Raszia – Tannhäuser Gate [Zimmer087]

Deep House & Techno // By: NetlabelismcloseAuthor: Netlabelism Email: markus@modularfield.net
More Authors Posts (118) // 14/06/2012 // 4 Comments

“I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time… like tears in rain… Time to die.” These words, quoted by the artist, are taken from the “Tears in Rain” soliloquy, the final monologue of the replicant Roy Batty in the film Blade Runner; this album takes its title from that soliloquy.

Raszia comes from Valencia in Spain, and has three releases to date on the Zimmer Records netlabel. The label has been around since 2005, and one thing immediately noticeable about all their releases is the highly original black and white cover artwork, painted by Nikola Janeski.

The opening track, “Ghost Soul”, kicks into a wonderful minimal techno groove. Layer upon layer gets added; stabs almost sound like voices. We’re suddenly into a Detroit-like slab of grinding groove, with a deep bassline and driving percussion. This is totally hypnotic, the stabs just a little ahead of everything else, creating a fabulous sense of urgency. We’re almost somewhere between techno and house, but then layers drop, and we revert to a train-like techno beat which seems like it will stop for nothing. The production is absolutely top-notch, and this would be a firecracker of a floor-filler pretty much anywhere.

“Tannhäuser Gate” takes a different slant. Pounding bass is counterbalanced by bells and long, resonant metallic clangs. Little synth sounds perch atop the music. Again, there’s a fantastic sense of urgency here, as we’re dragged endlessly forward, whether we want to be or not; I know I do. The accent moves from every fourth beat to every second beat, just to build the excitement even further. This is sterling stuff.

As we move toward the album’s halfway point, “Echoes” arrives, and pummels and blasts its way along like a machine barely in control. Scattergun percussion echoes and scythes left and right, cutting and flaying with the relentless precision of a surgeon’s scalpel. High, keening notes repeat above an incredible build-up of percussion. Around six minutes in, it sounds like we may just be let off the hook, but we’re not; this thing has us in its jaws and will not let go. A separate counter-rhythm moves in and finally pulls the track to an exhausting close.

“Defective” begins as its title suggests. It sounds like we may be in for something a little different. Snatches of high-pitched sound pile up over midrange tones. Soon, however, a bass kick signals that we’re heading into firm techno territory once again. A shuffling gait pushes the pounding rhythm further forward. This is my least favourite track on the album, but it’s brilliantly executed, and it’s still very, very good indeed.

We close with “Waves From the Future”, which starts with a kick drum and short keyboard stabs. A mid-range synth appears and moves the music forward as the filter slowly opens and closes. The overall sound of the track is shaped by faster sweeps, moving up the range shortly before the synth mutates into percussion rather than lead. A traintrack-like “click-click, click-click” confuses the senses even further as the listener grapples with two different rhythms overlaying one another. Resolution: the newer beat disappears, and we’re back on solid ground. Think Detroit at its utter best, and you’ll know what to expect on this final cut.

Verdict? I loved it.

Raszia – Echoes

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Hielo en Varsovia – Hielo en Varsovia [LGN018]

Indie & Indietronica // By: AlexandercloseAuthor: Alexander Email: alexander@netlabelism.com
More Authors Posts (31) // 11/06/2012 // No Comments

Musical memories are strong for me. I’ll sit down and listen to a new piece of music and re-connect it to an older time of listening, almost as if my musical experiences are closely connected like the stars in the galaxy. One of my strongest musical memories is sitting in my tatami mat room in southern Japan as the rain poured down on the surrounding small mountain laden town I lived in. I was playing a bunch of music through my old and slowly decaying ipod, which included artists like Coheed and Cambria and The Mars Volta, but also some Japanese artists who I had randomly bought records of at the local cd store – Number Girl, the arguably most famous indie rock band to come out of Japan. What does this all have to do with the creative commons world? Not much, but Hielo en Varsovia struck up this vivid musical memory of sitting in that same room, and it was a comforting experience.

