Over the last little while I have been exploring some sound poetry and spoken word material as well as some other older favorites of vocal noise and noise-adjacent material.
Namely the following:
Junko - Sleeping Beauty
Junko - The Void
Ami Yoshida - Spirital Voice
Ami Yoshida - Tiger Thrush
Last night I came across this one:
Carlfriedrich Claus - Basale Sprechoperationsräume - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wuyOOnVq0I&t=605s
I would love to explore this kind of stuff further and am looking for some recommendations and thoughts or pointers on vocal noise.
Ideally it would not be in the context of power electronics and I would love to find more material that is strictly voice with little to no effects or other instruments/players involved.
Junko's The Void is kind of already pushing it with the effects on the voice.
I've been digging some Posset or Yol-material that will often include voice/mouth sounds/screams and other weirdness...mangled speech...but there must be more condensed voice stuff out there that is pushing boundaries.
There is a lot of poetry and wordplay/radio-play type material that I enjoy for a variety of reasons, however I am wondering about pure voice noise.
Ideas? Suggestions?
Do you know the sound poems of Henri Chopin and Bob Cobbing?
How about free improv vocal improvisers such as Phil Minton? Does that fit the category?
Quote from: Bruitiste on June 14, 2020, 08:51:50 PM
Do you know the sound poems of Henri Chopin and Bob Cobbing?
How about free improv vocal improvisers such as Phil Minton? Does that fit the category?
The name Henri Chopin is familiar but I can't say I have heard anything. Cobbing is an unknown for me all around. Any good starting points for both?
Noticed there seems to be a few Cobbing-compilations...any pointers for both much appreciated.
Minton is interesting but what I have heard seems maybe a bit tame...for lack of a better term...any of his material in particular that has your seal of approval?
Another one I have enjoyed recently is Kazehito Seki's "Self Something For The Moment" on Idiopathic from last year.
Thanks for the names - certainly warrants further digging in that direction.
For sound poetry in general I would suggest tracking down the Revue OU compilation (4 CDs) that has Chopin, Cobbing, and loads more.
If Minton is a little too light, you might want to try the Lost Rivers CD by Sainkho Namtchylak, which has lots of interesting and sometimes noisy vocal techniques and singing on display, it's a full record of solo vocal improv.
C Spencer Yeh of Burning Star Core has a good one called Solo Voice I-X.
Schrei X by Diamanda Galas is also solid.
Existing sound poetry thread: http://www.special-interests.net/forum/index.php?topic=98.0
Lots of crossover between this and the more 'noise' based suggestions but it's a distinction worth making. I suppose Charmaine Lee would fit the bill to some extent.
Vocal stuff isn't usually an interest, but I'll add another recommendation for Henri Chopin
Quote from: Bruitiste on June 14, 2020, 09:33:43 PM
For sound poetry in general I would suggest tracking down the Revue OU compilation (4 CDs) that has Chopin, Cobbing, and loads more.
If Minton is a little too light, you might want to try the Lost Rivers CD by Sainkho Namtchylak, which has lots of interesting and sometimes noisy vocal techniques and singing on display, it's a full record of solo vocal improv.
C Spencer Yeh of Burning Star Core has a good one called Solo Voice I-X.
Schrei X by Diamanda Galas is also solid.
I will definitely give Minton another look/listen. There is a lot to explore, however it seems a lot of collaborative improv-work with musicians. Thanks.
Sainkho Namtchylak is also new to me and I will follow up on that lead for sure.
I did not know that Mr. Yeh has solo voice material recorded - certainly should prove worthy of looking into.
Diamanda Galas is someone everybody should be listening to. I am somewhat familiar with her discography and maybe it's time to re-visit some of it.
Quote from: Duncan on June 14, 2020, 09:55:23 PM
Existing sound poetry thread: http://www.special-interests.net/forum/index.php?topic=98.0
Lots of crossover between this and the more 'noise' based suggestions but it's a distinction worth making. I suppose Charmaine Lee would fit the bill to some extent.
Like I said, there is a lot of sound poetry that is fascinating on a lot of levels, I thought I would start this thread to see if anybody has recommendations for strictly tortured voice/vocal/mouth sounds that would be considered noise. The less actual words or phrases the better. Sorry if the crossover turns out to suffice in eliminating this thread.
Quote from: Zeno Marx on June 14, 2020, 09:58:59 PM
Vocal stuff isn't usually an interest, but I'll add another recommendation for Henri Chopin
Duly noted. :-)
A lot of RHY Yau is pretty vocal.
Some of my earlier material (as Chav Stabber) was built around glossolalia and extended vocal technique, but it was more in line with harsh noise than what you're looking for here.
Have you tried "Adult Themes for Voice" by Mike Patton?
It was all done with a microphone and a 4-track (possibly a dictaphone in there too), but it's an interesting, if self-indulgent album.
Michael Barthel - excellent sound poetry\collage stuff made mostly using voice and tape machines. Also runs the excellent "Recordings For The Summer" label.
Justice Yeldham primarily performs by yelling into glass with a contact mic attached. this sounds more like traditional harsh noise, through pedal usage if I remember correctly.
The more I think about it the tougher this kind of style is to pin down without just recommending something that falls into a lineage of sound poetry (and related) or free improv. Barthel is a good example of this where the fidelity of the recording and some of his voice techniques sit within quite grating, noisy territory but clearly come ultimately from a discipline of experimental poetics. My being unable to understand German definitely colours how 'noisy' I find it too. Great work nonetheless.
It's definitely worthwhile to try and talk about where these things diverge into more demonstrably noise based works though. I mentioned Charmaine Lee earlier. Definitely the strong presence of free improvised voice in her work but the use of different mics and some fx take it in that more heavy, abstract direction
https://youtube.com/watch?v=Ksonevztiro
Junko is of course totally correct. I've not heard for myself but I believe she and Mattin have a collaborative album that's just a load of pretty fucking difficult to listen to yelling?
Less heavy and taking a different approach in that other people's voices (I think) are always used but blackhumour is worth a mention for the way it grinds repeating sounds or phrases into a big mulch.
Maybe it's hard to find many examples of artists for whom this is a dedicated practice but it's certainly the case that across many masonna, schimpfluch and even gerogerigegege releases you'll find plenty of meaningless, gross vocal noises.
Hope to think of some more examples later as we'll encounter some new suggestions here
Masonna?
Quote from: Bruitiste on June 14, 2020, 09:33:43 PMIf Minton is a little too light, you might want to try the Lost Rivers CD by Sainkho Namtchylak, which has lots of interesting and sometimes noisy vocal techniques and singing on display, it's a full record of solo vocal improv.
Ah sweet, I thought it was just one song and not a full album! This is the song I had heard previously: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6PGKV0C-Ok
Quote from: Zeno Marx on June 14, 2020, 09:58:59 PM
Henri Chopin
Ah, this guy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mg3NrR7_jYk
I am quite sure I saw him sleeping on a pavement once.
Just kidding, this was pretty awesome and his look does nothing but improve the experience.
Saw Randy Yau live- full set of just voice driven feedback. Was rather impressive
I forgot about this one. It's very good. Not noise. The Hafler Trio - Normally 2003. Explanation at the bottom of the Discogs page.
https://www.discogs.com/The-Hafler-Trio-Normally/release/246804
Quote from: Yrjö-Koskinen on June 15, 2020, 10:34:51 AM
Quote from: Zeno Marx on June 14, 2020, 09:58:59 PM
Henri Chopin
Ah, this guy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mg3NrR7_jYk
I am quite sure I saw him sleeping on a pavement once.
Just kidding, this was pretty awesome and his look does nothing but improve the experience.
This guy was incredible, and his humour shines through in every performance. I love his gestures and expressions in this clip.
Remembered this almost as soon as I posted my last response:
https://www.discogs.com/TMikawa-Rising-Sunset/release/11307720
Absurdly for a £5 cdr which only came out 3 years ago, it seems to go for an absurd price on discogs. Maybe this is easy to find a download of somewhere though. If you imagine a normal Incapacitants/Mikawa solo set but with a totally dry mic recording his mouth babbles really clearly and the electronics turned down low this is what you get. It's a good one.
Definitely need to check out that Hafler Trio release - Mr. Bargeld is an old favorite. Thanks for that.
Yesterday I spent some time with this one:
https://www.discogs.com/Makigami-Koichi-Koedarake/release/1196058
Interesting very diverse and playful vocal explorations. Maybe a little too much on the fun/gimmicky side with the cartoon voices type stuff. Loved the throat singing stuff.
There is another pure vocal release of his on Tzadik as far as I can tell. Will check it out as well.
Maybe it's time to re-visit Phurpa - sort of ritualistic vocal noise - but then the question is whether it should be enjoyed as noise or more as folk.
Quote from: Potier on June 16, 2020, 04:21:51 PM
Yesterday I spent some time with this one:
https://www.discogs.com/Makigami-Koichi-Koedarake/release/1196058
Makigami is great. Saw him live once, so great. And yes, as you say - very playful and fun. Have you listened to much Jaap Blonk? I believe he has a lot of work on a bandcamp.
Quote from: Potier on June 16, 2020, 04:21:51 PM
Maybe it's time to re-visit Phurpa - sort of ritualistic vocal noise - but then the question is whether it should be enjoyed as noise or more as folk.
I could be wrong but I believe they view what they do very much as an attempt at some quite specific, authentic Bön traditions. How you enjoy it is ultimately down to you - on one level it's just intense sound after all - but there are conversations to be had about how folk/authentic it can really be given they're Moscow based guys doing Himalayan music or how Noise it can really be given that this association seems only to exist in the company they keep. I don't know what the answers are but I did also catch them live once and it was quite enjoyable if not a bit boring after 30 mins.
Some Rudolf Eb.er stuff fits the discription I guess. Henri Chopin. JGJGJGJG and the Balsam Flex label. William Levy LP on Slowscan. Ferdinand Kriwet. Jackson Mac Low. François Dufrêne LP on Recital. Ian William Craig (esp. the recent Red Sun Through Smoke LP); a trained opera singer mixing lo-fi electronics with vocals. Nikolaus Urban (great 7" on De Appel), Ghédalia Tazartès, Arrigo Lora-Totino (esp the 7" on Holidays), Anton Bruhin - InOut cd. Most of these are not really noisy though, more sound-art orientated.
Quote from: Potier on June 14, 2020, 09:01:19 PM
Quote from: Bruitiste on June 14, 2020, 08:51:50 PM
Do you know the sound poems of Henri Chopin and Bob Cobbing?
How about free improv vocal improvisers such as Phil Minton? Does that fit the category?
The name Henri Chopin is familiar but I can't say I have heard anything. Cobbing is an unknown for me all around. Any good starting points for both?
Noticed there seems to be a few Cobbing-compilations...any pointers for both much appreciated.
I love this LP and it's also affordable; https://www.discogs.com/Henri-Chopin-OH-Audiopoems-By-Henri-Chopin/release/10435789
I'm not a big Bob Cobbing fan, gets annoying after a while. He does appear on this Peter Finch LP though that I like a lot; https://www.discogs.com/Peter-Finch-Dances-Interdites/release/10324893
Quote from: theotherjohn on June 16, 2020, 06:55:02 PM
On the avant-garde/sound poetry trip, I'm very fond of Demetrio Stratos but it's a real shame that he died before he could fully unlock his potential.
100% agreed, Stratos did some really incredible work with taking a voice into new territory. I've only ever heard his stuff online, but he's been a huge inspiration for me vocally in terms of more avant-garde work. Some seem to think that his use of certain techniques may have contributed to his death, so I've always been interested in studying him further. Certain yogic techniques can allow one to get into the autonomic nervous system, with potentially fatal consequences, so I'm at least vaguely open to the possibility that voice could be 'directed' similarly.
Quote from: impulse manslaughter on June 16, 2020, 05:51:47 PM
Some Rudolf Eb.er stuff fits the discription I guess. Henri Chopin. JGJGJGJG and the Balsam Flex label. William Levy LP on Slowscan. Ferdinand Kriwet. Jackson Mac Low. François Dufrêne LP on Recital. Ian William Craig (esp. the recent Red Sun Through Smoke LP); a trained opera singer mixing lo-fi electronics with vocals. Nikolaus Urban (great 7" on De Appel), Ghédalia Tazartès, Arrigo Lora-Totino (esp the 7" on Holidays), Anton Bruhin - InOut cd. Most of these are not really noisy though, more sound-art orientated.
Checked out a download of the François Dufrêne LP on Recital last night - this is exactly the kind of stuff I am looking for. Seems this was re-released after originally appearing on cassette or reel to reel - files I found sounded kinda rough - can anyone comment on the actual LP and what it sounds like?
The A-Side of the Nikolaus Urban 7" can be heard on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAU5cDN9vT0 - definitely great stuff.
Thanks a lot for the recommendations, I will be doing more digging.
Also highly recommend the Dufrêne - Oeuvre Désintégrale set on Alga Marghen.
Quote
Checked out a download of the François Dufrêne LP on Recital last night - this is exactly the kind of stuff I am looking for. Seems this was re-released after originally appearing on cassette or reel to reel - files I found sounded kinda rough - can anyone comment on the actual LP and what it sounds like?
I have the LP but can't compare to the original tape which is impossible to find these days. The LP has a nice insert with liner notes and sounds good to my ears..
