Kasper van Hoek (main man behind Heilskabaal Records) is one of the growing stars in the Dutch electronic music scene. In the past I have heard a few of his EP's which dealt with improvised noise, though for his new album A Light Year Of Sundays he departs from this and turns it all into a more ambient sound.
A Light Year Of Sundays can be considered as a best of release covering the years 2006 - 2008, following his previous full-length release Minerva which contained material from 2004 - 2006.
On this new release Kasper van Hoek takes it all some easier. We find 8 untitled pieces build up from drones, field and instrumental recordings.
In 8 tracks we are taken through drones with heavy processed field recordings. The atmosphere you are drawn into is a familiar one, one of life in the city. With these tracks it sounds to me as if you are in a huge shopping mall and all these people are passing you by like ants in an anthill. You notice them, but they don't really notice you.
Walk from one shop to the other looking for the small things you need.
There is something alienating about this music, while at the same time it has so much recognizable elements.
Like in the fifth piece, you here these bells ringing and in the back voices appear. Haunted by dark soundscapes this gives the creeps. Fill this up with some melancholic strings (cello maybe) and you get a great piece that could fit in with a horror film dealing with human psychology
Greatly done.
The last two pieces show a slightly different side from Kasper van Hoek, where he reworks the music of other musicians making it his own. In the 7th piece he works with a musician named Rutger Nieuwman. Piano sounds are slowly shifting past each other, pushing each other a side.
In the last piece the band Sexton Creeps is added to the line-up. This piece is based upon an organ piece with other unrecognisable sounds. Only by the end of the track the band can be recognized by some drums playing, but that's about it.
These two tracks are nice, but not the strongest of the album and it breaks with the atmosphere that was build up at first.
A light your of Sundays is for me a step in a more interesting direction by Kasper van Hoek which he can dive much deeper in than his older direction in noise.
A nice release which really deserves some more attention. |
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