Friday, February 23, 2007

TUNER: Totem

This review was originally written for ProjeKction.net. The original version can be found HERE. Following my writing of this review I was also involved in preparing an email interview with Tuner for ProjeKction which I will post in my next blog entry.

TUNER: Totem



Expectation is a prism...

Markus Reuter and Pat Mastelotto are currently best known for their work in Centrozoon & King Crimson respectively. It would be easy to assume that TUNER, as a collaboration between the two, might sound something like a meeting between the acts they are key parts of. Despite the inescapable signatures of both artists present on this album, Totem steps into territory far removed from any other act associated with either of the pair.

Blending richly organic sonic textures (Pat’s acoustic drums sound at times as if they were distance-mic’d in an echo chamber) and multi-layered digital crispiness with subtle sampling, soundscaping, touch-guitar melodies, ever-descending chord sequences & the occasional processed vocal, TUNER cover such a broad spectrum within this album’s 58 absorbing minutes to avoid category completely. The diversity of the instruments (and the sounds produced from those instruments) used for the album belie the fact that this is only a duo of musicians. Forget trying to find the right pigeon-holes. TUNER are a freaking albatross.

Flinch starts the proceedings with a driving electro-funk worthy of release on the warp label. Surprisingly this track features mainly acoustic drumming from Pat. The style of the piece leads one’s ears to expect densely layered mechanical rhythms which never quite take the spotlight. Half-way into the track some severe snipper work leads to the albums first (but by no means last) leaning towards glitchtronica acts like Autechre. As precise and mathematical as this music is, chaos also plays an important role.

Markus’s first, and most full-frontal, vocal foray on Totem is on the wonderfully named Up, Down, Forward & Return. The cyclical motion suggested by the title and lyrics effectively reflect the infinitely descending chord sequence, which in itself recalls King Crimson’s Vrooom. And like Vrooom’s reprise Vrooom Vrooom, Up, Down, Forward & Return has a counterpart in Kiss The Earth featuring the same ever-creeping chords in a completely different manner entirely.

There are many other synchronicities to be found in this album. In fact, one month after first hearing it I am still picking up new references to recurrent motifs and themes. Totem is far more complex than it first appears.

Soundscaping and gentle programming with sampled conversation start Mouth Piece. You could almost be mistaken in thinking we have entered ambient territory, but it isn’t long before divebombing sub-bass lines and pseudo-techno rhythms come to the fore. A very catchy piece of music which will have your feet tapping away. An obvious choice for a single, hence the accompanying video clip included as an extra on the CD.

Totem’s title track is built around rhythmic clapping games and subdued feedback-drenched chordal overtones. Lifetime era Larry Young would be proud of these sounds. Bass-lines jump out and grab the listener occasionally, but the rest of this track is an excursion in post-rock styled minimalist dub… with feedback. Does that make sense?

After four songs it begins to be apparent that TUNER have an identity all of their own. TU part two this ain’t. The nearest comparison I can draw is with Tom Jenkinson’s Squarepusher Presents series; the Budakhan Mindphone mini-album in particular shares a certain resonance.

A Test Of Faith leans deeper into the avant/outer-limits field teasing us with snippets of a slow monster groove set deep within an apocalyptic atmosphere of caustic wind and eerie vocals. The groove eventually establishes itself as the centre of this piece (accompanied with some circular arpeggios), but not until almost two thirds of the song has passed. The battle has already been fought.

The centrepiece of the album from which the rest of the tracks are reflected is The Morning Tide Washes Away. The only track to feature a guest contribution in the form of Renee Stieger AKA Sirenee, heavily processed to a digital extreme. Comparisons with Radiohead’s Fitter Happier are undoubtedly to be raised as a bleak picture is drawn, both musically and lyrically. When a second vocal-line enters at the three minute mark a new feel begins to establish itself. By the time four minutes have passed (and after a substantial mid-song pause for breath) the second vocal-line is nearly all that remains. The rest of the song oozes ethnic positivity with Renee showing off her best glottal stops, exotic trills and other non-western vocal techniques.

