Two Recent Vertonen Reviews

Pleased to receive both a review of Cast Away, a cassette I did for Readymade Tapes Quality Since 1893, in the quietus and Frans de Waard's kind words in Vital Weekly about the newest ballast release, utterer.

highlights (for me) of each review below, and links to the full reviews as well.

from the quietus (the actual review is near the bottom of the page) re: the Cast Away cassette:
http://thequietus.com/articles/18165-rum-music-russell-cuzner-2

The release only states that the piece [on side one] includes recordings made at Elsie Paroubek's grave, but a Wikipedia search reveals the longer story of the missing five year old whose body was eventually found in the city's canal believed to have been strangled. The distressing tale makes sense of Vertonen’s choice of additions to the everyday ambience of the graveyard: an organ grinder solemnly plays linking to the last reported sighting of Elsie, apparently in awe of such a street entertainer as he moved his pitch with her and her cousins in tow; and incorporating the National Anthem of the Czech Republic refers to the nationality of Elsie's immigrant parents. These layers intertwine and decompose under a title that translates as "Is that you my dear?" to form a grisly sonic séance.
from Vital Weekly re: utterer:
http://vitalweekly.net/988.html

These five parts - distinct as they are, but cut as one piece, and in these pieces there is in general a static approach to the word 'drone', with very minimal changes in the effects that are used. Maybe these changes come from the original source material, but more likely from hand manipulations by Edwards. The third part is very short and acts as a bridge; the fifth part is the longest at almost thirty minutes and is the best part of it all: slowly changing within given parameters, along organ-like drone sounds. This is an excellent work for late night listening.

I have limited copies of Cast Away available at $7 ppd US. If you are overseas, please contact me at vertonen (at) earthlink (dot) net for shipping information.

thank you,

Blake

Vertonen: utterer CDR now available

I am pleased to announce the second release on ballast, Vertonen: utterer. It is a long-form drone work based on a ten-minute vocal drone that Anthony Dunn (vocalist for the doom metal band Sun Splitter) did.

The release is in an edition of 33 copies and comes in a silkscreened envelope with six double sided inserts featuring Anthony's artwork.

The release is $8 ppd in the United States, with variable shipping costs incurred by those outside of the United States. Please contact me at vertonen (at) earthlink (dot) net for information.

Thank you,

Blake