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Reviews:
Really
mellow album of remixes
from lots of artists of Aarktica's cool post-rock/folky/ambient album.
Really great, while Aarktica's album had this very large atmospheric
feel,
the remixes are sort of like personal interpretations of the record
into
14 individual separate landscapes. Sometimes a bit Boards Of Canada-y.
Some more ambient, some more beat-based, some more vocal-based. AND
three
remixes of an acoustic Danzig's "Am I Evil?" Fun fact: this dude has a
digital "Live at KUCI" EP from 2005.
~
Matt Buga, KUCI
This year saw the release
of the companion remix album, simply entitled In Sea Remixes. This
well-stocked
appendix contains some very fine material as well, especially since all
these different remixers bring their own influences to the board, which
results in a broad and accessible album that retains a great deal of
the
unique atmosphere of the original. The basic line is still ambient of
course,
as is illustrated by Rameses III‘s relaxing rendition of “I Am (The
Ice)”.
However, it is when these new influences shine through that the
strength
of this album comes to the fore. A perfect example is Mason Jones,
adding
subtle drums and treatments to “In Sea”, taking the track to a
different,
but equally brilliant plane. Idem the Planar remix of “Young Light”,
where
minimal rhythms and newly added female vocals evolve the song beyond
its
original form. Of course, not all of these remixes are as remarkable as
these, but the general flow of the album is preserved excellently. It
ends,
as mentioned with a trio of remixes of “Am I Demon?”, each of which is
more than worthwhile. The Declining Winter add a cold, windswept touch
to the song with some strings and additional vocals. The one by Suckers
goes for a minimal beat and subdued distortion of the original vocals,
resulting in a quirky, muted new version. The Landing remix, finally,
opts
for a simpler approach with delays and reverbs, delivering a slightly
more
dreamy reworking.
~
Evening of Light
Back in Vital Weekly 703
I discussed 'In Sea' by Aarktica and was not blown away by it. It
lacked
variation mostly, in my opinion. Jon DeRosa, the behind behind Aarktica
played guitar, lots of echo and reverb and a bit of singing. I'm not
sure
why this album needed a remix treatment, perhaps because 'the material
on the original lent itself well to reworking', and surely its a nice
passtime
to create remixes. Perhaps it will boast the sales of the original too.
Lots of names here of which I never heard, like Planar, Al Qaeda (well,
I heard of the other one), Pan, Landing, Ramses II, as well as some I
recognized
such as Mason Jones, Slicnaton, Remora and Yellow6. Up until the
eleventh
piece its all fairly ok in terms of remixing. Everybody seems to be
emphasizing
the ambient structures set forward on the original, sometimes with a
bigger
role for a guitar, or for effects or for the vocals, but it all makes a
pretty decent listening. Not great, not bad, not highly original. The
James
Duncan remix then takes everything into a whole new territory, with a
house
based remixed. Totally out of place, but perhaps therefore quite
alright.
Declining Water, an off-shoot of Hood, has a nice piece for strings,
following
that, Pan brings in drum machines again. Those three, all at the end,
make
the right sort of wrong moves: they take the original into a whole new
area, which I believe to be the best thing for a remix album. Attract a
new audience to your music. Throughout quite an alright compilation,
quite
pleasant to listen.
~
Frans de Waard, Vital
Weekly
Even though you know something
to be an obvious truth...sometimes is just feels reassuring to see it
in
print. We've been big fans of Jon DeRosa (the man who is Aarktica) for
quite some time now...and we've always had the distinct feeling that
this
man is driven first and foremost by the desire to create. As such, it
felt
particularly nice reading the press release that accompanied this
CD...in
which DeRosa validated some of our feelings. In Sea Remixes features
fourteen
remixes by artists Ramses III, slicnation, Summer Cats, Al Qaeda, Mason
Jones, Yellow6, Planar, Keith Caisius, thisquietarmy, Remora, James
Duncan,
Declining Winter, Pan, and Landing. The original Aarktica mixes were
already
strange and heady...so it comes as no surprise that the same is true
for
these versions. We've loved everything we've heard thus far from
DeRosa.
He's one of those artists you can always depend on to come through with
intriguing quality music with a conscience. This is an individually
numbered
limited edition CD (only 500 copies). TOP PICK.
~
Babysue
One of 2009's best releases
gets the remix treatment from loads of talented musicians. Drop
everything
and buy this.
Jon
DeRosa's elegiac masterpiece
of an ambient-drone record In Sea got me through a very busy semester
of
school last year. The weight of the music, DeRosa's amazing story, and
the therapeutic nature it had on me as I sat up writing paper after
paper
led to an easy place on my best of 2009 list. Now, Silber Records is
graciously
releasing a glorious remix album no more than 3 months after its
initial
release. The remix album is a tricky feat to pull off. First, the
source
material has to be strong enough to retain its core attributes while
withstanding
radical tonal and textural changes.
