Some reviews for the "Communication Problems" compilation:

INPRESS    Melbourne

VITAL WEEKLY    Amsterdam

CYCLIC DEFROST    Sydney

XLR8R    San Fransisco

THE MILK FACTORY . CO . UK    London

TRUST    Bremen
 
 
 

  FROM INPRESS
 

VARIOUS ARTISTS

Communication Problems

Vibragun/ Synaesthesia

What?s amazing is that in a world so reliant on communication, we all seem so tragically inept at it. Perhaps that?s where this collection picks up, somewhere in that dark disturbing world between the message and comprehension. The brainchild of local label Vibragun this 2cd set is the outcome of a public call for submissions on the theme of Communication Problems. Posting a text online as a starting point (www.vibragun.com.au), the resulting collection incorporates everything from experimental electronica, drum and bass, hip-hop, ambient sounds and numerous diverse unclassifiable amalgams of sound. Perhaps in line with the theme it?s very difficult to determine who?s actually contributed what, or even whereabouts on the disc the contributions actually appear, thanks to obscure track listings that actually appear on the discs themselves. Whilst the cover professes selections from Australian experimentalist Oren Ambarchi (Sun), Atom Heart (Flanger/ Geezn Gosh), Cologne?s dub tech minimalist Thomas Brinkmann, Austrian audio visualists Farmers Manual, laptop bound Aussie Pimmon and of all people infamous children?s author Chopper Read, there?s also a multitude of lesser-known Australian artists. Some of the sounds here are mind-numbing experiments in sounds and structures, with beautiful ambient drones submerging into warbling sub atomic atmospheres, before becoming glitched up digital noise.  Aside from being a stunning selection of sounds, what?s interesting is that this is a compilation that actively searches out and celebrates an aspect of life that most of us are trying desperately to avoid.

-Bob Baker Fish

INPRESS Magazine, Melbourne
 

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    FROM VITAL WEEKLY

COMMUNICATION PROBLEMS (2CD compilation by Vibragun)
The Australians that go under the label Vibragun present a collection
of modern day electronica in a loosely thematic approach of
'communication problems'. I have no idea how this relate to the
enclosed music, but I am just hear to view the results. As goes with
things like this, it seems that the various artists delivered one of
their tracks, for good compilation's sake. It is to be welcomed that
Vibragun managed to get some well-known celebrities aswell as some
people that need to be introduced as newcomers. More or less the
following division is to be noticed: on disc 1 we have the more
rhythmic outings and on disc 0 (digitalÅ life is all about 1's and
0's) the more ambiento works. So techno celebrates on the first disc,
but there is also a hip hop piece by Sensational and a drum & bass
piece by Quoit.
Nice pieces on the first disc are by Atom Heart, Sensational (not
that I like hip hop so much, but it's really an odd ball in the
entire collection), Kettle (whose ten second piece leaves more to
dream about) and Cray, who's Lustmord inspired piece cracks down in a
dying computer crash.
Disc one closes with one of the last pieces composed by John
Watermann, who offers a hetic piece that proofs to be one of the more
interesting pieces here. The tower of babel as the source of
communication problems.
The second disc has less rhythms, and the artists here seem to be
using (faulty) data streams to enlighten the subject - and so much
more they do a better job. Pimmon's morse transmissions sound rusty
and untrustworthy, but on those lines there is a problem, aswell as a
densely layered piece. Two boys having no communication problems are
Markus Schmickler and Thomas Brinkmann. Their piece is mostly spoken
word, like a conversation, on building a piece of music, but they
seem to get a long well. The track is not so interesting, as it's not
really to play over and over again. Two tracks didn't do much for me
and that was the piece by Steve Law, which is straight off Scanner
rip off and Plenum, who seems to be throwing just some sounds
together. Good pieces come from Thomas Koner, Farmers Manual and Oren
Ambarchi.Martin NG here. All in all a pretty varied compilation, with
much nice music and the usual out of place pieces. (FdW)
Address: www.vibragun.com.au
from VITAL WEEKLY NO. 333
Backissues may be found at: www.staalplaat.com and http://www.aesova.org/vital

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FROM CYCLIC DEFROST

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http://www.themilkfactory.co.uk/reviews_express/0211.htm

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FROM XLR8R

THE ONLY BLIP HOP RECORD YOU WILL EVER NEED-VOL. 1
Lukabop/US/CD
COMMUNICATION PROBLEMS
Vibragun/AUST/CD

Compilations can be tenuous affairs. Typically gathered under the umbrella of crafty (albeit suspect) neologisms or nebulous themes, the context often threatens to overshadow, or at least skew, the music contained within. Add the necessity of exclusion and its counterpart, influence, and quicker than you can exclaim "Greil Marcus!", the musical becomes political.