Somewhat unfortunately this is the only track to feature a guest contribution on the album. Tim Bowness’s contribution did not make the final cut. Guests can enrich an artistic project by giving the pieces an outsider’s perspective and I believe TUNER have benefited from that here. If there is one criticism to make of Totem it is that despite the broad musical spectrum TUNER cover, the limited membership of the ensemble has led to emotional restrictions to a certain degree. Renee may be very closely associated with the group, but her distance is enough to generate a new flavour, a new colour, a new pattern, and this is what makes her contribution so interesting.

Totem continues with Hands starting as a bleepfest with organic hand percussion and tribal sampling, before moving into a long-form improv of soundscaping and drumming. If Fripp/Mastelotto's Radical Dance project had not been shelved it may have sounded something like this.

Organ drones and small electronica introduce Better Take Your Head Off before more brutal programming and square-wave bass-lines move the track in another direction altogether. This is also one of the few tracks where a guitar solo is notably present, albeit brief.

Grinding through Kiss The Earth Totem closes with the beguiling Dexter Ward. Glitchtronica rears its head again with little skips and almost-errors setting up a moogish synth oscillation and gentle percussion scape. Layer upon layer it grows. Then slowly it falls apart, gently easing the album out in fine style. And it sounds bloody good in the car stereo to boot!

If music can be thought of as a colour wheel, then most acts devote their time to exploring and refining a particular colour, or specific blend of colours. TUNER, on the other hand, seem content at this young stage to wander all over their sector of the musical palette. Given time, this project should refine this wandering, which means the best is yet to come. Totem may not quite be album of the year, but TUNER prove beyond doubt that they are the surprise act of recent times. I, for one, am heartily looking forward to the next instalment from this camp.

Whatever colour it may be.

TUNER: Totem
Pat Mastelotto: Drums, Percussion, Samples, Programming
Markus Reuter: Touch Guitar, Organ, Synths, Programming, Voice
Unsung Records 0501001 http://www.unsung-records.com

1. Flinch 3:31
2. Up, Down, Forward & Return 5:53
3. Mouth Piece 4:19
4. Totem 6:11
5. A Test Of Faith 4:47
6. The Morning Tide Washes Away 7:15
7. Hands 7:10
8. Better Take Your Head Off 3:17
9. Kiss The Earth 8:42
10. Dexter Ward 6:43
+ Mouth Piece (video in Quicktime and WMV formats)

Vocals on 6 by Sirenee
All music by TUNER except 6 by TUNER/Stieger
All words by Reuter except 6 by Filatova

View an edit of Renee Steiger’s video for Mouth Piece and hear free samples from Totem and TUNER live at http://www.patmastelotto.com/freemusic.0.html

Totem is currently available at:
http://www.disciplineglobalmobile.com/shop/
& http://www.burningshed.com/

TUNER Links:
Pat Mastelotto: http://www.patmastelotto.com
Markus Reuter: http://www.markusreuter.com
Renee Stieger/Sirenee: http://www.sirenee.com
TU Live! (including TUNER live): http://members.aol.com/kingcrimsonlive/tulive.htm

(And a huge personal thank-you to the TUNER camp for supplying my copy of this CD.)

Monday, February 19, 2007

KTU: 8 Armed Monkey

This review was originally written for ProjeKction.net. The original version, including embedded media can be found HERE.

KTU: 8 Armed Monkey



Above all elements in an effective piece of music stands conviction.

Without strong conviction music inevitably loses some of its potential. A music-form may be angelically beautiful, groundbreakingly original, virtuosic in its execution, or simply “your cup of tea”, but without a strong sense of conviction something will be weakened. For conviction plays from the heart, it is the best conduit available to the artist for preserving and conveying emotion.

KTU’s 8 Armed Monkey is conviction in extremis. Do not approach this CD lightly. If you want perfect-pitch and fully-realised song-forms you will surely be disappointed, for KTU do not hold back. In fact I’d go so far as to say that Trey Gunn, Pat Mastelotto, Kimmo Pohjonen and Samuli Kosminen have created a beast that cannot be held back. That isn’t to say that 8 Armed Monkey is all one flavour of extreme musical intensity. No, nothing could be further from the truth. Musically, KTU sample a very broad palette indeed. But it is that sense of conviction that is all-pervading & brutally unrestrained throughout.

