Anne-James Chaton - Événements 09 3.7

                Raster Noton is known for difficult releases. Usually you have to do a certain amount of ‘elbow work’ to undercover the joys of the work. I respect this approach. Often musicians go towards the easiest way of expressing ideas. That payoff that I get from their releases can be amazing, like discovering a new landscape or geography. For all the alleged experimentation going on within this album, I felt bored and disappointed with the pieces.

                Anne-James Chaton isn’t a stranger to the Raster Noton label. Carsten Nicolai (aka Alva Noto) worked with him on his Unitxt album. Those expecting a repeat of pitch perfect performance are bound to be somewhat disappointed with the results on this album. None of that dreamy quality, an exploration of language and rhythm is found on here. 

                Instead you’re treated to some extremely lazy looping. Nothing is done with these loops. They are merged together to create songs. Layered on top of each other, they are meant to show off the competing rhythms of language. Does all language eventually blend into itself? Most of Événements focuses on that very question. In fact, Anne-James even offers up the backing beats at the end, going in order of how they appeared on the album. You’re offered the chance to sculpt his language and create your own work.

                Sadly, the work he’s created is disappointing. Clips of himself speaking never rise above just plan that: clips of himself speaking. It fails to engage on any level, especially when compared to similar projects, such as “COH Plays Cosey” or the more classic language experiments, such as Kurt Schwitter’s “Ursonate”. It doesn’t live up to either scenario. Even the language he uses bothers me, especially the cliché “Pop is Dead”. 

                Raster Noton rarely makes a misstep. When it does it is usually a doozie. Anne-James Chaton’s album is a doozie.

NHKyx - yx aka 1ch aka Solo 6.9

                Last time I saw NHK they had a small EP called “Unununium” on Raster Noton. This particular release excludes the second half of that duo, specifically Toshio Munehiro, but it retains a lot of the power of that EP. Compared to the previous offering, this one feels a lot less focused. Rappers, gliding house tracks, and loopy techno battle it out for dominance. Kouhei Matsunaga handles it with grace for the most part. 

                The harder tracks are the better ones. “2^ndplus” starts off where their EP ended. A weird rhythm starts coming together as a half-melody forms from random collections of noise. “261” sounds positively grime-laden. I enjoy how the bass sounds disgusting, the whistle, and the slight percussion. When NHKyx focuses on heavier sounds, it reaps greater rewards. Perhaps the heaviest song would be “257” which nearly suffocates the listener with distortion. 

                Samples are introduced. “Plants” does a fantastic job of sounding like a future Adult Swim bump. Yes, it is that smooth. Other sample laden songs like “421” don’t fare as well, sounding a bit off and overstuffed with random effects. 

                Finally, there are the dullards of the tracks. The rapping is terrible. Whenever you hear the song begin with lyrics, skip the track. I know NHKyx is interested in hip hop (the productions make that clear) but the rappers just don’t gel well with his music. Rather than coming across as a good collaboration, I feel the rappers suck the energy out of his music. 

                Kouhei does a good job is showing why he belongs on Skam Records. Unfortunately the difference between good and bad tracks is extremely stark. This may not be as noticeable, but considering the album is almost 70 minutes long I get the impression had he excised some of the tracks on here, it would be a great improvement. Really, he does a pretty good job, just keep in mind you may need to skip some of the dregs.

Mark Fell – Multistability 8.5

Maybe I enjoyed SND’s little EP offering this year, but I’m really into Mark Fell’s solo stuff lately. With this, he basically gives his music the greater edge I knew it could have. Previously he did his release of “Ten Types of Elsewhere” on L-NE, and keeping in sync with that label’s aesthetic, it felt brittle. Sure, there were tender moments on it, but overall it felt a tad bit distant. 

His “Multistability” changes that. This is a work absolutely brimming with life. If you didn’t read the cover, you might think it was SND’s follow-up to their album from last year. Similarities do exist between the two of them. For one, the kinetic, almost origami-like beat structures are in place. But what is slightly different is the chords structures and synth pads used.

The real meat and potatoes of the album lie in its heart. “10-A” begins with some truly smooth sounds as the claps and beats frantically lose their mind. As the piece progresses, you realize that all the chaos he throws over that lush sound won’t faze it in the least. Perhaps this is Mark’s intention. 

While writing about his work, he stated that this was supposed to be an aural illusion. You the listener could have two dramatically different ways of interpreting the piece, either as the beat workout or as the lusher sounds going on beneath all of it. That you could see the sounds as a form of noise or acknowledge its near-accidental funkiness.

Honestly, the sounds are more reminiscent of Tender Love’s style than of their newer stuff. Those glistening sounds that seemed to shimmer around are back in full force. “1-B” even offers the heavier side of sounds that he has been neglecting of late.

