CHICA
& THE FOLDER
42 mädchen
CD,
Monika
Some years ago it would have been regarded as either visionary or
completely over the top, to mix pop-tunes with state-of-the-art electronic
music, especially kitschy folkloristic tunes sung in German. (compare Inox
Kapell’s genius tour-7” from July 2001) Times have changed.
To mix or contrast electronic glitches, clicks’n’cuts and noise with
acoustic instruments has become quite common (see Gel,
Maps & Diagrams,
Anderegg and
others). Madonna had a slew of hitsingles that use very modern electronic
music and acoustic guitars. Where do we go from here? Maybe Chica and the
Folder are able to show us some pathways out of the already closing chasm
between electronic and acoustic music. On the other, maybe it is all one of
these Berlin-things anyway, because that city is usually at least a few
years ahead of every other city, as introverted and incesting as can be and
lives by rules and abides a humour all of its own.
“tibetteppich” is the obvious hit-single. Sweet female vocals, a
driving beat, music that kicks the folkloristic right into the kitschy and
on top the tongue-in-cheek-humour that everyone will expect from the
artists. But the instrumentals between the rest of the songs are just as
important, as they fill up the space and make up the walls and fundaments on
which the cheesy ostentative tracks depend. Another track that stands out is
the DHR-like production of a Croatian traditional, which doesn’t fit the
rest of the album due to its harshness, straightforwardness and
aggressiveness. If Chica and the Folder is nothing more than a joke, then
these are some people with much too much time on their hands. But I don’t
think so. Nothing supports this impression but my very own mistrust against
hittracks that are tailored to please the alternative crowd into a small
chuckle, sell some records and then the producers disappear to think about
their next joke. My time has too much worth for me. (see The Burka Band or
Martini Brös.) As I said, I don’t think so.
To me, Chica and the Folder seem like people who have a lot of time on
their hands, which they spend searching for synthie-sounds long believed to
be lost since the Eighties. Who produce beats that are warm and emotional.
Who build a warm fireplace with graceful keyboard-sounds then mix some
radio-samples from southern America into that. It is a globalised aesthetic
that spreads out over nations and decades and searches for interesting parts
to be put together. A definite Berlin-thing to do, coming from the enclosed
and restricted history if the city. Please forgive me, if I am wrong, but I
don’t believe most of the stories being told about the artists behind
Chica and The Folder, about the Chilean roots, the Croatian connections, the
poems learned in school and so on. To be more correct, I only believe half
of it. I believe that there are some connections, but these have been blown
up, twisted and polished to make them a little more noteworthy. Which is
okay, every artist has the right to make up his / her own history.
In cultural aspects, the world is nothing more than a big pool of ideas,
parts and bricks to be taken by an artist and twisted and turned and built
into something new. If these are old poems, songs by Brian Eno or sounds
from early Depeche Mode records, doesn’t matter. There is nothing that
couldn’t be put together and nothing that can’t be separated. The almost
childlike happiness with which Chica and The Folder run through this magic
garden and pluck whatever strikes their eyes here and there is enlightening
and reviving. The effects and results they reach, the pop-songs as well as
the almost ambient and noisy instrumental tracks, are beautiful to listen
to.