A
big check in that box.
Second,
the contributers
have to alter the original recording enough to warrant another listen
to
a song you have spun through over a dozen times.
Put
another check there.
Those
said changes have
to alter the song enough to make you look at it in another light,
recognizing
things that you missed and opening the song to limitless possibilities.
Three
for three.
Fourth,
make sure Prefuse-73
is on there.
Oh
man, so close.
While
Scott Herren may be
absent, Aarktica's talented friends more than make up for this. Remixes
include contributions from Al Qaeda (fellow non-SLC moondial tape
contributers)
who take "A Plague of Frosts" and underscore it with post-industrial
percussion
and haunting field-recordings in the vein of Odd Nosdam's eerie
"Burner"
off Level Live Wires. My favorite remixes are by Planar and Keith
Canisuis
who take previous wordless songs and sing over them, totally owning the
song and changing its very meaning. I have an unhealthy obsession with
the Keith Canisuis remix of "Autumnal", I love his decidedly 80's take
on the song, transforming the subtle guitar lines into cheesy 80's
synth
lines and gorgeously-weird keyed up vocals. I don't know very much
about
this Dutch artist, but I expect to be delving into his back catalogue
very
soon. Other contributers include but are not limited to: Aidan
Baker-collaborator-ThisQuietArmy,
the skittering electronic percussion of yellow6, Mason Jones, the
pastoral
field recordings of Summer Cats. TOME favs Remora, Declining Winter,
James
Duncan, Ramses III, etc... Not to be missed.
~
Ryan Hall, Tome to the
Weather Machine
Discovering In Sea on the
cusp of winter paid some enormous dividends. Like an ode to the silence
and stillness that snow brings, Jon DeRosa's latest full-length will
always
fit my early November memory of wandering Chinatown at 1AM; its careful
drones and webs of guitar grimacing between buildings and sprinkling a
first frost. What could’ve scored mountainous treks or, I don’t know,
collapsing
icebergs, ended up soundtracking my walk through concrete grays, which
would seem like a waste if In Sea’s mood – graceful yet downtrodden –
didn’t
compel such honest surroundings. Those who, like me, basked in
Aarktica’s
cross-breezes of emotional numbness have unintentionally reaped another
bonus: the eventual thaw.
A
topic of discussion since
the release of its parent record, In Sea Remixes collects a new take on
each album track plus an appendix of ‘Am I Demon’ remixes initially
plotted
for a separate EP release. With a slew of talented contributors (among
them Rameses III, Yellow6, and The Declining Winter), In Sea Remixes
also
boasts surprises uncommon of its recycled blueprint. Namely, this
collection
defies my usual disinterest in remixes. Whereas most remix compilations
uproot sequencing and mood in favour of track-privatization (in other
words,
the act of artists covering their own asses, final product be damned),
In Sea Remixes flows like the original record if Aarktica had been
inspired
by IDM and electronic pop. That spray of optimistic beams first borne
on
‘Young Light’ gets vocals and a hazy makeover courtesy of Planar while
Mason Jones reworks the title track with crisp post-rock percussion
that
compliments DeRosa’s echo-drenched guitars. If those aforementioned
remixes
successfully incorporate cousin-genres to In Sea’s rippling drones,
Keith
Canisius’ take on ‘Autumnal’ gets downright ballsy, crafting a subtle
dance-beat
with pitch-shifted, cut-up vocals. It’s a loose translation of the
original
but also one of the record’s top tracks. The greatest of these many
revelations
is that In Sea Remixes, despite its variety, flows like a more vivid,
spontaneous
companion, one which praises its source material while evoking the
sounds
of spring. From the melting tones of ‘LYMZ’ (by Slicnaton) and chirping
birds of ‘Hollow Earth Theory’ (by Summer Cats) to the laptop beats and
warm piano of ‘Onward!’ (by Yellow6), these remixes celebrate an end of
hibernation, not to mention the begging question of where Jon DeRosa
plans
to go next.
At
the risk of setting a
precedent, it’s worth noting that not everything here comes up roses.
James
Duncan's remix of ‘When We're Ghosts’ is likely the most adventurous,
what
with its club-ready beats and random “fuck you!” snippets, but it
nearly
makes a late-bid to deride what is, for the most part, an exception to
the Remix-Album-Rule. In these rare instances of lost focus, it’s the
heavier
contributions – deep drones by ThisQuietArmy and collaged chaos by Al
Qaeda
- that rope the release back on par with Aarktica’s densely shaped
moods.
