Dorese — Avancer Sur Les Feuilles Mortes
Avancer Sur Les Feuilles Mortes( English translation Advancing On The Dead Leaves) is a C30 tape, that offers up two side long tracks. The plain black tape comes in a single-sided monochrome sleeve- this features a bleak picture of what looks like a close-up picture of a wire fence with darkness behind it. And to my mind, it doesn’t really fit the sounds within, which are atmospheric- though at times quite playful & quirky.
First up on side A we have "La Liberté Conditionnelle" (Conditional Freedom). The track opens with a jaunting, childlike, though slightly eerier melody played on the vibe sound setting on the keyboard- soon we get this stark slapping element added, and this has almost a groove about it. With-in a few minutes, the jollity & harmony has disappeared, and we’re left with just a textural blend of compressed crackle & walking through dry corn stem-like snappings. As the track moves on the stark slapping & vibe elements reappear again- the slapping still hints at a groove, while the vibe elements carry on in a more morbidly flurrying manner. And with these elements, we get an often detailed shifting map of static noise texturing- which moves from snaps ‘n’ pops, hollow thuds, and simmering-yet-pared back static grain showers. In the last few minutes, the jaunting melody & feel very much reappears again.
Flipping over to side B, and we have "Le Traditionnel Bourdon" (The Traditional Bourdon). This track opens with quite a feasting & dense feel- bringing together a selection of rushing like stick grindings, and a tolling bell element. By around the two-minute mark a series of spread-out tolling bell synth elements have appeared, and these tread out a slurred melody. As the track progresses these tolling elements get more regular, and at times start to run into each other- though the harmonic side of things is just managing to stay in place. As the textured noise elements seem to get more rushing & grinding in their feel. This track is quite original sounding, though I do feel at times it’s rather let down by the synth element- which sounds rather amateurish & a little too haphazard in places. So I’d say I prefer side A’s track more
Avancer Sur Les Feuilles Mortes is certainly one of the more unusual & distinctive sounding releases to use static noise/ noise textures I’ve heard. And throughout there’s ghoulish and at times playful vibe present.
Though I wouldn’t say it’s completely successful in either its presentation or the mix of the synth & noise elements; but there are effective moments here, and I’d certainly like to hear what the project does in the future. There’s no doubt that this release is not for the HNW purist, but if you enjoy more progressive & experimental takes on the genre this is worth a look….though sadly the physical version is now sold out, but there is a download, which can be found at the label's bandcamp.