Since the break up of legendary experimental rock band
Can in 1978, Jaki Liebezeit the band’s drummer
and rhythmic engine house, has been involved in a huge
number of projects, working with artists as diverse
as Brian Eno, Depeche Mode and Primal Scream. Over the
years some of Leibezeit’s most interesting collaborations
have been with ex-PiL bassist Jah Wobble. The first
of these collaborations came in the early 80s in a super
group consisting of Liebeziet, Wobble, Francois Kevorkian
and – bizarrely enough - U2’s The Edge.
Next, Liebeziet and Wobble worked with another ex-Can
man Holger Czukay to produce the Full Circle
album, containing the dub-disco landmark How Much
Are They? More recently he hooked up once more
with Wobble, touring under the name Solaris with a group
which also included Bill Laswell and Harold Budd.
Since then however Liebezeit has found another kindred
spirit in the shape of electronic jazzer, and head of
Nonplace Records, Burnt Friedman with whom he released
the Secret Rhythms album in 2002. Aside from
the happy coincidence that the two artists were living
in Cologne, Friedman explains his reasons for seeking
to meet up with Liebezeit: ‘I knew his work with
Can and loved his drum sound and developments after
Can’ he says. ‘Besides I dealt with odd
time signatures and assumed he would be the right partner
for playing uncommon grooves live.’
It is this passion for ‘odd time signatures’
and the ‘uncommon’ that drives much of the
Secret Rhythms project. This follow up album
treads a similar path to the original record, continuing
the duo’s obsession with the quest for rhythm
beyond the traditional western standard – the
4/4 bar. This concept is the key to the whole album.
The German for 4/4 bar is ‘vier viertel takt’,
or ‘vierer’, pronounced ’fearer’.
Enjoying the pun, Liebezeit and Friedman thus refer
to the 4/4 bar as a “fearer”.
Their search for the perfect beat has resulted in a
series of sound experiments packed with cyclic grooves
and hypnotic rhythms. Evidence of this can be heard
in the percussive elements in the opening track Sikkerhead
for example, which lovingly interlock with the funky
guitar of Tim Motzer. Next up, The Sticks builds
a deeply hypnotic groove alongside Hayden Chisholm’s
clarinet and melodica before growing into a warped funk
jam. Elsewhere, The Librarian features the
vocals of David Sylvian who Freidman first hooked up
with when remixing two tracks for the ex-Japan frontman’s
Blemish album. ‘He evokes many pictures,
it’s stimulating but likewise frustrating to analyse’
says Friedman, hinting at the ever-enigmatic nature
of Sylvian’s vocals.
At first glance there appears to be less going on in
this album. There are certainly less jazzy elements
- one of the crucial aspects being the absence of Morten
Gronvad’s tantalising vibes which ghosted their
way through the majority of the first album. That said
however deeper listening is rewarded as the strength
of Liebeziet’s playing and Freidman’s ability
to lay down solid core textures and melodies is gradually
revealed, hidden beneath a subtlety seldom found on
modern recordings.
It’s always interesting to look out for any projects
involving ex-Can members. This album is no exception.
The pair will be touring this year, playing material
from the new album, alongside Hayden Chisholm on clarinet
and melodica. The first show kicks off in Cologne on
11 March and will be followed by shows all over Europe
in 2006.
Stuart Aitken
3.5/5 |
