Review on Yan Jun - 20 For Lona
on
Heathen Harvest (US)
This
3inch CD-r release is limited to 100 copies and is a companion to a video and
sound art installation from the 4th annual Seoul International Media Art
Biennale in 2006. The concept or motive behind the release is quite unique,
while concurrently incorporating what by now has become a fairly standard
practise amongst those working under the experimental or industrial banner. Yan
Jun chose 20 pirate DVDs from his collection, sampled, modulated and edited
parts of the audio, and ran them simultaneously. The result is an interesting
tapestry of recognisable (and unrecognisable) snippets of dialogue and original
film scores interlaced with buzzing static, low-end rumbles, and generally
calming drones. The title of the installation was ‘I Bought 3000 DVDs,’ and
could certainly stand as a statement on the boundaries of what can be considered
‘fair use’ at a time when the mainstream media giants are struggling to adapt
and survive in a quickly changing digital rights climate.
From an aural standpoint, the overall experience of listening to the disc is a
pleasant one, and I found myself smirking or smiling often throughout the nearly
20-minute long piece, as familiar voices and themes surfaced from within the
sonic stream, and then dove back down.
When I am listening to a piece of sample-based music with a non-initiate of
industrial/experimental music, I find it a source of irritation when that person
finds it necessary to identify the source of a sample, or asks me where it came
from. This has also happened with industrial music enthusiasts, and it can
certainly be a fun game to play (particularly when you force someone to take
guesses), but it can also detract from the overall listening experience.
From my personal perspective, as someone who has spent over a decade
constructing largely sample-based music, the appropriation and
recontextualisation of dialogue, music and sounds has become something of a
philosophical event to me. When I have chosen samples, it has typically been
because those sounds have had some sort of emotional impact on me, and to point
out the original context can potentially take the focus away from the intentions
behind their use. It is for this reason that I have attempted (not always
successfully) to sample from obscure sources, more often than sources that are
immediately recognisable.
That the sounds on this release are ostensibly assembled from a random, flowing
amorphic mass of 20 films playing in sync gives an entirely different context to
the role of sampling itself. It’s a brilliant approach, however I find myself
wondering if that is genuinely how the piece was constructed, in consideration
of the placement of certain pieces of dialogue. In any case, I applaud the
effort and I must admit that I ws not expecting much, and I have been very
pleasantly surprised by this release.
C
sounds at first as though nothing’s happening. But when this Chinese sound
artist’s 3-inch CD is paused, then un-paused, a distinct difference in sonic air
pressure is definitely discernable. Brown, unbroken heft displaces utter
silence, rising oh-so-slowly in volume until you’d swear it was always lurking
there in your field of hearing. Then a dermal layer of prickled static asserts
itself, fading to a fizz before you’ve become accustomed to it.
The 21-minute, 30-second sole, track—“C for Schubert” —becomes much more
interesting from that point forward, emerging from a barely-there micro-tonal
stasis into something intense and composed, incorporating mournful
string-section sawing and startling hints of ivory that are content to be
passengers, not pilots. If Alok evokes anything here, it’s deepest winter:
frozen countrysides blanketed with freshly fallen snow, so still that they seem
lifeless, until one notices the icicles dripping, stray dogs foraging, and
lonely, unshed leaves twitching.
4
Reviews
on
Alok / Sin:Ned / Nerve / Nisei
23 / Defraktor
on
Blog.libero.it (Italy)
Alok
- Placid Places
Alok e' l'intelligente
fondatore della Lona Records Situata in Cina (Hong Kong). Ma non solo,
oltre al ruolo di manager Alok e' anche un valido artista.
"Placid Places" e' il suo ultimo lavoro, un profluvio lento ed incessante di
"clicks and glitch" rumori senza tempo, respiri affannosi, electronica urticante.
Cinque tracks dove il musicista cinese sviluppa partiture sonore difficili e
portentose..
Sin:Ned
/Nerve - Ghost
Feeding Vessel
Si prosegue, incessantemente, nella scoperta dei tanti "suoni
vaporosi" della Lona Records. "Ghost Feeding Vessel" è un cd registrato dal vivo
il 25 agosto 2007. Ci troviamo di fronte, ancora una volta, ad una strana
elettronica. Sin:Ned and Nerve sperimentano traducendo in note emozioni flebili
e particolari. Questa musica la si potrebbe definire
"electronic avant-garde". Temi artistici ostici, espressi su di un pentagramma
incandescente. La musica corre e si rincorre come un fiume in piena, è
decisamente pesante tenere il passo di tutta questa passione.
Per fortuna ci sono le pause che ti permettono di respirare, riprendere fiato e
calarti di nuovo in questa nuvola di frecce. Esperienza formativa e fortemente
propedeutica.
Nisei
23 - Milenka EP
IDisco prezioso e dal percorso fortemente cerebrale. Only
acoustic instruments, guitars & piano. I quali si intersecano con solerte
maestria. Nisei lavora di fino, estrapolando il meglio da un pentagramma il più
delle volte arido e logoro di fantasia. "Milenka Ep" è un microcosmo di suoni
alterati, si fatica a carpire tutta la potenzialità di quest'opera. Occorrono
ripetuti ascolti per limitare l'onda anomala. Ma se si avrà la giusta pazienza
si verrà investiti da raggi di sole, come nella sublime "Yoko".