And remaining true to the feel of In Sea isn’t so hard when DeRosa’s
performances
still sizzle beneath each of these renditions. A remix album that
stands
by its inspiration while reaching in several fruitful directions? I
could
get used to this.
~
Skeleton Crew Quarterly
It’s nice to revisit this
music by Jon DeRosa through the aural lens of the likes of Planar,
Keith
Canisius, Mason Jones, Slicnaton, Al Qaeda, Ramses III, Thisquietarmy,
Landing, Remora, Declining Winter, Yellow6, and others. Whether they
add
violin (12), vocals (1, 7, 12,), or beats (6, 7, 8, 11 13), these remix
artists take the ambient beauty and change it up nicely.
~
Pax Humana, KFJC
Last year’s In Sea, the most
recent full-length of Jon DeRosa’s Aarktica project, was, at once,
warmly
familiar and curiously novel. Its tracks certainly exhibited the
particular
sound that DeRosa has been cultivating for years under the Aarktica
banner,
a three-way intersection of drone, ambient, and intimate bedroom pop,
but
its means were austere, eschewing the electronics and guest-spots that
characterized previous records in favor of only his voice, guitars, and
antique pump organ. It was, as the album’s press release states, the
collection
of the sounds that had “haunted his head for years,” which speaks
volumes
for an artist whose sense of solitude is often apt to leave listeners
feeling
voyeuristic guilt long after discs have stopped spinning.
One
might find it curious,
then, that DeRosa would so quickly hand over his most personal record
to
others for a remix project, but In Sea Remixes evinces a fellowship
and,
more importantly, shared aesthetic direction among the artists that
prevents
it from being just another hokey throwaway and, instead, enshrines it
as
a fitting companion piece to the original. In fact, you couldn’t blame
a listener unaccustomed with In Sea for confusing this album for a bona
fide Aarktica offering. There’s a coherence throughout Remixes of the
type
of tasty ambiguity on which records such as Pure Tone Audiometry and
Bleeding
Light were predicated, with a group of post-rock mavens further
abstracting
DeRosa’s already slippery drones into even hazier textures.
“I
Am (The Ice)” was a still
track already, and Rameses III’s “Sky Burial” remix sounds like another
angle of the same iceberg. In Sea’s most emotionally direct song (aided
by the fact that it was one of only two to feature voice), “Hollow
Earth
Theory,” is here given a more atmospheric treatment via Summer Cats,
who
allow bird and sea sounds to quietly jostle DeRosa’s electronically
treated
voice for prominence in the mix. Further on the ambient front,
ThisQuietArmy
render “Corpse Reviver No. 2? into a dirge every bit as ominous as its
title. James Duncan and Remora dance “When We’re Ghosts” and “Instill,”
respectively, to the end of kitsch and back, offering Remixes a
necessary
levity amidst the otherwise impenetrable solemnity. Keith Canisius’s
approach
to “Autumnal,” a certain high-point on the album, bridges the two most
present styles on Remixes–ambient and dance–into a twinkly piece
reminiscent
of Boards of Canada and other IDM artists. In Sea’s most curious track,
a stripped-down and personalized cover of Danzig’s “Am I Demon?,” is
thrice
reinterpreted, by Landing, Pan, and Declining Winter (Richard Adams of
Hood), each track emerging not simply as DeRosa’s original with a few
sonic
fingerprints but as intimate works of their own merit.
In
Sea Remixes is pleasant
throughout, even if its versions are occasionally on the safe side
(ambient
into ambient isn’t exactly an unpredictable or particularly imaginative
leap). Other participants include Slicnaton, Al Qaeda, Mason Jones, and
Planar. The record is available through Silber Records as a limited
edition
CD (500 copies) or digital download.
~
Jacob Price, Delusions
of Adequacy
First off, let me confess
that remix albums typically bore and irritate me – like listening to
the
20 minute 12” dance mix of some 2:00 pop dittie. They usually rob all
the
life out of the original, turning it into scrambled, unrecogniseable
mush.
But Aarktica’s Jon DeRosa was involved firsthand with this project, and
admits his originals (which we reviewed here) were perfectly suited to
the remix concept, so much so that the artists actually reworked his
songs,
rather than simply rearranging a few notes here and there.
It
also helps that many
of the remixers work in the same genre/style as De Rosa (which I’ve
labeled
“snorecore”, though I know Phil in particular is a big fan and
considers
that a little disparaging!), e.g., Ramses III, Yellow6, and
Terrascope/stock
faves, Landing, Hood (courtesy Richard’s Declining Winter project) and
Mason Jones (late of SubArachnoid Space), that the new versions are
interesting
tweaks rather than bastardised, “well, I think you should have mixed it
this way” pronouncements.
