Roscoe Mitchell - Bells for the South Side

“In the midst of the historic events surrounding the 50th anniversary of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), I wanted to highlight my explorations into new artistic territory, as represented by the series of trio project showcased in this recording.

“I began work on these trios when Jeff Gauthier and Alex Cline contacted me to say they wanted to honor me for my 71st birthday and 45th anniversary of AACM by inviting me to be a part of Angel City Festive 2011. Alex Cline wanted to do an arrangement of my composition ‘People in Sorrow’ (‘For People in Sorrow: an Homage’ by Alex Cline for a twelve-piece ensemble with Will Salmon conducting). For the same occasion I decided to write a composition, titled ‘Angel City’, for my first trio. Trio number one consists of two of my colleagues at Mills College, James Fei and William Winant, and myself. ‘Angel City’ was premiered at the REDCAT Theater on Sunday, October 2, 2011, Los Angeles, California.

“The second trio was formed after a friend and local supporter of new music, Harry Bernstein, called me to mention that Tyshawn Sorey was playing a solo concert at his home and asked me if I would and play a piece with Tyshawn at this concert. This was my first time meeting Tyshawn Sorey, and I found him to be an amazing musician. After that performance I had an opportunity to do some more music with Tyshawn Sorey and decided to add Hugh Ragin, a musician I’ve worked with since the mid-1970s, who I met when I was giving a workshop at the Creative Music Foundation in Woodstock, New York. This occasion led to the formation of the second trio.

“The third trio formed when I was scheduled to play at the Café Oto in London. A bold young London drummer named Kikanju Baku wrote me an email saying he wanted to play with me and sent me some of his music to listen to. I was very impressed with the music he sent me, and on the second night of my performance at Café Oto I invited him to sit in with the trio of John Edwards, Tani Tabbal, and myself. I’ve worked with Craig Taborn since the late 1990s. He has been a member of several of my bands and is a musician of the highest caliber. Putting these musicians together resulted in the formation of trio three.

“The fourth trio features two musicians I have had the pleasure of working with since the mid-1970s, Tani Tabbal and Jaribu Shahid. They were members of the Sound Ensemble, the first groups I established outside of the Art Ensemble of Chicago after returning to the United States from Europe in the early 1970s. They are also founding members of the Creative Arts Collective (CAC), the musicians’ collective I founded modeled on the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM). To me, it was always a given that Tani and Jaribu would be my fourth trio for the performances at the Museum of Contemporary Art.” (Roscoe Mitchell. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Roscoe Mitchell (si/s/a/bs-sx/fl/pl/b-recorder/pc), Hugh Ragin (tp/p-tp), Tyshawn Sorey (tb/pi/dr/pc), James Fey (si/a-sx/ca-cl/electronics), Craig Taborn (pi/og/electronics), Jaribu Shihad (bs/bs-gt/pc), Kikanju Baku/Tani Tabbal (dr/pc), William Winant (pc/tubular bells/glockenspiel/vb/mb/rototoms/cymbal/bs drum/wood block/timpani)

1. Spatial Aspects Of The Sound

2. Panoply

3. Prelude To A Rose

4. Dancing In The Canyon

5. EP 7849

6. Bells For The South Side

7. Prelude To The Card Game, Cards For Drums, And The Final Hand

8. The Last Chord

9. Six Gongs And Two Woodblocks

10. R509A Twenty B

11. Red Moon In The Sky/Odwalla

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The Rita - Toe Cleavage

"With his flagship project, The Rita, Sam McKinlay has, for nearly two decades, explored and distilled into sound various permutations of fetish and vice. Recognized as the creator of wall noise, McKinlay's conceptual intent and the singular intensity of his focus established something novel and profound. McKinlay's compulsive reverence for noise is a fetish of sound. Frequently, McKinlay utilizes field recordings and other sounds sourced from the objects of interest before encrypting them in an opaque shell of noise. Listening to McKinlay's recordings, it's often difficult to determine whether one actually hears the sounds of the source material or if the power of suggestion is so strong that the listener extracts phantom sounds. In recent years, McKinlay has increasingly focused on the female form, particularly the modes of body augmentation that define classical femininity, such as make up, nylon stockings, etc. The progression of this focus culminated with the most archetypal projection of femininity in Western Culture: the ballerina, her feet, and her pointe shoes. The foot of a woman has long been identified as the most common source of unusual sexual preoccupation. 'Toe Cleavage' is the most comprehensive expression of McKinlay's recent endeavors. For the uninitiated, the term 'toe cleavage' refers to the display of the upper portions of toes in low cut shoes - an essential detail for many shoe designers. Across the seven tapes in this set, McKinlay, through his music, dissects, indulges, illustrates, and worships the feminine foot. To that end, McKinlay worked with Los Angeles based visual artist Olivia Burr and recording artist Kristin Hayter (Lingua Ignota). In addition to photographic contributions, Burr and Hayter provided much of the source material for McKinlay including: dance studio floor recordings; contact mic'd ballet shoes; and the repeated unboxing, unwrapping, trying on, walking in, and re-boxing of various designer shoes (Valentino, Miu Miu, etc.). Adding depth to the overall experience, McKinlay interspersed interludes throughout the recordings featuring audio samples derived from discussions and tutorials about pointe shoes, toe cleavage, and various designer ballet flat and stiletto reviews. This set of recordings is arguably McKinlay's most focused and obsessive effort to date and perfectly embodies the cultivated stylistic traits that have defined his work through the years. Seven-tape set come in a wooden box with a 16-page book, a colored poster, an insert drawn by Sam McKinlay in Ivory paper, and a sheet with notes. Edition of 99 (hand-numbered)." (Review from Forced Exposure. See here.)

