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Saturday 17 September 2022

Aussaat #1

 

Aussaat #1

 

A round up of the latest releases of the German label Aussaat.

Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/Aussaatundernte/

Email - ernten@aol.com

Discogs - https://www.discogs.com/label/972977-Aussaat

Previous review - https://1208fullerave.blogspot.com/search/label/nuori%20veri

Nuori Veri – Kadonnut Maailmankuva – CD – 2021 – Aussaat 20.

       1.    Muistamisen taakka.

       2.    Konttilanoja.

       3.    Ikuisten ystavien kanssa.

       4.    Ratsu F-3.

       5.    Lasi muuttuu hiekaksi.

       6.    Nittyvallankumous.

       7.    Vihrea raunio



How will you act, when your most merciless judge is your own self-respect?

There are no colours in the world, there is just light and the lack of it.

Quotes from translations of the album’s dialogue.

I’m glad that I rarely use the reviewing technique of ‘this sounds like this project’ as it would be a waste of time on Nuori Veri as I have never heard anything that sounds like them before. Nuori Veri have been releasing since 2019 on Brownhill Mafia and Aussaat. I have heard the term Rural Industrial to describe this work before on Special Interests. One of us reviewed them back in 2020 and they were very impressed.

A spoken narrative introduces Muistamisen taakka, a string instrument loop plays through, whilst things are anonymously shuffled around and bumped on a table as sounds of marching create a backing rhythm. Anguished vocals shout over this, the song is hypnotic and ties in with the rural artwork on the album’s cover. Further looped instrumentation and scuffling sounds build Konttilanoja which seems like the first until electronic humming breaks everything up for a spoken narrative to enter the song as the shouting returns to kill everything. More shuffling and scraping play out over the dead space. The drones and narrative return as the shouting goes off in the background. Further dialogue introduces Ikuisten ystavien kanssa, piano melody plays slowly to creaking and rattling in the background, there are many glimpses of beauty on this album, this is a classic example of that. The piano dies off, rumbling and slow, low percussion and a person growling take its place and the narrative continues. The sudden shift of the track from optimistic to bleak is noted. As the piano returns, all is well in a melancholically beautiful way.

A female narrative introduces Ratsu F-3, scraping sounds shift around with rattling pipes to create sound poetry. These create tension and movement upon which feedback can help build for the narrative to drift in and out of it. Resonating feedback ends up dominating and lead the track to its end. Slower wind chime like sounds and a looped scratched sound build Lasi muuttuu hiekaksi. Bass heavy feedback and the familiar shouted male vocal enters the equation as dogs bark in the background. Any use of electronics on this album immediately makes the tracks darker, they signify disturbance and unrest. Delicate piano builds Nittyvallankumous as rumbling and thunder erupts, eventually birds can be heard singing their song. The finale Vihrea raunio feels like a field recording overlaid with dialogue as this ends an accordion plays a tune beautifully with rattling sounds echoing across the soundscape in between passages of speaking. A violin sings its’ tune to the speech as sounds clatter and tap in the background.

Kadonnut Maailmankuva is a work of shining beauty that is unique and close to perfect.

 

Nuori Veri – Vakaumus – CD – 2022 – Aussaat 26.

       1.    Sisainen naky.

       2.    Vaarallinin tie.

       3.    Epailyksen pitka varjo.

       4.    Juuritila.

       5.    Selvinpain portailla.

       6.    Luopuminen.

       7.    Kohti hengen kirkkautta.

       8.    Von haju.

     Taustalla toimivat voimat



This CD is both of Nuori Veri’s early tapes Vakaumus and Vakaumus II and they were released in an edition of 50 on the Brownhill Mafia label in 2019. The artwork themes of bees and rural countryside again occupy the CD case like that of Kadonnut Maailmankuva.

A brief speech introduces a sustained piano melody, the early releases feature longer passages of instrumentation throughout, I feel the beauty of the work was evident immediately as Sisainen naky demonstrates. I like the piano work that appears across Nuori Veri albums. Things die off and contact mic abuse and heavy breathing take over, this rumbles and feeds back until the piano returns to compliment. Feedback and rattling introduce further contact mic abuse and the tape feels like it is being purposely warped and abused as a vocal comes in, less shouted than later recordings but effective as it builds up within the chaos, this is Vaarallinin tie. All dies off, tape warping returns as an intro to Epailyksen pitka vario’s piano melody. The piano is haunted and evocative as it plays a lonely melody, its only company is the shuffling of the microphone, this begins to warp and become disrupted by background noise.

Feedback and humming accompany clattering as the shouting returns on Juuritila, the sound is impassioned and angry. The noise is intense as it plays through to the end pf the track.  Noise returns through contact mic scraping and shuffling - piano melody takes the place of the vocal in Selvinpain portailla which plays out for a long period of time. Luopuminen uses intense rumbling, scraping noise only for field recordings of chickens to take over and this to be then eclipsed by silence and distant background noise. Intensified rumblings become the bulk of the track and the chickens become backing vocals for shouting and raving. This is the most intense track on the album. Rustling and wailing feedback are the intro to Kohti hengen kirkkautta. The wailing feedback changes pitch causing movement of sound as echoes and rustling eventually accompany piano playing. The piano continues as Von haju, which is eventually joined by a vocal. This occasionally cuts out as if it is a loop upon which the vocal is shouted – I am simultaneously amazed and confused by this. Taustalla toimivat voimat, the album’s finale is chaotic until it dies off and things begin to move, clutter, clang and warp. This builds a long passage of noise until piano returns and plays a dramatic song that ends the album.

The sound here isn’t as clear as Kadonnut Maailmankuva there are many elements of it, but they are working differently, yet the work still maintains a constant feel shimmering beauty. These two studies make for an impressive whole.

Alone and Empowered 2022.

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