Kemialliset Ystävät (it translates as ‘chemical friends’) are a loose collective from Tampere in southern Finland. Existing in dialogue amongst (and beyond) the hugely creative, diverse microcosm of the Finnish scene including artists like Avarus, Lau Nau, Es, Paavoharju, Islaja, Anaksimandros,
and labels like Fonal, 247 Laatijaa, and Lal Lal Lal, Kemialliset Ystävät has become an influential
node on the outsider noise/folk/ psych underground, finding international acclaim.
Almost entirely self-taught and using a bewildering array of instruments and approaches, their sonic arsenal includes detuned guitars, bass, traditional / vernacular instrumentation (mandolins, balalaikas, etc.) hand percussion, all manner of electronic instruments, effects, toys and circuit-bent items, treated samples and vinyl manipulation. Playfully taking their own unique and unpredictable path, they have layered and fused together traditional Finnish (at times almost medieval-sounding) instrumentation and melodies with avant-garde electronics, psychedelic folk/rock, noise, electro-acoustic, and percussive tribal rhythms, creating a sense of ritualistic magic and flexible, group-mind
improvisation, with the whole often subjected to brutal and precise editing.
The five tracks they’ve contributed to this 12” flow together as sections of one whole to form a fluid, simmering and restless journey through woozy loops, blurred harmonies and vocal contortions. With occassional jump-cuts, and all manner of spluttering, splattering electronics, its shimmering sense of tension eventually resolves as forms emerge – sometimes fleetingly, sometimes with a longer, more coherent rhythmic and melodic pull.
Sunroof! is the work of prolific, Bradford, England-based guitar-abuse legend Matthew Bower. Best known for his work with Skullflower, Bower has been active on the experimental/ post-punk/noise underground for over 25 years, releasing over 60 albums under a variety of pseudonyms. Bower’s vast discography of visceral, free drone-rock is one of the most formidable of its kind - a monumental,
labyrinthine effort to get your head around, with continual shifts and dynamic reverses between - and even within - his various projects rendering it virtually impossible to pin down.
Sunroof!’s trajectory has shifted from bubbling, transcendental pulse to coruscating feedback, jerky freeform soloing to sweet-shimmering dream-haze with traces of aciddamaged British folk, and brain-blitzing high-pitched psychedelic drone.
Stepping between varying pressures and weights, the three tracks provided here offer a
dazzling confirmation of Sunroof!’s quality. “Little Ornamental Lake Of Death” and “Extinction
Fantasy” blow out a beatless, fizzing, coruscating, hyper-energetic scrawl/sprawl of guitar – a swirling mass of sound that’s blissfully immersive and hyper-coloured. Wedged in between, the far briefer “Spiritual Forgery” hangs a frayed line of quavering guitar tone.
|
Shopping Cart
