incidental recordings - silence is not neutral, silence is noise

site last updated on april 2nd 2008

news : not#4 is out, with a contribution of gart&seekatze, and a release of a more personal nature; neorah setsu

additional info : there is a myspace / the new chefkirk, see lower / there is a blog /

upcoming events : nothing from us but loads from others.

out now : chefkirk - landscape with trees (cdr)(an edition of 33) : stunning chefkirk, going from soft to loud, from drone to beat within the blink of an ear, drilling deeper and deeper into your skull.

(back) (front)

(glossy picture with individual black ink and white paint artwork, white cdr stuck with needles to foampaper, size a4, individual zip-lock plastic bag)

out now : anla courtis - live @ the imvated motel (3"cdr)(an edition of 12) : live recording of anla courtis in antwerp, octobre 2004, two cuts. sold out

(3" cdr stuck to normal size cdr, you need to cut it out to play it, in slim case with extra nodge to stick the back cdr, all wrapped in cling film)

out soon : gart & seekatze - the secret life of cars

later on : gart & seekatze - the secret life of shops + the haunted cage + the secret life of trains + het perron van het geheugen / fts - freeze that sausage / das arentor orkestrar - living live /+++

past events : see the blog

things to watch out for : fierce biting dogs

links : anla courtis / chefkirk / gart & seekatze / das arentor orkestrar / iie / ru

things of interest : audiobot-roborecords-freaksendfuture / bread and animals / veglia / sloow tapes / digitalis industries / hagakure records / jelle crama / dennis tyfus = ultra eczema / mangenerated / blaastaal / touching extremes / pacrec+tronics / improvised music from japan / kunstencentrum belgie / x+z = 0

contact : rumbles at scarlet dot be

visitors :

the older stuff (all sold out) :

gart & seekatze : feestmuziek (is included on wailing bones vol 7) ( digitalis recordings )(cdr)

gart & seekatze : the secret life (of alvin tsunoda) ( audiobot) (cdr) (excellent cover by carlo of audiobot)

gart & seekatze : h/mm/ng s/ngs ( audiobot)(cdr) (awesome cover by carlos pozo of pitchphase)

death petrol no luxe bbq event : live deathkabaal (incidental recordings)(6 cdrs box set)

das arentor orkestrar : the second coming (incidental recordings)(cdr)

igNOr : poetrism (re-issued as tape series 002)(incidental recordings)(cdr)(now only available through hagakure records)

the arentor orchestra :the third ending (included the first and second aborted endings)(incidental recordings)(cdr)

"...present behaviour seems to be induced by overdosing on dario argento,
george romero and john carpenter films, patients imagine cheesy factory
synth sounds blending with digital effects feedback and noise tapes..."

this edition is limited to 50 copies,
each with different hand-drawn cover-art
(photos of all the covers are at the arentor orchestra's website )

the arentor orchestra : the fourth plan (incidental recordings)(cdr)

"...present behaviour seems to be induced by overdosing on dario argento,
george romero and john carpenter films, patients imagine cheesy factory
synth sounds blending with digital effects feedback and noise tapes..."

this edition is limited to 50 copies,
each with different hand-drawn cover-art
(photos of all the covers are at the arentor orchestra's website )

the material series ;

iie : defective/reflective (incidental recordings)(cdr)

"...minimal noise reflected through tapes..."
(cdr mounted on mirror tile)

iie : abrasive surf (incidental recordings)(cdr)

"...it all feels the same until blood appears..."
(cdr mounted on p240 sandpaper)
(wee mp3's are available on the iie website)

ru : fades (incidental recordings)(cdr)

"...stretch the sounds as far as they go, try not to play too much..."
(cdr in clear jewel case with tea leaves)

this mythopoetic reality + noiseworks 04 (incidental recordings)(cdr)(compilation-special edition 2 copies)

little one o'clock monsters : sing !? (*) / cat 30/935 : sleeping (medical records) (split cdr)

(*)(originally released on tape)

(locm)
#1 mexican introduction
#2 insect (insert)
#3 under my volcano (short song about life)
#4 high (look mama, i'm trying to sing)
#5 silence in the middle
#6 outside
#7 fire burn ballad (revenge song)

