quote:

---

"Jag tyckte det blev lite för mycket tystnad, den började bra med lite uptempotystnad och i övergången i mitten av tystnaden så lät det tyst
men i slutet så blev det lite för mycket upprepningar av tystnaden och man kunde nog ha kortat av tystnaden lite grann - äh.. håll tyst".

---

quote:

---

45'18" (9 VERSIONS OF 4'33)
(CD compilation by Korm Plastics)

Some time has passed since the first invitations were sent out by
Jos Moers (Meeuw Muzak) to join this compilation. Of course
I made a track, but that was sadly refused, so now I'm left with
the honour of reviewing the results of others. First I would like
to point out that the cover is very funny indeed. It's a small
poster that folds out, with a photograph on the front and info
and texts on the back.

The first track is by Keith Rowe and is called #249, with
the liner notes saying: Nature. That is not a lot of information,
but the track lasts exactly 4'33. It's a very quiet piece, consisting
of one environmental recording, as far as I can tell. The title is
somewhat misleading, because the sounds are made by trains and
possibly cars, all recorded from a long distance (maybe from
an open window?). In a certain sense, this can be seen as a strict
interpretation of Cage'sideas.

Track two is by Artificial Memory Trace and is called Close(d)
inside me. It clocks in at 8'20 and does not seem to bother with
the original score at all. The piece itself is truly beautiful, because
of the sounds and the composition. In fact, this piece can be
considered as an extension of Cage's ideas into the realm of
contemporary electronic music.

Track three is by Thurston Moore and he decided to do a jam
session in his studio, together with some friends, that apparently
lasted for 4'33. The result is a quite dynamic piece of improv,
altenated with some hardcore punk in the second part and mostly
silence in the third part. Weird, but very nice indeed.

Track four is by Pauline Oliveros, Deep Listening Band and
guests. Their recording is a small part of a longer concert, lasting
4 hours and 33 minutes, intended as a memorial for David Tudor,
who premiered the original 4'33. The track is a recording of one of
the intermezzo's in the long concert and is an actual performance
of the original score by John Cage.

Next up is a track by Jio Shimizu, who cut a vinyl record
without spinning it and without actually recording any sound.
So the whole track is concentrated in one dot instead of a groove.
An excellent conceptual work, of course, albeit one without much
sound.

The sixth track is by Voice Crack, called Hoher Kasten,
which means something like high box. Electronic and acoustic sounds
combine in a pretty quiet piece, with a live atmosphere. Good stuff.

Track seven is by Clive Graham and seems to be an environmental
recording, although I wouldn't be able to determine its origins.
This is not bad, but I cannot really connect it to the concept of
the CD, besides the duration of the piece.

Next is a piece by Toshiya Tsunoda, who stuck to the score as
far as timing is concerned. He made recordings at different sites
and wrote a long text about the changes of names of villages,
towns and neighborhoods in a specific area in Japan. The reference
to Cage is not really clear to me, but the track is very much okay.

The last track is by Alignment and they stick to the original score
as well. They have recorded 'electronic silence'. They used a mixer,
a sampler and a hard drive, all of them without input and then
amplified to zero dB. So in the end, there is obviously some sounds
to be heard: a loud hiss from the mixer, glitches from the sampler
and the sound of a running engine from the hard drive.

The last contribution to this CD is a text by Frans de Waard,
explaining why he decided not to submit an audio work for this
compilation. And it must be said: his reasons are compelling.

Having put forward the idea for this album, I am somewhat
disappointed by the result as a whole. I am not sure that this is
the result of the selection of tracks listed above or that the idea
itself is not such a good one. De Waard has some very relevant
thoughts about this. Nevertheless, the material presented on this
disc is good enough to exist on its own, so one might decide to
simply listen to it and enjoy it for what it is. (MR)
Address: www.staalplaat.com

---