Such
is the case with Ramses
III’s ‘Sky Burial Remix’ of original album opener, ‘I Am (The Ice).’
Both
float along like ice bergs in the mid-Atlantic searching for
unsuspecting
cruise ships. Summer Cats take one of De Rosa’s two vocal tracks
(‘Hollow
Earth Theory’) and add several layers of echoes, crashing waves, and
flocks
of seagulls to put the listener in a lifeboat in the middle of the
ocean
– an entirely new experience that adds an aura of tension to the
original
ballad. Al Qaeda add waves of industrial machinery to ‘A Plague of
Frost
(In The Guise of Diamonds),’ sadly burying one of the album’s most
peaceful
and meditative tracks under a maelstrom of pseudo-explosions and
mushroom
clouds of shredded guitars – sort of what I was afraid of when I first
heard the word “remix.” And Mason Jones adds a drum track to the title
track that I’m not sure I agree with, although the dichotomy is
interesting
– like catching some Z’s in a hammock on a summer day while
your
next door neighbour is building a treehouse in his backyard. Keith
Canisius
does the same with ‘Autumnal,” condensing the guitar lines to sound not
unlike Robert Smith’s gothic arpeggios with The Cure. He even adds
lyrics,
thus extending the track an additional two minutes and, like Yellow6
(below)
creates an entirely new song. And I can certainly do without James
Duncan’s
disco remix of ‘When We Were Ghosts.’
Elsewhere,
Yellow6 mutes
the gorgeously cascading guitar arpeggios from ‘Onward!’ and
intensifies
the echoed effect like a newbie who just discovered a wah-wah pedal. He
also doubles the track’s original length, adding more drum fx, glitches
and piano strolling to create an entirely different song. This one
might
have been more effective on a tribute album rather than a remix,
wherein
I see the artist’s role as one of refiner, modifyer – stretching the
original
into new territories, but essentially using the same backing track
instead
of creating something in his own image. It should still sound
like
an Aarktica track, not a Yellow6 track. The project concludes with
three
rearrangements of Danzig’s ‘Am I Demon?’ Richard Hood (aka Declining
Winter)
adds violin and an even more haunting vocal track, Pan goes for the
bleeps
and bloops electronic approach, and our friends in Landing match
DeRosa’s
stark, aimless, almost hypnotic interpretation with one of the album’s
finest arrangements.
An
interesting pseudo-collaboration
that will be of interest to DeRosa’s fans to see how his music can be
transformed
in the hands of some of the current crop of “old men playing in the
same
circles as Aarktica.” Most of the laidback, almost melancholic vibe of
the original is lost, so fans of DeRosa’s return to Aarktica’s more
glacial
arrangements may have to listen with a grain of salt, but newbies are
certainly
encouraged to pick up the original and A/B the tracks as we did. It’s
an
ear-opening experience and an education in musical interpretation and
extrapolation.
~
Jeff Penczak, Terrascope
Online
Remix albums have been around
for donkey’s years, beginning in Jamaica when popular albums were often
issued in a largely vocal free dub version. Post-disco, things often
got
ridiculous with discs containing seemingly dozens of rejigged versions
of often the same track. Whilst many had their merits (there’s a long
list
of tracks whose original versions pale into insignificance next to
their
better known remixes), many were pretty tedious to sit through, and the
worst just reeked of cash being squeezed out of gullible fans.
Like
the poor, it seems
they will always be with us, though. Very few are things you’ll ever
sit
through more than a couple of times. Often, when an entire album is
handed
out to a disparate group of artists to work their magic, there is a
very
uneven quality about the project – from the inspired to the
workmanlike.
Too often, too, the result is a record that has no sense of flow, but
that
jumps around from style to style – fine in the download era when you
want
just a couple of the tracks, but a failure as an album.
Jon
DeRosa’s In Sea came
out around six months ago. It had its weak links where the music lacked
much identity, but there was plenty of strong material. The remix album
more or less sticks with the same running order, with only the closing
I Am Demon presented in more than one version. What’s remarkable about
it is that it hangs together so consistently, despite many of the
tracks
sounding radically different to the originals.
