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The Hafler Trio, "Being a Firefighter isn't Just About Squirting Water"
The Hafler Trio's latest EP for Important is pretty much as expected ofthe series: one twenty minute piece of Andrew McKenzie's patentedatmospherics. The piece starts off with some soft metallic harmonics,sounding like heavily treated guitar strings.
Important
As it progresses lowfrequency hums and whistle-like feedback enter the mix. None of thisgoes anywhere, the piece is stagnant and sounds more like someoneimpersonating McKenzie rather than the man himself. While I enjoy hiswork, he isn't making much progress with Being a Firefighter.Each of the previous releases from Important built on each other andhad their own little quirks, however this EP doesn't cover as much newground as the others. It sounds like the typical tinnitus and chimes ofthe earlier releases but Being a Firefighter never reaches theintensity of these earlier releases. While it works fine as ambiencewhile pottering around the house, the other EPs from this series wouldare commanding enough to force an intense listening. Usually McKenzie'swork makes better use of sound using phasing and volume as tools and itis here that Being a Firefighter falls down. There is nothinghere to make me want to listen to it more than a couple of times. Ofcourse the CD is beautifully packaged in the usual style, silk screenedcard sleeve and a 3" CD embedded in the clear plastic of a regular 5"CD. I expect little else but perfection from The Hafler Trio and Being a Firefighter falls just short of his high standard.
Important
As it progresses lowfrequency hums and whistle-like feedback enter the mix. None of thisgoes anywhere, the piece is stagnant and sounds more like someoneimpersonating McKenzie rather than the man himself. While I enjoy hiswork, he isn't making much progress with Being a Firefighter.Each of the previous releases from Important built on each other andhad their own little quirks, however this EP doesn't cover as much newground as the others. It sounds like the typical tinnitus and chimes ofthe earlier releases but Being a Firefighter never reaches theintensity of these earlier releases. While it works fine as ambiencewhile pottering around the house, the other EPs from this series wouldare commanding enough to force an intense listening. Usually McKenzie'swork makes better use of sound using phasing and volume as tools and itis here that Being a Firefighter falls down. There is nothinghere to make me want to listen to it more than a couple of times. Ofcourse the CD is beautifully packaged in the usual style, silk screenedcard sleeve and a 3" CD embedded in the clear plastic of a regular 5"CD. I expect little else but perfection from The Hafler Trio and Being a Firefighter falls just short of his high standard. samples:
