... for those who are interested.
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NEWS
Fallt Live Series
Fallt are pleased to announce the launch of the Fallt Live Series.
Established to document and release selected live recordings
by Fallt artists, the Series is an ongoing showcase for live music and will
feature future contributions by, among others, Komet and Pimmon.
Published in AB-CD format and housed in transparent C-Shells,
each CD features artwork by Fallt designers Fehler which utilises the
format's unique characteristics by printing in reverse around
the transparent outer edge to create a CD which effectively appears
double-sided.
The first two releases in the Series, by Stephan Mathieu (Ritornell,
Orthlorng Musork, Fallt) and Warmdesk (Static Caravan, Fallt), are now
available. For further details, or to order, check out:
http://www.fallt.com/live
::::::::::
Directions 2002
Fallt are pleased to offer limited quantities of their 'Directions 2002'
compilation. Providing an overview of work by selected Fallt artists -
both from forthcoming releases and works in progress - each release consists
of four artists contributing three tracks each and features artwork by Fallt
designers Fehler printed on transparent offset-litho film.
'Directions 2002' features new and exclusive tracks from forthcoming
releases by Christopher Willits, Ian Andrews and si-cut.db; in addition to a
series of exclusive 'audio sketches' by Chicago artist Warmdesk.
This CDR is cost-covering and is an extremely limited edition release
with only 50 copies pressed worldwide. For further information including a
full track listing, or to order, check out:
http://www.fallt.com/directions
::::::::::
Komet + / vs. Bovine Life
Fallt in association with BiP-HOp are pleased to present Reciprocess
+ / vs. A series of split CDs featuring the work(s) of two sound assemblers
and documenting the process of musical reciprocality between them.
As the title of the series suggests each volume features the work of
two artists contributing: a collaborative work; a series of independent
works; and finally, contributing a remix of each other's work(s).
Reciprocess + / vs. is co-curated by Christopher Murphy (Fallt) and Philippe
Petit (BiP-HOp) and features artwork by Fallt designers Fehler.
Each volume in the series offers an overview of the two participating
artists, with select discographies and specially comissioned sleeve notes.
The design of the series reflects the different contributors with artwork
that is readable from top to bottom, back to front and left to right.
Volume One - Komet + / vs. Bovine Life - features essays by Philip Sherburne
[The Wire, XLR8R] and Susanna Bolle [Grooves, XLR8R].
For further information including a full track listing, or to order, check
out:
http://www.fallt.com/+/vs.
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REVIEWS
Stephan Mathieu | Gigue, Live @ A-Musik [Fallt, AB-CD]
Stephan Mathieu, in typically generous fashion, made this live set available
for download some time ago. Now, mastered by Marcus Schmickler and
lengthened to include a second live excerpt, it appears as the inaugural
release in the new Fallt Live Series.
Housed in a transparent plastic clam shell the AB-CD is striking in
appearance, sporting jumbo lo-res pixelwork by Fallt designers Fehler, a
reverse legend intended to be read from the underside and an apt lyrical
quotation from 80's teen idols Duran Duran.
Mathieu is, of course, known to employ quotations in his music and
with the titles 'Gigue' and 'Variation' perhaps more of the same is
suggested. Indeed, 'Gigue' is based, apparently, on the aforementioned
Duran Duran track. Not that it's obvious; the referenced pop-chart
material is either buried deep within the mix or has been hammered out
of all recognition.
'Gigue' bides its time, but nevertheless comes on like an approaching
storm. With ever-restless sound particles creating rip-currents and
eddies it takes on ever more menacing forms until, VU meters maxed out
and all valves open, the listener is left sheltering amidst a frictionless
maelstrom of static and hiss.
In contrast 'Variation' is one of those slices of bliss-out which Mathieu
does so well (Cf. Touch @ Groovylab, Sad Mac Studies @ En/Of). After
the onslaught it is like a reawakening, a new day dawning, the morning
after the storm has passed.
[GM]
::::::::::
Marcus Maeder | Quiconque [Domizil, CD]
For some time now Swiss label Domizil has been exerting a stranglehold
on the vast landscape of crystalline electronics. Their approach,
which combines an eye for detail with a small, but talented pool of artists
is slowly, but surely reaping well-deserved rewards.
