The Haxan Cloak #3

My mother used to say "If you can't say anything nice then don't say anything at all" but I have had such a disappointing time listening to the latest album by The Haxan Cloak I thought I'd mention it. The  eponymous debut LP and preceding 12" (both on Aurora Borealis) were excellent releases, so much so I went and bought the T-Shirt but this LP has to be the last straw.
Very polished. The album (I bought the 2x12"EP version) has a very polished sound, a computer generated sound that carries echoes of mid 1990's Scorn and a bit like Zoviet*France when they weren't that good. Side A (which carries the title track - parts 1&2) sounds like a condensed soundtrack to a "Resident Evil"esque film. There are lots of sounds, tweaks and beats and little piano doodles but the tracks don't go anywhere. I realised I was just listening. Side B is very similar ... nice pulsebeat fades on the "Miste" track, but it is like listening to an audition recording for a video game soundtrack. Side C is "The Mirror Reflecting Parts 1&2" and is quite simply a poor man's Coil. Side D starts with "Dieu", and a violin can be heard in the distance. The violins on the first LP were so good, skeletal and orchestral playing like the Mauthausen Orchestra but here they are hidden behind a very poor rhythm. "The Drop" started with a bad five note keys pattern .. needle off the groove.
So - A big let down and a shame. The last Haxan Cloak I shall buy - unless (of course) things pick up but at the moment it is music for The Wire readers.

Sleaford Mods - Jolly F*cker

A.M.K.

I have always enjoyed the sound of A.M.K. I came across them about twenty or so years ago and have always bought their stuff when I've seen it. My favourite being the "Mecca" 12" that Harbinger Sound put out a few years back. On my trip to Germany last week I managed to pick up a copy of "Spur N" a cassette release by Hamburg based label Fragment Factory.
A.M.K. is the project of turntabablist Anthony King, based on the West Coast of USA and owner of the Banned Productions label. (Or "Bent Productions" if you are German). The theme of "Spur N" is railway tracks. "Spur N" is a C22 (11 minutes a side ... can't help thinking that this would have made a lovely 10" single). "N. Gauge" is lock groove and rolling stock with an occasional ghostly bell clanging in the distance. Lock groove(s) which you can close your eyes and travel / journey the distance. (Marval at the construction of sounds). "Rapido Memoria Technico" is side two. "RMT" is more of a sound collage with more elements and a faster pace - less hypnotic. The piece begins with the sound of an old steam train with a "Casey Jones" whistle. Loops are built from the sound of stream. The occasional bell is there again clanging through the fog, faster and less..."ghostly".
An interesting release on what is becoming a highly collectable label. Artwork is by Michael Muennich.
Go to www.fragmentfactory.com and purchase.

Circulation Of Light

Have just spent a pleasant while listening to the latest release by Circulation Of Light, the solo project of Kinit Her member Nathanial Ritter. I really enjoyed last years "Emersal Tracings" cassette released by Black Horizons and Kinit Her have become staple favourites here at Hartop Towers.
"Winding/Winded" is a C30 (could be C20) on Sangoplasmo Records. Information on the tape is scarce, to be honest the packaging is pretty poor, an unlabelled cassette with a small piece of card folded in the case. It is as if the artwork was an afterthought. The print that is there is so small (unreadable to these 50 year old eyes)!
"Winding" is the sound of resonating bells (church bells) with prepared piano and auto-harp. Very meditative, it is easy to get lost in the resonance. The track has slips and clicks like it is an old vinyl recording, whether it is deliberate or not? It doesn't harm the track though. "Winded" has gentle chimes and xylophone. Very peaceful with a Tibetan / Gamelan vibe. 23 Skidoo (obviously) brought to mind.
Limited to 100 copies and costing just $6 from www.sangoplasmo.com

Apologies for poor photograph!

Dieter Muh #51 (Hamburg Gangeviertel)

 Thirteen years ago Dieter Muh played two gigs on consecutive nights. Dresden and Leipzig, and we did not like it. It was at the end of the "2000 Harbinger Sound Travelling Circus & Freak Show" tour of Scandinavia and Europe. By the time we played these two shows our equipment and patience had reached the end of its tether .. Recently - well the last few performances - my feeling after finishing is "I want to do that again". The night after Bremen I got the chance to play at the Radio Gagarin Festival in Hamburg, and after a great night out in Bremen I was itching to play live again. The company of Jurgen, Chris and Helge helped. I haven't enjoyed myself so much in quite a few months! 

The gig was organised by Radio Gagarin. Thomas Beck (AKA tbc) was the coordinator. The venue was close to the St Pauli district of Hamburg known as Gangeviertel. B*Tong played as did Feine Trinkers Bei Pinkels Daheim and local project Der 2te Freund. This evening was my first hearing of 1000 Schoen, the project of ex Maeror Tri member Helge Siehl. Helge manipulated sounds generated from a sculptured piece of metal, a transfixing performance .. and after the weekend I am now addicted to the sound of B*Tong & 1000 Schoen. The sound on the evening was perfection. Monitors (yes ... monitors)! like wearing headphones. It made my sound easier to perform with the minutiae voices and delicate frequencies. 

