Split projects have become a rather common feature with
electronic musicians, yet this particular album takes
the concept to a different level by providing two of
Tripel Records’ artists a platform to experiment
freely. Founded by Ascoltare’s Dave Henson in
Cambridge, Tripel Records, and its sister label Dubbel,
were set up to promote his work alongside that of fellow
Cambridge oddballs Um and Animals On Wheels’s
Andrew Coleman.
Um’s Peter Gregory splashes out his punk attitude
all over the fifteen songs of his side of the record.
Originally featured on a series of CD-Rs, the tracks
collated on Giraffe (Refined) are delectably
chaotic and tempestuous, with little clear direction
to help the listeners find their way. Sitting somewhere
between Suicide and Monty Python, Um’s lo-fi compositions
form the background for his surreal or absurd little
raw tales. The soundtrack grates, roughs up and corrodes
from start to finish, and Gregory’s ubiquitous
vocal presence, under a multitude of forms, is nothing
short of puzzling. While each track appears thrown in
for no particular reason and bearing very little connections
to any of the others, taken as a whole, this anarchic
series of pseudo songs rapidly becomes fascinating and
intoxicating. Submitted to screeches, glitches, found
sounds and the occasional heavy sub-bass, the mind finds
it difficult to fully concentrate on the spoken word,
especially as the voice is at times treated and tortured
too, but it seems very much the sole purpose here, and
it works a treat.
Ascoltare’s half of this record deals with one
of Britain’s biggest obsession: cookery programs.
It is near impossible these days to get through a weekend
of television without being bombarded with a strong
artillery of Gordon Ramsey, Keith Floyd, Antony Worrall-Thompson,
Jamie Oliver, Deliah Smith, Nigela Lawson, Ainsley Harriott
and myriads more. So, the fact that recycler-extraordinaire
Dave Henson caught the opportunity of piling up as many
celebrity chefs as possible and stuck them onto a stark
collection of experimental electronic is, after all,
not much of a surprise. While Henson’s debut album,
Visceral
Vendor, explored an impressive range of complex
electronica, his subsequent releases, especially with
the Drugs and Mutiny
EPs, have shown a far more playful, absurd and surreal
side to his talent. With Fatty Parts For A Good
Match, he once again takes various elements, dissects
them, reprocesses them and regurgitates the whole thing
into one massive chaotic maelstrom of cheeses, fish,
meats and other ingredients. This is electronic music
at its most fun. Completing this is a series of Gordon
Ramsey insults collected here for the purpose of DJs
in need of grit.
Once again displaying true rebel spirit, Tripel delivers
here another odd slice of anarchy at times evoking the
irreverent approach of acts such as V/Vm or Cassetteboy.
While each of the two concepts adopted here could perhaps
prove hard to cope with if developed over a whole album,
the juxtaposition of Um’s and Ascoltare’s
pieces create something truly unique here, and as this
LP is a strictly limited affair, with only five hundred
copies pressed, it is as essential as any of Tripel’s
previous releases.
4.1/5 |