Sky
Burial’s I am (The Ice)
is glacially pure ambient with the grit removed from its parent
version,
but as the album progresses, things get dirtier and darker with fuzzed
beats and filthy bass making their presence felt heavily for the first
time on Mason Jones’ radical reconstruction of the title track. There
is
a bright and clean interlude in the centre, with the lush electronic
pop
ballad Young Light and the Cocteau Twins like Autumnal before the fog
and
drone return with a vengeance on Corpse Reviver No.2. Danzig’s I Am
Demon
is transformed into a triptych. The Declining Winter mix is a kind of
folk-psyche
thing with bagpipe drones as opposed to the horror movie atmospherics
of
the Pan/Suckers version. The Landing Winter version plays it pretty
much
straight.
Remora’s
remix of Instil
is the only track that jars. Not because it’s no good, but simply
because
it’s just so out of step with the rest of the record. He’s transformed
it into a gritty disco/house thing that sounds great, but just feels
like
it belongs in other company.
So
does In Sea Remixes pass
the test and stand up as a work in its own right, or just exist as an
interesting
alternative to the main record? I think it does. In fact I think in a
lot
of ways it’s the more satisfying collection.
~
Music Musings & Miscellany
I’ll come right out and say
it: I’m not a big fan of remixes. I understand the need and desire to
pay
some homage to music that you find inspiring and beautiful. And given
our
society’s predilection for recontextualizing and reiterating pop
culture
in general, remixing sort of seems to be the post-modern de rigueur
thing
to do. But maybe I subscribe too heavily to the auteur idea for artists
in general, that the vision put forth by the original artist is the
authoritative
one—that it’s canon, if you will—and that other versions are,
therefore,
pretenders to the throne.
That’s
one huge generalization,
of course, and I don’t mean to whitewash all remixes in existence, nor
do I intend to dismiss those with mad remixing skills. But again,
generally
speaking, if I have to choose between picking up an album of remixes,
and
getting an album of brand new material—either by the remixer(s) or the
remixee(s)—new material will win out almost every time. I yearn for
something
new, something fresh, something original—and remixes just never quite
leave
me satisfied beyond the initial piquing of curiosity.
Which
brings us to In Sea
Remixes, a collection of remixes of Aarktica’s In Sea. And in addition
to my normal dislike of remixes, I was especially anxious regarding
this
particular collection, for two reasons.
First
is simply that I like
In Sea a lot (I rank it, along with No Solace In Sleep, as my favorite
Aarktica disc), and I simply don’t like running the risk of seeing (or
hearing, as the case may be) things that I like and value being…
mishandled.
Second,
I was concerned
simply due to the nature of Aarktica’s music. It’s one thing to remix a
pop hit, with its numerous hooks and crooks to latch onto and send
spiralling
off into new directions. But In Sea‘s music is, for the most part, as
removed
from any form of “pop” music as you can imagine. Remixing ambient music
feels like a rather pointless exercise, unless you treat the source
material
as less raw materials to remix and more a canvas on which to create
something
new.
Not
surprisingly, I find
that the most successful and memorable remixes on In Sea Remixes are
those
that do just that: that take Jon DeRosa’s icily spectral sounds and
incorporate
them into songs that are less remix and more collaboration towards a
new
original.
For
example, Rameses III’s
“Sky Burial” remix of “I Am (The Ice)” takes the original’s ethereal
sounds
and shimmering guitars, and masterfully inverts them. The original
suggested
the Arctic sun peeking up over the horizon after a long, dark winter;
the
remix suggests the polar (npi) opposite. The guitar sounds are
stretched
out, becoming more ominous and amorphous. Meanwhile, the sighing vocals
suggest cold winter winds beginning to make their presence felt as
another
stretch of wintry night sets in. Sky burial, indeed. The two versions
may
be dissimilar in tone and outlook, but they are both arresting,
captivating
examples of glacial ambient drift.
Mason
Jones’ remix of “In
Sea” also contains spare elements of the original, but sets them
against
that age-old remixing tool—fresh beats—to solid effect. Impressive—and
surprising—considering that Aarktica’s music is at its best when it’s
most
beatless. And again, we have an interesting inversion of the original.
There, the song’s warmth came from the very human sound of DeRosa’s
hands
sliding along his guitar’s strings. But with the remix, the warmth
comes
from the mirage-like waves of guitar that are cast off from the song’s
rhythmic core and sent spinning off into the ether a la some desert
vision.
Finally,
Planar’s remix
of “Young Light” trades surging guitar riffs for arpeggiated synths,
beguiling
female vocals, and beats. It’s one of the most dramatic reworkings on
the
disc—beat out only by Remora’s vulgar-yet-humorous
electro/disco/hip-hop
take on “Instill”—and one that instantly grabs my attention every time
it comes on.
Unfortunately,
other tracks
are less memorable. Al Qaeda’s remix of “A Plague of Frost (In The
Guise
of Diamonds)” takes one of In Sea‘s most subtle tracks and simply ramps
up its levels for nearly 8 minutes with some extra noise and feedback
tossed
in for good measure. The result is a giant, ugly slab of sound that
grows
more oppressive and uninteresting with each passing second.
