Dutch soundsculptor Raymond Dijkstra began his career of
improvised noise impressionism with
the cassettes
Ki Sync Pulse (Korm Plastics, 1996)
and
Kaam (2001).
He honed his skills through
Indra Karmuka, is a collaboration with Petyr Veenstra and Floris Sirag,
Asra La Poupee Vivante (Le Souffleur, 2003), a collaboration with Af Ursin,
and
La Philosophie Des Chiottes (Le Souffleur, 2004), a
one-sided LP of feedback used as an instrument.
Affen-theater (2005) for harmonium and musique concrete. The
chaotic reverbed granular screeching, creaking and shrieking sounds
duet with intermittent pulses of the harmonium. The intensity of the
distortion achieves an Hendrix-ian climax during the second half.
Der Triumph (2006) continued the study with a more ferocious attitude,
as in a Dadaistic attempt to destroy the "musical" objects, a quest for extreme cacophony and anarchy. At times the concert sounds like a crowd of
desperate squealing beings. The music pauses for a bit on the second half,
and, when it restarts, the frenzy and articulation make it sound like
some free-jazz jam, each object an instrument trying to harmonize
with the others.
Die Sonne (2007) is another work for harmonium and musique concrete.
Compared with its predecessors, what is missing is the relentless, virulent
stream of consciousness. This is instead a fragmented experience of
austere dissonant chamber music. The overall effect is far less powerful.
Die Wille (2007) was the fourth work scored for the harmonium.
Again, it favored fragmentation to the cascading stream of noise, thereby
focusing on audio qualities rather than on psychological impact.
Maskenstilleben (2007) and Schijnheilige Vissen (2007) are also for harmonium.
The four parts of the "harmonium" tetralogy were collected on a four-LP set:
Verzameld Werk 2005/2007
(Le Souffleur, 2008).
Later releases include:
Das Schoene (2007),
De Gelofte
(2008),
De Larf
(2008),
De Gedachte
(2008),
De Hamer
(2008),
De Nacht
(2009),
De Schroef
(2009),
L'Opus Ch
(2009),
De Fazant
(2009),
L'Opus L'H
(2010),
Hiranyagarbha
(2013),
This Negative Phenomenon Of A Satisfactory Manner (2015
Pana Pakshinaaam
(2018),
De Staal (2018),
Musique Irritante (2019),
De Merel (2020),
etc.
