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CD Feature/ Joris J & N.Strahl.N: "Muslime Decadence/Bewegungen"

  Tobias

Mario Loehr of N.Strahl.N recently mentioned that it was getting increasingly hard to find time to compose. Maybe the reason for that dilemma can be found in the fact that he is always involved in some musical project or the other: Seven releases in just over a year speak a clear language. Hot on the heels of a split with Rostiges Riesenrad comes yet another two-party publication, as he teams up with Berlin-based Joris J for a seventysix minute meditation on what industrial could mean in the 21st century. And again, his keen sense for the right partner has not let him down.

While the overflowing sampledelica of Rostiges Riesenrad complimented the spaceousness of his own work, the changing sceneries of Joris J have a lot in common with its constant evolutionary process – it is certainly more than apt that his part of this album should be called “Bewegungen” (“movements”). This aspect is probably what distinguishes N.Strahl.N from many of his colleagues, who rely either on repetition or the opaqueness of distortion to do the trick. With Loehr, you never know what to expect at the beginning of  a track, each element has the potential to shift to the centre, as others fade and established structures crumble. Never has this become so obvious as on “Bewegungen”, which take listeners through various metamorphic processes, either from rhythmic to non-rhythmic (part i), from disentangled to interlocking (part ii), from quiet to harsh (Parts iv and v) or from one undefined state to the other (part iii). Music for associative listening.
Joris J, meanwhile takes his music through even more obvious antonyms. Sampled song fragments, vinyl-scratching effects and backwards loops are only some of the objects which make up these colourful, yet scrupulous soundscapes of between a mere two and almost eight minutes’ length. Industrial, for him, was a conscious move away from the limitations and safetynets of rock towards a state of evolution, experiment and fluctuation. “Muslime Decadence” is not a simplified provocation, but food for thought, both in its concept as in its musical execution.

When Joris J leans towards the atmospheric or when Loehr allows himself to revel in granular modulations, the projects come within arms’ length of each other, but on the whole their aesthetics do differ quite a bit – with the former’s tracks taking on the character of bizarre collages at times, while the latter’s knack for organic abstractions allows for comparisons with the “intelligent dance music” movement, even though no disco is going to step to these tunes anytime soon. Will they return to the studio soon after this opulent menu? With their creativity in overdrive, we certainly have our doubts that any of the two will be on a holiday for all too long.

By Tobias Fischer

Homepage: N.Strahl.N
Homepage: N.Strahl.N at MySpace
Homepage: Joris J at MySpace