I stopped introducing this guy because of his high activity and frequent reviews. So don’t start me, and don’t ask. Instead, if you still don’t know Modelbau by now, it’s time to start using the search engine on the Vital Weekly archives (http://www.vitalweekly.net/search.html). There, I said it!
It’s no secret we – the reviewers @ Vital – also get to review each other’s stuff when there is something new. And Modelbau being quite productive means I get to write a lot about his work. I think I do a reasonable job because he keeps asking me to do it again. But sometimes you get something in your hands, and while listening, I get curious, philosophical, intrigued or wholly baffled by what I hear. In this way, a release raises more questions than it answers. “Bandeinder” turned out to be one of those.
Yesterday I handed in the review – first draft – and although it scratched many surfaces, it was a mess after re-reading. My head was going in ADHD-modus, and I couldn’t stop asking questions that bounced all over and through my head while listening. Result: I wanted to rewrite the review and order my thoughts with what the release did to me. So you guys will be triggered to listen/buy/support Modelbau for this one too.
The basics for “Bandeinder” were simple: recreate the setup Brian Eno used for ‘Discrete Music’ and experiment with it. All experiments were recorded on tape and mixed into two compilation tracks/soundscapes of 45 minutes. So “Bandeinder is no less than 90 minutes of experiments properly mixed, manipulated and trusted to (recycled) tapes. Sound-wise, it’s what we expect from Modelbau: deep droning, micro-movements and a thorough and highly saturated atmospheric soundscape. Beautiful all way with here and there a few moments of ‘searching’, but that only emphasizes the experimental setup. As written before, this is a tape filled with experiments. That means exploring and finding the edges or boundaries of your experimental setting. And while touching the limits, you might also cross one or two, which might give a weird or unexpected sound. But leaving those moments in your recording documents the experiment properly.
So the main question that entered my head was: “Did Eno in ’75 come up with an ‘instant’ method of creating ambient?” followed by “Did Frans just Q.E.D.’d the fact that Eno’s early work was a one-trick-pony?” and this latter heavily shaking my vision on what ambient imho is all about. These questions I don’t know if I should answer in this review. I tried in the first draft, but it became incoherent rambling of an old guy losing his faith. But I want to share these thoughts with you to emphasize that art’s power is making you think. And in this case, listening to a cassette by a colleague on a Friday afternoon may even change how you look at certain ideas you hold as truthful or irrefutable.
To make a long story short: I might have written longer on this subject in general and this release in particular. But not today. “Bandeinder” is two mesmerizing 45-minute soundscapes that seriously have been playing the whole day in my office. Because the pieces are so long and varied, you constantly forget what you just heard. So each time you’re playing the tracks, you hear new things, a new combination of sounds, or another little happy accident. Synth layers, ‘kapotte’ sounds, piano … Anything you can expect from Modelbau with a nice dose of feedback on tapes and saturation sorcery.
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