Top Bar
Musique Machine Logo Home ButtonReviews ButtonArticles ButtonBand Specials ButtonAbout Us Button
SearchGo Down
Search for  
With search mode in section(s)
And sort the results by
show articles written by  
 Review archive:  # a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Andreas Trobollowitsch - Roha [Crónica - 2016]

Andreas Trobollowitsch is an avant garde composer previously heard in the band Acker Velvet, whose debut was released in 2012.  "Roha" is his only solo full length, as far as I can ascertain.  The album is a concise 35 minutes, with 8 different pieces within its running time.

My initial impression of the album is that is a flurry of naked, at times laceratingly bright metallic textures, uncomfortably close to the ear: detuned strings, squeaking unoiled cranks, and scraped cymbals.  It would seem each sound has been painstakingly adjusted into a tense and forlorn wailing interval.  On display are the ringing and cold overtone structures of man's materials, created as they were for practical purposes, with so many side effects.

The structure of the music is hypnotic, cyclical and droning, imperfect but effective loops created by patiently and meditative repeating the same physical actions.  The intuitive pulse Andreas follows is irregular, but certainly present.  Presumably overdubbing over his own free rhythm performances, there are many moments when a cluster of instruments stab in a rough cluster around the same moment, creating a seasick sense of deliberation.

His music inhabits a middle ground between the urban sound documentation of early industrial like Einsturzende Neubauten and Organum, and the sort of free improvisation that makes heavy use of found or prepared instruments.  Organum is the closest comparison, who similarly had a preference in his 80's work for layering mostly untreated recordings of scraping and ripping metal.

"Roha" is more of a work for percussion than any of Organum's work, with such precisely timed, expertly minimalist fare as "Tuul", making wonderful use of space with tympani hits which recede into a bed of soft crackling.  The inevitable groan of a motor roars to life partway through the piece.  Novel sound sources and cleverly sculpted timbres are presented in each piece, such as what sounds like a shortwave radio on "Ssbeat".

The album's final track "Klavirzinho" is a prepared piano piece that should satisfy fans of Cage's most known sounds, with its choked, cold resonating twangs and chimes.  As it plays, it seems to slip underwater, making for a softly murmuring melody of an album ending, a nice contrast to the clatter and scrape of the rest of the recording.

Though it is far from tonal, the album has been EQ'd and frequency balanced with a very high level of exactitude.  Within its largely monochromatic world is a marvellous diversity and subtlety.  No piece outstays its welcome, and together they form a suite that somehow retains its sense of spaciousness even in its its density of ideas.  I find myself I could never get enough forward thinking percussion music like this, a clever and meaningful arrangment of textures often considered to be non-musical.

Rating: 5 out of 5Rating: 5 out of 5Rating: 5 out of 5Rating: 5 out of 5Rating: 5 out of 5

Josh Landry
Latest Reviews

Andreas Trobollowitsch - Roha
Andreas Trobollowitsch is an avant garde composer previously heard in the band Acker Velvet, whose debut was released in 2012.  "Roha" is his only solo ...
020326   The Pied Piper + Jiří Barta...
270226   Aberdeen Abattoir - Caro Nihi...
270226   JUANITO)))) - Ohrensuppe
270226   Vacant Algin - 22126
270226   DOD CATHEDRAL - Enter The CAT...
270226   Pasta Club/Olion - Split
260226   Violent New Breed - Violent N...
260226   Ozone: The Attack of the Redn...
250226   Fossilization - Advent of Wo...
250226   Hvast - Chwasty Polskie
Latest Articles

The Fall - Repetitious History - ...
MES( Mark E Smith- The Falls main creator) possessed the ability to cram phrases into impossible spaces - “I’m hunting and I’m trying to fi...
260226   The Fall - Repetitious Histor...
290126   Crude ‘n’ Hope-corroding ...
231225   Creepy Images Books - Killer Art
221225   Best Of 2025 - Music, Sound &...
041225   The Spectral Sounds of The Pr...
281025   Michael Hurst Interview - Unb...
071025   Xiphos - The Rise And Fall Of...
030925   Third Window Films - A Label ...
130825   HNW fest- Barcelona- 12th Apr...
250725   Raté interview - Walled-in F...
Go Up
(c) Musique Machine 2001 -2025. Twenty four years of true independence!! Mail Us at questions=at=musiquemachine=dot=comBottom