BLACK DICE: BEACHES AND CANYONS (2002)
1) Seabird; 2) Things Will
Never Be The Same; 3) The Dream Is Going Down; 4) Endless Happiness; 5) Big
Drop.
From Kraftwerk to Aphex Twin to Autechre to the
Animal Collective, my attitude towards electronic music of all kinds is
relatively simple — give me a world that lies beyond my imagination, but feels
real enough, and we'll be quite likely to share a connection. That is the way I
like to review most of those electronica records, by trying to discriminate
between those that live, breathe, and tell «wond'rous stories» from those that
exist purely as meaningless agglomerations of sounds. However, for the most
part, it is just my impressions — there is no telling if the artist in question
truly intended this particular track to sound like «copulating refrigerators»
or «nanites delousing their circuits».
With Black Dice, an experimental noise outfit
from Brooklyn, run by brothers Bjorn and Eric Copeland, the situation is
different. These guys actually started out as more of a hardcore outfit,
gradually moving towards digital magic as their penchant for wildness and experimentation
led them to worship at the altar of Merzbow and other similar acts. By the time
they got around to recording their debut LP, with Aaron Warren on bass and
Hisham Bharoocha on drums, they were completely past any «generic hardcore»
stage imaginable — and yet, Beaches And
Canyons does not at all sound like your average «electronic» album.
Perhaps I would rather say that it sounds like your above-average experimental
album that simply happened to be made with electronic tools lying around. This
certainly makes it different from people like Richard D. James, who normally eat
transistors for breakfast and sleep on motherboards.
Anyway, there is little doubt in my mind that,
when Black Dice set out to make an album, they really have it in their minds to construct an alternate universe.
Alternate enough, that is, to be fascinating and intriguing, but not enough to
be completely incompatible with aural impressions that we have of ours. They present a set of
«sonic-scapes», rhythmically and harmonically organized, but very natural
sounding — diverse, meaningful, intentionally ugly when the time calls for it
and quite pretty when it doesn't. In a way, they achieve here (at least, to my
utmost satisfaction) the kind of effect that The Animal Collective were not
able to achieve on their early records — probably because they were too
obsessed with the «anything goes» aesthetics, whereas Black Dice, as chaotic as
their output may seem at first, are, in fact, highly disciplined, and take full
responsibility for every twist and turn.
The titles occasionally help. ʽSeabirdʼ starts
out with a series of coos, caws, bleeps, and scuffles that do actually resemble a scattered, but patterned flock of alien
seagulls and other species — gradually increasing in density until they all
begin to fly round in dizzying circles. Later on, birds are joined by humans in
a cute sort of tribal dance — whether it is supposed to signify a peaceful
union between all species, or the primordial hunter's joy at the perspective of
some roast seabird, I have no idea, but it all sounds fun, anyway.
From there on, the Copelands move to a series
of lengthier, noisier suites: ʽThings Will Never Be The Sameʼ puts you inside
the promised «canyons», with spirits playing games on your senses through
winds, echoes, animal noises, baby cries (for some reason) and, finally, a
grating, high tension storm where you seem to be caught up in a sparkling
electric booth, afraid to move an inch for fear of being immediately
electrocuted. ʽThe Dream Is Going Downʼ does sound like a sonic impersonation
of an acute, inescapable nightmare — ten minutes of sirens, confusion, waves of
white noise, looped schizo screaming, like a ʽRevolution No. 9ʼ for organized
people (same hellish atmosphere but without the jarring unpredictable
transitions from one piece of the collage to another). ʽEndless Happinessʼ
breaks up the nightmare and gets you back to the canyons, with chimes and
woodwinds providing the atmosphere — then replaced by no fewer than six minutes
of waves breaking on the shore, as it happens on one of those «Nature Sounds»
CDs. Finally, ʽBig Dropʼ brings back the sonic nightmare, although, frankly
speaking, it feels somewhat redundant: I am happy enough with the 43 minutes
of the first four tracks, and count this further sixteen-minute reprise as a special
bonus for those who could not get enough.
This is certainly not «music» in the usual
sense of the word, but neither is it «noise», produced out of a simple wish to
experiment and to shock. Perhaps it could all be described as «simplistic»
experimentation, unburdened by excessive complexity and intellectualization.
There may be different ways to crack the code of Black Dice, but it is not a
chess puzzle — it is quite easily accessible, and convertible to a fun
experience, for, I believe, even the stupidest of us, provided we are at least
capable of opening our minds a little bit. Rough around the edges, yes: some of
the loops and cycles run a little longer than they should, and, on the whole,
the Copelands seem like bright lads, able to easily come up with far more ideas
than they have allocated for this record. But still a thumbs up all the way, even if, in
retrospect, it now seems more like a teaser for even better things to come.
Check "Beaches & Canyons" (MP3) on Amazon
Shame Skullflower are so late on the alphabet.
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