A. Toe Technique 1 

B. Toe Technique 2 

C. Toe Cleavage Dialogue 

D. Ballet Flats 

E. Olivia Burr Sources 1 

F. Olivia Burr Sources 2 

G. Properly Walking In Pointe Shoes 

H. Properly Running In Pointe Shoes 

I. Chanel Ballet Flats 

J. Aquazzura Ballet Flats 

K. Ballet Flats Comfort 

L. Pointe Shoes Comfort 

M. Lingua Ignota Sources 1 

N. Lingua Ignota Sources 2 

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Alexander Scriabin - Preludes; Etudes; Piano Sonatas Nos. 4 & 5

"A classmate of Rachmaninoff's at the Moscow Conservatoire, where his professors were Anton Arenski and Sergei Taneyev for composition, and Vassili Safonov for piano, Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915) occupies a place totally apart in Russian music. Rejecting vocal music and borrowing of elements from folk tradition, he wrote exclusively for the piano and for the orchestra. His music language followed a long and constant evolution, showing the influences of Chopin and Liszt during the early years, then going through Wagnerian period before reaching an atonal style, looking far ahead toward the sound world of the twentieth century. His ouput for solo piano is made up of a large number of miniatures often grouped into sets: preludes, etudes, mazurkas, nocturnes, waltzes, poem, as well as various isolated pieces and ten sonatas, a genre which had been clearly neglected during the second half of the nineteenth century and to which Scriabin was one of the first to return regularly.

"His Sonatas nos. 4 and 5 are representative of the evolution of the form, which tends to abandon the traditional cycle in several movements in favour of the sonata-poem and at the same time they reflect the philosophico-spiritual thinking of the composer, known as an emblematic representative of Russian symbolism, with his inclination towards cosmic mysticism. The Sonata no. 4 in F-sharp major, op. 30 (1903) is in two movements. Its programme was defined by the composer as: 'Man's exhilerating race towards the star, symbol of happiness.' An 'Andante' serving as an introduction allows a glimpse of the star through its delicate shimmering, hardly rising above the nuance of pianissimo; the harmony feels a lot like Wagner - 'Tristan!' The principal movement 'Prestissimo volando' follows on, taking up the theme and bringing it to a climax in an intoxicating ecstatic surge.

"The Sonata no. 5, written as a single movement, does however juxtapose several episodes with different tempi; it is the last to possess a key signature, initially the same F-sharp major, associated by Scriabin with spirituality, but afterwards a series of several different tonalities, followng the progressive principal. Contemporaneous with 'The Poem of Ecstasy' for orchestra, it uses four lines from the latter's program: 'I summon you to life, O mysterious forces! Swallowed up in the dark depths of the creative spirit, preliminary signs of life, to you I bring audacity'. Occasionally the Sonata no. 5 reminds us of no. 5, of which the beginning can be deciphered in the long episodes (marked 'Languido'). For the most part, it is animated by a powerful vitality, with leaps and repeated energetic jolts, stamping chords and eloquen indications of interpretation: 'Allegro impetuoso con stravaganza', 'Allegro fantastico', 'Leggerissimo volando', 'Presto giocoso, estatico'... The syncopated rhythms abound and the superposition of different rhythmic formulas is a sign of the wider application of this manner in the later works of the composer.

"We go a decade back in time with the two sets of Preludes op. 13 and op. 16, composed in 1895 as a continuation of the great collection of the 24 preludes of op. 11, an homage to Chopin, which Scriabin then wanted to duplicated, dividing up his inspiration over several sets (op. 12, 15, 16, 17). The Preludes of op. 13 follow on the the first six keys, alternating between major and minor (C, a, G, e, D, b). The first is a 'Maestoso', very diatonic in texture, with chords in dotted rhythms moving in march tempo. The 'Allegro' which follows is very different, it is a virtuoso piece, in a finely crafted design with semiquavers in the right hand. After a discreet and rocking 'Andante', the three final pieces - two 'Allegros' and a final 'Presto' - resemble piano 'Studies', focusing respectively on the superposition of quintuplets onto triplets, sixths, and octaves with huge leaps in the left hand.

"The Five Preludes of op. 16, lacking any virtuosity, essentially cultivate a lyrical vein. The 'Andante' (B major) is calm and majestic with a dialogue between the intermediary voice and the melody of the highest voice. In the enigmatic 'Allegro' (g-sharp minor) short bursts begin pianissimo before a double-'forte' affirmation. The tonal purity of the 'Andante Cantabile' (G-flat major) creates a contemplative atmosphere which carries through to the total austerity of the 'Lento' (E-flat minor) which follows. The cycle concludes on a lighter not, in the F-sharp major on an 'Allegretto', bathed in freshness.

"At the heart the Scriabin Etudes are eight pieces from op. 42 (1903) which are a reflection of the evolution of his language during the course of this central period of his creative life. The Etude no. 1, 'Presto', exploits the superpositions of rhythms, which is already beginning to become a constant feature of his writing. The very brief Etude no. 2, lacking any verbal indication of tempo, presents quintuplets in the left hand over which is added a motif initiated by a dotted rhythm. The Etude no. 3, 'Prestissimo', is also short because of its rapidity and is sometimes nicknamed 'The Mosquito', it has a delicate texture of shimmering triplets in the upper register of the keyboard. With the Etude no. 4, 'Andante', we come back to some of Scriabin's lyrical writing which likens this study to a romance or a nocturne. The apex of this cycle is the Etude no. 5, 'Affanato', which its author frequently played himself; a striking, obsessional theme appears over rumbling arpeggios, before being answered by a beautiful vibrant melody. The Etude no. 6, 'Esaltato', seems to contain within the contour of its theme a few reminisces of the previous study, as well as the second of the set. Extremely short, the Etude no. 7, 'Agitato', in triplets over semiquavers, requires the hands to stretch wide. The last, 'Allegro' in ABA form, begins in the manner of an 'impromptu', then in its central section provides a contrast with a solemn song.

