Released
1993
Label
Artware
Reviewed by
Michael Lund
Contact
Artware
Taunusstrasse 63b
65183 Wiesbaden
Germany
Tel: 49(0)611-52 41 33
Fax: 49(0)611-5 96 54
Last Edit/Update
04 June, 1998
Various Artists
(Artware)
DEDICATION
- ZWEITE AUSLESE -
Track Listing
1. Freudwerk -- Widerfuhr
2. D.D. Dobson -- Furnace In A Cloud
3. Andrew Chalk -- Lyga
4. Nord -- Paramasukha
5. Macronympha -- Caustic Benediction
6. Hijokaidan -- Cancer Of Music
7. Alan Lee -- Annie Sprinkle Loves Latex
8. Chop Shop -- "........."
9. Miguel Ruiz -- El Hombre Que Devoro Manhattan
10. Small Cruel Party -- Withour Arms
But With Some Sort Of Peculiar Attachment
11. Aube -- Gush
12. Putrefier -- Saffocation
13. Dislocation -- Delayed/On The Move
14. Cement Women -- V
Artware's Dedication compilation brings together an international
roster of some of the most elite artists, the experimental music scene has to offer. The
majority of the tracks belong to the world of extreme sound experimentation and
uncompromising noise. However, there are also a few selections of a more subtle and
atmospheric musical mode -- the flecks of harmony that ultimately make Dedication
such a highly listenable and compelling sampler of the shadow regions of modern music.
The rhythmic workings of machinery,
emissions of steam from leaking furnaces, the impacts of metal against metal, and general
grinds and scrapes combine in Freudwerk's "Widerfuhr" to create
a harrowing depiction of industrial hell. From this expansive sonic tableaux, the CD moves
on to a brief minimalist composition of manipulated static courtesy of D.D. Dobson.
"Furnace In A Cloud" can best be described as an investigation of the rhythmic
possibilities of noise, and in this respect it is not unlike the next selection
"Lyga" by Andrew Chalk, which seeks to explore the harmonic
qualities of single sustained tones. With its subdued electronic background beats, almost
imperceptible hovering harmonies, and intense bass drones, "Lyga" evokes images
of the peace and shimmering heat of a vast desert landscape.
Japanese Nord
initiates a detour into a radically different sonic universe. A hurricane of screaming
noise and feedback is conjured up, with a fragile human element present in the acoustic
drums and cymbals that fight to penetrate the tightly woven fabric of sound from the
inside. However, the loud and infernal assault of Nord is merely an
overture to the all-out noise-fest of Macronympha. "Caustic
Benediction" constantly mutates into new and different patterns of exploding and
splintered sounds, loops of aural interference, and sheer centrifugal noise. Within this
grinding chaos engine, the human is again found; this time in the occasional,
desperate outbursts of a drowning voice. Hijokaidan elaborates further on
this equation by erecting a solid, monolithic structure of white noise. Caught like flies
in amber, the tortured screams of a man can be vaguely traced, but within the "Cancer
Of Music," this outline of a human form is completely unsalvageable.
Alan Lee's
"Annie Sprinkle Loves Latex" brings a touch of humor to the CD. Over a
background of sounds presumably produced by attacking latex with a microphone -- but which
most of all leave the impression of an animal orgy onboard the Ark of Noah -- Annie
Sprinkle explains the proper usage of condoms. The longest piece on Dedication
follows; the cryptically entitled "........." by Chop Shop
places a series of environmental recordings back to back. Beginning with a recording that
seems almost empty -- only the distant hum of traffic is audible, the piece gradually
moves on to more saturated sound portraits. Various machines, thundering masses of water,
wheezing air ducts, and rushing winds are depicted -- a collage of miniature studies in
aural textures. An entirely different vein of sound collaging is tapped by Miguel
Ruiz in his "El Hombre Que Devoro Manhattan." Initially, the piece
focuses on snippets of media samples displayed against a background of subtle, inverted
harmonies; Ruiz then turns to a sequence of strange and disconcerting
layers of slamming, growling, creaking, tinkling and liquid sounds, before a brief poetic
reading in German introduces the final ambient segment of the piece.
Two very different examples of
minimalist ambient compositions follow. First, Small Cruel Party brings
"Without Arms But With Some Sort Of Peculiar Attachment," which pits metallic
rustlings against an ever evolving, coursing stream of pulsating electronics. Aube's
"Gush" likewise develops continually -- a rush of sound that seemingly observes
no set pattern. Despite this seeming randomness, the piece -- which must belong to Aube's
period of using water as his single sound source -- does contain elements of rhythm in the
intermittent sequences of all but drowned out drippings, and in the very pulsating nature
of the sound structure itself.
Putrefier's
"Saffocation" is an achingly evocative anthem of the apocalypse. Composed of
slow, soaring signals with a metallic edge, and floating, thematic drones, the piece
manifests a strange mood of melancholy finality. Dislocation likewise
creates a dark atmosphere, with autopsies of guitar and wind instruments taking place
against a backdrop of brooding harmonic presences.
The compilation closes with a
recording from 1982 by Cement Women. Patterned, oscillating electronics
flow along on a steady, grinding wave of feedback, and eventually ends very abruptly -- as
if the power had been turned off on the project by the sudden flip of a switch.
Dedication was organized,
engineered and designed by Axel Hollfelder, and produced by Artware.
The compilation is a few years old, but should it be difficult to find locally, it is
still obtainable directly from Artware's mail order service, which boasts
one of Europe's most impressive selections of underground magazines, posters, t-shirts,
videos, and, above all else, music.
