jarl 'negative rotation' cas - Kasetės / Casettes
Abisko
Price: 10 EUR
Jarl is Erik Jarl, also of Sweden so as to keep the Scandinavian connection alive. He's also been around since the early 2000's, appeared on that excellent "Sweetness Will Overcome" compilation Segerhuva put together a while back, and Leech (Navicon Torture Technologies)'s Annihilvs imprint. So, again, there are some clues. According to Jarl himself, "["Negative Rotation"] certainly has a very negative vibe, and now 6 years since it was finished, it's finally released to spread it's negative ejaculations". Amen! Couldn't have said it better myself! But I'll try. "Negative Rotation" is (apparently) 11 tracks spread out over an hour-long tape, and it kicks off with an absolutely brilliant hit of moody, desolate electronics digging out sounds like thunderstorms, exploding volcanos, nuclear explosions, all leading to a razed planetary wasteland at the end of it all. And I'm not kidding, these could just as easily be field recordings, if I wasn't so sure the planet was not in fact a dead orb in the space just yet. But shit, Jarl's got a feel for it. Other tracks on the first side all dabble in the same sort of post-apolcalypse visions - ghostly, cavernous winds blowing...rescue truck sirens of upturned vehicles droning and whining in the distance...thick clouds of smoke billowing upwards in a celstial coanopy...dead air static, heartbeats and iron lung rasps. All rendered so perfectly bleak and disquieting. The first side closes off with a distinctly harsh buzzing that's as loud as the tape ever gets, and gives way to a second side structured around lengthier, more minimalist pieces. One is an absolute trawl that sounds like a record needle scraping against a cold marble slab, an even longer one builds FM3 style burst transmissions at an achingly slow pace. There's other, lengthier stretches of snowblowing windstorms straight out of the Narshe mines while Jarl drags things towards their inevitable conclusion with a chalice of eerily clanging percussion and gently buzzing, resonating, very-much-alive circuitry. It's a totally warped bend on the traditionally insufferable dark ambient genre, taking lessons from Lustmord, the Maeror Tri, Raison d'Etre, and infusing em with new world breath via the likes of Thomas Koner, Francisco Lopez, Steven Stapleton, Maurizio Bianchi, Brian Eno, Andrew McKenzie, and other learned gentlemen of the impossibly bleak soundscape. "Negative Rotation" is far, far above lazy schlock comparisons like the ones I dole out on an all-too-regular basis; I highly recommend dropping the 8 measley clams and finding out for yourself. As a c60, it's bang for your buck, and the tape's duration allows for ample time to fully sink in and chill you to the bones.
One other thing worth mentioning is that I truly love the uniform look Abisko's given to the spines and the back quarter-fold. The simple block-lettered white text on black background for the spine gives Abisko's releases a nice, uniform look on my shelf without robbing them of any individuality. Other labels would be wise to take note. Written by "Outer Space Gamelan".