http://www.foxydigitalis.com/foxyd/?p=21849Andy Futreal/Babel, “7/8″ split tape
December 1, 2011 By Anthony D'Amico
This unconventional and oddly packaged split cassette pairs two very different artists together to tackle the curious theme “tectonic disasters in Asia,” which turns out to be pretty fertile creative ground. This is the first time that Arachnidisc has released a themed installment in their ongoing split series, but Futreal and Babel have appeared together before (sort of) on a tape for Folkwaste. The two artists sound nothing alike, but they complement each other quite nicely here.
UK sound artist Futreal takes a very abstract and inventive approach to his half of the tape, creating two evocative sound collages based upon recordings he made in China. The first piece, “Night Train to Xi’ an,” muffles field recordings of said train to the point of sounding deeply submerged, then unfolds eerily dissonant and queasy drones over the top of them using eccentric tools like glass jars, hydrophones, a chinese flute, and (rather anomalously) a Buddha machine. It’s a rather unique, bold, and surreal piece. The second piece (“For Wenchuan”) ratchets things up conceptually, as Futreal’s piano score is derived from wave traces from an earthquake in that area. That is as conventionally musical as it gets too, as the fragile piano motif is quickly consumed by massed overlapping voices of newscasters and a deep and cavernous rumble. The piano returns near the end, but much darker and more broken-sounding. It kind of reminds me of some of Morton Feldman’s work a bit, forming a gently dissonant and uneasy lattice of twinkling single notes that bleed together. Very impressive.
Babel’s half of the tape (Morpheum) is dramatically different and draws its inspiration from Japan (albeit in quite subtle fashion). The “band” is actually just Jakob Rehlinger (one half of Toronto’s Moonwood), but he uses multiple instruments and tracks to approximate an unusual avant-jazz/chamber music ensemble (minus most of the instrumentation that I would normally associate with either genre). Part of Rehlinger’s distinctiveness is certainly due to his prominent use of atypical instrumentation (like metal bowls and woodblocks), but his aberrence runs pretty deep stylistically too, as he seems to draw inspiration equally from brooding post-rock, classical minimalism, Harold Budd (particularly his love of heavily reverb-ed piano), and probably even Martin Denny-style exotica (at least on the very tom-heavy “4 Japan”). The four-part title track takes up the bulk of the side and sticks mostly to delicately melancholy piano motifs, but the many curious and sudden dynamic shifts and detours make Morpheum feel more like the soundtrack to a film than a stand-alone suite. I think it’d be a pretty compelling film though.
Arachnidiscs
7/10
