's first ever solo LP), kindal ike Neil Innes without the iokes.

ED PINSENT

rhBand, Fitst ToneUS.E, Dnrnken Fish RecordspFR-39 (1998)

Quality electronic analogue dronestenerated live in the studio by themysterious rhBand. RThe mostmonumental is the second track (out offour unti t led pieces), a good half-hourpsychedelic ambient blissout that edgesinto Theatre of Eternal Music territory.But never ones to stay too long in thesame place, rhBand always vary textureand drama; a mere twist of the switchwill shift the entire prtch, swing roundthe orientat ion of the piece and sl ideyou sideways into a further unexploredpocket of trancing ecstasy. Along withthe organ-like long tones generatedhere are some barely discerniblevoice-l ike sources degraded into theback of the gicture. This second track isrecommended to any who st i l l doubtthe use of music as therapy; I suspectthis heal ing music would be capable ofreforming alcoholics, even. The rest ofthe CD's not as intense though, and thefirst track of half-hearted tinkling andscraping is so flaky I almost wonderedwhat had become of my heroes (wewere very impressed with theirprevious release Third arderParasitum).

ED PINSENT

77

Diamond Recordiugs GEMCDOI6 (199?)

_Glenda Collins, This Little Girlts Cone RockinRPM CD RPMI82 (t99?)

Foolish man that I am, I've long dismissed Beat Music as agenre that hasn't stood the test of time. lt must,ve seemeqwild in the sixt ies, but to me it just coniures up a picture of:queaky clean guitar groups, piers and harmoni."s.RockhRoll met Lrght Entertainment and the results werebland! Sure. The

^Bearles probably twanged up "

,to., .t tf,"\-ayern and I he Searchers were great fluff but who wants toremember Freddie and the

* t

Various Arfists, ECM Rarities VoIuiiZ: TheBeat Croup Era CD

The Sound projector Sifth issuewhich had stfong potential to be hits failed to get arrptay dueto_ record company indifference or because MJek couldn,tafford to bribe his way onto the pirate radio stations. Others8ot the airplay but were scuppered by major labels hoggingthe pressing plants for Beatles and Dave ilark Five releases.In short, getting into the charts was as much a matter ofcorporate backing and luck then as it is today. And perhapsMeek's production jobs were jusr too idiosyncratic for thea, jqienc.e of the time. lt appears that the sound that had madeI ersulr' a hrt ln the early sixties was deemed to be dated only

a couple of years later. Indeed, his approach wasn,t arwaysappreciated by the bands themselves. The lmpac found thatMeek had overdubbed their playing with parts performed bvmore experienced musicians. The Centremen comDlainedwhen they discovered Meek had added speeded_up guitar totheir 'Singing

the Blues', an effect which resemblejthe soundof,a hyperactive chattering chipmunk. Meek went ahead andreteased the song

1nryr.y. And even in death, he proved to0e somewhat of a hindrance. The careers of several RGMbands lost momentum or came to a halt when recordings duefor release were kept on ice until the Meek estate u/as sortedout,,a delay which spelt disaster in the fast_moving and fickleworld of pop.

Glenda Collins is another RGM artist who failed to have a hit,despite or because of Meek's best efforts on her behalf.Blessed.with a rich and powerful voice, she enioyed a shortand fairly unremarkable stint as a Du.ca ."co.ding artistbefore hooking up wth Meek in the hope that his-thenflavour-of-the-month production talents would bring her a hit.The contrast between the Decca material (included'here) andMeek's productions is dramatic, Meek going fo.

" blgg..,

Dreamers and the l ikelWell , trust Uncle Joe Meekro set me right RGMRarities Volume 2showcases fifteen or so Beatacts who made some trulyrocktng records.

The Honeycombs andScreaming Lord Sutch havebeen well served by otherrelssues so this sticks with

edgier and moreexperimental sound.Never one forunderstatement, Meekwould often double- ortriple-track her alreadystrong yoice. He also gaveher punchier materialwhich she obviouslyen.ioyed sinking her teethinto, singing her heaft outon eyery occasion.

However its not difficult to see why hits weren,t forthcoming.Some of Meek's production ideas were just plain srlty, like thenuclear_sized pop in the cover of The Mudhrks, ,Loilipop,.Many of the songs were too bizarre to be commercial. suchas a.protest song featuring outer space imagery and ,l BrokeMy Hean at the Fairground,featuring Glenja backeO Uy tfreskating r ink sound of The Tornados.To modern ears thoughit doesn't go hr enough and a CD,s worth of this stutr (2gtracks, good value) is just a little too saccharine andwholesome to stomach. The only really essential tune nere rs:..o::r of The Honeycombs, 'somerhing

I've Got to TellYou'. Laden with a string of irresistible hloks, this iull_blownprano, strings and trumpets production is up there with thepulse-pounding best of phil Spector. And ilenda,s vorce rsjust breathtakint as it swoops from full_on emotional crooningto restrained melodic sweetness.

Flattered by Meek's continued fuith in Glenda, she stuck withhim for.over three years despite the elusive hit never arnvtng,and on hrs death she gave up singing for office work. This is asname, as the unfintshed tracks which end this compilat ionshow their collaborations

T9"ilg in a much more promrsrngdirection. Recorded shortly before Meek,s death, ihey showan rncreasingly mature choice of material and a growingsympathy for the possibilities of her amazing voice.HARLEY RICHARDSON

Joe Meekisthe i{on with the

Elephont Eors

Thankfully the influence of The Fab Four is rarely in evidence.

Il,3::, |r],l.t tg-fi

. ara^se. band attitude, this coull easity be aorrtlsn edftron in the pebbles serres. Buz for example sound

like blood brothers of The Limer (see pebbleiiiiJme r1 with

:f:: fjiq" F-rio.lt"f ne and the threat"ning ,";r., anrer In

:i:':,'y.'.: ^i3son Eddie laka Atbert WycherGy. younger

:::::i .t.t,,l Fg.yl and The Centremen show that you

oon t have to be Yank to do Bo Diddley just ice. On theother hand is it impossible to make a baj song with that riffor whatl The Charles Kingley Creation .ontr]but" ,orneg:*,,,n i.^,ful pop songs. And whod have thought ir, evenFreodre 5tarr turns out to be a boss purveyo. of Bu"t,heading his band The Midnighters. Top godArngt;f Meek isrelatively restrained throughout, although he dJes threadwarery reverb and shimmery slide guitar through the lovelyWishing Well by The Millionaires, the best ,oni on this disc.It sounds.likeworking Wth Meek wasn,t always a gooc movecareer-wise. The sleeve notes to these releaies read like acatalotue of missed opportunities and bad timing. Records

Meek's lesser-known acts and the whole compilation burstsw.ltfr energy and vigour. Rinky-dink piano and other dult bluescliches beloved of Jools Holland can be found t

".u in ,p.0",

but are utterly reinvrgorated by the sheer excitement in thepta/tng. Next time someone subjects you to the watereddown r&b of The Blues Brothers or The Commitments whackthis on their CD player and put those discs,o,t.rn..

78

Projector Sifth issue

The Crackling Ether:FIELD RECORDINGSSUB.SECTION

fffffAnnea Lockwood / Ruth Andercon, SinopalrUSA, Experirnental Interrnedia Foundation XI l18(les8)

Chris llVatson, Outside the Circle of FiteTouch TO:3? (1998)

A brace of excellent issues here, both fashioned using thesounds of nature itself.

The Sinopah CD comprises two long pieces by contemporarycomposer-musicians, of which we shall deal with 'World

Rhythms ( 1997 version)' by New Zealand-born AnneaLockwood. Here, she's edited together an entire palette ofunusual field recordings into a collaged suite of remarkablepower. The sources refer to all four ancient elements - Earth,Air, Fire and Water - and include dangerous or threateningphysical phenomena, such as volcanic eruptions andearthquakes; more placid sounds from geysers at YellowstoneNational Park, several rivers, and a lake in Montana: animals(frogs and crows near a bonfire in Essex); human breathingand - my personal favourite - radio waves generated by apulsar in outer space. The obvious environmental concernsmanifested in this work by Lockwood transcend anyfeel-good Save The Earth sermonising; she perceives rheglobe as a complex, self-regenerating mechanism, and herintuitive work attempts to sympachetically reveal some ofthese hidden workings, through sound.

This work originally existed in 1975 as a live mixperformance, with the volcano sounds in stereo flanked by arange of loudspeakers, one for each sound source. The livemix was improvised by Lockwood and blended wirh liveperformance of gong players - adding a natural rhythm

throughou! along with the breathing lungs and othermeditacive, rhythmic elements. Encouraged by New Yorkminimalist Phill Niblock she went ahead to realise a full-lenphversion, resulting in this splendid item which should graceyour shelf better than any pseudo-ethnic ornament from thePortobello Road.

This release is coupled with Ruth Anderson's beautiful anddreamy Zen-inspired heavy breathing tapework'l Come outof your Sleep'. The CD box pictures a mountain calledSinopah, sacred to the Blackfeet tribe, on the cover - asun-drenched image that might fool you into thinking this issome New Age frippery, but far from it. The specialness ofcerrain places on the earth is also important to ChrisWatson, who's followed up his previous environmentalrecording CD Stepping into the Darkwith tJris superb newworl< Qutside the Circle of Fire. k's a beautiful thing.

