Experimental/Post rock Appreciation Threa

Hmmmm, does anyone think Pelican is "overrated"?  I mean, I was a bit surprised that they got the cover of Decibel Magazine. (For those not in the USA who don't know of this magazine, it specializes in metal and to some extent experimental bands).  There are lots of all instrumental rock bands nowadays that the editors could have chosen.....arghhhh.  Pelican seems so mainstream to me.  Even my friend who doesn't like experimental music likes them!

I haven't seen much hype about them so I can't say anything about them being overrated. I do like "The Fire In Our Throats..." mainly because it was my first sludgecore/post-metal (whatever you want to call it) album I've heard. But I agree on one thing, they are accessible.

The second one was made possible thanks to Black Velvet:

KAMMERFLIMMER KOLLEKTIEF *

Progressive music sub-genre: Experimental/Post-Rock
Country: Germany
Official website: http://www.kammerflimmer.com/

It all began in a bright storage room of the Upper-Rhenish poet’s museum in Karlsruhe in the mid-nineties: With old-skool equipment and an overdose of FMP & Wu-Tang, the first sketches of what would later be released under the nom-de-guerre "Kammerflimmer Kollektief" were conceived; the result appeared in 1999 under the titled Mäander on the Weilheim-based payola-label. A simulation of jazz with pop appeal (melodies!). "Instrumental drones & central European freakouts on violins and reeds. A kind of European down home NoWave" was what Matt ffytche in The Wire called it.

At first, a live realisation seemed unthinkable. As it happened, the people necessary for such an undertaking gravitated towards the Kollektief in a very short time and without having been summoned. They were Johannes Frisch on the double bass; Dietrich Foth on a variety of saxophones; Heike Wendelin on the violin; Michael Ströder on drums and Anne Vortisch at the synthesizer. The tracks of the first album were the point of departure for our joint excursion; the result was a concert tour and a huge and wild chaos, which in turn was documented at the Uphon Studio in Weilheim and released as a CD (Incommunicado, 2000, again on payola). It included "Venti Latir", a version of a song by Robert Wyatt, one of our great heroes and: one of the greatest soul singers ever. "Music is a chance for self development. It‘s another life, in which it‘s easier to develop the art of giving" - which is how John Stevens put it in the liner notes for Karyobin, the epoch-making first LP of the Spontaneous Music Ensemble from 1968. Felix Klopotek in German music magazine Spex, said it thus: "Listening to this music, it seems that free jazz as being played by, say, Pharaoh Sanders and Cecil McBee in 1969 has been put into a context where it meets and mingles with pop and electronics with consistency and effortlessness."

The third album, Hysteria, was released in Japan and the USA in 2001 and subsequently on Quecksilber in 2004. It was a hybrid of its two predecessors; a synthesis of solo work in the studio and a collective flush. Martin Büsser wrote about it in testcard: "As of now, I am not aware of any better interaction of jazz and electronic music as this brief but most sophisticated album of the Kammerflimmer Kollektief. In this crossover between the great Free Jazz-tradition (Alan Silva, early Charlie Haden), Kraut- and free form-rock (Third Ear Band, Neu!) and the blurring of sounds of This Heat, it is not only the points of reference which are correct, but something that is much more important and even rarer: their new and inspiring combination."

In 2002, changes were taking place within Kollektief: Michael Ströder & Anne Vortisch left; the remaining core was augmented by Heike Aumüller - who hitherto had been in charge of the artwork - on harmonium (as well as playing an active role in soundprocessing and songwriting) and Christopher Brunner on drums & vibraphone.

Cicadidae, the fourth album, was released in 2003 on the committed Staubgold label – as have all other releases since. The borders between analogue and digital, acoustic and electronic elements became more and more blurred. Somebody called it "Karlsruhe Psychedelic". Ulrich Kriest in Intro magazine had this to say: "After presenting us with sketches, the Kammerflimmer Kollektief now grants us the view of the whole picture. It is a collage. It is very probable that we will not get to hear a more profound album this year. The music of the future realised today. And from Karlsruhe. Who would have thought of it?" And Dietmar Dath composed the most beautiful liner notes: "Here everything is heaven, but different from the origin. Up above are birds that hang on different kinds of jet streams with their heads down, not to be interchanged. The sun is shining, but it's not really the sun: it's the moon. When did night fall, anyway?"

What followed were numerous gigs at festivals and in clubs across of Europe (all of which were splendidly organised by our agency Planet Rock and all of which we survived unscathed). The music learned to function in a multitude of rooms as well as under blue skies.

2005 saw the release of Abscencen, the fifth album. Here, sampling was reduced to a mere haze; almost everything had been played live and subsequently merged, processed and arranged at the computer. For this album, the sextet was augmented by the wind players Helmut Dinkel & Pirmin Ullrich and Martin Siewert, steel guitarist extraordinaire, noted for his work with amongst others Trapist & The Year Of. "Absencen is a tapestry woven from many and diverse translucent threads. The side that we behold is shimmering in a holy manifoldness, while from beholding it we can anticipate and construct the averted side. After all, we are not only endowed with the ability to hear, but also to think." (Markus Hablizel) In Spex, Frank Eckert diagnosed: "The excessive energy inherent in this music never erupts but always remains inkling and insinuation. This absence of an explosion, this ecstasy which remains subliminal has congealed into a mild melancholia. Yet this music is so placatory and accessible in an immediate way, never is it bitter or malicious. Rarely has music been so obscenely rich, so exuberant, so recalcitrant in its details and at the same time so dark, so full of sentimentality, so full of feeling and so excessively longingly."

