VARIOUS – LONG
DIVISION WITH REMAINDERS (FRONT AND FOLLOW)
Back in 1998 Thurston
Moore created a project entitled “Root”
whereby he composed a piece of music and then fished it out to a number of
friends and musicians for them to do with what they wanted, all in the name of
creation and art. Naturally the results
were mixed but the whole process was inventive and unpredictable.
Following up in much
the same tradition the ever creative good good people at Front And Follow have put out a
whooping four songs into the world for anybody up to the job to molest and
manipulate all the name of pushing things forward. Here in this four disc boxset (this work of physical art) are the
fruits of the fourteen versions sprung by so many up and coming artists. This is free range.
The fourteen artists
involved range from tried and tested electronica artists through one man wrecking
machines to happy and gifted amateurs with an idea in their head, passion in
their heart, hunger in their belly and a PC at their disposal.
The collection opens
with the original
four pieces from HELEN WATSON that are slow and subtle string arrangements
suffering from some kind of Mouse On Mars-esqe bleep fever. MRS WATSON is one half of the Watson
Marriage Experiment, the brains behind the Front And Follow record label that
engineered this project.
Having suitably
impressed the people at The Wire
magazine with his debut album Curious
Memories, SONE
INSTITUTE chips in with Version
2 and his trademark kaleidoscope interpretation of the truth. These tracks play home to the collision of
classic jazz sounds, of bands so big and grooves so deep they could serve as a
foundation for your soul.
Up third
is the first contribution from American, Washington D.C. to be exact. The motions of BLK w/BEAR
are heavy and disturbing; slow moving like an electronic version of Earth or
Godspeed You Black Emperor. This is a
dark proposition that sonically stretches the four tracks to the point of
despair. A perfect soundtrack to black
images.
In contrast to the
previous version, when CATS
AGAINST THE BOMB offer Version
4 it does so in a very playful manner that springs to mind the lighter side
of science fiction. If the previous
effort was the soundtrack to Alien, then this is what’s required for Battle
Beyond The Stars. The cinematic touch
is enhanced by the elements of early sonic chirps that feel like
Hitchcock. An amazing picnic.
Version
5 echoes the choices of the first collection as ISNAJ DUI takes a studied
and modern composition approach to proceedings employing enhanced classical
tools. This is a hazy and
disorientating take on the project that keeps things mild and amusing while
concealing another element behind its back.
For the next
set of remixes LDWR looks towards
Australia as UK born composer BARNABY
OLIVER cooks up a drifting and suffocating set of associations that suggest
the cruel hand of nature and the danger that comes with. By the end the version
is gyrating causing the listener static strain and an unearthly discomfort.
I have to concede my
favourite set of the collection is the four reworkings by KEN PEEL
for Version
7. To the project his brings a
“lounge electronica” approach that, of all things, reminds me of the Denison
Kimball Trio. These are tracks
upholstered in velvet with swing piano and chilled jazz drum beats which create
a smooth texture to go all noir to.
It’s a cause for comfort.
The second half of the
experiment opens with the pummelling emissions of Colchester’s own THE
ABOMINABLE MR TINKLER. Version
8 proves one of the most broken contributions to the programme. It is also one of the most nail biting as a
heavy dose of suspense leads up to an inevitably messy conclusion to the
tracks,
Version
9 sees LDWR return to Australia for its manipulation via the duo of VOLUME =
COLOUR. A longstanding multimedia
collaboration, for their remixes they have employed a series of outsourced
individuals to each bring their own touches to the new works. The results are stubborn and erratic as
numerous punishing blows are dealt out in the name of frenzy.
Also from Australia,
SUSAN HAWKINS provides the next
EP bringing in daggers of destiny via classic orchestration and modern
manipulation. There is something very
natural and organic in these interpretations, not least with the sonic howls it
exudes. Then it becomes pleasant,
reassuring and cradling.
From Leeds, THE
TRUTH ABOUT FRANK deals out a blunt series of groaning machinations that
provide a gnarly industrial drone for the eleventh
version. With this ghostly
distortion and heinous feedback skim over proceedings before an eventual
intervention occurs.
With this SPOOL
ENSEMBLE deliver Version
12 from North Carolina. Extracted
from a laboratory workbench the results are scatological as seemingly arcade machine
bleeps clash with more generic electronic sounds to muddy the canvass and bend
the original tracks to illustrate man made errors. Bobbins.
The penultimate
contribution arrives from TAGCLOUD who also originate from Washington D.C. This is one of the quietest versions,
a subtle reflection on the process that caused people in my presence to ask
whether I “was in mourning” for listening to such music. There is certainly something ethereal about
it.
The project comes to a
close with the vast recollections of LEYLAND
KIRBY. Very much in keeping with
his recent work as The Caretaker and in his own name, his versions
of distant journeys with delicate piano pacing and a general air of menace and
beauty to that found in Badalamenti’s work on Twin Peaks. There’s no hurry here, just a lot of
sensuality.
And with that fifty
six solid tracks pass through my consciousness leaving their brain on my
mark. It is incredible to think of the
number of people that were involved in this project and how so many made
something out of nothing. This is the
future model for independent music.
Thesaurus moment:
legacy.
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