Jaap Blonk – Voice Studies 07 Side B: Apostatic Aria

“Latest instalment in MDTS’ on-going series of solo vocal experiments on cassette comes from Dutch avant gardist and sound poet Jaap Blonk. Blonk has little to do with the whole Euro improv vocalising of Phil Minton et al and more to do with post-Dada continental art practice. Here he combines weird mournful/possessed vocal testifying with great serrated walls of howling body drone that has as much to do with Sudden Infant as it does Henri Chopin.” - David Keenan / Volcanic Tongue

“Get rid of notes and instruments! Who needs these tired tropes? Strip naked and express all that is life with only that of the sound which lives within. The crying of children and the preaching of the street corner evangelist exist as song as much as a commercial radio hit. All sound is music. All music needs to be recorded. The London based publishing house and tape label My Dance the Skull dives into difficult music with a series they call “Voice Studies.” Their seventh study is a 20 minute tape by noted vocal improvisor – composer – poet Jaap Blonk. Side A is titled “Approximate Air” and is the sound of multi-tracked vocal air. Whispering, sighing, and breathing collide and rumble with one another producing some wonderful polyrhythms. The piece builds with grumble growls and shouts and before you know it, its all over. Side B is titled “Apostatic Aria” and features shouting and aggressive human vocalizing. At times the multiple voices almost seem to be filling the space of classic “loud-soft” guitar riff dynamics. This piece of vocal improv is less exciting to me than the first, but that is a very small complaint. This is adventurous listening and certainly not for everyone, but for those who want a diversion from conventional, Jaap Blonk’s contribution to My Dance the Skull’s series of vocal studies is worth the time. Great tape! The “Voice Studies” all come in clean white j-cards with simple black font – very serious and no nonsense. I would like to hear them all!” - Jeff Daily / Cassette Gods

“Jaap Blonk is the well-known Dutch improviser who does it all with his voice, one of the few abstract vocal hollering types we have in Europe (Phil Minton and Vanessa Mackness are two greats from the UK wing that spring to mind). On the short Voice Studies (MY DANCE THE SKULL VS07) cassette, he whispers and sighs like a sibilant ghost on ‘Approximate Air’, an effect which may remind Irish listeners of the banshee, but in its ineffectual wispiness isn’t much more effective than a breezy night spent on the Norfolk broads. My money is on ‘Apostatic Aria’ on the flip, which is packed with more full-bodied roaring, insane vocalese, mad growling and cartoon-character honkings dribbling from an inflamed cakehole. The raspy and abrasive qualities of this “chin music” verge on the alarming, as the performer brings great emotional charge into his very physical work. Clearly this particular piece also uses some overdubs, unless Blonk has a second mouth concealed in his belly, much like the mythical men whose heads do grow beneath their shoulders. It feels to me like most of the work is done by the throat; he’s practically transformed his own larynx into a fleshy distorting amplifier. In which case Blonk must be the biggest consumer of Fishermans Friend lozenges in the low-lying countries. One of three cassette tapes received from this SE London-based label, all limited editions of 100 copies.” Ed Pinsent / The Sound Projector