Defraktor
- A Hole In The Void Of Time
Piccola ma valente etichetta (cinese) la Lona. Getta sul mercato prodotti
difficilmente fruibili da tutti, ma dall'alto valore artistico. Karsten Hamre è
un "manipolatore" di suoni norvegese, che in questa particolare occasione si
presenta con lo pseudonimo di Defraktor. Samples che racchiudono invenzioni
molto intelligenti, Karsten propone un'electronica scarna e minimale. Quattro
composizioni (suddivise in due dischetti) dall'andamento molto "dark",
"manipulations" che stringono il collo come un gelido nodo.
A new Jeffrey Bützervideo
- Lucy 5's Egg (Directed by
Marco Missano)
Review on Sin:Ned / Nerve - Ghost Feeding Vessel
鬼餓施舟
on
Startling Moniker.com (USA)
Originally
composed and performed live as part of a larger performance entitled “Ritual for
the Ghosts,” Hong Kong artists Sin:Ned and Nerve’s “Ghost Feeding Vessel” is a
document of ritualised sound action aimed at communicating with (and about) the
deceased. Whether Sin:Ned or Nerve would deem their efforts a success, the
appropriate atmosphere is most definitely conjured– a serene series of bell
calls puncture the calm at its opening, leading to an increasing flood of
haphazard messages forced through from what sounds like worlds beyond.
A striking number of sounds are employed in this venture, and in far too many
ways for the listener to determine precisely who is generating them, which
perhaps leaves us the option to hear some sounds as not being generated by
Sin:Ned or Nerve. Of particular interest to me are the bells, which continually
pierce even the most chaotic moments, providing an aural landmark to aid our
return.
For a live document, “Ghost Feeding Vessel” is very well-produced, with a
wonderfully spacial quality that will be appreciated by headphone listeners. I
would have liked to hear more of the space itself, though my guess is that a
recording of this quality was made directly, without access to site noise when
creating this disc.
“Ghost Feeding Vessel” is available in a limited edition of 100 CDR copies from
Lona Records.
Review on Alok -
Placid Places
on
Time Out Magazine
It’s
silly to give Placid Places a three-star rating. This is not the sort of album
that should be measured according to a scale. It is art – to be experienced, and
then reacted to.
Partly because of that, most people will hate it.
But this is not for most people. Sound art, experimental electronica, industrial
noise – take your pick. It’s not exactly toe-tapping stuff. Take the first
track, Pool Weakness. It’s 20 minutes of fuzz, buzz, and drone – as if someone
has amplified the sound of an untuned television set and laid it over the top of
a malfunctioning food processor interrupted by exploding fuses.
Yeah, you’ve guessed it – it’s hard to describe. The next track, Pocket
Temptation, weighs in at a breezy ten minutes and leans heavily on a resonating
sonar-like hum. Through the three remaining tracks, you can add blizzard sounds,
disjointed piano, the quiet bubbling of water, and more disconcerting industrial
noise to the mix. It all adds up to a feeling of unease, despite the title’s
claim to placidity, as the listener is immersed in a soundscape of machinery.
Alok probably won’t reach a wide audience with this release, but he continues
his long-held role as a provocateur of the senses and a pusher of Hong Kong’s
musical boundaries. And for that, he’ll always be one of our favourites.
Review
on
Yan Jun 颜峻
- 20 for Lona
on Sonomu.net
(Sweden)
The
steps through which Yan Jun went in constructing 20 for Lona are laid out very
clearly and concisely in the sleeve notes. The prime sound source is that
quintessentially Chinese neo-capitalistic product, the pirated DVD.
Here, the artist selected twenty pirated DVDS from his collection, muted most of
their respective soundtracks, let them all run simultaneously and mixed up a
witch´s brew of international cultural detritus. Languages comprehensible
include Hebrew (both classic liturgical and modern conversational), Chinese,
English (early on I hear Sarah Jessica Parker and character actor Willie Garson
[from an episode of "Sex and the City", no doubt]), Japanese, maybe Russian. On
top, alongside and underneath are sound effects, ambient sounds both soothing -
trickling water - and grating - subway trains speeding along their tracks - and
musical snippets from the original scores themselves.
This release is but a tantalizing excerpt specially prepared for the label (as
its title bears witness) taken from an installation premiered at the 4th
International Media Art Biennale in Seoul and entitled "I Bought 3000 DVDs",
where I am guessing it was enthusiastically received. Much less random and
chaotic, and much more dramaturgically composed than its stated parameters might
first lead one to expect. Ltd to 100 copies.
Review by Stephen Fruitman
Review on Roel
Meelkop - Real Mass on Vital Weekly
Not
known as a man of many words, at least not on his releases, is Roel Meelkop, so
it's a bit of a surprise to see on the cover this somewhat cryptic message:
'Dedicated to the darker sides of life (for once)'. A dark cloud over the head
of Meelkop? Not on the cover, but on the phone, he told me that he uses for his
'Real Mass' piece the voices of Antonin Artaud and Aleister Crowley - an unusual
open Meelkop revealing his sources. I listened again, but with different
knowledge to this piece. Yes, indeed that seem to be voices. Voices from the
past, preserved on scratchy sound carriers. No doubt all of which Meelkop loves
his hands on. He emphasis the hiss, slows down the voices and creates a true
Meelkopian piece of music. His trademark - rapid changes, decaying until the
very end, breaking up with something entirely new - is present here, but it all
sounds a bit more roughly shaped than before. No doubt a deliberate move on his
side, perhaps to emphasize the darker sides of life. A solid work, dark of
nature and a true small delight to hear. (FdW) Address: http://www.lona-records.com
4
Reviews
on
Alok / Phon°Noir / Maurizio Bianchi /
Kirmann
on
Blog.libero.it (Italy)
ALOK - C Implosione
devastante della mente... Sorrisi (pochi) che appaiono e scompaiono come stelle
vaganti in tempeste ondivaghe... Spigolature dei sensi (electronici) che si
sradicano da poli inesplorati. Tutto "very nice" e molto proibito...
