iago home  :  reviews  :  music

songs for reeling minds
the strange realms of the Hafler Trio

The strange soundscapes of The Hafler Trio, although sharing some similarities with Industrial and Ambient, could never really be mistaken for them. They occupy that very lonely place where something truly new is being done in our midst. While many others might stray into the same territory, the Hafler Trio remain even today the most remarkable example of what can be done with sound and the human mind.

The Hafler Trio build landscapes of sound that seem every bit as real – and even more real – than what you hear every day on your way to work. But these landscapes are ones where amazing things can happen. Often they have more in common with our dreams than our waking lives (and not always the most pleasant ones, either).

I have only a few really frightening CDs in my collection. Almost all of them are by The Hafler Trio. They aren't frightening in the way that a horror-soundtrack is – there's no predictable minor chord runs, no outbreak of screaming violins. And, no, this isn't death metal either (I said frightening).

This is much less direct, and far more deadly. One part of Seven Hours Sleep for instance never fails to evoke a few wild moments when what sounds like a restless, disorganized mob somehow stomps right through the listener's room (or, if wearing headphones: head).

Not many others groups are in the position The Hafler Trio is in, having spent their many years bringing back strange tapes of our future musics for us to hear. If Brian Eno popularized Ambient as a clear alternative to the straight-jacket of linear musical forms, then it has been left to The Hafler Trio to make this sort of approach really vital – both as potent and astounding as it has any business being.

The Hafler Trio began as Andrew McKenzie, Chris Watson (formerly of Cabaret Voltaire) & Edward Moolenbeek. Through the years, Watson and Moolenbeek have left and The Hafler Trio is now essentially McKenzie himself, though he has kept true to the earlier breakthroughs and continues to garner more and more acclaim with each release.

Check out THIS SITE for a complete discography, and don't forget to lose your way in their weirdly cool e-labyrinth:

http://www.brainwashed.com/h3o/

 

A Short Interview
with Andrew McKenzie

The following is an all-too-short interview that I conducted with Andrew via e-mail. Please disregard my utterly idolatrous tone. As a long-time devotee, it was wonderful to finally put a voice to a sound...

***************************************

IAGO: Your work seems to be very closely allied with that of alchemy. Almost a kind of ‘sonic alchemy’ where the ‘transmutation’ of found sounds and field recordings leads to something new and profound. But, having just writ that sentence, I suspect I'm only just scratching the surface. What are your thoughts in regards to alchemy, and how has it shaped your work?

AM: difficult to talk about. what one person understands by the term is almost certainly not what another would understand by it. it's a horribly abused term, and it's dangerous, to a certain degree, to even talk about it. I had a period of intense involvement with what I know of to be a form of Alchemical practise, but that mutated into something else, that I find it pretty impossible to talk about flat out. and to a large extent, I don't think I have to: I think a lot of it, if it works, is self-eveident. if it isn't, then it isn't.

IAGO: I’ve noticed that while listening to a Hafler Trio recording, very often sounds from the outside world – from the street, say, or from other rooms – seem to meld into the mix in a way that is rather startling, to the point where one can’t really say for certain which is ‘live’ and which is ‘recorded’. I’m wondering if you have noticed this effect, and what it might say about your work.

AM: of course I've used this effect many times, in many different ways. it's just one of the little tricks to extend the 'work' out of the canvas, so to speak.

IAGO: In past interviews you’ve spoken of the hidden dangers of purely digital recording (e.g., it can be more tiresome for the human ear than analog). Have you made any progress along the lines of subverting these limitations? Is there any hope of getting the best of both worlds?

AM: well, I have concentrated over the last three years more on aspects of computing that don't have that much to do with sound: more, as I have explored many different aspects of programming and the effects these can have, I am now in a position to work out more of the social, and by that, I mean "creative" aspects of the human/computer relationship. it is certainly true that the computer has changed the 'frame' that I and many others now work in. in general, just to give a small example, speakers are much smaller and are of much more inferior quality than they were a few years ago, due to the fact that a large amount of people now use small, inexpensive speakers. therefore, many of my older recordings sound vastly different, as the speakers simply cannot reproduce these frequencies.


IAGO: Have you explored the ‘beat frequency’ effect in your recordings (for readers: by playing two different tones in the left and right ears, a person’s brainwaves will tend to resonate with the interference pattern between the two waves, bringing on the various Alpha, Beta, Theta states).

I only ask because significant parts of “Mastery of Money” (among others) seem to bring on a very noticeable Alpha when played through headphones.

AM: certainly. on many of the recordings are experiments of this nature. but of course, this reached its height on The Hafler Trio and Thee Temple Of Psychick Youth Present Brion Gysin's Dreamachine, which hopefully, I shouldn't have to explain......

IAGO: I’ve also read that you have researched the Reactive Mind of the Scientologists. What are some of the ‘psychic tools’ you use to create such mood-altering effects?

AM: basic control of parts of the nervous system through repetitious, "highly charged" phrases. the only thing I have released with reference to that is a possible "antidote" to such things.

IAGO: In a similar vein, what are some of the actual audio tools (synthesizers, computers, &c.) that you use to create these incredible realms of sound? The delicate texture and overall detail is virtually unparalleled in the field.

AM: I use basically anything I can get my hands on. no synthesisers, unless you count the ones inside a computer used to resynthesise sounds. all the things I use have their basis in some sort of 'organic' or 'natural' sound. I do spend a LOT of time setting things up, and a lot of time "jewelling" these events.

IAGO: I would wager that very little (if any) of your work is concerned with art per se, or ‘art for art’s sake’. Instead, they seem to want to ‘do something’, to try to effect some kind of change in the world. In a word: magic, not art. Is this a fair statement?

AM: uhm, yes, although it's a bit grand. I try to do what I can.

IAGO: What are your current or upcoming projects? Can we expect another release soon?

AM: I'm trying to get back to "doing things" rather than just programming. there are plans to re-release everything, and a tour of the US and Canada is slated for late may/june.

-=T.D.