Zarko

Le Livre Noir Du Capitalisme – Sylvain Chauveau (2000)


GENRES – Contemporary Classical, Ambient, Electronic

Et Peu À Peu Les Flots Respiraient Comme On Pleure 3:28
JLG 2:10
Hurlement En Faveur De Serge T. - 2:54
Le Marin Rejeté Par La Mer - 3:39
Dernière Étape Avant Le Silence - 4:51
Dialogues Avec Le Vent - 3:35
Ses Mains Tremblent Encore - 1:58
Ma Contribution À L’industrie Phonographique - 2:47
Géographie Intime - 5:33
Je Suis Vivant Et Vous Êtes Morts - 6:42
Mon Royaume - 2:46
Potlatch (1971-1999) - 1:58
Un Souffle Remua La Nuit - 2:32

Sylvain Chauveau is part of my ‘Big French Pair’ of modern classical music, the other being Yann Tiersen. They’re quite a combination, each unique in their own way, and both especially talented (In my perception at least). Le Livre Noir Du Capitalisme (Or ‘The Black Book Of Capitalism’ in English) is Chauveau’s solo debut. Chauveau flutters from straight up contemporary classical, to electronic, to ambient, and likes to mix them up.

‘Et Peu À Peu Les Flots Respiraient Comme On Pleure’ is a stunning opening, though fairly simple in its construct. It is simply a classical composition filled with strings and a pianist. The string ensemble makes a nice backing to the solid piano work. The trumpet that enters the piece at around the half way mark is a nice addition, as it brings some variation, and the wind samples laid over the end of the track are an especially nice touch. ‘JLG’ is another piano composition, which is dramatic, aggressive, and beautiful; the piece just evokes so many emotions. At only 2 minutes long, it is almost perfect in its entirety, but sometimes I wish I could hear more.

‘Hurlement En Faveur De Serge T.’ is Chauveau’s first real mix up electronics wise… The song opens with a very violent sample of a tea pot about to explode (You know, those traditional stove pots). The piece is primarily dark and constructed of electronics and guitars… The track would fit in very well with a film noir scene, where the hero is trying to hide from the bad guys down alleyways and whatnot. Overlaid is a speech of some type (In French I presume) which sounds like its coming out of an old school ham radio. The repeating beats and drumming and scraping create the sense of foreboding to assist in the film noir feeling.

‘Le Marin Rejeté Par La Mer’ begins with pure silence… Then some crackling enters the picture, similar to that of listening to an old vinyl, which is what I presume Chauveau was trying to create a feeling of. Assisting the piano is a simple string ensemble, and a low humming vocal performance. Although nothing special, it is a nice small addition to the album, introducing some much needed vocals over the albums entirety.

‘Dernière Étape Avant Le Silence’ is a story unfolding before the eyes, of a man’s life before death… Chiming bells and fast paced violins consume the piece, with an overarching solo violinist present. Chauveau offers up an interesting distortion, almost an electric ripple early on to the piece. The faint hint of the fast strings ensemble adds nice depth. Although it is largely the same ideas repeated this track doesn’t lose much ground. It manages to maintain the listeners interest, hoping there is another turn in the story.

‘Dialogues Avec Le Vent’ takes quite an interesting turn from the rest of the album. It hits a post-rocky dream phase, as a single guitar performance owns the stage with some light vocal work and some light additions by other instruments. The song maintains the cinematic quality that the rest of the album possess’, and there is a constant feeling of fulfilment, embraced by the electronic backbeat and the horns section introduced around half way through. An interesting experience, before it is all quickly taken away from us.

