label:KETTLE - Reviews
Reviews in Spectrum Magazine
Reviews by Richard Stevenson.
With another great concept from Kettle, this 20 minute mini CD release
consists of recordings derived from earlier out of print releases yet the
tracks are presented in shorted formats to create a gradual 'fading' effect
from the original work. Whilst being a great deal more experimental and
playful than the above release, the work does however inhabit a similar
sound-art framework, but overall is broader and more sweeping in scope.
More oriented to glitches and tonal cut ups, the atmosphere is less dense,
with track 2 contains a lovely hypnotic cyclic looped drone, and computer
tones that stop just short of actually constituting a melody. These
clinical drones and computer static are a staple of other pieces too,
differing in intensity depending on the track. The forth piece opts for one
tonal elements that flutters at the high end of the sonic spectrum gradually
increasing its subversive assault on the inner ear as mid to low level hums
writhe in layered format to the backing. For me the fifth piece is somewhat
throw away due to the incessant bleeps of a fluctuating pulse monitor, yet
all in forgiven when the warm computer drones return on the following piece,
which that more than any of the other segments presented contains hints of
minimalist symphonic melody (which actually seems to be a live performance
with the applause at the end). For comparative reference Fennesz, Pita and
other associated Mego artists would be the go - with this certainly being on
par.
Poota is a collaborative project between Andrew Kettle (aka KETTLE) and Loyd
Barrett (aka Brainlego) that has been operating from some 4 years with no
official releases until now. With this release it is the amalgam of what
the artist's felt was the best material derived from 1998 recordings (studio
and live) and by the artists' own admission showcases "skill and
spontaneity; innocence and experience". The first thing that is evident is
the cut up, glitched framework of both of their individual projects have
been somewhat amassed together with these recordings creating broad collages
of intertwined malfunctioning electro static, rhythms and samples. Track
one of the five pieces appears to work on two levels - one presenting a
broad deep undercurrent, the other as mid ranged scattered rhythmic elements
to generate a mostly soothing sound presentation. This frameworks is again
utilised on the second track, yet as many more sonic layers are drawn upon
(mainly at the high end spectrum) create an overall more chaotic offering.
Likewise with focus on a high end blip tune, it evokes are galactic spatial
aura that later transforms into stunning solidly focused deep rhythm (that
might just be comparable to segments of Atomine Elektrine's 'Archimetrical
Universe' CD). Track three chooses a drawn out playful style to its odd
manipulations of a quite crunchy centrally focused mid paced beat. Pure
sonic experimentation is abound on the forth piece, gradually shifting
sounds, static and (tune/ beat/ voice) samples to generate a loose focus to
the occasionally fierce & quick paced sonics. The fifth and final track is
simply stunning due to the use of a sampled segment of Indian tabula drum
percussion to create a brooding atmosphere. With this central sample offset
against a subdued tune and understated electronic treatments, it presents an
excellent blend of traditional and modern sounds. Despite the artists'
acknowledging that this release offers more of a "historical fragment . than
a new work of evolution in music" it is still a fine example of the
creatively of the underground music experimentation scene in Australia.
Packaged in-between two tin plates, the concept of this CD revolves around
the aural interpretation of medical condition suffered in the right eye of
the artist (ie: closing the good left eye to perceived the world through the
sight of the deteriorating right eye). With three tracks just short of 20
minutes, the compositions blend one into the next as fractural sonics of
clinical static and electronic induced noises and drones. Mostly in the mid
ranged tonal velocity, things are rough around the edges, but the sounds
never reach high end pain inducing pitch. Sections of sounds and noise
align themselves and bridge one to the next, holding an aesthetic of new
sound art/ minimalist noise experimentation with a convincing dark and
slightly menacing edge. I guess this material has a comparison that could
definitely be made to the new direction of Hazard which only further
highlights the quality of this. The format of the label releasing 3" CDR is
also a way to present short snippets of the works Australian sound artists
in intriguing packaging.
Poota at Deviations Live CD.
"A magnificient example of winding, waving, changing experimental sound, basing itself mostly on sampled voices and sounds, and pure analogue synth. The sampled voices are delayed and run quickly into an infinity of noises. The synth occasionally allows a steady sequenced almost melody in the background, sometimes slow and sometimes sped up itself. While it changes it is a coherent whole, unmistakably so. Really great stuff.
Kettle S/T CD.
