Dropp Ensemble: "Safety"

Feeling, listening and tasting: Closer to the reality of life than music usually is.

Salvatore Dellaria and Adam Sonderberg joined forces back in 2003 to form the Dropp Ensemble, and with ‘Safety’ they're releasing their third production. Before going deeper into the music published on this CD, I’d like to explain that many of the contributing musicians did so by mailing their music or recording it in situ. But Dellaria and Sonderberg are responsible for using those contributions and mixing them, maybe even altering them electronically and fitting them into their structure, thus forcing their individual stamp on it.

There is an overall tragic and somehow dark mood emanating from this music, reminding me of excursions during a dark night, and only once in a while the moon sheds some bleak beams through the clouds in a futile effort to brighten the scenery. So if you're listening, you'll be surrounded by darkness and you'll have to use other senses than those of sight and smell… it comes down to feeling, listening and tasting. Not always an easy task with this music, especially trying to taste it, but even that may be possible. When taking in this record, the track ‘Forget Collapse’ especially with its high frequency sounds actually projected the taste of metal on my tongue… to the point that it almost seemed to be extremely disgusting and unnerving. But then again, that also proved to be the major quality of this production.

Honestly, experimental music as a form of art does not exist just because music needs to be nice and fine and appealing and moving in unison with the rhythm. This music doesn’t go for any of these clichés. It’s dark, it’s minimalistic, it feels threatening and even when drifting to percussions it doesn’t cheer you up. But, and that is its real strength, it paints a picture that will not accept to be overlooked. Safety is the title, but does any safety emanate from the sounds we are hearing, tasting? Do we feel safety, smell safety, see safety?

I think in a way we do. Because this intelligently composed work leads us to the insight, that safety is a delusion. What every human being experiences many times in their lives is the fact, that safety is one of the most important wishes we have, but that these very dreams can never be realized. The hope for comfort is overwhelming and creates a kind of wishful thinking that has nothing to do with the cold, harsh reality.

Rough, dark, cynical and once in a while even tender these compositions tell a story that is closer to the reality of life than music usually is. They are nothing for those seeking sole positive enjoyment. But they are everything for those loving music and the deeper interpretations of musical art. Because art it is.

By Fred M. Wheeler

Homepage: Adam Sonderberg
Homepage: And/Oar Records