Complicazioni minimali per una suite mirabolante a firma Alok, musica
contemporanea e filiforme che viene frazionata e dilazionata... Ventuno minuti e
trenta secondi di sonorità leggiadre e scomposte... Si respira aria pulita, aria
di buono.
PHON°NOIR - NO MORE SAD DREAMS Basso
voltaggio di standard apparentemente semplici e futuribili. L'electronica
invasiva di Matthias Grubel è quieta e docile come un monsone nel deserto
primitivo. "No More Sad Dreams" si adagia su complicati marchingegni del mondo
stilizzato. Strumenti dosati in lo-fi, piano-chitarre e laptop che girano su
stessi creando un sound elastico e per nulla metallico. Gelo, freddo e mancanza
di fuoco che arde... Beats mansueti ma importanti, un altro grande lavoro sempre
sotto la gestione Lona Records...
MAURIZIO BIANCHI - ZYKLUSTERS Inevitabilmente
Maurizio Bianchi (e non sono certamente io il primo a scriverlo) è un
personaggio importante, e "fortemente" carismatico del cosidetto panorama
underground "industriale"... La sua arte è ovviamente da prendere con le pinze,
in quanto non totalmente assimilabile da chiunque... "Zyklusters" è una delle
sue tante (immaginifiche) opere che si adombra di luce riflessa. Quattro
componimenti dove drones pulsanti ed iperattivi gravitano su piani levigati ed
acerbi... Sogni onirici fuori dal tempo (si ascolti bene "Klusters") e
situazioni di sporadiche intemperanze ormonali... Tutto molto caustico...
Ovviamente..
KIRMANN_ - Memoires / Scars Estremità
opposte che si coagulano e si contrappongono come onde del mare. Musica
sperimentale, suoni bassi e profondi, electronica scaltra ed ignifuga. Il
maestro Franz Kirmann impasta, da buon selezionatore, sounds intrisi di spleen
virulento. Memoires/Scars, (3" Cdr) pubblicato dalla Lona Records, è un piccolo
capolavoro di electronica dark computerizzata. Nulla viene lasciato al caso,
ogni nota è assorbita e filtrata con meticolasa parsimonia. Now playing,
please... Review by Claudio Baroni (English translated coming
soon)
Review
on "O" / Moon - MoonOphonique Part II on Signal to Noise #48 (USA)
O,
the nom de plume of composer Yann Hagimont, has a new 3” CD-R out with Moon
named “MoonOphonique Part II” (Lona Records locd27r). There are at least
a dozen bands in the lexicon with the name “O” – whether out of sheer simplicity
or as a paean to “Story of O” author Pauline Réage, we know not which – and at
least fifteen under the name Moon. And both sides of this particular release are
as blue and full as that Moon up above – O’s selections are folkish and
strummed, while Moon’s computer, Korg and Fender jazz bass weave a comforting
quilt of gentle ambience under which one goes to peaceful slumber without
worrying about whys and wherefores. It’s a shame that the record’s only an
edition of 50 copies – more people should hear this lonely beauty. - David
Cotner, Signal to Noise Magazine #48
Modern Media x Hong Kong & Shenzhen Biennale of Urbanism/Architecture
Presented by Modern Media
Partners: Videotage, Chenmiji, Lona Records, ANLIGHTEN Design Studio
Special thanks to Johnnie To/Milyway Image, China Star Entertainment and STAR
for permission to show clips from Running Out of Time 2, Videotage for its
generous loan of projection and sound equipment, and Yatzar for spatial design
support
Central Police Station Compound
10 Hollywood Road Hong Kong
10 Jan - 15 Mar 2008 (closed on 6-8 Feb)
10am-6pm (daily)
G-Imagineering along Desire Lines presents the work of urbanites who have
documented/initiated changes in (what was formerly known as) Victoria City: a
video collage of Hong Kong filmmakers/video makers' cinematic reinterpretation
of urban spaces, to be juxtaposed with a recreation of the Central soundscape by
sound artists Alok and Lona Records in a room decorated by furniture salvaged
from demolished public buildings over the years by cultural publisher and
collector of urban artifacts Chenmiji, in a study of the desires, dramas and
organic spatial relationships embodied in the architecture and its surroundings.
Copies of Modern Media's City Magazine and the Outlook Magazine, chroniclers of
the collective cultural/consumerist experience in Hong Kong and the South China
region, provide a frame of reference for the exploration of possibilities in
sustainability.
