V/A - That It Stays Winter Forever [White Box]
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Label: White Box
Year: 2010
Format: CD
We became familiar with the excellent Manchester-based White Box (headed by Danny Saul of Liondialer) back when we reviewed the debut album by Liondialer, and so it is exciting to return to this label with this limited release in only 300 copies. Though the playing time matches that of an album, this three-way split CD is a collection of individual tracks by three different artists, each roughly 20 minutes long, which was pressed up to accompany their Japanese tour in November 2010. It’s not odd then to find Liondialer contributing a track, alongside the ambient/drone maestro and composing factory that is Machinefabriek, plus the sandwiched track from trio Jan Kleefstra/Anne Chris Bakker/Romke Kleefstra.
Machinefabriek – also known as the highly industrious Rutger Zyudervelt – opens the tour de force of an album with Instuif (Audio Version) (ed. audio version as opposed to the previous DVDr release featuring also a static video installation set to the same track), and from the offset, a highly hypnotic static, ambient melody which with its sparse glitches and static noise sways in and out grabs hold of the listener and settles deep in your cerebral cortex and melds into your consciousness.
The Kleefstra/Bakker/Kleefstra piece that follows seems to latch on to a similar droning, ambient tones from Bakker’s laptop, featuring some delicately reverberating guitar chords by Romke that are quite dark and brooding. But in the end it’s the looming, spoken words of the poem Dat It Altyd Winter Bliuwt (ed. incidentally the album name in Dutch) by Jan Kleefstra, delivered with an intense voice, that lifts this otherwise meditative piece to new heights and breaks out of the otherwise wonderfully monotonous melody which eventually fades out in a mass of shrill, white noise that last minute and half.
Liondialer – the acclaimed collaboration between Danny Saul and Greg Haines – are then privileged to end the show with their Mitt Andra Hem. Though the track title is apt to reflect on the two musicians’ respective homes in Manchester and Berlin and the link between these, the choice of a Swedish title is slightly befuddling. Less confusing however, is the piece which sees Saul’s tenderly delivered, acoustic guitar chords introduce this walloping composition. The acoustic instruments lead the way as Haines’ atmospheric electronics and processed cello gradually grow to complement Saul’s tones. And as guitar chords are pitch-bent and faded as wisps into thin air, the composition rises to its climax and marvelling soundscapes like a snow blizzard. After roughly nine minutes, there’s a calm moment, at which a new build-up begins in which Haines’ deep and distorted, droning organs rise towards the sky aside Saul’s processed guitar tones and reaches a state of shimmering, white noise for 4-5 minutes – as if you found yourself in the eye of the storm. Then, as quickly as it arrived, the storm passes and the concluding minutes slows down the pace and gives you a chance to breathe and lower your shoulders again.
With three esteemed artists providing rich, detailed, vast and vivid compositions, ‘That it Stays Winter Forever’ ensures listeners can explore a body of work that explores experimental musicianship of a high standard. The tonal variety on display here coupled with lengthy tracks means that listeners have plenty of time to invest in gaining a deep understanding of the work produced. As is a constant with limited editions, we understand the packaging will be of a high quality with Jonathan Lees, Hibernate Recordings label head, providing the photography. A recommended purchase, providing even more reason to catch the tour for those lucky enough to be based in Japan!
A definite highlight of 2010, elegantly packaged in a cardboard digipack with cover photography by Jonathan Lees, label head of Hibernate, and if you missed it, try to find it from some digital shop as those 300 copies are surely – and rightfully – gone by now!
