KAMMERFLIMMER KOLLEKTIEF / STRINGS OF CONSCIOUSNESS: dto.
Format: 10” vinyl
Release date: august 17th 2007
https://karlrecords.bandcamp.com/album/kammerflimmer-kollektief-strings-of-consciousness-split-10
Split-10″ by KAMMERFLIMMER KOLLEKTIEF & the cosmopolitan ensemble STRINGS OF CONSCIOUSNESS.
The PARAKUSIS series on Karlrecords kicks off with a split-10” by two great bands: Mastermind Thomas Weber’s KAMMERFLIMMER KOLLEKTIEF have refined their hybrid style of folk, (free) jazz, subliminal drones and minimalistic electronics through the years. This EP introduces for the first time the repetitive, shamanistic vocals of Heike Aumüller which catapult the listener into the psychedelic depths of outer space. Their 2nd track marks the reentry into the ether – a relaxed, ambient journey but not without a moment of friction: a Cale-esk viola and hard-bowed contrabass hint at the fugacity of all earthly beauty. A magical trip, an abundance of timbres – KAMMERFLIMMER KOLLEKTIEF play their very own music, more coherent, consistent and better than ever.
STRINGS OF CONSCIOUSNESS are an international ensemble consisting of 11 members who have worked with such highly reputed and diverse musicians as David Thomas (Pere Ubu), Phil Durrant, David Toop, Scanner, Frank Black and / or Luc Ferrari. Laptop, guitars and percussion are complemented by saxophone, trumpet, harp, vibraphone, making the orchestration jazzier and yet similar to KAMMERFLIMMER KOLLEKTIEF . STRINGS OF CONSCIOUSNESS melt acoustic and electronic textures and create imaginary landscapes in the listener’s head. Thus they live up to their name (derived from stream of consciousness)! Bucolic moods, fed by postrock, electronics and jazz like Alice Coltrane e.g. – thrilling beauty without a trace of kitsch.
Press quotes:
Cinematic music takes over on both of the sides and I’m also tented to say that the matter is filmic but also nocturnal, it’s mainly instrumental material with a really elegant approach for what concerns arrangements and taste. www.chaindlk.com
Tuning a voodoo ritual, Kammerflimmer Kollektief, propels a languid sojourn of tribal rhythm and yawning sounds where quivering vocals ululate soft consonants and vowels over the trio who with percussion, guitar, and electronics richly colour an etheric experience … the ensemble of eleven that make up this Strings of Consciousness contribution has less of the lidless distress of Kammerflimmer Kollektief but mesh together such panoply of avant-garde sound that makes this a complimentary reverse. Electronic percussion doses out noisy rhythm, xylophone rummages improvised melody, saxophone floats above long strains of wavered guitar, barely a fragment of the boutique that is Strings of Consciousness … The package is a delightful gatefold cover on thick glossy black and white stock, warped bole and boughs on the cover open to a large internal spread where, seated with glass of wine, a bizarre treant reposes facing outward, a head of branches. www.heathenharvest.com