A report I received in the post from Andrew Kettle, Brisbane resident, sound artist, and announcer/programmer of 4ZZZ fm program Atmospheric Disturbances. All pieces included are accompanied by extensive notes, relating to recording information and function, and are grouped accordingly. However other than the exploration of sound, and a digitally processed undercurrent, there is little common thread among the various groupings: all pieces were constructed for different reasons, using different sound sources, and therefore the results are different to one another. I guess the easiest descriptive point I could make (in comparison with most of the other stuff featured in this issue) is that there is nothing here approaching a song - at least not in the traditional sense of the word. It's more about 'here is what I've been up to over the last couple of years exploring sound using digital means'.
Mark Groves.
Lotto mini-CD
Lotto is a multi functional CDR for those who like some fun with their
music...or at least the option to have fun over and above passive listening.
Lotto mini-CD
Great fun. Great variety of sounds - many of the 15 sec compositions are more than a simple sound; quite complex.
Reviews by Alan Bindig
Lotto mini-CD
Kettle's "Lotto" is a 3-inch CD containing 45 tracks, ranging between 11 and 19 seconds in duration. The sleeve artwork helpfully points out that the CD, in conjunction with the "Random" button on your CD player, can therefore be used as either a lotto selector to pick winning numbers, or as a device to run a lotto competition of your own. This gives the CD an appealing functionality. By calling the CD itself "Lotto", and making its purpose blindingly obvious, Kettle brings up interesting questions - is it musical art or just a utility that makes sounds? Is it both? Which is more important? Fortunately, Kettle has stopped short of including samples like "oh look, it's number 26...could be your lucky number" etc, and as a consequence, the CD is sonically far more interesting than it might otherwise have been!
Kettle - Fading - 20:31
"Fading" is a recording of live performances of previously released and now unavailable Kettle works, reproduced in shortened form. The sleeve explains that re-releasing the material in a shorter length induces "a fading effect as recordings subsequently disappear distilled to the essence of the original performances". Having not heard the originals, I can't say whether I think this approach is a good or a bad thing in this particular case, but it has one obvious benefit: it allows an artist to keep the best of their back-catalogue available and let the rest be forgotten. One could argue that this is like a "Greatest Hits" approach - but that's not necessarily a bad thing. "Greatest Hits" albums are, after all, very popular.
Undecisive God/Kettle - Digilogue - 17:29
This recording is a collaboration between Melbourne artist Clinton Green (Undecisive God) and Brisbane artist Andrew Kettle (Kettle). The title of the work refers to the fact that Andrew uses all digital equipment, while Clinton uses all analogue gear. Apparently these two artists have never met face to face, and that the recording is the result of email correspondence, an increasingly common manner of collaboration these days. The mini-CD contains only two tracks, with the artists swapping roles for each track.
Poota - Chunks - 20:37
"Poota" is the name of a collaboration between Andrew Kettle and Lloyd Barrett. "Chunks" is a mini CD containing what the band considers to be their best material from 1998, constructed from various live and studio recordings. On the sleeve is "The Poota Manifesto", which talks about the band's reasons for existing, namely, frustration about the "stale linearity" of experimental music and a lack of like-minded peers.
Various Artists - Deviations Live Sampler - 20:39
Wow - another fabulous looking mini-CD, exactly like ")+(" but with a green tint. This CD contains extracts from live recordings that are available on other label:KETTLE releases, and as such is a good overview for newcomers to this sort of music, or to label:KETTLE.
Reviews by Lloyd Barrett
This has been a particularly successful release for Kettle, having received airplay on a number of "large" radio stations around Australia. Much has been made of the gimmick - 45 tracks and a lotto sheet, random play and pick your numbers. Focusing on the music however, we discover a reason why this should be mandatory listening for all adventurers in sound. Crystal clear production makes a big difference along with a sense of definite composition. Rather than these individual pieces being random, there is a definate, defined structure - perhaps best to consider them as skits, jokes or inventions. Simple yet crafted. Sources are a manic compendium of movie samples, synth glitches, processed noise spread delicately across the stereo spectrum. Believe me, some are catchy as hell - they'll be smeared across your brain soon!
Kettle - Fading
Combining his studies in alchemy with his live sound-art [Andrew] Kettle has fashioned a subtle gem of shifting textures, drones and glitches. Cutting and refining his previous works down to distill their original essence, this mini-cd moves from contemplative electronic hum and organ drone to noisy chaotic squalls released from malfunctioning circuits expertly tampered with. Bringing together the mantric experimental drones of Lamont Young's "Theatre of Eternal Music" with the crackle and glitch of modern electro, this is a bite size release that still satisfies the appetite.