"As well as the pieces assembled into cycles, we can also find in Scriabin a certain number of isolated works. It is to the year 1903, visibly a very productive year, that the 'Tragic Poem' and the 'Satanic Poem' can be dated. The first begins abruptly, without an introduction, diving immediately into the heart of tumultuous events. The almost incessant hammering chords, then the large and rapid arpeggios in the left hand hardly give any respite to the pianist. In this central section appears a declamatory melody in the medium register of the keyboard (indicated in the score as 'Irato, fiero'), which lends the piece a certain theatrical dimension. As for the 'Satanic Poem', it serves as a response to the diverse variants of Liszt's 'Mephisto-Waltz'. Playing on the homogeneity of contrasts and the subtle logic of unpredictable juxtapositions, it gives us a glimpse of all aspects of the evil spirit, in turns enigmatic, insidious, cunning and lethargic, sneering and sardonic (with the indication 'riso ironico'), which loses control in a frightening frenzy.

"'Toward the Flame' is one of Scriabin's last compositions, written in February 1914. We can follow the journey of a sonic entity from its conception to its spectacular blossoming. The first part, static with long chords punctuated by impulsions, give the impression of making an effort to break free and acquire an autonomous existence. Once this stage has been overcome, the movement takes shape and we can follow the metamorphosis of the theme through the flaring up of colours which turn into a blazing apocalyptic inferno characterised by trills, tremolos and rapid beating chords. 'Towards the flame' is a post-echo of the Symphonic Poem 'Prometheus' written four years earlier, in which the element of Fire was in the same way the vector of the messianic exaltations of the composer. (André Lischke, tr. Christopher Bayton. From the liner notes.)

Peformer: Vadym Kholodenko

1. Six Preludes, Op. 13: I. Maestoso In C Major

2. Six Preludes, Op. 13: II. Allegro In A Minor

3. Six Preludes, Op. 13: III. Andante In G Major

4. Six Preludes, Op. 13: IV. Allegro In E Minor

5. Six Preludes, Op. 13: V. Allegro In D Major

6. Six Preludes, Op. 13: VI. Presto In B Minor

7. Five Preludes, Op. 16: I. Andante In B Major

8. Five Preludes, Op. 16: II. Allegro In G-Sharp Minor

9. Five Preludes, Op. 16: III. Andante Cantabile In G-Flat Major

10. Five Preludes, Op. 16: IV. Lento In E-Flat Minor

11. Five Preludes, Op. 16: V. Allegretto In F-Sharp Major

12. Piano Sonata No. 4 In F Sharp Major, Op. 30: I. Andante

13. Piano Sonata No. 4 In F Sharp Major, Op. 30: II. Prestissimo Volando

14. Poème Tragique In B-Flat Major, Op. 34

15. Poème Satanique In C Major, Op. 36

16. Eight Etudes, Op. 42: I. Presto In D-Flat Major

17. Eight Etudes, Op. 42: II. In F-Sharp Minor

18. Eight Etudes, Op. 42: III. Prestissimo In F-Sharp Major

19. Eight Etudes, Op. 42: IV. Andante In F-Sharp Major

20. Eight Etudes, Op. 42: V. Affanato In C-Sharp Minor

21. Eight Etudes, Op. 42: VI. Esaltato In D-Flat Major

22. Eight Etudes, Op. 42: VII. Agitato In F Minor

23. Eight Etudes, Op. 42: VIII. Allegro In E-Flat Major

24. Piano Sonata No. 5 In F-Sharp Major, Op. 53

25. Vers La Flamme, Op. 72

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Alexander Scriabin - Symphony No. 1; Prometheus: The Poem of Fire

"Come, all peoples of the world,

Let us sing the praise of Art!

Glory to Art,

Glory forever!"

(Excerpt of the words in the final movement of Alexander Scriabin's 'Symphony No. 1'.)

"There was no doubting the young Russian composer Alexander Scriabin's (1872-1915) high ambitions when he presened his first symphony to the public. With its six-movement, hour-length duration, incorporating a grandiose choral final, complex chromatic harmonic language and self-composed text paying tribute to the universal greatness of art, Scriabin made a grand entrance on the international symphonic stage. Beethoven's ninth might well have served as a mode, but the symphony's harmonic language owes more to Tchaikovsky, Strauss, and above all, Wagner. For Scriabin, this grand symphonic project was the start of an even greater artistic plan. His ambitions reached far beyond the traditional boundaries of music and into the realm of philosophy and existentialism.

"Russian composer, philosopher and mystic Alexander Scriabin was one of the most eccentric and mystic figures of the age of modernism. His innovative sounds and utopian ideas challenged not only performers and audiences of the time, but also the boundaries of our thinking, the categories of history, and the limitations of art. His apparently egocentric view of the world, his megalomania and delusions have been psycho-analyzed, ridiculed and dismissed. He genuinely believed that art in general, and his own music in particular, could change the world and raise humankind to a higher level of awareness. His plan was that his musical oeuvre would culminate with 'Mysterium', a workd in which all art forms came together, time and space dissolved and all present participated in a spectacular transendence.

