FINALLY
I just obtained a digital copy of this record from a spotty French dude who bought it after a live show in Europe (apparently the only way to nab it outside of Japan). Nisennenmondai is a band that I like to watch closely for a couple reasons:
1. They represent one of the few modern true-to-form Krautrock groups out there.
2. They have gained like a gazillion cool points for being an all girl ensemble, which doesn't seem too exceptional until you remember that they are from the Land of the Most Obnoxious Girl Groups in the History of the Human Race.
3. They are not studio artists.
FAN is their new album, technically released May 5th this year, and sees Nisennenmondai distilling the essence of the Neu!-esque jams of their last album (Destination Tokyo) into a single 35-minute track of epic proportions. Polyrhythms, calculated dissonance, and percussive guitar playing are the themes here.
1. FAN
The first three minutes is nothing but a rapid, heavily flanged bassline (it never leaves). At this point the girls begin to slowly stack brief bits of guitar "riffs", heavily distorted and precise in their rhythm. Add in the pounding disco drums (watch the video, the drummer is awesome) and you have the formula for the rest of the track. It is simple, fast-paced Krautrock at its most drawn out, featuring plenty of internal rhythms being constructed and deconstructed for your listening pleasure.
Repetition and subtle alterations are the key to constucting effective soundscapes (there are a ton of neurological reasons for this that I won't get into) and while the vast majority of ambient music artists work with very slow tempos or no rhythms at all- it is simply easier -Nisennenmondai has made an album that works in the exact opposite way. And it really works. Props girls.
8/10
I just obtained a digital copy of this record from a spotty French dude who bought it after a live show in Europe (apparently the only way to nab it outside of Japan). Nisennenmondai is a band that I like to watch closely for a couple reasons:
1. They represent one of the few modern true-to-form Krautrock groups out there.
2. They have gained like a gazillion cool points for being an all girl ensemble, which doesn't seem too exceptional until you remember that they are from the Land of the Most Obnoxious Girl Groups in the History of the Human Race.
3. They are not studio artists.
FAN is their new album, technically released May 5th this year, and sees Nisennenmondai distilling the essence of the Neu!-esque jams of their last album (Destination Tokyo) into a single 35-minute track of epic proportions. Polyrhythms, calculated dissonance, and percussive guitar playing are the themes here.
1. FAN
The first three minutes is nothing but a rapid, heavily flanged bassline (it never leaves). At this point the girls begin to slowly stack brief bits of guitar "riffs", heavily distorted and precise in their rhythm. Add in the pounding disco drums (watch the video, the drummer is awesome) and you have the formula for the rest of the track. It is simple, fast-paced Krautrock at its most drawn out, featuring plenty of internal rhythms being constructed and deconstructed for your listening pleasure.
Repetition and subtle alterations are the key to constucting effective soundscapes (there are a ton of neurological reasons for this that I won't get into) and while the vast majority of ambient music artists work with very slow tempos or no rhythms at all- it is simply easier -Nisennenmondai has made an album that works in the exact opposite way. And it really works. Props girls.
8/10