Kettle - With My Left Eye Closed
This mini-cd was created in response to a medical condition with occasional deterioration of sight in his right eye. Not sure how this relates to the sound of the three pieces but ignorance is not a handicap in appreciating the mesmerising digital soundscapes compiled from electro-magnetic feedback. A pretty, buzzing, bubbling audio world exists in tandem with our mobile-phone universe. Occasionally, those with car stereos will pickup a variety of tones and blips. Using induction microphones, Kettle has recorded a number of digital sources which mesh languidly in this swirling soup of sound. Packaged in a tin case this is a curiously beautiful release.
Kettle - Gratings
More beguiling induction-mic symphonies. This one comes from a live performance at one of Brisbane's more interesting events, "Gratings". Amongst local and international performers, Kettle performed with "Sound Jewellery" attached to his hands. Moving in a precise, ceremonial manner, he extracted the hum, buzz and hiss from a television set. Sounds simple, yet the dynamics of this release make it sublime. Turning the volume way up on the stereo gives the listener access to a number of bizarre modulations making this a stoner essential! Also included is a theme for an animated feature that utilises the similar sources but gives a slightly more manic vibe. Fans of Ryoji Ikeda's work should definitely check this one out.
Poota - Chunks
A five track mini-cd that features a collection of mutated jams from these legendary Brisbane electro improvisors circa 1998. Quite a broad spectrum is covered from spastic noise (track 2), almost funky (track 3), dubbed out (track 4) and enthno-forgery (track 5). Using the bare minimum of cheesy keyboards, home computers and experimental bravo Mr Kettle & Mr Barrett fashion a mostly tuneful sort of experimental music that defies conventional concepts of electronic improvisation. This is a primer for a full length cd "Bits" that chronicles the demise of Poota.
mini-CD: Fading - KETTLE
Richard Stevenson, Spectrum Magazine.
mini- CD: Poota - Chunks.
Richard Stevenson, Spectrum Magazine.
mini-CD: ‘With my left eye closed...’’
Reviews in The Taped Crusaders #9.
The Cd is well worth getting. It harken to a type of experimental music that is really hardly ever heard these days, yet still manages to cut the edge without wandering off into self-indulgence land. Full, complete, challenging, satisfying sounds. It would seem that Queensland has a dedicated scene of sound structuralists. I'd dig hearing more."
Reviews in Ujaku seven. 
I'm not really big on reading extensive liner notes (oh hell, I'll admit it - I'm not that big on reading any huge slab of text), so naturally my focus is on the way the disc sounds when I stick it in my sterio after a nice dinner (pasta it was this evening). I'd say the headphone recommendation (one of the bits of text that jumped out on initial inspection) is a good idea for portions of the disc, particularly the droning stuff that occupies most of the recordings. There are sections that are pretty damn harsh though (falling under the heading of 'microtracks' and 'beautiful noise'!) so be careful.
3PBS, Into the groovy.
45 tracks that can help you get rich in the lottery, loop ad infinitum to send the local pets wild, or simply listen in one
chunk. The sounds are many flavours of glitched out sounds and occasional vocal commentaries. Not for the humour impaired.
Buying 2 copies and finding a double cd player is recommended; set both on random repeat, push up the faders and pump up the
volume! (bris-joke...I blame pumpkin scones for this)
Brian May.
possible musics, 3ccc-fm 89.5
i've been playing it on random on possible musics. i've asked listeners to bring a blank lotto card, and will tell them the random numbers that come up. Maybe someone will win!
i'll also play a few tracks in loop mode. Not all 45 tracks work well when looped (on a first listen, to my ears), but many do.
Good work.
Jacques Soddell
The Vanishing Point - 3D Radio 93.7 FM
Adelaide - Tuesday 12:00 midnight to Wednesday 1am
The music ranges from ambient soundscapes (although there is a definite limit to the amount of ambience one can cram into 19 seconds or less) to disjointed rhythmic loops, sample assortments and harsh noises. Some tracks warranted a second look at the timer to make sure that the CD itself wasn't skipping, while some of the mellower moments sounded like they had been lifted from film soundtracks. Although I'm making this mini-album sound fantastically varied (and it is, in a sense), it is suprising how much some of the adjacent tracks blend together - listening blindly (without looking at the track numbers) I had trouble working out where many tracks began and ended. I found that playing the CD in the normal way and thinking of it as one 13 minute long song was very effective - the vocal samples in the first and last tracks suggest to me that this is no accident, as they are very fitting bookends.