Concept & coordination by Lo Yin Shan & Vince Lung
《放逐慾望縱橫線》
現代傳播集團x 香港•深圳建築雙年展
主辦：現代傳播
創作夥伴：錄映太奇、陳米記、LONA RECORDS、ANLIGHTEN DESIGN STUDIO
特別鳴謝：杜琪峰／銀河影像、《暗戰II》版權持有人中國星及STAR提供電影片段、錄映太奇借出投影器材及音響系統、YATZAR
《放逐慾望縱橫線》邀請香港都市生活的詮釋/創造者，在將發未發的變動中，尋索既有路徑以外的質感、音聲、幻像，為中區特有的空間象徵和城市記憶重新定義。本地電影人將中、上環的熟悉場景幻化成天馬行空的詩意舞台，文化刊物出版人/舊物收藏家陳米記多年來自面臨拆卸的舊屋舊廈、公共建築搶救家具、舊物保存歷史，音聲藝術家Alok與Lona
Records創作夥伴以環境實驗音樂記錄城市集體潛意識；《放逐慾望縱橫線》以投影裝置將電影中虛構的警察面貌、權力糾纏置放於人去樓空的監獄實景，用囚犯手製的政府座椅、背後自有來歷的舊書櫥建構予參觀者思古神遊的場所，配合Alok
and Lona
Records現場即興演譯的環境/人聲數碼微模音樂，促成影像/音聲與建築/空間的對話。現場供隨意翻閱的《號外》與《新視線》雜誌，以一貫的文化視野與消費生活觸覺，為空間與慾望的後續討論提供素材。
概念策劃：盧燕珊、龍文浩
DESIRE FURNITURE
慾望家私
Chenmiji
陳米記
Today, the Central Police Station compound stands deserted, devoid of its former
occupants—and its colonial - style government furniture. For more than two
decades, Chenmiji have been preserving history by salvaging overlooked treasure
from public buildings and government offices facing demolition. These chairs,
tables, book cases, door handles, light switches have been selected by Chenmiji
from his vast collection of urban artifacts to be displayed in this former
exhibition space for "Correctional Services Industries" products. Each item has
its own story to tell— and a similar origin to the government stationery and
furniture that had been used or produced here until not so long ago.
Lona Records
Alok, Edwin Lo, João Vasco Paiva, KWC, Nerve, No One Pulse, Sin:Ned, Vavabond &
yy.zz
Central is a playground of sounds loud and soft, a forum of conflicting views as
much as it is an arena of power and desire. The ambient sound artists at Lona
Records capture the emotions of the heart of our city and present us with a
digital simulation of the urban soundscape, a soundtrack for the
subconsciousness of the urbanite.
Live Performance:
2 Feb 2008 (Sat) 2pm-5pm
Vavabond, No One Pulse, Nerve, Alok
23 Feb 2008 (Sat) 2pm-5pm
Vasco, KWC, Edwin, Sin:Ned
15 Mar 2008(Sat) 2pm-5pm
Alok, No One Pulse, Nerve, João Vasco Paiva, Vavabond, Edwin, yy.zz
RUNNING IN & OUT OF TIME & SPACE
A TRIBUTE TO JOHNNIE TO'S SPATIAL EXILE
放逐杜琪峰暗戰時空
Dan Ip+lo
葉曉丹＋lo
In Johnnie To's Running Out of Time 2, the plot and reality intertwine in a Hong
Kong that is strange yet familiar. Video artists Dan Ip+Lo have borrowed scenes
from the film—with the director's kind permission, of course—and argue visually
that Lau Ching Wan, playing Inspector Lau in a "Central Police Station" that is
in reality the former Marine Police Headquarters in Tsim Sha Tsui, is actually
pointing his gun towards the days when our city was still a colony; that the
fictional birdwatchers at the Central Piers are taking our imagination far
beyond the hills surrounding Victoria Harbour; and that To's cinematic tribute
to the now demolished Queen's Pier is a reminder of the arrogance and haste with
which we have been destroying our past. Across the harbour, in the Cattle Depot
Artists Village in Tokwawan, media artist Gd St j joins Dan Ip+lo in a video
dialogue between real and
imaginary space.
Review on Phon°noir - No More Sad
Dreams on Angryape.com (United Kingdom)
This 3" disc is an
intriguing proposition, pairing Berlin's electronic-pop maestro phon°noir (aka
Matthias Grübel) with Hong Kong's experimental Lona Records, which has
previously housed releases from the likes of Alok, Fm3 and The Painful Leg
Injuries.
Grübel's recently released "The Objects Don't Need Us" (review link) opus
sparkled with its levels of invention, blending everyday sounds into an off-beat
style of melancholic electronic pop. The way Grübel built his arrangements
reminded of an ingeniously constructed piece of machinery or electronic
equipment.
That being the case, "No More Sad Dreams" finds him at the experimental stage of
his developments, where all of his 'objects' are strewn across his work table as
he finely tunes his plans. It offers a fascinating insight into the way Grübel's
tracks come together. The four compositions here feel less rigid than his
tightly woven album work, as he places different sounds through alternating
sequences and experiments with different rhythms.
Featuring previously unreleased material, "Embryo" is a remix from his
alternative Phonofix project that almost veers into avant-jazz territories. The
alluring "Airplanes in the Sky", recorded in one late night session, meanwhile,
finds the perfect balance between this experimental edge and the melodic side of
things, merging glacial piano interplay with his inventive revolving beatwork.
Withdrawing his haunting whispers that colour his full releases, the work on "No
More Sad Dreams" aligns itself closely to what's being going on over at the
Anticon label. Grübel certainly retains the fragility of his previous releases,
but now he has added an abstract edge. It is simply yet another string to his
bow, another facet of his ever-evolving creations.
New
Release From Shasha Records (Shanghai, China) and Review on Sonicity.org
Alok - Mass For Repose Of The Soul Of The Dead (47:19:55)
This piece s comprised with
field recordings from Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hong Kong. Composed, recording,
rocessing and mixing at near mystudio bathroom, bitMap (Jan - July 2007)
The 200
tapes of the compilation "Une ode au toy piano" from the french tape label
MonsterK7 are sold out. To give a second life to this tape, we've decided to put
it on MonsterK7's website for free download.