"One of the first steps towards this utopean moment was the 'Symphony No. 1' which Scriabin began drafting in 1899 and completed in 1900. By that time, he had discovered two of his most important conceptual bases. The first of these was Russian symbolism, especially the symbolism associated with the ideas of Alexander Soloviov in which art plays a defining role as a builder of bridges between extreme contrasts in life and the world, taking on almost religious functions. In many ways, 'Symphony No. 1' gives voice to Soloviov's 'theurgical' understanding of art - implicitly in the first five movements and explicitly in the final movement's verbal tribute to the unfathomable greatness of art. Although the words are not Soloviov's own, Scriabin has captured a similar spirit and world of ideas.

"Scriabin's second conceptual basis was the music and ideas of Richard Wagner. In Wagner's concept of the 'Gesamtkunstwerk' Scriabin found a cautious variant of what he himself so strongly believed in. Of perhaps greater relevance in this context was the fact that Wagner's harmonic language provided a decisive point of departure for Scriabin around 1900. He was one of the few Russian composers who took Wagner seriously, incorporating chromaticism and extended traditional harmony within his own musical style, eventually taking both to their very extremes. Scriabin was so deeply engrossed in Wagner's ideas that between 1902 and 1903 he planned a grandiose, philosophical opera based on the myth of Eros and Psyche, the inspiration for which undoubtedly lies in Wagner's 'Tristan und Isolde'. Scriabin eventually abandoned the project but carried Wagnerian compositional techniques and stylistic elements forward into his first two symphonies.

"It is particularly in the two Allegro movement, and in parts of the final choral movement, that certain harmonic and melodic elements point towards 'Tristan' and other Wagner operas as possible influences. Scriabin operates within a similar late romantic, expressive idiom with extensive use of chromaticism and chord progressions on the very brink of conventional tonality. The symphony also offers lyrical passages in the spirit of Tchaikovsky, such as in the introductory Lento movement which more or less serves as a prelude. The concluding choral movement is perhaps the most special and gripping moment for many, particularly at the point where art is extolled in words and music in a complex fugal section preceding the mighty finale. In this final movement the orchestra is extended wiht soloists and a choir; the reference to Beethoven's ninth is as obvious as it is bold. By ending his first symphony in this way, Scriabin indicated his intention to take up competition with the musical giants of the past, and that his approach to art was both profound and ambitious to the extreme.

"Contrary to Scriabin's wish, the final movement was ommitted at the symphony's first performance in 1900, the publishers claiming that the choral part was 'impossible to sing'. In 1901, however, the workd was performed complete under the leadership of Vasily Safonov in Moscow. It never became part of the standard repertoire, but has gained renewed interest in recent years, parallel to Scriabin's growing international popularity. For Scriabin, the work was without a doubt a major step along the road to the Himalayas and the great mystery he envisioned for the future. He never made it that far, however, and when he died of blood poisoning at the age of 43, he left the world and humanity more or less unchanged. His output is nonetheless regarded one of the most fascinating in the history of western music; in the absence of the 'Mysterium', it is 'Prometheus - The Poem of Fire', his last symphonic work, and often referred to as his fifth symphony, that remains Scriabin's greatest musical legacy.

"It is quite incredible to contemplate the stylistic development that Scriabin's music underwent between the first symphony and 'The Poem of Fire'. One a decade separates the two works, yet they appear to inhabit two entirely different musical worlds. Not only have all traces of Wagner and Soloviov vanished from the harmonic language in 'Prometheus'; Scriabin has set aside the entire tonal fundament and diatonic key system. Instead, he uses octatonic and whole-tone scales and avoids the sensation of major and minor. From the very first chord, it is clear that we are in new and unfamiliar terrain. The distinctive, dissonant chord is Scriabin's musical signature and consists of the notes A, D-sharp, G, C-sharp, and F-sharp, known as the 'mystic chord'. A large portion of the work is built around the chord and its constituent notes in various forms and constellations.

"The mystic chord and all that came with it was not, however, the only innovation that Scriabin introduced in 'Prometheus'. Scriabin was blessed - or perhaps cursed - with a condition called synesthesia in which stimulation of one sense is experienced by a different sensory area of the brain - such as, in Scriabin's case, seeing colour when hearing music. In 'Prometheus' Scriabin took his multi-modality out of the orchestra to create and independent part for 'Luce' - a 'colour organ' or 'chromola'. Despite the title, Scriabin's work is only loosely based on the myth in which Prometheus steals fire from the gods and gives it to humans. Scriabin envisaged a colour organ in which two 'colour parts' were to be performed with the orchestra. One of the parts follows the chords, illustrating Scriabin's synesthetic linking of specific chords with specific colours; the other colour part has a slower rhythm. Even though the colour organ can only be experienced in the listener's imagination on this recording, it is testimony to Scriabin's innovative and original ideas.

