NPVR — 33 34
[Mego eMego — 2024]★★★★★
Reviewed 6 March 2024by Colin Lang
From beyond the grave comes the second release from NPVR, the short-lived project of Nik Void and polymathic collaborator and label founder extraordinaire, Peter Rehberg, whose untimely passing hangs over this record like a dark shroud. Comprised of five tracks, mixed and finalized by Void in Rehberg's absence, the posthumous album is a genre-hopping affair, filled with elements that would be equally at home in dark ambience, avant-garde electroacoustic composition, drone, noise, and everything in between. The frame of 33 34 is not one defined by categories, though; rather, the precision and exacting mood of this work determine its parameters and constraints.
The pulse-width modulated opener, "Raw to the Core", is unsettling and temperamental, announcing the restlessness and sonic shadow play to come. "Invisible Man", the third and central track, is a noisy, miasmic endeavour, featuring a pared-down sequence set against a well-textured background pushing outward like an incoming storm, slow and deadly. This complex then dissolves into rustling static, some kind of out of tune radio that permits transient figures to emerge who arrive only to disappear into the dark night. "Ok but no", the longest of the cuts on 33 34, follows, a growing swarm, again employing a reduced, sequenced pattern filtered and distorted variously, punctuated by passing, rotary speaker-like interpolations. As with much on 33 34, "Ok but no" is a well-deconstructed drone, whose component parts are flayed open for inspection. By the Final cut, "I_C_D_S", percussive forces take over, terminating in a choked melody, strangulated, suffocating, forceful, verging on violence. No Sturm und Drang, though, instead some cellos enter the equation, along with a hollow bass drum, descending into a pattern of clicks and blips that is content to go absolutely nowhere.
Those familiar with Void and/or Rehberg will certainly feel rewarded by 33 34, which captures just enough darkness to mirror the humour of the city (Vienna) that Rehberg called home. For fans of Editions Mego, dark ambience, and minimalist electroacoustic composition, 33 34 is very highly recommended. For more info