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REVIEWS
VITAL
WEEKLY
Andrew Liles has had a busy year;
only recently his collaborations with
Daren Tate (Without Season Parts I-IV)
and Tony Wakeford (Cups In Cupboards)
were released. Add to this his recent
brilliant solo CD Mother Goose's Melodies
Or Sonnets From The Cradle featuring
narration by England's most favorite
eccentric Lord Bath, plus several
projects (including one with Steve
Stapleton) lined up and you have a
very busy man. In fact so busy, that
his latest CD is a remix project.
On this poetically entitled disc (Liles
loves his titles) we find a host of
well-known Liles-friends such as Paul
Bradley, Colin Potter, Jonathan Coleclough,
Bass Communion, Aranos, Darren Tate,
Irr. App., Hafler Trio, Nurse With
Wound, Vidna Obmana and Freiband paying
aural tribute to the man. Each of
these artists re-work one of Liles
tunes with often-impressive results.
At times the mixes remain close to
the original gentle collages (like
the mixes by Bradley or the very recognizable
piano theme Potter uses) or more like
soundscapes such as the tracks by
Coleclough, Tate, Nurse With Wound
(a Soliloquy no less) and Bass Communion.
Ruse and The Hafler Trio deliver trademark,
more abstract versions and Freiband
submits, compared to the other tracks,
the noisiest piece of them all. It
is interesting to note that as much
as these tracks are made by individual
artists with individual styles, this
CD still sounds as a coherent project,
which makes for enjoyable listening
and is probably why this is released
under the name Andrew Liles. Another
intriguing and highly enjoyable addition
to the already impressive Liles-catalogue.
(FK)
TOUCHING
EXTREMES
By now affirmed as a uniquely talented
soundscaper, for this occasion Andrew
Liles called fifteen artists to the
task of remixing his own music. The
few lines of a review are not enough
to decode the complex messages disclosed
by these disfigured contemplations,
as Liles' work is truly mythical in
its impossibility of being pigeonholed.
His overtones are bathed in engulfing
frequencies, sapiently interspersed
with ironic convolutions and aural
descriptions of transfigured wonderlands
where rabbits eat Alices spitting
their pieces in kaleidoscopic whirlwinds.
That said, at least four remodelers
of shadowy tales stand out in excellence;
Irr. App. (Ext.) emphasizes the nostalgic
and the sublime, Hafler Trio transmutes
everything he puts his hands on into
grey ice, Nurse With Wound seem to
include Liles in their lineup while
Colin Potter's remix somehow reminds
of Salvador Dali's surrealist pictures.
But all of this music brims with extravagant
views on forms of life we aren't likely
to meet often.
WRECK
THIS MESS
Andrew Lilies propose des pièces
musicales qui sont paradoxalement
à la fois très dépouillées
et imagées, bruitistes et méditatives.
En un mot: iconoclaste. L'intitulé
de certains de ses enregistrements
témoignent de cette démarche
: The Gazogene Machines, Seidlitz
Powders, Bruising Roots & Rhizomes
EP ou bien Four Compositions Created
For An Imaginary Performance By The
Legendary John Fare; sans oublier
Mother Goose's Melody Or Sonnets For
The Cradle. Il met en scène
la trace sonore de différents
matériaux et objets, des bribes
de conversations téléphoniques,
de délicates textures parsemées
de craquements, des notes fracassantes
qui résonnent dans un silence
spectral, des bruits passés
sous les arcanes de nombreux traitements,
etc. Ce mélange de collages,
d'improvisation et de composition
pure qui puise ses éléments
à des sources analogiques et
numériques "entre en résonance"
avec les travaux de Steven Stapleton
(Nurse With Wound), qui a croisé
sa route , Colin Potter ainsi que
The Halfer Trio, Vidna Obmana, Band
Of Pain, Bass Communion, Aranos et
Freiband (Frans de Waard) qui se sont
réapproprié l'univers
d'Andrew Lilies. Les amateurs apprécieront.
LD
CHAIN
D.L.K
Anyone into drones should be familiar
with Liles' increasingly recognized
production by now, as both his solo
works and the collaborations with
the likes of Tony Wakeford (Sol Invictus),
Nurse With Wound, Darren Tate, The
Hafler Trio, Wander, etc. are remarkable.
While rightly issued under his own
name (also given the coherence of
the whole set), this cd features "Andrew
Liles as played by" an all star
cast, probably gathering the best
of the current drone/ambient circuit:
Paul Bradley, Colin Potter, Aaron
Moore (of VolcanoThe Bear), Jonathan
Coleclough, Ruse, Band of Pain, Bass
Communion, Aranos, Darren Tate, Irr.
App. (Ext.), The Hafler Trio, Unsong,
vidna Obmana, Nurse With Wound and
Freiband. Given the quality of the
starting material, and the visionaries
and loonies involved, how could this
disappoint? As expected, no track
is less than well done, and everyone
can easily pick his favourites (mine
were Bradley, Bass Communion, Irr.
App. (Ext.) and Nurse With Wound).
