Kasper T. Toeplitz & Z’EV – Fleur de Peau (Agxivatein, 2011)

Toeplitz is a Paris based musician utilizing the computer and electric bass for composition and has collaborated with composers such as Zbigniew Karkowski and Tetsuo Furudate. Z’EV consists of Stefan Joel Weisser who was born in 1951 in Los Angeles. He is a percussionist who has collaborated with many musicians including Mick Flower, John Zorn, Merzbow, Oren Ambarchi, and many others. On this release, Fleur de Peau (lit. “flower of skin”) Z’EV plays skins and symphonic bass drum and Toeplitz is featured on the bass and the computer. The album was recorded live in Toeplitz’s Sleave Art Studoi in Paris in January 2010.

The piece begins quietly with free form, bass-y drums thundering. Gradually, layers of oscillating drones fade in sounding quite harmonious. The down tempo warm-skinned drums create a nice tension with the noisier, percussive textures coming from the electronics. Towards the end of the piece Z’EV is making the skins sing, presumably pushing down on the skins. The aesthetic becomes languid yet ethereal. The upright bass enters on a low, bowed drone sounding nice and thick. With the low bass, the electronics seem to become lighter in quality. Perhaps it is in the editing which is noted on the album sleeve, but as the music transitions back and forth from gentle to aggressive, there is a characteristic ebb and flow that is built and then taken apart.

CD-R for purchase: http://www.agxivatein.com/Fixed_Media/Entries/2011/9/29_7_Kasper_T._Toeplitz___ZEV_-_Fleur_de_peau.html

Marc Behrens – Apparatus (Agxivatein, 2011)

Marc Behrens – Apparatus
Agxivatein 2011

Behrens was in born in Darmstadt, Germany in 1970 and his work ranges from concrete electronic music, installations, and more recently field recordings. He has performed and exhibited in six different continents and has collaborated with artists such as Bernhard Günter, Nikolaus Heyduck, and Paulo Raposo.

This CD-R release, Apparatus, was composed from April to May in 2010 using recordings from 2005-2010 conducted in Austria, Brazil, Germany, Italy, Namibia, and South Africa. The project was originally presented as an installation from May to June in 2010 in the Phonebox series at IMO in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Each song has an A and a B version, because the installation was presented in a four-channel setup: two for headphones, and two for ceiling speakers. “A. Hum/Bells” is composed of a fluttering, percussive sound in addition to bells and droning sounds that could be the hum of machines. A couple minutes into the piece it becomes quite noticeable that the sounds oare of printers at work, at times becoming loud and uneasy. A juxtaposition between the organic/technological is made rather clear when a field recording of cicadas or some bug enters amidst the noisy printer. It’s a nicely composed piece with great flow that combines both the rhythm of the sounds of nature and the rhythm of the mechanical. “B. Hum/Bells” expectedly features similar sounds of bells, bugs, and printers. However, it is slightly different, incorporating a new percussive texture in the foreground. I can definitely see it adding aural and spatial confusion to the listener participating in the installation. “A./B. Rain/Compressor” is only one piece, presumably placed through both the headphones and the external speakers. It begins with a field recording of rain dripping and then a very loud, whirring sound of a machine enters in slow, rhythmic intervals, droning in and out. The rhythm is not fixed however. A buzzing of a fly or bug joins in towards the end of the piece. On the whole the piece is simpler than the previous two. But throughout the album what I’ve noticed is that you can really feel these sounds because they have a powerful consistency. A sense of environment is created. We hear both the original space that these field recordings were conducted in and a new space that is created through the composition of the recordings as well. What is the rain dripping on, and where? What kind of machine makes this kind of sound, and where?

CD-R for purchase: http://www.agxivatein.com/Fixed_Media/Entries/2011/10/10_8_Marc_Behrens_-_Apparatus.html

Marc Behrens website: http://marcbehrens.com/index.html