"There can be little doubt that the audience found the music modern and unfamiliar when Serge Koussevitzky conducted it for the first time in Moscow in 1911. Scriabin's mystic harmonic universe is so distinctive that it still jogs listeners out of their comfort zone into uncharted waters. And even if a state of transcendence is not achieved, Scriabin never came closer to sublimity than he did at the conclusion of 'Prometheus - The Poem of Fire'. Choir and orchestra, sound, light, and colour all come together as the mystic chord finally resolves in a powerful and consonant major triad - a hint of the grand transformation that Scriabin had planned for us all, from the primeval dark of mysticism to the ecstatic enlightenment of a greater awareness. (Thomas Erma Møller. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Oslo-Filharmonien, Vasily Petrenko, Kirill Gerstein

1. Symphony No. 1, Op. 26: I. Lento

2. Symphony No. 1, Op. 26: II. Allegro Dramatico

3. Symphony No. 1, Op. 26: III. Lento

4. Symphony No. 1, Op. 26: IV. Vivace

5. Symphony No. 1, Op. 26: V. Allegro

6. Symphony No. 1, Op. 26: VI. Andante

7. Symphony No. 5, Op. 60 'Prometheus: The Poem Of Fire'

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A.Z.A.B. / Sonnenrad - Renegade Blood Insurgence

American power electronics split centering on race hatred/national socialist themes. Mostly formulaic P.E. made up of looping noise sections, distorted vocals and media samples but still enjoyable if only for the novelty value. Joint release as a cassette on the now defunct US-based Vanguard Productions label and as a CD run of one hundred copies (rather than the usual eighty-eight...) on Russian natsoc label Barbatos Productions. Fun for all the family.

1. A.Z.A.B. - Renegade Blood

2. A.Z.A.B. - Scorched Earth Policy

3. A.Z.A.B. - Culture War (Physical Removal)

4. Sonnenrad - Doctrine Of Hatred (Totenkopf Elite Militia)

5. Sonnenrad - Eternal Torment In Desolation

6. Sonnenrad - Subliminal Terrorism Pt. II

7. Sonnenrad - Conviction

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Prurient & Hanged Mans Orgasm - Unknowns

"Dominick Fernow meets Patrick O'Neal (Skin Crime) in Hanged Mans Orgasm mode for a vocal companion to the epic 7LP Prurient opus, 'Rainbow Mirror'. Fernow shares vocal narration with DC Comics story-writer Scott Bryan Wilson (who’s also credited with writing on 'Frozen Niagara Falls') set to bleak backdrops of atomic radiation textures and field recordings of Hanged Man's Orgasm, the début '90s project of Patrick O'Neal from cult death electronics unit Skin Crime. 

 

"The label compare 'Unknowns' with 'the american counterpart to Nurse With Wound set in the decaying rural fields of new england' and, for us, the combination of low key vocals and textural attrition could also be compared with John Duncan's efforts in that arena, as the density of atmospheric pressure inside better recalls Duncan's esoteric experiments with shortwave radio on Riot, but, in the case of this A-side, mixed with the kind of vocal delivery heard on Duncan's surreal Bitter Earth songbook. 

 

"The notorious Kris Lapke aka Alberich lends his haggard touch in production to bring both sides to life with unflinchingly stoic and visceral force, most powerfully in the B-side's burial by rubble in a shallow grave." (Product review from Boomkat. See here.)

 

A. In The Ashes Of Science We Fall

B. In The Peeling Birch We Remain

 

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Schakalens Bror - Truck Cabin Fever

 

Intense guitar-based noise improv from Swedish project Schakalens Bror ('Jackal's Brother'), released on the fantastic Team Boro Tapes label in 2017. Brief (a little over twelve minutes) but very engaging. The closest comparison would be with the likes of Harry Pussy. 

 

A. Untitled

B1. Untitled

B2. Untitled

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Zwangsbeglucktertum - New Puritanism

Further harsh noise offering from Erik Nystrand, also bearing child abuse themes. Heavier than 'Man's Estrangement from Nature' with more low-end. A single sided cassette spanning around half an hour of noise. Released on The Gift of Music in 2017.

A. New Puritanism

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Zwangsbeglucktertum - Man's Estrangement from Nature

Swedish harsh noise from Erik Nystrand. Very classic sound and highly varied modulating textures. The cover features the eternally hideous Genesis P-Orridge, to whom the title appears to refer (Nystrand has also used images of Jimmy Saville in art for this project, to give an idea). Released on The Gift of Music in 2017, which seems to be a promising new label.

A. Infrared Lovers

B. Heat Seeking Sex Offender (Love, On The Rocks)

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Genoasejlet - Ved Linjerne om Hans Skuldre Navigerede vi Gennem Mørket

Three cassette odyssey on mysterious and ever-poetic Danish industrial label Janushoved. Seventy-five minutes of foreboding, melodic dark ambient that seems pregnant with subterfuge, narrative and hidden meaning. The title translates to "At the lines around his shoulders we navigated through the darkness". An edition of eighty-five copies released in 2017.

A1. Sirene

A2. En Marts Morgen

A3. Ved Linjerne Om Hans Skuldre Navigerede Vi Gennem Morket

A4. Faldende Sne

B1. Pilehegnet

B2. Dysten Om Maaneskinet

C1. Kastanjerækken Sort Sin Skygge Planter

C2. Slægtens Mærke

C3. Credo

D1. Klingende Spil Under Bøgen

D2. Kærlighedens Aftenskumring

D3. Bravt Hjerte

E1. Blomsterkæder

E2. Gadernes Virvar

E3. Draabe Af Dagens Varme

E4. Rødmende Sol

F1. Verdens Sange

F2. Hyben Og Sort Te

F3. Vaardrømmenes Hjem

 

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Giovanni Battista Costanzi - Sinfonie per Violoncello

"Both the life span and the professional career of Giovanni Battista Costanzi ran their courses entirely within Rome; and indeed, he was born in the city, on September 3, 1704. He began to study the cello at an early age and clearly his talents must have been considerable, since at the age of only 17 he entered into the service of Cardinal Ottoboni, who had previously been the patron of figures such as Corelli and Handel. The combination of that youth and his ability on the instrument earned Costanzi the nickname of 'Giovannino del violoncello'. He was to enjoy a meteoric rise within Roman musical life. In 1722 he was appointed as one of Ottoboni’s 'auitanti di camera' and joined, as a cellist, the orchestra of the church of San Luigi dei Francesi. In 1727 the première of his first opera took place with 'L'amor generoso'. 

