Das Synthetische Mischgewebe (DSM) is an artist I was unfamiliar with until seeing this release. Though there have at times been multiple members, Guido Hubner is the central creator here, who has also like PBK been active since the 1980s when he began releasing many works on cassette through various diy labels. Over the last 40+ years he has released works across the planet on Harsh Reality Music, Hypnagogia, Phage Tapes, Monochrome Vision, Ferns Recordings, Attenuation Circuit, Tribe Tapes and others. His work has appeared alongside or been in collaboration with Michael Northam, Artificial Memory Trace, Frans de Waard, MSBR, Alan / Anla Courtis and other luminaries of the underground avant garde. Huebner’s techniques are perhaps on the unusual side of the noise world, as he is a creator / user of physical machines which make noise, not unlike the original ideas of the Futurists. This explains a lot of the sounds I was hearing in this release! I thought he was just using ordinary power tools and objects for the most part, but apparently the very organic (i.e. not direct-line electronics, synths, etc.) kind of noises I was hearing were the result of the many odd sound sculpture / structure devices Huebner has crafted and combined. His recorded work across the decades has taken various turns in its manifestations, at times using varied editing and overdubbing techniques in combination with his various mechanical constructions. I won’t go on much more about DSM here, but I recommend digging into this fascinating interview from the MONK MINK PINK PUNK web zine to learn more. I will share a quote from this interview for just a bit more perspective on DSM’s approach:
“Live, I’m not particularly interested to playing alone. For one because having only two hands after millions of years of evolution is hardly sufficient and it can quickly turn into a simple execution of preconceived ideas that are more the result of problem solving and quickly annoys me. Electric motors are my helping hands, but consequently my luggage exceeds quickly the allowed 20kg limit and those I often struggle more with ergonomics than with art. A reason I like to do installations that stay up for some time is the effort of all involved is more appreciated. Concerts are best when we are 3 to 4 people and every one of us has the possibility to not play for a while and walk around listening. Whenever the occasion allows we prefer to play in a square in the center with the audience moving around us, filling the venue with plenty of loudspeakers and amplifiers, with sounds of various intensity coming from everywhere. Usually we follow a preconceived dynamic line and try to obtain a balance of sound sources that provide very differentiated results and others which are more similar, but are distinctive through different amplifications, positioning and so on. Thus we can obtain a sufficient control of what is layered and what are singular sound events. We also enjoy using things we can hardly control beyond the “when” and still, relatively speaking so, like when cooking or using fireworks. As we have all different capacities, preferences create order, but it isn’t wrong to say that it’s just many hands on a kind of méta-instrument. Also there are strictly speaking no conventional instruments involved, no digitalia, electronic effects, samples, pre-recordings or the like.”
Guido Huebner
And for a little more perspective, a live video of a DSM performance and a couple of cassette releases from way back are embedded below. There is quite a world here to dig into.
PBK I have covered previously on multiple occasions -the most recent being a writeup of a very nice re-release of two late 1980s cassette collaborations with Vidna Obmana. He has released many works on cassette and other formats since the early 1980s, many in collaboration with or alongside other remarkable creators of abstract audio art. I recommend checking out this excellently illuminating interview with him by Don Campau at The Living Archive of Underground Music to receive a detailed view of his rich creative history, ideas and perspectives.
This recording ZIZ is divided into two segments just shy of 30 minutes in length, each segment created by one of the two artists. Both works were guided by the conceptual prompt quoted below from the release notes:
“As Leviathan is the king of fishes, so the Ziz is appointed to rule over the birds. His name comes from the variety of tastes his flesh has; it tastes like this, zeh, and like that, zeh. The Ziz is as monstrous of size as Leviathan himself. His ankles rest on the earth, and his head reaches to the very sky… The Ziz has another name, Renanin, because he is the celestial singer. On account of his relation to the heavenly regions, he is also called Sekwi, the seer…”
“It is Ziz, the heavenly bird, created by medieval exegesis and featured among the dishes of the feast of the righteous. It is not present in the Bible or inter-testamentary literature but is often mentioned in rabbinical sources. His name is linked to his food destination by the creative etymology of the rabbis: Why was he called Ziz? Because it has different tastes: the taste of this (zeh) and the taste of that (zeh). (Lv. R 22.10).”
I am a big fan of diy releases produced with atypical handmade audio recording packages. It’s a lovely thing just when it’s apparent that the recording was produced entirely at home, but special approaches to packaging bring a feeling of intimacy that adds a unique value to the experience of an audio recording. This package is entirely handmade using folded painted (by Guido Hubner / DSM) and printed papers, released by a small label in western EU called MMLI.
