Svarte Greiner - Man Bird Dress / Svarte Greiner + Anduin - Black River

6.5/10

Svarte Greiner is no stranger here at The Silent Ballet - only recently he inspired my colleague Jermey Bye to advise us to listen to Kappe phenomenally loud. Not being an authority on Svarte Greiner's work, I choose to apply this advice to the job at hand, whether or not his latest three track effort - Man Bird Dress - and his live collaboration withAnduin are worthy additions to the back catalog of this upcoming Scandinavian doomscapologist and mastermind of the Miasmah label.

Man Bird Dress is one album title, three words, and also three track titles. Whether or not these words have any meaning or connection with the actual music is something that each listener will have to make out for him or herself, since there is more room for free interpretation than audible guidance on this release. Of greater importance, perhaps, is that the pieces have meaningful words for titles - where other drone or electronic artists often choose incomprehensible titles or plain numbering - which proves the aspiration to deliver three separate yet complete pieces rather than one sonic adventure, sliced for your convenience. Each piece has a different focus, bringing an attractive and refreshing breeze through the darkness of overdrive-accumulating ambient that is induced with horrific soundscapes. The base structure of "Man", "Bird", and "Dress" is fairly simple: start out with some creepy soundscapes, add doom, let it slowly swell to a sturdy whole and then ease the listener out. To top off the base-recipe, Svarte Greiner (Erik Skodvin) goes all-out from strange hypnotic chords on an acoustic guitar, to frenzied string movements and back to guitar with so much overdrive that it almost doesn't need to be played.

The result of this carefully-spread tapestry of haunting sound waves is rather stunning, intoxicating enough to claim your attention where most acts tend to depend on an audience with a long attention span. Although composed of heavyweight drone elements, the (easy) listening experience isn't negatively affected. A fluid structure and lack of sonic guidance make this album one of the most listenable in its niche. It is also because Svarte Greiner succeeds in breaking through the almost constant darkness of his own compositions with a ray of stunning, matte light every now and then that this album is more easily consumed than the average drone release.

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5/10

During Svarte Greiner's first US tour in 2008, he sometimes teamed up with Anduin (Souvenir’s Young America’s Jonathan Lee), and after having each done their individual set, they usually ended up on stage together, closing the night. Their collaborative effort was recorded and released as Black River and contains two parts that delve deep in the flattened-out, droning haze of pulsating darkness. Compared to the cinematic feeling of Man Bird Dress, this release uses more electronics than the layered and polished studio efforts.

The fact that this is a live performance works for and against the release. When recording live material, it's hard to mimic the full-on layered sound of studio work, but when it comes to live electronics it a matter of being on top of your equipment and sticking to a few self-set parameters to keep your set together. Black River follows these premises, and I'm sure this was a very rewarding piece to bring live, but the fact is that the work will appeal only to those blessed with a long attention span or those who are hardcore fans of the artists. Although the material tends more to Anduin's lighter ambient, the whiff of Svarte Greiner's moody darkness casts an undefinable aura over the work. The sloth of the bending pads covered in smog, a slow pulsating that phases in and out, characterizes the release - it's a winning combination for the average Machinefabriek listener, but it's not likely this release will dominate The Silent Ballet's end of the year charts. Instead, this little limited vinyl goody from SMTG will surely find an honorable spot in that hardcore fan's collection.



full review written for and published by The Silent Ballet
Svarte Greiner myspace
Anduin myspace

How To Make A Sleeps In Oysters CD Package

after re-listening this album I came across the making of the packaging, which I unfortunately don't own... the album does sound like the package looks. Excellent...


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Sleeps in Oysters myspace
released by Seed Records but sold out :(
album review at The Silent Ballet

Dinner - And... Hearing Things

5.5/10

Accompanying Dinner's release of Disco Rock on the Japanese label Fantome Records is its predecessor, And... Hearing Things. Notable about the re-release of the 2007 album are the two closing tracks that have been "re-ordered" and offer some form of compensation to the seemingly DIY sound of the entire production of the initial release. DIY doesn't mean that it sounds like a recording with a tapedeck in a rehearsal room, but rather that the minimal effort during the recording and finishing of the album doesn't do much justice to the virtuosity that is to be discovered. And virtuosity is plentiful with Dinner.

The band's effort results in playful indie and post-rock with a rhythmic hint of funk and groove that make up an upbeat, almost psychedelic, instrumental rock variant. Soothingly opening the release is "#Zero", featuring laid-back acoustic guitar plucks and (what appears to be) a set of spoons. This leads the listener into the frenzied drumming and bass lines of "#", where subtle guitar chords struggle for their place in the "question and answer" structure, sometimes ending up with a few surprising hooks and bridges. After this swirling introduction of the album, the tracks take on a more flattened-out structure which tends to endanger the apex of the release. The strictly necessary room for essential breaks and fills is barely respected, and sometimes even seem to confuse the artists themselves at certain points, with the result that some of the staccato accents feel more like mellow speed bumps messing up the ride.

The strongest parts of And... Hearing Things are the down tempo, breezy tracks like "Six-Seven-8" that gradually evolve and climax, proving that skilled instrumental work and well-written structures are within Dinner's capabilities. Nevertheless, there is still some work in finding the less awkward sounding structures and the right sonic environment for every particular instrument. Every now and then, some spaced-out pads come into play to fill the background, something that I would've liked to hear more. By doing so, they could easily drop one of the leading rhythm guitars, providing some more depth in the general guitar sound, and strengthening the fragile backbone of Dinner's sound. In the end, the album is a debut by a young and obscure band, so hopefully they'll have the means to fine-tune their music as they go along.

The two closing (re-ordered) tracks of the album offer an audible insight in the produced direction Dinner should explore in my opinion. Unlike their ten two-dimensional cardboard predecessors, these closing tracks have a new-found depth and liveliness, unleashed through the simple application of some effects and mastering. The finishing touch is a bit rough around the edges, but a comparison to Rovo (minus strings) is not too far-fetched on this band filled to the rim with potential...


Written for and published by The Silent Ballet. (click for full review)
Dinner myspace
Fantome Records

Semiosis - Pictural

blurping on the Release of the Month: March 2009 article at The Silent Ballet... which was a strange month.

The divine Edgar Allen Poe once stated that when one is confronted with a vast amount of impressions screaming for our attention – like signboards with adverts – one tends to block out those that are (too) obvious. The mind sometimes works in mysterious ways, and in a month filled with great releases, mine kept wandering back to this Romanian collision of ambient post-rock and math rock. Semiosis is the combined effort of breakcore artist Candlestickmaker and Serban Ilicevici. On their maiden release, Pictural, they offer seven enjoyable tracks ranging from soothing ambient pieces to adrenaline pumping post-metal. Razor-sharp IDM and occasional bombastic drum samples lift the dreamy instrumental rock to epic sonic climaxes in this solid and sometimes surprising production. (Could the theremin be the new glockenspiel?) An ideal album to erase the memory of a gloomy winter and to make way for the uplifting melancholy of a spring dawn.

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The album is available for free download here by the good people of Asiluum.com as well as a physical copy, but you can find out about artsy attached strings at the download page.


Written for and published by The Silent Ballet.
Semiosis myspace
Asiluum
Candlestickmaker myspace

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