It’s a
mixtape dedicated to toy piano by the artists Aliplays (France), Bertram Wooster
(France), The Boom and the Arty (France), Jeffrey Butzer (US), Cosmo
Helectra (France), Monsieur Free (France), K. (France), Kawaii (France), Moujik
(France), Toy Piano Fanfare (England), Pequena Fiera (Spain), Top Montagne
(France), Toy Fight (France), Snugtrio (France), Twink (US) et Michael Wookey
(England) (+ 3 bonus tracks by Noah Glenn (US), The Appreciation Society (Englans)
and pAq (Italy)).
-------------------------------------------------
MonsterK7, handmade tape label www.monsterk7.com
Review on The Painful Leg Injuries - The
Quicker Are The Encumbered on Smooth Assailing (USA)
The
brooklynite husband and wife duo of bill and suzanne byrne won't stray too far
from familiar ground for their release on hong kong's lona records. the biggest
change that i'm noticing is how there's far less emphasis placed upon cold,
textural compositions, which used to be their bread and butter. following their
first release, backwards, broken and incorrectly, the noisy drone thing seemed
to be an afterthought (though it really peaked with their tracks on the men in
white coats compilation). in its place has been much busier experimentation.
actually, i shouldn't say "in its place", because pli's still kind of
implementing a cold layer of drone, but it's being buried under a multitude of
off kilter instrumentation and sounds.
The strongest vibe that i get from the quick are the encumbered is a spacey one.
most of the six tracks on this disc have one or two elements that just give it
an alien feel. after an ice cream truck flipped over and we all got some begins
with whirling, helicopterish noise, it will slowly retract from the denseness
and open up for a few separate layers (some panned) of random tinkering sounds.
one of those layers has a weird extraterrestrialesque warble to it. eventually,
the noise will start to rise up just in time for the track to... run out of
time. the broken elevator's spiral descent has a really appropriate title. this
introduces something i hadn't noticed in pli's music before, spastic drum beats.
this is matched up perfectly by spacey ambiance and additional sci-fi sounds.
it's oddly reminiscent of naked city, sans vocal freak-outs. there's even a bit
of saxophone at the end. trippy track, and probably my favorite out of the
sextet. they'll follow that one up with a life by the high tension wire, and
this one makes me think of lightning bolt. just a little bit. it's really in the
musical progression of the main layer. it'll shift focus again to random sounds
and percussion, trying to see just how many different things they can throw into
one track before the bottom falls out completely. i do find myself wishing that
they'd take a less is more approach with some of the tracks. i'm all for
layering, but sometimes it just seems a tad excessive. it could also be the fact
that i'm hard pressed to pick out key bits which are more memorable and bring
about a level of replayability. i am, however, more drawn to the subtler moments
like suzanne's affected cello towards the end of everything that comes in stages
left in a birthday hat, during the relatively calmer final portion of that
track.
The quick are the encumbered is a mini-album that's not short on ideas. that's
not always for the best, though. it's not a bad disc, by any stretch of the
imagination, but sometimes the jumble of sounds detracted from the more focused
moments.
Date: 26 October 2007 (Fri)
Time: 8:00pm
Venue: Kapok
Address: G/F. 9 Dragon Road (behind Tin Hau temple), Tin Hau, Hong Kong
Price: $80
Supporting Act: Alok & No One Pulse
Co-Presented by Lona Records & Kapok
Supported by Para/Site
Enquiry: info@lona-records.com /
info@ka-pok.com
Bio:
EMMANUEL MIEVILLE is a Paris born French sound artist and experimental musician
who studied at the world renowned GRM (Groupe de Recherches Musicales) in the
field of musique concrete. He also studied sound engineering and attended a
cinema school. His aesthetic concern and direction as a composer originate from
a desire to give the listener a shifting or blurred perception of soundscapes.
Musical experiments with sound-field materials or objects and instruments are
undertaken within the intuitive and dynamic stream of unconscious brain
stimulations. Some of his collaborations or improvisations yielding patterns or
structures, that express ideas but most of the time, the idea of musical flux
lingers on his works.His tropism towards sound scapes, sound sculpting and
gathering of spatials tools for composition, provides him with a better
understanding and perception of sound, as a vector for social awareness and
wisdom.
He played for two years with a Javanese gamelan orchestra, and is interested in
merging ethnic instruments into electroacoustic music. Amongst other
collaborations, he has worked with several dancers for Butoh performances, with
French composer/performer Eric Cordier a for live concert (2005), and with
Korean video performer, Heesok Yu, for a concert. He also contributes and
participates with much constancy to Framework, on Resonance FM (London), which
is a radio show dedicated to field recordings.
Seeing as how he’s the man in charge, I’ll
start off with Alok’s challenging
disc “C”;
which follows a low sustained tone through an underbrush of piano phrases,
cable crackling, and
resonant
hum. The single track, entitled
“C for
Schubert,” credits the Impromptu no.1 of Schubert’s Opus 90 as an
“influence,” which it seems (to my rather untrained ear) to obliquely quote at
times. Still, these would be rather free quotes– I think they’d be better
thought of as half-remembered shadows of the original, and in this case, much
better suited to Alok’s murky (but moving) vision.I also have to mention the
fine use of implied movement in this recording. Without a reliance on
ping-pong silliness, Alok imparts a strong feeling of traveling throughout his
aural landscape. Regardless of whether this was his intent, or simply
instinctual, the effect is remarkable and highly appreciated!
