Experimental music is not constrained to a specific part of the world. And experiments, in general, are everywhere: it's a 'human' thing to think outside of the perspective we're given in our upbringing, environment or culture. The only thing is that it is sometimes difficult to get informed about what is all happening outside our little bubble of western influences. But thankfully, sometimes, the sounds of these unknown territories reach our side. We get to hear so many beautiful things ... One of the lesser-known continents where experimental music is made in Africa. Still, the best-known experimental group from this continent is South-African (and Tokyo) based Ellende (Dutch / Afrikaans for 'misery'). They also have a label called Smeerlappen (tr: Scumbags), and in the player are two 3" CDRs from that label.
"Hallo Kaptein" by Ellende is the first, and it contains six tracks with a total playing time of just under 18 minutes. Way too short if you ask me because what I hear is serious of a higher level. The combination of field recordings, vocals and (mostly?) synthetic sounds are folded into hypnotizing sound collages, which I simply can't get enough of. Especially the title track - with its almost 7 minutes also the longest track - is so subtly layered and has excellent sound perfectly aligned and mixed ... A constant tension because of subtle changes in the attack of the recurrent sounds, layers in the background that after a bit of while shifted from the back to the front and then back again. And the use of vocals where I must say that being Dutch, the Afrikaans is in a way foreign to me, but with enough overlap to understand the basics. Damn, 18 minutes. Replay. I need a complete CD. And I believe I understand the "ETERNALLY ILLUSIVE DRONESOUP" words on their website.
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