|
so what. 2cd set (audio + video). ant-zen act 87
the 2cd set contains infecting rough & powerloaded tracks for your pulping fiction on disk one, while the second disk is keeping the ambience with drowning groves and unrestrained weirdness.
disk one
fever dream, so what, new order, i know you know, 7th sect, lights, soul, picklenash, facewalk, spill, i want to, discorrode, 2nd sect, bloodfake, my father was a farmer
disk two
physics, scoptic, beauty farm, communication, black dream, eat me, surveillance + new order (videotrack)
so what. was performed and recorded between 1997 and 1999 by tim kniep & philipp muench. additional support by asche & d. velasquez. video art by clemens von wedemeyer. photos by tim kniep. models: jan and nicole. layout by salt.
it's most certainly not a case of "that difficult successor" for a good album. "so what" is, if anything, even more impressive than their last album. it retains the chaos, density and energy of "rage" and still unites an incredible vast spectrum of noises and structures from dark sounddrones and powerful electronic rhythms up to ambient soundscapes but moderates it a little by adding a stronger rhythmic element that holds everything together much more cohesively than on their predecessor.
the album gets off with the title track "so what", a well-crafted danceable track, with some noisey tunes and distorted, half-spoken vocals in their unmistakable manner. "new order", by contrast, is a remarkably light and relaxed track with a distinctive grooving percussion, darkly fuzzy bass line hinting and hypnotizing sequences. this track has been perfectly converted by video-artist clemens von wedemeyer into a thrilling visual story, which is available as quicktime video file (for pc and mac) on disk two. "7th sect" is another driving dance track, with some wonderfully crunchy percussion battering away behind harsh bursts of electronics and assorted burbles and twangs. a very impressing track, dense and powerful ... "discorode", a fusion of energetic, high bpm rhythms, precisely placed with reference points for the dancefloor to be followed by the next notable track "second sect" which is a little more conventional. further demands for energetic force and distorted rhythms can be satisfied with tracks like "i know you know" and "7th sect", which justify the aggressive and anarchic title of the album.
disc one is underlaid by tense, electronic chittering and all sorts of great noises, from lush synth washes to harsh bursts of electronics which cross-breed the disparate and varied influences of the band's members. the tracks vie for the listener's attention, along with distorted vocals and something that might've been a "harmless" beat before synapscape's musical mutagens got at it. it's rich, multilayered, chaotic and marvellous.
this isn't the case for disc two, the noisy rhythmic battery grinds down into relaxed contemporary beats fused with obscure soundscapes and mutated noises. it features mainly instrumental contributions in a darker and ambient like mood. combined with the visual story for "new order" you certainly have an excellent audio & visual final for an eventful record!
reviews
xipharg.
c'est la rentrée chez ant-zen, et décidément, ce label s'impose de plus en plus comme la référence pour l'amateur de musique électronique extrême. a vrai dire, à chaque nouvelle parution, on est presque surpris de ne pas trouver une scie circulaire à la place du cd... apparemment, ce n'était pas encore pour cette fois, bien que le nouvel album de synapscape serait plus à sa place sur l'étal d'une boucherie que dans les bacs d'occases de city disc. le credo musical du groupe se résume assez facilement: prenez une rythmique techno hardcore, faites-la frire dans l'huile de vidange d'un rouleau compresseur, ajoutez une voix du style "je mange du fil de fer barbelé tous les matins" et servez le tout à -273°c. si vous êtes capable d'imaginer un croisement contre-nature entre sonar, godflesh (sans les guitares) et les young gods (dans leurs moments les plus glauques), vous aurez une idée assez correcte de la chose. evidemment, l'ensemble n'est pas d'une très grande virtuosité instrumentale, mais si vous êtes du genre à préférer la kalachnikov à la fender, alors cet album est fait pour vous. p.s.- je n'ai pas encore eu le temps de mater le clip video intégré à l'album, mais si les photos du booklet annoncent la couleur, attendez-vous à un snuff-movie du meilleur cru...
