▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ ░ ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ ▄
▄ ▄ ▄ ▄▄ ░ ▄▄███▓▓▀ ▄▄▓██▓▓▀ ░ ▄ ▄▄ ▄ ▄ ▄
▄ ▓▀ ░ ▄▄▄▄ ▀█▓▄████▓▀▀ ░▄███▓██▀ ▄▓▄▄▓▄ ░ ▀▄▀ ▄▄▄▄ ▀▓ ▄
▀ ▄▄▄██▓██▓▓██ ▓█████▓▄▄ ░ ▄████▓▀ ▄█████████▒▓▄ ▓▌ ██▓▓██▓██▄▄▄ ▀
▀ ▄▄███████▓▓██▓▓▓▌▐▓███▀▀▀ ▀▓█████▓▀ ▄████████████▓▓▄▐▀▐▓▓▓██▓▓███████▄▄ ▀
▄▓████████▓█████▓▓█ ▓▀ ▄▓▄ ▐▓███▓▄ ▄▓██████▓▓██████▓▓▌ █▓▓█████▓████████▓▄
▄▓██████████████▀▀█▓█ ▄█▓███▄▒ █▀▀ ▄▄▓██████▓▀▀ ▓█████▓▓█ █▓█▀▀██████████████▓▄
▐▓████████████▓█▌▒▒▐█▓▌ ▀███▓▄ ▒▒ ▄▓████▀▀ ▒▐█████▓▓▌▐▓█▌▒ ▐█▓████████████▓▌
▓▓▓██████████▓▓█ ▄▓ ▐▒▌▓█▄▄ ███▓▄ ▒ ▀█▓▓██▄ ▒ ░▄▄ ███▓▓█▀▄▐▒▌ ▒ █▓▓██████████▓▓▓
▐▓██████████████ ▀██ ░▌███▓▌▐██▓█ ▒▒ ▀█████▄▄███▓▌▐█▓▓█▀ ▐░ ▒▒ ██████████████▓▌
▀▓██████▓▀▀█▓█▓█ ▐██ ▌███▓ ███▓▌ ▒▒▒ ▀▓█████▓████▐▓█ ▄▄█▓▐ ▒▒ █▓█▓█▀▀▓██████▓▀
▀▓██▓▀▀ ░ ▐███▓█ ▀▓▀▐██▓▌▒ ███▓█ ▒ ▀▀▀▀▓▓▀▓█▌▒▌████▓▄█ ▒ █▓▓██▌ ░ ▀▀▓██▓▀
▐▓█▌▒▒ ███▓▓▌ ▒ ███▓▌▒ ███▒▓▌ ▒█▄▄▓▄▄▄▄ ▀▓ ▒▒ ▒▌ ▀███▓▓▌ ▐▓▓███ ▒▒▐█▓▌
█▓▌▒ ▓███▓▓ ░ ███▓ ▒ ▐▓██▓▓▄ ░▐▓██▓▓▓█ ░ ▒ ░ ▐██▓▓█ ▓▓███▓ ▒▐▓█
▐▒▌ ▐████▓▌ ▐█▓▌ ▒▒ ▓████▓▄ █▓███▓▓▓▄ ░ ███▓▓▌ ▐▓████▌ ▐▒▌
░▌▒ ▐████▓▓ ▓██▓▄ ▄█▓███▓▓▓▄▐██████▓▓▓▄ ░ ▐██▓█▀ ▓▓████▌ ▒▐░
▐▓ ▐█▓███▓▌▐▓███▓█▓███████▓▓▌▓████████▓▓▌░▒▄█▓▀▀ ▒ ▐▓█████▌ ▓▌
▀▓▄ ▄███▓██▓▌ █▓███▓▓█████▓▓▓█ ▀▓██████▓▓▓▓▒▓█▀ ▒▒▒▒ ▓█▓█▓██▓▄ ▄▓▀
▄▄███████▓▓ ▀▀▀▀▓▀ ▀▀░▀▀▒ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▒ ▀▓▓████▓▌
▄█▓████████▓▓▀ ▀▀▀▓▀ ▀▓▀ ▀▀▓▀ ▀▀▀ ▀▓▀ ▀ ▀▀▀▓▀ ▀░▀▀ ▀▓██▓█▓█▓▄
▄▓█████████▓▓█▀ ▀▀▀▓██▓▌
░ ▓█████████▓▓█▀ [ J U S T F U N . P R E S E N T S ] ▐█▄██▓▀
▐███▓██▀▀▓▀░ ██▓▓█▀▀
░ ▓████▓▌ ░ Artist.......: Orthrelm ▐▓▀▀
▓ ▐█████▓█ Album........: OV ▀ ░
▀█▄▓████▓▓▄█▀ Genre........: Jazz ░▓ ▌
▄▀██▓██▓▓▀ Language.....: English ░▓░▐▓
▓▓▄▀█▓▓▓▀ Label........: Ipecac ░▓░ █▓▌
▐█▓▓ ▀▓ Catnr........: IPC-64 ░▓▓▓ ▐█▓▓
▓█▓▌ URL..........: n/a ▓░ ███▓▓[z0o]░
▐██░ ░ ░ ▄ ░▄▄▄▄▓▄▄▓████▓▓▄▄▄▄▓▄▄
▀▓█░▄ ▌ ░▓░ [ R E L E A S E . I N F O ] ▓░ ▓▀▓█████████████▓▓▓▀
░ ▀▀▓█▄▐▓ ░▓▓▓░ ░▓▓▓░ ░ ▀▓██████▓██▓▓▀ ░
░ ░ █▓▌▄▄▄ ▄▓ ░▓▓▓░ source......: CDDA ░▓▓▓▓▓▓░ ▀▓█████▓▓▓
░▓▓░ ▐█▓▓ ░ ░▓▓░ playtime....: 45:43 min ░▓▓ ▐███████▓▓▌ ░
░░ ███▓▓ ▓▓░▓░ rip.date....: 14-08-2005 ░▓▓░ ▓███▀ ▀▓█▓▓ ░
▄▄▄▄▄▓▄▄▓████▓▓▄▄▄▄░▄▄ str.date....: 00-00-0000 ▓ ▐█▓▀ ░ ░▀█▓▌
▀▓█████████████▓▓▓▀ ripper......: JustFunCrew ░▓░ █▀ ░░▓▓▓ ▀▓
░ ▀▓██████▓██▓▓▀ ▓░ grabber.....: EAC V0.95 prebeta 4 ▓▓ ▀░ ░ ░ ░▓░ ░▀
▀▓█████▓▓▓ ░░▓ encoder.....: LAME version 3.90.3 ░▓▓░▓▓▓▓ ▓▓▓░
░ ▐███████▓▓▌░▓▓▓░ size........: 82,8 MB ░▓▓▓▓▓ ▓░▓▓░░ ░
▓███▀ ▀▓█▓▓ ▓░░ quality.....: VBRkbps/44,1Hz/Joint-Stereo░ ░▓░ ░
▐█▓▀ ░░ ▀█▓▌░ ░ ▒
█▀ ░▓▓▓▓░ ▀▓ ░ ░ ░
▀░ ▓▄▄▓▓▓▓▄▄█▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄█▓█▄▄▄
░ ▄█▒████████▓▓▀ ▀▓██▓███▓▄
▄▓██░██████▓▓█▀ [ T R A C K . L I S T I N G ] ▀▀▀▓██▓▌
▓█████████▓▓█▀ ▐█▄██▓▀
▐███▓██▀▀▓▀░ ██▓▓█▀▀
▓████▓▌ ░ track title time ▐▓▀▀
▓████▓▌ ▀ ░▌
▓████▓▌ 01. OV 45:43 ▓▌
▓████▓▌ ▓▌
▓████▓▌ [ A B O U T . T H i S . R E L E A S E ] ▓▌
▓████▓▌ ▓▌
▓████▓▌ Orthrelm's OV consists of patterns laid across a ▓▌
▓████▓▌ giant, horizontal canvas, one after another. Each ▓▌
▓████▓▌ pattern (or algorithm or gestalt, to use academic ▓▌
▓████▓▌ terms often applied to minimalist artwork) is ▓▌
▓████▓▌ small-- perhaps the size of your average metal ▓▌
▓████▓▌ riff-- and is self-contained. That is, each one ▓▌
▓████▓▌ relates to nothing outside of itself, and works ▓▌
▓████▓▌ through a "predictably terminating" process before ▓▌
▓████▓▌ moving on to the next. Which is still to say, OV is ▓▌
▓████▓▌ both a blueprint and the final result of a pretty ▓▌
▓████▓▌ amazing idea: hardcore minimalism in a rock ▓▌
▓████▓▌ context. Hardcore? Minimalism? This record, which ▓▌
▓████▓▌ could almost as easily be communicated via a series ▓▌
▓████▓▌ of 8x10-inch grids containing tiny, elaborate ▓▌
▓████▓▌ arrangements of points and lines, crosses a whole ▓▌
▓████▓▌ range of "high art" concepts. In fact, its "rock ▓▌
▓████▓▌ context" is more dubious than its artsy conceits, ▓▌
▓████▓▌ raising the question of whether electric guitars ▓▌
▓████▓▌ have to signify rock, or are capable of something ▓▌
▓████▓▌ else. Indeed, OV is something else. ▓▌
▓████▓▌ ▓▌
▓████▓▌ In any case, isn't minimalism is supposed to be ▓▌
▓████▓▌ dead? That's what any art critic worth his ▓▌
▓████▓▌ pretension will tell you-- and has, on and off, for ▓▌
▓████▓▌ about 35 years-- despite the fact its remnants can ▓▌
▓████▓▌ be seen in almost every strand of art henceforth. ▓▌
▓████▓▌ Minimalist visual art happened as a result of ▓▌
▓████▓▌ simultaneous decisions made in the late 1950s by ▓▌
▓████▓▌ several young (and almost exclusively white male ▓▌
▓████▓▌ American) artists reacting against the wildly ▓▌
▓████▓▌ subjective Abstract Expressionist movement. ▓▌
▓████▓▌ Abstract expressionist artists like Jackson Pollack ▓▌
▓████▓▌ were about capturing personal experience or emotion ▓▌
▓████▓▌ in the purest, visceral sense. That's all well and ▓▌
▓████▓▌ good-- and sort of punk when you think about it-- ▓▌
▓████▓▌ but when Mark Rothko and Barnett Newman came along ▓▌
▓████▓▌ and did the same with broad planes of color and ▓▌
▓████▓▌ precisely defined geometrical shapes, it started to ▓▌
▓████▓▌ seem less a quasi-anarchic roar of purpose, and ▓▌
▓████▓▌ more a quasi-formalist one. So, rather than put ▓▌
▓████▓▌ forth subjective statements, the successive ▓▌
▓████▓▌ generation of artists aimed to produce art as ▓▌
▓████▓▌ object in and of itself, more apt to use ▓▌
▓████▓▌ mathematical formulas than emotional drive to ▓▌
▓████▓▌ create their works. This could manifest itself in ▓▌
▓████▓▌ anything from Sol Le Witt's math-generated ▓▌
▓████▓▌ sculptures, to Jo Baer's monochrome canvas-work to ▓▌
▓████▓▌ Dan Flavin's arrangement of neon lights on museum ▓▌
▓████▓▌ walls. ▓▌
▓████▓▌ ▓▌
▓████▓▌ There was a concurrent "movement" in classical ▓▌
▓████▓▌ music towards minimalism, though unlike in the ▓▌
▓████▓▌ visual art critical establishment, nobody really ▓▌
▓████▓▌ made an effort to brand it as such. In the early ▓▌
▓████▓▌ 60s, La Monte Young, described by Brian Eno as the ▓▌
▓████▓▌ "grandfather of us all", was writing really slow, ▓▌
▓████▓▌ really lengthy pieces of chamber music in the ▓▌
▓████▓▌ serialist tradition (then the dominant strain of ▓▌
▓████▓▌ modern classical music, serialism is the ▓▌
▓████▓▌ organization of notes, rhythms, and other musical ▓▌
▓████▓▌ elements according to numerical formulae)-- perhaps ▓▌
▓████▓▌ the musical equivalent of painter Robert Ryman's ▓▌
▓████▓▌ General series of pure white paintings. Young soon ▓▌
▓████▓▌ moved to working with sine waves and drone ▓▌
▓████▓▌ performances that could last for days, or longer. ▓▌
▓████▓▌ However, you can't really release an LP of a ▓▌
▓████▓▌ weeklong performance, and a more popular, compact ▓▌
▓████▓▌ strain of minimalism was port forth by Terry Riley, ▓▌
▓████▓▌ who used tape loops and delay to concoct sprawling, ▓▌
▓████▓▌ repetitive soundscapes. He completed the landmark ▓▌
▓████▓▌ In C in 1964, whose concepts led directly to a ▓▌
▓████▓▌ whole school of repetition-based music from which ▓▌
▓████▓▌ Steve Reich and Philip Glass (not to mention Neu! ▓▌
▓████▓▌ and Can) made a killing. ▓▌
▓████▓▌ ▓▌
▓████▓▌ Until now, I would never have thought to compare ▓▌
▓████▓▌ Orthrelm to those musicians. The Washington ▓▌
▓████▓▌ D.C.-based duo's previous albums-- including an ▓▌
▓████▓▌ almost inhumanly fragmented, 99-track EP (!) ▓▌
▓████▓▌ Asristir Vieldriox from 2002-- were models of ▓▌
▓████▓▌ monolithic non-repetition. Guitarist Mick Barr ▓▌
▓████▓▌ (formerly of Crom-Tech) and drummer Josh Blair ▓▌
▓████▓▌ (also of math-jazzers ABCs) specialized in music ▓▌
▓████▓▌ obviously rooted in metal, but performed as a ▓▌
▓████▓▌ steady string of ultra-speed riffs and brittle ▓▌
▓████▓▌ patterns, thrown against each other in Pollack-like ▓▌
▓████▓▌ collage: no clear linear progression, but when ▓▌
▓████▓▌ viewed from a distance, as technically impressive ▓▌
▓████▓▌ as it is chaotic. John Zorn's Naked City is a ▓▌
▓████▓▌ precedent, as Orthrelm recall the intensity of the ▓▌
▓████▓▌ fastest hardcore punk, and the virtuosity of the ▓▌
▓████▓▌ gone-est conservatory shredders-- not to mention ▓▌
▓████▓▌ being pretty light on their feet. However, if you ▓▌
▓████▓▌ wanted jams with beats and wailing choruses, you ▓▌
▓████▓▌ were out of luck; the band played alien etudes, but ▓▌
▓████▓▌ not necessarily "rawk." But if fans were left ▓▌
▓████▓▌ wanting something easier to tap along with, the ▓▌
▓████▓▌ band's latest delivers the goods in spades. ▓▌
▓████▓▌ ▓▌
▓████▓▌ OV, containing a single 45-minute composition, ▓▌
▓████▓▌ makes as good an introduction to putting oneself ▓▌
▓████▓▌ into a trance as it does to minimalism or ▓▌
▓████▓▌ instrumental prog. Although recorded over a period ▓▌
▓████▓▌ of months, the title piece is presented as a single ▓▌
▓████▓▌ performance, each segment locking into the next, on ▓▌
▓████▓▌ and on until everything simply stops. And just as I ▓▌
▓████▓▌ described Orthrelm's prior releases as monolithic, ▓▌
▓████▓▌ this one threatens to glaze over the eardrums of ▓▌
▓████▓▌ anyone not particularly fascinated by the prospect ▓▌
▓████▓▌ of a metal mosaic, massive in size with attention ▓▌
▓████▓▌ to minute detail. Yet, it is the attention to ▓▌
▓████▓▌ detail-- the baroque refinery of the individual ▓▌
▓████▓▌ riffs and drum patterns-- that makes OV more than ▓▌
▓████▓▌ just an impressive technical feat (or an ▓▌
▓████▓▌ excruciating bore). As with the additive, metric ▓▌
▓████▓▌ modulation of Glass (who cribbed his technique from ▓▌
▓████▓▌ Indian raga) or Reich's rhythmic phasing, Orthrelm ▓▌
▓████▓▌ somehow makes music more than the sum of its ▓▌
▓████▓▌ innumerable parts. ▓▌
▓████▓▌ ▓▌
▓████▓▌ At the heart of OV are adrenaline and discipline; ▓▌
▓████▓▌ abandon and meditation. I'm tempted to recommend ▓▌
▓████▓▌ the album to anyone interested in learning how to ▓▌
▓████▓▌ meditate; beyond the sheer length and precision of ▓▌
▓████▓▌ the music, I wonder if Barr and Blair had to put ▓▌
▓████▓▌ themselves in some kind of Zen state just to record ▓▌
▓████▓▌ the stuff. As the passages fly by-- beginning with ▓▌
▓████▓▌ the pounded tritone introduction, to a diced ▓▌
▓████▓▌ three-note guitar motive and tom-toms cascade, to ▓▌
▓████▓▌ sections featuring the thrash of cymbals and ▓▌
▓████▓▌ high-range dissonance alternating with sections ▓▌
▓████▓▌ where the drums drop out entirely and guitar lands ▓▌
▓████▓▌ on sustained, sine-like tones-- I look for ▓▌
▓████▓▌ inter-connections. Unlike traditionally minimalist ▓▌
▓████▓▌ music, OV's structure follows an "A to B to C" ▓▌
▓████▓▌ path, rather than the less intrusive (but arguably ▓▌
▓████▓▌ more subtle) "A1 to A2 to A3" method of Glass and ▓▌
▓████▓▌ Reich. On this record, each pattern takes on its ▓▌
▓████▓▌ own identity, seemingly unrelated to anything ▓▌
▓████▓▌ happened before-- yet, the speed and consistency of ▓▌
▓████▓▌ attack (Barr's fingers must be robotic) serve to ▓▌
▓████▓▌ blur the edges of what might otherwise sound ▓▌
