Julian Flemming is Jeans Beast, and I had never heard of him before. Yet here he is in my cassette player with two 45-minute tracks. He is the man behind the Econore label, and a light sparks. I recall reviewing something… Yep, in Vital 1440, I reviewed the Modelbau Cassingle “Myths Of The Near Future,” and I remember loving it. But that’s all I have, clutching at straws here. Why not let the music speak for itself. But there too there is a problem. Let me explain.
“Mystique 1” on the A-side of this tape is a drone in its purest form. It is based around a palette of a few sounds – maybe even one – and it’s in a constant state of instability. There is movement throughout the 45 minutes of syncing, volumes, interpolation, and for some of you, it sounds boring. But it’s not. It’s actually very hard to create tracks where there is constant movement and where, for the rest, not too much is happening. The tension is very very high and the thing with this track is that you just don’t know if it’s a few random signals creating the landscape, or if the creator is constantly twisting and tuning and fading and … And … Fact is, that this track might seem minimal on the outside, but there is so much happening.
The reverse side of the tape is simply called “Mystique 2”, and even if at the beginning the track seems to develop in the same vein, there is a big difference. At the midpoint of the track, another layer gets added, and simply said, it’s a mystery what it is. It sounds like a modular system going puking all over itself, but only Julian knows for sure. The background layers seem less random or ‘interactive’ than the first one, and the spaciousness reminds me a bit of ‘How to Destroy Angels’. Though in no way are those tracks comparable. It’s just the space.
So, a very nice first acquaintance with Julian Flemming, of whom I hope to hear more in the future. Perhaps a bit more interactivity could help maintain the full tension in a 45-minute track, but while listening, I found myself engaged and entertained throughout. Hypnotizing and concentration. Those are the keywords.
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