FOXY DIGITALIS / UK / March 2012
http://www.foxydigitalis.com/foxyd/?p=28064
An array of musical luminaries collaborate on this fine album, the second part in a trilogy by Strings Of Consciousness whose music is composed by Philippe Petit and Hervé Vincenti.
Cosey Fanni Tutti (Throbbing Gristle), Lydia Lunch, Helen Money, Graham Lewis (Wire), Andy Diagram (Pere Ubu) and more all have spots on From Beyond Love, an album of global scope and minuscule detail. But although the creative process was large scale and — the artists say — very lengthy, the stress is fully on personal emotion. ‘The Drone From Beyond Love’, which brings together Made Out Of Babies’ Julie Christmas and experimental cellist Helen Money begins the record on a dramatic note. Money’s cello tugs out powerful, screeching chords above the electronic manipulation provided by Petit and Christmas, sounding not unlike Björk at her most insistent, part shouts her vocals to surprisingly widescreen effect. As an opening track it certainly gets things off to a powerful start, but doesn’t exactly tally with the rest of the album. ‘Sleepwalker’, sung morbidly by Current 93′s Andria Degens over dusky harp and saxophone, is one for Bohren fans, the kind of dark jazz beloved of David Lynch obsessives. Petit plays his new favourite instrument for the first time — the mysterious electric psalterion. “I am not a sleepwalker,” croons Degens, but I’ll be damned if she doesn’t sound like one. It’s a spine-tingling evocation of night time cities and the neighbourhoods you shouldn’t be in.
‘Bugged’ continues in a similar, if slightly less gloomy vein. Here Wire’s Graham Lewis sings over a skittering drum beat and Diagram’s soft, quavering trumpet. Lewis’ vocals and the overall feel of the track is similar to one of Brian Eno’s from the Before And After Science era. It’s relatively short and one of the more immediately accessible pieces of music on From Beyond Love, ending in a pleasant ‘woah-woah’ refrain that gives the song a more conventional pop structure. This is followed by ‘Finzione’, the shortest and most obscure song on the album. This is perhaps not surprising considering Cosey Fanni Tutti is involved. She whispers about ‘blue horizons’ over Diagram’s trumpet and tingling harp runs that sound like those from Bernard Herrmann’s Taxi Driver score. As with a great deal of the record, there are more elements involved in the make up of this short track than are immediately evident. The liner notes list Tibetan bowls, vinyl manipulations, synths and a lot more. Repeated listens will yield rewards.
All of this builds up to Hurt Is Where The Home Is — a genuinely astonishing 19 minute story song involving Lydia Lunch and Oxbow’s Eugene Robinson. The vocals are squeezed and manipulated to nightmarish proportions, making the pair sound as though they’re twisting painfully amongst the hellish screed of strings and metal created by the musicians. Robinson stutters about human failure, choking and gulping as though he’s been badly garrotted. Her voice comes from above, completely dominant and cackling about blood loss. After five minutes you start to wonder whether you can listen any longer but something compels you. Robinson’s squealed claim that he “would fuck them all given half a chance” introduces a surprisingly slinky guitar segment, completely at odds with the prior horror but somehow natural. Robinson carries on howling, Lunch leaves him to it. The electronics reach ear-pierce levels, Ikeda-style, and the whole thing collapses under it’s own horrendous weight. Honestly, it’s one of the most remarkable and dramatic pieces of work I’ve had the pleasure to hear in quite some time and it’s worth the price of the album alone. You have to hear this.
Steve Dewhurst
UNCUT / UK / September 2007
This ambitious work succeeds by sounding like a David Lynch film scored by a strung-out Morricone. Chris Roberts
THE INDEPENDANT / UK / September 2007
Strings of Consciousness are the first act signed to Barry Adamson's new label. Our Moon is Full features vivid and challenging instrumental arrangements as backdrops to sinister tales delivered by guest vocalists. But if Adamson's work could be characterised as aural film noir, then Strings of Consciousness are more the equivalent of European art-house cinema, these eight pieces not so much composed as congealed. Some, like "While the Sun Burns Out Another Sun" and the miniature "Defrost Oven", are quiet, sparse ambient explorations of harp, guitar or vibes; others such as "Crystallize It" and "Sonic Glimpses" deploy more testing sheets of distorted guitar noise. Best of all are the opener "Asphodel", in which a crackling, creaking Heath Robinson bricolage of clicks, scrapes and squeaks is assembled into a cohesive bed for Jim (Foetus) Thirlwell's multi-tracked Beatle-ish harmonies; and "In Between", a tour de force of improvisational skill and sensitivity.
Andy Gill
arts.independent.co.uk/
ALL MUSIC GUIDE / USA / August 2007
In experimental circles, electronica-related and otherwise, the mid-2000s marked a slight return to the song format. Call it the logical extension of the underground folk revival or more simply a desire to apply experimental findings to genres of wider appeal, the fact remains that noisy textures, electronic constructs, and post-rock anthems permeated into the song realm, to a point where some reviewers started writing about "electro-acoustic pop." Strings of Consciousness' debut full-length marvelously illustrates how artistically successful this approach can be. The international collective blends acoustic instruments (sax, cello, trumpet, harp, vibraphone) and computer treatments; melodies and texture layers; narratives and abstractions. The group's lineup features seasoned experimentalists Hervé Vincenti, Stefano Tedesco, and Philippe Petit, Spaceheads/Pere Ubu's Andy Diagram, the Sea and Cake's Alison Chesley -- and that's only part of the group's core. Also present are the guest vocalists: Foetus' J.G. Thirlwell, Girls Against Boys' Scott McCloud, and the almighty Barry Adamson, again just to name a few. The music does not blend only sound sources (acoustic/electronic), but genres, too: folk, industrial (the Current 93-tinged "Crystallize It"), even Western in "In Between," featuring a captivating recitation by Pete Simonelli. If the album contains occasional moments of brightness (the short "Defrost_Oven" with wordless vocalizing by Lisa Smith-Klossner), most of it is pretty dark, including the disc's two undisputed highlights: "Cleanliness Is Next to Godliness," featuring Oxbow's Eugene Robinson, and "While the Sun Burns Out Another Sun," with the post-beat poetry of Black Sifichi. Our Moon Is Full adopts the song format; however, it never becomes about catchy tunes. On the contrary, this moody album requires a few listens to sink in because, even though it presents a cohesive personality, its beauties are so numerous and subtle that they take time to unfold. A serious contender for year-end lists across the board.
François Couture
wc01.allmusic.com/
NME (New Musical Express) / UK / September 2007
Featuring a cast of well, dozens, this debut from the multi-national electro jazz collective Strings Of Consciousness is far more subtle, smoky and terrifying than anything dubbed « electro-jazz » has a right to be.Like a grumpy Tom Waits soundtracking A Clockwork Orange, its tales of evil smoulder creepily into your brain stem. TM
TIME OUT / UK / September 2007
They might sound like some grisly new-age outfit, but SOC is a Barry Adamson project and thus cooler than an Inuit’s ice box. On their debut LP, the nine-piece ensemble build awesomely understated soundscapes both serene and unsettling, using piano, turntables, Theremin, laptop, strings, brass and woodwind. Guest vocalists Eugene Robinson of Oxbow, Jim Thirlwell, Girls Against Boys’ Scott McCloud and Adamson himself help up the evocative ante.
