various artists
void & full
(afro2019 & afro2020) 2xCD

This is a two-disc concept collection wherein the participants were asked to submit a piece designed to fit into one of two categories: Void or Full. Not too surprisingly, these terms can possess multiple meanings and enable a wide range of approaches. In fact, someone taking a blindfold test and asked to determine which section a given work resided in would likely fail as often as not. However, I presume that merely haven been given this loose constraint, the musicians created their pieces in a slightly different manner than they would otherwise have so there’s some amount of inherent interest that might be lacking in a simple, arbitrarily chosen collection. The tracks are relatively short (two to eight minutes), twelve on “Void”, thirteen on “Full”. Generally speaking, there’s some very nice work on both, though nothing that’s truly remarkable or (to the extent I’m familiar with the work of the artists involved—some are new to me) very different from other examples of their craft. Ami Yoshida leads off “Void” with a fine, brief piece that appears to be entirely electronic, though it’s quite possible her amazing voice is mixed in somewhere. There are also strong contributions from Antifrost founder Ilios, Roel Meelkop, M. Behrens, Francisco Lopez and Dieb 13. While the tendency on this disc is toward quieter music with more empty space, this isn’t at all adhered to universally; Lopez’ piece, for example, derives from the same roaring engine sound field as much of his recent work (albeit with an odd, pop song radio grab appended). It’s an open question whether a given musician decided to read “void” as more than a physical condition. Starting the “Full” disc with one of Toshi Nakamura’s “nimb” constructions (#39 if you’re keeping count) is a nicely perverse idea. His static manipulation might strike many listeners as the epitome of emptiness but it’s well within his character to play with such vague notions and cause you to reconsider your premises. The qualitative range on this portion of the project is somewhat greater than on “Void”, the best works (Daniel Menche’s “The Hagakure and Myself” and Sachiko M’s “33”) being outstanding tracks while the weakest (Evol’s “Jiggerypokery” and Maja Ratke’s “Punkhouse Conversation”) tilling a rather shallow furrow in the extreme noise field. But again, the offerings maintain a pretty stable level of interest, including strong work from Nikos Veliotis, Joe Colley, Edwin van der Heide and Eric la Lasa. It concludes with a delightful quasi-lullaby by the team (new to me) of Alejandra and Aeron called “Now I’m Full”, just the sort of surprise that can make an entire set seem rosier in retrospect. So while there may be nothing of overwhelming import herein, the two discs are solid enough overall to warrant investigation. Fans of this music will likely encounter several voices they’ve not yet heard and may be interested to follow up on (in my case, Edwin van der Heide and Alejandra and Aeron) and the semi-completists among us will enjoy having the tracks by our hometown favorites.
- Brian Olewnick, Bagatellen

in order of appearance....

void:

ami yoshida - untitled
ilios - retitled
ronnie sundin - untitled
roel meelkop - fold
m.behrens - untitled (for lida)
coti - void
jason kahn - fluss
francisco lópez - untitled#142
xabi erkizia - esku huts
cremaster -/-hz
dieb13 - !2.20
bernd schurer - nothing is lost all is found

full:

toshimaru nakamura - nimb#39
nikos veliotis - full
joe colley - stagnation hardcore
daniel menche - the hagakure and myself
evol - jigerypokery
edwin van der heide - impuls#10
as11 - olophonic
maja ratkje - punkhouse conversation
matt shoemaker - xie.k release
eric la casa - spirale2
sachiko m - 33
lasse marhaug - because i am melting
alejandra and aeron - now i'm full