|
PAUL HASLINGER Former Tangerine Dreamer Haslinger brings us unusual new ethnic dance fusion which siphons from the musical wells of the Middle East, India, and Indonesia and transfers these into a pool of rock, techno, and ambient sounds. Unlike mindless club music, there is plenty of thought behind these songs, and while many are dance-floor friendly, they are strong musical entities with their own character. Like the best jungle or bhangra, the assimilation of grooving rhythms, melody, and accessibility makes Rules an album for both world fusion enthusiasts and club music fans. Monkey Brain Sushi wins hands down as most energetic: the three-minute tune rocks with a charged fusion of percussion, wordless vocals, and a powerfully rhythmic Indonesian Monkey Chant.Urban Source Code opts for a mellower infusion of jazzy trumpeting from Mark Isham, naturally flowing with the song's Middle Eastern feel. The opening title track goes in another direction, dictated by ominous Arabic-sounding techno pulses, on top of which are layered processed electric guitar and multi-tracked vocals (some from Nona Hendryx), while intermittent choral bursts appear in the songs mid-section. Like Loop Guru, but with less of the dance/rock constrictions, Haslinger reinterprets various ethnic musics either by their integration with other styles or through the use of technology. A prime example of the latter appears in Asian Blue, an unusual vocal collage in which 20 to 30 Sanskrit vocal phrases have been sampled into a synthesizer and overlaid to form an ethereal chorus from vocals which were originally intended to be solitary. This, of course, draws us into the controversial issues of sampling and cultural appropriation, but here the effect works well. Haslinger himself has said regarding the fusion approach to this new album that my background includes classical music training (back in Vienna), and I was taught then, that music is something one makes. Today I think that it's as much about receiving/listening as it is about creating. The only way out of data-overflow and the too many options syndrome is to develop your sense of selection. By the same token, I think that what's commonly referred to as music production is the most important aspect of new music. Three things which validate the composers assimilation of cross cultural references here are his musical education, what he calls his global life, and his work with fellow musicians who have recorded and studied world musics. Rules simply resonates with an energy which a lesser educated musician relying on samples would not have. The end results of this hybrid recording find the reverential and spiritual elements of its various components (minus the obvious religious connotations) while also maintaining its pulse, via the various ethnic percussives and strong programmed beats which often work in unison. (RGB Records, P.O. Box 31321, San Francisco, CA 94131) email: haslinger@archive.uwp.edu website: http://haslinger.com Review by Bryan Reesman |
 BACK TO REVIEW DIRECTORY |
|
|