Watson brings back recordings of wildlife from exoticinternational locations, thanks to his job working fordocumentary nature films. These pieces, however, arestripped bare of commentary and exist in their own right asfocused studies of atmospheres, animals, places, weatherconditions - anything that registers as sound. UnlikeLockwood, he edits nothing; the raw, unadulterated soundsspeak for themselves. Most of the material comes fromanimals, large and small, from hippos in a mudpool to cermitesboring chrough a beam; from exotic unknown beasts to morefamiliar domestic birds like tawny owls. Some, utilising superbquality equipment, are close-miked intense studies of thesubject; others record the overall environment andatmosphere within which the cries and sounds are takingplace, Needless to say, these beautiful works - intended asmusic - communicate a sense of awe, respect for animals andthe environment, and the sensitivity of Watson in assemblingthis material - through a patient process of exploring listeningand waiting. The record played end to end creates anastonishing myster/, and almost takes us !o another world -

until you step back and realise it's our own world, just onewe've ignored for too long and forgotten to learn how tolisten to.

ED PINSENT

Look ahead ror ChriSWatsotl interview 3

79

The Sound Projector Sifth issuerDrtrrtrrErtrrtrrtrrErtrrDrEr

CHRISWATSON

fnterview by Ed PinsentrtrrtrrtrrtrrtrrtrrtrrtrrDrDrDrFAMILIAR TO MANY AS A FOUNDING MEMBER OFCABARET Voltaire, Watson left this band to work for awhile as part of The Hafler Trio. Finding himself insomething of a creative gap after that endeavour, he wasencouraged by Jon Wozencroft to explore further hiswork in the field of environmental recordings - he had thebare bones of an idea, but nowhere to place it. A creativepartnership with Touch ensued. The two CDs, Sfeppinginto the Dark and Outside The Circle of Fire areexperiments. Watson states: ' l was delighted when MikeHarding and Jon Wozencroft gave me the opportunity ofmaking them, and I developed the ideas with theirsupport over several years.' Feedback from listeners isalways appreciated.Watson now seems morefulfi l led than most of uscan ever hope for, throughhis work: ' l 'm really happydoing it, it's perfect, I feelit 's worthwhile and it 'sgetting somewhere.'Moving back to Newcastlehe was employed by TyneTees television, worked onThe Tube for ChannelFour, and found freelancesound recording work -including a spell with theRSPB Then he loined a fi lm crew partnership that led toregular work on fi lm documentaries and features;currently on The Life of Birds on BBC TV, and hopefullysomething on marine communication for a MillenniumProgramme called Blue Planet...if we ever make it thatfar. Watson responded by e-mail and then added furthercomments by telephone.

rtrrtrrortrrtrrtrrErtrrtrrErErEP Can you please describe the logistics involved in makingthese documentary recordings. I understand it,s quite arespecable business to be involved in. What is the markettor y5h recordings - used in Wildlife prognmmes, packagedas CDs/

CW I am fortunate in travelling to locations around theworld in order to record sounds for wildlife films anddocumentaries. I also visit specific locations to collecratmosphere and species recordings for my own work. Thelogistics of all these rips involve considerable planning anopreparation. For f i lm sound tr ips, the animal, i ts behavrour andhabitats to be featured may be scripted so I can research therequrrements and the animals before setting out.

I always keep a sound kit with me, so I can take advantage ofthe spontaneous or unique events which often bring surprisesto many locations and provide useful material.

One other technique I use to col lect sounds is to takeadvantage of any available time out on location from other

'ListenMore

Carefullyt...

types of film shoots to record other sounds. I catalogue and(eventually) archive all the field work into my own soundlibrary. Periodically, I also copy selected recordrngs ofparticular species for the British Library, National SoundArchive - wildlife section. From this collection anyone can gointo the library and ask to listen to recordings from theircollection. Copies are provided free of charge for educationand research purposes. For commercial use I charge anegotiable fee. I also supply recordings directly to W, film,radio and music productions.

EP On your sleevenotes I note there are very specifrcdescriprions of your specialist eguipment. What do thesetools do that conventional recording / monitoring eguipmentcan't/

CW When Jon Wozencroft and I produced Outside TheCircle of Firewe wanted to detail the recording equipment Iused as that choice affected how the recordings sounded.With a few exceptions all of the gear I use is supplied byprofessional audio manufucturers. Some pieces, such as mySennheiser mics. and Nagra tape recorders have beenmodified to improve aspects of their performance enablingme to record very quiet sounds. And certain pieces of my kithave been developed for me - such as the Telinga 'science'

microphone capsules. The combinations of equipment andtechniques I use have been developed through theexperiences of my location work. Considering these, I think

the main techniques forcollecting good material arefield craft and microphoneplacement. Wherher rhis isto achreve detal l . perspectiveor to record a particularambience or acoustic.

EP ln your opinion are theserecordings 'pure'

documentary items/ Doesthe eguipment in some waymagnif the stgnaldisproponionately (ie rhehuman ear couldn't 'normally'

hear things this close up).

CW The tracks on the two CDs are intended as music. Theywere recorded as cleanly - purely - as possible to try andcapture the 'essence' of that place or animal. For Ouuide TheCircle of Fire the microphones had to be as close as possible,without creating any disturbance. We would find it difficult tolisten this close to most animals. However, I believe that it isonly in this close perspective that the real beauty and detail ofthese wonderful sounds can be revealed.

EP lf Outside the Circle of Fire is intended as an ansatement, where does the dilrference lie between adocumentary recording and an art statement / A simplestatemenc such as 'A Mozambigue nightjar is sucking in all theremaining light' seems to me to add a very poetic,interpreadve dimension to the piece in question. Can youcomment,

CW The way in which a recording is made and presentedcontributes to its artistic value. Tracks are selected forcontenl They are edited to a length dictated by the Torm,ofthe sound(s) and to allow the character of the animal or placeto breathe. The sounds to me are often lyrical, so that is thelanguage I try to use when describing them.

The interpretation of those sounds is then open to tnelistener as with any other piece.

EP / think you have said you were trying to capture anbtmosphere' or ambience on these tapes, besides the detailsofanimal behaviour. Do you feel your recordings succeed in

80

The Sound Projector sifth issuecapturing this elusive element/ When you're out therelistening to this atmosphere, what elements are inspiring youlWhat steps is it necessary to cake to try and reproduce theseelements on tape/

CW There are links between the spirits within certain placesand our feelings and appreciation of them. I was interested ininvestigating these links and felt sure we could connectthrough the sounds of these places. During | 982 | madeseveral trips into Kielder Forest I had permission to drive upthrough the remote forestry tracks, and I often arrive beforedawn. In the steep walled blackness of mature conifers Iwould park up in a clearing. Within a few minutes of gettingout and assembling my gear I would get an instinctive feelingabout the site. Sometimes I would set off with feelings of greatanticipation and excitement - stepping into the dark - torecord within the forest. At other locations I would feel agrowing sense of unease and foreboding. lt was difficult for meto walk off into the gloom and record, but after experiencingthis at a few sites I wanted to hear what would happen on thesubsequent tapes and pushed myself to record.

Around this time I was reading Alfred Watkins The OldStrarght Trackand several books by Tom Lethbridge and TomGraves. I began to discuss my experiences and ideasexpressed in the books with friends. To my surprise, somepeople described similar feelings and attitudes towards certain'special places'. Travelling to film locations from lceland toSouth Amerrca and meeting local people within thosedifferent cultures made me realise that this sense ofspirituality in connection with particular locations probablyoccurred around the world.

When I first visit a location it is to spend time looking aroundand listening. lt is also important to find where the animals areand what their behaviour is. Often, animals will themselveslead me to find the best habitats to record in. My experiencessuggest that they also have the ability to find the best sites -the 'special places'. . . I then local ise the microphone posit ionsby listening in different places for acoustics, ambience andtimbre, rather like framing a camera lens for a landscapeportrait. lt is then interesting to make recordings at differentt imes, usually predawn, sunrise, dusk and periods through thenight are most productive. At these times noise is alsoreduced.

For close animal sounds i t is obviously important to knowyour subject - vocalisations, behaviour and habitat- Gettingmicrophones in close without disturbance or modiff ing anybehaviour can be dif f icult . l t is certainly t ime consuming, butvery worthwhile. Sometimes - such as the Capercallierecording on Outside The Circle of Fire - the animal uses theacoustics of the habitat to modulate its message. Here it isimportant to include those sounds in a recording of that

"n'rn.1. Again, these birds use traditional sires deep within the

Caledonian forest to display from. Some of these sites mayhave been used for centuries and can be found identifiedwithin local names on Ordnance Survey maps. Indeed, oldnames for sites can be very revealing and are a useful researchtool.

EP After the recordings are made, are there anypost-production states that better enable their 'fnming'as

works of an/ Editing, for example - how do you determineduntion/ What is rhe level of your anistic interuention/

CW I am still developing ideas for post production. Therecordings on *epping into the Darkand Outside The Circleof Fire are reproduced on CD almost as they were made.Together with any M&S or A,1B stereo matrix work there issome minimal equalisation - usually to rol l offany lowfrequency interference.

EP As an archivist myself, I'd be interested to hear the levelof contextual information you compile to support these tapes.Do you always log the time and place of the recording/ (Eachsatement seems locked into its own panicular environment).Is it important for you, for example, to identify all the speciesof wildlife that are fnmed within each sound picture/

CW Additional information and documentation to support arecording certainly adds to its value and usefulness. For mealso it is important to be able to identify the calls of anyanimals present as this again is a valuable source ofinformation and behavrour. I routinely log the time, date,location, weather condit ions, microphone posit ion andequipment used for each recording. For individual species thedistance from the microphone to the animal is also importantas the sound and therefore the information contained in thecall can be radically changed or degraded by distance. I believethat all these details are important as they do have an effectand become part of a recording and together combine tomake each piece unique.

EP I note also a cerain precision on )/our part in noting thetime of day and the weather conditions; are these elementsreckoned as pan ofthe work, do they affect the recording/

CW One observation is that the character and atmosohereof a place can var/ seasonally. lt may be only when certainanimals are present, or the flora changes with the seasonsthat a srte will take on a oarticular characteristic. Thesechanges are an area I am keen to work on...

EP Are there any personal undercurrents in the work -statements on the state of the world for example, ecolog1r,the wa)/ we treat the animal kingdom/ | think your tapestransmit a feeling of encountering something much larger thanoneself - bigger than all mankind perhaps. ls an)/thing like thisgoing through your mindl From the w4/ )/ou describe theset-ups for these recordings - it sounds like there's a verycompassionace side, no intent to intrude on the naturalenvironment more than necessary (certainly no intendon coharm). Can )/ou comment.

CW I am concerned about the integrity of many wild places.Habitat loss is happening al l around us - not just in the highprofile areas like tropical rain forests. Allied to this I amworried - and frequently annoyed - by noise pol lut ion. l t canhave a considerable and insidious effect. I suggest we need to(re)learn to listen more carefully.

EP Have you ever been surprised by what actually ends upon the tape/ Have you ever caught something more than youintended/ Do you study rhe detail of the apes afterwards/

CW Many of the sites I have recorded in have a 'presence' -an atmosphere - which can leave one with a sense of awe.Animal communication is part of this. In these places we aresurrounded by highly developed and eloquent languages whichwe are unable to comprehend, but can appreciate. Andlistening back to these recordings I am sometimes surprisedby a particular detail or overall clarity which can crystallisethe spirit of that place and make the connection. lt does seemthat the elements which make up the special characteristics ofthese places can be recorded and subsequently reproduced.Of course it is difficult for me to detach myself from theprocess, but the reports from 'listeners' seem to confirmwhat can be passed on. At least if it encourages people tolisten more carefully, and drscover such places for themselvesI feel it has been a success.

Chris Watson20th October 1998rflrErnrErElr Er tr r trt tr rE rEr

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The Sound Projector sifth issue

Aloise Pollution and sound topics...by CW

SOUND OOO@oise Pollution is

A Barrage of SoundI get frustrated by noise pollution because it's something we

have no control over. I real ly don't l ike being bombarded bywhat I call noise, having music played at me eyerywhere. lt's asthough people are frightened by silence, or embarrassed by it.It affects people, not only socially, but now commercially aswell. Advertisers use it in the lowest common denominatorway. lt's not /our imagination that TV adverts are louder -that's something that's practiced, that's intended. lt goesacross to f i lm sound as well , which is obviously something l 'minvolved with. l've had battles with producers to simply not

animals] hear it. That's what'sintriguing, this system of parallelcommunications is going on aroundus.

@cinemasound andrmage

I think in terms of the Americanfeature film industry, anything goes!American dubbing editors have reallygot this down to a fine art l'vesupplied material to quite a few

feature films. Quite often we use animal sounds because wecan identify - if not the animal - the type of emotion thatsound is associated with. For instance I supplied some yearsago some sounds for a feature film called Aliens. For one ofthe monster scenes they used some of my recordings ofbaboons screaming, which is l ike in response to an alarm cal lif you like, when the troop's under threat from some lions,they make this high-pitched and rhythmic, and - quiteagonising to our ears - screaming noise. And that was used incombination with things like breaking glass, and screeching oftyres, and all that to make this monstrous alien sound. Sothere's a lot of components - when you heard i t you couldn'tidentify the original components, but they all direct you orsteer you emotionally.

O*Killing the Whales

Great Whales used to use very low frequencies tocommunicate over thousands of kilometres. Nowadays theoceans are full of - effectively, noise pollution from ships'engines. So their communication is restricted. Because wateris a more efficient conductor of sound than air, sounds travelsfaster - but also the oollution is more invasive. I've workedquite a bit in the Moray Firth, and you can hear boat engineswell over a mile away, that you can't hear on the surfuce butwhen you drop a hydrophone in the water you can hear theharmonics of the engine. For the whales, al l this noise hasaffected their breeding patterns - their breeding success -because now the groups of whales can't communicate withone another. So in the last hundred years, certainly,populations have become more isolated. Because they usesuch low frequencies. ln fact the old type of submarinecommunication was actually copied from whales. They useparticular deep water channels - the VLF frequencies theyproduce, sometimes as low as 20 Hz, which are literallychannelled through them. The sea is in fact a more sound-richenvironment than the air! We're lulled into this folk-lore of'The Silent Sea',. made famous by Jacques Cousteau whoalways used to say he would descend into this silent world.It's anything but! | did some recording off the coasr ofnonhern lceland, and I couldn't bel ieve i t - there was nothingin sight, but I dropped ahydrophone into the water andthere were the most amazrngsounds. Once you're away fromthe mechanical sounds of thewave on shingle, and out intodeeper waters, you start to hearthe sounds of submarinecommunication. There's a muchwider range of frequencies, youhear the very low frequenciesthat are produced by fish fromtheir swim-bladders, right up tothe marine mammals l ikedolphins. They use sound for awhole range of purposes. fromcommunication to hunting prey.

play music, and not to write scripts, and iust to let thingshappen in a way so that people can hear things develop,rather than treatint everybody as though they've got athree-second attention span.

People iust turn off automatically. I believe that if you areunder this barrage of sound, you become sensitised to it. Andso, rather like being at a cocktail party, you feel you can justshut your ears down.

O Learning alanguage

One of things l've tried on Ou*ide The Circle of Fireis tonot explain. I can't really, even though l'm very interested inanrmal languages - it's like a lot of things, the more we learnthe less we actually understand. I dislike the way the someresearchers have tried to simplify it for their own benefit ofunderstanding it. ln fact it's not simple, it's extremelycomplex, and l'm quite happy ;ust to let that be and notunderstand it I don't think you actually achieve that much bytrying to understand it We can't hear it how they [the

"...people arefrightened bysilgncg..."

82

? |lumionlilalilandmffiilam?and The Thanes live, WildWeekend, The Boston, LondonTufnell Park lst November1998EVERYONE KNOWS AND LOVES 96 TEARS' EVEN if theythink The Stranglers wrote it. Suicide and The Residentsboth covered it and the latter group went on to appropriateits melody on many occasions, putting it on an equal footingwith Strauss and Elvis in Cube Fand making it the theme totheir amazing God in Three Persons. lt also gave bands likeThe Inspiral Carpets at least a couple of strings to their bow,mixed blessing though that may be.

ids any garage music fan will be aware the actual creators ofthe song were Mexican-American combo Question Mark andthe Mysterians. One-hit wonders they may have been, butMark and his gang had beentogether for several years beforetheir 1966 hit and in their heydayrecorded two well-respected LPs.TheyVe reformed several times inthe intervening decades and nowreturn again in 1998 to headline atExotic Entertainmens four-dayWild Weekend ggrage-psyche-fest.To coincide with this great event, afascinating Guardian Guide piee byMiriam Linna painted a picture of

Question Mark as a highlyself.confident and driven characterwith a penchant for never removinghis sunglasses and a bizarrepersonal mythology reminiscent(very superficially) of Sun Ra's. Ferinsunce Mark is from Mars ratherthan Saturn. Presumably one planetwas too small for the both of them. The article alsodescribed how the bare bones of 96 Tears were created in ayouthful Mark's head but were only realised during his firstand only piano lesson. lmpatient and musically frustrated, hepersuaded his teacher to forego the normal scale practice andtap out the tune while Mark sang along. Several years laterkeyboard player Frankie Rodriguez added the famous organriff and a hit was born.

On stage at the Boston the hard-looking mop-topped teensof the Mysterians sixties publicity shots were hard and mop-topped no longer. Lined up behind Question Mark andsporting some truly hideous purple and yellow ? t-shirts andbandanas, they instead resembled a pudry middle-aged maleversion of 'Addicted to Love's parade of identikit glamourgals. Mark in contrast was sleek and wiry in skin-tight pantsand open silk shirt, looking like a curious composite of oldtime rockers Damo Suzuki, Link Wray and Simeon with hiscragg'y, oriental features and sunglasses. Question Mark wasborn to dance and he wants us to know it. He wiggled back

The Sound Projector sifth issue

q)66

and fonh across the stage (rather effeminately) throughoutthe gig like a twirching beanpole of nervous energy.

Variations on 96 Tears'were few and far between. In fact bythe time the song itself arrived as an encore it seemed pretty

tame and incongruous by comparison to the rest of the set"The Mysterians nowadays are a keyboard-heavy r&b bandwith a range sophisticated enough to include a classyrocked-up cover of a girl group song theJaynettesatmospheric classic Sally Goes Round the Roses'. For thisMark even managed a convincing falsetto. The band wereplainly very pleased to be there and who can blame theml Asteens they struggled to make a success of what they weredoing. Three decades later they returned to play to a roomfull of people who love them more or less withoutreservation. The bass player rather endearingly could notwipe the smile off his face through the whole gig.

It was disappointing though that, for all Question Mark'treputed eccentricities, he turned out to be in effect a quirkyfrontman for what is essentially a very straight band musicallyhe's no Sun Ra that's for sure. And The Mysterians are a tlghtoutfit but judging by this evening they havent grownartistically one bit since they began. I believe that bands cansustain creativity over a whole career, but the fact that sofew do suggests that it takes a rare talent determination andpossibly a hefty amount of luck to do so, But I guess TheMysterians have explored to the limits of their particular cageand rather than break out they're found a cushioned cornerin which to sit and take it easy. Who's to say we shouldn't

join them there for tea and cakeson the odd afternoonl

lf you tried the same round at TheThanes, you'd be served withCamp Coffee and thirry year -old

bread. The support band on thisoccasion, like most neo-psychebands. seem to exist to illustratethe creative pitfalls of fetishisingthe past. Unlike their forebearswho were making it up as theywent along The Thanes areresolutely wary to stray from awell- trodden path in fear ofhaving to have an original thoughtof their own. The superficialelements of the music they lovemay all be there but lostsomewhere in the reproduction

are the simpliciry, the irresistible melodies and the kookyhumour that made the original records so much fun. Insteadwe get overly familiar ingredients all thrown picknmix-styleinto some ver/ satry song structures, very professionallyplayed (and they do know their stuff) but utterlyunmemorable. In this respect The Thanes would fit in well atthe Camden Monarch's Super Electric Bubble Plastic clubnights where top banana garage discs are blasted out betweensets by patendy inferior modern day bands. The Thanes atleast showed some soirit towards the end of their setloosening up and simplifying their act a whole lot to playsome mean and dirty jungle rhythms. The Cramps are playfuland irreverent enough to make a viruue of wallowing in thepas! and The Sundial know how co take the past and improveupon ig but bands like The Thanes are just doomed to repeatother peoples glories with ever diminishing returns.

