Includes Tapper CD: The Wire Tapper #17:
Free with The Wire May 2007 issue 279
Tracklist & info
[Full info]
01 EGLANTINE GOUZY CUCKOO
From the album Boamaster (Osaka)
Paris resident Eglantine Gouzy began making her electronic song miniatures after relieving her ex-boyfriend of his Kaoss pad. As well as her debut album Boamaster, she has been included on Monika Enterprise's recent 4 Woman No Cry compilation, and has remixed Hauschka for Karaoke Kalk. www.eglantinegouzy.free.fr, www.osaka.ie
02 LONGSTONE KABUKI (EDIT)
From the album Kabuki (Ochre)
Mike Cross and Mike Ward, who formed Longstone in 1996 as a crossover project between rock and electronica, have more recently been joined by improvising reeds player Chris Cundy (of Grace And Delete and Guillemots). Their new album Kabuki is complemented by Longstoned (Elbandito), a separate collection of Longstone's remixes of other artists including Will Sergeant, Stylus and Silverman, plus a collaboration with Guillemots' guitarist, MC Lord Magrao. www.myspace.com/longstone
03 A HAWK AND A HACKSAW AND THE HUN HANGÁR ENSEMBLE ZOZOBRA
From the EP A Hawk And A Hacksaw And The Hun Hangár Ensemble (The Leaf Label)
The Hawk And A Hacksaw duo of Jeremy Barnes and Heather Trost are on an idiosyncratic nomadic quest to uncover folk music's less travelled roads, with particular attention to the Roma and Balkan rhythms and sounds of Eastern Europe. Anticipating a tour of the UK this month, this EP showcases the individual talents of four of Hungary's most adventurous musicians. On "Zozobra", the cimbalom is played by BalÁsz Unger, with Barnes handling all other instruments. www.theleaflabel.com, www.ahawkandahacksaw.co.uk
04 JONQUIL SUDDEN SUN
From the album Lions (Try Harder)
This young Oxford five piece have a reputation for hoarding unusual musical instruments, and the members' diverse backgrounds include work in avant hiphop, electronica and jazz. Following their debut album Sunny Casinos, they have played support slots on UK tours by A Hawk And A Hacksaw, A Silver Mt Zion and Mi & L'au. Lions is released in June. www.tryharderrecords.com, www.myspace.com/jonquiluk
05 KAMMERFLIMMER KOLLEKTIEF LIVE AT THE CACTUS TREE MOTEL
From the album Jinx (Staubgold)
KK's core personnel of Thomas Weber (guitar, electronics, piano), Heike Aumüller (harmonium, vocals, synthesizer, percussion) and Johannes Frisch (double bass, percussion) have just completed their sixth album, where their earlier loose, widescreen approach has been compacted into more intimate electroacoustic miniatures. Additional players on Jinx include Martin Siewert (guitars), Harald Kimmig (violin) and Marco Preitschopf (electronics). www.staubgold.com, www.kammerflimmer.com
06 BADUN FYRTÅRN
From the album Badun (Rump Recordings)
Flickering micro-rhythms, free-spirited jazz fusion and electronic glitchery litter the cyber-funk tracks of this Danish trio. Oliver Duckert, Aske Krammer and Brian Møller have been active since 2001, but have not recorded until now. All sounds used in Badun's music are generated by the group, with no sampling allowed. www.rump.nu, www.badun.dk
07 VON SÜDENFED FAMILY FEUD
From the album Tromatic Reflexxions (Domino)
This newly formed trio comprising The Fall's Mark E Smith and Mouse On Mars's Andi Toma and Jan St Werner describe themselves as a "futurist sound system" and a "hybrid band". Following through on MOM's recent pirate radio-inspired forays into Grime, dubstep and mutant disco, as well as Smith's eternal fascination with earlier Krautrock generations, Von Südenfed is a genuine face to face collaboration set to appear live and record together in the future. On "Family Feud", Smith adopts the characters of different members of a family and arbitrates between them. www.myspace.com/vonsudenfed, www.dominorecordco.com
08 POMASSL TANDEM DISTILLER (WIRE TAPPER EDIT)
From the albums Amalgama (Laton) and Spare Parts (Raster-Noton)
From the sonic laboratory of Austrian "psycho-physio" musician Franz Pomassl comes the latest example of his interest in deconstructing musical structure and testing the limits of hearing. "Tandem Distiller" was produced using various vintage Soviet synthesizers and machines, and appears in two different versions on his forthcoming records for Carsten Nicolai's Raster-Noton label and Laton, the imprint he co-founded in the early 90s. www.laton.at, www.myspace.com/pomassl
09 THROBBING GRISTLE HOW DO YOU DEAL? (EXCLUSIVE WIRE TAPPER EDIT)
From the film Live At The Astoria, from the DVD box set TGV (Industrial/Mute)
Before 2004, the reformation of the original Industrial outfit, which imploded back in 1981, was almost impossible to predict. But in May of that year, Chris Carter, Peter Christopherson, Genesis P-Orridge and Cosey Fanni Tutti gave a performance at London's Astoria which was filmed for posterity. This track is taken from the soundtrack to that first comeback; since then there have been a string of successive appearances as well as their first studio album in 25 years, Part Two - The Endless Not, which has just appeared on Industrial/Mute Records. www.throbbing-gristle.com, www.mute.com
10 ALFRED 23 HARTH PEARL
Composite recording from the Mother Of Pearl 5xCD series
The German polystylist is currently based in Seoul, Korea, and Frankfurt/Main, Germany, where he galvanised the local avant garde community back in 1967 with a New Music venue called centrum freier cunst and his free Improv group just music. Harth has played with such musicians as Heiner Goebbels, Otomo Yoshihide and John Zorn. His Mother Of Pearl series, which began in 2003, is a sequence of conceptual improvisations addressing the poetics and politics of Korea. www.alfredharth.blogspot.com