 

"Following Ottoboni’s death in 1740, Costanzi took up employment with another cardinal, Troiano Acquaviva d’Aragona. With the passing of the years, his commitment to sacred music became steadily greater, in a way which coincided with his successive appointments as maestro di cappella in the churches of Santa Maria di Loreto (1742), San Marco and Santa Maria in Vallicella (1743) and Sant'Apollinare alle Terme (1747). In 1754, he became the assistant to the director Pietro Paolo Bencini at the Cappella Giulia, the full position becoming his from the start of the following year; he would continue in that position until his death, which took place on March 5, 1778.

 

"Whilst vocal music occupies a predominant place in Costanzi’s output (divided between operas, oratorios and cantatas), it is his works for the violoncello which nowadays are regarded more highly: in them the composer developed and enriched the technical and expressive resources of an instrument for which he was a recognized virtuoso. Costanzi composed one concerto for the cello, as well as sonatas with basso continuo (which Giovanni Sollima has recorded on a previous Glossa disc), sinfonias with basso continuo and sonatas for two cellos, amongst which is one subtitled, 'ad uso
di corni da caccia'. 

 

"If there are no great formal differences to be found between Costanzi’s sinfonias and his sonatas, the former do reveal a somewhat more advanced stylistic orientation. Where the sonatas show clear evidence of a thorough reading of Corelli's music, the sinfonias are infused with a spirit which is more open to the proposals offered by the stile galante, a greater receptiveness to the ideas coming from elsewhere in Europe and the rest of Italy. The organizational model of the four movement 'sonata da chiesa' is followed in the sinfonias in D major and B flat major, except for one difference: the placing of a minuetto at the end. The other sinfonias are provided with a three-movement structure – as found in the sonata da camera – but are also almost completely freed from dance rhythms, except as found in their closing minuets (Sinfonias in G and E flat), serving as a further nod in the direction of the emerging style.

 

"The new consciousness is also pointed to by the 'amoroso' marking which appears above several movements: that of eavesdropping on an emotional display of warmth far from the guarded lyricism of Corelli. A pronounced interest for the 'popular' also crops up at various points alongside the galant accents. Nor, in this context, should the instrumental writing and the broadening of the cello’s technical and expressive potential be forgotten. Two examples are worth noting here. The direction 'amoroso' which opens the Sinfonia in C major sees the instrument’s double melodic and harmonic character being explored, by means of a wealth of accents probing (like in Bach) the polyphonic possibilities of the cello and the inter-register dialogue. Another 'amoroso' movement – that which comes third in the Sinfonia in D major – projects the cello into its high register; the technique employed here is one of Costanzi’s most personal discoveries, in which he impels the instrument into creating stratospheric harmonic sounds. 

 

"Something of interest is to be found in each of the sinfonias. The Sinfonia in G major is still flecked with a Corellian gravitas both in the balanced lyricism of the 'Grave' as in the controlled ardour of its virtuosic 'Allegro', while the final movement probes the more attractive, French aspect of the minuet. In the Sinfonia in E flat, Costanzi demonstrates what a consummate man of the theatre he had become. The 'Adagio' sets off with an elegant and noble carriage, but then undergoes a form of 'cultural memory loss' during the course of its development, until – as if by surprise – it assumes the habits of a popular tone in the final bars. The 'Allegro' is a dishevelled corrente supplied with unreserved and temperamental rhythms; there is an almost spiritual mien to the Minuet, which ends up with a type of vanishing gesture. In addition to what has already been mentioned about the opening 'Amoroso' movement of the Sinfonia in C major, it can be said that its internalized tone contrasts with the outgoing nature of the ensuing 'Allegro', a virtuosic explosion of arpeggios and double-stoppings communicating an optimistic exuberance – features which extend into the concluding 'Allegro'. 

 

"The Sinfonia in D major gets going with a broad and lyrical 'Adagio staccato', although it ends with an unexpectedly ecstatic finale. The same sense of unpredictability characterizes the 'Allegro' with its popular moods and sudden suspensions, and in the 'Amoroso' also, in which plaintive inflections appear occasionally in its cantabile. The 'Minuetto amoroso' is also marked by mood swings, with its restless and abrupt demeanour – some distance from the galant lightness typical of the minuet.

 

"A Neapolitan expressiveness hovers over the Sinfonia in B flat, starting with an 'Adagio' which would appear to be fashioned along the lines of music by Leo or Porpora, stopping off for the street sounds of the 'Spirituoso', which lead up to a frenetic culmination, and for the chromaticisms and ornamentations of the 'Sarabanda amoroso', with its wistful and Eastern touches. In this Sinfonia, once again, the 'Minuet' veers away from its aristocratic character in order to take on a popular and vigorous character. 

 

"If Costanzi’s sonatas for cello are swept by a Roman air, his sinfonias catch a glimpse of broader horizons. Despite not moving from his city, Costanzi established and maintained contacts with travellers, diplomats, members of the nobility and musicians coming from the furthest reaches of Italy and Europe. Such was the case with his friendship with James Francis Edward Stuart known as' the Old Pretender', or with Paul- Hippolyte de Beauvilliers, Duke of Saint-Aignan, France's ambassador at the Holy See who, in 1737, was to commission from Costanzi a 'componimento drammatico' in order to celebrate the diplomat’s admission into the Ordre du Saint-Esprit. These and other connections provided Costanzi with information and clues as to what was happening elsewhere. The Neapolitan, Northern European and French echoes which run across his sinfonias for cello can thus be seen as stages along an imaginary journey, the manifestation of a cosmopolitan and yet wider feeling: this is the world’s diversity as contemplated from the perspective of one who is seated in the place towards which all roads converge. In this sense, Costanzi acts as the ideal embodiment of a city, Rome, which regarded itself as the 'caput mundi'.

