released June 14, 2020
Every summer since 2017, attenuation circuit has been organising the “re:flexions sound-art festival” for experimental music at its homebase in Augsburg, Germany. For the 2020 edition of the festival, the label has produced a CD album. It is included in the festival ticket, but also available as a release in its own right. The artists featured on the CD are those who were originally invited to the festival. Due to the current medical precautions and international travel limitations, the line-up of the festival on 4th July had to be changed, but the CD gives a very good idea of the festival's original concept.
Individual artists applied for the festival and were “matched” in trio or quartet configurations by label head and festival organiser Sascha Stadlmeier aka EMERGE to create new collaborations. In anticipation of performing live at the festival together, the newly created line-ups produced the tracks for this album by way of remote collaborations.
Bu.d.d.A., Stadlmeier's own latest duo project with Chris Sigdell aka b°tong, joined forces with trumpet player Fabio Fabbri and Tangerine Dream violinist Hoshiko Yamane to create a haunting yet mind-opening space (or laboratory?) scenario with their track “human interbreeding”.
Agente Costura plays her sewing machine and lays the beat for “sudden descent”, a track that might be described as post-industrial noise-electro (in the 1980s Detroit meaning of electro) in a trio with Occupied Head and Boban Ristevski on various electronics.
Gintas K, Calineczka, and Wilfried Hanrath weave a delicate tapestry of lowercase drone sounds that is interspersed with fragile metallic sounds of mysterious origin that even coalesce into strange melodies at times. This calm yet by no means monotonous piece is called “closer musings”.
With Lee Enfield, Waterflower, and KOMPRIPIOTR, we dive deep into drone ambient territory, yet with a noisy edge buried underneath the lush layers of harmony. The track's title “scare up” might refer to the noisy beast that is lurking down there, waiting to come to the surface. And sure enough the piece turns into a rather suspenseful ride on the soundwaves.
The final track “ferch” closes the album with meditative post-rock drone ambient. N(91), a veteran of guitar-based drone music who is always “N”, but numbers his projects/releases, meets like-minded duo deep, who use two electric bass guitars and some electronics to create their music.
File under: electroacoustic music, ambient, free improvisation, drone, electro, post-rock
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VITAL WEEKLY
Here we have a compilation of collaborations. Originally there was a festival planned, Re:flexions, in Augsburg for July 4th, but that is cancelled. The original idea was to get a bunch of people playing together as a trio or quartet. Instead, these collaborations are now on CD; these are remote collaborations (or 'Distant Structures' as P16.D4 labelled such things thirty years ago). The cover looks a bit cheap and doesn't have much information. For instance, it is hard to say how these pieces were made; not in some concert setting, I assume, but then, how? There are five pieces, between nine and thirteen-minute; four trios and a quartet. The latter being B.u.d.d.A (Chris Sigdell & Sascha Stadlmeier) with Fabio Fabbri (trumpet) and Hoshiko Yamane (from Tangerine Dream on violin). There are more new names for me; Agente Costura (who plays a sewing machine), Wilfried Hanrath, Lee Enfield, Waterflower and Kompripiotr for instance. The music in all of these pieces sounds very much improvised but to various degrees. I guess it depends on whatever instruments are used. In the first piece, by B.u.d.d.A et al, the addition of trumpet and violin sounds against the electronic backdrop works in a fine ambient way, whereas Occupied Head/Agente Costura/Boban Ristevski has a stricter electronic feeling, but it is somewhat uninformed. Gintas K/Calineczka/Hanrath is on the similar electronic ground and similar slightly loose ends. Enfield/Waterflower/Kompripiotr offer the most ambient music of the lot here, with whispering voices over sustaining sounds, slowly melting and burning away, removing the ambience in favour of distortion. Deep (a duo) and N[91] represents the dark ambient guitar side, with two basses and a guitar, and it's the best for the last, I think. In this piece, the playing comes together and creates a fine, solid piece of music.
