Includes Tapper CD: The Wire Tapper #23:
The latest volume in our series of free alt.music compilations featuring 20 new, rare or unreleased tracks by The A Band, Raymond Dijkstra, Rolf Julius, Han Bennink, Clogs and more
Tracklist & info
[Full info]
01
Elfmilk
“The Oracle” (Wire Tapper edit)
From the forthcoming White Dwarf vs Black Dwarf
(self-released)
Elfmilk is the alias of Eddie Harari. It’s an electronica project focused on exploring the unexplainable feelings evoked by music. Layers of analogue and digital sounds build landscapes open to interpretation.
myspace.com/elfmilk
02
Windup
“Sevilla Una Maravilla”
From the forthcoming … For Music Boxes
(Warm Circuit)
An aficionado of analogue synthesis and electronica, Syd Ewart (co-runner of the Warm Circuit label) has set aside his
Moog modular and classic synths and, as Windup, produced studies for music boxes. He says he “enjoyed developing themes
with the challenge of one octave and no flats or sharps and a couple of effects.
The naive charm of the instrument does
the rest.”
warmcircuit.com
03
Nico Teen
“Hungry For Love”
From In The Eye Of The Storm (Ak Duck/Uganda)
Nico Teen is a unique voice in the Israeli independent scene. She is an important part of the Jerusalem record label Ak Duck and since 2005 has released two solo LPs (this is her third). From noisy instrumentals to sweet homemade pop, using toy synths, improvisation and vocal manipulations, her songs deal with unconscious fears and fantasies.
myspace.com/nicoteensillypoo
uganda.co.il
04
Advanced Sportswear
“300 Seconds”
From Advanced Sportswear (Junior Aspirin)
Advanced Sportswear are Dan Fox, Bryony Malley, Ashley Marlowe and Nathaniel Mellors. Based in Brighton, Amsterdam and New York, the group evolved in 2008 from previous outfit Skill 7 Stamina 12. “300 Seconds” is from their self-titled first album, and was recorded at the Rijksakademie, Amsterdam – a former military building turned artists’ residency – primarily by improvising in a metal stairwell using piano, guitars, drums,
vocals and the architecture itself.
Advanced Sportswear are currently in an industrial unit in East Williamsburg, New York, working on their second album,
Br’klyn Bloodbath.
myspace.com/advancedsportswear
junioraspirin.com
05
Julia Wolfe
“LAD: Part 2” (edit)
From Dark Full Ride (Cantaloupe Music)
Drawing inspiration from folk, classical and rock, the music of Bang On A Can co-founder Julia Wolfe brings a modern sensibility to each while simultaneously tearing down the walls between them. Wolfe has written a major body of work for strings, with pieces commissioned by the Lark, Ethel, Kronos and Cassatt quartets. Three of her quartets – Dig Deep, Four Marys and Early That Summer – are featured on the disc Julia Wolfe: The String Quartets. The influence of pop can be heard in many of her works, including the much performed Lick for The Bang On A Can All-Stars. Dark Full Ride, her most recent album, was released in autumn 2009, around the time that Wolfe also joined the NYU Steinhardt School’s composition faculty.
juliawolfemusic.com
cantaloupemusic.com
06
Aaron Martin
“Water Tongue”
From Worried About The Fire (Experimedia)
A former collaborator with Machinefabriek and Sunn O)))’s Dawn Smithson, Kansas’s Aaron Martin originally devised Worried About The Fire as the soundtrack to a short film: he deconstructs pre-existing snippets, sketches and samples. Here, Martin untypically uses electronic processing and effects. Built around cello, banjo, harmonica and organ, the work has is an unsettling installation-character, with distant echoes of acoustic instruments shining through the ghostly fabric of the 12 short pieces.