ThisQuietArmy
does something similar to “Corpse Reviver No. 2”, which is little more
than a collection of quasi-power electronics, gloomy synths, and
funereal
beats drizzled over the original’s ponderous guitar tones.
James
Duncan’s remix of
“When We’re Ghosts” does little to deviate from the original aside from
fragmenting its ragged noise bursts and ping-ponging them all over the
place. Finally, the three remixes of Aarktica’s cover of Danzig’s “Am I
Demon” leave little to no impression. They come, they go, and I
promptly
forget about them—which is a double shame seeing as how one of the
remixers
is The Declining Winter (and their version feels particularly tossed
off).
All
in all, In Sea Remixes
offers little new insight into Aarktica’s music or any of the remixers.
There are some fine tracks on the disc, no doubt about that (Rameses
III’s
remix is particularly haunting). The disc is at its best when a
remixer’s
muse melds with Aarktica’s original vision and something truly unique
emerges.
But In Sea Remixes is ultimately a mixed bag, little more than a
curiosity
piece in my collection.
~
Jason Morehead, Opus
First up are the “In Sea
Remixes” (Silber 079) of 12 tracks (14 if you count the fact that one
of
them features on three different remixes) culled from the 10-year
career
of John DeRosa’s Aarktika This is ambient drone music out of
the
top drawer.
“I
Am (The Ice)” is the
suitably glacial and gorgeous opener courtesy of the ever excellent
Ramses
III and is immediately trumped by Slicnation’s almost flat-line take on
“LYMZ”. At this point you’re glad you are not driving the car as none
of
this is particularly conducive to operating heavy machinery or any
activity
that requires alert concentration. By the time the twittering birds
herald
in “Hollow Earth Theory” you’ve been transported to somewhere beautiful
and where you will remain until you are returned oh so gently to the
here
and now at the end of the third gorgeous helping of “I Am Demon” after
some 70 minutes of out of body experience (aside from the disco sound
of
“When We’re Ghosts”). Moving on from the first three tracks, “A Plague
of Frost” has a certain menace and urgency about it (as you might
expect
from someone or thing named Al Qaeda) whilst Mason Jones’ take on the
title
track heralds in muted percussion, which is replicated on many of the
subsequent
tracks. Other highlights include the deliciously sinister “Corpse
Reviver
No 2”, the quite majestic “Instill” and my own favourite interpretation
of “I Am Demon” by Declining Winter (the other two are also
recommended).
This is definitely one to take with you into the flotation tank (but
remember
to skip the disco track). Sweet dreams!
~
Ian Fraser, Terrascope
Aarktica’s 2009 album In
Sea was Jon DeRosa’s most ambient/atmospheric soundscape-oriented album
in a while. It may be those more abstract qualities that make it more
open
to interpretation by remixers. There’s a lot of mystery within the
music,
plenty of directions it can take you and you can take it. Yet it’s also
a tribute to the talent level and artistic vision of the 14 remixers
that
makes In Sea Remixes such a rewarding experience.
These
versions generally
maintain the tone of the original album – calm, anticipatory, warm.
There’s
no putting DeRosa’s voice over a generic dance track, or anything like
that. But still there is variety. To begin the CD, Rameses III take on
“I Am (The Ice)”, using a small vocal intonation (a breath or sigh
almost)
as an incantation, while the icey atmosphere floats around. Al Qaeda
plays
up the apocalyptic dread in “A Plague of Frost (In the Guise of
Diamonds)”,
using a chaotic mix of distorted somethings, would-be field recordings
from the apocalypse. Yellow 6 seems to almost pause “Onward!” in
mid-air
before transitioning into a casual saunter. Keith Canisius takes
“Autumnal”
in his typically lush dream-pop direction. James Duncan goes the
dance-party
route with “When We’re Ghosts”, but it’s a pretty strange dance party
still.
The
other 9 remixers are
up to equally interesting things, including three very different takes
on Aarktica’s take on Danzig’s “I Am Demon”. The stern incisiveness of
that song is placed in a gorgeous fog by Landing to end the album, on
the
right note of bleak beauty.
~
Dave Heaton, Erasing Clouds
Nuova release per la band capitanata da Jon DeRosa, dopo un periodo di
silenzio; l'intento della nuova release è proprio quello di tornare ad
affrontare la musica in maniera più tranquilla e senza rivolgere
l'occhio costantemente alle classifiche e al gradimento del pubblico.