HARLEY RICHARDSON

83

Lunar Notes: Zoot Eorn RoIIo's CaptainBeelheart Experienceby Bill Harkleroad with Billy famesSf,F hblishing Ltd 1998, ISBN 0 946219 2l Z,l5Zp p , 8 1 1 . 9 5

You can read this in under two hours, because it isn't really abook at all; not a book with a chain of thought, an argument.constructed into chapters with a stan and a conclusion;rather, it's merely an extended tape transcript. lt leaves theimpression that the compiler, Billy James (calling himself AntBee) simply turned on the tape recorder and allowed MrZoot Horn Rollo to ramble on. Whatever quest.ions therewere to guide this free-form oral history along some sort ofstructured path have been edited out.

The more dull articles like this are published, the less magicthere will be associated with The Magic Band. lt alwaysamazes me how something so potentially interesting - thestory of playing with Captain Beefheart - can be made intosomething so desperately dull. Henry Kaiser says more in hisbrief introduction than the pages that follow; although becautious. because Kaiser has his own agenda. He feels thatDon Van Vliet has taken too much of the credit for rnemusic, claiming that he wrote everything and that The MagicBand could not have existed without his tutelage andguru-like influence. Kaiser has spent many years arguing thatthe players in The Magic Band have their own uniquecontribucion, and that they are remarkably skilled musicians.'Zoot played things that would have been impossible onguitar', he enthuses. The Trout Mask Replica guitar parcs areunprecedented.' Further, he said in Forced Exposure#14:'...you've got John French playing drums and his drummingstyle gets called a Beefheart drummingstyle, though, from what I can tell frommy research, it was pretty muchdeveloped and practised by John French.'But surely both views are correct? Onlya fool could neglect the talent and hardwork of those genius-freak players whomade Trout Mask Replica possible.Kaiser, however, takes it a stage furtherand is so keen to correct the imbalancethat he's on the edge of negating TheCaptain altogether,

The most interesting part of this booktells how Bill Harkleroad worked onTrout Mask We find the band living in aremote part of rural California rehearsingthe songs; it turned out to be a verystrange trip for all. like joining amonastery, with Van Vliet the asceticmonk in charge. He subjected them tohumiliating and torturous mind games,sleep deprivation techniques,manipulating their every thought andmove by playing one personality againstanother, and assigning them roles in hisprivate universe; doubtless the specialpoetic names he assigned to them werepart of this process. lt could also be seenas a way of denying them rheir identity, aconvenient safeguard for Don to protecthimself emotionally if there was afalling-out. By the time of release ofTrout Mask John French's name didn'teven appear on the credirs (although he'son the back cover photo. under the

The Sound Projector sifth issuebridge). Yet he was arguably the most important member atthis time.

John French has already published his brief statemencs inResonance Vol 6 Number l, in response to questions byMike Barnes, about the dubious ethics of the Captain'smethods, but nobody so far has denied that it made greatmusic. French, due to his ability to notate, transcribed thefragments of music that were flying out of the Captain's head;they would manifest as hummed or whisded passages.sometimes played on a piano, sometimes merely hinted. Donbecame impatient with any obstacles to the process, yet hisown musical inarciculacy demanded this method. Oncelearned, the pieces had to be sewn together into a coherentpiece and then practised ad infinitum by The Magic Band - bythis point nearly starving (they were always broke, or tountogether to go shopping), half alive through lack of sleep,their heads full of Don's psycho-babble and nerve centreswarped by lysergic chemicals. This potent brew made lroarMaskthe masterpiece it is; if you listen to the rehearsal tapes,you're amazed at how tight are the arrangements andseamlessly in place is every single note. Everyone assumes, atfirst liscen, that it's all improvised; the opposite is true. AsBen Watson has observed, experimental music this ain't.

The remaining book charts the progress of other Magic Bandhigh points, including live shows, and the recording of the LPsLick My Decals Off, The Spotlight Kid and Clear Spoe l1rHarkleroad vouchsafes his opinions on every single recordedtrack, and starts to come over increasingly like a ratheruninteresting work-for-hire guitar muso. After theUnconditionally Guannteed fiasco, he went off to joinMallard with Arthur Tripp and other Magic Band members;

with the help of lan Anderson of JethroTull. they released two LPs.

There's clearly a good story waiting to betold about The Magic Band, so let's hopethat the planned volume by Mike Barneswill prove to be a goodie; l'm given tounderstand that he has at leastinterviewed more than one musician. Inaddition, there is the planned CD Box setof Trout f/ask rehearsals and otherunreleased Magic Band material, to beissued by Revenant - perhaps already outby the time you read this. The diffident

John French has sweated blood over thesleeve notes to chis planned box set,perhaps taking excessive care over whathe dares to state publicly about TheCapain. Perhaps Don Van Vliet was amercurial egomaniac. but so often chere'sa downside to genius; who says greatartists have to be great people too?Modern America has fostered anenvironment now where any neglectedoaf can stand up on Ricki Lake and invitethe nation to hear their tale of woe - beit child abuse, school bullying, or badparenting. Such a sensitive psycheprobably feels shocked to learn of suchuncaring environments as the house thatdripped Trout Mask, and would love to

{ *prl." i.;;; "

;;;; "urturing

andloving one. Unfortunately, politicalcorrectness doesn't make great art.

84

ED PINSENT

Sun Ra and His IntergalacticResearch Arkestra, Black Myth./ OutIn Space 2 x CDGerrnany, Motor Music GmbH 5526s6-2 (1998)

Fantastical, another essential purchase inthe Ra canon. This is the first live Sun Raproduct l've heard that's given me a realtaste of what a lush, grandiose banquet ofmusic was served up at an Arkestraperformance, a gargantuan feast of delightscompared with which virtually any modernconcert is little more than a stale Rie cracker.Large-scale ja:z arrangements - which were thegirders of Ra's architectural vision, skylights andwindows were the solo spots given to eachperformer. Songs - like Walking on the Moon',one of many joyous come-all-ye exhorations inRa's repertoire that time after time urged thelistener to leave Earth behind. 'be of myspace-world'. Poetry recitals - 'lt's after the endof the world, don't you know that yet?' - WilliamBlake would have died to have written such anepithel and how much is contained in that linealone, a timely warning of apocalypse, thedropping away of the material world as the soulenters paradise. Keyboard work - Ra sittingbehind his consoles and perhaps gazing at Saturnthrough his telescope, leader of the band,simultaneously holding everyone together andkeeping each player in a state of perpetualsurprise with his jagged rocksichord lines. Thevery sound of that souped-up harpsichord isbetter than Switched-On Bach, it connects himto Baroque music and while travelling in hisfree-time state he holds meetings withCooernicus and other astronomers.

And all this is without the visuals of a Ra show,the Egyptian costumes and headgear, the lights,the dancers and fire-eaters. No wonder jezzpurists had a hard time understanding it all.

With chis excellent performance, what you can'tignore is the beautiful combination ofinstruments - simply the sound of the Moog withacoustic big band brass, saxes, drums - isunbeatable. and will orobably never be becered.Why is it so goodl Because it's more than acombination of instruments. it's a combination ofpersonalities - a combination of great souls, communicatingin the astral plane. The Sun Ra Arkestra did not happen byaccident; it was more like a deliberate artistic plan executedto near-perfection by its eccentric director, in the face ofgreat difficulcy and indifference from the world. lt's not thecase that Ra could have worked with just any musician at all -

he chose his main men with care. and then cultivated themover the years. Certainly, he did it eccentrically, keeping themin the dark for the most parc - and you could say it was apainful process for the artists undergoing this cultivation,almost as though they were Bonsai trees having their limbsbound up and then trimmed with giant secaturs. But theirpain is our gain. That's the power of arcistic sacrifice!

This CD restores as much as is available of two Germanconcerus staged in 1970by the international jazz expert

Joachim Ernst Berendt, at the Donaueschingen Musik Fesrivaland the Berlin Jaz Festival. Portions of these tapes were

issued in l97l as the now out of print LP lt's After the Fnd ofthe Woild (MPS 15289). The hard-working team that put thisCD set together - Fabian Kerner, aided by J6rg Eipasch andHartmuc Bender - salvaged tapes from the officialbroadcasting archives, though they remain incensed that outof a three hour concert only 47 minutes have been archived.Was it fate that any of it survived at all? Few people reallytook Sun Ra seriously at this time. We're making up for itnow. 'The oeriod from the mid-60s to the end-70s hasprobably been Sun Ra's most important one,'claims HartmutGeerken in his liner notes; 'in those times he reached theclimax of his philosophic-musical development'. lt's more thana privilege to hear a period that has been under-representedby available Sun Ra issues. We are a blessed race, hearing this,blessed.

