a r t i s t : Axolotl
t i t l e : Memory Theatre
d a t e : 2007
l a b e l : Important Records
g e n r e : Psychedelic
r l s. d a t e : Feb/2008
t r a c k s : 09
b i t r a t e : VBRkbps
s i z e : 64,0 MB
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-boomkat.com
It's easy to become complacent around so much
noise/experimental/drone/ambient music right now - week in
week out you can lose yourself in a quagmire of limited cdr
releases, cassette tapes and lathe cut wax, so much so that it
can be difficult nay impossible to cherry-pick the real gems.
Well Axolotl, at least to my mind, has been one of the genre's
most consistently interesting artists; the side project of
long-time noisy feller Karl Bauer (Black Dice, Double
Leopards, Mouthus etc) he has managed somehow to keep a steady
stream of both releases and quality, dipping into more than
enough sick collaborations whenever he can. Sitting awkwardly
between the pastoral, noisy bliss of Fennesz, the blurry
drug-haze of The Skaters, the measured psychedelic magic of
Grouper and the pure synthesized power of Tim Hecker the music
of Axolotl can be difficult to place, but there are enough
reference points to get stuck in quickly and easily. Far from
the difficult and tiresome listening experience you might be
expecting, this collection has been picked expertly compiling
Bauers most intriguing and most difficult to obtain works and
putting them together in one easy package, a disc which plays
beautifully from beginning to end. 'Memory Theatre' opens with
the fabulous 'Chemical Theater', which could be mistaken for
Christian Fennesz filtering the noisy electronics of the
Yellow Swans. A devastatingly powerful yet surprisingly
sensitive track, this is instantly what sets Bauer apart from
so many of his contemporaries. In a scene where quality
control is regarded as far less important than amount of
releases, it's refreshing to hear a collection of work which
sounds so expertly realised without losing that punky bedroom
psych sound we know and love. Elsewhere 'Natura Naturans'
sounds something like the Eraserhead soundtrack playing at
half speed while an ice cream van sidles by, 'Illiaster' shows
Bauer's truly sensitive side with bells and whistles
(really...) and the disc is closed with the mind-melting
'Forclusion', an eleven minute organ work which threatens to
beat Tim Hecker at his own game. An essential purchase for
anyone with an interest in top quality psychedelic ambience -
Axolotl is an artist you simply need to get a great deal more
knowledgeable about...
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01-Chemical Theatre [08:05]
02-Oranur [03:37]
03-Lake Garden [08:26]
04-Kingdom Of Ends [04:30]
05-Anomalon [04:39]
06-Natura Naturans [02:35]
07-Bions [05:51]
08-Forclusion [08:45]
09-Illiaster [11:36]
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58:04 min