Dallas -- Sleeper's Entertainer (1998)

Dallas/Seksound

• Indie pop/rock 
• Electronic 
• Alternative pop/rock 
• Breaks 
• Remixes 
• Art pop

Dallas Tallinnast (kõlab hästi!) oli kahtlemata üks olulisemaid indipop/rokkansambleid üheksakümnendate lõpus ning nullindate algul. Koos Bizarre'i, Borax'i, Röövel Ööbiku ning Dreamphish'iga määratlesid nad nimetatud skeene tugevuse. Muidugi oli seal ka teisi projekte, ent põhilöögijõud- ja suund olid vaieldamatud. Lugu "Your New Girlfriend" oli ilmselt ainus (vähemalt muud küll ei meenu) peavoolulöögilaul tollest skeenest -- suuresti tänu saate Vibratsioon esimesele kogumikule. Nad ise üllitasid selle muusika kassettil, millest õnneliku eksemplari omanikuks just sain. Ühelt poolt nostalgiline ning teisalt ajastutruu dokument; naasmine aega, kui arusaam alternatiivmuusikast oli hoopis teistsugune kui praegu -- kui konkreetsete entusiastide mõju trendidele nii siin kui seal oli ilmselt suurem. Ühelt poolt innnovaatilised britpopparid Blur ja Pulp ning teisalt paralleelselt kulgev põrandaalusem eksperimentaalpopiskeene eesotsas Stereolab'i, Broadcast'i ning Tortoise'iga kahtlemata avaldasid mõju, ent teisalt Tallinna kombo sünteesis ise oma raja, sillutades seda jaheda filmimuusika, sulni meeleolujätsu ning kruviva (kerg)elektroonikaga. Liikumine, mis oli võrreldav Stereolab'iga -- kingapõrnitsemise ja mürapopi juurest keerukama (dekonstrueeritud eklektitsismi?) loomingu manu. Kui kuulata seda praegu, siis meenub tollal aasta varem ilmunud Primal Scream'i taies "Vanishing Point" -- mitte niivõrd muusikaliselt kui lähenemiselt, liikudes kidrarokist elektroonilistele äärealadele. Viimasesse panustavad remiksidega ise Eesti elektroonilise muusika äärealadele kuulunud muusikaliselt raskesti määratletavad Out-Or ning Lobsand Dorje. Muusika on siin veenev, õhutades korraliku lookirjutamise ning hooga. Kahtlemata klassika. 8.0 (7.5-8.5)

Fuckhead -- The Male Comedy ...Der Traum vom kleinen Glück (1998)

Editions Mego

• Industrial rock 
• Avant-rock 
• Freeformfreakout 
• Experimentalism 
• Post-industrial 
• EAI 
• Noise rock
• Avant-garde 
• Digital hardcore

Iga punt väärib oma nime...nõnda ka see Austria oma. Eks nad ole läbi imbunud plaadifirma Editions Mego digiesteetikast, kuigi juured ilmselt ulatuvad rokkmuusikasse. Nii krautrokki kui ka industriaalsesse. Kohati see kõlab kui koomast ärganud Faust'i liikme pähe karanud hirmutav mälu/helipilt. Midagi sellist, mida Wümme-legendid hakkasid praktiseerima pärast paari kümnendi pikkust pausi 90ndate keskpaiku. Improviseeritud elektroakustika, kuigi lopsakas ja ennast taastav. Fuckhead'i muusika seevastu on rõhutatud digikultus, millele nad lisaks ka sõnaliselt osutavad (nii saksa kui inglise keeles). Aga see ei tähenda, et austerlased improviseerivad ainult läbi monokroomsete labürintide -- siin on ka katsetusi nii masinlike hõimurütmide ja seestunud neofolgiga. Kokkuvõtvalt üldmulje taandub terariistadega mängimisele, mille käigus on end kriimustatud ja veristatud. Esteetiline nauding on ohverdatud valuimpulssidele, ent mäng on juba läinud üle piiri. Ning mingil hetkel tundubki, et nad võimendavad sadismi-masohhismi enda kallal seni, kuni antaks piinadest vabastav ja lunastust võimaldav surmahoop. Halastav unustus saabub piinarikkalt alles albumi lõppedes. Unistus tillukesest õnnest viib inimliku komöödiani...teiste silme läbi nähtuna. 6.0 (5.0-7.5)

Jake Mandell -- Parallel Processes (1998/2019)

Worm Interface/Bedroom Research

• Drum and bass 
• Electronic music 
• Experimental techno 
• Deconstructed club 
• IDM 
• Avant-techno