myspace.com/prisonwine
experimedia.net
07
Spyweirdos
“e” (edit)
From Ten Letters (Creative Space)
Spyweirdos, from Greece, treats sound musically and scientifically. Apart from ten solo releases, he has collaborated with alva noto, Murcof, Funckarma, Ollie Olsen, B Fleischmann, Floros Floridis, John Mourjopoulos and others. Currently doing a PhD in acoustics, he has specialised knowledge in programming for audio applications with finite element methods, as well as methods of programming languages and signal processing.
myspace.com/spyweirdos
creativespace.gr
08
De Haan/Spruit
“Schoonhoven – 1”
From Schoonhoven (Soul Shine Through)
De Haan/Spruit are Marc Spruit and Michiel de Haan from Alphen a/d Rijn, The Netherlands. Their guitar/turntablism duo are all about dynamic, intense improvisations, with silence playing a vital role. In 2009 they released Schoonhoven and Hollands Licht on Soul Shine Through. This track opens the former.
myspace.com/haanspruit
09
The Quiet Club
“Free Energy Receiver” (excerpt)
From Tesla (Farpoint Recordings)
The Quiet Club was formed in 2006 by Danny McCarthy and Mick O’Shea, two of Ireland’s foremost sound artists, as an outlet for their own work and that of others. Their performances at festivals and venues across Ireland, Germany, Japan and Canada have met with considerable success. Often working with guest artists, including John Godfrey, Harry Moore, Mark Wastell, Anthony Kelly & David Stalling and, more recently, David Toop, they perform using a wide mixture of sound sources, including circuit-bending, homemade instruments, amplified textures, stones and field recordings.
farpointrecordings.com
10
Technical Drawings
“Marching Band”
From a forthcoming LP on Gagarin
Technical Drawings are a hyper-modified percussion duo comprised of Melissa St Pierre on prepared electric piano and Jesse Stiles on real-time drum algorithms and digital signal processing. They incorporate a diverse set of influences – Konono No 1 meet Phillipe Manoury at a carnivalesque gamelan ceremony. They utilise a vibrant sound palette ranging from the physical (rusted bolts, pencil erasers, melted coins) to the digital (custom software, hacked electronics).
faceremoval.com/technicaldrawings
gagarinrecords.com
11
TSIGOTI
“The Sickofwar Traine”
From Private Poverty Speaks To The People Of The
Party (ESP-Disk)
TSIGOTI are an improvising avant punk group dedicated to expressing opposition to war, authoritarian regimes and violent religious extremes. Private Poverty... combines revolutionary politics and intelligent avant punk fervour. TSIGOTI focus their political content from an insider’s perspective, exploring the sufferings of those who have been attacked, imprisoned, terrorised, tortured and brainwashed.
tsigoti.espdisk.com
espdisk.com
12
Soom T
“Puff That Weed”
From Jahtarian Dubbers Volume 2 (Jahtari)
Indo-Scot artist Soom T has become infamous as a buoyant, comedic and eccentric character. Her quirky yet distinctive voice and strong political and spiritual viewpoint permeate her poetic writings, which have gradually gained her underground cult status. Current projects include recordings with Scottish reggae soundsystem Mungo’s Hifi, Gypsy rock eight-piece Conkers and the Prodigy-esqe collaboration No Step with ex-Senser producer and production partner Hagos.
jahtari.org/artists/soomt.htm
13
The A Band
“aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa…” (exclusive Wire unraveling tape edit)
From Absent (Any Old Records)
According to Mike Pursley, British collective The A Band were free jazz minus jazz, panic music sans satyr, and Industrial without the end of civilisation. The collective’s name-shifting emphasised their dedication to unfixed musical regulations, and their intricate, freewheeling soundscapes are what happens when nearly all conceptual parameters are thrown out the window.