(cat)
#8 all the useless things
#9 short song about life in general (fires need fuel) #10 nothings in between
#11 (the girls wear) long black coats
#12 slide (your mind)
#13 your grace (and if)
#14 just understand (a couple of feelings)

(locm)(extra cd track)
#15 fortification (cat 30/935 remix)

recorded march-april 1999
mixed april 11th 1999
all instruments and vocals by rocévi
except #4 - sample from "cancion por la unidad de latino america"
(milton nascimento)
(this track was a bit of a joke yet some people seem to like it thanks to the sample probably)

wounds/wunde : compilation (medical records/incidental recordings)( cdr)

alzheimer hunting lodge III : element + form (medical records)( cdr)(*)

#0 intro
#1 ölkreis
#2 staubgold / golddust
#3 blue going white
#4 working (on) the godmachine
#5 feld
#6 (did we) mention time
#7 hammersong
#8 fascination (live '97)(extra track)

(*) originally intended as solely a performance piece but after the performance was mucked up by poor sound quality performed one more time in studio and recorded.

alzheimer hunting lodge II : ladder / leiter (medical records)( performance and video)

alzheimer hunting lodge I : teufelsliebe / devil's love (medical records)( performance and video)

little one o'clock monsters : the return of (medical records)( tape)

reviews

mangenerated on das arentor orkestrar and gart & seekatze, februari 16th, 2006

Following my review of the Gart & Seekatze-set during the show with Metalux at the Bunker I received a bunch of releases of Gart & Seekatze to “make up for my bartime” - Interestingly enough I only recently discovered that the colour of the sleeves follow those of the Belgian flag, so I’m going to review them in that same order.
“Das Arentor Orkestrar” - the black one - contains two tracks “Death by petrol fire” and “The second coming” - the first one is recorded at Death Petrol 2005, where “Das Arentor Orkestrar” played at a very early moment, probably recorded straight from the mixing desk, as the sq is very clean. I like this disk.
I can’t say the same of “The secret life (of alvintsunoda)” - the yellow one - which Ronnie Van Hee, the man behind The Arentor Orchestra, recorded under the name of “Gart & Seekatze”. “The secret life (of alvintsunoda)” is a pro-made CDr-release on Audiobot (Bot131). This CDr also contains two tracks, respectively “tape n°4? and “tape n°3?, both with a length of around 20 to 25 minutes - Both tracks have potential, but I can’t help the fact that my attention starts to fade away somewhere between the 8th and 9th minute - it’s a very minimal recording, with very subtle changes, but the sound on the recording is quite thin, and sounds as recorded using the build-in microphone of a portable tapedeck and later on cleaned up to reduce hiss - somehow it seems that a whole bunch of frequencies are missing. Especially when compared to the other 2 records which feature a richer amount of frequencies. Don’t like the sleeve of this one either, a rather sterile pro-done print of a picture of some stained surface with little further information.
“The fourth plan”, by “The arentor orchestra” - the red one - is quite different, but the length of the track, and the way the sound gradually changes without rushing anything are clear indications that this record is made by the same person as the previous recordings. As I read in “Ruis” volume 15 (the magazine issued by Kraak) this record is conceived as “an imaginary soundtrack to the movies of Dario Argento and John Carpenter” (I’m only familiar with the movies of the latter) and makes clever use of digitally manipulated feedback. For the first 20 minutes the record indeed sports a very tongue-in-cheek clean Carpenter two chord synth sound, very repetitive and actually quite pleasant to listen to. The second part of the track is my favourite: only digitally manipulated feedback, but used in a very clever way. Sound is very clean (digital) as opposed to the low-fi sound of the Gart & Seekatze record, and the cover is quite appealing: “cherry red 160 gr paper” with an hand-made, and therefore, unique drawing, even the logo printed on the 2 copies of this limited release (of 50) are different.
Three releases which clearly reflect the personallity of the musician - after I listened to these records the first time, I gave my own “Angst at 3 AM“-release a listening to check if my own material also gave away something of my personallity and state of being.

