Took this home from the local Tower ™ one day and filed it next to the
other C.R. Metal-boxes on my shelf, and waited for an appropriate time to
listen. After hearing the Maurizio disc and the Various Artists release,
I kinda new what to expect: lots of semi-atonal percussive sounds echoing
to the left and right sides while a spacious reverb keeps funneling them
into the background, most likely synced up to some kickin’ 4OtF rhythms,
and perhaps a few unforeseen surprises. If the Chain Reaction artists
were photographers, rather then the faceless German-Detroiters that
they are, they’d surely work only in that highly granular variety of black
& white film. The stark nature of their releases forces the listener to
look more into the sonic details of each piece. But don’t let the word
“stark” hold you back, the pictures this crew takes are often evocative of
illicit foggy warehouse jams. The often deep melodies are hidden in
impressive echoing gray clouds. The tracks are selected from a 12″ series
induced by Gerhard Behles and Robert Henke (from the earlier v/a).
The first track Cyan combines a muffled yet driving 4OtF rhythm with a
warm, regularly recurring chord. Repressed lower-octave bleeps blend in
discretely, and all the while a low-fi environmental recording of random
birds adds another layer. Index gets a little more serious, with
harder-edged percussion sounds, and drives like a dark lowrider.
Macau: If you were to mate the sound of someone playing the
spoons with the ripped-whirlwind quality of a low-flying chopper between
highrises (highrisers?), you may just end up with a percussion sequence
like the one in this track. All solidly integrated into a kickin’ dub
rhythm, mind you.
Track #5, minimal dub territory further expanded and explored. That is,
even more kickin’ dub, and a synth wave scrapes itself against a finely
honed bassline…this is the Arte. Another environMental recording near
the end there has you thinking your listening session has moved outside to
a local pier with the waves slapping the rickety wooden plank undersides.
Track #6, still talking business they are. A solid 4OtF bassdrum clears a
path for tunneling echo collections, each playing the melody in turn. The
minimalist CR dance formula surfaces yet again and proceeds to rock the
haus for just over 7 minutes. The title Occam might suggest the use
of the proverbial razor to shape and cut an impeccable dance track, and
clearly joins the growing handful of others I’ve heard from this label’s
CD series.
