Nexsound – experimental, ambient, noise, improv record label

Review

chaindlk

Saralunden + Andrey Kiritchenko – There was no end

Second CD release for Sara Lunden and Nexsound both. This time Sara is working with the label’s boss Andrey Kiritchenko. The six tracks of the CD present a particular blend of electronic arrangements (almost glitch) mixed with light noises, electric guitars and the characteristic Sara’s vocal approach which is in balance from melancholy and intimacy. These tracks recalled me one of the most melodic releases of Bpitch Control (Damero first album) but without the rhythmic research which here is substituted by the synth/noise multi layer approach. “Take your chance when you have it”, instead, is a sort of alternative modern folk track with acoustic guitar and noises. This is the track I appreciated most along with “Erotic dreams”, a track with a good mix of melody, rhythms (the other ones didn’t have a rhythmic section) and electronic experimentation. This release is interesting as well the other was but they both tend to be focused on a calm melancholic approach which is ok in this case since we have six songs E.P.s. but which could tend to be a little repetitive in the case of a full length.

Review by: Maurizio Pustianaz

chaindlk

Saralunden + Andrey Kiritchenko – There was no end

At times, the background music is similar to Saralunden.Björkås.Mjös

Neural

Saralunden + Andrey Kiritchenko – There was no end

The collaboration between Andrey Kiritchenko and Saralunden was able to originate this transversal lo-fi folktronica with many delicate overtones. It’s a collaborative project supported by the Swedish Institute in May 2006 and then culminated in the spring 2007 tour. The sound trajectories are able to almost perfectly coincide with the Swedish chanteuse’s enchanting and edgy voice, always in the foreground with the Kiritchenko’s microphones. He’s not new to “pop” excursions, also because he himself experimented in the past singing and songwriting practices. Here songwriting even if formally entirely done by Sara Lunden is pervaded in the background by the Ukraine producer unmistakable and minimal style, shaped with subtle glitches, sophisticated electroacoustic experiments, click’n’cuts, abstract atmospheres and melancholic jolts. It’s a greatly charming album and it’s accessible to many listeners, because it’s able to well render feelings, to make emotional tension instantly perceivable, and because of the pieces’ themes. The latter are hinged on classic (lost) love and relationships themes, between private obsessions and yearnings, but in the end here the stories are really sincere and everybody does his share of work. Nothing more, nothing less.

Aurelio Cianciotta

Indieville

Saralunden + Andrey Kiritchenko – There was no end

From Ukranian label Nexsound’s more pop-minded imprint, PQP, comes this EP collaboration between knob-twiddling sound sculptor Kiritchenko and singer Saralunden. The result is an abstract pop experience somewhat akin to Carla Bozulich’s Evangelista album, but less morose. Beginning with “Come With Me,” the duo proves that viable melodies can be constructed out of droning synths, handclaps, and manipulated vocals. Beautifully unsettling “Oh So Blue” follows, floating by in a bizarre flush of lush singing, eerie field recordings, and distant, echoing guitar; album closer “Tonight” occupies a similar domain. Folky and melodic “Take Your Chance When You Have It” could be the album’s most conventional song (although I use that term lightly), but “Erotic Dreams” is the most memorable – its keyboard-laden melody fits perfectly into Kiritchenko’s manner of digital manipulation, resulting in a bare-boned but infectious piece of ambient pop that sounds like a futuristic Henry Cow lullaby. With so many people relying on tired rock/pop traditions these days, sometimes you need to look in unlikely places to find people producing melodies in original ways. Here’s a tip: head to Ukraine.

Matt Shimmer

Vital

Perlonex/Keith Rowe/Charlemage Palestine – Tensions

A celebration calls for a party and then you invite friends. Perlonex, the German trio of Ignaz Schick on turntables, objects and electronics, Jörg Maria Zeger on electric guitar and Burkhard Beins on percussion and objects exist for five years (in 2004 that was, next celebration coming soon) and they invited Charlemagne Palestine and Keith Rowe to play with them. Perlonex is known for their careful improvisation built around their instruments, and with Keith Rowe, it is like having a fourth member. On the first disc we find the four in carefull mood, and no instrument is the boss. Each plays it’s own role and the only tension to be found is in the music itself. A free form play of sound, in which all of the possibilities is explored through their respective instruments. With Charlemagne it is a bit different. His keyboards lay down a brick work, the fundament over which the improvisation follows. Palestine strums his piano and Perlonex as a trio is in more sustaining mood than with Rowe. Perhaps lesser known to be an improviser, he guides Perlonex. However in both sets Perlonex show that they are capable of handling any situation. Two great concerts, a celebration to remember.
(FdW)

