Jan Jelinek & Computer Soup - Improvisations And Edits / Tokyo 26.09.2001
(Faitiche)

German electronic musician Jan Jelinek produces a wide variety of works based on manipulated samples, ranging from glitchy minimal techno to electro-acoustic drones to radio plays. Rather than playing traditional instruments, he creates his work using sounds derived from sources ranging from field recordings to popular music, which are processed beyond recognition.  Faitiche (Jelinek's own label) present the first vinyl issue of Improvisations And Edits, Tokyo 26.09.2001, originally released on CD in 2002 on Soup-Disk.  Jelinek and the Japanese minimal techno-jazz trio Computer Soup (Satoru Hori - trumpet; Osamu Okubo - toys and electronics; Kei Ikeda - toys and electronics) present eight tracks, all recorded one afternoon in the trio's living room in Tokyo. The result is extremely interesting, and Jelinek's minimal house-cum-clicks & cuts sound finds a way to fuse with the processed trumpet and more ambient approach of the Japanese musicians.
The album begins very softly with "Straight Life", a 3/4 clicking beat to which jazzy bass and Wurlitzer lines are added, along with a muted trumpet solo.  This marvelously mind-blowing track is perhaps the best example of what's on offer here, but that's not to denigrate the rest of the album, as anyone familiar with Jelinek's work will know that this is music that immensely rewards multiple listens.  Often deliciously dreamy and hazy, Improvisations And Edits is like listening to an exceptional instrumental jazz performance while half-conscious or under some sort of chemical influence. Computerized blips and bleeps, loops and treatments and murky sonic skips curl up around desolate horn notes and scattered instrumental noises that culminates in some uniquely elegant music.  Highly recommended. Edition of 500. (Lee)
Check out a track here.