(01.13.06) Empty Rooms is an album consisting solely of tracks composed specially for the French play Les Chambres D’dipe, which in turn is an adaptation of Friedrich Hölderlin’s translation of dipus Tyrant by Sophocles. The entire piece was performed live during every performance during November 2003 and February 2004 at the Théâtre Mega-Pobec in Evreux, France and appears here in a radically reworked form. Of the tracks on the CD, only “Konservatorium” and “Einaktiges Stück” were not included in the performance itself but were used as arrival and departure music for the audience.
Opening, appropriately enough, with “Konservatorium,” Empty Rooms sets the scene with 14 and a half minutes of slowly building atmospheric music, a steady heartbeat with a buzzing accompaniment, expectation building throughout. The tracks from the play itself are mostly no longer than 3 and half minutes in length and commonly feature (what appear to be) extracts from the play set against hazy static, digital chatter and drone-like electronic textures, sometimes adding space-age zaps or throbbing tones. Varying from the formula somewhat is “Hölderlin Und Zimmer,” a more rhythmic mechanical throb overlaid with increasing swathes of static texture. “Vorzimmer” is similar in style although purveying a feeling of desolate desperation. A darker nightmarish edge is introduced with the manic laughter of “Palladium” before a gentler rhythm track is added under the pre-requisite layers of pulsating static. The nightmare continues with “Sphinge,” transforming into disturbing tension with “2500 Jahre.” The lengthier closing piece, “Einaktiges Stück,” clocking in at just over 11 minutes, has time to evolve in the same way as “Konservatorium.” This time utilising an atmospheric tonal background, a driving optimistic rhythm takes over to finish on a relative high.
It is hard to imagine this music (with the exceptions of “Konservatorium” and “Einaktiges Stück”) being used in a play. Presumably, the fact that they have been “radically reworked” accounts for the noisier, more intense sound. The lengthy opening and closing tracks are definitely the high points.
Empty Rooms is out now on Ant-Zen.
