VIER VORSPIELE (w/ LIONEL MARCHETTI: L'OEIL RETOURNÉ)
CD, Selektion 1999 (SCD |
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This CD contains two pieces; the first one
is a 17 minute piece by Ralf Wehowsky, divided in four parts.
The piece is based on the second piece on the CD, by Lionel
Marchetti, which lasts 24 minutes and 28 seconds and contains
samples from RLW's Eyes and Pullover. OK, so much for the facts;
what about the music? Wehowsky's piece starts with radio sounds
and crackling and quickly a lot of other sounds are added. It's
very rich in texture and has strong spatial qualities. Things
move fast and you really have to keep your attention with the
music. Then there's a break and a long drony piece takes over.
Weird sounds interrupt the flow and keep things exciting. The
last part is very subtle, has a lot of sneaky sounds and good
breaks. A very fine finale which blends almost perfectly into
Marchetti's piece, which starts with beeps and crackles and
a very soft glissando. Then voice sounds (or should i say mouth
sounds?) are added and in the di-stance some rhythmic part starts
and fades away again. This material is used for the first 7-8
mi-nutes, after which we hear some radio sounds take over. What
follows is a subtle collage of radio sounds (music), which slowly
blends into dark drones. On top of these drones there is room
for a lot of other sounds: beeps, voices, thuds and the likes.
This part is very tense and gets better and better towards the
end. Both pieces have several things in common: there are lots
of layers, lots of shifting sounds and it is pretty complicated
stuff. Yes, it's difficult music and at first it is difficult
to listen to. But the pieces have one other thing in common:
they get better and more exciting after you're half way through,
which is quite a rarity, because more often than not it's the
other way 'round. So please take your time to listen to this
CD and play it twice at least before you start judging it; it
needs some time.
Vital Weekly, Netherlands 1999 |
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This is certainly the finest RLW release I´ve
heard yet. The two halves of this shared work merge seamlessly,
offering two perspectives on similiar material. An excellent
example of what tape-music has achieved - gone are any awkward
or gaudy displays of technical prowess. Now we see poetic refinement
and crisp efficiency. RLW is able to achieve an astounding mix
of total degradation of sound sources with total clarity of
texture. All in all, a bewildering mix. Supposedly this was
created from very few source recordings, nevertheless the most
sublime instants occur in a few seconds and never come back.
(And there are many of these). Much of the interesting activity
takes place at the edges either in the upper limits of human
hearing, or at an extreme di-stance -close listenings reveal
hidden rooms behind the piercing tones,whispering voice, chimes,
etc. Altogether, a stunning release.
ND, USA 1999 |
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YANG TUL LP (w/ ANDREW CHALK and ERIC LANZILLOTTA ), Anomalous
Records 1998 (NOM3) |
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Phänomenal schöne Zusammenarbeit: auf Seite
A bearbeitet A.Chalk Soundmaterial von RLW, auf Seite B widmet
sich RLW Basictracks von Chalk und dem Anomalous Records-Betreiber
Eric Lanzil-lotta. "A hypnotic drone with waves of mysterious
sounds", "a frenzied journey into otherworldly realms", das
ist äußerst zutreffend! Blue vinyl, full-colour cover (painting
by A. Chalk). A must have!!
Drone, Germany 199 |
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TULPAS 5CD-set, Selektion 1997 (SCD 024) |
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The work of RLW in this age of
standardised, easily digestible music fare raises a disquieting
question: has the modern-day listener lost the faculty of devoting
time, attention and a certain amount of thought to music? Tulpas,
RLW´s latest release on Selektion, poses such a challenge: it
is a five CDset that clocks in at just under six hours, and
the texts that accompany it are recommended reading if one is
to grasp all the ideas behind it. Yet for those who dare to
take the plunge and listen to what RLW has to say, the rewards
are many and varied. Beautifully packaged in the form of a book,Tulpas
took two years to complete andconsists of interpretations of
old and new RLW material by a long list of contributors: these
include Merzbow, Marchetti & Noetinger, Rehberg & Bauer, Achim
Wollscheid, Aube, John Duncan, Ryoji Ikeda, David Grubbs and
Jim O´Rourke, as well s a number of lesser known, likeminded
participants drawn from all corners of the planet. The album´s
title provides a pointer to the concept behind it. According
to tibetan lore, tulpas are fleeting apparitions whose function
is to lead other beings towards enlightenment. Likewise, RLW`s
sparse, silence-ridden music remains the inspi-ration and starting-point
for these pieces,even though they jettison much of the original
material. RLW has always regarded his compositions as being
in a state of flux: they are transient manifestations of ideas
that are to be reworked and reinterpreted, and with Tulpas he
is delegating this task to other musicians. Throughout the duration
of these five CDs the pace rarely falters: for the most part
the contributors demonstrate a masterly handling of atmosphere
and effects, summoning up half-formed utterances, faint oneiric
dirges, intangible silences and unidentifiable clanks and thuds.
