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006: Snawklor "It
Would Have Lived Here" |
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THE WIRE DEC 2003 - Andy Hamilton
Synaesthesia is a new Melbourne-based label that's documenting the
animated
local soundart scene. To the technically semi-literate such as this
writer,
post-Techno soundart can present a confusing spectacle, but with
this
beguiling recording such considerations are irrelevant. Snawklor
is Dylan
Krasevac and Nathan Gray, both playing laptops with sampler/loop
programs
live, and this is their second full length CD - ‘Rushes’ appeared
last year
on another small local label Marsupial Sounds. Snawklor's compositions
process and layer samplings of field recordings, creating a rich
acoustic
ecology incorporating miked-up metallic percussion and tape debris.
They
recognisably draw on contemporary electronica while genuflecting
to "musique
concrete" tradition. There's a sense of involvement in live
performance,
and unusually for sampler-based acts, most sources are from their
own field
recordings. Snawklor reject the easy presentation of drone-like streams
of
sound, and the negativism of subdued minimal approaches, in favour
of a more
dramatic language. It's music of rich density – soundart but
a clearly
musical soundart.
Some tracks, like the first, "doublivores back", have a
discernible pulse,
but it's always varied, sometimes polyrhythmically, avoiding electronic
music's frequent rhythmic banality. "Doublivores" combines
inner city field
recordings with R+B influenced rhythms and glimpses of the cassette's
underlying recording, a residue of Grandmaster Flash. "War In
The Trees"
might remind the inattentive listener of Windham Hill, but even here
there
are hidden depths, and it's an isolated episode; the insect-like
scurryings
and avian twitterings of "Nocturgical" share the inspiration
of Bartok's
pieces of "night music". This enormously varied but consistently
beautiful
disc testifies to the vibrancy of contemporary Antipodean soundart.
ALLMUSIC GUIDE - François Couture
This is Snawklor’s second full-length, but this reviewer admits
upfront not
having heard their first. Was it as beautiful as this one? (It Would
Have
Lived There) consists of seven delicate electronic pieces that combine
shimmering digital bells, quiet field recordings and junk percussion.
The
album starts off rather noisily, the first two tracks clanging away
in a
punkish, whimsical fashion that immediately brings the (Mego) label
to mind.
But soon things cool down and the Australian duo gradually lead us
toward
ever more quieter areas. The music cools down but never grows cold,
it
retains a strong, spellbinding human element. By (“War in the
Trees”) we
stand in ambient domain, with the field recordings occupying at least
half
of the sound spectrum. (“Nocturnal: Secrets of the Hounadine”).
introduces
pizzicato strings (from a violin? a toy guitar?) assembled on the
computer,
while the closing (“Anchovies Pleasure Ghost”) uses acoustic
guitar sounds
treated with Max/MSP patches (or similar software). Often the music
evokes
the Austro-German experimental electro scene (Ekkehard Ehlers), (Christian
Fennesz) and the likes), but {$Snawklor }hold their ground with a
distinctive sound. There is an element of genuine playfulness in
the music.
It translates into (Mego) -esque wit in the first tracks and in a
dandyish
form of melancholia in the last ones. The path laid down by the tracklist
is
surprisingly comfortable and convincing. Each piece stands well on
its own,
thanks to tight, intelligent structures; put together like this they
form an
impressive architecture.
Highly recommended as one of the best experimental electro records
of 2003.
BRAINWASHED - Lucas Schleicher
Subtlety can either add to a composition or take away from it. If
understatement is enough to carry a tune then there's no reason to
add
anything to it. It Would Have Lived Here is a very careful album
and ends up
benefitting for it. Everything is bare bones and this approach works
very
well. Most of the tones used are metallic in nature and percussive
but more
often than not there are less musical and more found-sound effects
used.
Everything begins rather enigmatically: there is rhythm, but it heeds
to no
time signature. There is a bass-like strumming throughout and the
sound of
tiny cymbals chiming everywhere, but no melody to speak of. Random
sounds
bounce back and forth between my ears and now and again there's a
quick stab
of recognizable speech but it's distant. Metallic sounds run throughout
this
full-length but in different forms. Some are used to create short
melodic
lines, others produce a constant background noise that ties the various
tracks together in different ways, and others simply pop in and out
of the
music like images of killing your boss during a hectic day of work.