Also suggested in the sleeve is the idea of infinitely looping tracks, which isn't a bad idea, although it does make the music wear thin a bit quicker. Overall it's a really good concept, one that I'm surprised someone hadn't done sooner. It does seem to suit this type of experimental music well, raising questions that many musicians in this field may find uncomfortable (for instance - what is the purpose of noise without function?). This recording has all the functionality of a plastic ball-bearing lotto selector and makes a far greater variety of sounds!
The musical highlight of this CD for me was "Turing Test" - four minutes of gradually ascending keyboard chords recorded at the Zoo nightclub in Brisbane. The chatter at the bar, the punters playing pool, and an occasional unidentifiable rumble which may or may not have been part of the performance, all seem to add rather than detract from the ambience in a way that is unusual for such a mellow piece. Other pieces are generally harsher - "Beautiful Noise #3" is particularly ear-piercing. Consisting mainly of simultaneously very low and incredibly high-pitched throbbing drones, it comes across like Whitehouse but without the lyrics (which is probably a good thing). "High Rise Swarm" seems to be really just a gentler variation on the same idea, and other tracks incorporate drones with other found-object noises. "Soundcheck" has some very seductive bell tones, as well as a few noises that sound not unlike DAT tracking errors. The only track that seems a bit pointless is "Launch" - just one chord, and a very unchanging one at that, fortunately taking up only 30 seconds out of the 20 minute running time. Overall it's generally quite interesting music, and it's quite pleasing to see that it's obviously not impossible to get experimental music gigs in Brisbane!
In "The Mundane & the Stark", Andrew lays down a bed of digital noise, over which Clinton churns out reams of distorted feedbacking guitar, in a disjointed style that will be very familiar to those who have heard much of Undecisive God's other work. This lasts for approximately six minutes, which for me overstayed its welcome just a little - but then the guitar noise peters out and some very quiet piano is introduced, changing the mood of the piece drastically for the last minute and a half and making things far more interesting. On the other track, called "699", the roles are presumably reversed, with Clinton providing the bed for Andrew to work over. However, it's much more difficult for me to discern in this song which part constitutes the "bed". The piece lasts about ten minutes, and consists of long hypnotic drones created by god-knows-what, punctuated by odd blipping sounds. That may not sound too enticing, but it works really well as a mood piece, and probably also would work as an ambient track for a film, reminding me in parts of the atmospheres in David Lynch's "Eraserhead".
It's worth noting that this recording is available both from Brisbane's label:KETTLE on mini CD, and Melbourne's Shame File Tapes on cassette. This is useful information for the few of us whose CD players don't accept the 3-inch CD disc. You should also be warned, if you buy the mini CD, that it may contain nuts. Apparently.
The CD kicks off well enough with a fairly interesting first track (all the tracks are untitled), but it's the second one that really got my attention, containing an amalgam of noises that are really quite unique and undescribable. It almost threatens to become techno at one point before the beat fades out and noise takes over again. Next up is a fantastic track full of driving distorted rhythms and incidental computer-game-like sound effects, before the fourth track hits with an incredible wall of noise before transforming into looped rumbles, strange rhythms and keyboard loops. The final track is a much quieter moment, featuring a slow, repetitive drum track and a keyboard melody, with only a vague hint of noise in the background.
This is a CD that will probably appeal greatly to those who like their experimental music on the hard-edged side. It's the most abrasive tracks on this CD that are the most successful, and the most musically varied and interesting. The music is suprisingly good, especially in light of the somewhat self-deprecating tone of the "Poota Manifesto", which suggests that the majority of Poota's output isn't really up to par. Definitely worth a listen.
The music ranges from electronic extreme-noise workouts ("Agit8") to improvisatory live-music jams ("Ross River") to ambient pieces ("A Short Journey"). Pick of the bunch for me was "The Neil Armstrong Experience", which contains a brilliantly constructed combination of classical samples, guitar feedback and sonic manipulation. "X=Y" was also interesting, and recalled William Burroughs-style vocal cut-ups. Some of what I felt were the weaker tracks suffered a bit by either not really doing anything except throbbing-on-the-spot ("SEO"), or veering dangerously close to new age ambient territory in parts ("Mirko"). So it's a mixed bag, but that's what you'd expect from a compilation like this. The important thing is that it's a good introduction to this sort of thing, and almost anyone should be able to find at least one track that they really like on here. Highly recommended to label:KETTLE newbies.
4ZZZ Radio 102.1 FM, Brisbane
Kettle - Lotto