Ios Smolder´s cut-ups, repetitions and pitchtranspositions form
an eerie, disquieting soundscape , while Marchetti and Noettinger
take a harsher, more disruptive tack. Other memorable moments
are provided by the foghorn blasts of Werner Durand`s buzz-clarinet;
David Grubb´s stark voice-collage, and Giancarlo Toniutti´s
thunderous, all-enveloping waves of sound.
The Wire, UK 1997 |
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Allen Kompositionen auf dem von der Frankfurter
Künstlergruppe Selektion herausgegebenen Sampler Tulpas liegen
Stücke oder Bruchstücke des Elektronik-Musikers RLW zugrunde.
Der Titel des kleinen Buches mit fünf CDs verweist auf die tibetanische,
dem Modell der Wiedergeburt verwandte Vorstel-lung von der temporären
Erscheinung selbst ähnlicher Formen oder Gestalten, und tatsächlich
meint man bei aller bunten Vielfältigkeit der Stücke klangliche
oder strukturelle Ähnlichkeiten ausmachen zu können. Die erste
CD etwa versammelt sieben Stücke, die sich auf „Nameless Victims“
von RLW beziehen. Jos Smolders dramatisiert das Ausgangsmaterial
aus Geräterauschen und Einschaltklicks durch weite dynamische
Bögen und das Einfrieren einzelner Klänge zu Haltetönen. Eric
Lanzillotta hingegen versucht das Original in einer Improvisation
mit akustischen Objekten nachzugestalten, während Michael Gendreau
winzige Ausschnitte auf eine Acetat-Platte presste und und in
verschiedenen Geschwindigkeiten abspielt. Stets bleibt der Charakter
des konzentrierten Lauschens auf scheinbar alltägliche Rausch-und
Störklänge erhalten, die im musikalischen Kontext unvermittelt
klangliche Delikatesse und kompositorische Spannung entfalten.
Andere Arbeiten entfernen sich von den klassischen Ver-fahren
der Tonbandmanipulation und bringen akustische Instrumente zum
Einsatz (Werner Durands dichte Überlagerungen der iranischen
Bambusflöte Ney) oder entwerfen eine elektromagnetische Ver-suchsanordnung
zur radikalen Klangfilterung (Toshiya Tsunoda). So gelingt eine
liebevoll editierte Bestandsaufnahme der internationalen Avantgarde
der Re-Mix-Culture, die Ohr wie Geist gleichermaßen fordert
wie erfreut.
Tagesspiegel, Germany 1998 |
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Tulpas comes from the always wonderful Selektion
label and is made up of five CDs of pieces based on the work
of sound artist rlw. The concept is a pretty unique one to begin
with, featuring dozens of the most accomplished & well-known
composers of challenging music reinterpreting and reworking
the back-catalogue of one artist, with the track-listing reading
like a who´s who of electro-acoustic music. And with such an
unbelievable list of participants, it´s no surprise that the
result is one of the most rewarding releases of electro-acoustic
music to date. The set is presented in a stunningly-designed,
hard-bound booklet that features not only detailed information
about each track and participant, but also essays and visual
contributions from the artists, as well, adding an exceptional
extra dimension to the collection. It´s hard to imagine another
release coming even close to Tulpas, its depth and sound and
participants will no doubt provide years of future exploration
and a benchmark with which to compare all that follows.
Halana, USA 1997 |
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