EVENTLESS
PLOT / GOOD LUCK MR. GORSKY – split LP
(CD,
granny)
“Chromes” by Good Luck Mr. Gorsky mixes
the slowly meandering beat of what could be an acoustic version of dubstep
with the polished yet intellectually refined jazz ambience of early ECM
circa Mick Goodrick or Gary Burton, then adds some electronic crackles and a
female voice as ephemeral and adrift in its own world as the best of music
from iceland. Yet the tree piece Good Luck Mr. Gorsky, who open up this
split-CD, are from the European geographic opposite of iceland, Greece.
Throughout their three tracks on this split Good Luck Mr. Gorsky stay within
the slowly moving area, defines its own track with a distinct yet warm
bassline and the rest of the instruments playing around it. The ECM-ambience
is further enhanced when a glockenspiel comes up for a solitary moment in
“olchim”, the third track.
Eventless Plot, their partners on this
release, are also a three piece band from Greece and they dive into
associated musical waters, though their mix is somewhat more complex yet
more experimental. All six tracks on this unique release are delicate
examples of fine, intuitive composing and a sort of musicianship, where a
certain feeling counts more than craftmanship. They also mix a little
electronic trickery with acoustic instruments, starting off with a low hum
overlayed with various things at once, which after Good Luck Mr. Gorsky
makes you think of some more dubstep influenced postrock. But inspite of the
dark and brooding urban nightscene atmosphere there is a few suprises up
around the bend. For instance when vocal samples effectively destroy a song
at the end or when relentless feeping sounds introduce a shattering silence
of glass chimes, or when “gramma” develops from tiniest beginnings to a
mountain of layers of sounds.
Both bands and the label are far from
prolific, with both bands having appeared on two compilations yet, one of
them being release number one of the label, of which this split is release
number two. Only that this compilation, titled “bits of quarter blitz”,
had been released in 2005. Makes me wonder what took them so long? My hunch
is that they are somehow related to the great poeta negra label, who has
provided publicity for a few interesting and fascinating bands and projects
from Greece, such as 2L8,
Neon, Spyweirdos, Dani Joss, Peekay Tayloh
or Keene.
After all the beauty of stasis has been a
dominant theme in a lot of musical theories and genres, from all kinds of
minimalisms to ambient to postrock. (Give aways of this tactic are the
chosen name of Eventless Plot and the cover design of the CD.) If the
surface don’t shine, how can the contents be beautiful? The shine and
grace of small bands of artists getting deep into sounds, their processing
and the reworking of the results make for a mindset of openness and
experimentation as well as a longing for ease and freedom, that might be
found globally these days in all kinds of unexpected places. Their main aim,
though, is to prove that there is no movement so small that it won’t be
possible to use it as a starting point to build something big and
impressive. If that is proven so decisively and effectively as here, then I
am happy to wait another three years for the next dose.