vitalweekly.net/1240.html
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BAD ALCHEMY
Not macht angeblich erfinderisch, aber es sind Vorstellungs- & Wunschkraft, die über Notlösungen hinausgelangen. Covid-19 brockt dem Augsburger Re:flexions / Sound-art Festival 2020 hinsichtlich des Line-ups, das "Re:flexions / Sound-art Festival 04 07 20" (ACPS 1041, digital) mit Kostproben vorstellt, einige Änderungen ein. Und verhindert damit auch einige der Begegnungen, die sich Sascha Stadlmeier ausgedacht hatte. Statt dessen wurde der vorgesehene Zusammenklang virtuell realisiert als: r I ɘ (ACU 1024). Unwillkürlich denkt man an die Sessions beim Moers-Festival, wenn z. B. für 'human interbreeding' Bu.d.d.A. (= Emerge + b°tong) vereint sind mit der ansonsten barocken, da aber quäkigen, zirpigen Trompete des kahlen Fabio Fabbri und der verträumten, glissandierenden, trillernden Violine von Hoshiko Yamane, die in Berlin als Tukico, vor allem aber mit Tangerine Dream geigt, hier aber unter Lärmwellen und brausender Orgel erbebt. Für 'sudden descent' mischt sich Lisa Simpson mit ihrem Bachelor aus Curitiba und ihrem Master of Applied Art aus Vancouver an ihrer Singer-Nähmachine, mit der sie in Neukölln Mode upcyclet, als Agente Costura mit den Electronics von Dieter Mauson alias Occupied Head in Hamburg und von Boban Ristevski aka Lefterna in Skopje. Geschneidert, geschweißt und geschliffen wird wohl in einem Eisen- und Walzwerk am Outfit für einen Eisenhans, der was Reißfestes bestellt hat. Ganz anders der Litauer Gintas K, wie er sich da bei 'closer musings' mit Calineczka (das ist Ścisław Dercz, ein gelernter Mathematiker aus Gdańsk, aber aus Neigung Dröhnminimalist in Alicante) und dem hauchzart oder ruckzuck-variabel dröhnenden und klopfenden Wilfried Hanrath aus Wuppertal quecksilbrig verströmt auf subliminal melodischem, subwoofdunkel bepulstem Gedröhn. Lee Enfield (aka James Wyness, denn wer möchte schon wie ein Schießbrügel heißen), der in the Scottish Borders wenig von der Scottishness hält, die man sich von Walter Scott abgeguckt hat, Sabīne Moore in Riga, die als Waterflower skurrilen Art Pop singt, und der noisefeste Südtiroler Peter#KOMPRIPIOTR#Holzknecht erschrecken sich bei 'scare up' gegenseitig mit Gewisper, Georgel, surrendem Gebrodel, alarmierten Wooshes, bis ein schneller Synthiebeat in harmonische Gefilde führt, wo freilich kein Bleiben ist. Deep (das sind Stefan Vetter & Bernd Spring von Dhyana Records) nehmen zuletzt Hellmut Neidhardt in ihre dröhnende und klopfende Mitte, der mit dem verträumten Gitarrenloop für 'ferch' seine n-Reihe auf N(91) verlängert. Ich staune, wie Emerge & Co. da immer wieder neue Gesichter und (mir) unvertraute Veteranen der Sound-art auftun. Und wie gern und gut die das mixadelisch-kollaborative Spiel auskosten.
badalchemy.de
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NIEUWE NOTEN
Iedere zomer organiseert Sascha Stadlmeier, vaak ook werkend onder zijn alias EMERGE, van Attenuation Circuit in de thuisbasis Augsburg het re:flexions sound-art festival. Zelfs vorig jaar lukte dat, weliswaar in afgeslankte vorm en ook dit jaar staat het weer op de planning. Opnames van de 2020 editie verschenen onlangs ook op Cd: ‘r I ɘ’, met daarop vijf stukken waarin diverse musici de samenwerking zochten. Van een aantal van deze musici verschenen inmiddels ook nieuwe albums. Boban Ristevski en Occupied Head, ofwel Dieter Mauson, maakten samen ‘The Secret Teachers …(Тајните учители)’, eveneens verschenen bij Attenuation Circuit en Gintas K realiseerde in eigen beheer ‘The Ways’.
‘Human Interbreeding’ heet het eerste stuk op ‘r I ɘ’, (hoe spreek je dit uit?), waarop we Bu.d.d.A., Chris Sigdell en Stadlmeier zelf horen, samen met trompettist Fabio Fabbri en Hosihko Yamane. Bu.d.d.A. kwam hier eerder voorbij met ‘All Der Gute Dinge Drei’, waarbij ons toen met name het duistere, industriele karakter opviel. Dat is er nu zeker ook, maar door de samenwerking met Fabbri, bijzonder hoe die hoge noten van zijn trompet de duistere wolken doorsnijden en Yamane is dit toch een geheel ander stuk. Occupied Head, Ristevski en Agente Costura, de laatste met een naaimachine in de weer, doen er in ‘Sudden Descent’ nog een schepje boven op en leveren industriële noise van prima kwaliteit. Gintas Kraptavičius horen we hier samen met Calinezka, het alias van Ścisław Dercz en Wilfried Hanrath in ‘Closer Musings’, een mooi subtiel klanklandschap creëerend, met een grote rijkdom aan bijzondere klanken. Lee Enfield, ofwel James Wyness horen we samen met Sabīne Moore, Waterflower en Peter Holzknecht, KOMPRIPIOTR in het spookachtige ‘Scare Up’. Duistere klanknevels doen je de rillingen over de rug lopen, alleen het ritmische patroon biedt enige verlichting. In het laatste stuk, ‘Ferch’ horen we Deep, Stefan Vetter en Bernd Spring en N, Hellmut Neidhardt, in een zeer ingetogen set, sfeervolle nevels trekken aan ons voorbij.
www.nieuwenoten.nl?p=11860