I’m surprised by the approach. Since this is Mark Fell we’re talking about, this album isn’t some radical re-invention of the wheel. Rather, he continues to refine his process and move forward with his work. Raster Noton did us all a favor by releasing this and this release only confirms their subtle shift towards more emotive experimentation.

SND Week

Yeah, that looks pretty cool.

SND remain a true favorite. When other artists ‘jump the shark’ SND has stayed tried and true to its roots. If they felt that the scene they worked in had grown too overbearing, they simply dropped off the planet. In 2002 they did this and came back about six years later to basically start right back up.

This week I’ll be reviewing almost everything SND-related. Whether that is Mark Fell’s solo work or Mark Fell’s work with other musicians, they are all fair game. As I sorted through the various projects, I noticed how little information exists about what Mat Steel does in the duo. I know they specialize in minimalism, but he takes it to a new extreme. No actual side project or writing from him. Anytime there’s an interview, Mark handles it. Mat’s job might be the ‘weaker link’ of the duo.

Mat: Hey Mark, I added a single beat on that last track. You like it?

Mark: Yes, I mean, there’s about 597 different beats on there, but yours really sounded great in that particular section.

Mat: Anything else I can help with? Perhaps I might assist you with some of the programming?

Mark: While that does sound helpful, you could help me out in other ways. Remember art school? Man that was fun. How about you go downstairs and get me a beer and we’ll talk about it some more.

Mat: Sure thing!

                I’m assuming that their average recording sessions go something like this. But that’s all irrelevant who contributes the most to the music. What their music focuses on is as much what’s there as what isn’t.

                If anyone needed a light introduction into electronic minimalism, they could do worse than this. Containing the same muscle as Autechre without the ornate imagery, they incorporate influences of garage, techno, hip-hop and glitch. I don’t mean glitch in a “aw, how sweet” sense which a lot of musicians use. Rather, it is meant as an easier way to get into the chance rhythms offered up by the experimental musician Yasunao Tone (indeed, that’s what Mark Fell stated inspired his latest album ‘Multistability’).

                 SND in general appears to be in full swing after such a hiatus. Having released an album on the prestigious Raster Noton label last year, they released an EP this year. Solo work-wise, Mark has been busy. Not one, but two full lengths are expected, with the first one on Raster Noton just dropped about a week ago. Then, and hold onto your hats here, there’s another one in December on Editions Mego. Most likely that one will be the harsher, more abstract of the two, but lately Mego’s been harder to predict.

                Yes, I know how infinitely nerdy this duo is. But consider it a testament to the inner nerd that lives in us all.

Atom TM: Liedgut 6.6

Uwe Schmidt begins his move towards less gimmicky music. For those of you not familiar, he has indulged himself heavily in the Senor Coconut moniker for quite some time. Senor Coconut takes techno and has it re-interpreted by a full band, giving it Latin American embellishments.  El Baile Aleman was interesting, but continuing the re-interpretations for a decade felt a bit of overkill.

Thankfully, with this he returns back to his roots of weird electronic music. Of course, there is a twist with this album, like he employs with all of his work. Here he focuses on the more romantic side of German music, mixing Franz Schubert with Kraftwerk (hence the robotic vocals). 

It starts off more abstract, and slowly he introduces the listener to warmer pastures. Unfortunately, some of the abstraction comes off a bit jokingly, which grates on one’s nerves. But it is over halfway through the 20 odd tracks when it doesn’t matter whether he is kidding.

“Weisses Rauschen” easily surpasses the rest of the material on here. It cleverly mixes the emotional with the clinical detachment that he’s been striving to hit the entire album. The gentle arrangement is surprisingly warm and tender; especially considering this is a Raster Noton release.

Overall, it isn’t a bad album. There’s a lot to enjoy here. But the problem I have is that a great amount of the suites are underdeveloped. And only at the end do you actually get what Uwe’s statement is supposed to be.  And without the beautiful German robotic singing (which is surprisingly touching) it would not be anywhere as lovely.

SND – Atavism 9.1

SND occupy a little space in my soul. I’ve been following their music since they first came out with Makesnd Cassette. Back then, they focused on bass and the low end a bit more. Synthesizers milled around slowly in your head at a languid pace. 

Never prolific, they took their time with each and every release. Each release seemed to come closer to their perfect ideal. EPs were common in the early days, with things like “Travelog” giving a slightly more subdued flavor than their Mille Plateaux outings suggested.

Finally, what appeared to be their swan song came out. “Tenderlove” spoke to nearly everyone that year. Mixing hip-hop production values with an increased focus on melody, it put me in a trance the way that little minimal does. They know how to limit their palette without taking away from the music. Yes, these are grooves, and they appear lush, but really they are perfectly formulated.

After that, nothing came from them for about six years. Sure, there were little compilation releases, and Mark Fell had a solo album on L-NE, but otherwise little else. Oh yeah, Blir appeared on Raster Noton, and I thought that the SND project was through, and we’d only get whatever leftovers they had lying around.

