TAPE - rideau

(CD, Häpna)

Structural adventerousness combined with a feeling for organic sounds and sound evolvement is hard to come by these days, inspite a mass of avantgarde artists producing music that is both exciting and challenging in terms of sounds and composition. Too often artists, especially if working on an academic or art background lose the natural side of their work and of their sounds and get lost in almost cubist structuralism (maybe supported by the way a lot of soundprocessing software works nowadays) and the theoretical sidetracks of their sounds, songs and work. Therefore it is usually a sign of warning if a record has been sponsored or subsidied by an official council for art, in this case the one of Sweden, where the trio Tape comes from. On the other hand, Häpna as a label is a guarantee for great work which is both experimental, challenging and pleasing to listen to both on an aesthetic as well as on a level of musical theory. And Tape is no let down, either.

In comparison to other releases on Häpna, from the ever boisterous strictness in extremism of Pita to the liberating free rhythmicality of Sinistri (which I voted amongst my favorite records of 2005 in almost any poll I took a part in), “rideau” seems soothing and easy at first impression. The brothers Berthling and Thomas Hallonsten have sought the influence of German producer Marcus Schmickler (Pluramon with Julee Cruise, don’t anyboday dare say “Twin Peaks” now) for this, their third record. And thinking about it, it is the mix of acoustic instruments, or rather clearly defineable sounds of instruments, recorded in a very basic setting, with even some of their natural noise, like the scraping of guitar strings when the hand changes chords and slides up and down the neck of the guitar, still audible, with very organic and intricate electronic sounds and layers of sounds, that makes “rideau” so fascinating. And also intimate and close in a very special sense, like watching an old silent movie with a very good friend late at night or sleeping underneath the open starlight in a warm summer night (an association mainly arising by the slow organ work on “exuma” together with the steady rustling of rattles, that over time become the sound of cicadas in my mind at least.)

Broad and epic sounds, like brooding and droning organ sounds, lay next to small and tiny sounds such as a little melody picked on the guitar or a few chords of piano here and there. The comparison to soundtrack work is close at hand, because rhythms stay in the laidback, stumbling area most of the time, with a few excursions into pulsing drones and even some folkloristic elements.

The intimacy of the sounds is of course enhanced by the naturalism and warmth of the many analogue instruments being used, even if the amount of composition and sound processing might be enormous. Where Glim or Takuma Itoi, for example, excell in the microscopic analysis of sounds and their interplay, the feeling with Tape is one of a more subconscious and dreamlike approach. The effect then, of course, depends a lot more on the listener, as with the microscopic or theoretical approaches mentioned above. Because even small or tiny personal experiences or expectations of the listener might change their reaction to the music around 180 degrees. I don’t believe a lot of people won’t feel the enriching relief at the moment the guitar sets in during “long lost engine” – a moment most cleverly announced by the plucking of strings mixed into the back already a few moments earlier – after a long while of sparsely arranged tones and sounds.

Tape walk slowly along a path that is not dense and not lose, but controlled, enjoyable and relaxing. A very modern, european form of composition with tiny hints at american soul music, traditional eastern folk music, the now a few decades old tradition of minimal music as well as to the school of drone music and the compositional tradition of the classical area, all hidden beneath their own, heartwarming vision.