Jake Mandell'i originaalis 16-loolise taiese põhiintriig seisneb kontrolli pakkumises stiili üle, mis 90ndate lõpus hakkas vaikselt käest minema. Nimelt trummi ja bassi ohjatakse siin metoodiliselt, surudes seda järjekindlalt eksperimentalismi ja minimalismi käsu alla, samas seda ka vargsi lahti muukides ja lõhkudes. Mistõttu küsida selle muusika sensuaalse tahu järele võib tunduda esmapilgul veidi kohatuna -- kuigi jah, õnnestumise korral seda tüüpi muusika vallandab endorfiini teistmoodi: matemaatiliste rütmimustrite ja algoritmiliste heliskeemide abil - mis eeldab intensiivse kaemuse teket ning õige äratundmist, mille järel tekitatakse-tekib katarsis. Tulemuseks on midagi sellist, mida sobiks mängida pigem helikunsti ja uue muusika lavadel kui klubides. Siin viiakse täide ka John Cage'i kuulus väide, et kõik (helid) ümberringi on muusika. Ent selleks tuleb nutti ilmutada, et vahedalt metalsed helid-prügi negatsioonina juhtida oskuslikult sarnasust süstides ja korduse spiraali ekspluateerides; samas teisalt vältides tüütusse IDM'i rütmi-meloodiaspektrisse vajumist (millest on oi-oi kui palju näiteid!). Tulemus on igati õnnestunud, mistõttu võib Mandell'i teost pidada rütmika ajuelektroonika klassikuks. 8.0/10

No Nitz – Conversation (1998/2018)

CS Industrial 1982-2010

Bandcamp

• Noise 
• Electro-acoustic 
• Avant-garde 
• Experimentalism 
• Industrial 
• Spoken word 
• Psycho-acoustic 
• Post-industrial 
• Radiophonic art

Comment: what does it mean the word Nitz. What does it mean the phrase No Nitz? Is it just the negation of it or will it get an additional value with the word No? The conversation is biting and acrimonious undoubtedly over there. This 6-notch issue (which was initially segmented into 8 tracks and released on Oblast Records as a tape outing) is a part of the discography of CS Industrial 1982-2010, an imprint of which purpose is to provide examples from within the noise and (post-) industrial scene of Slovakia, and the Czech Republic. The result is harsh and rigid, and flamboyant in a sense. The outing starts off with a littered, intensified noise attack which later will be embellished with dystopian delays and echoes and hiss-filled samples from haunted transistors and spoken word cuts as if representing some sort of radiophonic play. Indeed, it needs to be considered more closely regarding the profound touch given to it. In a funny way, the album can be considered polyphonic because different aspects used to play at the same time. The self-titled track is a mocking version of how to learn English in a primitive way. By considering the noise music as a genre there a presumed purpose and a way to achieve it may seriously be hazed. Prolog is remarkable due to muezzin-alike repetitive lyrics, reverberant sparse drumming and a suggestive pre-delay effect being prevalent over there. Sludge is sexually suggestive due to a woman who speaks about her virginity and how to defend herself against a man's obtrusiveness and in general how to cope with her sexuality I guess (the words are heavily littered and interrupted). Indeed, it is a fine noise release.

Вежа Хмар ‎– Ритуал (1998)

Вежа Хмар

• New Weird Ukraine 
• Avant-garde 
• Illbient 
• Experimentalism 
• Drone 
• Post-folk 
• Ambient drone 
• Minimalism 
• Soundscapes 
• Abstract 
• Post-psychedelic electronica 
• Leftfield

Comment: if you feel yourself a bit dejected then the recent issue’s minimal nature might be suitable for you as a remedy. Not only this aspect is substantial with regard to the roughness of the outing. You could imagine a post apocalyptic vision, for instance, the moments after the mighty outburst of a super volcano wherein the lava is getting to harden slowly and all will be clearing and brightening around the immense epicentre. Undoubtedly it could be a wonderful glimpse. Indeed, there are up some hopes about the situation to be getting improved. The buildup of the issue supports all the aforementioned words because of being adeptly expressive. The first tracks of the debut album Ритуал (Ritual) by the Ukraine-based combo Вежа Хмар (Vezha Khmar/Veja Mar) draw solely on raw drones of low frequency as if it had been recorded with the assistance of a grimy cartridge. Later on, however, the situation is imbued with brighter sounds, for example, with vowel hovering and vibrato-laden droning. Furthermore, the more the issue is coming to its finishing point the more you can perceive exalting emptiness (or is it broadness?) oozing out from everywhere. I does not foretell us a new beginning at that point but the new beginning has already existed out the re for a while. Musically it is a drone album with vague hints at ambient/illbient and succumbed psychedelic music yet there somewhere around you could discern the ghosts of post-rock, post-folk and doom coming closer and then fading away at a time. In a word, the result is striking and impressionistic in its sublime roughness. This great issue was initally released on Mariupol-based imprint Bloodhead Production. 

