LASSE
MARHAUG & ANLA COURTIS – jordslev horaldje
(Tape,
Quasipop)
Lots of Lasse Marhaug around here lately, but what the
heck – he has been around forever and has done such a vast amount of work
that it is probably impossible to get around him. Which brings us right to
the point: in 1998 Marhaug did some collaborations with Anla Courtis
of Reynols-fame
and then around as a solo-entertainer in all kinds of noise contexts around
the globe. But those never saw the light of day. In 2007 they once again did
some things together and then decided to put them all together and for old
time’s sake to release them as a casette. A funny coincidence with Lasse
Marhaug’s multi-CD-box of stuff he had released on cassette around that
time. Quasipop stepped in to release the tape and all together want to
re-release the spirit of the underground cassette culture that was around
back then.
Nowadays it is all packed onto some anonmous server
somewhere and then distributed with “do you want to be my friend” emails
globally. Every kind of stupid track or half assed try at noise is being
mailed and downloaded all around the globe, safed onto some harddisk and
then forgotten because the mailbox is already full with 120 MB of more noise
stuff that is all mediocre. No question I prefer the old-fashioned way,
because back then taping, copying, packaging and mailing were a lot of work
and also cost intensive, so everybody made sure that only good stuff was
being sent around. Therefore a lot of releases from back then still scorch a
lot more ground than anything new. I have some tapes around here somewhere
that spell the name Lasse Marhaug all over them and are almost worn out from
playing. One of my favorite noise records ever is still the “new forms of
free entertainment” split CD by Lasse Marhaug and Aube on Jazzassin
Records released 1997 in the most wonderful artwork imaginable! Nothing ever
can bring back those days. There is only one chance for a first time, ever.
But there are some sounds that can freshen up the
memories of these days. This chrome tape for instance has three songs of
Marhaug and Courtis collaborating on each side and then topped with a track
bei Marhaug and Courtis respectively on one side each. It starts with echoy
rumbling that is low and profound and does not move too much but sets the
tonality. Track two is more of a dynamic scorcher that burns the earth and
makes your eardrums cringe. Track three is another slow, echoy, cold and
cave-like drone that has a lot of substance and breathing sounds like Darth
Vader has sucked you through his mask into the dark side of your brain that
is the evil power. Marhaug’s solo track sounds like the hacked and
digitally distorted noises of somebody trying to squeeze a cat through the
strings of a violin and then going over the mess with a steeldrill before
leaving to watch people at the railway station. And then some. Great stuff
indeed. Make your own movie to this.
The second side offers more of this kind of variety,
some of which is distorted, some of which are low rumbling drones (oh, how I
like these today!) and a final track by Anla Courtis that blows the top for
real with all its buzzing.