Nothing
ever jumps out and grabs my attention immediately. Every moment is
saturated
with interesting sounds that stretch, echo, and breathe without
interference. The sense that the sounds are somehow coming from a
living,
breathing thing is strong and a bit unsettling at times. Snawklor
obviously
pay close attention to detail and the result of their patience is
nothing
short of beautiful. Despite its rather abstract nature it is highly
accessible and fun to listen to.sodapop - andrea ferraris
During the first second ones of It Could Have Lived Here I must admit
that I
have thought was be a matter of the ' solito' disc of ' field recordings'
a
po' cold that did not add null of new; not there is intentional a
lot in
order to understand that the quality of this disc is very other.
' field
recordings' there are and music not always will be immediate, although
that
the splashes of melodia that they make rubble through ' ambienti'
remain
marchiati to fire in the sinapsi. Metallic percussions, ecological
noises
(), tapes and computers miscelati with point out of nenie that bring
back to
the beloved and old amniotic fluid. According to me the Snawklor
succeeds
where the Matmos fails: while in To Chance To Cut Is To Chance To
Cures the
favourites of Bjork pass clearly from the rumorismo to the melodia
with a
jump (and to the times in little homogenous way), the Snawklor instead
mischiano the papers with great maestria, without that nobody notices
of
null; the trick will be also but it does not look at itself. If the
beginning of the CD seems found it hard, acquires meant in virtue
of the
gradualità of the job, gradualità and discretion that
give the first
teletrasportano trace the last one like if the quarantasette tiny
of this CD
they did not last null. Like playing with the electronics, to make
of
intelligent music and al pleasant same time.
IN –PRESS (Melbourne)
/ CYCLIC DEFROST (Sydney) - Bob Baker Fish
The Melbourne based abstract electronic duo of Dylan Krasevac and
Nathan
Gray are back with their second album in what seems like six months,
though
in reality it is probably closer to a year. It seems so recent thanks
to the
impact of their debut, Rushes, a peculiar electronic journey pitched
somewhere between the inner circuitry of the trusty laptop and field
recordings of a bubbling soft drink or the gentle reverberations
of a metal
on metal. Though it may not sound that exciting or groundbreaking,
Rushes
managed to distinguish itself via the singularly unique and off kilter
way
the sounds were constructed and integrated into each piece, aiming
more for
tones and textures than any minimal tech or dance piece. In that
way
Snawklor’s sounds owe more to instillations or the work of
sound artists,
however there is a small underlying and musical thread that weaves
through
each piece. It Would Have Lived Here is the perfect extension of
Rushes.
Combining samples, field recordings, and more peculiar snatches of
sound, it
finds Snawklor more restrained, at times ambient, content to bask
in the
warm drones of cuts like the amazingly hypnotic 11 minutes plus of
War In
The Trees, or become all glitchy, sticky and abstract on its follow
up
Nocturgical. It’s gentle, unexpected and most of all patient,
the duo
allowing themselves plenty of space and creating a unique emotional
resonance. Utilising numerous field recordings including the sounds
of a
babbling brook, Snawklor remix the world around them, altering the
emphasis,
the order, the meaning of their surroundings. What’s interesting
is that
just when you think it’s all coming together into some kind
of abstract
funky piece, Snawklor pull back, teetering on the edge of cohesiveness
-
almost teasing the listener with their off kilter nature. It’s
work that
exists on the cutting edge of sound, whilst still feeling innocent
and full
of hope. It’s also music unlike anything that you will here
either here or
overseas and as a result is well worth searching out.
VITAL
Snawklor's debut CD 'Rushes' was reviewed in Vital Weekly 344 and
'It Could
Have Lived
Here' is the follow up to that. Moreso then on 'Rushes', they take
sounds
from their immediate, downunder, environment and process that in
their
music, whilst taking also in account the traditional music’s
of the original
inhabitants of Australia. Rusty metal pipes open the CD, but it has
a
strange rhythmical groove to it. This process is repeated in many
other
tracks. Metallic gamalan like music, with occassional computer doodlings
err
processings. This makes this into a very homogenic CD, but the consequence
is also that it is a bit boring after some time. A little bit more
variety
would have been nice. Price winning piece is 'War In The Trees',
with it's
loose flute arrangement, outdoor
sounds and feedback processing.