Opening with the brooding, dark bastard that is Sumu, KTU work up the atmosphere of an impending maelstrom both quickly and gradually. It doesn’t take long for the listener to feel the power of this track, a few seconds will have you convinced that this isn’t going to be an easy ride, but the density of multi-layered textures and subtleties that are the crux of KTU’s modus operandi take a while to reach their peak. Modulating from Kimmo’s guttural growl to a gradual chord progression with rhythmic expression to a truly sublime Trey Gunn solo and back again, KTU establish themselves as contenders for the most innovative, yet always listenable, left-of-centre group in many, many years. Comparisons with Muir-era Crimson are completely appropriate and worthy.

Optikus (see the clip below), sets a very different pace altogether. Is it possible to remain still in one’s seat whilst listening to this track? I wouldn’t know, I’ve never tried. I don’t think Kimmo has either. This song is the monster of avant-groove. Pat sounds in his element here. Heck, you can almost HEAR him grinning. And when Kimmo starts singing with Trey simultaneously showing off his best funk chops I can’t help but grin myself. This track has all the hallmarks of an absolute masterpiece... just watch out for that accordion solo. Nasty stuff, and I mean that as a compliment.

Samuli’s accomplishments as a live, real-time manipulator of the sonic architecture come to the fore on Sineen, a track which I can only describe as having an element of subterfuge. This slow pace track is reminiscent of a soundtrack to some bizarre foreign b-grade spy film, the type of movie that you can’t switch off even though you cannot understand a word of the dialogue. Intriguing and captivating, and visually lyrical in its minimalism, KTU establish a mood of mystery that becomes even more apparent on repeated listening. But there is something more than mystery too; a hint of pathos, a fair dash of romance, this is an audio-play of epic proportions with Kimmo’s accordion (which this time actually sounds like an accordion) as the protagonist.

In an alternate reality King Crimson continued as a five piece sometime after Bill Bruford quit in the late 90s with pieces like Seizure and Heavy ConstruKction forming the basis of their new material. TU’s track Absinthe would have been perfectly suited to such a non-reality. KTU’s interpretation of the track takes it to a whole new level. This is how a ProjeKct should be; cutting, reaching and striving for new ground, and positively tribal at the same time. Kimmo’s performance here is extraordinary, especially given his absence of a composer’s credit. Vocally in fine form, he let’s all hell break lose from his throat in a rare, virtually accordionless solo. There’s a brief reprieve courtesy of some tuned metallophone samples from Pat (or is Samuli on his touch drum?), then straight back into the fire. Relentless. The second time around it’s Trey out the front shredding his touch guitar to pieces, over what I presume is a loop of his bass-line rumblings from the first stanza. But you never know, he could be playing both at once, such is his genius. The accordion comes out the front for third round, with Samuli working his processing units to a frenzy producing an aural demon from the sounds of what is usually considered a fairly benign instrument. Once more the Gamelan-like triggers are set in motion, with the main theme slowly building up underneath. And to finish, a magical moment where Kimmo percussively beats his bellows as if his very life depends on it. I wonder at this point just how many accordions he gets through a year. Surely they can only withstand so much maltreatment.

8 Armed Monkey closes (oh so soon!) with Keho, a piece which I will admit I had trouble understanding at first. Echoing the brooding darkness of Sumu, but in a much simpler, restrained fashion, the track starts off with a single pulse heart-beat and then slowly, VERY slowly, each player starts adding little nuances. Snippets of bottom-end touch guitar, a quiet Gregorian-like chant, percussive clicks and clatters, and a gradually thickening soup of sound eventually introduce (just over three minutes into the song) a solo from Trey that is very reminiscent of his work on King Crimson’s Deception of the Thrush. Hauntingly delicate, this small fragment of brilliance truly does send shivers down the spine. And still the textures continue to grow beneath it. At around 5:10 Kimmo joins Trey for a rare moment of shared soloing. Unfortunately it doesn’t last long with Trey fading his solo out in a matter of seconds. Pat then reintroduces the same metallophonic devices, before a heavily processed Trey resumes the spotlight. The ending, however, is what I did not quite understand at first. The last 90 seconds of the song are like a decaying kaleidoscope. Small particles of sound heard only as fragments of something greater are twisted and distorted until barely recognisable. Then, slowly, the lights are switched off. One by one the very essence of KTU collapses before your eyes… or rather, ears. It is truly beautiful in its simplicity. So simple that it may take a while to fully comprehend.

