Marko Cicilliani’s Jeanne of the Dark is an exploration of the image of the Vamp, “the seductive but dangerous woman, man-eater, femme fatale, inseparable from the dualistic male view of the female as virgin/whore” as realised by Cicilliani’s ensemble Bakum Zub. The group employ electric violin, electric guitar, bass, percussion, sound design and electronics, a Velvet’s-like array of instruments, to explore Velvet’s-like themes of transgressive stylistic cultural products “from vampire movies to eroticism, from heavy metal to cannibalism”. Whether intentional or otherwise, there’s a heavy dose of tongue-in-cheek camp to it all.
Musically it’s somewhere between live sound design, as in an updated version of radio play sound effects – rattled glass, gurgled liquid, metallic clang etc, progressive rock bombast and wayward electronics. Moogs create bright trails of tones bubbling off the scale, guitar-bass-drums rock patterns erupt then implode, violin glissandi whine like falling doodlebugs. On “Eroticism” they touch on Exotica with sparse gong arrangements reminiscent of Harry Partch, while on “Canibalism” a stretched balloon farts over digital squeaks and string see-saws. Like all intentional forays into naughtiness it’s a lot of juvenile fun, topped off with blurred Lynch-esque cover art by Terre Thaemlitz.
Joshua Meggitt
