a r t i s t : Joseph Suchy
t i t l e : Entskidoo
d a t e : 2002
l a b e l : entenpfuhl
g e n r e : Avantgarde
r l s. d a t e : Sep/2007
t r a c k s : 09
b i t r a t e : VBRkbps
s i z e : 66,3 MB
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"the index points are provided for convenience and do not
indicate divisions in the work"
(liner notes)
"Entskidoo" is the fourth solo album of the Cologne-based
guitarist, producer and label owner (Gefriem) Joseph Suchy, an
album which will no doubt soon be regarded as his "magnum
opus". Whereas his first two releases over the past couple of
years were devoted to specific variations of his way of
handling sound - be it conceptual in nature (Whatness),
embodying shimmering layers of sound at the interface between
analogue and electronic music (Tonschacht) or vertiginous
freenoise (Grob) ? this album is the first to uniquely
synthesize the polyphrenicity of his particular musical
spectrum.
Suchys' ability to transcend borders is manifested in his
numerous diverse collaborations, be they with Kato Hideki,
Kevin Drumm and Jean-Marc Montera or Jan St.Werner,
F.X.Randomiz and Ekkehard Ehlers. The fact that "Entskidoo"
evokes at times a putative orchestra from everyone involved,
is more to do with Joseph Suchy's use of the whole gamut of
his know-how as producer and studio musician, both technically
and compositionally, as well as his creation of a brilliantly
resonant network of playing styles and overlaps. The result is
something resembling a rhizomatous adaptation of an imaginary
archive of "avant garde" music, be it electronic music,
musique concrΦte, improvised music or noise.
One is only seemingly enticed down the well-trodden path by
the wealth of allusions, before ultimately succumbing to the
sound labyrinth of unexpected sequences, tonal palimpsests and
non-linear crossovers; and yet one cannot escape the
conclusion that there are simply more ideas here per track
than on many "experimental" albums. "Entskidoo" ought to
delight fans of both Kaffee Matthews and Jim O'Rourke alike.
And for those individuals who are not only at home with
Fennesz's guitar sound but also with Loren Mazzane-Connors, or
those who are fascinated by the analogies between, say, Oval
and AMM, well, this album ought to be like a dream come true.
A first masterpiece of the new decade, which all too clearly
consigns the 90s and its conventions to history, is released
on Frank Dommert's Entenpfuhl label (also of Sonig and Sieben
labels) in CD, LP + 7" formats (the latter/track #9 on the CD
together with Yvonne Cornelius aka Niobe and Tim Elzer aka
Don't Dolby).
(http://www.entenpfuhl.com/texte/suchyinfo.html)
If Clinic can be touted as "innovators of modern music" then
the being that claims to be Cologne based guitarist Joseph
Suchy must be some trans-dimensional hyper-entity who beamed
back here from the future to show us the true path to giddy
innovative heights. Herr Suchy seems intent on pushing the six
strings through as much laptop grop as he can, and he can play
the ass off the plank to boot. His busy soloing is still just
about recognisable as such much of the time despite persistant
machine deconstruction and particle accelerator bombardment.
The main chunk of 'Entskidoo' is comprised of two suites of
vertiginous improvised computer mangled guitar meltdown. It's
a soundscape in constant flux - canvasses splattered red,
quickly speckled yellow and pink and then filled in with
pulsating green triangles, or at least that's how the
synaesthetic analysis was testing last time I sniffed it.
It'll probably appeal to fans of the rightly lauded Fennesz
and laptop / concrete side of Jim 'Chicagonogood' O'Rourke,
and could give both of them a powerbook diddling to remember!
This ought to get anyone who drooled over 'Endless Summer'
equally hot and bothered. It also marks the first Entenpfuhl
release on CD, but the vinyl version has a much nicer sleeve.
The alpha section of the first side opens with a cute little
twang that fires slight recall of J Mascis' contribution to
the 'Guitarrorists' compilation, but is somewhat more
meandering and freeform. This soon takes a darker turn as it
duets with ominous digital rumble and rapid click. For a
fleeting partial clue, imagine Merzbow doing Hawaiian music
for a few seconds. The guitar playing speeds up and cuts loose
and the hard drive effects get denser and dronier as the track
progresses through crisp vistas of happy noise. At the end of
the first suite (vinyl side one) Suchy spews xylophone patters
over churning groans. There is always some kind of abstracted
melodic pull no matter how many distorted effects Suchy layers
on. Some new idea springs forth every few inches and there
always seem to be new sounds lurking in each listen. The
second suite (side 2 of the record) builds up dense crescendos
until dropping back to multi tracked clean guitar picking out
a coda, as if to show the bare bones that "Entskidoo" hung
it's dissonant diginoise flesh on. The last couple of tracks
are self contained and appear on a 7" single in the limited
vinyl edition. "Gump" sets a simple chiming riff that recalls
Colin Newman's 'Singing Fish' amidst a sea of swirling off
kilter digi-flotsam, and seems to be a more compact and
eloquent statement of the same intent that fired the bulk of
the preceding long player. "Tijovo" takes a very different
tack with some unadorned sparse (presumably) improvised guitar
plucking accompanied by (double?) bass and soft singing from
Yvonne Cornelius. Overall I give this record an X and a Q
although I'm not sure if the record can make good use of such
rare letters. In case you're wondering, that's a good thing.
If his three previous albums on Tonschacht, Grob and Whatness
are even half this inventive then they'll be well worth
investigating. - Graeme Rowland
(http://www.brainwashed.com/brain/brainv05i12.html)
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01-Entskidoo A, Index 1 [06:47]
02-Entskidoo A, Index 2 [05:32]
03-Entskidoo A, Index 3 [06:03]
04-Entskidoo B, Index 4 [05:09]
05-Entskidoo B, Index 5 [03:04]
06-Entskidoo B, Index 6 [06:01]
07-Entskidoo B, Index 7 [01:51]
08-Gump, Index 8 [04:54]
09-Tijovo, Index 9 [06:31]
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45:52 min