VNDL doesn’t just randomly place various sounds in a concatenation of noise; rather, sounds are matched in virtue of their textural rather than tonal harmony; beats, no longer that which define music, are introduced in order to augment rather than to just churn aimlessly, pointlessly away; and the “real world” is allowed to seep into a realm which is all too often over-produced and estranged.
Hymen records fall almost exclusively on the farthest extremes of the musical spectrum: either practically static drone or schizophrenic, head-wrecking breakcore. But such releases may have more in common than initially meets the eye (ear). For no matter which end they fall—the sonically sparse or the sonically cluttered—Hymen releases push at the boundaries between that which is easily recognizable as music and the sprawling abysses of mere sound.
Such an unrelenting manifesto is bound, at times (i.e., most of the time), to make for uneasy listening; but it’s always good to challenge oneself. Philippe Vandal, or VNDL, whose new record, Gahrena: Structures, indiscriminately seizes at any mere sounds which wander too close with the aim of prodding them into the realm of music, is certainly a man who abides by this maxim. Impossible to dissect, Gahrena: Structures is a bizarre assemblage of assorted found sounds, conventional electronics, drum machines, effects and only VNDL knows what else.
Like its predecessor, Gahrena: Paysages électriques, Gahrena: Structures creates fleeting moments of rhythm and melody which dissolve or separate almost as soon as they appear. Random patterns and textures emerging from a primeval “noise-soup,” making you wonder: are VNDL, and those like him, best thought of as musicians or conduits—do they create music or just put all the technological pieces in place so that it’s able to happen?
I think that it’s a bit of both: music like this certainly couldn’t exist without a hell of a lot of equipment; but those who create it do more than just turn that equipment on. VNDL doesn’t just randomly place various sounds in a concatenation of noise; rather, sounds are matched in virtue of their textural rather than tonal harmony; beats, no longer that which define music, are introduced in order to augment rather than to just churn aimlessly, pointlessly away; and the “real world” is allowed to seep into a realm which is all too often over-produced and estranged.
The record ends with a trio of remixes (one by Valance Drakes, one by Kero, and one by Hexogramme) all of which make it clear how much of a treasure trove records like this are for other musicians—so much to sample! An interesting album, and, if nothing else, listening to some proper beat-heavy tunes straight afterwards was incredible: tantric music.
Gahrena: Structures is available on Hymen. [Release page]
