Die Organik "s/t" CD
[Hardpresse]
Die Organik is a collaborative effort between Elektra Sturmschnell and Xeno Volcano. Xeno Volcano, a one-man act from San Francisco, now lives in Switzerland, from whence the one-woman unit Elektra Sturmschnell hails. The 11 tracks that make up this lengthy experimental effort revolve almost entirely around somewhat melodic dark ambient soundscapes and occasional spoken vocals (the former contributions from Xeno Volcano and the latter contributions always coming from Elektra Sturmschnell). I have a couple of complaints with this material. First and foremost, it's too consistently quiet. Most of the songs rely on calm synth tones, field recordings, and other such ethereal textures, but there's not a lot of volume there at all, so you really have to turn it up to hear what's going on, and there aren't a great number of dynamic shifts. Aside from that, I'm not really into the spoken nature of the vocals (the whispered vocals work a bit better) as I find their presence distracting and unnecessary. They basically sound like narratives and make me feel like I'm listening to a movie without the visuals. I also think that the CD is too consistent as a whole, tending to get somewhat tiresome and redundant after about 25 minutes or so. The recording seems to be very nice. In headphones at a decent volume everything is clean and crisp without any glitches of any sort that I can make out. I wish the mastering was slightly louder across the board, and I wouldn't mind if there were more tracks that had a more involved presentation of layering or some sort of diversity from the group's set approach, but... The layout is simple but rather effective. Rather than a CD booklet there is simply a transparency with a very small, tight grid of dots all over it, allowing the CD face and traycard to show through. The CD face has the involved band names and some imagery printed on it, and the lyrics (all in German) are printed underneath on the top of the traycard. The back cover has some additional black and white imagery and contact information, and that's about it. When it all comes down to it this is a professionally handled release that just doesn't interest me. I like most of the music, but the vocals are a setback, and I find the release as a whole to be disappointing and surprisingly boring. I had expected this to be a lot better than it is. (4/10)
Running time - 61:15, Tracks: 11
[Notable tracks: honestly, none of them really seem distinct to me]
Hardpresse Recordings - http://www.hardpresse.com

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