sideline, november/dezember/januar 2000
germany`s unique compromise between complex electronic and power industrial noise, synapscape, present us today a very conceptual third album. 3, being the key figure of this release... a 3-dimensional matrix articulated around a new harsh and powerful album, a 7-track intriguing dark soundtrack and a video collaboration depicting their personal definition of the world. synapscape demonstrate their technical ability on this brilliant chef d` oeuvre, a real tour de force of sound manipulation, assembling and deconstruction haunted by ultimate distorted vocals underlining the strength of their carrying noise-sound machines. a terrifying display of genius and hi-energy resulting on a fictional corrosium of your vital neurones. "so what" is an explosion of ideas and visions rendered into brutal sonic realms by two convinced and motivated electronic technicians/musicians. if there`s one new ant-zen album recommend in that style at the moment, i go for synapscape without a single doubt. an accomplished product.
orkus, oktober `99
nach zweijähriger abstinenz stürzt sich das deutsche power electronics-duo synapscape gleich mit einem doppelalbum auf die industrial-szene. wie auf dem vorgänger "rage" verlässt sich die band beim großteil der stücke wieder auf ihre unwiderstehliche mischung aus brutal verzerrten, nahezu unverständlichen vocals und eingängigen, leicht technoid infizierten industrial-noise-strukturen, die für den clubeinsatz geradezu prädestiniert zu sein scheinen. die eingängigeren electro-elemente, die noch das letzte album kennzeichneten, sind wieder in den hintergrund gerückt, was im klartext bedeutet, dass den monotonen, treibenden industrial noise-rhythmen und - loops fast niemand mehr die schau zu stehlen versucht. zwischen den clubtracks finden sich auch ambientere, soundtrackartige nummer, die noch am ehesten das prädikat melodisch verdienen, aber der schwerpunkt liegt, zumindest auf der ersten cd, eindeutig auf hammerhartem rhythm`n`noise. wessen gehirn nach 21 stücken immer noch nicht völlig weichgekocht ist, kann sich auf der zweiten cd noch einen videoclip im quicktime-format zu gemüte führen, der - mit verlaub - sogar im alternative-nachtprogramm von mtv oder viva keine schlechte figur abgeben würde. pflichtkauf!
zillo, 11/99
mit ihrem dritten album nach "synapscape" und "rage" stellen tim kniep und philipp münch einmal mehr eindrucksvoll unter beweis, dass sie zur speerspitze des neuen deutschen power-electronic-industrials zählen. denn im gegensatz zu vielen anderen acts des genres, die ihren output allein durch massive maschinenrhythmen erzeugen, haben synapscape auf ihrer als doppel-cd angelegten neuen produktion weit mehr zu bieten als nur anspruchsloses monoton-gehämmer von harschen industrial-beats. zwar sind mit tracks wie "i know you know", "picklenash" oder "so what" auch recht deftige tracks vertreten, doch überwiegen kraftvolle, tanzbare und ausgewogen groovende kompositionen wie "soul", "facewalk" oder "new order", zu dem gleich ein video gedreht wurde, das mit auf der zweiten cd für pc und max abrufbar ist. dieser zweite silberling bewegt sich beim songmaterial dagegen mehr in ambfient-gefilden und bietet auswühlend verzerrte soundscapes, die fast ohne dominante rhythmische strukturen auskommen.
black 17.
meist ist es doch so, daß sich bands und projekte mit ihrem dritten album beweisen müssen, ob das ganze denn nun doch substanz hat oder nicht. aus dem ant zen-stall stehen gerade zwei projekte auf dieser schwelle, denn für p.a.l rückt der termin immer näher und eben synapscape sind gerade dabei! ebenso wie noisex’s „ignarrogance“ (auch seine dritte) ist „so what“ eine docd geworden und ziemlich opulent ausgefallen. doch kommen wir erst einmal zur disk one, die absolut hartes und gewohnt crunchiges material des duos beherbergt und man damit endlich das auf plastik bannen konnte, was live eh schon überzeugte. ganz klar futter für die tanztempel oder aber auch für die headbanger vorm heimischen schreibtisch. im gegensatz zu ihrer zweiten cd „rage“ haben die tracks an dynamik und fülle zugenommen, ja grooven teilweise richtig los und synapscape verbinden damit industrial, techno und electro zu einer gelungenen melange, die seines gleichen sucht. disk two ist dann wieder eher an dem klaustrophobischen ersten album orientiert und zwängt verschachtelte strukturen in einen ambientkontext, der beim genaueren hören eher zum illbient wird – phantastisch und ja eigentlich auch von mir eingefordert. als bonus gibt es dann noch den hit von der hymen-„teknoir“-compilation namens „new order“ (natürlich als audio auch auf disk one enthalten) in einer professionellen videofassung von clemens von wedemeyer – das wäre doch mal was für viva 2...?! obwohl mir diese cd’s nur in der vorabversion vorliegen, zeichnen sich die fotos von tim kniep für das booklet als absolut begeisterungswürdig ab und schon alleine deshalb werde ich für die nächste ausgabe ein zweites mal synapscape interviewen – also bis dann dann. (m.f.)