Sharon O’Connell
www.timeout.com/
A&A # 288 / USA / September 2007
Nine members, three countries and seven guest vocalists. The songs travel from dark to light (thus the title of the album), and the collection of sounds within those songs runs the gamut from electronic soundscape to grunge to avant garde classical music and beyond. I think you'll understand a bit better when you know that the guest singers are folks like J.G. Thirlwell, Scott McCloud, Eugene Robinson and Barry Adamson. Yeah, this stuff is cool.
www.aidabet.com/
AMPLIFIER MAGAZINE / USA / September 2007
Strings of Consciousness, a collective that is brought together in part via e-means, and comprised of members hailing from France, England, and the States, here groups nine members, five of which play stringed instruments, to harness a sprawling, jazzy sound that doesn’t lack for uniqueness. The album features a variety of guest vocalists, giving listeners diversity of performance throughout. Particularly strong efforts are gleaned from J.G. Thirlwell on the first track, “Asphodel,” and spoken word poet Black Sifichi on the two selections to which he lends vocals, “While the Sun Burns Out Another Sun” and “Midnight Moonbeams.” A real dramatic sensibility is achieved here along with the atmospheric soundscape strung up by the ensemble. As a side note, Black Sifichi—a French artist—declaims with a perfect American accent. “Asphodel” has a similar feel to the Beatles’ “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds”; it’s in psych-jazz territory with an emphasis on the strings, rounded out by Thirlwell’s reverberating vocal work. Amid much spoken word on the disc, Barry Adamson’s contribution on “Sonic Glimpses” is solid as well, recalling classic Leonard Cohen. All in all, new takes on jazz ensembles melded with poetry abound, making for an interesting, unusually atmospheric outing in Our Moon is Full.
--Andrew Palmacci
amplifiermagazine.com/
MUSIC EMISSIONS / USA / September 2007
Modern technology has had profound effects on the creation of music and the formation of musical groups, no doubt. One of the more obvious benefits of our present world-wide connection is the ease in which musicians can find each other based on whatever criteria. Strings Of Consciousness were formed originally as a string quintet but, by the power of the internet and determination, they've accumulated quite the roster and now stand as a 9-piece with various collaborators from across the globe. Our Moon Is Full is their debut release, and due out on the 17th of this month (September).
With such a deep scope of inspiration and experience brought in from the cast, it's not surprising to hear about 1,000 different types of musical expression across this attention-demanding LP. A sound is created that falls somewhere between an indie movie soundtrack and Mogwai-like electric rock. It would take far too long to go into all of the individual performances, as a different vocalist is used on almost every track and the instruments that show up vary from strings to various pieces of percussion, synths and tape loops. Each song must have been a laborous process to put together, as sounds layered upon sounds end up in a harmonious swirl that engages rather than engulfs the listener. I would venture to call Strings Of Consciousness a post-rock band, but that's only touching the tip of their musical iceberg.
All the songs on Our Moon Is Full are well written and, despite a little dragging close to the end, I have nothing negative to report. If you're not afraid of alot of experimentation, and alot of different sounds fusing together into one, Strings Of Consciousness might just be for you. If you're proud to have albums by Mogwai, GY!BE and similar artists in your collection, Our Moon Is Full would make an excellent purchase.
www.musicemissions.com/
GREEN ARROW RADIO / USA / September 2007
In September of 2007 Central Control International will be unveiling Strings of Consciousness onto the wider-world. The first breath for this being started as a small group of musicians from Marseilles, France, the ensemble expanded by recruiting like-minded musicians from across the Globe. Their unique sound has been likened to latter-day Talk Talk, Angelo Badalamenti, Do Make Say Think, Tortoise and Arab Strap ñ often in the same sentence. Our Moon Is Full features vocal collaborations from J.G. Thirlwell (Foetus), Scott McCloud (Girls Against Boys), Eugene Robinson (Oxbow), Lisa Smith-Klossner, Pete Simonelli (Enablers), Black Sifichi and BA. There are minutes during this album where I consumed more than I was ready for and had to start over, it made for an interesting listen, like when your teacher was taken with a cold and lead class with a whisper. You were compelled to listen MORE. This is an album to let yourself swim inside of, go towards the deep end and float away.
www.greenarrowradio.com/
SLUG MAGAZINE / USA / September 2007
Strings of Consciousness = Pink Floyd + Jack Kerouac + Dust Brothers
This album is all kinds of profound. With the beginning notes of the first track “Asphodel,” the cinematic sounds begin. The first blaring notes of the saxophone made me think I was in some dark alley, then the breakbeats came down like a furious rainstorm with the creepy robotic vocals of J.G. Thirweell (Foetus) harassing my sanity. I felt like David Gilmore and Roger Waters were sneaking into my room to molest me and this was just the beginning of the album. Every track from the Strings of Consciousness debut is just as intense as the first. The highlight of the album has to be the third track, “Cleanliness Is Next To Godliness;” the guest vocals provided by Eugene Robinson (Oxbow) tells of a man seeking revenge and bustin’ a cap on somebody. Robinson’s tone and inflection in his voice is some serious business. He makes you think that he really did put a bullet in someone. All eight tracks on the album are musical scores that consist of the perfect amounts of jazz, techno, classical and trip-hop; a cacophony of sound. This album is more like a soundtrack then a collection of songs, each one including a different guest vocalist, the majority of them droppin’ some heavy lyrical matter spoken-word style. I can dig man, I can dig it! –Jon Robertson
www.slugmag.com/
RUNOUT GROOVE / UK / August 2007
Our Moon Is Full is the first full length release from Strings Of Consciousness, originally a mainly French collective that through the internet hooked up with other collaborators in London, Paris and France. Their sound could probably be described as a combination of post-rock and trip hop, bringing to mind both Tricky's wonderful debut album, the more dance orientated side of Greg Dulli's Twilight Singers, and with the array of guest vocalists narrating tales of nightime evil and mishap, the apocalyptic parables of Current 93's Black Ships ate The Sky LP.
The collective is made up of 9 instrumentalists, but as i've mentioned, for every track on this first LP they've selected a vocalist to bring the sounds further to life. So we get J.G. Thirlwell (Foetus and a million other projects), Scott McCloud of Girls Against Boys, Eugene Robinson of the tremendous Oxbow, Barry Adamson (Magazine, The Bad Seeds, The Birthday Party, albums of solo brilliance), Pete Simonelli (Enablers,) Lisa Smith Klossner and Black Sifichi.
