Brise-Cul Records SADE058/076
Paru en novembre 2006 et juin 2007Vol. I
1. Sans titre (31:35)
2. Sans titre (13:27)
Vol. II
1. Sans titre (25:33)
2. Sans titre (20:12)
Enregistré à Côte-des-Neiges (Montréal) le 14 août 2006.
À propos de Garkzistan :
Tel que publié, Garkzistan est sans coupures ni matriçage et présente des pics de volume tout à fait inacceptables, quand le problème n'est pas qu'on n'entend presque rien... Faudra demander pardon aussi pour les « déclics » énervants causés par des boucles de ruban piètrement bricolées - j'en prends toute la responsabilité.
Dans notre époque de saturation médiatique, le plus gros crime ici est d'avoir publié l'intégralité de ce que nous avons enregistré durant cette session. Ces deux disques collent parfaitement au cliché des « jams défoncés » d'artistes bidon de l'ère Myspace, qui les régurgitent à la pelletée sans la moindre auto-censure. Bref, la dernière impression que je veux donner.
Mais bon, assez de flagellation : Garkzistan ne s'écoute pas si mal que ça, et certains moments sont mêmes intéressants. Mais si c'est un chef-d'œuvre que vous cherchez, il faudra aller voir ailleurs.
Critique :
Blood Ties
(en faisant référence au Vol.I)
It's kind of unclear but I'm guessing these are 2 collaborative tracks between Wapstan and GRKZGL. The entire CDR clocks in at a little over 40 min which isn't really that long for a drone album. The first track takes up the bulk of the disc at around 31 min where the artists present a mixture of synth-tastic quickly pulsating sounds and, towards the 3rd quarter presents some windy drone elements. It's a slow start, and made even more burdensome by the fact that the first 13 minutes are pretty damn quiet compared to the latter half, a bad move I'd say because I can't really tell wtf is going on unless I jam up the volume only to be turning it down later.
I'm not missing much however because this first part is more or less uneventful with a basic frequency modulated synth tone and some drones fading in and out on the fringes. Towards the middle of the track things begin to pick up and become significantly more interesting with the introduction of polyphony to the synth patch and some filtering squirming around. The amount of layers increase and the windy drones build up a bit. Strangely enough I think I end up liking the 3rd quarter of the track the best where the drones become a bit intermittent and some more basic high-pitched elements are introduced. The breaks in the drones add some much needed anti-movement. The last quarter of the track presents some kind of typical LFO modulation which is an example of the main weaknesses of the album, all the sounds are just kind of mediocre and nothing jumps out and grabs me, it's another “I've heard it all before” kind of vibe.
I enjoy the second track a lot more, it's a bit more raw and lo-fi to begin with but some similar synthy elements are added by the time the peak of the track approaches. There is also a few industrial rhythmic elements here as well. This to me is an example of the total being greater then the sum of its parts because the individual sounds aren't anything amazing but placed together like this they make a formidable wall of gritty textures.
So the long mother of all tracks here I find pretty average but the shorter track I'm really digging. Overall a decent and solid effort from this duo, and a lot of potential here as well, but it still seems a little lacking in terms of thought, intention, and focus goes. I'll be interested to hear where they can bring future material.
Overall Rating: C+
Composition: C+
Sounds: C
Production Quality: C
Concept: C+
Packaging: C
par : Egan Budd/Xdementia
[En plein dans le mille!]