Signal Zero
Lorsque la fin du disque arrive, une terrible impression de vide
saisit
l'auditeur. En même temps qu'un vague sentiment indéfinissable,
qu'on
qualifierait approximativement de presque dépressif. Dieu
que ce disque est
riche, et qu'il nous emmène loin !
Comment le qualifier si ce n'est de musique concrète ou acousmatique
? Aucun
son numérique habituel est ici présent, on entend clairement
que la plupart
des sonorités proviennent du « monde réel ».
Tous les sons sont retravaillés
avec une précision qui frise la manie. Chaque sonorité est
clairement isolée
et si une confusion apparaissait, il doit être clair pour vous
qu'elle est
voulue dans la composition. Il y a même une exhibition volontaire
de
l'artifice dans cette chirurgie sonore pointilleuse : ici une reverberation
est trop localisée spatialement pour être honnète,
là un clic de bouclage de
sample a volontairement été laissé.
La musique de Snawklor crée plus qu'une ambiance, elle emmène
l'auditeur en
voyage dans les propres replis de son cortex cérébral.
Le voyage interieur
n'est cependant pas proposé par le circuit facile du son qui
vous masse. Ici
l'interrogation surgit à chaque instant de la méditation.
Les morceaux
donnent, à leur début, presque tous l'impression d'avoir
très peu de son, et
pourtant ils finissent par envahir tout l'espace sonore et géométrique.
Des
nappes obsédantes, presque dérangeantes tant elles
paraissent à la fois
mélodieuses et bancales vous font osciller en vous-même.
Oscillation, rythme
? En effet, même si le disque est très peu percussif,
la structure est tapie
derrière les évènements pseudo-aléatoires.
S'il n'est pas mis en avant par
des sons de percussions standards, le rythme est clairement là et
é
quilibre la globalité de chacune des pièces de ce disque.
Des petits êtres se promènent dans le champ auditif, émettant
des sonorities
tour à tour cristallines ou brutales. Car la chirurgie sonore
comporte
é
galement une pratique de la rupture, et des sons, aigus ou graves,
surgissent pour disparaître aussitôt (en particulier
dans « Doublivores back
»
et « Alloys out cold » . Cette dualité entre rythme
implacable mais pas
é
crasant et micro-évènements crée une ambiance
méditative (surtout vers la
fin du disque) et même interrogative. Tout ne se passe pas
dans le calme.
Par exemple, « War in the trees » a un début très
ambient et
pseudo-aléatoire, mais cela ne dure pas, une nappe monte de
plus en plus
jusqu'à en devenir malsaine et se transformer en une percussion
repetitive
qui fait songer au Sextet de Steve Reich, le confort en moins. La
tempête ne
surgit cependant pas.
On peut parfois penser à « How to destroy angels » de
Coil, et aussi à
certains morceaux de Download, et même par moments à Varèse.
Il y a pire
paternité à revendiquer. La musique de Snawklor est,
malgré ces references
qui s'imposent, très personnelle et riche. René Char
ne disait-il pas qu'il
faut occuper toutes les pièces de sa maison mentale, les obscures
et les
belles aérées ? Ce disque vous en donne l'occasion.
Kindamusik (Holland)
- Theo Ploeg
Op hun tweede volwaardige langspeler gaan Krasevac en Gray wederom
op zoek
naar de sonische kracht van de omgeving waarin ze vertoeven. Ditmaal
combineren ze akoestische instrumenten en geluid met elektronica.
Dat levert
met name in de opener 'Doublivores Back' een prachtig resultaat op
waarin
ondanks de wirwar aan geluiden toch een groovend geheel ontstaat.
Voor het
overige is direct ritme op It Could Have Lived Here ver te zoeken.
In
sommige gevallen leidt dat tot een adembenemend geheel, zoals in
'War In The
Trees' waarbij je als vanzelf niet meer durft te ademen om niets
van de
geluiden te missen. Maar als geheel is Snawklor's tweede toch wat
te saai en
voorspelbaar. Misschien moeten Krasevac en Gray snel verhuizen naar
spannendere omgevingen. |
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