Kreisel by Claus van Bebber & Michael Vorfeld

Recorded in 2005.
Cover design Carlos Santos.

REVIEWS

KREISEL é novo projecto de Claus van Bebber e Michael Vorfeld, dois artistas plásticos e sonoros alemães que operam na área de influência da editora germânica Nurnichtnur, na linha do que Martin Tétreault, Christian Marclay, Philip Jeck, Otomo Yoshihide e outros artistas da broken music têm vindo a fazer.
Mais antigo que qualquer daqueles, desde os anos 70 que Bebber trabalha com gira_discos. Neste sentido, pode ser considerado um veterano do turntablismo, forma de arte em que o gira-discos, de aparelho reprodutor, é elevado à categoria de produtor sonoro.
Montada a habitual bateria de aparelhos obsoletos com design dos anos 50 e 60, é neles Claus van Bebber toca, não quaisquer discos de vinyl, mas material que previamente prepara (discos partidos e colados, superfícies onde as agulhas possam riscar, etc.) que vai sobrepondo de forma a criar efeitos rugosos irregulares e intermitentes, ciclos encantatórios de obsessiva repetição.
Em parte, instalações visuais, noutra fontes de criação sonora, em KREISEL, Claus van Bebber ensaia manifestações da ideia de concerto de discos ("Schallplattenkonzert"), aqui partilhada com Michael Vorfeld, artista de Berlim, colaborador regular em percussões e instrumentos de corda da sua própria manufactura. A combinação das percussões tocadas com diferentes de técnicas e artefactos (arcos, blocos, peles, cordas), produz imensa variedade de sons, seccionando os círculos concêntricos que se deslocam em rotações diferenciadas. Trabalho aturado sobre a forma, que prende a atenção e convida ao encontro com as novas formas de dadaismo. Produção da Nurnichtnur para a Creative Sources Recordings. Eduardo Chagas (Jazz e Arredores)

"Kreisel", produto de um diálogo estabelecido entre os pratos de Claus van Bebber e a percussão e as cordas de Michael Vorfeld, não anda longe desses parâmetros. Bebber não trabalha directamente com a mecânica dos gira-discos (ainda que explore os ruídos de superfície), como actualmente fazem Otomo Yoshihide e Martin Tétreault, nem usa os mesmos segundo as coordenadas do DJing experimental, à maneira de Christian Marclay (embora o vinil seja a sua matéria-prima). Interessado na modalidade dos "locked grooves" da techno, vai trabalhando com "loops": não é a citação e sua recontextualização o que mais lhe importa, mas o estabelecimento de padrões rítmicos quebrados de medida que diríamos quase orquestral, não fora a aplicação "clínica" e preciosista dos seus jogos. Estando a pulsação a seu cargo, Vorfeld tem a liberdade de trabalhar com texturas, bordejando em torno dos incentivos que lhe são dados. A referência é a "kaputt muzik" de Milan Knizak, conduzida para outros desfechos que já não os definidos pelo nihilismo. Rui Eduardo Paes (Ananana Newsletter)

Using turntables, percussion and stringed instruments, Van Bebber and Vorfeld explicate their artistic nosiness through a kind of contractility that places events and forms in an ever-changing resilience of unexpected patterns, where non-usable noise and snippets of pre-recorded expressions are filtered from masses of discarded materials. While magnifying tense elucubrations based on corrugated frequencies and destructive recurrences, the sonic trajectories of "Kreisel" are visible from different angles; what's missing in terms of silence and space is recovered by giving the listener no options, except a thorough acceptance of an uneasy jargon made of sudden delusions and betrayed expectations. Tendentially self-destructive, this music depicts semi-serious revelations about ugliness, which is exploited until its juicy extremism becomes the distillate of something usually unsafe for the ears, but nevertheless important for our search of truth. Massimo Ricci (Touching Extremes)

