Is this the one?
--
http://www.brainwashed.com/brain/brainv08i10.html
Venetian Snares, "Rossz Csillag Alatt Szuletett"
Planet Mu
From the ominous chords of 40-second opener "Sikertelenseg," a solo piece
for untreated piano, it is clear that this is a very different Venetian
Snares record than any of the previous 11 albums Aaron Funk has recorded.
The titles appear, at first, to be some sort of prankster gibberish, a la
Aphex Twin or Autechre. Upon further inspection it is revealed that these
are in fact Hungarian titles, as this album was inspired by a trip to
Hungary, during which Funk had some sort of epiphany involving imagining
himself as a pigeon. As absurd as that sounds, it has fueled the most
cohesive effort by Funk to date, on which Eastern European melodies dominate
and his trademark blastbeats are used to accent orchestral composition.
"Hiszekeny" is a beautiful miniature, which features bells and harp
rhythmically dancing around melodic string patterns. "Felbomlasztott
Mentokocsi" features no percussion at all, and instead features weeping
cellos and violins whose sweeping tones play against each other to echo the
tension in life through rhythmic and melodic tension. Funk's take on Rezso
Seress's Hungarian suicide song "Ongyilkos Vasarnap" ("Gloomy Sunday")
manifests this sense of sadness and loss in a more direct way, by combining
stuttering beats with Billie Holiday's vocals from the 1941 recording of the
notorious song. Jazzy drumming and downright pastoral wind instrumentation
figure prominently in the first half of "Hajnal," before strings combine
with hectic breakbeats. As chaotic as the rhythmic programming often
becomes, these tracks are always grounded by the melodic elements. This is
most effective on "Szamar Madar," during which a gorgeous melodic theme
recurs throughout the track's six minute duration. Much of Funk's music is
centered around beats in odd time signatures played at break neck speed,
keeping listeners on their toes. These pieces, although rhythmically
challenging at times, aspire to achieve a higher sense of compositional
cohesiveness. Funk is communicating in a language that will appeal to more
than just those who are breakcore enthusiasts. Although he has not abandoned
the use of intricate rhythms, he allows these tracks more breathing room.
Most pieces have long beatless passages during which all manner of acoustic
instruments create a tension that makes the rhythmic bombasts more effective
when they appear. This is not to suggest that he has simply distilled his
usual fare to reach a wider audience. Instead, he has finally shown that he
is capable of, or interested in, combining his skills as one of today's most
advanced beat programmers with unprecedented foreign elements. In the
process he has broken out of the holding pattern his prolific career was
beginning to settle into and produced an accomplished work of incredible
depth.
----- Original Message -----
From: "chthonic streams" <chthonic@chthonicstreams.com>
To: <idm@hyperreal.org>
Sent: Tuesday, March 15, 2005 4:17 PM
Subject: Re: [idm] new VS
quoted 14 lines New Venetian Snares is also out. Damn. REALLY good stuff. Nice mix of
>
> >New Venetian Snares is also out. Damn. REALLY good stuff. Nice mix of
> >live strings (I read he plays violin on some of the tracks?) and other
> >orchestration with the madness that you'd come to expect from him.
>
>
> which one are we talking about? on hisw website it just mentions
> this "winnipeg is a frozen shithole" CD.
>
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