Cracked (Novembre 2006)
22-12-2006
http://www.monochrom.at/cracked/
Working on the recordings bound to become an album for four years is an enormous feat, showing passion and will and a distinct stubborness of following what artistic vision tells you to do. When reading that Andrea Belfi's second album "between neck and stomach" took four years to be recorded, mixed and produced I had to think about David Lynch's debut movie "Eraserhead", which was also five years in the making, with many weeks and months of pauses in between, when money ran out and things got in the way. But both works of art, the one musical the other cinematic, have some tings in commen apart from the remarkably long period of production. Mainly, both carve out their own worlds, one visually and the other auditively, that are both superficially derived from the habits and common practices of their expected audience but also challengingly avant-garde in their overall making. Both also seem to be revolving around themselves, as if the world carved out is also the centre of gravitation, the centre of the whole universe. This, at the one hand, effects a feeling of staying still and non-movement, which is only dissolved by forcefully looking back and counting the changes afterwards. But during the movie / record / songs the feeling is as if things stood still for ever.
Andrea Belfi started playing drums as a kid, and still the drums are of a lot of importance on "between neck & stomach". They are not mixed into the foreground as in big beat music or weirdly a rhythmical as the genius free form jazz music of Sinistri (check "free puls" for more info, also on Häpna) but they provide a unique backdrop to the minimalist pop-songs come avantgarde tracks on this record. They spread in the back with the use of a lot of rolls on the drums that put emotion and sensibility in the focus instead of heaviness. On top of that there are quite large number of instruments manipulated by electronic means and electronic means played as instruments. The production notes put special emphasis on the fact that the house Belfi was residing in was also used as a recording tool, almost as an instrument, but that, in my opinion is going too far. The usage of echo and reverbing outside noises is quite unique, but from the music alone it is hard to say were it comes from - the house, the mics or some digital effect added during? Or after the recording? These differences are becoming harder and harder to separate, but one of the main messages of this record might be that thes differences don't count for anything anymore. They don't matter anymore. This is the electro-acoustic century, let's get over it. Let's get it on.
The atmosphere of distance and of detachment is remaining all through the varied tracks. The instruments fuse in their own sacred brew and mix time, rhythm and arrangement throughout. Nothing stays the same for longer than a few moments and then some more. Cues are taken from modern classical composing, fusion jazz, avantnoise and electronic programming from all sides. Sometimes there are hints at rather akward sources, such as the pressed vocals during "Sleeping with extra evil" that can't decide between New Age in their search for harmony and Diamanda Galas in their search for distortion. There are parts closer to harmonic doodling, were you expect the track to break into the jazzy theme of some mid Seventies tv series, and other moments that are pure electronic noise of the more hacked and subtle variety. The end of aformentioned "Sleeping Š" is a terrible scream and some frustrated real noise.The songs sound denser and more compact than my descirption, actually, but it is hard to describe properly. Anyway, if the tracks want to convey a story or storyline each, then I wasn't able to decipher it. But I am on it. This fascinating little record makes you want to open its secret.
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Andrea Belfi
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