Peter Votava (aka Pure) is een Oostenrijkse, in Berlijn residerende oude rot in de elektronische muziek. Hoewel hij begin jaren ’90 zijn sporen verdiende in de opkomende hardcore- en technoscene en later heel wat succes oogstte als de helft van het raveduo Ilsa Gold, houdt Votava zich de laatste tien jaar vooral bezig met minder dansbare, experimentele muziek. Alleen al onder zijn ‘Pure’-alias bracht de Oostenrijker tientallen cd’s en vinylplaten uit. ‘Ification’, zijn eerste release op het stilaan vermaarde Portugese Cronica-label, verscheen eind vorig jaar.
Met opener ‘Fire’, waarin agressieve stoten gitaar van de hand van Digital Hardcore-legende Christoph de Babalon de stilte openrijten, lijkt Pure een soort schoktherapie te willen toepassen. Deze track slaat in als een bom, zodat de luisteraar klaar is voor ‘After the Bomb’, een bijna tien minuten uitgesponnen trip van drones, subtiel galmende melodieën en helemaal op het eind de overstuurde jazzdrums van Martin Brandlmayr. Het door bombastische, koperblazerachtige geluiden gedreven ‘Approximation’ doet vervolgens denken aan een soundtrack van Stanley Kubrick. ‘Blind Flight’ doet wat de songtitel zegt en golft zich nu eens hoog suizend, dan weer diep grommend een baan langs uitgestrekte, desolate (vliegtuig)routes zonder einde. Op ‘Sonomatopeia’ reutelt en schreeuwt gastzangeres Alexandra von Bolzn over horrorachtige soundscapes, alsof ze tevergeefs tracht te ontsnappen uit een gevangenis van glitch en onwezenlijke computergeluiden. ‘End’ is een vijftien minuten lange excursie in een dreigende tunnel van overstuurde basgitaar (bespeeld door Anke Eckardt), sissende en kletterende keldergeluiden en in de verte galmende percussie. ‘Iron Sky’, tot slot, contrasteert sterk met deze ietwat overtrokken compositie door opnieuw een beroep te doen op de drums van Brandlmayr en de stem van Von Bolz. Doorheen iets wat klinkt als een overstuurde ventilator in gevecht met een stoomketelfluit komen beide gasten dreigend opzetten met een waanzinnig overstuurde triphopbeat en een kakofonie van demonische keelklanken. Als de storm is gaan liggen, blijft de ziel leeggezogen achter.
Pure’s ‘Ification’ (de woordspeling is voor de hand liggend) haal je als luisteraar een intense, hypnotiserende, bijna meditatieve plaat in huis. De zeven composities op zich golven onverstoorbaar door, zonder al te plotse veranderingen. De echte variatie bevindt zich op het niveau van het album, waar hemels pure geluiden afgewisseld worden met het donkerste wat men uit een computer kan halen. Peter Votava levert andermaal knap werk, maar doet niets wereldschokkend. Filip Martens
via Kwadratuur
The split 5″ vinyl by Janek Schaefer and Stephan Mathieu is almost sold out. Only 15 discs are left in stock so order your’s now.
This 5″ vinyl disc is only available directly from Crónica, for 30€ (post included).
My digital diary 2009
Hans Bernhard
UBERMORGEN.COM
Recently Bookmarked on del.icio.us
http://mohrizm.net/
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http://www.extraspazio.it/cms/
http://www.alzado.net/
http://www.cringely.com/2009/09/the-peoples-republic-of-google/
http://fact.co.uk/whatson/detail/?infoID=3350969457521346265
http://blog.koehntopp.de/archives/2665-Das-Google-Missverstaendnis.html
http://www.kunstradio.at/
http://www.uzh.ch/news/articles/2009/herr-der-gene-am-latsis-symposium.html
http://www.artisopensource.net/zones/
http://911.wikileaks.org/
http://laponies.fr/tabcomm/en.php5
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/nov/24/aafia-siddiqui-al-qaida
http://www.itnewsonline.com/showprnstory.php?storyid=76265
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bo_Derek#Political
Music
Wrong by Depeche Mode (& Video)
Other listening materials include Lady Gaga, Turkish Turbo Folk Music, from the country corner: Dixie Chicks and Tanya Tucker, and from the classics: Marianne Faithfull, Jeff Mills, Leonard Cohen, NIN, Stereo Mcs, Madonna, Lucio Dalla, Peter Tosh, Public Enemy, Robbie Williams, Sugababes, System of a Down, The Verve, Daft Punk, Depeche Mode, Edith Piaf, Eminem, Falco, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, The Gossip, Guns N Roses, INXS, Juanes. Our assistant Wendy is really deeply involved in Techno and since his arrival we listen a lot of it at the studio, so there we go again, i am feeling like 20 years ago at an illegal party, an underground club or a huge rave somewhere in the outskirts of Rotterdam.
Cinema
The most amazing cinematic experience was with my daugther Billie-Ada watching the Disney flick „G-Force“ – 3 guinea pigs saving the world, not very funny BUT in 3D. The technology is so far advanced that i suggest to everybody to go for a test-view, it’s mindfucking and so cool; i couldn’t follow any story for the first 20 minutes, i was absorbed by the visual power and i can now see the application of 3D not only for movies but for art installations.
TV (torrents)
Dexter S1-S4 (pervert, a perfectly mirrored image of contemporary american society)
In Treatment S1-S2 (makes you wanna join the couch workers again)
Hung S1 (good fun)
Breaking Bad S1-S2 (sensational)
Mad Men S1-S3 (stylish soap)
Rome S1-S2 (seksie bloody)
The Wire S1-S5 (can there be anything better, i don’t think so)
Two and a half men S6 (what do you want me to say?)