ED PINSENT

The Sound Projector sifth issue

TREEIAZZ-.Records ny Sun Ra XMiles DavisI x The Eremite Label x

85

The Sound Projector sifth issue

M.I.L-E-SPanthalassa: The Music of Miles Dauis 196g-1924Reconstrroction and Mix Translation by Bill laswellGolumbia CK 6?909 (1998)

ln case you hadn't heard, Miles Davis (merely one of the mosr asronishingmusicians ever to stalk this planet) died some years ago and purist fans mighthave misunderstood this parcicular sanctionned release as some form oflegitimised grave-robbing. Bill Laswell, the New York producer and musician,has edited together some unreleased and other sundry fragments of thegreat 'electric Miles' bands from the many available tapes of studio and liverecordings, and produced this excellent suite of superb music. Laswell hasmade a judicious selection of musical events and segued them together so asto zero in on the most exciting moments, and placing like with like bymatching tonalities, rempos, moods and keys - working with the sound like apainter. This editing technique, as anyone with a passing familiariry with Milesshould know, exactly mirrors the way chat major jazz producer Teo Maceroworked with Miles' studio and live recordings from this period. lt was anexperimental way of working that began with the legendary ln a Silent Way,took off with Bitches Brewand was successfully developed over subsequentreleases. What a break with tradition it must have seemed. even then in

1969-1970; jaz recording had become insistent on exacdy documenting theperformance as played, staft to finish, no overdubs, no edits; althoughperhaps exceptions could be found. Miles and Macero were imporrantpioneers in wanting to acrively embrace the mixing desk and tape cucrer aspotentially important instruments in jazz. The performances became rawmaterial to be used in the creation of an epic, gigandc canvas.

Needless to say that's only the least of Miles' musical achievements; theblending of electric instrumencs with acoustic, for example, resulting in theastounding big band sound of Bitches Brewand beyond - two electric pianos,an electric bass, an electric guiar flohn Mclaughlin), competing with thefamiliar jazz solo instrumen$ of his trumpet and Wayne Shorter's alro sax.Weather Reporc and the invesdgations of Herbie Hancock stemmed fromthese breakthrough works. Later Miles would experiment more with echoand other electronic effects on the trumpet, even doing so live; on Aghartahe plays the electric organ in such ways as to make Keith Emerson shrivel upand die. The connection to the direcrions Jimi Hendrix was taking at the time- Band of Gypsies - is an obvious one; see the sleeve notes for further details.

Bill Laswell has segued his renderings into a near CD length epic thatshowcases many of the moods, ranges and mysteries of this fascinating music;it could be sweaty energetic funk, and it could be a balm for rhe tired andemotional state; the 'sorrow and lostness of Miles' is how Joachim Berendt

enough, arthough it,d be unfair to compare,.." "li'i".'n'J::1.:ll:';:l:;:"'llT,jlji""lf;'1":"r[T#:';:'il:lHi*nothing of playing two long sets in a single day at Osaka, Japan. Just kidding. I bet his band didn't think much of it eithei. Verycoincidentally this release coincides with Sony's long-overdue slurry ofexcellent Miles Davis 'electric period' remastered reissues: for inshncePangaea. Agharta, Brg Fun, Live-Evil, and those which were only availablethrough Sony Japan - Dark l'fagus and Black Beauty. Some of them are vinylrepros, some of them are CDs put into attraclive litde packages, all of themare essenlial ourchase.

Actually this brings me to the only drawback with Panthalassa - the utterlyindifferent sleeve art. lt's done by the ghastly Russell Mills, a designer whoscores high marks on the pretentious-ometer. low points on the afiractivedesign art starement scoreboard, You may disagree and enjoy restint yourpeepers on these bland-o 'lmage and photographic melts'which he preparedwith Michael webster. But Miles would be turning in his grave ar this missedopporcunity (more so rhan the post-production of his music, one suspects).During his electric period he produced LPs with some of the most srunning,beautifuf cover art paintings ever to grace a sleeve. Just look at Bitches Brewand Live-Evil6y Mati Klarwein, also called Abdul Mati; Agharca by TadanoriYokoo; Big Fun and On the Cornerby Corky McCoy. Not a one of rhemfailed to make a memorable visual statement that encded clues about hispolitics, his audience, his music - everything.

ED PINSENT

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The Sound Projector sifth issue

xxxxxxxxx

Eremite rWNGrcilEIllEtlleet!

'Our Total MusicMeeting, if you get mydrift... '

BELOW, FOUR RECENT CDS OF CONTEMPOMRY FREE

JAZZ AND improvised music from Michael Ehlers' Eremitelabel, a valiant indie setup currently operating out ofNorthamoton MA in the US of A. All of these are worthinvestigating; those by Malik and Tsahar are exemplaryexamples of recent free blowing performances, while GreggBendian's work is somewhat more composed. This relativelynew label is supported by Byron Coley, late of ForcedExposure who as commissioning agent also contributes thescholarly liner notes. In summer 1996 they held their firstFire in the Valley annual music festival. The label is predicatedon the principles of the Free Music Produccion label in Berlin,home to its owner Peter Brotzmann. Hans Reichel. HanBennink , Fred Van Hove, Alex Schlippenbach et al; but alsoremains true to the spirit of the 1960s label ESP'-Disk, inreleasing raw and uncut music by musicians they happen tolike. Some of these players (like Jemeel Moondoc and WilliamParker) made a name in the 1970s New York loft jazz scene,and appeared on Alan Douglas' Wildllower series of recordsmade in Sam Rivers' home.

Does free jazz still exist? 'Civilization After Coltrane' is oneof Raphe Malik's pieces; a tide like that. raises one of thedilemmas associated with playing this music in the 1990s; isthere anything more to say in free i"n after giants of thestature of Coltrane, Ornette, Cecil Taylor, Archie Shepp, BillDixon? lsn't Charles Gayle, good as he is, simply a diehardrevivalist? Well, the important thing this Eremite label is doingis giving something new an opportunity to happen: if you buildiC they will come. lf ESP'-Disk hadn't recorded all those greatLPs in the early 1960s by Albert Ayler, Marion Brown, PatryWaters, Sonny Murray, The Revolutionary Ensemble, Sun Ra,and all the others, then this important par" of jaa. historywould have died unrecorded, since nobody else effectivelywas interested at the time. Today, how many major labels areactively supporting the continuum of this most unique ofAfrican-American musics? Take a look round any VirginMegastore jazz section and most likely you'll find mostlywall-to-wall overpriced boxed sets - all reissues andremasters from the great history of jazz. Where is the newstuff? Look no funher.

I sense Coley has been threatening to get involved insomething like this for some time; long time Jazz editor of chegreat Forced Exposure magazine, he knows his onions. lt

would be impossible to bluff your way in any musical fieldwith this guy; if it's on vinyl, Coley knows about it. When heand Thurston Moore hooked up together on the EcstaticPeace! projeca a few fantastic records surfaced in 1990. Twowhich I o\ryn are Arthur Doyle plays more Alabama Feelingand the intense Out of Nowhere by Frank Lowe. The latterwas allegedly recorded by Thurston using his hand-heldWalkman; both records are mercilessly loud and ferociousexamples of radical free jaz., the players exhibiting thattruculence and utter indifference to a white audience oneassociates with Charles Mingus or Miles Davis; this just mightbe the true spirit of the music which the major record labelswere afraid of. Thurston was obviously trying to provesomething; he'd heard some utterly wild spirit in his extensivefree jaz. collection and amazingly managed to communicatesome of this feral quality by finding Frank Lowe in some darkalley.

Arguably, things have mellowed out since then; these Eremiterecords don't exactly follow the same take-no-prisonersapproach, but that isn't a bad thing at all. One side effect ofThurston sending a 'free jazz is cool' signal to the world has(allegedly) been an upsurge of interest in youngsterspurchasing rareiaz. sides of all stripe; the prices at recordfairs have certainly risen (a set of Wildflowers mentionedabove was recendy offered at {20 per LP). Suchadventurousness amongst listeners is welcome even if itpisses off people who have been collecting this sort of musicfor a much longer period. At one time even jazz recordspecialist shops looked down cheir noses a! the latest MarionBrown or Noah Howard LP and jettisoned it into the bargainracks. With Eremite's initiative perhaps another renaissance isdue, and at last we can start looking forwards instead ofbackwards. Having said that, at least one item in theircatalogue is a reissue, but what a treat one - ThroughAcceptance of the Hystery Peaceby William Parker,recordings made in 1974-1979 which he issued as a privatepress item in 1979. This one promises to provide 'an

altogether different view of the New York Loft scene thanthat provided 6y the Wildflorzers sessions'. Can't fuckin'watt..,

ED PINSENTtL. rL tt tL.tLLt r . twww

Raphe Malik, The Short FotznWith George Langford, Glenn Spearman andDennis WarrenUSf, Erernite MTE05 (1997)

Malik the trumpeter leads a spirited blasting set live at the1996 Fire in the Valley festival with Glenn Spearman on thetenor sax. Malik was a member of the 1970s Cecil TaylorUnit; Coley's notes point out how he's had few opportunitiesto play since then, let alone front a combo. We are alsoreminded how few trumpeters there are in free jan today -

compared to saxophonists at any rate. So enjoy it while youcan! The drummer Dennis Warren also studied with Taylorand combo leader Bill Dixon.

^tt rL. t\ r\ r'\wLrLrLrw

Gregg Bendian's Interzone with Nels Cline,Mark Dresser, AIex ClineUSA Eremtte MTE03 (1996)

Bendian plays a mean vibraphone and glockenspiel on this1996 studio recording. Recommended to fans of EricDolphy's Out To Lunch, or indeed to those who appreciate

87

the work of Ruth Underwoodon the better Frank Zappa LPs.Bendian admits to a heavyinfluence from 1970s UKProgressive Rock, in particularthe Free Hand LP by GentleGiant. He's also improvised withDerek Bailey and Cecil Taylor.

tL tt r\ r\ rttJ L? tJ tJ L?