Marcus Maeder's 'Quiconque' is ample demonstration of a talented and
intelligent attitude towards contemporary electronica. Tearing at
the edges of a fragmented sound palette, Maeder uncovers rare moments of
beauty across eight largely shortform tracks, offsetting spacious
binary crackles with distilled melodies to create a series of beautiful
digital studies.
'Crkva' closes with a brief and delicate melody, the perfect counterpoint
to the digital shimmer it rounds off; 'Matto' combines massed harmonic
synthesis underpinning brittle and shimmering fragments. It's a template
that Maeder works perfectly - a contrast of unsettled and abrasive
digital ripples with momentary, but sublime melodic codas. Each track a
balance of shimmering, heat haze electronics and cool, structured
melody.
With eight equally vibrant tracks it's difficult to choose favourites, but
'Huffs' is one of the most sublime moments of electronics you can imagine. A
fraction over three minutes it evolves from a scattered sound field of
digital detritus to close with a sixty second moment of extreme beauty as a
melody emerges briefly, only to collapse over one thousand action-packed
milliseconds of sheer, sublime extravagance. Short, but sweet.
[CM]
::::::::::
A.F.R.I. Studios | Goodbye If You Call That Gone [Lucky Kitchen, CD]
On this, the debut to Lucky Kitchen's 'Sparkling Composers Series' and his
third and final release as A.F.R.I. Studios, Andres Franz Krause has
crafted three electronic drones which are guaranteed to lower your heart
rate.
'A1' is all low-end transformer hum and throb. What starts as
quintessential ambient stasis picks up just enough momentum to leave behind
the merest vapour trail. 'A2' rotates like a delicate mobile decked out with
chimes and silver wire and 'B1' pits razor thin buzzes, dueting call and
response style, over a huge bottom-end swell. An essential aid to brown-out
for the central nervous system.
[GM]
::::::::::
PXP | while(p){print"."," "x$p++} [Wavetrap, CD]
Listening to 'while(p){print...' whilst travelling to Mutek 2002 in Montreal
is a curious experience. Its harsh distortion cutting abruptly to the
endless stream of automated airport announcements, it's the perfect marriage
of the intelligible and unintelligible. The sound of communication drifting
in and out of phase, a weak signal momentarily lapsing.
The audio, characterised by shards of data, raw waveforms and abrupt
digital landslides, is unquestionably a by-product of Farmers' Manual
peculiarly packet-driven vision. An uneven terrain of intermittent melody
parsed beyond recognition and polyrythmic acrobatics overlaid with
blanket-coverage static and hiss.
To list track titles would be pointless. A less than intelligble mass of
multiple-keystroke-characters culled from obscurity, their purpose is as
mere pointers, suggesting future data drifts from the infinite stream
of zeros and ones that comprise what constitutes communication in today's
information saturated world.
Appropriately 'while(p){print...' comes accompanied with a warning
that it "may generally contain impure data." Hardly surprising and instantly
verifiable - the procedure is simple: switch on and interlock with your
surrounding data-soaked environment; "...last call for Flight No. QT284 to
Montreal Durval, boarding at Gate 14. Would all passengers please proceed
immediately..."
[F]
::::::::::
SND | Tender Love [Mille Plateaux, CD]
SND's calculated grooves are a firm favourite among their followers
and 'Tender Love', their third release for Mille Plateaux, is sure to
enhance their already solid reputation. Their now-trademark pops and clicks
hover above melodic grooves which, once locked in, are played out with
metronomic precision.
Mining software's outer confines to tease new sounds from the fabric
of their machinery Matt Steel and Mark Fell adroitly nudge their
sequencers into gently infectious patterns. Track 1.0 (all tracks are
untitled) opens with multi-layered funk - Version 7.0, Revision C of
Detroit¹s trademark minimalism circa 1988. Pause. Track 2.0 more of the
same, but different.
Like the early Detroit innovators (Juan Atkins in particular) and their
Sheffield counterparts (early Warp, specifically Sweet Exorcist's 'CC EP')
SND isolate the soul in the machinery they utlise. Warm, simple
rhythms interlock, creating clean digital patterns which build layer on
layer until, by Track 4.0, they've evolved into a five minute oasis of
intricately fractured beats.
Track 9.0 bounces a rhythm around the stereo plane before
incrementally introducing a perfect p, pa, pat, patt, patte, patter,
pattern before abruptly shifting gear and segueing with Track 10.0.
Every track is built with the same painstaking attention to detail. Every
track is intelligent and considered. Every album is perfect.