Superb. Simply put, this is the finest extra-crimsoid alumni CD yet. But that is not quite fair, for this group are a true band in their own right. I will never think of them as a (side)-project again. And with only one group composition on this CD, and KTU continuing to create new compositions and perform live, here’s hoping the next chapter in this band’s book is just around the corner.

KTU: 8 Armed Monkey
1. Sumu (Pohjonen) 8:43
2. Optikus (Pohjonen) 8:37
3. Sineen (Pohjonen, Kosminen) 7:23
4. Absinthe (Gunn, Mastelotto) 8:21
5. Keho (KTU) 10:02

Westpark Music 87119 (licensed from Hoedown/Rockadillo)

http://www.westparkmusic.de or http://www.westparkmusic.com

KTU Links:

The official KTU site: http://www.kimmopohjonen.com/nav.php?url=KTU.html
Pat Mastelotto: http://www.patmastelotto.com
Trey Gunn: http://www.treygunn.com
Kimmo Pohjonen: http://www.kimmopohjonen.com
TU Live! (including KTU lIve):

(And a huge personal thank-you to the generous supplier of my copy of this CD! I’m still grinning.)

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Martin Archer, Geraldine Monk & Julie Tippetts: Fluvium

The latest arrival getting a spin in the extended kitchen of the Point Moot summerhouse -

Martin Archer, Geraldine Monk and Julie Tippetts: Fluvium (Discus 2002) LINK


The first Archer/Monk collaboration Angel High Wires (la Cooka Ratcha/Voiceprint 2001) also featured the glorious Julie Tippetts, but to a lesser extent as one of several featured vocalists. Here her role could still be mistaken as being secondary to that of the main duo, particularly because this time she is not the narrative vocalist rather a vocal (as instrument) orchestrator, and often her contributions are deep in the background if present at all. But her influence has shaped the whole project such that she truly deserves to be credited as a collaborator proper.


Despite the obvious continuity between the two projects Fluvium stands as a stark contrast to Angel High Wires for several reasons. Firstly, there are no additional musicians in the mix; space is the order of the day. Secondly, rather than using guests Monk here recites her own texts. Thirdly, Fluvium's text is a continuous form; the four titles (not counting the fifth track which truly is an "Aftershock" and stands as a separate companion piece to the main body of work) are best considered as "index points" to help break up the sometimes difficult journey. The result is a piece of music/poetry/soundart that sounds complete and fully formed in both its concept and execution.


Archer credits "electronics" as his main instrument on these releases though he still adds a bit of sax (and other conventional instruments) now and then. His style here is deep into avant-garde jazz territory, or probably more accurately jazz-tinged avant-garde if you want to be particularly taxonomically anal. Percussion is notably absent, creating a fluid open environment for the three to explore. Monk, to quote the British Electronic Poetry Centre, writes "atmospheric narratives gleaned from the coincidences of circumstance and the emotional geography of place." Her bio continues, "I want the physicality of words to hook around the lurking ghosts and drag them from their petrified corners." Yes, beware! this is modern stuff, yet Monk's genius lies in her ability to arrange words and phrases, along with carefully (mis)placed punctuation into flavourful text-forms, the same way musicians such as Archer, or Robert Fripp arrange notes and sounds without a formal template to create a textural and emotive sonic environment. Richly effective these words can be, if the listener can find the right space.


And then there's Julie Tippetts. Despite their modest presence her vocalisations throughout act as a complement to reinforce both Archer's and Monk's contributions. Through considerable restraint and empathy she forms an integral bond within this union of three. She is the voice-instrument linking the instrument to the voice. Without her this would be poetry set to music. With her it becomes a genre in itself.


This is a grand work, not a portfolio collection. Highly recommended.


CLICK HERE FOR AUDIO EXTRACT