‘Ses Mains Tremblent Encore’ is only a short piece, it is a nice addition, simple, beautifully performed and introduces us to some ideas Chauveau will be utilising later on in the album, particularly the electronic elements. ‘Ma Contribution À L’industrie Phonographique’ is an introduction of full blown electronics into the contemporary classical scene. He mixes his ideas well to create a sense that this is still a classical album. ‘Géographie Intime’ is almost a continuation of the post rock sound created in ‘Dialogues’, just more fleshed out, with electronic guitars, shakers, harmonica tones and the female vocalist from either tracks. The ethereal performance of the strings section is superb, as the piece induces raw emotion from the listener. The keyboard work assists in making this dreamy feeling come to life. It is a remarkable track, and it makes it difficult to imagine what this album is trying to convey. The second half is a quiet electronic dub-over…

‘Je Suis Vivant Et Vous Êtes Morts’ begins by conveying the chaos of life before the synth takes over, creating this nightmarish hell and scary quietness that is death. ‘Mon Royaume’ continues this hellish dream, using the sounds of a carnival, glass breaking, a man screaming to continue the ideas of the previous songs, before it all stops, and we are left with an out of place piano performance, which is interrupted by these metal scrapings sounds.

‘Potlatch (1971-1999)’ is an interesting piece, bringing in some more folk influences, including the instrument everyone loves, the accordion. Only a short piece, it is an interesting change so late in the album. It is layered nicely with some electronic sounds, piano, and some other samples. The final track, ‘Un Souffle Remua La Nuit’, creates the sense of finality. Personally, it evokes the idea of death, the chiming bells, and the music which is created to sound upbeat but has a sad undertone, like that at a funeral.

Le Livre Noir Du Capitalisme grabbed me from the first listen. It is an attractive amalgamation of contemporary classical and electronics, that doesn’t stray too far into the folk history of French music, as Yann Tiersen does. It has a lot of dark moments, but it does paint an interesting picture of life, the dizzying and fast paced highs and the nightmarish lows. It opened up a whole new world for me personally.

TOTAL SCORE

9.0/10

- JLG
- Dernière Étape Avant Le Silence
- Géographie Intime

NOTE – I will try to get my teeth into some albums I know I won’t give 9’s just to toss it up a bit… I just really wanted to review a few albums before I mix it up a bit (So there may be a few more )

jackhammer

This thread is so good with so many new names for me. Keep it up!

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Zarko

Thanks, glad someone is liking it...

Zarko

Architechnology – Rubberoom (1999)


GENRES – Rap, Hip Hop, Abstract

Born - 4:48
Smoke - 4:52
Lock Jaw - 4:38
The Revelry (Acapella) - 0:22
Bleach - 5:06
The Shining - 3:30
Acid - 5:37
Vertigo (Extended Mix) - 7:19
Sector Rush Rmx (Rebuilt) - 5:39
Style Wars - 6:51
Architechnology Nine - 5:18
Pathway To The Abyss - 1:38
Offering 1366 - 2:44
Trial Of The Vampire - 3:41
Space And Time - 7:21
Operation Forever - 4:49

Anybody who knows me, knows that I am hardly the type to actively look for new rap music… It is my ‘nonchalant’ genre, in that more often than not, I can handle it in the background (Unless its Australian rap :p) and there is some stuff that I genuinely like (Run DMC, some Public Enemy) but more often than not, it’s a genre I can live without. I was about to pass up on Rubberoom’s 1999 release of Architechnology before I thought ‘What the hell, may as well use an extra 100MB here and there’ on some risks. Needless to say, it is probably one of my favourite risks in a while. My mates all listen to rap, of all types, but Architechnology was simply different and fresh for me. Some great beats, some nice lyricism, and just overall solid production has made this my favourite rap album of all time. Of course, it is still rap, so it won’t take to some peoples liking. Please note, I never review rap albums, and am overall ignorant on the genre, and have no idea how to describe some things, so bear with me. Also, given the beastly number of tracks, I won’t run through everyone to great detal, as I normally do.