11 FRED ANDERSON & HARRISON BANKHEAD THE STRUT
From the album The Great
Vision Concert (Ayler)
Saxophonist Fred Anderson is a pillar of Chicago's jazz community, while Harrison Bankhead is a double bassist who has worked with many contemporary players, and is a member of the group Witches And Devils. The duo concert from which this Anderson composition was lifted took place at the eighth annual Vision Festival of free jazz in New York in 2003, and has attained legendary status ever since. www.ayler.com
12 FRIDGE OUR PLACE IN THIS
From the album The Sun (Text/Temporary Residence)
Little has been heard of this UK post-rock outfit since 2001's Happiness - members Kieran Hebden and Adem have gone on to pursue fruitful solo careers - but the group never officially split up. Instead they have continued playing together, and this month roll out a new record that marries keen-edged ensemble playing with canny studio manipulation. Text Records is Hebden's own independent label. www.temporaryresidence.com, www.brainwashed.com/fridge
13 JACK ROSE & GLENN JONES LINDEN AVENUE STOMP
From forthcoming 2x7" (Tequila Sunrise)
Jack Rose was a core member of Virginian free rock unit Pelt, but in the past few years has been tapping America's roots music as a solo guitarist. Currently embarked on an occasional project to record with fellow musicians he admires, this duet with Cul De Sac's Glenn Jones is the first of what he hopes will be many future collaborations. www.tequilasunriserecords.com
14 HUSKY RESCUE MY HOME GHOST
From the album Ghost Is Not Real (Catskills)
Husky Rescue's Marko Nyberg grew up in a small town north of Helsinki in Finland, and has worked as a sound designer for commercial TV. Despite an early interest in urban club music, he prefers to create "music that's comforting rather than distracting" with Husky Rescue, which began as a lone endeavour but grew into a group when he was booked to perform at a London venue. The quintet now include singer Reeta-Leena Korhola, guitarist Miika Colliander, keyboardist Ville Riippa and drummer Anssi Sopanen. Of Husky's new album, Nyberg comments, It's like a death trip of the emotional world. www.catskillsrecords.com, www.myspace.com/huskyrescue
15 SIMON BOOKISH A DECEPTION (MUNICIPAL MIX)
From the album Trainwreck/Raincheck (Dummy Head Recordings)
Simon Bookish (real name Leo Chadburn) trained as a classical composer but his chaotic spontaneous spoken word narratives and lo-fi minimalist computer accompaniments have given him a prominent place in the London experimental/electronica scene, working with artists such as Leafcutter John, Saint Etienne and Seb Rochford (Polar Bear). This track was inspired by a dream about being a confidence trickster on a train, collecting fares from unsuspecting passengers. www.simonbookish.com, www.dummyhead.co.uk
16 VENUS BOGARDUS MOTORMAN
Demo of track from the EP The Motorman (Patchogue)
Named after a character in a 1950s lesbian pulp fiction novel by Ann Bannon, this literate post-punk trio was formed by married couple James Reich and Hannah Levbarg, a Texan relocated to the UK. Fans of Richard Hell, they met via the ex-Voidoid's Web forum, which Levbarg now moderates. The pair are writers and poets and for a while ran a celebrated bookshop in Bath. Drummer Obaro Evuarherhe hails from Coventry. www.venusbogardus.com, www.patchoguerecords.com
17 TONESUCKER SPLATTERSTRUM
Exclusive Wire Tapper track
Tonesucker is John Bowers (virtual-physical feedback guitar and homemade synthesizers) and Terry Burrows (baritone electric guitar, VCS3 and theremin). Tonesucker work with fundamentalist guitar and electronic drones, pulses and noises recorded in carefully selected locations. "Splatterstrum" was recorded in Ipswich, Norwich, London and in Chartres's Notre Dame Cathedral, when nobody was around. Their CD Slaughterhouse, released on their own label Onoma Research, was made in a genuine abattoir.www.tonesucker.com, www.onoma.co.uk
18 STIMULUS PYLONS (WIRE VERSION)
From the album the mind defies (Beta-Lactam Ring)
The three unnamed members of stimulus have been active for a decade, working with digital and analogue electronics, acoustic instruments and modified location recordings. Their self-released, handmade CDs will soon be available via Beta-Lactam Ring and Colin Potter's Integrated Circuit imprint. The sounds on "Pylons" were collected on an unauthorised, potentially hazardous field visit to the demolition of a power station. www.stimulus.st
19 ZELIENOPLE MOSS MAN (EDIT)
From the album His/Hers (Type Recordings)
Chicago trio Zelienople consists of Matt Christensen (guitars, vocals), Mike Weis (drums/percussion) and Brian Harding (clarinet, guitar). Their brand of 'out' rock has previously appeared on labels such as Loose Thread, Root Strata, Digitalis and 267 Lattajjaa, but they have found a new home at Type for their latest album. www.typerecords.com
20 KEN IKEDA ICONOGRAPHY
From the album Mist On The Window (Spekk)
Ken Ikeda is a video artist and composer born in Tokyo but currently resident in New York. He has exhibited sound art and visual installations and has collaborated with painter Tadanori Yokoo and artist Mariko Mori. Mist On The Window is his third album, following Tzuki (2000) and Merge (2003), both on the Touch label. All sounds on the record are made with handmade string instruments involving rubber bands and synthesizers.www.spekk.net
Photograph by Leon Chew
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