Flanger
Lollopy Dripper
Nonplace
It’s Jazz! It’s Electronica! It’s Space Music! It’s in HIGH FIDELITY! It’s hard to categorize this project between Uwe Schmidt and the famous Burnt Friedman. Opening track “Onset” is a collection of teeny tiny notes all building up an experimental jazz aura that could go anywhere – more percussion and it’s reincarnated Buddy Miles, add some rice on a drum head and its Arthur Lyman, add some sax and you’re “In Like Flint.” “Sweet Silence” sounds different, but only until you think about the stucture; then it becomes obvious this is a more traditional modern Jazz sound. And who thought those two words would ever juxtapose? There’s even a distant low-fi vocal. I’m not sure if it’s Schmidt or Friedman singing, but imagine a 1920’s vocalist with a megaphone trying to get his dulcet tones down to a 78 shellac disk.
“Heady Men” harks back to early Moog experiments; Körperspannung (Body Tension) hurries along like house wife on a busy street; there a soundscapes in back and an urgent tonal message in front. What to do with all this music? It’s a bit much to sit down and listen to it sequentially; better to use this as an ambiance or soundtrack to your busy life. Maybe do a little jogging, some Birkam Yoga, clean the litter box. You know better than I. Atom and Friedman are true artists, they can put out seemingly any collection of sound and get an audience. There is madness behind thier method but it’s all in the intellectual pursuit that jazz has always followed. You can join the club but you have to work; this is challenging music for those tired of running with bulls and snowboarding Everest.
http://www.atom-tm.com; http://burntfriedman.com; http://nonplace.de
