EFTERKLANG [DENMARK]
kloy gyn
it’s not often that i openly throw around the phrase ‘my new favourite band’, as – in truth – i tend to have a new favourite at least once a week. i do feel however that it’s absolutely appropriate to roll out the phrase in praise of efterklang. admittedly, i’m coming late to the table – an album and e.p. have escaped my attention and it was only after discovering their new single that they finally found their way into my heart (and the accompanying video helped in no small part). the track ‘swarming’ is wave after wave of beautiful sounds, with interjections of jerking cut-ups, smoothed out by stunning choral harmonies. their studied, 10-piece analog / digital approach references what is fast becoming something of a ‘northern european’ sound – a growing roster of artists who seemingly have the ability to replicate the sense of stark landscapes and open space from within their music. think the emotive sounds of sigur ros, jaga jazzist, mum, even bjork and you’re close to the mark. the above track is taken from their recently re-released debut ep ‘springer’ which, along with the most recent album ‘tripper’, is available on the leaf label.
SHUKAR COLLECTIVE [ROMANIA]
blooz gypsy
verbal fight
the perfect follow-on from efterklang, in that we find an altogether different approach to the same analog / digital fusion – although this time the source material is all the more bizarre. the collective consists of three members of the band shukar, teaming up with six contemporary beats / electronic producers. the core trio play what is known as ‘ursari’, a style of music traditionally created by men in order to encourage their (tamed) pet bears to dance for their amusement. shukar don’t get involved with the ‘bear’ aspect (it is the 21st century after all), but they nonetheless keep the music alive. it’s traditionally played using spoons, barrels and other wooden percussion and, in this album, there’s also a tom waits-esque gutteral vocal that gives the music a rich, rough hue. add to this tradition a succession of breaks, a few rounds of turntablism and some avant-garde electronica and you’re served with a genuinely unique and original sound. a fascinating lesson in preservation through reinvention. [site]
ELECTRONICAT [FRANCE]
dans les bois
is there a name for being influenced by other blog posts? blogfluence? seeing scenestars post some music from electronicat last week reminded me that i had intended to do exactly the same. electronicat is fred bigot, who is single-handedly developing a style of music that some might feel is more akin to having your teeth drilled – but if you’ve ever listened to throbbing gristle at full volume, then electronicat is a walk in the park. alongside the sonic furore (an updated, brittle version of phil spector‘s wall of sound) is the sound of doo-wop mixed with the cramps and suicide – an odd place for you to stake your musical claim, but an original one nonetheless. the new release ‘voodoo man’ is not a world away from the 2003 album ’21st century toy’ and one can’t help but wonder where electronicat will go next. still, fuzz and melody never went out of fashion (the jesus and mary chain built a career on it) and i’m certain bigot still has a few tricks more up his sleeve. [site]
this week’s radio show: this week’s feature album came from the excellent monika label. entitled ‘ four women no cry’, it’s a compilation of four solo female electronic artists from around the world: rosario blefari (argentina), eglantine gouzy (france), catarina pratter (austria) and tusia beridze (aka tba) from tbilisi, georgia. the whole album is a masterpiece of understatement – full of quiet, abstract electronica – and whilst it may not break boundaries, it certainly rattles a few preconceptions. more info and sound samples at monika-enterprise.de