In many ways I can tie Number Girl to Hielo, the raw and reverb laden home recording sound is energetic and in a way laconic, mysterious. The guitars are both bright and haunting, the drums sound empty and not full at all while the keys are downright creepy in some passages. But it is these unique qualities that keep me coming back to this release. It is a heady mix of driving post-punk sprinkled with just a dash of post-rock à la Explosions in the Sky and a hint of indie prowess. They by no means emulate the sound of Number Girl, but take the same production qualities that drew me too them and put their own spin on the sound.

At 58 minutes long, the record sits on the denser listens of the netlabel spectrum. The length really does challenge the listener to maintain focus and I must say that a little culling of tracks here and there would have strengthened this release. However, what I really dig are the vocals all throughout. They sound as if they were recorded in the middle of a hangar, with the vocalist being instructed to mask what he is saying as much as possible. I cannot understand a word of what is being sung, but the melodies fit potently well and fit the production style the band has gone for.

For a three piece this album sounds as full on, as jam packed with sounds that it astounds me there are only three people behind the instruments. Trimming the fat here and there would turn this album from a 6.5 out of ten to a very strong 8, but for now I will enjoy what I am hearing, welcome this wonderful musical memory and look forward to future output by this exciting band releasing music that the creative commons world is not exposed to so often. [AS]

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Gillicuddy – …Plays Guitar [ca488]

Classical Music & Jazz, Instrumental // By: NoahcloseAuthor: Noah Email: noah@netlabelism.com
More Authors Posts (8) // 07/06/2012 // 1 Comment

Let’s face it.  There is an awful lot of mediocre music out there, even in the netlabel scene. Sometimes I feel like I’ll stop listening altogether if I hear yet another “experimental noise” release. As a musician myself, I know how easy it is to get loud, capture some audio, chop it up, and claim a new album is done… the results of which can either be very rewarding or, as is often the case, a complete waste of bandwidth.

That’s why Gillicuddy’s …Plays Guitar album is graceful change of pace.  In the beginnings of the netlabel movement, we didn’t see/hear as many analogue–or, much less acoustic–examples of netaudio, although that is changing with sites like Bandcamp and Soundcloud, which aren’t netlabels per se, but do offer artists an even more independent outlet beyond the need for attachment to a specific label with a specific sound. …Plays Guitar was released in February though Clinical Archives, a robust netlabel and one of the most prolific labels online with a daunting display of releases (some 500+) showcasing quite a range of genres.

Guitar, as the name suggests, is Gillicuddy playing guitar. That’s it. No frills here, just seven tracks of guitar in what is described as neo-classical and post folk. The instrument of choice is a classical guitar, and Gillicuddy is obviously expert at it. Although I agree with the tag ‘neo-classical’ (this ain’t no Andres Segovia), I’m less sure about ‘post folk’ or what that even means in the context of this album, other than it must come after folk music?

Regardless, I do appreciate the approach: we begin with a straightforward finger-style classical guitar method, with nods to the meaning of ‘classical’ in classical guitar, as demonstrated by the use of open strings in “Travelling Made-up Continents.”  However, the tone shifts a little on the second half of the album.  By the time we’ve reached track five, “Springish,” we’ve come to what I suppose is meant by post folk.  “Springish” and the tracks following it depart from classical guitar and seem more akin to traditional finger-picking or flat-picking, which has its origins in folk and country music of mid-20th century America, gradually becoming more incorporated into rock/folk music during the rise of the 1960s and 1970s singer-songwriter movement.

Another element which makes this release interesting, and what I think should make it palatable for our netlabelism listeners as well, is the fact that no track on the album is much more than two minutes.  Each track says what it needs to, and we move on.  In sum, you’ve got about 16 minutes of some highly listenable neo-classical/post folk guitar playing, sans vocal distractions. Taken in whole or in part, this should make for a nice mellow addition to any playlist.  [NC]

Gillicuddy – Springrish

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Related: Netlabelism CAST08

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