I truly love the ideology of the DIY scene, but am constantly perplexed by the narrow aesthetic focus it contains. While I enjoy the music of the various noise/drone/improv offshoots, surely there is scope for other styles of music to also embrace the handcrafted, no-label, underground principles. Which is why this EP by Julian Winter delights me. Housed in a hand-built, hand-painted cardboard case, my copy is even personalised with my name scrawled on the CD-R.
But all this would merely be trite if the music was no good. Fortunately, Winter has built a handful of tracks which traverse a range of electronic/electric/acoustic moods succinctly and with great character. ‘Nadine Goes Hollywood’ cuts up deadpan female vocal snippets into rhythmic pulses underpinned by a d’n'b rhythm which eventually splits into a half time canter to allow electric guitar chords room to play. ‘Knittelvers’, likewise, turns female voice into rhythm, this time in the service of brooding neo-trip-hop melancholy. ‘In The Thick Of It’ uses grainy synth samples and tiny hi-hat shards fluttering. ‘Jasnost’ has vinyl hiss undergirding its piano and acoustic guitar plaintiveness.
L’Art Pour L’Art is a welcome antidote to the aesthetic nihilism often associated with DIY. While remaining determinedly handcrafted, the music has an overarching beauty and attention to detail to match the packaging. Julian Winter demonstrates that ‘loving’ doesn’t have to equate to ‘twee’ and that getting your hands dirty doesn’t have to lead to mess.
post-script: L’Art Pour L’Art is now also available as a free MP3 download from the Petite Jolie netlabel.
Adrian Elmer
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