One seldom gets a chance to review an entire label from beginning to end unless there is some kind of concept behind it. 'Now DAT's What I Call Music' is a project that fits the project's description and label. On November 1st Frans de Waard - yes, that Frans - dropped 16 DAT tapes filled by seventeen different artists (one is a split), each in an edition of seventeen copies, of which two were taken (one for the artist, one for the archives), so fifteen for sale. Rutger Zuydervelt meticulously executed the artwork, and That's it.
All DATs are recycled and reused because that's what it's all about. You don't throw stuff out anymore. The carbon footprint these items generated in the past - when humanity probably didn't even know what the word meant - is quite firm compared to, for example, a CD. So instead of throwing things away, it's better to reuse them. Now THAT's what I call a brilliant idea. If the 15 DATs are sold, the tangible part of this project is over. Now don't be sad. There is always Bandcamp for us living in a digital reality where they will appear in full once a physical DAT sells out.
This review is different than others because sixteen individual ones being as elaborate as usual would mean an extra Vital. I'll keep all the reviews shorter then normal but yet still tell you enough about the artist and music to hopefully make you curious enough to check out this wonderful project and its content. This is the second part!
HOWARD STELZER - WE ALL ARE (48 minutes DAT)
This one took me a while to get a grip on. Maybe this second part on the NDWICM didn't make the deadline last week. Howard Stelzer is an artist who, in his production techniques - for me - is mystical. I couldn't tell you how he does things, which I mostly look into. The eleven tracks range from ultra-minimal (white) noise-based drones up to collages based on contact mic-based recordings. Six of the eleven tracks are titled (or should I write labelled) Private Performance #something; the remaining five got actual titles.
And when we reviewers don't know enough, we turn towards the internet for help. The Bandcamp page doesn't say too much other than that Howard - like most of us - is a tape freak and that they were recorded at the Sun Room in Massachusetts. He has a page on Wikipedia that I stumbled upon, and while reading that, I thought I had drifted away from the important stuff. Because of all its diversity, origins of sounds, compositional techniques and recorded atmospheres, "We All Are" is simply a gorgeous release, period. Nothing is screaming, loud, in-your-face noise, but ambient noise and (field) recordings molten into a sonic experience, slightly rural, with an industrial complex visible in the background.
COAGULANT - ABSTRACTION IN THREE DIMENSIONS (60 minutes DAT)
Coagulant is a project by Fabio Kubic. I hadn't heard of it before, I thought, but to my surprise, there was already a cassette in my collection. Thank you, Discogs. When we go to the Bandcamp page of this particular release and his profile pages all over the web, this quote accurately describes Fabio's method regarding Coagulant. "It is connected in many areas related to sound experimentation, and its process is in the development of electronic manipulation through microphones, cut-up, environmental soundscape, audio-feedback editing and the structuring of oblique frequencies, which rest on hypnotic drones."
"Abstraction in Three Dimensions" is an hour-long sonic experiment combining loops, field recordings, instruments and effects. It reminded me a bit of Templegarden's atmospherically because of the loop-based structures, though Coagulant is way more minimal in its approach. Where Templegarden's loops become structures in a sort of rhythmical sense, Coagulant manages to stay purely in the atmospheric domain. The result is a solid noisy soundscape with a massive industrial undertone. Very well done, and I will have to dive into my cassette collection to give the tape I had another spin.
RICK SANDERS - DRONES (90-minutes DAT)
A new name again! Next to some older and well-known names, NDWICM also manages to get a few new names to the roster, which is always a good thing. Somehow it seems that ambient/drone/sound art is alive, but the growth of new names appears to be limited. But I agree, with added beats, it's easier to get performances and feedback from pretty girls. But enough of that, for now: It's exploration time :-)
According to his Bandcamp page, Rick Sanders hails from Nijmegen, and this is his fourth release. This release has two pieces, 43 and 45 minutes in length, and they are - as the title suggests, simply beautiful, meditative drones. The sounds are all Eurorack / Modular with some post-processing in the digital domain. Composition-wise, this drone should be considered a 'pure' drone. Not much happens from a distance, but many subtle variations and modulation patterns keep the compositions interesting when you dive into them or play them on a higher volume. "As interesting as it is neglectable", would Eno say but wait, that was his definition of 'ambient' ... Does that now also go for 'drones'?
NŸLAND/SCHEERLING - TWEIDUSTER (60 minute DAT)
The final one in the series - or the final one for today, as the real 'final ones' (#9-16) can be found in the Vital of two weeks ago - is a split release by Peter Johan Nijland and the project Scheerling. They both took care of about 30 minutes of this one-hour DAT.
Scheerling is again a new name for me, being Bert van Beek. He's active in various projects, of which I know none. The sound of his tracks are minimal; most of his tracks are based on one, maybe two sounds (if I'm right, it's mostly instruments, loops and field recordings or voices), but those sound are well researched. So there is a certain richness in its minimal approach, which give the Scheerling tracks a lot of depth.
Peter Johan Nÿland is probably one of the Netherlands' most active musicians. Releasing under his name and producing as or being a member of Distel, Hadewych, O Saala Sakraal, Volksweerbaarheid and Trepaneringsritualen. And all the mastering he does. The six tracks he did for "Tweiduster" range between 3 and 6 minutes and are - like Scheerling's track - quite minimal. Though a big difference is where Scheerling reaches the minimality in choice of sounds, Nÿland chose minimality in composition. At "Shinjuku", it's a throbbing sample being looped and a rhythm almost pushes the whole track into a weird danceable thing. Almost though! Listening to "Dalarna Dark" makes you think he's doing it again, but it turns out he's fooling you. "A Woodland Sigil" is a track with an orchestral approach. So what to say: Well, Nÿland proves he is indeed the multi-instrumentalist everybody says he is.
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