Adamson is a notable contributor because to my ears his solo records (Oedipus Schmoedipus, Moss Side Story) have undoubtedly been a major influence on this noirish and sometimes jazzy album. Hints of Arab Strap and Tortoise also resonate. It's really pretty stunning, and i'd be interested to see the band live. They played at the recent Supersonic festival in Birmingham, and have a date at London's Luminaire lined up for early September.
jamiesrunoutgroove.blogspot.com/
REGEN / USA / August 2007
A mixture of electronica, jazz, classical, and spoken word, this album is as pretentious as it sounds, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.
An eclectic collaboration of electronic composers and acoustic musicians, Strings of Consciousness blend jazz, classical, and art-rock sensibilities with a fuzzy undercurrent of down-tempo electronics. Throw in a crew of guest vocalists that range from industrial legend J.G. Thirlwell to Parisian spoken word artist Black Sifichi, and you've got a recipe for the year's most pretentious album. Get over it; you're allowed to be a little pretentious when you've got brains and talent. From the very beginning, Our Moon is Full sets the bar high, if for nothing else than unpredictability. You get J.G. Thirlwell doing guest vocals, you think you know what you’re going to get, but his jazzy falsetto on "Asphodel" is the polar opposite of the gravelly drawl you've come to expect from the Foetus mastermind. Just when you think you're ready for an album of experimental lounge music though, things turn 180 degrees and you get "Crystallize It," a stony, sludgy rock piece centered around the disaffected vocals of Girls Against Boys' Scott McCloud. Things keep going from there, ranging from mellow jazz poetry on "Cleanliness is Next to Godliness" to languid art-rock on "In Between." The lovely if brief "Defrost_Oven," all twinkling strings and wordless female vocals, provides a nice respite from the extended beatnik explorations around the middle of the disc. It's DJ and poet Black Sifichi, a comparatively obscure artist in North America, who provides some of the album's most stirring moments; "When the Sun Burns Out Another Sun" is musically understated, offering little more than some softly played guitars, but Sifichi's stream of consciousness monologue makes up for its lack of narrative with disjointed and stunning imagery. Sifichi also closes things out on "Midnight Moonbeams," a piano-laced trip-hop comedown that hints of disjointed wisdom emerging from an addled mind. Strings of Consciousness members have previously worked in such critically acclaimed but inaccessible outfits as Pere Ubu, Soft Machine, and The Sea and Cake, so you already know you're not going to be able to dance to this or do much singing along, but if you happen to work at a hipster-infested coffee house, you probably owe it to your clientele to put this one on the restaurant sound system.
Matthew Johnson
www.regenmag.com/
DROWNED IN SOUND / UK / September 2007
“Save a future for this…”
And linger not upon the band name, please: reminiscent of high-brow D‘n’B acts of the late ‘90s it most certainly is, Roni Size fallout and so-called intelligent dance music; men with estates and 2.4 kids front-seat bopping to beats broadsheets could commend without feeling encroaching age. It’s a barrier, a boundary to leap across; an ocean of immersion awaits but a few steps further, and Strings Of Consciousness’ debut long-player allows its audience to swim about freely, directionless, floating face-up; it’s all blue skies and wide horizons here.
Except when the clouds roll in and everything blackens: while the nine-piece, hometowns scattered across cities including London, Chicago and Paris, are comfortable laying down serene instrumental soundscapes that prickle the eardrums with tenderness and respect, they smile so much wider when guest vocalists step in and everything switches from amber to red. Girls Against Boys’ Scott McCloud’s turn on ‘Crystalize It’ is genuinely arresting, and Black Sifichi does a fine job of emulating the wired ramblings of Mark E. Smith on hauntingly erratic closer ‘Midnight Moonbeams’. But it’s Eugene Robinson who steals the spotlight.
Oxbow’s muscle-ripped frontman meanders lyrically the length of ‘Cleanliness Is Next To Godliness’, letting loose of control in a manner entirely his; he opens his throat and demons they do fly, onwards and upwards, parting a blanket of crackling grey. A most startling composition, the nine-minute song switches tact midway through, static encroaching until foundations splinter and an electro-tinged pulse echoes its way into focus. ‘Idioteque’ for the post-apocalypse blues. It’s the closest Strings Of Consciousness come to arranging a song that could, conceivably, be danced to, even if it’ll leave your ears peeling and gums bleeding.
“And on the way back I, full of promethean fire, fired on a dog that had been standing there barking stupidly at the slowly changing sky.”
Which, ultimately, settles back into its blue comfort zone, shifting atoms possessed not by memories of what was, of what has been. Strings Of Consciousness have created an album that varies wildly in mood and creative scope, fluctuating from aforementioned sheets of bleak heat through to smoky jazz-tinged numbers that wriggle serpentine (‘Sonic Glimpses’, featuring Barry Adamson) and understated and deftly controlled expressions of minimalism that whisper their message under a mist of unspecified menace (‘In Between’, featuring Enablers’ Pete Simonelli). It’s an album that cannot make itself heard first time around, second, third; investment of attention is paramount, and reward comes slowly, like mercury chilled. Quicksilver tongues on the surface level, hushed sentiments bubbling beneath, awaiting discovery.
“It was like she wore the night sky.”
Find your own dark place, special and isolated, and beauty is abundant as wide as your eyes can squint. Mike Diver. 8/10
www.drownedinsound.com/
The CHICKENFISHSPEAKS.com / USA / September 2007
This one really lives up to its name. Have you ever read any stream of conscious writing? If so then image that style in music form with "strings" and many other instruments. Some of the songs turn out great, such as the pseudo industrial "Crystallize It", others really grate on my nerves like the falling apart "Cleanliness is Next to Godliness". The band is full of ex-members of bands known for their odd song structures and lack of melody. Musicians in this band have been involved with bands such as Foetus, Girls Against Boys, Oxbow, Frank Black, Pere Ubu, Soft Machine and Bob Mould. If you like things out of the mainstream then maybe this is just up your alley. Grog Mutant.
www.thechickenfishspeaks.com/
MIDWEST RECORD / USA / September 2007
New kids on the Barry Adamson roster lie some old wisdoms to waste. People were pissed when Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard weren’t in the same studio when they dueted on “Pancho & Lefty”. This crew of 9 musicians and their confederates weren’t even on the same continents when they recorded this via Internet. Feeling like an experimental soundtrack with touches from all the great foreign composers in tow, this crew is cutting edge all the way. Their work fuses a great deal of modes and feelings into the kind of set a college kid that hates the mainstream would love. With the pedigrees of the gang on board, you can’t go wrong if this is the kind of thing that’s up your alley.
www.midwestrecord.com/
Live Review
it was time for Strings Of Consciousness who for this live show were slimmed down to the core of a 5 piece band rather than the 9 piece plus guest vocalists on the album, so there is no JG Thirwell or Barry Adamson or Andy Diagram etc. The strings of the name being provided by a
guitar and bass as well as drums and two keyboards, laptops and other assorted toys players to make a great big sonic stew that had many in the audience sitting on the floor listening intently as the music slowly warped there brains and took them off to wherever it was we were going, it was certainly a great journey into space that melded together Marshall Allen with Pere Ubu and Spacemen 3 while tipping a nod towards Manorexia and Soft Machine being mangled by Metal Urbain and all the while coming on like one of those Isildurs Bane Mind Pass albums. The Guitarist from Rothko is transformed in Strings of Consciousness into a far more spacey player
but for me it is the work of the two laptop and gadgets keyboards guys that just take this lot off into some really hard to describe places in the way the album almost sounds like a compilation rather than a single band so the fractured nature of there sound pulled me off into so many different places and at the same time just made me want to listen to lots more of it.
I'm certainly glad they found me and invited me to listen to them on myspace in the first place well worth investigating if you need to hear the next Sigmatropic meets Ultramarine meets Isildurs bane etc that is...
blog.myspace.com/
CONSPIRACY / Belgium / September 2007
Our Moon is Full is the debut album from Strings Of Consciousness, an ensemble made up of 9 members hailing from Marseille, France, via London, Paris and Chicago. Using their manifesto of uniting acoustic instrumentation and human sensibility with digital technology, the group were able to draft in many talented musicians from across the globe via the Internet. The result: a cohesive, warm, lush, harmonious collection of pieces, feeling as if they live and breathe-in the same air. Narration is key to Our Moon is Full, as it features outstanding vocal contributions from honorary ensemble members J.G. Thirlwell (Foetus/Steroid Maximus), Barry Adamson, Eugene Robinson (Oxbow), Scott McCloud (Girls Against Boys), Pete Simonelli (Enablers), Black Sifichi and Lisa Smith-Klossner. Our Moon is Full takes the traditional 2-sided long-playing format to its logical extreme; the dark followed by the light, from one side to another – not unlike our own moon’s cyclic pattern. A collection of several twists and turns, Our Moon is Full immediately sets a sunlit scene of abstraction before taking the listener on scores of aural and visual adventures through (occasionally twisted) soul-bearing confession, pent-up rock, taut & raw emotion and exploratory musical +and lyrical freedom through classical music and literature, melodic drifting ambient, soaring guitars, film-noir, psychosis and pretty much anything and everything between, and surrounding.
www.conspiracyrecords.com/
LIVE ROCK / Italy / September 2007
Gli Strings Of Consciousness sono un collettivo di musicisti disperso tra Chicago, Marsiglia, Londra e Parigi i cui sodali –tutti impegnati in molte collaborazioni di un certo peso a livello underground- si sono ritrovati attorno ad un’idea di free-form multiforme: jazz, free, post-rock, elettronica ed industrial sono, infatti, le coordinate stilistiche che, in maniera piuttosto generica, potremmo utilizzare per definire il primo album di questa cosmopolita formazione.
Con molte carte scoperte, la buona riuscita di una giocata dipende sempre dalla bravura e dalla concentrazione del giocatore: gli Strings Of Consciousness riescono, con una semplicità invidiabile, a far incontrare tutte le molecole del proprio suono, centrando in pieno persino i contributi offerti dai numerosi ospiti che arricchiscono “Our moon is full”. Elencando i nomi coinvolti nel progetto –tutti offrono la propria voce- riusciremmo anche a ricostruire parte del dna di questo progetto: J.G. Thirlweel (ex Foetus) accompagna il brano di apertura lungo oscillamenti sperimentali vicini ai Matmos più aggrovellati e tinte industriali impossibili da sopire; Barry Adamson dona a Sonic glimpses tutta la sua maestria jazzy e il suo carisma da crooner, all’insegna di quel mood cinematico e noir che caratterizza la sua produzione solista; Scott McCloud, invece, rende tagliente l’ottima Crystallize it come se si trattasse di un brano dei Girls Against Boys e Eugene Robinson (Oxbow) si impegna in un spoken-blues oscuro che esplode in beats elettronici non troppo più pacificati di quelli dei Ghostigital. La seconda facciata dell’ipotetico vinile si sposta su tinte meno dissonanti, ma di certo non pacificate: troviamo, infatti, Defrost_Oven che non sfigurerebbe nel roster Constellation e In between, una lenta progressioni per archi, chitarra e poi orchestra. Come ogni flusso di coscienza, “Our moon is full” non pretende di spiegarsi linearmente, o attraverso coordinate codificate: lo stesso fa questo disco, si dispiega di per sé tra improvvisazioni e attitudine free, presentando un collettivo di talento, ambizioso, e consapevole dei suoi mezzi. Una gran bella scoperta, lontana dalla staticità di certo post-rock fuori tempo massimo.
www.liverock.it/
RUMORE magazine / Italy / September 2007
DEEJAY / Italy / September 2007
Sulla carta il progetto Strings of Consciousness - inizialmente un quartetto d'archi avant-garde francese - potrebbe fare la felicità di tutti coloro che hanno donato una parte del miocardio (e un bel po' di denaro) alla scena noise americana degli anni Ottanta e Novanta, e in particolare al lato oscuro di quella accolita, quello più "caveano". Sono tinte nero pece quelle pennellate nelle lunghe escursioni notturne di "Our Moon Is Full" dagli ospiti coinvolti: Barry Adamson (Magazine, Bad Seeds), J.G.Thirlwell (Foetus), Eugene Robinson (Oxbow), Scott McCloud (Girls Against Boys), Pete Simonelli (Enablers) solo per citare alcuni del nonetto. Nato e cresciuto tra Londra, Parigi, Marsiglia e Chicago come un progetto a distanza, l'album ha assunto una coesione invidiabile grazie alla comune lunghezza d'onda dei partecipanti. "Asphodel" è un incubo elettronico liquido, newyorkese, messo a punto da Thirlwell; "Crystalized It", cantata da McCloud è il brano che mancava New Wet Kojak; il reading di Robinson su "Cleanliness Is Next To Godliness" è la feroce confessione di un assassino, la "From Her To Eternity" del nuovo millennio. Come un tuffo disperato dal Golden Gate in una notte di pioggia battente.
Andrea Prevignano
MESCALINA / Italy / September 2007
Come costume degli ultimi tempi la scena indipendente internazionale è satura, ma mai doma, di gruppi musicali che tentano di far coesistere all’interno di un’unica essenza musicale un’attitudine prettamente acustica con la presenza sempre più consistente della tecnologia digitale.
Gli Strings Of Consciousness sono una di queste band, un’orchestrina di nove elementi che dall’unione di variegati strumenti convenzionali (arpa, tromba, chitarre, basso, sassofono, piano, flauto e violoncello) e non (elettronica, giradischi, Tibetan bowls, theremin e laptop) riescono a dar vita ad un sound consistente, sensuale ed armonioso tradotto in otto composizioni che vanno a completare il loro primo lavoro, “Our moon is full”.
