So following on from the last post about Klang 30 there is now a new CD out on the Klanggalerie label entitled Underneath The Underneath - A Vienna Souvenir which as the title suggests is a document of my time at the mini festival. The gig on the night was recorded on video and these can be found on YouTube but the sound quality is that of the built in camera mics so a tad tinny. Fortunately I had recorded numerous rehearsals and as these were given the odd bit of improv pretty much identical to the set so these were used for the CD. Alongside this whilst in Vienna I recorded various street sounds, the church bells ringing on a Sunday, the marvellous trams as they clattered by, the chinking of coffee cups and so on and these formed the basis for some new tracks. In a little more detail then.
01 Line D: The opening track is one constructed pretty much entirely from sounds captured in Vienna. Walking down one of the main shopping streets we came across and oom-pah band playing various well know songs such as the "Rivers of Babylon" all accompanied by elderly couples dancing. The drum sound from the band was used as the basis for the number and then overlaid with the St. Stephen's Cathedral church bells and parts of the Sunday service all suitably manipulated oh and a touch of creepy Crowley for good measure.
02 Coffee House Calculations: As the title suggests sounds from the many Vienna coffee houses forms the starting point for this track combined with a little synth doodling.
03 Underneath The Underneath: The title track and one that formed the main part of my set. The track is loosely a variation on the number of the same name that appeared on the Ice Yacht Noisy Nylon tape last year. Loosely as it uses some of the same underlying structures but to slightly different ends. The main software used on this one is called Audiomulch a rather ageing app that hasn't been updated in a few years but with its unique granular synthesis tools can do things that the latest whiz band apps can't
04 Lime Lament: Ah Harry Lime when was he going to make an appearance? I did toy for a while with using a number of samples from The Third Man but even subtly it seemed a little too obvious. Nonetheless dedicating track to him seemed appropriate. This is a variation on the opening number played on the night.
05 Hodge (revisited): I recently on the Snatch Tapes Symphony lathe cut LP did a reworking of the old (as in 1979) Storm Bugs track "Hodge" and a live version seemed in order. Manipulating the original recording of a Soviet Block radio jamming signal through a software VCS3.
06 Funf Minuten: As with "Underneath The Underneath" a version of this track first appeared on Noisy Nylon here it is extended and the underlying Krautrock homage leanings teased out.
07 Swing: A song - the only real song as in verse and chorus of the set, a one too many beers bierkeller version of the number from the Not Even My Closest Friends tape.
The images for the sleeve come from a recent bout of collage work.
OK so can we hear some of this please? Well it is not on Bandcamp currently but here is a teaser.
Where can you buy it? Pretty much everywhere on line as Klang's distribution reaches far and wide. You can also get copies of the CD directly from me here in the UK.
and here is a nice review from Vital Weekly issue 1412
PHILIP SANDERSON - UNDERNEATH THE UNDERNEATH - A VIENNA SOUVENIR (CD by Klanggalerie)
I recently revisited Vienna, after thirty or so years, and, as before, I find this a charming city, with a lot of historical stuff to see and many places for coffee and cake. Judging by the musical content of this new Philip Sanderson CD, I am not the only one. In June 2023, he played at 'Klang 30', the annual (I believe) festival organised by Klanggalerie, a label that released more work by Sanderson and his previous Storm Bugs project. Three songs contain samples from the city, church bells, coffee cups, trams, and such. Three pieces were recorded during rehearsals, and "track 7 is a cabaret version of 'Swing'". I very much like his music, as it is a curious collision of styles; there is the musique concrète-like use of field recordings sitting next to rhythms, sequencers and vocals. I don't think pop music is the right word, but it's along those lines; a piece such as 'Hodge (Revisited)' could lean towards industrial music. When Sanderson sings, it is very accessible music, such in 'Line D'; when not, it becomes a bit more abstract, such as the 'Coffee House Calculations', with its coffee house sounds. As before, Sanderson's music isn't upbeat, necessarily, and yet it is also not dour. It's atmospheric and lighter than your usual dark drone music. The music is more instrumental than vocal, and once again reminded me of The Residents (in as much as I know of their recent work, which isn't a lot). The cabaret version of 'Swing' is, I think, an ode to the twenties of a century again, and maybe also an ode to the somewhat conservative life in Vienna, where everything seems a bit more formal. It's a fine CD, not his best, which accolade I reserve for his 'On One Of Those Bends' (Vital Weekly 1177), but a continuation of great music. (FdW)
