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THE MAGIC CARPATHIANS PROJECT, "SONIC SUICIDE: ETHNOISE #1"
I wish more people knew about this group, as they are often brilliant,and far more consistent than a lot of bands who get way more press. TheMagic Carpathians began as a side-project of Polish progressive bandAtman, but since 1998 the group has become the primary outlet for themusic of Anna Nacher and Marek Styczynski.
Vivo
Their releases as TMC haveranged in character from vocal-driven, subterranean avant-rock toexperiments in instrumental ethno-drone, ritualistic tribal music andindigenous Easter European folk forms. The element that has remainedconsistent throughout all of the work is Anna and Marek's ceaselessquest for boundary-less, transcultural psychedelia; locating hiddenconnective currents of drone, rhythm and hypnotic melody in music drawnfrom strikingly disparate locales. I much prefer their drone-heavy Ethnocore series of albums to their more skeletal, song-driven work exemplified by albums like Ksiega Utopii and last year's Euscorpius Carpathicus;I really admire their songs, it's just that I prefer the dense,textural qualities of their ethnic drone work. In answer to my prayers,it seems, the Carpathians have inaugurated a new series of releasessubtitled Ethnoise that seek to synthesize both of the group's approaches into a complex whole. Sonic Suicidematches Anna Nacher's possessed vocal workouts with long passages ofthick, vibratory trance music, extended kraut-jazz freakouts and gentleKarpaty folk. Adding to this newfound eclecticism are several tracksrevisiting the third-eye psychedelic guitar workouts familiar fromAtman's heyday, and a few tracks that utilize a specially builtsynthesizer to create devastating squalls of analog noise and ripplingwaves of drone. This might be the best Magic Carpathians album yet, asits got something for everyone, and yet the whole album still feelsvery much of a piece. In "The Place I Come (Second Take)," Anna Nachersings in English and Polish with a visceral energy that variouslyrecalls Patty Waters, Yma Sumac and Renate Knaupt, against a tenselyfunky jazz-rock backdrop filled to bursting with chattering synths,vocal multitracking and swooping, psychedelic effects. Anna's vocalsare intense, spitting out apocalyptic couplets which a Polish friendhelped me translate: "Our palms are opening and we believe/Life iswaiting for us/The broken glass/We believe in seven/I don't knowanymore." The song fades out to a field recording of Moroccan streetmusic. "Carpathian Herbs" is a descent into a dark tangle of lysergicnoise, a nearly 15-minute track that journeys through deeply fucked-upmental corridors, layering all manner of loops and samples into abubbling cauldron of noise that all makes some sort of terribledream-sense. At times, the music is so filled with sonic detail andlayers of samples, field recordings, synthesizers, backwards-trackedmelody and a breathtaking array of instrumentation from around theglobe, it's difficult to concentrate attention on one particularelement. The net effect is frequently stunning, however, assuring thisalbum an early spot on my year-end best list.
Vivo
Their releases as TMC haveranged in character from vocal-driven, subterranean avant-rock toexperiments in instrumental ethno-drone, ritualistic tribal music andindigenous Easter European folk forms. The element that has remainedconsistent throughout all of the work is Anna and Marek's ceaselessquest for boundary-less, transcultural psychedelia; locating hiddenconnective currents of drone, rhythm and hypnotic melody in music drawnfrom strikingly disparate locales. I much prefer their drone-heavy Ethnocore series of albums to their more skeletal, song-driven work exemplified by albums like Ksiega Utopii and last year's Euscorpius Carpathicus;I really admire their songs, it's just that I prefer the dense,textural qualities of their ethnic drone work. In answer to my prayers,it seems, the Carpathians have inaugurated a new series of releasessubtitled Ethnoise that seek to synthesize both of the group's approaches into a complex whole. Sonic Suicidematches Anna Nacher's possessed vocal workouts with long passages ofthick, vibratory trance music, extended kraut-jazz freakouts and gentleKarpaty folk. Adding to this newfound eclecticism are several tracksrevisiting the third-eye psychedelic guitar workouts familiar fromAtman's heyday, and a few tracks that utilize a specially builtsynthesizer to create devastating squalls of analog noise and ripplingwaves of drone. This might be the best Magic Carpathians album yet, asits got something for everyone, and yet the whole album still feelsvery much of a piece. In "The Place I Come (Second Take)," Anna Nachersings in English and Polish with a visceral energy that variouslyrecalls Patty Waters, Yma Sumac and Renate Knaupt, against a tenselyfunky jazz-rock backdrop filled to bursting with chattering synths,vocal multitracking and swooping, psychedelic effects. Anna's vocalsare intense, spitting out apocalyptic couplets which a Polish friendhelped me translate: "Our palms are opening and we believe/Life iswaiting for us/The broken glass/We believe in seven/I don't knowanymore." The song fades out to a field recording of Moroccan streetmusic. "Carpathian Herbs" is a descent into a dark tangle of lysergicnoise, a nearly 15-minute track that journeys through deeply fucked-upmental corridors, layering all manner of loops and samples into abubbling cauldron of noise that all makes some sort of terribledream-sense. At times, the music is so filled with sonic detail andlayers of samples, field recordings, synthesizers, backwards-trackedmelody and a breathtaking array of instrumentation from around theglobe, it's difficult to concentrate attention on one particularelement. The net effect is frequently stunning, however, assuring thisalbum an early spot on my year-end best list.samples:
