| Black To Comm is the solo venture of Dekorder label boss Marc Richter. With two and a half albums released on his own label he has established himself as one of the most prolific drone artists out there with a forthcoming album on the American Digitalis label, a collaborative CD with Datashock on Ikuisuus, a 7" on the Irish Trensmat label and a collaboration with Xela in the works "Fractal Hair Geometry" is Richter's most refined and original work to date, picking up where the electrifying drone works of his monumental Double-LP left off. Like the last records this album is centered around recordings of a variety of vintage organs. While "Wir können leider..." often featured pure harmonium sounds and spacious recordings of church organ and mellotron, the new album opts for a more electronic, effects-laden sound, sending an old Farfisa Compact Deluxe and Casio SK-5 through an armada of analogue & digital effects pedals. The results are massive one-chord drones layered into dense & ecstatic, flickering & pulsating clusters of psychedelic electronic sound. Additional wordless vocal effects, hyperventilating & sizzling drum machines and hypnotic violin and guitar noises make for a hyperactive sound that never stands still even though most of the music is pure drones (sometimes consisting of more than 50 recording layers). Decidedly simple but gorgeous melodies shine through the mist from time to time, making a Black To Comm record always much more accessible than your average drone album. There's even a heavy 4/4 bass drum smuggled into a track dedicated to the late Leigh Bowery, one of the most enigmatic creative figures of the mid-80's UK club scene (and singer of Minty). Guests include Jonna Karanka (aka Kuupuu) on piano, Guido Möbius on trumpet and current Black To Comm (live) band members Renate Nikolaus on violin and Ulf Schütte (of Datashock, Aosuke, etc.) adding electronic sounds. Along the lines of the music, seminal German artist Oliver Ross has created a massive multi-layered neon-coloured collage artwork which is printed on special ultra-heavy cardboard stock. |
