SLON –
jelenka EP
(CD/download,
12rec)
Is it unfair to compare 12rec to Constellation?
I read about the Canadian label almost everywhere and most of what they say
about them is more than true for 12rec Records as well. All the good things,
that is, and as far as size is concerned, I think 12rec lacks the cultural
impact that everything from over the seas still has around here. Me, I for
reasons mostly unknown to myself, prefer things that are close to me, one
way or the other, from musical / emotional impact to regionality. Best, of
course, if the two come together. Now, from the first stroke on the old
harmonica to the careful compositions of these fine instrumentals, were
every little note, every overtone, every scratch on a string sits finely and
warmly, I had to think of Constellation as well. If Slon would have released
this EP on Constellation, then they would probably sell more record by a
factor of 10 or 20 or even 50. On the other hand, if they had, then this
probably would look a lot different. History is always hard to pin down,
especially if art is concerned.
Slon are a four piece band consisting of Andrei
Jafarau, Bernhard Baumann, David Wuktisefits and Alexandr Vatagin. The
latter one bearing the name that springs out at first for being a part of Tupolev as well as Port Royal (whose CD is
waiting for being reviewed here as well for too long) and part of the, dare
I say it, the Mödling
scene. (Or is it some kind of Russian expat-scene?) This scene
has loosely been around for some time now, consists of a bunch of bands and
is mainly working at the task of filling spaces by leaving them empty. I
think I have written that down before, at least said it in personal
conversation, but on this record there is the best hint that you could ever
find: a song called “Um leere Räume zu füllen” (to fill empty
rooms. Transl.) and it is a wonderful, slowly evolving and harmonious
instrumental that works itself up from a few notes of sound to a full band
dynamic, rising energy without ever getting over the top. So it is fair to
say that Slon is another personification of that idea, or rather four people
making music in that vein. There are only five songs on the “Jelenka”-EP
and they are very different, but they all contain this idea in one way or
the other.
Most of them are like old movies, scratchy and a little
jaded and hard to watch because the story evolves so damn slowly in
comparison to the hyperspeeded run of the mill movies we have become used
to. And if you want a hint at what is the fascination of the music created
by the Mödling scene, then it is to be found probably in this sort of retro
look at the world, where the evolvement of time, the passing of time is not
seen as something bad or unfortunate, something to get over with as quickly
as possible. As much as it is good to have constellation records and the
like over seas as a small squad fighting to overwhelming fast food culture,
it is just as good and necessary to have them over here, where everybody is
sucking up to americanism by the sheer force of its cultural impact.
From another point of view, Slon consist of mainly
guitar, bass, drum, piano and then some assorted instruments as well as some
field recordings and vocal samples. Only once do they kick in distortion and
a higher volume of electric amplification, during the remarkable
“Chisum”, but actually it is possibly to receive the whole EP as one big
chunk of wonderful music. Slon is russian for Elephant, and in this view the
name is chosen quite well. A big animal that can be very soft and mild
tempered, but also able to fall into a crazy stampede or killer mode if it
feels threatened.
PS: I wrote this review on the last day of the year.
What an amazing way to end this year on this website. Now, I’m gonna go,
watch some moves, drink some Gin Tonics and then hopefully fall asleep
before the festivities start.