[CM]
::::::::::
Alejandra and Aeron | The Tale of Pip [Lucky Kitchen, CD]
"Pip looks for happiness..."
When Alejandra Salinas and Aeron Bergman requested a one hundred
dollar donation to assist them to purchase a replacement DAT, I didn't
have to think long before clicking through to PayPal.
The creators of some of the most sublime sound around it would be hard
to imagine A & A without a DAT. Their sound is built on the sturdy
foundations of the everyday and their field recordings are the backbone of
their fragile visions. A & A without a DAT is like an elephant without a
trumpet, or worse, a giraffe with a short neck.
'The Tale of Pip' picks up where their previous works leave off. Taking
the thread of a simple story and weaving a rich audio tapestry with it, they
concoct a delicious blend of melody, narrative and static.
Beautifully packaged in a handbound book, this is the archetypal
Lucky Kitchen release, existing somewhere between the realms of fine art
(artist's book) and childlike innocence (children's book). I think A & A
would rather it be placed in the latter category, though there's no doubt
that this is so much better than endless offerings in the former.
Buy it for your children. Buy it for yourself. Better still, buy it to
listen to with your children. It's shimmering harmonica melodies and
glistening electronics will reward you with hours and hours of listening
pleasure. Words cannot truly do it justice. Buy it and listen.
[CM]
::::::::::
Rafael Toral | Violence of Discovery and Calm of Acceptance [Touch, CD]
Rafael Toral's first album for Touch, 'Violence of Discovery and Calm
of Acceptance' was crafted over a seven year period between 1993 and
2000. It shows.
Barring "a recording of silence during a space shuttle mission real time
webcast" on 'Mixed States Uncoded' Toral states that, "every sound was
released by electric guitars". The result is one of the most beautiful
guitar-generated albums you could possibly imagine.
'Violence of Discovery...' defies easy categorisation. As its gestation
period doubtless indicates, it's much, much more than an album of
guitar-generated drones. Toral's attention to detail and eye for subtlety is
rarely matched and are qualities that set this release apart.
Opening with the massed glissando of 'Desiree' sets the scene perfectly.
Dense clusters of harmonics - which deserve a pair of quality headphones -
glisten across the space of four minutes of sustained harmonies
before easing gently into the wonderfully titled and evocative 'Measurement
of Noise'. 'We are Getting Closer' is four minutes of pure heaven - the
rippling sounds of water lapping against a distant shore...
Closing with 'Mixed States Uncoded', is about as close to spine-tingling
perfection as you could imagine. A slow grumble with high frequency
counterpoint and a melody of sheer beauty, it unfolds slowly, but surely. A
suggestion of beauty, wonderful.
[CM]
::::::::::
Radio Boy | The Mechanics of Destruction [Accidental, CD]
Seeing Matthew Herbert (aka Radio Boy, Dr Rockit, etc.) play live
contributes significantly to the enjoyment of this CD, so it's fitting that
'The Mechanics...' was given out to the first fortunate 1,000 audience
members at his excellent Mutek 2002 performance (which also featured
superb sets by Hakan Libdo, Akufen and Copacabannark).
With the audience firmly in the palm of his hand, Herbert coaxed infectious
rhythms from the profit-soaked by-products of relentless globalisation:
McDonalds Big Macs, Coca Cola, Marlboro and Bacardi... An endless stream of
products; an endless stream of sound. Source material discarded once its
sonic possibilities had been sucked dry, the audience watched mesmerised as
Herbert wrenched rhythms from the various products on hand. "Creating
something good out of shit," as he neatly put it.
Listened to on CD, minus the spectacle, it's hard to resist the beats as
Herbert relentlessly inverts various artefacts of consumer society and
creates a seductively confrontational audio laced with polemic. 'McDonalds'
opens with the effervescent sounds of a Japanese street before
succumbing to a pulverised polypropylene rhythm that pounds relentlessly for
six seductive minutes. Likewise 'Gap', building slowly over squelching
balloon like samples spiralling into a crescendo of pure house music. The
perfect beat, like consumerism, it's highly addictive.
Globalisation never sounded this good.
[CM]
::::::::::
Lawrence English | MAP51F9 [Room 40, 3" CD]
A beautifully packaged 3" CD housed in a full sized DVD jewel case with
metallic printed artwork. As an object alone 'MAP51F9' is highly
desirable. The fragment of audio captured on the enclosed 3" CD is no less
appealing.