The evening was recorded for broadcast, I will put up a link when available.

DJ for the event was a lovely chap called Martin who spun some Column One, Laibach and Scanner. He should have been working the Asmus Teitchens gig on Friday night. 

Pictures.

1: Bringing 'em in off the streets!

2: DJ St. Martin.

3: Der 2te Freund.

4: Jurgen Eberhard of Feine Trinkers Bei Pinkels Daheim.

5: 1000 Schoen.

6: Dieter Muh (photo by Chris Sigdell).

7: Radio Gagarin crew. Harald on the left and Thomas Beck on the right.

8: Chris Sigdell of B*Tong.

Dieter Muh #50 (Bremen Elefant)

Bremen. This was Dieter Muh's 50th live performance and The Elefant was the ideal venue for the occasion. A huge statue situated just outside Bremen railway station the venue lies beneath the beast. A crypt. Maximum capacity is 30. Ideal. The evening was organised by Jurgen Eberhard of Feine Trinkers Bei Pinkels Daheim.
It was a rainy day in Bremen. For a while it looked like the evening would be cancelled. Waterlogged venue .. but fortunately the show went on. Also on the evening were Tarkatak and B*Tong. (I know B*Tong should have a "degree" symbol and not an asterisk but I can't seem to get one up on this keyboard)!
The evening started with Tarkatak, the solo project of German artist Lutz Pruditsch. Lutz performed delicate sounds, minimal drones before having some "level/volume" problems with his laptop. The sound/volume seem to roller coaster. I don't think Lutz enjoyed the space.
B*Tong is Chris Sigdell from Basel in Switzerland. Chris composed a set using bowed metal, hand massagers, vibrators and the sturdy Roland SP 404 sampler. Creating and building loops of fantastic sound - weaving a great pattern bringing in voices and textures - looping and layering. Great to watch and fascinating to listen to. This was my first introduction to the sound of B*Tong and now I am hooked!
Dieter Muh set. I decided to use voices, small voices, whispered voices and the half heard word. I thought this would fit the space/venue. I created a couple of new "rhythmical" loops to bring in and paint the word samples around. It worked - it was fun .. even played some of Lon Milo DuQuette's "The Call" over a wall of baying Hyenas to end the set.

Bremen Elefant is one of the finest venues I have played. It was great to see it full to the rafters, t'was also great to meet up with Martin and Steffen (aka Troum) again after 15 years ... and another rain sodden night, although that time it was Belgium. M&S took me for a drink or two afterwards with Helge (Mr. 10,000 Schone). Great way to celebrate 50 years in the business. Ha!

Pictures.
01: The Elefant.
02: Inside The Crypt.
03: Table of Elements.
04: Tarkatak.
05: B*Tong.
06: Dieter Muh. (Picture by Chris Sigdell).
07: Dieter Muh & B*Tong outside the Elefant. (Picture by Jurgen Eberhard).

Asmus Tietchens : Hamburg University 11/10/2013.

I am no Asmus Tietchens aficionado. I have been listening to experimental electronic music for nigh on thirty five years now so of course I have some Tietchens dotted about my collection. Tracks on various compilations, the odd 7" single etc .. but I do not have great knowledge of his work. This aside, I was very excited to learn that Asmus was playing a "free gig" at Hamburg University the day I arrive and have a free night.
Hamburg University was celebrating 100 years of being in business and tonight saw loads of Hamburg's finest perform on various stages on a variety of levels inside the great building. To get to where Asmus Tietchens was performing I passed through a performance by Palais Schaumberg. (Who, according to my host - Michael - are quite good but I always grouped them in with Aha and Fra Lippo Lippi). The building was a sea of people. It was a free event but I have never seen such an amount of souls in such a small place. The building was thick with folk and thick with smoke. I don't know if Germany has a smoking ban but the people smoke inside buildings and the air becomes thick with acrid  fog, it is not pleasant.
It seemed to take an age for Asmus to perform. A DJ span discs by Dome, Throbbing Gristle, Chris & Cosey, Kraftwerk and various Euro EBM merchants but I was tiring after an hour or so of her playing. I was now hearing stories of previous Tietchens performances, Sets of blistering noise, sets of silence. What we got tonight was a set of rising waves of sound. Looping and returning to wash over the audience. Extracts of tweaking and bubbling littered the "set" but it was a sound to "get lost in" over about thirty minutes.  Loud crashing waves of electric bliss. Downside (apart from the smoke filled air) was the audience, a vast majority of which were not there to witness Asmus but to drink and "party" thus shouting through some of the quieter moments. Always a possibility at the "free concert".
Asmus was swiftly followed by fellow Hamburger and founder of Cluster Dieter Moebius. After five or so minutes of great loud abstract scraping and clanking the sound morphed in to "techno" beats ... we left.
A great experience and a gig I shall never forget.

Pictures.
1: Hamburg University.
2 & 3: Asmus Tietchens.
4: DJ.
5: Dieter Moebius.