Klangstorm - Live at The Custard Factory on 1998-05-14 (1998)

Archive.org

• Krautrock
• Fusion
• Improvised music
• Funk rock
• Live session
• Ambient
• Psychedelic rock
• Jazz rock
• Experimental rock
• Space rock

Comment: the Klangstorm`s 32-minute gig at The Custard Factory in Birmingham, United Kingdom almost 18 years ago (it was the heyday of Britpop then over there) starts off with an vignette of ambient music which soon will erupt into a bass, drums and guitar induced propulsive soundscape. Indeed, the bass guitar used to thud properly and the drums add additional rhythm power to it, the solo guitar used to lead the improvised parts throughout the course. Indeed, there are up a lot of key changes and tempo changes which provide volatile nature to the whole. Furthermore, at a 14 minute all the aforesaid elements used to collapse into an airy, ambient interlude by synths which are accompanied by mercurial guitar flows and more serious, monotone bass chords beneath. All of that eventually results in the funky jam thereby reminding of a mid-period of the Teutonic legends CAN. Indeed, Robbie Wood`s guitar playing resembles Michael Karoli`s one conveying different patterns through frantic changes in chords and chilled out incantations. In a nutshell, the whole is an enjoyable jam being the first in a series of the quintet`s sessions at The Custard Factory. It has a historical value for sure. 

Вежа Хмар - Плач (1998)

Homepage

9.2

/New Weird Ukraine, Neofolk, Lo-fi, Weird folk, Avant-folk, Dream folk, Experimental folk, Dark folk, Anti-folk, Free folk, Improvised music/
 
Comment: this 17-piece issue is a hidden gem having already been recorded in the ending part of the 1990s. This Ukraine-based musical group takes on a quirky kind of folk music which pours out ghastly vowel lines and effects, trance-induced drums, elusive (mini)-orchestrations, silentful monotonously bouncing bass chords, and some expressive keyboard drones (one track includes even the samples by Kraftwerk). The whole is an organic drift made up of both improvised approach and deliberated tactics. There can be drawn parallels upon the representatives of dark/neofolk, New Weird-related and the Finnish forest folk scenes. In a word, after listening to the release you can feel it was a truly elusive, unforgettable experience of the folk shamanism. Purgative and relieving in any cases.

Psychic Enemies Network - P.E.N (1998)

Bandcamp
Cdbaby
Pen & Mallet

9.3

/Post-rock, Ambient, Experimental rock, Epic, Avant-rock, Electro-acoustic, Sampledelic, Crossover, Experimentalism, Ambient rock, New Age, Improvised music/

Comment: This album is a monster. Firstly, its duration is about 90 minutes, on the other hand it veers from vibraphone and xylophone-driven post-rock (a la Mercury Program, and The Dylan Group) and sonic effect-loaded experimentalism to murky ambient patterns and bouncy, cinematic improvisations. More concretely, some chords and snippets are speeded up/slowed down/stretched out, there can be detected for reversed guitars and vocals, witty warped samples) Yet, all of that is somehow zipped through the distorting mirror. In Its Streets offers an unsettling yet highly epic storytelling covered with metallic grit (reminiscent a little of GY!BE). The last track is a remix of In Its Streets by aboombong aka Icastico, an unsung legend, who has been involved in numerous experimental music acts during the last 3 decades (visit the Pen & Mallet site/blog curated by him). In a nutshell, this 13-track album is a hidden and undiscovered yet distinguished chapter in the history of pop music.

jgrzinich – time’s arrow landing (1998/2009)

Maaheli
Lastfm

9.7

/Abstract, Found sound, Drone, Ambient, Musique concrete, Ambient drone, Sound-art, Experimentalism, Non-music, Acousmatic, Avant-garde, Experimentalism, Microtonal, Minimalism/

Comment: John Grzinich comes from USA, though, having shared the residing place between his native country and Estonia during the last years respectively. However, besides being a builder of amplified piano wire instruments he is known as an avid music enthusiast, theorist-philosopher, sound-artist and the organizer of different installations and workshops.

This set of 4 long-running tracks has managed to running on ambient approach, concrete sound-relied fibrillatings and elementally droning hiss-backed sonic tissues (generated with an old sine wave compressor), however, either being lopsided toward different parts or being "pliable" enough to be overgrown into each other at times. All in all, the release seems to be searching for a transitional area between the nature and machines, however, cleansing a listener`s mood and bringing into order his/her thoughts.