Fuck For Friendship

Hello, Gosh from Yaputhma is back with his in-depth reviews of unusual music.

In this issue:
Skull Disco 2CD: “Soundboy’s Gravestone Gets Desecrated By Vandals” (Skull Disco)
Gang Gang Dance “Saint Dymphna” (Warp)
Johann Johannsson “Fordlândia” (4AD)

Skull Disco 2CD: “Soundboy’s Gravestone Gets Desecrated By Vandals”

God bless dubstep! And should Thou need a reason, bless it while the branch is strong, and wide, and with so many leaves that Thy servant is free to choose any mood to quench their sonic thirst… Be it wobble and Playstation-primitive melodies, or hard-rock middle-range and punky revelry, or standard stomping half-step from dubstep mainstream… Or be it various shades of stepno, roots-rock-reggae, urban romance, bass poetry, diversity and unpredictability, riddim science and way too many exciting aspects to mention. I don’t even speak about latest mutations of wonky and funky… For a genre still relatively young and whose initially limited geography only recently started to expand to a world-wide scale, the diversity of sound, rhythm and mood is truly fascinating.

Only half a year ago I was running around shouting “2562! Martyn! Peverelist!” and trying to convert everyone to the sounds of dubstep married to [dub]techno. And now, I switched to another rendition of a “dubstep-not-dubstep” approach: Shackleton’s increasingly underwater explorations on his own label Skull Disco. Ladies and gents, welcome the latest (and as the rumor has it, the final) issue of a dark epic tale of skulls, falling towers, and life after death: “Soundboy’s Gravestone Gets Desecrated By Vandals”, 2CD by Shackleton & Appleblim, original tracks and remixes by friendly monsters like Pole, T++, Brendon Møller, Geiom etc.

OMFG, how deep is this… This slow moving and ultralow bass; these omnipresent manjiras, Indian hand cymbals (not speaking of a multitude of other percussive sounds, woven into intricate mesmerizing thread); the otherwordly sounds, whose genesis you can never tell – are they electronic? acoustic? sampled, generated?; and on top of it all – the ingratiating voice of Tenfold Vengeance, who murmurs wicked things like a man who saw more than anyone living on Earth but is too tired to tell… “Under water there are traps, hidden depths”… And riddims, basslines, synths which are never standard, predictable, and disposable. Is it still dubstep? In many cases, let’s just call it BASS MUSIC, as even technically many new tracks have deviated from the standard 140bm way down up to 120 (and the rest have riddims so abstract that they are oceans away from your standard halfstep constructions). Can you dance to it? Hardly. But if you ask me, this double album, comprised of several 12” vinyl releases on Skull Disco and a slew of never-before released remixes, deserves a title “Underwater Dancehall” and the nomination for the best bass album of the year more than Pinch’s 2007 opus of the same name. Or at least, “Under-the-ground Deathhall…”

What’s interesting, that despite all this gravestone imagery, death and other somber subjects of Tenfold Vengeance’s mumblings, I wouldn’t label it “gothic doom” made by another young guy obsessed by burial subjects. It sounds like a truly transcendental music to my ears. Insightful and ethereal. And I’d dare to say, that sonically it has much more in common with the work of Rapoon (ex :zoviet*france:) and Muslimgauze, than with most of dubstep. Tracks like “The Rope Tightens” (and its unbelievably sparse remix by Badawi), an instant classic “Death Is Not Final”, “The Branch Is Weak” are built on similar haunting drones and atmospheres and lots of eastern percussion… Which means that anyone with broad musical tastes who is still afraid or unsure of the Genre Formerly Known As Dubstep should finally lose the virginity and get a life.

Gang Gang Dance “Saint Dymphna”
Warp, 2008

Actually, I have no words to describe the coolness of this record. So has Tinchy Stryder, a young energetic London MC who deals with words professionally (and of course, rapidly), but he loses his breath and instead of a typical machine-gun introduction in the beginning of a track “Princes” is only able to proclaim “Oh shit! Gang Gang!”. Fair enough. So have most of the critics, who seem to endlessly quote this profound intro in their reviews, where they all mention eclecticism, eastern sonic inclinations and increased danceability of GGD’s music, but again ultimately fail to do justice to the perfection of the record. Huh. Who am I to succeed if all the professionals failed?