Most of all, it's a collection which
faithfully portrays Liles' sound art,
both in its expanded drones and in
its surrealistic collages. And by
the way, the inner layout, with everything
from Willy Wonka to S/M drawings passing
through AC/DC, surely speaks more
than a hundred reviews. Eugenio Maggi
OCTOPUS
Véritable sculpteur de la matière
sonore, Andrew Liles livre avec In
My Father's House are Many Mansions
un magnifique album, qui parvient,
par quelque tour de sorcellerie, à
marier l'espace de soixante-dix-huit
minutes des contraires réputés
irréconciliables : figuration
et abstraction, bruit et silence,
calme et inconfort.
Andrew Liles est un artiste occupé.
Ses états de service présentent,
à côté de nombreux
projets solos, une pléthore
de collaborations avec les principaux
animateurs de la scène drone/ambient
actuelle (Nurse With Wound, Darren
Tate, David Tibet, The Hafler TrioŠ).
Avec un emploi du temps aussi chargé,
on comprend pourquoi l'artiste sonore
de Brighton s'est ici contenté
de donner ses travaux en pâture
à certains de ses fidèles
compagnons. Et bien lui en a pris
d'ailleurs, car ces derniers, loin
de livrer de simples remixes, retravaillent
de fond en comble le matériau
proposé par le musicien anglais.
Résultat de l'opération
: non pas un
empilement chaotique, mais un album
homogène au parfum étrangement
singulier. Jouant sur le principe
des correspondances chères
à Baudelaire, la musique d'Andrew
Liles transcende la simple abstraction
pour évoquer ici des espaces
désertiques, là des
formes de vie au symbolisme énigmatique,
provoquant ainsi l'égarement
le plus complet chez l'auditeur. Ce
somptueux travail sonore chemine habilement
sur une fine crête, et parvient
à concilier des options pourtant
contradictoires : le bruit et le silence,
l'apaisement et l'inquiétude.
Entre dépouillement presque
total ("Song of the Ergophile"
par The Hafler Trio) et esquisses
rythmiques ("Auto Manipulator",
sorte de gamelan spectral) ou mélodiques
(le piano de
"All Doors Open"), ce qui
s'exprime ici est un véritable
art du passage, de la transition continue,
faisant subtilement varier les climats
sonores de l'oppression à l'obsession.
Éloge de l'irrésolution
et de l'ambiguïté, In
My Father's House are Many Mansions
offre une ambiant à la majesté
glaciale, et procure à l'auditeur
le doux frisson d'une dérive
contrôlée.
Benoît Bouquin
'AREEN'
(supplement of Estonian weekly newspaper
'Eesti Ekspress')
Tumeda
eksperimentaalmuusika remiksid.
Nimekate
tumedama ambient/experimental-suuna
esindajate remiksid Andrew Liles'
i lugudest. Colin Potter, Jonathan
Coleclough, Aranos, The Hafler Trio,
Nurse with Wound, Freiband, Vidna
Obmana, Irr.App (Ext) jt. Suunale
tüüpiliselt on siin palju
veidrate häälte sissesulatamist
välilindistustele. Üksteisega
võrreldes on kõik lood
äraarvamatud, mõned (Aaron
Moore, Darren Tate) koosnevad hõredatest
tükkidest (pasun, kulinad, keeletõmbed),
teised tihedamast raginast (Freiband,
Band of Pain, Ruse, Irr.App (Ext)).
Samas paistavad kõik selle
stiili esindajad silma suure, märksa
avaramates piirides avalduva süstemaatilisusega,
kui tavaliselt eksperimentaalse muusika
puhul harjunud oleme. Kõige
põnevamad ekskursioonid ongi
kõige süstemaatilisemad,
nt puhta tumeda ambient'i soonel kaevandavad
Bass Communion ja Coleclough, kelle
lugudel on mitte ainult kõlalist,
vaid ka sisulist katet. Stilistiliselt
huvitavaima, rütmilise ja saagiva,
minimalistliku, samas meloodilise,
õige raskesti määratletava
töö teeb Aranos. 9
Erkki Luuk
SKUG
Die Fourth Dimension ist nichts weniger
als ein Label, auf dem u.a. ANDREW
LILES mythische Soundscapes veröffentlicht.
»In My Father’s House
Are Many Mansons« trägt
zwar seinen Namen, jedoch wagen 15
Remixer aus dem britischen Experimental-Underground
Neuinterpretationen. Darunter so illustre
Acts wie Nurse With Wound oder The
Hafler Trio, die in galaktische Sphären
vordringen. Obwohl etwa Band of Pain
auch heftiger zugange ist, ergibt
das doch ein recht überirdisch
schillerndes Spektrum, das ganz dem
Naturell des Schöpfers Liles
entspricht.