▓████▓▌ disjointed. ▓▌
▓████▓▌ ▓▌
▓████▓▌ I'm not sure history's great minimal artists would ▓▌
▓████▓▌ approve of OV, on the structural grounds I noted ▓▌
▓████▓▌ above, or due to the fact that Orthrelm's music ▓▌
▓████▓▌ just seems so, well, big. Of course, Frank Stella's ▓▌
▓████▓▌ grid-like aluminum paintings were as tall as ▓▌
▓████▓▌ people, while some of the great single-artist ▓▌
▓████▓▌ installations of the 60s and 70s could take up ▓▌
▓████▓▌ entire galleries, so you never know. Ultimately, ▓▌
▓████▓▌ this record stands as a towering achievement in its ▓▌
▓████▓▌ own right, regardless the context you visualize. ▓▌
▓████▓▌ And maybe this many words are overkill for what I'm ▓▌
▓████▓▌ really trying to say: This is fucking great. ▓▌
▓████▓▌ ▓▌
▓████▓▌ ▓▌
░ ▓████▓▌ ▓▌
▓ ▐█████▓█ [ A B O U T . U S ] ▓▌
▀█▄▓████▓▓▄█▀ ▓▌
▀██▓██▓▓▀ Our group consists of many rippers who are music enthu- ▓▌
▀█▓▓▓▀ siasts. Justfun is releasing different kind of music like ▓▌
▀▓ indie rock, trip-hop, ethnic, jazz, french, brazilian ▓▌
░ electro and many more ... We will bring you the music ▓▌
░ we like and share it with the rest of the under- ▓▌
░ ground scene. If you have, like us, a passion for ▄ ▓▌
░ music, don't hesitate to contact us ! ▄▄█▌ ▓▌
░ ▄████▓▌ ▓▌
░ GREETinGs : Nuhs . Hit2000 . DGN . KSi . RAC . CHR █████▀▀▀▀ ▓▌
░ Om . rH . Fuffens . Remix . CMG . SB . AMOK ░███ ▓▌
░ Kw . aPC . iTS . i . RNS . aAF . diss . ESC ██▌ ▓▌
pyt . SEVcD ... ▓██ ▓▌
░ and all ppl who share music with us ! ▄▄▄██▌ ▓▌
▐▓ ▐░▓▓▓▓▌ ░ ░▌
▀■░▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▐▓░░░▓▌▄▄█▓█▄▄■▀
▄█▒████████▓▓▀ ▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▓██▓███▓▄
▄▓██▓██████▓▓█▀ [ C O N T A C T ] ▀▀▀▓██▓▌
▓█████████▓▓█▀ ▐█▄██▓▀
▐███▓██▀▀▓▀░ We're currently looking for : ██▓▓█▀▀
▓████▓▌ ░ - music enthusiast ppl buying cds on a regular basis. ▐▓▀▀
▓████▓▌ - ppl who can get promos or advanced rls. ▀ ░▌
░ ▓████▓▌ - Siteop who can provide at least 10mbits and ▓▌
▓ ▐█████▓█ 50gb++ for our archive. ▄ ▓▌
▀█▄▓████▓▓▄█▀ - People with skill and experience ▄▄█▌ ▓▌
▀██▓██▓▓▀ ... and everyone who wants to help in a ▄████▓▌ ▓▌
▀█▓▓▓▀ pleasant atmosphere our Just family. █████▀▀▀▀ ▓▌
▀▓ ░███ ▓▌
░ Share your forces with us ! ██▌ ▓▌
▌ IRC : You know ▓██ ▌ ▓▌
▐▓ █▓▌ ▐░▓▓▓▓▌ █▓▌ ░▌
▀■▄▐█▓▓ ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▐▓░░░▓▌▄▐█▓▓ ▄■▀
░ ███▓▓ ▀▀▀▀▀ ███▓▓
▄▄▄▄▄▓▄▄▓████▓▓▄▄▄▄░▄▄ ▄▄▄▄▄▓▄▄▓████▓▓▄▄▄▄░▄
▀▓█████████████▓▓▓▀ ▀▓█████████████▓▓▓▀
░ ▀▓██████▓██▓▓▀ NFO and Layout proudly made in Quebec ░ ▀▓██████▓██▓▓▀
▀▓█████▓▓▓ by z0oy0rk ▀▓█████▓▓▓
▐███████▓▓▌ ▐███████▓▓▌
▓███▀ ▀▓█▓▓ [ J U S T F U N born in Apr. 2 0 0 0 ] ▓███▀ ▀▓█▓▓
▐█▓▀ ░▀█▓▌ ▐█▓▀ ░▀█▓▌
█▀ ▀▓ █▀ ▀▓
▀░ ░ ░▀ ▀░ z!░▀