The opening track, ‘Born’, at times is an example of why the album felt different to me… It had some more abstract beats that were implemented by The Opus to make the backing seem more important than just to add depth the rapping. The neoclassical string group with the mixing give it’s a dark/industrial sort of feel, as the artists, Lumba and Meta Mo, add to this with some raw and precise lyrics. They don’t **** around too much, tyring to overdo themselves as some rappers do, but use their voices in conjunction with the deep backing to create and awesome finished piece. In ‘Smoke’, is an attack on ‘mainstream’ hip hop and rap, and here the true value of the two artists become obvious. The contrast between the two is great, Lumba producing a nice legato in comparison to Meta Mo’s harsher staccato.

‘The Revelry’ is a nice interlude, just a simple accapella piece of pure rapping. ‘Bleach’ marks an awesome triplet of songs on the album. Bleach has more solid industrial and distorted backing, creating an image of a destroyed futuristic landscape. The lyrics revolve around this bleak idea, and it also introduces the best line on the album, ‘Keep it classic, so it lasts like acid’. I don’t know why it appeals to me, it simply does. ‘The Shining’ is another well constructed piece, great in its simplicity… The whole pace is turned down a beat, as the repetitive drumming leads Lumba through a half of the song. The song, as well as the upcoming creates a dark toxicity, as if they are dangerous to the listener. ‘Acid’ is my favourite song on the album, the lyricism and backing having a dark and twisted feeling. The backing is particularly splendid, with its simple fusion of electronics, classical aspects and industrial. The resultant ethereal and pronounced backing works fascinatingly in combination with the rapping, as they discuss the darkest aspects of humanity.

‘Vertigo’ is worth mentioning simply for the chilled dub trip hop opening. The background really is more important than the rapping in this piece for me. The light piano work and random sampling adds some beautiful depth, enough for it to be a solid trip hop song if left alone. The distorted vocals are also an attractive touch. The ending is just a lost collection of all the samples and sounds be used, more of the abstract beats that make the album my favourite.

‘Style Wars’ pulls out some of the fastest rapping on the piece, and it carries the dark, spacey backing that is present on other tracks. The echo used throughout the track is a good addition that keeps the track from getting too boring, same goes with the French horn introduced half way through the song. ‘Architechnology Nine’ is chock full of the experimentalism that makes these guys worth checking out. The opening back beat is some odd amalgamation of drumming and some ancient string based instrument sound. As the rapping is introduced, the electronics and dubbing pick up to create the image of a huge landscape, as the listener looks over this land. Something, however, is very wrong with this land, as the depth is overpowered by the harsh distorted drumming and vocals, and it gives the song an overwhelming yet amazing little build up. This is before it is all forced out of the picture and replaced with the harsh vocals alone. It’s a standout track on the album overall.

‘Trial Of The Vampire’ is another piece where the backing stands out over the rapping. The ancient base is mixed to bring it forward into the future, but it still has some telltale signs of being old… The piano, the old wolves howl, and light female vocalist, all add touches here and there to complete it into a full fledged section of the song that would remain interesting alone. However, in this case the drumming and vocals add to the depth and haunting nature of the song. ‘Operation Forever’ offers an strange almost alt rock electronic background to the rapping. The offbeat guitar plucking, with the other random instruments (Shakers, some unidentifiable wind/brass instrument) make this a song worth sticking through just to pick up on these oddities. The final song ‘Pathway To The Abyss’ is a short track that adds a sense of sad closure. The sax is a great addition to the final song, adding up some variety to this primarily instrumental piece. It is an awesome way to end the album, as it’s simply different.

Overall, this is an album that I fell in love with from first listen. Unlike a lot of 80 minute rap albums, which struggle through due to a repetitive sound sometimes, or just poorly constructed songs, Architechnology is a pleasure to sit through. It isn’t as harsh as some, it has some fantastic beats, and it’s just different to what you normally hear. It’s clean yet raw at the same time, and considering it’s a rap album, for me to love it is a strong suggestion that you GET THIS ALBUM if you have even a passing fancy in the genre. It would definitely fall somewhere in my top 20 albums of all time.