SANDS
ZINE
Il remix delle cose che inquietano
Le cifre intonacate dei drones fanno
guarire anche i pensieri schiavi di
esistere. Impossibili discernimenti
che sono tutte trilogie della morte
alla Radigue, scampoli di riduzioni
esoteriche, finestrelle provvisorie
che hanno la duplice funzione di mostrare
dentro chi c'è. I drones sono
anche refusi di clessidra, titaniche
mutezze che si dicono libere, un tenue
polimonio d'impronte digitali quasi
feretrie che somigliano all'estate
deserte dei tramonti nottambuli. Andrew
Liles, coiliano, current93iano, ha
certamente guardato la trasposizione
dei coralli sotto alle lande deserte
dell'abisso perché "In
my father's house are many mansions"
è un disco fottutamente abbondante
di souvenirs, ed è impastato
netto di misterismo e sentieri affamati
che si sognano e si segnano dell'abbondanza.
L’abbondanza deriva dal fatto
che questo sia un disco di remix,
non solo dall’abbondanza, e
pure dal fatto che l’elettronica,
anche quando non si cimenta coi remix
talvolta sfiora il plagio, e se pure
qui non conosciamo i limiti tra creazione,
ripetizione e ripescaggio, il lavoro
rimane abbondante e pregno di metafore.
Opera misteriosamente radunata in
mimiche passeggere, forse prospettica,
perché dietro gli strumenti,
a contatto, a corda, a ricordo, si
celano altri raduni che si spalleggiano
come se vacillassero e fossero sparsi
dietro una stringa eternamente annottata.
Questa musica è una ricaduta
che ti spezza il respiro nella musica
del Badalamenti più pastorale:
è un anello circolare che sprigiona
fuoco nei giardini del tempo e si
svena oscuramente dietro un flusso
rigonfio che trasale la luce per acconsentirla.
Tutte le processioni di rito alla
Girard andrebbero accompagnate dalle
litanie terminali radunate tutte nel
nero dell'immagine della gioia come
se questa si ritrovasse dietro un
mondo redento e rinascere come un
mondo dietro un mondo. È un
museo verderame i cui trenta e passa
lavori di Liles non certo si dissolvono
o prendono pieghe affrante, piuttosto
si riverberano di significato perché
esattamente questa musica non segue
alcun canone preciso, e quindi non
deve concedere spiegazioni o formule
accresciute e nemmeno linfe ritrovate
dietro i veli, quanto piuttosto una
solitudine gloriosa fatta di distese
insidiose e materiali interiori. Non
si comprende bene cosa voglia dirci
Liles dietro la tepidezza errante
di questi scenari feriti che si guardano
come se evaporassero giungle in esalazioni
straziate. Non si sa, non è
noto sapere, quanta frantumazione
sintetica si annidi ovattata dietro
questi ruscelli un po' buddhisti,
un po' solitari e mortuari della musica
di Liles, se questa sia frutto di
un trip oppiaceo, oppure di una tensione
suicidale. È probabile che
dietro i suoni si ritorcano sempre
le parole graziose del distacco ed
è come se ci dicessero che
vogliono andar via, andar via da noi.
Questa è musica che si sopporta
sulle grandi vallate prima e dopo
una gara di sciabole o una caccia
di farfalle. È una musica mitologica,
a tratti arcaica, fatta di avvallamenti
e pianeggiamenti ma restia al mezzogiorno.
È così mitologica perché
si riscrive come remix sulla musica
d’altri e tenta (forse) di interpretarli
per ciò che non sono; è
mitologica perché cede compulsivamente
il tassello sfrenato di un riadattamento
e si muove tra concretismo, musica
alla Fennesz primo-cerebrale, e ritorni
astrattamente parasinfonici. Il corollario
che dentro vi si traccia somiglia
ad un territorio cosparso di nostalgiche
parentesi ed è quindi una musica
d'inviluppo che si presenta fusa in
tre parti identiche: nascita, mantenimento,
arretramento. Convoglia dentro la
sua salma teoretica delle variazioni
che noi mortali non attendiamo: è
stratosfera allargata, contigua e
sprigiona rettangoli e quadrati d'angoscia
volando via quasi come una disperata
resistenza dell'integrità.
Un disco profondo e sincero. Salvatore
Borrelli
FOXY
DIGITALIS
In My Father’s House...”
is a compilation of artists having
a go at the many and varied works
of composer Liles. As expected, the
results are mixed, but even the “failures”
shed some light on where and how the
work of Liles has seeped into the
work of other composers.
From the creepy industrial hum of
Colin Potter’s take on “all
Doors Open” to the noir-ish
amaibility of Aaron Moore’s
version of “Auto Manipulator”,
it is clear that Liles’ soundscapes
provide a multitude of ideas. For
me the highlights are Band of Pain’s
pulsing, brutal goth mix of “Apathy
in the UK” and the haunting
and truly skin-crawling version of
“Something to do with Hans Bellmer
in a Pub at Last Orders using 15th
Century Rural Magic” by Bass
Communion.
Here, as on Ruse’s “The
Ether Reel Rendered”, Liles
open and challenging lines allow the
artist to incorporate them into their
own sound, providing enrichment and
also a new way of expressing their
own work. In that context, the most
disappointing readings here are by
the most famous. The Hafler Trio and
Nurse With Wound sound as if they
mailed in their contributions, and
offering little more than rehashed
ideas from old work. Which misses
the point of this great set, where
the freedom of Liles’ music
is evident in the freedom it affords
these artists to play both with it
and with their own sound.- Mike Wood
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