My new friend TJ Norris and I have prepared a pair of reviews of Machinefabriek’s new work Engel. Norris hosts the excellent Toneshift.net blog out of Ft. Worth, Texas. We’re posting both reviews on both blogs. Please check out his work.
TJ’s Take
The record (due August 15th) consists of nine reasonably short tracks, and is Zuydervelt’s score for Marta Alstadsæter and Kim-Jomi Fischer’s dance/circus performance which just recently made its debut in Norway. The artist shared: “It’s the second time I’ve worked with Marta & Kim, after the short piece (and seven-inch single) ‘As Much As It Is Worth.’” “Hanging” is an intriguing ambient piece for the opener, that materializes rather slowly as if winding through a dark cave.
It’s got a nice balance of faintly rumbling drone and tiny cragged effects that fade into birds singing in the distance, a brilliant bridge into “Two High,” as airy as fragile nature can be. There are incredible delicate silences throughout and especially on “Cradle,” and I’d recommend headphones for this one. It sort of lulls into and from the middle ground, with tiny flapping and illuminated chimes that evolve into a shivering harmony. The micro-static waltz, like a wind-up carousel looms like a horror movie in the making on “Waltzing,” the most bewitching track here. It’s softened edges and crackle takes you to a hidden place.
“Kim’s Fall” is a shock to the system on an otherwise graceful continuum to this point, but after it’s initial noise blurt the track evens into a relatively low frequency, elusive industrial track. It’s also the shortest track here, so it’s the midway breaking point that seamlessly flows into the gorgeous trickling, layered “Walking.” So much atmosphere, so lil’ time, and so it goes right into “Not Last.” Really, this is among some of this artist’s best work, filled with passionate emotive atmospheres that range in physicality and tension. “Two High Running” features celebrated Norwegian drummer Paal Nilssen-Love, and it’s avant jazz flair reminds me some of the sassy prowess of early Max Roach, except here, he definitely flies way outside the lines and perimeter, delicately undulating into the bleary-eyed “Rolling,” the concluding track on Engel. Here you are on a wide open patio swinging gently in a creaky rocking chair. The open air is pixelated by an underlying magical theme that whispers between the wooden slats. A dreamy finish.
My Take
There is a school of thought that says music composed for dance should never be presented on its own. To remove music from its intended context is to strip it of its purpose and meaning.
It is a puritanical argument at a time when the world could do with a great deal more pragmatism. So let’s enjoy this new work from Rutger Zuydervelt for what it is: a delicate, at times mysterious recording that will either leave you curious about the dance performance it was scored for or inspire you to make up your own.
Zuydervelt first wrote “As Much As It Is Worth” for a short piece by Marta Alstadsæter and Kim-Jomi Fischer. That led to an invitation to score their full-length work Engel. Described as being “about inner struggle, decision-making and the metaphysical,” the dancers move together like a single multilimbed performer.
Engel’s combination of contemporary dance and circus acrobatics won’t be immediately obvious to listeners of this new Machinefabriek album. Zuydervelt describes the performance as a “transportive performance.”
The same can be said for the recording itself. It opens with a searching, slow-moving drone piece called “Hanging.” About three minutes in, Zuydervelt introduces quiet electronic noise elements that in turn give way to a natural soundscape in “Two High.” Water falls in the distance, birds call. These two pieces open the album quietly. If their role is to draw us in, they succeed.
“Cradle” is the album’s longest work, at eight-plus minutes. It opens with similarly soft tones, but a more foreboding sense has begun to creep into the work. It’s at this stage that the album begins to take form as a work that can be appreciated either with or without the dance performance.
Zuydervelt delivers a variety of deeply evocative sounds. Some are pleasant, others disconcerting. There is nothing specific in “Cradle” that can fairly be described as difficult, but it is certainly ominous. As its volume increases in the second half, the piece’s title begins to take on a foreboding tone.
The found sound recording at the beginning of “Waltzing” only adds to the mood. These middle pieces have a lot to do with the success of Engel as a strictly musical presentation. They are richly suggestive and at the same time they are whatever you want them to be.
Two additional highlights: “Kim’s Fall” opens with an onslaught of electronic noise that hits like a lightning bolt. It then dissolves into a low-intensity rumble that continues into the next piece, “Walking.”
Norway’s Paal Nilssen-Love contributes a previously recorded drum performance on “Two High Running.” It is the album’s most organic contribution, and it breaks the tension beautifully.
Zuydervelt can always be counted on to produce thoughtful, richly produced work. Engel is another success.