Bad Alchemy

Perlonex/Keith Rowe/Charlemage Palestine – Tensions

PERLONEX Tensions (Nexsound, ns54, 2 x CD): Ignaz Schick, Jörg Maria Zeger & Burkhard Beins hatten zur 5. Geburtstagsfeier ihres von BA hoch geschätzten Trios zwei illustre Gratulanten zu Gast im Berliner Podewil, Keith Rowe und Charlemagne Palestine. Beide Sets vom 11.9.2004, einmal als Clash der Trias aus Turntables & Electronics, E-Gitarre und Percussion mit dem Altmeister der Tabletop Guitar und das andermal mit dem Exzentriker des Minimalismus an Piano & Keyboards, sind etwas unverhofft nun zu hören bei einem Label im ukrainischen Kharkiv, das damit seiner Vorliebe für

Phosphor

Perlonex/Keith Rowe/Charlemage Palestine – Tensions

The lector-acoustic trio Perlonex celebrated their fifth anniversity concert with the release of a double live CD, featuring the different aspects of their musical works. Ignaz Schick, Jörg Maria Zeger and Burkhard Beins deliver an excellent set on CD1, featuring Keith Rowe. The CD heads off with a sinus wave that ends in a climax about twenty minutes, to continue with a calmness to be followed by a gradually building improvised soundscape full of tiny details. The music seems to explore it’s way, intensifying each minute. The introvert sound shifts slowly. Instruments such as turntables, electric guitars and objects can hardly be identified as such. Nevertheless there is enough room for details. CD2 features Charlemagne Palestine (piano, keyboards). The result is different from CD1. Clear piano accords can be heard on top of long drawn-out synths and peeps. Hammering accents have been set as to make the music even more dramatic. This small group of musicians deliver intensifying experience.

Neural

Perlonex/Keith Rowe/Charlemage Palestine – Tensions

Perlonex is an electro-acoustic trio founded in 1998 made up by Ignaz Schick, Jorg Maria Zeger and Burkhard Beins. On the occasion of the Perlonex’s fifth live concerts anniversary they have involved for a commemorative live two other interesting musicians: Keith Rowe and Charlemagne Palestine. They come from different areas rooted in the twentieth century avant-garde tradition. Rowe was in the improvisation ensemble AMM, and before in the fifties some seminal experiments with prepared guitar. Palestine, contemporary of Philip Glass, Terry Riley and Steve Reich, is well known for his performances (and amongst them the one in Rome with Musica Elettronica Viva in 1966-1971), his pianistic experiments and especially his belonging to the minimal American movement. The latter induced him to use tapes, carillon and structuring entire compositions on drones and tonal variations, influenced by the Cage theories, so anticipating the most of the current researches in electronic music. Two cds, with all the tracks live recorded at the Berlin’s Podewil in September 2004 by Christian Malejka, without any editing or added overdub. A faithful, poetic and resonant account of how different generations of researchers can meet when the conceptual basis are then shared and established.

Aurelio Cianciotta

de:bug

Perlonex/Keith Rowe/Charlemage Palestine – Tensions

Irgendwie komme ich mit der Musik von Perlonex nicht so wirklich klar. Hier gibt es zwei CDs von Livesets mit je einem Gast (Keith Rowe und Charlemagne Palestine), aber so sehr ich auch will, ich finde ein Testbild irgendwie spannender. Sorry, fand, Testbilder sind ja echt nur noch schwer aufzutreiben. Das ist auch nicht sonderlich despektierlich gemeint, denn ich kann schon mal etwas länger mit Rauschen und Fiepsen beschäftigt sein.
Bleed***

Signal To Noise

Perlonex/Keith Rowe/Charlemage Palestine – Tensions

Nexsound has a canny plan to get its small corner of the Ukrainian music scene before a receptive audience. The label, which is helmed by multi-instrumentalist and signal processor Andrey Kiritchenko, has released a series of compilations and collaborations that usually bring locals together with like-minded sound adventurers from around the globe. But for their three latest releases, Kiritchenko and the trio Moglass each get an album to themselves, while the German ensemble Perlonex shares both sets of its fifth birthday celebration.
Perlonex, which comprises guitarist Jorg Maria Zeger, percussionist Burkhard Beins, and Ignaz Schick on turntables and electronics, made sure their party went well by inviting two ringers to play with them. English guitarist Keith Rowe, who has previously recorded to great effect with Beins, manages to make this setting his own. It’s hard to tell when or exactly what he’s playing, but there’s no missing his presence; the music’s patient evolution, marked by the remorseless grind of adjacent but separate layers and a determined renunciation of vulgar display, is as recognizably his as the high quality of this effort. American minimalist composer, singer, and keyboardist Charlemagne Palestine likewise bends the music to his own will. As with Rowe, the performance is founded upon textured drones. But instead of Rowe’s ego-displacement, Palestine uses the continuous sounds as a backdrop upon which to project his identity. Nowadays his repetitive piano figures are like a sheer curtain compared to the voluminous draperies of sound found on records like Strumming Music. Perlonex’s metallic cries and electronic hums peak out behind Palestine’s flourishes, at once in the background yet much more solid and forceful than his ivory ruminations. Both sets are deeply rewarding.
Bill Meyer