Mmh.

from the comments section ;

Diskoster says of this release:

wow
die rooi arentor orchestra is killer
deze morgen tijdens den afwas geluisterd
carpenter hoor ik er wel niet in
gaat eindelijk uitkomen t schijnt : thorazine rottex dvd
kool dud oli4

mangenerated on gart & seekatze; live at le bunker, januari 9th, 2006

A few days ago, on the 4th of january, I’ve been to De Bunker in Brussels to see Metalux live (organised by Kraak - see their website, they also have a calendar with coming events online and their annual festival at kc België in Hasselt is a classic)- Krodillenland and Gart & Seekatze played first - I had already seen Krokodillenland in De Living (edition 18), but I wasn’t particularly impressed by their show that night (though not bad) - Their show at The Bunker had considerably more body, and was of suitable length - These guys are really young, somewhere between 15 and 18 years, this could well become the new Wolfeyes - the stage-attitude they already have. Gart & Seekatze: I can’t really tell anything on his set, only that the first two minutes didn’t motivate me enough to leave the bar for the rest of his show, and neither did the description that Kraak put online, Boedha and I don’t go well together - His set was quite minimal, as described, and very silent, something you have to be in the mood for - Apparantly he had recorded some sounds in the neighbourhood of De Bunker prior to the concert, which he used during his set. Metalux on the other hand was a big hit, far better than I had expected (I always keep my expectations low) - though they rarely left the tables they were standing behind their set was full of energy switching from harsh drones to straight forward electro beats and back, I have a couple of their stuff on vinyl, but in De Bunker - live - they were at their best, fun watching as they used their custommade instruments. They have a few soundbits online as well, but I’ve heard better things from them than those selections. Good vibes in De Bunker btw, plenty of people standing real close to the performers - I love places without stages, De Bunker is one of those - Metalux also came back for an encore on popular demand - For this tour Metalux had their own “PA-engineer” with them, which probably explains that the sound never got cluttered or fucked up - after the encore they left their stuff running and the girl behind the PA pulled switches and pressed knobs for another 3 or 5 minutes, nicely rounding up the Metalux-set. Pictures will hopefully be online in a couple of weeks when I found the time to do some work in the dark room.

massimo ricci of touchingextremes on gart & seekatze- The secret life (of Alvin Tsunoda) - (Audiobot)

If this music had been released by Hafler Trio or Rapoon, we'd be praising it as just another example of their masterful work on hypnosis and transcendence; instead, this is a thoroughly spartan edition - no cover notes at all - containing two long segments of immobile beauty, something like an infinite lo-fi loop of a hybryd entity comprising the two above mentioned artists, the muffled noise of a boiler, the menacing clouds of a bad winter afternoon and the quiet depression of someone already knowing their death's exact date. Everything resonates around a more or less fixed spurious frequency made with guitars, eBow and layered tapes, slightly crippled by small disturbances sounding like the wind as heard from within your house with windows shut; very rarely, a tiny gong toll apparently defines the length of these ceremonials. This flux is interrupted by a final crackle, which abruptly stops the ongoing hallucination.

bart de paepe (gonzo circus - storing)

Voor h/mm/ng s/ngs moet je even tijd nemen om deze minimale gitaarscapes traag op je gemoed te laten inwerken. Ondanks het druk psychedelisch aandoende hoesje klinkt de muziek totaal niet chaotisch. Eerder het tegenovergestelde. Vaak niet meer dan een kale minimale drone met daarbovenop enkele spaarzaam aangeslagen gitaartonen, heel soms aangevuld met flarden van een fieldrecording maar die meestal onderhuids aanwezig blijft. Dat laatste keert vooral terug in drone nummer vier, waarin opnames van Death Petrol 2004 verwerkt werden. Mistige herinneringen samengebracht in een intense muzikale bewerking. Gart & Seekatze heeft een grote fascinatie voor de Japanse cultuur en de Japanse muziekscene in het bijzonder, en zijn eigen muziek ligt in het verlengde van die van Taka Sugimoto. Een minimaal album, met natrillende echo's van Oosterse mystiek.

ruis on gart & seekatze "h/mm/ng s/ngs" on audiobot

(dec 2005)

foxy digitalis on gart&seekatze "h/mm/ng s/ngs" on audiobot

Gart & Seekatze is a new name to me, but I'd heard alot about this solo performer before ever hearing his music. So there was a bit of hype surrounding this beautifully packaged CD-R when it arrived. Generally, that tends to do more harm than good. Gart & Seekatze, however, lull you into such a state of transient bliss that any thoughts or cares from the outside world will soon be forgotten in a smoky haze.