Kreisel to piecdziesiat minut improwizacji rozpisanej na kilka gramofonów oraz zestaw instrumentów perkusyjnych, uzupelniony o tzw. "stringed instrument", który obejrzec mozna tutaj (http://www.vorfeld.org/html_docs/instru.html). Claus van Bebber "gra na gramofonie" juz od 1977 roku. Bliska jest mu, wywodzaca sie z dadaizmu, koncepcja wykorzystywania gotowych przedmiotów (tzw. "found objects" i "ready mades") - zwykle uzywa kilku standardowych, na ogól "leciwych", gramofonów i glosników, oraz plyt, z których zazwyczaj wybiera interesujace go fragmenty. Posluguje sie tez paroma akcesoriami stosowanymi zwykle przez gitarzystów (np.: wahwah). Wykorzystywanie dluzszych, stopniowo modyfikowanych fragmentów nagran, zestawianych ze soba w róznych konfiguracjach w wyraznie zarysowane struktury oraz oszczedne dawkowanie pozamuzycznych srodków (trzaski, itp.) sprawiaja, ze van Bebber tworzy melodyjne, przyjazne uszom wstegi dzwieku, powodujac, ze improwizacja staje sie wrecz - z braku lepszego terminu napisze - "easy listeningowa". Nie oznacza to jednak, ze utwory, które znalazly sie na omawianej plycie, maja postac zamknietej calosci o wyraznie zarysowanej formie, gdyz van Bebber potrafi w obrebie jednego nagrania zestawic ze soba kilka mocno rózniacych sie elementów. Jesli posluzyc sie terminologia plastyczna, bedaca chyba na miejscu, poniewaz zarówno Claus van Bebber, jak i Michael Vorfeld przejawiaja aktywnosc i na tym polu, to wydaje sie, ze w muzyce bardziej interesuje go barwa niz kontur. Sadze, ze van Bebbera mozna zaliczyc do tej grupy turntablistów, której najbardziej znanym przedstawicielem jest Philip Jeck - muzyków tworzacych sonorystyczna odmiane ambientu o bardzo gestej, wrecz
namacalnej fakturze, z której modeluja pozostajace w nieustannym zawieszeniu - takim specyficznym "nie-dzianiu sie", przez które rozumiem trwanie w oczekiwaniu na nienadchodzaca kulminacje - utwory. Drugi z twórców plyty - Michael Vorfeld jest perkusista i konstruktorem instrumentów, uprawiajacym sztuke swobodnej improwizacji od ponad dwudziestu lat. Grajac, posluguje sie na ogól zestawem konwencjonalnych instrumentów perkusyjnych i gotowymi obiektami oraz instrumentami wlasnego pomyslu, co pozwala mu na tworzenie dosc szerokiego spektrum dzwiekowego, w którym rytm jest tylko jednym z elementów. I choc na Kreisel, Vorfeld pokazal sie w kilku miejscach jako rasowy dostarczyciel Polirytmicznego groove, to przede wszystkim wczul sie w role sonorysty, nasaczajacego fakture szelestami, szmerami, trzaskami, stukotami, nieregularnym pulsem.
Moim zdaniem, to wlasnie Vorfeld tchnal w te muzyke ducha, sprawiajac swoja gra, ze chwilami nazbyt poukladane struktury dzwieków z gramofonów zyskaly przeciwwage w nieco amorficznej przestrzeni brzmien perkusyjnych.
Oddajac sprawiedliwosc van Bebberowi, sadzic jednak wypada, ze swój sukces "Kreisel" zawdziecza obu muzykom, a moje odczucia zwiazane sa z tym, ze konsekwentnie - choc nadmienic nalezy, ze przydarzaly sie im
wycieczki na teren partnera - trzymali sie zalozonego wczesniej podzialu ról. Tadeusz Kosiek (Diapazon)