Assif Tsahar Trio withWilliam Parker andSusie lbana, ShekhinaUSA Erernite MTE04 (1996)

Another live date from 1996Fire in the Valley and the firstouting for lsraeli born tenorplayer Assif Tsahar as a leader.Bassist William Parker is I hopeknown to at least some ofyou...he's been on over l@recordings, five of them asleader, and has a distinguishedcareer in music behind him.

'L '\ 'L,'L '\

wwr. twLtChristopher Cauley withGregg Bendian, WilliamParker and Steve Srvell,EII\IIandUSA Erernite MTE06 (1996)

Montreal-based Cauley on altosax mosdy with Bendian onpercussion (drums andvibraphone) with William Parkeragain for a fine May 1996 studiosession. Some tracks are moremysterious, all bowed cymbalsand droning bass notesi nterplaying with eccentricsqueaky sax emissions. SteveSwell adds a moanworthytrombone to some tracks. Someof it would be ideal listening fora hangover, but I don't suffer from those anymore.

, \ , L ' L ' L . ' TwLrwLrw

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Write to Eremite at POBox 812, Northampton,MA 01061-0812, USA

88

EPHI'TC.BEATIT

cc cc ctrtrtrtrc c cc ctrtrtrtrc c c c cHAVING YER FX***** HEAD KICKED IN

The Sound Projector sifth issue

Panacea, Low kofile DarknessChrome CD9 (199?)

lf you're of the opinion that drum 'n' bass works well onpaper, but in practice all sounds a bit weedy, as I've heard afew people admit, firstly l'd recommend that you hunt down'The Piano Tune' by Peshay, which is lucki ly turning up on alot of compilations at present, usually as the stand-out track.Although it is so titled as to coniure images of some bodpolitely tickling the ivories, the effect is rather more akin toHAVING YER Ft<*xx** HEAD KICKED lN. lf however you arealready conversant with the sampled and gated fury of Peshay,then you're probably ready to experience Panacea.

The purchaser of this CD may be lul led into a hlse sense ofsecurity by the cover, which sports several portraits of itsauthor, J possibly the pinkest and fattest teenager in theworld. He surely can't be much older than l7 and his generalcountenance suggests a life experience amounting to littlemore than crisps, cola, and video games. Indeed the cover ofLow Prolile Darknesswould seem to answer that age-oldquestion pondered over at football matches about who ate allthe pies. But do not let the deceptive appearance of this chapmislead you, for he is the author of what must surely be thebiggest and nastiest drum'n' bass record we're ever likely tohear. There's shirty, there'sdownright mean, and then there'sPanacea. Peshay sound likeEverything But The Girl incomDarison.

So what, one wonders, is thesecret of Panacea's success. Forstarters, where a lot of drum 'n'

bass is quite minimal, this is veryrich and operates on many levels.Each track is built upon a collageof blood-curdl ing atmosphericnoise over which yer actual drumsand bass are often distorted tobuggery, without sacrificing thatknife-edge precision whichcharacterises the genre. The basssounds l ike the big-boned lad hasskilfully orchestrated fleets ofjumbo jets to crash rn a specif icorder, in a principle based uponthat of the 'mouse organ' fromMonty Python, on a grander andmore terr ible scale. This would al lmake for a very messy lrsteningexperience were it not forPanacea's obviously great sense ofjudgement. In spite of all that isgoinS on, i t never soundscluttered. On the contrary, it hasa great sense of space and clarity.

Not so much Room l0 | as AircraftHanger l0l. l f you enjoy both kinds ofmusic, that is drum andbass, Panaceacould be right up your street...achange of trousers is advised.

WAR ARROW

Binary, Brick WaII MusicPlanet Noisebox PLAN FOURcD (1998)

Binary were recently the subject of apraise-heavy article in NME much tothe amusement of the man behind this

outfit. The national exposure came as a result not of ttrelessself-promotion, but by word of mouth and the generalexcitement generated by a DJ-only copy of a Binary cut thatwent down well in a few clubs. Perhaps a little bewildered bythe patronage of such an organ Mr Crumby, for that is hisname, fired off a few pithy remarks about making drum andbass from samples of slamming doors or even (shudder)himself spending a penny. In other words, as the sleevestates, there are no musical instruments on this disc, whichserves as a nice riposte to that crapp/ Queen album legend ofthere being'no synthesisers on this record'. Al l the soundsare derived from household objects, so some are easilyidentified as the logical progression of the time when lvorCutler 'hit the tea tra/ with the spoon'. Others are lessrecognisable. sounding for al l the world l ike a hir ly expensivekeyboard, but probably derived from the sound of singingwine glasses or somesuch.

The end result is probably what Anton Nikkilii shoaldhavesounded like. All the coffee iars, spoons and pedal bins aresampled and programmed with consummate skill into clattery,skittering beats and soulful little tunes thar any milkman wouldbe proud to add to his early morning repertoire. l f l 'vepainted a picture of some Art Of Noise-style novelty item, it

should be stressed that this isn'tthe case. Although at first many ofthe sounds seem oddlyincongruous shoehorned intofrenetic pafterns, this soon passesleaving one with a very richorganic sound, rn the sense ofcomplex chemical interacttonsbeing an 'organic' process. I havegeneral ly found that the only drumand bass to really hit the spot is ofthe kind which suggests a giantrobot is destroying your house,and sadly the less aggressive stuffcan often sound a bit diluted andlimp. Binary however provide ahappy exception to mypresumption. Delicate and subtlewithout compromising i tsunderstated Dower. this musrcflows and tickles the earsseductively with the combinedsimplicity and complexity of anespecially profound haiku. There ismuch here that more famousexponents of the genre would dowell to take note of.

WAR ARROWPlanet Noisebox, 135-137 KingStreet, Norwich NRI IQH

89

ind

This Heat, Eealth andEfticlency / Repeat doublevinyl IrPThese Records THESE 1216 (1998)

Heakh and Efticiency has always been afirm favourite with these London lugs.My scratchy old copy on Piano recordshas long been in need of replacement.Released as a 12" single in 1980, it's ablast of powerful improvised riffingstitched together by rough.hewn studiotechnique with a song 'dedicated to thesunshine'and ingenious tape loops; itsstructure always remains an excitingenigma to me, no matter how often Iplay it. The song section - building to acrescendo of overlaid voices stressingche theme of 'love over gold' - suddenlyand abrupdy cuts away to a ferocioustape loop of a guitar riff, which occupiesmost of the record. Behind it are thetraces of two documentary sources: atape recording of children in aplayground, made by Charles Bullen;and the (inaudible) sounds of singingbirds, coming through the open windowof the studio. The loop hammers itselfinto oblivion, and up fades a rehearsalrecording which I'd always taken to bean early improvisation from which thesong's riff was derived. There it is inembryonic form, stuftering out ofanother guitar as the musician tries tolearn it; the drummer taps onwardrobes and milk bottles in ColdStorage, their Brixton studio. Soeverything's in the wrong order; thesong's genesis is placed right at the endof the work the refinements that camelater are put at the start. The structureof how they make a record is almostrevealed, if you can only hear your wayto the core of the work. Punningobliqueness in the tide is one clue:Heakh and Efficienc)lwas a naturalist /nudist magazine, but This Heatinadvertendy reveal their radical agenda:chis is (a) an excremely efficient way tomake music, and (b) it can improve themental Health of the listener. lt's true.

Of the releases in their time, the sleeveartfor Heakh and Efriciencyis one ofthe best, most impenetrable, a

The Sound Projector sifth issuecrossword puzzle of text and image. ltssimplicity defeats che unwary. Theyellow and blue of the first LP cover,trigger for a series of ingenious puns inadvercs, has now been reduced to blueonly. A modern chalk figure whoseoutline intersects with vectors of pureenergy; the very ideal of a man feedingoff the oower of the sunshine. Theverso is a maze of linguistic games,ostensibly printing the lyrics but plantedwith misleading information. Everyother line is in a different internationallanguage, some printed in Cyrillic font;toggling freely between these suggestswhag an ideal of internationalcommunicationl Knowing This Heat'sactively critical stance of modern globalpolitics. quite the reverse; this is butone more manifestation of thebreakdown of dialogue, the Tower ofBabel theme they (Hayward?) keptreturning to. Makeshift Swahili, ceasefireends at midnight.

Debuting on vinyl are the tracks from aposthumous CD. Repeatis furthervariations on '24 Track LooD'. a brilliantand economical exercise in how tomake a vast and terrifying music out ofvirtually nothinS. A snippet of studioimprovised music was looped andreprocessed through the 24 trackrecorder. played 'live' by the artistsusing radical dubbing techniques andecho effects, and increasing in intensiryuntif it became unbearable. Metalis anearly-succesful musique concrdteexperimen! original sounds coming notfrom musical instruments but scraos ofjunk most probably picked up from theCold Storage yard; and don't forget thewalls of Cold Storage were themselvesmade of galvanised steel, The creativeelement again resides inpost-production; ludge for yourselfwhether it works,but either way it'sa foreboding andworrisome noise.

This Heat were aband that ought byrights to havenever made it asfar as they did, anunlikelycombination ofodd alienated soulsadrift in the late1970s. Where thedrummer andguitarist hadgrounding inprofessionalmusicianship andearly experienceplaying in a band(Charles Hayward

and Charles Bullen played sporadicallyas Dolphin Logic from 1974), the organplayer didn't - Gareth Williams hadn'tplayed the organ until three weeksbefore the first gig and as the joker inthe pack brought the necessaryuntutored approach. This was achemical element that when combinedwith the others resulted in ourenitro-glycerine. The frightening energTtranslates even to the deadeningprocess of recording for vinyh as a liveact, they're consistently reported tohave been brutally loud, overwhelmingand the very essence of tension. Eachpiece contrasting wildly with the next,no announcements, no stage lights.'Nothing to do with entertainment', wasthe lament of one poor critic.