"Humming Songs" is five tracks long, clocking in at just under 38 minutes. It's the perfect length for this release. When you look at the track titles, you'll have a pretty good idea what's in store. Opening with "2notes1drone (2nd)," G&S pull out the sonic meditations early. This track is exactly what it says it is: two notes on top of one, solemn drone. As the guitar notes plod along slowly, you are whisked away on a silver cloud. These eight minutes of ethereal bliss will have you completely enthralled.

The thing about "Humming Songs" is that there isn't a great deal of variation. This is not a complaint by any means; G&S use this to great effect, constructing a singular vision out of massive scraps. The only track that isn't called "2notes1drone" (there's four of those) is the final piece on this beautiful album, "Der Kasten, Die See, Der Klang." This is my favorite piece on the album. It's modus operandi is similar to the rest of the album in that it's constructed from a simple, hypnotic drone and sparse notes, this time hammered out on a piano. The contrast of the piano and the electronic howl is mystical. Such a dichotomy put into this context, and especially as the closing track to an album that has already put you in a trance, is powerful. As G&S hammers out the discordant piano notes, you feel the tension in the strings. It's as if the entire world could implode at any minute. It's a massive weight to bear, but good god is it fantastic.

I am happy to report that Gart & Seekatze easily lived up to the expectations I'd placed on the project. "Humming Songs" is definitely one of the best drone records I've heard this year. I can't think of a better way to spend a rainy afternoon, daydreaming the hours away...- Brad Rose

audiobot on the release of gart & seekatze "the secret life (of alvin tsunoda)"

a fragile yet gloomy sound document, as if all tone chemicals and sound compounds deteriorate on their own. submersive layers of sparse adjustments in sound transform both pieces into a blanket of shimmery delicacy, inspired by zen consciousness. recorded at the haunted house of kittens in october 2005, using only gong, e-bow, guitar and tapelayerings. packaged in minimal full color fold-out covers, in an edition of only 66 copies. Polished black shoes round out the drift and you're shaking hands with corrosive agents. classify under : minimal drone enlightenment.

volcanic tongue on gart&seekatze "h/mm/ng s/ngs" on audiobot

huge vistas of drone, low-level tonefloat and evocatively-lit field recordings that vibrate somewhere between the early, more mazzacane-oriented work of taku sugimoto and the revenant, glissing forms of mirror.

audiobot on the release of gart & seekatze "h/mm/ng s/ngs"

"Carefully crafted stream of intense guitar minimalism, recalling the 'free' spirit of the originators and culling inspiration from the minimal Japanese improv scene. Campfire mimic, slow drones and intense clusters of dust dancing beneath e-bowed strings. Single tones drift past in an endless space. An ethereal execution of utter discipline and tonal purity. Environmental field recordings bounce in with increasing conficence, creating a haunted claw of dreamy resonance. All tracks recorded at the infamous house of kittens, except for the 4th piece which was put live to tape at a Death Petrol show last year. Packaged in dizzying red/blue covers by Carlos/Pitchphase, in an edition of only 70 copies. Classify under: guitar drone minimalism."

vital weekly 492 /week 38/ 2005

THE ARENTOR ORCHESTRA - THE THIRD ENDING (CDR by Incidental Recordings)
THE ARENTOR ORCHESTRA - THE FOURTH PLAN (CDR by Incidental Recordings)
DAS ARENTOR ORKESTRAR - THE SECOND COMING (CDR by Incidental Recordings)
IIE - DEFECTIVE/REFLECTIVE (CDR by Incidental Recordings)
IIE - ABRASIVE SURFACE (CDR by Incidental Recordings)
RU - FADES (CDR by Incidental Recordings)
IGNOR - POETRISM (CDR by Incidental Recordings)

