Quite good – a funny and grim solo turn by Herr Schick, which is actually (…) better than the other CD on this Zarek label (see the treated guitar section). Given the chance to express his own solo voice, Ignaz proves he’s capable of acting the curmudgeonly, anti-social old cranc. Adopting this stance, his growling electronic bitterness seeps out of him and fills up the room, likeexhaust fumes in a suicide garage. The sounds he conjures up are basic, grubby – this CD is mostly dominated by nagging, rumbling drone, which resembles the sound of an electronic outboard motor. As such, it appeals to me enormously – reminding me of my two favourite “motor engine” CDs – Jordi Valls on his motorbike and Lucas Abela in his VW van. (See previous issues form my raves on these). Ignaz Schick events out the mix by adding found radio voices – which is beyond being a cliché nowadays, it’s simply part of the furniture.
Sometimes it works, as it does here. They aren’t threatening voicesl, but Tabit is a dark and urban recording, blighted with many symptoms of the evil side of 21st century life – overwork, stress, insomnia, weight problems, loneliness … recognise yourself in any of the above snapshots? Then maybe here’s your ideal soundtrack for “relaxing” after work.
Ed Pinsent, The Sound Projector
“This recording, however, does demand your attention from the second you hit Play. A low (frequency-wise, not volume-wise) crackling, steadfast rumbling takes centre stage on the first track, Radox. For about 14 of its 19 minutes, you are treated to its attention-grabbing sonics. After the first 14 minutes, things quiet down some, and attention is drawn to the vocal snippets that were hinted at earlier, as well as some street ambience and a deconstruction of the pre-viously dominant rumbling. I did hear what seemed to match quite closely a section of :zoviet france:’s digilogue release in this first track though, which seemed something of a surprise. The second track, Tabit, follows a similar form to Radox, making use of more pulsating cadence techniques. It also switches gears past its halfway point to become more abstract and more dy-namic, with more voices and some beautiful high frequency tones that have been filtered and manipulated. The next and final two tracks are significantly shorter, but follow a steadier path than their predecessors followed. Plenty of static and hiss close out the disc, more random in nature and lacking the bassiness of the first three tracks. (É) just enjoy the noise in all its glory.”
Vils Santo, Incursion Music Review, Canada-July 2000
“With titles like “Radox” or “Astat”, one might expect clicks and cuts, but not so. Rather, he deploys contact mics, feedback, and distortion to create what he says is using a sample and acoustic footage as a trigger for more abstract forms. Whar comes out, however, is rumbling Tesco-style power-electronics crunch, enough to overwhelm the frequency response of any speaker system, with some other tapes buried underneath. Fans of tectonic-level Japanese noise such as MSBR or Aube, or European brutality such as Atrax Morgue or Con-Dom. will probably relate.”
Manny Theiner, Grooves, USA
“Ignaz Schick is a new star on the front of noise and electronics. The starting point is a concrete sound recording, say people running down the street, which are transformed by the usual blend of electronics of all kind. The four pieces reminded me of Gert-Jan Prins or Radboud Mens (when he plays as Hyware). Loopy deep bass end sound, highly distorted sound. Merzbow with a more looped character.”
Frans de Waard, Vital Weekly, The Netherlands
Recording TABIT on his own six months previously, Schick sounds livelier. Cautioning in a sleeve note against “prolonged or repeated listening” due to “extreme frequencies”, this seemed to mean that he’s added sampled radio broadcasts and a more constant sound field to his explorations.
Again moving between buzzes, rumbles, squishes, static and loops, the high frequencies means that the sounds are at times earsplitting, but altogether more audible than what came out of his duet with Neumann. With the crinkle of electronic static a constant leitmotif, he produces what could be likened to a jackhammer in steady use, a car driving off, rocket ship exploration of the cosmos and even a dentist’s drill. Radio programming can also be perceived, but it’s sometimes so indistinct that you may be tempted to try to fine-tune the station.
