Morr
Collaborations have sometimes strengthened the work of the artistsinvolved, and have expanded their sometimes limited reach, but oftentimes they are also lackluster, producing yet more doubt anduncertainty as well as boredom in the clicks and blips that fly out ofthe speakers and through the air. Duo505 do not have such problems, asthe music contained on their debut is a perfect collaboration wheremaestros and messrs. B. Fleischmann and Herbert Weixelbaum take turnswaxing philosophical to transcend their own individual sound. One ofthe two will produce a track and send it to the other, where a secondtrack is added of the second collaborator's design. Two tracks, each anextension of the other — even though they were made at separate times —that merge in and out of each other's safe space in a truly dynamic andunique waver. Almost imperceptible is each man's part in theproceedings, but it's as though one handles the beat and melody, andthe other the trimmings, then vice versa on the following track. Thesetwo know each other so well that it is an almost effortless creation ofcerebral concoctions. "Nochwas" is ready for the clubs, a trounce andbounce frolic that soars and thumps at the same time; "Facing It" is ametallurgist nightmare of clangs and rolls that still mesmerizes.Through every track there is a connection that can't be underestimated,and live these two must be a treat to behold. On record, they arenothing short of a vision, or, like the Trans Am track title says, asingle ray of light on an otherwise cloudy day.
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This Rosetta Stone of the Shoal catalog is finally re-released viatheir ever loyal current label for the first time since its vinyl-onlypressing in 1995. Their first 12" LP, originally self-released at 1000copies, shows the band at their earliest stages: a noodling,hard-edged, and often very derivative ensemble. Influences are so clearthey're transparent, with vocal performances almost ripped off frombands that were their contemporaries or their predecessors, anddynamics that bring to mind seminal recordings that helped shape orredefine whole genres of experimental music. Not to say that the bandisn't speaking with its own voice even on these songs, as there aretinges and aesthetics present that are still in play with their oeuvretoday, some ten years later. There is something to be said, though,that they were still searching for the right mix of the elements toinspire themselves and win over the masses. Maybe searching for theright members, as well, since the band is famous for a rotating cast ofcharacters that changed at least from album to album and sometimes inthe midst of recording one. At any rate, there's still a few momentsworthy of awe or discussion, and plenty to keep the mind racing on acold winter night. "Elena" has bright melodies and spoken word buriedin its subconscious, where "Change" leaves nothing below the surface orto the imagination, with explosive guitars, screams, and loud "oohs"that howl on and on as the heat increases. The key track, though, isthe penultimate "Breakaway Cable Terminal," with a gorgeous mix of theold and the new, the odd vocal performance mixed with the rawaggression but quieter jam moments framing both. There's even a hiddentrack, released presumably for the first time, as an added extra forthe loyalists. Cerberus Shoal are vital, original, and extreme, anduntil now some might have believed that it hasn't always been this way.Finally the truth can be told.
Mark McGee, formerly of To Kill A Petty Bourgeoisie, has partnered up with a new female vocalist, Nicole Tollefson, to follow the path he pioneered in his previous band, combining harsh, noisy electronics and guitar with pure, delicate female vocals to excellent effect, although it seems that the harsher end of the spectrum has been reigned in somewhat.
Following up their acclaimed debut LP The Persistence of Meaning, this Brooklyn duo of Joshua Convey and Luke Krnkr serve up another release of dark, mysterious murk that channels krautrock as much as harsh noise. With an A side that goes for more musical elements, and a harsher, disjointed B side, the combination works wonderfully.
In an unexpected move, Front 242's Daniel Bressanutti has rejoined former member Dirk Bergen (who left soon after the Geography album) to start this new project, heavily rooted in classic analog synth technology and an apparent love of the Blade Runner soundtrack. While being spread across two discs comes across as excessive, there's still a good album’s worth of tracks in here.
For the final Fad Gadget album, Frank Tovey went to Berlin, home of touring mates Einstürzende Neubauten, and once again sought to expand the sound beyond the synth domination of prior releases. Unsurprisingly, the result incorporates much more abrasive percussive sources, but Tovey remained within his element of entertainer/commentator role when it came to the subject matter at hand.
This live concert in, no surprise, Rome sees David Tibet joined by Maja Elliott on piano and John Contreras on cello. Performed around the same time as Tibet was creating the first installment in his Aleph trilogy. However, as the line up suggests, this was not the ferocious psychedelic rock that Current 93 were unleashing in the studio. Instead, the group play through a quiet, tender set of old favorites and (at the time) new compositions.
The latest album from Italy’s Architeuthis Rex sees them continuing to confound and entrance with their eclectic and heavy sound. More focused and unsettling than their debut album, here they once again plumb the depths to uncover a world of sounds which sound like they come from some bottomless fissure in the middle of the ocean. Taking as much inspiration from aquatic zoology (in its various forms) as from music, Urania is a fantastic exploration of concept and sound.
Mohn is the newest collaborative project for two German techno mainstays: Wolfgang Voigt (aka Studio 1, Mike Ink, Gas) and Jörg Burger (aka the Bionaut, Triola, the Modernist). The duo's debut self-titled album sticks to territory in between the steady, physical pulse of "Tiefental," from last year's Total 12 compilation, and "Manifesto," a damn near beat-less, immersive storm-cloud of ambience from Pop Ambient 2012.