I was reminded of this album today. I find it annoying, but some consider it a classic in voice tomfoolery.
https://feedingtuberecords.bandcamp.com/album/flee-pasts-ape-elf
Played Asmus Tietchens - Von Mund To Mund 7"s series today. Comes recommended if you're into mouth works & voice.
https://www.discogs.com/Eric-Boros-Dave-Phillips-Split/release/1011852
Eric Boros / Dave Phillips live split.
EB laughing in stereo. DP gasping for air (and eventually just yelling like crazy) while running samples of pigs squealing at varying pitches over a repeating pulse beat before blasting off at the end.
bpNichol LP from 68 is great. A re-issue is much needed though as copies are selling for 1500 euros now..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fa2OEG9deSI&feature=emb_logo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fa2OEG9deSI&feature=emb_logo)
Quote from: impulse manslaughter on July 02, 2020, 11:40:23 PM
Played Asmus Tietchens - Von Mund To Mund 7"s series today. Comes recommended if you're into mouth works & voice.
Never knew Tietchens messed with vocal stuff. I am fond of a fair bit of his material. Will definitely check this out.
Quote from: absurdexposition on July 05, 2020, 04:24:56 AM
https://www.discogs.com/Eric-Boros-Dave-Phillips-Split/release/1011852
Eric Boros / Dave Phillips live split.
EB laughing in stereo. DP gasping for air (and eventually just yelling like crazy) while running samples of pigs squealing at varying pitches over a repeating pulse beat before blasting off at the end.
Damn. Sounds like a no-brainer. Cheers.
I got into some Luciano Berio last night. Mainly this one:
https://www.discogs.com/Luciano-Berio-Circles-Sequenza-I-III-V/master/260003
Obviously far from noise but the Sequenza pieces hit an interesting spot.
And since I am stuck on Carlfriedrich Claus (and related):
https://www.discogs.com/The-Oval-Language-RLW-Das-Synthetische-Mischgewebe-Sprechzimmern/release/6878476
This one is fantastic.
Totally forgot about Chik White, from Nova Scotia. https://chikwhite.bandcamp.com/album/interiors
https://www.discogs.com/release/626133-Various-Rub-Out-The-Word
Lots of popular names on this one.
You might enjoy these:
Jennifer Walshe - Nature Data (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMx03TiN_pk&t=5s)
Joan La Barbara - Voice is The Original Instrument (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-JnXRaQS3E&list=PLsYMvBuraCk8USyCLVFgyQY0yN-jY1ZTc)
Mara S.K. Ratkje - Mara (https://soundcloud.com/importantrecords/maja-sk-ratkje-mara-picture-disc-lp-pre-order-available-now)
Quote from: Pigswill on December 19, 2021, 10:48:47 AM
Mara S.K. Ratkje - Mara (https://soundcloud.com/importantrecords/maja-sk-ratkje-mara-picture-disc-lp-pre-order-available-now)
I want to get her Voice album, her solo album Stalker is good. Her Fem@il project with Lasse Marhaug - All Men Are Pigs was my first Paypal purchase overseas off GameBoy Records.
Quote from: Lazrs3 on December 19, 2021, 11:45:59 AM
I want to get her Voice album
That's a really great album, still my favourite of hers.
Ami Yoshida was mentioned in the original post ... I'd highly recommend her Soba to Bara collab with Toshimaru Nakamura.
Lots of great stuff mentioned already. Not sure what else to add. Maybe ID M Theft Able? Not all vocals obviously but large parts of his discography would probably fit comfortably in this thread.
Katalin Ladik - Phonopoetica 7" arrived here today. Great experimental vocal sounds. It's a rare record from 1976 but her work was recently reissued w/ extra material on a compilation LP on Alga Marghen.
Checked this out the other day...will warrant repeated listening. Already came out in 2020 but just stumbled across it now:
Yui Nakamura - darkthroat
https://www.ftarri.com/meenna/968/index.html
Quote from: ddmurph on December 23, 2021, 07:22:48 PM
Ami Yoshida was mentioned in the original post ... I'd highly recommend her Soba to Bara collab with Toshimaru Nakamura.
So much yes. Soba To Bara is great. Nakamura's no input mixing board material compliments her vocals very well. A favorite around these parts for sure.
One thing involving Ami Yoshida that I have been meaning to spend more time with is the Cosmos project with Sachiko M - Erstwhile put this one out - also involving Toshimaru Nakamura:
https://www.discogs.com/release/262993-Cosmos-Tears