United States of Tara S1 (way way cool)
Generation Kill HBO Miniseries (eye-opening)
Battlestar Galactica S1-S4 (highly addictive)
Movies (torrents)
Bruno (sensationally radically subversive)
District 9 (way cool, especially the first 45 min.)
Body of Lies (remote war technology)
Angst essen Seele auf (Fassbinder, seen it again after 20 years, it’s wonderful)
Che (boring but still good, especially if you have asthma yourself)
Choke (nice)
Der Herr Karl (Austria a nazi country)
Dude, where’s my car (there we go again)
Eastern Promises (revisited, still good)
Frost-Nixon (way good talking movie)
Depeche Mode 101 (time travel baby)
Frozen River (sad)
G.I. Joe – The Rise of Cobra (OMG!)
Gran Torino (old man playing it cool)
Idiocracy (revisited)
In Bruges (tension)
In the valley of Elah (ugly)
Inside Man
I Robot
JCVD (wow)
Juno
Knocked Up
Mala Noche
Lars and the real Girl
Milk (gay)
Max Payne (jodi.org)
Mr. Brooks
Night Train
Nothing but the truth
Once upon a time in Mexico (RR)
Paycheck (the worst movie ever, but i always knew why i hated ben affleck, and it’s not only for his shit-face, he also happen to do mostly bad movies)
PI (revisited)
Pineapple Express
Hayao Miyazaki – My Neighbor Totoro (the kids love it, tx Lia)
Wanted Desired Polanski
Pride and Glory
Redacted
Religulous (Maher running wild)
Revolutionary Road (Best Oscar material)
RocknRolla (the last one was better guy)
Role Models
Serpico (revisited)
Sex Drive
Slumdog Millionaire (yes!)
Standard operating procedure (A MUST SEE)
Star Trek (way cool)
State of play
Superbad
Team America – World Police
The Wrestler (we all end this way)
The bank job (supergood)
The curious Benjamin Button (i cried at the end of the movie)
The Departed (revisited)
The girlfriend experience (with Sasha Grey, nice!)
The Good Sheperd (revisited)
The Hurt Locker
The Illusionist (shit)
The Informers (i love the book, i love the film)
The Killing Room (research material)
The Queen (revisited)
Traffic (revisited)
Training Day
Transformers (pure bullshit)
V for Vendetta (a good old friend, a berlin based stuntmen, has his first acting role in this movie, i laughed my ass off, and it’s a very good movie).
X-Men Origins Wolverine WORKPRINT (lots of wireframe, revealing and fun)
Zack and Miri make a Porno
Zohan
Baader Meinhof Komplex (R.A.F. history revisited, well done simplification)
American Gangster (revisited)
Alpha Dog
Bandidas (Salma and Penelope)
City of God (brutal brutal brutal)
Dear Wendy (revisited, OMG, how can you!)
Brother (revisited)
Records:
Comics:
Two amazing weeks:
Plus
Minus
Two thousand and nine was a wonderful year for my ears and for my heart. First things first. The Beautiful Schizophonic’s second full length album on Cronica – ‘Erotikon’ – and the collaboration with composer and multi-instrumentalist from Tokyo Yui Onodera – ‘Radiance’ – on Basses Frequences, were released in the beginning of the Summer. Two exciting releases bringing my own project to a whole new level of music production. Highlights for the live performances: Festival Rescaldo, concert at Casa da Música opening for Marc Behrens, Sonic Scope 09 with Laetitia Morais on visuals and EME.LL (ensemble of Live Laptops). Great shows and excellent opportunities to meet and hang out with very nice people!
As for the special listenings of the year, well there were actually a couple of outstanding records that made my nights. Steve Roach’s 1984 masterpiece “Structures from Silence†was a late bloomer but it’s for sure among the most wonderful drone music ever produced. Italian duo TU’M’s “Monochromes Vol.1†was also a listening in wonders, post-orchestral ambiences immersed in a soft sea of static. This is what I call elegant late night music. Another fine piece of music is “Bewildermentâ€, a nocturnal voyage between the sparse and delicate piano notes of Sylvie Walder and the evocative field recordings of entia non. “Entropy†from dear sound colleague Yui Onodera is an excellent release for people, like me, who’s searching for moments of time suspension: the illusion of movement through ambient stasis. More mind blowing music, hidden vaults of the golden age of electronics: Klaus Schulze “La Vie Electronique 2†and Roedelius “Works (1968-2005)â€. Maybe this is not music, only a place.
2009 was the year of my return to Paris, even only during half a week. I had the pleasure to have my friend Cécile Schott (Colleen) as a wonderful host who showed me the many cities of Paris.
Sadly, the year was also marked by the departure of my dear friend Danielle Baquet-Long, from the Californian ambient outfit Celer. She passed away on July 8, of heart failure at the age of 26. Much love and missing, wherever she is.
Last but (definitely) not least. I met Susana M., my new girlfriend, and life in general seems now more beautiful than ever. She is a song. Love forevermore.
Tonight, at the Uwe Behrens opening in Alice Gryphius café & kunstraum.
My top 10’s seem to change slowly over time, and to find 10 new amazing things and remember them each year has never been an ability of mine.
I used to love reading, but that was back when I commuted across London to the part time architecture job last century… For most of this century I have not made any time to read novels… I did manage one book recently, and this is my top tip of the year I guess. JG Ballard died this year, and I was in the middle of reading his delightful autobiography “Miracles Of Lifeâ€. He lived a mile from my house, and my tribute to him includes a 5†vinyl on Crónica — Go read the book.
