This specialedition of Ampersand is an overview of an innovative and interesting label: No Type.
In the new exciting world of music compression and copyright breeching programs, a label which freely gives away all its product is fascinating. No Type is that sort of label. At its web site there are archived albums from the full-length old series production phase, and a growing list (29, up to 31 during the preparation of this, the two new ones venturing into a little noise) of singles which are their current focus. A few have disappeared — one was an on-going work which the artist Tomas Jirku pulled, a couple of others have become elsewise available — others may be removed over time due to space requirements or at the artists wish.
Each has a link to a individually designed web page where the tracks are ‘listed’ (the inverted commas are because these sites can be complex interactive productions — 3code is a shockwave surprise) and downloadable. I used both my browser and Anarchie (which was easier because once I had the address I could get a site list and download the music files in one go) to get 14 of these singles to try out for you (again, during my research I expanded my No Type collection, but will limit the number commented on to give you a flavour and reason to explore for yourself).
The first thing that strikes you as you play through is the quality — these are not throw away demo’s or works in progress. Then there is the variety — glitchy techno, beated and beatless ambient, perverse musique concrète and more. Perfect fodder for a shuffle play through your favourite MP3 player (if you want an unpredictable musical environment). The ‘file under’ descriptions provided by the label give a fair idea of what to expect, and for the musical bowerbird it is a haven for interesting new sounds.
The releases I tested and some brief responses are:
016 Matrix Assimilation: swings between sweet ringing tonal ambience into crackling beatbox breaks and back. A short work but the twist in sounds is engaging.
017 Effect: one of the ‘softer’ releases with gentle rhythms, guitar and tuned percussion with a few chitters providing an abstract angle. There are chopped up vocals creating an almost song and smooth beats — No Type lounge.
018 Skoop: track names are a bit of a giveaway here — ‘acid jazz’ ‘sugar pop’ — this is a nice, mellow poppy album. There are synth melodies, straight guitar, regular beats, bloopy bits. A relaxing easy ride.
019 Diablatonica: this three track ‘sampler’ reveals the varied moods of Diabolica. The first loops a classical piece and throws noises over the top, the second is mysterious dark ambient and the final a more full on complex techno piece including sampled voices.
020 833-45: radio crackles and voices, abstract wooshes and tonal melodies, chittering echoed electronica, mellow melody with industrial noises behind, modems, crackly bubbling, gentle beats — across musical boarderlines, like the label.
021 Period 3: the label boss brings forth some very nice minimal ambient music — crackling glitchy tracks that seem to develop and grow — microphone scratching over gongs, clicks and burrs, pulses and random beats, edgy sounds that pick up pace and density, abstract and detailed, the final track is a long humming tonal dreamy glitch fest.
022 The Viceroy: the ground of gentle beats with passing melodies, electro squiggles on top, make for another easy-to-groove-to release with a surprise distant, fractured final track.
023 Influenza: apparently created while suffering influenza, I first listened to this in the same state: cracked jazz loops with beat box and weird percussion, complex offbeatness, dense ambiguous soundtracks to the confusing fever.
024 The moon stealing project: which would appear to capture satellite noises, creates a mixture of ringing, glitchy, dreamy and twisted techno from the results, and is subtle, bewitching and beguiling in its angular beauty. Much too short.
025 833-45 v Jirku: two of the label regulars present a track and remix the other’s. A simple album of gentle electro with a few squiggles.
026 Eucci: the most minimal microwave glitch work I have found on the label — subtle and almost absent at times, it ends with a long (10 minute) exploration of sound. Comparing this to Diabolica or Skoop underlines the breadth of the releases.
027 3code: slightly skewed idm; rhythm loops constructed from off-beat samplenoises overlaid with popee melody, ringing tonal ambience with more subverted beats, bouncy glitch dancing music — a swinging wacky ride.
028 Anaesthesia: a long minialbum featuring the acoustic sounds of violin and strings, some voice work (not vocals, but instrumental), tribal at times, edgy abstract lines, a very complex album with the common-labelfeature of a long final track.
029 L’île de béton: a mad(dening) collage of spoken voices and cracked up songs: fast forwarded, fragmented and slowed sampling, a demented demix of ‘Love is a battlefield’, rapid wacky organ solos, loops, plinkyplonks, wild guitar and gentle guitar samples hidden under edgy noise, interspersed with almost relaxed ambient-glitch, gestures towards song and some sweet tonal melodies. Truly inexplic(at)able music.
Lengths of the singles varies from less than 15 minutes to over 30 — I haven’t ckecked out the older archived albums. And as you check through you’ll notice some recurring artists — period 3, 833-45, Jirku and more: there is a label stable.
David Turgeon maintains the label on the proverbial smell of an oily rag, enthused by responses to the music and the label, and with the help of friends as it has expanded. And I shouldn’t close without commenting on the quality of the graphics and presentation — it is a very nice looking site — which makes it a pleasure to visit. And David’s notes, including explanations of new releases and of what a No Type week is, are fascinating.
Anyway, visit the site and explore, as to quote David ‘its the best, cheapest way to broaden your musical horizons’, and let them know what you think.