Next
up is “Objects &
Things,” by Lublin-based
Mind
Twisting Records co-founder
Kim_Nasung, from the same series of 3″ cdrs. Like the Alok disc, “Objects
& Things” is comprised of an odd blend of electronic and concrete sounds–
static bursts reverberate in a shared space with blasts of buzzing tones,
clanking metal, and something like a decaying tape of agitated choral voice.
There is a sense of multiple layers of recording being present in a single
time frame; attentive listeners should enjoy the mismatched spacial effects,
creating a sort of “room-within-a-room” feeling.
The use of voice is also notable, both for
its complexity and energetic approach. At the halfway mark, the vocal elements
of “Objects & Things” become truly disturbing, guttural and cloaked in their
own muttered cacophony. Due to this recording being constructed from three
live performances, it has a nice live electricity to it, but is not
necessarily linear. A rewarding listen, and certainly one to whet my taste for
more from this artist.
There’s
no secret that
the split ‘O’/Moon 3″ cdr “MoonOphonique Part II” (with a companion disc
on Burning Emptiness) was going to be my
favorite among these Lona Records releases. I am an unabashed fan of
‘O’, and as such,
will claim no journalistic objectivity whatsoever while reviewing this disc.
Still, I can be truthful– I love it. In the short time I’ve had “MoonOphonique
Part II,” I’ve listened to it dozens of times, rarely leaving the immediate
area of my stereo. As one of the first ‘O’ recordings solely featuring Yann,
it holds up well with previous work, warmly carving out a niche of understated
electronic whine and puffs of acoustic guitar. It is a lazily aware recording,
with the occasional embraced misstep that is the basis of so many ‘O’ works.
As always, it is too short.
Helpfully,
DDN (as “Moon”) steps in
with two tracks of synth and bass that do a good job of departing from where
‘O’ leaves off. The contrast between Yann’s plaintive acoustic mini-melodies
and DDN’s deep space swirlings is amazing; it is the difference between the
using the moon to light the way toward home, and using it as a base to the
stars. Great work all around– I’m definitely needing to get a copy of Part I!
Our
fourth disc is “Tele,” by No One
Pulse, an internet collaboration between Wong Chung-Fai and Chau Kin-Wai.
Chung Fai has two previous solo discs on Lona, while Kin-Wai has released a
multitude of works available through his
Sleepatwork collective. Of the five discs reviewed here, this is easily
the most electronic of the bunch, where chittering bits of data mixing fluidly
along a pulsing series of tones provide the basis of the first track. There
are some very interesting sounds I cannot begin to place, including something
like the digital version of vinyl crackle that fills much of this piece. The
first track doesn’t grab me entirely, though– there isn’t a lot of noticeable
progression, despite the somewhat ‘busy’ background sounds.
The next track, “#4″, reminds me a little of
David Tudor’s
“Rainforest” composition. It is easy to imagine this as a field recording
taken at dawn on a digital world. Where the first ten minutes of “Tele” are
rather cold, this next ten are simply full of life– and as an experimental
release, I commend the artists for including both works. As “#4″ concludes,
the sleepy digital forest has fully awakened– flocks of bit-torrent birds
sheet across the skies, a wonderful ending to a terrifically-imaginative
construction.
Speaking
of evocative recordings, let’s finish off with
“The Quicker Are
the Encumbered,” by The Painful Leg Injuries, the main musical project of
recent NYC-to-Austin transplants Bill and Suzanne Byrne. On this disc, the
Byrnes treat listeners to no less than SIX tracks, all featuring their
trademark looong titles– “An Ice Cream Truck Flipped Over and We All Got Some”
being a good representative, and incidentally opening the disc. At about
three-and-a-half minutes each, these cuts get in and out quickly, allowing
Bill and Suzanne ample opportunity to throw a number of different ideas out at
the listener.
On the aforementioned opener, the
unfortunate ice cream truck is played by an equally unfortunate de-tuned
siren, clattering into and out of existence in semi-melodic fashion, while all
manners of chirping occurs just off-stage. It is simultaneously silly and
disturbing, but fades out before any serious harm befalls our four-wheeled
friend. On “The Broken Elevator’s Spiral Descent,” spastic drums and hyper
electronic bell trees pitch wildly about the deck of a sinking carnival organ–
I’m reminded quite a bit of
Walter Weasel’s eight-armed additions to Coltrane here, but again, the
Byrnes change gears just before I get my comfy chair warmed up.
Then it’s on to crazed voices, toy piano,
watery synths, and buzzing guitar noises! Rushes of icy synth horns! Birds in
traffic! Tweaking drum machines! Robots chanting “blah blah blah,” and
Harryhausen’s clockwork owl attacking an all-blind brass band! “The Quicker
Are the Encumbered” simply does not let up, which is a serious feat across
almost 23 minutes. Although I generally prefer mini cdrs which explore a small
area in greater depth, Lona’s limited series promises genre-bending and
experimental works, a concept which The Painful Leg Injuries surely deliver on
throughout. Besides, listeners wanting more from the PLI have a few
full-length releases available through
OKS Recordings
of North America, should “The Quicker Are the Encumbered” prove
interesting…
All in all, I’m very happy with these discs,
and looking forward to researching
the Lona Records
catalog more in the future. Be sure to catch my broadcast this week
(9/29/07), as I will be playing selections from these discs– and don’t forget
to check out the rest of their catalog– that
Monitors mini and the
Sin:Ned are
calling my name, should anyone be searching out early Xmas presents for their
favorite DJ!