 

"The sinfonias of Costanzi are supplemented on this recording with a sonata da camera for two cellos without basso continuo 'ad uso di corni da caccia'. This piece is structured in three short movements, in which – and as is made clear from the outset – the instruments imitate the sounds and the appropriate melodic gestures of horns. The central 'Adagio' is, however, a delicate siciliana interrupted by vigorous flourishes of repeated notes. The 'Presto' which ends the work is the movement which evokes in the clearest manner the atmosphere of the hunt, the pursuit of the animals, the shots being fired… The performers here have opted for heightening the programmatic and spectacular dimension of this sonata by the inclusion of percussion instruments. 

 

"Within Giovanni Sollima’s interest for the figure and creative activity of Giovanni Battista Costanzi lies an attraction which perhaps transcends the purely musical. In more than a single aspect Costanzi represents an alter ego for Sollima: both are performer-composers who place their curiosity and imagination at the service of the cello, from which they explore the most detailed resources and the most varied voices in a constant broadening of the instrument’s possibilities. In his 'The Hunting Sonata', Sollima pays homage to the cosmopolitan vision of a composer who did not need to move
from home in order to savour the world’s variety. The rhythms and the sound materials of the 'Sonata ad uso di corni da caccia' provide a departure point for this, transfigured and moulded in order to shape visions of sound landscapes, distant from each other to a greater or lesser degree, but all related to an imaginary South. Thus, the initial pizzicati sketch the outline of a Neapolitan tarantella to which, little by little, are added all kinds of Mediterranean flavourings (Spanish, Eastern, Maghrebi…). The 'Siciliana' which opens the second movement broadens out Costanzi’s original conception, and the succeeding 'Giga' drives this journey towards a dazzling and tremendous culmination. (Stefano Russomano. From the liner notes.)

 

Performers: Giovanni Sollima, Arianna Art Ensemble, Monika Leskovar

1. Sinfonia In D Major: I. Adagio Staccato

2. Sinfonia In D Major: II. Allegro

3. Sinfonia In D Major: III. Amoroso

4. Sinfonia In D Major: IV. Minuetto Amoroso

5. Sinfonia In B-Flat Major: I. Adagio

6. Sinfonia In B-Flat Major: II. Spiritoso

7. Sinfonia In B-Flat Major: III. Sarabanda

8. Sinfonia In B-Flat Major: IV. Minuet

9. Sonata Da Camera In F Major: I. Amoroso

10. Sonata Da Camera In F Major: II. Adagio

11. Sonata Da Camera In F Major: III. Presto

12. Sinfonia In G Major: I. Grave

13. Sinfonia In G Major: II. Allegro

14. Sinfonia In G Major: III. Minuè

15. Sinfonia In E-Flat Major: I. Adagio

16. Sinfonia In E-Flat Major: II. Allegro

17. Sinfonia In E-Flat Major: III. Minuet

18. The Hunting Sonata: I. Adagio-Allegro

19. The Hunting Sonata: II. Siciliana

20. The Hunting Sonata: III. Giga

21. Sinfonia In C Major: I. Grave

22. Sinfonia In C Major: II. Allegro

23. Sinfonia In C Major: III. Variazioni

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Macronympha - Infinite Perversion

Hi-fidelity, all-consuming noise onslaught from the legendary Macronympha. Rips at the ears from all angles. Released on the always excellent Singaporean noise label 4iB Records in 2017 as an edition of two hundred and fifty CDs.

1. Magnicidio

2. Nylon Fetish

3. Obscure Passion

4. Russia Needs Freedom

mp3/192kbps

An Innocent Young Throat-Cutter & The Rita - Wide-Eyed in the Dark

Collaboration between An Innocent Young Throat-Cutter (Richard Ramirez and various collaborators) and The Rita (Sam McKinlay). Themes seem to lend themself more to the manias of the former project: giallo movies, prostitute murder through a film noir lens, although they suit McKinlay's thematic world also. Includes an archival track ('French Sex Murders') from a former collaboration between the two artists, McKinlay remixing an Innocent Young Throat-Cutter track. Released on the excellent Singapore-based 4iB Records as a CD in an edition of 250 copies.

 

1. Red Cape Maniac

2. With Closed Eyes

3. French Sex Murders (Remix)

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Legless - Hessian Rites

Aggressive, fuzzy lo-fi harsh noise from American Dan Propert on the fantastic Swedish noise label Team Boro Tapes, released on cassette in 2017. Has the directness, slick artwork and finished feeling one comes to expect from this label.

A. Christmelt '93 (Revisited Damage Reprise)

B. Possessed By Sleaze

 

mp3/320kbps

The Rita / Necrotik Fissure

Split tape between Sam McKinlay's flagship project and Hungarian harsh noise impressario 'Inhos', who is behind The Level of Vulnerability label that released this tape (buy it digitally here), and various noise projects including Necrotik Fissure, which focuses on harsh noise wall, and Halalnihil (conventional harsh noise). Far from another droll European web artist (which looking at the volume of similar looking releases he has one might be forgiven for thinking), he has an impressive catalogue with collaborations with the status of The Haters, Vomir, The Rita, Torturing Nurse and Mania. The noise here is excellent with both artists offering powerful, texturally engaging work focusing on themes anyone familiar with McKinlays work will recognise: sharks, scuba diving and beautiful women.

