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Release Info :
Latest Resonant album
project and undoubtedly the most 'out there' yet; this is the debut
release by Vancouver-based prodigy Szam Findlay, eight years in the
making and without parallel in the current musical climate. Defying
categorization, Die Hautfabrik (loosely translated as 'Factory Of
Flesh') is equal parts Wagner, Vangelis, Autechre and Einsturzende
Neubauten, resulting in a compelling longplayer of contemporary
classical music underpinned with minimal, glitchy electronics. Seven
tracks, with a total running time of 72mins-plus, and housed in truly
one of the most impressive sleeves you've seen in a long, long time --
featuring a 14-page steel ring-bound booklet of sculpture by artist
Dandilion Schlase augmented by heavy uncoated stock, housed in a thick
card sleeve -- and all put together and bagged by the artist
Tracklisting : 1. Glass Whistled Shatter (7:36) 2. Blanche (21:46) 3. Hummed The Stem (3:58) 4. The Tide A Glutton (14:15) 5. Anatheme (5:37) 6. Zeit Segeln (6:13) 7. Cadence (12:54)
PRICE / COST
Reviews : Think of mediaeval houses huddled together in the lee of great mountains, of the jerkiness of villagers movements as they walk into sepia fields. Notes tremble and waver like wheatstalks in a nervous wind. Drums pound portentously. Melodies appear to be always on the edge of nightmare: as the Golem escapes the rabbi's servitude to spread fear and chaos, so does Szam Findlay's music threaten to run amok into dischord. The photographs on the CD booklet appear to capture inbred plantlife, effigies erected by superstitious peasants far from big city 'civilization', folk memories of the victims of natural but inexplicable disasters. "Hummed The Stem" ends with what sounds like the winds of fear blowing outside your window only to be succeeded by "The Tide A Glutton", whose awful trudging rhythm sounds as though it might die of exhaustion before it manages to take another step. Instead it is overtaken by tremulously piping organs. Woodblocks and shell marimbas pitter patter like knitting needles on weatherbeaten sheep's skulls. Rhythms are frequently martial, but may at any moment fall into disarray, watched over by sighs and groans. The darkness never remains complete, but is frequently leavened by brief shafts of light, hopeful notes, passages of quiet beauty. The soundworld of Die Hautfabrik conjures Jan Svankmajer's animations: the sound of clockwork automata gaining a frenzied freedom, in particular those automata housed in belltowers and allowed to move only once every hour. The impression conveyed by both the music and of the cover design is that of outsider art; but outside of what? I don't know, but I think I like it on the outside, it's less claustrophobic, and there's more freedom - though it can be hard to reach (think of the travails of Winston Smith or THX1138). Die Hautfabrik is certainly outside of genre, unless there is a card index somewhere in a distant, outlying shop (opening only on the fifth Sunday of every fourth month) which delineates music that is at once mediaeval, filmic and electronic, gentle and stormy, dreamy and nightmare-ridden. Push me into a corner and threaten me with outlandish punishments and I might spit out suspect affinities to Meredith Monk's Book of Days and Bedouin Ascent's Further Self Evident Truths. Listen to this and cross yourself before you go to sleep. BBC.CO.UK Eight years in the making, Szam Findlay's Die Hautfabrik is his debut release. It comes to us courtesy of his own label Todtenschlaf, based in Vancouver, Canada. The disc is packaged in a beautifully made booklet with illustrations featuring sculptures by Dandilion Schlase. The images are dark and surreal, and they offer a fitting compliment to the music on the CD. Findlay's music draws much of its inspiration from IDM with its densely layered and unpredictable beats, and also recalls dark orchestral industrial music with its pounding drums and synthetic strings. The arrangements are cinematic, as if every track is a dramatic climax unto itself, and the tracks are detailed and richly layered. Even though these "soundtracks" are predominantly dark (the mental images they conjure while listening are always shrouded by dark clouds in the sky), there is a peculiarly elusive warmth in this music, one that comes with Findlay's use of analog synths, at once nostalgic (for me, at least) and forward looking. In all, some very interesting sounds to be found here, admirable for their dramatic impact and also for a meticulous attention to detail. Die Hautfabrik is limited to 1150 hand numbered booklets, and is clearly a labour of intensive and inspired dedication and love. Nice work, INCURSION.ORG Hopefully, we sometimes have surprises like this strange record. Its package is a surprise - an intriguing little book illustrated with mini apocalyptic pictures of sculptures made of organic material (leaves, dust, dead flowers...) - and its music too which is almost impossible to categorize. If we really had to put it in some category, it would probably be that of movie soundtracks as the 72 minutes of the record work like a score for imaginary images, alternating melodic sensible atmospheres, strange eerie transitions and harder dissonant moments. Scanner said about this record that it is almost Wagnerian, which we can feel in the dramatic gigantic atmospheres of this journey, but there are many other influences that we could associate with Szam Findlay's music : Tangerine Dream for the use of synths, Autechre for the electronic elements, Einsturzende Neubaten for the massive metallic percussions, Iannis Xenakis for the textures. It is said that Szam Findlay have worked for 8 years on Die Hautfabrik, composing and performing all the music, the result is worth the wait. TIGERSUSHI
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