TROIMOUCHA CROUPSIDULOS

Roadies / road dies

7”, Dhyana

This one will not make itself clear easily. One track of soundcollages ranging from harmonious electronica with spoken samples through some crashing-noises and fading out into a metallic drone that is both eerie and uplifting, on two sides of a small seven inch. That is like making “Ulysses” into a comic book and it works. The cliché of the “movie in the head” has been used way too often, but here once again it fits. And this movie contains a lot of images you hadn’t expected in your head.

It has been said a lot, that (nowadays) music is way more than just the sounds you hear. There is the whole aspect of the image transported alongside with the music, e.g. the packing, the visual style, even the title of a record gives you guidelines on how to interpret, i.e. hear music. Popmusic has made this part of music-production an important part of its art, whereas electronic music tries to stay away from images as much as possible. On this seven inch by Troimoucha Croupisuldos are some soundcollages and electronic tracks, all mixed into each other and very intricately beautiful indeed, that will be connected constantly with cars and driving. Why? Mainly because of the title and the cover imagery, which evokes all sorts of interesting connotations into the direction of driving by night, crashing by night, man-machines and everything from David Lynchs “Lost Highway” to Cronenberg’s “Crash”. (electronic music is always a soundtrack, y’know.) Except for all the engine-noises at the end of side one, these soundcollages could be accompanying all sorts of different pictures (of the mind) as well. Actually, even the car-driving- and crashing-noises could be something else all together. You know the way some things sound like completely different things? Side two could be taken off from a science fiction movie, complete with big spaceships and shots into the unknown universe. Or music to accompany a documentary about the downfall of the steel industry and big ship-building-wharfs.

The other interesting point is, how cars and the act of driving and crashing have always been very important images in music. There is the whole Dragster/Punk-thing going on and that goes right up to Ministry’s “Jesus built my hotrod”. The electronic music-scene is quite young (compared to Rock’n’Roll) but already the image of driving by night has become a very important part of its music. Some projects live on a driving pulse and to cover the whole aspect of racing, it might suffice to hint at the video-game “Wipe Out”.

“roadies / road dies” also has another aspect than the mere electronic-track it is: there is a story told in here. I am not yet sure, which one it is, but, hey, I watch David Lynch a lot and I am not yet sure what he is on about most of the time. This story will change and rearrange everytime you hear it. Within the delicate drones and the soft drum’n’bass-hints, the collages of noises and the pure white screeching sounds, there are whole lives to experience.

www.dhyanarecords.com

05/2002