The German label Audiophob has been in operation for over two decades, and one of its side activities is Krater Recordings. Krater is a bit more experimental and noisy than Audiophob, and as it has fewer releases (21 up to now, versus over 100), but this week it’s all about Krater. The most recent Audiophob releases will be reviewed in the coming episode.
So, this is a new album by Grodock, who is David Leutkart, the man behind the label Grubenwehr Freiburg. I had reviewed something by him before, but since that was a collaboration, it’s not fair to use it as a comparison or inspirational material. So yeah! New stuff, new names! Grodock is a noise/ambient project so that it can go anywhere. This particular release is a compilation, featuring backgrounds that David created for performances over the past 12 years. And no (I can hear your thoughts !!!) this is NOT a ‘leftover’ release of any kind. This is a well-thought-out compilation, where the basics leave ample space for interpretation.
There are 13 tracks, and the timing ranges from 90 seconds to almost 6 minutes. The total playing time is just under 50 minutes, making for a great listening experience. The source of the sounds is a combination of field recordings and ‘real’ instruments heavily manipulated, of course, in loops of some kind of synthetic sound.
What all tracks have in common is that they’re atmospheres, built and created for Grodock to form the basics of a performance, as said earlier. But the real power is that they are strong enough to form a track without those previously considered live additions. With that in mind, the CD has two faces too. It can be played in the background as an ambient sound to create unity with real-world sounds, as Eno described what ambient music is all about. But on a higher volume level, the different compositions are strong enough and have more than enough dynamics to be listened to as a drone or minimal noise piece. In a way, you’re getting two albums for the price of one. And because of the variation in all the tracks, it’s also interesting enough to play more often, each time a new sonic reality is created or discovered.
To make a long story short, this is something that ticked all my boxes for being a powerful release. Compliments to David and the Krater Guys for putting this one out!
Comments
Post a Comment