There is a clue in the album title on what to expect from this. Sombre Printemps however are not quite so straightforward as far as finding information out is concerned. The project is helmed by Philippe Fichot of Die Form and taken from a book title from German author Unica Zurn. The album is in case you had not guessed the second part of the ‘aural experiment’ and follows on from the first which took place a massive two decades ago. Both have been released in a double CD release which is good for those after the long deleted original; however I have just a promo of part 2 so am unable to comment on the difference between both and the progression over the two decades.
I like most music that is soundtrack related and have no problems with ambience and anything experimental but on repeated listens I have to admit to feeling underwhelmed here, perhaps I have been spoiled by the works of say Pino Donaggio or Angelo Badalamenti painting a canvas that would go well with a David Lynch movie and it is difficult to better their compositions.
The 48 minute album is divided into 11 tracks. The first of these Dunkler Fruhling starts with a tolling bell and sombre (sorry) melody and childlike vocals, I am slightly reminded of Morricone Giallo territory before an electronic emphasis bristles in. This has suddenly gone quite lively and futuristic. It is said part one was well ahead of its time but I doubt the same could be said now. There is a real feeling that the music is simply left to meander without much in the way of cohesive flow from one track to the next. The likes of ‘Parasomniac Soundscapes’ have the electronic elements at the forefront and the ambient feel is far away, there is perhaps too much going on and this is not a minimalist sound but one that has the classical synthesized feel of say Vangelis with the more eclectic experimental side of an artist like Black Dog. Things are kept somewhat interesting by use of varied instruments, for example woodwind on ‘Syntax Of Pain.’ The highly enhanced warbling vocals over numbers like ‘Schizophrenia’ however do really get on the nerves and like the music sound machine like and lacking in humanity. In fact as these get more strident they end up giving me a headache and there is little in the way of ambience about that. ‘Traces Of Desire’ does a good job with some great retro sounding keyboard melody which I can appreciate as reminiscent of the likes of Kraftwerk, The Human League (early) and the soundtracks of John Carpenter, in other words it’s not bad but been done to death decades ago.
I found this a bit of a frustrating listen as I wanted to engage with it and failed to do so. I am also not sure who it is aimed at really and why it has taken 20 years to follow up the original first part. Still if you are looking for something a bit out of the norm it is no doubt worth checking out.
http://www.dieform.net
Pete Woods
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