If the process of bringing elements of acoustic and
environmental sounds into electronic soundscapes is
not new, very few musicians manage to blend these elements
with perfection. John Chantler, a native from Brisbane
who relocated to Japan for two years to teach English
and use his spare time to make music, presents, with
Monoke, one of the most compelling example
of combined acoustic and electronics.
Chantler moved to Japan shortly after setting up his
own record label, Inventing Zero, at the turn of the
century. He has released a mini album, The Place
Between Here And, on CDR the same year. Other than
is personal work, he has also released an album by I/O,
aka Lawrence English, also known for his work as Object,
as well as two extremely limited seven inch singles.
Based in the beautiful island of Shikoku, situated in
the South of Japan, John Chantler started working on
Monoke in 2001 with very little equipment,
but, as he found himself working for a local school,
he soon made good use of the instruments put at his
disposition by the music department, recording drums,
melodica, glockenspiels and keyboards to collect the
raw elements for this album. Monoke is inhabited
by Chantler’s environment, bringing clean lines,
natural beauties and extreme precision within the soft
soundscapes to develop into dense compositions. Sometimes
evoking a more straightforward version of Boards
Of Canada, Monoke seems to evolve almost
imperceptibly along a unique theme. Yet, the eight tracks
on offer here, recorded between September 2001 and December
2002, and spread over a mere forty minutes, revolve
around distinctive textures, exposing new facets with
every song. The symbiosis between acoustic and electronic
sound sources, ranging from guitar, bass and xylophone
to processed field recordings and samples, is so perfect
that it rapidly become impossible to disassociate them.
The rhythmic structures are assembled with clinical
precision and wrapped in blankets of sophisticated sounds,
only serve to highlight the human input behind the music.
Here, machines become organic components, while environmental
elements appear driven by relentless mechanisms. These
warm soundscapes are the basis for Chantler’s
exquisite liquid melodies. As they appear to dissolve
and reform constantly, Chantler patiently work each
musical thread to the extreme, conscious to retain the
emotional character of his compositions to the end.
A beautiful example of deceptive simplicity, Monoke
is in fact extremely complex in nature. Yet, thanks
to John Chantler’s precise sonic arrangements,
this album flows naturally from start to finish and
appears raw and detached in the context of contemporary
electronic music. Monoke is the work or a man
driven by his art, and is without a doubt the first
in a series of essential recordings.
4.7/5 |
