conspiracy records aus belgien beschert uns im rahmen seiner 10-jahre-conspiracy-jubiläums-vinyl-serie dieses beispiel transatlantischer zusammenarbeit: fear falls burning (belgien; vgl. auch "the amplifier drone", "the carnival of ourselves", "first by a whisper then by a storm-tour-cd", "fear falls burning, gaumen, strotter inst., tim hecker, cuba, münster 12.05.06") und nadja (aidan baker und leah buckareff aus kanada, vgl. auch "truth becomes death", "drone four", "oneiromancer").
beide scheren sich recht wenig um "bewährte" formen und formate und zeugen so auf "we have departed the circle blissfully" mit "untitled #1" und "untitled #2" gleichermaßen von ihrem ureigenen verständnis der gitarrenmusik wie auch ihrer fähigkeit zu einer beseelten zusammenarbeit.
"untitled #1" started mit einer verzerrten wand, durch eine einsame hi-hat mühsam im takt gehalten und von hintergründigen ebenen durchkreuzt, als zähflüssige walze richtung hörer; im vordergrund ein sound, zerspalten, brutal, fast nihilistisch; allein durch seine breitwand-anmutung noch so etwas wie zugänglichkeit generierend.
dann plötzlich die zurücknahme und das verharren in loopähnlichen geweben........fast reprisenartig aufgebaut zum ende.
"untitled #2" setzt der wandartigen präsenz ein durch heftiges tremolo charakterisiertes, durch harmonie und aufbau heftig schlingerndes loop entgegen: horizontverschiebend; festen boden gegen eine drift zwischen auf- und abtauchend tauschend, dazwischen hörspielartige vokalsequenzen, irgendwo hinter den ewigen brandungswellen der gitarren.
für mich der höhepunkt, nicht allein wegen seiner unbedingten stimmigkeit, sondern auch, weil hier (nach meinen ohren) die haltungen von fear falls burning und nadja gleichermaßen aufeinandertreffen und (achtung: seltenheitswert), ohne dass einer nachgeben muss, eine absolut stimmige mischung entwickeln.
cooles ende auch, so etwas wie die abstaktion (oder transformation?) des typischen feedback-kakophonie-endes.
musik als trip und ob guter oder schlechter, das hängt nicht zuletzt auch von eurer verfassung und, na sagen wir mal "leidensfähigkeit" ab; conspiracy darf so etwas ab jetzt auf jeden fall mindestens jährlich tun; wenn ihr mich fragt......
ach ja, das der albumtitel auch noch von einem gedicht von aidan baker stammt, das war ja wohl klar, weil dieser mann hat es wohl tatsächlich geschafft: die verlängerung des tages auf 48 stunden bei vollem lebensausgleich (will sagen: wann, zum teufel, macht der das eigentlich alles?)
das cover dann mit abbildungen der ins visuelle transformierten boshaftigkeit des audiomaterials......., als höhlenzeichnung, als artefakt.
schöne grüße
n
als nachsatz und neuheit hier mal bei zumindest einem der protagonisten nachgefragt; oder:
some questions concerning 'the making of' that record, answered by fear falls burning:
n: at the first glance, there seems to be 'more' nadja than fear falls burning. or, let us say, the typical nadja-sound seems to be more in the foreground (especially with the first half of 'untitled #1'). would you agree to that? are you content with it?
I agree that side A has definitely a stronger Nadja flavor but there're a lot of guitarelements present I did. The finess of certain guitardrones in the background and woven around the heavy Nadja patterns are definitely vintage fear falls burning but like every good collaboration the final result should be a fusion of both worlds and I think we definitely succeeded in that. While side A is definitely more powerful and upfront, I feel that side B is much more fear falls burning-esque and this way we keep that exchange in sound balanced and even.
n: why did you choose nadja for that collaboration? did you know the band personally or did you just know the band's and / or aidan's releases and thought it could fit? by the way: did it fit immediately?
I met Aidan in 2005 when we both were touring Europe. He was playing in Belgium and when we met, I can say for both us, it just clicked. It was actually the first time I heard the music of Nadja and his solo work. Since we both had to perform at the Die Stadt festival in Bremen, we drove together to the festival. During the drive we started to make plans and a collaboration was the natural next step in our friendship and ongoing exchange. Apart from remixing each other's work for the Die Stadt release, I did a recycling for his remix CD and Aidan just finished a fantastic drone for my epic Fear Falls Burning collaborative project. A joint venture between fear falls burning and Nadja followed.
n: you are from belgium, nadja from canada: can you tell us something about the working-process? did you send material from one to another and got inspired during the process or did one of you the first step and then the other one followed and finished the work (without sending it to and from)?
Yes, we did send each other source material to work on as our plan was for us to finish one LP side each. And this we did. Since we both had tremendous respect for each other' solo work we both had confidence in what we do apart in our own studios. There was never a moment when we disagreed. It was a very natural process and we're definitely talking about a full-length album together but that's for the future...
n: there is kind of a tsunami of fear falls burning releases at the time (and, not to forget, there is vidnaobmana too); after two records and this collaboration, the latest, "the infinite sea of sustain" (a concert dvd, collecting 6 whole concerts of fear falls burning and soon to be reviewed by unruhr) has just been released and a follow up 10" is announced.
do you still sleep, eat and drink? or is it (even partly) material that has already been recorded some time ago and now the different record companies just release it together so closely?
If you intend to work together with different labels, there's always the danger that releases will clash and it's here not different with the Fear Falls Burning releases, unfortunately. Some of the releases were already scheduled for release in 2005 so that it looks like I'm having a highly productive phase. You also have to understand that Fear Falls Burning has been a continuous process for many years before I decided to release my debut in 2005 but I can't deny as well that since my debut it has been a rollercoaster ride with increasing appreciation for my work from around the globe and being almost constantly present with my live performances. The modus operandi will change over the course of next year as I'll dedicate my time then to record the next solo and full-length while I'll expand my collaboration with Dutch vinyl label Tonefloat.
n: ps-question: is there any relation between the record and it's title?
Not really, Aidan gave me his poetry novel when we met in Germany and since I love epic and thematic titles, "we have departed the circle blissfully" was a natural choice for me. The title refers to my personal quest for something new and stepping out that never-ending creative circle I dwelled in with my work as vidnaObmana.
n: psps-question: anything else you would like to say at this place? maybe something about a nadja / fear falls burning tour in germany in 2007.....i think, I heard something about that....
Yep, it's definitely a plan and we hope to establish a nice tour for us both together as part of the ongoing exchange. Our goal is to tour in May 2007.
www.fearfallsburning.be
www.aidanbaker.org/nadja
www.conspiracyrecords.com