TOTAL SCORE

8.5/10

- Born
– Acid (Very poor quality, apologies)
– Architechnology Nine

Zarko

I decided to make a 10 track mixtape available for download of the 10 artists I have reviewed so far in my journal… For most of them the songs on the mixtape are not from the album I reviewed itself, but from another album of theirs that I felt deserved highlighting. Sometimes they are very different (Arcana’s Cold Blast) or much of the same (Last Exit’s Discharge). For the songs that I put on that are from the actual album, it’s a case of not having more of that artists work (Unfortunately in many cases).

Anyway without further ado…

Slowly Goes The Night – Volume One… Alternate Takes

1 – Acid by Rubberoom (Felt you deserved a good version)

2 – Cold Blast by Arcana, from their 1996 debut, The Last Wave

3 – Discharge by Last Exit, from their 1986 debut, Last Exit

4 – Frozen by Nils Petter Molvaer, from his 2002 release, NP3

5 – Humanoid by Method Of Defiance

6 – LOree Do Bois by Sylvain Chauveau, from his 2007 release, Nuage

7 – Rinjyu (Death) by Kazuki Tomokawa, from his 1978 album, Poem’s That Won’t Stop Crying From With Me

8 – Saturniidae by Worrytrain

9 – Wonderland Falling Tomorrow by World’s End Girlfriend from his 2002 album, Dream’s End Come True

10 – ブルー・スピリット・ブルース (Blue Spirit Blues) by Asakawa Maki, from her 1972 album, Blue Spirit Blues.

Slowly Goes The Night.rar

Enjoy

Apologies for the blatant promotion of my journal

Janszoon

Looks interesting Zarko. I've never heard of any of these people. Downloading as we speak.

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A Night in the Life of the Invisible Man

Time & Place

25 Albums You Should Hear Before the Moon Crashes into the Earth and We All Die

last.fm

Zarko

Treny – Jacaszek (2008)


GENRES – Electronic, Ambient, Classical

Tracks
Rytm To Nieśmiertelność I (- 5:26
Lament - 6:54
Orszula - 3:36
Żal - 4:58
Powoli - 5:54
Taniec - 5:05
O Ma Żałości - 5:32
Tren IV - 3:34
Walc - 3:12
Martwa Cisza - 5:14
Rytm To Nieśmiertelność II - 4:46

2008 was a ridiculous year for music in my opinion. Nympheas, Volksstrurm, Bersarin Quartett, Blackfilm, Dig Lazarus Dig, and that’s just to name a few. Over the year, the two albums of the year changed around, and as the year came to a close, the decision was mainly between Volkssturm and DLD. That is until one November evening, stumbling around random blogs to find the next fix, I came across Treny. ‘Dark Ambient, Experimental, Classical’, I thought I may as well give it a try. The album cover wasn’t exactly inspiring, but I am hardly the one to let that impact me too much. Downloaded, loaded into Foobar, press play. It’s a bit hard to describe the feeling, but there was little doubt that it was almost instantly my favourite album of 2008.

‘Rytm To Nieśmiertelność I’ caught me from the opening with its slow, haunting reverberating sounds, lightly mixed to catch the listener from falling off-guard. It builds up perfectly, beginning slowly, but with melancholy, as the intensity increases ever so slightly, before light plucking of a harp intervenes, sharp, but leaving a strong trail in its wake. Soon, a small string ensemble enters the piece, with two distinct performances, dragging you from one side to another. Light ethereal vocals are introduced, and although the basic beat from the start hasn’t changed, the sum of all the small parts lead to an amazing dynamic. The electronics are minimal enough to make the balance remain the same, but are great when they are present. They don’t interfere – Rather they evolve the sound.

‘Lament’ is introduced by a deep bass line, slightly distorted, fuzz flying through the background, as the strings begin to cry out, the harp plucked away in the background, yet at the same time, impossible to ignore. The ghostly vocals pierce through the wall, leaving the violins in their wake, the two instruments rarely used in conjunction. Whilst the song carries a distinct sombre and melancholic tone, it is one that doesn’t induce fear. It is essential listening for anyone. Throughout, the ears are never rested, a constant veil of feedback masking any hint of respite, before the ending comes, all electronics drawn back to leave a single stroke of a piano key.