Seventeen minutes of shimmering heat haze electronics and processed field
recordings unfold gently, swallowing the surrounding environment.
Patterns slowly evolve from the hiss of a thousand cicadas, immersing the
listener in the white heat of an Australian summer's day. Occasionally a
voice emerges from the mist of sound only to be pulled back under after a
brief assertion. Rhythm and drones surface periodically, but overall the
effect is one of quiet and restraint.
A solitary track easily greater than the sum of it's parts, 'MAP51F9' is a
beautiful piece well worth searching out.
[CM]
::::::::::
Various Artists | fb50 [fals.ch, Data Storage 3" CD]
http://www.iis.fhg.de/amm
For several years Mego spin-off Fals.ch has offered an idiosyncratic
take on software-as-audio/audio-as-software utilising the
Fraunhofer Institute's MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3 Codec - better known as .mp3 -
as a medium. For those still suffering 56k connections, Fals.ch's periodical
samplers in the form of 3" data-saturated CDs are indispensable.
The second of these intermittent periodicals is 'fb50' (a catalog number;
nothing more, nothing less) and with contributors including Evol,
General Magic, Francisco Lopez, Gescom and CD_Slopper there's no question
that what's on offer is likely to be challenging audio.
A simple, but complex, .html interface offers a multicolour avenue to
the data on the CD which includes .mp3s, .movs and a copy of the CD artwork
in .pdf format (should you prefer to look at it 'authentically' on screen
than hold a 'fake' in your hands). Along the way you'll encounter
.txt, .dcr, .jpg, .gif files and a file by Gescom whose suffix is all but
indiscernible.
The audio on offer ranges from the shortform stutter rhythms of
Barcelona duo Evol's '(341+27+91)-(154)-(100x3)+(1)' to a lush recording by
B.Low (Pulsinger/Tunakan/Peyfuss) '2.1' that collides abstract drones,
field recordings and distant beats across forty expansive minutes. For '2.1'
alone this compilation is worth owning. Like a twisted Orb outtake it
spirals out of control, sucking in musical melodies like an audio vortex -
running the gamut from lo-fi breakbeat to drifting ambience, by way of
wistful piano sonatas.
Given the emphasis on data, it would be interesting to see future issues
further exploring visuals analogous to the audio on offer and, perhaps,
introducing written commentary (however corrupted). The visual pedigree here
- CD_Slopper, Tina Frank and Farmers' Manual - is certainly established and
offers an idiosyncratic visual outlook. An fb100 wishlist might comprise:
.swf, .tif, .pct and, of course, the obligatory .psd.
[CM]
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740 CHARACTER ASCII ART
This month's ASCII Art is excerpted from 'The Penguin Dictionary of Curious
and Interesting Numbers' by David Wells (Revised Edition 1997).
Featuring a selection of numbers chosen by Fallt partner W. Conrad Rontgen,
it is dedicated to Nosei Sakata (*0).
0
0.7404...
1
1.61803 39887 49894 84820 45868 34365 63811 77203 09179 80576...
2
3.14159 26535 89793 23846 26433 83279 50288 41971...
4.66920 16609 0...
7
9.86960 44010 89358...
10
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PLAYLIST
Each month we ask one of our contributors to share their current
playlist with us. This month we're pleased to feature a selection by Fallt
partner W. Conrad Rontgen.
Fennesz | +47º56'37" -16º51'08" [Touch]
¥ | . [1,024]
Nosei Sakata (*0) | 0.000 [Mu]
Slub | 20010307 [Fodder]
Jim O'Rourke | I'm Happy and I'm Singing and a 1,2,3,4 [Mego]
John Cage | 4' 33" [Hz]
Kontakt Der Junglinge | 1 [Die Stadt]
Kontakt Der Junglinge | 0 [Die Stadt]
Various Artists | Absolute Zero [Charrm]
Various Artists | 360º [Foundry]
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GOTO
http://www.bitsteam.de/alorenz/misc/256.html
256 icons reproducing the Mac OS system color palette.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thanks to all those who contributed to this issue of '%Array', in
particular: Gordon McEwen, WCR, A & R @ Alku, Ed Benndorf, Lawrence English,
A & A @ Lucky Kitchen, Alorenz + Stephan Mathieu and Fehler.
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