This cd was recorded in 2005 at the Nurnichtnur Studios at Kleve, Germany by Nurnichtnur label owner Beserker (Dieter Schlensog). Together with van Bebber, Vorfeld and a few others Schlensog was member of 'Heinrich Mucken' an obscure group from the 80s. Nowadays Vorfeld lives in Berlin working as a photographer, percussionist and artist. Van Bebber also found his way in the arts, and as a musician he specialized himself in playing with turntables.
On 'Kreisel' both gentlemen create with percussion, stringed instruments and turntables some nice and intense moments. A successful and well-balanced collaboration I must say. The sounds they draw from their instruments go very well together. Van Bebber stays close to the sound-material on the records. He makes use of several turntables simultaneously applying a limited set of techniques, like speed and loops, and that's about it if I’m not mistaken.
The quotes he takes from the records are short enough not to quote complete musical fragments from the records, but long enough to make maximum use of the naturalness and colorfulness of the sounds and music on the record. His approach is less abstract then the one of people like Tetréault and Yoshihide. Vorfeld is very flexible and to the point in reacting to the patterns that come from Bebbers machinery. Most records in this field are flat and shapeless in my view, but 'Kreisel' surely is an exception. This is a cd of very vivid and fresh sound-paintings, that I without doubt want to call music in the fullest sense of the word. Dolf Mulder (Vital)

Claus van Bebber bruker platespillere med vinyl og Michael Vorfeld perkusjon og diverse strengeinstrumenter på ”Kreisel”. van Bebber og Vorfeld skifter posisjoner underveis, men som oftest er det førstnevnte som står for rytme og struktur, mens Vorfeld fyller mellomrommene med tekstur. Musikken er rastløs, full av simultane hendelser og detaljer, men den blir sjelden hektisk. Med unntak av enkelte fyrige erupsjoner, foregår det meste i kontrollerte former. van Bebber håndterer flere spillere samtidig, hver på forskjellig måte, slik at det oppstår dybde. Generelt er det de musikkløse partiene han interesserer seg for, overgangen eller bruddet mellom låtene, belagt med knitrende støv – eller så lar han ikke stiften hvile lenge nok på vinylen til at det fremkommer musikk (riktignok med enkelte få unntak, der gjenkjennelse av musikalske biter er mulig). Han er abstrakt i sin appropriasjon, men ikke i samme grad som for eksempel Otomo Yoshihide. Sammen med lydene til Vorfeld, som på et vis oppleves figurative og naturlige i forhold, blir det en komplett topografi, tredimensjonal og anskuelig. Frank Messel (Disquieting Duck)

Aaaah, the ever charming sound of turntable motors and crackling vinyls! Here the man behind the turntable is Claus Van Bebber, while Michael Vorfel skillfully blends percussion and an unidentified "stringed instrument". Minimal sources but used in a pretty varied way, creating throbbing, multi-layered soundscapes, from the boiling surfaces of "Eingekreist" to the hallucinated stasis of "Gerundet", from the noisy outbursts of "Gekreiselt" to the percussive patterns of "Umrundet" and "Abgredeht". In the niche of improvised turntableism this is surely a nice release, and in spite of a few repetitive moments here and there, a tight one from start to end. Eugenio Maggi (Chain DLK)

Kreisel (CS 056) consists of eight micro-improvised miniatures played by turntablist Claus Van Bebber and percussionist Michael Vorfeld (who is also credited with stringed instruments). These musicians have considerable imaginative and technical range, though they mostly set about to create landscapes of harshness. “Eingekreist” sounds like rain dripping into a cavernous loft, with scratchy squeaky noises audible beneath and surrounded by circular thrums and low moans. “Aufgedreht” contrasts the ominous tolling of bells (then later small chimes or prepared strings) with the whizz-whirr of manipulated audio. “Gekreiselt” sounds like the wind chimes in your backyard as filtered through gauzy electronics, a bit like the silvery sheen on “Gezirkelt.” But I suppose I’m most partial to “Gerundet,” the roughest and most granular of these pieces (although “Umrundet” has some truly caustic squealing, like Merzbow attacking a calliope). Its lovely turntable effects (like backwards tape playing) contrasts nicely with the percussive grit. Jason Bivins (Bagatellen).

Creative Sources releases a plethora of improv/jazz and experimental electronic music.
Founded in 2000.

creativesourcesrec.com