January 31, 2013 1 Comment
While I am not really a journalist in any way, I am sometimes asked to say a few words on a subject of which people suspect I have any knowledge. With the help of Hessel Veldman I wrote this piece on Enno Velthuys. I still have the ambition to do a 6 CD of all his works in a box set one day. Should I find enough people who want to buy one!
January 31, 2013 Leave a comment
A while ago I wrote about an interesting tape release in vital weekly:
ENANTIOBIOSIS 1 (cassette by Bob Heaven’s Tapes)
And then finally a cassette that idea-wise is right up my alley: four bands have provided a piece of music that is copied to this tape so that the adventurous musician can stick it into his four track machine and do his own mix. So we have one channel on side A for Drekka, the other channel for Lather, and we reverse the tape and have Charnel House on the left channel and Kyle Willey on the right channel (estimated. I couldn’t decipher the cover properly). Not exactly something you stick on and listen, but rather something you can freely play around with. Long form drone like sounds with crude lo-fi sampling. Maybe a bit rough? Who cares? Where can we send our mixes, I wondered? (oh, and here’s a tip for those who don’t have a four track machine: record the entire cassette to your computer. Make two files, one per side of the cassette. But ‘side B’ in reverse mode, and import both into your favorite multi track program and start mixing)
A few days after I wrote this I went into my studio where I have 2 old four track cassette players, one normal speed (who actually belonged to Roel Meelkop) and a double speed one. Connected that to a mixer and some sound effects, and played around for some time, recording everything, went home and chopped up the entire 90 or so minutes into nine separate pieces with a total playing time of some 37 minutes and uploaded it to the guy who send me the thing. It’s been available as a download for some time, but now the CDR is available as part of the Orphanology series, under the letter ‘W’ of Frans de Waard. 23 copies have been made!
January 18, 2013 Leave a comment
My review for Vital Weekly tells all, I guess, but here with how it looks like:
COMPLICATION COMPILATION (CDR by Suitcase Recordings)
Most CDR releases don’t look that well, which is a pity, since if you don’t intend on doing a lot, you can make the cover into something special. Years and years ago there was a label called Petri Supply, run by a guy named Abo who was into more crazy aspects of screen printing. He’s back, sort of, but he always lends a hand to the Suitcase Recordings label when it comes to packaging. That label has been around also for some twenty years now, and for some of their recent releases they go back to the earlier days, such as the much delayed release ‘Paper & Plastic’ (see Vital Weekly 731), and here another compilation, but in fact a re-issue, well, half of it. ‘Complication Compilation’ was originally a double sixty minute tape in a LP sized piece of carton with lots of inserts, but here comes as a single 60 minute CDR in a lovely Abo package: various silk screened inserts, 10″ sized, which has the aura of handmade but still looking great (that’s a rare thing, I know). This CDR doesn’t follow either tape one or tape two from the original package. The four original sides were called ‘Scratched’, ‘Warped’, ‘Skipped’ and ‘Broken’, and from each side a few tracks have been picked for the CDR, according to a selection process that is a secret to us. It reads like a late 80s industrial music guestbook with Illusion Of Safety, Runzelstirn & Gurgelstock, Big City Orchestra and Kapotte Muziek still soldiering on, with the sadly deceased Minoy, with label partners Allfours and TAC, the disappeared (at least from my perspective) David Prescott and John Wiggins, and the forgotten Triptic Of A Pastel Fern Euthanasia and This Very Moment. Dark ambient industrial music, scratchy collage music, tape manipulation, and low resolution sampling devices (anyone up for some SK5 music – if you want what it is fine, if not, that’s ok). Looking at the original cassette line up – which I haven’t played in years – I think the second part should be released too – more great names and fine music, no doubt. Excellent package. (FdW)
Address: http://a4suitcase.com
Frans de Waard 