Jan St Werner – Blaze Colour Burn
(Thrill Jockey)
LP
10 June 2013
Electronic
music pioneer, Jan St Werner releases his new album. Louder Than Wars Paul Scott-Bates is on hand
to review.
One half of
Mouse On Mars, Jan St Werner has increased his profile as an avant garde artist
not afraid to experiment with anything he so wishes. There are no holds barred on this album which
stretches from the bizarre, to the weird, to the downright mad on many
occasions. Whether it be called music or
whether it be called compositions of sound, the stark originality cannot be
denied and the genius (or the madman) is allowed to shine through for all to
see.
Two tracks
here, Spiazzacorale A and Spiazzacorale B are taken from an eight hour live
performance in Umbria, Italy which included, amongst other things a brass band,
church bells, coughing and recordings made in the cafes of the public
piazza. There may even be the sound of
sheep in there too or maybe my mind is now playing tricks with me. The freestyle jazz saxophone is certainly
present and it’s a mammoth track.
Album
opener, Cloud Diachroma, contains what may well be random sounds made up purely
on the spur of the moment, but equally it could well be the work of an
incredibly active musical mind viz a viz Scott Walker and Bish Bosch. Does Sipian Organ contain excerpts of saws in
a mill? Quite possibly, and therein lies
the beauty of something like this. On
first listen it’s just random sounds and someone playing the fool, but, on
second listen it’s inspired, and, though it doesn’t make any sense (or does
it?), it’s a true musical adventure.
Serra
Beacon includes parts of guitar feedback sound and Feed Opener experiments with
acoustic sounds. There is a true beauty
to this album, the complexity of some of the parts not interfering, but instead
embracing each other. An album of true
inventiveness, and, if it had been the aforementioned Mr Walker, we would be
talking about it for months.
8/10
Links
Published on Louder Than War 10/06/13 - here
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