Twisting
Ligneous is like “Lee Perry forcing Stokhausen and
Squarepusher
to do it at gunpoint while giving them gasoline enemas”
declares Aaron Funk, mastermind behind Venetian Snares, about
one of the tracks of his latest opus. The man who became an
overnight name on the electronic scene following the release
of his second album, Songs About My Cat, doesn’t
shy away from controversy. With two albums out since the beginning
of the year and a third one, Winter In The Belly Of A Snake,
due out at the end of October, Funk runs the risk to alienate
about everybody apart from his fans, and it could be just what
he’s looking for.
Devoted member of the noise school which has scene Squarepusher,
Kid606 and Aphex shoot to fame, and the likes of V/VM gain wide
underground respect, Canadian born and bred Aaron Funk emerged
at the dawn of the new millennium with a series of enigmatic
EPs on a variety of rather obscure labels. Contacted by Planet
Mu guru and legend in his own right Mike Paradinas after he
heard one of them in a record shop in Minneapolis, Aaron Funk
was to release a first album in collaboration with Speedbranch,
another noise terrorist based in the UK. Making Orange Things
raised more than a few eyebrows, but it is with its follow up,
Songs About My Cat, released only a few months later,
that the Snaremania really kick off. Logically associated with
Squarepusher,
Funk takes the twisted drill’n’bass sound to funkier,
more aggressive territories. Higgins Ultra Low Track Glue
Funk Hits 1972-2006, published in May this year, opens
with the rather playful funked-up operatic extravaganza that
is Dance Like You’re Selling Nails before turning
nastier and dirtier as the album progresses. Funk doesn’t
allow much rest between his machine-gun beats and thumping noise
assaults, culminating with the filthy Cobra Commander,
which can equally amaze or annoy, depending on the listener’s
mood. Things calm down slightly with Walmer Side, in
which he drops a Hitchock-esque film sample right in the middle.
Earlier on, the poetically named Fuck Off shows Funk
at his most dexterous with sound arrangement, before drifting
in the post-rave abstraction that is Make Ronnie Rocket.
Funk allows a moment to pause and reflect on the mayhem with
the breezy Dismantling Five Years, a disconcerting
ambient moment, complete with strings and organ.
The second album to see the light this year, 2370894,
is a more meticulous affair. The surprisingly peaceful Underground
Circus Jesus and Ornamental Grape Bone which open
the album are both interesting examples of Funk’s dexterity
at sound organisation, and this album is a constant reminder
that, if Funk excels at creating fierce beat and noise constructions,
he can equally produce less constrained moments. If the following
tracks progressively evolve toward more abrasive territories,
the album’s abstract twist prevents it to reach the same
excess as its predecessor. Instead, Funk develops more linear,
and therefore more accessible, tracks, injecting elements of
raw dub in Twisting Ligneous, which, if it doesn’t
entirely justifies the description evoked at the beginning of
this review, remains a very impressive composition. This track,
probably more than any other, shed some lights on the full Snares
personality, even giving space for a little melodic line. Further
down the line, 2370894 flirts with post modern classical
(We Are Cesspools, Stamina), death metal (Sybian
Rock) or intricate electronica (Nobody Really Understand
Anybody).
Aaron Funk seems determined not to follow any trend, consciously
jumping from one extreme to another. This can lead to his records
sounding too much to absorb, Higgins… and 2370894
sometimes falling short of being really fascinating due to these
constant change of focus. Both albums are however equally brilliant,
served impeccably by the incontestable talent of the man at
organising each of his pieces.
Higgins: 3.4/5 / 2370894: 4/5 |
