Rehberg, Mandell, Takahashi and Signer

[Jeroen de Boer <usva-th2@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

MiG (Media Initiative Groningen) presents in collaboration
with the Beringer Hazewinkel Foundation

Peter ?Pita? Rehberg (UK, Mego Records)
Jake Mandell (VS, Carpark Records)
Signer (NZ, Involve Records)
So Takahashi (JAP, Carpark Records)

Wednesday November 22
21.30
Admission fl. 10,-
USVA Theater
Munnekeholm 10
Groningen, The Netherlands

info:
Jeroen de Boer
usva-th2@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
+31 (0)50-3634676

Peter Rehberg (UK)
"Peter Rehberg a.k.a. Pita's first album, was a
monumental piece which was decisive in the direction
that Mego took as a label thereafter. Devoid of any
element of ornamentation, the album featured endless
repetitions of high frequency digital noises. Quite unlike
'minimal techno', all the sounds in this piece were
reduced to pulse signals, distorted to unheard of
extemes. These sounds could have been seen as the
ruins, or maybe the corpse of techno. Along with albums
such as Panasonic?s Vakio and Ryoji Ikeda's +/-, this
album came to be known as a manifesto-like
masterpiece." -- Atsushi Sasaki

"Mego has become a global buzzword for category-
defying computer music and wayward digital
experimentattion. Once an obscure Vienna-based label
manned by founder Peter "Pita" Rehberg and his
associates in art, music and media design, Mego now
serves as the hub for creative international empire of
trend setting artists" - Grooves Magazine

Jake Mandell (US)
CMTTTTBIAFTLTBBVEFNACMOAGACEWNTIS [Computer
Music That Tries To Be Interesting And Fun To Listen To
By Borrowing Varied Elements From New And Classic
Music Of All Genres And Continuously Experimenting With
New Technologies Ideas and Sounds]

Lotus Magazine (March 2000)
With highly touted releases on such prestigious labels as
Worm Interface and Force Inc., as well as boutique labels
Lucky Kitchen, Pitchcadet and Kodama, click-rattle-n-bleep
specialist Jake Mandell is firmly entrenched as a darling of
the "Intelligent Dance Music" set. Though he?s still little-
known to the world at large, Mandell?s globe-spanning
collection of label affiliations and rave reviews are proof
that those "in the know" know Jake. (Not bad for a guy
whose first EP is less than three years old.) It?s no
surprise, then, that Carpark Records tabbed the
Minnesota native to produce the first release in its
fledgling catalog. With seven tracks clocking in under 19
minutes, the Placekick CD-EP is a bite-size sampling of
Mandell?s sonic mastery. His frenetic, jungle-inspired
rhythm tracks make Aphex Twin sound conventional,
while his dissonant, occasionally atonal melodies can be
frighteningly catchy (a bit like Mike Paradinas when he?s
"on"). In fact, the disc?s most notable flaw may be its
brevity. There are some damn tasty bits scattered
throughout this CD?it?s a shame Jake didn?t explore some
ofthem in more detail.

City Pages
Best album of the past 12 months ?Parallel Processes?
updates Schönberg for the Twenty-First Century.

Wax
Album of the Month
This is future music. Proper fucking 21st century sounds.
10/10

So Takahashi (JAP)
Lotus Magazine ? (Spring 2000)
The debut album by Yokohama native/New York resident
So Takahashi sounds a bit like a compilation of different
artists?and that?s a compliment. While some techno
experimentalists spend entire recordings obsessing on a
single stylistic theme?often yielding tedious
results?Takahashi employs a nice range of moods and
timbres, making Nubus a continually intriguing and
surprising listen. While this variety will no doubt lure
listeners back again and again, it?s Takahashi?s unique,
minimalistic melodicism and deft production that will
capture their attention in the first place. Combining
elements of Coil, Autechre, Hafler Trio and countless
others, Takahashi?s palette covers everything from
nouveau ambience to noise deconstruction, 1970s
experimental film music and techno bleepiness. If the
artist?s masterful sample manipulation and sparkling use
of found sounds are the building blocks of his work, it?s
his outstanding sense of pacing and composition that
holds it all together. We may very well be following So
Takahashi?s work for decades to come, so jump aboard
now.
lotus rating: 8
-Al Ritchie

hardwax ? 1.21.00
abstract nice sounding electronica: ambient to subtle
groovin tunes TIP!

Ink19
NuBus spans the gamut of glitch music. It is slightly
Ovular in substance, but very Ikeda-esque in form. Don?t
know what I?m talking about? Well get with the program,
Mac! Glitch is the moniker given to all of these new
reductionist electronic musicians. Like La Monte Young
distilling music down to its primordial drone, this school of
composers finds their sources in the skip of a CD, crackle
in a record, and hitch in the tape. If there is a ghost in the
machine, these musicians have found and trained it. So
Takahashi takes a more melodic approach than much of
the Mego crew, and a less shrill approach than they do,
as well. One could say that this is downright palatable.
But it may sound too much like their printer for many
people to digest.
niravsoni

Signer (NZ)
?Top NZ producer Bevan Smith returns under the signer
moniker producing an album of tracks as ?experiments in
the movement of ambient music?.

?Andrew Duke?s number 1 for May
http://techno.ca/cognition/emay00.htm?.



----------------------------------------
Jeroen de Boer
music director Open Electronic Festival/Cyberslag Foundation
Munnekeholm 10, 9711JA Groningen
The Netherlands
tel/fax: +31 (0)503634676/(0)503632209
gsm: +31 (0)624814506
usva-th2@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.cyberslag.com
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