 

A. Necrotik Fissure - Stargazer Fish

B. The Rita - Oceanic Whitetip Shark (And Women)

mp3/320kbps

Celluloid Murder - Dr. Timothy Leary, Where's My Brain?

Entrancing psychedelic noise from this American project, released digitally on Ivan Sandakov's web label Wall Noise Action in 2017 (see here). Has all the quixotic frenzy, vocal samples and idiosyncratic variation one would expect from this sort of project, but the occasional live guitar work and indulgent aural stimulation manage to set this project apart and lift it above the dregs of quirky banality.

 

1. Intro

2. Fire And Water

3. TV's Burial

4. Flowers In The Sky

5. 9999999987932609999999999th Track

6. Acid Butterfly

7. Be My Baby

8. Brian Jones Is Dead

9. The End

mp3/v2

Human Larvae - Methods of Submission

Cassette release from German-based Daniel Burfoot, released on Australian noise label Cipher Productions in 2017. Intense, unrelenting BDSM-themed noise. Available to purchase from the artist here.

 

A. Untitled

B. Untitled

mp3/320kbps

Othmar Schoeck - Summer Night

"The time of absolute music is over, declared Othmar Schoeck in 1927: 'Perhaps it was altogether only a mistake [...] all music [...] is song.' Such pronouncements—which he made at regular intervals throughout his working life—should not surprise us unduly, coming from a composer whose oeuvre includes some three hundred songs for voice and piano, several song cycles with ensemble or orchestra, and eight operas. But in fact, Schoeck only ever uttered such criticism of instrumental music when he was secretly writing some himself. He was so uncertain about his compositional gifts outside the realm of vocal music that he felt a need to lower expectations in advance whenever he was about to write a sonata, a quartet or an orchestral work. But he needn’t have worried. While his instrumental output is relatively small, these works have in fact become among his most popular and most-often recorded.

"The most successful of Schoeck’s orchestral works is 'Sommernacht', Op. 58 ('Summer Night'), a small tone poem for strings. In the spring of 1945, just days after the end of the Second World War, the Bernese Music Society asked Schoeck to write a new work for the local symphony orchestra. He hesitated–not least because he had suffered a debilitating heart attack a year earlier that had seriously undermined his health. Then, one day, his twelve-year-old daughter Gisela came home from school, gushing about a poem by Gottfried Keller her class had just read: 'Sommernacht'. Schoeck knew it well. He had even considered setting it to music a few years earlier, though it had resisted musical treatment at the time. Now, however, he used it as the program for a 'pastoral intermezzo' for string orchestra which he composed with ease.
 
"The poem tells of an ancient custom according to which the young men of a village help harvest the field of a widow or orphans who are unable to do the work themselves. Keller’s visual imagery—the shimmering fireflies, the silvery glittering of the scythes—was transformed by Schoeck into aural experiences. Thus we hear the chirping of crickets, the 'happy cries' of the peasants, the strains of the accordion, and the birdsong of the early morning (in which the 'Forest Murmurs' from Wagner’s Siegfried are never far away). The arrival and departure of the country folk in the fields also provide Schoeck with the opportunity to tell his tale in a three-part form with a neat recapitulation. The musical language of 'Sommernacht' is thoroughly tonal. On the whole, it seems to endeavor to evoke a pristine, untouched, ideal world, far-removed from the horrors that had only just come to an end across the Swiss border. There may be orphans and widows in this work, but here they have happy, grateful peasant friends to stand by them. No one is left to suffer alone; loss finds its compensation; and no one questions his place in the scheme of things. 'Sommernacht' was given its first performance in Bern under Luc Balmer on December 17, 1945. It was performed in Winterthur and Zurich in the following weeks, and has since become Schoeck’s most often-performed instrumental work, both at home and abroad." (Chris Walton. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Chamber Orchestra I Tempi, Gevorg Gharabekyan, Christoph Croisé

1. Suite In A-Flat Major, Op. 59: I. Andante Maestoso
2. Suite In A-Flat Major, Op. 59: II. Pastorale Tranquillo
3. Suite In A-Flat Major, Op. 59: III. Tempo Di Marcia Allegro
4. Suite In A-Flat Major, Op. 59: IV. Poco Adagio
5. Suite In A-Flat Major, Op. 59: V. Presto
6. Cello Concerto, Op. 61: I. Allegro Moderato
7. Cello Concerto, Op. 61: II. Andante Tranquillo – Più Lento – Tempo 1
8. Cello Concerto, Op. 61: III. Presto
9. Cello Concerto, Op. 61: IV. Lento – Molto Allegro
10. Pastoral Intermezzo, Op. 58 'Sommernacht'

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Jason Lescalleet - Almost is Almost Good Enough

An intelligent web of discreet ambience, field recordings and electroacoustic sound from Lescalleet. Released initially as a physical-only cassette on the Glistening Examples label in 2017, it had a subsequent cassette run followed by a CD/digital release by popular demand in 2018. The digital release is available pay-what-you-like and can be found here. 

1. The Grind (Organ Music #4)
2. Flywheel (2004)
3. This Is Not The End
4. In My Time Of Dying It's Nobody's Fault But Mine

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White Gold - 2

The second collaborative release from John Wiese and Phil Blankenship. Recorded in 2016 and released 5 years after the debut of this project in 2012. The style is similar: screeching, busy dynamic harsh noise. The second track is a live recording and especially good.

1. At The Least
2. Tatertamort (Live At Human Resources)

mp3/320kbps