In the liner notes to The Only Blip Hop Record You Will Ever Need, David Byrne writes, "Blip Hop as it is represented here is a form of music created primarily by Northern Europeans. The Socialist governments take care of their needs leaving the people with many hours of free time to spend with their computers and electronice devices. [They] are the first people on Earth to create and live in complete harmony with their machines."

The presumptions behind such overtly simplistic statements offer insight into Byrne's vision of things. To be fair, Blip Hop-world-music imprint Luka Bop's entrée into the laptop milleu is an enjoyable survey of post-techno electronic music, with a proclivity towards percolating textures, ellipticall beat patterns and the occasional, if abstracted nod to ethnic music. Even if, frustratingly, every track here has been previously released, one can hardly condemn the inclusion of vets like Mouse on Mars, To Rococo Rot and I-Sound, Safety Scissors, and Pole, nor relative newcomers Skist, Pickadelic and Trineo. Indeed, each track flows effortlessly so into the next that you're nearly persueded of Bilp Hop's argument, if not its designation as a cohesive genre.

But in view of the title's presumptuous claim and the packaging's mock-up of an ethnomusicologist's regional study (courtesy of McSweeny's editor and Byrne-pal Dave Eggers), you can't help feeling that there are some glaring omissions. There are no contributions from the forefathers of "blip hop," Oval and snd. There is no Jan Jelineck. No Andreas Tillander. Nor is there any contribution from that great laptop cross-culturalist (an ostensibly perfect fit for Luaka Bop's "world" slant) Uwe Schmidt, a.k.a Atom Heart/Señor Coconut. One wonders if, in light of Byrne's own ambiguous history with such cross-cultural gestures, these artists didn't refuse to take part. Considering such shortcomings, one might most appropriately interpret this collection's title with tongue placed firmly in cheek.

Speaking of irony, Australian label Vibragun's Communication Problemssuffers from, er, communication problems of its own. Gathering as it does entirely exclusive selections (applause, please) from a vast representation of electronic composers, though, its premise offers a bit more room to breathe, even if the theme is taken a bit too literally (i.e. illegible track listings and no background on its theme or raison d'être). Here Atom Heart does make an appearance. As do Oren Ambarchi, Thomas Koner and Farmers Manual. Even run-at-the-mouth slur-hoppist-cum-actor Sensational shows up.

There are landscapes in here. Pulsing drones rub up against agitated beats. Near-silence neighbours voracious discord. Guitars are processed into hazy strums. Rhythms anchor and drift. No overarching dogma abounds. It seems to pose the question: Are no words better than clumsily chosen one? Communication Problems, indeed.

Alexis Georgopoulos

http://www.xlr8r.com
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FROM TRUST

V.A. - Communication Problems 2CD

Hervorragender Sampler mit allem, was in elektronischer Musik abseits des Mainstream Rang und Namen hat. Die Chefs der abstrakten Klangwelt geben sich die Klinke in die Hand und erfreuen jemanden wie mich mit fast zwei Stunden hochkarätiger moderner Musik. Dabei wird eine ganzes Areal an Genres und Sub-Genres beackert, ohne daß ein Track jemals ganz weit ab von der angeschlagenen Stoßrichtung zu landen droht.

Hervorzuheben wären vielleicht der beinahe klassich anmutende Microsound von Altmeister Kim Cascone, die wohltuende Klangfläche von Oren Ambarchi und Martin Ng, die Gesprächsfetzen-Collage von Markus Schmickler und Thomas Brinkmann (eine Wonne wenn man im Ausland lebt), der vergleichsweise freundliche IDM Track von Skip, der omnipräsente und immergute Pimmon, der zu erwartende Fieps-Krach von Speedranch/Jansky Noise und wenn man's genau nimmt der ganze Rest.

Etwas deplaziert wirken eigentlich nur der in diesem Umfeld stumpf wirkende Drumnbass von Mick Harris (Quoit) und der (zugegeben recht gestörte) Hip Hop von Sensational.

Ansonsten ist alles sehr schön ausbalanciert und das Cover läßt die Herzen der unzähligen Graphic Designer und Drucker unter uns höher schlagen. Insgesamt scheint mir dies ein idealer Einstieg/Einblick in die hier meist sehr ruhige Welt der kleinen Sounds zu sein.

www.vibragun.com.au

In Europa zu beziehen unter anderem über Staalplaat.

Jochen Gutsch
 

http://www.trust-zine.de/

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