‘Orszula’ is kicked off marvellously, various levels of electronic tones and feed back being used as a backing for a solemn and sparse piano performance. The track almost relishes its minimalism, content in the small things, rather than going large, before everything joins in at once. Light percussion, the small ensemble follow this basic melody, and still nothing feels crowded. ‘Zal’, similarly to the previous tracks uses electronics and piano to make the base, wonderfully distorted, whilst the vocals slowly emerge from the background, never quite the focus of the song until much later. Nothing is clean, most having some level of distortion or variation. The violins sound as if they are screaming, a marvellous performance.

‘Powoli’ seems almost more frivolous (For lack of better term), carrying a more aggressive, and at times, playful tone. Within this, however, is a dark and almost malevolent being. Extreme fuzziness, hints of talking, and other such oddities such as a heartbeat make it all the more interesting to dissect. Nothing seems in-sync, which only adds to the playful suggestions make earlier in the track. Amazingly, the album hasn’t put a foot wrong so far. ‘Taniec’ almost reminds me of an old classical composition you know you have heard, but can’t quite but your finger on, but with an electronic mix over the top.

‘O Ma Zalosci’ attacks the senses with a constant reverberating sound in your ears. Not necessarily loud, the tone and pitch offers no respite, before it softens, allowing the vocals to come into play. The song itself summons emotions of resentment and sorrow, yet there is nothing the protagonists can do about it. At times it almost reminded me of an old French film I once saw, and only remember some key moments and parts of the soundtrack, offering film noir ideas and suggestions. ‘Tren IV’ once again uses the harp to full advantage, creating a sense of floating, as you are left clawing at small widgets of noise. The construct of the piece really is amazing, almost seeming hopefully, without offering too much of an upbeat nature and beat.

‘Walc’ offers an almost under water attraction, before you slowly reach the surface. The sounds are almost random, both in their nature and distortion, and it quickly has become another favourite of mine. It offers so many minimal qualities, but at the same time, it isn’t purely due to a lack of noise. The beat is positive, and the vocals reflect as such. ‘Martwa Cisza’ offers up another piano based track, as the protagonist and antagonist meet for one final battle. The album finishes with a nice bookend in ‘Rytm To Nieśmiertelność II’, finishing the ideas presented in the opening track in a more positive light.

Chances are most of those who try out the album will be bored out of their lights. Admittedly, ambient music isn’t the ‘perfect music for any situation’. However, when it comes to special albums, personally I can crank them at any time and be happy. Treny is a special album in that regards. It almost doesn’t matter when I play it, it can be the perfect going to sleep music, or the perfect morning ‘after a drinking session’ music, or the middle of a bright or raining day. From start to finish it captivates, and easily gets the nod for best album of 08, which is a pretty tough race to win in my book. Fantastic listen.

9.2/10

- Rtym To Niesmiertelnosc I
- Lament

Bulldog

Seems quite the album that. Alright, I don't know a lot about ambient music outside of a few Brian Eno albums, but I don't think I've heard anything that sounds like that before. Fascinating mix of classical and ambient electronic textures there, which I've never really come across before. I mean, damn, where do you find this stuff

Another one I'm gonna take a minute or two to look for in a bit. Great review, as always.

edit - Just found it on a blog. Someone's labelled it as drum 'n' bass

jackhammer

I was going to suggest you do a taster comp. Great work.

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Zarko

Well some of the stuff is quite different, and I reviewed a lot of the best albums for said artists, so disliking a song here and there isn't indicative of the the actual albums in a fair few cases. If something intrigues someone I suggest doing a comparison to the youtube videos I put on each review. It should give a fairly good idea...

Heres another link for the best of the albums I reviewed... Most are viewable on Youtube, but I will give it anyway...

BestOfSGTN.rar

And its great getting to double digits