ANBB: Alva Noto + Blixa Bargeld - Ret Marut Handshake

ANBB: Alva Noto + Blixa Bargeld - Ret Marut Handshake (r-n 120)

being friends and admirers of each otherʼs work for a long time, electronic

music composer / visual artist alva noto (carsten nicolai) and composer / voice-

artist blixa bargeld (also known as singer of einstürzende neubauten and guitarist

of nick cave and the bad seeds) decided to join forces to initiate a collaborative

project in 2007.

together they developed a musical concept based on the combination of

improvisation and abstraction. the impulsive live performance of blixa bargeld

and the elaborated beat structures and sound landscapes of alva noto merge

to a surprising and unexpected result. working on their own experimental

material that gains its strength from the spontaneity of the live-performance of

bargeldʼs voice as well as rethinking traditional songs in their own special

manner, they deliver an outstanding and inspiring musical blend for their

audience.

“crystalline noise formations. phrases, words, syllables of pure sound isolated

until normal sense disappears, leaving new, unexpected abstractions to emerge.

[...] the most suggestive and nuanced version of ʻi wish i was a mole in the groundʼ

since bob dylan.” – sam davies (the wire 12/09, uk)

the collaboration first staged in september 2007 when they united for a

special appearance in san francisco to perform at recombinant media labs

studios. since then they have recorded several tracks, fi ve of which will be

released on a preliminary ep on raster-noton (r-n 120) in spring 2010. a full

length album with 10 tracks (r-n 121) will be released some weeks later. The

release will be followed by a live tour at various festivals and concert halls in

europe in june/september 2010.

release date: june 21st 2010

12“ vinyl, ep, 45 rpm

A1. ret marut handshake 6:10

A2. one 2:49

B1. electricity is fiction 4:15

B2. bernsteinzimmer 3:21

B3. i wish i was a mole in the ground 1:54

samples: http://www.raster-noton.net/anbb/?a1=audio

i don't know what to think about this. I'll wait to judge. Forming an opinion of an Alva Noto release from it's samples is not the way to do things I'm sure.

Lol, those vocals are whack.

The vocals seem way of out place...

Samples sound ok, this should be good.

Seriously - did you listen to "I wish I was a mole in the ground"? Sounds horrible!

sounds refreshing, fresh, funny and fun actually

  On 5/21/2010 at 12:21 PM, Squee said:

Seriously - did you listen to "I wish I was a mole in the ground"? Sounds horrible!

Yea true, it sounds "a bit" stupid.

I love the sound of the cover of 'one' ...

beariksson - a little midge-fly has just tried to get frisky with your signature animation thing with little success.

Two Twin Peaks avatars in one thread. Dig it.

listen to one track in full: http://www.thewire.co.uk/articles/4304/

thanks kaini

ok, well, I'm still on the fence, but I'm leaning toward "the vocals fucking kill this dead to the ground omfg this is terrible why would he ruin his moosics with that voice?"

If i remember right, a couple of the samples sound even worse. I am disappoint. fuck it, i said it. I'll be giving this a miss. Sorry mr. Nicolai.

I don't know...I kinda like it actually.

different strokes for different folks. for ME, placing late 80's/early 90's industrial sounding vocals over Alva noto is a no-no. The vocals were too "straight" for me. Too untreated for the type of music it accompanies. It would also be better if the guy had a better voice. the whole "i'm talking into a megaphone" thing wears thin. If he released an instrumental version I would get that.

  On 5/21/2010 at 1:44 PM, raan said:

  On 5/21/2010 at 12:21 PM, Squee said:

Seriously - did you listen to "I wish I was a mole in the ground"? Sounds horrible!

 

Yea true, it sounds "a bit" stupid.

can you imagine listening to this song in front of other people? i mean, non-idm types. think about it.

I liked the snippet of Electricity is fiction, but overall I'm not very keen on vocals.. as Sneaks said, I'd buy an instrumental cd as well.

OUT NOW

http://boomkat.com/vinyl/312984-anbb-alva-noto-blixa-bargeld-ret-marut-handshake

Ugh, yeah, get the vocals outta there! Everything else sounds fantastic. I feel the same way about a lot of Coil's work. The vocals just kill it 90% of the time. It wouldn't be difficult to incorporate vocals into this sort of thing in a way that compliments it, but for whatever reason whenever vocalists show up in experimental music they're presented in a way totally at odds with the aesthetics of the rest of it.

both me and my girlfriend like it, so i'm going buy it ;D

they just uploaded these pics to facebook btw