Reviewers always try to start a review so that you – the readers – are eager enough to start reading. That is not always easy, definitely not when you try to be original. And with this release, I have decided not to try anything because everything I write will evaporate concerning the beauty and power of this release. Yes, when I heard this album, I considered it right away to become part of my ‘Best of 2023’ list because it is *that* good.
Have you never heard of Blast of Silence? Very well possible, but how about it when I tell you it’s a collaboration between Julien Ottavi (APO33, boss of Fibrr Records) and Kasper T. Toeplitz. They have a little thing going on where they like to make noise together, and this is what they did on June 10 and 11, 2022, in Nantes, France. They recorded the practice set and the concert, and both recordings were mixed and mastered into what has become “Blast 23”. Two guys with laptops exploring the realm of digital noise in a whopping 70-minute blast of… Well, a blast of everything except silence. Kasper on MAX and Julien on probably Pure Data, and in the note, Kasper added to the promo. He mentions that he is uncertain who does what, where and how. Improvisation pur sang. Everybody in a collective setting knows those moments where it’s like, “Did you do that?” “No, it wasn’t me, I think” “Oh, Happy accident then”.
Also, there are apologies from Kasper for the lack of composition in the track. As a reviewer and fellow artist, I disagree. This is one well-composed track with loads of dynamics, changes, perspective, sense and maybe even emotion. Non-Stop. So it should appeal to those who just like a solid noise serving. The album will also appeal to those interested in sound creation. Because (metaphysical approach) who does what end, how, and when. Are those voices around the 28-minute mark? Or is it a good place sample and hold over a formant filter, creating what sounds like voices? And this is just an example; all 70 minutes are like that. Not a minute of this thing does not intrigue me in some way. Especially when, after 30 minutes, the aggression gets more subdued, and it becomes almost an ambient drone of some kind … Movements are a bit slower, and sounds are placed more isolated within the mix. And within an hour, a composition that could break things changed into a thing so fragile that you want to keep it from breaking. ‘Chapeau!’
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