Reviews:
(Noise Not Music) I know as little about Kal Spelletich as I do about the “custom made machine/robot instruments” they designed and built that generate the entirety of the sounds on The Blessing of the ZHENGKE ZGA37RG. From what I can tell, the cassette is the sound artist’s first solo release, at least under their own name; according to Discogs, Spelletich was involved in a project called Seemen in the late 80s and early 90s, and with legendary performance collective Survival Research Laboraties during its tenure, but this limited run of Bryan Day’s superb Eh? imprint is the only proper recording solely credited to Kal Spelletich I can find. I hope that changes soon though, because these immersive soundscapes of assembly line whirs, the hum and grind of powerful electric motors churning gears and other knickknacks, low-register industrial rumble, and hypnotically looped discrete sound events are utterly addicting. Somewhere between the palpable physicality and passive complexity of Jean Tinguely’s audio-sculptures, the more agile collective improvisations of Day’s Seeded Plain project (in which both he and Jay Kreimer perform with handmade abstract sound devices), and the unusual use of robotics in Dirch Blewn’s stuffy Care Work tape, each of Spelletich’s compositions are unique toyboxes full of everything on your parents’ workbench that you weren’t allowed to play with as a kid: random circuit-board guts of broken appliances, boxes of spare screws, drills and clamps and scrap metal cable-and-pulley systems and… how the hell did an entire milling machine fit in here?? - Jack Davidson
(Vital Weekly) This is my introduction to the work of Kal Spelletich. I may have heard his previous band, Seemen, in the cassette era, but I forgot what that was about. The information here says it an "interactive machine art performance collective". He also worked with Survival Research Laboratories, and he works with "exploring the interface of humans and robots". For the twelve pieces on this curiously titled cassette, he says that "all of the sounds heard on this recording are from custom-made machine/robot instruments. None of the sounds on this recording come from store bought instruments, samples, albums nor field recordings. The sounds come from sound machines I made. Let’s just call me a purist." And, also, that "These are compositions not so much songs. They are arranged sounds." That's good to know. Without the images, it is not easy to say what Spelletich does. One would all too easily go back to what one already knows and that results into trying to describe using such words as 'synthesizers', 'musique concrète', 'drones' and 'electronics', which is all the sort of things that come to mind when hearing this music. Surely, there are mechanical sounds in the music, of 'something' banging against 'something'; object upon an object, perhaps, sometimes arriving in shortcut loops or with the use of electronics (or not?) stretched and sustaining a bit. Also, 'something' with strings is a strong contender for some sounds in here. Spelletich, whatever it is he does, brings life out of his material and in his pieces, he shows quite a bit of variation. From the rattles in 'My Own Fibonacci System' to the vacuum cleaner sounds of '8 Tracks of Machine Tool Motors' (well, or different machine tools), from massive blocks of sound to more introspective object abuse. It is quite industrial music, pretty much all of this, but without going towards a more regular noise album, and that's great news. - Frans de Waard
(Disaster Amnesiac) Land's sake, eh? Records, you've worn Disaster Amnesiac out for a bit! After going around and around with Pay Dirt and Real Tree, I've found myself digging into The Blessing of the ZHENGKE ZGA37RG from San Francisco-based Kal Spelletich, a man that has many siblings (is one of them named Nik?) Along with being part of a large family, Spelletich has also been prodigious within the Industrial/Noise Music scene for many years. His group Seemen definitely has a name for itself, and he's also been involved with Survival Research Laboratories, which in and of itself should be enough of a bona fide for any fan of underground creativity. For The Blessing, Kal utilized his own talents and creativity to produce several different sound making machines. From these inventions, he's coaxed all kinds of roars, and slides, and wobbles, and shrieks, and cries. Disaster Amnesiac's favorite piece is the very dance-able My Own Fibonacci System, which, after multiple listens, has not failed to get my ass up of my chair and moving, what with its wiggly machine shuffle. Other tracks have the effect of moving the perceptions to various places: contemplation, amusement, sheer terror. He gets many and varied sounds from his inventions. This tape is way far from being a one note type of affair, something not always the case from Noise releases. As the tape rolls along, you can feel yourself inhabiting their varied spaces. Also of note is the really great live sound on all tracks. Spelletich did a fine job with sound capture, eh? Records boss Day did not slouch when it was time to mix them. There is a presence to the sound qualities of The Blessing of the ZHENGKE ZGA37RG that can make one feel as if one is there among those intriguing creations. Not to sound like a broken record or anything (well, maybe just a little bit), but damn it would be nice to be able to be in attendance at some kind of release show for this great cassette. How fun would it be to "enter or operate his pieces, often against [your own] instincts of self-preservation". Or, are we past being able to assume that kind of risk now? Hmm.......... - Mark Pino
(Bad Alchemy) 'The Old World is Dying and the New World Struggles to be Born' - erinnert das nicht an das Biest, das bei Yeats slouches towards Bethlehem to be born? KAL SPELLETICH lässt mit 'Now Is the Time of Monsters' vermuten, dass es ihm selber so geht. Seit 38 Jahren arbeitet er mit Klangmaschinen eigener Bauart an der Schnittstelle zwischen Mensch und Maschinen, Automaten, Robotern und nutzt dabei die Technologie, um unsereins rückzukoppeln an die Basics: 'Mud / Electricity + Intelligence = Life', 'Economics (Labor) / Pay = Slavery'. Ob in The Blessing of the ZHENGKE ZGA37 RG (eh?115, grey C50) ein Hinweis auf Nick Soudnick und seine ZGAmoniums steckt, weiß ich nicht, definitiv gehört Spelletich aber zur von Russolo begründeten Gyro Gearloose-Brotherhood und zwar, wie auch Bryan Day selber, zum futuristischen Zweig. Knackende Kaskaden lassen einen mit Delay verschalteten Spielautomaten vermuten, einen Wellenwerfer aus der Familie der Intonarumori, das rau rumorende Drehmoment danach einen kreisenden Reiber und Brummer. Das Swamp-Thing verbindet einen dumpf paukenden Loop mit Vibrato, in dem eine Anmutung paranormaler Stimmen mitwabert. 'My Own Fibonacci System' bringt mit schnellem Puls eine stramm trabende und dabei klingelnde Motorik, gefolgt von surrend bohrendem Noise und von einer eisernen Kugel, die auf einer perkussiv angeschlagenen Schiene hin und her schnurrt. Die B-Seite liefert weitere, dumpf bepochte Dröhung und fauchende Reibung, dunkel und nahezu feierlich. Wie mit Didgeridoo und eisenhaltigen Wooshes entwirft Spelletich prompt eine 'Theory of Heaven'. Aber Götter waren im Dunkeln schon immer schwer von Monstern zu unterscheiden. Eins davon schlumpt hier zu sausendem Gedröhn seinen cthulhuesken Gang, gefolgt von röhrendem Horror zu flattrigem Beat. Suggeriert wird immer etwas mehr als nur Mechanik und Automatenklang. Der Motor will nochmal fast etwas rufen, etwas sagen, die Fabrik wird zum Dancefloor für Beatmuster und bohrende Impulse. Zuletzt pauken und federn wieder dumpfe Kaskaden zu knackender Mechanik und dröhnendem Rumor. Die Maschine entblößt im Ohr jene hybriden, ja chimärischen Züge, die auf Interfaces und Screens so schön poppig, stündlich neu und nervenkitzlig und, mit Lem gesagt, verflixt benignatorisch überblendet sind. - Rigo Dittmann
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