RUNZELSTIRN & GURGELSTOCK/ DAVE PHILIPS/ JUSTICE YELDHAM/ CRUDE
Rising Sun, Saturday July 28, 2007
Images and Documentation by Jennifer French - more

Crude Dave Philips Justice Yeldham Rudolf Eb.er

Rudolf Eb.er, a.k.a. Runzelstirn & Gurgelstøck, founded Schimpfluch in December 1986, and coined the concept of “psycho-physical tests and trainings“. This approach deals with therapeutic and analytical actions and reactions of the psyche, the body, and of senses and realities (of both performers and audiences) in a radical, critical but also liberating way - an attack on the mind as well as a stimulation of the senses. Although dwelling in obscurity, Eb.er has gained immeasureable respect for his performances as well as for his unique cut-up techniques; a strict compositional yet organic process that some say is Viennese actionism put into sound, but probably has more to do with martial arts attack patterns, where even the silences between sounds describe a composure that causes maximum tension.

Dave Phillips, a.k.a. dp, was a founding-member of the short-lived (1986 – 1988) yet influential Swiss hardcore-extremists Fear Of God before he joined the Schimpfluch collective in 1991. Since 1987, his solo-works have focused on use of the voice. Coming from a punk/political background, Phillips creates a personal, intimate communication that depicts as well as questions the modern world and cries out for change. Phillips is also a member of OHNE (with Tom Smith/TLASILA, Daniel Löwenbrück/Raionbashi, Reto Mäder/rm74), formed the one-man-band ’dead peni’ in 2004, and has collaborated with the likes of Randy H.Y. Yau, John Wiese or Masonna.

As well as being responsible for Australian noise label and CD pressing plant Dual Plover, Lucas Abela is notorious for donning a utility belt armed with effects pedals and performing through a miked up sheet of broken glass as Justice Yeldham & The Dynamic Ribbon Device. Short and intense, Yeldham’s performances are equally hideous and compelling, violent and beautiful but entirely unforgettable. Challenging the notion that music is merely for the ears, his compelling visceral sound performances are structured around making audible the interface between the organic and the inorganic; the body and more unyielding physical materials. Needless to say, this is work in which the live context is a pre-requisite for understanding, with your own physical presence in the space (if it chooses to stay there) where the aesthetic moment plays out as reverberant shockwave.

Equally notorious in his own way, DIY genius Matt Middleton, aka one-man-band Crude, provides a welcome New Zealand perspective on sonic excess. His multi-instrumental solo performances teeter, often breathtakingly, between control and chaos, encompassing free jazz, electronics, noise, and vocal work. Conceived in 1994, Crude is the working title for Middleton’s recordings - a universe of music and ideas concocted on a simple cassette four-track recorder. As well as a long list of solo self-releases, Middleton has also played with The Aesthetics and Space Dust and released music on Flying Nun, Ecstatic Peace and Mental Telemetry.
rudolf eb.er/runzelstirn & gurgelstøck: www.artnotcrime.net/r+g
Dave Phillips: www.tochnit-aleph.com/dp  www.myspace.com/dpdavephillips
Justice Yeldham: www.dualplover.com/Justice.htm
Matt Middleton: www.crude.co.nz
Schimpfluch’s Alt.music appearance is supported by Creative New Zealand, Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia, Liquid Architecture and Room40.