theaband.50g.com
theaband.org.uk
14
Fluorescent Grey
“Mawaributai Shimpan Utazaimon”
From a forthcoming Record Label Records release
Robbie Martin started out in the American Noise scene. He met up with Koji Tano aka MSBR on his first trip to Japan, where he witnessed a Noise show in a garage and a closet-sized experimental record store. Sound design became central to his composition, which eventually became a musique concrète influenced form of braindance. This track was influenced by seeing Noh and kabuki theatre. The upcoming album completes a trilogy,
after Lying On The Floor... and Gaseous Opal Orbs.
freemasonicmusic.blogspot.com
recordlabelrecords.org
15
Raymond Dijkstra
“L’opus ch” (excerpt)
From L’opus ch (Le Souffleur)
The Dutch musician/visual artist releases his music in limited art editions. His solo output can be divided into two main directions: entirely acoustic music of a highly expressionistic, raw and personal character (De schroef); and slow, dreamy, introverted material such as L’opus ch, with more elaborate use of effects. His work “must have a connection with human nature”, he says, “whether my own, or in archaic terms. The music must have an internal effect in me – whether through shock or relaxation.”
myspace.com/raymonddijkstra2
le-souffleur.nl
16
Random Touch
“Blue Ice”
From A Way From The Heard (Token Boy)
What really matters to Random Touch is not their 39 years of collaboration, or their love of pure improvisation or their lack of interest in commercial issues, but that they give birth to music that lies beyond ego/mind/thought. Co-creators Christopher Brown (drums/vocals), James Day (keyboards) and Scott Hamill (guitars) describe the creative process as riding a wave. In riding this wave, and relying on openness, alchemy and serendipity, the music reaches fruition.
randomtouch.com
myspace.com/randomtouch
17
Clogs
“On The Edge” (featuring Shara Worden)
From The Creatures In The Garden Of Lady Walton (Brassland)
Clogs are Bryce Dessner (guitar), Rachael Elliott (bassoon), Thomas Kozumplik (percussion) and Padma Newsome (viola). from the US and Australia, their work traverses time and place, through which disparate influences are drawn together. They compose and improvise using sounds and textures from across the musical spectrum – the immediacy of folk and rock music, twisted Americana, the complexity of modern composition.
clogsmusic.com
brassland.org
18
Anduin
“Autumn Looming”
From Abandoned In Sleep (SMTG Ltd)
As Anduin, Jonathan Lee creates dark, pulsating Ambient electronics soaked in layers of synths, samples and field recordings. He has collaborated with a number of other artists including Svarte Greiner, Jasper TX, Stephen Vitiello, Stefan Németh, Noah Saval, Xela, Gareth Davis and his own experimental group Souvenir’s Young America. His live shows and gallery installations include a variety of self-made sets, collected props and hidden lights.
smtgltd.com
smtgltd.com/anduinore
19
Han Bennink Trio
“Flemische March”
From Parken (ILK Music)
Legendary Dutch drummer Han Bennink’s career spans 50 years. In summer 2008, he formed the first group carrying his own name, with Belgian reeds player Joachim Badenhorst and Danish pianist Simon Toldam. The trio have performed several successful concerts across Europe and have just completed Parken, their debut album. The music has a broad spectrum, ranging from regular songs to adventurous abstract improvisations. The space between these extremities is where the Trio find the joy in playing music.
hanbennink.com
ilkmusic.com
20
Rolf Julius
“Song From The Past”
From Music For The Ears (Western Vinyl/Small Music)
In 1980, Rolf Julius’s pioneering sound art work Dike Line was presented at Berlin’s Für Augen Und Ohren exhibition alongside work by John Cage, Nam June Paik, Bill Fontana, Milan Knizak, Harry Bertoia and David Tudor. Since then, Julius has created some of the most meaningful and moving works in the grey area between music and art, between sound and silence, slowly emerging as one of the most important and influential sound artists of our time. Whether using photographs, ink drawings, audio compositions, or subtle and sometimes almost hidden outdoor installations, Rolf Julius’s works serve as a catalyst that increases awareness of the beauty of the environment.
westernvinyl.com
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