Tape – Rideau (Hapna)

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Recorded in rural Switzerland by brothers Andreas and Jay Berthling, the first pair of works by Tape brought a naive childishness and delightfully debonair aura to their largely studio based compositions – knobs were twiddled with reckless abandon, exuberant DSP effects ran rick-shot over heaving grassy knolls of bucolic guitars while firecracker electronics painted the sky bottle-greens and grape-purples and solemn toy pianos waltzed across the clouds.

Rideau therefore marks an abrupt shift, a mental purge of sorts wherein this Augean stable is cleaned out, the once garbled arrangements rendered more stark and sleek, more simple and clearly articulated. Only the nooks and corners of these works are inhabited by grimy squelches and oceanic throbs, serving as moments of punctuation or rest and saving the work from becoming one uninterrupted march. Instead, elegant orchestral arrangements rise to the fore for many of this albums pieces. Album opener ¨Sunrefrain¨ sets the bar high – silver organ tones mimic the calm motion of a pond broken by a few delicate ripples of guitar, all of which are suddenly stirred to life by exuberant trumpet glissandos and feathery flitting of electronics. The pieces slow rise and fall and melancholy yet triumphant exasperation brings to mind Johann Johannsson and his work on Viroulegu forsetar. ¨A spire¨ gives birth to a humid gamelan clatter and introduces a dusting of tension, which is furthered on ¨Sand Dunes¨ as a syncopated piano motif is tightly wound about a thick-set bass. The piece lacks the emotional resonance of the prior works, however, and is too content to plod around as effusive lumps of ambiance.

For all that, the final pair of compositions save this album from the gallows. Although each lurks over ten minutes in length, these compositions unfold like a breath of morning air – that is to say, they unfold with patience and ease, manipulating timbres, contorting shimmering electronics and long-held organ tones into understated elegies. In this light, Rideau is a practice in restraint, one which makes every trumpet swell and piping organ resonate all the more fervidly.

max schaefer

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