(03.01.09) In 2006 a new label funneled its way through the wiring of Copenhagen. Cytown Records put out two 12s in quick succession. Yet as quickly as Cytown had appeared it shuffled back into the shadows of the Danish capital. It seemed as though Cytown had gone, but recent movement says otherwise. Cytown Records are back and have moved into movie soundtrack mode with their third installment, Copenhagen Trains and Vandals Tactics. So have the Danes managed to maintain their edge or has it dulled during their time off?
The music of Vandal Tactics was used in a Danish graffiti film, and the underground aspect of street art thoroughly comes through. None of the tracks are titled, keeping the secrecy of the veiled vandals. Scratched looming movements introduce the record, with unhinged and sinister tones being forced upon the listener. The anti-social electro tendencies are sprayed across the record, as squelches and snare twist and writhe within minimal 808 channels. As the A-side draws to a close the tempo is lowered for an atmospheric work of distorted analogue sound and galvanized drum machines.
The tempo slows even further as the soundtrack moves into the flip-side. Empty alleyways and derelict city streets of sound lined with electro grit and moody mimimalism meet the solo audiophile. The grit hasn’t been cleaned from the b-side as some complexity reaches the end of the Copenhagen Trains line. Globules of analogue synths force their way through the gap to leave the listener in a lonely carriage of stripped electro as the spray can finally runs out of steam.
Vandal Tactics is a work of movie music that mirrors its murky and unsocial subject matter. Graffiti is an artform that is contentious, whether bending property into a canvas is beyond vandalism or not has been discussed by city officials across the world. Copenhagen Trains are not answering the argument, but are giving some atmosphere to back up the debate. Through analogue grease and drum machine bravado, the gumption and underground rebelliousness of the graffiti artist is painted; the loneliness of the anonymous unwanted creator versus the individual exhilaration of the firebrand through the medium minimal electro.
Vandal Tactics is out now on Cytown.
