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«analogues» was recorded before «drums and metals» but released at the same time. the two albums, very different in nature, exemplify the complementary aspects of jason kahn's music. where «drums and metals consisted of a series of all-acoustic percussion solos, this album proposes sound art pieces. samples derived from radio, drums, metals, and field recordings in geneva are assembled in real-time. these five pieces are not electroacoustic compositions or laptop constructions. they were conceived as performance pieces, played direct-to-dat on a sampler. what the two albums have in common is an interest in rhythm (the looped samples creating evanescent ambient techno beats) and in sound. everything else goes in opposite direction, the most obvious contradiction held in the purity of tone of the bells and cymbals used on the other album and the artificial constructions found here. no matter, it works. the pieces breathe and evolve slowly with occasionally a more distinct shift in movement. this aspect of kahn’s music is less distinctive and recalls the works of many austrian, german, and swiss artists such as asmus tietchens, illusion of safety, even christof kurzmann. the last piece, «cymbal,» integrates samples of cymbal playing, offering a synthesis of the «two sides of kahn» that announces his third solo album «plurabelle». >all-music guide, francois couture, 11.2002 an extremely refined music, both in the instrumentation and approach. jason kahn shapes his compositions through an aesthetic of repetition, with sequences obsessively and gradually superimposed over one another. the regularity of his playing is modified by the sticks' attack across different points of the instrument: muffled, crackling, the long vibrations of the bells, dry metals. this refined approach is echoed in analogues, where jason kahn assembles loops of field recordings and spartan percussive interventiion. through the gradual movement of the pieces, economy of playing and repetition one dives unbeknownst into a meditative state created through a gentle artifice. arousing a beauty derived from restraint one is reminded of zen and could easily imagine the percussionist being an adept of this philosophy. for those, like myself, who hate plastic boxes, the sturdy cardboard covers, with elegant artwork designed by kahn himself, come as an extra pleasure. the composerly aspect is even more apparent on analogues which is, as he explains, "constructed around samples of acoustic drums, metal objects, short-wave radio and fieldwork recordings around geneva, switzerland." on 'stations', the first of five tracks, one would be hard pushed to recognise this as the work of a percussionist, even though the methods kahn uses are similar to those employed on drums and metals. sounds abstracted from short-wave radio transmissions advance in waves, are modified, become layered, throb like a pulse grown sluggish in the bloodstream as each heartbeat fades. 'piano 2' begins with two alternately sounded piano notes, one of which has a less clearly defined attack and a somewhat nebulous bell-like quality. eventually, sounds are multiplied, and a carillon is created and then negated. on the final track, 'cymbal', brief bursts of dancing cymbalwork, situated atop a throbbing ostinato, are accompanied by the pulsations of a cymbal being bowed. close attention to detail enables complexity to be found in simplicity. drums and metals and analogues are demonstration-standard recordings, and an absolute sonic delight. analogues: purely obstinated monolgue sounds. small changes introduced little by little in order to create a space of illusory but cold lines. the process becomes an electronic system without any access to appreciable variables, which somehow directs attention towards its subtle passage incursions. ive very long pieces that seem to be based around sampling, another word for soundfile assemblage? his tracks drone on and some, like 'stations' or 'piano 2' bear resemblance to steve reich's phase shifting technique. percussive sounds or even rhythms in a traditional sense of the word do not play a big role. yet in his minimal, almost ambient pieces the continous waves become a rhythm by itself. 'analogues' is dark and moody with very nice textures. not innovative, but just nice music. for analogues (cut 004) kahn expands his drums and metals purism with samples, field recordings and shortwave radio. instead of repetitive percussion grooves one hears ominous, post-industrial soundscapes evoking dark atmospheres (stations), the melancholy kling klang of ringing bells (piano2), shortwave radio noise with iron wardrums (skipping), monotonous hums engulfed by sine waves and scraping shards of metal (paquis), and, finally, flittering perscussion play, fighting bravely against various noiseloops (cymbal). as once the organ was dubbed "king of the instruments," so today via radio etch the parasites of electrochaos their traces onto our consciousness. atmosphere, depth, a sense of direction and the exploration of sounds. repetition and a minimalist approach still apply but here they serve to give structure and direction. i'm not sure that one can do much with minimalist playing other than to establish a pattern and then to vary it over the track which seems to be the traditional minimalist way. samples of radio and field recordings and of drums and metal objects are used to create moody and sometimes ominous music as opposed to d and M's somewhat clinical feel. the abstract designs (by kahn himself) on the packaging for these cds are modest but they seem appropriate - the design for analogues in particular suits that cd's mood very well. ritorna la metà occidentale del globo repeat, e ritorna con ben due cd in completa solitudine. nel primo kahn esplora il mondo dei suoi strumenti a percussione, non con un'ottica tecnica, bensi prettamente compositiva, e va a collocarsi in quel continente scomprso che ha fatto da tramite fra primitivismo e minamalismo. jason kahn is a drummer living in zürich, active in the free improvisation scene. he was a memeber of the orchestra of excited strings and drummer with the universal congress of, a band on the sst label (as reference for the older generation of de:bug readers), and still one half of repeat, a project with toshimaru nakamura. and now? done and over with: try as one will there is nothing on this cd pointing to drummer jason kahn's--who now lives in zürich--earlier sst recordings (universal congress of, cruel frederick). he has been influenced by concerts with american, european and japanese free improvisers (from shelley hirsch to sachiko m); and his taste for long, repetitive loops sparked by his tenure in arnold dreyblatt's orchestra of excited strings (1994-98). kahn has composed extremely moving pieces assembled from loops of acoustic drums, metal objects, shortwave radio and field recordings done around geneva. the quiet-loud pulsation of the gradually changing loops (which were not edited or sequenced with computer) move steadily along, creating a deep atmosphere. with this recording jason kahn has tolled the deathbell for minimal music and with relatively simple techniques brought this music to new heights. on analogues, percussionist jason kahn makes music by manipulating samples of various percussion instruments as well as shortwave radio and field recordings. the resulting pieces are long, droning and slowly moving. it is musique concréte meets minimalism. the music is hypnotic and slightly ambient in the way that it rebuffs your full attention. |