L’orchestrina acustico-digitale è un progetto per certi versi inconsueto che unisce tra loro musicisti impegnati in collaborazioni (2 Pale Boys, Soft Machines, Frank Black, Robert Wyatt, ndr) o in altri progetti paralleli (come le note etichette francesi Pandemonium e Bip_Hop, ndr) per di più sparsi in diverse zone del globo terrestre, da Marsiglia a Chicago via Londra e Parigi, il tutto tramite internet.
Il nome scelto per l’ensemble, oltre a riferirsi ai tradizionali quintetti d’archi, rimanda anche allo "stream of counsciousness", termine coniato all'inizio del’900 per illustrare il libero fluire di parole che riecheggiano i pensieri del narratore.
“Our moon is full” esprime proprio il legame che gli Strings Of Counsciousness possiedono con questa narrativa free-form proiettandosi in improvvisazioni governate dall'emotività e catturando ogni singolo momento su nastro.
La prima canzone “Asphodel” si apre proprio attraverso un’improvvisazione jazz tra il sax di Perceval Bellone e suoni elettronici per poi esplodere in ritmiche tribali con l’ottima prestazione di J. G. Thirlwell alla voce (Foetus, Clint Ruin e Steroid Maximus per citarne solo alcuni, ndr) a ricreare un’atmosfera quasi psichedelica.
“Our moon is full” è un progetto condiviso ed appoggiato da molti artisti che come Thirwell hanno messo a disposizione la loro esperienza: tra gli altri troviamo come ospiti d’onore l’artista/poeta di spoken word francese (ma anche dj e fotografo) Black Sifichi a dare voce ai brani “While the sun burns out another sun” e “Midnight moonbeams”; l’“interattivo” frontman degli Oxbow Eugene Robinson che racconta l’agghiacciante storia di “Cleanliness is next to Godliness” cavalcando sonorità minimali western tra assalti industrial; Lisa Smith Klossner (cantante meglio conosciuta per il suo lavoro con Hugh Hopper ex membro dei Soft Machine, ndr) voce elfica nel breve intermezzo “Defrost_oven” accompagnata dall’arpa di Raphaelle Rinaudo; Pete Simonelli (degli Enablers, ndr) presta la sua voce in “In between”, così come Scott McCloud (dei Girls Against Boys) in “Crystallize it”.
In “Sonic glimpses” il canto è affidato invece ad un’icona della musica internazionale come Barry Adamson (Bad Seeds, Birthday Party, The Gun Club, Buzzcocks e Iggy Pop, ndr).
“Our moon is full” è un ottimo disco che potrebbe essere adatto come colonna sonora ad un film di David Lynch, in grado di proiettare l’ascoltatore in atmosfere magiche, ipnotiche, surreali e visionarie.
Alfonso Fanizza
www.mescalina.it/
SENTIRE ASCOLTARE / Italy / September 2007
Di questo disco dovrebbero fare un trailer. Farebbe sobbalzare l’ascoltatore dalla sedia e lo trascinerebbe a cercarsi il disco intero. Allo stesso modo, se si ascolta Our Moon Is Full – disco d’esordio degli Strings Of Consciousness – limitandosi a qualche secondo per canzone, ci si interessa immediatamente.Ma c’è un ma.
Il gruppo è formato da nove componenti che agiscono a distanza, un po’ francesi – di Marsiglia, Parigi – un po’ londinesi, un po’ di Chicago. Chi gli vuole bene più del dovuto dice che è stupefacente come si percepisca, nonostante quel modo di comporre non in presenza reciproca, la coesione e l’amalgama delle canzoni, come se i musicisti vivessero insieme. Si dicono tante cose false, e questa è una di quelle.
Del disco spicca infatti l’assenza di una stanza dei bottoni dove bere birra insieme, il che vuol dire mancanza di coesione, appunto, ma prima di tutto di un progetto di composizione che sopravviva all’aggiunta di effetti; ovvero ancora, pensando queste canzoni in una veste scarnificata dalle idee accostate tra loro dalla sporca nonina, rimane poco. Forse da qui potrebbe scaturire il maggior pregio del disco, e la sua salvezza da una delusione (che parzialmente c’è) all’ascolto completo. Sì, d’accordo, è palese la mancanza di un fulcro compositivo; ma la struttura non è mai cervellotica, è quanto di più semplice o del tutto assente, a volte riempita dalla presenza scenica dei solisti (come la voce di Scott McCloud dei Girls VS Boys in Crystallize It, o di quella J.G. Thirlwell – cioè Foetus – in Asphodel) e da loro condita di un effetto straniante, di shift post-moderno.
Il risultato è insomma fatto di canovacci riempiti progressivamente di effetti, di trovate elettroniche, percussive, su un flusso di coscienza collettiva, un intreccio di pensieri musicali che nonsi incontrano a distanza ma si sovrappongono. Un momento, mica ho cambiato idea. Questa artificialità fatta di appunti non raggiunge l’eterogeneità splendente degli Oneida, nonostante a loro si possa pensare come terminus ad quem ideale del disco. Come il flusso di parole musicate della seconda parte del disco ci ricollega ai reading narrativi dei Massimo Volume, ma ne è inferiore, come l’uso del sassofono e di alcune atmosfere lo è rispetto ai Tuxedomoon. L’occasione, insomma, resta sprecata. Gaspare Caliri
www.sentireascoltare.com/
IL POPOLO DEL BLUES / Italy / August 2007
Dive into the streaming sound of one of the most convincing contemporary psychedelic musical projects
Con un nome che gioca sulla parola string, come corda, e sullo “stream of consciousness”, la tecnica del flusso di coscienza usata nella narrativa di primo Novecento, Strings of consciousness sono un incredibile collettivo di nove musicisti provenienti da diverse parti del mondo.
Uniti tra di loro grazie ad internet, anche se il cuore pulsante del gruppo è un quartetto di strumentisti a corda, i musicisti hanno dato vita da un progetto interessantissimo che fonde in una realtà unica suoni e parole. Nel loro sound che unisce progressive, psichedelia, musica suonata ed elettronica, non si può infatti propriamente parlare di linee melodiche. Si tratta più spesso di testi e racconti, recitati da voci calde e intense, su una base musicale in cui si intersecano improvvisazioni libere e sonorità in equilibrio tra strumenti acustici e laptops.
E’ un progetto molto ambizioso, che fa della sperimentazione e del coraggio di osare il suo lato forte. Ma è un progetto riuscito, guidato da musicisti che hanno singolarmente all’attivo collaborazioni con artisti come Sea&Cake, Bob Mould, Robert Wyatt, Marc Almond, Kronos Quartet e che possono vantare al basso in questo disco la presenza di un luminare della musica rock come Hugh Hopper (Soft Machine). Sul loro my space c’è una colonna intera di influenze diverse, da Syd Barret a Stravinsky, da Morricone ai Joy Division, dai Kraftwerk a Edgar Allan Poe. Ma più si esplora la loro musica e più ci si rende conto che non sono nomi elencati a caso. Our moon is full è realmente l’unione di tante menti diverse, dove ognuna sa mettere in luce le proprie qualità migliori ed è lasciata libera di aggiungere il proprio apporto personale, costituendo - al di là della valutazione di ogni singolo ascoltatore sul genere musicale – uno dei collettivi più riusciti e meglio costruiti del momento, valutazione ancor più motivata se ci si limita a considerare i soli collettivi europei vista l’alta presenza di musicisti di quell’area nel gruppo.
