Under the influence of my listening-experiences in Netaudio (I haven’t been listening to Ambient or Drone before), I checked some experimental hardware releases and found exiting artists like Tim Hecker, Taylor Deupree and, amongst others, the Institut Für Feinmotorik (maybe “institute of fine motor skills”). As I saw the line-up for the Ukrainian Detali Zvuku-festival in Spring 2007, I had some kind of a Déjà vu-feeling because I knew that the festival organizers record every single concert and put it online for free download via Nexsound Netlabel (I always planned to write something about young .at/on’s live-recording from the 2006-edition but somehow never made it). Here’s my review of their performance.
The Institute Für Feinmotorik (IFF) is rather a collective than a band or a single musician. The inner core of the IFF is spread across Zurich, Freiburg and Cologne. On stage (and this is the main medium for the IFF to communicate and perform), one to five “DJs” perform with diverse “co-workers”. They are working on eight turntables with everything that somehow fits between turntables and pick-up cartridges (except records) and some minimal mixing/ compressing equipment. The IFF calls their music “Para Techno” or “Minimal Mechanical Rhythm-Music”. Their output isn’t limited to music but includes theoretical essays on turntableism, video, photography and Serialistic art. Too much conceptualism for a solid groove? No!
The IFF-music is loop-based by definition. Eight turntables are prepared with different obstacles on the slipmats that interfere with the diamond needle, run simultaneously and mixed directly on stage. Everything is live, every set is different. The outcome are polyrhythmic, glitch-laden proto- (or para) Techno-tracks that can be judged from the viewpoint of Electronica, savage music, Minimal Music or physical sound design. Their unedited 40 minutes live-concert from the eleventh of may 2007 at the Detali Zvuku festival in Kiev will give you a proper idea of their inspiring and nonesuch music.
I found these “grooves” and “intermediates” to divide the set in digestible parts:
Intro 00:00 – 03:30
First Groove 03:30 – 06:30
Intermediate One 06:30 – 09:30
Second Groove 09:30 – 14:30
Intermediate Two 14:30 – 21:30
Third Groove 21:30 – 25:45
Final Groove 25:45 – 40:40
The set kicks off with a beatless “Intro”. Warm clouds of noise, tiny smithereens of glitch and a peculiar wind-sound introduce the listener to the sound-cosmos he will witness the next 40 minutes. A dull drumbeat from the left gives notice of the “First Groove”. The wind-sound is interrupted with a rhythmic hiccup and forms a stumbling pattern with the dull bass-drum. At 6:30, the winds slow down immediately (one of the rare sudden changes in the whole set) and give rise the whole spectrum of room-sound, the dull drums constitute. High frequent cracklings float above. This “Intermediate One” is rather a bridging piece than a cohesive track. The “Second Groove” starts with some sick turns in the overall noise-scape (around 9:45) before a dry knocking appears. Than, a fat tribal-like bass-drum bursts in and forms the first highlight of this live-performance.
Short after and beneath, meandering feedback and noise forms and fades over to “Intermediate Two”, a dense piece of Drone-music. With it’s machine-like humming, the repeated siren-sound in the back and sick pitches here and there, this intermediate piece is the track most Industrial. Video gamers might even remember the awesome and haunting soundtracks of the Silent Hill-series… there’s a similar feel of menace.
Harmlessly pulsing, rubbing and scraping, groove three comes in. The drones from the previous track are dimmed to a swarm of bees. The insects whirr off after four minutes and the last and main part in introduced with a double-time tic-tac referring to the “Third Groove”. The remaining 15 minutes of “Final Groove” are used to refine and force open the sound- and rhythmical structure of the track. There are subtle changes, elements are fade-in and -out, still the metronome groove stays intact. From 38:30, the IFF starts to finalize the set. Cheering crowd afterwards
With minimal effort, an overall interest in the physicality of sound and the will to create impressed music from a penurious starting point, the Institut Für Feinmotorik delivers their unique concept of Postmodernism where music is just one single elements. At least a good one to get deeper into the conceptual ideas the IFF brings up.
Get the record here: Institut Für Feinmotorik Live at Detali Zvuku Festival
Direct download: Get the mp3-file!