Right. But how to describe the work of art of this New York band, who “think percussively with melody-based instruments”; whose keyboardist sees sounds in shapes and colors and can punctually describe his vision if you dare to listen; whose former member was always wanting to be struck by lightning, climbing a rooftop every time there was a thunderstorm, and finally heavens have heard his prayer; and in order to strengthen the connection to him (which wasn’t lost after his departure), they put him on their (previous) album sleeve? Who were once called Death and Dying and since then were improvising together and in various groups for 15 years already? In other words, who came to Earth from far, wild and irrational planet Yaputhma?

And who, in my opinion, comprise the BEST BAND in the world of 2008? Oh shit. I won’t succeed in proving it anyway… So I just suggest that you do yourself a favor and go and listen to “Saint Dymphna”, released in October on Warp. Decide for yourself.

Ok, if you’re still not convinced and need some pale words from me, I can say that this is undeniably their best record, which found a perfect balance between improv and structures, wildness and collectedness, eclecticism and concentration, east, west and South London, (instru)mentalism and vocal debauchery, danceability and abstraction, raw power and nuances.

Honestly, a few years ago GGD seemed just too freaky, raw and loose for me. Then came “God’s Money”, which was very strong, but still very improv and quite amorphous, and still a bit raw. More like for enthusiasts of the New Weird America (early Animal Collective, Black Dice et al). And now there is an album which can be accessible to everyone in the best sense of the word – it’s beautiful, complex, powerful, balanced, and absolutely unique.

The band members say that on the contrary to their previous records, which captured a band in its traditional free-improv mood, this one employs much more compositional approach, albeit all tracks or its parts were still born out of collective jamming. And along with the band’s motto of making “intelligent but raw honest dance music” they have produced two danciest tracks in their career: the abovementioned “Princes”, a merry Siamese twin of grime and dancepunk; and “House Jam”, which sounds like Kate Bush on E. These tracks are the most straightforward but by no means less brilliant then 9 others, which are all equally and differently genius.

So please. Listen. This is the band and the album of 2008. Masterpiece.

Johann Johannsson “Fordlândia”

Johann Johannsson is 39-year old Icelandic composer, who has produced a multitude of film soundtracks and a handful of full-length albums on Touch and 4AD with geometrical progression of majesty. His previous album, the one which started the alleged trilogy dedicated to history of technology, “IBM 1401, A User’s Manual”, reminisced about (and even actually employed) the first computer to appear in Iceland way back in 1964, was outstanding already. But the latest work, dedicated to Henry Ford’s failed rubber-producing venture, a “country within country” in Brazil of 1920s, which was to become a disaster and turn into a ghost territory, is a work of breathtaking beauty and overwhelming deepness.

As always, the main instrument is an orchestra (the same that played IBM 1401 – City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra), augmented with choir, pipe organ, and just a very tiny bit of electronics in the form of gentle pulses and textures (though you have to listen closely to hear it). In most cases more textures come from a breathing of woodwind instruments and field recordings, than from electronic sounds. This music firmly belongs to the modern classical school of composition and recording, on pair with Max Richter, Jacaszek, Slow Six, and sometimes recalling simple and gorgeous melodies of Roger Eno or Johann Pachelbel, with echoes of Bach (of course) on organ pieces. But in between these sad but never sentimental melodies, ascetic but not excessively minimal and serialist arrangements, and sound recording which is a work of art in itself, some magic is born which elevates the Johann Johannsson to the level of grand masters of modern age - Arvo Part, Steve Reich and Philip Glass. I’m scared to hear what will happen next, with the third chapter of “technology trilogy” or whichever masterpiece will grace our ears next time… ‘Cos our hearts may not be capable to hold an even greater beauty.

Sometimes the mood of the music comes a bit closer to the more chamber & symphonic Sigur Ros, making me repeat the words I once heard from a friend “how come these Icelanders are all so damn brilliant?” And this album is definitely one of the greatest musical diamonds mined in this small but unbelievably rich in talents land. One of the top 5 albums of this year.