BaiTian
Transit
出品：Lona Records
音景（soundscape）已經不是學院派的舊貌，年輕人未必還願意講究電腦調變、原音保留以及田園敍事之類的規矩，噪音的、混合的、抽象的種種做法已經破壞了音景音樂的傳統。或者，也可以說音景也在被濫用的過程中，附身於其他的形體當中了。
成都的大學生白天，是香港Lona唱片進一步向內地探尋所得。他這張《轉換》，總計20分鐘，前14分鐘都還是田野錄音的流水鳥鳴伴隨ambient的曖昧loop、朦朧長音。就在聽得舒服，渾然忘記音樂的某個瞬間，真實與虛幻的平衡被打破，幽暗的抽象聲音潛流升起，流水鳥鳴退去，好象物質世界裏的肉體的人用大腦聯機以精神駭入了數字世界（參見電影《Nirvana》、《攻殼機動隊II》以及小說《神經浪遊者》）。流動的是霧狀的中低頻；漂流的是半透明的顆粒之紗；劈啪做響的正弦波高頻以微弱音量閃爍又消失，又閃爍又消失；其間飄忽不定的貌似旋律的玩意，在調性上勾引著人性。。這是用軟體處理後的田野錄音，是物質世界被轉換後的真實模樣。
白天的風格從一開始就確鑿堅定，那是細膩的細節、綿裏藏針的謙和、袖裏乾坤的慢，在電子原音的聲音本體和環境音樂的傳統美感之間，他毫不猶豫地做了折衷主義者。在年輕一代的數位聲音創作者中，他的美有一種難得的深意。
No One Pulse - Tele
出品：Lona Records
No One Pulse - Pathic
出品：小聲唱片
兩張一起寫，是因為兩張是一起做的。
No One Pulse，香港樂評人Sin:ned和他的朋友KWC的雙筆記本組合。這兩張3寸CDR，是一個概念下的雙生兒，聯合發表的方式，讓我想起90年代的作家和詩人，那些牛掰且高產的，常常在同樣厚度的雙月刊上同時發表一個系列的不同部分。對，這是借用廠牌網路的背景，將作品背後的概念推到更深處。
Tele這張，比較含蓄一些，但又暗藏千頭萬緒的殺機，好象潛水的動物心情乖張，隨時放電；Pathic這張，緊張且快速，整體卻更統一，信息量大但不紛擾。都是用筆記本做的，不能分辨那條線索是誰，那些素材是誰。但我們可以知道，這兩位喜歡鋪設多條脈絡，同時迴圈著向前奔走（或者不如說就地旋轉）。低的聲音慢，高的聲音碎，仿佛有形，更高的不易辨別，更低的彌漫得無形，中間或許有像是旋律的東西，也迴圈著，但也變化著。就好象說，所有就地旋轉的東西，都其實是在就地變化，別說河流，就是loop，也都沒有可以重複的。
這兩張，像我們常聽的長音。但其實不是長音延伸，不是山河，不是旅行。對電腦來說，loop作為最基本的技術，也作為20世紀最基本的音樂概念，可以將音樂的時間感改寫為無限，把時間當成空間來用。不loop的部分反倒成了幫襯——這兩位是在用聲音再現資訊哲學，其中的變化和不變，相互對照，讓人哪頭都不敢錯過，最後就錯過了午飯。
Alok - C for Schubert
出品：Lona Records
Alok就是傳說中的Lona唱片的老闆。
這張小CDR只包含一曲，為舒伯特而做。事實上它是由舒伯特的即興曲“Impromptus, Op. 90 No.1 Allegro Molto
Moderato”啟發而來，也採樣了其中的片段，在潛沉微妙的低頻中，喚醒了古人的吉光片羽。整個作品就像傳說中的淩波微步，或曰挾泰山以超北海，在有無之間，大美嫣然。
沒辦法，必須得用到成語和文言文。如果說舒伯特已經是成語，而鋼琴是文言文，那麼Alok當然是在用當代語法說話。當代的語言中，有太多來自古時候的基因，有的已經變異，有的原封不動，卻又在新的語境中散射出新的意義。開頭似乎無聲，需要凝神，然後低頻若有若無，滲了進來。然後是一點點雜音，一點點採樣，繞著採樣，又伸出了新的聲音，也是點到為止，雪泥鴻爪一般，大雁及其動作就在空無中存在下來。正弦波的低頻，是當代的純粹、抽象；樂器的聲音，是古代和近代的提純和律法；這兩樣原本無關，但其中雜音的破壞，就像局部的嫁接，和整體的重新編碼。當代地說，這就是解構後的再生。古代地說，這就是萬變中的不變，以意境統帥著超越時空的氣。舒伯特的即興曲，以意境取勝（抱歉，我google來的）。那些微弱的、含蓄的、環保的聲音倏忽而來而去，在暗黑的空間裏，在偶爾暴露的光和它的軌跡中，隱藏了緩慢而大的動態，也結構出聲音之外的天地。這就像用暗黑創造出的光，反向的奇跡。
總之很美。
Review on No One Pulse - Tele on Foxy
Digitalis (USA)
When
you notice the words ‘sound artist,' ‘Raster-noton’ and ‘no-input device’ on the
same promo sheet, you almost certainly can expect mini-crackles, micro-pops,
lots of hiss and the whole gamut of lowercase electronics. The No One Pulse duo
from Hong Kong does anything but disappoint those expectations.
