Drums Off Chaos
Compass
Nonplace
This five track EP features polyrhythmic drumming and space age droning sound; I hear a re-imagined African celebration in space that minimizes changes while striking out across an audio dessert for parts unknown. Burnt Freidman is one of the most prolific producers I have run across, he seems to have a project out at least once a month. He works with a loose collective of artists based in Germany; the recent death of collaborator and Can drummer Jaki Liebezeit prompted this release. I can’t say it’s an easy listen; even the minimal liner notes emphasize an audience quote to Mr. Friedman: “You have to play monotonous.” He easily conquers that small mountain.
“On Circles” recalls the time I visited a machine shop milling titanium; it was an amazing loud and pained sound that nearly prompted me to create a disaster relief fund for this unfortunate element. “Clockwise Instinct,” “Antidote,” and “Nine After Nine” offer different tempos but a constant commitment to non-cyclical polyrhythm. You pick up the beats and drops quickly, but there’s no follow though and the sound ends as it began: interesting but not for as long as its played. Freidman wraps with a non-rhythmic track, “Turn Off the Blue” takes a long time to rise out of the quiet. The rhythm is gone, and a wall of not quite-white noise gradually climbs up the Vu meter and then slowly fades back to quiet. It’s what we used to imaging what outer space sounded like, circa Hawkwind’s glory days. That’s not what I look for in my electronic music, but if its your thing, it’s done well enough. I peg this as a challenging record for the most diehard drum sans bass fan.