Giulia Nuti
www.ilpopolodelblues.com/
AUDIODROME / Italy / September 2007
La forza, così come il significato di questo progetto dai confini molto estesi (dal Nord America all’Europa continentale), è rintracciabile nel nome della band, un arguto gioco di parole di difficile traduzione.
Un vero e proprio "stream of consciousness", un flusso di coscienza, suonato con violini, sax e l’ausilio di basi elettroniche eclettiche come non mai. Una proposta arricchita dalla presenza di un vocalist diverso per ogni brano, soluzione capace di suscitare sensazioni diverse ad ogni passaggio: si parte da J.G. Thirwell - ovvero Mr. Foetus - nell’iniziale "Asphodel" e si passa per Scott McCloud dei Girls Against Boys, Barry Adamson, Black Sifichi, Pete Simonelli, Eugene Robinson e Lisa Smith Klossner. Nonostante l’incredibile eterogeneità della proposta, il punto di forza della band è proprio quello di mostrare le diverse sfaccettature della propria anima attraverso un unico, intricatissimo flusso, come se ogni elemento costituisse soltanto una porzione di un qualcosa di più grande, che, ne siamo certi, è ancora da scoprire nella sua interezza. Un sound indefinibile, inquietante e - per una volta si tratta del giusto aggettivo - onirico come non mai. Elementi industrial ed elettronica minimalista si sposano con strumenti a corda, sassofoni, vibrafoni, chitarre e pianoforti che sembrano distanti anni luce: il risultato è sorprendente e assimilabile a una sorta di musica da camera riveduta e corretta per il nuovo millennio. Difficile trovare punti di riferimento, perché quando si passa da un brano come "Asphodel", che sembra quasi provenire dal repertorio degli ultimi Ulver, a una composizione come "While The Sun Burns Out Another Sun", autentica sinfonia post rock per vibrafono e chitarre, è difficile rintracciare influenze o sterile etichettare qualcosa realmente senza confini. Si rimane storditi durante l’ascolto, o forse sarebbe meglio dire "smarriti", perché passando da un brano all’altro non si riesce mai a capire a cosa si stia assistendo o verso quali lidi il collettivo Strings Of Consciousness si stia dirigendo. Ci avventuriamo ad occhi chiusi tra un’inquietante "Cleanliness Is Next To Godliness", capace di levare il sonno se ascoltata di notte, ed una jazzata "Sonic Glimpses", resa ancora più intensa dalla toccante interpretazione di Adamson, passiamo per "Crystallize It", quasi un brano post-core soffocato e dagli angoli smussati, per giungere completamente alienati al rifugio (in)sicuro di "Midnight Moonbeams", autentica gemma finale a metà strada tra trip-hop e soundtrack di un film cyberpunk.
Ostico, oscuro e in alcuni momenti incomprensibile. Descrizione sonora di un inland empire mai esplorato, realizzata con ambizione, ma non con pretenziosità.
Un piccolo capolavoro da scoprire e riscoprire nel tempo, capace ad ogni ascolto di raffigurare visioni sempre nuove e sempre più surreali.
Strings Of Consciousness. Basta il nome.
www.audiodrome.it/
ROCKSHOCK / Italy / September 2007
Our Moon is Full è l’esordio con i fiocchi di un ensamble dal suono inedito che guarda dritto ad un futuro possibile.
Nove elementi provenienti da Marsiglia, Londra, Parigi e Chicago, danno vita – insieme a una ventina di collaboratori – al progetto Strings of Consciousness, formazione insolita dalle sonorità fascinose, moderne e fuori da ogni plausibile definizione.
Album di debutto che fa leva su un approccio curato nel dettaglio e fortemente propositivo nelle soluzioni timbriche. Difficile passare inosservati quando, nel volgere di poche battute, si mettono insieme suoni di chitarra, vibrafono, contrabbasso e pattern elettronici con gusto e intuizione.
Il sound scaturisce dalla fusione di sonorità fredde e standardizzate (ritmi, effetti, loops) con intelaiature melodiche calde e avvolgenti (sax, tromba e archi). Un puzzle che trova la sua figura d’ispirazione nello “stream of consciousness”, ovvero il libero fluire di parole che mostrano il pensiero del narratore.
Ed è proprio la narrazione free-form il filo conduttore che lega le otto tracks di Our Moon is Full, dove si alternano le voci di Barry Adamson (Bad Seeds), Pete Simonelli (Enablers), Eugene Robinson (Oxbow) ed altri, su di un curioso e chiaroscurale sovrapporsi di piani sonori che guardano ora al jazz soffuso, poi di colpo ai meccanismi ritmici industrial, e ancora all’ambient e alla musica tribale.
I ripetuti - e assolutamente necessari - ascolti tolgono ogni logica perplessità su di un’idea musicale così ampia e oscillante. Solo dopo qualche passaggio si colgono e si apprezzano le sfumature e le soluzioni d’insieme degli Strings of Consciousness. Affiorano gli accordi sublimi del chitarrista Herve Vincenti, le sognanti melodie del sassofonista Perceval Bellone e tutta la mole di lavoro svolta al laptop (sempre più utilizzato come strumento a tutti gli effetti) con perizia da Philippe Petit.
La band si chiama fuori dal calderone dei cliché precotti con un piglio sensazionale, spontaneo e compatto.
www.rockshock.it/
HUMEUR AMBRÉE / France / July 2007
"a parallel music for perpendicular feelings " est une définition qui va trés bien à cette formation française aux compositions protéiformes et singuliéres.
Strings of Consciousness pourrait être catégorisé comme un groupe de post-rock, drone, ambient et aux accents trip-hop et/ou éléctros.
