BULBULTUMIDO – summer, herbst &
drobil
(10” – interstellar / rockishell
/ trost)
The might of Bulbul has been
described on various places in these pages and so has the might of Tumido. Also the
power those two have been known to unleash together on
stage has been described in detail (including KK Null). And in spite of all
the words put down in praise of them and all the moments and ideas shared
with them in real life, it is never enough. Mostly because there is always
something new, refreshing and original coming from these artists. And also
suprising. Bulbul-fans love suprises and they never get disappointed.
Anyway, this 10” release in
cooperation on the three coolest noise rock labels in Austria portrays an
aspect of Bulbultumido that has been left a little unnoticed, their free
improvisational side. Both bands, Bulbul and Tumido, are well known for
being able to lay down a tight, stomping noise rock cruncher, that moves
along like a mighty steam engine and that is what people like about them
most when they see them play alongside The Melvins, Melt Banana or any other
of the hundreds of bands that they have shared a stage with. The other thing
that people know about them, though probably more about Bulbul, maybe
because they have been around longer, is that they like to do things that
seem weird or off beat at first sight (like field recording or cooperations
with Carla Bozulich or the ongoing series of concerts named Fitze Fatze and
on and on).
But that they are actually
great improvisers on top, able to produce interesting and encompassing music
with nothing but a few guidelines spoken about beforehand is rarely in the
foreground. Me, for instance, I never got around to review those Bulbul
rehearsal room tapes with all kinds of freaky stuff on them, and now my tape
player has broken down and I never got around to buy a new one. Different
shit, same old story.
Didi Kern, the drummer of
Bulbul (and other famous Austrian underground bands) once told me about the
virtues of free improvisation, which I don’t remember in full, but it came
down to two things: first, it can be the greatest thing to do as a musician.
Second, you never know how it is gonna work out. Sometimes the improviser
has the feeling the session was great but listening to the tapes it turns
out daft. Other times the feeling after the session is less euphoric, but
the recordings are great. Which probably has got something to do with the
inherent rules of fixed media versus live experience. And the third, and
probably most important thing is, that the only rule to judge improvisation
by, is by emotion.
On “summer, herbst &
drobil” you’ll find three tracks of intersting, dynamic and challenging
instrumental music, that keeps away from steady rhythms and song structures
but dives deeply into the subconscious of scraped strings, clattering drums
and atmospheric feedback. On one point they have worked themselves up so
much, they fall into an impressive wall of noise sound, which may be the
hightlight of the small record to most people. Mostly, though, it is the
irregular clutter of the psyche working at free range speed.