From 2004 on, we performed live not only with the sextet, but also in diverse smaller line-ups. The most enduring of those proved to be the trio consisting of Heike Aumüller, Johannes Frisch and me. With our eyes shut tight, it provided us with a lot of room for excursions and turned out to be a fertile ground for new developments and experiences. The music became more and more organic, the interplay more intuitive. Jinx, the sixth and current album has been recorded largely in the Electric Avenue Studio in Hamburg by Tobias Levin (remember to listen to Reformhölle by Cpt.Kirk&!). It is a result of the many concerts which have been performed in the trio format. It is based upon improvisations on bass (Johannes Frisch), harmonium (Heike Aumüller) and guitar (Thomas Weber), which were modified and augmented with obverdubs at the computer. Moreover, singing can be heard: Heike’s voice fishes truncated words from the sound – in best scat-tradition. Shaman Doo-Wop! Guests were Martin Siewert (again) from Vienna on a variety of string instruments and Harald Kimmig at the violin. Also, Dietmar Dath provided another set of brilliant liner notes. (Remember to read Dirac!) As usual, the allusions are numerous, among them a reference to legendary hannoverian psychedelic group 39 Clocks and, well, the Jinx. As Lou Reed sang in his epic song "Street Hassle": "Some people got no choice/ And they can never find a voice/ That they could even call their own/ So the first thing that they see/ That allows them the right to be/ Why, they follow it/ You know what it's called?/ Bad luck." The fire ain't out yet, baby!

Samples: http://www.kammerflimmer.com/jukebox/

chamberry wrote: And today's addition was brought to you by yours truly: JAKOB* Progressive music sub-genre: Experimental/Post-Rock Country: New Zealand Official website: http://www.myspace.com/jakobmusic Jakob is a post-rock band hailing from Napier, New Zealand. The band was formed in 1998 by Jeff Boyle, Maurice Beckett and Jason Johnston. They started out opening for bands at a local pub. In 1999 they started touring and then released a self-titled EP. In 2000 they managed to release 7" single and also played at The Event New Years party in Napier. In 2001 they went back to the studio to start recording what will be their debut, "Subsets of Sets", which was released in 2002. With their debut album they've won several awards the same year in the bNet independent music awards. After the release of their debut album and a tour following it, the band went to a deep sleep for about half a year only to return in the beginning of 2003 to record their follow up to their debut, "Cale:Drew". Jakob won another bNet award for the best rock album of the year. In the next year the band went on an international tour to support their "Cale:Drew" album in the United States and Europe and also recorded the mini-album, "Sephamore" and a single the same year. In 2005 they continued to tour internationally to Australia and in South By Southwest festival in Texas, US. Their third album, "Solace" was released in 2006 and has been very well received just like their previous releases. Samples: http://www.myspace.com/jakobmusic

Thanks.



Edited by rushaholic - July 22 2007 at 12:27

Moooore additions:

PORT-ROYAL*

Progressive music sub-genre: Experimental/Post-Rock
Country: Italy
Official website: http://www.myspace.com/uptheroyals

Port-Royal is a band formed in Genoa, Italy, in 2000, that plays post-rock with strong ambient, electronic and shoegaze influences. The founding members were Attilio Bruzzone and, life-long friend, Ettore Di Roberto. They decided to start a band after they realized that they shared similar taste in music and bands like Joy Division and Mogwai. Attilio and Ettore began practicing in Ettore's bedroom and later joined his brother Michele Di Roberto on drums. Michele came with the name Port-Royal. The other members liked the name so they adopted it. Emilio Pozzolini joined the band in 2001 and their first release was the EP called "Kraken", in 2002. Giulio Corona joined the band in 2003 and in 2005 they released "Flares", their full-length debut. The band caught the attention of many reviewers and fans of the genre with this released. Michele Di Roberto left the band the same year, but the band continued releasing music. In April of 2007 Port-Royal released their follow-up to their debut, "Afraid To Dance", and an EP, "Honved", soon followed behind.

Recommended for fans of: Sigur Ros' Agaetis Byrjun, but with a slight trippyness and more electronic and ambient flavor

Samples: http://www.myspace.com/uptheroyals


P.S.
The first guy in the photo looks like Ricochet!



Edited by chamberry - July 23 2007 at 22:35

Still waiting for múm. :)

Meddler wrote: Still waiting for múm. :)

Will look into them. They're not a clear case, but I'll see what I can do.

queenlerxst wrote: Quick question.  What "category of prog" would the group Zs fall into?  I really love these guys...

Good to see another Zs fan around here. They're actually part of a genre called "Brutal Prog" (or to be more precise, "Brutal Chamber"). I was having a discussion to try to add this genre to the archives, but it seems like the idea was dropped. If we're talking about Progarchives genres then the best place to place them is in the Avant-Prog genre.

I think they do... It's a bit unknown, but there are a few bands that fall under the category like Hella, Orthrelm, The Flying Luttenbachers, Upsilon Acrux and others. Great genre. Very demanding. Highly recommended. 

queenlerxst wrote: chamberry wrote: I think they do... It's a bit unknown, but there are a few bands that fall under the category like Hella, Orthrelm, The Flying Luttenbachers, Upsilon Acrux and others. Great genre. Very demanding. Highly recommended.    Until I found this messageboard, I thought I was the only one who listened to all of those bands.

I recently discovered most of the bands in the genre, but they're mad fun to listen to. You should check the RIO thread every know and then is you like those artists.

^^^ How would you compare it to their previous release?