Ken Waxman, Jazz Weekly, USA
“Ignaz Schick im elektronischen Alleingang ist auf dem gleichen Label zu finden mit TABIT (zarek 02). Im Unterschied zu vielen anderen Noise-Künstlern ist bei Schick ein gestalterischer Wille deutlich zu spüren. Auf zwei Ebenen übereinandergeschichtet werden Geräuschverläufe aus Stimmen und einem intensiven Wummern angestoßen und ausbalanciert. In diese vibrierende Folie kratzt Schick impulsive Interpunktionen und manipuliert gleichzeitig das wummernde Dauerprasseln wie ein Theremin. Im zweiten Anlauf schält sich aus feinen Knisterloops erneut ein vibrierender Dauerpuls, der einem Wechselspiel aus motorischem Verlauf und gezielten Eingriffen unterworfen wird. Schick ringt mit dem Noise, zwingt ihn quasi manuell in Form, er bringt – anders und doch in diesem Punkt vergleichbar mit Frans de Waard – physische und tachistische und damit improvisatorische Elemente ins Spiel. Wenn ich dann Titel wie ‘Tabit’, ‘Radox’, ‘Rem’ oder ‘Astat’, Titel, wie sie auch unter Bildern von Emil Schumacher stehen kšnnten, betrachte, drängt sich der Gedanke geradezu auf, in Ignaz Schick eien Mann des elektronischen Informel zu erkennen.”
Rigobert Dittmann, Bad Alchemy
Ignaz Schick est un homme dont le parcours musical passe par le jazz, le free jazz et la musique contemporaine et improvisée. (…) Ceci l’amena tout naturellement à s’inéresser aux manipulations électroniques et ses dérivés. Tabit se compose de quatre titres de 5 à 20 minutes chacun, plutôt uniformes, utilisant différent bruits concrets, comme une foule marchant dans la rue, ou le brouhaha d’un restaurant, mis en boucle. On retrouve des basses déformées, des hautes et des basses fréquences, les bruits et les sifflements d’une table de mixage, des manipulations extrêmes de sons analogiques et digitaux, … etc. Si le travail est très intéressant dans la structure sonore, il est difficile à l’écoute dans son ensemble, ou sur la durée. On préférera procéder à des extraits de temps à autre. Néamoins digne d’intérêt, ne serait que pur le trvail effectué sur qhaque fréquence sonore. Intéressant.
Stefan Fivaz, Heimdallr, Switzerland
Le berlinois Ignaz Schick propose sur “Tabit” (Zarek) quatre exercices bruitistes assez réussis (“dans le genre”), utilisant essentiellement un poste de radio déréglé, micros-contact, pédales d’effets (feedback), jouant avec de hautes fréquences et notre seuil de tolérance auditive ( “Prolonged or repeated listening is not advisable” nous prévient-il gentiment au verso de la pochette).
Peace Warriors #15:
Deze jonge Duitser kan reeds terugblikken op een rijkgevulde carrière als medeorganisator van Neue Musik festivals en als labelbaas (Zarek/Zangi Music). Omdat Schick ook een stevige reputatie heeft als componist, producer en bouwer van elektronische instrumenten, mag hij een gevarieerd leger van avantgardeartiesten tot zijn klantenkring rekenen: van Japanse dansprojecten over Tarwater tot leden van Laibach. Op “Tabit” worden dagelijske geluiden (bijvoorbeeld pratende mensen in een café) vervormd en omgezet in pulserende basgeluiden, feed back, pijnlijke white noise en extreem hoge/lage frequenties. De vier stkken op “Tabit” zijn verglijkbaar met de ambient/noise van gelijkgestemden als Aube, Kapotte Muziek of Laminar, die eveens genoeg hebben om boeiende soundscapes te ceeren. Bij wijze van reclamestunt bevat de minimale artwork een originele waarschuwimg: Prolonged or repeated listening is not advisable.
Gonzo Circus, Belgium
Ignaz Schick & his network of Zangi Music 