Four years ago, New Zealand’s mysterious Rotor
Plus released a magnificent debut album, Aileron,
on which crisp glitch electronica was beautifully layered
over sparse atmospheric constructions, evoking in part
Brian Eno’s Ambient series or Biosphere’s
collaborations with Higher
Intelligence Agency, but adding a slightly more
industrial touch through crisp glitches and interferences.
Articulated around three major movements, each partitioned
into smaller sections, Aileron
was an impressive journey through dense organic and
emotional soundscapes, charting new territories at every
turn and constantly challenging the listener into new
corners.
Map Key Window sees Rotor Plus returning to
similar sonic territories, yet the backdrop to this
album is considerably more austere. Once again, Rotor
Plus have built this record around three main movements,
Beginning: Who Makes Up These Questions, Middle:
A Scrappy Piece Of Paper With Your Name On It and
End: Too Long Rubbing Stick Together, each
lasting between twenty and thirty minutes, and divided
in four, seven and five sections respectively, each
given a date and an annotation. Yet, if these might
have for purpose to provide some vague idea of setting
or mood, this album is meant to be listened to as a
whole piece. Inspired by a series of short films, some
being shown of the Radiophonic Trading Company website,
this album reinforces the cinematic aspect of the music
created by Rotor Plus.
The two main sonic components of this records are, on
one side, a recurring piano, which materialises and
vanishes at will over the course of Map Key Window,
and on the other, a wide range of incredibly detailed
field recordings, often isolated and decontextualised
to create a series of rather unsettling atmospheric
moments. Interjecting with these are clicks, static
noises, micro beats and various other glitches and distorted
sounds. This ensemble of elements, although commonly
found in modern electronica, is here organised in totally
original ways. If influences could still be partly traced
on Aileron,
nothing can really fully define this new record clearly.
Parallels can be found with musique concrète,
electro-acoustic or contemporary classical, but these
only seem to reveal one side of this ambitious project.
Occasionally, Rotor Plus build enough momentum to generate
traditional techno-influenced structures, hinting at
the work of Murcof
or Autechre, but
these are extremely rare and always short-lived, and
once again too insignificant and reductive to be given
any kind of importance.
Of the three compositions, End provides the
most minimal and remote moments here as Rotor Plus appear
to emphasise on the notion of silence in their music
until it becomes integrant part of the sonic canvas
of the track. But it is also on this track, around the
half-way mark, that the band revive for a moment the
comparatively more luxuriant soundscapes of their first
album as they venture into more traditional ambient
territory for a while.
Very much like its predecessor, Map Key Window
is incredibly complex, dense and organic. With this
second album, Rotor Plus have taken the experimental
element of Aileron
and considerably developed its reach. Map Key Window
investigates an extensive array of sonic territories,
yet remains extremely consistent all the way through.
With Aileron,
Rotor Plus were preparing the ground for this second
album to flourish on. Ultimately linked, these two records
are, in their own way, absolute masterpieces and Map
Key Window should only be experienced as part of
a wider piece of work.
4.8/5 |