"Asphodel" + "In Between" + "Midnight moonbeams" sont, plus particuliérement, des morceaux denses, forts, singuliers. Chacun d'entre eux déploie pourtant une atmosphére différente de celles mises en place dans les deux autres, tout en maintenant simultanément un lien, une cohérence entre elles. Enfin, à nouveau, un groupe français avec une identité personnelle et travaillée.
humeurambree.blogspot.com/
PERTES ET FRACAS / France / September 2007
Marseille toujours ! Strings of consciousness est un collectif marseillais (ou assimilé comme tel !) de 14 musiciens à géométrie variable dont Nicolas ''Kill The Thrill" Dick (au four et au moulin), Philippe Petit (l'ex-boss de Pandemonium records) et une ribambelle de noms qui ne me disent rien ! Après un 7'' et un 10'', le temps venu de l'album, Our Moon is full (Central Control International) où s'ajoutent encore plus de noms. Mais ceux là sont connus. J.G. Thirlwell (Foetus), Scott McCloud (Girls Against Boys), Eugene Robinson (Oxbow), Pete Simonelli (Enablers), etc... en invités de luxe pour prêter leurx voix à ce collectif instrumental à la base. Joli coup !
www.perteetfracas.org/
ROCKERS PUBLISHING / Poland / September 2007
Euro Moon is Full to debiutancki album Strings Of Consciousness, nagrany przez 9-ciu muzyków z róznych stron swiata, od Marsylli, po Londyn, Paryz i Chicago. Grupa tworzyla plyte komunikujac sie przez Internet. Laczenie instrumentów akustycznych z cyfrowa technologia absolutnie nie zatarlo muzycznej wrazliwosci i duszy artystów
Rezultat: spójnosc, cieplo, róznorodnosc, harmonia. To wszystko daje poczucie jak gdyby muzycy tworzyli obok siebie, oddychajac tym samym powietrzem.
Nazwa nawiazuje do tradycyjnego kwintetu smyczkowego i ma bezposredni zwiazek z literacka fraza „poczucie swiadomosci”, wyrazeniem powstalym we wczesnych latach XX wieku, ilustrujacym echaliczny potok slów narratora.
Na Our Moon is Full swych umiejetnosci oratorskich próbuja: J.G. Thirlwell (Foetus, Steroid Maximus), Barry Adamson, Eugene Robinson (Oxbow), Scott McCloud (Girls Against Boys), Pete Simonelli (Enablers), Black Sifichi i Lisa Smith-Klossner.
Our Moon is Full zawiera dwie extremalne strony; ciemnosc przechodzi w jasnosc, z jednej w druga – tak jak nieprawdopodobne fazy ksiezyca. Plyta ujmuje sluchaczy mistrzowskim lawirowaniem miedzy nastrojami i stylami muzycznymi. Bezposrednie sloneczne sety poprzedzone sa abstrakcyjnymi partyturami i wizualnymi przygodami. Od soulu do pent-up rocku; od napietych, surowych emocji do doglebnych badan muzycznej i lirycznej wolnosci; poprzez muzyke i literature klasyczna, melodyjny ambient, wysokie gitary, film czarny, psychoze i piekno, wszechobecnoscia „czegokolwiek i wszystkiego”.
Wezmy Eugene Robinsona - brutalna strone mezczyzny, który objawia siebie miksujac nowoczesne brzmienia z tematyka westernowa, maksymalnie minimalistyczna sciezka dzwiekowa przylaczona do fali industrialu. Czy chocby Asphodel rywalizujacy leb w leb z saksofonista Percival Bellone, startujac od formy freejazzowej i spokojnej elektroniki, przechodzac w plemienne rytmy, do gitar teleportujacych nas w swiat Davida Lyncha. Równie zaskakujaco objawia nam sie tutaj talent J.G. Thirlwella.
Czlonkowie Strings Of Consciousness pracowali z takimi artystami jak The Macé Ensemble, Bob Mould, the Sea and Cake, Soft Machine, Frank Black, Robert Wyatt, David Thomas, 2 Pale Boys, Spaceheads oraz Deviationists. Cos dla fanów Talk Talk, Boxhead Ensemble, Foetus, Enablers, My Brightest Diamond, Icebreaker, Kronos Quartet, Mogwai.
www.rockers.pl/
KRISTIANSTADSBLADET / Sweden / September 2007
Det är en ogästvänlig, samtidigt fascinerande trakt som utgör den månghövdade konstellationen Strings Of Consciousness jaktmarker. Bolaget Central Control drivs av Barry Adamson, en man med allt från Magazine och The Bad Seeds till Iggy Pop och Gun Club på meritlistan (som basist), lägg till mängder med filmmusiksarbeten för namn som Oliver Stone och David Lynch.
Musikaliskt har vi att göra med övervägande suggestiva stycken. Inte sällan vilande på långsträckta ljudsjok som pyser, frustar och väser likt ett ångestridet metalliskt väsen. Barry Adamsom själv tar ton i utmärkta "Sonic Glimpses".
Ibland går tankarna till Mogwai. Ibland till Fläskkvartetten. Bra som nog kan bli än bättre med tiden.
Christer Paulstrup
www.kristianstadsbladet.se/
RUMOR / Poland / September 2007
TELE GAZETA / Poland / September 2007
"Our Moon is Full" to debiutancki album Strings Of Consciousness, nagrany przez 9-ciu muzyków z róznych stron swiata, od Marsylli, po Londyn, Paryz i Chicago.
Grupa tworzyla plyte komunikujac sie przez Internet. Laczenie instrumentów akustycznych z cyfrowa technologia absolutnie nie zatarlo muzycznej wrazliwosci i duszy artystów Rezultat: spójnosc, cieplo, róznorodnosc, harmonia. To wszystko daje poczucie jak gdyby muzycy tworzyli obok siebie, oddychajac tym samym powietrzem. Premiera albumu juz 24 wrzesnia.
Nazwa nawiazuje do tradycyjnego kwintetu smyczkowego i ma bezposredni zwiazek z literacka fraza "poczucie swiadomosci", wyrazeniem powstalym we wczesnych latach XX wieku, ilustrujacym echaliczny potok slów narratora. Strings Of Consciousness wyraza free-forme narracji oraz improwizowany musical przesaczony emocjami.
Na "Our Moon is Full" swych umiejetnosci oratorskich próbuja: J.G. Thirlwell (Foetus/Steroid Maximus), Barry Adamson, Eugene Robinson (Oxbow), Scott McCloud (Girls Against Boys), Pete Simonelli (Enablers), Black Sifichi and Lisa Smith-Klossner.
"Our Moon is Full" zawiera dwie extremalne strony; ciemnosc przechodzi w jasnosc, z jednej w druga - tak jak nieprawdopodobne fazy ksiezyca. "Our Moon is Full" ujmuje sluchaczy mistrzowskim lawirowaniem miedzy nastrojami i stylami muzycznymi. Bezposrednie sloneczne sety poprzedzone sa abstrakcyjnymi partyturami i wizualnymi przygodami. Od soulu do pent-up rocku; od napietych, surowych emocji do doglebnych badan muzycznej i lirycznej wolnosci; poprzez muzyke i literature klasyczna, melodyjny ambient, wysokie gitary, "film czarny", psychoze i piekno, wszechobecnoscia "czegokolwiek i wszystkiego".
Wezmy Eugene Robinsona - brutalna strone mezczyzny, który objawia siebie miksujac nowoczesne brzmienia z tematyka westernowa, maksymalnie minimalistyczna sciezka dzwiekowa przylaczona do fali industrialu. Czy chocby Asphodel rywalizujacy leb w leb z saksofonista Percival Bellone's, startujac od free-form jazzu i spokojnej elektroniki, przechodzac w plemienne rytmy, do gitar teleportujacych nas w swiat Davida Lyncha. Równie zaskakujaco objawia nam sie tutaj talent J.G. Thirlwell's.