D'obbligo la sbirciatina agli artisti che hanno collaborato per questa
release della Silber, e i nomi sono notevoli: da diversi artisti
emergenti (Planar, Summer Cats, ecc) fino a gruppi che hanno già
collaborato con DeRosa quali Yellow6 e Remora.
E in questo, i remix presentati da 'In Sea' effettivamente non seguono
nessuna moda, alternando elettronica pura, ad ambient noise, a electro
pop non dissimile da quello suonato proprio dagli Aarktica.
Sostanzialmente è stato remixato l'intero LP 'In Sea', con gran parte
dei pezzi riceventi un singolo trattamento ma tutti graziati da un
tocco personale che rende la compilation un qualcosa di unico rispetto
all'album.
Curiosità, invece, la cover di Am I Demon? di Danzig che compare in ben
tre versioni; la più notevole è sicuramente quella di Declining Winter
(artista con cui DeRosa avrebbe voluto collaborare da tempo), che
taglia gran parte del testo e la trascina avanti con una minacciosa
viola e noise di sottofondo quasi a mò di temporale. Pezzo particolare
è anche la rivistazione di When we're ghosts da parte di James Duncan,
trasformata in un pezzo quasi dance/post-punk.
Insomma, questo è il modo con cui dovrebbe essere ripensato un album:
interpretazioni personali che aggiungono alla visione originale
dell'artista. Perfetto per i fan degli Aarktica, consigliato per gli
altri.
~ Damiano Gerli, Kathodik
Ein Remixalbum zu besprechen
ohne das Original zu kennen ist immer eine etwas heikle Sache, und im
Falle
von AARKTICAS „In Sea Remixes“ landete der Tonträger auch eher zufällig
auf meinem Tisch. Dass ich das Thema dennoch nicht unter selbigen
fallen
lassen möchte ist, soviel vorweg, der Qualität der Arbeiten geschuldet,
und immerhin wurde die Band des Amerikaners Jon DeRosa im
deutschsprachigen
Blätterwald bislang auch sträflichst vernachlässigt. Grund
genug, das Werk etwas provisorisch wie ein Phänomen zwischen Album
und Compilation zu betrachten und dennoch unter die Lupe zu nehmen.
Ob
das beim schlicht „In
Sea“ betitelten Original ebenso ist, kann ich wie gesagt nur erahnen –
im Falle der von teilweise prominenter Hand überarbeiteten Fassung
jedenfalls ist ein gewisses narratives Moment nicht zu leugnen, welches
aufgrund des Titels nun leicht mit Seefahrts-Assiziationen gefüllt
werden kann. Die vierzehn Stücke nehmen einen kaum zu überhörenden
Verlauf, der seinen Ausgangspunkt bei einer ambienten, tagträumerischen
Atmosphäre nimmt, bevor es zu schön wird einen Exkurs in etwas
poppigere Gefilde unternimmt und sich der kurzen Freude am Tanz
hingibt,
sich dann in metallener Schwere einen meditativen Gegenpol erarbeitet
um
schlussendlich auf ein offenes Ende hinzusteuern: eine die
Wortlosigkeit
ablösende Einmündung in herkömmlichen Songlyrics, die aber
zugleich eine adaptierende Verneigung vor DeRosas Idol DANZIG darstellt
und auf rationale Weise gleich dreimal die Frage nach dem Irrationalen
stellt – „Am I Demon?“ Das eher dem Tagtraum zugeneigte Kapitel beginnt
gleich mit einem Höhepunkt des Werks, die Type Records-Exponenten
RAMSES III sind vermutlich auch gerade die richtigen, um „I Am (The
Ice)“
zu dem Reich wundgescheuerter Träume zu machen, als das es sich hier
gebärdet. Wundgescheuert deshalb, weil der entspannte Klangteppich
aus Keyboard- und Gitarrenflächen immer wieder durch kratzige und
kantige Störfaktoren unterwandert wird, die am Ende aus der Reserve
der Subtilität ins Bewusstsein dringen und ein allzu glückseliges
Abdriften unterbinden. In eine ähnliche Stoßrichtung tendieren
die Bearbeitungen von Newcomern wie SLICNATION und SUMMER CATS, erstere
durch die nie vollends einschmeichelnde spacig-metallische Klangmauer,
die sich wie ein von Hochfrequenztönen durchwirktes Harmoniumdrone
anhört, letztere durch ein nun beinahe deplaziert wirkendes Idyll
aus Vogelstimmen und Brandung, lokalisiert irgendwo in den Hohlräumen
unseres Planeten. Die rhythmischeren Abschnitte beginnen zunächst
gedämpft, und der Reisende scheint sich nicht ganz sicher zu sein,
ob er diese Richtung überhaupt einschlagen möchte, zumindest
deutet das Mason Jones’ Überarbeitung des Titelsongs mit seiner
exzessiven
Nutzung von rückwärts gespielten Passagen an. Die altgedienten
YELLOW6 gehen den Weg vielleicht etwas selbstsicherer weiter, aber
Straightness
wird auch hier nur in Anführungsstrichen geboten mittels Tremolo und
gebrochen kollagierten Rhythmen, die wie ein in Beton gegossenes, halb
lahmes Stakkato nur mithilfe eines Klaviers mit Leben gefüllt werden.