But a magical thing happened in 2008.The 4,5,6 Vinyl got released by SND, and they brought out their first T-shirt. Plus, they got around to designing a website for their band, a big thing for a duo so focused on remaining anonymous.

Finally, Atavism dropped in 2009. I was happy. All those harsh edges from the Vinyl had been smoothed out. Of course, the music remained as challenging as ever. But they had changed considerably. For one, a lot of their old formulas had changed, now they were less focused on loops and more on patterns. The joy of hearing the mutations on “8:22” cannot be expressed. It is like hearing some sort of musical origami, with so much being made out of so little.

“4:29” seems to veer in and out of perception. Parts of the song appear to come into focus only to slowly move away from the listener. Those warm chords get nearly hidden during “7:09” as the track trudges forward.  And “2:13” virtually is dance music, but with a stuttering problem. 

SND doesn’t even realize how heavily they reference pop music. It is as if their music is made in some crystal clean vacuum, blissfully unaware of what goes on outside. And we’re better off for it.

Mika Vainio – Vandals EP 7.7

This EP is truly a celebration for those who took down the Roman Empire. The Vandals are fully represented here, with each track representing another Germanic tribe as well (Teutons, Barbarians, and the popular Goths).

If any of those tribes had IPODs, they might have been blasting these ultra-aggressive tracks. Each one comes between a mix of power electronics and Suicide. Respect is due to those wonderful people at Raster Noton who released this intense, beat-driven music.

While Mika is also a part of Pan Sonic, his solo stuff tends to be slightly more abstract. Abstraction is not present at all here. This is pure beat joy. “Barbarians” is the biggest shock of them all. Here it is a 4/4 beat, probably the first one Mika’s ever used. Oh, and just because the beat is so simple, he can focus on making it as overwhelming as possible. Panning disorients the listener as it zooms by.

Really, releases like this make me appreciate the collapse of the Roman Empire even more. Also, Mika should lay to rest the false accusation that the Finns are wimps.

True New Zealand Hero: BATalsdr on YouTube

Occasionally someone comes along and provides a service, a great service which you don’t see every day. YouTube isn’t known for those sorts of people, but sometimes there are a few gems in the rough of various online personalities. Sometimes it is their bubbly personality, but often it is someone who instead decides to be completely anonymous and let action speaks louder than words.

BATalsdr from New Zealand is one such person. The fact that this person has exquisite taste in music on a site known for the opposite is a miracle in itself. How this person has such a vast amount of music is a mystery to me, as is the fact that it is such high quality. We’re talking not only about the obvious bests of IDM but even harder to find stuff from Raster Noton, Planet Mu, and nearly every alias Aphex Twin ever had (of course it might be possible to have each one, but there’s so much they’ve posted).

Each song has an orange background, perhaps as a way of easily identifying it as their channel. They are the most subscribed used out of all of New Zealand, with over 7.5 million views as of this article. It’s simply amazing; I wish I knew more about this person. But I guess I’ll have to be content with the fact that this is a person who single-handedly makes the internet a better place.

I’m not the only one, read the comments posted on his channel. From outflows of love, to shaking of hands, to even marriage proposals, this is epic stuff. And they don’t comment on anything, they just stay completely anonymous. There’s no linkage to the We Are The Music Makers Forum, it is just completely blank, nothing about the genius behind this. You just get the music that orange screen displaying artist, song name, and album and release date. 

You see over 986 uploads, all quality. Really BATalsdr, I feel that you make the world a better place. Please be fruitful and multiply.

BATalsdr

Of course that is his YouTube channel. Take a listen, have a laugh.

Alva Noto – For 7.8

While everyone went crazy over Carsten Nicolai’s work with Ryuichi Sakamoto’s piano, I thought they were missing out on this. Sure, everything sounds more emotional once it comes from an organic instrument, a greater challenge would be to get that same sort of emotional response from delicate electronics.

“For” sets out to do just that. Later, he’d follow up with these more melodic, less rhythm based songs in Xerrox 1 and 2. But when I first heard these, I was shocked. Hearing him move away from his natural environment of harsh clicks, cuts, and general noise was pretty shocking.

Shock still plays a part in this, often with the songs starting out the way much of his better-known work is. “Counter” plays to that effect, working its way up to screeching hiss. From there, you hear a naïve, stumbling melody. Those same light touches are heard throughout “Station Remo” and “Transit”. Others use high pitches to get the melody across, often over an extended period of time.

Apparently these all are dedicated to various composers. I’d be curious which composer was the inspiration for “JR” easily the most innocent and child-like of all the songs on here. This one sounds like it wouldn’t be out of place in a PBS commercial for Sesame Street.

Put simply, these songs are grand, and despite the fact they were written over an extended period of time, they form into a coherent whole.