V/A - Zenial Reworked (2003)

Lukasz Andrzej Szalankiewicz is a Polish digital sound designer and multimedia collaborator who has worked since 1994 under the name Zenial and, later, also as Palsecam. Continuing the tradition begun with last year's (highly recommended) "Reworked" for Black Faction, a collection of artists from around the world have a go at Zenial's original material.

Here the tracks run the gamut from minimalism to noise. The first few, collaborations with Kasper T. Toeplitz and Maciek Szymczuk, are subtle enough - full of digital crickets, restrained noise and melodies, glitch rhythms and steady electronic hum. Then KK. Null rudely awakens anyone who might have been lulled to sleep with an unforgiving swathe of noise. Andrew Lagowski's first track offers more blips, smears and bass but the second (as well as the following Andrew Duke & Zenial track) moves into subliminal ambient territory. Vidna Obmana wraps windy textures around a repetitive bass/rhythm line while Amir Baghiri's near ten minutes gradually becomes one of his own "Yalda" tracks replete with tribal drumming and seething washes.

Two of Zenial's tracks (three are credited solely to him) are relatively tame, crackling and cooing tiny rhythmic melodies and murmurs while the other juxtaposes truncated Hip-Hop samples with electronic abstractions. Jason Wietlespach & Jon Mueller (both of the Crouton Music collective) add saxophone and found sound sort of percussion to the electronic sputtering while Tetsuo Furudate plays with deep gong-like tones. Vivo are a label to watch from here on [brainwashed.com]

1. Kasper T Toeplitz & Zenial - Van Helsing Froz
2. Maciek Szymczuk & Zenial - Zenial's Theme Remix
3. K.K. Null - Echoes From Lamberton Remix
4. Andrew Lagowski - Cyclosynapsia Remix
5. Andrew Lagowski - Aktyb7ff Remix
6. Andrew Duke & Zenial - IB7: Ludojad
7. Vidna Obmana - Palsecam Theme Recycled
8. Amir Baghiri - Ilustracja #1 / E-nimalic Remix
9. Zenial - Sanok 13
10. Zenial - Zenzo
11. Jason Wietlespach, Jon Mueller & Zenial - Angst
12. Zenial - Hippi
13. Tetsuo Furudate - Hamlet Remix
14. Zenial - Untitled
15. Zbigniew Karkowski - Sunset Remix [multimedia avi by Neon/Piotr Nierobisz]

Design by Krzysztof Slaby
Released by Vivo Records in 2003

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The Hafler Trio - Fuck (1992)

"Fuck is the second part of a projected trilogy that begins with Masturbatorium, and for which the third part has not been released as of early 2001. While Masturbatorium used sounds generated by performance artist Annie Sprinkle in a sonic investigation of female sexuality, Fuck concentrates on male sexual energies, using sounds leading to the brink of male orgasm from Andrew McKenzie, in addition to various atmospheric frequencies and field recordings. As with the trilogy's first part, the liner notes go into some detail about the sonic origins and the overall purpose of the piece, its specific practical intents, and its relationship to investigations into sexual energy.

Unusually, McKenzie directs that the recording be played at maximum volume, and that the CD player be in strict accordance with left and right channel connections. With the correct playback configuration, the ominous low drone opening shakes the room, and when the various fast rhythmic layers are added in, the piece takes on an overwhelming aura seldom found in other Hafler Trio releases. A looped bass vocal alternates between the two channels in the second track, exercising the separation McKenzie mentions. Given the sexual intent of the piece, one might suppose that it would start slowly and build, but in fact the opposite is the case. The beginning is the loudest, densest, and fastest, with an overall tranquility and lightening as the piece progresses. Its unity of purpose makes it one of the better Hafler Trio releases, although the cover art and subject matter make it for mature listeners only".
Caleb Deupree, All Music Guide

"The first piece can be seen as an abrasive experience in deep-breathing oppressive terror-technonoise, somehow reminiscent of both Gerechtigkeits Liga and Porter Ricks; the second piece finds the "trio" in more familiar ground, reducing the scope of sonic assault to create a slow, bass-based progression from multilayered noise to total darkness". The Juju Unintelligible Reviews

Performed by A.M. McKenzie & Zbigniew Karkowski

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