Czlonkowie Strings Of Consciousness pracowali z takimi artystami jak The Macé Ensemble, Bob Mould, the Sea and Cake, Soft Machine, Frank Black, Robert Wyatt, David Thomas' 2 Pale Boys, Spaceheads and Deviationists.
Strings Of Consciousness to: Raphaelle Rinaudo (harfa), Andy Diagram (trabka/ electronika), Nicolas Dick (gitary), Abdenor Natouri (podwójny bass), Perceval Bellone (saksofo, misy tybetanskie, flet, pianino), Hervé Vincenti (gitary/laptop), Philippe Petit (laptop/gramofony), Alison Chesley (wiolonczela), Stefano Tedesco (vibrafon).
www.rumor.pl/
www.telegazeta.pl/
FILE UNDER / Holland / September 2007
De wereld der muziek is oneindig groot en dit negenkoppige ensemble laat mij weer een hoekje verkennen. Meerdere hoeken eigenlijk, want zowel de muzikanten als hun talrijke (vocale) gasten komen uit allerlei broeiplaatsen der experimentele muziek. Die wie weet ook wel allemaal met draadjes verbonden zijn. Zo doet de Engelsman Barry Adamson mee, die met Nick Cave speelde, en elders Eugene Robinson, de zanger van noiserockers Obxow uit San Francisco. En nu noem ik nog maar een fractie van de dwarsverbanden. Belangrijker is of al die gasten samen iets interessants uit de grond stampen. Mwah, de saxofoon die de plaat opent voorspelt ware avant-garde, maar al snel nemen glitchy beats en irritante vocalen van J.G. Thirlwell (Foetus) het over. Klinkt als Tunng zonder een spoortje toegankelijkheid. Snel door naar het langste en beste nummer "Cleanliness Is Next To Godliness", een epos in fasen. Eugene Robinson vertelt op typisch Afro-Amerikaanse wijze een verhaal over de gefocuste voorbereiding en de uiteindelijk mislukking van een poging tot moord. Hij doet dat zeer ritmisch en hypnotiserend, de jongens uit Kerouac's On The Road zouden het zeker diggen. En ik ook. De begeleiding is eerst jazzy als in een zwoele film, maar de noise borrelt en giert tot die oplost in een Idiotheque-beat. Boeiend, net als het harpgetokkel in "Sonic Glimpses". Ook daar wordt, zoals eigenlijk overal, weer poëtisch gekwekt, wat voor een consistente sfeer zorgt, ook omdat de muzikale lijn wordt doorgetrokken. Ondertussen pluk ik echter aan mijn kin en meen dat het allemaal wat teveel van het goede is. De plaat mist een hart. Of mijn hart.
www.fileunder.nl/
RADIOHEAD Blog reviewing the show at Supersonic
These guys were great. Essentially an improv group starting from rehearsed motifs and then finding their own way to freedom. Very much prog / post-rock ideas without leaning too much on any related cliches. As I said at the time "monheim would have loved it". Oh, and they used a sample of Alvin Lucier's I Am Sitting in a Room which was awesome.
www.ateaseweb.com/
GREY SPARKLE / Italy / June 2007
La fortuna ha voluto però che il buon Philippe Petit, boss della mitica etichetta Bip-Hop nonché DJ e musicista, suonasse con i suoi post-rockers Strings of Consciousness.
Il live dei francesi inizia per gradi, con immenso pathos: sul palco, solo Philippe ai due (?) laptop, mixer e giradischi, ed il contrabbassista, Pierre Fénichel. Partono droni cupi e tesi, in volume crescente; dopo due minuti spunta un terzo musico, il calvo e corpulento Perceval Bellone, sassofonista, l'uomo dai piedi più tozzi del mondo (è scalzo), il quale inizia a torturare in sax Akai midi, sparando frequenze alte ma mai fastidiose. Rachid lo guarda e ride, ma entrambi lo troviamo simpatico e davvero un front-man. Dopo di lui Karim Tobbi, chitarrista, si sistema sulla prima fila. Davanti a sé ha una ventina di effetti, ma all'inizio pare non uscire un solo singolo suono. Gli altri crescono crescono crescono ma lui non parte, ed immagino le bestemmie che sommessamente tira mentre infila e toglie i jack. Sto male per lui, ma poi quando ce la fa, l'effetto è ottimo e il super-drone cresce ancora, con l'ultimo dei cinque, Hervé Vincenti, che con la chitarra semiacustica si aggiunge al crescendo noise ormai brutale. Mi piace.
Pian piano tutti scendono, restano contrabbasso e chitarra acustica, e parte il secondo brano, con la sua ritmica serrata (sparata dai Mac di Philippe) e il suo incedere post rock.
Il resto del concerto prosegue su queste coordinate: momenti free (con il sax, 'vero' lanciato verso fraseggi jazz) e passaggi ritmici che passano da morbide basi hip-hop a martelli EBM (la conclusiva e forse prolissa chiusura).
Nel complesso, un gran bel concerto, forse un po' troppo lineare e da affinare, ma Petit ci ha poi spiegato che si trattava del primo live di tale formazione, con la quale peraltro ha provato solo due volte. Davvero niente male, ora attendo di ascoltare il disco, più ordinato (per quanto sentito finora su MySpace) di queste tracce live.
www.greysparkle.com/
ROTE RAUPE / Germany / September 2007
Wenn sich das Analoge und das Digitale gegenüberstehen und beide, nach kurzem innehalten, den Kampf annehmen. Wenn Augen funkeln und Zähne gefletscht werden. Wenn sich der Noise verdichtet und wenn nichts mehr so scheint wie es sein sollte, dann kann man sich sicher sein in den tonalen Welten von "Strings of Consciousness" zu verweilen.
Harmonie und Wohlklang sucht am auf dem Debütalbum "Our Moon is Full" vergeblich. Dafür bekommt man etwas anderes, das ebenso faszinierend sein kann wie ein Dreiklang an der richtigen Stelle. Und da sind wir auch schon beim zentralen Punkt: Die richtige Stelle, der zentrale Moment, der Ort an dem der Kampf zwischen Digital und Analog mit voller Wucht geführt wird. Krautrock für das 21.Jahrhundert und der Beweis, das so gut wie jedes Instrument die Fähigkeit besitzt einen Beitrag zum Rauschkosmos dieser Band abzuliefern. Dazu kommen vereinzelte Melodien eines Saxophons und ein Sprechgesang, der in tiefster Bauchregion entstanden ist. Zusammen ergibt dieses Album ein Erlebnis für alle Sinne und sogar für zarte Ohren ein paar schwebend schöne Lieder beinhaltet.
roteraupe.de/