Though far from original the two tracks on this 3” cd, both exactly ten minutes
long and blessed with the entirely nondescript titles "#2" and "#4," are
nonetheless fascinating exercises in creating a lot of atmosphere with the most
minimal of means. Doubtlessly emanating from the laptop it never becomes really
clear whether the sound sources have been pre-recorded and treated later on, or
created from scratch. White noise and distortion are avoided, though, and No One
Pulse let their machines gently purr and drone in a seemingly improvising way.
With this kind of music references are bound to be legion. The aforementioned
Raster-noton and the motionless sine wave mindscapes of Sachiko M and the
no-input philosophy of Toshimaru Nakamura indeed seem major influences, but
reminiscences of the endless subaqueous repetition of Cranioclast and the
fragmentary dub of Chain Reaction cannot be chased away either.
This way too short teaser will not change your world and chances are you may
have heard this kind of meandering soundscaping a thousand times before. But its
insistence on uncovering beautiful sounds certainly makes you beg for more. 7/10
-- Vincent Romain (29 August, 2007)
This
3inch CD-r release is limited to 100 copies and is a companion to a video and
sound art installation from the 4th annual Seoul International Media Art
Biennale in 2006. The concept or motive behind the release is quite unique,
while concurrently incorporating what by now has become a fairly standard
practise amongst those working under the experimental or industrial banner. Yan
Jun chose 20 pirate DVDs from his collection, sampled, modulated and edited
parts of the audio, and ran them simultaneously. The result is an interesting
tapestry of recognisable (and unrecognisable) snippets of dialogue and original
film scores interlaced with buzzing static, low-end rumbles, and generally
calming drones. The title of the installation was ‘I Bought 3000 DVDs,’ and
could certainly stand as a statement on the boundaries of what can be considered
‘fair use’ at a time when the mainstream media giants are struggling to adapt
and survive in a quickly changing digital rights climate.
C
sounds at first as though nothing’s happening. But when this Chinese sound
artist’s 3-inch CD is paused, then un-paused, a distinct difference in sonic air
pressure is definitely discernable. Brown, unbroken heft displaces utter
silence, rising oh-so-slowly in volume until you’d swear it was always lurking
there in your field of hearing. Then a dermal layer of prickled static asserts
itself, fading to a fizz before you’ve become accustomed to it.
A
S
D
Not
known as a man of many words, at least not on his releases, is Roel Meelkop, so
it's a bit of a surprise to see on the cover this somewhat cryptic message:
'Dedicated to the darker sides of life (for once)'. A dark cloud over the head
of Meelkop? Not on the cover, but on the phone, he told me that he uses for his
'Real Mass' piece the voices of Antonin Artaud and Aleister Crowley - an unusual
open Meelkop revealing his sources. I listened again, but with different
knowledge to this piece. Yes, indeed that seem to be voices. Voices from the
past, preserved on scratchy sound carriers. No doubt all of which Meelkop loves
his hands on. He emphasis the hiss, slows down the voices and creates a true
Meelkopian piece of music. His trademark - rapid changes, decaying until the
very end, breaking up with something entirely new - is present here, but it all
sounds a bit more roughly shaped than before. No doubt a deliberate move on his
side, perhaps to emphasize the darker sides of life. A solid work, dark of
nature and a true small delight to hear. (FdW) Address: http://www.lona-records.com
Basso
voltaggio di standard apparentemente semplici e futuribili. L'electronica
invasiva di Matthias Grubel è quieta e docile come un monsone nel deserto
primitivo. "No More Sad Dreams" si adagia su complicati marchingegni del mondo
stilizzato. Strumenti dosati in lo-fi, piano-chitarre e laptop che girano su
stessi creando un sound elastico e per nulla metallico. Gelo, freddo e mancanza
di fuoco che arde... Beats mansueti ma importanti, un altro grande lavoro sempre
sotto la gestione Lona Records...
Inevitabilmente
Maurizio Bianchi (e non sono certamente io il primo a scriverlo) è un
personaggio importante, e "fortemente" carismatico del cosidetto panorama
underground "industriale"... La sua arte è ovviamente da prendere con le pinze,
in quanto non totalmente assimilabile da chiunque... "Zyklusters" è una delle
sue tante (immaginifiche) opere che si adombra di luce riflessa. Quattro
componimenti dove drones pulsanti ed iperattivi gravitano su piani levigati ed
acerbi... Sogni onirici fuori dal tempo (si ascolti bene "Klusters") e
situazioni di sporadiche intemperanze ormonali... Tutto molto caustico...
Ovviamente.. 
The
brooklynite husband and wife duo of bill and suzanne byrne won't stray too far
from familiar ground for their release on hong kong's lona records. the biggest
change that i'm noticing is how there's far less emphasis placed upon cold,
textural compositions, which used to be their bread and butter. following their
first release, backwards, broken and incorrectly, the noisy drone thing seemed
to be an afterthought (though it really peaked with their tracks on the men in
white coats compilation). in its place has been much busier experimentation.
actually, i shouldn't say "in its place", because pli's still kind of
implementing a cold layer of drone, but it's being buried under a multitude of
off kilter instrumentation and sounds.
Our
fourth disc is “Tele,”
