HUNTER COMPLEX – here is the night
EP
(CD, Narrominded)
Releasing a CD-single with one
outtake of a regular album with four remixes and one unreleased track, and
all that as a pre-release to the coming album, is a tactic usually employed
by major labels. But here it is narrominded, one of the most renowned, one
hundred percent independent labels still around, and there is no idea that
the Dutch label would try to get into the major charts or try its luck on
the stock exchange. It is just to eclectic in its musical tastes and to
openminded and focused on the music in its releases.
Lars Meijer and Coen Oscar
Polack, the two minds behind the label narrominded as well as various
musical projects, amongst them Hunter Complex, which is Meijer and his solo
visions of music, can be trusted to follow their tastes more than their
briefcases. Moreover, the remixers are all from the scene that has built
around the label, such as Garcon Taupe (who have just released on
Narromined), Spoelstra
(who have an album coming up called “The almighty internet”) and Oscar
Coen Polack himself. And finally, this EP is also available as a free mp3
download, so it is really more an introductory card to the label.
Albeit a rather restricted
one. The music, starting from the song “here is the night”, is
restricted to basic keyboard and synthesizer beats and harmonies, very much
like the electro beat experimented with in the early Eighties and which Mute
records took its first steps towards eternal fame in. Narrominded haven’t
found their Depeche Mode yet, unfortunately. Only the original track has
vocals, sung in perfect mimicry of the dark, almost gothic electro-pop that
I remember from my early teenage-hood. Hunter Complex really states that he
used a lot of synties from the Eighties (bad luck for anybody who sold his
old synthies ten years ago for cheap, because now they seem to be in big
demand and you may get top dollar for it) but also perused the boundary-less
recording possibilities available nowadays.
To the remixes: Garcon Taupe
focuses on the percussive parts and dabbles with multi-layered beats and
synthie-congas. Spoelstra reduces the song to a synthie-bedroom wizard
version and what is possibly a one-take recording. It seems to me that at
one point he hit the wrong note and – which is always a good tactic –
remained hitting it until it starts to sound meant that way and becomes
meaningful and fitting. Coen Oscar Polack finally takes out the rhythm
totally and turns the song into a slowly flowing ambient track with the
vocals reduced to a humming, transcending instrumental layer adding bass in
the back. No, it is not like Psychic TV, only somewhat.
The final track, another
Hunter Complex original, is another odd pop song somehow re-vived from the
Eighties. “Fashion Street” has high pitched comic vocals on the intro,
glass chime synthies and even that sort of echoy saxophone and wailing
guitar that makes late night, rainy street scenes in action movies from the
Eighties so cool. You know, the point in the plot where the main hero is all
alone and has to get to grips with all he has done wrong and how come
everything seems to be against him. That is usually the point where he
drives his sports car through Los Angeles at night and from there onwards
everything turns towards his way and he kills the main gangster / gets the
girl finally / saves his friendship.
I am currently looking forward
if that time machine effect will work out on the full length album that will
be released this month. Otherwise I will have to go and see if I can find
Live and Die in L.A. on DVD.
