Florian Hecker is an electronic musician with an uncompromising recording pedigree reaching back to the mid-90s under his cd_slopper alias, as well as in collaboration with Farmers’ Manual, Yasunao Tone and Russell Haswell. As a statement of Hecker’s seemingly uncompromising stance, I must make mention briefly of the Blackest Ever Black release from 2007. Somewhat incongruously released on Warner Classics, Hecker and Haswell’s sounds were derived by using the Upic compositional software designed by Iannis Xenakis. Collating the most disturbing images available in an effort to sum up the psychic malaise of contemporary culture, the Upic software processed the images into the disturbed electro-acoustic recordings of Blackest Ever Black.
With such a formidable theoretical pedigree, I was somewhat taken aback by the relative accessibility of Hecker’s new three track 12” for Editions Mego. Does the music’s provenance as the soundtrack to a Comme des Garçons Homme Plus fashion show in Paris have something to do with this shift out of Ultra Black?
I must admit that I initially played the vinyl on 45, and had to time the piece’s duration to work out if it was at the correct speed! No higher praise can be heaped upon music committed to vinyl, in my book. Baffling to the point of speed indecision!
Back on 33rpm, 5’12” sounded less like a proto-gabba workout, and more like Mouse on Mars, only more lopsided. Slowly the track morphs into what sounds suspiciously like a malfunctioning pedestrian crossing beeper making love to a jackhammer. 2’40” + 0’ 48” ticks along with analogue squelches in a jaunty fashion for the first chapter, and then ups the tempo so that the track’s base materials could almost be human vocals processed to the point of oblivion.
The sidelong high-pitched electro-acoustic drone of 23’ 32” has masses of space around it, bowed, metallic sinuous drones pulse and throb. In time the metallic textures recede to be replaced by sparkling teardrops and miniature symphony orchestras descending from the heavens on spider webs of digital static. Quite soothing, in a Hecker-esque (Tim or Florian) manner.
Oliver Laing
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