Los lässt der Reisende erst mit dem asiatischen Triphop von PLANAR,
bei dem zum ersten Mal Frauengesang zu hören ist. Die Bremse der
Schwerkraft
ziehen dann THISQUIETARMY, und die verrauschte Gitarrenwalze, die wie
eine
Steppenhexe auf Valium immer noch eher dezent als brachial durch die
Gehörgänge
rollt, markiert dann auch den zweiten Höhepunkt der CD. Neben weiteren
Zeitlupenriffs und einem etwas deplazierten Dance-Hit sorgen dann drei
Überarbeitungen des besagten DANZIG-Klassikers in dritter Instanz
für alternative Schlussgebungen. DECLINING WINTER setzt auf organischen
Klang und Abstraktion, PAN besinnt sich trotz mehrstimmigen Gesangs auf
das Danziger Urbild, LANDING lässt dann alles in einer rauchigen Wolke
ausklingen.
Dies
ist kein Sampler, auch
wenn sich meine Beschreibung vielleicht so anhört. Wer interessiert
ist, sollte sich auch (so wie ich nun) auf die Suche nach dem Original
machen. Empfehlenswert allen, die gerne ihre Schuhe anstaunen, noch
nicht
genug haben von der vermeintlichen Überwindung des Rock mit eigenen
Mitteln und für die Dröhnung und Tagtraum keine Gegensätze
darstellen.
~
Black Magazine
Nuova produzione in edizione
limitata quest'anno per il newyorkese John DeRosa, alias Aarktica, con
il suo "In Sea Remixes": rivisitazione dell'ultimo progetto "In Sea" al
fianco della Silber Records. Una musicalità speciale quella di
Aarktica,
onde ed oscillazioni sonore sono l'impasto musicale preferito
dall'artista
americano; nel 1999 la perdita dell'udito da un orecchio ha colpito la
sua sensibilità musicale, con la collaborazione occasionale di alcuni
autori, ha elaborato un percorso artistico differente e di un certo
impatto.
Ecco
allora la rivisitazione
da parte di alcuni artisti di "In Sea Remixes", diretta ad attuare un
esperimento
a più mani, infatti tra i partecipanti troviamo Rameses III, Summer
Cats, Mason Jones, Yellow6, Keith Canisius, James Duncan, Remora, senza
dimenticare il lavoro sulla cover "Am I Demon" di Danzing, grazie al
supporto
di Declining Winter, Pan (of Suckers) e Landing. Il risultato è
una grande atmosfera creata appunto dalle quattordici personali
interpretazioni,
da un Drone Ambient ad un profondo beat diretto alla Dance interrotto
da
basi vocali a tratti un pò Boards Of Canada. Emblematici il brano
d'apertura "I Am" con le sue sonorità glaciali; "Hollow Earth Theory"
con la sua atmosfera bucolica dove il suono della natura trova ampio
spazio
d'espressione, "Young Light" con una melodia eterea avvolta in un canto
sensuale e "Corpse Reviver No.2" all'ascolto di una nenia, quasi
inquietante,
che si fa strada arricchita da elementi elettronici.
Un
grande lavoro d'equipe
quello sperimentato da John DeRosa, il quale ha diretto con nobile
maestria
la produzione del progetto innalzando al meglio la sua multiforme
intensità.
~
Alone Music
All'uscita di un album ci
si può aspettare la pubblicazione di remix di varia estrazione,
sia come sfogo dell'estro dell'artista sia come arricchimento delle
canzoni
con suoni nuovi.
In
questa circostanza, non
tanto tempo fa, uscì "In Sea" del collettivo musicale Aarktica,
una graziosa composizione di toni tenui e melodici a cui, di logica,
dovrebbero
far seguito remix dai caratteri rivoluzionari. Ma non è così.
Sulla
falsa riga del primo
i toni si mantengono monotonamente uguali a parte qualche traccia più
jazz o minimalmente più elettronica: insomma, si tratta del gemello
eterozigote del primo album: a tratti distinguibili ma terribilmente
simile.
~
Loud Vision
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