For a few brief years after punk andbefore Boy George, this music had itschance to struggle along in the UK.Although it's easier to tag This Heatwithin some 'New Wave' post-punkgenre, I prefer to situate them in amilieu of other bands about this oeriod.who share I think the sameunclassifiable hallmarks: my personal listwould include The Pop Group (withwhom This Heat frequently played live),The Slits. The Family Fodder, The FlyingLizards; all fuelled by a species ofpolitical motivation, radically critical ofthe status quo, committed to freedomof expression and experimentation;eccentric, ugly, and British; andinformed by an open ear to new musicsof all sorts, especially dub mixingtechniques and che use of the mixingdesk as an instrument. This Heat's '24

Track Looo'. and to a cenain extentGnphic / Varispeed (the original flipside to Heakh and Efficiency,remastered here) are concrete artstatements which demonstrate this;

90

The Sound Projector sifth issue

health and efficiency this heat

almost the last word in abstract,stripped-down dub mixing.

Lesser youngsters, at this time, werestill inflicting their lame Sex Pistolsimitations on audiences. compensatingfor lack of anything to say with emptyrhetoric, provocative sleeve art on theirsingles,'outrageous' costume andbehaviour on stage. This Heat werekeen to point out how reactionary wasthe ounk diktat of'learn three chordsand form a band'. Why always the samethree chordsl Why, if this wassupposed to liberate non-musicians, didall the bands sound the same?

Judiciously, This Heat deliberatelyretreated from any association withsuch a scene, aware of how the musicpress journos would seize on anysuperficial trinkeE and distort the facts.They didn't want to be labelled. Keepinga low orofile. This Heat concentratedon improving their music all the time.Extensive use of backing tapes was a

way of overcoming the limitations of atrio sound; at one stage theyconsidered inviting a fourth member to

loin as full-time tape operator. Theseapes were not found oblects orsamples, like the Techno world and hisbrother use nowadays, but tapes ofthemselves, improvising in the studio.Studio to tape; tape to live work; livework generacing further ideas forimprovisations. Even1thing working in anefficient circle of creativity. Notexperimental, though: as John Paigewrote in 1979: 'Exoerimental is not anentirely appropriate tag for thisprocess, as the word tends to conjureup musical explorations which may ormay not work. The experimentationdone by This Heat is subjected to anintense selection process, so that onlythe most successful results areeventually presented'.

In terms of successful results, I'm notsureif Metalwould have been issued

under normal circumstances. butotherwise this record is essential and awelcome issue to hungry fans. ThisHeat split up long ago, each of the threepursue their own endeavours now andhave litde interest in discussing the past.

ED PINSENT

Available from THESE RECORDSl12 Brook DriveLondon SEI | 4TQUnited Kingdom

Also available in other formats:

Health and Efliciency clw Graphic /Varispeedas a 3" CD single, THESE l2

Repeatas a 5" CD album, THESE 6.(Third outing for this; it was originallyissued in 1993 in a.jewel case, thenrepackaged in 1997 as a digipak)

91

Krrurl, SymbioplexusLabyrinth Recordings MAZE0 16,Cl00 cassette (1998)

Which rather reminds me of croonerMatt Monro, the 'English Sinatra'. That isI founcj i t impossible to l isten to thiswithout thinking of how much I 'd preferto be l istening to the man of whomSinatra himself said 'he sounds l ike meon a good day, or after an early night',turning his magic throat to the service of'Love is a Many Splendoured Thing' or'Portrait of My Love'. My introduction toMatt Monro came from an aged andmuch revered cockney acquaintancewho, playing me a tape in his car,intormed me'He used to work on thebuses. L i t t le b loke he was. He had a great b ig 'ead' . Si - ich avivid description of the great man only served to inflame mycuriosity, prompting the swift purchase of his works for

myself. Mr Monro neverproperly achieved thesuccess he surely deserved,as the UK's answer to OloBlue Eyes. This is a shame,because l istening to him sing,it is easy to understand whyduring a period of nationalservice in the Far East hewas banned from enterinStalent contests in order togrve the other competttors af ighting chance.

This, to return ratherweari ly to the point, is a probiem that I doubt had troubledKnurl. Within the reasonably spectacular packaging comes acassefte of.. .(sigh).. .hideously distorted noise and feedback,that doesn't really let up for the duration of the tape. For thesake of variety, we actual ly have a number of dist inct piecesdifferentiated by slight variations in the texture of thegodawful racket. lt's not as if I'm particularly down on noise. Ihave records by Merzbow, Smell & Quim, The NewBlockaders and the l ike. I even have tapes ( in the plural) byThe Grey Wolves which are fur more extreme (and a lotmore interesting than Knurl) in spite cf a recording qual!t;,that leaves even more to be desired than thrs lot. This said.the second track on side two ( let 's assume it 's cal led 'Hey

There Loneiy Gir l ' ) bui ids into godawful racket from a lengthyintroduction of monotonous humming and buzzing, which inthe context of the other stuff here. sounds wildlvexperimental and excit ing. Perhaps the high boredom fuctor ispart of the whole idea. Who caresl Not l . General lyunimDressive.

Cock E.S.P. / Emil Hagstrom, Diaty of aFemale Pop VocalistLabyrinth Recordings, MAZE0IS, C60 (1998)

A split tape with a side granted to each arrist, althouth MrHagstrom also seems to appear in the l ineup of Cock E.S.P.,who at least confound my expectations by putting a picture ofa gentleman chicken (rather than a 'Hampton') on the cover.My expectat ions continued to be tested. The tape openeo,much to my rel ief, with a gentle atmospherrc piece. 'Aha',

thought l, 'this makes a pleasant change from thecacophonous Knurl ' . So of course, what comes nextbut.. .(sigh).. .hideously distorted noise and feedback. Thoughthankful ly this t ime i t 's done with more variat ion in the

92

The Sound Projector sifth issue

Skipload of ,ri,i*:i:iiiiEi:,:#

T'a-p-e-S rririiii::rriiii:::#

Recordings of hideouslyO ED'd N

textures and general composit ion. l t sounds pretty identicalto early Whrtehouse, wrthout the vocals, anci on a lowerbudget. Okay, so i t isn't the treatest thing l 've ever heard. Buti t has to be said, Cock E.S.P. aren't the worst band in theworld by any means, and display some quali t ies that at leastheld my interest enough to prevent me from fast-forwardingto the beginning of the Emil Hagstrom side.

Sometimes whilst enduring the televisual wasteland thatoccurs between the end of Eastendersand the beginning ofBrookside, I pick up my guitar and absent-mindedly makenoises with it just to pass the time. Emil Hagstrom also, itwould seem, does this. Nothing wrong with that of course,except for the fact that in taping this interminable noodlingand selling tapes of it to other people, the suggestron is madethat it is of some artistic interest. Which it isn't. And no, Idon't think 'hey I just record this stuff and I don't carewhether you l ike i t cause l 'm expressing myself maan' is goodenough. Any fool knows that stuff don't count fer shit nomorel l f you couldn't give a f lying intercourse about i tspopularity in the bigger world, why waste everyone's timereleasing i t l Why not devote your t ime to a healthier pursuit ,l ike reading an educational text, or learning to speak a newlanguagel Mr Hatstrom, GET AJOB!

Brian Ruryk, Thinnest GuitarEYerBetley Welcomes Careful Drivers, Cl I (1998)

Lordy! What wouldn't I give for one of these tapes to havesomething you can whist le on i t . Brian Buryk is anotherperson who makes noises with his guitar. Lest this seempoised to launch into a paragraph of disparaging remarks,Brian at least shows a degree of imagination lacking amongstsome other contr ibutors to this issue's cassefte dump. This isheavi ly and fair ly snappily edited, and in addit ion drastical lysped up achieving a quite disorientating effect, which isn'twithout i ts appeal. 'Like' probably isn't the word, so l ' l l say atleast that I appreciate i t . l t probably sounds to me l ike DezBailey does to those of you who enjoy his stuff. Were theremore of this on a longer tape, I don't know if I 'd feel so kindlydisposed, but the boy Ruryk ably demonstrates that you don'tneed a huge budget to do half-decent work. This may havebeen recorded on a couole of mono Dortable cassettemachines, and the only instrument is a guitar, which just goesto show it's the strentth of your ideas that count. EmilHagstrom take note.

Inca Eyeball, Mommy DrankMe Undet The TableBetley Welcomes CarefulDrivers, CSO (l999)

Aaaghl Help! What is thisl What the hellis i t for l What is i t supposed to dol Onetape recorder; acoustic guitar;erectronic pad drumkit; l7l tracks.some of which are only seconds inclura.tton; a pair of wiseguys sayingdeadpan and 'surreal,

things - someonesomewhere actually got out of bed todo thisl I'm sarting to regret all thosebad things I said about The Moth a fewissues ago.

Now I l ike to rhink of myself as areasonable man, but I have my l imits.This rs point less, badly .eco.jed,abstract bollocks with self_consciouslywacky lyrics. At least I hope they,reself-conscious; if they,re Dada poetrythen i t 's a serious indictment of thepsychiatric system. The only positivething

I can find to say about MommyDnnk lule lJnder The Table is that itisn't a C90. The cover bears the legend'.p1ay

for Inca to stop,. Oh yes. Ha [a.Very amusing. The Residents must be

The Sound projector Sifth issue

f vc,r EV 3tsALL JB:

A,lor"tM'/ DQAN( MeT A 8 t E

Like paterns in a carpet, various subtlerhythms and repeating notes becomeapparenr. The impressive thing aboutthis is that if one,s concentration driftsfor a second, you are suddenly remindedthat you're l istening to atonal norse. andthe inherent patterns are actually barelyperceptible - unless focused on for at ime. Very clever.

