Tuesday 10 April 2018

Hein Pijnenburg, Ineke van Doorn & Paul van Utrecht - Barbaarse Dans -1994- (CD, GR 9409), Netherlands


This very obscure compact disc named Barbaarse Dans -in English- Barbaric Dance (not even on Discogs) contains great musical interpretations of poems by the Flemish surrealist and dadaist poet Paul van Ostaijen (22 February 1896 – 18 March 1928) and was recorded in 1994.

The music was made with voice, bass clarinet, guitar, saxophone, hammers and saws by saxophonist Hein Pijnenburg, Jazz-singer Ineke van Doorn and guitarist Paul van Utrecht. It was created to accompany Paul van Ostaijen's avant-garde sound poetry that was written in the early twentieth century in Dutch. The musical interpretation comes close to the Dutch performance artist and protagonist interpreter of abstract sound-poetry Jaap Blonk.

Even though Dutch is quite a non-important and often quite disliked language, Van Ostaijen was one of the most important people in the Dutch language territory who was inspired by the dada movement alongside the artist Theo van Doesburg. His sometimes onomatopoeiatic sound-poetry broke many barriers in the Dutch literary field and introduced sound-poetry as a performative and even visually experimental dimension in Dutch poetry in the early twentieth century. This album is quite special in the sense that it interprets his poetry. It's a unique musical example of the Dutch language literary avant-garde. It was released in a self-made fragile paper cover.

From the liner notes:

Barbaric Dance is a theatrical composition in which Hein Pijnenburg puts forward the poetry by the Flemish avant-garde poet Paul van Ostaijen. The musical work is shifting throughout the piece: at first the starting point is text and the music is composed with the text. Later in the composition this is reversed. The text: fragments of poems, words and seperate letters are fitted in the music. Hammers and saws are prescribed in the score to create two effects: to create a transition of rhythm and sound of daily life towards the silence of the theater and to increase the feelings of the listener and actor by physical powers. Furthermore the hammers and saws function as percussion.

Paul van Ostaijen was a Flemish poet who lived from 1896 to 1928. His work mirrors the changing and stirring zeitgeist of the first twenty-five years of this century: a hyper-sensitive Van Ostaijen found his inspiration amongst others in the First World War and the atmosphere of the Music-Hall (a precursor of the discotheque). He looked for possibilities to combine words, sounds and images in his poems. 

Barbaarse Dans is based on the poems: Barbaarse Dans, Angst, Fatalisties Lied, Asta Nielsen, Vers 2 en Vers 3 and Alpejagerslied.

Recommended!

Get it HERE

Wednesday 4 April 2018

Various Artists - Tecnologie Del Movimento -1989- (LP, HAX 01), Italy


Tecnologie Del Movimento was a cornerstone compilation of the late Italian Industrial scene that showcased some of the first sounds that were later to be established into the ritual and dark ambient techno styles of the nineties. The Hax label was run by Marco Milanesio who is also the mastermind behind the group DsorDNE from Turin, a group also featured on this compilation.

Another Italian Industrial act on TDM is Officine Schwartz that started out in 1983 in a classic industrial style using unconventional instruments as well as scrap metal and such. Then there is Gerstein, moniker of Maurizio Pustianaz, who published many experimental music and noise cassettes since 1984 and even had a release on the British Harsh Noise label Broken Flag in 1987. Furthermore there are a few unknown acts compiled: Alberi Per Debra, Unga and La Deviation.

The successor Tecnologie Del Movimento II was released on CD in 1992 and already moved into more dark ambient techno realms, also containing more outdated tracks. This first compilation however, really showcases a fine collection of industrial sounds with nice analog electronic sequence loops, ambient collages and musical theme's that even resemble those of Coil at times.

Get it HERE