CD - Mort Aux Vaches
Very dilated and ethereal atmospheres, micro-sonorities, "urgent" improvisations and thorny textures. Then, melodic snippets, drones, harsh and distorted sequences. Rutger Zuydervelt, aka Machinefabriek (a moniker that would mislead if associated with industrial attitudes) structures three long suites in this latest Mort Aux Vaches album, opting for instruments that create specific limitations. The artist focuses on producing sounds using laptop and guitar and derives inspiration from Oren Ambarchi - another master of "guitar and electronics minimalism," who published "Song Of Separation" on this same prestigious label in 2002. This influence comes through well but the album is by no mean a reproduction; Zuydervelt is a highly personal artist, skilled in composing suspensions and ephemeral resonances. His music is dark, yet full of charming stylization. It exists in a continuum of interweaving layers and is supported by an absolute technical mastery.This album has been written and recorded for the 2006 VPRO Dwars Festival in Amsterdam, and is released by Staalplaat in their typical excellent packaging: thick hard-bound hinged by rough canvas, with titles and credits printed in black by hand with special rubber stamps.
Aurelio Cianciotta