A massive parcel here, with releases from the Belgium Incidental Recordings label, who release their material in very small editions, sometimes even just twelve copies. Why review this, since it's perhaps not available anymore? Maybe if they get a few orders they will repress? Who knows. I think in one way or the other the bands and projects are related to eachother, although I'm not sure.
There are three releases by The Arentor Orchestra (although one lists them as Das Arentor Orkestrar). Their music is inspired by soundtracks of Dario Argento and John Carpenter movies. On 'The Third Ending' they use tapes, environmental sounds, digital effects, feedback and a roland W30, and has three tracks of which the title piece is the most complete piece; the other two are aborted versions of the same piece. Everything is recorded straight to CDR. The piece is a densely layered but obscured sound piece of a mistreated organ sound and somewhere a throbbing bass, along what could be a mass of dish-washers. Nicely obscured drone music. It's a bit unclear though why the two aborted versions are also included here, as they don't seem to be adding something to what we already know.
The same instruments are listed on 'The Fourth Plan', but the outcome is entirely different. The bass-like sounds play a bigger role here, along with a somewhat feedback-like textured sound played on the synth and some of the digital effects. The fact that it is recorded live shows here. Although it's an ok piece, I found it a little bit less exciting that the 'The Third Ending'. It was a bit too raw and crude, without being noise, but made without too much of a plan. Despite it's title.
'The Second Coming' (I always start imitating Whitehouse when I hear these words, but I'm sure that's my mistake) has two tracks, of which 'Death By Petrol Fire' was recorded live at the Deathpatrol festival in Antwerpen, last august. The music has been processed with a 'resonator bank' to make the audience part of the noise. Although there is no information available on the cover, we could assume the same equipment was used here, but then the outcome is much more noise related than the other two. A deep end rumble and some higher frequencies on top of that, which work their way into feedback. The title track is much shorter and has a beautiful deep textured drone rumble, which gets gradually destroyed by menacing tones. Nice but not as a nice as 'The Third Ending', again.
IIE, or iie, is an off-spring of The Arentor Orchestra and "solely using digital effects feedback layered through analogue multitrack". 'Defective/Reflective' is mounted on a mirror tile, and that reflects the music: it uses the same tape, but in reverse for the second piece. For this release the music uses the simplicity of digital feedback, layered and mixed out. Although iie claims to be inspired by Ikeda, Otomo Yoshihide and Sachiko M, this is a somewhat cruder and rawer work than the Japanese counterparts, mostly, I think to the use of analogue equipment. It's minimal alright, but bears enough variation to be interesting. Quite nice.
The other releases by iie is 'Abrasive Surface' and comes on sandpaper (these releases are part of the Material Series, in which the concept of the package deals with the music - something I heard before, erm... in Staalplaat's 'Material Series'). The music however is not abrasive, but sounds a bit different than the 'Defective/Reflective' release. More dark and less open, this comes soundwise closer to his own Arentor Orchestra, and more special with 'The Third Ending' than his own 'Defective/Reflective'. Darker, more drone, this is an atmospherical release that is nice too, much alike his other releases, although sounding entirely different.
Rû are Gart and Seekatze and their music is inspired by Taku Sugimoto, that's what they say themselves. Also in the material series, this jewel case comes with tea leaves. 'Fades' is a short release, just over thirteen minutes. In the background buzzes a guitar amplifier and two guys play electric guitar (or maybe amplified acoustic guitar). Lots of silence, sparse tones: yes, most certainly inspired by Taku Sugimoto. It doesn't hide but it's ok, due to the amp-noise there is certainly something to hear throughout. Good copycats.
Ignor, or igNOr as they prefer to spell it, has a re-release of tape from 2002, and is the closest thing to music as people know it. Bass, drums and a distorted clarinet, playing three times three tracks that relate together: 'relay/layer/ayler', 'restless/wrestle/lester' and 'a/aa/aaa', making their tribute to Albert Ayler and Lester Bowie. The rhythmsection plays a tight structure and clarinet plays rather freely on top of that through his distortion pedals. It's a ok for a while, but for the entire length of this release it's a bit long. (FdW)