A conceptual theme or basis isn’t always needed for audio work, but admittedly I do often find it more compelling when there is one. It just adds a bit more context and stimulus for considering the sound from different angles, and it often exposes me to new concepts that enrich my worldview. In this case, I think both of the visual and sound characteristics / phenomena of Ziz; the awesomeness of its size, weight, and movements as well as the many sounds it would make by moving in space, against surfaces, and from within its own impossibly massive body. The mythical / mystical / imaginal aspects of this figure also inspire a sense of wonder which can act against the nihilistic materialistic myopia that living in this society can so effectively instill. The widely varying sounds across both sides of this tape create a lot of different compelling “visions” of the Ziz. With this conceptual basis, the distinctive handmade packaging, and just shy of 60 minutes of aurally elaborate audio this is a very rich and perhaps it’s fair to say -devotional- work. This type of consideration in mustering an audio art project is absorbing, enjoyable and welcome to my senses.
DSM’s mix of zeh (Side A) stays more dry and close to the listener, with an aLive sound consisting heavily of what sound like in-the-room recordings of metal objects, power tools and / or electronics whose aural signatures often resemble power tools or machines. After some research into DSM’s methods, I’ve come to learn that these are the sounds of his various machine objects in motion, interacting with various materials and surfaces. Crispy dry sounds of objects being mechanically fondled, banged, fumbled rumbled and otherwise toyed with to elicit their many subtle voices are alternately combined and left alone for us to focus in on. There is a lot of scraping, rattling, thumping, thrumming, dropping, and any other motions employed to bring out many timbres from different items, and the ambient characteristics of the spaces they are recorded in bring intimate qualities to the mix. At times there are stringed instruments being played with objects dribbling over or scraping across the strings. There is also some electronic sound here, which is unassumingly mingled and carefully blended with the raw captured machine object voices. The electronics center in various flavors of dry static; there is little to nothing in the way of tones or spatial atmospheres. At times rather than synths / radios / no-input / who-knows-what, the “electronics” take the form of looped or resampled segments of the dry captured object-voices. As the composition proceeds, sounds tend to come and go in abrupt starts and stops rather than fades. At times certain moments of sound are repeated, creating brief movements around the repetitions. On both side A and side B there are many movements throughout which create dynamic shifts in mood and atmosphere. This DSM side in its somewhat more audio verite approach winds through many twists and turns, winding down finally to a quietly subdued close.
PBK’s mix of zeh (Side B) immediately starts off as decidedly more psychedelic and electroacoustic in approach, with spatially active reverbs, dense textures and thoughtful stereo activity abounding. As with DSM’s take on zeh, the sound sources still seem to consist of ample amounts of raw recorded physical materials at times sounding foley-like and metallic, but they have mostly been pummeled and carefully sculpted to become something more mysterious. Heavy manipulations of many types occur throughout this side, and it is delicious. Electronic sounds also come and go, but there is a more spacious and at times cosmic result. To make a color analogy, side A would perhaps consist of many Earth tones mostly of moderate intensity (that’s not at all a bad thing – just more Earthbound), and this side would be a palette also of Earth tones, but of higher intensity with at least 25% neon colors swooping in during the densest sections. I see / feel something technologically intense, surreal, hallucinogenic in these bright colored swoops. I mention this in part due to the black / white / metallic silver artwork for the release by DSM, which seems Earthly and organic, but also referential of technology / machinery / synthetic chemical elements. Maybe I visualize the additional colors beyond black / white / silver because I’m less of a minimalist?
Interestingly, upon reaching out to PBK to inquire upon a thing or two about this project, he mentioned a few things that coincide with my inner responses to it. Apparently DSM’s side was completed first and shared with PBK, which influenced his approach in various ways. PBK’s take on zeh was somewhat of an emulation of or allusion to DSM’s sounds, textures and the ZIZ mythology, but primarily through the use of synthesizers and electronics. PBK also cited the notion of a hologram, which etymologically descends from the Greek words “holos” (whole) and “gramma” (message). This in a way relates to my perception of intervening neon colors and hallucinogenic / sci-fi-tech phenomena, but instead of colors PBK was thinking of emulation from different angles, as with the many pieces of a hologram which contain the entire image. So it seems PBK’s side is indeed somewhat of a re-interpretation of DSM’s side, but from the perspective of its own sound-world.
Purchase ZIZ @ PBKSOUND (US postal customers)
Purchase ZIZ @ MMLI (EU postal customers)
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