Schnittke & Pärt - Choral Works (Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir conducted by Kaspars Putniņš)

Latvian conductor Kaspars Putniņš in charge of Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir for a rendition of Alfred Schnittke's Psalms of Repentance. I know that Schnittke converted quite late in his life to Christianity and his music was often repressed in the Soviet Union, but I can't help feeling that his choral work that was written in 1988 possesses a Soviet spirit. There is a busy, dramatic, hellish, and agonizing tone in this material that might just as well have been included in the soundtrack of Soviet films or Tarkovsky's masterpieces; it also reminds me of the sublime music of Ligetti on 2001: A Space Odyssey. Check out the third psalm ("That Is Why I Live In Poverty") with a sustained note kept for many seconds by the choir for a completely unconventional approach to religious chanting. Coupling Schnittke's psalms we get Arvo Pärt's "Magnificat" (I think that its best version is on Te Deum but this one is good too, with a more ambient sound) and one of his very best psalms, "Nunc Dimittis," that is unbelievably heart-baring and humbling, even for someone who is a hardline communist coming from an Arab/Shia background like me. It's up to par with "Salve Regina," possibly the best piece of music ever written after Miles Davis's "He Loved Him Madly." I think that on this track Putniņš outdoes both Paul Hillier's version on Da Pacem (sung there by the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir as well eleven years before) and Stephen Layton's more quiet one on 2003's Triodion. Check this cd out both for this amazing take on "Nunc Dimittis" and Schnittke's unconventional approach to religious music. 2017 SACD on BIS.

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Maurizio Bianchi & Sostrah Tinnitus - Concredrones cd

Deep drone/ambient cave-like sounds on this collaboration between the Italian master and Sostrah Tinnitus (of whom I've never heard before). A world of post-apocalyptic post-fallout toxic atmospheres, as observed through underground cave shelters. 2013 cd on Korm Plastics.

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Maurizio Bianchi - Akoustikoriginem cdr

Possibly one of the most divergent releases of MB, as in this one he doesn't make people's lives miserable with grey industrial apocalyptic synth sounds, but he improvises on an acoustic guitar, and a prepared one at that on the first track. Someone would call this fifty-two minutes of relentless wanking, but people who have enjoyed Chow Mwng's acoustic guitar deconstructions, or the prepared sounds of Michalis Moschoutis will probably dig this one, too. Still, the guy must be commented on for his indefatigable fingers. 2009 cdr on Lona Records.

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Charlie Ulyatt - Off Balance

Second (I think) release of of free cello improvisations by Charlie Ulyatt, whose work has been covered before here); fans of this style are going to be delighted at his new offering, in which he also appears to be making somewhat more "musical" statements aside the noisy take a-la Roof or Diktat; on "Nailed The Rooms Up" we can hear some really nice harmonics, the drone on "Hear Them Wearing Out" has an almost classical/Stars Of The Lid take, "From A Certain Distance" features a percussive side at the beginning that could be looped in a nice house music track and continues with wailing cello sounds that resemble a sore throated cornet or something, and in "A Handful of Salt" Charlie makes the cello sound like chewed-up cassette tape. An exquisite release by a very creative artist; I think I've mentioned in one of my TQ posts that the physical release of this comes at a discount for TQ subscribers, while the digital version comes for free at Charlie's bandcamp page. Great job!

TQ #17 & St. James Infirmary - Answers To Questions Unasked

New TQ issue is dedicated at length to the latest edition of the annual Tusk festival in Gateshead. Having never attended it since I live in less developed parts of Europe I like all these reports (one is this, the other one is from the semi-revived Radio Free Midwich); for one, when I was a child living in the non-Western part of Europe, and thus not being able to attend many gigs due to the high costs of transport for artists (= extremely expensive tickets), one of my favorite parts in reading rock and metal magazines was concert reviews. Secondly, with underground experimental music festivals, reading reports is a great way to discover new artists, and to slightly uncover the mystique of the No-Audience Undeground heroes you are never going to see live in your place of residence. A video of Smut during her impeccable Tusk performance was particularly such a good introduction. So we got live reviews of the great Vampyres and Liminal Haze, Lea Bertucci/Double Bass Crossfade, and the NWW Mail Art Action by Andy Wood of TQ and Chow Mwng accompanied by David Howcroft of No-Audience Undeground Tapes (I have referred to this project here), and of the Tusk film programme, interviews with Robert-Ridley Shackleton (check out his latest piece of junk gunk funk on Crow Versus Crow), G.W. Land (aka St. James Infirmary), and Ceramic Hobs, and a review of Drooping Finger's Arthur's Hell cd (Drooping Finger plays heavy ambient electronics, check some tracks here).

As always TQ comes with a giveaway cdr, and this issue carries St. James Infirmary's Answers To Questions Unasked. Never heard of the project before, so the cd and the interview have been enlightening; we're talking diverse experimental music, mainly on the heavy ambient/drone side with a strong psychedelic edge, as well as some surprising moments, as the weird black metal outbreak on track #1, and the fizzy electronic oriental psychedelia of track #3. Good stuff, will need to check out more.

You can land a subscription with TQ here to get all the goodies offered and learn more great stuff straight outta the N-AU.

Thurston Moore ‎– Kapotte Muziek By Thurston Moore cd

This is a Thurston Moore reworking/recreation of a Kapotte Muziek gig in the USA. Having a very improvised and Fluxus/dadaist edge made up of noise elements, found objects doodling and a lulling piano piece at the end. I like this a lot, actually much more than the majority of Moore's output. 2004 cd on Korm Plastics.

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Merzbow & Kapotte Muziek - Works 1987-1993 3Xcd

A greatly packaged compilation spanning collaborations between Merzbow and Kapotte Muziek in the late 1980s and early 1990s, featuring tracks by both outfits working together, plus standalone tracks by Merzbow working on existing recorded material by both, and the other way round (check out the details here). Given the time when this was recorded, this has a very fresh edge and a forward-thinking outlook, with elements of Merzbow-patented harsh noise, musique concrète, industrial, ambient lulling, and even hints of deadening death industrial! A definite must listen. 2012 3 X CD box set on Korm Plastics.

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