Less imaginative persons would iustserve up more of the same on thesecond side. Not only do this lot avoidrepeating themselves, but they changetack completely. Side two ls raKen uD Inits entrret/ by a minimal prece in whicharrhythmic bongo playing is accompaniedby distant norses: metal l ic shrieks andsuch l ike. Nothing much happens onpaper but the result is nonethelessstart]ing: I began to wonder if any changewas l ikely to occur and looking at the

-

clock real ised that twenty minutes hadpassed in what seemed like three. lnterms of atmosphere the whole thing isquite unsenling and although oddlyunevenfful i t seems forever on the brinkof drving over the edge rnto noiseInsanity. l t 's almost l ike wait ing forJonestown or Waco to kick off.shitting themselves. Inca Eyeball, may the

mighty Topa Inca himself (reigned l47 l_l4g3l return fromthe grave and kick your sorr/ arses for you.

fulian_Bradley and Neit Campbell, ZBetley Welcomes Carefut Orivers. CSO

At last!. Some people who've made a bit of an effor-t! Takenote all authors of rubbish tapes: this was recorded neither inAbbey Road studios or with eguipmen, .. L." iirn 1,rnSteinman, and i t sounds bri l l iant - 'unl ike ,ornu'poJp f .orfamention. Free-form dronrng seems to be the order of theday, using keyboards, synths, guitars, strings, and so on. Theremay be more, but rhe first track in particular is soihicklylayered as to confuse the ear. I ma1 have h;".; ; f.*saxophones in there but it,s difficuit to tell. The ov-eratt effect::f^j1Tll:: mites away from the stufr that roiy-Conraa-1o

wrlh t-aust. except where that was quite nerve-racking,this is krnder on the ear without being ioporif ic. l t remindsme of the. very eady instrumental stui that Throbling Cristledid with the artisr Albrecht D. except this is conJleraUlymore inreresting and l istenable. In what has thus Lr 'U"un .nunusually.disappornting Skipload of Tapes, this sitsl ike aoazzttng chrome hubcap in a f ield of cowDats.

Mr Betley Welcomes Caretul Drivers[Phil Todd] expressed doubts about whether I should reviewthis, because it's old and Ashtray Navigations do notapparentty sound l ike this anymore. Readers should feelthemselves duly advised of these ta.tr. ttow""er, in a Skiploadthat has thus hr had a few big disappointments i 'don,t t fr inkit's fair to. overlook a tape so-flawl"irty

"*".ri"a ,no

tnoroughl/ compelhng as this. A work of insprred gentus, noless.

1olthern acific+, IWoon Water Black ShineBelley Welcomes Careful Driven, G60 (tgg8)

ll_.t-: 11'r isn't the beginning of a fad for groups with namesrendered unpronounceable by the inclusiJn oi mathematical

or typographic glyphs. -outhern acific* is excusable, but if itg:^,:..?Jh" stage where l,m being senr hpes by people called%&*=Ff or 1#"""gOt7r1, and other such substitutes for

::e1lg in old Popeye comics, then I'm running away to lotntne circus

Ashtray Navigation s, euartz

Rather omrnously this is fair ly lo_fi and opens with more ofthat blummin' awful twangy ranoom guitar tosh that has soplagued me this issue. Thankfuily this"soon p".r", "na

the tapepicks.up considerably. Much of ihe music issubdueO andDaseo on quretl/ repetitrve loops with some restraineormpr.ovlsation in the background, and the humble sounoquality actually seryes to emphasise its mournful atmosphere.I am reminded of Nocturnal Emissions, albejt a sl ightry lazzierversion with less spending r-9n"y, but this may be"pr.ery as aresult of their mutual love of looped samples. inJ ip".r. ing orl"^Tlllll T

r-rre this chap is using a Casio SK t. To brieflyencroach on territory normally occupied by music technology

ffitr I' l5l ; Jli,ix,;: ru I ",:i:, #". ;',:[,]fi i ?Hil i' ":'swap the little monster for the entire contents of TrevorHorn's studio. not eyen if he threw in those gfu.t r."C Bugglesspecs he once sported. you may scoff, but ttr"e Sf t was goodenough for Wire (on The ldeal Copy) and in mi booK anyone

Quite an eyebrow-raiser this one - should serye as a resson topersons such as Knurl with regards to how it can be oone.Just because someth,ng is on cassette, and is recorded bysome relatively primitive method, this doesn,t mean that it hasto.be crudel/ rel iant on the most obvious tact ics in order toachieve some effect. Thrs drones along in much the same wayasthe Bradley-Campbell cassette above, but with quiredif ferent results. Side one oDens *irh ;*-; ; : : , : 'piece that courd armost ;:.t"Jil::; imeandering

guitar

YlTqround doing.J.oy Drvision. This slowly dra,n. on" ,n ..rt mutates into a mirdry rhythmic wail of disioned whrte noise.

ureae T*€

93

The Sound Projector sifth issuewho uses such a fine tool certainly has something going forthem.

-outhern ssifis+ is based around one Joshua Stevenson who itseems is a Canadian gentleman. I have written some fuirlyunkind generalisations about his countrymen in the past, andas a result of this ape find myself seated at the table with abowl in front of me. I have a sDoon in one hand. for in thebowl are my words, which I will proceed to eat. Not thegreatest tape ever made but still pretty darn good, and itsauthor is cerainly more deserving of studio t ime and CDpressing plant energies than some of the turkeys l've had toendure elsewhere in this column.

All of the above are available from Betley Welcomes CarefulDrivers, 7 Woodside, Madely, Crewe, Cheshire, CW3 9HA

How to Kick Yourse'Lf,, Enema fot a GiraffeOld Gold C90 (1998)

The blurb explarns that thrs is ' the f irst release by two l6year-olds who got kicked out of a death metal band becausethey "had a netative attitude". Their goal now: become"crazier than Masonna"' This seems promisrng, even though Iknow l i t t le about Masonna other than that Wil l iam Bennet ofWhitehouse seems keen on him, and thus I presume he isunl ikely ever to appear as support to Hootie and TheBlowfish.

The music, which I imagine must've been recorded directonto wax cyl inder, consists of.. .(sigh).. .hideously distortednoise and feedback, with occasional interludes of cranked-uoheavy metal guitar. The screamed vocals are mostlyunintel l igible but for the odd promise of ' l 'm going to fuckingrape the fuck out of you'. Indeed. How controversial, Howdaring. lf this is supposed to be scary they're going to have toproduce something a little less weedy. lt's like being savagedby a coral polyp.

To the reader. if you enjoy this sort of thing, stick with thosewho do it properly, with some degree of power and wit, likeWhitehouse or The Grey Wolves. To the wvo l6 year-oldsresponsible, Beavis and Butthead or wharever your name maybe, if you're ever this side of the water, please don't hesitateto get in touch because l 'd love to f ind out lust how hard youactually are. Tossers.

Old Gold, PO &ox 8775, Adanta, GA Jl106, USA

The Kzirnpos and Hoogrvater, Anale TijdenHoogwater, C90

Damn! By reviewing Hoogwater in a previous issue I haveinadvertently encouraged them to send me more. ThanKully,rather than sending the contents of their dustbin, this time it'sa comic and a tape without the extraneous merz-art baggage.The comic, Anale Trjden (which doubtlessly rrans'ates intosome chocolate starfish related title) appears tc have resultedfrom a 'dirty protest' made on paper and then doodled intocartoons of 'Hamptons' exploding from brains and such l ike. l fthis is a classic of its kind, then the language barrier preventsme from appreciatrng i t as such.

The tape sounds pretty much like the comic looks, andfeatures a lot of. . .(sigh).. .hideously distorted noise andfeedback. This said, there seems to be ot i ,er things going onin there, and so far as it goes, it holds thc ?ttention far betterthan Knurl et al. Occasional ly the racket wi l l vie forsupremacy wlth an organ or guitar, and the noise sometimestakes on a weird texture that suggests the whole poor qualityoriginal has been donald-ducked up as much as possiblebefore being painstakingly restored in a funcy-pants studio tobring out al l the del icate play of wow and f lutter and oxidedrop-out. Possibly one of the groups least likely ever to be

sampled and rapped over by Puff Daddy, but quite appealing ina cranky sort of way.

Hoogwater, PO Box 58, 7700 AB, Dedemsvaan, TheNetherlands

Skipload reviewed by WAR ARROW

WELL, A LESS THAN ENTHUSIASTIC RESPONSE TO OURCOMPETITION thus far, but never mind. Brian without asurname - thanks for the scary poem and kind words. Your

done Jane,;t{hope enjoying the cassettes.

So, dwell within this issue's Skip. lf youcan be answers to the following, and send

and address to this magazine, markingTapes Big Pay Out Jackpot Bonanza,mate. Post free as well, you lucky lucky

sickly yellow Christmas cake ingredient didpay tr ibute to on Cluster 's 1974 album

What is the link between children's cartoon seriesRugrats and the complaint that 'seems nobody aroundhere comprehends my Potatol'

3. Huascar and Atauhualpa were two sons of the IncaHuayna Capac, but which had the more legitimateclaim to their father's thronel

.. .and as a t ie-breaker let 's hear in no more than f ive woroswhat you most enioy about the music of smarmy 80s rapartist, MC Hammer.

* Skipload of Tapes *(Competition!

answers were mostly righC afi1t from 'Mrs Tezcatlipoca' (itshould have been 'Coatlicue'f,[rt you farled to win largelybecause you included no a-d{}ss to which the box of

i::.1'"t could be sent.

\ibr the record, last tssue's answers

\r.\L Ralf Hutter

\2. Whilst listening to the F5&ftro album

3. He rewrote **\ gro\Le humble origins of hisP e o P l e

Y ^ . -;J";",.. f"ltd,@,,,'r,)u," who writes that Derek

3f L:i:rf{},"6p::tr*:;xui.t!:f il?",,

94