seven
after being tricked into buying "rage" by numerous favorable reviews, i approached this album with quite a lot of skepticism. i was pleasantly surprised by "so what" - seems like the band started working in the right direction. at least half of the tracks have "cleaned-up" sound in comparison with "rage" - the music is less chaotic and cluttered, it has cleaner and more aggressive sound. the compositions are more rhythmic and the sound becomes harsher when the vocals is taken away. vocals is the biggest problem i have with the band's sound - repetitive and unimpressive as it is, when it mixes with the music that is quite monotonous by itself, the result is unbearable. however, straight rhythmic tracks with no vocals are very impressive and serve as a playground for experimentations with various soundstructures. the disk really picks up when "i know you know" kicks in with its crushing pulsating dirty sound; the percussion madness continues with "7th sect" which is one of the strongest compositions on the cd with its very dense and heavy sound that by the end of the track pummels the listener into the ground with repetitive violent noise outbursts; "soul" is a clean twisted bone-chilling piece of structured ambience that gives you a short break before immersing into the madness of next percussion masterpiece - "picklenash". breakbeat-filled, chaotic and incredibly dense "discorrode" is the last track on the disk that truly stands out for its force and complexity. second disk of this 2-cd set surprises the listener with several tracks that reveal the ambient side of the band. however the strong percussion side of the band exposes itself even there, and they fail to create ambient, atmospheric feeling, rather showing "lighter" side of synapscape. and again, the absence of vocals greatly benefits those tracks. overall, "so what" is the disk that cannot be missed by any fan of ant-zen material (at least its rhythm'n'noise side); bonus video of "new order" deserves mentioning as well. don't let the abundance of relatively weak tracks cloud your vision and discourage you - pick the best ones to listen to.
modulazioni industriali
doppio cd per il duo tedesco composto da tim kniep e philip muench che ci arriva direttamente dalla label tedesca ant-zen ."so what" è un' album lunghissimo che vuole segnare un punto di svolta per questa band già conosciuta tra i fans dell'industrial più oltranzista e percussivo . infatti pur mantenendo un suono distorto ed aggressivo la band si sta evolvendo ,immettendo nel suo repertorio tracce più "rilassate" e dilatate di ispirazione dub-industrial , che spezzano soprattutto sul primo cd la furia cinetica delle tipiche sequenze da hard-dancefloor .particolarità del duo è anche quella di usare i vocals come un'altra arma di manipolazione sonora all'interno dei brani per cercare di ottenere una fusione tra la distorsione organica dei vocals e quella inorganica dei samplers e dei synth .[quindi per precisa volontà niente testi sulla bella confezione del cd .] arrivando al secondo cd le atmosfere rimangono oscure ma diventano più nitide ed elettroniche , sembra proprio che sia stato dimezzato il volume della distorsione e anche in questo caso la scelta ci sembra più che ottima proprio per dare uno stacco più completo dalla prima parte e facendo prendere il sopravvento alla parte più "elettronica" della band . come ciliegina sulla torta su questo secondo cd è anche incluso un video in formato quick time di "new order" diretto da clemens von wedemeyer . non di facile ascolto , non per tutti i gusti , ma se amate le schegge di follia elettronica che aleggiano all'orizzonte di questo nuovo millennio non può mancarvi un album come questo sul vostro lettore. (paolo virdis)